2018-2019 NBA Season

[DarthFed]

Needless to say it was a pretty big offseason. Any predictions on the season? There recently was an article showing Vegas picks for over/under on wins. They had Cleveland at 30.5 which seems really, really high. I think they had LA Lakers at about 48 and that seems about right. They had my Bucks at about 46. I'm pretty hopeful for more than 46-36 with a solid defensive-minded coach and another year of improvement for a young team. They have potential to be a top 3 team out East depending on the health/motivation of Kawhi.

I say it will be Golden State over Boston in the Finals. Not exactly going out on a limb as both teams are heavily favored in their conferences.

And to get everyone in the mood here is an awesome article on the irreplaceable Joey Crawford:

https://sports.yahoo.com/joey-crawf...y-ejecting-tim-duncan-laughing-210516328.html

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Finally got to hear from Kawhi. He looked great, said all the right things. I guess the training camp will be key to see how these guys gel. On paper though, if everyone plays to their potential, Raps have an amazing team in their hands, probably the best defensive teem in the East .

 

[DarthFed]

Finally got to hear from Kawhi. He looked great, said all the right things. I guess the training camp will be key to see how these guys gel. On paper though, if everyone plays to their potential, Raps have an amazing team in their hands, probably the best defensive teem in the East .

I will be interested to see them too. I figure Boston will be the team to beat but hopefully I'm wrong. Hope I'm wrong about Kawhi too and he doesn't totally screw you guys over.

 

[DarthFed]

Kind of excited to see LeBron's first game with LA tonight. I usually don't watch too many games early on but will try to catch tonight's game. Saw a bit of the Bucks yesterday, wasn't pretty but will take the W anyway they get it. Brook Lopez should be a solid addition but he is still not much of a rebounder and only provides limited rim protection.

 

[Federberg]

Finally got to hear from Kawhi. He looked great, said all the right things. I guess the training camp will be key to see how these guys gel. On paper though, if everyone plays to their potential, Raps have an amazing team in their hands, probably the best defensive teem in the East .

that laugh of his was freakish though...

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

that laugh of his was freakish though...

That was a seriously awkward moment for sure
Raps looked good the first game but lots of room to improve. Leonard was impressive. The bench is still one of the best in the league. Raps will probably go at least 10 deep every game the way it looks.

 

[DarthFed]

Great article on Jordan and LeBron.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ya...ate-club-whats-like-play-goats-162132639.html

And I agree with the teammates. That is also one hell of a trivia question (the four who played with both).

 

[Federberg]

Some truly phenomenal games last night. Raptors-Celtics, Warriors-Jazz. NBA looks to be in rude health and more competitive. I'm amused by some pundits already claiming the Raptors will be better than the Celtics after this match though. I'm not saying they won't, but the sample is too small to draw any conclusions at the moment. Can't they at least wait for 10 - 15 games? I will say though, Jason Tatum is the real deal, and probably already a better player than Kyrie, and that's an amazing thing to say about such a young guy. What on earth were the 76ers thinking??

 

[Federberg]

Great article on Jordan and LeBron.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ya...ate-club-whats-like-play-goats-162132639.html

And I agree with the teammates. That is also one hell of a trivia question (the four who played with both).

great article. Stat inflation will always favour the guy that comes after, he's the chaser, but in the moment we're all free to observe. By the way this is why I felt Federer was greater than Sampras years before he matched and surpassed him

 

[britbox]

Quick Timeout for a bit of the Magic man. I'm excited now Lebron's a Laker... taking an interest again.

 

[DarthFed]

Some truly phenomenal games last night. Raptors-Celtics, Warriors-Jazz. NBA looks to be in rude health and more competitive. I'm amused by some pundits already claiming the Raptors will be better than the Celtics after this match though. I'm not saying they won't, but the sample is too small to draw any conclusions at the moment. Can't they at least wait for 10 - 15 games? I will say though, Jason Tatum is the real deal, and probably already a better player than Kyrie, and that's an amazing thing to say about such a young guy. What on earth were the 76ers thinking??

I agree that the league is very healthy, probably the most interesting it's been since MJ.

There are a decent amount of analysts that think Toronto is going to be the best team in the East and if Kawhi stays healthy and motivated I see why. A healthy Kawhi is the first or second best player in the East with Giannis and is better than anyone on Boston. The Celts have a lot of recent experience of being a better team that fails in the playoffs because the best player in the series is on the other team. Obviously Kawhi isn't LeBron but Toronto also has a strong team around him.

I'd also pump the brakes on putting Tatum ahead of Kyrie. That may end up being the case this year but if it is that might be due to Kyrie not ever recovering his form due to the constant knee injuries. Tatum is definitely a star in the making but I still think people who think he'll end up being better than Simmons are crazy.

 

[DarthFed]

Welcome to the West, LeBron! It is going to be tough sledding out there with a young team. He's no fool, he knew there'd be tough times and still went there anyways, but I'm still surprised he didn't go to Philly...

 

[britbox]

Welcome to the West, LeBron! It is going to be tough sledding out there with a young team. He's no fool, he knew there'd be tough times and still went there anyways, but I'm still surprised he didn't go to Philly...

Lakers are still an iconic team though mate - probably the single biggest brand in Basketball. If Lebron stays around and the Lakers go onto to win a couple of championships in a few years time then his legacy could go through the roof.

 

[DarthFed]

Lakers are still an iconic team though mate - probably the single biggest brand in Basketball. If Lebron stays around and the Lakers go onto to win a couple of championships in a few years time then his legacy could go through the roof.

His legacy is already through the roof bud. I don't think the location of the championship matters unless he had joined forces with Golden State or even Houston where winning would've meant quite a bit less.

Aside from that, winning one in Philly or Cleveland isn't different for his legacy than LA as we are talking the most famous American athlete since MJ, and someone who is widely going to be considered the 2nd greatest behind him (personally I think he has a long way to go to pass up Kareem but I'm in the minority).

 

[Federberg]

All I can say to Lebron from last night is...."A-B-C..... always be closing!"

 

[DarthFed]

All I can say to Lebron from last night is...."A-B-C..... always be closing!"

He's always sucked at the line. He has improved his outside shooting quite a bit over the years but he's never been good from the charity stripe! Sounds like it was a hell of a game though.

I was at the Bucks game last night. My first game at the new Fiserv Forum (Bucks new arena). Was great to walk around it before the game, quite an upgrade over the BMO Harris Center. Bucks won a pretty ugly game vs a bad Knicks team. 3-0 to start for first time in 13 years!

 

[Federberg]

such a competitive looking season! Good to see non-usual suspects looking strong at the start at least

 

[Federberg]

such a competitive looking season! Good to see non-usual suspects looking strong at the start at least

 

[DarthFed]

such a competitive looking season! Good to see non-usual suspects looking strong at the start at least

It is still very early and I don't expect there to be that many surprises but it still figures to be intriguing. Even with LeBron moving West I still see the league having more parity overall than it has had in awhile. Toronto is definitely improved on paper, Boston, Philly and Milwaukee should all be better. And on the flip side I doubt Houston is going to come close to duplicating last year. CP3 is a year older and injuries are piling up. Ariza is also quietly a big loss for them. I've always liked him, a very underrated player. I think Houston will be closer to the overachieving Portland team, Utah and New Orleans, than they will be to the Warriors this year. Golden State will coast to 60+ wins unless Toronto and/or Boston really catch fire and threaten to take the overall #1 seed. After last year I do think GS will take homecourt very seriously as they were almost done in by the Rockets. But there won't be any real threats to them getting the #1 seed out West unless they have major injury issues.

 

[Jelenafan]

. Golden State will coast to 60+ wins unless Toronto and/or Boston really catch fire and threaten to take the overall #1 seed. After last year I do think GS will take homecourt very seriously as they were almost done in by the Rockets. But there won't be any real threats to them getting the #1 seed out West unless they have major injury issues.

With the Warriors "coast" is the operative word. It seems that they think they can turn it up for the playoffs , which well they did last year. They can look incredibly sketchy at times, but OTOH, it's hard to combat some complacency.