NBA season 2018/19
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Chef Curry delivers in the 4th.
Houston trapped the Splash brothers for good parts of the game, but the Warriors role players - Iggy, Looney, Livingstone etc really stepped up. Draymond’s allround game was was awesome too.
CP3 probably couldn’t play any better, but there was not the killer instinct on both sides from others.
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The Lakers on the verge of signing Frank Vogel, who used to coach the Pacers a few years back. I guess he was so keen to get back coaching in the NBA that he was willing to bow to their demands (lower wages, having Jason Kidd on staff to coach Lonzo Ball). Never a good start in my mind. Jeannie Buss is apparently heavily influenced by Kurt Rambis and Phil Jackson. Not exactly wild successes at team management. I would have preferred them to hire a real career GM like David Griffin and empower him to do his job. None of this has the feel of a cohesive plan
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@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan No matter which way they skin the cat, LeBron is always gonna be master of the Lakers pussy as long as he's there and there solely to deliver a title.
I'd say the odds of him delivering it are long at the moment. Unless they can make a big splash signing or two
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@canefan said in NBA season 2018/19:
@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan No matter which way they skin the cat, LeBron is always gonna be master of the Lakers pussy as long as he's there and there solely to deliver a title.
I'd say the odds of him delivering it are long at the moment. Unless they can make a big splash signing or two
I reckon they'd need two marquee players. For all they know, next season could be the one when LeBron's productivity drops off and he needs more help. One more star won't be enough in that instance. Of course it'll level the field up a little if KD goes to NY and teams may then not be as desperate to recruit to Super Team level so if that happens and LAL can attact Boogie as well then the cat is back among the pigeons.
Of course the flip side to recruiting two stars at once in the hope of an immediate turnaround is whether they can gel in the team. Didn't work for OKC when they recruited PG and Melo, and hasn't worked for the Celtics with the disruptive Kyrie as well as Hayward. Has worked better for Philly with Butler as their Big Three were recruited over a period of years and not hurriedly thrown together and for the same reason it's clearly worked in the Bay Area with their Big Twenty or however many All Stars they have now. I think in general it's too hard to recruit two guys at once who in their own right are franchise players. So LAL should be mindful of this id they look to buy a championship next year by recruiting two big names, especially if they have to bow down to LBJ.
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@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan said in NBA season 2018/19:
@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan No matter which way they skin the cat, LeBron is always gonna be master of the Lakers pussy as long as he's there and there solely to deliver a title.
I'd say the odds of him delivering it are long at the moment. Unless they can make a big splash signing or two
I reckon they'd need two marquee players. For all they know, next season could be the one when LeBron's productivity drops off and he needs more help. One more star won't be enough in that instance. Of course it'll level the field up a little if KD goes to NY and teams may then not be as desperate to recruit to Super Team level so if that happens and LAL can attact Boogie as well then the cat is back among the pigeons.
Of course the flip side to recruiting two stars at once in the hope of an immediate turnaround is whether they can gel in the team. Didn't work for OKC when they recruited PG and Melo, and hasn't worked for the Celtics with the disruptive Kyrie as well as Hayward. Has worked better for Philly with Butler as their Big Three were recruited over a period of years and not hurriedly thrown together and for the same reason it's clearly worked in the Bay Area with their Big Twenty or however many All Stars they have now. I think in general it's too hard to recruit two guys at once who in their own right are franchise players. So LAL should be mindful of this id they look to buy a championship next year by recruiting two big names, especially if they have to bow down to LBJ.
There has been talk of Kyrie leaving and going back to LBJ. I think he will leave Boston (and they will be happy to see the back of him), unless they get Anthony Davis. I don't know whether he will be able to swallow his pride, but some of the things he's said suggest he might have finally realised he was better off with Lebron. Melo's problem was that he can't guard anyone, and that doesn't work anymore. A LBJ-Boogie-KI trio might work because they all have different roles. Boogie might stay in GS now if he can't get healed in time for next season (although they say he might be back for the finals if they make it).
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@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan Do you mean Kyrie could run back to LeBron unless AD goes there, but if Boogie went to LAL, that wouldn't bother Kyrie?
Boston was in the running to try and get AD. If they manage to sign him I wonder if KI chooses to stay? I wasn't referring to AD to LAL, but if he went there I'm sure KI would consider it too. Things were such a mess with that trade scenario last year, I don't know if Davis still gets to LA
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@canefan Vogel is a very good coach and has a bit of fight in him. I like the appointment.
J Kidd’s role will be interesting, but I think if they can land one other star and everyone can get on the same page - I actually see it working.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan Vogel is a very good coach and has a bit of fight in him. I like the appointment.
J Kidd’s role will be interesting, but I think if they can land one other star and everyone can get on the same page - I actually see it working.
I wonder if he is a more technical coach than Lue. I still can't shake the suspicion that his success had more to do with LBJ than his own abilities
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@canefan said in NBA season 2018/19:
@shark said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan Do you mean Kyrie could run back to LeBron unless AD goes there, but if Boogie went to LAL, that wouldn't bother Kyrie?
Boston was in the running to try and get AD. If they manage to sign him I wonder if KI chooses to stay? I wasn't referring to AD to LAL, but if he went there I'm sure KI would consider it too. Things were such a mess with that trade scenario last year, I don't know if Davis still gets to LA
That whole scenario is a bit of a mess. I don't know why the Celtics would ever want Kyrie to stay. The only reason would be to lure AD. But then a) they still have the issues of Kyries' bullshit behaviour and b) they've also traded some quality pieces for one year of AD. So let's say they pull off the trade and keeping Kyrie, come 2020 they could be without both (AD a free agent and maybe they lose patience with Kyrie) and some of their young stars who carried them so well in the playoffs last year.
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@canefan said in NBA season 2018/19:
A LBJ-Boogie-KI trio might work because they all have different roles. Boogie might stay in GS now if he can't get healed in time for next season (although they say he might be back for the finals if they make it).
If the Lakers can get Kyrie without giving up any of their young players, they will at least be competitive in the WC and likely a top-4 team.
I think the Celtics experience shows that Kyrie can't be the #1 banana on a team (too unstable), but I reckon he'd still be a great #2. Add in Ingram, Ball, Kuzma, Hart and you have a handy core of players.
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@barbarian said in NBA season 2018/19:
@canefan said in NBA season 2018/19:
A LBJ-Boogie-KI trio might work because they all have different roles. Boogie might stay in GS now if he can't get healed in time for next season (although they say he might be back for the finals if they make it).
If the Lakers can get Kyrie without giving up any of their young players, they will at least be competitive in the WC and likely a top-4 team.
I think the Celtics experience shows that Kyrie can't be the #1 banana on a team (too unstable), but I reckon he'd still be a great #2. Add in Ingram, Ball, Kuzma, Hart and you have a handy core of players.
He would have to accept the role, but otherwise it would be an instant improvement
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Blazers win Game 7 in Denver to set up a likely loss to the Warriors. Still a big achievement to get to the Conference Finals.
Meanwhile the Raptors are up by one with eight minutes left against the Sixers. Been impressed with Philly this game, thought Toronto would win by 15+. Kawhi putting the team on his back.
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Amusing end to that Philadelphia vs Toronto Game 7 — tied 89-89 Leonard puts up a shot at buzzer that bounces around the rim hangs in the air forever and goes in. Raptors advance to Eastern Final against Milwaukee.
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What a shot. Four bounces and goes in. Toronto needed that if they want to try and keep Kawhi.
