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NBA Season 2015/16 - Currying Favor


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Not sure that's fair to the Clips. That was one hell of a series on both sides.

Let's put it this way...it should have been Spurs and Warriors. It WOULD have been Spurs and Warriors. I'm still bitter that the standings in the West took a wonky turn towards the end of last season, pitting those two teams together in the first round. 

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Let's put it this way...it should have been Spurs and Warriors. It WOULD have been Spurs and Warriors. I'm still bitter that the standings in the West took a wonky turn towards the end of last season, pitting those two teams together in the first round. 

I hear ya, but I still wouldn't take anything away from the Clips. They won what was probably the best played, tightest series of last years playoffs. 

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Let's put it this way...it should have been Spurs and Warriors. It WOULD have been Spurs and Warriors. I'm still bitter that the standings in the West took a wonky turn towards the end of last season, pitting those two teams together in the first round. 

I agree. Felt cheated. Infact I still feel cheated because these two clear titans of the NBA have somehow still yet to play this year. I keep checking the Warriors nightly schedule to see if it's finally Spurs night and, no, it's the fucking Nuggets...again.

I demand a 7 game playoff series this year. 

I hear ya, but I still wouldn't take anything away from the Clips. They won what was probably the best played, tightest series of last years playoffs. 

And then choked like dogs against the Rockets in a game Houston had already conceded! Harden watched the first 2/3rds of that comeback from the bench.

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Well Kyrie is back and he is a man possessed. I think the Cavs chances at winning a Championship all hinges on him, tbh. If he plays at an elite level along side of Bron, and Love is consistent, I think they become the team to beat. Dubs are clearly the favorite, but I look for whoever comes out the West (Spurs or Dubs) to have a had a much harder road. I know, same as last year, and if Kyrie doesn't get hurt, it's a totally different series. Alas, the question then, is can this Cavs team stay healthy.

I'd like to see OKC make some noise. I really believe if they dont, KD is a Wizard next year. And, I think it might just be a better place for him to flourish into the best KD we can possibly see. While I don't maintain that OKC is better without Westbrook, I do think KD could benefit from a quality team such as Wahington, and getting away from Westbrook, where he can be the clear cut #1 option. 

ETA: And I just think him and Wall would get along perfectly. I can imagine them both becoming a better version of what they are now.

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And then choked like dogs against the Rockets in a game Houston had already conceded! Harden watched the first 2/3rds of that comeback from the bench.

Well yeah, hold them responsible for the choke job in that series against the Rockets for sure. I remember us posting about that Game 6 comeback. That was nuts. 

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 I keep checking the Warriors nightly schedule to see if it's finally Spurs night and, no, it's the fucking Nuggets...again.

Big Eastern Road swing coming up in the middle of the month. 16th @Det, @Cle on the 18th, then @ Chi on the 20th. Back home against Ind on the 22nd, then the Spurs come to town on the 25th.

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I gotta go back to my earlier thought in the previous thread. For some reason I think the Warriors will come up short of the rings in the playoffs. They may break the Bulls record and not get the championship. We've seen it multiple times in football, baseball and basketball where the dominant regular season team fails to win it all come playoff time. For some reason this feels like that type a year to me. Just my superstitious intuition on this one.

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Well Kyrie is back and he is a man possessed. I think the Cavs chances at winning a Championship all hinges on him, tbh. If he plays at an elite level along side of Bron, and Love is consistent, I think they become the team to beat. Dubs are clearly the favorite, but I look for whoever comes out the West (Spurs or Dubs) to have a had a much harder road. I know, same as last year, and if Kyrie doesn't get hurt, it's a totally different series. Alas, the question then, is can this Cavs team stay healthy.

I'd like to see OKC make some noise. I really believe if they dont, KD is a Wizard next year. And, I think it might just be a better place for him to flourish into the best KD we can possibly see. While I don't maintain that OKC is better without Westbrook, I do think KD could benefit from a quality team such as Wahington, and getting away from Westbrook, where he can be the clear cut #1 option. 

ETA: And I just think him and Wall would get along perfectly. I can imagine them both becoming a better version of what they are now.

Couple of things:

  • Great to finally see Irving back and playing well. Enjoyable to see him be great, but he can be inconsistent. 
  • Speaking of K Love, I feel I need to go back on my words about him and Bosh. Looking at how Bosh is keeping the Heat afloat now, maybe Bosh is a better player than Love.
  • I don't agree that the Cavs will have an easier way ot of the East per se than San Antonio or Golden State. I think the Cavs will be quite comfortable in the playoffs yes. I think they will have quite a tough final against the Bulls, who I feel will be better than last year. Conversely, SA and Golden State are guaranteed an easy first round in the West, and then play a team like the Clippers or OKC in the semi. That is much tougher, but not necessarily something that would drain them,or even be a 6 or 7 game series to be honest.
  • I don't think Durant is going to Washington at all. Earlier this season when OKC played there, there was little enthusiasm for Durant according to the press and this was of course deemed odd. It doesn't feel like he will leave Oklahoma. Unless he can go to a team where he really has improved chances. I don't think he is too bothered at all about sharing the floor with Westbrook, he is not that type of dominant personality who wants to hog all the glory.
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I gotta go back to my earlier thought in the previous thread. For some reason I think the Warriors will come up short of the rings in the playoffs. They may break the Bulls record and not get the championship. We've seen it multiple times in football, baseball and basketball where the dominant regular season team fails to win it all come playoff time. For some reason this feels like that type a year to me. Just my superstitious intuition on this one.

The two teams are just incredibly close. San Antonio may be down a few games because they lost 6 and GS only 2, but really, that is from the start of the season and the Spurs have been plain unbeatable for a long long time now. They just look so sorted.

And so does Golden State :)

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Couple of things:

  • Speaking of K Love, I feel I need to go back on my words about him and Bosh. Looking at how Bosh is keeping the Heat afloat now, maybe Bosh is a better player than Love.

I think that, if Love were the focus of the offense like he was in Minnesota, he'd be in the same tier as Bosh...perhaps better.  However, Bosh is basically the first option in Miami, whereas Love is the third option in Cleveland.  It's an unfair comparison.  Bosh looked next to useless at times in Miami when LeBron and Wade were 1a and 1b.  He totally forgot how to rebound.

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I think that, if Love were the focus of the offense like he was in Minnesota, he'd be in the same tier as Bosh...perhaps better.  However, Bosh is basically the first option in Miami, whereas Love is the third option in Cleveland.  It's an unfair comparison.  Bosh looked next to useless at times in Miami when LeBron and Wade were 1a and 1b.  He totally forgot how to rebound.

he didn't forget how to rebound. he just found himself further away from the rim than he was used to, on that particular team. 

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he didn't forget how to rebound. he just found himself further away from the rim than he was used to, on that particular team. 

I mean, Love is used primarily as a three point shooter for the Cavs (arguably more so than Bosh) and his rebounding numbers haven't suffered anywhere near as significantly as Bosh's did when he was in Miami with LeBron.  Rebounds are largely based on effort.  Love got moved to third wheel and kept giving a crap about grabbing boards.  Bosh didn't.

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  • Speaking of K Love, I feel I need to go back on my words about him and Bosh. Looking at how Bosh is keeping the Heat afloat now, maybe Bosh is a better player than Love.

 

No, just fucking no. Every bad thing you can say about Love you can say about Bosh. Bad defender, especially in the post where a big man should defend? Check, underachieving as a rebounder? Check. out of his element when he's not the first option on offense? Check.

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I mean, Love is used primarily as a three point shooter for the Cavs (arguably more so than Bosh) and his rebounding numbers haven't suffered anywhere near as significantly as Bosh's did when he was in Miami with LeBron.  Rebounds are largely based on effort.  Love got moved to third wheel and kept giving a crap about grabbing boards.  Bosh didn't.

was Bosh a great rebounder on the Raps? I seem to recall he was never that amazing at grabbing boards. 

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I don't think Durant is going to Washington at all. Earlier this season when OKC played there, there was little enthusiasm for Durant according to the press and this was of course deemed odd. It doesn't feel like he will leave Oklahoma. Unless he can go to a team where he really has improved chances. I don't think he is too bothered at all about sharing the floor with Westbrook, he is not that type of dominant personality who wants to hog all the glory.

I wasn't suggesting that playing with Westbrook is bothersome to KD in any sort of way. I just think he would flourish under a different style of point guard. Russell is very ball dominant, goes without saying. There are times when he dribbles up court and you know he's gonna shoot regardless of someone having a better shot or not. If KD is a clear #1 option with the offense centered on him entirely, you cannot argue that he wouldn't be more productive, and reach a different level he won't see playing with Westbrook.

To your other point, that means nothing, at all. KD hates the media and seems to be a bit introvert, how he acts during a game is not in anyway related to his decision about free agency. He doesn't want to talk about it. And, while I'd say it's a long shot for him to leave, D.C. seems like a great fit, IMHO.

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was Bosh a great rebounder on the Raps? I seem to recall he was never that amazing at grabbing boards. 

A hell of a lot better than he was on the Heat.  And it's not as if his game changed drastically.  He was always an outside shooter, even with the Raps.  He just moved from mid-range to more threes with the Heat.  He was never a guy who got physical in the paint.

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was Bosh a great rebounder on the Raps? I seem to recall he was never that amazing at grabbing boards. 

No, he averaged 10 boards a game three times, pathetic for a 6'11 guy. This is not good considering he was basically the only guy on his team with any rebound ability, so it's not like he had to fight them to get any.

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I wasn't suggesting that playing with Westbrook is bothersome to KD in any sort of way. I just think he would flourish under a different style of point guard. Russell is very ball dominant, goes without saying. There are times when he dribbles up court and you know he's gonna shoot regardless of someone having a better shot or not. If KD is a clear #1 option with the offense centered on him entirely, you cannot argue that he wouldn't be more productive, and reach a different level he won't see playing with Westbrook.

To your other point, that means nothing, at all. KD hates the media and seems to be a bit introvert, how he acts during a game is not in anyway related to his decision about free agency. He doesn't want to talk about it. And, while I'd say it's a long shot for him to leave, D.C. seems like a great fit, IMHO.

Well it's not impossible that Durant would flourish even more with another point guard.

That said it doesn't appear as if Westbrook is the problem, rather the rest of the squad's inadequacies, and you will find those anywhere in the NBA. And certainly with the Washington Wizards. 

He *could* be even more productive, but maybe not. He might be the sort of star that likes and needs the backup of another star, and in today's NBA most top teams have two or even 3 go-to- guys. In that sense Durant moving elsewhere also doesn't necessarily upgrade his production. Production which is fine anyway, he and Westbrook basically divide most of the shots in a whole game.

As for Washington in particular, no, that's not happening. The buzz isn't there, the Washington team isn't there, it would be a clear step back for him and I would bet actual money that he doesn't go there. It's not a great organization, the current team isn't very good, what is the draw? John Wall is a great passer yes, but would Durant take Wall over Westbrook? Not sure at all. If that cancels itself out ( and I'd easily have Westbrook btw), what's left? Bradley Beal hasn't been the same since he died, is unsure of himself and constantly injured. He was supposed to the other very promising guy. And the rest of the team.......uhm....

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