NBA Thread

[IU Scott]

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/indiana-pacers

Someone said that former Pelicans assistant Chris Finch might be the front runner for the Pacers job.  I have not heard of him and hove no idea what is qualifications are so I couldn't say what I htink of this if it happens.

[DC2345]

42 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/indiana-pacers

Someone said that former Pelicans assistant Chris Finch might be the front runner for the Pacers job.  I have not heard of him and hove no idea what is qualifications are so I couldn't say what I htink of this if it happens.

He is known for being a creative offensive mind and was part of using Jokic as a focal point of the Nuggets offense in his 2nd season in the league. 

[BGleas]

The problem with mimicking Miami is that the reason Miami is what it is, is because of Pat Riley. You can't mimic that. It's like all these NFL teams trying to hire assistants and GM's from the Patriots, those guys can't just duplicate what Belichick does. 

[KoB2011]

5 hours ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

OK, Butler was outstanding this year and especially in the bubble/playoffs. 

But -- he was routinely lambasted basically every year, on every team he played on, until this year in Miami. At some point just liking the shiny new thing needs to consider that shiny new thing isn't so new.

Butler found the perfect fit in Miami, for him, including strong -- Riley -- management and complimentary players for his game. And he finally matured as a player. 

Vic was the perfect fit for the P's, and his game, when he joined the P's, and he and the P's excelled. Then it turned into his extended injury situation and question marks surrounding whether he'd return to that form. Vic fell out of the sky to the P's. But things changed.

The P's need at least 2 star-level players. They had that in Vic, at least until his injury situation. Where they go from here is a big question mark.

I couldn't disagree with you more about Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler went out and proved he was anything but the problem in his previous situations; none of the previous stars he played with and had issues with made it past the first round, and most missed the playoffs. Jimmy Butler deserves nothing but praise at this point. He didn't finally mature as a player, he finally played around other mature players. There is no way to interpret your knocking of Butler as anything but an endorsement of guys like Towns, Wiggins, Embiid, Simmons, etc. You know, guys who are nothing but childish losers who haven't accomplished a damn thing. How can you honestly think Butler was the issue in those situations? 

 

And to contrast it with a guy like Vic, who has had one single solitary high-level year, and in his very best career year that he was unlikely to repeat prior to injury he still was only about on Butler's level and couldn't make it out of the first round. 

Just because we all love Vic for what he did at IU doesn't mean we haven't to pretend he is something he isn't as an NBA player. 

[KoB2011]

6 hours ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

Butler was on several teams he wasn't with a bunch of prima donnas except in Chicago, he clashed with players, coaches and ownership every single year consistently until this year. No bum rap, he was a problem. But he matured and he found a good fit with strong leadership -- you don't f with Riley.

Who are these mature guys in Chicago that have accomplished bleepity blank without him? 

[NotIThatLives]

Let's not forget that Butler was carrying the sixers last year, tie ball game, game 7 against the raptors until Kawhi hit a running jumper that literally bounced on the rim at least 4 if not 5 times.  

Upon leading the raptors to a championship, people were instantly debating if Kawhi was on Michael Jordan's level.  Absurd.  

[Hoosierhoopster]

12 hours ago, KoB2011 said:

I couldn't disagree with you more about Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler went out and proved he was anything but the problem in his previous situations; none of the previous stars he played with and had issues with made it past the first round, and most missed the playoffs. Jimmy Butler deserves nothing but praise at this point. He didn't finally mature as a player, he finally played around other mature players. There is no way to interpret your knocking of Butler as anything but an endorsement of guys like Towns, Wiggins, Embiid, Simmons, etc. You know, guys who are nothing but childish losers who haven't accomplished a damn thing. How can you honestly think Butler was the issue in those situations? 

 

And to contrast it with a guy like Vic, who has had one single solitary high-level year, and in his very best career year that he was unlikely to repeat prior to injury he still was only about on Butler's level and couldn't make it out of the first round. 

Just because we all love Vic for what he did at IU doesn't mean we haven't to pretend he is something he isn't as an NBA player. 

Good grief. I’m going to start trolling you as a Butler lover. Disagree with me all you want, all kinds of players have talked before about the discord Butler caused in their locker rooms. You’re right you know better than all of them, Butler was a saint who was so egregiously wronged for many years. I mean how long has he been in the league? What a travesty. Give me a break. I am already on record saying SOME of the ridicule thrown his way was wrong, that he showed this season that he can be a real team player but if you honestly believe the many years of his locker room and very public ridiculing of teammates was him being a saint and everyone around him was wrong then you’re being extremely naive. But go ahead, dis me all you want 

[KoB2011]

3 minutes ago, Hoosierhoopster said:

Good grief. I’m going to start trolling you as a Butler lover. Disagree with me all you want, all kinds of players have talked before about the discord Butler caused in their locker rooms. You’re right you know better than all of them, Butler was a saint who was so egregiously wronged for many years. I mean how long has he been in the league? What a travesty. Give me a break. I am already on record saying SOME of the ridicule thrown his way was wrong, that he showed this season that he can be a real team player but if you honestly believe the many years of his locker room and very public ridiculing of teammates was him being a saint and everyone around him was wrong then you’re being extremely naive. But go ahead, dis me all you want 

I am a big Butler fan, go ahead and troll me for it. 

I am well aware of what many of Butler's past teammates have said about him; when I look at those past teammates and what they accomplished with him vs. without him, and what he has accomplished without them, the data seems pretty clear about who the problem is. 

Do I think Butler would be an easy guy to be teammates with? Maybe not. I don't think guys like Jordan or Kobe would have been either. I'm not saying Butler is as good as those two, he clearly isn't, but I do think his mindset about winning is comparable to the two of them. I'm sure that type of mindset did rub a snowflake like Andrew Wiggins or Joel Embiid the wrong way. 

[KoB2011]

1 hour ago, NotIThatLives said:

Let's not forget that Butler was carrying the sixers last year, tie ball game, game 7 against the raptors until Kawhi hit a running jumper that literally bounced on the rim at least 4 if not 5 times.  

Upon leading the raptors to a championship, people were instantly debating if Kawhi was on Michael Jordan's level.  Absurd.  

You're talking about that same Sixers team that without Butler got bounced in the first round and fired their coach, right? 

[NotIThatLives]

14 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

You're talking about that same Sixers team that without Butler got bounced in the first round and fired their coach, right? 

Exactly.  Carried them fools.  

[KoB2011]

1 minute ago, NotIThatLives said:

Exactly.  Carried them fools.  

Yeah but look how great the Timberwolves have been without him. It isn't like he carried them to their only playoff appearance since 2005 and only winning seasons since 2006....

[NotIThatLives]

1 minute ago, KoB2011 said:

Yeah but look how great the Timberwolves have been without him. It isn't like he carried them to their only playoff appearance since 2005 and only winning seasons since 2006....

Months back someone mentioned KAT as a pacer trade option.  Thank God Pritchard is smarter than that idea.  KAT won't win anything until he is like the Dwight Howard of a Lebron team.  

[KoB2011]

1 minute ago, NotIThatLives said:

Months back someone mentioned KAT as a pacer trade option.  Thank God Pritchard is smarter than that idea.  KAT won't win anything until he is like the Dwight Howard of a Lebron team.  

No kidding. He is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the league. 

There is almost nothing on a basketball court the guy isn't capable of, I think he seems like a genuinely good guy, yet I would never want him on my team. 

[NotIThatLives]

And

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/bulls/ct-chicago-bulls-jimmy-butler-20200929-jxxodde4tfgonabcg4tbxcsovi-story.html

 

[NotIThatLives]

1 minute ago, KoB2011 said:

No kidding. He is one of the biggest wastes of talent in the league. 

There is almost nothing on a basketball court the guy isn't capable of, I think he seems like a genuinely good guy, yet I would never want him on my team. 

It's weird. I wonder what his work ethic is?  Things probably have always come easy to him and he sets a bad example to those around him.  Doesn't have crazy drive to win.  

[DC2345]

17 minutes ago, NotIThatLives said:

Months back someone mentioned KAT as a pacer trade option.  Thank God Pritchard is smarter than that idea.  KAT won't win anything until he is like the Dwight Howard of a Lebron team.  

How do you know KP is smarter than that? The Pacers likely aren’t in a spot to make a deal for him but who says that they wouldn’t if he could. 

Edited October 14, 2020 by DC2345

[DC2345]

I’m taking all of the stuff about the Pacers front runner stuff with a grain of salt until a hire is made. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors stuff going on between the Pacers side and coaches agents.

[dgambill]

15 hours ago, BGleas said:

The problem with mimicking Miami is that the reason Miami is what it is, is because of Pat Riley. You can't mimic that. It's like all these NFL teams trying to hire assistants and GM's from the Patriots, those guys can't just duplicate what Belichick does. 

The other thing about Miami is that trust me..Indiana winters and nightlife is not the same as Miami....you can’t even compare the two. Trust me there are reasons why stars are attracted there and it ain’t all basketball related. But to your point there is only 1 Pay Riley. He recognizes what talent is, who winners are, and he can speak with authority to stars. He knows their language and he knows how to manage their personalities. He spent his whole career coaching and GMing the biggest in the game. The only other person I would put on his level is Jerry West.

[NotIThatLives]

1 hour ago, DC2345 said:

How do you know KP is smarter than that? The Pacers likely aren’t in a spot to make a deal for him but who says that they wouldn’t if he could. 

Before Vic's injury Pritchard was looking like a genius, highly regarded, and the Pacers were trajecting very nicely.  

Each of us are entitled to our opinion and mine is I wouldn't want KAT on my team unless he's the 3rd or 4th option.   

[DC2345]

1 hour ago, NotIThatLives said:

Before Vic's injury Pritchard was looking like a genius, highly regarded, and the Pacers were trajecting very nicely.  

Each of us are entitled to our opinion and mine is I wouldn't want KAT on my team unless he's the 3rd or 4th option.   

I never said that I did or didn’t. I was referring to the statement on Pritchard to which no one knows the answer to. 

[NotIThatLives]

8 minutes ago, DC2345 said:

I never said that I did or didn’t. I was referring to the statement on Pritchard to which no one knows the answer to. 

It's just my guess.  My guess is Pritchard wouldn't spend to get KAT.  Considering the price tag of KAT, the vast majority would agree.  JMO.  

[KoB2011]

Interesting video about the rule changes in the NBA over the years and impact on scoring. I don't think it's quite as data driven as he lets on, but I don't think they hypothesis is wrong. 

[rico]

On 10/13/2020 at 8:01 PM, IU Scott said:

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/indiana-pacers

Someone said that former Pelicans assistant Chris Finch might be the front runner for the Pacers job.  I have not heard of him and hove no idea what is qualifications are so I couldn't say what I htink of this if it happens.

https://nba.nbcsports.com/2020/10/14/rockets-clippers-pelicans-pacers-thunder-where-do-these-nba-coaching-searches-stand/

[Billingsley99]

Just heard Pacers to interview final 3 next week. They think its Dantoni, Billups and a 3rd. One person told me Chris Finch but another says Chris Quinn is the man to beat. IDK

[Hoosierhoopster]

7 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

Just heard Pacers to interview final 3 next week. They think its Dantoni, Billups and a 3rd. One person told me Chris Finch but another says Chris Quinn is the man to beat. IDK

From the story Rico linked above -- this give me a big 'meh' reaction. The P's need to stop being so un-splashy. I'd take Billups in a second over another assistant promotion. Edit, I was referring to Finch. There are good assistants out there, don't know too much about Craig and Quinn.

INDIANA PACERS

Pelicans’ assistant Chris Finch appears to be the frontrunner here. Mike D’Antoni has been linked to this job before the bubble and long before Nate McMillan was fired, and there are reports he is still in consideration.

The Pacers have cast a wide net in this search, reportedly talking to more than 20 people about the job. This week that includes Miami assistants Dan Craig and Chris Quinn. There are conflicting reports about Dave Joerger being in the mix for this job, but he appears to be on the outside looking in at this point.