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NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2017-18

ButtersSuki

Time to start this?

I'll try and do my predictions today, but pretty swamped work wise so it may be later this week before I can do so.

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2smiggy

Celtics managed a win last night, after losing Horford (worryingly) to concussion from the Atlanta game, and also Tatum sometime in the 2nd quarter. On the plus side Rozier, Theis and particularly Baynes played well on more minutes than they were probably expecting.

Morris also looked good, and Smart his usual self, good defence and erratic shooting !

ButtersSuki

Boston with a league-best 10-2 record. Won't last but they've already over-performed. GS next week (or maybe it's the week after) will bring them back to earth pretty quickly you'd imagine. The East looks so poor however that Boston could conceivably top the East regular standings if they keep this up.

Cleveland, Clippers and OKC out of the Top 8 in their respective conferences. Far too early to make sweeping statements but I'd wager the Cavs are in the most trouble.

Gregk961

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Cleveland, Clippers and OKC out of the Top 8 in their respective conferences. Far too early to make sweeping statements but I'd wager the Cavs are in the most trouble.

Out of those 3? I reckon the Clippers and Thunder are in a far worse place than the Cavs. OKC in particular look completely lost at the moment. They are still the best team in their conference(apart from the Celtics possibly) and have beaten the Celtics, Wizards and the Bucks twice already this season. I think even if they get into a bit of a hole they could easily rattle off 10 in a row and get into the top 4 in a couple of weeks.

Edit: The Cavs defense is awful, it looks to be run the same as last year which was atrocious for a top team.

[Deleted User]

Celtics beat okc

any decent team should get out of the east handy enough by the end of it and anyone that does not was not really a playoff threat anyway

brady23

Thunder is what I expected, looks like GSW at times and look like a bunch of headless chickens at other times.

Clippers are in some ways out performing expectations given the depth in the West, CP3 doesn't look the miss I thought he might.

Cavs clearly miss Kyrie more than we expected. Personally I think IT will regress, he basically peaked last year imo. Love hasn't made the step up.

I see both sides:

I think the Clippers are in the most trouble from a positional standpoint.

The Thunder are in the most trouble from a fan perception and 2k18 ratings fantasy banana boat standpoint

Cavs are in the most trouble because they are legit contenders who look in trouble with an aging roster, basically player coach and no real game plan.

I can see the Cavs getting knocked off their perch this year, Boston are getting better, Bucks are too, I don't know if the Cavs are finally starting to feel the gap narrowing.

[Deleted User]

Worth noting a big issue the cavs may have with it is that brad Stephens has consistently gotten the most out of players I don't know if lebron/Lue can do that

ButtersSuki

I still think the Cavs are in the worst place.

There doesn't appear in hindsight to be any logic to the roster that the Cavs have put together. They put players based on names and what they did in the past, rather than actual needs.

I've said Lue is a joke from the start, basically a fraud in the Mike Brown league - it's clear LeBron is effectively running the whole show there. When you see the transformation of Kyrie under Stephens in a well run offence and at both ends of the court, you really have to wonder WTF Lue is doing from coaching and motivational standpoints - apart from nothing of course. On Kyrie, I was very concerned Boston gave away too much, now it looks like they got the better deal. It also raises the question of how intimidating LeBron is to his teammates being the fulcrum through which everything revolves around....and does he make them better or scare them into freezing. Kyrie looks a much better all-round player freed from under his shadow tbh. Maybe Kyrie was lazy or didn't respect the coaching staff in Cleveland too (Brown, Scott, Blatt, Lue - in fairness would you blame him?), but he just looks like a star reborn in Boston.

They (the Cavs) could still pull it together and win the East outright on Lebron's back alone, but they will get hammered by any team coming out of the West. Hammered. I wouldn't rule out some major activity at trade time or before then as they seek to improve the roster.

The team I fear in the East is Washington IF they can swing the Boogie trade. They're one of the few teams with assets to do so, and the window for them is now.

brady23

Cavs Celtics trade was always better on paper for the Cavs for some of the reasons mentioned.

IT peaked last year (I assume) and his defensive frailties were hidden as well as anyone not named Pop could manage.
Crowder is the epitome of maximising a players potential so their ability always looked more than what is truly there.

Kyrie was always going to appear better without LBJ perhaps not as much as he's shown thus far but definitely better.

In terms of value it's basically looking like is 120% of Cavs Kyrie worth more than 70% Crowder/IT combo and a top 5 pick?

I still think Cavs got the better deal given Crowder has arguably the most team friendly contract in the NBA and a top 5 pick in 2018 gets you a shot at 3 or 4 players who would have arguably been No1 pick in 2017 draft

2smiggy

the nets are 4-6 so far. I think part of the thinking was that Danny Ainge thought they were not going to be as bad again, and the draft pick was not as valuable as people were thinking.

I can't say I know who all the teams with worse records than the nets have played, or the difficulty of their schedules, but they are far from the worst records so far !! The only bad part of the trade for the Celtics is Crowder IMO

brady23

Magic x2, Suns x2, Nuggets x2, Cavs, Lakers, Hawks, Knicks and Pacers.

Id be confident to think they've probably had one of the easier if not the easiest schedule of the season thus far.

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

Nets are last with Cavs 2nd last

ButtersSuki

2smiggy wrote: »

the nets are 4-6 so far. I think part of the thinking was that Danny Ainge thought they were not going to be as bad again, and the draft pick was not as valuable as people were thinking.

I can't say I know who all the teams with worse records than the nets have played, or the difficulty of their schedules, but they are far from the worst records so far !! The only bad part of the trade for the Celtics is Crowder IMO

Was reported after the trade on numerous pods the Celtics analytics team did their win projections on Brooklyn and had them being outside the top 5 (maybe even 7, I'm not 100% sure) sovthey figured the Nets pick wasn't actually all that valuable in reality. Dealing it pre-season when many thought the Nets would still be bottom 3 was in hindsight a master stroke from Ainge if it holds that they land after the 5 pick.

mixery

Tatum is so smooth, he makes good use of that lanky body.

2smiggy

mixery wrote: »

Tatum is so smooth, he makes good use of that lanky body.

at the time I thought the celtics should have kept the no. 1 pick, but maybe Danny was actually telling the truth and Tatum was actually the pick they wanted all along. Jackson could be very good too, but he seems to have had a few run ins with the police already, so glad he was not picked. Now if the lakers would land the 2 to 5 pick (don't think it will happen) it would be great altogether

ButtersSuki

2smiggy wrote: »

at the time I thought the celtics should have kept the no. 1 pick, but maybe Danny was actually telling the truth and Tatum was actually the pick they wanted all along. Jackson could be very good too, but he seems to have had a few run ins with the police already, so glad he was not picked. Now if the lakers would land the 2 to 5 pick (don't think it will happen) it would be great altogether

It's a great move by the Celtics to flip the picks, get the guy they wanted all along AND get a pick back for it. I was a little skeptical at the time, but with this and the trading the Brooklyn pick, Ainge has pulled off a couple of masterstrokes.

ButtersSuki

Meant to post this earlier but never hit the "Post Reply" button.

Celtics win 12th straight sans Kyrie and with DeRozan missing two relatively easy shots at game winners.

Gobert out a month with a leg injury. Will hurt the Jazz.

Gregk961

Says a lot about the Celtics that they can win 12 straight without Hayward and now Kyrie for the last 2. They look a pretty safe bet for the 1 seed now and you would think they will give the Cavs a good run for the conference come playoff time. One thing for certain they have a coach who can take them all the way if he gets another piece or two.

Spurs keep winning without half their team aswell, between Pop and Stevens we have 2 brilliant coaches in the Nba.

[Deleted User]

Stevens must have coach of the year half sewn up already right?

NufcNavan

nerd69 wrote: »

Stevens must have coach of the year half sewn up already right?

He's incredible. I'm really jealous of the Cs right now.

ButtersSuki

For me, it's Pop, always Pop. What he's done with his teams consistently over a long period of time, the 50+ win seasons, the culture he's instilled, the managing minutes and rest (he was way ahead of anyone on this), and the team philosophy make him the greatest ever. They could even have had a 70 win season last season if they didn't take the foot off the breaks in the last few weeks - without Duncan. And I say all this a Celtics fan.

Stevens however looks the heir apparent. He's no doubt helped by the talent he has at his disposal and the roster that he and Ainge have put together, but he looks like the real deal. I wouldn't give anyone COTY in November though as a lot can happen between now and May.

Gregk961

ButtersSuki wrote: »

For me, it's Pop, always Pop. What he's done with his teams consistently over a long period of time, the 50+ win seasons, the culture he's instilled, the managing minutes and rest (he was way ahead of anyone on this), and the team philosophy make him the greatest ever. They could even have had a 70 win season last season if they didn't take the foot off the breaks in the last few weeks - without Duncan. And I say all this a Celtics fan.

Stevens however looks the heir apparent. He's no doubt helped by the talent he has at his disposal and the roster that he and Ainge have put together, but he looks like the real deal. I wouldn't give anyone COTY in November though as a lot can happen between now and May.

Pop is the best coach in the league but it would be like giving Lebron MVP every year. Best coach of all time for me aswell wouldnt even call it that close.

K.O.Kiki

Loving what I'm seeing from the Sixers this year

Robert Covington should be a lock for MIP

For Forks Sake

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Stevens however looks the heir apparent. He's no doubt helped by the talent he has at his disposal and the roster that he and Ainge have put together, but he looks like the real deal. I wouldn't give anyone COTY in November though as a lot can happen between now and May.

Over 4 years ago now, seems my plea for patience was heeded

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=85384040&postcount=128

For Forks Sake wrote: »

I think Stevens is an inspired choice. The work he did at Butler with what he had available to him was incredible (granted it wasn't always pretty to watch, but it was effective). To be honest, I'd get Rondo out of there now and let it be a proper rebuild from scratch and he's a good person to get it done. But it will take time....

The only danger for him is that the some of the louder elements of the Celts fanbase (i.e those who don't see the bigger picture to having to tank next season) have him lynched before the All-Star break.

ctrl-alt-delete

I was in Boston recently and went to the Celtics v Hornets game,

What an experience it was, Loved it. Watched their game on the Sunday in a Sports bar and it was a great experience too.

Do many of you watch the games live or just catch up on youtube?

Also how does one afford a season ticket there :eek: not that I know how much it it, just basing it on the price of general ticket prices.

Gregk961

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

Also how does one afford a season ticket there :eek: not that I know how much it it, just basing it on the price of general ticket prices.

Its actually pretty affordable provided you are happy enough with lower priced seating. You realistically arnt going to 41 games during the season so you can sell/share the remainder which really cuts the cost down.

You could get average enough seats at the Celtics about 2 years ago for $4000, paid off over 12 months. Share the ticket with a friend or sell half of them and your talking about $160 per month(you can pay it off over 12 months if you wish) for 20 or so games. Not exactly a small expense but id say its justifiable for a lot of people.

The teams that are gunning for championships are usually paying a luxury tax to the league for going over the wage cap which usually leads to increased ticket prices, so in general the better the team you support the more you will pay for your season ticket.

ButtersSuki

ctrl-alt-delete wrote: »

I was in Boston recently and went to the Celtics v Hornets game,

What an experience it was, Loved it. Watched their game on the Sunday in a Sports bar and it was a great experience too.

Do many of you watch the games live or just catch up on youtube?

Also how does one afford a season ticket there :eek: not that I know how much it it, just basing it on the price of general ticket prices.

+1 on what previous poster said AND there's a LOT of very rich people in the states. An awful lot. I work for an American company and I'm there a lot with work. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of wealthy people there are there.

dastardly00

I'm in Minneapolis with work. Decided to go see the Timberwolves-Spurs game. Karl-Anthony Towns is a quality player!

ButtersSuki

Joel Embiid has a good night.

46 Pts, 15 Rebs, 7 blocks and 7 assists in 34mins.

Simmons also almost had another triple double, missed it by 1 rebound, Md also had 5 steals.

Trust the process.

K.O.Kiki

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aCBslaciZM

Post-game interview
https://streamable.com/1ftka

TRUST THE PROCESS!

K.O.Kiki

And uhhh... Lonzo Ball.

1-9 FG (0-6 3P)
-18 +/-
In 21 minutes.

NufcNavan

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

And uhhh... Lonzo Ball.

1-9 FG (0-6 3P)
-18 +/-
In 21 minutes.

Did someone say BUST.

But seriously, why is he being allowed to shoot SIX three pointers when he's a lousy shooter.