22-23 NBA Season Thread

[tBBP]

So, the Grizzls were back in action on opening night.. against the Knicks, in Memphis. Twas a good game...went into overtime and everything. Probably most surprising (to me) is that both teams actually wore their primary sets--Memphis wore their primary home whites, New York their primary away blues (miss me with the association/icon stuff). 

 

I noticed the Knicks had some good--no GREAT--ball movement, which freed up some wide open looks; that's also how they got back in the game, took it to overtime, and nearly took it to a second OT. On the other side, especially in the closing quarter, I noticed iso and more iso...and it reminded me of why it seemed last season that the Grizzlies played even better as a team with Ja Morant out the lineup than in it. Yes, dude is a problem on the offensive side, and he did contribute nine helpers to go along with his 38 points (I think it was)...but I also counted five turnovers in the fourth period and overtime, five completely unnecessary turnovers at that. He's gonna have to learn to be more careful with his ballhandling if that team is to take the next step...those turnovers led to open opportunities for the Knicks to get back in the game.

 

All that said, Memphis won in front of what looked  like a packed-out Forum, so that's good at least. 

[B-Rich]

Pelicans played the Nets in Brooklyn last night for their season opener and completely dominated them from the get-go, leading in double digits for most of the game.   Zion is BACK; scored 25 pts, 9 rebounds and four STEALS.  New look (meatier and new 'do) Brandon Ingram put in 28, C.J. McCollum scored 21.  Bench and backups looked good; we are deep. 

 

Watch out, Western Conference.  

[tBBP]

10 hours ago, B-Rich said:

Pelicans played the Nets in Brooklyn last night for their season opener and completely dominated them from the get-go, leading in double digits for most of the game.   Zion is BACK; scored 25 pts, 9 rebounds and four STEALS.  New look (meatier and new 'do) Brandon Ingram put in 28, C.J. McCollum scored 21.  Bench and backups looked good; we are deep. 

 

Watch out, Western Conference.  

 

I really feel like New Orleans and Memphis are the new blood in the West (well Memphis ain't really new blood--they've been here before--but still). That tear the Pelicans went on during the latter half of last season was certainly telling; I hope for their fans' sake--and so the talking heads can have some new blood to fawn over...well, besides Zion and Ja--they can keep that up. And yes, New Orleans is DEEP with talent and role players, as is Memphis (though not quite as solid as the Pels, IMO). 

 

This much is for sure: both those squads are gonna be a problem the the league for a good while to come...and I'm all for it.

[DoctorWhom]

Warriors aside, Pelicans, T-Wolves, Suns & Mavs all look like the biggest contenders in the West. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

13 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Warriors aside, Pelicans, T-Wolves, Suns & Mavs all look like the biggest contenders in the West. 

 

It's game one. Probably too soon to tell.

[DoctorWhom]

Well given how they played last year, and the moves they made, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say they will be some of the best teams in the West.  

Not like it's "Too Early"to say the Warriors, Celtics or Bucks are  Finals teams. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

It was cool that Pelinka brought a title to LA, but it's clear that's the peak. I know Russ was foisted upon him, but the inability to get a single shooter on this roster is a disgrace. The Lakers look slow, old, confused, and a generation behind the rest of the league.

 

EDIT: Right after I posted this they went on a 20-4 run.

[who do you think]

The Wolves will "contend" for top six at best. They got rid of their spark plug and added Dikembe Mutombo in an era where that type of player is a lot less useful.

 

The Pelicans are getting an awful lot of hype for a team that *improved* to 36-46 last year.

 

The Lakers are an easy target right now, but they grossly underperformed last year. It's not inconceivable that they could jump back into the top six if healthy, but therein lies the problem.

 

Honestly the west looks kind of muddy and tough to predict in general. The Warriors have to be considered early favorites for the title, but their days of outstanding regular seasons are almost certainly behind them; 52 wins or thereabouts unless the rest of the conference craps itself. Chris Paul (the primary reason they became contenders) is another year older and Ayton got his money, so there's room for the Suns to slide in the standings, and their championship window is closing. Utah will definitely fall off to some degree, but as a franchise they have a penchant for hanging around .500 and being annoying in seasons when they're supposed to be terrible, so I wouldn't be too shocked if they somehow stuck as a play-in team.

 

In theory that leaves room for one or two of the Grizzlies, Mavs, Nuggets, and Clippers to jump out front. The Grizzlies made a significant leap last season, I doubt they're going to make another one immediately after. Dallas looks slightly worse on paper than last year. The Nuggets and Clippers have multiple critical players coming off of long-term injuries, not exactly a safe bet. I don't know. I have no prediction.

[DoctorWhom]

I'm glad we've at least gotten to the point where (like Brady) Lebron is too old and the conference is too competitive for him to just carry his bum team to The Finals.  Maybe he wills tem to a play-in spot. 

[FinsUp1214]

Can’t believe this Jazz team not only managed to beat the Nuggets, but did so by 20 points. And the young talent on the team actually looked…kinda…good? At the very least, they played very tough and were much more entertaining than I expected them to be.
 

It’s one game and I still think they’re going to be a win/loss dumpster fire this season, but 1) it’s just nice to win one and 2) it might actually be a fun dumpster fire to watch after all. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

4 hours ago, DoctorWhom said:

I'm glad we've at least gotten to the point where (like Brady) Lebron is too old and the conference is too competitive for him to just carry his bum team to The Finals.  Maybe he wills tem to a play-in spot. 

 

They'll go as far as Russell Westbrook can take them. Russ shot them out of a winnable game last night, and I bet that is the story of their season.

 

LeBron ain't gonna be there in 27 and 29. Trade those picks and get Russ TF out of there.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Doris Burke is on ESPN giving an extended Ambien-feueled monologue about Draymond Green while presumably being paid to call a basketball game.

 

Warriors down about 20 but you wouldn't know it based on whatever Doris is going on about.

[Gary]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34854066/adam-silver-says-nba-monitoring-serious-tanking-issue-sources-say
 

Silver was talking to Suns employees about, tanking, relegation and expansion. What gets me is that he’s talking about relegation of teams to the G-League if they do decide to tank for the 7 foot 4 kid in France

[Discrim]

Sheesh...leave the pro/rel fetish to soccer fans, Silver.  The problem pro/rel was created to address doesn't exist on our side of the Atlantic (that being way too many teams of a similar level for a single league to feasibly accommodate.  Futbol also doesn't have the short supply of tall people to contend with).

So tonight, the Bucks just beat Houston's traveling daycare...I figure some of these young guys are gonna make a lot of noise in a year or two...but this year's gonna be a long one for Rockets fans, full of growing pains.  Bucks looked a little sloppy as the game's gone on, but it's game 2 of 82. 

[Digby]

Apparently Silver said they had thought about discussing relegation but then listed several very obvious reasons it wouldn't work, so I'm not going to concern myself much about that just yet. Sixers are 0-3 with a depth problem and leaning entirely on two banged-up stars, btw.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

52 minutes ago, Digby said:

Apparently Silver said they had thought about discussing relegation but then listed several very obvious reasons it wouldn't work, so I'm not going to concern myself much about that just yet. Sixers are 0-3 with a depth problem and leaning entirely on two banged-up stars, btw.

 

I've been advocating for a 40-team NBA with a first and second division for years, but you need to get there before you can even think about pro/rel with G League teams.

 

My guess is we'll have NBA pro/rel within 20 years; it'd take that long to make such a dramatic change to the sport.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Russ did Russ things at the end of today's game and helped the Lakers blow a 4 point lead in the final minute.

 

Gonna be a long season. Benching Westbrook would make them a lot better if they can't move him.

[MJWalker45]

3 hours ago, Digby said:

Apparently Silver said they had thought about discussing relegation but then listed several very obvious reasons it wouldn't work, so I'm not going to concern myself much about that just yet. Sixers are 0-3 with a depth problem and leaning entirely on two banged-up stars, btw.

And the Spurs are 2-1. I didn't think that was possible this year.

[Digby]

2 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

I've been advocating for a 40-team NBA with a first and second division for years, but you need to get there before you can even think about pro/rel with G League teams.

 

My guess is we'll have NBA pro/rel within 20 years; it'd take that long to make such a dramatic change to the sport.

 

Even despite Adam Silver's constant googly eyes for anything that Premier League clubs are doing, I don't see this happening. I do however think it's a no-brainer that the used-car-salesmen running MLS to implement this and sell it as "pro/rel, like the Europeans do" before the end of the decade.

[gosioux76]

16 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

I've been advocating for a 40-team NBA with a first and second division for years, but you need to get there before you can even think about pro/rel with G League teams.

 

My guess is we'll have NBA pro/rel within 20 years; it'd take that long to make such a dramatic change to the sport.

 

If this happened, would most people even notice? Today, if the only NBA games you consume are on national broadcasts, you're essentially seeing the 10-12 teams repeatedly, with a handful of exceptions.  In a way, it's almost as if there's already an NBA League 1 and an NBA League 2.