NBA 25/26
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And so the marathon NBA season is almost upon us, opening day is Wednesday for NZ and Aus.
Heaps of player movements this offseason, so it's a little hard to tell who is good. The East looks wide open with Boston taking a year off waiting for Tatum. The West will probably be a shitfight as always.
OKC are pretty heavily favoured to go back to back as they have kept the same roster. Denver sit 2nd on the betting after they made a lot of moves to try and make use of Jokic's prime. Cleveland are the only other team in single figures.
For some reason the Clippers are 6th favourite, the traders must think it's 2019.
If Wemby stays fit all year i reckon the Spurs are a good shout of finishing above the play-in. Lots of good young pieces, Wemby's preseason was impressive, heaps hinging on Fox finding some old form.
Loooong fucking way to go though.
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Big questions for me:
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What does Dallas look like when Kyrie returns? On paper the deepest team in the league. J Kidd has been experimenting in the pre season by playing Flagg at the point. Not sustainable. They have length, size, youth and experience. AD’s health will be key.
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Can someone in the East please stand up, please stand up? Cavs are a yeah nah for me. I like the Magic and both of their stars are tough. One trade away though. Pacers made a great run and I love the grit in this side. Hali’s playmaking was underrated in getting them that far. 76ers who knows. Tyrese is a star and his shooting has improved out of sight, but around him is a circus show. Bulls are my sleeper.
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Can Murray have an All-NBA type season? I get the feeling he might with Brown back the defensive pressure being relieved a little plus the improved play of the supporting cast. Jokic will do his thing but without having to play big minutes now they have a genuine backup, so his efficiency late in the games without being gassed will help Murray too.
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I think this is a holding year for the Mavs, listening to the hoop collective they were suggesting that Flagg at point is just a way to get him heaps is experience with plays he doesn’t really have experience with, lots of touches, and shouldn’t be required to really have crazy defensive matchups for a kid.
He won’t be good at it, but it eill be good for him. They flagged a few others who were asked to do it with a later payoff.
I reckon we are a play-in ish team (6-10) who by that time could be very dangerous if Kyrie comes back healthy. Not our year when you look at the quality of the West.
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If Lively and Gafford are fit then he won’t have to play 35 minutes a night. They could lower it to 28-30 minutes and preserve him a bit.
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What a start to the season!
OKC beating the Rockets in a double overtime thriller, and GSW beating a Lakers team without LeBron -
@UpTheHarbs said in NBA 25/26:
What a start to the season!
OKC beating the Rockets in a double overtime thriller, and GSW beating a Lakers team without LeBronThe play of Thompson at the point with Shepherd as back up went pretty well.
SGA was Mr Clutch last night. Barely did a thing until the 4th and then took over in the OTs to still finish with 30+.
Adams looks really fit. Best he’s looked in some time. There were question marks last year about whether he and Sengun could be on the court together for extended minutes, but I thought it really worked.
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WeMVP has arrived.
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NBA is caught up in a gambling controversy again.
30+ arrested by the FBI, including Chauncey Billups. The list of defendants is NBA players and Italian and Asian organised crime.
Wild that a guy with a Finals MVP to his name is caught up in this, I could understand a benchwarmer but Billups involved in organized crime.. That is crazy.
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FBI waiting for the season to kick off….
As they say, timing is everything in sports and politics, and now fighting crime!
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
FBI waiting for the season to kick off….
As they say, timing is everything in sports and politics, and now fighting crime!
Yup. You know these types of things are very political and this will be seen as a major coup for the Trump admin so they had to make a splash.
What was actually crazy to me was to see the name of the son of one of John Gottis right hand men in the indictment. Angelo Ruggerio Jr... The FBI tapped his phone back in the 80s and got a lot of intel on Gotti.......here his son is 30+ years later still part of the Gambinos. The Mafia is clearly so resilient.
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We had some games tonight!
More offence than you could poke a stick at. SGA, Siakim, Mathurin, Gordon, Curry all going off.
Crazy stat of the night, Aaron Gordon the first player to hit 10 3s in a season opener since Terry Rozier. Yep Terry Rozier
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OKC with two Double OT games to start the year. shit way to start a marathon
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@mariner4life they’ve got two players that play out too.
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This is pretty wild given the players these guys became.
Edit - think the link still works despite looking broken
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yeah it is. he's a bit of a freak
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They’ve tried for a while to label certain guys as the unicorn, but they finally found a real one.
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A few injuries over the last couple of days - Ant Man, Luka, Trae Young, AD (yes it’s true)
NBA coach and player among those arrested in massive mafia-linked sports rigging and gambling probe | CNN
