The NBA Thread

I just think it's funny how my preferred rumored coaching candidates for my favorite basketball team are either the owned recipient of the most iconic Sixers moment in my lifetime or someone the local play-by-play announcer refuses to call by their preferred name because there's only one Doc in Philadelphia
 
sahomerrocks said:
I just think it's funny how my preferred rumored coaching candidates for my favorite basketball team are either the owned recipient of the most iconic Sixers moment in my lifetime or someone the local play-by-play announcer refuses to call by their preferred name because there's only one Doc in Philadelphia
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Doc would be a good fit there. hopefully it works out.
 
sahomerrocks said:
If I were an NBA franchise I would simply just be in one of the two most desirable cities for a young, famous millionaire.
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I dunno...NY is rad especially if you have money but nobody wants to be here. Location isn’t everything. Jimmy also didn’t go to Miami for the nightclubs...
 
sahomerrocks said:
Funny how culture only comes up when the team is in a desirable location. Butler could have easily worked out a sign and trade with San Antonio.
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Miami culture is VERY different than SA's. It fits Jimmy to a T. Plus Jimmy got the inside scoop about Miami from DWade when they were on the Bulls together. If you took everything about the Heat and moved it to OKC or Milwaukee or something, I don't doubt Jimmy would have gone there anyway. All the Sixers (and other NBA fans) that said Jimmy didn't care about winning and he only went to Miami because of the location look pretty foolish right now IMO.
 
Heat: made playoffs 50% in the last 6 years
Spurs: made playoffs 83% in the last 6 years

MikeH said:
If you took everything about the Heat and moved it to OKC or Milwaukee or something, I don't doubt Jimmy would have gone there anyway
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100% disagree. Name the last major UFA to sign in any small market.
MikeH said:
All the Sixers (and other NBA fans) that said Jimmy didn't care about winning and he only went to Miami because of the location look pretty foolish right now IMO
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Every Sixers fan I know wanted them to bring everyone in the starting lineup back. There are conflicting reports, but the one I tend to believe is that Philly offered the max only if Butler wouldn't meet any teams in FA, which was obviously dumb. But after that would only accept a sign and trade to MIA. Any good front office should have made it work.
 
This is not me arguing against players having more agency in their movement, which I think is generally good.
 
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sahomerrocks said:
Heat: made playoffs 50% in the last 6 years
Spurs: made playoffs 83% in the last 6 years


100% disagree. Name the last major UFA to sign in any small market.

Every Sixers fan I know wanted them to bring everyone in the starting lineup back. There are conflicting reports, but the one I tend to believe is that Philly offered the max only if Butler wouldn't meet any teams in FA, which was obviously dumb. But after that would only accept a sign and trade to MIA. Any good front office should have made it work.
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Your first point doesn’t matter at all though. It’s a different culture in Miami than SA despite both being “winning” cultures. You seem pretty knowledgeable about basketball so I think you would know the difference in culture. Miami is notorious for their extreme work ethic and demands on their players. In addition to that, you have Pop who is likely on the verge or retirement vs Spo who is a criminally underrated coach every single year and will easily be there for the rest of Jimmy’s prime. Jimmy has wanted to make his way to Miami for years at this point because of their demand for hard work and greatness. There isn’t a franchise in the NBA with as strict fitness demands or that fits him better from a mentality perspective. It’s also rumored that Kawhi asked Jimmy to team up with him in LA and Jimmy said no.

there were a TON of Sixers (and other NBA fans) all over reddit and twitter when Jimmy left that said he didn’t care about winning and left to go party in Miami instead of running it back with Philly. Maybe it was more out of being mad that he wanted out instead of actually thinking it. But anybody who had been following Jimmy for his career knew he went to Miami to work hard and win. There were also lots of sixer fans on reddit who said the Sixers would be better this year without Jimmy.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with the Bulls pretty regularly since Jimmy’s rookie season. I have a lot of friends who work there as well and they all said Jimmy hardly ever partied during the NBA season. He doesn’t care about all that stuff. He cares about work ethic and guys around him putting the work in. It’s a big part of why he didn’t work out well in Minnie—he saw guys not putting the work in. Then you hear stories about Bam and all these other guys on the Heat. They are all workaholics and put basketball first.

You say what Star FA has gone to a small market team, but I’ll respond to that with what other NBA player as of late chose to take the QO instead of just accepting a lower than max contract at the end of his first contract? Jimmy is built different.

Guys want to go to competent franchises. Who was the last huge FA to sign with the Lakers before Bron? Shaq? Bron and Shaq might be the only star FA to sign with the Lakers actually (the rest were traded or drafted). location isn’t everything especially now with guys in small markets still getting big endorsement deals. In general, it’s not all that often that stars hit FA. Most get locked in on extensions, others demand trades before hitting FA. Player movement is becoming more popular though as you said which is great. More player empowerment is awesome for most fans.
 
MikeH said:
Your first point doesn’t matter at all though. It’s a different culture in Miami than SA despite both being “winning” cultures. You seem pretty knowledgeable about basketball so I think you would know the difference in culture. Miami is notorious for their extreme work ethic and demands on their players. In addition to that, you have Pop who is likely on the verge or retirement vs Spo who is a criminally underrated coach every single year and will easily be there for the rest of Jimmy’s prime. Jimmy has wanted to make his way to Miami for years at this point because of their demand for hard work and greatness. There isn’t a franchise in the NBA with as strict fitness demands or that fits him better from a mentality perspective. It’s also rumored that Kawhi asked Jimmy to team up with him in LA and Jimmy said no.

there were a TON of Sixers (and other NBA fans) all over reddit and twitter when Jimmy left that said he didn’t care about winning and left to go party in Miami instead of running it back with Philly. Maybe it was more out of being mad that he wanted out instead of actually thinking it. But anybody who had been following Jimmy for his career knew he went to Miami to work hard and win. There were also lots of sixer fans on reddit who said the Sixers would be better this year without Jimmy.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with the Bulls pretty regularly since Jimmy’s rookie season. I have a lot of friends who work there as well and they all said Jimmy hardly ever partied during the NBA season. He doesn’t care about all that stuff. He cares about work ethic and guys around him putting the work in. It’s a big part of why he didn’t work out well in Minnie—he saw guys not putting the work in. Then you hear stories about Bam and all these other guys on the Heat. They are all workaholics and put basketball first.

You say what Star FA has gone to a small market team, but I’ll respond to that with what other NBA player as of late chose to take the QO instead of just accepting a lower than max contract at the end of his first contract? Jimmy is built different.

Guys want to go to competent franchises. Who was the last huge FA to sign with the Lakers before Bron? Shaq? Bron and Shaq might be the only star FA to sign with the Lakers actually (the rest were traded or drafted). location isn’t everything especially now with guys in small markets still getting big endorsement deals. In general, it’s not all that often that stars hit FA. Most get locked in on extensions, others demand trades before hitting FA. Player movement is becoming more popular though as you said which is great. More player empowerment is awesome for most fans.
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Culture is a narrative myth for us mere mortals to feel we have say in how NBA championships are won. More than any other league, talent wins chips. LeBron is culture. Steph is culture. Kawhi is culture. KD is culture. Butler Bam is culture. Culture is wherever the best players are drafted or decide to play.

Miami has a great front office that works the margins very well. None of that would mean shit if they weren't located in Miami. OKC works the margins better than any other franchise in the league, but neither team has a superstar perimeter initiator on their first or second contract, which is the only way a small market is going to make waves.

And we should never forget how much luck goes into winning a championship.

The Heat were BEGGING teams to offload Dragic during the offseason and he's been their best offensive player during the playoffs. And Bam, who I've always rated, is suddenly playing like Draymond during those years when Draymond was good at offense. They pulled 3 rookie rotation players out of thin air, one of which involves brushing DV under the rug (CULTURE!!!). I don't care how good you are at scouting, that's extremely good luck. All that luck has them as pretty heavy underdogs for the finals, because if any of that regresses to the mean they probably lose this series. And that's OK! They still did everything (most things!) right this offseason! It was (mostly!) great process and they've been rewarded no matter the results! But they don't have players as good as LeBron or AD.

Plus, the Heat are already at an advantage in the bubble because they're used to having no fans during playoff games :sneaky::sneaky::sneaky:
 
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sahomerrocks said:
Culture is a narrative myth for us mere mortals to feel we have say in how NBA championships are won. More than any other league, talent wins chips. LeBron is culture. Steph is culture. Kawhi is culture. KD is culture. Butler Bam is culture. Culture is wherever the best players are drafted or decide to play.

Miami has a great front office that works the margins very well. None of that would mean shit if they weren't located in Miami. OKC works the margins better than any other franchise in the league, but neither team has a superstar perimeter initiator on their first or second contract, which is the only way a small market is going to make waves.

And we should never forget how much luck goes into winning a championship.

The Heat were BEGGING teams to offload Dragic during the offseason and he's been their best offensive player during the playoffs. And Bam, who I've always rated, is suddenly playing like Draymond during those years when Draymond was good at offense. They pulled 3 rookie rotation players out of thin air, one of which involves brushing DV under the rug (CULTURE!!!). I don't care how good you are at scouting, that's extremely good luck. All that luck has them as pretty heavy underdogs for the finals, because if any of that regresses to the mean they probably lose this series. And that's OK! They still did everything (most things!) right this offseason! It was (mostly!) great process and they've been rewarded no matter the results! But they don't have players as good as LeBron or AD.

Plus, the Heat are already at an advantage in the bubble because they're used to having no fans during playoff games :sneaky::sneaky::sneaky:
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teams are only as good as the sum of all of the parts. It’s extremely rare for a team without a good FO and a team identity/culture to win a championship (unless you happen to have LeBron). Yes there is some level of luck in drafting but development is extremely important too. Miami has been great at developing talent and getting guys to buy in. Hell...they made Whiteside look like a star. Look at a team like the Jazz who have been great at drafting and developing players without having access to very high lotto picks. Nuggets and Raptors too. Not every pick will be a home run for any team because there are too many factors out of their control. But you can also draft good players and if you don’t develop them well your team goes nowhere. OKC has a smart FO but they are not great at drafting unless the pick falls into their laps like KD and Westbrook. Their last 10 years of picks have been pretty atrocious.

I also think you’re overrating how important Miami the location is. If they had a shit team and a shit FO, big name players wouldn’t sign there. You’d get the BList and CList guys going there for a payday. Just like how stars (before Bron wanted to go to Hollywood) didn’t go sign with the Lakers, and nobody signed with the Knicks either. Huge markets don’t attract star players via FA by default.

there are also plenty of teams with a lot of talent and nothing to show for it, so talent does not mean culture nor does it always equal winning.
 
Ooof I wonder who we see out there on AD for most of the night. Crowder? Throw Iggy out there on him for a few minutes at a time. Maybe see some Derrick Jones Jr. minutes. Maybe they just try to switch everything again tonight and pray. But I can't see that being any better with Bam out.
 
sahomerrocks said:
Ooof I wonder who we see out there on AD for most of the night. Crowder? Throw Iggy out there on him for a few minutes at a time. Maybe see some Derrick Jones Jr. minutes. Maybe they just try to switch everything again tonight and pray. But I can't see that being any better with Bam out.
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Iggy had an awful game 1...He was a -25. I personally don't expect Herro to play so awfully and for the Lakers to hit 13 of their first 19 3s...but no Bam is kind of a death sentence for the Heat this game. Miami will have to play a perfect game and the Lakers will have to go back to some of their bad tendencies. I'm hoping it's at least a little bit more entertaining of a game tonight.
 
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