Michael Hopcroft Posted October 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2018 13 hours ago, Pariah said: In other news, the Colorado Avalanche, the worst team in the NHL by 20+ points two season ago, are currently tied for the league's best record. What? We need a hockey thread, because it looks like this will be one heck of a season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 On 10/25/2018 at 11:37 AM, Starlord said: Wow. Haven't seen that at all. In only 4 full games with James, Lonzo seems to quickly get how to play with Lebron - keep moving. Last 3 games he's shooting over 50%, 45% from 3, avgd 13 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast in less than 30 mins. Much improved with Lebron so far and his dad has mostly kept quiet about him for awhile now. Yeah, Lonzo has been really good so far. His FT% is still kind of scary for a wing/point guard but he avoids contact so maybe not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 How about Derek Rose dropping 50 on the Jazz? Damn, not only was it inspired play but just the way the rest of the players in the league shout out to a guy who has been fighting injuries for almost 7 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 10 minutes ago, Enforcer84 said: Yeah, Lonzo has been really good so far. His FT% is still kind of scary for a wing/point guard but he avoids contact so maybe not. I think he should start over Rondo, in fact I think Walton should play all the younger guys with Lebron and use the vets as the 2nd team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 It's been looking that way since the suspensions. LA's two 2nd pick "Busts" their rookie seasons are both looking like players in seasons 2 and 3. Brandon Ingram can play on the floor with LeBron which has been good for the team. And JaVale McGee has been a damn good starter early. It frustrates me no end to say all of this. On the positive side, while Meyers Leonard doesn't seem like he'll ever be the answer, second year Zach Collins has been more than solid for the Blazers. And with an unfortunate loss to the Apprentices in Washington behind us, Portland has been looking pretty good in the early season with Houston's completely predictable swoon after losing two of their best defenders and replacing them with Cancer Anthony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 Yeah, Carmelo's looking like about the worst pickup of the year so far. I took a look at his numbers...even from last year there's a notable decline in shooting percentages, and from his mid-career numbers, he's WAY down. And we all know, that's the only thing he's ever consistently offered. Granted, Harden's been out, but that'll help the offense only. Scary to see how many teams may already be eliminating themselves, at least if they don't turn things around *quickly*. 7 teams at 2-6 or worse. Could just be a bad start, but that's a nasty hole to have fallen into already. West leads East 17-9 in interconference so far. OK, that's also biased...Houston and Phoenix have yet to play a game against the East, and Washington's played 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 I still think Dwight Howard will prove worse than Carmelo as far as pickups go. The ultimate clubhouse cancer put onto a team barely holding together as is, due to previous locker room drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 12 hours ago, Badger said: I still think Dwight Howard will prove worse than Carmelo as far as pickups go. The ultimate clubhouse cancer put onto a team barely holding together as is, due to previous locker room drama. Wizards are paying him more too. It's not like Carmelo is Johnny Sunshine, and Howard does give ya 16 and 12. I wouldn't want either one, that's for sure. I think I'll still say Carmelo is worse because Houston thought they had a real shot. And perhaps they will when the full team gets back together...but I have my doubts. Anthony, Paul, and Harden...there's still only 1 ball on the court at a time. Wizards...yeah, right. Their guards are the only thing that give them a chance, and the major problem as well. One could say Howard fits right in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 12 hours ago, Badger said: I still think Dwight Howard will prove worse than Carmelo as far as pickups go. The ultimate clubhouse cancer put onto a team barely holding together as is, due to previous locker room drama. That's entirely possible. The Wizards are dreadful without him even. I don't think that their expectations were as high, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 13 minutes ago, unclevlad said: Wizards are paying him more too. It's not like Carmelo is Johnny Sunshine, and Howard does give ya 16 and 12. I wouldn't want either one, that's for sure. I think I'll still say Carmelo is worse because Houston thought they had a real shot. And perhaps they will when the full team gets back together...but I have my doubts. Anthony, Paul, and Harden...there's still only 1 ball on the court at a time. Wizards...yeah, right. Their guards are the only thing that give them a chance, and the major problem as well. One could say Howard fits right in. Ooh! How about a starting five of: Harden, Paul, Howard, Anthony, and...we need another locker room killer for this. Preferably a PF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted November 3, 2018 Report Share Posted November 3, 2018 10 hours ago, unclevlad said: Wizards are paying him more too. It's not like Carmelo is Johnny Sunshine, and Howard does give ya 16 and 12. I wouldn't want either one, that's for sure. I think I'll still say Carmelo is worse because Houston thought they had a real shot. And perhaps they will when the full team gets back together...but I have my doubts. Anthony, Paul, and Harden...there's still only 1 ball on the court at a time. Wizards...yeah, right. Their guards are the only thing that give them a chance, and the major problem as well. One could say Howard fits right in. Yeah, Carmelo wouldn't have been too awful an idea, if they didn't decide to dump their best defenders for some reason. Harden already gives you one empty defender. (and as far as Paul, 6"0 foot guys get overpowered from time to time regardless of being a good defender or not, it just happens) Edit: And yeah Wall can be troublesome too. One reason they have Howard, is because Wall took a disliking to Marcin Gortat, for some reason. (not sure about Beal off the top of my head, at least when Draymond Green is out of the room) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 Well, story goes that Rockets are about to boot ol' Carmelo to the curb. Denied by Rockets GM, but that's a given; it'll be denied until the papers are filed, or at least all ready to be filed. Should that happen, I wonder if anyone will try picking him up. Not like the Rockets are world-beaters this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 I found this interesting: SportsLine projection: Rockets' playoff chances increase 20 percent if they release Carmelo Anthony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 yeah they've looked pretty pedestrian, he's been the worst but not the only problem. More a surprise to me is how mediocre the Celtics have looked. We'll see if the Jimmy Butler to Philly experience is good. And how about those Kings? They've been entertaining at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 Best part about win over Celtics? Utah Jazz host family of Maj. Brent Taylor at game For the unfamiliar, Maj. Taylor (who was also the Mayor of North Ogden, Utah) was killed in Afghanistan a coupe of weeks ago in an insider attack. His remains arrived back in the US last Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted November 12, 2018 Report Share Posted November 12, 2018 I can readily see the Rockets' playoff chances improving by ditching toxic Melo. Basketball-Reference has a stat called Box Plus/Minus, which estimates, per 100 possessions, a player's impact relative to a league-average player. He's at -5. For comparison, you can find the top 20 so far. #18 is at +5. There's clearly no requirement it'd be symmetric but it's probably a decent assumption to say that -5 is somewhere around the 20th WORST. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted November 13, 2018 Report Share Posted November 13, 2018 On 11/2/2018 at 12:52 PM, Enforcer84 said: Ooh! How about a starting five of: Harden, Paul, Howard, Anthony, and...we need another locker room killer for this. Preferably a PF. DeMarcus Cousins or Blake Griffin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 16, 2018 Report Share Posted November 16, 2018 Cousins might be a good choice, but I don't recall his teammates having trouble with him as much as coaches. Griffin maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Well. We knew the West was better, but... As of this evening, possibly with some late games not yet complete...112 interconference games. West is winning 60%. If you take out the terrible Suns who are 1-7, it's approaching 2 out of 3. And the West is *seriously* cutthroat in the middle rank. 20-22 games played...9 teams are within 2 games of .500. And whoa, the Clips??? Who'da thunk that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted December 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 And suddenly the Lakers are 18-12 and fourth in their conference. I suggested that it would take about 20-30 games for any of the teams (but especially the Lakers) to know what sort of team they are. The Lakers have been looking a lot better. Not new-favorites better, but not a team you can take lightly either. Lebrons 27.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG. and 7 APG are in line with his career numbers. the West looks loaded, though, and not even the Warriors look invincible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 I know, it's been a fascinating year. Enjoying this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted January 14, 2019 Report Share Posted January 14, 2019 On 7/12/2018 at 10:40 PM, Badger said: Well, Drexler was relatively safe. But, it would have been pretty awesome. I rate Hakeem as #4 center of all-time (WIlt, Russell, Kareem 1-3 in no necessarily certain order). And after Sampson's injuries till over-30 Drexler came to town, he really did play with very little help (the likes of Otis Thorpe and Vernon Maxwell were solid players, but I don't think anyone in their right mind will be comparing them to the Worthys, Pippens, Paytons, and Stocktons when it comes to 2nd best players on teams at that time) I was trying to figure out who #2 to David Robinson would have been until Duncan came, Sean Elliott, maybe? Vernon Maxwell would (Confidence was his superpower) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 ANd he was a bit of a loose cannon as it were if I remember too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 Very much so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted January 15, 2019 Report Share Posted January 15, 2019 James Harden is into Kobe territory and may go down as the greatest scorer in NBA histo - oh right Michael Jordan. Harden (like Kobe and Jordan before him) annoys me. I can only hope his self-absorbed scoring (I know that it's not as bad as I perceive it, but darn it it's my opinion and I can lie to myself if I want to) and defensive nothingness forever denies him a ring. But I will say this, Harden might actually be the one of the three I'd actually be fine with outside of the game. He's got neither Kobe or Jordan's personal flaws, I just don't like him as a player. Fantastic player though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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