NBA 2019-2020

Sarni

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Philly vs Clippers would be interesting. The Clippers have no answer for Embiid. But Kawhi and George can both shut down Simmons.
Very few teams have answer for Embiid though but I feel like someone like Harrell, despite not being great defensively, could get under his skin. Beverley lacks size of course, being a point guard, but he could annoy the hell out of Embiid too. The thing about Embiid is that he gets overexcited fairly easily and his game can go down the drain when he does. It's also hard to see Clippers having the ammo to go after a proper rim protector, they could do some digging in the bargain bin and buyout players but they can't really go after Adams, Drummond etc.

I think playoffs this year could be amazing if most star players are healthy, there's so many matchups that could potentially go to 6-7 games. Even in the East where it seemed like it was top 2 and then everyone else it seems like Miami could be a handful for whoever they play. They do strike me as a team that does better in regular season than they are going to do in the playoffs though, as in playoffs what matters more is your top players quality rather than depth as rotations get shortened to 7-8 players.
 

Sarni

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So far this season:

  • West is wide open as expected but more open toward those 7-8 spots than anticipated as Warriors are gone... Portland, both LA teams, Utah, Denver and Houston are making playoffs but final two spots could go to anybody. At this point I expect Dallas to make it, barring injuries, and would pick Spurs as the other team.
  • Brogdon was a tremendous acquisiiton for Indiana and it was wrong for Milwaukee to let him go. He has matured into a fantastic player and a leader of that Indiana team, who to be fair have not done amazingly well so far but should get better as they get healthy.
  • Dallas have a beautifully constructed roster which somehow had not been noticed during offseason. Instead of going for stars in free agency they basically took players who compliment Doncic and Porzingis well: solid defenders, players to stretch the floor, secondary playmakers. Great point guard rotation with Delon Wright, Brunson and Curry, good wing rotation, plenty of centers with different skill sets to choose from. Amazing work.
  • Jokic has to stay in shape. I know it's hilarious that he can be fat and still amazing but he would be so much better if he were actually half fit. It's good for him to has a bigger body but he can't be so extremely out of shape as he is now, season is long and it will eventually take its toll on him - even if he managed to play 65 minutes against Portland last season.
  • Conley looks absolutely shot and will hurt Utah chances if he doesn't improve. They are heavily reliant on him coming back into similar form he had been in during his best times last 2-3 years (he won't go back to his prime) or they have no chance of competing
  • Drummond has been a total killer so far and exactly what he should be. Dominating in the paint, getting rebounds, converting free throws, scoring at a very high level and defending quite well. It helps that he's out of contract at the end of season, he'll play himself into a max deal quite comfortably.
 

Piratesoup

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Luka Doncic is such a ridiculous talent. If he keeps this up... oh boy.
 

syrian_scholes

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I doubt Houston makes the playoffs if we don't fix our defense, losing the defensive coach is kind of a bummer.
 

freeurmind

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So far this season:

  • West is wide open as expected but more open toward those 7-8 spots than anticipated as Warriors are gone... Portland, both LA teams, Utah, Denver and Houston are making playoffs but final two spots could go to anybody. At this point I expect Dallas to make it, barring injuries, and would pick Spurs as the other team.
  • Brogdon was a tremendous acquisiiton for Indiana and it was wrong for Milwaukee to let him go. He has matured into a fantastic player and a leader of that Indiana team, who to be fair have not done amazingly well so far but should get better as they get healthy.
  • Dallas have a beautifully constructed roster which somehow had not been noticed during offseason. Instead of going for stars in free agency they basically took players who compliment Doncic and Porzingis well: solid defenders, players to stretch the floor, secondary playmakers. Great point guard rotation with Delon Wright, Brunson and Curry, good wing rotation, plenty of centers with different skill sets to choose from. Amazing work.
  • Jokic has to stay in shape. I know it's hilarious that he can be fat and still amazing but he would be so much better if he were actually half fit. It's good for him to has a bigger body but he can't be so extremely out of shape as he is now, season is long and it will eventually take its toll on him - even if he managed to play 65 minutes against Portland last season.
  • Conley looks absolutely shot and will hurt Utah chances if he doesn't improve. They are heavily reliant on him coming back into similar form he had been in during his best times last 2-3 years (he won't go back to his prime) or they have no chance of competing
  • Drummond has been a total killer so far and exactly what he should be. Dominating in the paint, getting rebounds, converting free throws, scoring at a very high level and defending quite well. It helps that he's out of contract at the end of season, he'll play himself into a max deal quite comfortably.
Agree with everything except I think the Spurs will most definitely be a playoff team while I'm not so sure about Utah. Bucks should deff have given Brogdon the money instead of Middleton but some people are saying that Brogdon's a long term injury concern.
 

Sarni

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Agree with everything except I think the Spurs will most definitely be a playoff team while I'm not so sure about Utah. Bucks should deff have given Brogdon the money instead of Middleton but some people are saying that Brogdon's a long term injury concern.
Utah will for sure be a playoffs team, they will get at minimum 45 wins. They usually aren’t that great on the road so not particularly surprised about losing 3 games there, especially since two of them were against strong LA teams, but they will still have a huge homecourt advantage compared to other teams and should probably go 32-10 or better there. Thing is, though, they were supposed to be a contender but won’t be if Conley cannot play at a high level.

Spurs you are probably right about. I have them as a borderline playoffs lock. They, similar to Miami, can plug anybody in and still do great. They do have some issues with spacing though.
 

ZDwyr

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I never had Utah as a genuine contender. Contender for a top 3 seed maybe, but not for the title. It's hard to win a championship without a top 10 player (probably impossible). Utah don't have anyone like that while their rivals have at least one...maybe two.

EDIT: Unless you're really high on Gobert or a big believer in Mitchell developing this season.
 

Sarni

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This is just pathetic, I have no words and I have no patience for this team either.

With Nurkic and Collins out until at least the All-Star break, I think we can cross Portland off the playoffs list for now. It’s also unbelievable how CJ got yet another extension basically by the virtue of being Dame’s best friend, he’s quite clearly not the right fit and hurts the team more often than he helps (despite that awesome Denver performance). Every now and again he will have a performance that will get the fan base, including me, super excited, but for each of those he has five where he’s a massive negative. Roster construction is absolutely ridiculous too, not a single power forward who should have a job in NBA (Tolliver lol) and one small forward who has been let go by Orlando and Knicks. It’s basically all guards and Whiteside.

Paschall is talented though. Not top tier talent but should be a decent rotation player even when they have a proper team in San Francisco.
 
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Slevs

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1-6. Good that I decided to hold off on subscribing to NBA. feck me we're bad
 

kouroux

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This is just pathetic, I have no words and I have no patience for this team either.

With Nurkic and Collins out until at least the All-Star break, I think we can cross Portland off the playoffs list for now. It’s also unbelievable how CJ got yet another extension basically by the virtue of being Dame’s best friend, he’s quite clearly not the right fit and hurts the team more often than he helps (despite that awesome Denver performance). Every now and again he will have a performance that will get the fan base, including me, super excited, but for each of those he has five where he’s a massive negative. Roster construction is absolutely ridiculous too, not a single power forward who should have a job in NBA (Tolliver lol) and one small forward who has been let go by Orlando and Knicks. It’s basically all guards and Whiteside.

Paschall is talented though. Not top tier talent but should be a decent rotation player even when they have a proper team in San Francisco.
:lol::lol:
 

Sarni

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How do you lose to this warriors team :lol:
I don't fecking know, it's ridiculous. I mean you allow Eric Paschall to blow up for 34 points and 13 rebounds. It's what happens when you refuse to accept that you actually need forwards and bigs on your freaking team, you can't play only guards. I'm well and truly sick of this. New contracts for Dame and CJ mean I'll have to somehow tolerate this crap for the next 5 years. The worst thing is we had so many opportunities to trade CJ for a key piece that would have fit much better - Indiana may have taken him for George, Spurs would have probably taken him over DeRozan for Kawhi but no, he's great friends with Dame, let's keep him forever and pretend that duo works. IT DOESN'T.
 

elmo

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Devin Booker with another brilliant performance. Suns have been quality.
He's finally healthy and has a point guard who can get him the ball which allows him to unleash all his offensive skills efficiently instead of trying to iso every possession.
 

elmo

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But seriously, who the hell is Eric Paschall and how does the Warriors always seem to be able to draft the random second round pick who suddenly look like they should have went in the first?
 

Scarecrow

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But seriously, who the hell is Eric Paschall and how does the Warriors always seem to be able to draft the random second round pick who suddenly look like they should have went in the first?
There's no cap on staff spending. I think the Warriors, Raptors and Clippers have the biggest analytics and scounting departments.
 

Kasper

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Collins now also failed a drug test and is banned for 25 games. Shame, as he started this season again really well for us.

Have they changed their testing/general policy or is it just a coincidence that we've had a couple of cases now?
 

Ayush_reddevil

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But seriously, who the hell is Eric Paschall and how does the Warriors always seem to be able to draft the random second round pick who suddenly look like they should have went in the first?
Actually the warriors have had a really poor record in the draft recently. In fact even in this draft their first round pick in Jordan Poole doesn't look impressive
 

Charlie Foley

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.....the kids are alright.
This year is all about seeing who will make it out of the support cast for when our big names are bag. Gotta enjoy it for what it is: get to see young guys progress; get rid of all the bandwagoners; and STILL beating Portland :lol: :lol:
 

Sarni

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Kawhi’s load management is actually quite clever I think. They are sitting him again in a game they’d be likely to lose anyway, basically accepting a loss like they did in Utah. They play him in all other games because he’s an X factor against other teams and ensures they get a good record.

It will be interesting to see how they manage him and George when he returns. They will be able to sit him against weaker teams as well because realistically, with their depth only one of them is needed to win those.
 

Ayush_reddevil

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At some point NBA will have to consider reducing the number of games in the regular season. Clearly it's too high at the moment
 

ZDwyr

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The players themselves won't even want the number of games reduced because it will mean less money for them.
 

NM

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But seriously, who the hell is Eric Paschall and how does the Warriors always seem to be able to draft the random second round pick who suddenly look like they should have went in the first?
As a Villanova Alum and fan, I was 100% certain he would be a NBA stud. He has a 3 point shot, ability to drive and can bang in the paint. The only reason he was R2 was because he is old.

Right now, teams should be taking everybody they can get from Nova. Jay Wright is running a factory - right now in the league there is Hart, Brunson, Bridges, Spellman, DiVincenzo. All except DiVincenzo will be at the minimum solid NBA players.

Let's not forget Lowry was Villanova too.
 

Fridge chutney

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Kawhi’s load management is actually quite clever I think. They are sitting him again in a game they’d be likely to lose anyway, basically accepting a loss like they did in Utah. They play him in all other games because he’s an X factor against other teams and ensures they get a good record.

It will be interesting to see how they manage him and George when he returns. They will be able to sit him against weaker teams as well because realistically, with their depth only one of them is needed to win those.
Apparently he's injured. Or playing through an injury. So sitting him out of necessity I think.
 

Sarni

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As a Villanova Alum and fan, I was 100% certain he would be a NBA stud. He has a 3 point shot, ability to drive and can bang in the paint. The only reason he was R2 was because he is old.

Right now, teams should be taking everybody they can get from Nova. Jay Wright is running a factory - right now in the league there is Hart, Brunson, Bridges, Spellman, DiVincenzo. All except DiVincenzo will be at the minimum solid NBA players.

Let's not forget Lowry was Villanova too.
Spellman will not be solid I think. Don’t rate him at all. Otherwise correct, lots of very talented players coming out of Villanova and they all seem to be immediately NBA ready.
 

Rooney1987

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Kawhi’s load management is actually quite clever I think. They are sitting him again in a game they’d be likely to lose anyway, basically accepting a loss like they did in Utah. They play him in all other games because he’s an X factor against other teams and ensures they get a good record.

It will be interesting to see how they manage him and George when he returns. They will be able to sit him against weaker teams as well because realistically, with their depth only one of them is needed to win those.
It is clever and he did this last year too. To be honest I think only reason people care is because it was against Giannis. Doesn't help EPSN missed out on that match up and made a talking point all day. I get why to some it does make him look a little bad as he picked this one to not play and not Portland.
 

Sarni

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It is clever and he did this last year too. To be honest I think only reason people care is because it was against Giannis. Doesn't help EPSN missed out on that match up and made a talking point all day. I get why to some it does make him look a little bad as he picked this one to not play and not Portland.
Yeah but they could struggle against Portland without him and will annihilate Portland with him. Against Bucks they may have as well lost with him playing too, like I said. Lots of people who bought tickets to the game were pissed off though, and it doesn’t help Clippers already weak brand.
 

Bubz27

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Yeah but they could struggle against Portland without him and will annihilate Portland with him. Against Bucks they may have as well lost with him playing too, like I said. Lots of people who bought tickets to the game were pissed off though, and it doesn’t help Clippers already weak brand.
And it doesn't show a great mentality to me. Something LeBron constantly gets slated for.
 

Jim Beam

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Clippers brand is also a grand total of 0 titles. That is probably the only thing they really care (and should care) atm.

He obviously has health issues and would be crazy not to manage his game time. He hasn't played in a back-to-back since April 2017 for a reason. Once playoff begins he will be on the court pretty much the whole time.