Everything NBA 2020-21

[Kagemusha]

Jamal Murray tweeted this... lol

This is what's ruining the game.

[KeonClark]

I don't this this is cute, I think it's kinda pathetic. Shaq names 1 first name out of the 5 NBA players. And these are not end of bench tweeners, these are rotation guys and starters. Shaq has never put any effort into anything his entire life, my god he was lucky to be born a giant.

[S.R.]

I don't this this is cute, I think it's kinda pathetic. Shaq names 1 first name out of the 5 NBA players. And these are not end of bench tweeners, these are rotation guys and starters. Shaq has never put any effort into anything his entire life, my god he was lucky to be born a giant.

lol that's true I never thought about the fact that Shaq is doing the same thing as a broadcaster that he did as a player

[G__Deane]

Last 15 games.. so many without Davis/Schroeder

Very true. I hope it keeps up for the post season. Anyone but an LA team

[G__Deane]

Speaking of 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 fast breaks.. how many have we blown as a team this season? Feels like we always blow them this season. Percentages can't be good.

Please don't be critical of anything the Raptors do

[G__Deane]

I don't this this is cute, I think it's kinda pathetic. Shaq names 1 first name out of the 5 NBA players. And these are not end of bench tweeners, these are rotation guys and starters. Shaq has never put any effort into anything his entire life, my god he was lucky to be born a giant.

I don't think Shaq is a Mensa candidate at the best of times .....

[The Claw Reborn]

Butler is why Miami is scary in the playoffs. They just beat the no.1 team in the league in a playoff like intensity game vs. Utah.

Milwaukee has to make a bigboy trade deadline move or else they will once again get bounce by Jimmy and the Heat.

[G__Deane]

Butler is why Miami is scary in the playoffs. They just beat the no.1 team in the league in a playoff like intensity game vs. Utah.

Milwaukee has to make a bigboy trade deadline move or else they will once again get bounce by Jimmy and the Heat.

Which one gets beaten by or beats the Nets?

[Ebonhawke]

Which one gets beaten by or beats the Nets?

I think both the Bucks and the Heat ask questions of the Nets, that I'm not sure if the Nets can answer

- How will Kyrie / Harden's game be impacted by having to play 40 minutes of defense per night against Dragic / Butler? Spoelstra will likely run a ton of PnRs with Adebayo, so in addition to expending energy on defense, there's a physical toll as well. If the Nets bring help from the wings, then you're leaving shooters open on the three point line. If you try and 'hide' Harden / Irving on one of the shooters, the Heat might just try to run them into the ground through screens (a la JJ Reddick), that will have an impact over a long series

- How will the Nets frontcourt deal with the Bucks? With Robin Lopez or Portis on the floor as the 5, it would be challenging to play DeAndre Jordan - he just can't cover the perimeter - if he tries, you give Giannis the ball, and run cutters through the lane to Bud's heart is content. If you play small with Durant at the 5, then you're probably going to have Durant in foul trouble an awful lot, and then you're faced to play defense with 5 on 4 (with Jordan spectating in the middle), or really small (which will allow Giannis to bully his way in the paint). I also haven't seen anything from the Nets' defense to indicate that they are disciplined enough to be able to 'wall' off Giannis as some teams have figured out

If I'm the Nets, I'd be more worried about the Heat than the Bucks, because Spoelstra's proven he can adapt game plans to the team/opponent, and there are some questions about Bud's ability to do so. But if you're facing the Bucks, you're facing Giannis, and the 'superstar' calls can go both ways.

[The Claw Reborn]

Which one gets beaten by or beats the Nets?

It all depends on what the Bucks will do before this coming deadline. I really believed Middleton is not the answer to Giannis end goal of winning a Championship. My trade proposal for the Bucks to trade Middleton and their first round pick or possibly multiple picks to entice a totally rebuilding Houston to give up Oladipo and PJ Tucker is the deal that would solidly their chances of beating the big 3 of the Nets.

Lopez/ Giannis/ PJ Tucker/ Oladipo/ Jrue will stop from their tracks a highly potent offensive machine of the Nets. In reverse, the Nets being defensively challenge may not be able to stop that Bucks roster.

That potential Bucks Roster will sneeze on whatever defensive schemes and any other modified zones thrown by Eric Spoelstra.

[G__Deane]

I think both the Bucks and the Heat ask questions of the Nets, that I'm not sure if the Nets can answer

- How will Kyrie / Harden's game be impacted by having to play 40 minutes of defense per night against Dragic / Butler? Spoelstra will likely run a ton of PnRs with Adebayo, so in addition to expending energy on defense, there's a physical toll as well. If the Nets bring help from the wings, then you're leaving shooters open on the three point line. If you try and 'hide' Harden / Irving on one of the shooters, the Heat might just try to run them into the ground through screens (a la JJ Reddick), that will have an impact over a long series

- How will the Nets frontcourt deal with the Bucks? With Robin Lopez or Portis on the floor as the 5, it would be challenging to play DeAndre Jordan - he just can't cover the perimeter - if he tries, you give Giannis the ball, and run cutters through the lane to Bud's heart is content. If you play small with Durant at the 5, then you're probably going to have Durant in foul trouble an awful lot, and then you're faced to play defense with 5 on 4 (with Jordan spectating in the middle), or really small (which will allow Giannis to bully his way in the paint). I also haven't seen anything from the Nets' defense to indicate that they are disciplined enough to be able to 'wall' off Giannis as some teams have figured out

If I'm the Nets, I'd be more worried about the Heat than the Bucks, because Spoelstra's proven he can adapt game plans to the team/opponent, and there are some questions about Bud's ability to do so. But if you're facing the Bucks, you're facing Giannis, and the 'superstar' calls can go both ways.

I'd like to see them play Durant against Giannis. Two guys who never get fouls against them vs two guys who expect all the calls. On foul call alone I think that benefits the Nets as Giannis actually gets a few called against him these days.

There the NBA will never allow the matchup

[G__Deane]

It all depends on what the Bucks will do before this coming deadline. I really believed Middleton is not the answer to Giannis end goal of winning a Championship. My trade proposal for the Bucks to trade Middleton and their first round pick or possibly multiple picks to entice a totally rebuilding Houston to give up Oladipo and PJ Tucker is the deal that would solidly their chances of beating the big 3 of the Nets.

Lopez/ Giannis/ PJ Tucker/ Oladipo/ Jrue will stop from their tracks a highly potent offensive machine of the Nets. In reverse, the Nets being defensively challenge may not be able to stop that Bucks roster.

That potential Bucks Roster will sneeze on whatever defensive schemes and any other modified zones thrown by Eric Spoelstra.

That's actually pretty interesting. I feel there's going to be more than 1 big team active at the deadline....Sixers, Heat, Bucks, Clippers, lakers, Jazz, Blazers. I don't think the Raps participate in anything significant and somehow think the Bucks stand basically pat

[Kagemusha]

I think both the Bucks and the Heat ask questions of the Nets, that I'm not sure if the Nets can answer

- How will Kyrie / Harden's game be impacted by having to play 40 minutes of defense per night against Dragic / Butler? Spoelstra will likely run a ton of PnRs with Adebayo, so in addition to expending energy on defense, there's a physical toll as well. If the Nets bring help from the wings, then you're leaving shooters open on the three point line. If you try and 'hide' Harden / Irving on one of the shooters, the Heat might just try to run them into the ground through screens (a la JJ Reddick), that will have an impact over a long series

- How will the Nets frontcourt deal with the Bucks? With Robin Lopez or Portis on the floor as the 5, it would be challenging to play DeAndre Jordan - he just can't cover the perimeter - if he tries, you give Giannis the ball, and run cutters through the lane to Bud's heart is content. If you play small with Durant at the 5, then you're probably going to have Durant in foul trouble an awful lot, and then you're faced to play defense with 5 on 4 (with Jordan spectating in the middle), or really small (which will allow Giannis to bully his way in the paint). I also haven't seen anything from the Nets' defense to indicate that they are disciplined enough to be able to 'wall' off Giannis as some teams have figured out

If I'm the Nets, I'd be more worried about the Heat than the Bucks, because Spoelstra's proven he can adapt game plans to the team/opponent, and there are some questions about Bud's ability to do so. But if you're facing the Bucks, you're facing Giannis, and the 'superstar' calls can go both ways.

The formula against the Bucks will always be the same, ie stop Giannis. Period.
Same formula that has been proven to work time and time again.
On the Nets side, they'd have to stop not one, not two, but all three potent scorers.
That will be extremely difficult for any team to do.

[TheWaterboy]

That's actually pretty interesting. I feel there's going to be more than 1 big team active at the deadline....Sixers, Heat, Bucks, Clippers, lakers, Jazz, Blazers. I don't think the Raps participate in anything significant and somehow think the Bucks stand basically pat

It looks like Philly really wants Lowry and believes that they can find a way to extract him for what they think is a reasonable price (given that they seem to have started jockeying for position in that respect already); I'd be shocked if they're aiming to do much else. The problem with that is that Lowry's value to Toronto at 30 million this year, and even at 20-25 million next year and possibly the year after, is considerably higher than it is for almost any team in the league that is likely to be targeting him. He's the straw that stirs the drink here, and wouldn't be that on teams like the Lakers, the Clippers, or Philly. I don't think that Philly gets Lowry or makes any other major move, and I think the Lakers and Clippers don't have a lot to offer in terms of tradeable assets, and will be buyout shoppers instead.

As for Lowry.... If I'm Lowry, and I want out, and I want to name my destination to give me the best shot at another title and the best overall situation, the team that makes the most sense by far as a destination is Miami, rather than Philly. Miami could send Dragic back if Toronto wanted that, in addition to young talent that would likely be the real incentive for the Raptors in the deal.

From Miami's perspective, a team with Butler and Lowry combined with the usual balanced Miami roster that plays tough defense and has multiple secondary players that go off any given night would be very, very difficult for eastern conference teams to beat in a seven-game series, and would match up favorably against most teams in the West besides.

I still think Lowry stays here until the end of this season and resigns here for that $20-25 million for a couple more years; all Morey machinations aside, it looks like he still feels very much at home with the team and is having fun, and if he's going to get more money than that elsewhere, it's going to be with a losing team with a losing culture. (There's plenty of time for that to change, and plenty of latitude for me to be wrong, though.)

[JawsGT]

The formula against the Bucks will always be the same, ie stop Giannis. Period.
Same formula that has been proven to work time and time again.
On the Nets side, they'd have to stop not one, not two, but all three potent scorers.
That will be extremely difficult for any team to do.

You just have to slow them because there defence is so poor. Most teams will be able to get their offence, its just a matter of making the nets work to get their buckets. That wont be easy no doubt, and you have to understand that you will likely lose 2 games in a series just cause the big3 were shooting well or able to knock down those clutch shots down the stretch, and maybe another game cause the role players were on fire. Thats almost to be expected. So any team that will shrink mentally if some of that comes to fruition in a series wont stand a chance. But if they are mentally prepared for that type of grind and keep working hard defensively, they might have a shot. There are a few teams in the east that have that shot, including the raps, so the nets will likely face 2 really tough opponents, maybe even 3 depending on how it all shakes out. I'm not confidant they can get through the east on offence alone.

Now if the nets figure out how to deploy even a league average defence, then they should cruise to the finals.