2022-2023 NBA Regular Season Thread

[KevinLoveFan]

Thunder vs Wolves tonight. Wolves not having KAT helps OKC a lot, obviously.

One of the interesting things about OKC is they don't shoot the 3 ball well (24th in the NBA), yet they score a lot (6th in league at 116 PPG). They have great slashers in SGA, Giddey, JDub, and Dort. They also have great off-ball movement, which opens up an offense. Also surprising: only four guys score double figures or more (those aforementioned slashers), yet they have EIGHT guys between 5 and 10 ppg, LOL. Daigneault is the anti-JBB in that he plays HUGE rotations. Unlike the Cavs, I have a hard time simply keeping up with how many players there are to watch on OKC.

Which reminds me: Cavs play Thunder in exactly a week I'll try to behave nicely in the game thread chat...

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Rudy Gobert ejected for tripping and then shoving Kenrich Williams after Kenrich scored on his tall ass. Kenrich got right back up and didn't take any crap from Gobert. They had to be separated.

Cavs fans, y'all always want enforcers. OKC has two in Kenrich and Lu Dort.

 

[Jscc]

Rudy Gobert ejected for tripping and then shoving Kenrich Williams after Kenrich scored on his tall ass. Kenrich got right back up and didn't take any crap from Gobert. They had to be separated.

Cavs fans, y'all always want enforcers. OKC has two in Kenrich and Lu Dort.

Taking it personal that a player exposed his declining athleticism and then getting ejected for it with KAT already out is great leadership by Gobert.

 

[letgocavs]

I'm happy for Mike brown. Always liked him as a coach.

 

[adam81king]

Which reminds me: Cavs play Thunder in exactly a week I'll try to behave nicely in the game thread chat...

Im taking my 2 oldest (8 and 6.5) to this game, which will be their first public sporting event ever. I picked this game because I really like what the Thunder are building (reminds me of the basketball version of the Cleveland Guardians), and Ousmane Dieng and Jaylen Williams were my 1a and 1b hopes for the Cavaliers in the draft.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Im taking my 2 oldest (8 and 6.5) to this game, which will be their first public sporting event ever. I picked this game because I really like what the Thunder are building (reminds me of the basketball version of the Cleveland Guardians), and Ousmane Dieng and Jaylen Williams were my 1a and 1b hopes for the Cavaliers in the draft.

That is awesome! I still remember my first public sporting event -- a 1993-94 NBA preseason game between the Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs. Got to see Dominique Wilkins, David Robinson, Dennis Rodman.

Wolves-Thunder game very tight. Had a fast-paced 3rd quarter with lots of fastbreak scoring and turnovers; players were huffing and puffing by quarter's end after the frenzy. Minnesota won the Q 44-34 and is heading into the 4th with a 4 point lead. Game is really physical as well. Lots of motion, bodies flying. Pretty exciting stuff.

 

[cavsfever]

Went to a Knicks site I like to check out the vibe after the Mavs loss tonight. They’re rooting for us to beat the Knicks badly tomorrow night so Thibs can get fired. However, they think we’ll lose because nothing good ever happens for them and therefore the Knicks will play juuuust well enough this year that Thibs never quite gets fired.

It’s a sad fate, being a Knicks fan…

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Hahaha that was an entertaining game with Minnesota and OKC.

Timberpups tried to play like the Raptors, but OKC matched the physicality, and Timberpups ended up whining and flopping to a loss when things stopped going their way (5 techs in the game for Minny; I mentioned Gobert got thrown out earlier, and later D'Angelo Russell got ejected in the 4th). Kenrich Williams and JDub straight up bullied them in particular, with JDub taking over in the 4th, making tough shots and drawing a key charge that changed the momentum of the game. He had the highest plus/minus in the game, +18. Commentators and analysts keep going on about how he plays with vet smarts, and I agree. SGA and Giddey also worked a lot of their usual ballhandling/playmaking magic tonight.

Very fun; really enjoyed that one. OKC probably won't be a threat to a higher win team like the Cavs, but they can beat teams around .500 or thereabouts any given night. Just not the teams with top records yet.

 

[adam81king]

Hahaha that was an entertaining game with Minnesota and OKC.

Timberpups tried to play like the Raptors, but OKC matched the physicality, and Timberpups ended up whining and flopping to a loss when things stopped going their way (5 techs in the game for Minny; I mentioned Gobert got thrown out earlier, and later D'Angelo Russell got ejected in the 4th). Kenrich Williams and JDub straight up bullied them in particular, with JDub taking over in the 4th, making tough shots and drawing a key charge that changed the momentum of the game. He had the highest plus/minus in the game, +18. Commentators and analysts keep going on about how he plays with vet smarts, and I agree. SGA and Giddey also worked a lot of their usual ballhandling/playmaking magic tonight.

Very fun; really enjoyed that one. OKC probably won't be a threat to a higher win team like the Cavs, but they can beat teams around .500 or thereabouts any given night. Just not the teams with top records yet.

Whats the sense of an endgame for OKC? Are they planning/hoping to consolidate all those assets into a superstar? Are they riding the wave and just gonna take 3,000 swings at the draft and stay young forever? Is SGA gonna get dealt? I've loved Presti for his ability to find talent (even pilfering guys I've loved), but I get frustrated by his accumulation of every asset without consolidation.

 

[Jscc]

Looking forward to watching the Mitchell/Booker and Mitchell/Alexander match-ups.

 

[KevinLoveFan]

Whats the sense of an endgame for OKC? Are they planning/hoping to consolidate all those assets into a superstar? Are they riding the wave and just gonna take 3,000 swings at the draft and stay young forever? Is SGA gonna get dealt? I've loved Presti for his ability to find talent (even pilfering guys I've loved), but I get frustrated by his accumulation of every asset without consolidation.

I'm thinking they will build largely through the draft much like they did in the days of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden. Obviously SGA was a trade piece and looks to be the star leader, but Giddey, JDub, and Chet are a trio that can be very formidable in a couple of years, and they've all come through the draft. Dort was undrafted, but a great talent find as well, and I hope he sticks around for the sake of perimeter defense.

 

[BigZ94]

Could come up with a 100 hour complication of the warriors benefiting from Redding

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

And they won! Westbrook with 11 assists, zero turnovers, shooting over 50%,…can it last?

Do you really need someone to answer that question?

 

[Muffinalt]

Rudy Gobert ejected for tripping and then shoving Kenrich Williams after Kenrich scored on his tall ass. Kenrich got right back up and didn't take any crap from Gobert. They had to be separated.

Cavs fans, y'all always want enforcers. OKC has two in Kenrich and Lu Dort.

Getting Dort would be so amazing. But don't see a realistic way we could get him unfortunately.

 

[jjvors]

That is awesome! I still remember my first public sporting event -- a 1993-94 NBA preseason game between the Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs. Got to see Dominique Wilkins, David Robinson, Dennis Rodman.

Wolves-Thunder game very tight. Had a fast-paced 3rd quarter with lots of fastbreak scoring and turnovers; players were huffing and puffing by quarter's end after the frenzy. Minnesota won the Q 44-34 and is heading into the 4th with a 4 point lead. Game is really physical as well. Lots of motion, bodies flying. Pretty exciting stuff.

My first sporting event at the pro level: The Indians vs some team in 1964. We won 4-2 on a 2 run homer by Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner. My grandmother, who was German, was happy to hear of a good German boy (Wagner) winning the game. My dad couldn't stop laughing as he pointed out he was black. I was 8 at the time.