One of those professional yappers made a good observation about how different the NBA is now compared to the 80s, 90s, etc. The NBA was always, out of all the sports leagues, the most top heavy. That has finally changed. Instead of like 2, maybe 3, teams being totally dominant, you have 1/3rd of the league not that far apart really.
I like them a lot but young teams almost always collapse in the postseason until they rack up enough playoff experience.
I'm just hoping beyond hope that we have a more enjoyable and less frustrating season than this season. I don't think that's too much to ask for.
Well I think it might be. Bench is still likely to be exceptionally weak and KD is one year older and more likely to mope once it is clear we are still not competitive.
I wouldn’t. They’re both better two way players but doncic, when healthy, is perhaps the most impactful offensive player in the league and he has upside still if he just rounds into shape.
I think the narrative that players don’t want to play with him is tabloid reporting. But that’s the narrative and it will be up to doncic to answer his critics.
Spot on.
Though it would have been the right move with hindsight a very very small percentage of people (I think like less than 5%) would have thought fox over jackson would have been the right at the time of that draft. That wouldn’t have been the “easy” pick. Almost everyone thought there was a “big four” in that draft (ball, jackson, Tatum and fultz). Ironically fox and markenaan (and Isaac) were considered next tier. It was a really good draft with adebayo, monk, kennard, Donovan Mitchell, John collins, Jarrett allen, OG anunoby, kuzma, Derrick white, Josh hart, Dillon brooks, Monte Morris, Zach collins and Dennis smith jr (who flames out) going in the two rounds. That’s a lot talent. And 3 of the top 4 were busts. Crazy.
Agree. The series may have exposed some doncic shortcomings, but cmon, it was the freaking finals. They don’t sniff the second round (and maybe not even playoffs) if doncic isn’t all world. And there they are in the finals and he’s clearly somewhat hurting/injured. Criticizing doncic when he lost to a clearly superior team who had the right mix of athletes and size and defense to stymie him is kinda silly imo.
Agreed.
Yeah I tend to agree. Porzingas wanted out, but a couple of teams have passed on that guy, so I take that with a grain of salt. Not sure I’ve explicitly heard anything about anyone else. The current roster seems to enjoy playing with him.
And Brunson wanted to stay there and was willing to sign an extension but Dallas low-balled him:
That’s a great shot but hasn’t anyone noticed that he traveled TWICE, prior to starting the dribble and then before the shot?
It was noticed by almost the entire world except for everyone in that arena. I didn't even notice the Mavericks going ballistic over it, which they should have.
Depends. If you think Doncic isn't going to get much better defensively and grow up? OK. I can buy that but if not? I can see the other side as well.
I don’t even think he he needs to “get much better” defensively. Just a little. And I think that happens almost automatically if he gets into better shape. As for “growing up,” I don’t think he’s much more childish than a lot of the stars in the league. He’s at a similar level to Lebron and book imo. If you watch any game with a critical eye you see almost every star complaining incessantly these days.
I don't think it's like going from worst to best or anything but I think anytime the opposing team's strategy is to target you it has to be a tad above a "little".
Exactly, and the ref was right there, less than ten feet away.
It's not too much to ask for but my experience was a little different than yours. I had low expectations for that team and never really bought into it. So to me it was more a boring season than a frustrating one. I'd try to get my hopes up every now and then but it just wasn't sustainable with that heavily unbalanced roster we'd put together.
