NBA Season 15-16

Post by **Shirley** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 11:48 am

Here's some more great Rockets D. Watch James Harden.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 1:58 pm

Shirley wrote:Here's some more great Rockets D. Watch James Harden.

h/t

Fun Fact: They beat the Raptors in Toronto with Harden going 40+ and 14 assists. But by all means, let's focus on one play.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Mar 09, 2016 2:16 pm

The Giannis dunk around Westbrook and over Ibaka was one of the best things I've seen all year and they were losing like 22-4 at the time. I think we can separate.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Mar 15, 2016 8:14 am

OK, this is kinda stupid.

https://vine.co/v/iwrmK2jvpBm

Just insane to make that pass, but of course Curry hits it. That's deference!

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Mar 15, 2016 8:29 am

Love whoever's guarding Curry. Not only the obvious WTF reaction after it's over, but checking to see where Curry's toes are as he's shooting the ball. "Just tell me the damages"

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Mar 18, 2016 8:38 pm

If JJ Barea counts, Mavs have four white guys on the floor vs Warriors. And they've cut a 14 pt lead to three. (David Lee, Dirk, Chandler Parsons, who at least has a black dude's name.)

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 9:53 am

In last night's most important NBA moment, Paul Millsap caught Dwight Howard using stickum on the ball.

https://vine.co/v/idIeAJPzitu

Postscript: http://www.myajc.com/news/sports/basket ... m-referral" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:01 am

In less important NBA news, the Spurs-Warriors game was pretty interesting to watch. I don't think too much can be read into the result, since Curry had an off shooting night and the Warriors were without Iguodala (and Bogut, although I doubt he'd get crunch time minutes in a series). But that game did confirm to me that the Spurs should use Danny Green as the primary defender on Curry. If they put Green on Curry and Leonard on Draymond, it gives them the best chance of containing that 1-4 pick-and-roll of any team. Playing Diaw over Duncan was also an interesting wrinkle by Popovich. Diaw may be barely in shape, but he's one of the most skilled big men I've ever seen, so he's probably a better fit for a small ball game.

It's nuts that as a result of the Spurs winning last night, there's now a reasonable chance that there will be two different teams, in the same conference, with 70+ wins and a 41-0 home record. I'd still put the Spurs' chances of pulling off either feat at less than 50%, but last night's win eliminated one of the big obstacles for them.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:40 am

First time the teams played, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 5 points in 25 minutes. I did not understand this. Last night, 26pts, 13 boards in 37 minutes. Diaw was nice too. Danny Green had plenty of help in smothering Curry above the arc, forcing him to drive to the basket and making it uncomfortable to shoot. For the first time all season, one of Curry's 3pt shot attempts was blocked; he was cold but Spurs D had a lot to do with that.

No Igoudala, second of back-to-back, lots of missed shots by Klay and Harrison, Curry 1-12 from the arc, and had a shot at the win down the stretch. I can live with that. These teams should play three times a week for the month of May, first to win seven is the champ, screw the rest of the playoffs. And fuck Patty Mills, the NCAA banned St. Mary's from the tournament, can't the association do the same?

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 3:07 pm

I didn't watch, but read a little about it, including Pop's personnel usage and defensive changes from the first game. Makes me wonder if he'll do the same thing in either of the last two games that he did last night or treat those matchups as additional laboratory time.

Both games being in the last week of the regular season likely makes them inconsequential, though.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sun Mar 20, 2016 11:16 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:Both games being in the last week of the regular season likely makes them inconsequential, though.

But, if they are going for home win records, they might be more consequential, and treated as such, no?

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:36 am

sancarlos wrote:
DSafetyGuy wrote:Both games being in the last week of the regular season likely makes them inconsequential, though.
But, if they are going for home win records, they might be more consequential, and treated as such, no?

I do not see that as a priority for Popovich at all.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Mon Mar 21, 2016 8:09 pm

For those of us who like reading too much into things, LeBron unfollwed the Cavs' official account on twitter today. He still follows Ellen DeGeneres, though, so everything's cool there.

duff · Post by **duff** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:24 am

Why would he need to follow his employer? Won't he get the internal memos when they are doing giveaways. And it isn't like he needs to know the score throughout the game. What gets me is his tantrum he had after the game when asked about it. It is all for show for him. He has to be the center of attention and this was all calculated.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:40 am

To a distant outsider (who sits near a Cavs fan), this seems like more of an existential crisis than drama for show.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:42 am

Yeah, LeBron's odd in that he's much more self-aware than most sports stars, but not completely, and he tends to do transparently calculated things and then act surprised/indignant when he discovers that people are onto him.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:48 am

Johnny Carwash wrote:Yeah, LeBron's odd in that he's much more self-aware than most sports stars, but not completely, and he tends to do transparently calculated things and then act surprised/indignant when he discovers that people are onto him.

This is correct. People are talking about the Cavs. Mission accomplished.

Post by **brian** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 4:47 pm

In significantly more important and somber NBA news, Craig Sager apparently has only a few months to live.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 4:58 pm

Yeah, when leukemia comes back a third time, you're pretty much out. Long odds, hope he beats them.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:05 pm

Horrible news about Sager. Saw some bloggers talking about doing ugly blazer day in his honor soon.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:38 am

This D'Angelo Russell stuff is nuts. Apparently recorded Nick Young talking about being with other women (Young's engaged(married?) to Iggy Azalea) and has been completely shut out by his teammates. That's basically career suicide, isn't it?

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:09 am

Yeah, that's nuts. I think it will very possibly mean the end of Russell's time on the Lakers, but I don't think it should (or will) ruin his career. It's a dumb, dumb mistake, bust he's just a rookie, and I don't know that there have been any other signs that he's a bad guy. This current Lakers situation is so toxic—they're still lorded over by a sociopath playing out his final few games, and Nick Young has basically been the equivalent of current Kobe for his whole career—that I wouldn't make any long-term judgements against any of the younger guys on the team. If I were another GM, and this is a chance to get Russell below his market value, I'd jump at it.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:15 am

I would cut the entire rest of the team before I got rid of Russell. He's the only promising player on that entire roster. (Randle and Clarkson are okay but nowhere near as talented as Russell.) I'd happily rebuild around Russell and Simmons/Ingram.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 8:42 am

So Lebron is being positioned as a coach killer in Cleveland. Last night clearly did not help that reputation. I wonder if he had a really top notch coach for a year to put him in his place would be good (i.e. Coach K in college or Pat Riley or Phil Jackson type).

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:05 pm

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:08 pm

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 7:09 pm

but, he's the point guard. Damn, this is hilarious.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Mar 30, 2016 10:28 pm

After watching the Dubs play beautiful ball all season, it is a trip to see them completely gassed tonight. From the long season, from second of a b2b, on the road, at altitude in Utah. A pretty bad game all around, both teams were shooting below 50% from the free throw line until about the last three minutes. Overtime now; they should kick Klay's ass for hitting a three to take it to OT.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 7:35 am

sancarlos wrote:

Dang. Is the Staples Center on 10th Avenue? Cause Springsteen would be proud.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 8:45 am

howard wrote:After watching the Dubs play beautiful ball all season, it is a trip to see them completely gassed tonight. From the long season, from second of a b2b, on the road, at altitude in Utah. A pretty bad game all around, both teams were shooting below 50% from the free throw line until about the last three minutes. Overtime now; they should kick Klay's ass for hitting a three to take it to OT.

This is a big storyline. I know Curry has gotten something like 5 games of rest by not playing in the fourth quarter, but I think this can catch up with them. It's one thing to claw back and beat the Jazz, it's another to do it to the Spurs (or hell, I'm beginnnign to think Russell Westbrook is capable of winning a series by himself) 4 times in a week. I still think they will, but I also am very excited for the playoffs this year.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 9:38 am

A reason for coaches to stay on the sideline in the future?

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 1:56 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:A reason for coaches to stay on the sideline in the future?

That can't be legal can it?

In college the rule is
Art. 1. A player who steps out of bounds under his/her own volition and then
becomes the first player to touch the ball after returning to the playing court
has committed a violation.

This caused some problems early in the season when guys actually enforced this rule (basically a player runs along the baseline and goes out, swing around and gets a pass in the corner for a 3 pointer and they whistle the ball dead).

The NFHS (High School) equivalent is 9-3-3:

A player shall not leave the floor for an unauthorized reason
The only difference is in the NFHS, it's a violation as soon as the player steps OOB. In NCAA, it's not a violation until the player becomes the first to touch the ball. But in both rule sets, it's not a violation if the player went OOB due to momentum from a legitimate play.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 2:17 pm

He's not the first person to touch the ball.

Post by **brian** » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:00 pm

Yeah I don't think the rule applies at all defensively (unless it were on a throw-in).

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 10:09 am

Good game last night, huh brian?

Post by **brian** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 10:29 am

Giff wrote:Good game last night, huh brian?

I'll take it.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 6:25 am

Welp. 9 losses.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:12 am

Don't see how they beat San Antonio twice. As a Rockets fan, I hope they beat the Grizzlies twice.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 8:20 am

Giff wrote:Don't see how they beat San Antonio twice. As a Rockets fan, I hope they beat the Grizzlies twice.

Their second five would beat what is left of this Grizzlies team twice.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:25 am

Giff wrote:Don't see how they beat San Antonio twice. As a Rockets fan, I hope they beat the Grizzlies twice.

With second seed locked up, the Spurs 3.5 behind with five to play while GSW has four. I cannot imagine a scenario where Pop plays all his guys in both games.