2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
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For all the shit Lakers fans give Pierce about leaving on a wheelchair only to come back out firing 5 minutes later, Anthony Davis is the worst offender of this I've ever seen. He suffers 1-2 season ending injuries every single month, it's remarkable.
Freaking Curry. He's still the scariest player in the league.
*edit - quickly forgotten is that horrible challenge by Ham, wasting their last timeout. That might have been useful after Curry tied it.
This is a pretty great game for a national tv broadcast. And LeBron is amazing. He is dominating the game like he was in his 20s.
It really is, even if the equivalent matchup in the east would be Brooklyn/Toronto. These two bring out the best in each other.
Weird decision to have Reaves and Russell on the court for that play. Those two are below average defenders at best.
*edit - and Kerr does the smart thing by taking Curry off for the final shot defense. Ham is horrible.
Yup. And that Curry shot where he went from lying on the floor to knocking down that corner 3 was ridiculous.
And, great play call to Klay there.
That Curry three to pull it to one after he was tangled up out of bounds where he got up, relocated to the corner - AND have to give props where its due, Draymond manages to feed him perfectly - was just sick. One of one.
The one thing I'll disagree with, Lebron looks nothing like he did a decade ago. He used to be the best player on both ends of the court, flying all over the place never getting tired. He's invisible defensively most of the time, and he noticeably wears down (basically praying that his jumpshots go in) late in difficult games. He's more than content to be a distributor, getting the ball in the hands of Reaves/Russell/Davis in good position.
DLo has been playing great all night (and season) but what terrible set of sequences there. The Warriors had him so they knew his tendencies.
Plus his team isn't very good. Like, peak LeBron would drag any supporting cast to 50 wins.
Younger Lebron would never disappear for multiple possessions of an OT game against a rival. He's incredible for his age, but this guy is fraction of the player who was the best in the NBA (by a mile) for about 10 years.
Lebron on the Lakers:
Year 1: Missed playoffs
Year 2: Best team in the conference, wins finals
Year 3: Had to get through the play in
Year 4: Missed playoffs
Year 5: Had to get through the play in
Year 6: TBD, but probably no better than play in
He's been dragging this mediocre group around for awhile.
Curry is still Curry.
You guys are high. There was nothing wrong with that screen and Vandy tried to flop his way to the illegal screen instead of playing defense.
I'm thinking that Uncle Drew was an older lesser version of Kyrie.
Small nit.. LeBron even as a younger player would take whole games off in the playoffs if his team was behind and he didn't think they had a chance. There were many games where LeBron would completely disappear in the playoffs.. and then come back and completely dominate the next game.
Draymond is still moving.
edit: if you never have to set your feet to set a legal screen then all of Draymond's picks are legal.
For sure, but he went 3 full minutes in OT with his name not even appearing in the play by play, other than to grab a defensive rebound. I remember him disappearing when (like you said) winning wasn't possible, at least in his mind, but that isn't the case in OT games. He's still great, but just another guy now.
That was some brutal defense by Podziemski at the end there. Less than 5 seconds left, like the one job you have is not let Lebron go IMMEDIATELY past you for a layup. Combined with him bricking that wide open with just under a minute left and a 2 point lead, and he really killed the Warriors at the end.
All I know is that LeBron played an incredible game tonight at his age and was one of the best players on the court. I understand he is not at or near his peak and he has flaws. If I am missing something about his performance tonight I am all ears. But that was a turn-back-the-clock one for me.
Obligatory: I loathe the trash ass Lakers and root for them to lose so painfully each and every day.
Obligatory: I loathe the trash ass Lakers and root for them to lose so painfully each and every day.
Yeah, that was a really fun game, Curry never ceases to amaze. Hate to see the Lakers win though.
LeBron only had 36 points, 12 assists, and a career-high 20 boards, imagine if he was young and/or engaged in the game. (!!!!)
Some crazy individual +/- numbers in a one point double OT game, Draymond was somehow a +31 in 46 minutes while Vanderbilt was +30 in 41 minutes, that seems close to mathematically impossible but it happened.
Some crazy individual +/- numbers in a one point double OT game, Draymond was somehow a +31 in 46 minutes while Vanderbilt was +30 in 41 minutes, that seems close to mathematically impossible but it happened.
Ultimately I think I'm pretty happy with the Lakers winning this game. Much as I hate them, I'll be happy if either of these teams misses the play-in entirely, and this loss pushed the Warriors a full 3 games back. Just hope that one of the Jazz/Rockets can hold on.
View: https://twitter.com/957thegame/status/1751470969527607321?s=20
The Warriors desperately need their older players (other than Curry) to be better. You can kind of see what they were trying to do with their crunch time lineup - Curry/Thompson for shooting, Wiggins/Kuminga for length, athleticism and defense, Draymond for everything other than shooting. It's just not working.
The Warriors desperately need their older players (other than Curry) to be better. You can kind of see what they were trying to do with their crunch time lineup - Curry/Thompson for shooting, Wiggins/Kuminga for length, athleticism and defense, Draymond for everything other than shooting. It's just not working.
AD wanted to be a spectator. He completely froze on the play standing straight up guarding nobody after Vanderbilt flopped.
Didn’t read posts above this but agree that flop was 100% T-worthy in the normal course of the game.
It works when you have the physical ability to gain an angle while creating contact. Few are able to draw a whistle in the final seconds.
It’s remarkable to me that people are bagging on LeBron here after that amazing performance. Partisanship over everything.
It absolutely was not a legal screen, but did he even touch Vanderbilt? It looks like Vandy flopped right to the ground expecting the hit (and the call):
View: https://twitter.com/iam_johnw/status/1751469337754407337?s=20
On other replays it looks like Green barely touched him, more of a rub screen.
View: https://twitter.com/iam_johnw/status/1751469337754407337?s=20
On other replays it looks like Green barely touched him, more of a rub screen.
Bagging on nothing, it's not dragging him down to say that he's not the same player that won 4 MVPs in 5 years. I think people have seen him slowly decline for so long that they've forgotten just how good he was at his peak (amplified by stat inflation causing his general numbers to look very similar to his prime).
Including a couple of really ugly losses (Charlotte, San Antonio) and close wins over lousy teams (Brooklyn by 2, Detroit by 7). Lucky to only be a half game out of first, they played the hardest schedule (by opposing win%) in the league for awhile, and are stumbling now that they get to the easier parts.
They all must be hits at parties.
One comment I will agree with is that he is a shell of his former self…..the shell of the Goat is still a high level All-Star at almost 40.
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