NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[SilasCoade 2622]

59 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Things that I just realized tonight: Russell Westbrook has a signature 3-point celebration. Because of course he does.

I think that's great. Celebrations should be reserved for rare events lest they become cheap and meaningless. Imagine Steph shimmying after every 3 ball splashes through. Would that seem fun? Of course not. But Russ blindly throwing darts at the board and randomly hitting the bullseye is cause celebre.

[closetohumping 17440]

You guys still hold Pop in high regard or do you now realize he had a stacked roster for years?

[ztejas 43419]

8 hours ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Lakers had a must win game against Houston for playoff eligibility and Davis didn't even play.  Hurt again.  Lakers lost.

Next CBA will be fascinating.  There will be a ton of money but a lot of these guys just don't want to play.  Owners are gonna dig in.

 

It's hard for me to know with Davis if he's pushing back or if his body is just so fucked at this point that he really can't play that many games. That said, how about this Kyrie quote:

I'm not sure the proposed fix of having minimums for end of season awards really addresses the issue. How many guys care enough about stuff like that? And there's only 15-20 players that that would even affect each season between MVP, all-nba, all-defense and SMOTY. 

The Mavs/Spurs game last night was a fucking abomination. Both team's two best players were out and the over under for legitimate injuries between the four of them might be 0.5.

The fact that it's permeated the entire league from teams trying to make the playoffs to tanking teams that are intentionally trying to lose games seems to me like a bigger issue than people think. It's slowly turning the regular season into a charade. Two of the top three MVP candidates are on pace to miss more games than almost every MVP winner in league history. 

[Pam Cummings 9640]

1 hour ago, closetohumping said:

You guys still hold Pop in high regard or do you now realize he had a stacked roster for years?

Pop himself has said that he's nothing without TD. That said, no duh you need a roster with multiple top players to win a championship in most years. Easier said than done and Pop is most certainly one of the best ever.

 

Is Kerr that great of a coach, or just a stacked roster? Phil Jackson? Pat Riley? All coached multiple hall of famers. It's absurd to question their coaching acumen.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Pam Cummings

[closetohumping 17440]

20 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Pop himself has said that he's nothing without TD. That said, no duh you need a roster with multiple top players to win a championship in most years. Easier said than done and Pop is most certainly one of the best ever.

 

Is Kerr that great of a coach, or just a stacked roster? Phil Jackson? Pat Riley? All coached multiple hall of famers. It's absurd to question their coaching acumen.

You're right.  Best to wait for a season where they're actually trying.  

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

Pop is a great coach, obviously. One of the best of all time. The worst/funniest thing about Pop was his holier than thou response on tanking last spring. "It’s just not who we are. It’s not who I am. I can’t operate like that." Bitch your entire hall of fame career was set up by tanking in 96-97, and now he's at it again. Personally I think it's totally justifiable to tank once every three decades in hopes of snagging a generational talent, but at least have some self-awareness.  

[ztejas 43419]

4 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Bitch your entire hall of fame career was set up by tanking in 96-97

That Spurs team was legitimately bad. They didn't have to intentionally lose games. Bob Hill started 3-15 before Pop took over. DRob played 6 games. Sean Elliot missed half the season. The best players were a 37 year old Dominique who didn't play a lick of defense, Avery Johnson and Will Perdue. Not much of a tanking effort to lose 60 games with those cats. 

This is the first season that Pop has really intentionally lost as many games as possible. There were plenty of Spurs fans that thought we should have tried to lose more games than we did last season. So maybe he's a hypocrite or maybe he changed his mind after watching enough Wenbanyama highlights. Either way, he's the winngest coach in NBA history. He can do and say whatever he wants. 

[gsoda3 3254]

33 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Pop is a great coach, obviously. One of the best of all time. The worst/funniest thing about Pop was his holier than thou response on tanking last spring. "It’s just not who we are. It’s not who I am. I can’t operate like that." Bitch your entire hall of fame career was set up by tanking in 96-97, and now he's at it again. Personally I think it's totally justifiable to tank once every three decades in hopes of snagging a generational talent, but at least have some self-awareness.  

 

16 minutes ago, ztejas said:

That Spurs team was legitimately bad. They didn't have to intentionally lose games. Bob Hill started 3-15 before Pop took over. DRob played 6 games. Sean Elliot missed half the season. The best players were a 37 year old Dominique who didn't play a lick of defense, Avery Johnson and Will Perdue. Not much of a tanking effort to lose 60 games with those cats. 

This is the first season that Pop has really intentionally lost as many games as possible. There were plenty of Spurs fans that thought we should have tried to lose more games than we did last season. So maybe he's a hypocrite or maybe he changed his mind after watching enough Wenbanyama highlights. Either way, he's the winngest coach in NBA history. He can do and say whatever he wants. 

it sure looked like he was trying to win against us last night.  

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

5 hours ago, closetohumping said:

You guys still hold Pop in high regard or do you now realize he had a stacked roster for years?

When you put it that way we should probably also just go ahead and ignore all of the coaches and front office guys who came up under him and the culture he installed that about 75% of the league has tried to replicate. He just had stacked assistants as well I guess? Clearly he's just a no talent scrub who lucked into Tim Duncan and then coasted the rest of the way through his otherwise pedestrian career. 

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

4 hours ago, ztejas said:

It's hard for me to know with Davis if he's pushing back or if his body is just so fucked at this point that he really can't play that many games. That said, how about this Kyrie quote:

I'm not sure the proposed fix of having minimums for end of season awards really addresses the issue. How many guys care enough about stuff like that? And there's only 15-20 players that that would even affect each season between MVP, all-nba, all-defense and SMOTY. 

The Mavs/Spurs game last night was a fucking abomination. Both team's two best players were out and the over under for legitimate injuries between the four of them might be 0.5.

The fact that it's permeated the entire league from teams trying to make the playoffs to tanking teams that are intentionally trying to lose games seems to me like a bigger issue than people think. It's slowly turning the regular season into a charade. Two of the top three MVP candidates are on pace to miss more games than almost every MVP winner in league history. 

I think everyone understands teams tanking but what I don't understand is when wins start to matter, stars just don't want to play.  I thought the Lakers beating Houston was an easy win but then I checked the score mid way through the game and my first thought was "Davis isn't playing."  

I'm not sure what the solution to guys just not giving a shit.  Kyrie wants $50M per year or something but then you have that quote above.  If Dallas gives him a big contract, they deserve whatever they get.

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

5 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

When you put it that way we should probably also just go ahead and ignore all of the coaches and front office guys who came up under him and the culture he installed that about 75% of the league has tried to replicate. He just had stacked assistants as well I guess? Clearly he's just a no talent scrub who lucked into Tim Duncan and then coasted the rest of the way through his otherwise pedestrian career. 

I heard Pop once downplay his own ability by saying the biggest thing he ever did was draft Tim Duncan and while that's true to some degree, you don't have the prolonged level of winning like that without being great.  People would say it's easy to win with Kobe/Jordan/Duncan/etc. but in each case, there was a coach that didn't.

[closetohumping 17440]

13 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

When you put it that way we should probably also just go ahead and ignore all of the coaches and front office guys who came up under him and the culture he installed that about 75% of the league has tried to replicate. He just had stacked assistants as well I guess? Clearly he's just a no talent scrub who lucked into Tim Duncan and then coasted the rest of the way through his otherwise pedestrian career. 

True.  The team did a 720 the moment he fired Bob hill.  Stand corrected.

[aggie08 21497]

I've probably said this a dozen times over the years, but I always compare Pop/Duncan to Belichick/Brady.

Both Duncan and Brady would have been individually great wherever they ended up--with probably a title or two along the way--but they wound it in the perfect culture to maximize their greatness.

Meanwhile, Pop and Belichick's "team first, no drawing attention to yourself, buttoned up, take less money, respect the process" philosophies probably would have crashed and burned decades ago if they didn't luck into two superstar leaders that completely bought in.

[Pam Cummings 9640]

Belichick doesn't have nearly the coaching tree that Pop does. Not even close. All of his assistants are clown-ass yes men. Pop isn't afraid to hire somebody who will challenge him.

Edited March 16, 2023 by Pam Cummings

[PittsburghTiger 6179]

I hate the “it’s not who I am” answer people give when they get caught.

It is who you are. You did it. You have to change.

I hope he does change because he has such tremendous ability and is a joy to watch play.

[aggie08 21497]

I hate these in general. They're always so contrived and rehearsed. Wear nice clothes, take blame, vow that it's not who you are, and it won't happen again. All so Mr. Talking Head can say, "Well, he seemed contrite. Let's give him a chance."

I don't know what the alternative is, but it's all so played.

[Pam Cummings 9640]

It definitely has the feel of there being people just off-screen who are directing the whole thing. Not really a feeling of sincerity.

[ztejas 43419]

1 hour ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Kyrie wants $50M per year or something but then you have that quote above.

It's ridiculous. He's apparently unwilling to push his body to its physical limits in his athletic prime (which is his fucking job) for tens of millions of dollars a year. All while receiving the best medical attention in human history. And I know it's Kyrie but it's not like he's some outlier when it comes to this. There's a growing laundry list. 

I have sympathy for NFL players because it's a brutal game and it can really fuck you up mentally. I don't have sympathy for an NBA player making that much money just because their knees might suck when they're in their 50s or their elbow might never feel the same. You don't want to have lingering injuries after you retire? Get a 9 to 5 like the rest of us. Or go be a coach or media personality. 

That said - I still think the solution is to play less games. But the woe-is-me I don't want my ankle to be sore when I'm 45 couldn't be more out of touch. That's what you signed up for, amigo. 

[d2o 1602]

1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

I hate these in general. They're always so contrived and rehearsed. Wear nice clothes, take blame, vow that it's not who you are, and it won't happen again. All so Mr. Talking Head can say, "Well, he seemed contrite. Let's give him a chance."

I don't know what the alternative is, but it's all so played.

 

1 hour ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I hate the “it’s not who I am” answer people give when they get caught.

It is who you are. You did it. You have to change.

I hope he does change because he has such tremendous ability and is a joy to watch play.

Same.  Its such a cynical way to look at it now but its been proven to warrant that now.   All canned responses.    

[Vic Mackey 47027]

.

[PittsburghTiger 6179]

37 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

.

That dude is cursed. 

[Underdog 28614]

Fuck his daddy but hate it for Lonzo.  

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

So, the ref that Van Fleet went off on was assigned to their game tonight:

 

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

6 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

.

Signed a 4 year/$80M deal.  Will likely only play 35 games of the deal.

Just awful.

[Fastbreak 3985]

The nets should play hardball with Simmons. Tell him to take a buyout or just sit at home until the contract runs out. If he stays home for 3 years, his career (lol) is done.

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

3 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

The nets should play hardball with Simmons. Tell him to take a buyout or just sit at home until the contract runs out. If he stays home for 3 years, his career (lol) is done.

It's done already.  There needs to be some consequences here.  He's not injured, he's just refusing to play at this point.  The Nets should be able to cut him without paying him, however that works.

The best move in the past few years was Philly getting rid of him and it doesn't matter how the other end of that trade works out.  

[d2o 1602]

27 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

It's done already.  There needs to be some consequences here.  He's not injured, he's just refusing to play at this point.  The Nets should be able to cut him without paying him, however that works.

The best move in the past few years was Philly getting rid of him and it doesn't matter how the other end of that trade works out.  

When has he been refusing to play.   Jacque Vaughan said he was out of the rotation last week.

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

Bill Simmons out on his podcast ranks the worst contracts in the league.  Solid listen and funny at times.

#1 and not even close is Ben Simmons.  Minnesota had two.  I knew about Gobert's being bad but I didn't realize how bad KAT's was.

[Baboontyme 2810]

Wiggins rumors are wild. Really hope it's not true for Wiggins sake. No link but the rumor is that he found out she was cheating with his friend and one of his daughters is not in fact his.

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

 

[Vic Mackey 47027]

 

[shadow_operative 15932]

they don't like black guys in boston? who knew? 

[aggie08 21497]

6 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Wiggins rumors are wild. Really hope it's not true for Wiggins sake. No link but the rumor is that he found out she was cheating with his friend and one of his daughters is not in fact his.

I mean...that's way better than a sick kid, which is about the only other acceptable justification for a 5 week (and counting) absence. 

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

7 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Wiggins rumors are wild. Really hope it's not true for Wiggins sake. No link but the rumor is that he found out she was cheating with his friend and one of his daughters is not in fact his.

Is the friend Jordan Poole?

[Vic Mackey 47027]

 

[SilasCoade 2622]

People suck

[Message Board User 12395]

3 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

 

Boston sports - Come for the tradition, stay for the overt racism.

[Underdog 28614]

42 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

People suck

Murray's GF apparently does, but yeah, buying a ticket doesn't give you a pass to be an ass. 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18547]

The end of that Lakers Mavs game omg. AD with a brain dead foul up 4 and then the buzzer beater from Kleber. Critical fuck up in the playoff chase. 

[Message Board User 12395]

8 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

The end of that Lakers Mavs game omg. AD with a brain dead foul up 4 and then the buzzer beater from Kleber. Critical fuck up in the playoff chase. 

And AD just standing there in no man's land at the end.

 

[closetohumping 17440]

[SilasCoade 2622]

Lol would be awesome to see them put it up there with a pair of crutches instead of a number like that announcer's mic.

[gmr548 16576]

On 3/15/2023 at 11:09 PM, aggie08 said:

Things that I just realized tonight: Russell Westbrook has a signature 3-point celebration. Because of course he does.

I too celebrate enthusiastically when I manage to accomplish something I'll only pull off once or twice in a given year

[Vic Mackey 47027]

.

[aggie08 21497]

Cool story. What's his uncle driving?

[ztejas 43419]

Watching SAC/BOS.

SAC defense is a joke. They aren't doing shit in the playoffs past the first round. 

[ztejas 43419]

Holy shit PG just went 360 in the half court. 

[closetohumping 17440]

Had no idea Brunson was this good.  Thought he was a guy who did well because of luka not in spite of

Edited March 22, 2023 by closetohumping

[Kermit 3156]

16 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Had no idea Brunson was this hood.  Thought he was a guy who did well because of luka not in spite of

With a 38% usage rate, there’s not much else to go around.

10 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

.

Hey, it’s one of those cars that refuses to drive for half the year.

[Pam Cummings 9640]

8 minutes ago, Kermit said:

With a 38% usage rate, there’s not much else to go around.

Hey, it’s one of those cars that refuses to drive for half the year.

I wonder how many mechanics he has to take it to before they "find" the thing that he insists is wrong with it?