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NBA
Mar 24, 2019 14:57:34 GMT
Post by B.E. on Mar 24, 2019 14:57:34 GMT
A Knicks' fan? You'll have a lot to talk about over the next several months - I think. Re the Knicks, I am very curious to see how their offseason goes. In some ways they finally seem to be on the right track regardless of the draft or free agents. Fizdale has worked a minor miracle on Mudiay, for one thing. This year's rookie class of Knox, Robinson, and Trier is really exciting. Dennis Smith is very talented and quite productive for someone so young at that spot. Frankie Smokes still interests me, as bad as he has been this season.
Then you have the draft: next year with Zion? There would no doubt be rumors of the NBA rigging things to get him there (just like getting Ewing there all those years ago)! But if they don't get him but rather someone like Barrett or Morant or Reddish or whoever else, it's still more talent. And then of course the big question: Durant? Kyrie? Both? Someone else?
I'm just in 'wait and see' mode. I've got May 14th circled on my calendar. Bring on the rumors, Kapitan! The #1 pick and 2 top-tier free agents - that's the goal. In the meantime, it would be nice to see what Frankie can do running the point (as opposed to playing off the ball), now that he's finally back from injury (he had missed two months). Regardless, I suspect he'll be moved in the off-season. Honestly, as is often the case this time of year, I'm more interested in the Western Conference playoff standings. Seeds 5-8 are separated by only 1 game!
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NBA
Mar 24, 2019 15:27:11 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Mar 24, 2019 15:27:11 GMT
I can't imagine Frankie as the PG of the future--especially considering the two other guys at that spot who are (currently) better than him and are under contract next year. Plus, so far he just doesn't seem to have shown the ability to be an NBA lead guard.
What I love about him, though, is his size, athleticism, and defensive potential. He's still so young, obviously there is room to grow. But I do wonder about where he's going to end up. My guess is his ceiling is a Nate McMillan kind of jack-of-all-trades big guard, not exactly a great lead guard, but weirdly useful to someone.
For the Knicks' sake, though, I hope this: NO KYRIE. I'm increasingly convinced he is who I thought he was prior to Lebron joining Cleveland, which is a statistically and individually brilliant (offensive) player who isn't really conducive to winning at a high level, mostly for personality-related reasons. Toward the end of the Lebron pairing and then next year in Boston before he was hurt, I thought maybe he had matured. I don't think so anymore. And since he has been in the league for almost a decade now, I doubt he's going to. So personally I don't wish him upon the Knicks. I hope he leaves Boston to join some team I despise, just so he can wreck them.
Something I wonder about with New York is how an established superstar (or two) would affect the rest of the plan. Two examples of this going badly are Lebron's tenure in Cleveland and Los Angeles: you add someone who wants to win immediately (and has the organizational pull to affect things), and all of a sudden you're shipping out young talent for vets. Great, so you get James Jones, Mike Miller, Kendrick Perkins, and JR Smith; or you get Rajon Rondo, Tyson Chandler, Michael Beasley, and JaVale McGee. But you ship out the future, and in a couple of years if you haven't made your move, you're REALLY stuck.
If New York ships out too many among Mudiay, Smith, Smokes, Robinson, Knox, and Trier to make the likes of an Irving or Durant happy, New York may well regret it. They need to maintain a balance, to constantly feed their future.
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 2:20:47 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Mar 26, 2019 2:20:47 GMT
Zhaire Smith is back!
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 2:44:40 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 26, 2019 2:44:40 GMT
Zhaire hit his first shot, a 3! And, Shake Milton had 13 points in 22 minutes.
But terrible game tonight. The Sixers went almost 12 minutes without a field goal in the second half. Ben Simmons was out with a stomach virus but that's no excuse. Am I seeing some loafing on defense the last couple of games? Hmm...
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 12:02:28 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Mar 26, 2019 12:02:28 GMT
Terrible news out of Portland: Jusuf Nurkic suffered a serious, compound fracture of his leg.
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 12:59:24 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 26, 2019 12:59:24 GMT
I watched the video - and shouldn't have. Paul George, Gordon Hayward, now Nurkic. Is this type of injury occurring more frequently?
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 13:02:59 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Mar 26, 2019 13:02:59 GMT
I didn’t watch and don’t plan to.
It does seem more common. My guess is, players are bigger, stronger, faster, and play much more organized ball than ever. That all might factor in.
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 13:19:11 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 26, 2019 13:19:11 GMT
I didn’t watch and don’t plan to. It does seem more common. My guess is, players are bigger, stronger, faster, and play much more organized ball than ever. That all might factor in. Not to get into a conversation about compound leg fractures...well, I guess I am. What kind of surprises me is how the players who had that injury are able to come back fairly quickly and seemingly don't lose very much if anything from their game. Paul George amazes me and Hayward is now starting to come around a little bit. When you see the injury happen you think, "Well, that's the end of their career" or "They'll never be the same". The surgery being performed must be amazing.
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NBA
Mar 26, 2019 13:51:23 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Mar 26, 2019 13:51:23 GMT
Medical progress has been astounding. I remember in the 80s when a guy tore his ACL, he was done. Then he could come back but wasn’t ever close to his past level (like Ed O’Bannon at UCLA). Now it’s almost routine, and a full year later a lot of guys are as good as ever.
With these, yeah it takes a while, and the mental hurdles must be tremendous. But Paul George has been a miracle.
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NBA
Mar 31, 2019 5:25:41 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 31, 2019 5:25:41 GMT
I didn't think the Sixers had a chance without Embiid. At Minnesota? They had back-to-back terrible games/efforts; I guess they were due. That was easily Jonah Bolden's best game of the year.
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NBA
Mar 31, 2019 16:42:16 GMT
via mobile
Post by Kapitan on Mar 31, 2019 16:42:16 GMT
Sixers without Embiid.
Wolves without Covington, Teague, Rose, Deng. I’d say your odds were always good!
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NBA
Apr 2, 2019 0:43:47 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 2, 2019 0:43:47 GMT
I looked at the Bulls lineup. Wow. They're going without the injured Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, Otto Porter, Wendell Carter, Kris Dunn, Denzel Valentine, and Chandler Hutchinson. Against Toronto the other night they started Shaq Harrison, Ryan Arcidiacono, Wayne Selden, Brandon Sampson, and Robin Lopez.
The end of the season is always interesting...
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NBA
Apr 2, 2019 23:55:52 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 2, 2019 23:55:52 GMT
I don't wanna get too much into the case, but this Porzingus allegation, if true, is huge. Obviously.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 3, 2019 0:12:12 GMT
I honestly doubt it is true. The note that he allegedly wrote and signed promising her money keeps referring to himself as "Mr. Kristap." Odd for a guy to mess up his own name... From what I have read, the NBA, NBAPA, Knicks, Mavs, and Porzingis's personal legal team have all decided more or less that, while they will go through all appropriate cooperation related to the case, it seems more like an extortion attempt than any crime on Porzingis's part. That she went to the Knicks first for "mediation" in the form of $68k rather than police--whom she didn't go to for more than 6 months--is odd, too.
However, what I think still could be true is that he had some kind of encounter with her, be it consensual, borderline, or illegal, and she responded inappropriately with a faked note and attempt to get cash. Both could be true.
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NBA
Apr 4, 2019 18:25:15 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 4, 2019 18:25:15 GMT
Brett Brown is starting to catch a little static in Philly. He's starting to be under the microscope. It's not the recent losses but the effort, or lack of, especially defensively. I don't know what Elton Brand and management are thinking, but some people following the team think Brett has to get past Round 2 in the playoffs to keep his job.
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