Enforcer84

Guys. If the Warriors win this year I think there will be suicides all over the nation. 

Who's your favorite? This could be the first time in a long while that neither team from the Championship series repeats. Both teams lost major contributors. 

The good teams got gooder? The bad teams stayed bad. Players have taken the helm and owners everywhere are perhaps pissing themselves. 

Are we excited?

Oh I think I'll start a new thread if no one objects. Since we're officially in 19-20 now.

I'm assuming it makes you chuckle because the Warriors lost; not that it was great to see two world class players in their prime get horrible injuries in the finals? 

But it was a great season and this Free Agency has been just as amazing...The Teams are no longer in charge. For better or worse, the Star Players are in charge of their own destiny to a greater degree than I've seen in any sports league in history.

Well Los Angeles has 4 of the best players in the NBA right now. Three in their primes. One a Legend...

It's just that they're split between two teams and the team that looks poised to win it all is not the one with LeBron and AD. The Clippers have claimed the mantle favorite from their cross-town rivals the Los Angeles Side Show...I mean Lakers.

I'm laughing my ass off.

The EAST:

The East is open AF right now with Kyrie Irving off to awkwardly "lead" another team. If he can keep from alienating the team long enough for KD to get back (and not alienate the team...Honestly they're two of the more interesting, fragile minds in sports...) Toronto got a championship with the Kawhi rental so that's cool Now they have a good team but the probably won't repeat as EC Champs But who knows?  The Celtics replacing Kyrie with Kemba Walker seems like a step down but may be better for chemistry. But they lost their Joel Embiid stopper to...the Sixers. Who look radically different as well. The Bucks lost some scoring but seem to come back mostly in tact, and kept Eric Bledsoe despite his post season struggles. The Hornets are now in free fall, Miami has grabbed Jimmy Butler but traded away a lot of their team so they're going to look very different next year. Go get the east Meyers. The Bulls are...still...odd on poop show, ditto the Wizards. Who cast a spell of "Poor Basketball Decisions." every year. With this be the year it all comes together for Indiana or Orlando? And wow...has anyone told the Knicks that they've never been a marquee franchise and they should really start trying to build through the draft and not landing Free Agents who aren't going to the Garden. Ever. They are almost 50 years away from their Championship Days...and their owner is a moron. 

The West:

With the Warriors down 2 of the 3 top players the west is all open. Which is probably why Portland turned over more than half their roster after making the conference finals renting Hassan Whiteside for Nurkic's recovery time and losing a bunch of guys who I loved as gritty second teamers for a new batch of guys I'll probably love as gritty second teamers. Utah has gone all in hoping to fill Golden State's void, and they looked like good shots to do that until Kawhi and Paul George moved to Clipperland. The Grizzlies are rebuilding with two dynamic youngsters. Dallas retired Dirk while grabbing two European superstars. The Unicorn and Doncic could be amazing. San Antonio is SA and until I see differently, they're somewhere between 5th and 8th seed in the west. Houston went into panic mode but found no one to make deals with. Which might help them win the Title. If Paul has anything left and the trade bait players don't pout, Hardin should guide them to ta top four seed in the west..on his own. But, being Hardin, his jumping into people to buy contact fouls will work less well in the playoffs where "Let them play" has been the mantra since I was born and the Rockets will get run off the court in ignoble fashion when they feel it slipping away and stop trying. New Orleans will be interesting to watch if only to see Young Larry Johnson The Second (or Young Charles Barkley the Third) throw his body around for his rookie year. Minnesota will disappoint? Probably. Denver is standing pat as they feel they have what it takes and they might not be wrong. The Lakers should make the playoffs unless injuries, father time, and bad front office derails them. Sacramento will be wild and unpredictable...and probably bad. Phoenix will be bad. (cut and paste from last year) OKC should finally be bad. Been hearing rumblings of them trading Westbrook this summer because they couldn't hold onto George and in a best for both parties they could reward Westbrook for his service by sending him elsewhere and not forcing him to prop up a sinking ship, somehting he's incapable of doing. His amazing talents are marred by his bad shooting. 

I'm forgetting things. But it's one of those years where everything is up for grabs. If the Lakers had managed to grab Kawhi it would have been all but over. But instead  he went to the Clippers, built his own "super team," and blew the league wide open.

14 hours ago, Starlord said:

Once again, Lebron has proven himself to be an powerful GM. 

I'll be interested to see how AD's health and Lebron's Longevity hold out. The Lakers front office doesn't fill me with confidence. This was a pretty good deal for them. They get to keep Kuzma who IMO was the best of the three players generally spoken of. But he has defensive limitations the others might not have. With Golden State down two of their top three players for the foreseeable future and Houston possibly imploding...the Lakers suddenly become a hot topic. Mostly because the media ignores Portland and Denver until the end of the season when their precious Knicks and Lakers have once again fallen with a whimper. How bad is the Knicks outlook? They thought they'd get KD and Kyrie and now KD is out and Kyrie is rumored to be (like Paul) interested with playing in LA with AD. 

What if Kahwi leaves Toronto? 

Will Boston be better by Subtraction if Kyrie leaves?

Sounds like Tobias Harris is looking to leave Philly.

And it seems everyone is suddenly forgetting the Bucks. Which could be a mistake. 

Gosh I'm looking forward to next season already.

20 hours ago, Pariah said:

I thought Durant's injury was his Achilles tendon.

Oh that's right. My brain misfired.

The Raps did it. KD and Klay both have torn ACLs. Neither will be doing much of anything for a while. Meanwhile the Lakers traded for Anthony Davis unloading the least good of their young core (IMO) and 3 first round picks including the #4. The Lakers will be picking for the Pelicans. In theory the Lakers can swing the trade to get them some serious cap room too.

Houston is looking to possibly blow things up. Chris Paul reportedly wants out and maybe to be a Laker (I almost want it to happen since it will prevent them from winning a Title.)

Boston is looking at Kyrie looking at New Jersey. The Knicks are looking like idiots. 

We'll see which of these threads plays out.

Well my back has been limiting my heading over to the convention center more than I'd like. Been spending a lot of time reading in the hotel. Ran into Dave and got into his game and then saw Jason and Tina in the dealer room. 

I'd like to get to see a few more HEROES if possible. What's everyone's Saturday looking like?

I'll try to head over before noon. So maybe stop by grandmastergm's Kazei 5 game and say hello.

23 hours ago, dmjalund said:

Mr Tumnus, a bad guy? say it ain't so!

18 hours ago, mattingly said:

@Enforcer84 was there. He can testify!

 

Tumnus tried to control the party with his pan flute. After an Unsuccessful Leviosa and Punch the Flute thtrough his throat, he made the mistake of trying to call a truce with Ash.

On 6/13/2019 at 3:31 AM, mattingly said:

Monster Hunter All-Stars

Hellboy, Ghost Rider, “Evil Dead” Ash, Hermione Granger, and Selene (Underworld) faced off against Lo Pan, the Kurgen, Mothman, Mr. Tumnus, and the Scorpion King.

• Ash bisected Mr. Tumnus, after gauntlet-punching his flute down his gullet.
• Hellboy punched out Mothman, who was eating his demonic brain.
• Ghost Rider soul-gazed Lo Pan with a penance stare.
• Hermione paralyzed the Scorpion King.
• Selene used Kurgen’s own sword to cut off his head and steal his Quickening.

Lo Pan and Mothman managed to escape, but the rare magical books were protected.

 

 

On 6/13/2019 at 3:31 AM, mattingly said:

 

I also shot Lo Pan full of ghost holes!

Well with the Warriors hurting and Toronto hurting but still managing to put the team out there. The series has been close.

Great to see Canada behind the Raptors like this too. 

Been fun. 

I got in too late as well but I might stop by and say hi! 

I've heard that Gase was against signing Bell and that he might be trade bate.

Jest fire their GM after all the important duties. 

Draft Conspiracy Hat on!

The Draft played out that way so the Lakers could trade their stable of bad young potential players to New Orleans plus the #4 pick for AD. Giving the Lakers...Old bad fit players for LeBron and AD to drag into a second round playoff loss to the Warriors minus KD or a Houston team that stands pat and still loses in the playoffs though perhaps in the Finals to Milwaukee.

The playoffs have been very entertaining. I'm not even sure Portland has a win in them, but I think they do. I want to believe that this deep run was more than just hitting the right opponents and getting lucky. Portland bled all over the playoffs losing or nearly losing players to injury left and right. We were banged up from the get go and gutted two series out against a flawed OKC and a dangerous young Denver. I'm actually quite high on each of the final four teams. I have no problem with the warriors, other than they take our lunch money, I have long felt bad for the Raps and want to see them succeed but also the Bucks...wow. Giannis is so amazing and the team built around him is tough as nails. And of course my home town team is the sacrificial lamb. But I'll take it. This has been a great season for us. A win or four over the warriors would be amazing but I'm not sure we could stand much of a chance against Milwaukee...I could see the Toronto curse giving us a chance

Can I say that I love watching Houston lose? They combined two of my least favorite players into a super team that collapses in the playoffs, often spectacularly against the Warriors and cry about officiating. 

Rest in Peace Tim. You were an icon of my childhood

14 hours ago, Tjack said:

   I’m not usually much of a Country guy,  but I liked it a lot.  Is your brother looking to be more of a performer or songwriter?

yeah he's a Prog Rock guy but married a country girl...he does a lot of classic rock covers in concert, but his own stuff is all over the place. 

Get well soon!

12 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

You're right. 

 

Your little brother _is_ awesome!

It sucks, but I love him anyway

RIP Calamity Jane

Hey guys, my little brother just got his first Music Video made for his song, "The way she says my name." I'd be real pleased if any of you gave it a view

I would Kill for that. 

But Portland's  players keep getting hurt.

I'm in the luxurious position of having my favorite team in the Final Four so to speak and not hating any of the other remaining teams. I have 0 issues with Golden State (though not a KD fan).

Milwaukee and Toronto are both teams I've always liked (underdogs) 

And my babies are in the WCF!

Conference Semis are 2-2, 2-2, 2-2, and 3-1. Some great series. 

The Warriors look about as vulnerable as they could be over the last 5 or so seasons. The Rockets are playing mostly well though given their game plan seems to involve crying I can't say I want them anywhere near the finals. The only team looking dominant is the Bucks, and that's only for the moment. 3-1 isn't a lock. 

The saddest part to me in Portland's run is what might have been with Nurkic. But if KD flees Golden State to form the least impressive fragile egoed superppower in New York with Kyrie Irving, and Anthonry Davis goes to the Lakers for most of their young talent and the Lakers continue to put the wrong types of players around LeBron (and AD) Portland, Denver, and Houston will start looking like the bigger dogs. Unless some windows have started to close. Denver is younger and has the potential to be great. Portland has proved resilient. 

These playoffs have been rough on my nerves.

That's been his plan all along!