NBA 2018-2019 Season

[livid]

On 18/10/2018 at 08:40, livid said:

Meet the new Bucks, same as the old Bucks. Glad to get the win but blowing a lead doesn't exactly scream "different team!"

Nevermind. They looked great in the win of Indiana last night. They look like an actual team under Budenholzer. 

[DYSI]

 

Caris Levert for MIP!

 

He had a turnover late which led to the loss in DET on Thurs but hit the game winner vs. NYK last night. He's averaging almost 28 PPG and is a solid ball handler/defender - watch out! 😎

 

(hopefully.)

[Meacon Keaton]

On 17/10/2018 at 22:24, Plubby said:

THE KNICKS FUCKIN' RULE~!

We suck again!

[gunnar hendershow]

Wow I really don't give a shit about the Wizards this year. All hope about the Wall/Beal era has evaporated.

[Pooker]

With the way the East is this year, they could probably finish in the top 4. Which sucks for them, because what they really need to do is trade either Beal or Wall and rebuild.

[Chris2K]

I'm trying to watch the highlights of every game (YouTube has 10 minute breakdowns of everything) so I'm probably going to be a bit behind all year.

It's also an opportunity for me to rant about home-team-biased commentary - you're being paid to be sportscasters, stop standing up and cheering for a three-pointer early in the third quarter and calling the home team players by their first names.

I'm willing to give up on the Wolves for this year unless we get a trade for Butler before November. It's scary that I wish we'd kept hold of Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and drafted Lauri Markannen, at least the team would be more settled right now at the expense of one playoff game victory.

[Plubby]

6 hours ago, Chris2K said:

I'm trying to watch the highlights of every game (YouTube has 10 minute breakdowns of everything) so I'm probably going to be a bit behind all year.

It's also an opportunity for me to rant about home-team-biased commentary - you're being paid to be sportscasters, stop standing up and cheering for a three-pointer early in the third quarter and calling the home team players by their first names.

I'm willing to give up on the Wolves for this year unless we get a trade for Butler before November. It's scary that I wish we'd kept hold of Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and drafted Lauri Markannen, at least the team would be more settled right now at the expense of one playoff game victory.

This is a really awful take. It's by far the best part of having regional broadcasts in the US. If i'm a Boston guy watching a Boston channel in Boston, give me the homer take on the Celtics. National broadcasts are a different thing, of course. But regional? Gimme that bias. I love it. Sports evokes emotion, let's embrace it.

[Pooker]

Crazy brawl in the Rockets/Lakers game tonight. Rondo spits on Chris Paul, Paul eye gouges Rondo, both players throw and land punches. Brandon Ingram tries to sucker punch in the middle of it.

Hopefully the NBA suspends all three of them for quite a few games.

[Benjamin]

It looked like such fun to watch and I'm sad I missed it. Ingram coming in with a couple of sucker punches was hilarious.

[JasonM]

Mavs taking it 140-136 at home. This is the NBA now, utterly insane playing pace and the score is absolutely ridiculous.

Also a great showing by the Mavs even when they're missing Barnes, Dirk, and Harris for this game. To take the win against the (granted Butler-less) Timberwolves down the stretch was imnmense, especially after the Wolves had taken a massive lead in the first.

Also D-Rose with a 28-5-5-2 statline was on fire too, showing he still got plenty of game left.

And it's such a breath of fresh air to have an elite center on the Mavs, not even Tyson Chandler looked this dangerous whenever he was on the floor back in our championship days. DeAndre does everything and he does it with insane efficiency, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, and on 8/10 shooting + 6/7 from the stripe. And he's had a bunch of secondary assists and makes the entire team better by his presence.

Dwight Powell is becoming one of the better bench bigs too, always puts in effort and he's getting rewarded by being the recipient on alley oops and cutting hard and fast whenever he sets screens. 

This Mavericks team makes me so excited for the future, this is completely different than 10/11 too, this team has fire, insane speed, and just a togetherness that is unlike anything. And to see Luka and DSJ struggle early but bringing it back in crunch time, that will hopefully bode very well for the future.

26 points for Luka off 8/16 too, people questioned his ability to score in the NBA but he did so tonight with craftiness and just outright toughness off the dribble.

[Pooker]

7 hours ago, Benjamin said:

It looked like such fun to watch and I'm sad I missed it. Ingram coming in with a couple of sucker punches was hilarious.

Sorry, but I gotta disagree. Sucker punching somebody is never hilarious. Ingram should have a pretty harsh suspension, IMO. As should Paul and Rondo. There's no place for that kind of crap in this game. Its disgraceful. 

[Pooker]

Brandon Ingram has been suspended four games, Rondo three games, and Paul two games for the fight last night.

Meanwhile, Thabo Sefolosha is currently serving a 5 game suspension for smoking pot.

Glad to see the NBA has its priorities right.

[Malenko]

I remember back in the late 90s/early 00s, players who weren't as good defensively were often criticized and being bench scorers was a good enough gig for many of them. Teams like the nuggets and warriors who were teams who cared about scoring a lot more than they did about stopping the other team from scoring were the exception, not the rule which is why they were always used as examples of teams who would never win no matter how good their offense was.

I feel a lot of those weak defenders in all truth wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb today. FIBA players who had troubles keeping up with the NBA standard of defending to the point they would last a couple of years in the league and leave still exist today but a lot of them stay because they're not so different from your average defender in 2010s NBA. I feel most of those who played NBA basketball back then would manage to build a decent career in today's NBA (as long as they were good enough scorers/playmakers/rebounders). While there are still amazing defenders in the league, there seem to be so many players who just don't try/care enough defensively.

I'm not saying players are worse nowadays because obviously they keep improving and have better training conditions to be better prepared physically and skill-wise.

This is not a "back in the day things were better" nostalgia-fueled rant either because to be fair I grew up with a league where it was all about fast breaks and extra passes that basically stopped working as frequently with the defensive intensity increase a few years later.

And I actually liked that. You knew players who still made those great plays were good.

All star games were always fun but they were exhibition games made to entertain the fans. They were ok once a year but that's it.

Too many players defend like they're in an all star game, in actual regular season games. I'd like not to notice it but I do. I'm also aware pretty much everyone has insane shooting range in 2018 and they didn't in 2001. I know the game is different. 

I know I'll keep watching because I'm obsessed with it but I just wish sometimes things were different.

Ok, so it was a nostalgia rant after all but I've already written too much to delete the whole thing now so I'll just hit send anyway. 

 

 

tl; dr: pepperidge farm remembers.

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by Malenko

[DMN in the House]

On 20/10/2018 at 22:18, Plubby said:

This is a really awful take. It's by far the best part of having regional broadcasts in the US. If i'm a Boston guy watching a Boston channel in Boston, give me the homer take on the Celtics. National broadcasts are a different thing, of course. But regional? Gimme that bias. I love it. Sports evokes emotion, let's embrace it.

My favorite announcers ever are both regional, Chick Hearn and Vin Scully. I don't think you could really accuse them of being Homer's, tho.

On 21/10/2018 at 16:17, Pooker said:

Brandon Ingram has been suspended four games, Rondo three games, and Paul two games for the fight last night.

Meanwhile, Thabo Sefolosha is currently serving a 5 game suspension for smoking pot.

Glad to see the NBA has its priorities right.

The NBA is soft as shit. You want 5+ game suspensions for that shit? Charles Oakley is rolling in his grave.

[Pooker]

Yep, I do. There's no room or need for fighting in basketball. I dont care how "soft" the NBA is. Doesnt mean anybody should be poking people in the eye, punching them in the face, or sucker punching people from behind.

[VerbalPuke]

17 hours ago, Malenko said:

I remember back in the late 90s/early 00s, players who weren't as good defensively were often criticized and being bench scorers was a good enough gig for many of them. Teams like the nuggets and warriors who were teams who cared about scoring a lot more than they did about stopping the other team from scoring were the exception, not the rule which is why they were always used as examples of teams who would never win no matter how good their offense was.

I feel a lot of those weak defenders in all truth wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb today. FIBA players who had troubles keeping up with the NBA standard of defending to the point they would last a couple of years in the league and leave still exist today but a lot of them stay because they're not so different from your average defender in 2010s NBA. I feel most of those who played NBA basketball back then would manage to build a decent career in today's NBA (as long as they were good enough scorers/playmakers/rebounders). While there are still amazing defenders in the league, there seem to be so many players who just don't try/care enough defensively.

I'm not saying players are worse nowadays because obviously they keep improving and have better training conditions to be better prepared physically and skill-wise.

This is not a "back in the day things were better" nostalgia-fueled rant either because to be fair I grew up with a league where it was all about fast breaks and extra passes that basically stopped working as frequently with the defensive intensity increase a few years later.

And I actually liked that. You knew players who still made those great plays were good.

All star games were always fun but they were exhibition games made to entertain the fans. They were ok once a year but that's it.

Too many players defend like they're in an all star game, in actual regular season games. I'd like not to notice it but I do. I'm also aware pretty much everyone has insane shooting range in 2018 and they didn't in 2001. I know the game is different. 

I know I'll keep watching because I'm obsessed with it but I just wish sometimes things were different.

Ok, so it was a nostalgia rant after all but I've already written too much to delete the whole thing now so I'll just hit send anyway. 

 

 

tl; dr: pepperidge farm remembers.

 

I know. People hated watching the 04 Pistons, but I loved watching them lock teams down. I get that it’s boring for a lot of people, but I really like watching great defenses in any sport operate. 

[Pooker]

I agree @VerbalPuke. I would much rather watch a good defensive game. One of the reasons why I love the Jazz.

[Tyrone]

Career high 50 points for Blake Griffin tonight.

[Pooker]

Donovon Mitchell has the name of a girl who was shot and killed on the University of Utahs campus over the weekend written on his shoes tonight. Guy is a total class act.

[Tyrone]

Kawhi has been terrific!