(05-25-2024, 10:29 PM)windjc Wrote: I am not impressed by this Celtics team. I know they might kick our ass, but they seem to have zero defense. They have yet to play a decent opponent. I am sure they'll be favored by 97.5% of all talking deads, but I don't care. I think our toughest opponent might have been the Clippers, followed by the Sgaers, followed by Minnesota.

(05-26-2024, 04:25 AM)RGP1981 Wrote: I think their starting 5 has really good defense with White, Jrue, Brown, Tatum and even Horford. If Porzingis comes back, it will be even better. The thing is, they have faced depleted teams for the whole playoffs. This seems to have made them take things more lightly, and they aren't playing to their best level.

If the Mavs get to the Final, I don't know who will win at this point. The heart says Mavericks as I'm a Luka stan but my head says Celtics as they have more weapons on offense (when they're fully woken up). Hoping the heart wins out.

(05-25-2024, 11:30 PM)daGuru1123 Wrote: Hmm... so is this the beginning of end for the ground gripping TNT crew ?

(05-26-2024, 11:46 AM)HoosierDaddyKidd Wrote: Looks that way after the upcoming season. It's supposed to take place during the 25-26 season.  Ernie says he is staying at Turner. I don't know the fates of Barkley, Kenny and Shaq will be. Damn shame they couldn't negotiate a deal to keep the best studio show ever.

(05-25-2024, 11:48 AM)Mavs2021 Wrote: I hate the play-off format so much. You can make an easy argument that 8 of the best 10 teams in these play-offs were in the West. This is a war of attrition and the West is a wild brawl, while Boston is having pillow fights.Only times the East wins the championship, is when they have a huge physical advantage due to the path taken and this feels like one of those years.

(05-26-2024, 01:37 PM)RGP1981 Wrote: I fully agree with this. The way I see it, there are two ways to make this make more sense.

1) Remove conferences completely... the 16 best teams in the whole NBA make it to the playoffs.

2) Make divisions matter more... i.e., only allow 2 teams per division to make it through to the playoffs. This can only happen after an expansion to 32 teams though... because then you have 16 teams per conference, split into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. The trickle-down effect of only allowing 2 teams per division through... star players will automatically spread themselves around the league, to improve their chances of making the playoffs. So instead of the Western Conference being more loaded, now teams in the East will be on par with those in the West. It will also force team Front Offices to be better. It will also make divisional rivalries matter again.

#2 would be my preferred option.

(05-26-2024, 01:53 PM)HoosierDaddyKidd Wrote: That sounds good. Question is where would the expansion teams be located?  I can think of Seattle and maybe Las Vegas since they already added an NFL, NHL and possibly MLB since the A's might move there.

(05-26-2024, 01:37 PM)RGP1981 Wrote: I fully agree with this. The way I see it, there are two ways to make this make more sense.

1) Remove conferences completely... the 16 best teams in the whole NBA make it to the playoffs.

2) Make divisions matter more... i.e., only allow 2 teams per division to make it through to the playoffs. This can only happen after an expansion to 32 teams though... because then you have 16 teams per conference, split into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. The trickle-down effect of only allowing 2 teams per division through... star players will automatically spread themselves around the league, to improve their chances of making the playoffs. So instead of the Western Conference being more loaded, now teams in the East will be on par with those in the West. It will also force team Front Offices to be better. It will also make divisional rivalries matter again.

#2 would be my preferred option.

(05-26-2024, 06:45 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: #2 is actually very creative.

Problem is you've now generated a super cut throat scenario. Imagine in a probable near future where the Mavs, Rockets, Spurs, and Pelicans are all playoff bound, while you have the south east and all teams (ATL, CHA, MIA) save ORL are way below .500, and 1 of those are about to be easy fodder.

It's a creative idea though. Probably just make it the best 16 teams is the easiest option.

(05-27-2024, 12:14 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: @ShamsCharania
Hall of Famer Bill Walton has passed away at 71 after a prolonged battle with cancer. RIP.

(05-28-2024, 08:54 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: This is pretty funny.  Not sure if you have seen on social media posts of average players from the 90's saying so and so was a problem.  Here is one for Frank.

https://x.com/TheStrickland/status/1794436956283146256