Post: #5526

Anyone excited for the Warriors vs Lakers game? Probably must watch game of the whole season. Too bad the Raptors didnt get a Christmas game even though everyone knew they would be a top team in the East.

Post: #5527

Post: #5528

A Christmas gift for the Denver Nuggets tonight. GSW blown out by the Lakers in Oakland, while Lebron went down with what looked like a significant groin strain.

Utah just needs to beat Portland as well.







Denver Nuggets still No.1 in the Western Conference

Post: #5529

Post: #5530

The Nuggets don't have anything meaningful to show until the playoffs. This is coming from a Raptors fan. Don't get ahead of yourself with regular season performance, especially this early. I have learned over the years regular season didn't mean jack aside from big games and seeing how certain players are growing and evolving their game.

Most good teams pace until Christmas and don't give it 100 percental until the All-Star break and then cool it off once they lock up their seeding. Also, a strong finish is more important than a strong start.

Still a long ways to go. No need for the daily Nuggets highlights.

Post: #5531

Fair enough, kosko. I will tone it down.

Post: #5532

Anyone think Raptors are coming out of East finally?

Post: #5533

(12-26-2018 01:14 PM)internetprince Wrote:  Anyone think Raptors are coming out of East finally?

It's theirs to lose. They've got the best team on paper so odds as good as they can get.

Post: #5534

(12-24-2018 08:31 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  

This dude's basketball channel is one of the best fucking channels on Youtube. Hands down, this dude can break down basketball into plain English like nobody else in the basketball world I know of can. I love listening to Kenny Smith's breakdowns, but he is on a short segment so you only get little nuggets. He really needs his own TV show or YT channel like this guy does.

Post: #5535

What is happening with Golden State?

Are they going to come good and just switch it on becuase right now they look horrible.

Defense has regressed. Turnovers. Klay can't hit the side of a barn.

Everyone just expects them to come out of the west but I'm not so sure anymore.

Post: #5536

I was at the warriors game last night( overtime loss to Portland). Klay is in a shooting slump. Curry and Durant played great(Durant had a triple double before overtime started).

I think the western division is solid top to bottom and the warriors are very good, they will get even better with cousins

Post: #5537

Post: #5538

(12-28-2018 12:06 PM)eradicator Wrote:  I think the western division is solid top to bottom and the warriors are very good, they will get even better with cousins

Jeez, how many allstars do they need to beat teams like the Blazers and the Lakers?

I'm seeing some serious cracks in the GSW system this year. Teams have caught up with their playing style and they're not blowing anybody out anymore. I previously said they were still top contenders for the title. Now I'm not so sure...

Post: #5539

Wizards' John Wall to have season-ending surgery on left heel: http://archive.li/TTHNU | Reddit r/NBA discussion link: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/aap3n1/windhorst_wall_to_have_surgery_out_for_season/ | Washington Wizards Official Injury Update: http://archive.li/WaG1g

Quote:Brian Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski

2:17 UTC

Washington Wizards star John Wall will undergo season-ending surgery to repair bone spurs in his left heel, the team announced during Saturday's game against the Charlotte Hornets. [aka. Team Thanos]

Wall, 28, is expected to be sidelined six to eight months before returning to full basketball activity, the team said.

Doctors determined the procedure is necessary for Wall to remedy an issue that has bothered him for more than a year. Wall on Saturday met with specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, who recommended the surgery.

Wall was trying to play through the injury, but it was getting worse, sources told ESPN, and opting to have the surgery now should allow him to return healthy for the start of next season.

"I've been with him for almost three years,'' coach Scott Brooks said of Wall. "He's as tough as they come. He never complained. He wanted to compete for his team, but it got to a point where he had to make some tough decisions. And that's why he met with a specialist."

Wall, who is averaging 20.7 points and 8.7 assists per game, has been able to manage the pain and looked like his All-Star self in some games this season, such as on Dec. 16 in Los Angeles, when he scored 40 points with 14 assists against the Lakers.

But other times, the pain and swelling made it hard to move, such as on Dec. 8, when the Cavaliers held him to 1 point. He then missed Washington's next game two days later in Indiana.

The Wizards (13-23) entered play Saturday having lost three straight and five of their last six. Tomas Satoransky started in Wall's place in Friday's loss to the Bulls.

It looks like Bradley Beal will have to show whether he's capable of being the first option since the Wizards' season is essentially over. Add one more team that will likely tank for Zion.

If you're wondering why I'm referring to the Charlotte Hornets as "Team Thanos", it's because they are probably the most average team in NBA history. Through 35 games, their games have gone like this:
L W W L L W L W L W W L W L L W W L L W W L L L W W W L L W W L L W

The Hornets, whose record currently stands at 17-18 after losing to the Wizards, have achieved the .500 record every time after an even amount of games were played, with the only occasion it didn't occur was after the 24 game mark where the record was 11-13 after a rare 3 game losing streak, which was quickly followed by an equally rare 3 game winning streak to go 14-13.

More about the Charlotte Hornets' (almost) perfectly balanced record: They are 9-1 when 1 game under .500; 0-7 when 1 game over .500; 7-9 when at .500; have been at 0-0, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 13-13, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16 and are currently 17-17 [Posted before the Hornets played the Wizards & lost.]

So good luck to the Orlando Magic as they're likely to lose to the Hornets on December 31.

_______________________________________________
"The only thing worse in the NBA than being consistently terrible is being consistently mediocre." #259

Post: #5540

Post: #5541

(12-28-2018 02:29 PM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  

(12-28-2018 12:06 PM)eradicator Wrote:  I think the western division is solid top to bottom and the warriors are very good, they will get even better with cousins

Jeez, how many allstars do they need to beat teams like the Blazers and the Lakers?

I'm seeing some serious cracks in the GSW system this year. Teams have caught up with their playing style and they're not blowing anybody out anymore. I previously said they were still top contenders for the title. Now I'm not so sure...

As a life long Warrior fan I have to agree with you. The Warriors are not playing anything close championship basketball right now. They started 12-1 on the season but are just 12-12 since then. The rest of the NBA has caught up to them.

The Warriors only have a +4.1 point differential on the season which is only 7th best in the NBA. Let me put this into historical perspective. Before the Warriors started their championship run only eight teams in NBA history have had a double digit point differential for an entire season. Seven of those teams won the NBA title. The eighth team lost to another team with a double digit point differential in the playoffs. The Warriors rattled off three straight seasons of double digit point differentials.

2014-15: 10.1
2015-16: 10.6
2016-17: 11.6

The all time record is 12.3 by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

That 11.6 point differential by the 2016-17 Warriors is the 4th highest all time. They had an astounding 12.8 point differential in late March when KD injured his knee and missed six weeks. Had KD not missed those six weeks the Warriors probably break the Bulls record.

Last the season the Warriors dipped to a 6.0 point differential. That's still a solid number but way below what they had done the previous three seasons. Not coincidentally, the Warriors "only" won 58 games. The previous three seasons they won 67, 73, and 67 games. Last season I noticed the Warriors started getting blown out a lot more than the previous three seasons. And this has continued even more this season. Their 26 point loss at home on Christmas Day to the Lakers even though LeBron left the game early in the third quarter due to an injury was just embarrassing. The Warriors have also already lost twice to the Raptors and have had double digit loses to the Rockets, Pistons, and Spurs, a 28 point loss to the Thunder, and a 23 point loss to the Bucks.

Right now the Warriors are not even close to the best team in the league. Do they have time to right the ship? Sure. But will they? I have no idea. There are so many questions. When will Boogie Cousins actually play? And when he does play will he be a major factor?

Post: #5542

Has anyone here noticed Russell Westbrook's massive drop in free throw percentage?

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2018.

2017-18 - 5.2/7.1 free throws per game; 73.7% free throw shooting percentage
2018-19 - 3.4/5.6 free throws per game; 60.7% free throw shooting percentage

The reason is due to a rule change from 2017 and it has forced Westbrook to change his free throw routine. He clearly has no rhythm from the free throw line this season. If this persists, watch for the Hack-A-Russ to occur a lot over the rest of the regular season and especially the playoffs.

Quote:How new NBA rules have messed up Russell Westbrook's free throw shooting | Mirror Link: http://archive.li/sjXV7

by Jack Maloney @jackmaloneycbs Oct 26, 2017

[...]

One area where he's really struggling, however, is at the free throw line. A career 82.2 percent shooter from the stripe, Westbrook is just 10 of 18 (55.6 percent) from the line through the first four games. The reason? The NBA changed the delay of game rules over the summer. In an effort to speed up the game, the referees now assess a delay of game violation if a player goes past the 3-point line in between foul shots.

Doing just that has been Westbrook's routine for over a decade. And as he explained after Wednesday night's win over the Pacers, not being able to do his usual routine is messing him up.

Westbrook's full explanation:

Russell Westbrook Wrote:I used to shoot and walk back behind the 3, and I'm not allowed to do that because of this new rule. I've been doing that since high school. Just gotta figure it out, figure out a different routine where I can take some time, take a deep breath, and figure it out. But I'll be alright.

The general idea of the new delay of game rules are messing up Westbrook's free throw percentage may sound a little goofy, but his explanation makes perfect sense. So much of having success as a basketball player is about feeling comfortable and being in rhythm. Especially on free throws where so much of the shot is mental. For Westbrook to lose the comfort of a routine he's been doing for over a decade, it's easy to see why that would throw him off.

But with how talented he is, and how good of a free throw shooter he's been in the past, he should be able to solve this problem without too much trouble.

>But with how talented he is, and how good of a free throw shooter he's been in the past, he should be able to solve this problem without too much trouble.

(11-15-2014 09:06 AM)Russell Westbrook Wrote:  This new free throw routine is not going in the direction I was hoping for.

_______________________________________________
"What did Karl Malone mutter to himself before he shoots his free throws?" #261

Post: #5543

Luka is something else.

Post: #5544

LEBRON DECLARES HIMSELF THE GOAT!

Post: #5545

(12-31-2018 05:43 PM)JayMillz Wrote:  LEBRON DECLARES HIMSELF THE GOAT!

Bitch please

Post: #5546

The self proclaimed GOAT

Post: #5547

Even if you're the GOAT you don't say it lol. That's like bragging about your IQ. He's gonna attract even more haters with this.

Post: #5548

Why can't basketball players be humble?

Post: #5549

LeBron has gone into full derp mode, maybe it's just that having a show that puts a microphone in front of him constantly is creating it but god he says some stupid things and the arrogance with which he says it is perhaps the most comical/sad part.

Post: #5550

Teams I cheer for:

1.Denver Nuggets
2.Toronto Raptors
3.New York Knicks
4.Miami Heat
5.Brooklyn Nets

Teams I actively hope they lose games:

1.Golden State Warriors
2.Milwaukee Bucks
3.OKC Thunder
4.Houston Rockets
5.Utah Jazz
6.Philadelphia 76ers
7.LA Lakers & Clippers
8.San Antonio Spurs
9.Boston Celtics
10.Portland Trailblazers
11.Indiana Pacers
12.Minnesota Timberwolves