2023-24 NBA Thread

[MU82]

From The Athletic:

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns last night, 106-103, in a thrilling game that sends the 13-9 Lakers to the In-Season Tournament semifinals. But, for all the IST's fun, this felt like more.

LeBron James scored 31 points, dished 11 assists and grabbed eight rebounds in 40 minutes of action. This man is 24 days away from turning 39. Thirty-nine! He's still a top-five player in basketball right now, and on a Tuesday in December, he's putting up those numbers. It's unreal and something we might never see again.

Durant was great, too: 31 points, seven rebounds, four assists. He and James dueled like they always have, no matter the uniforms. Together they are two of the maybe 10 best basketball players to ever play. Durant, a sprightly 35, is 10th all-time in scoring and could pass eighth-place Shaq this year if he stays healthy.

I cannot stop wondering how many more of these matchups we have left.

[wadesworld]

After pumping up the in season tournament for months, the Bucks and Pacers play a semifinal game at 4 PM tomorrow.  Sweet!

[Jockey]

After pumping up the in season tournament for months, the Bucks and Pacers play a semifinal game at 4 PM tomorrow.  Sweet!

Yup. Catering to the East Coast crowd.

[MU82]

Remember when the Spurs beat Phoenix 2 in a row to improve to 3-2 ... and there was talk in some quarters about Wemby leading them to the playoffs as a rookie?

Good times.

[MuggsyB]

I've noticed there's a lottery pick, whom I was told would be a superstar, that is averaging 3 pts a game on a 3-17 team. 

[Jockey]

I've noticed there's a lottery pick, whom I was told would be a superstar, that is averaging 3 pts a game on a 3-17 team.

Listen to different people.

[wadesworld]

I've noticed there's a lottery pick, whom I was told would be a superstar, that is averaging 3 pts a game on a 3-17 team.

He should give the money back to his team and go play overseas.

[PGsHeroes32]

That Rudy Gobert trade myself and everyone piled on, might have actually been a steal.

[Skatastrophy]

That Rudy Gobert trade myself and everyone piled on, might have actually been a steal.

Yeah I don't want to talk about it. I like crapting on KAT and Gobert more than I like giving them props. West is weak, Gobert only plays well against bottom feeders, slow player in a slower conference, etc

[MU82]

West is weak?

Compared to what?

[Skatastrophy]

West is weak?

Compared to what?

Compared to what I need them to be to keep KAT in his place in the basement of the conference

[wadesworld]

That Rudy Gobert trade myself and everyone piled on, might have actually been a steal.

We'll see about that.  They still owe the Jazz 3 more firsts and Keyonte George and Walker Kessler are both very good already.

[MU82]

Compared to what I need them to be to keep KAT in his place in the basement of the conference

I guess I'm missing the teal or something.

[4everwarriors]

Bucks ain't gonna win chit with their idiot coach and playas like Middleton and Lopez who shot their load years ago. Its a young man's game, aina?

[Uncle Rico]

Bucks ain't gonna win chit with their idiot coach and playas like Middleton and Lopez who shot their load years ago. Its a young man's game, aina?

How come you only post about them after they lose?

[4everwarriors]

'Cuz I know ball, aina?

[4everwarriors]

 VEGAS -- Giannis Antetokounmpo said the Milwaukee Bucks simply have to be better after the Indiana Pacers knocked them out of the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament Thursday, criticizing the Bucks' lack of organization and saying the team sometimes is "not organized at all."

"The talent level we have is incredible," Antetokounmpo said after putting up 37 points and 10 rebounds in the 128-119 loss at T-Mobile Arena. "But we have to be more organized."

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"I feel like sometimes we're not organized at all. We don't know what we try to get from our offense, or sometimes defensively we're not sprinting back. We don't shoot a lot of early 3s. At the end of the day, you have to protect the ball. You have to know where the ball is. We had a lot of situations today that they got a lot of dunks, open 3s, early 3s. We have to be better.

"Nobody is going to give you nothing. Like sometimes I feel like we expect just because we have great players out there, that Tyrese Haliburton or Myles Turner or Aaron Nesmith, somebody is not just going to give us the game. Like, no. We have to be better. We have to go out there and take it. You know at the end of the day, I think we are great players, but if we don't go out there and compete, they are not going to respect us. They played their best against us."

EDITOR'S PICKS

Haliburton's time: Pacers down Bucks to advance
4hTim Bontemps

LeBron-led Lakers roll past Pels to reach IST final
2hDave McMenamin
That was certainly true Thursday night. After the Bucks scored 43 points in the third quarter, going on a 27-9 run to begin the half to reassert control, Haliburton and the Pacers responded with a 9-2 run late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Bucks coach Adrian Griffin shouldered the blame, saying it's on him to help his team execute better late.

"I've got to do a better job of getting them into some certain sets down, you know, late game," he said. "But we put ourselves in a position [to win]. The first half was rocky. We made some good adjustments, but we've got to close out in the fourth quarter, which we've done very well. We just couldn't pull it off tonight."

Antetokounmpo had a different take. Asked if his criticism of the team's lack of organization was directed at the players, coaches or both, he said it's on the players to get the job done no matter what the coaches are telling them to do.

"The players play the game," he said. "We play the game, you know? Coaches can say whatever they want to say and put us in the position to be successful, and you hope that they do that for you. But you've got to make the plays, you know? Like, you don't sprint back on defense, it's not the coaches' fault you don't sprint back. If you're not able to execute down the stretch and you turn the ball over and you throw it to your opponent's hands, it's not the coaches' fault. You just have to take that."


Haliburton had another strong night, putting up 27 points, 15 assists and no turnovers, while Turner had 26 points and 10 rebounds. But as great as they were, Antetokounmpo said it was Indiana's bench that won the game.

Ultimately, he said, the Bucks have to get to work correcting their flaws after flying home Friday and having the weekend to prepare for the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

"At the end of the day, I felt like their bench kicked our butts," Antetokounmpo said. "It's simple. I saw the stat sheet. I usually don't look at the stat sheet, but I look at the stat sheet, they do it way better than us.

"We have to address it. We have three days now until Monday that we play Chicago at home. We have to get on the court. We have to get in the film room. We have to talk as a team and hopefully we can expedite our chemistry. It's not about the coach. It's like we have to get better. It's on us now. We have the talent, we have the experience. It's on us. We know it's on us.

[Uncle Rico]

'Cuz I know ball, aina?

You're a front runner.  Got it.

[4everwarriors]

We'll see if Edens et al have da stones ta chitcan their mistake, hey?

[Uncle Rico]

We'll see if Edens et al have da stones ta chitcan their mistake, hey?

Front runner and mope

[MUfan12]

We'll see if Edens et al have da stones ta chitcan their mistake, hey?

Won't happen until they crash out of the playoffs.

But the guy makes Jason Kidd look like a great coach.

[cheebs09]

Won't happen until they crash out of the playoffs.

But the guy makes Jason Kidd look like a great coach.

I think my biggest concern is defense was his biggest strength, and right now I think the chair Yi practiced against would provide more resistance than the Bucks.

[MUfan12]

I think my biggest concern is defense was his biggest strength, and right now I think the chair Yi practiced against would provide more resistance than the Bucks.

With a Lillard-Beasley-Middleton's Corpse lineup they were never gonna be great defensively. But the amount of miscommunication was really concerning. No one was talking on screens, they conceded a ton of lane attempts.

Totally disorganized on both ends down the stretch. This shouldn't be this hard with the amount of vets they play.

[MU82]

'Cuz I know ball, aina?

Well, you did want Giannis to be traded about 15 minutes before he led the
Bucks to the title, so there's that proven wealth of knowledge.

[4everwarriors]

#34 is starting to speak negatively about the team's disorganization. Aka, bitchin' 'bout da head coach, or the guy he promoted for the head coachin' gig. There's a reason Griffin was a perennial assistant coach for something approaching 15 years. Sound familiar? Credit Stotts for gettin' out of da cesspool before he couldn't get rid of the stench, aina?