Around the League - IST Games talk

skbucks1985 · Post #1461 » by **skbucks1985** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 3:03 pm

Here's where I see the Play-In Tournament on the final day of the group stage:

In the East, Indiana has advanced while Washington, Toronto and Chicago are officially eliminated. Philly, Charlotte and Atlanta are all but eliminated. Boston, Cleveland, Miami and Brooklyn are still alive but will need some help. Milwaukee, Boston and Orlando are the other 3 teams best situated to advance to the knockout stage.

The West has a lot more certainty, the Lakers have advanced and will almost certainly be the 1 seed while Utah, Portland, Memphis, Denver, Dallas, LAC, OKC and San Antonio have been eliminated. Its really hard to see how Minnesota gets in, Golden State needs to beat Sacramento and hope OKC beats Minnesota and Sacramento will be relatively well equipped to get in even with a loss because they'd almost certainly win a 3-way between GS, SAC and MINN. If Houston beats Dallas they'll be in and if not New Orleans will be. Phoenix is almost certain to get the wildcard, the only way it wouldn't happen is if Minnesota absolutely blows the doors off OKC (win by almost 40)

DingleJerry · Post #1462 » by **DingleJerry** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 3:40 pm

Sure I'd probably take Lue over our coach and for sure as a lead assistant type. But I'm still not getting how he's somehow become perceived here as some great coach and someone we want/wanted? He was generally viewed as a puppet to LBJ all over including here, loses LBJ and gets fired. Goes to the Clips, gets these two stars and has run it into the ground including multiple playoff choke jobs and blown series leads. I'd actually think he'd be a guy getting mocked here, not pined for

Bmaasse · Post #1463 » by **Bmaasse** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 4:29 pm

DingleJerry wrote:Sure I'd probably take Lue over our coach and for sure as a lead assistant type. But I'm still not getting how he's somehow become perceived here as some great coach and someone we want/wanted? He was generally viewed as a puppet to LBJ all over including here, loses LBJ and gets fired. Goes to the Clips, gets these two stars and has run it into the ground including multiple playoff choke jobs and blown series leads. I'd actually think he'd be a guy getting mocked here, not pined for

Weird right? Especially the timing. People watched that game last night and immediately thought, "yeah this is exactly the guy we need".

Ron Swanson · Post #1464 » by **Ron Swanson** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 4:34 pm

No coach in the league has gone from overrated, to underrated, then back to overrated quicker than Ty Lue. It was always unfair to lump him in with the Doc's and Scott Brooks of the world, he's better than that. But winning that Utah series without Kawhi probably gave him more clout than he deserved. At the same time I'm not sure how anyone can put the playoff failures on him. As if it's fair to expect multiple Conference Finals runs when your best player is literally always unavailable when it matters.

WeekapaugGroove · Post #1465 » by **WeekapaugGroove** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:01 pm

PG Graveyard wrote:Harden is going to be playing in China next year

Na can't see James going to China, the Big3 feels more his style.

I said it before the season this might be Hardens last year in the NBA. He just doesn't strike me as a dude who's going to play on cheap contracts and not be 'the guy'. I think he's more Iverson than Vince Carter.

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GoldenAntlers · Post #1466 » by **GoldenAntlers** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:10 pm

PG Graveyard wrote:Harden is going to be playing in China next year

I doubt he likes basketball that much.

MartyConlonOnTheRun · Post #1467 » by **MartyConlonOnTheRun** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:13 pm

GoldenAntlers wrote:
PG Graveyard wrote:Harden is going to be playing in China next year
I doubt he likes basketball that much.

Lower-level Europe probably has better clubs

Ron Swanson · Post #1468 » by **Ron Swanson** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:21 pm

Nah, you guys are crazy. July 1st hits and there's still gonna be a bunch of NBA teams ready to fork over at least MLE type deals for Harden. He'll take the money cuz that's all he cares about at this point.

PG Graveyard · Post #1469 » by **PG Graveyard** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:25 pm

GoldenAntlers wrote:
PG Graveyard wrote:Harden is going to be playing in China next year
I doubt he likes basketball that much.

He will want to get paid.

Post #1470 » by **Prez** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 6:28 pm

Lue has his warts and isn’t on the top tier of coaches, but I’m not blaming him for the Clippers playoff failures when Kawhi and PG literally never stay healthy for any sort of extended stretch, especially when it matters in the playoffs. And as far as this version of the Clippers goes, can’t say he’s doing a particularly great job but Harden/Russ are washed and Kawhi is clearly not Kawhi anymore. A .500ish team is kinda what I’d expect out of them at this point.

Ron Swanson · Post #1471 » by **Ron Swanson** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 7:43 pm

Starting to think there's a non-zero chance that Klay gets moved at the deadline. He certainly doesn't sound like a dude who wants to take any sort of significant pay cut and I'd be a little peeved if I'm Golden State. Dude is playing like a replacement level rotation guy at this point, and they really need to bite the bullet and consolidate assets if they don't wanna waste the last chance they have with this version of Steph. They should be a prime Siakam team.

Matches Malone · Post #1472 » by **Matches Malone** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:15 pm

Read on Twitter

Matches Malone · Post #1473 » by **Matches Malone** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:51 pm

Read on Twitter

Post #1474 » by **MickeyDavis** » Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:58 pm

I saw that Adelson sold $2 billion of Las Vegas Sands stock earlier today.

Interesting that Cuban thinks this is the best time to cash out.

Licensed to Il · Post #1475 » by **Licensed to Il** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 2:58 am

Cuban is a great example of an obnoxious, scandal saturated guy who somehow has kept a great reputation with the media. I don’t get it. He’s definitely done some impressive things (beating a super team with a home grown star). But in a league and an era that doesn’t tolerate white rich guys mouthing off and being stupid… he has gotten away with more of that than anyone else.

skbucks1985 · Post #1476 » by **skbucks1985** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 3:14 am

So in the East it'll be NYK at Milwaukee and Boston at Indiana

Plossum · Post #1477 » by **Plossum** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 3:44 am

MickeyDavis wrote:I saw that Adelson sold $2 billion of Las Vegas Sands stock earlier today.

Interesting that Cuban thinks this is the best time to cash out.

It’s a pretty sweet deal for him. Retains control of basketball operations while getting paid $3.5b to do so. Makes a lot of sense.

neiLz · Post #1478 » by **neiLz** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 4:01 am

Read on Twitter

?s=19

skbucks1985 · Post #1479 » by **skbucks1985** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 4:08 am

In addition to that, Tatum played almost 10 minutes in the 4th quarter when they were up 29 entering the quarter

KidA24 · Post #1480 » by **KidA24** » Wed Nov 29, 2023 4:13 am

Licensed to Il wrote:Cuban is a great example of an obnoxious, scandal saturated guy who somehow has kept a great reputation with the media. I don’t get it. He’s definitely done some impressive things (beating a super team with a home grown star). But in a league and an era that doesn’t tolerate white rich guys mouthing off and being stupid… he has gotten away with more of that than anyone else.

In general, he mouths off like a fan and not like a rich ****.