2016-17 NBA Regular Season Thread

[WiggyRuss]

and i mean- LeBron last night was just UNBELIEVABLE.

Kevin Love- on a minutes restriction since he is just coming back doesnt play the fourth qtr.

Of course the Cavs 2 of the 3 best CAvs wings not named LeBron- Shumpert and Korver- not playing the 4th qtr.

Kyrie- sits out the 4th with some knee tightness----

KI goes up to Lebron- and basically asks him "You got this?"--- against one of the best defenses in the NBA-

How does LeBron respond? by simply fucking dominating. Its why he is the best in the league and there really is no debate.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Ten things I like and don't like, including Kyrie's bank artistry

Interesting article by Zach Lowe on Kyrie's ever expanding game.

2. Kyrie Irving, bank shot artist
The level of artistry in this dude's game is unfair. It's not pointless streetball garbage, either. These pieces of flair have purpose -- creating a sliver of space for a fallaway, or juking a defender onto his heels so that Irving can drive into his chest and release a floater over him.

Irving's ambidextrous finishing around the rim (rightfully) gets most of the attention, but he is also one of the league's canniest bank shot maestros:

That is a long off-the-glass job, from a tricky sideline angle. Only two players -- Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan -- have attempted more bankers than Irving this season, per the tracking site NBA Savant. Irving is a tidy 31-of-56 on those shots.

In the final seconds of a big game, even the nastiest one-on-one players can't get the precise shot they want. A crunch-time scorer has to improvise. Irving is comfortable under that pressure because he has practiced unconventional shots. Block out the ideal parabola between hand and net, and Irving will recalculate, find another arc, and fling the ball across it.




why- there is no one in the game anyone would rather have with the ball in their hands down 1 with 7 seconds left.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Strategically it makes no sense, but its LeBrons closest friend, in a LeBron option season.

strategically it would make no sense to pickup Wade on a vet. min. contract after a potential buyout? uhh what?

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

there are 3 ALL NBA teams

2 guards to each team.

So that in theory would just be top 3 in EC if he's selected.
Maybe he wouldn't be selected top 3 in WC.
So, it's not necessarily top 6 in league.

Get it?

 

[knowyourenemy]

So that in theory would just be top 3 in EC if he's selected.
Maybe he wouldn't be selected top 3 in WC.
So, it's not necessarily top 6 in league.

Get it?

The All-NBA team doesn't distinguish between conferences. There could be 6 WC guards and 0 EC guards.

Does it really matter though? Irving is not a top 6 guard in the league. Arguably not even a top 6 point guard.

 

[WiggyRuss]

So that in theory would just be top 3 in EC if he's selected.
Maybe he wouldn't be selected top 3 in WC.
So, it's not necessarily top 6 in league.

Get it?

wtf are you talking about? start Patty's day early?

All NBA teams have nothing to do with conference.

Get it?

 

[Heatles84]

strategically it would make no sense to pickup Wade on a vet. min. contract after a potential buyout? uhh what?

He's talking about on-court play with one another.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

strategically it would make no sense to pickup Wade on a vet. min. contract after a potential buyout? uhh what?

To me it makes no sense to take a 3 pt shooter of the court to put Wade on it.

They were talking here this morning about him possibly coming back on a 2-3 year deal.

Lets hope not.

 

[WiggyRuss]

The All-NBA team doesn't distinguish between conferences. There could be 6 WC guards and 0 EC guards.

Does it really matter though? Irving is not a top 6 guard in the league. Arguably not even a top 6 point guard.

sure you can make whatever "argument" you like....if he has 4 of the last 6 all star teams and makes an All NBA team 2 of the previous 3 years- itll be an act of futility arguing that he is not even a "top 6" point guard. lol.

 

[Heatles84]

To me it makes no sense to take a 3 pt shooter of the court to put Wade on it.

They were talking here this morning about him possibly coming back on a 2-3 year deal.

Lets hope not.

I wouldn't be a fan of Wade coming back. I had this argument at the beginning of the season with some buddies of mine and how they thought it was bullshit that we didn't trade all of these guys to bring back Wade. I told them this was an extremely good thing. Fast forward to our current point - I was right.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

wtf are you talking about? start Patty's day early?

All NBA teams have nothing to do with conference.

Get it?

Yeah.
You're correct.
I was thinking conference for some reason.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

I wouldn't be a fan of Wade coming back. I had this argument at the beginning of the season with some buddies of mine and how they thought it was bullshit that we didn't trade all of these guys to bring back Wade. I told them this was an extremely good thing. Fast forward to our current point - I was right.

I agree.
He'd hinder us.
Next years season ticket sales are in shambles right now though (I've heard), so that might be a consideration.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

sure you can make whatever "argument" you like....if he has 4 of the last 6 all star teams and makes an All NBA team 2 of the previous 3 years- itll be an act of futility arguing that he is not even a "top 6" point guard. lol.

Says the clown that argues Tristan is better then Whiteside.

You can easily make a better argument that Kyrie isn't top 6 vs the nonsense you spew.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Says the clown that argues Tristan is better then Whiteside.

You can easily make a better argument that Kyrie isn't top 6 vs the nonsense you spew.

absolutely you can make the argument.

however- falling back on 2 NBA teams in the last 3 years and 4 all star teams and perhaps the clutchest shot in league history is what i would classify- crushing evidence! thatsa technical term by the way. lol.

ya gotta hand it to LeBron- he jumped shit at the right time and chose the right guy to team up with!

 

[WiggyRuss]

Good to see Klove come back--- he had a really nice first half last night...thats encouraging.....as Windhorst says on his Cavs radio show-- "there is no such thing as minor knee surgery". While Love's procedure was as minimally invasive as one could possibly be- you just never know how someone is going to react.

To see him spryly run around the court less than 5 weeks after having an original diagnosis that he would be out 6 weeks is a good sign.

I gotta say- with how Love has played this season- i dont know if there is a better big man in the Eastern Conference. There might be some guys that i would take long term over him like Porzinigis- but if you are looking at just this year- he certainly has an argument. East really is pretty weak relatively speaking with with elite big men- there are boatload of great ones out west.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I wouldn't be a fan of Wade coming back. I had this argument at the beginning of the season with some buddies of mine and how they thought it was bullshit that we didn't trade all of these guys to bring back Wade. I told them this was an extremely good thing. Fast forward to our current point - I was right.

you def. make some good points here.

if i am playing devil's advocate though- the best argument i can make for wade is that in the playoffs when you have off-days- if he is taken care of properly during the regular season- he still has the ability to have that big game and win you at least 1 playoff game in a series seemingly by himself.

is that worth? 25M a year? DEF. not - esp. with his injury risk. If Wade would have cared enough to develop a 3 pt. shot during the backside of his career maybe its a different answer- but he never really did what next level guys like Kobe and LeBron did/do- keep adding on different parts of your game and refining them even into your 30's.

he wont go back to the Heat- the Heat need to strike on the free agent market this offseason with a guy who will be there long term- and spend their cap space before Tyler Johnsons cap hit balloons from 6 to 19 million next year...if you dont use that cap space you will just lose it with the inflation of that deal.

 

[Black Adam]

is Wiggy STILL spamming this bullshit...?

congrats on your regular season win...

now pump the friggin' brakes...

 

[Black Adam]

"clutchest shot in the history of the league". wow...

history of Cleveland i'll buy...

 

[WiggyRuss]

"clutchest shot in the history of the league". wow...

history of Cleveland i'll buy...

i mean- there are quite a few shots that you can argue- but to simply dismiss Kyrie's shot as not in the conversation would be assinine.

I mean- it capped off the greatest comeback in the history of the NBA- it stopped the Warriors from completing the greatest winning season in the history of the NBA- it broke Cleveland's stretch of no championships since 1964- and thats before even getting into the game specifics- which are as story-book as they come.

Game 7
on the road
tie game
less than 1 minute to go
being guarded by the 2 time defending MVP
swishing a dagger in his eye

I mean- if you were just dreaming up the ultimate shot- it wouldnt be too far off that. There are certainly other shots that you can make an argument for--- but no doubt the argument can be made for Kyrie's shot.

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

absolutely you can make the argument.

however- falling back on 2 NBA teams in the last 3 years and 4 all star teams and perhaps the clutchest shot in league history is what i would classify- crushing evidence! thatsa technical term by the way. lol.

ya gotta hand it to LeBron- he jumped shit at the right time and chose the right guy to team up with!

NBA Player Power Rankings: B/R's Top 30 Point Guards at the Halfway Point


Here's a legit argument where Kyrie is at 8.
The knock on Kyrie HAS to be that he can't win anything without James.
As you say, the record is what it is.

Find me ANY independent article that lists Tristan as a better C then Whiteside.

I'll wait, just like I'm waiting for you to accept the bet you proposed, or waiting for you to tell me where you rank Cousins and A.D. league wide.