2019-2020 NBA Season Thread

[Underdog 28455]

Watched their game vs. the Nets last night, he was on fire and has been of late. 

[Sbbruin 21734]

22 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Luka is averaging 30/10/9 as we speak, and barring an injury he will be in a two-man race for MVP with the second greatest player of all time. 

Don't count out Giannis.  But LBJ has been reinvigorated this year, and is playing near the top of his game.  WC playoffs cold be really interesting.  

Time to put #17 on the wall at Staples.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

1 hour ago, Sbbruin said:

Don't count out Giannis.  But LBJ has been reinvigorated this year, and is playing near the top of his game.  WC playoffs cold be really interesting.  

Time to put #17 on the wall at Staples.

Giannis is averaging 30, 13 and 5 and his team is 22-3. I'm thinking he might be in the MVP discussion.

[Goo Punch 4275]

Giannis will be in the mix, but barring those other two guys falling off he won't win it two years in a row, even if he might deserve it. 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Goo Punch

[CBT 1281]

No love Dāvis Bertāns I guess. 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

45 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Giannis will be in the mix, but barring those other two guys falling off he won't win it two years in a row, even if he might deserve it. 

If Milwaukee wins 70 (currently on pace for 72 in a dreadful conference), I could definitely see him repeating. The competing narrative being 1) that AD, an MVP candidate in his own right, is making Lebron's job easier; and 2) I don't want to denigrate what Luka or the Mavs have done so far, but they've had the easiest schedule in the Western Conference. I don't think they are going to keep up this pace (56 wins) for the rest of the season. A low 50 win total is probably a more likely scenario, and it's going to be difficult to vote for an MVP of a low 50 win team.

[Vic Mackey 46936]

[Goo Punch 4275]

lol Blake Griffin:

 

 

[Patrick Bateman 3903]

 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Jesus. That sucks to hear. 

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

Luka had a decent night in the districto federal. 

[Message Board User 12389]

Losing to the Cavs?

Man the Spurs suck.

[Vic Mackey 46936]

Lmao.

[Underdog 28455]

Is that a lot? 

[aggie08 21433]

35% on 14 3PA a game is nothing to sneeze at.

But combine that with 14 FTA per game, and it's pretty easy to understand why no one really gives a shit why there's a dude almost averaging 40 ppg in the NBA.  It ain't pretty.

[Jhawk 1075]

Ku has him, another 40% shooter in Svi (lakers) and bitch I’m frank mason (wooden award) on the same team and we couldn’t win it all. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

yeah well, winning is really, really hard. 

[Drew 2331]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 3:57 PM, Mitch Cumsteen said:

If Milwaukee wins 70 (currently on pace for 72 in a dreadful conference), I could definitely see him repeating. The competing narrative being 1) that AD, an MVP candidate in his own right, is making Lebron's job easier; and 2) I don't want to denigrate what Luka or the Mavs have done so far, but they've had the easiest schedule in the Western Conference. I don't think they are going to keep up this pace (56 wins) for the rest of the season. A low 50 win total is probably a more likely scenario, and it's going to be difficult to vote for an MVP of a low 50 win team.

If that 50 win team won 32 games last year, with no major additions, and he's basically the ONLY guy on the team to be scared of(KP hasn't shown it yet), while averaging close to a triple double and leading maybe the single best offensive team efficiency ever(as they are now), and it won't be all that difficult.

But to me it's Giannis by far so far.

[Goo Punch 4275]

lol, wait, wut? you just said that if Luka keeps doing what he's doing right now that it'll be pretty easy to name him MVP, then followed that by saying that Giannis is currently the leader in the clubhouse by far. So uh, which is it?

[youdunnf'dup 2147]

8 hours ago, aggie08 said:

35% on 14 3PA a game is nothing to sneeze at.

But combine that with 14 FTA per game, and it's pretty easy to understand why no one really gives a shit why there's a dude almost averaging 40 ppg in the NBA.  It ain't pretty.

Seriously. He isn’t even being mentioned in MVP talks and he’s having the best season of his career statistically (right?). And rightfully so. There isn’t a person outside of Houston that truly respects how he plays the game. Yelling back at fans like “yeah, well nobody likes fouls either.” Yeah, actually you do, James. That’s what you’ve modeled your game around. You like fouls more than anyone who has ever played the game.

Edited December 14, 2019 by youdunnf'dup

[UpperWestside 6136]

Tonight should be a reason the Lakers came out better on the trade for Davis. Good Lord that guy is so good. 

[Message Board User 12389]

PSA NBA League Pass free through 12-19-19.

[goatsaag 279]

1 hour ago, youdunnf'dup said:

Seriously. He isn’t even being mentioned in MVP talks and he’s having the best season of his career statistically (right?). And rightfully so. There isn’t a person outside of Houston that truly respects how he plays the game. Yelling back at fans like “yeah, well nobody likes fouls either.” Yeah, actually you do, James. That’s what you’ve modeled your game around. You like fouls more than anyone who has ever played the game.

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/e8uy2k/whats_up_rnba_im_pascal_siakam_of_the_toronto/faeuxcj/?context=8&depth=9

Edited December 14, 2019 by goatsaag

[youdunnf'dup 2147]

16 minutes ago, goatsaag said:

https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/e8uy2k/whats_up_rnba_im_pascal_siakam_of_the_toronto/faeuxcj/?context=8&depth=9

I said it before and I’ll say it again. James Harden is going to go down as one of the most influential players in NBA history for all the wrong reasons. Players will try to copy what he does because they see the end result, but nobody has a 3rd degree black belt in drawing fouls that probably shouldn’t be fouls like James harden. I’m not saying he isn’t one of the 5 best SGs I’ve ever seen. I’m just saying he will never get the credit he probably deserves because of his style of play. It isn’t even remotely close to aesthetically pleasing. At least not until he wins a title, and I don’t think that style of play holds up as you get deeper in the playoffs and the refs are calling games different. I could be wrong. 
 

Honestly didn’t mean to derail the thread and go down this rabbit hole. I love the NBA. Let’s get back to the rest of the NBA.

Edited December 14, 2019 by youdunnf'dup

[BigOrange1 6422]

if steph curry or giannis did this, people would be jizzing their pants.

 

[Drew 2331]

17 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

lol, wait, wut? you just said that if Luka keeps doing what he's doing right now that it'll be pretty easy to name him MVP, then followed that by saying that Giannis is currently the leader in the clubhouse by far. So uh, which is it?

Did you actually read what I was responding to or what I actually wrote? 

I was responding the part of his post that said "it won't be easy to vote for an MVP of a low 50's win team".  I said sure it would be easy to vote for him based on the reasons I listed,  NOT that he WOULD be the MVP. Jesus

 

[d2o 1602]

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

if steph curry or giannis did this, people would be jizzing their pants.

 

Its rep at this point and its deserved.    Yeah these last few games have been pretty impressive and not the normal way he puts up numbers.   I give him credit for it but for the better part of 6 yrs he has played a style of ball that isn't something most want to watch outside of those with a rooting interest.   He's going to have to do this for more than 2 gms (more importantly in the playoffs) if he  wants to shake the rep.

[aggie08 21433]

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

if steph curry or giannis did this, people would be jizzing their pants.

 

Oh, no doubt. It's a credit to Harden that he's made 50+ point games "boring." If I could be guaranteed a low free throw/high percentage 3's made game when I tune into the Rockets, it would be can't miss TV. He's a basketball mastermind, even without all of the extracurriculars.

But then there's the 50 point, 11 made field goals free throw extravaganzas that make you want to tear your eyes out. Basketball, probably more than any other sport, derives enjoyment from its aesthetics, and James Harden is the most hit-or-miss player in NBA history from a visual perspective. He's just never going to be as popular as his game dictates that he should be. It is what it is.

Edited December 14, 2019 by aggie08

[SilasCoade 2620]

1 hour ago, aggie08 said:

Oh, no doubt. It's a credit to Harden that he's made 50+ point games "boring." If I could be guaranteed a low free throw/high percentage 3's made game when I tune into the Rockets, it would be can't miss TV. He's a basketball mastermind, even without all of the extracurriculars.

But then there's the 50 point, 11 made field goals free throw extravaganzas that make you want to tear your eyes out. Basketball, probably more than any other sport, derives enjoyment from its aesthetics, and James Harden is the most hit-or-miss player in NBA history from a visual perspective. He's just never going to be as popular as his game dictates that he should be. It is what it is.

It's not just aesthetics though. He comes across as a massive dickhead too.

[immortal13 4059]

3 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

if steph curry or giannis did this, people would be jizzing their pants.

 

I'm pretty sure Curry has already done that

[Goo Punch 4275]

5 hours ago, Drew said:

Did you actually read what I was responding to or what I actually wrote? 

I was responding the part of his post that said "it won't be easy to vote for an MVP of a low 50's win team".  I said sure it would be easy to vote for him based on the reasons I listed,  NOT that he WOULD be the MVP. Jesus

 

okie dokie, dope meltdown. 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Goo Punch

[BigOrange1 6422]

2 hours ago, immortal13 said:

I'm pretty sure Curry has already done that

i'm pretty sure he hasn't

Quote

 

James Harden of the Houston Rockets shot into basketball history Friday night when he single-handedly scored 54 points against  Orlando Magic and became the first player in NBA history to have back-to-back 50 point games with 10 or more 3-pointers. 

The NBA confirmed the record-breaking streak on Twitter Friday night. 

Harden joins Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors as the only two players in NBA history to have back-to-back games with at least 10 three-pointers, according to NBA statistics. But, he is the only player to ever do so with at least 50 points to his name at the end of each game.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-harden-makes-nba-history-with-back-to-back-50-point-games-for-houston-rockets/

[immortal13 4059]

[ztejas 43266]

7 hours ago, d2o said:

He's going to have to do this for more than 2 gms (more importantly in the playoffs) if he  wants to shake the rep.

He averaged 36 a game last season. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Luka injured:

 

[immortal13 4059]

On 12/7/2019 at 8:09 PM, Goo Punch said:

^^^ you just rolled Luka's ankle. 

I blame you

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

Pretty crazy game in Dallas though 

[Message Board User 12389]

4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Pretty crazy game in Dallas though 

Without Luka their winning time offense was all panic.

[Pato del Muerto 52342]

10 minutes ago, Message Board User said:

Without Luka their winning time offense was all panic.

It was mostly Brunson driving to the middle  with no plan and not finding the open man. 
And the heat got very physical and weren’t punished for it. Mavs shot zero free throws in the 4th. 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Pato del Muerto

[d2o 1602]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:18 PM, ztejas said:

He averaged 36 a game last season. 

Did you read anything but the part you quoted?   Clearly not.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

Since we are talking MVP candidates... here is the basketball reference MVP tracker submitted without comment.

Quote

The NBA MVP Award Tracker ranks candidates based on a model built using previous voting results.
This list does not represent the opinion of this site. Rather, these are the players that the voters are likely to target (maximum two players per team).

Rk	Player	Tm	W	L	W/L%	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	eFG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS		Prob%
1	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	24	3	.889	26	26	31.1	11.5	20.4	.563	1.7	5.0	.328	9.8	15.4	.640	.604	6.4	10.8	.593	2.6	10.2	12.8	5.3	1.3	1.2	3.7	3.2	31.0		39.4%
2	James Harden	HOU	17	9	.654	26	26	37.8	11.2	25.0	.448	5.0	14.0	.361	6.2	11.0	.557	.548	11.8	13.4	.883	1.0	4.9	5.9	7.5	2.0	0.7	5.0	3.3	39.3		20.6%
3	LeBron James	LAL	24	3	.889	27	27	34.7	10.1	20.1	.502	2.3	6.2	.365	7.9	14.0	.562	.558	3.7	5.4	.683	1.0	6.3	7.3	10.7	1.3	0.6	4.0	1.7	26.1		17.2%
4	Anthony Davis	LAL	24	3	.889	26	26	34.7	9.6	19.3	.499	1.2	3.6	.319	8.5	15.7	.541	.529	7.0	8.2	.858	2.4	6.9	9.3	3.3	1.5	2.6	2.3	2.4	27.4		11.1%
5	Luka Dončić	DAL	17	8	.680	25	25	32.2	9.4	19.6	.481	3.0	9.3	.326	6.4	10.3	.620	.558	7.4	9.2	.803	1.3	8.3	9.6	8.9	1.2	0.1	4.4	2.3	29.3		8.9%
6	Jimmy Butler	MIA	19	7	.731	22	22	35.5	6.2	14.4	.429	1.0	3.6	.275	5.2	10.8	.481	.464	7.6	9.2	.828	1.9	4.6	6.5	6.8	2.1	0.7	2.5	1.4	21.0		1.2%
7	Joel Embiid	PHI	20	8	.714	22	22	30.7	7.2	15.7	.461	1.1	3.5	.316	6.1	12.2	.502	.496	7.2	8.9	.811	2.4	9.9	12.3	3.3	0.9	1.3	3.3	3.5	22.8		0.5%
8	Kawhi Leonard	LAC	20	8	.714	20	20	31.5	9.0	19.9	.450	1.8	4.9	.357	7.2	15.0	.480	.494	6.2	7.0	.879	1.1	6.8	7.9	5.1	1.8	0.7	3.6	2.1	25.8		0.4%
9	Bam Adebayo	MIA	19	7	.731	26	26	33.8	5.7	9.8	.584	0.0	0.3	.125	5.7	9.5	.599	.586	3.7	5.7	.651	2.6	8.0	10.6	4.6	1.4	1.2	2.9	2.7	15.2		0.3%
10	Khris Middleton	MIL	24	3	.889	20	17	27.7	7.0	13.9	.500	2.2	5.2	.413	4.8	8.7	.552	.577	2.6	2.9	.895	0.7	4.7	5.4	3.5	0.9	0.1	1.9	2.3	18.6		0.3%

 

[Sbbruin 21734]

On 12/13/2019 at 6:50 PM, UpperWestside said:

Tonight should be a reason the Lakers came out better on the trade for Davis. Good Lord that guy is so good. 

Yeah, it seems like the team that acquires the superstar, no matter what they give up, always seems to come out ahead.  And The Lakers have as good a shot as anyone to hang a banner, and that's what this is all about.

[d2o 1602]

39 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Since we are talking MVP candidates... here is the basketball reference MVP tracker submitted without comment.

Rk	Player	Tm	W	L	W/L%	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	eFG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS		Prob%
1	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	24	3	.889	26	26	31.1	11.5	20.4	.563	1.7	5.0	.328	9.8	15.4	.640	.604	6.4	10.8	.593	2.6	10.2	12.8	5.3	1.3	1.2	3.7	3.2	31.0		39.4%
2	James Harden	HOU	17	9	.654	26	26	37.8	11.2	25.0	.448	5.0	14.0	.361	6.2	11.0	.557	.548	11.8	13.4	.883	1.0	4.9	5.9	7.5	2.0	0.7	5.0	3.3	39.3		20.6%
3	LeBron James	LAL	24	3	.889	27	27	34.7	10.1	20.1	.502	2.3	6.2	.365	7.9	14.0	.562	.558	3.7	5.4	.683	1.0	6.3	7.3	10.7	1.3	0.6	4.0	1.7	26.1		17.2%
4	Anthony Davis	LAL	24	3	.889	26	26	34.7	9.6	19.3	.499	1.2	3.6	.319	8.5	15.7	.541	.529	7.0	8.2	.858	2.4	6.9	9.3	3.3	1.5	2.6	2.3	2.4	27.4		11.1%
5	Luka Dončić	DAL	17	8	.680	25	25	32.2	9.4	19.6	.481	3.0	9.3	.326	6.4	10.3	.620	.558	7.4	9.2	.803	1.3	8.3	9.6	8.9	1.2	0.1	4.4	2.3	29.3		8.9%
6	Jimmy Butler	MIA	19	7	.731	22	22	35.5	6.2	14.4	.429	1.0	3.6	.275	5.2	10.8	.481	.464	7.6	9.2	.828	1.9	4.6	6.5	6.8	2.1	0.7	2.5	1.4	21.0		1.2%
7	Joel Embiid	PHI	20	8	.714	22	22	30.7	7.2	15.7	.461	1.1	3.5	.316	6.1	12.2	.502	.496	7.2	8.9	.811	2.4	9.9	12.3	3.3	0.9	1.3	3.3	3.5	22.8		0.5%
8	Kawhi Leonard	LAC	20	8	.714	20	20	31.5	9.0	19.9	.450	1.8	4.9	.357	7.2	15.0	.480	.494	6.2	7.0	.879	1.1	6.8	7.9	5.1	1.8	0.7	3.6	2.1	25.8		0.4%
9	Bam Adebayo	MIA	19	7	.731	26	26	33.8	5.7	9.8	.584	0.0	0.3	.125	5.7	9.5	.599	.586	3.7	5.7	.651	2.6	8.0	10.6	4.6	1.4	1.2	2.9	2.7	15.2		0.3%
10	Khris Middleton	MIL	24	3	.889	20	17	27.7	7.0	13.9	.500	2.2	5.2	.413	4.8	8.7	.552	.577	2.6	2.9	.895	0.7	4.7	5.4	3.5	0.9	0.1	1.9	2.3	18.6		0.3%

 

Most interesting number in that output is that Giannis is now shooting 32.8% from 3, only 4% less than Harden.    Obviously, he doesn't take the volume that Harden does but 5 taken a game is nothing to sneeze at

Edited December 16, 2019 by d2o

[d2o 1602]

12 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Yeah, it seems like the team that acquires the superstar, no matter what they give up, always seems to come out ahead.  And The Lakers have as good a shot as anyone to hang a banner, and that's what this is all about.

Correct, what is never included in the trade (and I get why but for context it should be talked about) is the other players that teams can sign with the roster spots made available.    Yes they traded 5 guys for 1 guy but they also were able to pick up 4 others to make up for that depth on top of getting the best player in the trade.

[Patrick Bateman 3903]

21 minutes ago, d2o said:

Most interesting number in that output is that Giannis is now shooting 32.8% from 3, only 4% less than Harden.    Obviously, he doesn't take the volume that Harden does but 5 taken a game is nothing to sneeze at

To me.... the most interesting numbers are the FT%.  My lord, 59% is fucking embarrassing for a player of his caliber.  It'll be interesting to see how their minutes and/or games played for the top 3 end up.  We've seen Luka get his first injury of the season.

[aggie08 21433]

So much for the Western Conference being as strong as it's ever been.  Steph and Klay are out.  Zion is out (not that NO was going to make the playoffs, but they could have at least been a feisty team).  Portland let a fluky WCF run trick them into largely keeping the same roster + gambles on Whiteside and Melo.  This finally feels like the year San Antonio is 'done."  I thought people were way too high on Utah collecting everyone's really-nice-but-not-quite-an-all-star players; they'll go on a run before the season ends and win some games but duck out as soon as they face someone with a top 10 player in the postseason (which all 5 teams currently ahead of them have at least 1).

At least 2 of these currently below .500 teams are going to make the playoffs: Sacramento, OKC, Phoenix, Minnesota, San Antonio, Portland.  Yeesh.

[SilasCoade 2620]

Portland still without Nurkic and lost Collins -- two guys that could be solid contributors. Not that those dudes are the difference between champs or not, but they probably help keep them above .500.

[Goo Punch 4275]

15 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Since we are talking MVP candidates... here is the basketball reference MVP tracker submitted without comment.

Rk	Player	Tm	W	L	W/L%	G	GS	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P	2PA	2P%	eFG%	FT	FTA	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS		Prob%
1	Giannis Antetokounmpo	MIL	24	3	.889	26	26	31.1	11.5	20.4	.563	1.7	5.0	.328	9.8	15.4	.640	.604	6.4	10.8	.593	2.6	10.2	12.8	5.3	1.3	1.2	3.7	3.2	31.0		39.4%
2	James Harden	HOU	17	9	.654	26	26	37.8	11.2	25.0	.448	5.0	14.0	.361	6.2	11.0	.557	.548	11.8	13.4	.883	1.0	4.9	5.9	7.5	2.0	0.7	5.0	3.3	39.3		20.6%
3	LeBron James	LAL	24	3	.889	27	27	34.7	10.1	20.1	.502	2.3	6.2	.365	7.9	14.0	.562	.558	3.7	5.4	.683	1.0	6.3	7.3	10.7	1.3	0.6	4.0	1.7	26.1		17.2%
4	Anthony Davis	LAL	24	3	.889	26	26	34.7	9.6	19.3	.499	1.2	3.6	.319	8.5	15.7	.541	.529	7.0	8.2	.858	2.4	6.9	9.3	3.3	1.5	2.6	2.3	2.4	27.4		11.1%
5	Luka Dončić	DAL	17	8	.680	25	25	32.2	9.4	19.6	.481	3.0	9.3	.326	6.4	10.3	.620	.558	7.4	9.2	.803	1.3	8.3	9.6	8.9	1.2	0.1	4.4	2.3	29.3		8.9%
6	Jimmy Butler	MIA	19	7	.731	22	22	35.5	6.2	14.4	.429	1.0	3.6	.275	5.2	10.8	.481	.464	7.6	9.2	.828	1.9	4.6	6.5	6.8	2.1	0.7	2.5	1.4	21.0		1.2%
7	Joel Embiid	PHI	20	8	.714	22	22	30.7	7.2	15.7	.461	1.1	3.5	.316	6.1	12.2	.502	.496	7.2	8.9	.811	2.4	9.9	12.3	3.3	0.9	1.3	3.3	3.5	22.8		0.5%
8	Kawhi Leonard	LAC	20	8	.714	20	20	31.5	9.0	19.9	.450	1.8	4.9	.357	7.2	15.0	.480	.494	6.2	7.0	.879	1.1	6.8	7.9	5.1	1.8	0.7	3.6	2.1	25.8		0.4%
9	Bam Adebayo	MIA	19	7	.731	26	26	33.8	5.7	9.8	.584	0.0	0.3	.125	5.7	9.5	.599	.586	3.7	5.7	.651	2.6	8.0	10.6	4.6	1.4	1.2	2.9	2.7	15.2		0.3%
10	Khris Middleton	MIL	24	3	.889	20	17	27.7	7.0	13.9	.500	2.2	5.2	.413	4.8	8.7	.552	.577	2.6	2.9	.895	0.7	4.7	5.4	3.5	0.9	0.1	1.9	2.3	18.6		0.3%

 

I can accept that this BR tracker thing has Bam at 9 when he should easily be top 5, but Khris Middleton? The fuck? Why? 

[hobbes2702 12826]

40 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

I can accept that this BR tracker thing has Bam at 9 when he should easily be top 5, but Khris Middleton? The fuck? Why? 

Bam can’t be top 5. Not to take anything away from him, he’s been incredible. That said the top 5 is pretty straightforward. It’s some order of Harden, Luka, LBJ, AD, and Freak. Those 5 are way ahead of everyone else and the tracker pretty much nails that.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18523]

4 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

I can accept that this BR tracker thing has Bam at 9 when he should easily be top 5, but Khris Middleton? The fuck? Why? 

I didn't get into their methodology but I did see that they limit it to two players per team, so I would assume it is largely based on team wins.