NBA 2019-2020 season thread

[gouki88]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

[Adelaide Celt]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

Who exactly suggested that other than you?

[Moranis]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game. 

[Sophomore]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

[Somebody]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

I wish our team was so good that guys like Middleton and Bledsoe are not considered to be members of a band lol.

[Sophomore]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

I wish our team was so good that guys like Middleton and Bledsoe are not considered to be members of a band lol.

Point is, he’s the focus of their offense a huge amount of the time. Neither Bledsoe nor Middleton is much of a shot creator.

But if we’re talking about player caliber independent of scheme - Bledsoe is average at best. Kemba is vastly superior. Heck, Brogdon is much better.

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

[Moranis]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

I wish our team was so good that guys like Middleton and Bledsoe are not considered to be members of a band lol.

Point is, he’s the focus of their offense a huge amount of the time. Neither Bledsoe nor Middleton is much of a shot creator.

But if we’re talking about player caliber independent of scheme - Bledsoe is average at best. Kemba is vastly superior. Heck, Brogdon is much better.

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Bledsoe had back to back 20 point seasons before ending up in Milwaukee where his role is lessened.  I think you are underestimating the kind of player he is offensively.  Middleton did fine when he was the #1 option before Giannis became Giannis.

Clearly the Bucks are centered around Giannis (as they should be), but they are pretty far from a one-man band.  They have lots of really good NBA players and have a very deep team. 

[NKY fan]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

[RPGenerate]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

And you "conviently" forgot that all-star selections are a joke, especially in the East. Hayward's one selection in the stacked West is worth 5 selections in a conference where Kyle Korver was an all-star recently.

As far as defense is concerned, Middleton is better, sure. By a huge margin? Nah. If he was such a great defender, the Bucks would have probably beaten the Raptors last year.

[NKY fan]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

And you "conviently" forgot that all-star selections are a joke, especially in the East. Hayward's one selection in the stacked West is worth 5 selections in a conference where Kyle Korver was an all-star recently.

As far as defense is concerned, Middleton is better, sure. By a huge margin? Nah. If he was such a great defender, the Bucks would have probably beaten the Raptors last year.

So that means Hayward is clearly better than Middleton? Don't you think we are a little disrespectful to him here?

[RPGenerate]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

And you "conviently" forgot that all-star selections are a joke, especially in the East. Hayward's one selection in the stacked West is worth 5 selections in a conference where Kyle Korver was an all-star recently.

As far as defense is concerned, Middleton is better, sure. By a huge margin? Nah. If he was such a great defender, the Bucks would have probably beaten the Raptors last year.

So that means Hayward is clearly better than Middleton? Don't you think we are a little disrespectful to him here?

Do you think that Middleton could ever be a first option on a 50-win team in a tough conference? If the answer is no, than I would consider Hayward to be the clearly better player.

[Moranis]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

And you "conviently" forgot that all-star selections are a joke, especially in the East. Hayward's one selection in the stacked West is worth 5 selections in a conference where Kyle Korver was an all-star recently.

As far as defense is concerned, Middleton is better, sure. By a huge margin? Nah. If he was such a great defender, the Bucks would have probably beaten the Raptors last year.

So that means Hayward is clearly better than Middleton? Don't you think we are a little disrespectful to him here?

Do you think that Middleton could ever be a first option on a 50-win team in a tough conference? If the answer is no, than I would consider Hayward to be the clearly better player.

On a defensive juggernaut that was by far the slowest team in the league, I think Middleton probably could.  I mean I could absolutely see Middleton averaging 22/5.5/3.5 in that scenario, as he has already had a 20/5/4 season on a slow team as a 2nd option. 

[Somebody]

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Hayward and Middleton have the same number of ASG under their belts. You also "conveniently" forgot to compare their defensive impact.

And you "conviently" forgot that all-star selections are a joke, especially in the East. Hayward's one selection in the stacked West is worth 5 selections in a conference where Kyle Korver was an all-star recently.

As far as defense is concerned, Middleton is better, sure. By a huge margin? Nah. If he was such a great defender, the Bucks would have probably beaten the Raptors last year.

So that means Hayward is clearly better than Middleton? Don't you think we are a little disrespectful to him here?

Do you think that Middleton could ever be a first option on a 50-win team in a tough conference? If the answer is no, than I would consider Hayward to be the clearly better player.

On a defensive juggernaut that was by far the slowest team in the league, I think Middleton probably could.  I mean I could absolutely see Middleton averaging 22/5.5/3.5 in that scenario, as he has already had a 20/5/4 season on a slow team as a 2nd option.

I think Middleton can be a first option on a squad similar to Utah in terms of talent. That Utah squad was built to scale around Gordon - they didn't have a ball dominant playmaker, so it allowed Hayward to pull the strings on offence. Middleton functions a bit differently as an offensive centrepiece - he plays a bit more off ball that tugs and warps defences, getting easier looks for decent self creators, and he uses his resilient offensive arsenal (how he always cooks our elite wing defence is a testament to how resilient his skillset is) to break defences to the point where he can make simple reads to open teammates. He's not the passer that Hayward is, but his more resilient scoring and better off ball movement powers offences in a different way (although I do agree that he's a bit less valuable on offence than Hayward). You'll need a different supporting cast for Middleton to flourish, but I definitely think that he can be the top dog on a 4 SRS squad in the West with viable talent like that Utah squad.

BTW All-Star selections, like all accolades are a joke in general. They really can't be seriously used for any sort of in-depth evaluation of how good a player is.

[bdm860]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

I wish our team was so good that guys like Middleton and Bledsoe are not considered to be members of a band lol.

Point is, he’s the focus of their offense a huge amount of the time. Neither Bledsoe nor Middleton is much of a shot creator.

But if we’re talking about player caliber independent of scheme - Bledsoe is average at best. Kemba is vastly superior. Heck, Brogdon is much better.

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Bledsoe had back to back 20 point seasons before ending up in Milwaukee where his role is lessened.  I think you are underestimating the kind of player he is offensively.  Middleton did fine when he was the #1 option before Giannis became Giannis.

Clearly the Bucks are centered around Giannis (as they should be), but they are pretty far from a one-man band.  They have lots of really good NBA players and have a very deep team.

If you took Giannis off the team, do those Bucks make the playoffs?

I think at best they'd be in the #8-#11 range hovering around .400 and battling it out with Orlando, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit for the 8th spot.  I think they'd be worse than the current 12-18 Spurs.

Though at the same time, I could see an argument where they'd look like current Brooklyn sans Irving, Durant, LeVert, I just don't agree with it.  Maybe I'm judging Bledsoe too harshly based on what I've seen from him in the playoffs the last 2 years, but I don't think that highly of him.  All those vets over 30 would look a lot older if they had to do more heavy lifting.  Middleton would still look good, but nobody would be thinking he could lead a team, instead everybody would be talking about how to get him to a contender so he could play a supporting role to a star.  While they have talent and depth with Giannis, I definitely think of them as a one man band.

[Moranis]

Just when the Lakers looked like they couldn't be stopped during their winning streaks and had possibilities of breaking the 73-9 Warriors streak, they finally look pedestrian again.

I think if LeBron's out for an extended period of time, they could go on a 10-game losing streak?

You’ll note that lots of people were telling you that what you wrote in the first paragraph wasn’t true at the time, I hope. 73-9 was absolutely never in trouble

if any team was going to do it, it would be the one in Milwaukee who despite the 2 recent losses is still on a 69 win pace.  They have a pretty easy schedule coming up and could in theory be back near that pace when the play Boston on January 16th.  They could pretty easily go 10-0 which would put them at a 72.23 win pace before that Boston game.

Bucks are down to a 69-win pace after getting sonned by the Sixers. (I know - “down to” 69 wins ... is still awfully good.)

Giannis is the real deal, but I still question whether a one-man band can win it all. The best teams can load up to stop him.

I wish our team was so good that guys like Middleton and Bledsoe are not considered to be members of a band lol.

Point is, he’s the focus of their offense a huge amount of the time. Neither Bledsoe nor Middleton is much of a shot creator.

But if we’re talking about player caliber independent of scheme - Bledsoe is average at best. Kemba is vastly superior. Heck, Brogdon is much better.

Middleton is good, but Hayward is clearly better - similar shooting % but much better shot creator and passer. The Js are about on middleton’s level, but freed up to do more things by the offense.

Bledsoe had back to back 20 point seasons before ending up in Milwaukee where his role is lessened.  I think you are underestimating the kind of player he is offensively.  Middleton did fine when he was the #1 option before Giannis became Giannis.

Clearly the Bucks are centered around Giannis (as they should be), but they are pretty far from a one-man band.  They have lots of really good NBA players and have a very deep team.

If you took Giannis off the team, do those Bucks make the playoffs?

I think at best they'd be in the #8-#11 range hovering around .400 and battling it out with Orlando, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit for the 8th spot.  I think they'd be worse than the current 12-18 Spurs.

Though at the same time, I could see an argument where they'd look like current Brooklyn sans Irving, Durant, LeVert, I just don't agree with it.  Maybe I'm judging Bledsoe too harshly based on what I've seen from him in the playoffs the last 2 years, but I don't think that highly of him.  All those vets over 30 would look a lot older if they had to do more heavy lifting.  Middleton would still look good, but nobody would be thinking he could lead a team, instead everybody would be talking about how to get him to a contender so he could play a supporting role to a star.  While they have talent and depth with Giannis, I definitely think of them as a one man band.

I think they are deep enough and Bledsoe and Middleton are good enough that they would be a pretty clear playoff team.  No where near a contender, but a mid to upper 40's win type team.  Might even be more like Indiana and a low 50's type win team (I mean have you actually looked at Indiana's lineup right now and they are 21-10).