2025 NBA Season

[Harkorede]

For me, if Westbrick keeps on targeting triple-doubles it will not be enough, for me, I think do not target a triple-double but a huge output on scoring, like he recently have against the Nuggets it was an impressive triple-double but he needs to do more, and right now Anthony Davis has a foot injury that may cause some losing game for the Lakers but if Russell Westbrick would keep up his triple-double target it will not be enough I think he needs to do more on the scoring because Anthony Davis may return on December 19,

I think scoring isn't Westbrook's strong suit. Nevertheless, his ability to grab a lot of rebounds and make a lot of assists can be very useful for the Lakers, but only in those moments when Russ makes the minimum number of turnovers per game. As for Davis' absence, Thomas Bryant might partially replace him if he continues to perform as well as he did in the previous game against the Nuggets.

I barely see Westbrook create more than 20 points lately since he is now in the second unit. His best contributions are from his assists and rebounds. This is good since he keeps feeding Lebron and AD or anyone who is hot in the Lakers to keep them hot.  

Even if Westbrook is not a scoring machine anymore and barely create 20+ points, he's still one of the huge reasons why the Lakers got an improvement lately. Yes, it did start when he fully embraced his role as the 6th man and trusted coach Ham's decision that he's more valuable coming from the 2nd unit. Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

It's pretty much time for the Lakers to actually move on from Anthony Davis, despite being a heavy and consistent score for them when on the court this season, it's just obvious he can't stay fit, and he was also out for majority of their games when he would have been much needed last season, and this season too he's already missed a handful of games, I really don't know much they count on him for the reminder of the regular season, let alone the post season where the games are more intense and highly demanding, the fact that Lakers doesn't seemed to have an immediate future is something else of a worthy consideration.

[FanEagle]

I would say never consider Wilt in your calculations because that dude played in a different era where things weren't really what it looked like lol. Dude played against 6 foot players as a 7+ foot super athletic guy, not many opponents aside from Russel during that period could ever play against him and this dude would just rebound the ball, run to other basket, dunk and come back.

What Jokic did was far more great looking, and definitely something I haven't seen in a long time. Triple double is one thing, but doing that with 27 rebounds? That is not normal, we rarely see more than 20 rebounds in a game, to do 27 of them and also 10 assists with 40 points is insane for sure.

[Kasabus]

I actually think they will be fine without steph.  Think they will gel as a team and Poole will step up.  Gonna take the Poole over in points props most games.  He is going to get a ton of shots and defenses will focus on klay.

The Golden State Warriors should try to fill Steph Curry's 30 PPG and take note that it's always a consistent performance for him.

It's also worth noting that even though Curry does some monster stats per game, the Warriors sometimes still lose.

Let's see the adjustment of their players, especially those who enjoy and signed a big contract with the team during the off-season.

I agree immensely. Golden State had huge contracts for the young players that were not part of the 2015 2017 era, for example. I understood it as a post-Curry rebuilding. For example Poole is kinda play like Splash Brothers. If I were a GM, I wouldn't sign him with an enormous contract like that when I had Curry and Klay Thompson. So, when Curry is out with injury, those players who had a huge contract when GSW are already a over-paying team, should step up and make GSW not miss Curry as much as they can. I or anyone can't expect they would fill the shoes of a superstar like Curry but a pretty decent performance is expected from them.

We cannot really blame the Warriors GM and owner for giving the likes of Poole a huge contract especially after the exemplary performance they showed that also helped the team achieve the champion status and finished the series in the opposing team's homecourt. It's just like a token of appreciation but with a responsibility that they are expected to show the very same performance or a much-improved performance in the following seasons while they are still under the Warriors contract. Although, from what we're seeing right now, it shows that Jordan Poole haven't met those expectations.

[Iranus]

.....
I wish we will see that kind of consistency from Poole, honestly, I didn't expect them to win because of their bad performance in their previous game, but it was so surprising that they not only beat the Raptors, but they also dominated them. Poole is just inconsistent, that's why it's hard to trust the Warriors, it's good to trust them if they are a heavy underdog just like their game against the Raps.

What kind of consistency are you looking for? Like 40+ a game? There's only a handful of players who can do that hehe. He seems the type of player that excels when he's given more chance or time with the ball so it's up to the coach to take advantage of that. Hard to come up with big numbers when he's not the main guy task with most of the scoring.

Poole has been pretty decent this month actually.

Poole has certainly carried the Warriors in this match. We thought that the Warriors were going to face a lot of difficulties because they do not have the usual carrier Stephen Curry. But that was not the case. Poole played really well and didn’t let anyone feel the absence of Stephen Curry. He scored 43 very significant points for the Warriors.

Surely, this was going to be a tough road for the Warriors, the road to the playoffs. But if the other players can play like this, there should be no problem for them, even without Stephen Curry.

[borovichok]

Even if Westbrook is not a scoring machine anymore and barely create 20+ points, he's still one of the huge reasons why the Lakers got an improvement lately. Yes, it did start when he fully embraced his role as the 6th man and trusted coach Ham's decision that he's more valuable coming from the 2nd unit. Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

It's not every time a player is at his best form, there are difficult phase for these players and some tends to bounced back while some can't proof themselves any longer. Westbrook is one of the keyplayer in the team and when he was at his peak, he did brace his team to the next level with his outstanding performance. The team have incredible players and they all have a very good chemistry between themselves. The Lakers are passing through some tough time but they always bounced back to glory ways.

[btc_angela]

Even if Westbrook is not a scoring machine anymore and barely create 20+ points, he's still one of the huge reasons why the Lakers got an improvement lately. Yes, it did start when he fully embraced his role as the 6th man and trusted coach Ham's decision that he's more valuable coming from the 2nd unit. Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

It's not every time a player is at his best form, there are difficult phase for these players and some tends to bounced back while some can't proof themselves any longer. Westbrook is one of the keyplayer in the team and when he was at his peak, he did brace his team to the next level with his outstanding performance. The team have incredible players and they all have a very good chemistry between themselves. The Lakers are passing through some tough time but they always bounced back to glory ways.

And it's because they change his role as well with his second season with the Lakers, becoming a sixth man, obviously from the bench and it seems that he is also enjoying his new role, and still can make a decent score and last game if I'm not mistaken he has a triple double.

But the Lakers though still lack some players that will help them move forward this season and even if Lebron and Anthony Davis is healthy, they will have a difficult time in the West and probably will be in another play in just to survived this year.

[jakelyson]

Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

I am thinking, if Thomas Bryant will be an effective center for the Lakers, I think they should start him and put AD back in pos 4. AD said before that he is more comfortable in that position, so maybe that is better for the Lakers. They can also preserve AD and not get banged up so much if he is in that position. Maybe AD can be healthier if he is not the center of the team.

Even if Westbrook is not a scoring machine anymore and barely create 20+ points, he's still one of the huge reasons why the Lakers got an improvement lately. Yes, it did start when he fully embraced his role as the 6th man and trusted coach Ham's decision that he's more valuable coming from the 2nd unit. Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

It's not every time a player is at his best form, there are difficult phase for these players and some tends to bounced back while some can't proof themselves any longer. Westbrook is one of the keyplayer in the team and when he was at his peak, he did brace his team to the next level with his outstanding performance. The team have incredible players and they all have a very good chemistry between themselves. The Lakers are passing through some tough time but they always bounced back to glory ways.

And it's because they change his role as well with his second season with the Lakers, becoming a sixth man, obviously from the bench and it seems that he is also enjoying his new role, and still can make a decent score and last game if I'm not mistaken he has a triple double.

But the Lakers though still lack some players that will help them move forward this season and even if Lebron and Anthony Davis is healthy, they will have a difficult time in the West and probably will be in another play in just to survived this year.

Any team in the West will have a difficult time in the playoffs since the west is very stacked right now. Even the Warriors who I believed is very stacked team is not doing well right now. Good thing, it is still early in the season, and they still have time to acquire the players they need to get them to the next level. Let's see what is the move of Rob Pelinka to get the Lakers going and become competitive in the west. He still has over a month before the trade deadline.

[Yaunfitda]

.....
I wish we will see that kind of consistency from Poole, honestly, I didn't expect them to win because of their bad performance in their previous game, but it was so surprising that they not only beat the Raptors, but they also dominated them. Poole is just inconsistent, that's why it's hard to trust the Warriors, it's good to trust them if they are a heavy underdog just like their game against the Raps.

What kind of consistency are you looking for? Like 40+ a game? There's only a handful of players who can do that hehe. He seems the type of player that excels when he's given more chance or time with the ball so it's up to the coach to take advantage of that. Hard to come up with big numbers when he's not the main guy task with most of the scoring.

Poole has been pretty decent this month actually.

Poole has certainly carried the Warriors in this match. We thought that the Warriors were going to face a lot of difficulties because they do not have the usual carrier Stephen Curry. But that was not the case. Poole played really well and didn’t let anyone feel the absence of Stephen Curry. He scored 43 very significant points for the Warriors.

Surely, this was going to be a tough road for the Warriors, the road to the playoffs. But if the other players can play like this, there should be no problem for them, even without Stephen Curry.

I still think though that Klay should be the one to carry the team without Steph, but they got lucky on Poole, give them the max contract and now it's paying off has had showed that he can help this team without their number 1 scorer.

Maybe in their next games, it will be Klay and then someone who had a break out game for their young core, like Moody and Kuminga and Wiseman because they are highly touted when they come into the NBA. And will be the next face of Warriors, if they can't proved themselves, then maybe they might find a new team next season.

[Oasisman]

For me, if Westbrick keeps on targeting triple-doubles it will not be enough, for me, I think do not target a triple-double but a huge output on scoring, like he recently have against the Nuggets it was an impressive triple-double but he needs to do more, and right now Anthony Davis has a foot injury that may cause some losing game for the Lakers but if Russell Westbrick would keep up his triple-double target it will not be enough I think he needs to do more on the scoring because Anthony Davis may return on December 19,

I think scoring isn't Westbrook's strong suit. Nevertheless, his ability to grab a lot of rebounds and make a lot of assists can be very useful for the Lakers, but only in those moments when Russ makes the minimum number of turnovers per game. As for Davis' absence, Thomas Bryant might partially replace him if he continues to perform as well as he did in the previous game against the Nuggets.

I barely see Westbrook create more than 20 points lately since he is now in the second unit. His best contributions are from his assists and rebounds. This is good since he keeps feeding Lebron and AD or anyone who is hot in the Lakers to keep them hot. 

Also, coach Ham started utilizing the former Wizards, Thomas Bryant as their center while Davis is having some issues and the results were better because they aren't that much having a hard time when Davis is not around.

Good observations. That's what the Lakers fans was talking about in their past games where AD was out. Ham did not gave Thomas Bryant enough game time so he can blend in with the rotation. Look at him now, he knows where to position himself offensively when LeBron or Westbrook is driving the lane or call for a pick and roll.
He can even grab good offensive rebounds and fights through the traffic to grab a rebounds. Hope he'll start at the Center again when AD gets back.

[redhack]

We see some crazy scores this season but nobody can pass 60 points yet. The closest one was Embiid with 59. Who do you think will pass 60 first?

Embiid 59
Booker 58
Davis 55
Embiid 53
Booker 51
Garland 51
Curry 50

[autoprt]

We see some crazy scores this season but nobody can pass 60 points yet. The closest one was Embiid with 59. Who do you think will pass 60 first?

Embiid 59
Booker 58
Davis 55
Embiid 53
Booker 51
Garland 51
Curry 50

Booker when he is hot is hard to stop if i had to bet i would bet on Booker.

[jakelyson]

Maybe in their next games, it will be Klay and then someone who had a break out game for their young core,

I do not expect much from Klay since his injury. He is not as explosive and defensive as before, but he is still very reliable. It is okay if Poole gets to be the center of their offense while Curry is out since he is one of the young cores. He needs that experience to develop leadership which he will need when the current cores are already retired.

... Moody and Kuminga and Wiseman because they are highly touted when they come into the NBA. And will be the next face of Warriors, if they can't proved themselves, then maybe they might find a new team next season.

These players are very young and have a lot of space for improvement. I do not know if they will be the face of the Warriors in the future but one thing I know is that they have potential. If you will trade them just because they did not perform in one season, then you are just like the Lakers, who throw away their young stars without waiting for them to peak. Look what those players are now, they are stars of their current team. These players need experience. Once they got that, and still do not contribute much, then it is time to trade them. But now, develop them and see what happens.

[ChiBitCTy]

Woowee it has been one heck of a rough year for the Chicago Bulls.  I watched a really good video yesterday which broke down the current state of the Chicago Bulls and gave a few suggestions/ideas of where they might want to head from this point- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdbKmmvsucI .

As a die hard bulls fan, without a mega-star, we don't have a chance. Period.  I'm a realist, and I realize though Lavine, DeRozan, Vucevic are good players, maybe even great..but not great enough.  Also with no Ball, they've got no chance.  In my opinion it's time to do some restructuring. 

I say the Bulls move DeRozan and try and move Vucevic as well.  They need more young talent to build upon while they try and find that mega-star (which is almost impossible, I'm certainly aware of).

[goinmerry]

I'm not impressed with how they played, yes they won the game but Wizards are going to be the worst team this season as they are in a cold losing streak, currently at 10. Lakers has to show that they dominate a weak team while stay competitive against great teams, that's the only way they will be back in the playoff spot.

There might be some flaws in that game committed by the Lakers including that Lakers' last play where Lebron almost lose the ball but eventually recovered it and dish it to Bryant for a smooth dunk that gives them a lead. If that mistake happened, Lebron will surely get criticized even if he has a monster performance in that game.

Even that Lakers' win is not impressive to you, what matters here is they have won.

In today's NBA, you can't expect the supposed dominating teams to have always smooth wins against the underdogs.

[jossiel]

Maybe AD can be healthier if he is not the center of the team.

He's effective on that position but it's also known that he's just too prone to injuries. I think a less playing time or someone who can really tandem his athleticism will really help him to at least mitigate possible injuries.

But, it's part of it and no matter how many times he'll get injured. He'll still play as his but concerning his career, being injury prone, we saw the downfall of it from the other NBA players on where their careers have taken them.

[jakelyson]

In today's NBA, you can't expect the supposed dominating teams to have always smooth wins against the underdogs.

I agree with this statement. That is why we see underdogs upset the favorites. Every team in the NBA can beat a top team given the right circumstance.

Maybe AD can be healthier if he is not the center of the team.

He's effective on that position but it's also known that he's just too prone to injuries. I think a less playing time or someone who can really tandem his athleticism will really help him to at least mitigate possible injuries.

But, it's part of it and no matter how many times he'll get injured. He'll still play as his but concerning his career, being injury prone, we saw the downfall of it from the other NBA players on where their careers have taken them.

What I am saying is, he gets bumped and banged in that position more than in position 4. That gives him the higher chance to get injured because he gets more contact with opponent teams. He is effective as center but if the Lakers want longevity and keep AD healthy, then moving him to Pos 4 is an option. Just saying.

[chaser15]

For me, if Westbrick keeps on targeting triple-doubles it will not be enough, for me, I think do not target a triple-double but a huge output on scoring, like he recently have against the Nuggets it was an impressive triple-double but he needs to do more, and right now Anthony Davis has a foot injury that may cause some losing game for the Lakers but if Russell Westbrick would keep up his triple-double target it will not be enough I think he needs to do more on the scoring because Anthony Davis may return on December 19,

Did Westbrook still target a triple-double per game? Not that I noticed since becoming a 6th man and coming off the bench.

If he's good with rebounds and assists with fewer turnovers on average, that should do. It's not also good for him trying to make huge output on scoring. Refer to their last games and see how effective Westbrook is even not on his usual scoring.

Coach Ham is doing good so far utilizing Bryant, Reeves, Walker IV, and others. Good to see these players doing well with Lebron in the last game.

[danherbias07]

SGA did it again.
A winning buzzer-beater shot against the Portland Trail Blazers. I really thought it will be going to overtime after Damian Lillard made that 2 points shot under the rim. Well, unexpected things do happen and SGA is known to make shots like that, he ended with 35 points and 6 assists.
Trail Blazers 2-2 on their recent road trip, and Thunder 2-2 also on their home. Rematch in a couple of days at the same place, Oklahoma.

New Orleans Pelicans on the other hand just received their 4th losing streak against the Bucks.
Not looking good for the young Zion. Brandon Ingram's return will be their key to going back to winning more games.

[autoprt]

Woowee it has been one heck of a rough year for the Chicago Bulls.  I watched a really good video yesterday which broke down the current state of the Chicago Bulls and gave a few suggestions/ideas of where they might want to head from this point- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdbKmmvsucI .

As a die hard bulls fan, without a mega-star, we don't have a chance. Period.  I'm a realist, and I realize though Lavine, DeRozan, Vucevic are good players, maybe even great..but not great enough.  Also with no Ball, they've got no chance.  In my opinion it's time to do some restructuring. 

I say the Bulls move DeRozan and try and move Vucevic as well.  They need more young talent to build upon while they try and find that mega-star (which is almost impossible, I'm certainly aware of).

actually i think the Bulls should try to get Derrick Rose back and let him retire as a Bull.  Lonzo isn't going to be coming back any time soon if at all since he is still having knee troubles.  Based on the reception he got vs. the Knicks I really wish they would do that.

[LogitechMouse]

For me, if Westbrick keeps on targeting triple-doubles it will not be enough, for me, I think do not target a triple-double but a huge output on scoring, like he recently have against the Nuggets it was an impressive triple-double but he needs to do more, and right now Anthony Davis has a foot injury that may cause some losing game for the Lakers but if Russell Westbrick would keep up his triple-double target it will not be enough I think he needs to do more on the scoring because Anthony Davis may return on December 19,

Did Westbrook still target a triple-double per game? Not that I noticed since becoming a 6th man and coming off the bench.

If he's good with rebounds and assists with fewer turnovers on average, that should do. It's not also good for him trying to make huge output on scoring. Refer to their last games and see how effective Westbrook is even not on his usual scoring.

Coach Ham is doing good so far utilizing Bryant, Reeves, Walker IV, and others. Good to see these players doing well with Lebron in the last game.

For me he isn't, or should I say his main goal isn't getting a triple double every game but, that's just how he plays right now. I mean he can do everything. He can rebound, he can be a passer and he can be a shooter as well though he is very awful on that aspect considering how much he's being paid right now.

Lakers are doing well compared to their first 10 games. Their chemistry is being built slowly. Coach Ham is slowly becoming a better coach right now and he utilizes his other players like Reeves, Walker and Schroeder. The problem right now is Davis being out for a month again. After him being the most dominant player to now getting injured again.

We know how impactful he is and how much he improved compared to last year. Now injuries are coming to him again and ruining his whole season. One month of him being out is a huge disaster to the Lakers already. Him playing and they are at the 12th spot still. How will the Lakers perform with him out for a month?