Around The NBA: 2019-20 RESTART

[Southpaw]

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What do you think of this?

I dont necessarily think he is a Pippen. But he needs a closer. This is no different then Embiid. Jimmy was the closer that was needed.

To me Giannis and Mid arent a perfect pairing in my opinion. No disrespect to Khris Middletn but to me he is more like a rich mans #3 guy. And Giannis obviously is a #1 but he is flawed because he isnt a shooter.

Shaq and Kobe was alltime great together, because when the game was on the line, Kobe could be the one that was clutch and deliver. Shaq during the title runs was a better player but in the final moments, you couldnt trust Shaq the same way you trust Kobe.

The rest of the guys are just solid role players. One needs to be the closer with Giannis.

Agreed, I don't think he's a Pippen but he either gotta learn a go-to move or they get a closer. Him and Middleton aren't a great pairing because they both aren't consistent enough shooters. Someone like Kemba would be perfect for them.

[Peelboy]

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Waiting for the comments about how there was no process, just a predetermined outcome, snarks about lack of even an attempt to interview anyone of color and how that's a travesty, etc. You know, the usual Cowley crapola. Or perhaps that's only relevant when it comes to talking about the Bulls?

On the plus side, this means none of the Bulls candidates are off the board. Plus I have my doubts about how a guy with no coaching experience and minimal FO experience (developmental consultant to GS) will handle being an HC. He could be great but seems likely to grow into the job which for a team built to win now may not be ideal. Or maybe he'll come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. :shrug:

EDIT: fixed link to tweet.

[Dresden]

It’s just sad we couldn’t build around him.

I love the way the Heat are playing. Everyone engaged sharing the ball and playing defense. It’s the culture they’ve built. Hopefully things will change in Chicago.

To me, it looks like another "little engine that could" sort of team. They have to play very hard every game to win. Sooner or later that catches up to you. Although kudos to them if they do beat MIL.

Maybe but that's the recipe that worked for the Raptors last year.

But they had a league MVP type in Kawhi, plus Lowry and Siakim. MIA only has Butler. I think you still need that top 5 top player.

[MrSparkle]

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Waiting for the comments about how there was no process, just a predetermined outcome, snarks about lack of even an attempt to interview anyone of color and how that's a travesty, etc. You know, the usual Cowley crapola. Or perhaps that's only relevant when it comes to talking about the Bulls?

On the plus side, this means none of the Bulls candidates are off the board. Plus I have my doubts about how a guy with no coaching experience and minimal FO experience (developmental consultant to GS) will handle being an HC. He could be great but seems likely to grow into the job which for a team built to win now may not be ideal. Or maybe he'll come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. :shrug:

EDIT: fixed link to tweet.

I think Nash will be good. I don't think he'll be spilling water ala Kidd and improvising as he goes. He was always a methodical PG who had great relationships with every player he ever played with. Plus I imagine Durant endorsed the move, knowing him in GS.

[DASMACKDOWN]

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Waiting for the comments about how there was no process, just a predetermined outcome, snarks about lack of even an attempt to interview anyone of color and how that's a travesty, etc. You know, the usual Cowley crapola. Or perhaps that's only relevant when it comes to talking about the Bulls?

On the plus side, this means none of the Bulls candidates are off the board. Plus I have my doubts about how a guy with no coaching experience and minimal FO experience (developmental consultant to GS) will handle being an HC. He could be great but seems likely to grow into the job which for a team built to win now may not be ideal. Or maybe he'll come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. :shrug:

EDIT: fixed link to tweet.

I think its the Steve Kerr effect. If Steve Kerr took the Knicks job, he could have been the next Jeff Hornacek and thought of completely differently. If Hornacek went GS, maybe we would be talking about him being a great coach.

Coaches are generally only as good as their talent.

In this case, Nash would have to be strikingly bad to not look somewhat successful in Brooklyn. Boylen would struggle to screw that up.

[MrSparkle]

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What do you think of this?

I dont necessarily think he is a Pippen. But he needs a closer. This is no different then Embiid. Jimmy was the closer that was needed.

To me Giannis and Mid arent a perfect pairing in my opinion. No disrespect to Khris Middletn but to me he is more like a rich mans #3 guy. And Giannis obviously is a #1 but he is flawed because he isnt a shooter.

Shaq and Kobe was alltime great together, because when the game was on the line, Kobe could be the one that was clutch and deliver. Shaq during the title runs was a better player but in the final moments, you couldnt trust Shaq the same way you trust Kobe.

The rest of the guys are just solid role players. One needs to be the closer with Giannis.

Agreed, I don't think he's a Pippen but he either gotta learn a go-to move or they get a closer. Him and Middleton aren't a great pairing because they both aren't consistent enough shooters. Someone like Kemba would be perfect for them.

I'm with Gar's wife on this one... Milwaukee FO should be ashamed for letting Brogdon go, while prioritizing the actual replaceables (Brook and Bledsoe). I saw the dilemma with Middleton - the $40m max salary was preposterous, but you remove Middleton from that team and they've got nobody else capable of generating 20 ppg. I don't know, maybe Elton Brand was salivating to replace Jimmy with Middleton and MIL felt inclined to lock him up.

I thought the abrupt extension on Bledsoe was a head-scratcher. He's a player I haven't thought much of ever since he had his 25th knee surgery in PHX. I thought it was a nice desperate trade grab, but when you have an MVP who isn't a sharp-shooter and perimeter dribbler, last thing I want is to lock in a slash/drive guard with injury history. Esp. when the alternative is Brogdon. I don't really believe that the city's segregation was the end-cause for his departure. I mean, it's not like he left for Brooklyn. I don't think of Indiana as a beacon city for racial fairness.

But all that said, the series isn't over. Giannis can play better. He's missing a lot of FTs, and succumbed quietly to Miami's defensive plan in G1. Bucks are out-matched drastically. Stylistically, Miami has them exposed. But Giannis is a better individual player than Jimmy. He hasn't look liked it, in this series.

[Jimako10]

To me, it looks like another "little engine that could" sort of team. They have to play very hard every game to win. Sooner or later that catches up to you. Although kudos to them if they do beat MIL.

Maybe but that's the recipe that worked for the Raptors last year.

But they had a league MVP type in Kawhi, plus Lowry and Siakim. MIA only has Butler. I think you still need that top 5 top player.

Well I don't think it's just Butler...Bam (all-star this year) and Dragic (averaging 24/5/5 in the playoffs) have been playing great this whole playoffs and are fairly comparable to Lowry and Siakam. They have a solid mix of young up and comers (Herro, Duncan, Nunn) to go along with good vets (Crowder, Iggy, Dragic). They play hard and they play together. They're a team where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I definitely think they are a legit dark horse contender this year and OKC is more of the "little engine that could" type. If Miami advances, Boston vs Miami is going to be an amazing conference finals. Boston is another dark horse that's playing extremely well right now.

[sco]

Derrick Jones would be a very underrated free agent signing this off season.

23 years old, fantastic athlete, very active on defense.

Yeah. Forgot about him. Will add him to my wish list of Giles and Saric. Any one of these guys for our biennial exemption would be good.

[FriedRise]

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What do you think of this?

I dont necessarily think he is a Pippen. But he needs a closer. This is no different then Embiid. Jimmy was the closer that was needed.

To me Giannis and Mid arent a perfect pairing in my opinion. No disrespect to Khris Middletn but to me he is more like a rich mans #3 guy. And Giannis obviously is a #1 but he is flawed because he isnt a shooter.

Shaq and Kobe was alltime great together, because when the game was on the line, Kobe could be the one that was clutch and deliver. Shaq during the title runs was a better player but in the final moments, you couldnt trust Shaq the same way you trust Kobe.

The rest of the guys are just solid role players. One needs to be the closer with Giannis.

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[TheStig]

Maybe but that's the recipe that worked for the Raptors last year.

But they had a league MVP type in Kawhi, plus Lowry and Siakim. MIA only has Butler. I think you still need that top 5 top player.

Well I don't think it's just Butler...Bam (all-star this year) and Dragic (averaging 24/5/5 in the playoffs) have been playing great this whole playoffs and are fairly comparable to Lowry and Siakam. They have a solid mix of young up and comers (Herro, Duncan, Nunn) to go along with good vets (Crowder, Iggy, Dragic). They play hard and they play together. They're a team where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

I definitely think they are a legit dark horse contender this year and OKC is more of the "little engine that could" type. If Miami advances, Boston vs Miami is going to be an amazing conference finals. Boston is another dark horse that's playing extremely well right now.

They have a great offense. Lots of spacing and movement and then they all buy in on defense. It's a really nice team they got going on.

And the worst leader in professional sports, one Jimmy Buckets, has really set a nice tone there and gets along great with a world class org.

[dougthonus]

MIddleton has been good. The problem is that Giannis has absolutely no gravity, which is really unusual for a supposed #1 option today. So your role players like Matthews, Lopez, Connaughton, etc. are not going to have an easy time.

Maybe a terminology thing here, gravity typically just means (to me) attracting more than one defender. Giannis has a ton of gravity. People aren't double teaming him 30 feet from the basket like Curry, but he takes one step in from the three point line towards the basket, and four guys are collapsing on him. He absolutely draws a ton of double teams and makes people move and makes people turn their head towards him to know when they should collapse.

He just doesn't have gravity at the three point line where guys need to fight over screens and double team the pick and roll every time or something like that (which obviously would be great for him if he had something).

I'm assuming the second of these things is what you mean, but I'm not sure how unusual that is. I don't think people were thinking they needed to go over the screen and hard double Kawhi, LeBron or Wade at the three point line as examples. All better shooters (even at their worst) than Giannis, but people would live with threes by those guys. I guess the difference is those guys would at least kill you on mid range shots, Giannis isn't even really doing that with enough consistency.

[TheStig]

MIddleton has been good. The problem is that Giannis has absolutely no gravity, which is really unusual for a supposed #1 option today. So your role players like Matthews, Lopez, Connaughton, etc. are not going to have an easy time.

Maybe a terminology thing here, gravity typically just means (to me) attracting more than one defender. Giannis has a ton of gravity. People aren't double teaming him 30 feet from the basket like Curry, but he takes one step in from the three point line towards the basket, and four guys are collapsing on him. He absolutely draws a ton of double teams and makes people move and makes people turn their head towards him to know when they should collapse.

He just doesn't have gravity at the three point line where guys need to fight over screens and double team the pick and roll every time or something like that (which obviously would be great for him if he had something).

I'm assuming the second of these things is what you mean, but I'm not sure how unusual that is. I don't think people were thinking they needed to go over the screen and hard double Kawhi, LeBron or Wade at the three point line as examples. All better shooters (even at their worst) than Giannis, but people would live with threes by those guys. I guess the difference is those guys would at least kill you on mid range shots, Giannis isn't even really doing that with enough consistency.

Giannis gravity is mainly on the break or near the rim. He's unguarded at the 3 and one on one in the mid range. People will only come to him in the deep post or by the rim. He also isn't going at it all the time to make people take the ball out of his hands.

So for a #1, his gravity is pretty weak in the playoffs.

[Leslie Forman]

Maybe a terminology thing here, gravity typically just means (to me) attracting more than one defender. Giannis has a ton of gravity. People aren't double teaming him 30 feet from the basket like Curry, but he takes one step in from the three point line towards the basket, and four guys are collapsing on him. He absolutely draws a ton of double teams and makes people move and makes people turn their head towards him to know when they should collapse.

He just doesn't have gravity at the three point line where guys need to fight over screens and double team the pick and roll every time or something like that (which obviously would be great for him if he had something).

I'm assuming the second of these things is what you mean, but I'm not sure how unusual that is. I don't think people were thinking they needed to go over the screen and hard double Kawhi, LeBron or Wade at the three point line as examples. All better shooters (even at their worst) than Giannis, but people would live with threes by those guys. I guess the difference is those guys would at least kill you on mid range shots, Giannis isn't even really doing that with enough consistency.

I don't think he really does draw double teams. If you watch Giannis against Miami, the times he does get non-garbage buckets are mostly just transition drives early in the clock when his defender is on their heels. He does obviously force defenses to collapse once he's closer to the rim, but you could say that for any good penetrator - he just does it so much more than anybody that it's naturally going to happen often for him.

The "we need to get the ball out of his hands" feeling you can clearly sense around guys like LeBron, Luka, Steph, etc. just isn't there at all whenever he's in the halfcourt.

[dice]

I thought the abrupt extension on Bledsoe was a head-scratcher. He's a player I haven't thought much of ever since he had his 25th knee surgery in PHX. I thought it was a nice desperate trade grab, but when you have an MVP who isn't a sharp-shooter and perimeter dribbler, last thing I want is to lock in a slash/drive guard with injury history. Esp. when the alternative is Brogdon.

bledsoe is a better all-around player, they got him for cheaper, and he's actually averaged more games played in his career than brogdon

[TheStig]

I thought the abrupt extension on Bledsoe was a head-scratcher. He's a player I haven't thought much of ever since he had his 25th knee surgery in PHX. I thought it was a nice desperate trade grab, but when you have an MVP who isn't a sharp-shooter and perimeter dribbler, last thing I want is to lock in a slash/drive guard with injury history. Esp. when the alternative is Brogdon.

bledsoe is a better all-around player, they got him for cheaper, and he's actually averaged more games played in his career than brogdon

I'd have rather had Brogdon. He's more efficient playing next to Giannis, good defender and really just a smarter player. Bledsoe goes into a black hole at times. Brogdon knows the situation and does the best with it. He's also younger. Bledsoe is more explosive.

[FriedRise]

Ouch lmao

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[ImSlower]

[Andi Obst]

Budenholzer is a great regular season coach, but his inability (or better: unwillingness) to adjust his rotations in the playoffs would drive me crazy as a Bucks fan. He doesn't want to learn his lesson. It's the playoffs, you're facing a 0-2 deficit...WTF are you waiting for?!

[dougthonus]

Giannis gravity is mainly on the break or near the rim. He's unguarded at the 3 and one on one in the mid range. People will only come to him in the deep post or by the rim. He also isn't going at it all the time to make people take the ball out of his hands.

So for a #1, his gravity is pretty weak in the playoffs.

It's splitting hairs, but I think as soon as he starts moving towards the basket and putting the ball on the floor he has a lot of gravity, but either way, I agree its less than other stars and has been worse in the playoff games I've seen.

[HomoSapien]

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What do you think of this?

I dont necessarily think he is a Pippen. But he needs a closer. This is no different then Embiid. Jimmy was the closer that was needed.

To me Giannis and Mid arent a perfect pairing in my opinion. No disrespect to Khris Middletn but to me he is more like a rich mans #3 guy. And Giannis obviously is a #1 but he is flawed because he isnt a shooter.

Shaq and Kobe was alltime great together, because when the game was on the line, Kobe could be the one that was clutch and deliver. Shaq during the title runs was a better player but in the final moments, you couldnt trust Shaq the same way you trust Kobe.

The rest of the guys are just solid role players. One needs to be the closer with Giannis.

Agreed, I don't think he's a Pippen but he either gotta learn a go-to move or they get a closer. Him and Middleton aren't a great pairing because they both aren't consistent enough shooters. Someone like Kemba would be perfect for them.

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