NBA Thread 2024-2025

[ubercow]

Interesting year this year, young teams cleveland and okc look strong, running everyone over. lakers suddenly near the top after dallas trades luka, a trade that had the whole league shook. also gsw picked up jimmy butler and start climbing the ranks as well. going to be interesting come playoffs time with lots of young strong teams without playoff experience, mixed in against these rejuvenated old teams.

[shrek2]

I only really follow religiously the GS Warriors and I am so glad they got Butler. They started with a 12-3 record but then couldn't finish games for the longest while. The Hawaii trip must have been the blessing at the start of the season but then, there was no inside offensive presence so the other team after the great season start would finish the game with shots inside the paint. In the one game that Butler couldn't play against the 76ers who had a losing record, Draymond Green missed three layups and had two crucial turnovers that I remember that resulted in Philly gaining the momentum in the final minutes. The Warriors have to have that inside presence before the rest of the team can get the 3. LAL has always been too tough for the Warriors and now with Luka, they are that much tougher. I thought trading AD was going to be their downfall because AD was just too tough to stop mid-range, put backs and threes but looks like AD is out for the season so it was a good trade for LA.

[Walkoff Balk]

I'll watch the NBA after March Madness and when the playoffs start. The NBA regular season is just shooting too many threes. I like more de-fence and some inside game.

[shrek2]

The reason why Curry is good is not just because of the unreal 3 pointers but because of his behavior off the court and what he says. Grandma Kitty in NY is a huge Curry fan so he invited her to go to a Warrior/Nets matchup tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wPp1Ul1oZe0
Then she got the jersey.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/57bBo4WEBbk
This is probably an AI voice because it's Stephen not Steven.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q-6qGTJrVFI
Then, what did Steph Curry do but hit a ridiculous 3 point shot with 1 second left.


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But that's not the most absurd 3 pointer on this past road trip as he hit a three at the half against the Orlando Magic last week.


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[ubercow]

The NBA regular season is just shooting too many threes. I like more de-fence and some inside game.

if you like defense and not too many threes, check out the houston rockets this year.

[shrek2]

They need to do a study on Steph Curry to see what makes him maintain a sense of calm even the most stressful moments. About two years ago, he needed an Eagle to tie the leader in the Celebrity Golf Tournament at Tahoe and he got it. I went back to look at his toughest threes. He is human though, he went 4 for 15 from 3 against Detroit.


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I don't know if he belongs in the top 10 best but he is an entertainer. He did the "Home Alone" meme around Christmas to the camera after he faked out Dillon "the Villain" Brooks.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6r0W6jSoPTU

[shrek2]

It's really hard to understand Dallas' point of view in trading away their franchise player, Luka. It seems like they would have been a contender every year had they kept Luka and with a healthy big man, they would always be up there. There was talk that Luka liked beer too much. Then there was the talk of this year being his big payoff year but when you have an owner like Mark Cuban, you would think money is no object.

[ubercow]

It's really hard to understand Dallas' point of view in trading away their franchise player, Luka. It seems like they would have been a contender every year had they kept Luka and with a healthy big man, they would always be up there. There was talk that Luka liked beer too much. Then there was the talk of this year being his big payoff year but when you have an owner like Mark Cuban, you would think money is no object.

Cuban sold his majority share a couple years ago and is not part of day-to-day operations. new ownership didn't like luka, and the lakers took advantage of that. a lot of times when new owners come in, they do horrible trades and signings within the first couple years because their ego wants to put their name on it. This latest development (trading their best guy without even notifying him, not getting much for their trade, tactlessly bashing this generational talent as they traded him, doubling-down with those inflamatory statements as poop started catching fire, and finally having literally half of the team get major injuries within a couple weeks) is likely to put them in a mid-bottom tier for years and years. Dallas isn't a destination players want to play at, also players aren't going to trust ownership that treats their players like crap. They unfortunately did it to themselves, I feel sorry for Dallas fans.

[shrek2]

This year the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the best records and seem to be the best teams but does it really bring in a lot of interest for NBA basketball? I don't know if I would care that much if they were in the finals. This may be the last year for the Celtics domination since a lot of their players contracts are up including Jayson Tatum so some of their players may be elsewhere next year.

[Walkoff Balk]

This year the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the best records and seem to be the best teams but does it really bring in a lot of interest for NBA basketball? I don't know if I would care that much if they were in the finals.

Wait till San Antonio becomes a contender again. I thought that the Tim Duncan's San Antonio championship teams played team basketball. They're just a small market team with a small fan base except for Kanoa Leahey. Ratings are important for the NBA and San Antonio winning championships doesn't bring in large numbers.

[shrek2]

Part of what makes watching the Warriors fun is the fact that while they're winning, they seem to be having fun. Here, Moses Moody calls Draymond Green's night night, nightmare.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/20Kzl_knyqo
The previous game postgame interview, Jimmy Butler makes Buddy Hield spell connector.


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[ubercow]

This year the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the best records and seem to be the best teams but does it really bring in a lot of interest for NBA basketball? I don't know if I would care that much if they were in the finals.

Wait till San Antonio becomes a contender again. I thought that the Tim Duncan's San Antonio championship teams played team basketball. They're just a small market team with a small fan base except for Kanoa Leahey. Ratings are important for the NBA and San Antonio winning championships doesn't bring in large numbers.

They're all small market and yeah, the part-time fan won't really care even if there is offensive star-power on each of those teams. The way casuals female dog about "defense nowadays" tho, they should really watch these Thunder and Cavs. Full of ridiculously long athletic plus defenders that play great individual and team defense with huge effort, and they don't have to resort to grabbing or hitting the other team's players like the top defensive teams from the other decades. Watching wemby play defense is like watching an adult play against kids, so much length that even if he bites on a fake, he gets back and just blocks everything. The paint then literally turns into a no-go zone and people just drive out of the paint even after they beat their man cuz they don't want any of that smoke. I'm sad he got blood clots and is out, the spurs would have been a menace in the playoffs.

The shot making ability of both SGA and Mitchell is crazy too. "torch passing" has to happen sooner than later, the torch-bearers from the last decade and a half are getting super-old.

[ubercow]

found a great recent deep-dive about wilt's 100 point game.


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