NBA Thread 2021-22 Season

[Knicks411]

We all basically knew the offense and defense both skated by on luck last season but the sharp reversal of that this season is still a little stunning. I thought they’d have a hard time making the playoffs but man it’s been ugly.

The Kemba thing went sideways so quickly. I was really hopeful they'd have a lot more punch on offense. They have improved offensively, but 23rd to 19th isn't exactly gonna get it done. Especially with the defense going from 3rd to 23rd.

I've learned my lesson. Never be optimistic again.

Also, is Cleveland for real? I feel like if not we'd be seeing them fall off more than we have by now like Washington has.

I think they just might be good. Which is...it's weird. I gotta say. They played the Knicks early in the season and Mobley was just incredibly impressive. Guy looks like he's a star already

 

[NineOneSeven]

Also, is Cleveland for real? I feel like if not we'd be seeing them fall off more than we have by now like Washington has.

I was at the game on Saturday against the Kings, right near the Kings' bench. They scored like 81 in the first half. The game actually got around 10 late, but Cleveland held on.

I thought the beginning of the season was a fluke, but they're holding on strong. Very unique team for today's game, as they start Lauri, Allen, and Mobley. Ridiculous length on the front line that you don't see that much of today. They are very good defensively.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The Kemba thing went sideways so quickly. I was really hopeful they'd have a lot more punch on offense. They have improved offensively, but 23rd to 19th isn't exactly gonna get it done. Especially with the defense going from 3rd to 23rd.

I've learned my lesson. Never be optimistic again.


I think they just might be good. Which is...it's weird. I gotta say. They played the Knicks early in the season and Mobley was just incredibly impressive. Guy looks like he's a star already

Did Thibs maybe burn the team out? He can do that.

I think Cleveland might be weirdly decent too. Markinen has been good for them, and Mobley is very quietly pretty awesome (I say having not watched him play yet).

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I was at the game on Saturday against the Kings, right near the Kings' bench. They scored like 81 in the first half. The game actually got around 10 late, but Cleveland held on.

I thought the beginning of the season was a fluke, but they're holding on strong. Very unique team for today's game, as they start Lauri, Allen, and Mobley. Ridiculous length on the front line that you don't see that much of today. They are very good defensively.

Yeah I like Allen a lot. I thought Brooklyn was dumb to trade him.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Did Thibs maybe burn the team out? He can do that.

I think Cleveland might be weirdly decent too. Markinen has been good for them, and Mobley is very quietly pretty awesome (I say having not watched him play yet).

We need runner back asap.

 

[Cusefan0307]

 

[Knicks411]

Did Thibs maybe burn the team out? He can do that.

I think Cleveland might be weirdly decent too. Markinen has been good for them, and Mobley is very quietly pretty awesome (I say having not watched him play yet).

Maybe? It was def a concern of mine before the season that they basically hit the best outcome on a ton of scenarios and still were a 4 seed who lost convincingly in round 1. (The positive spin on Thibs is he just did a great job to get everything he could out of them.)

Seems like the biggest problem is all the guys who play the most minutes are shooting below league average. Which is not advisable. It's also a shame the east is actually good now.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Maybe? It was def a concern of mine before the season that they basically hit the best outcome on a ton of scenarios and still were a 4 seed who lost convincingly in round 1. (The positive spin on Thibs is he just did a great job to get everything he could out of them.)

Seems like the biggest problem is all the guys who play the most minutes are shooting below league average. Which is not advisable. It's also a shame the east is actually good now.

Yeah this is the most competitive the East has been in decades seems like.

 

[Briancuse]

We need runner back asap.

Is the Knicks being good worth putting up with cr?

 

[OrangeDW]

Ouch...

If Curry had blown out his hip and Flynn didn’t….

 

[Melancer46]

Did Thibs maybe burn the team out? He can do that.

I think Cleveland might be weirdly decent too. Markinen has been good for them, and Mobley is very quietly pretty awesome (I say having not watched him play yet).

I don't think it's necessarily his fault (though I don't think he's a special coach either), but last year, they exceeded expectations because teams just mysteriously missed open 3's against them and Randle shot over 40% from both mid-range and 3 point range on tightly contested shots (vs. his usual low 30's and this year's low 20's). It just wasn't sustainable and started to rear its ugly head in the playoffs and that's continued into this season.

 

[OrangeDW]

If Curry had blown out his hip and Flynn didn’t….

Seriously though….Flynn had his rocky moments, but he averaged 13 and 4 as a rookie 20 year old. And that was pre-guards with any game all allowed to go hog wild, era. Honestly think he had star potential but at minimum would’ve been an effective player for as long as his explosiveness was there.

I mean, think Isaiah Thomas. He was a comparable player to Flynn early on.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Seriously though….Flynn had his rocky moments, but he averaged 13 and 4 as a rookie 20 year old. And that was pre-guards with any game all allowed to go hog wild, era. Honestly think he had star potential but at minimum would’ve been an effective player for as long as his explosiveness was there.

I mean, think Isaiah Thomas. He was a comparable player to Flynn early on.

I never thought Flynn had the quite the right mentality, and his athleticism allowed him to overcome that. Once the injuries hit and took that away, he didn't have the head to succeed as a pro.

I know that's a wildly unpopular take for a Syracuse fan, but Flynn had some red flags.

 

[OrangeDW]

I never thought Flynn had the quite the right mentality, and his athleticism allowed him to overcome that. Once the injuries hit and took that away, he didn't have the head to succeed as a pro.

I know that's a wildly unpopular take for a Syracuse fan, but Flynn had some red flags.

Agreed he had some red flags….but he was 20. Might’ve grown and matured out of it.

 

[Newhouser]

I never thought Flynn had the quite the right mentality, and his athleticism allowed him to overcome that. Once the injuries hit and took that away, he didn't have the head to succeed as a pro.

I know that's a wildly unpopular take for a Syracuse fan, but Flynn had some red flags.

And he was not nearly as good a defender as he thought he was

 

[Melancer46]

I think Flynn was just too small to get by without being a great shooter. You can't be 6'0" with a scorer's mentality and not really be efficient from anywhere. Maybe he would have eventually gotten there but I doubt it. A lot of fun to watch in college though.

 

[OrangeDW]

I think Flynn was just too small to get by without being a great shooter. You can't be 6'0" with a scorer's mentality and not really be efficient from anywhere. Maybe he would have eventually gotten there but I doubt it. A lot of fun to watch in college though.

Thought he had a nice stroke. He was 80+% from the line and 36% from 3 as a rookie.

His so-so 3 point %s at SU were more fatigue from never coming out/shot selection related.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Agreed he had some red flags….but he was 20. Might’ve grown and matured out of it.

That's fair.

 

[Melancer46]

Thought he had a nice stroke. He was 80+% from the line and 36% from 3 as a rookie.

His so-so 3 point %s at SU were more fatigue from never coming out/shot selection related.

He shot fine from 3 as a rookie. But literally every other season of his career, both in college and in the pros, he did not. And he was never a great mid range shooter or finisher at the rim either.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Yeah, we've known since he was in highschool that he's unique.

So the task is to build a team around a unique players but also a team that can win without that uniqueness in the lineup?

I’m more afraid Zion is going to lose a foot eventually

 

[Knicks411]

I don't think it's necessarily his fault (though I don't think he's a special coach either), but last year, they exceeded expectations because teams just mysteriously missed open 3's against them and Randle shot over 40% from both mid-range and 3 point range on tightly contested shots (vs. his usual low 30's and this year's low 20's). It just wasn't sustainable and started to rear its ugly head in the playoffs and that's continued into this season.

I deep-dived some of Randle's shooting splits yesterday because I was bored. You can go a little crazy slicing and dicing some of these, but the thing that really stands out to me is he's shooting 33% from 10-16 feet this year, his career is 40%. From the other spots on the floor, he's pretty close to his career averages.

Obviously last year was a shooting outlier, it was insane how many tough jumpers he was making. His true shooting% this year is 52.8%, that's even below where it was his first year in NY.

The interesting/frustrating this is the offense was supposed to take some off of Randle's plate last year, but last year he was assisted on just 34.2% of his two point makes (previously he was in the 40-45% range) and this year that has gone all the way to 34.5%. He's still doing a lot on his own.

 

[Melancer46]

I deep-dived some of Randle's shooting splits yesterday because I was bored. You can go a little crazy slicing and dicing some of these, but the thing that really stands out to me is he's shooting 33% from 10-16 feet this year, his career is 40%. From the other spots on the floor, he's pretty close to his career averages.

Obviously last year was a shooting outlier, it was insane how many tough jumpers he was making. His true shooting% this year is 52.8%, that's even below where it was his first year in NY.

The interesting/frustrating this is the offense was supposed to take some off of Randle's plate last year, but last year he was assisted on just 34.2% of his two point makes (previously he was in the 40-45% range) and this year that has gone all the way to 34.5%. He's still doing a lot on his own.

I also noticed that starting with last season, he started taking a lot more contested jumpers. It used to be almost a non-existent part of his shot distribution and these past two seasons it's been around 15% I believe.

 

[Melancer46]

The Kyrie news is legitimately funny if you can ignore the seriousness of it.

 

[Knicks411]

The Kyrie news is legitimately funny if you can ignore the seriousness of it.

How much money would you bet you could name the Net player in question if you had only one guess?

 

[jncuse]

How much money would you bet you could name the Net player in question if you had only one guess?

After Durant had to play with the following 8 man lineup against Toronto he probably thought it would be time to bring back Kyrie.

Patty Mills
Blake Griffin
Nic Claxton
Kesler Edwards
David Duke
Daylon Sharpe
Cam Thomas

Sadly Toronto blew an 11 point lead against that team.