Board 8 > NBA discussion topic 2: the bad teams are kinda good?

(+) Yeah! (+)

MZero11 posted...

tl;dr It's silly to rip on Kyrie for what happened before Lebron came back because he was just a kid

I also base it on his departure from Cleveland this year. If he did learn something from Lebron, it was how to leave the Cavs in a sad and immature way.
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Plus he's a dunderhead. I mean his views on stuff, like this whole thing that's being talked about now. He's extremely unintelligent. That doesn't mean he can't play basketball obviously, but to be a truly great one it takes character I don't feel he has.
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Man do Sabonis and Oladipo seem great so far

They probably didn't have enough time to really flourish in OKC but man they're carrying that Pacers team into relevance in a surprisingly competitive East
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Ugly, but a win is a win. These are the kind of contests we've historically struggled to win in recent years (one of the very worst win/loss ratios in games decided by single digit points). Not sure what the heck happened with KAT tonight.
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v_charon posted...

Plus he's a dunderhead. I mean his views on stuff, like this whole thing that's being talked about now. He's extremely unintelligent. That doesn't mean he can't play basketball obviously, but to be a truly great one it takes character I don't feel he has.

Yeah in his first press conference with the Celtics I had no idea what the hell he was saying most of the time
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what the hell got into TJ Warren tonight
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Just when I call the Suns bad they do something crazy.
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suns are 4-1 under jay triano

tj warren just signed a 4 year 50 million extension

not feeling bad rn
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Fantasy basketball tonight was ridiculous. The 1st place guy had over 380 points.
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man, the east. Boston might be the best team there? what?
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Sixers gonna be real good when Fultz gets back.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

Sixers gonna be real good when Fultz gets back.

assuming Fultz's problem was just that he was hurt anyway
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transience posted...

man, the east. Boston might be the best team there? what?

we'll see after friday and sunday. @okc and @orl look like huuuge matchups now - weirdly enough!
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Boston has a great coach and a good rotation. Al Horford is terrific.

Kyrie being paranoid is a bit off-putting but the way he left Cleveland is perfectly fine. Cleveland got a good haul for him and he didn't spend time being a malcontent or being unhappy for very long. Cavs fans should boo him. But I mean, he could have been unhappy for two years and then left. How many teams recently have lost star players and gotten back what the Cavs did?
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KommunistKoala posted...

this is fucking spectacular

neonreaper posted...

Boston has a great coach and a good rotation. Al Horford is terrific.

al's obviously worked hard on his 1-on-1 game. he's always been excellent at facilitating and setting picks, but it's great seeing how frequently and viciously he'll post up this season.

Kyrie being paranoid is a bit off-putting but the way he left Cleveland is perfectly fine. Cleveland got a good haul for him and he didn't spend time being a malcontent or being unhappy for very long. Cavs fans should boo him. But I mean, he could have been unhappy for two years and then left. How many teams recently have lost star players and gotten back what the Cavs did?

kyrie and the cavs parted about as well as you can possibly part when someone demands a trade. zero games played with public duress, a high lottery pick, a D/3 role player for lebron on a cheap and extended contract, and an injured player coming off a near-MVP-level season (inarguably a better regular season than kyrie)

at least in public, kyrie hasn't dissed lebron and the cavs either
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more magic magic:


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I wonder at what point we would get taken seriously. It's very possible we go 7-2 on Friday and even if we lose to the Celtics on Sunday we would still be 7-3.

Like if we get to say 13-6 or like 15-8 at that point are we considered credible? Granted I'm not really counting on that happening, just kinda wondering. If we go .500 in our remaining games from here on out I'd be happy!

Pistons want Eric Bledsoe

Suns don't want Reggie Jackson

Who will be the third team
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lillard had a game winner last night

just different animal, dame beast
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I love Lonzo's stat line
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this is pretty hilarious

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2017/11/03/doc-rivers-ejected-celtics-game-masters
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did Andre Drummond get hurt tonight or something
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ExThaNemesis posted...

did Andre Drummond get hurt tonight or something

Early foul trouble.
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TheRock1525 posted...

ExThaNemesis posted...

did Andre Drummond get hurt tonight or something

Early foul trouble.

Gotcha.

Came back in abundance after sitting.
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I'm not sure how to take Orlando losing at home to Chicago by 20
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transience posted...

I'm not sure how to take Orlando losing at home to Chicago by 20

as a continuation of this season being weird.

Man, every time I've watched Cleveland they've played really well.

Every time I don't watch them they struggle.
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Andre Drummond: Free Throw Expert.
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Good win against Milwaukee tonight. Lots of winnable games coming up.
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holy shit lebron
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transience posted...

holy shit lebron

It helps that they were leaving John Wall on him in the post over and over again.
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jesus christ this shot

https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/926623426814541824
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Drummond was 14/16 from the FT line tonight

at this point I think it's safe to say he's overcome is major weakness
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transience posted...

jesus christ this shot

https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/926623426814541824

our lord and savior JJ
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This OKC/Boston game is fun so far.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

This OKC/Boston game is funny so far.

In that the lord and savior Kyrie has 0 points and 0 assists in a quarter.
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Also I really really wish Dallas would beat New Orleans tonight. Doesn't look very likely though. The Wolves playing these bad teams worry me a lot, I still remember '15 losing to the historically bad Sixers.
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this LeBron guy seems pretty good
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https://streamable.com/cqf9u
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Certainly seems like the Thunder have figured some things out
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here's my power rankings this week

1 - Golden State - that beatdown of the Clipper was the most impressive performance of the year, by a lot.

2 - Oklahoma City - they're good on defense as well as having a big three. they're the only one of the second tier teams that are healthy, but they certainly look like they'll be legit come April.

3 - LA Clippers - they got assassinated by Golden State but any team on any night can get hit by that buzzsaw. Blake's playing great and they really seem rejuvenated with a roster shakeup.

4 - Houston - looking forward to seeing them when Chris Paul is back. they're topping the west without an all-star, but at the same time, I don't know if they're actually better with him yet.

5 - Boston - their top 5 are pretty great defensively, J&J are legit and Kyrie comes to play once in a while. best in the east right now.

6 - Memphis - some big wins and they really compete. they kinda feel like they're ahead of the curve while everyone else is playing themselves into shape, though. they won't finish in the top 4-5 seeds.

7 - Cleveland - you have to drive a stake into them for me to stop believing in them. they have a ton of qusetion marks but they still have the best player in the world.

8 - Portland - playing great! really easy to like this team.

9 - Detroit - great week from them.

10 - San Antonio - what is up with Kawhi? they looked good the first week but are really fading. they need their mvp.

11 - Charlotte - KEMBA

12 - Utah - plays hard on D and is scrappy offensively. basically, it's another Utah team.

13 - Toronto - kind of under the radar. might be playing the best in the east but also might be very average? I dunno

14 - Washington - depth will hurt them but they still have an amazing starting lineup which will help come playoff time

15 - Philadelphia - Simmons is real. Embiid is good too, and they have a few vets that make them good. a few more games under them and I'll probably bump them up a little higher.

16 - Orlando - they have the wins but also some pretty bad losses. they're hitting 3s at a crazy clip and will probably fall off soon. I think they're competing hard but probably not a contender in the east like their record shows. Evan "Don't Google" Fournier is playing great.

17 - Milwaukee - people are ragging on Lebron for needing to put up 57 to beat the Wizards but Giannis is in a worse spot. this team is bad and being propped up by a superstar.

18 - Indiana - playing surprisingly great. will Oladipo cool off? if he doesn't then this team belongs higher and that Paul George trade looks pretty good.

19 - Denver - I need one more week but I'm starting to believe again

20 - Minnesota - their record is good but their defense is not. I'm out on them until they play consistent basketball. good wins vs. OKC though.

21 - Phoenix - ????

22 - Miami - surprisingly mediocre. I thought they'd be competing a little better than this.

23 - New Orleans - Cousins is playing great. as usual, it's not translating into wins.

24 - New York - KRISTAPS. he's going to be just good enough to keep New York out of a high draft pick.

25 - Brooklyn - fun team. not very good though.

26 - LA Lakers - Lonzo kinda sucks and so does this team.

27 - Chicago - Markkanen!

28 - Atlanta - just a depressing team. bad without a lot of hope.

29 - Dallas - at least they're competing.

30 - Sacramento - they really have looked terrible this week. Hill looks like he's kinda mailing it in and I'm worried about Fox.

MVP:

1 - Steph
2 - Westbrook
3 - Blake
4 - Harden
5 - Giannis
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I think the one hope Atlanta has (besides shroeder) is John Collins - he has impressed me in the games I have seen.
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Brutal to rank a team one game out of the top spot in the conference that low >_>

Fair enough, given who we are I suppose. You have to keep in mind our bad losses came without Butler, who is one of our better defenders and the most knowledgeable of our coach's system on defense.
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well, Minnesota could easily be 3-5 instead of 5-3, or worse. they're 11th in the west in point differential.

I am a hater of that team, though, so take my rating with skepticism.
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I mean that can be true for almost any team in the league, can't it? No one's dominated out the gate or anything.
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yeah but they've won all their close games. that's good, but it can also be lucky (sup wiggins)
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Good teams win their close games though. Yeah one of them was a lucky shot but the others they actually did win by weathering the storm and closing out.
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https://twitter.com/CraigHoffman/status/926643461981425664

Lebron literally set John Wall on fire
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I mean you're complaining about twolves that low whilst he has the 6-3 Magic only 1 spot above them. Which i actually have no problem with if not for Memphis at 6 who are Magic level and also just lost to the magic too