The Biggest Losers of a (likely) Nixed NBA Season

[msgkings322]

i despair for whoever employs you

Don't you even recognize when you are being trolled?

 

[Wamu]

i despair for whoever employs you

Does the city of Cleveland still suck?

 

[dtgold88]

@WiggyRuss gonna say Vince carter was the "easy answer" to the most minutes Q. My guess for the other is maybe Pau Gasol?

 

[Robotech]

Luck is a part of every championship. Harden gets gassed in the playoffs because he gets a lot of his regular season stats running up the score on bad teams. When teams can play him over and over in a series they can wear him down and limit his effectiveness.

He's not a leader, he doesn't make others better, he's not the best player in the league.

Harden has to win a title to get the ultimate respect that those others have, but I think it's a fair point that he hasn't had as good of a supporting cast as a Rocket compared to what LeBron, Curry, and Kawhi had on their title winning teams. He was still young on the Thunder. The Thunder stars were all young, and it would've been interesting to see what that team could've become if they had stayed together.

I think Harden should get credit for improving as a defender. He really uses his strength well. As an offensive player, no one is better. Curry brought in a big change to the NBA with the off the dribble three, but Harden has taken it to the next level. He does it even more than Curry and shoots it at a high percentage. He might be the most skillful player in the NBA.

 

[trojanfan12]

Maybe the flaw in the Rockets' approach is they rely too much on Harden. It could be why he seems to fatigue toward the end of games. At least it seems like he gets tired.

The problem is, that's how he wants it. If D'Antoni's system is run the way it's designed, the ball moves all over the place and they don't have to rely so much on Harden.

But that's not how it's being run. It's like when D'Antoni was in New York and the Knicks were better when Melo was out and Jeremy Lin was running the offense.

Melo returned, the offense screeched to a halt and the Knicks started losing again.

Harden isn't as bad as Melo, but he still spends way too much time in iso.

 

[msgkings322]

Harden has to win a title to get the ultimate respect that those others have, but I think it's a fair point that he hasn't had as good of a supporting cast as a Rocket compared to what LeBron, Curry, and Kawhi had on their title winning teams. He was still young on the Thunder. The Thunder stars were all young, and it would've been interesting to see what that team could've become if they had stayed together.

I think Harden should get credit for improving as a defender. He really uses his strength well. As an offensive player, no one is better. Curry brought in a big change to the NBA with the off the dribble three, but Harden has taken it to the next level. He does it even more than Curry and shoots it at a high percentage. He might be the most skillful player in the NBA.

I doubt a Harden led team can win a title. He might get a ring late in his career as a sidekick like Jason Kidd did.

He might be the most skilled player at scoring in the entire league. That's as far as I will go.

 

[bksballer89]

I doubt a Harden led team can win a title. He might get a ring late in his career as a sidekick like Jason Kidd did.

He might be the most skilled player at scoring in the entire league. That's as far as I will go.

i disagree

 

[msgkings322]

i disagree

Ok

 

[The Oldtimer]

Don't forget the Clippers

The Clippers have never won anything, so it's no big deal for them.

 

[handicappers]

I'm disappointed that we won't get to see how the Mavs finished out their season.
Kinda glad that Luka, KP and Brunson have extra time to heal.

 

[tlance]

I doubt a Harden led team can win a title. He might get a ring late in his career as a sidekick like Jason Kidd did.

He might be the most skilled player at scoring in the entire league. That's as far as I will go.

They were literally 1 win and/or a CP3 injury away from winning a title 2 years ago.

Granted, it took an Iggy injury to get them to that spot, but still.

That ‘18 Cleveland team would have had almost no chance to win the Finals against them. Only so much LeBron can do.

 

[tlance]

The problem is, that's how he wants it. If D'Antoni's system is run the way it's designed, the ball moves all over the place and they don't have to rely so much on Harden.

But that's not how it's being run. It's like when D'Antoni was in New York and the Knicks were better when Melo was out and Jeremy Lin was running the offense.

Melo returned, the offense screeched to a halt and the Knicks started losing again.

Harden isn't as bad as Melo, but he still spends way too much time in iso.

The problem is that they had the pieces they needed to win it in ‘18. But they let a couple guys go, then they got impatient and remade their team when they didn’t have to.

Will be interesting to watch, but I just don’t think super small ball stands up in the playoffs against the top teams.

 

[trojanfan12]

The problem is that they had the pieces they needed to win it in ‘18. But they let a couple guys go, then they got impatient and remade their team when they didn’t have to.

Will be interesting to watch, but I just don’t think super small ball stands up in the playoffs against the top teams.

Yep. Game tends to slow a bit, refs swallow their whistles more. Makes it harder for the Rockets to force their pace.

The Warriors have easily had the most success with super small ball with their "death lineup" and even that was something they only used strategically. Usually to try to create separation and then late in the game to finish a team off.

And I'm not sure that their super small ball was as small as what the Rockets are trying to do all game.

I get that bigs have been pushed aside a bit...but you still need some size. lol

 

[BigKen]

What the league should do is review the rules. Go back and read them to start. Give every official a copy and then tell them to follow them. Two steps is traveling. Cupping the ball while dribbling is illegal. Breathing on LeBron is not a foul. A hand check on the freak is not a foul. Rookies do not have to "earn" an official's respect.

The biggest losers will be the fans because the league will not follow or enforce its own rules.

The quality of the game has diminished since the Bird/Magic era. Especially the officiating. It's hard to watch an entire game. I coached elementary, middle school and high school basketball from 1978 until 2017. I officiated the same level during that period and even the coaches were getting lazy about teaching kids the proper techniques. Playground games became king.

People are stuck at home and finding out that life is actually livable without some sport being available 24/7. When this is over, professional sports will have to earn their fans back. Basketball may suffer the longest.

 

[WiggyRuss]

@WiggyRuss gonna say Vince carter was the "easy answer" to the most minutes Q. My guess for the other is maybe Pau Gasol?

VC was the easy answer.

the other one is tougher...since he has been off/on on teams the last couple years.

big hint

same draft class as LeBron

 

[Wamu]

VC was the easy answer.

the other one is tougher...since he has been off/on on teams the last couple years.

big hint

same draft class as LeBron

Darko Milicic! The player you're talking about does his first name start with K?

 

[dtgold88]

VC was the easy answer.

the other one is tougher...since he has been off/on on teams the last couple years.

big hint

same draft class as LeBron

Korver?

 

[trojanfan12]

The biggest losers will be the fans because the league will not follow or enforce its own rules.

The quality of the game has diminished since the Bird/Magic era. Especially the officiating. It's hard to watch an entire game. I coached elementary, middle school and high school basketball from 1978 until 2017. I officiated the same
level during that period and even the coaches were getting lazy about teaching kids the proper techniques. Playground games became king.

People are stuck at home and finding out that life is actually livable without some sport being available 24/7. When this is over, professional sports will have to earn their fans back. Basketball may suffer the longest.

lol

Yeah, that's why virtually everyone is saying sports coming back, even without fans in attendance is something the country really could use right now.

The NBA, may very well be the first major professional sport to start competing again.

But do tell us more about how basketball "may suffer the longest".

 

[dtgold88]

lol

Yeah, that's why virtually everyone is saying sports coming back, even without fans in attendance is something the country really could use right now.

The NBA, may very well be the first major professional sport to start competing again.

But do tell us more about how basketball "may suffer the longest".

Have to think the NFL draft ratings will be higher than they have ever been. Not an actual game, but cannot wait for the first sporting "event" anyone has cared about since mid-March.

 

[trojanfan12]

Have to think the NFL draft ratings will be higher than they have ever been. Not an actual game, but cannot wait for the first sporting "event" anyone has cared about since mid-March.

Yeah, funny that some folks were trying to criticize them for it (probably communists).

I don't watch the NFL draft every year and when I do, it's never more than the first day.

If they televise it, I'll likely be watching the whole thing.