2017-2018 NBA Post Season

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Sat Feb 10, 2018 1:48 pm

I would imagine they wouldn't care much since Thomas won't be a Laker beyond this season, but you never can tell with the Balls.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:35 pm

Yeah, Thomas is a rental for salary cap space next year. Plus, Lonzo has been dinged up a lot this year.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 6:54 pm

Mavs Owner Mark Cuban Fined $600,000 for Tanking Comments

The NBA fined outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 on Wednesday for comments about tanking during a podcast with Hall of Famer Julius Erving.

Commissioner Adam Silver said the fine was for "public statements detrimental to the NBA." The league said the podcast with Erving was posted Sunday, the day the All-Star game was played in Los Angeles.

Cuban said during the 30-minute interview that he met recently with some of his players and told them "losing is our best option." Cuban was trying to illustrate to Erving how he believes he is a transparent owner.

"I'm probably not supposed to say this, but I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night," Cuban said. "And here we are. We weren't competing for the playoffs. I was like, 'Look, losing is our best option.'

"Adam would hate to be hearing that. But at least I sat down and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans are going to be this summer, that we're not going to tank again. This is like a year and a half of tanking. That was too brutal for me."
...
The fine came a day after Cuban's franchise was accused of having a hostile workplace for women in a Sports Illustrated report that detailed allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by former team president Terdema Ussery.

Cuban said he was embarrassed by the allegations and vowed to improve the club's work environment. He is hiring outside counsel to investigate the claims and requiring everyone to undergo sensitivity training, including himself. The NBA has said it will monitor the investigation closely.

The team fired website reporter Earl Sneed, who was twice accused of domestic assault while working for the team. Sneed pleaded guilty over the first incident, and the charge was dismissed after he met conditions of the plea agreement. Cuban told ESPN it was a mistake not to fire Sneed earlier.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Wed Feb 21, 2018 7:29 pm

Cuban should have called it “the process” and then Silver would’ve been ok with it.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Feb 23, 2018 9:14 pm

Hrothgar · Post by **Hrothgar** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:00 am

What? The Rodeo is about to start. He's just getting ready.

geezer · Post by **geezer** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:26 pm

Y’all laugh, but rodeo is a big deal down here.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:14 am

geezer wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2018 7:26 pm Y’all laugh, but rodeo is a big deal down here.

2.6 million people last year went to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This year Garth Brooks (twice), Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, One Republic, Keith Urban, and Brad Paisley (amongst other people I've never heard of) are are each giving a full concert over the the 3 weeks it's going on.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:22 pm

These days, after putting the potential-laden Point Blake on hold to try to fit in with Paul, Griffin is toiling away on a Detroit Pistons team that grossly overpaid for him, and his five-year, $178 million contract. They traded Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a 2019 first-round pick and a 2019 second-round pick to the Clippers.

The Pistons were teetering on the edge of the playoffs and hoping Griffin’s addition would vault them back into a top-8 seed. It was read by many as a short-term gambit by Stan Van Gundy, the team’s GM and head coach, to save his job. After losing five of their last six games, they’re now five games back of the eighth seed and face a tough road schedule ahead.

Defenders of the trade suggest that a small-market, Midwestern franchise like the Pistons had to overpay for a star of Griffin’s caliber because that was the only way they could land one. And faced with decrepit attendance at their new downtown arena, the Pistons badly needed to inject new life into the franchise. But since the trade, attendance at Little Caesars Arena has remained stagnant.

Somewhere along the way, Blake Griffin stopped being a show.

All this underscores the peril of giving a head coach a powerful managerial position as well. The argument for Van Gundy in the dual role as coach and general manager is to achieve organizational synergy. The front office and coaching staff can’t help but be on the same page when they’re run by the same person.

But the point of organizational synergy, an en vogue concept thanks to the long-tenured success of teams like the Spurs, Heat, and most recently, the Warriors, is not merely to agree on everything. The point is to agree on the larger vision, but continually work through disagreements on how to get there until they land on a refined approach to achieve that vision, all while sharing enough mutual respect to not undermine each other after disputes. Checks and balances are a vital part of the process. The alignment of the head coaching and GM position eliminates them.

The Griffin deal represents the worst-case-scenario of this arrangement: a coach on the outs, making a hail-mary play in an attempt to improve only in the short-term, while selling a great deal of the team’s future.

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/3/7/17087 ... e-clippers

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:14 pm

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/th ... 538twitter

Indiana’s offensive approach is diametrically opposed to the league’s best team. The Rockets are notorious for avoiding midrange shots; the Pacers hover nearly just as far above the league average in how often they take long twos as the Rockets are beneath it. The median team shoots from the 16- to 23-foot range about 12 percent of the time; Houston takes 4.4 percent of its shots from that distance, while Indiana takes a whopping 19.3 percent of its shots from there.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Mar 26, 2018 12:13 pm

NBA testing 99-cent stream that lets you watch the final quarter of a live game

The NBA has a plethora of streaming options for basketball fans. If you want the whole season-long, league-wide package, there’s League Pass. But NBA Digital (a joint effort between the league and Turner) has also broken out additional offerings that cost less money, like team-specific subscriptions and the option to pay for individual games. Now the NBA is testing another, obvious-when-you-think-about-it idea: letting fans watch the 4th quarter of a live, in-progress game for just 99 cents.

This seems like a great idea.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Mar 26, 2018 2:58 pm

Pacers are in.

So how is Blake and those Pistons doing?

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:50 pm

Moliere wrote: ↑Mon Mar 26, 2018 12:13 pm NBA testing 99-cent stream that lets you watch the final quarter of a live game

The NBA has a plethora of streaming options for basketball fans. If you want the whole season-long, league-wide package, there’s League Pass. But NBA Digital (a joint effort between the league and Turner) has also broken out additional offerings that cost less money, like team-specific subscriptions and the option to pay for individual games. Now the NBA is testing another, obvious-when-you-think-about-it idea: letting fans watch the 4th quarter of a live, in-progress game for just 99 cents.
This seems like a great idea.

Only to get you to watch most of the commercials scheduled for the entire game...

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:35 am

Rip wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:14 pm https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/th ... 538twitter

Indiana’s offensive approach is diametrically opposed to the league’s best team. The Rockets are notorious for avoiding midrange shots; the Pacers hover nearly just as far above the league average in how often they take long twos as the Rockets are beneath it. The median team shoots from the 16- to 23-foot range about 12 percent of the time; Houston takes 4.4 percent of its shots from that distance, while Indiana takes a whopping 19.3 percent of its shots from there.

Not only have the Pacers improved slightly since last season, jumping from 15th to 12th in offensive rating,

Such a juggernaut.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:17 am

noxiousdog wrote: ↑Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:35 am
Rip wrote: ↑Fri Mar 23, 2018 7:14 pm https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/th ... 538twitter

Indiana’s offensive approach is diametrically opposed to the league’s best team. The Rockets are notorious for avoiding midrange shots; the Pacers hover nearly just as far above the league average in how often they take long twos as the Rockets are beneath it. The median team shoots from the 16- to 23-foot range about 12 percent of the time; Houston takes 4.4 percent of its shots from that distance, while Indiana takes a whopping 19.3 percent of its shots from there.

Not only have the Pacers improved slightly since last season, jumping from 15th to 12th in offensive rating,
Such a juggernaut.

When you consider their payroll they certainly are.

GSW: $135M
HOU: $118M
TOR: $116M
BOS: $115M
CLE: $136M
POR: $119M
OKC: $133M
NO: $119M
WAS: $124M
MIL: $115M

The only playoff team even close to as low a payroll as the Pacers is the 76ers at $99M.

Pacers payroll $93M.

So the Pacers are more than a LeBron lower in payroll than the others but still competing with the best.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:30 am

Whatever makes you happy I suppose.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:19 pm

Aaaaaaand Isaiah Thomas is out for the season with hip surgery. Was nice knowing ya IT.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Mar 29, 2018 12:52 pm

Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill Elected to Basketball Hall of Fame

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:50 am

I'm a well known Lakers hater, BUT. This is just pure class.

http://www.businessinsider.com/lakers-s ... m=referral

Nice move guys.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:08 pm

Pacers surprise Cavs and win game 1.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:31 pm

Go Pacers! Knock out LeeBron so he will be frustrated and jump to the Lakers.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:29 pm

Watching some of the Philly-Miami game 4. At halftime, Shaq illustrated how lazy Whiteside was playing. The first 8-10 possessions of the second half, he was lazy on every possession on both sides of the court. The only time I saw him make anything resembling am effort play was when there was a pick and roll called for him. No rebounding hustle, no help defense hustle, etc.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:24 pm

Makes one wonder.

He went from a guy who played with a fire in his belly to a slacker awfully fast.

Go Pacers, now up 2-1 as well.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 3:19 pm

Rip wrote:Makes one wonder.

He went from a guy who played with a fire in his belly to a slacker awfully fast.

Go Pacers, now up 2-1 as well.

It's something I expect of college players, their heads get down all over the floor sometimes when they don't play well (or get the ball) offensively. I expect better of a pro.

Of course, your pg has to recognize this too, and make sure he gets some touches. The few times he was active and engaged on both ends, they made runs.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:31 pm

OK, this is ridiculous:

West was on the bench when JaVale McGee was whistled for a charge in the third quarter. He ran into the tunnel to warm up and was called for a technical. As Bleacher Report's Dan Favale noted, the technical was issued essentially because West left the bench.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:10 pm

Ouch! It was a huge call. Wondering how Rip isn't posting this:

LeBron James' big block of a shot by Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo at the end of Game 5 should have resulted in a goaltending call, the NBA acknowledged Thursday.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:15 pm

I just saw this on Reddit: The last Western Conference team not from Texas or California to win a title was... the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979.

To be fair, half of the Western conference is in Texas or California, but still....

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:17 pm

noxiousdog wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:15 pm I just saw this on Reddit: The last Western Conference team not from Texas or California to win a title was... the Seattle SuperSonics in 1979.

To be fair, half of the Western conference is in Texas or California, but still....

And we're blessed? with the Clips and the Kings...

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:04 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:10 pm Ouch! It was a huge call. Wondering how Rip isn't posting this:

LeBron James' big block of a shot by Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo at the end of Game 5 should have resulted in a goaltending call, the NBA acknowledged Thursday.

Not a fan of either team but that was a terrible game changing and series changing no call. The reffing in the NBA is one of the major reason why I really dont watch much anymore. There is absolutely no excuse for missing a huge call like that, in the playoffs, with the replay tech they now have.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:37 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:10 pm Ouch! It was a huge call. Wondering how Rip isn't posting this:

LeBron James' big block of a shot by Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo at the end of Game 5 should have resulted in a goaltending call, the NBA acknowledged Thursday.

No pont I expect the refs to be the sixth man on the court for the Cavs. That is what they do.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:39 pm

rshetts2 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 6:04 pm
Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:10 pm Ouch! It was a huge call. Wondering how Rip isn't posting this:

LeBron James' big block of a shot by Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo at the end of Game 5 should have resulted in a goaltending call, the NBA acknowledged Thursday.

Not a fan of either team but that was a terrible game changing and series changing no call. The reffing in the NBA is one of the major reason why I really dont watch much anymore. There is absolutely no excuse for missing a huge call like that, in the playoffs, with the replay tech they now have.

Sure there is, money. LeBron is the show and they will do just about anything to make sure the show goes on.

DOS=HIGH · Post by **DOS=HIGH** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:01 pm

You're OK with the missed call that gave the ball to Indiana prior to that then? I understand why the goal tending play wasn't reviewable since it didn't create a dead ball situation, but why wasn't the out of bounds play reviewed? Too much refereeing, particularly in regards to fouls, is RNG based in college and pro, you just have hope it balances out. And Lebron still made a 3 on the other end so you can't say the missed call cost them the game. With no dog in this race, actually I'd like to see Lebron leave Cleveland so you can say I want Indiana to win, the goal tending was not an obvious call and neither was the prior play.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 8:03 pm

DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:01 pm You're OK with the missed call that gave the ball to Indiana prior to that then? I understand why the goal tending play wasn't reviewable since it didn't create a dead ball situation, but why wasn't the out of bounds play reviewed? Too much refereeing, particularly in regards to fouls, is RNG based in college and pro, you just have hope it balances out. And Lebron still made a 3 on the other end so you can't say the missed call cost them the game. With no dog in this race, actually I'd like to see Lebron leave Cleveland so you can say I want Indiana to win, the goal tending was not an obvious call and neither was the prior play.

It kinda did though, after the block it went right to a Cle player who promptly called a TO, there was all the time in the world to review it.

I'm for a challenge rule like the NFL, except instead of throwing a yellow flag onto the field you throw a chair onto the court. We will call it the Bobby Knight rule.

DOS=HIGH · Post by **DOS=HIGH** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 10:40 pm

In this case it could of been reviewed and not really effect anything but the NBA is clearly trying to limit the use of replay. Oddly enough it could have been reviewable if the ref did call goal tending. I'm also a bit surprised Oladipo was looking for a foul after the play and made no motion for goal tending too. I was watching live and I don't think anyone caught it till after the game was over. I still don't understand why the missed call on the other end wasn't reviewed as TV caught the mistake during the commercial before Indiana inbounded the ball. This year in college they were reviewing every little thing in the last 2 minutes, which got to be pretty annoying for a lot of the stuff, but not the NBA.

I think Indy wins the next one and would love to see Cleveland lose on their home court just to get a shot of Dan Gilberts face.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 2:40 am

DOS=HIGH wrote: ↑Thu Apr 26, 2018 10:40 pm In this case it could of been reviewed and not really effect anything but the NBA is clearly trying to limit the use of replay. Oddly enough it could have been reviewable if the ref did call goal tending. I'm also a bit surprised Oladipo was looking for a foul after the play and made no motion for goal tending too. I was watching live and I don't think anyone caught it till after the game was over. I still don't understand why the missed call on the other end wasn't reviewed as TV caught the mistake during the commercial before Indiana inbounded the ball. This year in college they were reviewing every little thing in the last 2 minutes, which got to be pretty annoying for a lot of the stuff, but not the NBA.

I think Indy wins the next one and would love to see Cleveland lose on their home court just to get a shot of Dan Gilberts face.

That would really pump up the drama train on what LeBron is going to do.

I'd really like to see Philly and Indy face of. They are my two favorite teams still in it in the east. Out west I'm pulling for New Orleans.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:35 am

Goal tending is simply not reviewable. It's like pass interference in the NFL. The rules just don't allow it.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:21 am

noxiousdog wrote: ↑Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:35 am Goal tending is simply not reviewable. It's like pass interference in the NFL. The rules just don't allow it.

I think (?) it's reviewable but only if the refs originally call it, i.e. they can review but only to overturn a call of goal tending already made.

noxiousdog · Post by **noxiousdog** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:40 am

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Fri Apr 27, 2018 11:21 am
noxiousdog wrote: ↑Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:35 am Goal tending is simply not reviewable. It's like pass interference in the NFL. The rules just don't allow it.
I think (?) it's reviewable but only if the refs originally call it, i.e. they can review but only to overturn a call of goal tending already made.

Yes, you are correct.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 10:30 pm

Wow, the Pacers pasted the Cavs tonight. In a way I wish it hadn't been such a blowout. I could totally see the statistical gods making them miss a bunch next game to make up for it. Still they looked energetic and played great D.

Pacers 121 Cavs 87.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 1:12 am

Don't worry, the refs will be out in force for team LeeBron in game 7... And the Thunder go under - sweet!