NBA 2021-2022

[shadow_operative 15932]

4 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Giddy up.

 

do i see what you did there, or was that just a coincidence?

[Message Board User 12395]

1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

If you don't like Klay Thompson, there's something wrong with you.

At least Draymond stuck around to shake hands after Game 7.

[ztejas 43411]

With 4 minutes in the 3rd quarter Steve Nash has played 8 players. In a regular season game in January. Brooklyn has a full 15 available. 

Dude needs to hit the fucking trail. 

This is actually one of the dumbest things I've ever seen an NBA head coach do. 

He did it through 3 full quarters.

Edited January 4, 2022 by ztejas

[Message Board User 12395]

Memphis is an interesting team going forward.  

 

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

Trey Young with that 56 points, 14 assist loss to the Blazers.

[Vic Mackey 47012]

[Dutchrudder 11135]

2 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

34 minutes played, 2 assists. Lol...

[Vic Mackey 47012]

[shadow_operative 15932]

including and especially Russ.

[HookEm 2463]

On 1/3/2022 at 8:03 PM, Message Board User said:

At least Draymond stuck around to shake hands after Game 7.

Is that supposed to make me not like Klay?  Confused.  If anything that clip reinforces why he is awesome.

[aggie08 21492]

11 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Is that supposed to make me not like Klay?  Confused.  If anything that clip reinforces why he is awesome.

Right, exactly. Not too difficult to read between the lines there: "If I had stayed on the court any longer, a dozen cameras were going to catch me crying."

Then apologized for not shaking their hands and credited them with making the big plays needed to win. No Matt Leinhart there at all.

[ztejas 43411]

Lance Stephenson just scored 15 points in the last 5 mins of the 1st quarter against Brooklyn. 

He had 20 in the quarter. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by ztejas

[Vic Mackey 47012]

[ztejas 43411]

10 minutes ago, Vic Mackey said:

Oh goodie I almost posted earlier asking when we'd start seeing the LeBron MVP talk. 

[Message Board User 12395]

Non-zero chance that Zion has played his last game at NOLA.

 

[ztejas 43411]

He's such an absolute nut case off the court that it's easy to forget how electric Kyrie is. Give me that dude in a playoff series any day of the week. 

[4doorsMoreWhores 107]

They should just leave the man alone and let him play. Should be his choice anyway 

[aggie08 21492]

5 minutes ago, 4doorsMoreWhores said:

They should just leave the man alone and let him play. Should be his choice anyway 

Fuck off. This has already been discussed ad nauseam. No one wants to rehash it again on this forum. It is his choice. No one is arresting him over it.

[ztejas 43411]

12 minutes ago, 4doorsMoreWhores said:

They should just leave the man alone and let him play. Should be his choice anyway 

The NBA doesn't care. It's the city of New York that is the issue. They aren't changing their stance for one basketball player. 

[4doorsMoreWhores 107]

20 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Fuck off. This has already been discussed ad nauseam. No one wants to rehash it again on this forum. It is his choice. No one is arresting him over it.

 I didn't ask anyone to rehash anything and you are more than welcome to ignore my post instead of being an asshole 

Edited January 6, 2022 by 4doorsMoreWhores

[Braff Zacklin 13555]

Sir, we are all welcome to be assholes here.

[4doorsMoreWhores 107]

9 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Sir, we are all welcome to be assholes here.

That has become rather apparent 

[Dutchrudder 11135]

Mavs beat the Warriors by 17, Curry goes 5-24 with 14 points, 9 reb, 5 ast, 5 TO.  Are we gonna hear about how awful of a game that was for him, or does he not get shit on like other superstars because he's a nice guy?

[ztejas 43411]

Dude just strolls out of the freemasons meeting and gets buckets for the first time in 8 months. Forgot how entertaining he is.

 

[4doorsMoreWhores 107]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Dude just strolls out of the freemasons meeting and gets buckets for the first time in 8 months. Forgot how entertaining he is.

 

Dude was straight balling out. I would rep but I have no rep power

[ztejas 43411]

17 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

Mavs beat the Warriors by 17, Curry goes 5-24 with 14 points, 9 reb, 5 ast, 5 TO.  Are we gonna hear about how awful of a game that was for him, or does he not get shit on like other superstars because he's a nice guy?

He's definitely a media darling. What I don't understand that we aren't talking about more is that he's having a very average season by his standards. His shooting #s are good for his ppg but not really great - certainly not elite like they were last year. His ast/to ratio is meh for a PG. But he's the leading scorer on another really good Ws team so he's getting all of this crazy hype. Individually like 4 or 5 dudes at least are putting up better numbers. 

Not saying he's not having a nice season as he's obviously the key to that team but he isn't doing anything special in terms of what we've come to expect from him. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by ztejas

[aggie08 21492]

He's been flat out awful (by his standards) for over a month. Gotta be the worst shooting slump of his career. If the season ended today, it would be the worst shooting season of his career by a decent margin. He'd be getting roasted if they were 19-18. Having the best record in the league covers a lot of warts.

[ztejas 43411]

5 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

He's been flat out awful (by his standards) for over a month. Gotta be the worst shooting slump of his career. If the season ended today, it would be the worst shooting season of his career by a decent margin. He'd be getting roasted if they were 19-18. Having the best record in the league covers a lot of warts.

It isn't the worst shooting season of his career. At least it wasn't before tonight. His FG% is a career low but he's taking a fuck ton of 3s. It would be his 4th lowest eFG% season and TS% season. He's taking 2/3s of his looks from 3. He's also posting his 4th highest ppg.

It is funny though because the year he had last year was fucking ridiculous (granted empty arenas and all that - which created some crazy numbers for a lot of guys *cough* Lillard) but he didn't really get celebrated for it. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

7 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

people make posts like this when Jokic is having a better season than Michael or Wilt ever had, yet Jokic is currently +1400 to win the mvp. but yeah, let's start pimping LBJ (leader of 20-19 LAL, 4-6 in their last 10) for MVP.

[shadow_operative 15932]

3 hours ago, ztejas said:

He's definitely a media darling. What I don't understand that we aren't talking about more is that he's having a very average season by his standards. His shooting #s are good for his ppg but not really great - certainly not elite like they were last year. His ast/to ratio is meh for a PG. But he's the leading scorer on another really good Ws team so he's getting all of this crazy hype. Individually like 4 or 5 dudes at least are putting up better numbers. 

Not saying he's not having a nice season as he's obviously the key to that team but he isn't doing anything special in terms of what we've come to expect from him. 

i remember like 2 months ago when social media was inundated with "Steph Curry is the best player in the world" posts like is was the biggest fact to ever fact. people looooove doing that shit these days, making these supposedly factual proclamations about this or that, when really it's just a hot take that's going to be proven wrong before you know it. now that Steph has been struggling for awhile, everyone is suddenly quiet about him. 

FTR- KD was the best player in the world when he was in GS, and he somehow has continued to be the best player in the planet after tearing his achilles at 30. for whatever reason nobody ever seems to want to talk about that though. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

Jokic, Giannis, KD

big gap

everyone else 

[shadow_operative 15932]

Kyle Lowry is a straight up thug and a menace, and should never be allowed to set foot on an NBA court again. hopefully the official is recovering ok, and is preparing to press charges. 

 

 

 

[Fastbreak 3984]

Wow. The ref needs to be fined and suspended. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

"And the ESPY Award for 'Biggest Pussy Who Ever Lived' goes to...".

[HookEm 2463]

12 hours ago, Vic Mackey said:

Steph is +200% at improving team culture and not being a bitch.

[Braff Zacklin 13555]

5 hours ago, Fastbreak said:

Wow. The ref needs to be fined and suspended. 

 Given the level of ego and temperament on display, it'd be more appropriate if he never reffed a league game again. Dude needs to crash and burn, maybe reset himself.

[Dutchrudder 11135]

4 hours ago, HookEm said:

Steph is +200% at improving team culture and not being a bitch.

Dude went out and recruited KD to their 73 win greatest team in NBA history, because his bitchass got beat by the Cavs lol.  Dude is definitely a little bitch, and you know it for a fact given the way he chews on his mouth guard. 

[Dutchrudder 11135]

9 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

people make posts like this when Jokic is having a better season than Michael or Wilt ever had, yet Jokic is currently +1400 to win the mvp. but yeah, let's start pimping LBJ (leader of 20-19 LAL, 4-6 in their last 10) for MVP.

Yeah, Jokic should be the frontrunner for sure, light years ahead of those two. There wouldn't even be a conversation about MVP rankings 2-5 if he played in LA or New York, but Denver just doesn't get him the notoriety he deserves. He really should get more praise for doing what he does as a big man. It's really uncommon to see such a majestic passer at 7 feet tall. 

I think the criticism is more of "Why is Steph getting all this praise when LBJ is doing more for his team, and isn't even considered?" It's not really fair to penalize LBJ for his personality or off-court opinions. I know he made the atrocity that is Spacejam 2, but that really shouldn't figure into his MVP candidacy.  

[ztejas 43411]

2 hours ago, Dutchrudder said:

Yeah, Jokic should be the frontrunner for sure, light years ahead of those two. There wouldn't even be a conversation about MVP rankings 2-5 if he played in LA or New York, but Denver just doesn't get him the notoriety he deserves. He really should get more praise for doing what he does as a big man. It's really uncommon to see such a majestic passer at 7 feet tall. 

I think the criticism is more of "Why is Steph getting all this praise when LBJ is doing more for his team, and isn't even considered?" It's not really fair to penalize LBJ for his personality or off-court opinions. I know he made the atrocity that is Spacejam 2, but that really shouldn't figure into his MVP candidacy.  

The Nuggets are sitting at .500. You're fucking high if you think Jokic is the runaway MVP. The fact that he's legitimately in the convo on a .500 team is a testament to how good he's been. We don't need to get crazy and take it further than that. The team that Westbrook won it on still went 47-35 - and that was a weaker MVP year. 

[ztejas 43411]

 

[Patrick Bateman 3911]

15 hours ago, aggie08 said:

He's been flat out awful (by his standards) for over a month. Gotta be the worst shooting slump of his career. If the season ended today, it would be the worst shooting season of his career by a decent margin. He'd be getting roasted if they were 19-18. Having the best record in the league covers a lot of warts.

I think this is what happened.  Steph started the season on fire, he's regressed to the norm a little and maybe a little below averages for a bit.  Sample sizes are needed.  He looked like a MVP player the first 5-6 weeks, he hasn't the last 5-6 weeks.  He's still a great player, but if the season ended today, no, Steph isn't nor should he be one the top names for MVP, at least statistically.  Jokic, Freak, Butler, KD, and then you have gaggle of other guys like Steph, Lebron, Embiid, etc.  But we also know that the MVP voting is based on narratives and expectations.  The Warriors are outpacing expectations, the Lakers are underperforming.  The rest of the guys are probably leading their teams to expected consequences relative considering injuries, COVID, flat-earthers, etc.  

Overall, what it does, is set up a really intriguing back half of the season where probably 5-6 guys could make legitimate charges for MVP including Steph and maybe Lebron if the Lakers went crazy in the 2nd half (something I don't expect).  Freak has won, Jokic has won, Steph has won, KD has won respective MVPs so there's not that fresh face either unless you want to consider Jimmy B, but he's probably been hurt too much.

 

[Js1 85289]

Full circle

 

[ztejas 43411]

54 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Freak has won, Jokic has won, Steph has won, KD has won respective MVPs so there's not that fresh face either unless you want to consider Jimmy B, but he's probably been hurt too much.

Disagree on this. Durant won 8 years ago and 1 MVP doesn't reflect the career he's had. I promise you certain voters will be looking for an excuse to give him another. Giannis and Curry bith gave 2 - all 4 more recently than KD's and Jokic won last year. 

Edited January 6, 2022 by ztejas

[HookEm 2463]

LeBron’s team is underperforming because LeBron the GM hand selected an inferior coach and old ass teammates.  

Steph may have recruited KD. Fair.  But he doesn’t hold his team hostage with threats to leave. Or trade off all the young talent to get veterans because he doesn’t want to waste his window. Or whine constantly and insist on always inserting himself into the conversation.  Or hamstring his organization by demanding to get PAID.

If you swapped Curry and LeBron, the Lakers would be immediately better and the Warriors would be worse. And that is day 1.  After a year of meddling, all the young talent would be traded, the Warriors culture would be destroyed and LeBron would be looking to leave again.

[Patrick Bateman 3911]

22 minutes ago, HookEm said:

LeBron’s team is underperforming because LeBron the GM hand selected an inferior coach and old ass teammates.  

Steph may have recruited KD. Fair.  But he doesn’t hold his team hostage with threats to leave. Or trade off all the young talent to get veterans because he doesn’t want to waste his window. Or whine constantly and insist on always inserting himself into the conversation.  Or hamstring his organization by demanding to get PAID.

If you swapped Curry and LeBron, the Lakers would be immediately better and the Warriors would be worse. And that is day 1.  After a year of meddling, all the young talent would be traded, the Warriors culture would be destroyed and LeBron would be looking to leave again.

Technically, Draymond did most of the recruiting.  Steph was an integral part, but Draymond was the most vocal and foremost on getting KD to really consider the W's.  And I think Curry is the best culture builder and torch bearer for an organization since Tim Duncan, so it's not surprising that folks would come to this conclusion.  Lebron has had some wins on the player personnel front and also some losses.  I think where some, including myself, get frustrated with him, is he generally shirks accountability and responsibility for the losses.  Lebron's not a terrible person, IMO, but he's definitely spoiled and entitled and does some petty ass shit.  

Regardless, with the Lakers hovering around .500, I don't think there a huge appetite to drive a MVP campaign for him.  I also don't think it's unfair to point out that individually, he's still playing at an elite level, which is sort of mind blowing.

44 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Disagree on this. Durant won 8 years ago and 1 MVP doesn't reflect the career he's had. I promise you certain voters will be looking for an excuse to give him another. Giannis and Curry bith gave 2 - all 4 more recently than KD's and Jokic won last year. 

Yes, I think we all understand you're in the tank for KD.  And sometimes, being the old man, can definitely be of benefit for the narrative.  Time to give him one as a career achievement award or last time he may really challenge for it type of thing.  I think KD's definitely in the discussion and rightly so considering the Kyrie situation but he has to sustain the play and it wouldn't hurt if he could even get a little better.  Statistically, this isn't one of his most efficient years, but as a leader and defensively, it could bear out as one of his finest.  Should be a good 2nd half if the NBA can clear COVID fucking up everything by the ASB.

 

[Vic Mackey 47012]

38 minutes ago, HookEm said:

LeBron’s team is underperforming because LeBron the GM hand selected an inferior coach and old ass teammates.  

Steph may have recruited KD. Fair.  But he doesn’t hold his team hostage with threats to leave. Or trade off all the young talent to get veterans because he doesn’t want to waste his window. Or whine constantly and insist on always inserting himself into the conversation.  Or hamstring his organization by demanding to get PAID.

If you swapped Curry and LeBron, the Lakers would be immediately better and the Warriors would be worse. And that is day 1.  After a year of meddling, all the young talent would be traded, the Warriors culture would be destroyed and LeBron would be looking to leave again.

Define 'better'. Lakers are an extremely flawed team. Their 2nd best player in AD is made of glass. You got all these over the hill vets. Nothing about it meshes or works as designed. I do not see Curry coming in there and making them that much better. I also don't see the warriors becoming much worse with Lebron. And this assumes everything else stays the same. Lakers have no real future. Curry is not carrying that squad. Lebron would easily figure out how to make the Warriors work. But I am just talking about their teams as of now, not what Lebron the GM might do down the line. But Lebron and Curry are 2 totally different kinds of players. Curry is not that much better than Lebron

Lebron the GM failed this team. As mentioned, he gutted the young talent for his buddies. But at his age, the numbers he is putting up is damn impressive. 

[Braff Zacklin 13555]

My worthless opinion: there are only three viable candidates for MVP this season--KD, Jokic and the Freak.

[shadow_operative 15932]

2 hours ago, ztejas said:

The Nuggets are sitting at .500. You're fucking high if you think Jokic is the runaway MVP. The fact that he's legitimately in the convo on a .500 team is a testament to how good he's been. We don't need to get crazy and take it further than that. The team that Westbrook won it on still went 47-35 - and that was a weaker MVP year. 

if they go on a run when Murray gets back then Jokic will skyrocket up the mvp leader board. the nuggets have been crushed by injuries this year. if they make a second half push then so will Jokic. he's having arguably the best individual season that anyone has ever had. the numbers are truly insane. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

2 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

I think this is what happened.  Steph started the season on fire, he's regressed to the norm a little and maybe a little below averages for a bit.  Sample sizes are needed.  He looked like a MVP player the first 5-6 weeks, he hasn't the last 5-6 weeks.  He's still a great player, but if the season ended today, no, Steph isn't nor should he be one the top names for MVP, at least statistically.  Jokic, Freak, Butler, KD, and then you have gaggle of other guys like Steph, Lebron, Embiid, etc.  But we also know that the MVP voting is based on narratives and expectations.  The Warriors are outpacing expectations, the Lakers are underperforming.  The rest of the guys are probably leading their teams to expected consequences relative considering injuries, COVID, flat-earthers, etc.  

Overall, what it does, is set up a really intriguing back half of the season where probably 5-6 guys could make legitimate charges for MVP including Steph and maybe Lebron if the Lakers went crazy in the 2nd half (something I don't expect).  Freak has won, Jokic has won, Steph has won, KD has won respective MVPs so there's not that fresh face either unless you want to consider Jimmy B, but he's probably been hurt too much.

 

if narratives and expectations are what makes the MVP then DeMar DeRozan should be in the conversation for first place votes or even an outright win. 

[ztejas 43411]

42 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Technically, Draymond did most of the recruiting.  Steph was an integral part, but Draymond was the most vocal and foremost on getting KD to really consider the W's.  And I think Curry is the best culture builder and torch bearer for an organization since Tim Duncan, so it's not surprising that folks would come to this conclusion.  Lebron has had some wins on the player personnel front and also some losses.  I think where some, including myself, get frustrated with him, is he generally shirks accountability and responsibility for the losses.  Lebron's not a terrible person, IMO, but he's definitely spoiled and entitled and does some petty ass shit.  

Regardless, with the Lakers hovering around .500, I don't think there a huge appetite to drive a MVP campaign for him.  I also don't think it's unfair to point out that individually, he's still playing at an elite level, which is sort of mind blowing.

Yes, I think we all understand you're in the tank for KD.  And sometimes, being the old man, can definitely be of benefit for the narrative.  Time to give him one as a career achievement award or last time he may really challenge for it type of thing.  I think KD's definitely in the discussion and rightly so considering the Kyrie situation but he has to sustain the play and it wouldn't hurt if he could even get a little better.  Statistically, this isn't one of his most efficient years, but as a leader and defensively, it could bear out as one of his finest.  Should be a good 2nd half if the NBA can clear COVID fucking up everything by the ASB.

 

Me being a KD stan has nothing to do with it. It's basic MVP-ology. Durant has a clear narrative advantage. Plenty of folks discussed it preseason as a potential narrative that would attract votes - also discussed was/is it being unlikely for Giannis to get a 3rd in 4 years. 

Also agree with Derka's point on DD. I think he's on a very short list right now. 

Also also on the point about Jokic making a run. If he can get them to the 4 seed and 50+ wins then his case gets dramatically better. Whether he should need to do that or not - it's just how these things work.

Edited January 7, 2022 by ztejas