NBA 2024-2025

RobinLFC said:
Clippers seson spiralling down hard, in the category "things you love to see". Some 20-odd games left, I wouldn't mind seeing the Blazers in the play-in spots instead of the Clippers or the Mavs (who look done anyway).

Wolves v Suns
Kings v Blazers

Would be a fun play-in for the West.

Heading towards the middle of March and we still have two teams with only 10 and 11 losses, don't think that has happened a lot of times in recent seasons? On one hand they'll have the cushion to rest some players in the beginning of April unless they're worried about home-court advantage in the Finals, on the other hand you also don't want too lose all momentum.
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Suns won’t make it. The players are already playing on auto pilot.
 
elmo said:
Suns won’t make it. The players are already playing on auto pilot.
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Honestly, I've kinda been hate watching the Suns a few times this season, just to check the temperature on the kind of pick we might end up with this year. I have to say, they've been pretty pathetic every time I've watched them. They've completely checked out. Zero effort on either end. If this horrible season somehow culminates in Cooper Flagg ending up in Houston, surely the GM's position becomes untenable?

And we'd still have enough assets make a competitive offer for Booker.
 
Lakers and Warriors look like the teams to avoid in the playoffs. It feels like the Lakers will soon lock up the 2 seed, which seemingly leaves Nuggets, Grizzlies and Rockets to fight for 3, 4 and 5, although there's still an outside chance that the Warriors catch up us and the Grizzlies.

I'd much rather finish 4 or 5 than 3 tbh, because the surging Warriors would most likely be waiting for the 3 seed. I'd rather take my chances against Nuggets or Grizzlies than have to duke it out with Steph and Butler.
 
Cooper Flagg might give it another go at Duke if it means avoiding ending up in Washington or Charlotte, but they're so perennailly bad that there's almost no avoiding that 27% chance.
 
WeePat said:
Lakers and Warriors look like the teams to avoid in the playoffs. It feels like the Lakers will soon lock up the 2 seed, which seemingly leaves Nuggets, Grizzlies and Rockets to fight for 3, 4 and 5, although there's still an outside chance that the Warriors catch up us and the Grizzlies.

I'd much rather finish 4 or 5 than 3 tbh, because the surging Warriors would most likely be waiting for the 3 seed. I'd rather take my chances against Nuggets or Grizzlies than have to duke it out with Steph and Butler.
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Yeah I'm ok with staying in 4 at this point.
 
WeePat said:
Lakers and Warriors look like the teams to avoid in the playoffs. It feels like the Lakers will soon lock up the 2 seed, which seemingly leaves Nuggets, Grizzlies and Rockets to fight for 3, 4 and 5, although there's still an outside chance that the Warriors catch up us and the Grizzlies.

I'd much rather finish 4 or 5 than 3 tbh, because the surging Warriors would most likely be waiting for the 3 seed. I'd rather take my chances against Nuggets or Grizzlies than have to duke it out with Steph and Butler.
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If the Dubs continue to play like they have since the Butler trade, I can see them finish as high as 4th. On the other side of the coin, an injury or sudden loss of confidence (again), and they could be fighting to make the play in.
 
WeePat said:
Honestly, I've kinda been hate watching the Suns a few times this season, just to check the temperature on the kind of pick we might end up with this year. I have to say, they've been pretty pathetic every time I've watched them. They've completely checked out. Zero effort on either end. If this horrible season somehow culminates in Cooper Flagg ending up in Houston, surely the GM's position becomes untenable?

And we'd still have enough assets make a competitive offer for Booker.
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Jones should have been fired long ago when he wasted a pick by picking Jalen Smith over Halliburton.
 
You do not know what happened tonight and someone asks you: Which Celtics duo has scored 40+ in the same game. What would you say?
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker or Kevin Garnett
Larry Bird and Kevin McHale or Rober Parish
 
ExoduS said:
You do not know what happened tonight and someone asks you: Which Celtics duo has scored 40+ in the same game. What would you say?
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker or Kevin Garnett
Larry Bird and Kevin McHale or Rober Parish
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Scalabrine and West
 
WI_Red said:
Either you or Piston fans win (lose?) this one.
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That's not even close. Dubs drafted him number 2 and the Pistons gave up some magic beans and a bag of pretzels to get him from us.
 
WI_Red said:
I know, that’s why I would assume that both teams would probably do things differently.
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We're at cross purposes here. When you said that either us or the Pistons lose that one, you were talking about who did the worst in the draft. I was under the impression you were talking about the Wiseman trade because we traded him to the Pistons (for magic beans and pretzels).

Now I'm understanding and we still screwed up worse.
 
charlton66 said:
We're at cross purposes here. When you said that either us or the Pistons lose that one, you were talking about who did the worst in the draft. I was under the impression you were talking about the Wiseman trade because we traded him to the Pistons (for magic beans and pretzels).

Now I'm understanding and we still screwed up worse.
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Picking Wiseman was hilariously bad.

Halliburton could have shadowed Steph / CP3 but he was drafted by the Kings who already had Fox who hadn’t even entered his prime.
 
charlton66 said:
Just to point out, Nico was the guy that botched the Nike meeting with Steph Curry.
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Imagine screwing that up and instead of being fired, you’re hired to run a whole team!

Oh to fail upward, it must be nice.
elmo said:
Picking Wiseman was hilariously bad.

Halliburton could have shadowed Steph / CP3 but he was drafted by the Kings who already had Fox who hadn’t even entered his prime.
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And the Kings turned Hali into Sabonis, who is one of the best bigs in the league, currently 13th in PER, right behind LeBron and Luka.
 
Jaden McDaniels increased usage during the injury crisis has once again showed that he shouldn't be at the periphery on offense, the man has a midrange game and it helps his offensive rebounding.
 
Interesting from Shaq on TNT a couple of nights ago, wanting to put Steph in the GOAT conversation. Interesting, but not accurate. Steph is one of the greatest offensive forces in the history of the NBA and he's a far better defender than people give him credit for having led the league twice in steals. The point however, is that he is not elite on the defensive side and players like MJ and LeBron were. On the other side of the coin, Kareem and Magic were not elite defensively either, so he definitely has a case to be considered fairly high in the top 10 list.

But number 1, no!
 
charlton66 said:
Interesting from Shaq on TNT a couple of nights ago, wanting to put Steph in the GOAT conversation. Interesting, but not accurate. Steph is one of the greatest offensive forces in the history of the NBA and he's a far better defender than people give him credit for having led the league twice in steals. The point however, is that he is not elite on the defensive side and players like MJ and LeBron were. On the other side of the coin, Kareem and Magic were not elite defensively either, so he definitely has a case to be considered fairly high in the top 10 list.

But number 1, no!
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KAJ made 11 all defensive teams.
 
charlton66 said:
Interesting from Shaq on TNT a couple of nights ago, wanting to put Steph in the GOAT conversation. Interesting, but not accurate. Steph is one of the greatest offensive forces in the history of the NBA and he's a far better defender than people give him credit for having led the league twice in steals. The point however, is that he is not elite on the defensive side and players like MJ and LeBron were. On the other side of the coin, Kareem and Magic were not elite defensively either, so he definitely has a case to be considered fairly high in the top 10 list.

But number 1, no!
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LeBron can be elite defensively, but it’s rare for him actually play defense outside of random highlight plays. Outside of his Miami stint, he’s a pretty bad defender for someone with his athleticism and size.
 
WI_Red said:
KAJ made 11 all defensive teams.
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Kobe made 12, but the Lakers were better defensively 6 of those years. Larry Bird made all defense as well, but in reality he was fairly slow. When you are a name, you often (not always) get name recognition As far as Kareem is concerned, I'm not saying he was a bad defender. Far from it, but you could easily name a dozen centers who where better defensively.
 
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charlton66 said:
Kobe made 12, but the Lakers were better defensively 6 of those years. Larry Bird made all defense as well, but in reality he was fairly slow. When you are a name, you often (not always) get name recognition As far as Kareem is concerned, I'm not saying he was a bad defender. Far from it, but you could easily name a dozen centers who where better defensively.
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Better at the time or better all time?

For me he is still a top 10 defensive center of all time. He's 3rd all time in blocks (and blocks were not counted his first few years, so if you add those he leaps past Hakeem into first). Most people remember him from his later years when he had lost most of his mobility, but up until his mid 30's he was fantastic.
 
WI_Red said:
Better at the time or better all time?

For me he is still a top 10 defensive center of all time. He's 3rd all time in blocks (and blocks were not counted his first few years, so if you add those he leaps past Hakeem into first). Most people remember him from his later years when he had lost most of his mobility, but up until his mid 30's he was fantastic.
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To be fair to Kareem (not that he's going to care), I did only see him in the last 5-6 years of his career.

However, I did see most of Magic's career and he definitely wasn't an elite defender.
 
charlton66 said:
To be fair to Kareem (not that he's going to care), I did only see him in the last 5-6 years of his career.

However, I did see most of Magic's career and he definitely wasn't an elite defender.
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Magic is 56th all time in defensive win share, pretty good.
 
Beans said:
Magic is 56th all time in defensive win share, pretty good.
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Magic was like Steph, he had quick hands and also like Steph led the league twice in steals. There is no way though (win shares or no win shares) he would ever be considered an elite defender.
 
Phew! That last minute was like the Dubs pre-Butler. Ten point lead with a minute to go and win by 2.
 
charlton66 said:
Magic was like Steph, he had quick hands and also like Steph led the league twice in steals. There is no way though (win shares or no win shares) he would ever be considered an elite defender.
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He played center as a rookie in the finals . He's on a different level than Steph as a defender. Saying Kareem was not elite defensively is just delusional nonsense.
 
charlton66 said:
Magic was like Steph, he had quick hands and also like Steph led the league twice in steals. There is no way though (win shares or no win shares) he would ever be considered an elite defender.
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That's probably fair, but I was very young when I watched him.

But he's the greatest pure passer in history, and an incredibly well rounded player. His 11.19 assists per game is still the all time record for a career.

He's also perhaps the most charismatic player ever.
 
Game of the season stuff between the Lakers and Knicks tonight, fun to watch. LeBron really is a freak of nature, almost playing like his MVP years now Luka is on the team. He might've realised he could maybe snatch one or two more rings if he sticks around for a few more years an Luka enters his prime.

Hopefully Jalen Brunson is healthy again when the playoffs start, that ankle did not bend right at the end there.
 
Desert Eagle said:
He played center as a rookie in the finals . He's on a different level than Steph as a defender. Saying Kareem was not elite defensively is just delusional nonsense.
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I only based what i said about Kareem on what i saw. From what @WI_Red says, I obviously missed the part of his career as a top defender.

As to Magic, being able to play multiple positions doesn't make you a great defender. Because of his size, he would often get beaten off the dribble by smaller point guards. Dont get me wrong, Magic was a great player. Best pure point guard I've ever seen, but an elite defender he was not.
 
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Clippers were decent to solid, been aroung 5th and 6th spot but now they're in a sitation where they will need to fight it out for a play in. Its still a good team on paper but feking injuries happening all year. Dont know what was the purpose of buying Simmons too.
 
charlton66 said:
I only based what i said about Kareem on what i saw. From what @WI_Red says, I obviously missed the part of his career as a top defender.

As to Magic, being able to play multiple positions doesn't make you a great defender. Because of his size, he would often get beaten off the dribble by smaller point guards. Dont get me wrong, Magic was a great player. Best pure point guard I've ever seen, but an elite defender he was not.
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Being able to guard multiple positions including center as a point guard obviously makes Magic a better defender than Curry. Only the most delusional of warrior fans would compare the two defensively.

As to Kareem you made a ridiculous claim and got called out on it and now you've backtracked by saying you missed most of his career. It's not hard to find old Kareem highlights on YouTube.
 
Granted that he played for 400 years but Kareem was known as an elite rim protector and rebounder during his prime and his only bested by the likes of Olajuwon in the leaders board. And something that always blow my mind is that his decline was particularly slow.
 
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listen fella's this is one of the happy threads on this hellscape, so let's stop fighting and see what KAJ has to say on the topic:

 
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