₦airaland Forum

A40:
Bucks and Nuggets averaged 27 3s or less in the Finals.

So you're telling half truths at best

I used playoffs. Maybe you should read exactly what I wrote.
As for half-truths, only Denver shot less than 30 3s in the finals , the Bucks shot a total of 187 in 6 games, that is over 30 attempts per game.

A40:
You do realize he has the joint record for most 3s in a half in the NBA Finals right?

Anyway I don't know how you came to such wack conclusions that I admitted anything. Did the Nuggets, Bucks, Lakers need to spam 3s to win a title?

Even The Nuggets were 2-0 against them in the regular season last year. Did they spam 3s

The Bulls will only need to shoot enough. As any logical person would understand

All of the teams you claimed didn't spam 3s, all attempted over 30 3PA in the playoffs during the year they won.

A40:
This is big jokes

There's nothing last year's Celtics does at an elite clip besides spam 50 3s a night. Quit criminally overrating this era of ball. There's no Luka or Kyrie on MJs Bulls that you could relentlessly hunt

It will be a matter of a glorified 3pt contest in today's rules. Best case scenario. And if Antman and Tatum can spam 3s what makes you think MJ wouldn't?

No way you man's are gassing the team that lost to Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin. (and before you mention Jrue Holiday, I'd remind you he was on the team Jimmy beat in 5)

Two bad shooting nights and they're toast.

I thought MJ was the perfect player and the way he played is the most effective and efficient way to win. If so, why does he need to shoot 3s.
Or are you admitting that spamming 3s as you call it will beat the long 2s barrage of the 90s anyday anytime.

birdman:
I know you love to troll, chill na, allow for thanksgiving abeg

I don't troll anything. I have a genuine question, all those who love claiming the 90s were so great, please when was the last time people actually went back and watched a whole game not highlights? I recently finished watching the bulls first championship finals and the one they beat the Suns and the basketball was for a better word primitive.
None of the teams listed apart from GSW would be able to guard a 5 out offense because they've never seen it, the Bulls and Lakers would implement a triangle offense would be so easy for the Celticsto defend. MJ and Co would face defensive schemes they never saw in their time playing. They would have to face more than two defensive looks in a basketball game.
The Celtics would have open look, after open look on the perimeter,because teams never switched in those days and they all thought 3s were bad shots, so they would not defend it.

PS: Unless this is one of those discussions were we are magically adding skillsets that none of these players had in their playing days to make sure that they can adapt to modern basketball. If these OGs play the way they played in their days, then I am sorry none of those series go beyond 5.

birdman:
I like how you posed the question. It makes more sense to compare teams than individual players. Still though, the comparison ultimately will not make sense. When you change the rules, you change the winners. Know this and know peace. Celtics that just won the ring spamming 3s would not smell conference finals in any other era. Even from the pictures you shared, you can see one team looking like they could be boxers or nfl players. And another team looking like ballet dancers

A head to head matchup therefore cannot happen, because which rules will you play by? The 80s? or 2010s? All that being said, NBA wants to broaden its reach to new fans, especially women. I dont think new fans want to watch defensive wrestling matches where neither team cracks 90.

However, all that being said, there is one thing that the earlier eras have that is not present today, that could still give them the edge. Mindset. We have a few throwbacks in today's league like Lebron, Durant, Curry. But by and large, with all the skill and training and health protocols, they soft as charmin toilet paper. Can you mention Embiid in the same sentence as Bill Russell and not slap yourself?


Lemme go slap myself

Last year Celtics is beating all of the above save the Warriors. In a series the longest any of it will last is 5 games

Roland17:
Why do we keep giving up the switch on the P&R against Curry. Curry is smoking us on those P&R.

Because he his lights out from 3. People we have to move with the times if you don't give up the switch that means you are willing to live with that player's long range shooting. Steph is the one player no coach is taking that risk with

steady986:
This 2024 draft class is ass sha. Jeez. I had to even go and google the no. 1 pick again so I can be sure who he is. Every single one of them is terrible so far this year. Don't worry, Bronny is in good company

This class was projected as a class of role players and long shot developmental gambles.

steady986:
Westbrook don carry hin bad luck go Denver

He can only play on bad teams, with no PG, where his playmaking, hustle and aggressiveness will act as a floor raiser.

The Wiggins news is why I will always say it's better people wait before jumping to conclusions. Dude's father was probably terminally sick and he had to hear BS rumors that he was not the father of his children.

Android17:
Nice to bring this back.
Still the most influential.

This is not an argument, the is CONCRETE FACT. Not only did Steph change the game, on the outside, he gave the analytics people that the nba bain trust used to shit upon, a leg to stand on.
For nearly 2 decades the few analytics guys in the league have been saying it was better to shoot 3s than the long 2s, they have been saying don't challenge a shot blocking big at the rim if you can bring them out to the perimeter on a PnR,but none of the nbas brain trust agreed with them up until Curry. As soon as the 3s thing proved to be true, they had to start listening to other things as well.

kendrick93:
Don't underestimate how much it influences a player stats when an entire team are dedicated to setting screens for you.
With rules meant to inflate offensive stats.

Genuine question, is an offense based on setting screens not part of the game?.
Its like having a striker like van nisteroy and saying you know he won't be effective if his team does not have good crossers of the ball.

greypencils:
Curry na my guy but person gats tell the truth. Without those screens, he can't do much damage unlike my guy KD, Kobe or Lebron who will create separation using a fadeaway. Here at the Olympics, there is no servant to be giving screens like Draymond would.

Is that not like saying without getting an entry pass, Kareem, The Dream, both Malones, Duncan etc cannot do damage?

A40:
Lol. Guy. Those two are not boys. And to be honest I have no issues with it. It's better we know now than we alarmingly came to find out with MJ and Pippin

That's just not the response you give to your partner in crime not being called to the team. They've been teammates for 7 years.

There's something there. Maybe mutual jealousy even. Their personality can be such to where it never gets overt but camaaan

There's a few whispers or whispering about JB and his SJW/Woke tendencies that have got him a bad rap in the past. JT is the more commercially acceptable less polarizing guy and so he gets pushed front and center more

Kawhi is not that big of a star compared to Bron, KD and Steph. I can actually make a basketball excuse for why JB wasn't taken. There's more need for a Derrick White than a Jaylen Brown. Especially considering Olympic ball is different.

This whole JB thing is just nonsense. D White is a better fit for Olympic team than he his. They needed at least one other person apart from Jrue who is comfortable playing without taking shots. The team already has enough scorers

A40:
I'm being as neutral as I can be.

The defending is the only thing he does at a passable level. And at that one will also have to factor the caliber of opposition in summer league and his lack of size (which for whatever reason he didn't inherit)

They say he can be a 3 and D guy but how is that possible? The kid cannot shoot

Did you see video of Cooper Flagg with the Olympic team. That should give you a hint of just how much behind the 8ball Bronny is.

LeNomad will have to at some point decide if just being on an NBA floor with the kid is his priority or does he want the boy to have an actual basketball career

Wonders shall never end, so we are comparing a 55th pick to Cooper Flagg
a boy who teams have been trying to tank for, since he was 13. Since I have been watching and following the nba, this is possibly the most ridiculous comparison I have ever seen.

PS: Flagg would have gone 1 overall in this draft when he was 15 years old, not to talk of now.

A40:
Allow people talk whatever they want to talk and pushback on what they said. Their critique is not wrong and they are free to it

If Lebron's taking cuts so his undeserving pikin can remain on the team then why all this una argument since.

What is the average lifespan of a 55th round pick? Since you pointed out that we've never had 5 guys drafted that low that made it in the NBA then why are you surprised at the reaction to him getting the type of contract a player drafted that low got.

Did it occur to you that if 55th picks were getting 3year guaranteed deals with a 4th year team option there would be more 55th pick success stories

If he fails then it only proves he should never have been there in the first place. People are not haters for pointing this out

He's fair game so allow people express their opinions

It is telling when people don't even know how nba contracts work before they start talking. 2nd round picks contracts do not count towards the salary cap, so teams are allowed to sign them to whatever contract they are comfortable giving them. Many teams have given 3/4 years guaranteed contracts to 2nd round picks for years and over 80% of them still don't pan out. So please do your homework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD2kOti016U?si=PvJoSIDtwvsnym1M

Link of the juiced stats video breakdown

A40:
Again. You're quite terrible at drawing parallels. Lance Stroll is a competent driver that went through the grind. He was not rushed into the league like LeNepo.

Thanasis went through the grind. He was drafted. Bad example

Nothing consign me with your Belichick example. That's administrative position and irrelevant to the argument

And who the hell said nepotism doesn't happen in sports? Abi you don drink ogogoro ni. And are confused about what you're arguing about

You mentioned Gaddafi son and whoever but who was celebrating and making it a cute storyline? Who was celebrating Belichick or Pederson or Rodgers? Don't they get criticized and cooked? Don't sports shows drag Nathaniel Hackett everytime

Didn't Austin Rivers get shitted on forgetting he actually went to Duke and was a lottery pick on his own merit. Don't Bronsexuals insult Pelinka and question his merit everytime something goes wrong and refuse to give him credit when he does the right things?

You keep obfuscating the argument. Nobody is denying existence of nepotism. We're saying stop telling people to romanticize or not to criticize a player who they don't believe has earned his spot in the league. He can only silence critics with his play, that's it, so quit trying to shame anyone who's not impressed or enamored with this father/son storyline.

The same way undeserving products of nepotism are usually criticized is the same standard that should be maintained. You have told us your son is better than guys in the league while in HS. Time to show and prove

Oga my point is that people were talking as if the 55th pick in the nba has never always been an after thought. For me Bronny was not a draft able prospect, but you know what I won't do is act as if the 55th pick was a big deal. Late 2nd round picks have never been considered assets in the nba, but people are talking as if the Lakers made such a huge investment on picking the kid. As an aside LeBrons pay cut whether we like it or not is the equivalent of his son's 1st 2 years payout.
So in essence all the Lakers spent on the boy over the next two years is the 55th pick of a draft we have all been told was bereft of talent.
If wish the kid all the best, but if the boy fails that is not a huge deal as far as I am concerned because nobody can name 10 or even 5 guys who were picked from 55th and under picks who have ever made it in the nba.

PS: Whether people celebrated or not, those guys still kept those positions and nothing happened.

benji93:
What is your problem? Do you even have an idea where this began. Your fellow Le '4-6' fan argued that teams were willing to draft him higher than 55, suggesting he was better than the 55th pick(Unless he meant NBA teams are at the mercy of the mighty Lebron and so are willing to do what he tells them) and to that i say definitely not. He doesn't have a better resume than all those drafted above him. Very simple.

I am am a sports fan, I don't give a damn about LeBron, the idea that a 55th pick in a nba draft that every analyst swore up and down was trash, all of a sudden is a big deal is my issue. Nepotism didn't start and will not end with LeBron, the Lakers have an owner who got the gig because of it, a GM who got his gig because he was Kobe's pal.
My point is Bronny got drafted because of Nepotism, but if you want to claim his stats were a reason he should never have been drafted then that is BS, because examples abound of guys especially in the one and done era who got drafted with bad stats in college, heck I remember a first round pick that didn't even play in his one year in college and still got picked.

A40:
Kobe retired. Who was supposed to come immediately.

Why LeNomad sef no go Sacramento or Utah? Shey na only Lakers dey?

People can't say Lakers did not attract players and then still act shocked that even now coaches and players are turning Lakers down again led by a diminishing Bron, like most Bronsexual cult members have been doing all over social media. You guys have to pick a struggle. Either they are a relevant franchise or they are not

You're doing a lot of false equivalence with Thanasis. However you feel about him Thanasis actually earned his way into the league. He was drafted the year after his brother so you can't even compare the two. Thannis was in the D-league, he played and earned his stripes. He wasn't handed guaranteed contracts before playing

Bronny did not earn nothing. and that's ok to say out loud. Why are y'all fighting people for that. Nobody asked overzealous soldier JJ Redick to claim he earned what we all know he didn't earn. Nepo babies don't pretend they earned anything, they just live.

The Buss example is also laughable. Who would call nepotism if LeBron makes his son President of Uninterrupted? No be him company? Who e for put.


Sports is unique as it's primarily physical performance based. What part of it is not clicking to you? Tinubu making his son Super Eagles goalkeeper will surely draw more scrutiny than Tinubu making his son NFF President

The boy is a Laker for the foreseeable future however looking at the circumstances of his drafting and all the junk his father has said about him being better than players in the league, if it turns out he's not up to snuff. He's going to need therapy.

That's the price you pay for putting your child in the direct line of fire

Sports is unique? Since when? Lance stroll has a drive in F1 right now that everyone knows he doesn't deserve. Senna's son got a drive he definitely never deserved because of his surname. Thatanis is making bank with both the Bucks and Nike because of his surname. Bill Belicheck gave his son a coaching gig he had no idea of what to do, he then gave a defensive coordinator and a specials team coach joint offense coordinators because they were his boys. The Jets not only brought an offensive coordinator who is trash but also signed 3 players they didn't need because Aaron Rodgers asked for it. The Jaguars have a tight end on the roster whose only qualification is that he his the head coaches son
So please pass me with that BS, that nepotism doesn't occur in sports. I have forgotten the seria
A side that gave Gaddafi son a team slot , or the Chinese man that bought a football team and made sure his obese son played in it. Or are we forgetting Doc rivers giving his son a contract that no one else would have, even Pelinka only got the Lakers GM job because he was Kobe's guy.
So I repeat in which universe was sports ever an exception to nepotism?

A40:
Me I'm not one of those that care about the nepotism thing. Jordan owned a team and had a son averaging 15pg in a D1 school. He could draft his son where he wanted but Boomer dads and Millennial fathers are not the same. Boomer parents ain't handing you shyte

We all know he's a nepo baby so it's poor form when guys like JJ come and tell people he earned it. You're insulting everyone's intelligence atp including yours

And also people are allowed to critique and point out that your son might not be good enough to play. It is not hate, or whatever the Bronsexual cult want to call it. It's what has been done to every professional athlete.

Lol at he took a pay cut? He's signed for a $104m 2 year deal. What does it matter if he didn't. He will only be handicapping his team further.

You want to know why nobody wants to come to the Lakers? It's cause of this drama show. Now it would fly if he was still winning and in his prime but now it's evident LeBron can't lead you to the promise land anymore so the juice isn't worth the squeeze

So why did players not come before LeBron was there?
I don't have an issue with the criticism, it is the idea that a nba late 2nd round pick in a historic bad draft has all of a sudden become such a huge asset that is what I find baffling.
I have consistently said Bronny got drafted due to nepotism, but IMHO it's not different from the Bucks keeping Thatanis on their team because of Giannis, or guys getting front office positions because of who their father is/knows, or someone like the Busses getting the reigns of the team because of who their father is.
The idea that anyone expects the Lakers to come out and say that Bronny did not deserve the draft spot is just the height of folly. We all know he does not, but never in my life have I seen the people who had to live with a nepotism based appointment come out and say publicly in the moment that said appointment was not deserved.

PS: we live in a world were nepotism can enable someone to give the highest security clearances (USA ) in the world to 3 of his family members and make them heads of delegations to some of the most delicate political summits in the world. People have been heads of a countries military because of nepotism, people have inherited companies because of nepotism, heck recently one of the oldest unions in the world got their head of state where every citizen became his subjects(UK) because of nepotism etc.
The idea then that a late 2nd round pick in the nba somehow came out of left field is I will repeat laughable

birdman:
He gives them a different look though. That midrange game will do some damage

The fit is a bit weird to me, the Kings love to play fast and move the ball a lot in the half court. Derozan for all his shot making is a ball stopper. Also this doesn't move the needle defensively at all.
IMHO, the kings just moved off a player who is a better fit for their team, but one who chokes big time in the playoffs, for a player who is definitely not a good fit, but one who is way better at getting you a bucket when you need one

etidy:
I think we have to cut the Lakers some slack sha.
It's the most demanding job in the NBA as a GM, coach or player.

The fan base is delusional and expects to win every year, media circus around the team is hysterical while previous club legends put crazy pressure on the team to win.

The Lakers is a team that the GMs can't afford multi-year methodical slow rebuilds especially when you now have lebron on the roster. So the GM is always going to have to hit or miss moves to win now.

For all the great job Sam presti and Danny ainge have done to stack bazillions of picks, Rob pelinka has won a ring before them and in this league winning is everything.

I think what the Lakers need to do now is avoid mortgaging their future picks to placate LeBron which they have smartly done recently.
In two years time, they can start a rebuild.

Agreed,one thing Lakers fans and most of the league has forgotten is how bad the Lakers were since kobe last contract and all through before LeBron choose to go there.
If the nba is all about winning the chip, the Lakers have the jewelry to say they got to the top of the hill. Ainge with his stack the picks model, didn't win it all, it took Brad with his all in approach to give the Celtics a legitimate shot and they made it count. Does anyone here think Ainge would have made the White, Kristaps or Jrue trade especially with knowing he had to pay them sooner than later

A40:
Lakers are a very funny conundrum. Glamor franchise with the 'poorest' owner in the league

What they had in the past was the name recognition and Jerry at had elite eye for talent and the aura to sell you on the Lakers. You think West drafts better than Lonzo and Ingram? With the top 2 picks back to back? Most likely

The problem today is that it is no longer the case, the perception ever since the Magic/Pelinka beef is that they are now a bit of a circus.

Now LeBron is not the orisun of the drama what he is though is the catalyst, he's come and seen that this franchise has no proper backbone and so has commandeered it to his wishes. This off-season was the final chapter of the takeover

The problem now is he wants to have his cake and eat it too. You can't serve God and Mammon. You can't pull all these stunts and think you will attract anyone who is not desperate. No serious player that wants a ring is gonna come there cos they're not sure a ring is the priority

Klay basically flipped the bird on his dad and refused to meet the team that pays his dad and reportedly offered him more money, let that sink in.

I agree that LeBron commandeered as much power as he could hold since he got to the Lakers. But to give the man his due he just took a pay cut that is the equivalent of his son's first 2 years salary. So in essence he his paying for his son to play with him for the 2years that he just signed, and at the same time, helping the Lakers stay under the second apron.

donlittle25:
what does that say about your little bird lebum abi na big bird

Another case of revisionist history, who was going to the Lakers before LeBron choose to go there? Answer Nobody.
At the tail end of kobe's career and before LeBron choose them the Lakers was in the doldrums of the nba and nobody wanted any part of that stink.

steady986:
In 8 mins. Even more hilarious Who drafts a player who played 7 mins a game in college at 23?

That is what is baffling me about all this Bronny talk. Even in great nba drafts as soon as you start leaving the 10th pick, almost all the choices are flyers, with teams either betting on high side or being comfortable with the floor of the particular pick.
The fact people are trying to claim the 55th pick is all of a sudden something important is just straight up hate and I cannot fathom living a life where someone who doesn't know you exist can live rent free in people's heads like this

benji93:
This is a typical Le '4-6' fan argument . I hope you are not. You elected to omit that Lively was 7'1 and averaged 2.4 blocks per game. That's a very important start for drafting a center. Or are u new to the NBA? You can certainly do better. Go to your WhatsApp group and find me better examples pls.

Which is why one went 12th and the other 55th, which is exactly what you are forgetting. All of a sudden the 55th pick in the nba draft has become a big deal. Was the pick driven by nepotism? Yes, but the idea that the 55th pick in the nba is an asset is just laughable.

benji93:
Now this is good. Good counter. That's how it's done. However, this man averaged 2.8 points per game in 7.9 minutes. Not comparable at all. I would ignore that too. Your guy averaged 4.8 points despite averaging almost 20 minutes.

If stats is your argument then that is just BS. You know who averaged 5.2 pts in his one college season with over 20 mpg?, Derrick Lively, and he was drafted number 12. So college stats, especially from the 1st college year, are not exactly useful for guys projected to be role players.

steady986:
This guy was drafted at 23. He averaged these numbers in freaking Australia.

The Bronny thing is just overblown, so all of a sudden we care about 2nd round picks. I know it is nepotism, but are we seriously acting as if the world does not run on nepotism. Since I've started following other American sports, I've got to hear on and on about betting on pedigree, when it comes to taking a flyer on drafting players, but it seems that doesn't apply to LeBron. Bronny might never be good, but the people who know him talk about his work ethic and that his style of play projecting out to be a smaller PoA defender who can shoot in the 33% from 3.
If he can be that in this era of basketball that is at least a 10year career.

larride:
I was surprised Orlando offered him that much tbh. $22m a year.

Damn, these basketball boys really hold the bag.

KCP for 22 mil is honestly not an overpay, he shoots 40% from 3s and he his not streaky. Also he was 4th in the whole nba in minutes guarding the oppositions best perimeter scorer, behind DJJ, Lu Dort and OG Anunoby. Looking at the contracts of these four guys the fact is, his contract is the best value for money.

SmooshCHN:
When I said we should have kept Poole someone thought I was crazy. Poole is a kid but thrive under good leadership but we can thank Draymond for making sure that didn't happen. Now we paid Draymond to average single digits and technicals and Klaus expects to be paid as well. We the fans are sick and tired of the front office and everyone not named Steph, Podz, Kuminga and TJD. They all can geddifok.

You say Poole trives under good leadership, but the rumors of what caused the fight was that he had an attitude of 'I am a champion and paid, so nothing can touch me'. If he was as teachable as you say they would have dumped Draymond for him.

Nba off-season off to a good start. Dejonte to the pelicans