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NBA Offseason 2017 - Page 23

Forum Index > Sports
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Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 09:45 GMT
#441
#NOTSOWOJBOMB
Curry -GSW agree to $201M 5-year deal
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 12:07 GMT
#442
Ok now...

On July 01 2017 08:33 Jerubaal wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 30 2017 23:22 Twinkle Toes wrote:
On June 30 2017 13:46 Jerubaal wrote:
On June 30 2017 00:16 Twinkle Toes wrote:
On June 29 2017 03:47 Jerubaal wrote:
^There's also the fact that short players are more skilled than tall players.

I don't think Ball is completely detestable, but I also don't think you should ascribe too much credit to him. Yes, there's a certain low cunning to him, but that's who he is. You don't turn that on and off. The problem with that strategy you're describing is that if it becomes disadvantageous, there's no guarantee he can shift tact.

I think he can. IIRC, in one of his more sober interviews that I cannot remember where, certainly no Skip or SAS, he was asked how he would react if Lonzo wasnt chosen by the Lakers. He was level-headed enough to admit that Lakers was the goal, mostly because of the monetary opportunities it represents, but he added that Lonzo would play greatly with any team, and he would support it. And even if we assume it to be true that he cannot shift tact, so what? He has made it very clear plenty of times that he is doing it for money. You cannot hate a man for doing everything to market his assets, as long as he doesnt harm others. If he fails, the world will simply turn against him, which is the case anyway in our present liberal capitalist economy.


Thanks for forcing me to think about this more.

I'm sure many of you had an initial distaste for Ball's antics. Many also probably dismissed such revulsion as being irrational. It's become fashionable to poopoo the idea of social etiquette in the light of a rationalism. All these mores are just rules for transactions, ok. As quickly as you clarify the situation, though, you realize the futility of trying to get out from underneath it. If you reduce social behavior to mere transactionalism, you strip it of all other human affections. Thus, such behavior is usually shunned.

Mr. Ball is essentially making the Transactional argument. He's trying to maximize his value and so is everyone else. It's really not the bombasticness of him that's questionable, it's his directness. It is true that everyone else is trying to maximize their value as well, but Markelle Fultz and De'aaron Fox are leaving open the possibility of being a human being beyond their market value. Ball is trying to strip his interaction to a transaction, but what he's done is make himself only a transaction.

As for whether he can change, you're looking at the wrong thing. If I have some sort of value system, then I can pivot. I can say I've changed my mind or that I'm making a decision for practical reasons. If my only values are ego and money, people are going to assume that that's always my goal. If I'm loud, it's ego and money. If I'm quiet, probably money.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, let me repay in kind.

I agree with your framework of analysis but I disagree on the conclusion. If I understand you correctly, we both agree that Ball's modus operandi is excessive unabashed self-promotion for monetary gain. You then proceed by reducing this phenomenon to the fact that this is a product of his bankrupt moral system. (Please correct any misappropriations. Volumes upon volumes are written on this topic, and they barely cover it satisfactorily. I am sure with out limitation in time and space here, much will be lost in translation.)

The question to mind, assuming all of this as true, is so what?! What you see as an irredeemable flaw, I see as a mere wrinkle in the face of modern civilizarion, no more threatening or significant than all the other things modern media and society in general churns out on a daily basis. In cultural theory, we learn of the power of agency. The degrees of this power range the full spectrum, from Foucault's dispersion of (non)centric power, to Deleuze and Guattari's rhizomatic revolution, and even to Feyerabend's disavowal of structure. Let me emphasize once again the question of "so what?". The flaw in your analysis is you fail to account for the power of agency. You, me, and anybody else are not passive subjects that absorb and emulate whatever is out there. The effects of such external stimuli vary greatly, mostly as an indication of educational and socioeconomic status, but the fact of the matter is that it is not a simple equation of cause and effect, stimulus and response. Ball can talk and act all crazy as he wants, it does not mean that you or me or anybody else should normalize or be affected by such behavior.

Which brings me to a more important point. Ball is nothing more than what and where we are as a society right now. We live in the era of Kardashians, fake tv dramas, alternative facts, pictures of breakfast on instragram, memes, covfefes, and selfies. Ball fits perfectly right in. We may all frown upon the brashness, indiscretion, bombasticness, egotism, and stupidity of it all, but it's all on him, and not on us.

Warhol once said, in defense of the Campbell Soup: "If you want to make great art, you must first have a great society". We live in a shitty society, hence we have shitty people and stunts like these. The real question is, which side of the equation are you?

With all this in mind, we really cannot begrudge Ball for doing what he thinks is best for his interest. At the very least, we have for ourselves live and ongoing entertainment.

And to respond to your question about Nony's post, it's important for no other reason than that if people see it, they will imitate it. The reason cultures tend to get more polite is because, as much handwringing as there is about "honesty" and "being real", life is generally better when everyone isn't an abrasive blowhard.

Again, you are subscribing to the magic bullet theory. I have touched on this above, but let me summarize once more:.Ball may be shitty, we do not have to imitate him.


As for Coach Pop: I I hope I'm not being too self serving, but I'd like to think that the Spurs are a product of good team building while most of the other champions are simply an overwhelming accumulation of talent. It's kind of depressing really to think that the champion is pretty predictable most years and only the paragon of teamwork Spurs have stood up to them most years. The Mavericks are really the only blip in the last few years. The interesting thing about it is that even as good as they have been, there's a ton of luck involved...unless you're one of the aforementioned overwhelming collections of talent.
To add to this, the Spurs have two decades of excellence, with a consistent batch of always classy and anti-ego.players. JVG summed up Manu perfectly, saying something like "in all his years, Manu has never cheated the game. He has always come out to give it his all." I almost cried listening to the truth of this statement. Good thing though, reports indicate Manu may still be on for a year.


These theories of influence notwithstanding, I can't discount the most basic theory of cultural transmission, monkey-see, monkey-do. I'm not even sure that refuting the action is enough. If that feeling is even the air, it's going to influence some people. You can hold the individual to account for his individual actions, but you can't deny the impact over the whole culture.

You said an interesting phrase, "morally bankrupt". I don't think Ball is a horrible person, but he's making one mistake and that's indicative of the problem of the culture and this discussion, Ball's (and our) mistake is simply that he's not asking what is good. As I said, he's focused purely on the transaction and this has completely deprived him of a moral compass. I can't think of a better way to take a basically decent person and make them feel comfortable with any action. That's why I detest the phrase "as long as it isn't hurting anyone". I'd beg to differ. It's hurting Ball himself, at any rate.

To reiterate, I think in large part what the problem is is that we've lost the ability to simply say "this is good and this is not good". Ball is not the cause of this and he's not the hill you want to die on. If you can't simply say "this is not good" without someone coming up to you and telling you that you have no right to tell them what is good or not good. And I think you're acting like a classic liberal right now, not because you hold this position but because you don't agree with his behavior but feel compelled to defend it. It's like you're trying to rationalize why you've put up with such bullshit for so long. Part of that might be because (I don't know about your case in particular) everyone says that anyone who tries to make a moral judgement is a) wrong because there's no such thing as morality and b) a budding tyrant.

To pose a question, what else should I do besides quietly note and propound that this is less good than I would want it to be. Isn't that how you start to push back?

One, your position on this matter is typical media-conditioned response to media-created/enabled stimuli. Think of this along the lines of political hypercorrectness and self-victimhood that is prevalent in society today. Media and popular culture produce and enable these things (the aforementioned Kardashian phenomenon, memes, CNN-type 24 hour breaking news,etc.) and, in an act of cynical self-referential feedback loop, encourages us "subjects" to protest or otherwise demonstrated our impassioned response to such stimuli, so that the stimulus is reinforced and thereby propagating the media-audience relationship, "satisfying" our need for content, and the media's need for viewers, and the gravy train of advertising and other profit continues, until we move to the next hot button issue. In short, we are exaggerating, when in fact we need to have a disinterested and critical reflection on this matters.

Two, let us conduct an activity to prove this point. Pool together two sets of people, your friend who are into basketball (group A), and friends who are not (group B). Ask both groups if they know who Lavar Ball is? Then ask them what they think of him? Then ask them how he has affected their lives? I am certain that except for the special few who follow the NBA close enough to know about Ball as we both do, the best reaction you'll get is a cold "Ok". My point is, Balls antics is an infinitesimal speck in the grand scheme of things. There is no need to be so worked up about it to the point of hating.

Three, you are subscribing to an obsolete framework of communication. The magic bullet theory of "monkey-see-monkey-do" has long been rendered deficient, along with Mcluhan determinism, in making sense of something as complex as social interaction. It may hold some ground in child developmental psychology where the variables are limited ans easily identifiable, but no one has been brave enough to academically summon such frameworks since the late 60s. You might be familiar with studies on television, and more recently video games, and violence among children. More than half a decade of academic work has been on this and there is no direct causative or even correlative relationship between the two. Television and games may be one of the factor, but there is such a rigid structure in place that shapes personal and social knowledge and behavior like parental influence, geography, peers, socio-economic background, and religion that violent television and games are rarely if ever the tipping point in determining violent behavior. People have been violent and nonviolent as well all throughout history, and it is simplistic to reduce the matter to a simple "monkey-see-monkey-do" equation, no matter how apparently self-evident it is.

Four, How is Ball hurting himself? By any measure, he is succeeding. Lonzo is playing for the Lakers, he owns his own brand, he has prominent B-level media exposure, and by the looks of it, he is having the time of his life. No matter how Lonzo Ball turns out, as long as he manages an average NBA career. he is either in zero or positive position. The only negative scenario is when Lonzo Ball turns out to be a gun-carrying mass murdering maniac, or something along these lines.

Five, and let me use this point by way of summation. Our discussion/disagreement is an attempt to understand the Ball phenomenon. Ball may or may not be a moral person, and from your perspective, his shameless self-promotion and egotism is a wrong/not good, and we should do something about it. I can not however tell from our discussion so far what you propose to do about it. Do we stage organized protests in LA games? Twitter bomb him? To my mind, the correct course of action is to let the whole phenomenon play. I have already expressed how I have changed my mind after learning that all of this is for Ball is a spectacle to promote his agenda, and unless he is doing any damage, say threatening economic sustainability, building divisive walls, putting incompetent people in power, threatening net neutrality, making access to affordable health care difficult for people, let him be. Boycott all BBB products and boo at Lonzo Ball's games, all you want, but never yourself get caught in the charade as the serious fool amidst the clowns.
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16711 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 13:04:13
July 01 2017 13:03 GMT
#443
On July 01 2017 17:59 Elroi wrote:
This is insane. They have to get rid of the east - west system. Or boston for the love of god make some moves.

geography and travel time are a real thing. you can't have NYK playing the Lakers as much as they play Boston. The schedule will always be imbalanced. The only sports where a balanced schedule between East and West is even conceivable is NFL and MLB.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Keyboard Warrior
Profile Joined December 2011
United States1178 Posts
July 01 2017 13:04 GMT
#444
^i came to this thread for NBA stuff and not for political manifestos lol

seriously now, why is everybody going to the west. the east is the ideal conference to be at now because of low quality opponents, and the west is a bad decision because all superstars are there. gilbert is overpaying the team to be destroyed in the finals, and the cavs is as weak as ever. i wont be surprised if philly or bucksie make it to the finals next year
Not your regular Keyboard Warrior ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16711 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 13:10:55
July 01 2017 13:08 GMT
#445
the West coaches, GMs, presidents, assistance coaches, developmental staff are just higher quality than the East.

The game of musical chairs for free agent point guards continues....
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19781149/jrue-holiday-re-sign-new-orleans-pelicans-five-year-126-million-contract

the music is about to stop while George Hill and Kyle Lowry are still looking for teams.

there are 2 players who've attempted 600+ shots in the playoffs with a success rate lower than 40%. Lowry is 1 of them.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Keyboard Warrior
Profile Joined December 2011
United States1178 Posts
July 01 2017 13:09 GMT
#446
On July 01 2017 17:59 Elroi wrote:
This is insane. They have to get rid of the east - west system. Or boston for the love of god make some moves.

i agree. that way lebum cant anymore cruise his way to the finals. he'd get dad dicked by curry first round. and i think nba is rich enough to cover travel expenses. and the schedule can be worked to give teams 3 or so days break between change home teams. do it silver
Not your regular Keyboard Warrior ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 13:26 GMT
#447
On July 01 2017 22:09 Keyboard Warrior wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 01 2017 17:59 Elroi wrote:
This is insane. They have to get rid of the east - west system. Or boston for the love of god make some moves.

i agree. that way lebum cant anymore cruise his way to the finals. he'd get dad dicked by curry first round. and i think nba is rich enough to cover travel expenses. and the schedule can be worked to give teams 3 or so days break between change home teams. do it silver

It will be such a downer for fans who expect daily playoffs game. It will also extend the playoffs to until, maybe, August
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
xwoGworwaTsx
Profile Joined April 2012
United States984 Posts
July 01 2017 13:39 GMT
#448
On July 01 2017 21:07 Twinkle Toes wrote:
Ok now...

Show nested quote +
On July 01 2017 08:33 Jerubaal wrote:
On June 30 2017 23:22 Twinkle Toes wrote:
On June 30 2017 13:46 Jerubaal wrote:
On June 30 2017 00:16 Twinkle Toes wrote:
On June 29 2017 03:47 Jerubaal wrote:
^There's also the fact that short players are more skilled than tall players.

I don't think Ball is completely detestable, but I also don't think you should ascribe too much credit to him. Yes, there's a certain low cunning to him, but that's who he is. You don't turn that on and off. The problem with that strategy you're describing is that if it becomes disadvantageous, there's no guarantee he can shift tact.

I think he can. IIRC, in one of his more sober interviews that I cannot remember where, certainly no Skip or SAS, he was asked how he would react if Lonzo wasnt chosen by the Lakers. He was level-headed enough to admit that Lakers was the goal, mostly because of the monetary opportunities it represents, but he added that Lonzo would play greatly with any team, and he would support it. And even if we assume it to be true that he cannot shift tact, so what? He has made it very clear plenty of times that he is doing it for money. You cannot hate a man for doing everything to market his assets, as long as he doesnt harm others. If he fails, the world will simply turn against him, which is the case anyway in our present liberal capitalist economy.


Thanks for forcing me to think about this more.

I'm sure many of you had an initial distaste for Ball's antics. Many also probably dismissed such revulsion as being irrational. It's become fashionable to poopoo the idea of social etiquette in the light of a rationalism. All these mores are just rules for transactions, ok. As quickly as you clarify the situation, though, you realize the futility of trying to get out from underneath it. If you reduce social behavior to mere transactionalism, you strip it of all other human affections. Thus, such behavior is usually shunned.

Mr. Ball is essentially making the Transactional argument. He's trying to maximize his value and so is everyone else. It's really not the bombasticness of him that's questionable, it's his directness. It is true that everyone else is trying to maximize their value as well, but Markelle Fultz and De'aaron Fox are leaving open the possibility of being a human being beyond their market value. Ball is trying to strip his interaction to a transaction, but what he's done is make himself only a transaction.

As for whether he can change, you're looking at the wrong thing. If I have some sort of value system, then I can pivot. I can say I've changed my mind or that I'm making a decision for practical reasons. If my only values are ego and money, people are going to assume that that's always my goal. If I'm loud, it's ego and money. If I'm quiet, probably money.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, let me repay in kind.

I agree with your framework of analysis but I disagree on the conclusion. If I understand you correctly, we both agree that Ball's modus operandi is excessive unabashed self-promotion for monetary gain. You then proceed by reducing this phenomenon to the fact that this is a product of his bankrupt moral system. (Please correct any misappropriations. Volumes upon volumes are written on this topic, and they barely cover it satisfactorily. I am sure with out limitation in time and space here, much will be lost in translation.)

The question to mind, assuming all of this as true, is so what?! What you see as an irredeemable flaw, I see as a mere wrinkle in the face of modern civilizarion, no more threatening or significant than all the other things modern media and society in general churns out on a daily basis. In cultural theory, we learn of the power of agency. The degrees of this power range the full spectrum, from Foucault's dispersion of (non)centric power, to Deleuze and Guattari's rhizomatic revolution, and even to Feyerabend's disavowal of structure. Let me emphasize once again the question of "so what?". The flaw in your analysis is you fail to account for the power of agency. You, me, and anybody else are not passive subjects that absorb and emulate whatever is out there. The effects of such external stimuli vary greatly, mostly as an indication of educational and socioeconomic status, but the fact of the matter is that it is not a simple equation of cause and effect, stimulus and response. Ball can talk and act all crazy as he wants, it does not mean that you or me or anybody else should normalize or be affected by such behavior.

Which brings me to a more important point. Ball is nothing more than what and where we are as a society right now. We live in the era of Kardashians, fake tv dramas, alternative facts, pictures of breakfast on instragram, memes, covfefes, and selfies. Ball fits perfectly right in. We may all frown upon the brashness, indiscretion, bombasticness, egotism, and stupidity of it all, but it's all on him, and not on us.

Warhol once said, in defense of the Campbell Soup: "If you want to make great art, you must first have a great society". We live in a shitty society, hence we have shitty people and stunts like these. The real question is, which side of the equation are you?

With all this in mind, we really cannot begrudge Ball for doing what he thinks is best for his interest. At the very least, we have for ourselves live and ongoing entertainment.

And to respond to your question about Nony's post, it's important for no other reason than that if people see it, they will imitate it. The reason cultures tend to get more polite is because, as much handwringing as there is about "honesty" and "being real", life is generally better when everyone isn't an abrasive blowhard.

Again, you are subscribing to the magic bullet theory. I have touched on this above, but let me summarize once more:.Ball may be shitty, we do not have to imitate him.


As for Coach Pop: I I hope I'm not being too self serving, but I'd like to think that the Spurs are a product of good team building while most of the other champions are simply an overwhelming accumulation of talent. It's kind of depressing really to think that the champion is pretty predictable most years and only the paragon of teamwork Spurs have stood up to them most years. The Mavericks are really the only blip in the last few years. The interesting thing about it is that even as good as they have been, there's a ton of luck involved...unless you're one of the aforementioned overwhelming collections of talent.
To add to this, the Spurs have two decades of excellence, with a consistent batch of always classy and anti-ego.players. JVG summed up Manu perfectly, saying something like "in all his years, Manu has never cheated the game. He has always come out to give it his all." I almost cried listening to the truth of this statement. Good thing though, reports indicate Manu may still be on for a year.


These theories of influence notwithstanding, I can't discount the most basic theory of cultural transmission, monkey-see, monkey-do. I'm not even sure that refuting the action is enough. If that feeling is even the air, it's going to influence some people. You can hold the individual to account for his individual actions, but you can't deny the impact over the whole culture.

You said an interesting phrase, "morally bankrupt". I don't think Ball is a horrible person, but he's making one mistake and that's indicative of the problem of the culture and this discussion, Ball's (and our) mistake is simply that he's not asking what is good. As I said, he's focused purely on the transaction and this has completely deprived him of a moral compass. I can't think of a better way to take a basically decent person and make them feel comfortable with any action. That's why I detest the phrase "as long as it isn't hurting anyone". I'd beg to differ. It's hurting Ball himself, at any rate.

To reiterate, I think in large part what the problem is is that we've lost the ability to simply say "this is good and this is not good". Ball is not the cause of this and he's not the hill you want to die on. If you can't simply say "this is not good" without someone coming up to you and telling you that you have no right to tell them what is good or not good. And I think you're acting like a classic liberal right now, not because you hold this position but because you don't agree with his behavior but feel compelled to defend it. It's like you're trying to rationalize why you've put up with such bullshit for so long. Part of that might be because (I don't know about your case in particular) everyone says that anyone who tries to make a moral judgement is a) wrong because there's no such thing as morality and b) a budding tyrant.

To pose a question, what else should I do besides quietly note and propound that this is less good than I would want it to be. Isn't that how you start to push back?

One, your position on this matter is typical media-conditioned response to media-created/enabled stimuli. Think of this along the lines of political hypercorrectness and self-victimhood that is prevalent in society today. Media and popular culture produce and enable these things (the aforementioned Kardashian phenomenon, memes, CNN-type 24 hour breaking news,etc.) and, in an act of cynical self-referential feedback loop, encourages us "subjects" to protest or otherwise demonstrated our impassioned response to such stimuli, so that the stimulus is reinforced and thereby propagating the media-audience relationship, "satisfying" our need for content, and the media's need for viewers, and the gravy train of advertising and other profit continues, until we move to the next hot button issue. In short, we are exaggerating, when in fact we need to have a disinterested and critical reflection on this matters.

Two, let us conduct an activity to prove this point. Pool together two sets of people, your friend who are into basketball (group A), and friends who are not (group B). Ask both groups if they know who Lavar Ball is? Then ask them what they think of him? Then ask them how he has affected their lives? I am certain that except for the special few who follow the NBA close enough to know about Ball as we both do, the best reaction you'll get is a cold "Ok". My point is, Balls antics is an infinitesimal speck in the grand scheme of things. There is no need to be so worked up about it to the point of hating.

Three, you are subscribing to an obsolete framework of communication. The magic bullet theory of "monkey-see-monkey-do" has long been rendered deficient, along with Mcluhan determinism, in making sense of something as complex as social interaction. It may hold some ground in child developmental psychology where the variables are limited ans easily identifiable, but no one has been brave enough to academically summon such frameworks since the late 60s. You might be familiar with studies on television, and more recently video games, and violence among children. More than half a decade of academic work has been on this and there is no direct causative or even correlative relationship between the two. Television and games may be one of the factor, but there is such a rigid structure in place that shapes personal and social knowledge and behavior like parental influence, geography, peers, socio-economic background, and religion that violent television and games are rarely if ever the tipping point in determining violent behavior. People have been violent and nonviolent as well all throughout history, and it is simplistic to reduce the matter to a simple "monkey-see-monkey-do" equation, no matter how apparently self-evident it is.

Four, How is Ball hurting himself? By any measure, he is succeeding. Lonzo is playing for the Lakers, he owns his own brand, he has prominent B-level media exposure, and by the looks of it, he is having the time of his life. No matter how Lonzo Ball turns out, as long as he manages an average NBA career. he is either in zero or positive position. The only negative scenario is when Lonzo Ball turns out to be a gun-carrying mass murdering maniac, or something along these lines.

Five, and let me use this point by way of summation. Our discussion/disagreement is an attempt to understand the Ball phenomenon. Ball may or may not be a moral person, and from your perspective, his shameless self-promotion and egotism is a wrong/not good, and we should do something about it. I can not however tell from our discussion so far what you propose to do about it. Do we stage organized protests in LA games? Twitter bomb him? To my mind, the correct course of action is to let the whole phenomenon play. I have already expressed how I have changed my mind after learning that all of this is for Ball is a spectacle to promote his agenda, and unless he is doing any damage, say threatening economic sustainability, building divisive walls, putting incompetent people in power, threatening net neutrality, making access to affordable health care difficult for people, let him be. Boycott all BBB products and boo at Lonzo Ball's games, all you want, but never yourself get caught in the charade as the serious fool amidst the clowns.

Im 50/50 on this one.

I hate that idiot's face and gimmick.

At the same time, i also see your point.

And wasnt there a tweet by Magic being impressed by Lavar being just a proud and supportive father when the cameras are away

Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 13:44 GMT
#449
On July 01 2017 22:39 xwoGworwaTsx wrote:
And wasnt there a tweet by Magic being impressed by Lavar being just a proud and supportive father when the cameras are away

Exactly my point
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16711 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 13:48:39
July 01 2017 13:45 GMT
#450
for all those writing off the entire Eastern Conference.. do not count out the Miami Heat. They got out from under the Bosh contract so they have cap space. Riley knows what he is doing.. they finished the year 30-11 and while Dion Waiters was healthy they were fucking awesome.


Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Keyboard Warrior
Profile Joined December 2011
United States1178 Posts
July 01 2017 14:02 GMT
#451
Actually, after much deep thinking about it, I think the east aint that bad. milwaukee is a head-strong team with a Durant 2.0 player. Philly has completed theProcess and are now legit contenders. toronto is still a monster. boston is strong with a lot of assets. And let us not forget the heat. everyone is counting them out, but they finished strong last season. pat riley is mafia-level genius, and knows the game pretty well. bosh being out now, riley can make bold maneuvers to improve the team. and with everyone healthy, the heat is surely on.
Not your regular Keyboard Warrior ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
zdarr
Profile Joined September 2010
France375 Posts
July 01 2017 14:03 GMT
#452
On July 01 2017 22:45 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
for all those writing off the entire Eastern Conference.. do not count out the Miami Heat. They got out from under the Bosh contract so they have cap space. Riley knows what he is doing.. they finished the year 30-11 and while Dion Waiters was healthy they were fucking awesome.




they couldn't even qualify over one of the worst bulls team in history. I really really really doubt they'll be championship's contender next year. Unless they add lebron of course...
Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 14:07 GMT
#453
On July 01 2017 23:02 Keyboard Warrior wrote:
Actually, after much deep thinking about it, I think the east aint that bad. milwaukee is a head-strong team with a Durant 2.0 player. Philly has completed theProcess and are now legit contenders. toronto is still a monster. boston is strong with a lot of assets. And let us not forget the heat. everyone is counting them out, but they finished strong last season. pat riley is mafia-level genius, and knows the game pretty well. bosh being out now, riley can make bold maneuvers to improve the team. and with everyone healthy, the heat is surely on.

Epic lol. You're a funny guy.
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
Disregard
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
China10252 Posts
July 01 2017 14:32 GMT
#454
This off-season FA & trades is fantastic, a surprise on every corner.
"If I had to take a drug in order to be free, I'm screwed. Freedom exists in the mind, otherwise it doesn't exist."
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16711 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 15:00:00
July 01 2017 14:46 GMT
#455
even one of the most connected raptors analysts can not get much of a handle on the deal Lowry is getting.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/kyle-lowry-raptors-will-soon-learn-things-going-change/
"The only real consensus among the league insiders is that Lowry won’t be getting a max deal out in the market, and his ceiling will top out at $30 million annually, although that would most likely be on a shorter deal."
On July 01 2017 23:02 Keyboard Warrior wrote:
toronto is still a monster.

true, they're looking to repeat for the D-League championship. oh right, that was mississauga... not toronto. mississauga is a monster.
On July 01 2017 23:03 zdarr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 01 2017 22:45 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
for all those writing off the entire Eastern Conference.. do not count out the Miami Heat. They got out from under the Bosh contract so they have cap space. Riley knows what he is doing.. they finished the year 30-11 and while Dion Waiters was healthy they were fucking awesome.

they couldn't even qualify over one of the worst bulls team in history. I really really really doubt they'll be championship's contender next year. Unless they add lebron of course...

if they bring back everyone from last year and everyone stays healthy i think they can improve on last year's 2nd half. that is a lot of IFs though. let's see what happens during the off-season.
i just wanna see James Johnson running the offense again
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
Nemireck
Profile Joined October 2010
Canada1875 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 15:05:44
July 01 2017 15:05 GMT
#456
On July 01 2017 23:46 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
even one of the most connected raptors analysts can not get much of a handle on the deal Lowry is getting.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/kyle-lowry-raptors-will-soon-learn-things-going-change/
"The only real consensus among the league insiders is that Lowry won’t be getting a max deal out in the market, and his ceiling will top out at $30 million annually, although that would most likely be on a shorter deal."
Show nested quote +
On July 01 2017 23:02 Keyboard Warrior wrote:
toronto is still a monster.


I wanted to believe Toronto had a shot this past year, I want to believe they have a better shot this COMING year.

Alas, alack...

1on1 ISO Chuck-up-ball and 1980's defensive schemes (OMG People actually shoot 3s?!) can only carry a team so far
Teamwork is awesome... As long as your team is doing all the work!
Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 15:05 GMT
#457
On July 01 2017 23:32 Disregard wrote:
This off-season FA & trades is fantastic, a surprise on every corner.

What offseason move would surprise us the most?
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16711 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-07-01 15:25:56
July 01 2017 15:23 GMT
#458
On July 02 2017 00:05 Nemireck wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 01 2017 23:46 JimmyJRaynor wrote:
even one of the most connected raptors analysts can not get much of a handle on the deal Lowry is getting.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/kyle-lowry-raptors-will-soon-learn-things-going-change/
"The only real consensus among the league insiders is that Lowry won’t be getting a max deal out in the market, and his ceiling will top out at $30 million annually, although that would most likely be on a shorter deal."
On July 01 2017 23:02 Keyboard Warrior wrote:
toronto is still a monster.

I wanted to believe Toronto had a shot this past year, I want to believe they have a better shot this COMING year.
Alas, alack...
1on1 ISO Chuck-up-ball and 1980's defensive schemes (OMG People actually shoot 3s?!) can only carry a team so far

just to add some data to the point you are making
Poeltl and Nogueira were the 2 least used players on offense.
TOs guard-centric ball rarely includes the center position. considering what JV can do ... he is underused. At least, Lowry trusts him a little bit.
Poeltl with 14.8 touches per 36 minutes and Nogueira with 16.7 touches. It is interesting that Tristan Thompson is in that list as well.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-nba-haters-ball/

Toronto has zero chance. Lowry's string of injuries isn't going to stop as he ages .. its going to get worse. Lowry's weight problems will only be increased as he ages. Derozan's defense in the playoffs is god awful.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
JimmiC
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada22817 Posts
July 01 2017 15:39 GMT
#459
--- Nuked ---
Twinkle Toes
Profile Joined May 2012
United States3605 Posts
July 01 2017 15:50 GMT
#460
West though. GSW will roll them all over
Bisu - INnoVation - Dark - Rogue - Stats
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