NBA Thread 2019-20 Season

[OttoinGrotto]

I’ve said it a lot in this thread, but man does Gary Trent Jr. stink.

You feeling good about your Lakers over all?

 

[OrangeDW]

You feeling good about your Lakers over all?

Much better the last few games! The defense and Bron/AD give us a good shot against anyone. Don’t have a ton of faith in KCP/Green as they’re pretty up and down. If one or both can catch fire in a series, we’ll be in great shape.

 

[Arangeman]

Throw the damn towel

 

[OrangeDW]

Free Dion!!

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I’ve said it a lot in this thread, but man does Gary Trent Jr. stink.

The consummate looter in a riot

 

[MikeSU02]

Portland finally ran out of gas. Was likely going to happen. Every game was a playoff game for them.

Plus, they just aren't as good as the Lakers.

Hopefully they can fight back in game 6, but I think the gas tank is empty at this point.

 

[Alsacs]

If the Clippers are going to win the West they pound by the Mavs by double digits tonight.
How Doc hasn’t put Kawhi on Luka exclusively this series has been poor management. Utah is a nice team but they shouldn’t scare Doc into conserving Kawhi’s energy on defense for future series. Clippers would roll Utah IMO. Utah-Dallas would be a crazy fun series that could either way.

Lakers will roll the Thunder if they comeback. The Rockets-Lakers would be a really interesting series as I could see the Rockets with a little luck beating the Lakers.

Milwaukee will finish off Orlando tomorrow.
Milwaukee-Miami is a 67-33 favorite for Milwaukee. Outside of the bubble I would go 85-15 Milwaukee but no HCA and how each team has played makes it i how see it.

Toronto-Boston is a 60-40 favorite for Toronto. I think this series goes 6 or 7 games. Toronto is a slight favorite but an upset wouldn’t be that shocking.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Denver looking terrible against Utah is my biggest surprise of the first round. They are deeper and more talented. If they lose this I wonder if Malone survives.

 

[Melancer46]

Denver looking terrible against Utah is my biggest surprise of the first round. They are deeper and more talented. If they lose this I wonder if Malone survives.

On the flipside, you could argue that when Conley plays like his usual self (which he didn't do for most of this season), Utah has 3 of the top 4 players in the series. I really can't believe just how incredible Mitchell has been though. Coming in you would have thought Jokic was easily the best player in the series but between Gobert's defense and Mitchell's incredible play, Mitchell has been the top dog pretty handily.

 

[Melancer46]

If the Clippers are going to win the West they pound by the Mavs by double digits tonight.
How Doc hasn’t put Kawhi on Luka exclusively this series has been poor management. Utah is a nice team but they shouldn’t scare Doc into conserving Kawhi’s energy on defense for future series. Clippers would roll Utah IMO. Utah-Dallas would be a crazy fun series that could either way.

Lakers will roll the Thunder if they comeback. The Rockets-Lakers would be a really interesting series as I could see the Rockets with a little luck beating the Lakers.

Milwaukee will finish off Orlando tomorrow.
Milwaukee-Miami is a 67-33 favorite for Milwaukee. Outside of the bubble I would go 85-15 Milwaukee but no HCA and how each team has played makes it i how see it.

Toronto-Boston is a 60-40 favorite for Toronto. I think this series goes 6 or 7 games. Toronto is a slight favorite but an upset wouldn’t be that shocking.

I think all of this is probably correct, though I remain very nervous about my Bucks with the way they've played in the bubble for the most part. Certainly trending up right now though, and I don't think Miami is the nightmare matchup for us that the media seems to think. Still can easily lose the series if we play the way we've played most of the bubble, but I gotta imagine the strategy will be to have Bledsoe and Wes continue to fight over screens against Dragic/Duncan/Herro, put Middleton on Butler and hope he avoids fouling, and hope the drop zone results in a lot of open shot opportunities for Bam rather than their actual shooters.

I expect the Clippers to hold on to win the series, but I've been pretty surprised with how little they've been able to do to slow Luka down. You would have thought the Clippers were pretty much perfectly set up to try to make life difficult for him but they haven't affected him at all. Dallas will be really scary in the future if they can get a second playmaker to pair with Luka and Porzingis.

Utah is really dangerous if Mitchell continues to play the way he has. It's a shame they don't have Bogdanovic healthy; I think they could give most teams in the West a run for their money if they did. Still might be a frisky matchup for the Clippers though I gotta imagine Mitchell will return to Earth at some point.

Definitely rooting for OKC to beat Houston, but you're right, I really can't imagine how OKC would beat the Lakers. I guess they'd just have to pray Adams can slow Davis down without Gallo getting pushed around by whoever their center is but that's gonna be a really tough matchup for OKC to pull off. I think LA probably makes relatively quick work of Houston too, but there's always a chance for weird to happen with Houston's playstyle.

And I concur with all that about Toronto-Boston. Should be a great series and it's one that I could see going either way.

 

[MikeSU02]

If the Clippers are going to win the West they pound by the Mavs by double digits tonight.
How Doc hasn’t put Kawhi on Luka exclusively this series has been poor management. Utah is a nice team but they shouldn’t scare Doc into conserving Kawhi’s energy on defense for future series. Clippers would roll Utah IMO. Utah-Dallas would be a crazy fun series that could either way.

Lakers will roll the Thunder if they comeback. The Rockets-Lakers would be a really interesting series as I could see the Rockets with a little luck beating the Lakers.

Milwaukee will finish off Orlando tomorrow.
Milwaukee-Miami is a 67-33 favorite for Milwaukee. Outside of the bubble I would go 85-15 Milwaukee but no HCA and how each team has played makes it i how see it.

Toronto-Boston is a 60-40 favorite for Toronto. I think this series goes 6 or 7 games. Toronto is a slight favorite but an upset wouldn’t be that shocking.

I agree with this, for the most part.

I think the Mavs, with KP, are a formidable opponent, and are finding ways to make their defense at least functional... but still not good.

The thing with Kawhi on Luka, is if they aren't going to switch, that's going to mean Kawhi has to expend a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball and he's been having to carry a lot of weight on the offensive side with PG being so absent. It's definitely a tough call. But I would at least start Kawhi on him this game to try to stop him from getting into a flow from the get go.

I do think Toronto and Boston will be a great series. Great players, great coaches, teams with chemistry. I could see it going seven and either team winning.

 

[Alsacs]

I agree with this, for the most part.

I think the Mavs, with KP, are a formidable opponent, and are finding ways to make their defense at least functional... but still not good.

The thing with Kawhi on Luka, is if they aren't going to switch, that's going to mean Kawhi has to expend a lot of energy on the defensive side of the ball and he's been having to carry a lot of weight on the offensive side with PG being so absent. It's definitely a tough call. But I would at least start Kawhi on him this game to try to stop him from getting into a flow from the get go.

I do think Toronto and Boston will be a great series. Great players, great coaches, teams with chemistry. I could see it going seven and either team winning.

The fact PG can’t even play good D on Luka is killing the Clippers.
Lou Williams shouldn’t be guarding him which he was when it wasn’t Kawhi.

 

[JeffCuse]

Lebron's 35-footer, taken while up 35, will be replayed ad nauseam

Somehow this is more acceptable than Tatis swinging at 3-0 up 7 runs in a league where there is no running clock to make comebacks impossible

 

[Melancer46]

Somehow this is more acceptable than Tatis swinging at 3-0 up 7 runs in a league where there is no running clock to make comebacks impossible

That's just because baseball has unwritten rules and almost all of them are complete trash.

 

[OrangeDW]

That's just because baseball has unwritten rules and almost all of them are complete trash.

You mean Hassan Whiteside doesn’t get to throw the ball at Quinn Cook’s head from point blank range 2 days later because of that LeBron shot?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You mean Hassan Whiteside doesn’t get to throw the ball at Quinn Cook’s head from point blank range 2 days later because of that LeBron shot?

Remember when Cole Hamels hit Bryce Harper on purpose because Harper was disrespecting the game by playing well at a young age?

 

[Melancer46]

You mean Hassan Whiteside doesn’t get to throw the ball at Quinn Cook’s head from point blank range 2 days later because of that LeBron shot?

I think they should adopt the NHL rules and just allow Whiteside to flat out punch LeBron's lights out after that shot. Fight can't be stopped until someone's head hits the hardwood.

 

[MikeSU02]

If Luka pulls it off again without him, that would be really something.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Bucks guard George Hill after Jacob Blake shooting: ‘We shouldn’t have even came' to Orlando

"We shouldn't have even came to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are."

www.yahoo.com

I don't understand George Hill saying they shouldn't have gone to Orlando.

 

[Alsacs]

Bucks guard George Hill after Jacob Blake shooting: ‘We shouldn’t have even came' to Orlando

"We shouldn't have even came to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are."

www.yahoo.com

I don't understand George Hill saying they shouldn't have gone to Orlando.

He is saying going to Orlando took attention away from social justice protests and them playing games give normalcy to the country that doesn’t deserve it till they get their change.

He is free to think this. He could have opted out of the restart if he didn’t want to play.

Players can speak out.

 

[OrangeDW]

Bucks guard George Hill after Jacob Blake shooting: ‘We shouldn’t have even came' to Orlando

"We shouldn't have even came to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are."

www.yahoo.com

I don't understand George Hill saying they shouldn't have gone to Orlando.

Ive read things about how players thought/hoped that they would legit be able to help by collectively using their platform with the jerseys and the “black lives matter” on the court, the interviews they’re giving, etc., and now many are feeling defeated since nothing changes and the same BS continues to happen.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He is saying going to Orlando took attention away from social justice protests and them playing games give normalcy to the country that doesn’t deserve it till they get their change.

He is free to think this. He could have opted out of the restart if he didn’t want to play.

Players can speak out.

No, I get it.

But I don't get why he believes not going would have made a difference.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

No, I get it.

But I don't get why he believes not going would have made a difference.

Would have allowed them to keep the pressure on, forcing some actual changes. Or I imagine that's what he's thinking.

 

[chugg21]

Good article on the ringer about how the Nugs defense and 76ers offense will never allow them to win as currently built and how a Simmons for Murray swap could fix both teams. Also mentions Porter for Simmons as an option but that seems like a mess cap wise and too big of a bet on Porter at this point.

Honestly seems like it could be a rare perfect trade. 6ers have enough on D and a big time scorer on the perimeter would alleviate their spacing issues that choke them. Simmons would fix the Nugs pick n roll D issues and Jokic is far more capable than Embiid to give Simmons room to operate down low.

 

[Melancer46]

He is saying going to Orlando took attention away from social justice protests and them playing games give normalcy to the country that doesn’t deserve it till they get their change.

He is free to think this. He could have opted out of the restart if he didn’t want to play.

Players can speak out.

I think it’s all that and also just frustration that this happened so near to Milwaukee, and also literally where the GLeague affiliate is located, and he can’t be there to try to help the community himself right now.