Jump to content

Message Board User

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    10278
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    5

Everything posted by Message Board User

  1. Just a few years ago that team made the finals with a young core of Booker, Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Ayton. And now look at them. A lesson in patience...
  2. Should be an epic ECF (if both teams are fully healthy). Season series: Wins - Cavs 2 Celtics 2 Points - Cavs 460 Celtics 459 Points per possession - 1st half - Celtics 1.210; Cavs 1.033 2nd half - Cavs 1.352; Celtics 1.142
  3. Any argument for Payton Pritchard to be 6 man of the year should have ended tonight with his 6 point, -36 in 25 minute performance tonight. Give the award to Deandre Hunter or Ty Jerome.
  4. Jrue and Porzingis scared injured for tonight's game.
  5. https://www.wsj.com/sports/basketball/nba-playoffs-40-20-rule-9f2d9b30 The NBA playoffs are still almost two months away. When they tip off, 16 teams will do battle for the chance to be called the best basketball team in the world. According to one time-tested rule of thumb, though, most of them can forget about being crowned champions this season. In fact, the number of teams with a genuine chance to win the title is down to just three. The “40-20 rule,” attributed to legendary Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, is a formula for assessing a team’s championship bona fides before the postseason has even begun. The test is simple. To be considered a true contender, a team must win 40 games before it loses 20. In Jackson’s case, the rule never failed. All 11 championship teams he coached in Chicago and Los Angeles met the mark. (And the 2004 Lakers, who lost in the Finals in an upset against the Pistons, did not.) Even the 1970s Knicks, with whom Jackson won two titles as a player, passed the test in each case, going 40-11 in the 1969-70 season and 40-12 in 1972-73. This year, as the calendar approaches the 60-game point, only three teams meet the criteria. They are the defending-champion Boston Celtics, who have shaken off a midseason swoon to win 10 of their last 11 games; the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the NBA’s best defense; and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who overhauled their team with new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s turbocharged attack. Casual NBA fans often gripe that the regular season, with an 82-game slate that allows more than half the league’s teams into the playoffs, doesn’t matter anymore. But looked at through the lens of the “40-20” rule, history suggests something different: that regular-season dominance is the easiest way to forecast playoff success. Since the league expanded its playoffs to the current 16-team format, in the 1983-84 season, 40 teams have been crowned NBA champions, excluding the lockout-shortened 1998-99 year. In all, 36 of those—90%—met the “40-20” criteria. If you’re a fan of one of the other 27 teams, don’t write off the season just yet, though. Because like any good rule, this one has some exceptions. Among the teams that didn’t hit the mark in the regular season and still went on to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy in the summer are the 1995 Houston Rockets and 2004 Detroit Pistons. Both teams traded for a star player in the middle of the season. In Houston’s case, it was a deal for guard Clyde Drexler. In Detroit’s case, forward Rasheed Wallace rode to the rescue. If those scenarios sound a little familiar, it’s because there’s a team that sits at 35-21 this season and still harbors championship hopes. The Lakers are an altogether different team than the one started the season, having traded this month for superstar guard Luka Doncic. They have won 13 of their last 16 games. Now they just have one thing left to do: beat history.
  6. DETROIT. BASKETBALL.
  7. Orlando is at a bit of a crossroads - I just don't see how that team is going to be competitive unless their stars get much, much better from 3. Banchero, Wagner, and Suggs each shoot the 3 at about 30% - that's not going to get it done. Tonight Banchero & Wagner combined for 45 points. On a combined 43 shots.
  8. They're old, they're bad, and it'll be awhile before they control any of their first round picks. Couldn't happen to a nicer owner.
  9. Phoenix is hopeless. Loss to Toronto tonight and they have by far the toughest schedule the rest of the way. They won’t even make the play-in.
  10. Thibs inserting a hobbled KAT with 3 minutes to go down 20 is peak Thibs.
  11. Without a Gobert to anchor the defense, soft KAT is way overexposed. It's happening again after this happened on Friday: https://x.com/TommyBeer/status/1893309070141984846 https://x.com/JordanZirm/status/1893383169551860033
  12. And it's Celtics 38 Knicks 19 at the end of 1.
  13. Denver's 9 game win streak consisted of: at Philly at Charlotte NOLA NOLA Orlando at Phoenix Portland Portland Charlotte The minute they play a halfway decent team they get spanked. Denver may be a tough out in the playoffs but certainly not a threat to get to the Finals.
  14. Really good article by Jason Lloyd of the Athletic explaining how the Cavs window of opportunity is 3 years...and then things get complicated.
  15. Alex Len to the Lakers. Shams Charania @ShamsCharania Free agent 7-footer Alex Len will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, agent Mike Lelchitski tells ESPN. Len intended to sign with the Pacers but has decided to land in LA after the Lakers rescinded the Mark Williams trade and created new opportunity.
  16. https://www.helbergbarbecue.com/
  17. But I've been reliably informed that Masai Ujuri is some kind of sooper genius.
  18. Unbelievable. Or rather, totally believable and expected. Underdog NBA @Underdog__NBA 2m Shams: Anthony Davis (adductor) expected to miss multiple weeks; could miss around a month.
  19. Shams Charania @ShamsCharania 2m Mark Williams' physical with the Lakers showed multiple issues and the team failed him on the exam, sources tell ESPN. The physical was not failed due to his back, however.
  20. Bobby Marks @BobbyMarks42 The trade was conditional on Mark Williams and Dalton Knecht reporting and passing a physical. Because the deadline has passed, the trade was not allowed to be amended. Williams goes back to Charlotte Knecht/Cam Reddish to LAL The draft conditions: 2030 swap and 2031 unprotected first are voided. 8:11 PM · Feb 8, 2025
  21. That kind of fucks over the Lakers, who are now without a real center. Williams on that team would've made them really, really interesting in the playoffs.
×
×
  • Create New...