(3) Golden State Warriors vs (4) Dallas Mavericks WCF

[Robotech]

AD still mad about that trade lol

He will go to his grave hating Isiah

I saw the Pistons documentary. Yeah, I think I do remember them interviewing Dantley. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I think he basically said that he knows in his heart that he's the much better player than Aguirre and that the trade was unnecessary.

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

AD still mad about that trade lol

He will go to his grave hating Isiah

Sad thing about that whole deal is how Aguirre weaseled his way out of Dallas and how it all started with that Game 7 in 88... when he pretty much quit on the team. A whole lot of people here think Cuban should retire his number as he did for Ro & Derek. I'm not one of those people. And I don't hate him. I just think he has never owned up to making them trade him because the reality was he wasn't going to get one here after Tarpley was lost and they let Perkins go as well. Glad he got a couple of chips out of the deal.

 

[Robotech]

I saw this somewhere else, but Warriors fans should always be so thankful that Curry is as selfless and drama free as any superstar you could think of. Maybe Tim Duncan is his only equal in that regard?? Imagine if Russell Westbrook were a Warrior and they asked him to come off the bench like Curry did at the beginning of these playoffs? I could only imagine all the drama.

 

[calsnowskier]

I saw this somewhere else, but Warriors fans should always be so thankful that Curry is as selfless and drama free as any superstar you could think of. Maybe Tim Duncan is his only equal in that regard?? Imagine if Russell Westbrook were a Warrior and they asked him to come off the bench like Curry did at the beginning of these playoffs? I could only imagine all the drama.

The Dubs would not be in a dynasty right now if they had Westbrook instead of Curry. Westbrook is not and has never been a winning player. He is and always was a Me player. KD is the only OKC big-3 who was worth his salt in anything beyond street ball. And even he wanted a team to sacrifice to HIS legacy rather than him sacrificing to the TEAMS legacy (Ultimately — he appeared to buy in while in GS).

 

[Stakesarehigh]

I saw the Pistons documentary. Yeah, I think I do remember them interviewing Dantley. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I think he basically said that he knows in his heart that he's the much better player than Aguirre and that the trade was unnecessary.

He wouldn't hand the mantle over to Isiah. He still saw himself as the alpha and he wasn't. Rodman gave them the D they needed that Dantley didn't have. Aguirre was perfect in that he was just a good a scorer as AD and was fine with his role.

 

[CitySushi]

I didn't realize that Otto is only 28 years old. I think he would definitely be looking for as big of a contract as he can. Young enough to demand good money, but old enough that this might be his last chance at good money.

@trojanfan12

Otto Porter Jr. has already made over 126M in his career. People forget that prior to signing this year he was on the last year of a max contract.

At this point in his career, I don't think teams will value him as a starter level player. Combine that with his injury history his role going forward should likely be a super sub. I think this would be beneficial to both Porter and the team he signs with.

So I think if I were OPJ, I would be looking for a balance of longevity, role and money. I don't think one will necessarily overshadow the other. But who knows, a team could get crazy and throw big money at him.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

The Dubs would not be in a dynasty right now if they had Westbrook instead of Curry. Westbrook is not and has never been a winning player. He is and always was a Me player. KD is the only OKC big-3 who was worth his salt in anything beyond street ball. And even he wanted a team to sacrifice to HIS legacy rather than him sacrificing to the TEAMS legacy (Ultimately — he appeared to buy in while in GS).

I feel like people got Russ all wrong. His skill set is definitely deteriorating but I've never seen his propensity to shoot as him caring more about his stats than winning.

That 2016 WCF set a lot of stuff in motion. Maybe had they knocked off GS we are looking at a different nba than what transpired for a few years there.

 

[Robotech]

I feel like people got Russ all wrong. His skill set is definitely deteriorating but I've never seen his propensity to shoot as him caring more about his stats than winning.

That 2016 WCF set a lot of stuff in motion. Maybe had they knocked off GS we are looking at a different nba than what transpired for a few years there.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought there was talk a couple years back of Westbrook coming off the bench for the Rockets and that he said he would never consider it, end of conversation.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought there was talk a couple years back of Westbrook coming off the bench for the Rockets and that he said he would never consider it, end of conversation.

I mean...who were they starting instead of him lol

Austin Rivers?

His career is landing with a thud but I think we have a lot of recency bias going on. He definitely struggled minus Durant though in terms of winning playoff games.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Warriors' Otto Porter Jr. out for Game 4 of Western Conference finals | NBA.com

The 9-year veteran has been dealing with pain in his left heel since the Western Conference semifinals.

www.nba.com

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Warriors' Otto Porter Jr. out for Game 4 of Western Conference finals | NBA.com

The 9-year veteran has been dealing with pain in his left heel since the Western Conference semifinals.

www.nba.com

Doesn't seem like there is much drop off from him to other guys on the bench anyway.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Doesn't seem like there is much drop off from him to other guys on the bench anyway.

So far the Dubs did what they needed to do....hold serve at home, and take 1 of the 2 road games.
We shall see how it plays out. Each game has a different dynamic.
Mavs will be in a desperation must win situation tomorrow.

So, in essence, I'd sit Porter unless he's 100%....and save him for a possible game 5 back in SF on Wednesday.

 

[CitySushi]

Doesn't seem like there is much drop off from him to other guys on the bench anyway.

IMO, Otto is a huge piece to this team. All of the other bigs are either inexperienced or unreliable. JTA, Bjelica, Kuminga....OPJ is so superior to all them in his consistency it's not even close.

 

[msgkings322]

Not even the Warriors could fuck this up now

Stop shitting on my team

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Stop shitting on my team

That dude’s clown shoes get bigger every day.

 

[Montalban]

Lee has sucked. It's really as simple as that, I think. Also, giving playoff minutes to Lee to develop him is useless. Lee is likely as good as he'll ever be. Meanwhile, giving playoff minutes to Moody, a 19 year old first round draft pick, could prove invaluable to him and this team's future.

A month ago moody seemed like he was the very last guy on the bench. As for Lee being on the team, it seems being Steph Curry’s brother in law has its perks. The dude I really liked was Payton

 

[Montalban]

The cost savings that Wiseman could potentially give the Warriors while other players are coming due for new contracts might be the reason they haven't traded him. Wiseman may very well be the only center this team can afford for the foreseeable future. Looney deserves that bag, and we probably can't afford to give it to him.

I love Looney’s heart but I can think of a ton of Centers I’d pick over him. He fits on this team though

 

[trojanfan12]

I feel like people got Russ all wrong. His skill set is definitely deteriorating but I've never seen his propensity to shoot as him caring more about his stats than winning.

That 2016 WCF set a lot of stuff in motion. Maybe had they knocked off GS we are looking at a different nba than what transpired for a few years there.

Yeah, I don't see him so much as a ''me player'' as I do maybe a tone deaf player or a player who can't see his own weaknesses.

Guys like MJ, Kobe, Lebron...they all understood that as they got older, they were going to have to play smarter because the time would come when they could no longer just overwhelm opponents with their talent. So they all started adding some ''old man'' to their game before they actually needed to use it.

Other guys like Shaq and Westbrook, acted like they never were going lose theirs and had/are having, sharp declines.

Other than blaming him for not ever adding to his game, I don't really blame Westbrook for what happened with the Lakers. Russ is who he is...we all knew that and even the most optimistic posts has a heavy dose of doubt in them about this working. If we all knew that, you can bet that Lebron, AD, the Lakers FO and maybe Russ himself knew it too. They were just able to convince themselves otherwise.

For Russ part, he showed up, played his ass off every single game and did try to adjust. He just couldn't do it in a way that actually worked.

 

[Montalban]

Game 7 of the 88 WCF… I don’t know a single Mavs fan who didn’t watch that game and think to themselves that the future held a championship in short order. Within a year…

Poof. The Dark Days had arrived. It was tough being a Mavs fan for 10 years or so…

That was a good team. Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackmon, Sam Perkins, Detlaf Schremph and Tarpley

 

[Montalban]

Stop shitting on my team

“It’s my team, and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to…….”