Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 276. (Read 902873 times)

They still won a ring without Durant though, so not sure if it ended with him. But that was like 2 years ago and it was as different Warriors know. That time they really have a lot of good role players who's willing to do everything in the court.

But now with their issues like Draymond Green indefinite suspension and then Klay having his shooting slump, Curry not the same anymore and then their role players is not at deep as before, the Warriors might have ended their dynasty already this year and it's going to be very hard for them to make the playoffs.

The Warriors dynasty ended years ago... I believe these are all phases, when Durant joined the Warriors, they became a super team, but slowly they dissolved, Durant left the team, Curry's and Thompson's performance was decreasing year after year and now GSW has this problem with Draymond Green...
Well, I believe that the Warriors need to reformulate themselves and adapt to this new reality to continue to be a competitive team and achieve a seed in the playoffs.
GSW's next game will be against the Pelicans, it will be a difficult game, but I have no doubt it will be an interesting game to watch.

If it's in LA I don't think Toronto will be favorites.  They have been killing it lately since the trade (same for the knicks).  But at home and Toronto on a west coast trip I can see the Lakers being favorite by a couple.

That's the case and I think Theiss knows that when he move to Clippers (I can't remember if he is traded or pick up by Clippers though). But during his stint with the Celtics he had some good games and contribute.

Going back to the games, Clippers had the advantage early in the first 2 quarters and it was just like in the last minute of the 3rd quarter that they made a small run taking a 2 point lead and that's what the Lakers needed then. AD again with a huge double double, and Lebron almost a triple double to lead the Lakers to this huge win against their rivals. Is this the game that the Lakers are going to flip themselves after the in season tournament championship win?

I would say it actually works a lot better for Westbrook now, which is definitely funny to see. He is not really a second unit player though, he is a sixth man, which means that they do not "start" with him, but they do use him when they need someone playing well, and sort of like Manu Ginobili rule, Ginobili wasn't a starter neither, but he did finish the games and he was one of the most important player in that squad, doesn't mean that he was second unit player just because he was the sixth man, he just ruled when the others were resting, and then rested when others joined and then they finished together, same is going on about Westbrook as well, that's important. I think it should be important to notice that difference.

It became clear that the losses in the Lakers were psychological.
Los Angeles Lakers, who lost four of their last five games, beat a team like Los Angeles Clippers by 106-103.
The Clippers were definitely the clear favorite in the match, but the Lakers won and got a surprise victory.
The Lakers will play two more games at home on Wednesday and Friday and will face Toronto on Wednesday. Toronto will be the favorite in the match. Because Toronto's away statistics are considered good. If the Lakers pass the Toronto hurdle, we can comment that the team is starting to form again.

I disagree with this one. They don't have good players, or I should say, they don't have enough good players to at least compete.
What do the Pistons have? Cunningham and? What do the Spurs have? Wembanyama and? They are tanking, hoping to get another high-draft pick player/s, develop it for years, and hope that it will change the franchise. Well, at least I agree with you though that even though their roster is just below average, they must get at least 10 wins before the season ends.

The OG Anunoby - RJ Barrett trade is for me one of the most win-win trades since the Sabonis - Haliburton. Of course, we consider the Sabonis - Haliburton trade fair during the first months as they are producing good numbers with their new teams, but over the years, we're seeing now who's the winner on that trade. As for the Knicks-Raptors trade, it's a win-win trade since both are benefiting one way or another. COngratulations to the Raptors on winning on the road though.

I know that there's a bit of a bias with this since Theis is a German, but between Zubac and him, Zu is more efficient and more helpful.
He's more of a supporting big for the Clippers, and I guess it will remain like that. I mean he's role even when he's on the Celtics is just a back-up center, and it will be the same here with the Clippers since they already have a kind of reliable center. No offense to him though.

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Everybody's talking here about the Lakers-Clippers, but they aren't talking about a 39-year-old player who's jumping a few inches behind the free-throw line and postering PG13. I mean who can do that right now? I wonder how Lebron James conditions himself for him to make jumps that far, and at his age, I don't know if there's anybody that's the same age as him who is as athletic as him.

That's what you get when there is someone playing better from the same position. No offense to Theiss and I agree that he's also good but Zubac has been doing really well as a starter. I like his chemistry and contribution around the three superstars. I cannot fault Ty Lue for giving him more minutes.

Yeah but ahoy just expressed his disappointment for his countrymen and that's understandable if you track the discussion about him.

If we go with their community and fan base, it's funny how the fans are mocking them when these three have been together brought glory to the dub nation.

Warriors defense aren't working fine already, they even struggle to score sometimes, and when they take a good lead, they will easily give it up. They aren't the same warriors anymore, and missing Green is really a big problem since he used to be the guy that brings energy for the team and that's why the Warriors are playing with high confidence.

Also, we have to consider the age factor, the big 3 ( Thompson, Curry, and Green) aren't getting any younger anymore.

They can really surprise everyone with their teamwork and they proved it against the Red Hot Clippers by beating them in a fair game. If only they could not lose some more games after this one, their chance to reach the NBA playoffs could rise, and Yes! they have a greater chance of making it than the current GSW today and now that CP3 is resting because of injury, they cannot get any more chances to win unless they will gonna come up with a working plan with their other bench player but as we know GSW dynasty on championship has already ended this season because of the way they are playing.

Daniel Theis is not really a superstar type of player, so he does not deserve to be in the starting line up. If we look at his average this season, he has 16.8 minutes per game with 6.8 PPG average. So it's really not much in terms of contribution, and to think that the LA Clippers has a lot of superstars, a role player can't expect to gain more minutes.

What Daniel Theis has to do is to impress the coaching staff again whenever he is on the floor, maybe he'll get an increment of minutes.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/theisda01.html

So far, the outcome of that experiment is really giving the team the wins that they needed, even some of their players are only getting few minutes
but it's always the outcome that matters.

Maybe they lost the game today but like what you just said, they are in good standing after those struggles when they first brought Harden to LA.

About Theiss, he just needs to wait and play well when coach call him to play, just bring everything in each game that you get the opportunity
to play.

I agree, it's like everyone has to adjust for the betterment of the team. And with all of these experiments that they're doing and everyone understands it key players and not.
It seems to be working at all for them and look at the stats and their games now, they're all quality and everyone agrees to what they're doing now.

I think there is a bigger issue than some young players problems. Popovich is a legendary coach but his time has already passed. It's the same in football, coaches like mourinho, sampaoli, jesus are outdated, this is the same for nba. If Phill Jackson comes, what can he do, for example, I think nothing. Just as young coaches like jason kidd, steve kerr, erik speolstra read the game better and shape it accordingly, popovich can announce his retirement and continue as an honorary something or other. As far as I know, he is already something like a shareholder in san antonio. I know he was about to retire but after his wife passed away he continued. Still, he is too old and I think it is best for everyone that he retires.

It could be a different ball game if they force that OT, I wasn't able to watch the full game though, I just see some in the 3rd quarter when the Lakers are making a comeback and then take that lead with D'Lo sinking that 3 and then Woods have a drive, then block Zubac on the other end.

I guess they stay on that energy in the 4th quarter, obviously they are rivals and Lakers wanted to proved something. I guess they just needed this kind of hard fought win to bring back their mentality in the season again as this is a great win for them.

Yes, that's true... I even dare to say that currently Lakers are an underrated team, but they could surprise everyone as i said before, I could even include the Warriors, but I believe that this NBA season the Lakers have a greater chance of making the playoffs than GSW.

Talking about the Lakers players, i believe that LeBron James will stay healthy, he's very athletic and he rarely gets injured, unlike AD, who unfortunately has been suffering from injuries, but currently he's in a stable phase and his helping a lot the Lakers in this NBA season. And I also agree with what you said, if LJ or AD get injured and need to stay away from some games, it will be difficult for the Lakers to make the playoffs this NBA season.

They don't start well after James Harden was traded, so the decision of not giving him plenty of minutes was due to the result of their experiment. They (clippers) are in the playoff ranking now, they have more wins in the last 10 games, and that would only tell that the current set of line up, from starting to secondary are working well on their system.

Westbrook didn't even complain which is a triple double machine before, and because he played on the 2nd unit, he is getting quality minutes.

Every player has their talent, it's just a matter on which team they'll fit.

I believe that he is doing the all he can by himself, but he is not the type of player that can carry a team. You need to be a certain type of player to be able to do that, even Jokic couldn't carry a team if he was lacking Murray, you always need a person who could bring the ball up, then you can pass to Wemby and he will do the rest but you need some good guard or forward.

This is why I always suggest Spurs to package some players together to get some great passer, if they can have a pick and roll type of play, they would be unstoppable, they have Wemby already, if they could get the roll guy, the passer guy, who could pass and shoot, they would really be unstoppable, those two would be unreal. Not easy to find one like that, but not impossible neither.

That's a common story in sports.
A team is losing and playing terrible and then they face a rival, which is also a much better team at the moment, and for some reason they can finally overcome their problems and win. Crazy which stories are written in sports.

About the Clippers, as a German national I am a bit disappointed they are giving Theiss such a small role yet again. He started really strong after the trade from the Pacers but now he gets so few minutes and pick and roll opportunities, they don't get the best out of him. He actually showed what he can do but right now this is not looking good.