2018-2019 NBA Season Thread

[darkhorse]

I wouldn't say you were an advocate as I doubt this approach even exists, but you were suggesting it was a tactic employed by the 80's Lakers and the current Warriors to explain the end of their dominant ways. Also, I don't believe the 80's Lakers even fit this example as they brought home the best record in the West all but one year during the entire decade.

It's far more likely in a competitive sport, where competing at the highest level is the entire point, that the players involved in these respective dynasties aged out of their prime and performance slipped. That's how it happens in every sport throughout the history of sport.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

I wouldn't say you were an advocate as I doubt this approach even exists, but you were suggesting it was a tactic employed by the 80's Lakers and the current Warriors to explain the end of their dominant ways.

*sigh*

I didn't suggest it was a tactic. Once more, stop reading the "fine print" when there is none. You made a mistake. It is ok. People make mistakes. Like I said before, we can't expect imperfect people to be 100% on all the time. There is no shame in admitting it you were wrong.

What I said in my examples was it isn't unexpected that teams will lose a sense of urgency as the moments become more commonplace. They have a different perspective. They are geared more towards the endgame than the early game.

I don't care if you agree or disagree w/that. I wouldn't post on a forum if I minded a challenge to my opinion or a different point of view. But I don't suffer people putting words in my mouth that I didn't say. No matter how trivial.

[Antonin]

When LeBron James was in Cleveland the second time he used to say he didn't care about win-loss records or playoff seeding. "Just get me to the playoffs," he'd say, again and again. And at times during the regular season it seemed to everyone here like he just was not very interested in those 82 games.

But come playoff time it was a different story.

It's dangerous for an athlete or a team to think they can coast along during the regular season and then turn it up to 100% when they need to. They might run into an opponent who is on a mission and hungry enough not to be intimidated by who they are facing.

But some of the great ones--individual athletes and teams--can get away with it.

It remains to be seen if Golden State still can, with or without KD. Toronto has been denied so many times by the Cavaliers, they might be on a mission now that they are finally on the verge of reaching their ultimate goal.

[kenyan_cheena]

If you were to pick the worst, most dire team in the NBA to attempt to resurrect in association mode on NBA 2K20, which team would it be?

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

*sigh*

I didn't suggest it was a tactic. Once more, stop reading the "fine print" when there is none. You made a mistake. It is ok. People make mistakes. Like I said before, we can't expect imperfect people to be 100% on all the time. There is no shame in admitting it you were wrong.

Take your own advice as you've been all over the map in this discussion going from "using the regular season as a lengthy preseason" to "only the most important matches" to "once in a while." Who knows what you mean when the sands keep shifting.

[damientheomen3]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

If you were to pick the worst, most dire team in the NBA to attempt to resurrect in association mode on NBA 2K20, which team would it be?

I'd advise to wait until the offseason shakes out, although you can just start from the beginning of the offseason. In that case, probably Memphis.

[rudel.dietrich]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

If you were to pick the worst, most dire team in the NBA to attempt to resurrect in association mode on NBA 2K20, which team would it be?

If you play with real life injuries, Washington.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Take your own advice as you've been all over the map in this discussion going from "using the regular season as a lengthy preseason" to "only the most important matches" to "once in a while." Who knows what you mean when the sands keep shifting.

Welcome to the "Ignore List." Have a nice life.

[darkhorse]

.

[Rizon]

darkhorse, I challenge you to an Avatar/signature of Choice.

* Raptors win the series: I will use an Avatar and Signature of your choice from when the Finals are over until the first game of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.

* Warriors win the series: you will use an Avatar and Signature of my choice from when the Finals are over until the first game of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.

[TheMaus2]

Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

If you were to pick the worst, most dire team in the NBA to attempt to resurrect in association mode on NBA 2K20, which team would it be?

Washington/Detroit/Charlotte

[TheMaus2]

CP3 available in trade talks. Wonder what Morey's retooling will do for the Rockets next year.

[Cobra Mgr]

I think if Toronto doesn't win game 1, they have no chance of winning the trophy. Game 1 is when GS will be most vulnerable because of rust & Toronto will be a madhouse. As the series goes, it gets closer to KD & possibly Cuz getting back into the lineup. If they can't crack the Dubs Thurs, I don't see how they have any hope the deeper it goes.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Rizon

darkhorse, I challenge you to an Avatar/signature of Choice.

* Raptors win the series: I will use an Avatar and Signature of your choice from when the Finals are over until the first game of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.

* Warriors win the series: you will use an Avatar and Signature of my choice from when the Finals are over until the first game of the 2019-2020 NBA Season.

I haven't changed my avatar in 17 years, so that ain't happening, and I wouldn't be interested in changing yours either. Also, I'm not especially fond of either of the Finals contestants, though Kawhi is amazeballs. Not much of an incentive.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Bucks need to get Giannis an upgrade in teammate. He and the rest of the team shrinks when the pressure gets highest. They were on fire in the 1st period. But M.I.A. in the 4th.

Kahwi meanwhile showed what a superstar should do. He found a way to be extra. And van Fleet somehow borrowed something from Steph Curry's aura.

IMO the two teams were pretty evenly matched, and that Toronto won in 6 games isn't all that shocking. It could've just as easily been Kahwi's supporting cast that came up short late in the series. But it wasn't.

That said, I agree that Giannis needs an upgrade in supporting players. Many of the Bucks are the kind of complimentary players you'd want on your team, but if Middleton is your #2 guy, then your #'s 3 and 4 guys need to be at or very near the same level as Middleton, and Lopez and Beldsoe clearly are not. This is no knock on Middleton, Lopez, or Beldsoe, as they are all decent players (with Middleton being an ideal #3 guy, IMO), but it's an indication that the upper-echelon of the Bucks' talent is not where it needs to be to get a title. Especially when the #1 guy - Giannis - despite his greatness is so one-dimensional in the half-court/playoff game.

[darkhorse]

Milwaukee and Indiana were in a virtual tie for the best bench in the NBA and Middleton, Brodgon, Bledsoe, and Lopez are all good complementary players to Giannis greatness. There's a reason Milwaukee were the best team in the NBA this season. Budenholzer is also a quality coach and should win his second Coach of the Year award. George Hill at midseason was another terrific addition to a club built without any lottery picks, just superb drafting, savvy trades, and solid work on the FA market. Their front office has done a magnificent job in putting together this team and there's no reason to see this run of excellence come to an end anytime soon.

https://stats.nba.com/teams/traditio...terBench=Bench

[thehef]

Originally Posted by rudel.dietrich

He is still an incomplete player. If he is shoot 35% from three, 75% from the line and become a more accurate passer then his teams will become almost unstoppable.

Agree

Originally Posted by TheMaus2

I hope we get KD/Kawhi in the finals, but he's not available until Game 3. oh well

There is only one outcome I want to see: The Raptors beating the Warriors-including-KD. At this point, it seems unlikely. Why do I want to see this? Because I think KD - despite his undeniable greatness on the court - represents what's wrong with sports. He's whiny, supersensitive, a jerk. So...

1. The Raptors winning against a KD-less team would just add to the chip and ultra-arrogance on KD's shoulder.
2. The Warriors winning without KD will be ok I guess from my dislike-KD perspective, but still - it'd be the Warriors winning. And while I'm ok with Steph & Klay (but not Draymond), I'm sick of the Warriors and all this talk about what a great all-time team they are, when the reality is they are the greatest team of this era, but any talk about comparing to teams of previous eras is silly, IMO.

Originally Posted by Antonin

...I don't think the Raptors have a chance. They have some great players, but I don't think any team that does not have LeBron James in his prime can beat today's Golden State Warriors... All dynasties come to an end, but I don't see the Warriors' dynasty coming to an end in 2019.

Have to mostly agree. Although I think the Raptors' problem - much like Milwaukee's - is that they have one great player (Kawhi) and then a bunch of solid role players. The slight advantage they had over the Bucks is that, IMO, Kawhi slightly > Giannis (and clearly more playoff-tested), and the Raptors' 2nd tier players ever-so-slightly > than the Bucks'. Enough to beat even a KD-less Warriors team? Probably not, unless Kawhi just goes nuts.

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I remember one year in the 80's, the Lakers looked vulnerable. After dominating the west for so many years, they barely won home court advantage. So it was expected LA would struggle a bit. I think they ended up sweeping all 3 series in the west. And I think it was the Suns who they beat in the WCF. They asked Tom Chambers why was it that none of the west could give the Lakers a fight after it seemed like they were weakening. And he said if you were in the finals every year, how much effort and desire are you going to muster up for a regular season game? ... That's where GS is. Particularly since they won 73 one year but lost the trophy. It is hard to get up for every game in an 82 game season when you know what a grind it is after Tax Day.

Originally Posted by darkhorse

And, that Lakers team was swept 4-0 by the Pistons in the Finals.

I find myself in the odd position of defending the Lakers, who I despise. However, that conclusion - the Lakers getting swept 4-0 in the finals - is seriously missing context, as the '89 Lakers who swept thru the Western Conference undefeated, were missing their starting backcourt for most of the finals (Byron Scott missed the entire series; Magic went down midway thru Game Two). Simply put: The Lakers who coasted through the regular season, only to turn it on in the postseason, were not the same Lakers who got swept by Detroit. To reach that conclusion is being completely ignorant of context, IMO.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

When you've lost/won titles you get juiced up for only the most important matches.

Originally Posted by darkhorse

If that were true, you'd get your ass handed to you on a regular basis. This is not college or high school where the difference in talent between the best and worst is immense. And teams at lower levels still lose when they come out flat against teams they expect to roll over. This notion doesn't pass the smell test for me.

Fair enough, that it doesn't pass "the smell test" for you... However, I'll give you the example of the 1986 Celtics, who knew they were the best team.

Their record against the elite teams (Milw, Phil, Atl, Det, LAL, Hou, Den) of the NBA? 23-5, undefeated at home. Their 15 losses:

- 9 to teams who were both sub-.500 at the time they met and would finish the season sub-.500...
- 1 to a team, Portland, that was above .500 at the time (13-10) but would finish below .500...
- 1 to a team, Detroit, that was below .500 at the time (16-19) but would finish above .500...
- 2 to above .500 - but not seriously contending - Western Conference teams (Dallas & Denver)...
- 2 to division & long-time rival Philly...

All losses were on the road, except for the loss to Portland, which was technically a home game but actually "on the road" in Hartford.

If that's not the very definition of a team that got "juiced up" for the good teams but let down against the bad ones, I don't know what is.

And I'm pretty sure that if you look at the history of multi-title teams, you'll find that it is littered with ones that learned to chill a bit during the regular season, once they had proven their point in a previous season or two...

[darkhorse]

How did the Celtics "know" they were the best team in the NBA in 1986 seeing as they'd lost in the Finals the previous season. Also, did they know they were the NBA's best team the following year or any of the next 22 seasons when they failed to bring home the trophy?

Also, that multi-title Celtic team (championships in '81 and '84) expended a lot of energy dominating the league with a won-loss of 67-15 that's only one win shy of the franchise record. Why did they feel compelled to play hard so often and take home field advantage throughout the East playoff by a ten win margin. Surely, these wily veterans would have coasted through the season, won in the high fifties, then hit the on switch for the playoffs. This is the current explanation for Golden State no longer being able to crush the league in the regular season and it is equally dubious.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by thehef

IMO the two teams were pretty evenly matched, and that Toronto won in 6 games isn't all that shocking. It could've just as easily been Kahwi's supporting cast that came up short late in the series. But it wasn't.

Oh they were definitely evenly matched. I pointed out to some guys last night that that series was a millimeter close to being a sweep. Remember, Bucks had a 2-0 lead and went into OT in game 3. One point in regulation and the Finals is getting started in Milwaukee.