Sports NBA Thread: 2022-2023 Season

[Adeleine]

Not a Nuggets fan but genuinely curious, please tell me why you think the Nuggets are lacking in terms of being a finals contender.

1 conference finals appearance, in which they got wiped, in the jokic era. i'm not willing to believe in nugs as a true contender ™ until a year they get reasonably close to getting out of their conference. and those years didn't have kd suns + kyrie mavs. (yes their conference is harder than the other one. unfortunate for them but that's the hand they're dealt.)

even the years they made the divs, they got 0-4d one year and lost to the blazers (who then got 0-4d in cf) the other

 

[DerrickRose]

Your Nuggets take misses a lot of context though. The run to the WCF was actually a really good, healthy year for them and they lost to a champion. They came back from 3-1 twice. Last year and the one before, two of their top 3 players were injured or hampered.

Nuggets are definitely a contender to me. They can still lose to the Warriors or Suns, but that wouldn't make them less of a contender in my eyes.

 

[awyp]

Been watching the Dallas Mavericks, I really do like seeing Luka having a top 20 player in the league playing along side him. He doesn't have to be superman every game and he could just sit back and take the tension off his shoulders. Mavericks imo have been playing really good and all the games they lose (lost 10 games they've played) have all been close ones which shows they just have some tweaking to do. Maxi came back and I love what he provides on the defensive end but I can tell that he's still not feeling a 100% from that hamstring injury.

 

[DerrickRose]

Maverick's defense isn't good enough for me to be a contender. Great offense, but they lost defensive edge.

 

[PresidentBubblebeam]

I don't think Mavs fans can count on Kleber coming back and saving that defense. He's 31 and coming off a pretty bad injury. Even when he was healthy, the team was middle of the pack on defense (16th in DRtg). The Luka/Kyrie offense is very interesting to me, but I also don't see the Mavs as contenders right now.

 

[awyp]

I don't think Mavs fans can count on Kleber coming back and saving that defense. He's 31 and coming off a pretty bad injury. Even when he was healthy, the team was middle of the pack on defense (16th in DRtg). The Luka/Kyrie offense is very interesting to me, but I also don't see the Mavs as contenders right now.

Totally agree, I thought trading Dorian was a terrible move because I think defensively he fits really well, including offensively cutting to the basket and being able to make corner threes. They paid McGee the bag for someone who's 35 years old and not averaging any minutes (less than 10), he was supposed to be a player brought for some defensive presence. My opinion is they keep Luka and Kyrie, and revamp the front court completely, I really am a fan of Josh Green.

 

[DerrickRose]

Denver's defense the last few games... okay maybe they aren't exactly the type of number 1 seed contender you expect.

 

[PresidentBubblebeam]

The defense being terrible doesn't surprise me since that's been the Nuggets' MO for a while now, but their recent skid has been pretty puzzling. They've had 4 straight losses. The teams that beat them over those games were the Raptors, Nets, Spurs, and Bulls. These are bad teams. The Jokic-led offense is usually enough to propel the Nugs past bottomfeeding teams, but that hasn't been the case as of late.

Still, I'm not willing to write them off entirely. I do think they're contenders, but that's mainly because the west looks the weakest it's been since the early 80's, which really says a lot about how good the conference has been in the modern era. I trust Jokic in the playoffs, and now that he's got his sidekicks back, fully healthy, I anticipate that the the Nuggets will at least go on a deep playoff run.

 

[DerrickRose]

Don't mistake parity for weakness. If you call Toronto and Brooklyn bad teams and most of the west in the playoff run weak, you rank Denver higher than anyone I know. They are not leagues above everybody just because of their offense.

Jokic gets picked apart on defense. That's a fact. It is hard to protect his lack of mobility in space, and they give up the most midrange. Guess the type of the teams in the West that succeed in perimeter scoring well?

... uh, almost the entire damn conference. A team that ranks in the middle of the pack defensively don't have deep playoff runs outside of injury luck. Jokic's conditioning better be ready. Contender still, but he'll be tested for sure.

 

[awyp]

Don't mistake parity for weakness. If you call Toronto and Brooklyn bad teams and most of the west in the playoff run weak, you rank Denver higher than anyone I know. They are not leagues above everybody just because of their offense.

Jokic gets picked apart on defense. That's a fact. It is hard to protect his lack of mobility in space, and they give up the most midrange. Guess the type of the teams in the West that succeed in perimeter scoring well?

... uh, almost the entire damn conference. A team that ranks in the middle of the pack defensively don't have deep playoff runs outside of injury luck. Jokic's conditioning better be ready. Contender still, but he'll be tested for sure.

Jokic doesn't pass the eye test but his defensive efficiency has shown to be pretty decent. I don't think he's a liability for his team as the media puts it. I think the last couple of nights the blame could be put on Jamal Murrary 5/18 FGM 5/19 FGM, The Bulls game MPJ went 5/13 FGM

 

[DerrickRose]

Better shooting doesn't fix defense. Is Jokic the center of the blame? I wouldn't say so, but he is the last line of defense and the team's scheme is based on covering for him.

Also, I had zero idea he lead the league in kickball violations. By a longshot, too (he has 45, the next person has 17). Either he's a frustrated defender or he prefers to play defense like Luffy.

 

[DerrickRose]

Clippers are playing better now. The difference? Spotting Westbrook's minutes with Mann's and Gordon's.

 

[awyp]

Clippers are playing better now. The difference? Spotting Westbrook's minutes with Mann's and Gordon's.

Agreed I think mathematically on this team on paper looks like the best team in the league, I definitely think Westbrook shouldn't exceed 30 mins in any game and stay around 25-27 mins a game. Gordan is a fantastic add for increase of minutes because Kawhi and PG aren't consistent 3PMers

 

[Rabia]

I think at this point I'm willing to say that although Westbrook + LeBron wasn't a good fit, the former's just pretty washed at this point anyway. Hell, by many metrics he was better on the Lakers alongside Bron compared to his new situation.

 

[awyp]

That Maxi Kleber game winning shot was what dreams are made of....damn I feel bad for Lakers Nation

 

[Scofield]

Mizuno don't invite House of Guards back next year, not setting your lineup during the quarterfinals is gross

 

[Surfy]

That Maxi Kleber game winning shot was what dreams are made of....damn I feel bad for Lakers Nation

I can't even articulate how truly devastating it felt KNOWING the second AD fouled Maxi on the 3, they were losing the game and to see that come to fruition was utterly draining.

 

[awyp]

I can't even articulate how truly devastating it felt KNOWING the second AD fouled Maxi on the 3, they were losing the game and to see that come to fruition was utterly draining.

I was thinking the same thing, like what's the probability with less than 20 seconds on the shot clock you foul someone on the 3 Pointer (They make all 3 free throws) [Mind you they're up 4 points prior to the foul]. Makes all 3, Lakers are up 1, they get the ball to Anthony Davis (Foul him), he goes 1/2 on the line meaning they're up 2 with (7 seconds left) and you let a Stretch 5 shoot the 3 to win the game. Like I'm not a betting man but if you put your money on Dallas prior to the first foul, you would probably multiply your money by 10x.

 

[Surfy]

I was thinking the same thing, like what's the probability with less than 20 seconds on the shot clock you foul someone on the 3 Pointer (They make all 3 free throws) [Mind you they're up 4 points prior to the foul]. Makes all 3, Lakers are up 1, they get the ball to Anthony Davis (Foul him), he goes 1/2 on the line meaning they're up 2 with (7 seconds left) and you let a Stretch 5 shoot the 3 to win the game. Like I'm not a betting man but if you put your money on Dallas prior to the first foul, you would probably multiple your money by 10x.

Seeing you put it into words like that just makes me laugh because of how "Lakers" it was for them to lose it. This season has been gut-wrenching loss after another but I truly believe if they can get healthy and into the playoffs, they have a decent shot at making some real noise. And yeah the 10x is probably spot on.

 

[awyp]

Seeing you put it into words like that just makes me laugh because of how "Lakers" it was for them to lose it. This season has been gut-wrenching loss after another but I truly believe if they can get healthy and into the playoffs, they have a decent shot at making some real noise. And yeah the 10x is probably spot on.

Not going to lie as a Lakers doubter, I think they became one of the better teams in the west after the trade deadline, I'm scared of them if they have a healthy roster, but they can hold their own without Lebron.

 

[Surfy]

the lakers have had the #1 defence since they traded for vando... he really is legit and the lakers are back to looking like what they were in 2020, defensively at least. they've been the #22 best offence tho so we gotta see how good they'll be w bron back but i do think they can make some noise

And then you add in the fact that this may be the weakest we've ever seen the West in a very very long time. Especially if you think Golden State won't just flip a switch in the Playoffs (which I'm inclined to believe they will) then there is not 1 proven team out West aside from a Nuggets team that doesn't really scare me as a 1 seed.

 

[Rabia]

I think Joel Embiid is a sneaky candidate this year too. The 76ers are the 5(?) seed as of now because Harden and Maxey have missed a ton of time this season, but Embiid did well to keep this team afloat during that span. If the 76ers can climb a bit closer to the top 3 in their conference, I'd definitely have him in consideration.

Well, the 76ers are now the 2 seed, Joel Embiid has been on a TEAR as of late (while the Nuggets are struggling), and Joel Embiid has become the MVP betting favorite. If there's ANY year for him to finally win he award, it's this year.

 

[DerrickRose]

Lakers better win tomorrow or it won't matter anyway. Once again, their season is decided by a Suns game.

 

[awyp]

Paul George is looking (not confirmed) that he'll probably miss the rest of the season, if that's the case I think Clippers are at a waste of another season with a "Championship Squad"

 

[Scofield]

Mizuno yeah had a feeling this type of injury/rest stuff would happen, it's why I pushed to end the season earlier. Move it up a week, that way every team plays each other a nice even 2 times and then playoffs start on week 19 and season ends when teams/players are still relatively motivated. Please implement this next season

Del Rio I'm just gonna call it now so I can enjoy my weekend, congrats on winning, sorry I couldn't make it more competitive. Winning w.o your 1st rounder is tough so well played