NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2017-18

rushfan

It's a tad closer now, Bucks by 2. They were shooting 59% in the first half, 48% now. Come on C's

Itssoeasy

Damn it! Fair play to the Celtics for coming back from a 20 point deficit.

For Forks Sake

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Damn it! Fair play to the Celtics for coming back from a 20 point deficit.

that was entertaining from (my) neutral point of view. Bucks did their damndest to throw that game away in the second half.

ButtersSuki

Haven’t seen the game or even highlights (will do one of them at some stage tomorrow night) but San An taking a game off GS is worrying for me re. GS’s preparedness and mentality for the Play Offs. Yes they’re missing Curry but they’ve been poor for the last 30 or so games now. For all the talk of flicking the switch they’re not doing it well enough right now to topple Houston unless they’re at 100%.

Itssoeasy

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Haven’t seen the game or even highlights (will do one of them at some stage tomorrow night) but San An taking a game off GS is worrying for me re. GS’s preparedness and mentality for the Play Offs. Yes they’re missing Curry but they’ve been poor for the last 30 or so games now. For all the talk of flicking the switch they’re not doing it well enough right now to topple Houston unless they’re at 100%.

Well if I was a warriors fan I wouldn't be looking forward to facing the pelicans. They walloped a good trail blazers team.

ButtersSuki

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Well if I was a warriors fan I wouldn't be looking forward to facing the pelicans. They walloped a good trail blazers team.

Posted on that earlier.

My comments on Houston were based on the assumption GS beat NO; but that’s not a gimme by any means esp. considering the absence of Curry for the first two games.

Itssoeasy

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Posted on that earlier.

My comments on Houston were based on the assumption GS beat NO; but that’s not a gimme by any means esp. considering the absence of Curry for the first two games.

Well done well done :D

NufcNavan

I didn't stay up for it, but the Pacers really pissed away game 4. I can't see them turning it around now that two of the three games are in Cleveland.

ButtersSuki

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Well done well done :D

I KNOW DAT! I KNOW DAT! I KNOW DAT! :pac:

ButtersSuki

Houston do that very rare thing - and in the Play Offs - of a 50 point quarter. 40 is rare, 50 is way out there.

OKC look like they’re in serious trouble now, looks like they’re going down 3-1.

Meatyfubu

I'm delighted for Utah and Synder. Rubio has been my fav player since Nash retired so I was like to see him do well.

I heard a good one yesterday where PG13 goes to Philly in the summer, they have the cap space so it makes sense.

One takeaway from this T-Wolves series is that D.Rose is not done imo. He's had a couple of decent games, he'll never get much more than a 2 year deal but he's still more productive that I thought he might be.

NufcNavan

Only guy on the entire OKC roster that’s shown up has been PG. Westbrook has completely embarrassed himself and Carmelo looks finished.

Utah is just a better team at this point. OKC is just a collection of guys taking turns shooting the ball, and their guards are being broken down at the point of attack.

No one should cast a single all star vote for Russ until he gets out of the first round. All he does is pad his stats in a selfish, inefficient manner.

K.O.Kiki

OKC assists (team): 9 10
Ricky Rubio assists: 8

OKC are done, they might win the next game but they're not a good enough team to force a Game 7 imo

ButtersSuki

Been a great and unusually competitive Play Offs so far in fairness. Only surprise has been the NO/Portland series and it'll be the only sweep.

ButtersSuki

Meatyfubu wrote: »

I'm delighted for Utah and Synder. Rubio has been my fav player since Nash retired so I was like to see him do well.

I heard a good one yesterday where PG13 goes to Philly in the summer, they have the cap space so it makes sense.

One takeaway from this T-Wolves series is that D.Rose is not done imo. He's had a couple of decent games, he'll never get much more than a 2 year deal but he's still more productive that I thought he might be.

NufcNavan wrote: »

Only guy on the entire OKC roster that’s shown up has been PG. Westbrook has completely embarrassed himself and Carmelo looks finished.

Utah is just a better team at this point. OKC is just a collection of guys taking turns shooting the ball, and their guards are being broken down at the point of attack.

No one should cast a single all star vote for Russ until he gets out of the first round. All he does is pad his stats in a selfish, inefficient manner.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

OKC assists (team): 9 10
Ricky Rubio assists: 8

OKC are done, they might win the next game but they're not a good enough team to force a Game 7 imo

Westbrook has been poor. He led OKC with assists last night....with 3. I honestly don't remember a game where a guy with 3 assist led his team. It's not all on him though. I think Melo (who I've never really liked) is getting off very lightly.

I don't think PG has been great either. The Philly rumours have been there fr a while, but I'm not sure he's the right fit. They need more of an out and out shooter IMO, like a younger Reddick.

With a team like OKC, they're not done until they're done. I don't think they're going to turn it around, but equally, I wouldn't be completely surprised if they did.

Rose has been surprisingly good in fairness. Seems to have some of the athleticism back, which is probably the most surprising part.

Re. your comment in bold? Come on.

NufcNavan

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Westbrook has been poor. He led OKC with assists last night....with 3. I honestly don't remember a game where a guy with 3 assist led his team. It's not all on him though. I think Melo (who I've never really liked) is getting off very lightly.

I don't think PG has been great either. The Philly rumours have been there fr a while, but I'm not sure he's the right fit. They need more of an out and out shooter IMO, like a younger Reddick.

With a team like OKC, they're not done until they're done. I don't think they're going to turn it around, but equally, I wouldn't be completely surprised if they did.

Rose has been surprisingly good in fairness. Seems to have some of the athleticism back, which is probably the most surprising part.

Re. your comment in bold? Come on.

Harden KD and Dipo have all gotten better since parting ways with Westbrook.

Westbrook needs to be moved off the ball next season. He’s never going to play with anyone as great as Kevin Durant again, and as the alpha dog of his own team he can’t be thinking about his own numbers all the time. A point guard has to be a leader and I don’t know if he’s ever given leadership a second thought in his entire career.

ButtersSuki

NufcNavan wrote: »

Harden KD and Dipo have all gotten better since parting ways with Westbrook.

1. Harden should never have been traded. It's right up there as one of the worst trades ever. How Presti survived that I'll never know. Would he be the player he is now if he stayed in OKC? No. Would he be an ALL Star? Yes. Would OKC have won a championship or two if he had stayed? Probably. Is he better now? Sure. He has much more of the ball. It would be almost impossible NOT to look better with an offence designed for and around you.
2. KD is better? Statistically he's had better seasons or parts thereof (segments etc.) than either of his seasons in GS. He's playing on a much better team with an elite talent level across the first 5 and into the bench. KD was a League MVP in OKC remember. It's not like he's gotten incrementally better, his game is much easier in GS as he has to do less of certain things and has better talent to back him up if he's not on form or the shots aren't dropping. KD had really bad games by the way in Games 5 (in particular), 6 and 7 when they could have beaten the 73 win GS team a few years back. But everyone forgets about that.......
3. I've discussed Oladipo at length. I'm a big fan of what he's done this year and how he plays at both ends. Who does he count as the biggest influence in changing his work ethic and the improvements in his game this year? Westbrook.

All 3 have better coaches (KD in particular), organisations, systems and deeper rosters (yes, even Indiana) than OKC. Westbrook has had Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan coaching him. From the soundbytes from Donovan in recent days it's possible they don't even talk (Westbrook said he was was carrying an injury, Donovan said he didn't know anything about it). All 3 are older - and wiser - than they were in OKC.

I'm not even a massive fan of Westbrook btw, not at all. I've been hugely critical of him over the years and how he's played, his shot selection (esp. when KD was there) and more - read back on my posts of his play over the years and you'll see I was heavily critical of him. But he's getting way too much sh*t right now. Their bench is headlined by a guy who was out of the league not so long ago. The Utah matchup is awful for them on many levels. I don't think they're getting out of this hole but they could. But even if they do, they're still not deep enough. Losing Roberson was a major blow to them as they just don't have a bench and Melo is doing nothing for them.

He has huge flaws. No question. But he's not the ONLY reason they're looking bad right now. Not by a long shot.

ButtersSuki

NufcNavan wrote: »

Harden KD and Dipo have all gotten better since parting ways with Westbrook.

Westbrook needs to be moved off the ball next season. He’s never going to play with anyone as great as Kevin Durant again, and as the alpha dog of his own team he can’t be thinking about his own numbers all the time. A point guard has to be a leader and I don’t know if he’s ever given leadership a second thought in his entire career.

As you changed your post as I was typing.....

What I'd love to see is him under someone like Pop or Stevens. Someone who won't take the crap, won't settle for bad shots and will bench him if he does it. That would be very interesting.

Gregk961

Westbrook has been very unlucky with his coaches in fairness. Brooks and Donovan have both performed well below expectations in OKC. Both will probably get sacked this off season...and have new jobs by the start of next season, because thats how the NBA works.

Taking the ball out of Westbrooks hands would be ridiculous to honest. What do you want them to do with him, set picks and shoot corner 3s? He is what he is, if they wanted something else from him he should have been traded.

Carcharodon

Warriors made hard work of tonight’s game in the end, having Durant is a great insurance policy
Pelicans series should be fantastic, easily see it going all the way, warriors won’t have an answer for Davis, it will take some good coaching and a lot of different schemes to stop him. Rondo is playing exceptionally well, I think a lot of it is having such a great talent like Davis along side him. Mirotic is a fine layer and Holiday is playing exceptional ball, great chemistry on this team
Have to sell my tickets to game 1 as Iam away this weekend, gutted, love Saturday playoff games

NufcNavan

The Thunder had 10 assists the other night.

Billy Donovan has no business being a head coach in this league.

It's amazing that Sam Presti thought Carmelo Anthony was the missing piece. I read a take last night that the Thunder were never really sold on Melo but made that trade cause they thought the name recognition might make PG's decision easier. I'm not sure who sounds dumber if that is in any way true, the Thunder of Paul George.

2smiggy

Carcharodon wrote: »

Warriors made hard work of tonight’s game in the end, having Durant is a great insurance policy
Pelicans series should be fantastic, easily see it going all the way, warriors won’t have an answer for Davis, it will take some good coaching and a lot of different schemes to stop him. Rondo is playing exceptionally well, I think a lot of it is having such a great talent like Davis along side him. Mirotic is a fine layer and Holiday is playing exceptional ball, great chemistry on this team
Have to sell my tickets to game 1 as Iam away this weekend, gutted, love Saturday playoff games

even though you are a warriors fan, would have been great if Cousins had not got injured. They would have been an even more dangerous team for anyone to play !

Meatyfubu

NufcNavan wrote: »

The Thunder had 10 assists the other night.

Billy Donovan has no business being a head coach in this league.

It's amazing that Sam Presti thought Carmelo Anthony was the missing piece. I read a take last night that the Thunder were never really sold on Melo but made that trade cause they thought the name recognition might make PG's decision easier. I'm not sure who sounds dumber if that is in any way true, the Thunder of Paul George.

Well he certainly doesn't in light of what he's accomplished. I don't think Westbrook necessarily needs a tactician such as Pop/Stevens/Synder but certainly a good strong presence who he respects.
Pop fits the bill but I think Pat Riley, Spoelstra, Fizzdale, Stan Van Gundy maybe. He just needs someone who's not afraid to bench him.

Melo picking up that 28m option so quick its funny.

ButtersSuki

Meatyfubu wrote: »

Melo picking up that 28m option so quick its funny.

Knicks fan today:

Damn, Phil Jackson was right!

K.O.Kiki

ButtersSuki

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

On form right now, I genuinely think they're favourites for the East.

Carcharodon

Ohhh Pacers, what the hell just happened, game was been given to you, how did you mess that up. You had a foul to give also, jesus

Saying that, Lebron WOW, just WOW
He won’t be able to carry this team to another championship but the man is a beast

Meatyfubu

Cavs are awful, Love's production has fallen off a cliff but when you see what LBJ does in comparison to anyone else in the league pretty much it's quite clear he's still the best but then you compare him to his draft class and peers of a similar age it's just frightening

LuckyLloyd

Whatever about the 3, the shutdown block on Dipo the previous possession was magnificent. At the key moment, he brings it both ends of the floor to win. An extraordinary performance from the King.

Meatyfubu

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Whatever about the 3, the shutdown block on Dipo the previous possession was magnificent. At the key moment, he brings it both ends of the floor to win. An extraordinary performance from the King.

Goaltend obviously, no ref wants to call that, typical superstar treatment, final play would have been different etc