Markieff got a flagrant 2 for that trash foul so there’s also a possibility he will be suspended as well.

Yeah, I have no issue with the retaliation there. He'll get a suspension, but it's difficult to fault him too much.

On an unrelated note, the Timberwolves have the least clutch/basketball-smart players of all time. I mean, ****, blowing a 16 point lead in the 4th, not being able to inbound the ball, not being able to rebound the ball, etc. It's embarrassing that a team this talented is this stupid/bad.

Ja, OTOH, was incredible.

Was long overdue too. Him and his brother have been taking shots at guys like that for a long time.

And yes, the TWolves are a bit of a mess still.

I love it! That's some old school shit right there.

You don't want to get hit in the back, don't hip check a dude and then turn your back on him like you're some kind of gangster.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You do this to a ****a on the court Whatever he do after ain’t his fault (This is slow motion btw) <a href="https://t.co/i9HZ5WXlSn">pic.twitter.com/i9HZ5WXlSn</a></p>&mdash; incubated (@ChiTown_Eazy) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChiTown_Eazy/status/1457935089418047489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This shot could've just as easily hurt Jokic. The real issue isn't even the elbow to the exposed ribs - he took a knee into his legs on what was a clear 'take foul' situation. That really coulda done some damage to Jokic's knees if he comes down wrong.

And Jokic gets a lot of cheap shots from guys. He's a big dude and he's typically pretty chill. Well good on him for making it clear that he's not taking that nonsense.

Morris thought he'd get a shot in and then be all billy badass about it and saunter away like he's king shit. Welp, Jokic put an end to that thinking in a hurry.

And Butler - you want no part of Jokic, man. Neither do the Morris twins. Because lets face it, even if you somehow managed to 'win', his brothers (especially that big ol' lummox; the oldest) will tie you up and throw you in some serbian scrapyard for their dogs to work on for awhile.

Those guys know where some bodies are buried.

Yup. Not many folks in the league are sad to see a Morris take a shot like that. Those guys have been doing this for years.

And again, Jokic takes a ton of abuse out there. He was well past time to react to it, IMO.

My Bulls are looking legit.

I think we can at least make the ECF this year.

The Lakers remain unlikeable.

I still don't understand the (large) majority of Lakers fans that are cool with this approach.

The "hey, if we're winning, we're winning!" crowd. And right now they aren't even winning.

There's nothing endearing about this team of mercenaries at all. Hell, even Caruso is off somewhere else. Horton-Tucker is hurt.

The whole damn roster is made up of transient geriatrics and over-exposed bench players. I don't even root for this squad - it's just laundry. And its core is Mr. Glass, an old woke liar and a soulless chucker.

A difficult group to root for that plays an ugly and unentertaining style of basketball with no amount of sweat equity in these guys as a fan - it's a perfect storm of apathy.

I didn't have a problem with him retaliating because he deserved it just thought the way he did it was just bush league. He should have decked him while looking in his eyes. :D

Caruso is playing in Chicago and is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his spark off the bench and defense.

Agreed on the Lakers.

And thanks for Caruso BTW ;)

And he was fairly cheap.

I didn't understand letting him walk at all. It just didn't make sense.

And then to trade for Westbrook instead of a PERFECT fit in Buddy Hield - ugh, just chasing headlines coming and going.

This team is MUCH better with Hield and Caruso than it is with Westbrook. It's not even close. I cannot understand for the life of me how seemingly smart basketball people thought otherwise.

Oh well - probably 2 more years away from being torn down to the studs again and maybe I can actually cheer for the next version.

You know the answer :)

They've been fun to watch.

Adding Derozan alongside Lavine, Caruso and Donsunmu off the bench, actual defense getting played, closing out games...its like a 180

You really think they can beat the Bucks or Nets in a 7 game series?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marcus Morris and the Jokic brothers on last night&#39;s wild scene involving Markieff and Nikola 👀<br><br>The Jokic bros just joined Twitter today, per <a href="https://twitter.com/msinger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@msinger</a>. <a href="https://t.co/qUZIO1DfWZ">pic.twitter.com/qUZIO1DfWZ</a></p>&mdash; Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/YahooSportsNBA/status/1458115800682860545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jokic brothers have logged on.

I've never liked watching a LeBron team less than this garbage Lakers team. Now it obviously doesn't help that he doesn't play half the games due to injury/rest these days, but that team construction is an absolute disaster. LeBron and a completely washed Westbrook do not fit and will never fit. They'll be lucky to make the playoffs.

Oh and AD doesn't get a pass either. That guy floats through most of the games he plays without any intensity at all.

Not a chance. I believe Demar is the worst playoff performer statistically in history or something like that. Very good regular season guy, though, so I expect the Bulls could rack up some wins here.

Believe us, we all know everybody but Lebron doesn’t get a pass from you!

Well that's pretty much a rule of mine. LeBron has actually played pretty well this year too when he's been out there. Don't think you can expect much more than 40-50 games out of him a season at this point, though. Believe he's like the 3rd oldest player in the league.

This is HIS team. How many times does he have to build a team before you realize this is how he wants it?

Melo: “you the GM”

Even the players know it LMAO

Also, why does he get a pass for continuously quitting on his team during games? :hmmm:

The Bucks have been on championship cruise control but they will get it together at some point. I have seen a couple of Bulls games and I like them and will root for them but I don't think they could beat either of those teams in a 7 game series.

But now that I think about it they could go to the ECF like how the Hawks did last year, by avoiding either team until the ECF.

I don’t vouch for LeBron as a GM, only as a player (of which he is the GOAT). If he had anything to do with this roster construction, they should take away the keys from him immediately.

Well it’s not impossible but if Kyrie is playing and the Bucks are at full strength, they’re the two best teams in the East.

'If' is doing a whole lot of work there.

I think it's pretty damn difficult to argue that he's not the driving factor in roster construction.

Does this look like a roster that Rambis or Vogel would've signed off on? And it's hard to tell with Pelinka since he was pretty much Kobe's stooge before he was LeBron's.

The **** is wrong with the Hawks? They're almost as frustrating as my Wolves. FFS.

Were the Hawks supposed to be good?

I don't follow the Eastern conference all that closely. I must have missed that...

It seems to me the primary reason people thought the Hawks would be good is because of the complete and utter choke by the 76ers in the playoffs leading to them making the EC finals. Philly had no business losing that series.

The NBA actually officiating games the way the game was ment to be played for 1. Guys that flourish off of the offensive flop and gimmicky shit numbers are down.

I don't know but one of my 2 favorite players smoked them last night for 50. :D

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tenth career 50-point game for Steph Curry. <br><br>Incredible 💦 <a href="https://t.co/UP7VuOC4tQ">pic.twitter.com/UP7VuOC4tQ</a></p>&mdash; NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1457947487600201734?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It's his own dumbass fault for turning around after that bullshit foul.

Yes, they were. They are insanely deep and have decent "star" players in Young and Collins. Hunter and Reddish are solid defensive wings who can score as well. They're strong 1-10. I don't get it.

Barkley essentially said this tonight.

Whole Inside crew was also unsurprisingly on Jokic’s side.

hmmm so turned on ESPN to watch some NBA and they have the 1-8 Rockets vs 1-9 Pistons. I don't care that the top 2 picks in the draft are playing against each other's shitty team.

They’ve had a ridiculously tough early schedule. I think they’ll pull out of it.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Chicago Bulls. <a href="https://t.co/dLlWyhdPWB">pic.twitter.com/dLlWyhdPWB</a></p>&mdash; Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1458634191260700672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This team is fun

Was there ever a question that the dude flying to the court while completing a steal was Caruso.

****. ********************.

Man the Lakers did a lousy job putting that team together.

FYP

:D

Feel like revisiting these thoughts yet after 10 games?

About the Lakers? Certainly not. I was saying there how absurd it was anybody would consider them favorites (including Vegas).

About the Warriors? It will take me a lot more than 10 games to call them championship contenders. They’ve been great so far largely due to Curry having his best season in 6 years and returning to MVP level. Let’s see if he keeps it up, that won’t be easy to maintain at his age. If he does and Klay comes back to his regular level, we can certainly revisit.

Lakers can’t stop a Miami Heat team with no Butler. Filling your team with a bunch of washed players was not the best idea.

RE: Morris/Jokic.

I didn't hear about it until today when I heard it on a couple podcasts. Jokic was probably excessive, but Russillo said it best. The Morris twins don't get any leeway when they literally **** with everybody.

****ing Eastern Europeans man. They're...different. I know you think Philly is tough, but Eastern Europeans have known nothing but suffering since the dawn of ****ing civilization. That's just a different kind of tough baked into that bread.

I think the only people on the planet that thought the Westbrook experiment was a good idea where inside the building at Lakers HQ.

Sorry man. That's a tough watch as a fan.

So you could comment on the lack of depth and their championship ability with 0% of the games played but you can't revisit when >12% of the games have been played? Interesting.

During the game last night they were referencing a recent interview from Caruso where he was saying how much he wanted to stay in LA.

They were offering him 2/15 or something close. He got offers from Chicago and a couple other teams. Took them back to LA and said here's what I'm being offered but I'm willing to take a discount to stay and they still couldn't get it done.

If he were a Klutch Sports client they’d have gotten it done.

That organization is so screwed up.

I’m not going to completely discount those statistical projections based on 10 games, no. That’s not the way any of this works.

GSW are the best team right now and are a pretty deep team even without Klay and Wiseman. Wiseman is supposed to be back here in a couple of weeks and Klay is projected to come back by Christmas or a little earlier. When he steps back on the court I might cry a little.

Wiseman was terrible last season so that may not be a good thing.

Incredible blend of youth and vets. I hate that they beat my Wolves, but I respected the hell out of how they did it.

Wolves could use him. We'll give you a 2027 2nd rounder.

Not asking you to do that. But 11 games in is enough time to admit that the lack of depth you were banking on doesn't look like such a big problem.

That’s fair. Need to see Klay to see if they’re a real contender though.

It's pretty crazy that Washington is playing well. Beal, Dinwiddy, and Laker leftovers doesn't sound like a winning combination, but it's working so far.

I don't think most people realized how much Lavine improved last year. He's looking like a Top 5 player in the league right now.

Maybe when Klay gets back. Without him? I highly doubt it. Just off to a good start.

I agree. But they are showing that they aren't an 6-8 seed like was predicted with the pieces that they have.

GS is putting it to the Bulls tonight. Up 22 in the 4th.

I'm not watching this game but crushing the Bulls is something. Lakers are getting embarrassed by the TWolves.

That was just the game the Wolves needed. They still looked pretty bad, but it was a better bad.

The bulls didn't look very good. Whether that was fatigue, their center being out, or the Warriors just being that good right now I don't know.

1st right now in scoring, 2nd in points allowed the warriors played some really good home ball the past two weeks.

Anyone care to post Pelton's espn plus article on the Warriors rebuild for me? I'd appreciate it.

Go to the ESPN Australia website, no paywalls there.

Wiggins balling

The Pitt Gorilla article centers around the Warriors boning the Wolves in the DeLo trade. Well, that and developing prospects like Poole into good players.

IGGY! GS up 22 going into the 4th.

Yeah, GS isn't very good. LMAO

Nope they really suck :D

Now, now boys. You need to wait until the year is over and see where they finish before you can make judgements. Or change preseason expectations.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">basketball is beautiful. <a href="https://t.co/fl6gvxon2o">pic.twitter.com/fl6gvxon2o</a></p>&mdash; Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1461142526748868611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

As a ****ing mediocre small school no-nothing ever basketball player, that was horrible.

I hate him soooooo muuuuuch.

I try to empathize. And I really am sorry, but if we're being honest, I can't fathom the degree to which you hate him.

I mean, I hate me some Squirmin Herman Mother****ing Sack of **** Edwards, but that's different than a ****ing player doing that.

I'm sorry man. *brohug*

I feel like maybe this was what being a Jets fan felt like when Favre showed up and still thought he was Brett Favre.

At least Horton-Tucker is back and seems like he can actually shoot now. And that's a fun dude to root for. 2nd round pick and complete afterthought who is just flat turning himself into a difference maker. And he's still a baby - dude isn't even 21 yet.

What's going to be truly amazing is in 8 years or so when the dude's made $300 million dollars somehow because he got his first big deal when he was 20.

Whenever I watch the Lakers this year (which has been less often with LeBron hurt of late, but still more than any other team outside of the Raptors), I spend most of my time effectively yelling at the TV over this guy's ridiculous play most of the night.

Tough loss to Phoenix but Mavs are off to a good start to the season and from what I’ve seen Porzingis is finally contributing.

How do you feel about AD's worthless ass?

Eh - he's Scottie Pippen 2.0.

A hell of a 2nd chair but just doesn't have the fire to be the lead dog. Give him James and Hield as top supporting options w/ a legitimate bench and he'd be a hell of an asset.

This is the same argument I had with Cardinals fans who were pissed Harrison Bader wasn't putting up a .900 OPS while playing elite CF defense. Look - the problem wasn't Bader, a competent lineup can carry a guy like him when he plays that kind of defense at a key defensive position. The problem was the lineup around him.

The problem isn't that Anthony Davis isn't an alpha - in theory that's LeBron's job. The problem is that he's surrounded by scrubs.

This has become post-achilles Kobe levels of painful. Without the built up fan capital to make it more palatable.

And late-stage Kobe was out there with Jeremy Linn, Ed Davis, Wesley Johnson and the corpse of Carlos Boozer (Jesus those teams were awful).

Say what you will about the shit options the Lakers have on the bench, a guy like Malik Monk is still better than the #2 option on that Lakers squad so it was somehow less maddening watching Kobe's farewell tour since that team was obviously going nowhere.

This team, with a viable 3rd piece instead of Westbrook, could/should be good. But it won't be anything more than a fringe playoff team because Westbrook is just that bad.

You mean Lebron’s third handpicked Robin?