Ongoing pro/college basketball thread (2023-24)

[Atocep]

The Hawks land the number 1 pick. It's not a great draft, but it does open up the opportunity for them to deal Trae Young and rebuild on the fly. The challenge would be finding a trade partner. His style of play is difficult to bring into an established roster so I don't think his actual value will come close to his perceived value.

[molson]

Glad to see an OK team that tried get the top pick.

Suck it tankers.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

The Hawks land the number 1 pick. It's not a great draft, but it does open up the opportunity for them to deal Trae Young and rebuild on the fly. The challenge would be finding a trade partner. His style of play is difficult to bring into an established roster so I don't think his actual value will come close to his perceived value.

My guess is that this makes it way less likely they move on from Trey. If they are picking Sarr like most project, then they are already going to move on from Clint Capella and Onyeka Okongwu. Trading those guys and Murray give thems lots of ammo to building around Trey and Sarr. It opens up a good many options.

[stevew]

Raptors tanking for nothing was funny

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

My guess is that this makes it way less likely they move on from Trey. If they are picking Sarr like most project, then they are already going to move on from Clint Capella and Onyeka Okongwu. Trading those guys and Murray give thems lots of ammo to building around Trey and Sarr. It opens up a good many options.

Then again, my nephew who covers the team professionally says this might set off a complete rebuild. Sarr will need time to develop, so this might just be the excuse to dump most of the team and start over.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Then again, my nephew who covers the team professionally says this might set off a complete rebuild. Sarr will need time to develop, so this might just be the excuse to dump most of the team and start over.

I don't know if they have the guts to do it. I do think moving on from Trae would be the smart move in the long run. His style of play is incredibly difficult to build around. Undersized, ball dominate PG, volume shooter, god awful defender. He's essentially the modern AI in some ways.

The roster, as constructed, is poorly built and this would be a great excuse to hit the reset button and not have a complete fan meltdown.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I don't know if they have the guts to do it. I do think moving on from Trae would be the smart move in the long run. His style of play is incredibly difficult to build around. Undersized, ball dominate PG, volume shooter, god awful defender. He's essentially the modern AI in some ways.

The roster, as constructed, is poorly built and this would be a great excuse to hit the reset button and not have a complete fan meltdown.

I think the fans will melt down if they trade Trey. Just from what I have seen online, people seem pretty hostile to the idea. As for me, I agree with you. He is a near impossible player to build around.

[stevew]

Trae and Murray to the Spurs for Filler/4/8/all of the Hawks picks back?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

Trae and Murray to the Spurs for Filler/4/8/all of the Hawks picks back?

There is zero chance the Spurs bring in Trae Young. They already have too many guys on the team who think the team is better off with them shooting than them getting the ball to Wembanyama. I think Young should be traded. The issue I have in trading Young and then drafting Sarr, the team could give the impression that Sarr is the new centerpiece of the team. He is not that IMO.

[GrantDawg]

Caitlin Clark having a "welcome to the league, rook" first half. 7 points 1 assist and 5 turnovers.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Caitlin Clark having a "welcome to the league, rook" first half. 7 points 1 assist and 5 turnovers.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

There is also a good bit of a welcome from the officials. A little bump here and a little grab there.

[miami_fan]

Caitlin got slightly better as the game went along. She is going to have to find ways to get to and make shots at the basket. Eleven of fifteen shot attempts from behind the three point line is making it too easy for the opposition.

[RainMaker]

It's really fun to watch Jokic play. Like watching a guy you'd see at a YMCA dominate the best players in the world.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Caitlin got slightly better as the game went along. She is going to have to find ways to get to and make shots at the basket. Eleven of fifteen shot attempts from behind the three point line is making it too easy for the opposition.

The whole team has got to get some chemistry, or at least get on the same page. It looked like the Suns just doubled the ball and no one worked to help them out. The team only had 16 assist and 25 turn-overs. It's like they didn't have a cohesive plan.

[Ksyrup]

I watched 30 seconds of the Fever game and saw Clark was in trouble. She couldn't shake the defenders just to get outlet passes after a rebound. Definite wake up call, I'm sure.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It's really fun to watch Jokic play. Like watching a guy you'd see at a YMCA dominate the best players in the world.

Amazing player. Imagine being seven feet tall, two hundred eighty four pounds in 2024 and having the gall to only take three shots from three point range and settle for dominating everything within fifteen feet of the hoop.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It's really fun to watch Jokic play. Like watching a guy you'd see at a YMCA dominate the best players in the world.

The hate he gets from some of the old guard is crazy.

[sovereignstar v2]

Jokic is a very talented basketball player. He gets away with a lot though. He can use his body like a battering ram but the moment he gets it back it's a foul on the defensive player. He also switches hit pivot foot and always gets away with it.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

He can use his body like a battering ram but the moment he gets it back it's a foul on the defensive player.

He only averages like 5-7 FTs a game during the season and playoffs. Considering the amount of contested shots around the rim and inside the FT line he takes whatever calls he's 'given' seems somewhat negligible (and it's definitely not that people avoid contact either). Closer to Shaq than Harden in terms of the way contact on him is called imo.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Atocep

The hate he gets from some of the old guard is crazy.

I assume you are talking about Shaq cause he is the only old guy that has an issue with Jokic specifically. I don't think there will ever be a big man Shaq likes that is not a Shaq clone. There is still a general prejudice against European players for a lack of toughness that has been there since the 90's that continues to be ridiculously false.

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Jokic is a very talented basketball player. He gets away with a lot though. He can use his body like a battering ram but the moment he gets it back it's a foul on the defensive player. He also switches hit pivot foot and always gets away with it.

That might be the case but I can't see evidence of that in this series.

[miami_fan]

So the Fever is got destroyed by the Liberty in their home opener. Not a big surprise given the Liberty won the East and has last year's MVP Breanna Stewart had a huge game.

It is early but the Fever would be better off having Kelsey Mitchell being the primary scorer at least early on. Caitlyn's forcing her own offense and is force feeding the ball to Aliyah Boston.

[sovereignstar v2]

Howling noises or something

[Ksyrup]

The TWolves-Nuggets series has been crazy as hell. Tonight, TWolves up 50, have separate runs of like 29-2 and 26-1 and the crowd got free Chick-fil-A thanks to 2 missed FTs.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

It is early but the Fever would be better off having Kelsey Mitchell being the primary scorer at least early on. Caitlyn's forcing her own offense and is force feeding the ball to Aliyah Boston.

Kinda tough when there's literally ONE reason anybody on the planet gives the slightest fuck that the Fever exist. Only Atlanta managed lower attendance than the Fever last year, which is kinda life as a bad team.

So they can lose featuring her OR they can lose with a perhaps more reasoned approach ... but one of those might generate temporary eyeballs so, uh, which one we reckon they're gonna do?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Kinda tough when there's literally ONE reason anybody on the planet gives the slightest fuck that the Fever exist. Only Atlanta managed lower attendance than the Fever last year, which is kinda life as a bad team.

So they can lose featuring her OR they can lose with a perhaps more reasoned approach ... but one of those might generate temporary eyeballs so, uh, which one we reckon they're gonna do?

That was from a purely basketball point of view. I get that she is the draw and she needs to be the focus for marketing. It is also the reason Christie Sides has about five or so games to figure this thing before she becomes an accelerated version of Paul Silas as the Cavs head coach. Again, that is not a concern for the marketing folks. It just might be be better for the team in general and Caitlyn specifically if there was more of a focus on Caitlyn the great passer and offensive creator than on Caitlyn the scorer at this point.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

That was from a purely basketball point of view. I get that she is the draw and she needs to be the focus for marketing. It is also the reason Christie Sides has about five or so games to figure this thing before she becomes an accelerated version of Paul Silas as the Cavs head coach. Again, that is not a concern for the marketing folks. It just might be be better for the team in general and Caitlyn specifically if there was more of a focus on Caitlyn the great passer and offensive creator than on Caitlyn the scorer at this point.

Oh I agree wholeheartedly. But with the "she's the greatest thing EVER" narrative, basketball sense has flown out the window.

And let me be clear: I like Clark well enough, but she's not the second coming of Cousy/West/Jordan/LeBron all rolled into one either.

As a long-time coach friend of mine put it "she's basically Pete Maravich with better passing" and that doesn't seem far off reality.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

KOnly Atlanta managed lower attendance than the Fever last year, which is kinda life as a bad team.

I thought of this statement when I just saw they announced that the Dream-Fever games are going to be relocated to State Farm Arena. Clark is making the league some bank at least as of now. Also, I didn't realize the Dream was playing in College Park. It might not be fair because I believe they have been trying to revitalize the area, but I wouldn't be crazy about being in College Park at night. For those not familiar with Atlanta, College Park is right outside the airport, and it suffers the same problem most major airport adjacent neighborhoods do.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

As a long-time coach friend of mine put it "she's basically Pete Maravich with better passing" and that doesn't seem far off reality.

To paraphrase the English, if this is considered a slight, game's gone!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

To paraphrase the English, if this is considered a slight, game's gone!

The only playoff series a Maravich team ever won was when he was relegated to 11 minutes a game as a aging veteran.

I would not be remotely surprised if that wasn't Clark's fate.