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

[abdcskins]

OKC finishes them off in Game 6. Never been so sure of anything in my life.

[Going Commando]

Yeah Curry's drives are slow. He uses his body to shield the defender from the ball. Trying to draw a foul. Often using his touch to finish high off the glass instead of beating the defense with speed or power. Makes him vulnerable to chasedown blocks by faster and more explosive athletes though.

[Hersh]

Green's actions are independent of Curry's actions.  With that said, I think it's childish to start hating on Curry just because Green is a tool.  Easy enough for you to understand?  

 

You should re-read what I wrote initially since I didn't say I starting hating on Curry just because of Green. Obviously it wasn't easy enough for you to understand.

You didn't like this?! 

 

 

That was the greatest Curry moment of the game.  Big moment and he takes it from Durant, pounds his chest like some weirdo 80s movie hero, and then eats up the Thunder defense on his way to the rim.  8 point lead goes to double digits as the clock goes under a minute.  Beautiful.

 

BTW - Am I crazy or does Curry have the slowest drives to the rim of any star guard?  Most accelerate through the rim, Curry slows down as he approaches it.

 

Yeah, that's not my thing. The drive was great and I'm not in any way suggesting he isn't a great, great player.

[Hersh]

As they should be. Deion Sanders is completely different, Mike Tyson completely different, the list goes on and on. 

Steve Smith Sr. is completely different off the field, same with most celebrity athletes...and most celebrities in general. 

 

Competitors find a moment to inspire, themselves and others. They have that drive to win...this is what makes Curry such a great story. 

He had the name already, he has already eclipsed his name and made it his own. 

 

That is why many of the greats...are greats. 

 

I didn't like Deion's on field stuff either. Doesn't mean he wasn't one of the greatest. I don't think Mike Tyson every did anything flashy in the middle of fights. He just crushed everyone in his prime.

 

I don't think Curry being more brash has anything to do with his drive to be great nor does it have anything to do with his greatness.  

 

Doesn't bother me if people like that kind of thing. It's just not for me.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Hersh

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Game 6 is the series. There is simply no way that Golden State loses a Game 7 at home. And I'm pretty sure the Thunder know that.

 

Game 6 could be an all-timer.

[PeterMP]

Yeah Curry's drives are slow. He uses his body to shield the defender from the ball. Trying to draw a foul. Often using his touch to finish high off the glass instead of beating the defense with speed or power. Makes him vulnerable to chasedown blocks by faster and more explosive athletes though.

 

You saw that last year in the finals I believe before Kyrie gets hurt.  He comes from behind and blocked what should have been an easy Curry lay up.

 

I will say there is an advantage to playing differently than everybody else.  With youth training programs today, there is a lot of push to have everybody do things "right", which means cookie cutter players.  People that do things differently, but still at a high level are going to have an advantage.

[Predicto]

Dragic shouldn't have made the All NBA team that year either. That was a stupid selection. Wall should definitely have made it over him. Cousins is only making it because our center crop sucks. DeAndre Jordan was first team... There is no one else to pretend is worthy.

 

 

There are fewer dominant centers now because the league is so much more skilled than it was in the past, and there is no illegal defense rule to allow slow, clumsy giants to be effective solely because they automatically get one-on-one opportunities in the post.   The average player is 6 foot 7 or 6 foot 8 now.   A 7 foot clodhopper who just uses his big ass to post up 30 times a game no longer has any use.   A guy with a game like Patrick Ewing had would get the ball stripped and stolen 15 times a game.

 

All the guys who used to be slotted as centers now have better ball skills and they play forward instead, sometimes even small forward.   

So they force a game 6. Does anybody give them a chance back in OKC?

 

 

I give them a good chance.   They are the defending champs and broke the NBA wins record this year.

 

But they certainly aren't the favorite.   OKC finally has come together as a team - maybe for the first time ever - and OKC has more raw talent than anyone else, even Cleveland.  

I'm ready for someone to put Steph Curry on his ***. I am just starting not to like him anymore.

 

 

You act like people haven't been roughing him up all year.    They have - but being a 93 percent free throw shooter helps take the sting off.  

[The Evil Genius]

All (ok most of) the pressure is on OKC though in game 6 right? Win and you face the Cavs. Lose and you are looking at a loss in Game 7 too and having the choke label attached to you.

Also...it's been discussed before. But the intentional fouling outside of the last minute or two of the fourth needs to be eliminated somehow. Make it punitive. Shots and the ball. Or make it the teams option. I tend to think what teams have done this year further harms the game.

Edited May 27, 2016 by The Evil Genius

[Predicto]

Surprised the Warriors won without shooting well from three. Thunder have found a way to shut down the shooting from the best three point shooting back court in history.

 

 

 

The way is by being an extremely long and athletic team and setting your defense to guard the three point line.  It worked like magic in games 3 and 4, but I'm not sure any team other than OKC can play that way and not be a total turnstile.

 

Unlike games 3 and 4, last night the Warriors countered by going to the rack all game, and they won because of it, but it was close.  

 

Will OKC adjust and collapse the defense a bit next game?   I don't think I would if I were them.  

[Predicto]

 

BTW - Am I crazy or does Curry have the slowest drives to the rim of any star guard?  Most accelerate through the rim, Curry slows down as he approaches it.

 

 

You aren't crazy.  He slows because he has about 50 different angles that he can shoot from, and he is assessing where the defenders are and what shots can or can't be blocked before he flips it up.  

 

Many players drive to force contact.  Curry drives to score, which is why he had the best shooting percentage in the paint of any guard in the NBA this year.   In fact, I think he was top 5 in the entire NBA in the paint, and all the rest were guys like DeAndre Jordan and Whiteside who's only shot is a dunk off a lob.  

[Predicto]

Also...it's been discussed before. But the intentional fouling outside of the last minute or two of the fourth needs to be eliminated somehow. Make it punitive. Shots and the ball. Or make it the teams option. I tend to think what teams have done this year further harms the game.

 

 

Adam Silver says they are going to change it in the offseason.    About time.

[Warhead36]

I'd get rid of foul limits as well. Instead make it so every foul a player commits beyond his 5th(so from the 6th on out)the opposing team gets an extra FT. I hate it when good players have to sit because they pick up two early fouls.

 

For the intentional fouling, I'd say if one player gets fouled three times in a row(as in, no other player on his team got fouled in the same span that he got fouled three times), the team gets to choose which player shoots the FTs.

[Sticksboi05]

Adam Silver says they are going to change it in the offseason.    About time.

 

Bout time, the end of basketball games are miserable to watch. 

[daveakl]

Bout time, the end of basketball games are miserable to watch.

This isn't going to change the last 2 minutes. It's only for the off the ball fouls you see when a handful of players are out on the court.

Changing the rule to benefit them is stupid. Learn to shoot free throws or your coach is going to have to take you off the court sometimes.

[Predicto]

Changing the rule is not stupid.   I have no problem with intentionally fouling a bad free throw shooter when he has the ball.

 

It's the "grab a guy nowhere near the play and send him to the line" strategy that is horrible.  It makes the game unwatchable.  That's the reason to change it - to improve the product.  

 

Teams with a bad free throw shooter are still penalized because they have to play 4 on 5 on offense out of fear of having the bad shooter getting fouled if he catches the ball.   That's is enough.  

 

The "learn to shoot free throws" argument is what seems foolish to me.  Do you think Bill Russell never tried to improve his free throws?  He worked on his game harder than anyone, but he shot 56% from the line for his career.     

[Destino]

I agree with Predicto and really to me it seems like an obvious fix.  If a team fouls a player without the ball, the team chooses who shoots the free throws from any player on the court.  If you foul the player with the ball, he shoots. 

 

I also think they need to make "in the act of shooting" a literal statement.  There are way too many whistles, followed by a shot attempt.  It's a cheesy way of getting a three point play and motivates offensive players to exaggerate contact.  If they get fouled literally shooting or at least leaping towards the rim, fine.  Otherwise, take it out of bounds and try again.  Less points from the charity stripe, shorter games in real time, and better for fans of the sport that want to see points come from actual basketball plays. 

 

Watch Durant's head on any drive.  He snaps it back on any contact and if he hears a whistles, he shoots.  If he doesn't he just keeps driving to the basket.  He's an example, most of the league tries does something like it.  I think fans would rather see him try to score or pull up for a shot instead of trying to draw a foul. 

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

Shoot granny style

[Going Commando]

Also...it's been discussed before. But the intentional fouling outside of the last minute or two of the fourth needs to be eliminated somehow. Make it punitive. Shots and the ball. Or make it the teams option. I tend to think what teams have done this year further harms the game.

Teams are rewarded with free throws for intentional fouls. That's enough of a punishment to keep the game balanced.

The only thing I would change is to give a team the option of letting the ball handler take the free throws when there is an intentional foul away from the ball. That would eliminate the Hack-a-Shaq strategy. All they would have to do is not pass Andre Drummond the ball except when he's around the rim.

[Going Commando]

Curry's below the rim points in the paint game is just like Tony Parker's. Same skill at getting the ball to drop from high off the glass. Parker was faster than Curry is though. Didn't use change of pace dribbles as much as Curry does.

[Momma There Goes That Man]

I also think they need to make "in the act of shooting" a literal statement. There are way too many whistles, followed by a shot attempt. It's a cheesy way of getting a three point play and motivates offensive players to exaggerate contact. If they get fouled literally shooting or at least leaping towards the rim, fine. Otherwise, take it out of bounds and try again. Less points from the charity stripe, shorter games in real time, and better for fans of the sport that want to see points come from actual basketball plays.

Watch Durant's head on any drive. He snaps it back on any contact and if he hears a whistles, he shoots. If he doesn't he just keeps driving to the basket. He's an example, most of the league tries does something like it. I think fans would rather see him try to score or pull up for a shot instead of trying to draw a foul.

I agree with this, it's garbage. Continuation is a joke now. Lebron will start driving at the 3pt line, get fouled take a few steps finish at the basket and gets continuation And 1 calls.

Like you said, they literally need to already be going up for a shot. It's just cheap.

Edited May 27, 2016 by Momma There Goes That Man

[Momma There Goes That Man]

One quarter in and this game is teetering on the brink..

[Momma There Goes That Man]

This reviewing every call and flagrant discussion is much worse than fouling a bad FT shooter IMO

Raptors somehow got the Cavs in the penalty with 8:52 left in the quarter. They better drive, drive, drive and drive to take advantage of this

Edited May 28, 2016 by Momma There Goes That Man

[Mr. Sinister]

This reviewing every call and flagrant discussion is much worse than fouling a bad FT shooter IMO

Its getting so annoying. Getting ready to turn because of it. Seriously, Jeff Van Gundy needs to find another gig somewhere. Every call he's doing the classic Van Gundy clockwork wife routine.

Those family dinners must have been awful.

[Destino]

I can't stand Lebrons teams and the rules horse**** that surrounds his team. Even if the Raptors win Biyombo is suspended because Lebron flopped a few games ago, and Love caught enough arm to pretend he got elbowed. Meanwhile Lebron cheerily announced he was paying his goons fine, just like he did in Miami, and we all just agree not to discuss it.

[Dr. Do Itch Big]

Link to LeBron paying his goo