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***2021-2022 NBA Season Thread***


RonArtest15

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Heat getting their teeth kicked in...

 

Also, in regards to Anthony Davis, I think he's the best 4 in the NBA.  No question.

I think it's questionable. He's got a rightful claim, but so do LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love. And Blake Griffin has gotten pretty damn good too. PF is extremely competitive.

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Durant is so good.  He is unlike any player before.  Very unique, I mean how do you stop him when he pulls up and is on fire.

Can't stop him. Best you can do is try and deny him his spots, and deny him the ball before he catches it. Play up on him when he has the ball on the perimeter and hope the help gets there. He's going to draw fouls and make shots in your face. You just have to defend him with your whole team, count on your help, and give him as little space as possible for jumpers. I think you also have to try and get physical with him like teams used to try and do with Prime Dirk to disrupt his rhythms. But KD seems to thrive on physicality and get mad and play better sometimes.

He's definitely unique. Some sort of weird mix of Larry Bird and George Gervin. A legit killer instinct. He's got all sorts of other little wrinkles to his offensive game too.

I think Indy could definitely defend OKC. KD might drop 40, but George would make him work for it and the rest of OKC would get beaten. And I think Memphis with Gasol is a scary matchup for OKC because they can defend them too. But I don't think anyone else can.

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Heat getting their teeth kicked in...

Also, in regards to Anthony Davis, I think he's the best 4 in the NBA. No question.

He might be because of his defense but his offense isn't at the level where you can just give him the ball and let him create. If I had to pick a guy for a run this season I think I'd take Aldridge.

Durant is unreal tonight

His January numbers are insane.

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AD is ELITE defensively...offense still has a little ways to go, but he's expanding his range and scoring 20 a game.  He's not as good on the offensive end as Griffin, Aldridge, or Love, but his defense takes him to another level. 

 

I'd much rather have a guy who is somewhat raw offensively, but can still score 20-25 per night while completely dominating on the defensive end of the floor. 

 

I think he's the best 4 in the league and there isn't another PF who I would take over him if I had to choose. 

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Kevin Love is, without a doubt, the top 4.

 

about that....

 

Kevin Love is 4th in the NBA in scoring, yet 60th in 4th quarter scoring. The team is 0-10 in games decided by 4 or less

 

Also, according to Sport Vu, opponents are shooting 60% from the floor when Love is defending the rim. 

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I think it's questionable. He's got a rightful claim, but so do LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love. And Blake Griffin has gotten pretty damn good too. PF is extremely competitive.

 

I think it's Blake right now with Davis closing fast. In two yeas, I don't think it will be a discussion though. Aldridge is a good argument too.

 

I'm falling out of love (wordplay!) with Kevin Love these days. At some point - if you are an elite player - your team has to start winning. It's not like he is surrounded with complete stiffs in Minnesota these days. I'm going to sound like a 65-year-old beat writer here, but his game seems better suited to getting great numbers than to actually winning.

 

Minnesota is like a science experiment gone wrong. What happens when your All-Star 4 can't defend at all and your awesome point guard can't shoot at all?

Edited by Lombardi's_kid_brother
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I think it's Blake right now with Davis closing fast. In two yeas, I don't think it will be a discussion though. Aldridge is a good argument too.

 

I'm falling out of love (wordplay!) with Kevin Love these days. At some point - if you are an elite player - your team has to start winning. It's not like he is surrounded with complete stiffs in Minnesota these days. I'm going to sound like a 65-year-old beat writer here, but his game seems better suited to getting great numbers than to actually winning.

 

Minnesota is like a science experiment gone wrong. What happens when your All-Star 4 can't defend at all and your awesome point guard can't shoot at all?

Adelman is also a problem up there, but I am also falling out of love with Kevin Love.

 

 

Link

 

Ruh-oh...

 

FWIW, Rockets are 6-2 this year w/o Harden.

This has been the under discussed norm this season. Parsons>Harden. Parsons is a really good player while Harden's game is really basic.
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Adelman is also a problem up there, but I am also falling out of love with Kevin Love.

 

 

This has been the under discussed norm this season. Parsons>Harden. Parsons is a really good player while Harden's game is really basic.

 

Basic in that he's capable of scoring 30 points while making 3 field goals.....Because that's normal.

 

The Rockets are built on drives and threes. And sometimes when Harden is in the game, the ball stops moving. But that's fixable.

 

The real issue with Harden this year has been his defense. Last year, it made sense that he rested on D, but he has more help on offense this year and his effort has gotten worse. That's the concern.

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Good discussion about forwards.

Everyone knows that PG is a deep position in the NBA right now, but in terms of sheer quality at the top, I think forward is the most stacked position in the league. Four truly great SF types and maybe seven great PF/C types.

- Durant

- LeBron

- George

- Melo

- Aldidge

- Griffin

- Love

- Davis

- Ibaka

- Dirk

- Bosh

In my mind Bosh, Dirk, and Ibaka are probably in a second tier compared to the first four on the PF list. But when you look at it, all of the PF types have a flaw. None of them are quite as complete as the top SFs.

- I'd say the best volume scorer at PF is probably Love because he's the best ranged shooter now. Though Dirk is still close. He's definitely the best rebounder. Love is also a quality passer. But he is a somewhat weak defender and is somewhat undersized and plays below the rim and doesn't really have a mid range or face up drive game. Also not really a transition weapon like Griffin and Davis are.

- Aldridge is well rounded, has the best size of the group, isn't a great defender but is probably better than Love because of his ridiculous length. Doesn't really have a 3 ball but has the best mid range game of the group by far. Probably the best of the group at running the offense through, he's a quality playmaker. Pretty good rebounder. He's probably not as flawed as most of the other ones and he's clearly capable of carrying a team to a great record as the guy.

- Davis has the most upside IMO. Still a ton of untapped potential, I think he becomes the clear cut #1 eventually. His game is potentially the most complete. He can already shoot and dribble better than Blake Griffin can, which is saying something. He can pass. Has a decent inside scoring game. And he's an incredibly disruptive defender that can be a perennial DPOTY once he gets stronger and more experienced. Right now I see his limitations as being his strength and bulk level and his relatively raw and limited scoring arsenal compared to Dirk/Love/Aldridge/Griffin.

- Griffin is probably the most well rounded pure PF in the league now--very good ball handler, very good passer, very good strength, expanding back to basket game, decent mid range jumper. Pretty good defender. Fantastic rebounder, better than everyone else except Love. Capable of running a very potent offense and scoring in huge volume despite taking a back seat to CP3 most of the time, as he's proven during Paul's injury. And he's by far the most explosive PF in the game and plays above the rim like a young Shawn Kemp.

I see him as being a sort of good at everything, master of nothing type though. Which isn't an insult. He is very strong but he's still a little on the small side too. Some T Rex arm there with him like Love, doesn't have anywhere near the length of Aldridge or Davis. And he plays kind of out of control. Not the most natural and instinctive finisher around the basket, looks kind of herky jerky going through his moves. And still doesn't have great touch on his shot. He'll throw up some ugly ones when pressured and he has trouble finishing against length inside when he can't dunk it.

But I can understand LKB's position of him being the best all around PF in the game right now. I probably agree if forced to pick, but I think it's too close to call between the top four.

-------------

I think Ibaka is worth mentioning too. He came into the league much more raw and much less heralded than any of the other ones, it's pretty remarkable how much he's grown. He's not on the same level offensively as the other great PFs, but he's the best defender among them by a loooong shot. He's the best defensive PF in the league IMO. And I'd actually argue that he's the most impactful and most valuable defensive player in the league among the non-centers. He's the biggest reason the Thunder are one of the best defensive teams in the league. And he's still a pretty good offensive player.

I never would have thought OKC would look smart for essentially choosing to keep Ibaka over Harden. I trashed them last year for choosing the defensive big over the All Star SG. But now I don't know. It's an honest debate over who the more valuable player is now.

Edited by stevemcqueen1
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Adelman is also a problem up there, but I am also falling out of love with Kevin Love.

 

 

This has been the under discussed norm this season. Parsons>Harden. Parsons is a really good player while Harden's game is really basic.

 

I love Harden's game.  He's one of my 3 favorite players in the league right now.  However, he is VERY ball dominant. 

 

After wavering back and forth, I do kinda get why the trade was not made for the Wizards.  They are going all in w. Wall...he would be way less effective in sharing the backcourt w/ Beard.  Beal is a good compliment and someone who can grow along with Wall. 

 

SM - the #'s don't lie.  It's kinda crazy how Love puts up ridiculous stats but somehow his team is not better because of it.  Dude has been in the league for a minute and hasn't sniffed the playoffs.  For as good as he is offensively, he's giving up a ton of points on the defensive end of the floor. 

 

If I'm ranking the 4's right now I'd have my top 5 look like this:

 

Davis

Aldridge

Griffin

Love

Duncan/Ibaka

Edited by RonArtest15
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Basic in that he's capable of scoring 30 points while making 3 field goals.....Because that's normal.

 

The Rockets are built on drives and threes. And sometimes when Harden is in the game, the ball stops moving. But that's fixable.

 

The real issue with Harden this year has been his defense. Last year, it made sense that he rested on D, but he has more help on offense this year and his effort has gotten worse. That's the concern.

Harden's game is built on getting fouled and 3 pointers. He is a below average midrange shooter. Its why his stats nosedive in the postseason.

 

 

I love Harden's game.  He's one of my 3 favorite players in the league right now.  However, he is VERY ball dominant. 

 

After wavering back and forth, I do kinda get why the trade was not made for the Wizards.  They are going all in w. Wall...he would be way less effective in sharing the backcourt w/ Beard.  Beal is a good compliment and someone who can grow along with Wall.

I abhor Harden's game. Its disgusting to watch. He like early 2000s Isolation era NBA.

And you right, the Harden non-trade makes sense now. I got mad at Ernie, but he was right.

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Harden's game is built on getting fouled and 3 pointers. He is a below average midrange shooter. Its why his stats nosedive in the postseason.

 

 

I abhor Harden's game. Its disgusting to watch. He like early 2000s Isolation era NBA.

And you right, the Harden non-trade makes sense now. I got mad at Ernie, but he was right.

 

Gotta be frustrating to opposing players to see Harden drop 25+ on only 5 shots on certain nights LOL. 

 

But you're completely right...when things tighten up in the playoffs, he doesn't get the benefit of the regular season calls, and this is why he's not as effective. 

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Harden's game is built on getting fouled and 3 pointers. He is a below average midrange shooter. Its why his stats nosedive in the postseason.

 

 

He plays for Houston. Everytime he shoots a mid-range jumper, Morey kills a puppy.

 

 

But you're completely right...when things tighten up in the playoffs, he doesn't get the benefit of the regular season calls, and this is why he's not as effective. 

 

You guys are smarter than this. Harden had one bad playoff series and you have all determined he is "bad in the playoffs." This is Skip Bayless logic.

 

His playoff numbers are pretty much identical to his regular season numbers.

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