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NBA 2018: Fear the Deer


Jaime L

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18 hours ago, Maithanet said:

IMO the most interesting storyline this year is who will win the Eastern Conference.  The East has four legit teams that all could possibly put things together and win the conference.  And three of those teams just made "win now" trades at the deadline.  I'm not even totally sure who I favor to come out of the East.  The Sixers have the most talent, but no bench.  The Raptors have the best player and the best defense.  The Bucks have the best shooting.  The Celtics have the best coaching and the best depth.  The second round and third round of the East playoffs is going to be must see television.

In contrast the west has...Golden State.  The Rockets are worse than last year.  OKC has great defense and two stars, but it's clearly not enough.  Everybody else is just a joke (when it comes to beating the Warriors).

And sure, whoever emerges from the East is probably going to be too battered to make the Finals terribly interesting, but this is a good consolation prize after Durant ruined the league.

Bro, Kawhi has absolutely not better than Giannis this year. Seriously. Also, the Bucks' depth is incredible, especially with the addition of Mirotic. 

I'm sure my homerism is coming out, but I think the Bucks are the clear favorites (although it is still anyone's game - any of the four teams on top could go to the finals), and I've seen that take very frequently as of late, even from many Raptors fans. The Bucks have a historically great +9.9 net rating, the best record in the NBA (including a successful record against Western Conference teams), a great defense, an MVP front-runner superstar with floor spacers and a deep bench, and a fantastic coach. 

Also, do the Bucks have the best shooting? As a fan that has watched most of their games this year, that seems counter intuitive to me (it may be backed up by stats, I'm just genuinely curious). They've been super streaky with their 3pt shooting, either tending to dominate or go completely cold, and IIRC they have the most points scored in the paint in the league. Seems like half their points come from drives by Giannis, Bledsoe, or Brogdon. 

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On 2/8/2019 at 4:31 PM, Maithanet said:

IMO the most interesting storyline this year is who will win the Eastern Conference.  The East has four legit teams that all could possibly put things together and win the conference.  And three of those teams just made "win now" trades at the deadline.  I'm not even totally sure who I favor to come out of the East.  The Sixers have the most talent, but no bench.  The Raptors have the best player and the best defense.  

The Bucks have the best defense in the league this season and Giannis has been easily the best player in the conference. 

The Bucks have also been blowing out opponents all season, their net rating is one of the best in many years. 

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2 hours ago, David Selig said:

The Bucks have also been blowing out opponents all season, their net rating is one of the best in many years. 

Then why'd they lose to my Magic yesterday?  By 20!  Was counting on that loss.

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On 2/9/2019 at 4:23 AM, IamMe90 said:

Bro, Kawhi has absolutely not better than Giannis this year. Seriously. Also, the Bucks' depth is incredible, especially with the addition of Mirotic. 

I'm sure my homerism is coming out, but I think the Bucks are the clear favorites

 

16 hours ago, David Selig said:

The Bucks have the best defense in the league this season and Giannis has been easily the best player in the conference. 

The Bucks have also been blowing out opponents all season, their net rating is one of the best in many years. 

It's quite possible I'm underrating the Bucks, I've seen only one game of them this year, and in it Giannis played well, but not exceptional.  The primary reason I'm rating Kawhi ahead of him is just the old adage that the NBA playoffs is cruel to the young, and Leonard has far more experience with long playoff runs than Giannis.  If it comes down to a Toronto vs Milwaukee ECF*, I expect Leonard will shine.  Even after the crap he pulled in San Antonio, I remain a big fan of Leonard's game. 

* This has to be a nightmare scenario for the NBA.  Possibly the smallest market NBA team vs a team from Canada?  Yikes.  And yet, as a basketball fan, that is exactly what I'm rooting for. 

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Went to the Knicks game on Saturday night and watched the best 5 minutes of Knicks basketball I've seen in years. Too bad what followed was normal Knicks basketball but man, I saw a glimpse and it was glorious. Also, Dennis Smith Jr is fun to watch and should attack every time he gets the ball.

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1 hour ago, Mexal said:

Went to the Knicks game on Saturday night and watched the best 5 minutes of Knicks basketball I've seen in years. Too bad what followed was normal Knicks basketball but man, I saw a glimpse and it was glorious. Also, Dennis Smith Jr is fun to watch and should attack every time he gets the ball.

Told you Knicks fans not to freak out over the trade. You might end up with the better player and you got assets to chase AD with plus you have to max slots open.

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5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Told you Knicks fans not to freak out over the trade. You might end up with the better player and you got assets to chase AD with plus you have to max slots open.

I mean, the success of the trade still rests on what they do in trade/FA/draft. Still, Dennis Smith Jr is fun to watch.

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Mmmmmm, Kings talk.    This next road trip will either feature their playoff run hitting the wall against a bunch of superior teams, or they'll surprise me and everyone else.   The redheaded circus freak who calls the games has targetted 45 wins as a likely magic number to get in the postseason but my eyeballing of the schedule places my real expectation at 38 wins in reality and then hoping for them to surprise teams, and themselves, with some added W's. 

  Everyone says you want the 7th seed to avoid being crushed by Golden State, but strangely they've played da warriors real close all 3 times, just coming up 1 or 2 buckets short and letting GS steal one of those after having a late lead and failing to close it out.  Well, it'd probably be easier to ask Fox to make an extra basket in a Golden State series than to face the Nuggets who seem to goliath stomp the kings a bit more dauntingly.  Imagine that.  if sactown slayed the giant nobody else has an answer for, like totally out of nowhere, just by finding that maturity to close those games out during the series with the world watching.  A pipe dream for sure, but that's the point.  It's lovely to be smoking it still at this time of year when games are usually meaningless by january.    And the timing of this post is important, fitting it in before wednesday when they start getting stomped in all likelihood.   Time to take a moment to feel the majesty of yur Sac.

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23 minutes ago, The Mother of The Others said:

Mmmmmm, Kings talk.    This next road trip will either feature their playoff run hitting the wall against a bunch of superior teams, or they'll surprise me and everyone else.   The redheaded circus freak who calls the games has targetted 45 wins as a likely magic number to get in the postseason but my eyeballing of the schedule places my real expectation at 38 wins in reality and then hoping for them to surprise teams, and themselves, with some added W's. 

  Everyone says you want the 7th seed to avoid being crushed by Golden State, but strangely they've played da warriors real close all 3 times, just coming up 1 or 2 buckets short and letting GS steal one of those after having a late lead and failing to close it out.  Well, it'd probably be easier to ask Fox to make an extra basket in a Golden State series than to face the Nuggets who seem to goliath stomp the kings a bit more dauntingly.  Imagine that.  if sactown slayed the giant nobody else has an answer for, like totally out of nowhere, just by finding that maturity to close those games out during the series with the world watching.  A pipe dream for sure, but that's the point.  It's lovely to be smoking it still at this time of year when games are usually meaningless by january.    And the timing of this post is important, fitting it in before wednesday when they start getting stomped in all likelihood.   Time to take a moment to feel the majesty of yur Sac.

As a big college basketball fan (and of course UK specifically) I really do like the Kings.  Their roster is basically a who's who of college all stars.  I'd love to see them make a run.  

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2 hours ago, Mexal said:

I mean, the success of the trade still rests on what they do in trade/FA/draft. Still, Dennis Smith Jr is fun to watch.

It also rests on KP's long term health. I'd be nervous about a 7 footer with a torn ACL, who doesn't want to be on your team anyways and, I mean, just look at his frame. He's screams injury risk which is why I was low on him going into the draft.

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5 hours ago, The Mother of The Others said:

 Everyone says you want the 7th seed to avoid being crushed by Golden State, but strangely they've played da warriors real close all 3 times, just coming up 1 or 2 buckets short and letting GS steal one of those after having a late lead and failing to close it out.  Well, it'd probably be easier to ask Fox to make an extra basket in a Golden State series than to face the Nuggets who seem to goliath stomp the kings a bit more dauntingly.

I gotta say it tickles me to see the Nuggets get a bit of respect.  And I agree they seem to have the Kings figured out.

But as hyped as I am I have no idea what to expect come playoff time; Milsap is the only one with any real playoff experience on the whole team (unless Isiah Thomas actually gets healthy at some point).  Your money would be safer getting Denver than GS.

That said, I would give Denver a good chance vs anyone but GS and Houston right now; not seeing a whole lot more playoff experience across the whole conference.

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11 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Told you Knicks fans not to freak out over the trade. You might end up with the better player and you got assets to chase AD with plus you have to max slots open.

Lol

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Is PG now 3rd favourite for MVP? If not who is having a better season other than the 2 frontrunners? Personally I'd take him above Harden, his offensive stats aren't as astronomical, but his defence is so much better. 

However Harden did singlehandedly turn around their season when he went on his run. 

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1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

Is PG now 3rd favourite for MVP? If not who is having a better season other than the 2 frontrunners? Personally I'd take him above Harden, his offensive stats aren't as astronomical, but his defence is so much better. 

I'd have Giannis, Harden, and then Paul, I think.  

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2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Is PG now 3rd favourite for MVP? If not who is having a better season other than the 2 frontrunners? Personally I'd take him above Harden, his offensive stats aren't as astronomical, but his defence is so much better.

He should be at least 3rd, if not higher, he's been carrying the Thunder all season on both ends because Westbrook's shot is completely broken. When he doesn't play, they turn from an elite team into an atrocious one (-11.4 Net rating, which is worst in the league level).

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