Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 32. (Read 918255 times)

Kyrie admits that he's immature at that time https://nypost.com/2022/05/16/kyrie-irving-immaturity-cost-cavaliers-more-championships/

I guess he just want to prove that he can win championship even if he doesn't team up with Lebron. But he fail and didn't get what he look forward. But I guess he learn a lot from past mistake he made and now he became more better player in Mavs.

We see him became a team player and good motivator on his young teammates that's why many people love Kyrie now.

To be fair Kyrie wanted to spotlight on himself and wanted to prove that he could be number one in a championship team and that's why he left, look at his old Cavs teammates, any other, they all love him and they are glad to have the same title as him, they are thankful basically.

This is why I believe we are not going to see much changes all the time, we are seeing a few people who do not get along well with him and that's true, Kyrie, Westbrook etc, but there are plenty more people who are thankful to play with Lebron and get their games better, the moment Lebron leaves a team, that team usually becomes a much worse team and that's the most important part. We can't really put the blame of Westbrook missing many shots on Lebron.

I'm not sure about Jordan Poole, yeah we might think of him as another splash brothers back then, but there is something different with Poole. He had a break out performance and we can say that he did help the Warriors win as he was instrumental. But it could have been a total different next season with him, specially with that huge contract in his head and I don't see him as a replacement even if Thompson move out. He might step up, but the errors that he has committing or game decision might have a issues with the Warriors if he stays with them.

Beal and Westbrook was their biggest season yet, and If I'm not mistaken, they made the playoff that year. And Westbrook was still at his prime as he really took and play great during that time before going to the Lakers. I remember he had some confrontation with fans of the other teams as someone throws water on him.

Just too bad for Jordan Poole though, he had troubles with Green and so the Warriors traded him. I'm not sure though, he had some attitude already as he had a great time with the Warriors but probably success gets into his head and now he had been forgotten by fans as his team is tanking.

Yes, we forgot about Udoka, we know that he is really a good coach and almost brought a championship with the Celtics that time. But bad decisions in life cause him to be removed by the Celtics management.

But the good thing is that the Rockets has given him a chance to redeem himself, and last year could be where he is just trying to figure everything out, and in this season, he had find the perfect chemistry, starting fives and then the second unit. So they really come into ages for now, but let's see how far they can go and continue with their momentum run under Udoka, maybe a few more twitch here and there.

Even when Beal was with the Wizards this team was at the bottom almost every year. Also, I don't think Poole would have helped the GSW to win anything. He doesn't have the right mindset, can't follow simple coaching instructions and overall he is just too childish. Also, because of the tensions between Poole and most of the players it was an easy decision to trade him. Sure he can ball, even though it's too flashy at times, but he just didn't fit (anymore).

True..... This team hasn’t been the same since the Bradley Beal and John Wall era ended. Now, it’s just a group of players who don’t have that competitive fire to push the team into playoff contention. It’s a shame for Jordan Poole., if he had stayed with the Warriors, things could have been different.

If Poole wasn’t traded, I honestly think the Warriors could still be a championship team. Imagine Poole stepping up, no more Klay Thompson, but with a refreshed lineup, they could’ve been deadly. I think that was really a bad decision by the warriors.

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I agree with @dwyane36.. Udoka change that team (rockets).

The Rockets have been underdogs the past few seasons. Honestly, it's even unusual to see them at the top of the standings now instead of at the bottom. That's probably thanks to Udoka, although I still don't see them as a title contender. It seems to me that the second round in the playoffs is probably the maximum they can reach this regular season.

I respect your opinion, but I don't think that hiring JJ Redick is a bad decision for the management. For me, getting Redick would be better than staying with a bad coach like Darvin Ham. As for Vincent, he might've played well when he's on the Heat, but injuries hindered his performance, and the Lakers are stacked up with guards as well, so he isn't given enough time to play. Heck, he isn't even on the rotation for most of the time. Even the rookie, Knecht has more playing time than him. They're 5th right now in the stacked Western Conference. Just imagine if they're being coached by Darvin Ham still, they might be on the bottom spot right now.

Right now, the Rockets are what I call the "Dark Horse" of the West just because they're at the top, but they don't have a legitimate all-star. I guess it's the overall teamwork alongside a good coach in Ime Udoka that's what makes this team a better one. We know how Udoka carried the Celtics to the Finals in his first season, so he has the capabilities to make this team even better and we're seeing it already.

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Anyway, just to add, last season the Pistons are the team that didn't get any wins during the month of November. This regular season, it's the Washington Wizards that didn't get a win which is quite unfortunate. Well, I guess they're tanking yet again so that they can get a higher draft pick in the 2025 draft season. It's stacked though, and they don't have all-star to begin with, so I guess they'll be tanking yet again.

They think Vincent could provide those numbers what he provide on Miami, but he fail to perform well and became nothing in Lakers. I don't know what happen to this guy since he is supposed to be a good shooter way back then but guess he can't perform well in Lakers and I think he's nor a good fit in this team.

Also that's how NBA became more exciting to watch now since everything is unpredictable. People cannot accurately say who will be the champion since each team is giving their best to compete with other stronger team.

Many got really hype with what Warriors did earlier but they didn't manage it so well that's why they drop on standings. Rockets became another team became fun to watch now but let see if they could able to maintain their momentum and will not flop on their future games.

And that's why it's another bad decision for the Lakers management, and no surprises, as they have made a lot of them in the past, specially hiring coaches and it seems that the trend will continue with JJ Reddick.

Anyhow, landscape in the West is changing, it used to be the Warriors that are hot, now in the Rockets. They don't have one franchise player, but I think that's what made them very good in their last 5 games as anyone can take the lead. And they also have a good defense as well. So let's see if they can keep with this momentum, as we all know, a lot of things can happen in just short amount of time and we don't know who's going to lead the West.

Rockets being second place at western conference is wild to me, with OKC being first as well. I mean these are two teams that heavily tanked and got some good draft picks and they did pick good players on those drafts to make them better, and just trusted their rookies and give them a lot of minutes for a few years and now they are improved a lot.

It goes to show you, if you draft well and give those players 4-5 seasons to be great, they are going to get amazing experience and be much better but you have to first grind through that terrible period. Obviously they added some decent veteran experience around them from free agency as well, but this goes to show you that trusting the future is the key to recover in this day of NBA, instead of hoping for big signing of star players. Rockets do not have any star players at all, all of them are just decent players, none of them are even all-star level player and yet they are second ranked right now.

Or maybe he is not given enough playing time with the Lakers, or he is not really a perfect fit for them. We have seen a lot of players of that caliber, I mean they performed good with their teams, but when they moved out, it's a totally flip of their performances.

Definitely he got a lot of money from moving out of Miami and joining the Lakers, but as what cost? He got injured and there are no more playing time. And probably he will get traded too if his contract expires or not re-sign by the Lakers because of poor performance.

LeBron’s always had issues with teammates, even back then. Remember when Kyrie left Cleveland? He felt like LeBron hogged all the spotlight, even though Kyrie was a huge reason they won that championship. Honestly, I don’t think LeBron’s the best team player. Unless he can carry the Lakers every single game, that’s the only time they’ll really be a top contender.

Yeah, there's also a big factor when playing with people who trusting you, look how coach Spo played him way back with the Heat even he's not that star-quality player but his minutes counts, a role player who can contribute when the team needs him, but after being traded he lose his confidence, maybe that injury limits him or other factors might affects him that's why he can't go back on his usual game.

Or we don't know if ever he got traded maybe he can get his minutes and he'll be able to help just if in case his new team gives him that green light.

The Suns getting spanked by the Nets right now after just beating the Lakers is crazy. The Nets have taken 15 more shots than the Suns at this point to start the 4th and the Nets are shooting the lights out from three point range. I guess the Suns may still be tired from their game against the Lakers. This is embarrassing.

I don't think that's the issue, it’s more about the environment or the coaching. Look at Russell Westbrook. He was shooting bricks with the Lakers and was criticized because he didn’t meet their expectations. But now that he’s with the Nuggets, although playing limited minutes but we’re already seeing flashes of the old Westbrook. Why? Probably because he’s more comfortable, and the team chemistry is better.

It's worth noting that Gabe Vincent wasn't that bad when he was performing for the Heat. However, for the Lakers, his performance is very weak. He probably can't get back to his old shape because of the last injury, and I think he will never be able to.
By the way, he's only been in the NBA for 6 seasons but has a huge list of injuries in such a short period.

And to add to this perspective, their last win is when Knecht had his best game, that shoulder shrug, like MJ did against Portland when he was hitting those 3's. And last season with Darvin Ham in the first 17 games,

Last season: 10-7
This season: 10-7

So nothing has changed actually, they got JJ, but job is not done. they started very good, but after that, it was the same Lakers as just like season.

Also, I do agree, with the Gabe Vincent acquisition, one of the worst that the Lakers did, averaging 3.0 ppg.

I feel very weird about the Brooklyn Nets. They often upset power-ranking teams, but they lost to the Sixers and Pistons which we know struggling this season. In their last match, they won against the Golden State Warriors. Do you think they can repeat this, considering their opponent is the Phoenix Suns, whose Big 3 Beal, Durant and Booker are now playing? Brooklyn's odds were x6.9 against the Warriors. Now, it's x3.8 against the Suns. Do you think the Brooklyn Nets can do it to the Suns? The Suns' losing streak ended when Beal and Durant played.