WMC 20-21: Whine, Moan And Complain... You Know You Want To

If AD didn't go down, Lakers beat the Suns 4-1. Maximum, 4-2. Heck, if Bron was 100% healthy and we didn't have AD, I still think the Lakers would win. Let's stop acting like the Suns are some scrub team... They had the 2nd best record in the NBA and was one game from having the best record. Honestly, it is very possible that the Suns make it to the Finals.

 

agree in parts. the clippers having to play kawhi 43mpg for 7 games may come back to bite them, but there's no one scary left in the playoffs. they took out the most terrifying star in luka, and now they have the best--if not the two best--players in every match up left on the board (ok, jokic is better than george, but i don't expect denver to win again unless phx has injuries).

anyway, i could definitely see the clippers in the finals, and that's how i'd bet right now. but they better not have to ride kawhi like this for two more rounds prior to the finals...

 

I feel like Snyder has been watching video of the Clippers defense in that first round and will have the Jazz ready. Utah has been good on both ends of the floor all year and I give Snyder the edge over Lue.

It will be interesting but right now I favor the Jazz.

 

you might favor the Jazz but the NBA favors the Clips

 

There used to be admirable stats such as offensive rebounds, forced turnovers, etc one could analyze in a box score to determine why a particular team won.

Now, 3pt fg made at what % tells 99% of the story. No use even wondering about hustle stats or good defense or even getting more fits by being the aggressive team. Whoever shoots better from 3 wins... period. I’m honestly close to losing interest. I’ll always keep up with the Lakers, but gone after the days of looking forward to games.

 

We need more scoring and secondary creators ... whether it's coming from a 3rd star or role players .

Betting absolutely everything on Bron and AD health is a more and more flawed strategy given the mileage on Bron and AD injuries history.

 

i agree. i'm getting close to losing interest, and i've found myself watching fewer and fewer games. some of that is just being busy with kids and stuff, but it's also just--well, who's going to be hitting step back threes tonight? might as well watch archery.

i used to look at box scores for team A/TO ratio and rebounding and such, and now it's just 3pfgm and %. if it's over 15 and 40, respectively, and the other team's isn't, you won!

and it would be different if one could argue that it's an effect (great offense created great looks), but it's more often the cause (the offense looks great numbers-wise because the same quality of shot went in instead of not).

davis bertans shouldn't have had teams lining up to pay him 20 million per, nor should any specialist. that's how the game gets boring.

in conclusion: off my lawn.

 

I don't like it either. Seems the team that hits the most 3s, win the game. It is taking the fun out of the game for me. It like a freaking 3 point shooting contest. I don't know how this can change except to get rid of the 3 point shot or move it to half court. Also, if you breath on them, it is 3 foul shots. I wish you could just knock a three point shooter on their butt. That would discourage it lol.

 

i think moving the line out and expanding the width of the court is the answer. when the three point shot was introduced, nobody imagined this future for it--where all five positions use it as a go-to. having it worth 150% as much as any other shot is the main issue, but i think disrupting the entire scoring system is even more problematic from a fan standpoint.

moving the line and widening the court would increase the quality of the game without disrupting our current understanding of it. but it would remove some expensive seating, so...

 

Totally agree with this. This is something I’ve thought about over a decade ago. Baseball has no problems moving the pitcher’s mound closer or further out or raising it, lowering it, etc. to maintain fairness between pitcher and batter, but basketball hasn’t done anything despite players getting faster and shooting better and fooling refs into fouls more and more.

As for the expensive seating, I have an easy solution. Second row seating is now the first row, etc. so adjust prices accordingly.

 

That said, I just had the weirdest dream that we signed Dan Majerle.

 

If they allow hand checking and more physicality in the perimeter it will slow the game down and will allow a more deliberate style of offense.

 

yeah, except there are fewer total big money floor seats. but honestly, i just don't understand why it's never even come up (at least not in a way the public had heard).

see...i don't love this. when they allowed the zone and did the lame perimeter fouls at the same time, it definitely hurt bigs and helped smalls, and that was on purpose. nobody ever liked watching tim duncan despite his sustained excellence. imagine him now--wouldn't be a star, tbh.

that said, i don't think going back to the dark ages of derek harper riding your guard out of bounds on every possession isn't the answer, either.

i would say widen the court, move the three point line back, and shrink the paint. i think you'd see post players valued again but without grinding the game to a mid-90s halt.

i will agree that the perimeter rule interpretations swung too far back, though. i'd like to see the refs able to simply say "i don't believe this person was making an honest attempt at an offensive maneuver" and just sideline out of bounds when someone say, beats a guy and then stops short to get run over. they already do this when guys get fouled on the perimeter and immediately jack up a shot. if you interpret the rules strictly, all of those are shot attempts, and thus all of those fouls are shooting fouls. but the refs are like..."nah...you weren't gonna shoot that". why not do that with guys who go foul-hunting in the paint? "nah...you weren't trying to play basketball there. i award the ball to the other team. turnover."

 

^^^
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31592404/data-shows-nba-injuries-condensed-season?platform=amp

The excerpt below was a ways down and just an excerpt. The whole article was what many said here all season.

"I always think from the moment we entered the bubble to now, it's been draining," Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, 36, said after his team's first-ever first-round playoff exit last week. "Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally draining.

"Every team has to deal with it, obviously. But with us and Miami going the long haul in the bubble and then coming right back on short notice to this season, it's been draining."

The Lakers and Miami Heat, last year's NBA finalists, faced a 71-day offseason, marking the shortest turnaround in the history of the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB, according to research by Elias.

James and Anthony Davis battled injuries all season for the Lakers and appeared in only 27 games together. Davis missed two months of the regular season with a strained calf and suffered a groin strain in the Lakers' first-round playoff series. James missed 26 games because of a sprained ankle in March and said after the season that it was still bothering him.”

 

no, we clearly lost because of marc gasol not being dwight howard. injuries are just part of the game, betas.

 

LOL.

 

i'm sure fatigue played a role, but in the end it was the injuries that did this team in

21-6 before AD got hurt. they picked up right where they had left off