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Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Fri, 1 May 2026 10:35:19 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 05/01/2026 14:35

My woeful Nuggets prediction fell well short… not a big surprise as the odds were already against it and I knew I was going out on a limb… but even then, if you told me they would lose to the Twolves without their best player (A Edwards) I wouldn’t have given that much of a chance.

But I was obviously wrong that the Nuggets would be healthy (Gordon, Watson)

I also underestimated how much Murray may struggle vs the Twolves, with perhaps his worst series of his career

Jokic wasn’t superhuman either and looked a bit slower less decisive in his step/post moves. This no doubt had something, perhaps entirely, to do with Gobert and the Twolves excellent defense on him, but one does wonder if he ever fully recovered from that leg injury, because he only occasionally looked like the Jokic pre-injury after he returned for the season

The correct pick was always OKC…

Spurs have a shot too…

I would say the Celtics and the Knicks but I would call either of them long shots in a Final vs OKC except for the fact that OKC can have a tendency to play down to their comp (for instance, the Pacers last year)… I would favor the Spurs over either too though that would be closer imo…

I do love Wemby being a bit of a throwback in that he legitimately and fearlessly wants to compete and dominate and wants to dominate defensively too. His body/potential for injury being the only things holding him back… Combined with his skill set he will likely become king of the NBA before long and it might even be this post season unless SGA/OKC impose their will…

Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Fri, 1 May 2026 07:49:38 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 05/01/2026 11:49

Um. I think my Cs may be in trouble. I wonder if we've been overachievers. 76ers defense has never been known as stifling, but Oubre (especially Oubre) and Grimes have been giving us fits these past couple of games. Maybe, with Paul George and Embiid mostly healthy & playing together, they are just the better team. I mean talent-wise Embiid, Maxey, Paul George, and Edgecomb may be a hair better than our top 4, right?

Hoping we can recover our shooting because we really do live & die by the Three.

#bleedgreen, baby!!!

Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:44:25 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/28/2026 14:44

Epic matchup at MSG tonight! I kind of wanted a rematch against the Knicks, BUT it's kind of hard to not route for CJ McCollum and His Hawks!

as always,

#bleedgreen

Re: Basketball Megathread

CA Dreamin — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:21:33 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 04/26/2026 20:21

CA Dreamin wrote:

injuries are too often the determining factor in the NBA...You can't ignore the trend that as pace of play has increased in the last 10 years, so have devastating injuries, that are uncoincidentally more frequent during the playoffs.

Can't say I didn't tell you so:

1. Edwards
2. Doncic
3. Embiid
4. DiVincenzo
5. Durant

Sheesh, that's a lot. And it's only Round 1. And I might be missing more. Needless to say, I am not a fan of this.

Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:57:26 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/25/2026 22:57

AfterHours wrote:

Maybe it’s an overreaction but definitely getting nervous about my Nuggets pick! :-'

They're all bad defenders! "All of 'em!" �...

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 18:51:46 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 04/24/2026 22:51

Maybe it’s an overreaction but definitely getting nervous about my Nuggets pick! 🫠

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 21:41:06 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 04/22/2026 01:41

I second most of what you guys are saying. I too watch a lot less than I used to.

Another thing that kinda bugs me is the inflated stat counting, especially assists

Doubly unfair because pace of play already gives players an advantage in racking up more numbers than, especially circa 1995-2010 NBA

These exaggerated assists counts gives guys extra credit who aren’t really producing as many assists as their numbers indicate which gives a false picture of their actual value (a real assist should directly lead to a player shooting and making a shot just like it used to be required to)

For instance, LeBron’s “13 assists” game one. See video below. Certain ones are very questionable and it’s actually a bit suspect that the league changed how they’re counted, apparently for no other reason (I can think of) except to make certain players stats seem better than they really are

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Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:52:12 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/21/2026 21:52

^ Makes sense, CA Dreamin! Flopping has gone down a bit. It was a point of emphasis, & I think it worked. Now the biggest problem is probably offensive players like SGA and Big Body Brunson using their forearms to brush people off before taking a step back jumper imo.

I still find the NBA game plenty exciting despite its flaws. 😊

Re: Basketball Megathread

CA Dreamin — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:18:35 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 04/21/2026 21:18

Repo wrote:

CA Dreamin wrote:

Note, didn't watch a second of NBA action this season, and not planning to watch any of this tournament.

Wut?! Why?

1. Too much of this
2. Too much of this

Gosh, some players these days are more dramatic than soccer players. Whenever I did watch NBA, I noticed this about 25-50 times per game. Some of these guys, you just want to laugh at for being crybabies and terrible actors. However, other players you kind of feel sorry for, because lastly,

3.

CA Dreamin wrote:

injuries are too often the determining factor in the NBA, and this issue must be addressed...This year's playoffs were fairly exciting, but I hate to say it, the injuries left a sour taste in my mouth.

That sour taste hasn't gone away. You can't ignore the trend that as pace of play has increased in the last 10 years, so have devastating injuries, that are uncoincidentally more frequent during the playoffs. Last year's playoffs kind of pissed me off because it became clear after 3 superstars went down around the same time, that the current style of play simply isn't healthy. The pace needs to slow down because it's extremely sloppy and there are too many turnovers, but also to protect these guys' health. If they're not gonna slow down, then they need curtail minutes, use the bench more, etc. I'm not going as far as Romanelli and say "the NBA is dead to me." But I decided to take a season off, and if we can get through this year's playoffs without a major injury to a superstar, maybe I'll come back to being a casual fan next season. Unfortunately we're not off to a good start. Case in point, Lakers-Rockets Game 1. Lakers didn't have Doncic, Rockets didn't have Durant. So much for the playoffs, when both teams were without their best player.

And to circle back to my first two points, I would also love to see players stop bitching to the refs after every foul, and stop falling to the floor when they're barely touched. That shit is so annoying and makes them look pathetic, but sadly I don't see it going away anytime soon. The NBA should start suspending players for complaining and flopping. I won't be watching the tourney, but enjoy. I'm hoping for the best that nobody gets hurt. But my eyes, for the first time in many many years, will be focused on hockey playoffs instead.

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:33:40 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 04/21/2026 19:33

Romanelli wrote:

CA Dreamin wrote:

I hope I'm wrong but my predictions are:

2 superstars will tear their ACL or Achilles at some point this tournament, and miss most/all of next season. At least 3 others will miss some games due to lesser injuries (already know of one off the top of my head). Congrats in advance to whoever survives and wins. Note, didn't watch a second of NBA action this season, and not planning to watch any of this tournament.

Same. The NBA is dead to me. And I live in Denver.

Jokic has you all spoiled! 🤣

Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 14:33:58 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/21/2026 18:33

• CJ McCollum vs. Jalen Brunson is now going to be must-see tv though!!! 🤓

• As a Celtics fan, I'm hoping for a rubber match agains the Knicks so hoping The Knicks can pull it out, but Knics-Hawks might just be an epic 7 game series! 🍿🥤

• Nuggets-Timberwolves should also be a tasty one! some pretty good round 1 matchups!!!

• Will be interesting to see how the Pistons fare tonight against the Magic. The first must win game of the playoffs for a top seed!!!

Re: Basketball Megathread

Romanelli — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:39:14 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 04/21/2026 15:39

CA Dreamin wrote:

Same. The NBA is dead to me. And I live in Denver.

Re: Basketball Megathread

Repo — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 22:47:22 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 04/20/2026 02:47

CA Dreamin wrote:

Wut?! Why?

#bleedgreenbaby 😈 😈 😈

Re: Basketball Megathread

CA Dreamin — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:04:16 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 04/20/2026 00:04

I hope I'm wrong but my predictions are:

2 superstars will tear their ACL or Achilles at some point this tournament, and miss most/all of next season. At least 3 others will miss some games due to lesser injuries (already know of one off the top of my head). Congrats in advance to whoever survives and wins. Note, didn't watch a second of NBA action this season, and not planning to watch any of this tournament.

Re: Basketball Megathread

LedZep — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 17:04:02 GMT

Author: LedZep

Posted: 04/19/2026 21:04

Completely forgot to do predictions this year.

WEST
Thunder 4-0 Suns

Lakers 3-4 Rockets

Nuggets 4-2 Timberwolves

Spurs 4-0 Blazers

EAST
Pistons 4-1 Magic

Cavaliers 4-1 Raptors

Knicks 4-1 Hawks

Celtics 4-0 76ers

WEST
Thunder 4-0 Rockets

Spurs 3-4 Nuggets

EAST
Pistons 4-3 Cavaliers

Celtics 4-2 Knicks

WEST
Thunder 4-2 Nuggets

EAST
Pistons 2-4 Celtics

FINALS
Thunder 4-1 Celtics

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:26:06 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 04/19/2026 18:26

WEST

1. Thunder win 4 - 0
8. Suns

4. Lakers
5. Rockets win 4 - 2

3. Nuggets win 4 - 1
6. Timberwolves

2. Spurs win 4 - 0
7. Trailblazers

EAST

1. Pistons win 4 - 2
8. Magic

4. Cavaliers win 4 - 1
5. Raptors

3. Knicks win 4 - 1
6. Hawks

2. Celtics win 4 - 1
7. 76ers

WEST
1. Thunder win 4 - 1
5. Rockets

2. Spurs
3. Nuggets win 4 - 2

EAST
1. Pistons win 4 - 3
4. Cavaliers

2. Celtics win 4 - 3
3. Knicks

WEST
1. Thunder
3. Nuggets win 4 - 3

EAST
1. Pistons
2. Celtics win 4 - 2

FINALS
Nuggets over Celtics 4 - 2
Finals MVP: Nikola Jokic

Note: OKC is and clearly should be the favorite. They can withstand the most mistakes and injury or exhaustion and still win more than any other team due to being one of the deepest, most complete, teams of all time.

Still, some points I am considering in (mistakenly) holding out hope that my risky Nuggets pick could work out…
-The Nuggets will remain healthy throughout the playoffs for the first time since their championship run
-Historically, a player of Jokic’s caliber and added value, at his apex peak, should be virtually unbeatable with as complete a team as he now has (health permitting of course; admittedly a shaky bet with Gordon, Murray and others) … I mean, offensively above all else … I do admit their defense is a bit of a question mark and is (a) unusually lesser than most champions; (b) I am (perhaps mistakenly) betting on it coming together with everyone healthy and for the playoffs
-Nuggets took OKC 7 games last year despite Gordon being injured for some games and despite a lesser team than they now have. This should be a better, deeper team than their championship run, with their excellent offseason additions and everyone healthy or close (Gordon still appears to be slightly limited)
-OKC, as talented as they are, have not been as dominant since their torrid first 3rd of the season (although they finished the regular season very strong)
-OKC has not shown a sustained will to dominate against the better teams as much as they should, despite having all the youth and tools to do so… this has been a concern going back to last years playoffs and maybe it will finally come back to bite them this time in a West that, imo, has the top 3 contenders in the whole NBA (OKC, Spurs, Nuggets)
-That all said, the Thunder are the safest bet to win it all and should get to the conference finals without much difficulty, while the Nuggets will have to survive the Spurs — another reason why my prediction is precarious…
-Although it wouldn’t shock me if the Spurs beat the Nuggets, or even OKC, I think inexperience and jitters or mistakes down the stretch will probably haunt them and feel like it’s probably a year too soon for them at this point. That said, the alien us mere earthlings call Wemby is indeed awesome, with potential (if he stays healthy) to be the greatest, most valuable defensive player since Olajuwon and maybe even going back to Bill Russell… in a year or two (again, health permitting) he should unseat Jokic as the best player in the NBA, assuming some increase in his offensive value and Jokic also shows some decline by then

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Sun, 1 Feb 2026 21:11:13 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 02/02/2026 02:11

May be eye opening for some... side by side/play by play comparison between Jordan and Lebron, each at 38 yrs old...

Link

Link

You will notice that one player's involvement and activity in all phases of the game is far more than the other. And it's not just cherry picking an effective offensive game from Lebron (statistically, offensive box score) and Jordan's best of the season. If you watch Jordan's other games -- yes -- he wasn't always scoring 40, 50+, but the activity, effort, consistency of involvement, offensively and defensively he displays here was the norm for him. He is light years ahead of Lebron in terms of off ball movement and activity offensively and defensively. It can actually be pretty startling to notice just how little Lebron does, play after play, for whole games when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. Clips and highlights do not emphasize these (many) dead spots where Lebron is simply just standing around watching plays. This also leads to the criticism of "stat padding" and begs the question of how truly team first he is/was and how much his taking so many plays off may adversely affect his teammates. Why is he (pretty much) only involved when he has the ball in his hands where the play has the potential to add to his box score? Doesn't he want to help his team come out on top every play, whether or not it adds stats to his box score? Or...? 🤔

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 23:40:23 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 12/22/2025 04:40

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Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 10:40:14 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 11/14/2025 15:40

Link

Link

Is Jokic the greatest offensive player of all time?

Like the 60's, it is hard to compare the stats of today with those of -- especially -- mid-90's through about 2010 (the "deadball" era), so the contextual argument vs Kobe and particularly post-return, latter career, Jordan is tough. But, regardless, there can be little doubt Jokic is at least on the very very shortlist when you combine his offensive skillset of inside/mid-range/outside shooting (excellent in all) and his being the best big man passer in league history -- an offensive skillset that is most reminiscent of peak Larry Bird (even the similarity in shooting form). And then at the efficiency he is displaying, which is ridiculous. Which again, is hard to compare apples to apples because there is so much more spacing and a lot more pace and possessions now, so of course the counting numbers and the efficiency numbers are on average going to be superior. 25 points today is quite a bit lower, in ratio to a team's overall score, than it was during that "deadball" era. When Jordan scored 45 in his final Bulls game (1998 Finals) in relation to his teams total of 87 (51.7% of his teams score) it would be the equivalent of (approx) scoring 60, in today's game, for example, while also being much more arduous (more physical, clogged paint the whole game...).

But a telling point also is that he even stands out among his peers to a similar degree of separation that someone like Jordan did.

If I had to bite, I would probably say, yes, he is the best offensive player in NBA history (even if I would call Jordan or Kobe the "most complete/skilled", and also would put Bird right up there...

I think Jokic is probably, overall (when you include the passing genius and impact), more impactful than -- perhaps -- even Jordan. Though adding Jordan's off-ball movement, relentless pressure on the defense, knifing at it from all angles throughout the game (none of that measured all that well by stats or even advanced stats)... hmmmm... it's really tough actually... but the fact this is even a discussion is telling enough...

Push comes to shove, I'd probably say Jokic, peak for peak as Jokic is still clearly in his with no signs of decline yet. Of course, as overall players, Jordan is certainly the superior defensive player and his competitiveness and leadership are difficult to measure up against and no doubt play a part in how he could always seem to push his team to win from pretty much the moment he had a strong enough cast around him to contend. So I'm not saying Jokic has surpassed Jordan peak vs peak all time (even while advanced stats could make that case in per minute metrics) but Jokic is on a trajectory that should put him in the top 5 all time players in league history. He will probably need to pull out at least 1-2 more championships to get there -- because no matter what anyone might say, it isn't entirely about statistical production averages as black and white comparisons year to year (entirely by the numbers), but also extremely important, especially near the top of an all time comparison, that a player also proves himself in the toughest and most competitive and highest pressure situations just like the others up there already have.

As a note: barring key injury, I do think the Nuggets are probably the only team that can realistically expect to be able to take down OKC this year in a 7 game series, primarily due to having Thanos with all the infinity stones (aka Jokic) and probably their strongest cast overall -- even if OKC is the safer more logical, reliable bet to win the title, and should win the title on paper

@ Romanelli, I thumbed-down my own post this time to save you the trouble!!! 🤣

Re: Basketball Megathread

AfterHours — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 13:14:30 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 11/10/2025 18:14

Tired argument against the GOAT, debunked... Context, context, context...

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