The Official Off-Season NBA Thread

[freeze]

 

[akajae]

"he damaged my career"

he damaged Russ' knee

 

[freeze]

 

[B Sox]

Pat Beverage

 

[lawdog1]

Had a pair of 2009 DS Atlantic Penny IIs that I UNDS’d in 2019 and they fell apart QUICK

I remember copping the Playoff 12s during the first retro, I want to say February 2004. I think the French Blues (very underrated IMO) dropped the month before too. Those were the days

Have to put some thought into where you wear 10+ year old sneakers. A couple of years ago I wore my OG black/red AJ 16s to a friend’s birthday party and had a blowout. It was dark so I don’t think anyone else noticed, but I felt like kind of an idiot walking around a party in 1.5 shoes.

 

[freeze]

 

[Nipsey3000]

After last night's game:

Reporter: "Coach Rivers, do you think you can win a title with James harden as your starting point guard?"

Doc: "you know, at this point, I, I, I really don't know..."

 

[B Sox]

Have to put some thought into where you wear 10+ year old sneakers. A couple of years ago I wore my OG black/red AJ 16s to a friend’s birthday party and had a blowout. It was dark so I don’t think anyone else noticed, but I felt like kind of an idiot walking around a party in 1.5 shoes.

Yeah just realizing a lot of my retro Jordans are now like 10+ years old. Still have my Playoff 12s from the last retro and didn't know it had been that long.

Only pairs I've had blow up on my feet recently were Melo 2s and Midnight Navy 6s.

 

[rolaholic]

Forgot to include his Olympic gold from when he was 19

 

[tay1]

The Black/Red 11's that came out in 2012 are still in decent shape. I wore them a lot too.

 

[Based Jesus]

I've been very lucky with my shoes holding up, especially my older SBs

Sole separated on my 2010 pearl foams, paint on my 2011 true blue midsoles are mostly flaked off and had a pair of AM90s crumble into dust. AM90s were the only thing that can't just be fixed in an afternoon so had to be thrown out.

 

[nick.]

After last night's game:

Reporter: "Coach Rivers, do you think you can win a title with James harden as your starting point guard?"

Doc: "you know, at this point, I, I, I really don't know..."

 

[art vandelay]

My Fire Red threes fell apart, and I just let them go. I believe they were from 07 or 08, but I wore them and got my moneys worth so not much complaining. I knew they were going down hill when the back tabs started yellowing, then eventually broke. Then the paint started chipping, then finally the soles separated. Since then, I just wear all of them, especially to the gym.

 

[moonman818]

All my retros from like 2003-2008 are cooked. I just tossed like 15 pairs that still looked good

 

[therealest1]

Klay Thompson & Stephen Curry because they're pure shooters who can hit from anywhere, especially the outside. Their scoring methods don't have to be dependent on being near the basket.

 

[Quincy McCall]

Most impressive part of yesterday might've been Myrie's defense-- seems to really be able to turn it on when he needs to

 

[tay1]

Klay Thompson & Stephen Curry because they're pure shooters who can hit from anywhere, especially the outside. Their scoring methods don't have to be dependent on being near the basket.

KD & Kyrie should be the only answer.

I'm not trusting Klay with anything yet. He's been shooting bad.

 

[rolaholic]

Yea KD and Kyrie easy

 

[ill steelo]

Lakers. Last film on these guys for the year.

The problem with the roster has been mentioned by y’all. You decide to consolidate your high level role players to bring in Russ & his contract, now you don’t have any cap room left for guys 4-12 on the roster. You’ve traded all your picks and prospects to acquire the 3 stars, so now you’re relying on way too many minimum contract guys.

Spoiler

This is how you end up with only one player on the team who plays defense. So even when completely healthy, all game long you have at least 4 guys on the court who are either ball watching or can’t stay in front of their man. AD just can’t cover that many holes.

It’s a completely ridiculous way to build a roster We talked about this in the off-season and it looks even worse now.

Speaking of AD, unfortunately you gotta expect him to either miss some time or straight up object to playing the 5 for an extended period. So you need to prioritize the center spot if AD is on your team.

As was said in the off-season it was clear DJ should be out of the league and Dwight is a very very limited situational center at this point, and Bron’s ability to play that spot was overstated in his prime, and he’s an extremely poor fit now in year 19.

None of this is a surprise. Again, just a completely ridiculous way to build a roster You can see the circle they’re going in:

AD healthy, you still have 4 other Lakers on the court to pick on.
AD in street clothes, it’s a free for all which is what’s currently happening.

No scheme or lineup combination can save them.

They’ve allowed a FORTY point quarter in 4 of the last 5 games, gave up 20 in a 5 minute OT period against the tanking Rockets.

Starting with 44 allowed to the Pels in the 3rd.

Dwight got the start. One of the greatest defenders ever in his prime, now getting picked on in his old age. No longer capable of playing against other team’s starters.



- First You see Dwight in no man’s land in the PnR. Hayes is in the dunker so that’s supposed to be an easy rotation for Ariza but he’s late.

-Then Dwight takes one of the laziest fouls you’ll ever see
-Then he tries to cheat and guesses completely wrong
-Then he’s in no man’s land again
-Last, Reaves helps off of the 3 point line to prevent a midrange jumper If it’s not low effort, its low IQ with this group.

DJ checks in for Dwight, the deficit grows to 30, DJ gets released from the team the very next day So DJ is nearing retirement very soon, Dwight not far behind him.

Vogel just doesn’t have any real options here. No real adjustments can be made from a roster or schematic standpoint.

Vogel is left with an awful LeBron/Melo frontcourt duo. It goes about as well as you’d expect. Next game vs Dallas, 41 allowed in the 2nd.



Spence gets Melo on the switch, Melo handchecks & pays the price. This is one of the weaknesses they have even if AD is healthy. Not hard to seek out Melo or whichever other victim they’ll have out there.

-Then Baze gives up a straight line drive Impossible for the help to get there like that

-Neither Bron or Russ have boxed out for several years, so Powell gets an easy o board & putback

-Dinwiddie gets Melo again & they trap. After the first pass out of the trap, Melo doesn’t rotate anywhere leaving Russ of all people to guard 2 guys on the weakside. Low IQ, low effort group out there.

-LeBron at the 5 didn’t get the ball on offense on the original possession or after the steal gets frustrated so he decides to jog back in transition, gets beat down the floor & gives up a dunk. Terrible body language & unacceptable effort from your “leader.” Very very selfish.

- Stanley gets beat, Bron on the backside just watches doesn’t challenge Brunson to deliver the dump off to Powell.

- Luka gets Reaves on the elbow in a cross match, Bron on Dinwiddie - a pedestrian shooter spotting up behind the arc. Bron gives no help at all Just watches Luka victimize Reaves.

Extremely low effort, it’s like he’s trying to rest on defense to have energy to chase his numbers on offense. He shows no desire to move his feet defensively.

-THT with an extremely short “close out” you can barely call it that and he gets blown by anyway

-LeBron complaining to the ref, takes his time getting up and never gets past halfcourt on defense Just Unacceptable effort.

Mavs let them all the way back in it with a bunch of terrible jumpers & lazy passes, then Luka picks on Bron to close it out



-First look Bron doesn’t really bother the shot.

-Next you see Bron trying to sit on Luka’s right, Luka attacks Bron’s lead foot & Bron just doesn’t have the lateral quickness anymore. Stan helps & Russ is supposed to help the helper & force the kickout to the corner (defensively an open 3 is better than an open layup) but Russ is out of position

- Luka attacks his lead foot again & gets by…. again

- At this point Bron is embarrassed so he ducks the matchup for the last 2 minutes. Handing Luka off to his other overmatched teammates. Too late though, damage already done & another loss. At one point Dallas hit 9 in a row late.

Next game is the clippers, no other choice but the Bron/Melo frontcourt again. 40 allowed in the 3rd




Start with Melo guarding nothing. He has a million clips like this.

-Lakers do a good job getting back in transition & Mann goes 1 on 2, Bron sees that decides to make it a 1 on 3 If it’s not low effort it’s low IQ with these guys

-Zu leaks out, both Russ + Melo completely oblivious

-Bron not guarding anything He + Melo forming one of the worst defensive front courts ever. He’s again trying to move his feet as little as possible & rest on this end of the floor when he’s the centerpiece of the defense. Unacceptable effort.

-Russ with another terrible decision, Bron barely gets past the logo on the possession so he’s the first man back in transition & clearly wishes he wasn’t Just zero effort from him on this end of the floor. They have no chance to accomplish anything.

-They’re just bending over at this point Reaves is not equipped to switch onto any starting 5 and they give him zero support

-Bron/Russ PnR with Russ rolling which is actually a good idea that we should see much more often, just poor execution. Zu in a deep drop so Bron has to score to make him step up a bit more. Instead Russ can’t finish, and the 3 lakers who get back are Reaves, Monk, & Melo Again, not sure what the front office was thinking.

-Dwight showing again why retirement is near. He just can’t move around anymore.

Next game is the Warriors & Bron puts his heart and soul into it Completely maxes out like it was game 7. But unfortunately you see why this isn’t a nightly thing - he can’t recover.

Lakers get a day off & he still has to sit against the Spurs, another day off & he returns against Houston & looks terrible on both ends.

Had a game winner but didn’t feel good enough to challenge David Nwaba at the rim Then the team gives up 19 in a 5 minute overtime.




Melo PnR torture begins. He’s just not equipped to protect the rim. On the other end you see Bron physically just couldn’t get up for this one.

Melo in a drop guarding nobody, Reaves dies on a weak screen like he’s expecting Melo to switch

This was actually nice action out of the time out. Set a low screen for Russ & make EJ & Sengun think. You get a defensive breakdown with EJ guarding nobody, but Reaves has a tendency to be trigger shy Hopefully he’ll learn. Now you gotta improvise & Russ gives it away.

Russ smokes the layup & Bron essentially quits on the game refuses to get back in transition, wide open 3. Just terrible body language, awful leadership. He’s all about Kareem & nothing else right now.

KPJ blowby on Reaves, clock running down, Melo helps, Bron helps the helper… but Malik Monk apparently thinks it stops there he stays home & doesn’t force another swing which could’ve resulted in a shot clock violation. Just too many low effort, low IQ guys out there.

Late shot clock trap to try to force a turnover, Melo guarding 2 guys on the weakside & he’s way too flat. He’s directly in front of Sengun so there’s no way he can get out to Green

So this year’s team was AD & then 11 dudes who are either low effort or low IQ defensively, or both. Vogel wasn’t given much to work with & he’ll be the one getting fired first like putting a bandaid over a bullet wound. Then eventually Pelinka will follow him out the door.

 

[tay1]

Lakers. Last film on these guys for the year.

The problem with the roster has been mentioned by y’all. You decide to consolidate your high level role players to bring in Russ & his contract, now you don’t have any cap room left for guys 4-12 on the roster. You’ve traded all your picks and prospects to acquire the 3 stars, so now you’re relying on way too many minimum contract guys.

Spoiler

This is how you end up with only one player on the team who plays defense. So even when completely healthy, all game long you have at least 4 guys on the court who are either ball watching or can’t stay in front of their man. AD just can’t cover that many holes.

It’s a completely ridiculous way to build a roster We talked about this in the off-season and it looks even worse now.

Speaking of AD, unfortunately you gotta expect him to either miss some time or straight up object to playing the 5 for an extended period. So you need to prioritize the center spot if AD is on your team.

As was said in the off-season it was clear DJ should be out of the league and Dwight is a very very limited situational center at this point, and Bron’s ability to play that spot was overstated in his prime, and he’s an extremely poor fit now in year 19.

None of this is a surprise. Again, just a completely ridiculous way to build a roster You can see the circle they’re going in:

AD healthy, you still have 4 other Lakers on the court to pick on.
AD in street clothes, it’s a free for all which is what’s currently happening.

No scheme or lineup combination can save them.

They’ve allowed a FORTY point quarter in 4 of the last 5 games, gave up 20 in a 5 minute OT period against the tanking Rockets.

Starting with 44 allowed to the Pels in the 3rd.

Dwight got the start. One of the greatest defenders ever in his prime, now getting picked on in his old age. No longer capable of playing against other team’s starters.



- First You see Dwight in no man’s land in the PnR. Hayes is in the dunker so that’s supposed to be an easy rotation for Ariza but he’s late.

-Then Dwight takes one of the laziest fouls you’ll ever see
-Then he tries to cheat and guesses completely wrong
-Then he’s in no man’s land again
-Last, Reaves helps off of the 3 point line to prevent a midrange jumper If it’s not low effort, its low IQ with this group.

DJ checks in for Dwight, the deficit grows to 30, DJ gets released from the team the very next day So DJ is nearing retirement very soon, Dwight not far behind him.

Vogel just doesn’t have any real options here. No real adjustments can be made from a roster or schematic standpoint.

Vogel is left with an awful LeBron/Melo frontcourt duo. It goes about as well as you’d expect. Next game vs Dallas, 41 allowed in the 2nd.



Spence gets Melo on the switch, Melo handchecks & pays the price. This is one of the weaknesses they have even if AD is healthy. Not hard to seek out Melo or whichever other victim they’ll have out there.

-Then Baze gives up a straight line drive Impossible for the help to get there like that

-Neither Bron or Russ have boxed out for several years, so Powell gets an easy o board & putback

-Dinwiddie gets Melo again & they trap. After the first pass out of the trap, Melo doesn’t rotate anywhere leaving Russ of all people to guard 2 guys on the weakside. Low IQ, low effort group out there.

-LeBron at the 5 didn’t get the ball on offense on the original possession or after the steal gets frustrated so he decides to jog back in transition, gets beat down the floor & gives up a dunk. Terrible body language & unacceptable effort from your “leader.” Very very selfish.

- Stanley gets beat, Bron on the backside just watches doesn’t challenge Brunson to deliver the dump off to Powell.

- Luka gets Reaves on the elbow in a cross match, Bron on Dinwiddie - a pedestrian shooter spotting up behind the arc. Bron gives no help at all Just watches Luka victimize Reaves.

Extremely low effort, it’s like he’s trying to rest on defense to have energy to chase his numbers on offense. He shows no desire to move his feet defensively.

-THT with an extremely short “close out” you can barely call it that and he gets blown by anyway

-LeBron complaining to the ref, takes his time getting up and never gets past halfcourt on defense Just Unacceptable effort.

Mavs let them all the way back in it with a bunch of terrible jumpers & lazy passes, then Luka picks on Bron to close it out



-First look Bron doesn’t really bother the shot.

-Next you see Bron trying to sit on Luka’s right, Luka attacks Bron’s lead foot & Bron just doesn’t have the lateral quickness anymore. Stan helps & Russ is supposed to help the helper & force the kickout to the corner (defensively an open 3 is better than an open layup) but Russ is out of position

- Luka attacks his lead foot again & gets by…. again

- At this point Bron is embarrassed so he ducks the matchup for the last 2 minutes. Handing Luka off to his other overmatched teammates. Too late though, damage already done & another loss. At one point Dallas hit 9 in a row late.

Next game is the clippers, no other choice but the Bron/Melo frontcourt again. 40 allowed in the 3rd




Start with Melo guarding nothing. He has a million clips like this.

-Lakers do a good job getting back in transition & Mann goes 1 on 2, Bron sees that decides to make it a 1 on 3 If it’s not low effort it’s low IQ with these guys

-Zu leaks out, both Russ + Melo completely oblivious

-Bron not guarding anything He + Melo forming one of the worst defensive front courts ever. He’s again trying to move his feet as little as possible & rest on this end of the floor when he’s the centerpiece of the defense. Unacceptable effort.

-Russ with another terrible decision, Bron barely gets past the logo on the possession so he’s the first man back in transition & clearly wishes he wasn’t Just zero effort from him on this end of the floor. They have no chance to accomplish anything.

-They’re just bending over at this point Reaves is not equipped to switch onto any starting 5 and they give him zero support

-Bron/Russ PnR with Russ rolling which is actually a good idea that we should see much more often, just poor execution. Zu in a deep drop so Bron has to score to make him step up a bit more. Instead Russ can’t finish, and the 3 lakers who get back are Reaves, Monk, & Melo Again, not sure what the front office was thinking.

-Dwight showing again why retirement is near. He just can’t move around anymore.

Next game is the Warriors & Bron puts his heart and soul into it Completely maxes out like it was game 7. But unfortunately you see why this isn’t a nightly thing - he can’t recover.

Lakers get a day off & he still has to sit against the Spurs, another day off & he returns against Houston & looks terrible on both ends.

Had a game winner but didn’t feel good enough to challenge David Nwaba at the rim Then the team gives up 19 in a 5 minute overtime.




Melo PnR torture begins. He’s just not equipped to protect the rim. On the other end you see Bron physically just couldn’t get up for this one.

Melo in a drop guarding nobody, Reaves dies on a weak screen like he’s expecting Melo to switch

This was actually nice action out of the time out. Set a low screen for Russ & make EJ & Sengun think. You get a defensive breakdown with EJ guarding nobody, but Reaves has a tendency to be trigger shy Hopefully he’ll learn. Now you gotta improvise & Russ gives it away.

Russ smokes the layup & Bron essentially quits on the game refuses to get back in transition, wide open 3. Just terrible body language, awful leadership. He’s all about Kareem & nothing else right now.

KPJ blowby on Reaves, clock running down, Melo helps, Bron helps the helper… but Malik Monk apparently thinks it stops there he stays home & doesn’t force another swing which could’ve resulted in a shot clock violation. Just too many low effort, low IQ guys out there.

Late shot clock trap to try to force a turnover, Melo guarding 2 guys on the weakside & he’s way too flat. He’s directly in front of Sengun so there’s no way he can get out to Green

So this year’s team was AD & then 11 dudes who are either low effort or low IQ defensively, or both. Vogel wasn’t given much to work with & he’ll be the one getting fired first like putting a bandaid over a bullet wound. Then eventually Pelinka will follow him out the door.

Still don't think Vogel gets fired. We'd have to start off bad next season or be worse.

 

[P C H]

Omg what happened to Virgil

 

[elpablo21]

Klay Thompson & Stephen Curry because they're pure shooters who can hit from anywhere, especially the outside. Their scoring methods don't have to be dependent on being near the basket.

Trick Question

 

[P C H]

Still don't think Vogel gets fired. We'd have to start off bad next season or be worse.

He’s 100% gone the day after the lakers season ends. They gave him the fake extension, then this season? He’s gone.

 

[antidope]

Seems like Stove loves the NBA references

This is a BAR

 

[tay1]

He’s 100% gone the day after the lakers season ends. They gave him the fake extension, then this season? He’s gone.

And replace him with who? The pool isn't full of quality.

We already won with him. He's been dealt a bad hand. It would be best to give him a chance to see what happens midway into next season. It would make no sense to fire him in the offseason.