Carter Pearson: J.D. –
As I sit here watching the undefeated Suns wax the Mavs (who admittedly have nothing to play for), I’m struck by a thought: Perhaps I do not actually know anything about basketball.
Should I have seen this coming? Is Devin Booker actually the 6th best player in the league? Where the hell did Cam Payne come from? These and so many more questions flood my synapses.
But, even though the Suns process has not been great, they do have a modern NBA team. They have a Harden-lite guard and a center, DeAndre Ayton, who has a chance to mix the best of Brook Lopez (3s, rim protection, post-up scoring in a pinch) with the best of Tyson Chandler (rim protection, vertical spacing). They’ve surrounded those guys with wings who just want to can triples and play defense. Mikal Bridges deflects everything. Cam Johnson is really good, and looks a lot quicker than he ever did at UNC.
My sneaky suspicion is that they’re better without Kelly Oubre, Jr. That dude is good and has some attitude, which I love. But he’s a bit of a ball-stopper in the Morris Brothers vein. He’s also a little below league-average from 3. He can make some, but he doesn’t get a huge amount of respect from defenses. With these guys, the ball is popping around unless Book is dicing people up late in the shot clock.
(live blog – Boban just scored twice in a row on them and then got a Technical for head butting the ball after it came through the rim. They also just showed him next to Ayton, a legit huge human, and made him look tiny. Basketball is the best.)
This is all academic for this season, as the Lakers are going to wax whoever finishes 8th, but the West next year is going to be brutal. Everyone but the Kings and Wolves would be a likely playoff team in the East. That’s 13 teams.
(live blog 2 – Doncic just got hit in the nuts)
Moving along, I’m going to assume you want to talk about Dame, so I’m leaving that one alone.
And I’m not ready to talk about the Pelicans yet. Initial thoughts: Alvin Gentry is getting fired, Zion needs to get less protein in his Smoothie King smoothies, and I think they wasted a draft pick on Jaxson Hayes. More to come on them.
Getting away from specific basketball breakdowns – what about the Bubble has been most intriguing to you from a long-term perspective? Are there things we can takeaway from this that translate with butts in seats?
(also, please give me at least a paragraph on Dame)
J.D. Crabtree: (Live blog 1 – I am watching the first round matchup between the Lakers and Trailblazers, this has big playoff energy! Lakers cut their deficit from 16 to 2. I am pleasantly surprised.)
Cam Payne is from Murray State and originally rural Tennessee, both places (Ja Morant; me) that are known for producing elite guards. Shouldn’t be too surprised.
The Bubble has proved that the NBA, and basketball, is the most impressive sports force on the planet. The players are the most athletic. The likability and culture relates to audiences in their prime. They can handle global pandemics. There’s not any strange World Cup: Qatar or Houston Astros buzzer boys weirdness. And everyone in the league, whether it be front office or staffs or the players, are more progressive than their sport peers. I’m sure this take makes you smile. How could it not. They attacked COVID the right way and are bringing the only enjoyable entertainment to anyone in any medium.
What I think this does is several positives for its brand. Two sides of that:
1) Continues to separate itself from lethargic, lifeless sports such as baseball. I see a world where there is a shift from the current big 3, MLB, NFL, & NBA, to something more like 1. NBA 2a. NFL 2b. MLB 2c. Soccer
2) Continues its international expansion and strengthens its hold on what sport the youths fall in love with.
(Live blog 2 – Anthony Davis feels better than Giannis this second. Super recency bias since the Bucks lost to the Magic in their Game 1. But that’s funny, Orlando with the home Bubble advantage!)
So ya, people are attracted to the best things. Like pimento cheese sandwiches at The Masters (cc: cancel culture). It’s hard to quantify but them nailing all this equates to long-term loyalty.
Dame time:
If Dame continues to play well and has help they’ll go to the Western Conference Finals. He usually plays great in the postseason and doesn’t have help. Then he forces things while double teamed and the stats look bad.
But it appears he has help with a healthy CJ, Nurkić, and an inspired Melo. They have to get by my title favorites in the Lakers, so it will be a major battle. What I am trying to say is Dame can finally do something tier 1 special and cement himself among the current greats. Right now he’s known as an all-star that fights with Russell often.
I believe he has that in him. He is made different.
The Pelicans/Duke alumni are in a weird spot. I hope they don’t become the Cleveland Browns of the NBA and mess up multiple careers of young talent.
Are there any more administrative moves the league can make to distance themselves? Are these playoffs feeling real to you?
(Live blog 3 – Blazers win)
CP: Top bantz, mate. Top bantz indeed.
In a way, the NBA is an embodiment of how corporations have taken an increasingly central role in keeping the United States from splintering in upon itself. Anytime there’s a controversy that you would expect the government to care about or respond to, and they don’t, corporations have stepped in. Most of this is green-washing, mealy-mouthed PR and I don’t think its the correct way to run a modern society, but it is what we have. And I think the NBA actually means it.
I could go on a very long riff here about why the Hong Kong incident does not fit with this narrative and is definitely not the right thing. I will not do that. But, you cannot meaningfully care about everything and if the league chooses to care about the plight of its mostly Black players in the country where they are based, I think that’s a completely rational and moral decision.
They continue distancing themselves from other leagues by doing good things and actually meaning them. That doesn’t seem super hard.
Do the playoffs feel real? Yes, they feel really real. I miss home crowds, but absolutely love the pace. We have 4 games per day as far as the eye can see and I’m working from home. This is incredible – I was honestly offended when Raps/Nets was on NBATV yesterday and I couldn’t watch. I am addicted to 4 games per day. I spent 5 minutes today gchatting someone about Luguentz Dort. I have a problem.
Longer-term – this doesn’t work for a similar reason changing the corner 3 rule doesn’t work. The entire premise of the regular season is built around seeding, and the seeds don’t really matter here. The most impressive teams in the West are currently seeded 8th, 4th and 7th. I’m not backing off my LBJ title pick, but they need to pick it up, and they will. My brain still analyzes series in terms of home-road wins. Like, normally if the Blazers win Game 1 in LA, that’s a huge deal. Its still a big deal in the bubble, but Games 3 and 4 aren’t going to be played in Portland. As we’re analyzing the series, it’s important to remember that.
My biggest nit to pick goes back to your question about how the league continues to distance itself. We’re at a crossroads stylistically, and I think we are trending too far away from the purity of the sport. The NBA needs to step in again, like with the increased hand-check policing in the early 2000s, and fix it.
As I sit here watching the Rockets take 35 3’s in a half, that means eliminating the corner 3. I know that takes a career away from guys like Danuel House, but I don’t care. If you’re a good player, you adapt. I would announce “we are eliminating the corner 3 in the 2023-24 season” and give teams and players a chance to plan accordingly.
Almost every team plays a version of pace-and-space around one uber talented guard. That can be fun – hell, it is fun most of the time. But, the Rockets, and to a lesser extent the Mavs, are taking it too far.
Today, I read a breakdown of potential top NBA draft picks Killian Hayes, LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards. All three could be Doncic-esque playmakers with the entire offense built around them. But right now, none of them can shoot from 3 – under 30% overseas and in college.
Oversimplification: Hayes’ team built its whole offense around him, he shot tons of off-the-bounce 3s and they were terrible. After the German restart, his team came back. He sat to prepare for the draft. They went 6-1-1 (apparently you could tie in this form of basketball). Maybe they shouldn’t have built the entire team around him.
I’m all for teams building their entire offensive ecosystems around transcendent talents like Harden and Doncic. But, if you aren’t transcendent, the league shouldn’t be simple enough that a tall point guard plus spread pick and roll equals a good offense. Teams without that player should be built another way.
Would love to hear your take on stylistic diversity within the league – do you care? Does it ultimately matter?
We’ve also talked a lot about guys who make the leap – who has stagnated or disappointed you in the Magic Kingdom?
JD: Luguentz Dort is a problem…for the opposition.
My only argument against eliminating the corner 3 is space. There are extreme examples like the 76ers (R.I.P. The Process) where good players are all on top of each other. If you eliminate the corner 3 then more real teams, say the Bucks, can’t space shooters (Lopez!). I don’t want two high posts, that means sweet slashing guards are running into lazy defending forwards simply because they are there. These Hulkish humans need space.
The Lakers are dreadful from deep, let’s hope they win and prove that all styles of basketball can get the job done. You don’t have to go back too far to see you don’t have to live and die by guard 3s: ’19 Toronto Raptors. ’16 Cavs. All the Heatles. All the Spurs. ’11 Mavericks. ’51 Rochester Royals.
It’s possible the Rockets style is a silver medal approach. Think the Big 12 for college football, just a little too much glitz and glam…
Which is leading me to your question on stylistic diversity. The NBA functions similar to any other competitive market, when they zig, I’ll zag. If too many people get on the zag train, I dunno, they’ll zap or something. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Ben Wallace-esque Pistons team emerges over the years and steals a title, averaging a ratings favorite 78 PPG.
I care. Diversification makes for a better product. It is what keeps us alive as fans and this is a hybrid of sport and entertainment. The D’Antoni Suns were electric for the league. The Spurs sharing-is-caring approach brought out different emotions. The Big 3 Super Team era was hilarious, mainly watching the Heat win with 3 max players and whoever was on the streets of South Beach that summer. Hell Cooks, even those Pistons stonewallers made us think about what was possible.
So I think I care, and it matters for the league. I am fine with this Bon Voyage approach of Tier 1b teams because it’ll level itself out naturally. Sort of like our environment or politics. I joke!
Ahh yes, the bubbliest of boys. Let’s see who has disappointed. In no particular order:
– Embiid (just win one)
– Caldwell-Pope (an absolute disaster when the Lakers needed him to overachieve)
– Horford (such a sad decline we are about to see)
– All the Nuggets not named Jokic or Murray (you are the reason Murray will be maxing elsewhere)
– Russell Westbrook
Let me explain that last one. This might be me, but there always seems to be a reason why Russ can’t get over the hump. He was too young with Thunder. Then he had no help. Then Paul George wasn’t the answer. Needed more pieces (or time) in Houston. Now he’s plain injured.
All I’m saying is when will Russell take a series that goes down in history, doesn’t even have to be the finals. I’m not rooting against him, simply waiting to root for something.
Cooks, who are your meekest bubblers? And why don’t you close us out like a good reverend would.
CP: In terms of players, the Clippers outside of Kawhi have been pretty terrible, and that Marcus Morris stomp on Luka was bush league. But, I don’t think anyone has been truly dreadful outside of games 1-4 Playoff P. Maybe it just takes him a second to realize it’s the playoffs?
I think my true meekest bubblers are anyone on Twitter calling for the NBA players to shut up and dribble. The NBA, and the world, has been through some stuff since we started this thread.
Overall, I’m glad the league is continuing to use its platform to be the change it wishes to see.
Honestly, that’s probably all I should say about the topic because no one really gives a shit what I think. (fwiw, the players are right and if making all the stadiums voting sites swings a state, I will kindly redirect all our readers back to the previous version of the Mid Range).
Let’s basketball, let’s come together, let’s have fun, let’s make a difference, let’s flip the White House and the Senate.
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