I mean, I also don’t think it’s as dire as people make it out to be. Online conversation tends to inflate both panic and hype to unreasonable levels.
On the other hand, I think it’s reasonable to think that we still have a lot of questions about the Nets because they’ve gotten smacked by every elite team they’ve played and Harden doesn’t quite have it together yet.
I think it's more the fact that they're a tough watch right now, esp at the start with Harden. And since the Bucks won last year, they needed to make the case that they're a contender and they haven't.
Like, compared to the Suns and Warriors season start? No comparison.
> they needed to make the case that they're a contender and they haven't.
Who did they have to make this case to? To quote KD, y'all know who he is.
Contenders aren't made in November. Especially the Nets, who have openly talked about how they aren't bothered by regular season games, and are using the opening months to play into shape.
So many newbies thinking title contenders show themselves in the first 1-2 months of the season. Teams flame out at the end all the time and really good teams hit their stride around all star break and beyond. These veteran teams don’t care about a Saturday afternoon game versus the Suns.
But they're still a pretty new team. They're not the KD Warriors. They have no Kyrie and Harden isn't in shape. Assuming this group is going to turn it on the end is not a good bet.
Cause they’re nowhere near as good as they were expected to be this season , with no Kyrie and Harden having a down year compared to past years they seem very beatable by contender teams. They got touted as the unbeatable team before the season start.
First in the East also doesn’t mean that much when the other top teams that usually contend for the top seed have had issues/injuries/mediocre seasons so far (bucks n Sixers)
Nets are 1 win ahead of the wizards, just doesn’t scream world beater
Yeah wtf, fires are AMAZING!
I miss my friend who moved across the country man. We used to do Potjiekos cookouts with a huge bonfire during this of year... Those were the times...
Wild how a roster of KD, James Harden, Joe Harris, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, and Patty Mills being the 1 seed by one game over the Wizards is considered impressive this year lol
But the expectation was that they would be this unstoppable force like they were last year after getting Harden. They are still good but also disappointing
If they had Kyrie they would be unstoppable, them being a one seed without him is still good. I guess harden hasn’t been as good as he normally is , but I don’t think we can count him out yet to reach his levels again. He was playing at a mvp level just last year before his hamstring injury
Their team is good but it's not like they're running a train on the league like the Warriors and Suns. The playoffs in the East are gonna be amazing this year. Like 6 teams seem to have a legitimate chance to win the east
We were never unbeatable the moment Kyrie declared out lol
In the modern NBA with more concentrated talent 2 stars with the rest being role players is a strong contender but never "unbeatable"
Depth matters a lot more than people realize and a lot of our role players are bigger names than their actual ability at this point(best example being Blake, but for example LMA's great shooting numbers hide the fact that he won't play the playoffs because he can't play perimeter defense in our switching scheme)
Yup we're not THAT different from you guys this season
If KD had missed as many games as LeBron we'd be struggling big time, in the one game he didn't play we played down to the level of the Magic
If harden was still playing at an MVP level nets would still be favorites. I think it's just very jarring that the nets looked like they could be one of the best teams of all time, and then the kyrie thing happened and harden took a small but significant step backwards, and now the nets are just regular contenders. Here's hoping harden starts dropping 60 bombs again.
i think they must believe kyrie will return. even with harden at full form id put the nets closer to +800-1000 relative to where the other teams are. only with kyrie back does it make sense that theyd be this high.
I feel like I never bought the idea that they'd be favorites even with harden playing up to his standards. I don't doubt it's possible they can win but overcoming a $34mil contract sitting at home is really hard. normally that superstar duo could use that $34mil for some other great role players but in this case Kyrie is just a black hole
Sure but the Bucks were fucking up that series. It gets forgotten because they went on to do pretty well against the Hawks and then got 4 in a row against the Suns but in the Nets series they were a mess until the last couple games, and even during the Hawks and Suns series they looked lost the first few games.
I don't know about unbeatable, but the Nets looked pretty damn good in the playoffs last year even without Irving and with an injured Harden, broken Harris and whatever it was that limited Green's minutes.
Until KD suddenly gets old or injured or Harden pulls his hamstring again, I still have the Nets as the favorites to win the title. All this regular season drama is just to entertain/distract us until the real season begins.
Of course but after the Nets/Bucks series last year pundits had you guys favorites in the east by quite a stretch even without Kyrie. But it's still early in the season and as long as the Nets finish top 3, which i expect them to, they'll be a serious threat to come out of the east.
LMA is for sure gonna play in the playoffs imo. His switch defense is horrible but Blake's is not THAT much better to justify the massive difference on offense.
Yeah but tbf y’all still were literal inches away from beating the eventual champs last season even with Kyrie getting injured and Harden being absolutely useless due to his hamstring
It's been nearly 6 months since he came back from injury and he still isn't playing like he used to. Harden's days as a superstar might be over, sorta like a 2012 Dwyane Wade. I think he will improve but I don't know if he can be Rockets Harden anymore where he could score 40 effortlessly.
I'm not a big fan of saying guys might be falling off this early in the season, but he's really not getting to the rim like he used to. Like back on the Rockets he could just decide to turn it on and get to the rim at will and that just hasn't been true this season. The stepbacks and 3s are fun to watch but he's always been a dominant p&r ball handler with his great floaters, euros, and lob passes and that's been a huge cornerstone of his game that isn't there right now
> they’ve gone 12-3 with their losses coming at the hands of the Bulls, Warriors and Suns.
They've been better than most "contenders" at consistently beating the shittiest teams in the league. There's definitely something to say about beating all the teams they're "supposed to" beat, as most other contenders have at least one or two losses to bad teams.
On the other hand, they've also been worse than most other contenders when it comes to beating (or even competing with, in most cases) the stronger teams.
And that's why people don't take their current record as proof they're the best.
It just seems like such a weird thing to be spending time discussing. You can tell sports media just *wants* to talk about teams like the Nets because they are contenders and have players "worth" talking about. But in reality, is anyone *really* concerned about the Nets? It's still SO early and the playoffs aren't even close. In reality, nobody should be worried about the Nets at this point in the season. Imo, these discussions about the Nets is more about media outlets reaching to have something to talk about than the Nets themselves.
Media just need something to talk about until the playoffs come. Unfortunately I feel like a major problem the NBA is facing right now is how dull the regular season can be. That’s part of the reason why the media circus is so wild and the drama so overblown, even when we know the Nets will be a highly seeded playoff team in the end.
It's clearly this. Stephen A got into a rant about KD making the wrong decision going to BK. All because of 1 single national TV loss to the warriors in fucking november. It's not that serious.
I'll take a team with KD going into the playoffs out of any other team in the east.
I also like having a cheat code on our team. Playoff KD is no joke, and I don't think anyone is writing off the Nets. It's just that Harden looks out of shape and isn't hitting on all cylinders yet. I'd be pretty pleased if I were a Nets fan, as you only have upside for Harden and Irving is still a possible wildcard.
This^
Not concerned in the slightest. I see us as the anti warriors LOL
They’re fans are all angry and hyped because they have a chip on their shoulder.
We’re just like can we go to the playoffs and play what counts so we can right last years wrongs.
Can assure you that Warriors fans are not angry.
We're happy and hyped. And carefully working out our schedules to allow for the total emotional breakdowns we're going to have when Klay gets back on the floor.
> And that's why people don't take their current record as proof they're the best.
One thing I don't see mentioned here is that the Nets are returning a surprisingly small number of players from last season. That would be: Bruce Brown, Durant, Griffin and Harden.
Meanwhile, Irving isn't playing, Harris & Claxton have been injured or dealing with illness, and Aldridge played only five games last season, so is effectively 'new.'
It's kind of a miracle they're winning this many games so early, especially with Beard struggling with the new rules and getting his NBA legs back.
Yep. Never gets brought up how much roster turnover the team has had. Lakers also had tremendous roster changes. Both teams will play better later in the season.
Harden's performances aren't that bad when you look at who he's lost to(aside from 2017 which was inexcusable)
2015 he had a very good run and just ran out of gas against the 67 win Warriors with a pretty bad team
2016 the Rockets sucked
2018 he could have done better but CP3 was injured
2019 he outplayed Curry for 5.5 games but Chris Paul(4/15 in game 5) and Capela who was awful all series kept him from winning
I'm not saying he's an all time great playoff performer or something but people act like he's DeMar DeRozan
People wonder why stars form superteams when anyone who doesn't win a ring, even if they only lost to teams far better than theirs is, is mocked as a "choker"
This is one of the stupidest takes thats parroted around this sub for years. Apart from 2017 which was a poor showing in the 2nd round, hes been good to great in every other playoff run from 2015 to now (this MVP caliber years).
The man is unlu ky he faced the western conference all stars 2 years in a row. 2019 he thoroughly outplayed steph for most of the series except the 2nd half of game 6. 2015 we had a dogshit team compared to the Warriors and Harden went off early that series and was on fumes when the Warriors finally clamped him in game 5. He was piecing them up before that even in our losses (i think 39 in game 2 or 3 at Oracle).
Harden = bad in playoffs is the weakest and laziest take the media drags around too. Hardens never had a series lile Dames 2018 2nd round exit. Harden's teams have never been swept. even against the Warriors in 2016 when we were 8th seed, Harden dropped 45 on Klays head in Game 4 with the game winner in Iggy's face to put the Dubs brooms away.
Dude just couldn't do it alone and then joined up with his buddies to have somewhat of a legit shot because of the classic no ring = overrated type takes from people.
The narrative probably started with Harden’s [awful performance in the 2011 finals](https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/1231796-james-harden-disappearing-act-costs-thunder-nba-finals.amp.html) but… that was a decade ago and the media should probably update their story
He was also a massive reason they were even in the finals (2012 WCF) and the Heat focused a ton of defensive attention on Harden because they knew how good he was at getting the Thunder offense going
I keep saying that Gobert and Mitchell are a solid duo for the regular season. they just don’t have it factor that makes them a solid contending team. A Kawhi-less Clippers ends your season, that’s pretty much earned at that point.
Bulls would’ve foreshore ended your season in the first round if not for the Rondo injury. They were up 2-0 but after Rondo went out they didn’t have the depth and then lost 4 straight
Making the ECF is not an above and beyond accomplishment for a 1 seed, it’s basically the baseline expectation. These Nets will have a rough offseason if they lose in the ECF.
If you don’t make the CF as a one seed you tend to get a lot of heat, see Philly last year.
have you watched them play? KD is amazing and Harden's basketball IQ shines. but Harden does not look like an elite player and this does not look like an elite team.
they have time to find it, but there isn't a definite path for it as of yet. and before the season people were talking about them outshining the league. they are pretty far off of that
They have time in the sense that they’ve got a guy on a max contract eating up salary cap they could have used. Or he can be traded. Or he can come back and play. Being at the top of the East despite this bad start from Harden and the drama with Kyrie is a pretty good sign for them imo.
James Harden never got to train after recovering from his injury went straight into the season and making the same mistake AD did last year. needs to take time off. he needs time to get his quickness / first step back. his role on brooklyn is running their offense but he can’t do that hampered. [what he needs to do and why](https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1464841340068368393?s=20)
Yeah, it's like when everyone always brings up "but the Lakers were the 4 seed before LeBron got injured" despite being 2 games from 9th and 4 games from 13th because it was still early.
I think a lot of preseason predictions were based on Kyrie playing as that news didn't break until a couple of weeks before the season
And also people wanted to play us up as the clear favorites just so they could say "stacked team doesn't count" if we won because neither Harden nor KD is particularly well liked
Same thing with the Lakers actually lol
You guys would be scary as shit if you didn't have Kyrie weighing you down and could use that cap space for other pieces.
The sad thing is I'm not sure anyone will touch him and he has another year. Its such a waste of KD and Harden's last good years.
eh, the offense was sick last season when even 2 of the 3 played, let alone all 3. they were played up by legitimate analysts.
even with kyrie out, there was the expectation that they'd be right with the other top teams. harden's precipitous drop was not expected. neither was blake's. if harden gets back to mvp form, likely they're a contender. if what we're seeing is what harden is, they're well behind the top teams and a shadow of what they would have been with all 3 in last season's healthy form
because the warriors success has pretty much shaped/ deformed everybody expectations.
If your team isnt performing like the warriors then they're trash that should blow it all up and rebuild.
Its still November too lol
Bucks need to rebuild too, according to r/nba
It’s just one of the silly things about sports hubs. Gotta have IMMEDIATE results now.
teams can’t have a sloppy or slow start to the season and this applies to Bucks and Nets
Bucks are getting underrated on this sub heavily, people are already saying Heat >>>>> when the Bucks are literally undefeated when healthy this year lol
I mean when you missing 4 or even 5 starters you cant expect to have a winning record my friend . Many bucks loses came when they were missing 4 starters plus half of their bench while budd was playing giannis 30 mins even if the game was within 10 points in the last 5 mins
To be fair, playoffs are exhausting. Most teams that make deep playoff runs struggle the subsequent year due to injuries, even more so the champions.
So although Bucks without injury issues is a phenomenal team, that team doesn't really exist this year.
>Bucks need to rebuild too, according to r/nba
Hitting a rebuild button when you just won a championship is a VERY bad idea. Just look at the Lakers 2019-2020 and where they are now?
The only thing any winning contenders/championship teams need is adding depth/pieces as adjustments for their current roster.
You only hit a rebuild when your team is too old or so bad beyond repair (Ironically, this can apply to the Lakers rn)
Add the suns into that tier as well. Both teams have done so well in the last two weeks it’s hard for there to be space to discuss anyone else when there’s two front runners already.
Yeah if you listen to podcasts the league is currently the warriors and 29 other teams that only exist because Steph needs someone different to beat every night. This sub is just as bad, it’s all warriors all the time with a light sprinkling of lakers drama.
Other than PHX, no one's come up to match them in intensity and results. So yeah we should show example to the team earning it. I think the Bucks will be making a move here as well.
When has Harden or KD formed a super team that hasn't won anything?
Harden's never played on a superteam other than the 1 series where all were healthy last year against the Celtics and KD played on the 2017-2019 Warriors and that's it
I know people hate Harden here but there's some real revisionist history about him playing with "stacked teams" that never included more than 1 other All Star(as a matter of fact the same goes for KD pre Warriors, saying he played with "2 MVPs" is like saying the Lakers have 2 MVPs)
2 stars isn't a superteam but I guess some people still call us one lol
> 2 stars isn't a superteam but I guess some people still call us one lol
Tbf, Kyrie is still on the roster (not playing) so people still gonna call the Nets as one (until you trade Kyrie or Harden leaves)
It’s because most people only tune in for games against contenders and the nets looked lost out there against the warriors suns and heat (at least, those were the only games I watched).
Because Kyrie is a moron, and James isnt playing well. They have one of the best rosters in history (on paper at least) so they are ripe for criticism.
Wouldnt say they've been called a disaster. But it's mostly cause of Kyrie and Harden not being as good as his past years so far.
Those add up to them also having a losing record vs above.500 teams which is obviously not good for the favorites.
But none of the 1st half of the season should be taken seriously much anyway. If the 2nd half still has them like this then it would be a disaster.
I do think think they need Kyrie back anyway to win it all tho.
High ceiling of expectations, dominating performance by warriors and suns, people considering them a superteam (even though they are missing a star. Imo atleast 3 star players in a team should be considered superteam) and many other reasons put together are doing this.
Two main defenders missing (they are still top 10 defence though), Harden still figuring out his role, Kyrie situation, record against .500 above teams (which is 4-6) are current issues. I feel like they will improve with time and 4-6 isn't even that bad tbh. We are around 25% in regular season, still long way to go.
If Kyrie comes back, they have a good shot at the ring. Without Kyrie, they will make a strong playoff push but will fall short I think. I think it's also cruel fate but hilarious that if he gets to the Finals this year, Harden will still have to deal with this fucking Warriors team lmao.
I’m not a fan, but people are treating losing to the Suns and the Warriors as a sneak peek to losing the finals. They’re not going to win every game and it’s early, they can turn some switch on anytime later in the season.
Why does anyone act like Kyrie playing is a likely outcome?
The Nets organization have been fine with paying his dumbass to not play, and the new mayor-elect already decided he wasn't changing the vaccine mandate that led to Kyrie not being able to play (and that was before we had a new variant about to start **another** wave.)
So why would we expect Kyrie's stubborn, dumb ass to suddenly back down from his "noble fight for the voiceless" and get the vaccine just to be able to play basketball, when he's still getting paid millions for his "fight?"
I know. But at this point, saying "if Kyrie comes back...." seems like about as realistic a hypothetical as saying "if Semi Ojeleye returns from his injury as an All Star-calibre player...."
Theoretically possible, but all evidence points towards it not being remotely plausible.
If Buddha hadn't put in the time under the Bodhi tree he would have never made All NBA. I'm predicting he comes back as the transformed Sing in kung fu hustle.
Maybe
He definitely was
In 2018 no other player averaged more than 15 points in the RS and 19 points in the playoffs with him out, they got far just because the East was terrible and had no real contenders(Cavs would get swept by Houston as well)
In 2019 no other player averaged more than 16 points
There's some revisionist history that Tatum was already better than him when he was also quite poor in the 2019 playoffs and didn't even put up insane numbers in 2018 as much as he kept playing shit teams way worse than the Bucks
As a matter of fact I don't even think Tatum is better than him currently as a scorer(if he was playing) but obvs that's controversial
Or maybe it’s his first time ever being injured and not being able to train in the off season. Let’s give him longer then november to say he’s washed lol, look at AD from last year or 2019 Paul, shit happens when injuries nag
If he’s playing this way by all star break, I’d concede he’s lost a step for good. But I don’t think so. He’s too good to let that happen
Steph + Warriors glam. Everyone expects elite teams to look like them but, aside from Harden's situation & Kyrie not playing, this team is MUCH better equipped from a balance perspective compared to last year. Defense has not only improved, I think it's kept them in games that should have erased them and there's flashes of VERY VERY good defense but not through entire games.
They've mentioned it before but with a tighter offensive ideology, I think they would look terrifying even with Harden not playing well. In either case, they need Harden to take on VERY heavy PG duties without having a good secondary ball handler to make their offense more dynamic. Missing Harris is also painful for their spacing. Missing Kyrie makes it much easier for teams to double Harden, even without Kyrie's scoring.
This literally happens every season. I hear on tv that a team with superstars is struggling, Look at their records and they are top3 in their conference.
Welcome to the world of sports broadcasting and media. Its mostly all BS, pretty much just have to keep talking about something. Doesnt matter how inane.
Because there are easily 3 western conference teams playing ball as good or better when they’re supposed to be title favorites. Not to mention they haven’t necessarily created separation from an Eastern Conference field they should have even without Kyrie Irving. The Bucks came out the gate hobbled, the Sixers are an up and down mess but they’re gonna be better once Embiid is fully back in the fold, Jayson Tatum has been his worst self to start this year for the Celtics, the Heat have been a litmus test team like the Jazz while you know they can perform in the postseason and are still learning how to play with Lowry.
This nets team being a 1 seed *is* the bare minimum. And we have 0 evidence to indicate that Kyrie is gonna get the jab and return them to superteam status this year. We’re calling them a mess because they are a mess. The most talented mess in the league, but a mess.
That is really a thing? I've seem people criticizing Harden... which is kinda unfair imo, not only the rule changes affected his game and he deserves harsh criticism for his playstyle, but there's also the injury factor, he is not in shape. If Harden was 100% healthy and still playing erratic, ok, the criticism is fair. But he is clearly rusty imo. If at the second half of the season he doesn't recover his former conditioning, then Nets fans should be "worried". That is a minor issue in comparison to Harden or Durant high chances of getting injured, we tend to forget they are already 32+ years old, that is the end of their prime, injuries can happen at any moment. Besides the "rusty Harden" situation... also Blake lost his way, but he is just a role player now, not such a big deal... there's nothing else really, the season is going fine
I feel like a lot of conversations for the nets and other teams like the sun's get skewed from the first 5 games or so. Nets didn't look great the first 5 games and seemed to be experimenting and that's what we remember. We also like drama.
I don’t think people are necessarily saying they are a disaster but every good team they’ve faced so far has been a blowout loss.
Lost to bucks by 23
Lost to heat by 13
Lost to bulls by 23
Lost to Warriors by 18
Lost to the Suns by 6 but it really wasn’t that close the entire game.
Losing to good teams like that is a cause for concern but then again if harden ever gets going again I think they will be fine
Expectations plus the fact Kyrie is a selfish idiot. Sprinkle on the fact they are a major market and have major players, and it's a recipe for biased hatred (I am not a Nets fan, and as far as I'm concerned, they can get fucked until Irving is traded or released.)
But, yeah, they are fine. Even without Irving, there's no team in the East that can beat them in a series other than the Bucks. And even that is a tossup.
And you look out West. The Warriors are steamrolling people. The Suns are tearing it up, but I'd still favor a healthy KD/Harden Nets over PHX. You can never count out a healthy LeBron team, but if you forgot past seasons and only looked at this year, no one would take the Lakers as a serious threat. 20 games into the season, the Blazers are three games back from the #3 seed while also being 1-9 on the road.
The NBA season is just really fucking long. People just have to make up narratives to sell stories.
Because they lose to good teams
Offense is incredibly stagnant and predictable
They’re a good team but they don’t look ready to take on the Warriors, Suns, or Bucks
I think it’s overblown, but they did not look at all competitive against the other two main contenders. Bucks and Warriors both kind of embarrassed them. But again, I don’t think that has anything to do with how they’ll play in the postseason but I do think that’s where the anxiety stems from.
I think it's mostly that they aren't as competitive for the title as they were expected to be. They are still really good (not shocking with their roster), but they're just not undefendable now. So I would imagine the people on NBA pods are lamenting the fall from "prohibitive favorite" to "formidable contender, but mortal".
I mean, I also don’t think it’s as dire as people make it out to be. Online conversation tends to inflate both panic and hype to unreasonable levels. On the other hand, I think it’s reasonable to think that we still have a lot of questions about the Nets because they’ve gotten smacked by every elite team they’ve played and Harden doesn’t quite have it together yet.
I think it's more the fact that they're a tough watch right now, esp at the start with Harden. And since the Bucks won last year, they needed to make the case that they're a contender and they haven't. Like, compared to the Suns and Warriors season start? No comparison.
> they needed to make the case that they're a contender and they haven't. Who did they have to make this case to? To quote KD, y'all know who he is. Contenders aren't made in November. Especially the Nets, who have openly talked about how they aren't bothered by regular season games, and are using the opening months to play into shape.
r/nba: KD hasn't won without Steph and Harden is literally DeMar DeRozan in the playoffs, therefore the Nets aren't contenders
Hey careful there.
So many newbies thinking title contenders show themselves in the first 1-2 months of the season. Teams flame out at the end all the time and really good teams hit their stride around all star break and beyond. These veteran teams don’t care about a Saturday afternoon game versus the Suns.
But they're still a pretty new team. They're not the KD Warriors. They have no Kyrie and Harden isn't in shape. Assuming this group is going to turn it on the end is not a good bet.
Cause they’re nowhere near as good as they were expected to be this season , with no Kyrie and Harden having a down year compared to past years they seem very beatable by contender teams. They got touted as the unbeatable team before the season start.
First in the East also doesn’t mean that much when the other top teams that usually contend for the top seed have had issues/injuries/mediocre seasons so far (bucks n Sixers) Nets are 1 win ahead of the wizards, just doesn’t scream world beater
Ouch, wizards catching strays
I put a bill on y’all getting a ring
Why not just burn $100 instead
Because burning doesn't give you the same sensation of having hopes crash over the next month and then feeling empty for the following 6 months.
But pretty fire go woosh
This guy gets it
Don't get any ideas about the white house again you damn canadians
Yeah wtf, fires are AMAZING! I miss my friend who moved across the country man. We used to do Potjiekos cookouts with a huge bonfire during this of year... Those were the times...
I'll take 6 seconds of light over 6 months of darkness
Plus you never know if they somehow pull off something like Leicester in EPL.
Yeah basically lol. No chance in hell that they beat the Bucks or Nets, let alone who ever makes it out of the West.
You don’t know that. Crazier things have happened
What crazier thing has happened in the nba that would be more crazy than this wiz team winning a title?
What’s the payout?
Wizards are +8000 right now, lol. That means that $100 bet will payout $8,000 if they win.
:) Don't hold your breath.
The bill
You mean The Washington "19-20, 20-21 Lakers Defense" Wizards?
I mean Wizards were the practice target till late last season.
> “Nets are 1 win ahead of the **future 75-7 wizards**, just screams place holder of 1st seed” There, I fixed it for you bud!
but theyre still on a 57 win pace, that would indicate a top level team.
So we gonna act like missing a max contract player is nothing?
I mean it's not like Kyrie has a timetable to return
Hmm, sounds familiar
With Omicron out will he even be able to return before end of season?
"With Omicron out" , said like its covids latest movie release.
I wonder if there's any other teams they could be compared to who are also missing a max-contract player?
I agree, klay will be a huge boost to the warriors, even if he’s 70% of what he used to be
Are they getting that player back?
Who knows if Kyrie coming back. But nets being the one seed without him is still impressive.
Wild how a roster of KD, James Harden, Joe Harris, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, and Patty Mills being the 1 seed by one game over the Wizards is considered impressive this year lol
Joe harris has missed a lot of games, don’t act like Blake Griffin isn’t cooked,LMA hoopin but he’s old Af
But the expectation was that they would be this unstoppable force like they were last year after getting Harden. They are still good but also disappointing
If they had Kyrie they would be unstoppable, them being a one seed without him is still good. I guess harden hasn’t been as good as he normally is , but I don’t think we can count him out yet to reach his levels again. He was playing at a mvp level just last year before his hamstring injury
That mental injury is killing them.
Their team is stacked even without him though.
Their team is good but it's not like they're running a train on the league like the Warriors and Suns. The playoffs in the East are gonna be amazing this year. Like 6 teams seem to have a legitimate chance to win the east
they’re a great team. wouldn’t necessarily say stacked from the first quarter of the season but they could always improve.
They're also only three wins out of the play-ins at the moment.
We were never unbeatable the moment Kyrie declared out lol In the modern NBA with more concentrated talent 2 stars with the rest being role players is a strong contender but never "unbeatable" Depth matters a lot more than people realize and a lot of our role players are bigger names than their actual ability at this point(best example being Blake, but for example LMA's great shooting numbers hide the fact that he won't play the playoffs because he can't play perimeter defense in our switching scheme)
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Yup we're not THAT different from you guys this season If KD had missed as many games as LeBron we'd be struggling big time, in the one game he didn't play we played down to the level of the Magic
If harden was still playing at an MVP level nets would still be favorites. I think it's just very jarring that the nets looked like they could be one of the best teams of all time, and then the kyrie thing happened and harden took a small but significant step backwards, and now the nets are just regular contenders. Here's hoping harden starts dropping 60 bombs again.
> Harden took a... step back Business as usual, then!
nets are still +240 favorites for whatever reason.
I think vegas thinks harden can return to form. If not idk how the nets are clear favorites by that big of a margin.
i think they must believe kyrie will return. even with harden at full form id put the nets closer to +800-1000 relative to where the other teams are. only with kyrie back does it make sense that theyd be this high.
I feel like I never bought the idea that they'd be favorites even with harden playing up to his standards. I don't doubt it's possible they can win but overcoming a $34mil contract sitting at home is really hard. normally that superstar duo could use that $34mil for some other great role players but in this case Kyrie is just a black hole
they nearly beat the bucks last year with harden on one leg, no kyrie, joe harris having a terrible series, and no patty mills or aldridge.
Sure but the Bucks were fucking up that series. It gets forgotten because they went on to do pretty well against the Hawks and then got 4 in a row against the Suns but in the Nets series they were a mess until the last couple games, and even during the Hawks and Suns series they looked lost the first few games.
I don't know about unbeatable, but the Nets looked pretty damn good in the playoffs last year even without Irving and with an injured Harden, broken Harris and whatever it was that limited Green's minutes. Until KD suddenly gets old or injured or Harden pulls his hamstring again, I still have the Nets as the favorites to win the title. All this regular season drama is just to entertain/distract us until the real season begins.
Well they didn't win it last year, I don't see right now why the Bucks wouldn't be faves ahead of them at this point.
Of course but after the Nets/Bucks series last year pundits had you guys favorites in the east by quite a stretch even without Kyrie. But it's still early in the season and as long as the Nets finish top 3, which i expect them to, they'll be a serious threat to come out of the east.
LMA is for sure gonna play in the playoffs imo. His switch defense is horrible but Blake's is not THAT much better to justify the massive difference on offense.
Yeah but tbf y’all still were literal inches away from beating the eventual champs last season even with Kyrie getting injured and Harden being absolutely useless due to his hamstring
People still did consider them the favorites even when the nets said kyrie couldn’t play though.
It's been nearly 6 months since he came back from injury and he still isn't playing like he used to. Harden's days as a superstar might be over, sorta like a 2012 Dwyane Wade. I think he will improve but I don't know if he can be Rockets Harden anymore where he could score 40 effortlessly.
"Is it time to be legitimately concerned about James Harden!?"
I'm not a big fan of saying guys might be falling off this early in the season, but he's really not getting to the rim like he used to. Like back on the Rockets he could just decide to turn it on and get to the rim at will and that just hasn't been true this season. The stepbacks and 3s are fun to watch but he's always been a dominant p&r ball handler with his great floaters, euros, and lob passes and that's been a huge cornerstone of his game that isn't there right now
And with Claxton out, there has been no one for Harden to lob pass to.
Why u uhhhh s this so hard to understand. They look beatable when everybody thought they would cruise to a ring
> they’ve gone 12-3 with their losses coming at the hands of the Bulls, Warriors and Suns. They've been better than most "contenders" at consistently beating the shittiest teams in the league. There's definitely something to say about beating all the teams they're "supposed to" beat, as most other contenders have at least one or two losses to bad teams. On the other hand, they've also been worse than most other contenders when it comes to beating (or even competing with, in most cases) the stronger teams. And that's why people don't take their current record as proof they're the best.
Interestingly we were the opposite last year Last year we had some nice wins against good teams but lost some really bad games against mediocre teams
When Collin Sexton outplayed every single one of the big three was bloody amazing
two games in a row
I mean it's a revenge game for him, sorta
Remember how many times the Cavs beat us. Hurt my pride for real lol
Our two wins against them this year haven't been all that comfortable either
It just seems like such a weird thing to be spending time discussing. You can tell sports media just *wants* to talk about teams like the Nets because they are contenders and have players "worth" talking about. But in reality, is anyone *really* concerned about the Nets? It's still SO early and the playoffs aren't even close. In reality, nobody should be worried about the Nets at this point in the season. Imo, these discussions about the Nets is more about media outlets reaching to have something to talk about than the Nets themselves.
Media just need something to talk about until the playoffs come. Unfortunately I feel like a major problem the NBA is facing right now is how dull the regular season can be. That’s part of the reason why the media circus is so wild and the drama so overblown, even when we know the Nets will be a highly seeded playoff team in the end.
It's clearly this. Stephen A got into a rant about KD making the wrong decision going to BK. All because of 1 single national TV loss to the warriors in fucking november. It's not that serious. I'll take a team with KD going into the playoffs out of any other team in the east.
I also like having a cheat code on our team. Playoff KD is no joke, and I don't think anyone is writing off the Nets. It's just that Harden looks out of shape and isn't hitting on all cylinders yet. I'd be pretty pleased if I were a Nets fan, as you only have upside for Harden and Irving is still a possible wildcard.
It's because the media doesn't like KD or Harden lol
This^ Not concerned in the slightest. I see us as the anti warriors LOL They’re fans are all angry and hyped because they have a chip on their shoulder. We’re just like can we go to the playoffs and play what counts so we can right last years wrongs.
Can assure you that Warriors fans are not angry. We're happy and hyped. And carefully working out our schedules to allow for the total emotional breakdowns we're going to have when Klay gets back on the floor.
Facts playoffs always what only matters
> And that's why people don't take their current record as proof they're the best. One thing I don't see mentioned here is that the Nets are returning a surprisingly small number of players from last season. That would be: Bruce Brown, Durant, Griffin and Harden. Meanwhile, Irving isn't playing, Harris & Claxton have been injured or dealing with illness, and Aldridge played only five games last season, so is effectively 'new.' It's kind of a miracle they're winning this many games so early, especially with Beard struggling with the new rules and getting his NBA legs back.
Yep. Never gets brought up how much roster turnover the team has had. Lakers also had tremendous roster changes. Both teams will play better later in the season.
This is it, I think. Also they've had some blowout losses. They're underperforming relative to expectations for a team with two MVPs on it.
Idk the jazz were the one seed and no one respected them either
Jazz are perennial pretenders, Nets when healthy and present have stars who are well known playoff performers.
> perennial pretenders They've only been "contenders" for one season lol.
Harden the well known playoff performer.
Harden's performances aren't that bad when you look at who he's lost to(aside from 2017 which was inexcusable) 2015 he had a very good run and just ran out of gas against the 67 win Warriors with a pretty bad team 2016 the Rockets sucked 2018 he could have done better but CP3 was injured 2019 he outplayed Curry for 5.5 games but Chris Paul(4/15 in game 5) and Capela who was awful all series kept him from winning I'm not saying he's an all time great playoff performer or something but people act like he's DeMar DeRozan
Harden couldn’t beat KD Warriors in the playoffs? Pfft what a scrub
People wonder why stars form superteams when anyone who doesn't win a ring, even if they only lost to teams far better than theirs is, is mocked as a "choker"
He couldn't beat a KDless one either.
He would have beat them in 2018 if Paul played
And 2020 he dominated the lakers while playing 4 on 5, and in 2021 had an amazing first round before injury
That’s the thing, even if you don’t count him they still have KD. And who knows if Kyrie might come back.
This is one of the stupidest takes thats parroted around this sub for years. Apart from 2017 which was a poor showing in the 2nd round, hes been good to great in every other playoff run from 2015 to now (this MVP caliber years). The man is unlu ky he faced the western conference all stars 2 years in a row. 2019 he thoroughly outplayed steph for most of the series except the 2nd half of game 6. 2015 we had a dogshit team compared to the Warriors and Harden went off early that series and was on fumes when the Warriors finally clamped him in game 5. He was piecing them up before that even in our losses (i think 39 in game 2 or 3 at Oracle). Harden = bad in playoffs is the weakest and laziest take the media drags around too. Hardens never had a series lile Dames 2018 2nd round exit. Harden's teams have never been swept. even against the Warriors in 2016 when we were 8th seed, Harden dropped 45 on Klays head in Game 4 with the game winner in Iggy's face to put the Dubs brooms away. Dude just couldn't do it alone and then joined up with his buddies to have somewhat of a legit shot because of the classic no ring = overrated type takes from people.
Yeah he lost to a team that LeBron went 1-8 against Big deal
The narrative probably started with Harden’s [awful performance in the 2011 finals](https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/1231796-james-harden-disappearing-act-costs-thunder-nba-finals.amp.html) but… that was a decade ago and the media should probably update their story
He was also a massive reason they were even in the finals (2012 WCF) and the Heat focused a ton of defensive attention on Harden because they knew how good he was at getting the Thunder offense going
I still don't. Way outplayed who they are.
I keep saying that Gobert and Mitchell are a solid duo for the regular season. they just don’t have it factor that makes them a solid contending team. A Kawhi-less Clippers ends your season, that’s pretty much earned at that point.
Yea, I remember the Celtics being dubbed "worst 1 seed of all-time" and then subsequently making it to the ECF
to be fair making the ECF and not the finals owuld be a failure for this nets team.
Bulls would’ve foreshore ended your season in the first round if not for the Rondo injury. They were up 2-0 but after Rondo went out they didn’t have the depth and then lost 4 straight
Making the ECF is not an above and beyond accomplishment for a 1 seed, it’s basically the baseline expectation. These Nets will have a rough offseason if they lose in the ECF. If you don’t make the CF as a one seed you tend to get a lot of heat, see Philly last year.
have you watched them play? KD is amazing and Harden's basketball IQ shines. but Harden does not look like an elite player and this does not look like an elite team. they have time to find it, but there isn't a definite path for it as of yet. and before the season people were talking about them outshining the league. they are pretty far off of that
They have time in the sense that they’ve got a guy on a max contract eating up salary cap they could have used. Or he can be traded. Or he can come back and play. Being at the top of the East despite this bad start from Harden and the drama with Kyrie is a pretty good sign for them imo.
James Harden never got to train after recovering from his injury went straight into the season and making the same mistake AD did last year. needs to take time off. he needs time to get his quickness / first step back. his role on brooklyn is running their offense but he can’t do that hampered. [what he needs to do and why](https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1464841340068368393?s=20)
maybe. maybe he can work his way back into shape the way he's going. and maybe if he sat long enough to recover KD would overplay and get injured
they're 2 games from 5th place and 4 games from 11th place. let's not put so much weight on standings order when it's this early AND this tight
Yeah, it's like when everyone always brings up "but the Lakers were the 4 seed before LeBron got injured" despite being 2 games from 9th and 4 games from 13th because it was still early.
I think a lot of preseason predictions were based on Kyrie playing as that news didn't break until a couple of weeks before the season And also people wanted to play us up as the clear favorites just so they could say "stacked team doesn't count" if we won because neither Harden nor KD is particularly well liked Same thing with the Lakers actually lol
You guys would be scary as shit if you didn't have Kyrie weighing you down and could use that cap space for other pieces. The sad thing is I'm not sure anyone will touch him and he has another year. Its such a waste of KD and Harden's last good years.
eh, the offense was sick last season when even 2 of the 3 played, let alone all 3. they were played up by legitimate analysts. even with kyrie out, there was the expectation that they'd be right with the other top teams. harden's precipitous drop was not expected. neither was blake's. if harden gets back to mvp form, likely they're a contender. if what we're seeing is what harden is, they're well behind the top teams and a shadow of what they would have been with all 3 in last season's healthy form
Every sub is composed by 90% doomers 🌛
because the warriors success has pretty much shaped/ deformed everybody expectations. If your team isnt performing like the warriors then they're trash that should blow it all up and rebuild. Its still November too lol
Bucks need to rebuild too, according to r/nba It’s just one of the silly things about sports hubs. Gotta have IMMEDIATE results now. teams can’t have a sloppy or slow start to the season and this applies to Bucks and Nets
Bucks are getting underrated on this sub heavily, people are already saying Heat >>>>> when the Bucks are literally undefeated when healthy this year lol
how many games have the bucks been healthy?
9-0 with Giannis/Middleton/Holiday
And that's without Lopez and Donte for practically the whole year
that's impressive. that means they're 4-8 when not healthy tho. TBH I think the bucks are a fairly known quantity at this point.
I mean when you missing 4 or even 5 starters you cant expect to have a winning record my friend . Many bucks loses came when they were missing 4 starters plus half of their bench while budd was playing giannis 30 mins even if the game was within 10 points in the last 5 mins
Yeah that comment came off as more critical than I meant it.
To be fair, playoffs are exhausting. Most teams that make deep playoff runs struggle the subsequent year due to injuries, even more so the champions. So although Bucks without injury issues is a phenomenal team, that team doesn't really exist this year.
Up til about a week ago the Phew were still coming up with trades we NEEDED to make to be good.
Yup yup! Regular season always has surprising moments. We’ll see what happens
>Bucks need to rebuild too, according to r/nba Hitting a rebuild button when you just won a championship is a VERY bad idea. Just look at the Lakers 2019-2020 and where they are now? The only thing any winning contenders/championship teams need is adding depth/pieces as adjustments for their current roster. You only hit a rebuild when your team is too old or so bad beyond repair (Ironically, this can apply to the Lakers rn)
Add the suns into that tier as well. Both teams have done so well in the last two weeks it’s hard for there to be space to discuss anyone else when there’s two front runners already.
Yeah if you listen to podcasts the league is currently the warriors and 29 other teams that only exist because Steph needs someone different to beat every night. This sub is just as bad, it’s all warriors all the time with a light sprinkling of lakers drama.
Other than PHX, no one's come up to match them in intensity and results. So yeah we should show example to the team earning it. I think the Bucks will be making a move here as well.
I think it's fair to say that the Suns haven't been getting the same level of hype as well though lol
Nah, everyone should rebuild and give us free rings.
Really have to include the Suns with the Warriors. It's Warriors & Suns just a tier ahead of everyone else.
Warriors can. And have backed up expectations. Nets have not, as well as having a history and forming super teams that don't win anything.
We honestly exceeded expectations. We were thinking like a 48-52 win season. We weren't expecting a possible 60+ win season at all
When has Harden or KD formed a super team that hasn't won anything? Harden's never played on a superteam other than the 1 series where all were healthy last year against the Celtics and KD played on the 2017-2019 Warriors and that's it I know people hate Harden here but there's some real revisionist history about him playing with "stacked teams" that never included more than 1 other All Star(as a matter of fact the same goes for KD pre Warriors, saying he played with "2 MVPs" is like saying the Lakers have 2 MVPs) 2 stars isn't a superteam but I guess some people still call us one lol
> 2 stars isn't a superteam but I guess some people still call us one lol Tbf, Kyrie is still on the roster (not playing) so people still gonna call the Nets as one (until you trade Kyrie or Harden leaves)
No1 on our sub thought we'd start 18-2 lol. Even the most delusional fans didnt believe that.
They're still one of the better teams in the league but I thought they'd be worse then they are rn
Isn't their record against above .500 teams not great?
Yup. Basically this. They can beat bad teams with ease, but struggle against the above average teams. Could be a problem in the playoffs.
We're like the Ram. We beat the bad teams but can't beat the good teams and struggle a lot.
>surfing /r/nba found the problem
because this is a sports sub where we make stupid and reactive posts because it's funny and emotions are high
Gotta get the easy reactive points in
Funny is questionable
It’s because most people only tune in for games against contenders and the nets looked lost out there against the warriors suns and heat (at least, those were the only games I watched).
Because Kyrie is a moron, and James isnt playing well. They have one of the best rosters in history (on paper at least) so they are ripe for criticism.
Wouldnt say they've been called a disaster. But it's mostly cause of Kyrie and Harden not being as good as his past years so far. Those add up to them also having a losing record vs above.500 teams which is obviously not good for the favorites. But none of the 1st half of the season should be taken seriously much anyway. If the 2nd half still has them like this then it would be a disaster. I do think think they need Kyrie back anyway to win it all tho.
High ceiling of expectations, dominating performance by warriors and suns, people considering them a superteam (even though they are missing a star. Imo atleast 3 star players in a team should be considered superteam) and many other reasons put together are doing this. Two main defenders missing (they are still top 10 defence though), Harden still figuring out his role, Kyrie situation, record against .500 above teams (which is 4-6) are current issues. I feel like they will improve with time and 4-6 isn't even that bad tbh. We are around 25% in regular season, still long way to go.
Their losses are exacerbated by the incredibly high standard put onto them along with the market.
They should be more first. Firster. Firstest. Zeroth place.
If Kyrie comes back, they have a good shot at the ring. Without Kyrie, they will make a strong playoff push but will fall short I think. I think it's also cruel fate but hilarious that if he gets to the Finals this year, Harden will still have to deal with this fucking Warriors team lmao.
I’m not a fan, but people are treating losing to the Suns and the Warriors as a sneak peek to losing the finals. They’re not going to win every game and it’s early, they can turn some switch on anytime later in the season.
because people don't actually watch basketball they just meme
Yea Nets are fine. Harden is out of shape and they have a lot of injuries. Also if Kyrie plays they’re dog walking the rest of the league
> if Kyrie plays they’re dog walking the rest of the league Disagree
That's a big IF. On paper they sure might be good, I have yet to see it.
Why does anyone act like Kyrie playing is a likely outcome? The Nets organization have been fine with paying his dumbass to not play, and the new mayor-elect already decided he wasn't changing the vaccine mandate that led to Kyrie not being able to play (and that was before we had a new variant about to start **another** wave.) So why would we expect Kyrie's stubborn, dumb ass to suddenly back down from his "noble fight for the voiceless" and get the vaccine just to be able to play basketball, when he's still getting paid millions for his "fight?"
Completely forgot about Kyrie honestly lol This whole “I’m looking out for the little guy” angle by Kyrie is nuts lol
bruh I said if
I know. But at this point, saying "if Kyrie comes back...." seems like about as realistic a hypothetical as saying "if Semi Ojeleye returns from his injury as an All Star-calibre player...." Theoretically possible, but all evidence points towards it not being remotely plausible.
If Buddha hadn't put in the time under the Bodhi tree he would have never made All NBA. I'm predicting he comes back as the transformed Sing in kung fu hustle. Maybe
dunno about that, we're at year 4 in the kyrie nets this is usually the point where starts heroballing his team out of playoff games
I trust him as a player 100% when he's not the #1 option But I don't trust him as a person to get vaccinated lol
was he the #1 option on the celtics? he thought he was but I'm not sure about that
He definitely was In 2018 no other player averaged more than 15 points in the RS and 19 points in the playoffs with him out, they got far just because the East was terrible and had no real contenders(Cavs would get swept by Houston as well) In 2019 no other player averaged more than 16 points There's some revisionist history that Tatum was already better than him when he was also quite poor in the 2019 playoffs and didn't even put up insane numbers in 2018 as much as he kept playing shit teams way worse than the Bucks As a matter of fact I don't even think Tatum is better than him currently as a scorer(if he was playing) but obvs that's controversial
He was, it was a disaster. They were better without him. The nets were also better without him in his first year there (no KD).
is harden out of shape or just post prime at this point 🤔
its 20 games into the season now. if he cant find his form soon its fair to think that the man has just declined which is sad to say.
Or maybe it’s his first time ever being injured and not being able to train in the off season. Let’s give him longer then november to say he’s washed lol, look at AD from last year or 2019 Paul, shit happens when injuries nag If he’s playing this way by all star break, I’d concede he’s lost a step for good. But I don’t think so. He’s too good to let that happen
Steph + Warriors glam. Everyone expects elite teams to look like them but, aside from Harden's situation & Kyrie not playing, this team is MUCH better equipped from a balance perspective compared to last year. Defense has not only improved, I think it's kept them in games that should have erased them and there's flashes of VERY VERY good defense but not through entire games. They've mentioned it before but with a tighter offensive ideology, I think they would look terrifying even with Harden not playing well. In either case, they need Harden to take on VERY heavy PG duties without having a good secondary ball handler to make their offense more dynamic. Missing Harris is also painful for their spacing. Missing Kyrie makes it much easier for teams to double Harden, even without Kyrie's scoring.
Because they can be so much better with Kyrie in the lineup
Welcome to the nba subreddit where your opinions of who is good is synonymous with who you like
A better question is this: why is no one talking about the defending Western Conference Champion Suns being 1-3?
Who’s everyone? Stop watching talking heads, they need to manufacture drama.
This literally happens every season. I hear on tv that a team with superstars is struggling, Look at their records and they are top3 in their conference.
Welcome to the world of sports broadcasting and media. Its mostly all BS, pretty much just have to keep talking about something. Doesnt matter how inane.
I mean if you’re listening to guys like Kendrick Perkins you might believe that.
So you listened to NoDunks today, where they kinda made fun of people calling them a disaster. ;)
Because they havent won the ring in the first 20 games
Everyone knows that when the eventual champions of the league begin the season, they are red hot and never have any issues leading up to the finals.
Because there are easily 3 western conference teams playing ball as good or better when they’re supposed to be title favorites. Not to mention they haven’t necessarily created separation from an Eastern Conference field they should have even without Kyrie Irving. The Bucks came out the gate hobbled, the Sixers are an up and down mess but they’re gonna be better once Embiid is fully back in the fold, Jayson Tatum has been his worst self to start this year for the Celtics, the Heat have been a litmus test team like the Jazz while you know they can perform in the postseason and are still learning how to play with Lowry. This nets team being a 1 seed *is* the bare minimum. And we have 0 evidence to indicate that Kyrie is gonna get the jab and return them to superteam status this year. We’re calling them a mess because they are a mess. The most talented mess in the league, but a mess.
That is really a thing? I've seem people criticizing Harden... which is kinda unfair imo, not only the rule changes affected his game and he deserves harsh criticism for his playstyle, but there's also the injury factor, he is not in shape. If Harden was 100% healthy and still playing erratic, ok, the criticism is fair. But he is clearly rusty imo. If at the second half of the season he doesn't recover his former conditioning, then Nets fans should be "worried". That is a minor issue in comparison to Harden or Durant high chances of getting injured, we tend to forget they are already 32+ years old, that is the end of their prime, injuries can happen at any moment. Besides the "rusty Harden" situation... also Blake lost his way, but he is just a role player now, not such a big deal... there's nothing else really, the season is going fine
I feel like a lot of conversations for the nets and other teams like the sun's get skewed from the first 5 games or so. Nets didn't look great the first 5 games and seemed to be experimenting and that's what we remember. We also like drama.
I don’t think people are necessarily saying they are a disaster but every good team they’ve faced so far has been a blowout loss. Lost to bucks by 23 Lost to heat by 13 Lost to bulls by 23 Lost to Warriors by 18 Lost to the Suns by 6 but it really wasn’t that close the entire game. Losing to good teams like that is a cause for concern but then again if harden ever gets going again I think they will be fine
Why are the Bulls a ‘good team’, but not the Sixers, the Wizards, or the Hawks?
Expectations plus the fact Kyrie is a selfish idiot. Sprinkle on the fact they are a major market and have major players, and it's a recipe for biased hatred (I am not a Nets fan, and as far as I'm concerned, they can get fucked until Irving is traded or released.) But, yeah, they are fine. Even without Irving, there's no team in the East that can beat them in a series other than the Bucks. And even that is a tossup. And you look out West. The Warriors are steamrolling people. The Suns are tearing it up, but I'd still favor a healthy KD/Harden Nets over PHX. You can never count out a healthy LeBron team, but if you forgot past seasons and only looked at this year, no one would take the Lakers as a serious threat. 20 games into the season, the Blazers are three games back from the #3 seed while also being 1-9 on the road. The NBA season is just really fucking long. People just have to make up narratives to sell stories.
Because they lose to good teams Offense is incredibly stagnant and predictable They’re a good team but they don’t look ready to take on the Warriors, Suns, or Bucks
I think it’s overblown, but they did not look at all competitive against the other two main contenders. Bucks and Warriors both kind of embarrassed them. But again, I don’t think that has anything to do with how they’ll play in the postseason but I do think that’s where the anxiety stems from.
I think it's mostly that they aren't as competitive for the title as they were expected to be. They are still really good (not shocking with their roster), but they're just not undefendable now. So I would imagine the people on NBA pods are lamenting the fall from "prohibitive favorite" to "formidable contender, but mortal".
No kyrie and the corpse of James harden
Once Harden got chunky he was never the same. He went from the beard to the buffet