Optimist Prime

I expect a new handle if he’s still on the team once the trade deadline passes.

Neither yet, I think. That’s the issue with rebuilds. The team can end up either way. This is where coaching and player development will make all the difference. A lot of what will define this team moving forward will happen on the practice floor.

Maybe he should have shot that last free throw from the three point line.

Incentivize being better rather than discourage being worse. Cap and tax relief for teams that improve a certain percentage or make the playoffs. Higher incentives for seeds 5-8 than 1-4. The incentive begins as soon as the offseason hits and carries into the next season.

Should have grabbed Lin before Atlanta got him for cheap.

At which point, it’s not tanking. It’s accepting fate.

I think it depends on how many teams are above .500 by the time selections happen.

Depends on the offensive development of Bamba, AG, and Isaac, but yeah, I tend to agree.

I feel like the plan is stockpile defense and length in the forward spots and capitalize on scoring with the guards. Maybe get a decent length scoring PG who can distribute to open shooters and knows how to funnel/stay in front of guys. Having AG/Isaac/Bamba means we can lose a little on defense at the 1 because they can all recover rather quickly to erase any mistakes.

What about Bird? He’s white.

Does Vuc for Parsons make sense?

It’s hard to argue. I wanted Steph to get his first FMVP, but game 3 sealed it, I think. Only way Steph could have won is if KD laid an egg this game.

Lebron left after losing to Boston in the second round.

Pacers and Celtics both took the Cavs to seven games. Both series could have gone either way. If the claim is that KD on the Cavs would go to seven games against those two teams, I’m not sure that means a whole lot. I’m still of the opinion that those claims are all conjecture anyway. There are reasons to believe KD could succeed with this Cavs team. There are at least two games, probably closer to four between the Pacers and Celtics series that could have kept Lebron out of the finals.

They would have a different game plan with Durant, too. I feel like part of the problem playing with Lebron is movement becomes lethargic. I think a lot of it falls on the coach, but stylistically the same team would look a lot different. More cutting and screens since KD does so much damage from 15+ feet. Less standing around the three point line waiting for the kick out. Being more involved that way would probably improve the play of “the other guys” as well.

Maybe? Steph and Klay combined for 21 points on 7-27 shooting and Durant led them to a win. I don’t like the “if x player were on y team they definitely z.” We don’t know what guys are capable of until they accomplish it.

I was more disappointed in the loss to Atlanta the next year. They were built to only beat the Magic. That team could have gone to the finals. Had to get through Chicago and Miami which were good matchups.

Um, guys? Brad Stevens broke basketball.

Playing multiple 50-55 win teams is much more difficult than playing multiple 40-45 win teams. The team that comes out of the better conference (when there is a great enough margin) will be a little more worn down. In regular season terms, it’s like playing a fourth game in five or six nights against a team that’s played three games in the seven nights. The second team will have fresher legs and an advantage in that department. GSW lost to the Cavs for a few reasons, one of those being that they just came off a seven game series against a stingy OKC team that had two uber-athletic superstar players. Curry plays hurt, Bogut (read: only true rotation big) gets injured out of the series. Cavs had essentially swept a weak eastern conference and could have Kyrie and Lebron go all out for seven straight because of no fatigue. Whether or or not that’s the case, having a single team be better than another single team (throwing out the factor of how teams match up with one another) doesn’t mean anything for the strength of a conference as a whole. Using Springsteen’s example above, if one conference fielded seven sub-500 teams with one 50-win team, and the other had eight fifty win teams, the finals matchup doesn’t decide which conference is better. That’s an individual team achievement, and has nothing to do with the rest of the conference.

Isn’t this just an argument that Lebron is good? Using the finals to compare conferences isn’t really fair. Need to look at overall win percentage, at the very least, for both conferences’ playoff teams. Can go deeper with advanced stats to gauge which conference was better after factoring strength of schedule and +/-, etc. I’m not really good with all of that, but I’d be very surprised if the East anywhere close to as strong as the West. Especially in the few years before KD went to GSW.

I mean, I get wanting to be petty. I do it all the time. But he just got blown out at home. I’m happier about that than mad about him leaving early.

I don’t think walking off early in the first game of a series when it’s a blowout loss is that bad. They aren’t going to shake hands or anything. He’ll be back for game two.

Yeah, I think playing with Westbrook made a big difference. And as said previously, being traded twice probably have him an extra dose of motivation. Brings hometown hero helps, I’m sure.

I think I’m happy enough for Oladipo at this point that I’m not bitter anymore that we lost him (probably also because I don’t think he becomes this with the Magic).

Steve Clifford got fired