Official Detroit Pistons thread

[chemiclord]

And honestly, at this point, Carmelo makes any team he's on worse. But Forsh is right, I guess, they have a shot... but it's sort of outside "if all of the favorites unexpectedly blow out" sort of shot. They are only winning if the Warriors fuck it up.

The problem is that there is only one real contender right now, and no one else has a chance barring disaster.

[froot loops]

The Thunder should be better.

[Futureshock]

Steph Curry has bad ankles, he is a genuine injury risk every year and he makes that engine go. When he is not on his game the Warriors are vulnerable because he is dominant with or without the ball.

I think Durant is now their engine. He's a match-up nightmare that other team's can't match. Curry is their turbo booster. When healthy and on his game they're blowing teams out. But with Durant they can beat anyone at any time. Even without Curry.

[froot loops]

When Durant is their engine, it is all iso ball and that can be beat.

[Futureshock]

Only if you double him. And then someone is wide open. Who do you leave?

[froot loops]

Durant doesn't get doubled that much, but if you are doubling him they leave Green. They dare Green to shoot nowadays. All you have to do is watch the games, Durant is a great player don't get me wrong but minus Curry, that team is maybe a better version of his OKC team with Westbrook. A lot of stagnant offense and you saw that last year, its why the Rockets almost took them out. Curry forces the defense to pay attention to him at all times, it opens up a lot of space. He's a point guard that doesn't need to be ball dominant and he moves without the ball like Rip Hamilton did. That's one of the hardest things to get players like that to do.

[Kstat]

[froot loops]

His form is all disjointed from distance or something it just looks funky.

[chemiclord]

Durant doesn't get doubled that much, but if you are doubling him they leave Green. They dare Green to shoot nowadays. All you have to do is watch the games, Durant is a great player don't get me wrong but minus Curry, that team is maybe a better version of his OKC team with Westbrook. A lot of stagnant offense and you saw that last year, its why the Rockets almost took them out. Curry forces the defense to pay attention to him at all times, it opens up a lot of space. He's a point guard that doesn't need to be ball dominant and he moves without the ball like Rip Hamilton did. That's one of the hardest things to get players like that to do.

For what it's worth, a better version of his OKC team with Westbrook would have no doubt won a couple rings, at least.

[froot loops]

Not once Harden left. It was all iso ball. A slightly better version of that wasn't going to get the job done.

[chemiclord]

Not once Harden left. It was all iso ball. A slightly better version of that wasn't going to get the job done.

Considering that OKC team was one of the few that actually pushed the pre-Durant Warriors to the brink, I'm gonna have to strongly disagree with you there. A slightly better version absolutely wins a couple of championships.

[froot loops]

Yeah, that's your opinion, I didn't see it.

[chemiclord]

Yeah, that's your opinion, I didn't see it.

Were you asleep during the 2016 Playoffs?

Oh right. You only care about the Finals. Sorry, I forgot.

[froot loops]

Nope, I watch the NBA all season long. That's not a problem for me. Sure the Thunder had them down 3-1, but the Warriors didn't actually win the title that year and they were dealing with a gimpy Steph Curry. I'm not sure a slightly better Thunder gets past the Cavs. It certainly doesn't mean would no doubt win a couple rings.

[chemiclord]

Nope, I watch the NBA all season long. That's not a problem for me. Sure the Thunder had them down 3-1, but the Warriors didn't actually win the title that year and they were dealing with a gimpy Steph Curry. I'm not sure a slightly better Thunder gets past the Cavs. It certainly doesn't mean would no doubt win a couple rings.

Why wouldn't it? Who is the challenger that stops them other than Golden State? In this hypothetical where Golden State is the slightly better version of OKC, how do they not win at least two titles?

Cleveland had one year that the stars aligned for them. Every other year, it really wasn't all that close. Who challenges a Golden State without Curry this season? Sure... a "slightly better" OKC isn't the juggernaut that this current GS team is... but I have no problem still calling a Curry-less Warriors the favorite.

That's how much better they are than everyone else this year.