The NBA

[Magog]

Another day. Another loss for the Pistons. 😁

Bucks 122 - Pistons 113

11 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Last year they had the worst record and got bumped down to fifth in the lottery. It would be the icing on the cake to be even worse this season and get bumped to fifth again. Is this year's draft even a good one? Any Wemby-like prospects?

I don't see any Wemby-like prospects in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft. A lot of people are saying that this upcoming Draft is going to be very mediocre. Heck, I don't even know who is going to draft Bronny?

18 yrs ago today, Kobe Bryant (May He Rest In Peace) got 81 on the Raptors. I'm sure that ESPN had mentioned it a lot today. Tonight, Joel Embiid got 70 on Wemby & the Spurs with the 76ers winning the game very easily 133-123.

BTW, that 70 points is now the most in 76ers history.

Edited January 23 by Magog

[Carey]

I'll be honest, if someone ever scores 101 (or 111) in a game, while I'll still tip the cap, I doubt I'd throw them a parade.  Not, if you score 151 (or 160), that's a different story

[Salacious Kitty]

1 hour ago, Magog said:

Another day. Another loss for the Pistons. 😁

Bucks 122 - Pistons 113

I don't see any Wemby-like prospects in the upcoming 2024 NBA Draft. A lot of people are saying that this upcoming Draft is going to be very mediocre. Heck, I don't even know who is going to draft Bronny?

18 yrs ago today, Kobe Bryant (May He Rest In Peace) got 81 on the Raptors. I'm sure that ESPN had mentioned it a lot today. Tonight, Joel Embiid got 70 on Wemby & the Spurs with the 76ers winning the game very easily 133-123.

BTW, that 70 points is now the most in 76ers history.

KAT set a TWolves record with 62. And yes, the NBA channel (broadcasting the Sixers/Spurs) mentioned Kobe.

[twoods]

It’s brutal the amount of hate the Pistons get in this thread. Curious why people hate them so much. Lakers is understandable but the Pistons?

[Carey]

I actually don't hate the Pistons.  I don't love them either, but honestly, I'm not a fan of losing.

I'm guessing it's so bad in Detroit that I'd make fun of it.  I imagine those there aren't a fan of losing to this degree

[LexieLily]

I don't actually hate the Pistons, either. I started following along this closely once they started getting close to infamy, made it to 28 losses, and now I want to see how close they can get to 28 again. Lol. 

I'm just sorry that Auser Thompson (#5 pick, twin of Rockets #4 pick Amen Thompson) and Marcus Sasser (former UH Cougar) are stuck on the wrong side of history. 

[Black Knight]

I was actually rooting for the Pistons not to make NBA history with their losing streak. That kind of thing would have been fun to me only with certain franchises. I would have laughed my head off if the Lakers (LBJ) or Mavericks (Kyrie) were on the losing streak. But Detroit? Nah. I felt sorry for them and was glad when they finally won.

[baldryanr]

Any out of work head coaches want to move to Milwaukee?

[Magog]

16 hours ago, twoods said:

It’s brutal the amount of hate the Pistons get in this thread. Curious why people hate them so much. Lakers is understandable but the Pistons?

I don't really hate the Pistons. I don't have as much hatred & anger towards the Pistons as I do towards those Warriors (especially), Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard, Doc Rivers, Knicks, Celtics, Lakers (except for LeBron), Jordan Poole Washington Wizards, & most recently the Raptors.

I just want to see history & the apex of NBA futility being reached. That type of stuff is like seeing a double rainbow for an hour. I didn't care about the Pistons this season till that losing streak reached 17 & I found out that the NBA record for a losing streak is 28. I wanted the Pistons to reach 29 games in a row with a loss & the Raptors had to ruined it. I'll still very furious about that & it made me very very angry.

If that type of losing streak happened to the Lakers, I'll be very happy about it. It'll be even better if it happened to those Warriors & Steph was a part of it. 

Now I want the Pistons to not reach 10 wins this season so that they can reach another part of NBA futility (9-73). Hopefully, those other NBA teams (especially those pathetic losers called Jordan Poole & the Washington Wizards) will not destroy that dream for me. 

Edited January 23 by Magog

[LexieLily]

6 minutes ago, Magog said:

I just want to see history & the apex of NBA futility being reached. That type of stuff is like seeing a double rainbow for an hour. I didn't care about the Pistons this season till that losing streak reached 17 & I found out that the NBA record for a losing streak is 28.  

Now I want the Pistons to not reach 10 wins this season so that they can reach another part of NBA futility (9-73). Hopefully, those other NBA teams (especially those pathetic losers called Jordan Poole & the Washington Wizards) will not destroy that dream for me. 

If we're wishing for things I'd rather the Pistons only make it to 8 wins so they have the record all to themselves. None of this tying-the-record business like they did with 28. 

Edited January 23 by LexieLily

[Carey]

I'll have to get to autumn of 2024 at the earliest to have my (awful) wish of a head coach getting fired after the team he coached gets to 14-0

[twoods]

What in the world with the Bucks coach being fired. They have a great record! 

[Carey]

2 hours ago, twoods said:

What in the world with the Bucks coach being fired. They have a great record! 

Nothing beats what happened in Cleveland 8 years ago.

Speaking of nothing, that's what happens when you boot Jeff and Mark from a team that actually didn't need to move on from Mike.  Though Doris can do well without Doc calling a big game

[Salacious Kitty]

As of one hour ago, Doc was not official. Yet.

[baldryanr]

Has any coach gotten more mileage out of a single title than Doc?  Has everyone forgotten about his long history of playoff failures?  Those aren't all his fault, of course, but it's probably not a fluke either. 

[Magog]

12 hours ago, Carey said:

14 hours ago, twoods said:

What in the world with the Bucks coach being fired. They have a great record! 

Nothing beats what happened in Cleveland 8 years ago.

And it had a very very happy ending for the Cleveland Cavaliers. 😁

BTW, I supported that decision when it happened.

Whatever happened to David Blatt & where is he right now?

The Bucks fired their coach yesterday because they have very high expectations to win a championship & the Bucks defense flat out stinks. Even with their good record (30-13), the Bucks should be better than they currently are. 

Quote

Has any coach gotten more mileage out of a single title than Doc?  Has everyone forgotten about his long history of playoff failures?  Those aren't all his fault, of course, but it's probably not a fluke either. 

As for them possibly hiring Doc Rivers, the Bucks can have fun with that because Doc Rivers will not get them to the NBA Championship. The Bucks better hope there not up 3-1 in the Playoffs because Doc Rivers will keep finding ways to mess up & choke in those situations.

Edit : Doc Rivers is officially the new coach of the Bucks. Yay. 😒

 

Edited January 24 by Magog

[Fukui San]

Doc is a B- coach that everyone talks about like he's an F- coach. I mean, I get it. His team will choke in the playoffs. But what options are there for a midseason replacement coach? 

[Carey]

30 minutes ago, Fukui San said:

Doc is a B- coach that everyone talks about like he's an F- coach. I mean, I get it. His team will choke in the playoffs. But what options are there for a midseason replacement coach? 

I'd say promoting from within since that person would have been part of the team since the beginning.  It worked for Cleveland (and although a different sport, it worked for the Pens several times).

Of course, Doc is much better than anyone they had on the staff, but I sorta wished they had Rivers there earlier if not at the beginning of the year instead of a non-qualified person

[Fukui San]

The reporting that has come out since Griffin's firing has been this: In the offseason the leading candidate that the Bucks were looking at was Nick Nurse, but Giannis did not want to play under Nick Nurse, and of the other candidates Griffin intrigued him most, so they went with him.  Why Giannis was wary of Nurse hasn't been revealed, but in retrospect it looks like a massive error given how Philly is doing.

[LexieLily]

Wonderful job, Charlotte. Lose by seven to a Detriot team that didn't score a point for over five minutes in the fourth. 

Edited January 25 by LexieLily

[Black Knight]

7 hours ago, Carey said:

Of course, Doc is much better than anyone they had on the staff, but I sorta wished they had Rivers there earlier if not at the beginning of the year instead of a non-qualified person

He’d been consulting with the team since December. So he’s not coming in totally new.

[twoods]

I’m just baffled at their reasoning. They don’t think a rookie coach is seasoned enough to get them far this year? Then why did they hire him in the first place? I feel bad for the guy because it’s a crappy season when they were doing pretty decent. 

[Black Knight]

CBS Sports put up an interesting article yesterday recounting 9 incidents during Griffin's short tenure that help explain his firing.

[baldryanr]

Luka Doncic had himself quite the night. 

[Magog]

Not Worth A Damn Jordan Poole Wizards 118 - Pistons 104

Jordan Poole & those crappy Wizards somehow didn't mess it up this time. 

 

Lakers - those Warriors are playing tonight on ABC. Yay. 😒

Thankfully, Doc Rivers decided to bring some more torment to the Bucks so we won't have him tormenting us on TV tonight.

Luca Doncic got 73 last night & Joel Embiid got 70 this week. Gee, I wonder how many points Steph is going to score tonight. Hopefully, in a Warriors loss.

 

Edited January 27 by Magog

[LexieLily]

Washington did end up beating Detroit, @Magog. Kuzma had 30 and Poole 17. 

Detroit's record is now 5-40. 37 games until the end of the season, and they'd have to go 3-34 to end with 8 wins and get the 'worst record' all to themselves. (4-33 to end with 9 wins.)

EDIT: Ha! Post jinx!

Edited January 27 by LexieLily

[Carey]

You know, I think I might totally love the so-called "Villain Giannis" going forward.  Especially if he wins another title.

To elaborate, I might laugh (and understand) if, as soon as Milwaukee got to a 3-1 series lead on someone, he fired Doc and coached the remaining game or whatever to win & avoid blowing it

[LexieLily]

Lakers beat Warriors by one in double-overtime. 

Draymond also did this, but it was called a common foul and not a flagrant. 

[baldryanr]

6 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Draymond also did this, but it was called a common foul and not a flagrant.

Hey now, he was aiming for the ball and just missed.  Kind of like how his flailing limbs accidentally made contact with the opponent all of those other times.

14 hours ago, Carey said:

You know, I think I might totally love the so-called "Villain Giannis" going forward.  Especially if he wins another title.

You're only the villain if you lose.  Magic Johnson got his coach fired and no one thinks of him as a villain for it.  Same with Lebron/David Blatt, and whenever people bitch about Lebron's negatives that one never comes up.

[LexieLily]

Detroit beat Oklahoma 120-104. This is not good for our 8-74 dream...

[Salacious Kitty]

WTF??? Did OKC bench all their starters? 

ETA Just checked the box score. SGA led all scorers, so no, starters played, and played well. 

Edited January 28 by Salacious Kitty

[Black Knight]

The Pistons are a bad team, but not quite as bad as their infamous streak would suggest. Some of their losses were close and could have easily gone the other way in the last minute of play. That's another reason I wasn't rooting for them to break the record, because this roster doesn't really deserve that dubious distinction. They're going to lose most of their remaining games, but it'll follow the more normal pattern you'd expect out of a bad roster of an occasional win among the losses. They'll get to 10 wins probably within a month.

[LexieLily]

4 hours ago, Black Knight said:

The Pistons are a bad team, but not quite as bad as their infamous streak would suggest. Some of their losses were close and could have easily gone the other way in the last minute of play. That's another reason I wasn't rooting for them to break the record, because this roster doesn't really deserve that dubious distinction. They're going to lose most of their remaining games, but it'll follow the more normal pattern you'd expect out of a bad roster of an occasional win among the losses. They'll get to 10 wins probably within a month.

Maybe it's me but if you (the general you) are a fan of the Pistons wouldn't that be worse? If you're going to have a year where you lose 28 games in a row (and promptly lose the next seven after that lone win), wouldn't you want the horrific year to be "worth something" by being the worst team of all-time? Yeah, they'll probably end up making the top ten list of worst teams (either by number of losses or winning percentage, IDK how they qualify those), but that's just a garden-variety awful team. 

And then if they end up with the fifth pick again (or fourth or even third), it's like, what was the point?

[grommit2]

I'm amazed at how the Celtics can run up a big lead in the first half, totally blow it in the 3rd quarter, then somehow scrape together a 3 point win. 🤪

[baldryanr]

14 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

I'm amazed at how the Celtics can run up a big lead in the first half, totally blow it in the 3rd quarter, then somehow scrape together a 3 point win. 🤪

The Celtics lost, at home, to the Lakers without Lebron and AD.  They also fell behind to the Pistons by 20 and needed OT to beat them.  This is not a team that's immune to some lapses.

[Black Knight]

On 1/28/2024 at 8:22 PM, LexieLily said:

Maybe it's me but if you (the general you) are a fan of the Pistons wouldn't that be worse? If you're going to have a year where you lose 28 games in a row (and promptly lose the next seven after that lone win), wouldn't you want the horrific year to be "worth something" by being the worst team of all-time? Yeah, they'll probably end up making the top ten list of worst teams (either by number of losses or winning percentage, IDK how they qualify those), but that's just a garden-variety awful team. 

I think the closest I've personally experienced this was the season the Raiders were threatening to go 0-16, and I can only say that I was rooting for them to get a win and avoid that infamy. While they would not have been the first team to go winless, they still would have gone down in infamy and I know I didn't want that. So I expect I wouldn't feel different about a chance to set a new record for futility.

[LexieLily]

@Magog. Detroit won tonight, now they are at 7 wins.

[Magog]

Quote

10 hours ago

@Magog. Detroit won tonight, now they are at 7 wins.

😒
That is so awful on so many levels. I need a reason to give a damn about the last 2 months of the season & the Pistons winning another game last night is not very helpful. The worthless Jordan Poole Washington Wizards lost again last night to the Cavaliers (HA HA HA) & even that (now 9-41) couldn't put a smile on my face because of the Pistons winning last night.

Meanwhile, The Lakers are staying afloat right now & they're currently in 9th place. Maybe, they'll do something today in the Trading Deadline. And BTW, LeBron is not going to be traded today like some idiots were even suggesting that idea in the first place last week.

Also, tonight the Lakers are playing the Nuggets on TNT & the Kobe Bryant statue will be unveiled tonight (on 2-8-24 ironically) at The Crypt. 

Edited February 8 by Magog

[LexieLily]

As far as trade deadlines go this one was undramatic. New York made some moves, Pat Bev got traded to Milwaukee, but Golden State and the Lakers did nothing. 

*Unless something gets released later, but the actual deadline passed.

[Salacious Kitty]

The Warriors made a small move. They traded a scrub to the Pacers for a second round pick. 

[isalicat]

2 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

The Warriors made a small move. They traded a scrub to the Pacers for a second round pick. 

Hey, Cojo was a very nice and promising scrub, so I'm not sure what this was all about for the Warriors (perhaps some deep behind the scenes plotting for the future stuff us fans won't know anything about). Since Wiggins seems to be recovering his mojo, I guess we need less Cojo 😸

[Salacious Kitty]

4 hours ago, isalicat said:

Hey, Cojo was a very nice and promising scrub, so I'm not sure what this was all about for the Warriors (perhaps some deep behind the scenes plotting for the future stuff us fans won't know anything about). Since Wiggins seems to be recovering his mojo, I guess we need less Cojo 😸

The Pacers turned around and waived him. 

[baldryanr]

I get how much the Lakers love Kobe and his untimely passing is and always will be a horrible tragedy, but three statues seems like a bit much.  Plus the white jersey is kind of ugly. The Lakers are blessed with one of the most unique home jerseys in the league - no reason to mess with that.

[Magog]

6 hours ago, baldryanr said:

I get how much the Lakers love Kobe and his untimely passing is and always will be a horrible tragedy, but three statues seems like a bit much.  Plus the white jersey is kind of ugly. The Lakers are blessed with one of the most unique home jerseys in the league - no reason to mess with that.

I also wish that it was in home gold. It would of felt right. Overall, it was a very nice statue & the Black Mamba uniforms that the Lakers wore last night was also very nice. 

BTW, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets 114-106. The game was close till the last 2 minutes when the Nuggets pulled away for the win. 

The Pistons were down by 23 to the piss poor useless Portland Trail Blazers & came back to defeat those useless Trail Blazers in Overtime 128-122.  😒 The Pistons won 2 games in a row for the first time this season (😒) & it gave me absolute stomach cramps. They now have 8 wins & are one step closer to getting to 10 wins. That really makes me sad. 

[NUguy514]

6 hours ago, baldryanr said:

I get how much the Lakers love Kobe and his untimely passing is and always will be a horrible tragedy, but three statues seems like a bit much.  Plus the white jersey is kind of ugly. The Lakers are blessed with one of the most unique home jerseys in the league - no reason to mess with that.

I am a test prep tutor, and the day the crash happened, I was supposed to have a math lesson for the SAT with this one student, a high school junior.  After the crash, his mom texted me to say that he couldn't meet because he was too upset by Kobe's death.  That's basically how the entire city reacted, and as someone who has never been a fan of sexual assaulters (shocking, I know), I found that reaction and the subsequent hagiography of him really, realllllllly unseemly.

[baldryanr]

Speaking of statues, they've certainly gotten more popular over the years, so it makes me wonder who will get one as time passes.

If they want it, Steph, KG, DWade, and Duncan are locks in their cities.  Lebron is a lock for Cleveland, but does Miami do it?  Sure, four straight finals appearances with 2 rings, but only 4 years there.  Giannis is on his way in Milwaukee, and Dame can probably get Portland to give him one.

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, baldryanr said:

If they want it, Steph, KG, DWade, and Duncan are locks in their cities. 

The Warriors will assuredly do a trio of statues for Steph, Klay and Dray. (And they'll definitely want statues.) Their jerseys will be retired together, etc.

I was in Salt Lake City a few years ago and saw the statues for Malone and Stockton. They never won a NBA championship, but the franchise still wanted to honor them as one of the all-time great pairings.

[LexieLily]

KD has the same situation with any potential statue as he does with his inevitable HOF invite. What city/team claims him? Has OKC forgiven him for how it went down when he left, or was that mostly Westbrook? Would he go in with the Warriors? It's probably safe to say Brooklyn is out for multiple reasons including that he wasn't there long enough. If he wins a ring or two in Phoenix, does that do it for him?

[isalicat]

18 hours ago, LexieLily said:

KD has the same situation with any potential statue as he does with his inevitable HOF invite. What city/team claims him? Has OKC forgiven him for how it went down when he left, or was that mostly Westbrook? Would he go in with the Warriors? It's probably safe to say Brooklyn is out for multiple reasons including that he wasn't there long enough. If he wins a ring or two in Phoenix, does that do it for him?

I would hope KD might eventually realize that his career choices have not endeared him to any city/team in the way other NBA stars might claim. As a Warriors fan, I am grateful for his contribution for the championships in which he participated but I will never consider him a "Warrior for Life" in the way that many departed players are (like Iguodala, for example).

[Fukui San]

19 hours ago, LexieLily said:

KD has the same situation with any potential statue as he does with his inevitable HOF invite. What city/team claims him? Has OKC forgiven him for how it went down when he left, or was that mostly Westbrook? Would he go in with the Warriors? It's probably safe to say Brooklyn is out for multiple reasons including that he wasn't there long enough. If he wins a ring or two in Phoenix, does that do it for him?

Seattle. The only place he hasn't left willingly.