NBA 2016-17

Moby

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It all depends on how fit and how good Noah and Rose are. They basically went from stars to mid-tier players in a couple of seasons, do they have it in them to get back to their top level?
That's pretty much the question on everyone's minds. I don't think it will happen precisely for the reasons you mentioned - fitness and form - but dear god if they can click with Melo in there it could give the East something to think about.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Absolutely cannot feckin' wait for tonight. Alarm is already set for 5 am in time to catch the second half of Blazers v Jazz. Hoping for a win here, won't be easy by any means as Jazz have a solid core and a lot of depth but Blazers are better.

Warriors v Spurs is an obvious blockbuster. Think Warriors will win this one comfortably though, much better team and they'll want to kick off well. Likewise I fully expect Cavaliers to start on a high and dispose of Knicks.
Me too. I'm debating whether to stay up until 1am for tipoff of my Knicks or get up at 6am and watch it. Probably the latter as I expect us to get beat.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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That's pretty much the question on everyone's minds. I don't think it will happen precisely for the reasons you mentioned - fitness and form - but dear god if they can click with Melo in there it could give the East something to think about.
Hope so. Sick of watching us be utter crap, It's bad enough with United these days :D.
 

Sarni

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Minnesota and Lakers look like they are the two best young, exciting teams this year.
I don't think Lakers are that exciting for now. All their young players are still pretty rough. Timberwolves are way more ready as Towns was already one of top 5 centers in the league last season, Wiggins has had very good games and Dunn has looked quite good. Timberwolves will be borderline playoffs team but Lakers will be tanking again IMO. Lakers, Bucks and 76ers will once again be the worst teams in the league by a margin, although this time I fully expect Bucks to suck the most.
 

ZDwyr

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Yeah I don't really get the hype around the Knicks. People seem to be rating them as if Melo and Rose are anywhere close to their best.
 

Sarni

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Brilliant game in Portland. Terrible third quarter aside Blazers were properly good here, and what a monstrous performance by Lillard - 39 pts, 9 rebounds, basically won us the game in that 4th quarter.

Vonleh is probably making a case for himself to be the starting power forward. Incredible improvement from him, soon he will make that Batum deal look very good all of a sudden. Well at 19 back then he always had a nice room for improvement.
 

Sarni

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The GSW super team getting spanked at home by the Spurs lol. Curry only one who showed up to play.
I'm loving that. They've lost every single quarter so far and looks like they will lose the 4th too. Loving how clueless their defence looks.
 

Redondo_Pirri

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I'm loving that. They've lost every single quarter so far and looks like they will lose the 4th too. Loving how clueless their defence looks.
Getting rid of Bogs was a stupid idea, no rebounder, no shot blocker, no rim protection. Useless.
 

Sarni

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Haha. What the hell happened in Oakland?!

Kawhi for MVP!
Kawhi is absolutely excellent. I did not catch the full game because I was watching Portland but I imagine that what happened is Spurs closed down the D, defended the perimeter and Warriors had no plan B. They did not have interior defense either and with Spurs big line up they must have got a lot of joy down low.

Also loving Lillard's form last night, he was clinical out there and changed the game in the last quarter. I know Kerr tipped him to be the MVP this year and it isn't that far fetched. They showed a stat of three-pointers made in first 4 NBA seasons and Lillard was some distance ahead of Klay Thompson and way, way ahead of Curry with I think the best ever record, 828. He's only been in the league since 2012 and has loads of room for improvement, he's already one of the best shooters around and if he could be consistent in closing out the games, he'll be absolutely immense. Must say I have a bit of a hard-on when I think about having the core backcourt of Lillard and McCollum tied down for years, probably the most fun backcourt to watch in the league.
 

Sarni

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Evan Turner has been a bit disappointing in terms of shooting though, I've always known he's a poor shooter but last two games were completely abysmal. Still, he hit the bucket when it mattered most in the last quarter. Harkless was also disappointing last night. On the plus side (Vonleh and Lillard aside), McCollum had a tidy game and Crabbe really stepped it up.

Loving the style of this team. It's so fast paced and great to watch. If we could get interior defense to a higher level (probable with Vonleh's improvement and Ezeli's comeback, plus Aminu is a terrific defender, Davis is not bad either), Blazers could make some noise in the West.
 

Stobzilla

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Jonathon Simmons had a huge game. Great story behind him as well, it'd just be typical of the Spurs to uncover another diamond, especially one in a position of need.
 

Sarni

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Jonathon Simmons had a huge game. Great story behind him as well, it'd just be typical of the Spurs to uncover another diamond, especially one in a position of need.
What is the story? I see that he's a 27 for whom this will be first full NBA season. Basically started playing college basketball at 22 or 23 too.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Tough start for us last night vs The Cavs. Both teams were extremely sloppy in the first half with shooting. Rose looked alot more dynamic then I expected him to be which is encouraging. Noah didn't work at all with Porzingis though which is a major concern for me.
 

elmo

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What is the story? I see that he's a 27 for whom this will be first full NBA season. Basically started playing college basketball at 22 or 23 too.
Paid to tryouts for the Austin Toros (Spurs D-League team) and stuck it out all the way till he finally got a contract last year.
 

VanHaal'sRedArmy

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Haha. What the hell happened in Oakland?!

Kawhi for MVP!
No size, no depth, but they're going 81-1...:yawn:

Spurs looked great. Gasol may be a pylon on defense, but their length with LA, Pau, and Kawhi willgive them a rebounding advantage on both ends. If Parker and Ginobli continue to play like they did last night, they are the most complete team in this league.
 

Kasper

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Great to see Lillard on fire, he got me 46 points in my fantasy league:drool:

Also nice to see GSW getting spanked, it's great to have a villain team again.
 

Sarni

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I don't envy Anthony Davis. He has to play at Pelicans who are frankly not very good and have not surrounded him with any seriois quality so even though he scores 50 on the night, they still lose to Nuggets. Put Davis on an almost-contender like Raptors, Trail Blazers, Celtics or Pacers and they'd be up there with the best. Nobody has the assets to get him though.

Embiid is going to be some players. He was getting great statistics in preseason already and got 20 points in 22 minutes on his NBA debut. Time for Philly to find some backcourt talent they will be able to get for Okafor/Noel and stop losing.
 

ZDwyr

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Now Philly fans chanting "Trust the process *clap clap clapclapclap*"
I think they were chanting "KD left you" to Russ when he was shooting free-throws at the end :lol:. Was a pretty rowdy crowd, and a good game.
 

Stobzilla

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I don't envy Anthony Davis. He has to play at Pelicans who are frankly not very good and have not surrounded him with any seriois quality so even though he scores 50 on the night, they still lose to Nuggets. Put Davis on an almost-contender like Raptors, Trail Blazers, Celtics or Pacers and they'd be up there with the best. Nobody has the assets to get him though.
That'll be an interesting situation in a couple years. Davis is so good that he'd make almost any other team a lock for a playoff birth. The only team that can probably make a play for him is Utah. They are 12/13 deep with predominately young talent and have their picks.
 

Sarni

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That'll be an interesting situation in a couple years. Davis is so good that he'd make almost any other team a lock for a playoff birth. The only team that can probably make a play for him is Utah. They are 12/13 deep with predominately young talent and have their picks.
Hayward + Favors + Hood + 3 first round picks and Pelicans might do it. No way it's good value for Jazz though, to be fair with Davis injury record it's an obstacle that will put off many potential suitors.
 

Stobzilla

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Well he's locked up until he is 28, Pelicans have probably 4 years to turn their situation around before it becomes anything close to possible.
 

Sarni

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Well he's locked up until he is 28, Pelicans have probably 4 years to turn their situation around before it becomes anything close to possible.
True. In 2 years when he has 2 years left on his contract trade talks might start though as they will want to maximize the value they get for him in the market. Let's face it, they are not the most attractive destination for top free agents, their only two players of any serious quality (Holiday and Evans) only have contracts until the end of this season. They do have players like Moore, Asik and Solomon Hill tied up for the next 4 years too but this is mid-tier quality of players. So basically, the only players of genuine quality/potential they will have there for considerable period of time are Davis himself and maybe Buddy Hield (if he turns out to be good). Hell, Tim Frazier started for them last night and got 36 minutes.

We could probably give them Aminu or Davis (to fit at power forward), Plumlee (significant potential), Harkless (superior to all Pelicans small forwards that are not Tyreke Evans), Leonard (outside shooting center they do not have) - maybe also Crabbe or Evan Turner to compensate for their poor backcourt - and two picks for him and still have a very good and deep enough rotation. :lol: And I'm actually thinking this would be a good deal for Pelicans, they'd basically get a new team and some nice assets to rebuild with.
 

Sarni

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Feck, that 4th quarter was atrocious by Blazers. Lillard and CJ missing free throws, Lillard going for the glory, McCollum tripping over his own feet, terrible referee calls, all round terrible stuff. Positive is Harkless had a great game, looking forward to his improvement this season. Defence was not bad either.
 
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