NBA 2022-2023 Season Thread

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Westbrook was pretty automatic from midrange in his prime. Dunno why he started settling for 3s which he’s clearly not good at.

[shadow_operative 15932]

56 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

I do not understand the poor shooting of Ben Simmons, Russell Westbrook, et al. They have access to the greatest coaches and facilities on the planet. If my only job was playing basketball, at $40m per year no less, I’d be shooting 200 3’s a morning and get my unguarded 3pt % up around 70%. How is possible they are this bad?

you can practice something all you want, eventually you are going to hit your ceiling. also, ben simmons reportedly has zero work ethic and by all appearances doesn't love basketball, so in his case those would be contributing factors.

[shadow_operative 15932]

4 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Westbrook was pretty automatic from midrange in his prime. Dunno why he started settling for 3s which he’s clearly not good at.

he was as good as pretty much anybody in the league with the pull up from 15-17 in his prime. that shot was money. 

[closetohumping 17440]

1 hour ago, SilasCoade said:

Westbrook is completely uncoachable. He refused to acknowledge his deficiencies much less work hard to improve them. He's on the back side of a career that went far better than he deserved.

Simmons just doesn't care about being a good basketball player. He knows his deficiencies and will work with a coach three days a week between the hours of 1pm and 1:30pm but has to spend the rest of his time getting massages.

Simmons seemed to care more about being a celeb than an NBA player.  Apparently was hard to deal with in college as well.

 

Russ, I think has acknowledged he can't hit 3s.  He's always been a horrible defender, turnover prone and cared about his stats.  Yes, I probably can't stand Russ more than most as I think he did KD wrong, but even I am starting to feel sorry for him.  This is sad.

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[gsoda3 3254]

2 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

you can practice something all you want, eventually you are going to hit your ceiling.

do you think russ has worked on his 3 pt shooting?

[shadow_operative 15932]

12 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

do you think russ has worked on his 3 pt shooting?

of course he has. i have no idea how much time he's spent working on it during the offseason, but he's a full time professional nba player whose teams all want him to be a better shooter. there is zero doubt that he has spent countless hours working on his three point shot.

[SilasCoade 2622]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

of course he has. i have no idea how much time he's spent working on it during the offseason, but he's a full time professional nba player whose teams all want him to be a better shooter. there is zero doubt that he has spent countless hours working on his three point shot.

Hard disagree. I found it very difficult to accept that an athlete of his caliber has hit his ceiling as an outside shooter at sub 30%. I'm guessing he puts in less than an hour per day on it, certainly less than 2. He wants to prove to everybody that he doesn't need to fix anything, that he can dominate by playing the same way he always has. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by SilasCoade

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

Yeah, the Westbrook shit is becoming a dog pile and it’s going too far in the other direction (somewhat his fault for the chip on the shoulder he’s always carried). Should he have been an MVP? Of course not. But he doesn’t even remotely belong in the same sentence, paragraph or chapter as Ben fucking Simmons. Westbrook was a talented but frustrating and flawed player who busted his ass, and he’s now way past his prime and his warts are even more glaring. 

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

8 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

Hard disagree. I found it very difficult to accept that an athlete of his caliber has got his ceiling as an outside shower at sub 30%. I'm guessing he puts in less than an hour per day on it, certainly less than 2. He wants to prove to everybody that he doesn't need to fix anything, that he can dominate by playing the same way he always has. 

Dwayne Wade had a 29% career 3 point percentage. Do you think he wasn’t a hard worker? Allen Iverson around 30%. Plenty of other of other examples, often with Uber-athletic drive to the basket guys. Ja Morant is only at 32%.
 

Guys have different skills sets in the NBA.

[gsoda3 3254]

1 hour ago, shadow_operative said:

of course he has. i have no idea how much time he's spent working on it during the offseason, but he's a full time professional nba player whose teams all want him to be a better shooter. there is zero doubt that he has spent countless hours working on his three point shot.

his numbers say he hasn't practiced enough.  shooting is one of those skills that, if done correctly and diligently, shows statistical improvement.  it's possible he's put in countless hours but has a psychological issue. i doubt that.  it's the exact same issue shaq had.  he said he put work in.  coaches and teammates disagreed.  

 

russ & shaq

  

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

10 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

his numbers say he hasn't practiced enough.  shooting is one of those skills that, if done correctly and diligently, shows statistical improvement.  it's possible he's put in countless hours but has a psychological issue. i doubt that.  it's the exact same issue shaq had.  he said he put work in.  coaches and teammates disagreed.  

 

russ & shaq

  

Giannis‘s work ethic is notorious, yet his free throw percentage the last 4 seasons is below his career average. Your opinion is that he isn’t working hard enough? 

 

These are ignorant takes supported by nothing but conjecture. They may or may not be true, but we don’t know the answer by looking at basketball reference. 

[BigOrange1 6436]

42 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Yeah, the Westbrook shit is becoming a dog pile and it’s going too far in the other direction (somewhat his fault for the chip on the shoulder he’s always carried). Should he have been an MVP? Of course not. But he doesn’t even remotely belong in the same sentence, paragraph or chapter as Ben fucking Simmons. Westbrook was a talented but frustrating and flawed player who busted his ass, and he’s now way past his prime and his warts are even more glaring. 

i haven't been a fan of westbrook's game since the split with KD, but i'd mostly agree with this take.  

[aggie08 21498]

Tweaking a shot with a decent foundation (like Kawhi's) is relatively "easy". Maybe an off-season of thousands of shots a day until you feel comfortable with it and adopt it as your natural form. A complete rebuild to unlearn decades of bad form is much more difficult to get to the point where you feel confident in it to perform at an NBA level. 

Think how many shots a professional player has attempted from the time that they're 12 years old. That can't be broken and reshaped in a few months. Rebuilding Russ or Ben's shit or Shaq's free throws would take at least one full season of potential embarrassment as they battle with new mechanics and fight to not revert back to what's familiar.

Not saying that shouldn't do it, but it's easier said than done. 

There's a reason that Shawn Marion kept that broke ass shot, and it wasn't work ethic.

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 hour ago, SilasCoade said:

Hard disagree. I found it very difficult to accept that an athlete of his caliber has hit his ceiling as an outside shooter at sub 30%. I'm guessing he puts in less than an hour per day on it, certainly less than 2. He wants to prove to everybody that he doesn't need to fix anything, that he can dominate by playing the same way he always has. 

well i think (or really i know) that a big part of his struggles are that he loves to take terrible shots. he doesn't take a whole bunch of catch and shoot threes from the wing, he grabs a rebound, runs 100 mph, then takes a pull up three in transition for no reason. his shot selection is terrible. 

[gsoda3 3254]

Giannis‘s work ethic is notorious, yet his free throw percentage the last 4 seasons is below his career average. Your opinion is that he isn’t working hard enough? 
 
These are ignorant takes supported by nothing but conjecture. They may or may not be true, but we don’t know the answer by looking at basketball reference. 

Correct practice yields results. If you're practicing and not improving you are either lying, doing it wrong, or not doing it enough.

[Pam Cummings 9640]

1 hour ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Dwayne Wade had a 29% career 3 point percentage. Do you think he wasn’t a hard worker? Allen Iverson around 30%. Plenty of other of other examples, often with Uber-athletic drive to the basket guys. Ja Morant is only at 32%.
 

Guys have different skills sets in the NBA.

I actually like the Wade comparison. Another player who's usefulness suddenly disappeared with his athleticism. Perhaps he could have had a longer career if he was better at shooting.

 

I don't think of it as laziness, just arrogance. Sort of a "what are you talking about, my shot was good enough to get me to the NBA. Who are you to tell me any different" type of mindset.

 

Also, i don't care how many shots or how many hours you spend practicing shooting 3's. If you aren't working with a coach to improve form and mechanics, you aren't going to improve much. I liken it to a bad golfer that just beats balls on the range. You're gonna hit a ceiling and still be mediocre because you're just honing your same shitty mechanics instead of working to have a more fundamentally sound, consistent, repeatable motion.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

12 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

1 hour ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Giannis‘s work ethic is notorious, yet his free throw percentage the last 4 seasons is below his career average. Your opinion is that he isn’t working hard enough? 
 
These are ignorant takes supported by nothing but conjecture. They may or may not be true, but we don’t know the answer by looking at basketball reference. 

Correct practice yields results. If you're practicing and not improving you are either lying, doing it wrong, or not doing it enough.

Well someone better tell Steph Curry to get back in the fucking gym, because he misses 6 out of every 10 3 pt shots he takes. 
 

Jfc these are Reddit-level takes.

[SilasCoade 2622]

Wade exited the game as the three ball really became a critical skill. Russ has been right in the middle of that transformation. And I don't think Russ is lazy. I think he's not practicing this particular skill because athletes of his caliber who put in the work get better. He is clearly putting in work to stay healthy and steal rebounds from teammates.

[gsoda3 3254]

Well someone better tell Steph Curry to get back in the fucking gym, because he misses 6 out of every 10 3 pt shots he takes. 
 
Jfc these are Reddit-level takes.

I don't even know what you're arguing for or against at this point. Frankly I don't think you do either.

[Vic Mackey 47027]

he was as good as pretty much anybody in the league with the pull up from 15-17 in his prime. that shot was money. 

Sure was.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

54 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

2 hours ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

Well someone better tell Steph Curry to get back in the fucking gym, because he misses 6 out of every 10 3 pt shots he takes. 
 
Jfc these are Reddit-level takes.

I don't even know what you're arguing for or against at this point. Frankly I don't think you do either.

The position that a lack of practice is the reason any given player isn’t an improved shooter is overly simplistic and is in many cases entirely false. Not in every case of course, but in many. Shooting efficiency is a skill, and at some point practice can’t overcome a lack of skill. 

But I believe you also said in another thread that Kyrie “brings a professional attitude every night”, so the above is probably not galaxy brain enough for you.

 

 

[Loch Ness Monster 3533]

Speaking of Wade- the 2006 finals vs the Mavs seemed rigged and no one can convince me differently. Not a homer or bitter at all. 2011 saved my sanity.

[gsoda3 3254]

The position that a lack of practice is the reason any given player isn’t an improved shooter is overly simplistic and is in many cases entirely false. Not in every case of course, but in many. Shooting efficiency is a skill, and at some point practice can’t overcome a lack of skill. 
But I believe you also said in another thread that Kyrie “brings a professional attitude every night”, so the above is probably not galaxy brain enough for you.
 
 

The topic was Westbrook's shooting. His 3 pt shooting obviously peaked. The question is whether he hit his ceiling of raw athletic ability or if he wrung out his potential by sharpening his ability through practice. His numbers suggest he wasnt practicing either enough or correctly because shooting is one of those skills that definitely improves over time if you put in the right work. There are rare exceptions and in above posts I list why but too often failure is attributed to those reasons when in fact it's actually a product of poor process.

I've worked with three different performance enhancement coaches over the past 20 years. The shortest relationship was 3 months, the longest has been ongoing for over 15 years. These are guys and a gal who work with professional athletes and yes, even one of the ones mentioned on this page. So I might not be as jaded as you are when it comes to performance enhancement.

As for Kyrie, when have you ever seen him mail in a game? Moody, mercurial, locker room divider .... Fine. But when he plays he doesn't take plays off. My point was Luka needs to learn that.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

19 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

His numbers suggest he wasnt practicing either enough or correctly because shooting is one of those skills that definitely improves over time if you put in the right work

His first two years in the league he shot 27% and 22%. His career average is 30%, so he did improve. Whether he reached his maximum potential in that area or failed to sufficiently practice isn’t something one can glean solely from a stat sheet.  If you are suggesting you have some inside information here, go ahead and regale us with your performance enhancing tales. 

21 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

As for Kyrie, when have you ever seen him mail in a game? Moody, mercurial, locker room divider .... Fine. But when he plays he doesn't take plays off. My point was Luka needs to learn that.

Kyrie doesn’t have a professional bone in his body. I guess you are right that unlike James Harden he usually quits on his team by demanding a trade or not showing up to the gym in the first place, although he did quit on the Celtics on the court in the final Bucks series. Luka would be best served by learning nothing from Kyrie Irving.

[shadow_operative 15932]

 

[Wulaw Horn 19069]

KD with like a +eleventy billion in the suns 10 ish point win. 
If they stay healthy man…

[gsoda3 3254]

31 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

His first two years in the league he shot 27% and 22%. His career average is 30%, so he did improve. Whether he reached his maximum potential in that area or failed to sufficiently practice isn’t something one can glean solely from a stat sheet.  If you are suggesting you have some inside information here, go ahead and regale us with your performance enhancing tales. 

Kyrie doesn’t have a professional bone in his body. I guess you are right that unlike James Harden he usually quits on his team by demanding a trade or not showing up to the gym in the first place, although he did quit on the Celtics on the court in the final Bucks series. Luka would be best served by learning nothing from Kyrie Irving.

i'm happy you think basketball reference is good enough to prove a point when you want it to but 27% to 22% to 30% over the course of 3 seasons isn't how improvement works.  and no i don't have inside information on westbrook.  it's fine that you disagree if not weird that you're so dramatic about it. 

i don't remember kyrie quitting against the bucks.  i remember him trying to win the series himself which made everyone else mad.  

[Fastbreak 3985]

Greg Oden thinks Jonathan Issac is made of glass

[aggie08 21498]

9 hours ago, gsoda3 said:

i don't remember kyrie quitting against the bucks.  i remember him trying to win the series himself which made everyone else mad.  

Trying to "win the series himself" by taking truly awful shots and saying, "fuck the coach and the gameplan" by picking up Giannis at half court like it's a game at 24 Hour Fitness and (unsuccessfully) trying to guard him doesn't exactly scream professionalism.

One of the wildest performances that I've ever seen. Not sure there's another word for it other than insubordination.

[aggie08 21498]

I forget who said it--probably someone in Bill Simmons's circle--but Kyrie played that series like he was trying to save money on movers by convincing Boston fans to pack his bags for him.

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

Trying to "win the series himself" by taking truly awful shots and saying, "fuck the coach and the gameplan" by picking up Giannis at half court like it's a game at 24 Hour Fitness and (unsuccessfully) trying to guard him doesn't exactly scream professionalism.

One of the wildest performances that I've ever seen. Not sure there's another word for it other than insubordination.

The unfortunately numerous Celtics fans in my life use the words “intentional sabotage”. I wouldn’t believe that to be true with almost any professional athlete except for Kyrie.

Speaking of the Celts, horrible loss for them at home against Brooklyn last night after being up by more than 20. You hate to see it

Edited March 4, 2023 by Reynolds Woodcock

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Ja= new Antonio brown.

Twitter is absolutely roasting him, hahaha

[ztejas 43419]

1 minute ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Ja= new Antonio brown.

Lol he isn't that crazy. 

[Kermit 3156]

10 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Lol he isn't that crazy. 

I don’t think he’s crazy, just stupid. He’s a goddamn moron. 

[Mittens 8263]

 

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

 

 

[Message Board User 12395]

For those of you who are unawares, Ja livestreamed himself at a strip club with his gun.

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Lol he isn't that crazy. 

Probably not as crazy. The fall from grace could be similar if he keeps it up

[Vic Mackey 47027]

It would be one thing if Ja actually grew up in the hood and that's just who he is and the NBA contracts aren't going to change that. Kind of like AI. But he grew up in the burbs with a good family. He comes off as trying too hard to portray this image now that he has money and knows he is shielded. He's gravitating towards a lifestyle that so many who had no choice grew up in but the difference is they would leave it in a heartbeat if they got the opportunity. He's going the opposite way. He has a lot of money now and is now trying so hard to bring this image he wants to life at any chance he gets

[Mittens 8263]

I'm not a big gun guy, but this dude is flexing a peashooter, no?

 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

It would be one thing if Ja actually grew up in the hood and that's just who he is and the NBA contracts aren't going to change that. Kind of like AI. But he grew up in the burbs with a good family. He comes off as trying too hard to portray this image now that he has money and knows he is shielded. He's gravitating towards a lifestyle that so many who had no choice grew up in but the difference is they would leave it in a heartbeat if they got the opportunity. He's going the opposite way. He has a lot of money now and is now trying so hard to bring this image he wants to life at any chance he gets

This was made a month ago before this morning and the playground allegation.


Maybe right after the pacers bus incident happened?

[ztejas 43419]

He's doing this shit after losing by 16 to the Nuggets. The Suns are 4 games back of the 2 seed now. They're going to catch Memphis in their sleep at this rate. 

[Aqua Buddha 14591]

Yeah, he grew up in a good home and was a seemingly a good kid before turning into some gangster shit bag.  What happened?

The Foot Locker story involving his mom is the most ridiculous thing ever.

Ja Morant mall incident reportedly started with mother's dispute at a Finish Line

In the mall incident, Morant was alleged to have threatened the head of security during an altercation in the parking lot, with a member of Morant's group allegedly shoving him in the head. No arrests were made.

The incident allegedly occurred after Morant’s mother got into a dispute with an employee at a Finish Line store, then called Morant, who arrived to the scene with as many as nine other people. The group allegedly refused to leave when confronted by the head of security, leading to the shove.

As the group left, the guard reportedly alleged Morant said, "Let me find out what time he gets off."

 

[BigOrange1 6436]

13 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

 

the knicks are a lot of fucking fun right now.

[closetohumping 17440]

Ja posted an IG video from a scrip club. Flashed his gun.    Idiot

[Reynolds Woodcock 4739]

I know I’m getting old, because Iverson and Randy Moss were two of my favorite athletes as a kid, and now I’m like “this Ja Morant character seems like trouble”.

[Message Board User 12395]

Dillon Brooks - dirty piece of shit.

 

[ztejas 43419]

10 minutes ago, Reynolds Woodcock said:

I know I’m getting old, because Iverson and Randy Moss were two of my favorite athletes as a kid, and now I’m like “this Ja Morant character seems like trouble”.

Moss mostly stayed out of trouble after he got to the NFL. There was weird, fairly innocuous traffic incident in '02 and a DV incident in '08 that never amounted to anything. 

[Vic Mackey 47027]

.