2017-2018 NBA GDT: Off the court discussions

[Mossburg]

Just now, Texansfan713 said:

They have to deal with the Cavs and Celtics though.  Rockets and Warriors will be in a race for first and 2nd all season IMO.

Cavs and Celtics aren't the Warriors.

The next time the Warriors slump will be the first time. If they lose 2 games in a row it makes a headline.

[J-ALL-DAY]

2 minutes ago, Mossburg said:

Just to clarify, it wasn't meant to be a team comparison. More like the Rockets have to deal with the Warriors, while the Raptors who are usually a good regular season team are surging and don't have to deal with the Warriors.

Rockets are just so damn good. But it is closer than I originally thought.

 

1 minute ago, Mossburg said:

Cavs and Celtics aren't the Warriors.

The next time the Warriors slump will be the first time. If they lose 2 games in a row it makes a headline.

This is true. They are about to get Steph back in a week and will probably rip off another double digit win streak. I'll change my pick to the Raptors lol.

[Texansfan713]

12 minutes ago, Mossburg said:

Cavs and Celtics aren't the Warriors.

The next time the Warriors slump will be the first time. If they lose 2 games in a row it makes a headline.

I know they aren't.  Raptors have to face them both a good amount of times on the remaining schedule.  Celtics will win the division so by that logic Raptors cant be the 1 seed.

[Nzd07]

@champ11

I meant no ill-will brother just a little trash talking haha. I agree that we're underperforming, but I actually think that's a good thing. We have been playing ugly basketball... and this is probably the worst Wiggins has shot the ball his entire career (again, not saying he is a good player - but he can be better than this) ... and we are 19-13. 

We won't beat the Rockets or Warriors, but we're the 4th seed - and well positioned for the next few years. I think that's where everyone expected us to be. Anyways, you have to remember that this team hasn't been relevant since 2004. Just seeing this team possibly even be a 4 seed is just uncanny to minny fans.

[showtime]

I don't understand Lonzo Ball.  There are times during games where he plays aggressively.  The other night vs the Warriors, I thought he played really well in OT.  Last night vs the Rockets, he had a stretch where he scored 8 or more points in a short span.  But for the most part, he is just nonchalant and seems disengaged. 

[champ11]

34 minutes ago, Nzd07 said:

@champ11

I meant no ill-will brother just a little trash talking haha. I agree that we're underperforming, but I actually think that's a good thing. We have been playing ugly basketball... and this is probably the worst Wiggins has shot the ball his entire career (again, not saying he is a good player - but he can be better than this) ... and we are 19-13. 

We won't beat the Rockets or Warriors, but we're the 4th seed - and well positioned for the next few years. I think that's where everyone expected us to be. Anyways, you have to remember that this team hasn't been relevant since 2004. Just seeing this team possibly even be a 4 seed is just uncanny to minny fans.

I hear you man. I'd be rooting for the Wolves if I didn't I think our squads are gonna be rivals in the west for a while -we just need to get a guy like Butler to close games out for us smh

[808]

2 hours ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Meh, still not a good reason to play Harden 43 minutes. I don't get the fascination of playing your stars so much for regular season wins. Cleveland does it often with LeBron when taking a loss is perfectly fine if you have to play your star players less minutes. 

Maybe it is just the mindset of the new NBA though. Star player under 30 years old playing 43 minutes a game just 8 or 9 years ago wasn't a big deal at all.

And it's not like D'Antoni has a history of playing a 34-year old Kobe 38+ minutes a game before eventually rupturing his Achilles with just a few games to go.  

[Mossburg]

9 minutes ago, 808 said:

And it's not like D'Antoni has a history of playing a 34-year old Kobe 38+ minutes a game before eventually rupturing his Achilles with just a few games to go.  

Kobe played Kobe 38 mins, lets make no mistake about that. Nobody is going to tell Kobe to sit, especially during a crucial stretch that that happened in.

[808]

Just now, Mossburg said:

Kobe played Kobe 38 mins, lets make no mistake about that. Nobody is going to tell Kobe to sit, especially during a crucial stretch that that happened in.

Well then why the hell was D'Antoni getting paid? To offset the cost of his pain killer addiction?

 

I believe this was from that same season, but geared at Mike Brown before he got fired:

[sdrawkcab321]

1 hour ago, showtime said:

I don't understand Lonzo Ball.  There are times during games where he plays aggressively.  The other night vs the Warriors, I thought he played really well in OT.  Last night vs the Rockets, he had a stretch where he scored 8 or more points in a short span.  But for the most part, he is just nonchalant and seems disengaged. 

He’s a rookie who knows his limitations right now and doesn’t want to get embarrassed by his terrible shooting. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 hour ago, 808 said:

And it's not like D'Antoni has a history of playing a 34-year old Kobe 38+ minutes a game before eventually rupturing his Achilles with just a few games to go.  

No, that was Kobe's fault. He would refuse to go out and even played 48 minutes a game or two. 

Then D'antoni gets blamed as if it was his decision. 

[showtime]

26 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

No, that was Kobe's fault. He would refuse to go out and even played 48 minutes a game or two. 

Then D'antoni gets blamed as if it was his decision. 

D'Antoni is the head coach.  What are you talking about?

[J-ALL-DAY]

8 minutes ago, showtime said:

D'Antoni is the head coach.  What are you talking about?

And? Kobe wanted to play 45+ minutes a game and he did exactly that.

Quote

"His message to me was, 'Mitch, I hear what you’re saying, but we’ve got to get in the playoffs,'" Kupchak said. "'And I'm playing and there’s nothing you can do about it.'"

Quote

"I don’t think Mike is at blame here one bit," Kupchak said. "Certainly everybody can second-guess looking back on it now and say we could have done something different. But even if you take Kobe out of a game … there’s a lot of times when he’ll get up and put himself back in the game. So just because you say, 'You’re out of the game,' doesn’t mean he’s going to come out of the game or stay out of the game."

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/is-mike-dantoni-responsible-for-kobe-bryants-achilles-injury/

Lets not act like D'antoni could have done anything to prevent Kobe from playing the type of minutes he wanted to play. 

[808]

Just now, J-ALL-DAY said:

Lets not act like D'antoni could have done anything to prevent Kobe from playing the type of minutes he wanted to play. 

Disagree. D'Antoni should have had the stones to stand up to Kobe and run a team the right way, which he was getting paid for. 

I was responding to your post about Harden being played too much with an example of his current coach doing the same thing in the past. yet because that player is Kobe, my example is bogus. Got it.  

[showtime]

8 minutes ago, 808 said:

Disagree. D'Antoni should have had the stones to stand up to Kobe and run a team the right way, which he was getting paid for. 

I was responding to your post about Harden being played too much with an example of his current coach doing the same thing in the past. yet because that player is Kobe, my example is bogus. Got it.  

Agreed.  It's laughable that coaches fear certain players so much.  Kobe never stepped on Phil Jackson to this degree.  I don't care what Kupchak said, D'Antoni is going to take blame because he's the head coach.