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Biggest Surprises and Disappointments of the NBA season

bksballer89

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Tonight we officially hit the halfway mark in terms of total games played.

What are your biggest surprises and disappointments? Could be team or player
 

bksballer89

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For me, it would look like this in no specific order.

1) OKC Thunder Struggles

2) Victor Oladipo All Star Season

3) Donovan Mitchell being an absolute stud

4) Boston Celtics

5) Brooklyn Nets
 

The Derski

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I’m not surprised about Markkanen but a lot of people that didn’t watch him in college probably are. Most Bulls fans hated that draft pick...
 

Ickey Shuffle

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Surprises:

Jeremy Lamb > Nicolas Batum

Brook Lopez is trash af now

The Nets are competitive

Disappointments:

The T'Wolves can be better

Carmelo still doesn't want to take on a bench role

Kawhi can't stay healthy now
 

bksballer89

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Would like to add Washington inconsistent play to my list as well.

Thought they would have a record close to Toronto or Cleveland at this point. Instead they're a half game up on 6th/7th spot
 

trojanfan12

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Surprised and disappointed Brook Lopez hasn't played better...same with KCP (at least on offense).

The Knicks, so far, have a better record than I thought they would, same with the Nets.

Not really surprised by the Thunder, although I thought they'd have a few more wins just off pure talent.

Pacers seem a little better than I thought too.
 

Win TWINS!!!

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Surprises:

Jeremy Lamb > Nicolas Batum

Brook Lopez is trash af now

The Nets are competitive

Disappointments:

The T'Wolves can be better

Carmelo still doesn't want to take on a bench role

Kawhi can't stay healthy now
How dafuq are you disappointed in the Wolves? 3 new starters. 1/2 the roster is new to the team. They're currently in 4th. They've been a top 5 - 10 defensive team over the last 10-15 games. Sure they coughed up a couple games they shouldn't have, especially early on, but how much more did you expect?

@mr.hockey4242 thoughts?
 

bksballer89

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How dafuq are you disappointed in the Wolves? 3 new starters. 1/2 the roster is new to the team. They're currently in 4th. They've been a top 5 - 10 defensive team over the last 10-15 games. Sure they coughed up a couple games they shouldn't have, especially early on, but how much more did you expect?

@mr.hockey4242 thoughts?

Yeah I'm not sure how much better they can be record wise at least
 

Ickey Shuffle

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How dafuq are you disappointed in the Wolves? 3 new starters. 1/2 the roster is new to the team. They're currently in 4th. They've been a top 5 - 10 defensive team over the last 10-15 games. Sure they coughed up a couple games they shouldn't have, especially early on, but how much more did you expect?

@mr.hockey4242 thoughts?

That was what I meant lol. They're good, but they could've been better.

Their defense is starting to pick up now.
 

wildturkey

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Surprises:

Jeremy Lamb > Nicolas Batum

Brook Lopez is trash af now

The Nets are competitive

Disappointments:

The T'Wolves can be better

Carmelo still doesn't want to take on a bench role

Kawhi can't stay healthy now

:scratch:

Bruh? You ever seen Lopez play? Dude has always been butt. He's empty stats. All he's ever been able to do is put up some points but he can't rebound or defend and he's always good for at least 2 plays a game where you say "Does he even know how to play basketball? Does he know where he's at right now?".
 

wildturkey

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Surprise for me is Boston being this good after Hayward's injury. I felt like they'd be like the 5th best team in East after it happened but they didn't miss a beat. They're legit contenders.

Disappointment for me is Malik Monk. He's been totally non existent as a rookie, barely playing any games. And when he does play, he can't shoot worth shit. That shocks the hell out of me considering he had very good numbers in college. He had elite level scoring in college. All of those stats he had tracked similar to star NBA players that had similar numbers in college. The fact that he can't even get on the court right now is nuts
 

tlance

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Surprise for me is Boston being this good after Hayward's injury. I felt like they'd be like the 5th best team in East after it happened but they didn't miss a beat. They're legit contenders.

Disappointment for me is Malik Monk. He's been totally non existent as a rookie, barely playing any games. And when he does play, he can't shoot worth shit. That shocks the hell out of me considering he had very good numbers in college. He had elite level scoring in college. All of those stats he had tracked similar to star NBA players that had similar numbers in college. The fact that he can't even get on the court right now is nuts

I agree with you about Monk being a disappointment.

That said, I think he will turn it around at some point (probably not this year). His rookie struggles are a bit extreme, but an extra year of getting used to the pace of play and using a different ball (this does matter for some, the NBA ball has a different feel than what they use in high school and college).

Monk may take awhile to adjust, but eventually I think he will and he will become at least a solid NBA scorer.
 

bksballer89

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Also Waiters & Gallo for stealing money from the Clippers & Heat
 

CitySushi

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For me, it would look like this in no specific order.

1) OKC Thunder Struggles

2) Victor Oladipo All Star Season

3) Donovan Mitchell being an absolute stud

4) Boston Celtics

5) Brooklyn Nets

This was a large majority of my list.

I would add a couple:

1) Hornets being as bad as they are (think it has to do a lot with Clifford being gone too).
2) Marc Gasol throwing his coach under the bus and getting him fired.
3) Ben Simmons being this good, this fast.
4) Aaron Gordon looks like he's turning into a really good player. His jumpshot looks great now.

Non surprises:
1) Blake Griffin getting injured
2) Danillo Gallinari getting injured
 

Gman

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Surprises:
  • Boston looking so great after losing Hayward game 1
  • The rookie class as a whole... not just that they're good, but that so many are producing so much so early
  • Kuzma
  • Mitchell
  • Oladipo
  • Beasley
Disappointments:
  • Oklahoma City just kinda treading water
  • Lakers... folks didn't expect them to be great, but I think most expected better than this
  • Porzingis? (his stat's aren't terrible... some categories have even improved... but he doesn't seem like the "superstar" some projected)
 

bksballer89

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Lakers... folks didn't expect them to be great, but I think most expected better than this

Most Lakers fans expected low to mid 30's......not 25-28 wins
 

LogicMan

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Generally I am with Gman

Surprises:
Houston being this good
Oladipo
Rookies in general (although some cant shoot beyond 15ft)
Lou Williams
Jason Tatums Defense, Kyries efforts on D
Lebrons year (he is the MVP)
Heat

Disappointments
Fultz
Thunder
Crowder
Lakers defense
 

bksballer89

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Generally I am with Gman

Surprises:
Houston being this good
Oladipo
Rookies in general (although some cant shoot beyond 15ft)
Lou Williams
Jason Tatums Defense, Kyries efforts on D
Lebrons year (he is the MVP)
Heat

Disappointments
Fultz
Thunder
Crowder
Lakers defense

I expected this out of the Heat though.....
 

LogicMan

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I expected this out of the Heat though....

yeah BKS because your a homey. I think they give Boston challenges. I went to that Kelly O game in beantown. Effin Kelly looked like Dirk for that game
 

bksballer89

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How great the heat been in the clutch without a star/superstar on their roster has been really surprising....

Miami has been one of the top teams in clutch situations — defined by the NBA as a game that has a margin of five points or fewer inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Heat own the league’s third-best record in clutch games at 18-7, behind only the Boston Celtics (20-7) and San Antonio Spurs (13-5). This is a big improvement from last season, when Miami posted a 21-23 clutch record. What’s been working for the Heat late in close games? Offense. Miami is scoring 125.6 points per 100 possessions in clutch situations, which is second-best in the NBA behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers. Josh Richardson has played a big role in the Heat’s late-game success, as he has played a team-high 85 minutes and posted a team-best plus-minus of plus-64 in clutch situations
 
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