NBA Thread 2021-22 Season

[Melancer46]

if it happens - Buck vs Nets in 1st round would be the best opening round series in history.

Not just because I don’t want to deal with them, but I think 76ers-Nets would be objectively better.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Not just because I don’t want to deal with them, but I think 76ers-Nets would be objectively better.

Last year I put my money on the Bucks to win the whole thing. This year I put my money on the Heat right after they acquired Lowry and Tucker to come out of the East and to win the whole thing. Neither will be easy so I am hoping that all the other teams end up beating the snot out of each other. Funny thing is that despite the Heat having the best record, Brooklyn, Philly and Milwaukee are shorter odds to win. Regardless, the playoffs in both conferences should be epic with some good story lines.

 

[Melancer46]

Last year I put my money on the Bucks to win the whole thing. This year I put my money on the Heat right after they acquired Lowry and Tucker to come out of the East and to win the whole thing. Neither will be easy so I am hoping that all the other teams end up beating the snot out of each other. Funny thing is that despite the Heat having the best record, Brooklyn, Philly and Milwaukee are shorter odds to win. Regardless, the playoffs in both conferences should be epic with some good story lines.

I think a lot of people view Miami this year similarly to the Rose Chicago team or the Hawks team from a few years back. Miami is good but it’s just near impossible to win a title if your best player is Butler IMO.

I put money on Giannis, Embiid, and Jokic to win MVP this season and got all of them at great odds so I’m thrilled with how that’s worked out lol. I don’t think Embiid will ultimately win it but I got him at like +4000 odds.

 

[Alsacs]

I think a lot of people view Miami this year similarly to the Rose Chicago team or the Hawks team from a few years back. Miami is good but it’s just near impossible to win a title if your best player is Butler IMO.

You still think Butler is better than Tatum?

 

[Melancer46]

You still think Butler is better than Tatum?

Did I say that in the past? I’ve never really been high on Butler but I also doubted Tatum earlier in his career so it’s possible haha. I think Tatum is undeniably an All NBA guy now though. Butler isn’t that IMO.

Edit: Never been high relative to the best in the league. Obviously Butler is a very good player but to me he’s more top 20-30 than top 10.

 

[Ryand877]

Seems like Butler is battling some injury or something every other day

 

[jncuse]

The East is going to be interesting for the last 12 -14 games.

A team like Chicago could certainly still end up top 2, but also is not clear of the play in either as they are only 3 games ahead of Toronto due to their recent 4-6 stretch. Chicago has difficult 4 game stretch coming up with 3 road games at Utah, Milwaukee, and Phoenix. Could make it tight when they play Toronto in a few games. Not that I expect Chicago to miss the play in, just to show how tight it still is.

Ultimately I think Cleveland misses the top 6 and ends up in the play in. They have struggled without Allen. And assuming they lose tonight (down 12 to Philly at the half), Toronto could be tied with them after tonight (although the Cavs have the tiebreaker)

And if Brooklyn streaks they could avoid the play in as well... although not a high likelihood scenario. Interestingly if they end up in 7th, they may have to play one or two play in games without Kyrie.

 

[jncuse]

View attachment 215696

The East is going to be interesting for the last 12 -14 games.

A team like Chicago could certainly still end up top 2, but also is not clear of the play in either as they are only 3 games ahead of Toronto due to their recent 4-6 stretch. Chicago has difficult 4 game stretch coming up with 3 road games at Utah, Milwaukee, and Phoenix. Could make it tight when they play Toronto in a few games. Not that I expect Chicago to miss the play in, just to show how tight it still is.

Ultimately I think Cleveland misses the top 6 and ends up in the play in. They have struggled without Allen. And assuming they lose tonight (down 12 to Philly at the half), Toronto could be tied with them after tonight (although the Cavs have the tiebreaker)

And if Brooklyn streaks they could avoid the play in as well... although not a high likelihood scenario. Interestingly if they end up in 7th, they may have to play one or two play in games without Kyrie.

Good night for the Raptors as they beat the Clippers in a very tight game. Bulls lose, Cavs lose, Nets lose. Raps now tied for 6th, and given that the Raps next game is at home vs Lakers, and Bulls next game is at Suns, conceivably they could be playing to tie the Bulls in the standings on Sunday. That being said they to tend to play down to the competition so that Friday game is no gimme.

The Clippers don't have the greatest team on paper, but they play hard and have been achieving at a more higher level than their LA neighbours.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

“And I took that personally” Jordan memes incoming…

Really Lebron ? You’re the best to ever do it ? I didn’t realize we had all decided that

 

[STEVEHOLT]

 

[Eric15]

I find Oakley very annoying.

"For Mike and Scottie, I think it' something else besides 'The Last Dance' because yeah, Scottie, they didn't give him a lot of headlines like they did Dennis Rodman or Kerr, but I think Mike could have won without Scottie...you just gotta live with it."

Charles Oakley says Michael Jordan would have won six titles even without Scottie Pippen - Basketball Network - Your daily dose of basketball

Although MJ often pointed out how he needed Scottie, "Oak" thinks it was just said out of courtesy.

www.basketballnetwork.net

If "Mike could have won without Scottie" then why didn't Mike win a title without Scottie?

 

[MikeSU02]

I find Oakley very annoying.

"For Mike and Scottie, I think it' something else besides 'The Last Dance' because yeah, Scottie, they didn't give him a lot of headlines like they did Dennis Rodman or Kerr, but I think Mike could have won without Scottie...you just gotta live with it."

Charles Oakley says Michael Jordan would have won six titles even without Scottie Pippen - Basketball Network - Your daily dose of basketball

Although MJ often pointed out how he needed Scottie, "Oak" thinks it was just said out of courtesy.

www.basketballnetwork.net

If "Mike could have won without Scottie" then why didn't Mike win a title without Scottie?

Is Oak still trying to sell his book?

These guys are ridiculous.

Scottie isn't helping himself with his crazy talk, but he's trying to sell stuff, too.

These guys are just blustering.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Oakley said Giannis would come off the bench in his era.

One of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard a player or former player say.

I’m not kidding. It’s beyond anything else.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Curry out with sprained ligament in foot after smart dove onto his leg getting a ball.

Awful news.

 

[Melancer46]

Really Lebron ? You’re the best to ever do it ? I didn’t realize we had all decided that

Don’t worry, it’s a made up quote.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Oakley said Giannis would come off the bench in his era.

One of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard a player or former player say.

I’m not kidding. It’s beyond anything else.

Barkley , Shaq aren’t much better .. they were basically saying all star caliber players of today couldn’t even play in their day … Im of the opinion that the bulls of the 90s and the Lakers / celts of the 80s would have trouble beating today’s timber wolves

 

[OrangeDW]

Barkley , Shaq aren’t much better .. they were basically saying all star caliber players of today couldn’t even play in their day … Im of the opinion that the bulls of the 90s and the Lakers / celts of the 80s would have trouble beating today’s timber wolves

Comparing eras where the style of play is so drastically different is pointless.

There’s a lot of guys in the league now who wouldn’t have been able to make the league if they were somehow time transported into the 90s. And there’s a lot of guys in the 90s who would never make the league if they were playing in the 2020s.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Barkley , Shaq aren’t much better .. they were basically saying all star caliber players of today couldn’t even play in their day … Im of the opinion that the bulls of the 90s and the Lakers / celts of the 80s would have trouble beating today’s timber wolves

Due more to talent, style, or strategy?

 

[OrangeDW]

I’m starting to like heel KD.

 

[jncuse]

Crazy game between the Raptors and Lakers.Big games and clutch plays from Scottie Barnes and Lebron James.

Comes down to the end -- Raptors up 3, about 20 seconds to go.
Lakers miss a tying 3, Russell Westbrook gets the rebound goes out to the 3 point line,,,, AND, hits one of his legendary Westbricks. Terrible shot.

8 seconds left Raps inbounding up 3... figure its game over. Scottie Barnes, who is typically so cool and has the clutch gene, makes a few mistakes, Raps turn it over during the inbounds. Russell steals the ball heads to the 3 point line... Barnes should absolutely foul him but does not. He is all over Russell, and Westbrook hits the ******* 3 to tie the game with 0.4 seconds left.

Lakers win in OT.

Cavs were also down double digits against Denver and came back to tie and win in OT.

At one point it looked like Raptors would be in 6th place alone.
Now back to 7th - painful game but an entertaining one.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Crazy game between the Raptors and Lakers.Big games and clutch plays from Scottie Barnes and Lebron James.

Comes down to the end -- Raptors up 3, about 20 seconds to go.
Lakers miss a tying 3, Russell Westbrook gets the rebound goes out to the 3 point line,,,, AND, hits one of his legendary Westbricks. Terrible shot.

8 seconds left Raps inbounding up 3... figure its game over. Scottie Barnes, who is typically so cool and has the clutch gene, makes a few mistakes, Raps turn it over during the inbounds. Russell steals the ball heads to the 3 point line... Barnes should absolutely foul him but does not. He is all over Russell, and Westbrook hits the ******* 3 to tie the game with 0.4 seconds left.

Lakers win in OT.

Cavs were also down double digits against Denver and came back to tie and win in OT.

At one point it looked like Raptors would be in 6th place alone.
Now back to 7th - painful game but an entertaining one.

Very entertaining game. The NBA is my March — and April, May & June — Madness.

Barnes has to be the rookie of the year, doesn’t he? He is sweet.

The stream on my iPad froze with 10 seconds left & Toronto up by 3 and inbounding the ball. Stream unfroze as Russ was pulling up and hitting a 3 to send the game into OT.

I had no clue what happened till I checked Twitter. This canceled out the attempted 3 Russ missed by about 20 feet just a bit earlier.

 

[OrangeDW]

 

[jncuse]

The Raptors are so hard to explain. Those 3 games were also the first 3 when fans were let back in the building (or at least over a 1000)

 

[MikeSU02]

The hottest team in the last 10 games in the NBA is the T'Wolves.

They are 6th in the west and have an outside shot to catch Dallas at the 5.

They may still end up 7th, but want to give a shout to a team that I'd never thought I'd give a shout to.

 

[Alsacs]

Why does 538 make the Celtics the favorites to win the NBA by a significant margin?
That is where analytics get second guessed.

I think Boston is one of the few teams in the East that could beat Brooklyn.
Milwaukee, Boston would be the 2 teams IMO.

Philly is a bad matchup. Miami as well bad matchup.

Chicago is going to be dangerous once they get healthy if they do this season.