OFFICIAL NBA 2017-2018 Off-Season Thread

[Lovetohate3000]

Steph Curry. Kawhi Leonard. Kevin Durant

this was really obvious. dude really was trying to act like he aint know what a star without record high usage is. its called being efficient..

 

[wavycrocket]

I just want 0 excuses when the Thunder win 48-51 games....and Russ gets bounced from the 1st round again.

Although, I'd LOVE to see a 1-4 matchup with GSW in the 1st round. Russ and his "super team" getting swept on national tv in a playoff series against KD & Steph .

I needs that.

 

[100027]

I was really impressed by Russ's stamina to maintain that high usage throughout the year.

It is really impressive. His physical will was amazing. He did fade big time down the stretch though.

 

[P C H]

Nobody's penalizing him for anything, dudes are penalizing Westbrook for not having a league best Offense with several below league average offensive players around him. Even more im emphasizing that style doesn't matter if the players around can't execute. Dudes are acting as if he took a bunch oh horrible offensive players & turned them into a top 10 Offense. All those players i named had seasons on par with their averages w/o Harden, they were more than Capable offensive threats.

You missing the point. Relative to the MVP race, was this a common belief going into the season? That the rockets had more than enough capable threats? The answer is, no. It was 'meh' by most accounts. The outlook on OKC was far more optimistic.

Perhaps PART (not all) of the reason why Russ's teammates "Couldn't execute" as you put it is because he whored' the ball for the entire season w/o empowering his teammates. Again, the outlook for OKC was far more optimistic than Houston's, and it wasn't until James Harden went supernova that that perception changed.

 

[hardens beard]

That's a fairly niche example though, Rondo is an extreme outlier for that.

Rubio and Chris Paul's usage doesn't explain the degree in which they dominated the ball.

And Klay usage doesn't demonstrate how much he didn't dominate the ball.

 

[100027]

this was really obvious. dude really was trying to act like he aint know what a star without record high usage is. its called being efficient..

It's real hard to explain to someone who is being willfully ignorant, man.

 

[atransta]

I just want 0 excuses when the Thunder win 48-51 games....and Russ gets bounced from the 1st round again.

Although, I'd LOVE to see a 1-4 matchup with GSW in the 1st round. Russ and his "super team" getting swept on national tv in a playoff series against KD & Steph .

I needs that.

Want to wager on the 51 wins and under?

 

[hardens beard]

I more or less saying that usage is not the best way to determine if someone is ball dominant.

 

[100027]

For the last time his teammates that he made "better" put up the same #'s they did w/o him in other situations....... Also why are we acting as if Harden didn't have the ball in his hand the Majority of the game also along with playing an extra 148 minutes on the court. the only difference between the two last season was that Russ team did help him to grab an extra board here & their and instead of Kicking the ball out to Shooters, Russ was kicking it out to roberson, Gibson, & Sabonis

Harden did dominate the ball a lot... But not as much as Russ.

Would you dispute that Harden is better at distributing the ball and setting up teammates than Russ is? That Harden's a more efficient player? I don't think that's ever been in debate, even from the days when they played together.

 

[P C H]

the same System that led them to a 78% winning percentage when he had a triple double?? people harp on this as if this wasn't the best option for the team as a whole to win............... maybe they should have practiced ball movement & rotation with a starting lineup that had one guy who shot 25% from 3, 19% from 3 & 0%.... Or maybe put the ball in the Hands of Adams more and let him work his Hakeem like post moves??

Giving Russell the Ball and letting him dominate the Offense led them to being a playoff team & was the best option to win

You're being disingenuous. You trying to be funny but Adams was called the best big in the league by Steve Kerr coming into last season. He was pegged as being one of the best bigs in the entire league. When you dumb down one's role to finish assists so westbrook can statpad, of course he's going to regress.

And they were a bad shooting team, but pounding the ball and dominating the rock then passing it for the sake of an assist doesn't help matters either. Nothing worse than a hooper trying to do it all, freezing out his teammates, then getting upset when you finally give them the ball and ask them to make a shot or a play. Basketball, good basketball that is, don't work like that.

 

[a-friend]

Want to wager on the 51 wins and under?

Dude has 9 teams he roots for and still can't cheer for one of HIS teams after April.
He joined GSW the same way KD did, so he could finally win.
Let him cook.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

Want to wager on the 51 wins and under?

This is ridiculous. C'mon now. My boy wavy aint bout to risk his face tatt money

Dude has 9 teams he roots for and still can't cheer for one of HIS teams after April.
He joined GSW the same way KD did, so he could finally win.
Let him cook.

Dwade.gif

 

[rbk93]

Joel Embiid

Steph Curry. Kawhi Leonard. Kevin Durant

Yeah, not sure what point you're trying to convey here.

 

[100027]

You're being disingenuous. You trying to be funny but Adams was called the best big in the league by Steve Kerr coming into last season. He was pegged as being one of the best bigs in the entire league. When you dumb down one's role to finish assists so westbrook can statpad, of course he's going to regress.

And they were a bad shooting team, but pounding the ball and dominating the rock then passing it for the sake of an assist doesn't help matters either. Nothing worse than a hooper trying to do it all, freezing out his teammates, then getting upset when you finally give them the ball and ask them to make a shot or a play. Basketball, good basketball that is, don't work like that.

Quoted for emphasis. Also, when stars ballhog young players consistently regress. It's exactly the vicious cycle I was describing. (incidentally it's Carmelo Anthony's whole career)

 

[hardens beard]

So he wasn't even at his peak 2 years ago? The league don't stand chance.

 

[P C H]

A prime example was the 05-06 Lakers. Kobe went gun-ho the entire year for 45 wins. They got torched by the suns in the reg season if I recall.

But come playoff time, he allowed and empowered guys such as Smush and Kwame Brown to feel confident about themselves, and participate in the actual game, and as a result they almost pulled off a historical upset.

Nobody wins big in the NBA playing that kind of way and as long as you have NBA players surrounding you, you can never convince me that your teammates are so bad that you have to dominate the ball, freeze them out, etc...they're friggin NBA players for christ' sake.

The Thunder would have had a better chance to beat Houston in the playoffs if Russ spent the entire year actually empowering teammates instead of statpading.

 

[atransta]

So he wasn't even at his peak 2 years ago? The league don't stand chance.

Yikes guess Durant will make another Alt account slandering Curry since It won't be Durant's team anymore.

 

[trynafeelmink]

Also while we're talking Usage we should also mention that a Majority of the highest ones are to no surprise........ Great Players on Bad teams

Kobe 05-06
Jordan 86-87
AI - 2000-01, 01-02, 05-06
Wade - 08-09
Jordan - 01-02
Cousins - 15-16
T-Mac - 02-03
Stackhouse - 00-01

* Also James Harden last year had a top 30 usage of all time, it's not like he aint have a hell of a lot of chances.

 

[hardens beard]

Also while we're talking Usage we should also mention that a Majority of the highest ones are to no surprise........ Great Players on Bad teams

Kobe 05-06
Jordan 86-87
AI - 2000-01, 01-02, 05-06
Wade - 08-09
Jordan - 01-02
Cousins - 15-16
T-Mac - 02-03
Stackhouse - 00-01

* Also James Harden last year had a top 30 usage of all time, it's not like he aint have a hell of a lot of chances.

I honestly don't think y'all understand what usage is

 

[trynafeelmink]

I just want 0 excuses when the Thunder win 48-51 games....and Russ gets bounced from the 1st round again.

Although, I'd LOVE to see a 1-4 matchup with GSW in the 1st round. Russ and his "super team" getting swept on national tv in a playoff series against KD & Steph .

I needs that.

Can't be a Superteam, remember most NBA "Insiders" have him ranked below the likes of Kent Bazemore....... Also if the "GOAT" & his superteam could only get one win against GS, Russ shouldnt be expected to get any

 

[antidope]

So he wasn't even at his peak 2 years ago? The league don't stand chance.

Season is a wash.

 

[Lovetohate3000]

when did jordan play these warriors. must of been asleep during that series.

 

[100027]

I honestly don't think y'all understand what usage is

I get your point. It's tied to the way a possession ends rather than the way it begins, so it's imperfect. I still think that's a pretty good statistical tool in context.

IDK if something like ball time in a player's possession is tracked. Probably not, but maybe in the future.

 

[wavycrocket]

So he wasn't even at his peak 2 years ago? The league don't stand chance.

Trying to tell y'all man.....

Dummy rey have one of THEM seasons

 

[Lovetohate3000]

curry has a couple more seasons like the past few and hes going to be knocking on the door of some of the all time nba legends , they going to have no choice but to let him in.