ha. I was poking fun at Colangelo placing the blame of his burner accounts (EricJr?) squarely at the feet of his wife. One of the weirdest NBA soap operas' ever, for some reason, I don't think we've heard the end of Bryan Colangelo
October 22-27 NBA Game Thread
- Thread starter Ale Xander
- Start date
Yeah, it's a side discussion. Assuming "Jordan's Generation" to mean "guys who started their career between 1981 and 1990" (so excluding Bird and Magic at the beginning and Shaq at the end), I'd go something like:
1. Jordan
2. Hakeem
3. Pippen
4. Stockton
5. McHale
6. Barkley
7. Robinson
8. Malone
9. Miller
10. Drexler
Not a big fan of Ewing or Isiah, though if you twisted my arm I could put them on there somewhere. If I'm gonna pimp Draymond and Iguodala for HOF (and put Pippen at #3 largely for his defensive beastliness) Rodman deserves serious consideration, too.
Totally agreed with your main point. No basketball player is an island. Co-existing well with other great players is a plus, not a minus, in a 5 on 5 sport. Adjusting stats like plus-minus for teammate quality is one thing, but just blanket dismissing a player’s greatness for playing alongside other great players is kinda silly and tired, imho. People are gonna do it, but people are gonna do lots of dumb stuff.
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Yup, this is why I've always rated Klay Thompson really, really highly, despite the fact that he's not elite at creating his own shot. You could put prime Klay on literally any roster in the NBA, and that team's success would go up significantly. This isn't true for all complementary players, and it's really, really valuable.
Ab on the lakers seems a perfect fit. He can be the smallest guy on the floor so he doesnt get exposed defensively but the Lakers don't need to play a true point guard since they have LeBron. Bradley was wreaking some havoc against the Jazz
True. But the key for the Lakers will be if Davis is willing to play at the 5 despite his preference for the 4. Vogel moved him to the 5 for the 2nd half of the Jazz game and that's when the offense sparked -- LeBron didn't have to handle the ball all the time with Caruso taking the place of McGee/Howard. With him at the 4 and Davis at the 5 the offense was much faster/much improved.
Diversity is the spice of great offense, but as a default placement in a halfcourt set, LeBron spending more time in the post seems much more sensible than him messing around full time at the top of the arc. In the post, he can bull you to the rim with brute strength, take his solid mid-range turnaround J, and/or use his elite passing to whip the ball all over the court. At the top, he can still pass, but he’s not a good enough long-range shooter to really kill you, and no longer quick enough to consistently cook you off the dribble. He’s a great ballhandler for a 260 lb PF but a poor one for a PG. Unless he’s allowed to full-on stiff-arm you all the way to the rim, you end up with a lot of those ugly “halfway” plays where he only makes it as far as the FT line, gets stopped, and has to try to force a risky close-quarters pass into AD or JaVale standing two feet away.
It’s basically triple threat v single threat. Another example of why I keep harping on the fact that he shouldn’t be playing alongside two bigs, not regularly anyway.
It’s basically triple threat v single threat. Another example of why I keep harping on the fact that he shouldn’t be playing alongside two bigs, not regularly anyway.
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Bill Simmons preseason MVP Matisse Thybulle just had 2 turnovers, got his blocked shot, and blew 2 defensive assignments in 90 seconds.
The take before where he barreled into Adebayo and Olynyk, drew contact and got continuation was amazing. Few players in the league can pull that off. Maybe just him and LeBron.
Had that same exact thought. He (smartly) initiated it with Bam, but that was a ton of contact with two big dudes and he sinks it anyway.
Detroit hanging tough with Philly, but more importantly, why would you wear grey on your home floor?? Kinda suggests a franchise that has no idea where it's going.
Trae and Luka are going to be the next two big superstars. I am here for them...
View: https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1188260979055812608?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1188260979055812608?s=20
Ice Trae has another big game. 39 points on 16-25 shooting (5-10 from TraeLand), nine assists, seven boards and two steals. +14 BPM
Through two games, Harden is 9-42 from the field (21.4%) and 3-26 from three (11.5%). Good thing he spent the summer practicing that one-legged sidestep three that was gonna take the league by storm.
Rockets win at home, barely, against the Jrue-less, Zion-less Pels.
Rockets win at home, barely, against the Jrue-less, Zion-less Pels.
But probably not debating the fact that the Kings could have had either and came away with Marvin Bagley, Jr. Yeah, they had Fox in place, but you don't draft for perceived short-term need when you're a perennial dumpster fire.
From the team that brought you Tyreke Evans over Curry, Thomas Robinson over Lillard, and Jimmer Fredette over Kawhi and Klay...
Luke Walton continues to prove my theory that he's a dumb jock (and now probable date rapist) who got where he is 100% through nepotism. F*ck him.
Also, Dave Joerger aka DeJesus BMHR is looking kinda good in retrospect.
Another big game for Brandon Ingram, 35 and 15 in the Pelicans lost to Houston. It was flying under the radar, but he was playing really good basketball last season right before he was shut down for the year. Now that he is out of LA, I could see him ending up as the best player out of that haul New Orleans got for Davis.
DLo (23), Ball (22), Hart (24), Ingram (22), Randle (24), M. Wagner (22), T. Bryant (22), Zubac (22) would be a pretty fun young core. After the Lakers crash and burn this year, it'll be fun to look at their stats and consider that LeBron turns 36 next season.
Super-extra schadenfreude points if AD bolts.
Super-extra schadenfreude points if AD bolts.
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Love the brutal honesty, taking no prisoners, you have the club out this season.
Are these three SRN's biggest Pinatas?
1. Lakers
2. Rockets
3. Kings
And the Clippers have their first loss in Phoenix of all places where the Suns beat them for the first time in three and a half years. Old friend Aron Baynes had 14 points and eight boards while the Suns were unsurprisingly led by Booker who had 30 points including seven made threes from deep.
With their veteran roster (Kelly Oubre, Tank Kaminsky, Dario Saric, Tyler Johnson plus Booker), the Suns are no longer a doormat and could easily be 3-0 had they not lost by one point to Denver on Friday night.
With their veteran roster (Kelly Oubre, Tank Kaminsky, Dario Saric, Tyler Johnson plus Booker), the Suns are no longer a doormat and could easily be 3-0 had they not lost by one point to Denver on Friday night.
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Hah, no hate at all for the Kings. I loved that early 2000s team that got jobbed by the refs out of a Finals appearance; and was happy when they were able to keep the team in SacTown. They have a real, passionate fanbase that deserves so much better. This from todays' Sactown Royalty game recap:
Basically, I'm fine with any outcome that doesn't involve the Lakers/LeBrons or Rockets winning it all. And even with the Rockets it's only the recent vintage that irks me, cos they're always in the Warriors' way and play a gross brand of basketball. I liked the Hakeem teams and the Yao/McGrady teams, and even admired the early (pre-Howard) Harden / Beverley / Jeremy Lin team that used to stick it to the budding Warriors.
Phoenix did a nice job compiling young veterans around Booker who aren’t ball dominant while entering their prime years. These are not your Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender, Marquese Chriss Phoenix Suns!
That wasn’t about short term need though. You can’t ever have Fox and Trae together. Fox and Doncic would have been fine but it isn’t like Bagley is Frank Kaminsky out there.....he was legit really good as a 19-year old and was having a good start in the opener before getting hurt.
For some reason I decided to watch Cavs-Pacers...the Pacers look really, really bad on offense without Oladipo. Brogdon is by far the top shot-creator, which is brutal. Cleveland also had a lot of success with Love running big-big PnR: Sabonis looked poor out in space.
I actually sort of liked what Cleveland has. By holding on to Love and Thompson they're creating a decent environment for their young guards to develop. Looked a lot more competent than in preseason against us.
I actually sort of liked what Cleveland has. By holding on to Love and Thompson they're creating a decent environment for their young guards to develop. Looked a lot more competent than in preseason against us.
not surprised the Sabonis/Turner combo isn't working. It didn't work in the playoffs and everything I read from Indy reporters was met with trepidation. I guess they have nothing to lose, except a few games, until VO comes back (they're not doing anything without him). They should have dealt one of Turner or Sabonis this Summer, especially after drafting Goga Bitadze.
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Was just coming here to say all the Suns needed to become relevant was to get their lotto picks off the roster.
If they felt either of Young or Doncic was a generational talent who was a suboptimal fit with Fox, they could easily have moved Fox (a valuable asset, coming off a solid rookie season for a 20 y.o.) for a similarly talented young player at a different position.
Basically, they either judged that Bagley was the more promising NBA talent than Doncic & Young (something that went against every pre-draft analysis I saw, certainly w.r.t. Doncic) or they drafted for positional "need." Either one of the scenarios looks bad for them, imo, even without hindsight.
In hindsight, yeah, Bagley, Jr. had a very good rookie year, and seems far from the bust some feared; but neither does he look anything like one of the "the two next big superstars," as DeJesus dubbed Luka and Ice Trae. What's the upside for a super-athletic but smallish 4 who doesn't have the handles, shooting, passing, or defensive versatility of a wing? A rich man's Antawn Jamison?
NBA's newfound parity is leading to some juicy early season games.
Today we have Wolves vs Heat and Mavs vs Blazers.
Today we have Wolves vs Heat and Mavs vs Blazers.
They are in for a rough season. Down 40 in the 3rd already having given up 100 with 2 minutes to go in the period.
it's early but are you long for D.Lo or is he "All-Star talent"/ballast for your next great player?
I don't blame GSW one bit, if they do a 1yr process, tank early, send Steph to the links and focus on 2020-21. I've never heard a finals coach talk like him after 1-game.
They may well be in for a rough season but its too early to make these calls imho. Their talent level drop-off after their top three or four players - ex-Thompson- is pretty significant.
That said, the abbreviated pre-season means that Kerr & company has had a fairly limited time to evaluate their roster and scheme to get Curry some better looks (teams are obviously daring everyone else but him to beat them).
I don't doubt that the hot takes are going to come fast and furious - people everywhere are going to be giddily tripping over themselves to "call it" now. But I am not about to proclaim the Warriors season over or agree with Barkley that they won't make the playoffs until we get a few more than two data points.
