NBA Cup 2024 (Congratulations NBA Cup Champion Bucks)

Post #121 » by **bisme37** » Wed Dec 11, 2024 4:20 pm

Bucks and Thunder advance to semis, Magic and Mavs knocked out...

Edrees · Post #122 » by **Edrees** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 9:53 am

Didn't warriors luck out? instead of having to face OKC they probably face an easier team. more likely to end up with better record at end of season.

Statlanta · Post #123 » by **Statlanta** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 10:42 am

The Rockets have something special brewing and could be the next best contender after Oklahoma City. They better not pull a 2014 Pacers and ruin it with a perceived star trade.

Post #124 » by **floppymoose** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 10:48 am

Kerr was surprised by the call at the end of the game:

Watch on YouTube

God Squad · Post #125 » by **God Squad** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 1:46 pm

I've said it before in another thread. I'm cheering for whoever wins this cup and then goes on to win the Championship.

I want to see which team will be the first to win both the NBA Cup and the Championship.

Post #126 » by **bisme37** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 4:45 pm

Post #127 » by **bisme37** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 4:45 pm

Crunch 99 · Post #128 » by **Crunch 99** » Thu Dec 12, 2024 5:00 pm

The Rockets are quite the gritty team. Every one of the Rockets' starters are shooting below the NBA average TS% of 57.5% this season, and at 54.0 team TS%, they are only ranked #27, but they keep finding ways to win.

I don't expect them to beat OKC in Las Vegas though. OKC is pretty darn good on both ends of the floor.

MarcusBrody · Post #129 » by **MarcusBrody** » Fri Dec 13, 2024 6:12 pm

I just bought tickets for the OKC-Rockets game. $100 for two upper level, but fairly decent upper level seats even when including all the ludicrous fees. There might be good deals near gametime if things don't sell.

jimmybones · Post #130 » by **jimmybones** » Fri Dec 13, 2024 7:43 pm

Edrees wrote:Didn't warriors luck out? instead of having to face OKC they probably face an easier team. more likely to end up with better record at end of season.

Huh? Both games count, so losing gives them a shot at 1-1 and a chance at 0-2, winning would have given them a guaranteed 1-1 with a shot at 2-0 #math

Edrees · Post #131 » by **Edrees** » Fri Dec 13, 2024 9:48 pm

jimmybones wrote:
Edrees wrote:Didn't warriors luck out? instead of having to face OKC they probably face an easier team. more likely to end up with better record at end of season.

Huh? Both games count, so losing gives them a shot at 1-1 and a chance at 0-2, winning would have given them a guaranteed 1-1 with a shot at 2-0 #math

I realized this a bit after my post. Whoops :nonono:

Post #132 » by **Jamaaliver** » Sat Dec 14, 2024 4:00 pm

Only two games on TV today...

Can't get a thread specific to each game? :dontknow:

Read on Twitter

DaPessimist · Post #133 » by **DaPessimist** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 12:25 am

Middleton looks cooked to me. Mentally and physically.

Post #134 » by **zimpy27** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:19 am

Bucks vs OKC finals

Post #135 » by **slick_watts** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 3:17 pm

the cup finals being outside the scheduling continuum is so stupid. this is basically a preseason game with some window dressing. i get it that there's a cash prize for the players but no one will ever really take the results of the nba cup seriously enough to have a finals that doesn't 'matter'. my idea- give the nba cup winner an automatic tiebreaker in the standings.

MiltownMadness · Post #136 » by **MiltownMadness** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 3:45 pm

DaPessimist wrote:Middleton looks cooked to me. Mentally and physically.

He was bad yesterday but give the dude a few weeks, he is clearly rusty. He has a 4:1 a/to ratio since returning and Bucks are killing teams with rusty version of him on the court so I'd say chill. Khris is very smart and acts as an on-court coach for us. The shooting stroke and iq are not going away

MiltownMadness · Post #137 » by **MiltownMadness** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 3:47 pm

Gotta say it's a very unique experience to get to watch a premiere matchup for your team and not have it count towards any sort of record. I just get to watch my team play a measuring stick game with no repercussions, basically a basketball nerds dream

MarcusBrody · Post #138 » by **MarcusBrody** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:24 pm

My impressions from having gotten to watch the game live last night:

Both teams were impressive defensively, especially on the perimeter. The refs allowed a good amount of physicality and both teams were happy to use it. OKC kept their defensive focus better. Houston's involved perimeter defenders were great, but the help defenders got caught ball watching a few times, especially once SGA got going and drew their attention.

I was not impressed with the Rockets offense. That's partially a complement to the Thunder, but it just didn't look good in ways that are unrelated to the quality of the opponents defense. They just missed a lot of shots and at times didn't really seem like they had a clear plan for their ball circulation. As I see has been mentioned in this thread, FVV made some questionable decisions.

My favorite player to watch was probably Jalen Williams. He just moved with purpose/power and made a number of nice plays. After him it was probably Amen Thompson (followed by Eason). Thompson was a lot better offensively than I expected. I haven't watched him that much and knew he wasn't a 3 point shooter, but I thought he did a lot of other things well offensively, better than I expected for sure.

SGA was both spectacular and frustrating. The constant use of the off arm and some unnatural flailing into opponents to get calls were absolutely there. The off arm at least seemed even clearer than when I watch on TV. In the other hand - wow - that man can change directions like few people I've ever seen and just looks silky in his movements. It was interesting. Once he got going and OKC started to build a lead, he lessened some of the things that made him less fun to watch in the first half.

Biggest disappointment was Sengun. I love post play and especially passing post players, but he just didn't have it going for a lot of the game. He circulated the ball well, but his passing wasn't incisive (though credit to the OKC defense for making it tough to be). His touch was also totally off, especially in the first half. Obviously it was one game, but it wasn't a good one and so I was disappointed that it was the one I caught.

This might improve when Chet comes back, but OKC gave up a ton of offensive rebounds. Part of this was credit to Sengun, who was battling inside to keep things alive. Part was to the Rockets just shooting abysmally at times, which both gave them lots of offensive rebound chances and led to the ball going in directions you wouldn't expect from an NBA player's shot, but if I were the Thunder, it's something I'd want to make sure I figured it out. The Bucks are a good rebounding team, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the final.

Post #139 » by **bisme37** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:47 pm

Bucks vs Thunder Tuesday night for the Cup

old skool · Post #140 » by **old skool** » Sun Dec 15, 2024 7:07 pm

It will take some time for the cup to be a big deal. Early on it feels cute. Somewhat interesting. A curiosity. Not a significant competition. Games are more important in the context of the regular season standings than in the tournament.

That will change over time, when star players are measured by who has the most cup trophies, finals appearances etc.

Who wins the NBA Cup Championship?