NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2018-19 Thread

ButtersSuki · 15-02-2019 4:11pm

Interesting Ringer podcast where they variously blame Magic, Palinka, LeBron and Chris Paul over the failed AD trade. Worth a listen.

Also interesting take on last night's game where Barkley again hammered all of the above and Davis himself. I agree btw.

OKC blowing yet another game they really should win. If they were .500 on those games they'd be the 1 seed. They can look so good, and then so bad.

jonok28 · 15-02-2019 5:00pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Interesting Ringer podcast where they variously blame Magic, Palinka, LeBron and Chris Paul over the failed AD trade. Worth a listen.

Also interesting take on last night's game where Barkley again hammered all of the above and Davis himself. I agree btw.

OKC blowing yet another game they really should win. If they were .500 on those games they'd be the 1 seed. They can look so good, and then so bad.

They are to blame but you gotta go all in for a top 5 talent and it flew up in their face, nothing that can be done about it and they really need to move on from this debacle at this point.

I love how Barkley keeps crapping on Super Teams and players and teams trying to get themselves onto different teams when in 96 he joined Olajuwon and Drexler in Houston!!. He wanted one last chance at winning a ring and Houston were able to get him after a summer long pursuit of him. Hakeem was still averaging 23 a game and Drexler 18. Yes everyone was a bit older but its the pot calling the kettle black when he openly made a move to get to a team so he could win a ring.

kmart6 · 15-02-2019 5:56pm

Lol... ridiculous....

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1096452803734712320?s=19

jonok28 · 15-02-2019 6:00pm

kmart6 wrote: »

Lol... ridiculous....

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1096452803734712320?s=19

Not that surprising he was heading out the door before the Anthony Davis trade request happened. I wouldn't be shocked if Danny Ferry gets the job.

ButtersSuki · 15-02-2019 6:04pm

No win situation.

Great line from Barkley last night clearly aimed at Rich Paul/AD - you need to realise your agent works for you, not you for your agent.

Osmosis Jones · 15-02-2019 6:19pm

Dell Demps wasn't a particularly good GM anyway

chopperbyrne · 15-02-2019 6:21pm

Orlando are on a five game winning streak, and looking at the next three games, could get to eight before playing Golden State.

Hitting form at the right time. They could conceivably make the playoffs if they can keep some level of consistency.

ButtersSuki · 15-02-2019 6:50pm

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Orlando are on a five game winning streak, and looking at the next three games, could get to eight before playing Golden State.

Hitting form at the right time. They could conceivably make the playoffs if they can keep some level of consistency.

They discussed this on The Lowe Post this week and said it was a joke they're in contention as if they were ion the West they'd be 13th in the conference. They'd actually be worse as they'd have had a much tougher schedule playing West teams all the time.......yet they have an outside shot at the 8th seed in the East. Bonkers.

Not sure they get there unless someone above them collapses or tanks.

ButtersSuki · 15-02-2019 6:54pm

Went under the radar a bit but the Knicks had a historical franchise worst 18 game losing streak that ended last night against the mighty Hawks. James Dolan should send LeBron, AD, Magic, Palinka, etc. some nice wine and champagne as a thank you for keeping them out of the news.

Hitch2222 · 15-02-2019 8:44pm

This obviously means nothing but I suspect Simmons is working pretty hard on his jump shooting. I can't quite imagine anyone who was as poor as Simmons who got to a respectable shooter from deep.

Perhaps Blake early on, that seems like the best model to win for, mechanics will never be super smooth but once it's repetitive and simplistic he should be able to make some inroads.

Till then, catching while running from the baseline and pivoting on his right foot, the mechanics look awful but spotting up in the corner doesn't look too bad. His lower body actually looks quite like Lonzo's with the base quite narrow and flicking forward quite a lot.

https://youtu.be/EbHjlza74gg

Osmosis Jones · 16-02-2019 12:57am

The craziest shot improvement I've seen is Brook Lopez, He attempted 31 3s in his first 8 seasons and made 3 of them, since then in his last 2.5 seasons he has attempted 1083 and made 384, making him a 35% shooter from 3 on over 5 attempts a game.

ButtersSuki · 16-02-2019 1:19am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

This obviously means nothing but I suspect Simmons is working pretty hard on his jump shooting. I can't quite imagine anyone who was as poor as Simmons who got to a respectable shooter from deep.

Perhaps Blake early on, that seems like the best model to win for, mechanics will never be super smooth but once it's repetitive and simplistic he should be able to make some inroads.

Till then, catching while running from the baseline and pivoting on his right foot, the mechanics look awful but spotting up in the corner doesn't look too bad. His lower body actually looks quite like Lonzo's with the base quite narrow and flicking forward quite a lot.

https://youtu.be/EbHjlza74gg

Make it stop! It hurts my eyes!

ButtersSuki · 16-02-2019 1:28am

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

The craziest shot improvement I've seen is Brook Lopez, He attempted 31 3s in his first 8 seasons and made 3 of them, since then in his last 2.5 seasons he has attempted 1083 and made 384, making him a 35% shooter from 3 on over 5 attempts a game.

It's insane alright. I've seen him in both iterations. I think he's probably the biggest-looking human I've ever seen in the flesh. He's so tall, and so wide he just looks enormous, and way more so in person than on TV. The first time I saw him play was for Brooklyn in the 2012-13 season and I literally could not believe the size difference between him and everyone else on the court. He was strictly a post player then. Saw him play for LA last year and he looked like a different player. It still looks kinda weird to see him shooting from 30 feet but when he's on fire like he was say in the Denver game earlier this year it's compulsive viewing. Haven't seen the Milwaukee Lopez experience in the flesh but thinking about a Play Off visit to Boston so I may just yet.

Osmosis Jones · 16-02-2019 3:22am

Watching the Rising Stars game on Sky at the moment and they're playing the exact same feed as ESPN, only for some reason they're not broadcasting the commentary so it's just court/crowd sounds and nothing else and it's great

Hitch2222 · 16-02-2019 8:27am

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

The craziest shot improvement I've seen is Brook Lopez, He attempted 31 3s in his first 8 seasons and made 3 of them, since then in his last 2.5 seasons he has attempted 1083 and made 384, making him a 35% shooter from 3 on over 5 attempts a game.

Most scouts use college FT% as the metric for assessing future 3pt shoot ability even if player doesn't shoot a high %. Hence why Lonzo even though his shot was weird looking was not viewed as surefire to transfer his college % to the NBA.
That said, Lopez has always been a good FT shooter generally in around 80% give or take.
Obviously it's not a perfect metric as if it was Rubio would be ridiculous from deep as he's an excellent FT shooter.
Two people I suspect to be close to leading the NBA in 3pt% in the coming years is Markkanen:https://youtu.be/14N8fOJLivA and/or Tatum: https://youtu.be/7V8CQTlNlnc both have fantastic mechanics

ButtersSuki · 16-02-2019 1:22pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Most scouts use college FT% as the metric for assessing future 3pt shoot ability even if player doesn't shoot a high %. Hence why Lonzo even though his shot was weird looking was not viewed as surefire to transfer his college % to the NBA.
That said, Lopez has always been a good FT shooter generally in around 80% give or take.
Obviously it's not a perfect metric as if it was Rubio would be ridiculous from deep as he's an excellent FT shooter.
Two people I suspect to be close to leading the NBA in 3pt% in the coming years is Markkanen:https://youtu.be/14N8fOJLivA and/or Tatum: https://youtu.be/7V8CQTlNlnc both have fantastic mechanics

Hadn't ever seen (or indeed heard of) NBA2K TV before, wow she's cute.

Just watched part of the Tatum video, not sure I agree he's as fundamentally sound as you technique wise....his elbow placement and general arm alignment are angled, when they should be a perfect 90 degrees to the floor...his shooting hand should be over his elbow...it's off to he side. I've drawn In black, sorry, only colour available) where his arm should ideally be on the screenshot to show what I mean.

He can look good and smooth, but some times he reverts to old habits and shoots from above his head and that can look very weird - he had a few of them in the Rising Stars game last night.

Haven't watched the Lauri vid., will try and get to it later.

irishguitarlad · 16-02-2019 1:23pm

I really like Barkley, the only reason I watch the tnt coverage, he comes out with some great one liners.

liamoreilly · 17-02-2019 3:50am

...All star Saturday night currently on, Harris wins the 3 point comp beating Curry...

kmart6 · 17-02-2019 5:13am

For some reason I stayed up to watch tonights competitions, thought the dunk contest was pretty bad, 3 point was more entertaining but still had some pretty poor shooting.

ButtersSuki · 17-02-2019 11:35am

kmart6 wrote: »

For some reason I stayed up to watch tonights competitions, thought the dunk contest was pretty bad, 3 point was more entertaining but still had some pretty poor shooting.

3 point contest is it favourite event of ASW. The final was good, the rest meh.

The dunk contest has been awful for donkeys years.

Hitch2222 · 17-02-2019 12:38pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

3 point contest is it favourite event of ASW. The final was good, the rest meh.

The dunk contest has been awful for donkeys years.

Aaron Gordon & Zach LaVine rejuvenated the competition a tad but it's not as good.
I'm not a fan of lots of the gimmicks, that jumping over the plane was terrible.
I think a change of format would be interesting. Perhaps they could do a team event either within the NBA or an NBA elite vs pro dunkers

Osmosis Jones · 17-02-2019 2:39pm

I don't think a format change would do anything, the best dunk contests have been ones with the current format, any time they've tried to change it up it's been so much worse. The big problem to me is that stars aren't participating anymore, most of the greatest dunk contest moments have come from star players (Jordan, Vince, Dominique, Dr. J, Howard), nobody cares about 4 decent first and second year players.

It also seems that 90% of dunks now involve either jumping over a random celebrity from the crowd, or wearing some sort of tribute/throwback jersey.

Hitch2222 · 17-02-2019 3:07pm

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

I don't think a format change would do anything, the best dunk contests have been ones with the current format, any time they've tried to change it up it's been so much worse. The big problem to me is that stars aren't participating anymore, most of the greatest dunk contest moments have come from star players (Jordan, Vince, Dominique, Dr. J, Howard), nobody cares about 4 decent first and second year players.

It also seems that 90% of dunks now involve either jumping over a random celebrity from the crowd, or wearing some sort of tribute/throwback jersey.

Well all dunk contests have essentially been in this format so we have nothing to compare.
The change in format may entice the star players to compete. Perhaps there could be some type of additional contract based incentive to win an award.

Also, in many ways I question what else can players really do, we seem to be relatively close to the peak of human capacity so where the dunks go from here I don't know.

Osmosis Jones · 17-02-2019 4:30pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Well all dunk contests have essentially been in this format so we have nothing to compare.
The change in format may entice the star players to compete. Perhaps there could be some type of additional contract based incentive to win an award.

Also, in many ways I question what else can players really do, we seem to be relatively close to the peak of human capacity so where the dunks go from here I don't know.

They did a "wheel of dunks" thing back years ago and in 2014 they had dunk teams and timers and stuff and both were shìte.

I still think there's more to be seen, 2016 had AG and Lavine pulling out dunks no one had ever seen before.

Also as long as there are guys doing things like this there is still room for NBA players to do more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO9N10UL46o

Osmosis Jones · 17-02-2019 5:16pm

And as weak as the contest was this is still a fantastic picture

ButtersSuki · 18-02-2019 2:00am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Aaron Gordon & Zach LaVine rejuvenated the competition a tad but it's not as good.
I'm not a fan of lots of the gimmicks, that jumping over the plane was terrible.
I think a change of format would be interesting. Perhaps they could do a team event either within the NBA or an NBA elite vs pro dunkers

That and the Vince Carter years aside the Dunk Contest has been very poor for the last 25+ years. There’s much better and far more creative dunkers out there. I know he divides some but some of the dunks done by the likes of Jordan Kilganon etc., are insane, much better than what you typically see in the NBA Dunk contest. It’s just become the same old same old, and it’s very tired.

Osmosis Jones · 18-02-2019 3:07am

Watching the ASG and I can't believe Marv Albert still has a job, he gets so much wrong, won't stop calling KAT Anthony Davis.

jonok28 · 18-02-2019 11:53am

Next years Dunk Contest could be really good but they need to convince the best dunkers to take part. I'd have:
Zion Williamson
Zach Lavine
Aaron Gordon
Giannis Antetokounmpo.

That would be exciting.

Gwynplaine · 18-02-2019 12:11pm

I know he's a great player an all, but I just do not like Kevin Durrant.
The dunk contest is a joke at this stage.

ButtersSuki · 18-02-2019 2:09pm

Bill Simmons on the Dunk contest this morning - it's for kids and middle aged white guys.

He (and Ryen Russillo - who I like) also came down hard on AD, Rich Paul and LeBron on the failed trade and basically said they handed it very badly. Simmons went so far as to give the Lakers a bit of a pass on it and said they probably had very little to do it with in reality as it was primarily a Klutch move and that they (Klutch) judged the whole thing very badly. He did though describe LA as a terrible franchise over the last few years from a management perspective. Hard to argue with that given the evidence.

Lowe Post and Windhorst (again) heavy on the criticism of Klutch and co. I'm surprised with Windhorst given his LeBron connections but fair play he's calling it as he sees it.

Hitch2222 · 18-02-2019 3:33pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Bill Simmons on the Dunk contest this morning - it's for kids and middle aged white guys.

He (and Ryen Russillo - who I like) also came down hard on AD, Rich Paul and LeBron on the failed trade and basically said they handed it very badly. Simmons went so far as to give the Lakers a bit of a pass on it and said they probably had very little to do it with in reality as it was primarily a Klutch move and that they (Klutch) judged the whole thing very badly. He did though describe LA as a terrible franchise over the last few years from a management perspective. Hard to argue with that given the evidence.

Lowe Post and Windhorst (again) heavy on the criticism of Klutch and co. I'm surprised with Windhorst given his LeBron connections but fair play he's calling it as he sees it.

You never give the LBJ stuff a break. I don't know how it doesn't bore you at this stage.

Yes, he played a part in the move and all its failings. The Lakers played a part, they looked like fools, disrupted the team, lost leverage and left a stale taste in the mouth of many fans and NBA players/coaches/execs.

So why is it still a discussion point here or on Simmons podcast?
There must be more interesting actual basketball related things to discuss at this stage of the season than re-assigning the blame for a botched AD trade. Attempting to dissect this once again is completely futile imo.

ButtersSuki · 18-02-2019 3:38pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

You never give the LBJ stuff a break. I don't know how it doesn't bore you at this stage.

Yes, he played a part in the move and all its failings. The Lakers played a part, they looked like fools, disrupted the team, lost leverage and left a stale taste in the mouth of many fans and NBA players/coaches/execs.

So why is it still a discussion point here or on Simmons podcast?
There must be more interesting actual basketball related things to discuss at this stage of the season than re-assigning the blame for a botched AD trade. Attempting to dissect this once again is completely futile imo.

I just relayed what was on it, I didn't actually comment on "the LBJ stuff" (as you put it) from any personal perspective at all.

Just because you don't want to talk about doesn't however mean no one else does. It's a topic because it's one of the biggest stories of the NBA season.

Wasn't arguing or trying to start an argument, as I said I just relayed what was on the respective pods......you know, in case anyone would want to hear them who might not tune into same regularly or even be unaware of them? No biggie.

Hitch2222 · 18-02-2019 3:53pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I just relayed what was on it, I didn't actually comment on "the LBJ stuff" (as you put it) from any personal perspective at all.

Just because you don't want to talk about doesn't however mean no one else does. It's a topic because it's one of the biggest stories of the NBA season.

Wasn't arguing or trying to start an argument, as I said I just relayed what was on the respective pods......you know, in case anyone would want to hear them who might not tune into same regularly or even be unaware of them? No biggie.

My point is exactly that. I suspect nobody wants to discuss it at this stage.

The politics and power dynamics of who were the primary players in this is largely irrelevant especially at this stage given it has been discussed so much on here.
Additionally, I think it's fair to say that if a similar scenario arose with KD, Kawhi, Steph etc, it wouldn't be repeatedly shared on this forum even to the extent that their relative influence warrants.

ButtersSuki · 18-02-2019 3:59pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

My point is exactly that. I suspect nobody wants to discuss it at this stage.

The politics and power dynamics of who were the primary players in this is largely irrelevant especially at this stage given it has been discussed so much on here.
Additionally, I think it's fair to say that if a similar scenario arose with KD, Kawhi, Steph etc, it wouldn't be repeatedly shared on this forum even to the extent that their relative influence warrants.

Well with all due respect if some of the biggest podcasts in the basketball world are discussing it as recently as last night in Simmons’ case and late last week (Lowe Post and Windhorst), I think you comment that noone wants to discuss it is inaccurate. You may not want to, many others do.

Hitch2222 · 18-02-2019 4:12pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Well with all due respect if some of the biggest podcasts in the basketball world are discussing it as recently as last night in Simmons’ case and late last week (Lowe Post and Windhorst), I think you comment that noone wants to discuss it is inaccurate. You may not want to, many others do.

Ok, well I can't disagree with that, it's a discussion point. I think my primary issue and an issue that many people posting on the forum likely share is that there is a clear and obvious bias at play here.

It's fair to say that you share criticisms of LBJ rather frequently, many of which I suspect wouldn't be shared if LBJ wasn't the protagonist.

It's the frequency of the LBJ related discussions, this in isolation is likely worth discussing but the discussion seems to constantly revolve around critiquing LBJ so it feels like over-saturation at this point.

ButtersSuki · 18-02-2019 4:36pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

Ok, well I can't disagree with that, it's a discussion point. I think my primary issue and an issue that many people posting on the forum likely share is that there is a clear and obvious bias at play here.

It's fair to say that you share criticisms of LBJ rather frequently, many of which I suspect wouldn't be shared if LBJ wasn't the protagonist.

It's the frequency of the LBJ related discussions, this in isolation is likely worth discussing but the discussion seems to constantly revolve around critiquing LBJ so it feels like over-saturation at this point.

Thanks for acknowledging the first point - genuinely.

On the rest - I've frequently and repeatedly said that he's the best player on the planet - and although that may be up for debate this year, that's an aside.

My issue with LeBron primarily is the I believe immunity from/disproportionate lack of criticism both he and his game gets from a lot of the media, and a lot of fans; and conversely the disproportionate amount of praise levelled at his feet when things go right and they win or are successful. I'm a Celtics fan, if he joined the Celtics I'd be like "great!". I'm not such a hater that would be like "I don't want him because he's LeBron". The "if they win it's 100% down to LeBron and if they lose it's because LeBron had no help" narrative that I dislike.

Similarly, I do think this GOAT talk is just bonkers though, having seen/lived MJ in his prime (whole career basically) and been a witness (no pun intended) to LeBron's career too.

And - a point I've frequently discussed here - I do think there are flaws to his game that are overlooked. I won't go into that now deeply as I've discussed them so frequently but I'm talking about in-game decisions, shot selection, crunch time, etc. And I'm talking about on court stuff only in relation to that, nothing to do with philanthropy etc. Yet some media and some fans think he has no weaknesses in his game, which I find daft.

I have other criticisms too around how he's conducted his contracts and his relationships with teams, but again won't go into that stuff now.

I also disagree with your assertion that I wouldn't say the same about others and only focus on LeBron. I've said way, way, way worse things about Melo over the years than LeBron, but because it's Melo no-one really cares. Now there's a wasted talent and a deeply flawed player on many levels. Compared to him LeBron has overachieved on every level. Similarly I've shat all over Dwight and John Wall repeatedly. I don't get much reaction when I criticise any of them.

Hitch2222 · 18-02-2019 5:07pm

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Thanks for acknowledging the first point - genuinely.

On the rest - I've frequently and repeatedly said that he's the best player on the planet - and although that may be up for debate this year, that's an aside.

My issue with LeBron primarily is the I believe immunity from/disproportionate lack of criticism both he and his game gets from a lot of the media, and a lot of fans; and conversely the disproportionate amount of praise levelled at his feet when things go right and they win or are successful. I'm a Celtics fan, if he joined the Celtics I'd be like "great!". I'm not such a hater that would be like "I don't want him because he's LeBron". The "if they win it's 100% down to LeBron and if they lose it's because LeBron had no help" narrative that I dislike.

Similarly, I do think this GOAT talk is just bonkers though, having seen/lived MJ in his prime (whole career basically) and been a witness (no pun intended) to LeBron's career too.

And - a point I've frequently discussed here - I do think there are flaws to his game that are overlooked. I won't go into that now deeply as I've discussed them so frequently but I'm talking about in-game decisions, shot selection, crunch time, etc. And I'm talking about on court stuff only in relation to that, nothing to do with philanthropy etc. Yet some media and some fans think he has no weaknesses in his game, which I find daft.

I have other criticisms too around how he's conducted his contracts and his relationships with teams, but again won't go into that stuff now.

I also disagree with your assertion that I wouldn't say the same about others and only focus on LeBron. I've said way, way, way worse things about Melo over the years than LeBron, but because it's Melo no-one really cares. Now there's a wasted talent and a deeply flawed player on many levels. Compared to him LeBron has overachieved on every level. Similarly I've shat all over Dwight and John Wall repeatedly. I don't get much reaction when I criticise any of them.

I don't really have much interest in discussing LBJ vs MJ as it's a discussion that has been so frequently raised that it is boring.
Similar to most debates, it is very rare for one person to hold an opinion that is mutually exclusive to another and in turn change their mind after one debate.
This is the issue with debating LBJ vs MJ. My only point which echoes what you said regarding the latest LBJ debate, if the conversation arises often enough, there must be some merit.
Given we both know LBJ vs MJ seems to be the only GOAT talk in town anymore, we can probably conclude that the distance between them is not that vast.

Every player has flaws, I'd probably say that very few people discuss MJ's flaws, I don't think LBJ is better but MJ is on an unattainable pedestal with many people. Many people think the prospect of MJ being dethroned is sacrilegious, no matter what any other player achieves they'll never reach his heights.
I don't think that's true. I think it would be a nearly impossible feat but the probability is not non-zero. Many MJ fans would disagree.

My issue with your LBJ related posts is that I think given his achievements, ability and longevity that you are disproportionately critical of him.
He has flaws(non-bball flaws don't interest me, he's not my mate), there are no doubts he has flaws but when was the last time you posted "What a play by LBJ" even though he warrants that more than most.

His achievements & abilities far outweigh his flaws but you seem avid on consistently playing devil's advocate even when LBJ isn't being praised.

It should be a case that LBJ is praised more than he's critiqued even when held to a higher standard but you criticise him more than you praise him which seems logically incorrect and you seem to critique him more individually than the entire forum praises him.

That seems disproportionately wrong given that as the best player in the game (or wherever you rank him) the asymmetry should exist the other way around.

ButtersSuki · 19-02-2019 12:15am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

I don't really have much interest in discussing LBJ vs MJ as it's a discussion that has been so frequently raised that it is boring.
Similar to most debates, it is very rare for one person to hold an opinion that is mutually exclusive to another and in turn change their mind after one debate.
This is the issue with debating LBJ vs MJ. My only point which echoes what you said regarding the latest LBJ debate, if the conversation arises often enough, there must be some merit.
Given we both know LBJ vs MJ seems to be the only GOAT talk in town anymore, we can probably conclude that the distance between them is not that vast.

Every player has flaws, I'd probably say that very few people discuss MJ's flaws, I don't think LBJ is better but MJ is on an unattainable pedestal with many people. Many people think the prospect of MJ being dethroned is sacrilegious, no matter what any other player achieves they'll never reach his heights.
I don't think that's true. I think it would be a nearly impossible feat but the probability is not non-zero. Many MJ fans would disagree.

My issue with your LBJ related posts is that I think given his achievements, ability and longevity that you are disproportionately critical of him.
He has flaws(non-bball flaws don't interest me, he's not my mate), there are no doubts he has flaws but when was the last time you posted "What a play by LBJ" even though he warrants that more than most.

His achievements & abilities far outweigh his flaws but you seem avid on consistently playing devil's advocate even when LBJ isn't being praised.

It should be a case that LBJ is praised more than he's critiqued even when held to a higher standard but you criticise him more than you praise him which seems logically incorrect and you seem to critique him more individually than the entire forum praises him.

That seems disproportionately wrong given that as the best player in the game (or wherever you rank him) the asymmetry should exist the other way around.

For the record, I've discussed Jordan's flaws on here.....namely his 3 point shooting. Granted, the league was very different then and the 3 point shot was almost a rare thing....example the Lakers shot 7 3s in the 1984 Finals - in the whole series. Attempted 7 3s. Lillard shot 17 last night in one game, Harden regularly shoots 15+ per game.

As for my comments on LBJ and proportion, I've posted almost 3,500 posts in the basketball forum - I can't imagine anyone has posted more. That's not meant as a boast or anything like that, but of course of that 3,500 a lot are going to focus on the biggest name in the game.

I can't remember when I last posted anything super-positive about him. Apart from repeatedly saying he's the best player on the planet I do distinctly recall praising his Game 1 effort in the Finals last year. I just looked it uop for the record and this is what I said:

INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE BY LeBron. Just incredible. Possibly the best I've ever seen him play. Should have had a 50+ point triple double in the Finals if his team mates could hit some wide open shots.

If you're honest, he hasn't done much in a Lakers uniform (yet) to warrant any great praise.

kmart6 · 19-02-2019 10:52am

Hitch2222 wrote: »

It's the frequency of the LBJ related discussions

He is the biggest player in basketball. There is always going to be a disproportionate amount of discussion about him, its been that way since he was in High School. None of this is new.

Hitch2222 · 19-02-2019 11:13am

kmart6 wrote: »

He is the biggest player in basketball. There is always going to be a disproportionate amount of discussion about him, its been that way since he was in High School. None of this is new.

That might be the most obvious example of straw manning I've ever seen

Hitch2222 wrote: »

It's the frequency of the LBJ related discussions, this in isolation is likely worth discussing but the discussion seems to constantly revolve around critiquing LBJ so it feels like over-saturation at this point.

I acknowledge it's worth discussing in isolation but my issue is the constant critique of LBJ, something I further elaborate on.
I have no issue discussing LBJ, logically he should be discussed more but equally he should be praised more than criticised and that is not the case with Butters and the forum as a whole.

K.O.Kiki · 19-02-2019 2:16pm

I still can't believe the Bucks (and Raptors) have better records than the Warriors.

jonok28 · 19-02-2019 2:32pm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I still can't believe the Bucks (and Raptors) have better records than the Warriors.

I think the Warriors realised after setting the single season record in wins that there is no point in draining themselves in the regular season and not be 100% in the Playoffs. I think since then they will always do just enough to get home court advantage throughout the playoffs and then turn it up when they need to. I still can't believe Cousins, Draymond, Durant, Klay and Curry are all on the same team, madness.

ButtersSuki · 19-02-2019 5:19pm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

I still can't believe the Bucks (and Raptors) have better records than the Warriors.

Well.....the East teams play the East teams more than they do the West and vice versa.....so a 35-10 record in the East is not as good as a 35-10 in the West. Despite some bunching in the West this year it's still a much stronger conference overall than the East.

Re. GS specifically, they started very strongly, then Steph went down and they kinda messed around for a while. I think they'll do enough to secure the #1 in the West comfortably and take their chances in the Finals even if they aren't #1 overall. They'd still be the heavy favourites even if they had to go on the road.

Hitch2222 · 19-02-2019 9:36pm

SOS offers good indicators of what might be coming over the next few months.
It's pretty interesting that the Suns have had the most difficult schedule thus far. Awful either way but perhaps we could see Ayton look better in the final stretch.

Also, Utah, Portland & San Antonio have easier remaining schedules than the Houston. I wouldn't be surprised to see them slip to 7th in the West.

http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php

Paully D · 19-02-2019 11:34pm

https://twitter.com/tjquinnespn/status/1097881590267592705?s=21

This is well worth your time. A superb piece.

Hitch2222 · 21-02-2019 8:48am

Imagine Harden did this in game:

Paully D · 21-02-2019 12:43pm

Hopefully Zion’s injury is not too bad. He’s even breaking shoes now! :pac:

Angliru · 21-02-2019 1:40pm

Apparently a mild knee sprain. Should be okay for March. Bizarre situation though, it was like his shoe was made out of bread. Lot of buzz advising him to sit out the rest of the year, including pros. Think his attitude and desire to be #1 in the draft will ensure he plays though.

Hitch2222 · 21-02-2019 3:24pm

Angliru wrote: »

Apparently a mild knee sprain. Should be okay for March. Bizarre situation though, it was like his shoe was made out of bread. Lot of buzz advising him to sit out the rest of the year, including pros. Think his attitude and desire to be #1 in the draft will ensure he plays though.

He's 1/100 shot now to get drafted first so sitting won't impact his stock. It may actually aid it because teams will be happy to see that a player with questions around long term durability isn't rushing back.
Apparently he'll be the 2nd heaviest player in the league, 2.5kg lighter than 7ft 3in Boban. It's cool but frightening too.

On a separate note the Lillard talking about not leaving Portland, some took his "sell myself out" comments as a shot at KD, I agree with T-mac that they weren't but Portland at doomed to being a perpetual bridesmaid with this roster.

I don't think Dame & CJ can be the two best players on a team that makes waves in the playoffs. Backcourt ends up as such a defensive liability.
Both have huge contracts and in isolation I don't think they're overpaid per se but the combination is quite poor imo.

Given the return you get for Dame would be higher, I think I'd look to make a similar trade as Raptors did with DeRozan-Kawhi and flip Dame for AD.

This means that the Trail Blazers wouldn't have to re-mortgage their future to get a 3rd piece that likely wouldn't lead to a championship anyway and they get out from under a backcourt combo that will leave them in perpetual mediocrity.

It's probably not a trade that's been discussed too much but I think it makes a lot of sense for both sides.

Angliru · 21-02-2019 3:51pm

Hitch2222 wrote: »

He's 1/100 shot now to get drafted first so sitting won't impact his stock. It may actually aid it because teams will be happy to see that a player with questions around long term durability isn't rushing back.
Apparently he'll be the 2nd heaviest player in the league, 2.5kg lighter than 7ft 3in Boban. It's cool but frightening too.

On a separate note the Lillard talking about not leaving Portland, some took his "sell myself out" comments as a shot at KD, I agree with T-mac that they weren't but Portland at doomed to being a perpetual bridesmaid with this roster.

I don't think Dame & CJ can be the two best players on a team that makes waves in the playoffs. Backcourt ends up as such a defensive liability.
Both have huge contracts and in isolation I don't think they're overpaid per se but the combination is quite poor imo.

Given the return you get for Dame would be higher, I think I'd look to make a similar trade as Raptors did with DeRozan-Kawhi and flip Dame for AD.

This means that the Trail Blazers wouldn't have to re-mortgage their future to get a 3rd piece that likely wouldn't lead to a championship anyway and they get out from under a backcourt combo that will leave them in perpetual mediocrity.

It's probably not a trade that's been discussed too much but I think it makes a lot of sense for both sides.

Think Barrett has a small shout at #1 but given that Zion looks a once in a generation athlete he probably has #1 regardless. It'll be interesting to see if Zion grows much more. He is a freak but if he starts pushing 300lbs I'm not sure about his long term potential in the league.

Extremely exciting draft class overall, Morant and Reddish look phenomenal as well. Bol Bol looks to be a steal too given how far he's fallen in the mock drafts after injury.

NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2018-19 Thread

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