2019 NBA Catch-All - It’s Fantastic

Spurs rested their players and would get the NBA and broadcast companies furious. It’d be a big national game and Pop would rest Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli.

DSGamer wrote:

Yes and no. It was pretty common for players starting during the early 2010s to start missing the second half of back to backs for the sake of rest and preventing injuries.

Famously last year Embiid didn't play any back to backs in addition to limiting his minutes. The Spurs started regularly resting players strategically. LeBron and Wade did that a lot in Miami as well.

I think it's just caught on more as a smart thing to do to save players from the grind of the long season, especially if they feel like they're in championship contention.

Yup, what DS said. Lots of the top teams have done it for years, most notably, the Spurs. Pop has been famous for it with Duncan, Parker, and Manu sitting a lot in their times together. Toronto seems to have stolen Boston's 4 leaf clover this season with the number of squeakers they have pulled out, especially with Kawhi off, which has been frequently.

bhchrist wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Yes and no. It was pretty common for players starting during the early 2010s to start missing the second half of back to backs for the sake of rest and preventing injuries.

Famously last year Embiid didn't play any back to backs in addition to limiting his minutes. The Spurs started regularly resting players strategically. LeBron and Wade did that a lot in Miami as well.

I think it's just caught on more as a smart thing to do to save players from the grind of the long season, especially if they feel like they're in championship contention.

Yup, what DS said. Lots of the top teams have done it for years, most notably, the Spurs. Pop has been famous for it with Duncan, Parker, and Manu sitting a lot in their times together. Toronto seems to have stolen Boston's 4 leaf clover this season with the number of squeakers they have pulled out, especially with Kawhi off, which has been frequently.

I think I read that they're deliberately resting Kawhi on the back half of back-to-backs as a policy.

The Raptors taking it to this extreme has dampened my enthusiasm a fair bit this year. Really illustrates how having playoffs makes the regular season more or less a bunch of glorified friendlies

I guess having only been watching the Raptors closely I didn't know what other teams did during the regular season.

So it's not a new thing.

Definitely it is a rule that Kawhi wont play back to back games. And it seems he won't play meaningless games in the middle of January either. Lol.

It does kind of suck as a fan, not getting to see your star player on the court, but I've always heard everyone say that the real season begins in playoffs for as long as I've been watching basketball, so I guess it's not surprising in the least.

I’d say the real season starts after the all star break.

Looks like Oladipo just busted his knee...

LeapingGnome wrote:

I’d say the real season starts after the all star break.

This is how I've always looked at it.

gamerparent wrote:

It does kind of suck as a fan, not getting to see your star player on the court, but I've always heard everyone say that the real season begins in playoffs for as long as I've been watching basketball, so I guess it's not surprising in the least.

I hear you, but then my favorite teams have always been teams that are really deep. It's fun getting to watch the younger guys get run. It would bum me out if I had tickets to the one game they sat the stars, but otherwise as a TV viewer I mostly shrug, personally.

gamerparent wrote:

Looks like Oladipo just busted his knee...

Shoot. Don't watch the highlight unless you want to see a foot pointing the wrong direction. Thoughts and prayers out to him. So sad.

gamerparent wrote:

Looks like Oladipo just busted his knee...

Oooh that sucks! He is a feel good player that is fun to cheer for.

From Dean Maniatt:

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dxs49RMW0AAu6gK.jpg:large)
The absurdity of the Bucks' offense in one shot chart.

Location with the highest frequency of shots for each player.

So Anthony Davis asked for a trade. Easy to understand since he probably feels like he will never win even a conference championship if he stays there. I wonder if going to the Lakers is even feasible cap wise. He might want to go to an East team for easier playoffs.

I feel bad for Jrue Holiday but maybe it will help him keep expanding his game.

I saw that this morning, wow. I got my hopes up but I doubt Toronto would be able to acquire him.

gamerparent wrote:

I saw that this morning, wow. I got my hopes up but I doubt Toronto would be able to acquire him.

There’s no chance. Can’t trade a draft pick until 2021. Would need to include a salary dump (Ibaka/JV) and the only young guy with massive potential is Siakam. Other guys are good but all basically profile as role players. For the Raptors, it’s essentially mortgaging the entire future in the hopes that Kawhi sticks around and Davis signs long term. Could wind but like the Knicks and Nets.

I agree, it would be giving away a lot of pieces that are working reasonably well right now.

Lucky for us he won't be able to move to Boston before the season ends so Toronto has a better chance of making it to the Finals

Knicks be acting crazy.

Porzingis, Burke, Lee, & Hardaway Jr.
for
Jordan, Matthews, Smith Jr. & 1st

Basically means they have a whole roster of cap space for the summer. Definitely going after all the big fish (Durant, Leonard, Irving, Butler, Thompson, and Walker are the headliners).

Omg knicks D:

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@netw3rk wrote:

If NY doesn’t land KD and someone else this summer, burn MSG to the ground

Toronto the North in Geography, Milwaukee in the standings. Would love to see the Bucks face them in the playoffs.

Vector wrote:

Knicks be acting crazy.

Porzingis, Burke, Lee, & Hardaway Jr.
for
Jordan, Matthews, Smith Jr. & 1st

Basically means they have a whole roster of cap space for the summer. Definitely going after all the big fish (Durant, Leonard, Irving, Butler, Thompson, and Walker are the headliners).

As a closet Knicks fan I like the deal.

Relationship with Zinger was strained + everyone is acting like he's an automatic perennial all star. He's a freak talent but he might also not come back the same and or be a glass man.

You traded the best player you have had since Ewing and a minute-and-a-half of Melo for cap space?

jowner wrote:
Vector wrote:

Knicks be acting crazy.

Porzingis, Burke, Lee, & Hardaway Jr.
for
Jordan, Matthews, Smith Jr. & 1st

Basically means they have a whole roster of cap space for the summer. Definitely going after all the big fish (Durant, Leonard, Irving, Butler, Thompson, and Walker are the headliners).

As a closet Knicks fan I like the deal.

Relationship with Zinger was strained + everyone is acting like he's an automatic perennial all star. He's a freak talent but he might also not come back the same and or be a glass man.

Sounds like he also told them he wants out. IF they are convinced they are getting KD (and actually do) and pair him with Irving and get Zion, looks good. If they wind up throwing max $$ at back up plan players, not so much. I am not sold on Zinger as a franchise carrier that makes others around him better. Maybe he is, time will tell. Fun pairing to watch in Dallas.

Mavericks already have Doncic so they are looking at the pair to succeed Dirk as the next Eurostars in Dallas. It's a great gamble for them.

I hope the Knicks are not making moves expecting to get Zion, they should know better. The worst three teams only have a 14% chance each to get the number one pick, it is pretty unlikely to happen. On the Lowe Post the other day they said the worst team's most likely outcome is the 5th pick at 49%.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I hope the Knicks are not making moves expecting to get Zion, they should know better. The worst three teams only have a 14% chance each to get the number one pick, it is pretty unlikely to happen. On the Lowe Post the other day they said the worst team's most likely outcome is the 5th pick at 49%.

It's entirely about getting two max contract slots for the offseason. Durant, Leonard, Irving, Walker, and Thompson are the big gets. The risk is that none of them are guaranteed to leave their teams.

The other podcasts I listen to all suggest the Knicks are confident they can sign Durant and Irving using the cap space they got in the trade. On paper, those two plus their own first round pick and DSJ and Knox sounds pretty good. But I can’t forget 2010, when they cleared all that cap space for LeBron and whoever else and wound up with Amare Stoudamire.

I love how people are talking more about deal and hypothetical deals in the NBA than the Super Bowl this week.

Rat Boy wrote:

I love how people are talking more about deal and hypothetical deals in the NBA than the Super Bowl this week.

The NFL is working really hard - between their unserious approach to head injuries and caving to Trump - at becoming a regional sport.

Meanwhile the NBA is the future. I love it.

Same. Been playing NBA Live 19 since the Chiefs lost, and I still absolutely love The One. It has so many modes to spend time on, and it's the first time I've really enjoyed the grind of developing a player. The NBA side is great arcade action. Can't recommend it if you are wanting to do a deep dive on franchise and build a team.

But if you just want to have fun playing a basketball game, I think NBA Live 19 is the best arcade basketball I've played.

Jesus

https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/1092869379526582272

In this story: Monday night the Lakers changed the players in their offer to Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But Lakers weren’t interested in giving up 6-8 draft picks like Pelicans wanted.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyqyRXZUYAE1zAX.jpg:large)