Good Thing Everybody Else is Mediocre ...

[kg01]

... 'Cause that's the only thing saving our season so far.

Think about it.  All these teams are underperforming w.r.t. expectations:

MIA

PHI

TOR

BKN

CHI

Shiiii, even WAS is below what some thought they'd be.

We're very fortunate the only team surpassing expectations is IND.  We're also lucky we played MIL so many times early.

Hopefully the players will figure it out on the fly because they're getting no help from their coaches.

Heyul, just play solid ball and we'll be fine considering the number of teams that aren't even doing that every night.  And pray to the sweet baby jeebus that none of the teams listed above figures it out before we do.

#SaveUsBogd!

#'CauseYouMayBeOurOnlyHope

Edited December 1, 2022 by kg01

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I tried to tell people this last week. Only 4 - 5 teams are what you can consider "playing decent".  There is a logjam of teams in both conferences right In the middle.  That's why all of this panicking going on with the Hawks is unnecessary at this time.

Yes, the Hawks have issues, but 75% of the league has issues.

[kg01]

17 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

I tried to tell people this last week. Only 4 - 5 teams are what you can consider "playing decent".  There is a logjam of teams in both conferences right In the middle.  That's why all of this panicking going on with the Hawks is unnecessary at this time.

Yes, the Hawks have issues, but 75% of the league has issues.

After I talked myself off the ledge a few days ago, I had a look around the league. 

Our issues are tame, by comparison, to what some other teams are going through.

I mean, tame as a baby deer.

So as pissed as I am that we haven't taken advantage of this, the reality is we're a decent week away from elevating ourselves.

Definitely time for concern.  Nowhere near time to panic as some folks are doing.

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, kg01 said:

After I talked myself off the ledge a few days ago, I had a look around the league. 

Our issues are tame, by comparison, to what some other teams are going through.

I mean, tame as a baby deer.

So as pissed as I am that we haven't taken advantage of this, the reality is we're a decent week away from elevating ourselves.

Definitely time for concern.  Nowhere near time to panic as some folks are doing.

On a forward looking basis, I would be happier if Nate was having us run new things on offense and we were just in learning mode and struggling with these new screens, etc.  But he seems to have dialed the offense down to "take your man one on one" a lot of the time so it leaves me less confident that there is a future state where the offense is ready to deal with the zones, etc. we have been facing.  Bogi's return is the one thing that really isn't in play yet for Nate to fully realize his offensive vision for this team.

[kg01]

28 minutes ago, AHF said:

.....  Bogi's return is the one thing that really isn't in play yet for Nate to fully realize his offensive vision for this team.

Ah yeah, yeah .. that's what he's waiting on before unlocking the good sets.  He's just sandbaggin' rn. 

Bless your heart, AH.  You see the good in all of us.  You're our very own Lauren Jbara.

Well ... that is ... when you're not ALL CAPS'ng us. 

[benhillboy]

Yeah pretty much everyone out East looks beatable.  But that damn team in Beantown kicking ass by 9 points a night without their best screener and rim protector:

Edited December 1, 2022 by benhillboy

[AHF]

21 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Ah yeah, yeah .. that's what he's waiting on before unlocking the good sets.  He's just sandbaggin' rn. 

Bless your heart, AH.  You see the good in all of us.  You're our very own Lauren Jbara.

Well ... that is ... when you're not ALL CAPS'ng us. 

It is possible the phrase "fully realize his offensive vision" had my tongue pressed in my cheek while I typed.  More of a "if we don't see it when Bogi returns it sure as **** isn't coming because that is the last excuse to fall" for Nate's offense.  The reality is that most of what we are seeing from our offense is signature Nate offense going back years with his teams.  

[kg01]

12 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Yeah pretty much everyone out East looks beatable.  But that damn team in Beantown kicking ass by 9 points a night without their best screener and rim protector:

Who's rooting for a Selltic slump more?  The other teams chasing them or their former coach who needs teams to think their Finals run was mostly about him.

Eta. Also, is that a green jersey nestled under your Heet gear?

Edited December 1, 2022 by kg01

[macdaddy]

18 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Who's rooting for a Selltic slump more?  The other teams chasing them or their former coach who needs teams to think their Finals run was mostly about him.

Eta. Also, is that a green jersey nestled under your Heet gear?

So is Udoka done there or is he still just 'suspended'?  

[kg01]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

So is Udoka done there or is he still just 'suspended'?  

Done-zo, if you believe the reports during the flirtation with the Nets. 

[macdaddy]

10 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Done-zo, if you believe the reports during the flirtation with the Nets. 

Why haven't they fired him though?  Or have they and i missed it?  

[Diesel]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

... 'Cause that's the only thing saving our season so far.

Think about it.  All these teams are underperforming w.r.t. expectations:

MIA

PHI

TOR

BKN

CHI

Shiiii, even WAS is below what some thought they'd be.

We're very fortunate the only team surpassing expectations is IND.  We're also lucky we played MIL so many times early.

Hopefully the players will figure it out on the fly because they're getting no help from their coaches.

Heyul, just play solid ball and we'll be fine considering the number of teams that aren't even doing that every night.  And pray to the sweet baby jeebus that none of the teams listed above figures it out before we do.

#SaveUsBogd!

#'CauseYouMayBeOurOnlyHope

You call that... Parity. ..

But...  we should have won all 4 of our last game.  We just didn't follow the gameplan. 

 

But here's what woke me out of my sleep.

Last year, I was not concerned about Boston.   They won the EC and I said, they won by default. 

This year, they are thrashing any and everybody.   They are not 100%.  And they still look like the best team in the league.   

I want my Hawks to be in the finals.   However, 

Boston & Milwaukee (once Middleton gets back) are going to be very hard to supplant. 

 

[macdaddy]

3 minutes ago, Diesel said:

You call that... Parity. ..

But...  we should have won all 4 of our last game.  We just didn't follow the gameplan. 

 

But here's what woke me out of my sleep.

Last year, I was not concerned about Boston.   They won the EC and I said, they won by default. 

This year, they are thrashing any and everybody.   They are not 100%.  And they still look like the best team in the league.   

I want my Hawks to be in the finals.   However, 

Boston & Milwaukee (once Middleton gets back) are going to be very hard to supplant. 

 

As much as i hate Boston this is very true.   Right now we aren't on the level of these two teams.  In the playoffs we may only have to face one and injuries happen but right now we can't pretend that we can get to the finals without some changes and a lot of luck. 

[Diesel]

29 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Why haven't they fired him though?  Or have they and i missed it?  

Udoka is not fired.  He's being punished.  Punished because he dared to stand up to his bosses.   He was a shoe in for the Nets job.. but the Nets didn't take him.. because the NBA mafioso said... Don't touch him.  It's the same mafioso that put Kyrie on punishment and made sure that Kareem would never work as a coach in the NBA.  It's the same mafioso that allowed Lebron to do whatever he wanted to do but stopped Chris Paul from joining up with Kobe and Dwight in LAL. 

So I don't think that a team will be allowed to touch Udoka this year. 

 

 

 

[Diesel]

1 minute ago, macdaddy said:

As much as i hate Boston this is very true.   Right now we aren't on the level of these two teams.  In the playoffs we may only have to face one and injuries happen but right now we can't pretend that we can get to the finals without some changes and a lot of luck. 

If we continue to progress the way we are doing and get a third big.. I think we can beat one of them. 

 

[AHF]

13 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Udoka is not fired.  He's being punished.  Punished because he dared to stand up to his bosses.   He was a shoe in for the Nets job.. but the Nets didn't take him.. because the NBA mafioso said... Don't touch him.  It's the same mafioso that put Kyrie on punishment and made sure that Kareem would never work as a coach in the NBA.  It's the same mafioso that allowed Lebron to do whatever he wanted to do but stopped Chris Paul from joining up with Kobe and Dwight in LAL. 

So I don't think that a team will be allowed to touch Udoka this year. 

 

 

 

Put yourself in Boston's shoes.  You just had an employee be grossly insubordinate and you probably can't terminate their contract and not pay them (none of us have seen the contract but many contracts for employees like that contain language that makes it very hard not to pay them).  You might be paying him a lesser amount but it is clear he is being paid something but according to the Celitcs suffering a "significant financial penalty" during the suspension (maybe he can't earn large potential bonuses, etc. - who knows?) 

So why would you fire him and let him join another team if the only reason he isn't coaching your team is because he continued to pursue a romantic relationship with a subordinate after he was directed to stop?  If another team wants him, that actually works out well for Boston, though.  They can trade you something for him and take over paying him.  That is better than paying him while he is suspended and letting his contract run out without getting any value.  

We'll see how it plays out but Udoka has to be considered a high risk as a hire right now.

[kg01]

10 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Udoka is not fired.  He's being punished.  Punished because he dared to stand up to his bosses.   He was a shoe in for the Nets job.. but the Nets didn't take him.. because the NBA mafioso said... Don't touch him.  It's the same mafioso that put Kyrie on punishment and made sure that Kareem would never work as a coach in the NBA.  It's the same mafioso that allowed Lebron to do whatever he wanted to do but stopped Chris Paul from joining up with Kobe and Dwight in LAL. 

So I don't think that a team will be allowed to touch Udoka this year. 

 

 

 

Where do you get this stuff, Dies? 

First, we don't fully know what Udoka did.  Per reports, he harassed an employee and that's why he's being punished.  He didn't stand up to anybody, again, if you believe reports.

If anything, this is a mutual parting at this point because he's not happy with the Selltics' apparent over-action.

The Nets did indeed appear to cave to pressure but, looking at it practically, how could they have handled the ongoing Kyrie stuff AND explain hiring a coach who was serving a suspension.  Separate issues forced together due to circumstance, not some wide-ranging conspiracies.

Had some other team been in the spot to hire him, it likely would've happened.

And I really wish people would stop using the Paul trade as some evidence of league collusion or whatever.  That was an isolated occurrence which was fully explained at the time.

No one talks about our organization vetoing the Joe Johnson trade, which was literally the same thing.  LITERALLY, the exact same thing as the Hornets was owned by the league at the time.

I get the league is biased but these tinfoil hat conspiracies are ridiculous.  Do people not understand there's more money in the reveal than there is in the cover up?  Do people not understand the sheer number of folks that need to be "in" on this stuff?  Come on, folx. 

[Diesel]

For the Playoffs, this is what we would need:

1.  Boston

2.   Cleveland

3.   Milwaukee

4, Atlanta

5.   Philly

6.   Nets

7.  Raptors

8.  Miami 

1st round. 

Boston vs. Miami - This would actually be a good series.    Boston 4-1. 

Cleveland vs. Toronto - New Look Cleveland...   Raptors 4-3

Milwaukee vs. Brooklyn - Who knows what you get with the Nets.   Milwaukee 4-2. 

Atlanta vs. Philly - I think Deep down, we own these guys.   Atlanta 4-2

2nd round. 

Boston vs. Atlanta - Of the big two, this is who I would rather face in the playoffs.  Their bigs don't scare me.  The play of Tatum and Brown is great but I would like to see our G-F matchup...  I think we can win this series. 

Toronto vs. Milwaukee - Walk in the park.  Milwaukee 4-1. 

 

 The thing I hate about Milwaukee... is that there is no matchup for Giannis... and when you try to stop him, Holiday, Middleton, and all their other shooters get loose.   Yes, we have beaten them twice already.. but they didn't have Middleton. 

All of this is subject to change because Indiana , Washington,  and the Bulls are not stepping aside. 

 

[Diesel]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

We'll see how it plays out but Udoka has to be considered a high risk as a hire right now.

High Risk or High Cost?  I don't see the risk...  Maybe a team go in willing to negotiate with Ainge and Company.  However, I would guess that Negotiations are going to be hard because it was Ainge who was offended.   Personally, I would guess that he don't want to see Udoka prosper.   Like I said, Udoka is being punished.   Ainge probably asks for 4 1st round picks from the team that wants Udoka.

However, this is not slavery.  Udoka has to have some assurances (contractual) that after this suspension, he can continue his livelihood without penalty or inhibition. 

 

[kg01]

7 minutes ago, AHF said:

Put yourself in Boston's shoes.  You just had an employee be grossly insubordinate and you probably can't terminate their contract and not pay them (none of us have seen the contract but many contracts for employees like that contain language that makes it very hard not to pay them).  You might be paying him a lesser amount but it is clear he is being paid something but according to the Celitcs suffering a "significant financial penalty" during the suspension (maybe he can't earn large potential bonuses, etc. - who knows?) 

So why would you fire him and let him join another team if the only reason he isn't coaching your team is because he continued to pursue a romantic relationship with a subordinate after he was directed to stop?  If another team wants him, that actually works out well for Boston, though.  They can trade you something for him and take over paying him.  That is better than paying him while he is suspended and letting his contract run out without getting any value.  

We'll see how it plays out but Udoka has to be considered a high risk as a hire right now.

It was reported that, in negotiating the terms of his suspension, Udoka is allowed to leave for another team and BOS can't ask for compensation via trade.  Scalabrine confirmed that on the radio.

Honestly sounds like malpractice by BOS.