NBA 2015-2016 Season thread

Woolygimp

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Like 2 years ago when Westbrook only played 46 games, the Thunder finished 59-23, and Durant won the MVP? No, I didn't watch that season at all. Or last year when Durant played only 27 games and the Thunder didn't even make the playoffs.

When Ambiturner is telling you that you're trying too hard, that's saying something.
Yeah, because everything exists in a vacuum, right? It's not like the Thunder lost their head coach, and Harden, or anything...

Russell Westbrook Wasn??Tt Supposed To Get Better Than Kevin Durant | FiveThirtyEight

Meanwhile, Westbrook has spent the past two seasons running over the league - by most measures, snatching "best player on the team" honors right out from under the ex-MVP Durant, even with Durant back to relatively full health.
Analytics agree with me, not you.

Ever since Durant took home that hardware, Westbrook has outshone him in both Real Plus-Minus (8.1 to 5.6) and Box Plus/Minus (10.7 to 6.7).
 

Woolygimp

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Stephen Curry Is The Revolution | FiveThirtyEight

Author argues that he could upset Wilt's record if tasked with more of a burden because Steph Curry has high returns to scale. He can score at will, and the only thing keeping him back from averaging 50+ points a game is his team.

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Leave aside the sharp drop on the right of the chart for a moment: Curry has hit 45 percent with a defender between 2 and 4 feet away, 44 percent with a defender between 4 and 6 feet away, and 47 percent with the closest defender more than 6 feet away. Yes, that's right, Curry shoots threes about as well with a defender 2 to 4 feet away (classified as "tight" by NBA.com) as an average NBA shooter does with the nearest defender 12 feet away.
Even if he can't average 51+ a game, it's obvious that he hasn't reached his full scoring potential yet.

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Yeah, Jordan changed the way defenses played in his era. But Curry is revolutionizing the entire fucking game.
 

Drakurii

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Curry is the best player in the league but Thompson is no slouch, he doesn't have the handle Curry has but his shooting is up there.
 

popsicledeath

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I give Curry a ton of credit, both for individual skills/abilities/efforts, but also for his willingness to buy into a system that makes him look great because it's a team system. Curry on a shitty team where he has to hero ball wouldn't be nearly as pretty. It's easy to say he'd score 50 points a game and that he's so much better than the others on his team, but Curry's game isn't isolation, solo-ball, or overpowering ability to get to the hoop. He's not Westbrook. If he didn't have outside threats, teams would collapse down on him hard, and his percentage in the paint wouldn't be nearly as high as it is on the Warriors. If he didn't have a system working around him that spreads the floor, creates movement off the ball, plays unselfishly, etc, he wouldn't have nearly the opportunities outside that he does.

Curry is amazing, but people who focus on his individual stats are missing the point. What's amazing is we have a superstar willing to buy in completely to a team system, which lets the team follow suit, and that team being willing to help build the perfect system that allows Curry to get most of the credit. But imo that's what separates good players and great players. Same most truly great players are often said to be great team players and competitors, not just overpowering individual talents.

In short, without the Warriors coaching, team, and system, and Curry's willingness to buy into it and set the example for others, he wouldn't be revolutionizing shit.
 

Woolygimp

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What really shocked me last year was just how terrible Kyle Korver was in the playoffs. Guy was having a monumental year from beyond the arc, and then went completely cold during the postseason.

On the subject of coaching, as a Celtics fan I have been saying (since 2008) that Doc Rivers is so overrated that it's silly. Celtics are doing amazing things playing a team-based style of basketball. It'll be interesting to see how Brad Stevens does when he actually gets some real talent. His coaching style seems to be similar to Pop's, and Popovich is the fucking man. People used to compare the two (Rivers vs Pop) and I always chuckled.

...now Rivers has actually been exposed in Los Angeles.
 

popsicledeath

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What really shocked me last year was just how terrible Kyle Korver was in the playoffs. Guy was having a monumental year from beyond the arc, and then went completely cold during the postseason.

On the subject of coaching, as a Celtics fan I have been saying that Doc Rivers is so overrated that it's silly.
Remember how Curry suddenly didn't look so bulletproof in the playoffs all the time either? It really isn't fair that when the pressure is the highest teams start playing defense in the playoffs.

Doc Rivers, though, yeah. He's a great 'motivational' type of coach, but from an actual coaching standpoint I've never thought he was that good. Then again, most teams don't let coaches actually coach, so being a motivational type is often all that's possible, and sometimes all that's needed.
 

Woolygimp

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Remember how Curry suddenly didn't look so bulletproof in the playoffs all the time either? It really isn't fair that when the pressure is the highest teams start playing defense in the playoffs.

Doc Rivers, though, yeah. He's a great 'motivational' type of coach, but from an actual coaching standpoint I've never thought he was that good. Then again, most teams don't let coaches actually coach, so being a motivational type is often all that's possible, and sometimes all that's needed.
Tom Thibodeaux definitely coached, and he was the defensive coordinator for the Celtics over all of their successful seasons. He was responsible for nearly all of Doc's (and the Celtic's) success. You really didn't need to coach an offense with KG, PP, Rondo, and Allen.
I always thought Thibs did a great job in Chicago, but then again I was -never- a fan of Derrick Rose.

And dude, Korver shot like...under 10%. That's just not being bulletproof, that's being absolute shit.
 

Jovec

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Keep in mind, it's not illegal for owners/management to fix games for ratings. Just like wrestling, they can pretty much dictate whichever outcome they'd like. I think that happened a LOT in the David Stern era, and it looks like it's died down a bit since he stepped down.
Haha. No one recalls game 5, where Shaq fouls out in like 25 mins and Chris Weber, Vlade Divac, and Lawrence Thunderburke somehow had 4 fouls combined. This was Shaq at his peak when no-one could guard him, and even when they weren't intentionally sending him to the line teams were still hacking the shit out of him.
 

Woolygimp

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It's not that they influenced the series so that the Lakers would win. It's that they intentionally brought it to 7 games, which the Kings subsequently ended up losing.

Having a 7 game Championship is much more profitable than a 5 or 6. Was it the year before last, the Lakers were one spot away from a playoff berth and ended up shooting FIFTY free throws against Goldenstate's 14? FIFTY free throws. 5-0.
 

Slaythe

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This again?

Westbrook is a great player in his own right and has only helped Durant's career. OKC can win without Durant, but if you've EVER seen Durant play without Westbrook you'd know the inverse isn't true.
You are a shit poster.
 

Convo

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yea.. he's not even good at jimmies either.. it's like too much or something...
 

popsicledeath

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Westbrook on the court as opposed to off. Surprisingly, they've fared slightly better with Durant resting,though the sample is too tiny to make any definitive conclusions.
Feel free to at least include the entire quote, you aspie retard.
 

Slaythe

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You say that, but the statistics show the Thunder better with Westbrook on the floor, not Durant. Westbrook has eclipsed KD, now stfu. Numbers don't lie.
This isn't what you argued in your first post.

"Westbrook is a great player in his own right and has only helped Durant's career. OKC can win without Durant, but if you've EVER seen Durant play without Westbrook you'd know the inverse isn't true."

Yes, Westbrook has had two MVP quality seasons. Yes, he's playing better than Durant right now. Durant however has 5 playoff teams to his credit when the workload was on his back, including a 59 win MVP season where Westbrook missed half the year. In Westbrook's one year without Durant they missed the playoffs.

Essentially, your initial point was really dumb. And then you tried to back it up with statistics that didn't support it. And now you're trying to argue something else.
 

Woolygimp

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Feel free to at least include the entire quote, you aspie retard.
You can still reach a conclusion, it's just not definitive.

My initial point was that OKC is a better team with Westbrook instead of Durant, if you had to choose one. That's indisputable at this point. Yes, Kevin Durant is a great player, but he's not top 3 talent. Curry, LeBron, and Davis with an honorable mention going to Westbrook round out the top 3. I'd put him at number 5 as I think he's better than Harden, Griffin, and Howard.

Then again, I think Duncan and Parker are better than Harden, Griffin, and Howard. The Spurs are winners, the rest of those clowns aren't.
 

Slaythe

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Given the focus on one season to prove your point, you're going to have to prove to me that AD is a top 3 player this season. That's going to be a tough one.
 

Woolygimp

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Curry just destroyed OKCs double digit lead in the space of about a minute. It's almost as if 9 players are playing basketball, and Curry is playing kiddie golf.

Great game, OKC is really bringing it.