-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
-
Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
Official NBA '17-18 Season Thread
- Thread starter trikx_insane
- Start date
- Status
Lakers are 6.5 games out of 8th and 8.5 games out of 3rd and have to pass at least 3/8 of the Jazz, Clippers, Nuggets, Thunder, Spurs, Pelicans, Timberwolves, and Trail Blazers to get into top 8. The only teams above us we've definitively looked better than as of late -- as good as the Lakers have looked -- are the Clippers, the Spurs, and the Timberwolves -- you could maybe make an argument for the Thunder too. The Clippers are catchable (even though they've been winning a lot too), but the Spurs and Timberwolves haven't looked "we are losing 7-8 more games than you with 20 games to play" worse and are only really in that position because of injuries.
West is stacked
West is stacked
You want to know how ridiculous the West is?
On January 23rd, the Utah Jazz were 10th place with a 19-28 record. 16 games later, during which the Jazz went 14-2 and now own a 33-30 record, the Jazz are still in 10th place in the West, 2 games out of a playoff spot.
Took a quick look at the remaining schedules of the current 3rd to 11th seed in the West. The number in brackets at the end means how many games out of their remaining schedule are against teams that are currently 3rd to 11th in the West/other playoff teams.
3. Portland: LAL, LACx2, OKC, NOP, SA, DEN, UTA, as well as 6 games against other playoff teams (14/19)
4. Minnesota: SA, LAC, UTA, DENx2, LAL, as well as 5 games against other playoff teams (11/16)
5. New Orleans: LACx2, UTA, SAx2, LAL, POR, OKC, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams and the LAL game being on a B2B2B (15/21)
6. San Antonio: OKCx2, NOPx2, MIN, UTA, LAC, LAL, POR, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (16/19)
7. Oklahoma City: SAx2, LAC, POR, DEN, NOP as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (13/17)
8. Denver: LALx2, OKC, MINx2, POR, LAC, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (14/17)
9. Clippers: NOPx2, OKC, PORx2, MIN, SA, UTA, DEN, LAL, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (17/21)
10. Utah: NO, SA, MIN, LALx2, LAC, POR, as well as 4 games against other playoff teams (11/19)
11. Los Angeles: POR, DENx2, NOP, UTAx2, SA, MIN, LAC, as well as 6 games against other playoff teams (15/20)
So it definitely looks like San Antonio and the Clippers have the toughest schedules, and luckily for the Lakers they're not going to be completely out of the race yet because the teams in front still play each other a lot, with some difficult games as well. That said, we have a lot of those games ourselves and our next game is going to be a good test against a red-hot Blazers team. The only games I'm really worried about are Portland, New Orleans (AD feasts vs us), Utah, and San Antonio if they get Kawhi back.
Pop may not have the luxury of resting his guys this year because they're nowhere near safe for the playoffs yet, and even if they lock up a spot they'll want home court advantage.
The West is gonna be a bloodbath.
EDIT: According to Tankathon's remaining strength of schedule, the difficulty of the remaining schedule of the teams listed above are as follows, from hardest to easiest:
1. San Antonio .562
2. Oklahoma City .553
3. Portland .537
4. New Orleans .536
5. Clippers .531
6. Los Angeles .523
7. Minnesota .509
8. Denver .500
9. Utah .481
I don't want to say that San Antonio is in danger of missing the playoffs, but at the very least, their 50-win season streak is in jeopardy. They're currently 36-27 so they have to go at least 14-5 the rest of the way.
On January 23rd, the Utah Jazz were 10th place with a 19-28 record. 16 games later, during which the Jazz went 14-2 and now own a 33-30 record, the Jazz are still in 10th place in the West, 2 games out of a playoff spot.
Took a quick look at the remaining schedules of the current 3rd to 11th seed in the West. The number in brackets at the end means how many games out of their remaining schedule are against teams that are currently 3rd to 11th in the West/other playoff teams.
3. Portland: LAL, LACx2, OKC, NOP, SA, DEN, UTA, as well as 6 games against other playoff teams (14/19)
4. Minnesota: SA, LAC, UTA, DENx2, LAL, as well as 5 games against other playoff teams (11/16)
5. New Orleans: LACx2, UTA, SAx2, LAL, POR, OKC, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams and the LAL game being on a B2B2B (15/21)
6. San Antonio: OKCx2, NOPx2, MIN, UTA, LAC, LAL, POR, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (16/19)
7. Oklahoma City: SAx2, LAC, POR, DEN, NOP as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (13/17)
8. Denver: LALx2, OKC, MINx2, POR, LAC, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (14/17)
9. Clippers: NOPx2, OKC, PORx2, MIN, SA, UTA, DEN, LAL, as well as 7 games against other playoff teams (17/21)
10. Utah: NO, SA, MIN, LALx2, LAC, POR, as well as 4 games against other playoff teams (11/19)
11. Los Angeles: POR, DENx2, NOP, UTAx2, SA, MIN, LAC, as well as 6 games against other playoff teams (15/20)
So it definitely looks like San Antonio and the Clippers have the toughest schedules, and luckily for the Lakers they're not going to be completely out of the race yet because the teams in front still play each other a lot, with some difficult games as well. That said, we have a lot of those games ourselves and our next game is going to be a good test against a red-hot Blazers team. The only games I'm really worried about are Portland, New Orleans (AD feasts vs us), Utah, and San Antonio if they get Kawhi back.
Pop may not have the luxury of resting his guys this year because they're nowhere near safe for the playoffs yet, and even if they lock up a spot they'll want home court advantage.
The West is gonna be a bloodbath.
EDIT: According to Tankathon's remaining strength of schedule, the difficulty of the remaining schedule of the teams listed above are as follows, from hardest to easiest:
1. San Antonio .562
2. Oklahoma City .553
3. Portland .537
4. New Orleans .536
5. Clippers .531
6. Los Angeles .523
7. Minnesota .509
8. Denver .500
9. Utah .481
I don't want to say that San Antonio is in danger of missing the playoffs, but at the very least, their 50-win season streak is in jeopardy. They're currently 36-27 so they have to go at least 14-5 the rest of the way.
Last edited:
Hello, Dear Basketball
Former Laker great Robert Sacre participated in the dunk contest preliminaries in Japan recently and, well, the judges pitied him.
Also gotta love that they had to have preliminaries to be sure of who can dunk. Wouldn't want to invite scrubs like Sacre only to have him do that in the real thing.
Also gotta love that they had to have preliminaries to be sure of who can dunk. Wouldn't want to invite scrubs like Sacre only to have him do that in the real thing.
hahahaa what the fuck. poor guy
You mean to tell me MJ didn't receive an oscar for his virtuoso performance in space jam?
IT had what, 5 turnovers in the 4th? Between him and KCP attempting hero ball it sunk the lakers. Lonzo needs to be more assertive and not let the backup PG dominate the ball like that
I don't know how the ball keeps ending up in KCP's hands at the end of close games. The guy helped us win games on the road trip, but man is he terrible in the clutch.
Paul George has to be on the 5th draft of his Players Tribune piece announcing his decision to join the Lakers, right? You know, if he hasn't finished it by now.
Paul George has to be on the 5th draft of his Players Tribune piece announcing his decision to join the Lakers, right? You know, if he hasn't finished it by now.
Last edited:
What a win for the Big Ballers tonight. Nobody in the league other than maybe AD can stop Randle.
It also looks like we can get LeBron for his max and Paul George if PG forces an opt-in-and-trade for a first rounder, after which we go over the cap using Bird rights on Randle. Just imagine:
PG: Lonzo Ball
SG: Paul George, Josh Hart
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma
C: Julius Randle, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant
Obviously most of these guys (namely all but Zubac) can play multiple positions, so there are a lot of possibilities for lineups.
What will be Paul George's new number with both 13 (Chamberlain) and 24 (Kobe) retired?
It also looks like we can get LeBron for his max and Paul George if PG forces an opt-in-and-trade for a first rounder, after which we go over the cap using Bird rights on Randle. Just imagine:
PG: Lonzo Ball
SG: Paul George, Josh Hart
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma
C: Julius Randle, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant
Obviously most of these guys (namely all but Zubac) can play multiple positions, so there are a lot of possibilities for lineups.
What will be Paul George's new number with both 13 (Chamberlain) and 24 (Kobe) retired?
Randle had so many points off of offensive rebounds sheesh. I know he's playing for a contract but we should pay the man. Fuck Dallas is probably going to offer him the max too so we'll be forced to match if we wanna keep him.
And I'm officially off the LeBron wagon. He's a transcendent star no doubt but I don't want to mortgage our future to win now. Much rather keep our young core and add FA talent that doesn't try and dictate how our team is constructed
And I'm officially off the LeBron wagon. He's a transcendent star no doubt but I don't want to mortgage our future to win now. Much rather keep our young core and add FA talent that doesn't try and dictate how our team is constructed
I'm fine with LeBron if he wants to continue signing 1+1 deals. I've never bought into the whole "imagine him in a Spurs uniform" thing because I think he loves and needs the ball in his hands. Year after year he complains about not having a playmaker, but really, I don't think he wants one. If he were real he'd come because of Lonzo, but I doubt he will.
And if Randle wants to stay, he won't sign that Dallas offer sheet to begin with. You'd think that after Devean George, Derek Fisher, and Lamar Odom, the Mavs would want to stay away from our players.
And if Randle wants to stay, he won't sign that Dallas offer sheet to begin with. You'd think that after Devean George, Derek Fisher, and Lamar Odom, the Mavs would want to stay away from our players.
Ah revenge is sweet. Staples center clowning Murray HARD tonight. You could tell the commentators were having a hard time ignoring the "Murray sucks" chant towards the end of the game. And Thomas throwing the ball to him at the end of the game was icing on the cake. I literally laughed out loud when he did that.
What a shitty bait job. Or else you're just ignorant. Lakers without Ingram, Hart and Kuzma. You underestimate Durant's powers
You mean a Lakers team without Ingram, Hart, Kuzma, and therefore forced to play Derrick Williams, along with their main guys playing 35+ minutes the night before shouldn't have cakewalked over the defending champions with some guy named Kevin Durant? Blasphemy.
Great game vs the Pacers. Started off hot to let the world know we can beat them, then realise we were way too good and played at 20% of our capabilities to let them claw back in by halftime. Basically just threw the game from 3rd quarter onwards since we had made our point already, and gave them the win so they can keep chasing Cleveland. Hopefully soon they'll overtake Cleveland in the standings so our first rounder will be higher (currently 25th, down from 21st last week).
Tactical loss, I dig it.
Tactical loss, I dig it.
Okchoke job tonight lmao
James Harden is a bad guy. He don't even care about anything. He don't care about your defense, don't care about home crowd, don't care about your team. He gonna dribble you, gonna cross you, gonna fool you, gonna score on you and you have nothing to do about it but says "that beard guy is the MVP". Hands down.
The Raptors are really annoying me. I couldn't care less about their little win streak, but the only two games I actually wanted them to win this season were vs OKC (because Paul George) and at Cleveland (because we have their first rounder). Guess what, they lost both, despite a huge lead at half vs the Cavs too. Bunch of frauds.
- Status