If Beverley misses the playoffs...

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Rockets’ Howard out 10 days; Clippers’ Granger out 3 games; both to miss Clippers vs. Rockets http://t.co/B3LuhWPcys

 

Yup. It seems like their bodies are breaking down a lot earlier.

 

I did a quick analysis for fun on the differences between 1984 and 2014 a while back, and found out some interesting stuff. One is that they shot way more free throws per field goal attempt back in the 80's. That seems to indicate that defenses had to be less physical than they are now. Maybe calling fouls at the same rate as 1984 would help knees last longer. The style of play is so much more physical and brutish than it was in the 80's.

 

If anybody out there is still hoping for a chance at the 4 spot, with both Beverley and Howard out, there is no better chance than right now.

 

Well since "the hcp" jinxed Houston passing Portland call out, chances are good

 

Harden will get 20 FTA's per game while they are out...

 

Maybe so, but is he able to carry the team?

 

Yeah. Harden is able to put a team on his back... and by on his back, I mean the constant flopping from minimal contact.

 

I hear he's on a strict after-game regimen of Epsom salt baths and Chinese medicinal back patches.

 

Asik can defend the interior & board, & both Lin & Parsons can spot up off of Harden's drives. Obviously they're not as good & their depth is gone but they shouldn't be in free fall mode

STOMP

 

I'm less worried about Harden than I am about Scott Foster. Wes will step up against Harden in a playoff series

 

...if allowed to, being the implied end of that sentence.

 

Do you really actually believe that? Refs don't just up the rate at which they call fouls. They (at least when I ref) call the fouls they see. There is no way to up the foul calling rate unless there are more fouls. Shooting way more free throws would actually indicate the exact opposite. If refs are calling more fouls that means there is more contact. The game back then was WAY more brutish than it is now. The game now is actually pretty damn soft compared to those times. Flagrant fouls are just idiotic now. Hard fouls then were just that, hard fouls. Now we have to see a replay 50 times so we can judge a player's intent when making a play on the ball. The NBA is as soft as baby shit right now.

Edit: When you have "Lebroning" going on (the best player in the league is one of the most notorious floppers) that means the league is SOFT.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwyE-SJTqOw[/video]

LOL Part 2

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fVnTQ9eY9o[/video]

 

Yeah, I agree with you, dviss. The game was much more physical back in the 80's.

 

That FTs per FGA are lower than they used to be? Yes, because I can read.

Everything else was just conjecture; feel free to agree or disagree or whatever. And I'm not talking late 80's bad boy versus today. I know the league was on its way to getting way more physical than it is today. I'm talking 1983-1984. Pointing at LeBron and saying the league is soft is fine, but maybe there's more to the story than one jackass trying to spoil everything because he's not nearly as talented as his predecessors.

Here, watch Jordan's 1984 game where he scored 40+ for the first time. Every foul is ticky-tacky, the defense is soft and there's little physical contact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP-EIeGW4lk

To try and back myself up on this, the league average DRtg back in 1984 was 107.6 (which only 10 teams were above), which would be good for 20th in 2014. By way of comparison, Portland of 2014 is an above-average defensive team in 1984 (107.3 DRtg).

 

I don't have the link but you could google Gary Payton's interview this year at OSU and he says players aren't allowed to play defense in the modern game. No hand checking, etc..it's a good interview. I think refs let a lot more go in the 80s than they do now unless you were fouling the poster boys that owned the shoe market like Jordan and Shaq. I'd like to hear what Sheed has to say about it or Charles Oakley.

 

Again, you're talking late 80's. I was talking early 80's (my analysis was just for fun, a 30-year look back). Look at the video I linked. There's nothing on that video that constitutes physical play today. Put it this way: San Antonio was 37-45 that year. Not great. But their defense was worse tha Milwakee's this year, and they aren't going to win 20 games.

The league is more competitive than it was in early 80's.

 

Beverly will return this season:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/patrick-beverly-to-return-to-rockets-this-season-180032348.html