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NBA 2016-2017 Season |OT| What do the Liberty Bell and Ben Simmons have in Common?

There's an outside shot that jazz end up with a better record than any team in the east lol

Which would mean the top 4 teams in the west would be 1 seed in East
 
The Bulls are making the play-offs whether they want it or not. Fucking Mirotic.

Still though to avg. a triple double is something else.

I'd rather give it to someone that has monster stats + plus lead his team to a better record.

I suspect OKC will be much better next year once Westbrook gets the triple-double season out of his system.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Yeah, Warriors are going to easily chip this year. Oh well. Maybe next year will be more exciting.

You mean the team that won 73 games last year and added a top 3 player in the league is going to win? Of course.

Cavs playing like shit right now just makes it all the way easier.
 
Wanted to pop in and say every night we say prayers with the kids before bed. My daughter for the last two days have been praying that Durant feels better and doesn't feel any more pain. It's cute.
 
You mean the team that won 73 games last year and added a top 3 player in the league is going to win? Of course.

Cavs playing like shit right now just makes it all the way easier.
Well I figured the Cavs, Spurs and Houston could make it interesting, but with the former playing like garbage, and the latter two unable to really do anything, I think it's even more of a given sans dramatic injuries.
 
With the Harden vs Westbrook debate, personally I think it comes down to what you personally value in your MVP; ability to elevate your team or individual excellence. Pound-for-pound I think Westbrook is the better player of the two, but Harden just straight up makes the Rockets a better team.

----

On the Cavs, I don't want to do a hot-take, but they're reminding me an awful like the 2014 Heat team. That same Heat team that was looking like a shell of it's past self but still coasted through the East only to get their ass kicked by the Spurs in the Finals.
 

Cre8

You want a shot at the champ? [NG gif winner July 23]
Cavs losing 3 games in a row, LeBron gonna have some interesting things to say for sure....
 
Wait, Cavs lost? I saw they were up by 10 and thought hey the Bulls suck it's over.

Not only did they lose, but Lebron played 39 minutes tonight again. It's not like they're losing because they're resting guys. Ideally, you'd punt away a game to rest guys, or play them heavily to beat the Bulls juggernaut.

If the C's fucking lose tomorrow to the Magic I swear to God I'm not watching the Eastern playoffs unless it's for watching Antetokounmpo.
 

Tom Penny

Member
I still think the Cavs are coasting but I don't know if you can flip the switch to a title. That's a much higher level then they are playing.
 
Lebron could be playing the full 48 minutes and you will still have people thinking the Cavs have an imaginary switch that can turn play-off mode on and stop them from sucking.

They are gonna struggle to make it out of the east(if they even do that) only to get swept.
 

Tommy DJ

Member
Kawhi isn't there offensively. He's scoring better this year at just under 26 a game and it's efficient, but I'm gonna go with the cliche TNT crew criticism: he's not making those around him better. He does most of his scoring on isos and a lot of it is mid range, so that's what it's going to be. Even if he gets a hard double team, he's unable to take advantage the way Lebron can. The best offensive players in the league have a gravity around them, they create open looks. You saw the difference yesterday when Curry looked like his previous self for the first time in a long while. He makes the opposing team play 4 on 3 when he's on. He also needs the right match up to shine defensively. If he's playing Cleveland he's invaluable, but what about a team like the Clippers? Then he's just chasing JJ Redick around for 40 minutes.

While most of Kawhi's looks come from isos and his playmaking skills aren't quite there yet, I think this Spurs team is just too inconsistent and not terribly well built to get a proper motion offense going. The intended 2nd option, Lamarcus Aldridge, is another iso heavy player so their offense often can't generate a lot of good open looks. It isn't like the old Tim Duncan/Boris Diaw tag team unfortunately.

It doesn't help that running isolation plays for Kawhi actually works against weaker teams because he's often the most consistent offensive threat. Parker is moribund, old age has caught up with Ginobili, Lamarcus is stupid inconsistent and can be exceptionally soft for someone his size, Danny Green is either hot or cold, etc.

I honestly think the Spurs should pencil this season as a loss and try and get their younger players some much needed experience. The team is already pretty darn old and need to find a replacement for Ginobili desperately. And unlike Duncan or Ginobili, Parker has pretty much no utility without his athleticism.
 

phanphare

Banned
lebron definitely has a switch for the playoffs

the team tho...not so sure. you can't just be at the bottom and switch on good team defense for the playoffs.
 

TTG

Member
I honestly think the Spurs should pencil this season as a loss and try and get their younger players some much needed experience. The team is already pretty darn old and need to find a replacement for Ginobili desperately. And unlike Duncan or Ginobili, Parker has pretty much no utility without his athleticism.

They're all but locked into the 2 spot now, they can do that without writing off a season. I remember some kid dunking all over the Warriors in the season opener, whatever happened to that guy? Besides, if Lamarcus can get hot like he did against the Rockets, or even sort of hot like that, I think they don't fear anyone in the West besides the obvious. That was one of the most amazing playoff performances in recent years.
 
They're all but locked into the 2 spot now, they can do that without writing off a season. I remember some kid dunking all over the Warriors in the season opener, whatever happened to that guy? Besides, if Lamarcus can get hot like he did against the Rockets, or even sort of hot like that, I think they don't fear anyone in the West besides the obvious. That was one of the most amazing playoff performances in recent years.

Jonathon Simmons. Pop gives him minutes against crappy teams. Only saw 1 minute yesterday against the Warriors
 

Cipherr

Member
Can we just end the season today? Western conference 1st round has the potential to be so good. Rockets/Thunder, Spurs/Grizz and Clipps/Jazz. Do want.

This. Im dying to see the West top 8 start playing each other right now. Cavs playing like shit and the East in general are uninteresting outside of the Celts.

I just want the fucking post season already.
 

Tommy DJ

Member
They're all but locked into the 2 spot now, they can do that without writing off a season. I remember some kid dunking all over the Warriors in the season opener, whatever happened to that guy? Besides, if Lamarcus can get hot like he did against the Rockets, or even sort of hot like that, I think they don't fear anyone in the West besides the obvious. That was one of the most amazing playoff performances in recent years.

Jonathan Simmons is a feel good story but he's not that good. He'll give you a sweet dunk or a chase down block occasionally but he often falls asleep on defense and he stalls the offense when he has the ball. He's also old for a "rising star" at the age of 27...realistically speaking, you're probably not going to get much more from him.

Someone like Kyle Anderson is infinitely more reliable and has shown quite a bit more potential. But if there's one problem with Gregg Popovich its that he seems to put too much value in experience and seniority so younger players can get frozen out.

Lamarcus can get hot but the problem is that he vanishes for long stretches of time in the same way Danny Green does. If you look at their season averages, they're pretty good but there are a lot of games where they're completely horrid on offense. You aren't going to beat the better teams if you're busy shooting sub-40% on long 2s.
 
The Warriors game is probably a loss. Ryno is out for at least the next 2 games, more likely around 2 weeks

After tomorrow, we need to rest Harden against phoenix. That gives him a full 4 days of rest. We really can't be messing with his wrist becoming even a minor issue.

Also, I'm really glad Nene played today, means he rests tomorrow. That means Montrezl is gonna play again. We seriously need to not be making a mid-series player adjustment if we face Golden State, and Montrezl has played well against them both times he played. Capela has had good to great games every time, but having Harrell as a back-up, with his length and ability to guard the perimeter, would be seriously useful if he can be consistent about it.

Not having Ryno for the last 3 GSW games really sucks. Yeah, he's historically had great games against them, but you want to be sure that that would actually have that major of an effect, yeah?
 
On one hand:
UPeCYJ8.jpg


NOOOO don't do this Harden....

on the other hand:

Jonathan Feigen said:
Rockets made 13 of 65 3s in 2 gms since best shooting gm since '95. Ariza: "Same shots. Nothing’s wrong. We just have to knock them down."
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/847690647179935744

Jonathan Feigen said:
D'Antoni cited lack of urgency w/ Rockets virtually locked into playoff position. Officially can't catch SA; lead Utah by 5 gms with 7 left.
https://twitter.com/Jonathan_Feigen/status/847693203260100608

The idea that resting for playoffs might ensure we enter cold is something I didn't consider

EDIT: Oh shit we're wearing the black alternates, fuck it, no one gets rest, we're winning that damn game, DUBS ARE FUCKED
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
Good day with the Cavs putting the celts back in first and the Pistons with the late game heroics to knock the nets magic number to 3 to clinch.
 
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