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People will call that last pass to Caruso the right play, but I disagree.

LeBron let the referees turn him into an absolute clown in this game.

Seemed like he was basically pouting for most of that 2nd half because of not getting calls.

MisterHibachi wrote:

AmIWrongDude wrote:Sadly Brons MVP chances are dying game by game

Happens every year. One stretch of games mid-season kills him every year. Happened in January in 2018 as well. Just hasn't put together a complete regular season in a long time.

True. It’s not trending the right way right now. I’m definitely not hoping for injuries, I would never do that, but with Joel that’s very much in play still and with Jokic they’re gonna need to start winning more games.

Still, these kinda games u gotta win and he didn’t play well either. I shouldn’t be so attached to these regular season games but I really want Bron to get an old man MVP and one more ring to put a bow on everything.

AmIWrongDude wrote:Sadly Brons MVP chances are dying game by game

This MVP crap is getting hella annoying. LeBron is not winning MVP in Silver’s NBA.

Can we please move on from this, it was never in the cards.

IG2 wrote:Seemed like he was basically pouting for most of that 2nd half because of not getting calls.

That’s what I saw.

Admittedly, the refereeing against him was atrocious (and intentional), but he has to be more resilient.

AmIWrongDude wrote:Sadly Brons MVP chances are dying game by game

Yup unfortunately looks that way. The main thing going for him is the record. Without it, he wont have much of a chance.

Better beat wash next. Game after that is a sure loss against utah

Greyhound wrote:People will call that last pass to Caruso the right play, but I disagree.

LeBron let the referees turn him into an absolute clown in this game.

I’m 50/50 on it.

I think Caruso should’ve got him the ball earlier then he did and I also think Caruso turned an open shot into a harder one because he was kind’ve in between a 3 and a long 2.

Kind just does back to the classic Bron end of game dilemma (there should be some psychology name for this lol) where he techinically has a worse look than the guy he passes to but he’s LeBron Effin James so any shot is a a semi-good shot. There’s really no right answer to this conundrum IMO and everyone will always just go by the end result.

I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

MisterHibachi wrote:

AmIWrongDude wrote:Sadly Brons MVP chances are dying game by game

Happens every year. One stretch of games mid-season kills him every year. Happened in January in 2018 as well. Just hasn't put together a complete regular season in a long time.

It’s interesting how that bad stretch always seems to come “coincidentally” during a block of nationally televised games.

The demise will always be televised, apparently.

For the past numerous seasons I have always been able to know exactly when that bad stretch (followed with the LeBron concern headlines) will hit, just by looking at the schedule.

Next season I’ll call it in before the season even starts.

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

We are in the same boat my friend.

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

Ya u would think the guy that’s been the face of the league for a million years would get preferential treatment if anything not this bs.

Hard to watch him get hacked on 3 drives in a row without a call because he’s “strong” and then see Jimmy run into someone and get a call.

Idk if the problem is with the refs or with the rules but the way the game is called today is totally Ass backwards - it’s honestly hard to see how refs could reward all the wrong things (the dumb **** players like Harden and Trae do CLEARLY gaming the system) and f over the guys that go hard to the rim and the big men.

You would think the refs would be embarrassed seeing that players take advantage of them and then never give them those bs calls again but they gladly do it over and over again.

I’m not sure what’s a foul and what isn’t at this point.

AmIWrongDude wrote:

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

Ya u would think the guy that’s been the face of the league for a million years would get preferential treatment if anything not this bs.

Hard to watch him get hacked on 3 drives in a row without a call because he’s “strong” and then see Jimmy run into someone and get a call.

Idk if the problem is with the refs or with the rules but the way the game is called today is totally Ass backwards - it’s honestly hard to see how refs could reward all the wrong things (the dumb **** players like Harden and Trae do CLEARLY gaming the system) and f over the guys that go hard to the rim and the big men.

You would think the refs would be embarrassed seeing that players take advantage of them and then never give them those bs calls again but they gladly do it over and over again.

I’m not sure what’s a foul and what isn’t at this point.

They are calling (and not calling) what they are trained and instructed to call (not call).

RCM88x wrote:

donnieme wrote:

nzahir wrote:That sounds awful haha

Imagine that pick and roll defense??

I want an athletic 5 who can catch lobs

I think Miami, Celtics, or the Raptors make sense for him

Can also see GS, us, or the Nets

The nets probably need a better defensive big though and Boogie doesn't love Harden after that Hou mess, so I don't see it

DMC on defense has all the weaknesses of Trez without the charges and hustle. He makes Trez even less playable. Maybe the plan is to sign DMC and swap Gasol for something more athletic but that sounds like opening new holes in the roster. Lakers fans love Cousins, I don't know what they see, he's everything they hate about Gasol on defense with none of the positional smarts. He isn't going to pass up open shots like Gasol though, so maybe that alone is worth something. Probably a better defensive rebounder too.

I disagree, defensively you can play LeBron at the 4 and have him sag on the PnR. The advantage is having DmC shooting on the perimeter playing the 4 offensively. Matchup the wise he is a good asset the way Frye was in Cleveland. So long as he can shoot decently on 3s.

Ok but you can't sag every PnR. Any player with a floater or pullup will punish you for days (Kyrie, KD and Harden). Best thing is to avoid all that and sign players that don't need scheme protection on defense, or at least don't carry too many on your roster. As a cav you no doubt know Frye didn't play in the finals because of this.

This **** sucks. I can't watch this trash offense no more. I am done watching until AD comes back.

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

I can relate there, and not just as a LeBron fan. Kawhi gets the same treatment from refs and it drives me crazy too.

It's bizarre how the refs will prop up guys like Harden and Trae who have accomplished nothing outside of regular-season accolades and then disrespect some of the best players to ever play this game. How Silver can see the constant unwatchable flopping from this new generation and think it's a viable future for the sport is beyond me.

Cp3 had a slow start to the season but hes looked great recently. Suns are scary for Lac

Bridges/Crowder on Kawhi/Pg. Cp3/Booker offense. Ayton down low. Deep bench. This team is kinda scary but weirdly under the radar

donnieme wrote:

RCM88x wrote:

donnieme wrote:DMC on defense has all the weaknesses of Trez without the charges and hustle. He makes Trez even less playable. Maybe the plan is to sign DMC and swap Gasol for something more athletic but that sounds like opening new holes in the roster. Lakers fans love Cousins, I don't know what they see, he's everything they hate about Gasol on defense with none of the positional smarts. He isn't going to pass up open shots like Gasol though, so maybe that alone is worth something. Probably a better defensive rebounder too.

I disagree, defensively you can play LeBron at the 4 and have him sag on the PnR. The advantage is having DmC shooting on the perimeter playing the 4 offensively. Matchup the wise he is a good asset the way Frye was in Cleveland. So long as he can shoot decently on 3s.

Ok but you can't sag every PnR. Any player with a floater or pullup will punish you for days (Kyrie, KD and Harden). Best thing is to avoid all that and sign players that don't need scheme protection on defense, or at least don't carry too many on your roster. As a cav you no doubt know Frye didn't play in the finals because of this.

All of those guys are on one team, in the WC playoffs it is not a concern.

Frye didn't play in the Finals because GS was the ultimate exploiter of slow footed bigs, probably much more than any team in NBA history. I think they could have played him against any team ever pre 2016 Warrior, but alas...

DMC can play against any WC team. Probably against any EC team bar the Brooklyn Nets.

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

It's so dumb if you see the amount of contact he's getting and Trae and other players get a whiff of contact and they immediately get 2 free throws. It has gotten to the point 3 point shooters are more protected than paint players. It's atrocious.

Freighttrain wrote:

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

It's so dumb if you see the amount of contact he's getting and Trae and other players get a whiff of contact and they immediately get 2 free throws. It has gotten to the point 3 point shooters are more protected than paint players. It's atrocious.

He flopped once in a game a couple weeks ago and the NBA literally issued him a warning for it. Other dudes flop 5+ times a game and the league rewards them with red carpets to the free throw line. It’s such a joke.

MartinToVaught wrote:

thebigbird wrote:I hate the current NBA. LeBron gets treated like an undrafted rookie by the refs while the likes of Trae Young gets 10 free throws a game. Once LeBron retires my NBA fandom does too.

I can relate there, and not just as a LeBron fan. Kawhi gets the same treatment from refs and it drives me crazy too.

It's bizarre how the refs will prop up guys like Harden and Trae who have accomplished nothing outside of regular-season accolades and then disrespect some of the best players to ever play this game. How Silver can see the constant unwatchable flopping from this new generation and think it's a viable future for the sport is beyond me.

I'm afraid the problem with flopping isn't going away any time soon. The NBA let the cat out of the bag years ago with the hooking, sweep throughs, and all the other BS players do to try to bait a whistle. They should've stomped it out a long time ago and drew the line but they didn't. Now it's gotten so that it's such an ingrained way in how players play that it has become almost impossible to remove.

Basically it all came down to this: the NBA thought that fans watch the game for offense and they optimized their officiating in favor of that. But they let the pendulum swing too far to the other side.