Lakers @ Nets - 1/25 730pm EST

[ecuhus1981]

I was only able to watch the 1st quarter, which sounds like a blessing in disguise.

We've looked lethargic lately, especially at home. The news on Joe is alarming, but let's not jump to conclusions. Bembry is back in the starting lineup, he'll get in his groove again at the 1st unit. Nic returned and hopefully should be ready for his full 25mpg role soon. Kevin may return right after the ASB, according to his injury timeline. It's bleak right now, but our future at the tail end of this season should be much brighter.

[Prokorov]

Harden has been trash all season. Carried by KD.

Don't give him a pass.

As if Embiid doesn't get injured all the time.

Complete Nonsense. Harden has been excellent. Is he top 5/MVP level? no. but he is 1 tier below that this year. All-star starter/All-NBA calibur. He has had tons of huge games and several games he single handedly won for us. No player is handicapped more then Harden by their coaching. Even with all of that, the injuries, the mandate Nets are in second place coming in to today, mostly on the back of Harden

Any hate for Harden's play ignores reality

For his standards and what we expect from him hes TRASH.

He was 10x better last year. He doesn't even look close to the player he used to be.

Hes having his worst statistical season in 10+ years when we need more out of him.

Having huge games isn't supposed to a big deal for a player of his caliber. Its expected.

Were only in second place because everyone else in the East also sucks! Has nothing to do with Harden.

KD CARRIED us to this record.

He isnt far off last year. when you factor in he was getting back in shape the first 10-12 games and look at him since its even closer to last year. When you factor in league average TS% is down its almost identical to last year.

He has to overcome nash every night. He is undisputable a top 12 player this year and when you factor in situation probably 6 or 7.

He has been fantasic and nowhere even close to one of our issues this year

[Prokorov]

Embiid is having a better season than anyone on this team

Harden at least shows up for work. where is Kyrie at right now? Home?

I'm not going to bash Harden. He's not the reason this thing is falling apart. Kyrie. Nash. Marks. we start there.

99.9% Nash
0.1% injuries
0% marks
0% Kyrie

anyone paying attention since last year knows what the issue is. When Kyrie has played we are like 4-3 with the same problems we have when he isnt on the floor. And that is with Kyrie playing really well.

ZERO PERCENT KYRIE !!!!!!!!!!?

No. NO. Stop it. Kyrie's lack of availability is a MASSIVE part of the problem. Even more than Nash. If Kyrie was available all season that makes Nash irrelevant.

Kyrie has f*cked this team. Period. Nash needs to be fired, yes, but Kyrie is a huge part of the problem.

Nope.

0%.

When Kyrie plays we are 4-3. Same exact issues with Kyrie in the lineup vs out. Losing to worse teams, who are missing key players due to god awful coaching, Maybe we are 2 or 3 games better at home if we had Kyrie all year. thats not making a difference. Fire Nash and we would have won 5-7 more games and been playing a significantly better brand of basketball and have a TON less minutes played by our stars

[HardenGoat]

If Kyrie was a good teammate he would get vaccinated. There isn’t a coach out there that could deal with this guy. He doesn’t believe basketball is important. Once harden bolts and vets see what their dreams mean to Kyrie they will join other contenders. Blaming Nash for trying to deal with this **** show is as delusional as Kyries world.

[Jay555]

Hope that cools things down.

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[Prokorov]

I'd rather have Embiid over Kyrie. At least Embiid wants to play and does whatever he can to get himself on the court.

Kyrie literally doesn't give a crap, and KD is a clown for coddling him.

Kyrie cares 100 times more then embiid. who cares less then pretty much anyone who has ever suited up. there is a reason he gets humiliated in the playoffs every year

No Kyrie doesn't because if he cared he would have done what everyone ELSE on the team has done to make themselves available for all games. Cut it out bro.

Embiid is fully vaxxed and playing at an MVP level. with little help at that!

Getting the vaccine has nothing to do with Basketball.

Sometimes 2 things you care about are in conflict and you have to choose. it doesnt mean you care about 1 and not the other. If you had to choose between saving your kids life or your wifes life would that mean you didnt care about the one you let die? of course not.

[Rich Rane]

the pandemic is over.

Asking as someone who's just this month recovered from COVID and is doing 5x the work with multiple coworkers out...what?!

[MrDollarBills]

There will be no mandate for the playoffs. this makes no sense.

You don't know that!!! You don't! No one knows what will happen

We all know it. the pandemic is over. the mandate has to end

New York had 15k cases and 384 deaths yesterday. Are you being serious?

This isn't even a joke.

[Prokorov]

MY THOUGHTS on the ACTUAL GAME

1) We are a better team when Bembry is a big part of the rotation. 25 minutes. Bembry was -1 in a game we lost by 10. He plays outstanding defense, doesnt make dumb plays, doesnt turn it over, creates turnovers. finishes at the rim, and despite teams not respecting it, he hits the open shots they give him (44% from three). It is inexplicable he lost his minutes to Duke and is still strugglng to get them back. hopefully he gets more games like tonight

2) I knows its a broken record by Nash is killing us. I'm not going to harp a ton on rotations (outside of Bembry) or who did/didn't play. everyone can criticize that no matter the rotation. But like... OBVIOUS strategical decisions and adjustments consistently missed. Why are we consistently helping off monk, 1 of 2 shooters on the team? Why are we not completely ignoring Westbrook and daring him to shoot a ton. He is an enormous liability. The lakers have the worst spacing the league yet we didnt pack the paint and the only guy we helped off consistently is one of the few guys they have who can hit shots. Westbrooks defender should be permanently camped at the FT line, like the other 28 teams do. Why are we putting lebron in pick and rolls when they switch everything? that just puts lebron on harden, the only guy they have capable of defending him? Why are we not switching pick and rolls with claxton in?

3) The crowd is an embarassment and they should move home games to newark. at least then Kyrie can play and maybe 1 or 2 fans may show up and root for the team. i dont expect a super loud crowd, but tonight sounded like the staples center in the finals with Kobe and shaq going off. Lakers and Warriors game are the loudest ive EVER head our arena and it was to cheer the opponent. patheitc. Nets marketing needs to be fired. you need to breed fans. give away cheap or mid level seats to young middle and high school kids. breed new fans and get those fans in the arena,.disuade season ticket holders from selling tickets.

4) Harden played great. the idea his play is drastically declined or his play is a problem is a real head scratcher. Still being officiated poorly and getting it done despite that. Guy isnt playing like somone with 1 foot out the door. Body language doesnt match the narrative. body language with nash doesnt match he is upset with him. body language with kyrie doesnt match he is upset with him. Maybe he told someone close to him he is keeping his options open, but he clearly isnt asking out or sulking

5) Cam Thomas should be on the floor when Harden sits. lineup we started the 4th with had little chance to create offense. Likewise, I think when Harden is out Blake should play. give him 6 minutes and he will give you 1 charge, 1 post up, 1 offensive rebound, and 1 play that annoys the opponent. you need that scrap and savy to withstand harden going to the bench.

6) 1 game out of 1st. 3rd place. All is not doom and gloom. i get the frustration but we are still in a great spot. Kyrie will be back full time at some point. KD will be back at some point

7) Marks needs to make a move for more shooting. Its clear Nash cant coach or adjust and the only shot he has is tons and tons of shooting around his stars. I mean the right move is fire nash but that wont happen. Forbes was a big miss. go get someone else. having 5 centers makes no sense. especially when 1 or 2 just rot

[Prokorov]

If Kyrie was a good teammate he would get vaccinated. There isn’t a coach out there that could deal with this guy. He doesn’t believe basketball is important. Once harden bolts and vets see what their dreams mean to Kyrie they will join other contenders. Blaming Nash for trying to deal with this **** show is as delusional as Kyries world.

Nah thats nonsense. Getting vaccinated is a personal decision not a basketball one. and yea every coach could deal with him cause he is an elite talent and elite teammates.

This is all on nash. case in point, we still struggle with the same issues when kyrie plays and struggled with them last year too.

[MrDollarBills]

Kyrie cares 100 times more then embiid. who cares less then pretty much anyone who has ever suited up. there is a reason he gets humiliated in the playoffs every year

No Kyrie doesn't because if he cared he would have done what everyone ELSE on the team has done to make themselves available for all games. Cut it out bro.

Embiid is fully vaxxed and playing at an MVP level. with little help at that!

Getting the vaccine has nothing to do with Basketball.

Sometimes 2 things you care about are in conflict and you have to choose. it doesnt mean you care about 1 and not the other. If you had to choose between saving your kids life or your wifes life would that mean you didnt care about the one you let die? of course not.

We are in a pandemic that has killed over 5.61M people worldwide in 2 years. What are you talking about?

[Prokorov]

Hope that cools things down.

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Pretty much spot on what i said on page 1 of this thread.

There was absolutely NOTHING in the article that matched the click bait headline. no sources... not even fake unnamed sources quoted as saying anything close to what is alleged in the headline. The ONLY quote we got was "Harden doesnt care, he will tell you whats on his mind". And then what we finally hear from harden is that its all BS.

This is like journalism 101:

1) Wait for a big stage (National TV game)
2) clickbait headline that will get national TV coverage talking about your story
3) actual article alleges nothing, quotes no one confirming anything, and actually stated "to be clear, im not sayig_____"

Journalist gets all the clicks, hits, mentions, for the headline with no backlast because he can just say "did you read the article? i never actually said any of that"

[Prokorov]

You don't know that!!! You don't! No one knows what will happen

We all know it. the pandemic is over. the mandate has to end

New York had 15k cases and 384 deaths yesterday. Are you being serious?

This isn't even a joke.

How many Flu cases and Flu deaths?

I'm not denying COVID exists, im saying its no longer a pandemic, which it is not. you cant shut the state down for anything that has higher then a 0 mortality rate.

[Prokorov]

No Kyrie doesn't because if he cared he would have done what everyone ELSE on the team has done to make themselves available for all games. Cut it out bro.

Embiid is fully vaxxed and playing at an MVP level. with little help at that!

Getting the vaccine has nothing to do with Basketball.

Sometimes 2 things you care about are in conflict and you have to choose. it doesnt mean you care about 1 and not the other. If you had to choose between saving your kids life or your wifes life would that mean you didnt care about the one you let die? of course not.

We are in a pandemic that has killed over 5.61M people worldwide in 2 years. What are you talking about?

No, we are no longer in that Pandemic.

That Pandemic happened. it Killed alot of people. it is now endemic. the mortality rates and risk rates are at or lower then the flu. Even for the unvaccinated.

[HardenGoat]

If Kyrie was a good teammate he would get vaccinated. There isn’t a coach out there that could deal with this guy. He doesn’t believe basketball is important. Once harden bolts and vets see what their dreams mean to Kyrie they will join other contenders. Blaming Nash for trying to deal with this **** show is as delusional as Kyries world.

Nah thats nonsense. Getting vaccinated is a personal decision not a basketball one. and yea every coach could deal with him cause he is an elite talent and elite teammates.

This is all on nash. case in point, we still struggle with the same issues when kyrie plays and struggled with them last year too.

You sound like Kyrie. How is choosing not to get vaccinated not a basketball decision when it means you are going to only be available for road games. Your home fans never get to see you play. Your teammates have to deal with you in and out of rotations. Your coaches have to rework the rotations based on your unavailability. You can’t gel as a team. That’s an absurd excuse and it impacts every aspect of the basketball team you signed a contract with. It’s a personal (selfish) decision that uncovers how horribly self centered a person he is that will likely prevent a basketball team from winning a championship.

[Prokorov]

You sound like Kyrie. How is choosing not to get vaccinated not a basketball decision when it means you are going to only be available for road games. Your home fans never get to see you play. Your teammates have to deal with you in and out of rotations. Your coaches have to rework the rotations. You can’t gel as a team. That’s an absurd excuse and it impacts every aspect of the basketball team you signed a contract with. It’s a personal (selfish) decision that uncovers how horribly self centered a person he is.

Because its not a basketball decision. it is a personal health decision.

Basketball is impacted by it, but its not a basketball decision. He said as much in his own words. Sometimes thigns you care about are adversly affected by more important things that have nothing to do with them.

I know a pastor who was exceled because they came out as gay and did not renounce it or try and "pray the gay away". does that mean they dont care about god? religion? of course not. he made a personal decison and it effected his standing in his religious community.

He could have just "said its wrong" and "tried to repent/change" but he didnt. not because he didnt care about being a pastor. he cared, he cared alot. but because comign out and embracing being gay wasnt a religious decision, it was a personal one.

[GTR11]

If Kyrie was a good teammate he would get vaccinated. There isn’t a coach out there that could deal with this guy. He doesn’t believe basketball is important. Once harden bolts and vets see what their dreams mean to Kyrie they will join other contenders. Blaming Nash for trying to deal with this **** show is as delusional as Kyries world.

Not going to wish you and James Harden any luck but will be happy to see him win one. Philphy will unstoppable next year. Rested Dame, Harden and Biid?

[GTR11]

You sound like Kyrie. How is choosing not to get vaccinated not a basketball decision when it means you are going to only be available for road games. Your home fans never get to see you play. Your teammates have to deal with you in and out of rotations. Your coaches have to rework the rotations. You can’t gel as a team. That’s an absurd excuse and it impacts every aspect of the basketball team you signed a contract with. It’s a personal (selfish) decision that uncovers how horribly self centered a person he is.

Because its not a basketball decision. it is a personal health decision.

Basketball is impacted by it, but its not a basketball decision. He said as much in his own words. Sometimes thigns you care about are adversly affected by more important things that have nothing to do with them

I just wonder how you manage put sentences that contradict each other without taking a second to think.

[bubonicphoniks]

Prok, I respect your opinion about Kyrie as he's your boy. You would be biased no matter what. We all do that for our guys and It's common.

But in terms of who **** this team up the most - Kyrie, Nash or Marks, if you were to do a survey, most would say Kyrie with a small % of people say otherwise. There is no doubt about that.

Have a look at my daughter's home reading book called "Teamwork" below which provides a nice summary.

I am sorry but Kyrie is not on the same page as others. He does not have a common goal as the other teammates. He cares about himself which is a no no for a team.

Make a poll. Honestly its by far Nash.

[Prokorov]

Prok, I respect your opinion about Kyrie as he's your boy. You would be biased no matter what. We all do that for our guys and It's common.

But in terms of who **** this team up the most - Kyrie, Nash or Marks, if you were to do a survey, most would say Kyrie with a small % of people say otherwise. There is no doubt about that.

Have a look at my daughter's home reading book called "Teamwork" below which provides a nice summary.

I am sorry but Kyrie is not on the same page as others. He does not have a common goal as the other teammates. He cares about himself which is a no no for a team.

Make a poll. Honestly its by far Nash.

Yeah i mean we have seen a steve nash coached team with Kyrie playing, and its still an underachieving mess where our stars play 40 minutes to scrape by bad teams, or lose in embarrassing fashion.

We had Kyrie/KD vs a portland team missing Lillard, McCollum, Powell, Nance and still lost.
We had Kyre/Harden and lost to a mediocure wolves team that got an awful night from towns.

And its not like it was because Kyrie was rusty or played poor. i mean he dropped 30/6/5 on 19 shots.

We should have wins like the bulls game 2 of every 5 games. not once a season