OT: NBA season has begun! [Potential Spoilers]

[cadence90]

.... ..
.

[sales guy]

Originally Posted by cadence90

Wait, has "getting noticed" been a problematic issue for him to date?


(At him, not at you, obviously, since we are the two "despise-LBJ-the-most" members here, I think....)
ABLAL!

No way is IT a #1 cornerstone/building block. Never will be..

I'm not talking about just basketball. Movies, music, business. His kids getting noticed for things like those. He'll be in media central. VS CLE which is not.

[93legendti]

Blake Griffin is the real deal. I don’t know if he is worth $39 million in the last year of his contract, but he has all the tools and plays a beautiful game of basketball.

[Jaybee]

Blake is still a fantastic (top 12? top 15?) player. He's just injured a lot, and the value of that contract in 2022 is dicey. But I think too much of the analysis of this trade is congratulating the clippers for getting off his contract, and not enough is noting that this is the best player in a Pistons uniform in a long time.

Q4 of Nuggets-Thunder last night was cray-cray. That Paul George step-back dagger! That Jokic pass to Harris! I love Denver's young core. A lot of **** will be thrown Russ' way for not sticking to Harris out to the 3 point line, and justifiably so. He was watching Jokic and didn't follow. But after Jerami Grant got trucked by Chandler, Russ was in a no-win situation. If he had been stuck on Harris the whole time then Jokic is throwing a lob to the rim for Chandler to tip in. Finally, I'm an Andre Roberson fan, and even I didn't realize how critical he was to organizing the OKC defense. Their (small sample size) 3 games since his injury have looked awful, and it's clear just how much he covers up by allowing PG and Russ to be a little more free in their assignments.

Oh, and what's going to happen to Russ after this? http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...denver-nuggets

[93legendti]

The buzz around here is similar to when Isiah and Grant Hill were drafted.

[Jaybee]

That buzz is absolutely needed in Detroit. I heard on a podcast (dunc'd on, w Marc Stein as guest i think?) that Detroit is bottom 1/3 in attendance in the first year of a new building. That's pretty unheard of, and I'm curious whether you think there is a viable fan base in Detroit itself as opposed to Auburn Hills?

[93legendti]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

That buzz is absolutely needed in Detroit. I heard on a podcast (dunc'd on, w Marc Stein as guest i think?) that Detroit is bottom 1/3 in attendance in the first year of a new building. That's pretty unheard of, and I'm curious whether you think there is a viable fan base in Detroit itself as opposed to Auburn Hills?

Well, the hockey team has always played downtown and their games sold out until the last few years...I used to go to the old Cobo Hall in Detroit when Bob Lanier, Jimmy Walker (Jalen Rose’s father) and Dave Bing played and games were rarely sold out. But that team never won anything and management was bad.

A lot of the issues are the new management as well as SVG. When you look at the fact the Pistons could’ve drafted Devon Booker and Donovan Mitchell instead of Henry Ellison and Luke Kennard and that Drummond doesn’t put people in the seats the issues become clearer. SVG also cut Spencer Dinwiddie. They could sure use him now.

Detroit has a viable fan base for hockey, baseball and football. Basketball shouldn’t be much different. I think the team was foolish to move from the Palace in Auburn Hills, where attendance was better and they owned the building.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Blake is still a fantastic (top 12? top 15?) player. He's just injured a lot, and the value of that contract in 2022 is dicey. But I think too much of the analysis of this trade is congratulating the clippers for getting off his contract, and not enough is noting that this is the best player in a Pistons uniform in a long time.

Q4 of Nuggets-Thunder last night was cray-cray. That Paul George step-back dagger! That Jokic pass to Harris! I love Denver's young core. A lot of **** will be thrown Russ' way for not sticking to Harris out to the 3 point line, and justifiably so. He was watching Jokic and didn't follow. But after Jerami Grant got trucked by Chandler, Russ was in a no-win situation. If he had been stuck on Harris the whole time then Jokic is throwing a lob to the rim for Chandler to tip in. Finally, I'm an Andre Roberson fan, and even I didn't realize how critical he was to organizing the OKC defense. Their (small sample size) 3 games since his injury have looked awful, and it's clear just how much he covers up by allowing PG and Russ to be a little more free in their assignments.

Oh, and what's going to happen to Russ after this? http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...denver-nuggets

I imagine nothing. Security drops the ball to let a fan just wander on the floor to scream at a player, and the player is more or less defending himself in that situation? This ain't Artest going into the stands after a guy.

I dunno if I'd want to be paying Blake max money into his mid-30s. But he and Drummond are a tough combo to stop in the East, and when Jackson gets back...

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by 93legendti

Well, the hockey team has always played downtown and their games sold out until the last few years...I used to go to the old Cobo Hall in Detroit when Bob Lanier, Jimmy Walker (Jalen Rose’s father) and Dave Bing played and games were rarely sold out. But that team never won anything and management was bad.

A lot of the issues are the new management as well as SVG. When you look at the fact the Pistons could’ve drafted Devon Booker and Donovan Mitchell instead of Henry Ellison and Luke Kennard and that Drummond doesn’t put people in the seats the issues become clearer. SVG also cut Spencer Dinwiddie. They could sure use him now.

Detroit has a viable fan base for hockey, baseball and football. Basketball shouldn’t be much different. I think the team was foolish to move from the Palace in Auburn Hills, where attendance was better and they owned the building.

Same podcast mentioned that Arn Tellem is likely to expand his business role into managing the basketball side as well. I think this would be good for the Pistons - SVG is a good coach, and a questionable GM.

In fact, I struggle to think of a situation outside of San Antonio (where Pop was GM/coach for a while but essentially ceded those duties to Buford while still maintaining significant input) where the dual roles thing works well. GMs need to be objective analyzers of circumstances and personnel and have a strong knowledge of the cap and business sides. It's a full time job plus some. Meanwhile the head coach needs the basketball knowledge but also the personnel/ego management and should have his guy's back in a way that could be considered unobjective. Again, a full time job plus some. In addition to the not enough hours in a day to both problem, there's also a requirements of the two roles are in conflict problem.

Anyway, good luck to the Pistons. The more competitive teams there are in this league, the better for all fans.

[rousseau]

Statement game. Kyrie wasn't really himself, so maybe you can't read too much into it. I'm no good at prognosticating, and I'm not very objective as a Raps fan, but in my humble opinion the Raps win the East in six over the Celtics.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Statement game. Kyrie wasn't really himself, so maybe you can't read too much into it. I'm no good at prognosticating, and I'm not very objective as a Raps fan, but in my humble opinion the Raps win the East in six over the Celtics.

The Raps bench unit is so good and so much fun to watch. I'm interested to see how much this helps in the playoffs, where you typically roll with the starters for another 4-5 minutes/game*. Regardless, I think they match up really well with both of the other putative EC contenders, I'd give them a slight nod at this point. Not sure that even a blockbuster trade is saving the Cavs and that dysfunction at this point.


*It's the reverse of the reason I don't expect much out of the T-wolves in the playoffs this year. Thibs already has a short rotation, nothing to be gained in the playoffs on top of your top 6 being really tired in May.

[Jaybee]

Ok, so I finally made it through GSW-OKC from last night and I have to say: outside of their 4 best players, GSW looks like trash. Obviously, their 4 best players are better than anyone else's, but man, who is their 5th guy in playoffs crunch time?

It's not one of Zaza/Javale/David West - that just makes them a normal team with an average or below center. Iggy looks old, so does Livingston. McCaw looked like something in last year's playoffs but his confidence has fallen off a cliff, so much so that he requested some G-league minutes to get his mojo back. Swaggy P is Swaggy P. Jordan Bell (when healthy) I guess? I don't really like him having to keep Adams off the glass or covering the Harden/Capela PNR.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Ok, so I finally made it through GSW-OKC from last night and I have to say: outside of their 4 best players, GSW looks like trash. Obviously, their 4 best players are better than anyone else's, but man, who is their 5th guy in playoffs crunch time?

It's not one of Zaza/Javale/David West - that just makes them a normal team with an average or below center. Iggy looks old, so does Livingston. McCaw looked like something in last year's playoffs but his confidence has fallen off a cliff, so much so that he requested some G-league minutes to get his mojo back. Swaggy P is Swaggy P. Jordan Bell (when healthy) I guess? I don't really like him having to keep Adams off the glass or covering the Harden/Capela PNR.

How many of OKC points were scored on inside slams. Yesterday GSW had zero and I mean zero inside presence. I thought the sight of LBJ being a locomotive into the lane was scary but Westbrook was on some kind of mission yesterday. He was not going to be denied.

[Jaybee]

A couple of things re: GSW rim protection. KD has been their best rim protector this year, but spent an awful lot of time yesterday on George and couldn't really leave him to rotate. Similarly, parking Draymond on PatPat is going to keep him out of help rotations too. Getting Jordan Bell back will help a lot here. JaVale is a good shot blocker, but he's so bad at everything else (especially PNR defense) I don't think you can really keep him out there against a center as good as Adams (or Capela, thinking ahead). Once Russ set the tone yesterday, it was all down hill.

[junkfood]

Originally Posted by pdmtong

How many of OKC points were scored on inside slams. Yesterday GSW had zero and I mean zero inside presence. I thought the sight of LBJ being a locomotive into the lane was scary but Westbrook was on some kind of mission yesterday. He was not going to be denied.

Probably has something to do with the Warriors saying his style of play was easy to defend. Or something along those lines. A little different when he has some space to work with this year compared to last season. OKC's consistency is maddening, but I don't believe anyone will be looking forward to running into them in the playoffs. They have holes in their lineup, but their athleticism and length on the defensive end can be overwhelming when they are engaged.

Jake