NBA Thread 2019-20 Season | Page 9 | Syracusefan.com

NBA Thread 2019-20 Season

Julius Randle with a hell of a stat line going!

The last 3-5 years of posts show that I was always all in on him and was bummed when we let him go.
 
I legitimately thought it was a glitch in the ESPN app when I saw that.

That could describe about 95% of the things the Knicks have done in the last 20 years

RJ was pretty impressive last night though.
 
That could describe about 95% of the things the Knicks have done in the last 20 years

RJ was pretty impressive last night though.

RJ to me is the frontrunner for rookie of the year
 
So happy to have the NBA back. Some random takeaways from watching some of the games this morning:
  • Ricky Rubio was such a huge pickup for the Suns. That organization has been such a mess for so long and Rubio instantly turns them into a functioning team. Still probably won't be very good this year but they at least have a chance of developing their players now.
  • Markelle Fultz looked legitimately good yesterday (with the exception of his still ugly 3 point shot). Everything else that made him an amazing prospect was on display: really impressive creativity out of the pick and roll and explosive athleticism coupled with his herky jerky stop and go movements. He might end up being okay after all. Still really sad watching his 3 point shot today versus college though.
  • The Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder were my two picks to outperform their over/under by the most this year. OKC lost a tough one to the Jazz, but as long as they can't find a taker for CP3 and he and Gallinari stay healthy, I think they have a shot to win 40 games. Detroit was running some really nice quick-hitters...a lot of plays where Kennard would downscreen for Drummond and then either backscreen for Drummond and pop out, creating either an alley oop for Drummond or a 3 pointer for Kennard, or Drummond would just set a downscreen for Kennard to get him open for 3. Kennard is in the discussion for best pure shooters in the league IMO and he's a much better passer and shot creator than he gets credit for. If Blake is able to come back and be relatively healthy, I think this Detroit team is well-coached and talented enough to make a run at like the 5 or 6 seed in the East.
  • Luka looks like a bonafide superstar.
  • I still think Charlotte and Memphis are the front runners to be the worst team in the NBA this year, but Charlotte in particular had some super impressive ball movement in their shocking win over the Bulls. I doubt Devonte Graham and PJ Washington consistently shoot like Steph Curry, but they were rotating the ball to open shooters so damn quick. Really impressive opener for them in what I thought would be a pathetic season.
  • I think Philly, much like last season, will be a great regular season team that ultimately disappoints in the postseason. I just don't think their current makeup will work in the postseason. I don't really get why the media seems to think they're the frontrunners in the East and arguably the entire league; I don't really think they're any better than they were a year ago and might be worse.
  • I'm still kinda iffy on Ja Morant right now. Not nearly as big of an issue as it was for Lonzo, but I have major questions about his shooting ability and I'm not sure the rest of his game is special enough to make up for that.
  • The Pacers seem poised to be the biggest disappointment in the league IMO. I think they probably finish somewhere in the 8-11 range in the East.
 
RJ to me is the frontrunner for rookie of the year

Zion’s injury will hurt him there.

Very impressive debut for RJ.

Amazing that Coach K couldn’t win it all with the two most talented players in college basketball on his team.
 
So happy to have the NBA back. Some random takeaways from watching some of the games this morning:
  • Ricky Rubio was such a huge pickup for the Suns. That organization has been such a mess for so long and Rubio instantly turns them into a functioning team. Still probably won't be very good this year but they at least have a chance of developing their players now.
  • Markelle Fultz looked legitimately good yesterday (with the exception of his still ugly 3 point shot). Everything else that made him an amazing prospect was on display: really impressive creativity out of the pick and roll and explosive athleticism coupled with his herky jerky stop and go movements. He might end up being okay after all. Still really sad watching his 3 point shot today versus college though.
  • The Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder were my two picks to outperform their over/under by the most this year. OKC lost a tough one to the Jazz, but as long as they can't find a taker for CP3 and he and Gallinari stay healthy, I think they have a shot to win 40 games. Detroit was running some really nice quick-hitters...a lot of plays where Kennard would downscreen for Drummond and then either backscreen for Drummond and pop out, creating either an alley oop for Drummond or a 3 pointer for Kennard, or Drummond would just set a downscreen for Kennard to get him open for 3. Kennard is in the discussion for best pure shooters in the league IMO and he's a much better passer and shot creator than he gets credit for. If Blake is able to come back and be relatively healthy, I think this Detroit team is well-coached and talented enough to make a run at like the 5 or 6 seed in the East.
  • Luka looks like a bonafide superstar.
  • I still think Charlotte and Memphis are the front runners to be the worst team in the NBA this year, but Charlotte in particular had some super impressive ball movement in their shocking win over the Bulls. I doubt Devonte Graham and PJ Washington consistently shoot like Steph Curry, but they were rotating the ball to open shooters so damn quick. Really impressive opener for them in what I thought would be a pathetic season.
  • I think Philly, much like last season, will be a great regular season team that ultimately disappoints in the postseason. I just don't think their current makeup will work in the postseason. I don't really get why the media seems to think they're the frontrunners in the East and arguably the entire league; I don't really think they're any better than they were a year ago and might be worse.
  • I'm still kinda iffy on Ja Morant right now. Not nearly as big of an issue as it was for Lonzo, but I have major questions about his shooting ability and I'm not sure the rest of his game is special enough to make up for that.
  • The Pacers seem poised to be the biggest disappointment in the league IMO. I think they probably finish somewhere in the 8-11 range in the East.

I posted at some point in the summer how I thought Detroit would surprise and be a solid playoff team. Kennard is legit. Him and Rose give them a ton of scoring punch off the bench.
 
What was that play design by the Nets down 1 with 14 seconds left ? Hold for the last shot and give yourself one chance at home no less ?
 
Only game 1, but Luke Walton...cmon. Blown out by the Suns?

I had the kings +2.5 the second half .. they lead by 5 at half time . I’ve never seen a worse half of b-ball played by an nba team that was actually trying to win...

Holy crap ..70-36 in the second half against a crappy suns team no less !!!!
 
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Zion’s injury will hurt him there.

Very impressive debut for RJ.

Amazing that Coach K couldn’t win it all with the two most talented players in college basketball on his team.

I still don't understand how a coach that essentially has his pick of the litter with recruits couldn't find ANY shooting to put around those two. Maybe the worst recruiting job he's ever done after he had already gotten the hard part done (Barrett and Zion).
 
I posted at some point in the summer how I thought Detroit would surprise and be a solid playoff team. Kennard is legit. Him and Rose give them a ton of scoring punch off the bench.

The funny thing is I feel like I might have argued with you about it at the time lol. I'm not sure, but I feel like I might have.

But when I was going through rosters a few days ago and doing win projections, I really felt like they were getting underrated. It's going to end up depending on Blake's health, but they have a chance to surprise people in a weak Eastern conference.
 
I still don't understand how a coach that essentially has his pick of the litter with recruits couldn't find ANY shooting to put around those two. Maybe the worst recruiting job he's ever done after he had already gotten the hard part done (Barrett and Zion).

I mean he CHOSE to play Jack White more minutes than Alex O'Connell last year. Stupid.
 
Fiz is awful

If you're gonna run Barrett out there as your SG, then how is Knox not your starting SF? Also, you start Trier at PG (out of position), he doesn't do well and gets yanked after 7 mins, never to appear again. Maybe he didn't play well because of the crap lineup that was on the court and you're trying to plug a SG into the PG slot.
 
If you're gonna run Barrett out there as your SG, then how is Knox not your starting SF? Also, you start Trier at PG (out of position), he doesn't do well and gets yanked after 7 mins, never to appear again. Maybe he didn't play well because of the crap lineup that was on the court and you're trying to plug a SG into the PG slot.
We should be tanking - Gibson, Middleton, and even Morris should be getting no minutes. I think Trier played more last night than he did all pre-season. When Robinson comes back he better get more minutes than Portis.
 
We should be tanking - Gibson, Middleton, and even Morris should be getting no minutes. I think Trier played more last night than he did all pre-season. When Robinson comes back he better get more minutes than Portis.

Tanking for who? The next draft class has no stars.
 
We should be tanking - Gibson, Middleton, and even Morris should be getting no minutes. I think Trier played more last night than he did all pre-season. When Robinson comes back he better get more minutes than Portis.

I think at this point, we should be trying to put a competent team on the court so that free agents don't continue to look at us as an incompetent, loser franchise. The Nets put a competent squad together, and next thing you know, they land two top free agents. We landed Marcus Morris. Also, Trier averaged 16 mins per game in the preseason.
 
Only game 1, but Luke Walton...cmon. Blown out by the Suns?
The rotations last night were puzzling to say the least. I think they had a lineup of Bjelica, Joseph, Ariza, Dedmond and Holmes out there for a bit. This isn't hockey...
 
We should be tanking - Gibson, Middleton, and even Morris should be getting no minutes. I think Trier played more last night than he did all pre-season. When Robinson comes back he better get more minutes than Portis.
No! I have Over 26 wins! Should I just burn my ticket now? lol
 
The East is wide open after Philly and Milwaukee no team should tank this year:
Who is the top prospect? That kid in Australia and LaMelo Ball?
No thanks for either of them.
The NBA draft is a pure gamble nowadays maybe every 5 years there are one of these prospects worth tanking for.
Since Durant who is the best player drafted in the top 3 of a draft?
Is it Joel Embiid or Derrick Rose?
 
The East is wide open after Philly and Milwaukee no team should tank this year:
Who is the top prospect? That kid in Australia and LaMelo Ball?
No thanks for either of them.
The NBA draft is a pure gamble nowadays maybe every 5 years there are one of these prospects worth tanking for.
Since Durant who is the best player drafted in the top 3 of a draft?
Is it Joel Embiid or Derrick Rose?

Are you high right now?
 

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