The NBA 2023-2024 thread - and Guns and Rose

[TAC]

Porzingas is OUT!

[King Postwhore]

C's D is nasty so far. 

[TAC]

C's D is nasty so far.

10-0 Dallas run since you posted. Thank you.


EDIT: Ok, you are free to speak now.

[KevShmev]

Boston was the better team, but some of those calls down the stretch were a reminder of why I don't watch a lot of NBA anymore.  It's almost like the NBA goes out of their way to make sure key games have bad calls that influence the result.

[TAC]

What was the bad call? I mean, I think they called a similar foul on White the last game where he looked like his feet were planted.


Honestly, I cannot believe the call wasn't reversed.

[KevShmev]

I get that Doncic wasn't totally set, but that doesn't mean you just get to run the guy over and elbow him over, although he did get to do it and Doncic still got the foul called on him.  I guess offfensive players need to just run any defensive player over if he isn't totally set.  And the pick on PJ Washington right after that was an AWFUL call.  Again, the Celtics were the better team, but I think any fan of the game who isn't a Celtics or Mavs fans wanted to see how that game played out with Doncic still in there to see if the Mavs could pull off that crazy comeback.  But the NBA said, nope.

[TAC]

I get that Doncic wasn't totally set, but that doesn't mean you just get to run the guy over and elbow him over, although he did get to do it and Doncic still got the foul called on him.  I guess offfensive players need to just run any defensive player over if he isn't totally set. 

Yes, actually. That's the rule. Seems like it should be a joke. The Celts got hit with it earlier..it was either White or Holiday, and it indeed seems ticky tack. Because my son has been watching the Celts as long as I can remember, that means I have as well, and the rules of what's a foul and what's not a foul, and the inconsistent enforcement is truly maddening.

  And the pick on PJ Washington right after that was an AWFUL call. 

Sure...ticky tack, and certainly not the only ticky tack foul called, especially considering what they've let go.

Again, the Celtics were the better team, but I think any fan of the game who isn't a Celtics or Mavs fans wanted to see how that game played out with Doncic still in there to see if the Mavs could pull off that crazy comeback.  But the NBA said, nope.

Sure, except that Doncic committed 6 fouls and because of that, he was ejected. Nothing more, nothing less. When the ref went back to the headsets a second time, I thought for sure it was Adam Silver on the line but good on them for NOT intervening. It was a close call, but the right call.




Look, my team is up 3-0, but the refs have kind of been a non story in this series. They've basically let the guys play. I actually appreciate that. Both teams have a right to bitch about some of the calls, but I feel like there's been remarkably few fouls even called in this series.

[pg1067]

I get that Doncic wasn't totally set, but that doesn't mean you just get to run the guy over

Yeah...that's kinda how the blocking/charging dichotomy works.

NBA Rule No. 12(B)(I) (Fouls and Penalties, Personal Foul, Types):  "b. Contact initiated by the defensive player guarding a player with the ball is not legal.  This contact includes, but is not limited to, forearm, hands, or body check."

NBA Rule No. 12(B)(II) (Fouls and Penalties, Personal Fouls, By Dribbler):  "a. A dribbler shall not (1) charge into an opponent who has established a legal guarding position."  Implicit in that rule is that, if the defender has not "established a legal guarding position," the dribbler may "charge into" the defender.

Comments on the Rules - II. Basic Principles - 2. Guarding an Opponent:  "A player may continue to move after gaining a guarding position in the path of an opponent provided he is not moving directly or obliquely toward his opponent when contact occurs. . . .  A player who extends a hand, forearm, shoulder, hip or leg into the path of an opponent and thereby causes contact is not considered to have a legal position in the path of an opponent."

Of course, as Tim noted, you can question the consistency of officiating all day long, but the rule has always been that, if the defender ain't set, he's subject to being run over and called for a foul.

[hefdaddy42]

Hey, just piping in to ask you guys who follow NBA more than me: what qualifies JJ Reddick to be head coach of anything?  I know he played forever, but has he ever even been an assistant coach?

[TAC]

Hey, just piping in to ask you guys who follow NBA more than me: what qualifies JJ Reddick to be head coach of anything?  I know he played forever, but has he ever even been an assistant coach?

Cuz it's the Lakers. That's why.

[Lonk]

Cuz it's the Lakers. That's why.

Nah, it's just the way the NBA works. Look at Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. Neither had coaching experience, yet landed head coaching jobs.

To answer Hef, I guess his leadership plus in-game experience would qualify him.

[KevShmev]

Yep, the Lakers have been a clown show for the good part of a decade now. They are not the franchise they once were.  LeBron James going there is the only reason they got championship number 17, but once he leaves or retires, they will go back to being irrelevant.  Players are the stars of the NBA now, not franchises. 

As for the calls last night, to be clear, I am not blaming them for Dallas losing.  The Celtics have been the better team the whole series, last night included, and the 3-0 series lead reflects that.

Back to James, if he really still cares about winning more than anything, he will go somewhere else, but I suspect he he is content in LA.  Not that he doesn't want to win, but he knows he can still be THE man on the Lakers and just keep adding to the individual records he has already shattered.  He is more about adding to his legacy at this point and working towards his post-playing career.

[pg1067]

I'm not the biggest basketball fan, and I despise the Lakers, but it's sometimes funny being in Socal.  There are two primary sports talk radio stations.  One is an ESPN affiliate and is the station on which Laker games are broadcast.  One of the shows is co-hosted by the Lakers radio PBP guy.  He's a total homer, although he's fairly realistic. The other station is (coincidentally) the Clippers station, and one of the hosts is massively (and admittedly) anti-Leboner and a vocal critic of the Lakers.  Everyone is pretty convinced that the Leboner is going to stay where he is and that the Lakers will draft Boner, Jr. with their second round pick (even though pretty much no one thinks he's competent to play in the NBA).

[TAC]

Ugly game tonight!

[KevShmev]

Not if you're a Mavericks fan.

What an incredible game by Doncic.  Great job in answering the unfair criticism (some of it was fair, some of it was not at all) he got after the last game.

[Jamesman42]

Not watching but just checked the score

Q3 1:27

92 - 57!!!

[KevShmev]

It does give the Celtics to chance now to win it on their home court, which is always more fun for the team that wins it.

[Jamesman42]

Which it looks likely, despite tonight.

[hunnus2000]

It does give the Celtics to chance now to win it on their home court, which is always more fun for the team that wins it.

Yeah - I have to agree with this.

[King Postwhore]

Not if you're a Mavericks fan.

What an incredible game by Doncic.  Great job in answering the unfair criticism (some of it was fair, some of it was not at all) he got after the last game.

Yeah, he stepped up big time.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, he stepped up big time.

Luka is crazy good, but Dallas is at their best when everyone is pitching in, like last night. 

I watched the first half of Game 3 with my older brother, who is a diehard Mavs fan, and even when they were winning, I told him, "They aren't going to win if no one is doing anything except Luka and Kyrie; that can't hold up over four quarters."  Sadly, for him and other Mavs fans, it didn't.

We'll see how that supporting cast does on the road in Game 5 in Boston.

[TAC]

I didn't like the Celtics' vibe from the end of G3 to last night. I really feel like they felt like this was in the bag and spent all day yesterday suppressing their emotions, except they suppressed them so much, that had no intensity left for the game.

I didn't like Mazzulla's vibe yesterday either. He looked like a nervous wreck. In the pregame speech they showed, he seemed so timid, where Kidd was like, we're going to Boston tomorrow, I hope you're packed.

They have always responded well to slaps in the face like this so I'm still optimistic.

[KevShmev]

As an outsider, Mazzulla struck me as a doofus last year, but he seemingly has done a 180 this year.  He has outcoached the hell out of Kidd in these Finals, last night notwithstanding.

[TAC]

As an outsider, Mazzulla struck me as a doofus last year, but he seemingly has done a 180 this year.  He has outcoached the hell out of Kidd in these Finals, last night notwithstanding.

Well, he was only 34 last year, and thrust into a tough position. I believe he was a "2nd row" coach that may have jumped a couple of other assistants for the job, mostly because he was "Tatum's guy".
Plus, he had Udoka's staff, and many players and coaches thought that Udoka was being treated unfairly.

He really learned from his experience, and this year he also got to hire his own staff. Plus Brad Stevens has helped him with that, putting a large support staff around him, namely Sam Cassell and Jeff Van Gundy.

Plus he doesn't have Marcus Smart around this year trying to co-coach the team.

[hunnus2000]

Boston misses KP but I still expect them to win although the road to close it out just got harder.

[King Postwhore]

Holy shit, Pritchard!

[KevShmev]

Ball game. Congrats to the Celtics. 

[TAC]

Holy shit, Pritchard!

STFU! Nobody asked you.

[King Postwhore]

STFU! Nobody asked you.

Hey you crusty ass, old man.  Enjoy the moment. 

[TAC]

Yay, we win the First Half Award. Woopie shit!
Enjoy your halftime celebration.

Last time you posted like that you almost blew the lead.

[King Postwhore]

Dude this is what we wanted them to play like they're aggressive defensively and offensively. Settle down.

[King Postwhore]

Not your typical 3rd quarter from the C's, Tim. It's OK to say they finally got it when it matters. 

[Lonk]

Congrats to the Celtics, great playoff run.

[Jamesman42]

I am physically ill.

[TAC]

Poor Michael Wilbon.