AROUND the NBA: ATL Jumps from #10 to #1 in Lotto| Pistons Mull Firing GM

[Chicagojk]

What a fight by the Bucks. I wonder if Indy regrets not closing them out. I would assume they are going to have the advantage in Indy. But if it comes back to Milwaukee...

Just a fabulous Knicks vs Sixers game. I was already to go in hard on Embid. He had some very costly turnovers in the fourth. Tough game to watch Jalen (who I still can't root for) and Maxey (my pick for the Mavs in 2020) battle. I really like Jalen's demeanor on the court. I really wish Luka would take some of Jokic, Jalen, Kyrie on how they handle adversity. Anyway, that series should go long. Philly fans hate their team and the NY fans love their team. Game 6 should be fabulous. If i know Philly fans, they are not going to react well with game 4 being taken over by Knicks fans in Philly.

[Chicagojk]

Jalen has really turned into a mini Luka. Everything revolves around him. IN some ways, the Knicks have built a real good vision of building a team around a dominant guard. Maybe they need another shooter or top scorer (Randle is out), but they just do all the small things that allows your star to be a star.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

What a fight by the Bucks.  I wonder if Indy regrets not closing them out.  I would assume they are going to have the advantage in Indy.  But if it comes back to Milwaukee...

Just a fabulous Knicks vs Sixers game.    I was already to go in hard on Embid.    He had some very costly turnovers in the fourth.  Tough game to watch Jalen (who I still can't root for) and Maxey (my pick for the Mavs in 2020) battle.  I really like Jalen's demeanor on the court.  I really wish Luka would take some of Jokic, Jalen, Kyrie on how they handle adversity.  Anyway, that series should go long.  Philly fans hate their team and the NY fans love their team.  Game 6 should be fabulous.  If i know Philly fans, they are not going to react well with game 4 being taken over by Knicks fans in Philly.

If I'm Indiana, I would be pissed off giving up 115 pts to a team without their two best players. And there is speculation, one or both of their stars could be back for Thursday 's game.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

Buddy Hield is totally out of the Philly rotation, and I wonder why? He was Darryl Morey's big acquisition at the TDL yet, he has 4 consecutive DNPCD's on his ledger.

[DallasMaverick]

Epic choke job by Embiid and Maxey. Embiid with 9 turnovers, at least 4 in the fourth quarter. Maxey did a lot of great things, but missed all three free throws in last quarter (until the last minute) and also lost a key ball.

Game not finished yet, though

Okay, this isn't a shot at you, but just a general question about how our fan brains and emotions work.

At this particular moment, you were very negative about Maxey - even going so far as to call it an "epic choke job".  But here's ESPN's evaluation of his game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4006...win-knicks

So, because of (1) his heroics, and (2) a 76er victory, we pretty much completely forget about a couple of missed free throws.  But you can be certain that, if the Sixers had lost, fandom would be pillorying him for his "epic choke job".

What do we learn?

1. Our evaluation of players, coaches, front offices swings wildly back and forth based on whether our team has recently won or lost.  This is pretty obvious here on this board.

2. When our team loses, we seek a single factor to blame.  A single player. A single play, even.  The coach. The owner. If we could have just changed that ONE thing, our team would have won. Powell.  Hardaway.  Kidd. Nico. Cuban. 

3. There's a marked difference when our team wins.  Occasionally, an outstanding player performance will garner all the post-victory praise and attention, but we tend to be more generous in spreading the credit around.  We notice small contributions that don't show up in the box score, for example.

Perhaps we would be better served not to ride the roller coaster of emotion, either up or down, when we evaluate players and coaches. It's the same principle as not going grocery shopping when you're starving.  You'll end up buying stuff you probably shouldn't, and not buying stuff you probably should.

[omahen]

Okay, this isn't a shot at you, but just a general question about how our fan brains and emotions work.

At this particular moment, you were very negative about Maxey - even going so far as to call it an "epic choke job".  But here's ESPN's evaluation of his game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4006...win-knicks

So, because of (1) his heroics, and (2) a 76er victory, we pretty much completely forget about a couple of missed free throws.  But you can be certain that, if the Sixers had lost, fandom would be pillorying him for his "epic choke job".

What do we learn?

1. Our evaluation of players, coaches, front offices swings wildly back and forth based on whether our team has recently won or lost.  This is pretty obvious here on this board.

2. When our team loses, we seek a single factor to blame.  A single player. A single play, even.  The coach. The owner. If we could have just changed that ONE thing, our team would have won. Powell.  Hardaway.  Kidd. Nico. Cuban. 

3. There's a marked difference when our team wins.  Occasionally, an outstanding player performance will garner all the post-victory praise and attention, but we tend to be more generous in spreading the credit around.  We notice small contributions that don't show up in the box score, for example.

Perhaps we would be better served not to ride the roller coaster of emotion, either up or down, when we evaluate players and coaches. It's the same principle as not going grocery shopping when you're starving.  You'll end up buying stuff you probably shouldn't, and not buying stuff you probably should.

Not taking it personally, just continuing the discussion. At first I would like to point out, I had zero emotional involvement, I couldn't care less who wins or loses this one, I was just enjoying the game. 

The way I understand and use the term, choke job does not necessarily equal playing bad overall. I even said Maxey did a lot of things well. How I understand it, choke job means a player screws up things he shouldn't screw up in key moments of the game.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

^^ That would be my definition as well. Maxey is becoming a hell of a player though..

[KillerLeft]

Boston is straight murdering Miami right now.

One of the main things I notice is that their perimeter players are not scared to shoot. The Mavericks are far too quick to allow themselves to be closed out on, in my opinion. It’s like they don’t want to shoot and welcome the chance to attack an close out. Cool that they have added that dimension from more of their players, but the entire defense winds up, sagging off and hang out close to the paint, so you’re just driving into the defenders.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I'm impressed with Derrick White. Spoelstra said he's one of the most underrated players in the NBA on both sides of the ball. He's shooting lights out the last two games.

[mvossman]

I'm impressed with Derrick White. Spoelstra said he's one of the most underrated players in the NBA on both sides of the ball. He's shooting lights out the last two games.

That was one of the trades I really wanted us to do (don't think we had the assets at the time).  He only cost one first.

[SleepingHero]

Boston is straight murdering Miami right now.

One of the main things I notice is that their perimeter players are not scared to shoot. The Mavericks are far too quick to allow themselves to be closed out on, in my opinion. It’s like they don’t want to shoot and welcome the chance to attack an close out. Cool that they have added that dimension from more of their players, but the entire defense winds up, sagging off and hang out close to the paint, so you’re just driving into the defenders.

Honestly sad that Butler couldn't play. I really thought Miami could've given Boston a run for their money.

[SleepingHero]

@VicLombardi
"Let's be real -- ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is. The house is not on fire. We're in a great position. It's not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship."
Suns owner Mat Ishbia

[Winter]

@VicLombardi
"Let's be real -- ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is. The house is not on fire. We're in a great position. It's not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship."
Suns owner Mat Ishbia

This front office is in denial.

[Jmaciscool]

@VicLombardi
"Let's be real -- ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is. The house is not on fire. We're in a great position. It's not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship."
Suns owner Mat Ishbia

Every single sentence in that is false.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://nypost.com/2024/05/02/sports/kni...y-problem/


Knicks have a Maxey problem

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1785848612640936027


Derrick White's points in the playoffs so far.

[BoredAssistant]

". . .roughly four years after the Knicks passed on the Kentucky product in the 2020 draft . . . while Leon Rose instead took Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, Maxey’s Kentucky teammate."

It's probably good to remind myself that other organizations are not perfect.

[Chicagojk]

@VicLombardi
"Let's be real -- ask the other 29 GMs [in the NBA], 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team and our draft picks as is. The house is not on fire. We're in a great position. It's not hard to fix. We have enough talent to win a championship."
Suns owner Mat Ishbia

It is funny how things work out.  I said this earlier in the season but would Phx looked different if they used their minimums on Jones jr and Exum?  Most in the media really like Phx minimums this summer.  Could they have used their assets this summer for a guy like Gafford?

[DallasMaverick]

https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1785848612640936027


Derrick White's points in the playoffs so far.

I can't say I saw that coming.

Definitely on a heater.

...but could also cool quickly.

[Winter]

Video of what other players think of Kyrie Irving's game. Lots of great stuff here... from really great players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvH4xsalUa0