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

[CrypticVillain]

Man... I don't care when, how, etc... I need the NBA, and preferably all other leagues, to start re-seeding all teams involved in the playoffs. I'm not saying take the top 16 teams in the league, I'm saying take the top 8 in each conference, and then re-seed. I know the travel will probably be ridiculous, but it's ways to work around that man.

 

It seems like one way or another, we have a similar discussion like this every year lol...

 

This is how it would look this year: 
 

1.GSW vs 16 BKN

2.ATL vs 15 BOS

3.HOU vs 14 MIL

4.LAC vs 13 NOR

5 MEM vs 12 WSH

6. SAS vs 11. TOR

7. CLE vs 10. DAL

8. POR vs 9. CHI

 

Tell me that wouldn't be a better playoffs to experience? 

[Predicto]

LOL! This reads almost like you are LKB's good twin. Yes I would consider him the evil one. Please post more.

I can see Brow having a Russell-like legacy of winning. Or at least the closest you can come to it in a 30 team NBA. Kid is a born winner.

 

 

Don't go all Bill Simmons on us now.   Born winner usually means "having talent and also having good teammates, good coaching and good management."  

Man... I don't care when, how, etc... I need the NBA, and preferably all other leagues, to start re-seeding all teams involved in the playoffs. I'm not saying take the top 16 teams in the league, I'm saying take the top 8 in each conference, and then re-seed. I know the travel will probably be ridiculous, but it's ways to work around that man.

 

It seems like one way or another, we have a similar discussion like this every year lol...

 

This is how it would look this year: 

 

1.GSW vs 16 BKN

2.ATL vs 15 BOS

3.HOU vs 14 MIL

4.LAC vs 13 NOR

5 MEM vs 12 WSH

6. SAS vs 11. TOR

7. CLE vs 10. DAL

8. POR vs 9. CHI

 

Tell me that wouldn't be a better playoffs to experience? 

 

 

Not for me (although it would be a lot easier for my team this year).    I want more regional rivalries and I want divisions that matter.

[CrypticVillain]

Not for me (although it would be a lot easier for my team this year).    I want more regional rivalries and I want divisions that matter.

That's the only bad thing that I thought about, but nowadays, people don't even care about rivalries like they used too. 

[Destino]

I agree with Predicto. More rivalries and games in the regular season that are especially important. The nba has the weakest rivalries of the major sports. Warriors Clippers is the only one that even worth mentioning to a national audience.

I also think a much shorter season would improve the game. Right now teams barely have any time to practice or game plan and guys are playing on tired legs. That doesn't make for great basketball.

Less games, with more time between them. More importance on division games and more of them. That's what I want anyway.

[Going Commando]

Don't go all Bill Simmons on us now.   Born winner usually means "having talent and also having good teammates, good coaching and good management."

Eh, it's way more than that. He doesn't even really have those last three things and he's already started winning at age 21. He also didn't have as much surrounding him at Kentucky as John Wall and Karl Towns did and yet his team was better and won more. It's a set of intangible qualities that include things like leadership, confidence, competitiveness, determination, toughness, intuitiveness and clutch. He actually isn't an obviously skilled player and it can be hard to explain his greatness until you see him. Then when you do his dominance is apparent. He just plays winning basketball. Pulls **** off like a double clutch 35 foot three at the buzzer to beat a key playoff rival and makes it seem like the most natural thing.

[Going Commando]

Can he do it in New Orleans though?

I think he could do it just about anywhere. He's the type of player you build the foundation of an elite organization off of. Like Jordan, Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, and Durant. All he has to do is stay healthy, not a given considering what happened to Durant.

Plus eventually good players that want to win will flock to him.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Don't go all Bill Simmons on us now.   Born winner usually means "having talent and also having good teammates, good coaching and good management."  

 

 

Not for me (although it would be a lot easier for my team this year).    I want more regional rivalries and I want divisions that matter.

 

I actually like having the Celtics in the playoffs. I wish Detroit could have won enough after cutting Josh Smith to get in.

 

The only tweak I would consider if that if you make the playoffs with a sub-500 record, and there is a team in the other conference sitting out with an above 500 record....maybe that other team gets inserted.

 

But that's weird too.

 

Screw it. It's fine the way it is. People overthink ****.

[Predicto]

That's the only bad thing that I thought about, but nowadays, people don't even care about rivalries like they used too. 

 

Partly because the league doesn't emphasize them enough.   You need divisions to really, really matter, like they do in the NFL and MLB.   

Eh, it's way more than that. He doesn't even really have those last three things and he's already started winning at age 21. He also didn't have as much surrounding him at Kentucky as John Wall and Karl Towns did and yet his team was better and won more. It's a set of intangible qualities that include things like leadership, confidence, competitiveness, determination, toughness, intuitiveness and clutch. He actually isn't an obviously skilled player and it can be hard to explain his greatness until you see him. Then when you do his dominance is apparent. He just plays winning basketball. Pulls **** off like a double clutch 35 foot three at the buzzer to beat a key playoff rival and makes it seem like the most natural thing.

 

 

Brow's great.   But you are venturing back into the "emphasize only the intangibles" hagiography that people misuse to turn Bill Russell into the GOAT, which he wasn't close to being.   

[Kosher Ham]

Maybe if I did play OT, I would probably still be playing right now instead of walking around with this limp lol

 

We call that a pimp stroll. Own that motha'

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I think he could do it just about anywhere. He's the type of player you build the foundation of an elite organization off of. Like Jordan, Shaq, Duncan, LeBron, and Durant. All he has to do is stay healthy, not a given considering what happened to Durant.

Plus eventually good players that want to win will flock to him.

 

I agree with that but the jury is still out on whether New Orleans can build around him enough to help him get to that level. 

[Going Commando]

Brow's great.   But you are venturing back into the "emphasize only the intangibles" hagiography that people misuse to turn Bill Russell into the GOAT, which he wasn't close to being.

Explain how he achieves what he does then. Explain how guys with more tangible skills and similarly incredible individual production like Love and Cousins never led a team to the playoffs in the 11 years between them, and Davis did it in three. Explain how Dirk's teams always finish with at least 50 wins even though he's been by himself forever, and he led a team of misfit toys to a title. It's the intangible stuff that I mentioned that really matters in the sausage grinder that is the NBA. Probably more than anything else.

[RonArtest15]

Explain how he achieves what he does then. Explain how guys with more tangible skills and similarly incredible individual production like Love and Cousins never led a team to the playoffs in the 11 years between them, and Davis did it in three. Explain how Dirk's teams always finish with at least 50 wins even though he's been by himself forever, and he led a team of misfit toys to a title. It's the intangible stuff that I mentioned that really matters in the sausage grinder that is the NBA. Probably more than anything else.

 

Never thought of Davis' team accomplishments this way before (in comparison to someone like Love).  Good point(s), SM. 

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Explain how he achieves what he does then. Explain how guys with more tangible skills and similarly incredible individual production like Love and Cousins never led a team to the playoffs in the 11 years between them, and Davis did it in three. Explain how Dirk's teams always finish with at least 50 wins even though he's been by himself forever, and he led a team of misfit toys to a title. It's the intangible stuff that I mentioned that really matters in the sausage grinder that is the NBA. Probably more than anything else.

 

You can't have it both ways. Dirk can't be the intangible guy after winning a title in year whatever it was when he was a playoff choker for the first 45 years of his career. That's Colin Cowherd level arguing.

Never thought of Davis' team accomplishments this way before (in comparison to someone like Love).  Good point(s), SM. 

 

I think this year has shown that Kevin Love is a singularly weird dude. He's the one guy on the planet who became WORSE after playing with Lebron. I don't think that's an "intangible" being that I don't think one's entire nature as a human being is an "intangible."

 

Which by the way I totally called this during my epic treatise on the Wilson/Love families last summer.

 

I'm always right. Frankly, it's exhausting.

[Going Commando]

You can't have it both ways. Dirk can't be the intangible guy after winning a title in year whatever it was when he was a playoff choker for the first 45 years of his career. That's Colin Cowherd level arguing.

I'm a Dirk fan and have been since the beginning. I never bought the "Dirk is soft/a choker" narrative. He did choke in '07, but he should have won in '06. And you can't fault him for failing to get to a Finals prior to or after that when there were super teams in the conference. The fact that Dallas was an annual fixture in the postseason even after Steve Nash left, despite the fact he wasn't working with a Kobe or a Manu or Parker or TMac or MVP Nash is enough of an argument for his intangible greatness. The way he played in that epic '11 championship season was what Dirk had been doing for years and years.

[mcsluggo]

Explain how he achieves what he does then. Explain how guys with more tangible skills and similarly incredible individual production like Love and Cousins never led a team to the playoffs in the 11 years between them, and Davis did it in three. Explain how Dirk's teams always finish with at least 50 wins even though he's been by himself forever, and he led a team of misfit toys to a title. It's the intangible stuff that I mentioned that really matters in the sausage grinder that is the NBA. Probably more than anything else.

 

good TEAMS are better than the sum of their parts.   

 

i'll talk in terms of the team i know...

 

 

Doug Christie, Jason Williams (or mike bibby), Vlade, Peja, Bobby Jackson .... even Chris Webber were varying degrees of "ok" for most of their careers.   but when you put them together, they were awesome.  

 

on the other hand, a good individual player can unilaterally pull his team up SOME distance  (earlier in this season, i saw that the kings were something like 2 for 20 in the last two years when Cousins has been out) but while he doesn't need superstars around him, he needs competent and complimentary players and coaches around him.

 

 

----and one last thing... lumping cousins, unibrow and..... LOVE!!??    

 

the other day i was talking about the top tier shooting guards of 2003.... Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Mike Finley.   interchange any of those those three, and who would notice ???

Edited April 16, 2015 by mcsluggo

[Mr. Sinister]

 he should have won in '06.

 

No, he shouldn't have

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I'm a Dirk fan and have been since the beginning. I never bought the "Dirk is soft/a choker" narrative. He did choke in '07, but he should have won in '06. And you can't fault him for failing to get to a Finals prior to or after that when there were super teams in the conference. The fact that Dallas was an annual fixture in the postseason even after Steve Nash left, despite the fact he wasn't working with a Kobe or a Manu or Parker or TMac or MVP Nash is enough of an argument for his intangible greatness. The way he played in that epic '11 championship season was what Dirk had been doing for years and years.

 

So you don't think the choke narrative was fair even though he WAS a choker before he became a winner.

 

This is complicated ****.

 

As I pointed out before, I had epic lunch room arguments with anyone who would listen in junior high and high school that Michael Jordan was a "ball hog" who I guaranteed would NEVER win a title. I was basically a 52 year-old, white sports radio caller when I was 12. So many hot takes.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[Going Commando]

No, he shouldn't have

I figured you might like that.

[Predicto]

Explain how he achieves what he does then. Explain how guys with more tangible skills and similarly incredible individual production like Love and Cousins never led a team to the playoffs in the 11 years between them, and Davis did it in three. Explain how Dirk's teams always finish with at least 50 wins even though he's been by himself forever, and he led a team of misfit toys to a title. It's the intangible stuff that I mentioned that really matters in the sausage grinder that is the NBA. Probably more than anything else.

 

 

Because, shockingly enough, **** happens that isn't just about your "will to win."  The T-wolves and the Kings are two of the worst run teams in the NBA.  The pieces don't mesh, and they have no help.  

 

Jrue Holliday, Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Omer Asic are a much superior supporting cast than Rudy Gay, Ben McLemore and the 9 other bums that Cousins plays with on Sacramento.  

 

Dirk was astounding that one championship year, but even then he had Tyson Chandler anchoring the middle, a very savvy Jason Kidd controlling tempo, Jason Terry and Caron Butler having really efficient years, and a whole lot of luck.  

 

 

Perfect example:

1965, Eastern finals.  A few seconds left in the game.   Wilt Chamberlain has dominated Bill Russell all game, has scored 30 points to Russell's 15, and has just scored again to bring the 76ers within one point.   Celtics stay in the game due to Sam Jones' 37 points.  Now the Sixers are inbounding the ball under their own basket with a few seconds left.  Aaaaannndddd....  Hal Greer throws the ball away to John Havlicek.   Game over.  

 

Your conclusion:  Bill Russell's will to win has proven superior once again.  It's all about Bill, the great winner, with the intangibles.

[Mr. Sinister]

I figured you might like that.

 

You now me all too well. 

[Going Commando]

----and one last thing... lumping cousins, unibrow and..... LOVE!!??    

 

the other day i was talking about the top tier shooting guards of 2003.... Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Mike Finley.   interchange any of those those three, and who would notice ???

Michael Jordan because he was retired right?

Seriously, you don't think Love is at least in Cousins's class? Where we you two years ago when I was the only one on Earth hating on Love? He's one of the best volume scorers and rebounders in the league and when he was the featured player in Minnesota, his numbers were as good as Cousins's are now. Brow does stand out from the other two though, and that was my original point. He's a leader with all of the intangible qualities you need to build a great team upon and Cousins and Love are not.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Michael Jordan because he was retired right?

Seriously, you don't think Love is at least in Cousins's class? Where we you two years ago when I was the only one on Earth hating on Love? He's one of the best volume scorers and rebounders in the league and when he was the featured player in Minnesota, his numbers were as good as Cousins's are now. Brow does stand out from the other two though, and that was my original point. He's a leader with all of the intangible qualities you need to build a great team upon and Cousins and Love are not.

 

What you are saying is "He does not appear to be an asshat."

 

That works except...Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Isiah Thomas were all complete asshats.

 

I think it's pretty obvious that Boogie Cousins is going to half a renaissance where he becomes Zbo. And we are all going to pretend that he "matured" and "figured it out" and start loving the guy.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Lombardi's_kid_brother

[mcsluggo]

i was arguing against the trade for Love.   I think that he is good, not great.  

 

I think that brow and cousins are great.  

 

what do you think Sacramento's prospects the last two years woulda looked like if they had unibrow?  

 

if you had to guess... they would've won  _____ games in 2014 (as they squeezed out the worst ownership group in sports), and ____ games in 2015 (under their three coaches)

 

although.. i WILL concede that Uni didn't have the poor character to get Meningitis this year.... so that would've been worth a healthy handful of extra wins

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

i was arguing against the trade for Love.   I think that he is good, not great.  

 

I think that brow and cousins are great.  

 

what do you think Sacramento's prospects the last two years woulda looked like if they had unibrow?  

 

if you had to guess... they would've won  _____ games in 2014 (as they squeezed out the worst ownership group in sports), and ____ games in 2015 (under their three coaches)

 

although.. i WILL concede that Uni didn't have the poor character to get Meningitis this year.... so that would've been worth a healthy handful of extra wins

 

I was always pro-Love.

 

What has happened this year with him was really shocking and made me flip on him completely. I thought he would find playing with Lebron fun and freeing.

 

Instead, it turned out that he wants to take 45 dribbles in the post and then get his own offensive rebound 40 times a game. That's fun to him.

[Going Commando]

Love actually looked pretty good playing with Kyrie last night. Energetic. Happy in his role. Devastatingly effective on offense catching and shooting those drive and kicks. Got a couple nice looks inside too.

Maybe he just doesn't fit with LeBron.