2020 End of Season / Playoffs

[007]

In Utah’s three regular season games so far Jordan Clarkson has shot 14-47 from the field

[slaw]

Utah hasn’t looked good in these restart games. They don’t have a reliable identity on offense.

[Kagemusha]

Ben Simmons tonight - 8/2/5

I smell a trade demand to the Lakers

[Apollo]

Wow that really sucks about Isaac. Saw the play on replay. It's the typical injury we see where a guys uses so much force on his legs to jump up to the rim. Wonder if there is some technology they can add to shoes to help reduce the force on a guys knees when he lands like that. So much money is being put into athletes shoes.. you would think someone would have come up with a way to do something there.

He was the guy that made me fear the Magic in the first round. I hope he gets through recovery unscathed. The good news is he's still so young. The other rather unfortunate thing was that he was coming up for an extension. He was worth the max. Is he anymore? Really sh!tty news all around.

I agree. The Magic don't look all that imposing with him out. The Magic will probably get steam rolled in round one.

I think he's in Porzingis and Embiid territory now. They need to build him up slow and steady, which appeared to be what they were doing prior to this fiasco.

[Apollo]

Good news is we might be able to trade for him or sign him in FA.

If anyone could turn him into an elite star it would be the Raptors. It will be interesting to see what they do heading into his final year on the rookie deal this fall. He looks like a guy who might bet on himself and sign a short term 'prove it' deal for his next contract but what do I know, I'm no expert on the cap and what the trends are for this particular scenario.

[Puffer]

Free throw shots are up in the bubble. Speculation is that the quiet atmosphere makes it easier to hear the slap when a foul is committed. Coincidently, the Raptors rank #3 in the league in 3 pt %. With Phoenix and San Antonia ahead of them and Golden State, Portland and Boston behind them. Clippers at 8th and Milwaukee is 26th, followed by the Lakers at 28th.

If the numbers trend upward holds, Advantage Raptors.

[Jclaw]

Sixers are weird. DeMar almost beat them by himself. They lucked out with a 3 after they had blown a big 4th q lead. Might still be dangerous but...weird

[S.R.]

Sixers are weird. DeMar almost beat them by himself. They lucked out with a 3 after they had blown a big 4th q lead. Might still be dangerous but...weird

I think we can officially say the Sixers are broken. They don't know what they're doing or who they are at this point. "Hmmm, maybe our point guard is actually a power forward?" is not something contenders play around with a handful of games before the playoffs. Butler and Reddick helped make that lineup work about as well as it can and they still came up short.

[S.R.]

Free throw shots are up in the bubble. Speculation is that the quiet atmosphere makes it easier to hear the slap when a foul is committed. Coincidently, the Raptors rank #3 in the league in 3 pt %. With Phoenix and San Antonia ahead of them and Golden State, Portland and Boston behind them. Clippers at 8th and Milwaukee is 26th, followed by the Lakers at 28th.

If the numbers trend upward holds, Advantage Raptors.

I've noticed the volume on canned noise going up the last couple games, tbh I don't really like it. I loved hearing everything Lowry was yelling, hearing Lebron call out opposing team plays, hearing the contact, etc.

I'm guessing though the mics would pick up too much non-family friendly content from the players. Have to drown them out with the canned crowd videos and fake organ music. Too bad, going all-in on the pick up game/intimate setting vibe could have been an interesting angle to take.

[golden]

I've noticed the volume on canned noise going up the last couple games, tbh I don't really like it. I loved hearing everything Lowry was yelling, hearing Lebron call out opposing team plays, hearing the contact, etc.

I'm guessing though the mics would pick up too much non-family friendly content from the players. Have to drown them out with the canned crowd videos and fake organ music. Too bad, going all-in on the pick up game/intimate setting vibe could have been an interesting angle to take.

I hate to admit it, but I actually like the fake crowd noise and music. It gives a feeling of normalcy to the point where you're forgetting about the bubble environment and are just locking into the game play. The thing I can't understand is why they can't make the fake fans actual size and have more realistic crowd scenes. It's 2020... we have the technology.

[planetmars]

I think the virtual crowd is dumb. Hopefully the league is making money from it though.. otherwise it's a really bad gimmick they added.

Everything else has been top notch. One thing I really like is the lack of people around the court. Allows players to have more freedom chasing after loose balls or crashing to the rim without feeling like they will get hurt by a cameraman or something.

[Apollo]

I think we can officially say the Sixers are broken. They don't know what they're doing or who they are at this point. "Hmmm, maybe our point guard is actually a power forward?" is not something contenders play around with a handful of games before the playoffs. Butler and Reddick helped make that lineup work about as well as it can and they still came up short.

Their problem is they don't know how to build a team. If they're going to have Ben Simmons as their star then they need to be absolutely loaded with shooters. Best thing they could do is trade Ben Simmons for a large package and be done with it, they seem incapable of utilizing him properly. Some team should deal for him and then pay whatever it takes to bring in Jason Kidd or someone like Jason to mentor him during the off-seasons.

[S.R.]

Their problem is they don't know how to build a team. If they're going to have Ben Simmons as their star then they need to be absolutely loaded with shooters. Best thing they could do is trade Ben Simmons for a large package and be done with it, they seem incapable of utilizing him properly. Some team should deal for him and then pay whatever it takes to bring in Jason Kidd or someone like Jason to mentor him during the off-seasons.

Yeah, either Simmons or Embiid + 4 shooters makes the most sense. Who would you trade? I'd be pretty interested in a Simmons + shooters lineup - except at that point aren't you essentially Bucks-lite? Not sure Simmons ever catches Giannis, so you'd always be a step behind there.

Embiid is elite when he's at his best but just seems unreliable. Tons of talent but I'm not sure he can be that top 5 guy who anchors a legit title contender night in, night out, and through 2 months of playoffs. Seems pretty up & down emotionally, not sure he's a killer.

[Apollo]

Yeah, either Simmons or Embiid + 4 shooters makes the most sense. Who would you trade? I'd be pretty interested in a Simmons + shooters lineup - except at that point aren't you essentially Bucks-lite? Not sure Simmons ever catches Giannis, so you'd always be a step behind there.

Embiid is elite when he's at his best but just seems unreliable. Tons of talent but I'm not sure he can be that top 5 guy who anchors a legit title contender night in, night out, and through 2 months of playoffs. Seems pretty up & down emotionally, not sure he's a killer.

That assumes that Simmons never learns how to shoot outside. I singled out Jason Kidd as a mentor in particular because he started out as a bad three point shooter but was strong in almost every other regard. Late in his career he learned how to shoot the three at a high rate (almost 43% on five attempts/game in his best year). Perhaps what Kidd learned about the game (ie: mindset, training, etc.) would be invaluable to Ben Simmons at only 23 years old.

But yeah, it looks like Simmons will be hard pressed to ever catch Giannis if he wanted to play Giannis' way.

[planetmars]

The Sixers could do so much with the right trade. And I'm glad they have no idea what they are doing considering they are in our division/conference. The first thing they'll do is get rid of Brown. Then I'm not sure. Giving Harris a max deal was stupid. Bringing in Horford instead of another shooter to replace Redick was just as dumb.

Maybe they can try to get someone like Lavine in a trade. He's the type of guy they need. They have enough defenders. They just need guys that can shoot.. and really stretch the floor.