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Official 2018 NBA Offseason Thread: the preseason cometh

Just wanted to post that Manu did it again last night and brought his team back in the 4th quarter to pull out a victory over, gulp, Sacramento, to qualify for the playoffs in game 81 of the season - the latest they have qualified for the playoffs in 21 years.
 
LOL. You’ll appreciate players like Manu when you’re an old.
 
PhDeac said:
Who do you think has the best chance? I don’t think any of them have a good chance.

I think the Spurs got in Harden’s head. I think Murray and Green could defend the Rockets backcourt. I think LMA could make them work in the post. It would be competitive.
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Utah and Portland. And I think OKC has a better chance of showing out for 4 games than the Spurs do of shutting down the Rockets backcourt or getting in Harden’s head or whatever. Regardless, I don’t think the Spurs are making it out of the first round.
 
Spurs are 32-8 at home. That team could upset the rockets. They are shit on the road. They won't pull an upset in a 7 game series.
 
Tim Duncan is not walking through that door. Sadly, Kawhi Leonard is not walking through that door. Spurs aren't upsetting Houston or G-State. IMO, the Jazz have the best chance of disrupting the inevitable GS/HOU WCF, and that chance is slim.

BTW, realize it's blasphemy to praise a Dukie, but how about the job Quinn Snyder has done for the Jazz? They lose their best player to free agency, and on January 22, the Jazz stood at 19-28 and had a front row seat on the train to the lottery. Since that date, the Jazz have gone 28-5 including a 30 point win and 19 point win over the Warriors (amazingly, the Jazz have been swept by the Atlanta Hawks). Wednesday's Jazz/Blazers finale will likely decide the #3 seed. If the Jazz get the #3 spot, could see the Jazz giving the Warriors problems in the Round 2 if Curry is not 100%.
 
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Agree on Utah. Disagree on Portland.

I like Miami over Boston if that happens. It seems like Wash, Boston, and Milwaukee are all playing schizophrenic trying to land in the #7 spot to get a Hayward-less, Kyrie-less, Smart-most-likely-less Boston team. I like Milwaukee over Boston too. In fact, I'd probably like Washington with John Wall as well.

Watch the #8 vs #1 in the East as well. I know Toronto has bee great this year and they have found a solid 5-man rotation bench, probably 6, but still, for some reason I expect Kyle Lowry to shoot 27% again in the playoffs and Derozan to play a little erratically as well. That is their playoff MO. I could see their fanbase do a freak out after playing a bad half or game and can see a scenario where the whole team plays tight again. Miami has nothing to lose and James Johnson could be really important in that series should it be Miami.

I expect an Eastern Conference finals of Philly or Milwaukee vs. Cleveland

In the West, I am expecting a Western Finals of OKC vs. Houston.

I actually think Houston is in trouble in the 1st round. CP3 has basically played 2nd fiddle most of the year and they started to tinker with that the last two weeks to try and get CP3 prepped to be co-#1 come playoff time. I don't expect it to be seamless. Harden is still a playoff enigma for me until he shows up for 7 games in a row. I know he basically throws up a clunker every 7 or 8 games even in the regular season (bricking shots), but the last two years in the regular season, he has been a great distributor on those bad shooting nights. Not so in the playoffs. It is as if he plays at a certain emotional level and when everyone else ramps it up in the playoffs, he is a bit shocked and isn't able to do the same. Not sure. But like Lebron early in his career in the playoffs, I need to see Harden play his way through whatever it is he goes through. Game 6 last year against the Spurs was NOT an anomaly. It was an outlier, don't get me wrong. But if I am Hou mgmt, I am scared to death he does some strip club 5AM night out before game 6 or whatever. Only Michael Jordan got away with that shit. The fact that Houston added CP3 who has his own playoff freak outs makes Houston 1st round must watch TV for me.

Golden State ain't making it to the NBA finals this year. Period. Not unless they sign Chris Bosh tomorrow to play the 5.

If Kawhi pulls a Willis Reed, then I like the Spurs in the first round. Otherwise, will watch to see Manu's last 6 games.
 
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Pilchard said:
Tim Duncan is not walking through that door. Sadly, Kawhi Leonard is not walking through that door. Spurs aren't upsetting Houston or G-State. IMO, the Jazz have the best chance of disrupting the inevitable GS/HOU WCF, and that chance is slim.

BTW, realize it's blasphemy to praise a Dukie, but how about the job Quinn Snyder has done for the Jazz? They lose their best player to free agency, and on January 22, the Jazz stood at 19-28 and had a front row seat on the train to the lottery. Since that date, the Jazz have gone 28-5 including a 30 point win and 19 point win over the Warriors (amazingly, the Jazz have been swept by the Atlanta Hawks). Wednesday's Jazz/Blazers finale will likely decide the #3 seed. If the Jazz get the #3 spot, could see the Jazz giving the Warriors problems in the Round 2 if Curry is not 100%.
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Snyder is my sleeper pick to replace K. He never seems to enter the discussion, yet he's obviously the best coach in the Coach K tree. I have no idea whether he wants to take over the throne in Cameron or be the next Jerry Sloan. Either way, he can plan out his next 15-20 years.
 
Except Missouri happened. He's paid his dues for the Austin Toros, but still, any university but especially Duke would have to be cautious approaching that.

Also, did not Jerry Sloan was suffering from advanced Parkinson's or something similar. I do think he was a dickhead of a coach (ask John Amaechi), but wouldn't wish his disease on anybody.
 
Missouri was a long time ago and small change compared to what coaches are getting away with nowadays.
 
PhDeac said:
Snyder is my sleeper pick to replace K. He never seems to enter the discussion, yet he's obviously the best coach in the Coach K tree. I have no idea whether he wants to take over the throne in Cameron or be the next Jerry Sloan. Either way, he can plan out his next 15-20 years.
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As a WF fan, the idea of Snyder replacing K scares me. Duke recruits itself, and Snyder knows what he is doing. That would be an electric combo. That said, K picks his successor, and hopefully, K won't make the pick based on merit (Snyder; also agree that the Duke administration might try to use Snyder's transgressions at Mizzou, including his personal conduct, to exclude him; hope so). No one else in the Duke tree (unless Brey gets the nod; he is too old, and didn't play at Duke, and coaches at another ACC school) scares me. Wojo, Chris Collins, Capel (likely exclude himself by taking another ACC job), Dawkins, even Amaker are all light-weights compared to Snyder. That program is on auto-pilot right now, but as UNC proved with Matt Doherty, even the elite programs can go off the rails with a bad choice.
 
would imagine that Missouri impacts Snyder's desire to coach college more than it affects Duke's willingness to hire him
 
Snyder didn’t do anything at Missouri that Capel didn’t do for K at duke.
 
Cool NBA story tonight. Andre Ingram has played for the Lakers D/G League team for a decade and had never been called up. This afternoon they called him into the office for his annual exit meeting. He had no idea that he was there to sign a Lakers contract for the last two games of the season.

If that wasn't cool enough, he got a standing O when he entered the game. Then, he nailed two threes and two FTs.

What a night!
 
Ingram finished - 6/8, 4/5 on threes, 3-3 FTs, 19 points. 3 boards, 3 blocks

WOW!!
 
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