NBA Season 2019/20

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wco81
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by wco81 »

Rodster wrote:
wco81 wrote:There are complaints in every sport. Red Sox manager got thrown out for arguing a called third strike yesterday in the playoffs.

Soccer also has all kinds of complaints about the refereeing.

That isn't to excuse the inconsistent or suspicious refereeing. Lebron gets to bowl over defenders often but then he complains that the offici8ating is biased towards perimeter players -- chicks dig the long ball.

I don't think officiating is going to be an obstacle to the growing popularity of the NBA. The favoring of superstars began in the '80s with Bird and Magic. Today, a lot of NBA fans complain about what the Warriors supposedly get away with but you can find videos of Curry being run through on shot attempts with nothing called.

NBA will never be as popular as futbol in Europe and Asia but it could become more popular in those continents than soccer is in US and Canada. However, it doesn't seem to be popular at all in Latin America so that may limit its revenues.

The teams which gross the most revenues in the world are soccer clubs -- Man United, Real, Barcelona, Bayern, etc. NBA has a long way to go before approaching anything like that.
For me the BIG takeaway is that the NFL is once again being challenged for sports supremacy in the US. Nascar tried and failed due to a bunch of missteps and now NBA is feeling confident enough to make some noise. Their numbers and data must look good enough to make that claim. I know they've converted me away from interest in the NFL. Now the only reason I look forward to the start of the NFL season is that it means it's 6 weeks to the start of the NBA season.

Where the NBA has played it smart is that they're actively recruiting and drafting players from around the world, so it's no longer based on US Colleges. What the NBA may need to consider is creating another League or leagues say the NBA of Europe or even NBA of Asia to grow the sport internationally.
I heard that the Eagles-Giants game a couple of days ago had pretty good ratings, like 8% higher than Thursday Night games last year.

OTOH, NBA seems to do better relatively-speaking among younger demographics and ethnic minorities than the NFL. These groups are more likely to grow than NFL fans, which skews older and whiter.

But there's a long way to go before the NFL is toppled. OTOH, baseball used to be the "top" sport until the NFL passed it by.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

Two good games to kickoff the season. So far the Celtics/Sixers game has started off sloppy.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

Entertaining Lakers v Spurs game. The Lakers still without a win no thanks to LBJ who missed 2 FT’s late in OT which was the deciding factor. The Kuzma kid looks like a steal for the Lakers.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

Rodster wrote:Entertaining Lakers v Spurs game. The Lakers still without a win no thanks to LBJ who missed 2 FT’s late in OT which was the deciding factor. The Kuzma kid looks like a steal for the Lakers.
Hart should be starting over KCP, too.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

Yeah, Hart's another one and it looks like Ball is stepping up his game as well. The Lakers look to have a lot of nice young pieces but LBJ this far in his career needs more. The other trend that seems to be developing according to NBA sports writers is that a select number of Superstars are looking at moving to take over instead of joining other stars. PG decided to stay at OKC instead of going to the Lakers, Khawi Leonard was rumored to go to the LAL and now the noise is the LAC. There's rumors KD might want to go to NY and play for the Knicks, that i'd like to see him and KP in the front court. The Knox kid also looks like a good one for NY.

The surprise so far this early in the season has been Boston. I and everyone else would have thought they would be 4-0 to start the season. And the Leonard rental in Toronto looks like it will make Toronto the team to beat in the East.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

Not so sure Kawhi will head to the City of Angels to play for a crap Clippers' team if the Raptors continue to play this well and make the Finals.

Knox is solid. Has a lot of work to do on defense, though. Plus he was lucky to escape a nasty injury when rolling his ankle last weekend. Looked bad, but it's just a sprain that will keep him out for at least a week.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

If a player is driving for a layup, has the ball in his hand and takes 4 steps on his drive to the basket, is that "travelling"? I thought it was and wasn't called against Luke Kennard of the Pistons.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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Rodster wrote:If a player is driving for a layup, has the ball in his hand and takes 4 steps on his drive to the basket, is that "travelling"? I thought it was and wasn't called against Luke Kennard of the Pistons.
The Eurostep is an abomination to basketball. As Clyde Frazier says with disgust during Knicks' games, "Back in my day, that was travelling."

It still is, Clyde.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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What a fantastic start to the NBA season, another great OT game between the 76'ers and Pistons. In OT Blake Griffin scores the game winner with 1.5 secs left. The pace this year has been incredible by all the teams. The NBA has spoiled me and made it tough for me to sit and watch an NFL game.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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Rodster wrote:What a fantastic start to the NBA season, another great OT game between the 76'ers and Pistons. In OT Blake Griffin scores the game winner with 1.5 secs left. The pace this year has been incredible by all the teams. The NBA has spoiled me and made it tough for me to sit and watch an NFL game.
Less than 5 seconds left and the Sixers let Griffin score and get fouled on a f***in layup. Garbage. Sure the Sixers didn’t have Ben but you don’t let Griffin get mother effin 50 on you. Disgusting. Brutal goddamn loss. Now they get Milwaukee on a back to back. Christ.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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Diablo25 wrote:
Rodster wrote:What a fantastic start to the NBA season, another great OT game between the 76'ers and Pistons. In OT Blake Griffin scores the game winner with 1.5 secs left. The pace this year has been incredible by all the teams. The NBA has spoiled me and made it tough for me to sit and watch an NFL game.
Less than 5 seconds left and the Sixers let Griffin score and get fouled on a f***in layup. Garbage. Sure the Sixers didn’t have Ben but you don’t let Griffin get mother effin 50 on you. Disgusting. Brutal goddamn loss. Now they get Milwaukee on a back to back. Christ.
I wonder if Embiid will get fined by the league for flopping and getting Drummond tossed from the gaame? If I were Drummond i’d make a big stink about that call. That was Neymar-esque

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by pk500 »

What do you cats think about the new rule that puts 14 seconds back on the shot clock after an offensive rebound, not the full 24?

I'm ambivalent. I think any team that works hard enough to get an offensive board should get the full 24. But then I love how this rule has helped increase the pace of games even higher and has led to more scoring.

It's a bit of a gimmick, but it's working.

Thoughts?
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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pk500 wrote:What do you cats think about the new rule that puts 14 seconds back on the shot clock after an offensive rebound, not the full 24?

I'm ambivalent. I think any team that works hard enough to get an offensive board should get the full 24. But then I love how this rule has helped increase the pace of games even higher and has led to more scoring.

It's a bit of a gimmick, but it's working.

Thoughts?
Ding, ding, ding !

That's what I said earlier, the pace of this years NBA has made the NFL at least for me tough to watch. So far the games this year from those that I have seen have been exciting. Keep doing this and Adam Silver may get his wish with the NBA becoming the #1 global sport in the world.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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We'll see how long they can maintain this pace.

Last year Warriors were one of the top teams in pace. This year, they're ranked in the 20s or the bottom 1/3 or 1/4 of the league.

People are speculating that Lebron has been struggling with the Lakers' pace but even younger players will feel the wear on their legs over the course of the season.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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wco81 wrote:Last year Warriors were one of the top teams in pace. This year, they're ranked in the 20s or the bottom 1/3 or 1/4 of the league.
Maybe they decided to PACE themselves. :P :lol:

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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wco81 wrote:We'll see how long they can maintain this pace.

Last year Warriors were one of the top teams in pace. This year, they're ranked in the 20s or the bottom 1/3 or 1/4 of the league.
You lose JaVale and Zaza, and you lose all your team speed. :lol: :lol: :lol:
wco81 wrote:People are speculating that Lebron has been struggling with the Lakers' pace but even younger players will feel the wear on their legs over the course of the season.
The Lakers' problem isn't pace. The Lakers' problem is that the franchise spent a big chunk of money on veterans not named LeBron who aren't very good.

There also are ominous signs in the future for the Lakers. A lot of talk reported by NBA media that not nearly as many young players want to play with LeBron as previously thought. The middling-to-negative experiences of Kyrie and Kevin Love are telling. They got their rings, but neither enjoyed being moons orbiting around LeBron that much.

Plus PG's decision to stay in OKC also debunked the "everybody wants to play with LeBron" theory. Not many stars reaching the peak of their career want to play caddy to LeBron, especially in a situation in LA in which making it out of the Western Conference would be far from guaranteed.

Anyone who served as the remora to LeBron's blue whale in Cleveland was all but assured of an NBA Finals berth during LeBron's second tenure there. The rest of the East was that bad.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by greggsand »

I think the Lakers look significantly better than I imagined. Their biggest issue isn’t the wacky vets they signed, but a general disregard for defense (THOUGH you could say that about every team not named Denver so far). The way Lonzo plays with LeBron has the potential to be something special. All that said, the NBA finals are sadly predictable & it will end with Golden State v Celtics.

Paul George not coming to LA wasn’t an indictment on LeBron IMO, but just the ‘grab your cash while you can’ nature of the max salary structure of vets in the CBA right now.
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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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greggsand wrote:I think the Lakers look significantly better than I imagined. Their biggest issue isn’t the wacky vets they signed, but a general disregard for defense (THOUGH you could say that about every team not named Denver so far). The way Lonzo plays with LeBron has the potential to be something special. All that said, the NBA finals are sadly predictable & it will end with Golden State v Celtics.

Paul George not coming to LA wasn’t an indictment on LeBron IMO, but just the ‘grab your cash while you can’ nature of the max salary structure of vets in the CBA right now.
The way the East is playing out so far I would put Toronto iahead of the Celtics n the Finals. It's obviously real early in the season but the Celtics look off so far. Kawhi Leonard looks like the investment was worth it although his team who handles his affairs are still indicating he still wants to go to LAC.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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If they could have a do over, would the Lakers have traded away D'Angelo Russell? He seems to be having his breakout year with Brooklyn. I'm still not sold on Lonzo Ball.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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Rodster wrote:If they could have a do over, would the Lakers have traded away D'Angelo Russell? He seems to be having his breakout year with Brooklyn. I'm still not sold on Lonzo Ball.
I don’t think so. They did it to clear salary cap space for this past summer and next summer.

Today Magic said they’re getting another superstar free agent next summer.

Whether Ball is going to live up to his draft position remains to be seen. He still releases that ball low in front of his head and to the right. He’s got good size and leaping ability so he can get the shot off on step backs.

But if he has to pull up and shoot over a hand in his face, it’s tough to do it with a release point that low. Also would be hard for him to pull up off a right hand dribble.

He could make up for it with playmaking and defense though.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

All of the criticism of Ball's shooting mechanics should have sent up red flags and then there's his DAD. Russell's contract was probably no worse than Lonzo Ball's rookie contract but now D. Russell is shining playing for the Nets,

Side note: I was watching the OKC game and good grief is Russ Westbrook and ball hawk. No wonder OKC has trouble advancing in the Playoffs. If he even gets a sniff of the ball no one else will touch it.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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And people still wonder why KD left OKC ...

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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wco81 wrote:Today Magic said they’re getting another superstar free agent next summer.
I’d like to know who he has in mind because the only two superstars available next year are KD and Kawhi Leonard. It looks like KD is looking to go possibly to NYK based on some rumors and if Leonard leaves Toronto the rumor has it accroding to what his personal team is leaking is that he wants to go to LA and the Lakers are no longer his preferred choice becuase of LBJ. So that leaves the Clippers who should have enough cap space for two max contracts.

Most of the superstars have distanced themselves from Lebron with PG13 wanting to go to the Lakers but decided to stay at OKC. So that leaves Jimmy Butler available next year. Does he want to play and be Lebron’s shadow? I doubt it. Anthony Davis is locked up for the next 2 years.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

Post by Rodster »

Nice to see D-Rose drop 50 on Utah last night and caps it off with a blocked shot. There's a great player who was robbed of his athletic prime by two knee injuries. He looked to be the next Allen Iverson. Definitely pulling for the guy to return as close to his former self.

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Re: NBA Season 2018/19

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Rodster wrote:If they could have a do over, would the Lakers have traded away D'Angelo Russell? He seems to be having his breakout year with Brooklyn. I'm still not sold on Lonzo Ball.
If they could do it all over again, the Lakers would probably trade him twice. Nobody seems too upset he’s gone (then and now). To use a bill simmons term, he’s a “good stats, bad team” player.
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