NBA Thread

[FtWorthCat]

Some very interesting situations for former UK players headed into the stretch of the NBA season. Which former Wildcat has the best chance of getting a ring?

OKC (40-9) - SGA had 50 last night, they are getting Holmgren back, Cason Wallace is a tenacious perimeter defender
Knicks (34-17) - KAT having a career year
Mavs (26-25) - AD and PJ team up on what should be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA going forward
Spurs (22-26) - Fox and Wemby is a formidable duo, Keldon Johnson still in the rotation, they could make a late push
Nuggets (32-19) - it's been a good season for Murray after being injured
Heat (25-24) - not likely for Bam and Herro
Sixers (20-30) - If Embiid had Maxey's desire, they would contend, but he doesn't.
Suns (25-25) - another great season for Booker, but not a contender. Nick Richards contributing
Kings (25-25) - Monk averaging 18 ppg
Minnesota (28-23) - Randle averaging 19/7/5
Rockets (32-18) - Sheppard could get a ring even though he doesn't play much

Those are the teams with a shot at the playoffs.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Knicks will break down by years end because Thibs has yet to show us he can truly give his guys the rest they need or lessen their minutes. Hope I'm proven wrong.

Outside of them, it's OKC, the rest of these teams just don't seem to be true contenders. If anything I'd pick Houston 3rd here as they technically have Reed.

 

[FtWorthCat]

Cleveland and Boston are the favorites, and neither has a UK player. I guess I should have included the Lakers with Jarred Vanderbilt, but I don't really care that much either way about him. He is a unique talent when healthy.

Sheppard had probably his best game of the season on Tuesday night, 16 pts 7 reb 2 st 2 blk in 28 minutes, not sure if someone was out for them, or if he is going to start getting more minutes.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Cleveland and Boston are the favorites, and neither has a UK player. I guess I should have included the Lakers with Jarred Vanderbilt, but I don't really care that much either way about him. He is a unique talent when healthy.

Sheppard had probably his best game of the season on Tuesday night, 16 pts 7 reb 2 st 2 blk in 28 minutes, not sure if someone was out for them, or if he is going to start getting more minutes.

Yeah they have some injuries so he was able to log some minutes, and that was a great spot start for him. Hopefully he can find his confidence as they go, because you could tell that was kind of a hurdle he had in his one year at UK. He just has to realize that he has the talent to play at that level. Once he sees that, it's almost like his game settles in perfectly.

 

[lakercat]

Knicks will break down by years end because Thibs has yet to show us he can truly give his guys the rest they need or lessen their minutes. Hope I'm proven wrong.

Outside of them, it's OKC, the rest of these teams just don't seem to be true contenders. If anything I'd pick Houston 3rd here as they technically have Reed.

As long as OKC does not have to play GSW, because they seem to have their number. GSW is 2-0 vs OKC when Curry plays. The West is WIDE WIDE open, but the East is gonna probably be Boston (barf).

 

[LineSkiCat14]

As long as OKC does not have to play GSW, because they seem to have their number. GSW is 2-0 vs OKC when Curry plays. The West is WIDE WIDE open, but the East is gonna probably be Boston (barf).

Pretty sure the playoffs are a whole different animal than November regular season games lol.

Also Chet Holmgren has played all of 5 minutes against GSW across 3 games because of his injury.. but I wouldn't expect a bandwagon Curry fan to know that.

 

[TM2013]

Shame how the Suns blew up their team to get 2 old has-beens like Durant and Beal.

 

[BGCATFAN2012]

As long as OKC does not have to play GSW, because they seem to have their number. GSW is 2-0 vs OKC when Curry plays. The West is WIDE WIDE open, but the East is gonna probably be Boston (barf).

How did OKC not make any move with the assets they have saved. Guess them picks aren't worth alot right now.

 

[FtWorthCat]

I'm one of the about 0.5% of Mavs fans that are excited about the AD for Luka trade. Max Christie was a throw-in in the trade for the Mavs, and he had 15 points 9 rebounds and was the best defender on the floor in his first game as a Mav. I enjoyed "Oncic" and "Irk" for the last 25 years as much as anyone, but it's nice have the "D" back in Dallas. The one year the Mavs won with Dirk, they surrounded him with athletes who could play defense. As to durability, AD has appeared in 118 regular season games over the last two seasons, Luka 92 as of this moment. Luka prefers a Euro-style 56 game regular season, and this isn't likely to change with age.

Now, the question is how much fire does AD still have in him? He's been one of the top 5 players in the NBA this season, and he is still just 31. AD is being completely disrespected locally in D/FW. As I recall, an inspired AD is a joy to watch. If he is hearing what they are saying about him around here, he should be really pissed off.

Side note, Jason Kidd was Frank Vogel's assistant when AD won with the Lakers and Vogel is now on the Mavs coaching staff.