The NBA

[Crashcourse]

Back in the 70s, a friend of my mom's excitedly called her and invited us over, but she wouldn't tell us why.  We went there, she walked us into the kitchen and Elgin Baylor was sitting there.  He was a friend of her husband.  We just stood there with our mouths open, lol.  He stayed for quite a while, we chatted with him and he was a really nice guy.  I still have his autograph.

RIP, sir.

[Lady Whistleup]

I recommend people read Hang Time. It's one of the better sports autobiographies. The racism and segregation black athletes had to face in the 1950s was absolutely appalling. I can't imagine traveling with a team and then being told you couldn't eat with the team at a restaurant or stay at the same hotel as the team. He also has some interesting things to say about Wilt Chamberlain (they did NOT get along).

[mojoween]

On 3/21/2021 at 2:03 PM, Lady Whistleup said:

Depends on the sprain. Some sprains are worse than bone fractures. I had a sprain that didn't heal for maybe six months. Several torn ligaments. Even today it's not the same. I used to be able to run about 10k every day. Now I can no longer do that. 

I sprained my ankle in 2006 and it still bothers me, and there weren’t even any tears.  I wish I had broken it instead.

[Lady Whistleup]

The amazing Bill Russell still got April Fools jokes.

 

[cambridgeguy]

Maybe he wanted to get fired?

Posting that Instagram video was basically tempting fate but he would have received a suspension at worst if he and ESPN really wanted to work things out.

[Lady Whistleup]

4 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Maybe he wanted to get fired?

Posting that Instagram video was basically tempting fate but he would have received a suspension at worst if he and ESPN really wanted to work things out.

I loved Paul Pierce as a player but he is like the worst analyst. They started cutting into his halftime shows with a bunch of commercials and courtside interviews with the coaches. He simply had nothing interesting to say.

In other news, the Lakers are really sliding with both AD and Lebron out with injuries.

[xaxat]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I loved Paul Pierce as a player but he is like the worst analyst. They started cutting into his halftime shows with a bunch of commercials and courtside interviews with the coaches. He simply had nothing interesting to say.

And it looked like he really didn't want to be there.

Which I guess was true.

[Lady Whistleup]

The Wolves got vaxxed today. So happy for Karl Anthony Towns whose family was devastated by covid.

[xaxat]

I love it when Candace Parker schools Shaq on how the game it played now.

ETA Shaq (paraphrased on Joel Embiid). I don't know why he takes those threes. He should be down below.

Me (doing research) This season Joel is hitting threes at a forty percent rate. Which is higher than your boys Kobe or Dwyane ever hit in the best season in their entire career. 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by xaxat

[Lady Whistleup]

Uh oh this is bad. Ja Morant is injured, so is James Harden.

 

[xaxat]

This hype reel for the Pelicans is fantastic.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

ARod and a billionaire to buy the TWolves.

[Lady Whistleup]

23 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

ARod and a billionaire to buy the TWolves.

Good. Their FO is so bad, it's hard to imagine anyone else being worse.

[Danny Franks]

10 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Good. Their FO is so bad, it's hard to imagine anyone else being worse.

How about James Dolan?

Although it seems like he's finally realised he needs to be as detached as possible from the Knicks' front office, and the competent hires seem to be making a difference, at long last.

[Magog]

5 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

How about James Dolan?

Although it seems like he's finally realised he needs to be as detached as possible from the Knicks' front office, and the competent hires seem to be making a difference, at long last.

Lets see how long that last. I'm certain that he will find a way to mess it up like he always do. 

The Lakers beat the Nets last night in a nap-inducing game 126-101. Hopefully, it will make some people on ESPN & FS1 stopping moping about the Lakers & their struggles without their 2 superstars. They will be fine once the playoffs start. Maybe they can talk about those others in the NBA instead of the constant boo-hooing about the Lakers, the very annoying Nets (expect for Kyrie), the choking Clippers, & them feeling sorry for those Warriors.

As for the Nets, I'm only rooting for Kyrie Irving so he probably won't get blamed if they don't at least make the Finals. Besides, he is the only likable player on the Nets & the rest of that team is pretty much unlikeable & unrootable.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Magog

[DrSpaceman73]

Nets defensive rating is 25th in the league right now.  

No team that low has ever won a title, according to the sports talk I heard yesterday at least.  No team close to that low has ever won. 

[Magog]

I did not know that Wilt Chamberlain is Number 1 on the Warriors all time scoring list. Stephen Curry is 18 points behind him & is probably going to pass him tonight against the Nuggets. And in a surprise to nobody, ESPN is going to be airing that game tonight. Its going to be ESPN worshipping their favorite player all game long as he passes Wilt Chamberlain on the Warriors all time scoring list.

Edited April 12, 2021 by Magog

[Lady Whistleup]

James Wiseman is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Kyrie out tonight for "personal reasons."

Victor Oladipo also out due to a knee injury.

[xaxat]

10 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Kyrie out tonight for "personal reasons."

There was a police shooting and civil unrest in Minneapolis, where they are supposed to play. Woj is reporting the game may be postponed.

[Lady Whistleup]

Just now, xaxat said:

There was a police shooting and civil unrest in Minneapolis, where they are supposed to play. Woj is reporting the game may be postponed.

Probably a good idea. Wow. What an awful event to happen in the middle of the Chauvin trial.

[emmawoodhouse]

The game was announced as postponed a few hours ago. All three sporting events in Minneapolis were.

[Lady Whistleup]

Earl Monroe joined twitter, just in time for the Knicks to actually have a somewhat non-disastrous season?

 

[Danny Franks]

10 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Earl Monroe joined twitter, just in time for the Knicks to actually have a somewhat non-disastrous season?

 

I'm not gonna lie, the Knicks are actually pretty fun this season. They're playing hard in every game, and making up for some differences in ability with sheer determination. But on top of that Randle is playing out of his mind and RJ Barrett is developing into a genuinely good NBA player, which is something that seems to be overlooked by a lot of people. He had an off-night last night, but has been a reliable clutch scorer.

Quickley is a livewire who might develop, but at the moment he's just a bench option for a team that doesn't have a great amount of depth.

If they do make the playoffs, it won't be a long stay because they've got no good rebounders available with Robinson out for the season. But there's cause for optimism, at long last.

[Lady Whistleup]

Another awful injury: reports are that Jamal Murray might have torn his ACL 😞 

ETA: it's official. Season ending torn ACL. 😞 

One of my favorites to watch. Hope he can come back.

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[Danny Franks]

Well that's probably the end of the Nuggets' title hopes. 

I'm just looking for anyone to beat the Nets. Even the Lakers. The way they've put their team together is incredibly sleazy, and magnitudes worse than KD joining an established team of homegrown all-stars, when he went to Golden State. I don't want any of them to get a ring, especially not Harden who effectively quit on the Rockets after they sacrificed their entire future to keep him happy.

[grommit2]

12 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Earl Monroe joined twitter, just in time for the Knicks to actually have a somewhat non-disastrous season?

 

Oh man...saw the Pearl (actually...you need to say the whole thing: "Earl the Pearl Monroe", with a New York accent) when he played for the Bullets.  He and Walt Frazier of the Knicks went at it, one on one, in the playoffs.  Fabulous competition.  EVERY kid on the playground developed spin moves followed by a fade-away jumper.  Epic.
 

[cambridgeguy]

26 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Oh man...saw the Pearl (actually...you need to say the whole thing: "Earl the Pearl Monroe", with a New York accent) when he played for the Bullets.  He and Walt Frazier of the Knicks went at it, one on one, in the playoffs.  Fabulous competition.  EVERY kid on the playground developed spin moves followed by a fade-away jumper.  Epic.

He really is part of the forgotten generation sandwiched between the Lakers/Celtics stars of the 60s and the Magic/Bird era. 

2 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Another awful injury: reports are that Jamal Murray might have torn his ACL 😞 

ETA: it's official. Season ending torn ACL. 😞 

One of my favorites to watch. Hope he can come back.

That sucks.  If you ever see someone go down with a non-contact injury then you just know it's going to be bad.

[Lady Whistleup]

32 minutes ago, cambridgeguy said:

He really is part of the forgotten generation sandwiched between the Lakers/Celtics stars of the 60s and the Magic/Bird era. 

That sucks.  If you ever see someone go down with a non-contact injury then you just know it's going to be bad.

Thank god sports medicine has improved. ACL tears used to be career ending (see: Penny Hardaway).

[mojoween]

Anthony Edwards doesn’t know who A-Rod is and doesn’t follow baseball.

Anthony Edwards also played shortstop and third base in high school, batted cleanup and could have gone to MLB, per his own words.

Oh kid.  The internet never forgets.

[Lady Whistleup]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

Anthony Edwards doesn’t know who A-Rod is and doesn’t follow baseball.

Anthony Edwards also played shortstop and third base in high school, batted cleanup and could have gone to MLB, per his own words.

Oh kid.  The internet never forgets.

My understanding was that Anthony Edwards played football in high school and was deciding between football and basketball. 

Anyway, Jayson Tatum reveals that months after his covid diagnosis he still needs an inhaler to play. Wow. 

[emma675]

1 hour ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Anyway, Jayson Tatum reveals that months after his covid diagnosis he still needs an inhaler to play. Wow. 

It's crazy how the side effects of Covid affect elite athletes even months later. 76ers Seth Curry mentioned a few weeks ago that it took him a long time to get his conditioning back after Covid and he still gets run down faster than normal. 

[Lady Whistleup]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

It's crazy how the side effects of Covid affect elite athletes even months later. 76ers Seth Curry mentioned a few weeks ago that it took him a long time to get his conditioning back after Covid and he still gets run down faster than normal. 

Russell Westbrook also said that he felt the effects of it months later and he had to take days off games at the beginning of the season. Derrick Rose also said he's still struggling with it. And these are young, fit guys.

[cambridgeguy]

There's a certain amount of logic to it though.  Unlike the rest of us these guys are pushing themselves to the max all the time (insert joke about your favorite supposedly lazy player here) so they'll notice if they're only at 95% of what they were before.

[Lady Whistleup]

Oh no! LaMarcus Aldridge is retiring. He has a heart problem. That's awful but big men like him often have heart problems. 

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[cambridgeguy]

I hope he has a long and healthy retirement.  When the time comes he might generate quite the debate about whether he's a Hall of Famer or not.

[Lady Whistleup]

ANOTHER big injury. Donovan Mitchell went down with a sprained ankle. 

What is it this season with injuries? 

Also, seems more teams are getting vaccinated. No positive covid tests this week, and Montrez Harrell posted how excited he was to get jabbed today.

[xaxat]

I was hoping Vince Carter would return for this season so he could get a proper farewell tour, but he's pretty good at this TV thing.

[Magog]

Last night, Stephen Curry scored more than 30 points (47) in 10 straight games tying the NBA Record with Kobe Bryant (RIP) & being his very usual smug self. Luckily, him & those very loathsome Warriors lost to the equally loathsome Celtics (except for Tacko Fall) 119-114. ESPN was very happy that he tied the record & cheering him on in the process. 

ESPN will get to cheer on their favorite player again on Monday Night when he will (sadly) probably break the record against the unrootable 76ers & mocking them while doing it. He will probably go 50 on these clowns.

Frankly at this point, I'm surprised that Stephen A Smith hasn't yet compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan since he thinks that Stephen Curry is best guard & greatest shooter in NBA history.

 

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Magog

[Lady Whistleup]

I love the Warriors and their freewheeling offense. Last night's Celtics/Warriors game was great fun to watch.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[grommit2]

22 minutes ago, Magog said:

Last night, Stephen Curry scored more than 30 points (47) in 10 straight games tying the NBA Record with Kobe Bryant (RIP) & being his very usual smug self. Luckily, him & those very loathsome Warriors lost to the equally loathsome Celtics 119-114. ESPN was very happy that he tied the record & cheering him on in the process. 

ESPN will get to cheer on their favorite player again on Monday Night when he will (sadly) probably break the record against the unrootable 76ers & mocking them while doing it. He will probably go 50 on these clowns.

Frankly at this point, I'm surprised that Stephen A Smith hasn't yet compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan since he thinks that Stephen Curry is best guard & greatest shooter in NBA history.

 

 

Hi Magog...my 2 cents:
I find that there are some players who are truly fun and/or exciting to watch.  
Oh yes, Michael Jordan was certainly one of them.  As was Bird, Magic, Cousy, West, Baylor, even Chamberlain.  I might not root for them, but I certainly marvel at their skills. 
And Curry is also in that elite group.  He shoots so quickly and from so far out that you just have to watch to enjoy the show. There does not appear to be any set up, step back...just grab and shoot.  Amazing.  
Unfortunately, he also hurt his ankle...and continued to play through it.   Hopefully this will be a short recovery. 

[Lady Whistleup]

I'll add to that list Kevin Durant. It's just fun to watch a 7 foot player pull up from anywhere on the court and shoot. KD also has this impeccable shooting form. It's also fun seeing defenders kill themselves trying to guard him. 

Damian Lillard is also fun to watch for how unguardable he can be.

ETA: some great players can be not that fun to watch. For instance A Davis is a great player, but he's not that fun to watch. There's not a move he does where I'm like "That must be Anthony Davis." He reminds me of those all-around gymnasts who aren't particularly good on any apparatus but are good enough overall to medal.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Lady Whistleup

[kathyk24]

3 hours ago, Magog said:

Last night, Stephen Curry scored more than 30 points (47) in 10 straight games tying the NBA Record with Kobe Bryant (RIP) & being his very usual smug self. Luckily, him & those very loathsome Warriors lost to the equally loathsome Celtics (except for Tacko Fall) 119-114. ESPN was very happy that he tied the record & cheering him on in the process. 

ESPN will get to cheer on their favorite player again on Monday Night when he will (sadly) probably break the record against the unrootable 76ers & mocking them while doing it. He will probably go 50 on these clowns.

Frankly at this point, I'm surprised that Stephen A Smith hasn't yet compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan since he thinks that Stephen Curry is best guard & greatest shooter in NBA history.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Magog said:

Last night, Stephen Curry scored more than 30 points (47) in 10 straight games tying the NBA Record with Kobe Bryant (RIP) & being his very usual smug self. Luckily, him & those very loathsome Warriors lost to the equally loathsome Celtics (except for Tacko Fall) 119-114. ESPN was very happy that he tied the record & cheering him on in the process. 

ESPN will get to cheer on their favorite player again on Monday Night when he will (sadly) probably break the record against the unrootable 76ers & mocking them while doing it. He will probably go 50 on these clowns.

Frankly at this point, I'm surprised that Stephen A Smith hasn't yet compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan since he thinks that Stephen Curry is best guard & greatest shooter in NBA history.

 

 

What did Steph Curry do to you? He's won multiple MVP awards and deserves the praise he gets. He's not the basketball equivalent of Tim Tebow.

[Lady Whistleup]

1 hour ago, kathyk24 said:

 

What did Steph Curry do to you? He's won multiple MVP awards and deserves the praise he gets. He's not the basketball equivalent of Tim Tebow.

Not only that, he's done some great charity work for Oakland. His foundation provided 16 million meals to needy children in one year.

I actually like 99% of NBA players. I find them the most fun group of athletes. 

[cambridgeguy]

13 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

Frankly at this point, I'm surprised that Stephen A Smith hasn't yet compare Stephen Curry to Michael Jordan since he thinks that Stephen Curry is best guard & greatest shooter in NBA history.

Steph does have a case as the best shooter in NBA history.  Fifth all time in 3 pt fg% (ironically, his coach is number 1) with a large volume, first in ft%, etc.  

[Lady Whistleup]

5 hours ago, cambridgeguy said:

Steph does have a case as the best shooter in NBA history.  Fifth all time in 3 pt fg% (ironically, his coach is number 1) with a large volume, first in ft%, etc.  

I read a metric that is interesting: that the best predictor for how good a shooter will be is how good his FT% is in college. And I have noticed that some of the best pure shooters also have the best FT%. Steph is 90%, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Kyrie Irving, Larry Bird all also have great FT% (around 88%). 

It's more impressive then that some big guys not known for pure shooting like Joel Embiid and Magic Johnson also become excellent FT shooters.

[Lady Whistleup]

Sad news. Scottie Pippen's son passed away.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

Steph gonna Steph. Congrats on the record. 

[Magog]

I was expecting 50 last night. Stephen Curry came very close to getting there (49 points) while breaking the record for most 30 or more point games in a row & as usual, mocking the 76ers while doing it. I'm surprised that we haven't gotten a half-court or longer buzzer beater from him during this streak.  Ben Simmons can learn a few things from him. 

Who is the next team that Stephen Curry is going to mocked next while he scores more than 30 points? ESPN will probably air the next game & being gleeful as usual like they were last night.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

The Dubs play the Wizards on Wednesday. It won't be nationally televised. Feel free to join me on my couch to watch your bud Steph mock the Wiz. 😁

[Lady Whistleup]

12 hours ago, emmawoodhouse said:

Steph gonna Steph. Congrats on the record. 

If the Warriors make the playoffs this will truly be one player dragging the rest of his team into the post-season.