Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 809. (Read 918520 times)

That's what they did. They've given up defense to focus more on offense.

Both the Mavericks and the Suns did that. They've traded their defensive players plus their draft picks for 2 of the best all-star players in the league right now. As for the Suns, there's no problem with them offensively especially their starting 5 is for me one of the best on paper this season and on the other hand, KD is also a great defender with around 1 BPG so it's still ok for the team. The question is the health of their players. Booker, Paul, and Durant has a long history of injuries.

Also take note that CP3 is known for being the best choker when it comes to playoffs. We have Coach Doc Rivers as the coach who is choking on the playoffs, and we also have CP3 who is also choking on the playoffs. CP3 is the only player who blown out 2-0 lead 5 times. Will CP3's past performance on the playoffs affect his whole team this season?

Can still give it to them as they've lost against the Wolves on their home court. There could be some more games for them to have that tandem of what fans are looking at.

Tomorrow, they'll be against the Nuggets and we'll see if there's a quick change from having these two play together.

True, that's why they also given up something in return getting KD, they don't have the twins anymore which is their perimeter defender and willing to sacrifice their body. So we will see if the acquisition of KD is worth if they get into the finals as least.


It will be a big test for them tonight at home against a good defensive team like the Kings. If Sacramento stiffles their main offensive weapon like Booker or CP3 and not allow Ayton to play his inside game, offensive and defensive rebounding, then it could spell trouble for them in this game.

Well. Not much is expected from CP3 when it comes to defense anymore, as long as he can contribute to the offense even at his age. Playmaking specially and those unstoppable perimeter shots.

No, Ja Morant needs the ball first because his score comes mostly from a dribble. Unlike other shooters who just wait in a corner ready for a catch-and-shoot.
This is where the difference with other stars comes as a big factor.
Nikola Jokic had been the most entertaining guy recently if you are a fan of an all-around player. He can shoot near the basket with his smooth stroke, he can also pass in a very good way, and he can also make his own shots by means of post-up or offensive rebounds for a tip-in.
I think that's where they should look at the value of the players now. He definitely had a big impact on the Denver Nuggets and his skills are contagious. They became an unselfish team.

Not many play defense these days. It's a lot of 3 pointers and rebounding in todays NBA. Everyone is all about being flashy or the go to guy on the team. Like Ja Morant for example. The guy is great to watch as a 1 man show, but if he didn't get the ball 90% of the time, would he still score like he does?

Yes, he can contribute to the team by any means that he can. Not just by playing but also by being one of the backbones of the team.
Since they're jam-packed with good players if they ever acquire Melo and are added to the team. They'll for sure going to give him some space and playing time as well.
But then, as you've said he's not going to be a liability but they have to consider on how much contract they're going to offer him.

One thing about Suns is that they have way too much offense to their very little defense. CP3 is not the defender he used to be, Booker is not a great defender, and Ayton is a good rebounder but couldn't say he was a rim protector, not a feared one at least, and Durant is great at defense but he will be pretty tired on scoring constantly on offense, so he can't really put all his efforts on defense.

This concludes that they won't really have a great defense, could be good, just good, but not great and they may have some trouble on playoffs. They can play a lot better on regular season because people don't defend that hard, but playoffs could be a trouble.

Totally agree with you about Irving's unprofessionalism. Personally, I think of him as a selfish player because his behavior at the Nets showed that he doesn't really care about the team's interests. As for the Mavs, I wouldn't expect Irving and Doncic to succeed together because Irving is an unpredictable player, which means that there is a possibility that he may not like his new team at any moment.

Yeah, they need some time to fit in, I mean we thought that it's going to be a W for them and if I'm not mistaken, they are the favorite in this game. But the outcome is very different and it's not clear as who's going to take the last shot.

@LogitechMouse - no need to apologized, I also see your point, even with the Boston Celtics, he says that he won't leave, and same with the Nets and KD, they said they will work together. So it's hard to believed what Kyrie says because it's very different from what he is going to do in the future.

And if we have noticed, those top teams, the Bucks and the Celtics and even the Nuggets didn't get any move in this trade and that is why the are on the top of the game.

Bucks though is the favorite, a huge one as far as the odds goes, not sure why the line is like that, maybe it's because some of the Celtics players are injured and this is a game away from home for them. But who knows, this could be a trap for bettors, so let's see.

I don't see Luka moving away from the ball much...  This is because he's a big guy who isn't the most athletic.  He's never going to be running around like Steph away from the ball.  He'd be dead tired in 2 minutes.  I think it's just a bad pairing between two ball dominant players. 

We do have a couple good games on tonight.  Celtics vs Bucks and Warriors vs Clippers.  Both games televised on TNT which should lead to some good discussions about the trade deadline magic.  With the all star break right around the corner, it won't be long before we get a look at the Durant led Suns. 

Maybe just let Kyrie do most of the dribbling and Luka should work more on moving without the ball. Steph and Klay are pretty good at that which helped them win multiple rings so I don't see any problem with copying that formula for Luka. If none of them listens then maybe just let Kidd suit up as their point guard hehehe.

Luka and Kyrie are both playing great. It takes time to figure things out when you make such a major adjustment to the roster. That or maybe they gave up too many pieces to get Kyrie and need to figure things out or get themselves some more role players. The fact they’re both playing well and still losing isn’t the greatest sign, but at least they’re both playing well. It could be worse.

How about the Bucks with 10 winning streaks already. They are not getting enough attention just because they didn't move at the trading deadline.
Sure, they got Jae Crowder and they attempted to get Fred VanVleet of the Raptors but they are actually a team that doesn't need a reconstruction.
The consistency of Giannis Antetokounmpo is all they need and they are no doubt to win their games.
But later, they will be up against one of their greatest rivals, the Boston Celtics. Although one of their duo Jaylen Brown will not play, they are not to be underestimated especially White who had been racking up points to help them win. I will absolutely not miss this game.

Love the game "professionally"? Are you sure?
He isn't acting like he is a professional player IMO.

No offense to what you said though, but I see Kyrie differently. When he was in Cleveland, he destroyed the Big 3 of him, Lebron and Love because he isn't getting the respect that he wants thus, he requested a trade and went to Boston. When he went to Boston, he said that he will resign with the team, but what happened? He got traded and before that, he is already complaining with his team saying that they are young to win a title, and he is also complaining to their coach back then which is Coach Stevens. Now he went to Brooklyn because Durant requested it. When he got KD and Harden on his back, he ruined it again by not playing because of vaccine mandates etc. etc.

My apologies for what I've said, but Kyrie was never and will never a professional player to me. He will continue to destroy whichever teams he will play to. Unless we see some changes with him now that he's with the Mavericks then I'll change what I said.

As with Luka-Kyrie duo, give them some time to play. It isn't like Thanos where chemistry will be there in just a snap. It will take time, but aside from that, I hope that they will get good defensive role players. I hope they'll get Beverley now that he's been waived.

Indeed a big change if you pair Rudy Gobert with someone he knew for a long time. The chemistry was still there and Conley knew what Gobert is thinking so it was easy for them to score and have a 2-man play. Timberwolves did a good job on this trade and now they can maximize the height advantage of their big man.

The experience of Luka playing with another star might really have something to do about their recent 2 losses. It might be time for Coach Kidd to straighten up the roles of both players. Whatever he did in their past two games, it's not working. He must find some way to reflect the greatness of one star to another. I mean, Klay and Steph did it, and Lebron and Wade too although they had a rough start.
There must be a solution to this and we are just rushing things. I wish they will not use blame games and just find a solution to work it out.

Kyrie Irving doesn't want to talk about his future yet with the Mavs, Mark Cuban might have a good plan for him as long he keeps it silent. 

Yeah, it's just part of the growing pains for this 2 superstars to jive very well in such crucial situation. So it's too early, let them learn this hard lessons for this lost and perhaps in the future they are going to figure it by themselves. The only draw back is that only 3 players on their side score in double him, both of them and Christian Wood. At least a fourth member should have contributed more in the offense and they might not see this position in the last seconds of the game and could win it.

They should figure out how to win soon, otherwise they will continue to slide down which is not good for their playoffs chance.
Dallas now down to rank 5 with 31-28 record, still good though as it's about .500, but the competition is very high in the west, so every win matters.


Kyrie did play with other stars because he has been traded several times, but Luka, it's his first time playing wih a real superstar.

Both still doing the adjustment and with these 2 consecutive losses, it might need for coach Kidd to call them out and find the better
system that will going to fit for both stars.

Kyrie already played with other stars and with the way he loves the game professionally, I can
say that he can adjust to how to help Luka.

It's a matter of time and playing together to build and established good chemistries between them
while the season is still ongoing.

What a sequence, they just don't have the right communication in the end as it resulted to a turnover, Luka should have take the last shot, instead he pass it to Irving. Anyway, it's still too early, Dallas will surely figure out how to win and they'll keep their good standing.

By the way, one of the reasons why Wolves got better now is because they have Conley already, he is a good ball facilitator, and look at the production of Gobert, he had a double double with the highest +- rating among his teammates.