2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

I agree, it seems that Utah doesn't get any respect.

Last 2 Seasons, they have started slowly and finished strong.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Again, this was never going to be the final roster and this team was never going to be contending this season. We have no idea who the Lakers went after that they didn't get as far as role players.

Most of the better guys available were likely looking for teams where they would have the opportunity to start/get a lot of playing time and didn't want to play caddy to Lebron and a bunch of kids.

i mean i dont necessarily disagree with anything you said but the bottom line is they did a pretty shitty job with the guys they got. Whether they picked the wrongs guys, or were not able to convince the right guys is pretty irrelevant. Its a zero sum game and on any kind of grading scale they did a poor job.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Yeah....

On the Brightside, Ingram not walking on eggshells, letting LeBron dictate the offense has been a revelation.

Dude is playing like a #2 over all pick.


That has been a pleasant side effect of the Davis trade debacle.

+1

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Again, this was never going to be the final roster and this team was never going to be contending this season. We have no idea who the Lakers went after that they didn't get as far as role players.

Most of the better guys available were likely looking for teams where they would have the opportunity to start/get a lot of playing time and didn't want to play caddy to Lebron and a bunch of kids.

Once they knew they weren't getting George, they pivoted to plan B to maintain capspace.

Nobody...well except Barkley...thought the LAkers would miss the playoffs...

Nobody...except Screamin A Smith...thought the Lakers would get to the WCF.

We all thought it would be somewhere in the middle.

2nd round ceiling.

But, there were concerns about shooting and on court chemistry.

The shooting has been hit or miss.

But, I was wrong about the Chemistry prior to the Davis situation.

 

[dtgold88]

Again, this was never going to be the final roster and this team was never going to be contending this season. We have no idea who the Lakers went after that they didn't get as far as role players.

Most of the better guys available were likely looking for teams where they would have the opportunity to start/get a lot of playing time and didn't want to play caddy to Lebron and a bunch of kids.

You think if he stayed the cavs could get away with punting on one of Lebron's seasons? No chance LA did not think they'd at least be a playoff team....probably 4-7 seed.

 

[trojanfan12]

...and both of those issues can be laid at Lebron's feet.

Yep.

Imo, dividing things up, the problem has been about 40% injuries, 40% the AD debacle, 10% speculation about Luke's job and 10% roster construction.

So that puts about 50% of the issue on Lebron. Although, I will say that part of that 50% on Lebron also goes to Magic and Pelinka for not knowing how to get themselves out of the AD debacle before it blew up and for not shutting down the speculation about Luke's job.

When Lebron wanted Spo gone in Miami, Pat Riley stepped in, shut that shit down and Lebron bought in. Magic and Pelinka should have done the same, especially Magic. Even if they were lying, they should have done it just to eliminate the distraction.

 

[dtgold88]

Once they knew they weren't getting George, they pivoted to plan B to maintain capspace.

Nobody...well except Barkley...thought the LAkers would miss the playoffs...

Nobody...except Screamin A Smith...thought the Lakers would get to the WCF.

We all thought it would be somewhere in the middle.

2nd round ceiling.

But, there were concerns about shooting and on court chemistry.

The shooting has been hit or miss.

But, I was wrong about the Chemistry prior to the Davis situation.

Only problem was we were concerned about the shooting AFTER FA was over. Never figured the plan would be avoid shooters like the plague and bring in dunderheads when Lebron said he wants smart players.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

i mean i dont necessarily disagree with anything you said but the bottom line is they did a pretty shitty job with the guys they got. Whether they picked the wrongs guys, or were not able to convince the right guys is pretty irrelevant. Its a zero sum game and on any kind of grading scale they did a poor job.

Mcgee played really well up until they brought in Tyson.

Imagine how that must have felt to a guy like him.

He leaves a championship roster for a shot at having a bigger role.

He gets the role he wants, plays VERY well, and then has to share minutes with Tyson and Zubac.

I think we can reasonably say that Mcgee was the right guy based on what he was doing on the court.

Problem is: He couldn't handle it mentally.

Same can be said for Rondo, Lance.

They all played well until they allowed themselves to be derailed mentally.

With that being said, they didn't tie themselves to these slugs long-term.

So, it is a situation that will correct itself at Seasons end.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Only problem was we were concerned about the shooting AFTER FA was over. Never figured the plan would be avoid shooters like the plague and bring in dunderheads when Lebron said he wants smart players.

Lmfao

 

[bksballer89]

Wow...lol

Dubs, Thunder Rockets. Denver.....

They are gonna best 2 of these 4 Teams in a series?

I'm not totally confident that they are better than Utah.

I think Utah and Denver are the only 2 teams they can beat in a series unless they get the 2nd seed and get to play Clippers or Spurs.

And when I say can, I'm not that positive.

That 3/6 and 4/5 first round match up in the west should be fun.

Looking like it will be Portland, OKC, Hou, and Utah in those 4 slots. Just don't know what order

 

[dtgold88]

Yep.

Imo, dividing things up, the problem has been about 40% injuries, 40% the AD debacle, 10% speculation about Luke's job and 10% roster construction.

So that puts about 50% of the issue on Lebron. Although, I will say that part of that 50% on Lebron also goes to Magic and Pelinka for not knowing how to get themselves out of the AD debacle before it blew up and for not shutting down the speculation about Luke's job.

When Lebron wanted Spo gone in Miami, Pat Riley stepped in, shut that shit down and Lebron bought in. Magic and Pelinka should have done the same, especially Magic. Even if they were lying, they should have done it just to eliminate the distraction.

seems like with max room available and the lure of LA would think Magic/Pelinka could do better building the roster.

 

[trojanfan12]

i mean i dont necessarily disagree with anything you said but the bottom line is they did a pretty shitty job with the guys they got. Whether they picked the wrongs guys, or were not able to convince the right guys is pretty irrelevant. Its a zero sum game and on any kind of grading scale they did a poor job.

Yes and no. Before the injuries and the AD debacle, they were playing well.

That's probably more of a testament to how good Lebron is than about how good they are.

And it's not irrelevant. If you can't get the right guys, you have to sign someone, so they took some risks and it worked for awhile.

End of the day though, you are correct, the only thing that matters is the final record and where a team ends up. No one really cares about how or why a team got there.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Yep.

Imo, dividing things up, the problem has been about 40% injuries, 40% the AD debacle, 10% speculation about Luke's job and 10% roster construction.

So that puts about 50% of the issue on Lebron. Although, I will say that part of that 50% on Lebron also goes to Magic and Pelinka for not knowing how to get themselves out of the AD debacle before it blew up and for not shutting down the speculation about Luke's job.

When Lebron wanted Spo gone in Miami, Pat Riley stepped in, shut that shit down and Lebron bought in. Magic and Pelinka should have done the same, especially Magic. Even if they were lying, they should have done it just to eliminate the distraction.

It was a lack of experience on Magic's part.

They should not have allowed Klutch to accelerate their timeline.

With that being said, once Klutch made the Davis trade request public the front office's hand was forced.

Like, really what were their options?

Not throw their hats into the ring and allow him to get traded to a place that he learns to like?

* See Paul George

 

[WiggyRuss]

Mcgee played really well up until they brought in Tyson.

Imagine how that must have felt to a guy like him.

He leaves a championship roster for a shot at having a bigger role.

He gets the role he wants, plays VERY well, and then has to share minutes with Tyson and Zubac.

I think we can reasonably say that Mcgee was the right guy based on what he was doing on the court.

Problem is: He couldn't handle it mentally.

Same can be said for Rondo, Lance.

They all played well until they allowed themselves to be derailed mentally.

With that being said, they didn't tie themselves to these slugs long-term.

So, it is a situation that will correct itself at Seasons end.

everything i have read is that Mcgee is one of their worst guys + - minus wise for the Lakers when he is on the court.

they all played well for a little while when they were trying and on their best behavior but all of them fell back on old familiar habits, which is exactly what you would expect.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Yes and no. Before the injuries and the AD debacle, they were playing well.

That's probably more of a testament to how good Lebron is than about how good they are.

And it's not irrelevant. If you can't get the right guys, you have to sign someone, so they took some risks and it worked for awhile.

End of the day though, you are correct, the only thing that matters is the final record and where a team ends up. No one really cares about how or why a team got there.

Dude....I just noticed your signature line.

Lmfao

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yep.

Imo, dividing things up, the problem has been about 40% injuries, 40% the AD debacle, 10% speculation about Luke's job and 10% roster construction.

So that puts about 50% of the issue on Lebron. Although, I will say that part of that 50% on Lebron also goes to Magic and Pelinka for not knowing how to get themselves out of the AD debacle before it blew up and for not shutting down the speculation about Luke's job.

When Lebron wanted Spo gone in Miami, Pat Riley stepped in, shut that shit down and Lebron bought in. Magic and Pelinka should have done the same, especially Magic. Even if they were lying, they should have done it just to eliminate the distraction.

10% roster construction!!!

totally ignoring 3 pt shooting in a league whre 3 pt shooting is immensely important when they KNEW they had bad 3 pt shooting?

pretty much ignoring rebounding and defense in the front court?

thinking JaVale Mcgee and Tyson Chandler were legit options

cmon now.

everyone nad their brother knew 3 pt shooting would be a huge detriment to the team the way they built it before the first ball was ever thrown up.

 

[trojanfan12]

Once they knew they weren't getting George, they pivoted to plan B to maintain capspace.

Nobody...well except Barkley...thought the LAkers would miss the playoffs...

Nobody...except Screamin A Smith...thought the Lakers would get to the WCF.

We all thought it would be somewhere in the middle.

2nd round ceiling.

But, there were concerns about shooting and on court chemistry.

The shooting has been hit or miss.

But, I was wrong about the Chemistry prior to the Davis situation.

Yep. I agree. By Christmas, there were even some commentators beyond Screamin' A who were predicting the WCF for the Lakers and the chemistry being better than expected was part of the reason. No one on here was predicting the WCF though.

It's interesting, this season, we have seen both the best and worst of Lebron.

The chemistry and winning that was happening before the injuries and AD debacle was Lebron at his best.

What has happened since the injuries, when he either panicked or got bored and starting playing GM, was Lebron at his worst.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I mean- 3 simple moves that would have cost no money at all would have been Jeff Green at the vet. min. , Nik Stauskas at the vet. min. and BLopez instead of Beasley.

those are just common sense things with barely any cost and would have been so helpful-- they were just common sense.

thats not even like things like how about a vet. leader who is a great guy like Tony Parker over Rondo?

or ANYONE over paying KCP 12M dollars. geezus.

 

[trojanfan12]

You think if he stayed the cavs could get away with punting on one of Lebron's seasons? No chance LA did not think they'd at least be a playoff team....probably 4-7 seed.

The difference is that everyone, including Lebron, knew that they were punting as soon as they didn't get a 2nd guy. Once that happened, it was all about next season.

Yes, everyone expected the playoffs as long as Lebron stayed healthy. But that was pretty much it and more about Lebron's greatness and the potential of the kids than anything else.

In Cleveland, they already had the 2nd guy in Kyrie and brought in a 3rd when they traded for Love. So, of course they wouldn't have gotten away with punting any of his seasons.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Yep. I agree. By Christmas, there were even some commentators beyond Screamin' A who were predicting the WCF for the Lakers and the chemistry being better than expected was part of the reason. No one on here was predicting the WCF though.

It's interesting, this season, we have seen both the best and worst of Lebron.

The chemistry and winning that was happening before the injuries and AD debacle was Lebron at his best.

What has happened since the injuries, when he either panicked or got bored and starting playing GM, was Lebron at his worst.

All of this.

Do you think he has done some harm to the Lakers chances in free agency?

I don't think guys like Kawhi, Klay, Boogie would care if they wanted to come to LA.

Durant?

Probably.

He's so fucking thin skinned