115 Comments

I love that we have not been swept in a miniseries yet. Even better that we got the sweep over the T-Wolves when some other decent teams like San Antonio could only manage the split vs them. (Though, I would also be happy with the Spurs sweeping the Wolves given the draft pick situation.)

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That close Raptor win is looking a lot better now that they are the 6th seed

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Sounds like a manufactured controversy. I wonder if there is something else going on and some people would prefer that that other thing got less coverage.

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I think that the NBA, if they insist on playing an anthem for a sport played primarily by black athletes, should play the black national anthem "lift every voice and sing." This would also be applicable to the majority black NFL, although I would never expect them to consider something like that.

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

It's the year of the (almost) 50/40/90:

Missing two ways:

Kawhi .504/.376/.891 26.0 PPG

Will miss because of FT:

Jokic .565 (!)/.400/.847 27.5 PPG

Lavine .509/.409/.859 27.4 PPG

Just missing because of their hardest category:

KD .529/.449/.872 29.4 PPG (Also only 18 G)

Steph .487/.429/.929 29.6 PPG

Currently in the club:

PG13 .508/.478(!)/.905 24.4 PPG

Middleton .521/.448/.938 20.8 PPG

Fascinating seeing how many guys are now flirting with the club that used to be so exclusive. Shows how much the NBA has changed.

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Isn’t it time Curry gets his due? The Mavs offense was best in the league and they were a contender last year. Now the 76ers are looking like a much better team and should be considered a contender this year. Seth has been one of the most consistent weapons in the league for years now, and it’s time we recognize his greatness.

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Don't forget HB - .491 / .410 / .857

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We're 1/3 (1/4 in a regular season) of the way through the season, so I'd personally slow the roll on how many will end up close or in that category until later in the season.

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Steph though is cut above. ~30 pts although one could argue that is a random cut-off

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I mean... Curry's also only below 50% on a stupid category that's meaningless and deceptive. The more threes you take, the lower your fg%, because threes make up a larger percent of the total. Steph being at .487 just means he's taking more 3s than basically every other person with a higher fg%. That's THE ONLY THING it means. Steph is actually shooting 56% on 2pt shots, EXACTLY the same as KD. He just shoots more 3s than KD. It really bothers me that in the age of 3pt shooting the statistics most often looked at are this misleading.

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[applause gif]

1. FG% is bullshit.

2. Arbitrary base-ten round number thresholds (e.g. “triple double” or “50-40-90”) are bullshit.

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The thing with those numbers is there an eye catching threshold. You and I can take it for what it is (it is "pretty" but also misleading season to season) but it gives the casual fan something to ooh and ah about.

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To me, what makes 50/40/90 less arbitrary is that they are each a hard-to-achieve benchmark. Caveat about FG% notwithstanding. I suppose a more meaningful version would be something on the order of 95th percentile for each of 2pt%/3pt%/FT%, where the benchmarks thus change depending on the season.

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Either we're measuring value by standard deviations above the mean, or we're just not really trying at all.

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It really should be 2pt%/3pt%/ft%. Or we could just go with true shooting :)

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Exactly! Crazy that we're still reporting players' main stat splits in basketball in a way that doesn't even tell you if someone is a good player or not. FG% is meaningless in the 3pt era.

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While we're on the subject, can we talk about how the FTA stat itself is totally unreliable because it doesn't count attempts where the player was fouled, unless they got the and-1?

The whole "35 points on 10 shot attempts" phenomenon is nonsense. No, they had 25 "shot attempts" and got fouled a lot! Ending the possession with a shot attempt where they got fouled matters a lot. Different story if they made a technical FT, got held off-ball while they were in the bonus, etc. etc.

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Yeah this is another huge problem that inflates floppers on paper over legit players, while hiding the effect they actually have on getting their team points per possession. At some point I've started to accept while looking at this stuff that anyone who actually needed to track this stuff accurately (say... you had a job that depended upon measuring players' actual skill/impact level) everything should be some form of "points per possession." I assume that's what team offices look at when evaluating. The stats most fans look at are pretty much garbage.

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For example, in case anyone doesn't believe me... a player is .403/.400/.750. Are they a good player or a bad player? You have LITERALLY NO WAY OF KNOWING until you look at actually useful stats with more info.

Well, if they took 5 2pt shots and 1000 3pt shots, they're a great 3pt shooter and an asset to any team.

If they took 1000 2pt shots and 5 3pt shots, they're a black hole on offense and probably don't even belong in NBA. That's how useful FG%/3PT%/FT% is.

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I’m with you, bro!!

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And now I will stop ranting and get some work done.

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One big exception to people's FG% looking better because they shoot more 2s than 3s: Seth Curry on the 76ers this season, who shoots mostly threes and is shooting .503/.508/1.000 !!!! In Seth's case, shooting more 3s actually makes him look better because he's only shooting .500 on 2pt shots! Wtf Seth.

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Durant's numbers are more impressive than Curry's, then.

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No, Steph's are more impressive if for no other reason than having done it in more games (25 vs 18).

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Also being 6'3" with a 6'3" wingspan matters. A lot.

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With entirely different teams.

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Newsflash, Durant is an incredibly impressive player and the only other player of this generation in Steph's galaxy when looking at scoring efficiency and volume together.

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And, unfortunately, James Harden. But fuck that guy.

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Elite, sure... but KD and Curry are in a different category to me. The way I will always see it will be that, between the borderline travels on the step-backs and the friendly whistles, the rules bent in favor of Harden for him and his gimmicks to get to where he is.. and he's still objectively behind where KD and Curry are with regard to eFG/TS.

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Harden is more volume and less efficiency, assuming you believe in true shooting. But yeah, also an elite scorer for sure.

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I hate how free throws are so high in efficiency.

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But they’re designed to be efficient, aren’t they? They want there to be a deterrent to fouling someone and putting them on the line usually does that. When it doesn’t, they’ve put in rules to stiffen the penalties beyond just a free throw (like the hack-a-Shaq rule), and especially if it’s dangerous (flagrant, clear path)

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Not really... they're actually tied/swapping places game to game in a non-deceptive stat like true shooting which doesn't make Steph's stats look lower just because he takes more 3s than 2s. (Right now Durant's TS is .660, Steph's is .656.)

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And I missed one:

Kyrie .533/.430/.935 27.5 PPG (16 G)

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Steph has Wanamaker though

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It's funny how MVP voters used the argument that Steph wasn't deserving of the MVP when he had Durant next to him on the floor, but now that he has less help than any of the other MVP candidates, that argument seems to have dissipated as far as giving him credit for doing all the heavy lifting. Steph disrespect is real.

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Not only that, but LeBron (who has AD) is suddenly an MVP favorite despite playing against an all-time great player, as is Kawhi (PG13) and Durant (Kyrie and Harden). Convenient :(

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Preaching to the choir my friend!

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I'm with you. Every game with Steph is manna from heaven. We are so lucky.

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Warriors now have the #7 ranked defense in the NBA — and climbing.

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That's crazy good for a team that has been together for only 1/3 of the season games and still has Dray on his way to be peak Dray.

Defense will fall a bit though once Wiseman is back - atleast in short term

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Trade Dray for a bag of chips while his value is high!

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Yeah, sad what that has become.

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Ouch.

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

I believe that Steve Kerr fellow has said something about defense and this team on occasion...

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Just here to celebrate. Curry is unreal -- and incredibly entertaining.

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Anyone smart enough to figure out where the team rebounding rate would rank in the minutes that JTA plays?

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

I can't get a direct answer but you're on to something for sure.

Out of all our 5-man lineups that have played at least 10 minutes, JTA is a part of 4 out of the top 7 lineups. Rebounding rates are: 70%, 57.7%, 55.6%, and 52.3%. Best rebounding team is Utah at 53.4%.

That 52.3% lineup has a significant 67 minutes total playing together (all during this 4-game trip, I guess): S. Curry, .D. Green, .A. Wiggins, .K. Oubre Jr., .J. Toscano-Anderson.

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Great way to quantify something that's been a pleasant surprise: these undersized Warriors are actually pretty fierce on the glass. It's been great watching Oubre, Steph, and Dray tear down those lose balls with a fury, and JTA boxing out is constantly a factor. His post defense, including ball denial, is also excellent and you won't even see it if you're watching the ball because it can't get near him.

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Oubre > Wiggins recently

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He was pretty banged up a week or two ago, nursing a hamstring and another part of the leg I think, but didn’t miss a game. I’ve been wondering if he’s been toughing it out with the center rotation being so decimated, cuz it sounded like he had enough nagging small injuries to be held out for a game under normal circumstances

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I feel it's because of his shot... imo, it's extremely flat and it makes it difficult to be a consistent shooter. Maybe just some expected variance in his shooting.

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I'm not the least bit concerned with Wiggs. He may be in a shooting slump but he still brings it every game

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The question is how much of this is shooting slump vs regressing to the mean. Regardless, I still don't like his consistency throughout the game and that started when he was hitting his shots. Also, he doesn't seem to be able to get to the rim easily (or doesn't want to) and as a result settles for step back mids.

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Idk man. This is pretty much in line with how I was expecting Wiggins to look this season. I have not been dissatisfied with him so far, quit the opposite actually, especially defensively. He's been a monster on that end

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Yeah, fun fact I learned from the Spurs broadcast, Wiggs is #2 in the league in defensive field goal percentage after Poeltl and a couple spots above Gobert. His improved defensive effort is finally coming out in the stats.

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I'm not disappointed with his play either. Definitely no complaints on the defensive side. I just think that he's playing like a 3rd option on offense when we need a 2nd. And yes his best role would be as a 3rd option but we don't have that luxury this year.

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Maybe, but this Wiggins had a pretty darn good +19 while struggling with his shot. He seemed like he was in really good defensive position all night. And he doesn’t force too much when his shot isn’t falling “cough” Oubre “cough.”

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Draymond seems to be finding a tiny bit of offensive form, and Oubre definitely is, so we don't necessarily need a whole lot from Wiggs, especially when Wiseman comes back.

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If he's gonna be the man for the bench, we kinda do more from him.

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When was the last time a team shot 50% against the Dubs? Now they do foul. A lot. And there do allow ORebs. A lot. But this team is really good at making you miss.

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I think it might have been game 2 vs. Milwaukee

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So the "I lost to the Pistons" club now include:

Celtics

Suns

Heat

76ers

Lakers

Nets

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Pistons trying not to.get the #1 overall?

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We Wanamaker. We Needamaker. We Have-a...?

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Belly-aker

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oubre

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

I love Steph

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Good idea!

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I noticed in the box score that Dejounte - who killed us with a 3 last night - took no 3 pt shots tonight.

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I knew he wouldn't have a second hot game like that in a row, especially on a b2b, but was worried someone else would get hot. Turns out it was Trey Lyles, but he was only lukewarm, not red-hot.

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Pop probably chewed him out for taking so many.

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Who would have predicted OGJ's minutes this year would match last year's?

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

It's time for a good old winning streak boys.

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Notable stats:

Curry: (+15)

32 points 11/20 FGs 4/10 three pointers 6/8 FTs

4 rebounds 2 assists 1 turnover

Paschall: (+8)

15 points 6/7 FGs 3/3 three pointers 0/2 FTs

6 rebounds (2 off.) 2 assists

Lee: (+4)

11 points 4/7 FGs 3/6 three pointers

4 rebounds 1 assist 1 block

Green: (+15)

6 points 3/4 FGs

7 rebounds 11 assists 3 turnovers 1 steal

Wiggins: (+19)

14 points 5/14 FGs 1/5 three pointers 3/3 FTs

3 rebounds 1 assist 1 turnover 3 steals

Spurs:

Gay: (-7)

17 points 5/11 FGs 3/6 three pointers 4/4 FTs

6 rebounds (1 off.) 1 assist 2 turnovers

Lyles: (-1)

15 points 5/8 FGs 1/3 three pointers 4/4 FTs

6 rebounds (1 off.)

Mills: (-9)

13 points 4/9 FGs 3/5 three pointers 2/2 FTs

2 assists 1 turnover 1 steal

DeRozan: (-18)

12 points 4/11 FGs 0/2 three pointers 4/4 FTs

3 rebounds (1 off.) 6 assists 1 turnover

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Very quite 15 from Paschall

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More than half of it was in garbage time, when he was not quiet at all. In more meaningful minutes, he didn't look quite so amazing, but he did showcase a really sweet two-man game with DLee (including two or three drive & kick assists).

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Feb 10, 2021Liked by punk basketball

Oubre 10 rebounds (2 offensive), 1/5th of our total for the game and 12 points. First double double with the Warriors!

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He’s a stretch 4!

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He's been rebounding like crazy since we've had to go smallball. Seems like he's really stepped up?

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Yeah, I noticed that too. I do appreciate his presence on the court more now than I did before, definitely trying to contribute in whatever way he can. I think the talk that the teammates respect/appreciate him is more than just empty blather.

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Curry having 2 assists shows how flawed assists are as a metric for creation.

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LOOKING AT YOU JUAN 😂

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Hockey assists should be an official stat

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And screen assists!

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