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seanbrock

'18-'19 NBA Season Thread

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Assuming the final 4 in the east is Milwaukee/Toronto/Boston/Philly, the semis and conference finals are gonna be some great basketball.

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The East plays a different kind of basketball too. They still shoot a lot of 3 threes but the East is just a more physical conference imo. GS should have kept McGee who is a better defender than Cousins. They have a lot of scorers.

Also am I the only one that just doesn't even recognize Harden's season as a true 30ppg season? Stars have always gotten calls but wtf man? Lol. Iverson shot a lot of ft's when he averaged 31 but he also rountinely got pummled in the paint lol. If you watched Iverson, he earned his free throws. Kobe got calls of course but he didn't get anything like Harden is getting.

Edited by seanbrock
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Warriors are becoming a team the relies on depth and defense to a team that just gives the ball to Durant and gets out of the way...or at least that's what I see from them in this game. This star chasing might come back to kick them in the ass.

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LEBRON JAMES WON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AFTER HIS MEDIA-CONSUMING MOVE TO LA LA LAND!!!!

WE MUST TALK ABOUT THIS!!!!!!

I think he can't be in the GOAT conversation anymore....what say you all? 

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Why can't he be in the conversation for GOAT anymore? 

I dont' particularly like him much so I don't mind... but. ha. We kind of saw this coming though, right. He's expanding his empire. Basketball really isn't his focus.

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1 hour ago, DalaiLama4Ever said:

Why can't he be in the conversation for GOAT anymore? 

I dont' particularly like him much so I don't mind... but. ha. We kind of saw this coming though, right. He's expanding his empire. Basketball really isn't his focus.

Everyone is saying that in hindsight. 

But at the time of him choosing LA the conversation in no shape or form was about them not making the playoffs. Maybe with individual fans but let's not play this game. The media and all the conversation was all about what they could do against the Warriors. Very few people "saw this coming" 

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3 hours ago, butta54 said:

Everyone is saying that in hindsight. 

But at the time of him choosing LA the conversation in no shape or form was about them not making the playoffs. Maybe with individual fans but let's not play this game. The media and all the conversation was all about what they could do against the Warriors. Very few people "saw this coming" 

I think real basketball fans saw this coming. Talking heads and casual fans are generally off the money. That squad has no shooters. LeBron has always needed to be surrounded by a bunch of shooters and 3-and-D guys, but right now he's the best 3pt shooter on his team. They were never going to make the palyoffs unless they got Kawhi or PG3. This year was a growth year before they get a star or two next year. They could potentially get AD and another star with the young assets they have.

 

 

 

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I thought LeBron would be good enough to get them into the playoffs (and he probably still would've if he didn't be get hurt). That being said, "the lakers won't  make the playoffs" was definitely out there before the season among some of the experts. Magic and Pelinka have been a disaster running the team (besides Lebron who clearly didn't need convincing), and when you hear that Jerry West wanted to come back and Jeannie chose Magic instead, that's a really bitter pill to swallow. 

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I thought the LeLakers would sneak in as the 8th seed, but you know this is the first time in LeBron's career he's actually had more than one or two teams as competition in his conference.

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I liked LeBron a lot before "The Decision." Spent years rooting against him until Draymond Green basically and then Durant went to the Warriors and I found myself rooting for the underdog Cavs. I don't think from a basketball stand point that LeBron is the GOAT because he got punked in the finals by an inferior team. In football where it's single game elimination, it's understandable but in a seven game series? That's a big deal for me. I don't think you can say that about anyone in the GOAT conversation (which to me personally is bigger than LeBron vs. Jordan anyway).

I think LeBron's legacy is empowering players and I think he's really doing a great job with his charitable works. Hard for me to hate a guy that's using his money to give kids an education. 

As for this season, I think all the trade rumors honestly sunk the team arguably more than LeBron having to miss time. I think the young guys on the team kind of have an attitude of fuck you and I honestly can't say that I blame them but idk if you can put that on LeBron. I honestly think there's a respect level between him and Magic that wasn't there with Gilbert and maybe even to a lesser extent, Pat Riley. I think LeBron probably is letting Magic handle it. 

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7 hours ago, seanbrock said:

I liked LeBron a lot before "The Decision." Spent years rooting against him until Draymond Green basically and then Durant went to the Warriors and I found myself rooting for the underdog Cavs. I don't think from a basketball stand point that LeBron is the GOAT because he got punked in the finals by an inferior team. In football where it's single game elimination, it's understandable but in a seven game series? That's a big deal for me. I don't think you can say that about anyone in the GOAT conversation (which to me personally is bigger than LeBron vs. Jordan anyway).

I think LeBron's legacy is empowering players and I think he's really doing a great job with his charitable works. Hard for me to hate a guy that's using his money to give kids an education. 

As for this season, I think all the trade rumors honestly sunk the team arguably more than LeBron having to miss time. I think the young guys on the team kind of have an attitude of fuck you and I honestly can't say that I blame them but idk if you can put that on LeBron. I honestly think there's a respect level between him and Magic that wasn't there with Gilbert and maybe even to a lesser extent, Pat Riley. I think LeBron probably is letting Magic handle it. 

I think I'm on the same page with you, basically. I hated having to root for the LeBron Cavs against GSW. Never liked Kyrie--I still contend that he is overrated as fuck outside of making that one  amazingly clutch shot.

 

I watched this awesome interview with Charles Barkley on The Dan Patrick show. I don't remember where in the interview they talk about it, but he lists his top 8 or so players of all time. He said that, to him, LeBron could never climb into his top 5 and that he has him currently at 8 right behind Tim Duncan.

Charles Barkley is my favorite NBA analyst/commentator. He basically espouses all of the exact opinions about players that I find myself saying. Somewhere else in this interview he called Westbrook the 3rd best player behind LeBron and Kawhi. :smug:

 

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The Process is back yo. Sixers the Bucks twice and the Celtics one last time. Their Big 4 still hasn't played together much but I think it was smart to sit Embiid anyway and bring him back for the big game against Indiana. The Sixers are gonna be super cautious with Embiid as they should when really the third seed is as high as they can realistically get but this team should cruise to the 3rd seed relatively easy so there's no need to take any chances.

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Don't look now but the Spurs have won 9 straight and clinched their 22nd consecutive winning season. Will most likely make that 22 consecutive postseason appearances here shortly, barring some major collapse. What Pop has been able to do is unfathomable and the consistency of the Spurs' success is pretty ridiculous.

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If Pop was a coach in a bigger market with ownership that attracted stars he would have a lot of rings. He already has a lot but he'd have a lot more lol.

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I need the Raptors to take that first seed. I don't want to see them in the second round. I'd rather see the Brogdon-less Bucks. Lol Sixers defense in the post without Embiid in the floor is pretty bad right now but man if this talented roster can start to gel down the stretch and in the first round who knows? 

Warriors getting Bogut is gonna be huge. They really are a juggernaut, man. It would he crazy to see someone take them out this year. It won't be the Rockets. You can't just outshoot the greatest shooting team of all time. I think in the west that either the Nuggets or maybe the Thunder have the best chance. The Nuggets have depth. People always talk about Boston's depth but sleep on Denver. It's amazing the way that team has been put together. I like the Thunder too. They're a tough team built around two tough stars. I know Zack will tell me about how actually Westbrook is very efficient but you gotta be nuts if you don't think that for OKC to beat the Warriors that Russ will have to take and make good shots and limit his turnovers. It's going to be hard because he's also going to have to stick to Curry like glue. Paul George couldn't be a more perfect co-star for Russ.

Out East I would have said Boston has a shot at the Warriors if they came out of the East but they're just coming together right now as a team the way they did last year. Kyrie is real talented but I think that team was better with their home grown young players. Right now I think Toronto has the best shot in the East. I think they have the best player in the East, which is huge because I think part of the problem with them was that DeRozan was a great second best player but limited them as their best player. They're a hell of a team though. It's not just Kawhi. 

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Forget it. Raptors recently lost to Cleveland and Charlotte in the past few weeks. There's little cohesion, and too much sloppy play. They won't get out of the first round, and if they do it'll be by luck. They aren't playing like a #2 seed at all.

Edited by BigBen07

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20-20-20 (technically 21 assists) for Westbrook tonight. Literally only done once ever, by wilt. Ridiculous. 

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Pretty nuts. Was fortunate enough to see the game and it really just seemed effortless outside of the last few rebounds. If his guys had hit a few more J's we might be talking about the record for assists--felt like every shot came through Russ.

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I really want to see OKC take GS out in the first round lol. I think they can actually grind them down in a seven game series though. They're probably the most physical and defensive team in the West and Steven Adams is the type of dude who can get under people's skin and get guys like Green and Boogie T'd up. Westbrook and George will need to play at MVP level but they've both shown they're capable of that kind of play. Can they both do it at the same time on the big stage? I hope so man. I'm so sick of the Warriors. Think about how great that would be. A playoffs with no LeBron and no GS. Holy fucking hell hahaha.

As for the Sixers, they're just kind of cruising right now with the 3rd seed locked up. I think of all the teams in the East the SIxers are on the upswing with their health really being the main reason because I don't think the team has ever fully gelled so the talent gap is less apparent. I still don't wanna see Boston in the conference finals though lol. Even after that last epic win with the new team fully assembled, Boston still makes me nervous.

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You might not get the Thunder doing it, but man, the Clippers could do it. One hell of a comeback by those guys last night.

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How crazy would it be for them to knock out the Warriors? If that happens they're getting whoever they want in free agency. Hell, if they take GS to 6 the might get whoever they want.

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Man, I hope being at home for a couple days will help Embiid's knee. He's obviously not healthy. It sucks that his body is betraying him because he is such a rare talent. 

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Nobody is going to take GSW down. After the Thunder got bitched again I'm really just on auto-pilot as a fan until KD leaves this summer.

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The East is better than it has been for years. GS Is vulnerable. They still have to go through Denver too and they're not dumb enough to try and outshoot the Warriors. They're the deepest team in the league and they just play different than anyone else.

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