Basketball (NBA, College, International)

I keep meaning to post here and forgetting.

As someone who grew up watching basketball in the early aughts, we're so spoiled right now. You can watch a game featuring Jokic, the greatest player in the world, followed by a game with LeBron and Luka against a swarming, athletic team led by Anthony Edwards, perhaps the best young player in the league. We didn't have any of this quality in 2004.

I felt in my bones that both Detroit and Minnesota were going to win in upsets, though I was too cowardly to pick either of them. I would've been right about one and wrong about the other, so no harm, no foul I guess.

I found the Lakers disappointing. I can't understand why they had so much trouble scoring in the fourth all series. LeBron might be too old, but Luka should've been able to carry the scoring alone in a few games. If JJ wasn't going to trust Knecht in the playoffs, why not trade him for Mark Williams during the regular season? I couldn't understand the strategy in game four, either. I'm a rest/rotation guy in any sport. Surely you can squeeze a few minutes out of Hayes, Vincent, and Vanderbilt? They're all decent NBA players. I wouldn't want them out there in the last two minutes, but they can buy your 40-year-old star a few minutes of rest.

Detroit/NYK and Denver/LAC have been phenomenal. As I post this, it looks like Clippers/Nuggets is heading a game seven. That should be unbelievable, even if neither team has a great shot against OKC.

Bill Simmons has been bullish on Indiana's chances against Cleveland. I don't see it. I think the Cavs and Celtics will win in 6.
 
TheSameIdiot said:
I have no feel for the Western Conference matchups. I think there's a good chance I picked incorrectly in three of them (excluding OKC obviously).

CLE in 5
BOS in 5
NYK in 6
IND in 6

OKC in 4
GS in 6
LAL in 7
LAC in 7

The playoffs should be exciting, but as Seattleite, I'm absolutely miserable thinking about the start of OKC's likely dynasty. It makes me sick to my stomach.

My Finals pick is OKC over BOS in 6.
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I nailed three predictions and missed three others by a game. I'll take 6-2 overall. My round 2 predictions all in one spot:

CLE in 6
BOS in 6

OKC in 6
MIN in 7

I'm confident the Thunder will beat the Nuggets, but I have no feel for how long that series will last. You could tell me OKC in 4 or 7. I don't think it's impossible for the Nuggets to win, but it'd be Jokic's most impressive feat to date. Above the championship and nearly beating Team USA by himself, IMO.
 
Jokic is so good his presence is certainly worth a win or 2. OKC is still young as well. If the MPJ contract wasn't hanging over Den's depth they'd be in a fight for their lives.
 
I'm interested to see how the GS/Minnesota series goes. TWolves fans are talking a lot of smack, saying they are glad its the Warriors and not the Rockets... but playoff series are hard to win and Kerr, Steph, Draymond, and even Looney have been through it. They know what it takes. Its no guarantee of course... but Minnesota won one more game than the Warriors this season, its not like they are any super team themselves. I'll be pulling for my Warriors and then probably rooting for Denver as slightly less scary than OKC - they only have one big man to worry about -as great as he is - the Thunder have waves of them.

It is interesting that in the West the teams left are seeds 1, 4, 6 and 7 while in the East its 1,2,3 and 4.
 
What the hell?

I still think the Celtics come back against the Knicks. The Cavs, I'm not so sure about.

The Wolves blew an opportunity to beat the Warriors without Curry. Looks like they'll get at least two more games without him in the lineup.
 
Yeah... kind of shocking that both 60 win teams in the East are down 0-2. The Knicks wins have both been razor thin, but if they win one of the next two games in their home gym I think they win the series. Tatum doesn't look like the same guy as last year, it's weird.

No Steph is terrible for the Warriors. I don't think they have the bench depth to make up for his absence. Jimmy will have to play out of his mind, Draymond will have to be special and they will have to get something meaningful from Kuminga (how likely is that?) to have any chance. Huge bummer because with a healthy Curry I think the Warriors take down the Wolves
 
Yeah Curry being out is a huge loss for the Warriors. They took advantage of the Timberwolves rust in game one, but I don't see that happening again. It's going to take a miracle or two to advance now.

Celtics and Cavs being down 2 after playing at home is just crazy. The way the Celtics lost both games is mindboggling. For a team that won a championship to not have the killer instinct, something's not right there.
 
I haven't been following all that much. I kind of fell off watching basketball altogether when my team, the Mavericks, shit the bed with the Luka bullshit. I hope the Cavs pull off a few more wins and put out the Pacers though. Jarrett Allen is my favorite player not named Luka Doncic and I hope his team goes far.
 
I like Jarrett Allen but "Jarret Allen is my favorite player" is not a sentence you see or hear that often. Makes me feel better about my Wesley Matthews love all those years.
 
My irrational love starting 5.

1 Sam Cassell
2 Sydney Moncrief
3 Andrew Toney
4 Rasheed Wallace
5 Moses

With Moses and Rasheed I think I can play a little small at the 3. Bringing Bobby Sura, Andre Miller, Wesley Matthews, Bobby Jones & Omer Asik off the bench.
 
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That's a fun exercise. I'd have to think about mine. Ginobili would definitely be on there, but then again, my starting five might just be the 2014 Spurs.

Andrew Toney could play. Super underrated.
 
Brutal night for the league. The karmically radioactive Mavericks win the draft lottery and Jayson Tatum likely blows his achilles.
 
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