Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Lakers vs. Nets seems like the easy Finals prediction right now. I'm sure the Clippers, Nuggets, Bucks, and Raptors will have something to say about that, but LeBron James and Kevin Durant are arguably the two best basketball players in the world. A battle of those titans would be historic.

Camden0916 wrote:So, Brooklyn started their best guards -- Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie -- together in the backcourt and brought their gunner off the bench. Interesting...

Minnesota should be doing the same with D'Angelo Russell and Ricky Rubio with Malik Beasley coming off the bench.

Camden0916 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

TheFuture wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, Wiseman essentially jumped from high school to the NBA, with no preseason, different training camps, and covid.

Definitely was a fine debut.

Drunken Dribbler 22 wrote:

TheFuture wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:Wiseman adding a lot of garbage pts right now

They all count the same in the scorebooks. It's essentially Wiseman's first taste of an NBA game. He didn't have preseason to get his feet wet like other rookies. The kid was fine tonight. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yeah, Wiseman essentially jumped from high school to the NBA, with no preseason, different training camps, and covid.

Definitely was a fine debut.

I'm actually pretty excited about edwards and knowing/seeing what I know now, it would have been a really tough call between the two. Patrick Williams would be a close 3rd.

PorkChop wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Durant is definitely back. Assuming Kyrie and Durant can stay healthy, the Nets are clearly the team to beat in the East. They're really loaded with Kyrie and Durant, but also with LeVert, Dinwiddie and Harris. Add to that two really good bigs in Jordan and Allen. This Nets team, if healthy, can give the Lakers a run for their money in the NBA finals.

As for Wiseman, I'd say he had a really nice debut with 17 points on 60% shooting from the field, including one 3-pointer on one attempt. He also pulled dow 6 boards and had 2 steals. He did all of that without having playing in a competitive basketball game for nearly a full year and with essentially no training camp. Essentially, he jumped right from high school to the NBA with a 12-month gap in between and limited prep time with his NBA team. But I'm glad he's not with the Wolves. Just think about the damage he'd do to our system.

Woah

The Nets are not the team to beat in the East. Their win total O/U is 44.5 and that is probably where they end up. KD and Kyrie are going to miss their share of games this year, and the East has gotten a lot better.

I said they're the team to beat assuming Kyrie and Durant stay healthy. That's an important caveat, right? :) Ultimately, I don't expect both of them to remain healthy. Kyrie, in particularly, has a hard time staying healthy. But if those two guys stay healthy all season, I think they're more talented than any other team in the East. They were 35-37 last season without Durant in the lineup and with Kyrie playing only 20 games. Durant is arguably the best player in the League if healthy.

I think the 44.5 O/U is a bit low. I'm sure the O/U factors in the injury propensity of Kyrie and the uncertainty over Durant's recovery and sharpness early on after such a long layoff. But remember that this is a 72-game season. If the Nets finish with 45 wins (just barely above the O/U), that means they will have finished the season 18 games over .500.

Does Kyries crass personality and Durants inability to take criticism concern you? I don't feel like it's a match made in heaven, but winning cures all ills. Altho it doesn't . LeBron and Kyrie couldn't figure it out either.

Volans19 wrote:Batum as a starter made me gasp