NBA General Discussion Thread 2017

[BD80]

...

Andre Drummond is owed close to $110 mil over the next 4 seasons... for a guy who can't even hit 40% of his free throws (which makes him unplayable in the 4th quarter of close games).

-Jason "... Looking at NBA mistakes is always amusing" Evans

Not so fast Big Ballin Shoe breath,

Dre is shooting 83.3% from the line this year!

(10/12 over 4 games) - he could easily miss his next 13 and be at 40%

[gam7]

Meanwhile, Giannis continues to be ridiculous. His first three games:

37 points, 13 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals
34, 8, 8, 3, and a block
44, 8, 4, 2, and 2 (including a steal leading to a go ahead dunk followed by a game sealing block in the last minute)

He’s 45-67 from the floor so far this season. I’m 100% in on the Giannis for MVP campaign. He’s also 23. Milwaukee needs to throw all the money at him to make sure he stays - he hasn’t even hit his peak and he’s already putting together a credible case for being the best player in the league.

MVP campaign? We are less than 5% of the way through the season.

[Billy Dat]

Game 4 Giannis had “only” 32 (plus 14 boards and 6 assists) on 13-21 from the field. He has 147 points on 88 shots from the field.

I didn't realize how much Kidd was playing him at point guard. I was watching him last night bring the ball up the court...dude is remarkable!!! It's also been very fun watching 6'10" Ben Simmons run the point. The future is a Golden State Warriors style where everyone is 6'10" and above!

[pfrduke]

MVP campaign? We are less than 5% of the way through the season.

And he's had the most valuable 5%. Of course it's early, but what is the early season for but a time to make snap judgments. Giannis is averaging 36.8/10.8/5.3 through four games on a completely ridiculous 65.9% from the floor. Of course he's not going to do this over the course of a full season but he's been the best player on the court for just about every minute that he's played so far this year. As far as MVP campaigns go, you can't point to anyone else who's had a better start.

[gam7]

And he's had the most valuable 5%. Of course it's early, but what is the early season for but a time to make snap judgments. Giannis is averaging 36.8/10.8/5.3 through four games on a completely ridiculous 65.9% from the floor. Of course he's not going to do this over the course of a full season but he's been the best player on the court for just about every minute that he's played so far this year. As far as MVP campaigns go, you can't point to anyone else who's had a better start.

You won't get any argument from me on any of those points. He has been otherworldly. But, as President of the Sam Bradford for MVP Campaign, I humbly submit that a more appropriate recognition to consider for Giannis at this point would be Eastern Conference Player of the Week (which he deservedly received yesterday).

Also, I totally agree that early season is prime time for snap judgments. It's just that I don't usually see you making the snap judgments - more often you are the source of the sensible, rational, persuasive analysis!

By the way, you are not alone - I've seen several headlines talking about Giannis as an MVP candidate already. I just feel like we don't usually hear speculation specifically about the MVP award until the All-Star break.

[pfrduke]

I’ll admit to having a soft spot for Giannis having taken him with the 32nd pick of the 2013 DBR mock draft. (which (not so humbly) may be the best value pick in DBR mock draft history (we can just ignore the fact that I took Sergey Karasev three picks before Giannis))

[DevilFalcon]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BapncdXl1zL/

Jason Tatum in front of Porzingis. Wow.

[Billy Dat]

"Cleaning the Glass", a new-ish, quant-ish NBA blog by a former NBA front office exec is free for the first two weeks of the season.

https://cleaningtheglass.com/

Proprietor Ben Falk was on "The Lowe Post" this week.

[cato]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BapncdXl1zL/

Jason Tatum in front of Porzingis. Wow.

Future reference for NBA players, boxing out Tatum’s elbow with your neck is not an effective way to prevent the putback slam.

[Reilly]

I’ll admit to having a soft spot for Giannis having taken him with the 32nd pick of the 2013 DBR mock draft ...

Do you set up mock charity and public events for him to "appear" at (like the rabbit Harvey) to create goodwill for your franchise?

[elvis14]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BapncdXl1zL/

Jason Tatum in front of Porzingis. Wow.

That was incredible. That Tatum guy might turn out OK :-)

[ElSid]

That was incredible. That Tatum guy might turn out OK :-)

Reminiscent of this in the ND game in ACC tournament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afqTn8XjI9k

He's chill most of the game but has some explosive moments!

[Billy Dat]

Good Kevin Arnovitz article on Giannis and the future of the Bucks, including the dysfunction among the ownership group which i wasn't aware of.

Good quote on that aspect:

"Yet as a basketball lifer who majored in scouting, Hammond didn't project the image of the new-economy GM, "the guy who works 18 hours a day, speaks the hedge fund language and will cut your nuts off," in the language of one league exec."

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/sto...-take-warriors

[slower]

MVP campaign? We are less than 5% of the way through the season.

Hype season never stops.

[El_Diablo]

That was incredible. That Tatum guy might turn out OK :-)

Shooting 43% from 3-point range as well!

[El_Diablo]

Shooting 43% from 3-point range as well!

It’s actually 50% now after last night’s game.

[LasVegas]

Has any defending national champ team ever had 3 players ejected in the first few games of the season? 4 ejections this year and 3 are warriors.

[JasonEvans]

So, in the Dukies in the NBA thread we have talked a bit about how well Kyrie (and Jayson) is playing and how the Celtics look really good right now, even without Heyward. Well, the corollary to this is how truly awful the Cavs look. Cleveland is 3-4 and has lost consecutive games to... wait for it... the Nets, Pelicans, and Knicks. I should revise that, they didn't just lose to the Pelicans and Knicks, they got blown out.

Deadspin (I know some folks hate that site, don't shoot the messenger) has a pretty good analysis (with some colorful language) of what ails the team. In short, they are not good on offense and they are really, really bad on defense. Remember all the talk that Kyrie leaving town would bring Kevin Love out of his long slumber... not so much.

Love’s defensive rating, which was (a not particularly good) 106.0 last season, has ballooned to 115.8 this season; his net rating has plunged from 7.2 (second-highest on the Cavs in 2016-17) to -11.8 this season. Among five-man lineups that have logged five or more minutes for the Cavs so far this season, four of the worst five, in terms of net rating, feature Love as their center; Cleveland’s second-most often used five-man lineup features Love at center and has a hideous net rating of -21.7 in 27 minutes of action.

Somehow, Cleveland thought bringing in Dwayne Wade and Jalen Rose would be a good idea, but they both seem to be shadows of the shadows of their old selves. Deadspin has an amusing gif of Rose playing some of the worst pick and roll D you will ever see.



Kyle Korver is hitting 53% of his 3s and they still are a team that shoots poorly. Korver, by the way, is well on his way to being the worst defender in the entire league... but it is hard to blame him for sucking on D as he is just a few weeks away from being eligible for social security.

-Jason "I know the Cavs are waiting for IT to get healthy, but one of the weakest PG defenders in the league isn't going to solve many problems for them" Evans

[fraggler]

So, in the Dukies in the NBA thread we have talked a bit about how well Kyrie (and Jayson) is playing and how the Celtics look really good right now, even without Heyward. Well, the corollary to this is how truly awful the Cavs look. Cleveland is 3-4 and has lost consecutive games to... wait for it... the Nets, Pelicans, and Knicks. I should revise that, they didn't just lose to the Pelicans and Knicks, they got blown out.

Deadspin (I know some folks hate that site, don't shoot the messenger) has a pretty good analysis (with some colorful language) of what ails the team. In short, they are not good on offense and they are really, really bad on defense. Remember all the talk that Kyrie leaving town would bring Kevin Love out of his long slumber... not so much.



Somehow, Cleveland thought bringing in Dwayne Wade and Jalen Rose would be a good idea, but they both seem to be shadows of the shadows of their old selves. Deadspin has an amusing gif of Rose playing some of the worst pick and roll D you will ever see.



Kyle Korver is hitting 53% of his 3s and they still are a team that shoots poorly. Korver, by the way, is well on his way to being the worst defender in the entire league... but it is hard to blame him for sucking on D as he is just a few weeks away from being eligible for social security.

-Jason "I know the Cavs are waiting for IT to get healthy, but one of the weakest PG defenders in the league isn't going to solve many problems for them" Evans

I think you meant Derrick Rose. It is an interesting question, though, whether or not a 44 year old Jalen would be more useful than Derrick.

[dukelifer]

So, in the Dukies in the NBA thread we have talked a bit about how well Kyrie (and Jayson) is playing and how the Celtics look really good right now, even without Heyward. Well, the corollary to this is how truly awful the Cavs look. Cleveland is 3-4 and has lost consecutive games to... wait for it... the Nets, Pelicans, and Knicks. I should revise that, they didn't just lose to the Pelicans and Knicks, they got blown out.

Deadspin (I know some folks hate that site, don't shoot the messenger) has a pretty good analysis (with some colorful language) of what ails the team. In short, they are not good on offense and they are really, really bad on defense. Remember all the talk that Kyrie leaving town would bring Kevin Love out of his long slumber... not so much.



Somehow, Cleveland thought bringing in Dwayne Wade and Jalen Rose would be a good idea, but they both seem to be shadows of the shadows of their old selves. Deadspin has an amusing gif of Rose playing some of the worst pick and roll D you will ever see.



Kyle Korver is hitting 53% of his 3s and they still are a team that shoots poorly. Korver, by the way, is well on his way to being the worst defender in the entire league... but it is hard to blame him for sucking on D as he is just a few weeks away from being eligible for social security.

-Jason "I know the Cavs are waiting for IT to get healthy, but one of the weakest PG defenders in the league isn't going to solve many problems for them" Evans

Too early to know for sure but there is real reason for concern. Also a bit of mental fatigue at play- particularly motivating themselves for the crazy long regular season. Not counting them out but the road may be tougher.