Official 2016-2017 NBA Season Thread - NBA rules Chris Bosh has a career ending injury

[MVP]

I don't think it's fair but the way Beard played/acted and the debacle of the Rockets last season put him behind the 8 ball coming into this season. Could also explain why many media picked Houston to be where they did.

And then on the other side you got the storyline of Russ getting abandoned by KD and having a once in a lifetime season. It's a better story to write.

 

[ayotayo]

Anyone trying for presale playoff tickets this morning?

 

[pums]

It's the mindset and how confirmation bias works. Almost everyone that has a media vote for the All Star game has a vote for MVP. Many of those same media members pegged Russ or LeBron for MVP before the season started. When you've had the guy as your #1 from the preseason to the All Star break and he's done nothing with his play to move him off that line, you're not going to change your pick.

All you hear now more and more media actually verbalize who they're voting for and it's almost exclusively Russ. Even the co-MVP chatter has died down considerably.

And you were one of the guys from the start who had Westbrook and you were saying stuff like Houston would go down and Westbrook would win MVP and yet they didn't and most of the MVP picks were contingent on them winning more games than what was expected of them and yet this also didn't happen most of this stuff is just bias and the whole glamour of "triple double " from the people calling his team a bad team but it's not

 

[Chester McFloppy]

Russ obliterating the GrizzLies

 

[trynafeelmink]

Oddsmakers had the Rockets winning 44 games in October.

They had OKC winning 43.5 games.

Yet, this is an argument people use when debating the two that Harden clearly has the "better team". Maybe they were clearly overachieving this year and its because of Harden's elite jump?

At the end of the day, it sucks for Westbrook that Harden is having one of the best seasons in league history and leading one of the best offenses in league history during the same year he goes on this triple double tear.

I would also think that a lot of people made those assumption assuming Ryan Anderson & Eric Gordon would continue to have the horrible health they had in N.O, they also didn't add the possible Sixth man of the year getting traded there for a 10th man.

Hardens team is built specifically to help his game, Russ team is almost the polar opposite of what would compliment his game & in spite of that he's having one of the best seasons ever. Harden is absolutely deserving but i edge it to westbrook because of that, not to mention he's doing this in 34 minutes of play & whenever he has a trip dub his team is winning at an 80% clip. Anybody other than those two tho & i will be irate.

 

[MVP]

And you were one of the guys from the start who had Westbrook and you were saying stuff like Houston would go down and Westbrook would win MVP and yet they didn't and most of the MVP picks were contingent on them winning more games than what was expected of them and yet this also didn't happen most of this stuff is just bias and the whole glamour of "triple double " from the people calling his team a bad team but it's not

What? I said the Rockets weren't going to win 60 games which they were on pace to do so early. They did slow down.

OKC was pegged by most outlets to win 41-44 games, are they not going to exceed that expectation as well?

 

[pums]

I would also think that a lot of people made those assumption assuming Ryan Anderson & Eric Gordon would continue to have the horrible health they had in N.O, they also didn't add the possible Sixth man of the year getting traded there for a 10th man.

Hardens team is built specifically to help his game, Russ team is almost the polar opposite of what would compliment his game & in spite of that he's having one of the best seasons ever. Harden is absolutely deserving but i edge it to westbrook because of that, not to mention he's doing this in 34 minutes of play & whenever he has a trip dub his team is winning at an 80% clip. Anybody other than those two tho & i will be irate.

Those two also missed a couple of games capela Beverly as well

Russ team is built to be an elite defensive and rebounding team and I mean look at their starters
Oladipo Roberson Gibson Adams
And how much of this teammates not performing well has to be his fault when he uses half there possessions and the other guys are just standing and can't get in to a rhythm

 

[abubakr shaheed]

steph has been fun to watch again..can't wait for kd to come back and kill his vibe

 

[MVP]

Kanter and Vic the only other guys who have any semblance of an offensive game have both missed time as well.

It's not about rhythm it's about actually having offensive minded personnel around him. I'm sure he'd like to delegate some responsibly but it is what it is.

 

[pums]

What? I said the Rockets weren't going to win 60 games which they were on pace to do so early. They did slow down.

OKC was pegged by most outlets to win 41-44 games, are they not going to exceed that expectation as well?

You were giving the impression they were gonna be lumped with the clippers jazz and thunder but they're a couple games better than them record wise

Yea by like 3 games or something which is negligible at least in my opinion

 

[do work son]

And you were one of the guys from the start who had Westbrook and you were saying stuff like Houston would go down and Westbrook would win MVP and yet they didn't and most of the MVP picks were contingent on them winning more games than what was expected of them and yet this also didn't happen most of this stuff is just bias and the whole glamour of "triple double " from the people calling his team a bad team but it's not

What? I said the Rockets weren't going to win 60 games which they were on pace to do so early. They did slow down.

OKC was pegged by most outlets to win 41-44 games, are they not going to exceed that expectation as well?

if this is the criteria, vegas had the rockets at 41 wins before the season started. they're at 53 with detroit, sacramento, clippers, and minnesota left.

i honestly won't mind if russ wins it because i think he's very deserving, but i'd like to see harden win it.

 

[MVP]

You were giving the impression they were gonna be lumped with the clippers jazz and thunder but they're a couple games better than them record wise

Yea by like 3 games or something which is negligible at least in my opinion

They've been right there with Utah and LA the entire year. And I'm not talking about my expectation it's that the Thunder are going to win more games than the media thought as well which will factor in.

 

[pums]

Kanter and Vic the only other guys who have any semblance of an offensive game have both missed time as well.

It's not about rhythm it's about actually having offensive minded personnel around him. I'm sure he'd like to delegate some responsibly but it is what it is.

And Houston has Anderson Gordon and Lou will who was acquired mid season
Boston has horford?
Wizards have beal porter?
Most of these teams in that tier that have that one guy with the ball most of the time don't have that much "offensive minded" players as well

 

[pums]

They've been right there with Utah and LA the entire year. And I'm not talking about my expectation it's that the Thunder are going to win more games than the media thought as well which will factor in.

Well they haven't and they're 5 ahead of them the closes they got was 2 games away and a lot of that was cause Houston played like 5 more games than them

 

[trynafeelmink]

Those two also missed a couple of games capela Beverly as well

Russ team is built to be an elite defensive and rebounding team and I mean look at their starters
Oladipo Roberson Gibson Adams
And how much of this teammates not performing well has to be his fault when he uses half there possessions and the other guys are just standing and can't get in to a rhythm

Elite defense?? the only Elite defender listed was Roberson... He has no knockdown shooters, Oladipo is the only dude who creates his own shot, Adams/Taj are guys who clog the lane and get there points off hustle. His usage is this high because the offense is designed for him to do that much, and it's designed that way because he HAS to set up everyone else.

Also i see all this talk about usage as if it's a bad thing, why does nobody ever factor in that having that much responsibility and still being able to play Dominant basketball night in night out is a feat within itself. That's what guys seem to leave out this convo, we quickly say well if we give this guy that much usage he could do so & so....... while not acounting for the fact that if most other players had that usage, they would be 1000% gassed by ASB, or be wildly inconsistent. Stamina and athleticism that it takes for him to pull this off is highly underrated.

 

[trueprada]

 

[trueprada]

 Wednesday marked the third time this season the Cavaliers missed at least 20 field goal attempts in the first quarter, and yet the Cavs are 3-0 in those games. No other NBA team has multiple wins of that kind this season. (Elias Sports Bureau)

 

[MVP]

And Houston has Anderson Gordon and Lou will who was acquired mid season
Boston has horford?
Wizards have beal porter?
Most of these teams in that tier that have that one guy with the ball most of the time don't have that much "offensive minded" players as well

You're conflating things. The point was Harden's team/system is built to accentuate his talents. He's no doubt improved and taken his role as a playmaker and embraced it and ran with it. There are players on Houston that were proven offensive talents before getting to Houston (Lou, Ariza, Ryan, EG) but either injuries or being on bad teams put them out of sight and out of mind.

Russ is the system in OKC. Dude has been playing 75% of the season with Sabonis (a rookie) and Roberson (an offensive liability) in his starting line-up and yet somehow averaged 10 assists before the all star break with Vic missing time and Kanter being out for a month.

 

[MVP]

Well they haven't and they're 5 ahead of them the closes they got was 2 games away and a lot of that was cause Houston played like 5 more games than them

I'm talking about OKC.

 

[pums]

Elite defense?? the only Elite defender listed was Roberson... He has no knockdown shooters, Oladipo is the only dude who creates his own shot, Adams/Taj are guys who clog the lane and get there points off hustle. His usage is this high because the offense is designed for him to do that much, and it's designed that way because he HAS to set up everyone else.

Also i see all this talk about usage as if it's a bad thing, why does nobody ever factor in that having that much responsibility and still being able to play Dominant basketball night in night out is a feat within itself. That's what guys seem to leave out this convo, we quickly say well if we give this guy that much usage he could do so & so....... while not acounting for the fact that if most other players had that usage, they would be 1000% gassed by ASB, or be wildly inconsistent. Stamina and athleticism that it takes for him to pull this off is highly underrated.

I honestly haven't watched more than 1 and half games of Taj in OKC but he was very very good defensively in Chicago but Adams and oladipo are good defenders but they might not be elite in your definition

 

[addict4sneakers]

I'd say okc's roster benefits Russ as much as the Rockets does for Harden.

 

[JD617]

This man is ready to scarf down some Westbrook cakes.

 

[pums]

But without a doubt the most impressive thing is Westbrooks stamina

 

[ravagebx]

Oddsmakers had the Rockets winning 44 games in October.

They had OKC winning 43.5 games.

Yet, this is an argument people use when debating the two that Harden clearly has the "better team". Maybe they were clearly overachieving this year and its because of Harden's elite jump?

At the end of the day, it sucks for Westbrook that Harden is having one of the best seasons in league history and leading one of the best offenses in league history during the same year he goes on this triple double tear.

I would also think that a lot of people made those assumption assuming Ryan Anderson & Eric Gordon would continue to have the horrible health they had in N.O, they also didn't add the possible Sixth man of the year getting traded there for a 10th man.

Hardens team is built specifically to help his game, Russ team is almost the polar opposite of what would compliment his game & in spite of that he's having one of the best seasons ever. Harden is absolutely deserving but i edge it to westbrook because of that, not to mention he's doing this in 34 minutes of play & whenever he has a trip dub his team is winning at an 80% clip. Anybody other than those two tho & i will be irate.

Facts. The Lou Will addition has been big. Houston has outperformed expectations but part of that is players like Gordon and Lou Will having huge contributions. And it's funny how no one is discussing Houston has shot 500 more threes than the next closest team this year. 1100 more than OKC. Houston's success isn't squarely based upon Harden. D'Antoni has these guys jacking up triples at a historic level. Nearly 50% of Houston's shots are threes. Absolutely nothing is happening in OKC without Russ balling out.

 

[trueprada]

This man is ready to scarf down some Westbrook cakes.