Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 930. (Read 919161 times)

Luka Doncic always took it personally but let's all admit that Luka Doncic is really remarkable player and many NBA legends have said to Luka, that he is a genius that could see the whole court an elite passer and get the ball inside whenever he wants to or shoot a three, Luka Doncic might have that slow pace movement but he can be at the right place in the court to make his score, that is how good he is, but for the recent Phoenix Suns back last season it really gets personal for Luka to roast the Phoenix Suns that way,


They could surely put the best pieces around him but I guess the chemistry is not yet established there are great players in the Mavericks that didn't see their worth on the Mavericks because Luka Doncic overshadowed them, but as Luka has said he doesn't need to wait for them to progress on the team, they need to know their worth inside the team and what they could contribute,

To be fair Luka getting it at this age would be proof of 2 things. First of all, any team who passed on him made a huge mistake, that is already known to be fair, but it was obvious even at that time, but would be confirmed now as well.

Secondly, Dallas needs to do a better job surrounding him with better players as well, this kid has been around for just a few years now, and already playing like he would win a championship if you just put the right pieces around him, and that is a big deal, not many people can do that, not at that age at least. He should be given a bit of talent around him, maybe another star, so that he could win the title and his talents wouldn't go to waste.

Your idol Luka Doncic is ahead now, overtaking Nikola Jokic. Here are the latest top 5 players.

1. Luka Dončić      
2. Nikola Jokić   
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo   
4. Jayson Tatum   
5. Anthony Davis   

While personal stats are the top basis for selecting the next MVP, it is still up to the panel members who will vote. I believe the win-loss record of a team also plays a vital role in getting top votes in the MVP race. If Luka wants to become MVP, he needs the Mavericks to finish a minimum top 5 in the west. The season is still early though and maybe Luka will get some necessary backups before the trade deadline.

Yes mate, wonderful memory. Indeed, that's what happened to the Lakers last season as they started to fell down the ladder after Lebron James got injured and leaving them unguided on the court. Westbrook was the center of criticism even if his stats was not that actually bad, it's like he was blamed for every loss that the team experienced but I understand because the fans held a high standard for Westbrook. And also, former Lakers coach, Frank Vogel was not using their advantage which was their size, it's like he is always experimenting every game and only focusing small ball.

Yes, it's not yet decided if they cannot really qualify towards the semis or playoffs. Sometimes, there are things that will happen unexpectedly, let's enjoy the season and see if the newly rebuilt Jazz can reach that far. What is good is that we already know their capabilities, they will take advantage while the opposing team are showing some weakness. Moreover, if they can't make it this season, they're still good because next season they will be back with more experience and their bond is much deeper than the recent season.

I think there's a hint of being personal on Luka's side although I have seen him being a sport after the game.
There was even a time him chasing Booker while he is near the exit just to shake his hand.

Dallas Mavericks is strong but it had always been the closing of the game that makes me worry. Today against the Suns, they did better by not letting them get near the lead they worked hard for. It never went down to 15 point lead for the last 3 quarters.
Every player contributes especially the tenacious Josh Green who is doing so much on both ends of the floor. Fans love him for his energy.

It seems that the Phoenix Suns still have that Luka Special effect in them, that every time they will play the Dallas Mavericks, it seems that every time the Dallas Mavericks has a match with the Phoenix Suns it is consistent if not close game the Dallas Mavericks would win the game, or maybe Luka Doncic is still getting very personal from what the Suns have said to him, I really think it that way,


Surely the level of competition is really widening right now, the Utah Jazz has a great start at the beginning of the season, but with a little buff on their team chemistry there would likely make a great team that can pull hard matches for the other teams, the Portland Trail Blazers can make a game for every team a living hell because of Jerami Grant, and Anfernee Simons, and with the Addition of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Andrew Nembhard did make the Pacers a solid team, I am saying that with the addition of key players to the teams it is pretty much a different competition and pretty much it is now harder to predict most of the games because right now the old is gone and the breakthrough of some players has proven the NBA is shifting into a new era,

---

On the news, that I just recently saw, Marcin Gortat a retired NBA polish player last game was on 2019 with the Los Angeles Clippers, he recently have an event of basketball where the players would be a well-known polish celebrity and Jan Blachowicz played on that event, this is for the fans and all money they can get will go to charity,

They are on a mission to be in the NBA Finals again, and with the direction that they are going, looks like they have a big shot of getting back there and even winning a championship. It's not about the coach now but it's more about their chemistry because even if their head coach was suspended, they are still playing like they used too and maybe even better.

I don't any doubt that Boston is again showing their dominance, that kind of team play letting them to find the easy basket and the man
with a much higher percentage to convert a shot.

Watching them moving the ball and not forcing the shots, the system that they are running is perfectly executed,
even they change the coach that same game play is what you will expect from them.

Too early to predict who's going to the finals but I agree that Boston will always be there to compete.

Talking about the most consistent team, I'll award that to the Boston Celtics as everytime they lose, they bounce back with a long win streak. A win against a good team like the Raptors on the road is just a statement that they still are the best team in the NBA now, well, no offense to the Warriors because they were the defending champs, but since we are talking about consistency, we cannot give that to them.

But the problem is they are planning to trade Westbrook and Beverly so I guess this will cause a huge trouble to them. Maybe they should stop the trading discussion since this could destroy the focus of their players and maybe they need to develop what currently they have since this is strong team already. The main problem of Lakers is they are impatient to wait for improvements as they want instant result on their campaign.

There consistency reminds them that familiarity towards there rooster is really important rather than trading a superstar to join there team, maybe they adopt what GSW do and this is the result now. FOr sure what they learn from last finals can be applied to this season so I guess they have more huge chance to win a championship than those teams acquired so many superstars.

The Boston Celtics have rich 20 wins today and they are staying at the top because of their teamwork and the way they played they easily outscored the raptors because they haven't figured out how to stop their offense. It was a hard battle in the first half and when they reached the second half, the Celtics completely controlled the game. They still have the chance in the fourth quarter but they cannot stop the raining threes that are sinking every time they attempt to make a comeback. Looks like Blake Griffin found himself in a good team that might be a championship competitor.

Yes, it does change weekly and it will be an unpredictable season on who will be on the top of that ladder.
I am rooting for Luka Doncic to claim it, I am super amazed at how skillful he is and how he can handle everything, from offense to being the playmaker of the team. Although that will be a little biased since I am a fan of his.  
But Tatum seems to be not backing down yet who now averages at 30 ppg, the rebounding category will make a big difference as Luka gets more rebound every game.

Truth is, not only the Lakers but all the teams in the league are not going to have an easy path towards the qualifiers and playoffs. Even the ones who are sitting on the 1st and 2nd seed on both conferences are not yet guaranteed to have a seat in the next phase. They all need to be consistent and healthy to get themselves a place on the playoffs, a serious injury from any given players especially the stars on any given team along the way may alter the team's course heavily.

So far, so good. Let's just enjoy the games now while things are still interesting enough and its unpredictability makes me want to see the games every day.

The Mavericks seem to have the Suns number. They shut down Booker and Luka goes off whenever they play. I think the Suns better figure out how to rectify this before the postseason rolls around.

How about the double overtime game between the 76ers and Rockets that the Rockets won. I’m guessing that’s not what Sixers fans were expecting going into this game…

So here's the latest NBA MVP ladder for the season 22-23:
1. Nikola Jokic - Nuggets
2. Luka Doncic - Mavericks
3. Jayson Tatum - Celtics
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo - Bucks
5. Devin Booker - Suns
6. Stephen Curry - Warriors
7. Anthony Davis - Lakers
8. Donovan Mitchell - Cavaliers
9. Kevin Durant - Nets
10. Domantas Sabonis - Kings
https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/mvp.html

As we all know, this MVP ladder is updating every single week and it's not surprising that Anthony Davis's name has surfaced on the list after his good productions and their team, the Lakers, has been impressive as well for having a 8-2 run in the last 10 games. Together with Davis's name, Sabonis also appeared in the top 10 in the expense of Ja Morant and Jaylen Brown.
 

In fairness, if you refer to the Lakers' previous games, there's no such thing that the Lakers are depending on LeBron most of the time. And in fact, that was even the case last season. LeBron is just doing his best as usual and if you noticed, some of the Lakers' players are stepping up on the game e.g Austin Reaves, Thomas Bryant, etc.

It's good that some of their players are given good minutes to play. Aside from that, Westbrook humbly accepts the role of coming from the bench and the most noticeable reason why the Lakers are doing great so far is Anthony Davis' consistency of establishing a monster performance every game. I also noticed Davis' improvement in his perimeter shots. He becomes a threat now whether inside or outside shooting.

Right, last year they started strong if my memory serves me right but then when Lebron got injured, that's where the problem started, series of losses and it's too late to overcome as they fall down on the standings.

And then the WB criticism started which I think really affected him and the team so the losses became desperation for them.

At least for now, they have started to win games this early and should be attempting to break into the playoff berth before the second half of the season.

I think AD is still more comfortable playing forward than center. He is quoted that he prefer that position because he can be help defender and he know when someone passed him, there is still a center that got his back. But the Lakers did not acquire a center so he is forced to play as center. It is good that he is adopting but I think the Lakers should give the best position for AD. They should acquire a legit center to go with AD.


Even if we remove the injury-prone factor from AD, it will still be very hard for them. He needs to perform a monster performance in order to carry the Lakers. That is very hard and very exhausting. He would not be able to do that the whole season. WB and Lebron also need to do monster performance to match AD. Without help, they will end up at the bottom or play-in again this year.