2018-2019 NBA Regular Season Thread

[Bolts]

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

Hi Mecca Happy New Year! My wife loves Adam. She watched him sing Cher's Believe last night on the Kennedy Center Honors.

Happy New Year, OT!

 

[bksballer89]

What a clutch 3 by Dame last 3 night

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Ball with 20 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds.

I feel like Ball = a slightly more talented Michael Carter Williams

Like the year he went nuts on triple doubles because the team was trash and then he never started again

 

[WiggyRuss]

I feel like Ball = a slightly more talented Michael Carter Williams

Like the year he went nuts on triple doubles because the team was trash and then he never started again

i actually think that is a great comp- a more-ts-slightly-more talented Michael Carter Williams

 

[WiggyRuss]

ya know Draymond fell mostly because of worries that he lacked a position and his athleticism was not top level.

Maybe, at 28 years old, and a lot of playoff games, his athleticism just is not what it was at 23, 24, 25 years old.

The Warriors will have some interesting decisions over the next year and a half.

As long as they have their core of Curry and Klay they will be in good shape, but depending on what Durant does, itll be interesting to see what happens.

 

[DJ Fieri]

I feel like Ball = a slightly more talented Michael Carter Williams

Like the year he went nuts on triple doubles because the team was trash and then he never started again

His career got derailed due to injuries.....and he's started 192 of 303 games played.


Michael Carter-Williams Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

 

[WiggyRuss]

His career got derailed due to injuries.....and he's started 192 of 303 games played.


Michael Carter-Williams Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

pretty crazy that only 3.5 games separate the #1 seed, and the #9 team in the West.

anything can happen.

Dodged a bullet with LeBron's hamstring that is for sure.

 

[tlance]

I feel like Ball = a slightly more talented Michael Carter Williams

Like the year he went nuts on triple doubles because the team was trash and then he never started again

I hear you on that. I don't think it is the worst comp in the world, but there is also one pretty big difference.

Lonzo Ball's career assist to turnover ratio is 2.614, which isn't great, but it is a solid number for a PG. Michael Carter Williams is 1.81 which is below the line of acceptability and made his overall offensive contribution shockingly negative.

For some prospective on this number, 2.61 would be just outside the top 30 in assist/TO this season. While many players listed above that are PGs, most are role players like Tyus Jones and Yogi Ferrell. I counted 6 starting PGs with assist/TO ratios better than 2.6 this season (Conley, Collison, Lowry, Teague, Augustine and CP3).

MCW was racking up negative offensive win shares like it was his job, where Lonzo, despite pitiful shooting is still close to a net zero in terms of offensive win shares. Not good at all, but there is still plenty of hope for a 21 year old 2nd year player. Lonzo will never be Steph Curry, but just a small boost in shooting efficiency will have him producing on the positive side of the ledger.

Now, I don't think Lonzo is great by any stretch, but last night's game without LeBron along with this comparison is rather interesting.

Michael Carter Williams was 22 when he entered the NBA. His overall offensive efficiency was a lot worse than Lonzo's because he was a high usage player with a bad assist/TO rate. Also, it is interesting to note that MCW was a starter for 2 teams (yes, both were bad) up through his age 24 season despite dreadful offensive production.

Ball is better, Ball is younger. While an MCW type washout certainly isn't outside the realm of possibilty for Lonzo, he is really young and does a lot of things well. There are plenty of teams who would take a chance on him if given the opportunity.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

His career got derailed due to injuries.....and he's started 192 of 303 games played.


Michael Carter-Williams Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

It was a bit of an exaggeration but he basically had two good years and is barely hanging on to a job. The sixers dumped him off in year two after being ROY if I recall correctly (granted trash class)

I mean lonzo is a better shooter and ball handler and defender (ok he's just plain better at everything than MCW) but is Magic going to roll with him as his PG for the LeBron era you think? That's basically how I'm assessing this.


Lonzo will have a long career on his defense and ball handling but is he a starting point guard for a title contender?

 

[DJ Fieri]

I hear you on that. I don't think it is the worst comp in the world, but there is also one pretty big difference.

Lonzo Ball's career assist to turnover ratio is 2.614, which isn't great, but it is a solid number for a PG. Michael Carter Williams is 1.81 which is below the line of acceptability and made his overall offensive contribution shockingly negative.

For some prospective on this number, 2.61 would be just outside the top 30 in assist/TO this season. While many players listed above that are PGs, most are role players like Tyus Jones and Yogi Ferrell. I counted 6 starting PGs with assist/TO ratios better than 2.6 this season (Conley, Collison, Lowry, Teague, Augustine and CP3).

MCW was racking up negative offensive win shares like it was his job, where Lonzo, despite pitiful shooting is still close to a net zero in terms of offensive win shares. Not good at all, but there is still plenty of hope for a 21 year old 2nd year player. Lonzo will never be Steph Curry, but just a small boost in shooting efficiency will have him producing on the positive side of the ledger.

Now, I don't think Lonzo is great by any stretch, but last night's game without LeBron along with this comparison is rather interesting.

Michael Carter Williams was 22 when he entered the NBA. His overall offensive efficiency was a lot worse than Lonzo's because he was a high usage player with a bad assist/TO rate. Also, it is interesting to note that MCW was a starter for 2 teams (yes, both were bad) up through his age 24 season despite dreadful offensive production.

Ball is better, Ball is younger. While an MCW type washout certainly isn't outside the realm of possibilty for Lonzo, he is really young and does a lot of things well. There are plenty of teams who would take a chance on him if given the opportunity.

Great post.

And Ball was 8 of 13 last night and 4 of 6. He seems to be more aggressive and confident when James isn't on the floor. Which is why they may need to trade him.

 

[tlance]

His career got derailed due to injuries.....and he's started 192 of 303 games played.


Michael Carter-Williams Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

The injuries didn't help, but....

He derailed himself with horrendous offensive efficiency numbers. Although widely criticized at the time, the 6ers knew what they had and were wise to deal him when they did.

Lonzo's numbers aren't nearly as bad because he doesn't have nearly as high a usage rate and he has a positive career assist/TO ratio.

This stretch of games with LeBron out will be really important for the Lakers to increase Lonzo's trade value. If he can have a couple more games like last night, it will go a long way toward telling the story that Lonzo has improved, he just doesn't fit with LBJ.

 

[WiggyRuss]

It was a bit of an exaggeration but he basically had two good years and is barely hanging on to a job. The sixers dumped him off in year two after being ROY if I recall correctly (granted trash class)

I mean lonzo is a better shooter and ball handler and defender (ok he's just plain better at everything than MCW) but is Magic going to roll with him as his PG for the LeBron era you think? That's basically how I'm assessing this.


Lonzo will have a long career on his defense and ball handling but is he a starting point guard for a title contender?

I think MCW was a little slicker at finishing around the basket than Ball- but Ball is a better outside shooter (holy shit i cant believe i wrote that sentence, LOL). Better distributor

def. a better version- but very similar games. Similar size. Both have shooting woes. Both can rebound....both, due to their size, prob a little slow guarding the faster point guards in the league.

Both prob over-drafted that is for sure.

 

[DJ Fieri]

The injuries didn't help, but....

He derailed himself with horrendous offensive efficiency numbers. Although widely criticized at the time, the 6ers knew what they had and were wise to deal him when they did.

Lonzo's numbers aren't nearly as bad because he doesn't have nearly as high a usage rate and he has a positive career assist/TO ratio.

This stretch of games with LeBron out will be really important for the Lakers to increase Lonzo's trade value. If he can have a couple more games like last night, it will go a long way toward telling the story that Lonzo has improved, he just doesn't fit with LBJ.

Yean....a vet like Rondo fits a lot better than Ball.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Great post.

And Ball was 8 of 13 last night and 4 of 6. He seems to be more aggressive and confident when James isn't on the floor. Which is why they may need to trade him.

I think its clear to everyone now, where so there were many people over the summer that argued that Ball and LeBron would fit well together, that in fact, tehyare a terrible fit together.

I still am in shock that people thought Ball and LeBron would fit well together. Makes no sense.

 

[tlance]

It was a bit of an exaggeration but he basically had two good years and is barely hanging on to a job. The sixers dumped him off in year two after being ROY if I recall correctly (granted trash class)

I mean lonzo is a better shooter and ball handler and defender (ok he's just plain better at everything than MCW) but is Magic going to roll with him as his PG for the LeBron era you think? That's basically how I'm assessing this.


Lonzo will have a long career on his defense and ball handling but is he a starting point guard for a title contender?

I think he can be a starting PG on a contending type team, but probably not THIS team.

The fit would have to be right and he will have to improve his shooting either way. He would need to play on a team of ball movers with a lot of shooters around him.

 

[DJ Fieri]

If Ball can ever shoot 42% and say 35% from 3 he can be a major contributor.....and he's not that far away from that this season. He's showing improvement from his rookie season and that's what was needed....the rest of his game (passing, rebounding, and defense) is fine.

 

[WiggyRuss]

If Ball can ever shoot 42% and say 35% from 3 he can be a major contributor.....and he's not that far away from that this season. He's showing improvement from his rookie season and that's what was needed....the rest of his game (passing, rebounding, and defense) is fine.

i think he could be a solid role player if he got to those numbers.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

I've already openly admitted my fandom for D-Lo is my biggest reason for interest in Ball.

God damn him for hating. The Nets are bleh.


But if the Lake show goes against the Warriors I will be cheering like hell for James again.

 

[Sparhawk]

Another great night of basketball.
Philly hat trick.
Sixers win, Lakers lose, Celtics lose.

I'll show myself out.....