I would like to thank you all for taking the time to do the reporting of the games for those who can't watch live 
New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season
- Thread starter Ron Party
- Start date
I would like to thank you all for taking the time to do the reporting of the games for those who can't watch live
Christoph,
If you have a FB account, just type the 2 teams + live, and there are some live streams there.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
well a Celtics Raptors series next.....things are starting to warm up
For me , as I stated, the best first round series is the Clipps and those young gutsy Mavs. I am wondering now, if a healthy Porzingis in the final 3 games together with Luka can carry them past the Clipps I don't think so but if so it would be the basketball news of the year.
Yesterday one of the game announcers stated the Clipps looked "puzzled" as they couldn't figure out how the Mavs were leading
For me , as I stated, the best first round series is the Clipps and those young gutsy Mavs. I am wondering now, if a healthy Porzingis in the final 3 games together with Luka can carry them past the Clipps I don't think so but if so it would be the basketball news of the year.
Yesterday one of the game announcers stated the Clipps looked "puzzled" as they couldn't figure out how the Mavs were leading
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Brooklyn gets swept and look to next year....I still feel KD made a bad decision in joining Kyrie in Brooklynafter missing an entire year and Kyrie just about the same
NBA playoffs: A new challenge awaits Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets' season ended unceremoniously Sunday night in a first-round sweep at the hands of the NBA defending champion Toronto Raptors. In other circumstances, this could be construed as a disappointment. Instead, Brooklyn's demise was met with a collective shrug, because the team was horribly short-handed.
And it was always about next year anyway.
The most critical members of this franchise's future didn't even make the trip to Orlando, Florida. Kevin Durant missed all of 2019-20 recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that he incurred during last year's NBA Finals. His new trusted sidekick, Kyrie Irving, logged 20 games, made some pointed suggestions about the future of the roster (more on that later) and then missed the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. DeAndre Jordan, the third spoke of their union (hatched on a luxury cruise liner docked in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympics) opted out after contracting COVID-19
Spencer Dinwiddie, who epitomizes the success of the carefully crafted culture that both general manager Sean Marks and former coach Kenny Atkinson so ardently constructed, also contracted COVID-19 and had to pass. Wilson Chandler, who logged meaningful minutes for the Nets on the defensive side of the ball, opted out of playing in Orlando due to "family and health reasons." Sharpshooter Joe Harris just recently left the bubble for a family matter.
This was not the desired blueprint, obviously. Marks surely would have preferred to have a longer look at a collection of players that might (or might not) constitute the nucleus of the team going forward. In particular, it would have been helpful for Irving to have had an extended run with some of the younger players such as Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to see what fit and what didn't. Marks will have a multitude of decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead to put the finishing touches on a team that plans on vying for supremacy in the Eastern Conference -- and beyond.
Here's what we know with certainty: There will be no collective shrugs if the Nets face early elimination next season. A searing and unwavering spotlight will be centered squarely on Durant and Irving, chronicling their every move and every utterance. Make no mistake, KD and Kyrie are on the clock. The success or failure of this franchise, which is firmly on a championship-or-bust path, will fall squarely on their shoulders.
Neither player has reacted well to intense scrutiny in the past. The first order of business is for them to develop some callouses. When the Nets were just a bunch of scrappy overachievers, nobody was auditing their day-to-day maneuvers. As Marks & Co. have discovered, that is no longer the case. In January, Irving made waves when he declared the team didn't possess the full complement of talent required to win it all. "It's pretty glaring that we need one more piece, two more pieces that will complement myself, KD, DJ [Jordan], GT [Garrett Temple], Spencer, Caris, and we'll see how that evolves," Irving said at the time.
His omission of Allen, Harris and Taurean Prince immediately raised eyebrows. Was it merely an oversight or a pointed message to the front office? Speculation ran rampant.
Harris, another successful Atkinson reclamation project and the team's most reliable 3-point threat (a .426 career 3-point percentage) is a free agent. Marks already has announced Harris is "priority No. 1." While the Nets have $136 million committed to the cap for 2020-21, team owner Joe Tsai is on record saying he is willing to pay the luxury tax in pursuit of a championship. Harris, who was on the books at a bargain price of $7.6 million this season, could well be in line to double his salary.
Will the Nets stand pat and bank on either LeVert or Dinwiddie blossoming into a legitimate third star alongside Durant and Irving? Or will they package some of their young talent (with LeVert as a centerpiece) and go hunting for a bigger, more established and more expensive fish? Brooklyn already has been linked to Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, who, when asked about it by this reporter in May, said he would love to "grind out winning" with the Wizards but admitted the Nets' purported interest was a sign of respect. "When you hear that Kyrie and KD want you, s---, that's amazing," Beal said.
Stars, not scrappy overachievers, win championships. The underdog culture that Marks and Atkinson crafted is officially moot. That's why the Nets willingly added the 31-year-old Jordan to the mix at the behest of Durant and Irving. It was a no-brainer package deal that the organization believes can help the Nets win it all.
It's no longer breaking news when basketball superstars demand (and are granted) input into decisions made by their front office; that's today's NBA, where player empowerment rules. When Atkinson and the Nets mutually parted ways 62 games into the season, multiple reports suggested both Durant and Irving had a hand in ending Atkinson's tenure. For one thing, said team sources, it rankled them that Atkinson was bringing their "brother" Jordan off the bench, favoring the 21-year Allen in his starting five.
Not coincidentally, in interim coach Jacque Vaughn's first game, he elevated Jordan into the starting lineup in Allen's place. Vaughn has earned the respect of both the players and the organization. In fact, sources say, Marks is seriously considering Vaughn for the permanent job. Yet, league sources say Durant and Irving are interested in a higher profile head coach, along the lines of Tyronn Lue or Gregg Popovich, who are among the candidates who have been linked to the opening.
You can be sure both players will offer their opinions on who should be the next coach. Marks, who understands all too well how this works, will undoubtedly listen.
In the meantime, there are a few other thorny matters to consider. First and foremost, there's the health of the sidelined superstars. A ruptured Achilles is a gnarly injury that takes time, both mentally and physically, to recover from. And there's no guarantee Durant will regain his full mobility, agility and lift. He -- and his team -- will need to exhibit patience. Since Irving left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, he has undergone two knee surgeries and a shoulder surgery on his shooting arm. In his nine NBA years, Irving has played an average of 58.6 games a season. In order for the Nets to meet their lofty goals, both players need to be on the floor. A lot.
Then there's the matter of chemistry. If the Nets stay with what they have, are there enough basketballs for Durant, Irving, Dinwiddie and LeVert, all of whom flourish with the ball in their hands? It is, most will argue, a puzzle many teams would love to solve. Still, as we've seen countless times throughout the history of the NBA, talent alone isn't enough. Players have to fit -- and sometimes even compromise.
What if LeVert, who averaged nearly 19 points a game and 4.5 assists this season, and Dinwiddie, who was considered for an All-star slot, are asked to come off the bench next season? How will that affect their psyche and that of the team's?
The Brooklyn Nets have been waiting a basketball lifetime for a chance to be in the conversation. KD and Kyrie have planted them there.
But next season, talk will be cheap. Brooklyn and its top dogs will need to perform and produce. The glare of the spotlight is unrelenting, and so will be the criticism, unless the no longer scrappy but suddenly favored Nets do one simple thing: win.
NBA playoffs: A new challenge awaits Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets' season ended unceremoniously Sunday night in a first-round sweep at the hands of the NBA defending champion Toronto Raptors. In other circumstances, this could be construed as a disappointment. Instead, Brooklyn's demise was met with a collective shrug, because the team was horribly short-handed.
And it was always about next year anyway.
The most critical members of this franchise's future didn't even make the trip to Orlando, Florida. Kevin Durant missed all of 2019-20 recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that he incurred during last year's NBA Finals. His new trusted sidekick, Kyrie Irving, logged 20 games, made some pointed suggestions about the future of the roster (more on that later) and then missed the rest of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder. DeAndre Jordan, the third spoke of their union (hatched on a luxury cruise liner docked in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympics) opted out after contracting COVID-19
Spencer Dinwiddie, who epitomizes the success of the carefully crafted culture that both general manager Sean Marks and former coach Kenny Atkinson so ardently constructed, also contracted COVID-19 and had to pass. Wilson Chandler, who logged meaningful minutes for the Nets on the defensive side of the ball, opted out of playing in Orlando due to "family and health reasons." Sharpshooter Joe Harris just recently left the bubble for a family matter.
This was not the desired blueprint, obviously. Marks surely would have preferred to have a longer look at a collection of players that might (or might not) constitute the nucleus of the team going forward. In particular, it would have been helpful for Irving to have had an extended run with some of the younger players such as Dinwiddie, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to see what fit and what didn't. Marks will have a multitude of decisions to make in the weeks and months ahead to put the finishing touches on a team that plans on vying for supremacy in the Eastern Conference -- and beyond.
Here's what we know with certainty: There will be no collective shrugs if the Nets face early elimination next season. A searing and unwavering spotlight will be centered squarely on Durant and Irving, chronicling their every move and every utterance. Make no mistake, KD and Kyrie are on the clock. The success or failure of this franchise, which is firmly on a championship-or-bust path, will fall squarely on their shoulders.
Neither player has reacted well to intense scrutiny in the past. The first order of business is for them to develop some callouses. When the Nets were just a bunch of scrappy overachievers, nobody was auditing their day-to-day maneuvers. As Marks & Co. have discovered, that is no longer the case. In January, Irving made waves when he declared the team didn't possess the full complement of talent required to win it all. "It's pretty glaring that we need one more piece, two more pieces that will complement myself, KD, DJ [Jordan], GT [Garrett Temple], Spencer, Caris, and we'll see how that evolves," Irving said at the time.
His omission of Allen, Harris and Taurean Prince immediately raised eyebrows. Was it merely an oversight or a pointed message to the front office? Speculation ran rampant.
Harris, another successful Atkinson reclamation project and the team's most reliable 3-point threat (a .426 career 3-point percentage) is a free agent. Marks already has announced Harris is "priority No. 1." While the Nets have $136 million committed to the cap for 2020-21, team owner Joe Tsai is on record saying he is willing to pay the luxury tax in pursuit of a championship. Harris, who was on the books at a bargain price of $7.6 million this season, could well be in line to double his salary.
Will the Nets stand pat and bank on either LeVert or Dinwiddie blossoming into a legitimate third star alongside Durant and Irving? Or will they package some of their young talent (with LeVert as a centerpiece) and go hunting for a bigger, more established and more expensive fish? Brooklyn already has been linked to Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal, who, when asked about it by this reporter in May, said he would love to "grind out winning" with the Wizards but admitted the Nets' purported interest was a sign of respect. "When you hear that Kyrie and KD want you, s---, that's amazing," Beal said.
Stars, not scrappy overachievers, win championships. The underdog culture that Marks and Atkinson crafted is officially moot. That's why the Nets willingly added the 31-year-old Jordan to the mix at the behest of Durant and Irving. It was a no-brainer package deal that the organization believes can help the Nets win it all.
It's no longer breaking news when basketball superstars demand (and are granted) input into decisions made by their front office; that's today's NBA, where player empowerment rules. When Atkinson and the Nets mutually parted ways 62 games into the season, multiple reports suggested both Durant and Irving had a hand in ending Atkinson's tenure. For one thing, said team sources, it rankled them that Atkinson was bringing their "brother" Jordan off the bench, favoring the 21-year Allen in his starting five.
Not coincidentally, in interim coach Jacque Vaughn's first game, he elevated Jordan into the starting lineup in Allen's place. Vaughn has earned the respect of both the players and the organization. In fact, sources say, Marks is seriously considering Vaughn for the permanent job. Yet, league sources say Durant and Irving are interested in a higher profile head coach, along the lines of Tyronn Lue or Gregg Popovich, who are among the candidates who have been linked to the opening.
You can be sure both players will offer their opinions on who should be the next coach. Marks, who understands all too well how this works, will undoubtedly listen.
In the meantime, there are a few other thorny matters to consider. First and foremost, there's the health of the sidelined superstars. A ruptured Achilles is a gnarly injury that takes time, both mentally and physically, to recover from. And there's no guarantee Durant will regain his full mobility, agility and lift. He -- and his team -- will need to exhibit patience. Since Irving left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, he has undergone two knee surgeries and a shoulder surgery on his shooting arm. In his nine NBA years, Irving has played an average of 58.6 games a season. In order for the Nets to meet their lofty goals, both players need to be on the floor. A lot.
Then there's the matter of chemistry. If the Nets stay with what they have, are there enough basketballs for Durant, Irving, Dinwiddie and LeVert, all of whom flourish with the ball in their hands? It is, most will argue, a puzzle many teams would love to solve. Still, as we've seen countless times throughout the history of the NBA, talent alone isn't enough. Players have to fit -- and sometimes even compromise.
What if LeVert, who averaged nearly 19 points a game and 4.5 assists this season, and Dinwiddie, who was considered for an All-star slot, are asked to come off the bench next season? How will that affect their psyche and that of the team's?
The Brooklyn Nets have been waiting a basketball lifetime for a chance to be in the conversation. KD and Kyrie have planted them there.
But next season, talk will be cheap. Brooklyn and its top dogs will need to perform and produce. The glare of the spotlight is unrelenting, and so will be the criticism, unless the no longer scrappy but suddenly favored Nets do one simple thing: win.
These not so young guns or even unheard of guns for me, like this Trey Burke, who scored 25 points for Dallas when his season average is just 7 points, are going to be the X factor, plus man mountain Boban, who scored 10 points in a game that see sawed 7 times in the OT. Clips lost by 1, so limit Boban to 4 and you still win by a few.
Every little thing now counts for Doc, Lue and Sam Casell, they are all actively coaching the Clips, and yes, they did not know what hit them as they had a 21 pt lead early only to trail by 12. But one guy, MIA PG13, has to show up in game 5. It's a pivotal game, and I'm sure there did not bring in Klaw and PG to exit in the first round.As for the Celtics - Raptors series, it probably could go 6-7 games, preferable for the Celtics, as Kemba is now the 'seasoned' veteran that they had been looking for, to guide the 2 young J's. Hayward won't be around this series, so Kemba needs to be the Kyrie that wasn't, I mean a leader.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
.
is it me or my imagination but Doc just hasn't looked himself. He looks old and walks as if he needs a hip replacement. Open mic yesterday during his time out when they were losing came across as nothing more than "chit chat" and that they have to play defense. He had no emotion in what he said to them and sat on his chair most of the game. The only time I saw him animated to the ref was on Luka's Euro step which has the Clipps stymied
I think Doc is trying to win one more ring. If he does he should move upstairs and make way for a new coach I have said that for a few years now but believe it even more. Doc just looked out of place yesterday and also seemed bewildered and had no answer as to how to play the Mavs and Luka
There are so many great young stars known the NBA that IMO anything is possible and nothing is a given. If Raptors beat Clipps for the title I believe Doc should move upstairs and give way to some young blood
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
As for the Celtics - Raptors series, it probably could go 6-7 games, preferable for the Celtics, as Kemba is now the 'seasoned' veteran that they had been looking for, to guide the 2 young J's. Hayward won't be around this series, so Kemba needs to be the Kyrie that wasn't, I mean a leader.
I think you're right Phil but this Raptors team has so much depth and can beat you in so many ways
Agree Steve. I believe the Raptors are favored and the celtics need to really step up as challengers.
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
I also believe that Doc should do the same if he wins the ring. He just seems old and tired and somewhat out of it. Tyrone Lue has been doing mure coaching
My poster moment yesterday was when the Mavs were scoring at will with Luka who was guardedly someone else. Kawhi abruptly points to Luka and says he is taking him. No problem in Luka's mind because on the very next play Luka gets the ball and blows by Leonard so fast that Leonard didn't even have time to move on the play. Luka blazes past leonard and passes to a player under the basket and scores.
If Luka and Porzingis are healthy these last 2-3 games are going to be FANtastic
I always liked Doc Rivers but if the Clippers lose in the first round it will be time to move on. Ballmer could give him a title in the front office but Doc had responsibility for the front office when Ballmer came in and was moved bck to full time coaching in short order. Clippers have an outstanding group in the front office now so no need to up end that situation. Maybe he could be a team "ambassador."
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
He just looked tired and overwhelmed and didn’t seem to be inspiring during the time outs
I felt the same way too, Steve. He was just saying general instructions during the timeouts, lacking some inspiring words, as you pointed out.
And now it's one Schroeder of OKC killing the Rockets. Tied series.
Well, it's not as bad as I thought.
Raptors Open as 1.5-Point Favorites for Game 1 vs Celtics in Eastern Conference Second Round Series
By Sam Cox in NBA Basketball — August 24, 2020 10:33 AM PDT
https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/n...ference-semifinal-series-game-1-opening-odds/
Raptors Open as 1.5-Point Favorites for Game 1 vs Celtics in Eastern Conference Second Round Series
https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/n...ference-semifinal-series-game-1-opening-odds/
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
It's only over when the fat lady singsWell, it's not as bad as I thought.
Raptors Open as 1.5-Point Favorites for Game 1 vs Celtics in Eastern Conference Second Round Series
By Sam Cox in NBA Basketball — August 24, 2020 10:33 AM PDT
https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/n...ference-semifinal-series-game-1-opening-odds/
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
Steve Williams
Site Founder, Site Co-Owner, Administrator
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