2020-2021 NBA Season Thread

[GDAWG]

This is going to be a fun Conference championships.   A combined two NBA Championships among the four teams: Hawks won it in 1958 when they were in St. Louis and Bucks won it in 1971 with Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  

[BBTV]

Watching all the player Zoom conferences now, just hoping that one of them has the balls to call out Ben Simmons for being an insecure little child who steals money every two weeks.

 

Actually... they just said he's up next.  I hope the "Philly Media lol" actually asks him legit questions... but I think they all retired, accepted buy-outs, or died a decade ago.

[BBTV]

LOL, they're asking him if he realizes he's probably "played his last game in Philly" and "how do you feel possibly playing your last game in Philly", "you know that everyone's speculating that this is it for you in Philly".  And he's wearing a mask, even though it's not required for vaccinated players, so he's probably another of those idiots that listen to Lebron or he's a southern hillbilly.   They really need to have a minimum-aptitude test for these guys.  To his credit, after the dismissive "well this is Philly, what do you expect?" he admitted he sucked at all aspects, but "I am what I am".  To hell with him.   

 

EDIT:

To Glenn Rivers "will Ben Simmons be a point guard if he's on the team right now?"  Glenn: "I can't answer that"

[Unocal]

 Is this the start of a new golden era for Hawks basketball or will this be a one year wonder ala 2013 Memphis?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

10 minutes ago, Unocal said:

 Is this the start of a new golden era for Hawks basketball or will this be a one year wonder ala 2013 Memphis?

 

If they don't let Trae spam fouls next year, could be the end of the line.

[BBTV]

 

So he was 3 for 3 - 100%!

 

Simmons should be the one with the torn meniscus, calf strain, or Achilles - Not players that actually want to play. 

[Indigo]

@BBTV is single-handedly carrying the “Ben Simmons sucks he should get hurt” and “LBJ’s brain is like a 7-year-old” communities to the CCSLC. Good job.

 

[Unocal]

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

If they don't let Trae spam fouls next year, could be the end of the line.

 

If James Harden has this type of officiating in 2018-2019, the Warriors don't make the Finals

[habsfan1]

Nice to see some new teams in the final 4. Two of them never won an NBA Championship.

[Unocal]

A penny for Lloyd Pierce's thoughts

[DEAD!]

1 hour ago, habsfan1 said:

Nice to see some new teams in the final 4. Two of them never won an NBA Championship.

A Clippers-Hawks final would be notable for it would involves two franchises that started in Buffalo.

[BBTV]

8 hours ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

@BBTV is single-handedly carrying the “Ben Simmons sucks he should get hurt” and “LBJ’s brain is like a 7-year-old” communities to the CCSLC. Good job.

 

 

I never said he "should" get hurt or I "want" him to get hurt - just that it's not fair that players that want to play get hurt and have to sit out and a guy that clearly wishes he was sitting out didn't.  And Lebron is an idiot - but he's far from alone as far as pro athletes go - he's just the most influential idiot.

 

EDIT:  And now Embiid is starting to turn on him:

Quote

“I’ll be honest,” said Embiid, who scored 31 points on 11-of-21 shooting from the field. “I thought the turning point was when we — I don’t know how to say it — is when we had an open shot and we made one free throw.”

 

I think this opinion piece in today's paper is pretty accurate:

https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/ben-simmons-sixers-hawks-game-seven-offseason-trade-decisions-20210621.html

 

Quote

 

Playoff basketball is difficult enough at even-strength. It’s nearly impossible when you allow your opponent to play four-on-five. That’s what Simmons did. His passivity was so total that it somehow became the opposite. He actively gave the Hawks the game. The fact that he only attempted four shots is pitiful. The fact that he did it in a game where the Sixers desperately needed buckets? Inexcusable. This was as close to malpractice as a point guard can get.

...

Game 7s are when legends are made. This one made Simmons into the opposite of that. He was the anti-Jordan, the anti-Durant, a player so uncomfortable in the moment that he couldn’t even bring himself to try.

...

That is what Simmons is right now. A hostage. A prisoner of himself. The problem is that he has locked his teammates inside with him. And they’re uncomfortably close to screaming to get out

 

 

But there's 4 teams left, the Sixers aren't one of them, so there's no need for me to bring them into the discussion anymore, so that's it for now.   I'll go back to not watching basketball, and everyone that enjoys it can enjoy what should be a good final 4.   It's hard not to like the Hawks - especially Tre Young - and the Bucks are an intriguing team too.  Should be a great series.  Don't know anything about the west teams... but will probably be good.

[Sport]

I see a lot of NBA twitter is doing the "actually this is bad for the league" thing that seems to happen in the NHL whenever a big market team gets eliminated. 

 

A. it'll be fun to have new franchises in the mix instead of Lakers-Heat

B. Other than Milwaukee you have Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Phoenix in the final four. Those are the 2nd, 7th, and 11th largest media markets in the US. Calm down. 

C. It's like when the Royals won the World Series - If the dang ass Suns, Clippers, Hawks, or Bucks can win an NBA title then literally anybody can. The hope  will get extended to perennial sadsacks like the Grizzlies or Pacers or Twolves or Nuggets or Wizards, etc. That's good for the league for the fans of every team to feel like they do have a shot. That hasn't really ever been the case in the NBA. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 minute ago, Sport said:

I see a lot of NBA twitter is doing the "actually this is bad for the league" thing that seems to happen in the NHL whenever a big market team gets eliminated. 

 

A. it'll be fun to have new franchises in the mix instead of Lakers-Heat

B. Other than Milwaukee you have Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Phoenix in the final four. Those are the 2nd, 7th, and 11th largest media markets in the US. Calm down. 

C. It's like when the Royals won the World Series - If the dang ass Suns, Clippers, Hawks, or Bucks can win an NBA title then literally anybody can. The hope  will get extended to perennial sadsacks like the Grizzlies or Pacers or Twolves or Nuggets or Wizards, etc. That's good for the league for the fans of every team to feel like they do have a shot. That hasn't really ever been the case in the NBA. 

 

Yes, and I'd also say this is more Leicester City than a sea change.

[DEAD!]

23 minutes ago, Sport said:

I see a lot of NBA twitter is doing the "actually this is bad for the league" thing that seems to happen in the NHL whenever a big market team gets eliminated. 

 

A. it'll be fun to have new franchises in the mix instead of Lakers-Heat

B. Other than Milwaukee you have Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Phoenix in the final four. Those are the 2nd, 7th, and 11th largest media markets in the US. Calm down. 

C. It's like when the Royals won the World Series - If the dang ass Suns, Clippers, Hawks, or Bucks can win an NBA title then literally anybody can. The hope  will get extended to perennial sadsacks like the Grizzlies or Pacers or Twolves or Nuggets or Wizards, etc. That's good for the league for the fans of every team to feel like they do have a shot. That hasn't really ever been the case in the NBA. 

 

Geez, even I still find it hard to believe the Raptors actually won a title. 

 

[Lights Out]

The annual Doc Rivers playoff meltdown is way more fun to watch when he's not coaching your team. 

 

At this point, Doc is one of the worst coaches in sports history. When you look at the sheer amount of talent he's wasted throughout his career, it's staggering. He's the Wayne Gretzky of choking, and I'm not even exaggerating here - nearly every one of his playoff losses nowadays is followed by ESPN tweeting that he's set at least one new record for playoff futility in the process. People will cite the 2008 Celtics ring to push back on this, but they won that ring in spite of Doc and didn't look remotely impressive while doing it considering how stacked that team was. They also should have won again in 2010, but Doc blew a 3-2 lead in the Finals (what else is new). The Sixers need to get rid of him now before he ruins what's left of Embiid's prime.

 

Needless to say, I don't think it's a coincidence that the Clippers immediately had their best season ever now that both Sterling and Doc are gone. We all thought Sterling selling the team would be what ended the curse, but it turned out that the Clippers Curse had just been replaced by the Rivers Curse.

[Sport]

8 minutes ago, DEAD! said:

 

Geez, even I still find it hard to believe the Raptors actually won a title. 

 

I don't know why I totally forgot about them. That's probably the least likely franchise to win a championship that I've ever seen. 

 

  

14 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

Yes, and I'd also say this is more Leicester City than a sea change.

 

Because it's unlikely that injuries will wipe out the Nets and Lakers again next year? 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

9 minutes ago, Sport said:

 

Because it's unlikely that injuries will wipe out the Nets and Lakers again next year? 

 

I'm holding faith LeBron's on an every-other-year plan at this point.

[DEAD!]

23 minutes ago, Lights Out said:

The annual Doc Rivers playoff meltdown is way more fun to watch when he's not coaching your team. 

 

At this point, Doc is one of the worst coaches in sports history. When you look at the sheer amount of talent he's wasted throughout his career, it's staggering. He's the Wayne Gretzky of choking, and I'm not even exaggerating here - nearly every one of his playoff losses nowadays is followed by ESPN tweeting that he's set at least one new record for playoff futility in the process. People will cite the 2008 Celtics ring to push back on this, but they won that ring in spite of Doc and didn't look remotely impressive while doing it considering how stacked that team was. They also should have won again in 2010, but Doc blew a 3-2 lead in the Finals (what else is new). The Sixers need to get rid of him now before he ruins what's left of Embiid's prime.

 

Needless to say, I don't think it's a coincidence that the Clippers immediately had their best season ever now that both Sterling and Doc are gone. We all thought Sterling selling the team would be what ended the curse, but it turned out that the Clippers Curse had just been replaced by the Rivers Curse.

 

On top of that, maybe Ty Lue should get more appreciation than he's had. 

17 minutes ago, Sport said:

I don't know why I totally forgot about them. That's probably the least likely franchise to win a championship that I've ever seen. 

 

 

I am having a hard time during my lifetime to find another franchise. Perhaps, I felt that way after the first Patriots or even the Ravens title.  There are the individual seasons like the 2003 Marlins or 2004 Pistons, but those are franchises that have previously won titles.

Then there was Leicester City winning a premier league title. At least in the NBA, a team can acquire a Kawhi, but good luck trying get a Messi to play in Leicester.

 

[Digby]

Guess we’ll find out when the ratings come in. So far apparently ratings have been way up in these playoffs, even above a few years ago, so last year’s putrid showing can be ever more convincingly attributed to the covid season. I don’t know if that’ll hold with so many stars out, but it does feel like ATL and PHX have some pent-up fandom energy here.