Around the NBA 2022 Playoffs: The Thread

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by THE HCP, Apr 10, 2022.

  1. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    Ok.
     
  2. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    The more I think of it the more confident I am that he’s top 10.

    MJ
    LJ
    KAJ
    Kobe
    Magic
    Duncan
    Shaq
    Russell
    Steph
    Wilt
    Bird
    Hakeem
    Oscar
     
  3. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    The fact that you have him over three guys who were two way juggernauts when his team has to bail him out any time any player posts him up on defense is crazy. Wilt, Bird and Hakeem dominated on both ends of the court. Do you think Steph dominates on both ends of the court? Oh and Oscar wasn't a defensive liability either he just didn't dominate on both ends the way the other three you put below Steph did.
     
  4. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    I have a hard time with Wilts lack of titles and the fact that he played against plumbers. Oscar too. Legends but sorry, the game is different. Mike Trout is a better player than Babe Ruth. And Bird, who I love, is close. But while his defense was good, it wasn’t “dominant”. All defense 2nd team three times. That’s good. Not dominant. All great players. Steph transformed the game by himself. Period. He’s won 4 titles, the best shooter ever (it’s not close), is underrated defensively, gets to the rim extremely well (he’s not just a shooter), he’s the perfect teammate, a good passer, he’s in my top 10. I wouldn’t call Tim Duncan elite offensively (19 ppg, 50% FG) but he was a winner, defensively elite, a winner, and top 10.
     
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  5. Fairly-Hard

    Fairly-Hard Former Member Gone New!

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    I watched Larry Bird his entire career. I seriously never thought he was dominant on the defensive end. Smart yes. He did make plays but the game was much different then and he was never asked to play the kind of defense players must play now. That was not his role. On top of that for the last 4 years of his career he was nursing a bad back most of the time. He was pretty slow and certainly was not a jumper.
    One of the all time greats most certainly but "Dominant on Defense"? I don't really think so.
     
  6. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Curry isn’t better than Bird. Geezus. And Akeem was better on both ends of the court.
     
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  7. KSF-ERIC

    KSF-ERIC Well-Known Member

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    Jordan is better. Not close. Look at Jordan’s resume. It’s ridiculous. All time stats don’t mean much. No one considers Stockton the best PG ever (except maybe me) and he leads in assists and steals.
     
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  8. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    But he's in the conversation, which is the same that can be said about LeBron.
     
  9. PtldPlatypus

    PtldPlatypus Let's go Baby Blazers! Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    Phone Swypos are the best.
     
  10. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    If you combine their luxury tax payment and their salaries, this GS roster cost upwards of 350 mil. That's the kinda financial commitment it takes to win.

    Their 4th highest paid player makes 26 mil. They have 3 players making more than 30. They have two players making more than 40.
     
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  11. Mr. Robot

    Mr. Robot Well-Known Member

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    gsw could win another chip next season and thats frightening, but that will depend on health & motivation

    klay will have entire season to get his shot back and work on his movement (remember how pg 13 looked after the injury and how he looks now), poole should get better with a lot of playing time and possibly bigger role to get him ready for the playoffs, wiggins & steph are fine as they are, their young guys (wiseman, moody, kuminga) should get playing time to develop themselves... my only concern for them is dray, he didnt looked like the player he once was, although last night he was terrific
     
  12. wizenheimer

    wizenheimer Well-Known Member

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    somebody needs to do a comparison of Warriors vs Blazers revenue. I think GS has led the NBA in gate receipts for years now. I think they have a new local TV contract worth several times that of Portland. And an international streaming rights deal. And naming rights contracts worth millions a year

    it's easy to make a giant financial commitment when the cash is constantly flowing in. And of course it's easier to make that commitment when you definitely know you're a contender and not a pretender. In other words, comparison of financial situations might be a lot of apples to oranges. The age old big-market/small-market skew. It very well might be the Warriors can be profitable with a 350M payroll while Portland can't be at half that number
     
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  13. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    irrelevant to me as a fan. i just want a championship.

    if being profitable is an indirect prerequisite to building a winning roster, then we have no chance at fielding a competitive team at all. profit-sharing be damned.
     
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  14. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    Warriors won't win next year.
     
  15. e_blazer

    e_blazer Rip City Fan

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    But isn’t that a chicken vs egg situation? Before Curry, Green and Thompson blossomed into the basketball machine that they’ve become, the Warriors couldn’t have been profitable paying that money either. If Olshey had actually built around Dame with an eye towards contending instead of just making the playoffs, that better version of the Blazers might be a much more lucrative cash machine than the current mess. Product probably trumps market size. Or maybe that’s what you meant?
     
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  16. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    But they had those guys as rookies, who eventually blossomed into great players and weren’t paid a lot. Once they started to be a dynamic core, and started winning, they could start to spend. You have to have these guys young and let them grow. Like don’t trade away the 7th pick stuff
     
  17. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    that's fine and all, but they didn't win this year only because of Curry/Dray/Klay. their second best player in the finals (as i had been saying for a while) was andrew wiggins. and the only way they got him on their roster was by doing a S&T with KD to land Russell, who they turned into Wiggins. they were already in luxury tax territory but did not bat an eye at signing a $30 mil risk (russell) in order to move him for a better fit later on. You can say this takes vision, but it's a risk that requires a strong foundation and deep pockets. The strategy is much the same when you consider their acquisition of Oubre last year at 14 mil cost them almost 86 mil in tax payments. Same with Payton II this year, and Porter, etc, etc.

    we used to have an owner who used to recklessly spend like this. i miss those days.
     
  18. Pinwheel1

    Pinwheel1 Well-Known Member

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    It seems to me that Wiggins got a lot of disrespect from this board in the past. I never really understood why except people took it out on him for not living up to being drafted #1. So was it good coaching by Kerr or being surrounded by the Warrior players for his improvement?
     
  19. illmatic99

    illmatic99 formerly yuyuza1

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    lil of both. this has now become a talking point among the NBA media folk last few days. Who is the next Wiggins, and can our team rescue him with a change of scenery?

    Apparent criteria for said target:
    - strong foundational talent who is miscast as a #1.
    - coachable, desire to improve.
    - willingness to listen. Recall his anti-vax stance to start the year. But he listened to his teammates who convinced him to change his mind for the team.
    - strong skills at least on one end of the floor. Wiggins was always a strong defender. His offensive inefficiency was more the problem in Minny.
    - zero injury history.
    - Overpaid with dwindling trade value.

    Possible names for us:
    - Karl Towns, but his trade value is sky high at the moment unfortunately.
    - Ben Simmons (injury list building)
    - Jonathan Isaac (again a long injury history)
    - Bagley
    - Bamba
    - Ayton
    - Toppin

    Ayton is sticking out to me. He's only 23. Can he take a leap? If he has a higher ceiling than where he is now, why not kick the tires?
     
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  20. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    Simmons (healthy) would have been phenomenal here, but with CJ's contract gone, that ship has sailed.

    Love Isaac's defensive chops....when healthy.
    Think Bamba could work here as he was starting to play some '4' in Orlando opposite WCJr.
     

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