In the case of Bucks, yeah, Giannis will be tested here specially in the playoffs, it's obvious that they are not the same team anymore. I mean they have added Dame, and it's good, but the chemistry is still in question right now. There are games that they look solid and championship team, but most of the time, they were defeated by a low caliber team.

And then they changes coaches in the middle of the season, and this could really help them in a bad way if they don't know how to keep on winning under coach Rivers. And assuming they reach the playoff, we all know that coach Rivers have history of choking.

And there Pat Bev, defended his coach,



https://twitter.com/patbev21/status/1760007741354193237

However, I don't trust JJ here, I mean he is in the media in the last couple of years, so he will have to make some controversial statement just to be on the spot light. And I think as far as doing his job? He is good. But we will see if Rivers can get back after the All-Star, fresh and restart everything for the Bucks. I do agree about the chemistry, it's a different team now, not like the same when they had their run on the championship a couple of years ago. So there's thing that Rivers have to work, not just their defense.

They still occasionally hand check and refs are too stupid and can't decide if they want to blow the whistle or not, haha.
I miss the good old days when big trucks like Shaq, the mailman or David Robinson would power their way into the lane. Now it's all about looking fancy and shooting 3s.
I also miss the real trash talk. Now you are staring down your opponent and get a tech for it, when you complain about it you get another one and you are gone.
All these soft refs have ruined the game unfortunately.

I think there's still a lot of trash talking inside and outside the court. But this is a different era now, just a few of those kind of plays in the big men position. Maybe we can see Giannis bulldozing himself in the middle, but he is a freak. I mean he could be also the one that change the game as we haven't seen this kind of player, big, tall, and can run. David Robinson could have been doing this already, but when we see it done during their era, everyone was excited.

But now, centers are different, they are now shooting from the outside, making 3's. And it's probably the blame on the European's like Dirk early 2000's when they came and then shots from 3's and thus evolved as we have seen Jokic or even Embiid attempting to shoot from the outside.

Yes, and I think we should expect it because of their poor showing under him. Just like when media criticize Harden as well when he joined the Clippers, everyone is on the offensive but now it's very different as they started to win games.

So let's see how Doc Rivers will respond in the second half of the season. Perhaps if he can rise to the occasion all his critics will be quiet including JJ Redick's attack on him. Although again, he has history of choking but hopefully Giannis or Bucks will not be the next player to suffer the fate like the Sixers or Clippers before under Rivers.

Which is why a lot of fans are telling the whole NBA to get soft. Yeah, they are also a culprit of that softness. They kept on changing the rules, while the players kept on finding holes.
Malone and Rodman before keep on being physical under the rim and yet the referees still see it as a normal contact, if it will happen now I guess they will be thrown out instantly.
The physicality is gone, if there is one, I think Jokic and Davis are the only ones left who still do the post-up games and be physical under the rim.

As a fan of defense, it's actually frustrating to see lesser players who are good at defending their opponents. I think Wemby will be the one who will revive it in his era. I hope he won't stick with those three-pointers. He should try to be like Tim Duncan who will dominate the paint and perimeters on both ends of the floor.
Chet Holmgren too. I mean, look at this stat.

Focus on the steals and blocks. Damn!

^^ If Joel stays healthy this season for sure he can win back-to-back MVP awards like Joker did. But since he's injured and missing so many games, he's not totally eligible to win the MVP award this year. Injury also is the reason why Joel Embiid didn't won his rookie year rookie of the year award. But even with his injuries Joel Embiid can still carry his team when he comes back this season. And surely they will make playoffs thid year. But maybe in the 5th to 8th seed. Sixer struggled without Joel Embiid.

I'm glad that we're getting some great matchups the first day back after all star break.  The matchup I'm most excited for is the Dallas Mavericks vs the Phoenix Suns.  Luka owned Booker in the post season a few years back and ever since then there has been bad blood between those two.  Luka had been spanking Booker each time they met, but Booker and the Suns got the best of the Mavericks the last time they met.  Tonight's game is on TNT and I'll probably try to catch at least the ending of it if possible.  This is my favorite rivalry in the NBA right now.  They genuinely dislike each other.

Offense has improved a lot as well, it is not just about people not having tough defense anymore, not even about the big guys not having a place anymore, it's offense being more in tune. If you know that the best way to score is either up close, near the layup/dunk levels or three pointers then you do that, why do something like Kobe did? We all love Kobe and he was one of the greatest players to ever play this game and you would be right to put him at around top three of all time greats.

However, that dude missed so many shots as well, there is a reason why he did though, because he played ISO at midrange almost all his career, we now know that is not a good shot. So all in all, efficient and successful quick shooting teams have more chance to win, so why get a huge Shaq guy like guy?

Yes, and most likely that's why they got Durant to really help Bookier in offense But Dallas also had Kyrie so definitely this is a great match up after the All Star. Both are competitive, but I think the Suns need to proved that they can take the Mavericks otherwise Luka will continue to dominate them. It's more on KD leading the Suns in this game.

Of course Booker will be there, him and Luka can go one on one if they like. But the key here is KD for me.

So far the odds are very close, Mavericks slight favorite to win in this game.