2021-22 NBA "REGULAR" SEASON THREAD

Per @ramonashelburne: The 76ers have stopped fining Ben Simmons for missing practices and games pic.twitter.com/jUw8O4kaWq

— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) October 25, 2021

lol this situation

Which was Ben's entire reason for showing up.

looks like the mental health gambit worked

5-dimensional chess out there between the moreys and the simmonses

I guess the more charitable view is maybe both sides are taking good faith steps:

1. Ben shows up and sort of apologizes to the team (Friday).
2. Sixers stops fining Ben.
3. ???
4. Sixers NBA Championship.

I hope they made him promise to get better at basketball first.

i dont think it will look that ridiculous considering almost everyone is saying hell prob be fine

― lag∞n, Monday, October 25, 2021 12:54 PM (thirty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah i think we're all expecting a return to form or at least a baseline of harden form. but he's getting to an age/weight where things can start to go south, add the rule thing and general lack of conditioning and you can start to build a case.

i feel like he wasn’t someone who generated lots of FTs thru the kinda moves that are now being scrutinized, purposefully stopping and jumping into contact and stuff. i feel like he was just hitting the rim super hard all the time and getting hacked just as a crafty player generally

fwiw I think Harden will be fine but he also may be one of those players who's never fully healthy again

he did lead the league in 3pt fouls drawn which one would think would dry up some, at least until he figures out how to hack the system again

wonder what the refs will think about those drives where he reaches the ball way out in front of him with both arms now too, not the most natural of motions

i feel like he wasn’t someone who generated lots of FTs thru the kinda moves that are now being scrutinized, purposefully stopping and jumping into contact and stuff. i feel like he was just hitting the rim super hard all the time and getting hacked just as a crafty player generally

― J0rdan S., Monday, October 25, 2021 3:01 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yah harden is the poster boy for foul baiting imo. trae young not far behind but hardens baiting resume is deeper. hes def known more for the swipe his arms up and through anyones outstretched arms on a drive but he for sure baits on the 3 point attempts a ton too.

or what lagoon said. the thing about that arms out foul thing is he stopped getting that call in the playoffs and its a huge part of his failures. hes gotta adjust, he can hit that little floater any time he wants really just needs to think bucket first and not contact first.

early houston harden was quite fun to watch

life would be so much better if everyone just thought bucket first

yah harden is the poster boy for foul baiting imo.

― It's the Final Cluntdiwn (Spottie), Monday, October 25, 2021 6:10 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

he said so himself

"I just ask officials to call what they see"

James Harden says he feels like the "poster boy" of the NBA's rule changes, but adds, "I'm not the type to complain about it" pic.twitter.com/VRg170JN8B

— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) October 24, 2021

i do feel like his foul baiting is craftier than say traes who will jump three feet sideways into a guy, harden creates more legit fouls, people do hate him for it tho lol

pretty sick celtics-hornets game here at the half lots of ridiculous shot making running around and so forth

the hornets are a really fun watch

yeah theyre awesome lamelo is a blessing

franz wagner might end up the better of the magic’s two top 10 picks from this draft. it’s looking kinda rough for jalen suggs. franz can shoot it tho

smh turning your back on suggs after 3 games

anecdotally speaking i feel like harden got so many and ones on threes because guys would jump onto his feet when he shot step backs. i don’t feel like he did a lot of the stuff like coming around a pick and letting the defender run into his back and just throwing the ball up at the rim. but i could be wrong

smh turning your back on suggs after 3 games

i still think he’ll be good, he can fill the stat sheet and will be a good defender. but he’s been turning the ball over a ton and it looks like athleticism isn’t giving him issues as far as scoring goes

felt like he shouldve gone one spot higher but scottie barnes has looked like straight baller tbh

Masai was right yet again

VanVleet with 5 turnovers in the half. He's never had more than 5 in a game.

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) October 26, 2021

guess theres a reason hes the best gm and im just the gm of the sacramento kings xp

sadly I am the gm of the milwaukie brewers :/

ah well nevertheless

JOHN COLLINS IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET pic.twitter.com/nz0o3eseZ1

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 26, 2021

Evan Mobley just looks really special. Kinda Ralph Sampson vibes?

saw a few clips of him guarding trae on the perimeter and staying with him to contest at the rim, rookie seven footers shouldnt be able to do that

Ralph Sampson before my time but based on clips yeah he’s got that same walking the line between gangly and graceful

Does the bulls’ crazy small ball experiment work?

Evan Mobley just looks really special. Kinda Ralph Sampson vibes?

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, October 25, 2021 10:35 PM (fifty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

nods in the year 2021

cavs with the wire to wire road demolition is one for the “huh” files

Does the bulls’ crazy small ball experiment work?

cavs with the wire to wire road demolition is one for the “huh” files

― J0rdan S., Monday, October 25, 2021 11:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

it’s not what you want to see as a nuggets fan in particular

Nuggets built their whole offseason around 3 point shooting but it will take time for Michael Malone to admit that means he has to play a rookie

one could say that.. both balls are undefeated

Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the East. They are both undefeated. pic.twitter.com/YRNGYOXfyh

— Basketball Forever (@Bballforeverfb) October 25, 2021

deez balls are undefeated

obi toppin is showing signs of life this season

they overdrafted him but he can do some things off the bench

meanwhile sixers have played two of the worst teams in the NBA and won and played two playoff teams from last year and lost in pretty pathetic fashion both times (pathetic in different ways).

knicks going nuts from 3 tonight but the sixers look to have way less offensive firepower than them which i think is a bit scary. off night from embiid and they’re gonna struggle to hit 95 points

sixers arent that good of a team without simmons just talent/composition wise

i don't really believe in their talent after embiid. an easy tell is how from shake milton to seth curry to maxey, there's always a narrative that some random guy is going to break out and save them.

Embiid also doesn't look explosive going to the net compared to early last year. He looks like he's not confident he can beat guys and settles for a lot of jumpers.