*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

no hate on Chet either he's a baller and if he wins it, it will be deserved, but Wemby is up and down night to night because of who's around him.

Chet is in a better situation
Wemby is the better player

double down on the bubble chip lmao

..so much shade.




*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

it counts.

But if they win the tourney too (which i think is some bullshit), people will be mad haha

*unless the Lakers dont win it...in that case it's so stupid and who cares about some dumb thing

I expect a L
They have to play Miami tomorrow, that's the easier matchup of the 2

They WHOOPED Denver's ass which is something I didn't see coming with no Donovan, no LeVert, and Okoro and Jerome still out.

Craig Porter Jr is that dude.

6ers hit the switch and went into "Raptor Mode" on defense late.
As always when facing Embiid, it's a Ref Show.
This team is different. Tobias Harris is a problem.
Maxey plays a better brand of basketball than James Hardees.
Melton pairs well with him in the back court.
It's like giving Nick Nurse a treasure chest given the state of the Raptors when he left.


Cavs had a wild 1st half, up 12 off a Strus buzzer beater.
They led by as much as 18, ended up going to OT.

Darius Garland cooked.
Allen and Mobley cooked.
Strus and Niang cooked.
Craig Porter Jr continues to impress.

8-6.

On to Miami.

I would say "to be expected on a back to back after OT against the current best team in the East"

but there are aspects of that game that were still bullshit.

I hate all those 3s the Cavs give up. Hate it. Lowry was Raptors Mode tonight.

Jaquez is good though, Miami once again comes out of the "miss" of Dame with another Heat Culture win.

One of these days, these 3-bombers gonna have a 2018 Rockets WCF game, and it's gonna be their time to hold that L

...but lays a goose egg.
DG exits with an aggravated neck injury.
And the Cavs were still in it late.

Donovan Mitchell is torpedo-ing this offense. Especially when his scoring is off. Waits too long to pass the ball, dribbling too much to try and get that opening.

Meanwhile Max Strus is playing like the dude we need in the offense.
Niang has been better as of late. Craig Porter Jr is a DAWG. We gotta get this guy on the roster.

This was a Mobley/Allen masterclass (as both showed their playmaking prowess, while also playing some nice defense), wasted.

Okoro came back to have some great minutes off the bench.

Everyone was on Mobley/Allen's head against the Knicks.

I'm about to say, if Donovan was absent, but the Cavs had CPJ, healthy Okoro, TT, Max Strus, and Georges Niang instead of Lamar Stevens, Cedi Osman, and fresh-off-the-ACL-recovery Danny Green?

that's a 4-1 series flipped the other way and I stand on that.

First half was great though. Loving the Staps/Brown connection.

.

Pop can gone somewhere w/ that.

Unless the fans are saying some offensive shit you shut the fuck up and coach your sorry ass team.

seem like bad precedent to allow coaches to get on the PA system unless directed to by league officals/refs.

.

which is to say, if they wanna wash their hands of him they can.

we'll see how this goes down.

which gives OKC an excuse to not do shit.

Age of consent is apparently 16 there except in Tasmania and South Australia.

Recent global study came out...Australia ranked most promiscuous.

When Tse Chi Lop (canadian-chinese drug kingpin) was arrested a few years back, I remember reading that 7% of Australians had used meth (compared to 1.5% in USA).

Thought those numbers were wild. Good luck Australia.

Just felt like typing that out.

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

after this season they will probably "mutually part ways"

>after this season they will probably "mutually part ways"


New AD coming in , Holtmann is a dead man walking and we got 7 million a year for him if he wants it , last time we hired a Gator coach it worked out well lol


(Not realistic but hope springs eternal)

https://twitter.com/Underdog__NBA/status/1729306630129684532

Embiid’s overall game is better than last season. Getting a lot of assists. Maxey had 31 as well. Nick Nurse > Doc Rivers.

>Embiid’s overall game is better than last season. Getting a
>lot of assists. Maxey had 31 as well. Nick Nurse > Doc
>Rivers.

I think we have to wait to see how far they get in the playoffs before you can say that

..in almost ever way possible.

No excuses.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

and players getting butt hurt about teams scoring in the last minute is hilarity.

Frustrated ass demar was basically like fuck the tournament. Tatum said it more dimplomatically lol

The differentials? Why can’t it be a win or lose situation? It did seem a little ridiculous with what teams had to do to advance

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

lol

No Butler for the Heat and the Bucks can barely get consistent stops from what I can see.

so the group games are baked into the 82 game season already, but:

what about these knockout games now? like if the final is Sac vs Bos..

and Sac/Bos are already scheduled to play 12/20 and then again in April

do they cancel one of those games then?? or do Sac/Bos end up playing 83 games?

or are the knockout games in addition to the 82?

To adjust for the differing number of games played by different teams, the NBA's regular season scheduling formula will be modified so only 80 games for each team are initially announced prior to the beginning of the season, with the 81st and 82nd scheduled games occurring differently:

- The 22 teams that do not qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament will play two additional games, one at home and one on the road, against other teams eliminated prior to the knockout rounds. These games will occur during the Knockout Rounds on days when In-Season Tournament games are not scheduled.

- The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play one additional game against the opponent from the same conference on the day before the tournament Championship Game.

(thanks for posting this)

so then there is games for everyone Dec 2-9 afterall... (i was thinking maybe some of these teams were like "fuck the tourney, lets get a week off early Dec", glad thats not the case)

I did hear every player on the winning roster gets $500k that’s a lot of bread for some of these guys

A fuckin circus down there

worse than the Pistons.

its Pistons (wild to me that literally a third of their team are top-5 picks..?)

#FreeAlecBurks

Not that I expected them to be a good team, but on paper they should at least be competitive. This year they got Cade back from injury, added Thompson and Sassar, overpaid Monty to coach them, and they are somehow worse than last year? The lineups are trash, the bench is trash, the vibe is all trash.

>Not that I expected them to be a good team, but on paper they
>should at least be competitive. This year they got Cade back
>from injury, added Thompson and Sassar, overpaid Monty to
>coach them, and they are somehow worse than last year? The
>lineups are trash, the bench is trash, the vibe is all trash.
>

iso ball ain't working in today's nba. both these guys made the bulls the most depressing watch in the league and had lifelong die hards tuning out the lifeless shitshow completely.

zach and his ability to hit a three may be somewhat valuable as a third wheel, but his lack of attention to detail on the other end will probably end up being a net negative.

and demar is basically late stage melo without the three ball.

trade them and lets see what we have with the young kids (the effort and ball movement looks night and day right now vs the bucks without zach and demar).

"Everyone knows the Bulls are in a rebuild EXCEPT the Bulls."

It'll be interesting to see what happens after December 15th and January 15th respectively.

I hate how the organization didn't pivot from this team before the
trade deadline last season when it was clear Ball wasn't returning.
We had plenty of evidence that this current roster didn't work.
The lack of creativity to pivot actually hurt the Bulls long term.

I hate that Ball was so instrumental in making this whole thing work!

I hate that when LaVine receives an outlet pass, he'll most likely actively LOOK for a more difficult shots. Maddening.

I hate that Caruso is sometimes are best player.

Continuity everyone. Continuity.

Great game.

A lot of folks eating crow about this tourney.

>A lot of folks eating crow about this tourney.

Damn

Happy to be wrong.

Nicely done, Silver.

I’m no Pacers fan but I really want Halliburton to get his trophy

I still get why it looks like a consolation prize but if guys like him keep coming along, it won’t be long before it’s more of a permanent reminder of coming out parties

Just thinking of some recent teams like the Kings, Grizzlies, Pelicans, once this trophy’s got a decade’s worth of work behind it it’ll help those breakout years retain value.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

But I think I, and a lot of other people, discounted just how competitive these guys are. Sure, the money is a factor…but the fact that it’s an actual tournament with a winner making for truly competitive games in December is motivation enough for them I guess.

The added benefit, I suppose, is that it gives young teams like the Pacers the confidence of performing on a big stage. Do I think they can beat the Celtics in a series? No. But if there’s a way to kind of mirror a playoff environment, that can be huge for players mindsets.

It’s cool! I wonder if next year will feel the same, or if this is has been as much fun because it’s the first. Still - the NBA definitely has a great product and they have to be happy having Bron, KD, Giannis, Tatum, Haliburton, Zion, etc in this tournament.

>But I think I, and a lot of other people, discounted just how
>competitive these guys are. Sure, the money is a factor…but
>the fact that it’s an actual tournament with a winner making
>for truly competitive games in December is motivation enough
>for them I guess.
>


From my viewpoint the tournament games as a whole have not been more competetive than an average game in nov/december. Youve had the embarrasment of teams running up the score (not embarassing to me per se but for the players reaction to it) and guys getting quoted as saying they dont care about the tourney.

A good percentage of the tourney games WERE MEANINGLESS tournament wise bc after 1 loss, you are practically eliminated

Andand i really dont see buzz generating about the tourney games. Like i had to scrolllll all the way down espn home page to see the 1st mention of the tourney games last night lol

I think silver has done a good job of shoving this product down our throats. If it makes the league money, then sure its successful. Outside of $$$ shit is still dumb lol

Of course you'll see competitive games between contenders, or rivals, or whatever...but a Celtics/Pacers game feeling like a playoff game in early December? Nah. That's all the tournament.

Also - I don't think that's necessarily true on the meaningless games leading into the knockout round. There was some intrigue - especially with point differential. Still, that part of it took some time for anyone to actually understand it - and probably will continue that way.

It's obviously not a HUGE deal, but these players are absolutely playing harder in the elimination games than they would in a simple regular season game this early in the year. It's fun.

>Of course you'll see competitive games between contenders, or
>rivals, or whatever...but a Celtics/Pacers game feeling like a
>playoff game in early December? Nah. That's all the
>tournament.

Sure...but that's one game out of what 70 tournament games? Assuming all the knockout games have that buzz, how many other ones have? probably less than 10 total which is a really low percentage.

>
>Also - I don't think that's necessarily true on the
>meaningless games leading into the knockout round. There was
>some intrigue - especially with point differential. Still,
>that part of it took some time for anyone to actually
>understand it - and probably will continue that way.

but they were pretty meaningless. You lose one game and you're a longshot to make it. We had 'tournament games' at the end with 2 teams eliminated already lol
>
>It's obviously not a HUGE deal, but these players are
>absolutely playing harder in the elimination games than they
>would in a simple regular season game this early in the year.
>It's fun.

I mean if that's the basis for success, great. I think its more indicative of the problem the nba has with the reg season not mattering. i'm not convinced this is the solution.

Edit...i just checked ESPN and the tournament isn't even a top headline lol

women's boxing >>> in season tournament lool

as they get closer to that 500k, but the tournament overall has been pointless and unnecessarily confusing.

The league/TNT does a great job pushing shit, but thats it.

And its going to be fucking silly to have a trophy presentation and go back to Spurs @ Hornets the next day.


The league needs to figure out a way to make regular season games matter more...but this aint it.


Maybe financial incentives for shit like best record by Christmas (or something), best record in division, all-star participation/performance, etc.

Set a minimum games played to qualify for all nba, etc.


Shit like that? Sure try it.


But an overly complicated junior varsity tournament mid-season? I'm good.

It absolutely is a consolation prize. A made up one at that.

>But I think I, and a lot of other people, discounted just how
>competitive these guys are.

Meh...if they were super competitive the league wouldn't even need to try this shit.

They are trying to make the regular season more competitive because the league is full of managed minutes, rest games, etc now.


Sure, the money is a factor…but
>the fact that it’s an actual tournament with a winner making
>for truly competitive games in December is motivation enough
>for them I guess.
>

Meh...previous games haven't been competitive. As these teams get closer to the 500k, they appear to be trying harder. Sure.

But there's gotta be a better way to accomplish that within the league's format....like rewarding division winners or something.


>The added benefit, I suppose, is that it gives young teams
>like the Pacers the confidence of performing on a big stage.

Make the playoffs. No need to create an imaginary tournament for that. The play-in was also supposed to accomplish this.

>Do I think they can beat the Celtics in a series? No. But if
>there’s a way to kind of mirror a playoff environment, that
>can be huge for players mindsets.
>
>It’s cool! I wonder if next year will feel the same, or if
>this is has been as much fun because it’s the first. Still -
>the NBA definitely has a great product and they have to be
>happy having Bron, KD, Giannis, Tatum, Haliburton, Zion, etc
>in this tournament.

Hey, glad you like it...though I think its funny you happen to like it as the Lakers advance...but do you.


The league has had march madness envy for as long as I can recall. They need to be less insecure about their product and address the issue of players not caring like they used to.

season just started and we need to get fans/players to care?
Plus wouldn't teams be in a better state to compete a few months in vs the 1st month.
A post xmas lead in to the All star break makes more sense to me..post xmas is when the interest really start wanes
and then give the winning team some real prize - cap relief/another mid level exception/move up in the draft idk
Group the tourney games together - picking random days for the games makes it lose the tourney feel and there's no momentum.
ged rid of the outlandish courts.


I mean my ideas still suck but i feel like it sucks less than when we got

some of the best teams in the league weren't in the tournament because of some weird point differential formula from arbitrarily designated games.

The NBA is built on the success of teams in the playoffs in 7 game series. Most actual title contenders don't care about these "tournament" games nobody is sucking it to play hurt like they do in the postseason you have none of the usual drama.

Because group play is common all across the sports world. The World Cup to Olympic Handball to the World Baseball Classic all use group stages in their tournaments.

>Because group play is common all across the sports world. The
>World Cup to Olympic Handball to the World Baseball Classic
>all use group stages in their tournaments.

okay the National Basketball Association has never involved "group play" but 7 game series(previously 5 in the first round)

>It absolutely is a consolation prize. A made up one at that.

Bruh. It's all made up. The NBA is made up. MVP award? Made up. ROY? Made up. NBA Playoffs? Made up.

This is a classic "I don't like change" ass statement.

>>It absolutely is a consolation prize. A made up one at
>that.
>
>Bruh. It's all made up. The NBA is made up. MVP award? Made
>up. ROY? Made up. NBA Playoffs? Made up.
>
>This is a classic "I don't like change" ass statement.
>

I'm betting on yes.

>I'm betting on yes.

that's why some of these scoring records need to be taken with a grain of salt because of multiple rule changes from the 3-point shot, to defensive hand check rules, to how traveling has changed over the years as far as palming the ball in the 90's early 2000's, "new" moves today like the "step-back" jumper or the "euro-step".

To people that have actually watched the NBA for 30+ years these things matter. Not to discount players of the day but when you start having greatest of "all-time" conversations these things need to be considered as well

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

First, if you like something why would you want it to change? I don't think a "oh this guy doesn't like change" is necessarily an insult.

Second, a big recent change I enjoy is the play-in. So...nah.


My point is that Adam Silver is big on gimmicks. This is a gimmick. Like it or not, there is a lot history/tradition when it comes to sports.

This isn't to say you can't tweak rules, change playoff format, etc. That shit has been done for ages and should continue as the league changes.


BUT


When you add a whole ass complicated tournament in DECEMBER in order to drum up interest in your sport? That shit is a gimmick.

A corny one at that. Even down to the court designs. Just fucking over the top corniness.

And now, thanks to last night, even more scrutiny on officiating and questions if the NBA if fixed.


If the league wants to make the regular season more competitive, there are things to try within the current format of the league.

Incentivize games/minutes played. Incentivize standing. Incentivize winning your division. Place rules on end of season awards. Etc.

>Hey, glad you like it...though I think its funny you happen to
>like it as the Lakers advance...but do you.

It was truly the Celtics/Pacers game that sold me on it.

no one will care about this by the time the eagles and cowboys kick off on sunday night

So, yeah.

I’m gonna care.

Lol

>So, yeah.
>
>I’m gonna care.
>
>Lol

I won't, Magic & Kareem and Kobe & Shaq never won a "in-season tournament"

And it didn't exist until months ago, so that tracks.

Dunno what you want here. The earlier games didn’t matter too much, but clearly some teams and players took it seriously. Now we’re here, and it’s fun.

Were as exciting as a regular regular season game.

But having something that sorta feels like a play in game in December is fun.

That's really all this is.

In retrospect, that’s actually sort of cool. There’s a mini regular season folded into the regular season, and we get a cool knockout tournament that’s essentially meaningless but gives us like 6-7 games With play in level competition.

i guess you'll be more invested next season?

shits dumb bruh. was dumb when it first came out and nothing has changed.

could you imagine the nfl doing an in season tournament? lmao

hell baseball with its 162 damn games would make more sense to me then the nba but whatever

enjoy the Semis!

the cousin? the brother? theyre all gathered to watch him on MNF and he's just there to throw darts ("hope he doesnt get too nervous.." "see? told you he was too small for NFL.." "those new painted courts are too slippery.. told you it's dumb")..lol thats what this reminds me of

I wonder how much players care about this tournament.

I also wonder if the ratings for this tournament are that much better than 'normal' regular season games if the league will try to increase the number of tournament games in the future.

playing Boston and Milwaukee 5x each this season as part of their 82 game season. there's the incentive to win tonight. lol

maybe it's as easy as the ref was looking at bron and not reaves

That was an absolute turnover, no question. The lakers got the favorable end of a lot of calls tonight, but I think that was a simple field of vision was blocked based on who was in front of him.

and they got outplayed by LAL. probably lucky to even be in that situation but you hate to see pivotal plays nullified by refs

As a former referee, they teach you the first thing you do when timeout is called is confirm which team is calling for time and make sure that team has the ball.

In a trapping situation, it could take 2 seconds from the time you hear timeout to when the ref blows the whistle (bc the ref needs to confirm both those things)

that shit clearly ain't happen yesterday...smh

def less clear in the moment but i guess having the ball sandwiched between your limbs counts as possession. like i said, PHX got outplayed so they were lucky to even be in a situation where they could tie or win off a late game turnover

https://official.nba.com/pool-report-on-the-time-out-called-in-the-final-minute-of-tonights-phoenix-suns-at-los-angeles-lakers-game/

Pool Report on the Time Out called in the Final Minute of Tonight’s Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Lakers Game
December 6, 2023
The Pool Report interview was conducted by Jovan Buha (The Athletic) with Crew Chief Josh Tiven following tonight’s Suns at Lakers game.



QUESTION: Why were the Lakers awarded a timeout when it appeared that they did not have possession of the ball?

TIVEN: During live play the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout. Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.



QUESTION: Who called the timeout that was rewarded?

TIVEN: LeBron James did.

The league has cozied up to gambling the last few years, too. Fan Duel. Talks of covering spread. A tournament that takes place in fucking Las Vegas. That contains a key component of point diff.


At some point it really is as easy as following the money.


The league's biggest franchise and biggest name player just happens to be going to Vegas because of questionable officiating? Cmon yall.


David Stern was a motherfucker, but he was probably smart to keep the gambling industry at arms length at least. If nothing else, at least for perception.


I know the league, Laker fans, Bron fans, Adam Silver apologists, etc are going to downplay or come up with reasons but...

this shit is plain as day.

His sixth career 50 point game.

Bron to Zion.

He’s four-plus years older than me, and I spend two hours debating taking the bus vs an Uber


While he’s casually spinning in infinite circles after jumping


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I say we enjoy these spurts of motivated Bron while it lasts

Saturday night could be fun

Haliburton and the franchise already won since I'm sure he gained a ton of new fans as result of the nationally televised games he caught wreck in this week,


I have to imagine the league will look to expand this tournament to give more added value to the regular season games. If that does go down, I wonder how badly players will disagree with possible tournament expansion.

Didn’t seem that live for a semi final game as they were on their respective home courts. I get going to Vegas for it and the drive for the players, but the atmosphere didn’t seem that great. Maybe it would be better after a few years.

get serious about the NBA until Christmas when football regular season starts to wind down I don't why Silver thinks he can shoe-horn his way into that market

>get serious about the NBA until Christmas when football
>regular season starts to wind down I don't why Silver thinks
>he can shoe-horn his way into that market

The goal was to create some more buzz around some early regular season games. Well… mission accomplished. And we got some great games and a surprise finalist in the process. There will certainly be some tweaks to the tournament format in the following years, but I think that’s a pretty successful first year.

that doesn’t allow the NBA to have nationally televised games on the major networks until they are done?

Not to mention college bowl season

>that doesn’t allow the NBA to have nationally televised
>games on the major networks until they are done?
>
>Not to mention college bowl season

Okay, so the tournament is bad because it’s never going to compete with football in November/December? By this logic, they should just start the regular season at Christmas. Again, this was designed to create a little more buzz and attention around early season games, which is what it did.

(he's listed at 280 now..and he still looks like he could stand to lose 15-20) if his heart isn't in it, i can't fault him for it.. but having seen those brief eps of dominance?:

https://y.yarn.co/825a570e-75bd-4918-a42d-7d28f958563f_text.gif

How did he gain so much weight? I thought I saw photos of him in great shape right before training camp.

another OT game tonight. SGA and j-dub making huge shots. chet with the insanely cluch FTs. pretty incredible effort from OKC. hard to not love them

The Warriors are fucking mess.

It’s a real funny thing to see this kind of hoopla over anything that’s less than a conference championship but whatever it’s fun

..fuck the critics, this tournament was good for the league and a clear success.

*My only real gripe: the prize is still too low.

• 1m for the winning team/coaches
• 500k for the 2nd place
• 200k for 3rd
• 100k for 4th





*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

>It’s a real funny thing to see this kind of hoopla over
>anything that’s less than a conference championship but
>whatever it’s fun

For us it's Tuesday
a fun Tuesday but it's Tuesday.

Of course it’s not remotely as important as the NBA championship.

It’s like in college hoops, you’ve got all the early season tournaments - Preseason NIT, Maui Invitational, etc. The conference tournament “challenges”, like ACC-SEC Challenge, etc.

Of course it’s not March Madness, but it’s fun and livens things up and is an accomplishment to win.

“Ringzzzzzz” culture NBA fans who never played a sport in their lives but run their fucking mouths and shit on everything and everybody on Twitter are just the worst.