Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 185. (Read 902411 times)

He said this so that Doncic will re-sign again. Business tactics 
Kidding aside, I don't think that Doncic is on a status already where he surpassed Dirk. I would compare both of them again if Luka will lead the Mavericks to another title.

He might be eligible, but the question is "Will he stay?" "Will he choose to sign that big contract extension instead of just sacrificing a bit of a money in order for them to sign better role players". Speaking of role players, they already have good players actually. The only problem is that, they've only gotten better after the all-star game. TBH, the competition in the West is as tough as it is last season. Well, they're at the 5th spot currently. Only 2 games behind the Clippers, but only 1 game above the 8th seeded Phoenix so they're current spot isn't still secured knowing that they still have 7 games remaining. A mere 3-game losing streak can put them at the play-in spot.

He might be saying "A future championship team" because like you said, they might be the most improved team this season, but with their inexperience in the playoffs, I don't also see them winning the title "AT LEAST" this season only.

Timberwolves and Thunder passing the first round? Hmmm it will depend on the team they will be facing. If they will be facing like Sacramento or New Orleans, they have a chance, but if they will be matched up against Phoenix or even LA if possible, I believe they will be having a problem just because of experience in the playoffs.

Right now the Timberwolves would destroy golden state in a 7 game series.  Warriors might be able to win 1 maybe 2 but to win multiple games in a row against the wolves ain't happening.  Okc too.  The team they need to worry about is seeing the Nuggets in the conference finals.  Warriors aren't the same team.  Besides steph the rest of the squad is a shell of thoer former selves.  Their run is over.

Doncic deserves every bit of money that he gets, if he gets paid 70 million a year that would still be something that would not even be enough, but there is a cap of course because otherwise other players wouldn't get paid a lot. And not like Doncic is the type of player who would have a ton of endorsements, but a shoe deal must be in place by now and I bet that he is getting a lot there.

Salaries of NBA players will skyrocket soon enough, because we are going to see all these new salaries be this high, max that the bigger names will get could be huge, if they keep going of course. Like Curry could get insane amounts, Lebron would probably retire, but if not, he could see something huge as well, which is normal considering inflation.

Experienced do matters, though the type of a game system by both Wolves and OKC is somehow different from how they perform last season, it's still possible that Warriors and Suns experienced in-case that they met them in the next round might be an edge, stars are bringing all in when comes the playoffs, though if these young team will continue to manage that same energy and same chemistries, they still got a better chance to stand still and move forward to the next round.

I can say that both SGA and AE can comes out big when they are needed by their respective teams, these two young superstars really creating thier way to keep pushing tobring their teams to the finals.

Voted the same and I can see he is winning.
Well, there's no doubt how Coach Mark Daigneault improved the gameplay of the OKC Thunder. Those are young guys who are supposed to be difficult to handle but here they are right now at the 3rd spot of the Western Conference tied with the strong Minnesota Timberwolves and just one win away to tie with the Denver Nuggets at 53 wins.

He made that roster strong, their bench is also not to be messed with, their starters play like the chemistry had been there for a long time, and I guess he is doing a good job too off the court because it ain't easy to make those players play that way without adding some extra curricular activities that would boost their chemistry.
A true improvement and I don't think he should worry about not being seen because it is too bright not to see. OKC is strong!

I think the Timberwolves and OKC might be able to advance past the 1st round of the playoffs as long as they don't face the Suns or Warriors. If they happen to face them, there's a big chance they'll be eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs. I believe these two teams can handle the Mavericks and Pelicans, but the Warriors and Suns are somewhat strong in my opinion.

Looks like 5 now.  Funny that nobody picked any other coach.  It's the obvious pick though.  The OKC Thunder have clearly overperformed this year and won far more games than anyone predicted or expected they would.  Without a huge star (I know...) you really have to give credit to the coaching staff.  I have no doubt they did an excellent job this year and I think the actual NBA voters will come to the same result as this thread's participants with the coach of the year award.  He's earned it.  Still think they don't make it out of the first round of the playoffs though.

I don't think Oklahoma can be considered a championship team since it is just their beginning and they haven't even entered the playoffs with this core. A formidable team—yes,  we can say that—a championship? I don't really know. Yes, they are having a great season, which is a good beginning for them since everyone is waiting for this to come since they traded all of their superstars and gained a lot of round picks. Playoffs are a different environment; players with experience are more likely to win in the playoffs. That's why veteran presence is needed in these kinds of games. Just look at the Memphis Grizzlies and Kings last year; they got beaten by the Lakers and the Warriors, a team that possesses a lot of playoff experience. 

But let's see if this year's playoff will be a different story. Can we see the Timberwolves and Thunder make it past the first round? 

It seems like everyone is rooting for "Mark Daigneault - Thunder" to win the coach of the year award, we have 4 votes and all is on this coach.

Anyway, let's talk the games that was concluded especially the Sixers.. Did you guys see it coming? I mean Embiid was back and played a decent game. Currently, their ranking is at number 8, now that Embiid is back, I think there's a chance for them to be at least in the number 6.. This is the biggest surprise as the play-in is coming, I hope he will stay healthy until the playoffs is over.

Yeah, I guess their winning magic is gone as they've lost twice already and so their chances has been dose with cold water as the Warriors won their game against the Mavs and they put a separation between them and the Rockets and having their own winning streak as well.

And the Rockets surge is sort of late as they really need to win their last remaining games and it looks like they are going to do that. But we all know that at some point winning streak has to end. Nevertheless, good sign for them, as they've shown improvement and next season could be great for them.

Seems like Rocket magic is gone right ? last night they tried for 1st half to actually get in front but they did so many mistakes that literally cost them the game and I also think this defeat will cost them the play-in spots too because Warriors won and they really look strong lately. ( I still consider Green should play under 5 minutes per game ).

@inthelongrun brought about the coach of the year voting, and I think it does not count the playoffs game or even if the team will not reach the playoffs a coach can still win as coach of the year. I think OKC has already achieve big success in the regular season so far, so that's enough for Mark Daigneault to win that award.

I hope this young team will not face a strong team like the Lakers, maybe if they'll face the Kings in the first round, it would be good for them as despite the Kings already entered in the playoffs last year, they are still a young team for me.

I have a feeling that we will see a lot of upset in the playoffs especially that an old playoff teams are not at the top of the standing.

Of course, we are not even in the playoff and so we can't say if they are good. We can only conclude on what they are showing us. And with that at the top of the West, then we can say that they are indeed in best shape for this season.

And then we will see if they can pass the test with flying colors in the playoffs, they might be facing a experience team in the first round, and this is the first time that we might see them post Westbrook and KD. Now they have SGA as their leader and he should really proved that he is the franchise player by winning at least the first round.

I already submitted by vote and the same, I have Mark Daigneault. And I think he deserves it as you have said, he turn the Thunder into one of the best team not just in the West. There were week that they are in the top 1 tie with the Nuggets for the best record. SGA is putting MVP numbers and then they have the namesake Williams, Chet, Josh Giddey and other young players who's willing to play that role and fit perfectly. And Mark Daigneault is in his 4 year stint and this is the best season ever as he already solve the puzzle on how the rotation is with this young core. There are games that SGA is not playing and yet they still found a way to win.

Stat wise and early in his career, yeah I would have to agree that Luka is better than Dirk at any statistical categories. But still though the barometer at least for me is to win 1 championship for the Dallas Mavericks. Yeah, Dirk could have been surrounded by good team mates by that time, but they faces Lebron and Wade in the finals and it was Dirk who carried that team with his clutch fade away shot. And so if Doncic can do that against a stack up team like Celtics or the Bucks in the finals, then I would agree with Cuban. So for now, Doncic is great but he is not on that level yet with Dirk as far as what he brought to the City of Dallas in his era.

Doncic and Dirk are 2 different type of players with different role and position. We can't really get a solid comparison between these 2, because Dirk was simply outstanding and dominating with his position. Not a lot of big men in his era who can shoot mid range and long range efficiently.
Mark Cuban should've never said that, it is a disrespect to a player who played for 1 franchise his whole career and win one against a very competitive, talented and stacked team who dominated the NBA in the next 2 years.  I can only say Luka Doncic is better than Dirk if he can beat a team like the 2011-2012 Miami Heat.
But don't get me wrong, Doncic is such a great all around player and at this stage of his career he is in no doubt a future hall of famer, but he still has a long way to go and he needs to win a chip to cement a legacy in his career.

They are really so good this season but we can't conclude yet if they are really a championship team. This young team is not been tested on playoffs yet and we know the atmosphere on that series is really different since we can see that all teams became more competitive that's why we need to see first if they can advance to the next round. If OKC could able to do that and defeat those teams that are projected to be a favorite to land into the finals then maybe there will be no other further question that they are really great.

So hopefully they don't experience to get choked on first round since its exciting to see a young team compete and win a championship.

Same here, he turned the young OKC like a championship team. They were at number 1 but now at 3 but the season is not yet over. Regardless on what rank they'll finished, it's very evident that the OKC has showed some consistency and have beat a lot of great teams. SGA has been having some injury problem that's why they dropped, but even without their main man, they still win games which showed how good he is as a coach.

This young OKC team might be the dark horse in the playoffs, and I don't see them getting an early exit like a first round exit.

NBA fanatics we have a new poll for the coach of the year award. Only 2 voted so far. I voted for the young Mark Daigneault. No one expected the Thunder to come on top this season. Not even in the top 5. And Mark is coaching a very young line-up including a rookie. His starter lead by a 25 year-old Shai and the others are 21 and 22? Mark definitely deserved it even if OKC drops to number 3 in the west because Denver is expected while Minnesota has 3 superstars. And in the east? Boston is star-studded while the Bucks also added the veteran superstar Damian Lillard.

Anybody else watching LeBron James and JJ Redick’s podcast? It is interesting to hear their take on things that happened in their career. This week they talked a lot about Chris Bosh and his role on the Miami Heatles. Some interesting perspectives… You realize how knowledgeable those guys are after a lifetime of basketball.