NBA Thread 2019-20

[MUBurrow]

I like Walton (I was on the record saying that he was the best candidate for UCLA if they could get him away from the NBA).  Everywhere he goes, players rave about him - but they still seem to play hard for him, too. Predicting coaching success in the NBA is the last thing I'm qualified to do though. Its one of the few positions that seems to be more about fit than record of success.

[MU82]

Warriors blew a 31-point lead in Game 2 vs Clippers.

31!

Steve Kerr musta turned dumm overnight.

Seriously, some are criticizing him for taking out Curry after he picked up his 4th foul in the 3rd quarter ... when the Warriors only had a 28-point lead.

Durant, meanwhile, had 9 TOs (compared to only 8 shots attempted) and picked up 4 offensive fouls in the second half.

And Cousins suffered an injury that might sideline him for the rest of the playoffs.

It's not easy keeping a dynasty going.

[JWags85]

Warriors blew a 31-point lead in Game 2 vs Clippers.

31!

Steve Kerr musta turned dumm overnight.

Seriously, some are criticizing him for taking out Curry after he picked up his 4th foul in the 3rd quarter ... when the Warriors only had a 28-point lead.

Durant, meanwhile, had 9 TOs (compared to only 8 shots attempted) and picked up 4 offensive fouls in the second half.

And Cousins suffered an injury that might sideline him for the rest of the playoffs.

It's not easy keeping a dynasty going.

The Warriors biggest flaw, and one that could still kill them at some point, is they get complacent.  From Kerr to Curry to KD.  You lose focus, you get cold, and suddenly a lesser team (still full of NBA caliber talent and shooters) gets hot and that happens.  Kerr got cute, team relaxed, and there ya have it. 

Honestly, could be the best thing to happen to them for the push.  Though the Cousins injury is brutal, feel bad for him as I do like him as a player.  Thank god they got Bogut back

[MU82]

The Warriors biggest flaw, and one that could still kill them at some point, is they get complacent.  From Kerr to Curry to KD.  You lose focus, you get cold, and suddenly a lesser team (still full of NBA caliber talent and shooters) gets hot and that happens.  Kerr got cute, team relaxed, and there ya have it. 

Honestly, could be the best thing to happen to them for the push.  Though the Cousins injury is brutal, feel bad for him as I do like him as a player.  Thank god they got Bogut back

Yeah ... they're not gonna lose this series, that's for sure. And if they get in a similar situation they can refer back to the game they let get away. I wouldn't bet against Kerr's team.

Rivers' teams almost always play hard to the end. Heck of a coach.

[MUfan12]

Speaking of great coaches, this read on Pop and his dinners is well worth your time.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26524600/secret-team-dinners-built-spurs-dynasty

[Goose]

MUfan

That was a great read. Big fan of Pop.

[Matt Heldt The Milk Man]

MUfan

That was a great read. Big fan of Pop.

I agree with this. Im a big Pop guy

[Skatastrophy]

Mobile Jimmy G Buckets wallpaper

[MU82]

Amazing finish to Blazers-Thunder last night.

Thunder leads by 15 with under 8 to go, and still leads by 8 with a couple minutes left but blows it.

Lillard caps a 50-point game that included some amazingly difficult shots by hitting a step-back 35-footer at the buzzer.

Westbrook played well but, as usual, made some poor decisions down the stretch. George -- who has dubbed himself "Playoff P" even though he hasn't won squat in the playoffs in his entire career -- bricked 2 huge FTs, had a careless turnover and was too far off Lillard on the winning shot.

Thunder is in salary-cap hell, with 2 outstanding players making mega-money, and another good player in Adams (who usually doesn't play down the stretch as they go small) but might never have enough talent around them to really compete in the West.

[wadesworld]

Amazing finish to Blazers-Thunder last night.

Thunder leads by 15 with under 8 to go, and still leads by 8 with a couple minutes left but blows it.

Lillard caps a 50-point game that included some amazingly difficult shots by hitting a step-back 35-footer at the buzzer.

Westbrook played well but, as usual, made some poor decisions down the stretch. George -- who has dubbed himself "Playoff P" even though he hasn't won squat in the playoffs in his entire career -- bricked 2 huge FTs, had a careless turnover and was too far off Lillard on the winning shot.

Thunder is in salary-cap hell, with 2 outstanding players making mega-money, and another good player in Adams (who usually doesn't play down the stretch as they go small) but might never have enough talent around them to really compete in the West.

And therein lies the problem.  Westbrook "playing well" is having a point guard go 11-31 in an elimination game.  He knows how to number chase.  He doesn't know how to ring chase.

What's going to happen if Sam gets picked up by OKC after his 5th year senior year?  Think he bails and tries to work his way to the Spurs?

[Galway Eagle]

And therein lies the problem.  Westbrook "playing well" is having a point guard go 11-31 in an elimination game.  He knows how to number chase.  He doesn't know how to ring chase.

What's going to happen if Sam gets picked up by OKC after his 5th year senior year?  Think he bails and tries to work his way to the Spurs?

After he writes a letter asking Donovan to force Westbrook to share

[JWags85]

And therein lies the problem.  Westbrook "playing well" is having a point guard go 11-31 in an elimination game.  He knows how to number chase.  He doesn't know how to ring chase.

Westbook was AWFUL down the stretch.  He hit that answer 3, to respond to a big Lillard 3 with 4:30 left.  In the last 4:30, Westbrook was 0-2, had a drive and dish to a dude buried under the basket late in the clock that lead to a missed layup, had an offensive foul, and then a wasteful loose ball foul that gave the Blazers 2 FTs with no time going off the clock as they tried to claw back into it.  And he couldn't have wanted the ball less the last 2 possessions.

George finished rough, but he was the only one with any offensive punch down the stretch.  He hit 2 really tough shots to stem the tide. 

The Thunder are in trouble because beyond the salary issues, I'm not sure who is clamoring to go play with a selfish stat-chasing weirdo in a bottom 2 NBA city.

I saw a number of people rushing in with the "it was only a good shot cause he made it" take last night.  You have your superstar, who has 47 and has been insane, at home and being guarded by a long and very good defender so going at him into the lane isnt great.  I'm fine with the long 3, he is one of 3-4 players in the league with that consistent range (Curry, Trae Young, maybe Booker).  Its not the highest percentage shot, but if he misses, you go to OT, at home, still up 3-1, and Westbrook and PG both had 5 fouls

[MU82]

Westbook was AWFUL down the stretch.  He hit that answer 3, to respond to a big Lillard 3 with 4:30 left.  In the last 4:30, Westbrook was 0-2, had a drive and dish to a dude buried under the basket late in the clock that lead to a missed layup, had an offensive foul, and then a wasteful loose ball foul that gave the Blazers 2 FTs with no time going off the clock as they tried to claw back into it.  And he couldn't have wanted the ball less the last 2 possessions.

George finished rough, but he was the only one with any offensive punch down the stretch.  He hit 2 really tough shots to stem the tide. 

The Thunder are in trouble because beyond the salary issues, I'm not sure who is clamoring to go play with a selfish stat-chasing weirdo in a bottom 2 NBA city.

I saw a number of people rushing in with the "it was only a good shot cause he made it" take last night.  You have your superstar, who has 47 and has been insane, at home and being guarded by a long and very good defender so going at him into the lane isnt great.  I'm fine with the long 3, he is one of 3-4 players in the league with that consistent range (Curry, Trae Young, maybe Booker).  Its not the highest percentage shot, but if he misses, you go to OT, at home, still up 3-1, and Westbrook and PG both had 5 fouls

Yep, Westbrook was brutal. As an NBA fan, he's often a lot of fun to watch, and he is an absolutely athletic freak, but I'm pretty sure he would drive me nuts if I were a Thunder fan. I also think George is overrated.

Agree with you about Lillard. I thought he might drive because he is an amazing finisher and quicker than George, and maybe would draw a foul if not score, but as you said he was hitting everything ... so why not? I like that he made sure he didn't leave any time on the clock in what was a tie game.

[MUfan12]

Saw a lot of people roasting PG for calling it a bad shot in his postgame presser.

I know Dame has that range, but a contested, stepback, 37 foot shot is a great shot in that situation... for the defense. Sure, he hit it and it was an incredible shot, but if I'm the opposition I can live with that shot every single time.

[MU82]

The look on Stotts' face when that went in was precious. I knew it very well.

When I was a middle-school coach, I was lucky enough to have by far our conference's best 3-point shooter. I'm guessing she made more treys in her career than  all the other players in our league combined during that span.

Anyhoo, one game she hits a couple of 3s and then, just before the third-quarter buzzer, throws one in from beyond half court.

Much celebration before the team gathered at the bench for the little between-quarters huddle. I waited until the hootin' and hollerin' ended and it was quiet, and I said, "You know what you call that, ladies?" (2-second pause for effect, and then totally deadpan ... ) "Coaching."

One of my favorite moments as a coach, and it became kind of a running bit.

[JWags85]

Saw a lot of people roasting PG for calling it a bad shot in his postgame presser.

I know Dame has that range, but a contested, stepback, 37 foot shot is a great shot in that situation... for the defense. Sure, he hit it and it was an incredible shot, but if I'm the opposition I can live with that shot every single time.

Its cause he came off as salty and a sore loser.

"I had him covered and thats a really tough shot.  He made it, credit to him, but thats a tough shot I can live with every time"

That gives props for the shot and conveys your frustration.  And thats what he did earlier in the presser.  Another reporter asked a question about 36-37 footers, and thats when he called it a bad shot.

It just made him look whiny.   And I like PG.  But thats like like a QB threading the needle on a super high degree of difficulty, ill advised pass that snuck in there for a big TD or completion, and the DB that got beat calling it a bad throw or a stupid pass.  Doesn't matter, you got beat, live with it, say you wouldn't have played D any differently, which is totally right and fair, and move on.  PG has hit plenty of "bad shots", same with Steph, same with Lebron, same with the dude sitting next to him.  Great players hit "bad" shots, its part of why they are great players

[MU82]

No matter how great a coach you are, you still need great players, and lots of them.

I don't think anybody would dispute that Popovich is a great coach. But this is 2 straight years his team hasn't made it out of the first round of the playoffs (first in his career for that back-to-back failure). Last year, the Leonard thing hung over the Spurs, but this year, even with Aldridge and DeRozan, just couldn't do it.

Interestingly (for me, anyway), after a DeRozan miss, Denver rebounds up 4 with 27 seconds left. Denver dribbles into the frontcourt and Pop is imploring his players to foul ... because that's the only chance they have to win the game. But they ignore him, totally ignore one of the great coaches in modern basketball history, and they lose without a whimper at the end.

[MUBurrow]

The Bucks might certainly come back to win this series, but with 5 minutes to go in game 1, arguments from earlier this season that Brad Stevens might be only an average NBA coach look invalid.

[The Sultan]

Celtics' size is a problem for the Bucks.  Makes it hard to spread the floor offensively.

[Cheeks]

Head basketball coaches at FF are mediocre

[Dr. Blackheart]

JFB with a huge game on the road to even it up 1-1 with Toronto.  Double-Double.  30 and 11.

[Lennys Tap]

Head basketball coaches at FF are mediocre

Some are (Porter Moser, TC, some others). Brad Stevens isn't.

[The Sultan]

Some are (Porter Moser, TC, some others). Brad Stevens isn't.

Keep your pissing match out of the NBA topic please.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Surprisingly litter chatter on one of MU's finest putting up 30/11/5 on the road

I would love to see Jimmy get a title, this Sixers team is loaded and no one seems to be unbeatable this year. Hope he can turn it on down the stretch and bring another championship to the family

[cheebs09]

Some are (Porter Moser, TC, some others). Brad Stevens isn't.

FF=Fiserv Forum. I also disagree with the assertion in relation to Bud.