Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Like clockwork, Jokic's arms are really red again. The blood will be coming soon. Jokes aside, he really has been amazing this year. 27/11/8.5 with the best PER in the league, and his defense, while still not great, appears better to the eye while watching this game. And Gordon looks to be a really good fit with him. Such a deep team overall. The West is insane right now. There could be as many as six other teams that could get out of the West if the Lakers are not 100%. And thankfully the Wolves still have the fewest wins in the league despite Edwards really coming on. Just keep that pick! The East still feels like it's the Nets and then everyone else. What the hell happened with Boston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argonath Diver Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Jokic and Lillard are my favorite players in the league. I'd be so damn happy if the Nuggets got past the LeBrons. They were manhandling the Clippers pretty confidently, but like they have a bunch of times seems like this season, their early lead evaporated. I was going to hit the sack, but this game is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said: The East still feels like it's the Nets and then everyone else. What the hell happened with Boston? Kemba has no knees, and Brown and Tatum don't seem to trust each other. They just seem to take turns being the ball-stopper. There's no leadership. Tatum doesn't seem to have the inclination to make his teammates better or push them. This team is more talented than 23-25, but then again every guy on the depth chart past Marcus Smart is not that good. Ainge's free agent decisions in the last couple of years have been disastrous. They have bled so much talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudfeet Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 1 hour ago, DanteGabriel said: Kemba has no knees, and Brown and Tatum don't seem to trust each other. They just seem to take turns being the ball-stopper. There's no leadership. Tatum doesn't seem to have the inclination to make his teammates better or push them. This team is more talented than 23-25, but then again every guy on the depth chart past Marcus Smart is not that good. Ainge's free agent decisions in the last couple of years have been disastrous. They have bled so much talent. That's interesting. I felt that they had essentially the same roster as last year since Hayward was unfortunate with his injuries in Boston and didn't really feature much. I wonder what's different. I'd also never have thought that Charlotte would be where they are in the standings but then again, Boston, Miami and Toronto were hit hard with Covid related absences and Charlotte's position is more of an indictment of the other teams given their weak record. They're barely (one game) above 50% and are fourth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 3 hours ago, Proudfeet said: That's interesting. I felt that they had essentially the same roster as last year since Hayward was unfortunate with his injuries in Boston and didn't really feature much. I wonder what's different. I'd also never have thought that Charlotte would be where they are in the standings but then again, Boston, Miami and Toronto were hit hard with Covid related absences and Charlotte's position is more of an indictment of the other teams given their weak record. They're barely (one game) above 50% and are fourth! Yep, Boston should be in that fourth seed, because on paper they're definitely not better than the Bucks, 76ers or Net, but they should be better than the Hornets and Heat, let alone the fucking Hawks and Knicks. I'm sure the drop-off comes from a few things. There's more competition for the top seeds in the East now with Philly and Brooklyn fortified, for one thing. Hayward was injured a lot, but he did play 50 games last year and was mostly productive in his time -- certainly more productive than anyone who's had to fill his role. Aside from the 15-20 points he could add on a good night, he was good at facilitating offense. Maybe the biggest change is that the Celtics aren't playing good defense any more. Scrappy defense and hustle used to be their calling card, now guys don't get back on transition and they're just standing around giving up second chance points. About the only thing that's been good is watching Robert Williams get better. He's making fewer mistakes and comes up with a couple of freak athletic plays every game. This team used to be fun to watch and root for and now they seem like a bunch of sullen kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudfeet Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 6 hours ago, DanteGabriel said: Yep, Boston should be in that fourth seed, because on paper they're definitely not better than the Bucks, 76ers or Net, but they should be better than the Hornets and Heat, let alone the fucking Hawks and Knicks. I'm sure the drop-off comes from a few things. There's more competition for the top seeds in the East now with Philly and Brooklyn fortified, for one thing. Hayward was injured a lot, but he did play 50 games last year and was mostly productive in his time -- certainly more productive than anyone who's had to fill his role. Aside from the 15-20 points he could add on a good night, he was good at facilitating offense. Maybe the biggest change is that the Celtics aren't playing good defense any more. Scrappy defense and hustle used to be their calling card, now guys don't get back on transition and they're just standing around giving up second chance points. About the only thing that's been good is watching Robert Williams get better. He's making fewer mistakes and comes up with a couple of freak athletic plays every game. This team used to be fun to watch and root for and now they seem like a bunch of sullen kids. It's not so much about who should be in that fourth seed but that the fourth seed barely has a winning record. I still think that a lot of it has to do with Covid so its not a big deal in the long run. There is still a third of the season to go so hopefully teams will get their act together. Its nice to hear that Robert Williams is doing well but I think its a pity that Theis was dumped when he was solid in the bubble last year. I guess he's redundant now with Williams emerging and getting Thompson before the season started, but its a quick change in fortunes from when he was pretty much the only center trusted. Hopefully the problem with the Celtics is just the constant losing creating a negative feedback loop and not that there actually is a problem that needs to be addressed. A small win streak with the new roster additions might be able to get them back on track. __ Putting the long-term futures of the Bulls and Magic aside, I find it mildly amusing that the Bulls hasn't won since the trade and the Magic has created a slight separation from the pack for the top three odds with a two game winning streak. Its a small sample size but it'll be hilarious if the Magic leapfrogs the Bulls in the standings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 6 minutes ago, Proudfeet said: I find it mildly amusing that the Bulls hasn't won since the trade and the Magic has created a slight separation from the pack for the top three odds with a two game winning streak. I am definitely not amused by the latter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argonath Diver Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Yeah, optimism that LaVine and Vucevic can be awesome together is still a thing. It ain't doin' so swell, though. Surely the Bulls front office saw the schedule after the trade deadline and knew that if the team didn't figure shit out rapido, they might lose ten straight. Well, that's looking quite possible. Still think perhaps their long game is optimism that these current guys get some wins for fuck sake, Patrick Williams morphs into young Kawhi quickly, the team gets some real national hype, and they make some big move like Phoenix getting Chris Paul when everyone agreed he was a cancer contract. All sorts of good things happening within a year is basically the only way this gamble is going to pay off. I'm really happy it's baseball season. (Go Bulls... next fall?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 The trailer for the new space jam is very very bad indeed. LeBron can't act for shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGalley Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said: The trailer for the new space jam is very very bad indeed. LeBron can't act for shit. Yeah I couldn't stop thinking about that despite the nice visuals. The movie looks like it's going to be absolutely terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Just saw the trailer. Hard pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 I know it is wrong to laugh at instances of piling-on, but David Friedman's article commenting on Brian's excoriation of Dave Berri's analysis of the NBA is humorous from the viewpoint of anyone math literate. Friedman has had a bone to pick with Berri forever, and he lets him have it here. https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted April 4, 2021 Share Posted April 4, 2021 No surprise at all Holiday got a monster deal. Teams have to do it when you trade a ton for a guy on an expiring contract, but that's pretty rich for a player of his caliber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proudfeet Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Wilbur said: I know it is wrong to laugh at instances of piling-on, but David Friedman's article commenting on Brian's excoriation of Dave Berri's analysis of the NBA is humorous from the viewpoint of anyone math literate. Friedman has had a bone to pick with Berri forever, and he lets him have it here. https://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/ Am I missing something? Why is he commenting on an article written ten years ago? April Fools? Anyway, Berri's correlation problems aside, a lot of basketball statistical analysis is inherently flawed because it depends on box score numbers. No matter how much you polish rubbish data its still rubbish in the end. Its not useless but you have to very clear on its limitations and not overstretch what its telling you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 15 hours ago, Proudfeet said: ...Anyway, Berri's correlation problems aside, a lot of basketball statistical analysis is inherently flawed because it depends on box score numbers. No matter how much you polish rubbish data its still rubbish in the end. Its not useless but you have to very clear on its limitations and not overstretch what its telling you. So true. I like the advanced metric explanations for performance that Ben has put together on Thinking Basketball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 If you're going to get yourself fired, that's one hell of a way to do it, Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DireWolfSpirit Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 In some crazy balanced scoring, Pistons had 11 guys with 8 or more points last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 On 4/3/2021 at 12:57 AM, Proudfeet said: It's not so much about who should be in that fourth seed but that the fourth seed barely has a winning record. I still think that a lot of it has to do with Covid so its not a big deal in the long run. There is still a third of the season to go so hopefully teams will get their act together. Its nice to hear that Robert Williams is doing well but I think its a pity that Theis was dumped when he was solid in the bubble last year. I guess he's redundant now with Williams emerging and getting Thompson before the season started, but its a quick change in fortunes from when he was pretty much the only center trusted. Hopefully the problem with the Celtics is just the constant losing creating a negative feedback loop and not that there actually is a problem that needs to be addressed. A small win streak with the new roster additions might be able to get them back on track. Yeah, I was bummed they let Theis go. He provided some continuity at center after Horford and Baynes left. He was better as the primary center than I expected. He did everything they asked of him. It's too bad he couldn't get a foul call to save his life though. I understand why they felt they needed to get Tristan Thompson, but it wasn't like this lineup was going to compete for a title so I wish they would have just committed more to Robert Williams at the beginning. Now the offense is looking better, and they're running a lot more of it through Williams. They've looked great against the Rockets and the Hayward-less Hornets, let's see how they do against Philly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 *narrator voice* The Celtics did not do well against Philly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarGalley Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 Man, the first game I ever saw Chris Paul play in was a double OT thriller in the 2005 match between West Virginia and Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament (my first March Madness game as it turns out). All these year later, he's still so consistently fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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