2021 NBA Playoffs

[conVINCEd 21469]

16 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

58 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Jordan was an asshole but he was also cool af. His whole persona was cool. LeBron’s persona is crybaby.

Many of the biggest stars in the NBA right now aren’t that likable. LeBron = crybaby, Durant = snake, Kyrie = flat earther, Kawhi = Judas, Giannis = foreign, AD = boring, Harden = annoying, PG3 = playoff P, Westbrook = stat chaser, CP3 = asshole, Gobert = pandemic starter

IMO, the coolest guys in the NBA are Dame, Tatum, Curry, Luka, Zion. Maybe throw Jimmy Butler in there too. Klay when he’s healthy.

So Giannis isn't likable because he's foreign? Yet you name Luka, who is also foreign and also whines constantly.

While that is certainly true, Luka is very engaging.  He seems like he is having fun when he is not whining.  Giannis either has no personality, or is reluctant to show his personality.  

[Vic Mackey 47082]

[utxmike05 1828]

21 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

So money. Aside from the space jam 2 leftover acting. He gave Curry a taste of his own medicine. I like both of them, but that was great to see!

[HookEm 2467]

Foreign is probably the wrong description for why I don’t like Giannis. Boring is probably better. His personality isn’t engaging and I hate his style of play. Kind of like Tim Duncan but way worse. Duncan leaned into his workman brand and it appealed to some people. Plus he was a huge winner, which helps. Giannis not so much.

[immortal13 4059]

11 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

Keep wishing

Thanks I will

[TommyGufano 6021]

2 hours ago, conVINCEd said:

While that is certainly true, Luka is very engaging.  He seems like he is having fun when he is not whining.  Giannis either has no personality, or is reluctant to show his personality.  

Negged

[hobbes2702 13045]

1 hour ago, HookEm said:

Foreign is probably the wrong description for why I don’t like Giannis. Boring is probably better. His personality isn’t engaging and I hate his style of play. Kind of like Tim Duncan but way worse. Duncan leaned into his workman brand and it appealed to some people. Plus he was a huge winner, which helps. Giannis not so much.

These are weird posts

[Reynolds Woodcock 4758]

3 hours ago, HookEm said:

Jordan was an asshole but he was also cool af. His whole persona was cool. LeBron’s persona is crybaby.
 

This is pretty much the last remaining "issue" I have with LeBron. I've come to really respect his greatness on the court, particularly his longevity of greatness, and consider him alone as the second greatest basketball player ever. He very well may play 5 more years and win 2 more titles to tie Jordan, and he almost assuredly will beat Kareem's point total. I'm sure he's a better person than Jordan, but his cheesy persona and whining personality on the court are just off putting in a competitive landscape.  And the fact is that, resumes aside, anyone who watched Jordan and LeBron would pick Jordan 10 times out of 10 to win a game or series. Every fucking time. He will never match the greatness of MJ.

One thing I am interested in from a historical perspective is whether we will look back at the last decade as a "LeBron and Steph" decade, similar to Magic and Bird, even though Durant was objectively a better player than Steph when they played together. I think we will. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by Reynolds Woodcock

[shadow_operative 15932]

29 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

This is pretty much the last remaining "issue" I have with LeBron.

that, plus the fact that he still can't shoot FTs, particularly in clutch situations. if i were to rank all of the true superstars to ever play the game in terms of who i'd want shooting FTs with the game/title on the line, LeBron would be a helluva lot closer to Shaq on that list than he would be to MJ, Bird, Steph, etc. it's frankly uncanny how many insane shots he's made from the field in the clutch (like last night) when the guy cannot hit late game FTs.

[immortal13 4059]

He's just a disingenuous douchebag with all the flopping and remarks he makes to the press. 

 

[Sbbruin 21861]

1 minute ago, immortal13 said:

He's just a disingenuous douchebag with all the flopping and remarks he makes to the press. 

 

 

[InkaUtexas 25986]

1 hour ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

One thing I am interested in from a historical perspective is whether we will look back at the last decade as a "LeBron and Steph" decade, similar to Magic and Bird, even though Durant was objectively a better player than Steph when they played together. I think we will. 

I don't think the on the court and off the court respect is there for Lebron and Steph.

And lets not forget you can add MJ to the mix for the best basketball team ever assembled. 

[Patrick Bateman 3917]

1 hour ago, hobbes2702 said:

These are weird posts

Yea, sort of just ignorant posts.  Feels like they don't know much about Giannis and his off court personality thus he's boring.  Texas folk know Luka, I would wager a few of them are Mavericks fans so Luka is awesome.  Personally, I like them both but basketball fans around the nation like Luka, but definitely think he's whiny.  He's perpetuated that brand this year, whether he meant to or not.  He's still liked though.

 

[Sbbruin 21861]

23 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

 

 

 

Being on the quarter system in college, 3rd qtr finals always hit during the NBA finals.  With the Lakers in the finals in '87, '88. and '89, it did not improve my GPA.  I remember one final being blisteringly hungover.  Sociology I believe.  It was all I could do not to puke in my seat.  I was sweating alcohol out of my pores.

[shadow_operative 15932]

55 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Yea, sort of just ignorant posts.  Feels like they don't know much about Giannis and his off court personality thus he's boring.  Texas folk know Luka, I would wager a few of them are Mavericks fans so Luka is awesome.  Personally, I like them both but basketball fans around the nation like Luka, but definitely think he's whiny.  He's perpetuated that brand this year, whether he meant to or not.  He's still liked though.

 

like 80% of foreign players are super whiny and dramatic because they grow up playing soccer and adopting that culture. did you see Bertans against the Celtics the other night? grabbing his face and staying down on the ground like he'd been shot, when in reality nothing happened and he was totally fine. whining and flopping and arguing with officials is so pervasive in soccer compared to American sports. i doubt a single MLB umpire or NBA referee could handle one match as a soccer official with the amount of whining/arguing/screaming/gesticulating/etc that those guys deal with on a daily basis. 

[hobbes2702 13045]

24 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

like 80% of foreign players are super whiny and dramatic because they grow up playing soccer and adopting that culture. did you see Bertans against the Celtics the other night? grabbing his face and staying down on the ground like he'd been shot, when in reality nothing happened and he was totally fine. whining and flopping and arguing with officials is so pervasive in soccer compared to American sports. i doubt a single MLB umpire or NBA referee could handle one match as a soccer official with the amount of whining/arguing/screaming/gesticulating/etc that those guys deal with on a daily basis. 

Baseball doesn’t have the same problems but that’s mainly because it’s not a contact sport. Those umps take plenty of bullshit though. That said I agree with you. It’s interesting that I don’t see Giannis do much of that like a lot of the other euros and I wonder why that is.

[washparkhorn 9939]

Dreamt of becoming a water polo player, not a footballer. 

 

[Machinator 32099]

 

[Vic Mackey 47082]

 

[aggie08 21505]

22 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Is the Warriors/Lakers play-in game going to be the highest rated game of the season if the Finals is any permutation other than Lakers/Nets?

 

21 hours ago, ztejas said:

Username checks out. 

But - just for shits and giggles - if it actually is the highest rated game and Lakers/Nets isn't the Finals I'll venmo you $50.

 

2 hours ago, Machinator said:

 

Oh, hi there.

[Braff Zacklin 13618]

[ztejas 43475]

19 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

 

 

Oh, hi there.

Do you want to go prop on this? I'd bet you a lot that that number gets broken before the Finals. The Nets and Knicks are both in the playoffs. 

[aggie08 21505]

33 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Do you want to go prop on this? I'd bet you a lot that that number gets broken before the Finals. The Nets and Knicks are both in the playoffs. 

Casual and fringe fans don't care about the Nets (until they're playing LeBron) or Knicks. They care about an artificially created "Game 7" (well, Game 6 technically) between the two most popular players--and two biggest draws--in the league. 

I actually hope that I'm wrong, and it does get beat by a non-Finals game. It would mean that the league is in an extremely healthy place after a rough Covid ratings dip. But it will definitely require LeBron in the WCF. Or maybe a  Game 7 that falls on a weekend and gets the ABC ratings boost.

Edited May 21, 2021 by aggie08

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

45 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

 

 

Oh, hi there.

2020 numbers were awful. Looks to me like you will lose that bet with a conference finals game somewhere along the line but yeah- conceptually you were pretty right on. 

[ztejas 43475]

17 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Casual and fringe fans don't care about the Nets (until they're playing LeBron) or Knicks.

No but people in the 30M person NYC mega metro do. I promise you if there is a Nets/Knicks ECF that 6.5 will get shattered.

Again - do you want to prop bet this? i.e. do you want to lose money? 

Edited May 21, 2021 by ztejas

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

16 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Casual and fringe fans don't care about the Nets (until they're playing LeBron) or Knicks. They care about an artificially created "Game 7" (well, Game 6 technically) between the two most popular players--and two biggest draws--in the league. 

I actually hope that I'm wrong, and it does get beat by a non-Finals game. It would mean that the league is in an extremely healthy place after a rough Covid ratings dip. But it would probably take something like a LAL/LAC Game 7. Maybe a Game 7 that falls on a weekend and gets the ABC ratings boost.

Also, those numbers show the nba gets so much more attention and hype than it deserves as a function of actual eyeballs. Less than 7 million with their marque franchise against their marque super star?  You know who shits all over that in a similar situation?  Baseball. You know whose a 10 billion dollar league while the NBA is half that size?  Baseball. You know who puts double the amount of people in their buildings while having twice as much inventory?  Baseball. You know whose considered to be a dying sport and whose considered ascendant?  Baseball/basketball respectively. 
I love both sports. If I knew knowing about the numbers, revenue or attendance I would assume that basketball was the clear number 2 sport and closing in on the NFL. It’s not. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Wulaw Horn

[ztejas 43475]

8 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

2020 numbers were awful. Looks to me like you will lose that bet with a conference finals game somewhere along the line but yeah- conceptually you were pretty right on. 

This is the other thing... 2019 was the last time Steph and KD were both healthy. Ratings last year were trash for multiple reasons. 

[aggie08 21505]

21 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

2020 numbers were awful. Looks to me like you will lose that bet with a conference finals game somewhere along the line but yeah- conceptually you were pretty right on. 

2019 was also down 15% overall from the year before without LeBron in the field. The Warriors were the only games with big draws. It's been awhile since games without Steph or LeBron really moved the needle. I'm hoping that the influx of young star power changes that.

Edited May 21, 2021 by aggie08

[aggie08 21505]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

No but people in the 30M person NYC mega metro do. I promise you if there is a Nets/Knicks ECF that 6.5 will get shattered.

Well, sure. But the Knicks ain't making the ECF. Philly/Nets would get some eyeballs if it's a good series for sure. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

8 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Also, those numbers show the nba gets so much more attention and hype than it deserves as a function of actual eyeballs. Less than 7 million with their marque franchise against their marque super star?  You know who shits all over that in a similar situation?  Baseball. You know whose a 10 billion dollar league while the NBA is half that size?  Baseball. You know who puts double the amount of people in their buildings while having twice as much inventory?  Baseball. You know whose considered to be a dying sport and whose considered ascendant?  Baseball/basketball respectively. 
I love both sports. If I knew knowing about the numbers, revenue or attendance I would assume that basketball was the clear number 2 sport and closing in on the NFL. It’s not. 

Baseball has a problem with the utes.

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

I’m more than a casual but less than a hard core guy. I’m excited to watch the Nets all playoffs. I will watch Bucks Heat if it gets serious. I will watch Lakers Suns from the beginning. I will watch any series out west that gets competitive around game 3 or 4 in the first round. 

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

2 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

Baseball has a problem with the utes.

Which people have said forever. Is this the generation that sends baseball to second tier status and makes the NBA ascendant?  Maybe. But that’s been posited my entire life and I’m a man. I’m 42. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

Just now, Wulaw Horn said:

Which people have said forever. Is this the generation that sends baseball to second tier status and makes the NBA ascendant?  Maybe. But that’s been posited my entire life and I’m a man. I’m 42. 

I’m a man and I’m 45.  These things take a generation to shake out.  When the kid’s interest moves elsewhere it depletes the talent supply.  If Muhammad Ali were a teenager right now he would be playing linebacker.  Willie Mays would be playing point guard on an AAU team or free safety on the football team.  You see that effect decades later.  MLB has been augmenting it’s talent supply from the Caribbean for a while now.  The lack of American players is an issue.

[ztejas 43475]

29 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Well, sure. But the Knicks ain't making the ECF. Philly/Nets would get some eyeballs if it's a good series for sure. 

Nets/Celtics might break it tomorrow night.

I'd hate to crush your dreams like that, though. 

[Patrick Bateman 3917]

2 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Nets/Celtics might break it tomorrow night.

I'd hate to crush your dreams like that, though. 

Very doubtful.

 

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Nets/Celtics might break it tomorrow night.

I'd hate to crush your dreams like that, though. 

The problem with the Nets is that they have no natural fan base to speak of. 

[Machinator 32099]

Meanwhile, the Wizards are up double digits in the third.

[ztejas 43475]

7 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Very doubtful.

 

Sure. Not likely. But it's primetime ABC at 7pm on a Saturday (so not actually tomorrow night - sorry). New York vs. Boston. KD's 1st playoff game in 2 years. I bet it hits 5 million viewers at least. 

@Wulaw Horn sure but they are the title favorites. KD has a baked-in fanbase just like LeBron even though it's not as big. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by ztejas

[Patrick Bateman 3917]

5 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Meanwhile, the Wizards are up double digits in the third.

Pacers really didn't want to be there.  They face an interesting offseason.

 

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Sure. Not likely. But it's primetime ABC at 7pm on a Saturday (so not actually tomorrow night - sorry). New York vs. Boston. KD's 1st playoff game in 2 years. I bet it hits 5 million viewers at least. 

@Wulaw Horn sure but they are the title favorites. KD has a baked-in fanbase just like LeBron even though it's not as big. 

Yep. That’s the thing- if the nets had any fan base if their own than KD’s built in fan base would take them over that number. They don’t. Pulling 2,000,00 fans in NY would move the needle with KD’s following. 

[Wulaw Horn 19098]

2 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Pacers really didn't want to be there.  They face an interesting offseason.

 

And I still won’t be able to give a shit. 
last time I’ve regularly watched them was Reggie Miller time. That’s a couple decades in the rear view now. 

[billfromlaketravis 11516]

Good Russ is drive and kick, rebound on defense Russ. If he tries to do anything else, hide the women and children. 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4758]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Sure. Not likely. But it's primetime ABC at 7pm on a Saturday (so not actually tomorrow night - sorry). New York vs. Boston. KD's 1st playoff game in 2 years. I bet it hits 5 million viewers at least. 

@Wulaw Horn sure but they are the title favorites. KD has a baked-in fanbase just like LeBron even though it's not as big. 

But it’s not New York vs Boston, it’s Brooklyn vs Boston. I live here. Nobody gives a shit about the Nets even with 3 of the best 15 players in the league. But if it’s KD and a LeBron in the final, I don’t disagree with you.

 

[Fastbreak 3988]

1 hour ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Pacers really didn't want to be there.  They face an interesting offseason.

 

They are capped out - not counting McDermott and McConnell.  They are fucked, they have 6-8 place talent, the worst possible situation.

[Patrick Bateman 3917]

5 minutes ago, Fastbreak said:

They are capped out - not counting McDermott and McConnell.  They are fucked, they have 6-8 place talent, the worst possible situation.

That's sort of what I mean.  Other than hitting on a stud in the draft, they can't really get much better without making a move and I think that necessitates a trade of someone.  Sabonis is their best player and potential stud, Brogdon had his best season and is a keeper, they just got Levert, so that leaves Warren in a contract year (possible) or Myles Turner, who could be backfilled by Goga.  They'd give up a lot of defense, but they need another piece and Turner blocks a lot of balls and has an interesting skillset but could be replaced.  He's young and cost effective.  They could probably get a really good player or move up in the draft if they see a potential star.

[Machinator 32099]

The joys of being a small market team.

[ztejas 43475]

23 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

But it’s not New York vs Boston, it’s Brooklyn vs Boston. I live here. Nobody gives a shit about the Nets even with 3 of the best 15 players in the league. But if it’s KD and a LeBron in the final, I don’t disagree with you.

 

Yeah but the Boston folk give a shit that it's Brooklyn. 

We'll see. No shit a Lakers/Nets final will draw more than 6.5 million. I just wouldn't be surprised if that number is broken sooner rather than later. 

[Vic Mackey 47082]

...

[CurlyDumps 4476]

Anyone remember when P, whilst trying to see how deep he could throat Lebron's cock, said Steph Curry is easy to shut down? And all you have to do is put a tall guy on him?

LOL just randomly remembered that.

[d2o 1602]

On 5/20/2021 at 9:35 AM, Vic Mackey said:

On 5/20/2021 at 8:53 AM, HookEm said:

Jordan was an asshole but he was also cool af. His whole persona was cool. LeBron’s persona is crybaby.

Many of the biggest stars in the NBA right now aren’t that likable. LeBron = crybaby, Durant = snake, Kyrie = flat earther, Kawhi = Judas, Giannis = foreign, AD = boring, Harden = annoying, PG3 = playoff P, Westbrook = stat chaser, CP3 = asshole, Gobert = pandemic starter

IMO, the coolest guys in the NBA are Dame, Tatum, Curry, Luka, Zion. Maybe throw Jimmy Butler in there too. Klay when he’s healthy.

So Giannis isn't likable because he's foreign? Yet you name Luka, who is also foreign and also whines constantly.

Was wondering this too.   Luka cries CONSTANTLY.   I get he's on your team but cmon