Pre Season Thread

[shopson67]

Pop >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>everybody else.


Agree on Stevens.

Combination of Kyrie's petulance and the appearance of force feeding Hayward minutes he probably didn't deserve, has dulled his shine a little bit.

If the Celtics bounce back, he will be the Golden boy again.

Tough to meet expectations when people crown you the cream of the crop before you even play a game.

The Lakers, Clippers, Sixers would do well to remember that.

The Lakers are used to those expectations (or at least used to be before all the tanking). They used to expect that of themselves.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not surprising. He hates Westbrook, lol.

Rockets lol.

He thinks they are going to implode.

His reasoning isn't completely crazy.

He says the owner is pissed at the GM (I assume over the China thing).

The GM doesn't like the coach.

The coach doesn't like the staff that was basically forced on him.

And Harden will be done with Westbrook by mid-season.

I don't agree. I think they are built for the regular season, but not the playoffs (just like every year since they got Harden).

But, I could see Cowherd's scenario playing out. They wouldn't be the first team that fell apart because of egos.

 

[shopson67]

Edwards took 15 3 point shots in 20 minutes. He was clearly on.

I agree that if he shoots 60% from 3 he will be a huge pick!

Dana Barros, 2019 version

 

[shopson67]

He thinks they are going to implode.

His reasoning isn't completely crazy.

He says the owner is pissed at the GM (I assume over the China thing).

The GM doesn't like the coach.

The coach doesn't like the staff that was basically forced on him.

And Harden will be done with Westbrook by mid-season.

I don't agree. I think they are built for the regular season, but not the playoffs (just like every year since they got Harden).

But, I could see Cowherd's scenario playing out. They wouldn't be the first team that fell apart because of egos.

I've been expecting the Rockets to implode ever since Pringles got there. So far, they've stayed afloat and maintained their early playoff exit motif instead.

 

[trojanfan12]

I've been expecting the Rockets to implode ever since Pringles got there. So far, they've stayed afloat and maintained their early playoff exit motif instead.

Westbrook could literally push them over the edge either way.

If it works, it could be spectacular and get them to the finals.

If it doesn't, it could be a spectacular implosion and they could miss the playoffs or be swept in Round 1.

Either way, they should be very entertaining.

 

[flyerhawk]

Zion Is Having One of the Best Preseasons in History

Certainly going to be a lot of eyes on him opening night.

 

[bksballer89]

His last good season game 2016 with the Heat when were 1 game away from the ECF.

This dude fell off fast.

 

[trojanfan12]

His last good season game 2016 with the Heat when were 1 game away from the ECF.

This dude fell off fast.

He's a lot like Joakim Noah, imo. A combination of how hard he played all of the time and Thibs using up all of the gas in his tank caused him to decline earlier than he should have.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

 

[dtgold88]

Inclined to agree Pop #1 but so hard to judge in NBA as I think roster is more important than the other major sports.

will say Spo has at least kept his teams competitive. Not his fault they had no shot to be a title contender last 5 or so years.

Kerr? Still need to see what he does when he does not have the most talented team...often far more talented.

 

[dtgold88]

This is interesting.

Cowherd just announced his prediction for the Western Conference Standings going into the playoffs:

1. Nuggets
2. Jazz
3. Clips
4. Warriors
5. Lakers
6. Blazers
7. Spurs
8. Mavs

Anyone notice the glaring omission?

Yep. Not even top 8? He has to make some crazy pick to drum up interest.

Though I guess so far he was right about Browns.

 

[bksballer89]

Inclined to agree Pop #1 but so hard to judge in NBA as I think roster is more important than the other major sports.

will say Spo has at least kept his teams competitive. Not his fault they had no shot to be a title contender last 5 or so years.

Kerr? Still need to see what he does when he does not have the most talented team...often far more talented.

Yep which is why a lot of the media in Miami is expecting more from Miami than the national media. This is the first time Spo has a top 20/25ish player on his roster since 2016 when they were one game away from the ECF.

I'm not sure I would agree he is 2nd best but he's top 10 for sure

 

[trojanfan12]

Kerr? Still need to see what he does when he does not have the most talented team...often far more talented.

Yeah, it's definitely hard to say with Kerr. I don't think there's any doubt that as far as the culture...he's the one who got those guys to play the way they do and sacrifice for each other rather than just looking to "get theirs".

He may end up being viewed similar to Phil Jackson where it's more about how well he manages egos than about his X's and O's.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

This is interesting.

Cowherd just announced his prediction for the Western Conference Standings going into the playoffs:

1. Nuggets
2. Jazz
3. Clips
4. Warriors
5. Lakers
6. Blazers
7. Spurs
8. Mavs

Anyone notice the glaring omission?

Warriors at 4th is far more laughable than forgetting about the Rockets

 

[trojanfan12]

Yep. Not even top 8? He has to make some crazy pick to drum up interest.

Though I guess so far he was right about Browns.

Don't know if you saw my follow up post. His reasoning isn't exactly crazy. There's a lot of turmoil and he thinks they're going to implode.

When you consider the volatility of Westbrook and some of the other things he mentioned, it's not out of the realm of possibility.

They certainly wouldn't be the first team that was ruined by ego issues.

 

[dtgold88]

Yep which is why a lot of the media in Miami is expecting more from Miami than the national media. This is the first time Spo has a top 20/25ish player on his roster since 2016 when they were one game away from the ECF.

I'm not sure I would agree he is 2nd best but he's top 10 for sure

would like to see his team be a top 10 team again (without best player, arguably 3 of top 10) before calling him a top 10 coach. But I think he probably is.

 

[Gman]

Agree on Stevens.

Combination of Kyrie's petulance and the appearance of force feeding Hayward minutes he probably didn't deserve, has dulled his shine a little bit.

If the Celtics bounce back, he will be the Golden boy again.

I don't understand criticism of Brad Stevens with regards to the playing time he gave to Hayward last season.

The Celtics have a tremendous investment in Hayward. 100% of the time it is right move to give Hayward regular season minutes to work himself back into shape.

Stevens made the easy, obvious call in this case.

If idiots like Terry Rozier don't understand the logic in that... so be it. But no sensible person should go along with such nonsense.

 

[dtgold88]

Don't know if you saw my follow up post. His reasoning isn't exactly crazy. There's a lot of turmoil and he thinks they're going to implode.

When you consider the volatility of Westbrook and some of the other things he mentioned, it's not out of the realm of possibility.

They certainly wouldn't be the first team that was ruined by ego issues.

Tough conference so I guess not entirely nuts.....plus an injury to either player and they are cooked.

 

[Wamu]

This is interesting.

Cowherd just announced his prediction for the Western Conference Standings going into the playoffs:

1. Nuggets
2. Jazz
3. Clips
4. Warriors
5. Lakers
6. Blazers
7. Spurs
8. Mavs

Anyone notice the glaring omission?

The Suns?

 

[trojanfan12]

Warriors at 4th is far more laughable than forgetting about the Rockets

Maybe. But they added D-Lo and Willie Cauley-Stein which should help them to stay fairly close to the middle of the pack until they get Klay back in March for a playoff push.

Add to that the fact that the Lakers aren't likely to be too concerned about seeding (I think Lebron and AD are only going to play about 65-70 games) and that's not crazy either, imo.

I don't necessarily agree with either this or the Rockets take, but they're not crazy either.