2017-2018 NBA GDT: Off the court discussions

[sdrawkcab321]

9 hours ago, Pats#1 said:

Celtics need much better bench/supplemental scoring if they want to go far into the post season.

 

This win nice from a "gritty performance" point of view, but in other way it completely showed how flawed the team can be offensively when the stars aren't feeling it or are on the bench.

Shouldn’t need more bench scoring. Just give Tatum more shots and let him lead the 2nd unit. 

[dtait93]

8 hours ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Do you expect Hayward to return this season yes or no? The two situations aren't close to being the same. 

Not sure what you're not grasping here. If both teams are fully healthy (Gordon doesn't break his leg, Brown, Paul, Capela, and Luc aren't out with injuries of their own) it goes to a game 7 and I give the edge to the C's because Irving is the better closer and has a chip to show for it.

Also, it might be closer than you think. Paul is barely even able to stay on the court...he hasn't even played in half the games this year. Dude is getting old and injury prone.

[Texansfan713]

33 minutes ago, sdrawkcab321 said:

Rockets are pretenders because Paul can’t play more than 3 games in a row. 

That's nice logic.

[Darkness]

1 hour ago, Texansfan713 said:

Rockets a pretender because they are without Paul, Luc and Capela?  You are stupid.  Celtics arent a pretender either. 

The Rockets are pretenders because of James Harden. They stand no chance against the Warriors or Thunder in a 7 game series. 

[Texansfan713]

Just now, Darkness said:

The Rockets are pretenders because of James Harden. They stand no chance against the Warriors or Thunder in a 7 game series. 

Yeah you lose all credibility.

[iLikeDefense]

10 hours ago, Pats#1 said:

Celtics need much better bench/supplemental scoring if they want to go far into the post season.

 

This win nice from a "gritty performance" point of view, but in other way it completely showed how flawed the team can be offensively when the stars aren't feeling it or are on the bench.

Lou Williams could solve part of that issue imo.

[J-ALL-DAY]

47 minutes ago, dtait93 said:

Not sure what you're not grasping here. If both teams are fully healthy (Gordon doesn't break his leg, Brown, Paul, Capela, and Luc aren't out with injuries of their own) it goes to a game 7 and I give the edge to the C's because Irving is the better closer and has a chip to show for it.

Also, it might be closer than you think. Paul is barely even able to stay on the court...he hasn't even played in half the games this year. Dude is getting old and injury prone.

I'm talking this year only. Do you expect Hayward to return yes or no?

If not, the Celtics aren't better than the Rockets. Not that close either. With him, they are contenders. But......

[seminoles1]

1 hour ago, Texansfan713 said:

That's nice logic.

If they can't rely on their 2nd best player to be on the floor (which Houston can't) then considering them pretenders makes sense.

[Mossburg]

Usually I'd be on the pretender train along side Darkie (and kinda still am), I gotta say I'm feeling a bit more optimistic of seeing more competitive series this year.

While I don't think the Rockets can beat the Warriors, I'm kinda intrigued by what Paul can do during those stretches where Harden plays like absolute arse and his team is better off when he's on the bench. Gordon and Williams back court did a ton of work last year, but having Paul back there make it even more reliable, and having D'Antoni run a really well structured offense with Paul could help offset the Harden factor.

I think the Celtics might still be a pretender, but I'm not sure. I still don't know what to make of the Cavs and would like to see the final product when IT is back.

[dtait93]

24 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

I'm talking this year only. Do you expect Hayward to return yes or no?

If not, the Celtics aren't better than the Rockets. Not that close either. With him, they are contenders. But......

Once again, I'm not talking about players returning. I'm saying if it never happened. Big difference and a completely different arguement than what you think I'm making. Do you see the difference yes or no?

[Texansfan713]

5 minutes ago, seminoles1 said:

If they can't rely on their 2nd best player to be on the floor (which Houston can't) then considering them pretenders makes sense.

How about we actually wait and see if he is healthy in the time for the playoffs before we judge them as pretenders? Even without Paul the Rockets are still a pretty damn good team. You are forgetting how big of an impact Clint Capela makes.

[J-ALL-DAY]

4 minutes ago, dtait93 said:

Once again, I'm not talking about players returning. I'm saying if it never happened. Big difference and a completely different arguement than what you think I'm making. Do you see the difference yes or no?

Well, I was making the argument for THIS YEAR. Ala Celtics have little to no chance against the Rockets in a series. 

[Mossburg]

1 minute ago, Texansfan713 said:

How about we actually wait and see if he is healthy in the time for the playoffs before we judge them as pretenders? Even without Paul the Rockets are still a pretty damn good team. You are forgetting how big of an impact Clint Capela makes.

Doesn't really matter if you're a good or great team when there's another team that's significantly better. That's what a pretender means, a team that seems like they might have a good chance to win (usually based on regular season success or looking good against bad teams early in the playoffs so some people start talking like they could win) but are clearly inferior to someone else. You can be far away the second best team in the league and still be a pretender.

[J-ALL-DAY]

7 minutes ago, Mossburg said:

Usually I'd be on the pretender train along side Darkie (and kinda still am), I gotta say I'm feeling a bit more optimistic of seeing more competitive series this year.

While I don't think the Rockets can beat the Warriors, I'm kinda intrigued by what Paul can do during those stretches where Harden plays like absolute arse and his team is better off when he's on the bench. Gordon and Williams back court did a ton of work last year, but having Paul back there make it even more reliable, and having D'Antoni run a really well structured offense with Paul could help offset the Harden factor.

I think the Celtics might still be a pretender, but I'm not sure. I still don't know what to make of the Cavs and would like to see the final product when IT is back.

I like the Rockets a lot better this year in the playoffs compared to the years past. Heck, I picked them to beat the Spurs last season but Harden had to revert back to his old ways in the 4th quarter of game 5 and then the entire game 6. Having CP3 will no doubt help. That offense is just impossible to guard when CP3 is playing. I like the mix of shooters/defenders and they have two takeover guys which damn near every championship team needs. Unless you are the Spurs where you only need one takeover guy and just great team ball. 

I said it yesterday, but I'm not sure the Celtics even get to the conference finals. Having a great defense is good and dandy, but they go on too many lulls offensively. Who is their #2 option behind Kyrie? Is it Brown? Is it Tatum? Is it Horford? Brown and Tatum are really nice young players, but still a year away from becoming stars. I'm super high on Tatum for next season. A 19 year old should not be this efficient from the floor, but he simply doesn't get enough looks right now. There are like 10 minute stretches where he doesn't even get a shot off. Next year this team is going to be a major problem though. Tatum in year two, Brown in year three and the return of Hayward. Have a nice squad to compete with the Dubs. 

[dtait93]

3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Well, I was making the argument for THIS YEAR. Ala Celtics have little to no chance against the Rockets in a series. 

Fair enough and I agree. Would add a whole new complexity when you throw Hayward and Brown in there. Same could be said with Paul, Capela and Luc for Hou. Shame we'll never get to see it though would be a really fun series.