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NBA 2019-2020

Jim Beam

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Blazers - Mavs was a very good game. In the end, think both teams can took positives out of it. Blazers with coming back and taking that game, Mavs with the fact that Porzingis looks like a natural fit already and that in general they look pretty good.

With the feeling Warriors will struggle, there will probably be an extra space to fill in for play-off and if Porzingis can keep it up Mavs should at least be a serious contender for last 2 spots.
 

Sarni

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Blazers - Mavs was a very good game. In the end, think both teams can took positives out of it. Blazers with coming back and taking that game, Mavs with the fact that Porzingis looks like a natural fit already and that in general they look pretty good.

With the feeling Warriors will struggle, there will probably be an extra space to fill in for play-off and if Porzingis can keep it up Mavs should at least be a serious contender for last 2 spots.
Agreed. CJ was unbelievable with all the tough shots he made, thought SI were overrating him having him at 13th place on the list of the best active NBA players but it may have been not that far off. Ridiculous shots he made last night, there was no way to defend him. Happy about that win, being 2-1 with a relatively new team still getting used to each other is very promising. I don’t like Whiteside so far though, his defense is far from where I’d like it to be.

As for Dallas, their big two is amazing and whether they make the playoffs will largely depend on whether the other players can make shots. I like the fit of guys like Curry, Brunson, Wright, Finney-Smith, even Jackson but they are all basically average 3&D/playmakers. They have no means to improve their team much though so have to hope for internal development. Kleber is good and they have a knack for finding players out of nowhere. I think six playoff spots in West are guaranteed to both LA teams, Utah, Denver, Portland and Houston but the remaining two can go to anyone.
 

Jim Beam

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Agreed. CJ was unbelievable with all the tough shots he made, thought SI were overrating him having him at 13th place on the list of the best active NBA players but it may have been not that far off. Ridiculous shots he made last night, there was no way to defend him. Happy about that win, being 2-1 with a relatively new team still getting used to each other is very promising. I don’t like Whiteside so far though, his defense is far from where I’d like it to be.
I like the look of Blazers this season. You know what you will get from CJ and Dame and the rest look pretty balanced and well set up to me. Dame with the new contract and relaxed is probably on his way to highest ppg/season (despite his shooting struggles and he'll sort them out) and CJ just became so reliable 2nd and many times even 1st option. Whiteside was a bit on the decline last 2 seasons, but you can see the sense in going for him. He looks like he is struggling to stay focused for the whole game and goes in sleep mode at times. That's my feeling, but I think he will be fine overall.

What I do like about Blazers, back from last season or two, is that they look like a proper team. At least, that's the sense you get from watching them. They have horrific schedule going into this one (13 out of 18 first games are on the road and very few "easy" games), so these kind of wins lake last night are pretty important. Going out of that run with a positive record, settled as a team and I think they can finish season pretty strong, even make a push for top 4 seed.

I think six playoff spots in West are guaranteed to both LA teams, Utah, Denver, Portland and Houston but the remaining two can go to anyone.
Yep, just thinking about this today. This 6 are locked imo, 2 are up for grabs.
 

Sarni

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Trae looking pretty damn good tonight again.
 

SportingCP96

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What a win! 15-0 run at the end there. They showed a a lot of fight!

Bobby Portis went OFF! good for him.

This RJ kid is pretty good eh?:D:drool::drool: This kid has so much composure.

19 points 15 rebounds 5 assists.

It is just 1 win and wont mean shit but man that comeback got me hyped :D
 

SportingCP96

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Derrick Rose yet again! Its a shame he cant play the full game but if it keeps him healthy then so be it.
 
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charlton66

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Well that was a little better. Missed second half though. Had to follow game on my phone since I'm at an Elton John concert. Defence seemed a lot better at least until the last few minutes.
 

charlton66

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wow.ur old
Yep, but fortunately with age comes wisdom. ;)

.....well sometimes anyway.

EDIT: My wife just spent 100 bucks on a T-shirt, so maybe not so wise after all.

EDIT 2: Turned out it was 100 bucks for 2 T-shirts, but I'm still not happy.
 
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ZDwyr

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@ZDwyr was Russ this good last season? I could've sworn he was really shit. :lol:
He was great last year except for his shooting. I think people took him having a bad shooting season to mean he was garbage. It looked like he sorted out his FT form in the Portland series though. I'm not sure how it's going this season but it might be better. The extra spacing is probably helping him a little too.

EDIT: There were some other factors as well. He came back early from an ankle sprain last year, played with a hand injury in the playoffs, and was raising new-born twins. I think they all had some influence on some poor performances as well.

EDIT 2: The real question should be: was Chris Paul this average last season? he isn't exactly inflating his trade value
 

syrian_scholes

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He was great last year except for his shooting. I think people took him having a bad shooting season to mean he was garbage. It looked like he sorted out his FT form in the Portland series though. I'm not sure how it's going this season but it might be better. The extra spacing is probably helping him a little too.

EDIT: There were some other factors as well. He came back early from an ankle sprain last year, played with a hand injury in the playoffs, and was raising new-born twins. I think they all had some influence on some poor performances as well.

EDIT 2: The real question should be: was Chris Paul this average last season? he isn't exactly inflating his trade value
He isn't shooting many threes so that's a positive, his mid-range seems a bit rusty rut his hustle and lay-ups just wow, he seems to make stupid passes when he is nearing the triple double some times just trying to force out an assist, but honestly I'm surprised how good he has been and the energy he provides just amazing.

Yeah CP3 was average last season, I think currently his best asset is his defense BUT he struggles vs athletic point guards, he does well vs guards like Steph though, his shooting is sporadic sometimes great sometimes bad but he definitely become a lot more passive than he used to be.
 

ZDwyr

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Is Conley injured? Washed? Just adapting to a new team/system?
 

Moby

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but honestly I'm surprised how good he has been and the energy he provides just amazing.
Anyone who actually watched him at OKC instead of just reading the stupid stat padding narratives could see that quite clearly the whole time. Not that he's a flawless players and definitely has some clear cut issues that can hamper the rest of the team at times but he's got a lot to compensate that and back at his peak that was something that proved to be problematic for a lot of the opposition. Similarly when it was said that he'd do well alongside a better supporting cast especially alongside some good shooters, it was laughed off as an excuse when it was clear as day that a player with the kind of penetration he has down the lanes would hugely benefit being in a team with great shooting options and Rockets is one of those teams. He's past his best now so don't expect him to reach great heights this season but at the same time, he can be pretty useful and allow the rest of the players on the court more space and less attention giving them more open looks.
 

Sarni

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Davis with 27 free throws. :lol:

Lakers will be a team everyone will overreact to, seemingly. Three wins in a row and they're back to being a contender, despite the fact two of them were against two worst teams in the league at home and the other was at home against Utah who are still getting used to each other as well.
 

Bubz27

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Utah who are still getting used to each other as well.
As are the Lakers, with Kuz to come back yet as well.

As you said, overreacting when they lost to the clippers. But I wouldn't say anyone in here has overreacted to their wins since. They've barely got a mention relative to the loss.
 

Sarni

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As are the Lakers, with Kuz to come back yet as well.

As you said, overreacting when they lost to the clippers. But I wouldn't say anyone in here has overreacted to their wins since. They've barely got a mention relative to the loss.
Don't really mean here, rather all across reddit and basketball forums. For me their wins against Hornets and Grizzlies don't really mean anything. Utah was a good win but it was a home game against a team that has historically struggled on the road compared to how they perform at home, and isn't really top tier yet either.

I think they'll be good but will struggle against good teams.
 

freeurmind

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Don't really mean here, rather all across reddit and basketball forums. For me their wins against Hornets and Grizzlies don't really mean anything. Utah was a good win but it was a home game against a team that has historically struggled on the road compared to how they perform at home, and isn't really top tier yet either.

I think they'll be good but will struggle against good teams.
If their big 3 stay healthy, I don't know how they don't finish as a top 4 seed. That being said, they have looked bad defensively to start things off. Vogel needs to sort that out quick or they will struggle to make the conference finals. The team I'm really worried about is GS. I kindof laughed when people were saying they might not make the playoffs but they've looked very average to start this year. I was expecting Steph to be getting 35+ a game but he's nowhere near that.
 

Sarni

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If their big 3 stay healthy, I don't know how they don't finish as a top 4 seed. That being said, they have looked bad defensively to start things off. Vogel needs to sort that out quick or they will struggle to make the conference finals. The team I'm really worried about is GS. I kindof laughed when people were saying they might not make the playoffs but they've looked very average to start this year. I was expecting Steph to be getting 35+ a game but he's nowhere near that.
Big 3 is a big word. Do you mean Green or Kuzma as third? They have a big 2 with two good complimentary players.

Not sure about top 4 at all. Clippers are better than them, Denver are a deeper and should be a better regular season team, Houston should be better and won't be surprised at all if one of Portland, San Antonio and Utah have a better record.

I don't think Warriors are making playoffs to be honest. They will not finish ahead of LA teams, Utah, Denver, Portland, San Antonio or Houston so it's basically a battle for 8th seed. Dallas look much, much better than them so far. Even on paper they have more quality.
 

Moby

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Big 3 is a big word. Do you mean Green or Kuzma as third? They have a big 2 with two good complimentary players.

Not sure about top 4 at all. Clippers are better than them, Denver are a deeper and should be a better regular season team, Houston should be better and won't be surprised at all if one of Portland, San Antonio and Utah have a better record.

I don't think Warriors are making playoffs to be honest. They will not finish ahead of LA teams, Utah, Denver, Portland, San Antonio or Houston so it's basically a battle for 8th seed. Dallas look much, much better than them so far. Even on paper they have more quality.
I think it's clear that they need the big 2 healthy the whole year so probably best to keep that as an overall assumption when discussing anything about them.

What's their healthy starting 5 anyway? Bron, Green, Kuzma, Davis and Howard? With McGee, Cook, Bradley and KCP coming off the bench? Not counting Cousins here who is probably out for the season but Vogel talked about him after the Hornets game hinting on a possibility of him coming back during the season, so he would go into the starting 4 instead of Howard.

Extremely early days but having Davis allows Bron to coast through the regular season knowing there's a monster double-double machine on the floor who is good enough to get them into playoffs, possibly with a decent seed as well. Davis, with the support from the likes of Green and Kuz (and of course Bron as well) can get them enough wins and at the same time preserve Bron for the playoffs where both of them will need to go full pelt for them having any chance of getting anywhere near the ring.

Goes without saying that in most circumstances Clips should be winning the ring but with the quality of those big 2 at Lakers, who aren't as bad as apart from them as some have made it look at times it isn't impossible for them to give it a shot giving most things go into their favour.
 

SportingCP96

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Just got home and checked to see that we lost. Back on track I see:lol: