2024/25 nba season

[Andrew]

Cleveland's cooled off a little with a few losses, but they're still on top of the league early on. It'll be interesting to see if they, the Thunder, and the Rockets not only maintain their form for the rest of the regular season, but if they're actually capable of making some noise in the Playoffs as well. Meanwhile, Warriors are on a bit of a skid.

[mp3]

This has been a crazy start to the season with how good some unexpected teams have been and then some badddddd teams.

The most shocking (or maybe not) is how many injuries there has been, iam not convinced that all theses players are ALL injured tho I feel like teams are saying they are to get around load management fines.

[Andrew]

I wonder about that as well. Of course, non-contact injuries have ramped up over the past decade plus. AAU basketball isn't necessarily properly allowing for proper physical development, not to mention running a lot of kids into the ground well before they reach the pros.

[mp3]

You would think with such an early start players have had in the US in basketball that they would be taught better fundamentals and to not just jack up 3s all game, basketball of course in Australia is a higher standard than the UK and not sure what it's like for kids learning the game there but in the GB we don't really start playing of learning about the game till later years of junior school early high school so between 9 and 11 years old so we kind of have a later start but I know for a fact that the nba style of play will get you benched real quick playing like that especially if you put minimal effort in on D.

I do agree with you that AAU is running kids into the ground especially with social media and mix tapes people wanting to cash in early and sign the future star earlier as most players are a one and done in college now which I think really hurts the nba

[Andrew]

They want that assembly line of future stars. If some kids wreck their bodies and wash out...well, hey, there's always more coming along! Obviously we're seeing the impact of what AAU has on the collegiate and professional game, but there's also the human cost; that running of kids into the ground. There's a reason people like the late Kobe Bryant have spoken out about it. It's not that there shouldn't be youth basketball programs, just that AAU has issues due to its approach.

[mp3]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/2 ... Williamson

This is crazy to think that the Pelicans do I infact have a uno reverse card when it comes to Zion and getting out of his contract, originally when he signed that contract I didn't think to much to it but the reality is Zion is on big money, doesn't seem to care or have the heart to battle hard an stay in shape which could help with theses injuries.

[Andrew]

He's had too much success and shown too much skill to be considered a bust, but the time he's missed, the lack of conditioning and leadership as a potential franchise player, and the mere fact that that clause is in his contract and thus a talking point, certainly means he's fallen short of the loftiest hype at least. Still time to turn it around, but it's another potential Embiid type of situation.

[mp3]

I have to agree 100% here.

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[Jeffx]

Remember, it was the Celtics who invented physical play long before the Bad Boys came along. They always had cats who brought the rough stuff ("hatchet men"), going back to Jim Loscutoff. Remember when Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis in the '84 Finals?

[mp3]

Is anyone else getting tired of Jimmy Bulter yet?

[Andrew]

He's a great player and deserves credit for those Finals runs, but this does evoke memories of his unpleasant split with the Timberwolves.

On the subject of current Bulls, though...Coby White with my Dunk of the Year.

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[mp3]

Yeah unfortunately it's getting ugly and he suddenly when from "trade me anywhere" to "I don't want the grizzlies" so in other words he still has his list of teams he wants to be traded to and it will likely drag on.

I saw Cobys dunk and the thing I liked most about it is that White sees the challenge much like people wanted to dunk on Mutumbo so drove the lane more, something we are not seeing much of in today's game.

[Andrew]

Absolutely. And hey, I like that Wemby wants to challenge anyone who dares shoot or dunk over him. That's what makes highlights exciting, when both players are competing and want to get the basket or the stop respectively. Spectacular stuff means nothing if there's no effort to defend it.

[mp3]

Unfortunately the league has turned into was is a year long allstar game, no rivalries, too friendly and if we remember back to the days where players Luke Mutumbo and Mourning were making the allstar teams based on there defence more than anything but in the allstar game they would play the least amount of minutes because in the game there play style (defensive shot blockers) were deemed useless in the way the allstar game would be played with run and gun zero defence well unfortunately that's all year round now but the thing that made the league great was players wanting to dunk on people and the players that always jumped to block shot, that's what I always liked about players like Chris Dudley, Mutumbo, Mourning, Shawn Bradley, Chris Gatling etc because they dared to jump and it put fans on the edge of there seats.

[Andrew]

If you're put on a poster meeting a dunker at the rim, you at least tried to stop them. People like to point and laugh at the posterised, but the effort is always admirable, and the dunk is better for it.

[Savvy Ninja Zero]

It's been an interesting season so far; lot of craziness going on. Cavs and Thunder look like the 2 best.

[mp3]

What a dunk Ja over wemby would of been if that had of counted !