The 2017 NBA Playoffs: This Is A Recording

[FinsUp1214]

15 hours ago, DustDevil61 said:

 

I can't say just how much of a sneaky good signing Joe Johnson was for Utah. His clutch playoff experience is invaluable to the Jazz when someone's been poking voodoo dolls of his teammates (Gordon Hayward tonight and Rudy Gobert this series until tonight). Oh yea, he's also one of Rodney Hood's favorite players growing up:

 

It's been awesome seeing the little stories and camaraderie this like this that this team has had this year despite the voodoo. Hood was also big, scoring 18 points late to help ice the game.

 

Now, another Joe on this Utah team can't be overlooked: Joe Ingles. While he only scored 8 points tonight, he dished out 11 assists and pulled in 6 rebounds...not to mention how well he can get in the heads of defenders. Not bad for someone who looks like a slightly younger Toby Flenderson:

 

 

The Jazz killed it over the offseason. Johnson, Diaw, and Hill have been huge in their own ways and collectively as veteran help. It's been incredibly valuable in ways that exceeded my even good expectations for them. I mean, this series is where it is because of Iso Joe, period.

 

That little link between Hood and Johnson is one of my favorite parts of this team, too. It's so cool to see them play together knowing their story. How awesome that's got to be for the both of them! 

 

And I kid you not, you're the second person I've seen today compare Ingles to Toby! I hadn't seen it before, but now I'll never unsee it again. Who knew Toby was so crafty with the rock?? For reals though, Ingles has been sneaky valuable all season. On a team with some pretty exceptional passers, he may be THE best. 

 

 

[DustDevil61]

3 hours ago, FinsUp1214 said:

 

The Jazz killed it over the offseason. Johnson, Diaw, and Hill have been huge in their own ways and collectively as veteran help. It's been incredibly valuable in ways that exceeded my even good expectations for them. I mean, this series is where it is because of Iso Joe, period.

 

That little link between Hood and Johnson is one of my favorite parts of this team, too. It's so cool to see them play together knowing their story. How awesome that's got to be for the both of them! 

 

And I kid you not, you're the second person I've seen today compare Ingles to Toby! I hadn't seen it before, but now I'll never unsee it again. Who knew Toby was so crafty with the rock?? For reals though, Ingles has been sneaky valuable all season. On a team with some pretty exceptional passers, he may be THE best. 

 

 

 

You can thank my brother for the Ingles/Flenderson connection. He sent a text saying it, I thought about it, and thought, "Holy crap! I don't think I've ever noticed that before!"

[KittSmith_95]

Norman Powell. 

 

 

That is all. 

[TheRicSlick]

It's 22-3 right now in the Dubs-Blazers game.

 

Utter domination.

[dfwabel]

Rip City fans acting as if they all saw Harambe get shot.

[Wings]

Just now, rickyISking said:

It's 22-3 right now in the Dubs-Blazers game.

 

Utter domination.

Welp. Now I can concentrate fully on the Timbers season. 

[FiddySicks]

So, I turn the game on to see the Blazers are wearing those "Rip City" jerseys and think to myself, "Well, that's kinda dumb." So I decide to look it up and figure out where exactly what inspired this whole "Rip City" thing. 

 

Quote

 

The Portland Trail Blazers’ very first season as an NBA franchise (1970-71) was a woeful one, as can be expected from a brand new team. The Los Angeles Lakers (and still present day rivals), on the other hand, were enjoying a prosperous season that would eventually take them to the Western Conference Finals. On February 18^th, 1971, the two faced off in the Memorial Coliseum.

 

The Trail Blazers struggled early, falling behind the Lakers by double-digits. It seemed that the Lakers would win handily, as expected, until the Trail Blazers made a significant push in the second half, bringing the game within two points. It was then that Trail Blazers guard Jim Barnett launched an ill-advised, deep shot to tie the game and play-by-play announcer Bill Schonely blurted out, “RIP CITY!” The Trail Blazers would eventually lose 136-114.

 

 

 

Actually, that's not kinda dumb at all. That's COMPLETELY dumb, and is probably the stupidest sports related jersey I've ever seen. 

 

Anyway, good series, Blazers. They're a fun team that I like. Damian Lillard is AWESOME. But, they need a lot of help if they want to compete long-term. 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

8 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

So, I turn the game on to see the Blazers are wearing those "Rip City" jerseys and think to myself, "Well, that's kinda dumb." So I decide to look it up and figure out where exactly what inspired this whole "Rip City" thing. 

 

 

 

Actually, that's not kinda dumb at all. That's COMPLETELY dumb, and is probably the stupidest sports related jersey I've ever seen. 

 

Anyway, good series, Blazers. They're a fun team that I like. Damian Lillard is AWESOME. But, they need a lot of help if they want to compete long-term. 

 

Lillard is an absolute beast, and McCollum is solid as well. 

 

But I feel that they overachieved yet again. I thought last season was a fluke, and I figured they'd fall back to earth this season and miss the playoffs. But they went on a tear to finish the year and ended up facing the steamroller that is the Golden State Warriors. They have no front court whatsoever. They're not far from seriously contending but they gotta get Lillard some help.

[dfwabel]

11 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

 

Lillard is an absolute beast, and McCollum is solid as well. 

 

But I feel that they overachieved yet again. I thought last season was a fluke, and I figured they'd fall back to earth this season and miss the playoffs. But they went on a tear to finish the year and ended up facing the steamroller that is the Golden State Warriors. They have no front court whatsoever. They're not far from seriously contending but they gotta get Lillard some help.

They had the 4th highest payroll this year and already have $133M in salaries for next season. When your that far into the Luxury Tax, you cannot be the 8 seed. You shouldn't be a 5.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2017/03/blazers_damian_lillard_salary_contracts.html

 

Crabbe's $19M and Turner's $17M are kinda untradable. Nurkic will be a FA next year, so only one or two of the $6-9M guys could be desirable in trade.

 

For decades, team execs love to unwisely spend Paul Allen's money.

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Nuggets/Warriors would have been a more entertaining series. 

 

And dfwabel's right -- the Blazers are spending a ton of money on this current team and are locked into their core. 

 

It might make sense to trade McCollum while his value is high. Unfortunately, they have a need for better players across their entire team. I don't know how they can make that happen. 

 

The new CBA seems to be really great at giving established players lots of money, but less good at facilitating player movement. So while the Blazers are locked into a mediocre team, the Warriors are locked into a great one. 

 

(Which, actually, speaks to the talent of David Griffin. He's turned over the Cavs roster three times in three years. That's pretty amazing,  especially when a guy like D-Will all of a sudden looks good again.)

[Sport]

13 hours ago, Bucfan56 said:

So, I turn the game on to see the Blazers are wearing those "Rip City" jerseys and think to myself, "Well, that's kinda dumb." So I decide to look it up and figure out where exactly what inspired this whole "Rip City" thing. 

 

Actually, that's not kinda dumb at all. That's COMPLETELY dumb, and is probably the stupidest sports related jersey I've ever seen. 

 

 

The first time I saw them in those jerseys was 4 or 5 years ago in a bar and I didn't even know what team they were. I had to look it up who Rip City was. If a nickname for your city requires a long backstory that nobody outside that city knows it's not a good idea to put it on a jersey. The MOTOR CITY Pistons jerseys were really bad, but at least people know who Motor City is. I'd never heard of Rip City until that jersey. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

No snark: this is a really great Players Tribune piece by/about Dion Waiters: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/dion-waiters-miami-heat-nba-is-lucky/

[dfwabel]

Stugotz just went "Hot Take Diva" on Chris Paul and I had to close the door to my office as I was nearly in tears.

 

 

I'll edit this post to add the video when made available.

[bucknut42]

The Pacers are out now, so I kinda find myself rooting for the Jazz. I have no idea why, but I'm drawn to them for some reason. Maybe it's Gordon Hayward coming from Butler, which is in my home state, and me kinda really liking his underdog story. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Jazz are Pacers-west. They have, uh,  similar fan bases and often feature similar lineups. 

[HedleyLamarr]

2 hours ago, DG_Now said:

The Jazz are Pacers-west. They have, uh,  similar fan bases and often feature similar lineups. 

racist

[WSU151]

NM 

[dfwabel]

CP3 responds correctly.

 

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, HedleyLamarr said:

racist

You're right. I should have included Boston too. 

[goalieboy82]

dear NBA,

you dont mind a 6pm start time for the Wizards vs Hawks game today, but for the Finals, its 9pm start time (and the game is over by 11:30pm EST).