2019 NBA Catch-All - It’s Fantastic

I agree DS, I think he would be more successful to be encouraging, but I don't know what has gone on in the locker room, maybe he has been encouraging for five months and didn't feel he was getting anywhere so now he is frustrated. Then again like you said this type of on-court frustration showing has been Lebron's MO after a while on every team...

Besides the trade stuff I wonder what changed since at the start of the season they were doing pretty well and then James got hurt and it hasn't been the same since. Is it really just still dealing with the mental stuff from the trade rumors?

In other debates, I don't see how people could vote MVP for anyone but Harden. I know Giannis is a favorite but if he was out the Bucks would still be pretty good. Harden carried his team to 12-5 while Paul was out and put up streaks not seen in decades. I don't like his play style, but I am not sure how you could argue he hasn't been the 'most valuable'. I think Giannis is runner-up. Also if you care about advanced stats like Value Added, Estimated Wins Added, Real Plus/Minus then Harden is pretty far ahead. In PER they are basically equal at just over 30.

I would submit Paul George, personally. He’s been incredible this season. No way OKC is 3rd in the conference without him playing this way.

If you want to ignore the defensive end of the court, sure, give it to Harden. To say there is no debate is to handwave Giannis' season and focus entirely on one end of the floor, IMO.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has a 5.4 Offensive Box +/- & a 5.4 Defensive Box +/-.

On track to be the 1st in NBA history to be 5+ in both for a season.

Only players to be 4+ in both for a season: David Robinson (4x), Kevin Garnett (2x), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier & Westbrook.
https://twitter.com/AndrewDBailey/st...

He is also putting up across the board counting stats that, combined, are unprecedented for a season and in fewer MPG. They have equaled last year's victory total already and have the best record in the league. Their #2 player is Kris freaking Middleton.

There is plenty of basketball to be played.

That’s a cool stat. Thanks for the heads up. Kind of shocked PG isn’t higher.

Those stats, of course, are affected by teammates.

DSGamer wrote:

That’s a cool stat. Thanks for the heads up. Kind of shocked PG isn’t higher.

Those stats, of course, are affected by teammates.

PG is currently #1 in Real +/- though I am not sure that the quality of one's teammates, good or bad, is a great separator. The worse your team, the more minutes you have to play. Harden staying in blowouts chucking 3s for the streak is pretty crappy, IMO. The Joker and PG13 have been incredibly valuable to their respective teams along with Harden (a great, great player) and Giannis. At the current standard of play, this just feels like the MVP is likely to actually be the best player who happens to be on the best team vs. the other way around. Again, a lot of games to go.

Yeah I would have PG third. Some of the advanced stats have him lower and some he is top of the charts.

Giannis has increased his 3% each month by ~8% until Feb:

October 6.3%
November 14.3% change +8%
December 22.2% change +7.9%
January 30.6% change +8.4%
February 45.5% change +14.9%

Crazy stat:
If Giannis shoots 40% on 3 it is a less efficient shot than him shooting a 2 this year.

• 40% on 3 = 1.2 points per shot
• 64% on 2 = 1.28 points per shot

This disparity will, paradoxically, only increase as opponents come to respect his shooting, as he will get easier 2s.
https://twitter.com/NoTechBen/status...

Eh I doubt it, he is on pace for the same number of attempts and shooting percentage as he had two seasons ago (180 3s attempted, 27% made).

Last year he totaled 140 attempts, which is about the same as he has so far this season. He was actually a better shooter of them last season too, with 31% made vs 24% so far this year. His 3 point shooting is actually worse this year than the last two seasons. I don't see why opponents would change the way they guard him, if anything they should encourage him to shoot more 3s.

The Bucks tie Golden State with their sixth game of 140 or more points. Before this season, the Bucks hadn't scored 140 in a season since 2002. From 1987 through last season, the Bucks had a total of four 140 point games.

Bring back handchecks!

LeapingGnome wrote:

Bring back handchecks!

I understand why you’re saying that, but that eventually leads us back to this style of play.

IMAGE(https://i2.wp.com/www.rpad.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Detroit-Pistons-Bad-Boys-3.jpg?resize=580%2C456)

Pistons wrote the script, the Knicks and Heat took it to a whole new level.

IMAGE(https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/TAwVulxDOIapXmb0WI0voRNho6k=/1200x0/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/S4IIPKUAESE2C3VNQU34FTQL7A.jpg)

Yeah. I'll pass on that version of the NBA.

This is a pretty interesting spreadsheet from Andy Bailey. Presumably, it is being updated weekly, if not daily. Looks at player rankings in 10 different advanced metrics any compiles a catch all average ranking.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

https://twitter.com/AndrewDBailey/st...

Wow, the Lakers. Completely collapse in the last 3 minutes against Milwaukee after playing a close, hard game all night and then losing to the Suns tonight.

At the trade deadline I thought the Clippers would be best off tanking to keep their 1st this year but I guess making the playoffs at the expense of the Lakers with LeBron would be a nice point in their free agent recruiting pitch this summer.

Donovan with 46 last night and the Jazz win. Wow.

Man a lot of my picks were way off last night

Brandon Ingram out for the season with a blood clot

Feel so bad for him, but I’m glad they caught it. A DVT killed a friend of mine and my wife had to deal with one for a while. On blood thinners for almost 2 years. This also is what ended Bosh’s career.

Lakers officially in gimmick and tank mode

I know this was a feel good story last year, but it feels really early to call Ingram up from the G-League. They should fire Walton and let a fan coach like in "Eddie".

It's interesting that the last two posts are both about an man named Ingram

I was honestly scared for the Raptors last night against the Cavs. Not about the outcome, which was a L, but that Chriss was going to injure all of our players single-handedly and the refs were letting it get out of hand.

On the same play in the 2nd, Chriss knocks Danny Green to the ground, and then takes down Ibaka. WTF

I'm not surprised that Ibaka went after him at the end of the third if he made some smart-ass comments as he walked off.

Yeah, that’s kind of nonsense is largely absent from the modern NBA so to see it return is a big drag. Especially when it’s a lottery team vs a team weeks away from a potential deep playoff run.

I was today years old when I learned a player can wear 0 while a teammate wears 00.

IMAGE(https://www.nba.com/blazers/sites/blazers/files/lillard-rose-header.jpg)

IMAGE(https://e0.365dm.com/19/02/768x432/enes-kanter-portland-trail-blazers_4586015.jpg?20190222110015)

Me too. Seems like a weird thing that wouldn't be allowed.

Interesting piece by Kirk Goldsberry on the transformation of the Bucks

This really jumped out at me more than anything and it harkens back to earlier discussions in this thread about the value of Lopez.

More than his predecessors, Budenholzer has exploited Antetokounmpo's interior prowess by decorating the perimeter with a fleet of capable shooters. But none has been more important to the team's success than Lopez.

Here's a sentence that would've sounded absolutely insane three years ago: Lopez is the leading 3-point shooter on the NBA's second-most-prolific 3-point-shooting team. Coming into Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/WatchESPN), he has drained 159 triples this season, which isn't only the most on his team -- it's by far the most of his career, and more than any center in the NBA. Lopez's shooting pulls away opposing bigs from the basket, which in turn opens up the paint for Giannis.

It's not fair to pair the world's best rim attacker with the NBA's best stretch-5, but that's exactly what Milwaukee has done this season. Lopez gets to launch four 3s per game with no defender in sight, and Giannis gets to rack up 811 total shots in the paint (the most in the league, per Second Spectrum data).

There's another hidden perk associated with spacing bigs: transition defense. By littering the top of the arc with players like Lopez and Mirotic, Budenholzer's offensive system is already playing D. Those big, slow dudes get a head start as soon the other team gets the ball. Nobody's giving up fewer fast-break points this season than Bud's Bucks, who yield only 10.4 fast-break points per game. As impressive as the offensive turnaround has been in Milwaukee, the defensive one has been even more dramatic.

What a few weeks in Laker Land. Losing to my abominable Knicks, then losing to the Bucks while D'Angelo Russell, who they let go, goes off for 27 in the 4th quarter to help the likely-playoff-bound Nets come back from a 25-point 4th quarter deficit to win.

If Magic was anyone other than Magic, he'd be on the hot seat right now, we all agree, right?

@HPBasketball wrote:

If Thunder take one off the Raptors and the Jazz beat the Hawks, I’m pretty sure the Nets and D’Angelo Russell will be in position to eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs officially on Friday.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Oh yeah. One of my great joys right now is the Bill Simmons podcast where he and Ryan Russillo constantly roast Magic and the Lakers.

I have absolutely no memory of Shaq playing for the Celtics. Am I the only one?

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/v0jZZS0.jpg)

lol

I do remember his Celtics time, actually, but I'm an NBA junkie. I remember Hakeem Olajuwan's Raptors time and Ewing's Seattle days.

But what about Ewing’s Magic tenure?

Shaq called himself big shamrock during the Celtics phase.

Anyway, LeBron is missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005.