Ja Morant with the ice water veins. Easy to root for.
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Ja Morant with the ice water veins. Easy to root for.
Go home Warriors bandwagoners. You should have beat the Lakers
They actually got a head start on their rebuild. Morant was the final piece of the puzzle.Originally Posted by 13 - 3
I am highly sceptical about saying someone who will be returning to the court after 2.5 years off due to devastating injury as having ''plenty of tread'' left on the tires. A huge huge huge part of Klay's value to the Warriors was his defensive versatility on wings and it's hard to imagine that being intact after this huge time off and severe leg injury. He was never massively mobile with footwork and hip switching in the first place, relying more on positioning and length, but you do need some functional floor of motion. How bad can your movement be before your length can't compensate anymore? I don't know the answer to that, but Klay's return might end up giving us some insights.
The rest of the roster, as well, is still an issue. Curry is obviously still elite but his defense is as bad as its ever been. Draymond still has it when he wants but that motor appears to be idling far more than it ever used to, even in seemingly 'big' games - I'd expect it to return in super high pressure playoff scenarios but they have to get to high pressure playoff scenarios first. Klay's return is up in the air. So the big 3 that defined their championship days is not quite what it once was. That's not a huge surprise.
Beyond that, their best player is Wiggins, who has taken some strides this year and improved from being actively terrible to being solid, but he's still just solid.
Wiseman was a waste of their pick, I said that at the time and he's done nothing his rookie year to disprove it. I didn't have him top 10 in his draft and I wouldn't have him top 10 in a redraft.
I'd have a very different outlook if they'd drafted LaMelo.
Is a team with post-2020 Curry/Klay/Dray still a playoff team? Probably, but I don't think they're contenders for the conference finals or anything, which is what they'd have to be for me to think of them as scary.
Basketball.
Perhaps Mac knows basketball.
Here come the overreactions after the Memphis win. It’s already happening on Pels Twitter.
What do you mean by overreactions?
Some are saying that Ja is better than Zion or that Memphis is better set up for the long term. I would not be shocked if they were Lakers fans disguised as Pels fans.
Last edited by DaFranchise80; 05-22-2021 at 12:47 AM.
Ah gotcha.
Yeah a lot of it is just recency bias. Ja got to the play-ins, so he had the opportunity to go off in the big game, Zion didn't, and people are prisoners of the moment.
I think the issue of being set up in the long term is a balancing act. Memphis is in a more secure situation because they have most of the pieces, they just need to grow and tailor the roster: Ja, JJJ, Tillman, Bane, Jonas, these are all the pieces to a legitimate playoff team and they have them all already. We, on the other hand, have far more potential due to our plethora of assets, but very little is secured right now.
One thing I will praise the Grizzlies on though, and this is me kind of just parroting myself from before last draft, is that they've really identified a way of drafting and it's working for them. That way of drafting is this: look at the players who are on the board when you pick. Pick the best one. It's wild how so few teams seem interested in doing that, but Memphis has, and it's paid off for them quite quickly: Desmond Bane and Xavier Tillman are both rookies, both picked way later than they should be (both players we could have drafted) and both produced extremely well for Memphis this year and showed up big in this play-in game and are on rookie contracts for another 3 years. That's value.
Memphis making the 8th seed has everything to do with them having productive vets like Jonas (29) and Kyle Anderson (27). Plus positive contribution from young vets like Tyus Jones (25) and Dillon Brooks (25). And none of those players are new to Memphis. They've been there.
Thats helped them overcome a complete whiff on Justise Winslow, who they probably won't re-sign this offseason. They already released Gorgui Deing.
The Pelicans have Steven Adams (28) and maybe Josh Hart (26)?? They aren't as top heavy as the Pelicans, but the supporting cast of vets is MUCH more solid despite the whiffs.
And I’ll give you credit since you don’t claim it as you tabbed both of those guys prior to the draft as good prospects the Pels should look at with their picks. Bane was touted as a very good shooter. What good would that have done us? Tillman as a rugged defender with real interior toughness. Pels have plenty of that, right Griff? No, better to pay up for some high priced vets. Everyone knows you can’t establish a competitive, winning culture without those vets around dispensing wisdom. Just ask Memphis. They are paying the price for not having enough vets. That’s why they can’t be mentally tough like the Pels. No vets around to teach them the ropes. Thanks be we dropped $45 million on Adams and Bledsoe to make sure that didn’t happen to us. What were the Grizzlies thinking actually using all those second rounders to draft players and develop them. You’ll never make the playoffs that way!
I wouldn't completely dispel the value of having vets who are good, as luckyman pointed out the Grizz do have a handful of good, productive vets on the team who have been very helpful to them this year. No question about that.
But yeah, I wonder if the Pelicans could have done with a 43% 3pt shooter and 81% FT shooter on the wing, or a 60%TS big who finished in the 90th percentile of Defensive EPM?
The world will never know.
If I was asked to take a GM job today, with the lone goal of building an NBA Champ, I would still take the Pelicans. But if I was asked to choose a team that I would want to be a fan of, I would choose the Grizzlies. I am more drawn to their type of players. I love guys with less athletic trait markers or skill sets who take nothing for granted and always have a chip on their shoulder. Ja, Lonzo, and Ingram are all #2 picks but only one of them plays with the urgency of a 2nd round pick whose job could be taken away at any moment. IMO, Griff needs to get rid of the guys with the wrong mentalities, even if that means downgrading in talent and/or physical attributes. And he has admitted as much in his latest presser. Lets see if he follows through.
@mcnamara247
Looking forward to watching the first round of the playoffs quite a lot this season. Usually not quite so much, but I think there's something to be interested in with every matchup even if the outcome seems obvious.
Bucks vs Heat: Jrue begins his first ever real ''championship run'' attempt; does Budenholzer change up his playoff rotations from the last few years? Jimmy Butler + Bam Adebayo; how do they deal with Jrue+Khris+Giannis? Spoelstra adjusting to the higher percentage of off-ball Giannis looks will be fun.
Mavericks vs Clippers: Replay of last year's Mavs/Clips playoff series that got pretty chippy at times. Are the Mavericks able to get the upset, or will the improved Clippers be able to just steamroll? Long running narrative here.
Celtics vs Nets: Nets may be the greatest offensive show on Earth, at least in terms of star power (perhaps not in terms of actually being fun to watch at times), and the Celtics had a rough season, but there's elements of intrigue surrounding specific matchups (Tatum is going to be guarded by who exactly?) that will be interesting and of course actually seeing the playoff Nets will be fascinating.
Blazers vs Nuggets: Jokic is missing a huge portion of his supporting cast, but he has continually shown up in the playoffs so far in his career including during those two 3-1 comebacks the other year. Will be interesting to see how the guard depleted roster handles the Blazers scoring guard combo, but it will be equally fun to watch Jokic just dominate a terrible defense.
Wizards vs Sixers: Juggernaut defensive Sixers taking on the Wizards has a fun little sub-narrative regarding Westbrook's continued playoff failures in recent years. There's also a discussion to be had surrounding whether Embiid's egregious foul rate carries through to the post-season and, if not, what troubles that might give them.
Lakers vs Suns: Lebron James and CP3 go head to head in the battle for World's Worst Complainer. Also arguably the matchup between the league's two smartest players. How does the Lakers health situation work out? Will the Suns be able to muster enough interior defense to overcome the Lebron/AD tandem, assuming they're healthy enough to execute it? Is Lebron facing his first ever first round exit?
Hawks vs Knicks: Knicks are in the playoffs, which is super fun for them. Same question that applied to Embiid's foul-grifting applies here to Trae's; my hope is that they don't reward him for it.
Grizzlies vs Jazz: Young Grizz team that just fought its way into the playoffs takes on the regular season's best team; a team that, despite huge reg-season success, very few people consider a favourite for the championship. I think the Jazz will win but I'm really hoping the underdog Grizz can take a game or two.
I totally agree with this!
I'm looking forward to Lakers/Suns. Obviously because of Monty and CP. The other because I just like Phoenix as a team.
The rest just to see the reaction of all the open mouths of media who have all picked the Lakers in a land slide.
Was also funny seeing the attitudes toward the play-in games change. I was a fan of it from the beginning. Maybe they tweak it to take #7 out. But in all honesty, there should only be 6 teams from each conference to make the playoffs in the first place.
If you are going to be so generous and include 8, then might as well have the bottom fight it out to make things interesting.
Last edited by luckyman; 05-22-2021 at 11:51 AM.
Contributor
Just idle thought on the impossible: What could we get for Lonzo and Ingram, I wonder. Is there a team who’d want both who has something to give back they we’d want?
I could see the Lakers winning if Lebron and AD are fully healthy throughout, but I don't get the landslide predictions some people have had. The Suns have been really good this year, and they're a cohesive team that has spent time playing together. I don't get why people would just count them out besides assuming Lebron has an auto-by to the second round.
Double standard?
LeBron James won't be suspended for protocols violation, sources tell ESPN. Nature of event didn't rise to a threat level of virus spread, as described in @McTen's story below. Suns-Lakers Game 1 on Sunday. https://t.co/nEAcnBsbvv
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 22, 2021
Their justification for it not counting (as mentioned in the article that dropped with this whole story in it) is that the event he attended required everyone to either give proof of vaccination or a recent negative test result in order to attend, and therefore there was no major risk of infection.
Now, it's up to you whether or not you think that's a remotely good enough excuse, but that's their publicly stated reasoning for allowing Lebron to continue playing with no repercussions.
Answer : Money. Lebron controls the NBA. Think the Pelicans players get away with that? Even if it were safe?
Not even fined. Griff. Says something that is true and got to write a check. Lol
Agreed 100%. I have a competitive personality when I play sports, and when I see the guys on our team not even care if they get embarrassed defensively it pisses me off. It disgusts me. At the end of the season I couldn't even watch it anymore. I had had enough.
I would rather see less talented, "try-hard" players with good basketball IQ giving 100% all the time than "talented" players who only care about one side of the floor, and padding their stats. With about a minute left in the game Golden State got an offensive rebound and splashed a 3. Memphis didn't get shell shocked like we do. They came down the floor, took their time, got the look they wanted and scored. They didn't freak out and stupidly turn the ball over like we do.
Jrue having solid game
9reb 3 assist 17 Pts in 4th
Jrue is just so so so so so much better than Bledsoe it's not even funny. League needs to retroactively rescind all of Bledsoe's awards and give them to Jrue. 18/9/3 with 3 steals on basically 50% shooting despite not being able to hit a three (the Bucks in general are super cold from 3, 5/28 as a team, looking like the Pelicans out there) and brilliant overall.
Hope he wins a chip this year.
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