Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 212. (Read 902530 times)

It's Dame time, I didn't bet on that game, but watching from the sideline and I'm thinking that at anytime, Dame might explode and shows proof that he can still carry a team in his back. Like in this case, without Giannis he needs to step up and that's what happen here. So no more coach Rivers critics now, they are all hiding as he proved that he still has it and now giving the Bucks that winning streak and the management are happy on the results of getting Doc Rivers for them.

Bad sign for the Clippers though, without Giannis this could be an easy win for them. And they almost did it, but they just collapsed on the 4th quarter and can't find the basket while the Bucks are having their own run.

The Lakers is back in the winning column. I thought OKC can make it twice in the road without a day-off. Lebron James with another big performance, nearly triple double. This is Bron's first game since breaking the historic 40k career points. There is no slowing down for the legend. We'll see if the Lakers can make it in the playoffs this season.

But the best game of the day is between the Bucks and the Clippers. Gianisless Bucks were still able to hold the visiting Clippers. Thanks to the big rally in the 4th quarter. Superb performance by Dame with 41 points and Portis Jr. step it up with a double-double. The Bucks seem undefeated since the All-star break.

No wonder why he reached billions. LeBron is an intelligent guy on and off the court. Investing so much to preserve your body and endure longevity and excellent durability is not something very common to any NBA player. I guess longevity and durability is way too underrated when we discuss about great athletes.
Now, regarding the GOAT debate? I don't see any point where it ends at least in this current generation. Even if LeBron will win 1, 2 or 3 more championships, that doesn't gonna end the debate because people all has different opinion, perspective, and preferences. For some people, they considered LeBron have already surpassed what Jordan have achieved except for the number of championship won. But then again, a championship is a team effort, GOAT debate is supposed to be an individual achievement, influence, and impact to the game. All I can say is that, it is safer to say that each NBA fan has their own GOAT. 

Very entertaining game in Milwaukee.
The fans may have thought they would be frustrated after knowing Giannis will not play tonight, but that's not the case. Damian Lillard made it entertaining for them and gave them a great win in their home.
41 points for Dame. But he ain't the only one who lit the fuse and gave the fans energy in the 4th quarter. Bobby Portis' offensive power, Patrick Beverley's high-level defensive awareness, and AJ Green's shooting threes when they needed it the most.
15 points was the highest lead of the Clippers and the Bucks came back slowly thanks to their consecutive stops. Plus, I think the exhaustion of the Clippers might also have been a big part of that loss. They had a tiring game against the Timberwolves yesterday then add the trip from Minnesota to Milwaukee. It all showed in the last quarter of the game and the Bucks took advantage of that.

That's debatable though if Warriors dynasty is over, but then again, 2 seasons ago, lots of their critics like Perks says that they are done, but they proved them wrong by winning the NBA championship again. Those are the days that Jordan Poole become the 2nd or 3rd best option for them and Wiggins mindset is winning. He even made the All Star that time.

But today's team are different, and obviously the are getting older, Poole is no longer with them, Klay is inconsistent, Wiggins missing in action. And Draymond started to show some mental issues. But let's see, it hard to totally to write off a organization that has the championship DNA.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is not playing today against the Clippers, so it's a hard task for them to win even if they are playing in their homecourt or even if the second unit of the Clippers lead by Westbrook can't play as well because of hand injuries. Start of the 3rd quarter, Bucks are behind 9 points already. For the Lakers vs Thunder, it's back to back for the Lakers and they've lost against the Denver. While the Thunder is fresh and just snap their lost against the Wemby lead Spurs the last time. But still very hard to predict, but OKC is the slight favorite here.

Big games later as the Bucks looking to extend their winning streak when they host the Clippers. The Lakers will also try to improve their standing for a playoff spot against the visiting Thunders. Who are your picks? Clippers and the Thunders are the slight favorite here.

I would also include the Boston Celtics along with the Nuggets...
In recent years Boston  had an absurd evolution, I'm impressed how Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and other players have evolved (I would even include
Marcus Smart on this list, but he left the Celtics). Basically, these and other players were polished diamonds and are currently ready to be NBA champions.

Talking about the Warriors, I believe that the team needs to make a big change for them to be NBA champions again, I believe that the level of Thompson and Green has dropped drastically, and Curry alone cannot carry the team on his back.

They are one of the best and has got a lot of rings and props to them with that. But the time isn't going in the past, we're moving on and there are new champions coming in that are showing that they're stronger.

Like the Nuggets.

But I know that if some massage on their roster, I think that they'd be able to get that momentum again like what they used to have before.

Apparently the Warriors dynasty isn't forever...
I'm amazed by GSW performance in the game against the Celtics yesterday, and also by the Warriors decline year after year, a few seasons ago they were the most feared team in the NBA and Today, the Warriors are a team that is fighting to get a seed in the playoffs in the league...

Yes, this's incredible, I even believe that LeBron James is a game changer in the NBA, in December this year he will turn 40 years old and he's still playing at the level of an AllStar player.
I have no doubt that he will be able to play another 2, 3 or even 4 seasons and after that, he will retire. I don't know, but I still believe he can return to Cleveland and retire there.

As these guys get older they tend to slack off a little in season.  You will see the guys like steph, lebron, kd all sharpen their game come playoffs time.  KD will be fine and so will the Suns.  I'd be more worried about him if he was getting nicked up throughout the season going into the playoffs hobbled. 

Since he is making history at that age, he will probably stretch more of his records so that the next generations will gonna be having a hard time breaking them and as we can see, he seems not getting old due to the continued maintenance of his body well since he is taking it seriously by paying huge amount of money just to get the proper exercise and diet to play effectively on the court even at that age. If he can just win one more championship in his last years in the NBA, the GOAT debate will probably close there but at this rate, he is struggling to get that one and the other players on different teams are improving as well which makes his road to another championship dark.

Yes, I do agree that the Celtics look really good and serious. I am just surprised because I never expected the Golden State Warriors true perform this bad. Stephen Curry was absolutely muted in this game.

Luca had a really incredible game for the Mavericks. But he just did not get enough support. It must have been a network disappointing for him because, with that type of performance, he should have been able to win the game.
If I am not wrong, Mavericks loss to the first quarter by actually 10 points.



I do not think that he is currently having any plans to actually retire as well. You know he has a lot more time to play, and definitely he is also going to play pretty well during that period.

Even if he plays as a bench player, he will still do well. And yes there is no shame in that. As long as he is not a burden on his team and is actually helping his team, he is always going to be useful.

Their appearance in the semis and finals is great but it seems that they're really cursed in the finals.

There really are times that teams and players don't perform as what we're expected. I still remember those years when GSW after being the champs, they've became slumps during the next years.

About Jusuf Nurkic I didn't expect that he can still manage to get this kind of rebound stat because of his before gruesome leg injury. Man playing without hesitation grabbing rebound.

I'll give some credit to the coaching staff for winning this game. Oklahoma city thunder coach Mark Daigneault really doing his thing and I won't be surprised if he will win the Coach of the year award. Actually his leading the odds in coach of the year award.

I saw an interview with Steph Curry after the game and he said "That's what we used to do to teams." He's talking about the dynasty that they created way back 5-6 years ago where they are dominating the league. Now the Celtics are the ones doing it.

They just demolished the Warriors by getting that win. A 52-point win is the 3rd largest win in the franchise history and the 44-point lead by halftime is their largest halftime lead in franchise history. I just wonder if this happened in Chase Center. Anyways, I already expected that the Celtics would win on this one, but I didn't expect that this would be that one-sided.

The question right now is "Will Bronny be drafted this season by the NBA?".

Looking at his numbers in College, his stats are not even worthy of being drafted in the NBA. Correct me, but he's averaging near to 5 PPG ONLY. If you want to be drafted to the NBA, you need to average more than that at least. For me, if he gets drafted this coming draft night, I will think that Le-GM used his GM skills again to force that team to draft him. I get it that Lebron wanted to play with him or at least be both of them playing in the same season, but his son for me, with his current averages will become undrafted unless something changes with his playstyle and stats in College drastically.

Reaching 40 thousand! points is no joke. I have never really expected anyone to pass Kareem while I was alive, and not only Lebron passed him, but he broke over 40 thousand points. This is insanely awesome because Lebron is also known as the type of player who is a point forward, he is famous for his passing and court vision as well.

Obviously, he is still assisting a lot, even this year he is averaging 8 assists per game, and dude is fourth in assists totals as well, think about someone who is fourth at passing the ball but also broke forty thousand points as a scorer as well, not only he is a great passer but he is the greatest scorer as well. I would say that while I agree that people could have different opinions, saying Lebron is not the greatest or near the best, would be naive. This dude has to be near the top for everyone.

It's still him, the defense of the OKC Thunder was just focused on him because they don't have Booker, despite that he still made 20 points and that is still huge. I think the coaching style of Frank Vogel is what needed to be revised. It's so obvious that KD is having a hard time making an offensive attack because of the fast reaction of the Thunder to double him once he receives the ball. There's always a way to prevent that from happening. He needs to post up way deeper, almost at the painted area but because they lack a ball handler or a passer that could give him the ball accurately, it cannot be done. KD loves playing isolation but that should not be the case anymore with Beal and Nurkic around. They need to rotate the ball more. Vogel is a defensive coach but his players are mostly offensive players. Ball rotation will be a good way to take advantage of them.
If all of them will just be playing isolation plays then it's a waste of shooters in their roster. Someone who could drive and kick the ball out after absorbing the defense will probably make good results.

At this stage, we can't yet talk about the retirement of LeBron as he is still happy with what he is doing, making history and breaking records. As we can see, he can still play, and his statistics remain very impressive. Even some young star players now can't surpass his achievements every season, so there's no reason for people to consider him retiring. If his son is fortunate enough to be in the NBA, that would likely be the happiest moment of his life as a father. However, we know his son is nowhere near him, as LeBron is a freak of nature.

I think he is waiting for Bronny to play with him in the NBA before he will retired. I really doubt that he will stop playing next season or in the near future since he can still play very solid on his page in any role that he wants. He is just not that aggressive anymore due to his age but his leadership makes his team solid because his teammates rely on him.

I believe we will see first him play as a bench player first like Kobe did before he finally retired. He can still perform much better to bunch of other team starter tho.