NBA Regular Season 2012/13

ButtersSuki

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

This channel is too good.

Excellent analysis, hadn't seen this guy before. Thanks for posting!

It's funny how simple the game can look when you see it broken down like that.

Nuri Sahin

Bulls shot an impressive 29% from the field against OKC to lose by 30 lol.

I can't link it off my phone but there's a vid going around at the moment of bill Russell dunking over a guy in college. Check it out it looks insane

Dublin Red Devil

Lakers vs Nuggets about to start

Anybody else watching live?

K.O.Kiki

Eason Rapid Menu wrote: »

I can't link it off my phone but there's a vid going around at the moment of bill Russell dunking over a guy in college. Check it out it looks insane

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2AlFrOj5Mc

Dublin Red Devil

Denver have destroyed LA on the fast break, LA just can't get back fast enough. They are too slow. Zero transition D

K.O.Kiki

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2AlFrOj5Mc

Cheers Kiki you forget how much of an athlete he was that vid makes lebron look normal

spiralism

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

Lakers vs Nuggets about to start

Anybody else watching live?

I was, Denver fan here...It has to be said, there is no team as good to watch as the nuggets on their day. Electric stuff

BQQ

Eason Rapid Menu wrote: »

I can't link it off my phone but there's a vid going around at the moment of bill Russell dunking over a guy in college. Check it out it looks insane

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2AlFrOj5Mc

Nice!
Not a dunk though. Clearly a finger-roll. A dying art, sadly.

Dublin Red Devil

spiralism wrote: »

I was, Denver fan here...It has to be said, there is no team as good to watch as the nuggets on their day. Electric stuff

It was a very entertaining game. I love watching fast break high energy basketball.
Dever's pace in transition was just too much for the old Lakers team.
Lawson, Iguodala, Faried were all fantastic, It was great game.

My Team, The Pacers play tonight Vs Golden State. Defiantly be watching that

Nuri Sahin

Was entertaining alright and Nuggets especially at home are worth the money to watch. As said, transitions and free throws (14 out of 31 I think it was) killed the Lakers. Still playing some decent stuff on offence but that only gets you so far.

Wizards keep on rolling and a very good win for the Celtics in Overtime in Utah. The Truth was clutch in OT when I had started watching. Big shots made.

Dublin Red Devil

I don't understand how a high level professional basketball player can't hit a simple free throw. I was shooting some hoops earlier today myself and I shot 14/20 from the free throw line and I'm a 5ft10 out of shape white dude with no formal basketball training.

leggo

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I don't understand how a high level professional basketball player can't hit a simple free throw. I was shooting some hoop earlier today myself and I shot 14/20 from the free through line and I'm a 5ft10 out of shape white dude with no formal basketball training.

I agree, but I'd say a lot of it is due to pressure. Kinda like how top darts players, for example, can hit 9-darters for fun on the practise board but rarely replicate it in play. It's millions of people watching you do the thing your least comfortable with in your game (in the case of players, like Howard, who struggle), at a time that's perhaps pivotal to your team winning or losing. I think being able to cope with that pressure is the secret to being a great free-throw shooter.

Dublin Red Devil

Wow some 4th quarter handbags here between Pacers and GSW. Started off with Hibbert and Lee in the post then escalated. Hibbert ejected.

Pacers win 5th straight. Danny Granger is Back. Next up NY Knicks later tonight

Dublin Red Devil

Kings take the Heat to OT in Miami. Watching live

Dublin Red Devil

Mad respect to the Kings. Took Miami to 2OT (but lost)

What about Thornton from downtown? Great shooting.

ButtersSuki

Always thought LeBron's dunks were pretty lame/meh, but this is nice:

http://nba.si.com/2013/02/25/lebron-james-dunk-warmups-miami-heat/?sct=uk_t2_a16

ButtersSuki

Dublin Red Devil wrote: »

I don't understand how a high level professional basketball player can't hit a simple free throw. I was shooting some hoops earlier today myself and I shot 14/20 from the free throw line and I'm a 5ft10 out of shape white dude with no formal basketball training.

I could get very boring and very technical on this as I studied this in college but I'll try not to get too nerdy on it:

Ok, psychological reasons aside - and they are a big factor, look at the physical toll on players bodies during a game. Look at the bumps, the rebouding, the running/sprinting etc and tiredness takes its toll. 90%+ is crazy elite, that's why so few people can do so. Yes, it's the same shot over and over again in theory, but there are many, many variables (psychological and physiological) that go into each and every free throw. Basketball is a unique game which combines aerobic and anaerobic fitness, i.e. where you've rebounding defensively, you're sprinting at 100% effort for large parts of the game then you have to slow everything (incl. your heartbeat) right down to shoot FTs in a calm manner - not ethe easiest thing in the world to do. It's not a coincidence that pure shooters (and by that I mean shooters with pure technique - Ray Allen, Steve Nash, KD etc) have the best FT%, whilst bricklayers don't. LeBron is a good shooter and has improved significantly over the last few years, but he's not a pure shooter in a technical sense (his 3's look always awkward to me)....and his FT% reflects this (circa 76%).

Players are creatures of habit and comfort and it's very hard for elite athletes to learn (or re-learn) new skills or variations in technique so by the time they get to the Pros, their technique is largely locked down.

That's before we talk about Shaq and Dwight.......

On your statement - there is no situation in a game where you shoot 20 FTs in a row, so you're not comparing like with like. Most I ever shot was 4 in a row on a DQ foul and a technical, which was strange and very rare.

I agree on one level though - below 66% for me is not really good enough for Pro's. College is generally pretty bad too though!

For Forks Sake

Clippers doing what the Clippers do best last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rpqNZ446D4

GoldFour4

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Always thought LeBron's dunks were pretty lame/meh, but this is nice:

http://nba.si.com/2013/02/25/lebron-james-dunk-warmups-miami-heat/?sct=uk_t2_a16

For those too lazy to click the link :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHmIZcV3OOY

Dublin Red Devil

Lebron does similar dunks every night to entertain fans. It's no big deal

kmart6

All of the reports have indicated that it is something they, as a team not just LeBron, have stepped up a lot in recent weeks, team owner tweeting about it, so it's a marketing push to get people in earlier in the hope they'll spend more and leave with a positive experience from what the saw in pre-game! It is not something that LeBron has always done!

Dublin Red Devil

No real stand out game tonight. Might give it a miss. Just keep an eye on the ESPN Score box.

Pacers v Clippers tomorrow.

Nuri Sahin

Steph Curry has detonated in MSG. One hell of a performance from him, still a few mins left to add to his career high 43 points from just 23 shots.

Dublin Red Devil

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Steph Curry has detonated in MSG. One hell of a performance from him, still a few mins left to add to his career high 43 points from just 23 shots.

50 from Curry, Impressive stuff

Dublin Red Devil

GSW gave it away in the Clutch, Seems like they didn't even want the win

Great individual performance by Curry but what's it worth when your team loses the game

ButtersSuki

Yep, NBA Season-high of 54 from Mr. Curry and just one 3 away from tying NBA Record of 12 in a game. He did hit 11-13 from 3 though which is crazy-hot.

But as a number of people have posted....they still lost.

ButtersSuki

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

A prayer from Ellis to beat the Rockets....BUT Brandon Jennings walks before he passes (he lfits and steps with his pivot foot). Come on NBA refs, make the call.

ButtersSuki

Actually makes sense for both parties, but as a C's fan, I'm not sure I'd be welcoming Howard unless he returns to the Howard of old.

From SI.com:
The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have engaged in “preliminary trade discussions” centering around Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo, CBSSports.com’s Ken Berger is reporting.
The deal “hasn’t gained any traction,” however, and Howard said during an All-Star media session that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had told him that he would not be traded.
Making the trade even more of a long shot is the fact that Rondo is out for the season with a torn ACL and that the Celtics would not trade him without assurances that Howard, whose contract expires after this season, would sign with Boston long-term, Berger reports.
But discussions could continue even after the season ends, given that Howard has not shown any interest in signing a contract before then.

Since the league source familiar with the discussions characterized them as preliminary, it’s possible that the talks could be tabled until after the season. In that case, Howard would have to agree to a sign-and-trade to the Celtics that would only yield him a four-year deal as opposed to the five years the Lakers could offer him (or the Celtics, if he were traded there by Feb. 21 and subsequently re-signed). The Celtics could only acquire Howard in a sign-and-trade if they eschewed their full mid-level and remained below the so-called luxury-tax apron, a threshold $4 million above the tax line that was added in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement.

Celtics GM Danny Ainge has considered trading Rondo in the past, as the organization has had difficulty managing his personality, according to Berger. The team has won eight of nine games during his absence thus far.
The Lakers, meanwhile, could pursue the trade if they accept this season as a lost cause and begin preparing for the future. At 25-29, L.A. is 3.5 games behind the Houston Rockets for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, and Howard has not publicly shown interest in staying beyond this season.

Dublin Red Devil

Well I can't see that trade happening. Lakers should just let Howard go on free agency and use the open cap space to sign a couple of quality free agents

The future is very uncertain for the Lakers right now. Really anything could happen.