Author Topic: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread  (Read 275804 times)

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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1050 on: April 24, 2018, 03:12:41 AM »

Offline Androslav

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The "great" Westbrook and his concepts of basketball prove inadequate once more.
He could at least have some manners and class while doing so.
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1051 on: April 24, 2018, 04:22:52 AM »

Offline gouki88

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The "great" Westbrook and his concepts of basketball prove inadequate once more.
He could at least have some manners and class while doing so.
One of the largest recipients of inflated stats that I've ever seen. He really doesn't contribute to winning sometimes. Such a low IQ player
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1052 on: April 24, 2018, 12:14:31 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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This Jazz team is really easy to root for.

Well coached, share the ball, play good defense, their lead scorer is a rookie so there's a newness factor there ... lots of things about them that are easy to like.

Joe Ingles is one of my favorite players.

Reminds me of our team last year. If we had a Gobert instead of a Kelly we would've gone to the finals.

If IT had been healthy, perhaps.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1053 on: April 24, 2018, 12:16:23 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Paul George is signing elsewhere and Billy Donovan is gonna be the fall guy.

Still, Westbrook + Adams should get you 41+ games for the next 3-4 years at least, so they're not doomed as long as they're OK with not actually contending.

So playing .500 while missing the playoffs and not being able to add anyone good and probably not see a top-10 pick for several years is something to be happy with? They won’t even be able to trade Westbrook with that contract.

Adams is a stud though. Really like his game and personality.

That said, I can’t think of many (if any) teams with a worse forecast than OKC. Small market, no true prospects, drastically-overpaid aging star. They will never be contenders with RW as their best player. It’s debatable whether they could ever attract a star better than him, and now it’s severely unlikely they could ever afford him.


I guarantee you the Sacramento Kings would trade places with the Thunder right now.  Probably same would be true of the Suns and Grizzlies.

For some teams / fanbases the idea of having a clear cut franchise star locked up long term and the ability to compete for the playoffs for the next 3-5 years would be a huge improvement.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1054 on: April 24, 2018, 01:42:59 PM »

Offline celticsclay

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Westbrook is really getting exposed this series. It is bad when Mitt Romney starts taughting him.

If you swapped Rondo with Westbrook when the playoffs started what would things look like now?

Great observation - TP :). If Rondo played with George, PG would easily average 30-35 ppg in the playoffs, lol ;D.

Utah is fun to watch.  They actually play as a team and all of them know their roles.  I am enjoying watching them destroy OKC.

I thought about this during the regular season, but can you imagine if Hayward had elected to stay there? Holy crap :o. Utah still would have gotten Mitchell and Rubio, and wow, just wow. That team might have won it all, this year.

Ehhh let's not get carried away. They still had to go through the other brutal West, and then the likes of Houston and Golden State, who are the true NBA Finalists in the Western Conference Finals.

Eh, west being deep is a thing of the past. East have four 50-win teams. West only have 2 and East won the head-to-head matchup this season.

East won the head-to-head matchup? Also 50 is fairly arbitrary... they had 7 teams with 48 wins compared to 5 in east (also arbitrary). However, specifically to being deep there is no way anyone can argue the west was not deeper. Their 10th place team was 42-40 and 6 games over .500 against the east. The 10th place east team was the 36 win Charlotte team. Enough said for depth there...

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1055 on: April 24, 2018, 03:04:03 PM »

Offline GreenEnvy

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Paul George is signing elsewhere and Billy Donovan is gonna be the fall guy.

Still, Westbrook + Adams should get you 41+ games for the next 3-4 years at least, so they're not doomed as long as they're OK with not actually contending.

So playing .500 while missing the playoffs and not being able to add anyone good and probably not see a top-10 pick for several years is something to be happy with? They won’t even be able to trade Westbrook with that contract.

Adams is a stud though. Really like his game and personality.

That said, I can’t think of many (if any) teams with a worse forecast than OKC. Small market, no true prospects, drastically-overpaid aging star. They will never be contenders with RW as their best player. It’s debatable whether they could ever attract a star better than him, and now it’s severely unlikely they could ever afford him.


I guarantee you the Sacramento Kings would trade places with the Thunder right now.  Probably same would be true of the Suns and Grizzlies.

For some teams / fanbases the idea of having a clear cut franchise star locked up long term and the ability to compete for the playoffs for the next 3-5 years would be a huge improvement.

Memphis may have the same issues as OKC moving forward, but Kings have a couple good young players and what should be a good pick this season and no horrible contracts that I can think of.

And Phoenix? They have Booker and Jackson and are adding a guaranteed top-4 pick in this very top heavy draft. Bender and Chriss could turn into something too.


I guess I’m used to rooting for the Celtics. Where making the playoffs isn’t exactly an accomplishment.
CELTICS 2024

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1056 on: April 24, 2018, 03:10:07 PM »

Online tazzmaniac

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Paul George is signing elsewhere and Billy Donovan is gonna be the fall guy.

Still, Westbrook + Adams should get you 41+ games for the next 3-4 years at least, so they're not doomed as long as they're OK with not actually contending.

So playing .500 while missing the playoffs and not being able to add anyone good and probably not see a top-10 pick for several years is something to be happy with? They won’t even be able to trade Westbrook with that contract.

Adams is a stud though. Really like his game and personality.

That said, I can’t think of many (if any) teams with a worse forecast than OKC. Small market, no true prospects, drastically-overpaid aging star. They will never be contenders with RW as their best player. It’s debatable whether they could ever attract a star better than him, and now it’s severely unlikely they could ever afford him.


I guarantee you the Sacramento Kings would trade places with the Thunder right now.  Probably same would be true of the Suns and Grizzlies.

For some teams / fanbases the idea of having a clear cut franchise star locked up long term and the ability to compete for the playoffs for the next 3-5 years would be a huge improvement.

Memphis may have the same issues as OKC moving forward, but Kings have a couple good young players and what should be a good pick this season and no horrible contracts that I can think of.

And Phoenix? They have Booker and Jackson and are adding a guaranteed top-4 pick in this very top heavy draft. Bender and Chriss could turn into something too.


I guess I’m used to rooting for the Celtics. Where making the playoffs isn’t exactly an accomplishment.
Charlotte and Detroit are two to add to the rather be OKC list. 

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1057 on: April 24, 2018, 03:22:48 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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I guess I’m used to rooting for the Celtics. Where making the playoffs isn’t exactly an accomplishment.

Exactly, and as Boston sports fans we have several other teams to feel good about even when the Celts aren't competitive.

A fan in Sacramento has only the Kings to root for as a true local team, though they can feel some affinity for the SF / Oakland teams and the LA teams, perhaps.  But if you're a true dyed-in-the-wool Kings fan, at this point I have to imagine that having a legit star and a roster that can make the playoffs for the near future would be a huge improvement.  The Kings haven't been in the playoffs since I was in high school.


As for the Suns, they haven't made the playoffs since 2010.  That's 8 years.  There's no telling when they'll be ready to make the playoffs with their current group.  2020?  Probably optimistic that this young, young team will be ready in two years time, and by then it will have been a decade since their last playoffs appearance.

I am certain the Suns would love to have a playoff-caliber team with a proven superstar.
You’ll have to excuse my lengthiness—the reason I dread writing letters is because I am so apt to get to slinging wisdom & forget to let up. Thus much precious time is lost.
- Mark Twain

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1058 on: April 24, 2018, 04:21:04 PM »

Offline GreenEnvy

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I guess I’m used to rooting for the Celtics. Where making the playoffs isn’t exactly an accomplishment.

Exactly, and as Boston sports fans we have several other teams to feel good about even when the Celts aren't competitive.

A fan in Sacramento has only the Kings to root for as a true local team, though they can feel some affinity for the SF / Oakland teams and the LA teams, perhaps.  But if you're a true dyed-in-the-wool Kings fan, at this point I have to imagine that having a legit star and a roster that can make the playoffs for the near future would be a huge improvement.  The Kings haven't been in the playoffs since I was in high school.


As for the Suns, they haven't made the playoffs since 2010.  That's 8 years.  There's no telling when they'll be ready to make the playoffs with their current group.  2020?  Probably optimistic that this young, young team will be ready in two years time, and by then it will have been a decade since their last playoffs appearance.

I am certain the Suns would love to have a playoff-caliber team with a proven superstar.

But what’s a city’s other teams have to do with the success of the NBA franchise in question? I’m not a fan of any other team from Boston (in fact, I hate the Sox and Pats). Doesn’t change what most teams should be about, and that’s winning. Not just being competitive or having a marketable star.

The poorly run franchises lose sight of that and push for temporary, mild success. While I won’t hold Durant leaving against them (although who is to say he would have left if they still had Harden and Ibaka instead of Westbrook?), a convincing argument can be made that OKC has made the wrong decision on just about every roster choice they needed to make in the last 5+ years. Oladipo for a year of George (which amounted to one extra win in the regular season and maybe the same number of playoff wins)?

The Suns and Kings past decade doesn’t have anything to do with me projecting the next decade. There have been some truly terrible franchises but most of them realize this and are rebooting. Suns got rid of IT, Dragic, and Bledsoe. They knew they needed to get horrible to rebuild and they are doing that and should have 3-5 very, very good players on cheap contracts. Kings don’t have next years pick and may miss out on the top-3 this season, but they are still on the rebuild track.

It’s hard to say OKC is a definite playoff team as they were just two losses from missing the playoffs this season and it’s safe to say if they lose in the first round, PG13 is gone. Westbrook isn’t getting any better, if anything, he’s caring more and more about personal stats and probably costing them in the long run.

So you never want to be in that so-call NBA purgatory. Where you may be good enough to squeak into the playoffs, or just not bad enough to get an impact player in the draft. That looks like where OKC is gonna live for the next 6 seasons, all whilst paying RW $233M.

If I was a Kings or Suns fan, I could look forward to the future. But OKC? They’ve already been to the Finals (and beaten soundly), they shouldn’t be celebrating making the playoffs and getting bounced in 5 annually. I’d even go as far to say by the end of Westbrook’s contract, both the Suns and Kings will be better than Oklahoma City.
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1059 on: April 24, 2018, 05:44:56 PM »

Offline Beat LA

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The "great" Westbrook and his concepts of basketball prove inadequate once more.
He could at least have some manners and class while doing so.

Can he at least start wearing actual clothes, lol?

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1060 on: April 24, 2018, 06:13:34 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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But what’s a city’s other teams have to do with the success of the NBA franchise in question? I’m not a fan of any other team from Boston (in fact, I hate the Sox and Pats). Doesn’t change what most teams should be about, and that’s winning. Not just being competitive or having a marketable star.



It affects how content your fans are to sit through a rebuilding period.  If they have other teams to watch and feel good about, they're less likely to be bothered by the team deciding to be irrelevant for a while.

All I'm saying is that I think Boston fans have a tendency to project their own priorities and values for the success of their local teams onto every other team and fanbase.  But the culture around sports fandom is a lot different outside of the northeast.

Armchair GMs -- and I include myself in this -- tend to enjoy talking about the strategy that each team should follow to build a team that can contend for a title.  This type of analysis tends to overlook the day to day and year to year operation of a team and how it keeps its fanbase happy and engaged.  Many teams cannot afford to have the all-or-nothing mentality that building for a championship entails. 

Instead, I think most franchises aim to put a good and reasonably sustainable product on the floor that can attract the interest of fans (especially people who buy tickets), with the hope that one or more draft picks or free agent signings will work out really well and put them in a position to potentially compete for a title at some point.

See Utah as an example.  I don't think Utah is ever really "building for a championship."  They're trying to build a team that is likable, competitive, under the luxury tax, and ideally sustainable.  If aiming for those things yields a roster that might be able to compete for a title in a best case scenario, then all the better.

That type of organizational ethos makes a lot more sense in smaller markets where the NBA team is the only gig in town.  And if I were a Sacramento Kings or Phoenix Suns fan, I think I would be very happy to have a team that is in a position to be reasonably competitive for the near future.  That'd be a huge improvement over 5-10 years of dysfunction.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2018, 06:19:47 PM by PhoSita »
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- Mark Twain

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1061 on: April 24, 2018, 07:45:21 PM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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Bet that game thread is very active and entertaining right now.  :-[
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1062 on: April 24, 2018, 07:53:11 PM »

Offline gouki88

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Bet that game thread is very active and entertaining right now.  :-[
We're just crying about not having Middleton
'23 Historical Draft: Orlando Magic.

PG: Terry Porter (90-91) / Steve Francis (00-01)
SG: Joe Dumars (92-93) / Jeff Hornacek (91-92) / Jerry Stackhouse (00-01)
SF: Brandon Roy (08-09) / Walter Davis (78-79)
PF: Terry Cummings (84-85) / Paul Millsap (15-16)
C: Chris Webber (00-01) / Ralph Sampson (83-84) / Andrew Bogut (09-10)

Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1063 on: April 24, 2018, 08:25:05 PM »

Offline GratefulCs

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Bet that game thread is very active and entertaining right now.  :-[
why not join in?
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Re: NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread
« Reply #1064 on: April 24, 2018, 08:38:06 PM »

Offline Spilling Green Dye

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Can somebody please explain to me:  1) Why does NBA TV still exist?  and 2) Why the heck are the NBA playoffs on NBA TV at all??

I buy NBA League Pass, which is owned by the NBA, but somehow that doesn't come with NBA TV.  I have access to every major national network too (ESPN, TNT, etc.).  I get that league pass is regular season only, but tonight's game isn't nationally televised...   NBC says local only.  Why are they hurting themselves by limiting this game to NBA TV only?  I have to imagine very few people have access to it.