₦airaland Forum

steady986:
At this point, Jokic is surely the MVP. I've seen enough. You lose your sidekick to injury and what follows is you leading your team on a 9-1 run. Naah, give that man his MVP.

No doubt. I was hoping AD would step into that role this year, but I do not remember him ever being so fragile. Are Lakers just being cautious?

A40:
Do you know how many times Chris Paul has choked or can you compare his playoff performances to Steph?

See, you Curry apologists keep missing the point. You assume I am attacking Curry. Im simply putting out the facts - Curry is far better offensively than CP3 will ever hope to be. But CP3 is by far the better floor general. Everything is not shade my peoples, accept the fact of life as it is.


While you are accepting that fact, also accept that a half injured Lebron in his 17th year and so much mileage still being in the top 5, maybe top 3 players in the league is bananas.

I am not stressing the Lakers - regular season wins mean jack at this point. They need to get back in sync, tinker with the rotations in prep for the playoffs. Everything else, including seeding is secondary

DeeMain:
Guy, most of your debates are laced with insults. Pipe down and learn to engage in robust arguments without personal attacks.

sometimes he makes good points. but once I see the agbero software loading, me I duck

Blueelf:
Gary Payton no get ring?

Lmao, you dey watch basketball at all?

Google na your friend oga

I had to google that, for real. with dwade, shaq, I dont even remember him playing . na to collect ring ba? lol

benji93:
Oh and he's still yet to get a championship with all that knowledge?

So yesterday, Curry went off as usual for 27 pts, on 50% shooting, including 5 3s . Killer stats, yeah? Guess how many assists the "PG" had? 2. And they lost by 30+. At one point Mavs went on a 25-0 run!

shey u now understand why playoff rings doesnt mean best player. Barkley has 0, but Draymond has 3. Robert Horry has like 8 lol. Even Steve Kerr get ring and Gary Payton no get ring. Tmac no even smell WCF. Beal will likely never get one either. Such is life boss.

A40:
Na wa oh. Same CP3 that could not lead that Clippers squad to a conference final?

Is it Steph that would teach Wiggins and Oubre to score efficiently?

OK lets break down the clippers odoriferous saga. I know you remember Mr Glass, who always got injured come playoffs. In fact, all the playoff runs in those years was CP3 doing the best he could, getting them into the playoffs in spite of injuries. Do you remember CP3 feeding Deandre lob passes? Where do you think "lob city" came from? And that is my point! He turned DeAndre into an offensive weapon by studying the guys game. You can say they never reached WCF, true, but I can tell you DeAndre got huge contract out of it, looking like he could double double every night. If they had Mr glass consistently playing they would have come out of the WCF several times.

And that is what the best PGs do. They take time to learn each players style of play. And feed them where they are most effective. Magic did it. Lebron does it to an extent. Timmy D is the only other big I know that had flashes of it. One guy pushes his teams capabilities because he studies everyone and makes them better. Another keeps his team in the game by prodigious scoring ability. You can pick which you prefer, I just happen to think making a team stronger is more valuable.

benji93:
Bullshit. Did he not have Harden, the MVP? Abi he makes everyone better now. He could have helped him get a ring. Everyone was all over the place on how they would have won if he didn't get injured the first time. But well the floor general got another chance at it and instead of taking advantage, he choked. . And don't forget Curry had one without Durant.

He was injured, and Rockets consequently lost the series. On the other hand, Curry still had Klay. so yeah, he is still >>> Curry as a floor general. Next?

AjanleKoko:
I visited yet again, but nobody home

agba ti de

benji93:
I beg komot for there. Maybe CP3 should study Steph more and get a ring. . They impact the game differently. At most double team? Now i know you don't watch the games. Besides, by draw i was also referring to attention. You could sometimes see the whole team focusing on the man.

If he had Klay and Durant, he would have rings too boo

benji93:
Bullshit. The stats say otherwise. They would probably be worse. CP3 may be the epitome of floor coordination, but let me put this out there, the situation Curry consistently creates by drawing, in some cases all 5 players of the opposition to himself is as effective as floor coordination if not more. Besides curry missed about 7 games at a point during the season, and the team was 1 of 7 in those games. I assume you were looking past that. First of all this team will likely be at the very bottom cos CP3 will need to bring a lot of points to the table. Are you talking about a team whose starter, Oubre was terrible early on? or a team whose center is a rookie and injured? or the fact that even Wiggins who is averaging 18 points per game scores most of his points when they are meaningless. I would rather not talk about Draymond green, the triple single master with 6.7 points, who missed some games early on too. Stop talking as if all you look at are certain aspects of the box score. Look at the minutes, games played, and the contribution of the starters. Go and look at the stats sheet of OKC last season and check the production of the starters. Some may assume that perhaps CP3 made them better, but that's hard to argue cos the only guy that fared worse Danilo Gallinari, dropping from 18.7 points to 13.4 points this year also has his minutes average reduced from 30 to 24, so it's not quite clear. So please you can praise CP3 for all his floor commanding abilities but opining that he would do better with this GSW team is something else.

curry draws at most a double team. Never all 5. Even then its usually another player helping, not a full double team. You know why? Because Curry will make his supernatural 3s, and you cant do much about that. But Curry cannot pick apart a defense the way a CP3 can. So you bother him with help defense, and live with his shot. But you know Wiggins and co will remain under-utilized, so you have a shot of still beating the warriors.

Before you respond all angry, I m just telling you that Curry has the same issue a lot of offensive juggernauts have, that is people will live with your 40 as long as the rest of your team under achieves. The next evolution in Curry's game is to study CP3 and know how to pick spots for his teammates.

A40:
Any healthy form of Brooklyn will rinse Miami. Of course like boxing they might have a puncher's chance to steal a game or two but that's about it

The Game has so much changed from the 04 Pistons era. You can't rough up players now like you could then

Remember, refs do take into account the style of play of teams and let them play to an extent. But like you said, even breathing on Durant or Harden will draw fouls. Make we dey look

A40:
A healthy Brooklyn squad will tear Miami to shreds. Their danger right now is injury as that team just feels jinxed

But thats the point isnt it? I mentioned if Heat stays healthy and gets enough time to gel versus Nets getting Harden and Durant back in the last 2 weeks gives the Heat a shot at an upset. Not because they are more talented, but just are a better team. That championship Detroit Pistons team was ugly, but they would grind it out as a team.

. Una see unaself? Is it ok to now revisit CP3 being a much better floor general than Curry will ever be? CP3 on the warriors team will be in the playoffs right now, bank on it! True, he will never be the lights out shooter Curry is, but he has more impact imo. Not only in terms of bball IQ, but leading the troops to war. The way the Suns win games is the way OKC was wining games last year

Father protect me from the arrows of the alacurrys. Back to sender

A40 I told yall the Heat are a clear and present danger for Nets

aliondo:
Lamarcus Aldridge .

A good player in his heydays tho especially at Portland...Wish you all the best in your future endeavors...

He never really broke out, and I am not sure why. He had a good post game, had a sure banker midrange jumper. Was it defense, game smarts? I really dont know, but I felt he should have had more impact in the league than he did. I dont think going to the Spurs was a good move either - it was a small market, with boring basketball, which killed his visibility. On the right team, he could have done more.

Anyhow, life with fam is more important. I hope he enjoys his retirement! 15years is not beans. Still a great career anyhow you look at it

A40:
The Nets have figured out who runs their ship already. So long as Harden plays the point and KD and Kyrie stick to scoring they would be fine

Forget Heat they are not sneaking up on anybody this year. I really think the only team that poses any real threat to Brooklyn in the East are the Bucks. Ben Simmons and his refusal to be anything other than a 6'10 Rondo will likely doom the Sixers

I agree about the bucks, but then I think about how Giannis perpetually flames out in the post season

Thanos:
Well, I'm calling it. The nostardamus-esque psychic that told Skip Bayless that TB12 would win last years's championship has told me that the nets are not even going to make the finals. Bookmark this post.

No wonder the time infinity stone disappeared with you. It is well.

The one problem the Nets have is that there is only one ball. This is the same issue the Lakers had with Kobe, Shaq, GP and Karl Malone vs Pistons 2004. If the Nets run into a team like the Detroit Pistons of 2004, they could be in trouble. That team had a world class coach (Larry Brown), world class defense (all 5 starters were stingy), a savvy floor general (Billups) and everybody bought in. Ben Wallace didnt have to get the rock. You didnt have to draw up plays for Tayshaun Prince. Rip Hamilton was fine getting 15 or 30 points.

Three teams in the league right now that could have that identity by end of the season: Heat, Utah, Lakers*. I put asterisk on Lakers because their star players have missed too much time to gel. The Heat fit the bill 100%, so its possible the Nets might not come out of the East

Roland17:
The Celtics did what I predicted. Danny Ainge is a very careful GM and I did not expect him to splash. We got Fournier who is a decent scorer and can help shoulder some of the burden.

Are the celtics serious about coming out of the east, or they just want to win games. This roster may not get out of the second round the way teams are loading up!

Afromentalist:
Lamarcus aldrige to the Nets.

I thought KD wanted to win on his own?

Anyway the game is more likely than not, OVER

I spoke too soon

aliondo:
Hey guys..been a while...

Something to discuss on....pretty good trades ranging from Tucker to Bucks, Gordon to Nuggets, Oladipo to Miami...

But Rondo to Clippers and Sweet Lou to Hawks, cool to discuss about?

A40
Roland17
SmooshCHN
Deemain
Birdman

Rondo is done imo. Even last year he had to will himself every time he shot the ball. I feel like this is a bad move for the clips.

I am happy for Oladipo to get a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. The guy has a lot of doubters in the league and I hope he disappoints them. I just like how the guy composes himself. Even when he was in the sinking ship of the rockets, he was a class act.

The Nuggets getting Gordon is the only eye popping thing I see so far. The west was already going to be a blood bath come playoffs. Now it will be a vicious blood bath

Actually I have been eyeing Aldridge and Drummond to see where they end up. I would like Lakers to pick up Drummond, I think they need him badly. My fantasy team needs him badly . I dont know what Aldridge has left in the tank, but Im sure theres a team out there that will need him.

A40:
Well. The losing streak is now officially over

On paper this team should not have racked so many losses. But then you have guys like John Wall going 8/30

The 4 best players on the team have been out for good chunks of this losing streak. Plus there is a lot of mental baggage from the the best player, the coach and GM exiting so acrimoniously and on short notice. I feel bad for Silas sort of, but things like these should toughen him up. I liked his dad, and I can just see the old man encouraging his son in that coach's voice...patience son

A40:
20. You lost to a Thunder team without Gilgeous Alexander and Horford. It's clear your team is tanking hard

At this point it is mental. Even the coach's body language is not good, if you see as e wan cry during the interview. He was dealt a bad hand, but such is life. He needs to suck it up and press on. Yeah I know, easy to say, hard to do. This looked like a great job with a great team. And then it wasnt. Life

Roland17:
15 seed Oral Roberts have pulled the upset against No 2 seed Ohio State. It’s March, it’s madnesss!!!

ORU of all teams. LOL. I havent had the mind to follow ncaa this year.

A40:
I dey sorry for Birdman sha. 17 losses in a row. You legit have to wonder if the Rockets will win another game this season

rotation no make sense. too many injuries. I didnt expect us to even sniff playoffs. But 17 straight is still shocking. Tankeroooski

afrodoc2:
Congrats. Don’t waste your house officer money unless your people are loaded.

Decide quickly where you wanna go and start studying and sitting for the appropriate exams.

As a doctor your chances of living a good life increase exponentially when you leave Naija.

It seems only private practice makes sense in Nigeria. But even for that you need the initial money

joshboo:
Which kind yarns be this, nothing is being taken away from Jimmys legacy, Even though they lost what he did last season is enough to put him in The leagues Elite. But how you sef reason am, the reverse on what you wrote is supposed to be the case if anything about him not joining up. He improved every team he's been on since he left the bulls. Timberwolves made the playoffs with him, see howfar the Sixers went with him save kahwis brillance, see what he did with the heat last season. Only few players can have such impact on teams over all performances, lbj, cp3 kahwi etc so abeg him not joining up cos he was loyal to bam dosent make him inferior in any way abeg. James harden the choker can do what Butler did last season let's be honest, between the guys been injury prone in recent times him use this opportunity rest very well.

you read what I wrote wrong. I didn't say he wasn't a superstar. I said the guy himself doesn't think he is a superstar. As in, there is some complex going on. Just my opinion, based on how he is self sabotaging himself. His allstar excuse is lame

Buuut, since you brought it up, maybe he is right. Butler has a second gear, but honestly, thats it. Once he runs into a team prepared to hustle as hard as him, his lack of talent shows up. Imo, he will always be one level below nba superstardom, as in we can build a championship team around you level of skill. Am I wrong?

SmooshCHN:
Totally unrelated to basketball. I was hoping this day would come and here it is.
No, it's not my wedding announcement. I never reach that stage.


This thread has been a blessing to me in every way possible. Kept me busy, kept me happy and kept me company through med school. NL was the first tab I open almost every morning in the last like 5/6yrs because I know this thread would help me get through the day even when my Warriors would lose by 35. Don't get me started on playoffs when I'm always writing exams. I remember rushing my papers to catch the Warriors finals vs Cavs only for Iguodala to get blocked by James. Good times sha. Thank you guys for helping me in ways you can't imagine. The semi-depressed times, everything. Thank you guys from Ersan (I have to mention him for obvious reasons ) to everyone one. I don't want to skip anyone's name. Thank you Guys.

I was inducted yesterday and you guys were part of the journey. Still confused about what next to do cos it's Nigeria but thank you Guys. Thank you so much.
I could have posted a picture but yunno


_{ps: the Celtics are still trash and the Lakers are not repeating. thanks}

Congrats my man. I almost missed this. You might work for celtics one day

Roland17:
So I understand Butler turned down the opportunity to be a replacement player at the All Star because Bam was not nominated.. This would be the 2nd time he is skipping All Star appearance for personal reasons that has nothing to do with basketball.
I can assure you that when all is done and decades from now, he will have some regrets about it because these selections represent stats that could be the difference between him being remembered as an all timer or just a regular Star player..

I suspect he secretly feels he is not a superstar and not deserving of an all-star. Because this self-sabotage is going to look really foolish when his career is done.

Roland17:
Smart is an integral piece for the Celtics, however, the Celtics problem is bigger than the absence of one player. There is absolutely no team chemistry of awareness on the defensive end. We have not practiced enough and have battled with inconsistencies with rotation. This is on Brad to fix and coach us out of. I trust him 100% and believe he can get us out of this mess. Again, I am comforted that this is happening before the All Star.

Or better yet, get a defensive minded assistant coach? Most coaches are great on one end, usually unable to make good adjustments on the other end. For example JVG and Thiboudeau are excellent defensive coaches, but their offense sucked. Just telling players to play harder wont solve the issue,

I remember you arguing about Brads coaching skills. I am yet to be convinced he is as good as you say. Primarily, I am talking about in-game adjustments, especially during playoffs. Brad is consistently underwhelming imo. He has been saved by having scrappy players. But scrappy only gets you so far.

etidy:
If the lakers fail to repeat. One of the key reasons will be letting Dwight Howard and javale go and replacing him with Gasol this dude is outright useless at this stage in his career

unfortunately, u right. The injury bug has aggravated an already bad situation. The biggest issue for me is AD, I expected him to be a beast this year and officially take over from Lebron.

nairamaniac:
Steph is more unique. Creating 3's by oneself in such high volume and off the dribble is incredible.


But Durant shd be the most efficient scorer since Kobe&Tracy Macgrady at their primes.

Durant is tmac 2.0. less nice. tougher minded. talks less. beefs more. This is coming from a tmac fan btw. skillwise tmac was in another league compared to kobe - he always won their head-to-head matchups. But Kobe outworked him. sometimes being naturally skilled can work against you, you learn to coast and still be good enough. yes, you can tell it still pains me till today tmac never got a ring. Shout out to tmac for his work in the sudan. will never be forgotten.