***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***

[skinfan2k]

Assuming you mean Durant.

 

yeah sorry I'm drinking over here lol

[Destino]

Manu is awesome. When asked to speak about the job Popovich has done getting the a Spurs to where they are this year, he shrugged his shoulders and replied "it's ok."

For some reason I think the Heat are going to have an easier time with the Spurs. I could be wrong.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

I can't wait for Lance blowing on Durant GIF.

Here ya go

https://vine.co/v/MpZWPrPDzbu

[Kosher Ham]

They'd have won at least one by now if they played for the Spurs. Sadly the NBA doesn't like coaches that employ more rigid systems despite the success of Popovich and Jackson.

 

 

I do not believe that at all.

 

Players want great coaches as well.

[Mr. Sinister]

So.... "The Sequel" it is.

 

 

Wouldn't have it any other way. As long as Wade and Bosh keep playing at the level they have, and the bench shows up, and we D up (especially on the perimeter) I'm confident we can win another title. Def won't be easy though.

So the Sacramento Kings?

I'd be happy to join you in hating Lance if you weren't a Heat fan. What he did to Cole wouldn't make Wade's top three dirty fouls, or maybe top 5, and was it worse than what the Heat did to him for daring to make a choking gesture at Lebron a few years ago? Arguable. It could be said that he owed the Heat a hard ugly foul.

 

Do you want an apology?

[Destino]

Do you want an apology?

 

Kind of you to offer, but it is entirely unnecessary. 

[Ozymandias]

The hate is strong in this thread.

[JoeWolf990]

Duncan and Westbrook will never win a title.  These guys just don't complement each other.  They both try to be 1A

rubbish.

they have an incompetent coach that does not get the best out their roster. THere is scoring there, but Brooks decides to have them play Russy/Durant iso ball.

[CrypticVillain]

rubbish.

they have an incompetent coach that does not get the best out their roster. THere is scoring there, but Brooks decides to have them play Russy/Durant iso ball.

That, and they have no bench.

Like LKB said, starting Jackson was a good move, but because of that, they didn't have anybody off the bench. That should be priority number two this off-season, finding some bench players.

Number one is finding a new coach

[Bubble Screen]

yeah sorry I'm drinking over here lol

You must always drink and post.

[skinfan2k]

rubbish.

they have an incompetent coach that does not get the best out their roster. THere is scoring there, but Brooks decides to have them play Russy/Durant iso ball.

 

 

both of those guys have no interest in not being 1A.  When have you seen Durant or Westbrook not take a last shot or dominate a game without scoring. 

[JoeWolf990]

both of those guys have no interest in not being 1A.  When have you seen Durant or Westbrook not take a last shot or dominate a game without scoring.

if they dont score, they lose by 20 every night.

People need to stop start watching sports with an objective viewpoint. WHen you have already written the story in your head, then there is no reason to watch the game.

 

That, and they have no bench.

Like LKB said, starting Jackson was a good move, but because of that, they didn't have anybody off the bench. That should be priority number two this off-season, finding some bench players.

Number one is finding a new coach

its negligent that this guy is allowed to waste the prime years of Russy and Durant. Edited June 1, 2014 by JoeWolf990

[Skin'emAlive]

That, and they have no bench.

Like LKB said, starting Jackson was a good move, but because of that, they didn't have anybody off the bench. That should be priority number two this off-season, finding some bench players.

Number one is finding a new coach

 

So you are telling me that Reggie Jackson, Fisher, Caron Butler, Seflosha, Adams, Collison, and Lamb is nobody off the bench? Thats the problem right there. They have a pg that has the ability to start on my teams in Jackson, a champion'd vet pg who is still hitting clutch 3's, a gritty but aging SF who can give a solid 14 minutes if called upon, two defensive stoppers/hustlers, and two extremely athletic young guys on the bench. That is alot more than many could hope for. They need a new coach.

[Going Commando]

OKC wasn't as good as SA this year. The better team won the series. The series seemed closer than it was because SA got totally shell shocked in OKC game three and four. But OKC hadn't been consistent this postseason. You couldn't count on them to play like game four each game.

Coaching is definitely an issue. Lack of talent outside their big three is an issue. But I think the stinginess of the ownership is the root problem. They should be spending to get the role players and the coach they need. If an NBA franchise just sold for 2 billion dollars, they can afford to spend some luxury tax money/amnesty Perkins/hire a top coach.

[JoeWolf990]

OKC has A LOT of talent. Jeremy Lamb plays well in OKC for games 3 and 4, and then buried back on the bench the rest of the series and gives his time back to Derek Fisher. Thats on Brooks. They have talent and scoring on that team and he refused to use it. This is NOT a Pacers scenario where Bird and Pritchard dismantled what was a good bench.

[DCSaints_fan]

I still say if Ibaka didn't go down, OKC might have pulled this off.  SA essentially got spotted two games

[Momma There Goes That Man]

It's impossible for me to look at OKC and not wonder what might have been. They could have had a truly great rivalry with Miami these past 4 years likely meeting in the finals each year and who knows which way the titles would have gone had they kept Harden.

Their ownership honestly deserves this for being cheap.

They deprived all of us from seeing something rare and special

Edited June 1, 2014 by Momma There Goes That Man

[Destino]

So apparently the Pacers are keeping Vogel. That is a surprise to me because after a collapse like that it seemed almost certain that they would make a change.

[Going Commando]

This was a weird postseason in the West. The East went pretty much as expected. But I wonder what would have happened in the West if

1.) Ibaka hadn't gotten hurt against the Clippers

2.) Houston beat Portland in the first round

3.) Donald Sterling hadn't created a huge distraction for the Clippers that probably hurt their performance.

There wasn't a lot of separation between the top four seeds in the West.

Houston owned San Antonio this season. I wonder what happens if SA gets them instead of Portland in round 2? Honestly it's crazy that Houston lost in the first round with the way Dwight Howard played. I can't really think of another time when a center was that dominant and his team still lost so early.

When you think about it, LaMarcus Aldridge's superman performance in the first round changed the course of the bracket. That guy is a beast of a playoff performer. So is Dwight BTW.

[DM72]

So apparently the Pacers are keeping Vogel. That is a surprise to me because after a collapse like that it seemed almost certain that they would make a change.

 

Getting to the Eastern Conference Finals saved him for sure.

[daveakl]

The were 3:30 from going up 2-0 and really putting a ton of pressure on Miami.

[CrypticVillain]

So you are telling me that Reggie Jackson(He was a starter after game), Fisher, Caron Butler(Solid, but no fire power), Seflosha(He was a started, but Jackson replaced him. And he can't score at all unless he spots up), Adams(He's good, but he's young), Collison(He can get you hustle points, but that's about it), and Lamb (Lamb isn't there yet) is nobody off the bench? Thats the problem right there. They have a pg that has the ability to start on my teams in Jackson, a champion'd vet pg who is still hitting clutch 3's, a gritty but aging SF who can give a solid 14 minutes if called upon, two defensive stoppers/hustlers, and two extremely athletic young guys on the bench. That is alot more than many could hope for. They need a new coach.

Maybe I shouldn't have said "some bench players. lol They have an "okay" bench, but Brooks wasn't using them right anyway. If they had somebody like Jamal Crawford on their bench, or somebody else that can come off the bench that can drop 20 on you, they would be okay with Brooks. But they don't, and if they want to win a title, they either need to find that person, or another coach. 

[bobbi3stix]

Barkley had one of the best ever NBA quotes. "Roll players play good at home." Those roll players are gonna have to have at least one good game on the road in the Finals.

 

 I don't think Ray Allen cares where he's playing when he drops the game winners.

It's impossible for me to look at OKC and not wonder what might have been. They could have had a truly great rivalry with Miami these past 4 years likely meeting in the finals each year and who knows which way the titles would have gone had they kept Harden.

Their ownership honestly deserves this for being cheap.

They deprived all of us from seeing something rare and special

 

I agree with ya, IMO it's largely the coach.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

OKC has A LOT of talent. Jeremy Lamb plays well in OKC for games 3 and 4, and then buried back on the bench the rest of the series and gives his time back to Derek Fisher. Thats on Brooks. They have talent and scoring on that team and he refused to use it. This is NOT a Pacers scenario where Bird and Pritchard dismantled what was a good bench.

 

Jeremy Lamb is awful. He looked utterly lost on defense and tentative on offense.

 

Brooks probably deserves to lose his job, but he played Derek Fister a ton because he had to play Derek Fisher a ton.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Random thoughts:

 

1. Even more than 3 and D, the big trend in the NBA is roster flexibility. San Antonio and Miami had options with their lineups that Indiana and OKC simply did not have. Indy could play one way. OKC could barely do that since by the end of the series, they had 4 guys Brooks could trust. Pop could split up Duncan and Splitter, could run the offense through Diaw for long stretches, and could go big or small at will. Miami could send the corpse of Rashard Lewis on the court and see him make an impact because Indy insists on playing with two bigs at all times...yet can't really punish anyone inside with that lineup. West looked totally uninterested on closeouts by Game 6 while Hibbert looked unable to do deal with them.

 

2. I love Lance Stephenson but he was completely out of control in Games 5 and 6. There's attempting to psych out your opponent, and then there is psyching out your own squad. It looked like he psyched out his own team.

 

3. The hero of the Miami season is Chris Bosh. He deserves a ton of praise. How many guys with that pedigree and that contract spend an off-season turning themselves into a credible three point threat? Last year, Hibbert could close out on his mid-range stuff and still protect the rim. By moving that shot out to the three-point line, he completely neutralized Hibbert as a force - on both ends, it seems. The blueprint for beating Indy is so so clear now that even Atlanta can execute a decent version of it. The Wizards' could not.

 

4.TIm Duncan is in that Kareem's last years stage of his career. He's trying to stay super-skinny to take pressure of his knees and ankles and he now looks skeletal. Still pretty effective, even though he is pretty much done as a rim-protector.

 

5. I love Big Fat Boris Diaw. If you could design a six man in a lab, he would be what you came up with - except not big and fat. What makes San Antonio the team that they are is that he is the seventh man.

 

6. I like Miami in this series, but who the hell knows? I have a sneaking suspicion that Wade is going to go off a few times in this series and have monster throw-back games.