2021-22 NBA "REGULAR" SEASON THREAD

seems like he and kyrie kind of stopped caring as soon as they formed their superteam lol, the emptiness of the project is too much for them

One great thing about the new rules changes is that players actually have to try to finish, so you get actual basketball played above the rim instead of some opera performance on the floor

yeah it was really the nonsense fake shots that bothered people more than say the frequency of fouls or whatever although they were too frequent too

even just a few less foul calls per game can have a major impact on flow

re:harden, NBA superstars don’t just fall off a cliff overnight. he’ll be fine

harden needs to work himself back into shape. the skill set is still there.

would be pretty easy for him to be fine and also declining

haven't a lot of people predicted that Harden's high usage rate and the fact that he's absorbed an insane amount of contact make him the ideal candidate to fall off a cliff? not saying that's what's happening but he's 33 and he's been hurt a lot + there's a rule change designed specifically to take a major part of his game away, I wouldn't be surprised if he just sucks this year

injury aside i would be surprised if he didnt at least mostly regain his form this year hes such a smart player he should be able to figure it out

last year he shot 4 fewer free throws per game, and the brooklyn portion of his year was the first time he ever took more shots from 3-10 feet than at the rim. i think the athletic decline has already started, but if anyone is smart enough to manage it and have a couple more productive years i would bet on him.

we could easily be looking at a nets juggernaut rolling into the playoffs or also not

I mean looking at this Nets roster & the fact that they're missing Kyrie it's not really a surprise that they just don't really know what they're doing yet. I would also bet on Harden figuring it out but his game was so physical before that I'm not entirely sure what it would look like

i mean he needs to get in shape then take it from there, playing a little bit more as a distributor prob makes sense for this nets team especially if they get kyrie back

before he came up with the take 3s from a hyperbolic chamber routine he used to get past the first line of D and fling all sorts of crazy passes around

let's not forget dude is one of the best long range shooters ever, even if he is losing athleticism/driving ability he has the no 1 skill you would want in order to adjust to decline. he had a shitty game vs charlotte but in the two games previously he put up 20-8-8 on 7-15 shooting from three. even if he's not racking up 12 FTA and 45 point games he's still gonna be a really good player. he's turned the ball over too much, he's prob still a bit rusty. i feel like in a month if not sooner this convo will look a bit ridiculous

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

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?