NBA 2021-22---- NBA LEGEND Bill Russell 1934-2022 RIP

[T-ski]

Green should be suspended more than a few games, he flat out sucker punched Poole. And the Warriors focusing on the video leak more than the punch itself is some real bullshit.

[KevShmev]

There isn't much to say.  Green is a POS and that has been obvious to anyone paying attention for years now. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I saw the video. 

[Azyiu]

Green is the odd man out for a contract extension in the Bay Area before this incident. Whatever he did was not right, but I bet he just felt frustrated at the management for possibly giving Poole a healthy extension, and took it out on JP.

[Lonk]

There isn't much to say.  Green is a POS and that has been obvious to anyone paying attention for years now. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I saw the video.

Green is a dirty player we all know that, and he likes to talk a lot of crap, but that's usually against opponents. I wasn't surprised to hear he did something stupid again, but I was shocked it was against his own teammate. I'm sure they'll be fine once the season starts.

On that note, I used to try an go to NBA games at least once or twice a year. It's been a while though since I've been to a game (last game I went to was Knicks Vs. Bucks in 2017/18 season), and damn tickets prices are ridiculous. I know I checked in previous years and it was already getting pricey but pretty much any Knicks or Nets game you are looking to spend a minimum of $150 for horrible seats. Any descent seats are $300 and up.

[bosk1]

Not going to comment on the punch itself, since drawing conclusions and making judgments about something we know very little about isn't really beneficial to anyone.  But I am a bit confused about anyone having a beef with the Warriors taking issue with the leak.  What happened within the team during a closed team practice isn't anyone's business outside the team.  That is 100% a private team matter and only a team matter.  Why shouldn't the team and the Warriors organization be concerned about the leak? 

[Samsara]

While a key cog on the Warriors, Draymond Green is an average NBA player at best. All this talk about him being a "HOFer" is ridiculous. Should he have his number retired by the Warriors? Yes. Is he one of the key players on their championship teams? Absolutely. But when he doesn't have HOF players around him, he's honestly not much more than a role player.

...and I say all that to illustrate the point Poole made. "Mr. Triple-Single." Poole wasn't wrong. Should he have said it? Probably not, but that's what young guys do. Draymond, who obviously knows he's not all that, and he's trying to get a pay day (and BTW, they should absolutely pay Poole before they even think about paying Draymond), got heated and snapped.

Yes, back in the day, stuff like that happened all the time in NBA locker rooms and practices. Guys wrestled on the floor at some point. But here in 2022, that stuff is a big no-no with all the money invested in players. Draymond likes to think of himself as a smart player. Well, his reaction was not smart at all.

Frankly, I hope the Warriors suspend him without pay for a 1/4 of the season. They won't, but they should. And they absolutely SHOULD NOT resign Green. Just let him walk when his contract is up. One of the most overrated players in NBA history.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

While a key cog on the Warriors, Draymond Green is an average NBA player at best. All this talk about him being a "HOFer" is ridiculous. Should he have his number retired by the Warriors? Yes. Is he one of the key players on their championship teams? Absolutely. But when he doesn't have HOF players around him, he's honestly not much more than a role player.

Hard to say exactly where he's at now, but at his peak, he was one of the top-five defenders in the league and a 40% three-point shooter. In the modern era, there are few players more valuable than that, IMO. I think he's a weird example of someone who is invaluable to good teams but kind of useless to bad ones, partly because you know he's going to mail it in and gain 20 pounds like the did in 2020.

[Samsara]

While a key cog on the Warriors, Draymond Green is an average NBA player at best. All this talk about him being a "HOFer" is ridiculous. Should he have his number retired by the Warriors? Yes. Is he one of the key players on their championship teams? Absolutely. But when he doesn't have HOF players around him, he's honestly not much more than a role player.

Hard to say exactly where he's at now, but at his peak, he was one of the top-five defenders in the league and a 40% three-point shooter. In the modern era, there are few players more valuable than that, IMO. I think he's a weird example of someone who is invaluable to good teams but kind of useless to bad ones, partly because you know he's going to mail it in and gain 20 pounds like the did in 2020.

He was a good three-point shooter in 2015-2016, at 38.8 percent. That was the highest of his career. Here are the seasons SINCE that:

30.8
30.1
28.5
27.9
27.0
29.6

He is worthless from an offensive standpoint, except as an offense initiator. And to be honest, they have four other guys (Steph, Klay, Wiggins, Poole) who at this point, can do it way better.

As for defense, again, he was a good defender six years ago. No one is scared of Draymond Green's defense in the last several years.

OVER. RATED.

From 2014-2018, he was a really good defender and a plus, offensively. But since then, quite frankly, he's been trash.

I've seen him play a LOT these past few years. He's just not that good. Not anymore.

[bosk1]

Yes, back in the day, stuff like that happened all the time in NBA locker rooms and practices. Guys wrestled on the floor at some point. But here in 2022, that stuff is a big no-no with all the money invested in players. Draymond likes to think of himself as a smart player. Well, his reaction was not smart at all.

While I acknowledge that things are different now than in the past in MANY respects, I disagree with the implication that things that happened all the time "back in the day" don't still happen regularly today.  Quite a few players have come forward in the past few days and either implied or outright said that fistfights among teammates happen all the time and typically are not a big deal.  We just don't hear about them because that kind of dirty laundry happens behind closed doors.  I'm not condoning it, and I'm not saying these players do either (I think most of them don't).  Just saying, it has always happened and still does, and it isn't nearly as shocking as a lot of fan reaction might suggest. 

As far as him being "smart," I'll just say that really smart people do really stupid things all the time.  For all that I've seen and heard from Green, I think he has FAR above average basketball smarts and above average street smarts.  But he also does some really stupid things.  And agreed that this is one of them. 

[KevShmev]

There isn't much to say.  Green is a POS and that has been obvious to anyone paying attention for years now. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I saw the video.

Green is a dirty player we all know that, and he likes to talk a lot of crap, but that's usually against opponents. I wasn't surprised to hear he did something stupid again, but I was shocked it was against his own teammate. I'm sure they'll be fine once the season starts.

Well, let's not forget that he pretty much drove Kevin Durant, his teammate at the time, out of Golden St. by running his mouth, so teammates are not immune to his absurdity, although I doubt he'd ever go at Steph or Klay. Granted, Durant is soft as Charmin, so it doesn't much to send him away pouting, but with Durant and now Poole, it's a trend.

[T-ski]

Not going to comment on the punch itself, since drawing conclusions and making judgments about something we know very little about isn't really beneficial to anyone.  But I am a bit confused about anyone having a beef with the Warriors taking issue with the leak.  What happened within the team during a closed team practice isn't anyone's business outside the team.  That is 100% a private team matter and only a team matter.  Why shouldn't the team and the Warriors organization be concerned about the leak? 

because it seems to be the organization deflecting from the actual punch, which in a lot of peoples eyes is a much worse offense than the leaked video.

[bosk1]

There's an awful lot wrapped up in that kind of thinking that is strange and out of place, so I'll just leave it at that. 

[KevShmev]

Not going to comment on the punch itself, since drawing conclusions and making judgments about something we know very little about isn't really beneficial to anyone.  But I am a bit confused about anyone having a beef with the Warriors taking issue with the leak.  What happened within the team during a closed team practice isn't anyone's business outside the team.  That is 100% a private team matter and only a team matter.  Why shouldn't the team and the Warriors organization be concerned about the leak? 

because it seems to be the organization deflecting from the actual punch, which in a lot of peoples eyes is a much worse offense than the leaked video.

Well, yeah, assault is obviously way worse than the leaking of the video.  The Warriors are just mad because now the public saw what happened, so they can't blow it off with "it was a minor altercation that we are handling internally" anymore since everyone with two eyes saw that it was Green literally assaulting someone, something that would get most people fired from their jobs and placed under arrest, but the entitled NBA star will get a slap on the wrist as if nothing happened.  Count on it.

[bosk1]

That's a pretty disingenuous distortion of the facts. 

[Lonk]

Well, Green is expected to play in tomorrow's preseason game (last before the season starts), so I as mentioned above, I'm sure they'll be fine once the season starts.

[Samsara]

Timberwolves World Champs 2023!!!

 

Preseason is preseason. It means nothing. Wolves 4-0, with their starting lineup yet to play a game together. I also noticed...they aren't revealing their offense. It has pretty much been a free-for-all except for a few minutes to start each half.

What I love about the Wolves is how under-the-radar, but incredibly deep, their bench is. EVERYONE thinks they gave up all their bench depth. ha ha ha. The bench is BETTER this year. The team is legit 11-guys deep. Guys like Naz Reid should be starting this year, but he's going to struggle to get over 20-25 minutes because of Towns and Gobert. What a great problem to have. Taurean Prince can do everything asked of him. Jaylen Nowell, a guy most people haven't heard of, is a legit sixth man who is incredibly versatile.

I mean:

C -Gobert
PF - Towns
SF - McDaniels (he will be incredible this year with his defense and shooting)
SG - Edwards
PG - Russell

C - Naz Reid
PF - Kyle Anderson
SF - Taurean Prince
SG - Jaylen Nowell
PG - Jordan McLaughlin (incredible ball handler, passer, and intense defender)

11th - Bryn Forbes (Chris Finch needs to find him time because of his shooting - just not sure whose minutes will suffer for it)

I could go deeper, but the point is...it is an exciting time to be a Timberwolves fan. I've been a fan since the expansion season of 89-90 and my guy, Tony Campbell. This is, to my eyes, the deepest squad the Timberwolves have ever had, including the KG-playoffs teams.

They won't win the chip this year, but they are going to turn a lot of heads. By next season, if these 11 guys are retained (Russell needs to be resigned, as does Naz Reid and Jaylen Nowell), a run at the title isn't far off.

[Lonk]

And the season is here, might stay up tonight to watch the Lakers-GSW game. As long as he plays 55 games, I think we'll see Lebron break the all-time scoring record this season. I expect Klay Thompson to have a comeback year, and probably make the all-star team again. Should be a fun season 

[T-ski]

#BucksInSix

[bosk1]

And the season is here, might stay up tonight to watch the Lakers-GSW game. As long as he plays 55 games, I think we'll see Lebron break the all-time scoring record this season. I expect Klay Thompson to have a comeback year, and probably make the all-star team again. Should be a fun season 

Such a LONG season.  Sitting here getting ready for the Dubs to kick it off.  Just had an awesome ring/banner raising ceremony pre-game, and it was awesome to see Steph and Draymond arm in arm, posing for the camera with their rings, and smiling.  With all the vets healthy and the youngsters having developed a LOT during the summer, it's hard not to have big expectations for these guys.  I like Warriors v. Bucks in the finals.

[TAC]

Bucks aren't going to the finals.

[T-ski]

Bucks aren't going to the finals.

I hope to revisit this in June.

[bosk1]

Bucks aren't going to the finals.

I hope to revisit this in June.

Game 3 pregame meetup at your place?  I'll bring the snacks.

[Azyiu]

James Harden shimmied before taking a three and then missed everything! 

Then when my Lakers couldn’t sink a 3 in the 1st qtr and barely tying the game after 1, I just knew we would lose and I decided to go to sleep (it was 4am here in the UK). Best decision I made this week, lol.

[T-ski]

Bucks aren't going to the finals.

I hope to revisit this in June.

Game 3 pregame meetup at your place?  I'll bring the snacks.

I’ll have some legendary Spotted Cow chilling in the fridge.

[King Postwhore]

Don't ask Tim to bring beers.  He'll disappoint you.

[Samsara]

Okay, as we start the season, here are my predictions for the Wolves:

51-31 - will lose in WC semi-finals

Karl Anthony Towns - 24/9/6
Anthony Edwards - 26/4/4

Both will be all stars.

Chris Finch will finish runner-up for Coach of the Year.

D'Angelo Russell will average 17 pts/9 asts
Rudy Gobert will average 11 pts/13 rbs/2.5 blocks

Go Wolves!

[bosk1]

That would be a good outcome for them. 

[King Postwhore]

Going to be a great battle for the #1 seed in the East between the Bucks and the C's.

[bosk1]

Going to be a great battle for the #1 seed in the East between the Bucks and the C's.

Agreed.  Those are looking to be two really good teams again.  Should be a fun season. 

[bosk1]

And...congrats to your first place Timberwolves, currently tied for an NBA best record with the world championship Golden State Warriors! 

[Samsara]

And...congrats to your first place Timberwolves, currently tied for an NBA best record with the world championship Golden State Warriors! 

A tale of two halves. At the end of Q2, the Timberwolves looked like a juggernaut. Just pure domination on both ends of the floor. Then they got outscored 35-22 in Q3 and had to fight off the scrappy Thunder for the W. No one could shoot in the second half. Wolves got lucky. Gobert was dominant, and while he only got credited with one block, he altered probably 10 shots that ended up missing. Sadly, Towns and Edwards had off nights shooting. But passing-wise, my goodness. Towns had 7 dimes and so did Edwards.

Hoping we can fend off Utah on Friday and get to 2-0 to start the year. But the Jazz are another scrappy team with a couple of guys (Beasley and Vanderbilt) who have an axe to grind about getting traded this summer. So I am sure it will be another dogfight.

This experiment is really going to work though with the Wolves and two centers. After watching the clunky last preseason game, and then the opening half (the second half was all about poor Wolves shooting), Finch has it figured out. If those second half shots drop at a 45 percent clip, we blow the Thunder out by 20+. If the team stays healthy, it's going to be a lot better than people think.