NBA Regular Season 14/15

D2D · 14-11-2014 11:27pm

Joey Blue Rodent wrote: »

Roumer has it that was only turned down as it would have been done mid season and if/when done this offseason will likely pass

Didn't the Sixers and the other potential "tanking" teams turned down the proposal as it's so favorable to them as it is? I agree though, something has to change. Problem is, no matter what change can be made, the teams intent on just tanking will resist it as the current system is too favorable towards it.

Take being a Mavs fan from last night and paying around $30-60 to see your team face a Sixers side that are fully focused on tanking. Sure you'll get a laugh after the 1st quarter at how bad they really are but by the 3rd quarter, you've pretty much had enough.

D2D · 14-11-2014 11:57pm

The 2014-15 Christmas Day jerseys have been revealed. The jersey features the team logo and player number on the front and the player's number and their first name on the back

B2aq8fdCcAAaYGp.jpg:large

NufcNavan · 15-11-2014 1:40am

Really nice.

ec18 · 15-11-2014 11:02am

they spelt dwayne wrong

padraig_f · 15-11-2014 12:44pm

ec18 wrote: »

they spelt dwayne wrong

I think it is actually spelt like that, thought it was wrong myself too at first.

I think the jerseys are horrible (I'm a traditionalist). Putting the name underneath the number seems wrong. First names - no. Don't like the reverse way they've printed the names either.

'Kevin' seems an incongruous name for a superstar.

stuchyg · 15-11-2014 12:52pm

Kobe, lebron and Carmelo work. Others, not so much

PizzamanIRL · 15-11-2014 1:24pm

76ers coach playing his part in the tanking last night. They're up by 3 with 35 seconds to go and he must have panicked, thinking 'Oh no, we're actually going to win' so he kicks the ball in the air towards the baseline for no apparent reason and receives a technical foul.

NufcNavan · 15-11-2014 6:35pm

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

76ers coach playing his part in the tanking last night. They're up by 3 with 35 seconds to go and he must have panicked, thinking 'Oh no, we're actually going to win' so he kicks the ball in the air towards the baseline for no apparent reason and receives a technical foul.

Sixers should be f*cked out for the year, be given no draft picks for next season and replaced by a D League team for the rest of the season. At least they'll play hard and try to win.

NufcNavan · 15-11-2014 6:48pm

What about Kobe last night, 1-14. Sad to see his career go this way. Sure, he's putting up numbers, but he's doing it with a bad shooting percentage on a terrible team.

It's no longer about rings, it's about getting paid and saying "Look how much I can score in my 19th year".

PizzamanIRL · 15-11-2014 7:32pm

NufcNavan wrote: »

What about Kobe last night, 1-14. Sad to see his career go this way. Sure, he's putting up numbers, but he's doing it with a bad shooting percentage on a terrible team.

It's no longer about rings, it's about getting paid and saying "Look how much I can score in my 19th year".

I think he knows his team is going nowhere so he's just going for the points to beat MJ's scoring record before he gets injured again. As big a fan I am of him, it does look like the blame for some of the losses can be put on him. So far he's scored like 26, 33, 39 but done it on 10/28 shooting and they lose by 5 or 7 points. Although you could then say if he didn't do the scoring then they wouldn't be within 5 points of winning in the first place.

GoldFour4 · 16-11-2014 2:05am

Cavs just hit 9 three pointers in the first Qtr against the Hawks. They're having trouble missing tonight, on 41pts so far.

NufcNavan · 16-11-2014 2:21am

Decent start to the Bulls Pacers game. Always competitive.

padraig_f · 16-11-2014 2:28am

NufcNavan wrote: »

Decent start to the Bulls Pacers game. Always competitive.

Gonna be embarrassing if we lose this

NufcNavan · 16-11-2014 2:34am

padraig_f wrote: »

Gonna be embarrassing if we lose this

Pacers down to the bare bones on a back to back, they really should.

Scola has started out well and Solomon Hill has been surprisingly good this season. I didn't think he'd amount to much.

padraig_f · 16-11-2014 2:43am

NufcNavan wrote: »

Pacers down to the bare bones on a back to back, they really should.

Scola has started out well and Solomon Hill has been surprisingly good this season. I didn't think he'd amount to much.

Yeah, I have the roster open trying to recognise some of the players.

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/roster/_/name/ind/indiana-pacers

padraig_f · 16-11-2014 3:06am

Ugly game, think I'll leave the 2nd half til tomorrow.

NufcNavan · 16-11-2014 4:26am

Wow. Heck of a win for the Pacers.

For Forks Sake · 16-11-2014 10:34am

Lance, Lance. Lance. *shakes head*

https://vine.co/v/O5XXThXEJzb

NufcNavan · 16-11-2014 1:54pm

I remember our first home game vs. the bulls last year and I remember Louis Scola coming in off of the bench and wrecking the Bulls like a second Chicago fire. This was very early in the season but I can remember the absolute frustration of Gibson (who normally is the bane of our existence) who just could not do anything against Scola. I remember thinking that game that if we could get that production from him vs the Heat that we would be marching to the finals. Sadly it didn't last all season long but man when Scola plays he is just an absolute nightmare to cover because he can go either inside or out.

This was a satisfying win.

GoldFour4 · 16-11-2014 10:32pm

Joe Harris is to be made the starting shooting guard for the Cavs sooner rather than later. Good move IMO, he look's promising.

D2D · 17-11-2014 12:18am

malistheman wrote: »

Joe Harris is to be made the starting shooting guard for the Cavs sooner rather than later. Good move IMO, he look's promising.

Deserves it if he's giving the 2 guard spot, really is providing that spark needed from the bench. Marion isn't the long term solution at the 2 guard and Dion is more suited to being a 6th man rather than a starter.

padraig_f · 17-11-2014 3:36pm

NufcNavan wrote: »

Wow. Heck of a win for the Pacers.

Sometimes energy beats talent, the Bulls came out flat, the Pacers came out ready to play. Deserved their win.

Very tough road trip ahead for the Bulls, next 7 games on the road. Starting @Clippers (tonight), @Kings, @Blazers. Not easy. I hope Rose returns from his latest tweak sooner rather than later, the team needs him.

padraig_f · 18-11-2014 9:16am

Wow, wasn't expecting that win. Gasol a late scratch on top of Rose, and the Bulls win at the Clippers. Quite excited about Mirotic's performance off the bench, best game as a pro. Just a great range of skills for his size, can put the ball on the floor, shoot, defend with his length, rebound.

Stat line...18 mins, 12 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists.

So per 36 mins, that'd be like a 24/14 game with 4 assists. Coming along well and can be a useful player for the Bulls by the end of the season.

Not that impressed with the Clippers. I've been a Chris Paul fan, but looked to be very much pacing himself last night, and never really controlled the game like you used to see him do. Deandre Jordan is a non-factor offensively. Griffin will get his 20 odd points, but apart from that, you're relying on jump-shots from Jamaal Crawford and Reddick. Obviously a decent team, but don't look like a contender in the West right now.

18-11-2014 6:14pm

watching the grant land basketball hour (great show by the way) they just showed the kentucky starting lineup of players drafted since 2009

c demarcus cousins
f anthony davis
f terrence jones
g eric bledsoe
g john wall

thats an insane team cousins and davis inside in particular would be unstoppable

and a bench of

c nerlins noel
f julius randle
f patrick patterson
f michael kidd-gilchrist
g brandon knight

padraig_f · 19-11-2014 9:51am

Lebron thinks he's the coach now...

LeBron James wants playing time reduced

GoldFour4 · 19-11-2014 11:08am

padraig_f wrote: »

Lebron thinks he's the coach now...

LeBron James wants playing time reduced

Don't see what the issue is here. He makes a good point, having three of your players ranked in the top 5 in minutes per game isn't a good thing in terms of limiting fatigue.

padraig_f · 19-11-2014 2:09pm

malistheman wrote: »

Don't see what the issue is here. He makes a good point, having three of your players ranked in the top 5 in minutes per game isn't a good thing in terms of limiting fatigue.

I think he's undermining the coach saying that. Playing time is the coach's decision. Player feedback is fine, but you do it in discussion with the coach, not through the media.

Lebron has a history of this, trying to use the media to influence things. He's frequently done it trying to put pressure on refs. e.g. during playoffs he'd say playoff fouls were "not basketball plays", trying to influence refs to give him extra protection. It's calculated, he knows what he's doing. Now he's doing it with his coach 10 games in, not a good sign imo.

Maybe it's subjective, but to me that's a line you shouldn't cross. If a Bulls player started commenting to the media on minutes, or anything that was the coach's decision, I'd be worried about that.

LuckyGent88 · 20-11-2014 9:59am

Long time lurker but first post in here.

Just how many games can OKC afford to loose without Durant and Westbrook?
They are already 3-10 and 7.5 games back of 8th place in the west.
Is it possible they are already too far back in such a competitive division?

NufcNavan · 20-11-2014 10:37am

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Long time lurker but first post in here.

Just how many games can OKC afford to loose without Durant and Westbrook?
They are already 3-10 and 7.5 games back of 8th place in the west.
Is it possible they are already too far back in such a competitive division?

They're going to have a massive battle to get the 8 seed this year IMO.

ec18 · 20-11-2014 11:12am

I think they'll make it as it they are only 3 games back from the 8th seed in the west, i think a lot of those teams are going to fall off as the season goes on....

Jalen had a good point on the basketball hour that it'll be interesting if any of the top teams tank in the hope of avoiding OKC in the first round.

Philly haven't won a game yet :O They should be banned or sanctioned or something

padraig_f · 20-11-2014 5:38pm

Watching Spurs-Cavs last night and it occurred to me 'Lebron looks like just another guy'. Still a good player obviously, but doesn't look like a player who's going to dominate a game right now. Teams used to have to gameplan for him, pack the paint or whatever. Now the Spurs just stick Kawhi Leonard on him and play their normal game.

Had a look to see if it shows up in the stats, and it does:

SEASON	P/40	R/40	A/40	TS%	AST	TO	USG	REB	PER
'03-'04	21.2	5.5	6.0	48.8	19.1	11.2	26.9	7.7	18.30
'04-'05	25.7	6.9	6.8	55.4	20.6	9.3	28.8	10.2	25.74
'05-'06	29.5	6.6	6.2	56.8	17.6	8.8	31.4	9.8	28.17
'06-'07	26.7	6.6	5.9	55.2	17.7	9.4	29.6	9.6	24.56
'07-'08	29.7	7.8	7.1	56.8	19.4	9.2	32.7	11.1	29.15
'08-'09	30.2	8.0	7.7	59.1	21.1	8.7	32.2	11.9	31.76
'09-'10	30.5	7.5	8.8	60.4	23.4	9.4	32.2	11.1	31.19
'10-'11	27.6	7.7	7.2	59.4	21.2	10.9	29.7	11.4	27.34
'11-'12	28.9	8.5	6.7	60.5	19.4	10.7	29.8	12.6	30.80
'12-'13	28.3	8.5	7.7	64.0	23.3	9.6	28.2	13.1	31.67
'13-'14	28.8	7.3	6.7	64.9	20.6	11.4	29.1	11.5	29.40
[B]'14-'15	26.8	6.8	7.0	57.8	20.5	12.0	29.8	10.2	24.25
[/B]

- True-shooting percentage down from 64% to 57%, lowest since '07-'08.
- Turnover rate at a career high.
- Rebounds/40 mins lowest since '06/'07.
- PER lowest since his rookie season.

Early days, small sample size, blah, blah, blah, but interesting one to keep an eye on.

buyer95 · 21-11-2014 1:21am

padraig_f wrote: »
Watching Spurs-Cavs last night and it occurred to me 'Lebron looks like just another guy'. Still a good player obviously, but doesn't look like a player who's going to dominate a game right now. Teams used to have to gameplan for him, pack the paint or whatever. Now the Spurs just stick Kawhi Leonard on him and play their normal game.

Had a look to see if it shows up in the stats, and it does:
SEASON	P/40	R/40	A/40	TS%	AST	TO	USG	REB	PER
'03-'04	21.2	5.5	6.0	48.8	19.1	11.2	26.9	7.7	18.30
'04-'05	25.7	6.9	6.8	55.4	20.6	9.3	28.8	10.2	25.74
'05-'06	29.5	6.6	6.2	56.8	17.6	8.8	31.4	9.8	28.17
'06-'07	26.7	6.6	5.9	55.2	17.7	9.4	29.6	9.6	24.56
'07-'08	29.7	7.8	7.1	56.8	19.4	9.2	32.7	11.1	29.15
'08-'09	30.2	8.0	7.7	59.1	21.1	8.7	32.2	11.9	31.76
'09-'10	30.5	7.5	8.8	60.4	23.4	9.4	32.2	11.1	31.19
'10-'11	27.6	7.7	7.2	59.4	21.2	10.9	29.7	11.4	27.34
'11-'12	28.9	8.5	6.7	60.5	19.4	10.7	29.8	12.6	30.80
'12-'13	28.3	8.5	7.7	64.0	23.3	9.6	28.2	13.1	31.67
'13-'14	28.8	7.3	6.7	64.9	20.6	11.4	29.1	11.5	29.40
[B]'14-'15	26.8	6.8	7.0	57.8	20.5	12.0	29.8	10.2	24.25
[/B]
- True-shooting percentage down from 64% to 57%, lowest since '07-'08.
- Turnover rate at a career high.
- Rebounds/40 mins lowest since '06/'07.
- PER lowest since his rookie season.

Early days, small sample size, blah, blah, blah, but interesting one to keep an eye on.

I'd bet big money this is teething problems. New players, coach, system, pressure of winning with his home team. He's still in his prime and will get it together soon.

buyer95 · 21-11-2014 1:52am

Clippers Heat is intriguing tonight. The Clips were tipped by many the analyst at the start of the year to win it all, but have been underwhelming so far. Griffin seems to be going through a Charles Barkley spell, taking far too many threes, and falling in love with that jumper. He needs to go back to what he is good at. They lack a defensive wing player who can hit a shot, they've been going with the 3 guard lineup a bit recently, with poor results. Barnes should be able to fulfill the role, but he has seemingly forgotten how to shoot, meaning his minutes have been significantly reduced. The Heat have come back down to earth after a great start, but Wade an Bosh are really balling atm, Chalmers has been playing very well at the point as well. The Clips need this win imo, they beat the Magic last time out, and need to start putting together some performances/wins. On BT Sport in 10 mins

Paully D · 22-11-2014 12:10am

buyer95 wrote: »

I'd bet big money this is teething problems. New players, coach, system, pressure of winning with his home team. He's still in his prime and will get it together soon.

I'd agree, but you forgot to mention he is now the head coach too:

https://vine.co/v/OJJEH1HKT09

:pac:

Cavs will be fine.

padraig_f · 22-11-2014 4:38am

Wow...

https://vine.co/v/OJ0JPFtzalr

https://vine.co/v/OJ0iX3zhnvX

buyer95 · 22-11-2014 5:07am

Pretty crappy game between Cavs and Wizards. Cavs stank on offense , turning the ball over in comical mfashion, not moving the ball in their half court sets, and not putting forth any kind of effort when they got down. Wizards were far from spectacular, but deserved the win. Game really only notable for John Barry telling the world that scoring is down in the NBA because of the 3 point shot.

GoldFour4 · 22-11-2014 10:44am

Watched the 76ers last night for the first time. Wow, they will genuinely struggle to win 10 games this year. Michael Carter Williams just tries to win it on his own, firing up poor shot after poor shot. The Suns were able to give solid minutes to guys who normally don't get into the rotation for most of the second half.

padraig_f · 22-11-2014 2:21pm

malistheman wrote: »

Watched the 76ers last night for the first time. Wow, they will genuinely struggle to win 10 games this year. Michael Carter Williams just tries to win it on his own, firing up poor shot after poor shot. The Suns were able to give solid minutes to guys who normally don't get into the rotation for most of the second half.

This is another really damaging thing about the current lottery system, how the most talented young players go to teams who suck, are expected to turn things around single handedly, and learn bad habits as a result.

I'd like to see a system where some talented young players go to good teams. You can still have competitive balance (remove max salary limitation to distribute the established talent more evenly).

And I just dislike it from a personal point of view because I don't watch the bad teams. So the promising young players I never really see for their first couple of seasons in the league.

Remember Magic playing as a rookie in the 1980 finals when Kareem got injured? (well I don't, but I read about it).

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=8054260&src=desktop

Can't happen today. That's not gonna happen very often anyway, but would still be cool to see rookies contributing to good teams.

rushfan · 22-11-2014 3:56pm

Sorry, wrong forum.

LuckyGent88 · 22-11-2014 5:15pm

Another tight loss for okc last night. They have been quite competitive with the big two out but just can't pick up the odd couple of wins.
Reports that Westbrook and Durant are about to practice again. Okc need them back ASAP.

NufcNavan · 22-11-2014 9:51pm

Dunleavy is behind Wade as the dirtiest player in the league IMO.

padraig_f · 23-11-2014 12:23am

NufcNavan wrote: »

Dunleavy is behind Wade as the dirtiest player in the league IMO.

Meh, if Dunleavy is the 2nd dirtiest player in the league, the league doesn't have much of a problem with dirty play.

Frustration flared early in the third when Mike Dunleavy committed a flagrant-one foul as Lillard attempted a 3-pointer. The play, which officials reviewed for a possible flagrant-two and ejection, angered Matthews, who shoved Dunleavy. Aaron Brooks rushed to Dunleavy’s defense, and he and Matthews drew offsetting technical fouls.

Dunleavy showed remorse afterward, saying he merely was trying to stop play because Joakim Noah had taken a shot to the face and was on the ground inside the paint.

“I felt bad,” Dunleavy said. “Jo went down and it looked like he got hit pretty hard so I was going to take an intentional foul. Lillard went up to shoot and it was one of those things where I got put in an awkward situation. He was in a shooting motion and at that point, I had to foul him hard because I didn’t want to give up a four-point play. It was just an awkward moment.

“He went up to shoot and at that point, what do you do? I’m not going to go for his legs or head. I just kind of went through his body, didn’t want him to make a 3. Nice kid. I got nothing against him. It was totally unintentional in terms of trying to hurt or injure somebody. I was just trying to intentionally foul him because Jo was lying in the paint.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-gameday-bulls-trail-blazers-spt-1122-20141121-story.html

NufcNavan · 23-11-2014 12:41am

He's committed a fair few flagrants down the years in Pacers games. I think he has something personal going on with Tyler Hansbrough too.

moneyman · 23-11-2014 6:49am

Dunleavy can come out with all the excuses he wants - he certainly has the PC answers down. Fact is, he IS one of the dirtiest players in the league, and it IS a problem. He doesn't have the reputation (I wonder why?), but he's filth. There's a reason Big Cuz despises him openly, there's been multiple occasions where Dunleavy has made strong non-basketball plays to entice confrontation. He causes problems and then cries wolf, constantly! Call it veteranship, call it savvy, call it what you want, but Dunleavy is not a clean player.

NufcNavan · 23-11-2014 3:04pm

The basketball Gods seem to hate the Pacers and are cursing us with injuries for pissing away a great opportunity last year. It's gotten to the ridiculous stage now. The whole starting lineup? Really?

NufcNavan · 23-11-2014 11:40pm

moneyman wrote: »

Dunleavy can come out with all the excuses he wants - he certainly has the PC answers down. Fact is, he IS one of the dirtiest players in the league, and it IS a problem. He doesn't have the reputation (I wonder why?), but he's filth. There's a reason Big Cuz despises him openly, there's been multiple occasions where Dunleavy has made strong non-basketball plays to entice confrontation. He causes problems and then cries wolf, constantly! Call it veteranship, call it savvy, call it what you want, but Dunleavy is not a clean player.

Dunleavy's legitimately endangering people with his stupid sh*t. Seriously man, you pull that stuff he did on Lillard anywhere but an NBA/NCAA court that dude is getting smoked, and rightly so. One of Portland's end of the bench goons should have sat him down.

buyer95 · 24-11-2014 6:31pm

NufcNavan wrote: »

He's committed a fair few flagrants down the years in Pacers games. I think he has something personal going on with Tyler Hansbrough too.

Hansbrough is a far dirtier player.

NufcNavan · 24-11-2014 8:41pm

buyer95 wrote: »

Hansbrough is a far dirtier player.

I'd argue people only say that because of his hard nosed game and his image coming from UNC. Hansbrough plays hard and is awkward as fcuk but I don't recall him laying someone with a cheapshot like Dunleavy has in the past.

Dunleavy is a wing forward from Dookie who doesn't play a physical game so therefore his dirtiness gets under the radar, IMO. Shane Battier also benefited from his 'clean cut' game to escape the label of being one of the dirtiest players in the NBA.

buyer95 · 24-11-2014 9:54pm

NufcNavan wrote: »

I'd argue people only say that because of his hard nosed game and his image coming from UNC. Hansbrough plays hard and is awkward as fcuk but I don't recall him laying someone with a cheapshot like Dunleavy has in the past.

Dunleavy is a wing forward from Dookie who doesn't play a physical game so therefore his dirtiness gets under the radar, IMO. Shane Battier also benefited from his 'clean cut' game to escape the label of being one of the dirtiest players in the NBA.

I really got a good chuckle out of that. There are numerous examples of Hansbrough laying people out in a dirty fashion. Offhand the Valanciunus one comes to mind so I youtubed it. You can't say thats not a cheap shot.

NufcNavan · 24-11-2014 11:25pm

Forgot about that actually. Seen that one live. That's bad on Hansbrough. Hansbrough plays a very physical game that I'll concede veers over the line of dirty sometimes. However, when Dunleavy tries to hurt someone it is a cheapshot move that cannot be justified at all by any reasonable interpretation of how to play basketball.

NBA Regular Season 14/15

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