Breaking -- The human race has waived Josh Smith: 2014-15 regular season thread part 2

ibaka already plays away from the rim on D a lot hes just super fast and athletic enough to recover for the help blocks, thats basically the system theyre using now except youd replace the center who is more of a positional defender now with someone who can do that job and also also blocks shots

Yeah, how is two rim protectors not better than one? Minimizes the extent to which stretch bigs can do damage by drawing defenders away from the paint

lol brooks i mean part of the problem is roberson shd not really be playing at all, its like thabo all over again

feels like brooks just sticking lopez in at center and getting the associated upgrade is more feasible than him getting better wings and figuring out how to change things up and go small more.

Yeah, how is two rim protectors not better than one? Minimizes the extent to which stretch bigs can do damage by drawing defenders away from the paint

― tsrobodo, Friday, January 16, 2015 12:11 PM (45 seconds ago) Bookmark

it's not that two rim protectors are bad it's just whether or not you're actually addressing problem areas on your roster

xp scotty brooks figuring anything out is not all that feasible

lol brooks i mean part of the problem is roberson shd not really be playing at all, its like thabo all over again

― lag∞n, Friday, January 16, 2015 12:11 PM (50 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's thabo minus the three point shooting lol

i suspect brooks can figure out the inside out game, westbrook tho idk

Yeah, three and D is a hole but but if they're going to stay in the tax should it be for that? Can't think of anybody available worth breaking the bank for.

xp

i prefer roberson to thabo because he's a real athlete but he should not be playing basically ever in the playoffs

Thabo's looked really good when I've seen him this season

thabo's per is like 13-ish somehow

Might be just basking in all that reflected ATL glow

shd just play morrow and let him bomb away imo

i mean ideally u wld just play jackson but apparently westbrook and him are too much brutal stubbornness for one backcourt

Hawks Wiz Raptors -- young guns of the East -- biggest upside?

my point is that the thunder (at 18-20, .474, tied with Nuggets for 10th in WC standings) are already well positioned to make a run at the finals...

welp, ok

tbf they were missing their two best players for most of the season

B Lopez would be real interesting for OKC as I think about it, obv massive caveat is health but

That's three monster threats on offense that all bring different stuff then you still have 3-4 crazy athletic dudes swarming around the perimeter on D, Ibaka locked in on the more mobile 4s and Lopez offers modest rim protection and is really good against guys who are basically nailed to the floor-

Some of whom (Timmy, Marc, Zbo) they must be thinking about possibly meeting in the playoffs

many defensive stats rate him as one of the best rim protecters in the game fwiw

I know but nobody wants to believe it because he looks terrible on d by the eye test sometimes- usually against smaller doods

what espn insider scouting report says re his D

+ Size and timing make him an excellent shot-blocker.

Defensively, Lopez is a top-notch rim protector. In his limited action last season, opponents shot just 39.7 percent against him at the rim, and he blocked 1.8 shots per game. Oddly, though, he remains an inept rebounder. He grabbed just 6.0 boards per game last season, and according to SportVU's player tracking data, he grabbed just 49.8 percent of rebounds that he had a chance to snag. For comparison's sake, Damian Lillard capitalized on 51.6 percent of his rebound opportunities.

it's fine as long as they don't face a team that can exploit his complete inability to move

with phoenix picking it up it will be tougher for OKC to make the finals but i think they'll get in the playoffs and from there they have as good a chance of anyone as coming out of the west IMO

he moves fine around the basket, a team with shooters a both front court positions i supose cld pull him out but how many of those are there

Sources: Nets back away from Brook Lopez trade talk with Thunder http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--thunder-in-serious-discussions-to-acquire-brook-lopez-from-nets-170834007.html

nets being interested in dumping his salary at all is sort of odd he only has one more year left on his deal and if he can prove any sort of health has value on the trade market, do they think theyre about to be huge free agent players or something whats going on here

Nets in not knowing what they're doing shocker

tru

that okc roster would be absolutely insane

i agree with jordan on the thunder issue. the thunder have 3 quality bigs in ibaka, adams, and collison (who's having a down season but will probably rebound, he was 2nd in RPM among PFs last year). if they added a true center like lopez, that would almost certainly require durant to play the 3 in crunch time playoff minutes (assuming ibaka is on the floor for those minutes). when they'd actually rather have durant at the 4 with one of the 3 bigs at the 5, with westbrook and jackson and [insert wing like wilson chandler here].

plus lagoon's talk of lopez as an elite player strikes me as specious. for one thing the guy can't stay on the floor, secondly his defensive value afaict is based entirely on sportVU or synergy nerd analysis or whatever, i don't trust that at all. his DRPM this year and last year are pretty average, and even that probably overestimates his value since he gets credit for being tall (really).

long story short the thunder need someone to take minutes at the wing, not a 4th big

its not just sportvu other stats too

i mean being all actually they need wing help while looking a gift lopez in the mouth is an overly academic approach, if they cld get a deal on lopez take it, he will help them more than for instance than some glorified rando like wilson chandler

with phoenix picking it up it will be tougher for OKC to make the finals but i think they'll get in the playoffs and from there they have as good a chance of anyone as coming out of the west IMO

― J0rdan S., Friday, January 16, 2015 1:50 PM (38 minutes ago)

phoenix is irrelevant because both teams can't make the playoffs

that i think was his point

(who's having a down season but will probably rebound, he was 2nd in RPM among PFs last year)

i see what u did there.

well how can you say the thunder will make the playoffs but also say the suns playing well decreases their chances of making a finals run?

(i'm assuming it's very unlikely the suns overtake the spurs or anyone else above them rn)

he meant the suns decreases their chance of making a finals run via decreasing their chance of making the playoffs

tho i wld argue if they cant catch the suns who they are 3.5 games behind they prob didnt have a v good chance of winning it anyway

are we still holding to the "there's no way OKC misses the playoffs" idea? bc while there's still about half the season left they need to win between 30 and 34 of their next 44. starting to think that's a high expectation

they're obv not gonna win all 44 (which'd be 62 total as of right now), 34 wins would put them at 52 and that's fine, 30 would put them at 48 and in this conference 48 legit might not be enough

got to figure any further westb or durant injury and theyre toast

def. but if they're healthy they will start steamrolling pretty soon

one wld think

well, after tonight's game (which i predict they will lose, albeit closely) they have an east roadtrip coming where they're capable on paper of all of their opposition, only exceptions to that prob being hawks, grizz and maaaaaybe pelicans so theyll most likely climb above 500 after their next dozen or so

also everyone is assuming perfect health for the rest of the west teams which likely will not be the case

true

thunder have less margin for error tho