2022/23 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD "TANKING FOR WEMBANYAMA"

he tried to run a wide receiver curl pattern on a basketball court

he needs to tighten up his route running

some thoughts about the nuggets after 11 games

long story short, they’re 8-3 but playing significantly worse than their record, which I think is extremely fortunate for them, considering their goals, which is championship contention. banking ugly wins early during a very road-heavy schedule is a blessing

the two time defending MVP is continuing his dominance, and maybe even building on it. he’s been awful from 3, which will correct (especially given his career high ft% so far), but otherwise has been basically unstoppable from the floor. he had a couple of very uncharacteristically off nights from 3-10 feet but before that was shooting well north of 70% on twos, and is posting a career high ast% (fifth in the league in ast/game), which is at least partly due to better shooting help, which obviously is what you’d want building around him. he’s finally getting star calls and posting a career high ft%, which is despite a dip in his usage, which is a symptom of his overall approach which to be honest has been extremely careless: career-high turnover percentage, a dip in rebound percentage…despite this just continues to toy with the league, which given his other peripherals just points to him continuing his progression. he’s +28.2 per 100 possessions. all signs right now are very good. very little left for him to prove in regular season basketball

biggest thing with the team right now, especially looking forward to the playoffs, is the search for a true #2. aaron gordon is having a career year, based on PER, usage, true shooting…all of which the eye test supports. he’s looking for his shot and playing great defense. he’s the guy we were hoping he’d be when the trade happened. jamal is slowly working his way back, which I think will take a few months…his usage is in the mid-20s, which is where you want it to be, but his shot selection has been weighted more toward jumpers than you’d like; career low ft rate at this point, though I think as his confidence in his leg improves he’ll be more aggressive getting into the paint. his very mediocre ts% is a product of his lack of getting to the line and weirdly low free throw percentage, both of which will improve. his defense will likewise regress to passable. not super worried about him at all, though I do think is ceiling might be a little lower than we thought it’d be a couple of years ago. we’ll see
MPJ is an interesting case…he’s shooting lights out from three (.486) on a career high 3pt rate, though other than that hasn’t made great strides…ast% is pretty stagnant and still does not get to the line like you’d like, and is still playing mediocre defense. he’s a really good #3 guy right now but I think his pedigree and contract would suggest he should be a little bit better. cautiously optimistic about him as well

bones hyland continues to be the ultimate trick or treat guy, and at least for me I have to keep reminding myself that he’s only in his second year, though he’s 22…he’s got a 30% usage rate, which in theory I don’t hate given his shot-making and confidence, though he’s got room to improve as a passer and he takes too many (long) threes — a guy with that usage should ideally have a ft% above .200. he’s making some strides as a passer

deandre jordan…I really have to be honest, he’s exceeded any reasonable expectations so far. has been the ideal version of his over the hill self, actually posting a career high ts% so far despite being asked to do probably more than is ideal (as evidence by an astounding 27.6 turnover percentage). cannot
complain at all given his contract

jeff green continues to do mid-30s jeff green things. the best 35+ dunker in the league this side of lebron. plays not terrible defense. whatever. hopefully won’t be a pivotal playoff piece.

christian braun has been an interesting case so far…the eye test far exceeds his numbers for me. the consummate hustle guy, brings insane energy and heart, the kind of player you love to have on your bench especially on a rookie deal. no matter what happens with him, it was a home run draft pick in the 20s

then we get to the final rotation pieces, bruce brown and KCP, who we’re relying on to be tertiary playmakers. KCP is shooting .543 from 3, but also a career high turnover rate. hopefully that’ll correct, but so will his shooting. brown is shooting 40% from three, which I think is completely doable for him over the long run considering his history, but I think he’ll find his way as a cutter with jokic soon enough, his free throw rate is way down. that’ll get better. all his other peripherals are good.

both KCP and brown should be key pieces in what should be a very good defense, which to this point on a team level has not materialized, but with some continuity I think will.

overall I really think this is the best roster in the west. it’s been a tough road schedule so far and will continue to be for the best couple of weeks iirc, though I do think that considering they’ve banked some ugly wins early, they’ll be at the top of the west by christmas or earlier. they’ve got a really nice 3-4 year window I think, things are looking good in nuggetsland

its looking like a good year to make a finals run in the west

overall re: nuggets once some continuity is established and they get locked in, they should be a top 5 offensive (8th now) and top 10 defensive (20th now) team, and having the best player in the conference should give them a shot vs anyone in the offs

nice. yeah i think bruce and kcp are huge pickups for them. but as long as jokic sustains his play and jamal levels up theyll be right there with the best of the west (and should have the best record)

theyre second in ts% but only 5th in offrtg (unlike the celtics who are first in both) looking at where the leaks might be seems like its a combo of too many turnovers and not getting enough 3s and fts up

theyre first in 3pt% but 24th in 3pta, need to start hoisting fellas

MPJ needs to be shooting like 12 threes per game

would be nice

Everyone should go watch the last 3-4 mins of regulation of the okc bucks game. Some insane and fun stuff

― im a beacon of light (Spottie), Thursday, 10 November 2022 04:33 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

See also the end of overtime

― im a beacon of light (Spottie), Thursday, 10 November 2022 04:36 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

i did this and you weren't kidding

some really egregiously bad and intrusive officiating though

couldnt believe the thunder didnt guard brooks roll to the rim. how you dont see that coming and zone a big under the rim is beyond me

Watching Hawks/Sixers, Trey's arcing short floater when he's driving the lane is such a fun shot

Shaedon Sharpe has undeniable superstar talent. The 19-year-old was electric Wednesday night in Charlotte, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the win. #RipCity pic.twitter.com/sqRyBiUewz

— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) November 10, 2022

This trend continues

Luka’s shooting gets worse the longer the game goes.

1Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
2Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
3Q — 48 FG%, 28 3P%
4Q — 36 FG%, 17 3P%

He currently has the 3rd highest usage rate in the 3pt era. pic.twitter.com/HcaoaSm3eD

— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 11, 2022

this .... might be my favorite blazer team to watch since i was a child, they're having so much fun out there! love the joyful game of basketball

Fun team. Helps to have no expectations. Good mix of vets and youngens

i was watching that game and couldn't really figure out how they were doing what they were doing (beyond some notably bad defense by the pels) but they play hard and play connected and that's a good start.

was thinking about jerami grant as i watched and one thing about him is that he's just a workhorse--played 42 minutes of decent to good ball at a wing position.

team is a bunch of scrappy Swiss Army knives + dame and ant, it’s a good mix in 2022

Distraught that the Sixers have finally made me into a "fire the coach" guy, and yet somehow, here we are.

they should

it’s not like they have other options to turn it around but i don’t think it’s doc’s fault that the sixers have the same problems over & over again

The time to fire Doc was in the offseason but whatever. Agree their issues go deeper than coaching.

No coach can fix the sixers problems, but doc is the wrong guy to wring whatever good can be got out of this roster.

their star player is an out of shape mope who can’t or doesn’t play hard for full games. but he’s the fulcrum of a multi year rebuild sold to fans as a golden ticket to contention that instead bore no fruit outside of the star himself, so he gets less criticism for his failures than any high profile player in the NBA. the entire culture of the sixers franchise is built around one guy escaping accountability at all costs

BREAKING: LUKA TO THE TIMBERWOLVES!!!!

The Timberwolves have transferred Luka Garza from the Iowa Wolves.

He’s AVAILABLE to play in tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/ohKxIKWUe6

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) November 11, 2022

lol

Hey, now! Garza was a Big Ten PLAYER OF THE YEAR!

you know theres a take from a few years ago out there somewhere from some old curmudgeon that garza is better than doncic

xpost - he's no Frank Kaminsky

Kawhi Leonard went through 5-on-5 this morning before the team’s practice and is progressing. He will not play tomorrow against the Nets but Ty Lue says Kawhi is getting closer to a return. Lue made it sound like Kawhi still has a little bit more to go before returning.

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) November 11, 2022

a truly baffling human/ career.

I think his knees are toast. Lue said something about how he can’t really fly right now because it makes his knees to stiff

If his knees are toast he should be wise and take medical retirement. In the next decades of his life, he will probably appreciate the ability to walk from his bed to the bathroom more than he needs to climb a few spaces higher on his career stats.

u shd email him

but we don't know if his knees are toasted and I'd want to be sure before I emailed

theyre toast. looking like a brandon roy situation

speaking of knees it looks like wembys ligaments are made of rubberized steel

Victor Wembanyama fell like a giraffe bro 😭😭
pic.twitter.com/cK74GuuRhv

— Mink Flow (@currypistonn) November 11, 2022

rip kawhi a crazy what could have been story that somehow involves winning chips with two teams

xxp Regarding the Sixers I agree with basically all of this tho I'd be a bit more nuanced than J0rdan.

My stake in the team at this point is essentially that I don't want to see Embiid end up as a tragic figure (and for the last two seasons it truly looked like he wouldn't!), which as emotional investments in pro sports franchises go is...frankly exhausting.

been saying this

Minnesota coach Chris Finch: “I still believe this is a good team. We just haven’t earned the right to be good.” https://t.co/fRfJu3jLaQ

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) November 12, 2022

Russ gotta be the worst late game player of all time

With the game tied at a critical juncture, Russell Westbrook forgets he’s guarding De’Aaron Fox 🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/k4y6JlT1T4

— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 12, 2022

classic mistake…

guy in detroit just hit a half court shot for 10k... in home renovations, it was pure very nice shot

10 grand. easy.https://t.co/QblR3B2nzP pic.twitter.com/OWVINRrQW3

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 13, 2022

hopefully he has a bathroom he’s looking to update

he doesnt look like he does lol

haha, i would take that 10k for renovations right now, tbh

dorrough is doing “ice cream paint job” at mavs/blazers halftime

Been thinking a lot about that song lately for some reason