I don't think the Nets are that deep and well built. In guards yeah, but their bigs are Claxton, Simmons and Durant. To play 4 AND 5. Are they playing O'Neale or Harris at the 4? I can't see them having any chance against Embiid or Giannis. They also have too many issues. Nash will coach players that wanted him out. Kyrie wanted to leave and only plays away games. Simmons miss the whole season and didn't return when they needed. I can't see that working a whole year. Indy is really a head scratch. I don't understand what they are pursuing
nets have crazy depth at 1-3 spots and two of their best players will split all pf minutes, so it's just center where they're light, and i expect they'll get whatever vet shakes loose there. yeah, there's a lot of potential for turmoil, but on paper, they're the best team in the east. hence my "anywhere from 1-8" statement.
Hope the shagging was spectacular at least Couldn't happen to a better organization. https://theathletic.com/3620658/202...suspension/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983 The Boston C Bags suspended head coach Ime Udoka for the entire 2022-23 NBA season on Thursday, noting his future with the organization after the suspension will be determined at a later date. The decision comes after the 45-year-old allegedly had an intimate and consensual relationship with a female member of the team’s staff, sources told The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The organization is expected to name assistant coach Joe Mazzulla the interim head coach for the coming season. Just days before the C Bags are set to open training camp, the organization faces uncertainty. To analyze the potential fallout of the situation, C Bags beat writers Jay King and Jared Weiss joined forces for a roundtable discussion. Jay King: I don’t know how to start other than — Wow. I can’t remember any story in the NBA quite like this one. In recent league history, I believe only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriorsentered the season with an interim head coach after reaching the NBA Finals in the previous season. The circumstances were entirely different there. Luke Walton stepped in because head coach Steve Kerr was recovering from two offseason back surgeries. During Kerr’s absence, the Warriors won their first 24 games of the season and went 39-4 under Walton. They went on to set the NBA regular-season record with 73 wins before falling to the Cavaliers in the finals. The C Bags situation is much, much messier. Udoka did more than just complicate the team’s short-term leadership. He muddied the organization’s future. If the C Bags believe he deserves a season-long suspension, how can they consider him the right man to guide the team if he’s eligible to come back? What happens if they win a title without him? Or if he decides he doesn’t want to return to an organization that hit him with such a substantial suspension? As I think about the possibility of Udoka just strolling back into the facility one year from now, back in charge of the team, I can’t get over how strange the internal dynamics would be. In their release, the C Bags said they’d make a decision about Udoka’s future with the team beyond this season at a later date. There’s so much to unpack here. We’ll get to a lot of it. After years of searching for the right formula of chemistry and talent to compete for championships, the C Bags believed they had found it. Before this past week, continuity stood out as one reason they looked like a top candidate to jump out to a great start and contend for the Eastern Conference crown. Now Robert Williams is dealing with a lingering knee issue, which forced him to undergo another medical procedure, and the team’s head coaching situation is in tatters. Mazzulla, who the C Bags retained from Brad Stevens’s staff when Udoka joined the organization, appears set to serve as interim coach for the duration of the suspension. Jared Weiss: This organization has gone through a lot over the past few years and this could be destabilizing. Organizational harmony was crumbling before Stevens and Udoka took the reins last season and they were able to rebuild it. Some of the veterans there in the past to help maintain chemistry through ups and downs were replaced by younger players and a new leadership dynamic developed under Udoka that eventually took hold and yielded great results. Especially after an offseason full of trade rumors, reviving that chemistry is going to be a significant challenge. The roster has already taken so many hits leading into training camp, but they at least had a coach in place who could figure out how to deal with it and build from the continuity of last year. King: Beyond the obvious basketball implications of the punishment, the damage inside the C Bags organization is deep and will be complicated to begin repairing over the coming year. It can be easy for the outside world to look at this as gossip, but for the people involved it’s far more than that. There are a lot of personal emotions involved in this, a lot of fallout that Udoka and the rest of the organization will need to deal with. I don’t know if it will be easy for Brad Stevens to trust Udoka again or how long Udoka will need to rebuild that belief. At the very least, this situation shows a lack of judgment from the man Stevens hired as his own replacement. Weiss: In terms of replacements, Mazzulla will bring a lot of similar elements as a head coach, and his growing reputation over the past few years was validated when he nearly got the Utah Jazz job. They are in a situation where Udoka could leave and the C Bags would still be able to move forward with a promising young coach. But there are challenges for Mazzulla taking over. He isn’t being promoted as a result of an intensive coaching search as Stevens and ownership did with Udoka. Mazzulla only has a few years of NBA coaching experience and this was going to be his first season at the front of the bench. He doesn’t have the resume to take over a team that’s a favorite to win the title, but he has at least one stamp of approval from Danny Ainge and the Jazz that he is qualified to be an NBA coach. King: Mazzulla is sharp. The C Bags have a deep level of respect for him. Before forming his coaching staff last summer, Udoka asked around for opinions on the holdovers from Stevens’ staff. Udoka said Mazzulla received a unanimous yes — including support from the players. Ainge, who spent plenty of time around Mazzulla, felt highly enough about him to interview him for the Jazz position this offseason. Though Mazzulla didn’t get that job, the opportunity to compete for it said a lot about his reputation. He also interviewed for the C Bags job before Udoka got it. So maybe the C Bags didn’t need another big coaching search. They already chatted with a bunch of candidates one year ago. If he had gotten the Utah job, Mazzulla would have entered a rebuilding situation with time to learn on the fly. Now, he’ll be leading a team with realistic championship hopes. If he struggles with the adjustment, it won’t take long for him to hear calls for his head. Udoka dealt with loud criticism early last season and eventually led the C Bags to a turnaround, but not every rookie coach becomes a resounding success. Mazzulla will need to deal with title expectations and what should be never-ending questions about Udoka. He also might need to answer questions regarding his own past. In some ways, it won’t be an easy gig. How do you think the players will react? Weiss: The players are going to be exhausted hearing about this throughout the year, though we’ve seen that happen plenty of times in the past. Last year, they dealt with all sorts of questions about their ability to jell and that bothered them until they did something about it. This is going to be something similar, though they’re not going to have any answers because there’s not much they can do. What makes this an uphill battle for Mazzulla is that he wasn’t the winner of a coaching search as the man who is going to bring this team to the next level. He’s the emergency caretaker, albeit a very capable one. Udoka needed that initial boost to have the momentum to fight through early adversity and doubt, but Mazzulla isn’t getting that luxury. He at least has shown the players and his fellow coaches what he can do over the past few years and there’s widespread acclaim for his work behind the scenes. But you’re hinting at the big problem here, that this team is as championship or bust as ever. The expectations cannot be higher and it’s a harsh scenario to throw a rookie coach with no front-bench or NBA playing experience at the helm of a fast-moving train. From the players and coaches I’ve talked to in the past, I at least think everyone will have confidence that Mazzulla is capable of doing the job. But is he capable enough for the goals this team has? King: Will he be as good as Udoka? The players all trusted in Udoka. They believed in his vision. After a rough start last season, they bought in fully to everything he preached. As much respect as everyone seems to have for Mazzulla, Udoka established a new culture in Boston last season. He held everyone accountable. He forced the C Bags to confront their issues and eventually forged them into a tough, team-oriented squad. They dismantled opponents late in the regular season before earning a hard-fought trip to the finals. As good as Mazzulla might be, will he be able to guide Boston back to that level of basketball and beyond? The C Bags had a great coach at the beginning of this week. Now, I don’t know if they do. They could still be fine. They will return just about every player who mattered. They are led by veterans who have experienced a lot in their careers. They have roster continuity and shouldn’t need to change much from their playing style last season. They will just have more unknowns than we thought. Do you think the C Bags should hire a former head coach to bolster Mazzulla’s staff? Joe Mazzulla. (Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today) Weiss: It doesn’t seem absolutely necessary considering they didn’t do it with Udoka, but this is a more unstable situation and having someone who has been through the thick of it can be a crucial mentor to Mazzulla when he’s facing forks in the road. The thing is the locker room stabilized last year because the players found a balance of roles and had a more effective leadership dynamic under Udoka’s tutelage. Especially with the system established now, the biggest task for the coach is to ensure the leaders who stepped up last year still have authority and everyone is willing to listen. They’ll need an experienced coach who can support Mazzulla rather than undercut his authority. King: Most of the assistant coaches have been tight with Udoka for years. They were close enough friends to follow him to Boston from good situations. Aaron Miles left a spot with the Warriors staff to unite with Udoka. Damon Stoudamire left the University of Pacific where he was a head coach for five seasons. Ben Sullivan left the Bucks after winning a title with them as an assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer. They are all loyal to Udoka. Now they are set to be assistants under someone else while Udoka serves his punishment. It’s another weird layer to this situation. Weiss: This may not just be something to deal with for this season. It’s hard to imagine Udoka coming back from this, at least with this organization. The players loved him, the front office seemed to revere him, but anything that requires a season-long suspension due to personal conduct is a huge deal. Do you see him coaching the C Bags again one day? King: Even if the C Bags do stick with the anticipated suspension, I wonder if it’s realistic to expect Udoka back on the bench come next season. If they’re great this year without him, why wouldn’t they want to keep Mazzulla? If they’re not great, that will be at least partially because Udoka’s actions pushed them into a bad spot. Before bringing him back — and even that is unclear — the C Bags will have a whole lot to sort out inside the organization. (Top photo: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
i actually don't think it will be that big of a deal, tbh. udoka's replacement has a comparable resume (maybe better?) to udoka when he took the job last year, is familiar with the players, system, and organization, and has the support of players. udoka's the one who may have a hard time recovering.
This is such a strange story. The only thing comparable that I can think of was when Derek Fisher torpedoed his coaching career by dating Matt Barnes' ex wife, getting in a fight with him, and then crashing a vehicle drunk driving. I can just imagine the scenario. Evil Empire: "hey here's a multi million dollar opportunity. The only stipulation is you don't date coworkers". Udoke: "Yolo!". Welp hopefully this ends up destroying that team that cannot be named. One can only dream.
West predictions: Warriors - they are so deep. Have a 5 of veterans and a 5 of youngsters full of potential like Poole, Kuminga or Wiseman. They have an incredible roster and a beautiful system in likely the last (or 2nd last) run of this whole squad. They will be top seed and still manage minutes of Curry, Klay and Green Clippers - other team super deep. Their salary roll is ridiculous. With Kawhi and PG back at full strength, even if load managed this team will win a ton of games. They can also run a lineup with Covington-Marcus Morris-PG-Powell-Kawhi. Scary Nuggets - they will be good. Added KCP and Brown, great wing depth. Have Murray and MPJ back, Bones running the 2nd unit. They'll be strong Mavs - They have size adding Wood and McGee but lost Brunson with no replacement. Their closing lineup should be Luka-Dinwiddie-THJ-Bullock-Wood. And they can add Powell or Kleber if they need size. Should be a fun team Memphis - they are hungry and confident. Lost some depth but they always manage to find good youngsters. They should be good in regular season Phoenix - I think they struggle this season. Last year ended bad and will create doubts on the team. Not sure CP3 endures a full season, didn't end up well last year. They will still win many games, I believe. But I see potential to be the one dropped if another team over accomplishes Lakers - I think we are the next good team. We have LeBron and AD. If they play, we are better then KAT-Edwards or McCollum and Ingram. I think if we are a top 10 defense, we are a borderline top 6. That's our ceiling Wolves - It's a funny experiment with Gobert, but it won't work so well I guess. But they benefit of the lack of talent in the West to be safely in the play-in Pelicans - Zion seems in shape. Can make the team fun to watch. But I still have to see him playing the whole season. And what fit will have with Ingram. Portland - they are in this weird space where they are investing but have a s***ty team. They will still make the play-in Kings - there's some buzz around the Kings. I don't get why. They added Monk and Huerter after Sabonis last year. They can play Sabonis-Barnes-Huerter-Monk-Fox. I don't see that team winning 40 games. Maybe they take Portland spot if it's in the mid 30s Then 4 teams heavily tanking, with no motivation to go the play-in. You only have to beat 1 team to be in the play-in. Utah needs seriously to unload their veterans because they may end up 12th. I imagine they don't reach November in the team. Then Rockets should continue to be bad, they traded Wood, and OKC got Chet out for the season and SGA is already injured. Then the Spurs can't tank more hard than this. Though I don't imagine Pop not making the team over achieve and get 30 wins
assuming full health, this would be my play-in 10: warriors clippers memphis phx denver lakers dallas wolves pelicans portland that said, full health is a silly assumption, and basically all of my top 6 have reason to expect key guys will miss big chunks of time (mem only bc jjj is already set to, right?). we know that 4 teams are actively tanking, as you said, so the only things that would really surprise me would be like sac or portland finishing in the top-6. but with team's fortunes resting on steph/klay, kawhi/PG, lebron/AD, and chris paul being healthy...chaos can ensue quickly. minnesota and NO are the most interesting teams to me. minny's a weird experiment (i think they'll be good; my dad thinks they'll be terrible defensively and lose a lot).
True. And based on previous seasons, that's very likely. However, we are starting this year with only JJJ and Lonzo out for injuries in the top 50. That probably haven't happened for years We'll see. The positive thing is that we don't have to be THAT good to be on the top 6. Would have been tougher on the East. Too bad we are not on the same division of the tanking teams
yeah, an extra 4 games against the tankers would help a lot. and i'd love to believe that we'll have a year not marred by major injuries, but that would be highly uncommon. ironically, the 2020 bubble was one of the healthier post seasons i can remember, and everyone thinks it's the one that doesn't count.
well, we gotta admit that the way that season played out was absolutely perfect for both Lebron and AD. That is how are post seasons would go, IF we could get there with both Lebron and AD in top physical form. Problem is, under normal circumstances that has not happened yet.
Ayton says he haven't spoken with Monty since game 7 and in his interviews he's really showing a vibe that he's not happy there. I think Phoenix may struggle throughout the year which opens up a little bit more the West for us
with the Sarver situation working itself out, they could be in for a distracted year. Hate to see cp3 have to deal with such things....
yeah, but it was also ideal for other teams with injury prone stars, which is...most of the league's favorites. who does it work against? boston? dallas? hell, even milwaukee showed they were super top heavy when middleton went down. i just don't get how everyone being healthy invalidates a title. if anything, it makes it more valid. as does lack of home court advantage (which we would have had, btw!).
I don't think it does. A ring is a ring, no matter. Complainers are ALWAYS there!! If you listen to all the complainers, according to them, we don't have a single ring that doesn't have an asterik. 20 years from now, nobody will be talking about it. All they will talk about is the 25 rings the Lakers have!!
Other teams have done it after, except the Clippers. If we have a 3-month stop before the 2021 playoffs, we probably win the title
