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What is going to be your favorite offseason storyline? This poll is closed. |
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| The Big3 Tourney |
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67 | 22.41% |
| Will Lakers draft Ball |
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40 | 13.38% |
| Where will the Pauls go |
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54 | 18.06% |
| Will LeBron jump ship to the Spurs or ?? |
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41 | 13.71% |
| Will every team in the league just pivot towards tanking |
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97 | 32.44% |
| Total: | 210 votes | ||
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Redgrendel2001 posted:Olympic 3v3 means that there is a non-zero chance that The Professor might win an Olympic gold medal. I assume the Olympic 3 v 3 will be competitive, which means The Professor would get eaten alive. He's a cool ball handler when nobody is playing defense, but that's all he is, he's not an actual good enough basketball player or he'd be playing competitive ball somewhere and not traveling around with his webcam making videos of himself clowning on guys in cargo shorts and polo shirts. He's also like 33 years old, it'll likely be a bunch of young non-NBA caliber guys.
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Jun 13, 2017 08:43
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Spacebump posted:More evidence for why WS>WS/48. More evidence for why there should always be a minutes played cutoff for a rate stat actually.
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Jun 13, 2017 08:51
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RaySmuckles posted:sorry, but one of the requirements for spurs fandom is manu worship. its a strict policy, especially with his retirement imminent. He's been an MVP candidate for the past couple seasons, I think he's been in the prime 5-7 years of his career for at least that long. I know he's still a year or two younger than the supposed 27-32 year old average prime of a player's career, but that is just an average, some players get there quicker than others. Either way, he's real good, and will be for a while barring injury.
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Jun 13, 2017 19:17
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Paul Zuvella posted:Fultz is big, long, and athletic. He will make a bigger impact that I think you are making it out to be but I agree that it does almost nothing to close the gap between the Celtics and the Cavs. A few other other big, long and athletic rookies who weren't positive contributors in their rookie seasons: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounpo. Being an effective player as a rookie in the NBA is very rare, and the younger the rookie is, the rarer it is. I can see him being a slightly above average efficiency player for the C's as a rookie, but only because they're a good enough team that they won't throw him out there for 30MPG. They can use him in a smaller role than most #1 picks, but that limits the impact he'll have. However they decide to use him, I think it's likely he's a net negative player as a rookie.
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Jun 14, 2017 18:01
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I really, desperately, DO NOT want to wade into the Labour vs Capital debate and be faced with having to read 1100 pages of the Communist Manifesto, but why would this whole KD taking a paycut thing concern the Players Union at all? There are obviously real issues about labour vs capital in the modern world, but this contract seems to have absolutely nothing to do with it. As a whole, the players get 50% of league revenue, that number doesn't change at all if Durant signs for $500 million or if he signs for twenty bucks. This isn't labour giving the owners money - the players as a whole get the same, the owners get the same. I can see the top tier players getting a little annoyed that he's set a precedent that it's somewhat expected that you take a paycut to keep a good team together and win a championship, but again, that has nothing to do with the labour/capital divide, that's an issue between different groups of labourers. Him taking less money means that money goes to other players, not to the owners. He saved his team's owner some money, but that luxury tax money isn't going to the players, it goes to the owner's of teams who aren't spending as much money on their teams at the moment. I would think if you're anti-capital, you would like it if a bunch of owners weren't getting as much free money from another owner, or at least you wouldn't care (since you don't care how much tax Joe Lacob has to pay for his championship team, you shouldn't care how much tax money the Sixers owner receives). This deal has nothing to do with labour vs capital, but from a competitive standpoint, it's still easy to see it as a weak move, so feel free to criticize him for that. In a regular job, taking less money to stay in a job and situation you like is usually a wise decision that people applaud you for, but sports are an inherently competitive industry for the labourers (the labourers compete directly against each other in an effort to win, whereas in my job I couldn't really care less if Honda out-competes Toyota or vice versa, as long as I get my paycheque) so it's a bit different. You're expected as an athlete to always be competing hard and helping your team win. It's weird tho, that KD made a decision that still resulted in him being on the best team, but I (and most non-Dubs fans) still think he's a bitch for it. Sports are stupid sometimes.
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Jul 4, 2017 18:21
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Someone post that Where Amazing Happens video of Zach Randolph with the Knicks clumsily dribbling the ball all around the court before haplessly jacking up a 30' three pointer that catches nothing but air. That's probably the Zach Randolph the Kings are gettting. I can't see him being all that engaged with a lovely team with a lovely culture that has a snowball's chance in hell of winning more than 25 games in the Murder Conference.
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Jul 4, 2017 18:28
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A Buff Gay Dude posted:Sir this is a Wendy's drive thru This is probably the response my half-formed opinions deserve, good play 
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Jul 4, 2017 18:30
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Vanilla Mint Ice posted:https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/888499970491301890 And take over a Cleveland team that would be as bad as it was before Lebron was there? Why would he want to do that again? If he thinks Lebron is leaving next year, then might as well get out to a better situation sooner rather than later. They aren't better than last year, GSW is as good or better than they were, so they aren't likely to win a ring again with this group. The writing is probably on the wall for these Cavs, Leborn is heading out (to Toronto  ) and they are going to suck hard when he leaves (for Toronto ). Plus, it's Cleveland, Lebron is about the only professional athlete in the world that gives a flying gently caress what the sports fans in that city think about him (for some stupid reason). The B_36 fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Jul 21, 2017 |
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Jul 21, 2017 22:01
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zoux posted:He's the best Iso player in the league so doesn't he create his own looks? Even an ISO guy like Kyrie benefits hugely by having Lebron on the floor drawing attention and mitigating some of the doubles he would normally get on his drives. But yeah, he doesn't benefit from Lebron's presence quite as much as a guy like Korver does.
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Jul 22, 2017 20:46
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The article is pretty complimentary of James and his positive effect on his fellow NBA players, so if this is a hit piece, it must be some of that 80 dimensional chess I've been hearing about. ShaneB posted:So what, exactly, is forcing the Cavs hand here? They have Kyrie under contract for 2 years. I've never really heard of NBA players holding out like NFL players threaten to. Nothing is "forcing" their hand, but him saying he wants a trade is also him saying that he won't resign with them when his contract is up in 2 years - it would behoove them to trade him now as opposed to when he's in his last year because they have more leverage with other teams when he has 2 full years on his contract, as opposed to the trade deadline in 2019 when he's a few month rental. Him saying he has a few teams he would prefer to go to is just him stating his preference, it's not a demand. I don't see anything "insane" about it - you're allowed to say what you would prefer when it comes to your career, regardless of whether or not you control it. More relevant to the conversation, however, the teams that aren't on his preferred list are not likely to go hard after him and offer alot to Cleveland, because they know he isn't likely to resign with them if he didn't really want to be traded there in the first place. So he does have some influence on the matter, because this isn't the 60's where the players have to do whatever management tells them to.
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Jul 23, 2017 01:51
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Tae posted:The issue with DeAndre is that while it makes the Cavs defense better, it also makes the Warriors defense way better because DeAndre is not a threat. You never want to give Draymond any ability to roam the paint without consequence. I don't know about DeAndre "not being a threat", he's one of the best roll guys in the league. Not that the Cavs were ever going to be able to pull off getting Paul and/or DeAndre regardless of how Kyrie handled the situation ("they could have had x if someone had done y" stuff after the fact is just fanfic from reporters), but having the two highest basketball IQ guys on the floor, they easily would have been able to make DeAndre a threat. Hell, Paul did it by himself for years with DeAndre. And holy poo poo Tae, you spelled every name correctly in that post!
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Jul 23, 2017 14:21
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Tae posted:Specifically when against the Warriors, pretty much. You just give the warriors defense way more possessions to just pack the paint than being spread out and possibly messing up on communication. That's because Roberson is actually not a threat from anywhere on the court on the offensive side. DeAndre absolutely is a beast down low that you can't just ignore like Roberson, that is a poor comparison. And 10 dunks from DeAndre gets him at least 20 points (not including and-1's), I think every team in the league (including the Warriors) would be super happy with their "no threat" C scoring a super efficient 20 points. If the Cavs could get Jordan and Paul in this fantasy scenario, and DeAndre is good for 10 dunks a game, then they probably sweep the Warriors in the Finals, it wouldn't matter that the Warriors are able to cheat off him a bit (which they would stop doing round about his 5th dunk of the game). Edit: \/\/\/ Which of us? The B_36 fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Jul 23, 2017 |
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Jul 23, 2017 15:00
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Mandrel posted:I literally can't understand the mindset of just being cool with the jersey ads. I mean I'm not losing sleep over it but everything about it is just crass, gross, and cheap and it does actually detrimentally affect the product, which is entertainment you consume with your eyeballs. Like, at best you're indifferent and the lovely ads cluttering up the jerseys doesn't affect your enjoyment of the game, but unless you're an insane person who actually thinks they improve it, you're a consumer and they in no way benefit you or the product. Grow a pair and Be Mad About The Ads. It's ok And us people who don't give a poo poo one way or the other about jersey ads literally can't understand the mindset of getting that worked up over some patches on a shirt. I just don't care if the jersey's are all blank, or if they're a patchwork quilt of sponsor logos; I'm watching to see the players play, when the action is going on, the jerseys are really just a vague color difference, I'm not consciously aware of what is or isn't on them. If you're one of the weird people who buy and actually wear jerseys, then you'll always have the option to buy the plain jersey without the ads, so you'll know you're only a walking billboard for the kind hearted NBA team of your choice owned by an almost certainly corrupt and shady billionaire, and not a sleazy company like Western Union. In this case, it's ok to just not care about them.
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Aug 9, 2017 09:41
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FuzzySkinner posted:I'm really bummed that Gilbert is playing the role of Art Modell here (60's era. look him up) and that this could lead to the team being a bunch of zombies by 2018-2019. I know Cleveland's long history of sport success may have raised your expectations a bit, but winning a championship while going to 3 (probably 4) straight Finals is generally considered "making it work" for most of the other franchises in the league.
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Aug 16, 2017 22:38
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Spacebump posted:Finally an article that's basically what I've tried to tell this thread multiple times concerning the 17/18 Mavs. The Mavs may make the playoffs this year, but that article seems to rely alot on an untested rookie guard being a positive contributor right away, which is very unlikely. I also think they're being unrealistically optimistic about how long a career DSJ can have as the face of the franchise; they talk about him taking over for Dirk for the next 20yrs, but ultra-athletic guards like him usually have about a 5yr window of being good before their bones and ligaments start exploding out of their bodies and they fall apart. The Rose career path is much more likely for him than the Westbrook career path, that's what makes Russ such an incredible player - he rarely gets injured despite his style of play, suggesting that he is the shorter, quicker (and less effective) version of the Lebron cyborg model V1.4
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Aug 19, 2017 05:58
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DeimosRising posted:In general yes but maybe not in the specific case of the Sixers last year. Already loaded down with mystery box centers and Boogie is on the wrong timeline. You probably just make Kings East. Lakers/Celtics/Suns would have been making the right call. Bigger question: knowing Hield can be turned into Boogie but Kris Dunn can be flipped for Jimmy Butler, which would you rather take This is putting way too much stock in trying to match up "timelines"; it's not like Cousins is 33 years old with only a season or two of good play left in him. He's 27, at the beginning of his prime, and has probably 5 or 6 years at least of being a top 3 C in the league. Not everyone on your team has to be born within a few months of each other for you to build a successful long term franchise. In fact, it's probably better that they aren't all around the exact same age. The Sixers would be exactly the team that should have gone for this kind of hypothetical deal, especially since they could afford to sacrifice 6mths of winning by having Hield in their lineup to show him off to Ranadive.
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Aug 20, 2017 09:28
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Lockback posted:Generally when you have a guy at 27 like that and basically nothing else it's really hard to put a team together. You basically won't get any more draft picks lower than 8 or 9. The 76ers could maybe have put some trades together and tried to put something together that way, but that takes a lot of luck and I think Philly would have a tough time pulling a Miami Big Three. But they wouldn't have had him and nothing else, they'd still have the young team they have now around him (minus Fultz I guess in this hypothetical, because they would have taken Hield instead to trade him for Cousins). They already don't need anymore good draft picks for this team to grow into a contender in a few years, adding Cousins now just fast forwards the timeline, which isn't a bad thing. Couple more years for the young guys to get ready, and they're a scary contender when Cousins is only 29 or 30 yrs old. They're almost certainly not going to do better than that in real life. It's basically a question of whether you take a proven top 10 player in the league who is still only 27 yrs old over a 20(?) yr old rookie who may be as good as him in 5 yrs or so. I think they'd be crazy not to.
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Aug 20, 2017 14:46
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DeimosRising posted:I think this is a weird and somewhat confused view of the Sixers. First off Hield was drafted last year so he'd have been taken over Simmons, not Fultz. They probably would not have been in a position to draft Fultz since a half season each of Buddy and Boogie is gonna win more games than Simmons cheering from the bench. They have exactly one player who has demonstrated star potential in the NBA and he's a super ball dominant center with a hideous health record, meaning you almost certainly can't get equal value for him in a trade. Who are you imagining forms this core of young guys around Boogie in "2 or 3 years", Embiid and...Covington? Whoever they take with the 6th pick I guess? And I mean, you think Okafor is hard to trade now, poo poo. You're right, I screwed up who they wouldn't have on the team, it should be Simmons they wouldn't have, and I guess probably they wouldn't have got Fultz either if they had Cousins last year. This gets a little convoluted and confusing. Still tho, Cousins and Embiid is a more stable core going forward than Embiid, Simmons and Fultz. It relies alot on Embiid being healthy, but as they are now, they require Embiid being healthy, so that's no different.
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Aug 20, 2017 17:52
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Lockback posted:Plus a 29 year old Superstar leasing a bunch of 22 and 23 year olds to a title is unprecidented in the NBA. Not impossible, but unlikely. Realistically those guys wouldn't be ready until they are 24-25 and by then cousins is on a down slope. That was kinda the point I was trying to get across; don't try to get too cute with timeframes when you're presented (hypothetically) with the opportunity to trade for one of the best bigs in the league, and all you'd have to give up is a guy who can shoot a YMCA team out of a game in a local pickup league. DeimosRising posted:I don't think you can productively play Cousins and Embiid together. They're much more similar and less complementary than Cousins/Davis. I don't know, I think if Cousins and Davis can co-exist productively then Cousins and Embiid could as well. With the skill level and range of bigs these days, it should be alot easier to pull off Twin Tower lineups.
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Aug 20, 2017 21:36
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Kibner posted:Brown + Tatum + Lakers + Memphis would make them maybe consider it. Wow, that's like, 32 players traded for Anthony Davis! Can Boston trade the Pels the Lakers and Memphis G-League affiliates too...?
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Sep 3, 2017 21:14
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Abel Wingnut posted:i get fantasy basketball is more work than fantasy football, but fantasy baseball is widely popular and that's got to be even more work than fantasy basketball. so many more players, tons more games, etc. so i'm not sure that's the whole reason. I think someone mentioned it before, but baseball is actually probably easier than basketball because they have games every single day bascially, so there's less need to change your roster once it's set, except for injuries. Each of your players is going to play 6 or 7 games per week in baseball, and once per week in football. Basketball players can play 1 game one week, then 4 games the next week, there's so much variation there that you'd have to be tinkering with your lineup every day. Instead of fiddling around with your lineup based on which of your players you think is going to perform well that week, you'd be fiddling around replacing Lebron in your lineup with Evan Turner because the Cavs just play on Thursday this week, and whichever team is stupid enough to play Evan Turner is on an East Coast swing playing 4 games in 5 nights that week.
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Sep 11, 2017 06:54
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I'm pretty sure Wade would like any post that links him to literally any basketball team on the planet, up to and including a high school varsity team in Nunavut, as long as it's not the Bulls (and provided they pay him his $23 million this year).
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Sep 24, 2017 20:43
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Jack's Flow posted:LA - Minnesota 20:2 after 5 minutes. Ouch. Not listening to the national anthem apparently gives you superpowers. Waiting for the crusty old sports reporters to start saying a player/team doesn't have The Look if they do listen to the national anthem.
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Sep 24, 2017 20:58
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If anybody could make Wade accept a smaller role as his athletic ability declines, you gotta think it would be Lebron. Either that or, Lebron being his friend, he may pump him up into thinking he's still an All-Star player, which honestly he might still be if he was motivated. He wasn't great in Chicago, but I think he still has another season or two of being a potent weapon for a contender if he wants it. Even playing for a complete mess of a team last year and obviously not giving a poo poo about it, he was still an average player.
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Sep 25, 2017 02:55
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big boi posted:When the Cavs are finally healthy, Wade will be at best the 4th option on offense. Maybe even 6th after JR and Crowder. Spacebump posted:Edit: I am all for Wade murdering second units and JR starting for his shooting. That would own I think you guys are both drastically over-rating JR's shooting, and his overall ability to play basketball. Wade wasn't great in Chicago, but that's only compared to his previous 14yrs in the league when he was a top 10 player - he's still at worst an average player. JR Smith is fun and all, but he's never been very good, and last year he was pretty awful. 35% 3pt shooting from a supposed "shooter" shouldn't justify you starting over even an average player. The Cavs may be better off with Wade off the bench in limited minutes to kill 2nd units, but it's not because JR's shooting is so valuable that you need him starting. He'd be the default starter if they decide to go that route with Wade. With a fully healthy team, the Cavs offense would run thru Lebron, IT, and then Wade. Love is better now than Wade, but his play style means he doesn't need the ball and can be the release valve for the other 3 guys. There's no way they run the offense thru JR Smith or Jae Crowder before Wade if he's on the court, that's craziness.
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Sep 25, 2017 14:18
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AggressivelyStupid posted:We're gonna fight if you don't stop besmirching Earl motherfucker!!!!! I said he was fun! I always assumed JR was popular here because of his antics and personality, not because he was an actual "good" NBA player.
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Sep 25, 2017 15:31
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EvanTH posted:to me, he's the Javale McGee type-- superstar-level athleticism, but apparently enjoys the game and recognizes that it's a game instead of being a psycho workaholic devotee to the craft. You're already in the NBA, might as well smoke weed everyday and enjoy yourself instead of spending every waking hour LASER FOCUSED on defeating your competition. What else is there to prove, really? Why degrade your quality of life for minimal returns? I'm not sure how "essential" Javale was to the Warriors last season. Pretty sure the answer is "not very essential".
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Sep 25, 2017 16:15
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Metapod posted:E: also today is media day and Enes had some good poo poo to say Russ is indecisive it would appear, which is a bad character trait to have for a superstar. Someone tell Presti I won't hesitate to sign a $207 million extension RIGHT NOW and get to work immediately.
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Sep 25, 2017 18:27
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attackmole posted:lol. I really don't think you have to be all that specific with Carmelo these days. Just type "Carmelo Anthony playing basketball" into youtube or google and probably 90% of the results would be 10 dribble bricks.
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Sep 25, 2017 18:54
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BWV posted:I love Patterson and 5 mil is a steal but he was not very good last year. He couldn't shoot at all down the stretch and his defense dropped off. Two years ago he was one of the team's most important players but last year he was a stretch 4 who couldn't shoot or play more than 20 minutes a game. The Raps at 22-1 is probably a good bet, but how do they have worse odds at winning the conference than Philadelphia? The Sixers three most important players have played a grand total of 31 NBA games in the past 3yrs. They look really exciting and fun now that the tanking is over, but you don't go from tanking straight to winning the next season. They're in that in-between season this year where they have to learn how to play. They're still going to be a bad team with a losing record most likely. The Raps are at least a top 5 team in the conference.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:19
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Dexo posted:https://twitter.com/HopToonPodcast/status/912775345060945925 drat, Kyrie is really coming off like a jilted lover in this whole situation
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Sep 27, 2017 21:43
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R.D. Mangles posted:I'll flip on a Bulls game on the radio if I'm in my car, and I've listened to my fair share of heartbreaking Northwestern Big Ten Tournament losses from "Mr. Cat" Dave Eanet, but what I can't do is understand for five seconds how the gently caress someone can listen to hockey on the radio. It's better than actually having to watch hockey.
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Oct 1, 2017 14:22
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euphronius posted:Ben Simmons looks lebron esque Lots of guys look Lebron-esque before they play an actual NBA game.
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Oct 2, 2017 01:40
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Redgrendel2001 posted:Outside of my Philly boy$, Donovan Mitchell and Teodosić are my mofos this year. Throwing a lob to Deandre Jordan is basically cheating, but it's nice to have a new Rubio ready to take over when the original gets too old.
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Oct 2, 2017 09:17
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LupusAter posted:Teodosic is 4 years older than Rubio.  Y'know, I had a feeling he was
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Oct 2, 2017 11:21
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Lockback posted:Tracy can scout two prospects at once, it was a natural decision. poo poo, that's cold
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Oct 6, 2017 18:06
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DeimosRising posted:That's the best Dirk impression I've ever seen. If he can do that consistently he's the second guy in history to master that shot and it's unguardable, though maybe less so if you're 4 inches shorter (hes' ~6'8" right?) DeimosRising posted:Are there any ways in which he doesn't compare to Magic Johnson that are substantive to the modern game? He's a mediocre rebounder I guess, but in a ton of ways it feels like we're about to find out what would happen if Earvin 1980 found a time portal One important way Simmons doesn't compare to 1980's Magic is the fact that he's not nearly as good as Magic was, nor is he ever likely to be. Simmons has to insist to everybody that he's a PG despite being 6'10, everyone already knew Magic was a PG despite his height.
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Oct 7, 2017 18:32
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DeimosRising posted:magic didn't guard 1s either and had to be played next to Norm Nixon for the first half of his career and Byron Scott for the latter half. They usually started two "other" guards next to him (Nixon or Scott and Michael Cooper). It's exactly the same setup Philly is planning to use. That's all true, but saying he could be the modern day equivalent to Magic Johnson is stretching things alot. Teams in the 90's and early 2000's were all trying out tall point guards, and even the guys who had successful careers (Steve Smith for instance), didn't end up playing much at all like Magic, despite being compared to him initially. NotWearingPants posted:"Not as good as Magic Johnson" is a pretty safe argument to make against someone who has yet to play an NBA game. Let's revisit it in 5 years. Yeah, this is the point I was trying to make. Not all tall "PG's" are Magic Johnson, it's unfair to everyone to compare a promising rookie who's approximately the same size as Magic and sort of plays similarly to him, before he's played a game. TBH, I don't think it's possible to have a modern day Magic Johnson with how the game is currently being played. Not one that is successful at least. Tall, slow, unathletic, no defense PG's who can't shoot just don't work in this day and age.
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Oct 7, 2017 22:14
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