The Official 2015-2016 NBA Regular Season Thread [Archive]

BishopMVP

10-27-2015, 05:45 PM

Over/Unders by conference:

East
-----
Cavaliers 56.5 UNDER
Bulls 49.5
Hawks 49.5
Heat 45.5
Raptors 45.5
Wizards 45.5 OVER
Bucks 43.5 UNDER
Celtics 42.5 OVER
Pacers 42.5
Pistons 33.5 OVER
Hornets 32.5
Magic 32.5
Knicks 31.5
Nets 28.5 OVER
76ers 21.5

West
-----
Warriors 60.5
Spurs 58.5
Thunder 57.5
Clippers 56.5 UNDER
Rockets 54.5
Grizzlies 50.5
Pelicans 47.5 UNDER
Jazz 40.5
Mavericks 38.5 OVER
Suns 36.5
Kings 30.5
Lakers 29.5 UNDER
Blazers 26.5
Nuggets 26.5
Wolves 25.5Saving my quick predictions here so I can make fun of myself later. Wizards look great on offense, Celtics have the deepest bench in the league (some would even say it includes 80% of our starting lineup!), and I'm not sure if the Nets make some dumb trade to add another overpriced veteran, but I don't think they'll cut Joe Johnson and they'll pick up some cheap wins down the stretch to try and avoid the ignominy of giving Boston a top 5 pick while other EC teams are tanking. In the same vein, Detroit will be the team that's still competing for that 8th spot down the stretch and ending up high 30's. On the flip side, the Cavs are banged up to start and LeBron knows the regular season doesn't matter. Not sure he'll take a full sabbatical again, but he saves his body and doesn't go out all out every night. Bulls/Hawks/Heat have high ceilings but so many question marks I don't like picking them. Toronto could implode, but the Atlantic Division is bad enough and Kyle Lowry good enough if he stays healthy 45 seems about right. Really interested to see if they try to build around Valanciunas or Masai looks to trade him for someone who fits their style better. I think Charlotte and Orlando will try for 8th even though they have little chance, but they'll try long enough it's hard to pick them below 32 in a bad conference. Knicks are the same with the added lack of their 1st round pick, so no incentive to pack it in. Don't think Carmelo gets traded in season though - so many more options available with all the cap space opening up after the draft.

I only really like the Mavs to go over out West. I know people are picking them to fall hard, but Rick Carlisle will will them to stay in the race unless Wesley Matthews is less than 100% all season. I don't quite like the Clippers as much - I feel like they're complacent about the regular season now. Pelicans are too thin and banged up, even if Anthony Davis counts as 1.5 guys. And I just can't wait to see how hard Kobe is forcing smiles and trying to be a leader until he snaps on Randle/Russell for rookie mistakes (or just Nick Young for being Nick Young.) A ton of people are jumping hard on the Jazz bandwagon, but like I said I don't see a point guard, and Zach Lowe is saying Rudy Gobert is looking a little tired after his summer workload. Suns should go over, but terrible chemistry could do them in. Breaking up the Morris twins is a gamble, and maybe a clean break from both would've been a better option. Blazers/Nuggets/Wolves are all young and should play fast enough they'll be in enough games to win 1/3rd of them, especially when they get a few cheap wins against older teams who don't want to match their energy.

Groundhog

10-27-2015, 07:14 PM

Interesting rotations by the Bulls to start the year... Going to be a different team, that's for sure.

jbergey22

10-27-2015, 08:15 PM

Cavs over 56.5
Hawks under 49.5
Wizards over 45.5(is this a sucker line?)
Knicks over 31.5
Warriors under 60.5
Spurs under 58.5
Thunder under 57.5
Clippers under 56.5
Pelicans over 47.5

nol

10-27-2015, 08:49 PM

MVP: Whoever is healthier between Durant and Davis. If both are healthy, edge to Durant because people are always leery to give it to someone who's not on a true championship contender.
ROY: Towns. Mudiay will have some double-doubles and the like but will be horrible from an advanced stats perspective this year (not that it normally deters awards voters; I just think Towns will put up some pretty impressive numbers of his own). Stanley Johnson is a good long shot pick.
DPOY: Leonard.
Most Improved: C.J. McCollum just because his shots and points per game will increase by a ton. If it's to go to a better player who reaches an All-Star level, I think Bradley Beal would be a favorite.
6th Man: Isaiah Thomas

Finals: The Warriors, Thunder, Spurs, Rockets, and Clippers can beat the Cavs with homecourt advantage, and the first three can without it. Otherwise, Cavs. Any other matchup, the team from the West. I was on the verge of just saying Warriors over Cavs, but what's the fun in picking a repeat Finals? The Warriors were dominant enough last year that the most intelligent rationale for picking against them is to say that they're due to suffer a crucial injury. Still, I'd at least like to see Durant in action before being sure because he can be a trump card over anyone.

Groundhog

10-27-2015, 09:08 PM

MVP: Anthony Davis
ROY: Emmanuel Mudiay
DPOY: Kawhi Leonard
Most Improved: Agree again, C.J. McCollum, or possibly Andrew Wiggins.
6th Man: No one really jumps out at me, but Isaiah is a good bet if the Celtics play well this year.

JonInMiddleGA

10-27-2015, 09:50 PM

Detroit misses 20 of their last 22 shots from the floor ... and still beats Atlanta by a dozen. #OhAtlanta

Groundhog

10-27-2015, 10:32 PM

Groundhog

10-27-2015, 10:32 PM

Curry 1 point shy of being on pace for a 100 pt game after 1 quarter...

nol

10-27-2015, 11:01 PM

Detroit has done a pretty good job of building the same sort of lineup SVG had in Orlando during their Finals year. Bad finish today of course, but they were pretty solid for 3 quarters of basketball.

Also a 60% free throw Andre Drummond for the entire season would be :eek:
I suppose Detroit thinks it can use his cap hold to try signing another free agent first because other than that there's no reason he shouldn't have a max extension already.

RainMaker

10-27-2015, 11:45 PM

Curry is unbelievable.

Groundhog

10-28-2015, 12:10 AM

2 makes for Anthony Davis in a row! He's on fire (shooting 3-18).

nol

10-28-2015, 12:21 AM

Curry is unbelievable.

This guy could play until he's 40+ on shooting and off-ball movement alone. It's not like he's getting open on egregious defensive breakdowns.

2 makes for Anthony Davis in a row! He's on fire (shooting 3-18).

This is going to be the first year people are actually looking for warts on Davis. He's not yet a LeBron who can create offense even when there are four zeroes around him, and it'd be nice for him to play more than 70 games this season.

stevew

10-28-2015, 01:40 PM

Carlos Boozer Finally Explains His Sprayed-On Hair (http://deadspin.com/carlos-boozer-finally-explains-his-sprayed-on-hair-1739209327?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_facebook&utm_source=deadspin_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow)

Groundhog

10-28-2015, 07:10 PM

Most Improved: Agree again, C.J. McCollum, or possibly Andrew Wiggins.

Changing my 'or possibly...' to Otto Porter.

nol

10-28-2015, 07:31 PM

Obligatory heads-up that NBA League Pass is free this week.

Groundhog

10-28-2015, 07:48 PM

Also a 60% free throw Andre Drummond for the entire season would be :eek:
I suppose Detroit thinks it can use his cap hold to try signing another free agent first because other than that there's no reason he shouldn't have a max extension already.

6/6 from the line in the first half today, too.... terrifying.

nol

10-28-2015, 09:26 PM

It's just one game but the Magic will at the very least be more entertaining this year. Payton and Oladipo will be one of the best defensive backcourts in the league, Hezonja is absolutely fearless, and Aaron Gordon will have a couple crazy athletic plays per game.

It looks like a lot of the conventional and stat-based wisdom in season previews echoed my assessment from earlier this summer that Milwaukee would take a slight step back this year. They didn't have Giannis today but giving up 63 in the first half to the Knicks (combined with the Pistons and Magic looking to be at least somewhat legit thus far) is not a good sign for them. Derrick Williams will probably be a great waiver wire fantasy pick-up.

In addition to Drummond's seemingly improved FT stroke (I'll get on the bandwagon for him being an All-Star this year), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has looked quite improved as a budding 3-and-D guy who can put the ball on the floor a little bit.

The Grizzlies looked like garbage against the Cavs. They will definitely be back to the drawing board when it comes to lineups that use Jeff Green.

Mudiay is going to lead the league in turnovers this year and it won't even be close, but he had a nice debut. James Harden didn't have much of a rhythm going when it came to drawing fouls, and he looked to post up much more than usual. I still think the Rockets would be at their best bringing Lawson off the bench and staggering his minutes with Harden's more. No Howard for the Rockets, so no need to read too much into this game other than to wonder if the Lil B curse on Harden is real.

No matter how Spurs-Thunder ends, both teams have to be somewhat encouraged. Tony Parker at least looked quick again, and Kawhi has been playing like an MVP candidate.

Rubio looks very confident with his shot, which is awesome; 28 points and 14 assists for him (just one turnover). The Timberwolves just spent a long time in the first half playing a tanking lineup where Rubio, Wiggins, and Towns were out - save for that, it would've been a fairly comfortable road win. Like I said last All-Star weekend, the only thing stopping Zach LaVine from winning 5 straight dunk contests will be him being so bad at every other aspect of basketball that he won't stay in the league long enough. Last year it was funny seeing Kobe chuck up shots when everyone else was terrible, but it was kind of sad seeing him try to iso against Wiggins towards the end. At least they are one game closer to keeping their draft pick.

Groundhog

10-28-2015, 09:42 PM

Mudiay - based on pre-season, I didn't see the game today - turnovers I saw from him were 70-80% lost dribbles from medium/high pressure. Not the usual 'leave your feet without anywhere to go' type turnovers. You would think he'll get that under control, but I expect him to average from 4 to 4.5 a game at best.

Groundhog

10-29-2015, 12:51 AM

nol

10-29-2015, 01:07 AM

miami_fan

10-29-2015, 05:28 AM

Towns put up roughly what I was expecting from him for the season - somewhere around 14 and 10 with somewhat limited usage, which would be really impressive when you think about it for a young rookie. Okafor could put up some numbers that are hard to ignore even for the Sixers' funhouse, but he had a ton of turnovers as well. Justise Winslow didn't put up huge numbers, but he had a very impressive first game in terms of defense and intelligently moving the ball around; he'll be one of those guys who can dominate a game while scoring 10 points.

I was really happy to see Winslow's movement with and without the ball on the offense end. Also good to see Chris Bosh back on the court. If the Heat can continue to get that sort of production from the bench the preseason predictions of a possible 2 seed become more realistic IMO.

Groundhog

10-29-2015, 06:05 AM

Even more puzzled by the Hornets. Start Marvin Williams over Zeller, and play Kaminsky 6 minutes. If he's not ready to play right now, why draft a guy his age?

Neon_Chaos

10-29-2015, 07:17 AM

Drafted McCollum in my fantasy league with friends who are NBA fanatics but not fantasy buffs. Received a ton of flak for it. IT WAS AN EPIC DAY.

Kodos

10-29-2015, 07:50 AM

Obligatory heads-up that NBA League Pass is free this week.

Good to know. Thanks!

Chief Rum

10-29-2015, 10:06 AM

Watched most of the Clips game last night. Blake looked amazing.

And Boogie hit four 3-pointers, too. Like he was trying to do it. And they went in pretty good.

jbergey22

10-29-2015, 11:23 AM

Rubio with 28 points, 14 assists, and 1 turnover in a comeback win over the Lakers. Imagine if he could just stay healthy. Rough night for the #2 pick DeAngelo Russell, but KAT looked solid - 14 points 12 rebounds.

If he could just stay healthy he is a 11.6PPG, 9.3AST, 4.8 REB, 2.6 STL, 37 percent shooter with poor defense. (These are his per 36 minute stats in his career.) Fun player to watch against poor competition. Against good teams he makes you want to bang your head against the wall.

jbergey22

10-29-2015, 11:24 AM

Drafted McCollum in my fantasy league with friends who are NBA fanatics but not fantasy buffs. Received a ton of flak for it. IT WAS AN EPIC DAY.

Very nice momentum start to the season for him. Someone needed to score the points they lost from last year. You might have nailed this one.

whomario

10-29-2015, 12:33 PM

If he could just stay healthy he is a 11.6PPG, 9.3AST, 4.8 REB, 2.6 STL, 37 percent shooter with poor defense. (These are his per 36 minute stats in his career.) Fun player to watch against poor competition. Against good teams he makes you want to bang your head against the wall.

Every +- (or Off/Def Rating) related stat says the Wolves have been a playoff team whenever he was on the court, with or without Love alongside him and on both ends of the court the difference has been substantial. And your position on his poor defense has long been a pretty singular one ...

BishopMVP

10-29-2015, 01:01 PM

Even more puzzled by the Hornets. Start Marvin Williams over Zeller, and play Kaminsky 6 minutes. If he's not ready to play right now, why draft a guy his age?Not just draft him, but turn down 4 first round picks for the #9 (including #16 and at least one of the unprotected Nets picks).

Btw, he won't get it because they'll be terrible, but Nerlens Noel will deserve some All-Defense votes. He was flying around at a different level last night.

miami_fan

10-29-2015, 01:51 PM

Watched most of the Clips game last night. Blake looked amazing.

And Boogie hit four 3-pointers, too. Like he was trying to do it. And they went in pretty good.

I started watching this game and then I had to deal with a sick kid. I look forward to the screenshots of George Karl's face when these shots don't go in.

nol

10-29-2015, 02:00 PM

Btw, he won't get it because they'll be terrible, but Nerlens Noel will deserve some All-Defense votes. He was flying around at a different level last night.

He will definitely get votes after another year of 2+ steals and blocks per game. The team success will just cost him a 1st/2nd team appearance even if you could convincingly argue by the end of the year that the Sixers would be worse on defense even with an Anthony Davis or Rudy Gobert in Noel's place.

whomario

10-29-2015, 04:01 PM

Hezonjas Jumpshot is very aesthetically pleasing, i bet it´ll be a favourite on NBA 2K for years ;) In all honesty, he is as tailor-made for the NBA game as i have seen from a European guard.

I liked what i saw from Porzingis, his mobility is a real asset even at the 4-spot and will enable him to draw fouls at a decent clip, also get easy baskets on the break. Looked pretty good defensively, as well. The Bucks have the potential to be a train wreck, those trades last season and the offseason might turn out a real killer ...

jbergey22

10-29-2015, 04:06 PM

Every +- (or Off/Def Rating) related stat says the Wolves have been a playoff team whenever he was on the court, with or without Love alongside him and on both ends of the court the difference has been substantial. And your position on his poor defense has long been a pretty singular one ...

Article: Analyzing Ricky Rubio’s defense or lack thereof | jasareviconthenba (https://jasareviconthenba.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/article-analyzing-ricky-rubios-defense-or-lack-thereof/)

Order a subscription to Synergy Sports. You will see the things you are missing. You can watch all of his defensive lapses play by play, game by game, season by season.

tarcone

10-29-2015, 04:15 PM

I'm not a huge NBA fan. But I'm reading The Jordan Rules and my interest has gone up a little.
Watched some of the Bulls/Cavs. That was a good game. I may watch more this season.

whomario

10-29-2015, 04:47 PM

that article is pretty anecdotal, isn´t it ? If you close-watch a player with Synergy (which i do have intermittent access to) and look for "bad behavior", you can find it for every player. And the only synergy number it actually cites is one in favor of Rubio.

Although the thing I must come down on is the advanced stats pointing towards his enormous impact on the defensive end because as I have proved here, they are false.

Thats not a convicing argument to me. So he transforms a team full of crap defenders into a statistically much better (heck, a good !) defensive team and this is supposed to be despite his defense, not because of it ? And literally every bad habit he describes can be explained by the way the Wolves defense operates. Including him going under screens with no shot blocking behind him.

You´ll say that the Wolves would be better if he stopped trying to guard multiple people and concentrate on his man, from what i see is that he had to do this way to often because of the poor defenders around him and him basically being the only player with a shot at helping and recovering to his man in time.

What is true is that he would benefit from a better defensive unit around him and if you ever watch him play for Spain, he is devastating when he gets the luxury to concentrate on actually guarding his man.

A guy like Zach Lowe for example cites numerous weaknesses in his defense and still slotted him in the 2nd all-defense team in 2014. There is no perfect defender in the league, especially not at the guard position with the way the officiating has moved.

Atocep

10-29-2015, 05:50 PM

A guy like Zach Lowe for example cites numerous weaknesses in his defense and still slotted him in the 2nd all-defense team in 2014.

And I think it's pretty much spot on. The way Rubio approaches defense isn't always pretty and he gets beat on occasion, but numerous metrics show that he does make up for it in other ways (DRPM, for example, has him in the top 2 among PGs the past 2 years).

BishopMVP

10-29-2015, 06:23 PM

And I think it's pretty much spot on. The way Rubio approaches defense isn't always pretty and he gets beat on occasion, but numerous metrics show that he does make up for it in other ways (DRPM, for example, has him in the top 2 among PGs the past 2 years).NBA rules have made 1v1 D on the perimeter borderline impossible, particularly if they keep allowing moving picks. Fwiw I agree that Rubio plays the P&R really well and is great at rotations so he's well above average, but I'm still skeptical of him being an All-NBA defender unless his lateral quickness has improved.

Fwiw, speaking of defensive rotations, the foursome of Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Amir Johnson is awesome. Whether you need to pair them with an IT4 to juice scoring, a Sullinger to bang down low, or a Jerebko/Olynyk at the 4 for spacing, those four are great together. All active hands and a lot of players who can switch positions. Don't want to get too excited after one game vs a Philly team who doesn't have any PG, but maybe those preseason numbers do mean something and Boston can be a top 10 defense even while playing IT4 a lot.

nol

10-30-2015, 12:02 AM

And I think it's pretty much spot on. The way Rubio approaches defense isn't always pretty and he gets beat on occasion, but numerous metrics show that he does make up for it in other ways (DRPM, for example, has him in the top 2 among PGs the past 2 years).

Phrased differently, for Rubio to somehow be a bad defender despite his steals, rebounds, plus-minus and everything else, you'd be able to put together a lowlight reel of him gambling and having no clue what's going on that would make James Harden look like prime Ron Artest.

When healthy, Rubio is more or less the same player as prime Rondo; Rondo was more vertically explosive and therefore more of a threat to finish on drives while Rubio can generate assist opportunities without needing to hold onto the ball for as long as Rondo does/did while being more willing to shoot from the outside. Any perception that Rondo was a significantly better defender than Rubio is basically the difference between having Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love erasing your mistakes combined with Rubio being white and European. If commentators described him as 'long' and 'rangy' (which as a 6'4 PG with a 6'9-6'10 wingspan, he clearly is) often enough, you'd subconsciously think him to be a better defender just from that.

NBA rules have made 1v1 D on the perimeter borderline impossible, particularly if they keep allowing moving picks. Fwiw I agree that Rubio plays the P&R really well and is great at rotations so he's well above average, but I'm still skeptical of him being an All-NBA defender unless his lateral quickness has improved.

That combined with being the #1 player in the league at getting steals on a per-possession basis before his ACL tear, having those steals not result in a disproportionate amount of fouls or blown rotations, and being among the best rebounding PGs in the game (I believe only Westbrook averaged more last season) will bump a player from above average to one of the best 3-4 in the league.

Chief Rum

10-30-2015, 11:38 AM

Heh heh, nol, I am confused on whether you're saying Rubio is a good defender or not.

BishopMVP

10-30-2015, 01:02 PM

Heh heh, nol, I am confused on whether you're saying Rubio is a good defender or not.Yeah, I'm not sure Rondo's a comparison you want to make... He was very overrated defensively even back when he tried. His reputation (and everyone in Boston's, even KG's) benefited from being the first place Thibodeau's defensive scheme was implemented, and Avery Bradley was always a much better defender. (And now Smart is better than Bradley, at least when not flopping, and Tony Allen is better than Smart.)

nol

10-30-2015, 01:08 PM

Yes, I was thinking of saying "the kind of player people perceived prime Rondo to be" in terms of All-Star and All Defense appearances but didn't feel like beating that dead horse too much :)

jbergey22

10-30-2015, 03:33 PM

Rondo is the perfect comparison for Rubio actually. The fans of Boston see the same things in Rondo that the fans of Minnesota see in Rubio. The public perception influenced how the rest of the league see these two players warts and all.

nol

10-30-2015, 11:20 PM

28 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks for Towns. 19 years old in his second regular season game and he's getting points on drives, post-ups, pick and pops, face-ups, going coast-to-coast, and curls. The Nuggets aren't going to be very good this year, but wow.

Giannis had 27 and 9 in his season debut, but the Bucks' defense got shredded again by the Wizards. Not good in that respect, but Milwaukee's path to the playoffs this year is going to require Giannis to be an All-Star who consistently produces like that.

It is a shame that the Magic will be on national TV so rarely this year. At least we'll get dozens of Kobe farewells. Watch them (particularly this replay against the Thunder) on League Pass when you can. Elfrid Payton is another non-shooting PG whose shot looks much improved this year and Aaron Gordon has mixed some highlight athleticism with outstanding efficiency; when you think of players with upside, he's only 6 months older than Skal Labissiere. And to take the cake, Durant and Westbrook combined for 91 points. Best game of the season so far.

The Pistons beat the Bulls and, if they avoid a 19-game losing streak, will get their 4th win of the season sooner than they did last year. Drummond had 20-20 with a couple blocks and a couple steals.

The Cavs are definitely getting Love more involved on offense in the early going, and the defense with Mozgov continues to look good. The Heat just don't have the bench players to be a huge threat in the East.

Curry had the kind of outing that showed why he was the clear MVP last year in a rematch of last year's West Finals. No need for 4th quarter theatrics or outsized numbers when you take care of business in the first three quarters and get to relax on the bench at the end of a blowout. The Rockets might come out as the worst team in the league right now if you used a BCS-like measure.

whomario

11-01-2015, 04:56 AM

This Curry fella seems kinda good ...

;)

visuals:

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ehXY-PLug0M" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Holy Crap :eek:

Curry could legitimately average 40 with a decent (say, 45%) shooting percentage.

Groundhog

11-01-2015, 05:03 AM

So happy to have drafted both Curry and KAT in my fantasy league.......

whomario

11-02-2015, 08:14 AM

Sooooo, the Rockets might be a train wreck. They look terrible so far.

Towns looked positively impressive. A little too herky-jerky, but the potential for offensive moves is definitely considereable.

Vince, Pt. II

11-02-2015, 10:06 AM

I think the only team I'd rather see implode more than the Rockets is the Clippers.

I find their train-wreck-ness odd though - they seem too talented to really be this bad.

Chief Rum

11-02-2015, 10:43 AM

I think the only team I'd rather see implode more than the Rockets is the Clippers.

Feeling is mutual, turd-burglar. :)

nol

11-02-2015, 10:56 PM

I think the only team I'd rather see implode more than the Rockets is the Clippers.

I find their train-wreck-ness odd though - they seem too talented to really be this bad.

There wasn't too much more to it than their two frontcourt starters being injured and Harden missing a lot of open looks he normally makes. Looked much better tonight. I still think the best teams will be able to exploit a Lawson/Harden backcourt in the playoffs, and no, "make Steph Curry have to play defense" doesn't actually address that issue. Westbrook was torching them until he had to sit out due to some foul trouble.

Warriors are dominant at the half against the Grizzlies, and they haven't even needed to bust out the scheme where their center sags off of Tony Allen.

The Timberwolves' home opener had a really nice tribute to Flip; if KG had been involved I'd probably have been bawling, but there's no way he'd have been able to get through it either. Minnesota would honestly be a pretty competitive team this year if Sam Mitchell were to stagger the rotations to avoid having 5 bench players in the game at the same time. Wiggins is clearly hobbled with some back issues, which would free up some minutes, but having both Prince and Garnett as token starters who play 15 mpg is throwing things off as well.

Unless Anthony Davis counts as a center this year, someone between Davis, Durant, LeBron, Blake Griffin, and Leonard is going to be stuck on 3rd team all NBA, which is insane.

kingfc22

11-02-2015, 11:00 PM

In case there was any doubt, the Warriors are still really, really good.

Currently 88-44 against Memphis without Bogut to matchup with their bigs.

Vince, Pt. II

11-02-2015, 11:57 PM

Yeah, that was amazing. Curry is averaging more than a point per minute.

RainMaker

11-03-2015, 12:21 AM

I noticed Curry had a PER of 52 going into tonight's game.

whomario

11-03-2015, 12:28 AM

I noticed Curry had a PER of 52 going into tonight's game.

The NBA better patch that, totally unrealistic gameplay ;)

jbergey22

11-03-2015, 06:44 AM

Timberwolves had 3 50/50 calls go against them in the final minute last night. Kind of a frustrating game to watch as Timberwolves seemed to be the better team and playing better but Portland just got hot from 3 and the wolves could just never get the momentum back. KAT was kind of a forgotten man after the first few minutes. Hard to understand that as well.

spleen1015

11-03-2015, 11:33 AM

miami_fan

11-03-2015, 12:23 PM

Yeah, that was amazing. Curry is averaging more than a point per minute.

Are we sure that Curry will be playing more 4th quarters this season than he did last season?

Groundhog

11-03-2015, 07:25 PM

0-3 Hornets putting the hurt on 3-1 Bulls.

Atocep

11-03-2015, 08:37 PM

Drummond is a monster.

nol

11-03-2015, 08:59 PM

Drummond is a monster.

He's almost going to have to play all 48 minutes for them. The bench bigs have been awful. The Pelicans and the Pistons combined have the best big guys from the 2012 draft and about 6 other clear-cut NBA players after that.

Warriors stat of the day: they have played more minutes this season with a lead of 16 or more than each of the 5 worst teams last year did over the entire season.

The Lakers' defense is so, so bad. How could anyone have thought they were going to contend for the playoffs?
http://i.imgur.com/0Iv9Ay3.png

Groundhog

11-03-2015, 09:17 PM

29 rebounds for Drummond...

RainMaker

11-04-2015, 06:25 AM

Derrick Rose is really bad.

BishopMVP

11-04-2015, 02:29 PM

Derrick Rose is really bad.He's Kemba Walker with a $21 million contract.

Chief Rum

11-04-2015, 05:05 PM

He's Kemba Walker with a $21 million contract.

And bad eyes.

Vince, Pt. II

11-04-2015, 05:32 PM

Feeling is mutual, turd-burglar. :)

Haha, don't know how I missed this the first time around. I find it so hard to imagine people hating on the Warriors...

...and then I remember that most people hate Draymond Green and Andrew Bogut.

Vince, Pt. II

11-05-2015, 12:03 AM

Really wish the refs would make up their minds as to whether they're going to call everything or nothing in the Clippers / Warriors game. Clippers have been absolutely hosed on several calls.

Vince, Pt. II

11-05-2015, 12:24 AM

So what's the point of taking Paul out for the last possession, other than completely pissing him off?

(Was watching without sound, so I have no idea if the broadcast covered this)

wustin

11-05-2015, 12:33 AM

So what's the point of taking Paul out for the last possession, other than completely pissing him off?

(Was watching without sound, so I have no idea if the broadcast covered this)

Missed two straight critical free throws near the end of the game

Somehow missed a wide open Blake Griffin cutting to the basket to tie the game at 108

Tried to be too much of a hero so Doc probably told him to sit on the bench. That last play was a mess, it looked like Doc or Crawford didn't know what play to run and it ended up being 15 seconds of iso for Crawford. Should've drawn up a play for Redick for a quick catch and shoot.

BishopMVP

11-05-2015, 09:20 PM

Groundhog

11-05-2015, 09:59 PM

The sole Lakers game I've seen so far this year he wasn't even handling the ball, which seems strange to me considering his best talents right now seem to be his playmaking ability.

heybrad

11-05-2015, 10:11 PM

The sole Lakers game I've seen so far this year he wasn't even handling the ball, which seems strange to me considering his best talents right now seem to be his playmaking ability.
Yea... that's the stupidity of Byron Scott. He has specifically told Russell he doesn't want him bringing the ball up yet. He's said he needs to earn that by playing some defense first.

MrBug708

11-05-2015, 10:17 PM

The Lakers problem is that Scott said he's trying to win games, developing talent is secondary

BishopMVP

11-05-2015, 11:00 PM

The Lakers problem is that Scott said he's trying to win games, developing talent is secondaryIf he's playing to win games Kobe should be coming off the bench. But that whole organization is just in shambles, led by another trust fund kid who never earned his power (and somehow won the power struggle with the seemingly much smarter sibling.)

Btw, that's 2 nights in a row with ridiculous shots that don't count at halftime. Jae Crowder banking in his fullcourt out of bounds pass last night, and now Jeff Green swishing the most casual and highest arc'ing mid-court shot ever just after the buzzer. (Then again, absurd athletic feats combined with being so slow to react when he gets the ball in his hands that he doesn't actually help the team is the motto of Jeff Green's NBA career.)

I'm liking this Portland team so far, they might be able to stay around that 8th spot race. Forget CJ McCollum's breakout, the big guys are looking good too. Meyers Leonard, one of the Plumlee's, even Al-Farouq Aminu and Moe Harkless are bouncy enough to look good and feast on cuts/offensive boards off Lillard/McCollum's dribble penetration and spacing.

Izulde

11-06-2015, 12:15 AM

I love that Laker fans are already turning on D'Angelo Russell. I'm sure there are some rational ones out there but every Laker fan I hear still thinks they can build a title winning team around Kobe and his $30m/y contract. Not to mention calling Jordan Clarkson a franchise player.

I haven't given up on Russell. And fuck Kobe. He needed to be gone like 2-3 years ago.

Izulde

11-06-2015, 12:22 AM

The Lakers problem is that Scott said he's trying to win games, developing talent is secondary

Lol. Like BishopMVP said, if that's true, Kobe needs to come off the bench. I do really like Hibbert so far though.

nol

11-06-2015, 12:24 AM

Damn, 2017 uber-prospect Harry Giles tore his other ACL. He'll be an interesting draft case - how much do NBA teams trust current medical science, especially considering he'll have both knees operated on by non-NBA/high D1 doctors*. There's also an interesting discussion to be had at some point about whether injuries to higher end teenagers are becoming more frequent (almost everyone I know thinks they are, but there aren't really definitive statistics) due to kids specializing in one sport or training with professional trainers earlier these days.

The first injury occurred while playing for team USA, so I'm sure he was well-known enough that good doctors were taking care of it (Duke University Hospital, incidentally, which probably clinches where he's going). I'd be more worried about the rehab since tearing the other ACL could clearly be a sign of overcompensating for the weaker knee the first time around, and now there will be a conflict between his long-term health and his college wanting him ready to go for his one year. That's the kind of thing that makes you wish for a minor league or other option because Giles could spend the whole year rehabbing and still be a top 3 pick, if not first overall.

I watched what replay I could of Clippers-Warriors. It was a better showing than I thought it would be going in - slowing down Curry requires some out-of-the-box defensive tactics, and game 4 of the regular season is not the time to reveal those. Given that, losing a close game at Oracle because he goes off late is about as good a result as you can hope for.

Derrick Rose is good again! Actually he's in the D-Wade zone where he can be good 1 out of every X games, and you just have to count on X not getting too much bigger than 2 or 3.

Groundhog

11-06-2015, 10:15 PM

Assuming the Pelicans own their 2016 draft pick, sucking this year could end up being the best thing for them... Get a guy to play next to AD.

Porzingis has been waaaay more solid as a rookie than I expected from him.

kingfc22

11-06-2015, 10:29 PM

Warriors continue to roll. Already up by 28 points with 3 minutes left in the first half.

nol

11-07-2015, 12:18 AM

Assuming the Pelicans own their 2016 draft pick, sucking this year could end up being the best thing for them... Get a guy to play next to AD.

Offensively, these first few games are mostly showing that Tyreke Evans was in fact pretty good when it came to playing next to AD and making things easier for him. As far as anyone coming through the pipeline who could help the Pelicans' defense, well, Nerlens Noel would be a college senior this year.

Barnes and Ezeli will be receiving max or near-max offers this offseason, so the Warriors will get expensive very quickly.

Sublime 2

11-07-2015, 07:50 AM

5807

Obviously way too early to really look at this, but having Brooklyn tank for the C's is kind of nice.

wustin

11-07-2015, 08:30 AM

Vince, Pt. II

11-07-2015, 10:52 AM

Damn, Boston has 4 first rounders next year?

Sublime 2

11-07-2015, 11:28 AM

Dallas and Minny are both protected, currently they would be sent to Boston though.

Atocep

11-07-2015, 12:39 PM

Sixers are gonna be so stacked in a few years, they only need a PG and a wingman who can stretch the floor. I'm still not sold on McConnell yet though, he's probably going to get replaced by Kendall Marshall soon.

Saric has stated he's coming over next season too. Between him and the draft picks in 2016 next year's roster should begin to get interesting.

nol

11-07-2015, 04:22 PM

It looks like McConnell is another rotation-level player the Sixers got for nothing. Seeing him rack up assists in Philadelphia's system makes you realize just how terribly misused Russell is on the Lakers; he and Randle have played literally 3 minutes this season without Kobe on the floor.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is another guy from last year's Arizona team who can make an impact by doing everything but shooting; he's maybe the lone bright spot on the Nets so far.

whomario

11-07-2015, 04:48 PM

Warriors continue to roll. Already up by 28 points with 3 minutes left in the first half.

Curry has now hit 36-60 from 3 in his first 6 games. That is far beyond ridiculous.

Assuming the Pelicans own their 2016 draft pick, sucking this year could end up being the best thing for them... Get a guy to play next to AD.

Porzingis has been waaaay more solid as a rookie than I expected from him.

They actually have a decent chance of loosing it to the Rockets, Top 1-3 and 25-30 protected.

whomario

11-07-2015, 08:08 PM

Nice win for the Wolves in Chicago, impressive defense down the stretch (although the Bulls offense is very unbalanced on its own ...). Wiggins with signs of life, Towns impressive on both ends and Rubio with a great game as well. Yes, he still can´t shoot. No, it does not hurt the Wolves ;) Coaching seems shaky at best, some really bad set plays and some really weird strategic choices ...

Oh, and Bjelica was terrific as well in a matchup of former Euroleague stars. Good to see he is getting good minutes immediately. Prince does not look terrible ... Need some more consistency on that bench, other than that the start has been encouraging.

nol

11-07-2015, 08:53 PM

They actually have a decent chance of loosing it to the Rockets, Top 1-3 and 25-30 protected.

No, that already happened last draft and ended up being Sam Dekker.

All Draft Picks Owed (http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/detailed)

I can tell there is a critical mass of people who have learned how to use basketball-reference by all the tweets along the lines of "_____ is only the 3rd player to start out with 56 points, 34 assists, and 12 rebounds in the first 5 games since _____."

The Clippers-Rockets game is very well-played so far despite no Chris Paul for LA.

wustin

11-08-2015, 12:23 AM

Brian Swartz

11-08-2015, 05:35 AM

Five teams have lost less than two games. Four are in the Leastern Conference. Don't imagine that'll last, but it's a nice development if it does.

nol

11-08-2015, 10:27 PM

29 and 27 for Drummond tonight. He's averaging a 20-20 along with 2 blocks and 1.8 steals over the last five games. In the era of players' high school highlights and mixtapes being readily available on YouTube, Drummond's still stands out to me as the one that left no doubt he'd continue to be uniquely athletically talented even at the NBA level (2nd place being John Wall. 3rd place being Andrew Wiggins). Unfortunately he's 3-19 from the free throw line the past two games, so expect Pistons games to become much less fun soon.

Whiteside played really well tonight and will have to have at least somebody gamble on him with a max contract.

Here's all you need to see from the Lakers' season:
<iframe src="https://vine.co/v/elZb5gTie1n/embed/simple" width="480" height="480" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script>
It's a toss-up as to whether Clarkson or Russell has a better reaction.

Groundhog

11-08-2015, 10:41 PM

Sorry Kobe, those jumpers only worked when the defender had to respect your drive. Vujacic is playing him like he's Matt Bonner.

Groundhog

11-08-2015, 10:50 PM

One of Love's first 'Minnesota-era' type of games for the Cavs today vs Pacers.

jbergey22

11-08-2015, 11:20 PM

BishopMVP

11-09-2015, 10:16 AM

Offensively, these first few games are mostly showing that Tyreke Evans was in fact pretty good when it came to playing next to AD and making things easier for him. As far as anyone coming through the pipeline who could help the Pelicans' defense, well, Nerlens Noel would be a college senior this year.

I understood the thought process behind doing anything possible to make Anthony Davis want to stay, but I was arguing they were rushing it at the time and it just looks brutal now. Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik effectively for Nerlens Noel, Elfrid Payton, and Sam Dekker (or Jerian Grant/Bobby Portis/RHJ). I know the Durant (or Love/Deron Williams/Carmelo) situation scares them, but umder the current CBA it makes wsy too much sense for a star to re-sign for his 2nd contract that AD was never in danger if leaving until 2021. I'm still not writing off NO completely yet - didn't think it would be this bad but everyone who looked at the roster knew they'd struggle until they got healthier. It does kind of show that coaching only goes so far. Alvin Gentry wasn't as smart as be looked when Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were shooting for him, but he's also not as bad as he looks right now with those bricklayers. Ryan Anderson's shooting decline over the last two years is also very curious and starting to look worrisome instead of just a fluke season.
Damn, Boston has 4 first rounders next year?Dallas is top 7 protected or rolls over to next year, so I'd put it at like 70% we get it. The Minnesota pick is top-12 protected or turns into 2 2nd-rounders, so everyone had written it off, but now its looking possible we might actually get it. I think Ainge might actually prefer two high 2nd rounders we could draft and stash over a mid-teens pick considering our roster crunch. Brooklyn's pick this year... and their 2018 pick... are completely unprotected. But Billy King didn't get totally fleeced - its "only" a pick swap in 2017 :)

(I also still aren't getting my hopes up for the Nets staying top 5 bad. A bunch of other teams will start increasing young players minutes/milking injuries while BK will be scratching and clawing for every win in March/April. But I'll love it if I'm wrong!)

molson

11-09-2015, 05:45 PM

That Nets trade was ridiculous. It's like one of those old Red Auerbach trades.

rjolley

11-09-2015, 05:50 PM

nol

11-09-2015, 06:05 PM

I think I know how this works, but just to be clear, if a pick is Top 5 protected, is that before or after the lottery? So, if the team who traded the pick finishes 6th or lower but wins the #1 pick in the lottery, who gets the pick?

After. The Lakers could finish with the worst record in the league and have a higher chance of losing their pick than of drafting first.

whomario

11-09-2015, 06:05 PM

After the lottery is what matters, everything before is irrelevant in these cases

nol

11-09-2015, 08:10 PM

The Timberwolves are so fun to watch; they're up 30 at halftime at Atlanta. The starting 5 has the best defensive rating in the league out of all non-garbage time units. Towns is already a legitimate defensive force as a rookie (which on its own is worthy of a legitimate 'holy shit'). Out of all starters in the league, Rubio is #10 in win shares/48 and #8 in box plus-minus (safe to say he's not being lit up by Jeff Teague this evening). Wiggins has 16 on 8-10 shooting. The key difference tonight has been that Zach Lavine has been playing the game of his life so there's not the usual bench letdown.

This play in particular was a good example of Rubio's brilliance. It was shaping up to be a typical ugly retrograde NBA possession where a team spends 15 seconds of the shot clock trying to force a post entry pass just because a guy has a size mismatch (while ignoring that the guy will be immediately double teamed and have to pass it back and reset the offense), but Rubio went off script and found Towns for the dunk.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">KAAAAAAAAAAAT <a href="https://t.co/zTePVXdE4H">https://t.co/zTePVXdE4H</a></p>— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/talkhoops/status/663897329280393220">November 10, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Obviously they still need to play the toughest teams in the West, but we are fast approaching the point at which results can't just be chalked up to small sample size - if you ended the season at November 20th last year (when most teams had played 10-12 games), the Celtics are the only eventual playoff team that wouldn't have made it in.

edit: wow, they almost blew it because their crazy rotations lead to a ton of bench minutes in a row, but Wiggins and Bjelica were impressive down the stretch.

jbergey22

11-09-2015, 09:16 PM

It has been the Andrew Wiggins show tonight. 15/22 33 points, 4 ast, 4 reb, 1 st, 1bk

Towns with some huge blocks late on Teague to stall the Hawks momentum.

JPhillips

11-09-2015, 10:08 PM

nol

11-09-2015, 10:12 PM

Let's say you're the Nets GM. Knowing you won't have a first round pick in 2016 or 2018 and probably a non-lottery pick in 2017, what do you do? Do you trade your assets(Lopez, Johnson) or suck it up and do what you can until you start a rebuild in 2019?

You tank for Marvin Bagley III.

That's at least somewhat serious because this kid (high school sophomore who will be draft eligible in 2019 and is basically what would have happened if Chris Bosh had Andrew Wiggins-level athleticism) will end up being the best prospect since LeBron, but in the meantime you certainly have to accept these next couple of seasons as a sunk cost and be willing to trade your big name players for picks if there's value in the deal.

Groundhog

11-09-2015, 10:29 PM

If I'm the Nets, no one is untouchable, especially if it nets 1st rounders. I think they'll improve to about mid-lottery by season's end, but that roster has exactly one young OK prospect (albeit a wing who isn't a shooter), an OK Euro in Bogdanovic, and Brook Lopez, an injury prone big. The rest is spare parts and unwanted former lottery picks. Has to be one of the ugliest lineups I've seen in years.

BishopMVP

11-09-2015, 11:14 PM

It has been the Andrew Wiggins show tonight. 15/22 33 points, 4 ast, 4 reb, 1 st, 1bk

Towns with some huge blocks late on Teague to stall the Hawks momentum.How do you not include his dunk over Millsap? :eek:
Watch Randy Cruz's Vine "Andrew Wiggins ðŸ˜³" (https://vine.co/v/el1OQZAV7x1)

miami_fan

11-10-2015, 05:22 PM

Sounds like Mario Chalmers and James Ennis are headed to the Grizzlies for Beno Udrih and Jarnell Stokes and a 2nd round pick. The Heat would like to get a third team involved to dump either Udrih or Stokes on.

Gonna miss Rio. I wonder who Wade and Bosh are going to yell at now.:D

Groundhog

11-10-2015, 05:59 PM

I actually think Ennis could end up being something for the Grizz. He's an athletic wing who can hit the three, but didn't have the best offseason. He spent his first pro season in Australia so I saw quite a bit of him for a season.

Groundhog

11-11-2015, 10:41 PM

Someone needs to remind Porzingis that he's supposed to be a couple of years away from contributing yet.

Had a game winner waved off today as being after the buzzer. It can't get much closer but was probably the right call IMO:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gW5Bd1aW_iA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Buccaneer

11-11-2015, 10:48 PM

My son went to his first NBA game tonight - Bucks at Nuggets. He and his friend got seats 8 rows up from the floor and saw the Nuggets win in the last seconds. It's not something he is ever going to forget, he said it was an insane atmosphere.

nol

11-11-2015, 11:22 PM

Someone needs to remind Porzingis that he's supposed to be a couple of years away from contributing yet.

He was going to be able to contribute right away. It was just a matter of if he'll ever develop into someone who hold his own in the paint and create offense on his own. The rebounding is much better than it ever looked in Europe, but he's shooting 38 percent from the field and 21 percent from three so far. At least the Knicks are giving him the reps. And that game-winner attempt is somewhat illustrative; you can have a nice-looking stroke but if it takes you .6 seconds to catch and shoot, most of your looks are going to end up contested.

Vince, Pt. II

11-11-2015, 11:32 PM

And that game-winner attempt is somewhat illustrative; you can have a nice-looking stroke but if it takes you .6 seconds to catch and shoot, most of your looks are going to end up contested.

That was my first thought - took him seemingly forever to load that ball up and get it into the air.

Groundhog

11-11-2015, 11:37 PM

Definitely takes too long to get his shot off... brings the ball down (pass was a little low, but still) before going up with it, which pretty much negates his height advantage.

whomario

11-12-2015, 04:09 AM

Throwback Performance by Dirk and Luis scola is still awesome, as is ginobili :) also big game by matthews .

Grizzlies are 3-6 now.(admittedly a tough schedule)

whomario

11-12-2015, 12:02 PM

As for the Porzingis would-be-Gamewinner: While i agree that his release is "slowish" (although imo far from super-slow for a 4), the inbounds pass was also utter crap.

miami_fan

11-12-2015, 07:35 PM

33 Bleepin points with three plus minutes left in the 1st quarter. Man oh man the Warriors are something else.

nol

11-12-2015, 07:43 PM

33 Bleepin points with three plus minutes left in the 1st quarter. Man oh man the Warriors are something else.

Was gonna say if you want to see Kobe's record possibly fall, Zach Lavine is starting and guarding Steph Curry. 21 points in the first quarter for him.

As Luke Walton said during his quarter interview, the Warriors are fine with having you double Steph and giving them a 4-on-3, and that's because Draymond is uniquely skilled among PFs at handling those situations. He's averaging 6 assists per game and shooting 43% from three this year, in case anyone was still doubting his offensive skills.

That Nets trade was ridiculous. It's like one of those old Red Auerbach trades.

This is true in retrospect because of how quickly KG fell off. He would've been traded for DeAndre Jordan and a first-round pick if he'd been willing to be traded separately from Pierce, and if that had been the case whatever the Celtics could've gotten for Pierce would have combined to be even better than their current haul of picks.

Groundhog

11-12-2015, 08:11 PM

mckerney

11-12-2015, 08:15 PM

He is when LaVine is supposed to be guarding him. :(

wustin

11-12-2015, 08:28 PM

Is Curry the greatest shooter of all time? Assuming his shot doesn't fall off a cliff over the next couple of years for whatever reason, taking into consideration volume and accuracy I think it's at least safe to have the discussion?

There's no discussion. The only thing he doesn't have at the moment is longevity. If he remains healthy, he will leave Ray Allen and Reggie Miller trailing behind him.

nol

11-12-2015, 08:35 PM

Undoubtedly. He does it off the dribble. His style of play has changed the entire game. Conventional wisdom against a pure shooter has always been to run out on them and to force them off the line, but he has changed the game by escape dribbling laterally rather than going towards the hoop. As far as 'signature moves,' that will end up being right up there with the sky hook or the jump shot.

Groundhog

11-12-2015, 08:37 PM

nol

11-12-2015, 08:50 PM

Steph Curry was actually the reason I started posting here more regularly. I was very adamant for Minnesota to pick both Rubio and Curry (the idea being that even if the two didn't perfectly synergize, at least one of them was going to be good and you could get a lot by trading one of them), and when I saw somebody on Facebook bringing that up a couple years later, I wanted to make sure I went forth with an opinion enough to be sure I wasn't just cherrypicking the times I happened to be right.

wustin

11-12-2015, 08:55 PM

Craziest thing is probably the knock on him coming out of college that he was pretty much just a spot up shooter, without a real PG handle or court vision. I've seen videos of his dribbling drills though, and it's clear he's put in a ton of time in that area of his game.

I followed him when he was at Davidson (I even toured the college when I was in HS). His first two years he played shooting guard with a great point guard (who led the NCAA in assists for two years). Curry's junior year he was forced to play the point for Davidson because the other PG had graduated.

Anyways, with the right mindset and good coaching staff you can develop a two-guard into a point guard in the NBA. Jeff Teague and Westbrook played the two in college.

Groundhog

11-12-2015, 09:26 PM

Russ 20-point quarters last season to lead NBA: 4

Steph 20-point quarters in 10 games: 4

Vince, Pt. II

11-13-2015, 01:25 AM

Crazy Warriors stats -

Draymond Green, the starting Power Forward for the Warriors, is averaging 6.6 assists per game. His 24-12 game tonight was 12 assists. He was two rebounds away from a triple-double with 8. He was also supposedly battling the flu tonight, on the second night of a road back-to-back from Memphis to Minnesota.

Defending NBA Champs to start 10-0 or better:
1957-58 Celtics 14-0
1996-97 Bulls 12-0
1964-65 Celtics 11-0
2015-16 Warriors 10-0

Curry is currently ahead of Michael Jordan's 1995-96 pace in points per game, assists per game and field goal percentage. Which is extra crazy, considering more than half his shots are from three.

Curry is also now 43rd in NBA history for most made three pointers with 1,243. 42nd, with 1,245, is Dell Curry.

I don't remember the last time I had this much fun following a team on a night-by-night basis. Probably Barry Bonds and the home run chase; with this team though, there is so much more to watch.

Edit: Minnesota is going to be pretty damned good pretty damned quick. They've got a lot of talent, and it looks like they're already a pretty strong team.

Simbo Klice

11-13-2015, 01:58 AM

I think the 96 Bulls have something to worry about.

wustin

11-13-2015, 06:21 AM

To be fair the competition has soft for GSW. I would like to see them against a healthy Cavs team, Hawks, or Spurs.

whomario

11-13-2015, 08:46 AM

Curry is one of the few guys i would have no problem having my old posts digged up, i was really high on him as a future PG even during his last college season. The guy could, to steal from the NFL, "make all the passes" even then. Stats (like A/TO or AstRatio) were useless for him due to the unique role he had to play.

And yeah, he is truly amazing to watch nowadays and he fits that "there will never be another ..." box for me already.

RainMaker

11-13-2015, 09:34 AM

I think the 96 Bulls have something to worry about.

I still think it's really tough to do. Maybe if they were in the Eastern Conference. The West just has too many quality teams.

The season drags later on, guys get injuries, etc. Not to mention that if they are way up in the West, there isn't a huge incentive for them to grind out more wins at the end of the year.

albionmoonlight

11-13-2015, 10:16 AM

There's certainly the argument that when you have a title-contenting team, you play for the title. And it would make total sense for GS to take its foot off the gas if/when it gets the #1 seed sewn up.

But, man, if 72 regular season wins is in reach? I think you go for it. You've already got a title in the bag. Go for history.

nol

11-13-2015, 11:14 AM

The Warriors would have to win their next 18 games to be 72-10 in their last 82 regular season games. That's how absurd the pace would have to be, and that's not going to happen unless the teams they play at the end of the regular season are crappy enough for the Warriors' backups to win.

Neuqua

11-13-2015, 11:27 AM

Or you can say they're 10-0, and they'd have to go 62-10 over the next 72. Likely? Probably not but it's not out of question.

AENeuman

11-13-2015, 11:40 AM

I don't remember the last time I had this much fun following a team on a night-by-night basis. Probably Barry Bonds and the home run chase; with this team though, there is so much more to watch.
.

Me too, so much fun.

nol

11-13-2015, 11:52 AM

Or you can say they're 10-0, and they'd have to go 62-10 over the next 72. Likely? Probably not but it's not out of question.

Even 62-10 is a better pace than what they did last year when they were tearing up the league. They are definitely the best team since those Bulls (and I was saying as much fairly early last season) but resting players is so much more significant in today's NBA that 73+ is extremely unlikely, especially when you consider how pedestrian they have been with Curry off the court (even more so than last season).

murrayyyyy

11-17-2015, 09:19 AM

Will the 76ers win a game before the month ends? If they don't take out Indiana at home Wed, it has to come on the 6 game road trip. CHA, MIA, MIN, BOS, HOU, MEM.

Also it's the first team in NBA history to start out 0-11 in b2b years.

JPhillips

11-17-2015, 10:59 AM

miami_fan

11-17-2015, 11:36 AM

The process is working.

Hinkie Hater!:D

wustin

11-17-2015, 12:45 PM

Even 62-10 is a better pace than what they did last year when they were tearing up the league. They are definitely the best team since those Bulls (and I was saying as much fairly early last season) but resting players is so much more significant in today's NBA that 73+ is extremely unlikely, especially when you consider how pedestrian they have been with Curry off the court (even more so than last season).

2000 Lakers would've given them a run for their money or even 2004 Pistons.

Groundhog

11-17-2015, 04:12 PM

On the plus side, Sixers finally seem to have a legit piece in Okafor. Another 4-6 years of tanking and they might finally have 8 or 9 legit NBA-quality rotation guys.

BishopMVP

11-17-2015, 08:51 PM

The process is working.The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't been above .500 and have won >40% of their games/finished above 12th once in the last decade. But it's OK because they were trying? In 2 years when Philly has added Saric, 2-3 more top lottery guys, and started to fill out the rotation around them nobody will care if they won 15, 25, or 35 games these last 3 years.

Groundhog

11-17-2015, 09:13 PM

Porzingis with a 29-11 line today against the Hornets.

Kaminsky 1-5 for 2 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes... maybe looking like he should've stuck around in school for another year or two... ;)

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 02:14 AM

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven't been above .500 and have won >40% of their games/finished above 12th once in the last decade. But it's OK because they were trying? In 2 years when Philly has added Saric, 2-3 more top lottery guys, and started to fill out the rotation around them nobody will care if they won 15, 25, or 35 games these last 3 years.

Perfect example of what the 76ers are doing. Gathering a bunch of picks, constantly drafting the same position and not being successful with this strategy.

06 g Brandon Roy @6
07 g Brewer @7
08 g Mayo @3 (traded for love)
09 g Rubio@5 g Flynn @6, g Lawson @18
10 g Johnson @4 g Babbitt @16

Throw in allowing McHale allowing Ainge to rape him in any trade because they were buddies. In fact, they loved trading players for future picks also. I just don't understand how it will work in Philly when it usually doesn't work anywhere else.

whomario

11-18-2015, 03:15 AM

Logan

11-18-2015, 09:02 AM

McHale out in Houston.

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 09:21 AM

Not to really challenge your point, but Johnson, babbit and (maybe debatable, but still imo) brewer are not guards and never were and what have lawson and mayo have to do with this, having been traded on draft day ? Thats like saying Dirk was an awesome pick by the Bucks ( roy however was dealt for Foye, a guard)

Johnson and Brewer are those 2/3 prototypes that don't have a real position in today's NBA. Brewer's best year was when he started all 82 games at the 2 his third year. Same with Welsey as the move to the 3 hurt his numbers in Minnesota (started at the 2 his rookie year).

But it does subscribe to the theory of "look at all these lottery picks so we have to be good, right?!?!"

They had 6, 7, 3, 5+6+18+28, 4+16+23, 2+20 as first round picks over a 6 year period and they still never hit .500 with all those picks.

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 09:22 AM

McHale out in Houston.

Was wondering how long he had left with Lawson coming out saying the players were revolting against plays/def called by McHale in the Mavs game.

jbergey22

11-18-2015, 09:24 AM

Was wondering how long he had left with Lawson coming out saying the players were revolting against plays/def called by McHale in the Mavs game.

McHale has a quick trigger when players get off to sluggish starts. I am sure that didnt help. Also, I just get the impression when watching Harden play that he really isnt a team first guy. I would be shocked if he ever wins a NBA Championship as good as he is.

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 10:07 AM

McHale has a quick trigger when players get off to sluggish starts. I am sure that didnt help. Also, I just get the impression when watching Harden play that he really isnt a team first guy. I would be shocked if he ever wins a NBA Championship as good as he is.

Is there a coach out there they want or just giving Bickerstaff the chance? I'm sure Scott Brooks isn't doing anything right now if that's the offense you want to run.

JeeberD

11-18-2015, 10:36 AM

McHale out in Houston.

:thumbsup:

miami_fan

11-18-2015, 10:53 AM

Was wondering how long he had left with Lawson coming out saying the players were revolting against plays/def called by McHale in the Mavs game.

McHale may have lost the team but how the hell is Ty Lawson the guy who gives voice to the players revolting? He just got there.

BishopMVP

11-18-2015, 11:00 AM

Was wondering how long he had left with Lawson coming out saying the players were revolting against plays/def called by McHale in the Mavs game.Did he say anything about them revolting in the Celtics game too? Or is James Harden just back to not trying on D? Trevor Ariza, Terrence Jones and Montrezl looked like the only 3 players who gave a damn.

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 11:53 AM

Did he say anything about them revolting in the Celtics game too? Or is James Harden just back to not trying on D? Trevor Ariza, Terrence Jones and Montrezl looked like the only 3 players who gave a damn.

Calvin Watkins on Twitter: "Ty Lawson said Kevin McHale would make a defensive call and the team would run something else. He said meeting should fix the problem." (https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/666725139787051008)

Didn't mention which game it was but I think it is safe to assume all of them.

Personally I don't think Harden's head is there right now but it has more to do with his GF leaving him for a coked up... I mean natural viagra former NBA player that she left to rush by his side. There are reports out there that he's just getting smashed after games and clubbing all night. Read one abut Miami with Meek Mill and saw another one about him getting back with Khloe and clubbing when they went to LA.

albionmoonlight

11-18-2015, 11:59 AM

There are reports out there that he's just getting smashed after games and clubbing all night. Read one abut Miami with Meek Mill and saw another one about him getting back with Khloe and clubbing when they went to LA.

I hope that not's true. He's a grown man, and he can live his life however he wants. But to see someone with a great gift for something run it into the ground with a destructive lifestyle makes me sad.

If God/the Universe/fate/whatever blesses you with the ability to do something at the highest possible level--be it athletics, or art, or music, or whatever--then you do all of us a disservice by taking that gift and squandering it with destructive lifestyle choices.

BishopMVP

11-18-2015, 01:44 PM

Calvin Watkins on Twitter: "Ty Lawson said Kevin McHale would make a defensive call and the team would run something else. He said meeting should fix the problem." (https://twitter.com/calvinwatkins/status/666725139787051008)

Didn't mention which game it was but I think it is safe to assume all of them.

Personally I don't think Harden's head is there right now but it has more to do with his GF leaving him for a coked up... I mean natural viagra former NBA player that she left to rush by his side. There are reports out there that he's just getting smashed after games and clubbing all night. Read one abut Miami with Meek Mill and saw another one about him getting back with Khloe and clubbing when they went to LA.It wasn't defensive confusion, it was effort (most noticeably atrocious transition D by the Rockets.) Blame it on tuning out the coach if you want, but I thought this quote was telling "We play hard," Jae Crowder told reporters after Monday's win in Houston. "Guys don't like that in this league. Guys want an easy, flowing game. But we play hard, and a lot of guys don't like it."

Still loving this Celtics team, and their outperforming even my expectations defensively. 3rd in dRtg, easy #1 in steals, and it's mostly just effort. Evan Turner, Kelly Olynyk and freaking Isaiah Thomas rank in the 94th percentile or higher in individual dRtg. The shooting is still hit or miss (no way we should be top 3 in 3-pt attempts considering we shoot 30% on them), and the rebounding gets a little scary when Sully isn't playing, so I don't expect to be a real threat barring a blockbuster for DMC, but I'm sure I can talk myself into it if we keep having stretches like this with 13+ point wins vs Atlanta, @OKC, @Houston in a 4-day span.

Btw, Zach Lowe finally posted a column on regular ESPN, for those wondering where he would show up post-Grantland.

Also, am I crazy in saying the two conferences are almost equal at this point? Of course it's still a little early, and the West still has an edge at the top with GS/SA, but with OKC & LAC scuffling and Memphis/Houston/New Orleans drastically underperforming expectations the wide imbalance in terms of depth is no longer there.

Kodos

11-18-2015, 02:05 PM

Are the Sixers still in tank mode?

BishopMVP

11-18-2015, 02:44 PM

Are the Sixers still in tank mode?Yes. And based off how frequently they're brought up apparently they're the 2nd most interesting NBA team after Golden State.

murrayyyyy

11-18-2015, 03:10 PM

Also, am I crazy in saying the two conferences are almost equal at this point? Of course it's still a little early, and the West still has an edge at the top with GS/SA, but with OKC & LAC scuffling and Memphis/Houston/New Orleans drastically underperforming expectations the wide imbalance in terms of depth is no longer there.
-----

I don't think it's balanced yet but all the teams in the East seem to be shooting horribly so far. Only 5 teams from the east are above the league average. ATL, CLE, WSH, MIA, CHA. I guess that you could say it's all the great DEF in the East but if the league is suppose to all be moving to this GSW style of offense, they don't show it yet in their shooting.

The Celtics are interesting as they seem to want to get the offense in place and then find the missing piece to make the offense work better. Are they going to move Turner for a shooter if they can, possibly package with Young?

miami_fan

11-18-2015, 06:38 PM

Damn I forgot Thibs is out there for the hiring. Thibs and Dwight Howard on the same team. Please make this happen!

nol

11-18-2015, 07:25 PM

Everyone assumed Thibodeau would have his pick of whichever job opened up first, but I think the Rockets do want to stick with Bickerstaff for the year at least as he's a pretty highly-regarded assistant coach. As for other teams with upcoming vacancies, I don't think a team like the Timberwolves would want Thibs running Towns, Wiggins, and Rubio into the ground 40 minutes a night, so it could be quite a while before the right fit comes up for him.

JonInMiddleGA

11-18-2015, 07:43 PM

Yes. And based off how frequently they're brought up apparently they're the 2nd most interesting NBA team after Golden State.

Probably an uncomfortable amount of truth in that.

Groundhog

11-18-2015, 09:51 PM

Harden with maybe the ugliest 45 point game ever. 11-29 shooting, 4-15 3s, 19-20 FTs.

BishopMVP

11-19-2015, 05:21 PM

The Celtics are interesting as they seem to want to get the offense in place and then find the missing piece to make the offense work better. Are they going to move Turner for a shooter if they can, possibly package with Young?Who are we getting for Evan Turner and/or James Young? Tyler Zeller's probably our best expendable part, but even if it worked to get us a "shooter" like James Jones or Steve Novak no thanks. The thing is you need a shooter in that sense when your spacing sucks, especially if it helps your star players get easier looks. We have great spacing and get decent looks... it's just that every guy is an average or worse shooter for their position. Detroit needs shooters to put around the Reggie Jackson/Drummond P&R, Sacramento needs someone other than Belinelli to increase space for Boogie to work, etc, but in our case adding a one-dimensional shooter would just weaken our strengths more than adding to our offense.

So imo, unless a big star (a.k.a. Boogie) shows up on the market, or another above-average player like IT falls into our laps near the deadline, just ride it out for now. Hope RJ Hunter turns in to that "shooter", incremental improvements like Marcus Smart learning better shot selection/Kelly Olynyk getting more confidence occur, or Terry Rozier develops enough into the attacking PG I think he'll be that Smart can be moved off-ball into the Bradley role where he should be. Then see where we're at in June.

RainMaker

11-19-2015, 05:27 PM

nol

11-19-2015, 08:55 PM

I think he'd be a great fit in Minnesota. They'd have a top 5 defense almost immediately with that talent.

The Wolves' starting lineup already is the top defense out of any 5-man group that has played over 50 minutes together (77 points/100 possessions in 85 minutes; next-best is the Jazz starters at 85), and the lineup with Bjelica in Garnett's place has played 38 minutes and has a better defensive rating than that. So their being a top 5 defense just depends on Rubio being healthy and the eventual coach just being more intelligent with rotations than Sam Mitchell is (or you could even have the natural improvement from Towns and Wiggins make up for poor lineup choices).

No need to give Towns and Wiggins the Derrick Rose treatment just to guarantee a playoff appearance in the next couple seasons when those guys are poised to be All-Stars 10+ years down the line.

"Terrible" trades update: Evan Fournier is averaging 18 a game for the Magic and is doing much better than some late first-round wing from the last couple drafts (P.J. Hairston? C.J. Wilcox?). K.J. McDaniels has played 16 minutes over 4 games for a Rockets team that presumably would have been willing to try all sorts of things to reverse its poor start. Brandon Knight is averaging 20-5-4 and coexisting pretty well with Bledsoe. Michael Carter-Williams' overall numbers are down across the board, except for three-point shooting, where he is shooting better but still not a threat, and turnovers - he somehow turns the ball over on a higher percentage of plays than he did in Philadelphia.

nol

11-19-2015, 10:19 PM

The Clippers are playing out of their minds and are up 41-25 after the first quarter. Think Chris Paul was geared up for this one? He has 18 points and 4 assists on 7-7 shooting. Klay Thompson is having his first really good game of the year and is the only player really keeping Golden State in the game.

Curry got two fouls relatively early and didn't immediately go out, but I'm glad the Clippers got Paul out somewhat earlier than usual as well to minimize the amount of time Steph is going against bench lineups.

Groundhog

11-19-2015, 11:54 PM

Now a 1pt game with 9 mins left because, well, Golden State.

nol

11-20-2015, 12:12 AM

Now a 1pt game with 9 mins left because, well, Golden State.

It has been shades of the Houston game where the Clippers had opportunities to turn the game into an absolute rout but role players like Crawford missed so many wide open shots to let them hang around.

kingfc22

11-20-2015, 12:24 AM

Warriors get "lucky" again. STFU Clippers

bhlloy

11-20-2015, 12:24 AM

Damn, the warriors are ridiculous. Although that was some seriously awful defense down the stretch by the Clippers

Chief Rum

11-20-2015, 12:26 AM

Warriors get "lucky" again. STFU Clippers

Stay classy, winner.

Chief Rum

11-20-2015, 12:29 AM

wustin

11-20-2015, 12:39 AM

On the bright side, it looks like Blake Griffin can shoot 20 footers off the dribble now.

Vince, Pt. II

11-20-2015, 02:00 AM

Things I noticed watching the game:

-Damn Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are freaking good. Blake with that 20 footer and the smooth bank off the turnaround...just amazing. Paul, when he's on, is absurd.
-Warriors really need to stop with the lazy turnovers. They're somehow getting it done despite that, but jeez...-19 tonight on points off turnovers.
-Maureese Speights is having a terrible, terrible season so far. The Warriors' bench is crazy thin with Livingston and Barbosa out; combine that with Speights and Thompson playing like crap and the team is a lot weaker than it would normally be.
-Klay with his best game of the season so far, kept the Warriors in the game early when it could have gotten out of hand quickly.
-Harrison Barnes was phenomenal during long stretches tonight, and honestly may have had the biggest impact on the entire game.

Heck of a game, surprised the Warriors were able to pull it off in the end.

whomario

11-20-2015, 04:14 AM

Curry averaging 34 in 52/45/93 shooting. Holy ...

jbergey22

11-20-2015, 07:38 AM

That game is typical Clippers and is why they won't win a damn thing until they get their shit together when they have a lead. Until they learn to cut their opponents' throats, they will always fall apart against the best teams.

I gave up hope they would figure this out last year.

The Clippers had some defensive lapses late mainly the wide open 3 at the end of the 3rd to Green and the 2 3 pointers to Iggy. However, I thought the gameplan they had on Curry was excellent. Curry is just in such a zone right now he cant be stopped. I think Golden State just came and took that game from them more so than the Clippers giving it away. Golden State is just an excellent team. Very versatile and great shooting. With Barnes now a legitimate threat each game they are just that much better.

Chief Rum

11-20-2015, 11:53 AM

The Clippers had some defensive lapses late mainly the wide open 3 at the end of the 3rd to Green and the 2 3 pointers to Iggy. However, I thought the gameplan they had on Curry was excellent. Curry is just in such a zone right now he cant be stopped. I think Golden State just came and took that game from them more so than the Clippers giving it away. Golden State is just an excellent team. Very versatile and great shooting. With Barnes now a legitimate threat each game they are just that much better.

Agreed. The Warriors were terrific, especially Curry. I don't want to take anything away from what they were doing. They earned it.

But I am annoyed at the lapses the Clippers suffer. Even if it's understandable against a team like Golden State, it's still frustrating. They had a chance to step on the Warriors' throats and blow them out, and they utterly failed to do it.

Doc needed to take DJ out when the Warriors went small. He can't make them pay with DJ in there, because the way to punish a small lineup is to pound the ball inside with your bigs, and you can't do that with a center with no post moves and who will be fouled the instant he touches the ball (with missed free throws to follow). Even defensively, he isn't the same value because Golden State is content to just pepper you with jump shots.

JPhillips

11-20-2015, 12:37 PM

Lineups featuring Noel and Okafor are a full 7 points per 100 possessions worse than the worst offense of all time.

It's things like this that make me believe the process won't ever come to fruition. One of these two likely needs to go and the two other players the 76ers are banking on play the same two positions. None of them are going to fetch picks better than where they were selected, either. Perhaps they'll find the next LeBron this summer, but barring that, they aren't a contender for several more years.

RainMaker

11-20-2015, 12:51 PM

I understand what Philly is doing. They are trying to increase their odds of getting a superstar in the draft which you can build a team around for a decade. It will eventually work but it's just a matter of how long it takes. Is it worth waiting 10 years of being terrible for that one superstar? Maybe, but as a fan I wouldn't be happy.

You also look at a team like Boston which is in a much better position rebuilding and didn't need to be abysmal each year to make it happen.

JPhillips

11-20-2015, 12:53 PM

My point is a strategy of we'll get the first pick until we get LeBron isn't genius.

BishopMVP

11-20-2015, 06:03 PM

It's things like this that make me believe the process won't ever come to fruition. One of these two likely needs to go and the two other players the 76ers are banking on play the same two positions. None of them are going to fetch picks better than where they were selected, either.It's been 10 games, without a real NBA perimeter player (unless you're sold on TJ McConnell). I hate defending the 76ers, but there's no way you can say Okafor/Noel can't work together at this point.

Nerlens should be a pick and dive to the rim guy, scoring off those and putbacks, with the hope that he develops a mid-range jumper. Even in the most optimistic predictions no one thinks he should be an initiator, yet the one game I saw Philly watch he's trying dream shake's, and putting the ball on the floor at the 3-pt line because nobody else is there to help him (and nobody cares if they win or lose). Freaking Jakarr Sampson is out there trying to go coast to coast with behind the back and between the leg dribbles.

Jahlil Okafor has looked great. I'm still skeptical of his long-term potential - I have the same rebounding/defensive concerns - but he's a 19 y/o averaging 19ppg on 48% shooting without any offensive help.

Saric might be able to play SF. And Saric/Noel/Okafor all look like fine picks at their draft spot. Embiid is looking unlikely to pan out with the reports about his immaturity, but I'll still defend that risk, and either way who they've picked has not been the problem at all. It's who they've chosen to surround those players with (i.e. chasing cheap UFAs, hoping to hit on another one with a 4-year minsal deal like Covington instead of signing legit NBA rotation guys for $2-$5 million contracts) that's turned them into a joke.

miami_fan

11-20-2015, 08:51 PM

It's who they've chosen to surround those players with (i.e. chasing cheap UFAs, hoping to hit on another one with a 4-year minsal deal like Covington instead of signing legit NBA rotation guys for $2-$5 million contracts) that's turned them into a joke.

Isn't this a mandatory party of the process though? I thought the idea was not to sign any legit rotation guys in order to get those high draft picks because the legit rotation won't be there when the team was good enough to win anyway so why spend money on them?

nol

11-20-2015, 09:14 PM

To add to that, they started off even worse last season and somehow finished with a better record than two teams. Even without counting Embiid, they've had 3 rotation players injured most/all of the season. I mean, if they spent $20 million more on some 'veteran leadership', they could probably have 2 wins like the Nets or Lakers at this point.

Isn't this a mandatory party of the process though? I thought the idea was not to sign any legit rotation guys in order to get those high draft picks because the legit rotation won't be there when the team was good enough to win anyway so why spend money on them?

No, it's mostly to have cap space during the season because inevitably a handful of those teams that were all 'doing the right thing' by signing 'impact free agents' unlike the 76ers will end up being not competitive and therefore willing to give away draft picks just to be able to get rid of the dead salary.

JPhillips

11-20-2015, 10:05 PM

nol

11-20-2015, 10:20 PM

Or they could be the Celtics with the possibility of a playoff spot and a shit ton of draft picks. There are other choices besides tank for years or spend on washed up free agents.

If you're content with year after year of 20 win seasons, the process will eventually work. I just wouldn't be happy rooting for a team that is actively trying to lose year in and year out until the next LeBron happens.

You could go back to before LeBron James entered the league and not find a more lopsided trade than the one the Celtics benefited from (and the Garnett one that got them in that position was the result of the two teams' GMs being buddies), so as far as possibilities to rely on, you picked one that was even more unlikely (and this is even when playing along with the assumption that the 76ers will just discard every player of theirs who ends up being good until they get some clear superstar, even though every player they've traded away has since shown to be worse than initially assumed; why can't they just be a really good team by having a handful of very good players?). The last time a playoff team drafted no. 1, the NBA made a rule specifically to prevent crappy GMs/owners from trading first round picks every year, which tells you how regularly you can count on that.

JPhillips

11-21-2015, 09:01 AM

How many top ten picks do the 76ers need before expectations for something more than a 20 win season are reasonable?

whomario

11-21-2015, 10:17 AM

42

;)

Vince, Pt. II

11-21-2015, 11:20 AM

Not sure where these stats came from, so I can't be certain of their validity. But I read that the Warriors' small ball lineup has the following per 100 possession numbers:

Points scored: 157.0
Points allowed: 88.9

Luke Walton, asked about the lineup, said the following: "We know what that lineup does, the whole league knows what that lineup does. In all honesty, we want to limit that lineup. It is very taxing guarding guys bigger than you, and it is very early in the season. Our goal is to limit that lineup at this point in the season."

whomario

11-21-2015, 01:11 PM

nba.com lineup numbers has a lineup matching those numbers (some are even more absurd, but those are ones that were on the court only a few minutes total), Curry/Klay/Igoudala/Barnes/Green. But even that played only 54 minutes stretched over 11 games, so i am always a little sceptical as to the sample size with 5-man unit anlysis (even the starting lineup of most teams sometimes plays less than 10 Minutes together per game).

Still, thats obviously as close to a workable super-small lineup you can come with guys like Igoudala, Green and Barnes were 3 (heck, adding Klay as well i guess) can switch everything.

In any case, with Speights playing like 10 minutes a game, they play without a conventional 2nd big most of the game, so even their "big" lineups are sorta small ball(ish).

nol

11-21-2015, 01:14 PM

What is "The Warriors Small Ball Lineup" ? Or did they mean a composite of lineups featuring neither Bogut nor Ezeli ? nba.com lineup numbers don´t show any lineup matching those numbers (some are even more absurd, but those are ones that were on the court only a few minutes total)

In any case, with Speights playing like 10 minutes a game, they play without a conventional 2nd big most of the game, so even their "big" lineups are sorta small ball(ish).

Iguodala in for the center and Green plays center. Same lineup that changed the Finals.

whomario

11-21-2015, 01:17 PM

yeah, just figured it out myself. Was wondering whether they were referring to sth different, maybe due to Bogut missing some games early.

Vince, Pt. II

11-21-2015, 03:46 PM

Yeah, you got it. Outside of Ezeli and Bogut (who will never see the floor at the same time), there really isn't a 'conventional big' on the roster. Speights is probably the closest.

BillyMadison

11-22-2015, 12:00 AM

PORZINGIS line tonight: 24, 14, 7 blks. Last rook to do that was a guy named Shaq. Jeez, this kid went from reach, to maybe he'll be something in 2-3 years, to he looked OK but overmatched in summer league, to possibly " a Shawn Bradley type" (Phil Jackson's words...), to wow this kid may be ready to be a role player, to he is the MVP of the Knicks including Melo, and legit ROY candidate this year in basically the last 6 months/3 weeks of regular season . If I had the #1 pick id still take KAT, but Porzingis is clearly establishing himself as 1b in this draft and looks like a legit perennial all-star if he can stay healthy. Wow is he impressive. Crazy thing is, is unexpectedly, with Melo and now him surging, all of a sudden, with one added max-piece the Knicks look like contenders next off season as "winners" and not rebuilding and they have a ton of money to spend...

Atocep

11-22-2015, 12:37 AM

I think the only people that considered him a reach were Knick fans at the draft. He was a consensus top 4 prospect and some had him 2nd to KAT.

nol

11-22-2015, 01:19 AM

Yeah, the Knicks organization is more of a pleasant surprise than Porzingis at this point; the best teams in the Spanish league are better than the bottom-feeders of the NBA so it's not like he was a total unknown. He just somehow went from being a Bargnani-esque rebounder against European competition to being a very good rebounder at the NBA level, but everything else is as expected (and some of that could be due to playing alongside a guy like Robin Lopez who is known for being very good at boxing out but content to let teammates grab rebounds). Fisher is not yanking him just for missing a few shots or getting beat on defense and is also not running the triangle nearly as often as last season.

I wouldn't even go so far as to say he's clearly 1b when if he'd been drafted 2nd by the Lakers, Byron Scott would probably be playing Julius Randle and Ryan Kelly in front of him and saying Porzingis needed to "earn his minutes" regardless of how he actually produced while on the floor (just look at D'Angelo Russell's advanced stats compared to how terribly Scott and Lakers fans think he's doing). And of course if he'd been drafted 3rd by the 76ers the chorus would be 'durrr they're not trying to win ever so they drafted a European instead of a one-and-done All-American/NCAA champion.'

BishopMVP

11-23-2015, 11:02 PM

I wouldn't even go so far as to say he's clearly 1b when if he'd been drafted 2nd by the Lakers, Byron Scott would probably be playing Julius Randle and Ryan Kelly in front of him and saying Porzingis needed to "earn his minutes" regardless of how he actually produced while on the floor (just look at D'Angelo Russell's advanced stats compared to how terribly Scott and Lakers fans think he's doing).That probably undersells it.Byron Scott defended Kobe Bryant's poor shooting and aggressive -- if questionable -- shot selection Monday by telling reporters the 37-year-old shooting guard's lengthy NBA career has earned him "that privilege, basically."

Bryant, who is in his 20th NBA season, is shooting a career-worst 33.1 percent from the field, including 20 percent from 3-point range. He is 1-of-14 from 3-point range in his past three games. Bryant shot 6-of-22 from the field Sunday in the team's 107-93 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and missed all five of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Scott said prior to Sunday's game that he wanted Bryant to be more of a facilitator, yet Bryant took 12 shots in the first 10 minutes and later said he was "just trying to get us off to a good start.":lol:

Btw, Ben Simmons had his first game vs a big team tonight. Granted, they lost to Marquette by 1, but he put up 21/20/7. Season stat line 19/15/5 plus 1 block, 2 steals, 1.5 turnovers per game and 60% shooting.

nol

11-24-2015, 03:46 AM

That probably undersells it.:lol:

Btw, Ben Simmons had his first game vs a big team tonight. Granted, they lost to Marquette by 1, but he put up 21/20/7. Season stat line 19/15/5 plus 1 block, 2 steals, 1.5 turnovers per game and 60% shooting.

I actually saw a stat posted earlier today that Porzingis grabs 26% of defensive rebounds when Lopez is on the court with him and 12% without, but even if that's inflating his current numbers he probably wasn't too far above 12% in Spain last season, so that's still some solid improvement on his part.

Kevin Durant had 27 points in 3 quarters on 10-13 shooting in his first game back in a couple weeks.

Ben Simmons is showing what he can do, but if he made any shots from outside the restricted area today they'd be his first ones of the season. Any team that drafts him to be anything other than the primary ballhandler and facilitator is just going to be getting an A-minus version of Blake Griffin, which is to say a nice player but not necessarily one who would change a team's fortunes single-handedly.

Groundhog

11-24-2015, 04:45 AM

I'm not sure what kind of NBA player Simmons projects to be. I think he's a better shooter than he's shown (he was hitting the three down here with LSU in the offseason against pro/semi-pro teams at an OK clip). It's going to come down to how hard he is willing to work. I'd put his ceiling somewhere between Odom at worst, and LeBron at absolute best.

Just one biased Aussie's opinion, though. ;)

murrayyyyy

11-24-2015, 10:40 PM

So if the Lakers fired Scott tonight and offered the job to Walton, would he take it?

nol

11-24-2015, 10:41 PM

So if the Lakers fired Scott tonight and offered the job to Walton, would he take it?

No, he could assuredly wait until after the season and get the Lakers job. Why wouldn't you choose to be affiliated with an all-time great team for as long as possible?

Also it was very considerate of the Warriors to go to their best lineup in the first half to put the game out of reach as soon as possible.

kingfc22

11-24-2015, 11:27 PM

I've loved watching Kobe play all these years, but man he needs to hang them up along with Peyton.

Groundhog

11-24-2015, 11:41 PM

You used to tolerate Kobe's bad long 2s and contested 3s because of everything else he brought to the table. Alas, all he's bringing to the table this year is bad long 2s and contested 3s.

Groundhog

11-25-2015, 04:06 PM

Yeah, so this happened in the Aussie league last night, the player on the ground is Celtics 2nd rounder Marcus Thornton:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GACyPehiOvo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Brian Swartz

11-26-2015, 02:10 AM

I admit to having no idea what the Pistons will look like by year's end. Other than Drummond iz da truth, it seems they could lose to Philly at home or beat almost anybody on the road depending on what kind of game it is for them. At least they are interesting for one, but it is still frustrating to root for them.

Probably I'm still spoiled by the Spurs, who have a long way to go on figuring out their offense this year but definitely a good start.

miami_fan

11-26-2015, 06:11 AM

murrayyyyy

11-26-2015, 02:51 PM

Well looks like the Sixers could be minus a player...

NBA's Jahlil Okafor -- STREET FIGHT ... KO's Man In Boston | Celebrity Videos | TMZ.com (http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_5d0ov43j)

But in case you were wondering, he's got money(throw in racial epithet)

Groundhog

11-26-2015, 03:56 PM

Being heckled coming out of bars for playing for the Sixers, combined with that video of Okafor slumping his way out of the arena after a game, I'm guessing the NBA experience hasn't been all that Okafor hoped it would be.

#freeokafor

whomario

11-26-2015, 05:29 PM

As much as i sympathize with his situation as far as the court and immediate surroundings go, this is pretty close to inexcusable. Its not like he´s involved in a little shuffle, or reacted to being attacked, he sized that idiot up and then deliberately knocked him out cold (after delivering the classic "do you know how much money i make" line).

Groundhog

11-26-2015, 07:34 PM

stevew

11-26-2015, 08:37 PM

Im fairly sure Okafor has lost more games in this streak than he'd lost in the entirety of his grade school/Jr High/HS career combined.

whomario

11-27-2015, 02:41 AM

I'm not excusing him, believe me. He will and should face some steep penalties from this. No matter what prompts it, you have to be smarter and not put yourself in those types of position. He said some dumb shit, but hey, he's 19 and probably actually cares that he is playing on a POS team.

My point is that this is the side of the rebuild that doesn't get talked about as much... Sixers finally, after how many years, get a guy who looks like an actual piece in the lottery, 19 years old and used to winning, and then throw him into a situation where he is playing on a laughing stock of a squad that is about to break the record for futility re: lost games in a row dating back to last season, with teammates and probably a coach who will be jettisoned as soon as the team decides it's time to start trying to win games.

Thats of course pretty much in point. Think i said similar things before, it is definitely not a healthy situation. You can cuddle the players as much as you want and provide the best staff and everything, but sports teams and their character get shaped mostly internally and thats where veterans play a huge role.

And again, i cant imagine other players not noticing this from the outside. No one will want to go there at this point, especially the next 2 offseasons where everybody has cap space. IMO this extreme tanking has reached critical mass.

Groundhog

11-27-2015, 08:23 PM

Cavaliers offense just goes to trash when they fall into these stretches of doing nothing but have LeBron come off high screens and drive into traffic.

Groundhog

11-27-2015, 08:44 PM

Haven't seen a lot of Heat games this season, but watching Winslow D up on Carmelo Anthony in the post... wow. Hard to believe he's a rookie, let alone a 19 year old rookie.

miami_fan

11-28-2015, 08:41 AM

Haven't seen a lot of Heat games this season, but watching Winslow D up on Carmelo Anthony in the post... wow. Hard to believe he's a rookie, let alone a 19 year old rookie.

He really has been a pleasure to watch especially with the low expectations I have for Heat draft picks. He may already be the team's best draft pick since Wade.

I did not get a chance to watch the GS-PHX game last night but I listen to it on Sirius with the Phoenix broadcast team. They were killing the refs for biased officiating for the Warriors. I know that this is generally the case for hometown announcers throughout the league against any team but this felt the way people reacted to the Heat getting calls in the 2010-2011 season. It was a stark contrast to the general love the Warriors get overall.

Vince, Pt. II

11-28-2015, 11:05 AM

Actually the first game all year I haven't been able to watch, so I can't comment on this game particularly, but it seems as if the Warriors (and Curry in particular) actually get fewer calls than you'd expect for an elite team. That being said, the Warriors run a LOT of screens (the weave offense is predicated on them), and comparisons to the Seahawks and how they could be called for pass interference on every play aren't far off the mark with regard to illegal (moving) screens from the Warriors.

miami_fan

11-29-2015, 07:46 PM

Dear Basketball | The Players' Tribune (http://www.theplayerstribune.com/dear-basketball/)

Dear Basketball,

From the moment
I started rolling my dad’s tube socks
And shooting imaginary
Game-winning shots
In the Great Western Forum
I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you.

A love so deep I gave you my all —
From my mind & body
To my spirit & soul.

As a six-year-old boy
Deeply in love with you
I never saw the end of the tunnel.
I only saw myself
Running out of one.

And so I ran.
I ran up and down every court
After every loose ball for you.
You asked for my hustle
I gave you my heart
Because it came with so much more.

I played through the sweat and hurt
Not because challenge called me
But because YOU called me.
I did everything for YOU
Because that’s what you do
When someone makes you feel as
Alive as you’ve made me feel.

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream
And I’ll always love you for it.
But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.
This season is all I have left to give.
My heart can take the pounding
My mind can handle the grind
But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

And that’s OK.
I’m ready to let you go.
I want you to know now
So we both can savor every moment we have left together.
The good and the bad.
We have given each other
All that we have.

And we both know, no matter what I do next
I’ll always be that kid
With the rolled up socks
Garbage can in the corner
:05 seconds on the clock
Ball in my hands.
5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1

Love you always,
Kobe

wustin

11-30-2015, 12:54 AM

Vince, Pt. II

11-30-2015, 01:29 AM

Every team uses moving screens, they're pretty much legal. It looks exacerbated with the warriors because they base their offense around them while most other NBA teams will usually run standard dribble drive/iso.

Does "pretty much legal" = "don't get called," or am I missing something? I don't mean to be snarky, I just think it's a fair distinction.

Neon_Chaos

11-30-2015, 02:51 AM

Hahaha.

Kobe hits the three. (http://watch.nba.com/video/games/lakers/2015/11/30/0021500253-ind-lal-play8.nba)

Groundhog

11-30-2015, 04:07 AM

Like all things in basketball, teams that do it all the time get away with it most the time.

Brian Swartz

11-30-2015, 05:22 AM

Does "pretty much legal" = "don't get called," or am I missing something? I don't mean to be snarky, I just think it's a fair distinction.

Yeah pretty much. I'm pretty much a Duncan homer, but this and the bug-eyed 'who, me?' stare at the ref are quite valid reasons to be annoyed. To me it's like how Karl Malone used to get 'tossed to the ground' by a six-foot guard underneath the basket, or slap at other post players hands/arms all the time. Duncan's a good example of a player who gets called for it once in a while, but gets away with a ton of 'not-even-close-to-stationary' picks.

nol

11-30-2015, 11:54 AM

Don't think the Warriors get away with moving screens any more or less than the next team. They just prove how important switching on defense is to mitigating the advantage gained from a possible illegal screen, both through their own defensive effectiveness and their ability to put enough shooters/playmakers on the floor to punish switches from anywhere.

BishopMVP

11-30-2015, 03:22 PM

Yeah pretty much. I'm pretty much a Duncan homer, but this and the bug-eyed 'who, me?' stare at the ref are quite valid reasons to be annoyed. To me it's like how Karl Malone used to get 'tossed to the ground' by a six-foot guard underneath the basket, or slap at other post players hands/arms all the time. Duncan's a good example of a player who gets called for it once in a while, but gets away with a ton of 'not-even-close-to-stationary' picks.KG was another. Boston ran a very static offense in the Big 3 era, and 90% of possessions would start with a very high pick and roll by KG where he would at least shoulder bump the guy, and usually extend his arms fully to guide the guy away/get a little grab of the arm in, and it was all so blatantly illegal but extremely rarely called.

murrayyyyy

12-01-2015, 08:21 PM

I must love the nba because there is no way I watch two teams this bad if it was the NFL. Kobe looks like a guy playing madden who refuses to punt on 4th and 29 every single drive.

If Byron puts him back in the game down 8, they are trying to lose.

Groundhog

12-01-2015, 08:59 PM

Another feather in Kobe's cap: lose to the worst team in the history of the NBA.

JPhillips

12-01-2015, 09:14 PM

But he had 20 points. That means he's good, right?

wustin

12-01-2015, 10:46 PM

pretty pathetic

http://i.imgur.com/Exsu7VO.png

BishopMVP

12-01-2015, 11:00 PM

If Byron puts him back in the game down 8, they are trying to lose.It took me a long time to accept it too, but Byron Scott actually believes playing Kobe is their best chance at winning. In unrelated info, Byron Scott is paid $4.25 million per year to coach.

Other interesting tidbit today - everyone knows about the Celtics huge offer to Charlotte for the #9 pick (and Justise Winslow)... Well apparently that's only half of it - we were initially planning on flipping that #9 pick and #15 to the Knicks for #4 (to still draft Winslow). Doesn't mean the Knicks would've taken it, but from the quotes it certainly appears they were considering it. Just shows that even the Knicks didn't know what they had at the time in Godzingis.

nol

12-02-2015, 01:32 AM

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murrayyyyy

12-02-2015, 10:40 AM

Christmas comes early as a 2nd Okafor fight video is released. At least we know Jahlil is the one who starts the fight now.

Jahlil Okafor Fight -- 2ND FIGHT IN BOSTON (Video) | TMZ.com (http://www.tmz.com/2015/12/02/jahlil-okafor-fight-second-video-boston/)

Someone may wanna change this banner in their arena...

http://i.imgur.com/0MiRmGb.jpg

whomario

12-02-2015, 03:04 PM

murrayyyyy

12-02-2015, 03:11 PM

you could also do this with Deandre Jordans FT%, who went 12-34 the other night. And i can only reiterate that this excessive fouling away from the ball has nothing to do with Basketball anymore. Sure, hard to blame the other team trying to win. But i sure as heck think the rule as is, is pretty stupid and lacks logic. Its basically a loophole.
The equivalent would be a team having the magic power to make any player shoot a 3 when they want or the magic ability to prevent the other team from switching up matchups based on defensive ability.

One rule I wish they would take from Europe. Aren't they allowed to take the ball out instead of going to the line there? Or at least any time a team is in the bonus give them the option. I think the game would flow better if this was the case.

bhlloy

12-02-2015, 03:15 PM

The one thing I will never understand about basketball is there is an intentional foul rule on the book that doesn't actually apply if you intentionally foul somebody. And the absurdity of the last minute of a close game is probably the biggest reason I'm not more than a casual fan. See a thrilling game winning shot... if you can watch through the five minutes of players getting hacked and shooting free throws to get there.

nol

12-02-2015, 03:32 PM

you could also do this with Deandre Jordans FT%, who went 12-34 the other night. And i can only reiterate that this excessive fouling away from the ball has nothing to do with Basketball anymore. Sure, hard to blame the other team trying to win.

No, that's not as much of a challenge because DJ's free throw percentage is about 10 points higher than Kobe's field goal percentage.

As I've said several times before it only appears to be a winning strategy when you don't go all the way into the math. The Clippers got to play a defensive lineup and set their defense every time, so the Blazers scored 7 points on possessions following intentional fouls. It's the equivalent of losing in an online game and repeatedly stalling and pausing the game in the hopes that your opponent disconnects.

As far as sub-optimal strategies that could be executed 15-20 times per game, having players go out of their way to try to get the other team's best players in foul trouble or incite a technical foul/ejection would be more of a winning proposition than putting a bad free throw shooter at the line 30+ times.

The one thing I will never understand about basketball is there is an intentional foul rule on the book that doesn't actually apply if you intentionally foul somebody. And the absurdity of the last minute of a close game is probably the biggest reason I'm not more than a casual fan. See a thrilling game winning shot... if you can watch through the five minutes of players getting hacked and shooting free throws to get there.

First, a foul away from the ball can occur anywhere on the court and be non-intentional. If that becomes called, teams are just going to make it look more like a regular foul. This already happens; in the Clippers-Pistons game a week or so ago, Andre Drummond was setting a pick in the last minute and the Clippers got super handsy in trying to fight through the pick. That was absolutely decided in the huddle beforehand, but it's a normal basketball play that can happen at any time, so it was just 2 shots for Drummond. I'd rather have teams be able to passively wrap someone up to foul them than force them to commit a "legitimate" looking foul as the latter is just asking for cheap shots.

Second, the flip side of intentionally fouling at the end of games is that this isn't college basketball where players can't handle full-court pressure, so pretty much every two-possession game would be over with a minute remaining. That would cut down on the number of buzzer-beaters as well, and you'd still have the aforementioned unintentional-looking intentional fouling. I don't think going to the replay center to try determining the intent of a foul would improve the flow of the game.

bhlloy

12-02-2015, 03:42 PM

Nhaving players go out of their way to try to get the other team's best players in foul trouble

This is my go-to hacky strategy in NBA 2k16 when I really want to win a game FWIW. 10 drives to the basket against their star player, see ya later :D

BishopMVP

12-02-2015, 04:17 PM

As I've said several times before it only appears to be a winning strategy when you don't go all the way into the math. The Clippers got to play a defensive lineup and set their defense every time, so the Blazers scored 7 points on possessions following intentional fouls. It's the equivalent of losing in an online game and repeatedly stalling and pausing the game in the hopes that your opponent disconnects.

As far as sub-optimal strategies that could be executed 15-20 times per game, having players go out of their way to try to get the other team's best players in foul trouble or incite a technical foul/ejection would be more of a winning proposition than putting a bad free throw shooter at the line 30+ times.

First, a foul away from the ball can occur anywhere on the court and be non-intentional. If that becomes called, teams are just going to make it look more like a regular foul. This already happens; in the Clippers-Pistons game a week or so ago, Andre Drummond was setting a pick in the last minute and the Clippers got super handsy in trying to fight through the pick. That was absolutely decided in the huddle beforehand, but it's a normal basketball play that can happen at any time, so it was just 2 shots for Drummond. I'd rather have teams be able to passively wrap someone up to foul them than force them to commit a "legitimate" looking foul as the latter is just asking for cheap shots.

Second, the flip side of intentionally fouling at the end of games is that this isn't college basketball where players can't handle full-court pressure, so pretty much every two-possession game would be over with a minute remaining. That would cut down on the number of buzzer-beaters as well, and you'd still have the aforementioned unintentional-looking intentional fouling. I don't think going to the replay center to try determining the intent of a foul would improve the flow of the game.Now, I do think it has a place under the current rules. A smart coach could use it basically as an extra timeout when the Clippers get momentum going (which has been done), or to steal a couple extra real-time minutes of rest for a star player (which I don't think has been done.)

The Drummond part is what makes it weird. Here's a guy who's 75% of Detroit's offense between the P&R with Jackson and putbacks, and actually shoots worse than DeAndre over his career yet somehow he just went through a 5 game stretch last week where he averaged over 13 FGA per game but never shot more than 4 FT's in any one of them. Maybe they're just saving it for later if Detroit becomes a real playoff contender, but no Eastern Conference teams have tried to hack him yet (a couple Western Conference teams have, most notably Houston putting him on the line for a 4-18 performance last time out.) Or maybe they're just trying other weird stuff - Washington basically played 3v2 vs that pick and roll with Beal & Wall basically taking Jackson if he went to their side and the big not even hedging off Drummond.

nol

12-02-2015, 04:47 PM

Now, I do think it has a place under the current rules. A smart coach could use it basically as an extra timeout when the Clippers get momentum going (which has been done), or to steal a couple extra real-time minutes of rest for a star player (which I don't think has been done.)

Because allowing both teams' top 5 players to play more of the game is the last thing any team would want to do against the Clippers. I'd be willing to suffer whatever a lack of momentum would entail in exchange for the free net points the Clippers receive when Hack-a-DJ is employed.

whomario

12-03-2015, 08:45 AM

albionmoonlight

12-03-2015, 08:53 AM

Curry with a 28 point quarter, including 3 straight 3s in the last minute, where each was totally ridiculous in some way). Warriors still unbeaten. I know there were longer win streaks, but doing it to start the season does somehow feel more impressive.

One more to beat the Maroons! http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/158407616/warriors-18-0-1884-st-louis-maroons-20-wins

miami_fan

12-03-2015, 10:04 AM

It took me a long time to accept it too, but Byron Scott actually believes playing Kobe is their best chance at winning. In unrelated info, Byron Scott is paid $4.25 million per year to coach.

I actually appreciate the Lakers for not hiring an up and coming coach to preside over this circus.

wustin

12-03-2015, 01:39 PM

I actually appreciate the Lakers for not hiring an up and coming coach to preside over this circus.

$5 says Lakers fire Scott and hire Walton for next season.

miami_fan

12-03-2015, 08:53 PM

Well that was a fun game between the Heat and the Thunder.

The Heat really need to figure out how to get back the Dragic from last year. I would prefer to save these type of games from Wade for April and May.

miami_fan

12-03-2015, 09:01 PM

$5 says Lakers fire Scott and hire Walton for next season.

I don't know if it will be Walton but whoever is the next Laker coach will need to bring the Men In Black neuralyzer with them to wipe clean 2015-16 season.

whomario

12-05-2015, 08:21 PM

Lowry and Curry with a great shootout. Warriors now 21-0. Propably not even he can sustain that all season and will likely sit a few games out at some point, but Curry is en route for an absolutely historic season. Heck, he is on pace for 400 (!) made 3s.
And even as a stretch (of 21 games, so 1/4 a season) its just insane. 32.5 PPG in 34 MPG, shooting 53% from the field and 46% from deep. (94% from the line on 6+ attempts per game as well).

The Spurs meanwhile are also en route to another 60+ win season, even with Aldridge having a bad season (not just surface-stats, hes still really struggling). Kawhi has become a legitimate 2-way star, i would never have expected him to become quite this good.