NBA Thread 2019-20 Season

[Alsacs]

Hill vs. Brogdon isn't really the comparison though. It's really Matthews/DiVincenzo vs. Brogdon, which isn't any better based on how the bubble games have gone so far, but the Matthews/DiVincenzo combo has been better overall this year than Brogdon was as a Buck. The Bucks have plenty of shot creators, so that part of Brogdon's game hasn't really been missed, and more minutes for DiVincenzo + the addition of Matthews have improved the team's defense and spacing.

Bledsoe and Connoughton are expected back today I believe; obviously they'll need to shake the rust off a bit and there's certainly reason to question whether either of them will be good in the playoffs. Really gotta hope that Bledsoe can just play like himself in the playoffs for once.

As I've said, I think the hiatus will make the playoffs weirder than you'd generally expect. If everyone ultimately plays at their normal levels, I don't think there's really any chance Philly can beat Milwaukee; Milwaukee is just by far the better team there. Toronto is really the only team that can hang with Milwaukee if Milwaukee plays like themselves.

Hard to predict how things will go with everyone being rusty though.

Miami, Boston can beat Milwaukee in the bubble.

Not just Toronto.
No HCA negates the Bucks biggest advantage.

Hell Friday Tatum playing as poorly as possible without Connington and Bledsoe showed Boston can beat the Bucks.
The game pressure was on Boston the entire game the Bucks never were behind and it was a sloppy game.

Philadelphia can beat the Bucks as well.
The depth the Bucks have are negated in the playoffs when rotations are shortened.

Celtics and 76ers can ride their horses in a playoff series whereas during the season they don’t have the depth.

 

[Trueblue25]

Embiid is why Boston can’t beat Philly.

Just a bad matchup for the C’s.
Horford’s contract is going to kill Philly once Simmons extension kicks in.

They will have Harris/Horford/Embiid/Simmons all making 25 million per year plus.

Celtics need a Lopez type big to rotate with Theis.

They have a good core but Embiid is just too tough for them.

Exactly, but Al’s energy and sturdiness used to counter Embiid as well as Boston possibly could.

 

[Melancer46]

Miami, Boston can beat Milwaukee in the bubble.

Not just Toronto.
No HCA negates the Bucks biggest advantage.

Hell Friday Tatum playing as poorly as possible without Connington and Bledsoe showed Boston can beat the Bucks.
The game pressure was on Boston the entire game the Bucks never were behind and it was a sloppy game.

Philadelphia can beat the Bucks as well.
The depth the Bucks have are negated in the playoffs when rotations are shortened.

Celtics and 76ers can ride their horses in a playoff series whereas during the season they don’t have the depth.

I don't really see why any of that would be true if Milwaukee simply plays to their normal level. No doubt if they underperform a team like Boston, Miami, or Philly can hang with them, but that's really it. And the only team in the league that played better than Milwaukee on the road this year is the Lakers. Home court is not in any way their biggest advantage as a team. Their biggest advantage is that they have two of the top 15-20 players in the league (include arguably the #1) and have the #1 or at worst #2 defense in the league.

Again, it's totally possible that the Bucks just aren't as good after the long layoff as they were all year, but Boston, Philly, and Miami were nowhere near them this season, and upsets do happen. But Milwaukee should certainly be a sizable favorite against any of those teams.

 

[cuseincincy]

Zion is obviously very talented and IF he can stay healthy will be a great player for years. But the media love for him is still over the top and blinding. Case in point last night...Zion starts to drive, just inside the foul line he lowers his shoulder into Valanciunas (6'11" 265) and then hits an open 12 footer. And we get this from Doris Burke "Zion moved Valanciunas 9 1/2 feet on tht shot!" And like it was a good thing they went on to measure on screen how far back Valanciunas was "moved" by Zion's shoulder. Offensive foul anyone? How else does a player in good defensive position end up 9 1/2 feet away from where he was standing?

And a followup...How does Zion continue to wear Nikes? He slid out of his shoe again last night though it didn't rip out on him this time.

 

[jncuse]

Toronto is good and fun to watch but they are generating a lot of buzz off squeaking by the heat and beating a Laker team that wasn’t interested in winning the game.

They are generating buzz that they should have earned before the shutdown.

With no shutdown the gap between the big 3 and the rest of the league would have been larger. But now with the re-start, it bring into play other teams in many people's minds-- and I think Toronto has as good a claim as anybody else for that #4 spot.

 

[jncuse]

I agree. The Ringer had a great article on them today. They pound bad teams as they force the role player to beat them not as easy in the playoffs when there are more good players, and again THEY HAD LEONARD. The impact of his loss will be more glaring in the playoffs. That said Nurse seems to be worth 5 points a game.

They are 8-2 against teams over .500 in their last 10 games.
They did struggle against them earlier in the year however which skews the overall reocrd.

 

[jncuse]

Embiid is why Boston can’t beat Philly.

Just a bad matchup for the C’s.
Horford’s contract is going to kill Philly once Simmons extension kicks in.

They will have Harris/Horford/Embiid/Simmons all making 25 million per year plus.

Celtics need a Lopez type big to rotate with Theis.

They have a good core but Embiid is just too tough for them.

I certainly agree that Embiid is a difference maker against the Celtics which would make them the slight favourites.
But he also has moments of mental weakness, so I can certainly see a Celtics win.

 

[Alsacs]

Nets were +1600 today against the Bucks and won.

 

[Knicks411]

Weird day in the bubble. Nets over the Bucks, Kings lead Dallas most of the way before losing in OT, and the Suns are up on the Clippers

 

[NineOneSeven]

Weird day in the bubble. Nets over the Bucks, Kings lead Dallas most of the way before losing in OT, and the Suns are up on the Clippers

Bucks guarantee a 1 though right?

 

[Alsacs]

Bucks guarantee a 1 though right?

Bucks would need to lose out and Raptors win out.
Milwaukee will be the 1 seed.

They haven’t played well in 3 games now. The top 6 of the East minus Indiana could IMO knock the Bucks off in the bubble playoffs.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Devin Booker is a bad man.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Lillard is an amazing player, but those 35’ shots are just dumb.

 

[OrangeDW]

Devin Booker is a bad man.

Phoenix is making a run in the bubble! I’m loving this NBA return so much. There’s games on starting in the afternoon. It’s unbelievable!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Booker is co-captain with Kevin Love on my great numbers/crap team all-stars, but maybe the bubble is bringing something out of him?

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Bubble TJ Warren may be the GOAT!

 

[cuseattle]

Carmelo for three! Big minutes down the stretch.

 

[djcon57]

Carmelo for three! Big minutes down the stretch.

and big steal from Harden.

 

[djcon57]

 

[OrangeDW]

lol, that’s not what the mics usually catch him saying on rebounds.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Suck it Daryl Morey.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Bubble TJ Warren may be the GOAT!

He's been one of the most underrated scorers the last few seasons and it's finally showing in this bubble.

 

[jncuse]

Not NBA related but basketball related that I just saw on another board. Amazing stuff.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I watch a fair share of the NBA, but it sure feels like traveling is allowed more in the bubble than I can ever recall. Wanamaker just took at least 4 steps before getting fouled

 

[Cusefan0307]

Michael Porter Jr looking to make a bunch of teams look completely stupid passing on him.