2023-24 NBA Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Pop will need to be concerned about the state of the actual current Spurs going forward as they lost yet another game last night. Wemby continues to struggle with his shot. They have no real ballhandling to make use of him the best way. For optimal development, Wemby's going to need a better team around him.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Update on the Josh Giddey with underage girl scandal:

https://hoopshype.com/2023/11/29/all...h-authorities/

So apparently the girl's family isn't cooperating with the authorities.

The most likely scenario is that she lied about her age to get into the night club.

There's nothing good coming out of this whole scandal; I expect the Thunder will move on from Giddey ASAP, much the way they got rid of other players with woman scandals (Ferguson, Liggins). No team wants this kind of thing hanging over the organization. He was already booed every time he touched the ball in Minnesota last night.

[pwaldo]

Pop will need to be concerned about the state of the actual current Spurs going forward as they lost yet another game last night. Wemby continues to struggle with his shot. They have no real ballhandling to make use of him the best way. For optimal development, Wemby's going to need a better team around him.

Here's the thing if the fans were throwing stuff at the court like circa the NWO forming in the ring or they were doing nasty mean chants I could somewhat see the reason for him snapping but they were really tame for something to go off on. So my take would be that he was trying to do what MLB managers do and yell at the umpire for a close call go out and yell a bit to get tossed to try and rev the team up or something. Because the Spurs totally stink this year after totally stinking and tanking last year. You could explain it last year because you weren't really trying and were instead tanking to get the so called greatest prospect athlete ever. Well now you have that guy and are still in the running for the #1 pick right now. You have to do something drastic or blame somebody for that especially when you have an "all time great" head coach running things in San Antonio.

[WilyWestbrook0]

So we've got the in-season tournament quarterfinals tonight, but I haven't been able to get excited over the in-season tourney. I suppose it doesn't help that my favorite teams aren't in it.

I'm more interested in how the general standings are looking after 20 games. After 20 games, you can get a good sense of which teams are truly good and which ones aren't. We have a couple of surprises in the East and West: Orlando and Minnesota. I don't think anyone would have predicted these teams in the top 2-3 for their respective conferences after 20 games. Jamahl Mosley rightly got coach of the month for Orlando. They have a couple of games against the Cavaliers upcoming that I'd like to check out. I saw Minnesota recently against Oklahoma City and was amazed at their defensive execution. Orlando also looks like they're a really good defensive team.

Meanwhile the Pistons are on pace for the worst record in NBA history. I mean I knew they'd suck, but they shouldn't suck THIS bad.

[pwaldo]

So we've got the in-season tournament quarterfinals tonight, but I haven't been able to get excited over the in-season tourney. I suppose it doesn't help that my favorite teams aren't in it.

I'm more interested in how the general standings are looking after 20 games. After 20 games, you can get a good sense of which teams are truly good and which ones aren't. We have a couple of surprises in the East and West: Orlando and Minnesota. I don't think anyone would have predicted these teams in the top 2-3 for their respective conferences after 20 games. Jamahl Mosley rightly got coach of the month for Orlando. They have a couple of games against the Cavaliers upcoming that I'd like to check out. I saw Minnesota recently against Oklahoma City and was amazed at their defensive execution. Orlando also looks like they're a really good defensive team.

Agreed on both points. Don't care for the tournament but it looks to be a hit with hardcore basketball fans and while we can't really figure out who will be competing for a championship right now the picture does look a little bit clearer. A couple teams that are performing real bad like the should of been playoff contenders Grizzlies who are hurting bad without Ja and the non playoff contenders Spurs looking awful. They should be doing much better with the #1 pick but he seems to be under performing at this point. Nothing too bad but if he wasn't hyped up as the greatest prospect ever not just NBA prospect but in any sport at any team I think the expectations would be so underwhelming at this point. The rest of the draft really seems to be meh too right now I'm afraid.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Right now, Holmgren is definitely the favorite for ROY over Wemby. Granted it's "technically" his second season since he was injured last season, but that still makes him eligible, and he's easily outperforming Wemby thus far. Once again last night he was clutch against the Warriors, drawing a 3 point foul and hitting all 3 FTs to make it it to OT, where the Thunder won. He's a much better shooter than Wemby at this point. He does have two years on Wemby so we'll see where they're at in a few more years (Wemby has the higher ceiling), but right now, he's simply the better player.

I predict LeBron and the Lakers get the tourney tonight. It's another goal that James will want to add to his career list. I like Haliburton and the Pacers, but James has more incentive.

[pwaldo]

Right now, Holmgren is definitely the favorite for ROY over Wemby. Granted it's "technically" his second season since he was injured last season, but that still makes him eligible, and he's easily outperforming Wemby thus far. Once again last night he was clutch against the Warriors, drawing a 3 point foul and hitting all 3 FTs to make it it to OT, where the Thunder won. He's a much better shooter than Wemby at this point. He does have two years on Wemby so we'll see where they're at in a few more years (Wemby has the higher ceiling), but right now, he's simply the better player.

I predict LeBron and the Lakers get the tourney tonight. It's another goal that James will want to add to his career list. I like Haliburton and the Pacers, but James has more incentive.

I agree about James wanting this thing more but I disagree on the Chet for ROY thing. I don't really get why everyone seems to be saying that since the numbers don't back him.

VW
19 points
10.2 rebounds
2.6 assists
2.7 blocks

Chet
17.1 points
7.8 rebounds
2.5 assists
2.4 blocks

Basically every stats favors VW so far

[WilyWestbrook0]

I agree about James wanting this thing more but I disagree on the Chet for ROY thing. I don't really get why everyone seems to be saying that since the numbers don't back him.

VW
19 points
10.2 rebounds
2.6 assists
2.7 blocks

Chet
17.1 points
7.8 rebounds
2.5 assists
2.4 blocks

Basically every stats favors VW so far

You only included four stats, and those four are all very close, except for rebounds where VW has a clear advantage.

You didn't include how VW has significantly lower FG and 3P percentages than Chet, 50 and 37 for Chet compared to 42 and 26 for VW. If Chet took as many shots as VW does he'd be way ahead in scoring. He can't take as many though because OKC has SGA.

Keeping all that in mind, it's not then surprising that Chet is the consensus favorite thus far by virtually every major outlet:

https://www.sportsbookreview.com/pic...e-of-the-year/

Granted, it's still early in the season, so Wemby could catch up with his percentages and Chet could regress. But right now Chet is the favorite because he's significantly more efficient.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Enough is enough; the league has enabled his behavior for far too long:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...state-warriors

[WilyWestbrook0]

So Draymond did get a suspension.

As for other NBA news, Cavs dealt a major blow by losing Darius Garland and Evan Mobley to injuries for the next month or two. They were already underperforming, and frankly should've fired their HC after the embarrassing playoff bounce, but now they're in really serious trouble. They may want to move Mitchell ASAP while they can still get value.