NBA Season Thread 2013-2014

Nuri Sahin

shamrock55 wrote: »

Pacers making a comeback?

I hope so, well, cover +7.5 anyway.

Nuri Sahin

Raptors cranking up the pressure, ball game tied with a few to go.

And 1 from Vasquez, Raptors lead by 5.

Good stuff, Raptors win. Made hard work of it though.

Nuri Sahin

Paul George lighting it up in the worlds most famous arena, going 3 for 16 with a couple remaining.

Brilliant Knicks basketball there, dagger.

____

Twolves choking in Dallas right now.

shamrock55

I dont think raptors do it any other way:)

shamrock55

Good comeback by mavs too it seems

Nuri Sahin

Holy moly, what a finish in regulation play. OT in Dallas.

Heck of a shot from Dirk and then Love answers him right back. Great defense from Love. Twolves win, fun finish that.

enjoyed the boston miami game last night rondo must be a fun player to play with despite his perceived ego im supprissed more shooters are not clamoring to play with him

NufcNavan

Fake Superstar game from Paul George. You know, I'd be more willing to tolerate his poor offensive performances if he was just consistent on the defensive end. But no. He's able to play incredible defense, and he chooses to go for steals, stand on help, get lazy on perimeter defense. He can't even stay solid there right now.

Look, you can lay a lot of blame at the feet of David West, Lance passes, the bench etc. tonight. Plenty to go around. But one of the biggest problems with a game like this is the Fake Superstar performance at the center of it, courtesy Paul George.

It's also more than fair to question the coaching at this point. How many games do we have to watch this team have no idea what to do on the offensive end, waste time and get off a poor shot? How many terrible end-of-quarter Paul George isos that end in a stepback prayer? How many bad out-of-bounds plays? How much of the same flaws coming back to haunt this team on defense? I get that player execution is a thing, and hey, maybe fatigue is too right now. But I look at the consistent flaws with this team, I look at the gross play designs and overall execution, I look at the ex-Pacers excelling elsewhere, and damn right I think the coaches deserve some heat, record be damned.

padraig_f

NufcNavan wrote: »

Fake Superstar game from Paul George. You know, I'd be more willing to tolerate his poor offensive performances if he was just consistent on the defensive end. But no. He's able to play incredible defense, and he chooses to go for steals, stand on help, get lazy on perimeter defense. He can't even stay solid there right now.

Look, you can lay a lot of blame at the feet of David West, Lance passes, the bench etc. tonight. Plenty to go around. But one of the biggest problems with a game like this is the Fake Superstar performance at the center of it, courtesy Paul George.

I'm assuming part of what happened him is the scouting report, and teams gameplanning for him more. Whereas before he was the go-to guy, teams wouldn't gameplan for him, now he's a bigger part of the offense, they are, and his offensive game isn't quite standing up.

His weak point to me seems to be his ball-handling, which I don't think is up there with the elite offensive players, and this doesn't look too hard for teams to attack....challenging him with the ball, keeping him away from the spots he wants to get to, keeping the ball out of his hands (I remember seeing one end-of-game situation where the Pacers used a different ball-handler, and the defense anticipated the entry-pass to George and forced the steal).

I think if you compare him to Carmelo, where Carmelo is able to get to his spots, you can see a difference. I still think he's a good offensive player, but there's a difference between being good, and being an elite go-to guy.

It's also more than fair to question the coaching at this point. How many games do we have to watch this team have no idea what to do on the offensive end, waste time and get off a poor shot? How many terrible end-of-quarter Paul George isos that end in a stepback prayer? How many bad out-of-bounds plays? How much of the same flaws coming back to haunt this team on defense? I get that player execution is a thing, and hey, maybe fatigue is too right now. But I look at the consistent flaws with this team, I look at the gross play designs and overall execution, I look at the ex-Pacers excelling elsewhere, and damn right I think the coaches deserve some heat, record be damned.

In general they look well coached to me, but there are some holes. I did notice the ex-player thing with DJ Augustin...

PER with the Pacers last year: 11.04
PER with the Bulls this year: 15.57


Looking forward to the two Bulls-Pacers games over the weekend as a possible playoff preview. I suspect the two teams are quite even at this point.

Nuri Sahin

Gerald Green and Miles Plumee too.

ButtersSuki

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Gerald Green and Miles Plumee too.

I've previously posted here in this subject but Green is consistently throwing down some crazy nasty in game dunks this year.

Nuri Sahin

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I've previously posted here in this subject but Green is consistently throwing down some crazy nasty in game dunks this year.

Yup, and hitting from beyond the arc at a decent clip too.

ButtersSuki

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Yup, and hitting from beyond the arc at a decent clip too.

Yup, he's more than just a dunker. Major improvement all round in his game this year, but my oh my, what a highlight reel of in-game dunks this year.

See you enjoyed the Barclays, told ya it was nice!

Nuri Sahin

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Yup, he's more than just a dunker. Major improvement all round in his game this year, but my oh my, what a highlight reel of in-game dunks this year.

See you enjoyed the Barclays, told ya it was nice!

Beautiful arena, just a shame the game was a blow out. Thought they had a real chance of winning, but the Nets are peaking at the right time. Was very impressed with them.

Dublin Red Devil

NBA is gonna have to be put on hold for me. NCAA takes over

PizzamanIRL

Dear Dublin Red Devil,

We're sorry to hear that you will not be with us tonight.
If there is anything we can do to change your mind, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

NBA.

Nuri Sahin

PizzamanIRL wrote: »

Dear Dublin Red Devil,

We're sorry to hear that you will not be with us tonight.
If there is anything we can do to change your mind, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

NBA.

kmart6

Silver has just cancelled all games tonight after this news reached him!

benway

padraig_f wrote: »

I still think he's a good offensive player, but there's a difference between being good, and being an elite go-to guy.

Fully agree. PG has all the tools and I think he will get there, but I also think there's a lack of maturity about him that's starting to catch up with him as the pressure has started to come on since the All-Star Break.

Two things spring to mind:

1. The thing with Big Baby after the Magic turned the Pacers over in February.

2. The toe-curling sucking up to That Guy. Think Barclay was right on the money on it.

Now, I'm fully aware that I'm probably reading too much in to this, but bear with me.

The Big Baby thing is not a big deal by itself - PG probably should not blank another pro after a game like that, but whatever. But then you think that he does stuff like high fiveing That Guy in game in the Eastern Finals. On his way to getting beat by him. Asking for "mentoring", whatever that means.

Extreme example, but, from day one, Shaq didn't set out to be "mentored" or accepted or even liked by the other revered legends that were playing centre in the league. He set out to break them physically and mentally.

Larry Bird only had time for Magic for most of his career when he was checking the box score to see what he had to beat.

PG at the moment wants to be in the gang with the kool kids. It's like he's still star-struck with getting to hang out on the same court as Bran. But it's all wrong, if he wants to break into the elite, he needs to be hating That Guy, getting up every day trying to beat him any which way he can.

Guys like Big Baby shouldn't even be on his radar. He is not a threat. He should be happy to play nice with guys like that, they are not his competition.

And like Barclay says, if he needs a mentor, he's got Larry Bird in the same building as him. Larry Bird. What more does he need, exactly? A supposed franchise player making doe eyes at the franchise player of his biggest divisional rival is kinda embarrassing, tbh.

It's a pity, would've loved to see the Pacers take it this year, not least because of Larry Bird, but I just don't think the killer mentality is there yet, especially with PG.

Nuri Sahin

Thunder rolling in Cleveland. Waiters looks decent running the point, unfortunately for him his teammates aren't up to much and yeah, KD and stuff. Russ sat this one out.

Nuri Sahin

I spoke too soon... Cavs went on a 16-0 run.

ButtersSuki

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

Beautiful arena, just a shame the game was a blow out. Thought they had a real chance of winning, but the Nets are peaking at the right time. Was very impressed with them.

It's all down to the coach of course.......:rolleyes::rolleyes::D

ChicagoJoe

Bulls really in need of a high-impact, veteran star. Rose needs to get back on the floor, Noah and Taj are in their peak primes, Jimmy's ready to be a prime defensive specialist, Kirk/Dunleavy have 1-2 years left in the tank. We need a proven scoring option who will come in and want to play defense. There are a few potential stars in this draft, but even they look like they'll need several years to develop (Wiggins, Embiid). Parker looks ready but no one's trading away either of these 3.

Nuri Sahin

ButtersSuki wrote: »

It's all down to the coach of course.......:rolleyes::rolleyes::D

I genuinely don't think Jackson, McHale and Brooks are that much better than Kidd to be fair to him!

padraig_f

benway wrote: »

Fully agree. PG has all the tools and I think he will get there, but I also think there's a lack of maturity about him that's starting to catch up with him as the pressure has started to come on since the All-Star Break.

Yeah, easy to forget he's still young because physically he looks mature, but is only 23. I think he'll have learned a lot this season, so will be interesting to see if he can develop in the off-season and come back next year a better player (I hope I'm not reverse-jinxing him too much with the Bulls playing the Pacers tonight).

The Big Baby thing didn't bother me, as it was in the seconds after a loss. Didn't like the comments about having Lebron as a mentor alright. It's interesting though, you expect these NBA players to have supreme self-confidence, but then you'll also hear them say how after they play in the All-Star game or with Team USA, that it gives them extra confidence, like they feel they belong more among the best players.

An offensive game can be improved, you see Lebron developing his post game in the last year or two. That's the challenge for George I think, to come back next season with a more polished offensive game. I was watching a game recently and Jeff van Gundy had a great quote, I'm paraphrasing, but something to the effect of 'Everyone wants to win once the game starts, what distinguishes the real winners is what they do away from the game.'

Nuri Sahin

De Rozan v Durant and Lowry v Westbrook.

Bulls are in Indiana.

In form Grizzlies head to Miami.

And Mr.50% from 3 this month is in LA.

Nice line up of games tonight.

Dublin Red Devil

ChicagoJoe wrote: »

Bulls really in need of a high-impact, veteran star. Rose needs to get back on the floor, Noah and Taj are in their peak primes, Jimmy's ready to be a prime defensive specialist, Kirk/Dunleavy have 1-2 years left in the tank. We need a proven scoring option who will come in and want to play defense. There are a few potential stars in this draft, but even they look like they'll need several years to develop (Wiggins, Embiid). Parker looks ready but no one's trading away either of these 3.

The Bulls are already in line for some pretty good 1st round picks. They have the Hornets pick and their own. 14th and 19th pick right now if the draw goes the most likely way. With the depth of this draft you The Bulls can pick up a couple quality players

Paully D

Bulls/Pacers tonight, looking forward to it.

ButtersSuki

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

I genuinely don't think Jackson, McHale and Brooks are that much better than Kidd to be fair to him!

I hear ya, but considering the start Brooklyn had and some of Kidd's early antics I just hope he's not suddenly going to get credit for turning it around. What's happening in Brooklyn is a player reaction more than anything.hing else IMO.

And ah, as we're talking (Worst) Coach Of The Year, what about the one and only Mike "can you believe I got another job?" Brown?!

NufcNavan

Well done Pacers. Who would have known that playing team ball and tight D would lead to buckets (seemed to have forgotten that over the last two months). Keep it up.