*~*~* 2022 PLAY-IN GAMES THREAD *~*~*

I know it's dumb to have these sub-.400 teams in the playoffs but watching them play this hard & constantly panicked is fun, like a mini-March Madness before the real playoffs start.

they don’t have any good defensive players on their roster but their guys could also… try? maybe a different coach gets through to them, or gets them more organized on that side of the floor? i don’t think it’s a crazy thought. barrego seems like a fine coach but he might just be mismatched with this roster. their offense barely needs coaching meanwhile they need a massive effort on the defensive end. there’s prob someone who could squeeze more out of them

or now what if, just hear me out, mike dan tony

i hear thibs may be available soon

xp i'm sure there is but effort and organization is like 20% of the problem and personnel is like 80%. as usual it comes down to what the teams goals are and i'm not sure the hornets really have any.

Clint Capela’s been quietly bringing a lot recently. Glad to see Hunter have a game but yeah this was mostly cringing at the hornets

idk, on defense i’m not sure the split is necessarily 80% talent and 20% effort. on offense, sure. but there’s plenty of guys with defensive potential who don’t try or aren’t on teams that promote good defense. maybe not on the hornets (tho i might put bridges in that bucket) but i just find it hard to believe that this group of guys couldn’t get somewhat better on that end. they were by a significant measure worse than orlando and OKC, for instance. that’s not a personnel issue that’s a coaching (and by extension an organizational) issue.

last year dallas was 21st in defense, minnesota was 28th. this year those teams were 7th and 13th, without making significant roster changes or having any noteworthy defensive players on either roster, barring arguably finney smith but it’s not like anyone mentions him in all defense discussions. the one thing both those teams did was change coaches. i don’t think you just look at your roster and go “well we don’t have any good defensive players on here so we just gotta wait 3 more years until we can change this team over and then maybe we will play defense”

i understand that point (as much as i think it might speak to high variability in defensive rating year to year) but in the case of the hornets, they've cast their lot with so many veterans who are known quantities that i do think the talent is doing a lot of work here--they play herrell and plumlee at center, neither of whom have ever played effective defense. rozier hasn't played defense for a few years. hayward can't be expected to be impactful there going forward.

their cornerstone players are lamelo, who isn't playing defense anytime soon, and bridges, who could play some defense but he's had such an explosion on the offensive end that i'm going to assume his effort is weighted there in the future.

i do agree that a different coach could improve defensive performance, but the structural problems in the roster are real.

the crowd in NOLA has been bringing it tonight

mccollum 25 points in the first half

McCollum with the heat check

CJ is just roasting these guys sheesh

spurs havent been a very good defensive team this year. murray being dislined with foul trouble isnt ideal. keldon having one of the worst games ive ever seen from him, just totally lost in the sauce.

cj woulda been perfect for the the 76ers but morey had to have his guy

cj believes in the pelicans hes going out to dinner with zion trying to make it work

cj isn't my favorite player but he is too good for the 9/10 play in, and is rightfully destroying this

i think the flaw in the play in game might be that the 10 seeds are just non competitive. been pretty grizzly both years now

no the grizzlies are the 2 seed

they were the 8 seed last year, i teed that one up for you

hope Zion can come back for the next game

it wouldve been funnier to watch the lakers lose a playin game to the pelicans

spurs denying the lakers the play-in was our highlight of the year besides pop's wi record

you mean highlight of the year so far

this new orleans team is cool. they could really use some zion in that jaxson hayes slot. cj/herb/ingram/zion/valencunias is a pretty sweet starting 5.

feels like the west is gonna be back loaded next year. houston & OKC will be the only teams not trying to make the playoffs. dame back in portland, full season of sabonis in sacramento, zion back and full season of CJ there, kawhi back, murray back, lakers can’t possibly be worse. utah is the one team where it feels like it could go either way depending on how the next month plays out

re: hornets there have been persistent rumours that they are interested in myles turner. just finding any top level rim protector would go a long way to improving their defense, at least in the regular season.

haywards contract sucks but he has two fewer years left than gobert so maybe that would make some sort of sense for the jazz if they blow it up

People dumping on the hornets too much, they’ve got a lot of talent and were 4 games over .500

i like them a lot but theyve def got some work to do filling out the roster

lamelo and bridges are like 2/3 of a very good core. a non-plumlee big would go a long way

the hornets were 4 games over .500 but have also lost play in games by 29 points and 27 points in back to back years. doesn't speak very highly of their chances to make noise in the playoffs should they actually get there one day. idk if you can win anything of substance if you play defense like that.

i'm not sure they have "a lot of talent" ... they have two great core young pieces, which is definitely something. it should give them a certain floor for the next half decade. the hurdle is that they're gonna be drafting in the middle of the first round at best moving forward, they aren't a FA destination unless they wildly overpay, and they're not a franchise that is exactly known for its shrewd GMing around the margins of its roster. i would love to see them cycle out the rozier/oubre/washington part of their roster for guys who better balance out lamelo and bridges.

myles turner is a great idea for them. maybe the hayward-indiana reunion finally happens?

New for @TheAthleticNBA - No, Charlotte's train isn't stuck on the tracks, but are we sure it's moving in the right direction?https://t.co/6qqzAVUdb0

— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) April 14, 2022

guess the worst case scenario for them is lamelo future laker

they should have lamelo there for a while... feel like the worst case scenario is that it's an anthony davis, karl towns situation where the transcendent talent can't actually transcend the historical shittiness of the franchise

welp

Luka Doncic is expected to miss Game 1 of the Mavs vs. Jazz series on Saturday due to a strained calf.

(via @ShamsCharania) pic.twitter.com/e1HSDg71RJ

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 14, 2022

BREAKING: Ben Simmons is targeting Game 4,5 and 6 of series with Celtics for his Nets debut, via ESPN.

Here we go. 👀 pic.twitter.com/An7jRxOTdt

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 14, 2022

thats cool hell be able to play one game this year

why is there no hoop ball tonight again the nba messed up with this scheduling

yeah they couldve staggered the conferences

wonder if there'll at some point be a player who plays their only nba minutes in the play-in games and thus has no record of ever existing

this simmons stuff is just a disaster what the hell man

a complete mess

its funny to me an avid follower of "the nets" basketball team

I want Simmons to play long enough this series to shatter whatever false bravado he built up the last 12 months.

Like maybe KD grabbing the ball angrily from him following a late Gm 7 FT miss and pointing to the bench.

i've heard ppl on podcasts be like "well even if he can't do anything on offense, you can at least put him out there for 15 mins a game to guard tatum" and i'm like..... are we sure about that? the guy hasn't played competitive basketball in a full year

it makes no sense to me at all. someone is trying to save face.

yeah doesnt make sense bet he doesnt play

maybe if they get down bad in the series they throw him out there cos why not