2020-2021 NBA Season Thread

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Shumway said:

 

I missed a solid decade of the NBA in the 2010s, but when I think of the Clippers, it's like Eric Piatkowski, Corey Maggette, Loy Vaught, Michael Olowakandi, Elton Brand, Danny Manning and Ron Harper.

 

I'm well aware probably none of these guys are on their Mount Rushmore, but those are the Clippers that immediately come to mind. 

 

I liked Harper, Manning, Benoit Benjamin, Charles Smith and Gary Grant. Maggette was talented, but became a ballhog and too much hero ball like Kemba Walker, James Harden and Russell Westbrook IMO. 

[GDAWG]

 

[MilSox]

I can NOT believe this is happening!!!!

 

I was still in diapers the last time a Milwaukee team played for a championship; and the Bucks haven't played for one since a few years before I was born. Now, finally at age 40 I get to watch my hometown go for a title!

 

Nothing against the Packers, but after living in Green Bay for two years, I REALLY want a championship I don't have to share with them.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Even though the playoffs are littered with the bodies of injured superstars, Chris Paul vs Giannis (maybe?) is a fine Finals.

 

Go Suns, but mostly go 7 games.

[habsfan1]

Bucks & Suns will be quite a nice looking Final, as far as uniforms go.

[Gary]

12 hours ago, The Six said:

 

The Lob City team that choked to the Rockets definitely had a higher ceiling than what they accomplished, and they had a younger version of Chris Paul. That first round win against the Spurs was more impressive than anything this year's Suns have done. But it's hard to evaluate these Suns because they haven't been tested yet, with perhaps four rounds of playing teams missing their best or second best player.

Yet they’re in the Finals. At this point. With no woulda, coulda or shoulda, the Suns proved themselves. I don’t care what injury to said team or what could’ve happened if that said player could’ve played. The Suns are in the Finals against the Bucks. Who has had success without their best player the last two games. 
 

I mean the Suns started the Western Conference Finals without Chris Paul. What more do you want? If they haven’t been really tested, then why are they at this point? 

[SFGiants58]

I’m game for either team winning! Go to seven games.

[packerfan21396]

Absolutely crazy to think that Fiserv Forum is hosting in its 3rd year what the Bradley Center couldn't.  Surreal scenes, the best BucksIn6 I could've imagined.  Keep 'er movin'

[MilSox]

13 hours ago, habsfan1 said:

Bucks & Suns will be quite a nice looking Final, as far as uniforms go.

 

As long as the Bucks stay away from their black and blue alts.

[packerfan21396]

17 minutes ago, NicDB said:

 

As long as the Bucks stay away from their black and blue alts.

I guarantee the green Earned on Game 3 for the home opener of the series and black Statement on Game 6 for the culture.  Feel like the jersey schedule should be up on LockerVision by tomorrow.

[MilSox]

3 hours ago, packerfan21396 said:

I guarantee the green Earned on Game 3 for the home opener of the series and black Statement on Game 6 for the culture.  Feel like the jersey schedule should be up on LockerVision by tomorrow.

 

Earned is the one with the antlers on the sides, right? No problem with that one. It's totally on brand and worthy of being the primary.

[The Six]

7 hours ago, Gary said:

Yet they’re in the Finals. At this point. With no woulda, coulda or shoulda, the Suns proved themselves. I don’t care what injury to said team or what could’ve happened if that said player could’ve played. The Suns are in the Finals against the Bucks. Who has had success without their best player the last two games. 
 

I mean the Suns started the Western Conference Finals without Chris Paul. What more do you want? If they haven’t been really tested, then why are they at this point? 

 

Not sure what you're asking. Facing the Lakers without AD, the Nuggets without Murray, and the Clippers without Leonard is clearly different than having those players healthy.  That's what "not being tested" means. I didn't say they don't deserve to be in the Finals or are an inferior team, but that it's difficult to tell just how good they really are because they haven't faced the competition other Finals teams have in the past.

[packerfan21396]

1 hour ago, NicDB said:

 

Earned is the one with the antlers on the sides, right? No problem with that one. It's totally on brand and worthy of being the primary.

Yep, and I agree, love that look for them

[Dynasty]

The best team doesn't win the title all the time (although in this league I guess it's most of the time, but moving past that...). The Nets and Lakers were considered arguably the best in the league before the season start, but injuries happen to everybody and they suffered for it (especially the Lakers). I don't think many are clamoring for the Suns to be labeled as the best team because I would assume everyone knows they aren't. They got help from the injury bug. But their title would still be real if they end up winning because they were able to take advantage of the misfortune plaguing other teams.

 

Let Phoenix fans enjoy this. If it takes several injuries for small franchises like the Suns to claim a title instead of the big boys in LA and Golden State winning it on a yearly basis, so be it.

[packerfan21396]

Forgot to fact check it sooner, but the Bucks became the first NBA team to win conference championships in both conferences.  1971, 1974 West Champs; 2021 East Champs.

[Red Wolf]

On 7/4/2021 at 10:50 AM, SFGiants58 said:

I’m game for either team winning! Go to seven games.

 

And the Lord's people said, "Amen." Let's do a good basketball! This is a weird time and we deserve weird sport things. We got our "comfort food" from Thomas Brady winning the football plate already.

[GDAWG]

Oh this should be a fun series.  

[Digby]

The Suns were 1 game back of the best record in the league all season long, the Bucks have been a conference power for years now. Obviously it’s bad that there were more injuries than usual this year. But the idea that these two teams got in in a fluky stroke of luck is total nonsense. Everyone bending over backwards to excuse the Nets and Lakers, welp, that’s why they play the games.

[gosioux76]

On 7/2/2021 at 6:57 PM, tBBP said:

...These are interesting times in the NBA right now, and about the closest I've seen in my 40 years on earth to what existed of parity in the 90s, what with the reigning dynasty being not coastal royalty, but midwestern (Chicago) and, for two years, southern (Houston). But even back then just about every team had at least one bona fide star. (I'm looking at the Mitch Richmonds, Chris Webbers, Tim Hardaways, Ray Allens, Kevin Garrett's, Dikembe Mutombos, Alonzo Mournings, Larry Johnsons, Grant Hills, and Penny Hardaways--guys who gave fans of smaller-market teams to actually care about the teams in those markets.) Now that LeBron and KD are out, now we have the Giannisses, Trey Youngs, and Ja Morants out there (and Damian Lillard, provided he stays in Portland) reppin' for the teams no one used to care about.  That coupled with the fact that either ATL or MKE is gonna make the Finals against the Phoenix Suns makes this probably the NBA equivalent to the 2007 college football season: just about the most random season in recent memory if not of all time.  And as one who is really not an uber-fan of any one team (though I do admit to feeling a sort of draw toward Memphis), I'm all for it.

To me, the NBA that I loved and lost is back again. This playoff season has brought me right back into the game.  I was a huge fan of the league in the late '80s and early '90s, and @tBBPis 100% correct -- nearly every team had a marketable star, someone who gave you at least a hint of hope that they'd have a sniff at a deep playoff run, if not the Finals. But in the past 20 years,  the playoffs were little more than a coronation for one of the 5 teams that dominated in that era. If you were a fan of the T-wolves or Magic or Blazers or Hawks in that time, what motivation was there to invest energy into your club?  There was more entertainment value in Netflix than in watching a club with no hope for success. I was living in Portland for much of that time, and it was incredibly frustrating watching people embrace a team that you knew wouldn't make it past the second round of the playoffs, if that far. 

 

I was also the turned off by the if-you-can't-beat-em-join-em mentality of superstars conspiring to join forces in markets of their choosing. I may just be an old man yelling at clouds at this point, but I preferred an era where a talent the likes of Kevin Durant would make the players around them better rather than leapfrogging their way to greener pastures in search of trophies. 

 

Anyway, these playoffs absent LeBron and Steph and KD have been a delight. I truly hope it marks the return of some semblance of parity in the league. 

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

On the eve of the NBA Finals and the biggest basketball story is Rachel Nichols.

 

I'm there for most sports social justice stories, but I just can't get there for this one.

 

EDIT: Also, I know I'll be watching tonight, but I might be a bit more interested in Argentina/Colombia. Copa America has been great this year.