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3 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


Idk who were we supposed to have? All of the warning signs were there

Roster construction: most of the west have absolutely terrible benches, no youth or athleticism. MN and OKC check all 3 with their starters and bench players

OKC super young, way ahead of schedule don’t look intimidated by the lights at all

Min: Young but with veteran leadership sprinkled in

Denver: in their prime, no bench tho (we knew that going in)

Clippers: very old, aren’t winning with these has beens and played better with their supposed best player injured, no bench or picks

Dallas: good youth and starters got better at trade deadline. Not sold on their bench especially if THJ is tossing bricks

Suns: about to be past prime. Not a single bench player worth anything, no control over picks for 5 years

Lakers: patchwork roster, window basically shut, might win a series

Pelicans: some youth, Zion obviously unreliable and appear to be moving on from Ingram (incredibly smart) have some work to do, I thought they underachieved big time

Golden state: done

Sacramento: good youth need some wing depth but might lose monk which would hurt big time

Memphis and probably houston will replace a couple of these teams. Could add SA in the mix if they make a couple of right moves, played better down the stretch to close out their season

This and I didn't realize how weak the opposition was in Denver's title run until someone above posted it.

Minny is big, long, and athletic and OKC goes 8-10 deep with guys who are all interchangeable on offense.  They're all long on defense and can all handle, shoot, and finish.  

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11 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Getting way ahead of myself, but still: who here had Minnesota v. OKC as their WCF matchup?

 

4 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:


Idk who were we supposed to have?

 

2 hours ago, definitely not derka said:

denver and boston.

I certainly didn’t have Boston on my WCF bingo card.

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Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, aggie08 said:

Getting way ahead of myself, but still: who here had Minnesota v. OKC as their WCF matchup?

Should we be that surprised that two teams that had tied for the best record in the conference (along with Denver) are favorites for the WCF? Maybe, but they are also the only two teams without any injuries. To me, that's the biggest factor in all of this. I think the playoffs look a bit different with teams at closer to full strength:

  • I think New Orleans gives OKC a series with Zion. Not that he's ever healthy or that they would have won, but if you had to draw up a bad matchup for OKC, it would be an paint bully like him.
  • Phoenix was a horribly flawed and thin team that wasn't going to win that series regardless, but Grayson Allen being out made it damn near hopeless for them.
  • Not that the Clippers are ever healthy, but losing Kawhi Leonard is kind of a big deal.
  • Luka is clearly hurt for Dallas. He can hardly move out there. Beyond that, I lost track of how many open threes they missed last night that maybe they have a better shot of making if Maxi Klieber is taking them instead of Tim Hardaway Jr?  Klieber has been on fire this post season. 
  • Even the shitty Lakers were down Vanderbilt, who would have been a useful defensive rotation piece in some tight games.
  • Jamal Murray is not anywhere close to 100%. Hell, he's so beat up he could barely reach the court with his heating pad. He's the only guy who can create off the dribble (other than Jokic bully ball) for Denver and they have become completely stagnant. 

That doesn't even include what is going on in the East - Giannis, Lillard, Butler, Embiid at half strength, Randle/Bogdanovich/Robinson, etc. But we see this every year and I'm always somehow surprised by it.

Maybe I have selective memory, but I just don't remember this many injuries in the playoffs back in the day. It's counterintuitive with the advances in science and medicine that it's worse now than it was 30 years ago. This is for another discussion that I think we've had elsewhere, but my working theory is that allowing more physical defense where guys just can't run and jump and move freely was actually causing less wear and tear than the repetitive stress from the pace and space era.

 

Edited by Mitch Cumsteen
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We should. What antics will happen now that the message has been sent that you won't be suspended for being a shithead as long as you're a star player?

Of course we should. But beyond maybe some hand wringing, posting on message boards, and talk show commentary no one really cares enough to really do anything. Because what really drives the bus is people want to see the star player play. See Green, Draymond. The NBA is what it is.
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12 minutes ago, tbone_ said:


Of course we should. But beyond maybe some hand wringing, posting on message boards, and talk show commentary no one really cares enough to really do anything. Because what really drives the bus is people want to see the star player play. See Green, Draymond. The NBA is what it is.

Is Jamal Murray really making that big of a difference in the ratings? Draymond was suspended. I dunno. You have to punish this stuff. There has to be a deterrent. The next time something like this happens they will suspend the player and it just makes your league look kind of like a joke. Hurts credibility.

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There's one game on tonight and it's a series I'm not particularly interested in and then the best player on the floor gets injured.

Pretty crappy playoffs so far. 

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https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40109006/nuggets-nikola-jokic-wins-nba-mvp-3rd-4-seasons

Nuggets' Nikola Jokic wins NBA MVP for 3rd time in 4 seasons

Jokic earned the award for the third time in four seasons, succeeding last season's MVP, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. Jokic topped Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, who finished second and third, respectively, in the voting.

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Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Tommy Shelby said:

The Pacers need to capitalize when given the chance to tie. 

Seems like Pacers don't have the closers the Knicks do.  Indiana ruining a great chance to steal a road win.

Pacers coach sucks tonight.

 

Edited by LTtxfan
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4 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Carlisle is fucking the Pacers tonight...

No defense

Lol they haven't played D all season. They just aren't very good.

These games have been fun but neither of these teams has a chance in fuck of actually winning the Finals. 

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5 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Carlisle is fucking the Pacers tonight...

No defense

Just a piss poor effort in the 3rd qtr.  Carlisle just kicked out with under a minute left.  What a fuckhead coaching job tonight.  

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Just now, ztejas said:

Wait what did Hart just say to Reggie? Hahahaha. He got an f bomb on TV.

The crowd was chanting Fuck You Reg-gie!

Hart told him what they were saying. Crew still playing dumb. Somehow I don't think the guys in Studio J will be complicit. 

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4 minutes ago, Baboontyme said:

The crowd was chanting Fuck You Reg-gie!

Hart told him what they were saying. Crew still playing dumb. Somehow I don't think the guys in Studio J will be complicit. 

No yeah I heard the crowd. Just couldn't make out what Hart said word for word.

Side note - not sure if Reggie got a talking to from an exec or what but am I crazy for saying he's called a good playoffs? Maybe having a 2nd color guy helps him. Idk. There's been 2 or 3 games this playoffs where I really haven't minded him. 

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9 hours ago, ztejas said:

No yeah I heard the crowd. Just couldn't make out what Hart said word for word.

Side note - not sure if Reggie got a talking to from an exec or what but am I crazy for saying he's called a good playoffs? Maybe having a 2nd color guy helps him. Idk. There's been 2 or 3 games this playoffs where I really haven't minded him. 

Yes. You’re crazy if you think he’s called a good playoffs. He is way more tolerable with a second guy because it’s cutting down his air time but he still sucks. 

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I'm sure that teams send video packets to the league all the time highlighting what they believe are missed calls, but holy shit it's a bad look to publicly announce that you're doing it, and have 78 fucking plays in your video. At least they didn't try to calculate hypothetical missed points like the Rockets did a few years ago.

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21 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Should we be that surprised that two teams that had tied for the best record in the conference (along with Denver) are favorites for the WCF? Maybe, but they are also the only two teams without any injuries. To me, that's the biggest factor in all of this. I think the playoffs look a bit different with teams at closer to full strength:

  • I think New Orleans gives OKC a series with Zion. Not that he's ever healthy or that they would have won, but if you had to draw up a bad matchup for OKC, it would be an paint bully like him.
  • Phoenix was a horribly flawed and thin team that wasn't going to win that series regardless, but Grayson Allen being out made it damn near hopeless for them.
  • Not that the Clippers are ever healthy, but losing Kawhi Leonard is kind of a big deal.
  • Luka is clearly hurt for Dallas. He can hardly move out there. Beyond that, I lost track of how many open threes they missed last night that maybe they have a better shot of making if Maxi Klieber is taking them instead of Tim Hardaway Jr?  Klieber has been on fire this post season. 
  • Even the shitty Lakers were down Vanderbilt, who would have been a useful defensive rotation piece in some tight games.
  • Jamal Murray is not anywhere close to 100%. Hell, he's so beat up he could barely reach the court with his heating pad. He's the only guy who can create off the dribble (other than Jokic bully ball) for Denver and they have become completely stagnant. 

That doesn't even include what is going on in the East - Giannis, Lillard, Butler, Embiid at half strength, Randle/Bogdanovich/Robinson, etc. But we see this every year and I'm always somehow surprised by it.

Maybe I have selective memory, but I just don't remember this many injuries in the playoffs back in the day. It's counterintuitive with the advances in science and medicine that it's worse now than it was 30 years ago. This is for another discussion that I think we've had elsewhere, but my working theory is that allowing more physical defense where guys just can't run and jump and move freely was actually causing less wear and tear than the repetitive stress from the pace and space era.

 

Since they are not cutting games in the regular season they should extend the season and allow more rest. 2-3 games a week max, end the playoffs right before football starts. No reason you can’t play in July with only baseball for competition 

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On 5/8/2024 at 9:25 AM, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Should we be that surprised that two teams that had tied for the best record in the conference (along with Denver) are favorites for the WCF? Maybe, but they are also the only two teams without any injuries. To me, that's the biggest factor in all of this. I think the playoffs look a bit different with teams at closer to full strength:

  • I think New Orleans gives OKC a series with Zion. Not that he's ever healthy or that they would have won, but if you had to draw up a bad matchup for OKC, it would be an paint bully like him.
  • Phoenix was a horribly flawed and thin team that wasn't going to win that series regardless, but Grayson Allen being out made it damn near hopeless for them.
  • Not that the Clippers are ever healthy, but losing Kawhi Leonard is kind of a big deal.
  • Luka is clearly hurt for Dallas. He can hardly move out there. Beyond that, I lost track of how many open threes they missed last night that maybe they have a better shot of making if Maxi Klieber is taking them instead of Tim Hardaway Jr?  Klieber has been on fire this post season. 
  • Even the shitty Lakers were down Vanderbilt, who would have been a useful defensive rotation piece in some tight games.
  • Jamal Murray is not anywhere close to 100%. Hell, he's so beat up he could barely reach the court with his heating pad. He's the only guy who can create off the dribble (other than Jokic bully ball) for Denver and they have become completely stagnant. 

That doesn't even include what is going on in the East - Giannis, Lillard, Butler, Embiid at half strength, Randle/Bogdanovich/Robinson, etc. But we see this every year and I'm always somehow surprised by it.

Maybe I have selective memory, but I just don't remember this many injuries in the playoffs back in the day. It's counterintuitive with the advances in science and medicine that it's worse now than it was 30 years ago. This is for another discussion that I think we've had elsewhere, but my working theory is that allowing more physical defense where guys just can't run and jump and move freely was actually causing less wear and tear than the repetitive stress from the pace and space era.

 

Yeah, for the top teams, being healthy is probably the #1 thing they need to have a good shot at winning a title.  

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Tied at half, can't complain.  I really wish we could see Allen out there, but it sounds like he broke his ribs if it's still hurting him this long after it happened. Really odd that he was able to finish that game, but hasn't been able to play since. 

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16 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Tied at half, can't complain.  I really wish we could see Allen out there, but it sounds like he broke his ribs if it's still hurting him this long after it happened. Really odd that he was able to finish that game, but hasn't been able to play since. 

Look fine 

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