Around the NBA 2019-20

Post #401 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:03 am

Nice for OKC to come back and beat the TWolves. I had checked earlier and TWolves were up by double digits or close to it. I think it would be nice for SA to beat SAC but not sure who will be more of a threat. Heck, at this point, OKC could be in the mix too.

Dual · Post #402 » by **Dual** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:08 am

I have the same thoughts, it seems 7 teams will be battling for 3 spots.
It is anecdotic but we are 7th at least for 1 day.

Dual · Post #403 » by **Dual** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:18 am

Ariza is so clutch :lol:

Had 2 consecutive 3s to win the game, one airballed the other too strong. Spurs won.

Post #404 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:19 am

Man, looking at the standings, I cannot believe the Mavs are in second. As much as I liked Doncic, to think he took a low level lottery team to a 2 seed in the west is crazy. And that's with 2 losses to the Knicks, which they are obviously far better than. I don't even know if LeBron had that type of impact in his 2nd year. I know Porzingis is there but not sure he's been that impressive and the rest of the roster is ok...I mean I expected them to probably be in a better position to compete for a playoff spot than us, and might make it, but certainly not like a top 4 seed. And I don't see him slowing down. Maybe it's inevitable, but it seems like when Harden gets going it lasts the season, at least until deep into the playoffs. Though teams may still be strategizing and adjusting defenses for Luka, but not sure how much of that you can do, as smart as he seems.

Dual · Post #405 » by **Dual** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:23 am

bwgood77 wrote:Man, looking at the standings, I cannot believe the Mavs are in second. As much as I liked Doncic, to think he took a low level lottery team to a 2 seed in the west is crazy. And that's with 2 losses to the Knicks, which they are obviously far better than. I don't even know if LeBron had that type of impact in his 2nd year. I know Porzingis is there but not sure he's been that impressive and the rest of the roster is ok...I mean I expected them to probably be in a better position to compete for a playoff spot than us, and might make it, but certainly not like a top 4 seed. And I don't see him slowing down. Maybe it's inevitable, but it seems like when Harden gets going it lasts the season, at least until deep into the playoffs. Though teams may still be strategizing and adjusting defenses for Luka, but not sure how much of that you can do, as smart as he seems.

He is just so good, you can double or triple team him, dont matter, he can pass extremely well, also his teammates are shooting really well so...
This is the year to make the playoffs, is the weakest year in a lot of seasons in the Western Conference.
Next year it will be more difficult for sure.

Post #406 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:35 am

Dual wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:Man, looking at the standings, I cannot believe the Mavs are in second. As much as I liked Doncic, to think he took a low level lottery team to a 2 seed in the west is crazy. And that's with 2 losses to the Knicks, which they are obviously far better than. I don't even know if LeBron had that type of impact in his 2nd year. I know Porzingis is there but not sure he's been that impressive and the rest of the roster is ok...I mean I expected them to probably be in a better position to compete for a playoff spot than us, and might make it, but certainly not like a top 4 seed. And I don't see him slowing down. Maybe it's inevitable, but it seems like when Harden gets going it lasts the season, at least until deep into the playoffs. Though teams may still be strategizing and adjusting defenses for Luka, but not sure how much of that you can do, as smart as he seems.

He is just so good, you can double or triple team him, dont matter, he can pass extremely well, also his teammates are shooting really well so...
This is the year to make the playoffs, is the weakest year in a lot of seasons in the Western Conference.
Next year it will be more difficult for sure.

Yeah, that's the worst thing....we are barely in the playoffs right now, but of course GS would be near the top with Curry and Klay, and the Pelicans will be a lot better with Zion when he comes back, but especially next year if he stays healthy. And then add Fox and Bagley to the Kings and Nurkic to the Blazers.

Of course we get Ayton back too....but it will certainly be tougher unless we see tons of injuries again. We can't just assume if we squeeze in we will only improve next year. We could improve as a team, but other teams may improve more because of getting players back. It's not often 500 teams in the west get in the playoffs, and we are sitting at 7th under 500. I imagine one or two or maybe 3 of the group between 7-14 will make a run. Likely not the Grizzlies, but their young talent is pretty intriguing so that's another team for next year that will be better and they may add a high pick.

Post #407 » by **ATTL** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 6:32 am

Josh jackson is playing well for Memphis gleague team. Leading them to a 10-0 start, best in gleague history.
I may be alone on Josh jackson island but i think he will turn it around and have a solid career. I bet he goes to san antonio next year and pop makes something of him.

sunsbg · Post #408 » by **sunsbg** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 8:50 am

bwgood77 wrote:
Dual wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:Man, looking at the standings, I cannot believe the Mavs are in second. As much as I liked Doncic, to think he took a low level lottery team to a 2 seed in the west is crazy. And that's with 2 losses to the Knicks, which they are obviously far better than. I don't even know if LeBron had that type of impact in his 2nd year. I know Porzingis is there but not sure he's been that impressive and the rest of the roster is ok...I mean I expected them to probably be in a better position to compete for a playoff spot than us, and might make it, but certainly not like a top 4 seed. And I don't see him slowing down. Maybe it's inevitable, but it seems like when Harden gets going it lasts the season, at least until deep into the playoffs. Though teams may still be strategizing and adjusting defenses for Luka, but not sure how much of that you can do, as smart as he seems.

He is just so good, you can double or triple team him, dont matter, he can pass extremely well, also his teammates are shooting really well so...
This is the year to make the playoffs, is the weakest year in a lot of seasons in the Western Conference.
Next year it will be more difficult for sure.

Yeah, that's the worst thing....we are barely in the playoffs right now, but of course GS would be near the top with Curry and Klay, and the Pelicans will be a lot better with Zion when he comes back, but especially next year if he stays healthy. And then add Fox and Bagley to the Kings and Nurkic to the Blazers.

Of course we get Ayton back too....but it will certainly be tougher unless we see tons of injuries again. We can't just assume if we squeeze in we will only improve next year. We could improve as a team, but other teams may improve more because of getting players back. It's not often 500 teams in the west get in the playoffs, and we are sitting at 7th under 500. I imagine one or two or maybe 3 of the group between 7-14 will make a run. Likely not the Grizzlies, but their young talent is pretty intriguing so that's another team for next year that will be better and they may add a high pick.

If the injuries were reversed there is a chance Suns and Mavs switch places in the standings. I'm not sure what's the point of looking so negative in the future. The players are young and improving, there is a floor general, who makes things work. The team played great at the start of the season and if they keep the players this team will be playoffs contender next season no matter what.

You don't really need to double/tripple team Luka, especially if it's done poorly will only hurt you. May start by doing a full court press as he's quite often using the acceleration of bringing the ball up the court to beat his defenders on drives. This is something that will very likely be used in the playoffs against him.

Post #409 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 4:27 pm

sunsbg wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
Dual wrote:He is just so good, you can double or triple team him, dont matter, he can pass extremely well, also his teammates are shooting really well so...
This is the year to make the playoffs, is the weakest year in a lot of seasons in the Western Conference.
Next year it will be more difficult for sure.

Yeah, that's the worst thing....we are barely in the playoffs right now, but of course GS would be near the top with Curry and Klay, and the Pelicans will be a lot better with Zion when he comes back, but especially next year if he stays healthy. And then add Fox and Bagley to the Kings and Nurkic to the Blazers.

Of course we get Ayton back too....but it will certainly be tougher unless we see tons of injuries again. We can't just assume if we squeeze in we will only improve next year. We could improve as a team, but other teams may improve more because of getting players back. It's not often 500 teams in the west get in the playoffs, and we are sitting at 7th under 500. I imagine one or two or maybe 3 of the group between 7-14 will make a run. Likely not the Grizzlies, but their young talent is pretty intriguing so that's another team for next year that will be better and they may add a high pick.

If the injuries were reversed there is a chance Suns and Mavs switch places in the standings. I'm not sure what's the point of looking so negative in the future. The players are young and improving, there is a floor general, who makes things work. The team played great at the start of the season and if they keep the players this team will be playoffs contender next season no matter what.

You don't really need to double/tripple team Luka, especially if it's done poorly will only hurt you. May start by doing a full court press as he's quite often using the acceleration of bringing the ball up the court to beat his defenders on drives. This is something that will very likely be used in the playoffs against him.

I agree about the Mavs if you are talking about us having Ayton and them missing Doncic, and have mentioned as much. As for being negative, it's not so much that, as I think we do improve, but perusing every forum, all teams, particularly younger ones feel the same way, and I think we will see much improvement in the Pelicans, Grizzlies and Kings in the coming years due to them being young teams with nice talent.

Having said that, at some point some of the others may drop off some. Portland already has but are missing Nurkic which is a big loss. Denver has a lot of young players though, as does Utah (though more mixed there, so they may drop a bit). Houston is hard to tell. At some point Harden will decline and some of the other role players are declining. And SA has dropped off.

So it will likely tighten up with the GS and LA teams (Lakers getting older and will decline some too), along with Denver and Houston likely fighting for the top 4, and then Dallas and Utah right there, and a bunch of others fighting for the last couple spots. However, those teams relying on megastars (GS, both LA teams, Houston and Dallas) could all drop all they way out one year if missing one of their key guys, as we've seen with GS this year.

It will certainly be more fun and competitive moving forward but we still have a lot of work and internal improvement to do, and our rookies may not have quite the upside as some of the others do, though they can maybe contribute more sooner than most, and maybe guys like Okobo and Diallo suddenly show even more great improvement that really helps (guys like that continuing to really step up is really key...those unexpected things). Plus hopefully hold onto Baynes a couple more years and have an overall plus at PF and Ayton/Baynes mostly injury and obviously suspension free.

sunsbg · Post #410 » by **sunsbg** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 5:40 pm

bwgood77 wrote:
sunsbg wrote:
bwgood77 wrote:
Yeah, that's the worst thing....we are barely in the playoffs right now, but of course GS would be near the top with Curry and Klay, and the Pelicans will be a lot better with Zion when he comes back, but especially next year if he stays healthy. And then add Fox and Bagley to the Kings and Nurkic to the Blazers.

Of course we get Ayton back too....but it will certainly be tougher unless we see tons of injuries again. We can't just assume if we squeeze in we will only improve next year. We could improve as a team, but other teams may improve more because of getting players back. It's not often 500 teams in the west get in the playoffs, and we are sitting at 7th under 500. I imagine one or two or maybe 3 of the group between 7-14 will make a run. Likely not the Grizzlies, but their young talent is pretty intriguing so that's another team for next year that will be better and they may add a high pick.

If the injuries were reversed there is a chance Suns and Mavs switch places in the standings. I'm not sure what's the point of looking so negative in the future. The players are young and improving, there is a floor general, who makes things work. The team played great at the start of the season and if they keep the players this team will be playoffs contender next season no matter what.

You don't really need to double/tripple team Luka, especially if it's done poorly will only hurt you. May start by doing a full court press as he's quite often using the acceleration of bringing the ball up the court to beat his defenders on drives. This is something that will very likely be used in the playoffs against him.

I agree about the Mavs if you are talking about us having Ayton and them missing Doncic, and have mentioned as muhc. As for being negative, it's not so much that, as I think we do improve, but perusing every forum, all teams, particularly younger ones feel the same way, and I think we will see much improvement in the Pelicans, Grizzlies and Kings in the coming years due to them being young teams with nice talent.

Having said that, at some point some of the others may drop off some. Portland already has but are missing Nurkic which is a big loss. Denver has a lot of young players though, as does Utah (though more mixed there, so they may drop a bit). Houston is hard to tell. At some point Harden will decline and some of the other role players are declining. And SA has dropped off.

So it will likely tighten up with the GS and LA teams (Lakers getting older and will decline some too), along with Denver and Houston likely fighting for the top 4, and then Dallas and Utah right there, and a bunch of others fighting for the last couple spots. However, those teams relying on megastars (GS, both LA teams, Houston and Dallas) could all drop all they way out one year if missing one of their key guys, as we've seen with GS this year.

It will certainly be more fun and competitive moving forward but we still have a lot of work and internal improvement to do, and our rookies may not have quite the upside as some of the others do, though they can maybe contribute more sooner than most, and maybe guys like Okobo and Diallo suddenly show even more great improvement that really helps (guys like that continuing to really step up is really key...those unexpected things). Plus hopefully hold onto Baynes a couple more years and have an overall plus at PF and Ayton/Baynes mostly injury and obviously suspension free.

Agreed in general, just saying I don't see the Mavs as constructed right now as a team a level above the Suns, a megastar or not on their team. We already saw what a potential means - not much. It's enough our rookies are solid players going forward. In full strength I'm not that concerned with teams like the Kings and the Grizzlies. The other teams have declining players, it's only the way up for the Suns if all players are on the team next season and stay healthy.

spanishninja · Post #411 » by **spanishninja** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 6:49 pm

hilarious story on the OKC-MIN game

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.www.complex.com/sports/2019/12/chris-paul-snitches-untucked-jersey-thunder

check yo jerseys when you play the Thunder, man. CP3 knows all the rules and is enough of a nerd to call you out on it.

darealjuice · Post #412 » by **darealjuice** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 7:00 pm

That Wolves and Thunder ending was pretty ridiculous to watch. Technical foul for a 2nd delay of game after CP3 told Scott Foster it was delay of game for Bell to check in with his jersey untucked, followed by a hail mary touchdown pass from Adams to send it to OT on a lay-up with 1.1 seconds left. Guess it pays to know the rule book lol got them an extra W.

Post #413 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 7:28 pm

darealjuice wrote:That Wolves and Thunder ending was pretty ridiculous to watch. Technical foul for a 2nd delay of game after CP3 told Scott Foster it was delay of game for Bell to check in with his jersey untucked, followed by a hail mary touchdown pass from Adams to send it to OT on a lay-up with 1.1 seconds left. Guess it pays to know the rule book lol got them an extra W.

Yeah, I've heard from a Minnesota fan I know that it's the biggest crock of **** he's ever seen.

dremill24 · Post #414 » by **dremill24** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 8:43 pm

Some of the rules/interpretations are getting ridiculous.

-How does a delay of game call make sense when the game is stopped?

-If you’re unsure whether the ball actually went through the basket on a shot, take two seconds to go look at a replay.

**** is starting to look like the NFL lol

Post #415 » by **Qwigglez** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 8:50 pm

The Mavs are up by 30 in the third quarter to the Pelicans. Pels after being on fire against us, are shooting just 35% against the Mavs. Lonzo 1-9, Redick 3-9. Besides Luka, the Mavs are an incredibly boring team. Gotta give credit to Rick Carlisle, he is one hell of a coach.

Post #416 » by **Qwigglez** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 8:55 pm

Booker is always seen with his jersey untucked. I know he tucks it in before checking in though.

sunsbg · Post #417 » by **sunsbg** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 9:13 pm

Qwigglez wrote:The Mavs are up by 30 in the third quarter to the Pelicans. Pels after being on fire against us, are shooting just 35% against the Mavs. Lonzo 1-9, Redick 3-9. Besides Luka, the Mavs are an incredibly boring team. Gotta give credit to Rick Carlisle, he is one hell of a coach.

Garbage game. The Pelicans couldn't hit a shot or defend a PnR. The Mavs have to beat the Kings next to help us. Looking at their schedule they play the best EC teams after that, so they'll probably come to earth during that stretch.

TeamTragic · Post #418 » by **TeamTragic** » Sat Dec 7, 2019 11:07 pm

Qwigglez wrote:The Mavs are up by 30 in the third quarter to the Pelicans. Pels after being on fire against us, are shooting just 35% against the Mavs. Lonzo 1-9, Redick 3-9. Besides Luka, the Mavs are an incredibly boring team. Gotta give credit to Rick Carlisle, he is one hell of a coach.

46 point blowout. Outscored the Kings 40-14 in the third quarter

Doncic with 28 points in 26 minutes

Post #419 » by **bwgood77** » Sun Dec 8, 2019 1:03 am

One encouraging thing about seeing Dallas crush people is to know that we played them pretty close most of the game, without Ayton.

sunsbg · Post #420 » by **sunsbg** » Sun Dec 8, 2019 9:20 am

bwgood77 wrote:One encouraging thing about seeing Dallas crush people is to know that we played them pretty close most of the game, without Ayton.

As I said in the other thread I don't believe the Mavs are at a different level than the Suns. I actually think we can beat them in a playoff series if both teams are healthy and we play as we did at the start of the season. Would be pretty cool if the teams somehow met in the 1st round of the playoffs, say Mavs as 3rd seed and we as 6th seed.

Also for the people, who can't get over the fact the Suns didn't draft Doncic you may feel better by thinking this way - we have his passing in Rubio, scoring in Devin and rebounding in Deandre.