2024-2025 NBA thread: who wants to buy a Duck Boat?!?!

[EWG]

Hilarious Nuggets sat their entire starting lineup for the Spurs, hilariously.

Malone does not give a fuck.

[TahoeJ]

I actually don’t think Ja should be suspended or fined. Dude is just a clown. Also has this bitch ass still not learned that you don’t come at the petty king? Steph dropped [emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]][emoji638] on his head.

[BmillsSkier]

Cavs magic number for the 1 seed in the East is down to 2. Hopefully they get it and can rest sooner.

[Cruiser]

I liked Coach Malone but I guess somebody has gotta be the fall guy when Jokic isn't winning multiple ships

[The SnowShow]

Wow, surprised about Malone.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Holy shit, and the GM got the axe too.

[EWG]

Did not expect Malone to get the axe before the foums died.

[TahoeJ]

Crazy. Seems like the fall guy for their shitty bench… despite them having cap space below the second apron. Cheap ass owners - sorry Denver fans.

[BmillsSkier]

Lol @ EWGI had Browns Suoer Bowl win on the bingo card before that AND the forums dying.

[MarcusBrody]

I would say I'm a Nuggets fan and I didn't want Malone gone, at least not now.I think Malone has some weaknesses and is stubborn in his rotation/commitment to vets at times, but overall I didn't think that the Nuggets were poorly coached. A few guys would have their head in the clouds at times, but I never felt like they weren't playing hard.Of course, like everything else with the Nuggets, though, it's hard to tell how much of that is down to the coach and how much it's down to Jokic, who ensures order every time he's on the court and always plays hard, which sets a tone.

I do think Malone never really figuring out an offense for the non-Jokic minutes that was at least semi-decent is suboptimal coaching. Even when Murray was on the floor with two other starters, they never were really able to put something together that was even a net neutral. I think he trusted too much in Murray's ability to create. I think they needed to switch to a much more structured offense in those minutes. It might limit its upside, but when you have Jokic, you just need not to completely crater in those periods when he's not on.

Malone's biggest recent player development sin in my mind was his use of Zeke Nnaji, who looked promising as a versatile 4, but who Malone desperately tried for almost 2 seasons to make a small ball center, where he just wasn't good. I have no major complaints about the minutes he played Braun, Watson, and Strawther, though. I've thought them appropriate for developing them. Pickett too really, though like many Nuggets fans, I'd like to see more of him.

What I really thought the Nuggets needed was a top class defensive assistant. They started the year playing drop on pick and rolls, but they quickly found that without KCP, none of the Nuggets guards could navigate a screen to save their lives. Braun and Watson are actually pretty good isolation defenders, but still pretty poor at screen navigation. Murray's never been that good. So teams had too much space/time with Jokic dropped. So Malone countered mid year by having Jokic go with the ball handler off the screen and try to keep them from turning the corner until the guard could get through, then rotate back to his man. But that hasn't been super successful either as he isn't super fast and it takes him really far onto the perimeter away from his man if the ball gets out and limits his ability to use his intelligence/hands to play the passing lanes. Could the team have learned to rotate faster if they'd planned to play that way from pre-season? Maybe. They looked a bit faster last game. But I'd love to see a defensive genius assistant and what they'd come up with.

But overall, every team's fans have some complaints about the coach. Nothing that was happening said to me "Change coach now!" with four games before the playoffs and Murray having been out a whole bunch lately and Gordon being in and out and really not looking his previous best, especially on defense (though he has been shooting really well).

[TahoeJ]

Malone will get another job very quickly this off season.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Boy GSW sure fucked themselves in the ass by losing to the Spurs.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

too bad the forum is circling the drain because today and Sunday are going to be pretty fun out west

[TahoeJ]

<p>

Hilarious Nuggets sat their entire starting lineup for the Spurs, hilariously. Malone does not give a fuck.

</p>
<p>
Seriously, talk about a bad case of playing down to your competition.&nbsp; Granted it was a back to back, but still.&nbsp; On the other hand they just need to win these last two games to avoid the playin - thanks to Minnesota for beating Memphis.</p>

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

lets see if this forum lasts as long as GSW in the playoffs

[BmillsSkier]

Given how stupid long the NBA playoffs are, that’s a tough call.

[Danno]

at least GSW made the playoffs*

* I think it is stupid that the play-in games are not considered playoffs.

[TahoeJ]

Playoff Jimmy has arrived. I love how he kept calling Steph Batman and he’s happy to be his Robin.

[BmillsSkier]

It's insane to me how much Vegas likes the Warriors to win it all this year (5th best), for being a 7 seed play in team.

[plugboots]

3rd best record in the NBA since the all star game is what I heard last night.
It’s just a different team.

[riser4]

It's insane to me how much Vegas likes the Warriors to win it all this year (5th best), for being a 7 seed play in team.

All bets are off once Jimmy Fucking Butler climbs out of his head and starts giving a shit. JFB when he's showing up and Steph even this late in his career on a team together are a force I dont want the Celtics to have to play in tge finals. Assuming the Celtics get that far.

[riser4]

* I think it is stupid that the play-in games are not considered playoffs.

I agree, especially since two team in each conference have to play two games to become 8th seeds. Which is extra wear and tear before playing the well rested 1st seeds.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

HOU (and OKC) are FAST. I think they'll wear down GSW in 7 game series.CLE vs OKC in the finals

[TahoeJ]

Ime probably shouldn’t have talked shit about Steph last week. Did he learn nothing from the Finals? He’s made it clear he’s the petty king.

OKC is definitely being a little slept on considering they won sixty eight games.

[Danno]

I'd rather face anyone in the Finals over OKC, I am not sleeping on them.