NBA 2024-2025 ; Lakers Land Luka

elmo said:
The problem with the emphasis on 3 point offense is that watching players make off ball runs to get open for 3s is not as exciting as watching a players trying to go one on one against his defender.
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I disagree with that completely. Watching Curry go through all sorts of shenanigans to get open due to his off ball movement is amazing to watch. The guy just never stops moving. You can see defenders (often 2 or 3) struggling to keep up with him while he moves through screens or essentially just wears the other guys down to get his shot off.

You can watch players go 1 on 1 with other players all the time. Curry is unique.
 
charlton66 said:
I disagree with that completely. Watching Curry go through all sorts of shenanigans to get open due to his off ball movement is amazing to watch. The guy just never stops moving. You can see defenders (often 2 or 3) struggling to keep up with him while he moves through screens or essentially just wears the other guys down to get his shot off.

You can watch players go 1 on 1 with other players all the time. Curry is unique.
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It’s the role players doing it that fans find it boring.

Personally I love it because it’s time fans learn to appreciate how much work it is to fight through screens and get open to take shots.
 
Moody, Anderson, Jackson-Davis and Waters have played a total of 37 minutes between them at HT. They all have zero points.
 
Even though I agree the regular season is a bore fest most of the time, there have been some cracking games lately.
Spurs vs Nuggets * 2 and Celtics @ OKC.
 
Jordan warmed us

"My 3-point shooting is something that I don't want to excel at because it takes away from all phases of my game," Jordan said.

"My game is a fake drive to the hole, penetrate, dish off, dunk, whatever. When you have that mentality, as I found out in the first game of making 3s, you don't go to the hole as much."

"You go to the 3-point line and you start sitting there waiting for someone to find you.

"That's not my mentality. I don't want to create that because it takes away my other parts of my game."
 
Thunder vs Cavs tomorrow (or today) with both teams on great winning runs. Also, Thunder have 11-0 record versus Eastern Conference, while Cavs have 10-0 against Western. Should be a good one.
 
Dort and OKC strangled Mitchell who went 3 of 16 and the Cavs still found the way to win. In any case, game lived up to the hype.
 
Awesome game. This Cavs team are a lot of fun. Would love them to smash the Celtics in the play offs
 
Hoof the ball said:
Jordan warmed us

"My 3-point shooting is something that I don't want to excel at because it takes away from all phases of my game," Jordan said.

"My game is a fake drive to the hole, penetrate, dish off, dunk, whatever. When you have that mentality, as I found out in the first game of making 3s, you don't go to the hole as much."

"You go to the 3-point line and you start sitting there waiting for someone to find you.

"That's not my mentality. I don't want to create that because it takes away my other parts of my game."
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I saw the interview a week ago and it applies perfectly to someone like Edwards. His gravity is way more important when he is aggressive and focus on midrange, layups and dunks. Though there is a massive issue with the fact that he gets a terrible whistle and takes severe punishment on a regular basis when he is aggressive.
 
elmo said:
Suns is reminding me of United. Players look like they’ve already given up.
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I feel like I've been following KD around praying for his downfall for like half a decade :lol:

Swapping out the Nets picks with the Suns seems like a great decision now.
 
WeePat said:
I feel like I've been following KD around praying for his downfall for like half a decade :lol:

Swapping out the Nets picks with the Suns seems like a great decision now.
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Did you watch the game last night? I'd gladly take a WCF semifinals between Memphis and Houston (us getting home court advantage of course) :D
 
adexkola said:
Did you watch the game last night? I'd gladly take a WCF semifinals between Memphis and Houston (us getting home court advantage of course) :D
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I watched the first half, then caught the highlights of the rest this morning. You had turnover issues and we couldn’t make our FTs.

I was playing around with a playoff predidctor the other day and I had Rocksts and Grizzlies meeting in the second round with Grizzlies winning in 7 and then beating the Thunder in the WCF.
 
WeePat said:
I watched the first half, then caught the highlights of the rest this morning. You had turnover issues and we couldn’t make our FTs.

I was playing around with a playoff predidctor the other day and I had Rocksts and Grizzlies meeting in the second round with Grizzlies winning in 7 and then beating the Thunder in the WCF.
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This is the Thunder's year, barring injury. Whoever makes it to the WCF is getting smacked by them in 6 games at best
 
Was just thinking this morning, backing Thunder as slight favorites even if they make it to the finals.. early days of course, etc..
 
adexkola said:
This is the Thunder's year, barring injury. Whoever makes it to the WCF is getting smacked by them in 6 games at best
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There’s something about them that I’m not completely sold on yet. They’re an incredible team. I just can’t shake the feeling they don’t have it in them to come out of the west.
 
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WeePat said:
There’s something about them that I’m not completely sold on yet. They’re an incredible team. I just can’t shake the feeling they don’t it in them to come out of the west.
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Would be surprised if they don’t make the finals, but I can’t see them winning.

Playoffs is just a whole different game and they still have a very young team.
 
Just to add to the discussion and expand on previous thought... Am completely sold on Thunder. If healthy, meaning Holmgren being back/them being complete, they can play two bigs as well and prevent what the Cavs did to them with Mobley/Allen 2 nights ago. But the biggest thing why am sold on them is that referees won't blow their whistle so often as they do in the regular season which means that suffocating defense could go another level in the playoffs (which is pretty insane prospect). Despite being such a young team, they also have solid playoff experience from last season and a really close series that separated them from Western finals.

On the other hand, they are still, what they are... really young and never tested on such a big stage, so going all the way would be amazing feat way ahead their supposed schedule. I will back down from that "favorite in the final" statement early on as of course fully fit Celtics would be that if they are on the other side. Still, some things might go into their favor.

They really look like the best team in the West and it may open up to them the same way it did for the Celtics in the East last season.
The Celtics might go through a much tougher route this time. For example, it could easily happen they have to go first through the Knicks in SF and then onto the Cavs who could have home court advantage in the ECF. One of the reasons, why the 1st place in the East looks much more desirable atm.

For me, any team out of the Thunder/Cavs/Nuggets to win and I would be a happy man for different reasons... In any case, should be fun playoffs.
 
Oh and as a side note, they still own (if am not wrong) the largest stash of draft picks in the league. Potentially 11 first round picks only in the next 3 years.
 
Good win for the Dubs tonight. Not that it really matters for either team, but a win is a win.
 
I never thought I'd say this, but Stephen Curry needs to ask for a trade. It's never going to happen, but it would be in everybody's best interests. The way things stand right now it's going to be a painful slog to his retirement with the Warriors locked in to paying him a huge salary. While this is worth it individually, its no use to either Curry or the Dubs, because they just won't be good enough with Steph and a bunch of role players. With a trade, Steph could have a chance at a possible 5th title and the Warriors would have the pieces to start a rebuild. On the other side of the coin, whoever trades for him gets a player who is still able to turn a contender into a champion. Everyone's a winner.

But its never going to happen.
 
charlton66 said:
I never thought I'd say this, but Stephen Curry needs to ask for a trade. It's never going to happen, but it would be in everybody's best interests. The way things stand right now it's going to be a painful slog to his retirement with the Warriors locked in to paying him a huge salary. While this is worth it individually, its no use to either Curry or the Dubs, because they just won't be good enough with Steph and a bunch of role players. With a trade, Steph could have a chance at a possible 5th title and the Warriors would have the pieces to start a rebuild. On the other side of the coin, whoever trades for him gets a player who is still able to turn a contender into a champion. Everyone's a winner.

But its never going to happen.
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What team would benefit the best from trading from Curry in your opinion?
 
adexkola said:
What team would benefit the best from trading from Curry in your opinion?
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The obvious one is the Thunder. They are possibly good enough to win without him, but with him, they would become heavy favorites. Maybe even a dynasty, depending on how long he can keep going. They also have the assets
 
charlton66 said:
The obvious one is the Thunder. They are possibly good enough to win without him, but with him, they would become heavy favorites. Maybe even a dynasty, depending on how long he can keep going. They also have the assets
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The obvious answer to my next question is "you just make it work" but can Shai and Steph work together?
 
adexkola said:
The obvious answer to my next question is "you just make it work" but can Shai and Steph work together?
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I think that's the beauty of playing with Curry. He can adapt to playing with anyone. Bring in Durant for instance, and the team would, at least somewhat, have to adapt to playing with him. With Steph, it's different. He can play off the ball, he can go to the rim. He can score, he can provide assists. Hell, these days, he can even rebound. Steph can provide whatever you need at a premium level on a nightly basis.

So yes, i think Shai and Steph could work together quite well.
 
charlton66 said:
I think that's the beauty of playing with Curry. He can adapt to playing with anyone. Bring in Durant for instance, and the team would, at least somewhat, have to adapt to playing with him. With Steph, it's different. He can play off the ball, he can go to the rim. He can score, he can provide assists. Hell, these days, he can even rebound. Steph can provide whatever you need at a premium level on a nightly basis.

So yes, i think Shai and Steph could work together quite well.
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It’s an amazing prospect, but if OKC were going to unload their pick warchest, surely they’d go for a stellar big like Giannis
 
T00lsh3d said:
It’s an amazing prospect, but if OKC were going to unload their pick warchest, surely they’d go for a stellar big like Giannis
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I think going for any other superstar other than Curry would be a mistake. OKC is Shai's team and bringing in a Giannis or a KD, or any other big name for that matter could upset the balance. Steph has already proven that he can take a step back for the good of the team with KD, and that was when he was at the height of his powers. Steph could come in and the team would not miss a beat. They would just be better in so many ways.
 
charlton66 said:
I think going for any other superstar other than Curry would be a mistake. OKC is Shai's team and bringing in a Giannis or a KD, or any other big name for that matter could upset the balance. Steph has already proven that he can take a step back for the good of the team with KD, and that was when he was at the height of his powers. Steph could come in and the team would not miss a beat. They would just be better in so many ways.
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I don’t disagree, I just think the only times I’ve seen them really exposed this season is against size, and Giannis would give them that defensively. That said they have missed their first choice centre
 
charlton66 said:
The obvious one is the Thunder. They are possibly good enough to win without him, but with him, they would become heavy favorites. Maybe even a dynasty, depending on how long he can keep going. They also have the assets
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Nah, that’d be a dumb move and Presti is not one to make dumb moves. Their identity is stellar defense which Curry would immediately make much, much worse. They’d also need to part with some good players to match salaries.

Also, if Thunder were to part with their picks war chest it wouldn’t be for an aging superstar, rather for someone much younger like Giannis.
 
Sarni said:
Nah, that’d be a dumb move and Presti is not one to make dumb moves. Their identity is stellar defense which Curry would immediately make much, much worse. They’d also need to part with some good players to match salaries.

Also, if Thunder were to part with their picks war chest it wouldn’t be for an aging superstar, rather for someone much younger like Giannis.
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The narrative that Curry is a really bad defender is just lazy journalism. He got that reputation when he first started out because he was undersized and relatively frail. Unfortunately, that reputation has stuck with some in the media who just don't watch the Warriors. He has bulked up tremendously and I've read on more than one occasion that he's one of the strongest guys on the team.

If you look at his DBPM stats it is positive for both this year and his career as a whole. Yes, he is not a great defender, but he's not a bad one either and playing with really good defenders as with the Dubs in their hey day, IMLTHO should not really hurt the Thunder much, if at all.
 
charlton66 said:
The narrative that Curry is a really bad defender is just lazy journalism. He got that reputation when he first started out because he was undersized and relatively frail. Unfortunately, that reputation has stuck with some in the media who just don't watch the Warriors. He has bulked up tremendously and I've read on more than one occasion that he's one of the strongest guys on the team.

If you look at his DBPM stats it is positive for both this year and his career as a whole. Yes, he is not a great defender, but he's not a bad one either and playing with really good defenders as with the Dubs in their hey day, IMLTHO should not really hurt the Thunder much, if at all.
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He’s not a horrible defender (like Lillard) but he’d be replacing Caruso/Wallace at SG, both of whom are way better defenders than him. I don’t really think Thunder need more scoring either, they can run up the score in any game as they are.
 
Sarni said:
He’s not a horrible defender (like Lillard) but he’d be replacing Caruso/Wallace at SG, both of whom are way better defenders than him. I don’t really think Thunder need more scoring either, they can run up the score in any game as they are.
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I agree with that, but Steph is such an offensive juggernaut, what they give up on defense would be more than adequately compensated by his offense. Not just him, but because of the unparalleled gravity he provides, for everybody else on the team.

I think it would be a good move for both teams, but that's just me.
 
Griz just brought on that 5ft 8 Japanese kid and he looked like a genuine child. Unfortunately it was too deep into garbage time to see him up against Wemby who’d already bowed out
 
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