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Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

syptixed — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 05:44:41 GMT

Author: syptixed

Posted: 07/20/2018 09:44

I haven't read any of this yet but lebron is cursed and still has 3 rings. Curry might be the most fun player to watch ever. Everyone on the 85-91 pistons teams should be put in jail.

Check out my chart.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

junodog4 — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 21:36:57 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 07/19/2018 01:36

Wow. The Raps certainly swung for the fences with Leonard.

Why I don't like the deal:
1. Probably for one year. He may resign with the Raptors, but more than likely he wants to play in a big US market (LA) with endorsement potential. We'll see. If the Raps make the finals, he make stay like Paul George did in OKC, but I'm not holding my breath.
2. He's still an injury risk. Even beyond the quad, he's not exactly a guy who plays a full season, and now he's coming off a huge injury.
3. Diva? What happened in San Antonio?
4. Derozan, while infuriating at times (choking in playoffs, iso-ball, poor defense) was a rare all-star that stayed loyal to Toronto (unlike Mighty Mouse, McGrady, Carter, Bosh, etc...) He was a nice guy and worked tremendously hard. I'm OK with them giving up a 25 point scorer to get a player like Leonard, but not in the way they did it. Way to reward loyalty.

Why I do like it:
1. Leonard is fantastic on D, and an all-around top-5 superstar in the NBA when healthy. You don't just sign those guys to play in Canada.
2. Green is a great throw-in. 3&D textbook.
3. Poeltl was the one kid I didn't mind losing. It's better that they kept Wright & Anunoby.
4. The package (DD, Poeltl & a protected (20+) 1st Rounder), is WAY less than SA was originally wanting (DD or Lowry + 2 kids + 2 1st rounders). Shows that Ujiri was smart in waiting.

So I'm split. If they manage to re-sign Leonard, this is brilliant. If he's hurt, this is awful. If he plays for one season then bolts for LA, I guess this is OK.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

cestuneblague — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 22:57:16 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/18/2018 02:57

Yeah it feels like the cosmos are having a great laugh at everybody's expense with Boogie joining the warirors for the NBA-equivilant of pocket change. Given even if he's a total bust in Oakland they, if healthy, are still pretty much unbeatable. I mean who's going to challenge them in the west? Even if Lakers get Kawhi without selling the farm, I still don't think they'll have enough. And I mean Thunder? Trailblazers? Jazz? Houston after losing some key role players? It seems like the playoffs will just be a waste of most player's energy.

The East should be more intriguing just to see who know leads the pack after Lebron's exit, the Celtics seem like the obvious contender since they have the best talent & coaching as long as Hayward comes back strong and they add some role players, Philedalphia has the best young talent outside of Phoenix but may still be a year or two away, the Raptors maybe if they improve their roster and stop being, well, the Raptors in the playoffs, Indiana def seems like a team on the rise and Milwaulkee possibly if they can keep improving the talent around Giannis, the Wizards will be... okay maybe... and then it's pretty much a huge dropoff after that. The 8th seed will probably be a 35-36 game winner.

Have to say It'll be fun seeing all the young players this year and how some teams position themselves but otherwise baring some big shocks or a Warriors meltdown their name on the championship trophy already looks enshrined. Hopefully there's some suspense leading up to it, though... don't count on it.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

19loveless91 — Tue, 3 Jul 2018 07:43:20 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 07/03/2018 11:43

Well I mean it's not like LeBron joined a current contender. It'll just make the West as a whole stronger. But it does look like the Warriors will have an easy way to the title next year with Cousins, even if he won't be 100% after the injury. That part sucks.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

junodog4 — Mon, 2 Jul 2018 21:57:44 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 07/03/2018 01:57

StreetSpirit wrote:

With the big announcement from an hour ago, this thread is now over, and the NBA 2018-19 thread has unofficially begun.

Ugh. I have the 'can't beat them, join them' mentality in the NBA right now. The style of play is the best it's ever been, but the lack of competitiveness grosses me out. Where is the competitive spirit? Jordan, Johnson, Bird etc... wanted to beat each other.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

CA Dreamin — Sun, 1 Jul 2018 21:44:45 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 07/02/2018 01:44

With the big announcement from an hour ago, this thread is now over, and the NBA 2018-19 thread has unofficially begun.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

junodog4 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 13:08:22 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 06/22/2018 17:08

As a big NBA & soccer fan, I can say without reservation that the most parity is in the NHL. At the beginning of the season, it's perfectly reasonable to say 20+ teams have a shot at the title.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

19loveless91 — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 11:51:18 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 06/21/2018 15:51

Romanelli wrote:

In the NBA, it's become this...whatever team LeBron plays for will be in the finals. He's been in the finals 8 times in a row. Eight. In other words...why bother with an 82 game regular season if you already know who is playing for the title? The level of talent is not high enough for 30 teams to be competitive, so you have a very small number of "elites" (they are not...they are just better than the bad teams) where the few higher level players are.

Is he the greatest of all time? I say no. Not even close. Why? Because the game is cheaper...you're allowed to get away with more. Because the best players call the shots as to who they play with. Because the players in the league around him are not as well trained in the game as they used to be. Because one and done in college means less disciplined and lesser quality opponents in the pros.

As I mentioned before, this was my first year following the league closely, including watching quite a few matches live (there was a period when I couldn't really sleep at night because of a busted shoulder, and it just became a habit). In previous years, I have followed the results, but only really watched American players in action during international competition. I was sure that LeBron won't make it to the finals this time. I knew the history, I saw everyone saying they'll just turn it around like they do every year, but outside LeBron, they just didn't have any players that would be consistent enough. Even in the middle of the first round, I was sure it won't happen. Tbh, without Kyrie getting hurt, Celtics still probably take that series. I put the fact that he made it for the eighth year in the row to two things, mainly:

One, East vs West Conference. I think this format is just outdated and fails to put the two best teams in the Finals. This year, Rockets and Warriors were far above any other team. In previous years you had OKC and Spurs being better than any other (non-Lebron) team in the East. I think this will shift with the rise of Celtics and Sixers, but I think it's pretty clear that the East had less championship worthy teams in this decade.

Two, LeBron is just that good. I had my bias against him, because honestly, if you don't watch the league, the things you read in the news are "The Decision" and constant Jordan comparisons, and you build this image of a villain in your head, because you kinda buy into the idea that the league will do anything it can to put him in the finals. Watching his run in the playoffs this year, I felt none of that. I couldn't believe how he could take over some games. Raptors series was particularly brutal.

So, basically - if Warriors being in the finals for 4 years straight is them getting the right pieces for a dynasty (as can happen), then LeBron being there for 8 years straight is the combination of weaker East and him being as good as advertised. I don't really buy that the competition itself is weaker as it was either.

Quote:

I used to love the NBA. Now I find it simply unwatchable. Too much drama. Too much god awful traveling. Too much selfish play. Not enough passing. And HORRIBLE defense. I attribute most of it to players not staying at the college level for long enough to mature into the game, making the NBA not much more than a league of sophomores and juniors with a handful of NBA quality players.

IMO.

I actually totally agree about travelling. About not enough passing... Is it really worse than it used to be? Weren't previous decades much more about iso-ball? It's definitely a "star-centered" sport, especially when you compare it to euroball (where nobody really dominates the game), but wasn't it always like that? Jordan Bulls, Kobe/Shaq Lakers? Genuine question.

Anyway, draft tomorrow. I'm actually really interested this time around to see where Dončić ends up. For those that don't know, this year he - won Eurobasket with Slovenia (as second best player behind Dragić) and ended up in the ideal 5 of the tournament, won Euroleague and Spanish League with Real Madrid, and won MVP in both leagues. As an 18-19 year old. This is pretty much unprecedented. Managed to get me hyped for basketball for the first time since... I dunno, 2009 Eurobasket.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

Romanelli — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 18:20:07 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/19/2018 22:20

StreetSpirit wrote:

Lebron is undoubtedly one of the most individually talented players of all time. But it takes a team to win a championship. Lebron scored 50 points in game 1, and the only other Cleveland player that did anything significant in game 1 was JR Smith, and what he did was he forgot what the score was at the end of the game, running out the clock instead of shooting the ball. That idiotic blunder cost the Cavs the game. For Lebron, that's gotta be pretty demoralizing. Can you blame him?

19loveless91 wrote:

Romanelli wrote:

Be that as it may. I haven't watched an NBA game in three years. I did not watch a single minute of an NBA game this season, or last season, regular season or post season. My finals predictions have been perfect for the last 2 years. That tells me that the NBA is boring and way too predictable.

I really shouldn't be in this thread. I do apologize for that.

I don't know, i don't agree that just because the winner is the one that everybody predicted, this means the league/sport is boring. In this case especially, as it's just wrong to say that other teams had no chance. Last year, just looking at the results, maybe.

Maybe it's because I'm used of European leagues, where the same (richest) teams always compete for the titles, but I don't even see it as that much of a problem that two teams have dominated the league recently. These dynasties happen when everything aligns for a certain team and they get the right pieces, but when the league is set up the way it is, with the salary cap and the draft, it's never gonna be more than a few years (and it doesn't necessarily mean that these teams have it easy during these years either), and it just doesn't happen that a team will be a perennial contender. Even the most successful franchises have had to rebuild.

And tbh I prefer this way than the European league system, and while it would be better if the finals were closer (maybe the whole conferences/division system could be replaced by something better so you'd actually get the two best teams in the finals), I think at the very least you will see different teams contending in the following years. Celtics, Sixers for sure.

Hmm, in Europe the same (richest) teams always compete for titles? Sounds like Romanelli's favorite sport (it's one of my favorite sports too).

Well...in baseball, yes. The Yankees dominated for a couple of long periods of time. But look at recent history...aside from a nice little every other year run by the Giants, the MLB has been much more competitive. And in the same span that the NBA has had exactly 2 teams make the finals, MLB has had 7 different teams in the World Series in the last 4 years, with 4 different champions in 4 years, 2 from each league. And 3 of those 4 series went 7 games.

In the NBA, it's become this...whatever team LeBron plays for will be in the finals. He's been in the finals 8 times in a row. Eight. In other words...why bother with an 82 game regular season if you already know who is playing for the title? The level of talent is not high enough for 30 teams to be competitive, so you have a very small number of "elites" (they are not...they are just better than the bad teams) where the few higher level players are.

Is he the greatest of all time? I say no. Not even close. Why? Because the game is cheaper...you're allowed to get away with more. Because the best players call the shots as to who they play with. Because the players in the league around him are not as well trained in the game as they used to be. Because one and done in college means less disciplined and lesser quality opponents in the pros.

I used to love the NBA. Now I find it simply unwatchable. Too much drama. Too much god awful traveling. Too much selfish play. Not enough passing. And HORRIBLE defense. I attribute most of it to players not staying at the college level for long enough to mature into the game, making the NBA not much more than a league of sophomores and juniors with a handful of NBA quality players.

IMO.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

mickilennial — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 01:10:46 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 06/18/2018 05:10

StreetSpirit wrote:

Can you blame him?

yes

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

CA Dreamin — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 20:17:10 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 06/17/2018 00:17

Gowi wrote:

man, i just like watching lebron choke -- him giving up is unfitting of someone who is supposed to be a contender for the GOAT argument

19loveless91 wrote:

Romanelli wrote:

Hmm, in Europe the same (richest) teams always compete for titles? Sounds like Romanelli's favorite sport (it's one of my favorite sports too).

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

mickilennial — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 15:53:53 GMT

Author: mickilennial

Posted: 06/16/2018 19:53

StreetSpirit wrote:

Pretty anticlimactic as expected.

man, i just like watching lebron choke -- him giving up is unfitting of someone who is supposed to be a contender for the GOAT argument

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

Repo — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 13:51:26 GMT

Author: Repo

Posted: 06/16/2018 17:51

19loveless91 wrote:

Romanelli wrote:

Great & interesting perspective! Thanks!!!

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

19loveless91 — Sat, 16 Jun 2018 12:38:55 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 06/16/2018 16:38

Romanelli wrote:

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

Romanelli — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 14:37:05 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/10/2018 18:37

19loveless91 wrote:

It's the first year that I followed the playoffs closely, but it didn't seem like other teams had "no chance". Rockets were on the verge of eliminating Warriors, and could maybe even do it if not for the Chris Paul injury. And Cavs being in the finals required superhuman efforts from LeBron both vs Pacers and Celtics.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

19loveless91 — Sun, 10 Jun 2018 02:08:02 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 06/10/2018 06:08

Romanelli wrote:

And having a league where the same two teams are in the finals 4 years in a row while 28 others have pretty much zero chance doesn't help.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

CA Dreamin — Sat, 9 Jun 2018 19:20:31 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 06/09/2018 23:20

Romanelli wrote:

I'm a huge baseball fan. Can't tolerate much of the NBA at all any more.

And having a league where the same two teams are in the finals 4 years in a row while 28 others have pretty much zero chance doesn't help.

Except it isn't true about other teams having zero chance. Indiana, Boston, and Houston had good chances to beat Cleveland and Golden State in the playoffs, and blew them.

But I'm with you on baseball.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

Romanelli — Sat, 9 Jun 2018 18:56:49 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/09/2018 22:56

Mercury wrote:

Weird. I thought you were a huge nba fan... wasn’t you who was going on about how great the warriors are? Lol

No. I'm a huge baseball fan. Can't tolerate much of the NBA at all any more.

And having a league where the same two teams are in the finals 4 years in a row while 28 others have pretty much zero chance doesn't help.

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

Romanelli — Sat, 9 Jun 2018 18:49:46 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 06/09/2018 22:49

YoungPunk wrote:

They should ban 3 pointers dunking and travelling, make the game more interesting...

Fixed that one real quick...

Re: NBA 2017-2018 Season

CA Dreamin — Sat, 9 Jun 2018 12:21:56 GMT

Author: CA Dreamin

Posted: 06/09/2018 16:21

Pretty anticlimactic as expected.