Around The League 2023-2024 Season

Don't look now but IME has the Rockets knocking on the door for a play-in spot. They have won 8 in a row and are now 1 game back of the GSW for the 10th spot. They are 0-2 vs GSW this year with 1 to play but are really 2 games backs due to their head to head record.

It is very possible that the GSW may not make it into the play-in round.

I think it could take the remainder of the season to figure this seeding out.

I just want to comment on how weird the NBA schedule is.

Last night, we played Atlanta in Atlanta.  Monday night.  We play Atlanta in Atlanta again on Thursday.  So, do the Celtics hang around Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday and wait for redemption on Thursday, or do they fly home?

Meanwhile, Portland flies into Atlanta to play on Wednesday and we get the Hawks Thursday on a SEGABABA.  

If the Celtics don't fly home between games, there will be three NBA teams in the same city at the same time.  What do the Celtics do Wednesday night for fun, go to the Hawks-Trail Blazers game?

Has anything like this ever happen before?  I understand trying to save on travel by scheduling Home-Home or Away-Away games. All the other times this has happened this season, there was just one day off between the two games.  In this instance, another team slides in between the two games.

That is just odd.

Anyway, Go Blazers!!!   Pound them Hawks into the ground!!!

Grumble, grumble,  grumble . . .

I have found the scheduling ridiculous this year. This week in particular is so stupid. Look at the Celtics schedule...........so many away games it is foolish. Who or what did they hire to do this scheduling? I know I have read where other teams have complained also. These home and home games are stupid, with the money this league is making, they can come up with a better solutionl

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I have found the scheduling ridiculous this year.  This week in particular is so stupid.  Look at the Celtics schedule...........so many away games it is foolish.  Who or what did they hire to do this scheduling?  I know I have read where other teams have complained also.  These home and home games are stupid, with the money this league is making, they can come up with a better solutionl

Rosalie

I think the reason the Celtics are on an extended road trip currently is because the TD Garden is being used as a regional site during the NCAA tournament.

Celtics17 wrote:

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I have found the scheduling ridiculous this year.  This week in particular is so stupid.  Look at the Celtics schedule...........so many away games it is foolish.  Who or what did they hire to do this scheduling?  I know I have read where other teams have complained also.  These home and home games are stupid, with the money this league is making, they can come up with a better solutionl

Rosalie

I think the reason the Celtics are on an extended road trip currently is because the TD Garden is being used as a regional site during the NCAA tournament.

That is correct.

For anyone who has been watching, it has been a wildly exciting tourney so far.

And, as usual, I think my brackets are pretty much trashed.

Celtics17 wrote:

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I have found the scheduling ridiculous this year.  This week in particular is so stupid.  Look at the Celtics schedule...........so many away games it is foolish.  Who or what did they hire to do this scheduling?  I know I have read where other teams have complained also.  These home and home games are stupid, with the money this league is making, they can come up with a better solutionl

Rosalie

I think the reason the Celtics are on an extended road trip currently is because the TD Garden is being used as a regional site during the NCAA tournament.

The San Antonio Spurs had an extended road trip each season while the rodeo was in town. I wonder if that is still a thing.

Would this scheduling debacle this week have anything to do with the IST or the ripple effect from the two postponed games by GSW when their assistant coach died? I still don't see how the NBA schedulers pulled al that off without incident.

db

dbrown4 wrote:Would this scheduling debacle this week have anything to do with the IST or the ripple effect from the two postponed games by GSW when their assistant coach died?  I still don't see how the NBA schedulers pulled al that off without incident.
db

Strictly money talking that controlled the schedule. For Boston at least.

If you're running TD Garden and you have a chance to host the opening round of the NCAA tourney from Thursday to Sunday, you tell your NBA and NHL teams to get out of town for a while.

Huge earning opportunity for The Garden, Boston area hotels and restaurants.

I'm sure they're so happy they can hardly count!

Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP
yesterday
Bucks (with their top 8 playing) just "blew" a 19-point lead, at home, with 8:00 left. I guess they can't win the championship, either. (It's the 40th time a team has lost a 19-point lead this year...the game has changed.)


Bob


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Oh no. Per the media, the Bucks can still win it all. We, however, cannot! Especially since we can't hold a 30-point lead! Actually, I'm hearing more "one-off" on that ATL game than the opposite sky is falling in Boston I was expecting. Bad news travels faster.

db

Just as an aside, I'm a little tired of "Playoff Miami".  It's already reaching a feverish pitch.  I think it's kind of hokey and has run its course.  If I were a "fan" of MIA and their "Culture", I'd be pretty pissed.  Why make me suffer through a mediocre season like they are currently having, spend gobs of money all season long and then all the sudden come playoff time, like pulling a rabbit out of their hats, MIA "surges" just at the right time.  MIA needs to be greeted with an idling chain saw when the rabbit comes out this time around.  They are cheating the game and are playing with their own fire.  

It is time to put this charade to an end once and for all.  Whoever draws MIA in the first round needs to put the flame out before it even starts.  You play shitty all year and just edge your way into the playoffs via play-in, you need to meet the Grim Reaper early and often.  Everyone in the East and especially top seeds should know their familiar song and dance by now.  MIL and BOS know this all too well and it appears this task is going to fall upon either MIL or us once again this year.  MIA took both of us out last season.  MIL never knew what hit them.  We dicked around for 3 games, then pulled potentially the greatest comeback of all time with by far the best chance to go from 0-3 to 4-3, only to fall short in the first few plays of G7.  Yes, we played around with fire and got burned.  We got everything we deserved.  

If either of these two teams needs to act like the house is on fire or fake themselves into thinking this is the championship round to get the task done, then do it.  It does the league no good to have a crappy although scrappy MIA team in the Finals only to get manhandled and swept by the best team from the West because you were playing way over your heads.  That's just not the best of the best.  Yet no one but DEN and MIA fans watched the Finals.  And even MIA fans realized the jig was up early on.  They actually realized it was coming to an end in the ECF.  You want to watch two teams in the Finals that come from a playoff pool where everyone has just about an equal chance to make it to the Finals?  Watch the NHL or MLB.  NBA basketball is designed to have the best from the East vs. the best from the West.  Do we always get that?  No.  But you typically get very close to that even in the worst of circumstances.  You very seldom get #1 vs. #7/#8.  

MIA frauds the league, their fans and the playoffs with their current little engine that could philosophy.  If this is the best Pat Riley can produce on the court than so be it.  He used to be very good at putting the very best talent on the floor.  But the Heat just aren't that good and haven't been anywhere close to good since 2013 when they had a legit Finals team for 4 years running with LeBron, DWade and Bosh.

If the spinning bottle stops on Boston and Boston falls for this same bs this time around and fails to deliver anything less than a sweep completely knowing this MO, I won't know what to think!  Just get it done and end it once and for all.  Nothing beats a pouting, angry, clipboard snapping Spo-face.  We are the much better team as we have swept them during the regular season.  I'm not expecting much from MIL and Doc.      

OK.  That's enough ranting.

db

ClutchPoints: Adam Lefkoe: “Who are the NBA players that you would legitimately go watch because you find them entertaining?” Shaq: “Ben Simmons, because I’d wanna learn how you can make $80 million and play 55 games. Teach me.”  (via @bigpodwithshaq)


Bob
MY NOTE:  This is f-ing hilarious.

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https://www.axios.com/2024/03/29/minnesota-timberwolves-owners-rodriguez-lore



Ownership battle breaks out for one of the NBA's hottest teams


Dan Primack
, author of
Axios Pro Rata




Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios



The NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves are an on-court phenomenon and an off-court farce.

Driving the news: Team owner Glen Taylor announced on Thursday that the T-Wolves and WNBA's Minnesota Lynx are no longer for sale, after former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and ex-Walmart executive Marc Lore missed a March 27 deadline for completing their purchase.

Rodriguez and Lore pushed back, saying they "have fulfilled our obligations, have all necessary funding and are fully committed to closing our purchase as soon as the NBA completes its approval process."


The big picture: The Timberwolves have won just three playoff series in over three decades of play, but this year have the league's third-best record and one of its newest stars in Anthony Edwards.


Catch up quick: Taylor once viewed Rodriguez and Lore as saviors, two recognizable names who pledged to keep his beloved but beleaguered team in Minnesota.

He agreed to sell in 2021 via a multipart transaction that began in 2021 and was to result in a control stake by 2024, at a $1.5 billion valuation.
But relations are said to have soured over the past year, to the point that Taylor didn't give Rodriguez or Lore a heads-up about yesterday's announcement. Even though they already own nearly 40% of the team.

It's unclear how much of the strain was caused by Taylor's belief that the pair weren't living up to their obligations, his concerns about their financing, or seller's remorse as the club improved and NBA franchise values soared. You might recall that Carlyle had been prepared to back Rodriguez and Lore at a $2.3 billion valuation, before failing to get NBA approval.


Fast forward: This may come down to the letter of the contract vs. spirit of the contract.


The March 27 deadline was indeed missed, but all of the relevant paperwork was sitting in the league office.

This included a financing commitment from Blue Owl (fka Dyal), which replaced Carlyle. Blue Owl has NBA pre-approval, but a source says that even its deals go through a league diligence process.

Blue Owl could be in a very uncomfortable situation were Rodriguez and Lore to sue, given that it's part of other NBA ownership groups.


The bottom line: Last week Axios wrote that Taylor "must be privately praying that Rodriguez and Lore falter." The question now is if lawyers and the league office agree with Taylor that they did.


Bob
MY NOTE:  "but all of the relevant paperwork was sitting in the league office."  To me, this is a key pivot point.  If it was in the league's office before the deadline then any failure to consummate the deal falls upon the league's office to make things right.  I'm sure we can all relate to having submitted paperwork and/or a payment for something (e.g.  payment of a ticket, application for refinancing property) but it doesn't get the timely attention we were lead to believe it would, doesn't get posted in time, and as a result we've had to explain to various management folks about how it "wasn't our fault their people were asleep".


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Get ready for all the "Come from behind against all the adversity the world and league can put upon you knocking out the Celtics in the 1st round along the way" mumbo, jumbo you can handle....

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/39852383/sources-sixers-joel-embiid-return-soon-tuesday

db

This is an amazing shot.  I’m not playing horse with Luka!

Sixers knock off OKC. Embid returns

I'm hoping PHI can move up to 6th with his return.  That's probably asking too much of (+/-).500 Doc.  MIA wants to play us and move everything up a couple of rounds from last year with the same result.  In case you can't tell, I just hate MIA and their baby-faced, cry baby coach.  Probably hate them more than the Lakers!  

Right now, for me, my prediction for our trek through the playoffs will look a whole lot like and resemble 2008, maxing out every round by the skin of our teeth...playing with fire.  

db

dbrown,

Here's a screenshot of the Eastern Conference playoff eligible teams.  Positions 4-8 are separated by 3 1/2 games.  Magic, Knicks, Pacers, Heat and 76ers.




The Knicks may be the team that backs out of the top 6 into the play-in, due to lingering injury issues.  That could leave the Heat and the 76ers battling it out for the 6th position.

Like you, I also would rather have the Celtics personally put the Heat out of their misery in the playoffs.  

I would not want to repeat the path we took in 2008.  4, 4, 4 & 4 works for me.  Maybe let a 5 slip through once or twice, just to give the home crowd a chance to see a series-clinching game.

I watched the Knicks lose a tough one to the Heat.

They have gone from 3rd to 5th in a NY Minute.  They are starting to show the effects of not having a healthy roster.  Simply stated, they look worn down.

The schedule makers must be on some very serious medication.

The Knicks have 7 games left and 3 of them are against the Chicago Bulls. (April 5th, 9th and the 14th)  I  definitely agree that they could slip below # 6.  They still have to play the Kings H, @Chicago - 2, Bucks and  Celtics.   Julius Randle is still not taking contact and OG is not 100% either.  Mitchell Robinson is back but he is dragging one leg.  Of course they are hoping and praying to get healthy.  Randle separated shoulder has not healed enough.  It's his right shoulder, the one he uses as a battering ram to get to the rim.  He will not be able to do that if he comes back.  He will be rendered to nothing more than a toothless tiger.

4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 remain in the mix.   The Heat are fighting like hell to move up to #6.  And the Magic have to play 5 out of their remaining 7 games on the road. @Nola, Hornets then home vs Bulls and after that @ Rockets, Bucks and Sixers.  back home vs Bucks.

The next 11 days results will be fascinating to watch.

The funniest situation is out West. With all the speculation from the talking heads regarding whether the Lakers or the Warriors can/will make a deep run, no one has mentioned the fact that these two teams will play each other in the 9/10. One of them is done and out of the playoffs completely by merely losing that game. The other has to play the loser of SAC vs. PHX. Yeah, good luck with that.

It would be nice to get MIA up to 6th and have PHI screw around trying to win 7/8 and draw MIL. That's the scenario in which to hope for best case scenario. For us, playing against MIA or PHI with Embiid back is like Russian Roulette. I'll pass.

db

Rumor has it that Randle will undergo season ending surgery on his shoulder. The Knicks were hoping for him to return. It will be interesting to see how they play to avoid dropping below the 6th spot. They are 3 games up on the Pacers in the loss column and the Pacers have just 5 games remaining.

ESPN Woj reported it's official for Randle this am during FT. Season's over for him and Stephen A. for that matter! Now he can turn his attention and wishes to LAL and MIA, both of who's seasons will be over in one game, two games or 7 max.

db

Why is it always someone else when it comes to Doc??? Bucks are a mess and he is ready to throw all and any under the bus. Never should have taken this job Doc, ring chasing has not worked for you since you left Boston high and dry. I do not belong to twitter, he is quoted on there FYI

Doc needs to have stayed in broadcasting with ESPN. He's definitely the "E" in ESPN. Going to love watching him squirm when MIL goes out in the first round again. He's added nothing to MIL. As a matter of fact, he's 50/50 and the guy they fired was .700. What's wrong with that picture?!! Panicville in MIL!!

db