2018-19 NBA Thread

No matter how you slice it it's a bad comparison.

People took it to be a comparison of the two as basketball players. That doesn't work because Durant and Melo couldn't be much more different as players.

You say you meant strictly as leaders, and I get that, but it's still a silly comparison. Durant joined a team with Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Steph Curry. They don't need any level of leadership from him. They don't even want leadership from him -- he's not in that place on the team. If you go back to OKC, he was playing with Westbrook. For better or worse, Russ is all the leadership any team can handle.

And Melo? Teammates LOVED Melo. He was absolutely one of the most respected guys in the locker room. he fact that he spent the best years of his career playing for a garbage team is not a reflection of his leadership. That guy ate shit in New York year after year and never said a word. Even the team president made him the scapegoat and Melo just rolled with it. One of the biggest issues teams faced with Melo at the end of his career was that they didn't want to be seen as mistreating Melo because they risked losing the locker room. (Phil Jackson wasn't worried because Phil Jackson thinks Phil Jackson is a genius. He's quite wrong.)

 

I'm pretty sure Coack K would never have put Melo on Olympic teams if he thought he was a bad teammate.

 

Yeah, so one quarter in, this post isn't aging very well.

Also, most welcome change in the playoff broadcasts? Drake is sitting courtside and they aren't showing his reaction to every goddamn play like last year.

 

Sixers did hold Leonard under 30 for the half. I'm sure this is not a new observation, but Philly isn't exactly the most court-savvy group I've ever seen.

 

Agreed.

It'll be interesting to see the Jimmy Butler interest this off-season. A short time ago he was considered a no-brainer max deal guy.

Jimmy Butler isn't very good.

 

Gasol has done a great job on Embiid defensively thus far.

 

41 points for Leonard so far and he’s bringing it on the defensive side of the ball, too.

 

UNLEASHED

 

Devil has returned.

 

This is about as unwatchable as a game seven gets.

 

Appropriate end -- the Spurs come back and then completely gag away the game. Down 4 with 28 seconds left they let the Nuggets run out the entire 24 second clock. Just shockingly stupid.

Blazers are going to shred the Nuggets.

 

Seemed like Pop and the bench were screaming for a foul and Aldridge never heard them due to crowd noise, lack of awareness, wondering if he left the oven on, etc. and they eventually saw the writing on the wall and just gave up