***Official NBA Thread***

[Anil]

Raptors, Warriors draw first blood...

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Defensive team of the year.
Victor Oladipo
Josh Richardson
Robert Covington
Anthony Davis
Rudy Gobert

I might be missing something but surely Richardson is underrated here as I think he should get lots of top 3 votes this year.

I think this would be my ballot as well, except I might have Giannis on there. Is Covington eligible at G? I presume he isn't but if he was I would consider moving him to G, dropping Oladipo for Giannis but it's too close to really bother with.

 

[nightprowler10]

Glass half full eh

I'm going to be really enjoying the NBA for the next few years stress-free. That's my outlook and I'm sticking to it.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Well, that was unexpected. Oladipo's improvement has been extraordinary. Genuinely one of the best two way players in the league right now.

 

[andruid]

Spurs subsiding slowly away.

 

[Anil]

Spurs subsiding slowly away.

their home games are coming up so i still expect them to put up a fight...

 

[Smudge]

You’ll lose barring injuries

Breaking every record, has Embiid and massive salary cap allowances

Sixers will need to **** monumentally not to win at least 1 title and it’s his team

Barely above average in TS%, and with a horrid FT% there's not a lot of inclination to improve. 0/11 (!!!) from 3 for the season. Simmons is a fantastic player and is probably the most dynamic player in the open court since LeBron with the ball in his hands, but he will likely never be able to shoot the ball at even a passable level and that will cap his potential to win MVP.

Embiid is far and away a better player than him and if they win a title it will because of Embiid first, Simmons second. Embiid is one of the biggest defensive game-changers in the league, can stretch the floor, crash the glass, post up, switch onto guards. He's the total package.

Not offering an opinion either way, but . . . love him or hate him, Bill Simmons reckons if the other B Simmons keeps developing the way he is, he could be one of the top 25 players of all time.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Not offering an opinion either way, but . . . love him or hate him, Bill Simmons reckons if the other B Simmons keeps developing the way he is, he could be one of the top 25 players of all time.

Look I'm not saying that Ben Simmons isn't insanely talented and awesome at basketball, he is. But he cannot shoot, even a little bit. Now that isn't such a huge problem for him because he is a next level passer of the ball, he's pretty good back to basket and has the size and speed to get to the rim, but without at least a reasonable jump shot he will never be close to MVP level. Even a jump-shot like Giannis has is enough, he just needs it to get a lot better. You cannot be the best player in the league if you can't make a 17-foot shot. Before you bring up Magic Johnson, the league is different now to how it was then. And even then, Magic is one of the best 5 players of all time. If Simmons can get to Magic's level then sure, he can win MVP. That's the kind of level he has to get to if he wants to win MVP without a shot.

Also, I've been following Bill Simmons since he was writing for Page 4 and listened to most of his podcasts since his very first year of doing them at ESPN. I've read both of his books, I've read countless numbers of his columns. But Bill is a slave to emotion and isn't a good judge of a developing player. What he's saying isn't incorrect at it's core, but saying "Well Bill Simmons thinks he's gonna be great" doesn't really mean anything. Bill Simmons doesn't know who more than half the players in the NBA are, he can't pronounce 95% of their names, he once bet serious money of Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja being ROTY. His track record speaks for itself.

 

[social]

Thing about Simmons is that he is one of the greatest athletes in history

6'10" plus, super quick, agile, incredible hand/eye coordination and extremely smart - that's an almost unique skill set and he is a complete mismatch against virtually anybody that he comes up against

What's more, he's a kid and will improve

As an example, 2 weeks ago people were saying that he had a horrible free throw and they were right

Playoffs he's averaging 75% with a bullet and far more experienced players are choking big time

Based on that, the chances of him not developing at least an average jump shot are just about zero and he's still breaking records without it

Furthermore, he is an elite defender

Barring injury, he'll be in the HOF even if he doesnt improve at all

That's how good he is at 21

 

[hendrix]

I don't know much about basketball but I do know that it's not a given for someone to just be able to develop a jump shot, even if they are young and talented. Sometimes what makes someone an elite defender or athlete is the very thing that stops them from developing a shot: e.g. long arms

 

[Anil]

cleveland in trouble now, lebron will still pull them through but it looks like we are going to game 6 or 7...

 

[social]

I don't know much about basketball but I do know that it's not a given for someone to just be able to develop a jump shot, even if they are young and talented. Sometimes what makes someone an elite defender or athlete is the very thing that stops them from developing a shot: e.g. long arms

Simmons mechanics arent bad so all it will take is work

If he was Lonzo-like, it would be a far bigger worry

 

[social]

cleveland in trouble now, lebron will still pull them through but it looks like we are going to game 6 or 7...

Cavs arent a good team at all and he will have to play 40+ per night at an extremely high level for them to win any series in the playoffs

No easy at 23 let alone 33

 

[NUFAN]

Good to see that all 4 Eastern Conference series are 2-1 (Celtics aren't coming back from 17 down with a quarter to play).

I picked the Pels but didn't expect them to be 3-0.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Embiid just seems way more complete to me. Dude is probably the defensive player of the year, is unstoppable in the post and can hit big 3s too. Have zero hesitation in saying that if he stays healthy, he has a legitimate shot at entering the top 25 of all time which Simmons was talking about. Geniune top 6-7 centre of all time potential.

 

[andruid]

Good bye Spurs (Ginobili) Good bye Miami (Wade)

Now can LeBron stave off a first round washout after all those years in the finals?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Didn't watch it, was at work, but could that be a momentum killer for Utah? Or just a sign of what happens when Gobert is off/gets in foul trouble?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Didn't watch it, was at work, but could that be a momentum killer for Utah? Or just a sign of what happens when Gobert is off/gets in foul trouble?

Definite momentum killer imo. Gobert going out obviously hurt but they choked massively on the offensive end. Don't think Ingles even had a shot attempt in the second half. If Westbrook goes nuts again in game 6, they'll win the series.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Utah will end it at home.

 

[Anil]

That’s the hope and if that happens I will feel bad for Paul George...