NBA 2020-21 reg season 1st half thread

the pistons trading bruce brown for no reason for a guy they cut like a month later is “stuff bad franchises do”

Adams is the only defensive anchor on the entire Pelicans roster, sets screens for guys like JJ and Zo to shoot off of, boxes out and rebounds defensively (Zion for all his hops is underwhelming at that at this stage in his career), and is a good passer for his position too. Lot of fans and commentators have been trying to gaslight him into being the worse offseason acquisition of any team because he doesn't shoot 30% from 3 on under 3 attempts a game like Myles Turner, but in reality has like the most lopsidedly positive on/off ratings of anyone on the Pelicans roster, is a big part of why they're generally the #1 or 2 rebounding team in the league, and his net rating with their starters is excellent. Saves Zion from a ton of punishment and wear and tear checking opposing 5s too. I get that "FLOOR SPACING" is the buzzword on every twitter analysts fingers when it comes to building around Zion but the reality is he's already the league's leading paint scorer, putting up 26 a game on an absurd 60+% TS. Him and his team's issues as a whole are almost solely on defense; guys like Adams and Hart are what their roster is in most pressing need of.

'preciate the 'nalysis

i don't object to the pelicans playing a true 5 next to zion, it's obvious he can't hold up there on defense and there aren't very many starting caliber 5s who can bang down low and shoot. players zion's age usually get paired w/ bigger vets who can save them from wear and tear, i don't think it's very surprising that the pelicans targeted center as a position of need. but they're paying adams an awful lot money to set screens and rebound... just doesn't seem like those are skills that are extremely difficult to find elsewhere. no advance numbers i'm looking at rate adams as bad by any stretch, more just like pretty decent, maybe like the 12 or 15th best center in the league, which i feel like lines up w/ what i'm seeing on the court. the overall impact at that level is pretty minimal most nights. taking up space, throwing weight around... it's not nothing but, you know

dean wade is the most “my name is on a tractor dealership” ass name I’ve heard in ages

it's really weird to see a D. Wade in the box score and have it be a guy named dean

I get that "FLOOR SPACING" is the buzzword on every twitter analysts fingers when it comes to building around Zion but the reality is he's already the league's leading paint scorer, putting up 26 a game on an absurd 60+% TS. Him and his team's issues as a whole are almost solely on defense; guys like Adams and Hart are what their roster is in most pressing need of.

― Sabre of Paradise (trevor phillips), Monday, March 1, 2021 11:00 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

genuine question--do you think you're calling into a talk radio show or something? no one was talking about floor spacing. steven adams is posting career lows in a bunch of scoring categories so i think it's reasonable for everyone to wonder what exactly he is doing out there. if the answer is.....screens and boxing out it's fair to ask why that is worth $27M this year and $17M each for the next two years.

trevor came into the paint swinging elbows like steven adams himself

otm, i’d say he’s committed a few offensive fouls in his time here.

Adams doesn’t even get under the skin of his opponents like he used to seemingly every game.

the meeting of melo minds

THE MELO x MELO SHOW

Carmelo Anthony: 29 PTS
10/19 FG, 6 3PT, 5 STL, 2 BLK

LaMelo Ball: 30 PTS
10/18 FG, 8 AST, 6 REB, 5 3PT, 4 STL pic.twitter.com/pVA6F0h6ib

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 2, 2021

i still hate lamelo's jump shot and i can't believe it's been going in so much. i'm still kinda skeptical. i just can't believe anyone in the NBA shoots like that. i'm trying to be open minded

hes been awesome since they started starting him

melos shot is def really weird but might not actually be fundamentally bad, it kind of makes sense as the culmination of a lot of the current trends in shooting/challenging of shooting orthodoxy, like if having a low release point and barely jumping is ok since that gives you a shot that is easier and quicker to get off why not have a really low release point and jump one inch, and if thumbing is ok and has been going on all along then whats wrong with shooting with two hands however you want, the really weird thing to me tho is that he doesnt straighten his legs when he shoots cant say ive ever seen that

i feel like he can make threes now primarily bcuz nobody is guarding him out there but can you make a contested shot when you shoot from your chin? maybe i'm overthinking it

i think the idea is that you make up for the low release point with quick release and ability to get the shot off in more situations because it demands less effort, so rather than taking contested shots you design your shot with the ability to get open, trae shoots from his chin too, and steph has a way lower release point than kobe

trae shooting from his chin is even crazier because he is short

"the really weird thing to me tho is that he doesnt straighten his legs when he shoots cant say ive ever seen that"

it is weird, he does a pretty big dip but then just never comes fully out of the dip.

all those players you're talking about have the one motion shot so they can get it off real quick. doesnt matter as much where their set point is.

yeah ascendancy of the one motion shot is really at the heart of the shifting of shooting mores

the athletic has a big article out on the hawks firing pierce that basically says that he lost the players, unclear to what extent its a shams beat sweetener (it credited to the athletic staff)

it credits the reporting to sam amick, david aldridge, and chris kirschner (who i think is their hawks beat guy). i do trust that group. sounds like pierce, despite not being old at all, did not enjoy coaching young guys.

welp so long then bud that's what you signed up for. either of you up for dumping that article on the c&p thread?

done

ty

post your memz here, my friends
What's the most memorable NBA game(s) you've seen in person?

it credits the reporting to sam amick, david aldridge, and chris kirschner

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, March 2, 2021 2:26 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

oops missed that second credit line, theres also this at the end fwiw

— The Athletic’s Shams Charania also contributed to the reporting for this story.

I never hated lamelo’s shot as much as lonzo’s but obviously both are bizarre

yeah lonzos shot is just obviously flawed and bad

tho to his credit he has improved it a ton which is not easy

re the athletic piece: its entirely possible that pierce lost the team but they need to dig up some better anecdotes damn that article was pretty dull, cld be hes just one of those boring passive aggressive management types who says all the right stuff but is ultimately just kind of full of shit, in which case i wholeheartedly support his firing, ownership having unrealistic expectations for this season is given a lot of space in too but cant help but feel it like it was really maybe the main deal, of course its easy to fire a guy the players dont really care about

yeah, the stuff about reddish was interesting, but not much else there to grab on to. anyway, the team has a ton of potential so i hope they can land someone decent

think about Schlenk's background and who he would be interested. that walton kid's not getting any looks i hope

yeah i agree the article didn't have any shocking revelations. seems like players would go to him with stuff and then feel ignored/unheard which is just commonplace bad management.

they're going to be obligated to give mcmillan a serious look as permanent coach but man he seems like the wrong guy for this team. they need to open up the offense and figure out how reddish and bogdan and some of their other wings can contribute.

Maybe they can poach Vanderpool from Minny!

just give it to steph now

NBA All-Star 3-point contestants: Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker, Zach LaVine

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 3, 2021

steph never shoots that well in these tbf

Zero of the current top 20 in 3P% are in there.

i think they were trying to keep it to people in the all star game that are already there?

The should do Steph and Kerr vs Seth and Dell

Tony Snell has been playing really well for the Hawks

i feel like tony snell is immortal. like i could have read the same post in 2011 or 2031 but just change the team name to another team.

the name tony snell is so weird could easily be a lizard person

yes, it bothers me

since the beginning of time, tony snell has walked the earth, averaging 7.3 points per game

watching game 7 of the 1987 ECF finals between pistons and celtics on NBA TV right now. rookie dennis rodman just ran the fast break and posterized larry bird for an and 1 in the fourth quarter. crazy to me to see him playing big minutes in an ECF vs bird and mchale, feels like two totally different eras to me.

in some ways the game hasn’t changed that much ... a lot of this game is kicking the ball out for jumpers (except the guys are all taking 16 foot shots instead of threes), drawing fouls... game 7s nowadays are still about tightly wound offense leading to mid range Js. this game finished 117-114, high scoring game 7 in any era.

forget the pistons young (michael) jordan was averaging 37 at the height of the celtics lakers era

more like tony snail imo

danny ainge hitting all the big shots down the stretch off larry bird double teams... lots of big games are still like this haha

shooter danny