NBA discussion

[faz]

Tough one highlight if season
Contenders:

Performances by :
Grizzlies
Cavs
Bulls

Bit biased as a Cavs fan but :
Kevin Love’s contribution and attitude
Jarrod Allen and Darius Garland

However Ja Morants block gets my vote

[faz]

Jan 12, 2022 1:11:18 GMT SamH said:

What's made me, not lose interest, but I struggle to watch full games, is all the breaks and time outs, referee reviews, coaches challenges...I'm sure it never used to be this bad. But that's why I like League pass, the 10 minute highlight packages allow you to watch the best bits and watch more games in the time you have. Or sometimes just the recap videos. I still watch more playoff games in full but it is hard work at times.

But I don't like to complain too much when I think back to the limited coverage we had 20, 25 years ago in this country. Switching on Teletext to get last night's scores, anyone?😱

Personally I don’t mind the stoppages I just swop games

NBA pass is not good for marriage harmony

[SamH]

That's what working from home is for! I've been able to take advantage of that massively to watch more of league pass since lockdown, I'm lucky to still be WFH and should be for the foreseeable. Granted it's not easy to watch and work at the same time but you know how in the office everyone has their 5 minutes and their little chats, and doing the tea rounds, etc? I invest that time on league pass now 😁

[erj14]

I probably watch more games the next morning on League Pass than live, so the stoppages don't really bother me as they all get cut out.

Guess I'm in the minority, I prefer the style of play now compared to back in the 80s/90s. The spacing/switching and threes I find much more pleasing on the eye. I guess you've just gotta watch the right teams.

Some of the ball being played in the late 90s early 00s was particularly bad to watch.

[dandayr]

use to be in a job that meant i initially saw Kings live a couple of times and then it became Rockets multiple times - but reached a point that lost interest as it was feeling more like only entertainment and less sport I could relate to. One trip watched a game where Rockets scored over 80pts in the first half and less than 40pts in the 2nd half. As someone else commented - had a wrestling feel to it, scripted entertainment. Next trip instead of Rockets/Mavs I went to UH/Rice and enjoyed it more and on future trips tended to see more college ball live than Rockets. My virgin box still tapes the NBA games, but I tend to just delete them as even using fast forward or watching the non-live versions they just take too much time and don't flow well imho.

[Deleted]

I used to work an evening job When I first got into the NBA 5or 6 years ago, so I was regularly watching 10 to 15 games a week, then when I went onto a normal schedule I fell away a bit, but even now that I’m back working evenings I just cannot bring myself to watch the NBA as much because like Sam says it’s just non-stop stoppages and time outs etc, I don’t think any sport can compare to the enjoyment of watching back-and-forth NBA action, but it’s just so rare to actually get that that it’s not even worth trying iin my opinion anymore, So like others have said I mostly just watch highlights now until the playoffs

[stepback3]

Hassan whitesides play on shaqtin a fool sums up my thoughts on the lack of defence 😂.

My team are the cavs and i really LOVE the identity the team has created this season.

[SamH]

I have noticed the Cavs are winning every night on their current west coast road trip, thats very impressive. They are one of the surprise teams for me this season.

And yes, in the 90s there were definitely some dull teams, inlcuding the Cavs. Under Mike Fratello they played an extremely stingy defensive game but hardly looked to score, so they would typically win games with about 85 points on the board. Now some might argue it is also good to watch high quality defence being executed but I think there is a balance that needs to be achieved! The Spurs championship teams for example - again, not to everyone's liking but I always appreciated the skill and fundamentals they played with at both ends of the floor, and it obviously worked. They were like a well oiled machine but didn't have much flash or flare about them which more casual fans look for. I think hardcore fans who understand the game on a more forensic level appreciated them though.

Even this week I hear Mr Big Shot Chauncey Billups refer to Kyrie as the most skilled point guard ever. I think he might be in the current era, but ever? I go back to what are the fundamentals of a point guard? To direct the offense and get the ball to where easy baskets can be made. On defense it's to hustle and try and get the ball back, right? So for me John Stockton is the most skilled because he is far and away the all time leader in assists and steals, the two primary things a point guard should be doing. He was also a good shooter and reliable scorer. But if you put Stockton into today's era with faster, more athletic and volume shooting opponents, who knows if he would be as effective?

[SamH]

Did anyone else really believe the Lakers would be contenders this season? I genuinely didn't and couldn't believe all the hype they were getting. It seemed obvious to me that they are too old for one thing but that Westbrook, Davis and LeBron would struggle with chemistry issues. Now Magic has weighed in complaining about the lack of effort last night. I don't see it changing, I think they lose at the play in or round 1 stage.

[sm11]

Ah i just remembered why i liked you sam. You were a Laker hater like me lol. You know what though, im a big Lebron fan so ive actually started to like them now lol. My like for lebron outweighed the hate for the Lakers so the tide turned. I dont think Lebron cares about rings now, hes done enough in that category, its all about wrapping up the scoring record which he should have in 2-3 seasons.

[SamH]

Haha well I'm not really a hater now, that in the Kobe era. Obviously I'm a big Westbrook fan and I also like LeBron and AD. But it just never looked to me this would work. A bit like when they added old Nash and whiney Howard 10 years ago, I thought it would be more like that!

[sm11]

Yeah i didnt mind the shaq and kobe lakers. However the kobe and pau lakers i did not like. No kind of passionate hate at all, just preferred other players and teams. I began to really like Pau later on, by all accounts he was a top bloke, which is the main thing, and his performance in the Eurobasket 2015 semi was absolute masterful, one of europes best individual game performances ever, getting all of his opponents fouled out early, dropping 40, wow. I was always a lebron man rather than a kobe man but at times kobe was just absolutely brilliant that even the most staunch hater must have just had to tip his hat to lol.

[faz]

I do t get it that 3 players of that ilk can’t work it out. Lakers have sacrificed too much trading picks and Russ has just been poor this year whilst Kuz is enjoying the bigger role and scoring more consistently than at Lakers.
AD injured but shooting is it 25% from the 3.
Personally I’d trade them both

[SamH]

How about Westbrook for Ben Simmons?

[erj14]

Jan 16, 2022 17:47:14 GMT faz said:

I do t get it that 3 players of that ilk can’t work it out. Lakers have sacrificed too much trading picks and Russ has just been poor this year whilst Kuz is enjoying the bigger role and scoring more consistently than at Lakers.
AD injured but shooting is it 25% from the 3.
Personally I’d trade them both

It's a strange dynamic. From the Lakers games I've seen over the past 2 years AD very much feeds off what LeBron does and hasn't 'stepped up' in the way I think was expected of him.

I didn't know anyone who thought the Westbrook trade was a good thing. Before talking about him, what they gave up for him was criminal. They essentially gave away all their depth and defence for him. Westbrook himself looks like he is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling athleticism and doesn't have the shooting that other point guards of his age have to fall back on. He was never a particularly clever player, and he seems to have fallen off dramatically over the past 2 years.

It's a mess and I can't believe the Lakers went ahead with it, that contract is horrendous and hamstrings them for the next couple of years unless they can move him on somehow.

[SamH]

Yeah I agree, but thats why I think it might make sense to deal him for Simmons. The 76ers are looking for a star level player which I think Russ can still be in the right programme. They also are unlikely to get anyone better and the trade deadline is approaching fast. Simmons meanwhile is a completely different player - he doesn't want to or try dominate the offense and he's an elite defender. He's also much younger of course and is tied to a multi year contract. I think he'd play well alongside LeBron and the other veterans who can help him kind of hit the reset button once he arrives.

I think Westbrook and Embiid would be an interesting pairing that could work, though Doc Rivers will need to tread a fine line to balance their two egos!

[erj14]

I can't see anyone wanting trade for either to be honest. Simmons is such a risk, he seems so mentally fragile that it could just take a few missed free throws to end up in another tailspin. There's no doubt on his upside, I'm just not sure if a GM is brave enough to go for it.

Lakers and Sixers I think could be stuck for a number of years due to these two players.

[massiveridersfan]

Quite depressing to see the falloff since the playoff championship. A part of me still thinks Lakers may put together a late run of victories but that's more in hope than expectation.

[faz]

Jan 16, 2022 17:54:54 GMT SamH said:

How about Westbrook for Ben Simmons?

Until Simmons can hit a free throw I wouldn’t touch him. Every team will foul him at every opportunity. It was painful to watch and then Doc and Embid throw him under the bus.

Personally Doc needs to shoulder the blame IMO for not taking him out the game.

[SamH]

Saw on PTI today there's talk of Harden for Simmons in the off season! That would be fascinating...