Jason Sitoke

On 5/8/2024 at 8:23 AM, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Minnesota's team-wide, four quarter commitment to defense is the difference maker.  The Nuggets are the last team I would have expected to get rattled. I think being on the road and two games down will focus them. 

Minny was always the nuggets toughest matchup. But yeah, never thought I’d see this team just fall apart and fail to counter with anything. They look absolutely cooked and will be interesting to see what their plan is moving forward with their bench. Obviously they’re not healthy in the back court, but Murray coming unhinged is a terrible look and probably speaks to how unable he is to adjust to their pressure and he knows it. 
 

TWolves are absolutely on fire as a team 

On 4/24/2024 at 5:12 PM, RedDenver said:

Yep. CU has neither the money nor the desire to fire Deion. He did what they needed most - sold enough tickets to get the athletic dept out of the red. Winning is and was a distant second to that.

Add to that the money he’s saved them in recruiting by….not recruiting. 

These stats are from late March.  They reflect the net free throw attempts (team FTA - opponent FTA) over the past 2 seasons:

1. Los Angeles Lakers (+1017)

2. New York Knicks (+358)

3. Milwaukee Bucks (+344)

4. Orlando Magic (+311) 

5. Boston Celtics (+271)

1 hour ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

It's true, the money they "save" won't even bring them under the luxury tax. If you're willing to live with a huge payroll and penalty tax, you need to see something for the effort. It turns out owner Joe Lacob is that kinda owner and I think he'll be advocating for the bold move. Might not happen this particular off-season, but someone always comes into play, and they are throwing out names like Karl Anthony Towns, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakam or Brandon Ingram. I'm just worried that if you mortgage your young, homegrown, affordable talent to rent a star for 37/38 year old Steph Curry, you could be no better -- or worse -- than you are now. 

 

Maybe they just need a Naz Reid kind of player or two. Costlier than the exception, cheaper than a Klay, Paul, or Wiggins. But I honestly don't know how much a Naz Reid would cost in this market. 

 

And yes, Paul's second year isn't guaranteed and there's little chance the Warriors will pony up. I believe Dunleavey was able to get Washington to absorb Jordan Poole's contract so that money is no longer on the Warriors books. 

Warriors pulled a damn magic act getting out from under Poole’s contract.  Dollar for dollar, Jordan Poole is the worst player in the NBA

1 hour ago, Madcows said:

 

CP3 is guaranteed 30 million for next season.  Whatever he agrees to in term of buyout is the hit the Warriors take against the salary cap.  It won't help the Warriors sign a key piece, and with the team being so far over the cap, they don't get all the money to spend. If they renounce all their cap holds, the salary on the books (assuming every option is picked up) for next year is $170M for only 9 players. If team options aren't picked up, and those rights are renounced, the Warriors remove an additional 13ishM from salary and two more players. If GPII turns down his player option, about another 9 comes off the books and the Warriors are down to 6 contracts at roughly $148M. The salary cap is predicted to be around $145M, so the Warriors are still over the cap even if no option is picked up. Meaning, all they can do is the Mid-Level Exemption, Vet Minimum and Rookie deals. If they can agree to a buyout with CP3, it saves them salary, but won't give them any extra 'buying power' for free agents, it'll probably move them a few million under the cap and give them one more Exemption they can use to go over the cap.  Only way to get a star player is via trade and not sure the Warriors have the pieces necessary for that to happen, unless they mortgage the future and trade multiple 1st round picks and include players like Kuminga and Wiggins to make the trade work salary wise. Dunleavy is going to take the fall for Myers contracts and cap challenges he left behind. Resigning Dray for 4 years and resigning Poole to a max extension is hurting this team. Next year, they will have a lot of money available with basically only Dray and Steph under contract. That would give them the flexibility to sign a star in FA and probably enough room to sign a good role player.  Warriors are cooked for next year, it'll be a struggle for them to make the play-in.

Paul’s contract is non-guaranteed 

59 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

You'd have to get something in a trade for Draymond, and if you could find a taker you could get at best a solid role player. Which you're gonna need. If you let Klay and Chris Paul walk there are no transactions involved and you suddenly have $75 million to spend. No free agent worth that kind of money yet, but there are always a few surprises and unhappy stars cropping up, like AD. Kerr is coaching the Olympic Team, the best assembly of talent since the 1992 Dream Team. Doesn't hurt for him to spend the summer coaching and socializing with the superstars. 

I don’t think they’ll have 75mill to spend. By letting klay walk and cutting CP3…I think they’ll end up nearly a first apron team..which means they’ll get their exceptions.  But they’ll be pretty financially limited in free agency as far as I can tell. 

Should be a fun one, especially out West.  All the lower seeds have reason to believe they can win.  Crazy to think that half of the field will be done in a little over 2 weeks, considering the talent on all of those rosters.  For example, if Minny loses first round after basically leading the West all year....or conversely if the Suns go out with a whimper after pushing all their chips in and mortgaging the next 10 years of their franchise....

Unfortunate to be seeing football highlights this time of year.  I was hoping to hear about the gains…with a few platitudes about hard work thrown in. 

On 4/6/2024 at 12:18 PM, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

The network would be sad to have a playoffs without LeBron James, Steph Curry and/or Kevin Durant, but sometimes youth needs to be served and the top tier is loaded with young talent.

 

That being said, the Nuggets are deep, experienced, and tested, and I honestly don't know anyone who hates them. That's rare all by itself. 

I don’t know how deep they are. Going to be very reliant on 34 yr old Reggie Jackson to spell Jamal Murray.  Braun has been ok, but not really made much of a leap as an offensive player.  After that, really not sure who the 8th guy is.  
 

West is just ridiculous.  Bucks would’ve been a play in team if they were on this side of the bracket. 

On 3/19/2024 at 12:44 PM, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

I don't know about this. Given the original injury, it was considered highly optimistic Embid would return for the regular season, and the best case scenario was getting him back for the playoffs. Being cleared for practice isn't the same as being cleared to play. I've never heard anyone doubt Embid's competitive fire or call him a pu&&y outside of Reddit forums. You sure don't want to come back too early if the rest of your career is on the line.

 

On the other hand....last year Zion Williamson was reportedly cleared to play for a New Orleans team scrapping to make the playoffs, but didn't return, saying he was "physically fine" but it was a matter of when he mentally "felt like Zion."

 

And then there's Kawhi Leonard, who sure seems like a competitive beast, but has sat out long stretches of his career, refusing to let team doctor's treat or diagnose him. 

I'd echo this.  I'm a Nuggets fan, so I only really follow injury news as it pertains to my team...but Jamal Murray was cleared for on-court activities in April of 2022, right as Jokic and a very shorthanded Nuggets team was playing the eventual champion Warriors in the 1st round.  He didn't feel ready, and hence didn't play.  He caught some flak for it, but since he's played multiple times through ankle sprains, hamstrings, etc  since, I think he's confirmed that he's super competitive and prefers playing through injuries whenever he can.  Looking back, if he didn't feel ready then he wasn't fully healthy.  I am no defender of Embiid, but he just had knee surgery.  I'm not going to flame him for not jumping on the court once the team doctor says he's good.

On 3/12/2024 at 9:20 PM, admo said:

I believe the groupthink in general can recognize the SA Spurs are old hat, but there is something brewing in SanAntonio with Popovich again, and I don't think any of us want to see them rebound and rebuild a new dynasty because of The Spur System. 

 

 

Watched the Spurs last night.  Catch them a couple times a year when they’re on TV.  They don’t look like a well coached team. Offense is disorganized and they do some really dumb things on defense. They do play hard…but otherwise it’d be tough to guess a HoF coach was on their bench by just watching the team. 
 

Either Pop is doing an awesome stealth tank job, or he’s mailing it in. We’ll find out I guess since he just got extended 

5 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

OKC vs Denver would be a fun match-up. Clippers could make it interesting. Those seem like the best in the West to me. 

 

My Warriors have too much hill to climb and I can't quite believe the Timberwolves based on history. I still don't get the Pelicans. Don't want to see the Lakers at all. Suns and Mavs keep playing like the slightly over .500 teams they are, but they wouldn't be boring. 

 

 

As a Nuggets fan, a healthy Minnesota team would scare me as much as anyone. Big front court with long defensive wings and a stud playmaker. 

11 minutes ago, Madcows said:

 

Depending on Steph's ankle, GS will be an easy out, Minnesota, while not an "easy" out, losing KAT, they are a second round exit team at best now and depending on how far they slide, could be a first round L against Pelicans.  I do feel the team coming out the West will be either OKC or Denver. Denver with about a 70% chance of winning the conference and then hopefully embarrasing those guys from the New England area

I agree that OKC is up there.  Lots of people writing them off due to inexperience.  I think their style of play is suited for the postseason 

West is shaping up to be a bloodbath in the postseason.  Hard to find a definitive easy out in the top 10. 

On 3/9/2024 at 8:56 AM, Guy Chamberlin said:

I do think Pop is one of the great NBA coaches of all time, but like you I'm a bit mystified by his inability to get more from less, or simply improve when handed the rookie superstar who, by all indications, is the real deal. There was some sniping that other Spurs players weren't assisting Wemby out of spite or hazing, and it's hard to imagine Pop letting that happen.

 

Not sure where you're going with the "entertainment value" comment, though. Sure it's entertainment, but it generally comes from great players earning it on the court. Lotta hyped players lose their minutes to less-heralded guys playing their asses off, which includes fundamentals like ball hawking and defense. 

Pop has been mailing it in for a couple years, IMO.  Spurs haven’t had a ton of talent, but they have looked like a poorly coached team on both ends of the floor for awhile now. The Sochan point guard experiment was silly.  Pop is a so called defensive genius, yet they’ve consistently been a poor defensive team. 
 

I’ve watched them a few times and they look like they’re just making things up on offense. Only thing I can remember him doing recently if not was going full Karen-pop mode and scolding spurs fans when they booed Kawhi.  

7 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

Not a huge LeBron fan, but even as an 18 year old who became rich and famous overnight, he seemed to have a lot healthier perspective on life and basketball. 

I think Lebron should  be appreciated for having some perspective.  But he comes off  just as egotistical as MJ.  Jordan was cutthroat as a competitor and had a gambling issue. And yes his HoF speech came off as petty. Otherwise I’d say Jordan was every bit as impressive considering the mania he dealt with in his early twenties. No legal issues or controversy really followed him. He was very careful not to tarnish the  Air Jordan brand he was building.  

1 hour ago, admo said:

Actually I was having a counter-argument to your counter-argument to Mav's thoughts and opinions 

 

Anyway it's all good and fun sports talk & opinions, and nothing to be taken too seriously.  I really do love the high scoring games, the deep shots and the incredible athletes that play the game.  

Defender of all things Mav and Mavs

10 hours ago, admo said:

The NBA referees recieve their paychecks from the National Basketball Association (led by Adam Silver and formerly by David Stern for ever). They have a collective agreement.  The key words are "paid by the NBA" and "agreement".  

But by all means, keep talking about peach baskets and the invention of basketball back in the early 1900's as if that's the argument to have.  

I'm talking about the NBA and the officials having an agreement in place, and that they let standard basic NBA basketball rules slide-by for NBA players.  Including the stars.   And you are talking about players wearing Chuck Taylor's and the days before the the 3-point shot.  

You may call me a conspiracy theorist in the true form - "A person who believes that some secret but influential organization is responsible for an event or phenomenon".

That org is the NBA.  They are responsible for the refs, the star treatment, the entertainment, the fans, and making billions of money hand over fist. The official rules be damned.  This is a business product.

I mean, even Michael Jordan was smart enough to get on the good side of David Stern right away when he entered the NBA League and become his good friend his entire career.  He knew what time it was.  The NBA takes star NBA players and creates superstars.  That's a quote by David Stern in the mid-1980's.  

 

Businesses look the other way for profits.  That's how the NBA runs it league, and the officials are part of it. 

So your argument is that referees get paychecks from their employers, therefore game is compromised.  Don’t all leagues work this way?  Don’t college officials get paid by their conferences, and wouldn’t these conferences have the same financial motivation as any of the professional leagues?  So then, by your logic, aren’t all athletic organizations that are primarily revenue driven no longer sports, but rather ‘businesses meant to resemble’ their respective sports?

Couldn’t let this one go either….Michael Jordan got on ‘the good side’ of David Stern?  What, by being a transcendent athlete that grew the popularity of the league of which he was commissioner?

5 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

I would like to learn more about these sports that do not consider themselves entertainment, and the foreign countries where great players don't become superstars, and where no one can find enough bad ref calls to create funny videos. 

 

I mean, I want to go back to James Naismith and peach baskets as much as the next guy, but I think that horse has left the barn.  

This madness started when they first cut holes in the peach basket.  That was the first BS rule to increase scoring and ruined the game I love.

2 hours ago, admo said:

  On 2/28/2024 at 1:03 PM, Mavric said:

As I've said for years, the NBA is not basketball.  It's a business meant to resemble the game of basketball.  They want entertainment value and that's one way they get it.

 

 

Yes you do.  You know exactly what he means.  But you don't want to take it at face value.  

 

My take is WYSIWYG... perhaps....however.....sometimes.....not exactly.

 

The concept went from a national basketball association to becoming basketball entertainment.  It's a United States product and something being produced. It affects the rules, the officiating, and this type of entertainment CREATES superstars that get away with so much bulls#!t on the court.......

There is a real reason why Euros get so confused playing in the NBA and during games.  In Europe you have basketball rules and you follow those rules.  It's called being professionals.

 

The NBA/Entertainment ..................it decides if there is a foul, who can get fouled or not, who can travel, carry the ball, palm the ball, set a pick, called for charging or a block, get the "and 1" touch foul, get called for a technical - but definitely not multiple technical fouls if the first one is in the first half....because NBA creates superstars and protects them.  

 

Jokic, Giannis, Doncic, and Curry.  Those are the only true superstars of the league.  Lebron used to be years ago. 

 

But the NBA and officials will keep putting Embiid and Durrant and Harden on the free throw line.  Keep helping them out, when they are struggling.  Because they are creating superstars out of just star players.  

So you think the NBA wants to manufacture superstars by giving players that (according to you) are less than superstars preferential treatment. So the refs send them to the line over and over because free throws are…entertaining?

Or could it be that rules that favor the offense probably need to be tweaked because gifted offensive players have gotten so good at initiating contact and grifting calls?

I’m not going to argue that referees are impervious to being star struck during a game. But it’s not a directive given from up on high by Adam Silver.

Btw, Embiid is absolutely a superstar. As is Durant. As is SGA.  Kawhi is back in that realm as well. 

On 2/28/2024 at 12:03 PM, Mavric said:

As I've said for years, the NBA is not basketball.  It's a business meant to resemble the game of basketball.  They want entertainment value and that's one way they get it.

I honestly don't know what this even means.  If the point is that the NBA is meant to be entertaining as a priority, I agree.  If the implication is that you're not seeing 'real' basketball and competition, then I''m not sure what you're watching.

I think there are purists for every sport, and most of those people believe today's game diverges from what the game is 'supposed to be'.  Baseball fans I think are the best example of this today.  A lot of older fans hate that there is now no real emphasis on baserunning or situational hitting.  It's all launch angles, exit velocities, and baserunners waiting around for the long ball.  Batting averages, OB%, stolen bases have been marginalized.  I miss those things, but I don't necessarily think that MLB is foresaking the pure game in favor of entertainment necessarily.  I think it's more a consequence of the athletes that make up the game and an understanding of the analytics behind these strategies.

@Mavric Can you clarify what you mean with examples and why they go against 'basketball'?

8 hours ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

The Nuggets reminded me of the vintage Warriors. Trailing by double-digits means nothing. Just hang in, stay true to your game, chip away, and then pull away at the end because you are the superior team. 

Really enjoyed Steph burying the suns a couple weeks ago. Cannot stand Phoenix. 

15 hours ago, The Murphinator said:

Unreal the things he is doing. And he does it so often we have started to become numb to it. One of the best to ever play this game.

Nuggets appear to be rounding into form.  I honestly had last night chalked up as a loss (even took the Warriors in a pick em before the game) to a hot Warriors team trying to avoid the seconds straight season sweep.  Warriors jumped out with Klay turning back the clock.  Nuggets just kind of imposed their will and fell into their 2 man game and 3v2 high-low.  Look pretty locked in at the moment.

On 2/22/2024 at 9:57 AM, Guy Chamberlin said:

Speaking of jaw-dropping gym rats, how come Mac McGlung can win two consecutive Slam Dunk contests in front of the NBA's finest and still fail to get out of the G-League?  He has a highlight reel of assists, too. 

 

My best guess is that he gets torched on defense. But I may be wrong about that. Seems he would be a low-cost crowd pleaser at the very least.  

He's been on a couple NBA rosters before.  I think he was with Philly last year or the year before.  2-way roster spots are generally reserved for young guys with high upside that teams are trying to develop into rotation players in 1-2 years.  He's also just 6'2", which yes means he probably won't be able to guard most NBA players, and at that height his shooting numbers would almost assuredly drop in the NBA from what they are in G-League.

I don't think he's part of an NBA championship roster, but you can't tell me he'd be any more of a liability than Jordan Poole is on the Wizards, and for much much cheaper.