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2021 NBA Offseason Thread

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Saw a lot of dudes balling out far beyond what their normal capacity would be during this bubble. Leads me to believe that we've got some workout warriors that are bound to come back to earth when there are fans again.

Just have the feeling Jamal Murray is going to be one of those guys.
 
Saw a lot of dudes balling out far beyond what their normal capacity would be during this bubble. Leads me to believe that we've got some workout warriors that are bound to come back to earth when there are fans again.

Just have the feeling Jamal Murray is going to be one of those guys.

Hmm....

I don't know if I agree with that. I think what we are seeing in the bubble is the teams who are well coached, have chemistry, and know how to play with each other are balling out. I think no fans has a little impact on some of the performances but if you ask me the setting on the court with a better backdrop for the hoops and a wider sideline have had a bigger impact on the game than the fans. There's still crowd noise. There's still the same theatrics on the court with the players.

I hop the league fins a way to widen the court so that there's more room on the sideline and the perspective of the baskets are the same. A lot of players have gone on record saying that those two things have had a huge impact on the play we have been seeing more than not having fans.
 
Saw a lot of dudes balling out far beyond what their normal capacity would be during this bubble. Leads me to believe that we've got some workout warriors that are bound to come back to earth when there are fans again.

Just have the feeling Jamal Murray is going to be one of those guys.

If he just played well against Utah I might agree. But to do what he did against those elite Clippers perimeter defenders in game 6 and particularly game 7 shows his potential. I thought he showed flashes of greatness in last year’s playoffs too. The thing that impressed me the most and why I think his performance bodes well for the future has been his conditioning. The guy has played a million minutes in these playoffs and yet he’s still out there in a game 7 running off the ball in Princeton sets, setting screens, doing dribble handoffs, and running pick and rolls. He even competed defensively. He may not be a night to night dominant star guard like Steph Curry or James Harden. But maybe he could continue to be a great postseason player like say Tony Parker or even Kyrie Irving. Plus he’s just 23 years old.
 
If he just played well against Utah I might agree. But to do what he did against those elite Clippers perimeter defenders in game 6 and particularly game 7 shows his potential. I thought he showed flashes of greatness in last year’s playoffs too. The thing that impressed me the most and why I think his performance bodes well for the future has been his conditioning. The guy has played a million minutes in these playoffs and yet he’s still out there in a game 7 running off the ball in Princeton sets, setting screens, doing dribble handoffs, and running pick and rolls. He even competed defensively. He may not be a night to night dominant star guard like Steph Curry or James Harden. But maybe he could continue to be a great postseason player like say Tony Parker or even Kyrie Irving. Plus he’s just 23 years old.

Right. They won a game 7 last year and came down to the wire in a game 7 against POR. He was good then too.
 
The Lakers didn’t draft either one of them though.

Correct - I'm arguing Miami/Boston/LA aren't good comparisons to make to our Cavs. Miami and LA are desirable locations and Boston has an elite coach and GM.
 
Even if the Lakers end up taking down this title, this has been the most enjoyable playoffs I've watched in years in terms of competitiveness across the league. Really looking forward to the conference finals on both sides.

I'm also very happy to see a well-run organization like Denver prove a lot of people wrong about their perceived ceiling. I don't anticipate them going 6 or 7 with the Lakers, but it's been a fun run and they have the assets and youth to keep improving.
 
If he just played well against Utah I might agree. But to do what he did against those elite Clippers perimeter defenders in game 6 and particularly game 7 shows his potential. I thought he showed flashes of greatness in last year’s playoffs too. The thing that impressed me the most and why I think his performance bodes well for the future has been his conditioning. The guy has played a million minutes in these playoffs and yet he’s still out there in a game 7 running off the ball in Princeton sets, setting screens, doing dribble handoffs, and running pick and rolls. He even competed defensively. He may not be a night to night dominant star guard like Steph Curry or James Harden. But maybe he could continue to be a great postseason player like say Tony Parker or even Kyrie Irving. Plus he’s just 23 years old.

I tend to agree that Murray must actually be pretty damn good. I mean he just outplayed Kawhi, while guarding him most of the time. Did he get to 40 last night while shutting Leonard down? Murray looked fresh in the 4th quarter despite being the best player on the floor. (Jokic orchestrated it, Murray finished it)

People can say Kawhi choked, but they were all over him, helped perfectly, and were stifling defensively when they had the "worst defense in the bubble" the first few games against Utah. That isn't all Gary Harris coming back. They diffused the Clippers offense 100%.

I do think, however, that bubble play is not going to be replicable. Eliminating home/away during the playoffs has been fascinating. In Boston/Raps nobody won a home game I think. I do think we will see some regression from some of the role players. There may be something to stars not being able to feed off the crowd, but I think the consistency of Murray and his ability to stay cool in 6 elimination games bodes well for him.

The thing for the Nuggets is if the get up on LA. What will they do when the pressure is on them to close it?
 
Even if the Lakers end up taking down this title, this has been the most enjoyable playoffs I've watched in years in terms of competitiveness across the league. Really looking forward to the conference finals on both sides.

I'm also very happy to see a well-run organization like Denver prove a lot of people wrong about their perceived ceiling. I don't anticipate them going 6 or 7 with the Lakers, but it's been a fun run and they have the assets and youth to keep improving.

These playoffs should give a lot of hope to some of the teams around the league who don't think that they can be competitive in any given year.
 
I tend to agree that Murray must actually be pretty damn good. I mean he just outplayed Kawhi, while guarding him most of the time. Did he get to 40 last night while shutting Leonard down? Murray looked fresh in the 4th quarter despite being the best player on the floor. (Jokic orchestrated it, Murray finished it)

People can say Kawhi choked, but they were all over him, helped perfectly, and were stifling defensively when they had the "worst defense in the bubble" the first few games against Utah. That isn't all Gary Harris coming back. They diffused the Clippers offense 100%.

I do think, however, that bubble play is not going to be replicable. Eliminating home/away during the playoffs has been fascinating. In Boston/Raps nobody won a home game I think. I do think we will see some regression from some of the role players. There may be something to stars not being able to feed off the crowd, but I think the consistency of Murray and his ability to stay cool in 6 elimination games bodes well for him.

The thing for the Nuggets is if the get up on LA. What will they do when the pressure is on them to close it?

I was gonna say having the NBA Finals at a neutral site might be a cool idea. Or maybe there's a way in the future for the league to incorporate more in season tournaments at neutral sites like NCAAB does.
 
I was gonna say having the NBA Finals at a neutral site might be a cool idea. Or maybe there's a way in the future for the league to incorporate more in season tournaments at neutral sites like NCAAB does.

I would personally love it as a guy who is going to watch on TV. I get why local fans don't get hyped.

There is something really cool about the clinical "who is the better team" super bowl style.
 
I would personally love it as a guy who is going to watch on TV. I get why local fans don't get hyped.

There is something really cool about the clinical "who is the better team" super bowl style.

It makes sense to shift it towards a neutral site as the league becomes more of a player driven league than team driven. An in season tournament would be sweet. They can easily have one back at Disney and I'm sure the league is going to consider that after the success of the bubble.
 
Hmm....

I don't know if I agree with that. I think what we are seeing in the bubble is the teams who are well coached, have chemistry, and know how to play with each other are balling out. I think no fans has a little impact on some of the performances but if you ask me the setting on the court with a better backdrop for the hoops and a wider sideline have had a bigger impact on the game than the fans. There's still crowd noise. There's still the same theatrics on the court with the players.

I hop the league fins a way to widen the court so that there's more room on the sideline and the perspective of the baskets are the same. A lot of players have gone on record saying that those two things have had a huge impact on the play we have been seeing more than not having fans.

Agreed, I really wonder about is if the neutral/close backdrop for the hoop and the consistent neutral site court allowing you to play on the same court every time are having a positive effect on jump shooting. Some guys have just been shooting the lights out from distance, and Murray is one example of that. He's shooting 49% from 3 for the playoffs on a high volume and has never given an indication before that he has that kind of Steph Curry type shooting accuracy. But maybe we're just seeing him taking a leap.

I agree that performing in front of a crowd is not the issue for these guys.
 
I would personally love it as a guy who is going to watch on TV. I get why local fans don't get hyped.

There is something really cool about the clinical "who is the better team" super bowl style.

Have you guys forgotten so quickly what a thrill it was to have home games in Cleveland during the playoffs?

I think home and away games are part of the fabric and challenge of the game, wouldn't want to get rid of them. You could get some of the benefits of the wider sidelines and better hoop backdrop without going to a neutral court.

What I do want to see is a shorter regular season. I think these guys have more gas in the tank for the playoffs this year because they didn't play the full 82.
 
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