OT: NBA Playoffs!

[thedukeofearl]

Oof, Nets all over the Celtics. I don't think anyone was exactly predicting the Celtics as a conf finals contender or anything like that, but I'm getting sweep vibes in that series. Nets might be looking to send a message.

Speaking of sending a message, my Nuggets trounced the Blazers last night. Hot shooting and gritty D - good combo! I think a lot of the experts expect the Blazers to roll the Nuggs, something I hope Denver's taking personally. Chippy game by modern NBA standards. A couple techs and a few flagrants between the two teams.

Couple (relatively) big games in the West tonight. Suns and Mavs both have a shot to go up 2-0 against their brand name LA opponents (which I for one would love to see). The Lakers and their idiot cousins the Clippers both irritate me to no end.

Still very early. By the end of this weekend we should have some good 1st round story lines brewing.

Nets are looking very good. Really fun to watch

They are giving the Celts a good old-fashioned ass-kicking

Gonna have to give the Nuggets a watch

Sounds like an intense series

Bad Blood gonna be spilled all over the place

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Nets are looking very good. Really fun to watch

They are giving the Celts a good old-fashioned ass-kicking

Gonna have to give the Nuggets a watch

Sounds like an intense series

Bad Blood gonna be spilled all over the place

I'm biased for sure (heavily invested in the Nuggets as a fan), but Denver and Portland do have a bit of a history. I believe there is a genuine dislike going on between them.

It's not old school clear the benches and throw punches kind of stuff, but it's certainly had some "wow, that was a hard foul" moments. Also had a Blazers asst coach get T'd for running across the court and mixing it up with the Nuggets huddle during a timeout (which was actually pretty funny to watch!)

Blazers are hard not to respect - Terry Stotts (born in Cedar Falls, btw) is as old school as they come in the modern NBA coaching ranks. Then of course you've got Dame Lillard who has got to be one of the most intense competitors I have ever seen in any sport at any level. Dude is permanently pissed off and I don't think I've ever seen him showboat even once.

 

[Fryowa]

I have a couple things to say.

First, your chances of making the playoffs at .400 are pretty bad. This year in the East, you had one team make it at 4 games under .500 and one team make it at exactly .500.

20 playoff teams. If you make a tournament that gives you a chance to advance and win the Championship, that's a playoff game.

20 out of 30 teams having a chance at postseason is ridiculous, imo.

Spurs, Pacers, Wizards, and Hornets had losing records this year.

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

20 playoff teams. If you make a tournament that gives you a chance to advance and win the Championship, that's a playoff game.

20 out of 30 teams having a chance at postseason is ridiculous, imo.

Spurs, Pacers, Wizards, and Hornets had losing records this year.

Ah, OK, play in tournament - fair point. I don't like it, really hoping it doesn't stick. Hopefully the Warriors getting bumped will cause the league to re-evaluate.

 

[kicker22]

Ah, OK, play in tournament - fair point. I don't like it, really hoping it doesn't stick. Hopefully the Warriors getting bumped will cause the league to re-evaluate.

I hate the idea of a play-in tournament almost as much as I hate the concept of teams being rewarded with better lottery odds for tanking. I got an idea, play harder and take less nights off during the regular season so your not one of those teams on the bubble. It's just another money grab. Then again the league rewards team that deliberately tank so why not create one more opportunity to work your way into the playoffs since this year's covid shortened 72 game season wasn't long enough.

 

[Fryowa]

I hate the idea of a play-in tournament almost as much as I hate the concept of teams being rewarded with better lottery odds for tanking. I got an idea, play harder and take less nights off during the regular season so your not one of those teams on the bubble. It's just another money grab. Then again the league rewards team that deliberately tank so why not create one more opportunity to work your way into the playoffs since this year's covid shortened 72 game season wasn't long enough.

60 game season, 6 playoff teams (division winners). Best record in each conference gets the bye.

Lottery is based solely on the records of the 1st 30 games. No one tanks at the end.

 

[WindsorHawk]

My preseason bets at long odds were 76ers and Mavericks. I’m happy with those bets.

 

[kicker22]

60 game season, 6 playoff teams (division winners). Best record in each conference gets the bye.

Lottery is based solely on the records of the 1st 30 games. No one tanks at the end.

Love the idea of basing the lottery off first 30 games when everyone's still a contender. Based on that thought, I'd honestly love to see them do away with a weighted lottery and put the same odds across the board for all teams. You could even hold the lottery after the 30th game. Might make things interesting if you've got a team in the middle of the pack looking to shop a predetermined draft pic for a trade to make a playoff push.

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Love the idea of basing the lottery off first 30 games when everyone's still a contender. Based on that thought, I'd honestly love to see them do away with a weighted lottery and put the same odds across the board for all teams. You could even hold the lottery after the 30th game. Might make things interesting if you've got a team in the middle of the pack looking to shop a predetermined draft pic for a trade to make a playoff push.

Honestly, I have thought the same many times - ie just make draft order random draw.

I love the NBA, watch a ton of it, but let's be honest - it's basically rigged. Even more so than MLB I think because the MLB isn't "rigged", it's just structured in such a way that some teams spend 4X more than the cheap teams. You get what you'd expect. With the NBA, superficially everyone's on a level playing field but, in practice, the stars are all going to clump into glamorous big market teams. NBA rosters are very small to begin with and you only need to fill 3 roster slots with the right guys to buy your next championships. Does anyone think the Lakers are one of the best franchises in professional sports? Lol. The Lakers are the Lakers because they are the Lakers. You could build a time machine and randomly reshuffle the last 10 years worth of their draft picks...wanna make any bets as to whether they still end up with LeBron and AD (or comparable talents)? I betcha they do.

And, of course like any sports league, you have a certain % of franchises that are frankly little more than investment vehicles. Realistically, those types of teams are going to use a high draft pick to get a high profile player to boost ticket and merchandise sales for a few years and then ship him off to the Lakers once it comes time to pay up. Before his career's over, what are the odds of Zion winning a championship with the Pelicans vs winning one with the Lakers. He doesn't even play for the Lakers nor do we have any concrete evidence he ever will, but if you gave me that Pelicans or Lakers binary choice, I would take Lakers without even blinking.

Realistically, the draft is already inherently sort of a lottery anyways. Steph, Klay, Draymond - sure Steph and Klay are top half first rounders, but you sure didn't need to tank to get any of those guys. Draymond is a 2nd round afterthought. Luck. Nuggets are sort of GS-lite. Jokic, Murray, MPJ. Again, Murray and MPJ are top half 1st rounders, but certainly didn't tank to get them. Jokic is another afterthought. Luck.

Shit franchises who tank to get their hands on a top 3 pick aren't a threat to the NBA pecking order any more than letting the Lakers have a crack at a top 3 pick after winning it all.

I'm far from an NBA historian, but I'd love to see examples where tanking actually worked. I doubt there are many. And I mean "worked" in the sense that it helped change the fortunes of the franchise long term.

 

[thedukeofearl]

My preseason bets at long odds were 76ers and Mavericks. I’m happy with those bets.

Haven't watched the Mavs lately

Liked them when Don Nelson was the coach

The 76ers look like they could make it to the finals

Of course, The NETS are my personal fave this year

Love to watch James Hardin play. He is as smooth as any player
in the game

About as cool as it can possibly get

He certainly be a Stylish Cat

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Look at that crazy get up, lol!

I think the Mavs are gonna take the Clippers down, that would tickle me. The Clippers kind of irritate me for some reason.

Nets are the team to beat on paper, IMO. They never really got in the groove with that roster - injuries. Can they flip the switch and go all the way? I'd say, "yeah, probably!"

 

[WindsorHawk]

Haven't watched the Mavs lately

Liked them when Don Nelson was the coach

The 76ers look like they could make it to the finals

Of course, The NETS are my personal fave this year

Love to watch James Hardin play. He is as smooth as any player
in the game

About as cool as it can possibly get

He certainly be a Stylish Cat

View attachment 7885

I won’t make futures bets at less than 20-1. So I’ll never have the favorites. But both teams have a chance. And I only bet these 2 teams...so minimal risk.

Dallas at 25-1 then when they started slow I bet them again at 40-1 and 22-1 to win West...currently 16-1 to win it all. And I like that Suns, Nuggets, Blazers and Lakers are on opposite side.

76ers at 28-1...currently 7-1. And I like that Bucks and Nets have to play each other to get to 76ers.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Look at that crazy get up, lol!

I think the Mavs are gonna take the Clippers down, that would tickle me. The Clippers kind of irritate me for some reason.

Nets are the team to beat on paper, IMO. They never really got in the groove with that roster - injuries. Can they flip the switch and go all the way? I'd say, "yeah, probably!"

The Nets will be tough if they stay healthy. But the Bucks will be no easy task.

 

[kicker22]

Honestly, I have thought the same many times - ie just make draft order random draw.

I love the NBA, watch a ton of it, but let's be honest - it's basically rigged. Even more so than MLB I think because the MLB isn't "rigged", it's just structured in such a way that some teams spend 4X more than the cheap teams. You get what you'd expect. With the NBA, superficially everyone's on a level playing field but, in practice, the stars are all going to clump into glamorous big market teams. NBA rosters are very small to begin with and you only need to fill 3 roster slots with the right guys to buy your next championships. Does anyone think the Lakers are one of the best franchises in professional sports? Lol. The Lakers are the Lakers because they are the Lakers. You could build a time machine and randomly reshuffle the last 10 years worth of their draft picks...wanna make any bets as to whether they still end up with LeBron and AD (or comparable talents)? I betcha they do.

And, of course like any sports league, you have a certain % of franchises that are frankly little more than investment vehicles. Realistically, those types of teams are going to use a high draft pick to get a high profile player to boost ticket and merchandise sales for a few years and then ship him off to the Lakers once it comes time to pay up. Before his career's over, what are the odds of Zion winning a championship with the Pelicans vs winning one with the Lakers. He doesn't even play for the Lakers nor do we have any concrete evidence he ever will, but if you gave me that Pelicans or Lakers binary choice, I would take Lakers without even blinking.

Realistically, the draft is already inherently sort of a lottery anyways. Steph, Klay, Draymond - sure Steph and Klay are top half first rounders, but you sure didn't need to tank to get any of those guys. Draymond is a 2nd round afterthought. Luck. Nuggets are sort of GS-lite. Jokic, Murray, MPJ. Again, Murray and MPJ are top half 1st rounders, but certainly didn't tank to get them. Jokic is another afterthought. Luck.

Shit franchises who tank to get their hands on a top 3 pick aren't a threat to the NBA pecking order any more than letting the Lakers have a crack at a top 3 pick after winning it all.

I'm far from an NBA historian, but I'd love to see examples where tanking actually worked. I doubt there are many. And I mean "worked" in the sense that it helped change the fortunes of the franchise long term.

Well put. I'm with you as one that truly does enjoy and watch a lot of NBA. I think you're spot on with your assessment of whether tanking had actually worked historically. IMO the teams that have used the tanking strategy in the past have had equally poor front offices that screwed things up (ie.76ers selecting Fultz w/ top pick in 2017). The problem is though that despite the fact it hasn't worked out in years past teams are still doing it.

Maybe it's cynical thinking on my part, but I absolutely hate seeing the player coming out with the highest upside spending the first half of their career with a disfunctional franchise in a shitty situation. Level playing fields in terms of the getting rid of the lottery process, would in my opinion be a good place to start. I simply hate a system that rewards failure and piss poor management decisions.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Nets are back on track tonight

Without Tatum scoring 50 points

Celts are rather weak

They boo Kyrie every time he is on the floor, even in warmups

He is killing them tonight

Along with James

Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers Commercial 2016 with James Harden

Location audio services for this commercial were provided by Szabo Sound and Music.Visit our website for a full list of services available:www.szabosoundandm...

www.youtube.com

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Nets are back on track tonight

Without Tatum scoring 50 points

Celts are rather weak

They boo Kyrie every time he is on the floor, even in warmups

He is killing them tonight

Along with James

Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers Commercial 2016 with James Harden

Location audio services for this commercial were provided by Szabo Sound and Music.Visit our website for a full list of services available:www.szabosoundandm...

www.youtube.com

Ha, gotta love Boston fans! They have a bit of a Philly-vibe to them, long memories!

Gotta say, very entertaining first round so far. Really hoping the Suns will find a way to dispatch the Lakers, that would be funny!

 

[thedukeofearl]

Ha, gotta love Boston fans! They have a bit of a Philly-vibe to them, long memories!

Gotta say, very entertaining first round so far. Really hoping the Suns will find a way to dispatch the Lakers, that would be funny!

My dad grew up in Boston, then moved to Philadelphia before WWII

He loved the Celts, Red Sox and the Bruins

But also really liked the Philadelphia Warriors with Wilt Chamberlain

In his first NBA season, the 1958/59 season, Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds

I would love to see the Lakers go down Hard

 

[Luftgekuehlt67]

Heating up, down to 8. First round was a lot of fun in the West. East is a bit more top heavy I think and so went more predictably.

I think Brooklyn is going to come out of the East. The West is likely to be Utah or Phoenix in my estimation.

I think a healthy Nuggets team would have been a legit Finals contender. Damn.

 

[Ian Pike Hammer]

Couldn't give 2 shits about the "Association"

 

[thedukeofearl]

Couldn't give 2 shits about the "Association"

Never My Love is the Goods

Association - Never My Love (1967)

You ask me if there'll come a time

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