2015-16 NBA Western Conference OFFICIAL THREAD

[bksballer89]

DeRozan is a 44% career shooter- and he does not take 3's because he is horrible at them.

This guy is your typical fairly inefficient volume scorer. He is basically a homeless man's Kobe Bryant.

Not taking/making 3's is not the end of the world. Wade is one of the best 2 guards in NBA history and he sucks at 3's.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Serious question. What's up with him? Obviously, I don't see as many Cavs games as you do. I thought he was one of the big reasons the Cavs made the finals competitive last year and figured it might be something of a "coming out party" for him. This year, he seems to have regressed.

Was he just playing over his head in the finals or is it something else?

Love is back on the court for 33 minutes a game.

Think of the guys Tristan is competing with for shots and rebounds. Obviously- the points total is totally skewed when you play with LeBron, Love, KI, Jr Smith, Mo Williams, etc.....no one EVER calls a play for Thompson- and he NEVER complains.

2nd- especially looking at who is competing with rebounds with--- I thinkthe best metric to see how good a rebounding team is - is its plus-minus against the opposition- because that will account for pace to a certain extent. The Cavs are 4th in the NBA.

obviously LeBron is an elite rebounder at SF, Kevin Love is a top 5 rebounder in the NBA. Mozgov of course gets board. Its why its so impressive that BOTH Love and Thompson are so high in the rebounds totals....


Interesting stat.... Love and Thompson are 9th and 10th in the NBA in rebounding....NO OTHER TEAMMATES come close to that besides Gasol and Noah at 6th and 18th. Its INCREDIBLY difficult to have 2 guys top 10 in the game in rebounding- because they steal them from eachother- but Thompson and Love are up there - DESPITe also having a Small forward that is an elite rebounder- and Mozgov STARTING most of the season.

Thats pretty crazy.

 

[Mecca]

@Wiggy's desperation to make it look like TT is actually worth the money. TT would still be a bench player if the Cavs were getting anything out of TinaFey Mozgov.

I understand Tristans value to the Cavs.

Love can't guard a potted plant and Mozgov is pouting and sulking.

So, Tristan has to do all the dirty work.

To them, he's worth it to keep Lebron happy.

With that being said, his numbers are in line with Ed Davis.

Davis makes half that.

 

[trojanfan12]

Lmao!

No, I love that Dude.

If he can get back to the form he was in when he was a serious mvp candidate, I would put him first too.

He's just had a lot of injuries and I don't think the Lakers can take that chance.

Then again, Horford isn't exactly an iron man either.

I agree although I wouldn't even need him to be back to MVP candidate level. Just healthy and something kind of close to what he did before the injuries. Personally, I wouldn't have much problem if they just decided to keep Hibbert. Especially if they can land KD.

I agree, the Lakers are not in position to be taking a chance on guys like Noah and probably Horford because spending top money to get them and then not having them available would basically be Steve Nash all over again. The fanbase has been surprisingly patient (much more patient than I expected), but another Nash situation would likely send everyone over the edge.

 

[Mecca]

Well, he's 6'7" 220, so he definitely has the size to play SF. The other option would be to bring Clarkson off the bench, especially if they get really lucky and manage to convince KD to come to LA. Makes for some interesting potential starting lineups.

PG - Russell
SG - Clarkson
SF - DeRozan
PF - Randle
C- Hibbert

or

PG - Russell
SG - DeRozan
SF - Durant
PF - Randle
C- Hibbert

It's not even the all-star break yet. I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing all kinds of wild rumors, especially around the Lakers. Heck, there are already rumors about KD and Westbrook both ending up with the Lakers.

The second lineup would give Teams hell.

* prays that never comes to fruition*

In the First lineup, replace Hibbert with a healthy Noah, Horford or Whiteside?


Goodness!

Scary thing is, both are very possible.

 

[trojanfan12]

Love is back on the court for 33 minutes a game.

Think of the guys Tristan is competing with for shots and rebounds. Obviously- the points total is totally skewed when you play with LeBron, Love, KI, Jr Smith, Mo Williams, etc.....no one EVER calls a play for Thompson- and he NEVER complains.

2nd- especially looking at who is competing with rebounds with--- I thinkthe best metric to see how good a rebounding team is - is its plus-minus against the opposition- because that will account for pace to a certain extent. The Cavs are 4th in the NBA.

obviously LeBron is an elite rebounder at SF, Kevin Love is a top 5 rebounder in the NBA. Mozgov of course gets board. Its why its so impressive that BOTH Love and Thompson are so high in the rebounds totals....


Interesting stat.... Love and Thompson are 9th and 10th in the NBA in rebounding....NO OTHER TEAMMATES come close to that besides Gasol and Noah at 6th and 18th. Its INCREDIBLY difficult to have 2 guys top 10 in the game in rebounding- because they steal them from eachother- but Thompson and Love are up there - DESPITe also having a Small forward that is an elite rebounder- and Mozgov STARTING most of the season.

Thats pretty crazy.

So basically, he hasn't really regressed as much as the Cavs are pretty healthy right now, so he kind of gets lost in the shuffle. Seems reasonable. With all that the Cavs have, someone is bound to get lost.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not taking/making 3's is not the end of the world. Wade is one of the best 2 guards in NBA history and he sucks at 3's.

and 44% isn't terrible for a 2 guard, 3's or not, especially when for a few of those years, he was basically the only reliable scorer they had, if memory serves.

 

[Mecca]

and 44% isn't terrible for a 2 guard, 3's or not, especially when for a few of those years, he was basically the only reliable scorer they had, if memory serves.

What do you think about Batum?

If Durant and Ben Simmons are off the table, Batum would be a great plan c for.the right price.

 

[DJ]

He is.

 

[DJ]

Thompson is averaging 7.5ppg and 9.7rpg, not even close to living up to that contract.

 

[trojanfan12]

I understand Tristans value to the Cavs.

Love can't guard a potted plant and Mozgov is pouting and sulking.

So, Tristan has to do all the dirty work.

To them, he's worth it to keep Lebron happy.

With that being said, his numbers are in line with Ed Davis.

Davis makes half that.

Yeah, that's what I've been talking about when saying that there are guys providing the same thing TT is for a lot less. Problem for the Cavs was twofold. They had to keep Lebron happy and they were capped out, so even if they did let TT walk, they likely couldn't have gotten a guy like Ed Davis because they would still be way over the cap.

 

[trojanfan12]

The second lineup would give Teams hell.

* prays that never comes to fruition*

In the First lineup, replace Hibbert with a healthy Noah, Horford or Whiteside?


Goodness!

Scary thing is, both are very possible.

Yeah, I could see replacing Hibbert with any of those three. I like Hibbert okay and don't really have any complaints about him so far. But any of those 3, assuming Noah or Horford are healthy or Whiteside continues to develop makes the team even stronger.

 

[CitySushi]

Draymond Green - 5 years 82M.
Tristan Thompson - 5 years 80M.

Same off-season.

 

[trojanfan12]

What do you think about Batum?

If Durant and Ben Simmons are off the table, Batum would be a great plan c for.the right price.

He'd definitely improve the team, but like you said, it would have to be at the right price. The one thing that I'm very happy with re: the Lakers past couple of off-seasons is that, when they missed on the big name guys they were after, they didn't overspend on 2nd and 3rd tier guys.

Because of that, they have the outside possibility of hanging on to their top 3 pick and will have a ton of cap space available to them. I was worried they'd overpay 2nd tier guys and become good enough to be a 5-8 seed that's stuck there and unable to improve.

 

[WiggyRuss]

So basically, he hasn't really regressed as much as the Cavs are pretty healthy right now, so he kind of gets lost in the shuffle. Seems reasonable. With all that the Cavs have, someone is bound to get lost.

its not that HE specfically is lost- its that EVERYONE's numbers come down a bit when you have such a deep and talented roster- not only his, but Bron's are down a little (thoguh some of that is his shooting- which actually has been stupendous lately), Love has started to trail off a little since KI is back and Jr has been on freaking fire...etc...

I mean- it only makes sense....on a team with other piss-poor rebounders- if you gave Thompson 34 minutes a night- I think youd see some crazy totals...On this Cavs team- fighting for boards with Love, Bron, Mozgov etc- and playing 27/28 minutes a night? top 10 in the NBA in rebounding is pretty crazy in my estimation.

 

[Mecca]

Yeah, that's what I've been talking about when saying that there are guys providing the same thing TT is for a lot less. Problem for the Cavs was twofold. They had to keep Lebron happy and they were capped out, so even if they did let TT walk, they likely couldn't have gotten a guy like Ed Davis because they would still be way over the cap.

Yes, we are on the same page here.

They really do need Tristan. But, we both recognize the fact that he got top dollar because he is basically one of Lebron's clients...lol

 

[trojanfan12]

its not that HE specfically is lost- its that EVERYONE's numbers come down a bit when you have such a deep and talented roster- not only his, but Bron's are down a little (thoguh some of that is his shooting- which actually has been stupendous lately), Love has started to trail off a little since KI is back and Jr has been on freaking fire...etc...

I mean- it only makes sense....on a team with other piss-poor rebounders- if you gave Thompson 34 minutes a night- I think youd see some crazy totals...On this Cavs team- fighting for boards with Love, Bron, Mozgov etc- and playing 27/28 minutes a night? top 10 in the NBA in rebounding is pretty crazy in my estimation.

True. With a deep roster, everyone has to give up something. Makes sense.

 

[Mecca]

He'd definitely improve the team, but like you said, it would have to be at the right price. The one thing that I'm very happy with re: the Lakers past couple of off-seasons is that, when they missed on the big name guys they were after, they didn't overspend on 2nd and 3rd tier guys.

Because of that, they have the outside possibility of hanging on to their top 3 pick and will have a ton of cap space available to them. I was worried they'd overpay 2nd tier guys and become good enough to be a 5-8 seed that's stuck there and unable to improve.

Agreed.

Lou was a good pick-up.

When the youngsters gain their footing, he's gonna be a super sub.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yes, we are on the same page here.

They really do need Tristan. But, we both recognize the fact that he got top dollar because he is basically one of Lebron's clients...lol

Exactly. The Lakers had to do the same thing with Pau. Having Pau on the team kept Kobe happy so he got paid more than he was really worth. That's just how it works sometimes.

 

[trojanfan12]

Agreed.

Lou was a good pick-up.

When the youngsters gain their footing, he's gonna be a super sub.

Yeah, some folks (I'm looking at you Wiggy ) were laughing at the signing, but it's turned out to be a very good one for the Lakers (although it didn't look that good at the beginning of the season). He's basically been the Lakers most consistent scorer and has even been solid defensively.