NBA SPORTS TALK 1o1

[par73]

the boston celtics front court gets more impressive every game
it might just be the perfect remedy for golden state's first loss of the season sometime in december

you couldn't put 200 on rhonda two nights ago, but you technically could have put double on holly homes and made your father proud of your risk taking activities

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Yea Celtics have looked good, they really roflstomped the Rockets, though also the Rockets look awful. Actually, the Rockets look like how I expected them to play last year based on their gutless pay against the Blazers during that playoff series. Harden is so reprehensible...

You are wrong about Terry Stotts walking into a good team. The year he took over Lillard was drafted & they were starting JJ Fuckin Hickson at center, ended on a 12 game losing streak and only won like 30 games. Next year they made it to the second round of the playoffs. Guys like Matthews were practically unknown, and next thing you know he getting max contract from the Mavs. Man, I am so salty about this team getting broken up...Batum player of the week god damn it.

I will say this for Brad Stephens, I thought that he'd succumb to the pressure of playing Lee a lot because he was such a ballyhooed signing, but he has been smart about keeping his minutes low.

The tiers were for active coaches and there's no point of a tier if there's only 1 person in it...also Carlisle is definately a tier above everyone but Pop, he seems to be able to take just about any crazy roster power-drunk dumbass Cuban throws at him and get it to 50 wins. Man I am going to look dumb for putting Mavs at the bottom of the standings, I really thought Nowinski was done and didnt predict Matthews coming back historically fast from his achilles tear (shouldn't have second guessed Iron Man).

I know you wrote that post right before Cousins came back from the ankle sprain, started putting up 30/10, and beat Drummond in their head to head, but as much as I love Drummond's size, power, and energy I would never take him over Cousins, who is not only huge and beastly but has amazing post moves, handles, even hitting mad 3s now. I guess you might want Drummond because he's only like 20 and has fewer character issues, but I don't think he's ever going to have the skill and versatility that Cousins have, especially shooting. Honestly, I'd take Cousins even over Davis, he does everything Davis does while being bigger & less fragile. I'll say it again: Cousins has a real chance at the MVP this year.

Isn't it crazy how much better the center spot is now than just like 5 years ago? Cousins, Towns, Gobert, Drummond, etc... hard to imagine a time when Howard was considered the best center in the league

[par73]

they were starting JJ hickson at center?
or they had so many players injured that jj hickson was starting at center?
ok i went and looked it up, they had 3 starters injured... batum.. aldridge... wesleymatthews...
looks like they were starting hickson at center though ! to say he didn't walk into a good team when it featured those 3, plus lillard
seems like some guy named victor claver started 16 games for them...
you're actually surprised that he did in fact walk into a team of talent but it took some time and trades to blossom that talent? that doesn't really make sense, cookies need time to bake in the oven milk man ! they are still raw ingredients.
to say he went from one year winning 30 games to the next year playoffs and say it was because of his contributions as a coach and not a GM decision to get rid of hickson/being surrounded by talent is a long shot.
that is a much more difficult argument to support than brad stevens bringing the celtics to the playoffs after they traded away their "star" player in the middle of the season.
that was the year golden state found its way into the playoffs (beat the blazers at least twice in that last month), can't win em all !

from what i recall portland also eliminated dallas from the playoffs that year... (Loel)

carlisle couldn't handle rondo, lol plz he's practically same statue as doc rivers with similar resume

towns gonna be a better shooter than cousins, drummond absolute shitty shot in comparison to cousins tho
give me drummond, i like the stat sheet looking like wilt chamberlin or kareem abdul-jabaar is still playing

howard was in the best shape compared to the other centers, now that he's older and endured some injuries that 08-11 gas isn't the same.
who was that bum ass laker center that went to the finals 3 years in a row?

yea, just lol.

[par73]

EAST:
no particular order
cavs: birthday cake but candles not lit
hawks #1? better stay healthy
beal injured, wizards in trouble
noah gets benched on the bulls
lowry really exploding
batum doing well, al jefferson having a rough year
nets getting smoked
philly getting smoked
loss of oladipo meant cash money for picking other players in fantasy (same with vucevic)
celtics look pretty good, i wonder when the injuries strike so 'we' can get some more consistent rotations.
bucks parker isn't ready yet. alphabet man is. monroe was.
the heat well they don't have lebron and their two former best players average somewhere around 36 in age. dat whiteside tho
the pacers. they sent their backcourt to the west. salary cap bullshit kinda caused that team to go bye bye ( and hibberts lackadaisical effort on all accounts), he basically watched the ECF two years ago while being on the court.

WEST:
spurs : defensively close to unstoppable
golden state: offensively overpowers all defenses
lakers: kobe will be gone soon and maybe this team will make highlight reals for reasons besides other players such as swaggy nick young p taking after kobe with no d
suns : a nice display of talent here. i agree with your observation of bledsoe and tend to value brandon knight as a better fit on that squad.
grizzlies : rough start, likely make a late seed
clippers: paul injured, griffin in talks for mvp- needs to last to playoffs
houston: getting its ass kicked, repeatedly.
new orleans: also getting its ass kicked except more than houston
utah : west's version of a good defensive frontcourt such as boston
portland : west's version of a front court that gives up a lot of points and a backcourt that has all but disappeared
timberwolves : impressive start, hell garnett got 25 minutes+ the other night. who'd have thought. KAT, wiggins and lavine have a great mentor in him.
thunder: durant's out therefore westbrook has more usage than any other point guard in the league and has been putting out curry-like performances minus the 3pt fanatics
kings : defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has demarcus cousins starting at center
nuggets: defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has JJ hickson starting at center
mavs :well now that more than half the teams in the west are playing like shit looks like the mavs have a chance for a playoff spot after all !

[wwo]

You should do webcasts, 15 minutes a day. Maybe fantasy or gambling oriented?

[par73]

hah i could but i spend a lot of time absorbing everyone else's content, i'm already spending around 2+ hours watching podcasts a day ! easily 4+ in overall research.
@ gambling- i would prefer doing that if i felt comfortable about the product i'd be producing; plus it would be similar to what everyone else is putting out there already.

it's funny everyone makes a big deal about sharks using algorithms (while mainly to produce 50-200 line ups per tournament contest aiming for a 1% roi) but aren't first time users also going through a series of steps to produce a predictable winning result? perhaps discussions on happenings in the dfs/gambling communities would be my fancy over suggesting other people's picks. did you know all signs pointed to holm last weekend and i still bet against it? jesus


for now this is my 15 minutes, plus i can scan what i've written in much less time than going over my own podcasts not only to review information (i suppose i'd have notes regardless) but to improve my podcasts as well.
p.s. i may or may not have left out new york on purpose. all i have to say is, Porzingis, Porzingis, Porzingis!
he's pulling hakeem olajuwan dream shakes in his rookie career while carmelo burns out his OP contract desperate for a ring he won't get on new york.

sup blazers, nice loss streak you got going. about to break that record my boy @milkman was talking about the other day while houston just ended their losing streak on yours. YAHTZEE

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

EAST:
no particular order
cavs: birthday cake but candles not lit

Wat?
Think they can win the championship without Irving?

hawks #1? better stay healthy

Teague and Bazemore out with ankle sprains, yea. They're pretty shallow on the wing, so not great. Might give Shröder a chance to show what he's really got with the starters though, has a higher ceiling than Teague. Millsap has been ballin, actually playing w. some style which is unusual for a Hawk.

beal injured, wizards in trouble

He get's injured every year, they usually nurse him for the playoffs. I don't think they're in trouble, Wall can carry the load, time for Otto Porter to step up.

noah gets benched on the bulls

Yes this is bullshit. He should be starting. He would look great on the Bucks, wonder if Bulls would trade for Monroe?

batum doing well, al jefferson having a rough year

Al Jefferson is what he is, a tricky chopped & screwed post player who's mad slow. Has his limitations. Him having some great games, some bad games, is a function of matchups.

Batum was always good, but used to defer too much. Whenever he was forced to be the first option (like in the FIBA WC when France won) he has been great.
Suprisingly Lin has been really good too. The Hornets are watchable.

loss of oladipo meant cash money for picking other players in fantasy (same with vucevic)

He's already back.
Don't like how fantasy distorts actual basketball analysis.

celtics look pretty good, i wonder when the injuries strike so 'we' can get some more consistent rotations.

They should trade Zeller ASAP

bucks parker isn't ready yet. alphabet man is. monroe was.

Parker is close, will be there by end of season. He has moves. His game reminds me of Griffith. Watch him do a stutter step, then spin move roll into a dunk the other night, great stuff for a big man.

Giannis just gets better and better. Look at these player comps, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Bosh!
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/car ... tokounmpo/
And Jason Kidd is a great coach for him, it's Giannis' versatility that's gonna make him great.

the heat well they don't have lebron and their two former best players average somewhere around 36 in age. dat whiteside tho

Them & the wizards will be the toughest eastern playoff teams other than the Cavs tho

the pacers. they sent their backcourt to the west. salary cap bullshit kinda caused that team to go bye bye ( and hibberts lackadaisical effort on all accounts), he basically watched the ECF two years ago while being on the court.

You mean their frontcourt. I think you tend to underestimate how much influence one great player can have. Paul George has picked up where he left off.

spurs : defensively close to unstoppable

Man Aldridge looks like a role player on this team. But I have noticed that when they're struggling they'll just give him the ball for a few posesions. I feel like they're holding him in reserve, but will he have the rythm when it comes to that? With the blazers he was just fed game after game. He always struck me as a rhythm player. Hmm.

clippers: paul injured, griffin in talks for mvp- needs to last to playoffs

Paul played, hmm, was it all mind games? That's pretty desperate. Looks like they "choked" again last night against the Warriors.

houston: getting its ass kicked, repeatedly.

Pretty shameful that they blamed Mchale for this. Were lucky to beat the blazers to break that losing streak, Cory Brewer off balance half court 3 pointer, etc. Portland wings can't handle Harden though (McCollum too small, combo guard, Crabbe should be a fringe rotation player, blazers have problems on the wing).

new orleans: also getting its ass kicked except more than houston

Anthony Davis injured yet again, along with entire team. Dey fucked.
They have their draft pick, maybe they'll get that 2nd peice.

utah : west's version of a good defensive frontcourt such as boston

Heh, Boston wishes they had this frontcourt!
Olynick thinks he's dirk and shoots a brick:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRyWl6up87Q[/youtube]

portland : west's version of a front court that gives up a lot of points and a backcourt that has all but disappeared

How has the back court disappeared? Explain...

Lillard projects to be either Stephen Curry or Stephon Marburry
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/car ... n-lillard/
When his shot isn't going down, he has become a great, aggressive slasher. Needs to get that touch back though, but have seen good signs: that kind of stutter step to freeze the D before he launches an ultradeep 3 is back, kind of missed it last season when he was focusing on learning to really take it to the whole. I'd like to see him have less of a conscious, he overthinks things sometimes but it will pay off in the long run. Maybe it's because Stotts is too conservative of a "flow offense" coach

Aminu looks pretty good in the front court. His 3s are going down, great D. Tries to do too much sometimes, thinks his handles are better than they are.

Myers Leonard is injured. Team needed his shooting, spacing is a problem, too many guys who can't even hit free throws.

Don't like Plumlee. Bad on D, can't shoot. This goofy shit where he takes the ball up the court has to stop.

They need to trade Henderson.

Crabbe will be a fine specialist spot up shooter, shouldn't be starting but they have none else.

Ed Davis & Vonleh TBT

I don't mind them losing close games. Ideally there's a good point differential and they still get a good pick, then they can trade away half these guys and get good things in return.

timberwolves : impressive start, hell garnett got 25 minutes+ the other night. who'd have thought. KAT, wiggins and lavine have a great mentor in him.

Towns is going to be a beast. We are going to have great Center battles in the coming years.

thunder: durant's out therefore westbrook has more usage than any other point guard in the league and has been putting out curry-like performances minus the 3pt fanatics

And minus the efficiency. They should like tie a cow head to the backboard so he can rip some flesh with his teeth as he dunks.

kings : defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has demarcus cousins starting at center

God I love Cousins but when he get's tired and grumpy, man he will literally lie on the floor face down complaining while the other team fast breaks. Millsap kind of worked him the other night, he's gotta keep his chin up and confidence rolling, didn't get help getting suspended for this loss against Miami. I don't think they're fucked, it's just that the entire team right down to them getting the pass-only Rondo and drafting basically a Role Player in Cauley-Stein is built around Cousins...so if he's not playing they lose. Problem is they have no bench and so he gets tired and grumpy.

nuggets: defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has JJ hickson starting at center

Yea they need Nurkic back. I really like their young talent though.
Mudiay looks like he could be good. I'm really impressed with his handles for his size. Kind of a spaz tho.
They really fleece Portland when they got a pick AND Will Barton for shitty Ass-fflalo. Would love to have Barton on that wing instead of Crabbe.
They should trade Gallinari (he's been playing well, his value is mad high) & somehow dump JJ Hickson (he is cancer) & get one more peice to add to the nurkic-mudiay-barton-faried core

mavs :well now that more than half the teams in the west are playing like shit looks like the mavs have a chance for a playoff spot after all !

[/quote][/quote]

I underestimated Carlisle and how fast Mathews and Parsons would be back, which was weirdly fast, I mean they had an achilles tear and microfractures. I'd say they have a chance. Suns have looked great, I'd put them at 7 for the west right now. Probably Mavs at 8, but I think Kings and Jazz gonna turn it around and catch them.

[Asmodian]

Man Aldridge looks like a role player on this team. But I have noticed that when they're struggling they'll just give him the ball for a few posesions. I feel like they're holding him in reserve, but will he have the rythm when it comes to that? With the blazers he was just fed game after game. He always struck me as a rhythm player. Hmm.

It's a good thing that Aldridge looks like a role player. There is a reason that the Spurs and Warriors are the two best franchises right now. They play beautiful basketball and avoid playing isolation basketball (trash basketball, oh hey Thunder,Rockets,ect.)

Aldridge won't stand out individually until Duncan retires, but who cares. If I'm a basketball player I want to play basketball like the Spurs and Warriors over getting big individual #'s

utah : west's version of a good defensive frontcourt such as boston

Agree with Milkman, keep dreaming. The Celtics would trade their entire roster to get Utah's front court. Rudy Gobert is the most underrated player in the NBA. He makes so many game changing plays that don't show up on the stat sheet like altering shots and making good defensive rotations.

God I love Cousins but when he get's tired and grumpy, man he will literally lie on the floor face down complaining while the other team fast breaks. Millsap kind of worked him the other night, he's gotta keep his chin up and confidence rolling, didn't get help getting suspended for this loss against Miami. I don't think they're fucked, it's just that the entire team right down to them getting the pass-only Rondo and drafting basically a Role Player in Cauley-Stein is built around Cousins...so if he's not playing they lose. Problem is they have no bench and so he gets tired and grumpy.

I have been saying it for years, the Kings will not make the playoffs with Cousins. The dude has all the talent you would ever want from a front court player, but he is a cancer. He spends as much time whining during games as he does playing basketball. I finally gave in this year saying they would make the 8th seed just due to how much talent this King's team has and the drop off of the Blazers & Dallas, obviously I was wrong.

The Kings have a bench this year, that's a horrible excuse to use. Bellini was a key contributor on a championship Spurs team, Darren Collision is a very solid backup PG that could start on several teams, Willie Clauley-Stein is a lottery pick who plays good solid team basketball. Not to mention that Rondo is playing like an absolute beast, which is actually surprising me.

Cousins needs to get his head out of his ass and act like an adult or move his cry baby attitude onto the next team. I don't care what stats he puts up, his stats are as useless as what Tyreke Evans did when won rookie of the year. Until Cousins becomes a team player and grows some mental fortitude he will always just be a player with potential.

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Woa woa woa dude.
Chill.
I was just trying to point out Boogie's only weakness, which is transition defense. He can do everything else. When he plays, Kings win. When he doesn't, King's lose. I can't believe you'd trade him. My theory is that after so many years of losing Kings fans have developed some kind of collective death drive. At some point talent trumps personality, it's a grim truth.
I though Bellini was starting now because McLemore had regressed a bit.
I actually feel like Rondo and Cousins are starting to develop some chemistry. You can see how they are a pretty perfect paring, seeing how Cousins can do absolutely everything on offense. Rondo even hitting a few 3s the other night.

Ed Davis definitely should be starting over Plumlee. No highlights but just relentless work on the boards, putbacks, etc. I can see why they'd want to pump Plumlee's value up for a trade though.

Celtics lose to Nets tonight, yikes. Meanwhile Lillard shines as Blazers' "disappeared" backcourt rapes "Celtics West."

[Asmodian]

2014-15 NBA Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354
2013-14 NBA Sacramento Kings 28 54 .341
2012-13 NBA Sacramento Kings 28 54 .341
2011-12 NBA Sacramento Kings 22 44 .333
2010-11 NBA Sacramento Kings 24 58 .293

That's what Cousins has brought to the Kings, nothing. Puts up good stats, but does not make the team better at all. The Cousins years have been close to the worst, if not the worst in the Sacramento Kings history and that's saying something.

[par73]

EAST:
no particular order
cavs: birthday cake but candles not lit

Wat?
Think they can win the championship without Irving?

i wouldn't be surprised if they need to get rid of irving in order to win the championship
hell they should have kept wiggins and gotten rid of irving, that would be a way better look for them. im tired of jr smith on the cavs he won't be anything but a high upside shooter with poor attitude and defensive tendencies

hawks #1? better stay healthy

Teague and Bazemore out with ankle sprains, yea. They're pretty shallow on the wing, so not great. Might give Shröder a chance to show what he's really got with the starters though, has a higher ceiling than Teague. Millsap has been ballin, actually playing w. some style which is unusual for a Hawk.

i think what you mean is, with teague injured shroder has a higher ceiling. i don't think shroder has a higher ceiling at all in whatever way you look at it.

beal injured, wizards in trouble

He get's injured every year, they usually nurse him for the playoffs. I don't think they're in trouble, Wall can carry the load, time for Otto Porter to step up.

op doing very well for his skillset and opportunities

batum doing well, al jefferson having a rough year

Al Jefferson is what he is, a tricky chopped & screwed post player who's mad slow. Has his limitations. Him having some great games, some bad games, is a function of matchups.

Batum was always good, but used to defer too much. Whenever he was forced to be the first option (like in the FIBA WC when France won) he has been great.
Suprisingly Lin has been really good too. The Hornets are watchable.

kemba should be playing better

loss of oladipo meant cash money for picking other players in fantasy (same with vucevic)

He's already back.
Don't like how fantasy distorts actual basketball analysis.

got good looks at evan fournier and tobias harris. that orlando team just lacks one or two solid vets and they could have something in the east. those are orlando's two go-getters

i'd like to hear how you think fantasy distorts actual basketball analysis. i think what you mean is, 'par stop including your fantasy basketball analysis.'
regardless, fantasy basketball can still provide relevant facts to a teams success and how often they lean on certain players to produce productive changes in possession.

celtics look pretty good, i wonder when the injuries strike so 'we' can get some more consistent rotations.

They should trade Zeller ASAP

hah maybe for entertainment purposes but holding onto him and dropping him with a pick could prove to be key in snagging and asset

the heat well they don't have lebron and their two former best players average somewhere around 36 in age. dat whiteside tho

Them & the wizards will be the toughest eastern playoff teams other than the Cavs tho

CHICAGO BULLS

the pacers. they sent their backcourt to the west. salary cap bullshit kinda caused that team to go bye bye ( and hibberts lackadaisical effort on all accounts), he basically watched the ECF two years ago while being on the court.

You mean their frontcourt. I think you tend to underestimate how much influence one great player can have. Paul George has picked up where he left off.

oops YEA ! . paul george doing fine but that roster is requiring cj miles to pick up slack for them which doesn't bode well going into the playoffs especially if PG gets injured again

spurs : defensively close to unstoppable

Man Aldridge looks like a role player on this team. But I have noticed that when they're struggling they'll just give him the ball for a few posesions. I feel like they're holding him in reserve, but will he have the rythm when it comes to that? With the blazers he was just fed game after game. He always struck me as a rhythm player. Hmm.

he's definately a weapon like that, he will find his own rhythm i think he's back up if leonard and/or duncan go down u plug him into the equation and its fire, also more likely vs small line ups than duncan

clippers: paul injured, griffin in talks for mvp- needs to last to playoffs

Paul played, hmm, was it all mind games? That's pretty desperate. Looks like they "choked" again last night against the Warriors.

here i was thinking 'wow one of the few teams in the nba who can beat glden state is right here'
they still look nice

houston: getting its ass kicked, repeatedly.

Pretty shameful that they blamed Mchale for this. Were lucky to beat the blazers to break that losing streak, Cory Brewer off balance half court 3 pointer, etc. Portland wings can't handle Harden though (McCollum too small, combo guard, Crabbe should be a fringe rotation player, blazers have problems on the wing).

their front office is a joke
im out of favor for houston besides harden

new orleans: also getting its ass kicked except more than houston

Anthony Davis injured yet again, along with entire team. Dey fucked.
They have their draft pick, maybe they'll get that 2nd peice.

he's always injured
their whole team just garbage
i can't believe they beat SA but injuries = no playoffs for A. Davis this year.

utah : west's version of a good defensive frontcourt such as boston

Heh, Boston wishes they had this frontcourt!
Olynick thinks he's dirk and shoots a brick:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRyWl6up87Q[/youtube]

i seen that, dirk is like his hero since he teamed up with steve nash on the mavs

portland : west's version of a front court that gives up a lot of points and a backcourt that has all but disappeared

How has the back court disappeared? Explain...

Lillard projects to be either Stephen Curry or Stephon Marburry
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/car ... n-lillard/
When his shot isn't going down, he has become a great, aggressive slasher. Needs to get that touch back though, but have seen good signs: that kind of stutter step to freeze the D before he launches an ultradeep 3 is back, kind of missed it last season when he was focusing on learning to really take it to the whole. I'd like to see him have less of a conscious, he overthinks things sometimes but it will pay off in the long run. Maybe it's because Stotts is too conservative of a "flow offense" coach

Aminu looks pretty good in the front court. His 3s are going down, great D. Tries to do too much sometimes, thinks his handles are better than they are.

how has the backcourt disappeared?
well their pg sg sf usage is off the charts while their pf and centers barely get the ball ever. last year lopez and aldridge was a nice look, this is a completely different one. portland has been getting scored on and out rebounded, how has the back court not disappeared?
right now that team needs aminu to be a player he's not but he has done surprisingly well with his work load, he has been improving year after year. give him the benefit of a doubt sometime.

timberwolves : impressive start, hell garnett got 25 minutes+ the other night. who'd have thought. KAT, wiggins and lavine have a great mentor in him.

Towns is going to be a beast. We are going to have great Center battles in the coming years.

its trending that we won't have many great center battles but we will have many great players playing the 5

thunder: durant's out therefore westbrook has more usage than any other point guard in the league and has been putting out curry-like performances minus the 3pt fanatics

And minus the efficiency. They should like tie a cow head to the backboard so he can rip some flesh with his teeth as he dunks.

they are both very efficent

kings : defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has demarcus cousins starting at center

God I love Cousins but when he get's tired and grumpy, man he will literally lie on the floor face down complaining while the other team fast breaks. Millsap kind of worked him the other night, he's gotta keep his chin up and confidence rolling, didn't get help getting suspended for this loss against Miami. I don't think they're fucked, it's just that the entire team right down to them getting the pass-only Rondo and drafting basically a Role Player in Cauley-Stein is built around Cousins...so if he's not playing they lose. Problem is they have no bench and so he gets tired and grumpy.

hes just a tired grumpy sack of poo

nuggets: defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has JJ hickson starting at center

Yea they need Nurkic back. I really like their young talent though.
Mudiay looks like he could be good. I'm really impressed with his handles for his size. Kind of a spaz tho.
They really fleece Portland when they got a pick AND Will Barton for shitty Ass-fflalo. Would love to have Barton on that wing instead of Crabbe.
They should trade Gallinari (he's been playing well, his value is mad high) & somehow dump JJ Hickson (he is cancer) & get one more peice to add to the nurkic-mudiay-barton-faried core

mavs :well now that more than half the teams in the west are playing like shit looks like the mavs have a chance for a playoff spot after all !

I underestimated Carlisle and how fast Mathews and Parsons would be back, which was weirdly fast, I mean they had an achilles tear and microfractures. I'd say they have a chance. Suns have looked great, I'd put them at 7 for the west right now. Probably Mavs at 8, but I think Kings and Jazz gonna turn it around and catch them.

yes and yes


i don't think denver makes playoffs they are pretty terrible, trading gallinari could be a good move. he has been eating up their money for years now

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

I don't mind when, like you did, someone says "in terms of fantasy, X." I just think that a lot of people start mixing up fantasy w. reality (see Kevin Love being overrated in Minnesota, who no one really watched).

You're probably right about LMA. He is bad when he is out of rythm though, and he never lacked for chances to get into his flow in Portland. Anthony Davis blocked him a few times the other night, just like last season, crazy how Davis is the only one who can block his turn around, says a lot about both players.

how has the backcourt disappeared?
well their pg sg sf usage is off the charts while their pf and centers barely get the ball ever. last year lopez and aldridge was a nice look, this is a completely different one. portland has been getting scored on and out rebounded, how has the back court not disappeared?
right now that team needs aminu to be a player he's not but he has done surprisingly well with his work load, he has been improving year after year. give him the benefit of a doubt sometime..

Ohhh you mean frontcourt again. You keep getting it backwards! Lillard + McCollum is the backcourt, you can see why I was shocked. Like I said Aminu has been great. His only issue is that he get's overconfident some times and tries to handle the ball, which never ends well.

its trending that we won't have many great center battles but we will have many great players playing the 5

The only reason Warriors can go that small is that they have Draymond Green, which is something a lot of other teams don't seem to realize. You can't just play like this with any lineup. Besides, we are starting to see legit 7 footers who can shoot (Cousins, Porzingis, KAT, even Myers Leonard) so I think the big man spot is due for a comeback, even in the "pace and space" era. This is the only reason why I'm a bit guarded about Drummond, even if he looks like a locomotive of dunks down there.

they are both very efficent

Westbrook is very efficient offensively, but Curry is very much more efficient. Much higher 3 pt efficiency, obviously, and shooting percentage more generally.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... 4=&p5=&p6=

Still Westbrook has been more efficient than I expected, youre right, the more advanced stats which try to adjust for the influence of the surrounding team definitely put them close to each other in offensive rating. Probably Westbrook's many more assists have something to do with this too.

It's funny how close they are defensively too. I feel like Westbrook should be much more imposing on defense.



Dude you would not believe how crazy people are going for Porzingis here in NYC. It's actually kind of sad how traumatized & paranoid these fans are.

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

2014-15 NBA Sacramento Kings 29 53 .354
2013-14 NBA Sacramento Kings 28 54 .341
2012-13 NBA Sacramento Kings 28 54 .341
2011-12 NBA Sacramento Kings 22 44 .333
2010-11 NBA Sacramento Kings 24 58 .293

Oh god, poor Kings fans.

Curious: would you rather be a 76ers fan?

Gotta remember, Cuz was out sick for most of 2013/14. They are at .357 right now, even with him our a handful of games, progress!



Clippers join the Rockets in the toilet, shit party!

[par73]

i remember when the knicks picked porzingis almost every knick fan was talking mad trash and bullshit. typical nba idiots

cousins is in a better position than he's ever been so if he shuts his fucking mouth and mans up this should easily be his and the kings best season in the past 5 years.
the best part is his top point guard in rajon rondo also has a similar chip on his shoulder attitude which i think bodes well for him and each other's play. you put in a scorer like gay who i prefer as a cutter than a shooter and you suddenly have an offense that can purely flow in and out of high efficiency shots multiple times during a shot clock. belinelli, collison, casspi, and koufus/cauleystein look to me like their best bench they've had in years.

they just give up so many points and possessions as if it's the reason they're getting paid rather than to play smart safe hoops. easy baskets, free transitions, and a plethora of turnovers which usually leading to the aforementioned are the biggest issues for this squad. they could certainly use a prime tony allen over ben mclemore, if not a prime ray allen to make up for their defensive inconsistency.

[par73]

for all the kobe haters

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnHyhCYOgTI[/youtube]

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

You're a Kobe lover now par?

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Watching Warriors/Raptors right now. 6 seconds left in the 4th, Raps 1 point behind. I thought par was crazy when he had Lowry as a top 5 pg this season, how wrong I was. Such a relentless, reckless, and focused player. I'm not sure Westbrook is the clearcut 2...both Lowry and Lillard are challenging for that spot.

[par73]

how u gunna call me a kobe lover when my favorite team is the celtics and favorite player is paul pierce (LAC luvin). while it was fun to heckle kobe during his career he has been playing in the nba for more than half the time ive been alive, he has achieved amazing things during that career, to say the least. hat's off to him, incredible show. garnett's still going, dunked on griffin the other day. tears bro, tears.

its funny i was running through the lineups with my buddy before that warriors raptors game
a thought came to my head and so i asked my friend
"just imagine you make money off the night golden state gets its first loss of the season"
that game was very closely fought, but those warriors are something else for efficiently closing out games. transcendent status is approaching. curry himself needs to shut down all opponents hungry for a ring while he is in this moment, he has the #1 opportunity to solidify a career more impressive than michael jordan's in a sense of irony as MJ redefined the NBA's approach of glamorizing individual stars.

lowry ain't that kid he was in houstin, no mo'

[East Wind tmnt]

Sup chimps - yo P I got avery on my fantasy squad and he's killing it. Brad turner is legit. Also about the kings...I dunno when cousins will grow up.. dude's a tard.

[Chohan]

I surely hope Golden State is 28-0 come christmas day.

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Wow Celtics really gave GSW a run last night. Tunes in for the last half of the game, their defense looked great but their offense really just goes limp for some stretches. Curry looked mortal and Olynyk is an All Star level player all of a sudden?? Still, I think that the raps have actually played them the closest thus far. Never thought that Celts would actually win this one.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woZFQLJf8Do[/youtube]

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

And they lose to the bucks, didn't even get to watch the game. Worn down I guess, but looks like Jabari and Giannis had a great game.

[par73]

i think the celtics really took the life out of them

all of those celtics players can produce
olynyk is good for that lineup because while he's long he's versatile like dirk

the boston celtics frontcourt is what's trully remarkable and impressive. they are absolutely suffocating point gaurds this year and curry was no different.
viva stevens, viva ainge

great games overall, let's see how golden state responds to losing a game this year as it has not happened yet.

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Think the bucks are in for a spanking tonight? Hehe.

Spurs - Clipps should be interesting too, good night for basketball.


What I'm really waiting for is GSW - Spurs. I want to see Dramond guard Boban Marjanovic.

[c⁄J⁄Iılk c⁄J⁄Iån ◊§t◊]

Bucks really hung in there till the end! Draymond had to get angry and go crazy to finish out in the 4th. Maybe this is the key to beating GSW, a lot of long, lanky defenders. Makes you think the Spurs actually match up really well, with Green & Kawhi & even Aldridge who can move his feet well even when switched onto wings or guards.

[par73]

welp now that we're halfway through the season at the allstar break i'm just looking through our predictions and figure i will update my own

Think the bucks are in for a spanking tonight? Hehe.

How about that.

no particular order
EAST:
cavs: birthday cake but candles not lit
wow, blatts gone. all signs to cavs winning the ECF unless god-forbid they lose key pieces around lebron again (or lebron himself, which won't happen because the league protects him and he takes care of himself)


hawks #1? better stay healthy
they've dropped to 4th place and as predicted horford is injured, they've also had issues with korver and teague this season. i think last year's hawks had a better shot at beating last year's cavs.

beal injured, wizards in trouble
trouble as predicted, currently just out of the playoffs at #9

noah gets benched on the bulls
butler's out, noahs back out, gibson just got hurt, it's currently the drose gasol show and if history is any indication we know who will be injured next.

lowry really exploding
lowry is starting for the eastern all-stars in his second appearance. the toronto raptors are in 2nd place and vince carter is dunking for the grizzlies

batum doing well, al jefferson having a rough year
injuries hurting this team but not as much as other teams, they should be able to land a 7-8 seed death sentence unless MK23 makes moves for talented lottery tanking (very unlikely)

nets getting smoked
2nd to last in divsion
philly getting smoked
last in division

loss of oladipo meant cash money for picking other players in fantasy (same with vucevic)
orlando sits at 11 and while these pieces are all getting their worth in minutes and exposure, all of these players are role players on any contenders scheme with the exceptions of those ola and vuch

celtics look pretty good, i wonder when the injuries strike so 'we' can get some more consistent rotations.
3rd place, might land dwight howard on lease because the rockets are imploding which is controversial as bambi's mothers death or using subsitutues in a myth tournament game. i don't really want to see him get a max contract or an exception with us but if we take him at the end of the year for 3 months the implosion effect shouldn't be able to be contained and he will be playing to advertise himself and what he wants which is the most money he can possibly get during the off season. brad stevens ked

Think the bucks are in for a spanking tonight? Hehe.

bucks parker isn't ready yet. alphabet man is. monroe was.
i love watching the bucks play but they tend to lose and again while many didn't see golden state's first loss coming to milwuakee, if you watched the boston gs game you could tell gs was gonna be gassed if they had to play the following game and these young dudes coached by the kidd took out the best team in the league. who cares if they make the playoffs this year, that's their knack and at this point going for ping pong balls might not be a bad idea so they can rebuild to a status of what the fans once had (big O, abdul-jabbar days)

the heat well they don't have lebron and their two former best players average somewhere around 36 in age. dat whiteside tho
one of the few teams playoff run with a -scoring output, their defense keeps them in games. wade and bosh are a facilitator away from being able to have a chance against lebron.

the pacers. they sent their backcourt to the west. salary cap bullshit kinda caused that team to go bye bye ( and hibberts lackadaisical effort on all accounts), he basically watched the ECF two years ago while being on the court.
paul george playing pretty damn well for a guy who's body was snapped in half flying through the air attempting to keep a ball inbounds in what should have been a meaningless game with little effect on his career.

WEST:
spurs : defensively close to unstoppable
Civil Order 1998-2000

golden state: offensively overpowers all defenses
Northern Paladins 2001, 2006

lakers: kobe will be gone soon and maybe this team will make highlight reals for reasons besides other players such as swaggy nick young p taking after kobe with no d
clarkson is way more talented than nick young, i hope young goes to the d-league hes not in la to play basketball he's in la to use instagram

suns : a nice display of talent here. i agree with your observation of bledsoe and tend to value brandon knight as a better fit on that squad.
bledsoe is out for eternity and i constantly target pheonix games because they are high scoring and the suns get killed

grizzlies : rough start, likely make a late seed
Jeff Green once retweeted me, "Yah Watah", 5th in the west is better than I imagined

clippers: paul injured, griffin in talks for mvp- needs to last to playoffs
griffin is a buffon who broke his hand fighting with the team equipment guy and is also suspended, this is not what the clippers need when trying to compete with civil and np

houston: getting its ass kicked, repeatedly.
Absolute implosion level featuring the usual suspect. rumored to be targeting boston's draft picks and olynyk to dump off the remainder of dwights contract. this whole team wants to fight itself

new orleans: also getting its ass kicked except more than houston
same scenario but potentially less team fighting? who knows, perhaps davis is the new dwight

utah : west's version of a good defensive frontcourt such as boston
holding onto an 8th seed over houston, favors and hayward are quite a combination for these guys. hayward will be gone to a better team next year or sometime soon

portland : west's version of a front court that gives up a lot of points and a backcourt that has all but disappeared
its the kobe show in a situation where their entire offense is built around lillard and mcollum using the ball and everyone else is present for defensive reasons only.

timberwolves : impressive start, hell garnett got 25 minutes+ the other night. who'd have thought. KAT, wiggins and lavine have a great mentor in him.
well they won't but losing all of these games with garnett should inspire

thunder: durant's out therefore westbrook has more usage than any other point guard in the league and has been putting out curry-like performances minus the 3pt fanatics
3rd place, where they will comfortably rest for the remainder of the season. westbrook and durant look great, just need to stay healthy along with ibaka and hope san antonio and goldenstate miraculously fall apart at the end of the season

kings : defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has demarcus cousins starting at center.
cousins is pretty good and not this teams biggest problem. it's the fact they're 4 games out of a first round exit opportunity. a double edged sword really, well at least rondo is getting paid to break triple-double records. casspi has a nasty shot !

nuggets: defensively fucked, gives up mad points. has JJ hickson starting at center
yea so they changed starting center to Jokic and that has to many similar letters in comparison to JJ hickson so its ggs thx for the money for this franchise as well hopefully they can put it to good use and repair all of those broken ankles

mavs :well now that more than half the teams in the west are playing like shit looks like the mavs have a chance for a playoff spot after all
the mav's round out a 6 team gauntlet in the west for which there is no mercy in regards to their opponents.
watching the big 3 prepare to all move on, it's hard to believe there will be a dallas without a starting dirk. feels

[Asmodian]

What makes you think Gordon Hayward would leave the Jazz? He's on a young team that's getting better quickly and will probably make the playoffs. This is all happening with their top options at point guard being out all year, Exum and Burk.

[par73]

exum and burk are professional basketball players, sure. i think hayward will go somewhere else as a nice complimentary piece, is he really going to be able to stick around for the jazz's 10+ year rebuild? i don't think so. hes upping his price tag and shouldn't have any real allegiance to any team, its his job and profession as well as his responsibility to take care of himself which make this necessary.

[Pogue]

Celtics are third (32-23) in the Eastern Conference. That's the only update this thread needed.

[Lord---Scary Owl]

What is basketball?

[par73]

you haven't heard of larry bird?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lt1x-k3QGU[/youtube]

[HeadHunterKC]

Giannis running the point is so very fun to watch.
Dude might average near triple doubles next season.