NBA 2021: 3rd Time's the Charm

[Revering4Blue]

Looks up Kemba Walker's +/-, sees positive numbers

To your point:

The Celtics' best seven players at this point in the year -- Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Evan Fournier, and Tristian Thompson -- played exactly zero games together this season. None. Nil. Zilch.

https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/max...n-01f5ec2hzerf

As for Charlotte apparently ascending post-Walker, the Hornets' roster when Walker last suited up for them - and for several years prior - was one of the weakest rosters in the league. However, that is no longer the case now that the franchise has shifted its draft strategy to BPA instead of (mostly) reaching for need. And they've actually done a pretty decent job lately of (gasp) developing players.

Again, apparently MJ only heeds player personnel advice from fellow Tar Heels, like Mitch Kupchak.

[Revering4Blue]

Without doing all the math I can't say with 100% certainty but I am pretty sure I was wrong:

https://www.redszone.com/forums/show...=1#post4198446

[Kingspoint]

LOL "forgetting" Jokic. (And Steph.)

Bubblegum Card stats do not impress me. I know they mesmerize most people, but I learned that to evaluate a person's impact towards a team goal is made up more from what's not on a bubblegum card than what is on one. I learned this when I was 12, when critical thinking takes form, the age when one starts making one major decision or non-decision that effects the direction of one's Life, when an adult (nor anyone else) is no longer the person that is responsible for the changes that occur in one's Life.

Yeah, I advanced from the childhood mesmerization of bubblegum cards stats, though I suppose I always saw assets in people that were under the surface than the ones generally measured by society.

Curry hasn't been good enough to be an All-Star. His team is .500. MVP candidates' teams don't play .500. They aren't MVP candidates if their team doesn't win more games than they lose. You're flipping a coin every night if they win or lose. Not very valuable. Easily replaced.


Joel Embiid is in a class all by himself this season. Every other NBA player has major flaws in his season. Embiid has none. There are zero reasons why he isn't the MVP, while everyone else has at least one major reason.


It doesn't matter who ranks 2nd. Steph doesn't belong in the top-15. He's simply not impacting his teammates to a degree that makes their franchise a Top-15 team. That makes him not worthy of even mentioning his name.

[Kingspoint]

To your point:



https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/max...n-01f5ec2hzerf

As for Charlotte apparently ascending post-Walker, the Hornets' roster when Walker last suited up for them - and for several years prior - was one of the weakest rosters in the league. However, that is no longer the case now that the franchise has shifted its draft strategy to BPA instead of (mostly) reaching for need. And they've actually done a pretty decent job lately of (gasp) developing players.

Again, apparently MJ only heeds player personnel advice from fellow Tar Heels, like Mitch Kupchak.

Name me a handful of teams who's best seven players have played five games together. There aren't any.

Kemba simply is not a winner. He's not team focused. He'll be whining about wanting out within a year. They can't even beat Cleveland tonight. Way to step forward and lead your team after being embarrassed by the Heat in consecutive games, Kemba. You have no leader attributes. You should be no more than a pawn and your usage dramatically reduced.

[Kingspoint]

WOW!

Best pass in the NBA all year by Nurkic to close out the half.

Every other player in the NBA would have been discouraged after letting Gobert get a tip-in basket after UTA missed another shot effected by Nurkic at the rim. With only one second left every other player in the NBA would have just tossed it to someone. Not Nurkic. Not Beast Mode, which is what he's in right now. He hangs his head for a split second discouraged after grabbing the ball that went through the basket, but quickly recovers and heaves a pass 90% the length of the floor over an outstretched Utah Defender by mere inches, and a perfect pass it was as C.J. jumped to catch it, time for one dribble and pop a 12-footer to close out the half and give POR the lead after starting 2-11 while UTA went 7-7 from the floor.

Curry MVP? What a joke. Not even an all-star. Gobert should get as many MVP votes as Doncic, Jokic or Curry (who should get none).

[Kingspoint]

Ingles would do so much better if just stopped whining so much and flopping, though Gobert flops more than he does.

[Kingspoint]

POR gave up 28 points in the paint in the 1st half. They lead the NBA in fewest points in the paint given up per game.

With 4 minutes to go, they've given up 6 in the 2nd half. That's the difference in the game. With UTA unable to score in the paint, they were forced to take too many 3's.

[adkindo]

It appears that Dallas and Portland will hold on to the #5 and #6 seeds in the West. All they have to do is win 1 of their final 2 games (if the Lakers win tonight).

[Revering4Blue]

Name me a handful of teams who's best seven players have played five games together. There aren't any.

Kemba simply is not a winner. He's not team focused. He'll be whining about wanting out within a year. They can't even beat Cleveland tonight. Way to step forward and lead your team after being embarrassed by the Heat in consecutive games, Kemba. You have no leader attributes. You should be no more than a pawn and your usage dramatically reduced.

Neither Walker, Smart nor Timelord played tonight.

But, in any case, you can't take a team like Cleveland lightly. And they've been as been banged up all year as Indiana, and they damn near beat Indy the other night. Kevin Love, who missed the game against Indy the other night, was in beast mode tonight.

[Kingspoint]

Neither Walker, Smart nor Timelord played tonight.

But, in any case, you can't take a team like Cleveland lightly. And they've been as been banged up all year as Indiana, and they damn near beat Indy the other night. Kevin Love, who missed the game against Indy the other night, was in beast mode tonight.

Kevin Love was a -48 against POR last week.

[Kingspoint]

WOW!

Best pass in the NBA all year by Nurkic to close out the half.

Every other player in the NBA would have been discouraged after letting Gobert get a tip-in basket after UTA missed another shot effected by Nurkic at the rim. With only one second left every other player in the NBA would have just tossed it to someone. Not Nurkic. Not Beast Mode, which is what he's in right now. He hangs his head for a split second discouraged after grabbing the ball that went through the basket, but quickly recovers and heaves a pass 90% the length of the floor over an outstretched Utah Defender by mere inches, and a perfect pass it was as C.J. jumped to catch it, time for one dribble and pop a 12-footer to close out the half and give POR the lead after starting 2-11 while UTA went 7-7 from the floor.

Curry MVP? What a joke. Not even an all-star. Gobert should get as many MVP votes as Doncic, Jokic or Curry (who should get none).

CJ called it a Baker Mayfield to OBJ or Landry connection.

[Kingspoint]

Neither Walker, Smart nor Timelord played tonight.

But, in any case, you can't take a team like Cleveland lightly. And they've been as been banged up all year as Indiana, and they damn near beat Indy the other night. Kevin Love, who missed the game against Indy the other night, was in beast mode tonight.

BOS has the type of system like MIA's, but not quite as good, where you can plug in 2nd and 3rd stringers and keep the intensity up on Defense. Maybe Tatum, with all of his talent, reads too much of his own headlines. Their Defense was terrible tonight....again. Pritchard would improve things if he started instead of Walker, and for that to happen, Walker needs to be traded. But, doing anything so rash would be irresponsible. There wasn't even a training camp. Maybe Tatum has too much star power and Brad Stevens doesn't have control of him. You have to live there for the last three years to really know what's going on. I have no idea.

[Revering4Blue]

Kevin Love was a -48 against POR last week.

And he was a +14 tonight with 30 points and 14 rebounds. In fact, the only Cavs player with a negative +/- tonight was Varejao (Signed to a 10 day contract as a means to retire as a Cavalier) with a -2.

[Betterread]

BOS has the type of system like MIA's, but not quite as good, where you can plug in 2nd and 3rd stringers and keep the intensity up on Defense. Maybe Tatum, with all of his talent, reads too much of his own headlines. Their Defense was terrible tonight....again. Pritchard would improve things if he started instead of Walker, and for that to happen, Walker needs to be traded. But, doing anything so rash would be irresponsible. There wasn't even a training camp. Maybe Tatum has too much star power and Brad Stevens doesn't have control of him. You have to live there for the last three years to really know what's going on. I have no idea.

Boston and Miami couldn’t be more different teams. For starters, their top two players, Adebayo and Butler make their living in the paint and are two way players. I can’t think of any Boston comps for them.

In fact Boston and Portland seem pretty similiar to me. Both teams play one on one iso ball A LOT. Neither one seems to be guided by any coaching on offense. And defense? Both teams don’t make the effort.
The difference seems that Boston knows it isn’t going far in the playoffs this year and (at least for the last 20-30 games) doesn’t seem motivated by struggling to win a first round. Boston wants to compete for a championship.
While Portland treats the first round of the playoffs as the ultimate achievement. If we win the first round, we can say we are as good as anyone. They are the model for all the mediocre or worse teams in the NBA. Teams that will never win a championship, but can craft a “winning” tradition.

[Kingspoint]

Matthews does it for the 2nd night in a row...makes a game-winning last-second defensive stop.