'17-18 NBA Thread

[Pariah]

9 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

You'll have to tell me about the Jazz.

 

The Jazz played reasonably well tonight, considering they didn't have Rudy Gobert (injury) or Gordon Hayward (Celtics). They played the Thunder pretty tight in the first half, trailing only by four at halftime. But in the second half a combination of hot shooting by Oklahoma City, cold shooting by the Jazz, and absolutely no offensive rebounding whatsoever by the Jazz ultimately gave the game to the Thunder.

[Enforcer84]

Donovan Mitchell is going to be a special player. But Utah's really gotta ...and I hate to say this...move Derek Favors. Given their lack of shooting when he and Gobert play together especially combined with Rubio's suspect shot...they tend to play best when either Gobert or Favors sits or is out entirely. But Gobert I think has the better all around game.

 

And Portland managed to beat someone without Damian Lillard able to play. In fact it was the first game that showed Zach Collins is a player given minutes.

 

 

[Enforcer84]

Also, how does Houston (25-6) lose two in a row when Harden throws down 51 on consecutive games? And he wasn't just chucking he shot better than 50% both nights, (though head 8 turnovers against the clippers)

The worst part is the LA teams combined have fewer wins than Houston (24)

[Starlord]

Ultimately, what Houston does will not matter.  If Chris Paul is actually healthy for the entire playoffs, I'll eat my shorts.

[Badger]

Make sure they don't have skidmarks, just in case

[Starlord]

I always do.

[Enforcer84]

I'd be very interested to see Chris Paul and James Hardin successful in the playoffs.

I know that past performance isn't a perfect predictor of future performance, but they always find away to lose. 

[Badger]

17 hours ago, Enforcer84 said:

Also, how does Houston (25-6) lose two in a row when Harden throws down 51 on consecutive games? And he wasn't just chucking he shot better than 50% both nights, (though head 8 turnovers against the clippers)

The worst part is the LA teams combined have fewer wins than Houston (24)

 

When a guy scores 50, the team loses more often than one would expect.  Maybe because it means the rest of the team is playing like crap.

[Enforcer84]

and that's 5 straight losses for Houston. Wow.

[Enforcer84]

Showing James Harden how it's done, DeMar DeRozen scores 52 in a wain against the Bucks.

[Badger]

DeRozan always gets forgotten in the league scheme of things

[Enforcer84]

He's just below superstar. And came on late. But he's improved each of the last four years or so. This year his scoring is down but his assists and 3 point shooting are both going up.

[Michael Hopcroft]

This was supposed to be the year "The Process" paid off in PHilly; when all the young stars would finally be healthy and jell into a great team.

 

There have been no major injuries, but right now the team is under .500 and out of the playoffs. They're better than they were (hard not to be) but they aren't good, and certainly aren;t showing signs of being potentially great. And some players already want out.

 

Franchises that want to emulate the Sixers should probably take note of this. It is looking increasingly likely that "the Process" simply isn't going to work, or may have been just an excuse to field a team on the cheap and not acquire talent to compete. 

[Enforcer84]

Many things I disagree with in your post. 

 

1. The number one pick missed the first three months. That's an injury concern. 

2. The Sixer's slide has been rough, Simmons can't shoot (though he'll take it to the basket so he scores more than say, Lonzo) and defense is new to many of them. But he's clearly a man among boys and will get better.

3. Most importantly, Philly didn't really trust the process, Henkie left before the end of the 2016 season ended because ownership lost faith and brought in a "basketball guy" in Colangelo (who was a great GM in Phoenix until he wasn't) who has alienated players installed his son as GM and then stepped down. They then drafted Fultz who has so far made Boston look super smart by passing on him for Tatum. We'll see how Fultz recovers from his injuries and if he was the skills to play the off ball guard in Ben Simmons's universe.

 

Embiid's injuries have the team going extra careful with him, but he is a beast (if turnover prone - *waves at DeMarcus Cousins*) should his body hold up he's going to be a superstar. 

 

[Badger]

A healthy Embiid and Simmons almost makes it a success on its own.  ANd seeing how little those 2 have played going into this year,  this really should be considered the kickstarter year.  JUne 2019 is probably when we can judge for sure, once and for all.

 

I don't see Fultz working out for them,  I think he will end up being a PG who needs ball control to have any real value, and Simmons is Giannis with more muscle mass.

 

 

[Starlord]

Sixers are 16-12 when both Simmons and Embiid start.

[Enforcer84]

Not surprising.

[Enforcer84]

The light seems to have turned on for Andre Drummond.

 

Taking a lot of flack for Detroit's woes last year, this year the same thing can't be said. 

 

1) He learned free throws. Sample size is getting larger and he's drainging them at over 60% and shooting about 18% hire than his previous career best.

2) He's already got as many assists as the past two seasons combined, averaging about  2 more per game. 

3) He's not just dunking so his FG% has dropped but he's still well above .500. 

 

And though there's constantly a moaning about the "dirth of big men" It should be noted that there are 11 guys averaging a Pts/Rebounds double double

 

The change of the game from 2 point to 3 point-centric has changed the game, giving the bigs more space to work in but a number are showing range like Olajuwon and Ewing. It should also be noted that the draft boards are loaded with 7 foot (ish) lottery picks this year. The European Phenom is a SG/SF, and there's a Stephen Curry 2.0, but there are 5 Centers/PF vying for the other top seven spots.

[Starlord]

Markelle Fultz has apparently been infected with 'Rick Ankiel Syndrome'.  His shot looks....bad.

[Enforcer84]

yeah, he's really hard to figure out. Why they changed his shot is beyond me. And why he can't go back...

[Starlord]

IMO Team Lebron is the better roster for a serious game, but Team Steph is the better roster for an exhibition game.

[Badger]

I wish sports would do away with All-Star game, they are moronic and boring.  The fact they have to put stunts in them to get viewers to tune in, should be a clue.

[Enforcer84]

I kind of agree. Though they'd never do that because money. And the weekend events are hugely popular if not conventionally entertaining for a small, angry, mustelids.  

[Michael Hopcroft]

Demarcus Cousins had his contract year cut short after tearing his Achilles on a spectacular rebound. Which means he's likely to miss out on a payday of $170 million.

 

Let that sink in for a second. $170 million. That's more than this weekend's Powerball.

[Enforcer84]

Cousins ability to work his way back from this will definitely affect his value. I think if he busts his butt and comes back into form on a 1 year contract he probably won't suffer too much. He proved that he could play alongside Anthony Davis with pretty good results (the rest of the team being something of a dumpster fire) the big question there is how will the team react, if the loss of Boogie blows the team out of the water and he comes back strong I think he can command some big bucks.