NBA Season 2022-23

[tazzmaniac]

Nets meanwhile are slipping. They need Durant back ASAP but even when he returns, can Simmons/Kyrie be trusted to even be available most games lol. Nets defense is also hot garbage. I know we have to be wary of superstar talent, but idk the Nets still seem off to me. Even during their win streak it just felt something would happen and I never bought into them.

On the Nets, it's interesting taking a deeper look.  18-2 since Nov 27th before Durant got hurt.  That's impressive.  But then you look at who they beat:

Blazers - missing Lillard
Magic - 2nd night of back to back, 3rd game in 4 nights
Wizards - 3rd game in 4 nights
Raptors
Hornets - missing Ball, Hayward
Hawks - missing Murray, Hunter, Collins
Indiana - 2nd night of back to back, 3rd game in 4 nights
Wizards - missing Beal, 3rd game in 4 nights
Raptors - missing Anunoby, Trent
Pistons - missing Cunningham
Warriors - missing Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, 2nd night of back to back, 3rd game in 4 nights
Bucks
Cavs
Hawks - missing Young, Hunter, 2nd night of back to back
Hornets
Spurs
Pelicans - missing Zion, Ingram
Miami

With losses to Boston, Chicago.

The schedule is the schedule, and every team benefits from catching tired and/or injured teams (the C's also beat a Zion-less Pelicans 2x, a Durant-less Nets, etc.), and also play their own share of back-to-backs, 3-in-4-nights. (Nets had 2 sets of their own back-to-backs/3-in-4 during their hot stretch).

Not saying their 18-2 stretch isn't impressive.  It's impressive no matter what. It's just not as impressive as it first appears. I can certainly buy into the idea the Nets weren't as good as they appeared.  They caught a lot of injured/tired teams.

The Nets are 10-11 against .500 or better teams.  By contrast, the Celts are 15-5. 

[Vermont Green]

Watching Mavs - Heat. I don’t like watching Doncic. So ball dominant. It can’t be fun playing with him. Kind of like Harden from a few years ago. 

[W8ting2McHale]

Watching Mavs - Heat. I don’t like watching Doncic. So ball dominant. It can’t be fun playing with him. Kind of like Harden from a few years ago.

That’s pretty common among modern NBA guards that are stars though, isn’t it?

Outside of Joker and LeBron, you have Harden, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Luka, and SGA all dominating the ball for their respective teams. All score 1st guards, mostly playing very little defense.

[tazzmaniac]

Watching Mavs - Heat. I don’t like watching Doncic. So ball dominant. It can’t be fun playing with him. Kind of like Harden from a few years ago.

That’s pretty common among modern NBA guards that are stars though, isn’t it?

Outside of Joker and LeBron, you have Harden, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Luka, and SGA all dominating the ball for their respective teams. All score 1st guards, mostly playing very little defense.

That really doesn't fit Harden this season.  Harden is averaging 11.2 ast.  His usg% is only 25.0%.  Saw a post a few days ago that Harden-to-Embiid is the leading assist combo even though they've only played 22 games together. 

[W8ting2McHale]

Watching Mavs - Heat. I don’t like watching Doncic. So ball dominant. It can’t be fun playing with him. Kind of like Harden from a few years ago.

That’s pretty common among modern NBA guards that are stars though, isn’t it?

Outside of Joker and LeBron, you have Harden, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Luka, and SGA all dominating the ball for their respective teams. All score 1st guards, mostly playing very little defense.

That really doesn't fit Harden this season.  Harden is averaging 11.2 ast.  His usg% is only 25.0%.  Saw a post a few days ago that Harden-to-Embiid is the leading assist combo even though they've only played 22 games together.

Good catch. I had just been looking at stats in an article that I thought was current before I posted. Turns out they were from January 2022, not January 2023.

[trickybilly]

I remember everyone trashing the Sabonis trade at the time, but that trade looks like the first excellent thing the King's have done in their history.

[Celtics2021]

I remember everyone trashing the Sabonis trade at the time, but that trade looks like the first excellent thing the King's have done in their history.

It’s one of those rare trades that really worked out for both teams.

[jpotter33]

Wow, complete choke job by Memphis down the stretch.

I really think they're pretenders instead of true contenders. They're a very good team, but I think they need another year or two of development or at least one more offensive piece before being true contenders.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Wow, complete choke job by Memphis down the stretch.

I really think they're pretenders instead of true contenders. They're a very good team, but I think they need another year or two of development or at least one more offensive piece before being true contenders.

So much incompetence by Memphis throughout that game. I wouldn’t bet on them winning the West.

[SparzWizard]

Wow, complete choke job by Memphis down the stretch.

I really think they're pretenders instead of true contenders. They're a very good team, but I think they need another year or two of development or at least one more offensive piece before being true contenders.

So much incompetence by Memphis throughout that game. I wouldn’t bet on them winning the West.

Thought they'd give the Warriors a run for their money but they don't seem promising lately

[tazzmaniac]

Wow, complete choke job by Memphis down the stretch.

I really think they're pretenders instead of true contenders. They're a very good team, but I think they need another year or two of development or at least one more offensive piece before being true contenders.

So much incompetence by Memphis throughout that game. I wouldn’t bet on them winning the West.

Thought they'd give the Warriors a run for their money but they don't seem promising lately

They'd won 11 straight before the loss. 

[Phantom255x]

Wow, complete choke job by Memphis down the stretch.

I really think they're pretenders instead of true contenders. They're a very good team, but I think they need another year or two of development or at least one more offensive piece before being true contenders.

So much incompetence by Memphis throughout that game. I wouldn’t bet on them winning the West.

Thought they'd give the Warriors a run for their money but they don't seem promising lately

They'd won 11 straight before the loss.

Yeah I was about to say, they'd literally won 11 in a row before yesterday, and even in the loss they lost by just 1 point

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Joel Embiid: “It’s funny when you’ve got these old guys always talking about posting up, ‘you need to spend time in the paint,’ and all that stuff. You can’t win this way anymore. It’s not the fricking 90s or 80s like it used to be. So, they must not have any basketball IQ.”

Oh look, yet another person who thinks everything about "now" is better than everything that came before.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Last night the Warriors—without Curry, Thompson, Green, and Wiggins—beat the Mitchell-less Cavs. A horrible loss for Cleveland, but also terrible for everyone who paid to be at that game and didn't get to see any stars.

[Phantom255x]

Last night the Warriors—without Curry, Thompson, Green, and Wiggins—beat the Mitchell-less Cavs. A horrible loss for Cleveland, but also terrible for everyone who paid to be at that game and didn't get to see any stars.

That's just how it usually is between New Years and the All-Star Break most seasons

Even tonight, the Bucks play the Cavs but no Giannis + Middleton still, and no guarantee Mitchell plays either. Giannis is apparently dealing with some "lingering knee issue" but tbh it sounds to me like they are also just fitting in some rest for him and being cautious.

Tatum doing the same tonight, and they'll probably do it as well going forward