The NBA

[Salacious Kitty]

Yeah, I posted before Denver's loss last night. I didn't see much of the game, but Denver got out of the gate early, but Portland hung in there and made an excellent run. 

And you're right about the Denver/Dubs matchup. It was all about revenge for Denver.

Phoenix will certainly test the Dubs tonight.

[twoods]

Yeah didn’t seem like the Dubs tested the Suns. I looked at the score and couldn’t stop laughing. 

[Magog]

8 hours ago, twoods said:

Yeah didn’t seem like the Dubs tested the Suns. I looked at the score and couldn’t stop laughing. 

It was kind of funny. It'll be even more funnier if it happened in May during the Playoffs.

On 10/25/2022 at 4:56 PM, isalicat said:

Denver will kill them. They dismantled the Dubs a few days ago. 

The Nuggets killed the Lakers in the 2nd half tonight to win the game 110-99. The Lakers are now 0-4 & they can't blame Russell Westbrook for this debacle since he didn't play tonight. But, I'm sure they'll find a way to blame him for the loss.

If the Pacers have any amount of common sense, they will tell the Lakers to get lost & stay lost for trying to ship that 47 Million Dollar Man to them for Buddy Hiedl, Myles Turner, & Draft Picks. Russell Westbrook will be useless to the Pacers (or anybody else who is dumb enough to get him this season) & doing that buyout after that will be even more pointless.

[twoods]

Is someone spiking the Lakers Gatorade at halftime or something, because they always come out so lethargic in the third and are outscored by double digits in all of their losses. And stop trying for threes because you all suck at shooting. Just stop. Another long ass season. At least I have football to pass the time for now.

[cambridgeguy]

Oof;The Nets need to figure out a solution to this or other teams are going to really start daring Ben to make a shot.

[xaxat]

12 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Oof;The Nets need to figure out a solution to this or other teams are going to really start daring Ben to make a shot.

Ben passing up up shots is the new Harden not playing defense NBA meme.

All during his stint in Philadelphia, I kept hoping he would at least take steps to improve his game, but it now appears that he might be regressing.

Edited October 28, 2022 by xaxat

[LexieLily]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:31 AM, xaxat said:

Ben passing up up shots is the new Harden not playing defense NBA meme.

All during his stint in Philadelphia, I kept hoping he would at least take steps to improve his game, but it now appears that he might be regressing.

He airballed a layup in the game vs Dallas this week. LOL

[Lady Whistleup]

Super bizarre story developing with the Spurs right now. They abruptly released Joshua Primo and removed all Primo-related gear in their store. Primo released a vague statement:

But the twitter and reddit rumors (especially on the Spurs reddit) are really wild. I guess we'll find out very soon.

[cambridgeguy]

First Kyrie being Kyrie off-court moment of the season?

7 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

But the twitter and reddit rumors (especially on the Spurs reddit) are really wild. I guess we'll find out very soon.

This is bizarre.  If it were your standard non-crazy stuff (fighting with teammates, minor crime, bad attitude) then they wouldn't drop him and erase all traces of his existence.  If it's something major (felony crime) then it would have made the news already.  And there's no way they'd drop him for just mental health issues, he'd get indefinite leave like Ben Simmons.  What's the middle ground? 

Edited October 29, 2022 by cambridgeguy

[Notabug]

And now, the Spurs have issued a (non)statement on the Primo situation; along with declaring that the organization is not going to say anything else about it, ever.

Quote

While no immediate reason has been given as to why the Spurs decided to waive the young guard, Spurs CEO RC Buford did release a statement on behalf of the organization, stating that it is the team’s hope that “this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua.”

The Spurs have made it abundantly clear that nobody within the organization, including players and coaches, will be speaking about this matter involving Primo.

Quote

https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fastbreak/news/san-antonio-spurs-joshua-primo-waived-new-details

It's got to be a very major mental health issue if that's the reason.  I just hope that he's ok and nothing has happened to him or anyone else because of it.

[Lady Whistleup]

Equally bizarre is the fact that the Spurs just picked up a player option for him a few weeks ago. Something major must have happened. 

[shoregirl]

Josh Primo allegedly exposed himself to multiple women .

[Lady Whistleup]

Oh dear. The sudden release makes sense now.

[Lady Whistleup]

The rumor that he was exposing himself was a big reddit rumor yesterday.

[cambridgeguy]

So, who's worse off?

The Nets - their number 2 players is already going full Kyrie, their number 3 (maybe) is intent on putting up single digits in points/rebounds/assists, and Nash is rapidly applying for membership in the great player, miserable coach club.

The Lakers - paying 47 million to a guy shooting 31% from the field, can't shoot in general, and may end up having a throwback to the late Kobe era with Lebron saying to heck with it and deciding to score as many points as possible because he wants the scoring record while everyone else just stands around to watch.

[Lady Whistleup]

12 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

So, who's worse off?

The Nets - their number 2 players is already going full Kyrie, their number 3 (maybe) is intent on putting up single digits in points/rebounds/assists, and Nash is rapidly applying for membership in the great player, miserable coach club.

The Lakers - paying 47 million to a guy shooting 31% from the field, can't shoot in general, and may end up having a throwback to the late Kobe era with Lebron saying to heck with it and deciding to score as many points as possible because he wants the scoring record while everyone else just stands around to watch.

I feel like the Lakers' problems are more unfixable. I feel like Ben Simmons is finding a role on the Nets and with time he can become a useful role player. But I don't see anything fixing Russell Westbrook's game, or the fact that the Lakers' future picks all belong to the Pels.

[Magog]

31 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I feel like the Lakers' problems are more unfixable. I feel like Ben Simmons is finding a role on the Nets and with time he can become a useful role player.

He will be more useful being cut from the Nets because he is downright hopeless & useless. His attitude also sucks & is very unlikable. At least, Russell Westbrook gives you an effort good or bad. 

Speaking of the Lakers, I smell 0-6 coming up tonight. They play against the Nuggets tonight.

[twoods]

Westbrook shot 50% from the field, big shocker. Now he’s going to keep jacking up shots so they will lose the next 4-5. 

[Salacious Kitty]

The Lakers beat the Nuggets? Is this bizarro world? 

[LexieLily]

19 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

So, who's worse off?

The Nets - their number 2 players is already going full Kyrie, their number 3 (maybe) is intent on putting up single digits in points/rebounds/assists, and Nash is rapidly applying for membership in the great player, miserable coach club.

The Lakers - paying 47 million to a guy shooting 31% from the field, can't shoot in general, and may end up having a throwback to the late Kobe era with Lebron saying to heck with it and deciding to score as many points as possible because he wants the scoring record while everyone else just stands around to watch.

Between pick swaps and future unprotected picks, the Nets owe Houston first-rounders until 2027. 

[Magog]

8 hours ago, twoods said:

Westbrook shot 50% from the field, big shocker. Now he’s going to keep jacking up shots so they will lose the next 4-5. 

He helped them beat the Nuggets last night. Way more than Ben Simmons would of done. The Lakers would be 0-6 right now if they had Ben Simmons instead of Russell Westbrook. 

[Popples]

[Carey]

When was the last time an NBA Head Coach wasn't fired in-season?  Though Nash's exit is a non-shocker despite 2-5; It prolongs the inevitable

[xaxat]

I wonder how much of it was Nash thinking, "Fuck it. Fire me if you want to. I don't need this shit."

Quote

“We want to thank Steve for everything he brought to our franchise over the past two-plus seasons,” General Manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Since becoming head coach, Steve was faced with a number of unprecedented challenges

That is an extraordinary understatement.

[Fukui San]

Shams Charania tweeted that Ime Udoka has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Nash, which makes my head spin.

[Carey]

22 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I wonder how much of it was Nash thinking, "Fuck it. Fire me if you want to. I don't need this shit."

There may be some validity to that.  Some other sources put it down as "parting ways" which is sorta overused and/or a nice way of kicking someone out.  On the other hand, I have to see the financial situation.  If he's getting paid what he was expected to get paid while under contract, then it's an outright fire.  If there's a settlement, then it would be a mutual parting of ways.  Basically the same way Joel Klatt put it in terms of Paul Chryst's Wisconsin exit (where, while that climate was sane compared to Brooklyn's, neither Paul or Steve were let go with cause)

[Lady Whistleup]

Honestly Nash was not a good coach. 

[xaxat]

The type of background check needed to clear a guy with apparent issues like Odoka does not happen over night. I wonder when the team made the decision to move on from Nash. It certainly wasn't in the last couple of days.

24 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Honestly Nash was not a good coach. 

Part of his problem is that the team's best players did not want to be coached. From day one, Kyrie was talking about some communal system where decisions would be shared between Nash, Kyrie and KD.

When Kyrie, Durant and Harden arrived in Brooklyn, I wrote about how I wanted a beat writer to document the season in a book because I was pretty sure it was going to result in some drama regardless of the team's performance.

I think we are now in volume four of the action.

[rcc]

Steve Nash was a great player, a team player, who played with great team players.  Any great player has trouble with babysitting grown men who are supposed to play the game.

[AimingforYoko]

Well, apparently the Nets don't need any more rings, because they got three of them going right now. I guess they figure winning will be the deodorant that cover's Udoka's stink.

[DrSpaceman73]

Kyrie irving is either stupid or has mental problems. He buys into multiple conspiracy theories. Not only that he tweets about them, is in denial about their dubious nature and it affects his job snd life. 

He went to Duke. Ok he plays basketball and I hate Duke but I won't deny its a top college. So I have a hard time believing it's stupidity. He seems to be somewhere on the schizoid spectrum. I am not saying schizophrenia but there are multiple related disorders where people believe in these type of theories.  Just flat earth ok ......odd but we typically just wrote that off as ill informed and science ignorance.  But you add in black supremacy, which is what the latest movie/ book promotes, vaccine denial and then Alex Jones and his beliefs, its just not normal.  And he doesn't see the problem with it all. 

Edited November 1, 2022 by DrSpaceman73

[Black Knight]

I can't begin to fathom what's wrong with Irving. But yeah, for whatever reason he buys into whatever conspiracy theories he finds and he's surrounded himself with yes men.

I don't blame Nash for wanting out. Yeah, he wasn't a good coach, though it's interesting to contemplate how it might have been if two of his stars didn't view themselves as not needing a coach and didn't just want to play iso-ball all the time, but he seems like a decent guy who didn't deserve the lunacy he had to deal with.

And if the Nets are seriously looking at hiring Udoka, with all the drama they already have on their hands, then they really deserve whatever they get. Udoka took Boston to the Finals last year, yet not only did they suspend him for a full season, they're now willing to let him walk, without asking compensation, to a major rival (although granted the Nets don't scare anyone right now). That tells you the Celtics are dead certain that Udoka did a lot worse than have consensual sex with a subordinate.

[LexieLily]

A new coach for Brooklyn, whether it's Ime or someone else, might be able to fix their defense but he won't be able to stop Kyrie from being Kyrie or magically turn Ben Simmons into someone that doesn't airball layups and isn't afraid to shoot.

[cambridgeguy]

On 11/1/2022 at 5:31 PM, DrSpaceman73 said:

He went to Duke. Ok he plays basketball and I hate Duke but I won't deny its a top college. So I have a hard time believing it's stupidity.

Kyrie was a five star prospect - I'm pretty sure all he had to do was prove he was literate and Duke would have considered that good enough.

[Black Knight]

1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:

Kyrie was a five star prospect - I'm pretty sure all he had to do was prove he was literate and Duke would have considered that good enough.

Especially since Duke no doubt expected he'd be one-and-done, like most prospects of his caliber. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. These guys can just be plugged into the easy-As classes for their one year before they turn pro.

[Lady Whistleup]

Kyrie was touted as the #1 pick before he even went to Duke. I'm pretty sure he went to Duke because he could ball and not because of his academics.

I still think it's odd that he's such a nutjob. He appears to come from a nice, loving family. His father Drederick Irving sacrificed a bunch (including his own promising basketball career) to take care of Kyrie and his sister after the mother passed away.

[NUguy514]

3 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Kyrie was a five star prospect - I'm pretty sure all he had to do was prove he was literate and Duke would have considered that good enough.

This is exactly correct.  I tutor high school students for the SAT/ACT, and athletic recruits for D1 programs really don't have to have the academic credentials non-recruits might need to get in.  Right before the pandemic, a former student of mine told me a football player at her school (Sierra Canyon, where Bron-bron's and Dwyane Wade's kids go/went) was recruited by Yale to play football.  His GPA: 2.7.  The rules are very different.

[Black Knight]

And who can forget the college scandal in which some parents pretended their kids would be participants on this or that sports team precisely because the academic requirements don't matter for athletic prospects? They bribed sports directors/departments/coaches to tell admissions that this academically underachieving student was an athletic prospect for X team and so to please admit said kid. That's how Lori Loughlin got her two daughters into USC.

[Lady Whistleup]

The Josh Primo story getting ugly. Team psychologist says this had been happening since last year and no one did anything until she lawyered up.

[Notabug]

The other shoe has been dropped:

Quote

A psychologist formerly employed by the San Antonio Spurs filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the organization had ignored her repeated complaints about Josh Primo, whom she said had exposed himself to her on nine occasions during their one-on-one sessions

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/former-team-psychologist-sues-spurs-for-ignoring-josh-primo-complaints/ar-AA13HxNw?OCID=ansmsnnews11

She says it happened to her on multiple occasions and she knows of at least 2 other women who had similar experiences.  She was employed by the Spurs to provide counseling to the team and complained the first time he dropped trou in January and continued to report it every time it happened including talking to the team's general manager and legal counsel last spring.  Nothing happened except that the team decided not to renew her contract in August and so she went public.

Sounds like Primo wasn't the only creep in San Antonio.

[cambridgeguy]

I guess all of those stories about what a model organization the Spurs are will now be replaced by stories about how they're scum.  Then after a while most people will stop caring.

[Lady Whistleup]

If this story is true, then it's an unfortunate stain on Pop's career as apparently he knew about all the exposing allegations.

[mojoween]

Kyrie, shockingly to me, has been suspended for five games without pay “for failure to denounce disavow antisemitism”.  Very strong statement.

How long before he just quits hoops altogether?  Since he obviously has no plans to change his attitude and behavior.

Edited November 4, 2022 by mojoween

[cambridgeguy]

So does this mean the Nets have given up on the season?  Kyrie will remain Kyrie, Ben Simmons doesn't seem to want to play basketball, KD is going to wonder why he's bothering, the coach is gone, etc.  There doesn't seem to be any pathway to success

[Lady Whistleup]

Just now, cambridgeguy said:

So does this mean the Nets have given up on the season?  Kyrie will remain Kyrie, Ben Simmons doesn't seem to want to play basketball, KD is going to wonder why he's bothering, the coach is gone, etc.  There doesn't seem to be any pathway to success

I think they are trying to get KD traded to unload his contract and going to start over.

[LexieLily]

19 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I think they are trying to get KD traded to unload his contract and going to start over.

Are they hoping to get back all or some of the draft capital they gave away to Houston from a potential KD trade? That's their only option if they want to bottom out.

[Black Knight]

As soon as I read that Irving wouldn't meet with the ADL himself, and it was instead his father and stepmother/agent who met with them, I figured this was coming. He says he has an open mind and wants to educate himself blah blah, but refuses to hear what the ADL might have to say. Well, either that or his parents kept him at home because they figured he'd say something offensive during the meeting with the ADL. That might well be the case given his press conference today, which the Nets specifically cited as the impetus for the suspension. (Especially after the ADL rejected Irving's donation after said press conference.)

It's clearly over as far as this team's chances this year are concerned, but the Nets aren't going to rush to trade KD. They will do exactly what the Sixers did with Simmons, which is wait patiently until they get an offer they like. He's their best asset and it would be foolish to sell low, especially since they now need to look towards rebuilding.

[Lady Whistleup]

I feel like his parents probably kept him home. He's a total loose cannon. That's my theory.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Lady Whistleup

[Black Knight]

And meanwhile Udoka hasn't been hired yet. It was being reported that it would happen yesterday. Maybe someone (Adam Silver?) talked sense into the Nets.

[isalicat]

2 hours ago, mojoween said:

How long before he just quits hoops altogether?  Since he obviously has no plans to change his attitude and behavior.

More importantly, how long before toxicity trumps talent? If the NBA truly disavows Kyrie's sentiments then he needs to be blackballed since he clearly isn't backing down.