The NBA thread

[Stoney Mason]

Elpresador

[Mandark]

Looking at his stat lines, the people hyping him up as a prospect seem a lot closer to being vindicated than certain people calling him the next Marcus Camby.

[Stoney Mason]

[Steve Contra]

This streak is starting to annoy me. How can I bitch and moan about every little thing with the Heat if they keep on winning like this. 

"Heat are peaking at the wrong time, they're gonna be tired out when the playoff get here!" :sadbron

I've seen a variation on this several times.  This isn't the time you want to get hot!

 :troll

[Stoney Mason]

Even I'm not that much of a jackass to jump on that bandwagon. Honestly this is exactly what I wanted from the Heat. To fucking take the regular season seriously at least in the sense of getting into good habits of playing. Because in the end that's all you have.

This current heat team is so night and day from when they originally got together when it was just Lebron and Wade taking turns dominating the ball. They actually play like a real basketball team. Players move without the ball and cut properly. It's been a nice evolution to watch.

Don't get me wrong. They don't execute like the Spurs or something. But they are so much better than they were in the past.

[Cormacaroni]

those veterans are really paying off, although we're only seeing them in short bursts. the 5 man line-up data is pretty clear that Battier and Allen are the best back-ups for the big 3 and probably what we'll see most of during the playoffs. In which case, everyone else may as well forget it. Only the Thunder can approach the Heat's ceiling in the playoffs.

[Stoney Mason]

Battier has played fucking awesome this season. Much better from 3 point land. And they often ask him to do impossible things on defense like play against bruising power forwards and he gives it his best effort every night. You can't ask for more than that. I always liked that dude and its nice that he's having a good season to back it up.


Ray Allen has been awesome and is gonna be so huge in the playoffs. His defense fucking sucks nowadays but whatever. I'll take that three point shooting in the tradeoff.

Birdman gives good effort and energy.

You never know what you are going to get from Chalmers but I'll take his over 40% from 3 point land this season.

It fucking feels like a real team with a real bench. The bench may not be as talented as some others but I feel like everybody knows their role. This is a team you can like imo because everybody just does what they are supposed to do. I'm not sure I could say that about the Heat of the past. Even last year where it felt more like a Herculean effort by Lebron won them the title in the playoffs.

We'll see I guess when we get to the playoffs this year.

[Cormacaroni]

I don't know what question remains to be answered tbh. They're the best by a country mile, regardless of the standings or the seedings.

[Stoney Mason]

The nuggets just got a miracle comeback against the 76ers.

Got a huge 3 point foul call at the end. Not sure if it was a foul though.

[Stoney Mason]

Doug Collins is going to have a stroke after this game.  :'(

[Smooth Groove]

Is it still true that Doug Collins doesn't care about stats?

I read that a few days ago, like how he doesn't give a crap the long 2 is supposedly a terrible shot

[Mandark]

Is it still true that Doug Collins doesn't care about stats?

I read that a few days ago, like how he doesn't give a crap the long 2 is supposedly a terrible shot

I'm stealing someone else's insight here, but the Sixers defense is based on forcing the other team into a lot of long 2-point jumpers, while their offense is based on... taking a lot of long 2-point jumpers.  It's pretty confusing.

[Smooth Groove]

Doug Collins is the white Mike Brown?

[Stoney Mason]

[Mandark]

Well, Mike Brown's seen as genial but not too authoritative, whereas Collins is a demanding, high-stress coach who wears out his players after a year or two.  So he's like the white Scott Skiles.

[Cormacaroni]

Their offense was clearly intended to be Andrew Bynum kicks it out to 4 shooters or Jrue Holiday drives /kicks it out, and now it's all fucked

[etiolate]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The effort to keep the Sacramento Kings from moving to Seattle got a boost from a Silicon Valley software tycoon who stepped forward as lead investor.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Vivek Ranadive will lead Sacramento's bid to keep the team, joining health-club financier Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle.

Ranadive's involvement comes after NBA commissioner David Stern said earlier this month that the Sacramento group's offer needed to be increased before league owners would consider it.

Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, who recruited the Burkle-Mastrov group, said that adding Ranadive takes the effort "to the next level."

Ranadive is chairman and chief executive of TIBCO Software and already part owner of the Golden State Warriors.

If the bid is successful, he would sell his stake in the Warriors.

Interesting move. I wonder if this was influenced by Stern while he was in Oakland.

[TakingBackSunday]

kings are gone dude.

[Smooth Groove]

not just a hypebeast, Nate still has some bounce,

[Fifstar]

Can't believe Nazr Mohammed is still playing, he had always the worst ratings in NBA Live.

[TakingBackSunday]

A little NCAA talk:

FUCK YOU GEORGETOWN  :'( :'( :'( :'(

[Smooth Groove]

Who's this?  I thought he was a female player at first glance

[Smooth Groove]

John Wall looked like 1st ballot HOF tonight

When Wall is on, you can see why scouts thought he was a bigger talent than even Westbrook and Rose

Super fluid athleticism and nice vision

[Phoenix Dark]

Georgetown 
Wisconsin  :dude
Pittsburgh  :sadbron

worst first round of the tournament for me, ever. I can still win the GAF bracket though

[Stoney Mason]

LOS ANGELES -- In a season in which the Los Angeles Lakers have pushed the reset button seemingly a half-dozen times already, Friday's 103-100 loss to the Washington Wizards left coach Mike D'Antoni sounding like he'd prefer to reach for the off switch at this point.

"This is a good team that just for whatever reason can't collectively mentally get stimulated to [play hard] every time," D'Antoni said after the Lakers wasted an 18-point first-half lead. "I told them today, we put our hands in [the huddle], and you guys have probably seen it, we say, 'Championship,' and go out [on the floor]. That's laughable. Championship? You got to be kidding me. Nobody understands the importance of every possession offensively and defensively. Every time they got to come out with some kind of determination to be a good basketball team, and [until] then, we're just, we're fooling ourselves. Right now, that's what we're doing. We're just making a 'sham-mockery' out of it."

[Stoney Mason]

[TakingBackSunday]

So...34 is gonna happen, isn't it?

[Stoney Mason]

@ Spurs and @Chicago in the next 5 games could easily be losses if the other teams are motivated that night. I don't think it will happen just because the closer it gets, the more up the other teams will be.

[Cormacaroni]

The Heat have to start thinking about resting their vets (i.e. everyone who plays...) at some point. They haven't really been pushing the Big 3 all that hard though, and Battier/Allen have had it pretty easy.

[Smooth Groove]

Bron only played 34 mins tonight even though he only needed just 2 more boards for a triple double

[Mandark]

Wizards would be #35.  Glad that if it happens my guys won't be the other team in that part of all the highlight reels.

[Smooth Groove]

Best thing about the streak is Bron having to play hard to keep it going

It'd be interesting to see if Bron can get his PER back to 32 or more

True landmark season if he did

[Flannel Boy]

I can see the headlines already: Nerd with calculator says LeBron's season is pretty good.

[Smooth Groove]

Don't need a calculator to know how well The King is doing

:troll

[Flannel Boy]

Add please.

Also, why aren't there two dozen Vince Carter's?

[Mandark]

The Vince Carter one should be a gif that cycles through pictures of him prone in the jersey of each team he's joined.

[Flannel Boy]

searching google:

[Cormacaroni]

Best thing about the streak is Bron having to play hard to keep it going

It'd be interesting to see if Bron can get his PER back to 32 or more

True landmark season if he did

it would be really REALLY tough to raise his season PER by even 0.2 at this point of the season so I think firmly 32 is out of reach (note - i pulled this out of my ass and didn't use a calculator of any sort. Just basing off discussions of say, how far behind Durant is in PER vs LeBron over the past few years even though the numbers seem very close to the casual observer).

Basically I think Wade would have to sit out the rest of the season and LeBron would need to go full-on Cavs 2008 style, but better. He could do it - as evidenced by past playoff PERs - but he wouldn't need to.

[Smooth Groove]

the look of awe on 55 would make a great smiley

[Flannel Boy]

the look of awe on 55 would make a great smiley

Andrew DeClercq has a name.
lol just noticed the url at the bottom left hand corner.

edit:
Somehow, DeClerq made $17,908,500 in the NBA.

[Phoenix Dark]

Kobe Bryant is keeping a $20,000-plus bottle of bubbly on ice in case his Lakers win a title. As his team looks NBA playoff-bound, Bryant was presented with a Black Gold Jeroboam of 1998 Dom Pérignon — of which there are only 50 — and he cockily quipped, “We’ll pop this in June.”

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/money_on_ice_duqNIjBj5s4JgjNdqYne9O

[TakingBackSunday]

Lebron has the other 49.  One for each championship  :troll

[Beezy]

Lebron has the other 49.  One for each championship  :troll

[Smooth Groove]

Best thing about the streak is Bron having to play hard to keep it going

It'd be interesting to see if Bron can get his PER back to 32 or more

True landmark season if he did

it would be really REALLY tough to raise his season PER by even 0.2 at this point of the season so I think firmly 32 is out of reach (note - i pulled this out of my ass and didn't use a calculator of any sort. Just basing off discussions of say, how far behind Durant is in PER vs LeBron over the past few years even though the numbers seem very close to the casual observer).

Basically I think Wade would have to sit out the rest of the season and LeBron would need to go full-on Cavs 2008 style, but better. He could do it - as evidenced by past playoff PERs - but he wouldn't need to.

went from 31.07 to 31.32 with last night's game

 :troll

[Stoney Mason]

Looks like the nuggets streak will end tonight.

[Stoney Mason]

Nice espn insider piece on Chris Anderson. He deserves the daps.

Some highlights.

The Heat are 28-1 when Chris Andersen has played this season. Twenty-nine games, 28 wins. The only loss came against the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 1. Aside from that blip, the Heat are undefeated when Andersen has stepped on the court this season.

Of course, a “when Player X has played” stat can be misleading. It’s not as if Andersen’s four total minutes against the Detroit Pistons in late January single-handedly propelled the Heat to victory that night. Only a fool would suggest that Andersen has more fingerprints on Miami’s win streak than, say, LeBron James.

But Andersen has given this team something that they’ve never had: a skilled big man who could play above the rim on both ends of the floor. This isn’t another frontcourt flier like Erick Dampier, Eddy Curry, Josh Harrellson, Mickell Gladness, Ronny Turiaf or even Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The man they call “Birdman” is a different animal.

Spoelstra wants to force the defense to make as many tough decisions as possible. Andersen is an absolute nightmare to guard in the pick-and-roll when he sets a screen for James and Wade. Who do you load up on? The Heat have been repeatedly drilling the spread pick-and-roll in practices and shootarounds because that question is excruciating for defenses to answer. When Andersen rolls to the rim, it forces a gravitational pull to the paint. If help doesn’t come, it’s Lob City. If the defense collapses, it’s an Allen or Battier 3-pointer waiting to happen.

Of course, at age 34, injury is still a concern for Andersen, but it’s hard to convey how desperate the Heat were for this kind of presence. Consider that Andersen’s 15.3 PER is the highest of any Heat player outside James, Wade and Bosh since 2010-11 (minimum 10 minutes per game)

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/17135/chris-andersen-miamis-missing-piece

[Beezy]

Of course I play against a team that has John Wall this week...

[Smooth Groove]

:deadkobe

[Cormacaroni]

i'm watching the Washington Walls right now, should I switch to the Lakers?

[Smooth Groove]

Wall is beasting but how you gonna miss the Lakers' new streak?

:childplease

[Cormacaroni]

i guess <wearily thumbs X on remote to go into split screen>

[TakingBackSunday]

Very interesting article on Andersen.  On a different team, he'd absolutely be the starting center, but this Heat team is...small.  Even their starters.  Bosh is 6'11 but he is skinny as dick, and doesn't really threaten inside the paint as other starting centers do.  Bosh to me does best from high post jumpers or from a bit above the charity line.  Honestly his jumper is one of their best.  Andersen has a bit more bulk and seems to have success with inside blocks/defense.  It'd be interesting to see a starting lineup of Wade, Chalmers, Lebron, Andersen, and Bosh, where Bosh stays out for jumpers and Lebron and Andersen cover most of the inside.

But that would get rid of Battier's great on-the-ball defense...I'd like to see Andersen used more often though, fun guy to watch.

[Stoney Mason]

Nice Grantland article on the Heat offense. I've been thinking the same recently so its nice to see my eye test confirmed.

The most important and perhaps improbable thing about the 2012-13 Miami Heat, and their monstrous 27-game winning streak, is how easily everything comes on offense now. Miami leads the league in points per possession, and on the surface that's not so surprising. The Heat have been a very good offensive team for three seasons, and they have the world's greatest player, two more All-Stars, and an array of role players picked specifically because of how snugly they fit around those stars. And those stars are putting up crazy numbers — 52 percent–plus shooting for each of them, including an insane 55.7 percent from LeBron James, who should be the unanimous choice for MVP.

But all the justified focus on the individual numbers obscures a larger, better story: These Heat look almost nothing like the 2010-11 version that melted away against Dallas in the Finals, and they don't even look much like the team that took the floor for the bulk of their championship campaign last season.

The Heat ranked eighth in points per 100 possessions last season, sporting a mark about two points above the league's overall average, per Basketball-Reference.com.2 They're no. 1 this season, a full seven points over the league's overall average — a huge five-point year-over-year jump in comparison to the NBA's general scoring output.

Only four teams have ever improved this much on offense in Year 2 after having merely an above-average offense in Year 1; the Heat will be the fifth such team.

The other four:

• 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers: an all-time great team, owner of the 33-game streak Miami is chasing.

• 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (Michael Jordan's first full season back from retirement).

• 1997-98 Los Angeles Lakers: Shaquille O'Neal plays nine more games than prior season, Kobe Bryant no longer a rookie.

• 2003-04 Sacramento Kings.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9098417/how-miami-heat-went-historic-winning-streak-came-dominate-league

[Stoney Mason]

Final couple of weeks should be fun for that 8th spot. With the Lakers recent losing streak almost certainly the best they could hope for is the 8th seed and they are only up one game on the Jazz and 1 and a half on the Mavericks.

One problem the Lakers have is that they lose the tiebreaker with the Jazz so they have to win that last position outright.

As far as games remaining.


Dallas ( 12 games remaining ) :
HOME: 7
ROAD: 5


L.A. Lakers ( 11 games remaining ) :
HOME: 6
ROAD: 5

Utah ( 11 games remaining ) :
HOME: 7
ROAD: 4

The Lakers schedule isn't especially easy either. They are a bad road team and some of their remaining home games are difficult.


April 2 Home versus the Mavericks in a really big game.
April 5 Home versus the Grizzlies
April 12 Home versus Golden State
April 14 Home versus Spurs. Spurs will probably be resting players big time at this point but they are still a tough team.
April 17 Home versus Rockets.

[Cormacaroni]

so much Laker drama coming in the offseason after their 1st round obliteration, so much

Nash and Gasol have basically destroyed their market value, Kobe is playing so well that fans will be clamoring to give him an extension, Kobe saying that resigning the 2nd best player in the league when healthy is 'a very tough decision' oh god oh god, we will be lucky to hear about anything else

[Beezy]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/kobe-bryant-compiles-helpful-list-of-435-aspects-o,31814/

 :deadkobe :deadkobe :deadkobe

[Cormacaroni]

anyone remember that shoot-out when Jamison got 54 and Kobe got 51 or whatever? Hard to believe that Kobe is still playing at that level when every one of his peers has dropped off so much

[Smooth Groove]

maybe it's cuz :childplease is on offense and :deadkobe is on defense


http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2013/3/23/4139126/lakers-analysis-2013-kobe-bad-defense-lakers-wizards

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/55877/an-open-letter-to-kobe-bryant-about-his-defense

[Cormacaroni]

oh yeah, that's not in doubt

But given the number of YOUNG players who provide only offense and negative defense (James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard among the worst) but still get All-Star nods or whatever, it's hard to fault Kobe too much. I mean, at least he HAD a rep at one point even if he doesn't now.

[Beezy]

Celtics