The NBA thread

[Stoney Mason]

says the ring chaser. Fuck off West.

[Nola]

https://twitter.com/D_West30/status/1127056001901797376

Eh, without their ugly statistics driven by ball they're probably an average team.

Without all that nerd shit West is ringless.

[Let's Cyber]

The Lakers are a disaster.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26723733/vogel-coach-lakers-kidd-staff

[Let's Cyber]

Bonus:

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-free-agency-rumors-kyrie-irving-has-had-discussions-about-playing-for-lakers-per-report/

Possible Cleveland West. 

[Stoney Mason]

Not a huge fan of the vogel thing but I'd be fine with Kyrie on the Lakers. Until this post-season everybody loved Kyrie game. Players have bad post-seasons. It happens. Kawhi would still be my dream choice but I'd be cool with Kyrie as an addition.

I don't think the Anthony Davis thing is happening so I don't even bother to think about it.

[Steve Contra]

I'm a Warriors fan but honestly I would have been happy with anyone knocking out the Rockets. I can't fault them for for playing to win, but God what ugly basketball.

[Stoney Mason]

Good for Portland. I would have been happy to see either team advance. Also a nice win against the punditry which was telling them to split up Mcollum and Liliard after last post season

[Stoney Mason]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26731947/mavs-porzingis-involved-bloody-altercation

TMZ reported that the men who attacked Porzingis were upset that he left the New York Knicks, who traded him to the Mavericks on Jan. 31 due in part to the All-Star being disgruntled with the franchise.

lol bullshit.

I don't believe that people in Latvia care about the New York Knicks.

[Stoney Mason]

Great day of Basketball.

I was rooting for the 76ers for selfish reasons but its pretty cool to see the two best teams out of the East play each other.

I don't have much hope for the Blazers but good on them for getting so far.

[Let's Cyber]

Kawhi da gawd.

 

It's basically an annual tradition for the Dubs to suck the soul out of Portland in the playoffs so I'm not hopeful but it would be a nice redemption story if they somehow pulled it off. Could be end up being interesting if Durant is out for a few more weeks.

[bluemax]

https://twitter.com/D_West30/status/1127056001901797376

Yes because the Warriors don't invest heavily in metrics... oh wait, they do!

The Lakers are a disaster.

 

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26723733/vogel-coach-lakers-kidd-staff

The Lakers have been transforming into Knick West for years. It turns out modern players aren't completely lured in by the prestige of once famous franchises in big cities.

[Stoney Mason]

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1128465208169717760

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm a hypocrite. When they went to commercial and the Lakers were gonna be a minimum top 4 pick and still had a chance at the top pick, I was freaking out

[close]

[Akala]

[jakefromstatefarm]

Portland has to make major adjustments on both sides of the ball. Shit didn’t even feel like a playoff game

[benjipwns]

Zion Williamson was quickly whisked out of the room after Pelicans were announced the winner of the draft lottery. Source said the former Duke star was rooting to go to New York

this year has been

[Stoney Mason]

Portland has to make major adjustments on both sides of the ball. Shit didn’t even feel like a playoff game

Unfortunately Rockets/Warriors was probably the real nba finals.

[jakefromstatefarm]

idk, I think Milwaukee’s probably better than Houston and Torontos close enough. Either one’ll have home court in the finals too

[Nola]

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1128465208169717760

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm a hypocrite. When they went to commercial and the Lakers were gonna be a minimum top 4 pick and still had a chance at the top pick, I was freaking out

[close]

Better video



https://twitter.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1128498723619778561

Not always sold on him as a coach, but how can anyone not love Alvin Gentry?

[Nola]

Lakers moving up from 11th to 4th is pretty great. We should be able to get a good player.

I’d rather not trade for a star when we have a max slot, unless we strike out on everyone good.

People are sleeping on Garland because he went down early in the season but he has all the tools you look for in a modern NBA guard: elite shooting, elite ball handling, good passing ability, can play on and off ball. Of course, Lebron and LA aren't about that development life.

I think I even like him more than Barrett tbh.

[benjipwns]

Gentry wore a black tie with silver-gray striping. It was his good-luck charm. David Griffin, New Orleans' new executive vice president of basketball operations, gave it to Gentry. Griffin was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office during a stretch in which the Cavs won three lotteries in four years, from 2011 to 2014. Each time, a man named Jeff Cohen -- a former vice chair for the Cavs and confidant of owner Dan Gilbert -- represented the team in the drawing room.

I began referring to Cohen as a warlock. Gilbert and Cohen had some sort of falling out, and the Cavs have not had him in the room in either of the past two lotteries. (Cleveland owned Brooklyn's pick a year ago.) I half-jokingly said the Cavs had cursed themselves.

And then Gentry revealed the ultimate plot twist: The tie Gentry wore Tuesday was the same one Cohen wore in each of those three lottery wins. Griffin had phoned Cohen and asked for a good-luck charm in the lead-up to the lottery, he told ESPN.com in the aftermath Tuesday. Cohen scoffed at the idea that any trinket could win the favor of the lottery gods. Griffin asked if he might please send the tie. Cohen did. Griffin passed it on to Gentry.

Put Jeff Cohen and his damned tie in the Hall of Fame. Gentry said he is going to frame the tie and the lottery balls, and hang it in the Pelicans' practice facility.

...

Between Griffin, Cohen and Cohen's tie, I'm starting to believe in some real mystical stuff. I'm a little scared. I also worry that in excising all three, the Cavaliers will suffer years of self-inflicted bad luck.

yikes, i hope the NBA is looking into this

[Stoney Mason]

idk, I think Milwaukee’s probably better than Houston and Torontos close enough. Either one’ll have home court in the finals too

I hope milwaukee or Toronto are able to provide a challenge.

[Joe Molotov]

Gentry wore a black tie with silver-gray striping. It was his good-luck charm. David Griffin, New Orleans' new executive vice president of basketball operations, gave it to Gentry. Griffin was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office during a stretch in which the Cavs won three lotteries in four years, from 2011 to 2014. Each time, a man named Jeff Cohen -- a former vice chair for the Cavs and confidant of owner Dan Gilbert -- represented the team in the drawing room.

I began referring to Cohen as a warlock. Gilbert and Cohen had some sort of falling out, and the Cavs have not had him in the room in either of the past two lotteries. (Cleveland owned Brooklyn's pick a year ago.) I half-jokingly said the Cavs had cursed themselves.

And then Gentry revealed the ultimate plot twist: The tie Gentry wore Tuesday was the same one Cohen wore in each of those three lottery wins. Griffin had phoned Cohen and asked for a good-luck charm in the lead-up to the lottery, he told ESPN.com in the aftermath Tuesday. Cohen scoffed at the idea that any trinket could win the favor of the lottery gods. Griffin asked if he might please send the tie. Cohen did. Griffin passed it on to Gentry.

Put Jeff Cohen and his damned tie in the Hall of Fame. Gentry said he is going to frame the tie and the lottery balls, and hang it in the Pelicans' practice facility.

...

Between Griffin, Cohen and Cohen's tie, I'm starting to believe in some real mystical stuff. I'm a little scared. I also worry that in excising all three, the Cavaliers will suffer years of self-inflicted bad luck.

yikes, i hope the NBA is looking into this

https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1128465037364989954

[benjipwns]

Toronto doesn't seem like it has as many paths to challenging for it as Milwaukee. They're basically surviving on Kawhi going nuts. Outside of Siakam, the rest of that team is looking uggggly on offense these playoffs.

[jakefromstatefarm]

Toronto doesn't seem like it has as many paths to challenging for it as Milwaukee. They're basically surviving on Kawhi going nuts. Outside of Siakam, the rest of that team is looking uggggly on offense these playoffs.

this is right, but it’s also right of Houston, which was harden + tucker + assorted trash. I’ll amend what I said, Milwaukee is definitely better than Houston, who’s about the same as Toronto.

[Let's Cyber]

I'd put both Toronto and Milwaukee at least a half step above the Houston but I only say that because I'm a stupid naive idiot hoping for an upset.

Golden State is inevitable.

 

[agrajag]

lol bucks are gonna lose at home

[TEEEPO]

 

[Stoney Mason]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26769841/tyreke-evans-disqualified-nba-2-years

Not surprised.

[Stoney Mason]

https://people.com/tv/lamar-odom-used-prosthetic-penis-pass-drug-test-2004-olympics/

 

[benjipwns]

Warriors should probably just rest Durant for the rest of the playoffs if they can. Send him to his place in New York for rehabbing and relaxing in case they need him in the Finals.

 

[naff]

His defenders love his natural scoring ability, his alpha dog mind-set, and his craftiness with the ball in his hands. Meanwhile, his detractors question his shot selection, shaky efficiency numbers and his ball-dominance.

sounds perfect for nyc

[benjipwns]

that was just an absurd game that got increasingly absurd

three-fifths of the Bucks seemed determined to shoot the team out of the game before Toronto could do the same to themselves, but it was a silly turnover there that finally took out the Bucks... Gasol and Powell contributing well for the Raptors and yet the Bucks still kept coming despite half the team missing seemingly everything they attempted

[benjipwns]

do this without KD Dubs, keep making us love you again, cut him off early

spoiler (click to show/hide)

don't care if that means the Bucks would probably tear you the fuck apart like you did to Cleveland

[close]

[benjipwns]

Classic Moments in Golden State Warriors history: https://www.si.com/vault/1987/02/02/114789/will-the-sleeping-giant-ever-awake-golden-state-viewed-rookie-chris-washburn-as-a-diamond-in-the-rough-but-his-season-has-been-a-lot-rougher-so-far-than-anyone-anticipated

"I don't see what being five minutes late has to do with anything," [Chris] Washburn says. He is standing outside his town house high in the Oakland hills. He is not wearing a shirt. A woman backs her car out of the driveway next door, feigning nonchalance, looking the other way while attempting to get a better glimpse of this colossus. She backs into the car parked across the street.

[Joe Molotov]

Have we hit peak Lakers schadenfreude yet with Magic airing all the dirty laundry on Stephen A's show, or are there more Game of Thrones plotlines to be teased out?

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1130858310931034116

 

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/KDTrey5/status/1131237249398366209

https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/status/1131239169462743040

[benjipwns]

Say what you will about Stephen A., dude's mostly doing a schtick on air, but people do talk to him. How Chris Broussard remains in the industry is baffling. The MULTIPLE SOURCES thing happened to him like four times in a year!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[benjipwns]

lol at when you search for certain "NBA memes" and you get a really old reddit thread that's been half deleted, article links are busted, and half the users are probably dead but all the imgur links still work

[BisMarckie]

I learned to hate him way back in 2010. The way he said Lebraaaan made me irrationally angry for something so minor and inconsequential. 

[Nola]

 

[benjipwns]

The Morey Reckoning continues:

A second Rockets assistant coach will not return next season. Roy Rogers and the Rockets have mutually agreed to part ways, sources told ESPN.

[team filler]

https://twitter.com/JasmineLWatkins/status/1131761332662034432

[agrajag]

she should invite Adonis to the game and give him courtside seats

[eleuin]

RAPTORS BITTTTTCH

warriors in 4 still 

[Stoney Mason]

Impressive job by the Raptors to just completely shut down Giannis and the Bucks for 4 straight. Redemption for Kawhi since so many people were claiming their teams shouldn't trade for him.

That being said, the Warriors still seem like the heavy favorites, especially if Durant can come back. But I'm rooting for the raptors to end the dynasty.

[benjipwns]

fuck canada

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i still enjoy seeing franchises make it for the first time (or at least the first time in a long time, like the bucks would have been)

[close]

[Fifstar]

I like the Warriors but Kawhi deserves it for those fantastic two series. I slightly favour the Raptors if Durant doesn't come back. If he is fit, Warriors will probably win with ease.

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1132725235457888256

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1133125076306604033

 

[benjipwns]

The Reckoning:

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey has made his entire roster and future draft picks available in trade talks, a dramatic initiative with hopes of reshaping the team into a championship contender, league sources told ESPN.

The possibility of trading All-NBA guard James Harden is believed to be extremely limited, but the rest of the roster -- including even Chris Paul and Clint Capela -- could be more realistic trade targets, sources said.

[benjipwns]

long piece on the Laker clusterfuck: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26821790/lakers-20-failed-reboot-nba-crown-jewel

In his remarks, Johnson expressed excitement about the task ahead, but he also made clear he didn't accept excuses or mistakes, and that those who weren't on board with the new management and their mission should leave, according to six staffers who were present.

Pointing upstairs, toward his office, Johnson drove home his point. He had a large stack of resumes sitting on his desk -- "a thousand" of them, multiple staffers recall him saying -- and he could replace any of them at any time.

"It was shocking," said one Lakers coaching staff member who was present. "If you're going to be in this business, you bring enough pressure on yourself. You don't need more pressure, especially from someone who's supposed to be an ally."

The message would set the tone for what many staffers describe as Johnson's confrontational demeanor over the next two years. "If you questioned him on anything, his response was always a threatening tone," said a Lakers front office staffer who interacted with Johnson directly. "He used intimidation and bullying as a way of showing authority."

In November, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and Maverick Carter, LeBron's longtime business partner, met for lunch. James' agent, Rich Paul, was seated at a nearby table, and at one point, approached Silver to complain about Walton, multiple sources familiar with the interaction told ESPN. Paul said he didn't believe Walton was the right coach for the Lakers. Silver shrugged off the remark and asked whom Paul thought would be the right coach. Paul suggested Tyronn Lue.

[team filler]

 

[Joe Molotov]

The Morey Reckoning continues:

A second Rockets assistant coach will not return next season. Roy Rogers and the Rockets have mutually agreed to part ways, sources told ESPN.

Is his horse, Trigger, still in the front office?

[benjipwns]

Nope, they're also no longer serving his chicken sandwiches either.

[Stoney Mason]

Go Raptors!

[team filler]

 

[agrajag]

the weakest GS has looked this entire playoffs.

[Stoney Mason]

Just one game but nice.

[eleuin]