2019-2020 NBA Season Thread

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Hope he has an experienced staff. Does Nash have any coaching experience? I know he was with the Warriors, but I thought that was more of a consultant basis?

Steve Kerr had zero coaching experience (though 6 years as consultant and GM in Phoenix) when he took over the mess that Mark Jackson left behind in Golden State.

Nash's biggest challenges in Brooklyn won't be Xs and Os, but more likely Durant's gimped achilles and Kyrie's overrated game, over-inflated ego, and the long knives that he likes to bury in coaches' backs.

Again, Good Luck, Steve. You're gonna need it. And if things don't work out in BK, then maybe hustle on down to Big D in a couple of years to team up with Dirk on the Mavs' bench, when the fans finally run Carlisle off.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Of course people having shit fits because Nash is white. Ugh...

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Of course people having shit fits because Nash is white. Ugh...

Yep. And he was picked over Vaughn who is staying on the staff. I have to believe Nash was picked by KD though, or at least approved it.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Of course people having shit fits because Nash is white. Ugh...

Yeah that’s silly. Mark Jackson had no coaching experience when the Warriors tapped him. Unless I’m misremembering.

[mac222b]

I thought Vaughn earned the job. But then I also didn’t think Atkinson should get axed.

[dirt_dobber]

the last 2.4 seconds of the Rockets/Thunder game took 14 minutes.
Maybe they should experiment more with the Elam ending more?

[BPo001]

Wooooow. Toronto with the buzzer beater! Some amazing games going down this playoffs.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Why on earth would you put tack fall in when he hasn't played at all? And then the shooter is left wide open...wow.

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Why on earth would you put tack fall in when he hasn't played at all? And then the shooter is left wide open...wow.

I get putting Tacko in. He’s a big guy just covering the ball. Make the inbound pass tougher. Lowry made a great pass. Not sure why OG wasn’t being covered though.

[BPo001]

Is Miami for real, or is Milwaukee overrated?

[tap2390]

Man the Bucks are a sorry ass team. Absolutely no killer instinct. No effort to get Giannis the ball and horrible shot selection and body language.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Is Miami for real, or is Milwaukee overrated?

A little of both, but I think more the latter.

[Jack.Kerr]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Is Miami for real, or is Milwaukee overrated?

Or is Milwaukee fatally distracted?

[sefant77]

Giannis gone

letting Brogdon walk because they cheaped out one year before max extension time and two years before UFA free agency was so freaking stupid

[BPo001]

Giannis’ inability to hit a shot from outside kills them. Teams will let him shoot all day.

[dirt_dobber]

random comments on games 9-4-20
Jimmy Butler yelled loudly - "He can't guard me" (about Giannas)

LeBron going scoreless in the 4th quarter.

Bucks coach catching major heat for not playing G.A. and Midleton more minutes.
Played Giannis only 35 mins and Middleton 36 mins in a do or die game 3.

After the game - they asked Mark Dan Tony (see what I did there...) about the overall team height and he said "well all of our guys can touch the rim so..."

Harden on people calling the Rockets small: "You can be 7 feet tall but if you don’t have heart it doesn’t matter. If you don’t have dog in you it doesn’t matter.”

Coach Spo on Heat Culture: "Our culture is probably U.D. screaming at everybody in one of the timeouts. And us liking it."

[mac222b]

Giannis down. Ouch.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Middleton is the Harrison Barnes of the Bucks.

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[sefant77]

Westbrick is such an incredible dumb basketballer.

And MDA shows again why he is a terrible playoff coach. No guts whatsoever

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Lakers have no talent outside of Bron/Davis. They literally needed Rajon Rondo making jump shots to win this. Mavs would have done well against them.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Lakers have no talent outside of Bron/Davis. They literally needed Rajon Rondo making jump shots to win this. Mavs would have done well against them.

They really don’t. I hate having to root for them but can never root for a Harden team. Really pulling for Raptors v. Nuggets final. Dislike the rest of the teams, though Boston is all right. Hate Miami, both LA teams and Houston.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Lakers have no talent outside of Bron/Davis. They literally needed Rajon Rondo making jump shots to win this. Mavs would have done well against them.

The Clippers were easily the worst possible matchup for the Mavs, and they took the Clips to 6 games with their second best player absent for about half the series. If they could win 2 games against the Clippers, I have no doubt they could win three games against the Lakers. Maybe 4 with a lucky break here and there.

The weird thing is, before the pandemic, the Lakers looked really dominant towards the end. The supporting cast was solid. I think it really just goes to show that this is basically a whole new season. Anything that happened outside of the Bubble is ancient history.

I think not having Avery Bradley hurts them a lot more than anyone realized. He's easily their best defensive guard. Kuzma was supposed to be the third guy, but he's just too inconsistent. They the same problem the Mavs do. Guys who look great one night will look like scrubs the next. Kuzma, KCP, and Danny Green are to them what guys like Seth, THJ, and Maxi are to the Mavs.

[mac222b]

Nuggets totally threw that one away. So many turnovers.

[Thespiralgoeson]

The Clippers are really a strange team. When they're "on," they seem unbeatable, but they take their foot off the gas so often. On paper, the Mavs had absolutely no business making that a six game series. That should have been a sweep.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

The Clippers are really a strange team. When they're "on," they seem unbeatable, but they take their foot off the gas so often. On paper, the Mavs had absolutely no business making that a six game series. That should have been a sweep.

Reminds me of the Mavs.

When we're playing hard, driving, making good passes, we're absolutely unbeatable.

Then we go 1.5 quarters and score 30 and allow 50.

[KillerLeft]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Reminds me of the Mavs.

When we're playing hard, driving, making good passes, we're absolutely unbeatable.

Then we go 1.5 quarters and score 30 and allow 50.

I see what you mean, but imo, when the Mavs hit a bad stretch it's because of lack of experience. To me, that's fixable, but when the "we don't feel like playing hard right now, but don't worry, we'll have it when we need it" disease infects your team, that can only get worse over time.

It's the one problem with Kawhi. He might be the best player in the league, and it might be the right thing to manage his load, and to be fair, he ALWAYS plays hard when he plays, but I think the way he is handled by his teams gives other players the wrong idea. Add in a dash of Paul George, who definitely does NOT always play hard, and I think you've got real problems.

Having said that, the problems don't really matter if you're good enough to beat all the other teams in spite of those problems, so I guess we'll see.

[EricaLubarsky]

538 has been pretty darn accurate in their predictions. Nailed our winning percentage almost down to the percent. They currently have

Celtics - 36% of winning it all
Rockets - 26% of winning it all
Clippers 19% of winning it all
Heat 12% of winning it all
Lakers 5% of winning it all
Raptors 2% of winning it all

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Yep, I got the Celtics to win it.

[tap2390]

Giannis out for a pivotal game five with an ankle sprain. I know it's not fair to compare injuries, but I just want to point out Luka toughed out his sprain.

[BPo001]

Billy Donovan out as coach in OKC.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by BPo001

Billy Donovan out as coach in OKC.

This surprised me. Someone will scoop him up.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

The Bucks remind me of late 2000s Mavs teams except for one crucial thing...Dirk was a shooter and scorer. Giannis just isn't that. Giannis is perhaps the best all-around player in NBA history, but he doesn't do the one thing you HAVE to do well. Shooting.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

The Bucks remind me of late 2000s Mavs teams except for one crucial thing...Dirk was a shooter and scorer. Giannis just isn't that. Giannis is perhaps the best all-around player in NBA history, but he doesn't do the one thing you HAVE to do well. Shooting.

Dirk got easier/cheaper baskets with his shooting. Giannis has to work hard to get his and that is apparently not sustainable in the playoffs.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Dirk got easier/cheaper baskets with his shooting. Giannis has to work hard to get his and that is apparently not sustainable in the playoffs.

Yup. The Bucks have tried to build a team of shooters around Giannis. Ironically this means their best player can't shoot threes, but they're a "live by the 3, die by the 3" team. In the playoffs when defenses turn up a notch and players are getting exhausted it's just not sustainable. What they need is another playmaker either out of the post or on the perimeter who can add a different dimension to their team.

It's the same reason we will not be successful (especially if Porzingis is more perimeter-oriented than a presence in the post) unless we find another consistent perimeter playmaker. I like Jalen Brunson a lot, but am not convinced he's that guy.


EDIT: If we get to 18 and our choices are a "sure thing" 3&D wing like Saddiq Bey, or a high-upside penetrator like Kira Lewis, I take Kira Lewis 10 times out of 10.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Yup. The Bucks have tried to build a team of shooters around Giannis. Ironically this means their best player can't shoot threes, but they're a "live by the 3, die by the 3" team. In the playoffs when defenses turn up a notch and players are getting exhausted it's just not sustainable. What they need is another playmaker either out of the post or on the perimeter who can add a different dimension to their team.

It's the same reason we will not be successful (especially if Porzingis is more perimeter-oriented than a presence in the post) unless we find another consistent perimeter playmaker. I like Jalen Brunson a lot, but am not convinced he's that guy.


EDIT: If we get to 18 and our choices are a "sure thing" 3&D wing like Saddiq Bey, or a high-upside penetrator like Kira Lewis, I take Kira Lewis 10 times out of 10.

Maybe we have that guy in Burke already. I'm not sold on getting another undersized guard until we know whats up with him. It seems like we would be better off with the best 2 way player available. That said, I don't put my faith building around Luka in ANY draft picks in our range. He is too far advanced to be tooling around with kids and I don't want to press our luck praying he is going to be as loyal as Dirk.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

Maybe we have that guy in Burke already. I'm not sold on getting another undersized guard until we know whats up with him. It seems like we would be better off with the best 2 way player available. That said, I don't put my faith in building around Luka in ANY draft picks in our range. He is too far advanced to be tooling around with kids and I don't want to press our luck praying he is going to be as loyal as Dirk.

I see this take on it. We already have too many mediocre guards and need an upgrade at wing.

Brunson averaged 7.2 drives per game in 18 mpg (a pretty high rate), and was actually more efficient in those drives than Luka.

I still think, at the end of the day, that what we need to do is consolidate our guard minutes into one all-around player who is a clear second fiddle to Luka on the perimeter. Right now it takes us too much time to figure who is "on" in games, and we're too reliant on three point shots. I think until we find that person we are going to be coming up short in the playoffs.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Yup. The Bucks have tried to build a team of shooters around Giannis. Ironically this means their best player can't shoot threes, but they're a "live by the 3, die by the 3" team. In the playoffs when defenses turn up a notch and players are getting exhausted it's just not sustainable. What they need is another playmaker either out of the post or on the perimeter who can add a different dimension to their team.

It's the same reason we will not be successful (especially if Porzingis is more perimeter-oriented than a presence in the post) unless we find another consistent perimeter playmaker. I like Jalen Brunson a lot, but am not convinced he's that guy.


EDIT: If we get to 18 and our choices are a "sure thing" 3&D wing like Saddiq Bey, or a high-upside penetrator like Kira Lewis, I take Kira Lewis 10 times out of 10.

I see it kinda like the Cowboys with CeeDee Lamb. If you have the guy on the board that isn’t the biggest “need” but he is a tier above your “need” pick, then take CeeDee all day. Can’t have too much talent. The positional scarcity of good 3-D wings should enter into the equation somewhat though. Heck we are debating whether to clear cap space to give Jerami Grant a huge overpay, who, while he is a nice player, he’s not exactly James Worthy or anything.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Davis just doesn't want to weak side help on D. Maybe he really does hate playing center.

[EricaLubarsky]

Bucks out, Heat in

Interesting