NBA Regular Season 2015/16

padraig_f

@jack_hamilton: "this is an incredible quote that makes me wonder if kevin garnett is ghostwriting towns' postgame interviews"

NufcNavan

KAT seems the real deal in every aspect. In his micd up video he was saying all the right things.

Early doors but I may have to concede Paully D was right about the Pacers. Every game so far they have fallen apart in the 2nd half. Bird has to take the blame for assembling an imbalanced roster.

NufcNavan

The problem with viewing this season as a rebuild for the Pacers is Monta's multi year deal. Having most of your scorers be ball dominant type players is that they're all pretty worthless while another ball dominant player is dominating the ball.

I don't have a problem with small ball in theory, but you have to have the right types of players in certain roles and the Pacers don't have those types of players.

Stretch players are usually catch and shoot type players with length. Not 2s being asked to play 4s because he can get hot every so often. CJ Miles is the perfect bench streaky shooter, not a spread em out stretch because he needs too many shots to be effective.

And I'll skip the defensive issues. The roster construction made defense and rebounding pretty much impossible.
To be honest, I don't think Bird planned to get a 4 during the off season at all. At least not a starting calibre one anyway.

I think Bird and maybe Vogel banked on Paul George being down with playing at the 4, but he clearly isn't. So CJ is being used as a stop gap to keep Paul George happy.

I'm not blaming PG btw because I mean sh#t, he's not a power forward and never will be. He is a wing FFS, just like CJ is. As you said, CJ is a player who will throw up 3s and will get hot at times and at other times he won't.

It just strikes me as piss poor planning by Bird and maybe it's a result of a guy who isn't 100% sure of what philosophy he wants from his team other than 'small'. I understand this is a rebuilding season of sorts, but surely any roster has to consist of players comfortable playing the role that they have been given.

What we have is an imbalance of a couple of centers combined with ball dominant wings, and we don't even have one pure point guard on the roster. It's a bit of a mess to be honest, and I have to say I expected a lot better from Larry.

That_Guy

The Nets' starters (Jack, Ellington, Johnson, Young, Lopez) are absolutely atrocious. It's been the second unit that has helped either cut the lead or taken us ahead.

Larkin, Hollis-Jefferson and Bogdanovic are really stepping up and should be starting games rather than sending them on when we're chasing teams.

Lot of energy about that second unit in what has been an awful set of opening games. Dreadful.

nerd69

That_Guy wrote: »

The Nets' starters (Jack, Ellington, Johnson, Young, Lopez) are absolutely atrocious. It's been the second unit that has helped either cut the lead or taken us ahead.

Larkin, Hollis-Jefferson and Bogdanovic are really stepping up and should be starting games rather than sending them on when we're chasing teams.

Lot of energy about that second unit in what has been an awful set of opening games. Dreadful.

celtics have there first rounder unprotected this year as well. how bad have they looked have they been top lottery pick bad? (i know its hard to tell after 3 games but it would be excellent to see them fall apart this year

NufcNavan

That_Guy wrote: »

The Nets' starters (Jack, Ellington, Johnson, Young, Lopez) are absolutely atrocious. It's been the second unit that has helped either cut the lead or taken us ahead.

Larkin, Hollis-Jefferson and Bogdanovic are really stepping up and should be starting games rather than sending them on when we're chasing teams.

Lot of energy about that second unit in what has been an awful set of opening games. Dreadful.

That's probably the worst back court in the league.

That_Guy

NufcNavan wrote: »

That's probably the worst back court in the league.

Gone from one of the oldest teams (I think I'm right in saying) to one of the youngest and it really shows. There's no recognisable leader. Sloppily run team and poor Lionel Hollins looks like he's about to lose the plot.

buyer95

Knocked across a good article on the excellent Spurs website "Pounding the Rock." For any followers of the NBA who like the Spurs its a very good website to keep an eye on.
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/11/3/9662624/rehash-spurs-knicks-change

The article just makes the point that Aldridge coming in has forced SA into a major rethink. Pop has had to sacrifice some elements of "the beautiful game," to bring out Aldridge's talents. It is a necessary change, the Spurs could not afford to keep relying on the big 3, playing the same pace and space game, and expect to remain competitive indefinitely. Kawhi and Aldridge make the Spurs a terrifying prospect going forward. Duncan looks like the same Timmy he has the last 3 years, that is to say insanely good for his age, and will be a huge contributer to this team once again. For the Spurs to win a championship this year, T.P will have to play a hell of a lot better than he did last year. He has a lot of miles on those legs, and his play in Eurobasket over the summer didn't exactly inspire confidence. Time will tell.

Love Pop's response when asked if he would be attending the world series in baseball.

"Why would I wanna go to a baseball game when I can go to dinner and relax? Sports are boring."

padraig_f

@robermays: "I had this weird dream that there was no more Grantland and the Bulls gave up 130 to the Hornets. It was...unsettling."

The PER table has an interesting look at this point:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics

Paully D

Brian Windhorst: "The Derrick Rose breakup with the Bulls has begun":

https://twitter.com/espn/status/662034850472263680

Bulls 105-130 Hornets. When Jeremy Lamb shoots 90% from the field on 10 FG's you know it's not going to be your night. :pac: Portis was a nice positive on an otherwise rubbish night for the Bulls.

padraig_f

Paully D wrote: »

Brian Windhorst: "The Derrick Rose breakup with the Bulls has begun":

https://twitter.com/espn/status/662034850472263680

Bulls 105-130 Hornets. When Jeremy Lamb shoots 90% from the field on 10 FG's you know it's not going to be your night. :pac: Portis was a nice positive on an otherwise rubbish night for the Bulls.

Seems a bit extreme, but it's true that his stock has fallen among Bulls fans since the high it was on a few seasons ago. His comments about free-agency at the start of this season were a bit depressing. There was me thinking after taking $20m/year for a few seasons while sitting on the sidelines, and signing a huge contract with Adidas ($250m or something?), he might at some point give something back to the Bulls, like Tim Duncan and Nowitzki have done for their teams. You can't expect that of someone, but it would be nice.

Then at media day in the pre-season, when free-agency is 2 years away, and you think he should at least be thinking mainly about basketball, he says 'I'm looking forward to 2017 with all that money going around'. As Windhorst said, tone-deaf at the very least.

Seems increasingly like Jimmy is the leader on the team, correctly setting the tone after the Hornets game the other night:

"We ain't been playing no defense," a frustrated Butler said after the game. "Other teams have just been missing shots to tell you the truth, to be honest. [Shoot] we score enough points, that's not the problem. But when you don't stop nobody, they put up 130 or whatever they did, we got to nip that in the bud now because that's not winning basketball. It will never be winning basketball here and it never has been winning basketball here. We've always prided ourself on playing hard and not being pretty. Tonight, we were pretty, we were soft. Got our asses whipped."

padraig_f

On a lighter note, the cursive jerseys make their return tomorrow night...

@chicagobulls: "For 60's night tmrw, & all Decade Nights, we will be wearing our Hardwood Classic jerseys! http://bit.ly/1JGyniH "



Hopefully we do them justice and don't give up 150 points to the Thunder

ButtersSuki

hey folks, good to see y'all back on the thread....I miss Ade though

Late to the party this year (been working like a beeyatch), but how about that start by GSW? I said last year (and the year before) that despite the flash (and there's plenty of that) they are a very good defensive team too. On current form (and barring injury to any key player) it really is hard to look beyond them repeating. The only slight concern I'd have would be they seem at peak pace/condition already in the season, and it's a long way to the Play Offs.

One other thing I said last year was their 67 win season in the stacked West was hugely, hugely impressive. if they had been in the East last year they would in all likelihood have broken the 72-10 record of Jordan's Chicago.

I'll try and get my predictions in in the next few days.

#bringbacknuri!

NufcNavan

Rose is surely gone from the Bulls after his contract runs out. Best for both parties to move on. He's not even the 2nd best player on that team anymore.

Th0mas Shelby

ButtersSuki wrote: »

hey folks, good to see y'all back on the thread....I miss Ade though

Late to the party this year (been working like a beeyatch), but how about that start by GSW? I said last year (and the year before) that despite the flash (and there's plenty of that) they are a very good defensive team too. On current form (and barring injury to any key player) it really is hard to look beyond them repeating. The only slight concern I'd have would be they seem at peak pace/condition already in the season, and it's a long way to the Play Offs.

One other thing I said last year was their 67 win season in the stacked West was hugely, hugely impressive. if they had been in the East last year they would in all likelihood have broken the 72-10 record of Jordan's Chicago.

I'll try and get my predictions in in the next few days.

#bringbacknuri!

Fantastic start by GSW, felt they set down a real marker in the west lastnight. Couple of points down with 2 minutes to go, who would you rather have in your team than Curry? 72-10....I've seen stranger things happening but it's again an extremely strong Western Conference so will be tough to top last years 67. Great start though and looking strong defensively.

Paully D

Can we just skip to the Warriors vs Cavs final now and save everyone the time?

That_Guy

Paully D wrote: »

Can we just skip to the Warriors vs Cavs final now and save everyone the time?

Having watched the trainwreck that is the Brooklyn Nets up until this point, I will vote in favour of this.

The worst team in the NBA by far.

nerd69

That_Guy wrote: »

Having watched the trainwreck that is the Brooklyn Nets up until this point, I will vote in favour of this.

The worst team in the NBA by far.

that trade with the celtics looks a tad insane right around now

That_Guy

nerd69 wrote: »

that trade with the celtics looks a tad insane right around now

If the Nets owned a restaurant, it wouldn't be mints they'd be giving out at the end of a meal. It'd be a bowl of picks.

nerd69

honest question to celtics fans would you rather another average season an a playoff spot likely ending with a first round exit again but allowing the many many young players to grow and have a bit more playoff experience or for the team to fall apart a bit along with the nets and get two high lottery picks?

Paully D

nerd69 wrote: »

honest question to celtics fans would you rather another average season an a playoff spot likely ending with a first round exit again but allowing the many many young players to grow and have a bit more playoff experience or for the team to fall apart a bit along with the nets and get two high lottery picks?

Not a Celtics fan, but my answer when this sort of question is asked is always the high draft pick. If you're not realistically going to challenge for the East then give me a decent chance to be in a position to draft a gamechanger any day of the week.

I know it's a bit different in the NBA because you're not guaranteed a great pick with the way the system works even with a bad season, but as a Ravens fan in the NFL I've been banging the drum over on the American football forum for the last few weeks that I actually want to see the team lose every week now that they're out of contention.

ButtersSuki

nerd69 wrote: »

honest question to celtics fans would you rather another average season an a playoff spot likely ending with a first round exit again but allowing the many many young players to grow and have a bit more playoff experience or for the team to fall apart a bit along with the nets and get two high lottery picks?

C's fan since I was 12 (I'm a LOT older than that now!). Picks all the way. Picks, picks, picks.

I'd also expect Ainge to trade picks/players for higher picks. Given how much the game has evolved to being a star lead game, and one in which one player can have enormous influence, I'd much rather have 2 picks in say the Top 6 than 5 in the first round. I fully expect Ainge to blow it all up come All Star Weekend, no matter if the team are play off bound or not, it's not about this season, or to a large degree the next 3 - it's about rebuilding right now.

Watched the CHI OKC game last night, Rose was clutch. There's no doubting his skill set or his game, what's in doubt is his ability to do it consistently over a long season and deep into the Play Offs. I'd love to see the guy come back and prove everyone wrong as he's had some awful injuries, but we'll just have to wait and see I guess.

#bringbacknuri

ButtersSuki

nerd69 wrote: »

that trade with the celtics looks a tad insane right around now

As a Celtics' fan, I couldn't believe it at the time. I still struggle to believe the Nets were so dumb as to agree to it.

Paully D

Throwback game from D Rose last night, I thought I'd gone back in time to 2010/2011. It really makes me mad/sad that he used to be able to do that almost every single night until the injuries struck. :mad:

Felexicon

Ah man when D Rose burst on to the scene he was a must see every game. It's a shame he's been robbed of so much through injury. Hope he can stay healthy for an extended run this year.

On another note. How about those Lakers? Wouldn't even be in contention for a playoff spot in the East. It looks like being a long road back to glory

padraig_f

Felexicon wrote: »

Ah man when D Rose burst on to the scene he was a must see every game. It's a shame he's been robbed of so much through injury. Hope he can stay healthy for an extended run this year.

It was very exciting, but possibly not sustainable long-term. The encouraging thing this year is the Bulls don't need Rose back to that level to win. If the offense comes together, there's a lot of scoring...Butler can score, Mirotic can score, Gasol can score (and McDermott/Snell can chip in)...I think that's what I want to see, a balanced offense with the scores coming from everywhere.

Barkley quoted Popovich last night, saying he asked him when he realised Kawhi Leonard was a superstar, and Popovich said 'When we drew up plays for him, and he realised it wasn't for Kawhi to score, it was for the Spurs to score'. I think that's what I want to see, an offensive unit rather than just us relying on one player.

Good win last night & fun game. The Durant/Butler & Rose/Westbrook matchups are good to watch. The Thunder weren't great, Durant seemed a bit off and it looks like there's some early growing-pains with the new coach.

I find this comment a bit dumb though:

@billsimmons: "Just zoomed thru OKC-Bulls. Shocked by the coaching sloppiness on both sides. We always underestimate the college-to-NBA learning curve."

It's 6 games in FFS, what's he expecting at this point?

GoldFour4

nerd69 wrote: »

that trade with the celtics looks a tad insane right around now

Had completely forgotten about that trade until I was listening to Simmons on the drive home tonight, crazy from Brooklyn to not have protection on a pick in this day and age.

nerd69

celtics win + nets go to 0-6 today was a good day

ButtersSuki

Felexicon wrote: »

Ah man when D Rose burst on to the scene he was a must see every game. It's a shame he's been robbed of so much through injury. Hope he can stay healthy for an extended run this year.

He wasn't really a must see from the start! Saw Rose play as a rookie v Boston in November '08 (one of his first NBA starts). I left feeling very underwhelmed about him at the time, except for his insane quickness - he beat everyone up and down the court easily, but he never really looked in full control of the ball at the time - like he hadn't fully adjusted to the league if that makes sense? He didn't really have much range shot wise and was all drives. I was kinda surprised he got ROY that year, but he didn't really have much competition - this is not me being wise after the event btw, I posted on this at the time!

In fairness to him, his MVP season was astonishing and his play (esp. perimeter shooting) improved immeasurably (I again posted on this at the time). His overall game jumped hugely from Rookie to MVP season. What saddens me is I don't think we'll ever see that level of play consistently again from him. He was MVP at 22 (!!!!!!!!) and a crock at 27, which is so sad. He'll have the odd game like the OKC game the other night, but the frequency will drop.

Paully D

Great finish in Chicago but the Bulls were the victim of some awful calls down the stretch of the 4th quarter there against the T-Wolves who won in OT.

The non-continuation call on Butler's shot which would have given him 2 FT's and the chance put the Bulls up 4 points with less than 2 minutes left was a disgrace. Though missing 9 straight shots in the last 6 minutes of the game didn't help either (1/17 combined with that and OT). :pac::eek:

Wiggins was phenomenal. The T-Wolves have a bright future with he and Towns.

https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/663170402747682816

Bulls are struggling on both sides of the ball. It's to be expected I suppose but it's going to be a significant period of adjustment the way things are looking.