2021-2022 NBA Game Thread!
- Thread starter ElUno20
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The Sixers with no Simmons, no Embiid and no Tobias Harris beat the Blazers by 10.
And the Celtics, with everyone available, get shellacked by the fucking Bulls, after back to back losses to the fucking Wizards.
And the Celtics, with everyone available, get shellacked by the fucking Bulls, after back to back losses to the fucking Wizards.
76ers had 34 assists on 42 made baskets. They pass the ball even more without the big guys slowing things down. Fun to watch this group play their own games while Drummond owns the boards.
Even Ben had to enjoy this game. His best friends are on the second unit.
Only the fifth time in NBA history that both teams made all of their free throws in a game.
This is the thread where I talk about Miles Bridges too much.
Thru 6, he was averaging 1.7 assists. Last 2 games, he has had 9 and 8. He struggled last night in a 113-110 home loss to Cleveland, scoring 13 on 4/18 shooting. But he also provided 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Thru 8: .472/.344/.882, .589 TS%, 23.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.9 blocks. He's show moderate improvement in his assist % and has decreases his TO all while his usage has gone up considerably. 9.4 FGA/4.4 3PA/1.7 FTA in 29.3 MPG last year, 17.8 FGA/7.6 3PA/4.3 FTA in 35.5 this year. I could see Bridges and Ball passing Tatum and Brown as the best young duo in the game. This will happen regardless because Jaylen will age out of the "young" category next season at 26, but that's semantics.
Speaking of Ball, the other Ball is shooting .833 from the line in the early going. He's only 5/6, but he did shoot .781 last year. He's at .786 since the beginning of last season. Prior, he was 95/195, .487. I think statistically speaking, he might be the most improved FT shooter in NBA history already. That may change again. Career low of .417, current career high of .781. I know, 6 FTs. It's still probably ample enough to show that last years improvement wasn't fluky. His sample sizes at the FT line are always small. Of course if Andre Drummond shoots .889 from the line this year, it's all over. His career low is .355, his career high is .605. He's been a 59.3% FT shooter for the previous 4 years, after being a 38.1% FT shooter his first 5.
Also going to mention Bamba again. He was so bad his first 2 years, but if there are players you don't give up on, it's potential stretch bigs with 7'10 wingspans and 9'5 standing reaches. He's also passing the ball a bit. Averaging 12.5 points, 9.1 boards, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks in 32.3 mpg over 8. Shooting .521/.406/.650. 13/32 from 3, 4.0 3PA/G. Raef should be worried. Or at least I'm guessing Raef is the one who holds the combo 3 point/block records. Maybe Brook. We saw with TL last year. I'd expand it to any big who can potentially be a rim protector and provide space. Makes the Jalen Smith thing even more strange.
Thybulle had another 3 steals and a block in 27 minutes last night. If he ever developed a shot, ugh.
Thru 6, he was averaging 1.7 assists. Last 2 games, he has had 9 and 8. He struggled last night in a 113-110 home loss to Cleveland, scoring 13 on 4/18 shooting. But he also provided 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Thru 8: .472/.344/.882, .589 TS%, 23.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.9 blocks. He's show moderate improvement in his assist % and has decreases his TO all while his usage has gone up considerably. 9.4 FGA/4.4 3PA/1.7 FTA in 29.3 MPG last year, 17.8 FGA/7.6 3PA/4.3 FTA in 35.5 this year. I could see Bridges and Ball passing Tatum and Brown as the best young duo in the game. This will happen regardless because Jaylen will age out of the "young" category next season at 26, but that's semantics.
Speaking of Ball, the other Ball is shooting .833 from the line in the early going. He's only 5/6, but he did shoot .781 last year. He's at .786 since the beginning of last season. Prior, he was 95/195, .487. I think statistically speaking, he might be the most improved FT shooter in NBA history already. That may change again. Career low of .417, current career high of .781. I know, 6 FTs. It's still probably ample enough to show that last years improvement wasn't fluky. His sample sizes at the FT line are always small. Of course if Andre Drummond shoots .889 from the line this year, it's all over. His career low is .355, his career high is .605. He's been a 59.3% FT shooter for the previous 4 years, after being a 38.1% FT shooter his first 5.
Also going to mention Bamba again. He was so bad his first 2 years, but if there are players you don't give up on, it's potential stretch bigs with 7'10 wingspans and 9'5 standing reaches. He's also passing the ball a bit. Averaging 12.5 points, 9.1 boards, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks in 32.3 mpg over 8. Shooting .521/.406/.650. 13/32 from 3, 4.0 3PA/G. Raef should be worried. Or at least I'm guessing Raef is the one who holds the combo 3 point/block records. Maybe Brook. We saw with TL last year. I'd expand it to any big who can potentially be a rim protector and provide space. Makes the Jalen Smith thing even more strange.
Thybulle had another 3 steals and a block in 27 minutes last night. If he ever developed a shot, ugh.
Interesting idea; LaFrentz made 104 threes and blocked 213 shots in 2001-2002, so 317 combined. The first person I thought of for the record would by Myles Turner, and while he blocks a lot of shots and shoots a good percentage from three, he's never played a full enough season to put it all together. The closest he has ever gotten was 275 combined in 2018-2019.
In 2018-2019, Brook Lopez did have 187 threes and 179 blocks, so 366 in total, that looks like the record to me, I'm sure someone could look it up.
Technically the real record is Mark Eaton in 1984-85; 456 blocks, 0 threes. 5.6 blocks per game and he played all 82 games. Curry had 402 threes and 15 blocks in 2015-2016.
It's interesting because while the number of three point attempts has gone up historically, the number of block shots has gone down, and those two trends obviously correlate. Guys like Hakeem, Ewing and David Robinson never shot threes (although all three were reliable jump shooters and probably would have developed a three point shot if they played today) and the guys today don't block enough shots.
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I think Raef is the only player with 200+ blocks and 100+ 3s in a season. Myles Turner is a great call though. If he could ever stay healthy. I thought of KAT too, but I wanted more of a shot blocker. KAT is always injured too.
Maybe Kristaps. Looking now. Nope.
Shhhhhh. If you say Cade might not be that good people will get very offended.
Westbrook has seemingly had a strange end of career decline. While not exactly the same athlete he once was, he's still crazy athletic. Moreso that I would have expected given his injuries and style of play.
But for some reason as he's aged, his decline has been spurred on by even more putrid shooting. You'd think the athleticism would decline faster but he would have turned into a half decent shooter to keep his career going.
Instead, he can't even make a FT anymore. Odd.
But for some reason as he's aged, his decline has been spurred on by even more putrid shooting. You'd think the athleticism would decline faster but he would have turned into a half decent shooter to keep his career going.
Instead, he can't even make a FT anymore. Odd.
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I've said it before but Westbrook devolving from a guy who pretty consistently was well over 80% from the line, to a guy who is now shooting 47% is baffling. The only explanation I can think of is that his poor three point shooting has gotten into his head and now he can't clear the mental hurdle of making free throws, even though he has a long prior history of making them at a above-average level.
Gonna have to put Green ahead of Cade on the re-draft list as well.
Would Cade be a 1st round pick in a re-draft today?
DARKO has Cade ahead of Tatum, Doncic, Curry, Towns and Lillard. Go ahead now.Gonna have to put Green ahead of Cade on the re-draft list as well.
Would Cade be a 1st round pick in a re-draft today?
If you're referring to this.... it's "upside peak" and Cade's position is entirely related to being the #1 pick and having a lot of uncertainly because he has barely played (i.e. a generic #1 pick with no other data is going to allow for a high possible peak until there is enough data to show otherwise).
His mean peak is way lower than those guys. He obviously has been very bad so far in extremely limited action, hard to argue that. Who knows if it will continue.
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Weird sequence during a timeout in Rockets at Lakers game. First, with the LAL up 116-110 and 1:35 left in regulation, the refs reviewed an previous three by Christian Wood that was initially counted as a two. So during the timeout the officials have the score changed to 116-111. But then they had another issue to sort...
View: https://twitter.com/LakersReporter/status/1455759220117164038?t=bmWaiSU1c1pAHcQxEeJgng&s=19
So out of the TO the score went to 114-111 in favor of LA. Lakers went on to win 119-117 so in the end it was meaningless but I cannot recall this happening in any pro games I've seen. I suspect its happened before but I haven't witnessed it.
View: https://twitter.com/LakersReporter/status/1455759220117164038?t=bmWaiSU1c1pAHcQxEeJgng&s=19
So out of the TO the score went to 114-111 in favor of LA. Lakers went on to win 119-117 so in the end it was meaningless but I cannot recall this happening in any pro games I've seen. I suspect its happened before but I haven't witnessed it.
I don't understand. So they lose the 2 points.... but they can't go back in time and give the Lakers the ball out of bounds.
So Bazemore got fouled, made 2 FTs, and it essentially turned into a turnover a minute later? Am I missing something? How is that the right move?
This article suggests that he's changed his mechanics: https://theathletic.com/2463204/2021/03/19/wizards-russell-westbrook-free-throw-shooting/.
His feet being wider could definitely be the problem. Someone should let him know.
I tried to talk myself into him as the #14 pick in 2020 because I honestly thought Ainge would take a flier on him given that he had high lottery talent. I wasn’t disappointed that they passed on him, though I was that they went with Aaron Nesmith rather than Saddiq Bey. I hated them leaving him sitting on the board at #26, because he did have high lottery talent.
I guess people can stop scratching their heads about the Ws opting for Payton II over washed Avery Bradley.
View: https://mobile.twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1456089154123534344
Warriors’ #2 defense wrecks the Hornets #3 offense on a rough shooting night for Steph.
WSJ: Has the NBA’s Scoring Bubble Burst?
This is behind a paywall so only subscribers can get it but I thought it was worth posting the link.
The takeaways are that the crowds - players are hitting free throws this season at a 76.4% rate vs the league record last season of 77.8% (over the past ~ decade the league has averaged 76.1% on FTs) - as well as the rule changes are the key culprits. Of course the author acknowledges that a lot of these measures will change as the season moves along so this is subject to a SSS caveat as well.
One interesting stat cited was from Nylon Calculus - team points per 100 possessions tends to stabilize after 13 games so that will be an interesting metric to look in a few weeks.
This is behind a paywall so only subscribers can get it but I thought it was worth posting the link.
The takeaways are that the crowds - players are hitting free throws this season at a 76.4% rate vs the league record last season of 77.8% (over the past ~ decade the league has averaged 76.1% on FTs) - as well as the rule changes are the key culprits. Of course the author acknowledges that a lot of these measures will change as the season moves along so this is subject to a SSS caveat as well.
One interesting stat cited was from Nylon Calculus - team points per 100 possessions tends to stabilize after 13 games so that will be an interesting metric to look in a few weeks.
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Lebron is hurt. No timeline for a return.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32552762/los-angeles-lakers-take-their-lebron-james-abdominal-strain-source-says
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32552762/los-angeles-lakers-take-their-lebron-james-abdominal-strain-source-says
I’m not a Killian Hayes fan but this pairing in the backcourt with Cade is stifling everything the Sixers are trying to do offensively. This could end up being a fun exciting team to watch which has rarely been said about the Detroit Pistons.
Man, some crazy low efficiency in the early going by normally uber-efficient scorers...
TS%
.548 Embiid
.512 Trae
.499 Luka
.495 Booker
.483 Beal
.468 Tatum
.459 Lillard
Joel, Trae, Tatum not doing much (so far) tonight to regress to their means...
TS%
.548 Embiid
.512 Trae
.499 Luka
.495 Booker
.483 Beal
.468 Tatum
.459 Lillard
Joel, Trae, Tatum not doing much (so far) tonight to regress to their means...
It is different watching the 76ers without three starters. Embiid took only one shot in the first quarter while Curry scored 16 points. Philly up 14 in the fourth quarter after consecutive steals and slams from Maxey and Thybulle. The three guards are carrying the load tonight. Kudos to management for putting together a deep roster. Easily the best shooting Sixers team, especially with Georges Niang draining threes off the bench. And Drummond was the best pickup, even over Niang.
These Lakers have bought into the defensive end this year. They are giving max effort and closing out on every OKC shooter to where they literally cannot get a 3 off in rhythm. Pretty much every basket has come outside of their set while scrambling. Teams also play harder the first game without their star as well but they did same the other night. Vogel has their attention.
I think they’re also pissed and extra motivated against OKC after last week’s debacle.
That lineup without LeBron and AD playing with one hand is def not good. Surprised he even came back out for the 2H he couldn’t do anything after the injury.
Wrong thread but they have been double digit favorites their last 4 games. That is the gift that keeps on giving.
Maybe this isn't fair to Westbrook, since he's on the back half of his career. Of the players listed on the new Top 75 how many would you absolutely NOT want on your team? Westbrook certainly is one of them. Maybe, tho, not the case during his OKC years.
This version of Westbrook is a floor-raiser not a ceiling-raiser. He'll play hard and drive competency out of mediocre players, but he'll do dumb stuff in critical moments and turn the ball over too much to really elevate a team to the next level. That is why he was such a curious fit on the Lakers who clearly would want a ceiling-raiser guy.
I just came here to post that, elite work by Harden.
Edit- to add some great Harden clips... tried the old grab the guys arm as you go up.... not this year, got called for an offensive foul.
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1456789070059692037
Interesting article 9n the Cavs "3 Bigs" lineup: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/11/4/22762269/cleveland-cavs-big-men-allen-mobley-markkanen
great piece...I'm kind of loving the Cavs and, especially, the Mobley-Allen combo. So much fun, and Garland was a guy I was way behind when he got drafted. Those 3 are a nice core.
Yes and that's without Thompson and Wiseman. We should just save time and rebrand as the Sons Of Sam Ray Not.
Jordan Poole makes everyone around him great. He goes to dinner and the servers are better. Take him to Dunkies and a new pot is ready when he walks in. The guy is legend.
They are my new favorite team this year. I was also all-in on Garland after last year and have always defended Allen’s contract for what he brings while allowing Mobley to not worry about dealing with the physicality of the game in playing his natural 4. They even have a bench when Love is healthy.
Harden looks bad, like he's lost a step. Maybe he'll regain it as the season goes along, loses some weight and regains sharpness, but it wouldn't be the first time a severe hamstring injury permanently left a player slower. If so, he's cost himself a ton of money by not signing the extension. He is at the age where players generally lose a step or two anyway, and post-injury he looks like he doesn't have that first step to get past defenders anymore.