2023-24 NBA Season thread

[who do you think]

"People need to watch these December games now! Did you know that Sam Hauser gets money if the Celtics win? You don't understand, this changes everything! No NBA team has ever tried to win a regular season game in December before! This trophy matters! Teams will covet the distinction of being the best team of November and December! Why can't you just be positive and supportive of Lord Silver!"

 

 

[Digby]

20 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

As as far as there being "no benefit," it seems logical, at some point, that winning this trophy will become something teams come to covet. Just look at the Pacers. They're not going to win an NBA title this year, but winning the NBA Cup would be a positive takeaway from what would otherwise be a lost season. 

 

It is a bit like an FA Cup giant-killer run by a club who'll never be national champion. Or it's like a pro NIT to throw a bone to the league's middle class of permanent mediocrity. Can't decide which.

[gosioux76]

4 hours ago, who do you think said:

"People need to watch these December games now! Did you know that Sam Hauser gets money if the Celtics win? You don't understand, this changes everything! No NBA team has ever tried to win a regular season game in December before! This trophy matters! Teams will covet the distinction of being the best team of November and December! Why can't you just be positive and supportive of Lord Silver!"

 

 

I genuinely don't understand this take.  This is nothing but additive to the NBA schedule. It harms nothing, has no bearing on the regular season, and is just an attempt to add another layer of intrigue in the early part of the season, when fans have the NFL and college football to divert their attention. 

 

I don't care about either the Boston Celtics or the Indiana Pacers, but I genuinely enjoyed watching Tyrese Halliburton dismantle the Celtics in the in-season tournament. I think it's incredibly cool that the Pacers and Pelicans, two teams that don't stand a chance at sniffing a title this year, are now in the semifinals of this tournament. And I'm willing to bet their fanbases are energized by it, too.  I wouldn't be surprised if this run in the In-Season Tournament causes some of those fans to STAY engaged throughout the rest of the season. 

 

And I ask again, what is the harm in that? 

 

[TrueYankee26]

Loser of Knicks/Bucks will play the Celtics in Boston

 

Loser of Lakers/Suns host the Kings

 

Winner of Knicks/Bucks and Lakers/Suns joins Pacers and Pelicans in the IST semis in Vegas

 

Also RIP to the fan that died in the Pelicans-Kings game

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by TrueYankee26

[who do you think]

1 hour ago, gosioux76 said:

I genuinely don't understand this take.  This is nothing but additive to the NBA schedule. It harms nothing, has no bearing on the regular season, and is just an attempt to add another layer of intrigue in the early part of the season, when fans have the NFL and college football to divert their attention. 

 

I don't care about either the Boston Celtics or the Indiana Pacers, but I genuinely enjoyed watching Tyrese Halliburton dismantle the Celtics in the in-season tournament. I think it's incredibly cool that the Pacers and Pelicans, two teams that don't stand a chance at sniffing a title this year, are now in the semifinals of this tournament. And I'm willing to bet their fanbases are energized by it, too.  I wouldn't be surprised if this run in the In-Season Tournament causes some of those fans to STAY engaged throughout the rest of the season. 

 

And I ask again, what is the harm in that? 

 

 

My opinion on the tournament itself is that I have no opinion, outside of my disdain for the awful courts. They moved some deck chairs around and drew some temporary divisions out of a hat.

 

What annoys me is the obnoxious and blatantly obvious astroturfing campaign the NBA has launched in concert with this nothing idea, trying to frame it as some important and revolutionary thing, when it's just a format they ripped off from :censored:ing English soccer for a trophy that signifies absolutely nothing (because single-elimination is a crapshoot), and that no one will respect next to the actual championship trophy that goes in June. You basically just admitted this by stating how "incredibly cool" it is that two uggo flyover franchises that stand no chance in an actual full NBA playoffs have a chance to hoist the winter meme cup instead.

 

(Hell, that's probably what this is all about; maybe the NBA is paranoid that fans of over half its franchises might be developing a complex about having zero chance to win in June - this year or ever - and this is how they think they can keep fans on the edge engaged. See, you guys can win a trophy too! Lol no not that trophy, Scott Foster is gonna fist your asses up to the shoulder in May, but we got a different trophy for you guys! A cooler trophy! This one was fought over on pink-and-green courts in Las Vegas while the NFL was still playing! See, there's a smile!)

 

> but the games are better because of it!

 

As if two decent teams have never engaged in a spirited, well-played contest in December before. We've gone from one dumb extreme narrative - the NBA literally doesn't matter and everybody's stoned until April - to the other dumb extreme of people (are call center bots people?) treating arbitrary games in December like March Madness and flooding you with L's and clown emojis if you don't go along with it.

 

Tl;dr - the phoniness of it all is my problem

[OnWis97]

I'm generally indifferent to the in-season tournament and I'm pretty much waiting until at least one of them is completed to make judgements. I'm generally curious to see how the winning team reacts. My guess is with a little more excitement than after any regular-season win. Will there be a banner (please, no)? T-shirts (probably but I'd never get one)? Will it last? Will it become big enough to water-down the actual championship (I doubt it)?

 

There are some T-Wolves fans that are upset that the team with the best record in the West didn't get in. I personally don't care; in fact, I'm kinda relieved they won't have an 83rd game. (and I also understand, and accept, that there's a randomness to using four games to go from 30 teams to eight). I choose not to nit-pick the fact that these were the only games where margin of victory matters. I am not too into the nuance that the Wolves, not used to success, could have used the "playoff atmosphere." Meh. They got that last year when they gave Denver a couple of games. At no point have I ever invested in the in-season tourney. Also, though, I don't see it as problematic or something to have angst over. 

[Digby]

I've found all of it to be grating. The sycophant announcers pumping its tires, the obnoxious aesthetics, the bizarre confusing competition structure, the idea that watching a 1-seed's starters run up the score on a lottery team because they have to. I guess it is sort of compelling to watch a team chase a 30-point differential, but it's compelling in a junk-food way. Solving these purported problems -- poorly-run franchises that don't compete in May, and people who don't like basketball that much don't watch the early season -- feel like cynical ploys.

[The_Admiral]

9 hours ago, OnWis97 said:

Will there be a banner (please, no)? T-shirts (probably but I'd never get one)?

 

I think it's really lame that the losing team's T-shirts are getting donated to Montenegro. I mean, they're not the poorest country in the world, they just had a few bad Tuesdays and Fridays for a couple months.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The IST has been great. Some people enjoy complaining more than enjoying.

[spartacat_12]

As someone who hated the idea of the tournament when it was announced, and still doesn't really care for it, I can't deny that the league has managed to make it catch on a lot quicker than I thought it would. Obviously a big part of that has been getting the media to buy in and manufacture most of the hype, but I figured it would take a few years for any sort of real buzz to surround it.

 

It'll never come close to being a real championship, but based on this year's bracket it will either be a somewhat exciting moment for a middle of the pack small market franchise, or a small feather in the cap of a future Hall of Famer.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

25 minutes ago, spartacat_12 said:

As someone who hated the idea of the tournament when it was announced, and still doesn't really care for it, I can't deny that the league has managed to make it catch on a lot quicker than I thought it would. Obviously a big part of that has been getting the media to buy in and manufacture most of the hype, but I figured it would take a few years for any sort of real buzz to surround it.

 

It'll never come close to being a real championship, but based on this year's bracket it will either be a somewhat exciting moment for a middle of the pack small market franchise, or a small feather in the cap of a future Hall of Famer.

 

LeBron said last night that if it exists, he might as well win it. The Lakers performance in the IST games have show they want it, that's for sure.

 

I think it's hard to argue the IST games haven't been more compelling than traditional November/December games. It's already a win there.

 

I was also dubious -- and I still hate the courts -- but I love that they're introducing round robin pods and point differentials to American pro sports.

[GDAWG]

10 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

LeBron said last night that if it exists, he might as well win it. The Lakers performance in the IST games have show they want it, that's for sure.

 

I think it's hard to argue the IST games haven't been more compelling than traditional November/December games. It's already a win there.

 

I was also dubious -- and I still hate the courts -- but I love that they're introducing round robin pods and point differentials to American pro sports.

 

Also, the round robin games and knockout round games before the semi-finals still count in the regular season standings.  The idea that only the semi-finals and finals do not count in the regular season is interesting.  That should remain for future tournaments.  

[spartacat_12]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

Also, the round robin games and knockout round games before the semi-finals still count in the regular season standings.  The idea that only the semi-finals and finals do not count in the regular season is interesting.  That should remain for future tournaments.  

 

The semi-finals also count as regular season games. The two finalists will finish the year having played 83 games, but every other team will have played 82.

 

I do wonder how the league will classify stats being put up in the final game. Will they be lumped together with playoff stats? Regular season? A completely new category?

[TrueYankee26]

DAAAMMMN

 

[tBBP]

1 hour ago, TrueYankee26 said:

DAAAMMMN

 

 

Okay, so...first, I wanna see that guy's permitted route. I know that thing couldn't have traveled from more than probably aboout 10 or 20 miles outside of town, if that. I'm sure it was shipped to Vegas in pieces and assembled somewhere locally. Secondly, those don't look like normal run-of-the-mill four-inch nylon straps; they look closer to eight inches. I wonder what that trophy base weighs; if I had to guess, I'd give it somewhere between 12,000 and 20000 lbs? (Much depends on what its made of underneath all that overlay.) Thirdly....dude got to travel in a VNL 860??? Those are about the most comfortable trucks on the road! I might be slightly jealous.

 

And fourth: I see they're still repaving the boulevards out there. They had about half of them tore up the last time I was out there...

[Digby]

Tournament or no tournament... turns out the arena atmosphere is pretty terrible at an early-season, neutral-site game that starts at 2pm local on a Thursday. I've heard rowdier crowds in the G League.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

Tournament or no tournament... turns out the arena atmosphere is pretty terrible at an early-season, neutral-site game that starts at 2pm local on a Thursday. I've heard rowdier crowds in the G League.

 

The NBA is so lucky the Lakers made it. They're probably the only team Vegas works for in this capacity.

[Fowler2]

Pacers are fun to watch. I've somewhat  adopted them since Pittsburgh doesn't have nor ever will have a NBA team. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I can't take this primary blue and red court seriously.

 

People would like this a whole lot more if they could see it.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

The Lakers are finally healthy and they're up 40 on the Pelicans after 3.

 

They might be actually good this season.