What they wouldnt give to have an Al Horford to provide some leadership. And if they could get him at even say 34 instead of 37 it would be even better.
Why Cant OKC get guys like that?
2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
- Start date
Why Cant OKC get guys like that?
I think Denver is getting a lot of credit because of beating Boston twice. Without that, they'd be seen as close to the field.
Is that credit valid? Ehh, they definitely look good down the stretch of games, but Boston also ran really, really bad to close that first matchup.
I think it's somewhere in the middle: Jokic is the best player in the world, they should be a favorite in the West, but maybe not prohibitively, and they're getting a bit too much benefit of the doubt because of the title + the Celtics games.
Hmmm, is Banchero even better than Franz Wagner?
Definitely like SGA and AntMan more than PB
Banchero's +/- compared to Wagner is massive for two players that play quite a bit together.
Its almost like comparing Tatum to Brown
Banchero's on/off is a mess (and I don't think he's in their class right now), but players that move like him, at his size, with his handle and (what's starting to look like) a decent jump shot? His ceiling is incredibly high, and I think it's higher than either Ant or SGA.
View: https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1775280797437624699?s=20
How he plays over the next few weeks could really shake up the EC race.
In the first matchup (I think?) they played a really weird lineup for extended minutes in the 3rd quarter.. it felt to me that JM was experimenting to see what worked and what didn’t against them.. and a lot of it didn’t. (Didn’t PP guard Jokic for a possession?) I expect the Celts to play a lot differently against them if they get to the finals.
So let me get this right - Embiid didn’t decide to play until OKC announced that SGA was out? That is so ridiculously on brand.
View: https://twitter.com/underdog__nba/status/1775306156854100001?s=46
View: https://twitter.com/underdog__nba/status/1775306156854100001?s=46
So many quality candidates to choose from, hard to pick just one, I agree.
Brothers checks all the boxes, always so sure of himself and always so consistently wrong.
He's somehow stuck on peak of Mt Stupid portion of the Dunning-Kruger curve despite more than ample experience to move beyond it.
Even with limited mobility Embiid is a really good offensive player.
Defensively ….still getting loose.
I know nobody wants to say it but there has to be a separate category for Holtkamp, right? If not, there is no real debate for this honor.
I'm only at halftime (on tape delay) for the game, but Embiid looks awful. Can't move, can't defend, had exactly one shot that looked nice and a couple clangers. Was sucking wind at various points, was on the sideline halfway through the second quarter looking like he'd just hauled 16 tons.
Sure, in 2 weeks he'll look better than he does tonight, but man, this isn't 80% Embiid, this is shadow-of-himself Embiid.
Sure, in 2 weeks he'll look better than he does tonight, but man, this isn't 80% Embiid, this is shadow-of-himself Embiid.
Probably need to give him the rest of the regular season to see how much of this is just being out of shape/rust. I agree he looks slow and generally bad.
The Sixers have to hope this is just the inevitable first game back for Embiid (he is always on the edge of being out of shape when he is playing full-time anyway). If it's at all knee related, then they are definitely screwed.
Do you remember the Westbrook call when he slipped on a dribble drive without a defender near him….she was staring directly at the play and whistled the foul on nearest defender.
If it's the one I'm thinking about.. it looked more like a guy trying to make sure he doesn't injure his knee.
If Embiid is going to stay at 16' and not be able to drive to the basket at all, then I think Al can guard him. On the defensive side I can't see him being able to guard anyone on the C's.
That might be the worst successful final defensive possession up by 3 points in NBA history.
I imagine SGA probably would have had one of those shots if he were playing..
And Embiid looks like a man that just finished doing an hour of wind sprints.
#1 seed is done now; Cs just need to win once in the next 7 games. Probably we'll see full-on rest and experimentation mode now, with 2-3 starters out per night.
I bet a lot of guys don't even make the trip to Milwaukee. It's national TV, but there are plenty of real injuries they've been careful to document over the past month.
I bet a lot of guys don't even make the trip to Milwaukee. It's national TV, but there are plenty of real injuries they've been careful to document over the past month.
That was such horseshit. Embiid fullbacked him, lowering the shoulder and running through the defender. Yet somehow it’s a blocking foul.
That said, OKC built a gargantuan outhouse out of 4th quarter bricks, so they have only themselves to blame.
Just as long as we troll Giannis by listing all of them as being out with a hamstring injury, which miraculously all clear up for the Knicks game 2 days later.
Damn, they sat JWill and SGA?
Was hoping Giddey would do something but he was pretty useless
Embiid was listed as out until SGA got announced as out 90 min before the game. League looking into it.
Still should have played one of them. Dumb move.
Indeed, the gamethread was apoplectic, but it seemed pretty clear JM wasn't going all out. Denver would be tough, but not unbeatable and also fun if we're (and they're) fortunate enough to meet in the end.
In a lot of opinions, Denver's bench isn't as good as last season, they really miss Bruce Brown and even Jeff Green.
Boston has no incentive to treat it like that, though. Their concern should be getting the 1 seed, take the easy ones.
Boston is going to get the #1 seed. That's happening. They have some incentive to get another look at some challenging situations in a playoff atmosphere, and the OKC game is their last shot. I don't think either team will go all out in the Milwaukee game.
It seems pretty clear that the league decided it wanted a different, much more physical sport, and was very very dissatisfied with the 137-129 games.
It's not clear what the optimal strategy is in that case, but the Cs have been one of the only teams still thriving in the new environment, so maybe tons of shooting at ~all positions is part of the answer?
Warriors win their 5th straight, and are back to 3 games ahead of Houston with 7 games left. It was interesting there for a minute.
There's a lot of focus on the new rules helping more physical, chippy teams and perhaps well-coached teams. But, as you say, it helps teams with shooting and ball movement, since defenses can get more physical with predictable iso-heavy sets (think JB's defense on Zion last weekend). Also, well-conditioned teams greatly benefit in an environment where there are fewer free throw breaks for players to catch their breath. This seems like the most underreported consequence and bodes well for C's while spelling trouble for teams like the Clips and esp 76ers. I think it's gonna be just brutal on Embiid.