2023 NBA Playoffs

[brian]

Not trying to jinx things but the idea of an NBA and NHL team winning their first-ever titles on back to back nights would be pretty cool.

[brian]

I mean, honestly as a “neutral” fan it is almost impossible to hate a franchise who hasn’t won anything regardless of petty rivalries. I was legit happy VGK lost to a team that hadn’t won a Cup before in 2018 and even if they blow this I’ll be happy it’s another first-timer as opposed to even, say, Carolina.

[brian]

[GoodKarma]

I'm not an NBA fan.

I have a very tenuous Denver connection.

Jokic is making me a fan. Single handedly.

I’ve been all in on the Nuggets since I moved here. This team has been so much fun for the past 4-5 years… only thing stopping them the prior three seasons was injuries. Despite all of the national chatter, this team was loaded from the beginning of the season and, despite their slow finish, they just plain dominated.

I was downtown doing some game, watch barhopping and went to the main gathering pointe at 20th and Blake…seemed like a larger crowd than what the avalanche drew last year.

[Ryan]

I mean, honestly as a “neutral” fan it is almost impossible to hate a franchise who hasn’t won anything regardless of petty rivalries. I was legit happy VGK lost to a team that hadn’t won a Cup before in 2018 and even if they blow this I’ll be happy it’s another first-timer as opposed to even, say, Carolina.

There's a line some teams cross for me where it just gets pathetic and I love seeing the rock roll right back down over their faces. Can't think of any examples right now. Anyway the Nuggets aren't one of them, so yay.

[L-Jam3]

They're going to be a top title contender for as long as they keep the Joker and Murray together. That's really a hell of a two-man game.

[HaulCitgo]

I like the way they play too. Kinda funny that despite all the three chucking it was two relative old school teams in the finals

[GoodKarma]

They're going to be a top title contender for as long as they keep the Joker and Murray together. That's really a hell of a two-man game.

They are but the key has been the supporting cast. Aaron Gordon played great D in the last two series…Bruce Brown was incredible throughout the entire playoffs. MPJ couldn’t hit a 3 to save his life in the finals so he changed his game up to attack the basket more. Everyone will be back with the exception of Bruce Brown (he has a player option for next season so I’m guessing he opts out and tries to cash in elsewhere).

I couldn’t believe DeAndre Jordan got minutes last night and now has a title.

[mister d]

I'm glad they won and all that, but they seemed incredibly unexcited to win the title, right?

[The Sybian]

For some reason my son was loosely following the NBA playoffs this year. We got back to the hotel during Game 6 of the Heat - Celtics game and my son put it on. We saw the last 5 minutes, and that was a hell of an ending. He recorded Game 7 and I watched with him. Just horrific to watch. Tons of missed shots and incredibly boring. Anyways, we watched last night. My son thought I'd be excited because the Nuggets actually play with a center (I explained that in my day, most teams ran through their centers). Jokic looks like a center, but it was bizarre watching him carry the ball up the court and primarily stay outside the 3 point line. He actually played more like a traditional guard. I really like the weird arm angles he throws passes out when he draws the defense.

I'd say the last NBA game I watched was the 1999 Finals. I used to hear complaints that the NBA was all about giving the ball to your star, and they would isolate 1 on 1 with 8 guys standing around watching. The game looks a lot different than what I followed in the 80s and 90s, but I did like all the ball movement from the Heat, Celts and Nuggets. Did the game evolve away from the 1 on 1 isolation, or was it just the teams I watched? Looking forward to having a grandchild ask me to watch another game in 20 years and see what the league looks like.

[Johnnie]

I'm glad they won and all that, but they seemed incredibly unexcited to win the title, right?

But how does that affect Lebron's legacy? /sarcasm

Probably one of those things where when they see their leader (Jokic) downplay all of the hoopla, they follow along.

On some level it's kinda refreshing because you know if the opposite was true it would be nothing but HIMMY and HEAT CULTURE nonsense to the point of nausea.

[DSafetyGuy]

I'd say the last NBA game I watched was the 1999 Finals. I used to hear complaints that the NBA was all about giving the ball to your star, and they would isolate 1 on 1 with 8 guys standing around watching. The game looks a lot different than what I followed in the 80s and 90s, but I did like all the ball movement from the Heat, Celts and Nuggets. Did the game evolve away from the 1 on 1 isolation, or was it just the teams I watched? Looking forward to having a grandchild ask me to watch another game in 20 years and see what the league looks like.

Yes. The shift toward three-point shooting has brought offensive players farther from the basket, bringing defenders with them. Spreading out the players over a larger space creates longer distance between players, making for longer passes. When a team tries to double-team on defense, it is harder to recover and keep pace with the ball as it gets whipped around all that space. That space also opens up the interior, making room for driving/cutting to the basket instead of the mass of humanity in/around the paint in the late 1990's.

[A_B]

I'm glad they won and all that, but they seemed incredibly unexcited to win the title, right?

[Johnnie]

But this is fucking hilarious. (Swipe for the video)

[Nonlinear FC]

I'd say the last NBA game I watched was the 1999 Finals. I used to hear complaints that the NBA was all about giving the ball to your star, and they would isolate 1 on 1 with 8 guys standing around watching. The game looks a lot different than what I followed in the 80s and 90s, but I did like all the ball movement from the Heat, Celts and Nuggets. Did the game evolve away from the 1 on 1 isolation, or was it just the teams I watched? Looking forward to having a grandchild ask me to watch another game in 20 years and see what the league looks like.

Yes. The shift toward three-point shooting has brought offensive players farther from the basket, bringing defenders with them. Spreading out the players over a larger space creates longer distance between players, making for longer passes. When a team tries to double-team on defense, it is harder to recover and keep pace with the ball as it gets whipped around all that space. That space also opens up the interior, making room for driving/cutting to the basket instead of the mass of humanity in/around the paint in the late 1990's.

I wouldn't say it's been as long as Syb states, but I had definitely tuned the NBA out for the very reason he states. To me, the clear out/1v1 style was unwatchable.

And as I stated last night, just a loose affiliation with the city AND the fact that the games I was tuning into were just more entertaining to watch had me a lot more into the NBA than in probably a decade.

[Nonlinear FC]

Quite a week to be a Serb!

[sancarlos]

I’m not much of an NBA fan, and I haven’t lived in Colorado for decades, but hell yeah I hopped on the bandwagon! Yay for my (at the moment) team!

[GoodKarma]

I'm glad they won and all that, but they seemed incredibly unexcited to win the title, right?

I can see that but it was because they expected to.

I understand many complaints about the modern NBA game and it is very much 1:1/launch a three focused… the heat proved that last night with their last shot attempt. I often say “you call a time out just to draw that up?”…reality is the college game is just as bad. Coaches getting paid millions just to say everyone clear out and let our best player try and draw a foul.

However, if you watch the Nuggets, they do run an offense and often execute plays that you can see developing. That’s one of the reasons why I said this team is a lot of fun. I will admit last nights game was pretty ugly, but they were able to grind it out.

[tennbengal]

Love Jokic. Glad they won. Also, again, love Jokic-

[Johnnie]

This may have been posted already, but I'm going to do it again because it makes me laugh.

It really goes to show you how ridiculous advertising truly is in this country.

[sancarlos]

Does Denver end it tonight? I think so.

Also, assuming Denver wins it all, Stan Kroenke gets another ring. What other owner would have as diverse a collection as him?

The funniest thing about this PFTCommenter tweet is that a lot of the reply comments take him at his word, here.

[DSafetyGuy]

Love Jokic. Glad they won. Also, again, love Jokic-

I greatly enjoyed every clip of him looking bored in the postgame celebration, his desire to go home, his annoyance at having to stick around for the parade, all of it.

Dude is probably just tired and wants to kick back, which is a completely reasonable reaction after an entire sports season of over 100 games.

[The Sybian]

This may have been posted already, but I'm going to do it again because it makes me laugh.

It really goes to show you how ridiculous advertising truly is in this country.

I get it... The world needed to know of the glory of the Queserito!

[tennbengal]

Love Jokic. Glad they won. Also, again, love Jokic-

I greatly enjoyed every clip of him looking bored in the postgame celebration, his desire to go home, his annoyance at having to stick around for the parade, all of it.

Dude is probably just tired and wants to kick back, which is a completely reasonable reaction after an entire sports season of over 100 games.

It was all so...human. And goddamn relateble.

Also, this rules so hard too -

[Ryan]

Well that's gonna be in every Swampcrash thread

[Johnnie]

[DSafetyGuy]