NBA 2017-2018 Season

[gunnar hendershow]

7 hours ago, livid said:

At least Griffin isn't a coach killer...yet. 

The cool thing is he gets to do it to the same coach!

Also, on the subject of tanking, with the way the NBA is currently structured it makes no sense to try to win when the playoffs are out of reach. The better your pick of the litter the better chance you have of turning your fortunes around. It's the only sport where one player can absolutely transform a franchise. There have been very few superstars on bad teams in basketball's history, at the very least that team becomes a regular playoff squad. They should rethink the way they do the lottery/draft order to curb tanking though.

[Pooker]

Maybe it's because the Jazz have had bad luck with high draft picks (Kanter, Trey Burke, Exum keeps getting hurt), but I would rather see a team always try to win, no matter if you are in the playoffs or not. Especially in a market like Utah where big name players don't usually want to sign, our best way to "rebuild" has been by trades and smart drafting and I'll always believe that's the best way to get a winning team.

[Pooker]

After scoring 28 points in 23 minutes, the Grizzlies sat Marc Gasol for the entire fourth quarter and ended up losing to the Jazz. If that's not tanking, I don't know what is.

[Pooker]

If the Blazers shut down Lillard for the last four games after he rolled his ankle last night, the Jazz have a chance to finish third in the West. I know I'm the biggest Jazz homer there is, but for a team to be 10/11 games under .500 in December to come back and finish in either third or fourth is pretty amazing.

[gunnar hendershow]

And all it took was Detroit passing on Donovan Mitchell.

[Benjamin]

Jesus, our first non-50 win season in 18 years. Yeesh. That loss against the Clippers was abysmal.

And now losing to both LA teams. Christ, we suck.

[Tyrone]

#SaveUsKawhi

Beat OKC and the Rockets but not the LA teams

EDIT: Also per Woj, Kyrie's done for the regular season and playoffs.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Tyrone

[Pooker]

I'm hoping the Jazz end up facing either the Spurs or Wolves in the first round. Wolves, for the Rubio match up. Spurs, cause it would be fun to watch.

[VerbalPuke]

20 hours ago, damsher hatfield said:

And all it took was Detroit passing on Donovan Mitchell.

That’s why Stan needs to go far away. He doesn’t need Blake Griffin to get him fired, he’s done a fine job all on his own.

[Your Mom]

That Kyrie news is rough. Boston can't catch a break this year. They looked like they were going to contend with Kyrie and Heyward and now neither even made it the whole year

[Benjamin]

Denver are really making a big push for that 8th spot and it's super cool to see. What a lovely team of guys, and all are just busting their asses off. Honestly hope they take it off NOLA, although it would be wild for AD to not be in the playoffs considering how he's got had an MVP-candidate season.

[Malenko]

The Nuggets were actually in playoff position for a while and then they had a bad streak which just happened to happen right about when the Jazz were getting hot. Jokic is amazing and I wouldn't want to see him out of the playoffs even if he's just there to be out of it in the first round. Also during that bad spell there was that game they were actually leading at the end of the third and then Malone got upset at Jokic and Jamal Murray and left them out of the game for most of the 4th and they lost the game. All of this while being 8th in the west. I understand discipline and all of that but there's a time and place for everything and it shouldn't have been there and then. 

Then again I also wouldn't want Davis to miss the playoffs. The wolves sans Butler barely win any games so they may end up out of it after being third at some point.

[Benjamin]

The Wolves and the Bucks plummeting to maybe not reaching the playoffs is the biggest surprise to me. The Bucks are going to make it only because Detroit is a mess.

[Pooker]

I'm sure everybody here knows of the debate of who will win rookie of the year. Ben Simmons yesterday said that he should win it. Donovon Mitchell said he doesn't care about awards, he wants a championship.

Mitchell today shows up to the Jazz/Warriors game wearing a hoodie with the definition of what a rookie is on it.

[Meacon Keaton]

There is no debate of who should win RotY. It's Simmons and I don't think it's even close.

[Pooker]

He's not a rookie. And if anything, they should both get it.

[Meacon Keaton]

He didn't play last year, so it's still his rookie (1st) season.

[Pooker]

But he was in the NBA. Watching NBA games, getting coaching and training from NBA coaches. He has an advantage over somebody just entering into the NBA.

Either way, they both deserve it. Both have had an amazing impact on their teams and are looking like sure fire superstars.

[Benjamin]

How do they both deserve it? Simmons is trailblazing his way to being a bonafide star. Mitchell didnt perform as well as him. It's a pretty simple debate.

[Malenko]

4 hours ago, Pooker said:

But he was in the NBA. Watching NBA games, getting coaching and training from NBA coaches. He has an advantage over somebody just entering into the NBA.

Either way, they both deserve it. Both have had an amazing impact on their teams and are looking like sure fire superstars.

In my opinion Simmons has been better. Donovan Mitchell is having a very good season on a team that's having a surprisingly good season, even though I think a lot of it has to do with Gobert as well. I feel his season is overlooked because Mitchell is the nice story on the team this year, but when you look at their record since he came back, you can't help but feel he doesn't get enough praise.

As for being a rookie or not, not everyone wins RoY in their draft year. While it's true that most of them were different situations, such as Larry Bird or David Robinson who just didn't go to the NBA immediately, you also have Blake Griffin who got it exactly in the same situation as Simmons.Also, I don't think anyone doubts Joel Embiid would have won it last season had he played enough games.

If you're playing your first games in the NBA, you are a rookie. Simple as.