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NBA 2023 - 2024

Charles Barkley saying that this is one of the best defenses he has ever seen is quite the statement, particularly when the team does not have Gobert tonight.

It’s a pure beat down. @Joshnoble01, don’t you still think that Boston is the favorite? The more this goes on, I think a Boston/Minnesota series would be a blast to watch. Minnesota has the big perimeter players to match up with Boston.
 
Tenputt said:
Charles Barkley saying that this is one of the best defenses he has ever seen is quite the statement, particularly when the team does not have Gobert tonight.

It’s a pure beat down. @Joshnoble01, don’t you still think that Boston is the favorite? The more this goes on, I think a Boston/Minnesota series would be a blast to watch. Minnesota has the big perimeter players to match up with Boston.
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They will be the favorite. They were +110 when I placed the bet before the round. I got Denver at +250 and wolves at +900. I just think Denver is better than Boston and took a flyer on Minnesota but I think they also will take Boston out.

For some reason I don’t like Boston’s team despite them having the best regular season. I’m probably overthinking it.

I also don’t think Zinger will be healthy at all in the rest of the playoffs and don’t trust them without him.
 
Joshnoble01 said:
They will be the favorite. They were +110 when I placed the bet before the round. I got Denver at +250 and wolves at +900. I just think Denver is better than Boston and took a flyer on Minnesota but I think they also will take Boston out.

For some reason I don’t like Boston’s team despite them having the best regular season. I’m probably overthinking it.

I also don’t think Zinger will be healthy at all in the rest of the playoffs and don’t trust them without him.
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Boston would have a tough time matching up with either Jokic or Minnesota’s monster front line without Porzingis.
 
The Denver/Minnesota series may become a gentleman’s sweep. Minnesota looks bigger, faster, more aggressive and way more confident.
 
Tenputt said:
The Denver/Minnesota series may become a gentleman’s sweep. Minnesota looks bigger, faster, more aggressive and way more confident.
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Yeah, it’s crazy. Thought this would be a tough series for Denver but didn’t think wolves would come in and take 2 on the road in dominating fashion like it was a 1-8 seed.
 
I want to think similar, that Denver would beat Boston but Minnesota wouldn't.

But i don't know.....Minnesota is on some kind of run right now.

We talked about it several pages ago but if they are getting this level of Edwards plus just enough scoring from Towns.....They are incredibly tough to beat because they are built for playoff basketball. Our worry was them getting a basket in the 4th quarter in tight games....But at this point, Edwards is probably near the top of the list of guys you'd want with the ball
 
MtlJeff said:
I want to think similar, that Denver would beat Boston but Minnesota wouldn't.

But i don't know.....Minnesota is on some kind of run right now.

We talked about it several pages ago but if they are getting this level of Edwards plus just enough scoring from Towns.....They are incredibly tough to beat because they are built for playoff basketball. Our worry was them getting a basket in the 4th quarter in tight games....But at this point, Edwards is probably near the top of the list of guys you'd want with the ball
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Agreed, if those two guys continue to put up 50 to 60 points a night efficiently, there is enough filler with Conley, Reid and whomever to get them enough points with the ferocious defense that they are playing. I have been saying for two years now that it is impossible to game plan for Jokic, but the T Wolves are making him look like just another good player, rather than the best player on the planet. Let’s not even talk about Murray. He must be injured as is reported. He has played great against the T Wolves in the past.
 
Joshnoble01 said:
Yeah, it’s crazy. Thought this would be a tough series for Denver but didn’t think wolves would come in and take 2 on the road in dominating fashion like it was a 1-8 seed.
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I didn't see them holding Murray to 8 and Jokic to 16 and 8-31 shooting. That doesn't even factor in the turnovers.
 
Bernoulli said:
I didn't see them holding Murray to 8 and Jokic to 16 and 8-31 shooting. That doesn't even factor in the turnovers.
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There were a couple times that the T Wolves made Murray look like a high school guard who can’t cope with a 3/4 trap.
 
The second round series may not be as good as I had hoped.
 
MtlJeff said:
The other thing is , and i love Edwards.....but he's also the new shiny guy. Minnesota is a solid team with incredible defenders and a solid secondary scorer in Towns

Doncic led the Mavs to 50 wins with Tim Hardaway Jr and Seth Curry and guys like that.

I still think it would take a lot for me to say someone is better than him from the young group
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Not sure I would characterize Luka as winning 50 games with only these guys… Kyrie Irving is still one of the league’s best scorers still…. And Dallas played last -30 games after trading Curry to the Hornets for PJ Washington.
I’d also say that Ant-man is 22 Luka is 25, let’s see where Ant man is in 3 years and measure that experience vs Luca at the same age? I think Ant has way way more upside…
 
Stemmy66 said:
Not sure I would characterize Luka as winning 50 games with only these guys… Kyrie Irving is still one of the league’s best scorers still…. And Dallas played last -30 games after trading Curry to the Hornets for PJ Washington.
I’d also say that Ant-man is 22 Luka is 25, let’s see where Ant man is in 3 years and measure that experience vs Luca at the same age? I think Ant has way way more upside…
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I was referring to the 21-22 team that made the West finals. Or 20-21 also. Those teams were a combined 94-60 with a conf finals appearance, and really were a fairly average roster outside of Luka

I don't have anything against Edwards, I hope he's really good. He seems like a really fun player to root for and he cares a lot, if he's the best player in the league that'd be fine with me.

I don't know I could characterize someone as having way way more upside than a guy who averages 30pt triple doubles at 23-25 yrs old, but Edwards is better on the other side of the ball which helps
 
MtlJeff said:
I was referring to the 21-22 team that made the West finals. Or 20-21 also. Those teams were a combined 94-60 with a conf finals appearance, and really were a fairly average roster outside of Luka

I don't have anything against Edwards, I hope he's really good. He seems like a really fun player to root for and he cares a lot, if he's the best player in the league that'd be fine with me.

I don't know I could characterize someone as having way way more upside than a guy who averages 30pt triple doubles at 23-25 yrs old, but Edwards is better on the other side of the ball which helps
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Luka is a great player don’t get me wrong and the league is all about the offensive side of the game, but Ant has already taken that step… IMO to being great on both sides of the ball. He’ll never be the passer Luka is but will develop into a more efficient scorer and is already a better defender and is not a ball dominant guard.
 
Stemmy66 said:
Luka is a great player don’t get me wrong and the league is all about the offensive side of the game, but Ant has already taken that step… IMO to being great on both sides of the ball. He’ll never be the passer Luka is but will develop into a more efficient scorer and is already a better defender and is not a ball dominant guard.
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These are fair points. Any team Luka is on , will have to be completely orbited around Luka.....whereas Ant could play on any team without really changing who they are (other than making them significantly better of course)

Me and @Tenputt have talked about this regarding Luka before, that really no one like him has won a title playing this way (though it's arguable the only real comp is Harden and he had other issues)

So we'll see. I'm a huge fan of Edwards as mentioned, and every game it seems the high praise he's getting now is more justified. If the Wolves win the title a lot of discussion points will change

That being said, i watched SGA do his thing yesterday too. There are a LOT of good young players in the league.
 
Stemmy66 said:
I think this will be a good series of games are like game 1. Pacers blew a chance to steal that first game… TOs killed them down the stretch
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Brunson continues to stupefy me. How does somebody his size become pretty much unstoppable. I get the amazing footwork and the grittiness, but at some point, you would think you could force the ball out of his hands.
 
MtlJeff said:
These are fair points. Any team Luka is on , will have to be completely orbited around Luka.....whereas Ant could play on any team without really changing who they are (other than making them significantly better of course)

Me and @Tenputt have talked about this regarding Luka before, that really no one like him has won a title playing this way (though it's arguable the only real comp is Harden and he had other issues)

So we'll see. I'm a huge fan of Edwards as mentioned, and every game it seems the high praise he's getting now is more justified. If the Wolves win the title a lot of discussion points will change

That being said, i watched SGA do his thing yesterday too. There are a LOT of good young players in the league.
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I love that there are so many amazing young players in the League. Talent will not be an issue in the level to which the League thrives.
 
Tenputt said:
Brunson continues to stupefy me. How does somebody his size become pretty much unstoppable. I get the amazing footwork and the grittiness, but at some point, you would think you could force the ball out of his hands.
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It was easy for Mark Cuban to stop Brunson…. Trade him 😂

Agreed… guy is herky jerky non athletic but gets to his spots and gets buckets… of course I feel like officiating favors or allows him to create many opportunities off PnR… once he has defenders behind him climbing over mostly illegal screens he likes to jump backwards into the defenders…. I’ve tried to recreate that move on my driveway hoop and can’t for the life of me figure out how that is a ‘natural’ shooting motion 🙄😂. Officials need to either call moving screens or not call players like Brunson, Kyrie, etc for initiating contact. Just my opinion though
 
Bernoulli said:
I didn't see them holding Murray to 8 and Jokic to 16 and 8-31 shooting. That doesn't even factor in the turnovers.
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This is how Denver is seeing the Timberwolves defense.
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Suns fire Vogel.

The greatest job in the NBA has to be GM. You can put together crappy rosters (Lakers circa 2021) or rosters better suited to be a fantasy team (Suns) then when the team doesn't win it all you just fire the coach.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Suns fire Vogel.

The greatest job in the NBA has to be GM. You can put together crappy rosters (Lakers circa 2021) or rosters better suited to be a fantasy team (Suns) then when the team doesn't win it all you just fire the coach.
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I was just talking about this with a co-worker. The Suns fired Monte Williams at the end of last year because he was not the right guy. They hire Vogel, because he is a defensive minded coach and then fire him after one year. How about the freaking construction of the roster? The coach is always the easiest to blame.

The good news for Vogel is that he signed a 5 year $31 Million contract. I wouldn’t mind making $6 Million a year for the next four years to do nothing.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Suns fire Vogel.

The greatest job in the NBA has to be GM. You can put together crappy rosters (Lakers circa 2021) or rosters better suited to be a fantasy team (Suns) then when the team doesn't win it all you just fire the coach.
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Tenputt said:
I was just talking about this with a co-worker. The Suns fired Monte Williams at the end of last year because he was not the right guy. They hire Vogel, because he is a defensive minded coach and then fire him after one year. How about the freaking construction of the roster? The coach is always the easiest to blame.

The good news for Vogel is that he signed a 5 year $31 Million contract. I wouldn’t mind making $6 Million a year for the next four years to do nothing.
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From ESPN:

“The Suns enter the offseason with $209 million in salary, the biggest payroll of any NBA team, and face a projected luxury tax penalty of $116 million.

The Suns also will be above the so-called second apron of the luxury tax for at least the next three years if they keep their core together. That position would lead to punitive consequences, limiting their ability to add to their roster.”

Yes. I would say there are construction problems. New coach isn’t going to solve those.
 
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