2024/25 nba season

[Andrew]

Denver's getting smoked right now, which I expected.

Just looked in on the game. If OKC blows this one, change their name to the Blunder. Utter domination so far.

[mp3]

The knicks game was just brutal and the effort on defence just was flat, even the energy in the Garden wasn't there because they priced out the average joe knicks fan with tickets no cheaper than $700 but give Boston there credit they hit there shots and we just didn't do enough on offence, OG played solid D on JT but he was missed on offence and we need to get him going.

I also feel sorry for Mitch and his free throws he's struggling and making himself unplayable at this point late in games

[Andrew]

I think that's a huge issue with the league at the moment, pricing the hardcore fans out of seats that are going to rich casual fans and celebrities who are there for appearances and clout. That's not to say that rich people and celebrities can't be hardcore fans of basketball and specific teams, and I'm no fan of gatekeeping who should be allowed to take in an NBA game live (or any kind of gatekeeping for that matter), but "status symbol" pricing is definitely going to prevent a lot of passionate fans from attending.

[mp3]

I've also heard so many fans that live in the US talk about tv blackouts for certain nba games where they live, even on league pass which as a fan living outside of the US I've never had an issue watching any game on league pass live but il be honest nowadays I watch 95% of my nba the day after due to start times but I've seen many a video on X and youtube about how the nba isn't helping the viewership by making it harder yo watch games In the US, I could be wrong there but maybe some of our American friends could give us some more insight into this.

[Andrew]

I've heard about that as well. It's certainly ironic how it's become easier for those of us in international markets, at least in some respects.

[mp3]

Yeah you would think it would easier in the US, back in 1991 I used to have to check nba scores on telly text lol it was later that year we got sky tv but I was a huge WWF wrestling fan back then so me finding sky had nba games was a happy accident as I was searching through the old analog channels looking for the royal rumble when I came across the Bulls vs Magic from the United centre, I recorded it and no joke must of watched that VHS tape 200 times minimal

[Andrew]

That's why Channel Ten here in Australia was my channel of choice back in 1998. NBA, WWF, and golden era Simpsons!

[mp3]

Yeah that's right, we had sky sports 1,2 and 3 plus eurosport showed European basketball I'd often watch but I'd mainly stick to sky sports but back then we didn't used have tv listing's you had to buy a magazine each month that had the listing's in it but at 10 years old I wasn't planning my months records like that so it was hit and miss till I found a German channel called DSF and they love there basketball there so until the UK caught up with the basketball trend in 96 I watched 2 full games a week and 2 shorted games in German a language I don't speak lol plus I found Pontel Videos which as you know mate were a dream come true to non US nba fans in the 90/early 2000s!

[Andrew]

I waited too long to make the switch to Pontel DVDs! Treated myself to a few last year for my 40th, though.

[mp3]

Are they still going yeah? It was nearly 30 years ago I got my first Pontel video as a birthday gift, it was the knicks and Vancover Grizzlies, knicks on the road then knicks vs Boston from msg ironically with game 4 looming tonight!

The one thing I remember back then about pontel is it was advertised as £9.99 per video which as you know is one full game and one "game in progress" as it advertised with a 30 minute nba action I believe it was at the end of the video, you had to use a credit card to order so my mum did that for me for my birthday and when she saw her credit card bill it turned out that they charged £26 instead, turns out the shipping was 16... nearly double the cost of video lol
They must of made changes in there company because the next week I 8 months later was only charged at 9.99 and forever on that's the price I always paid... sorry for rabbling on off topic!

[mp3]

The nba draft lottery rigged confirmed with the Mavs willing the lottery just like when Nola traded Anthony Davis to the lakers then the Pelicans got the number one pick and now the Mavs trade Luka but with a 1.4% they win the draft lottery hhhmmmmmm nothing suspicious about that is there.

[mp3]

Can't say how happy I am that the fans at MSG got to see the knicks beat the Celtics, we are just 1 win away from making the ECF for the first time in 25 years

[Andrew]

Yep, Pontel is still going! That was a pleasant surprise when I looked into it last year. I usually take advantage of their sales/bulk discounts, which they still seem to run fairly often. That was certainly nostalgia on top of nostalgia, waiting for them to arrive in the post!

On one hand, the Draft Lottery is overseen by a larger entity than the NBA, which doesn't really lend itself to them having control over the results. On the other hand, it's never not going to seem suspicious when a team that's just sent away a star gets the #1 pick, especially with how surprising and questionable Luka to the Lakers felt in the first place. At least when the Hornets/Pelicans got the #1 pick after trading Chris Paul, they'd bottomed out and had fourth best odds. The Mavericks had much worse odds of snagging the top pick this year. Then again, the Bulls won the Derrick Rose sweepstakes with low odds, so who am I to complain?

Knicks are having a hell of a run. I hate to see Tatum go down with injury, though.

[mp3]

Yeah I legit hope JT is ok but I really want the knicks to advance too, it's still no walk in the park tho!

I was trying to explain to my gf the feeling you got when you came home and a pontel delivery had been put through the letterbox and you knew exactly what you were watching that night!

Also I checked the pontel site too and it looks a lot more basic and not as easy to navigate as I remember but they definitely have some good bulk deals there, I wouldn't mind getting back some of the great knicks games that were lost many years ago from the knicks fairytale 99 season

[Andrew]

They have a digital library too, now. Might want to shoot them an email and ask about that, they've got some Google Docs with more info.

[mp3]

Thanks you Andrew il take a look as I do want to start rebuilding my nba collection, iam hoping to finally join the ps5 trend for 2k26 and for nostalgic reasons I also want a ps2 again

[Andrew]

I hope you can pick one up, or in a pinch, a PC that can run the emulator. Join the retro basketball gaming revolution!

[mp3]

I did think about a laptop actually, ps5 is at the top of my list and has been long overdue

[Andrew]

That's a wrap on the Cavs' season.



Some poorly-aged trash talk there.

[mp3]

I had a look online at the pontel packages and there very fairly priced for a block of 5 games would be close £30 which is very reasonable!

As for the Playoffs Cavs Were very disappointing in the 2nd round and I'd like to see the knicks and Pacers meet I the conference finals just like when I became a knicks a fans battling with Reggie Miller.

Sadly Jayson Tatum is done for the year, you never want to see a player get hurt like that especially in the playoffs, as a knicks fan Iam not looking at this as a automatic pass to the ECF because you can't count out Boston there to good of a a team and I would be surprised if they force a game 6 with the talent they have.

[Andrew]

Celtics stay alive, Timberwolves move on. To your point mp3, definitely not the time for the Knicks to get complacent just because Tatum is out. Interestingly, the Celtics do have a winning record without Tatum this year, though I ultimately don't like their chances without him here in the postseason.

[mp3]

Last nights game went pretty much how I expected to be fair.

Rockets coach Rudy T once said never underestimate the heart of a champion and the celtics showed why there the champions. I think the knicks can get passed Boston since they beat them 3 times with Tatum so one more win without him in 2 games isn't impossible

[Andrew]

My prediction is they still take of care of business, though they shouldn't let it get to a Game 7 where anything can happen, particularly with momentum on the side of the wounded Celtics.

[Jeffx]

As for the Playoffs Cavs Were very disappointing in the 2nd round and I'd like to see the knicks and Pacers meet I the conference finals just like when I became a knicks a fans battling with Reggie Miller.

I can't get on the Cavs, though...look at the injuries their main guys had to deal with. They were the victims of bad luck. Look at the Warriors without Steph.

[Andrew]

Looks like we shouldn't count the Nuggets out just yet! Hopefully it won't be an anti-climactic Game 7.