22-23 NBA Season Thread

[Digby]

I'm old enough to remember when the knock on the NBA playoffs was that they were boring and predictable because the sample size was too great for underdogs to overcome. Okay then.

 

I'm not really sure what the Celtics can do here. Best course of action is probably just run-it-back and hope that the title luck randomizer lands on this group eventually if you keep them together long enough, but that might be what happened last year and that's all they got.

 

Mazzulla presumably saved his job with at least digging out of the 0-3 hole, and obviously he did something right during the early regular season. But I hope/expect the Celtics to do one of those deals where you hire a big name as "associate head coach" and give him a big salary. It's pretty clear that the rookie head coach and his assistants (a crew full of moneyball stat nerds, not a recognizable name among them) needed more help, and feels like things starting to go south once Damon Stoudamire left his lead assistant post. Regardless of the impossible position that Udoka's sex pestery put them in, seems like the front office just wanted a fairy tale to happen with the wonderkid head coach rather than a more appropriate fix for a title-contender.

 

(I also despise how short Mazzulla gets in TV interviews. You are not Pop, your terseness does not come across as bad-ass, you just seem like an :censored:. There is a difference between coachspeak and simply being rude.)

 

OTOH, this is now similar results under three different head coaches, so idk. Tatum's game has gotten better but his consistency isn't where it needs to be if he wants to win a ring and not just a shoe deal. The Brown situation has no easy fix -- it's too late in his current contract to trade him for a proper return now. With an extension, making him the highest paid player in the league (even if only briefly) seems patently absurd but it seems like they have no other choice. If he continues racking up more Dribbles Off His Foot than Assists after his first supermax year I guess they can trade him then.

 

Not sure what path there is to improve the roster depth beyond what is is now. They already have a Sixth Man of the Year (and it was a shame he was clearly hurt all series). White is a great complementary piece but at this point is he who he is. Horford too but his age is showing. 

[who do you think]

Everybody: nooooooo you can't just let Brown walk that's not an option!

 

Legitimately why? Tell me exactly how the team gets worse without a guy who's been in the league for seven seasons and can't handle the ball, has no court vision, takes every other defensive possession off, keeps getting worse and more reckless from three over the past few seasons, and really hasn't improved as a player since 2018. And also tell me why you would give someone fitting that description $300M and expect him to finally fix those flaws. He's Jason Richardson.

 

And that's all before observing both what a faux-intellectual Diet Kyrie turd he acts like, or (more importantly) all this rumored locker room toxicity that keeps bubbling up year after year under a succession of head coaches now, and who could possibly be the root cause.

[Germanshepherd]

Game 1 thoughts

 

- It is a joy to watch this Nuggets offense. 
- Jokic is absolutely an all-time great. I’ve never seen a big man dominant in the way he is. 
 

- Haywood Highsmith needs to start, seriously.

- If Bam plays like that and Strus and Martin do literally anything other than miss everything, this could be a series. Herro might help with that when he gets back. 

[who do you think]

Even if Herro is 100% come Sunday, he's going to have over a month of rust on him.

[oldschoolvikings]

So, that long rest wasn't a problem, then?

 

 

And also, I may be late to this particular party, but what the holy hell is going on with Jalen Rose's hair?  It looks like something my kid pops onto his lego  mini figures. If he's doing that on purpose, someone should tell him he looks like an idiot.

[The_Admiral]

On 5/29/2023 at 9:43 PM, Sykotyk said:

Guess this raises the question... which hurts worse. Getting woodshedded an entire series like the Lakers were to the Nuggets in four... or to be 0-3 and come back for a game 7 and get stomped on your home court and it never really being close?

Being Unfair To LeBron Threat Level: ELEVATED

[Cujo]

Denver has the NBA's best player, the deepest roster in the league and the Heat seem totally gassed after that series with Boston. The Nuggets didn't bring their A-game on Thursday and owned every aspect of that game.

 

This series is over. The only question is: Nuggets in 4 or Nuggets in 5?

 

[Sykotyk]

7 hours ago, Cujo said:

Denver has the NBA's best player, the deepest roster in the league and the Heat seem totally gassed after that series with Boston. The Nuggets didn't bring their A-game on Thursday and owned every aspect of that game.

 

This series is over. The only question is: Nuggets in 4 or Nuggets in 5?

 

I think the Heat's best shot at a win is game 3. If it's game 4, I don't see them pulling it off down 3-0.

[Sykotyk]

36 minutes ago, Sykotyk said:

I think the Heat's best shot at a win is game 3. If it's game 4, I don't see them pulling it off down 3-0.

Well, I was wrong. Denver got down by too much but made a valiant comeback to make a 3 point game at the buzzer.

[TrueYankee26]

Whoa nellie! Heat tie it. We got a series after all. Halt the Heat obituaries.

[Unocal]

Talent and rosters don't matter when you're facing Heat Culture which is the only thing that matters in the NBA this playoff

 

The series is already over

[Unocal]

I said Heat in 5

 

Tonight showed why

[habsfan1]

Miami wins.

 

[Germanshepherd]

One of the most amazing parts about this Heat team is that in most of their wins they have a solid quarter where they play like :censored:. 
 

You have to KILL this team. If you’re up 15, play EVEN HARDER. Because if there’s a gap they’re gonna fight like hell to fit through it. 

[dont care]

10 hours ago, Unocal said:

Talent and rosters don't matter when you're facing Heat Culture which is the only thing that matters in the NBA this playoff

 

The series is already over

Just stop, you are the worst sports “fan” to ever exist

[JerseyJimmy]

I think the thing that bothers me the most about the Heat is the narrative that they're heckin wholesome underdogs. the Heat are historically one of the most successful franchises in the entire league, and if you're accounting for how long they've been a franchise, they're 100% in the top three. forgive my 2000 WCW analogies, but they're firmly part of the Millionaire's Club - and just like the Millionaire's Club, they've bafflingly become the good guys in this scenario. as sick as I am of Unocal's bitching, he has a point. a prestige franchise sleepwalking through the regular season only to rubberband in the playoffs is one of the most irritating things in sports.

[kimball]

54 minutes ago, JerseyJimmy said:

I think the thing that bothers me the most about the Heat is the narrative that they're heckin wholesome underdogs. the Heat are historically one of the most successful franchises in the entire league, and if you're accounting for how long they've been a franchise, they're 100% in the top three. forgive my 2000 WCW analogies, but they're firmly part of the Millionaire's Club - and just like the Millionaire's Club, they've bafflingly become the good guys in this scenario. as sick as I am of Unocal's bitching, he has a point. a prestige franchise sleepwalking through the regular season only to rubberband in the playoffs is one of the most irritating things in sports.

 

This is how I kind of feel as well.

 

There's been so much focus on the Heat being a #8 seed, but there are two things that don't make them a typical #8 seed.

 

1) They finished 7th in the East, a game out of 6th place. They ended up the 8th seed because of their loss to Atlanta in the play-in game. 

2) They were the #1 seed last year in the East. And, over the past five years -- 2019 (10), 2020 (5), 2021 (6), 2022 (1), 2023 (8*). Nothing elite regular season-wise, but they play well in the playoffs because "Heat Culture." 

 

I wish the media would stop fawning over them being a 8th seed. They're a really good team coached by an amazingly smart coach. 

[GDAWG]

 

[tBBP]

5 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

 

Interesting way he phrased that: "there are a lot of great cities we’re interested in having in the NBA," rather than "there are a lot of great cities interested in having an NBA team". Both are true, but one course seems a bit predestined, no?

 

Either way, can I start my campaigning for Omaha now??

[GDAWG]

1 minute ago, tBBP said:

 

Interesting way he phrased that: "there are a lot of great cities we’re interested in having in the NBA," rather than "there are a lot of great cities interested in having an NBA team". Both are true, but one course seems a bit predestined, no?

 

Either way, can I start my campaigning for Omaha now??

 

31 is Seattle, but if I was the NBA, I'd make it a wide open competition and not make it such a lock for Las Vegas, but Las Vegas may not want that, as I would suspect that they want to be locked down for the 32nd spot.  I love cities that are brand new to major league sports, like I did with Las Vegas when they got the Golden Knights, so I wouldn't mind Louisville either getting NBA team #32 or an MLS team.