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

Xpost - ha yeah warning sign for sure

https://i.imgur.com/C3nmqxY.png

seems like there's only one solution for the hawks: hire the posters from esteemed message board i love hoops to make all personnel decsions

this

hawks will win the nba playoffs (if they make ilh the gm)

spurs playing in the dome brings back many childhood memories 4 me

so to fit all these people rather than do the basketball configuration they used when the spurs played theyre using the football configuration with some extra seats squeezed in near the court

yeah its a mess, just like the 90s

seems like the difference is they used to bring the baseline seats in

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY_j7_mVMAAZ3EA?format=jpg&name=small

David Robinson just announced to the crowd here at the Alamodome that the official attendance is an NBA regular-season record 68,323.

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 14, 2023

great job san antonio

kawhi playing and jokic not, must be opposite day

haha i had no idea jokic was dealing with something until i saw deandre huffing and puffing before tipoff

poor zeke nnaji has gotten posterized by post-acl kawhi and post-acl john wall twice in about 5 minutes

the nuggets currently lead the league in vibes

in the last two weeks the thunder have beaten the celtics by 33, the wizards by 17, the mavs by 11, the sixers by 19, and the bulls by 14. now a half game out of the play in.

i love it!

Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams both look really good.

Thunder have their fair share of injuries too. They're missing Holmgren and Dieng, rookies who could both develop into top-tier players. They're also missing some of their taller players like Poku and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

There are some fun scenarios if OK squeak into the playoffs and get a good draft pick anyway via the Clippers.

OKC are only a couple of wins behind LA and have had a tough schedule so far. According to Tankathon LAC have the 4th toughest remaining schedule while OKC has the 3rd easiest.

OKC also lead the league in starting Jalen/Jaylin Williamses.

love when u get a tru baller in one of these

pic.twitter.com/IG8sajYDH3

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 14, 2023

light the beam

make a free throw and get $3k is a nice contest

i’ve never been a huge giddey believer but he’s had some big games recently

hes really talented great feel for the game a true baller etc just a question of if he could overcome the terrible combo of being bad at shooting and defense and hes started hitting threes so if thats real he should be pretty good

idk about the defense but maybe he can chip away at that try to get it to not awful having one major flaw isnt the end of the world

yeah if you can’t shoot or play defense there’s a hard ceiling on what you can be in the league nowadays and i still don’t think he can or will be able to shoot or play defense. but his passing ability will always play in the regular season and he figures out how to get his own buckets

he cld learn to shoot and get better at d both have been done lots of times

tho i doubt hell ever be a good defender

and he is over 40% from 3 since the start of december, pretty small sample but its also not nothing

idk about the defense part with him i don’t see it physically tho he is tall so that helps inherently. and he’s a guard so it only matters so much anyway. his shot is also hideous. but if he can actually establish himself as a 35% shooter from three he’ll be a real weapon on the offensive end. it’s certainly possible. he’s more ricky rubio than star to me but ricky rubio is prob more the floor of what he could turn out to be

i was watching him play d and he just looked so out of it confused not in a stance playing with zero physically lol its bad

just the way the game is played now in the playoffs he will get targeted in switches every single time down the floor and then on offense basically nobody will guard him. he’d still be able to make plays and such in a rondo sense, you prob can’t let a guy with his kinda feel just have a wide open look at the game. but there would be stretches of games or end of game scenarios where his lack of shooting and/or turnstile defense would put him on the bench. but obv this is all a longterm concern and as of now he’s developing pretty nicely, in the regular season that stuff pops up way less anyway or coaches will just let it ride

he def has to become a good shooter for it to work, i just watched a bunch of his 3s and they look bad from the pov of hes just not smooth and comfortable with it but the basic technique looks right compact one motion shot, clearly a work in progress but it cld happen idk

he shoots like he’s playing pop a shot and the basket is at eye level 3 feet from his head

its ok to shoot like that its normal now

Halliburton has one of the nastiest shots I’ve ever seen and yet

yeah some shots look bad but arent, and some shots are bad but the shooter is so talented they go in anyway

haliburton has a really off center shot he brings it up and releases all way on his shooting side which used to be more common both bird and stockton did that tho their shots didmt really look like halis otherwise, he also has the modern very low release point

hes also super effortless with it looks very comfortable putting it up

lamelo has a horrific looking shot… he’s also a career 37% shooter from three. i didn’t believe in his shot either but i can get past it if the stats are there. giddey has a bad shot + bad shooting percentage combo

the thing about giddy too is that he just doesnt look comfortable shooting where melo and hali are bombs away all day can get off good looks in all sorts of situations etc

think maybe these new fangled single motion low release low jump shots thatre all about shooting as effortlessly as possible just might be more amenable to weird form, because youre putting less force into it strange alignments or whatever are less likely to break the form

fun fact giddey is shooting 50/40/90 since the start of dec but he still has a below average ts% because he takes too many twos

wow that’s wild

yep

i think he will grade out as a fine defender tho. he is tall enough to compensate for some of his athletic shortcomings.

that’s fair. if he becomes a good enough shooter and defender then he has all star potential

apparently okc poached the spurs shooting guy (can’t remember his name) and giddey’s form has begun to improve. lowe mentioned this on a recent pod. i like giddey, saw him opening night 2021 rox v okc and was impressed by his play making, passing. rooting for him to improve. giddey, sga backcourt could be special

chip engelland