AROUND THE NBA THREAD. NOV 2021 edition

Demar is the king of the mids. What a year he is having.

 

LeBron James in that sweater looks like the dad coming out to argue with the ref that the ref's wrong about his kid.

 

Lonzo Ball would have been perfect for this Portland team. A tall, playmaking pass first guard that can shoot the 3 and is an elite perimeter defender.

 

Strength of schedule: ours has been tough, the Lakers and Warriors' has been easy:

http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php

 

It never made sense that they wanted to dump him. He was a very good two-way point guard with the size/defensive versatility of a wing and roughly fit the timelines of Ingram and Zion. They handled him as if he were a one-dimensional 34 year old that didn't make sense to pay for.

 

I was under the impression they traded him because he wasn't going to re-sign when he hit FA.

 

it was technically a trade yes, much like the lebron trade (from CLE to MIA) or durant trade (from GSW to BKN), but for all intents and purposes, it was Lonzo choosing Chicago. Why NO didn't match that is a mystery to me-- he had great chemistry with Zion.

He was restricted. NO could have matched any offer. Lonzo wasn't taking the qualifying offer to play out his contract just to leave. He even admitted that he wanted to return.

 

Surprises (compared with last year):
7. DeRozan (has apparently found the fountain of youth)
8. CP3 (not a surprise, really, but how long can he keep this up?)
9. LaMelo - wow - Minny and Golden State really fucked up
12. Montrezl - I was a doubter. I still am, really, but nice that he's found a home and it isn't the Lakers
14. Miles Bridges - 2 in the top 14? Jordan doesn't deserve this given how shitty an owner he is. And person.
15. Derrick Rose - a real feel-good story
16. Turner - I guess they should trade Sabonis?
17. VanVleet - not bad for undrafted.
19. Sabonis - okay, they can keep both now. Maybe Carlisle is a good coach?
20. Harrison FUCKING Barnes!!!
24. Cole Anthony!? I guess they can afford to bring Suggs along slowly. Or trade him to us!
27. Al Horford - see fountain of youth comment
29. Spencer Dinwiddie - I remember saying we should claim him off waivers several times. The Washington Wizards = the YOUNG Expendables.

Surprisingly absent:
Dame (only surprising if you're waking up from a coma that started before the Olympics)
Doncic (funny how Sabonis and Turner are there and he isn't...)
Beal
Embiid - this is an actual surprise - like, shouldn't he be there?

 

The stuff I read prior to that was that they didn't want to re-sign him because they didn't want to lock that much money up in a team that wasn't a championship contender. Which is silly--you don't reduce the payroll by not spending on your actual talent.

 

The Bulls this year remind me a bit of the Sheed Pistons: a rag-tag group assembled from others' cast offs, none viewed as a STAR star, and that weren't expected to gel. But somehow the whole is even greater than the parts. They're even making Derrick Jones Jr. look good. It's amazing what you can do with a bunch of Lakers' cast-offs, as the Wizards can attest.

 

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_stats_per_game.html

I thought this was really interesting

Basically, offensive stats are down across the board. eFG% is the lowest it's been in 5 years, even though teams are shooting more threes than ever. Raw percentages are down across the board. FT attempts are the lowest they've ever been. Under 20 per game. ORTG is the lost it's been since 2015-2016. Just some perspective regarding some less than stellar offensive stats from some our players. Everyone is shooting worse, for whatever reason. The new rules probably have something to do with it, but it's definitely not the only thing.

 

I think it's actually the only thing. In a ton of the games I've watched (not just ours) defenders are getting away with pushing jump shooters with their forearm while the shooter is in his shooting motion and defenders are being allowed to do that and hack down on wrists and arms when a scorer is driving for a layup. People can't make shots at a decent rate if they're being hacked and pushed all over the place.

 

I would put Pippen, Kareem, Stockton, and even Tony Parker ahead of him.

 

Whoa! Kareem was a number one guy for the vast majority of his career. He was a six time league MVP. He was so much of a number one that Magic was his sidekick until the final years of Kareem's career.

 

And AD was a number one for the majority of his career.

 

GP2 is really good. Excellent fit on the Warriors.

 

Could have been an excellent fit for us. The rightish height and all. But, he plays defense. So Olshey wasn't interested.

 

Kerr is a superior coach and they clearly know how to get the best out of their roster. GPs stats tonight aren't remarkable, but sheesh what an impact he is having. Hard to quantify the fight in a player. Very glad to see him out there and hopefully he has a good career there.

 

Curry is 8-12 from 3 so far against the Nets tonight
Impressive