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'17-18 NBA Thread


Enforcer84

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Well, I dont know how much the son will do in controversy, but that father (AKA the walking nightmare that is daddyball in amateur sports, or rather the nightmares that those dads have) will make sure he wont go away.

 

 

THough, in theory he could make for some interesting matchups for the Lakers in which they can go double-PG in the backcourt.  THough, he probably has as much chance as becoming some 3rd guard backup (which would still make him somewhat valuable in actuality, but with the hype, we'd have to hear the word disappointment thrown about)

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And Lonzo is the older boy. He's got another son (at least)

 

Magic Johnson is pretty convinced the kid is a once in a generation talent. We'll see.

 

Locally, Portland grabbed a couple of young big men who look promising. Also we're deeply in the clutches of Nurkic fever.

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Locally, Portland grabbed a couple of young big men who look promising. Also we're deeply in the clutches of Nurkic fever.

When I look at Nurkic, I'm kind of concerned he might be the next Jeremy Lin. When Lin first rose to prominence, he was considered a player of the future who would amaze fans in New York on a regular basis, based on his fill-in performances which were sometimes brilliant. The hype became enormous. Now, although he's still in the league, he's become a journeyman at best (on a terrible team in Brooklyn). 

 

There was also a Blazers guard in the '80s named Billy Ray Bates who was thought on the basis of a few performances to be a budding star. It didn't take long, though, before he coked himself out of the league.

 

I see the same sort of hype building up around Nurkic, and that rarely ends well. 

 

I don't know that I like the trade-up they did. Zach Collins was more likely than not to still be available at #15. And he never started a game in his season at Gonzaga, which makes me wonder about his conditioning for an 82+ game NBA season. I also wonder why they essentially drafted the same player twice (Caleb Swanigan's game isn't all that different from Collins').

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When I look at Nurkic, I'm kind of concerned he might be the next Jeremy Lin. When Lin first rose to prominence, he was considered a player of the future who would amaze fans in New York on a regular basis, based on his fill-in performances which were sometimes brilliant. The hype became enormous. Now, although he's still in the league, he's become a journeyman at best (on a terrible team in Brooklyn). 

 

There was also a Blazers guard in the '80s named Billy Ray Bates who was thought on the basis of a few performances to be a budding star. It didn't take long, though, before he coked himself out of the league.

 

I see the same sort of hype building up around Nurkic, and that rarely ends well. 

 

I don't know that I like the trade-up they did. Zach Collins was more likely than not to still be available at #15. And he never started a game in his season at Gonzaga, which makes me wonder about his conditioning for an 82+ game NBA season. I also wonder why they essentially drafted the same player twice (Caleb Swanigan's game isn't all that different from Collins').

 

I'm kind of on board the Nurkic train. But I can see the trepidation. Bad knees are never a great thing for 7 footers. But as to his talent, I think he's pretty legit. 

And what hurt Portland the most was our bigs. I doubt Oshley will stand pat in the off season, so other needs will probably be addressed - I don't think Leonard Meyers is long for the team anymore. 

 

Like you said, Collins and Swanigan are similar players. And there are doubts about the latter's commitment to conditioning. But...

 

It's possible one of those two could start at the 4 and the other provide solid minutes at the 4 and 5 which would give Portland a better threat than it's had. I was a little saddened to Send Harry Giles to Sacramento as I am a longtime fan of the overcoming injuries stories. But they're so rare and Portland has been so snakebit by hurt big men. I can't feel too disappointed.

 

I think Portland got some value with their picks...but we won't see until the season starts.

Probably not for 2 more years to be honest unless they really struggle or really star.

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I have to admit, as much as I love basketball I've really fallen off my draft day binges. I was never that good at telling who the stars would be. 

 

I thought that Carmelo Anthony would be amazing. 

 

 And I overvalue big men. Though I undercut Karl-Anthony Towns.

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To me he's a great PG if you give him the ball and let him go. 

The fit in Houston was horrible as Beard No Show dominates the ball. Also. LAKERS. No thanks.

In NJ he was doing well before injuries.

 

I could be wrong, but he puts up pretty consistently good numbers. He excelled when he was relied upon in NJ and NY. 

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GOOOD AFTERNOON NBA FANS!

 

 

Today we have a heaping helping of Hellooooooo

 

Phil Jackson is out in New York. Largest market still has sucky teams.

 

Chris Paul has been Traded to Houston. 

 

ahem

 

Chris Paul has been traded to Houston!

 

This is big. Harden did marvelously as a point guard in D'Antoni's system but he's a defensive liability (not due to being incapable, but more uninterested) but CP3 is a defensive stud at the position.

Also Paul can share the ball. Harden's numbers might dip (and we'll see if winning or numbers are more important to him) but Houston and the Clippers were more meltdown teams rather than scrappy, over-matched, overachieving underdogs.

 

This trade gives the Clippers an excuse to suck and the Rockets little to none barring injury.

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It's clear now that Melo can get his wish to stay in New York, where his wife and family want to live. Can't blame him for wanting that in the least.

 

This is one place where the players had an idea what they should be doing, and that it was in totally the opposite direction from what Phil wanted. I would be hard-pressed to think of a team in the current NBA for which a textbook Triangle would get them into the playoffs, much less win a title. It's sort of like the situation the NFL is in with quarterbacks -- college teams are just not producing the sort of quarterbacks who can plug into a "pro-style" offense and immediately be effective, meaning rookies have a much harder time adjusting to the next level.

 

The question now becomes "what now" for the Knicks? Their ownership group is not especially known for their savvy (to put it mildly) and notorious for stunt hires like Phil Jackson. Unless Dolan sells the team (which is still one of the more profitable pro franchises in the US despite so many bad years on the court and so many PR nightmares), there are still going to be bad moves, bad signings and bad hires. But hey, Gotham fans, cheer up -- the Nets are even worse!

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Yeah, never really was a fan of the triangle.  It seems to work well with Jackson's past teams, which didnt have a conventional PG, but had a dominant do everything wing (Bryant, Jordan).  It's always seemed to me to be an offense that wasnt ideal for your classic setup.  I am not as nuanced in basketabll as other sports, has there ever been a non-Phil Jackson team that had real success running it?

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Nope. And the architect of it was his assistant forever. 

 

And since, and I say this as someone who is a Phil hater, he only stepped in to coach teams that had once in a generation players on board, (Prime Jordan, Prime Pippin, Prime Shaq, Prime Kobe, could possibly put Pau Gasol in there too) there was never any real proof it worked. 

 

It was just impossible to stop Jordan, Shaq, or Bryant in their Prime (Kobe less so because he was a head-case even among head-cases and would lose games to prove a point)

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Course, as also a hater, I despite think they probably are being a bit harsh in some ways.  It seems a common theme in sports, that eventually a coach/manager/GM eventually loses touch as they get older.  If they dont retire for good or die off, it always happens eventually.  One book I have, is about evaluating Baseball's Managers through the years and that tends to be the case.  Although, Casey Stengel and Connie Mack are the prime famous examples, quite a few others had some severe drop off in effectiveness in their final destination.

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Course, as also a hater, I despite think they probably are being a bit harsh in some ways.  It seems a common theme in sports, that eventually a coach/manager/GM eventually loses touch as they get older.  If they dont retire for good or die off, it always happens eventually.  One book I have, is about evaluating Baseball's Managers through the years and that tends to be the case.  Although, Casey Stengel and Connie Mack are the prime famous examples, quite a few others had some severe drop off in effectiveness in their final destination.

Connie Mack was a special case. He had some great seasons and more than a few terrible seasons managing the Philadelphia A's. His 1915 season alone would have been cause for any other manager to get fired. Yet since he had a substantial ownership stake in the franchise he couldn't be fired, and his fifty seasons at the helm of the A's was the longest stint in the history of major league baseball.

 

Mack was eccentric in other ways, like refusing to wear a uniform. He ran games wearing a suit, which meant he couldn't go out onto the field to talk to pitchers or berate umpires.

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I suppose I misspoke about Caremlo. Now that Phil is gone Melo is suddenly OK with leaving the Knicks to go to Cleveland or Houston. Of course that would require the Knicks to pay him $54 million to buy out the remaining years on his contract, and both teams would probably need to clear significant cap space to sign him.

 

For better or worse, Kristaps Porzingis is the face of the franchise.

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Connie Mack was a special case. He had some great seasons and more than a few terrible seasons managing the Philadelphia A's. His 1915 season alone would have been cause for any other manager to get fired. Yet since he had a substantial ownership stake in the franchise he couldn't be fired, and his fifty seasons at the helm of the A's was the longest stint in the history of major league baseball.

 

Mack was eccentric in other ways, like refusing to wear a uniform. He ran games wearing a suit, which meant he couldn't go out onto the field to talk to pitchers or berate umpires.

 

Yeah, technically the last 10-12 years Mack was really only a figurehead anyway, his coaches did a lot of the in-game management, as I understand.  Supposedly he'd occasionally fall asleep in the dugout during those years. 

 

Note: And his 1916 team was the worst of the 20th century, even worse winning pct than 62 Mets.  But, yeah after 1914 he pulled that era's equivalent of what the Marlins do after winning a championship.  Nearly everybody worth anything were either traded or jumped to the Federal League

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Of course, Phil managed players like a maestro. I can't say for certain the Triangle wasn't brilliant as we've only seen it really fail once. 

 

Yeah, I do seem to remember now that I think about it, that the 76ers were considering trying the triangle one year.  Way back in the Iguodala  era.  But, that was during some pre-season issue of some magazine, so I don't know if they went through with it.

 

If they did, it being the 76ers probably speaks for itself.

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