2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
- Start date
It’s as simple as they don’t care to play the seeding game. I don’t necessarily disagree as I was kinda surprised how many of you sickos have been following the seeding which at the end of the day mostly won’t matter.
I post this every year, but here’s the vote tracker for awards. Not many in yet, but the next week or so, a bunch come in.
View: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KMzwRcilLDej0BWl7eYE_OYC9Tx9olI_Ptn-nHjKfpQ/htmlview?pru=AAABgD4nIzY*qcD48TaT-Q1ytoUG3d6hjA#
View: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KMzwRcilLDej0BWl7eYE_OYC9Tx9olI_Ptn-nHjKfpQ/htmlview?pru=AAABgD4nIzY*qcD48TaT-Q1ytoUG3d6hjA#
I think it’s kinda hysterical that Michael Pina voted for all 3 of my longshot futures of Mazzulla, Wemby DPOY and Coby White for MIP. Like Mike…if I could be like Mike.
That's hilarious in the first place, and the announcer having it dawn on him what was happening was even better.
Honestly, second best moment from yesterday (after the NYK-CHI 4Q/OT), amid some not very strong competition.
Here's the Game 1 schedules with guesses at game times. Game times are according to my Fubo guide.
Saturday
TBD at NY Knicks 8:30 ABC
Orlando at Cleveland 1:00 ESPN
TBD at Denver 3:30 ESPN
Phoenix at Minnesota 6:00 ESPN
Sunday
TBD at Celtics 1:00 ABC
Indiana at Milwaukee 6:00 TNT
TBD at OKC 8:30 TNT
Dallas at LA Clippers 3:30 ABC
Saturday
TBD at NY Knicks 8:30 ABC
Orlando at Cleveland 1:00 ESPN
TBD at Denver 3:30 ESPN
Phoenix at Minnesota 6:00 ESPN
Sunday
TBD at Celtics 1:00 ABC
Indiana at Milwaukee 6:00 TNT
TBD at OKC 8:30 TNT
Dallas at LA Clippers 3:30 ABC
I don't understand the scheduling, for the play-in games and for game 1. In one sense I get that you should have one conference playing one day and the other the next, so that the 8/9 play-in game is between two teams on equal rest. But I think you could also have the 9/10 games go first, since they have to travel to the 7/8 loser (who can just stay at home). And then, you've got both conference 1-seeds playing on Sunday, giving the 8-seed teams the extra day rest, though not equally (WC plays Thurs night, EC plays Friday, so you could just as easily have OKC play the winner on Saturday).
I would have preferred a schedule of:
Tuesday: 9/10 seed games
Wednesday: 7/8 seed games
Thursday: one conference 8-seed play-in, call it Conf A. Home team will be on a back-to-back (maybe whichever conference's game host won fewer games, or you predetermine it somehow). Sucks for them, but you're at home.
Friday: other conference 8-seed play-in, call it Conf B.
Saturday: Conf A plays Game 1, including their 1- and 2-seeds.
Sunday: Conf B plays Game 1, including their 1- and 2-seeds.
Instead it's:
Tuesday: WC 7/8 and 9/10 games
Wednesday: EC 7/8 and 9/10 games
Thursday: WC 8-seed game
Friday: EC 8-seed game
Saturday: EC 2-seed (7/8 winner on 3 days rest) plus 3 other non-play-in games
Sunday: WC 1/2 seeds (7/8 winner on 5 days rest, 8-seed on 3 days rest) + EC 1-seed (8-seed on 2 days rest), plus a 4/5 game
I don't know how they determined which conference goes first, but I'll say I'd have rather played Saturday and thus probably gotten an extra rest day in between games somewhere down the line.
I would have preferred a schedule of:
Tuesday: 9/10 seed games
Wednesday: 7/8 seed games
Thursday: one conference 8-seed play-in, call it Conf A. Home team will be on a back-to-back (maybe whichever conference's game host won fewer games, or you predetermine it somehow). Sucks for them, but you're at home.
Friday: other conference 8-seed play-in, call it Conf B.
Saturday: Conf A plays Game 1, including their 1- and 2-seeds.
Sunday: Conf B plays Game 1, including their 1- and 2-seeds.
Instead it's:
Tuesday: WC 7/8 and 9/10 games
Wednesday: EC 7/8 and 9/10 games
Thursday: WC 8-seed game
Friday: EC 8-seed game
Saturday: EC 2-seed (7/8 winner on 3 days rest) plus 3 other non-play-in games
Sunday: WC 1/2 seeds (7/8 winner on 5 days rest, 8-seed on 3 days rest) + EC 1-seed (8-seed on 2 days rest), plus a 4/5 game
I don't know how they determined which conference goes first, but I'll say I'd have rather played Saturday and thus probably gotten an extra rest day in between games somewhere down the line.
I don't know how they determined most of the games but it's not possible to have each conference's playoff games on one day. Note that they are putting the least "desirable" EC games at 1:00 p.m. ET for TV purposes. Can't imagine that they'd want a WC playoff game going off at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Just think of it as corporate suits making decisions to maximize their investment and this stuff won’t bother you anymore. The networks don’t care about the things we care about and while they do work with the league in the schedule they have the final say.
There are also NHL playoff games this weekend. Also some of these arenas may have booked concerts, shows, etc.
Yes, but that's what's weird. It's a bad look to try to lose (and not try to win=try to lose., so don't get semantic!). But if there's an obvious advantage I guess okay, but it's really hard to see what the Cavs had to gain. 12 minutes of rest for players who will have 6 days off?
I sort of have the Cavs as a team I don't root against -- I mean, Cleveland deserves some wins. But this really makes me root against them. An embarrassment for them to roll over like that.
I know it's that way every season, but at least in the West the match-ups seem more key than ever. Denver absolutely rocks the Lakers and will be an easy pick there, assuming the Lakers get the #7 seed. And, yet, the Lakers match up great with OKC and to my mind that'd be an even series even if it were to be 1 vs 8 seed. Similar to how the Pels are a tougher match up for the Nuggets. Same with Minnesota: getting matched up 3 vs 6 vs the Suns is the worst match up for them. I think the East is more average: sure can quibble that this or that match up is better/worse, but I think my picks will just come down to which is the better team. The West is so strong 1 through 10 that the somewhat random order is way more important than usual.
It was more than that. They didn’t dress their starting backcourt of Garland and Mitchell nor did they rush back Merrill who has been banged up.
They wanted to play Orlando in the first round instead of possibly Miami or Philly, so they put out the most embarrassing lineup they possibly could in the fourth quarter to ensure that result. That's the obvious advantage, not rest for their starters.
Bobby Portis thought he was going to get traded for Grant Williams... and thought that to be beneath him. Kinda funny.
View: https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1779918619092377734
View: https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1779918619092377734
Not a bad looking team, if on the older side. It feels like the depth is weakest at big wing, if the team isn't comfortable essentially with just a 3 man rotation at the 3/4 spots (Tatum/Durant/Lebron), that'd be a good place to add someone like Banchero/Barnes/Ingram/Butler/Kawhi. Considering that Tatum/Lebron/Durant may be their three best players anyway, they could be fine with it.
They are also now lined up for Boston in the second round instead of Bucks or Pacers. Giving up 2 seeding spots to play matchups in round 1 is a fool’s errand if your goal is to win a title. Heading into the game, getting the 2 seed was low odds, so they seemed to decide it wasn’t worth the injury risk.
It's a strategy to possibly win one series, which is the priority of Altman and Bickerstaff after getting bullied around by NYK last year. They would like to keep their jobs more than they would like to be in the best position to win a title.
I agree, it feels like they decided it's really important to win a series and 'show progress'
I guess I get that, especially since they are trying to manage/figure out Mitchell's future. But it's kind of a 'blah' mentality
Is it crazy that the Bucks are favored to win that series? Looks like it's currently -225, but they only finished 2 games ahead of Indy for the season, and now Giannis is iffy. I get that the Bucks still have a super high ceiling, but at some point you are what you are.
Indy was also 4-1 against them. Pacers are probably the best Vegas bet this round, this is probably as good a matchup as the Pacers could have gotten.
Just a loser attitude all the way down. Not to be some old school hard--ass type, but that just seems like a recipe to instill a losing culture.
There's a general feeling that the Pacers have disappointed after a fast start, but really that's just Haliburton. They were 21-15 when he got hurt, and finished up 20-15 after he returned. They're a slightly above average team that matches up really well with the Bucks, who are now without their best player for at least a game or two. Giannis averaged 42/13/5 while shooting 68% from the field (despite being just 1-10 for 3) against Indy this year, WTF do they do without that production?
Siakam has really been excellent for them.
What do they do? Probably what they did against us in the March game, which was to have the team shoot 49% from 3, with Portis, Crowder, Lopez etc bombing away alongside Lillard and Middleton. Portis, Middleton and even Connaughton got to the rim against us at will, and Beasley and Pat Bev defended their asses off. We still won (without Jrue), but they showed a lot of depth to their toolkit that game, with Giannis out. Lillard can shoot them out of a game, but if he doesn't, the team has enough firepower even without Giannis to compete with any non-Boston team in the East.
The answer is that Portis will have to step up, but they can't rely on him getting an efficient 24/15, nor can they rely on shooting 48% from 3 on 35 attempts. They aren't dead in the water without Giannis (like Philly is without Embiid), but they are 4-5 when he doesn't play. They are already slow and weak defensively, take away their best athlete and defender those problems just become bigger. They've got the firepower (although without Giannis getting attention in the paint, a lot of those open 3's will disappear), but their defense without Giannis is going to be terrible. Do they want to get into a track meet with Indy?
Without him I think they'd be about the 9th best team in the conference, and given that they do have home court and he's likely to come back at some point, maybe the Bucks will still beat Indy. I just don't see why they are expected to.
Yeah, I probably agree with you, but there is some method to their madness. It’s the price of having Dan Gilbert as your owner.
Heard somewhere (Lowe post, maybe?) that Indy's defense was up to a middling level since Siakam got there---which is a big deal given their very strong offense.
I'm guessing Giannis is out first two games - that's consistent with typical return timeline we've seen, and Luka a year or two ago. So if you're Indianapolis, that says you want to steal one of first two for sure and see if you can really pull away at home. Giannis historiclaly has recovered well, and you just don't know on that.
I don't think this is quite a toss-up, but I think Indy has a real chance.
If those open 3s will disappear without Giannis, you'll still need to explain how they were able to get all those open 3s against us without Giannis. And we're a better defensive team than Indy is, to put it lightly.
It's going to be a long week. If you're interested, feel free to go rewatch our 3/20 game against Milwaukee. In case you or anyone else here doesn't have League Pass, let me offer you a link. I don't have the time to go break it down myself, but I imagine that what we saw in that game will, with some adjustments for matchups, be a large part of how Doc will approach this series before Giannis is able to return.
I'll agree that Indy's major offensive superpower - transition speed and decisions - is a problem for Milwaukee, who either has turnstiles on transition D (Lillard) or big guys who can't move well (Lopez). Giannis really covers up a lot of sins in that department. Portis, Middleton and especially Beasley will need to really get their coverages right, and be sprinting on both ends, or they'll need to adjust their rebounding tactics to prevent fast outlets. But Indy's a flawed team too, including some pretty rough losses the last month (two of them to the Bulls!).
I don't think anyone doubts that if the Bucks show up like they did March 20 and the Pacers show up like Cs did thta Milwaukee could win big.
But I think most of us feel like the Bucks generally have NOT shown up like they did that day
But I think most of us feel like the Bucks generally have NOT shown up like they did that day
That was one game, that they lost (and Boston really let up after grabbing a big lead and no Giannis). Milwaukee is a pretty solid 3 point shooting team in general (11th in %, 5th in attempts), but unless Giannis was singlehandedly dragging down their entire average, they will likely be worse from 3 without him over the course of a 7 game series (and FTR, if you remove his 3 point shooting they go from from .373 to .377, which is 11th best to 9th best).
I have to think the oddsmakers are assuming Giannis will only miss a game or two, and then will return at 90%. That's probably enough, but if Indy's defense really has improved since acquiring Siakam (and I'm sure that some of that improvement is just Haliburton playing less, because the defensive improvement from Bruce Brown to Siakam shouldn't be enough to turn a bottom 5 defense into an average one all by itself), then it might not even matter when Giannis comes back if he's not whole. Indy is for sure flawed, but they certainly aren't afraid of Milwaukee.
Somewhat off topic, but if Siakam has turned Indy from a terrible defense to an ok defense and OG Anunoby has turned the Knicks from an average defense to a great defense, how was Toronto (with a good coach and another solid defender in Barnes) so average defensively the last few years? 25th this year, 12th last year, 10th in 2022, 15th in 2021.
Is the answer that they were pretty decent under Nurse, and that the new guy just isn't that good? 25th from 10-15 is a huge dropoff, although a lot of it came after the trades. They also didn't have Poeltl until post-deadline last year.
Especially since there is a greater than zero chance that the decision has already been made to shut him down for the entire series and naturally would not advertise this.
call some ts and get on with the game at the very least so we don’t have to listen any more to reggie