A quick word on other games.....

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, Final_quest said:

Question about the games.  We're likely to have a 53 win team play a 44 win team for the title.  Is it just me or has there been a drop off on truly great/dominant teams winning titles and even playing for titles in the past 3-4 years?  Are we at a new level of parity with no true dominant teams?

I mentioned that earlier, the league wants parity because more teams equals more revenue. And no, I knew there weren’t any great teams last year when the Warriors won it. I’m sorry that’s not a championship team. The league is mad weak.

I say go back to making the regular season mean more. Keep it at 82, but have 8 playoff teams no play in that’s crap it dilutes it by teams that get hot at the end, it doesn’t factor in a great start much, you get homecourt but one loss and you lost homecourt. That’s flawed.

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

I mentioned that earlier, the league wants parity because more teams equals more revenue. And no, I knew there weren’t any great teams last year when the Warriors won it. I’m sorry that’s not a championship team. The league is mad weak.

I say go back to making the regular season mean more. Keep it at 82, but have 8 playoff teams no play in that’s crap it dilutes it by teams that get hot at the end, it doesn’t factor in a great start much, you get homecourt but one loss and you lost homecourt. That’s flawed.

Yall ain't wrong, necessarily.  But I don't think it's gonna change.

The bigger thing for me is it shows, if we had our collective sh*t together, we had a chance this year.  None of these teams should scare anybody.

[Jdawgflow]

4 hours ago, Final_quest said:

Question about the games.  We're likely to have a 53 win team play a 44 win team for the title.  Is it just me or has there been a drop off on truly great/dominant teams winning titles and even playing for titles in the past 3-4 years?  Are we at a new level of parity with no true dominant teams?

I think you are right that there is more parity.  Having a chance at the start of the year for more teams to be in the title hunt is good for business.  And I think the new CBA will encourage even more parity.  
 

@Spud2nique I have to disagree with your take on the play in game.  It makes the last month of the season much more fun and gives many more teams something to play for.  And multiple play in teams have made it to the final four this year which is cool and will likely give other teams on the bubble a reason to go for it and not sell off everything at the trade deadline each year.  It has done the same thing in baseball with adding the extra wild card.

[Spud2nique]

5 minutes ago, Jdawgflow said:

It makes the last month of the season much more fun

Fun? Ya fine I get that but you want fun or max competition and truly elite teams too to bottom begin to end? I agree it will not change, Adam Silver wants everyone to play, when I just want basketball players to play.. (as selfish as it sounds)..

[Jdawgflow]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Fun? Ya fine I get that but you want fun or max competition and truly elite teams too to bottom begin to end? I agree it will not change, Adam Silver wants everyone to play, when I just want basketball players to play.. (as selfish as it sounds)..

I hear you but having two play in teams make the final four seems like a good reason to keep the play in games.  And truly it is only six total extra games to cover the week between regular season and playoffs starting.    You get “basketball players to play” a bit more.  The game against the heat was one of my favorite of the season and we would not have been able to have that with no play in game.  

[JayBirdHawk]

I'm a fan of the play-in.

[kg01]

So, 2 things ...

A. One thing I hope Snyder coaches out of us is failing to get back on D on our jumpshots.  And, no, it's not just one guy that consistently does that.  It's a full blown epidemic for us.

2. Is Michael Porter, Jr. the most unathletic athletic guy in the league or what?  Was he a better athlete before his back injuries? 

[Spud2nique]

22 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Was he a better athlete before his back injuries? 

Ya a bit but his game has been mostly like it is… sturdy knockdown shooter with smooth moves but I think he is cautious of his own body and wants to make it last.

 

ps He used to get mad upset punani in Seattle as a high school kid. I’m talkin moms threw their panties at that boy! 

[Spud2nique]

Congrats @Sothron NUGGETS!!!! 

 

[Final_quest]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I'm a fan of the play-in.

Say it.  Yes.  

[kg01]

2 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Congrats @Sothron NUGGETS!!!! 

 

What a finish. 

[sturt]

So. Let's see here.

2019-20 Nugs get bounced in the the conference finals.

2020-21 Nugs get bounced in the conference semis.

2021-22 Nugs get bounced in the first round... ouch... only one series win, at that.

So, after that regression, we've got the 2022-23 Nugs making the NBA Finals.

 

Someone help me out... what was the big move(s) that the Nugs made to completely reverse the downward inertia?

Oh, oh... okay... KCP in the off-season, and Thomas Bryant at the deadline.

Well there ya go. It all makes sense now.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 down, 1 to go!

[JayBirdHawk]

Excuses, Excuses....

Quote

The Boston Celtics face a 3-0 series deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat despite coming into the series as heavy favorites.

"This locker room never got over Ime Udoka's dismissal as head coach," said Adrian Wojnarowski on ESPN on Monday when trying to explain why the Celtics are on the brink of elimination. "These players did not accept the organization's reasoning for doing it. They thought it was a wild overreaction. There were a lot of the people on the outside thought it was an overreaction. That it was an HR matter.

"I think for this team and talking to the management, they never got any more answers than the public was getting on this. This doesn't mean they haven't accepted Joe Mazzulla as head coach, but this is a team that really believed in Ime Udoka and had a strong connection with him.

"I think there were a couple instances this season where a lot of that angst resurfaced. First, when the Brooklyn Nets nearly hired Udoka as head coach and then when the Rockets did. Certainly those were factors."

Wojnarowski also suggested the Celtics possibly made a mistake in not hiring a more experienced assistant coach under Mazzulla.

ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI/ESPN

....adversity hits and they fold.

[kg01]

21 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Excuses, Excuses....

....adversity hits and they fold.

Eggscuses, eggscuses indeed.  When they had the best record in the league, where was all this?  Smells like Loston greasing the media skids for the 1-way outta town ticket for ol' Joe.

"Uh ... Adrian? Woj?  Psst... here's what to write ..." - Stevens 

[Spud2nique]

Mazzull

30 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Uh ... Adrian? Woj?  Psst... here's what to write ..." - Stevens 

Horrid. They were just talking about how cohesive they were against us.. lol.. excuse making aholes.

[Phunkabilly]

Anybody got receipts on the Joker haters saying he ain't that great because he hasn't won anything?  That dude is clearly the best player in the league, and has been for a while now.

[Sothron]

It has been glaringly obvious at least the four seasons that Jokic is the best player in basketball. I don't think it is even close. I would trade the entire Hawks roster for him, Trae included.  

I so want Denver to win the NBA finals. Their fans deserve it. That team deserves it.

[bleachkit]

7 hours ago, sturt said:

So. Let's see here.

2019-20 Nugs get bounced in the the conference finals.

2020-21 Nugs get bounced in the conference semis.

2021-22 Nugs get bounced in the first round... ouch... only one series win, at that.

So, after that regression, we've got the 2022-23 Nugs making the NBA Finals.

 

Someone help me out... what was the big move(s) that the Nugs made to completely reverse the downward inertia?

Oh, oh... okay... KCP in the off-season, and Thomas Bryant at the deadline.

Well there ya go. It all makes sense now.

Injuries were a big factor for them previously, namely to Murray. Having him healthy was extremely impactful. 

[REHawksFan]

11 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

I say go back to making the regular season mean more. Keep it at 82, but have 8 playoff teams no play in that’s crap it dilutes it by teams that get hot at the end, it doesn’t factor in a great start much, you get homecourt but one loss and you lost homecourt. That’s flawed.

I don't see how the play-in results in mediocre teams winning titles?  For this year, you still would have had Miami playing Boston, but in the 1st round.  And Hawks / Bucks. Everything in the east stays the same.  In the west, the play-in resulted in the same seeds as the top 8 system would have, save a tie-break between Minny and NO.  

I'm a big believer that the best team will win over a 7 game series more times that not.  Miami is just better than Boston.  Yes, they are hot.  But they are also very well coached (MUCH better than Boston) and have a star player that doesn't shrink in the moment.  

Last year, GS won the title as a 3 seed.  How did the play-in dilute that?