This is actually an example of media trying to diminish Curry by saying his teammates have a large effect on his play. It is true to an extent as it is with all players but where are the articles that explain how AD helps LeBron or how Harden or Steph helped KD?
Thanks. Following quote is instructive of how Steph-Dray-(and Klay) trio should not be broken up.
"According to NBA Advanced Stats, Curry’s efficiency fluctuates heavily depending on Green’s presence. Without Green on the court, Curry is shooting well under 40 percent on threes in 2020-21, which he’s never done over an entire season"
I think he definitely does with iteration of warriors. Although you could say that this rather is a measure of how unfamiliar rest of the team is with Curry system. I won't be surprised if Looney has similar impact on Curry.
No one should care one way or the other about anything the media says. Curry is the best player in the world no matter how they try to diminish him. And they do try their very best to do so.
Remember when Steph and KD couldn't win an MVP because they would "split the vote"? Seems everyone forgot about that with LeBron and Durant as two favorites to win the award now.
I believe he is saying that Durant has MVP-level help from Harden and Lebron has it from AD but the media seems to be focused on Durant/Lebron respectively.
OT but did anyone else catch "The Peoples Court" yesterday? A Wiggins was the topic of one case, not in it mind you but two guys betting on how good he would be coming out of college.
Slightly OT; Slater mentioned that Oubre functions best as power forward in small ball line up. If indeed true consistently, this line up may be SBDS 3.0 - atleast to close the halfs
Steph-Klay-Wiggins-Oubre-Dray.
Assuming Oubre is still around next year of course.
I think he might be. We'll definitely need a SBDS while wiseman still under his rookie contract. By then he'll have matured into a better player and the FO will have begun to build around him while Curry/Klay/Dray age out
With right high defensive IQ players around him, Dray has been able to shut down AD and the likes before. Hopefully Lakers are engaged enough in next LAL-GSW game for that to be put to test.
(Note: I dont dislike Wiseman, the dude's got upside out the wazoo. But spacing around Steph + smallball Dray has been basically unbeatable for half a decade)
Safe to say we can run with any team in the league, and are (still) one of the very best small ball teams when Kerr allows it. Makes perfect sense of course, given Steph may have the best stamina in the NBA and Dray has always been the GOAT small ball 5. Hope a lot of this sticks when our Cs get healthy, e.g. more Oubre at the 4. Time to sweep Big D!
See 2020 Houston Rockets. Or 2019. Small ball is great and wins lots of games but you need flexible/versatile roster.
Also, the difference isn't "small vs big" it is more about how many shooters surround Draymond on the court. He can penetrate and score with a spread floor and dish with the best but that doesn't work as well with the paint packed.
Theoretically, Wiseman is fast enough to run with anyone and theoretically gives us traditional spacing and vertical spacing. Not so theoretically, JW is young and learning so we won't get this consistently until next year.
Still, it is a great look and given Paschall's progress (and JTA) we can possibly see a variety of spread, "small ball" lineups that has a center, including one with Wiseman and Paschall or JTA.
Looking at how much Wiseman improved over the first quarter of the season, I wouldn’t rule out him being a useful playoff piece by the end of this season.
Yeah, he needs development. I think he will be practicing a lot of concepts & footwork this week... his development shouldn't be that slowed by the injury... just need to keep winning enough games to keep in the playoff race.
When matchups allow it. We went up against one of the worst rebounding teams coming off a b2b. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more of this type of play but it will only work in spurts or against specific matchups.
Yep, the small ball lineup is a nice secret weapon to pull out when needed. But you can't run it day in and day out because they'll get banged up by bigger guys, especially Dray.
This keeps being said, but don’t players traditionally extend their careers by playing up to the bigger position? Seems like the running around after younger faster guys is even more draining and damaging.
A team with size and the willingness to use it would look a lot different and we can't really afford to have Draymond absorb that kind of punishment regularly. The Mavs fell in love with the three and stupidly (and disappointingly for a Carlisle team) stuck with it almost to the bitter end.
I loved the win, but... small ball, as we should remember from the Nellie era, provides some fun and spirited upsets, but also lots of losses where the team just gets dominated in the paint and on the glass.
So the team’s best lineups for the most wins ever and 3 championships had Green at the 5 right? And players tend to play up a position as they age. So we should refuse to play Green at the 5 very often to save him, and call him washed when he’s less effective at the 4?
Seems lime Green at the 5 should be the primary lineup and you bring the bigs to combat that rare post monster dominating your small ball lineup.
The first battle should always be to run the big off the floor, not to play into their game.
He’s great off the bench. Ideal role for the next year or two if the team actually plans to compete. If the goal is better draft picks starting him makes sense.
The beauty of Wiseman is that he has the athleticism to play in a speedy “small” lineup while still bringing some size for rim protection and rebounds.
Nellie didn't have Draymond. As Goofus points out below, our small ball lineups literally won us championships and changed the NBA in a lot of ways. Yes, it won't work for 48 min a game, but it should be used more IMO
You use Nellie ball to point out small ball brings losses when small ball was literally the best lineups during 5 straight appearances in the NBA Finals?
Slaters article in the athletic was interesting, making the point that Oubre’s game was really opened up by not having a center on the warriors clogging the paint, and also getting the Mavs center out to the perimeter. Allowed for better lanes and less challenge at the rim. It also just felt like he was locked in all game and making his shots, but sometimes hard to tell which part came first. I’m excited for game 2 of the series.
Eh, I think the answer is he needs to be more consistent on his spot up assisted threes (particularly from the short corner) and he needs to take fewer forced/contested threes.
Athletic Alchemy, in a video recorded before last night’s game, suggested he be the PnR roller. I wasn’t convinced because it requires making a score-or-pass decision, but I could see it working.
I have to admit that was low-key one of my favorite moments in the game (and wrote about in the game thread) when Bazemore and Lee(?) played hot potato to see who would get stuck with the TO (Bazemore won LOL).
FYI, "Playoff teams, sorted by record, are assigned picks 15-30 - playoff seeds and outcomes have no impact." Oubre keeps having great games, this fact becomes very relevant.
I think Steph's defense has been much better this year. Maybe all of that time lifting has helped but if you watch his 1 on 1 defense this year he hasn't gotten beaten a lot.
I don't know where the stats exist but he force Porzingis into at least 1 miss last night, putting his hand in his face (albeit as close as he could get to the ball)
When Steph is locked in (which has been on and off since 2016), he is a plus defender. Good court vision, quick steal hands, stronger than you think on-ball, good team concept. When he is tired / not locked in, his weaknesses are cheap fouls (which he's cleaned up this year) and slow rotations / overhelping (which feels worse this year)
I think the overhelping this year has oftentimes been lack of trust that someone else will have their responsibility covered, which was all the time the first few games and not as much recently. But I agree his defense in that regard has been subpar this year compared to previous years, hopefully he can get that sorted out...
Other aside: 538's player ratings for this season (min 400 minutes played) are currently rather... idiosyncratic. For example, top players by total RAPTOR are:
1. Kawhi
2. Embiid
3. Conley
4. Jokic
5. ... Jakob Poeltl??
It thinks VanVleet is slightly better than Durant on offense and notably better on defense, Lillard has simultaneously the worst defense and best offense in the league (actually, that's plausible), and former DPOY Antetokounmpo is just a little above average on D. If you expand it to include the whole roster it thinks Our Guy Juan is the best defender on the Warriors and Paschall is the worst overall.
Like, it's obviously not all wrong and I imagine that some of the surprising numbers actually are more accurate than the conventional wisdom (e.g. people tend to assume height = defense) but there are so many parts of the system that are so obviously wrong it's hard to tease those out.
Yea it's a really complex model they have. Basketball has so many variables, anything that tries to assign a single numerical value to a player's worth is bound to have some oddities, imo.
That said, it does look like Poeltl's lineups do very well defensively... seems like he's a part of some of the better defensive 5-man lineups in the league. Judging from some clips, he does seem to be a pretty rugged defender... stays in front of guards... recovers quickly.. pretty strong and moves around with some deceptive agility... saw him push Jokic around boxing out. Maybe 538 (and the Spurs) know something we don't 🤷
Who are the West playoff teams? I think the current 1-7 right now looks about right. Dallas will probably bounce back at some point to fight for a spot? Think the 8th spot might come down to the Spurs, Dallas and Memphis
It’s so tough in the west. 4-10 have a single game difference in the loss column and not many teams are mailing it in. Dallas is going to have to fight like hell all season if they want in.
I’m going with Warriors and Rockets jump into the top 6 (huge health * for both) next 4 are Blazers, Suns, Spurs, and the last spot is a dog fight between Mavs, Thunder and Grizz.
Yeah, I mean... the East has 5 teams will obviously make the playoffs, 5 teams that won't, and 5 teams on the edge.
The West has 3 teams that will, 1 that won't, and 11 teams that can at least smell it. That's a lot to navigate even if you don't factor in postponements, scrambled lineups, etc.
But yeah, my best guess at this point is similar to yours: LAL, UTA, LAC, DEN, PHX, POR, GSW, and SAS in approximately that order, and HOU as most likely to make the play-in cutoff. Heck, it's not even that far-fetched to imagine that the entire play-in tournament takes place in Texas with SAS, HOU, and DAL on the borderline spots.
I think the current 1-3 is pretty much locked though they may shift placement among themselves. Utah definitely looks like they want it and will work to get their guaranteed playoff spot. They've been a perennial playoff team regardless but now that things are clicking for them they're actually a contender. Both LA teams are very strong but with moments of weakness, but I still expect them to lock in their playoff spots.
After the bubble, Denver seemed like they should be in the top tier but they still aren't consistent especially on the defensive end. Instead, they're stuck toward the front end of the logjam for 4th–14th place, which is full of a bunch of teams that can be really good, really bad, or anywhere in between on any given night. Like, I want to say some of them kind of split out into a lower tier but then I look at who's ahead of them and it's like... you've seen how bad our team is sometimes, and yet I still have more faith in Golden State than the "launch abort" Rockets, the injury-stricken Blazers, the aging mid-range Spurs and the Kangz. Not sure how Dallas is this bad after how they played last year, so I'm guessing that they get back on track at some point. I mean, these same guys blew up the Clippers by 50 points at the beginning of the season, so they can't be THAT bad, right? The Suns have cooled off a little but still seem like they can't be ignored as yet another team in the hunt. And I want to write off Memphis and NOP, but Memphis currently has a winning record (and a lot of postponed games) while New Orleans... yeah, they probably won't make it, but they're still close enough to scare teams.
So you’re saying they should shoot for #9 or #10 seeding? If the ping pong balls are magical, we could theoretically win the championship and end up with our own pick at #1 as well as Minny’s pick at #4. Light years!
Wouldn’t that be awesome if the NBA set it up that way to create more drama! Sounds like the winner of the 7-8 game will be slated into that draft spot and the winner of the 8 seed game will not be in the lottery. Too bad that might lead to a team tanking rather than fighting to play the one seed. I think it would be better to have the lottery set before the play in so there’s no incentive to tank.
Man I’m full from all that Crow Oubre made me eat today. Loved this game! Everyone was moving and working together on both sides of the ball. It was awesome even when they were behind in the first half. Can this be the plan every game until the other team forces a change?
Great game from him but he has some ways to go. Next step would be still being able to affect the game positively on offense even when the shots aren't going down. #Trusttheprocess
No new virus cases in over a week. I’m thinking many players got the vaccine already. There is to much money involved to not jump the line even if they say they wont
I think it's more likely that the newly-added precautions are working. Also, cases are down across the US in general so the risk factors have decreased.
Yea, going to be hard to hide... everyone in the chain would have to keep their mouths shut which isn't going to happen and the backlash would be pretty bad. Seems like they have things under control so it's not necessary.
If you simply look at Kelly Oubre's performance from his meniscus standpoint, data from pro's after meniscectomy demonstrate return to prior level around 9 - 10 months post surgery. This is right where #Oubre is now. Expect more great performances from him.
Hate to judge based on one game and a current losing stream, but if any team looks like it needs to be blown up it is the Mavericks, not the Warriors. They allegedly had a good draft last year, and they could probably get something for Hardaway Jr and Josh Richardson who are OK players, but old enough that you wouldn't expect any improvement. It just seems like the pieces they have don't fit.
It's because a huge part of their core has been missing due to covid protocols (and maybe injuries?). Only 5 players have played in at least 20 of their 23 games. For comparison, we've had 10 guys play in 20 of our 23.
Unicorn is soft and is always hurt. Hardaway is a good shooter but shouldn't be counted on to play big minutes on a contending team and Josh Richardson has been a big disappointment after leaving Miami. Luka is going to need a legit tag team partner before they can start thinking about contending and that guy AIN'T Porzingis.
Everybody all up in "Luka awesome" town, and I see all these highlights of his awesome 28' step back 3s... but he's pretty much league average in TS%, has a lower career 3pt% than maligned Kelly Oubre. I get that he's bringing other things to the table... and he's only 21... but I've never really been all that impressed. Am I crazy?
I just ran across this 538 article about Draymond's season.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/draymond-green-isnt-scoring-but-hes-doing-everything-else-for-the-warriors/
This is actually an example of media trying to diminish Curry by saying his teammates have a large effect on his play. It is true to an extent as it is with all players but where are the articles that explain how AD helps LeBron or how Harden or Steph helped KD?
Thanks. Following quote is instructive of how Steph-Dray-(and Klay) trio should not be broken up.
"According to NBA Advanced Stats, Curry’s efficiency fluctuates heavily depending on Green’s presence. Without Green on the court, Curry is shooting well under 40 percent on threes in 2020-21, which he’s never done over an entire season"
I love the idea that Dray unlocks Curry. I'm not sure how true it is, but it's really neat.
I think he definitely does with iteration of warriors. Although you could say that this rather is a measure of how unfamiliar rest of the team is with Curry system. I won't be surprised if Looney has similar impact on Curry.
If I remember correctly, I recently saw that the combination of Curry & Looney was one of the highest rated. But I don't recall where I read that now.
*never
Thanks for the link. A good article to link to the non-believers when they start to quote the low shooting numbers from Dray this year.
I think by another 20 games the non-believers won't have anything they can talk about. He's just now getting into good playing shape.
I'm SO GLAD someone in the mainstream media is writing this, it's been absolutely killing me: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/02/05/kurtenbach-its-time-to-recognize-that-steph-curry-is-playing-at-an-mvp-level/
No one should care one way or the other about anything the media says. Curry is the best player in the world no matter how they try to diminish him. And they do try their very best to do so.
It is interesting that Steph seems to be much higher ranked in betting markets than more media-oriented rankings e.g. https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-feb-5-2021-edition where he is currently T-9th with Lillard.
Remember when Steph and KD couldn't win an MVP because they would "split the vote"? Seems everyone forgot about that with LeBron and Durant as two favorites to win the award now.
Probably cuz they aren't nearly as dominant as the Curry/Durant combo was *shrug*
I believe he is saying that Durant has MVP-level help from Harden and Lebron has it from AD but the media seems to be focused on Durant/Lebron respectively.
OT but did anyone else catch "The Peoples Court" yesterday? A Wiggins was the topic of one case, not in it mind you but two guys betting on how good he would be coming out of college.
That sounds amazing! Did one guy already pay up and now wants his money back?
HAHA no. The bet was if he would be hall or not and the guy who said he wouldn't wanted his money.
Games like these are why I had hoped the Dubs drafted Haliburton. Dray at center has always been what unleashes this team
Agree.
Slightly OT; Slater mentioned that Oubre functions best as power forward in small ball line up. If indeed true consistently, this line up may be SBDS 3.0 - atleast to close the halfs
Steph-Klay-Wiggins-Oubre-Dray.
Assuming Oubre is still around next year of course.
I think he might be. We'll definitely need a SBDS while wiseman still under his rookie contract. By then he'll have matured into a better player and the FO will have begun to build around him while Curry/Klay/Dray age out
This is against a soft Mavs team. Same thing got crushed vs the Celtics. Lakers would also kill us on the inside.
Lakers are a bit unique since AD can actually run and switch. As for the Celtics, that game was close until Dubs just stopped hitting shots
And until Looney got hurt
With right high defensive IQ players around him, Dray has been able to shut down AD and the likes before. Hopefully Lakers are engaged enough in next LAL-GSW game for that to be put to test.
(Note: I dont dislike Wiseman, the dude's got upside out the wazoo. But spacing around Steph + smallball Dray has been basically unbeatable for half a decade)
Damion Lee’s 3pt% is now over 44%! Can we start a petition to legally change his name to Trey-mion Three?
Safe to say we can run with any team in the league, and are (still) one of the very best small ball teams when Kerr allows it. Makes perfect sense of course, given Steph may have the best stamina in the NBA and Dray has always been the GOAT small ball 5. Hope a lot of this sticks when our Cs get healthy, e.g. more Oubre at the 4. Time to sweep Big D!
See 2020 Houston Rockets. Or 2019. Small ball is great and wins lots of games but you need flexible/versatile roster.
Also, the difference isn't "small vs big" it is more about how many shooters surround Draymond on the court. He can penetrate and score with a spread floor and dish with the best but that doesn't work as well with the paint packed.
Theoretically, Wiseman is fast enough to run with anyone and theoretically gives us traditional spacing and vertical spacing. Not so theoretically, JW is young and learning so we won't get this consistently until next year.
Still, it is a great look and given Paschall's progress (and JTA) we can possibly see a variety of spread, "small ball" lineups that has a center, including one with Wiseman and Paschall or JTA.
Looking at how much Wiseman improved over the first quarter of the season, I wouldn’t rule out him being a useful playoff piece by the end of this season.
Yeah, he needs development. I think he will be practicing a lot of concepts & footwork this week... his development shouldn't be that slowed by the injury... just need to keep winning enough games to keep in the playoff race.
> when Kerr allows it
When matchups allow it. We went up against one of the worst rebounding teams coming off a b2b. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see more of this type of play but it will only work in spurts or against specific matchups.
Yep, the small ball lineup is a nice secret weapon to pull out when needed. But you can't run it day in and day out because they'll get banged up by bigger guys, especially Dray.
This keeps being said, but don’t players traditionally extend their careers by playing up to the bigger position? Seems like the running around after younger faster guys is even more draining and damaging.
They do it for fewer minutes... Draymond cannot go bang all day against centers for 70 games + playoffs. Need to use him there in key spots.
A team with size and the willingness to use it would look a lot different and we can't really afford to have Draymond absorb that kind of punishment regularly. The Mavs fell in love with the three and stupidly (and disappointingly for a Carlisle team) stuck with it almost to the bitter end.
I loved the win, but... small ball, as we should remember from the Nellie era, provides some fun and spirited upsets, but also lots of losses where the team just gets dominated in the paint and on the glass.
So the team’s best lineups for the most wins ever and 3 championships had Green at the 5 right? And players tend to play up a position as they age. So we should refuse to play Green at the 5 very often to save him, and call him washed when he’s less effective at the 4?
Seems lime Green at the 5 should be the primary lineup and you bring the bigs to combat that rare post monster dominating your small ball lineup.
The first battle should always be to run the big off the floor, not to play into their game.
He’s great off the bench. Ideal role for the next year or two if the team actually plans to compete. If the goal is better draft picks starting him makes sense.
I think starting Chriss or Wiseman depending on the matchups makes a lot of sense.
The beauty of Wiseman is that he has the athleticism to play in a speedy “small” lineup while still bringing some size for rim protection and rebounds.
Seem to recall something like that in 2016-19. Hamptons something-or-other...?
Nellie didn't have Draymond. As Goofus points out below, our small ball lineups literally won us championships and changed the NBA in a lot of ways. Yes, it won't work for 48 min a game, but it should be used more IMO
You use Nellie ball to point out small ball brings losses when small ball was literally the best lineups during 5 straight appearances in the NBA Finals?
Is that anti-recency bias?
Imagine choosing to remember the team from 13 years ago instead...
Slaters article in the athletic was interesting, making the point that Oubre’s game was really opened up by not having a center on the warriors clogging the paint, and also getting the Mavs center out to the perimeter. Allowed for better lanes and less challenge at the rim. It also just felt like he was locked in all game and making his shots, but sometimes hard to tell which part came first. I’m excited for game 2 of the series.
Eh, I think the answer is he needs to be more consistent on his spot up assisted threes (particularly from the short corner) and he needs to take fewer forced/contested threes.
Easy, put wiseman in the corner n let him spot up
Athletic Alchemy, in a video recorded before last night’s game, suggested he be the PnR roller. I wasn’t convinced because it requires making a score-or-pass decision, but I could see it working.
Curry dlee wiggins oubre wiseman, run one with curry n oubre
Box score stat that jumped out at me today: 37 assists and only 8 turnovers.
You'd have to think game two will be closer. Would be nice to see the Warriors take another from the Mavs before heading to San Antonio.
And it was actually only 7 turnovers, since the last one was just the Warriors being classy by not taking a last shot to rub it in.
Counting those as turnovers may be an even stupider scoring tradition than counting buzzer heaves as field goal attempts. >:-(
Speaking of that, did someone (Lee?) throw it to Wanamaker right before the shot clock expired? He looked like “WTF?” as if he was charged with a TO.
I have to admit that was low-key one of my favorite moments in the game (and wrote about in the game thread) when Bazemore and Lee(?) played hot potato to see who would get stuck with the TO (Bazemore won LOL).
I thought Wanamaker ended up with it
I tried in vane to explain to my wife why i was laughing at the end.
FYI, "Playoff teams, sorted by record, are assigned picks 15-30 - playoff seeds and outcomes have no impact." Oubre keeps having great games, this fact becomes very relevant.
Whoa... 3rd best 5-man lineup in the league by net rating (with min 10 games)?
S. Curry, .D. Green, .A. Wiggins, .K. Oubre Jr., .K. Looney @ +31
It's also the 5th best defensively.
70 min is a random cut-off but 5 man lineups with 70 min or more, above lineup is #1 in net rating. They are #3 if you go 50 min and above.
I think Steph's defense has been much better this year. Maybe all of that time lifting has helped but if you watch his 1 on 1 defense this year he hasn't gotten beaten a lot.
I don't know where the stats exist but he force Porzingis into at least 1 miss last night, putting his hand in his face (albeit as close as he could get to the ball)
When Steph is locked in (which has been on and off since 2016), he is a plus defender. Good court vision, quick steal hands, stronger than you think on-ball, good team concept. When he is tired / not locked in, his weaknesses are cheap fouls (which he's cleaned up this year) and slow rotations / overhelping (which feels worse this year)
I think the overhelping this year has oftentimes been lack of trust that someone else will have their responsibility covered, which was all the time the first few games and not as much recently. But I agree his defense in that regard has been subpar this year compared to previous years, hopefully he can get that sorted out...
Other aside: 538's player ratings for this season (min 400 minutes played) are currently rather... idiosyncratic. For example, top players by total RAPTOR are:
1. Kawhi
2. Embiid
3. Conley
4. Jokic
5. ... Jakob Poeltl??
It thinks VanVleet is slightly better than Durant on offense and notably better on defense, Lillard has simultaneously the worst defense and best offense in the league (actually, that's plausible), and former DPOY Antetokounmpo is just a little above average on D. If you expand it to include the whole roster it thinks Our Guy Juan is the best defender on the Warriors and Paschall is the worst overall.
Like, it's obviously not all wrong and I imagine that some of the surprising numbers actually are more accurate than the conventional wisdom (e.g. people tend to assume height = defense) but there are so many parts of the system that are so obviously wrong it's hard to tease those out.
Yea it's a really complex model they have. Basketball has so many variables, anything that tries to assign a single numerical value to a player's worth is bound to have some oddities, imo.
That said, it does look like Poeltl's lineups do very well defensively... seems like he's a part of some of the better defensive 5-man lineups in the league. Judging from some clips, he does seem to be a pretty rugged defender... stays in front of guards... recovers quickly.. pretty strong and moves around with some deceptive agility... saw him push Jokic around boxing out. Maybe 538 (and the Spurs) know something we don't 🤷
Who are the West playoff teams? I think the current 1-7 right now looks about right. Dallas will probably bounce back at some point to fight for a spot? Think the 8th spot might come down to the Spurs, Dallas and Memphis
It’s so tough in the west. 4-10 have a single game difference in the loss column and not many teams are mailing it in. Dallas is going to have to fight like hell all season if they want in.
I’m going with Warriors and Rockets jump into the top 6 (huge health * for both) next 4 are Blazers, Suns, Spurs, and the last spot is a dog fight between Mavs, Thunder and Grizz.
Yeah, I mean... the East has 5 teams will obviously make the playoffs, 5 teams that won't, and 5 teams on the edge.
The West has 3 teams that will, 1 that won't, and 11 teams that can at least smell it. That's a lot to navigate even if you don't factor in postponements, scrambled lineups, etc.
But yeah, my best guess at this point is similar to yours: LAL, UTA, LAC, DEN, PHX, POR, GSW, and SAS in approximately that order, and HOU as most likely to make the play-in cutoff. Heck, it's not even that far-fetched to imagine that the entire play-in tournament takes place in Texas with SAS, HOU, and DAL on the borderline spots.
I think the current 1-3 is pretty much locked though they may shift placement among themselves. Utah definitely looks like they want it and will work to get their guaranteed playoff spot. They've been a perennial playoff team regardless but now that things are clicking for them they're actually a contender. Both LA teams are very strong but with moments of weakness, but I still expect them to lock in their playoff spots.
After the bubble, Denver seemed like they should be in the top tier but they still aren't consistent especially on the defensive end. Instead, they're stuck toward the front end of the logjam for 4th–14th place, which is full of a bunch of teams that can be really good, really bad, or anywhere in between on any given night. Like, I want to say some of them kind of split out into a lower tier but then I look at who's ahead of them and it's like... you've seen how bad our team is sometimes, and yet I still have more faith in Golden State than the "launch abort" Rockets, the injury-stricken Blazers, the aging mid-range Spurs and the Kangz. Not sure how Dallas is this bad after how they played last year, so I'm guessing that they get back on track at some point. I mean, these same guys blew up the Clippers by 50 points at the beginning of the season, so they can't be THAT bad, right? The Suns have cooled off a little but still seem like they can't be ignored as yet another team in the hunt. And I want to write off Memphis and NOP, but Memphis currently has a winning record (and a lot of postponed games) while New Orleans... yeah, they probably won't make it, but they're still close enough to scare teams.
And then there's the T-Wolves.
Covid adjacency has hit Dallas and Miami hard this year.
Remember this year it’s top 6 and next 4 for the playoffs.
If you lose in the play-in tournament, do you still have a shot at a top 4 pick via lottery?
Yes.
Anyone know how they are doing the lottery this year? If there’s a way to game the system the Warriors are the most likely to try right?
So you’re saying they should shoot for #9 or #10 seeding? If the ping pong balls are magical, we could theoretically win the championship and end up with our own pick at #1 as well as Minny’s pick at #4. Light years!
Wouldn’t that be awesome if the NBA set it up that way to create more drama! Sounds like the winner of the 7-8 game will be slated into that draft spot and the winner of the 8 seed game will not be in the lottery. Too bad that might lead to a team tanking rather than fighting to play the one seed. I think it would be better to have the lottery set before the play in so there’s no incentive to tank.
From what I know, lottery seeding are determined after Play-in tournaments.
Man I’m full from all that Crow Oubre made me eat today. Loved this game! Everyone was moving and working together on both sides of the ball. It was awesome even when they were behind in the first half. Can this be the plan every game until the other team forces a change?
Gotta say the crow chef Kelly cooked up for me tasted pretty excellent tho.
Great game from him but he has some ways to go. Next step would be still being able to affect the game positively on offense even when the shots aren't going down. #Trusttheprocess
Yep
No new virus cases in over a week. I’m thinking many players got the vaccine already. There is to much money involved to not jump the line even if they say they wont
LOL and kept hush hush just like the faked moon walk.
I think it's more likely that the newly-added precautions are working. Also, cases are down across the US in general so the risk factors have decreased.
Yea, going to be hard to hide... everyone in the chain would have to keep their mouths shut which isn't going to happen and the backlash would be pretty bad. Seems like they have things under control so it's not necessary.
Money... they have truckloads that’s how you jump the line
Yeah money talks in our society but let's not get Trumpian here with unfounded allegations with zero evidence behind them.
https://twitter.com/DrNiravPandya/status/1357546660897824770
Dr. Nirav Pandya, MD
@DrNiravPandya
If you simply look at Kelly Oubre's performance from his meniscus standpoint, data from pro's after meniscectomy demonstrate return to prior level around 9 - 10 months post surgery. This is right where #Oubre is now. Expect more great performances from him.
Hate to judge based on one game and a current losing stream, but if any team looks like it needs to be blown up it is the Mavericks, not the Warriors. They allegedly had a good draft last year, and they could probably get something for Hardaway Jr and Josh Richardson who are OK players, but old enough that you wouldn't expect any improvement. It just seems like the pieces they have don't fit.
I for one would not mind seeing Hardaway Jr in a Warriors uni.
It's because a huge part of their core has been missing due to covid protocols (and maybe injuries?). Only 5 players have played in at least 20 of their 23 games. For comparison, we've had 10 guys play in 20 of our 23.
Unicorn is soft and is always hurt. Hardaway is a good shooter but shouldn't be counted on to play big minutes on a contending team and Josh Richardson has been a big disappointment after leaving Miami. Luka is going to need a legit tag team partner before they can start thinking about contending and that guy AIN'T Porzingis.
Everybody all up in "Luka awesome" town, and I see all these highlights of his awesome 28' step back 3s... but he's pretty much league average in TS%, has a lower career 3pt% than maligned Kelly Oubre. I get that he's bringing other things to the table... and he's only 21... but I've never really been all that impressed. Am I crazy?