NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2017-18

Meatyfubu

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I've said it for a long time there's not much substance behind the smile.

He's a joke of a GM and only there as a PR piece and someone they can wheel out when recruiting. But as someone said on a pod recently how much is Magic's star value to younger players who grew up on the likes of KG, Kobe, Shaq, TMAC, etc.? His basketball decisions since he retired as a player have largely been terrible and if the Lakers get LeBron it's likely he'll get way too much credit for it. Everytime I hear him interviewed or talking about the game today I wince.

I didn't get the chance after editing my previous post to respond to this.

I was wondering if you could elaborate on what moves he has made or not made since the end of his playing career that have been particularly bad.
I'm assuming you're only referring to his recent tenure with the Lakers and not his 15 game coaching career or involvement with the LA Sparks.

By your own accord you said

ButtersSuki wrote: »

If I was doing the Trade Grades like most US media do for these things I'd give the Cavs an A for sure; but you'd be giving LA an A++++++:eek::eek::eek:. LA can and likely will ditch Thomas in the summer, they got a pick back AND they shed 30+million in salary (not incl. what they''ll shed with IT).
.

By your own trade grade LA did exceptionally well, perhaps not all due to Magic but most likely due to his hire in Pelinka. In the course of a year after getting out from under Mozgov's contract as well, it is hard to see what other moves that he has executed or missed that has made his post playing basketball related career "largely terrible".

Osmosis Jones

Actually looking forward to the contests tonight, gonna go with Lauri(skills) Booker(3pt) and DSJ(dunk)

NufcNavan

Dunk contest sucked. Donovan Mitchell, good a player as he is, didn't make me do anything but appreciate how big a mutant Vince Carter was.

NufcNavan

NufcNavan wrote: »

Dunk contest sucked. Donovan Mitchell, good a player as he is, didn't make me do anything but appreciate how big a mutant Vince Carter was.

How much of a mutant he still is

Igotadose

Nance, Jr had such a cool dunk off the backboard. Looks like his Dad could still play too...

Osmosis Jones

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Actually looking forward to the contests tonight, gonna go with Lauri(skills) Booker(3pt) and DSJ(dunk)

1/3 with Lauri making it to the final too. DSJ also had the dunk of the night, wasn't too impressed with Mitchell, dunking over a hunkered down Kevin Hart and your little sister isn't exactly impressive. There were far too many "tribute" dunks.

irishman86

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

1/3 with Lauri making it to the final too. DSJ also had the dunk of the night, wasn't too impressed with Mitchell, dunking over a hunkered down Kevin Hart and your little sister isn't exactly impressive. There were far too many "tribute" dunks.

Watch the highlights on youtube, the dunks are the least interesting off all the events imo
Like LBJ, Westbrook and George all better dunkers

Meatyfubu

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

1/3 with Lauri making it to the final too. DSJ also had the dunk of the night, wasn't too impressed with Mitchell, dunking over a hunkered down Kevin Hart and your little sister isn't exactly impressive. There were far too many "tribute" dunks.

The dunk contest had one comeback year with Gordon & LaVine but it's largely been in demise.
I doubt the NBA would go for it but perhaps something involving some outside involvement ie NBA vs whatever dunk squad.
There are some amazing professional dunkers. Perhaps some added competition from some non NBA players might add a different dynamic.
Unlikely the NBA would be willing to embarrass their own players but as you said throwback/tribute dunks are not particularly exciting.

ButtersSuki

The dunk contest was largely boring. It's been that way for years now.

The best dunk I think over the weekend was Mitchell's in game off the backboard dunk in the Rising Stars game, followed by Embiid's in-game in the same game.

His off one backboard and dunk into another rim was impressive too in the Contest itself. Likewise Nance's Double Tap was good too. Otherwise meh.

An "open" contest with non-NBA players would be good but for the reasons outlined above I can't see it happening.

Even the 3 point contest which is normally my highlight was kinda boring. I don't like the full rack of money balls.....it's a bit naff IMO. If you make the most shots you should win. Now you have 9 money balls FFS.

Gregk961

The Larry Nance tribute to his dad was good, and actually made sense unlike the Carter one.

All star game itself was pretty decent. At least they attempted to play a bit of defense.

Meatyfubu

3pt contest is fine but it has a substantial edge over the others in that can be quantified so easily. Dunking and skills contest obviously can't be.

3pt contest should be top four guys who have shot for example 150 3pt shots by the all-star break and perhaps four wildcards to allow for Curry/Klay etc to be voted in if they are out or for some fan favs in Embiid etc. They could either square them off vs one another or use the current format.

The best players are mostly rewarded for the All-Star game so the best shooters should be acknowledged in the 3pt contest. Gordon for example 33% from range shouldn't be there when you have George Hill shooting over 40%

Osmosis Jones

ASG was as good as it had been in years, not as many flashy plays but it was actually a competitive game that ended within one possession. Seeing KD and LeBron close down Curry together was just unfair. Could tell Harden had been out in the clubs all weekend.

ButtersSuki

Some interesting things I read today:

GS have the easiest schedule statistically of the Top 6 teams for the remainder of the season.

Boston (who are 6-9 in the last 15) have more away games than anyone in the league over their last 23 games. That to me says they are vulnerable and catchable IF the Cavs want it, but they don't usually care about seeding. The Cavs are 4.5games behind Boston right now with 26 games left on their schedule.

I'd take Toronto to take the 1 seed in the East at this point.

LuckyLloyd

Don’t reckon the seeding matters to the Cavs either. They’ll be okay having to go through Boston and Toronto for the conference. That said, I do think they’ll want to go into the playoffs with some momentum and in rythm so they will be hoping to finish strongly. LeBron referenced it in interviews after the trades were announced.

For Forks Sake

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I'd take Toronto to take the 1 seed in the East at this point.

For all the good it'll do them

Meatyfubu

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Don’t reckon the seeding matters to the Cavs either. They’ll be okay having to go through Boston and Toronto for the conference. That said, I do think they’ll want to go into the playoffs with some momentum and in rythm so they will be hoping to finish strongly. LeBron referenced it in interviews after the trades were announced.

He(Cavs) couldn't care less where he ends up IMO. The only thing may cross his mind is that he'd prefer certain teams ie Celtics and Raptors to face off because they might get to the finals in less games.

Personally though I think the Sixers are the biggest threat (then the Bucks). IMO they'll end up with the 2nd best pt-differential in the East and homecourt.

In Ben Simmons they may already have a top 5 defensive guard in the league. Nobody is going to stop LBJ but I think Simmons might be the best designed player to slow him down.

Offensively they have maybe 4 guys who can knock down shots from deep at a decent clip. Also they might have the best offensive big man in the game.

Obviously they'll have to be incredibly fortuitous especially with health and seeding but I don't think Brett Brown should fear any team outside of the Cavs.

Meatyfubu

One of the shows I'd watch small clips of on occasion had Michael Rapaport on last night. It genuinely amazes me how he is given any sort of Basketball related platform, he is absolutely terrible.
I understand he has a somewhat crass style which is fine but he becomes completely incoherent at points.

A quick Google and I see he's been fired from Barstool for something regarding insulting the fan base. The site seems perfect for him so he must have done something pretty bad. It's a pity given that he's more likely to appear on other NBA shows now.

Gregk961

Meatyfubu wrote: »

One of the shows I'd watch small clips of on occasion had Michael Rapaport on last night. It genuinely amazes me how he is given any sort of Basketball related platform, he is absolutely terrible.
I understand he has a somewhat crass style which is fine but he becomes completely incoherent at points.

A quick Google and I see he's been fired from Barstool for something regarding insulting the fan base. The site seems perfect for him so he must have done something pretty bad. It's a pity given that he's more likely to appear on other NBA shows now.

I instantly close/turn off anything he gets involved with. I'm pretty sure he gives the worst basketball coverage of anybody in mainstream media*, isn't particularly funny, or even remotely likable. How has he clung to fame for so long?

*I've recently seen a guy called Nick Wright crop up on a few podcasts and some ESPN coverage I think. He might just be worse.

ButtersSuki

Meatyfubu wrote: »

One of the shows I'd watch small clips of on occasion had Michael Rapaport on last night. It genuinely amazes me how he is given any sort of Basketball related platform, he is absolutely terrible.
I understand he has a somewhat crass style which is fine but he becomes completely incoherent at points.

A quick Google and I see he's been fired from Barstool for something regarding insulting the fan base. The site seems perfect for him so he must have done something pretty bad. It's a pity given that he's more likely to appear on other NBA shows now.

Gregk961 wrote: »

I instantly close/turn off anything he gets involved with. I'm pretty sure he gives the worst basketball coverage of anybody in mainstream media*, isn't particularly funny, or even remotely likable. How has he clung to fame for so long?

*I've recently seen a guy called Nick Wright crop up on a few podcasts and some ESPN coverage I think. He might just be worse.

I was gifted his book before Christmas. :rolleyes::eek: It's not great, but his chapter "23 reasons why LeBron will never be better than Jordan" was funny.

jk23

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I was gifted his book before Christmas. :rolleyes::eek: It's not great, but his chapter "23 reasons why LeBron will never be better than Jordan" was funny.

The only thing I remember him from was the cop in Friends!! He is a shock pundit of sorts, says controversial things to stay relevant

ButtersSuki

jk23 wrote: »

The only thing I remember him from was the cop in Friends!! He is a shock pundit of sorts, says controversial things to stay relevant

He's in some good (for different reasons) 90s movies......Poetic Justice (early Tupac movie), True Romance (yup, he's in True Romance), Beautiful Girls (great movie with a great ensemble cast), Cop Land (some serious acting talent on that one), The Basketball Diaries , Mighty Aphrodite, Bamboozled (Spike Lee black face movie....yes, black face), Higher Learning (from Boyz 'N The Hood Director John Singleton and basically BNTH in College)....that's off the top of my head. If you're off a certain age and watched a lot of movies (particularly "black" movies) in the 90s, you'd know him as an actor first. More recently he was also in Justified (series) which I have on Blu Ray, but have yet to watch.

He was also somewhat of a "pioneer" (go with me on this) in that he features in a lot of 90s Hip Hop/Rap videos. He's friends with a LOT of rappers and is immersed in the scene....he even directed the A Tribe Called Quest Bio-Documentary. His movie parts reflect this too. I know......who'd have thought? Again, if you were into rap in the 90s, you'd know Rapaport.

Haven't seen him in anything of note in years though. And I didn't watch much of Friends, certainly not any episodes with him in it.

jk23

ButtersSuki wrote: »

He's in some good (for different reasons) 90s movies......Poetic Justice (early Tupac movie), True Romance (yup, he's in True Romance), Beautiful Girls (great movie with a great ensemble cast), Cop Land (some serious acting talent on that one), The Basketball Diaries , Mighty Aphrodite, Bamboozled (Spike Lee black face movie....yes, black face), Higher Learning (from Boyz 'N The Hood Director John Singleton and basically BNTH in College)....that's off the top of my head. If you're off a certain age and watched a lot of movies (particularly "black" movies) in the 90s, you'd know him as an actor first. More recently he was also in Justified (series) which I have on Blu Ray, but have yet to watch.

He was also somewhat of a "pioneer" (go with me on this) in that he features in a lot of 90s Hip Hop/Rap videos. He's friends with a LOT of rappers and is immersed in the scene....he even directed the A Tribe Called Quest Bio-Documentary. His movie parts reflect this too. I know......who'd have thought? Again, if you were into rap in the 90s, you'd know Rapaport.

Haven't seen him in anything of note in years though. And I didn't watch much of Friends, certainly not any episodes with him in it.

The basketball diaries is a great film, don’t remember him in it, must rewatch and look out for him. I agree with him on MJ, it’s just he goes too far without backing up his opinion with anything other than popular opinion. He hates Lonzo Ball, don’t know why, it gets him regular appearances on The Herd on fox tho

Meatyfubu

Gregk961 wrote: »

I instantly close/turn off anything he gets involved with. I'm pretty sure he gives the worst basketball coverage of anybody in mainstream media*, isn't particularly funny, or even remotely likable. How has he clung to fame for so long?

*I've recently seen a guy called Nick Wright crop up on a few podcasts and some ESPN coverage I think. He might just be worse.

I agree Wright is awful. He seems to be going for some sort of younger Stephen A Smith thing.

I like most of the standard ESPN guys and lots of the 538 but excluding those and Simmons. I think of those commentators that bounce around between shows I like Broussard the best. He seems to be well connected, respected and certainly makes some valid points with very little theatrical extras.

Slightly off topic, I can't link but Kevin Hart has a new show called "Cold as Balls" they're only 10 mins long but there are some funny pieces.
Draymond, Blake, LaVar and Candace Parker so far.
"Draymond Green the dick kicker".
Even the LaVar one is quite funny, Hart genuinely seems to find him funny.

ButtersSuki

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I agree Wright is awful. He seems to be going for some sort of younger Stephen A Smith thing.

I like most of the standard ESPN guys and lots of the 538 but excluding those and Simmons. I think of those commentators that bounce around between shows I like Broussard the best. He seems to be well connected, respected and certainly makes some valid points with very little theatrical extras.

Slightly off topic, I can't link but Kevin Hart has a new show called "Cold as Balls" they're only 10 mins long but there are some funny pieces.
Draymond, Blake, LaVar and Candace Parker so far.
"Draymond Green the dick kicker".
Even the LaVar one is quite funny, Hart genuinely seems to find him funny.

For some reason I've never seen Wright and I'm in the US a lot....must be because I avoid Fox I guess?

I cannot stand Stephen A. Smith however. Complete f*cktard. Could he be any worse than that?

I find Broussard incredibly bland tbh.

Guy I found to be the most knowledgeable from a player's perspective WITHOUT THE OVER THR TOP nonsense was Tim Legler. Again, don't see much of him these days but always found him and his analysis very good.

I've changed more to podcasts than TV in the last 2 years I find. I regularly listen to:

• Woj Pod - great knowledge and guests, but his delivery can be incredibly monotone and boring.
• Open Floor - possibly my favourite. The combo of Golliver (the smart one) and Sharp (the hot take less knowledgeable one) works well together. It's entertaining.
• Lowe Post - good, but like Woj can be boring in delivery
• Ringer NBA/Bill Simmon Podcast - don't get the hate for Simmons, he really knows his stuff and apart from the Boston homer-ing (which is OK for me TBH as Boston are my team) I always make sure to catch this. Kevin O'Connor is usually good, as are most of the regular contributors but I find Chris Vernon a bit annoying.

There's a few others I listen to on occasion but they'd be my main ones.

Meatyfubu

I have no idea if Wright is on Fox. He appears on a few of the 5-10 min clips that I'd flick through on YouTube.

Chris Herring 538 is excellent along with Neil Paine & Kyle Wagner.

Lowe is one of my favs, he breaks down lots of the sets of different teams and skills of players with small 5 sec snips highlighting some really esoteric ideas

Simmons I agree is given a bad rap. He always had a great chemistry with Jalen and Lowe.

I understand the Woj critique but when you see how much people respect him(really noticeable around trade deadline) it's hard to argue with his knowledge.

Pelton, Arnoitz, Windhorst, Shelbourne among others are quite good.

I would like to see Chris Bosh follow T-Mac's example and transition to the commentary. He certainly comes across quite intelligent and I think he'd do very well.

ButtersSuki

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I have no idea if Wright is on Fox. He appears on a few of the 5-10 min clips that I'd flick through on YouTube.

Chris Herring 538 is excellent along with Neil Paine & Kyle Wagner.

Lowe is one of my favs, he breaks down lots of the sets of different teams and skills of players with small 5 sec snips highlighting some really esoteric ideas

Simmons I agree is given a bad rap. He always had a great chemistry with Jalen and Lowe.

I understand the Woj critique but when you see how much people respect him(really noticeable around trade deadline) it's hard to argue with his knowledge.

Pelton, Arnoitz, Windhorst, Shelbourne among others are quite good.

I would like to see Chris Bosh follow T-Mac's example and transition to the commentary. He certainly comes across quite intelligent and I think he'd do very well.

Yeah Windhorst is good, not sure how I forgot him?

One of my other big loves is movies and Simmons does some nice pods on movies too (The Rewatchables).

I do like Coach Nick of B'Ball Breakdown too - esp. when he gets very technical or when he disects plays; and the refereeing segment with Ronnie Nunn is very good. It's gone a little shall we say "commerical" in recent years but it's still good.

The Inside the NBA guys I don't warm too at all and I've never given Area 21 a chance but I just have a feeling I won't like it (despite KG being a Celtic etc.).

I heard Ryan Russillo recently and thought he was very good so will give him a shot at some stage. There's SO much content now. I remember when getting shipped "Basketball Digest" once a month from the US was my only access to hoops info. That thing was a bible.

ButtersSuki

All blowing up in Dallas.....

https://www.si.com/nba/2018/02/20/dallas-mavericks-sexual-misconduct-investigation-mark-cuban-response

Reports that Kwahi had been cleared to play but has decided to sit out the year

Meatyfubu

Marcel Delightful Viewfinder wrote: »

Reports that Kwahi had been cleared to play but has decided to sit out the year

I really hate the idea of running with a speculative narrative but I think this is a worrying development for the Spurs. I have no issue handing autonomy to Kawhi because I think that's prudent with his upcoming contract.
Losing a player of his value especially for a relatively small market team which has struggled to attract free agents is disastrous.

However, if a player is medically cleared to play, his team has a legit chance to be relevant in the playoffs if he plays and he decides not to play you'd have to question his desire to be there.
Perhaps there is some mental block there, trusting his body etc but he has had a few injuries with the Spurs where the timeline shifted and he remained out far longer, the eye injury was one for sure. That must be incredibly frustrating for a player.

Personally I don't understand why any player would want to leave Pop if they want to win but I am starting to believe he might leave.

If the Lakers snag PG13 this summer, clear more space and get Westbrook plus Kawhi in 2019

ButtersSuki

Marcel Delightful Viewfinder wrote: »

Reports that Kwahi had been cleared to play but has decided to sit out the year

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I really hate the idea of running with a speculative narrative but I think this is a worrying development for the Spurs. I have no issue handing autonomy to Kawhi because I think that's prudent with his upcoming contract.
Losing a player of his value especially for a relatively small market team which has struggled to attract free agents is disastrous.

However, if a player is medically cleared to play, his team has a legit chance to be relevant in the playoffs if he plays and he decides not to play you'd have to question his desire to be there.
Perhaps there is some mental block there, trusting his body etc but he has had a few injuries with the Spurs where the timeline shifted and he remained out far longer, the eye injury was one for sure. That must be incredibly frustrating for a player.

Personally I don't understand why any player would want to leave Pop if they want to win but I am starting to believe he might leave.

If the Lakers snag PG13 this summer, clear more space and get Westbrook plus Kawhi in 2019

It's VERY worrying if you're a Spurs fan.

The optics of it are not good at all. I listen to a lot of podcasts and there's been strong rumours on many of them that he wants out of San Antonio - nothing confirmed but given the access, knowledge, insights and contacts of the reporters involved + the fact that this hasn't been strongly denied by one or both camps suggests there's substance to it.

It's a bit bizarre given the Coach and that the Spurs are generally thought to be amongst the best if not the best franchise in the League (from a total perspective). The only mitigating I can think of is they're decided that even if he comes back they're not winning anyway; so why risk it and give him a year off and come back ready for next year? But that's not really the Pop way (to admit defeat).

If he does want to leave the question becomes do they trade him for whatever they can get (which would be a lot) or just let him walk in 15 months?

It's strange.