(Thursday, May 24, 2018 3:00:48 PM)
New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis says he’s “excited” after speaking to new head coach David Fizdale.
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 5:30:43 PM)
The Unicorn is pumped.
[NYTimes] Rockets 98, Warriors 94: N.B.A. Playoffs: Eric Gordon Emerges and Gives Rockets an Edge (Friday, May 25, 2018 5:22:28 AM)
Gordon scored a team-high 24 points to help Houston top Golden State in Game 5 despite James Harden missing all 11 of his 3-pointers.
[NYTimes] Scratch Ovechkin Off the ‘Greatest Players Never to Reach the Finals’ List (Thursday, May 24, 2018 8:03:41 PM)
As Ovechkin heads to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time, we take a look at the best players in other sports who never played on the biggest stage.
[NYTimes] Sports of The Times: LeBron James and the Twilight of the Cavaliers (Thursday, May 24, 2018 5:42:11 PM)
The 33-year-old James has been a force. The Celtics accepted that, and whipped the Cavs anyway.
[NYTimes] Mike D’Antoni Lost the Mustache, and Found Himself (Thursday, May 24, 2018 7:10:37 PM)
Once known just for flashy offense, D’Antoni has the Rockets on the verge of the finals. His brother Dan is even considering coming to a game.
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 9:36:00 PM)
KP’s tweet: ‘Just had a great conversation on the phone with Coach Fiz. Man im excited!!!!! Lets gooo!!!’
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 7:25:16 PM)
Charles Oakley’s ejection from Madison Square Garden during a February 2017 Knicks game occurred at the direction of MSG executive chairman and chief executive officer James Dolan, Oakley’s attorneys said in a new court filing on Thursday.
[NYDN] Knicks assistants won’t return as Fizdale’s staff takes shape (Thursday, May 24, 2018 10:19:30 PM)
Jerry Sichting, Corey Gaines and Dave Bliss – won’t return to the team, the Daily News has learned.
[NYDN] Kristaps Porzingis pumped about new Knicks coach David Fizdale (Thursday, May 24, 2018 10:18:21 PM)
A chat with his new coach has Kristaps Porzingis pumped to the tune of eight exclamation points.
[NYDN] New video shows Dolan ordered Oakley’s MSG ejection: lawyer (Thursday, May 24, 2018 4:15:36 PM)
Dolan ordered Oakley’s ugly Garden ejection last year and then gave a “thumbs up” after the fracas, court papers argue.
[NYDN] Charles Oakley vindicated by Dolan video, focused on cookbook (Thursday, May 24, 2018 4:00:00 PM)
Charles Oakley feels vindicated by Dolan video, focused on cookbook
[NYDN] Think former Knick Carmelo Anthony is worse than Kyle Korver? (Thursday, May 24, 2018 3:52:57 PM)
Surely Carmelo Anthony knows he isn’t the star forward he used to be.
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 2:46:22 PM)
Maybe you have to be of a certain age to understand why that moment resonates so. Maybe you have to remember what it was like in New York City on the evening of Tuesday, May 25, 1993, what the Knicks meant to the city at that moment, how Madison Square Garden really did feel like…
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 12:16:37 PM)
It doesn’t seem Kristaps Porzingis is holding a Marc Gasol grudge. In breaking his silence since the Knicks hired David Fizdale, Porzingis on Thursday tweeted from Europe that he’s finally spoken to the new coach — and had positive reviews. “Just had a great conversation on the phone with Coach Fiz. Man im excited!!!!! Lets…
(Thursday, May 24, 2018 6:34:06 AM)
Don’t call it a career for Amar’e Stoudemire just yet. Despite having retired from the NBA in 2016, Stoudemire told The Michael Kay Show on Wednesday that he’s considering a return. “That would be reality,” Stoudemire reportedly said when asked whether he’s thinking comeback. At 35 years old, two seasons removed from playing in the…
65 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2018.05.25)”
Didn’t get to watch all of the game but man, did Houston miss a ton of open shots last night especially early.
Pretty amazing that they’ve held GS to a 102 ORtg the last 2 games. I mean, that’s a worse-than-Knicks offense.
Have been listening to a bunch of pre-draft podcasts — coming around to the idea of Miles or Mikal Bridges, and even Trae Young. I really do think that it makes far more sense to draft a wing than a big. We all love Wendell Carter but the lack of positional versatility would really hurt there.
I think Carter is good enough that he’d still be worth it.
But I’m also all in on Mikal Bridges. I think he’ll be a fine player.
That they won while Harden shot 0-11 from three is amazing.
By the way, is Harden actually going to be named the MVP? I was just curious as I had not heard a lot of buzz about who the MVP was going to be this year. Maybe because he locked it up so early?
I think Mikal will be gone either #7 to Chicago or #8 to the Cavs.
The Cavs pick is really fascinating. I think they’ve been shown to have 2 major weaknesses this post-season — #1 is any kind of non-Lebron shot creation (wtf does Lebron autocorrect to lebrun), and #2 is any reliable 2-way wing. Seriously, when you’re relying on JR Smith as much as they are, you really have a problem. That Crowder – Hood part of the 3-way trade has really been pretty terrible in retrospect.
could easily see them going Sexton, Trae Young, or one of the Bridges. And given the emphasis on wings in general in the league, I could see the top 8 going like this:
1) PHX – Ayton
2) Sac – Doncic
3) ATL – JJJ
4) MEM – Bagley
5) DAL – Bamba
6) ORL -MPJ
7) CHI -Mikal Bridges
8) CLE – Miles Bridges
which would presumably have us choosing between Carter and Trae Young, or semi-reaching for someone like Zhaire Smith, Lonnie Walker, Kevin Knox, or (hopefully not) Sexton. I think if this happens I would trade down with the Clips if possible (9+36 for 12+13) or take Trae Young and let the PG situation work itself out next year. Would be perfectly happy with Carter although I really don’t think that either he or KP have any chance of defending small ball 4’s long term. Smith and Walker are basically SG’s that are too small to really guard any of the real wings, Knox feels like fool’s gold, and Sexton…no thanks.
The Warriors are doing a great job of putting Andre Iguodala in the Hall of Fame.
The Knicks are supposedly interested in Lonnie Walker, and that seems like a mistake. He’s very athletic but I’m not sure he’s very skilled the way Donovan Mitchell was at Louisville. I will say that he is a top 10 talent in this draft, but I’m not sure he’s a top 10 prospect/player in this draft. At 6’4” with a 6’11” wingspan, I see a competitiveness, a toughness, and the kind of airborne discipline I see in Russell Westbrook. Obviously I don’t expect him to become the triple double king, but when I think of a super athletic ball handler who is more brute force than finesse, that’s who I see.
Down at 9, he’s likely to be one of the two most talented players. Hearing his interviews he seems like a self aware kid, and there might be some misrepresentation in his stats this season considering he was playing injured at the beginning of the year. I like his length for a point guard, but don’t trust his decision making. Ultimately we’re going to pass on him because Michael Porter Jr is the pick at 9, but he’s intriguing enough to warrant a private workout. I’d say he’s a talent level above Mikal Bridges and Colin Sexton and about as talented as Miles Bridges.
So if…
Paul is out,
And Huston still manages to get out of the West,
And Boston finishes off LeBron,
The Celtics could win the whole thing.
This is still unlikely but no longer crazy talk, and would be the most surprising NBA champion since… I have no idea since when. Maybe ever.
Trae Young is going to be the #6 pick overall to Orlando. The draft will fall this way:
Ayton
Bamba
Bagley
Doncic
Jackson Jr
Young
Carter Jr
Collin Sexton
Michael Porter Jr
I don’t see Orlando going with MPJ when they drafted Isaac last year and are presumably, by most reports, committed to keeping Aaron Gordon. Trae Young seems destined to be on the Magic.
I also see Cleveland as a potential landing spot with how they’ve operated since last year, hedging their bets against LeBron leaving. They’ll play for highest upside there IMO, so if ORL passes on Trae that’s where I see him going.
1. PHX – Ayton
2. SAC – Doncic
3. ATL – JJJ
4. MEM – Bagley
5. DAL – Bamba
6. ORL – Trae
7. CHI – Mikal
8. CLE – MPJ
I like Miles, but I’m very skeptical any team ahead of us pulling the trigger on him. Carter Jr. dropping to us at 9 would be a gift.
I dunno about Trae Young to Orlando. They surely need a PG but if you look at Weltman and Hammond’s histories in Milwaukee and Toronto, they basically have never picked a player that is positionally small. It’s all oversized wings (Giannis, Jabari), extremely long bigs (Henson, Thon, etc.) or big guards (Powell, Delon Wright, Brogdon). Hammond especially seemed into guys that would be considered super-sized for their positions when he ran Milwaukee. I guess all it takes is one guy they like, but their history suggests they would go in another direction.
We’re getting Doncic. It’s as simple as that.
The other thing about Hammond especially (hard to know about Weltman since he was under Masai) is that his draft board often did not seem to match up with consensus. He picked Giannis earlier than most draft boards had him, the Thon Maker pick was out of nowhere. It’s entirely possible that group surprises us and takes Kevin Knox or SGA or someone with great physical tools like that. If that’s the case, they’d be an interesting candidate as a trade up partner.
@Frank
Very good point about his boards, though I don’t think Giannis at 15 was seen as reach. Perhaps I’m mistaken.
My thinking with Trae is somebody is going to pull the trigger on him before the late lotto. His combination of playmaking and shooting as a lead guard is so tantalizing I can’t see him dropping to 9. Like, I get that Mikal Bridges is a prototype wing, Carter Jr. is a very solid 5 prospect, etc. but Young is one of the few guys with true superstar upside in this draft. Somebody will roll the dice IMO.
Anybody listen to Vorkunov’s pod yesterday with Wasserman? Wasserman mentioned that he thought Mikal was the guy the Knicks are targeting at 9, but he also mentioned interest in Miles, a bit in Carter Jr. and that he thinks Walker could be a sleeper, who he compared as a prospect to a smaller Jaylen Brown. That comp is interesting in that Brown, like Walker, was a very raw player with alot of natural skills and physical talent which needed ironing out. Maybe Fizdale can do similar work like Stevens.
Here’s the link if anybody’s interested – https://soundcloud.com/user-18358115/episode-5-jonathan-wasserman
Mikal Bridges seems like the can’t miss prospect to everybody but me these days, but I can’t just get myself around to liking the guy. He’s not big enough to defend 4s and he’s not skilled enough to handle the ball at the shooting guard position. I just see a kid with a quick-but-questionable release with no ball handling skills and poor rebounding numbers. His value is completely tied to his 3 point shooting and his defense, and I’m not sold on those two skills translating because of that awkward release and his slender frame.
I’d love nothing more for the Knicks to draft him and watch him turn into Reggie Miller 2.0. He just isn’t a guy I like this year I guess.
There were some reports that the Bulls gave Chandler Hutchinson a guarantee to pick him with their late first. Could mean Carter for them at 8.
I guess what makes sports interesting is the unexpected. I thought the only way Houston had a chance to win this series is if they simply outscored GS by outshooting them i.e. final scores of 130-125. Instead, they have the Warriors shooters totally flummoxed, an unstoppable offense looks ordinary and we’re getting final scores from the 90’s playoffs.
Harden is 0 for his last 19 three point attempts and Houston won both of those games. Just plain weird.
hammond had some sort of relationship with an agent…. which led to at least the vaughn and maker picks but also getting kidd as coach….
I’m starting to think the best scenario is a trade back for both Clips picks. I think 9/36 for 12/13 has been suggested. Getting 2 of Lonnie/Troy Brown/Zhaire would completely modernize our team.
It’s still hard to gague how bad Kidd was as a coach. It’s not like the team drastically changed after he left, but maybe Joe Brunty is better than people give him credit for? They did take the NBA champion celtics to 7 games.
I’m bummed about GSW. Winning game 7 on the road is going to be really hard CP3 or not. They seem to have believed their hype and lost their mojo. Not that they’re out of it. With all that talent they have a chance but they just couldn’t find the gas pedal late 3rd Q last night, when they usually make it happen.
I guess I can feel good for coach Pringles if he gets there. He’s kinda the Buck Showalter of basketball…always a bridesmaid. His ceiling seems to be the conference finals. Maybe this year it’s his turn. I guess I could stomach that, I liked him when he coached us and thought he got hosed, but otherwise I don’t feel much affinity for HOU.
BTW, I heard they’re gonna apply a ten dollar fee on your cable bill if you’re not tuned in and standing for the anthem before game one of the finals 😉
As one of the few Knicks-Hurricanes fans that exists I reeeeeeally hope this Lonnie buzz amounts to nothing. If there’s a team out there that’s going to channel his physical tools into NBA production (keep in mind he wasn’t all that productive in the NCAA) it ain’t the New York Knickerbockers, and I’m skeptical that it happens regardless of team. I’ve been rooting for him to fall to the Spurs all year for that reason.
One thing that seems to get lost in the Trae Young discussion is that he’s the best passer in this draft. I don’t like the idea of moving Ntilikina to the 2 full time for reasons people have said here before (it limits his ceiling, it takes away from his best attribute, etc.), but I guess I’m also more optimistic about the prospects of simply playing two legitimate point guards and just letting them figure out who should do the lion’s share of the ball handling based on matchups. Kind of like the 2012-2013 Knicks model but without Raymond Felton. If Young is available at 9 I’m grabbing him and popping bottles in the war room.
Side note: saw Solo last night. It’s wildly fun and I fully recommend it. I have no clue what all the critics were expecting, but as a Star Wars diehard I was very pleased.
He’s basically exactly the same size as Jayson Tatum, who played some 4 this year, and he might be taller/longer than Jaylen Brown (who outweighs him by ~15-20lbs).
The point is not that he would guard 4’s all the time, but that he could credibly guard 4’s in a switch situation or if the Knicks decided to go super-small.
Re: his rebounding – ideally it’d be better of course, but as I wrote the other day, he played a lot as the head of a 1-2-2 zone, so honestly his rebounding numbers should probably resemble a PG’s rebounding in terms of his role, but is still ok for a wing. His TRB of 9.7 this past year would have been above-average for an NBA SF (between Wilson Chandler and Harrison Barnes) this year.
And re: his jumper release — I’m no scout but I believe you are literally the only person I’ve seen/read/heard who has any issue with his release.
Look – if he could create off the dribble and were 3 inches and 20 lbs bigger, he’d be a top 5 pick and we wouldn’t even be talking about him. I think at #9 he would be a great pick.
I don’t trade out of #9 or up to 6 or 7 without seeing who is on the board at those times. You’d look like an idiot if you trade down today and on draft day Porter Jr is available at 9 and you’re stuck picking Kevin Knox.
The Orlando situation is cool with Hammond and all but how does that team not look at its roster and not take a hard look at Trae Young? They have no point guards and there’s no reason to believe they’ll get one in free agency. The majority of their talent is from 2-4 with Gordon, Isaac, and Fournier, and then they have a decent center in Vucevic. If I’m Orlando I’m grabbing Trae Young and never looking back. Young, Fournier, Isaac, Gordon, and Vucevic is a decent starting five and you can move all of those players down the line. Get a coach and build some chemistry. Trae Young makes too much sense for Orlando.
I don’t know. Bridges sounds like a Trevor Ariza type and if all we get out of the 9th pick is a starting caliber wing who can play on a championship level team, has a very productive NBA career, is a good defender and 3 point shooter then for the 9th pick that is a HUGE disappointment.
I mean if we don’t draft a hall of famer at the 9th spot then its just the same ol LOL Knicks.
I like Mikal, but it’s a mistake to assume he’ll be Trevor Ariza/Robert Covington/Otto Porter. He could just as easily be Tony Snell.
Ariza is the third or fourth best player on a team that just took a 3-2 lead over what might be the most talented team of all time. Just because Mikal can shoot 3s and play defense does not mean he will ever be as good as Trevor Ariza.
@ 24 – I’m just poking fun at how some people expect the moon with the 9th pick. If we land Trevor Ariza with the 9th pick we absolutely nailed that pick even if a “better” player ends up getting picked after 9th. Hopefully if we land a Trevor Ariza type with the 9th pick we actually hold onto that player and develop him.
He could be Tony Snell but he could also be better than those guys.
That jumper is legit guys, he’ll be able to rise up over anyone and get the shot off at the next level
The problem with Mikal is his age. He is an old junior and still is not dominant offensively. If he was a freshman with holes in his game (shot creation, strength, ball skills), then that would be okay but now at a full 3 years older than Smith and Jackson and two years older than Young and Carter the fact that he isn’t really more productive than much younger players really gives me pause.
JJJ will be a top 4 pick and is a 4/5 big, so I don’t think he’s really part of any conversation for us.
Zhaire Smith is interesting, but he’s actually a small 2 guard (6’2.75″ without shoes). Totally different player that would occupy a position in which we have like 12 players already. We don’t have official measurements for Mikal but figure he has at least 3 full inches in height and 4+ inches in reach based on what’s been reported.
The Tony Snell comp is pretty ridiculous IMHO. Snell’s BEST TS was 61.2 his sophomore year and regressed to 56.2 his junior year. He maxed out at 39% from college 3. His TRB% maxed out at 6.2. He never averaged more than 1.1 steal and 0.6 blocks per 40. There were tons of red flags on him in terms of RSB/40 numbers.
Mikal Bridges has pretty decent/average rebounding numbers, elite steal/block numbers. His WORST TS% was better than Snell’s best (63.3). He had a 23 usage this year and a 65.5 TS (I will take that level of offensive dominance any day of the week). You literally couldn’t design a better 3 and D player (meaning space floor, shoot 3’s, and defend — I’m not talking about playmakers etc), or ask for better production on the college level.
Trae’s passing and scoring is once in a lifetime. The hack with his defense. If you can get him at 9 you go for it, like @20 said.
I’m still hoping that Mikal will be there at 9 for the Knicks. Does he have reasons to give one pause? Sure, as does everyone who will be available at 9.
As someone already said, if he was bigger and/or better than he is, he would be long gone before 9.
If Young or MPJ slips to 9, I’d be fine with that.
Yeah I’m good with Trae also.
Passing on Trae would be foolish.
Yeah, the only way you pass on Trae Young at 9 (and I do not believe he’ll be there) is where you get a nice package in a trade down. Like if Philly loved him and was willing to give their #10, 26, and a second rounder or two (not that they would do that, of course).
Getting the two Clippers picks for the 9 would be intriguing, also.
I’m so sure that Young will be gone I’ve not even given him any consideration as a possible pick. Same with Bagley, Ayton, JJJ and almost certainly Porter (with Porter, there is the possibility that he’s still really hurt, in which case he might fall, but he’d have to be pretty damn hurt to fall to #9).
We’re getting Doncic.
I hope Porter is gone at 9 because I get Wiggins vibes from him, but that’s honestly not based on much.
I think it’s very likely MPJr falls to 9. He is a Doncic/Ayton/Bagley/Young level talent that didn’t get to produce, so all four of those guys should go ahead of him. Then you have the high upside guys in Jackson Jr and Mo Bamba (who cemented himself in the top 5 just by being huge) who should go ahead of him, so there’s at least six players who deserve to be looked at in front of Porter Jr. And then there’s Wendell Carter Jr and Mikal Bridges who were really productive on excellent teams and project well to the NBA, so that’s eight whole prospects. There’s definitely a great chance that the team looking at Jarren Jackson Jr opts to take Michael Porter Jr, but they answer two different needs altogether. Every team from 3-9 would be a reasonable landing place for MPJr except for Orlando (they already have Isaac and Gordon), so I’m going to be very nervous on draft night. I just don’t see a reason for teams without glaring holes on the wing to pass up on this year’s top 8 for a guy who only played 51 minutes. This is how I’m seeing the top ten of the draft play out:
PHO: DeAndre Ayton (need, BPA)
SAC: Luka Doncic (BPA)
ATL: Mo Bamba (need)
MEM: Marvin Bagley III (BPA)
DAL: Wendell Carter Jr (need, BPA)
ORL: Trae Young (NEED)
CHI: Jarren Jackson Jr (BPA)
CLE: Mikal Bridges (“please don’t leave LeBron we got you a champion”)
NYK: Michael Porter Jr (BPA, franchise savior)
PHI: Lonnie Walker IV (BPA)
Michael Porter Jr is at least an excellent rebounder and a good 3 point shooter, and then he dominated every level of competition he’s ever played at. You’re talking about a kid who won two different state championships as a high schooler in consecutive years, and then he dominated the Hoop Summit, the McDAAG, and the FIBA U18 tournament that put Markelle Fultz on the map. Andrew Wiggins doesn’t do anything well except take a lot of shots and complain about being Jimmy Butler’s teammate.
What if we land Ariza with the 43rd pick, but trade him for an aging and redundant veteran to help us to a franchise-worst .280 winning percentage? Do we still nail the pick?
The reason would be because that’s how teams have been drafting for the past, what, 20 years now? The #2 prospect going into his Freshman year (dropping from #1 only because Bagley went to college early) isn’t dropping to #9 because of a non-dramatic injury. #1 prospects can drop to #9 because they were terrible in college. They can drop to #9 if they have a truly career-altering injury. Otherwise, they don’t fall to #9. Now, Porter might have an injury so bad that he actually will drop. If he shows up healthy to his workouts, though, there’s no way he makes it that far.
Houston’s defense is making it very hard on Golden State. Also KD handling the ball so far from the basket on almost every possession seems like a mistake. Lots of turnovers and lousy shot opportunities trying to dribble through multiple Rocket defenders. Next game should be interesting. If Paul is hurt I don’t like Houston’s chances, he had a lot to do with them not collapsing last night.
Harden on an 0-19 streak on threes, would love to see 20 misses in a row from him.
I’m glad this board is back to commenting on hoops.
I know, right! (It’s so much more useful and interesting)
The Warriors lack discipline as a team and it makes me question Steve Kerr as a coach. Clearly he’s an Xs and Os wizard but his teams beat themselves with hero ball and sloppy passes. This is what happened when they went down 3-1 against OKC; they stopped playing their games and wanted to “match up” iso style with KD and Russ. It was stupid and they almost lost that series until they got back to the game plan. They’re doing the same thing against Houston, but this time they have to win a Game 7 in Houston. I’m really disappointed with them because they are on another planet from every other team in the NBA. This should not have been a series.
They’re playing ISO because Houston is doing a really good job of switching and containing their off ball action in their wins. If you’re going to run an offense based on lots of passing you need people open to pass the ball to.
It’s a good thing I just set down my water. lolol
Yeah, the Rockets aren’t getting nearly enough credit for how well they’re playing the Warriors. The Warriors aren’t just being morons (well, okay, the end of Game 4 was kind of them just being morons), the Rockets are playing excellent defense on them.
Yeah a lot of people seem to be missing that Houston is an excellent defensive team that spent all season practicing a system that they built largely because they thought it would be effective against this specific opponent. It’s really hard to create separation off the ball from a team that’s willing to switch absolutely any action. Most posessions are inevitably going to end up with you taking the best mismatch available and iso-ing.
If anything to me the worst part of what they’re doing is still trying to force too much of their system stuff when the windows just aren’t there. 16 turnovers last night. They’re a high turnover team typically and when that’s the cost for all the good stuff their system is producing that’s one thing. But the last couple games they haven’t been getting the positive aspects and are still turning it over while largely being forced into iso offense anyway. I think they’d be better off accepting that Houston has successfully made it an iso series for the most part. They have the horses to win that way too if they just roll with it and cut the turnovers.
aw man, CP3 is out for game 6. That really sucks.
Injuries at this level of basketball — they are the worst. Who knows what the series would be if Iguodala (and Mbah a Moute) were actually healthy. And now Houston will be without CP3. Damn.
It’s really awful.
Golden State would probably win Game 6 either way, but yeah, it’s a darn shame. As soon as I saw it, though, I thought, “How in the world is he going to be able to recover from that for Game 6?” I think Game 7 might be pushing it even.
Has anyone ever had a muscle tear like the ones that keep athletes out of playoff games? I’ve fractured a number of bones, but I just had my first muscle “tear” on Tuesday night from a pick-up game collision. I at first thought my leg was broken/knee was blown out, but after the first night I realized it was “just” a severely strained calf muscle. I used to wonder how a muscle tweak could keep someone out of a major game, but now I know first-hand. If his hamstring feels the way my calf does, he’ll be out for at least the rest of this series. Grade >2 muscle tears are no joke.
D’Antoni was poised to get past the Spurs in 2007 but failed due to ticky-tack suspensions. As a result, people said his style couldn’t win a championship.
Kind of sad to see him on the cusp, once again, and faced with another circumstance totally unrelated to his style or coaching that could keep him from the finals again.
I’m a warriors fan, but it wouldn’t crush me to see D’Antoni get a ring, after all he endured in the idiotic “big markets”.
Why can’t we have pg like rozier
Not the superstar max level like Kyrie but cheap young and good pg that is ready to play.
You mean Trey Burke? Lol
LeBron is ridiculous.
The bum squad was ready to fold it up and Lebron was just like nope, not tonight
I am not ever betting against LeBron James in a game 7.
If he carries this horrendously terrible team to the finals it will be an accomplishment in itself, my goodness. Even the Eric Snow / Ilgauskas / Gooden / Hughes team was probably less terrible than this bullshit.
I think without Love, yeah, this is worse than the team that was destroyed by the Spurs back in the day. Mo Williams was on that team, though, and he was pretty good back then.
Mo Williams was not on the team that reached the finals, he arrived for the next season, the PGs on that team were Snow and Gibson
Oh god, you’re right. Okay, so maybe that team was worse than this team.
With all these stats comparing Jordan and LeBron the one that is pretty remarkable when you look at it is how rarely MJ faced elimination. In his career he only faced elimination 13 times and only twice during his 6 title years (one of them was Game 7 1992 vs the Knicks when he scored 42).
That was what was remarkable about those Bulls teams, they never put themselves in a situation to lose. Only once were they even down 2-0 (again to the Knicks in 1993 and unfortunately we know how that series turned out). I never thought those Bulls teams were that good because of their roster outside of MJ/Pippen and their starting PF (Grant/Rodman) yet they never looked even vulnerable. Golden St with 4 All-Stars are struggling their asses off now because their best supporting player is out.
Steph and co are two games from going to their 4th consecutive finals. Jordan quit after 3 because he wore out. LeBron is one impropable win from his 8th if he can win the 100th game he’s played in this season. All things considered this playoff performance by Lebron is the most incredible stretch of sustained greatness I’ve ever seen from a basketball player. There have probably been a few better overall playoffs, but Lebron hasn’t rested in 8 years and his team sucks
For me it’s MJ in the 1993 NBA Finals. 41 ppg, 8.5 reb/g and 6.3 asts/g while playing 45.7 minutes/g. He also shot 51% including 40% from 3pt (he made 10 for the series which is alot for him back then). His only blemish was shooting 70% from the FT line. This was when his team didn’t have homecourt and at the end of the first 3peat where they all looked pretty exhausted especially after getting beat up during the Knicks series. I thought that Suns team was going to run all over the Bulls but MJ put on a super human performance.
For a single series I’d go with LBJ in the ’16 finals- against the winningest team in NBA history (and a very good defensive team to boot) led BOTH teams in total points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.
This just goes to show the ridiculous standards we hold these players to, because if you recall, Lebron got some shit for that series because Irving made the series-winning shot and not Lebron. You know, “He needed Irving to hit the big shot.”
Funny thing most don’t remember is that LeBron scored the last point in the series, to give the Cavaliers a 4-point lead and ice the game.