NBA Preseason 2020-21

[King Kamala]

Hope Alfonso Ribiero gets to reprise his role as Chris Paul for the movie.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1337421810359541762

Michael Cole voice: Vintage Irving!

 

[Baby Shoes]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1337445079766740999

@Brocklock

 

[Brocklock]

Most of the players missing time are ass anyway and are guys that are hurt all the time like Denzel Valentine, so I like the potential core guys getting a little run together before the regular season. And more importantly SIMI SHITTU will get a chance to impress.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I knew preseason was starting up today but didn’t realize there were games on both NBATV and ESPN tonight.

 

[Brocklock]

I don't want to take any preseason stuff for granted, but the game I knew Jimmy Butler might be a superstar happened in the Preseason

Lirl Stacey King losing his shit on a preseason bucket makes me so nostalgic. He sounds so much more animated than recently where the shitty Bulls teams has worn him out.

Jimmy looked so much better in that game than the previous season and he looked so much better than the Bruce Bowen comparisons he was getting before his improvement. I keep hoping that there will be another game like that where a young player just looks like a whole new player and makes the leap.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I’ve seen a lot of high hopes for Coby under a new coach. I haven’t been crazy about Billy Donovan in the pros but curious how he does with a young team like the Bulls.

 

[Brocklock]

Yeah I'm excited for Coby, but Wendell Carter Jr. I think will be even better. I think if Carter stays healthy, he can make a big jump. Especially since he has the green light now to take shots beyond offensive rebounds and putbacks and Donovan has said he wants to use Wendell as a facilitator. Donovan helped turn Steven Adams into a pretty good player and worked well with Joakim Noah in College, I think he could do wonders for Carter. I think Carter suffered the most in the Jim Boylen system as he profiled as a versatile jack of all trades big that could shoot midrange with potential to shoot threes, pass, and defend like Al Horford. Boylen used him like Hassan Whiteside or DeAndre Jordan.

Maybe Carter doesn't pan out, but I'm excited to see how he plays this season. He already impressed me last season as the Bulls made him the De Facto guy to talk to reporters while he was only like 19 or 20 and did a much better job talking to the media and addressing the faults of the team than either Jim Boylen or Fred Hoiberg.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

People are over analyzing the chemistry dynamic with Brooklyn imo. I think a bigger issue they have is depth, especially in the front court. Deandre is past his best.

damn I just saw they have Bruce Bowen Jr., does he play as dirty as his dad did?

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1337439467293057026

 

[Gert]

People are over analyzing the chemistry dynamic with Brooklyn imo. I think a bigger issue they have is depth, especially in the front court. Deandre is past his best.

damn I just saw they have Bruce Bowen Jr., does he play as dirty as his dad did?

I think defense will be their biggest issue. I think they can be pretty creative with their second unit if they have Dinwiddie run the 2nd Unit and maybe stagger the minutes of Irving & Durant so they can run some with the 2nd unit.

 

[Baby Shoes]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1338588289461194752

 

[Brocklock]

Kind of sucks, he played really well in game 1 and I think he's better than a good portion of the Bulls bigs like Kornet, Felicio, and Daniel Gafford. Bulls were missing a lot of bench guys yesterday and the talk has been really vague. I don't know if there was a Covid breakout or what. Otto Porter Jr is a dumbass and was posting instagram videos of him partying without a mask on a few weeks ago so there probably is.

Either way, Vonleh was apart of one of the weirdest announcer calls I've heard in a while. Vonleh had a put back dunk in the first preseason game and Stacey King comes up with "OPEN UP YOUR MOUTH AND TAKE IT!". Between that and him drawing boobies when he was breaking down a play on the teleprompter last season, he's got to be crushed about this Pornhub news.

 

[Gert]

So was Vonleh's release because he violated protocols? Or was he just on the fringe of making the team and it was a roster crunch on top of it?

 

[Brocklock]

He was signed to a camp deal. I think it was a fringe thing, but I think he would've beat out Luke Kornet for a spot. He clearly outplayed him in game 1. I feel like this will make more sense in a few days when it's revealed there is a mass Covid outbreak on The Bulls or something.

 

[909]

Giannis signed a five year supermax with the Bucks. Option for 2025. He stayed.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I know a few teams were holding out hope for him but I cannot say I find this very surprising, knowing what I know of Giannis’ character. We’ve had surprises from guys going against their word before but Giannis seems different. There is also probably added pressure to sign on for the current money allowed with the pandemic putting some of the future of the cap in question. He can lock the deal and carry on to leave later if he must like others in the past, though I don’t see it with him. I just hope for his sake the team continues to try to put pieces around him.

 

[snuffbox]

I think Giannis made the right decision.

 

[Brocklock]

Yeah I figured this was going to happen. I'm happy he's staying because there aren't any superstars that will stay on a team for the majority of their career anymore.

 

[King Kamala]

This year's potentially dumb NBA preseason prediction...does anyone else think The Rockets could be this year's version of last season's Thunder?

I don't feel strongly enough about this to make an anime related bet but I feel like they could end up surprising me even if/when Harden does get traded.

 

[Brocklock]

The Bulls played them twice and I think there's a good chance they surprise. Cousins looks really good. Wall had some iffy moments in the second game after a great start, but still looked very good. Christian Wood surprised last year and should be good this year. And they got guys that can hit big shots like Eric Gordon, Ben McLemore, and Gerald Green and every contending team needs guys like that.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I feel like the Suns have a better shot of being the Thunder with Chris Paul moving to a slightly more talented team.

I think Rockets still have enough talent to be a 7 or 8 seed as they didn’t lose a ton of guys but they didn’t get better like many other teams did either. But I could see a team like the Grizzlies being a little more mature passing them by.

 

[King Kamala]

I just think it'd be hilarious if Russ & Harden both end up on lottery teams while Houston ends up on the hilarious. I'm not going to make a board bet over it but I don't think it's extremely unlikely.

 

[Baby Shoes]

I think the Wizards should make the playoffs in the East. Beal, Russ and Bertans, a lot of people have high hopes on Deni. A couple other teams improved in the East but the Wizards have enough talent to be a low seed.

 

[King Kamala]

On paper, Washington Wizards definitely should be a 4-6 seed level in the East but given history of Washington basketball, I wouldn't be surprised if something horrible happens.

 

[Brocklock]

I'm not really feeling Indiana as much as the last few years either. I think there's bound to be a team that surprises in the East and jumps up in the playoffs. I can't really see it being the Bulls, Knicks, Cavs, or Pistons, but everything else is wide open and even one of those teams could shock some people. But, the other big factor is of course Covid. For example, the Bulls are "mysteriously" not playing 6 guys tomorrow and Garrett Temple and Noah Vonleh have already tested positive. Covid is going to probably going to ravage a few of these teams since the NBA didn't do a bubble for some reason this time.

 

[909]

The Rockets won’t trade Harden until next offseason so as a result they’ll pull anywhere from the 3 to 7 seed.

 

[909]

Also, this Giannis deal shows that if a front office is competent and makes a legitimate effort to win a title, it doesn't matter what market the player is in. They will stay because at the end of the day, what matters most to about 90% of the league is winning.

 

[Baby Shoes]

Everything was so rapid in this offseason, I feel like I’m going to have a lot of “oh yeah, that guy is there now“ moments. In fact, I just put on the Celtics-Sixers and had forgotten the Celtics, who I actively follow, picked up Jeff Teague.

 

[King Kamala]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1339255138490351617

Very interesting thread. People forget that pro basketball pre Red Auerbach was just as racist as pre intergration baseball. It's probably NBA actively seems like they try to ignore anything pre Bill Russell/Wilt Chamberlain era.