2021-22 Regular Season Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Imagine an over-the-hill team with a bad bench and bad defense can't make the playoffs, even if led by LBJ. Nothing surprising here, tbh.

To be fair, the Wizards also rather sucked when Jordan was a similar age, so I don't think this affects LBJ's basketball career legacy as some might think. But it's a good reminder that stacking a team with a bunch of older superstars isn't a good idea. What's funny is the Lakers tried a similar approach in 2003-04 and didn't win the title that season, either, but they also still had a prime Shaq and Kobe, so they at least made the Finals. The NBA is a game dominated by players in their late twenties and early thirties; championship and championship contending teams need to be led by players in that age bracket, not very young or older guys. They also need defense and depth. That the Lakers failed this season really shouldn't surprise students of the game.

[bakemeister52]

Being a non Lakers fan, I was happy to see them fall. My local team the Portland Trailblazers really were bad and now I wonder where the team will go. At least my Celtics made the playoffs.

Bake

[WilyWestbrook0]

Being a non Lakers fan, I was happy to see them fall. My local team the Portland Trailblazers really were bad and now I wonder where the team will go. At least my Celtics made the playoffs.

Bake

I knew I wasn't the only one with two teams out there! I used to live near the OK border (Joplin, MO), so the Thunder are like my local team (I live in Springfield, MO, now, so the Thunder IIRC are still the team closest to me). They were awful, but the Cavs were good this season until injuries caught up with them. I've followed Cleveland since Love went there and will continue to follow them because of Darius Garland (great new talent; his dad Winston played here in Springfield in college and is a local legend), Evan Mobley (I think he'll be a force), and Jarrett Allen (likable nerdy guy who plays like my paint beast builds from NBA 2K).

[shockwiresports]

So now we have seen the beginning of the playoff first round matchups!

In the East, looks like the Bucks are again a strong team and will see if the Heat and 76ers charge through their series. The Nets vs Celtics looks like the closest matchup!

West has the Suns easily winning, plus the Warriors look like they will handle things easily in Round 1. What about the other two series? All four of those teams are pretty big question marks it looks like

[pwaldo]

Imagine an over-the-hill team with a bad bench and bad defense can't make the playoffs, even if led by LBJ. Nothing surprising here, tbh.

To be fair, the Wizards also rather sucked when Jordan was a similar age, so I don't think this affects LBJ's basketball career legacy as some might think. But it's a good reminder that stacking a team with a bunch of older superstars isn't a good idea. What's funny is the Lakers tried a similar approach in 2003-04 and didn't win the title that season, either, but they also still had a prime Shaq and Kobe, so they at least made the Finals. The NBA is a game dominated by players in their late twenties and early thirties; championship and championship contending teams need to be led by players in that age bracket, not very young or older guys. They also need defense and depth. That the Lakers failed this season really shouldn't surprise students of the game.

That is true but Lebron had probably the best scoring season for a player his age (he almost won a scoring title?) and Westbrook/AD aren't really over the hill yet age wise. The rest of the team played like trash and there were a ton of injuries but Lebron was the one who helped construct this mess so he takes some blame for that. But this team should have still made the playoffs as the normally stacked West was pretty weak this year and the Lakers couldn't even make the pathetic play in games. Didn't the Spurs have a record where they were like 10+ games under .500 and they were playing for a playoff spot? Yeah that is totally pathetic. So Lebron and the Lakers should have made the playoffs/play in games even with all the stuff they had to go through this year as they are still good enough. That roster was overhyped this year but it isn't as bad as their record was this year.

[WilyWestbrook0]

That is true but Lebron had probably the best scoring season for a player his age (he almost won a scoring title?) and Westbrook/AD aren't really over the hill yet age wise. The rest of the team played like trash and there were a ton of injuries but Lebron was the one who helped construct this mess so he takes some blame for that. But this team should have still made the playoffs as the normally stacked West was pretty weak this year and the Lakers couldn't even make the pathetic play in games. Didn't the Spurs have a record where they were like 10+ games under .500 and they were playing for a playoff spot? Yeah that is totally pathetic. So Lebron and the Lakers should have made the playoffs/play in games even with all the stuff they had to go through this year as they are still good enough. That roster was overhyped this year but it isn't as bad as their record was this year.

Oh for sure LeBron deserves blame for some of the roster construction. He's a terrible GM. And they could have gotten into the playoffs had there been better organization and decisions. I still have MJ over LeBron and always will. I just wasn't really surprised by their implosion given their egos, coach, James' bad GM decisions, etc.

[shockwiresports]

Giannis v Booker, the sequel

[shockwiresports]

Giannis v Booker, the sequel

ok, this was not meant to be….close with both reaching a Game 7. But the Celtics and the Mavs clearly won these games today and both Giannis and Booker have to retool

Let’s see what the next round brings for the Conference Finals!

[WilyWestbrook0]

hey shock we got a separate playoff thread here -- https://www.sportscardforum.com/thre...ay-offs-Thread

this thread was for the reg season :)

but yeah, some good playoff action in the semis, and we'll have a new Finals matchup this year; very exciting