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NBA continued- Replacement players and the flat earther Road Warrior


DireWolfSpirit

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Otherwise terrible clock management, you can see LaVine and Vic simultaneously looking back to the far clock, both looking baffled, while DDR takes another dribble 35 feet out with 1.6 seconds left.

I replayed it a bunch and I feel like he thought he had a lot more time than what his body was doing. But, he hit a very low percentage shot and we're atop the East for now. Man is this team fun. About time.

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Him and LaVine both, the latter has been fucking amazing just like last year. One of the 10 best in the league this season, no doubt. De Rozan is top 10 as well in my book for this season.

 

On 12/19/2021 at 5:38 AM, briantw said:

The Cavs just keep destroying teams.  No Mobley?  No Okoro?  No problem.

Its a real shame what happened to Rubio. Sexton going out for the season is a loss but more a loss of depth and versatility, Rubio is essential and was playing very well. This does diminish their chances I think because Garland will need to do so much when he comes back. I have no faith in Rondo.

But Mobley is definitely in the running for Rookie of the Year but dam what a strong class. I really like Josh Giddey from OKC< massively talented young playmaker, if he can start scoring reliably that could be a legit star, its the one part of his game that needs real development. Scottie Barnes has been superb. Franz Wagner at Orlando also excellent. Those are my 4 favorites so far.

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16 minutes ago, Calibandar said:

Its a real shame what happened to Rubio. Sexton going out for the season is a loss but more a loss of depth and versatility, Rubio is essential and was playing very well. This does diminish their chances I think because Garland will need to do so much when he comes back. I have no faith in Rondo.

But Mobley is definitely in the running for Rookie of the Year but dam what a strong class. I really like Josh Giddey from OKC< massively talented young playmaker, if he can start scoring reliably that could be a legit star, its the one part of his game that needs real development. Scottie Barnes has been superb. Franz Wagner at Orlando also excellent. Those are my 4 favorites so far.

Terrible timing for the Rubio injury too, as it happened while Garland was out and left the Cavs with zero playmakers.  I do think Rondo will help, and apparently he's really excited about the chance to have a proper role on a probable playoff team, but obviously Garland is the key here.  He needs to come back and keep doing what he was doing.  The Cavs were incredible whenever he was on the floor, and he has great chemistry with Allen and is gaining it with Mobley.

And yeah, this has been a fantastic rookie class.  Easily the best in years.  Reminds me of the 2003 draft that gave the league a huge infusion of high-end talent.

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3 minutes ago, Gronzag said:

Can one of you explain to me why are Golden State Warriors so popular?

I might misremember this but I think that, years ago, they were the worst franchise in NBA that nobody cared about.

Because they're fun as hell to watch with an all-time great player. 

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58 minutes ago, Gronzag said:

I might misremember this but I think that, years ago, they were the worst franchise in NBA that nobody cared about.

I mean, they were pretty shitty from around the LaTrell Sprewell incident (which was..1997) to Curry being drafted (so throughout the aughts).  But even then I think the Clippers were still viewed as the worst franchise - even if Elton Brand gave them a few good years.  Off the top of my head the Wizards and Bobcats/Hornets have to be in the running too.  Either way I think it's odd to describe them as one of the NBA's perennial basement dwellers just because of that downswing - they had quite a bit of success beforehand.

As for why they're so popular, I think the better question is why a hugely successful dynasty with a game-changing offense and one of the best/most important players of his generation located in a large media market wouldn't be so popular?

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1 hour ago, briantw said:

Terrible timing for the Rubio injury too, as it happened while Garland was out and left the Cavs with zero playmakers.  I do think Rondo will help, and apparently he's really excited about the chance to have a proper role on a probable playoff team, but obviously Garland is the key here.  He needs to come back and keep doing what he was doing.  The Cavs were incredible whenever he was on the floor, and he has great chemistry with Allen and is gaining it with Mobley.

And yeah, this has been a fantastic rookie class.  Easily the best in years.  Reminds me of the 2003 draft that gave the league a huge infusion of high-end talent.

I didnt even mention Kuminga yet, should have included him, he looks sensational in the limited minutes so far.

Green and Cunningham havent taken off yet but still, they too are interesting prospects ( on woeful teams...)

OKC might consider making a trade now. With SGA, Giddey, Dort if they wanna keep him, add a really good young player ( Sabonis has been brought up a lot).

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27 minutes ago, DMC said:

I mean, they were pretty shitty from around the LaTrell Sprewell incident (which was..1997) to Curry being drafted (so throughout the aughts).  But even then I think the Clippers were still viewed as the worst franchise - even if Elton Brand gave them a few good years.  Off the top of my head the Wizards and Bobcats/Hornets have to be in the running too.  Either way I think it's odd to describe them as one of the NBA's perennial basement dwellers just because of that downswing - they had quite a bit of success beforehand.

As for why they're so popular, I think the better question is why a hugely successful dynasty with a game-changing offense and one of the best/most important players of his generation located in a large media market wouldn't be so popular?

Thanks. Those other franchises that you mentioned are exactly who I associated them with. I had no idea that they had prior history of success.

I'm a casual basketball fan at best, but I noticed that on this forum, the other forum that I visit, and the NBA subreddit, the GSW are the team that pretty much everyone is rooting for.

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4 minutes ago, Gronzag said:

I'm a casual basketball fan at best, but I noticed that on this forum, the other forum that I visit, and the NBA subreddit, the GSW are the team that pretty much everyone is rooting for.

I find Curry very easy to root for.  And now that Durant is gone wouldn't surprise me if that feeling is pretty widespread.

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3 hours ago, Gronzag said:

Can one of you explain to me why are Golden State Warriors so popular?

I might misremember this but I think that, years ago, they were the worst franchise in NBA that nobody cared about.

They play team ball and when locked in they shoot like no one has ever shot. 

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17 hours ago, DMC said:

I find Curry very easy to root for.  And now that Durant is gone wouldn't surprise me if that feeling is pretty widespread.

And yes, now that they are back to the "original" warriors, I think they are very likable again.  The fact that Curry and Klay are coming off injury give them the comeback underdog story we all want.

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The Warriors also invented and refined the style of ball that virtually the entire league is trying to imitate.  Yes, there were other teams doing some similar things like the Spurs and the Rockets in the first half of the decade, but nobody could put together a team that was so good at shooting, passing and defending.  Basketball chemistry can be an incredible thing, and just like how Jordan wouldn't have ever been Jordan without Pippen, Curry wouldn't be Curry without Green. 

And we saw when Durant came in that the chemistry was just never there, instead it was an ugly team of ridiculously talented dudes who could overpower the league for a time.  But Curry, Green and Thompson were all pretty clearly worse with Durant there, and Durant was inarguably a top 3 player during that time.  Without him they are much less talented and slightly less good, but much more enjoyable to watch. 

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On 1/2/2022 at 1:33 PM, DMC said:

Off the top of my head the Wizards and Bobcats/Hornets have to be in the running too.  Either way I think it's odd to describe them as one of the NBA's perennial basement dwellers just because of that downswing - they had quite a bit of success beforehand.

Not sure where it stands right now, but last year the Wolves had the worst total winning percentage of any team in North America. That's saying something considering they're not that old of a club and they had a top 25 all-time player for most of his prime.

 

Back to the Warriors and likability, on top of what some others have said another factor imo is how it came together pre-KD. They built the foundation on three players who were by no means guaranteed to be stars. Frankly all three projected to be role players more than anything else, and you can argue two of the three still are, just that they're the best at those roles. Curry took an unusual path to superstardom. He's a late bloomer compared to other all-time greats and he's terribly undersized as well. And his career nearly got derailed through injuries. Draymond could have quickly washed out of the league. He's a second round pick who was an afterthought after two seasons, and yet somehow he turned himself into arguably the best utility player in league history. His impact on the game without being able to score is still tremendous. And Klay was a late lottery pick who turned into possibly the best 3 and D wing ever. On their own who knows what they would have become, but they fit perfectly together and got the most out of one another.

8 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Yep I'm majorly interested in whether Klay comes back somewhere close to before times. Still wouldn't call myself a fan of the team overall by any stretch.

Assuming he's healthy and his injuries aren't debilitating, I don't think there will be a big drop off on the offensive side. He can catch and shoot corner threes as long as he can stand upright. His movement will probably be diminished, but it's not as important to his game as it is for Steph. And since he was never an explosive athlete anyways I'm not sure where else he'll have much trouble. Defensively though, he's probably going to struggle unless he somehow comes back as good as new. He was a great wing defender before the two injuries and especially with the Achilles it's hard to see him returning to form.

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Not sure where it stands right now, but last year the Wolves had the worst total winning percentage of any team in North America. That's saying something considering they're not that old of a club and they had a top 25 all-time player for most of his prime.

The Wolves certainly came to mind but I didn't wanna pick on you.

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The Warriors also got really lucky in that they signed Curry to a very team friendly deal before he became one of the best players in the game, so his contract became a massive value that I don’t think the team could have possibly anticipated. 

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