NBA 2016-17

[A_B]

Illegal post. Someone might agree. Moderators redact please.

[rass]

But the moderators would only act if they agree with you, but if they agree with you, they'll need to zap your post, too!

[Pruitt]

Look. My team has blown goats lately. Terrible. Plus I've been NCAA distracted. But lebron chose the nuclear option in that second quarter. THat was a message. Eastern conference still goes through 23.

Did anyone ever think otherwise?

Nope. You're right. Let no one make a statement others agree with henceforth.

My tone was meant to be one of complete agreement. No snark intended.

[Ryan]

We still haven't seen what happens when both teams try

[Rex]

Thanks, Captain Obvious

[DSafetyGuy]

Brian Windhorst was on Zach Lowe's podcast yesterday and when they hit on the Cavs' defensive issues, he said it sounds like they will likely simplify things a lot in the playoffs this year, which is what they did last year, as well.

[wlu_lax6]

Wizards are letting Phil Chenier go at the end of the season. He has been the on air analyst for the Bullets/Wiz fro 30+ years.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc- ... 7d12e3c470

[DC47]

Sad to hear. Team owners so often want something other than basketball knowledge, articulate speech, and class in a broadcaster. It's a sign of these times.

Phil Chenier is a friend of a friend. My pal used to play ball with him in gyms around Berkeley. He said that Chenier would jump over him (6'6") on his way to the hoop and not say a word or make a gesture when he hit the ground. Just played ball. Not many teens who owned every court they played on were like that, even in the late '60s. Started out a classy guy, stayed classier. Also, classy jump shot.

I remember Chenier playing on the early to mid-70's Bullets teams along with Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, HOF players in their primes. They were a very good team, though not quite good enough to beat the very best. Chenier had a bad back injury early on, so we never got to see what kind of career he could have put together. Among modern players, a good comp might be Bradley Beal, but with more defense. Chenier stats would be a bit better today as he would have benefited from the three point shot.

[A_B]

We still haven't seen what happens when both teams try

Did they decide not to try tonight too?

Booom. Roasted. Hashtag jerlomavjohnnieviagpj

[wlu_lax6]

Sad to hear. Team owners so often want something other than basketball knowledge, articulate speech, and class in a broadcaster. It's a sign of these times.

Phil Chenier is a friend of a friend. My pal used to play ball with him in gyms around Berkeley. He said that Chenier would jump over him (6'6") on his way to the hoop and not say a word or make a gesture when he hit the ground. Just played ball. Not many teens who owned every court they played on were like that, even in the late '60s. Started out a classy guy, stayed classier. Also, classy jump shot.

I remember Chenier playing on the early to mid-70's Bullets teams along with Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, HOF players in their primes. They were a very good team, though not quite good enough to beat the very best. Chenier had a bad back injury early on, so we never got to see what kind of career he could have put together. Among modern players, a good comp might be Bradley Beal, but with more defense. Chenier stats would be a bit better today as he would have benefited from the three point shot.

He is even being classy about handling his non-renewal.

[Joe K]

A poster on Reddit pretty conclusively argued a few weeks ago that Russell Westbrook is engaging in some pretty egregious defensive rebounding stat padding by ignoring his defensive responsibilities:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/5 ... estbrooks/

Here's the key takeaway, but there's a lot of links/analysis in the post to support this:

Westbrook is leading the NBA in uncontested DREB's with 7.9 rpg, even higher than guys that are anchored around the rim for defensive purposes like Whiteside, Gobert, Jordan, and Davis. Beyond that, Westbrook has BY FAR the lowest contested DREB% in the league for any player averaging >5 RPG.

One might start to wonder how a PG could be accumulating so many uncontested rebounds, digging into Westbrook's shot contests gives a clearer picture. Westbrook has contested a grand total of 160 FG's on the ENTIRE SEASON. That number is staggeringly low and to be frank, flat out embarrassing. To put his 3.4 contests per game in perspective, OKC backup PG Cameron Payne is averaging 4.1 contests per game while playing in less than half of the minutes that Westbrook is.

Westbrook ranks dead last in the NBA in contested shots among players averaging 30 or more MPG by a considerable margin. Hilariously, the only two players who have contested less 3P FGA's are Rudy Gobert and Whiteside, who have contested 53 and 64 respectively. Russell Westbrook is at 69 while having playing close to the same amount of minutes...Yes, DeAndre Jordan has contested more 3P FGA's this season than Russell Westbrook.

Some people may point to other names on that list, i.e. Jimmy Butler, showing they have fairly lower contest numbers as well. The difference being Jimmy Butler's counterpart is attempting 4 fewer FGA than Westbrook's. Westbrook is contesting approximately 3.4 of his PG matchup's 13.1 FGA while on the floor. The player he's supposed to be defending is attempting 74% of their shots without a contest from Westbrook. Butler on the other hand is right around 45%.

Ignoring the fact that he leaving his man with regularity to chase rebounds, even when Westbrook contests shots he's the worst guard in the league in expected FG% against. His opp. +6.9% over expected FG% is dead last in the NBA among guards. The only other players over 4.5% are Sean Kilpatrick, Kyle Korver, and Emmanuel Mudiay.

Back to Westbrook's raw rebounding numbers. Beyond his absurd REB rate on uncontested FGA, Westbrook is averaging an absurd 1.2 uncontested DRPG on missed FT's. All of the top rebounding bigs in the league are between 0.4-0.7 per game, Westbrook is doubling their frequency while operating out of 3 position.

Rather than operate under the typical box out on opponent FT's, OKC is instead placing Westbrook in the 3 position and pinching the opponent FT rebounders, forming a triangle which allows Westbrook to slide into position and "steal" rebounds. While this technique is often employees when a team has a decisive front court disadvantage, the Thunder implement it all times with Westbrook on the floor despite featuring two 7 footers who are elite rebounders in their own right. This has enabled Westbrook to further add to his rebounding numbers, almost doubling the next highest uncontested FTREB in the league.

One might ask why this matters? It essentially opens the paint offensive rebounds on missed FT's to anyone that isn't operating in the 4 or 5 position. As a result, OKC is actually 2nd worst in the NBA in FT defensive rebounding.

There's still a decent MVP case for Westbrook, given that he carries such a heavy offensive load and his efficiency has ticked up lately. But the triple-double average shouldn't play that much of a role in the argument, since his rebounding averages would be likely be close to Harden's and James's without the egregious stat padding

[A_B]

Cavs suck again.

[A_B]

What the everloving fuck

[Shirley]

That Westbrook rebound statistical analysis up there is really interesting. It's incredible the detailed stats that are available today. Also pretty incredible that a coach has clearly set up a defensive system geared around getting rebounds for his point guard. How weird is that?

[DSafetyGuy]

That Westbrook rebound statistical analysis up there is really interesting. It's incredible the detailed stats that are available today. Also pretty incredible that a coach has clearly set up a defensive system geared around getting rebounds for his point guard. How weird is that?

I think it is probably set up to make Westbrook happy so he doesn't leave (he can at least achieve a huge personal historical milestone by averaging a triple-double and may also get MVP) and put OKC into a decade-long (if not longer) black hole.

I'm also curious about the "contest rate" and if it factors in guys jumping passing lanes for steals. It's only tangentially related, at best, but I am admittedly curious as to how that goes into the defensive statistic soup. Also, what about guys who close out on a shot fake and get out of position, often giving up an open jumper even though they did try to contest?

[Joe K]

That Westbrook rebound statistical analysis up there is really interesting. It's incredible the detailed stats that are available today. Also pretty incredible that a coach has clearly set up a defensive system geared around getting rebounds for his point guard. How weird is that?

I think it is probably set up to make Westbrook happy so he doesn't leave (he can at least achieve a huge personal historical milestone by averaging a triple-double and may also get MVP) and put OKC into a decade-long (if not longer) black hole

Agreed. OKC is currently nowhere near being a title contender. For all the hype about the Westbrook-Durant matchups, those games weren't even competitive. So they might as well keep Westbrook happy and pray that Blake Griffin misses his home state of Oklahoma.

[Johnnie]

You ever been hyped for a logo change? Prepare to be:

[DSafetyGuy]

There is something wrong about a franchise hyping getting the #1 overall pick in consecutive years. "Wasn't it awesome how we were lousy and had to trade a player we highlighted in this video clip, who may be our franchise's second best all-time player, in his prime to get this prestigious honor?!?!"

[Joe K]

There is something wrong about a franchise hyping getting the #1 overall pick in consecutive years. "Wasn't it awesome how we were lousy and had to trade a player we highlighted in this video clip, who may be our franchise's second best all-time player, in his prime to get this prestigious honor?!?!"

Maybe they were hyping Wiggins and Towns winning Rookie of the Year in consecutive years? As an aside, I'm going to be super bullish on both the Sixers and the Wolves next year. They'll probably go 30-52 and let me down, but as of now I expect to see them both in next year's playoffs.

[Pruitt]

Gotta say that the agency and the director of that piece did a good job trying to make a pile of wolf shit smell like gold. Winning for Prince indeed...

[Joe K]

Gotta say that the agency and the director of that piece did a good job trying to make a pile of wolf shit smell like gold. Winning for Prince indeed...

Yeah, it's hard to put together a franchise montage when nearly all of the on-court highlights occurred during the 2003-04 season.

[Pruitt]

Gotta say that the agency and the director of that piece did a good job trying to make a pile of wolf shit smell like gold. Winning for Prince indeed...

Yeah, it's hard to put together a franchise montage when nearly all of the on-court highlights occurred during the 2003-04 season.

That was an issue here when the team's highlights either involved Chris Bosh playing his ass off while surrounded by scrubs or the absolutely despicable (to any raptor fan over the age of 25) Vince Carter.

[A_B]

Pacers vs cavs first round. I think that's gonna be a fun series. Paul George playing for a huge contract vs the reeling cavs. Could go either way. I also hate my team right now.

[Joe K]

Pacers vs cavs first round. I think that's gonna be a fun series. Paul George playing for a huge contract vs the reeling cavs. Could go either way. I also hate my team right now.

Paul George is already a lock to get a max contract for his next deal; the only question is if he feels comfortable enough with the direction of the franchise to stay in Indiana. Otherwise, it's widely believed that he would like to go to the West Coast.

I expect the Cavs to flip the switch such that they'll have no trouble with the Pacers. But I do think that enough of their late season struggles are "real" that it'll show up in later rounds. I may start a postseason thread and do my full predictions, but I expect the Cavs to win long serieses against Toronto and Boston (or Washington) before getting beat pretty badly by Golden State in the Finals.

[Joe K]

Cleveland's defense: still garbage. They'll probably win this game, but getting lit up on your home court by Indiana is a bad sign.