NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[BigOrange1 6560]

18 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

They won 24 games last year and tried as hard as possible to lose but if SGA stays healthy, they'll easily win 30 games.  They've already won 4 and all of their games have been against playoff teams except for Orlando.

so you are interested in wager 1 then?

[Aqua Buddha 14657]

2 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

so you are interested in wager 1 then?

I'm not sold at Shai being healthy all year.  I'm saying he's injury prone but the dude does get hurt, albeit some of those were tanking injuries.  He's playing really well so far this season but yeah, if he plays 70+ games, they'll win at least 30.  The back half of their schedule is much easier.

[VirginiaLonghorn 4808]

In an act reconciliation, Kylie has offered to arrange Chinese and Hebrew language courses for all NBA players.

Wang Chung muthafuckas!

[Mitch Cumsteen 18666]

2 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

They won 24 games last year and tried as hard as possible to lose but if SGA stays healthy, they'll easily win 30 games.  They've already won 4 and all of their games have been against playoff teams except for Orlando.

You don't get to count 2 games you won against the Clippers both without Kawhi and one of those without Paul George as "playoff teams." Other than that, you beat Dallas in OT on a night where Luka couldn't throw it in the ocean (8-23 overall and 0-6 from 3) coming off a big game against Brooklyn, and Orlando who is arguably the worst team in the league. You are playing fucking Poku 20+ minutes a game. No team that's actively trying to win does that. And SGA isn't going to stay "healthy." They sit that dude for a week if he has the vaguest  hint of a hangnail. 

2 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Giddey was averaging 7 APG for the last two months so yeah, a 6'9" guy with those passing skills would help any of those guys running off screens.  

Not if you don't have to guard him outside of about 15 feet he doesn't. And he's such a shitty defender that any big playing behind him has a better than zero chance of winding up in foul trouble. Also, if there were ever any statistics in the history of the NBA that qualify as empty calories, it is whatever numbers that were posted at the end of last season for the Thunder. That team played nothing but garbage time for about the last 3 months of the season. They had 26 different players listed on their roster at some point. 26! If you want to take away something subjective from his play, I'll allow it because I do think that he's got some game, but Franz Wagner is probably better fit next to Banchero on both sides of the court than Giddey.

[Aqua Buddha 14657]

5 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

You don't get to count 2 games you won against the Clippers both without Kawhi and one of those without Paul George as "playoff teams." Other than that, you beat Dallas in OT on a night where Luka couldn't throw it in the ocean (8-23 overall and 0-6 from 3) coming off a big game against Brooklyn, and Orlando who is arguably the worst team in the league. You are playing fucking Poku 20+ minutes a game. No team that's actively trying to win does that. And SGA isn't going to stay "healthy." They sit that dude for a week if he has the vaguest  hint of a hangnail. 

Not if you don't have to guard him outside of about 15 feet he doesn't. And he's such a shitty defender that any big playing behind him has a better than zero chance of winding up in foul trouble. Also, if there were ever any statistics in the history of the NBA that qualify as empty calories, it is whatever numbers that were posted at the end of last season for the Thunder. That team played nothing but garbage time for about the last 3 months of the season. They had 26 different players listed on their roster at some point. 26! If you want to take away something subjective from his play, I'll allow it because I do think that he's got some game, but Franz Wagner is probably better fit next to Banchero on both sides of the court than Giddey.

Thunder also had multiple players out against the Clippers.  Shai and PG were out for the first one and they were both back for the second.  OKC still didn't have Giddey or the Williams rookie that they seem to like.

[Francisco 2.0 32437]

Kyrie ghosted the owner of the Nets for a week:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34948105/inside-high-wire-decision-suspend-brooklyn-nets-star-kyrie-irving

 

Quote

For several agonizing days, the pleas had grown into a crescendo for Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai to punish star guard Kyrie Irving. The most important and invested voices in his orbit -- including NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Nets general manager Sean Marks -- had sided with a broad swath of the public in believing that Irving's refusal to condemn the contents of an antisemitic film he shared on his social media had left the Nets no choice but to suspend him, sources told ESPN.

Against the backdrop of calls for swift action, sources said Tsai had resisted and insisted on taking time to educate Irving on the horrors of antisemitism. He'd enlisted the counsel of the Anti-Defamation League, watched the full 3½ hours of the hate-filled movie Irving had shared, "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America" -- complete with its Holocaust denialism and quoting of antisemites such as Adolf Hitler and Henry Ford -- and researched the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, whose beliefs Irving frequently references in public settings.

 

Quote

As it turned out, the redemptive arc that Tsai had imagined for his star had devolved into what the owner felt was a repetitive exercise in Irving's betrayal of good faith, sources said. For nearly a week, Tsai kept extending the clock to give Irving a chance to get this right for himself, the franchise and the Jewish community -- and Irving never returned a single of his text messages, sources said. Almost a week later, Irving had shown no inclination to deliver an apology, nor a disassociation of the movie's contents, nor a willingness to answer "No" when asked if he held antisemitic beliefs.

The team Thursday leveled a five-game suspension without pay, declaring Irving "currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets."

 

Spoiler

For all the questions surrounding the most troubling week in the troubled tenure of Irving and the Nets, one question remained: Why did it take Tsai so long to get there? As much as anything, Tsai had held out a hope that there could be a two-way conversation with Irving.

Tsai issued a statement Friday night, declaring he was "disappointed that Kyrie appears to support a film based on a book full of antisemitic disinformation," and described his desire to "sit down and make sure he understands this is hurtful to all of us, and as a man of faith, it is wrong to promote hate based on race, ethnicity or religion."

After a combative news conference Saturday night in which Irving said he refused to "stand down," stronger calls had emerged within Nets leadership and the commissioner's office to level a suspension, sources said. For the franchise and league, embarrassment grew and patience waned. For most, the news conference had portrayed a familiar Irving -- defiant, undeterred and crusading with misinformation.

"I'm only going to get stronger because I'm not alone," Irving said. "I have a whole army around me."

This stirred the echoes of Irving's anti-science, anti-vaccination stance of a season ago. Much of the Nets' standoff with Irving, 30, in the offseason had been rooted in the franchise's unwillingness to guarantee the 2011 No. 1 overall draft pick a long-term contract, leaving him in the final season of his deal at a $36.5 million salary.

The failed negotiations of the summer had spilled into a far more dramatic and destructive matter this time. The franchise's communication with Irving had been channeled completely through his agent and stepmother, Shetellia Riley Irving, sources said. Tsai had wanted time and space to work together with the ADL and Irving, but there was no direct dialogue with Irving himself, sources said. Silver had cautioned Tsai that issuing a joint statement with the ADL without dealing with Irving directly -- nor including a condemnation of the movie's material, or a full apology -- simply didn't reach an acceptable threshold, sources said.

The Nets and Irving on Wednesday publicly pledged $500,000 each to the ADL for the purposes of combating antisemitism, only to have ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt publicly declare hours later -- and following news of Irving's suspension -- that the group would no longer accept the donation after Irving's "debacle" of a news conference Thursday.

Silver's patience had run out Thursday morning. What had started as a humiliation for the Nets had become a full-scale embarrassment and crisis for the league. Silver issued a piercing condemnation of Irving's failure to offer "an unqualified apology and more specifically denounce the vile and harmful content contained in the film he chose to publicize."

Irving had become an albatross around his team, too. He had played a listless game Tuesday in a loss to the Chicago Bulls, leaving his teammates and opponents to privately describe him as disengaged and seemingly "in another world." For a player averaging 30 points and shooting at almost every opportunity, Irving didn't make a basket until the fourth quarter. He had been distant to everyone in recent days, sources said, his presence feeling like an anvil hanging over everyone.

Before the Nets on Thursday took off for a weekend trip to play the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets, Irving had walked over to an assembled group of media members and again refused to apologize or condemn the film. Asked if he held antisemitic beliefs, Irving responded, "I cannot be antisemitic if I know where I come from."

For Tsai, that was it. No more. Irving's refusal to disavow antisemitism and Holocaust denial convinced him Irving had been insincere in his joint ADL statement hours earlier, sources said. The efforts to educate had failed miserably, Tsai's faith in Irving proving once more to have been misguided and ultimately disastrous for his franchise.

The only question left for Tsai and the Nets: How long of a suspension for Irving, and what would be the path to reinstatement? After hours of conferring with lawyers and the league office, the Nets landed on five games without pay -- costing Irving $1.2 million -- and a requirement to complete a "series of objective remedial measures that address the harmful impact of his conduct."

In an email outlining the suspension to his agent, the conditions needed for Irving's reinstatement included a public statement recognizing the film is antisemitic, an apology for supporting the film and the falsehoods within it, and training sessions on the dangers of hate speech, sources said. There would also need to be meetings with Brooklyn Jewish leaders, Marks told reporters Friday morning.

Four hours after learning of his suspension, Irving issued a statement on his Instagram page that went further than he had gone in the previous week.

"To all Jewish families and communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize," Irving wrote.

"I initially reacted out of emotion to being unjustly labeled Antisemitic, instead of focusing on the healing process of my Jewish Brothers and Sisters that were hurt from the hateful remarks made in the documentary."

 

Amid the suspension, the Nets are in freefall. They have lost six of their first eight games to start the season. Besides the Irving situation, Ben Simmons is out with knee soreness and the Nets are still working through the final stages of vetting the hiring of suspended Celtics coach Ime Udoka, sources said.

As usual, Irving's future is murky and tied to Kevin Durant's. If Irving's trade value was low this summer, it has cratered now. Even so, the Nets needed a trade partner willing to give Irving a long-term deal to execute a trade over the summer, but that's no longer the case. He's on an expiring contract, which means a team isn't committed financially to him beyond the end of this season.

Four years ago, Durant and Irving arrived in Brooklyn together. The partnership nearly crumbled over the summer and now teeters again. When talking to reporters Friday morning, Durant was noncommittal on Irving, the organization and the chaos of the entire week. "I feel like it was all unnecessary," he said.

Once more, there's an unmistakable question looming over the franchise: Who's the last man standing for Kyrie Irving?

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Francisco 2.0

[Braff Zacklin 13672]

Hypothetical:

Say the Nets continue to implode. Could KD be traded? What would a past-his-prime-yet-still-super-effective star command these days? And who would most benefit from his services?

[Aqua Buddha 14657]

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[ztejas 43752]

2 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

 

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

also, i'm gonna post demar derozan's highlights from tonight once they're up on youtube. he is 1 of 1 on the nba. just a mis range savant.

[Fastbreak 3996]

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

He was the conductor. He loves the drama.

[Fastbreak 3996]

Kat is the worst defender as a big ever

Kat is the worst defender as a big ever

[Braff Zacklin 13672]

Riddle me this: how does KAT rate as a big on defense?

[Kermit 3160]

6 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Riddle me this: how does KAT rate as a big on defense?

Doesn’t matter, greatest shooting big of all time*.
 

 

 

 

 

*self-proclaimed

[Francisco 2.0 32437]

Just did it.

 

 

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18666]

I would like to congratulate Kyrie on finally reaching the "find out" portion of his personal journey. From imploding two (and currently in the process of three) franchises to flat earthers to anti-vax bullshit to randomly taking mental health vacation days to Alex Jones to holocaust denying, it was long, long overdue.

[Vic Mackey 47380]

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

He chose this. On his own. He orchestrated the whole thing. He wanted to prove he could do it on his own. He can't.

[UpperWestside 6224]

8 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

He chose this. On his own. He orchestrated the whole thing. He wanted to prove he could do it on his own. He can't.

Durant messed around and found out on this as well. He chose this path. He chose to walk away from the best situation in the NBA to be on a team with someone who belongs in an insane asylum. He chose the head coach and his own words at the time of the hiring indicate that. He made his bed and he can continue to lie in it. 

[UpperWestside 6224]

17 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I would like to congratulate Kyrie on finally reaching the "find out" portion of his personal journey. From imploding two (and currently in the process of three) franchises to flat earthers to anti-vax bullshit to randomly taking mental health vacation days to Alex Jones to holocaust denying, it was long, long overdue.

This has got be the single greatest find out moment a player in the NBA has ever had. It’s incredible the amount of crazy things he has said and done in his career. I feel like there is still more to come from him as he can’t contain the crazy, at all.

Edited November 5, 2022 by UpperWestside

[shadow_operative 15932]

the new showtime lakers are here.

[shadow_operative 15932]

lakers defense is must see tv.

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

Lakers' defense their last two halves:

67 points vs NO

75 posits vs Utah

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

 

also, i'm gonna post demar derozan's highlights from tonight once they're up on youtube. he is 1 of 1 on the nba. just a mis range savant.

 

he's unreal.

[ztejas 43752]

Jk. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by ztejas

[Mitch Cumsteen 18666]

20 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

 

he's unreal.

Lol I don't think one of his buckets was assisted. Nor was he getting any screens. It's literally him just going one on one and creating his own shot getting to the rim or pulling up. Poor Demar would have been league MVP if he played in an era where they didn't shoot threes like they do today.

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

Warriors kinda suck or what? 3 wins in 10 games.

Ben Simmons laughing on the bench in street clothes makes me irrationally angry. Dude doesn't want to be on the court.

[Fastbreak 3996]

Prediction: Giannis will have a 15 assist game soon. He basically drives it to the FT line, if they collapse on him he hits the open man for an easy shot. It’s pretty much unstoppable.

[Fastbreak 3996]

Tell me again Kyrie that you aren’t promoting…

[Pam Cummings 9700]

9 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

11 hours ago, ztejas said:

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

He chose this. On his own. He orchestrated the whole thing. He wanted to prove he could do it on his own. He can't.

He's the same as Lebron at this point. They chose their situation. Zero sympathy.

[ztejas 43752]

12 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

He was the conductor. He loves the drama.

 

11 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

12 hours ago, ztejas said:

Get him off of that fucking trainwreck team. 

He chose this. On his own. He orchestrated the whole thing. He wanted to prove he could do it on his own. He can't.

 

10 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

Durant messed around and found out on this as well. He chose this path. He chose to walk away from the best situation in the NBA to be on a team with someone who belongs in an insane asylum. He chose the head coach and his own words at the time of the hiring indicate that. He made his bed and he can continue to lie in it. 

 

1 hour ago, Pam Cummings said:

He's the same as Lebron at this point. They chose their situation. Zero sympathy.

I just don't care. He's too good at basketball to waste away the end of his prime like this. It isn't good for the game. He's like one of the 5 best 34 year olds ever. 

Shit get LeBron off the Lakers while we're at it. Put them on the same team somewhere. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by ztejas

[Herpa Derpa 6163]

KD's behavior during the whole Kyrie saga(s) is an indictment of his complete lack of leadership skills. His whole "just want to play ball" mantra has become a cover for this deficiency. He may have won MVPs at GS, but that was never his team. This Nets team is his, and it's been a tire fire seen from the moon since the jump.

I've always enjoyed giving LBJ shit for losing in the Finals more than he's won, but every single trip was due to his ability to carry the team through the season and reach the top. That required elite ball skills, AND elite leadership skills. KD's career will end with two rent-a-titles and a legacy of ignoring his responsibilities as a leader of men. What a shame.

[Pam Cummings 9700]

18 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

KD's behavior during the whole Kyrie saga(s) is an indictment of his complete lack of leadership skills. His whole "just want to play ball" mantra has become a cover for this deficiency. He may have won MVPs at GS, but that was never his team. This Nets team is his, and it's been a tire fire seen from the moon since the jump.

I've always enjoyed giving LBJ shit for losing in the Finals more than he's won, but every single trip was due to his ability to carry the team through the season and reach the top. That required elite ball skills, AND elite leadership skills. KD's career will end with two rent-a-titles and a legacy of ignoring his responsibilities as a leader of men. What a shame.

Lebron's Cleveland title with Kyrie as second banana is up there with the greatest achievements in sports history. Mind bottling considering who they beat and how they did it and the fact that nutjob idiot Kyrie played like a real basketball player during that run.

[Message Board User 12397]

16 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Lebron's Cleveland title with Kyrie as second banana is up there with the greatest achievements in sports history. Mind bottling considering who they beat and how they did it and the fact that nutjob idiot Kyrie played like a real basketball player during that run.

I actually think he was more impressive the year before when he played 1 on 5 vs GS but just ran out of gas.  

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[Kermit 3160]

22 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

 

That sounds like something Tony Brothers would do. He’s the worst.

[Message Board User 12397]

Ouch.

 

[Vic Mackey 47380]

.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8918]

Ouch.
 

Doesn’t help DLo has been atrocious at point guard

[UpperWestside 6224]

22 hours ago, Message Board User said:

Ouch.

 

I would be willing to give it until the trade deadline before I would attempt to find other pieces to put around those two that might make their lineup better. Sometimes guys need time to adjust to one another to make things work. They may well not fit together at all, but they need time together to find that out.

[SilasCoade 2622]

I haven't watched a ton of MN play this year but the games I have watched they get killed with Gobert playing drop on pick and rolls. Meanwhile the other team kills them by playing drop when Rudy sets a pick b/c he is zero threat on anything but a dive/roll to the rim. With the primary ball handler being a well-below league average 3-pt threat (Russell) they don't have to worry about the pull up off the screen and can play him straight up. Playing Rudy with KAT facilitates all of KAT's bad tendencies by encouraging him to hang out 25 feet from the rim instead of abusing mismatches in the post. If you try to pull Rudy out of the key on offense to work KAT in the post you're inviting a double team on KAT and basically playing 4 on 5 on that end of the floor. Maybe they will make some adjustments and put  together a winning formula, but right now the Rudy trade and their other off-season moves are clear net negatives.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18666]

3 hours ago, SilasCoade said:

I haven't watched a ton of MN play this year but the games I have watched they get killed with Gobert playing drop on pick and rolls. Meanwhile the other team kills them by playing drop when Rudy sets a pick b/c he is zero threat on anything but a dive/roll to the rim. With the primary ball handler being a well-below league average 3-pt threat (Russell) they don't have to worry about the pull up off the screen and can play him straight up. Playing Rudy with KAT facilitates all of KAT's bad tendencies by encouraging him to hang out 25 feet from the rim instead of abusing mismatches in the post. If you try to pull Rudy out of the key on offense to work KAT in the post you're inviting a double team on KAT and basically playing 4 on 5 on that end of the floor. Maybe they will make some adjustments and put  together a winning formula, but right now the Rudy trade and their other off-season moves are clear net negatives.

Yeah.... nobody saw all that coming.

[SilasCoade 2622]

1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Yeah.... nobody saw all that coming.

[Patrick Bateman 3944]

On 11/5/2022 at 12:40 PM, Message Board User said:

Ouch.

 

 

[Blotto 23719]

4 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Yeah.... nobody saw all that coming.

I remember about 99.5% of the board trashing that trade.....and then there was MNLonghorn, lulz.

[aggie08 21592]

I mean, it's early...but their bench is shallow and awful. Their starters need to be able to punish teams, and obviously are not.

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8918]

I mean, it's early...but their bench is shallow and awful. Their starters need to be able to punish teams, and obviously are not.
 

Naz Reid came into the season as our 11th man and is our 3rd or 4th best player lol. Nowell is a volume scorer, Taureen Prince is good, I’m still figuring out if I can stomach Kyle Anderson’s lethargic play


Admittedly the starting 5 has underachieved my expectations. DLo has been ass. Ant is jeckyll and Hyde.

Lots of teams pegged as contenders are stumbling out of the gates: sixers, heat, nets, warriors

Maybe Rudy getting Covid will pull some of our heads out of our asses

[SilasCoade 2622]

Slo-Mo is probably the 6th best player on the Wolves roster right now. He looks weird out there but he is effective. I wouldn't trade Kyle Anderson for Rudy Gobert straight up.

[shadow_operative 15932]

i found it highly satisfying today when LeBron's hometown Cavs, an organization that has drafted and traded well, acquiring a stockpile of young talent, beat the LAL LeBron & Friends Lakers by fourteen points. it's hilarious, the opposing trajectories of those two franchises.

[Aqua Buddha 14657]

Speaking of Minny: