Around The League: Regular Season Finale Edition
Mar 29, 2023 10:35:29 GMT -6
Smithy P and redrum741 like this
Post by New York Knicks on Mar 29, 2023 10:35:29 GMT -6
Who's Hot
We got an unexpected late season playoff push from the Atlanta Hawks, which nobody saw coming. The Hawks we're 5.5 games back of 8th place Washington. AND the Wizards had the tiebreaker, so it was basically a 6.5 game lead. To have any chance the Hawks were going to have to win all seven of their final games. And Washington would have to loss all six of their remaining games. And what do you know? The Hawks went 7-0. Unfortunately, the Wizards went 1-5. And with that one win they finished 38-44, same record as Atlanta, but the Hawks lost due to the tiebreaker. Now their season is over. However, that was a every impressive effort by ATL. George McGinnis led the Hawks in scoring in all 7 games and averaged 25.6 PPG during the streak. Overall he averaged 20.2 PPG 8.4 RPG 3.7 APG 1.8 SPG, and was named to the All League Second Team. Rookie Clint Capela, who was drafted 20th overall, has turned into a steal. He played in all 82 games and averaged 13.6 PPG 9.1 RPG 1.9 BPG. If it wasn't for him being in the same draft class as fellow rookie Centers Nikola Jokic And Joel Embiid, Capela would be getting much more media love for the season he's having. So there's some bright spots heading into the future. But what does that future hold? 2 years ago this team was in the ECF. Today they're in the lottery. Is a rebuild coming? A new GM maybe? Like Daboyn? Who knows.
Who's Not
There was no late season playoff push in Phoenix. They finished 16 games back of #8 seed Minnesota. It was clear they had no intentions of competing this season. Not after trading both Bob McAdoo and Travis Best to Utah in the off-season. Followed by the departures of Walt Frazier and Arsalan Kazemi. After losing so many key players, this team was clearly in tank mode. And as the regular season was reaching its conclusion, the Suns revved up the tank. They proceeded to lose 9 of their final 10 games. Some of these games weren't even close. They played the San Antonio Spurs in back to back games to wrap up the season. Spurs beat them by a combined 96 points (Game 1: 137-82 Spurs, Game 2: 104-63 Spurs). That's right 96 points. 48 PPG differential. I understand the Spurs (63-19 Record) are a very good team. But c'mon! Where's the pride? Where's the self respect to not allow yourself to be humilitated to that extent? But the good news, the season is finally over. The Suns finished up with a 24-58 record, which is the 3 worst in the league. They now have the 3rd best odds to win the Draft Lottery and select a franchise changer like Chris Webber or Penny Hardaway. That's sounds a whole lot better than the Pokusevski's, Simonovic's, and Zukauskas's they got running around the desert in Phoenix.
Injury News
Jusuf Nurkic - The Wizards were able to hold on to the 8 Seed, but Jusuf Nurkic lost his skull in the process. The Bosnian tough guy suffered a broken skull injury in a 91-73 victory vs Indiana, ironically the win that clinched them a playoff spot. Nurkic was trying to guard Moses Malone. But Moses was motivated to win that scoring title, as he was trailing Damon Stoudamire by percentage points. Thats when things got physical (Moses took 18 FTA) and some elbows were thrown. And some skulls were broken. Sorry Nurkic. Your rookie season is over. See you next year. As for this year, the #8 seed Wizards will try to move on without him as they face the #1 seed Miami Heat.
Jimmy King - As for the Heat, they got their own injury problems. PG Michael Carter Williams (22.8 PPG 9.9 APG) has been out for over a month with a torn hamstring. He's not expected to return until around Game 5 (if necessary) in this Washington series. To make matters worse, his fellow guard Jimmy King (19.0 PPG 6.5 RPG) suffered a groin pull. He's not coming back until Game 4 or 5. So the Heat will be without their entire starting backcourt as they begin the first round of the playoffs. A combined 42 PPG of offense GONE. Mike Gale and Ira Terrell I hope you're ready. It's your turn.
Robert Parish - The most evenly matched first round playoff series in the West is going to be Portland vs Denver. Both teams have the same identical 53-29 record, and they'll face off in this 4-5 matchup. Unfortunately there's some bad news that's gonna sway the advantage over to the Blazers. The Nuggets have just announced Robert Parish's bruised hip will keep him out for at least the first 4 games of this series. Parish just had a career year (22.2 PPG 9.9 RPG 2.8 APG 2.7 BPG). And they needed him against Blazers C Billy Paultz. Massive loss for the Nuggets.
Swen Nater - Yourkers is crying about nobody wanting Nater. Well the guy has weak bones Yourkers. Look at him now with his broken nose. The recovery period is expected to be 5 days, which means he might miss the first 4 games in the Seattle series. Nater averaged a career high 24.8 PPG this season to go with 12.2 RPG.
More News Around The League
- The Leagues MVP was announced and it went to Larry Kenon. I thought Damon Stoudamire was taking it. But I guess his lack of assists (7.7) cost him in the end.
- Damon Stoudamire isn't the only one lacking assists in the Eastern Conference. It's a league wide issue. Look at the team leaders in assists. Teams ranked 1-9 are ALL from the Western Conference. Why are the West teams so much better at passing?
- Speaking of passing, George Johnson has passed on his Defensive Player of the Year torch to Greg Ostertag. Ostertag is the first player NOT named George Johnson to win the award.
- There's never been a non-Toronto Raptor that won Rookie of the Year. In 2000 it was Brandon Roy. In 2001 it was Killian Hayes. And this year the trend continues as Joel Embiid wins ROTY, making it 3 for 3 for Toronto.
- The league received some unfortunate news as Portland Trailblazers General Manager Sid The Clipper Killer has stepped down from his position. The long time General Manager will be missed. However, he has left the door open for a potential return in the future. So that's a positive.
- Another positive note for Portland is that Dan Issel won the Sixth Man of the Year award. While Randy Smith was named to the League 3rd Team.
- The now General Manager-less Blazers will face Denver in the first round of the playoffs. This series features some interesting matchups. Like how will 2001 All Defensive team selection Caldwell Jones perform vs career 23 PPG scorer Elvin Hayes? After missing over 20 consecutive games, what kind of conditioning is Earl Tatum in? And does he have a chance guarding Dr J? What about Ted McClain? He's the worst starting point guard in the playoffs. How badly will Randy Smith expose him? Alot of back and forth matchups in this one. But the Parish injury we mentioned earlier is the deciding factor for me. Denver can't beat Portland without a healthy Parish.
- The 4/5 matchup in the East features Philly and Orlando. The Sixers better show John Drew some respect and send more than just Shawn Respert his way. Otherwise I see Drew having a monster series. This is what he's known for. Big time playoff performances. Thats why the Magic are the 2 time Eastern Conference Champs. With that said, they won't win the East for a 3rd time. Not this year. And not in this round. Philly is better defensively, led by the DPOTY Ostertag. Magic are a turnstile on D. They're 23rd in opponent field goal percentage and 26th in points allowed. Philly will find ways to score all over this Orlando defense. Thats why they'll win the series.
- Speaking of brotherly love, Islam lover and LGBTQ advocate Methatswho will lead his Washington Wizards to a difficult 1 vs 8 seed matchup against first place Miami. The Wizards got a nice little opportunity here with MCW/King both being out. They can steal a game or two. Make this a 6 game series. But the Heat are the better team. Even with the injuries. The front court of Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, and Okoro is gonna give Washington problems. Especially Okoro, who's defense will make scoring difficult for Jabari Parker. Due to the injuries it's gonna be closer than your typical 1 vs 8 series. But Miami will still win.
- The other 1 vs 8 matchup won't be nearly as close. With all due respect to John, his little Timber puppies are about to get smoked by the Clippers. One team has a -2.7 point differential (Minnesota). The other team is at a league best +16.9 (LAC). Put that together and you have about a 20 PPG blowout on average. Thats what I see happening in this series. Clippers score 110 points/game, they got 7 guys averaging double figures, and have the best defense in the league. Wolves have Michael Finley...and that's it. Clippers in 4.
- Clippers might have the best defense in the league. But the Jazz got the best Offense in league HISTORY. Their 113.6 PPG broke Portland's record (113.1) from last season. Jazz are loaded with scorers. The MVP Larry Kenon. A pair of all-stars in Shumate and McAdoo. Travis Best, Dandridge, they even got Dennis Johnson coming off the bench. The Memphis Grizzlies have some firepower of their own with Pete Maravich and Bob Lanier. But as a team, they're scoring nearly 12 PPG less than the Jazz this season. They're not gonna be able to keep up with them offensively.
- If you like offense watch the Jazz. If you like defense? Then get ready for this San Antonio vs Seattle matchup. Two of the top 5 scoring defenses in the league going at it in this first round fistfight. Like we said earlier the Spurs will be minus Swen Nater. Good thing they traded for Billy Knight at the deadline. Knight gives them that alpha dog type scorer. Along with Kunnert and Cowens the Spurs still have plenty of options even without Nater. The Sonics on the other the hand? They're 15th out of 16 playoff teams in scoring. Only ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks. Seattle can't win with such an insufficient offense.
- And neither can the Milwaukee Bucks. They're catching the Raptors at the right time. Toronto is struggling (3-7 in last 10 games) and Theo Ratliff is hurt. But the Bucks are scoring 95.9 PPG. The only teams that score less?
Suns
Lakers
Pacers
Hornets
The 4 worst teams in basketball. Thats the level of the Milwaukee Bucks offense. They can't win a playoff series like that. Raptors are gonna run and shoot their three pointers (1st in 3PT Makes and Attempts). And they're gonna run the Bucks off the court.
We got an unexpected late season playoff push from the Atlanta Hawks, which nobody saw coming. The Hawks we're 5.5 games back of 8th place Washington. AND the Wizards had the tiebreaker, so it was basically a 6.5 game lead. To have any chance the Hawks were going to have to win all seven of their final games. And Washington would have to loss all six of their remaining games. And what do you know? The Hawks went 7-0. Unfortunately, the Wizards went 1-5. And with that one win they finished 38-44, same record as Atlanta, but the Hawks lost due to the tiebreaker. Now their season is over. However, that was a every impressive effort by ATL. George McGinnis led the Hawks in scoring in all 7 games and averaged 25.6 PPG during the streak. Overall he averaged 20.2 PPG 8.4 RPG 3.7 APG 1.8 SPG, and was named to the All League Second Team. Rookie Clint Capela, who was drafted 20th overall, has turned into a steal. He played in all 82 games and averaged 13.6 PPG 9.1 RPG 1.9 BPG. If it wasn't for him being in the same draft class as fellow rookie Centers Nikola Jokic And Joel Embiid, Capela would be getting much more media love for the season he's having. So there's some bright spots heading into the future. But what does that future hold? 2 years ago this team was in the ECF. Today they're in the lottery. Is a rebuild coming? A new GM maybe? Like Daboyn? Who knows.
Who's Not
There was no late season playoff push in Phoenix. They finished 16 games back of #8 seed Minnesota. It was clear they had no intentions of competing this season. Not after trading both Bob McAdoo and Travis Best to Utah in the off-season. Followed by the departures of Walt Frazier and Arsalan Kazemi. After losing so many key players, this team was clearly in tank mode. And as the regular season was reaching its conclusion, the Suns revved up the tank. They proceeded to lose 9 of their final 10 games. Some of these games weren't even close. They played the San Antonio Spurs in back to back games to wrap up the season. Spurs beat them by a combined 96 points (Game 1: 137-82 Spurs, Game 2: 104-63 Spurs). That's right 96 points. 48 PPG differential. I understand the Spurs (63-19 Record) are a very good team. But c'mon! Where's the pride? Where's the self respect to not allow yourself to be humilitated to that extent? But the good news, the season is finally over. The Suns finished up with a 24-58 record, which is the 3 worst in the league. They now have the 3rd best odds to win the Draft Lottery and select a franchise changer like Chris Webber or Penny Hardaway. That's sounds a whole lot better than the Pokusevski's, Simonovic's, and Zukauskas's they got running around the desert in Phoenix.
Injury News
Jusuf Nurkic - The Wizards were able to hold on to the 8 Seed, but Jusuf Nurkic lost his skull in the process. The Bosnian tough guy suffered a broken skull injury in a 91-73 victory vs Indiana, ironically the win that clinched them a playoff spot. Nurkic was trying to guard Moses Malone. But Moses was motivated to win that scoring title, as he was trailing Damon Stoudamire by percentage points. Thats when things got physical (Moses took 18 FTA) and some elbows were thrown. And some skulls were broken. Sorry Nurkic. Your rookie season is over. See you next year. As for this year, the #8 seed Wizards will try to move on without him as they face the #1 seed Miami Heat.
Jimmy King - As for the Heat, they got their own injury problems. PG Michael Carter Williams (22.8 PPG 9.9 APG) has been out for over a month with a torn hamstring. He's not expected to return until around Game 5 (if necessary) in this Washington series. To make matters worse, his fellow guard Jimmy King (19.0 PPG 6.5 RPG) suffered a groin pull. He's not coming back until Game 4 or 5. So the Heat will be without their entire starting backcourt as they begin the first round of the playoffs. A combined 42 PPG of offense GONE. Mike Gale and Ira Terrell I hope you're ready. It's your turn.
Robert Parish - The most evenly matched first round playoff series in the West is going to be Portland vs Denver. Both teams have the same identical 53-29 record, and they'll face off in this 4-5 matchup. Unfortunately there's some bad news that's gonna sway the advantage over to the Blazers. The Nuggets have just announced Robert Parish's bruised hip will keep him out for at least the first 4 games of this series. Parish just had a career year (22.2 PPG 9.9 RPG 2.8 APG 2.7 BPG). And they needed him against Blazers C Billy Paultz. Massive loss for the Nuggets.
Swen Nater - Yourkers is crying about nobody wanting Nater. Well the guy has weak bones Yourkers. Look at him now with his broken nose. The recovery period is expected to be 5 days, which means he might miss the first 4 games in the Seattle series. Nater averaged a career high 24.8 PPG this season to go with 12.2 RPG.
More News Around The League
- The Leagues MVP was announced and it went to Larry Kenon. I thought Damon Stoudamire was taking it. But I guess his lack of assists (7.7) cost him in the end.
- Damon Stoudamire isn't the only one lacking assists in the Eastern Conference. It's a league wide issue. Look at the team leaders in assists. Teams ranked 1-9 are ALL from the Western Conference. Why are the West teams so much better at passing?
- Speaking of passing, George Johnson has passed on his Defensive Player of the Year torch to Greg Ostertag. Ostertag is the first player NOT named George Johnson to win the award.
- There's never been a non-Toronto Raptor that won Rookie of the Year. In 2000 it was Brandon Roy. In 2001 it was Killian Hayes. And this year the trend continues as Joel Embiid wins ROTY, making it 3 for 3 for Toronto.
- The league received some unfortunate news as Portland Trailblazers General Manager Sid The Clipper Killer has stepped down from his position. The long time General Manager will be missed. However, he has left the door open for a potential return in the future. So that's a positive.
- Another positive note for Portland is that Dan Issel won the Sixth Man of the Year award. While Randy Smith was named to the League 3rd Team.
- The now General Manager-less Blazers will face Denver in the first round of the playoffs. This series features some interesting matchups. Like how will 2001 All Defensive team selection Caldwell Jones perform vs career 23 PPG scorer Elvin Hayes? After missing over 20 consecutive games, what kind of conditioning is Earl Tatum in? And does he have a chance guarding Dr J? What about Ted McClain? He's the worst starting point guard in the playoffs. How badly will Randy Smith expose him? Alot of back and forth matchups in this one. But the Parish injury we mentioned earlier is the deciding factor for me. Denver can't beat Portland without a healthy Parish.
- The 4/5 matchup in the East features Philly and Orlando. The Sixers better show John Drew some respect and send more than just Shawn Respert his way. Otherwise I see Drew having a monster series. This is what he's known for. Big time playoff performances. Thats why the Magic are the 2 time Eastern Conference Champs. With that said, they won't win the East for a 3rd time. Not this year. And not in this round. Philly is better defensively, led by the DPOTY Ostertag. Magic are a turnstile on D. They're 23rd in opponent field goal percentage and 26th in points allowed. Philly will find ways to score all over this Orlando defense. Thats why they'll win the series.
- Speaking of brotherly love, Islam lover and LGBTQ advocate Methatswho will lead his Washington Wizards to a difficult 1 vs 8 seed matchup against first place Miami. The Wizards got a nice little opportunity here with MCW/King both being out. They can steal a game or two. Make this a 6 game series. But the Heat are the better team. Even with the injuries. The front court of Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, and Okoro is gonna give Washington problems. Especially Okoro, who's defense will make scoring difficult for Jabari Parker. Due to the injuries it's gonna be closer than your typical 1 vs 8 series. But Miami will still win.
- The other 1 vs 8 matchup won't be nearly as close. With all due respect to John, his little Timber puppies are about to get smoked by the Clippers. One team has a -2.7 point differential (Minnesota). The other team is at a league best +16.9 (LAC). Put that together and you have about a 20 PPG blowout on average. Thats what I see happening in this series. Clippers score 110 points/game, they got 7 guys averaging double figures, and have the best defense in the league. Wolves have Michael Finley...and that's it. Clippers in 4.
- Clippers might have the best defense in the league. But the Jazz got the best Offense in league HISTORY. Their 113.6 PPG broke Portland's record (113.1) from last season. Jazz are loaded with scorers. The MVP Larry Kenon. A pair of all-stars in Shumate and McAdoo. Travis Best, Dandridge, they even got Dennis Johnson coming off the bench. The Memphis Grizzlies have some firepower of their own with Pete Maravich and Bob Lanier. But as a team, they're scoring nearly 12 PPG less than the Jazz this season. They're not gonna be able to keep up with them offensively.
- If you like offense watch the Jazz. If you like defense? Then get ready for this San Antonio vs Seattle matchup. Two of the top 5 scoring defenses in the league going at it in this first round fistfight. Like we said earlier the Spurs will be minus Swen Nater. Good thing they traded for Billy Knight at the deadline. Knight gives them that alpha dog type scorer. Along with Kunnert and Cowens the Spurs still have plenty of options even without Nater. The Sonics on the other the hand? They're 15th out of 16 playoff teams in scoring. Only ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks. Seattle can't win with such an insufficient offense.
- And neither can the Milwaukee Bucks. They're catching the Raptors at the right time. Toronto is struggling (3-7 in last 10 games) and Theo Ratliff is hurt. But the Bucks are scoring 95.9 PPG. The only teams that score less?
Suns
Lakers
Pacers
Hornets
The 4 worst teams in basketball. Thats the level of the Milwaukee Bucks offense. They can't win a playoff series like that. Raptors are gonna run and shoot their three pointers (1st in 3PT Makes and Attempts). And they're gonna run the Bucks off the court.
