It wasn't an excuse - he only played in 55 games because he was hurt. There is a difference between an explanation and an excuse.
OT: NBA Playoffs
- Thread starter Ski11585
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You're right (for PPG). I was looking at SRS, my mistake. For DRG, Sixers are first and Lakers second.
If he shoots like he did last night... there aren’t many players he’s not better than.
Hmm. I think if he becomes more consistent, this could be the case. I do like his upside more.
If I’m building a franchise I’m taking Ja 10/10. He’ll have a longer career with more team success.
Both are kind’ve scary in that aspect IMO because both rely so much on athleticism....
One injury could be much harder to recover for them compared to say Klay or KD.
And we all know the injury concerns with Zion given his weight/frame/force. Ja also scares me because of how often he jumps (really high) into dangerous situations at the rim.
They are both very good players. If you tell me they both stay relatively healthy for the next 10 years, then I’m taking Zion. He has a higher ceiling and is only 20 years old. Zion is a bigger name and will bring a lot more money and attention to your franchise as well.
Bucks are going to beat the Nets. Stopping Giannis requires team defense and the Nets can’t do that. Plus, Jru is a strong defender and can hit outside shots. This isn’t the same bucks team.
Jordan is unplayable against Giannis and are you going to make Durant guard Giannis?
Jordan is unplayable against Giannis and are you going to make Durant guard Giannis?
Jordan guarded Giannis the last couple of times they played.. basically camping in the paint forcing him to shoot. The Nets lost both games. I'm sure Nash and D'antoni will deploy that same strategy.. we'll see if Giannis can make some shots. If he can't, they'll be in trouble.
That said, Miami is doing the same thing and they still can't stop Giannis. Spo is forcing Giannis to shoot and it doesn't matter, but Miami doesn't have Brooklyn firepower. It'll be a race to 130 pts.. it's hard to go against Durant, Harden and Kyrie.
I'd love to see Giannis make it out of the East. Sticking with the small market and it paying off.
For me, I think the Nets make it out relatively easy. While the Nets can't guard Giannis... idk who covers their firepower. Those 3 aren't guardable. They're too good offensively. Might be able to slow them down a tad, but you can't shut them down.
Either way, should be an awesome series.
Forget defense, Nets will just outscore them. Bucks can't outscore the nets.
Nets have more scoring weapons.
Giannis and company haven't proven trustworthy.
Right now, I'd say they are about even. If Ja can become a high 30's % 3pt shooter or better, he can move into the top 10 players in the league. With Zion, he's very good too, but I just don't see where he can improve to move into elite (top 10) status.
I'll compare Ja in this regard to Kyle Lowry. Over his career, he turned into an All-Star because he learned how to shoot, after coming into the league as a terrible shooter. I already think Ja is better with the ball in his hands, but how he improves his shooting will define him.
As a big Blazers fan, I'm thrilled Murray isn't there. This series could go either way. It was quite a show last night with Dame vs Joker, for the first three quarters anyway. Joker is simply incredible. It almost doesn't appear as if he does anything incredibly well but then you realize he makes everything he shoots, and you look at his box score and he has 34-14-8.
I take it you don't think much of the NBA, but more and more, so many of these players amaze me again and again with how good they are.
People who say they hate the NBA either: 1) don't actually like basketball; or 2) don't like watching black millionaires. There's no other plausible explanation. College hoops is almost unwatchable compared to a good NBA game. Compared to the NBA, college players are small, slow, can't shoot, and can't play defense. I mean, compare Ben Simmons's defense compared to anyone in college. It's like comparing Aaron Donald to a middle schooler.
Watch this play by Luka. Brings it up-court, behind the back to dodge pressure at midcourt, fires off a 3-pointer off of 1 leg right before he hits the double team. Net. Ices the game on the road. There's nobody in college that can do this. Nobody.
The only two things that college has are its format. The two-halves format and single elimination format of the NCAAT are just more exciting than 4 quarters and 7 game NBA playoff series. Other than that, the NBA is absurdly more fun to watch if you actually respect the game of basketball.
And they actually do play defense. Even if folks don't want to admit it.
the shot by Luka was Dirk 2.0.. it's insane how he is basically carrying the European torch in Dallas.
Having the Lakers v Suns and Mavs v Clippers on at the same time last time was a mistake. I know it's difficult to manage the time/schedule with these, but I would've loved to watch both. My allegiance is with Lebron, so I watched him even the series last night.
I wasn't totally crazy about King James when he was younger in the league. I obviously loved watching him, but it's not like I went out of my way to root for him. Ever since he went back to Cleveland, he became my favorite player. Winning in Miami was awesome, but it was expected. Watching him go back to the Land and win was insane. Now in LA and going for his 2nd in a row and chasing Jordan.. all while stomping father time into the ground. He's just way too much fun to cheer for.
Watching him last night control the entire game was impressive, but again, expected. He didn't force anything. He just sees the game differently. He knew he didn't need to force it last night, and rather wanted to get his big guy (Davis) rolling. He wanted AD to show up and get his other teammates involved as well. That's what I love about Lebron. He was hardly involved in some possessions, but still posted a 23-7-4 line with an outrageous +/-. The way he effects the game is like nothing we've seen before.
idk how folks don't like the NBA - it's probably political TBH which is sad. It's the best American Sports product bar none.
that's the funny part. watch these teams play in the playoffs. they d up every single possession, but sometimes, actually most times, the offense wins. there are so many great shot makers and playmakers, it's nearly impossible to stop these guys.
I still enjoy college basketball because I love Pitt and March Madness, but the gap between the NCAA and NBA is even bigger than it was, say, in the 90s.
Why? I think because it's global, so instead of just the best players in the US, you have the best in the world competing. And because of one and done, a lot of the best players just go pro after a year anyway so you don't have Grant Hill coming in for a senior year anymore. Or anyone close to him.
Why? I think because it's global, so instead of just the best players in the US, you have the best in the world competing. And because of one and done, a lot of the best players just go pro after a year anyway so you don't have Grant Hill coming in for a senior year anymore. Or anyone close to him.
That’s the thing. I think people see lots of scoring in the NBA and instead of attributing it to other worldly offensive skill, they assume it’s bad defense. Yes, on a random Tuesday you can watch a Magic-Kings game and see terrible defense abs guys phoning it in. But you see that in college too.
Conversely, people assume they’re seeing good defense in college when it’s actual offensive ineptitude.
The guys in the NBA are unbelievably talented and the only way you can stop an elite offense is if they were to change the rules and go back to the physical brand of ball played in the 80’s and 90’s. And it would still be difficult in that case because guys like Steph Curry can shoot it from 25 feet out on a regular basis.
You see guys making 29 feet three point fadeaway stepbacks with a defender right in their face. Amazing.
Nobody is phoning it in on defense in these playoffs, not even the Blazers. They just are aren't very good at it.
Yeah I love the NBA. The only issue with it right now is that the regular season feels so meaningless but I’m not quite sure how to fix that. The play-in made games down the stretch more exciting but at this point over 50% of the league makes the postseason so I don’t know.
But playoff NBA basketball is special. The regular season is good too I just wish there were less healthy scratches.
But playoff NBA basketball is special. The regular season is good too I just wish there were less healthy scratches.
They need to move the 3 point line back because the range on these guys is unbelievable.
It comes up a lot but the corner three is already practically out of bounds. So you'd have to expand the entire dimensions of the court, which cuts into seating and runs contrary to every other level of the game. I don't think there is any easy "fix" for how good shooting is now (better problem to have than the low scoring of like 2000 era NBA where you might have to sit through a 72-66 slog where guys couldn't even help on defense in a natural way because of illegal defense rules so you'd have some iso play end in a contested jump shot.)
In some ways that's actually my problem with the NBA. When the best offensive players are playing well there is basically nothing that the defense can do to stop them. It can make the game too much "out of balance" for my (exquisite
) taste. But I have no idea what the solution would be to bring the game more back "into balance", and I don't think most people would agree with me anyway.
Ja with a huge game in losing effort. Great to see Mitchell back!
Who doesn't love the D Rose story!? Awesome game from him as well.
Thinking Jazz and Hawks in 6 in those two series. Other series last night, thinking Sixers in 5.
Who doesn't love the D Rose story!? Awesome game from him as well.
Thinking Jazz and Hawks in 6 in those two series. Other series last night, thinking Sixers in 5.
MSG was awesome last night.. it's hard not to root for the Knicks. They exemplify a Pittsburgh team.. just a hard working, hard nosed bunch that plays defense.
At this point, I can't even give the Wizards a game. I thought they'd make this competitive, but the Sixers are a total handful. I think it's a clean sweep.
JA with 42 in a losing effort sucks, but I like Memphis going back home. Mitchell played well, but Memphis was right there and if Brooks doesn't get into foul trouble, that outcome might be different.
These playoff games have been awesome
@FireballZ I can't tell if you're trying to laugh at my comments as a troll or if you're accidentally hitting the "haha" button.. seems like you're trolling..
Honestly, we've had way more entertaining and competitive 1st round games than I've seen in a while. Really strong start to the playoffs.
Popcorn thrown on Russell Westbrook and Trae Young being spit at. That's ridiculous and those two "fans" need to get their butts kicked.
I wish 50 Cent would have turned around and knocked that guy out at the Knicks game.
