22-23 NBA Season Thread

[DG_ThenNowForever]

3 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

 

At least in the next round you’ll have one of the Lakers or Warriors going home. Hopefully it’s the Lakers but I’m sure that’s not a popular take. 

 

I think the Lakers are probably the most historically hated franchise in the NBA and the Warriors have worn out their welcome (some might say finally). So, yeah, 1A and 1B here.

 

I never wavered from thinking the Warriors would win the Kings series, and think Memphis is in a better place than Sacramento right now.

 

Also, for people saying the regular season is worthless, you really need to look at the western bracket. The difference in wins between the 4 and 8 seed is 2 games. This is a historically bunched up and even group.

[Digby]

3 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

 

Garbage? They won their division. That's not garbage, man. That's just the NBA punishing those who win weak ass divisions.

and if you really want to get technical, Miami is a 7 seed who had one bad day at the end against Atlanta. Which I guess takes a little of the luster off the “accomplishment” off (as does Giannis being out or hobbled the whole series). The play-in silliness complicates the long view of these games now.

 

Still, a 4-1 series win over a legitimate strong top seed is quite a feat.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

21 minutes ago, Digby said:

and if you really want to get technical, Miami is a 7 seed who had one bad day at the end against Atlanta. Which I guess takes a little of the luster off the “accomplishment” off (as does Giannis being out or hobbled the whole series). The play-in silliness complicates the long view of these games now.

 

Still, a 4-1 series win over a legitimate strong top seed is quite a feat.

 

This Miami team also probably beats Boston too. If it's coming down to heart -- and feels like it is -- Boston seems to have lost theirs and Miami had it all.

[Unocal]

4 hours ago, Seadragon76 said:

 

Garbage? They won their division. That's not garbage, man. That's just the NBA punishing those who win weak ass divisions.

 

They won by far the weakest division in basketball. ATL, ORL, WSH, CHA

[Unocal]

44 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

This Miami team also probably beats Boston too. If it's coming down to heart -- and feels like it is -- Boston seems to have lost theirs and Miami had it all.

 

If it's about heart then they must have a heart transplant in that Bulls play-in (Again, how do you explain that Hawks game?)

 

This was a mediocre team with the lowest scoring team of ANY of the 2020 teams playing meaningful games. Putting up offensive numbers through 82 games similar to lottery teams while barely winning a bad division- did that come down to heart?

 

Are we just gonna take Miami regular season games with a grain of salt?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

7 minutes ago, Unocal said:

Are we just gonna take Miami regular season games with a grain of salt?

 

If that helps you, sure. Go for it.

[dont care]

42 minutes ago, Unocal said:

 

If it's about heart then they must have a heart transplant in that Bulls play-in (Again, how do you explain that Hawks game?)

 

This was a mediocre team with the lowest scoring team of ANY of the 2020 teams playing meaningful games. Putting up offensive numbers through 82 games similar to lottery teams while barely winning a bad division- did that come down to heart?

 

Are we just gonna take Miami regular season games with a grain of salt?

Yes because the playoffs are all that matters. And I’d rather see these upsets of one player willing a team past another that should be better. If you don’t like that the heat won complain to the bucks for not getting the job done as the better team

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, Unocal said:

 

If it's about heart then they must have a heart transplant in that Bulls play-in (Again, how do you explain that Hawks game?)

 

This was a mediocre team with the lowest scoring team of ANY of the 2020 teams playing meaningful games. Putting up offensive numbers through 82 games similar to lottery teams while barely winning a bad division- did that come down to heart?

 

Are we just gonna take Miami regular season games with a grain of salt?

All of those reasons make this accomplishment even more impressive.

 

It really comes down to 2 things -- toughness/heart/chemistry, something you can't quantify but is there, and Jimmy Butler coasting through the regular season.

 

And also, why are you criticizing Miami for winning? Yes, they were bad in the regular season, but--other than Butler--they weren't "not trying" or "load managing". They sucked, but they won when it mattered most.

[who do you think]

Celtics close it out in Atlanta and avoid the heart attack game 7.

 

Now for the Boston "it's only April, godddddd" Celtics vs. Philadelphia "Embiid is hobbled and Doc Rivers is our coach" 76ers. Somebody has to win this.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, FiddySicks said:

One of the biggest things about the playoffs is the experience that guys have. It counts for a ton, and both the Lakers and Warriors are showing that. Kings have played fantastic this series, and are only down because the Warriors know how to keep it calm late in games long enough to pull them out. Kings have gone into panic mode a bit here at the end of games and it’s cost them. That’s to be expected though from a squad this young and inexperienced. Kings have a brighter future than they’ve ever had, and have sort of put the league on notice. It’s not quite their time yet, though. I’d be VERY surprised if they were to win game six. 
 

At least in the next round you’ll have one of the Lakers or Warriors going home. Hopefully it’s the Lakers but I’m sure that’s not a popular take. 

Don't count the Kings (or any team) out, but yeah, championship/Finals experience matters, whether a player won or lost in that series. Kevin Love both won and lost before, while Jimmy Butler lost to the Lakers in 2020.  As Lakers and Spurs fans will tell you, losing (especially getting swept) in the playoffs can be a great motivator for the future.

 

BTW, I respect the hell out of Kerr, Pop and Mike Brown.  My respect for Phil Jackson, however, took a hit.

[dont care]

8 hours ago, who do you think said:

Celtics close it out in Atlanta and avoid the heart attack game 7.

 

Now for the Boston "it's only April, godddddd" Celtics vs. Philadelphia "Embiid is hobbled and Doc Rivers is our coach" 76ers. Somebody has to win this.

Celtics atleast made the finals last year. Celtics tend to lose later series, 76ers tend to choke earlier 

[Digby]

Not a tremendously inspiring first-round win for the Celtics if they're really a championship favorite. Though if you attach last night's last five minutes to replace the previous night's last five minutes, then it's a gentleman's sweep and we don't have this conversation. Mazzulla's finest piece of coaching this year was yoinking Marcus Smart and threatening to let Grant Williams be in the closing lineup -- worked to snap Marcus out of his weird regressive dumb-plays state.

[TrueYankee26]

Guess who's back... back again 

 

[who do you think]

Too bad for the Kings, they shouldn't have blown game five, they're young and there's always next y- oh.

[Guest]

On 4/27/2023 at 10:11 AM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

I think the Lakers are probably the most historically hated franchise in the NBA and the Warriors have worn out their welcome (some might say finally). So, yeah, 1A and 1B here.

 

I think it's generally understood that the most hated franchises are the Cowboys, the Lakers and the Yankees but not sure about the Cowboys right now since they haven't been winning titles.  That said, outside of their respective archenemies (Giants/Eagles/Commanders, Celtics, Red Sox), do NBA fans who aren't Lakers fans dislike the Celtics?  I'm sure Pistons and Bulls fan might have hated Boston in the past, but what about in general?  Do ppl have a favorable view of the Celtics?

[FiddySicks]

55 minutes ago, sayahh said:

do NBA fans who aren't Lakers fans dislike the Celtics?

Yes. 
 

 

HUGE win for the Kings tonight. What a fantastic series this has been and game 7 in Sacramento. What a fun time it must be to be a Kings fan! 

 

Also, :censored:ing Grizzlies. Get gone, you losers. 

[Unocal]

The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards should be ashamed of themselves. The stupidity of those two teams for reviving a team that didn't need to be revived.

 

LA was going nowhere, then they suckered those two teams at the trade deadline and now all of a sudden they're unstoppable

[who do you think]

9 minutes ago, Unocal said:

The Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards should be ashamed of themselves. The stupidity of those two teams for reviving a team that didn't need to be revived.

 

The league itself probably had something to do with it. Those teams weren't going to get much more than the Lakers' couch change package for those guys anyway. Enter Silver or some other shadowy guy from the league office getting in touch and saying "y'know, you could send those guys to LA and boost their roster; if they can shed Westbrook, get back in the playoff picture and make a run, that's more TV revenue for the league, which will find its way back to you, I'm just saying."

 

> nooooo conspiracy theory from biased Celtics fan!

 

I also think the NBA steered KG to Boston back in the day instead of Chicago or Phoenix or whoever else was reportedly in on that.

[Unocal]

November-February basically means nothing in the NBA these days.

 

LA literally took half the season off and got away with it.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, who do you think said:

I also think the NBA steered KG to Boston back in the day instead of Chicago or Phoenix or whoever else was reportedly in on that.

 

Probably just McHale wanting to help out his old team.  Also, TBF, David Stern did void the CP3 Hornets to Lakers trade.