NBA Season 16-17: General Thread

[Underdog]

Boy, the Raptors have jack squat in the way of scoring outside of DeMar DeRozan and Sir Chewbacca.

[tap2390]

Conley carrying the Grizz. He might be the leagues most underrated player.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Conley carrying the Grizz. He might be the leagues most underrated player.

Not sure how the 2nd-highest paid player in the league can be "underrated."

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Conley carrying the Grizz. He might be the leagues most underrated player.

He's the 2nd highest paid player in the NBA. He's not underrated.

[tap2390]

Not in terms of pay, but consider that he has never been to an All-Star game.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by tap2390

Not in terms of pay, but consider that he has never been to an All-Star game.

Okay, I can see it from that perspective -- he certainly hasn't won any popularity contests with NBA fans...

[Underdog]

NBA star Isaiah Thomas' sister killed in Federal Way I-5 accident

Well, that's horrible... This is majorly going to hurt the Celtics chances. It isn't like Favre's dad passing away -- I just don't see a young guy like IT shaking this off, and I don't think the C's have a prayer unless he's beasting.

[BPo001]

:17 in and Gobert goes down with a knee injury. Looks like he banged knees with someone. Hopefully he comes back because they will need him to match up w/ DAJ.

[BPo001]

I didn't see him, but was Parsons with the team in SA or is he off modeling his ugly ass shoe line in Chancun?

[MavzMan]

Por/GS was entertaining until the fourth. It's sad the league almost requires three super stars now to contend. McCollum and Lilliard playing amazing but still not enough.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

Por/GS was entertaining until the fourth. It's sad the league almost requires three super stars now to contend. McCollum and Lilliard playing amazing but still not enough.

Yeah... the Warriors are very frustrating to deal with. I really hope someone knocks them out, but not optimistic. Not to mention they're incredibly unlikable (mostly due to Draymond "Nutkicker" Green).

[BPo001]

I guess Butler wanted to show Boston why they should have traded for him.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Westbrook has no discipline to his game. Calm down or your team has no chance.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Westbrook has no discipline to his game. Calm down or your team has no chance.

Dude is always good for a couple losses because of it, which is just enough to bury his team in the playoffs.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Rwb having a bad game. But how many games would this thunder team win without RWB? They look god awful when he's off the floor.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

Rwb having a bad game. But how many games would this thunder team win without RWB? They look god awful when he's off the floor.

Regular season hero... Too bad it's the playoffs now.

[EricaLubarsky]

0 will have two games that are more good than bad and will take the Rockets to 6, but still. That team had a rough future. Can't see them improving much so it'll be the Westbrook show for a while. You get all the good AND all the bad.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Westbrook is a seasoned veteran now and played like a 20 year old rookie in this game. I realize his team isn't that great, but chucking up garbage won't fix that.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Westbrook is a seasoned veteran now and played like a 20 year old rookie in this game. I realize his team isn't that great, but chucking up garbage won't fix that.

Yeah, kinda hard to blame his teammates for him shooting 6-23 from the field and 3-11 from beyond the arc... Oh, and those 9 TOs probably didn't help either!

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, kinda hard to blame his teammates for him shooting 6-23 from the field and 3-11 from beyond the arc... Oh, and those 9 TOs probably didn't help either!

I'm usually a RWB defender but that is just awful. Both he and the rest of his teammates have to step up. OKC needs to spend a lot of money on coaching since they are pretty much locked into those guys long term.

[EricaLubarsky]

Phil Jackson trashing Melo so bad the NBAPA had to stand up for him
Knicks FO trashing Melo
NY media trashing Melo
Knicks sucking yet again
Melo's wife, La La leaves him

And the best response on twitter? "Just as well. Guy thrives in isolation."

[sefant77]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Phil Jackson trashing Melo so bad the NBAPA had to stand up for him
Knicks FO trashing Melo
NY media trashing Melo
Knicks sucking yet again
Melo's wife, La La leaves him

And the best response on twitter? "Just as well. Guy thrives in isolation."

So Melo finally can go to Cleveland without La La

And the best response was:

Damn, his only ring.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by sefant77

So Melo finally can go to Cleveland without La La

And the best response was:

That one's good, too.

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Phil Jackson trashing Melo so bad the NBAPA had to stand up for him
Knicks FO trashing Melo
NY media trashing Melo
Knicks sucking yet again
Melo's wife, La La leaves him

And the best response on twitter? "Just as well. Guy thrives in isolation."

[Bryan_Wilson]

Has there been a weaker 1 seed than the Boston Celtics? How many teams in the East outside of the Cavs could win a series against the West PO teams? God I hate how the East still looks like a red carpet for w/e team Lebron is on and the West just seems to get stronger and stronger.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

Has there been a weaker 1 seed than the Boston Celtics? How many teams in the East outside of the Cavs could win a series against the West PO teams? God I hate how the East still looks like a red carpet for w/e team Lebron is on and the West just seems to get stronger and stronger.

Yeah, Silver needs to break this shit up... Hell, the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East with NY, WAS and PHI -- it's not like teams bus to games these days... And, yeah, the NBA plays a lot more games, but their road trips are already in geographical order, so it's not like whatever division they're assigned to makes any difference when it comes to travel expenses/fatigue.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

Has there been a weaker 1 seed than the Boston Celtics? How many teams in the East outside of the Cavs could win a series against the West PO teams? God I hate how the East still looks like a red carpet for w/e team Lebron is on and the West just seems to get stronger and stronger.

That's what you get with a GM who won't make a trade unless they absolutely fleece the other team. Coulda had either Paul George OR Jimmy Butler, but wouldn't give up the assets to do it. And this is what you get. And I'm pretty sure part of it had to do with not giving up overrated Jae Crowder.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Bryan_Wilson

Has there been a weaker 1 seed than the Boston Celtics? How many teams in the East outside of the Cavs could win a series against the West PO teams? God I hate how the East still looks like a red carpet for w/e team Lebron is on and the West just seems to get stronger and stronger.

1) Isaiah Thomas is their superstar and he's not playing up to the level he was at before his sister died tragically, which is completely understandable. His play makes the play of their rather average swing players better and his relative low level of play is making the rest of the team easily defensible.

2) The Celtics are a team that is guilty of good coaching to maximize their abilities, but a fairly weak roster with relative lack of size. The playoffs expose the teams who are low on talent, but high on chemistry. It's possible to dominate the regular season without size, but when things slow down in the playoffs, smaller teams struggle with efficiency. They're being massively abused inside by the Bulls.

[dirt_dobber]

Monte Ellis 25 min 2 points scored in loss to Cavs last night...

[BPo001]

Originally Posted by dirt_dobber

Monte Ellis 25 min 2 points scored in loss to Cavs last night...

He hasn't been closing games. Kind of surprising considering he can typically create his own shot, but I guess he's a liability on D. I'm sure he's fuming sitting on the bench at crunch time.

[sefant77]

Bulls asked for both Nets picks...so i kind of understand why they didnt pull the trigger on Butler.

[EricaLubarsky]

https://twitter.com/rachaelhoops/sta...39016821993473

Griffin is a dick

[EricaLubarsky]

Westbrook with the 51pt triple double. Takes 43FGA (almost half of all FGA attempted)

Thunder lose and now down 0-2

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Westbrook with the 51pt triple double. Takes 43FGA (almost half of all FGA attempted)

Thunder lose and now down 0-2

He is today's Iverson.

[Underdog]

Empty stats.

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Empty stats.

Well, doesn't help that your 2nd highest paid player at $17 million is coming off the bench and only gets 7 minutes. If you were to take Michael Jordan in his prime and put him on today's 76ers, what do you think would happen? Exactly whats happening in OKC. The team has a true super-star in his prime surrounded with average to below-average (some of them are young) players and in the playoffs.

WB had 17 FGM and 13 assists. He counted for 30 of the 40 made FGs for the entire team. I'm not arguing that he is a complete head case, but completely discarding him as "Empty stats" is more than just a little off in this particular case.

[BPo001]

To be fair his teammates don't exactly get a chance to do much on offense because RW is chucking up 43 attempts. OKC put themselves in this mess by signing Adams, Kanter, and Olidipo to those contacts. Olidipio didn't make much sense to me seeing is as how he can't space the floor. I thought Kanter would be in the floor when RW is out. At least he gives them someone to go to on offense.

[saclare]

17-43 FG, 2-11 3PT, 15-18 FT
13 AST, 10 REB, 4 STL, 1 BLK, 4 TO, +11

Awful shooting night compounded by going 3-17 in the 4th quarter. Very impressive stat line, but to quote RWB "I don't give a f*** about the line, we lost"

I get that his teammates aren't the best, but holy moly you've got to give them a chance when you are that broke in the 4th. Also, 2 of the 3 makes were with 1:15 remaining in the game, where it was essentially out of reach, with the one at 1:15 bringing them within 7. Not discounting the free throws he took, but in that regard, watching a game where RWB and Harden shoot a combined 38 free throws was so awful.

[EricaLubarsky]

RWB needs to prove he can play well with others. Sounds like he has unmatched passion to win, but it's a 5-man game and he's trying to play 1-on-5.

He's like Kobe-- he's good, but he'll never be a champion unless he has some help. He's driven teammates away and now has a reputation for being a poor teammate and hard to get along with. He absolutely needs a better supporting cast, but some of the questions about his supporting cast are about him as a teammate.

Thunder are going to have a hard time improving, too. They're over the cap next year and don't have a second rounder and only have a late first. They also don't have much in the way of trade assets. Even if they had FA money, it's also unclear if a free agent would sign there-- lots of rumors that players hate playing with RWB.

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

RWB needs to prove he can play well with others. Sounds like he has unmatched passion to win, but it's a 5-man game and he's trying to play 1-on-5.

He's like Kobe-- he's good, but he'll never be a champion unless he has some help. He's driven teammates away and now has a reputation for being a poor teammate and hard to get along with. He absolutely needs a better supporting cast, but some of the questions about his supporting cast are about him as a teammate.

Thunder are going to have a hard time improving, too. They're over the cap next year and don't have a second rounder and only have a late first. They also don't have much in the way of trade assets. Even if they had FA money, it's also unclear if a free agent would sign there-- lots of rumors that players hate playing with RWB.

And now, teams in the middle of the pack like OKC pretty much have no hope. This is the new NBA mentality as far as free agency goes:

Peter Vecsey: Bottom Line: Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Damien Lillard & Paul George have 3 ways 2 win NBA title; join forces w LeBron, Curry or Leonard.

NBA should change it's name to TTPLFAC ... Two Teams Playing For A Championship. Hopefully this changes by the time the Mavs develop players and become relevant again.