Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 347. (Read 903172 times)

I wouldn't say it's the age. They had a good roster but exchanged too many for one who is not a system player so that's why. I was actually enjoying the chemistry of the trio and the rest of the roster prior to the arrival of Harden.

What's funny here is their coach saying that Harden needs to be himself moving forward instead of trying to fit in. He can't really do that unless he becomes the focal point so I guess someone will be relegated again and I think that's going to be WB.

The LA Clippers suck, Harden said that he's the system but everyone's now saying that he's no way the system but he's the problem of the team. I don't understand why this team with such good roster is struggling. LOL.

Maybe, oldies but goodies?

Haha, certainly that they're also a joke team. I admire them when they're able to win and overcome against the Orlando Magic but not this time with the Heat. 

Yeah, that's true, and one of the players who stepped up his game for the Miami Heat while Butler was out that time is Jaime Jaquez Jr. Rookie, 18th pick, who made 20 points in 38 minutes of playtime. Rawr! Oh, and that nice ankle breaker against Bogdan Bogdanovic.
https://x.com/BleacherReport/status/1723513340499198232?s=20
Well, Miami can really be a surprising team even with their undrafted players before they were traded. They play hard defense and use that opportunity to take the lead.

I really like how these rookies had been playing hard to be in the spotlight of the league. Dallas Mavericks also has one rookie player who is getting a lot of attention, Dereck Lively II. 12th pick and then there's Julian Strawther, 29th pick of the Denver Nuggets played against the New Orleans Pelicans gathering 21 points in 20 minutes. It's cool to see that at the early stage of their careers, they are already showing off their confidence.

Clippers could be 0-5 in the "Harden era" as they are trailing against the Grizzlies. So much for not being system player since he is a system hehe. Goodluck to the future of Clippers organization as it's looking like their season is another play-in tournament at best.

I couldn't agree more on these two reasons.

Jaquez Jr. really took his chance and step up. I've noticed him during the pre-season and liked how physical he plays.

They are currently playing against Memphis, and they are trailing them at the end of the first half, haven't watch the game yet, but looking at the scores, he had 6 points with 1 assist, the Clippers is lead by George and Westbrook with 12 and 10 respectively.

And I do agree that 10 games is a lot, by now he should now the system already and he is supposedly a great NBA player, so he could adapt in any situation and flourish. But the thing is that the Clippers are really struggling even before he join them. Kahwi and Paul George doesn't have a season wherein they are both healthy and can't to the playoffs without either one of them getting injured. Insert into the picture Westbrook, another high octane player which could be at least for some, not a perfect fit and it looks like him in the Lakers uniform again, as far as his performance with a loaded superstar team. And now that we have Harden, who thinks that Clippers is a great team that can land him his first ring but I think he is mistaken.

That's too long for a player that wanted to be in on the team he likes, that is likely just an excuse but if after that 10 days it will still be the same would he want another trade again? lol. I will be happy if he wants out again, he likely not suited on the Clippers roster.

Happens a lot but the fact is that a lot of times the guys on the bench don't get gametime run too much so they are much more motivated than the other team.  I think there is a sense of let up on the other team thinking it's gonna be an easy game.  It is crazy that it happens so often you'd think Atlanta would have taken advantage of the opportunity.

I do agree, however, I just read that he says that he need at least 10 days to fully acclimatized himself with the Clippers system and the players. So most likely this is just an excuse for him though, to at least justify that he is not the reason why the Clippers are missing.

But if we have followed NBA for a long time, we know that he has this history of requesting trade if he knows that his current team is not doing good or least himself is not the leader or the Alpha. So same here with the Clippers, Kawhi is the franchise player and not Harden. So maybe sooner or later after a disastrous season for the Clippers we might hear him asking for a trade again.

Atlanta today was the joke of the weekend.
Miami is playing without Butler and Herro and Atlanta is getting schooled in the first quarter and plays catch up the rest of the match, what a great way to blow it.

How come we see this so often, the best player of a team is out, they play on the road as well and suddenly they pull off 1 big quarter which pretty much seals it. They lose the rest of the quarters and still win easy because of the stupidity of the other team. 

NBA at it's best.

Yes, that trio was best when they passed the ball. Sure, Timmy was dominating back at that time but so was Parker in offense and Manu in defense.
If the San Antonio Spurs will build around Wemby they need another man that could help him in the offensive line and then more on defense, especially against fast guard.
A Jrue Holiday type would be a good combo for him and a shooter that can shoot well to space the floor more for him. But I am glad that Wemby could compete at a high level in this era of the NBA and as a rookie. Actually, I have seen enough that I am satisfied that he is really going to be a great player. I don't question that anymore unlike when there was a hype. Now, he needs to stay healthy, gain experience, and maybe build chemistry with his teammates while they are waiting for that rebuilding that will happen.

Harden definitely deserved all the heat he got, dude has been just jumping from one place to another whenever he wants and he is not happy, there are a ton of players in the league who would rather be somewhere else too, but they have contracts that they are abiding. I am not saying Harden can't get out of a contract, if he agrees to terminate his deal, he is free to leave, but asking for a trade means that he keeps pushing his teams to have worse squad. Sixers are much worse now after the trade, did they deserve that? They traded Ben Simmons for Harden, and all they got was a terrible player who failed at playoffs with an MVP teammate and bunch of picks after he left.

What's going on with Harden in the last 2 years ? It seems he is not the guy he used to be when he plays basketball and I think his prime was when he played with Rockets because after that , he didn't even touch once with godlike from from back then.

Now , we got stats like this on him : "This season James Harden has a plus-minus of -13 per game, ranking 452nd out of 455 players." . I can't believe this stat but it's accurate and I do hope Harden will prove us wrong and help Clippers as much as he can.

Actually they got a brief 1 point lead but the Cavs get it back at the buzzer to have the lead. But at the start of the 4th, the Warriors lost their momentum as they allowed back to back 3's and they were not able to recover and close the gap.

Good win by the Cavs, but it's bad for those who ride on the Warriors playing at home.

Personally, I lost my bet on them.

How do you expect a player that isn't the 1st or 2nd option offensively? I don't think that it will ever happen again.

This is the risk that the Bucks' front office did. They exchanged an all-around player to a player that's one of the best in offense, but one of the worst in defense. They traded a facilitator, a defender to a player who doesn't even know how to defend. Yes Dame is very good in shooting, but how about now that he's not playing. The Bucks are at the bottom in terms of defense as of the moment. They're are at the top last season.

As for Middleton, I don't expect too much from anymore as he only the 3rd option now in offense. Sure he might still have some 20 point nights, but to expect him to be like an all-star? Don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure if that will still happen.

For sure Harden will not admit that because he has this one thing that's on his mind. What it is? EGO.
He don't even want to start off the bench anymore even though his team is having a hard time already. I know it's too early to say that he must start off the bench now that he's with the new team, but at least he needs to make some adjustments to be fit with the team.

I don't want to make a conclusion still, but with how the Clippers played in the last 3 games with him, I guess we can all say that "He really is the problem." . Still, I expect for some changes within the team within the next few days if Coach Ty Lue sees that the experiment failed.

I quote a part of the text coming from one legit sports website:
At least it's not a season-ending injury, but I still wonder if he will still the same when he returns. It's quite unfortunate for the player already if you will get sidelined for a long time because an injury. What more if it's an accident? Sh*t happens, and like you, I guess it's my first time to see an NBA player getting injured because of a car.

Dude's playing on maybe one of his best seasons in his career already, but sh*t happens. I just wish him a speedy recovery.

I also think that building a team around him will be the hardest one, Wemby is a superstar in the making, and in five years if Spurs do have some other all-star caliber players that they can work with, they are going to be fine, but Pop is not used to having "star" level players, he is used to making sure that everyone touches the ball, he is not the type of coach that makes stars win them games.

I mean I remember very clearly and vividly during the big three era they had, and they still didn't went with "give the ball to Duncan and let him score" style, he made everyone pass around, and that was important. He will ask for players that can play certain roles, not superstars, and they are a market not that many stars like to join.

I'm glad I followed what my instincts were telling me; that win in the 3rd quarter saved my losing bet on the entire game. Overall, I'm still in profit as all the games have concluded. The Warriors need to improve their outside shooting because the Cavaliers have been capitalizing on points in the paint.

The 3rd quarter was the easiest; I thought they would continue the momentum in the 4th.


He is okay now, as reported he was already out from the hospital


https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/sixers-kelly-oubre-hit-by-car-20231111.html

Some bad news for the Sixers… Kelly Oubre Jr. was hit by a car near his house in Philadelphia on Saturday night. I can’t remember an NBA player getting hit by a car before… The circumstances haven’t been told yet to my knowledge, but let us hope it was just a freak accident and not something much more sinister. I hope he gets well quickly.

The Warriors had a big run at the start of the 3rd quarter, but now, Draymond has been ejected from the game. I'm not sure if the Warriors can still pull off a win. They might have won the 3rd quarter, but they still have 12 minutes in the last quarter where Draymond's energy and defense are crucial. Unfortunately, they're going to miss that. Now, everyone needs to step up, especially on the defensive end.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as expected. The Warriors had a tough second quarter, being outscored by 17 points after leading by just 1 in the first quarter. Now, it's time to continue supporting them. They are at -4.5 in the 3rd quarter, and considering the Warriors are typically a strong 3rd quarter team, I'm betting on them in the hope that they'll narrow the lead to single digits going into the 4th quarter.

That's true; Middleton hasn't been playing at his usual level. His stats have significantly dropped this season, averaging 11 PPG compared to 15 last season. Before being given a max contract, he maintained an average of 20 PPG, so there's a considerable decline in his performance.

Trading him seems like the best option now, but the question is, are there any teams interested in acquiring him given his current struggling performance?

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https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/middlkh01.html