NBA 2017-2018 thread

[Melancer46]

I think I'm the only person wary of Ayton.

I'm all in on Doncic. Pretty close to all in on Bagley.

Porter is TBD.

Ayton and Bamba I'm still not sure of.

Curious why you are wary of him. There is one thing about him that concerns me a bit and I'm curious if we see the same thing. I haven't decided how big of a red flag I think it is yet

 

[MikeSU02]

Curious why you are wary of him. There is one thing about him that concerns me a bit and I'm curious if we see the same thing. I haven't decided how big of a red flag I think it is yet

Just his overall effort, especially on D. For someone with as much hype as him, I need to know he is a game-changer on both ends. I don't know if it's energy and effort or actual defensive fundamentals. I think it's both.

Dude has been the biggest guy on the floor on every court he's stepped on. I need to know that someone that would be picked over a Doncic or Bagley can utilize his size. Otherwise it's a waste.

Doncic is putting up huge numbers in the second-best league in the world.

Bagley looks very polished.

Ayton just has a lot of hype, imo.

 

[Melancer46]

Just his overall effort, especially on D. For someone with as much hype as him, I need to know he is a game-changer on both ends. I don't know if it's energy and effort or actual defensive fundamentals. I think it's both.

Dude has been the biggest guy on the floor on every court he's stepped on. I need to know that someone that would be picked over a Doncic or Bagley can utilize his size. Otherwise it's a waste.

Doncic is putting up huge numbers in the second-best league in the world.

Bagley looks very polished.

Ayton just has a lot of hype, imo.

Ah, that's not what I was thinking of. His touch around the rim concerns me. There's so many examples of what looks like he's basically just throwing the ball in the general direction of the rim.

But the moves he's capable of at his size and the shooting mechanics (despite having a flat arc right now) are so intriguing to me.

 

[Knicks411]

So the Knicks played maybe the 2 worst teams in the league, Bulls and Hawks, on back to back nights, and basically played even for the 96 minutes. Not a good sign.

On the other hand, Courtney Lee is kinda playing out of his mind. Anyone need a solid 2 way guard and a good reserve big man? Is it crazy to think lee and o'quinn can get a playoff teams first rounder?

 

[MikeSU02]

So the Knicks played maybe the 2 worst teams in the league, Bulls and Hawks, on back to back nights, and basically played even for the 96 minutes. Not a good sign.

On the other hand, Courtney Lee is kinda playing out of his mind. Anyone need a solid 2 way guard and a good reserve big man? Is it crazy to think lee and o'quinn can get a playoff teams first rounder?

Please, please make this happen.

 

[Knicks411]

Please, please make this happen.

I'm going to just keep talking O'Quinn to Boston. Makes too much sense. And you can sell them on him being irish!

 

[Knicks411]

KP and Frank baby.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

I'll jump at any opportunity to post a vid of former Rochester TV sports reporter Jenna Wolfe -- particularly when the topic is LeBron, who, one-third of the way into his 15th freakin' season, is playing better than he ever has.

 

[Knicks411]

I was randomly looking at bbref, these are some random facts I noticed.

1) The Rockets are shooting 57.7% on 2 pointers. Insane
2) They are only playing at the 8th fastest pace in the league.
3) Warriors are shooting 50/40/80 as a team.
4) The top 3 teams in true shooting this year are no surprise; Warriors/Rockets/Cavs. Any guess who is 4th?

 

[SoBeCuse]

I was randomly looking at bbref, these are some random facts I noticed.

1) The Rockets are shooting 57.7% on 2 pointers. Insane
2) They are only playing at the 8th fastest pace in the league.
3) Warriors are shooting 50/40/80 as a team.
4) The top 3 teams in true shooting this year are no surprise; Warriors/Rockets/Cavs. Any guess who is 4th?

Good stuff. Random guess for 4. Portland or Milwaukee?

Also, what LeBron is doing is incredible. Still the man clearly. I believe his scoring is the highest since the 09-10 season and his APG is the highest of his career!

 

[Knicks411]

Good stuff. Random guess for 4. Portland or Milwaukee?

Also, what LeBron is doing is incredible. Still the man clearly. I believe his scoring is the highest since the 09-10 season and his APG is the highest of his career!

Lebron is shooting 63.8% on 2 pointers. 42.2% from 3. Averaging 29-8-9. He's in his 15th season in the league. He's unbelievable.

Bucks was a good guess, they are 6th. Portland is actually 22nd! Wouldn't have guessed that. The Pelicans are 4th. Pellies! 58.6% true shooting. Etwaun Moore is at 64.5%. Crazy

 

[SoBeCuse]

Lebron is shooting 63.8% on 2 pointers. 42.2% from 3. Averaging 29-8-9. He's in his 15th season in the league. He's unbelievable.

Bucks was a good guess, they are 6th. Portland is actually 22nd! Wouldn't have guessed that. The Pelicans are 4th. Pellies! 58.6% true shooting. Etwaun Moore is at 64.5%. Crazy

Ah, makes sense re: Pelicans. They get lots of easy buckets. Glad to see Etwaun Moore doing well. Liked his game a lot at Purdue.

Yeah, LeBron is amazing. Enough said.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Lebron is shooting 63.8% on 2 pointers. 42.2% from 3. Averaging 29-8-9. He's in his 15th season in the league. He's unbelievable.

Bucks was a good guess, they are 6th. Portland is actually 22nd! Wouldn't have guessed that. The Pelicans are 4th. Pellies! 58.6% true shooting. Etwaun Moore is at 64.5%. Crazy

I should've played ... my guess woulda been Nawlins. Etwaun's on fire.

Feel bad for the guy, but the Cavs cannot bring back Derrick Rose. Maybe his bum ankle is an out, but Isaiah'll be back very soon -- you know he's gonna be playing before the Cavs go to Boston in three weeks -- Wade has played well handling the ball with the second unit and, yessiree Bob, Jose Calderon is looking pretty, pretty good in the starting lineup.

Gotta believe works already under way on the Derrick Rose 30 For 30. Sad.

Have the Cavaliers set a date for Isaiah Thomas' comeback?

 

[Knicks411]

I for one am stunned, (stunned!) that Derrick Rose didn't work out.

There is another crazy stat I forgot to put above. (indulge me, people)

There are 192 guys who have been the primary defender on at least 50 shots 6 feet and closer to the bucket. Paul Millsap has the second best defensive fg%, 45.5. Porzingis is #1, at 40.8%. KP is miles ahead of #2. He's off the charts. I'm in love.

 

[SoBeCuse]

OKC are unwatchable. Ugly ball. The offense does need to flow through George but he is struggling. Melo looks slow and should stick to being a PF now and not jacking threes galore. I wouldn’t be surprised if they improve or continue around .500.

 

[Knicks411]

OKC are unwatchable. Ugly ball. The offense does need to flow through George but he is struggling. Melo looks slow and should stick to being a PF now and not jacking threes galore. I wouldn’t be surprised if they improve or continue around .500.

Watched some of the end of that game last night. Not good.

Steven Adams though, is really good.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Watched some of the end of that game last night. Not good.

Steven Adams though, is really good.

Yup, Adams has improved every year. Tough player.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Meanwhile, another Hanukkah miracle: Swish's little bro, former Louisville pg Chris Smith, is now Orthodox Jewish Israeli League player Ariel Smith. (Thanks to Col. Bleep for the tip.)
https://nypost.com/2017/12/14/meet-ariel-smith-the-newest-ex-knick-jewish-convert/

 

[NateW]

So... the lakers cavs game is blacked out at my house. I live in the souther tier of NY.

I’ve never heard of a national NBA game being blacked out before. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[Knicks411]

So... the lakers cavs game is blacked out at my house. I live in the souther tier of NY.

I’ve never heard of a national NBA game being blacked out before. Anyone know anything about this?

Wow, where in NY? I'm in Queens, it's def on here. Never heard of that

 

[OrangeDW]

OKC are unwatchable. Ugly ball. The offense does need to flow through George but he is struggling. Melo looks slow and should stick to being a PF now and not jacking threes galore. I wouldn’t be surprised if they improve or continue around .500.

Westbrook, Melo, and George all have career low shooting %’s at the moment. That should not be happening.

I blame Donovan/Westbrook the most. But mostly Westbrook I guess, because in the NBA the star has more juice than the coach in most cases.

Westbrook has become the new Iverson. Can’t play with anybody but a bunch of grinders and hustlers. Remember when Stackhouse, Webber, Robinson’s numbers all nose-dived as soon as they got on Iverson’s team?

 

[SoBeCuse]

Westbrook, Melo, and George all have career low shooting %’s at the moment. That should not be happening.

I blame Donovan/Westbrook the most. But mostly Westbrook I guess, because in the NBA the star has more juice than the coach in most cases.

Westbrook has become the new Iverson. Can’t play with anybody but a bunch of grinders and hustlers. Remember when Stackhouse, Webber, Robinson’s numbers all nose-dived as soon as they got on Iverson’s team?

Eh I don’t know. Melo sure looks on the downward slope of his career and does not look good at all on both ends and just moving around. George is really struggling. Donovan can obviously coach but I think it is hard to keep these guys happy and they breakdown into hero ball too much. Lots of ball stoppers. Westbrook is still averaging almost a triple-double. He’s sacrificed some scoring and is averaging 9.9 APG/9.4 RPG. That’s fantastic and his PER is almost 21. Maybe they need more time. I don’t know what it is. You could be right.

 

[NateW]

Wow, where in NY? I'm in Queens, it's def on here. Never heard of that

Corning... our Spectrum broadcast comes out of Binghamton.

It says:

“Due to NBA requirements, today’s game has been blacked out in this market. Scheduled programming will resume at the conclusion of the game.”

 

[br801]

Westbrook, Melo, and George all have career low shooting %’s at the moment. That should not be happening.

I blame Donovan/Westbrook the most. But mostly Westbrook I guess, because in the NBA the star has more juice than the coach in most cases.

Westbrook has become the new Iverson. Can’t play with anybody but a bunch of grinders and hustlers. Remember when Stackhouse, Webber, Robinson’s numbers all nose-dived as soon as they got on Iverson’s team?

Tough to watch this happening. While Melo's drop in production and efficiency could be a function of age and mileage catching up to him, I don't know how to explain some of the stinkers George and Westbrook are putting up. That said, we're only a third of the way in and I fully expect all three of these guys to figure it out and start performing more like they have historically.

 

[OrangeDW]

Eh I don’t know. Melo sure looks on the downward slope of his career and does not look good at all on both ends and just moving around. George is really struggling. Donovan can obviously coach but I think it is hard to keep these guys happy and they breakdown into hero ball too much. Lots of ball stoppers. Westbrook is still averaging almost a triple-double. He’s sacrificed some scoring and is averaging 9.9 APG/9.4 RPG. That’s fantastic and his PER is almost 21. Maybe they need more time. I don’t know what it is. You could be right.

Westbrook is a stat padder and his numbers are misleading. I’ve seen him just pound the ball the whole possession enough times, seen him scream at teammates over stupid things enough times. Seen him all frustrated forcing questionable shots. Seen him assist hunt like Rondo used to. Seen him steal rebounds. He’s a stat padding, ball hogging, legit crazy weirdo. Hate his game.