NBA discussion thread

[Dragomir]

For the first time in a hot minute, I'm actively keeping up with basketball. Used to be a Celtics fan but not anymore today(still root for them a little). Don't really have a specific team I'm rooting for anymore. Kinda just going along for the ride. The Warriors, Bulls, and Hornets are absolutely fun to watch though. I used to hate the Warriors back when Lebron was on the Cavs. But that was petty hate. Hated them for no reason honestly. Now, I really like Curry and that whole Warriors team just has an awesome vibe to it. I like LaMelo, Giannis, and Lavine as well, and I'm still a Lebron fan, but the Lakers are not fun to watch at all. LeGM made a big mistake letting go of Caruso and getting Westbrook.

 

[ZenZu]

For the first time in a hot minute, I'm actively keeping up with basketball. Used to be a Celtics fan but not anymore today(still root for them a little). Don't really have a specific team I'm rooting for anymore. Kinda just going along for the ride. The Warriors, Bulls, and Hornets are absolutely fun to watch though. I used to hate the Warriors back when Lebron was on the Cavs. But that was petty hate. Hated them for no reason honestly. Now, I really like Curry and that whole Warriors team just has an awesome vibe to it. I like LaMelo, Giannis, and Lavine as well, and I'm still a Lebron fan, but the Lakers are not fun to watch at all. LeGM made a big mistake letting go of Caruso and getting Westbrook.

Maturing is realizing Steph Curry runs this era of basketball (since 2015)

Post automatically merged: Nov 20, 2021

Yeah the Warriors look like legitimate championship contenders this season. Last season Curry couldn’t even catch his breath on the bench without the second unit getting anihiliated. With Poole’s improvement and the deepest bench in years they’ve got no problems with that. Nothing external is hindering his MVP chances this year tbh.

What people don't realize is if Steph wasn't injured, they were gonna be a 5th seed last year.

The Warriors threw games in the beginning of the season trying to implement Wiseman, he was a net negative for them on both ends of the floor. When he got injured, and Steph came back they were winning like 80% of their games. Steph said last season "Y'all don't want to see us next year" I'm telling you, you don't need much of anything to surround Steph, half this team was in the g league not too long ago, he creates space and instills confidence in teammates like no other player in the history of this league. He's a whole offensive scheme on his own. The best thing to happen to Steph was Mark Jackson getting fired, Steve Kerr was able to fully maximize Steph's gravity and shooting ability.

 

[Dragomir]

Maturing is realizing Steph Curry runs this era of basketball (since 2015)

Post automatically merged: Nov 20, 2021

What people don't realize is if Steph wasn't injured, they were gonna be a 5th seed last year.

The Warriors threw games in the beginning of the season trying to implement Wiseman, he was a net negative for them on both ends of the floor. When he got injured, and Steph came back they were winning like 80% of their games. Steph said last season "Y'all don't want to see us next year" I'm telling you, you don't need much of anything to surround Steph, half this team was in the g league not too long ago, he creates space and instills confidence in teammates like no other player in the history of this league. He's a whole offensive scheme on his own. The best thing to happen to Steph was Mark Jackson getting fired, Steve Kerr was able to fully maximize Steph's gravity and shooting ability.

Facts. It was last year when I asked myself "Why the hell do I even hate the Warriors and Curry?" And since then, my hate bubble popped and I was liking Steph more and more. Although I was only passively keeping up with the season, I knew that it was he and Jokic who were the top 2 in the MVP race and I was legit rooting for Steph. Remove him from the team and the Warriors would not have still been in playoff contention as they had when facing Memphis at the end.

Post automatically merged: Nov 20, 2021

Was also watching Holey Moley which was adding to my likeness for Steph lmao. If the GS wins the chip this year and Curry finally gets an FMVP, I think you can make a serious argument that he's the greatest PG ever.

Would you guys say that with Klay and Wiseman returning, this team could be the best Warriors team we've seen? Even better than 73-9?

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

Facts. It was last year when I asked myself "Why the hell do I even hate the Warriors and Curry?" And since then, my hate bubble popped and I was liking Steph more and more. Although I was only passively keeping up with the season, I knew that it was he and Jokic who were the top 2 in the MVP race and I was legit rooting for Steph. Remove him from the team and the Warriors would not have still been in playoff contention as they had when facing Memphis at the end.

Post automatically merged: Nov 20, 2021

Was also watching Holey Moley which was adding to my likeness for Steph lmao. If the GS wins the chip this year and Curry finally gets an FMVP, I think you can make a serious argument that he's the greatest PG ever.

Would you guys say that with Klay and Wiseman returning, this team could be the best Warriors team we've seen? Even better than 73-9?

I definitely think the Warriors will be contenders this season (Semifinals up to the NBA Finals) especially since they barely missed the playoffs after losing both play-ins last season from a few costly plays. Compared to the 2015-16 season (which they should have won if not for Harrison Barnes' massive 4 game brickfest even with Draymond Green's suspension in the Finals), they're definitely a bit worse in terms of depth since they still at the end of the day rely on Curry as the engine of the team and struggle when he can't get it going. They're probably on a 55-60 win pace at this point but they can exceed even that expectation if Wiggins continues to play hard on both ends of the floor.

If and when Klay Thompson and James Wiseman return (probably will be playing off the bench for 20 MPG), there still needs to be a lot of figuring out in terms of minutes/touches distribution by Steve Kerr since guys like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins will have to sacrifice shots for Klay Thompson to be a integral part of their offense which will definitely take a few months for everyone on the team (even Curry) to adjust.

While the vision, rebounding and defense is still there, Draymond back in 2015-16 was actually a decent shooter from 3PT (38.8%) but has fallen off massively at this point in time to the point that teams will force him to shoot at the end of regulation and struggles to hit any sort of shot reliably (as seen in his failed floater attempt to potentially clinch a playoff berth -

)
but as long as he's alongside Curry and Thompson, this shouldn't be a massive issue anymore.

And if they had made it last season over the Grizzlies, they definitely would have given the 1 Seed Jazz a lot of trouble perhaps to 6 or 7 games, especially since the Jazz despite winning 4 - 1 struggled to guard Ja Morant all series long who put up 30+ PPG in his first ever playoff appearance with Memphis in 5 games (which they only really lost since they didn't have the firepower to outscore Utah for 48 minutes); Curry in place of Morant that season would have easily averaged 40+ PPG against them since the Jazz's man to man defense was really bad the entire playoffs (despite being on paper a good defensive team in terms of team defense centered around Rudy Gobert). And realistically they could have easily eliminated Utah and play the Clippers in the SemiFinals and perhaps win that since Curry would have went into the playoffs guns blazing

also I never hated the Warriors and rooted for them during the Finals above anyone else in the West besides San Antonio in 2012-13 and 2013-14 (especially against LeBron and the Cavs, or any LeBron led team really) since they built their team organically and didn't try to force a superteam (at least until the 2016-17 season) after a rebuilding transition following the years of the We Believe Warriors back in 2006-07. Hopefully they can make a serious run this season after missing the playoffs the last 2 seasons and change

Post automatically merged: Nov 21, 2021

sheeeeesh
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/qyo8y1

 

[Deleted member 10278]

Sheesh, Stewart went wild. That was a very nasty elbow though, damn.

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

Sheesh, Stewart went wild. That was a very nasty elbow though, damn.

massive respect for Stewart standing up to him though, most NBA players cower in fear around LeBron but it's always nice to see an NBA player not kiss his ass and protect themselves

 

[Deleted member 10278]

Would you guys say that with Klay and Wiseman returning, this team could be the best Warriors team we've seen? Even better than 73-9?

Wiseman needs more reps on defense, he was lost sometimes last year but once he can get that on lock he gives them an element they never had for any good amount of time on offense; a legit pick and roll/pop partner with Steph. Klay is going to make their offense deadly again and shed pressure off of Curry. Wiggins (when agressive) > Harrison Barnes , and their bench is pretty deep. They won’t have a better record than 2016 but this team is definitely deeper tbh, Kuminga and Moody haven’t even played like that.
I definitely got the Warriors coming out of the West.

LeGM made a big mistake letting go of Caruso and getting Westbrook.

Big L letting go of Carushow , an even bigger L missing out on getting Buddy Hield and keeping Kuzma/KCP. Westbrook just doesn’t fit this squad at all and with that fat contract nobody is taking him if they wanted to move him.

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

@Haoku
if Stewart didn't retaliate at that moment, LeBron will forever be in his head mentally as pretty much a bully since LeGM gets protected by the NBA no matter what he does. Sure Stewart's gonna get suspended for a few games but anyone in that situation, friend or not, superstar or not, I'm gonna fucking swing right back. I have eternal respect for Isiah Stewart regardless of what happens

also note how LeBron immediately hid behind the refs when Stewart was about to retaliate

its fucking unbelievable how many fucking LeBron stans defend him like he's their golden prince that did nothing wrong in that play, holy fucking shit

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https://www.reddit.com/r/DetroitPistons/comments/r0214t

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[Noyman]

@Noyman thoughts on San Miguel Beermen breaking up their veteran core of Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot? Also on Bobby Ray Parks Jr. (and Kiefer Ravena) leaving for the Japanese B League? curious to know what your thoughts are on the PBA currently

Not much really. They're really old now so it had to happen at some point. As for BP and Ravena leaving, I think they offer more money in Japan so good for them and obviously there will be more leaving. It's good in a way 'cause there's only 12 teams in PBA. Apparently, there's 47 teams in Japan lol. That's smart on them

Post automatically merged: Nov 25, 2021

Fucking ridiculous that this was an offensive foul. Edwards would've had another dunk of the year for the 2nd straight year. This may have been better than the Watanabe dunk.

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

Not much really. They're really old now so it had to happen at some point. As for BP and Ravena leaving, I think they offer more money in Japan so good for them and obviously there will be more leaving. It's good in a way 'cause there's only 12 teams in PBA. Apparently, there's 47 teams in Japan lol. That's smart on them

still kinda sad to seem San Miguel essentially break up their core since they were basically the PBA Filipino-Golden State Warriors Dynasty and this is basically an end of an era for them in terms of championship contention. They could have won this past conference if Leo Austria wasn't so stubborn playing Cabagnot and Santos as starters and keeping the PBA leading scorer CJ Perez they traded for pennies on the bench in crucial minutes. Yeah those two hit crazy amounts of game winners/clutch shots in the past but against TNT they needed a go to scorer to keep up with Mikey Williams (which should have been CJ Perez instead of bringing him back in when they were down double digits) since Fajardo wasn't at 100% since his surgery

San Miguel will still be pretty good and should be better with CJ hopefully getting the starting role this time alongside Ross/Lassiter/Tautuaa/Fajardo but TNT's gonna be dominating the league for years to come (and they didn't even have Bobby Ray Parks0; feelsbad for Abueva though losing to TNT 2 years in a row

 

[Udell]

I really hope Morant is okay. I really enjoyed watching him. Warriors will be the team to beat in the playoffs and not sure any team in the west can handle them right now.

Fucking ridiculous that this was an offensive foul. Edwards would've had another dunk of the year for the 2nd straight year. This may have been better than the Watanabe dunk.

IKR

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

RIP Kemba but removing him from the starting lineup had to be done since he got exploited on defense EVERY FUCKING possession no matter how hot he was from 3

Post automatically merged: Nov 30, 2021

low post god LaMarcus Aldridge

 

[Deleted member 10278]

This is the Western Conference Finals preview right here.

Helps that both are also the two hottest record wise in the league right now. People thought the Suns making the Finals last year was a fluke if anything they’re better this year, too bad the Warriors are back but the Suns are hella good.

 

[Noyman]

still kinda sad to seem San Miguel essentially break up their core since they were basically the PBA Filipino-Golden State Warriors Dynasty and this is basically an end of an era for them in terms of championship contention. They could have won this past conference if Leo Austria wasn't so stubborn playing Cabagnot and Santos as starters and keeping the PBA leading scorer CJ Perez they traded for pennies on the bench in crucial minutes. Yeah those two hit crazy amounts of game winners/clutch shots in the past but against TNT they needed a go to scorer to keep up with Mikey Williams (which should have been CJ Perez instead of bringing him back in when they were down double digits) since Fajardo wasn't at 100% since his surgery

San Miguel will still be pretty good and should be better with CJ hopefully getting the starting role this time alongside Ross/Lassiter/Tautuaa/Fajardo but TNT's gonna be dominating the league for years to come (and they didn't even have Bobby Ray Parks0; feelsbad for Abueva though losing to TNT 2 years in a row

That's true. Tbh, I'm not an SM fan so I don't have strong feelings about it but they'll still be good after it because it's SM and they're good all the time but yeah, it's nice to have another team winning it other than San Miguel and it could be TNT indeed although I wish BRP was still there.

IKR

He was already in the air before the defender was even set for a charge. That should've been a blocking foul. Still pissed about it lol


The T-Wolves are looking good... Don't look now.

 

[GrandmasterChef Zonji]

Happy now but still long way to go

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

tough loss against the Nets last night but benching Kemba might have been the best move of the season in favor of Burks

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Post automatically merged: Dec 2, 2021

Post automatically merged: Dec 3, 2021

GREATEST BLOWOUT IN NBA HISTORY (Oklahoma City Thunder 79 - Memphis Grizzlies 152)
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/r7osy9 @Haoku @Noyman

 

[Noyman]

GREATEST BLOWOUT IN NBA HISTORY (Oklahoma City Thunder 79 - Memphis Grizzlies 152)
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/r7osy9 @Haoku @Noyman

WTF? They just beat the Lakers twice last month and they lose like this without Ja (I think)? I remember the Bulls losing like this a couple of years ago and a mutiny almost happened. NBA should take away half of their draft picks just for that.

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

WTF? They just beat the Lakers twice last month and they lose like this without Ja (I think)? I remember the Bulls losing like this a couple of years ago and a mutiny almost happened. NBA should take away half of their draft picks just for that.

speaking of the Bulls we just lost to them and now hit .500 for the first time this season :'(

 

[Noyman]

speaking of the Bulls we just lost to them and now hit .500 for the first time this season :'(

Yeah. I just saw this and already knew what happened.

 

[RobertoTheOharaSurvivor]

Yeah. I just saw this and already knew what happened.

Not in panic mode yet but if we drop to 5 games under .500 by Christmas i might start crying tbh. No games for us the rest of the season is a guaranteed win for us anymore considering we lost to the Magic TWICE at home (accounting for 40% of their win total) and almost lost to the intentionally rebuilding Rockets 😔