NBA Thread 2021-22 Season

[OttoinGrotto]

If Klay comes back and is reasonably close to what he always was, I think Golden State is the clear favorites this year.

And the Syracusefan NBA fantasy league is in trouble with what he'll add to my squad.

 

[NineOneSeven]

 

[OrangeDW]

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He’s certainly a better basketball player than some on the list, but hasn’t necessarily had the better career - much of it from bad luck with injuries, and some of it(like this season) being his own fault.

 

[MikeSU02]

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Dude didn’t even get to hold the PG position on his own team when Harden came over, come on.

He has never won anything in the playoffs that matters without being Robin (or being hurt).

CP3 is better than Kyrie.

He has a lot of talent in terms of his individual skills but he can’t run a team and make everyone better like those other guys.

 

[MikeSU02]

If the Cavs were the NY Knicks, Evan Mobley would have an MVP / DPOY award push happening right now and maybe getting a statue erected.

I’m not sure how many guys the Cavs would trade Mobley for right now, in the whole league. It’s not a lot.

 

[Melancer46]

Dude didn’t even get to hold the PG position on his own team when Harden came over, come on.

He has never won anything in the playoffs that matters without being Robin (or being hurt).

CP3 is better than Kyrie.

He has a lot of talent in terms of his individual skills but he can’t run a team and make everyone better like those other guys.

Some of the talk around active players with the top 75 list really confuses me. I can't believe there are people out there that think guys like Kyrie, Klay, etc. were snubbed.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Rooting big for Jerami Grant and the Pistons tonight. Knowing the Kings, they'll go on a meaningless 3 game win streak to save Luke's job...

 

[Knicks411]

If the Cavs were the NY Knicks, Evan Mobley would have an MVP / DPOY award push happening right now and maybe getting a statue erected.

I’m not sure how many guys the Cavs would trade Mobley for right now, in the whole league. It’s not a lot.

Mush!
I was super impressed with Mobley when I watched him play the Knicks a few weeks ago. The guy seemingly has everything.

The idea of Kyrie Irving being better than Chris Paul is wild to me.

 

[MikeSU02]

Mush!
I was super impressed with Mobley when I watched him play the Knicks a few weeks ago. The guy seemingly has everything.

The idea of Kyrie Irving being better than Chris Paul is wild to me.

Yep. CP3 by a country mile. Guy wins even if he flails and whines a bit.

 

[Knicks411]

Yep. CP3 by a country mile. Guy wins even if he flails and whines a bit.

Kyrie has played 11 seasons (!. Well this is his 11th and he's not exactly playing, but, you know...) He's made all NBA second team once and third team twice. In Paul's first 11 seasons, he made all NBA first team 4xx, 2nd team 3x, and first team once. (he's also since added another 2x 2nd team)

His team was 18-64 the year before they drafted him, they went 38-44 with him as a rookie. 38 wins isn't great, but it's also at least 5 games better than Kyrie did with Cleveland before Lebron showed up

 

[Melancer46]

Kyrie has played 11 seasons (!. Well this is his 11th and he's not exactly playing, but, you know...) He's made all NBA second team once and third team twice. In Paul's first 11 seasons, he made all NBA first team 4xx, 2nd team 3x, and first team once. (he's also since added another 2x 2nd team)

His team was 18-64 the year before they drafted him, they went 38-44 with him as a rookie. 38 wins isn't great, but it's also at least 5 games better than Kyrie did with Cleveland before Lebron showed up

Yeah there's just no comparison. It's preposterous.

 

[jncuse]

Absolutely its Paul over Irving and its not even close -- whatever team he goes to improves / surprises a bit in his first year there... be it New Orleans, Clippers, Houston, OKC, Phoenix. Each team has had a sudden jump when he arrives.

The interesting thing though is that there does seem to be a trend of teams stagnating after the initial push Chris gives them. Not always his fault, but I wonder sometimes if he grinds on guys... sort of like a hardass coach that delivers at first but typically has a limited shelf life.

 

[jordville]

 

[OrangeDW]

Kyrie has played 11 seasons (!. Well this is his 11th and he's not exactly playing, but, you know...) He's made all NBA second team once and third team twice. In Paul's first 11 seasons, he made all NBA first team 4xx, 2nd team 3x, and first team once. (he's also since added another 2x 2nd team)

His team was 18-64 the year before they drafted him, they went 38-44 with him as a rookie. 38 wins isn't great, but it's also at least 5 games better than Kyrie did with Cleveland before Lebron showed up

I think there can be a difference sometimes in how peers/opponents evaluate guys based on playing against them and how their career actually fits in the big picture.

We’ve all probably played against/had to guard somebody who was nasty, but never really accomplished a ton.

I remember how NBA players always talked about how good Rod Strickland was(and Kyrie’s game has some definite similarities in the handles and creative finishes around the basket), but I don’t think he even made an all star team.

 

[NineOneSeven]

When Steph Curry is on, and he is a lot of the time, it’s just unbelievable stuff. Hard to find more superlatives for him.

 

[Cusefan0307]

When Steph Curry is on, and he is a lot of the time, it’s just unbelievable stuff. Hard to find more superlatives for him.

If Klay is 80% of what he was the west is over.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

If Klay is 80% of what he was the west is over.

They might not even need his pre injury scoring. But if he comes back as the defender he was, oh boy.

 

[Knicks411]

I think there can be a difference sometimes in how peers/opponents evaluate guys based on playing against them and how their career actually fits in the big picture.

We’ve all probably played against/had to guard somebody who was nasty, but never really accomplished a ton.

I remember how NBA players always talked about how good Rod Strickland was(and Kyrie’s game has some definite similarities in the handles and creative finishes around the basket), but I don’t think he even made an all star team.

For sure, I think Kobe was kinda like this, though he was also legitimately an all time great player. But he made so many ridiculously contested shots that it seemed like the average nba player opinion of him was higher than the more statistically inclined nba fan. (for better or worse, like I said, either way he's an all time legend).

I remember old Kobe-Lebron debates and the pro Kobe people would say he was a better scorer than Lebron because he had more variety in his scoring (this was like 08, 09, Lebron didn't really have much of a post game at that point) and I remember a (probably dumb) comp I made was that Lebron at that time was kinda like Mariano Rivera; he threw one pitch/had one real way to score but he was so effective at that one way it didnt matter. You couldn't stop him. Though with Rivera, that seemed to be considered a credit to him; you knew what he was throwing and you couldnt hit it, and with Lebron, it was the opposite. You knew he was going to take it to the hoop, you couldn't stop it, but actually thats bad, because if you could stop it (which you couldnt!), then he wouldn't score as much.

When Steph Curry is on, and he is a lot of the time, it’s just unbelievable stuff. Hard to find more superlatives for him.

There's nothing in sports like when he goes on a heater. There were possessions last night where he's one dribble over half court and the crowd is buzzing, wanting him to shoot.

 

[MikeSU02]

For sure, I think Kobe was kinda like this, though he was also legitimately an all time great player. But he made so many ridiculously contested shots that it seemed like the average nba player opinion of him was higher than the more statistically inclined nba fan. (for better or worse, like I said, either way he's an all time legend).

I remember old Kobe-Lebron debates and the pro Kobe people would say he was a better scorer than Lebron because he had more variety in his scoring (this was like 08, 09, Lebron didn't really have much of a post game at that point) and I remember a (probably dumb) comp I made was that Lebron at that time was kinda like Mariano Rivera; he threw one pitch/had one real way to score but he was so effective at that one way it didnt matter. You couldn't stop him. Though with Rivera, that seemed to be considered a credit to him; you knew what he was throwing and you couldnt hit it, and with Lebron, it was the opposite. You knew he was going to take it to the hoop, you couldn't stop it, but actually thats bad, because if you could stop it (which you couldnt!), then he wouldn't score as much.



There's nothing in sports like when he goes on a heater. There were possessions last night where he's one dribble over half court and the crowd is buzzing, wanting him to shoot.

Here's the thing, Kobe wasn't better than Duncan. Forget LeBron.

But the players coming up loved Kobe (he's a guard, MJ-esque, LA, etc).

But Tim Duncan was better than Kobe.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I can’t imagine KD is feeling too great after his former team came in and dominated the Nets and that team appeared to have more fans in the Nets home arena. Couple that with the MVP chants for Steph, I wonder how long he waits before he calls Harden out of shape and calls for Kyrie to be traded.

 

[MikeSU02]

I can’t imagine KD is feeling too great after his former team came in and dominated the Nets and that team appeared to have more fans in the Nets home arena. Couple that with the MVP chants for Steph and I wonder how long he waits before he calls Harden out of shape and calls for Kyrie to be traded.

Just so much drama for a guy that basically just wants to play ball (albeit is sometimes overly sensitive on social media).

It's also a testament to just how valuable Steph is in terms of success of a team. While KD will probably finish as the more highly thought of player in terms of "best ever", Steph has a case for being one of the three most valuable and impactful players to ever play in the NBA.

 

[Knicks411]

Just so much drama for a guy that basically just wants to play ball (albeit is sometimes overly sensitive on social media).

It's also a testament to just how valuable Steph is in terms of success of a team. While KD will probably finish as the more highly thought of player in terms of "best ever", Steph has a case for being one of the three most valuable and impactful players to ever play in the NBA.

I agree and I also think Steph does more to add to a good great team than maybe any player ever. The stuff he is really elite at (like passing and being easily the greatest shooter ever) really scales up good team. I really think you can never have too much shooting and passing on your team; a lot of the great players of all time are unbelievable isolation scorers and obviously you want that, but there is some level of diminishing returns to that. There may be some diminishing returns to passing and shooting, but it's at a much much higher level than volume scoring.

 

[Melancer46]

I agree and I also think Steph does more to add to a good great team than maybe any player ever. The stuff he is really elite at (like passing and being easily the greatest shooter ever) really scales up good team. I really think you can never have too much shooting and passing on your team; a lot of the great players of all time are unbelievable isolation scorers and obviously you want that, but there is some level of diminishing returns to that. There may be some diminishing returns to passing and shooting, but it's at a much much higher level than volume scoring.

I think his willingness to play off-ball and also ability to thrive in that role is so huge for a star player too. Like, he's nowhere near a Luka Doncic or a James Harden in terms of his passing ability, but in terms of moving the ball, he's as good as it gets because he and the defense know he's just as dangerous without the ball as he is with it.

 

[Knicks411]

I think his willingness to play off-ball and also ability to thrive in that role is so huge for a star player too. Like, he's nowhere near a Luka Doncic or a James Harden in terms of his passing ability, but in terms of moving the ball, he's as good as it gets because he and the defense know he's just as dangerous without the ball as he is with it.

Right like you put him on a team with a bunch of other good/great players and he enhances everything in a way the ball dominant guys just really can't.

He's also probably the most fun player in the league to watch. Which helps

 

[OrangeDW]

THT averaging 23 ppg over his first 3 games.

Come out and get your whuppin’, THT doubters!