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13 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

Obviously we don't know how things will shake out with awards and how the playoffs turn out, but are the Suns perhaps the most disrespected/overlooked elite team ever? 

They are very very good. But if they play the Bucks again and both are healthy. It won’t go 7 games. They can’t stop Giannis. They are very deep and defined roles…well coached and beat everyone they should beat. They might win it all but they are not an all time great team…..and probably disrespected because they don’t have a mvp caliber player on their team. Just a very well built team with great leadership and have a great point guard, guy that can get his shot, and a couple lock down defenders and rim protection. They have it all…but I would say more like the Detroit Pistons or Dallas Mavericks championship teams that were just a well put together team more than a superstar filled team.

Also watch out for a hungry young Grizzlies team….I can totally see them coming out of the West.

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I think Devin Booker is the most disrespected Superstar in the NBA.   IMO, he'd be a very worthy MVP candidate and caliber player.

I'd like to see a Grizzlies/wolves matchup. in Round 1.  Not sure the Griz win that.  Mavs are in the 3 seed slot and won 3 of 4 from Griz.  I like griz and think they are good but they don't worry me anymore than the Wolves from a Mavs perspective if the Mavs find a way to get to 2nd round and are in the 2,3,6,7 bracket.  Of course everything is subject ot change with the seedings from 3 on in the West right now.  

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7 hours ago, dgambill said:

They are very very good. But if they play the Bucks again and both are healthy. It won’t go 7 games. They can’t stop Giannis. They are very deep and defined roles…well coached and beat everyone they should beat. They might win it all but they are not an all time great team…..and probably disrespected because they don’t have a mvp caliber player on their team. Just a very well built team with great leadership and have a great point guard, guy that can get his shot, and a couple lock down defenders and rim protection. They have it all…but I would say more like the Detroit Pistons or Dallas Mavericks championship teams that were just a well put together team more than a superstar filled team.

Also watch out for a hungry young Grizzlies team….I can totally see them coming out of the West.

Agree to disagree, Booker is without a doubt MVP caliber IMO. Best 2 guard in basketball and it really isn't close. 

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20 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

Agree to disagree, Booker is without a doubt MVP caliber IMO. Best 2 guard in basketball and it really isn't close. 

They definitely have an easier path but I’ve seen nothing that they will be able to best the Bucks. I’m very interested in seeing Memphis play them. To me that’s the team to watch. The west is pretty weak this year imo.

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54 minutes ago, ATX_sig said:

I think Devin Booker is the most disrespected Superstar in the NBA.   IMO, he'd be a very worthy MVP candidate and caliber player.

I'd like to see a Grizzlies/wolves matchup. in Round 1.  Not sure the Griz win that.  Mavs are in the 3 seed slot and won 3 of 4 from Griz.  I like griz and think they are good but they don't worry me anymore than the Wolves from a Mavs perspective if the Mavs find a way to get to 2nd round and are in the 2,3,6,7 bracket.  Of course everything is subject ot change with the seedings from 3 on in the West right now.  

I wouldn’t want the Grizzlies…that chip on their shoulder and that dog mentality will travel well in the playoffs. They are very balanced too. 

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13 hours ago, dgambill said:

They definitely have an easier path but I’ve seen nothing that they will be able to best the Bucks. I’m very interested in seeing Memphis play them. To me that’s the team to watch. The west is pretty weak this year imo.

I'm not sure I am following the logic that the West is weak and the East isn't. The top 6 in the West could all probably be at a minimum in contention for the 1 seed in the East.

If it's as simple as the Bucks have Giannis and no one else does, then okay, I'll buy that he is the most dominant guy going right now and that the Bucks have a good chance to repeat as champions. Maybe the Nets with Kyrie back full time have a good shot to win it all, too, but outside of that I can't really see anyone else in the East making a run at a title. 

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2 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I'm not sure I am following the logic that the West is weak and the East isn't. The top 6 in the West could all probably be at a minimum in contention for the 1 seed in the East.

If it's as simple as the Bucks have Giannis and no one else does, then okay, I'll buy that he is the most dominant guy going right now and that the Bucks have a good chance to repeat as champions. Maybe the Nets with Kyrie back full time have a good shot to win it all, too, but outside of that I can't really see anyone else in the East making a run at a title. 

And here I was hoping for a Cavs/Lakers match-up.  

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2 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I'm not sure I am following the logic that the West is weak and the East isn't. The top 6 in the West could all probably be at a minimum in contention for the 1 seed in the East.

If it's as simple as the Bucks have Giannis and no one else does, then okay, I'll buy that he is the most dominant guy going right now and that the Bucks have a good chance to repeat as champions. Maybe the Nets with Kyrie back full time have a good shot to win it all, too, but outside of that I can't really see anyone else in the East making a run at a title. 

That’s true. They would be. But so is the top 6 seeds in the East. They are all within 4.5 games from 1st….and at different points they have almost all been a 1 seed themselves but injuries and Covid etc has had them all trading places. The East vs West is basically 500 this year. In the west it’s been basically a 1 horse race. I totally agree Phoenix is a worthy title contender obviously and maybe the facorite…I just don’t see them as an all time elite compared to say GS or Miami or Laker or Celtic past champions etc. just a very well coached, well put together team…similar to the Detroit Pistons with the Wallace’s and Rip and Chauncey and the Mavericks with Dirk, Marion, Kidd and company. 
 

I’m very interested in Memphis. I’m a big fan of them and how hard they all play…and obviously Morant who went to Murray St my wife’s ama mater and Bane and Indiana kid. Time will tell if they need post season experience or if their hunger will translate.

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20 minutes ago, dgambill said:

That’s true. They would be. But so is the top 6 seeds in the East. They are all within 4.5 games from 1st….and at different points they have almost all been a 1 seed themselves but injuries and Covid etc has had them all trading places. The East vs West is basically 500 this year. In the west it’s been basically a 1 horse race. I totally agree Phoenix is a worthy title contender obviously and maybe the facorite…I just don’t see them as an all time elite compared to say GS or Miami or Laker or Celtic past champions etc. just a very well coached, well put together team…similar to the Detroit Pistons with the Wallace’s and Rip and Chauncey and the Mavericks with Dirk, Marion, Kidd and company. 
 

I’m very interested in Memphis. I’m a big fan of them and how hard they all play…and obviously Morant who went to Murray St my wife’s ama mater and Bane and Indiana kid. Time will tell if they need post season experience or if their hunger will translate.

I'm curious why you don't think they compare favorably to the pre-Durant Warriors?

They very well may end up with a better road record than anyone else has a home record. I think the narrative for them is going to be written with hindsight, regardless, but they're running away with the best record in the league, have at least 2 elite players and a plethora of good to really good guys. I think if they do win it all they're be viewed in a very good light historically and not like the Pistons or Mavs. 

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29 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

I'm curious why you don't think they compare favorably to the pre-Durant Warriors?

They very well may end up with a better road record than anyone else has a home record. I think the narrative for them is going to be written with hindsight, regardless, but they're running away with the best record in the league, have at least 2 elite players and a plethora of good to really good guys. I think if they do win it all they're be viewed in a very good light historically and not like the Pistons or Mavs. 

Because they don’t have any all-time great players in the prime of their career. I think the NBA in general this year is down over all with injuries/ramp up and sitting out now days/Covid/continuity of teams if you do have continuity and are good you can run amass a ton of wins. Time will tell. They haven’t won anything yet. Just like the 70 win Warriors didn’t win the championship against the Cavs and struggled in the playoffs after dominating the league…they almost got beat by OKC and should have. If Phoenix wins it all we will see….but their two stars aren’t all time greats in their prime. Paul is past his (although still a great player and Booker is still accending but not yet established himself as a top 75 player etc). Put them against other all time great teams of the past I don’t think they would match up well. Lakers Kobe/Shaq teams, Miami Wade/Bosh/Lebron, GS Durant, Curry, Thompson Boston Allen, Pierce, Garnett and not even going as far back as say the Bulls/Rockets/Pistons/Lakers/Celtics of 80s and 90s. I don’t think they could compete. So I would put them with say Milwaulkie of last year or other champions with a great team but not all time great champions. 

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31 minutes ago, btownqb said:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33664003/los-angeles-lakers-legend-kareem-abdul-jabbar-criticizes-some-lebron-james-actions

Agree with a lot of what Kareem said. LBJ has done incredible things, he really has. Some actions-- are simply beneath him. Kareem is exactly right. 

GOATs don't do that. 

GOATs do whatever Tom Brady does, right? :coffee:

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On 4/4/2022 at 8:23 AM, btownqb said:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33664003/los-angeles-lakers-legend-kareem-abdul-jabbar-criticizes-some-lebron-james-actions

Agree with a lot of what Kareem said. LBJ has done incredible things, he really has. Some actions-- are simply beneath him. Kareem is exactly right. 

GOATs don't do that. 

Kareem is a bright guy.  He also wrote an essay excoriating Will Smith too.   

https://kareem.substack.com/p/will-smith-did-a-bad-bad-thing?s=r

As a player, I believe he was a 6 time NBA champ and 6 time MVP plus the all time scorer.   Phenomenal athlete and skill for a 7’2 guy.  I think his name gets kind of forgotten when we talk about the best players of all time.  His early years were before my time but he’s often mentioned as the best college player ever too.  I wish they had better footage for that period because I’d like to browse through some of those UCLA games.  

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3 hours ago, IU Scott said:

Now the Lakers will be in the lottery, I bet you there is a good chance they win the lottery.

Pelicans own Lakers pick if it falls into the top 10…so Lakers only keep it if it doesn’t and I think Pelicans still have a pick swap option then. Lakers only getting better if they find someone to take on Russ salary….good luck with that! They probably need to trade Davis and waive and spread Russ salary over next 5 years.

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15 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

This is a weird year for LeBron, he had one of the best seasons ever for a guy his age but missed the playoffs with multiple other HOFers on the roster.

I think the time in LA is going to be something that ultimately hurts his legacy more than helps it. 

I feel like when it was clear the team was not going to make any noise, he focused solely on his stats, which doesn't diminish it necessarily, but I am not sure he was playing to win any longer.

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21 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

This is a weird year for LeBron, he had one of the best seasons ever for a guy his age but missed the playoffs with multiple other HOFers on the roster.

I think the time in LA is going to be something that ultimately hurts his legacy more than helps it. 

That team was just old…no athleticism no shooting…no defense….lots of injuries….just no real hunger. Not sure how it gets any better next year either with no pick and cap tied up with aging injury prone vets with mega salaries playing the worst ball of their life. Unless he demands a trade I’m not sure he will make the playoffs again any time soon. People are going to be very careful of joining up with him. Used to be he made you look better and improved your stock…now you join him and he will blame you for all that goes wrong…hard to see guys signing up for that.

His legacy is set….now it’s just about record books and playing with his son some day.

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