NBA 2017-2018 Season Thread

Alex said:

One thing people always miss is how much better sports science is these days. Dudes are in way better shape than they were back then. Look at the pace some of these NBA offenses run these days. No way most players 20 years could keep up with that.

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Although you wouldn't totally know it in the NBA, as much as we hear about today's players needing to take games off to rest.

Merrith said:

Although you wouldn't totally know it in the NBA, as much as we hear about today's players needing to take games off to rest.

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The real head-scratcher is that all started with the team that wanted to play as slow a pace as humanly possible.....

Ambiturner said:

Celtics are down their 2 best players and you think they should throw the series so they don't piss LeBron off? Lol.

Celtics constantly bitch slapping LeBron and the Cavs back in the day are what caused him to run away with his tail between his legs every few years in the first place

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Celtics Big 3 super team led to a bunch more you're correct. They're just going to make it happen again except the 76ers are young and healthy unlike the Heat were.

Lenardo said:

imo different era's means you really cannot compare them, however, in my opinion, the bulls from the early 90's would beat - all- the teams that lebron has been on they would beat the warriors too.

hell the lakers and celtics from the arly/mid 80's would too.

as for GOAT , again different era's= different playing styles

60's - Russell hands DOWN.
70's not sure
80's magic & bird the rivalry between the two was Awesome to watch esp in the finals
90's Jordan
2010's Lebron

one on one...that would be good- each player in his prime?

depends on the style of game they played. down low near the basket, Russell would destroy all the others...

mixed gameplay, imo , jordan first russell last(outside shot accuracy),,, and it depends on the style of games for the others- pure range shot, imo bird was better than the rest in that regard. you have to remember back when jordan bird and magic played, the 3 pointer was in its infancy...with how dominating it is in todays game play, bird would have been a 3 point maniac in todays game play style.

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Stopped reading when you said the Bulls would beat this Warriors team.

Why would Green be their primary option vs Jordan? Klay would guard Jordan, Iguodala would guard Jordan, Durant would probably guard him at times. Green rarely would.

The Bulls weren't THAT physical. Jordan and Pippen were very physical wings, Rodman was physical, and you can throw Ron Harper in the mix as well when he was there. But Steve Kerr, Longley, Kukoc? Not physical players. The rules allowed guys to be more physical back then, but that doesn't mean some of today's players couldn't thrive in such an environment. Green and Iguodala in particular probably become more effective players if allowed to be more physical. Zaza is more physical than Longley was, David West is one of the toughest players in the league still.

The first time Curry drives Luc Longley would invoke the "Bill Laimbeer" rule whereby they get to clothesline a single player of the opposing team all for the low, low price of one personal foul. After Curry gets knocked out Rodman in the span of 2 possessions gets a frustrated Durant into punching him and Draymond to giving him a flying Liu Kang.

All joking aside there is something people miss about the current game and the rest debate. The players nowadays play harder. There I said it. They are in better shape and have to play harder. They run farther and faster than ever. Gone are the days of Barkley in the low post dribbling down the clock to get up a 8 foot shot from the baseline.

The 80s and 90s game was a lot of standing around. Not today. You have to defend a lot of pick and rolls. You have to run out on 3s. So much more spacing so your defenders have to move more. There are more fast break and quick transition 3s. You have 4s and 5s that can defend 94 feet, rebound, dribbling it coast to coast and score. The game has changed into more of a positionless basketball. With that comes a faster game that is harder on the body. That's my opinion at least.

GS gives no fucks.

Hard to imagine Houston can win 4 of the next 6 games after tonight. Put a fork in it.

Yah, Harden drops 40 and they still lose. It's done.

Harden scores 41 on 14/24 shooting and they lose by 13? Holy shit.

One thing nobody seems to mention when debating current teams/players and older eras is how a lot of the zone defenses you see now would have been illegal defense penalties in the past.

Are we giving teams from the older eras the benefits of modern technology and fitness? I mean, Larry Bird used to like sit around hammering beers all offseason. He also destroyed his own back doing like basic home maintenance his team probably wouldn't even allow him to do if he were playing now instead of then.

Sebudai said:

Are we giving teams from the older eras the benefits of modern technology and fitness? I mean, Larry Bird used to like sit around hammering beers all offseason. He also destroyed his own back doing like basic home maintenance his team probably wouldn't even allow him to do if he were playing now instead of then.

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You can go back even further and like Wilt getting actual dental surgery and shit instead of having that hang over him for as long as it did. Plus while the 80s/90s were more physical as I mentioned with the modern zones you'd have to either man to man Lebron or legit double team him. You don't think he can find the open guy? He'd probably score less but his assist totals would be higher. Not saying he's better than Jordan or whatever, but not all changes are benefits to modern offenses.

zzeris said:

I would agree based on current rules. It wouldn't be pretty with MJ trying to beat 4 all stars with just pippen. He mentioned old rules tho and its a solid point. I'm not sure the Bulls would win but they were a hell of a lot more physical than the Warrs have ever been. Could the Warrs win with Green being the primary option vs Jordan? I don't see it. Could they use superior athleticism in a time where rough fouls were common? No one knows. This team hasn't and won't ever face a physical team like those were. You might want to look up what objectivity means. It might make others consider you thoughts more readily.

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There is no point about "old rules". That'd be like discussing someone vs the Warriors before there were 3 pointers. Blah Blah. Hand checking is remembered too fondly anyway, Jordan didn't have to face zone defenses did he? No.

The Warriors would absolutely destroy the Bulls, no contest.

Team with two all-stars can't beat a team with four, news at 11. The NBA is boring as fuck as long as this Warriors team is together and relatively healthy. Durants ultra beta pussy move pretty much ruined the NBA for awhile unless something insane like 2016 happens (which won't, cuz now they have Durant). I don't think any team is talented enough to beat the Warriors 4 out of 7 and won't be unless some other players get sick of watching them win and decide to sacrifice money just to derail their bullshit.

I agree Durant pulling the LeBron Beta move has kind of ruined any current team's chance of beating this Warrior's team. Maybe if Kyrie was healthy to hit the series winning shot against them, Celtics would have a shot.

LeBron never took a paycut, Wade did. He didn't join a team who had just won a title. He didn't join a team he lost to in the playoffs the year before. He didn't join another MVP winner.

You already knew that though.

As for the Kyrie shot it was big time. I don't think those 3 points won 4 games though. Could be wrong.

Gaige said:

LeBron never took a paycut, Wade did. He didn't join a team who had just won a title. He didn't join a team he lost to in the playoffs the year before. He didn't join another MVP winner.

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Only real differences between the two is that one guy left the best overall team in the league 2 years running, and one guy did it first. It just happens to be the same guy in both instances. Durant learned from the creator, just so far he actually has a winning record in Finals since doing it, and he didn't leave his hometown team that had the best record in the league 2 years in a row but couldn't get it done.

Can't wait to watch LeBron dump Cleveland again to try to build Superteam #3 of his career.

The first game of the NBA finals was a pretty good watch last night. Warriors are looking to put this away early if they win Wed night as well. The exhibition series against the JV conference in a couple weeks will be incredibly boring, however.