THE 2017 NBA 'OFFS™

also im glad chris paul is such a terrible person, if anyone else was getting eliminated from the playoffs in such a consistently luckless fashion i might have to feel bad

i still really hate the oladipo acquisition for OKC

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, April 25, 2017 10:25 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i really don't dislike kanter but like... they're paying him $70 million and he can't get off the bench in a must win playoff game

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, April 25, 2017 10:33 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

these are the first steps to realizing that sam presti is possibly a bad executive

i love it when chris paul gets eliminated from the nba playoffs

it hasns't happened yet though

sadly

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19243080/zach-lowe-boston-celtics-hiding-isaiah-thomas-vs-chicago-bulls-nba

And sometimes, they've just eaten the switch. Thomas is 5-9, but he's stronger than brutes anticipate. "He's a tough, stocky little dude," said Miami's James Johnson, who formed one of the league's best wing-point guard pick-and-roll tandems this season with Goran Dragic. "He gets low. And when you try to back him down, he pulls the chair on you. He's got a lot of antics."

lol appreciate johnsons use of antics here

bulls: where is thomas
celtics: [shrugging]

bulls: [pointing at thomas] Is that thomas?
celtics: that's the ball boy.
[bulls look elsewhere, "ball boy" sinks a 3 pointer, celtics up by 2]
bulls: oh no

bulls: [pointing at thomas] we know thats thomas
celtics: [pulling philosophy book from backpack] how do you know

why is there a game at 3pm today...

nba really doesnt want people to watch the wiz vs hawks

is it a game if no one watches

makes u think

gonna have to think on this

if the scorekeeper falls asleep then they have to start over again from the beginning

i think the nba is doing the right thing

i watched the last game and despite it being close there was a profound underlying current of dissatisfaction

wall has been fun but pretty much everyone else is playing just ok or inconsistent. i like the lame trash talk between the teams tho. markief folding like a blanket after yapping has been predictable.

both celtics and wiz games are on tnt so they cant be on at the same time and theyre both on the east coast so one cant be too late so one has to be early i guess lol, 830 is a p late start anyway and itll prob start later considering theyre only giving the first game 2.5 hours to complete

i dont know how east coast folk watch sports.

how did the schedule end up with all western conf last night and all east tonight? that seems like it would be easy to avoid.

its bad, my life is so much more civilized since i moved to mountain time xp

i spent a while in alantic time wanna talk abt bad my lord

lol how'd you end up there

its,,,complicated

o wow i just realized i can never move to lisbon, another dream crushed

U just would need a night job where you can watch hoops

Late sports is the worst thing about the east coast, west coast start times are glorious except when you want to see the early Thursday game and it's nearly over by dinner

If you can still stomach football those late morning starts (get that national giants/cowboys game out of the way early) and Sunday nite ball wrapping up at a reasonable time is real nice too, loved finishing that with time to watch Sunday nite PRESTIGE DRAMA to spare

a night (hoops) watchman

i watched the last game and despite it being close there was a profound underlying current of dissatisfaction

― lag∞n, Wednesday, April 26, 2017 1:30 PM (fifty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Saw a lot of this one too and this series just has this...desultory aura around it. Like all the wiz but wall are saving a gear for the real start next round and all the scuffles feel like they're out of playoff obligation

otm

a bunch of ESPN writers seem to be getting laid off. ethan strauss among them

https://twitter.com/SherwoodStrauss/status/857294016987058176

covering in here a bit:

sports and/or sport writing

ah thx

crazy about ethan

figured he'd be among the safest of all the espn nba writers.

basketball noob here, what's the problem with Chris Paul as a person? what has he done?

he's a national treasure imo

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/chris-paul-jumping-on-dwight-howards-back.gif

i think as a person there isn't an issue, but given his physical limitations (6 feet tall, short arms, and can't really jump) he has to exploit every advantage he can think of. this leads to some cool stuff (clock management, defensive positioning, running the pick and roll better than anyone ever maybe) and some less cool stuff (flopping/trying to influence the referees, being questionably dirty, generally being humorless on the court)

so the issue is with his style of play rather than him as a person. at least he has the lack of physicality excuse compared to like, dwyane wade

in sports i just tend to gravitate towards savants like cp3, joey votto, who understand the game better than anyone else and play a strategically interesting game. there are definitely some drawbacks to this that i try to be upfront about

xp that gif nomar posted is an example, he's fouling a poor free throw shooter away from the ball without getting an intentional foul called (which would be foul shots + the opponent would retain possession). you can see how that kind of stuff can be tiring. but he's just trying to make the rules work for him and his team

he's prone to tantrums. also he's the OG nut puncher. hes such and ass on the court but it's good for the league to balance that with the Conley's and what not.

Off the court he seems like a good enough guy/dad but you never know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3a-uuxbgGg

There's never been a player as dirty and cheap as he is who was also such a fucking baby about it

hehe i love when matt is mad

The things he does also used to be things which superstars would not stoop to, but lebron and Kobe turned into floppers so that era is over

i dont know how east coast folk watch sports.

― Spottie, Wednesday, April 26, 2017 1:35 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

9pm tip-offs can be a pain but i need the kids in bed before i can sit down and watch hoops. day games and 7pm tip-offs mean i miss a lot of games

The things he does also used to be things which superstars would not stoop to, but lebron and Kobe turned into floppers so that era is over

― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, April 26, 2017 5:30 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wade is/was just as bad! also, the rule changes incentivized this kind of stuff. jordan didn't need to do it because they wouldn't call hand checks at the top of the key if he flopped anyway

it should be emphasized imo that unlike uber-athletes like wade and lebron, paul at least has the excuse that he needs every advantage he can get

its been really fun to watch he and Ingles interact this series cos apparently they have a friendship and whenever CP tries some BS Ingles just shakes his heed at him and CP kinda wink winks back and breaks character for a millisecond.