part two of the nba 2020-21 anything but regular season

i live in brooklyn and have greatly enjoyed watching this shambolically frankensteined "hey we play defense SOMEtimes" home team a lot but seeing the nets get knocked out by the westbrook bullets in the first round would be immensely entertaining.
on the other hand, i would be happy to see them win the whole thing! I'd be happy to see any team win this year! Except the Lakers, not the Lakers.

Except the Lakers, not the Lakers.

This man talks sense.

there were too many teams in the playoffs already is my feeling, more than half the teams, doesnt makes sense, leads to dumb bad playoff games

― lag∞n, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 9:44 AM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

FPd for wanting less 'offs

yeah technically you have to lose twice to miss out if you're the 7-8 seed. but it is a bum deal in a sense. but also who cares you gotta win the games that matter so just win them.

jordan otm

between this and the anti tanking bottom three teams have the same chance at the top pick i feel like i feel like the nba has added some new layers to keep competitiveness up.

i hate the play-in. terribly bandaid for the actual problem which is too many damn games.

FPd for wanting less 'offs

― i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Wednesday, April 28, 2021 12:56 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

wow maybe try looking into a little concept called less is more

Does the playin determine who ends up in the lottery S well?

*as well

i believe lottery odds are set based on standings prior to the playin

wow maybe try looking into a little concept called less is more

― lag∞n, Wednesday, April 28, 2021 10:04 AM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHZ48AE3TOI

To me, the play-in kills the end of the regular season. Teams that barely deserve to be in the playoffs like the Pacers and Warriors instead are basically playoff locks. Is that worth it for a few games of a fun new wrinkle? The playoffs already ruled without it.

i don’t see how the pacers or warriors are playoff locks. they might not even be play in game locks! i don’t see any argument for the idea that there is less intrigue to the end of the regular season... in a typical season the only thing that would really matter right now is the race for eighth in both conferences and some jockeying for seeding but teams typically haven’t cared that much about that in recent years. the play in keeps the race for eighth (so that you only need one win to get into the playoffs) and adds a race for tenth (to get into the play in), and a race for sixth (to avoid the play in). there’s way more games that matter on any given night — most of the teams in okee are inherently not all that great but i still don’t see how it’s less interesting than normal

most of the teams involved*

literally only two teams are mathematically eliminated as of this writing and they rhyme with "dimberwolves" and "Larden Heft"

the play in is fine though it has to be understood for what it is which is simply a transparent attempt to increase revenue for the league, tho I imagine this year they won’t get as much as they wanted due the pandemic and all. you can make the argument that it creates stakes for this part of the season and engages more fan bases which is obviously true tho there are diminishing returns as far as watchable basketball goes, for example you could take this to its logical extreme and just make every team eligible for the playin which I think would not be great, I mean even with the 9 or 10 seeds it gives you a few extra national TV games of like bradley beal and steph curry which isn’t nothing but in the grand scheme of things from a holistic perspective is sort of nothing. basketball is not really the kind of sport where a bad team can make an unexpected run to the finals, it’s the main reason why the playoffs are so inclusive already because there’s essentially zero chance a team that’s not a top 3 seed makes the finals

heat were a 5 seed last year but neither last year nor this year count so

yes last year doesn’t count also lol east

i think your last point is the biggest argument against the play in, in that what it's offering right now is some sort of false sense of hope. the media can push it to death and the league can celebrate the ratings for those games for maybe a few years, but we all know that 7/8 seeds get destroyed and the fleeting high of winning the play in is going to get old fast among different fanbases. the league will also tout it as an antidote to tanking, but lottery reform has already done most of that work and how many years is it going to be before somebody decides that they'd rather settle into 11 or 12 than take a run at 10?

it's just so obviously a temporary solution to a larger problem. ironically when people say that the play in will increase excitement for who gets the 6 seed, they're unintentionally suggesting a better format for the nba playoffs which would be 6 teams per conference and byes for the 1 and 2. want to make regular season games for good teams meaningful? offer up a first round bye. it will never happen, but since everyone knows what happens to marginal playoff teams in the nba it would be much more meaningful than whatever path we're going down now.

otoh if the trailblazers win WOULDN'T THAT BE SOMETHING

if the trailblazers were to win it would be nice for blazers fans like me, but a disaster for the league, what with so many great players being sidelined with injuries in order for this to happen

It’s so weird seeing Javale McGee make good decisions all the time

but the fact that 7/8 seeds almost always get destroyed is what makes those rare upsets unforgettable.

guess there hasn't been one since drose got injured in game 1 in 2012 however (not an unforgettable series ftr)

I’m not saying this means anything but the nuggets are doig a pretty good job of beating bad teams since murray’s gone down.

Campazzo was a clutch signing, he’s been huge in the games with Barton out

who’s in second for MVP now? is it giannis or has curry overtaken him?

tbh maybe it’s kawhi, feel like he’s having a really great under the radar season and is making a great case in the MVP race, for second place

dame's been nursing an injury* and the blazers have been shit so it is not him

*(also seems to me like teams started trapping him in pretty clever ways and he sorta fell off a ledge since this has been happening?)

yeah everyone ignores the clippers but kawhi is having a really good season

everyone ignores the clippers

The Jazz and Suns are novelties and that generates buzz for them. Plus the Lakers always suck massive attention towards themselves. Also, the PG Playoff Effect may have something to do with people discounting the Clippers. Once the 'offs are underway the reg season doesn't matter anyway.

chris paul should get some mvp vote u wld think

embiid will finish a distant second

Paul third imo

If we're going by the "Best player on the best/2nd best team in the league" criteria that's seemed to been the norm for the award over the past ~20 years outside of the Westbrook outlier season Paul should be first IMO. Absolutely ludicrous how he's taken one of the most inept franchises in the league from a decade straight in the lottery to 1 game off best record in the league basically overnight in his first season going on 36 years old.

He absolutely took over in that game vs the clips tonight. Cooked pg no problem.

Did the same a couple days ago to the Knicks to end that 9 game tear they were on too.

Lakers might end up with the 6th seed...

Battle of LA first round would be insane

I have been right about chris paul for 15 years straight now but this year has been especially satisfying

last night was the first suns game i've seen in about a month or so. i like the style of swarming, fast pass, high energy ball they're playing and can think of a few western contenders that might well be flummoxed by it during the playoffs.

Missed this until now:

That's some high IQ ball right there, @iAmSJ pic.twitter.com/Y5N6ckYCgS

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) April 27, 2021

Today's Athletic has an EXTENSIVE mea culpa from Love, here's the bulk of it... dude sounds like he's in a bad place.

I know that I fucked up,” Love said. “I apologize for that. I don’t go out there meaning to upset anybody, to embarrass myself, to embarrass the organization because I feel like I’m a part of something of bigger than myself here.

My intent wasn’t to disrespect the game. My intent wasn’t even for the damn ball to go inbounds. It was a moment that I got caught up in. I didn’t even really understand what happened as the possession played out. I think I was a little dumbfounded. I even heard a couple of coaches saying the ball wasn’t in. My idea was that I was going to go grab the ball and pass it right back into DG. But that obviously wasn’t the case. I kept playing hard, didn’t play the fourth quarter. Other guys got to see minutes, but I didn’t realize how bad it looked really until after the game, I truly didn’t.

I just completely shut down because I never want that to be who I am. I don’t want to be here and defend my character whether it being Chris Fedor saying I blatantly lost the game or whatever he said in the media, which was brought to my attention by different players and the coaching staff, who knows I would ride or die with them. Everything I do comes from a good place. Whatever was said outside of it was a way bigger deal than … I know that I fucked up. This isn’t, ‘Woe is me.’ These guys ride with me. I apologized. We’ve moved on. We even talked about it today, but I mean I know the perception and the way people want to make this. Me being a leader for the team and I know I’m going to take that on the chin. I’m going to be a man and take it on the chin.

I apologize for that lack of judgment because that wasn’t me. Truly wasn’t me. I truly believe that all the good that I do should outweigh the bad.

I’m slightly broken-hearted because I have had the game taken away from me. I have missed games and I feel a lot of guilt. That’s another thing on top of imposter syndrome and I mentioned feeling that guilt in missing games and letting my teammates down, letting the fans down and then having a setback and returning to play and not being able to be my old self. I’m so frustrated that I can’t be my full self right now for my teammates and that … you know I can’t be better for them and that was part of the moment of frustration that I had, that was a big part of it. And for that, I apologize too.

This isn’t something that happened last year, where, yes, that was something that was not coming from a good place. But this wasn’t that. DG even made light of it after the game, and I had to kind of say, ‘Hey, listen, guys. No, that was a really bad situation.’ I know, of course, they come down and hit a 3 out of it. But it was nothing about them. It was nothing about the coaching staff. Part of it was the officiating, part of it was how I’ve been playing, the back-to-back, us having four or five games out, but those just sound like excuses. I take this one on the chin, naturally, I’ll do that as a man, I’ll do that as a teammate. And just, again, like I said, continue to get better. That’s really all I can do. And like I said, this one hurt me because it wasn’t coming from a bad place.

I’ll say it again and again, I fucked up. But at the same time, my relationship with the coaches, my teammates, front office, people want to make something about Koby (Altman) or Andrae Patterson or Jason Hillman, we’ve never had a better relationship than we’ve had now. I’ll ride or die for J.B. and our coaching staff, and I’ll ride or die for our young guys, even when I’m given 60 percent, 70 percent of myself up right now because I’m still getting over the hump with my injury.

I’m not saying that what was said about me or any of our team or anything is unjust. I believe that we have to be better and especially me being a leader, I have to be better. But I know that I’m a good human being. I know in some cases that I’m misunderstood. And that’s fine. And that’s fine.

I love Cleveland, I’ll fucking rock with Cleveland ’til the day I die. I believe that I’ll come back here, whether anybody’s opinion of me has soured because I haven’t been available or my play this year hasn’t quite been there because I’m off balance, and I’m not able to get in the shape I want to be in because I’m held back, fine. Those can all sound like excuses. But this is just me leaving it all out there. being truthful and just being Kevin. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s all I can be.

damn man

tbf i have never really seen a professional athlete just tune out like that

it's like if a center fielder just stopped running and let the ball land next to him and just kept standing there

https://i.imgur.com/u1sE83d.gif

lol totally

i am somewhat equally confused by Darius Garland's response? He just sorta looks around.

love still has two more seasons after this on that contract...

seems like he might want to think about retiring idk

hard to walk away from 60M no matter what your mental state is.