22-23 NBA Season Thread

[Cujo]

On 4/19/2023 at 12:20 PM, dont care said:

The last time they lost draymond in a playoffs series didn’t turn out good for them. And they were leading the series at that point

 

How'd things go without him tonight?

[Digby]

Trying to parse out what made Draymond ejected and suspended, Harden ejected, and Embiid just an unsportsmanlike foul is reaching NFL "what is a catch, really" levels.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

4 hours ago, Digby said:

Trying to parse out what made Draymond ejected and suspended, Harden ejected, and Embiid just an unsportsmanlike foul is reaching NFL "what is a catch, really" levels.

 

I think the Draymond piece is obvious. Repeat offender and an all-around miserable person. I didn't watch the Sixers game, but if Harden's offense came after Embiid's, that makes sense to me. If before,  I don't know.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36256363/doc-rivers-says-nba-address-teams-goading-star-players

 

 

Quote

NEW YORK -- Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers gave an impassioned speech Friday in defense of Joel Embiid's kick at Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, saying the NBA needs to do something about teams trying to goad star players into retaliatory actions during games. 

 

"I'm going to say this, and I probably shouldn't: I didn't think Draymond [Green] should have been suspended," Rivers said Friday, referring to the Golden State Warriors star's suspension for stomping on the Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis.

 

"And I think the league is setting up a very dangerous precedent right now, and this is not me campaigning, and I'm dead serious.  "... If we're going to start punishing the retaliators, and not the instigators, then we've got a problem in this league." 

 

Embiid kicked at Claxton after the Nets center stood over him less than three minutes into Game 3 on Thursday, with Embiid being hit with a flagrant foul on the play and Claxton getting a technical foul for taunting his opponent. 

 

Claxton would later get a second technical -- and with it an ejection -- for taunting Embiid after a dunk early in the fourth quarter.

 

On the one hand, no. Don't kick people.

 

On the other hand, open season on Dillon Brooks is okay by me.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Big ABC game for the Cavs and Knicks, and Cleveland and New York turn back the clock 25 years with 32-45 first half.

[who do you think]

 

If the Celtics supermax this dumb I swear to god. And yes, he did play like garbage tonight, thank you for asking.

[Digby]

Dillon Brooks, man. What is wrong with that guy. 

[Rockstar Matt]

That Lakers-Grizzlies game had no business being that close at the end. They dominated the 1st quarter in a way I've never seen in a playoff game. The Lakers were up by as much as 29 and kept it around 20 for most of the game. Ja went nuts in the 4th, had something like 22 straight at one point. He's incredible. 

 

Gotta be honest, as a Lakers fan, I don't think this team can make it past the Western Conference Finals. The effort in the 1st was world-class and they played championship level defense which was leading to easy offense. That version of the Lakers can win the title. However, the team from the 2nd-4th quarters was not good. Pathetically poor offense, especially late in the 4th, and poor decisions on defense as the game went on. They're too reliant on a hobbled LeBron (he's clearly still not 100%) and they need AD to be dominant.

 

When everything clicks, these Lakers can beat anyone. I just have a feeling that even if they get past Memphis and the winner of Kings/Warriors, they're going to get crushed by Denver/Boston/Milwaukee.

[Unocal]

76ers learned their lesson from a year ago. First chance they had to sweep the Nets they did (esp. considering how much they flirted with disaster vs TOR)

[Unocal]

24 minutes ago, Rockstar Matt said:

That Lakers-Grizzlies game had no business being that close at the end. They dominated the 1st quarter in a way I've never seen in a playoff game. The Lakers were up by as much as 29 and kept it around 20 for most of the game. Ja went nuts in the 4th, had something like 22 straight at one point. He's incredible. 

 

Gotta be honest, as a Lakers fan, I don't think this team can make it past the Western Conference Finals. The effort in the 1st was world-class and they played championship level defense which was leading to easy offense. That version of the Lakers can win the title. However, the team from the 2nd-4th quarters was not good. Pathetically poor offense, especially late in the 4th, and poor decisions on defense as the game went on. They're too reliant on a hobbled LeBron (he's clearly still not 100%) and they need AD to be dominant.

 

When everything clicks, these Lakers can beat anyone. I just have a feeling that even if they get past Memphis and the winner of Kings/Warriors, they're going to get crushed by Denver/Boston/Milwaukee.

 

You're forgetting Phoenix.

[who do you think]

Game 3 of Grizzlies-Lakers being a full week after game 1 is ridiculous. The league has to tighten this :censored: up.

[CaliforniaGlowin]

I hate how the league is holding the new Supersonics hostage.  They have a new arena, they already have a name and a fan base, and they can't even play.  It's gonna feel like forever unless a current team moves.

[Cujo]

1 minute ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

I hate how the league is holding the new Supersonics hostage.  They have a new arena, they already have a name and a fan base, and they can't even play.  It's gonna feel like forever unless a current team moves.

 

If when the NBA expands to 32, Seattle and Vegas are getting the nod. 

 

That being said, the Sonics had better not mess up on the uniforms!

[BBTV]

8 minutes ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

I hate how the league is holding the new Supersonics hostage.  They have a new arena, they already have a name and a fan base, and they can't even play.  It's gonna feel like forever unless a current team moves.

 

Do they have an ownership team ready to go in the event expansion is truly on the table?  Money talks, and if someone's willing to pay a gigantic expansion fee, the rest of the owners certainly wouldn't turn it down.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Just now, CaliforniaGlowin said:

I hate how the league is holding the new Supersonics hostage.  They have a new arena, they already have a name and a fan base, and they can't even play.  It's gonna feel like forever unless a current team moves.

 

The vancancy in Seattle has gotten arenas built in Sacramento, Milwaukee, and  probably other markets I'm forgetting right now.

 

The lack of the Sonics has been very useful to NBA owners and it's super frustrating.

 

But if expansion is on the table, an ownership group -- probably the Kraken guys -- shouldn't have any trouble coming together.

[BBTV]

10 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

The vancancy in Seattle has gotten arenas built in Sacramento, Milwaukee, and  probably other markets I'm forgetting right now.

 

The lack of the Sonics has been very useful to NBA owners and it's super frustrating.

 

But if expansion is on the table, an ownership group -- probably the Kraken guys -- shouldn't have any trouble coming together.

 

I wonder if Josh Harris would threaten to move the Sixers if he can't get approval to build his new arena.  This is already try number two (the waterfront proposal failed a summer or two ago... and it would have been pretty cool) and I can't imagine there being a third attempt (nor do I see him buying part of the WF Center like the Flyers seem to be ready to talk about.)

 

EDIT: I just realized I contradicted myself.  Moving to Seattle (or even simply threatening) doesn't make sense since he wouldn't own his own arena.  Makes it pretty easy to call the bluff.

 

 

 

[who do you think]

1 hour ago, Cujo said:

If when the NBA expands to 32, Seattle and Vegas are getting the nod. 

 

That being said, the Sonics had better not mess up on the uniforms!

 

The fact that there hasn't been any credible talk about NBA expansion in the two years since COVID stopped being a major force leads me to believe that it may not actually be coming anytime soon. Remember, expansion is cash up front in exchange for additional slices out of all future revenue pies. Unlike the NHL, the NBA isn't a cabal of bumbling cash-poor turds that relies on expansion fees to not go under. They're not obligated to expand, and revenue-wise they really may not even have to. They're going to get a f-ckton of money on their next national media deals no matter what. Why create two more teams to split it with if you don't need to?

[GDAWG]

The NBA has stated that they would consider expanding the league again once their CBA and Broadcasting deals are squared away:

 

 

They recently agreed to a new CBA, so the Broadcasting is all that is left before they even consider expansion and that one is likely going to take some time.  

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

The vancancy in Seattle has gotten arenas built in Sacramento, Milwaukee, and  probably other markets I'm forgetting right now.

 

The lack of the Sonics has been very useful to NBA owners and it's super frustrating.

 

But if expansion is on the table, an ownership group -- probably the Kraken guys -- shouldn't have any trouble coming together.

 

The Kraken guys plus Rapper Macklemore, since he's already a part of the ownership of the Kraken.  

[Digby]

How on earth does Macklemore still have money to be in one of these ownership groups?

 

I can imagine Seattle and Vegas would be pretty big revenue generators for the league which I’m sure helps the cause — probably wouldn’t be worth it if we were looking at markets like, Louisville and Omaha or something.