Around the NBA

[TimberKat]

Wemby hit the rookie wall or Pop just want to tank this year

Harden negativity sink Clippers off New York Harbor

Is Maverick the dark horse for Western Final? The got great contributions from Hardaway, Grant Williams, and Lively so far which is totally unexpected.

[KGdaBom]

I thought some of you might enjoy this thread, talking about Jokic and … Pek!

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2329879

I loved having Pek on our team. Such a shame that he couldn't withstand the physical demands of the NBA. After leaving the NBA he became an enforcer for the mafia.

Living a bit south of DaBomb I’ve had some people in neighborhood with ball history. One of them is still an assistant and an accomplished Euro League player. He played with Pek and had stories that just crystallized what a bad @$$ he was. Miss not having that type on our team.

I just wish we could bring back Prime Pek for one game against the 76ers and see if Embiid would try his bully crap on him. If he did it would be a HUGE mistake.

[Neeva]

I really think west will come down to wolves and Denver and hopefully wolves will be healthy.

[BlacJacMac]

LeBron's very first NBA game: 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals.

Jordan had 37 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals and 2 blocks in his 3rd career game.

Jordan broke 30 points 7 times in his first 15 games, highlighted by a 45/10/4/3/2 in his 9th game.

And if we want to compare him to another big instead of a wing, let's look at Shaq:

Game 3: 35 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Game 4: 31 Points, 21 rebounds, 4 blocks.
Game 5: 29 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Game 6: 29 points, 19 rebounds, 3 blocks.
Game 7: 29 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks.

Rookie season: 23.4 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 3.5 BPG.

[Klomp]

I know too early blah blah blah, but given good health Wemby could be the GOAT before his career is done. I don't remember LeBron or Jordan doing things like this at the very start of their NBA careers.
Klomp and whoever. You still think the Spurs don't make the playoffs?

Correct. They have a decent shot to maybe make the play-in as the 9 or 10, but I don't see them ending with a playoff spot.

With young teams comes inconsistency. The Spurs right now have a similar comparison to the early year Jazz of 2022-23. They will continue to have some flashy wins, but won't be consistent enough over the long haul.

Making my point....we are 7 games into the season, and the Spurs already have two 40-point losses.

[KGdaBom]

I know too early blah blah blah, but given good health Wemby could be the GOAT before his career is done. I don't remember LeBron or Jordan doing things like this at the very start of their NBA careers.
Klomp and whoever. You still think the Spurs don't make the playoffs?

Correct. They have a decent shot to maybe make the play-in as the 9 or 10, but I don't see them ending with a playoff spot.

With young teams comes inconsistency. The Spurs right now have a similar comparison to the early year Jazz of 2022-23. They will continue to have some flashy wins, but won't be consistent enough over the long haul.

Making my point....we are 7 games into the season, and the Spurs already have two 40-point losses.

They are more capable of totally sucking than I would have expected them to be.

[BlacJacMac]

Spurs are 22nd in Offense, 28th in Defense and 29th in Net Rating.

Its impressive that they've exceeded their "Expected W-L" of 1-6, but I'm not sure they can keep it up.

[Klomp]

How things are going in Utah...

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[TimberKat]

How things are going in Utah...

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Kessler just gone from being the next Wemby to the worst player on the team?

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[Calinks]

Jamal Murray out for a month. I felt like if he or Jokic went down, Denver would be in some trouble, lets see if they will be just fine. I thought their depth wasn't great but last game looked like otherwise.

[Klomp]

Jamal Murray out for a month. I felt like if he or Jokic went down, Denver would be in some trouble, lets see if they will be just fine. I thought their depth wasn't great but last game looked like otherwise.

Too bad we don't play them again until March

[younggunsmn]

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This is overdue. THT and Clarkson are maybe the worst starting backcourt in the league and George and Agbaji have actually been playing pretty well. Utah very lopsided toward their frontcourt talent this year.

It's a good point that they really miss Conley and his calmness and veteran leadership right now, and I think they will regret trading away Vanderbilt too. Those two guys were a key to their surprisingly competetive season last year.

[TimberKat]

Harden effect in full bloom. Another Clipper sank near New Your Harbor. Love it. At some point, one of those 4 HOF guys needs to go to the bench and take Hyland's minutes. Maybe they will trade Westbrook to Minnesota?

Watching DAL vs TOR and hopping to see a TOR victory but lead is slipping away.

[TimberKat]

Even the greatest can't make the shots every time. Joker missed 2 FTs to give GSW a chance to tie/win. Curry missed a floater. Paul's pass just slightly off. Thompson missed a chance to tie. So, don't be so hard on Towns

[younggunsmn]

Trading DeAngelo Russell to the Lakers is the gift that keeps on giving.
Got absolutely destroyed by the Rockets.
That team is so dysfunctional and without Anthony Davis they may be a bottom 8 team in the league.

Great 4D chess move by Connelly sticking a rival with Russell.

[younggunsmn]

Harden effect in full bloom. Another Clipper sank near New Your Harbor. Love it. At some point, one of those 4 HOF guys needs to go to the bench and take Hyland's minutes. Maybe they will trade Westbrook to Minnesota?

Watching DAL vs TOR and hopping to see a TOR victory but lead is slipping away.

There may be the odd game where he blows up and looks really good, but overall I think the Harden trade actually makes the clippers worse.
What is the point of starting 3 guys whose strength is creating their own offense, and then adding a guy who claims he's his own system, which basically is him dribbling for 15 seconds and then making a decision, relegating your 2 max contract superstars to spot up shooters.
And your frontcourt is basically Zubac and PJ Tucker.

I hope that trade knocks them out of the playoffs. Nobody else even wanted him.

[KGdaBom]

Harden effect in full bloom. Another Clipper sank near New Your Harbor. Love it. At some point, one of those 4 HOF guys needs to go to the bench and take Hyland's minutes. Maybe they will trade Westbrook to Minnesota?

Watching DAL vs TOR and hopping to see a TOR victory but lead is slipping away.

Harden played very well game one and OK game 2. The Clippers losing those games was not a Harden effect. It was bad shooting particularly Westy shooting 6-18. Russell Westbrook has to move to the bench so Harden can do his thing. Until Lue has the balls to do that there will be no Harden effect. if he ever does the Harden effect is going to make the Clippers very good.

[KGdaBom]

Harden effect in full bloom. Another Clipper sank near New Your Harbor. Love it. At some point, one of those 4 HOF guys needs to go to the bench and take Hyland's minutes. Maybe they will trade Westbrook to Minnesota?

Watching DAL vs TOR and hopping to see a TOR victory but lead is slipping away.

There may be the odd game where he blows up and looks really good, but overall I think the Harden trade actually makes the clippers worse.
What is the point of starting 3 guys whose strength is creating their own offense, and then adding a guy who claims he's his own system, which basically is him dribbling for 15 seconds and then making a decision, relegating your 2 max contract superstars to spot up shooters.
And your frontcourt is basically Zubac and PJ Tucker.

I hope that trade knocks them out of the playoffs. Nobody else even wanted him.

All the Clippers have to do is bench Westbrook and let Harden run the show and they are going to be very hard to beat.

[Klomp]

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