NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2017-18

LuckyLloyd

LeBron for MVP?

Meatyfubu

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

LeBron for MVP?

I don't think so, I think the Cavs won't have enough wins to get him into the conversation. Plus I think a few pundits, fans and players are coming to terms with the fact that the wrong player got MVP last year.

Personally, I think Harden should have 2 now, Steph's 1st and Westbrooks, they were both close but he is probably the most hard done by in the past few years. I'm not saying he's been robbed or anything but he had very legit claims on both especially last year.
Obviously that is not a reason to give it to him but he surely deserves it this year more than any other, he's been the best player imo.

Versus LBJ better record, better numbers, looks like a legit contender(538 have them favs 40%ish), LBJ might push him but I think Harden gets it.

Itssoeasy

Derick rose has signed with the Minnesota timberwolves.

Gregk961

It has to be Hardens year. I think LBJ, AD, Giannis and Steph have all had very good seasons but Harden has been a step above them, and I'm not a huge Harden fan.

Im still not convinced the Rockets can lay a glove on the Warriors though.

Itssoeasy

Gregk961 wrote: »

It has to be Hardens year. I think LBJ, AD, Giannis and Steph have all had very good seasons but Harden has been a step above them, and I'm not a huge Harden fan.

Im still not convinced the Rockets can lay a glove on the Warriors though.

I'd have to agree. I didn't watch as closely during the start of the season but I felt gone back now and watched his stuff in full and you'd have to say he's playing some superb stuff.

ButtersSuki

Haven't seen the Lakers V Magic but check out the amazing defense by Detroit on the game winning dunk by DeRozan, allowing a guy go coast to coast like that with the game on the line? If U12s did it you'd be mad with them.

(it's the no. 1 play on the list below)

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

Esp. Blake Griffin running out of the way when he should be lining up to take a charge on that play. You stop the ball first......

ButtersSuki

Just watched the end of the Lakers Magic game. Bonkers.

From memory the rule is the game clock doesn't start until the ball touches a player (not equipment etc.). What happened was "a clock malfunction" and a subsequent "inadvertent whistle":

From LA Times:
Bill Spooner, the referee crew chief from Wednesday’s game, had this to say to a pool reporter following the controversial finish: ``The rule is 13E-9-2, and anytime there is either an inadvertent whistle and/or a horn when the ball is in the air, there’s no possession and we go center circle, jump ball.’’

Which is daft. If you're the home team and the opposition has less than a second on the game clock...start the clock early.......


Simple logic dictates you replay the possession.

Meatyfubu

Kevin Love's article was good and it's a very important topic in basketball, pro sports and society as a whole but as simply a written piece I think this: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/ is excellent.
Love's will garner more attention and rightfully so but I thought Francis gave a really good insight into his life here.

2smiggy

the Nets win last night must feel like a kick in the nuts to the Cavs. they have moved i think from 3rd to 7th or 8th in the lottery with one victory. They are going to be the only team actually trying to win , if only they were not so bad !!

ButtersSuki

2smiggy wrote: »

the Nets win last night must feel like a kick in the nuts to the Cavs. they have moved i think from 3rd to 7th or 8th in the lottery with one victory. They are going to be the only team actually trying to win , if only they were not so bad !!

Long way to go on that yet, and with it so tight at the bottom they're be a lot of change yet. One or two wins/losses here and there and everything changes. The last two weeks of the season will be a complete joke though.

NufcNavan

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Long way to go on that yet, and with it so tight at the bottom they're be a lot of change yet. One or two wins/losses here and there and everything changes. The last two weeks of the season will be a complete joke though.

And that is exactly why the lottery system is flawed. More or less the same franchises suck year on year and blow their draft picks.

Meatyfubu

NufcNavan wrote: »

And that is exactly why the lottery system is flawed. More or less the same franchises suck year on year and blow their draft picks.

Luck plays such a massive part in draft picks. Teams can easily go a number of drafts selecting players who turn out not to live up to the hype and conversely others far outperform expectations.

Scouts barely have to do evaluations because the level of coverage via ESPN, DraftExpress etc gives an abundance of information on players. Diverging from the widely held view is very hard.

There's more at play than simply selecting the player you feel is best. GM/Owners etc are risk averse, nobody wants to be the decision maker to punt on the player who's not widely held to fall between picks X&Y.

Name 5 players in the past say 3 years who have been selected either correctly or incorrectly in a position that was way off the predicted draft spot that didn't have an injury affect their stock.

The same teams being bad at drafting is a lot less to do with skill or lack of, than people think. Teams should have more conviction but it's rarely the case.

It's probably a widely held opinion now that the 76ers drafted great. However, 2 years ago people may have said the 76ers were terrible when we saw Okafor & Carter-Williams but now they're geniuses because we have Embiid & Simmons.

It's flawed no doubts and some teams are better at selecting that others but "good drafters" are given far too much credit and the luck element isn't considered often enough.

ButtersSuki

Haven't had a chance to read the Love article yet but I will.

As we were discussing podcasts recently I started listening to a new on this week - Dunc'D On Basketball. It's quite good if a little nerdy - they go quite deep into very small aspects of the game and have a huge focus on the cap.....but I liked it.

Also, does anyone watch the Top 10/5 Plays feature on Youtube and nba.com everyday? My god there are some annoying presenters of that segment, esp. the "Down with the Kiiiiiiiiiiiing!" guy.

Finally The Starters, bit light and fluffy for me but how annoying is that JE Skeets "Good evening sweet world" intro.? I just want to slap him everytime he says it.

stuchyg

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Haven't had a chance to read the Love article yet but I will.

As we were discussing podcasts recently I started listening to a new on this week - Dunc'D On Basketball. It's quite good if a little nerdy - they go quite deep into very small aspects of the game and have a huge focus on the cap.....but I liked it.

Also, does anyone watch the Top 10/5 Plays feature on Youtube and nba.com everyday? My god there are some annoying presenters of that segment, esp. the "Down with the Kiiiiiiiiiiiing!" guy.

Finally The Starters, bit light and fluffy for me but how annoying is that JE Skeets "Good evening sweet world" intro.? I just want to slap him everytime he says it.

In all fairness it's a call back for fans of them from their TBJ days

Osmosis Jones

The Starters is a good show, I usually just start it 50 seconds in as they finish up their intros though.

What a win by the Raptors, great to see them closing out these tight games.

All despite the refs again, 1 foul given away in the 4th up until the last 90 secs by Houston, a joke.

Was a joy to watch Harden though, like he plays in slow motion, he makes it look so easy

Itssoeasy

Deleted User wrote: »

What a win by the Raptors, great to see them closing out these tight games.

All despite the refs again, 1 foul given away in the 4th up until the last 90 secs by Houston, a joke.

The refs did seem to let them play alright. I don't mind the refs letting them play once they don't let blatant fouls go.

Paully D

10 in a row for Portland now after beating the Warriors last night. :eek:

irishman86

Does any basketball fan like Steven A
He drives me insane with his shouting and nonsensical views.
I kinda presume its just me or he wouldnt have a show

Itssoeasy

irishman86 wrote: »

Does any basketball fan like Steven A
He drives me insane with his shouting and nonsensical views.
I kinda presume its just me or he wouldnt have a show

I dislike him regardless of what sport he is talking about.

Itssoeasy

Also just a reminder that the clocks in the US go forward tonight by one hour and in Ireland it doesn't happen until the end of the month. So games tomorrow will start one hour earlier than you'd expect. So a game starting at 1pm which the Knicks game does is a 5pm tip off not 6pm for the next few weeks.

NufcNavan

As for the playoff race in the East, man the Pistons are a mess. Nothing worse than sucking AND being in cap hell.

Around 100 million wrapped up in Drummond, Blake, Reggie Jackson, Jon Leur, Josh Smith and Langston Galloway for next 3 years.

Meatyfubu

NufcNavan wrote: »

As for the playoff race in the East, man the Pistons are a mess. Nothing worse than sucking AND being in cap hell.

Around 100 million wrapped up in Drummond, Blake, Reggie Jackson, Jon Leur, Josh Smith and Langston Galloway for next 3 years.

A lot of teams overpaid for players in anticipation of the rising salary cap but that's stagnated for now.
The gambling bill will lead to a significant increase in the cap but it's unlikely any teams will get any relief from the current contracts.

I do think teams will be unlikely to tie up lots of money in anyone outside of a true superstar that's not that old. No team will make a move until LBJ does but there are a few intriguing contracts this summer like IT, Cousins, PG13, Nerlens Noel(turned down 70m 4 years).

I think we might see a lot more of Caldwell-Pope and JJ Redick type contracts large 1 years by developing teams to entice solid vets for 1 year stints to help and if successful they either sign for less long term or increase their stock. I think that's what IT will do this summer and maybe does it with the Lakers if LBJ doesn't arrive.

ButtersSuki

San Antonio down to 7th in the West now after back to back losses v GS and OKC. They play the Rockets this week and all 3 again begorrvthe end of the season and they have the toughest schedule of any team in the league to the end of the year. They’re in trouble.

Itssoeasy

The spurs are in serious trouble of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1997 and only the second time since 1988-89 season. They are 2-8 in their last ten and are only a half game ahead the of the clippers who are the eight seed. They are looking like they may not get to 50 games for the first time in the popovich era.*

I've watched a few of their games recently and they lost badly to the lakers and don't look like they will win 13 of their remaining games.


*The strike shortened season of 1998-99 only had 50 games in the regular season so I'd give them a pass on that one.

Itssoeasy

ButtersSuki wrote: »

San Antonio down to 7th in the West now after back to back losses v GS and OKC. They play the Rockets this week and all 3 again begorrvthe end of the season and they have the toughest schedule of any team in the league to the end of the year. They’re in trouble.

Ha!

Itssoeasy

I know it's a long shot but the Knicks haven't a hope in hell of beating the raptors do they ? I mean a knicks win and Celtics win would be helpful.

Meatyfubu

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Ha!

They have Kawhi back on Thursday, I'm sure they'll be fine. I'd take the Spurs with Kawhi over any team in the league outside of GSW, Rockets & Cavs. Assuming he is back they'll make the playoffs

Itssoeasy

Itssoeasy wrote: »

I know it's a long shot but the Knicks haven't a hope in hell of beating the raptors do they ? I mean a knicks win and Celtics win would be helpful.

I could be wrong and I am too lazy to look up the stats but I just always feel the Raptors don't show up in these early afternoon games.

But I fully expect them to crush the Knicks today, revenge for that ridiculous comeback win they got the last time at MSG when they blew a ~20 point lead in the 3rd I think it was