2021-22 NBA Thread

[Crabcake]

1 hour ago, FinsUp1214 said:

I always find that basketball is the hardest major sport for me to rank a top ten for. There may be 15-20 players who have a legitimate argument to be a top 10 player, and you almost have to deliberately try to make a bad list. Basketball’s just been extremely fortunate to have as many legends play the game as they have.
 

Regarding Curry, he’s one of those borderliners for me where I can absolutely see an argument for him being top 10 or fall into top 15. He’s basketball’s Stan Musial for me; he could be 11-15 on one list because of logjam at the top, or he could be like 7-10 on another list, and neither seem terribly wrong to me. And frankly, that’s still an exceptionally great spot to be in on an all-time list. Nothing bad about that at all.
 

Exactly.  The fact that Curry is even involved in these discussions is amazing enough.  It's why it's so funny to me that Lebron haters' go-to lines now are all about how Jordan is better.  The fact that Lebron has even put himself in that discussion is incredible, let alone that he should actually win it.  The fact that the kid from Davidson who chucks up 3s is now being debated as a Top 10 or Top 20 all time player is amazing.

[Digby]

Like Ray Allen and Reggie Miller before him, I think Curry gets pigeonholed as a "pure shooter" ... In Curry's case, he's so pure a shooter that he literally changed how the game is played, but ironically that maybe works against him for the purposes of these discussions because being known for a two-way skillset is credited more here. But yes, I can't believe Davidson is even a D1 school, let alone that it produced a guy like him.

 

Curry's work this Finals has been masterful. The Celtics are playing him well, it's just that his shot can defy literally any defense thrown at him right now.

[Digby]

On 2022-06-11 at 11:08 AM, oldschoolvikings said:

I guess. But like I said, some of those were wide open looks. If they go in no one’s calling it heroball

 

There was some of that, but there were also a lot of turnovers, driving into traffic instead of making one extra pass out of trouble, a lack of off-ball movement... all the signs that these Celtics lapse into when they're rattled and not playing their best.

[gosioux76]

54 minutes ago, Digby said:

Like Ray Allen and Reggie Miller before him, I think Curry gets pigeonholed as a "pure shooter" ... In Curry's case, he's so pure a shooter that he literally changed how the game is played, but ironically that maybe works against him for the purposes of these discussions because being known for a two-way skillset is credited more here. But yes, I can't believe Davidson is even a D1 school, let alone that it produced a guy like him.

 

Curry's work this Finals has been masterful. The Celtics are playing him well, it's just that his shot can defy literally any defense thrown at him right now.

 

I tend to view these debates from a broader level. Rather than assessing the player's individual skills, I think it's more meaningful to measure them by two factors: Did they change the game and did they make the people around them better. 

 

Curry undoubtedly has done all of those things. I view Jordan as the standard-bearer for this equation. And in Curry's case, I view Klay and Draymond as his Pippen and Rodman. Also, like MJ, he's achieved sustained levels of success with a rotating cast of support players (other than Klay and Draymond.) Some of that credit goes to coaching, but that Golden State playbook has and always will revolve around Steph Curry.

 

That's what makes him different in the "pure shooter" category than Allen or Miller and should put him right up there within the top 10 of NBA greats. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Steph (and Seth) Curry isn't just some kid from Davidson. His dad is NBA great Dell Curry! Let's not pretend he's just some humble kid from nowhere.

 

He and teammate Klay both surpassed their fathers' careers. But all else equal, I'd rather my dad have been in the league than not. Seems like a helpful advantage.

[tBBP]

3 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

Steph (and Seth) Curry isn't just some kid from Davidson. His dad is NBA great Dell Curry! Let's not pretend he's just some humble kid from nowhere.

 

You really wanna know the trippy thing about it? He and LeBron were born in the same place...

[FinsUp1214]

The Jazz are interviewing 14(!) candidates for Head Coach.
 

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/jazz-coaching-search-jason-terry-frank-vogel-among-long-list-of-candidates-to-be-interviewed-per-report/amp/

 

That seems like a lot; I’d have to imagine they’ve really got no more than five serious candidates, but who knows. If they really are just casting a wide net and they get the right guy, then cool.

 

I think I’m leaning towards Johnnie Bryant - him supposedly being the “Donovan Mitchell whisperer” is a big plus (as long as Donovan doesn’t request an exit-stage-right first) and he’s supposedly a great player’s coach/chemistry guy - but I’m also pretty intrigued by Terry Stotts. It’d depend on how the roster looks next season, but I’d at the very least be curious to see how he’d fare with another shot.

I’m a little less excited about Frank Vogel, but I also wouldn’t mind him at all either. He does have a ring as a head coach, which none of the other candidates can say, so there’s that!

Edited June 14, 2022 by FinsUp1214

[who do you think]

Game/series. I don't know why I watch this crap.

[who do you think]

Disgusting. Just forfeit the game, it'd be less shameful.

[Germanshepherd]

Who would’ve thought 1-4 years ago that all the early prognosticators of Andrew Wiggins having a limitless ceiling would end up being right. 

[DoctorWhom]

Celtics really could have used those 8 consecutive 3's the previous game. 

 

Looks like another 7 game series if the Celtics want to win. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The T on Smart and fake foul call turned the game.

[DEAD!]

8 hours ago, tBBP said:

 

You really wanna know the trippy thing about it? He and LeBron were born in the same place...

And if the Dubs win this series, both of them would have 4 titles. 

[FiddySicks]

If Steph has another rough game and Wiggins goes off in game six and they still win, ngl I kinda think Wiggins deserves MVP  
 

 

[SeaTac]

Kind of funny watching Marcus Smart out there getting Marcus Smart-ed. 

[DEAD!]

[dont care]

4 hours ago, DEAD! said:

These are the dumbest sports fans there are. My only hope is that’s a temporary tattoo, it’s way to clean, and looks like it’s healed so he clearly didn’t get it recently if it’s a real tattoo.

[SeaTac]

It's real. He got it back in March. 

[gosioux76]

10 hours ago, Germanshepherd said:

Who would’ve thought 1-4 years ago that all the early prognosticators of Andrew Wiggins having a limitless ceiling would end up being right. 

 

It's really interesting to watch the moment when a player really just hits their potential. As a Timberwolves fan, it's a little heartbreaking, but I'm really happy that Wiggins is living up to his hype. 

 

I'm sure it took the right kind of situation for him to unlock that talent. Not having to share top-billing in Golden State probably helped a lot.  In Minnesota, it was set up to be the KAT and Wiggins show. 

[Digby]

55 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

I'm sure it took the right kind of situation for him to unlock that talent. Not having to share top-billing in Golden State probably helped a lot.  In Minnesota, it was set up to be the KAT and Wiggins show. 

 

The ESPN guys were talking about this last night and it's an interesting point in the context of "dynasty" teams. In the superteam era you see these (formerly) marquee names sign with these teams, and they can be hangers-on (Brooklyn, most LeBron teams) or they can be great talents who thrive in more of a role-player position, which this seems to be a prime example of.