NBA Thread 2020-21

[PGsHeroes32]

Lakers without AD down 30 at halftime.  Lebron 3 for 10 with 3 TOs and going through the motions conserving energy. Sheesh. They better hope AD is back on Thur cause the Suns have momentum and confidence and CP3 looks healthy

So weird what they were doing with LeBron in the 1st half. Had him basically playing the entire half getting clocked, when he was barely trying anyways

Might as well just sit him a bit and get ready for Thursday.

[MuggsyB]

CP3 is 50% at best. 

Ya....not sure why LeBron was playing that many mins down 30.

[MU82]

Eff the NBA for putting the Port-Den game on NBA-TV.

[MuggsyB]

Lillard is seriously ridiculous.  He gets overlooked because of Curry.

[PGsHeroes32]

Jokic is really good. But boy is he also a complete moron.

Dude is hoisting 3s he has no business taking.

He bitches about every no call which is usually cause he takes a wild shot rather than posting up

He is now taking long twos with maybe the worst big man defender in nba history on him.

[JWags85]

Lillard is seriously ridiculous.  He gets overlooked because of Curry.

He gets overlooked because Portland has only built flawed teams around him. He got no support tonight.  I wouldn’t be shocked at ALL to see him leave this summer.

Jokic is really good. But boy is he also a complete moron.

Dude is hoisting 3s he has no business taking.

He bitches about every no call which is usually cause he takes a wild shot rather than posting up

He is now taking long twos with maybe the worst big man defender in nba history on him.

I feel like that is just some small sample recency bias.  He shot 57% from the floor this year, 39% from 3.  Hes never shot under 50% for a season, regular or playoffs.  He’s shot over 40% from 3 on each season on the playoffs he’s played.  He’s a very good shooter.  He does have a weird looking shot and motion which makes misses look especially bad, but outside of step backs, there isn’t really bad shots for him.  Those ugly looking fadeaways he makes with absurd consistency.

And calling one of the highest basketball IQ players in the league, a center who averaged over 8 assists a game cause of his vision and understanding of the game, a “moron” is a hilariously bad take.

He went for 38/11/9 with 4 blocks on 45% shooting in a victory, in a tight series without their team’s second star, after an MVP season, and you’re calling him a moron who takes bad shots.  Man you’re hard to please 

[Billy Hoyle]

Lakers without AD down 30 at halftime.  Lebron 3 for 10 with 3 TOs and going through the motions conserving energy. Sheesh. They better hope AD is back on Thur cause the Suns have momentum and confidence and CP3 looks healthy

Loses his Robin and he goes down 30 at the half in a game 5.

[PGsHeroes32]

He gets overlooked because Portland has only built flawed teams around him. He got no support tonight.  I wouldn’t be shocked at ALL to see him leave this summer.

I feel like that is just some small sample recency bias.  He shot 57% from the floor this year, 39% from 3.  Hes never shot under 50% for a season, regular or playoffs.  He’s shot over 40% from 3 on each season on the playoffs he’s played.  He’s a very good shooter.  He does have a weird looking shot and motion which makes misses look especially bad, but outside of step backs, there isn’t really bad shots for him.  Those ugly looking fadeaways he makes with absurd consistency.

And calling one of the highest basketball IQ players in the league, a center who averaged over 8 assists a game cause of his vision and understanding of the game, a “moron” is a hilariously bad take.

He went for 38/11/9 with 4 blocks on 45% shooting in a victory, in a tight series without their team’s second star, after an MVP season, and you’re calling him a moron who takes bad shots.  Man you’re hard to please 

Uhh there is a difference between taking 3s in the flow and the launching he was doing tonight. I think the announcers mentioned it about 15 times.

I am not hard to please, a dumb shot is a dumb shot. He was whining and taking dumb shots consistently. And I flat out said he is still really good.

It will never, ever, ever, ever ,ever ,ever ,ever, ever be a good shot to take a 23 foot long two with Enes Kanter on you. This is not my opinion.

[CreightonWarrior]

Must’ve been a really good book Lebron had to get back to leaving with 6 minutes left in the game.

[Pakuni]

Danny Ainge stepping down in Boston, Brad Stevens to become new team president and leave coaching.

[JWags85]

Uhh there is a difference between taking 3s in the flow and the launching he was doing tonight. I think the announcers mentioned it about 15 times.

I am not hard to please, a dumb shot is a dumb shot. He was whining and taking dumb shots consistently. And I flat out said he is still really good.

It will never, ever, ever, ever ,ever ,ever ,ever, ever be a good shot to take a 23 foot long two with Enes Kanter on you. This is not my opinion.

Misunderstood you on the 3s.  I thought you meant he shouldnt be taking 3s the same way you would say a 29% shooter from deep has no business taking them early in the clock.  I hear you.

He was weird with his shot selection at times last night.  But I guess it didnt register cause he has that odd element of his game.  Seemingly random decisions to throw a looping fall away where the same position and same defender he'd easily spin to the rim or find a cutter.  Its part of what makes him so good and difficult to guard.  The whining is what it is, but he's earned the bizarreness of his shot selection cause ive seen him have games where he takes those "dumb shots" and goes 8/10 in a half.

[MU82]

LeBron sucked, and he checked out, too. It happens, but it's a bad look for one of the best players ever.

Even if AD comes back, I'd expect the Suns to win the series. They're just better.

[cheebs09]

The rest of Stevens career is going to be interesting. He’s still a relatively young guy. One of the reasons he left college was disliking recruiting. Now he’s burned out from coaching. I feel he will get the itch again after a few years in the Front Office.

[forgetful]

LeBron sucked, and he checked out, too. It happens, but it's a bad look for one of the best players ever.

Even if AD comes back, I'd expect the Suns to win the series. They're just better.

I'm not going to discount LA yet. I agree that Lebron was checked out of that game, but it was also out of reach early.

He will likely take the criticism personally, and come out extra motivated. His legacy/image defines him. If AD is back, the combination of a highly motivated Lebron and AD could be enough. Especially if Paul's shoulder isn't up to snuff.

[MuggsyB]

I'm not going to discount LA yet. I agree that Lebron was checked out of that game, but it was also out of reach early.

He will likely take the criticism personally, and come out extra motivated. His legacy/image defines him. If AD is back, the combination of a highly motivated Lebron and AD could be enough. Especially if Paul's shoulder isn't up to snuff.

Booker finally had a good game but I agree with you.  I hope I'm wrong but  If AD is back I still think the Lakers find a way in 7.  CP3 is maybe 30% healthy.  Last night was just the perfect storm for the Lakers.   If Paul was healthy it would be over but he's not. 

[JWags85]

The rest of Stevens career is going to be interesting. He’s still a relatively young guy. One of the reasons he left college was disliking recruiting. Now he’s burned out from coaching. I feel he will get the itch again after a few years in the Front Office.

Stevens is really a super talented coach...without a niche.  He's an unreal Xs and Os guy, probably the best at drawing up plays after TOs or side out of bounds in the league.  And I think his player development is actually very good.  But he's not a good manger of egos or general player/locker room management...which is paramount in the NBA.  Which is why the Cs seemingly underperform in the playoffs.

I get that he hates recruiting, but he's really best suited to going back to college, maybe at a sub-blue blood level, and just get a top assistant who does literally all of the recruiting.  His Xs and Os strength is much better suited there.

My joking, yet sort of serious, theory is he moves to the FO and they dismantle the team, save for maybe Jaylen Brown or Tatum.  A coach comes in to guide a mediocre rebuilding team, for 2-3 years, that does poorly.  Then Stevens returns to take over a fresh revitalized roster of guys he picked who he thinks he can coach.  Feels even more feasible when I see Jason Kidd and Lloyd Pierce mentioned as candidates who both STINK.  Pierce literally just got fired in Atlanta and he was awful.

[BM1090]

Stevens is really a super talented coach...without a niche.  He's an unreal Xs and Os guy, probably the best at drawing up plays after TOs or side out of bounds in the league.  And I think his player development is actually very good.  But he's not a good manger of egos or general player/locker room management...which is paramount in the NBA.  Which is why the Cs seemingly underperform in the playoffs.

I get that he hates recruiting, but he's really best suited to going back to college, maybe at a sub-blue blood level, and just get a top assistant who does literally all of the recruiting.  His Xs and Os strength is much better suited there.

My joking, yet sort of serious, theory is he moves to the FO and they dismantle the team, save for maybe Jaylen Brown or Tatum.  A coach comes in to guide a mediocre rebuilding team, for 2-3 years, that does poorly.  Then Stevens returns to take over a fresh revitalized roster of guys he picked who he thinks he can coach.  Feels even more feasible when I see Jason Kidd and Lloyd Pierce mentioned as candidates who both STINK.  Pierce literally just got fired in Atlanta and he was awful.

I hope McMillan gets the full-time gig in Atlanta. He got a raw deal in Indy.

[MU82]

Rick Bonnell, the long-time and well-respected Hornets beat writer for the Charlotte Observer, died last night. He was only 63.

I didn't know him well, just well enough to have exchanged pleasantries with him when he'd be covering the same events I did. But he was always nice, always had a smile and a joke, and he worked his butt off. Not all that long after he started at the Observer, he became widely regarded as one of the better NBA writers in the country -- status he maintained right through this season.

He will be missed in our community.

Here is the lovely tribute that Observer columnist Scott Fowler wrote about him:

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article251835193.html

A snippet:

Having Rick Bonnell suggest a Hornets story angle to you in Charlotte was like having Springsteen suggest a lyric in New Jersey to an aspiring songwriter. Bonnell knew the Hornets like no one else, and I mean literally no one. He covered everyone from Muggsy Bogues and Dell Curry to Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning to LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward.

Bonnell didn’t just have institutional knowledge. He was an institution.

If I trailed slightly behind him at a Hornets game on the way to our seats, a fan would sometimes see the dapper reporter with the bald head gleaming in the lights and yell, “Hey, Rick!” He always stopped to talk. He thought about the readers first and what they might want to know and he’d frame his postgame questions to try to figure that out.

And did he have a good contact list?! Oh my Lord.

Let’s put it this way: Rick could text Michael Jordan, the Hornets owner but also one of the most elusive men in the world when he wants to be, and get a text reply back. It often came within minutes.

“As much as any reporter I know, Rick was accurate, insightful and fair,” said Gary Schwab, who was Bonnell’s sports editor for much of his career. “That’s why Michael Jordan returned Rick’s calls.”

[Jockey]

How many times are we gonna hear about Ben Simmons being 6’11”? Probably even more than we heard about Markus being 17 during his freshman year.

Simmons is 6’8.25 “. I guess when you round that off, it comes out to 6’11”.

[MuggsyB]

Did Marv Albert just say that the Knicks have won one playoff series in 21 years??  Can that be right? 

[MU82]

Hockey people get all misty-eyed talking about the handshake line at the end of every playoff series. And it IS a good, long-standing tradition.

But players on every NBA team do the equivalent of this after every single playoff game. And that’s pretty cool, too.

[Pakuni]

How many times are we gonna hear about Ben Simmons being 6’11”? Probably even more than we heard about Markus being 17 during his freshman year.

Simmons is 6’8.25 “. I guess when you round that off, it comes out to 6’11”.

He measured  6'10" at the NBA Combine.
Has he shrunk?
Given that he was 19 then, I'd say it's more likely that he grew than shrunk, but most likely that he's still 6'10".I

[MuggsyB]

Ty Lue might want to consider getting the ball out of Doncic's hands?  Dude has 17 pts, 5-5 from distance, with 2:15 left in the Ist Q.

[JWags85]

He measured  6'10" at the NBA Combine.
Has he shrunk?
Given that he was 19 then, I'd say it's more likely that he grew than shrunk, but most likely that he's still 6'10".I

Yea I’m not sure where that 6’8 comes from.  There are plenty of 6’8 players in the league he is clearly taller than.  I remember reading last year that he most recently measured 6’9 and a half barefoot. So he’s easily over 6’10 in shoes.  I mean just look at him next to Embiid

[brewcity77]

Did Marv Albert just say that the Knicks have won one playoff series in 21 years??  Can that be right?

Easier to believe when you realize they've missed the playoffs in 15 of the past 21 seasons.