Jump to content

2018-19 NBA Season Thread


BigOrange1

Recommended Posts

6 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Rockets played team ball much better without Harden on the floor. Everyone was involved and engaged. Defensive intensity seemed better as well. But when Harden gets back, it will be a bunch of dribbling the entire shot clock and everyone standing around. 

but that gives them "their best chance to win"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, d2o said:

but that gives them "their best chance to win"

The Rockets won 65 games last year playing like last night with Harden. The Rockets have played maybe 1 game with their entire rotation healthy this season. I hope now that everyone is healthy the Rockets can move back to last year's offense. We will see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Rockets won 65 games last year playing like last night with Harden. The Rockets have played maybe 1 game with their entire rotation healthy this season. I hope now that everyone is healthy the Rockets can move back to last year's offense. We will see.
That was Capelas second game back since December, and he is the second most important player on the team. Him and Faried were working the post against Cousins real well. DMC did not look like someone that can defend the post like McGee did for them last year. The Rockets also rebounded well, which has been a problem since CC went out. Him, Tucker and Manimal were doing well blocking out and giving the team a better chance to get the ball.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, CBT said:

CP3 playing like that is fun AF to watch.

100%,  As annoying as his antics and general bitchassedness can be, it's always fun watching a master at work.  Plus, the league is better off overall with instigators and "villains" like he and Draymond who usually back up their mouths.  ...just lay off the refs every once in awhile.

A healthy CP3 would have made Game 7 pretty damn interesting last year, having someone to take over and stop the bleeding.  Here's hoping he can actually make it through May for once.  I've never wavered that I think a healthy Houston is still Golden State's biggest threat.  I think the Warriors could probably beat the 28 other teams 4 times out of 7 with their 'B' game; but a defensively locked in Rockets team requires their 'A' game, which explains Houston owning them in the regular season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

well they were 12-5 in the 17 games cp3 just missed and they are 21-11 during his 32 game 30+ppg streak, so yeah i'd say his style of play has been the major factor in turning their season around.

Not really the point.   They are what 4-5 since CP3 and Capela have been back, right?    He has to adjust and let go of the ball and the streak or all of what he did when they were out will mean nothing.

Edited by d2o
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bradley Beal needs some love in this MIP conversation. He's going nuts this year, and has only stepped it up since Wall has gone down. Since then he's averaging 28.1 ppg, 6.5 ast, 5.5 reb, 1.8 stl. I bet you can count the number of players with those numbers in that time frame on one hand. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

It's almost as if no thought went into constructing the Lakers roster, at all. As if they hired a GM/team president for appearances rather than because they were actually capable of doing the job well.

They have zero offensive or defensive philosophy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, d2o said:

They have zero offensive or defensive philosophy

They were pretty stout early in the season, and they were passable when LeBron was out (they just couldn't score enough points to make it matter). They've been pathetically bad since he's been back. Ball being out hurts, but pretty hard to get guys to sacrifice on that end when no one on that team other than LeBron has any confidence that they'll be on the roster in July. Not terribly surprising that guys are playing for themselves and their next team/contract.

Also, LeBron just has to be better. Everyone understands that he's not the game-to-game defender that he used to be, and no one expects him to chase down blocks every game. We all realize that carrying that kind of offensive load warrants picking your spots to rest on defense. But he's been a statue, and his teammates see that. At least show that you're engaged.

Offensively, who the fuck thought that Magic and LeBron's plan had any chance in hell of working? "LeBron's going to play off the ball more, and we're going to play faster with a bunch of playmakers (who can't shoot or play defense)!" Of course the offense had devolved into, "LeBron, do everything." Honestly, I'm not sure that he would want it any other way. As such, they're short a few shooters.

Yeah, Luke hasn't proved yet that he's a good coach; heck, he's had a few pretty poor minutes management gaffs that would suggest he's a bad coach. No one is going to cry for him when he gets fired. But what did they reasonably expect with this roster construction?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, aggie08 said:

They were pretty stout early in the season, and they were passable when LeBron was out (they just couldn't score enough points to make it matter). They've been pathetically bad since he's been back. Ball being out hurts, but pretty hard to get guys to sacrifice on that end when no one on that team other than LeBron has any confidence that they'll be on the roster in July. Not terribly surprising that guys are playing for themselves and their next team/contract.

Also, LeBron just has to be better. Everyone understands that he's not the game-to-game defender that he used to be, and no one expects him to chase down blocks every game. We all realize that carrying that kind of offensive load warrants picking your spots to rest on defense. But he's been a statue, and his teammates see that. At least show that you're engaged.

Offensively, who the fuck thought that Magic and LeBron's plan had any chance in hell of working? "LeBron's going to play off the ball more, and we're going to play faster with a bunch of playmakers (who can't shoot or play defense)!" Of course the offense had devolved into, "LeBron, do everything." Honestly, I'm not sure that he would want it any other way. As such, they're short a few shooters.

Yeah, Luke hasn't proved yet that he's a good coach; heck, he's had a few pretty poor minutes management gaffs that would suggest he's a bad coach. No one is going to cry for him when he gets fired. But what did they reasonably expect with this roster construction?

Agree completely, with LBJ giving ZERO effort on the defensive end.    His body language on defensive lapses actually make his defense a net negative at this point.

The roster was definitely poorly constructed.   We all knew that from the start but that is why a system is so important.   Zo going down and Rondo being in and out of the lineup has hurt them for sure but they have no offensive game plan if they are not trying to run.   No system in place to get a bucket when they need one.   Some of that could be on LBJ not wanting one but they didn't have one last season either.    

Additionally, I know Kuzma puts up points often but he is one of the least disciplined players I have seen.  He gets the ball and its going up.   Usually very quickly.   Luke getting on the vets last month while allowing Kuz complete free rein with little to no repercussions seems like a bad recipe.   Luke has been a disaster IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

everyone knew in july it was a poor roster.  why lebron picked the lakers on july 1st when he could have waited to see if they were going to do anything else, i'll never understand.

this year's a bust and next year doesn't look like it'll be anything special.  none of the big free agents seem to be trending in their direction and the pelicans seem determined not to trade davis to the lakers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, BigOrange1 said:

everyone knew in july it was a poor roster.  why lebron picked the lakers on july 1st when he could have waited to see if they were going to do anything else, i'll never understand.

I mean, it's pretty clear at this point that LeBron to the Lakers was done by this time last year, and probably much sooner. So I assume that he thought by signing right away, he might be able to attract others, or allow the Lakers to make a big swing on a trade with him committed.

But, what it all comes down to is that he picked a new team based just as much (if not more) on off-the-court interests as he did for their ability to win championships. I'm not knocking him for that; it's entirely his right to do so. He's accomplished plenty. Just don't expect much sympathy when the inexperienced coach and mediocre young players that you chose to play with turn out to be inexperienced and mediocre.

He picked LA because it was LA, and assumed he'd get the right pieces as he went along. He still might. But I think he severely underestimated how big of a failure it will be if he doesn't bring the Lakers back to prominence (aka a title).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, immortal13 said:

And in the post-game interview he alludes to players that don't want to be there and give what it takes to make the playoffs, ect. What a douche.

The hilarious thing is it's the veterans who are really letting this team down.  Rondo, KCP, Lance, and Beasley all are playing or played like shit.  The big guys, McGee and Chandler, are kind of doing their thing but they're both better 10-15 minute options.  And let's not forget that Lebron himself is having the worst season since his rookie year.  Yea, none of the ballyhoo'ed rookies have taken big steps forward (Kuzma the most) but it's not a team which was constructed to make a deep run unless Lebron was going to play at a MVP level and he hasn't even played at a All-NBA first team level.

8 hours ago, aggie08 said:

They were pretty stout early in the season, and they were passable when LeBron was out (they just couldn't score enough points to make it matter). They've been pathetically bad since he's been back. Ball being out hurts, but pretty hard to get guys to sacrifice on that end when no one on that team other than LeBron has any confidence that they'll be on the roster in July. Not terribly surprising that guys are playing for themselves and their next team/contract.

Also, LeBron just has to be better. Everyone understands that he's not the game-to-game defender that he used to be, and no one expects him to chase down blocks every game. We all realize that carrying that kind of offensive load warrants picking your spots to rest on defense. But he's been a statue, and his teammates see that. At least show that you're engaged.

Offensively, who the fuck thought that Magic and LeBron's plan had any chance in hell of working? "LeBron's going to play off the ball more, and we're going to play faster with a bunch of playmakers (who can't shoot or play defense)!" Of course the offense had devolved into, "LeBron, do everything." Honestly, I'm not sure that he would want it any other way. As such, they're short a few shooters.

Yeah, Luke hasn't proved yet that he's a good coach; heck, he's had a few pretty poor minutes management gaffs that would suggest he's a bad coach. No one is going to cry for him when he gets fired. But what did they reasonably expect with this roster construction?

I think all of that was offered up for public consumption.  Yea, it was different and theoretically there is some logic there, but deep down, everyone understood what was going to happen and what needed to be done.  Lebron would take on the lion's share of the playmaking and they needed to go out and get a young superstar.  Everything will ride on this summer now.  Everything.  If they don't get Kawhi or AD or KD, then the Lakers are in some trouble.... A guy like Kemba or DMC will help, but with a regressing Lebron, it'll still be a tough road.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Rough Florida back to back for the Warriors past two nights.  Bad losses on the road.  So much for the Warriors don't miss a beat without KD.  Lost to the Magic while Steph was 1-6 in the 4th.  W's were outscored 33-15 in the 4th.  Ewww.... Even champs have a bad night.

 

Warriors are bored. Regular season does not mean jack shit to them any longer. Hell they have proven they can turn it on and off in the biggest stage of the playoffs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Rough Florida back to back for the Warriors past two nights.  Bad losses on the road.  So much for the Warriors don't miss a beat without KD.  Lost to the Magic while Steph was 1-6 in the 4th.  W's were outscored 33-15 in the 4th.  Ewww.... Even champs have a bad night.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26024501/predicting-nba-superstar-moves-kd-kyrie-ad-kawhi

ESPN polled their NBA writers last week to see where they predicted the big name free agents land.  2/3rds of them had KD leaving Golden State (I tend to agree).  Yet, 75% still picked the Warriors to be the favorites at the beginning of next season.  That surprised the hell out of to me.  Yeah, we saw Steph, Klay, Dray, and a bunch of mostly junk reel off like 14 straight to end the season two years ago with KD out (after initially looking lost without him).  But Dray will be 3 years older by next season, and the junk is probably even junkier today, with no real avenues to add any pieces, even without KD's salary on the books.  Iggy is having a great year relative to what we've come to expect from his regular season (i.e. the rest before the playoffs), but good luck if they actually have to depend on him full time again.

I guess Golden State is the safe, known commodity today with all the uncertainty in Boston, Philly, LA, Toronto, CP3's health...shit, even Milwaukee is going to have to decide if they want to essentially max out their cap for Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe.  But I doubt they'll be the Vegas pick come October.  Among the favorites, sure, but not the odds-on favorite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...