OT: 2019-20 NBA Discussions

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

The Hawks are fun, and on the right track, but are they really gonna win 10-12 more games than last year? Last year they outperformed their point differential by 4 games, so you're actually saying they will be 15-17 wins better.

Yeah but the East is terrible and they're getting Collins back for, in theory, a full season. And the splits for pre-January and post-January Trae were night and day.

You're forgetting this is a team in the same division as the Wizards. They play some garbage teams a whole lot.

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

He's also got a duty as a human being to have something approaching a moral compass, as do all those stakeholders he's supposedly advocating for.

This decision has undercut over a decade of goodwill they've built up being viewed as the Big Four sports league committed to supporting social causes.

The optics are terrible and even if you put aside the "he should have a conscience" notion because of some idea that ROI sits higher on the hierarchy of needs than sleeping at night, this does put some real risk into their long-term returns. Hopefully stakeholders have enough foresight to see that.

If I open a business, I’m doing that to make money. I do social conscience stuff on my time, and while I respect every athlete’s efforts to represent causes they believe in, as an owner, I’d rather they kept quiet. Please understand I’m not making a love the flag argument, questioning patriotism, etc. I’m saying a businesses’s obligation is to dollars, and navigating the political waters is an unprofitable burden.

As I’m sure you suspect, I fully agree with Lebron and co. on most of what they speak about. And I respect them for doing it, and respect Silver for how he navigated those difficult waters.

I’m not a public figure, and I’m very careful about what I post to social media. I don’t post anything political on LinkedIn for fear of reflecting on my employers, alienating potential contacts...in short, endangering my livelihood. I don’t even post opinions about tax code. In my private life? Absolutely.

I’m not going to tell Silver to take a stand when I buy Chinese products, and don’t take stands in public when it could reflect on my employer.

Also - this problem isn’t really China vs the nba, it’s china vs a bloviating game show host. Without that backdrop, I doubt they even notice the morey tweet, or flex.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

And as we all know, those MAGA hats aren’t made in Nebraska. We do business with a lot of devils, and, over time, I think it’s end up being for the best for those in those countries.

no they're made in California

https://www.apnews.com/afs:Content:6391630154

stop making up stuff

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by azrider

no they're made in California

https://www.apnews.com/afs:Content:6391630154

stop making up stuff

https://www.delawareonline.com/story...ts/1887049001/

Many of the ones you see are, third party or otherwise.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

If I open a business, I’m doing that to make money. I do social conscience stuff on my time, and while I respect every athlete’s efforts to represent causes they believe in, as an owner, I’d rather they kept quiet. Please understand I’m not making a love the flag argument, questioning patriotism, etc. I’m saying a businesses’s obligation is to dollars, and navigating the political waters is an unprofitable burden.

Could not disagree with this view more. It's a complete lack of integrity and willingness to sacrifice any sense of moral decency just to make a buck? Because that's all companies do?

Thats how you end up with the NBA and Activision Blizzard abandoning any pretense of values to engage in this sort of craven behavior.

Both companies are trying to navigate this world that doesn't exist where you can respond to political issues with apolitical stances. And instead they chose responses that side them with the regime.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by Aaron O

https://www.delawareonline.com/story...ts/1887049001/

Many of the ones you see are, third party or otherwise.

That story is specific to the Delaware GOP and only 150 hats were sold....not the millions (of which I own none fwiw) of hats that you were implying in your message. Again, stop making stuff up.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/do...ump-hat-china/

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by azrider

That story is specific to the Delaware GOP and only 150 hats were sold....not the millions (of which I own none fwiw) of hats that you were implying in your message. Again, stop making stuff up.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/do...ump-hat-china/

Care to wager how many in public came from the official store vs. third party vendors? Your point is fair...that it was misleading as written...but the bigger point is that most of us benefit from inexpensive Chinese supply chain.

(written from a made in China iPhone)

[Aaron O]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Could not disagree with this view more. It's a complete lack of integrity and willingness to sacrifice any sense of moral decency just to make a buck? Because that's all companies do?

Thats how you end up with the NBA and Activision Blizzard abandoning any pretense of values to engage in this sort of craven behavior.

Both companies are trying to navigate this world that doesn't exist where you can respond to political issues with apolitical stances. And instead they chose responses that side them with the regime.

While I would pick you high among those I'd want to call a friend, respect, and would want to drink a beer with, I probably would not open a business with you.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I see it differently, and from a very capitalist, cold, long range perspective.

[Jaybee]

Days left.

This serves mostly as an excuse to post a picture of Eric Bledsoe's arms, because holy ****, they are as big as my legs.

Let's hear your choices for individual awards: MVP, MIP, 6th Man, DPOY, COY?

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Days left.

This serves mostly as an excuse to post a picture of Eric Bledsoe's arms, because holy ****, they are as big as my legs.

Let's hear your choices for individual awards: MVP, MIP, 6th Man, DPOY, COY?

MVP: Jokic
MIP: Trae
6th Man: Atlanta High School Legend Lou Williams
DPOY: Kawhi putting the clamps on everything outside the I-5 corridor.
COY: Quinn Snyder when his plucky Jazz surprise to a 2 seed.

[Jaybee]

MVP: (unleashed) Curry
MIP: SGA
6M: Monte Morris
DPOY: Gobert
COY: Snyder
Rookie: Zion (darkhorse Porter Jr.)


As a side note, I love Trae and think he will be even better this year, but I have an general issue with the idea of giving a sophomore the MIP award- those guys are supposed to get better! To me, that award should go to a veteran who has made a significant leap from year to year - Siakam last year was perfect.

I hope we see sharktopus Kawhi in the regular season again. He was clearly metering his defensive effort last year until the playoffs. There could be some terrifying stretches where Kawhi/PG just swallow like 4 PNR's in a row and all of the sudden you've gone from up 3 down 10.

[Aaron O]

MVP: KL
MIP: Lonzo Ball
6th man: sweet Lou Williams
Dpou: JoJo
Coy: doc rivers
ROY: Zion

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

MVP: (unleashed) Curry
MIP: SGA
6M: Monte Morris
DPOY: Gobert
COY: Snyder
Rookie: Zion (darkhorse Porter Jr.)


As a side note, I love Trae and think he will be even better this year, but I have an general issue with the idea of giving a sophomore the MIP award- those guys are supposed to get better! To me, that award should go to a veteran who has made a significant leap from year to year - Siakam last year was perfect.

I hope we see sharktopus Kawhi in the regular season again. He was clearly metering his defensive effort last year until the playoffs. There could be some terrifying stretches where Kawhi/PG just swallow like 4 PNR's in a row and all of the sudden you've gone from up 3 down 10.

Agreed, I just wanted an excuse to Stan for Trae.

More realistic candidate from the Hawks would be John Collins.

[Jaybee]

MVP is really interesting to me this year.

Giannis was amazing last year, no reason to think he won't be as good or better this year.

Harden had the best scoring season since Jordan, and would have been a legitimate winner. Is Russ going to take too many possessions to allow him to repeat that performance?

AD is finally going to get the national exposure he needs to have a real shot. If he stays healthy, I expect him to have a huge year.

There's a nonzero chance that LeBron has a "what, you forgot about me?" season, which probably looks something like 27/9/9.

Jokic is a savant, and Denver is going to be at the top of the standings all year. A center averaging 10 assists would be hard to ignore.

Curry/Kawhi/Embiid all have the same question in front of them to me - they should be electric when they play, but will they play enough to be legit candidates? I feel fairly confident that Kawhi and Embiid will probably be around 55-60 games max and I feel comfortable disqualifying them on that basis. I haven't seen any reporting on whether the W's are just gonna let Curry go, in which case he's gonna average 35+, or whether they understand this is the regroup season and they shouldn't be putting those miles on their most important player.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

MVP is really interesting to me this year.

Giannis was amazing last year, no reason to think he won't be as good or better this year.

Harden had the best scoring season since Jordan, and would have been a legitimate winner. Is Russ going to take too many possessions to allow him to repeat that performance?

AD is finally going to get the national exposure he needs to have a real shot. If he stays healthy, I expect him to have a huge year.

There's a nonzero chance that LeBron has a "what, you forgot about me?" season, which probably looks something like 27/9/9.

Jokic is a savant, and Denver is going to be at the top of the standings all year. A center averaging 10 assists would be hard to ignore.

Curry/Kawhi/Embiid all have the same question in front of them to me - they should be electric when they play, but will they play enough to be legit candidates? I feel fairly confident that Kawhi and Embiid will probably be around 55-60 games max and I feel comfortable disqualifying them on that basis. I haven't seen any reporting on whether the W's are just gonna let Curry go, in which case he's gonna average 35+, or whether they understand this is the regroup season and they shouldn't be putting those miles on their most important player.

MVP tends to skew rightly or wrongly to guys who are already top tier and have that magical year where all the stars align. Why guys like LeBron and Jordan were penalized somewhat as the award became something of a "anyone other than those dudes, because of course they're the most valuable player alive."

Otherwise Jordan would have 10 of the things and probably should have won one for the year he played for the Barons and the Bulls immediately went into the tank.

If the Warriors surprise as a 2 or 3 seed with Curry going full Super Saiyan, vintage Davidson, then yeah, it's his award this year.