2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[dtgold88]

I don't even think you can count a 10 over a 7 as an upset. In most cases they are really closely matched.

But I do think there is a fairly significant gap between the top 8 teams and the rest of the field. That doesn't mean that they will all make the elite 8, but I am betting 6 or 7 do.

How I see it. I'd go so far as to say not much difference between seeds 5 and 12. Maybe even 4 and 13.

 

[dtgold88]

You think somewhere down the road the Hawks will regret drafting & trading Doncic to the Mavs?

Maybe, but Trae looks like a stud and depends what they get for the Mavs' pick. Mavs keeping it in top 5 would really hurt as they'd be much better next year and that pick could fall to teens or lower.

 

[Wamu]

Maybe, but Trae looks like a stud and depends what they get for the Mavs' pick. Mavs keeping it in top 5 would really hurt as they'd be much better next year and that pick could fall to teens or lower.

As long as the injury bug doesn't get either of them I think both will have successful careers. Like watching both of them play too.

 

[dtgold88]

Hawks had 5 first round picks in the last 3 years.

Don't think they missed on any

Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Omari Spellman, John Collins, and DeAndre Bembry. They had acquired Taurean Prince through a draft night trade in 2016.

Trae going to be a star while Collins is on his way to becoming a top 50 player IMO before you know it. The other 4 are solid role players which is perfectly fine considering where they were drafted in round 1.

BTW only 1 of those guys were selected top 5. You can do just fine building a young core without multiple top 5 picks

Who said you can't? But the goal is a title not "do just fine".

 

[dtgold88]

As long as the injury bug doesn't get either of them I think both will have successful careers. Like watching both of them play too.

I'll look later, but my guess is at about the same age Luka has had a similar or more productive rookie season than Lebron did.

 

[dtgold88]

No he wasn't. Not even close.

Steph's efficiency was off the charts for a rookie guard. he averaged 17.5, 4.5 REB, 5.9 Ast, 1.9 steals, 3 TO on 46.2% from the field, 43.7% from 3 and 88.5% from the line. All while sharing the back court with ball stopper Monta Ellis.

Trae young has more points and assists, but he is shooting 41.7% from the field, 33.6% from 3, 82.1% from the line with 4 TOs a game and he isn't as good defensively.

Trae Young has had a really good rookie season, but let's not get carried away.

Efficiency matters.

Fair points (though "not even close" seems harsh), but should be pointed out - and I'm guessing - Young is probably 19-20 and Curry was 22-23? But, still, if we are comparing rookies seasons it does looke like Currys was better.

 

[trojanfan12]

Lol

Considering the issues with production and that the company has been given an F rating by the Better Business Bureau, they may be on to something.

 

[Wamu]

I'll look later, but my guess is at about the same age Luka has had a similar or more productive rookie season than Lebron did.

Now that's an interesting rookie comparison. Had to look the #'s up but LD has had the better rookie season. Luka's averaging 21.0, 7.6, 5.8. Damn good #'s.

LeBron averaged 20.9, 5.5, 5.9. The only rookies to average 20/5/5 were the Big O, His Airness, Tyreke Evans & now obviously Luka. Anytime an NBAer can be mentioned in the same sentence w/ Jordan & Roberston it's always a good thing.

Not trying to defend LeBron but didn't Luka play pro ball overseas before getting to the NBA rather than jumping to the league straight from HS?

And I think Luka for Kyrie would be good for both teams. Not to sound biased or anything.

 

[trojanfan12]

If the AD rumors never happened are the Lakers a playoffs team?

I honestly don't think they are.
I warned Lakers fans before the AD rumors even started to watch out for the Clippers because if they survived that brutal month of February, they would be a serious threat because of their favorable schedule from March on.

Clippers were 34-29 at end of February.

9-1 since to bring them to 43-30

I honestly think they would have still missed out even with Ingram/Kuzma healthy because 8th place in the West is going to end up with 47/48 wins.

Once the James injury took place and the brutal stretch the Lakers had, 47 or 48 wins was going to be extremely tough to reach.

Warned Lakers fans about what exactly? I don't think any Lakers fans thought they would make the playoffs if Lebron missed significant time.

If they don't lose Lebron, I seriously doubt they are still sitting in the #4 spot like they were when he went out, but they still likely land anywhere from 5th-7th.

I'm also not sure that the AD debacle happens if Lebron doesn't get hurt. I think when he got hurt and it became obvious that he was going to miss significant time, he and Rich Paul panicked.

 

[dtgold88]

Now that's an interesting rookie comparison. Had to look the #'s up but LD has had the better rookie season. Luka's averaging 21.0, 7.6, 5.8. Damn good #'s.

LeBron averaged 20.9, 5.5, 5.9. The only rookies to average 20/5/5 were the Big O, His Airness, Tyreke Evans & now obviously Luka. Anytime an NBAer can be mentioned in the same sentence w/ Jordan & Roberston it's always a good thing.

Not trying to defend LeBron but didn't Luka play pro ball overseas before getting to the NBA rather than jumping to the league straight from HS?

And I think Luka for Kyrie would be good for both teams. Not to sound biased or anything.

Luka I would think did face far superior competition than Lebron had in HS. Also played with better players, too, I would think.

 

[dtgold88]

Warned Lakers fans about what exactly? I don't think any Lakers fans thought they would make the playoffs if Lebron missed significant time.

If they don't lose Lebron, I seriously doubt they are still sitting in the #4 spot like they were when he went out, but they still likely land anywhere from 5th-7th.

I'm also not sure that the AD debacle happens if Lebron doesn't get hurt. I think when he got hurt and it became obvious that he was going to miss significant time, he and Rich Paul panicked.

"Likely" 5th to 7th? Not so sure about that. Not like they've played so great when he did play.....and teams in those spots in the West are very good teams I think.

 

[bksballer89]

Warned Lakers fans about what exactly? I don't think any Lakers fans thought they would make the playoffs if Lebron missed significant time.

If they don't lose Lebron, I seriously doubt they are still sitting in the #4 spot like they were when he went out, but they still likely land anywhere from 5th-7th.

I'm also not sure that the AD debacle happens if Lebron doesn't get hurt. I think when he got hurt and it became obvious that he was going to miss significant time, he and Rich Paul panicked.

You can go back in this thread and find out exactly what I'm referring to. Just because it didn't come from you doesn't mean another lakers fan thought they would miss the playoffs when they were right on the clippers ass when LBJ came back

 

[Wamu]

Luka I would think did face far superior competition than Lebron had in HS. Also played with better players, too, I would think.

If I remember he was a league MVP before coming to the NBA. Luka's gonna be scary good for many years.

 

[trojanfan12]

"Likely" 5th to 7th? Not so sure about that. Not like they've played so great when he did play.....and teams in those spots in the West are very good teams I think.

Not like they played so great when he did play?

They were the #4 seed when he went down and were considered ahead of schedule.

They were playing well, looked like they were having fun and the chemistry was good.Then Lebron went down for 18 games, the AD debacle happened and it took Lebron several games to get back into shape.

They weren't going to hang on to the #4 seed (even though some "pundits" were predicting the WCF for them) because the 2nd half of their schedule was set up to where it was tougher than the first half of their schedule, but 5-7 would have been very realistic.

 

[tlance]

Fair points (though "not even close" seems harsh), but should be pointed out - and I'm guessing - Young is probably 19-20 and Curry was 22-23? But, still, if we are comparing rookies seasons it does looke like Currys was better.

Curry was 21 at the start of his rookie season with a March birthday. He turned 22 at the end of the season.

Young turned 20 in September right before the season started.

Curry was only 1.5 years older, and because he was such a late bloomer I am not even sure that is much of an edge.

Remember, Curry was barely recruited by D1 schools coming out of school. And it wasn't because scouts missed either. He got a lot better between the start of his senior season and the end of first year at Davidson. But Trae Young was miles ahead of Curry if you want to compare where they both where their last year of high school.

 

[trojanfan12]

You can go back in this thread and find out exactly what I'm referring to. Just because it didn't come from you doesn't mean another lakers fan thought they would miss the playoffs when they were right on the clippers ass when LBJ came back

I don't know who that would have been (but I'll bet I could guess lol). Had the AD debacle not happened and if Lebron came back 100%, then yeah, they may have been able to hang on and grab the 7th or 8th spot.

But, the AD debacle did happen and Lebron wasn't 100% when he came back and those 2 things pretty well ended any shot that they had at the playoffs.

 

[dtgold88]

Not like they played so great when he did play?

They were the #4 seed when he went down and were considered ahead of schedule.

They were playing well, looked like they were having fun and the chemistry was good.Then Lebron went down for 18 games, the AD debacle happened and it took Lebron several games to get back into shape.

They weren't going to hang on to the #4 seed (even though some "pundits" were predicting the WCF for them) because the 2nd half of their schedule was set up to where it was tougher than the first half of their schedule, but 5-7 would have been very realistic.

they were also, what, a few games away from the 10 seed? I would say possible. Not sure about realistic or likely.

 

[dtgold88]

Curry was 21 at the start of his rookie season with a March birthday. He turned 22 at the end of the season.

Young turned 20 in September right before the season started.

Curry was only 1.5 years older, and because he was such a late bloomer I am not even sure that is much of an edge.

Remember, Curry was barely recruited by D1 schools coming out of school. And it wasn't because scouts missed either. He got a lot better between the start of his senior season and the end of first year at Davidson. But Trae Young was miles ahead of Curry if you want to compare where they both where their last year of high school.

Still seems like hyperbole to say Young's season was "not even close".

 

[dtgold88]

I don't know who that would have been (but I'll bet I could guess lol). Had the AD debacle not happened and if Lebron came back 100%, then yeah, they may have been able to hang on and grab the 7th or 8th spot.

But, the AD debacle did happen and Lebron wasn't 100% when he came back and those 2 things pretty well ended any shot that they had at the playoffs.

May have grabbed 7 or 8? Agree with this.

 

[WiggyRuss]

You can go back in this thread and find out exactly what I'm referring to. Just because it didn't come from you doesn't mean another lakers fan thought they would miss the playoffs when they were right on the clippers ass when LBJ came back

ESPECIALLY in mid-December when the Lakers had put together a nice little run during one of the easier points in their schedule and before Rondo remembered he hated LeBron. lol.

The Lakers biggest issue, in my opinion, has been management and how management put the team together. The team of Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Pelinka, and Walton was just in over their heads from how they put the roster together, how they dealt with trade rumors, how they dealt with head coaching rumors, how they let Rich Paul hijack the franchise, etc.

If the Lakers had a guy like Jerry West in the front office watching the back of a guy like David Griffin, with a head coach that had credibility and experience they would have been infinitely better off.