2019-20 NBA Thread of Threads

[DG_ThenNowForever]

2019-20 All-NBA teams:

First: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, James Harden

Second: Damian Lillard, Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Jokic, Chris Paul, Pascal Siakam

Third: Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Rudy Gobert, Russell Westbrook

 

I don't know about Russ or Ben Simmons, especially when the better Sixer isn't there. Better options than Russell Westbrook: Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker, Kyle Lowry

[habsfan1]

I didn't know how entertaining The Iron Sheik's Twitter feed is:

 

 

[LMU]

 

[waltere]

8 hours ago, IceCap said:

Trimmed most of this for length, but keeping one particularly relevant sentence.

 

Meanwhile with the Clippers...he just seemed like he wanted to go home. 

 

I don't know if any of this was wrong per se, but I think there's one huge factor not acknowledged: The Bubble.

 

Working off the theory (possibly wrong, but it's the read I get) that Kawhi is a pretty low-key type guy who seems to like, for want of a better phrase, his own space, and signed for the hometown team as much so he could be at home as anything else, then I can't imagine it's been an ideal situation for him

 

Think about it - there's a pandemic which caused the bubble in the first place still raging, the most significant racial justice protests/moment for at least a generation is happening, half the west coast just caught fire, there is a WHOLE BUNCH O' going on in the world; meanwhile most of the NBA has spent the better part of two months stuck in a Disney World (in Kawhi's case on the other side of the country from the "hometown" he just signed with) surrounded by nobody except other basketball-related guys 24/7, with no real escape valve or ability to get away from things, whilst still having to go out and play top-level pro basketball and be judged for their performance.

At a certain point I can see how the entire situation would start to massively affect some guys on the court. YMMV of course as to whether or not that's "right" for a top end pro sportsman, but at the end of the day they are all humans and the Bubble has got to hitting some players more negatively than others, and I can definitely see Kawhi being someone who'd struggle with it.

 

tl:dr: Maybe when you say he seemed like he wanted to go home he, in a very literal sense, did.

[Germanshepherd]

Then again the Denver Nuggets had 6 chances to say “y’know what let’s go home” and never did and they’re title longshots. Not saying that all that wasn’t a factor for Kawhi but the vast majority of players I’ve seen have really bought into the bubble. 

[IceCap]

5 hours ago, waltere said:

 

I don't know if any of this was wrong per se, but I think there's one huge factor not acknowledged: The Bubble.

I'm not sure the Clippers go up 3-1 on the Nuggets, or even necessarily make it past round one, if the Bubble was that crippling for Kawhi.

 

The fact that no one wants to acknowledge is that the Clippers we saw lose three straight games to the Nuggets are the same Clippers we saw all season, even before the pandemic. 

Streaky play, a lack of chemistry. In retrospect? The Clippers losing three straight games like this shouldn't surprise anyone. They were playing hot and cold all season. 

 

Kawhi going utterly cold in a game seven is certainly shocking, but I'm not sure the Bubble is to blame for that. We would have seen him fall flat much earlier if it were. 

[Seadragon76]

With all the talk about the Clippers choking, there is something missing here:

 

Denver has come back from 2 straight 3-1 holes. I think that speaks more to the willpower of the Nuggets (and how the two man game of Jokic and Murray is great in pressure packed situations) then it does to the Jazz and the Clippers choking.

[speedy]

20 hours ago, Digby said:

 

Oh this is a taxonomy of New Englanders I'm very curious about.

 

It's very uninteresting. In short, we're all unbearable.

 

1: Patriots - For obvious reasons

2: Celtics - Think they are the best team in the league every year. Every call is a bad call. Comprised mostly of Old Boston (born and bread- not really a fan of POC) and affluent white kids who never grew out of the teenage angst phase. Do you know who my dad is!? BLEED GREEN.

3: Bruins - Pretty knowledgeable compared to Celtics fans. Mostly level-headed but can turn erratic on a dime. Obnoxious to a degree. The most heartbreak of any team in the city other than the 2011 Cup, which lends itself to more of an outsider feel than the other fan bases in the area.

4: Red Sox - All pink hats, no one cares about this team anymore, even if they're good. Red Sox provide a forum for people to go to Fenway solely to get a picture of them at Fenway. High ratings at nursing homes. 

[Digby]

interesting -- I suppose I would agree with that ranking, though I would argue Bruins fans are most likely to seem nice enough on the outside, but will cut you off on Route 3 and throw trash from their F-350 when nobody's looking. Like proportionally speaking, too many South Shore cops and contractors in that crowd for my liking.

 

My theory is that millennial Celtics fans have been the least spoiled, relative to the other Boston fanbases -- too young to really remember Bird, the very very bad 90s, the chip on the shoulder of the Big Three not making it to dynasty level. So they're really making hay of the current team. Nightmarish collision of Ainge-worshipping analytics nerds and the Weird Celtics Twitter meme people.

[waltere]

10 hours ago, IceCap said:

I'm not sure the Clippers go up 3-1 on the Nuggets, or even necessarily make it past round one, if the Bubble was that crippling for Kawhi.

 

The fact that no one wants to acknowledge is that the Clippers we saw lose three straight games to the Nuggets are the same Clippers we saw all season, even before the pandemic. 

Streaky play, a lack of chemistry. In retrospect? The Clippers losing three straight games like this shouldn't surprise anyone. They were playing hot and cold all season. 

 

Kawhi going utterly cold in a game seven is certainly shocking, but I'm not sure the Bubble is to blame for that. We would have seen him fall flat much earlier if it were. 

This is all fair enough, and you're definitely someone who's watched more basketball, and especially Kawhi, than I have.

 

I was also sort of intentionally being extreme with my post, but I do think that the bubble itself has to be acknowledged as a definite factor in everything that's happening right now.

[Digby]

Had a reply about the Celtics doing a nice job adjusting but the Heat have out-adjusted the adjustments and look back in control. Welp!

[DG_ThenNowForever]

When is Hayward coming back?

[AustinFromBoston]

Celtics would be on their way to a sweep if they remember that there's actually 4 quarters in Basketball. 

[alxy8s]

I am a pig in :censored: right now. 

[Digby]

If the Celtics not named Marcus Smart could show that kind of fire on the court, that would be helpful.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Another year, another announcement of an MVP sitting home watching other people still playing basketball.

[Digby]

18 hours ago, AustinFromBoston said:

Celtics would be on their way to a sweep if they remember that there's actually 4 quarters in Basketball. 

 

I don't know what the 3rd quarter malaise is about, but beyond that -- you throw a zone defense at them and all of a sudden they look like the Wizards. Same thing happened vs the Raptors, although that was more confined to Kemba alone. Credit to teams and coaches for figuring out how to disarm a good Celtics team, but also, a championship team can't crumble at the sight of simple adjustments like that, so that's on the Celtics to figure out.

[AustinFromBoston]

3 hours ago, Digby said:

 

I don't know what the 3rd quarter malaise is about, but beyond that -- you throw a zone defense at them and all of a sudden they look like the Wizards. Same thing happened vs the Raptors, although that was more confined to Kemba alone. Credit to teams and coaches for figuring out how to disarm a good Celtics team, but also, a championship team can't crumble at the sight of simple adjustments like that, so that's on the Celtics to figure out.

Stevens has been outcoached twice these playoffs. 

First against Toronto, which they only won because Siakam decided not to show up. And now against Miami. 

 

I think the Celtics are the better team (especially if they get Hayward back), but Miami is better coached. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Lakers are Thanos tonight. Wow.

[LakeShow24]

Anthony.

 

Davis.