@erikthredd said:
Not NBA news but Iowa's Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA Division 1 career scoring record tonight with a deep three that would make Steph Curry proud. She's gotta be at least 10' behind the 3pt line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybAU4bPU6Yk
With 4 games left she needs just 120pts to surpass the men's all time leading scorer Pete Maravich.
It was reported that she may have tanked her last game, she went scoreless in the 4th quarter,to break the record at home.
Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
@erikthredd said:
Not NBA news but Iowa's Caitlin Clark broke the NCAA Division 1 career scoring record tonight with a deep three that would make Steph Curry proud. She's gotta be at least 10' behind the 3pt line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybAU4bPU6Yk
With 4 games left she needs just 120pts to surpass the men's all time leading scorer Pete Maravich.
It was reported that she may have tanked her last game, she went scoreless in the 4th quarter,to break the record at home.
I don't watch any women's college basketball, or even the men for that matter, i just saw the highlights flor last night's game.
That all being said, her statline for the 82-79 loss in her previous game was:
31pts on 10/25 from the field,5/15 from three & 6/9 from the line.
Her season shooting splits were 47/39/85% and she averages 32ppg.
its possible it was just a bad shooting night. Or not. 🤷♂️
More offtopic, Kelsey Plum was the previous scoring record holder who now plays in the WNBA and IMO the most impressive moment she had on a basketball court may have been tossing this T-shirt to her father in the stands. it was caught by someone in the group she was with way up in the stands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOIVZVHh-HA
@erikthredd said:
More offtopic, Kelsey Plum was the previous scoring record holder who now plays in the WNBA and IMO the most impressive moment she had on a basketball court may have been tossing this T-shirt to her father in the stands. it was caught by someone in the group she was with way up in the stands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOIVZVHh-HA
Great throw. Impressive.
Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
With Steph Curry going up against Sabrina Ionescu in a 3pt challenge tonight hopefully a year from now we get to see a Caitlin Clark v Steph Curry 3pt challenge.
The East All Stars beat the West All Stars today 211 to 186.
The game itself was a joke. Offense galore. Very little defense at all; the defensive effort did not even come close to the level of "Matador Defense".
Many years ago the All Star games were played by Star Players whose mind set (during at least part of the game) was to play a competitive game, including on defense, and win the game (by defeating your opponent). These previous Star player showed at least some pride and determination.
None of that was on display today.
If you watched the game today what did you think of it?
very proud to say i did not watch one second of that abomination. if there is minimal defense in a real NBA game, then there certainly wasn't going to be any in that sham of a showcase event. it's basically an opportunity for the NBA's best players to act like they are auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters.
I had the game on but only watched sparingly. Sometime during the late 2000's and 2010's the all star players just started to not give af when it came to putting in the effort during the AS game. I've seen it mentioned that with salaries being what they currently are players don't want to chance getting hurt but I honestly think that's BS. Its just one more game and players rarely get hurt.
Its a shame really because the NBA All Star game used to be pretty entertaining when you had the best players in each conference going at each other while playing with some pride.
I've always thought the younger players in the game took their cue from the older vets so maybe when this era of older players leave the game for good it possibly gets competitive again. Or Adam Silver can offer 1M for each player on the winning team while the losers get nothing. If the winner of the IST got excited for 500k per player then maybe winner takes all in the AS game does it too.
The NBA regular season is heading toward a finish with about 25 games to go.
It will be interesting to see how well or bad teams play as they strive to finish strong (to keep their current playoff seeding or to climb into the top 6, or into spots 7-10 for the play games.
GS beat the Lakers last night by 18 points and are now 9-2 over its past 11 games. GS plays Denver tomorrow night. That should be a good game to watch.
Allen Iverson came out recently and said if he played in this era of negligible defense and superfluous whistle-blowing, he'd average 43 PPG
here lately i've read a lot of quotes from retired hoops stars and a number of them simply can't stomach today's NBA
and the All-Star game was a microcosm of the issue. if you haven't seen this, it's classic. Adam Silver stopped just short of letting the entire world know how disgusted he was
"and to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points. well, congratulations." 😅😅
From everything that I've read on the subject since the game was played SIlver and many of the older HOFers really thought that this year's game would be much more competitive. Then after the game you had Anthony Edwards getting asked about the compete level during the game and his responce was "For me, it's an All-Star Game, so I don't think I will ever look at it like being super competitive," I think that this is the point of view taken by many of basketball's star players.
Not that this is the entire reason behind the NBA's stars not going all out in these games but it rarely gets mentioned that in the 2020 AS game someone in the league office came up with the Elam Ending. Basically they made it so whichever team won each quarter, a large sum of money got donated to a certain charity then in the 4th quarter the clocks were shutoff and they played to a target score.
Ultimately team Lebron won 157-155 and it was considered one of the most compettitve AS games ever. The only problem was Boston's Kemba Walker, who had a wonky knee to begin with but still got voted in as starter, played heavy four 4th quarter minutes by Raptors HC Nick Nurse who was coaching team Lebron. After the game Kemba had to have his knee drained then get an anti-inflammatory injection. Since then, Kemba has stated numerous times that that AS game injury pretty much was the end of his career and he played in just 98 total regular season games over the following 3.5 seasons in the league. He was just 30yrs old when that game was played.
Since then in the preceding four AS games the players have only given less effort with each new game and I doubt it changes anytime soon. While I love watching the best hoopersters in the world go all out against each other in these AS games, I'm also not going to scream bloody murder if they don't. Not when that it was the team that I root for losing an AS game starter to injury that not only affected him for the remainder of that season but also the following season when Walker missed 38 games and couldn't play in back to back games. Not ideal for a contender to lose their starting PG for pretty much one game a week and by the end of the C's brief playoff run,the coach and GM eventually lost their jobs.
I came across a headline recently where Kevin Durant just passed 29K in career points moving him past Carmelo Anthony for 11th on the All-Time list.
He's four years younger than Lebron (39) but I doubt that he ever comes close to reaching 40K let alone reaching however many career points scored that Lebron finishes with above that.
That all being said,if KD does play enough seasons he may pass some real interesting names on the All-Time Points Scored list.
11. KD 28,318
10. Shaq 28,596
09. Moses 29,580
08. Dr J 30,026
07. Wilt 31,419
06. Dirk 31,560
05. Jordan 32,292
04. Kobe 33,643
03. Karl Malone 36,928
02. Kareem 38,387
01. Lebron 39,926 (currently)
Four more seasons around his average points scored per season could have him passing Kobe into the 4th all-time position.
I don't think KD will ever get over the rep he's received for jumping onto Golden State's bandwagon but if he starts passing some giants on that all-time soring list, I think the perception of him might start to change. The question is,how long will he actually play for?
These Celtics are so much better than in recent years and honestly they might even be one of the most complete teams in NBA history. I'm not even being hyperbolic when I make that statement.
They're on pace to become the most effiicent offense ever (most points scored per 100 possessions.) By adding Kristaps Porzingis they found a big who can consistently knock down threes and who could also create mismatches in the paint depending how often Boston's offense goes to him.
They still shoot a ton of threes per game but i heard an incredible stat during last nights Mavs game, of their 42 3pt attempts per game, 33 of them fall under the distances of what's considered open & wide open shots.
White,Hauser,Jrue & Horford are all shooting 40+% from distance while Tingus Pingus & Pritchard are both 37+%. As of earlier in the week Jrue was leading the league in corner three point percentage at over 60+%.
Do defenses let Tatum,Brown & KP exploit them in the paint or do they drop coverage leaving all of the shooters open?
The Jays have both reached the point where they trust their teammates now and are making the best play for the team 9 times out of 10. Both players are shooting a career high overall in FG% and both are averaging career highs in assists per game.
That all being said,their defense might be even better than their offense. There's five different players averaging a block per game which I'm too lazy to check but I bet that doesn't happen often. Three of those five players come off the bench.
Jrue (1st team) & Derrick White (2nd) are coming off of All Defensive nods from a year ago and White might have a legit case for DPOY when its all said and done. At the AS break Jaylen Brown was leading the league in Defensive FG% and Tatum might be the best defender of the group.
One major addition at the trade deadline was Grizzlies backup/part time big, Xavier Tillman. I know some may ask who the hell is that guy but he's a beefy poor man's version of Al Horford on defense who came over averaging 1blk/1stl per game
and has the size and quickness to be a deterrent to players like Giannis,Embiid & Joker. He won't shut them down but he's another legit defender who can cover them for short stretches of time.
All of this means nothing if Boston can't win it all this year but this team looks & feels so much different. They've only lost one game to a team with a losing record, have crushed it at home (26-3) and are currently on an nba best 10 game winning streak. They've been so fun to watch and it stinks that my buddy Little Toe never got a chance to see how good they've become.
@SanctionII said:
GS is 13-3 since February 9 and has won 8 straight road games.
GS plays in Boston this coming Sunday. Should be an entertaining game.
I'm really looking forward to this game, both teams might be playing their best basketball of the season. Last time they met Porzingis & Draymond were both out and AFAIK Wiggins may be the only rotational player from either team who sits tomorrow.
It would be interesting of GS wins tomorrow's game in Boston (especially if the game is not close). In that event GS would take the season series from Boston 2-0, while going 0-4 for the season series against defending champion Denver.
So far Denver is 1-0 against Boston this year. On 3-7-2024 those two teams play in Denver.
If Boston loses today it really won't mean a thing in the grand scheme of things when the odds of both teams making the Finals again to face each other would be astronomical. Other than that, It would just be a good road win in March for the Warriors.
I watched part of the game. From the opening tip until the score was 21 to 21 it appeared the game was going to be a nail biter.
Then Boston went on a crazy run, leading to a 44 point half time lead. Game over. Boston is really good and likely the favorite to make it to the finals and win the title.
That 23-1 run to close out that first quarter was very reminiscent of those Steph/Klay/Durant runs that would turn a close game into a blowout. Crazy that this one happened midway through the first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciUPZc0r70g
The Dean Wade era in Cleveland has begun! Hats off to the Cavs for ending Boston's 11 game win streak, they were phenomenal in that 4th quarter during their comeback.
we're sitting here talking the Celtics up, then I turn on the television tonight and watch them blow a 22-point lead with 9 minutes left in the game against a Cavaliers team without its best player
@galaxy27 said:
we're sitting here talking the Celtics up, then I turn on the television tonight and watch them blow a 22-point lead with 9 minutes left in the game against a Cavaliers team without its best player
They got away from what was working so well in the first half when they were moving the ball around. Maybe hearing everyone throw them their flowers since sunday made them overconfident. Or they just played like crap in that 4th quarter. 🤷♂️
I'd say that this thursday night game at Denver should be huge for both teams but both could easily just end up sitting someone important for whatever reason.
Tough break for Evan Mobley and the Cavs with word coming out that he may miss some extended time after spraining an ankle last night. This Cavs roster really can't catch a break when it comes to injuries and its a shame because they're actually a well built team when everyone is healthy.
Mobley has a ton of talent but he needs to put on some muscle. This is his third NBA season and it times to spend some of that 3rd pick money on a better trainer for this offseason, take a page out of Wemby's book on how to be more pliable as someone with legit height.
Mobley has a ton of talent but he needs to put on some muscle. This is his third NBA season and it times to spend some of that 3rd pick money on a better trainer for this offseason, take a page out of Wemby's book on how to be more pliable as someone with legit height.
Agree - Didn't the Cavs learn anything from last years playoffs where they were pushed around like weaklings?
Let's just say the "planets" arranged aligned perfectly for the Cavs last night! When Cavs were down 22 Boston did what they do all the time - Slacked off defense". And the refs? well - let's just say I watch the WWE......Nuff said.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Mobley has a ton of talent but he needs to put on some muscle. This is his third NBA season and it times to spend some of that 3rd pick money on a better trainer for this offseason, take a page out of Wemby's book on how to be more pliable as someone with legit height.
Agree - Didn't the Cavs learn anything from last years playoffs where they were pushed around like weaklings?
They've been one of the best teams this season and when healthy have been really elite. From what I've seen they don't look like the same team that lost in round 1.
Let's just say the "planets" arranged aligned perfectly for the Cavs last night! When Cavs were down 22 Boston did what they do all the time - Slacked off defense". And the refs? well - let's just say I watch the WWE......Nuff said.
That's the thing, they don't do this all the time, this was their first loss in 39 days. Thirty Nine Days.
They've been blowing out teams at a historic level this season and on one night (one quarter really) they took their foot off the gas. Of their 13 games Boston has lost this season maybe half of them were ones where the C's may have reverted to some of their previous bad habits. We're talking a handful of games over a 61 game stretch,thats pretty damn good.
Lots of fans in Boston today are just killing the officiating especially on that final tatum drive, some saying it was a foul (it wasn't) and they should have reset the clock to 1:7 seconds left for the jump ball (they should have). They actually jumped with :4 on the clock.
IMO, it is what it is, Boston lost because in the final 8-9 minutes they let up on defense and stopped moving the ball on the other end. Cleveland's defense was phenomenal and Dean Wade had a career nigh. It happens.
The Western Conference is shaping up to where even now (with about 18-20 games left in the regular season) the top 10 teams are most likely set. Utah, currently in spot #11 (at 28-35) is not playing well (2-8 over their last ten games) and is falling further behind spot #10.
Spots 1-4 have separation from spots 5-10. Minnesota (43-19), OKC (43-19), Denver (42-20) and the LA Clippers (40-21) occupy spots 1-4 and most likely will stay there.
Spots 5-10 are occupied by New Orleans (37-25), Phoenix (36-26), Sacramento (35-26), Dallas (34-28), Golden State (33-28) and the LA Lakers (34-30).
Whoever occupies spots 7-10 will square off in the play in games (LBJ, Curry, Durant and Luka/Kyrie?). Those games will be very fun to watch.
Whoever advances from the play in games will be seeded #7 and #8 in the playoffs. Those teams will square off with the #2 and #1 seeds in the West (currently Minnesota and OKC, both of whom do not have players with experience in making a deep playoff run to the Conference Finals or to the NBA Finals.
Round 1 of the Western Conference playoffs will be very entertaining, competitive and fun to watch.
Injuries are always possible and have a way of changing a team's fortunes. I heard that Karl Anthony Towns is now injured and will be missing some games. That is bad news for Minnesota. LBJ left the Lakers-Kings game last night with continuing ankle problems.
So, how do you who follow Eastern Conference teams see spots 1-10 shaping up in the Eastern Conference; how do you view the likely play in games to shape up; and how do you view Round 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs to shape up?
That KAT injury could be a problem if the tests are bad when he's their second best scorer who is capable of going off for 50-60pts. Even though their defense should still keep them in many games,losing that offense might hurt.
As far as the West seeding goes,I sort of feel bad for the Wolves & Thunder. they're both having incredible seasons where they're currently tied for the #1 seed but in the first round will likey have to face either Luka's Mavs, Steph's Dubs or Lebron & AD in LA. Any of those players could take over a playoff series on their own. its going to be interesting so see who comes out of the play-in tournament.
In the East, Boston is up 8 games on Milwaukee/8.5 on the Cavs and overall they're up 5.5 games on the Wolves&Thunder/6.5 on the Nuggets. I don't see anyone catching them in the East and I doubt that those three west teams moving past them. If it does come down to Boston-Denver in the Finals,having homecourt would be huge when thats one less game to play in Denver air.
the rest of the seeding will likely stay,
2 Bucks (could be 2 or 3)
3 Cavs (same)
4-8 just 2 games seperates the Magic,Knicks,Heat,Sixers & Pacers
9-10 is Chicago/Atlanta who i don't see winning the play-in
IMO,Milwaukee is the legit #2 when they have both Giannis & Dame who carry them to a win on any given nightplus it looks like Doc has started setting in as HC. Their defense have been very good lately.
Cleveland just needs to catch a break and see guys get and stay healthy. We saw how good they were just the other night and that was missing: their best scorer in Mitchell,best defender in Mobley and best shooter in Strus, all out.
If NY was healthy they'd be competing for those #2-3 positions. Like Cleveland though,they just keep getting hurt too. No one knows what a Brunson/DiVincenzo/Hart/Anunoby/Randle/Bogdanovic/Robinson/Hartenstein lineup would look like because half of that list has missed some decent time due to injury. Like the Cavs & Bucks,when healthy they can be very good,they are insanely deep but the Knicks might not see a fully healthy team until the start of next season.
Orlando has been a very solid team this year hanging around that 4/5/6 range which has been a surprise. The finished 13th in the East a year ago. I'm not sure I see them making it into round 2 but they have a 1-2 scoring punch of Banchero & Wagner and they have a ton of length, they could give certain teams headaches in round 1.
We all know that the Heat will flip that playoff mode switch soon and they're capable of sliding into that 4th spot. If Butler & Bam are healthy and their Others, as Shaq likes to call them, are playing hard then they're a tough matchup for anyone. they're having a better regular season, recordwise, than last year but they still keep losing many players to injuries.
i wouldn't put Philly with those other teams near the top but if Embiid is healthy come playoff time and Maxey's recent head injury isn't as bad as expected,I could see them taking certain matchups to 6 games. They're just not that deep right now. They'll have a ton of cap space this offseason and it might be a last ditch effort to put a complementary roster around Embiid before he may finally ask out. It will be interesting to see what they do there.
Indiana may end up playing many fast paced 140-138 type playoff games and may win a game or two due to their offense but man is that defense bad. We'll get to see what the new Haliburton/Siakam pairing looks like in round 1, Siakam is a decent #2 and should be a great fit with a playermaker like Haliburton. They just need to find one legit wing defender,IMO, before they could really move up into that Bos/Mil/Cle/NY/Mia grouping. Still fun team to watch on offense as long as its not your team getting scored on, lol.
I'll wait before giving any opinions on the later rounds. Expect certain teams to start debating whether to star resting for the playoffs or if the seeding is too important,especially all those teams sitting just 2 games apart. Boston,Milwaukee & Miami can afford to start resting on some point because they can all win playoff games on the road. Those other teams? Not as much and if one of the teams making into round 2,it wouldn't hurt to possibly have a better seeding in the end.
I'm really looking forward to this Bos/Den game tonight. Ultimately the outome shouldn't matter much outside of the media overblowing the importance for possible Finals implications but even with how great Boston has looked this season,Denver is still the benchmark as the defending champ.
I don't think that the starting lineups have been posted yet but hopefully we see both teams at full strength. That previous 2pt Denver win in Boston was just a phenomenal overall game as a basketball fan.
Resting star older star players toward the end of the regular season is an interesting topic. I can see the merit in doing so.
If a team has played well enough to assure a 1-6 spot, then it may conclude that its final position in spots 1-6 does not matter (unlike teams who possibly would fall into spots 7-10 or even lower than 10, thus having to either miss the playoffs completely or having to participate in the play in games).
In the 2012-2022 season GS ended up having Curry out for over one month at the end of the regular season. GS played well enough without Curry to get the #6 spot and avoid the play in games (which it lost in 2020-2021). When Curry came back from his injury he was fully refreshed and during the playoffs he performed at an MVP level to lead the team to the title.
@SanctionII said:
Resting star older star players toward the end of the regular season is an interesting topic. I can see the merit in doing so.
If a team has played well enough to assure a 1-6 spot, then it may conclude that its final position in spots 1-6 does not matter (unlike teams who possibly would fall into spots 7-10 or even lower than 10, thus having to either miss the playoffs completely or having to participate in the play in games).
In the 2012-2022 season GS ended up having Curry out for over one month at the end of the regular season. GS played well enough without Curry to get the #6 spot and avoid the play in games (which it lost in 2020-2021). When Curry came back from his injury he was fully refreshed and during the playoffs he performed at an MVP level to lead the team to the title.
I get what you're saying and I think in Curry's case this season,they may not be able to sit him like that now. They mentioned he was dealing with something during the game on sunday but these days its hard to really tell who has an actual injury OR is he just "injured" for this one game? Boston is sneaky good at being able to rest a player here or there,it also helps having all that depth too.
With the Dubs,they're currently sitting 9th but just 2.5 games out of the 5th seed, Not insurmountable but they're more than capable of giving teams problems. Getting Wiggins back should help. I'm not sure if the off the court rumors about what he's dealing with are true but it seems like he's been having a tough time this season dealing with those issues.
Even though Steph had one of his worst games ever on sunday I was still thinking about how lucky the Celtics have been not having to face him so much in the East. It was hard enough watching the C's try to get by Lebron every year come playoff time,Steph would bring his own unique skills that are so hard to defend.
My understanding is that the remaining regular season schedule for GS is one of the easiest (third easiest?) among all of the teams in the league. If that is true and if the other Western Conference teams in slots #5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 have more difficult remaining schedules it could end up being that GS climbs up in the standings to #6 or even #5.
The GS roster is now 100% healthy for the first time since early November. Since Green came back from his suspension the team has been playing much better. Having a second unit that includes Chris Paul and Klay Thompson is turning out to be a big positive. The younger players (Kuminga, Pods, TJD and Moody) get significant playing time (as starters and second unit guys) and actually meshing with the older players has given the team a big boost.
I watched the GS v. Bucks game last night. The Bucks took a 5-0 lead. From that point forward GS outscored the Bucks 125-85. They lead by 22 points at the half (78-56). The Bucks stormed back in the early 3rd quarter to cut the GS lead to 6. Instead of folding (like GS has done many times this year) it weathered the Bucks comeback and ended up leading by 12 (93-81) at the end of the 3rd quarter.
I expected that in the 4th quarter the Bucks would rally again to tie the game or even take the lead. I was expecting that the end of the game would come down to the wire with the final score being a 1 or 2 point margin.
I was wrong.
GS put on a clinic in the 4th quarter, both on offense and defense. It outscored the Bucks 32-9. This was the first game I have seen this year where GS pulled it all together in the 4th quarter and just crushed the opposing team. The Bucks were trying hard to compete, but they were unable to do so. The GS defense was smothering and its offense was clicking. It reminded me of the GS teams with Durant.
Last night GS reminded me of Boston's performance on Sunday (where the game was essentially over at the end of the first quarter after Boston went on a 23-1 run). The only difference is that in the Boston 52 point win on Sunday, GS tossed in the towel by half time. In last night's game against the Bucks, the Bucks rallied in the early 3rd quarter to cut the lead to six and then got smoked the rest of the way (with the Bucks not throwing in the towel, but failing to be able to much of anything because of the GS players playing like Boston did on Sunday).
If GS continues to play as well or better than they have played over the past 18 games (14-4) during the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs, nothing would please me more than to see a rematch between Boston and GS in the 2024 finals.
The Warriors kind of remind me of the Patriots teams in Brady's later years where,whether you have Tom or Steph you're never really out of any game and depending on how the team around them is playing,maybe you go on a run in the playoffs and win a championship that really wasn't expected like NE in 2019/GS in 2021.
If I were a player on one of those West teams ahead of them in the standings, the last thing I'd want to see come playoff time is a healthy Warriors team. The Kings got to see firsthand what that was like last season and the Celtics in the Finals the year before.
What an ugly game by Boston last night. All over the place with their passing,missed 9 free throws in a 6pt loss, just didn't look like they wanted to win that game while Denver did. I hope Joe Mazzulla has all of those late game Aaron Gordon dunks on a continuous loop once they watch film of that game. Kudos to Denver on the win.
Looks like KAT had knee surgery and will be reevaluated about a month from now but still,the Wolves keep playing hard without him. This block by Anthony Edwards to preserve a 2pt win as time expired was insane with how high he actually jumped. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcWbvVgAbU0
@galaxy27 said:
know who may be the most complete player in the association?
have you seen Domantas Sabonis' stats?
I think the most surprising stat might be his 3pt%. One of the main reasons that they kept Myles Turner over him was due to Turner's ability to consistently hit the three (along with his shot blocking.)
We're currently in a great era of passing from the big man between Joker, Sabonis, Giannis and even Embiid & Sengun. Just seeing those first two ranked 4th & 5th in assists per game is nuts.
The Kings seriously need to find some defenders this offseason to better balance out that roster.
One thing about the NBA that has become apparent is that the very best players in the league are no longer solely USA born and raised.
When the current crop of 32 years and older star players retire (i.e. LBJ, Durant, Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, etc.), their replacement will be players born and raised outside of the USA (i.e. Jokic, Giannis, Wemby, Luca, etc.).
NBA rosters will move away from being mostly USA born black players; and will be filled with the best of the best players born and raised on all six continents (excluding Antarctica for now).
American born and raised players will need to work harder to get a roster spot, due to the NBA becoming a global enterprise.
Sanction, With the league trying so hard to get the players to actually compete during the AS game due to it, along with the draft, being their largest league events outside of the playoffs, they should really turn the game into a US vs the World matchup.
They could play around with the rosters so each team is somewhat balanced then play up the _Which team is better?_angle leading up to the game. Just make it all about playing for pride and see what happens. If certain players want to half-ass it then make sure those players aren't back next time around.
The US may end up with the better overall roster but the World team would definitely have the better starting five between Joker,Giannis,Luka & SGA with that 5th spot going to either Embiid or Wemby.
Just seeing a frontcourt of Joker,Giannis & Wemby would be so much fun to watch. On offense Jokic could just hangout at the top of the key and throw lobs to two of the most freakish athletes the league has even seen.
Maybe the league could even play that initial US vs World game outside of the country just to add some drama to it lol.
Comments
It was reported that she may have tanked her last game, she went scoreless in the 4th quarter,to break the record at home.
I don't watch any women's college basketball, or even the men for that matter, i just saw the highlights flor last night's game.
That all being said, her statline for the 82-79 loss in her previous game was:
31pts on 10/25 from the field,5/15 from three & 6/9 from the line.
Her season shooting splits were 47/39/85% and she averages 32ppg.
its possible it was just a bad shooting night. Or not. 🤷♂️
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
More offtopic, Kelsey Plum was the previous scoring record holder who now plays in the WNBA and IMO the most impressive moment she had on a basketball court may have been tossing this T-shirt to her father in the stands. it was caught by someone in the group she was with way up in the stands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOIVZVHh-HA
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Great throw. Impressive.
Wow ,hell of a throw
With Steph Curry going up against Sabrina Ionescu in a 3pt challenge tonight hopefully a year from now we get to see a Caitlin Clark v Steph Curry 3pt challenge.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
The East All Stars beat the West All Stars today 211 to 186.
The game itself was a joke. Offense galore. Very little defense at all; the defensive effort did not even come close to the level of "Matador Defense".
Many years ago the All Star games were played by Star Players whose mind set (during at least part of the game) was to play a competitive game, including on defense, and win the game (by defeating your opponent). These previous Star player showed at least some pride and determination.
None of that was on display today.
If you watched the game today what did you think of it?
very proud to say i did not watch one second of that abomination. if there is minimal defense in a real NBA game, then there certainly wasn't going to be any in that sham of a showcase event. it's basically an opportunity for the NBA's best players to act like they are auditioning for the Harlem Globetrotters.
no thank you very much
I had the game on but only watched sparingly. Sometime during the late 2000's and 2010's the all star players just started to not give af when it came to putting in the effort during the AS game. I've seen it mentioned that with salaries being what they currently are players don't want to chance getting hurt but I honestly think that's BS. Its just one more game and players rarely get hurt.
Its a shame really because the NBA All Star game used to be pretty entertaining when you had the best players in each conference going at each other while playing with some pride.
I've always thought the younger players in the game took their cue from the older vets so maybe when this era of older players leave the game for good it possibly gets competitive again. Or Adam Silver can offer 1M for each player on the winning team while the losers get nothing. If the winner of the IST got excited for 500k per player then maybe winner takes all in the AS game does it too.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
One good thing that came from this AS weekend was these three legends in Indiana talking hoops. Reggie Miller got to sit down for an interview with Larry Bird & Isiah Thomas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgmzLydy_ZA&list=TLPQMTkwMjIwMjR3YYrnSqcTOg&index=1
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
The NBA regular season is heading toward a finish with about 25 games to go.
It will be interesting to see how well or bad teams play as they strive to finish strong (to keep their current playoff seeding or to climb into the top 6, or into spots 7-10 for the play games.
GS beat the Lakers last night by 18 points and are now 9-2 over its past 11 games. GS plays Denver tomorrow night. That should be a good game to watch.
Allen Iverson came out recently and said if he played in this era of negligible defense and superfluous whistle-blowing, he'd average 43 PPG
here lately i've read a lot of quotes from retired hoops stars and a number of them simply can't stomach today's NBA
and the All-Star game was a microcosm of the issue. if you haven't seen this, it's classic. Adam Silver stopped just short of letting the entire world know how disgusted he was
"and to the Eastern Conference All-Stars, you scored the most points. well, congratulations." 😅😅
From everything that I've read on the subject since the game was played SIlver and many of the older HOFers really thought that this year's game would be much more competitive. Then after the game you had Anthony Edwards getting asked about the compete level during the game and his responce was "For me, it's an All-Star Game, so I don't think I will ever look at it like being super competitive," I think that this is the point of view taken by many of basketball's star players.
Not that this is the entire reason behind the NBA's stars not going all out in these games but it rarely gets mentioned that in the 2020 AS game someone in the league office came up with the Elam Ending. Basically they made it so whichever team won each quarter, a large sum of money got donated to a certain charity then in the 4th quarter the clocks were shutoff and they played to a target score.
Ultimately team Lebron won 157-155 and it was considered one of the most compettitve AS games ever. The only problem was Boston's Kemba Walker, who had a wonky knee to begin with but still got voted in as starter, played heavy four 4th quarter minutes by Raptors HC Nick Nurse who was coaching team Lebron. After the game Kemba had to have his knee drained then get an anti-inflammatory injection. Since then, Kemba has stated numerous times that that AS game injury pretty much was the end of his career and he played in just 98 total regular season games over the following 3.5 seasons in the league. He was just 30yrs old when that game was played.
Since then in the preceding four AS games the players have only given less effort with each new game and I doubt it changes anytime soon. While I love watching the best hoopersters in the world go all out against each other in these AS games, I'm also not going to scream bloody murder if they don't. Not when that it was the team that I root for losing an AS game starter to injury that not only affected him for the remainder of that season but also the following season when Walker missed 38 games and couldn't play in back to back games. Not ideal for a contender to lose their starting PG for pretty much one game a week and by the end of the C's brief playoff run,the coach and GM eventually lost their jobs.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I came across a headline recently where Kevin Durant just passed 29K in career points moving him past Carmelo Anthony for 11th on the All-Time list.
He's four years younger than Lebron (39) but I doubt that he ever comes close to reaching 40K let alone reaching however many career points scored that Lebron finishes with above that.
That all being said,if KD does play enough seasons he may pass some real interesting names on the All-Time Points Scored list.
11. KD 28,318
10. Shaq 28,596
09. Moses 29,580
08. Dr J 30,026
07. Wilt 31,419
06. Dirk 31,560
05. Jordan 32,292
04. Kobe 33,643
03. Karl Malone 36,928
02. Kareem 38,387
01. Lebron 39,926 (currently)
Four more seasons around his average points scored per season could have him passing Kobe into the 4th all-time position.
I don't think KD will ever get over the rep he's received for jumping onto Golden State's bandwagon but if he starts passing some giants on that all-time soring list, I think the perception of him might start to change. The question is,how long will he actually play for?
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
just watched Boston-Dallas
the Celtics will be in the NBA Finals again, mark my words. no one in the Eastern Conference is going to touch them.
GS is 13-3 since February 9 and has won 8 straight road games.
GS plays in Boston this coming Sunday. Should be an entertaining game.
These Celtics are so much better than in recent years and honestly they might even be one of the most complete teams in NBA history. I'm not even being hyperbolic when I make that statement.
They're on pace to become the most effiicent offense ever (most points scored per 100 possessions.) By adding Kristaps Porzingis they found a big who can consistently knock down threes and who could also create mismatches in the paint depending how often Boston's offense goes to him.
They still shoot a ton of threes per game but i heard an incredible stat during last nights Mavs game, of their 42 3pt attempts per game, 33 of them fall under the distances of what's considered open & wide open shots.
White,Hauser,Jrue & Horford are all shooting 40+% from distance while Tingus Pingus & Pritchard are both 37+%. As of earlier in the week Jrue was leading the league in corner three point percentage at over 60+%.
Do defenses let Tatum,Brown & KP exploit them in the paint or do they drop coverage leaving all of the shooters open?
The Jays have both reached the point where they trust their teammates now and are making the best play for the team 9 times out of 10. Both players are shooting a career high overall in FG% and both are averaging career highs in assists per game.
That all being said,their defense might be even better than their offense. There's five different players averaging a block per game which I'm too lazy to check but I bet that doesn't happen often. Three of those five players come off the bench.
Jrue (1st team) & Derrick White (2nd) are coming off of All Defensive nods from a year ago and White might have a legit case for DPOY when its all said and done. At the AS break Jaylen Brown was leading the league in Defensive FG% and Tatum might be the best defender of the group.
One major addition at the trade deadline was Grizzlies backup/part time big, Xavier Tillman. I know some may ask who the hell is that guy but he's a beefy poor man's version of Al Horford on defense who came over averaging 1blk/1stl per game
and has the size and quickness to be a deterrent to players like Giannis,Embiid & Joker. He won't shut them down but he's another legit defender who can cover them for short stretches of time.
All of this means nothing if Boston can't win it all this year but this team looks & feels so much different. They've only lost one game to a team with a losing record, have crushed it at home (26-3) and are currently on an nba best 10 game winning streak. They've been so fun to watch and it stinks that my buddy Little Toe never got a chance to see how good they've become.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I'm really looking forward to this game, both teams might be playing their best basketball of the season. Last time they met Porzingis & Draymond were both out and AFAIK Wiggins may be the only rotational player from either team who sits tomorrow.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
It would be interesting of GS wins tomorrow's game in Boston (especially if the game is not close). In that event GS would take the season series from Boston 2-0, while going 0-4 for the season series against defending champion Denver.
So far Denver is 1-0 against Boston this year. On 3-7-2024 those two teams play in Denver.
If Boston loses today it really won't mean a thing in the grand scheme of things when the odds of both teams making the Finals again to face each other would be astronomical. Other than that, It would just be a good road win in March for the Warriors.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Apparently this game did mean something to the Celtics even though they sat a healthy Porzingis. Jaylen Brown pretty much stated so at halftime.
This team really is so much fun to watch.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I watched part of the game. From the opening tip until the score was 21 to 21 it appeared the game was going to be a nail biter.
Then Boston went on a crazy run, leading to a 44 point half time lead. Game over. Boston is really good and likely the favorite to make it to the finals and win the title.
Hats off to Boston.
That 23-1 run to close out that first quarter was very reminiscent of those Steph/Klay/Durant runs that would turn a close game into a blowout. Crazy that this one happened midway through the first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciUPZc0r70g
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
The Dean Wade era in Cleveland has begun! Hats off to the Cavs for ending Boston's 11 game win streak, they were phenomenal in that 4th quarter during their comeback.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
we're sitting here talking the Celtics up, then I turn on the television tonight and watch them blow a 22-point lead with 9 minutes left in the game against a Cavaliers team without its best player
They got away from what was working so well in the first half when they were moving the ball around. Maybe hearing everyone throw them their flowers since sunday made them overconfident. Or they just played like crap in that 4th quarter. 🤷♂️
I'd say that this thursday night game at Denver should be huge for both teams but both could easily just end up sitting someone important for whatever reason.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Tough break for Evan Mobley and the Cavs with word coming out that he may miss some extended time after spraining an ankle last night. This Cavs roster really can't catch a break when it comes to injuries and its a shame because they're actually a well built team when everyone is healthy.
Mobley has a ton of talent but he needs to put on some muscle. This is his third NBA season and it times to spend some of that 3rd pick money on a better trainer for this offseason, take a page out of Wemby's book on how to be more pliable as someone with legit height.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Agree - Didn't the Cavs learn anything from last years playoffs where they were pushed around like weaklings?
Let's just say the "planets" arranged aligned perfectly for the Cavs last night! When Cavs were down 22 Boston did what they do all the time - Slacked off defense". And the refs? well - let's just say I watch the WWE......Nuff said.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
They've been one of the best teams this season and when healthy have been really elite. From what I've seen they don't look like the same team that lost in round 1.
That's the thing, they don't do this all the time, this was their first loss in 39 days. Thirty Nine Days.
They've been blowing out teams at a historic level this season and on one night (one quarter really) they took their foot off the gas. Of their 13 games Boston has lost this season maybe half of them were ones where the C's may have reverted to some of their previous bad habits. We're talking a handful of games over a 61 game stretch,thats pretty damn good.
Lots of fans in Boston today are just killing the officiating especially on that final tatum drive, some saying it was a foul (it wasn't) and they should have reset the clock to 1:7 seconds left for the jump ball (they should have). They actually jumped with :4 on the clock.
IMO, it is what it is, Boston lost because in the final 8-9 minutes they let up on defense and stopped moving the ball on the other end. Cleveland's defense was phenomenal and Dean Wade had a career nigh. It happens.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Interesting that GS lost by 52 points to Boston last Sunday and GS blows out the Bucks by 35 points tonight.
The Western Conference is shaping up to where even now (with about 18-20 games left in the regular season) the top 10 teams are most likely set. Utah, currently in spot #11 (at 28-35) is not playing well (2-8 over their last ten games) and is falling further behind spot #10.
Spots 1-4 have separation from spots 5-10. Minnesota (43-19), OKC (43-19), Denver (42-20) and the LA Clippers (40-21) occupy spots 1-4 and most likely will stay there.
Spots 5-10 are occupied by New Orleans (37-25), Phoenix (36-26), Sacramento (35-26), Dallas (34-28), Golden State (33-28) and the LA Lakers (34-30).
Whoever occupies spots 7-10 will square off in the play in games (LBJ, Curry, Durant and Luka/Kyrie?). Those games will be very fun to watch.
Whoever advances from the play in games will be seeded #7 and #8 in the playoffs. Those teams will square off with the #2 and #1 seeds in the West (currently Minnesota and OKC, both of whom do not have players with experience in making a deep playoff run to the Conference Finals or to the NBA Finals.
Round 1 of the Western Conference playoffs will be very entertaining, competitive and fun to watch.
Injuries are always possible and have a way of changing a team's fortunes. I heard that Karl Anthony Towns is now injured and will be missing some games. That is bad news for Minnesota. LBJ left the Lakers-Kings game last night with continuing ankle problems.
So, how do you who follow Eastern Conference teams see spots 1-10 shaping up in the Eastern Conference; how do you view the likely play in games to shape up; and how do you view Round 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs to shape up?
That KAT injury could be a problem if the tests are bad when he's their second best scorer who is capable of going off for 50-60pts. Even though their defense should still keep them in many games,losing that offense might hurt.
As far as the West seeding goes,I sort of feel bad for the Wolves & Thunder. they're both having incredible seasons where they're currently tied for the #1 seed but in the first round will likey have to face either Luka's Mavs, Steph's Dubs or Lebron & AD in LA. Any of those players could take over a playoff series on their own. its going to be interesting so see who comes out of the play-in tournament.
In the East, Boston is up 8 games on Milwaukee/8.5 on the Cavs and overall they're up 5.5 games on the Wolves&Thunder/6.5 on the Nuggets. I don't see anyone catching them in the East and I doubt that those three west teams moving past them. If it does come down to Boston-Denver in the Finals,having homecourt would be huge when thats one less game to play in Denver air.
the rest of the seeding will likely stay,
2 Bucks (could be 2 or 3)
3 Cavs (same)
4-8 just 2 games seperates the Magic,Knicks,Heat,Sixers & Pacers
9-10 is Chicago/Atlanta who i don't see winning the play-in
IMO,Milwaukee is the legit #2 when they have both Giannis & Dame who carry them to a win on any given nightplus it looks like Doc has started setting in as HC. Their defense have been very good lately.
Cleveland just needs to catch a break and see guys get and stay healthy. We saw how good they were just the other night and that was missing: their best scorer in Mitchell,best defender in Mobley and best shooter in Strus, all out.
If NY was healthy they'd be competing for those #2-3 positions. Like Cleveland though,they just keep getting hurt too. No one knows what a Brunson/DiVincenzo/Hart/Anunoby/Randle/Bogdanovic/Robinson/Hartenstein lineup would look like because half of that list has missed some decent time due to injury. Like the Cavs & Bucks,when healthy they can be very good,they are insanely deep but the Knicks might not see a fully healthy team until the start of next season.
Orlando has been a very solid team this year hanging around that 4/5/6 range which has been a surprise. The finished 13th in the East a year ago. I'm not sure I see them making it into round 2 but they have a 1-2 scoring punch of Banchero & Wagner and they have a ton of length, they could give certain teams headaches in round 1.
We all know that the Heat will flip that playoff mode switch soon and they're capable of sliding into that 4th spot. If Butler & Bam are healthy and their Others, as Shaq likes to call them, are playing hard then they're a tough matchup for anyone. they're having a better regular season, recordwise, than last year but they still keep losing many players to injuries.
i wouldn't put Philly with those other teams near the top but if Embiid is healthy come playoff time and Maxey's recent head injury isn't as bad as expected,I could see them taking certain matchups to 6 games. They're just not that deep right now. They'll have a ton of cap space this offseason and it might be a last ditch effort to put a complementary roster around Embiid before he may finally ask out. It will be interesting to see what they do there.
Indiana may end up playing many fast paced 140-138 type playoff games and may win a game or two due to their offense but man is that defense bad. We'll get to see what the new Haliburton/Siakam pairing looks like in round 1, Siakam is a decent #2 and should be a great fit with a playermaker like Haliburton. They just need to find one legit wing defender,IMO, before they could really move up into that Bos/Mil/Cle/NY/Mia grouping. Still fun team to watch on offense as long as its not your team getting scored on, lol.
I'll wait before giving any opinions on the later rounds. Expect certain teams to start debating whether to star resting for the playoffs or if the seeding is too important,especially all those teams sitting just 2 games apart. Boston,Milwaukee & Miami can afford to start resting on some point because they can all win playoff games on the road. Those other teams? Not as much and if one of the teams making into round 2,it wouldn't hurt to possibly have a better seeding in the end.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I'm really looking forward to this Bos/Den game tonight. Ultimately the outome shouldn't matter much outside of the media overblowing the importance for possible Finals implications but even with how great Boston has looked this season,Denver is still the benchmark as the defending champ.
I don't think that the starting lineups have been posted yet but hopefully we see both teams at full strength. That previous 2pt Denver win in Boston was just a phenomenal overall game as a basketball fan.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Resting star older star players toward the end of the regular season is an interesting topic. I can see the merit in doing so.
If a team has played well enough to assure a 1-6 spot, then it may conclude that its final position in spots 1-6 does not matter (unlike teams who possibly would fall into spots 7-10 or even lower than 10, thus having to either miss the playoffs completely or having to participate in the play in games).
In the 2012-2022 season GS ended up having Curry out for over one month at the end of the regular season. GS played well enough without Curry to get the #6 spot and avoid the play in games (which it lost in 2020-2021). When Curry came back from his injury he was fully refreshed and during the playoffs he performed at an MVP level to lead the team to the title.
I get what you're saying and I think in Curry's case this season,they may not be able to sit him like that now. They mentioned he was dealing with something during the game on sunday but these days its hard to really tell who has an actual injury OR is he just "injured" for this one game? Boston is sneaky good at being able to rest a player here or there,it also helps having all that depth too.
With the Dubs,they're currently sitting 9th but just 2.5 games out of the 5th seed, Not insurmountable but they're more than capable of giving teams problems. Getting Wiggins back should help. I'm not sure if the off the court rumors about what he's dealing with are true but it seems like he's been having a tough time this season dealing with those issues.
Even though Steph had one of his worst games ever on sunday I was still thinking about how lucky the Celtics have been not having to face him so much in the East. It was hard enough watching the C's try to get by Lebron every year come playoff time,Steph would bring his own unique skills that are so hard to defend.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
erikthredd
My understanding is that the remaining regular season schedule for GS is one of the easiest (third easiest?) among all of the teams in the league. If that is true and if the other Western Conference teams in slots #5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 have more difficult remaining schedules it could end up being that GS climbs up in the standings to #6 or even #5.
The GS roster is now 100% healthy for the first time since early November. Since Green came back from his suspension the team has been playing much better. Having a second unit that includes Chris Paul and Klay Thompson is turning out to be a big positive. The younger players (Kuminga, Pods, TJD and Moody) get significant playing time (as starters and second unit guys) and actually meshing with the older players has given the team a big boost.
I watched the GS v. Bucks game last night. The Bucks took a 5-0 lead. From that point forward GS outscored the Bucks 125-85. They lead by 22 points at the half (78-56). The Bucks stormed back in the early 3rd quarter to cut the GS lead to 6. Instead of folding (like GS has done many times this year) it weathered the Bucks comeback and ended up leading by 12 (93-81) at the end of the 3rd quarter.
I expected that in the 4th quarter the Bucks would rally again to tie the game or even take the lead. I was expecting that the end of the game would come down to the wire with the final score being a 1 or 2 point margin.
I was wrong.
GS put on a clinic in the 4th quarter, both on offense and defense. It outscored the Bucks 32-9. This was the first game I have seen this year where GS pulled it all together in the 4th quarter and just crushed the opposing team. The Bucks were trying hard to compete, but they were unable to do so. The GS defense was smothering and its offense was clicking. It reminded me of the GS teams with Durant.
Last night GS reminded me of Boston's performance on Sunday (where the game was essentially over at the end of the first quarter after Boston went on a 23-1 run). The only difference is that in the Boston 52 point win on Sunday, GS tossed in the towel by half time. In last night's game against the Bucks, the Bucks rallied in the early 3rd quarter to cut the lead to six and then got smoked the rest of the way (with the Bucks not throwing in the towel, but failing to be able to much of anything because of the GS players playing like Boston did on Sunday).
If GS continues to play as well or better than they have played over the past 18 games (14-4) during the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs, nothing would please me more than to see a rematch between Boston and GS in the 2024 finals.
The Warriors kind of remind me of the Patriots teams in Brady's later years where,whether you have Tom or Steph you're never really out of any game and depending on how the team around them is playing,maybe you go on a run in the playoffs and win a championship that really wasn't expected like NE in 2019/GS in 2021.
If I were a player on one of those West teams ahead of them in the standings, the last thing I'd want to see come playoff time is a healthy Warriors team. The Kings got to see firsthand what that was like last season and the Celtics in the Finals the year before.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
What an ugly game by Boston last night. All over the place with their passing,missed 9 free throws in a 6pt loss, just didn't look like they wanted to win that game while Denver did. I hope Joe Mazzulla has all of those late game Aaron Gordon dunks on a continuous loop once they watch film of that game. Kudos to Denver on the win.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Looks like KAT had knee surgery and will be reevaluated about a month from now but still,the Wolves keep playing hard without him. This block by Anthony Edwards to preserve a 2pt win as time expired was insane with how high he actually jumped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcWbvVgAbU0
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Air Anthony. Wow.
Not sure but it seems scoring is down since the AS break. Defense has picked up.
Cleveland has been putting in some work this past week with wins over the two #1 seeds in basketball,first Boston then Minnesota tonight.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
this happened last night
the reaction of the Rockets' bench 😅
Interesting fine on Rudy Gobert,$100,000.00 for his gesture to a ref. Implying a rigged game.
Joker vs Wemby tonight with an 8:30 EST tipoff time. I'm in.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
know who may be the most complete player in the association?
have you seen Domantas Sabonis' stats?
I think the most surprising stat might be his 3pt%. One of the main reasons that they kept Myles Turner over him was due to Turner's ability to consistently hit the three (along with his shot blocking.)
We're currently in a great era of passing from the big man between Joker, Sabonis, Giannis and even Embiid & Sengun. Just seeing those first two ranked 4th & 5th in assists per game is nuts.
The Kings seriously need to find some defenders this offseason to better balance out that roster.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
One thing about the NBA that has become apparent is that the very best players in the league are no longer solely USA born and raised.
When the current crop of 32 years and older star players retire (i.e. LBJ, Durant, Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, etc.), their replacement will be players born and raised outside of the USA (i.e. Jokic, Giannis, Wemby, Luca, etc.).
NBA rosters will move away from being mostly USA born black players; and will be filled with the best of the best players born and raised on all six continents (excluding Antarctica for now).
American born and raised players will need to work harder to get a roster spot, due to the NBA becoming a global enterprise.
here let me try that again
know who may be the most complete player in the association not named Nikola Jokic?
😅
Sanction, With the league trying so hard to get the players to actually compete during the AS game due to it, along with the draft, being their largest league events outside of the playoffs, they should really turn the game into a US vs the World matchup.
They could play around with the rosters so each team is somewhat balanced then play up the _Which team is better?_angle leading up to the game. Just make it all about playing for pride and see what happens. If certain players want to half-ass it then make sure those players aren't back next time around.
The US may end up with the better overall roster but the World team would definitely have the better starting five between Joker,Giannis,Luka & SGA with that 5th spot going to either Embiid or Wemby.
Just seeing a frontcourt of Joker,Giannis & Wemby would be so much fun to watch. On offense Jokic could just hangout at the top of the key and throw lobs to two of the most freakish athletes the league has even seen.
Maybe the league could even play that initial US vs World game outside of the country just to add some drama to it lol.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486