NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[Reynolds Woodcock 4783]

Jfc, unreal.

[ztejas 43502]

10 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

Dallas really seems like a team that has flat-lined since getting Kyrie. They were such a well-rounded group last year, but now they seem like a team that has fallen off the edge of the earth.

I get the joke but they were a .500 team without him and they're a .500 team with him. 

I will say - they probably beat almost anyone besides Phoenix in that Sunday game they played. They've looked good here and there -  but again - that's kind of who they were already. 

I just don't understand pairing those two together. There's so much redundancy - in play style, strengths and weaknesses. And that isn't including the soak the franchise in gasoline for a few months before lighting it on fire MO of Kyrie. 

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

Luka pushed for Kyrie. Players make the worst GMs.

[ztejas 43502]

32 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

 

Garbage journalism. He hasn't gotten an MRI yet. I mean he COULD have a grade 2 sprain. I don't think that's likely. Booker said he was fine.

[Vic Mackey 47089]

.

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

12 hours ago, Message Board User said:

I think we can remove the word "borderline" here - thank you KPJ for being such an asshole.

Just some unbelievable defense tonight saving the game from the neophyte - I don't know if there's another guy in the league that big who has that kind of quickness, footwork, and defensive IQ.

And he's really making leaps offensively as well.

 

To make matters worse on Jalen Green, if Harden signs with Houston (lulz) then Green is basically a wasted pick.  Josh Giddey has much better shooting stats and he’s not a great shooter by any means.

Throw in Jabari Smith’s disappointing season and that’s more of an indictment of the Rockets player development more than anything.

[ztejas 43502]

3 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Josh Giddey has much better shooting stats

No - he doesn't. Green is a much better 3 point shooter and gets to the line more often. His TS% is actually better despite being on a much shittier team and scoring 5 more ppg. Giddey has better %s inside 16 feet but he's actually playing in a functional offense. 

No one would trade Mobley for Green but I'm not out on Green yet. The situation he's in is beyond awful. There's a very good NBA player in there somewhere - he needs more help finding it. 

[Wulaw Horn 19126]

20 hours ago, aggie08 said:

As the resident Warriors' apologist...I have no fucking idea what's going on. Their defense just does not travel whatsoever. They also foul a ton, and don't shoot many free throws whatsoever. A bad combination when the whistle already naturally favors the home team.

Draymond has obviously been the primary catalyst for them typically being a Top 5 defense for almost a decade, but I think Mike Brown deserves more credit for being the Draymond and defense whisperer, keeping guys engaged on that end night after night. I know I definitely owe him an apology for calling Sacramento hiring him "lazy." 

The one thing that I'm banking on is that the Warriors have never not won a road game in a playoff series under Kerr. So, to beat them as a higher seed, you likely have to take 1 of 3 in San Fran, then beat them in a Game 7 on your floor.

Also, beyond basketball, Wiggins' extended absence is getting troubling. Missing 9 games--with no return in sight--due to family issues is getting into really sick child concern territory. Hopefully, it's not as serious as it would seem.

Was listening to Zach Lowe the other day and he said that in his opinion it's luck.  If you look at the quality of shot numbers opponents are hitting way too few shots in San Fran and way too many on the road and if it all regressed back to the mean nobody would know any different.  

So, that's one theory.  

[UpperWestside 6171]

8 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Me on surly like
 

Someone should start a GoFundMe for his fine and donate all of it to whatever charity Van Vleet wants to give it to. That was maybe the best verbal takedown of an official and officiating in general since, well, ever. Only NVE taking both Ron Garretson’s manhood and smugness from him at the same time in the mid-90’s is higher on the list. Perhaps he can give to some charity that funds eyewear. Would be some high quality trolling.

[UpperWestside 6171]

I saw a video of Zach Lowe talking about Van Vleet. I have never heard him talk before. He sounds like an analytics guy who does not understand how a referee can change the flow of a game completely with one call. I’m honestly not certain he has ever played a team sport after listening to him. 

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

Then this.  Basically out for the season again.  Hard to believe he's only 22.

 

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

Might be done for awhile, if not longer.  Still has two more years on his contract at $20M per and hasn't played since Jan 14, 2022.  Basically signed a 4 year/$80M deal in 2021 and will only play half of a season.

 

[UpperWestside 6171]

At a certain point you are who you are. Ball has recurring knee issues and Zion will likely never be completely healthy. New Orleans needs to just admit things are likely not going to work out long-term since the guy is a walking injury. 

[Message Board User 12395]

Edited March 9, 2023 by Message Board User

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

Watching Draymond and Dillon Brooks go at each other over social media gives me the same feels as watching Oklahoma play A&M. Ain't nothing to root for except injuries and earthquakes.

[ztejas 43502]

The no one playing games shit has to be addressed. Silver standing pat isn't working. Durant rolls his ankle and it's 3 weeks just to be "re-evaluated"? If this was the playoffs he'd be playing by Sunday. No one gives a fuck about the regular season anymore. The idea of buying a ticket to go watch a certain player play is a fantasy at this point. 

I mean what is this recent SGA shit? That dude isn't fucking injured and he's 24 and on a team that needs help making the playoffs. He comes back for a couple games and puts up 30+ without breaking a sweat. 

This next CBA might be really nasty. They need to play less games but I'm not sure it will ever happen. 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4783]

27 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Watching Draymond and Dillon Brooks go at each other over social media gives me the same feels as watching Oklahoma play A&M. Ain't nothing to root for except injuries and earthquakes.

Draymond is annoying, but he’s a HOFer, former DPOY, and critical component to one of the great dynasties in NBA history. Dillon Brooks shouldn’t be in the NBA.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4783]

1 minute ago, ztejas said:

The no one playing games shit has to be addressed. Silver standing pat isn't working. Durant rolls his ankle and it's 3 weeks just to be "re-evaluated"? If this was the playoffs he'd be playing by Sunday. No one gives a fuck about the regular season anymore. The idea of buying a ticket to go watch a certain player play is a fantasy at this point. 

I mean what is this recent SGA shit? That dude isn't fucking injured and he's 24 and on a team that needs help making the playoffs. He comes back for a couple games and puts up 30+ without breaking a sweat. 

This next CBA might be really nasty. They need to play less games but I'm not sure it will ever happen. 

You are spot on.
 

I can’t remember if it was Lowe or Simmons or someone else, but I heard Silver described as a great “peace time” commissioner, but it’s time to be a war time commissioner. The league has to do away with load management somehow (I won’t pretend to know the answer). Reducing the games played seems obvious, but no business is going to willingly reduce its revenue generating inventory, so there has to be a replacement revenue stream.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

3 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Draymond is annoying, but he’s a HOFer, former DPOY, and critical component to one of the great dynasties in NBA history. Dillon Brooks shouldn’t be in the NBA.

Oklahoma is annoying, but they are one of the most storied college football programs in the country with multiple national championships. Texas A&M is known for sheep fucking. I'm still rooting for the meteor when any of the above parties are involved.

[SilasCoade 2622]

20 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

You are spot on.
 

I can’t remember if it was Lowe or Simmons or someone else, but I heard Silver described as a great “peace time” commissioner, but it’s time to be a war time commissioner. The league has to do away with load management somehow (I won’t pretend to know the answer). Reducing the games played seems obvious, but no business is going to willingly reduce its revenue generating inventory, so there has to be a replacement revenue stream.

There are other options than just fewer games. One would be reducing travel by having each team host mini tournaments where multiple teams are in town for several days. They can do back to backs without the travel then have a few days off before the next tournament at home.

They should also put some marketing effort into building more team loyalty amount fans and reducing the fan devotion to individual players. Incentives  and methods to protect players' health are not and IMO should not go away, but if fans are there for the team they'll be happier with the experience.

[ztejas 43502]

10 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

They should also put some marketing effort into building more team loyalty amount fans and reducing the fan devotion to individual players. Incentives  and methods to protect players' health are not and IMO should not go away, but if fans are there for the team they'll be happier with the experience.

Yes, well, my team is currently intentionally losing as many games as possible. 

It's always going to be about players - especially for more casual fans. Outside of some outliers - if you don't have a top player you don't have a chance at winning a championship. 

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

The no one playing games shit has to be addressed. Silver standing pat isn't working. Durant rolls his ankle and it's 3 weeks just to be "re-evaluated"? If this was the playoffs he'd be playing by Sunday. No one gives a fuck about the regular season anymore. The idea of buying a ticket to go watch a certain player play is a fantasy at this point. 

I mean what is this recent SGA shit? That dude isn't fucking injured and he's 24 and on a team that needs help making the playoffs. He comes back for a couple games and puts up 30+ without breaking a sweat. 

This next CBA might be really nasty. They need to play less games but I'm not sure it will ever happen. 

SGA is legitimately injured.  Abdominal strain.  They’re only sitting him on one game of back to backs.  

[Kermit 3157]

This Denver team ain’t winning shit.

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

 

[UpperWestside 6171]

11 hours ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

You are spot on.
 

I can’t remember if it was Lowe or Simmons or someone else, but I heard Silver described as a great “peace time” commissioner, but it’s time to be a war time commissioner. The league has to do away with load management somehow (I won’t pretend to know the answer). Reducing the games played seems obvious, but no business is going to willingly reduce its revenue generating inventory, so there has to be a replacement revenue stream.

You hit players in the pocketbook. That will quickly solve load management. Sit out tomorrow? Cool. You aren’t getting paid. Teams should not have to pay for guys doing this ridiculousness. 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4783]

7 hours ago, UpperWestside said:

You hit players in the pocketbook. That will quickly solve load management. Sit out tomorrow? Cool. You aren’t getting paid. Teams should not have to pay for guys doing this ridiculousness. 

That’s easy to write, but a lot harder to implement. Who is the final arbiter of whether a player is injured? And that ignores that in many cases its the team giving the load management nod.

[Message Board User 12395]

11 hours ago, Kermit said:

This Denver team ain’t winning shit.

🤔

 

[Kermit 3157]

8 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

🤔

 

At this point, Joker is going to kill someone. He’s so incredibly gifted, and the next best player in his team has pubes glued to his face. 
 

edit: He’s incredibly offensively gifted. Dude has got to be the worst defender at his position in the league. He’s the Trae Young of centers.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Kermit

[Pam Cummings 9646]

Denver really is pathetic to lose to a tank-a-thon team like us, fuck

[Message Board User 12395]

1 hour ago, Kermit said:

At this point, Joker is going to kill someone. He’s so incredibly gifted, and the next best player in his team has pubes glued to his face. 
 

edit: He’s incredibly offensively gifted. Dude has got to be the worst defender at his position in the league. He’s the Trae Young of centers.

Yep.  And it should be noted this happened against the Spurs.

 

[Dutchrudder 11142]

This seems to be a trend in the NBA, top scoring guys don't play defense much at all. How many of these guys would you say are + defenders? 5?

[Kermit 3157]

1 hour ago, Dutchrudder said:

This seems to be a trend in the NBA, top scoring guys don't play defense much at all. How many of these guys would you say are + defenders? 5?

I’ve got eight. Embiid, Giannis, Shai, Tatum, Lebron when he wants to, Jaylen, Anthony, and Pascal. Fox doesn’t seem to suck the times I’ve watched him.

[Message Board User 12395]

 

[Aqua Buddha 14598]

1 hour ago, Kermit said:

I’ve got eight. Embiid, Giannis, Shai, Tatum, Lebron when he wants to, Jaylen, Anthony, and Pascal. Fox doesn’t seem to suck the times I’ve watched him.

Throw in SGA.  Decent amount of steals, blocks, and "hustle" stats.

[ztejas 43502]

4 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

This seems to be a trend in the NBA, top scoring guys don't play defense much at all. How many of these guys would you say are + defenders? 5?

Embiid, Giannis, Tatum, Brown, Ant, Siakam. (And you could add Kawhi, KD and Davis who fall under the GP threshold).

That's 6. I could be talked into a couple more. 

Feel like it's always been that way though. It's rare for top scorers to also be great defenders. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by ztejas

[ztejas 43502]

3 hours ago, Kermit said:

I’ve got eight. Embiid, Giannis, Shai, Tatum, Lebron when he wants to, Jaylen, Anthony, and Pascal. Fox doesn’t seem to suck the times I’ve watched him.

I haven't watched SGA all that much. I'll take y'all's words for it.

I'm way past counting LeBron on that list. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

GS and Milwaukee tied with 1.8 seconds left and steve kerr draws up a play designed to have draymond take a three. awesome. he nearly made it too. 😂 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4783]

Curry has just eviscerated a shorthanded Bucks in the last 10 minutes. Just elite shot making to go with a game saving block on Jrue.

[shadow_operative 15932]

curry is so amazing.

[shadow_operative 15932]

Ja:

and yes, the entire room is covered in money. 

[Murfdogg21 4413]

On 3/8/2023 at 11:12 PM, Mittens said:

 

Arraigned Man

[Message Board User 12395]

KPJ making friends wherever he goes.

 

[Dutchrudder 11142]

19 hours ago, ztejas said:

Embiid, Giannis, Tatum, Brown, Ant, Siakam. (And you could add Kawhi, KD and Davis who fall under the GP threshold).

That's 6. I could be talked into a couple more. 

Feel like it's always been that way though. It's rare for top scorers to also be great defenders. 

~30% seems about right. Some are debatable, like Lebron used to be a great 2way player, but clearly isn't any more. I don't think Kawhi has the same impact he used as well. AD definitely would be a + 2way player when he's available. 

Maybe it's just nostalgia glossing over reality, but I don't remember any starters skipping on defense back in the 90s like they do in today's game. I know the culture and rules have changed a lot, but I wonder if some of this is due to agents getting in player's ears about increasing scoring stats. Putting up a few more PPG can make a huge difference in your next contract value, whereas nobody is going to pay much more if you go from .5 steals pg to 1.1. hitting the 20+ PPG mark can be the difference of 10s of millions on your next contract vs getting an MLE deal. Klutch sports is all about maximizing their player's contracts, even if it's to the detriment of the team, and I'm sure those guys know how to coach their people to focus on what pays vs what wins games.

[Vic Mackey 47089]

.

[aggie08 21505]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:35 AM, shadow_operative said:

Ja:

and yes, the entire room is covered in money. 

I'd like to remark how pathetic this is, but I feel like it would be similar to making fun of a gaudy redneck hunting lodge in a room full of Texans. Chances are, a third of the league sees that picture and are envious as fuck.

[Underdog 28738]

I'm a 61 yo white fuck and I'm envious as fuck. 

[ztejas 43502]

On 3/12/2023 at 3:35 AM, shadow_operative said:

Ja:

and yes, the entire room is covered in money. 

How many times could you have taken this pic of Harden over his career? 

[ztejas 43502]

14 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Chances are, a third of the league sees that picture and are envious as fuck.

A third of the league - at least - is doing the exact same shit. 

[Vic Mackey 47089]

And he gone...

[cmontexas 3272]

Dude on the Aaron Hernandez track