2021 NBA regular season thread

[flyerhawk]

They are down to one lethal shooter this year.

Yup. And they are a fringe playoff team with a weak offensive team.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Yeah, it's kind of an odd comparison.

Rodman was a 2 dimensional player. You were getting rebounds and defense...that's it. That's no small thing, but offensively, unless he was getting an offensive rebound...he wasn't much help because a defense could basically ignore him.

With Dray, you get defense and rebounding (not necessarily Rodman level, but still a high level) and you also get the assists, the ball keeps moving and while he doesn't score like he used to, he also can't be completely ignored.

his rebounding is really pretty poor for a front court player tbh. and his shooting % is abysmal.

 

[msgkings322]

Yup. And they are a fringe playoff team with a weak offensive team.

I know, my point being, Draymond is a weird kind of player to value. Some players can put up numbers on bad teams. He's the opposite. He's useless on a bad team (like last year). He's useful on an ok team (this year). On a good team he is a force multiplier. He's every bit as important to the Ws when they are good as any other player. It's kind of cool when a player has unique skillsets, like Draymond or Jokic or Luka or KD etc. Please note I am not saying he's as good as any of those guys.

He's also every bit the floor leader as CP3 or Rondo or LeBron etc

I mean, I get it I have some bias here, but because Draymond has a mouth on him he gets a lot of anti-bias from others. It's hard to understand his value if you don't see him play every night.

 

[msgkings322]

his rebounding is really pretty poor for a front court player tbh. and his shooting % is abysmal.

Still missing it.

And his per 36 rebounding numbers are better than Siakam, Tatum, Covington, Myles Turner, Tobias Harris, Zion, and many others. He's right there with Ben Simmons. All while dishing out way more assists than those guys. He's just not easy to comp, his game is unique.

 

[flyerhawk]

I know, my point being, Draymond is a weird kind of player to value. Some players can put up numbers on bad teams. He's the opposite. He's useless on a bad team (like last year). He's useful on an ok team (this year). On a good team he is a force multiplier. He's every bit as important to the Ws when they are good as any other player. It's kind of cool when a player has unique skillsets, like Draymond or Jokic or Luka or KD etc. Please note I am not saying he's as good as any of those guys.

He's also every bit the floor leader as CP3 or Rondo or LeBron etc

I mean, I get it I have some bias here, but because Draymond has a mouth on him he gets a lot of anti-bias from others. It's hard to understand his value if you don't see him play every night.

I don't really disagree with any of this. Draymond was vital to the Warriors during their heyday. He was a clear all-star and 1st/2nd All-NBA level player for 2 or 3 years.

Today he is a useful player but his offensive deficiencies really lessen his value.

 

[msgkings322]

I don't really disagree with any of this. Draymond was vital to the Warriors during their heyday. He was a clear all-star and 1st/2nd All-NBA level player for 2 or 3 years.

Today he is a useful player but his offensive deficiencies really lessen his value.

All I'm saying is let's see what his value is on a good team next year.

 

[thunderc]

So for coach or the year I’m thinking the top 2 are Monte Williams and Thibs. Thoughts?

 

[flyerhawk]

All I'm saying is let's see what his value is on a good team next year.

Expecting him to go back to his prime seems like a pretty huge hope.

 

[msgkings322]

Expecting him to go back to his prime seems like a pretty huge hope.

Who said that?

 

[msgkings322]

So for coach or the year I’m thinking the top 2 are Monte Williams and Thibs. Thoughts?

Quin Snyder?

 

[thunderc]

Quin Snyder?

No not with that hair

 

[CitySushi]

So for coach or the year I’m thinking the top 2 are Monte Williams and Thibs. Thoughts?

It'll probably go to Thibs because no one expected anything out of the Knicks, especially with that squad.

I'll go:

1) Thibs
2) Williams
3) Snyder
4) Nate McMillan

 

[DJ Fieri]

Got vaxxed......now I just wait for the commercials....

"Did you take the Pfizer vaccine? If so, you may be entitled to substantial compensation."

I am looking forward to the 3rd eye in the middle of my forehead, that'l' be pretty cool.

 

[DJ Fieri]

It'll probably go to Thibs because no one expected anything out of the Knicks, especially with that squad.

I'll go:

1) Thibs
2) Williams
3) Snyder
4) Nate McMillan

Thibs sounds good.....the other teams were all expected to be improved......the Knicks not so much.

 

[trojanfan12]

All I'm saying is let's see what his value is on a good team next year.

Even in today's game, Dray's contributions can be hard to quantify. As either you or sushi pointed out, he's basically the opposite of the "good player on a bad team".

Based on what he does for the Warriors when they are good, I see him as a more talented version of what Luke Walton did on the Shaq/Kobe Lakers. He played a lot more than his talent dictated because he was a smart player and he knew the triangle better than anyone not named Tex Winter. The Lakers triangle ran smoother when he was on the floor.

Obviously, Dray is a far better player than Luke was, but the premise is the same because Dray is often the guy doing the little things that keep the offense running, but don't always show up on the stat sheet (like making sure the ball keeps moving).

 

[msgkings322]

Even in today's game, Dray's contributions can be hard to quantify. As either you or sushi pointed out, he's basically the opposite of the "good player on a bad team".

Based on what he does for the Warriors when they are good, I see him as a more talented version of what Luke Walton did on the Shaq/Kobe Lakers. He played a lot more than his talent dictated because he was a smart player and he knew the triangle better than anyone not named Tex Winter. The Lakers triangle ran smoother when he was on the floor.

Obviously, Dray is a far better player than Luke was, but the premise is the same because Dray is often the guy doing the little things that keep the offense running, but don't always show up on the stat sheet (like making sure the ball keeps moving).

Yep that's part of it as well with him, but he also has some numbers Luke never had (assists, rebounds) and much better defensively. So he's a lot more than a 'glue guy' or whatever you want to call Walton. Walton was never an allstar or all NBA.

 

[CitySushi]

his rebounding is really pretty poor for a front court player tbh. and his shooting % is abysmal.

I actually just checked because I was curious on this and currently he's 9th positionally in rebounds per game as a PF. Could also be that in today's NBA a lot of 4's tend to be more hybrid versions. If you look at all the leaders in RPG, it's dominated by Centers. You also said his defense has eroded and I said by my eye test he's been really good still. Here's what I looked up about his metrics this year....

Draymond is:

11th in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares
3rd in the NBA in Defensive Box Plus/Minus
10th in the NBA in Defensive Rating
9th in the NBA in Steal Percentage
46th in Rebound Percentage
46th in Block Percentage

So his Rebound Percentage is pretty mediocre as is his Block percentage, but I wanted to include all the defensive metrics provided so that it's fair. To say he his defense has eroded is a bit of a stretch.

 

[bksballer89]

Nets/Bucks part 2

Been looking forward to this since Sunday. Hoping KD/Giannis can repeat their performance or at least close to it

 

[msgkings322]

Rematch night. Curry going nuts in the first quarter but Lonzo is balling too

 

[bksballer89]