OT: 2018-19 NBA Thread. - Page 10

joosttx · #**136** 12-13-2018, 11:52 AM

[QUOTE=XXtwindad;2469045]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Toronto, without their best player, on night 2 of a back-to-back, goes into Oracle and lays a statement beatdown on full strength* GSW?

Are we thinking that GSW just don't even care until May?

Thoughts?

Yes.

jtakeda · #**137** 12-13-2018, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joosttx

Yes.

I think they got lazy once they saw Kawhi was out.

Also—cousins will be back very soon

Jaybee · #**138** 12-13-2018, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtakeda

I think they got lazy once they saw Kawhi was out.

Also—cousins will be back very soon

This is a good point. Cousins has never been a good defensive post (largely effort based), but he will definitely help there. I still think there is a clear lack of shooting outside of Klay/Steph/KD, which is related to the bench units being pretty bad. I guess this gets mitigated in the playoffs because those guys all play 38+minutes.

FlashUNC · #**139** 12-13-2018, 01:31 PM

These first three months of the season have already been fraught with more drama than the last three years in Dubville.

Draymond is shaking the rust off, so is Steph. And yeah, the regular season apathy with this bunch is real.

But the Draymond/Durant schism is real. The losing streak was real. Steve Kerr's public exasperation and frustration is real.

I dunno, just the feeling we've seen the peak for this bunch and the band's going to be breaking up more out of malaise and a series of small annoyances than any great fallout or collapse.

Can they find another gear when it matters? Probably. But a team of deep, rangy, athletic, switching wings with an all-time defender like Kawhi leading the charge? I dunno. They were a tweaked Chris Paul hamstring away from going home in last year's WCF.

Bob Ross · #**140** 12-13-2018, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaybee

I still think there is a clear lack of shooting outside of Klay/Steph/KD, which is related to the bench units being pretty bad.

This is quite possibly the first year I've ever paid attention to early season basketball. (I historically have ignored the first 5 or 6 months of the season and then get totally obsessed after the All-Star break.) So watching the Warriors these last couple months has seemed very strange for me, specifically because guys that I'd come to really enjoy watching due to their journeyman approach -- Iguodala and Livingston especially -- appear to suck.

Do they historically get better as the season progresses, or are their skills on the decline? I honestly can't recall the last time I saw Iggy put the ball in the net! ...unless it was last season?

Jaybee · #**141** 12-13-2018, 05:15 PM

Both? Iggy and Livingston are ooooold. So skills on the decline, and they also pick and choose their spots to actually put out effort.

While I'm not sure I completely buy that last night specifically was just not GAF (they seemed to care a lot earlier this week about putting the Bucks in their place after a previous beatdown - I have to think they felt the same about losing a close one in Toronto), it is pretty clear that GS regards the entire regular season as experimental prelude.

xnetter · #**142** 12-14-2018, 01:12 PM

GS definitely does not look happy. Klay looked very frustrated and mopey out there during that Raps bum-lashing the other day. If they were simply taking it easy and saving up the watts for when it counts later in the season, you'd think their facial expressions would convey that blase attitude.

KJ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Both? Iggy and Livingston are ooooold. So skills on the decline, and they also pick and choose their spots to actually put out effort.

While I'm not sure I completely buy that last night specifically was just not GAF (they seemed to care a lot earlier this week about putting the Bucks in their place after a previous beatdown - I have to think they felt the same about losing a close one in Toronto), it is pretty clear that GS regards the entire regular season as experimental prelude.

XXtwindad · #**143** 12-17-2018, 08:59 AM

Saw a play a few nights ago that won't make it into the highlight reels or box scores. But it was one of the best "plays" I've seen in a long time.

Steven Adams (the OKC center) was down low in the post. He was fed the dime, and with nobody around him, was about to rise up for an uncontested bucket. Out of nowhere, Mason Plumlee, the Denver PF, in a desperate and ill-advised attempt to block the shot, flings himself over Adams, landing on his back.

Adams is in the process of elevating. Plumlee is en route to a potentially very nasty header. Recognizing this, even though a quick bucket (in a very tight game) is within reach, Adams changes course, and tries to prevent Plumlee from taking a hard spill.

It's called sportsmanship. Really classy move. I've just become a Steven Adams fan. This is the same reason, by the way, that I never, ever, rooted against Tim Duncan.

My 2 cents ...

Jaybee · #**144** 12-17-2018, 09:26 AM

That play probably prevented Plumlee from a head injury. He was rubber side up with no way to cushion his fall when Adams grabbed him.

Adams is a great dude. Hilarious interviews, does a ton for the community in OKC, and though he'd be well suited for an enforcer role, I've never seen him do anything other than calm everyone down.

The Nuggets, by the way, are looking a little spicy. Wins over OKC and the Raps (minus Siakam, but still) in the last week. They seem to have crafted a competent defense around Nikola Jokic, which I thought was impossible (and watching that dude play, I still don't get. He is always in the wrong spot). Not sure who their star bucket-getter is in Q4 of a tight playoff game (Murray, I guess? Jokic will pass people open?), but they have a solid top 8.

XXtwindad · #**145** 12-17-2018, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaybee

That play probably prevented Plumlee from a head injury. He was rubber side up with no way to cushion his fall when Adams grabbed him.

Adams is a great dude. Hilarious interviews, does a ton for the community in OKC, and though he'd be well suited for an enforcer role, I've never seen him do anything other than calm everyone down.

The Nuggets, by the way, are looking a little spicy. Wins over OKC and the Raps (minus Siakam, but still) in the last week. They seem to have crafted a competent defense around Nikola Jokic, which I thought was impossible (and watching that dude play, I still don't get. He is always in the wrong spot). Not sure who their star bucket-getter is in Q4 of a tight playoff game (Murray, I guess? Jokic will pass people open?), but they have a solid top 8.

The Nuggets have usurped the Dubs status as "most fun to watch." With Jokic distributing to Murray, Morris, etc really entertaining...

xnetter · #**146** 12-17-2018, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaybee

The Nuggets, by the way, are looking a little spicy. Wins over OKC and the Raps (minus Siakam and Lowry and Valanciunas and Van Vleet, but still) in the last week..

Fixed that for you

bigman · #**147** 12-17-2018, 12:31 PM

Nets

Jaybee · #**148** 12-18-2018, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigman

Nets

What about the Nets?

So... James Harden step-back-step-back. Infuriating or hilarious? I would have gone with the former last year, but now I just appreciate the man as performance art.

XXtwindad · #**149** 12-25-2018, 09:45 PM

Not sure how much credence to ascribe to a December game, but the Dubs just got their sh** handed to them on their home court by the Lakers. Lost by 27. And this was without Lebron for the majority if the second half.

Rondo was dealing like a maestro, Kuzma was going off from everywhere, and some kid named Zubac was chewing the Dubs up in the paint.

harlond · #**150** 12-26-2018, 05:48 PM

Maybe what they need is for Steph to spend a year trying to get his PGA tour card, realize that won’t fly, and then come back, ready to lead them to a couple more rings.