(10-29-2023, 01:29 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]They are definitely a big surprise. I'm still not sold on the Thompson twin but Cade has taken a step and Duren looks legit.
Play in hopeful is a real expectation for them this season.
You're wrong about Ausar. He has a defensive presence, and always makes plays that contribute to winning. Once his offense catches up with his defense he'll be even better.
Kinda shocked Atlanta went to Milwaukee and popped the Bucks 127-110. Dame was held to 6 pts on 2-12 shooting and 2-8 on 3's. Hawks had eight guys in double figures. Bucks were led by Giannis with 26 and 13.
(10-29-2023, 11:02 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Yes, I’ve watched all of one game and part of another. ROOOOOUGH.
I was driving the Capela bandwagon, but I have the ability to change my mind as time passes. So, yeah, my opinion will change if his play does.
No, it was clearly not a good idea to trade anything of value for Capela. Didn’t think it was when I wanted him, and now I feel even more sure with Lively’s strong start. Great, great job on the Mavs’ part not to make that move, so far.
Huh? Of course you can change your mind about anything. Doesn’t make it any less trivial to me after 2 games. Haven’t you preached patience at the beginning of seasons? I think that is the same type concept here. No one in the league is any 2 games of their season/career.
(10-30-2023, 09:29 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]Huh? Of course you can change your mind about anything. Doesn’t make it any less trivial to me after 2 games. Haven’t you preached patience at the beginning of seasons? I think that is the same type concept here. No one in the league is any 2 games of their season/career.
You know what is NOT patient is that salary. Now if we were talking about a Holmes and ballast deal that would be something, but there is literally very little salary, that would make that deal work, that Dallas can afford to move at the moment.
ShamsCharania
Kings All-Star De’Aaron Fox has avoided significant injury, but has sustained a moderate sprain of his right ankle and he is likely to miss some time, sources tell me and
@sam_amick
. Fox played through the sprain down stretch of 37 points and victory over Lakers on Sunday.
(10-30-2023, 09:29 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]Huh? Of course you can change your mind about anything. Doesn’t make it any less trivial to me after 2 games. Haven’t you preached patience at the beginning of seasons? I think that is the same type concept here. No one in the league is any 2 games of their season/career.
Sure, but that's not really an applicable concept here. We're having two different conversations.
We're not trying to solve the mystery of "is Capela still good, or will he ever be good again." That would require patience, I agree.
We're trying to solve the mystery of "should the Mavs have done what(ever) it took to bring Capela here because they had no other legitimate options at center?" My answer during the summer would've been "yes, if what it took was an organic exchange of similar talents to shift payroll into places that make more sense for both teams, but HELL NO to even a conversation about including an UNPROTECTED first round draft pick. Even a late 1st is too much."
Now, after we learn (what I presume the Mavs already knew) that Lively is ready to take his first year lumps on the court, during games, and not hidden away in practice or spending time in the G-League? Now, I literally think it's a win NOT TO HAVE CAPELA AND HIS CONTRACT ON THIS ROSTER. Period. The fact that he has shown sharp decline to start the season (which, I agree, could be temporary) is only part of the equation here. But, it represents a downside potential that I'm extremely grateful we don't have to worry about as Mavs fans.
(10-30-2023, 01:58 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Sure, but that's not really an applicable concept here. We're having two different conversations.
We're not trying to solve the mystery of "is Capela still good, or will he ever be good again." That would require patience, I agree.
We're trying to solve the mystery of "should the Mavs have done what(ever) it took to bring Capela here because they had no other legitimate options at center?" My answer during the summer would've been "yes, if what it took was an organic exchange of similar talents to shift payroll into places that make more sense for both teams, but HELL NO to even a conversation about including an UNPROTECTED first round draft pick. Even a late 1st is too much."
Now, after we learn (what I presume the Mavs already knew) that Lively is ready to take his first year lumps on the court, during games, and not hidden away in practice or spending time in the G-League? Now, I literally think it's a win NOT TO HAVE CAPELA AND HIS CONTRACT ON THIS ROSTER. Period. The fact that he has shown sharp decline to start the season (which, I agree, could be temporary) is only part of the equation here. But, it represents a downside potential that I'm extremely grateful we don't have to worry about as Mavs fans.
Ok, sure. I think the two correlate in that if Capela is on sharp decline, you’re right. If not, and he is just having a couple bad games during an otherwise regular season for him, it’s a premature call. We also operate at opposing sides of the THJ value spectrum.
Anyway, maybe Cap isn’t the C from Atl we should be looking at? Okongwu, I’ve read, has some fan detractors. He just got extended to a contract that is solid for a backup too. I doubt they would, but he may be the better long term bet. All I want to see is the level of play at C that we saw in that SA opening game throughout the entirety of the game (sans smallball stretches).
(10-29-2023, 08:09 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: [ -> ]It's early, but Detroit looks pretty good even with Bogie and Morris still out. They seem to have improved on defense. The Thompson twin has been fabulous. They are physical and play big, but they turn the ball over too much.
I like several of their players. Duren re-classified in HS and is only a few months older than Lively (still 19). Lively and Duren were on the same AAU Team. That must have been comical. Duren is more than a beast though. He has also shown some nice feel from what I have read.
I still think Detroit would be better if they filled the team around Cade and Duren with wings who could shoot. Most of their important guys are young, so it will be interesting if they can develop into solid shooters.
(10-30-2023, 02:33 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: [ -> ]Ok, sure. I think the two correlate in that if Capela is on sharp decline, you’re right. If not, and he is just having a couple bad games during an otherwise regular season for him, it’s a premature call. We also operate at opposing sides of the THJ value spectrum.
Anyway, maybe Cap isn’t the C from Atl we should be looking at? Okongwu, I’ve read, has some fan detractors. He just got extended to a contract that is solid for a backup too. I doubt they would, but he may be the better long term bet. All I want to see is the level of play at C that we saw in that SA opening game throughout the entirety of the game (sans smallball stretches).
No, not at all.
The Mavs shouldn't be looking at ANY centers until it's clear who the guy they just spent the 12th pick on is in reality. I was into the Capela idea when it seemed (because we all assumed) that he wasn't ready to even play, but he clearly is. I'm not even sure you can get away with playing ONE center every game these days, let alone two, and the guys they have to supplement Lively (Powell/Holmes) are both IDEAL, at least in "type." I'd want Kleber to be playing a little better, ideally, but THAT'S where patience should be argued for in this conversation - patience for the guys already on the roster. Heck, they even have a "break glass in case of emergency" guy in Holmes who can fill in for Lively or Powell if needed. And, if you are in the "Holmes hasn't pissed me off playing for the Mavs yet, so he must be better than some of these guys who have" camp, then you might even say his presence provides an adequate level of competition for the others to stay on their toes, and possibly even to pass them.
It all adds up to a pretty relaxed posture from me about the center position, honestly. I'm more focused on this mess they're trying to wade through with the perimeter defenders. They're trying to play DJJ at the 3! THAT should tell us where the hole on this roster is, imho. I think they were hoping O-Max could fill that role and are scrambling (which makes even the late DJJ signing make more sense, just not in a good way).
(10-30-2023, 03:47 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Is anyone else annoyed by this in season tournament stuff, or am I just slowly descending into the "get off my lawn, skateboard kid" era of my ife?
I'm neither excited nor annoyed about it at this point, but I definitely hate that font the Mavs are using.
(10-30-2023, 03:47 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Is anyone else annoyed by this in season tournament stuff, or am I just slowly descending into the "get off my lawn, skateboard kid" era of my ife?
Thankfully the Mavs are unlikely to win this. Imagine a ring and/or banner ceremony because they won a glorified regular season game.
(10-30-2023, 03:47 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Is anyone else annoyed by this in season tournament stuff, or am I just slowly descending into the "get off my lawn, skateboard kid" era of my ife?
It is annoying only because the NBA is trying so hard to make it happen.
I don't think anyone was asking for an additional tournament which is just the regular season. The NBA has forgotten that the product is basketball, not accolades. Strong branding (which Nike has diluted beyond all compare coupled with awful jersey sponsors), exciting play (which has been degraded by refs and the league curtailing all forms of trash talk and rivalries), and NBA stars who seem to go out of their way to show/say they're not that interested in basketball has all played way more of a role in the lack of interest in the regular season.
Plus there are ads every 4 seconds and even between free throws. Its awful. You'd think the league is run by morons with the choices that they make. Oh well.
Trying to be optimistic, perhaps this trophy can come to mean something in the future to the point where teams actively plan for it. But given that there are no real stakes for the games and it's basically just the regular season, I can't see it taking off.
The only way a separate tournament will draw interest is if it includes clubs all over the world. Having NBA teams play NBA teams in a regular season game is not going to mean anything to fans outside of that regular season game. I assume Silver's long game is to have something more inclusive of European clubs, G League All Stars, Aussie clubs, etc. to mimic the Champions League because apparently he's a big soccer guy.
I wouldn't be opposed to getting rid of conferences and divisions altogether and shortening the season to 62 games (two games for each opponent assuming expansion happens) and then doing a big tourney separate from the regular season that includes clubs from all over this time of year instead. Would give the tourney some sort of intrigue and then makes the regular season feel like less of a slough and more important than it is today (may even solve some of the player rest issues in the process). But this current format is lame.
Some observations:
- KP has never looked better. Just needed four all defensive caliber perimeter defenders next to him that can prevent the switch hunting.
- For people that are still into Capela-watch. Boxscore isn't pretty. 2pts/5reb/5blk, -4 in 23 minutes. Okongwu was +22 in 24 minutes.
- Ayton remembered that he is a big. 23 rebounds in a win over the Raptors. Raptors aren't looking good. OG and Siakam trade rumors incoming.
- Simmons looks almost like his old self (at least in transition).
I didn't even realise this game was an inseason tournament game
Agree with everyone who said, glorified regular season games will not work for anyone involved. Players will not put in extra effort and fans will not care.
![[Image: 3woye4mmsdxb1.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s...cd1d67c944]](https://preview.redd.it/3woye4mmsdxb1.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&s=26923f641d965b6ed81282b4048307cd1d67c944)