NBA Chatter Thread

1bigfan13 said:
I was a doubter in Ben Simmons but he's starting to win me over. I thought his ceiling was a Lamar Odom type player but he's looking like he could be much better. During his prime Odom was a 16 pt, 9 reb, 5 ast. kind of player. Simmons is already exceeding those numbers. Small sample size but still impressive for a rookie.

My Odom comparison was based on what Simmons showed us in college. He played lazy, passive, whatever you want to call it, far too often. Obviously that could have been a byproduct of him not wanting to play at the NCAA level in the first place.
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I also thought he would be an Odom, still think he's basically an uber-athletic Odom who will ultimately have his potential capped by his lack of shooting unless he can develop a consistent outside shot, although that's still an All Star, top 15-20 type of player.
 
I understand the Odom comparison, but I think it's been clear all along that his ceiling is way higher than that. It's just a matter of how hard he wants to work to get there.
 
Would you guys say that there is a good chance or a great chance that young Dirk breaks the rookie record for 3 pointers in a season?
 
Genghis Khan said:
Sixers need to learn how to close out games. Had Houston on the ropes.
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It'll come in time. I just wouldn't bet on it happening this year. IMO, the 76ers and the T-Wolves are in the same boat. The raw talent is there but those guys only know one thing.....losing. So it's going to take some time to break that mindset and get rid of bad habits.

I know they are young but I also think their struggles in close end of game situations is a byproduct of intentionally tanking for 3 years straight.

I'm stating the here obvious, but there is value in learning how to win. It helps breed a culture of self-confidence and success. Whereas when you're losing 60+ games per year very few good habits are being developed and there's always a cloud of doubt hanging over the organization.
 
1bigfan13 said:
It'll come in time. I just wouldn't bet on it happening this year. IMO, the 76ers and the T-Wolves are in the same boat. The raw talent is there but those guys only know one thing.....losing. So it's going to take some time to break that mindset and get rid of bad habits.

I know they are young but I also think their struggles in close end of game situations is a byproduct of intentionally tanking for 3 years straight.

I'm stating the here obvious, but there is value in learning how to win. It helps breed a culture of self-confidence and success. Whereas when you're losing 60+ games per year very few good habits are being developed and there's always a cloud of doubt hanging over the organization.
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I disagree, I think it's all about youth. And mostly on Simmons who struggled to make winning plays in the final minute. Simmons really wasn't here during the tank, nor was most of the roster.
 
Genghis Khan said:
I disagree, I think it's all about youth. And mostly on Simmons who struggled to make winning plays in the final minute. Simmons really wasn't here during the tank, nor was most of the roster.
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Based on LSU’s record, I’m not sure he ever knew how’s to make winning plays.
 
Genghis Khan said:
They were 19-14. People act like they sucked. It's ridiculous.
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It's because most judge college basketball by either making the tourney or not. If you aren't in the top 68 teams in college basketball your team kind of sucks.

An 19-14 record in college basketball is a bad year. But I also understand the argument that the following year LSU was absolutely putrid at basketball. So the guy certainly helped. Without him they were like 10-21.
 
Lonzo Ball gets all the pub but the Lakers rookie who's impressing the hell out of me is Kyle Kuzma. Because I don't watch as much college basketball as I used to I hadn't heard of him until a little over a month ago. I kept hearing people mention that Ball probably wouldn't be the best rookie on his own team and I kept hearing former NBA players and analysts rave about him so I decided to make it a point to start paying attention to him.

I've watched about 4 Lakers games and he's been solid in each game. The kid is instant offense off the bench. The attribute of his that impresses me the most is his confidence. He's not afraid. He plays as if he already has a couple of years of NBA experience under his belt.

I'm assuming that he'll eventually make his way into the starting lineup but I honestly like him as a weapon off the bench.....kinda like Ginobili 's career with the Spurs where he's good enough to start and even plays starters' minutes and closes out games.
 
So Orlando Magic, contenders or pretenders?

I'll admit I'm not a huge basketball fan. But I casually pay attention to the Magic because I loved them as a kid. Crazy to me how they have jumped out to a 6-2 start to the season with some wins over very good teams.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
So Orlando Magic, contenders or pretenders?

I'll admit I'm not a huge basketball fan. But I casually pay attention to the Magic because I loved them as a kid. Crazy to me how they have jumped out to a 6-2 start to the season with some wins over very good teams.
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They're in the eastern conference so I think they'll make the playoffs. However, I don't see them making a run to the ECF or anything like that. 2nd round team at best, IMO.
 
1bigfan13 said:
They're in the eastern conference so I think they'll make the playoffs. However, I don't see them making a run to the ECF or anything like that. 2nd round team at best, IMO.
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Yeah, Gordon has really been impressive this year. Just for a team like that to make the playoffs is a pretty massive improvement. And they have some nice young pieces starting to grow.
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Yeah, Gordon has really been impressive this year. Just for a team like that to make the playoffs is a pretty massive improvement. And they have some nice young pieces starting to grow.
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Gordon is nice, nobody is beating LeBron in the playoffs in the East unless the rest of his team just tanks but Orlando should be in the mix in the conference once LeBron moves on/retires/whatever in the not too distant future.
 
Simpleton said:
Gordon is nice, nobody is beating LeBron in the playoffs in the East unless the rest of his team just tanks but Orlando should be in the mix in the conference once LeBron moves on/retires/whatever in the not too distant future.
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I'm still not buying those Lebron to the Lakers fantasies that Lakers fans are having. At this point in his career, Lebron is all about the championships. I just can't see him passing up that free pathway the Finals every year. If he goes to the West there's a real chance that his team wouldn't even make the Conference Finals.
 
Tonight's Boston-OKC game should be fun.

The OK3 finally appear to be hitting their stride and Boston is on a 6 game win streak.
 
“Any one of them in the top four next year would have gone first in this year’s draft,” one longtime NBA scout told The Undefeated. “That’s not a knock on this year’s draft, nor is it saying it wasn’t good. It had a lot of depth in it, more than next year will. There is no one in this year’s draft that could be a franchise player, but there is a couple in next year’s draft.”
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This is why I've been saying 2018 could potentially be the strongest top 3-5 in a long time.
 
Sixers win their 5th straight with Embiid on a rest night. Team learns to play together this year and they might make some noise next season.
 
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