2023-24 Regular Season Thread II: March Toward Destiny

[bushwick_bill]

Horse Hockey.

Mitchell expanded his PG game.

JA had a better season.

Strus was fine.

Mobley improved in several aspects.

We had a lot of injuries. It happens. Doesn't mean our players are worse.

It is very hard to compete in the NBA when your starting lineup played approximately 33% of the season together, on top of new coaches, new teammates etc.

JA's comments Friday night below and I think JA's comments were pretty spot on. The NBA season is such a ride of ups and downs... On December 15th or whenever everyone went out of the lineup, so many wrote this season off. Again, from the Game Thread.

If I could go back in time before the season began and tell myself 48 wins would get the 4th seed and play the Magic first round( with the starters only playing 28 games together all season) and being kind of healthy for the playoffs and Philly would get the 7th seed and play the Knicks first round, I would take that every time, be estactic and not believe it... Wild Season

All things considered, this team still finished with 48 wins and the 4th seed. Vegas had them winning 50.5 games this year before the injuries; yes, other teams experienced tons as well. The bottom line is that they ended up with a favorable draw in the playoffs. This season could have been a total disaster, and it was not. I will tip my cap to JBB, the organization, and the players for fighting through all their adversity, etc. There is a ton to be excited for with this team, especially, as some are suggesting, when Don signs his extension. This has been a very successful small-market team that has rebounded from four straight NBA Finals and losing LBJ. We had a tough enough time getting talented players all the years when LBJ played here. I do not think we have ever had a more talented team; we just do not have the best player on the planet.



My rant is over as I keep putting off finishing this tax questionnaire. lol lol lol - again this is my opinion, but I think it has been a relatively successful regular season.

 

[redruM]

Are you serious? You think a team with 10 wins less than the #8 seed deserves a shot at the playoffs? Man, the standards have really dropped around here.

I agree but its about revenue. Soon MLB Will play their usual 162 games with every team making the playoffs. That negates the regular season and all stars will sit on their ass til the playoffs

 

[Dr No]

MSN:

No. 1 Boston vs. No. 8 seed: from winner of No. 7 Philadelphia-No. 8 Miami play-in game loser vs. No. 9 Chicago-No. 10 Atlanta play-in game winner.

No. 2 New York vs. No. 7 seed: Winner of the No. 8 Miami at No. 7 Philadelphia play-in game winner

No. 3 Milwaukee vs. No. 6 Indiana
No. 4 Cleveland vs. No. 5 Orlando

I dislike the pay-in game loser vs the play-in game winner from the other series..if you lose you should be out...period..

Has there ever been a worse year to be the #1 or #2 seed - in either conference?

 

[redruM]

Has there ever been a worse year to be the #1 or #2 seed - in either conference?

Good observation

 

[kookoo]

I agree but its about revenue. Soon MLB Will play their usual 162 games with every team making the playoffs. That negates the regular season and all stars will sit on their ass til the playoffs

I feel like that's why they added the in-season tournament though. I thought as fans we were hoping they would reduce the amount of games teams played in the season but it looks like we're just going to keep increasing it. Definitely get the reasoning behind increasing it, but I feel that's going to be to the detriment of a lot of players. we already had so many damn injuries this season.

 

[T-Roy]

Has there ever been a worse year to be the #1 or #2 seed - in either conference?

Definitely felt like that was a great move for the Cavs to lose yesterday. Sucks as a paying fan to watch them lose but I truly believe with Embiid the 76ers are just as good as the Celtics if not better with that inside presence. The guy has been practically unstoppable when we play them. Very good chance we lose in the first round. You can say that Indiana would've been the better matchup at the 3 seed but, wouldn't we have went clear up to number 2 if the Knicks don't come back to barely beat Chicago?

Not worth the risk. Also, as an owner you get potentially how many more home games if this risk works out and we make it into the second round. If it doesn't work out, JB and Management will be sent out which I imagine they will be anyway.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Definitely felt like that was a great move for the Cavs to lose yesterday. Sucks as a paying fan to watch them lose but I truly believe with Embiid the 76ers are just as good as the Celtics if not better with that inside presence. The guy has been practically unstoppable when we play them. Very good chance we lose in the first round. You can say that Indiana would've been the better matchup at the 3 seed but, wouldn't we have went clear up to number 2 if the Knicks don't come back to barely beat Chicago?

Not worth the risk. Also, as an owner you get potentially how many more home games if this risk works out and we make it into the second round. If it doesn't work out, JB and Management will be sent out which I imagine they will be anyway.

Yeah, that Knicks game came down to the final shot of overtime. DeRozan had a 5-foot jumper rim out and the Bulls lost by 1. He usually makes that every time. If he made it and the Cavs beat the Hornets, we'd be playing the Philly-Miami winner in the first round. Instead the Bucks get that priviledge.

Had the Cavs kept their best players on the floor and beat Charlotte the Knicks would have seen that since their game lasted much longer. They also knew Milwaukee lost. They could have just decided to empty their bench, let the Bulls win, and the Cavs would have had second seed. That was probably the only scenario the Cavs definitely wanted to avoid.

 

[guitarguy]

I like the play in, and I don't care if a team with 10 less wins could win it all, that's good to me. Frankly, I think the play in has been super successful, heck, even this year in both conferences, there are teams that could go all the way.

 

[AustinCarr]

I like the play in, and I don't care if a team with 10 less wins could win it all, that's good to me. Frankly, I think the play in has been super successful, heck, even this year in both conferences, there are teams that could go all the way.

Totally agree. The quality of late season NBA games is vastly improved. There are a lot less mid-lotto tanking for extra ping pong balls with 15 games left. And more games that are meaningful the whole way. It's a huge win for the league, IMO.

 

[BigZ94]

Definitely not comfortable in this first round matchup, Wagner bros coming off a World Cup victory where they beat a stacked USA team, then we got arguably the worst coach in the league at the helm plus we’ve barely been playing like a playoff team the last couple months

 

[Mr. Orange]

Definitely not comfortable in this first round matchup, Wagner bros coming off a World Cup victory where they beat a stacked USA team, then we got arguably the worst coach in the league at the helm plus we’ve barely been playing like a playoff team the last couple months

The Cavs go as Donovan goes. Let’s hope a full week off does wonders for his knee.

 

[2 For The Brew]

Definitely not comfortable in this first round matchup, Wagner bros coming off a World Cup victory where they beat a stacked USA team, then we got arguably the worst coach in the league at the helm plus we’ve barely been playing like a playoff team the last couple months

If he’s the worst coach in the league then how was he one of five coaches who received votes from his fellow coaches for Coach of the Year?

 

[BigZ94]

If he’s the worst coach in the league then how was he one of five coaches who received votes from his fellow coaches for Coach of the Year?

Probably from coaches who don’t watch Cavs games, or maybe because of that stretch where he played guys he let rot at the end of the bench until injuries forced his hand, guys fans on this boards asking him to play all season.

 

[bushwick_bill]

 

[Peacedog]

Most injured playoff team (after the Hawks are eliminated in the play-in).