2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
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Remember, he’s not a system player, he’s a system. He doesn’t accept false constraints like “teams”. He plays the game the way it’s meant to be played, every man for himself (or at least his own stats).
Somehow this seems more serious than when Lebron tried (pretended) to block Rondo's layup:
View: https://youtu.be/2hSdaWcUnmA?si=KCLtpFHjMVKaf84R
Harden's explanation: "I was trying to bring some excitement to this team," Harden said. "I think these last few weeks have been a fog for us. I think every team goes through it. So I think it was just me trying to create energy, create a great vibe for this team. Maybe it would've been better if he had made the shot, but give them something to laugh about, some excitement."
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/james-harden-explains-strange-block-attempt-on-kawhi-leonard-i-was-trying-to-bring-excitement-to-this-team/
I had the impression, from what I've read and watching a couple games, that Harden had been both pretty good defensively and a pretty good teammate. No?
I also think the above player is him just fucking around. I don't know what the game situation was but having a little fun isn't a bad thing.
I also think the above player is him just fucking around. I don't know what the game situation was but having a little fun isn't a bad thing.
Oh my goodness. This is the most Harden of Harden plays. A true masterpiece. Even better if he took the shot after getting the tip out.
lmao wow, I thought the injury was legit, but this smells pretty hard like he was ducking the Celtics.
You'd think the league's new player resting policy might have something to say about it. It specifically says stars can't be rested for national TV games, barring a bona fide injury. And hamstrings are usually several weeks, yet amazingly, it only affected him the day of the Cs game? That really oughta be a paddlin'.
I'm just glad the Cs are living in his head.
But whatever, I'm sure he'll find a new way to flame out this year, the same as he has every year that he didn't face a team that was down to 1 of its top 3 players (and even then, toe on the line!)
Or you know, he felt shitty yesterday and feels better today. Not sure we should be questioning his heart, that dude goes balls out whenever he is able to play
The Rockets have won 7 in a row, and are starting to creep up on the Warriors/Lakers for that final spot in the play-in. This is all without Sengun. Jalen Green is playing the best basketball of his career and averaging 27 ppg in March and shooting 50% from the field and 40% from three, you can see him starting to put some things together that he has flashed at times throughout his career.
Amen Thompson is a very interesting player. He really can't shoot at all, and it seems really hard to be a regular rotation player in the NBA if you are not a decent three point shooter unless you are a pure, rim-running big. That being said, he's already showing flashes of being an All-Defense level defender with the length, athleticism and quickness to trouble even the most accomplished scoring wings. On offense he is a really, really good cutter off the ball and is great at finishing at the rim. He is shooting 52% on the season from the field, despite the terrible three point shooting numbers, and over this win streak he is averaging 16 ppg and shooting 75% from the field.
Amen Thompson is a very interesting player. He really can't shoot at all, and it seems really hard to be a regular rotation player in the NBA if you are not a decent three point shooter unless you are a pure, rim-running big. That being said, he's already showing flashes of being an All-Defense level defender with the length, athleticism and quickness to trouble even the most accomplished scoring wings. On offense he is a really, really good cutter off the ball and is great at finishing at the rim. He is shooting 52% on the season from the field, despite the terrible three point shooting numbers, and over this win streak he is averaging 16 ppg and shooting 75% from the field.
9-1 in their last 10. Just 2 games back of Golden State for the 10 spot.
In their last 13, they play Utah 3 times, and Portland twice. The rest of the games are tough, but they do have Golden State which could be a huge game
It feels like they're making their run a week or two late. Currently 2.5 games behind GS (3 in the loss column behind both GS and LAL), but it's worth noting that they do have the tiebreaker against the Warriors, and they play GS again on April 4. Assuming they have to win that game, that would put them 2 losses back with 13/14 games left. GS has 9 of their remaining 14 games left on the road, and really can't afford any further stumbles.
If the Rockets beat out one of the LAL/GS for the 10th spot and then beat the other in the 9/10 play in game, I think we can start the process of forgiving Ime.
oh, did the injury report say "Giannis - feels shitty"?
Pretty sure he was out for a hamstring injury. Teams usually baby players when coming back from that, over the course of a few weeks, because it's easy to re-injure. Unless it was never injured in the first place. There's a player resting policy for national-TV games, for all other games he can sit out a few if he wants with no problem (as long as Dame plays). But he didn't, he picked the game against the Celtics, national TV or not. If he just doesn't feel like it, fine, take the $100k fine and move on. But he didn't, he pissed on our head and told us it's raining, with that "injury". It's just a little lame when we've been pretty much obligated to play the Jays for all but a few games this season.
Yes, teammates love him. He isn’t bad at all defensively when connected and one of the games most unselfish players…again, when connected. He’s having an All-NBA type of year.
View: https://twitter.com/kirkgoldsberry/status/1771181774069973177?s=20
Remember when Doc had fixed the Bucks' defense? Maybe not, 2nd worst defensive rating in the league over the last 10 games.
Remember when Doc had fixed the Bucks' defense? Maybe not, 2nd worst defensive rating in the league over the last 10 games.
Eye test: the Celtics got whatever they wanted against them all game, except for the little zone period, and even that had a lot of missed 3s by elite shooters.
Denver, Minnesota and OKC were much more scary defensively, and showed the Cs what actual good defense looks like. I'd expect the Knicks to be similarly annoying, if healthy.
Milwaukee is scary for one reason: Dame can go nuclear sometimes. Nothing to do with their pedestrian defense.
Also, I'm keeping a close eye on the Sixers. I said they'd finish under .500 a little over a month ago. It was a semi-hyperbolic statement, but it could get really close. They're 38-31.
Next 5:
@ LAL
@ LAC
@ SAC
v LAC
@ CLE
Staring down the barrel of 38-36.
Then they finish:
@ TOR (W)
vs OKC (L)
@ MIA (L)
@ MEM (??)
@ SAS (W)
vs DET (W)
vs ORL (L)
vs BRK (W)
Pretty easy, so they probably get to 42-43 wins.
Next 5:
@ LAL
@ LAC
@ SAC
v LAC
@ CLE
Staring down the barrel of 38-36.
Then they finish:
@ TOR (W)
vs OKC (L)
@ MIA (L)
@ MEM (??)
@ SAS (W)
vs DET (W)
vs ORL (L)
vs BRK (W)
Pretty easy, so they probably get to 42-43 wins.
Of course it didn't say that. Jesus.
Not all hamstring injuries are the type where teams ease guys back. Sometimes guys just feel "shitty" in one or more parts of their body and they just need a day or two to recover.
Could Giannnis have been ducking the Celtics? Sure - but I think a more likely scenario, considering everything we know about Giannnis and his competitive spirit, is that he had something going on with his hamstring and they didn't want to risk it
Sorry, that was a dickish post by me. Full credit to you for not responding in kind.
I think the probabilities favor the scenario where, Giannis didn't want to fly away on a one-game road trip and was pretty banged up from a long season, and thought the odds they'd win that game were low anyway, so why not take it off, and let the team doctors tell the league / public whatever they need to tell 'em. Whether that injury is "legit" is not a black-and-white matter, and if they get fined $100k, well, so be it. Embiid ducking good teams on the road is definitely more of a trend, and he should get proportionally more crap for it than Giannis. But reading the tea leaves, I think Giannis just didn't want the smoke / didn't think the juice was worth the squeeze, and we'll never know who is right.
Our game in Milwaukee on 4/9 is also a one-game road trip, with 3 games at home before and after for us, and it will be on national TV. If we left the Jays and KP at home with a "hamstring" note for each of them, it would be exactly the kind of trolling that I love about this league and have come to expect. "oh, we're not worth the bother? well, neither are you, then. see you in a month."
And Dame is certainly on a heater now. He had a prolonged slump from early January to late February (.289 from 3 over 22 games), but since that ended he's shot .437 from 3 on over 9 attempts per game (13 games). This is the Dame that makes the Bucks scary, if that other guy shows up in the playoffs they could easily lose to any team in the top 7 in the east.
Looks like Mitchell Robinson will be a full go for the playoffs. It's starting to look like the Knicks will be a fully operational battleship when the playoffs start. They've got legit defense (obviously), plus Robinson, and it's starting to look like the stars are aligning for them to have a legit offense in place by the first round.
They can't seem to break 120 lately, but if they get Randle and OG back, that might change.
They can't seem to break 120 lately, but if they get Randle and OG back, that might change.
OG's injury sounds pretty uncertain given it has already taken longer than they initially suspected.
Yeah OG and Randle seem like coin clips to be available for the playoffs (that story a couple days ago about OG not wanting to play through pain wasn't exactly encouraging). Robinson returning is nice, but without OG and Randle, they are the team that has gone just 17-25 against teams over .500. Maybe they could get past round 1 (depends on the opponent), but they'd have no chance against Boston or Milwaukee.
Is Robinson really gonna be that good to go for the playoffs? Some rust plus they might wanna avoid high-stress if they want to have him for the long term...
Who am I kidding, it's Thibs, he'll run him into the ground.
Who am I kidding, it's Thibs, he'll run him into the ground.
Anunoby is by far the most important of the three of them. NY is 15-2 when he plays, 14-1 with both him and Brunson.
Probably. Randle's offense really raises their ceiling, but he's 29 and never played well in the playoffs. OG was on the 2019 Raptors, but missed their title run with an emergency appendectomy, he doesn't have a playoff resume to speak of either. They have the 3rd highest ceiling in the East (and can really make things uncomfortable for Boston in a way that Milwaukee just can't), and probably the lowest floor (outside of Philly) of anyone in the top 8.
Hart is averaging over 42 mpg since the all-star break, after averaging 29.9 before the break. Very curious to know if any player has ever averaged < 30 before the break and > 40 after.
But don't look now, ORL has crept ahead of them and would have home-court advantage if the season ended today. Even though NYK trounced ORL on March 8, that series is going to be a slugfest. ORL is 3-1 against NYK this year including one win when OG was playing for NYK.
All true but CLE is falling back and NY won the season series there, ORL (finally) has some hard games coming up and NY has an easier stretch.
OG has played 848 playoff minutes over 27 games (13-14 record), shooting 48.6/39.6/69.1, including this shot that still haunts my dreams. I think he's played in enough big games to consider his experience a plus for the Knicks.
View: https://youtu.be/KxbioKax1Iw?si=bOp7WVnqvZYX7KYQ
The NBA is ending its G League Ignite team after the season, citing, among other things, the extent to which NIL has changed the landscape and provided some plausible alternative pathways to the pros.
I'd love for the Celtics to get the 76ers in Round 1, nobody has a bigger playoff Glassjaw than Embiid
Great play but Jaylen got caught on the wrong side of Gasol (no matter what @wade boggs chicken dinner says
)Smart pointing & yelling at Jaylen to cover OG beforehand and then his disgust after the make was classic
Nobody in the East should matter, including the big, bad HEAT but the C's have lost to the Pacers twice this year.