2018-19 NBA Season Thread

[d2o 1602]

5 minutes ago, BigOrange1 said:

you realize they are 5-12 in the past 17 games he's been injured right?

Yeah Zo is nowhere near a bust.

[aggie08 21539]

Hopefully, this puts an end to the crazy talk that "8 straight Finals is the greatest accomplishment in NBA history."   It's impressive as hell from a longevity and availability perspective, but winning the JV playoffs after eight meaningless regular seasons isn't exactly Russell or MJ dominance.  I don't think that this year's Lakers squad is much worse than last year's Cavs.  But, in the East, he could take a couple weeks vacation mid-season, take a month off of playing defense to force a trade, feud with or fire the coach in January, get in twitter battles with his teammates, etc....and the worst that would happen is they'd drop to the 3 seed and be well rested for the postseason.  In the West, the only playoff spot that is truly guaranteed in Golden State's, and seeding actually matters. Miss 18 games to injury, try to trade your entire team, and come back playing like garbage, and you're the 10 seed looking up at Sacramento, and a team in your own building that traded its best player at the deadline and would actually prefer to miss the playoffs.  It's a different animal.

[UTDD 362]

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

you realize they are 5-12 in the past 17 games he's been injured right?

Zo is a very good defensive player especially for his age.  I think he has great defensive potential long-term.  He also has elite court vision that cannot be taught very easily and I think he makes the game easier for other players and that's great for a point guard.  He's got some positives for sure going forward.  Unfortunately, his ability to convert in the paint and free throw line is so absurdly bad that right now he is an offensive liability to the extreme.  I think this can be fixed somewhat as he ages into his prime, but the biggest concern to me about Lonzo is his leadership ability as a point guard and to a smaller extent his motor.  I am legitimately concerned if he has the mental fortitude and mindset to be a leader.  

[UTDD 362]

1 hour ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I don't think his ego would allow for that. Not that I think he is the only player with an ego. 

You might be right especially right now.  Maybe that changes in the later years of his contract.

[d2o 1602]

57 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Hopefully, this puts an end to the crazy talk that "8 straight Finals is the greatest accomplishment in NBA history."   It's impressive as hell from a longevity and availability perspective, but winning the JV playoffs after eight meaningless regular seasons isn't exactly Russell or MJ dominance.  I don't think that this year's Lakers squad is much worse than last year's Cavs.  But, in the East, he could take a couple weeks vacation mid-season, take a month off of playing defense to force a trade, feud with or fire the coach in January, get in twitter battles with his teammates, etc....and the worst that would happen is they'd drop to the 3 seed and be well rested for the postseason.  In the West, the only playoff spot that is truly guaranteed in Golden State's, and seeding actually matters. Miss 18 games to injury, try to trade your entire team, and come back playing like garbage, and you're the 10 seed looking up at Sacramento, and a team in your own building that traded its best player at the deadline and would actually prefer to miss the playoffs.  It's a different animal.

Yeah, I have never heard anyone say this.....

[aggie08 21539]

Just now, d2o said:

Yeah, I have never heard anyone say this.....

Seriously?? I distinctly remember hearing it from multiple outlets the last two Junes (especially last year with how shitty that Cavs team was). And I know I've heard plenty of people who have said it's LeBron's greatest accomplishment. I'm not even sure it makes his top 3.

[d2o 1602]

Just now, aggie08 said:

Seriously?? I distinctly remember hearing it from multiple outlets the last two Junes (especially last year with how shitty that Cavs team was). And I know I've heard plenty of people who have said it's LeBron's greatest accomplishment. I'm not even sure it makes his top 3.

It is pretty high on his list.    Its not the best thing he has done individually.    I've never heard anyone say it was the greatest thing in NBA history.   That is ludicrous

[immortal13 4059]

46 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Seriously?? I distinctly remember hearing it from multiple outlets the last two Junes (especially last year with how shitty that Cavs team was). And I know I've heard plenty of people who have said it's LeBron's greatest accomplishment. I'm not even sure it makes his top 3.

He did say that, and made the claim that winning a title in Cleveland makes him the GOAT

[Rockethorn1978 6106]

DO people think Lebron is gonna play at a high level forever? it's only gonna get worse next year and by his 3rd season in LA even worse yet when he signed some acted like he was gonna win multiple titles when he is on the backside of his career. 

[hundredTT 578]

1 hour ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

DO people think Lebron is gonna play at a high level forever? it's only gonna get worse next year and by his 3rd season in LA even worse yet when he signed some acted like he was gonna win multiple titles when he is on the backside of his career. 

For real. He is still very good, but you can see his age so clearly now. His defense is just painful to watch. 

[d2o 1602]

1 hour ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

DO people think Lebron is gonna play at a high level forever? it's only gonna get worse next year and by his 3rd season in LA even worse yet when he signed some acted like he was gonna win multiple titles when he is on the backside of his career. 

Meh, no one said he was gonna win multiple titles.   Especially with the uncertainty of the roster from the start.     He HAS to win at least one in LA for this to be anything other than a failure.

[aggie08 21539]

17 minutes ago, hundredTT said:

For real. He is still very good, but you can see his age so clearly now. His defense is just painful to watch. 

I can't pin his recent defense on age.  He's never really been known as an elite, tenacious lock-down, on-the-ball defender who hounds his man for 35 minutes (though he can still be great at it in spurts); his impact is better felt when he plays free safety, reads the offense, and knows what you're running and where to be.  Athleticism still helps, obviously, but it's more about IQ, anticipation, and being engaged.  He can be an average to slightly above average defender with minimal physical tax; it's entirely possible to get his rest in AND remain mentally engaged.  He's done it the last few seasons in Cleveland (where they usually put him on the other team's worst offensive player and let him roam), and he was perfectly fine at the beginning of this season.  He's either not fully recovered from the injury and its effects (be it lack of conditioning, carrying a few extra pounds, etc.), or he mentally checked out on the season, and doesn't see the point in fighting to get swept in the first round.

[Machinator 32099]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2019/03/04/jaylen-brown-not-fan-losing/0UXjFg8dTymrdQ0ovh05AN/story.html

Quote

Despite his improved play in the past few weeks and his warming to his reserve role, Jaylen Brown said he’s unhappy with the Celtics losing, saying that he and his teammates have to try to fix the “toxic” environment.

Brown is one of the few players to have played well throughout the team’s pitfalls, but the Celtics are one of the league’s most disappointing teams this season, having lost seven of their last 10 games and sinking to fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Brown said the environment with the team hasn’t been positive and needs to change.

“To be honest, I’m not feeling good at all,” Brown said. “The losing, it’s not a good feeling. I’m not too good about that.

“Because right now it’s not good. It’s toxic. I can’t really point out one thing. I don’t have all the answers. I’m just going to try to be part of the change. I’m going to try to do my best. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

When asked how he helps change the culture, Brown said: “I just try to come out and play hard and hopefully that sparks some [change]. But it’s not just up to one person. It’s up to the whole group.

“Everybody has to be on page,” he said. “If one person’s not on page, it’s going to affect the whole group. I just try to come out and play hard and see where that leaves me.”

 

[aggie08 21539]

1 hour ago, d2o said:

Meh, no one said he was gonna win multiple titles.   Especially with the uncertainty of the roster from the start.     He HAS to win at least one in LA for this to be anything other than a failure.

Still blows my mind the one of the 3 best players to ever play decided to join a bad Lakers team largely just to be in LA, knowing that not winning a title there would be a GIANT stain at the end of his career. I mean he figured (and probably still does) that things will work out between the allure of the Lakers and Rich Paul...but he chose, what, the 6th best basketball situation available to him this offseason?

I still go back to how they treated Paul George like a 2nd class citizen once LeBron's free agency started and Kawhi became available. Maybe it wouldn't have been enough to sign him, but they probably would have gotten a damn meeting had they not taken treated him like small(er) potatoes. So much unearned arrogance in that front office.

[d2o 1602]

13 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Still blows my mind the one of the 3 best players to ever play decided to join a bad Lakers team largely just to be in LA, knowing that not winning a title there would be a GIANT stain at the end of his career. I mean he figured (and probably still does) that things will work out between the allure of the Lakers and Rich Paul...but he chose, what, the 6th best basketball situation available to him this offseason?

I still go back to how they treated Paul George like a 2nd class citizen once LeBron's free agency started and Kawhi became available. Maybe it wouldn't have been enough to sign him, but they probably would have gotten a damn meeting had they not taken treated him like small(er) potatoes. So much unearned arrogance in that front office.

Honestly, they screwed up not trading for PG in the first place IMO.   Trade for him and you don't have to worry about that.    Especially when I am pretty positive they knew they were gonna get LBJ.  

Most guys don't wanna bounce all over IMO.    I know OKC aint LA but I didnt think he would want to play for the 3 different teams in 3 yrs.    Kawhi is a somewhat different guy so there might a little more of chance of him leaving but I honestly don't think he will leave TOR either. 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by d2o

[BigOrange1 6471]

no no no, they would be stupid to give up guys for george or kawhi because those guys will just rush to sign with the lakers during the summer. 

/conventional wisdom the past two seasons.

[Chad 1728]

7 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

you realize they are 5-12 in the past 17 games he's been injured right?

I didn't claim he's a total bust, but for a #2 pick he hasn't demonstrated any growth from last season. He is a good defensive player, but he has an absolutely abysmal offensive game. Now that he's in LeBron's shadow he's going to flounder. The Spurs have in Murray what the Lakers have in Lonzo with the 29th pick of the draft except Dejounte was ready to flaunt a polished offensive game before his injury.

There is more to that 5-12 record than Lonzo. LeBron is giving a half assed effort, a lot of the younger players are upset about the Anthony Davis trade scenarios and their team chemistry is a completely fucked at this point.

[Patrick Bateman 3933]

2 hours ago, d2o said:

Honestly, they screwed up not trading for PG in the first place IMO.   Trade for him and you don't have to worry about that.    Especially when I am pretty positive they knew they were gonna get LBJ.  

Most guys don't wanna bounce all over IMO.    I know OKC aint LA but I didnt think he would want to play for the 3 different teams in 3 yrs.    Kawhi is a somewhat different guy so there might a little more of chance of him leaving but I honestly don't think he will leave TOR either. 

 

 

It's because the Lakers are arrogant and they learned the wrong lessons from the Melo trade.  They thought they could simply wait for PG to fall lovingly into their arms without having to give up any assets but time.  By the time they were burned and taught a lesson, they were too far gone with Kawhi and the rest of the league is tired of Klutch Sports' games.  Laker supporters will point to the Melo trade as reason to not trade away young assets as all you're left is a superstar player or two and can't surround them with the appropriate supporting cast to compete for a title.  The flip side is Melo was never a superstar who could carry a team, Amare fucked up his knee, and Knicks management/ front office were so terrible they simply lacked the acumen to build a contender, superstar or not.  The Lakers are the brand of the NBA, but they misjudged the landscape multiple times in multiple stages during player acquisition.

[Chad 1728]

 

Some things never change....lmao!

[d2o 1602]

1 hour ago, Patrick Bateman said:

It's because the Lakers are arrogant and they learned the wrong lessons from the Melo trade.  They thought they could simply wait for PG to fall lovingly into their arms without having to give up any assets but time.  By the time they were burned and taught a lesson, they were too far gone with Kawhi and the rest of the league is tired of Klutch Sports' games.  Laker supporters will point to the Melo trade as reason to not trade away young assets as all you're left is a superstar player or two and can't surround them with the appropriate supporting cast to compete for a title.  The flip side is Melo was never a superstar who could carry a team, Amare fucked up his knee, and Knicks management/ front office were so terrible they simply lacked the acumen to build a contender, superstar or not.  The Lakers are the brand of the NBA, but they misjudged the landscape multiple times in multiple stages during player acquisition.

100% correct

[Message Board User 12396]

6 hours ago, hundredTT said:

For real. He is still very good, but you can see his age so clearly now. His defense is just painful to watch. 

It's been like that for years, unless it's in clutch situations or the playoffs.  And then most of the time when he is taking a break he blames his teammates.  E.g...

 

 

[Blotto 23580]

I knew Ball had shooting issues, but I had no idea his ft shooting was so damn bad. 1.5 seasons into his career, he is shooting 43.7% (45.1 last season, 41.7 this season). 

Shaq, who was so bad at free throws that the league adopted the hack-a-shaq, averaged 52.7% and never had a single season below 46%. Dwight Howard, at a career 56.7%, looks like Steve Nash compared to Lonzo. I bet Lavar could probably shoot it better. He's fucking turrible.

[Brothahorn 10087]

Big fan of Siakaam.

[BigOrange1 6471]

13 minutes ago, Brothahorn said:

Big fan of Siakaam.

he's really good.

kind of an odd piece of trivia, the following players have been drafted #27 this decade:

• rudy gobert (2013)
• bogdan bogdanovic (2014)
• larry nance jr (2015)
• siakam (2016)
• kyle kuzma (2017)

that's an insane hit rate for a spot so late in the first round.

[PittsburghTiger 6199]

1 hour ago, Blotto said:

I knew Ball had shooting issues, but I had no idea his ft shooting was so damn bad. 1.5 seasons into his career, he is shooting 43.7% (45.1 last season, 41.7 this season). 

Shaq, who was so bad at free throws that the league adopted the hack-a-shaq, averaged 52.7% and never had a single season below 46%. Dwight Howard, at a career 56.7%, looks like Steve Nash compared to Lonzo. I bet Lavar could probably shoot it better. He's fucking turrible.

That's way worse than Shaq and even Wilt!

But still better than a friend of mine from college. Jerome Lane shot an incredibly awful 37.9% from the line during his four-year career.

[aggie08 21539]

Just tuning in... Harden and Paul are a combined 9-36, and they've been up by double-digits almost the entire game in Toronto? Sure, makes perfect sense.

Edited March 6, 2019 by aggie08

[BigOrange1 6471]

everyone knows the rockets go as gerald green and austin rivers go.

[NowThis 931]

Philly is the beast of the East.  I think they upset the Bucks. 

[NowThis 931]

KL probably made his mind up tonight to leave Canada knowing this team has no title DNA.  I'd recommend he sign with an established franchise with a great coach

Spoiler

San Antonio Spurs 

 

[BigOrange1 6471]

can't play cousins?

 

[Patrick Bateman 3933]

1 hour ago, NowThis said:

KL probably made his mind up tonight to leave Canada knowing this team has no title DNA.  I'd recommend he sign with an established franchise with a great coach

  Reveal hidden contents

San Antonio Spurs 

 

Hard to instill that title DNA when you miss every third game.  Kawhi's a great player but you have to wonder with his personality, if he's the only one to join the Clippers, how far can he take them in the West, especially if his "load management" is going to cause him to miss so many game.  Leaders by example realize the best ability is availability.  I think the Clippers will need to somehow secure another superstar, I'm not sure Kawhi can be counted on as the "leader" on a championship squad.  The best player?  Yea, but leader?  Not sure his personality would be fit to lead on most squads (would take a very strong culture).

 

[UTDD 362]

12 minutes ago, BigOrange1 said:

can't play cousins?

 

Everyone is going to attack him on the pick and roll relentlessly during the playoffs.  Especially Houston, OKC, and Sacramento (if they make it).  

[SilasCoade 2622]

Damn the Celtics came to play tonight. If they could get this consistently they'd be special.

[UTDD 362]

Just now, Llogg said:

Damn the Celtics came to play tonight. If they could get this consistently they'd be special.

Their ceiling is still incredibly high, they just don't appear to be together mentally but maybe a game like this jumpstarts them going forward.  Also Hayward -- I wonder if he has played a better first half this season.  I've only seen about 4-6 Celtic games so maybe Celtic fans that have watched him much more can correct me.

[BigOrange1 6471]

he's got 19 on 7/8 shooting, as well as 4 boards and 2 assists.  i seriously doubt he's played a better half this season.

[aggie08 21539]

5 minutes ago, UTDD said:

Everyone is going to attack him on the pick and roll relentlessly during the playoffs.  Especially Houston, OKC, and Sacramento (if they make it).  

I've always assumed that they'd move Cousins to primarily 2nd team minutes in the playoffs against teams they respect. Their offense with Steph, KD, Klay, and Dray on the court doesn't really have room for improvement, and Cousins, even if he were 100%, can only make their defense worse. Him plowing through bench scrubs is pretty much the ideal scenario when he was signed.

Well, that and punishing teams when they go super small and try to switch everything. But, frankly, I think he'd give up more points in constant pick and rolls than he would score posting up Eric Gordon or whomever.

[UTDD 362]

6 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

I've always assumed that they'd move Cousins to primarily 2nd team minutes in the playoffs against teams they respect. Their offense with Steph, KD, Klay, and Dray on the court doesn't really have room for improvement, and Cousins, even if he were 100%, can only make their defense worse. Him plowing through bench scrubs is pretty much the ideal scenario when he was signed.

Well, that and punishing teams when they go super small and try to switch everything. But, frankly, I think he'd give up more points in constant pick and rolls than he would score posting up Eric Gordon or whomever.

I think they should do exactly that and play him until the first break or so in the first and third quarters and otherwise let him play when Durant and/or Steph rests starting the 2nd/4th quarters.  Depends on the opponent/matchups but I don't like him much against say Houston except to prevent Capela from dominating the boards and getting easy flashes.

Edited March 6, 2019 by UTDD

[Chad 1728]

 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Patrick Beverly comes out and more or less confirms that hes one of the many people who's lost his job because LeBron said so:

 

 

[d2o 1602]

10 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

he's really good.

kind of an odd piece of trivia, the following players have been drafted #27 this decade:

• rudy gobert (2013)
• bogdan bogdanovic (2014)
• larry nance jr (2015)
• siakam (2016)
• kyle kuzma (2017)

that's an insane hit rate for a spot so late in the first round.

There are plenty of good players to be had late in the first/early second.    Most of the time they are either guys that played multiple years in college or foreign born players that are stashed to come over when they are more ready to play.

Teams swing for the fences at the top of the draft now which makes for some spectacular misses,

[Goo Punch 4275]

nowadays maybe. but go back over the last 10-20 years and there are some ugly drafts post-lottery, and plenty of abysmal drafts in general. it's been better recently,  it for a long time drat locksmiths in the mid-late 20's generally struggled to cement a career, much less become real real legit NBA players or even stars. 

[Dutchrudder 11152]

There's another number that had some great picks on it. I think it was 15 for Giannis, Kawhi and some others, but I cant recall.

[NowThis 931]

11 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Hard to instill that title DNA when you miss every third game.  Kawhi's a great player but you have to wonder with his personality, if he's the only one to join the Clippers, how far can he take them in the West, especially if his "load management" is going to cause him to miss so many game.  Leaders by example realize the best ability is availability.  I think the Clippers will need to somehow secure another superstar, I'm not sure Kawhi can be counted on as the "leader" on a championship squad.  The best player?  Yea, but leader?  Not sure his personality would be fit to lead on most squads (would take a very strong culture).

 

kl played last night and the Raps did not look like title contenders. 

[Vic Mackey 47158]

Hard to instill that title DNA when you miss every third game.  Kawhi's a great player but you have to wonder with his personality, if he's the only one to join the Clippers, how far can he take them in the West, especially if his "load management" is going to cause him to miss so many game.  Leaders by example realize the best ability is availability.  I think the Clippers will need to somehow secure another superstar, I'm not sure Kawhi can be counted on as the "leader" on a championship squad.  The best player?  Yea, but leader?  Not sure his personality would be fit to lead on most squads (would take a very strong culture).
 

Kawhi was great with SA because he fit great into their system. I'm not sure I'd trust him to be my face of the franchise because of what you touched on. I'm not sure how great of a leader he is.

[aggie08 21539]

17 hours ago, UTDD said:

I think they should do exactly that and play him until the first break or so in the first and third quarters and otherwise let him play when Durant and/or Steph rests starting the 2nd/4th quarters.  Depends on the opponent/matchups but I don't like him much against say Houston except to prevent Capela from dominating the boards and getting easy flashes.

The fun will come with how Boogie chooses to react when he's losing his minutes to Kevon Looney in his first ever playoffs.

[NowThis 931]

Cousins looks out of shape, not svelte, as in prior years.  Movements are not smooth although does put up good numbers frequently.  Problem with GS is the turnovers and lack of defense in critical stretches. But they lost 24 games last year so who knows. 

[Vic Mackey 47158]

Lulz

[Underdog 28776]

Didn’t Wolves make POs last season?

[Patrick Bateman 3933]

2 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Didn’t Wolves make POs last season?

Yes.  Even won a game too.

[Tommy Nobis 905]

Lol at Philly losing to the Bulls