The Official NBA Regular Season Thread—-20/21 Edition

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

A lot of garbage to post when you could just say you wanted to have a dig at the MVP. No idea what last years bubble has to do with this team right now. Joker prefers to pass but he's closed so many games this season it's laughable to act like he's not capable.

You've been wrong all year about him.
I mean, wow, he misses 3 shots in a minute of a close game where they were missing 6, yes 6, rotation guys.

Gloss over it all you want, but that bench is horrid and they've had to trot it out far too often.

Gordon, Sap, Barton, Morris, Dozier and Murray all out.

But sure. Meh.

Dude.. I've been saying he's got the MVP on lock since the day Embiid went down in mid March.

But I've also been saying that Denver doesn't have a shot at a title now that Murray is out. I thought the Gordon deal (along with McGee) gave them as good of a shot as anyone in coming out of the West if the Lakers weren't 100%. But now without their clear #2, they might make a playoff run, but will not have enough gas at some point.

I get that people were doing victory laps when they beat the likes of Houston 2x, Memphis 2x, New Orleans, Toronto, and legit big wins like LAC and New York, but these 3 games are showing where they are missing, and that's having a true guard who can light it up late in games like they used to.

Don't know how that's even a dig a Jokic. I'm saying he's an MVP without a true, reliable wing man. Curry can't do much more than a .500 record on his own. LeBron never won a title on his own. Durant needs to create super team after super team to get there. I guess pointing out that Jokic needs at least 1 other guy to play like an all star next to him is taking a dig.

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Dude.. I've been saying he's got the MVP on lock since the day Embiid went down in mid March.

But I've also been saying that Denver doesn't have a shot at a title now that Murray is out. I thought the Gordon deal (along with McGee) gave them as good of a shot as anyone in coming out of the West if the Lakers weren't 100%. But now without their clear #2, they might make a playoff run, but will not have enough gas at some point.

I get that people were doing victory laps when they beat the likes of Houston 2x, Memphis 2x, New Orleans, Toronto, and legit big wins like LAC and New York, but these 3 games are showing where they are missing, and that's having a true guard who can light it up late in games like they used to.

Don't know how that's even a dig a Jokic. I'm saying he's an MVP without a true, reliable wing man. Curry can't do much more than a .500 record on his own. LeBron never won a title on his own. Durant needs to create super team after super team to get there. I guess pointing out that Jokic needs at least 1 other guy to play like an all star next to him is taking a dig.

That's the thing. Jokic was already the MVP frontrunner before Embiid went down but you weren't having it.

And actually LeBron couldn't even make the Playoffs out West without a Superstar next to him. I can't believe he couldn't get that 18/19 roster there.

Where are all these Superteams Durant created? Sheesh. You sure you're not talking about LeBron?

KD signed with Kyrie at the Nets. That is hardly creating a Superteam.

You're having a really bad take day.

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by daeve

I bring this up fairly consistently but most people seem to think they're just already in the Finals.

Their defensive rating is 25th in the league.

Houston, Cleveland, Minny, Portland, and Sacramento are worse.

Anything less than full strength and the Bucks take them out. They have no answer for Giannis. I also think Harden is the most important piece on the team.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Dude.. I've been saying he's got the MVP on lock since the day Embiid went down in mid March.

But I've also been saying that Denver doesn't have a shot at a title now that Murray is out. I thought the Gordon deal (along with McGee) gave them as good of a shot as anyone in coming out of the West if the Lakers weren't 100%. But now without their clear #2, they might make a playoff run, but will not have enough gas at some point.

I get that people were doing victory laps when they beat the likes of Houston 2x, Memphis 2x, New Orleans, Toronto, and legit big wins like LAC and New York, but these 3 games are showing where they are missing, and that's having a true guard who can light it up late in games like they used to.

Don't know how that's even a dig a Jokic. I'm saying he's an MVP without a true, reliable wing man. Curry can't do much more than a .500 record on his own. LeBron never won a title on his own. Durant needs to create super team after super team to get there. I guess pointing out that Jokic needs at least 1 other guy to play like an all star next to him is taking a dig.

iirc, you gave Jokic due credit and was on board for his mvp campaign after embiid started missing plenty of his games. that was crystal clear.


depending on the matchup, nuggets are a second round exit without bubble murray. heck, mavs could potentially take them out of the first rd especially if KP is at least 90%.

[NeedChapmans]

Originally Posted by Dame

iirc, you gave Jokic due credit and was on board for his mvp campaign after embiid started missing plenty of his games. that was crystal clear.

depending on the matchup, nuggets are a second round exit without bubble murray. heck, mavs could potentially take them out of the first rd especially if KP is at least 90%.

Denver was without Gordon, Barton, Murray, Morris, Dozier, Millsap last night and was up 21 around halftime. Their bench was Bol, Shaq, Howard, Cancar and McGee. Let's pump the breaks a bit about how the last two 4th quarters define a season for Denver when they're missing an entire roster.

Two weeks from now, the playoffs begin for Denver, they'll have half the guys back above that were missing last night. They're going to be OK and knowing that LAC/LAL are on the other side of the bracket, together, they're in a very good spot for another WCF appearance.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

That's the thing. Jokic was already the MVP frontrunner before Embiid went down but you weren't having it.

And actually LeBron couldn't even make the Playoffs out West without a Superstar next to him. I can't believe he couldn't get that 18/19 roster there.

Where are all these Superteams Durant created? Sheesh. You sure you're not talking about LeBron?

KD signed with Kyrie at the Nets. That is hardly creating a Superteam.

You're having a really bad take day.

Kyrie and Davis are fringe superstars. Neither has done anything on their own. Nothing!

Love wasnt a superstar when Lebron formed that “superteam”.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

That's the thing. Jokic was already the MVP frontrunner before Embiid went down but you weren't having it.

And actually LeBron couldn't even make the Playoffs out West without a Superstar next to him. I can't believe he couldn't get that 18/19 roster there.

Where are all these Superteams Durant created? Sheesh. You sure you're not talking about LeBron?

KD signed with Kyrie at the Nets. That is hardly creating a Superteam.

You're having a really bad take day.

Man, your memory is fuzzy.

Jokic might have been the odds on favorite when Embiid went down, but it was a real race. I wasn't out of line in my opinion that the MVP should come from the 1st seed 76ers as opposed to the 5th seed Denver at the time. Even at that time, I knew it was neck and neck and was able to respect differing opinions.

As for Durant, maybe he didn't architect it by himself, but him joining a 73 win Golden State is still the greatest Super Team we've seen in recent memory.

As for LeBron... yea, he tanked a year in order to make the AD trade happen. It worked and he won a title.

[gomiamigo]

Durant is still the best closer in the NBA, as shown again last night.

Also, it's incorrect to say Durant 'couldn't get there' without joining a superteam.

He dragged his OKC team to the Finals in his MVP season with wins over the Lakers and Kobe, Dirk and the Mavs, Spurs and Timmy/Manu/Parker going 12-3, before losing to the superteam Lebron formed in Miami.

KD joined the Nets with Kyrie, who had Allen, Dinwiddie, Prince, Lavert, Harris, Temple. Hardly a superteam by any stretch of the imagination. They had a losing record and got swept in R1 in Durant's absence.

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

That's the thing. Jokic was already the MVP frontrunner before Embiid went down but you weren't having it.

And actually LeBron couldn't even make the Playoffs out West without a Superstar next to him. I can't believe he couldn't get that 18/19 roster there.

Where are all these Superteams Durant created? Sheesh. You sure you're not talking about LeBron?

KD signed with Kyrie at the Nets. That is hardly creating a Superteam.

You're having a really bad take day.

I wasn’t having it either. Pre-injury Embiid was the favorite.

https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/nba/mvp-award-odds/

“[March 16] With Joel Embiid out for a few weeks due to a left knee bruise, LeBron is back to the favorite at the sportsbooks, now at average odds of +155

[March 9] Embiid is officially the favorite across the sportsbooks, climbing to average odds of +195 ahead of LeBron, who is now +255”

Even after he came back the narrative was that Embiid simply wouldn’t finish with enough games to win, not that he wasn’t the actual best player. There were still plenty of mainstream voices who had him as the guy once he came back and dominated, but Jokic never let off the gas and has maintained frontrunner status since. The race is over at this point... Jokic is MVP.

[rustywest]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

Durant is still the best closer in the NBA, as shown again last night.

Also, it's incorrect to say Durant 'couldn't get there' without joining a superteam.

He dragged his OKC team to the Finals in his MVP season with wins over the Lakers and Kobe, Dirk and the Mavs, Spurs and Timmy/Manu/Parker going 12-3, before losing to the superteam Lebron formed in Miami.

KD joined the Nets with Kyrie, who had Allen, Dinwiddie, Prince, Lavert, Harris, Temple. Hardly a superteam by any stretch of the imagination. They had a losing record and got swept in R1 in Durant's absence.

Fact check. Durant didn't win MVP the year the Thunder went to the Finals.

And opinion check. He never dragged them there either, that implies it was some type of 1st era Lebron, Cavs situation. He had Westbrook, Harden & Ibaka. And if you do some further research, you will find out James shat the bed in the Finals... too busy at the strip club I believe.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by NeedChapmans

Denver was without Gordon, Barton, Murray, Morris, Dozier, Millsap last night and was up 21 around halftime. Their bench was Bol, Shaq, Howard, Cancar and McGee. Let's pump the breaks a bit about how the last two 4th quarters define a season for Denver when they're missing an entire roster.

Two weeks from now, the playoffs begin for Denver, they'll have half the guys back above that were missing last night. They're going to be OK and knowing that LAC/LAL are on the other side of the bracket, together, they're in a very good spot for another WCF appearance.

100% sure that take has nothing to do with Denver’s recent losses. Mavs matches up well against the Nuggets, they won the regular series iirc and KP didn’t even suit up in one of the games.


I would also pick the Lakers over the Nuggets, that’s assuming they somehow land #8 and doesn’t completely collapse in the play in.


It’s not a slight on Denver who are having a great season, but in the playoffs, where rotation is tight and the team missing Jamal Murray’s 2020 playoff performance, it will be an uphill battle.

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

Durant is still the best closer in the NBA, as shown again last night.

Also, it's incorrect to say Durant 'couldn't get there' without joining a superteam.

He dragged his OKC team to the Finals in his MVP season with wins over the Lakers and Kobe, Dirk and the Mavs, Spurs and Timmy/Manu/Parker going 12-3, before losing to the superteam Lebron formed in Miami.

KD joined the Nets with Kyrie, who had Allen, Dinwiddie, Prince, Lavert, Harris, Temple. Hardly a superteam by any stretch of the imagination. They had a losing record and got swept in R1 in Durant's absence.

Valid point.. but I should have specified: Couldn't win a title.

Heck, LeBron pulled off one of the most unreal feats when he dragged a 31 year old Zydrunas Illgauskas, a 40% shooting Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, and Sasha Freaking Pavlavich to the NBA Finals. But I was trying to keep to the point how hard it is to win a title without at least 1 other star on your team.

[gomiamigo]

Originally Posted by mc1

Kyrie and Davis are fringe superstars.

Davis was First-team All-NBA in 17, 18, and 2020. 2019 he got injured and missed 1/3 of the season.

It's ridiculous to say a guy who has been voted a top 5 player 4x in his career is 'fringe' anything. Beyond ridiculous.

Kyrie has made one all-NBA team since he left CLE, and never been a top 5 player.

[gomiamigo]

Originally Posted by tjforce

Valid point.. but I should have specified: Couldn't win a title.
...But I was trying to keep to the point how hard it is to win a title without at least 1 other star on your team.

For sure, 100% agree, that's why Lebron has created 3 superteams in order to win titles. Wade was a top 5 player and Bosh a perennial all-star.

Love was coming off 2 Second-team All-NBAs when Lebron forced a trade for him to CLE, and Kyrie was a top 15 player when Lebron returned.

No superteam, no titles for Lebron [or Durant].

No Pippen [and Grant/Rodman], no titles for Jordan.

Dr. J needed Moses to beat LA.

Kareem needed Oscar or Magic.

Wilt needed the drafting of Billy Cunningham to him and Greer to beat the always-loaded Celtics.

[kd the sniper]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

Anything less than full strength and the Bucks take them out. They have no answer for Giannis. I also think Harden is the most important piece on the team.

He is the most important piece because levert and allen are no longer in bk.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by gomiamigo

Davis was First-team All-NBA in 17, 18, and 2020. 2019 he got injured and missed 1/3 of the season.

It's ridiculous to say a guy who has been voted a top 5 player 4x in his career is 'fringe' anything. Beyond ridiculous.

Kyrie has made one all-NBA team since he left CLE, and never been a top 5 player.

Wade never won anything on his won (ref-assisted and rigged Finals). Neither did Bosh. Tell me how many times they got out of the 1st round in the 3-4 years before Lebron carried them to the Finals? Zero

They even missed the playoffs a few years. Love never made the playoffs.

[Dame]

The takes

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Dame

The takes

Even a guy like Dame has won multiple playoff series with CJ McCollum as his robin.

[escapegoat]

i love hubie brown but his rambles are getting.. less further apart lol. timely ad lol

https://streamable.com/3ioocq

[Kingofkings1281]

Guess I’ll be watching the rest of this Hornets game on mute. Who in the hell hired their play by play guy? I’ve never in my life heard someone so damn obnoxious.

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by Kingofkings1281

Guess I’ll be watching the rest of this Hornets game on mute. Who in the hell hired their play by play guy? I’ve never in my life heard someone so damn obnoxious.

I love their play by play guy, haha. He is completely insane, but I find that hilarious. Give me this guy as opposed to someone like Mark Jackson any day of the week.

[Kingofkings1281]

Originally Posted by bigjbasketball

I love their play by play guy, haha. He is completely insane, but I find that hilarious. Give me this guy as opposed to someone like Mark Jackson any day of the week.

He must be exhausted after the games. He calls substitutions like it’s the final play of game 7 of the NBA Finals.

[bigjbasketball]

Originally Posted by Kingofkings1281

He must be exhausted after the games. He calls substitutions like it’s the final play of game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Yeah I have no clue how he maintains that energy for the entire game, but I definitely appreciate the effort, even if he sounds like a lunatic most of the time.

[tjforce]

Celtics now comfortably in the play in round.

I will say this, however... I wouldn't necessarily be thrilled by being the 1 or 2 seed and getting these guys in round 1. I think Philly, Milwaukee, and Brooklyn can all beat them, but I doubt it'll be that easy walk through that top 1-2 seeds usually get.

[oldgoldy97]

If the Wolves could just play Orlando 50 times a year.