Sports NBA Thread: 2022-2023 Season

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I'm not sure if this helps anything, but the ways I gained interest in teams in other leagues is usually through one of four means:
idk if you know what march madness is but its a giant tournament that happens where you can basically just watch college basketball all day for two or three weekends in a row, its a good entry point and you can do a bracket which you don't need to know anything about basketball for https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketbal...ess-mens-ncaa-tournament-schedule-dates-times. also you could watch a docuseries on an old team to get into it, either 90s bulls, 80s Celtics/lakers rivalry, or 10s warriors vs LeBron would all be beginner friendly stuff


trade deadline was interesting, definitely one of the craziest ones ever. still think my team the Celtics, Denver, and Milwaukee are a clear top three teams in the league, phoenix and philly just slightly below. book and kd are ballers but i dont feel confident in old cp3 in the playoffs. I don't think dallas is good still, kyrie is too much of a powder keg to take them seriously and even when he does play he's choked in the playoffs many times. all the second round picks were funny af too, gobert really killed frp lol

also if any of you guys are philly fans was thybulle really that bad? seemed surprising as a neutral observer that he got shipped out
 

phoopes

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also if any of you guys are philly fans was thybulle really that bad? seemed surprising as a neutral observer that he got shipped out
He wasn't awful. Really good on defense, just a liability on offense. I have no knowledge of Jalen McDaniels to know if he's an upgrade or not but I guess we'll see if he cracks the rotation. Thybulle was hardly playing.
 

awyp

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Been watching Kyrie and Luka last 2 games, and I can say as a Mavs fan I'm liking what I'm seeing even if they ended up in a loss; usually if Luka was off (before the Kyrie trade) no one would pick up the slack and it was an easy way to beat the Mavs. Not anymore though; Kyrie can pour 26 points in a quarter and Luka doesn't have to have a bad game.
 

bdt2002

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I'm a big nuggets fan, but im feeling a first round exit this year unfortunately. Thoughts?
Wouldn't be a professional sports season in any league without a #1 seed in one of the conferences to find a way to choke in the playoffs after having an excellent regular season. I say this because I have your team going #1 after seeing what they've done so far.

No offense to Warriors fans, but seriously, imagine having a record-breaking 73-9 regular season last decade and still not winning the NBA Finals. The sad part is, the Warriors aren't the only team I can harp on for this. The Suns did it last year and didn't even make the Finals!

Disclaimer: if it feels like I'm ripping on any of your guys' favorite team(s), I'm not. I'm just trying to prove a point that being the #1 seed in your conference doesn't mean that much in the long run. The flip side to this coin, however, is that if both #1 seeds make the Finals, you're also guaranteed to see one of those #1 seeds lose the Finals regardless.
 

awyp

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Since it’s all star weekend, some post all star weekend thoughts: Lakers fan are hyping up a 13th seed more than ever. They made some good trades for the deadline but they’re definitely not making out of the west and they might not make the playoffs at this point. I really like how the Bucks turned out after the trade deadline Crowder will be a great add, and I think the East is pretty open aside from going through the Celtics.
 
It was one of the most boring All Star I've ever watched in my life. I know they don't play serious and try to have fun but it would be better if we see some defense.
 

awyp

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It was one of the most boring All Star I've ever watched in my life. I know they don't play serious and try to have fun but it would be better if we see some defense.
That was a terrible all star game but the dunk contest and the 3 point contest were fun to watch in my opinion.

Side note: Westbrook to the Clippers? opinions?
 
Side note: Westbrook to the Clippers? opinions?
Good high reward, low risk option. The structure of the Clippers is perfect for Westbrook hypothetically: lots of shooters, athletic wings, a towering big, a players coach who really understands how to maximize players, and two great isolationist type players. Westbrook can freely play his game if he accepts a minimal role which will be easier considering his last experience.

And if it doesn't work out, Clippers aren't suffering a big loss. A point guard who can get up and down is all they need
 

awyp

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I was thinking about it yesterday Clippers might have the deepest roster in NBA History:

Batum, Nicolas
Covington, Robert
George, Paul
Gordon, Eric
Hyland, Bones
Leonard, Kawhi
Mann, Terance
Morris, Marcus, Sr.
Plumlee, Mason
Powell, Norman
Westbrook, Russell
Zubac, Ivica


Thats 12 players right there that in any team play 20 minutes a game (I excluded some names that I don't think will be in the rotation) but I don't ever think I've ever seen a team that has 12 players that can all average each minimum 20 mins a game (excluding the notable stars that can average more).

If they don't get to the NBA final I think they'll do a big revamping because I don't know how you can have a better team than this seriously.

Side note that Kings vs Clippers game yesterday might've been the game of the season it was extremely high scoring and fun to watch (There was defense being played lol)
 
The King's game displays Why Westbrook made more sense for Clippers. Similar to his okc days, simply surround him with athletic slashers and shooters. Meanwhile, the Clippers finally get a point guard who knows how to pass and they're not constantly stuck depending on isos on one corner of the floor.
 

Rabia

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Clippers are dogshit, idk if I can put it on Westbrook, it might be a coaching issue.
I was thinking about it yesterday Clippers might have the deepest roster in NBA History:

Batum, Nicolas
Covington, Robert
George, Paul
Gordon, Eric
Hyland, Bones
Leonard, Kawhi
Mann, Terance
Morris, Marcus, Sr.
Plumlee, Mason
Powell, Norman
Westbrook, Russell
Zubac, Ivica


Thats 12 players right there that in any team play 20 minutes a game (I excluded some names that I don't think will be in the rotation) but I don't ever think I've ever seen a team that has 12 players that can all average each minimum 20 mins a game (excluding the notable stars that can average more).

If they don't get to the NBA final I think they'll do a big revamping because I don't know how you can have a better team than this seriously.

Side note that Kings vs Clippers game yesterday might've been the game of the season it was extremely high scoring and fun to watch (There was defense being played lol)
this p much sums up the view of the clippers, you either think they're the deepest team ever constructed and the favorite to win it all or you think they're a terrible team that'll find a way to lose to a literal g-league team. idk if it has to do w/ old biases from the Doc days or what
 

awyp

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this p much sums up the view of the clippers, you either think they're the deepest team ever constructed and the favorite to win it all or you think they're a terrible team that'll find a way to lose to a literal g-league team. idk if it has to do w/ old biases from the Doc days or what
I think they're on paper a top 5 team in the NBA, for some reason I don't get their play calling, they don't run a sufficient offense, there's a lot of iso ball which I don't understand. Iso ball is not a reliable way to try to win games. They did lose a lot of close games recently, but I think yesterdays loss was god awful.
 
They are trying to incorporate 4 new players, and one of them can't shoot.

And they struggle to guard speedy guards and off-ball action. Poor transition defense. Paul George looks like he lost a huge step overall athletically. Kawhi's defense is.. not what it was on the Spurs.

Suns look okay. They still need a sizeable defender for the likes of forwards like Giannis. Durant fits seamlessly and Chris Paul can at least pace himself the way he wants so as long as Payne is healthy. Depth is pretty bad still.
 
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awyp

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They are trying to incorporate 4 new players, and one of them can't shoot.

And they struggle to guard speedy guards and off-ball action. Poor transition defense. Paul George looks like he lost a huge step overall athletically. Kawhi's defense is.. not what it was on the Spurs.

Suns look okay. They still need a sizeable defender for the likes of forwards like Giannis. Durant fits seamlessly and Chris Paul can at least pace himself the way he wants so as long as Payne is healthy. Depth is pretty bad still.
I don't think Westbrook is a good 3 point shooter but I think he can shoot when they need something to go down, he's not like Ben Simmons who shouldn't command any respect from anyone guarding him at the 3 point line. I was watching Mavs vs Clippers the other night and Kawhi was making some fantastic plays which were reminiscing of how he was back in 2019 with Toronto.

I don't know if Phoenix will grab a taller 4 to guard someone like Giannis, I think they might continue to play Durant at the 4 and if they need someone to guard the likes of a Giannis they'll go with Torrey Craig but expect Ayton to do a majority of the rebounding anywhere from 13-15 Rebounds a night.
 
I don't know if Phoenix will grab a taller 4 to guard someone like Giannis, I think they might continue to play Durant at the 4 and if they need someone to guard the likes of a Giannis they'll go with Torrey Craig but expect Ayton to do a majority of the rebounding anywhere from 13-15 Rebounds a night.
This was the exact strategy in 2021, outside of Durant. Which I think isn't the best idea because Bucks are collectively better defensively. He'd tire out.
 

awyp

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This was the exact strategy in 2021, outside of Durant. Which I think isn't the best idea because Bucks are collectively better defensively. He'd tire out.
I fully agree, it might not work but it did get them to 6 games with a pretty much healthy roster (aside from DiVincenzo being out in 2021), I think Middleton needs to get healthy and start averaging 35 minutes a night and I don't think he's there yet. I think Depth might be the Suns downfall, but it's enough to make a run but Durant, Booker, Paul, and Ayton will need to be putting close to 35 minutes each in the playoff. My favorites though to get to the final I think will be Denver and Milwaukee
 
Ignoring the Ja Morant situation for a moment, how many teams in the Western Conference playoff race would you feel confident about Memphis beating in a playoff series assuming good health?

Their half-court offense at the end of games is completely inept. "They just need Steven Adams back" is an explanation for their recent struggles that I find more alarming than reassuring. They just feel like a paper tiger to me. Would anyone really be surprised if they lost to Dallas or one of the LA teams in the first round?
 

awyp

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Ignoring the Ja Morant situation for a moment, how many teams in the Western Conference playoff race would you feel confident about Memphis beating in a playoff series assuming good health?

Their half-court offense at the end of games is completely inept. "They just need Steven Adams back" is an explanation for their recent struggles that I find more alarming than reassuring. They just feel like a paper tiger to me. Would anyone really be surprised if they lost to Dallas or one of the LA teams in the first round?
I dont think Memphis can beat

Nuggets
Suns
Clippers?
Mavs (Maybe)

everything else I think Memphis has the upper hand.
 
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Adeleine

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Ignoring the Ja Morant situation for a moment, how many teams in the Western Conference playoff race would you feel confident about Memphis beating in a playoff series assuming good health?
um, do the thunder count?

in general i think the west lacks a true solid finals contender right now (the east having milwaukee and boston), which kinda gets reflected here
 

awyp

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um, do the thunder count?

in general i think the west lacks a true solid finals contender right now (the east having milwaukee and boston), which kinda gets reflected here
Not a Nuggets fan but genuinely curious, please tell me why you think the Nuggets are lacking in terms of being a finals contender.
 
Simple question to ask if you need to know whose a contender in the West:

Would you take them over the Suns?

Memphis to me depends on their placement but they're pretty talented. However, I wouldn't have them out the West.
 
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