So about Lebron showing off (and not in a family friendly manner):ninja:.
NBA Season 2014-2015
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So about Lebron showing off (and not in a family friendly manner):ninja:.
I heard about it on the radio this morning. "tip slip" lmao
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Game 5 goes to the warriors now lead 3-2 let's head for game 6!!! Nice game from Curry
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Had to record the game and just watched it. There were a ton of difficult shots knocked down by everyone but my play of the game was Harrison Barnes' nasty facial
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LeBron for Finals MVP, and I say that as a Warriors fan. Through five games he's averaging about 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists. That's insanity. The only knock I really have on him is that his efficiency isn't great, but given the unimpressive showings by basically everyone else he's clearly the most valuable player on the floor. Without him the Cavaliers would have been left mangled by the Bulls in the conference finals, if they even got that far. Barring some explosion by Steph Curry, he should recieve it even if the Cavaliers lose.
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Without him the Cavaliers would have been left mangled by the Bulls in the conference finals, if they even got that far.
They played the Bulls in the 2nd round, but I'll still assume you're complimenting the Celtics. Thanks!
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ok LeBron you can still do this.. time to switch into GOAT-Mode!
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@Best:
ok LeBron you can still do this.. time to switch into GOAT-Mode!
As much as I'd want to see LeBron and the Cavs pull of a memorable upset given all the injuries and adversity, I find it hard to believe that he still has another gear/mode. I think this is already his GOAT-mode. His teammates, particularly Shumpert, should be demanded to switch into their respective GOAT-modes(I still recall that Game 6 back in 2013 he played in Indiana - for a while, he seemed to have save the Knicks' season).
A lot of people, even LeBron himself, commenting on the low shooting percentage but he actually has relatively good starts when it comes to this category but as the game goes on and the more he passes, the more clanked jumpers from his teammates I'm thinking that he's feeling he needs to set the tone and take the initiative by taking some shots - even if it means forcing them which leads to poor efficiency - that otherwise he, on a normal day, wouldn't take. He usually picks his spots but he doesn't have that privilege now.
The Warriors on the other hand - Great job in adjusting. The Cavaliers are a thin team right now and by playing in the Warriors' pace, their lack of depth is emphasized. Small ball is dominating so far which has led to double digit victories(Which has been standard for the Warriors all season seeing as their average point differential was 10 points or around that range). As long as everybody continue to chip in with the scoring plus at least one Splash brother(Better if both but that hasn't been the case through five games) can get a sweet shooting rhythm going, they'll be hoisting that trophy by game 6 though personally I'd like to see the Cavs protect homecourt and force a game 7 at Oakland. It will be dramatic to see the best player in the world try to steal one more road game, a game 7, for the championship. The last team to win an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road was way back in 1978.
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They played the Bulls in the 2nd round, but I'll still assume you're complimenting the Celtics. Thanks!
Oh right, Celtics-Bulls-Hawks. Not sure about the Celtics but either of the other two would have beaten a LeBronless Cavs team.
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Finals MVP hasn't gone to the losing player since Jerry West in like the 60's. But in my lifetime this may be the strongest case I've seen for it (previously Iverson I think, who didn't even get close to winning that series). You can knock Lebron's efficiency, but when you ask a guy to play 46 minutes per game as a one man band, some things will slip. Jordan's all time great playoff games typically weren't all that efficient either.
If they give it to a Warriors player though, I'd give it to Iggy. Without him, the Warriors might get swept. Curry's had MVP moments, but he's also had lots of duds and carelessly tossed two games away.
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Igoudala and Curry are the two obvious candidates for Golden State, definitely. Igoudala could win on the same grounds as Kawhi Leonard last year if his production goes up a little more, but even if he is playing great defense it's not obvious from the box score given LeBron's superhuman efforts. Seems like that would take more analysis by the voters than we usually see.
2/11 free throw shooting doesn't help his argument either.
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I still wouldn't mind Lebron getting Finals MVP win or lose like I mentioned after Game 3.
Iggy has .00001% chance unless he outplays Curry in a HUGE way for the remainder of the series. Andre hasn't exactly had a monster game yet. Meanwhile, Curry happens to be playing his best ball of the finals and is the most popular NBA player at the moment(based on jersey sales)
Iggy would have a decent argument should the Warriors take Game 6 (would make for a 3-0 record with him in the starting lineup) but chances are the voters are bought in on Curry/Lebron in the event that their teams win. They've been the two most discussed players the whole season
Stephenson to the Clippers?! lol, Doc must not want to make the playoffs next season
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Saw this fun fact going around:
Lebron James has not won a Finals game without Dwyane Wade in the building.
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Not a good way to end the first half, Warriors. Klay needs to get it going, despite the 3 fouls. GS needs to play THEIR game.
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Felt like the Warriors completely outplayed the Cavs yet only up by 2. Mozgov has been the saving grace
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Iggy is really putting on another amazing performance today!!
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That putback dunk from Ezeli was incredible. Slow motion doesn't do it justice though. Got to watch it in real time.
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Great final effort by the Cavaliers but they just didn't have enough left in them. Time for the Warriors to celebrate!
And Finals MVP goes to Igoudala. He played well enough tonight to deserve it. Good for him.
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What?! The athletic wing strikes again and snatches the Finals MVP! Congrats to Iggy and the Warriors!
OMG I need a gif of slowmo Iggy kissing the trophy. Now.
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That'll do Curry, that'll do.
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Iggy was the Warriors best player in the series and it wasn't really close tbh. Curry's great, but he struggled more than he usually does due to some rough stretches and has nobody but himself to blame for the two losses. Congratulations to the Warriors. Earned the championship by handling their business. Should've never even been a series really.
However, I can't consider them a team that can stand with the all time great teams after struggling with Lebron and what basically amounts to the remixed 07 Cavs, right down to him being unable to shoot. They'll have to collect multiple rings at this point to get into that discussion. Take a healthy Cavs team out next year and they'll really have something (besides being hated by Cleveland I mean).
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People be calling me a bandwagoner but I'm just happy GS won. They deserved it and Iggy won that Finals MVP fair and square, I love that he won it just like Kawhi won last year.
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Iggy was the Warriors best player in the series and it wasn't really close tbh. Curry's great, but he struggled more than he usually does due to some rough stretches and has nobody but himself to blame for the two losses. Congratulations to the Warriors. Earned the championship by handling their business. Should've never even been a series really.
However, I can't consider them a team that can stand with the all time great teams after struggling with Lebron and what basically amounts to the remixed 07 Cavs, right down to him being unable to shoot. They'll have to collect multiple rings at this point to get into that discussion. Take a healthy Cavs team out next year and they'll really have something (besides being hated by Cleveland I mean).
From a fan's standpoint, it's pretty easy to root for a Finals rematch between these two teams. The Cavs need it for obvious reasons but the Warriors aren't going to get as much respect as they should for closing out this dominant season. I'd think both supporters and detractors of the Warriors want to see how they handle a more difficult run.
And a smaller version, still takes up a bit of space though:
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It's kind of surreal Golden State has a championship whereas Oklahoma City still doesn't:ninja:
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I think this, though maybe not an all-time great team, is a great team. Defensively and offensively dominant, though they were sloppy through the first three games, there was not close to as much struggle in the last three. They were in control, through and through, and the biggest part of that was Steph, Iggy, and Draymond.
I'm gonna disagree with you Urouge, about Iggy being by far the best on the Warriors. He looked great on paper and defended LBJ as well as you could have asked, but the offense runs through Curry and he got better in just about every game. I think they were neck and neck and would have been fine with either being the MVP. Either way, I'm so happy that the Warriors won. I'm not a Warriors fan per se, (Lakers) but I've been a Curry fan since 2008 and followed him since then in the NBA. Since two years ago when they got beat in the second round, I've been interested in this team, and on paper, they looked phenomenal this year. I wasn't bold enough to predict they would win, but I thought they could, and I'm extremely happy that they did. This is the most watchable team since the 2013 Heat or 2010 Lakers with a lot of special, hard working players. Steph is one of a kind and to me, the greatest shooter of all time. Draymond Green is a workhorse and the best defender in the NBA, along with one of the most underrated offensive players in off the ball ways. Andrew Bogut has had a tough career but has been a huge part of this year. Iggy is the type of guy that any championship team needs and hopefully has a lot more years ahead of him. The bench is great, from festus ezeli to Shaun Livingston. There's just so much to like about this team ah!
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(besides being hated by Cleveland I mean).
Speaking of hate, Cleveland fans were incredibly salty during the awards ceremony.
So much booing.
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It's kind of surreal Golden State has a championship whereas Oklahoma City still doesn't:ninja:
They're a more well built team and always have been. OKC's top players are maybe better, but everyone else is mediocre on that squad. I would love to see Kevin Durant win one with OKC, but he's not the type of player that can have a series like LBJ did this year, every game.
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LeBron for Finals MVP, and I say that as a Warriors fan. Through five games he's averaging about 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists. That's insanity. The only knock I really have on him is that his efficiency isn't great, but given the unimpressive showings by basically everyone else he's clearly the most valuable player on the floor. Without him the Cavaliers would have been left mangled by the Bulls in the conference finals, if they even got that far. Barring some explosion by Steph Curry, he should recieve it even if the Cavaliers lose.
I know Jerry West won it the first time, but I just don't buy a losing player ever winning the award. It's the Most Valuable Player, and even if Lebron has been the best player, that's not the purpose of this award, which is much more easy to calculate in the finals than during the regular season. Unless he shot the game winning shot at the end of game seven in the other teams goal, I can't understand how he can be the most valuable player for the championship winners? he lost.
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As someone born in '91, It's kind of surreal to think that the last time the Warriors won the championship title, Jaws was the newest summer blockbuster.
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They're a more well built team and always have been. OKC's top players are maybe better, but everyone else is mediocre on that squad. I would love to see Kevin Durant win one with OKC, but he's not the type of player that can have a series like LBJ did this year, every game.
We don't even know if Durant can come back and be the same player consistently. He has one of those lingering injuries
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Stephenson to the Clippers?! lol, Doc must not want to make the playoffs next season
Stephenson can be a really great player. He's kind of a knucklehead, but as someone who has known him IRL, he's not a bad person at all. Plus, he was stellar his last year at Indiana and the type of player you want on a championship team. (when productive and not being a knucklehead) Similar to a J.R. Smith but more versatile. His shooting needs some work, but he was good his last year at Indiana and he's young enough where there's no reason to think he won't get back to that level.
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We don't even know if Durant can come back and be the same player consistently. He has one of those lingering injuries
He's too skilled to ever be a bad game. Even if he has to adjust his game a bit, the worse he could be is like, Dirk level. I'm confident he'll be back to where he needs to be, at least, for OKC to contend.
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@Rogues':
As someone born in '91, It's kind of surreal to think that the last time the Warriors won the championship title, Jaws was the newest summer blockbuster.
Last time was one of the biggest upsets in Finals history too. Good old Rick Barry.
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I know Jerry West won it the first time, but I just don't buy a losing player ever winning the award. It's the Most Valuable Player, and even if Lebron has been the best player, that's not the purpose of this award, which is much more easy to calculate in the finals than during the regular season. Unless he shot the game winning shot at the end of game seven in the other teams goal, I can't understand how he can be the most valuable player for the championship winners? he lost.
The end vote was 7-4. Surprisingly, Curry didn't get any votes. It's feasible for a losing player to get the MVP if there are multiple strong candidates on the winning team, thus splitting up the votes
11 votes is sort of low. Has it always been like this?
Stephenson can be a really great player. He's kind of a knucklehead, but as someone who has known him IRL, he's not a bad person at all. Plus, he was stellar his last year at Indiana and the type of player you want on a championship team. (when productive and not being a knucklehead) Similar to a J.R. Smith but more versatile. His shooting needs some work, but he was good his last year at Indiana and he's young enough where there's no reason to think he won't get back to that level.
Mostly meant that in jest. Mostly. He's been the court jester of the NBA since blowing in Lebron's ear.
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I'm going to keep posting. One of the best parts of the Finals to me is seeing the players who used to be All-stars, or who were drafted with super high hopes and somewhat disappointed finally get one. Kind of like Adam Morrison in 2009-10, Juwon Howard in 2011. This year it's Andrew Bogut, David Lee, and Shaun Livingston, who were all important to this team and this run. Oh, Leandro Barbosa, too; he's one of those guys who has been on near championship teams almost his entire career. Wait, Justin Holiday plays for these guys. Wow, this team, haha, just loving it.
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The end vote was 7-4. Surprisingly, Curry didn't get any votes. It's feasible for a losing player to get the MVP if there are multiple strong candidates on the winning team, thus splitting up the votes
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHrMxWcUsAAfkim.jpg
11 votes is sort of low. Has it always been like this?
I know they can win it, just personally don't agree with it at all. Not trying to downplay Lebron, because he's had one of the great series of all time. If he had pulled it off, it would be the greatest finals performance ever, no doubt. It just seems backwards to me. I think those 4 voters are wrong, lol. And of course it's Jeff Van Gundy and Zach Lowe voting for Lebron, haha.
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I called out Barbosa for being a liability after Game 4, then he brought it the past two games. Another player from the mid-late 2000s Suns to get a chip. Marion, James Jones(didn't play), Diaw, now Barbosa. Extremely happy for him. Now Amare needs one. And Nash as a coach :ninja:
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I called out Barbosa for being a liability after Game 4, then he brought it the past two games. Another player from the mid-late 2000s Suns to get a chip. Marion, James Jones(didn't play), Diaw, now Barbosa. Extremely happy for him. Now Amare needs one. And Nash as a coach :ninja:
Barbosa is a liability, haha, but when he's on, well, you understand why he's in the NBA.
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The bottom line is this:
When Iguodala was in the game, LeBron James shot 38.1 percent from the field, scoring 26 points per 36 minutes with 2.9 turnovers. With Iguodala on the bench, James shot 44 percent, averaging 35 points per 36 minutes with 2.2 turnovers. With Iguodala as the primary defender, opponents shot 37.2 percent overall, and he gave up free throws the same percentage of time (10.8 percent) that he forced a turnover, via Synergy Sports.
Even with everyone else on their team healthy. If they don't have Iggy they probably don't win this series. They don't have the defensive muscle just like all the teams before them without him. It's a weird situation of the Finals MVP being dictated by the best player, who happened to be on the losing team.
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The real player of the series:
And another fun stat.
Without LeBron James on the floor this series.
JR Smith 0/9 FG
Delly 0/7 FG
J. Jones 0/3 FG
Shumpert 0/2 FG
Total 0/21 FG -
Gross. The red one is NSFW
^Oh didn't see your post about Thompson. Scariest thing about the Warriors imo.
OnceIf Thompson makes another jump, the Warriors become that much harder to stop -
Yeah, those Clippers jerseys have been out for a while now and they're hilariously bad. People are calling them ClipArt. Look at some of these:
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And what makes it even more criminal is that they had all of this to pull from:
Meanwhile the Bucks have gotten rave reviews from everyone (mostly for ditching the red):
[hide][/hide]As for the Warriors. I don't buy it. Remember how convinced you were that the Spurs would repeat? Shit happens, and the Warriors were maybe the luckiest team I've ever seen this season. I don't mean to discredit them in any way or anything. They did nothing wrong, beat everyone who was put in front of them fairly, and deservedly won the title as the best team. Seriously, congrats to them on a great year. But talking about projecting forward, if you compare this finals performance to even last year's… they got pushed to 6 by a much lesser team. And now they're losing their top offensive assistant coach and probably paying someone to take David Lee. I'm not drinking the kool-aid yet.
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I saw the leak for the Clippers jersey back then too, but am surprised that they kept it. Didn't Ballmer and co. see the negative feedback? I feel sorry for Clippers fans….didn't see what was wrong with the old one logo. New ownership, new look. yadda yadda
Well it's easy for you to pick the field instead of the Warriors. Their chances definitely aren't greater than everyone else combined lol. Yes, they are still in the West and happened to dodge what I thought to be the strongest 3 teams before the season started.(Spurs, Thunder, Clippers) But those teams, along with the other West teams like Rockets, Grizzlies, Blazers, Mavericks didn't have a dominant two-way game coming from YOUNG players.
Besides the Rockets, the others have some roster changes imminent so I see a few of them regressing. The Warriors themselves have some decisions to make but since Green is staying without a doubt, they will have the nucleus of their roster nailed down. And then there's those question marks who probably will improve like Barnes and Ezeli.
I don't think for one time in the Finals both Curry and Thompson shot efficiently in the same game. I'm sure that'll be a topic of importance for them next season. Thompson did not look like a All-NBA player in the finals though, that is for sure. Still think Wall should've gotten more votes than Klay and Kyrie :getlost:
But Aldridge going anywhere could shake up the NBA for a couple seasons. He's still elite.
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Green will get the max and the Warriors will be warding off the hard cap even after paying someone to take Lee's contract. That's the price of being a contending team. But Lacob will pay it without blinking because they just won the freaking title, and he's a really good owner anyway (if I remember right he paid for every penny of his arena). But this was the ceiling. They had EVERYONE healthy, and the rest of the league was dragging legs and bodies behind them.
I won't even pick the field. Give me the Cavs in a heartbeat. A team that got decimated with injuries, stomped their conference anyway, and still put a scare into the Warriors. Luck can't really get much worse for them next year unless Lebron goes down, and they're still in the East. I initially said it'd take the Cavs 2 years to win because they wouldn't have the chemistry in year 1, but going into the playoffs I was looking like a damn fool. You say the Warriors couldn't find their shot? Lebron shot like 28% outside of 5 feet as their only option (29% for the playoffs). I'm done with the Thunder. Waiters and Kanter have officially scared me off. Watch them troll me and win now.
Aldridge is definitely going to shift the landscape depending on where he decides to go. All signs point to a Texas team, though. Just imagine if the freaking Rockets get him. I don't see any other free agents that are going to shake up the NBA this year, since Gasol is all but a lock to stay in Memphis. Guys like Monroe and Tobias Harris will probably move, but we're talking about guys in the East who've never made an all star game and want a max contract. Not league shaking stuff. Any legit guys (Butler, Leonard, etc, and even dudes like Middleton) are restricted and will be matched without thinking the year before the cap explodes.
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The Cavs having the highest odds makes sense since they have no competition in the East. The Bulls are falling apart. The Wizards can't make it to the finals next season unless they trade Nene for Anthony Davis lol. The Hawks/Heat could be formidable but not threatening to the Cavs in the slightest. Bucks/Raptors are probably just going to tread water. Celtics to have another underwhelming July. List goes on…
The Rockets would be incredible if they pulled it off. A healthy Aldridge/Howard front line just isn't fair. I'd even take them both at 70%
I wonder who other than Lebron will try to sign for one year
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Well, I don't want to crap on the Eastern conference teams too much, because I do think it's going in the right direction. The Celtics and Bucks could both be serious contenders in a couple years with the pieces they have (thinking Danny Ainge is more apt to wow people with a 2007 style moveset with all the assets he's collected rather than play a ton of lottery tickets). I think Washington has a couple of really nice young pieces to keep moving forward with. Did you know that Otto Porter ranked as one of the most efficient screen setters in the NBA this season? Though I don't trust Ernie Grunfeld to make a championship roster out of it. And Atlanta definitely has something cooking, but they suffered a bunch of tough setbacks at the end of the year and will be fighting in free agency just to hold serve. People are high on Miami. I'm not convinced, but they've got a short window and they'll be all in. Detroit could also be on the rise with how the post-Josh Smith SVG Pistons looked last year. I do worry that the Bulls are no longer going forward (Jimmy Butler's contract talks must scare the piss out of them), though, and we don't speak about Toronto. But I can't deny production.
And lost in all of that garble? The fact that the 2nd best team in the East next year could very easily be the Pacers again now the PG13 is back. If they make a couple moves they could be the one other serious contender out of the East next season that I can see. They could easily flip the final year of West's deal and have cap space for a max deal, for example. Everyone else kinda feels… two years away or more.
The other issue that's seriously clouding the Cavs odds is the change to a 1-16 playoff format rather than the conference split that everyone is clamoring for.
Jimmy Butler would freaking love to sign for one year if he could. But the Bulls will offer him the 5 year max, so the shortest contract anyone will be allowed to offer him will be 3 years. And the only reason this happened is because Butler wanted $12 mil last year (when dudes like Parsons and Hayward were getting the max) and the Bulls wouldn't go over $11 mil, because they're freaking cheap, so he decided to take the one year option and bet on himself instead. Now he expects to get $190 mil over 5 years once he clears the shortest deal he can work out.
It's really an interesting case of long term gains vs security. People are floored when they see guys like Brook Lopez and JR Smith saying they're going to opt out of their contracts this offseason. It's pretty easy to live your life vicariously through someone else, and see all the money they're potentially leaving on the table by not waiting a year and calling them foolish. But at the same time, they're going out and securing long, guaranteed contracts in a business that could easily leave them irrelevant in a year if things break poorly. I think most guys will just take the money. Financial security, the fans will love them for it, and it's still a ton of money. Wes Matthews would be a good test case. He was a max guy easily and then he tore his achilles. We'll see how much he gets this offseason.
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Oh crap, completely forgot about the Pacers. I'd say adding George to that average team could give them a high seed, but they're in the only tough division in the East. It'll be a challenge for them since few of their better players are on the decline. The Pacers do need to make some moves.
All the clamoring for the playoff format change is annoying. For all the noise made all season about it, the only team that would have lost their spot in the East was the Nets in favor of the Thunder. Not worth it to scramble up the format. If you do then the regular season schedule has to be altered as well to further lessen disparity. Seems like a hassle to me. And I'm much too stubborn to accept it
I mean for the players that aren't on their rookie contracts. Butler is locked in
Lopez whatareyoudoingman. He should take a gamble imo. Try and finish the year strong with productive numbers and he's getting 100+ million with the cap increase. But he is unfortunately notorious for his injury history and it's a safe move on his part. Matthews is a good two-way player but I only accept him being a "max guy" because some of these other players that have gotten it like Hibbert, Eric Gordon, Parsons. Oh well, the new max will be much more. I think the Blazers try to get him for cheap, irregardless of their ability to resign Aldridge
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Changing the playoff format would scramble the teams. East would play West. Madness. At the very least the Cavs couldn't count on dodging the West until the Finals. And there is a legit argument that the West is more top heavy with more actual contenders. This year they would have controlled 6 of the top 8 seeds. This would have been the playoff bracket this year (assuming no funky division winner favortism, and to be entirely honest I don't actually know who'd win a tiebreaker between the Bulls and Mavs off the top of my head):
[hide]1. Golden State
16. Boston8. Portland
9. Chicago4. Los Angeles Clippers
13. New Orleans5. Memphis
12. Washington3. Houston
14. Milwaukee6. San Antonio
11. Toronto7. Cleveland
10. Dallas2. Atlanta
15. Oklahoma CityThe odd thing about this draw is that EVERY East team drew a West team in round 1. Since an extra West team got in, the 4-13 features two West teams going at it.[/hide]
Actually no, Butler's not locked in. There's significant noise about him taking the 1 year QO (which would only make him like $3.5 mil next season), which is taking gambling on yourself to the extreme, but would make him unrestricted when the cap blows up. I'm not even sure there's a long term financial gain by doing that after factoring in the money given up right away. If he actually does that, and I'm not convinced, then Bulls fans need to hit the damn panic button. 3 year max that gets matched seems more likely.Whatever, if someone were to tell you that you could have $100 mil guaranteed for 5 years now, or $20 mil guaranteed for 1 year, and if you go the whole year playing in the NBA without suffering a season ending injury, you can have a guaranteed 5 year deal that's worth more like $150 mil. You sort of stop, look down at your knees, and think of it as a dumb decision. In Lopez's case, he's looking at his feet. It's a long and brutal season, and I don't fault anyone for taking as much money they can whenever they can. Besides, they say that injuries always happen when you're thinking about them.
Also, it's possible that Lopez actually wants out of Brooklyn now that Billy King has tried to trade him a ton of times.
Anyway, let's laugh at the Clippers jerseys some more. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/44318c7366/blake-griffin-and-steve-ballmer-unveil-the-new-clippers-logo
And umm… Electronic Arts wasn't exactly amused.
[hide][/hide]
It's the gift that keeps on giving.And lastly, the 76ers rubbed it in by releasing their new uniforms and making them not suck as well:
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[/hide]And you just know that getting outdone by the Sixers is a special sort of burn these days. -
Before you change the playoff format, it's only(more) fair to make sure the regular season schedule is as equal as possible. Keeping the schedule the way it is still leaves the complainers some ammo to work with. "______ would have had a better record playing in the East!" I don't think the problem will be truly solved unless there's an extreme makeover.
That'd be a poor choice by Butler to sign the QO. Idk what the new max would be for a young player but I doubt it'd give him a gain until 4 seasons from now. He's all but locked up to a multi-year deal this offseason.
Not a fan of PHILA on the jersey but anything beats the Clippers. The stars on the side may grow on me but I'd feel silly wearing it. Just look at Embiid, he's not too pleased.
! Or it could be that he's having foot problems again
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I actually don't think the seeding should be changed to a pure 1-16 bracket, since as Nate said it increases the consequences of disparities in strength of schedule. Instead, I think the league should focus on changing up the playoffs so the best teams stay in longer. The best series in this playoffs was the Spurs-Clippers in Round 1, which eliminated one serious contender and left the other exhausted in addition to making the rest of the playoffs look bad. That should change.
One easy solution would be to keep the same seeding structure and just put the seeding in the playoffs by overall record. It would look the same as Uruoge's example but with Boston at 15 and Brooklyn at 16.
The other fun solution I can think of would be to match of the 1 and 8 of opposite conferences and so on. It would be weird but fun to see what would happen.
! Example:
1. Golden State
8. Brooklyn
! 4. Toronto
5. Memphis
! 3. Los Angeles
6. Milwaukee
! 2. Cleveland
7. Dallas
! 1. Atlanta
8. New Orleans
! 4. Portland
5. Washington
! 3. Chicago
6. San Antonio
! 2. Houston
7. Boston
! Sure, most of those first round match ups are boring but it sets up some sick potential ones in later rounds. -
The top 8 West seeds would absolutely love that format.
Teams would hate my idea because of longer travel during the season, but the closest we could get to an absolutely fair schedule under the 82-game season is:
- Play each team in your conference 3 times (42 games)
- Play two divisions in the other conference 3 times (30 games) and the other division only twice (10 games)
- Teams in each division have the same schedule(so both Lakers and Clippers play the Southeast and Central divisions 3 times each while only playing the Atlantic twice
And like I've mentioned, I would keep the playoff format the same so conferences can still have some meaning. But the only advantage I'd give division winners is the initial seeding tiebreaker. That should be enough.
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The conference inbalance isn't actually a problem. That's just an illusion. One conference will invariably do better and have more highly ranked teams, but at the same time will have played harder competition and be deserving of that ranking. The complaints work if the theory is that the west teams wind up with the same sort of win totals as the inferior east teams, but obviously that isn't the case. The only real complaint here is "well, if the Suns played in the east they could've made the playoffs." But honestly, it's kind of hard to feel a huge amount of sympathy for the 10th best team in the conference who can't post a .500 record. And they're definitely coming closer to the playoffs with my system than they are by just letting 8 west teams in.
PHILA is a thing that goes way back to Wilt's jerseys (because Philadelphia is too long to fit on a jersey and Philly looks kinda dumb on a jersey). And I like how they have 7 stars on one side and 6 on the other (76ers, 13 colonies). The way they put the three jerseys next to each other is sort of in your face about the red, white, and blue, though. But as a Bucks fan I've been assured on multiple occasions that holiday colors don't work for team colors, so we'll see. And I don't expect Butler to take the QO either, but the fact that he's considering it at all is amazing.
There are other rebrands coming too. The Hawks are coming, and from what I've seen their logo looks good and some of their jersey designs are hideous. And the Hornets I think, after just changing to the Hornets? Can we chill on this a bit maybe? I mean, I get that some are bound to happen. When new ownership takes over a franchise, rebranding invariably follows, so it was expected that the Bucks, Clippers, and Hawks would all rebrand, but damn the Hawks wasted no time at all. And I guess the Sixers changed ownership like 4 years ago and dragged their feet on it (ahem, researched it extensively), and it's just ironic that they decided to do it this year.
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There wouldn't be a conference imbalance with your system because conferences wouldn't really exist anymore
Just taking the best 16 records and changing nothing else would receive even heavier criticism. Like you said, one conference will invariably do better every season. It was tougher to win in the West this year. I'm sure the Rockets/Clippers/etc believe they'd have a better record than the Hawks if they had an East heavy schedule(although the Hawks are a bad example–they crushed the West all year).
You've got to shake up the regular season scheduling either way in my opinion but especially if a playoff format is changed too.
! Didn't notice the stars on the waistband of the shorts at first. Those are SO cheesy looking haha
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Sure they would, you still play teams in your conference more than the other conference, and teams in your division more than the other divisions. And yes, this is for ease of travel. That's just the way of real life.
And yeah, the belt buckle of stars or whatever is… what.
For the record, I'm SUPER low on Embiid's health. I mean, I wish the kid well and everything, but I wouldn't bet on him. I have reliable friends in Wisconsin who tell me that at least one of the doctors in Milwaukee who examined Embiid predraft advised the Bucks to steer clear, and has been telling some of his own patients that he doesn't think Embiid will ever clear all the necessary hurdles to get on the floor for an actual NBA game. And I've heard the same sort of stories from people in Cleveland. I guess HIPPA compliance doesn't cover professional athletes. But that's certainly not to say that he can't or won't make it, and none of these doctors have likely examined the guy since before he was drafted.
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The player's association wants to lessen the number of back-to-backs regardless so which would either lessen the raw number of games or stretch out the season(I'd assume with a 10-15 early start in October. I think citing all the injuries for the past few years now gives a solid reason. Despite technology improving and players apparently taking better care of their bodies, the game is a lot faster now. Smaller players have been dropping like flies. Embiid has the dreaded foot injury. Same that took down Yao right?
And yeah, the belt buckle of stars or whatever is… what.
They better at least glow in the dark.