The season is flying by and we have an okay sample size to make some predictions, statements, concerns or what not. As a fan, I’ve enjoyed watching as many games as I can. There are about 12-14 teams that are worth watching. The league is deep, what are your thought on the season so far?

  • East_Bed1194@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Chet Holmgren is amazing, exceeded my expectations.

    Keyonte George>Scoot Henderson, said that pre-draft and fully believe it still.

    Spurs are holding Wemby back offensively playing him with Collins and Sochan most of the time. The good news is they should get a top 5 pick in this next draft to hopefully draft a running mate for him.

    • Sportsfan369@alien.topOPB
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      10 months ago

      I watched that game on league pass last night. I thought the Magic’s length might give Denver problems

  • RVAIsTheGreatest@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    So much on my mind with how the season’s played out:

    Thunder are a stellar team. Their experience together, while being young, as a unit has really shone through. Their chemistry as a unit. Chet has unlocked Shai in a monstrous way and Chet is a monster himself. Having the length they do 1-5, multiple ballhandlers, and finally having the rim protector in Chet they do takes OKC to a totally different level. They’re in an awesome position as a team.

    Very disappointed in the Jazz but Keyonte George has indeed shown a lot of great things as u/East_Bed1194 said. Expected more out of Utah but too many turnovers and the defense hasn’t been good enough, with or without Kessler. It’s been even worse without Kessler, but Kessler and Collins and their chemistry together was off. Collins just isn’t a 5, even though some have said that’s where he’d be at his best…the strengths of his game are neutralized as a 5. He does have his 3 ball back and I believe he and Kessler can be a good fit together in time. Jazz guard/wing play hasn’t been good enough. I don’t know if they have their future SG or SF on the roster currently.

    Bulls at 5-11 may be able to rally and sneak a play-in spot but this team is done realistically. Just not enough shooting, they play too slow, they’re getting essentially nothing out of the PF spot, PWill looks broken, and they’re getting little out of Coby as the starting PG on either end of the floor. Team lacks chemistry and lacks an identity and LaVine is clearly disenchanted. Vucevic has taken a real step back this season, shooting as badly as ever from 3, his all around efficiency has been very poor for his standards, shooting less 3’s, and bad body language. I think Donovan deserves the ability to play with the assuredly new roster that’ll be coming in after the deadline and a fresh start but he may not want to do so.

    The impact Porzingis has made on the Celtics defense is something I expected to see going into the year and has borne out that way. Celtics are a team that can switch 1-4 and cause havoc on the perimeter while having an excellent rim protector and for a C, a solid shower/switcher on the perimeter in KP. Not to mention the versatility of his offensive skill set and how that compares to what the Celtics have had at the position the last few years. Celtics are a monster.

    Suns undefeated since Booker has come back, their injuries of course is what has stood out the most because that was the biggest concern with them. The competition hasn’t been elite but the Suns with Book and KD are just so explosive offensively. Now we can only imagine how they’ll play with Beal and having some measure of table setting ability out there on the floor with them. They could use that, which has been obvious early on.

    Pacers are Pretenders in my book. Their lack of size, rebounding, and very poor perimeter defense is gonna catch up to them as the season goes along…I don’t see them as anything more than a play-in team. I’m not that impressed with what I’ve seen because we already knew what they could be offensively. Bruce Brown isn’t a great SF defender but been forced into that role. Generally he’s the one defending the opponents’ best wing. He’s too small to do it. He can be beaten off the dribble by quick guards. He’s overrated defensively. Haliburton is incredible though and proven he can be almost as dynamic as a scorer as he is a playmaker which was something some questioned.

  • nthumedasner@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    As a hardcore fan, my main takeaway so far is that load management bullshit. Like damn bruh, get your ass on the court and play some ball. Some teams are looking real good while others…well let’s just say they could use some work. But hey, it’s still early in the season and anything can happen. Just hoping for some good matchups down the line.

    • IvanMSRB@alien.topB
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      10 months ago

      They are what we call in Serbia Hill Billy Team. This is a loose translation reffering to teams who have great start and then ruin everything when it matters the most. However they are definitely surprise of the season so far. Memphis and Chicago are on the other end.

  • aleefasogran@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    B-ball season already 20% done? Time flies when you’re watching an OK amount of hoops. Personally, I’ve been diggin’ a handful of teams. Deep league this year, what’s your take on it?

    • Sportsfan369@alien.topOPB
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      10 months ago

      Thank you for asking. I’ve been watching as many games as I can in variety of way. I watch league pass every night along with tnt/espn games. Every morning I wake up early to sit in my massage chair and have a blunt and energy shot and I watch about 4-5 full game highlights on YouTube.

      Season has been fun. I think the Celtics are the best Team in the East by a wide margin as of this moment.

      I think spurs did Wemby no favors by not going after anybody in free agency. Wemby could contend now with the right pieces around him.

      The timberwolves, The Thunder, Magic, Mavs, 76ers, Cavs are all playing quality basketball.

      Watching Lakers, Clippers, Suns, and Pelicans with their super stars playing has been fun to see. I think any of them barring injury could make some playoff noise.

      I think Denver is night in and night out, still the best team in the NBA and that’s without Jamal Murray.

  • gabdex@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    That I can’t believe I fell in love with basketball when scores were 85-78 and plodding centres like Greg Ostertag or Olden Polynice got 30+ mins a game.

    Some teams are just lightning fast, and yeah, at the cost of poor defense can look inefficient or showboaty. But the level of skill that is maintained AT the speed they travel makes me wonder how you even guard any of that in the first place.

    It’s kind of like watching all these relievers in baseball come in and throw 102 mph with a 90 degree dip. How are there so many people that can do this and how does anyone hit that?

    “NBA is exploding with talent” is an obvious statement, but to me it’s the style of the game now I appreciate the most because it maximizes that talent.

  • 2020IsANightmare@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    It’s still November. Still way too early to make many definitive statements.

    The Magic are off to a crazy hot start, right?!? They are the real deal!! Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Dame is off to a rough start (by his standards) and could this be the start of Giannis’ exit from the franchise? They have the exact same record. The Bucks likely finish 10-20 games ahead in the standings.

    Anyway, a few things that have stood out:

    1. The Thunder do seem for real. Not as a title contender, but as a pesky first-round-exit team. No one cares if you if beat Chicago. They are ass. But, beat them by double digits. No one cares if you beat Portland. They are ass. But, run them off the damn court.

    2. Chicago just fucking sucks. I’ve been on this though. They aren’t in the worst position in the league because they can attract free agents, but strictly talking about basketball, they are in the WORST possible situation. They have pieces that don’t match. Have no young stars. Their CEILING is losing a play-in game. Yet, talented enough to not get the #1 pick. And they are too stupid to grasp the fact that they are killing any trade value their guys had/have.

    3. The Warriors dynasty is officially done. Completely. I think everyone with a damn brain knew that already. They’ll still make the play-in (if Steph plays 65-70 games.) The tricky part is what to do with Steph. He’s the only thing selling tickets/TV ads in GS anymore. But, I think he has built up enough goodwill that GS fans would be happy to see him not just waste away with GS. (On a side note, the two teams I thought should go all-in on KD when Durant requested a trade from BKN were the Warriors and the Grizzlies. With GS, trade all those damn “great assets.” With MEM, the Grizzlies were coming off a historically great run without Morant in the lineup. KD for Ja and whatever salary cap filler. Feel free to tell me if GS or MEM is better off now than they would have been if they made the trade for KD.)

  • orphan_tears_@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    OKC in general. It was a pretty common opinion that they would make the jump to the playoffs this year but the way they’ve looked so far, I could see them making some serious noise in the postseason.

  • RealPrinceJay@alien.topB
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    10 months ago

    Tyrese Haliburton is Steve Nash 2.0, a future MVP, and might be as good as anyone in the NBA on offense

    25/4/12 on 52/46/92 splits for 68%TS on 5:1 A:TO

    And it’s not like he’s playing heliocentrically