2015-16 General NBA Thread (not Duke-specific)

[mr. synellinden]

On a more positive Duke note... goodness Justise!

https://vine.co/v/eYtDne9YPJz

+26 tonight to lead the team.

[BD80]

Rodney Hood starting for Utah.

The coach must appreciate Dukies

[Mabdul Doobakus]

Winslow was actually terrific tonight. Best he's looked in a Heat uniform including summer league and the preseason.

He was essentially the first guy off the bench for Miami. Haslem got in first but that was more about Whiteside being benched after having maybe the worst 4 minute stretch to start a season that I've ever seen. Winslow was first off the bench in the 2nd half. That massive +26 differential, which was by far the highest on the Heat, was not a fluke. He played well on both sides of the ball, and hit a 3 and had that dunk on back to back possessions that sparked the huge run that gave the Heat control of the game.

Whiteside, for what it's worth, once he got back in the game with about 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, was back to being good Whiteside, and basically neutralized Al Jefferson the rest of the way.

[DieHard]

20 minutes, 5-5 from the field, 3-3 from the line, 13 points, 3 rebounds, +20. Nice!

[luburch]

Watched my Pacers take on Toronto last night and it looks like it might be a long years for the Pacers. Toronto didn't look much better either. Not sure Bird was right trying to turn this Pacers team into a small ball team. The personnel doesn't seem to fit and they forced Hibbert away for nothing in the trade. Sigh.

[jimrowe0]

Okafor highlights from last night.

[oakvillebluedevil]

Okafor highlights from last night.

Thanks

He has acquired a serious green light if they're okay with him taking elbow jumpers off the bounce. If that shot becomes a credible part of his game, he's going to be absolutely lethal...

He's going to have some off nights (curious to see how he does against top tier athletic bigs like Deandre, Dwight, Davis etc.), but man that was exciting stuff

[Duke95]

Okafor was superb. Needs to get a handle on the TOs, but he's shooting free-throws well. He needs to get the ball more.
Justise...wow. Did you see the look on the bench when he dunked that? Play of the night for ESPN.

[Indoor66]

On a more positive Duke note... goodness Justise!

https://vine.co/v/eYtDne9YPJz

Down here we call that proper Justise!

[Billy Dat]

20 minutes, 5-5 from the field, 3-3 from the line, 13 points, 3 rebounds, +20. Nice!

The Knicks, in general, played out of their minds last night. Part of it was that the Bucks were missing the Freak, Jabari and Mayo, and they flat out stunk for most of the game, but Lance was his usual energizer bunny self. I have to say, and I wish I could find a clip, he unleashed a move I didn't think he was capable of. He got the ball on the wing, took a couple of dribbles, backed his man down a bit, faked like he was going to spin into the lane to get the defender to commit, and then spun back the other way for an easy lay-up.

On the other side, Miles got a few token minutes when the Bucks were still in the game but otherwise was bolted to the bench.

[phaedrus]

20 minutes, 5-5 from the field, 3-3 from the line, 13 points, 3 rebounds, +20. Nice!

Not bad for the 398th best player in the NBA.

Is Tyus getting shipped down to the D-League?

[theAlaskanBear]

Not bad for the 398th best player in the NBA.

Is Tyus getting shipped down to the D-League?

Tough to say, but I doubt it. The Timberwolves actually don't have an affiliated D-League team and they have mentioned that if they send him down there is no guarantee he would get the playing time and attention they want for him to develop. He won't get much playing time this season barring injury...but it is a matter if the Timbervoles feel he would help them in practice and improve watching from the bench/practice as opposed to D-league where they have little control. The Wolves are Forward heavy, I dont see much issue with carrying Tyus as 3rd PG, considering he is a good shooter.

[luburch]

First, I just wanted to say how happy I am to have basketball back again. I wasn't sure I was going to make it much longer.

Second, it's a shame that Mike Conley is never going to make an all-star game since he's stuck in the West. Impresses me every single time I watch him.

[Billy Dat]

Steph Curry's PER is current 50! I thought I'd recognize that (albeit eearly early season) amazing fact with this series of tweets from ESPN's David Thorpe who I think is really smart.

david b. thorpe ‏@coachthorpe Oct 31
Play this game with me. If Curry plays like this for the next 8 years, more or less, he'll end up as a top? player of all time. 5? 10?

david b. thorpe ‏@coachthorpe Oct 31
Curry is Steve Nash 2.0. An accomplishment of enormous significance.

david b. thorpe ‏@coachthorpe Oct 31
Curry takes shots that would have anyone else benched, but if he didn't take them, he'd need to be benched. No one else has that claim.

david b. thorpe ‏@coachthorpe Oct 31
Play one more game with me; how many teams would zoom to the favorite role as champs if they had Steph? At 1st glance, I came up with 7 or 8

[luburch]

Went to the Pacers/Celtics game last night. Paul George seems to be returning back to his old pre-injury form. I was worried, especially at the end of last year, that he would not be the player he once was. Hopefully he continues to progress.


Unfortunately, I passed out before getting to watch Clippers/Warriors. Seems that it was another amazing game. Wish I could see more of those two teams. Damn you west coast time zones.

[CDu]

An off-night for Curry last night. He only got 31 points (on 8-17 shooting, and 7-11 from 3pt range) with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. And led the team to a comeback victory in the 4th.

What he is doing right now is silly. He's scored more points in the first 5 games of a season than anyone since Jordan in the 1991-1992 season. His ballhandling has become otherworldly and his shooting has always been that way.

[Ichabod Drain]

An off-night for Curry last night. He only got 31 points (on 8-17 shooting, and 7-11 from 3pt range) with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. And led the team to a comeback victory in the 4th.

What he is doing right now is silly. He's scored more points in the first 5 games of a season than anyone since Jordan in the 1991-1992 season. His ballhandling has become otherworldly and his shooting has always been that way.

Rivers played well last night, couldn't sleep so I watched the second half. He D'd up Curry better than anyone in the game and Van Gundy was giving him serious credit for it. Was nice to hear.

The western conference is so much fun to watch.

[jimrowe0]

Oak highlights from last night, 21pts, 6rb, 2 blocks :

[Billy Dat]

First off, can we collapse the two NBA threads into one and call it "2015-16 NBA Thread - Duke and General"? Anyone opposed?

Some significant praise for JJ from The Chosen One:

Coverage of last night's Cavs win over the Knicks:
(Lebron) James is just 2 of 18 this season on 3-pointers, but he's not worried about his long shot just yet.
"I'm just out of rhythm," he said. "I've got to work on it. It's not like I'm Steph Curry or J.J. Reddick anyway. But I did hit a big one tonight so I just got to get some reps."

[phaedrus]

Pretty satisfying to see Okafor swat Grievis into the stands. It also looks from the highlights like Miles spent a lot of time guarding Okafor - maybe Kidd thought he'd have some insider knowledge. It didn't appear to help.