The 2018-2019 Around the NBA thread

[Mainstreet]

okay... but doesn't blame belong on the PLAYER. I mean, it's not even like the Celtics are offering more money. Hayward wanted a better chance to win. Saw somewhere to do that. Took less money to make it happen.

Absolutely. I even think it was a hard decision for Hayward to make.

On a broader spectrum, this is one of the things wrong with the NBA. Smaller market teams not being able to keep their star players.

It's a player's league for sure.

 

[Finito]

here's what's really bothering me about Ayton. I'm watching the young guys taken after him and to a man, Doncic, Young and Bagley are ALL on an upward trajectory from where they started the season. JJJ hasn't had as much of an upswing, but I considered him much rawer than everyone else in that top 5. But the three are all posting their best stats of the season this month. You know... what you would expect from rookies who get better as the season wears on.

Ayton on the other hand hasn't made much a progression at all. He came out of the gate pretty much at 16/10.5 (which was impressive) but after four months of ball... is still right at 16/10.5. It looked like he was starting to take solid steps forward in December, getting more touches, getting better on the boards (averaging 11.8 that month) and I don't think it's a coincidence that this team actually looked like it kinda belonged in the NBA that month.

But since then... he's gone right back to where he started the season and maybe regressed even a tiny bit.

My fear, as usual is two-fold... 1) he doesn't have the big dog in him to want to be great 2) we really don't have a coach who knows how to use him or motivate his ass to get to another level.

Yeah don’t know if you’ve noticed the difference between the Suns and those teams. The level of dysfunction with this franchise is at an all time high. EVERYBODY has regressed on this team. Devin Booker has developed some really bad habits this year and has clearly gotten worse.

He scores at like a 60% clip you would think the coaches would try and get a guy that efficient a little more looks but nope keep setting screens at the 3 point like cause we got a quota to meet on 3 pointers(30)

He’s also a big man, big men need to be fed and this roster is insane we have distributors on this team and I mean none. Luca and Young have been great but Bagley? Bagley isn’t even starting, him and JJJ have been solid but good god look at the numbers it’s not even close those two don’t even compare to Ayton. People really don’t understand for all the crap people talk he’s putting up like historical numbers for a rookie big.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Yeah don’t know if you’ve noticed the difference between the Suns and those teams. The level of dysfunction with this franchise is at an all time high. EVERYBODY has regressed on this team. Devin Booker has developed some really bad habits this year and has clearly gotten worse.

He scores at like a 60% clip you would think the coaches would try and get a guy that efficient a little more looks but nope keep setting screens at the 3 point like cause we got a quota to meet on 3 pointers(30)

He’s also a big man, big men need to be fed and this roster is insane we have distributors on this team and I mean none. Luca and Young have been great but Bagley? Bagley isn’t even starting, him and JJJ have been solid but good god look at the numbers it’s not even close those two don’t even compare to Ayton. People really don’t understand for all the crap people talk he’s putting up like historical numbers for a rookie big.

oh my god... did you not read what I wrote about rookies getting better and our lack of coach... ah forget it.

 

[Finito]

oh my god... did you not read what I wrote about rookies getting better and our lack of coach... ah forget it.

Oh I read it

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I didn't say the Celtics did anything wrong but the Jazz are a smaller market team. Simply did not like the way they recruited Hayward away from them. It's sort of the way the Lakers operate.

Eh I think it’s a little different in the fact that Hayward went to play for his old college coach.

 

[Hoop Head]

Here is that Trae Young play from the other day shown from a different angle. It was impressive when it was posted here originally but you can get a better view of how he faked out his defender from this angle that shows it from above. It appears to be a feed from the game itself and the regular footage is shown first with a replay of it from a different angle second.

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[JCSunsfan]

Wow. Faked behind the back to go through his own legs, then makes the pass between the defenders legs.

 

[Town Drunk]

Bledsoe signed a 4 year, $70million extension with the Bucks.

 

[Proximo]

Bledsoe signed a 4 year, $70million extension with the Bucks.

This is great news. Our chances of getting brogdan just got a lot better.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This is great news. Our chances of getting brogdan just got a lot better.

I don't think they got all that much better. The Bucks have plenty of space for him next year. IMO the only way we get him is with a ridiculous overpay, one so far out of touch with his value that the Bucks just give up. Otherwise, I don't see them busting up the starting lineup on a team that's winning 77% of it's games.

 

[GatorAZ]

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[SunnyBaller]

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Trae young is making his push for ROY

 

[GatorAZ]

Trae young is making his push for ROY

Just hit another buzzer beater to go into 2OT. He’s got 45-12-6...

 

[GatorAZ]

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[elindholm]

Vince Carter played 45 minutes in that 4OT game!

 

[Finito]

Vince Carter played 45 minutes in that 4OT game!

Ok this is just insane.

 

[elindholm]

Ok this is just insane.

I looked it up. He's the oldest player ever to play 45 minutes in a game. Only one other player at age 42 "played his age" in minutes, and that was Robert Parish, who did it twice, with games of 42 and 44 minutes.

 

[Russ Smith]

Yet another thing the NBA has to watch now with fans and cell phones. If you're watching teh Sixers and Warriors the Warriors are 3-8 from the FT line in the 4th quarter and on every single shot the Sixers fans are using the flashlight in their phones to shine a light in the eyes of the Warrior shooters. I clearly saw Cousins mention it to a ref before he missed both shots and the cameras showed the fans doing it on both misses.

Not that Philly fans are the only ones just the first time I've seen it on camera.

 

[Russ Smith]

Always loved him as a player in college and nice to see a kid like TJ McConnell carve out a career for himself in the NBA by playing hard and being a good team player. They lost but he had a huge play late stripping Durant and the ball went off of Durant, gave Philly a chance to still win the game. Earlier in the game Green knocked the ball off McConnell it was going to Durant who casually moved over to pick it up, TJ came out of nowhere snatched the ball before Durant bothered to, dribbled in and made a 12 foot jumper as the rest of teh Warriors including Kerr looked at Durant like wtf is wrong with you. Both announcers pointed out what a great hustle play it was by McConnell

 

[Hoop Head]

Always loved him as a player in college and nice to see a kid like TJ McConnell carve out a career for himself in the NBA by playing hard and being a good team player. They lost but he had a huge play late stripping Durant and the ball went off of Durant, gave Philly a chance to still win the game. Earlier in the game Green knocked the ball off McConnell it was going to Durant who casually moved over to pick it up, TJ came out of nowhere snatched the ball before Durant bothered to, dribbled in and made a 12 foot jumper as the rest of teh Warriors including Kerr looked at Durant like wtf is wrong with you. Both announcers pointed out what a great hustle play it was by McConnell

Do you think the Warriors and Philly is a finals preview? I think it's safe to bet on the Warriors getting out of the west, although I like OKC's odds as a spoiler, but in the East there is the Raptors, Philly, Boston, and the Bucks as possibilities. I like Toronto the most but Lowry always chokes in the playoffs so there's no give me there. I like Philly more than Milwaukee because of their depth. Not sure who Boston will even be starting with how they're struggled to find themselves this year.

 

[Russ Smith]

Do you think the Warriors and Philly is a finals preview? I think it's safe to bet on the Warriors getting out of the west, although I like OKC's odds as a spoiler, but in the East there is the Raptors, Philly, Boston, and the Bucks as possibilities. I like Toronto the most but Lowry always chokes in the playoffs so there's no give me there. I like Philly more than Milwaukee because of their depth. Not sure who Boston will even be starting with how they're struggled to find themselves this year.

HOnestly not but we'll see. Houston has beaten the Warriors 3 times, once without harden. It's just a tough matchup because of the way they run offense they can force switches and punish Cousins, and they do a great job of getting Harden on Curry and Harden just overpowers him and shoots FT's. I thought Houston was going to win last year until CP3 got hurt and they might this year if they're healthy. And OKC.

With Philly I'm not sure they have teh most talent, and with LeBron in LA it's more likely, but I'm just not convinced they're ready, they have so many new guys, and talented so maybe the experience they picked up will help but none of those guys have been key guys in an NBA finals.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Always loved him as a player in college and nice to see a kid like TJ McConnell carve out a career for himself in the NBA by playing hard and being a good team player. They lost but he had a huge play late stripping Durant and the ball went off of Durant, gave Philly a chance to still win the game. Earlier in the game Green knocked the ball off McConnell it was going to Durant who casually moved over to pick it up, TJ came out of nowhere snatched the ball before Durant bothered to, dribbled in and made a 12 foot jumper as the rest of teh Warriors including Kerr looked at Durant like wtf is wrong with you. Both announcers pointed out what a great hustle play it was by McConnell

I don't think Philly realizes how lucky they are to have him as a backup point guard. He may not be an everyday starter but he can start in spots and he might lead the league in plays that change momentum. I don't think you can get much more out of your physical ability than TJ does.

 

[Hoop Head]

HOnestly not but we'll see. Houston has beaten the Warriors 3 times, once without harden. It's just a tough matchup because of the way they run offense they can force switches and punish Cousins, and they do a great job of getting Harden on Curry and Harden just overpowers him and shoots FT's. I thought Houston was going to win last year until CP3 got hurt and they might this year if they're healthy. And OKC.

With Philly I'm not sure they have teh most talent, and with LeBron in LA it's more likely, but I'm just not convinced they're ready, they have so many new guys, and talented so maybe the experience they picked up will help but none of those guys have been key guys in an NBA finals.

I get what you mean about Houston but I think if you weren't a Golden State fan you'd view that differently. You're probably more worried about them as a fan than anyone else is. I don't think they can take the Warriors in a 7 game series. Regular season wins are a D'Antoni special also, so I wouldn't put much stock in the game this year.

We'll see what happens but I think Westbrook could dethrone them because he's playing better than he ever has this year and Paul George is playing better than Durant did in OKC since he's a lockdown defender as well as a great scorer. They appear to have figured a lot out after getting Melo out of there. I'd love to see Westbrook vs Durant in the playoffs also so I hope it happens.

In the East, I'm not sure what will happen but I think Philly has as much of a shot as the 3 other contenders. Embiid and Simmons got a taste of the playoffs last year and Butler has plenty of playoff experience as well. Harris doesn't but he seems to be fitting in better than Butler so their team chemistry will be important to any postseason success.

 

[Hoop Head]

Has anyone seen this? Apparently Adam Silver would like to replace All-Star Weekend with a midseason tournament or something. He admitted that changing the format of the All-Star game from conferences to captains picking teams was "like putting lipstick on a pig". Apparently he's no fan of the midseason festivities. His goal is to come up with something to generate enough revenue to shorten the regular season to around 70 games. Of course trimming the season by that much would cut into about 15% of revenue for teams because they'd eliminate a number of home games for everyone so they need to be able to generate that elsewhere in order to justify it because teams and players won't just accept a cut like that for a shorter season.


https://sports.yahoo.com/adam-silver-star-game-didn-011947812.html

 

[CardsFan88]

Has anyone seen this? Apparently Adam Silver would like to replace All-Star Weekend with a midseason tournament or something. He admitted that changing the format of the All-Star game from conferences to captains picking teams was "like putting lipstick on a pig". Apparently he's no fan of the midseason festivities. His goal is to come up with something to generate enough revenue to shorten the regular season to around 70 games. Of course trimming the season by that much would cut into about 15% of revenue for teams because they'd eliminate a number of home games for everyone so they need to be able to generate that elsewhere in order to justify it because teams and players won't just accept a cut like that for a shorter season.


https://sports.yahoo.com/adam-silver-star-game-didn-011947812.html

A tourny? He's lost his mind.

In case you are fans of one of the 27 or so non-superteams, now your players can risk injury playing in a worthless tourny.

It's the epitome of putting lipstick on a pig.

Oh and some of these can be played overseas and the players can take a 15-20 percent paycut. Adam 'ivory tower' Silver

How about the All-Star game goes back to just being a normal fun time that some people can take it or leave it? They've tried to dial it up to 10, 11, 12 and the hype just doesn't work anymore. He is just overthinking it. It's not supposed to be a big deal.