2017-18 NBA Regular Season Game/Observation Thread

Kliq

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It’s crazy that the Raptors stars don’t even have good stats; I mean DeRozan has 13 points simply because the game got out of hand so fast.
 

Deathofthebambino

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That said, this game is far from over. And IT3 needs more time to get back into regular season shape. I don't think its anything more than that.
Is it really about getting him into game shape, or are we seeing just how much of a mismatch he is on the defensive end that when he gets into a system that doesn't involve Brad coaching, he's going to get completely exposed? I mean, the Cavs aren't a great defensive team to start with, and now you add IT to the mix and wowza...

Since he came back:

They won the 1st game, which he didn't start and played possessed, against Portland at home.

Then they lost to the Celtics when he didn't play, in a game they were never really in.

Then they beat Orlando, but gave up 127 points in the process. IT was the only starter with a +/- less than +12. IT was -3 in 22 minutes.

Then they got their doors blown off at Minnesota, giving up 127 in the process again. IT had +/- of -20 in 19 minutes as the Cavs were down 69-42 at halftime.

And now tonight, they are down 113-78 against a Toronto team without Ibaka or Lowry, and they were down 65-40 at halftime. IT has a +/- of -20 in 25 minutes.

I mean, I think his offense will come around and he won't keep having these sub 25% shooting nights, but defensively, he's been a disaster in that system, and I don't know if a little better jump in his step is going to help much. On top of that, Lebron looks incredibly frustrated. I feel like the wheels haven't fallen off yet, but they've dropped a lugnut or two...
 

HomeRunBaker

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By all accounts, he wants to stay in LA. The thing is, I don't know who will pay him because as good a scorer as he is, he has never been even a decent defensive player and he isn't getting any better at age 32 (which is what he will be at the start of next season). I think the Clips should just trade him to the C's for the DPE and their pick.

In the meantime, while Cleveland has mailed this game in, the Raptors are to be feared. DeRozan's improvement from three is the big reason but the development of guys like VanVleet and Anunoby makes them formidable. I don't think they are an early exit in the playoffs this year...
I loved this Raptor team this year at the start of the year with Cleveland dropping off without Kyrie and the Celtics having so many new faces (wrong about that one). I never play NBA futures but have the Raptors at +400 (I think) to win the Atlantic, that's 4-1, and later got them at +800 to represent the EC in The Finals. Win or Lose I got tremendous value with those numbers.
 

Sam Ray Not

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LeBron is now a net +38 on the season ... in 1,510 minutes played. That's #120-ish in the league, and #4 on his own cruddy team (behind Jeff Green, Frye, and Wade).

Thinking about rescinding my "MVP frontrunner" comments. Back to Harden, I guess?
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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LeBron is now a net +38 on the season ... in 1,510 minutes played. That's #120-ish in the league, and #4 on his own cruddy team (behind Jeff Green, Frye, and Wade).

Thinking about rescinding my "MVP frontrunner" comments. Back to Harden, I guess?
First name...
Last name...

Especially after last night.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Is it really about getting him into game shape, or are we seeing just how much of a mismatch he is on the defensive end that when he gets into a system that doesn't involve Brad coaching, he's going to get completely exposed? I mean, the Cavs aren't a great defensive team to start with, and now you add IT to the mix and wowza...
1. Brad had Smart/Bradley/Rozier around last year to hide Isaiah in a way that would be difficult for anyone to replicate.

2. Isaiah was so close to forcing his team to literally play 4 on 5 defensively last season (remember those elbow switches forcing him on DeRozan and LeBron/Love?) when healthy I called him "finished" all summer due to any dropoff in athleticism pretty much dooming him as unplayable if he loses a step from the hip and aging.

Combining these two factors is what we are seeing now. #1 isn't getting any better for Cleveland while #2 is still up for debate (although I know where I stand).
 

Manzivino

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Cleveland’s issue is they can’t play defense, and I don’t think they have the roster to turn that around. They’ll win games in the playoffs when LeBron goes off but right now they’re pretty clearly behind Toronto and Boston in the East by a fair margin.
 

Sam Ray Not

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First name...
Last name... Especially after last night.
Haha, well if you twist my arm: Curry's at +329 — #1 in the league, despite only 911 minutes played. He's also crushing LeBron, Harden, Giannis, Kyrie, Durant, Butler, DeRozan and everyone else on the scoring efficiency/volume matrix: 30.9 points per 36 on an absurd .671 true shooting. But I think the low game and minutes count is going to hurt his case, even assuming (knocking wood furiously) he stays mostly healthy from here on out.

Anyway, half the season still to be played, and the second half is typically weighted more heavily than the first, so we'll see...

Edit: added Butler and DeRozan, who I think may have entered the convo.
 

Ed Hillel

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Cleveland’s issue is they can’t play defense, and I don’t think they have the roster to turn that around. They’ll win games in the playoffs when LeBron goes off but right now they’re pretty clearly behind Toronto and Boston in the East by a fair margin.
And they’re old. They are going to face Toronto or Boston in the second round and lose. Then LeBron’s off to LA to transition to Hollywood.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I am confident that Pop could mix a few really good rec league players from off the street into his rotation in a regular season game and still be very competitive.
 

sezwho

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TOR is really long and given that IT4 is at least a 1/2 step slow not a great matchup. It will be interesting to see thi rematch if IT4 can get more healthy.
I’m concerned the moral hazard of a walk year (for both Cavs and IT) may have driven a premature return. Hopefully he plays his way into game shape and they still lose badly to the Cs.
 

HomeRunBaker

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TOR is really long and given that IT4 is at least a 1/2 step slow not a great matchup. It will be interesting to see thi rematch if IT4 can get more healthy.
The problem for Cleveland in playing Isaiah with the first unit (major mistake by Lue imo) is that all the top teams in the East are long. If he's struggling with Toronto's length and defense it isn't going to get any better when he faces the Raptors, Boston or Milwaukee in the playoffs when there is one opponent to gameplan for an entire series.

He should be playing bench minutes against lesser talented and athletic players that first unit opponents provide......then progress from there should his quickness and explosion return.
 

Imbricus

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Watching the Cavs play the stone-cold Pacers, waiting for Isaiah to appear. Just noticed Jeff Green is only making $1.47 million this year, according to ESPN. Cavs got a steal there.
 

InstaFace

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Indiana is flopping their way to a lead over the Cavs. Stephenson does his usual nonsense to get under Lebron's skin, and on a restart they pause, go to a review, and end up calling a T on Lebron for - and I have a hard time saying this - absolutely nothing.

Kevin Love drives two possessions later, lightly grazes his defender with his forearm as he goes by, and the guy falls backwards as if he'd been poleaxed. Marcus Smart offered more resistance to James Harden. They give an offensive foul.

I will shed no tears for the Cavs but they've gotten jobbed the last few minutes.
 
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Kenny F'ing Powers

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34-16 Cavs. They woke up.

IT not playing tonight. Coincidence? I think not.
I love IT so much, I hope he plays so bad this year, that nobody wants to sign him.

So he comes back to Boston on a team friendly "prove it" deal. He comes off the bench for 18 minutes a night to be a spark plug and drive the offense. He realizes he loves Boston and plays here the rest of his career, extremely happy with his backup gig.

Yep. That's definitely what will happen.
 

mostman

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Cavs drop another one. That out of bounds call on LeBron will be talked about. Incredible they called that with 5 seconds on the game clock.
 

RetractableRoof

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I didn't watch closely (juggling tasks), but it looked like his inside foot make contact on the line. But they reviewed the call back at replay central and upheld the call - which says to me the call was at least defendable.

Edit: English
 

Deathofthebambino

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Guys, if you're a basketball fan, you need to turn on FS1 and check out the PC/Depaul game. There are no commercials and both coaches are live mic'ed up for the entire game. You hear both coaches at all times during the game, literally talking over each other, working the refs, etc. It just went to halftime, and now we're going into the locker room for halftime speeches, etc. It's incredible.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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ORL loses again. They certainly have some talent on that team but to me they are the anti-Celtics as they play for themselves and not for the team. I think if Brad was coaching that tem they'd win 40 games easy.
 

benhogan

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Guys, if you're a basketball fan, you need to turn on FS1 and check out the PC/Depaul game. There are no commercials and both coaches are live mic'ed up for the entire game. You hear both coaches at all times during the game, literally talking over each other, working the refs, etc. It just went to halftime, and now we're going into the locker room for halftime speeches, etc. It's incredible.
Good stuff.

Being a Cuse grad I miss the old Big East foes.

Depaul still stinks, they never were the same after Aquirre declared early...
 
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Sam Ray Not

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I did not see LeBron step out there. Looked in to me.
Missed the shot anyway, though he could have been thrown off by the whistle.

Cavs season to date:
5-7
18-1 (against mostly scrub teams, with lots of close games, so I wasn't totally convinced)
3-8
 

Gash Prex

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We’ll give you our oft injured, most likely on the down swing of his career star making huge money for your young stud .... deal?
 

JCizzle

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We’ll give you our oft injured, most likely on the down swing of his career star making huge money for your young stud .... deal?
Let alone the message it sends future top tier FAs. It can't leave a good taste in someone's mouth that you're offering them up less than a year after they sign.
 

Sam Ray Not

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We’ll give you our oft injured, most likely on the down swing of his career star making huge money for your young stud .... deal?
Lol. We'll give you our oft-injured, 29 y.o. stumpy-armed 6'-8" traditional PF who can't really guard the rim or the perimeter for your 22 y.o. 7'-0" 250 lb. long-armed freak...

While they're at it they should call up NOP about Davis and MIL about Antetokounmpo.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Oh, one other thing about that Cavs game: why the heck did Collison make that second FT?? If he misses, the game's basically over with 1.5 seconds left and no Cavs timeouts. Even if they manage to corral the rebound cleanly, the rebounder would have to immediately heave it 60-70 feet from his own end. Instead, Collison foolishly sinks it, the clock stops, and they allow Love to inbound a patented TD pass to LeBron for a very clean look from 27 feet.
 
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Cesar Crespo

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There has to be more to that Griffin/Towns deal but I guess it can't hurt to try. I doubt there would be much return for Griffin, although some of these superstar deals have worked out well for the teams trading them.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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I love IT so much, I hope he plays so bad this year, that nobody wants to sign him.

So he comes back to Boston on a team friendly "prove it" deal. He comes off the bench for 18 minutes a night to be a spark plug and drive the offense. He realizes he loves Boston and plays here the rest of his career, extremely happy with his backup gig.

Yep. That's definitely what will happen.
I would be lying if I hadn't considered this very scenario. I too am guilty of loving the little guy a little too much. The people here and in other corners of NBA punditry are right though - even healthy, he is an inherently flawed player. And his shortcomings (pun intended) make him even more endearing to me and other fans of his. The flip side is that, even at peak health, they also may have also prevented him from signing a large deal with anyone but a team desperate for a "star" (in the sense they can sell it to their local fanbase), one that thinks they can cover for him or, like you described, one that wants him to come off the bench where his defensive deficiency doesn't matter as much.

That said, Thomas, assuming he gets healthy enough to play, would look great coming off Boston's bench to given them buckets and energy. And I trust Brad would, once again, find a way to maximize what he does best while minimizing the team's exposure. It won't happen of course...but it could.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Not to be a minutes scold, but the Rockets ran a 7-man rotation tonight (plus 6 garbage minutes of Briante Weber) in a January game v. Phoenix that they controlled by 15-20 points throughout. No one on the roster could have taken a few of Anderson's 40 minutes or Ariza's 38?
 

Sam Ray Not

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I would be lying if I hadn't considered this very scenario. I too am guilty of loving the little guy a little too much. The people here and in other corners of NBA punditry are right though - even healthy, he is an inherently flawed player. And his shortcomings (pun intended) make him even more endearing to me and other fans of his. The flip side is that, even at peak health, they also may have also prevented him from signing a large deal with anyone but a team desperate for a "star" (in the sense they can sell it to their local fanbase), one that thinks they can cover for him or, like you described, one that wants him to come off the bench where his defensive deficiency doesn't matter as much.

That said, Thomas, assuming he gets healthy enough to play, would look great coming off Boston's bench to given them buckets and energy. And I trust Brad would, once again, find a way to maximize what he does best while minimizing the team's exposure. It won't happen of course...but it could.
It'd have to be an MLE deal, right? Not totally unfathomable — Brinks truck dreams notwithstanding, I could see him having a hard time finding more than that, barring a very impressive showing over the next 40 games and in the playoffs.

At the same time, if he ends up settling for an MLE deal, I hope Bob Myers gets him on the horn. :)
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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LeBron clearly stepped out on the freeze frame that NBA.com has on the game recap.

Also, I know many people don't like his antics but I love how Lance Stephenson screws with LeBron. Its similar, albeit much less subtle than what guys like Green and Smart do to opposing players. At some point, the cumulative frustration builds up and it impacts how their opponents play. Basketball purists may hate it but the mental aspect is very much a part of the game. As discussed in the Smart thread, guys like him, Green, Beverley, peak Tony Allen and Stephenson excel at using it effectively against guys they regularly guard.

The guy can play too - in addition to his 16 points on 6-11 shooting, he grabbed 11 boards, dished out four assists and had a steal and a block to boot.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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It'd have to be an MLE deal, right? Not totally unfathomable — Brinks truck dreams notwithstanding, I could see him having a hard time finding more than that, barring a very impressive showing over the next 40 games and in the playoffs.

At the same time, if he ends up settling for an MLE deal, I hope Bob Myers gets him on the horn. :)
I have no doubt that if a scenario somehow plays out that nobody is offering Thomas what he is looking for, Myers will reach out. And in this scenario, I have a hard time seeing him turning that down, even if Boston might offer him a similar deal (and as a side note, I think the Celtics are done with him even if he were somehow to be available to them next offseason). He is Nick Young except without the goofiness and with a more legit excuse for being a horrific defender.
 

scottyno

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Oh, one other thing about that Cavs game: why the heck did Collison make that second FT?? If he misses, the game's basically over with 1.5 seconds left and no Cavs timeouts. Even if they manage to corral the rebound cleanly, the rebounder would have to immediately heave it 60-70 feet from his own end. Instead, Collison foolishly sinks it, the clock stops, and they allow Love to inbound a patented TD pass to LeBron for a very clean look from 27 feet.
Because either he or Mcmillan isn't very smart. Or he's selfish and didn't want to hurt his stats. Once he missed the first it's a no brainer to miss the second. In the exact same situation a few weeks Horford knew right away to miss and I'm sure Stevens did too. Very small anecdote, but probably part of the reason the Cs are massively overachieving this year.
 

Kliq

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Guys IT is so fucking better than Nick Young it’s not even funny. He’s not coming back to play 18 mpg; the guy averaged 30 ppg last season and you all are acting like he’s Gerald Green.