Official 2015-2016 NBA Regular Season Thread

[KevB]

I don't believe this thread has been started yet, so here you go.

Good start to the season, key guys appear to be relatively healthy. As a basketball fan, good to see the Thunder back at full strength, as a Grizzlies fan notsomuch.

The West is just so deep, hard to figure out who comes out on that side. If the Cavs stay healthy, hard to imagine they don't represent the East.

If we have a group interested in a fantasy basketball league, I'd be happy to set it up.

[KC native]

And
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/...ce-larry-bird/

Kawhi Leonard Is The Most Well-Rounded Elite Shooter Since Larry Bird



Among Kawhi Leonard’s many, varied talents is something relatively new this season: Without much warning, and in addition to his stellar defense and rebounding, the Spurs forward has become one of the most devastating 3-point shooters in the league.

Leonard currently ranks second among qualified players in 3-point accuracy, having knocked down a ridiculous 48.4 percent of his threes. Before this season, his career high had been 37.9 percent (on 2.8 threes per game) and his high for attempts per game was 3.0; this year, he’s taking 3.8 per game and shattering his career numbers. Merely putting a shooting threat of that magnitude on the floor can dramatically grease the wheels of offensive efficiency: Since 1997-98,1 teams whose regular lineups featured a guy hitting at least 45 percent of his threes scored 2.7 more points per 100 possessions than their peers. But Leonard is more than just a long-distance sniper.

On top of his range, he also rates among the league’s best defenders (his +3.4 defensive Box Plus/Minus is in the 97th percentile of NBA players) and scorers (95th percentile in points per 36 minutes), with above-average rebounding (69th percentile in rebound rate) and passing (57th percentile in assist rate) thrown in for good measure. Leonard’s all-around excellence this season has placed him squarely in the mix with Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James for the mantle of NBA’s Best Player™.

As my colleague Ben Morris wrote last month, Curry has emerged as the face of the 3-point revolution sweeping across the league in recent seasons. Along those lines, you might also expect that Leonard is ushering in a new era of great shooters who also excel in other facets of the game — a sort of apex predator among the 3-and-D genus. But Leonard doesn’t symbolize some broader trend threatening to transform basketball, primarily because he’s far too unusual for anyone in today’s NBA to measure up.

The typical sharpshooter at the level of Leonard this season is, and always has been, limited in other areas. Going back to ’97-98 again, the average top-five-ranked shooter by 3-point percentage profiles as follows: a highly efficient scorer2 and solid passer who’s also in the bottom half of NBA players in usage rate, the bottom third in defensive BPM and close to the bottom quarter in rebound rate. So, by and large, these are not all-around dynamos — they’re in the game to shoot the lights out, and maybe do a little ball handling. Anything else is gravy, but outside the job description.



We should note that this profile isn’t really trending in a different direction over time. Leonard’s compatriots atop the 3-point percentage leaderboard this season are J.J. Redick, Omri Casspi and Jared Dudley — a trio not exactly known for superb all-around skills. Even Curry, who ranks fifth (absurdly, on more than twice as many 3-point attempts as anyone else in the same neighborhood accuracy-wise) is merely an OK rebounder and defender relative to the league. That Leonard rates so well in non-shooting categories is basically unheard of for a marksman of his caliber.

Well, unless you consider Larry Bird. In 1984-85, Bird hit 42.7 percent of his treys (good for second in basketball — and remember, the league shot 28.2 percent back then) while ranking in the 87th percentile in scoring efficiency, the 96th percentile in usage, the 87th percentile in assist rate, the 83rd percentile in rebound rate and the 94th percentile in defensive BPM. Maybe that defensive number is a bit of a stretch, the residue of estimated statistics in a pre-SportVU era, but Bird was also better defensively than he sometimes gets credit for. In any case, among top-five-ranked 3-point shooters in a season, Bird’s 1979-80, ’84-85 and ’85-86 seasons are the only ones remotely comparable to Leonard’s 2015-16 in terms of all-around versatility. Nobody else comes close.

That doesn’t mean Leonard is a perfect analogue for Bird, but it does underscore the rarity of his talent and the infrequency with which a world-class shooting stroke is packaged alongside other elite basketball skills. Perhaps most tantalizing of all, Leonard is only 24; he still has time to get even better.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by KnowMo2724

Cleveland has fired coach David Blatt, sources tell Yahoo.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 22, 2016

And hired Lue as the coach

BIG UP RAYTOWN!

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

A little surprising.

I'm not all that surprised.

I'm glad Lebron's on the Cavs. But I really, really, really ****ing hate Lebron the GM. David Blatt failed because Lebron had it in his head to hate Blatt from day 1. That's not how leaders work. When Lebron bought into the system, the entire team did, and Blatt did just fine. It's why I always say Lebron is one of the league's greatest, but he'll never be Jordan.

If Blatt gets a job somewhere else, I bet he does just fine.

[Al Bundy]

So.. that Curry 3 before halftime....

[chiefzilla1501]

Lebron the GM's track record in Cleveland:
Kevin Love trade
James Jones
Shawn Marion
Mike Miller
Fire David Blatt
Lobbied for Tristan Thompson's god awful contract

Ugh.

[KCCHIEFS27]

Who was set up with a worse situation, Steve Avery or David Blatt?

[KevB]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Lebron the GM's track record in Cleveland:
Kevin Love trade
James Jones
Shawn Marion
Mike Miller
Fire David Blatt
Lobbied for Tristan Thompson's god awful contract

Ugh.

Woj bringing the heat :

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-dav...035612484.html

[mcaj22]

What's your new Cavs coach most notable for his NBA career? Glad you asked, as he is an icon in NBA history for....................................




lol

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by KevB

Woj bringing the heat :

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-dav...035612484.html

None of this surprises me. I think Lebron can still carry the team because he's Lebron. But I still don't like the guy.

I'm a fan of the Cavs. I know I'm spoiled to complain about Lebron. It is such a Cleveland thing to do that the guy who could single-handedly save a franchise might just be the guy who single-handedly takes it down even despite himself.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Lebron the GM's track record in Cleveland:
Kevin Love trade
James Jones
Shawn Marion
Mike Miller
Fire David Blatt
Lobbied for Tristan Thompson's god awful contract

Ugh.

As always, it's rather convenient that LeBron gets all the blame for the moves you didn't like/didn't work out and no credit for the moves that did. Griffin has a pretty good gig going.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

None of this surprises me. I think Lebron can still carry the team because he's Lebron. But I still don't like the guy.

I'm a fan of the Cavs. I know I'm spoiled to complain about Lebron. It is such a Cleveland thing to do that the guy who could single-handedly save a franchise might just be the guy who single-handedly takes it down even despite himself.

You're right, it comes off as a bit spoiled. My Raptors are having their best season in franchise history and still don't have a chance in hell at making the NBA Finals because of LeBron James' enormous positive impact on the Cavs.

It's been clear for a long time that the Cavs players as a group didn't respect Blatt as a coach. Whether a former NBA player in Lue will be able garner a different level of respect, I don't know. That difference is not going to have any real impact on whether they win a championship this year, though. Their ability to stay healthy and put together four good games in June will determine that.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

You're right, it comes off as a bit spoiled. My Raptors are having their best season in franchise history and still don't have a chance in hell at making the NBA Finals because of LeBron James' enormous positive impact on the Cavs.

It's been clear for a long time that the Cavs players as a group didn't respect Blatt as a coach. Whether a former NBA player in Lue will be able garner a different level of respect, I don't know. That difference is not going to have any real impact on whether they win a championship this year, though. Their ability to stay healthy and put together four good games in June will determine that.

Like I said, I believe Lebron is good enough to easily carry the team to the East. Regardless of the coach. But great players don't sabotage their own greatness, let alone GOAT candidates like Lebron.

It's one thing to want power. But great players don't stomp their feet and have passive aggressive temper tantrums the way Lebron does. Woj is a pretty reliable source and this isn't the first or last time Lebron made a demand so ridiculous then threw a fit when he didn't get his way. I mean, it's not even a question... if Lebron wanted, he would have snapped his fingers and told he locker room to respect Blatt, and Blatt would have gotten it.

If Lebron stopped with that shit and focused on playing basketball, the Cavs would be the hands-on favorite to win the championship. But right now, they are a team with a legendary basketball player and a ton of baggage he brought in. Just like last time.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Like I said, I believe Lebron is good enough to easily carry the team to the East. Regardless of the coach. But great players don't sabotage their own greatness, let alone GOAT candidates like Lebron.

He's good enough to carry the team to the title. He nearly did it with a bunch of scrubs and an ineffective, powerless coach in over his head around him last year. It will again come down to health and executing in four games.

It's one thing to want power. But great players don't stomp their feet and have passive aggressive temper tantrums the way Lebron does. Woj is a pretty reliable source and this isn't the first or last time Lebron made a demand so ridiculous then threw a fit when he didn't get his way. I mean, it's not even a question... if Lebron wanted, he would have snapped his fingers and told he locker room to respect Blatt, and Blatt would have gotten it.

If Lebron stopped with that shit and focused on playing basketball, the Cavs would be the hands-on favorite to win the championship. But right now, they are a team with a legendary basketball player and a ton of baggage he brought in. Just like last time.

Do you have any idea how silly this all sounds? Look, I get that you've hated LeBron since he bolted Cleveland the first time, but that doesn't mean he's some power-hungry villain solely responsible for every move involving the Cavs that you don't like or that his lack of respect for Blatt took away from his focus on the game of basketball. Shit, the team is on pace to win 60 ****ing games because of him.

And no, let's not be ridiculous, the Cavs would not be the "hands-on" favorite in any scenario (whether Blatt had their respect or not) as long as this version of the Golden State Warriors exists.

[KC_Connection]

He knew the players would use Blatt as an excuse if they came up short again this season, and he would probably have to confront this issue at some point. He decided to confront it now.

A little over one year after he and Gilbert decided to not let Blatt go, Griffin talked with Gilbert again. This time, there would be no vote of confidence. Griffin didn't call James or any other player. He met with Blatt and fired him, and he promoted Lue.

When the players were called together to receive the news, some thought a player had been traded, sources said. Several players speculated they were going to be told Love had been dealt. But it was Blatt.

It was nothing James or Irving or Love or anyone said that got Blatt fired. If it had truly been up to James, sources said, Blatt might have been fired a year earlier. As it turned out, the actions of the entire team, Blatt included, over the past 15 months brought Griffin to this conclusio

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14...ng-david-blatt

After reading this story, it's even harder to believe that this move didn't happen sooner. It was obvious that LeBron was basically driving the bus himself throughout the playoffs.

[O.city]

Cavs won't win the east this year with all that shit going on.

Wouldn't matter anyway, they can't beat the spurs or warriors in the finals