2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[bksballer89]

That 3-1 record isn't without asterisks though. Game 1 was without Curry and Cousins. Game 2 was a 1 pt OT loss, also without Cousins. Game 3 was a real aberration, as Houston won comfortably without Harden with GS at full strength, not exactly a situation expected to repeat itself.

Cousins really seemed to be a problem for Houston tonight. Plus, refs tend to swallow their whistle in the playoffs, which limits the effectivity of Harden's ref-baiting and his production as a result.

Houston played game 2 without Paul and game 3 without Harden......

The only game I'm willing to throw out is the first game.

Game 2 being a 1 pt loss means nothing to me. These are 2 of the top 5 teams IMO so these games should typically be very close and decided in the final 2 minutes.

Game 3 was very similar to last night actually. Shorthanded team had a double digit lead in the 4th and the game got way too close in the final minutes.

 

[WiggyRuss]

As of now, it's opinion. And Love didn't get max money but was near max (also just a bit older than Klay).

In addition, Love had already played under a max deal and earned roughly $30 mil more than Klay the last few seasons. Likes where he is so just signed.

those rosters that love played with in minnesota were DOGSHIT

i mean total and complete DOGSHIT.....i looked back and was surprised at how dogshit they were.

 

[dtgold88]

I think we all agree that for all his greatness he's probably not a #1 lead dog on a contending team. But that's the only thing "wrong" with him. Max player for sure.

Still just your opinion about being a max player. Wont be shocked if he gets one, though....but I do think that's an issue in the NBA (not just Klay, as he is better than some or even many who have been given max or near max deals).

Guy is the 3rd best player on his team and he's a max player? 2016 and 2017 Finals he was the 5th best player in the series, at best.

 

[dtgold88]

those rosters that love played with in minnesota were DOGSHIT

i mean total and complete DOGSHIT.....i looked back and was surprised at how dogshit they were.

And that's my point.....they were respectable his last year there. No way a Klay led team could win 40 games in the West with similar talent.

Agree he's a very good and maybe great player.

 

[CitySushi]

I'm defensive? I've actually said Klay is better than I originally gave him credit.

But to answer your question, no, I didn't see it

Yes absolutely you're defensive. @WiggyRuss acknowledges that Klay has the skillset, but he's unsure of how his teammates ability affect Klay's overall production. Which is absolutely fair.

You on the other hand, while acknowledging Klay is great, didn't seem open to the fact that Klay impacts the game in a lot of different facets. I was merely hoping you watched the game to see what he's capable of doing. There's not a finality in the game as if this is the measure for which Klay should always be held. It was just an indicator of all the aspects of his game. It was honestly his most well rounded performance I can think of in a long time. He guarded CP3 and Harden at times. Klay shot the 3 ball as usual but hit a bunch of midrange shots, hit turn-around shots in the post, had back cuts for layups and a bunch of great finishes around the rim. The only thing was he didn't get to the freethrow line, but that's always been something he hasn't really excelled at.

Again, it's not a shot at you. I was just hoping you were able to watch the game to see what we see about Klay. I'm not saying Klay plays like this every night nor should this be expected, but it's to show that he's more balanced as a player than you give him credit for.

 

[CitySushi]

Klay's also one of the few players that has scored 60 points in a game in below 30 minutes of game action. He made 8 3's that game. By my math, that's 24 points. I'm pretty sure there were other instances where he had to create his own shot as opposed to just chucking them from the 3. I'm not making the case btw, that Klay's the best SG in the league. But compared to Love, he's better. Love's a good scorer and has inside scoring over Klay (because of obvious size comparisons). But how about we focus on defense? Klay's one of the better defenders in the league, how's Love's defense?

I love that you're jumping in on this now. The main convo's took place about a week or two ago, but it's been wild.

 

[shopson67]

I think we all agree that for all his greatness he's probably not a #1 lead dog on a contending team. But that's the only thing "wrong" with him. Max player for sure.

That's what's wrong with the max contract concept IMO. You get guys forced into the same pay scale that aren't necessarily on the same tier, talent wise. They've tried to add to it with the bump to 35% from 30% for players that meet certain criteria, which helps a little, but only at the top end.

 

[shopson67]

defensive rebounding is defense. Love's among the best.

Defensive rebounding is gathering a loose ball, not playing defense.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yes absolutely you're defensive. @WiggyRuss acknowledges that Klay has the skillset, but he's unsure of how his teammates ability affect Klay's overall production. Which is absolutely fair.

You on the other hand, while acknowledging Klay is great, didn't seem open to the fact that Klay impacts the game in a lot of different facets. I was merely hoping you watched the game to see what he's capable of doing. There's not a finality in the game as if this is the measure for which Klay should always be held. It was just an indicator of all the aspects of his game. It was honestly his most well rounded performance I can think of in a long time. He guarded CP3 and Harden at times. Klay shot the 3 ball as usual but hit a bunch of midrange shots, hit turn-around shots in the post, had back cuts for layups and a bunch of great finishes around the rim. The only thing was he didn't get to the freethrow line, but that's always been something he hasn't really excelled at.

Again, it's not a shot at you. I was just hoping you were able to watch the game to see what we see about Klay. I'm not saying Klay plays like this every night nor should this be expected, but it's to show that he's more balanced as a player than you give him credit for.

and one of the things i said also, that i think is important--- Kevin Love had to bring it every night- the rest of his team was really shitty.

Not only does Thomspon benefit from the spacing and attention that other guys (the best shooter of all time and likely top 25 NBa player of all time, and the best pure scorer in the league and a likely top 20 player of all time) bring, but also that he does not have to go balls to the wall and bring it every night.

Its kind of what was nice on the Cavs. Some nights it could be Kyrie, some nights LeBron, some nights Love- and some nights one of those guys could take a back seat and, if not "rest", then at least conserve energy.

Love had some really bad teamates he plaed with and every single night he was expected to be the guy that carried all the water. If he took a night off or didnt feel great or cut back on the throttle- chances are that not only would the Twolves lose, they would prob. get murdered.

 

[msgkings322]

Still just your opinion about being a max player. Wont be shocked if he gets one, though....but I do think that's an issue in the NBA (not just Klay, as he is better than some or even many who have been given max or near max deals).

Guy is the 3rd best player on his team and he's a max player? 2016 and 2017 Finals he was the 5th best player in the series, at best.

Yep, the Warriors are pretty stacked and they have 3 max level players (at least until Durant leaves which is looking more likely)

It's a fact to everyone but you

 

[WiggyRuss]

Defensive rebounding is gathering a loose ball, not playing defense.

apparently by people a lot smarter than me or you it is a very important component of how a player affects his team's defense.

 

[CitySushi]

That's what's wrong with the max contract concept IMO. You get guys forced into the same pay scale that aren't necessarily on the same tier, talent wise. They've tried to add to it with the bump to 35% from 30% for players that meet certain criteria, which helps a little, but only at the top end.

Well the designed is flawed in general because the concept, with the cap constructs, really assumes that there are 30 NBA players in the league capable of being a max player. Unfortunately those top 30 players are not dispersed evenly among the 30 NBA teams. Thus creates too many max contracts because the teams who have 2 (or more) legitimate top 30 NBA players have to max them and then teams who don't end up giving bad contracts to fringe max guys.

I think it's safe to say that Klay is in the top 30 NBA players in the league. So by that standard, yes he is a max guy.

 

[shopson67]

Still just your opinion about being a max player. Wont be shocked if he gets one, though....but I do think that's an issue in the NBA (not just Klay, as he is better than some or even many who have been given max or near max deals).

Guy is the 3rd best player on his team and he's a max player? 2016 and 2017 Finals he was the 5th best player in the series, at best.

I'd rather have Klay than Kyrie for sure. So he's only behind Lebron, Durant, and Curry otherwise? 3 of the absolute best players in the league? That's your argument, lol?

 

[msgkings322]

defensive rebounding is defense. Love's among the best.

But I do love the when fans play the "let's look at defense" when all else fails....easy to do as no great way to "prove" anything.

Curry's, at best, an awful defender. Among the top PGs in the league?

Curry at best is an average defender if not a little more. So wrong again.

 

[shopson67]

apparently by people a lot smarter than me or you it is a very important component of how a player affects his team's defense.

It affects the defense by preventing another possession. It does nothing to prevent/hinder the initial shot/play however. It's a grey area, like special teams in football.

 

[CitySushi]

apparently by people a lot smarter than me or you it is a very important component of how a player affects his team's defense.

Defensive rebounding is absolutely necessary. But, IMO, I feel like deflections is a better indicator of defensive ability. But again, there's no one statistic that determines defensive ability in the NBA.

It's basically like interceptions and passes defended in the NFL. If you have one player who had say 6 interceptions in the season and 7 pass deflections versus a player with maybe 2 interceptions but 13 pass deflections, which player is the better defender? You can't really tell just based on those metric, but both stats, in addition to others can help compile the defensive profile of a player.

 

[shopson67]

Well the designed is flawed in general because the concept, with the cap constructs, really assumes that there are 30 NBA players in the league capable of being a max player. Unfortunately those top 30 players are not dispersed evenly among the 30 NBA teams. Thus creates too many max contracts because the teams who have 2 (or more) legitimate top 30 NBA players have to max them and then teams who don't end up giving bad contracts to fringe max guys.

I think it's safe to say that Klay is in the top 30 NBA players in the league. So by that standard, yes he is a max guy.

I'm not doubting that he's a max guy at all. I would love for the Lakers to sign him to a max contract!

 

[CitySushi]

and one of the things i said also, that i think is important--- Kevin Love had to bring it every night- the rest of his team was really shitty.

Not only does Thomspon benefit from the spacing and attention that other guys (the best shooter of all time and likely top 25 NBa player of all time, and the best pure scorer in the league and a likely top 20 player of all time) bring, but also that he does not have to go balls to the wall and bring it every night.

Its kind of what was nice on the Cavs. Some nights it could be Kyrie, some nights LeBron, some nights Love- and some nights one of those guys could take a back seat and, if not "rest", then at least conserve energy.

Love had some really bad teamates he plaed with and every single night he was expected to be the guy that carried all the water. If he took a night off or didnt feel great or cut back on the throttle- chances are that not only would the Twolves lose, they would prob. get murdered.

Well if you're saying you want to see a game where Klay takes 30+ shots, I'm absolutely down for that. LOL.

I completely agree that Thompson is a beneficiary of playing next to Curry, but you don't hear the same arguments when it comes to other all time greats who have played with great talent as well. I think you can only judge for what is in front of you, instead of what ifs. What if Pippen never played with Jordan? Would he be considered one of the greatest of all time, or just a great of his era? What if Shaq never played with Kobe or Wade...does he get any rings? Or what if Magic didn't have the luxury of playing with Kareem? Stockton and Malone. The list goes on.

There are plenty of players who were major beneficiaries of their teammates, but I think it's unfair to hold them to something that they couldn't otherwise prove. Were they lucky in their situations? Absolutely. But I don't think it necessarily changes how they should be viewed.

 

[Heatles84]

I love that you're jumping in on this now. The main convo's took place about a week or two ago, but it's been wild.

Shut up, Sushi. It's been very tiring times for me!

 

[dtgold88]

Defensive rebounding is gathering a loose ball, not playing defense.

but counted in defensive metrics.