"We're going to Disney World!" NBA to resume season July 31 at WDW

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
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Remember they had a 2 day protest that changed the schedule
The 2nd round dates weren’t yet announced at the time of the protests. Once the 1st round games were ended it would have been simple to skip Sunday but then you have Monday nights NFL doubleheader to contend with......but they have a game scheduled for that night as well.
 

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
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The 2nd round dates weren’t yet announced at the time of the protests. Once the 1st round games were ended it would have been simple to skip Sunday but then you have Monday nights NFL doubleheader to contend with......but they have a game scheduled for that night as well.
True. But you gotta remember a big part of this is getting it over as fast as possible.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
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Sep 9, 2008
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It is strange how little the absence of crowds has mattered and how the game frequency and bubble weirdness hasn’t had a bigger impact.

These playoffs have been fantastic.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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I would have scheduled the Sunday game at 5:45. Start at halftime of NFL and wrap it up around kickoff for SNF
 

Tony C

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Can we please now stop with the notion that the Mike D'Antoni chucking 3's style of play can win a title?
Every year we hear it'll be different. Every year it's obvious: give top shelf clubs time to game plan against Houston, and they'll be grounded. D'Antoni is stubborn as hell and won't change, and it'll get hired someplace assuming he moves on from Houston, and it'll be the same story -- above skill level wins during the regular season, not so much during the playoffs.
 

Tony C

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Breen just called an airball, “good.”

JVG: “That’s an airball, Mike.”
That was pretty hilarious -- I liked JVG saying it "just missed your 'bang!'" :)
The Warriors have 2 of the best shooters to ever play the game and also play very good defense. They can also score in a magnitude of different ways especially when they got KD. The Mike D'Antoni style of play of layups and 3's does not work.
yeah, those 2 teams...are not at all the same in their style of play.

And can I just say that Giannis will likely win the MVP and by the rules of the award that's justified, but they need to change the damn rules. MVP signifies best player in the league and of the 3 finalists -- Giannis, Harden, and LeBron - it's not even close. LeBron is head and shoulders superior, with Kawhi his only real competition. At some point they have to factor in that teams are built for the playoffs and you need to factor in: game 7 (or game 5, in this case), who do I want? Harden vs LeBron is not even a close contest. Giannis is closer, but not all that close.

LeBron vs Kawhi, now that's a tough debate.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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The Warriors have 2 of the best shooters to ever play the game and also play very good defense. They can also score in a magnitude of different ways especially when they got KD. The Mike D'Antoni style of play of layups and 3's does not work.
I think they lost an important element when they moved Capela. The lob was a really effective play for them, as it gave something else for the D to think about beyond 5 guys looking for a three.

And as you said, the shooters just aren’t great enough night in night out. Sure they are taking the most valuable shots but look at how much floor you kind of don’t have to defend against them. And the 5-out offense giving space for Westbrook has fizzled in the playoffs with better lockdown D (plus Russ not being able to throw it into the ocean).
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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Well I just missed the actual play when turning this game on, but apparently Rondo and Westbrook got into some heated action on the court then Rondo's brother who is in the arena yelled something Westbrook didn't like. I guess security promptly escorted him out as the families got explicit instructions they can attend but not engage in any way with players during action.

Fake edit: And Rondo's brother isn't there as a family invite only, but actually manages the barbers brought in for the bubble.
 

slamminsammya

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The Warriors have 2 of the best shooters to ever play the game and also play very good defense. They can also score in a magnitude of different ways especially when they got KD. The Mike D'Antoni style of play of layups and 3's does not work.
It could work. This year's iteration of microball featured all guys who can't shoot (this season). All of Covington, Rivers, Gordon, House were average to below average 3 point percentages despite a relatively high portion of their attempts being uncovered.

It's tough to go small with shooters if they can't shoot. I don't think the concept is inherently at fault.
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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I wouldn't like very many people's chances against Westbrook 1v1 in a fight, but I wouldn't like even Westbrook's chances against Rondo + Rondo's Brother.

That said, how can you be one of the tiny number of guests allowed in the NBA bubble, and somehow get yourself thrown out? You've got an unbelievable privilege to enjoy courtside playoff NBA basketball, basically as much as you want for as long as you want, and instead you start some shit with the players on the court? Like, how much of an unrepentant asshole do you have to be?
 

lovegtm

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It could work. This year's iteration of microball featured all guys who can't shoot (this season). All of Covington, Rivers, Gordon, House were average to below average 3 point percentages despite a relatively high portion of their attempts being uncovered.

It's tough to go small with shooters if they can't shoot. I don't think the concept is inherently at fault.
Yeah, the Celtics are much closer to a viable vision of small-ball, which is really big-wing ball.

Having cheap garbage-pail centers to soak up body blows and minutes also matters.

I’m shocked at how hard Houston flamed out. The franchise is basically cooked at this point. This could get as ugly as the Nets 5-year trip to purgatory.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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Yeah, the Celtics are much closer to a viable vision of small-ball, which is really big-wing ball.

Having cheap garbage-pail centers to soak up body blows and minutes also matters.

I’m shocked at how hard Houston flamed out. The franchise is basically cooked at this point. This could get as ugly as the Nets 5-year trip to purgatory.
Yes to all of this...Big Wing ball is really the best description + Plenty of cheap 5s that perform different tasks.

As far as the Rockets, I don't trust Tilman Fertitta to act rationally here. It wouldn't shock me if Morey was fired.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yeah, the Celtics are much closer to a viable vision of small-ball, which is really big-wing ball.

Having cheap garbage-pail centers to soak up body blows and minutes also matters.

I’m shocked at how hard Houston flamed out. The franchise is basically cooked at this point. This could get as ugly as the Nets 5-year trip to purgatory.
Yeah. Houston has peaked. Came so close with CP3 but it’s over. Harden and Westbrook are over 30 and Westbrook has started his decline phase and is owed an obscene amount of money. And they gave away multiple picks to get him. Lots of first round exits in this team’s future.
 

lovegtm

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Yes to all of this...Big Wing ball is really the best description + Plenty of cheap 5s that perform different tasks.

As far as the Rockets, I don't trust Tilman Fertitta to act rationally here. It wouldn't shock me if Morey was fired.
I think Morey also expected to be fired or to quit, which is probably why he had no compunction about mortgaging the future. Sizable principle-agent problem here, but that’s on Fertita.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Morey should be fired. He pushed a radical idea of basketball and it consistently failed, and each time he doubled-down to the point that by the end his team was playing a bizarre form of basketball that was easily dispatched by a superior team that could adjust to Houston's unique, but ultimately pretty rudimentary, style.
 

nighthob

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Jul 15, 2005
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I think Morey also expected to be fired or to quit, which is probably why he had no compunction about mortgaging the future. Sizable principle-agent problem here, but that’s on Fertita.
They’re pretty much screwed. They don’t have the option of blowing things up because OKC owns their future. Unless the Warriors really want Harden I don’t see any way forward for them.
 

lovegtm

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They’re pretty much screwed. They don’t have the option of blowing things up because OKC owns their future. Unless the Warriors really want Harden I don’t see any way forward for them.
Yeah, the way forward would be to trade Harden and get bad before the picks start going out in 2024-2026, but the first swap comes in 2021, which messes up a big part of that plan.

I’d still deal Harden for a future-replenishing plan. I don’t see any way that he wins a title with Houston from this point.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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All I know is that when a team has an elite offensive player who just isn't as good overall as LeBron, Curry, Durant or Kawhi, there is some logic to Morey's creative gambit. The only way to a ring for nine years running is to defeat a team with one (or more) of those players on it.

Harden and Westbrook are clearly polarizing. However the basketball style of play was fascinating, even if its predictable limitations allowed Chris Vernon to drag KOC viscously.
 

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
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I'm going to wait to talk shit about the rockets until after my clipps play game 6.

ive always said Morey is wildly overrated. The tweaks they needed were so glaring yet he continued to double down on stupid.

But Harden deserves a shitload of blame. Built like a freight train but no post game at all, no mid range, no effort to adapt and grow.
 

Apisith

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Oct 19, 2007
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Harden put up 30 on 64% TS. If he wasn’t doubled, he would have put 35ppg agains the Lakers. We lost because we didn’t have a second option when they trapped Harden. Westbrook can’t shoot and he couldn’t score inside. Pre-covid, Russ was feasting 1v1. Couldn’t do it against AD/LeBron.
We need a big that can shoot. Morey’s responsible for not being able to find one but man, our owner really handicapped us at the worst time. I think this team is done, but we can’t tank for a while, so yeah, lots of first and second round exits coming. That Chris Paul injury is going to sting for a lot more years.
 

JCizzle

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Dec 11, 2006
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The weird thing about the Rockets that stood out to me during one of the Ringer podcasts is that they're really not anything special from three. On the year, the Lakers had a higher 3P%. If they wanted to pursue their style to this extent, I think there should have been a larger emphasis on finding role players who kill it from deep. They just rely on volume.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Jul 19, 2005
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Westbrook TS%, last three playoffs:
493, .466, .464

Westbrook net on/off per 100, last three playoffs:
-12.6, -21.1, -13.7
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
11,996
Westbrook TS%, last three playoffs:
493, .466, .464

Westbrook net on/off per 100, last three playoffs:
-12.6, -21.1, -13.7
Man, that is bleak. Good thing he's only due an average of $44M/year for the next 3 years and that they only gave up 4 picks+swaps to get him, otherwise the Rockets could be in for a rough road ahead.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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They’re pretty much screwed. They don’t have the option of blowing things up because OKC owns their future. Unless the Warriors really want Harden I don’t see any way forward for them.
Pretty funny how the team who stole Harden from OKC now is basically screwed because they mortgaged their future to get OKC’s last remaining star from that group. And now Westbrook’s future looks pretty bleak.