OT: NBA season has begun! [Potential Spoilers]

[myth_jimmy]

It's kind of hard to tell, and will need to see some games.

There's a reasonable argument to be made that getting rid of IT and Rose alone should improve them a bunch, and G.Hill's been fine relatively.

It sucks that IT was playing how he was, but it can't be ignored how bad he was.

Crowder didn't seem likely to recapture his old form this season. So Rod Hood should be an improvement.

Losing Frye (along with Love's injury) will hurt especially with not bringing in anyone with some stretchiness at the 4/5.

At the moment I'd say they got better, and that their more aligned with Cs & Raps, but the flip side is that only the Cavs have proved the ability to win, so until we see otherwise it's hard to think they wont.

I really hate Cleveland. I hope LeBron leaves.

[sales guy]

Originally Posted by myth_jimmy

It's kind of hard to tell, and will need to see some games.

There's a reasonable argument to be made that getting rid of IT and Rose alone should improve them a bunch, and G.Hill's been fine relatively.

It sucks that IT was playing how he was, but it can't be ignored how bad he was.

Crowder didn't seem likely to recapture his old form this season. So Rod Hood should be an improvement.

Losing Frye (along with Love's injury) will hurt especially with not bringing in anyone with some stretchiness at the 4/5.

At the moment I'd say they got better, and that their more aligned with Cs & Raps, but the flip side is that only the Cavs have proved the ability to win, so until we see otherwise it's hard to think they wont.

I really hate Cleveland. I hope LeBron leaves.

I hate them too. And yes. Hope he leaves. Cause the town will go nuts again and burn his stuff. Which is stupid and funny to watch. I lived here when they did it last time. Wow was it wild.

I think the moves they did was with the plan of him leaving. Something they can build on.

[MaraudingWalrus]

The moves Cleveland made were enough for the Cavs owner, Gilbert, to be able to say "See, I tried to help LeBron" in the last year and make it be more on LeBron leaving than on him. He spent another $50m yesterday, so it's sort of a "check" move putting it now on LeBron in public opinion if he moves.


also, I absolutely love Wade back in Miami. Seeing him in the Vice uniform last night was amazing. Coach Spo really had just begun to figure out how to use Wade & Goran at the same time at the end of the season two years ago, and Wade to Whiteside is a great combo.

Even the diminished player that he is, Wade really fills a need the Heat had, which was someone who can create their own shot late in the game, which Wade can really do quite well still. He need only play 15-25 minutes a game and he can have a big impact, provided he's rested enough for the last five minutes of the 4th. The Heat probably would have won about eight to ten of the games they've lost so far this season if they had someone who could reliably create space to get a shot off...James Johnson or Tyler Johnson are just not that guy...and as much as I love Dragic, he's not quite that guy either.

[93legendti]

Last night’s all star festivities were a highlight to SVG’s incompetence and lack of basketball knowledge. Devin Booker won the 3 Point Contest. SVG passed on him to pick Stanley Johnson. Donovan Mitchell won the Slam Dunk Contest. SVG passed on him to take Luke Kennard. Spencer Dinwiddie won the Skills Competition. SVG cut him.

[sales guy]

The Dubs up 32 over the Thunder. That's the team I like to watch. That was fun. And I bet it helped their confidence. And the rest of the year isn't as hard as the first half. So hopefully they can make up some ground on the Rockets for the #1 seed.

[Jaybee]

Western Conference Playoff Race

As of last night's games, the T-wolves, Spurs, Blazers, Pels, OKC, Clips and Nuggets all have somewhere between 25 and 28 losses. That's their current seed order, with Minnesota being 3 and Denver being 9. Also worth mentioning that the Jazz are 2 games behind the Nuggets*. So who is making it in, who is not, and what is the final seed order?


The 8 teams in the East are pretty well defined by now - maybe some jockeying for seeds 4-7.



*only mentioned because fivethirtyeight projection has the nuggets and jazz tied at season end.

[myth_jimmy]

Should be a great end to the year. I'm rejuvenating after taking a few weeks off around all-star.

Last night's games were fun.

I want the Nuggs to get in, and the Pels. Otherwise I don't care too much.

[Jaybee]

One of the compelling thing is that the "best" teams in this 7 team melee all have some significant components missing (Boogie, Butler, Roberson), while some of the upstarts are just getting everything going (e.g. the Nuggets getting Millsap back). I haven't taken a close look at schedules and who gets the most games against the 7 or so teams in the tank battalion.

I'd love to see the Pels make it - watching Anthony Davis wreck the league is going to be fun for the next 4 weeks.


I think I'd tentatively go:

3) Spurs (because Spurs)
4) Thunder
5) Blazers
6) T-wolves (I think losing Butler hurts so much on both ends, and a Thibs team never gets fresher or better in the last month of the season)
7) Pels
8) Clips

[myth_jimmy]

what I think ;

3. Spurs
4. Thunder
5. Wolves.
6. Port
7. Pels
8. Utah

what I want...
3. Wolves
4. Spurs (and a 1-4 second round with GSW!)
5. Pels
6. Nuggs
7. Utah
8. Portland (and a 1-8 with GSW!)


I strongly dislike OKC and am indifferent about the Clips, though leaning dislike.

[93legendti]

That sound you hear is SVG packing his bags. Reggie Jackson takes 2 months to heal from a sprained ankle? More like he doesn’t want to play for SVG.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by myth_jimmy

what I think ;

3. Spurs
4. Thunder
5. Wolves.
6. Port
7. Pels
8. Utah

what I want...
3. Wolves
4. Spurs (and a 1-4 second round with GSW!)
5. Pels
6. Nuggs
7. Utah
8. Portland (and a 1-8 with GSW!)


I strongly dislike OKC and am indifferent about the Clips, though leaning dislike.

So it looks like you and I were both sleeping on Portland. They look like a solid bet for the 3 seed at this point, owning tiebreakers against the Spurs, Thunder, and Wolves, all of whom are fighting some sort of serious personnel loss.

Current 538 projections are:

1)Rockets (64 wins)
2)Dubs (63)
3)Blazers (48)
4)Wolves (47)
5)Pels (47)
6)Thunder (47)
7)Spurs (46)
8)Nuggets (46)

9)Clips (45)
10)Jazz (45)

Fun scenarios I am rooting for: Rockets fall to 2 or Spurs fall to 8, Spurs get Kawhi and LMA back and take the series to 7, Rockets-Nuggets over/unders set at 240 points, either Blazers-Dubs or Thunder-Dubs in the 2nd round. KAT/Brow in the first round.

[FlashUNC]

Minnesota has a heck of a stretch coming up without Butler. That bottom half of the West -- really anything from 3-10 -- is a buzzsaw. I could just as easily see them being the 4 seed as they are in the lottery.

Harden's the MVP this year, but man the Brow is stealing souls since the All Star break.

[Jaybee]

And here's the East, with (538 projected wins):

1) Raps (60)
2) Celtics (55)
3) Sixers (48)
4) Cavs (47)
5) Wiz (45)
6) Pacers (45)
7) Heat (43)
8) Bucks (43)

If I'm the Wiz or the Pacers, I would much much rather play the Sixers than LeBron in the first round.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Minnesota has a heck of a stretch coming up without Butler. That bottom half of the West -- really anything from 3-10 -- is a buzzsaw. I could just as easily see them being the 4 seed as they are in the lottery.

Harden's the MVP this year, but man the Brow is stealing souls since the All Star break.

Wolves and Thunder both have really tough schedules over the next 3 weeks, starting with the Rockets in OKC tonight. Meanwhile, Minnesota's next 4 is Celtics, Dubs, @Wizards, @Spurs. They aren't favorites in any of those games.

Lillard has also been crushing it since the break.

[rousseau]

Finals preview? Could be be a fun series. Harden is crazy good, probably the MVP this year, but my armchair impression is that the Raptors might just have the best defence in the league to go up against him.

And call me crazy on the basis of one game, but I'm not overly impressed by Houston. Looks like a team with a few above-average role players after James Harden and Chris Paul and a weak bench. Which obviously doesn't matter if those two are bringing their A game, and the bench might not be so important in the playoffs anyway.

Actually, this could well be Toronto's Achilles heel. They've got an outstanding bench that wears opposing teams down in the regular season, but will that be of much use in the postseason? Problem is, Toronto gets its energy from a gangbusters second unit that comes in running, blocking shots and just generally beating up on opponents. Will be interesting to see how Dwayne Casey manages their minutes.