OKC the favorites out west?

[NBAGOAT]

Zach Lowe surveyed a bunch of executives and said the popular answers were picking okc without hesitation or thinking about it for awhile before picking one of the other 3 teams.

I personally think even though denver has a good chance in postseason okc will run away with the 1 seed and matchup better with denver this year with hartenstein. Adding caruso and hartenstein is pretty ridiculous. 1-2 of their young bench guys should be playable in the playoffs. Denver 5th starter in braun is even a question mark let alone the trash bench, they dont have the depth. Dallas is a threat but not much better than last year and a worse okc team played them close. I think minnesota fell out of the top tier trading towns, their offense wont be good. Rest of west teams have talent but are too flawed

[Neal Romer]

Relative to everyone elses chances vs the field I would say OKC is prob clear #1. But it will still come down to matchups. There will be other teams capable of beating them in a series. So it's certainly not a foregone thing theyll be in the Finals

I wouldnt sleep on Minny tbh.

[Real Men Wear Green]

I would go with the Thunder as well. We'll see how the new officiating works out that is supplied to favor defense more but last year between the injuries and the ease of scoring the importance of superstar play got deemphasized in favor of having a multitude of good players. On paper arguably the two best duos in the West lost on the first round (Lakers and Suns duos).

Dallas deserves some respect for making it last season but this is a bad era to not have perimeter D. I could be wrong if we see a prime Klay Thompson but his role got reduced in G State for a reason.

So I will pick Minnie for the WCF opponent.

On a side note Memphis will replace the Clippers in the playoffs.

[Charlie Sheen]

After spending much of last season dumping on them... I am buying shares of the Suns this year.

Plumlee and Tyus give them pieces they did not have to work with last season and I am gonna assume Durant is not gonna go weeks without talking to the coach this season :lol

[StrongLurk]

Playoffs will be matchup dependent.

OKC definitely has the youth and talent to be the 1 seed this year.

[Neal Romer]

After spending much of last season dumping on them... I am buying shares of the Suns this year.

Plumlee and Tyus give them pieces they did not have to work with last season and I am gonna assume Durant is not gonna go weeks without talking to the coach this season :lol


Why?

[Full Court]

I'd love to see an OKC/Denver series.

And I'm predicting OKC to come out of the west. The Wolves will still be a tough team, but I don't think they'll be any better with Randle.

[Full Court]

And I forgot about the Kings. It'll be interesting to see what they can do with DeRozan, Fox, and Sabonis as their big three. They have the potential to be a contender, but the West is pretty top heavy. It'll be a rough go for anyone to win the West.

[Im Still Ballin]

I'd say so. That Caruso-Shai-Jalen-Chet-Hartenstein lineup will be nasty.

[Neal Romer]

I'd say so. That Caruso-Shai-Jalen-Chet-Hartenstein lineup will be nasty.


Yeah the ChetStein duo alone is potentially going to be a dominant frontcourt, offensively and defensively. Probably the best 4-5 combo in the game unless Im forgetting someone. And then oh by the way, MVP runner up, just entered his prime SGA for teams to deal with. And Dort, Caruso, and JDub on the flank to boot. Whew.

Like, on paper... they could be the kind of buzzsaw this year that last year's Celtics were (and probably this year's Celtics). In fact I would argue potentially even better because I think theyll be more clutch in games that are close.

But again thats just on paper. In reality the chemistry has to come together, and health, and they have to prove it on the court. But none of their guys strike you as guys who cant play with other guys. So I think theres very little to doubt.

[Im Still Ballin]

Yeah the ChetStein duo alone is potentially going to be a dominant frontcourt, offensively and defensively. Probably the best 4-5 combo in the game unless Im forgetting someone. And then oh by the way, MVP runner up, just entered his prime SGA for teams to deal with. And Dort, Caruso, and JDub on the flank to boot. Whew.

Like, on paper... they could be the kind of buzzsaw this year that last year's Celtics were (and probably this year's Celtics). In fact I would argue potentially even better because I think theyll be more clutch in games that are close.

But again thats just on paper. In reality the chemistry has to come together, and health, and they have to prove it on the court. But none of their guys strike you as guys who cant play with other guys. So I think theres very little to doubt.

Agreed on all points. Shai, Jalen, and Chet are better mid-range scorers than Tatum or Brown. So in theory they should be better in the clutch and in high-leverage playoff games where three-point variance is a hit-and-miss proposition.

Chet and Hartenstein looked great yesterday. Holmgren at PF looked like a natural attacking off the catch and taking guys off the dribble. There was a defensive play where Hartenstein closed out on a shooter, got blown by, and then Chet was there to protect the rim, rotating from the weakside.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIBWWH9dD6U


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8pfSWqDXdk&pp=ygULaGFydGVuc3RlaW4%3D

[ILLsmak]

Minny, baw.

-Smak

[Axe]

Except for a few players, is this the very same team that ended up somewhere bet. the 4th-6th seed in the 2023 postseason?

[Full Court]

Except for a few players, is this the very same team that ended up somewhere bet. the 4th-6th seed in the 2023 postseason?

^What an idiot. :roll:


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn1.cdnme.se%2Fcdn%2F6-1%2F2510616%2Fimages%2F2011%2Fretard_27551753_1406 25054.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=243c0948470ce32ce983340f6216b2e32596d293b9270b 5cbc7403b8bfe51a5f&ipo=images

[ArbitraryWater]

Except for a few players, is this the very same team that ended up somewhere bet. the 4th-6th seed in the 2023 postseason?

what does this even mean?

[Charlie Sheen]

Why?
Olympic hangover and Bud has shown he knows how to win RS games. I think that will go a long way to keep KD engaged.

Looking back now it sure feels like Vogel took Lebron for granted. KD famously said he just wants to hoop and that is the 100% truth. He is not going to step forward and be the voice to make changes to the scheme or lineup when stuff is not working. He is just gonna accept it the way it is.

I do not know if you caught TB's reply to Baker's comments in the nfl but he nails what separates the guys who win a lot from the other great players.


“I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings,” Brady said. “There was a mindset of a champion that I took to work every day. This wasn’t day care. If I wanted to have fun, I was gonna go to Disneyland with my kids.”

Brady then added: “There’s a way to approach this game. ... There’s high expectations for us. We have to make sure we go out there and deliver.”

[Axe]

what does this even mean?
Lol. (https://i.ibb.co/JmpGnKz/IMG-20230528-095117.jpg)

[Full Court]

what does this even mean?

:roll:


Boom.

[Manny98]

OKC are my pick to win it all

The only team that are on their level is Boston

[Axe]

Olympic hangover and Bud has shown he knows how to win RS games. I think that will go a long way to keep KD engaged.

Looking back now it sure feels like Vogel took Lebron for granted. KD famously said he just wants to hoop and that is the 100% truth. He is not going to step forward and be the voice to make changes to the scheme or lineup when stuff is not working. He is just gonna accept it the way it is.

I do not know if you caught TB's reply to Baker's comments in the nfl but he nails what separates the guys who win a lot from the other great players.
As talented kd is, he cannot win without a dynasty team. (https://i.ibb.co/hX34jLs/IMG-20221001-103220.jpg)

[SouBeachTalents]

what does this even mean?
I would like an explanation for that too, esp considering they didn't even make the playoffs that year

[NBAGOAT]

Olympic hangover and Bud has shown he knows how to win RS games. I think that will go a long way to keep KD engaged.

Looking back now it sure feels like Vogel took Lebron for granted. KD famously said he just wants to hoop and that is the 100% truth. He is not going to step forward and be the voice to make changes to the scheme or lineup when stuff is not working. He is just gonna accept it the way it is.

I do not know if you caught TB's reply to Baker's comments in the nfl but he nails what separates the guys who win a lot from the other great players.

I agree with the suns shoutout. The coaching change and getting tyus monte and even Plumlee helps a lot(eubanks was ass). A lot will depend on Beal going back to being a top 50 guy however