Official Whine, Moan, Complain Thread 19/20-CLOSED "WE CHAMPS!"

Again you are only seeing the negative comments. I said earlier that had we not lost to the Raptors we'd have a legit shot at a 20 game winning streak (before those tough December games)

I just said I think we can beat anyone except perhaps healthy Kawhi and PG... but they certainly don't look out of reach.

I point out both the good and the bad.

In answer to what you perceive to be the contradiction about Ingram... I think if LBJ played like this and we had kept the kids and signed this group of vets I think we'd also be winning and it would be more sustainable over the long haul.

Why does it upset people so that I simply disagree? Doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the season... doesn't mean I want us to lose... just means I wish we had chosen a different path that might have taken a little longer but set us up better for the future.

 

not sure who was available for the minimum and willing to be an in-case-of-emergency player that fits this bill. i wanted RHJ, too (someone was mentioning that yesterday), but i'm not sure RHJ wanted to be third string sf/pf that played when lebron needed rest. moreover, i'm not sure any minimum salaried player could save us in such situations. this is why i'm "comfortable" with dealing with the fallout of a lebron injury. i don't think there was a good choice. it's the same reason phx never spent much on a nash backup. why? you're doomed if he's out, and you lose points every minute he's on the bench unless you actually get a second star at his position (basically like houston finally decided with harden). i'm especially concerned about spending big on a lebron or AD backup when the rest of the roster is essentially empty, too. that's not even mentioning that our third-best player on paper going in to the season was a 3/4.

 

a future of what, exactly? ingram's not going to lead a team to a title. so...50-win seasons while striking out in FA because we don't have legit stars to attract the others?

 

The problem with an LBJ injury isn't so much the aborted season. That's just life and basketball... happened to the Warriors.

The problem is that if the team went on a prolonged losing streak (which would be possible) that the heavy scrutiny and pressure on AD... might become too much and make him bail.

I can see the logic of wanting Melo because, flawed though he is... he might help keep the ship afloat so the season wouldn't be a total loss.

Kuzma, Danny Green... haven't shown the ability to be that third scorer...

Maybe you could resurrect Dwight somewhat and give him more responsibility... but he seems like he's past that stage where he can be any sort of reliable offensive force. So even though I dislike Melo... I can see the logic of having wanted to sign him as we will be screwed offensively if LBJ goes down.

 

PG was coming until we decided to choose LBJ over him.

Kawhi found a way to comeback by forcing PG with him to Los Angeles.

Another star would have eventually wanted to come and play with BI and the kids. It's the Lakers.

 

do we know this? seems to me that okc won him over in his one season there, enough that he didn't seriously consider us--even after we had lebron. and if lebron was a deterrent, why wasn't kawhi?

i think we were getting neither without trading all the kids. and we ended up with probably the better long term player (than PG) and prospect (kawhi's injury isn't going to improve over time) in AD.

as far as "it's the lakers"--were you not watching for the past decade? nobody wanted to take that mantle. it took lebron making a pretty odd choice, tbh, for us to even be considered a destination again. f***ing greg monroe didn't want to meet with us, much less the top FAs. we were well on the way to knicksville until lebron saved us.

 

Abeer last year everyone told me how PG would never leave because he was in love with Westbrook.

He's in LA... how much more evidence do you need that he wanted to be here?

Kawhi is way less drama than LBJ... no one has called Kawhi the GM at least yet.

You're right to say we don't know anything for sure... but I'm going off what was reported and considering he wanted to be here when we were losing... I think he would have come if we didn't prioritize LBJ.

We didn't have room for elites until we cleared all the Mozdeng mess away. I still believe we could have signed two elites to play with the kids had LBJ not come.

 

Is that what you think is happening? Because what I see is the same rehashed argument and when people "simply disagree," you deflect and skim over their strong points that poke holes in your arguments to move the goal posts and talk about who knows what?

Let's use your "gold standard" for point differential argument. You invented a gold standard and handpicked specific teams (even though one of those teams didn't even win the title). Then, evidence was presented showing that the team who led the regular season in point differential often did not win the title, therefore making it an arbitrary gold standard. Instead of just admitting you were wrong, you respond by saying you'll post rainbows and sunshine for a week. Well, if you're going to have childish, reactionary posts like that, at least stick to it instead of making empty promises.

 

So because Kawhi convinced PG to demand a trade from OKC, that's evidence that PG wanted to be on the Lakers? Nope.

Also, Kawhi is less drama? Not these days. Load managing every few games; literally the definition of GMing by convincing PG to demand a trade.

I'm not countering because you disagree. I just think you have some really bad takes and they're growing each day.

 

We've been passed on time and time again with free agents. I don't get the continued slights of the one guy who was willing to step into this situation and try and lead us out of it.

 

Yeah. Looks like the Lakers move to AM-1110 when they get preempted. This actually happened on Friday too, but It was for a college football game. The only reason I didn't realize this was a systemic problem then (as opposed to last night) was because I was trying to listen to the game on iHeartRadio for the first time ever and assumed it was a problem with the app.

 

Gold standard?... you guys made me curious about point differential so I looked it up that very day.

I didn't know what I would find.

I then concluded in following post that perhaps I was being too hard on the team.

I don't know what button I initially pushed to make you dislike my posts so much but I'm still addressing you calmly while you keep on with the ad hominems. This isn't a graduate science symposium... this is a casual basketball message board. If you notice an inconsistency or several, then keep pointing them out... but I don't get the need for borderline hostility.

 

Kawhi personality wise seems to be less drama.

I agree that we dodged a bullet as his injury doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

 

Wasn’t even asked about the Lakers doe...

Where the league @ with the new tampering bylaws?

As for what was said, if Ainge likes our depth, we might have a problem with it haha.

 

Wait, I’m like....an Asian sports fan?

 

You literally used the phrase gold standard when pulling point differential and citing ours as below that gold standard. That shouldn't be that confusing.

Hostility? You make snarky, sarcastic posts about posting only happy thoughts and sunshine all week when people disagree, and I'm the hostile one? You also have made passive aggressive comments about the slow traffic here, but many members have been here over a decade and treat this as a community. There's just no need for that.

What bothers me is when people post opinion as fact or move the goalposts when flaws are pointed out in their argument. Or if you make a point and someone debunks it, it's okay to admit being wrong sometimes. Sometimes it's not even a right/wrong question, but simply 2 differing views and neither will change their mind, so what's the point of going on and on to try and change the other's mind?

I'm not suggesting everything is perfect and we can't acknowledge flaws, but I feel like a lot of threads are devolving into nitpicking the same points and it becomes tedious.

 

there's just no evidence for it. and we had space for him after lebron. he joined kawhi as a sidekick, why not lebron?

btw, if everyone gets to act like the PG trade was for kawhi AND PG, then i reserve the right to claim that the AD trade actually netted us lebron AND AD, because lebron would never have come here if the FO told him it was him and ingram riding into the future.

saved the franchise, imo. we were staring at the abyss. jokers like aldridge looking down their nose at us; the press laughing at our attempts to get big-time players. lebron's decision and klutch's ability to deliver AD absolutely restored the sheen--even if it doesn't net a title.

i shudder to think what would be happening right now had lebron not chosen us. probably jimmy butler pissing off our kids as we struggle to a 6 seed and a playoff demolition.