True. James and Irving aside that team isn't really special. I rate Thompson but he isn't going to win you games on his own, Love has been a bit of a disappointment and Smith might not even re-sign.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
True. James and Irving aside that team isn't really special. I rate Thompson but he isn't going to win you games on his own, Love has been a bit of a disappointment and Smith might not even re-sign.
Ben Simmons has a fracture in his foot. Could be out for months; massive setback for the Sixers.
Was really looking forward to watching him play so that's a shame. Three months is the early estimation, which is interesting. Durant and Cameron Payne who have had similar injuries were back much sooner, but both had issues after initially returning. Maybe the Thunder medical staff is a bit incompetent. Or maybe the Sixers are being cautious - which makes sense. Or maybe there are more subtle differences between the injuries, I am not fully across it all.
So it looks like it will be the fourth season in a row that a 76ers first rounder misses the entire season. Noel and Embiid were injured when they were drafted this was just bad luck. It may not be related at all but, the stories of him putting on 30 pounds of muscle over the summer rang alarm bells for me.
Only pre season but, Warriors/Clippers looked like the Dream Team v.s Angola.
Huge improvement on the other night vs Toronto. Spacing was better, ball movement was better and execution was better. For me though it will be interesting to see how they continue to share the ball throughout the season. The thought was it would be Klay who would have to sacrifice shots but this is the second time he has led the team in both points and attempts with Steph taking somewhat of a backseat. Really promising start though.
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Yeah Klay might have a better season than Steph this time out.
Will the Lakers ever be good again?
Also Raptors seem decent too these days?
Well the culture has changed for the better since Luke has taken over as HC. Much better ball movement compared to last year. Young guys need to get better as a group; disappointed with lack of progress for Randle and Russell, but it's only pre-season game no.1. They'll get their opportunity to show what they have.
I think there's a good chance it's related. A bit strange really given that Simmons was already strong out of college, it's like they wanted him even more ready in his rookie season. A bit of a shame really because I wanted to see their bigs line up with a good passer like him, now we have to wait 4 months.
They need to make that trade with one of their centers now that Embiid is ready but the value they will get will not be huge.
I think I've asked this before but what's the best side for NBA fantasy league?
Funny how people have this guy pinned for the MVP.
Interesting.
Well Westbrook is definitely a better playmaker and more athletic than Curry. Not nearly as good a shooter but he is quite excellent. Shame he will be on a team that can't win really, they have so little quality outside of Westbrook that I don't even expect them to make playoffs now. Adams is a good center, Kanter is a good power forward if you completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) ignore defense, Oladipo is not a bad shooting guard but not much of a shooter, I don't think any of their small forwards would start at any other NBA team. They badly miss shooters too.
Westbrook was also drafted a year before Curry.Interesting.
BTW been very happy with Portland's preseason so far. First loss in 4 games today but it was still a very tight game lost by 1 point to Clippers, so it doesn't mean much. Particularly impressed with Noah Vonleh's progress, he could make himself a case for being a solid rotation player this season if it were not for the fact that rotation is very deep. Two power forwards (Aminu, Davis), three centers (Plumlee, Ezeli, Leonard) who will all be calling for minutes.
Yeah obviously I wasn't being completely serious.
Curry spent an extra year in college. Both have missed a large chunk of a season because of injury, but I think Russ has played more.
It's like if you compare Jordan and Lebron by age. LeBron wins in almost every metric, but he obviously came straight in from high school (which in itself is quite incredible).
It's like if you compare Jordan and Lebron by age. LeBron wins in almost every metric, but he obviously came straight in from high school (which in itself is quite incredible).
They are completely different players, even if both are point guards.
I love Lillard though. Possibly my favourite athlete in the world currently.
I love Lillard though. Possibly my favourite athlete in the world currently.
Interesting.
Westbrook is very impressive but how about we look at all this per game on a career basis.
Westbrook:
PPG: 21.5
APG: 7.6
RPG: 5.6
SPG: 1.7
BPG: 0.3
FT%: 81.8
FG%: 43.5
3P%: 30.2
Curry:
PPG: 22.4
APG: 6.9
RPG: 4.3
SPG: 1.8
BPG: 0.2
FT%: 90.2
FG%: 47.7
3P%: 44.4
Oh, I almost forgot Steph has 2 MVPs as well.
Got to stick up for my guy.
Also to add, Curry has gone through lengthy period of injury too.Interesting.
Also wanted to add that I'm a little excited for the raps this season, I know it's only preseason but quite giddy with them beating both the Cavs and Warriors
That post was actually more about giving RW credit than downplaying Curry - rather a compliment for Curry that he's sorta the benchmark in this comparison. RW is not talked about as much as he should be in my opinion given his all round gameplay and impact.Westbrook is very impressive but how about we look at all this per game on a career basis.
Westbrook:
PPG: 21.5
APG: 7.6
RPG: 5.6
SPG: 1.7
BPG: 0.3
FT%: 81.8
FG%: 43.5
3P%: 30.2
Curry:
PPG: 22.4
APG: 6.9
RPG: 4.3
SPG: 1.8
BPG: 0.2
FT%: 90.2
FG%: 47.7
3P%: 44.4
Oh, I almost forgot Steph has 2 MVPs as well.
Got to stick up for my guy.
As for Curry himself, well regular season MVPs aren't completely reflective of the best player in the league I'd say and depend more on which team can win the most games. Which is why I don't think RW has a chance of winning the reg. season MVP this season and OKC won't be winning as many games as before without KD, who for me is the favourite to win it this season as Dubs will be sweeping apart a lot of teams with his inclusion.
Also wanted to add that I'm a little excited for the raps this season, I know it's only preseason but quite giddy with them beating both the Cavs and Warriors
The team is good, not good enough to beat Cavs IMO but might make conference finals again. About the same level as Portland now, maybe slightly worse although you have a center who is better than any of Portland's centers (unless Plumlee really improved that much).
I understood what you were saying. My response was almost reflexive in nature to be honest. As an example, a couple of days ago somebody posted something attacking Bobby Charlton. As a United fan and a Charlton fan I immediately jumped in to defend my guy. The difference is that what you were saying is quite reasonable and not an unfair comparison and Russell Westbrook is also a great player whereas what was posted the other day was absolute bull. As to your remarks on Curry himself, I do agree about regular season MVPs not being indicative of the best player in the League, however if not for a "sweaty Rocket" (so to speak) we might be having a different conversation. Having said all that when LeBron is "on" he is very hard to stop. This year's MVP I think is much more wide open than in previous years. I will be surprised if anyone from the Dubs wins it because it's going to be hard for anyone of their four candidates to separate themselves from the other three. I can see how Westbrook would have a good shot though if he can somehow lead his team to one of the higher playoff seeds. A lot to be answered starting in just under 2 weeks. Can't wait!
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They'll do well.Also wanted to add that I'm a little excited for the raps this season, I know it's only preseason but quite giddy with them beating both the Cavs and Warriors
Yeah of course I can understand. LeBron at his best is simply unplayable on both ends, he has already entered the elite category alongside the likes of Jordan, Magic, Bird, Russell and the likes in my opinion and he has a chance to be the absolute number 1 - which of course will always be a debate. (I have him in my all time starting 5 - Magic, Jordan, Bird, James, Wilt!
) I'm not a Cavs fan but his finals performance this year was pretty much unbelievable, specially coming against a great team like GSW who had gone 73-9 the same season.As for this season MVP - it's pretty tricky. Curry won last season despite the team having three top players in him, Klay and Draymond so we can still expect someone from that team to bag it. Afraid to say but they've made it a bit like the Bayern in the Bundesliga scenario with their current roster. I'm highly excited to watch them play though and would want to know how they operate with KD in there now. One possibility could be that having an elite scorer like KD in the team would now mean Steph having lesser responsibility of that on his shoulders and he could possibly now move towards playing like a more CP3-esque PG in facilitating the team while leaving most of the scoring to be done by KD and co. Either ways it will be a real nightmare playing against them now.
In terms of players driving their teams to playoff seeds I'd probably put my money on Kawhi than RW, to be honest.
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Is anyone interested in a Rotisserie fantasy league?
Tell me more.
I've been playing for the last three years on either ESPN/Yahoo. I've seen there were previous leagues on here so wondered if anyone would want to be part of one again. I'd be willing to create it if there was enough interest but time is short.
”I wanted to take Hakeem’s shot-blocking abilities. I wanted to take Kevin Garnett’s face-up jumper. I wanted to take Tim Duncan’s bank shot. I wanted to take Kobe Bryant’s work ethic. And Shaq’s aggressiveness.” - Hassan Whiteside.
Well that would be quite a player.
Well that would be quite a player.
Very hot last night.
The debate is over. Last night he showed without a shadow of a doubt that he could be the man. The media have criticized him, many of the pundits have bashed him, even people within his own association have belittled his efforts. It's one thing to do well in the polls in April, May and June (even if you can get a record number of votes) but when it really kicks off in November can you do it again. Can you be the leader your folks need you to be?
Well last night I think many of those questions were answered. He was 6-12 from 3 pt range and 11-19 from the field scoring 32 points. It was only the Lakers in a preseason match up but this is the first time in a long time I've seen him be the player the team needs him to be.
Stephen Curry is back.
Well last night I think many of those questions were answered. He was 6-12 from 3 pt range and 11-19 from the field scoring 32 points. It was only the Lakers in a preseason match up but this is the first time in a long time I've seen him be the player the team needs him to be.
Stephen Curry is back.
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”I wanted to take Hakeem’s shot-blocking abilities. I wanted to take Kevin Garnett’s face-up jumper. I wanted to take Tim Duncan’s bank shot. I wanted to take Kobe Bryant’s work ethic. And Shaq’s aggressiveness.” - Hassan Whiteside.
Well that would be quite a player.
That is basically the player Karl Towns could be.
That play where Steph passed it behind the back to KD who passed it to Klay for the 3 was pretty cool.
Same finals as last season, surely.
Curry was phenomenal last game @charlton66 !
FAO basketball fans https://www.redcafe.net/threads/current-players-only-nba-draft.422956/
Absolutely cannot feckin' wait for tonight. Alarm is already set for 5 am in time to catch the second half of Blazers v Jazz. Hoping for a win here, won't be easy by any means as Jazz have a solid core and a lot of depth but Blazers are better.
Warriors v Spurs is an obvious blockbuster. Think Warriors will win this one comfortably though, much better team and they'll want to kick off well. Likewise I fully expect Cavaliers to start on a high and dispose of Knicks.
Warriors v Spurs is an obvious blockbuster. Think Warriors will win this one comfortably though, much better team and they'll want to kick off well. Likewise I fully expect Cavaliers to start on a high and dispose of Knicks.
Likely scenario though I'm interested to see how this Knicks team performs. There's a bit of hype circulating about them.
They were good in preseason, weren't they? I still don't think it's a very good team though. Noah will likely be out for half a season again, ditto Rose (and he's not even that great a point guard anymore). Porzingis is their best prospect. They did get a few decent role players like Lee and Jennings though.
It all depends on how fit and how good Noah and Rose are. They basically went from stars to mid-tier players in a couple of seasons, do they have it in them to get back to their top level?