PJ Dozier just made a business decision getting out of the way of a Zion full steam ahead drive to the bucket. Not going to find many players who are going to be willing to draw a charge on Zion.
January 2020 General NBA Game Thread
- Thread starter Ale Xander
- Start date
Anyone else see the “flagrant” foul by the Clips on Jimmy Butler? I’m all in favor of cracking down on guys who land under jump shooters, but Butler jumped forward there — he landed on the defender’s foot about three get forward from where he jumped. It’s still a foul, but shouldn’t be a flagrant.
Zion just blocked Malik Beasley’s shot into the third row. The roof came off. Another one for the highlight reel.
In non-Zion news, some guy named Russell Westbrook scored 45 points on 16-27 shooting (no and I repeat zero 3PA) and dished out 10 assists while grabbing six boards en route to the Rocktets 131-124 win over the TWolves on their home court. Like many of his "big" peers, it really feels like Westbrook was born 20 years too late - dude would have been all world back in the 80s and 90s, even with the handchecking and grabbing. He and Reggie Miller should really figure out how to do a Freaky Friday thing.
I mean, he has made All-NBA 8x in this era. He really just needs to not shoot threes. He is shooting 50 percent on two-point attempts this year and his free throw percentage is back up to a respectable 77 percent after last year's sudden collapse. Over his last 17 games he is averaging 29-8-7 and shooting 49 percent from the field. I've heard some pundits poo-poohing his all-star candidacy, but are we really going to pretend that Jamal Murray is better than him?
It's pretty funny that NBA Twitter is no longer OMGZZZ ZION even though he played way better last night and flashed a lot more of what will make him a serious problem, health permitting.
The people demand POINTZ!
(Seriously though, his ability to explode and finish in traffic is impressive as hell.)
The people demand POINTZ!
(Seriously though, his ability to explode and finish in traffic is impressive as hell.)
Zion was +16 last night and no other starter was better than +4. (Best on the bench was +7.) They lost by 7. If I'm a Pelicans fan this has got to get me excited, and make me wonder about what kind of season this could have been if he hadn't had the knee injury right out of the gate.
The difference is last night he wasn’t shooting 3s. He played the way that will make him a dominant force. That was super exciting. His going 4-4 from 3 the other night was just a hot shooting night from outside.
It's utterly shocking to me that the (very intelligent) members of this board can't get this simple distinction. But I'm willing to drop it now and just enjoy Zion (except on Sunday).
Right.
One concern I have is free throw shooting. 3-8 so far. He needs to shoot at least 60% or it's going to be hack a Zion out there.
One concern I have is free throw shooting. 3-8 so far. He needs to shoot at least 60% or it's going to be hack a Zion out there.
This is legitimately terrifying from Giannis (way more so than his slow windup 3s with shitty form). It looks repeatable and something he can improve and work into his game and get off at will as a counter to how he's defended in the lane.
View: https://twitter.com/jgauthier_23/status/1220938186001653760?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/jgauthier_23/status/1220938186001653760?s=20
As much as I wouldn't get overly excited by going 4-4 from 3, I wouldn't get overly concerned by 3 for 8 on FTs.
Sit back and enjoy the show
His first game was on ESPN and he scored 17 points in 3 minutes. His 2nd game was on a regional sports network and his scoring was spread out.
They will be OMG if he kicks ass against the Celtics this Sunday on ESPN.
It's funny, because the finishing in the lane he had last night is what I thought I'd wake up and see in the highlights when everyone was going crazy about his debut. There's one there where he just explodes over Jokic from a standstill; it's scary good.
Interesting. He always turns into the lane. Think teams will be happy right now that Giannis is taking fadeaways but it's unguardable.
Yeah, it's unguardable, and with his footwork, he'll soon mix in an up-and-under as a counter. It's not there yet, but that's the type of addition to his bag that would fix his playoff vulnerabilities. He doesn't need to be able to shoot 3s at all if he can hit that shot (Simmons needs to add it as well to be perennial All-NBA).
Yeah, if there's one thing Kawhi has been guilty of throughout his career it's not being able to pace himself properly during the regular season.
Over his last 10 games: 31.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.5 spg, .8 bpg on 48% shooting.
Over his last 10 games: 31.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.5 spg, .8 bpg on 48% shooting.
That block was insane. He was on help defense, for crying out loud, and elevated out of nowhere. That's a Robert Williams-type move.
Really cool article here about LeBron's amazing season so far:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28538415/lebron-james-making-real-nba-mvp-race
Gets into his unmatched playmaking ability, and at the age of 35, when most players are retired or relatively useless in the NBA. One interesting stat: he has generated 52 points a game through is scoring and passing. At age 35. So I thought about other great NBA players to see how many points they generated by passing and scoring. It's a little difficult because the three point shot...well...just looking at basketball-reference.com, it doesn't tell us how many of their assists were on three point shots. And I don't know how these stats factor in passes that result in shooting fouls. So for example, LeBron passes to Davis for a dunk, but Davis gets hacked. He makes two free throws. James doesn't get an assist, but his pass definitely generated the points. Or if Davis makes the dunk and gets an and-one, James' assist really generated three points not two, but the stat database doesn't reflect that (as far as I know).
It's a new era, and many of James' passes result (as the article explains) in made three-point baskets. So I don't know how to calculate this for other players because I don't know that data. Anyway, just adding points plus, let's say, 2.2 points per assist (which allows for some three point shots and and-ones)... For James, I guess his assists are averaging 2.48 points per assist, if he is generating 52 points per game and is scoring 25.2 points. 52-25.2=26.8. 26.8/10.8=2.48. But let's just say that in the past that number hasn't been that high, so let's use 2.2 as a number for other guys.
James, 2019-20 (age 35): 25.2 points, 10.8 assists --> 52.0 points (using his 2.48)
Magic, 1986-87 (age 27): 23.9 points, 12.2 assists --> 50.7 points (using 2.2...same for the rest of the guys)
Bird, 1986-87 (age 30): 28.1 points, 7.6 assists --> 44.8 points
Jordan, 1988-89 (age 25): 32.5 points, 8.0 assists --> 50.1 points
Stockton, 1989-90 (age 27): 17.2 points, 14.5 assists --> 49.1 points
Robertson, 1963-64 (age 25): 31.4 points, 11.0 assists --> 55.6 points
Chamberlin, 1961-62 (age 25): 50.4 points, 2.4 assists --> 55.7 points
Westbrook, 2016-17 (age 28): 31.6 points, 10.4 assists --> 54.5 points
Harden, 2016-17 (age 27): 29.1 points, 11.2 assists --> 53.7 points
Curry, 2015-16 (age 27): 30.1 points, 6.7 assists --> 44.8 points
Durant, 2013-14 (age 25): 32.0 points, 5.5 assists --> 44.1 points
Obviously an inexact science for all the reasons I mentioned above. But still, you see that what LeBron is doing this year is unbelievable, and at a far far more advanced age than any of these other guys, who were squarely in their prime years when they put up their eye-popping numbers. LeBron is doing this at age *35*.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28538415/lebron-james-making-real-nba-mvp-race
Gets into his unmatched playmaking ability, and at the age of 35, when most players are retired or relatively useless in the NBA. One interesting stat: he has generated 52 points a game through is scoring and passing. At age 35. So I thought about other great NBA players to see how many points they generated by passing and scoring. It's a little difficult because the three point shot...well...just looking at basketball-reference.com, it doesn't tell us how many of their assists were on three point shots. And I don't know how these stats factor in passes that result in shooting fouls. So for example, LeBron passes to Davis for a dunk, but Davis gets hacked. He makes two free throws. James doesn't get an assist, but his pass definitely generated the points. Or if Davis makes the dunk and gets an and-one, James' assist really generated three points not two, but the stat database doesn't reflect that (as far as I know).
It's a new era, and many of James' passes result (as the article explains) in made three-point baskets. So I don't know how to calculate this for other players because I don't know that data. Anyway, just adding points plus, let's say, 2.2 points per assist (which allows for some three point shots and and-ones)... For James, I guess his assists are averaging 2.48 points per assist, if he is generating 52 points per game and is scoring 25.2 points. 52-25.2=26.8. 26.8/10.8=2.48. But let's just say that in the past that number hasn't been that high, so let's use 2.2 as a number for other guys.
James, 2019-20 (age 35): 25.2 points, 10.8 assists --> 52.0 points (using his 2.48)
Magic, 1986-87 (age 27): 23.9 points, 12.2 assists --> 50.7 points (using 2.2...same for the rest of the guys)
Bird, 1986-87 (age 30): 28.1 points, 7.6 assists --> 44.8 points
Jordan, 1988-89 (age 25): 32.5 points, 8.0 assists --> 50.1 points
Stockton, 1989-90 (age 27): 17.2 points, 14.5 assists --> 49.1 points
Robertson, 1963-64 (age 25): 31.4 points, 11.0 assists --> 55.6 points
Chamberlin, 1961-62 (age 25): 50.4 points, 2.4 assists --> 55.7 points
Westbrook, 2016-17 (age 28): 31.6 points, 10.4 assists --> 54.5 points
Harden, 2016-17 (age 27): 29.1 points, 11.2 assists --> 53.7 points
Curry, 2015-16 (age 27): 30.1 points, 6.7 assists --> 44.8 points
Durant, 2013-14 (age 25): 32.0 points, 5.5 assists --> 44.1 points
Obviously an inexact science for all the reasons I mentioned above. But still, you see that what LeBron is doing this year is unbelievable, and at a far far more advanced age than any of these other guys, who were squarely in their prime years when they put up their eye-popping numbers. LeBron is doing this at age *35*.
This guy. And the Jazz ended up winning this game after Dallas led the game all the way into the last part of the fourth. It was a very good match up and if these two meet in the playoffs, I am going to watch every second.
For the game, Gobert's line: 8-8 from the field, 22 points, 17 boards and five blocks. So good...
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1221226839303237632?s=20
For the game, Gobert's line: 8-8 from the field, 22 points, 17 boards and five blocks. So good...
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1221226839303237632?s=20
Getting beat by Luka Doncic isn't a stain on anyone. Did you read Gobert's line? Its pretty impressive but then again, I don't expect athletes to do everything perfectly.
Kyrie has 41 tonight in Detroit but it’s fun watching him miss the last three shots (with a lead) any one of which could have put this game away for the Nets. Going to OT tied at 106.
Gobert had an awesome line and made a great play with the game on the line, but too bad he had a few bad plays over the course of a game I guess
Yes. But i just watched this bum not jump for 4 quarters and get outrebounded by Shabazz Napier
This Lakers/Sixers game has me torn. On one hand it'd be good for the Celtics if Philly loses. On the other hand, it is hilarious to see the Lakers struggle with another second tier EC playoff team, especially sans Embiid. If Simmons was a league average shooter from the three and the line he'd be a top 10 guy with MVP potential. Oh well.
What a great defensive effort by Philly tonight. Length and athleticism.
Lakers winding down a long road trip. I give them a pass.
Lakers winding down a long road trip. I give them a pass.
Nine steals combined for Matisse and that one-slash-five guy you have there. I know that Alex Caruso is up for a peace prize, defensive player of the century and even the whole EGOT but Thybulle may have out Caruso'd him tonight.
The 76ers are more fun to watch without Embiid. More ball movement, for starters. But these guys are running on fumes. Simmons is averaging almost 40 minutes without Embiid. So they will welcome him back.
My sentiments exactly while watching this. Happy the C’s smoked them by even more.
Port Cellar default settings: El Uno hates everyone in the league, DeJesus loves everyone in the league, and everyone else is somewhere on that spectrum. ;-P
Sort of agreed on KAT, though — I’m sure there have been bigger slackers in the association, but what’s so infuriating about him is that he has the size, strength and skills to be Giannis with KD’s shooting touch, yet has still can’t be bothered to put his size to even half-assed use on defense.
It’s be interesting to see if the three BFFs — Towns, Booker, DLo — ever joined forces as they seem to want to. They could be the most offensively skilled and defensively indifferent Big 3 in NBA history.