The OFFICIAL 2023 NBA Season Thread

[pingbling23]

free throws were the difference maker in both games tonight. luka has to be better there at the end. he about turns it over and then calls a timeout with a little over 2 seconds left. all they needed was one and they should have had a better look then what it turned into. for the advanced metric people on here, what are lukas clutch stats?

[PKIPP]

Class act Luka is. Berating his teammates down the clutch, lazy getting back on defense, and being demonstrative towards his bench after he missed rim on the final shot.

Love the guy as a talent. I enjoy collecting his cards. But that’s just ridiculous.

And yeah, I know DFS and Hardaway choked at the line.


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[Ferg1945]

Originally Posted by PKIPP

Class act Luka is. Berating his teammates down the clutch, lazy getting back on defense, and being demonstrative towards his bench after he missed rim on the final shot.

That's Luka. If it isn't his teammates, it's the refs.

People always have excuses and blame his teammates because Luka is the supreme GOD basketball player and can do no wrong.

Tonight showed the WORLD who he really is. Not a good showing on ESPN. He played great... but its all the extra curricular stuff that just wears teams down... and its not even Christmas

[EBCollectibles]

I understand the FT killed Dallas but everytime Dallas would get a nice lead Jason Kidd would leave the bench players in too long and they would surrender the lead every time. So some of this falls on Kidd's shoulders.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Ferg1945

That's Luka. If it isn't his teammates, it's the refs.

People always have excuses and blame his teammates because Luka is the supreme GOD basketball player and can do no wrong.

Tonight showed the WORLD who he really is. Not a good showing on ESPN. He played great... but its all the extra curricular stuff that just wears teams down... and its not even Christmas

I mean... it wore his team down all the way to the WCF last year.

Let's be real. The guy is an amazing talent, still only 23, and it's only a few small things keeping him from being in the true elite tier of NBA players.

He'll get there at some point.

[Ferg1945]

Originally Posted by tjforce

I mean... it wore his team down all the way to the WCF last year.

Let's be real. The guy is an amazing talent, still only 23, and it's only a few small things keeping him from being in the true elite tier of NBA players.

He'll get there at some point.

True.

I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[RogerGodahell]

Dal just sucks they shot terrible from the FT line. Luka was 4-10, The "sharp shooters" Finney smith and THJ were 0-5 and Powell was 1-3. Not going to win many basketball games when 4-5 of your starters shoot 5-18 from the FT line. Also dumb not to take a TO and advance the ball at the end of the game with 7 seconds left instead of 2.5. I think he was probably more mad at the coaching staff. Hard to say tough loss.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by Ferg1945

True.

I have no idea what I'm talking about.

The NBA is a man's game. There's a reason why LeBron, MJ, and Shaq were 27 when they won their first titles. Giannis and Steph were 26 when they won their first titles. Durant was 28. Dirk was 32.

Luka will get there, he's just not there yet.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by RogerGodahell

Dal just sucks they shot terrible from the FT line. Luka was 4-10, The "sharp shooters" Finney smith and THJ were 0-5 and Powell was 1-3. Not going to win many basketball games when 4-5 of your starters shoot 5-18 from the FT line. Also dumb not to take a TO and advance the ball at the end of the game with 7 seconds left instead of 2.5. I think he was probably more mad at the coaching staff. Hard to say tough loss.

Like my Cavs today, everyone's gotta wear this meltdown at the end here.

I don't think anybody on the Mavs can look at the last 3 mins when Giannis was out and say they did their job well enough to win.

[rustywest]

I can't even believe what I just saw? Lakers lost the game twice

[nibrugnerotto]

I guess this explains why Luka was so mad at the end of the game.
https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...ucks_knew_the/

[spurs50fan]

CP3 smh https://twitter.com/eflynt/status/16...5d6So0ltfxvGWg

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by nibrugnerotto

I guess this explains why Luka was so mad at the end of the game.
https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comment...ucks_knew_the/

I mean, the Dallas had more plays that "Get the ball to Luka" maybe the Bucks wouldn't have known what was coming.

And before anyone says "but Luka's their best player, he needs the ball", the Bucks had just ran an inbounds play to score the winning basket without either of their top 3 shot makers getting the shot.

[Nomad]

What's up with the Nets draft pick lineup tonight and why are they dominating?

[tjforce]

What a bad loss by Miami.

Zach Collins a little too much for Bam to handle.

[Kingofkings1281]

Originally Posted by Nomad

What's up with the Nets draft pick lineup tonight and why are they dominating?

With the NBA this year, it’s par for the course. No way these star athletes can play two nights in a row. They need their rest.

[oldgoldy97]

Time for money back guarantees when the stars don’t play. Or make them sit out multiple games like being on IR so there’s less incentive to do it.

[Kingofkings1281]

I could really live without ESPN showing how many feet someone is away from the basket every time they jack up a three.

[Kingofkings1281]

Tatum continues to be rattled by GS. Terrible showing by Boston.

[pingbling23]

Originally Posted by Kingofkings1281

Tatum continues to be rattled by GS. Terrible showing by Boston.

yeah, poor shooting night for boston. splash brothers looked good.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by tjforce

The NBA is a man's game. There's a reason why LeBron, MJ, and Shaq were 27 when they won their first titles. Giannis and Steph were 26 when they won their first titles. Durant was 28. Dirk was 32.

Luka will get there, he's just not there yet.

Magic Johnson was 21.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by rats60

Magic Johnson was 21.

Yep. Which makes about 2 guys in the last 42 years under 25 that really led his team to an NBA Finals.

And also, Magic wasn't the top guy on that team in the regular seaosn.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Yep. Which makes about 2 guys in the last 42 years under 25 that really led his team to an NBA Finals.

And also, Magic wasn't the top guy on that team in the regular seaosn.

He was the best player in the Finals winning Finals MVP. He was also 12th in the NBA in win shares as a rookie, so a huge contributor all season long while playing out of position at shooting guard.

Two years later at 23, Magic won his second championship and he was unquestionably the best player on the team. He led the team in win shares, 5th in the NBA, while almost averaging a triple double for the season. He also led in NBA in VORP.

There is no need to make excuses for guys. They can win championships at any age and if they don't it is their fault, not some excuse they aren't old enough. The time to win is now for Luka.

Tim Duncan won his first at 22 and Larry Bird won his first at 24. Let me guess, they weren't the best player on their teams so they don't count either.

[jcardstore]

Originally Posted by rats60

He was the best player in the Finals winning Finals MVP. He was also 12th in the NBA in win shares as a rookie, so a huge contributor all season long while playing out of position at shooting guard.

Two years later at 23, Magic won his second championship and he was unquestionably the best player on the team. He led the team in win shares, 5th in the NBA, while almost averaging a triple double for the season. He also led in NBA in VORP.

There is no need to make excuses for guys. They can win championships at any age and if they don't it is their fault, not some excuse they aren't old enough. The time to win is now for Luka.

Tim Duncan won his first at 22 and Larry Bird won his first at 24. Let me guess, they weren't the best player on their teams so they don't count either.

Context?!?! What is that anyways?

Such a bad argument here. Basketball is a TEAM game.

Yea let’s just totally ignore that these guys were on dominant teams with multiple HOFers/ all time greats

Luka is a bum since he can’t carry these dudes.

Is it impossible to have a nuanced discussion about anything on BO? Sheesh

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by rats60

He was the best player in the Finals winning Finals MVP. He was also 12th in the NBA in win shares as a rookie, so a huge contributor all season long while playing out of position at shooting guard.

Two years later at 23, Magic won his second championship and he was unquestionably the best player on the team. He led the team in win shares, 5th in the NBA, while almost averaging a triple double for the season. He also led in NBA in VORP.

There is no need to make excuses for guys. They can win championships at any age and if they don't it is their fault, not some excuse they aren't old enough. The time to win is now for Luka.

Tim Duncan won his first at 22 and Larry Bird won his first at 24. Let me guess, they weren't the best player on their teams so they don't count either.

Your just arguing points I'm not even trying to make.

I've just pointed out that Magic and Duncan did it at a young age and you are just regurgitating that. Everyone knows Magic won FMVP his rookie year and I didn't deny that.

But you're just nitpicking details and making unfounded assumptions. All I'm doing is making a point that it's okay if Luka doesn't win a title when he's 24, or 25, or even 26.

Now if we're sitting here 5 years from now and Luka's closing in on 30 with no title in sight, then we'll have to start considering that he's probably not the guy a lot of us thought he would be. The clock doesn't really start ticking for Luka for a while yet.