Around the NBA - March 2018

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I think Toronto is going to NBA Finals. This isn't like last year when Boston was 1 seed. Toronto is going to win 60+ games this season. Cleveland can't deal with this. George Hill isn't adequate substitution for Kyrie Irving. LeBron's been playing hard all year and this is who they are.
 
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A 38-30 Spurs team (if they win) may still be in 10th at night's end. Last year, we made playoffs with 41-41 record.
 
Hahaha. Well FX is part of 20th Century Fox and 20th Century Fox is owned by Disney and ABC/ESPN are owned by Disney so there you go.
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Must be tough to be a Pistons fan tonight. They mortgaged the future for a Drummond/Griffin front line. Now they're
down by 17 to the Jazz....
 
So today kinda sucked in terms of results, unless you are a fan of the Spurs not gaining ground on anyone:

MIN W+5
OKC W+12
LAC W+6
NO W+4
SAS W+36
UTH up 33 in the 4th

DEN against LAL in the late late game. Everyone 1-12 except GSW is on a winning streak (though one of DEN/LAL will lose also). Wow.
 
Millsap is waaaaashed

Denver should be thanking their maker that their contract with him is only for 1 more year (guaranteed)
 
There's not a lot of other explanations for the defensive improvement other than coaching.
Full season with Nurk? Concerted effort from Dame? Facing MANY opponents at less than full strength?
Honestly, I don't see anything in particular that Stotts is doing differently - aside from not switching EVERY screen...he doesn't deserve credit for NOT doing the dumbest shit (anymore).
Dame and Nurk (and Ed and Bazz) deserve the credit for our improved D. If Stotts ever decides to add depth to his playbook (on either end of the floor) then maybe he can get some credit too...but the bitch is basic.
 
Julius freakin Randle!

This guy is a killer. I see him getting paid a nice fat check from somebody.
 
Jokic is sellin wolf tickets lol. He remains one of the most awkward and porous defenders of anyone over 6’9 in the league.
 
Julius freakin Randle!

This guy is a killer. I see him getting paid a nice fat check from somebody.

Yep. The Lakers either sign him to a big contract (and lose one potential FA) or someone else does.
 
Wilson Chandler 26 and 10 tonight.

Isn't that the kind of player NO is talking about? A little under appreciated on his current team. We've been rumored to at least be interested in him in the past, he's a good vet that could start or could come off the bench if needed.

Not a shiny new penny... but could fit nicely if the deal was right.

I'd rather have an Oubre etc but NO would have his work cut out for him to bring in a star SF. Seems more likely if he makes a move it will be a seasoned vet.
 
Full season with Nurk? Concerted effort from Dame? Facing MANY opponents at less than full strength?
Honestly, I don't see anything in particular that Stotts is doing differently - aside from not switching EVERY screen...he doesn't deserve credit for NOT doing the dumbest shit (anymore).
Dame and Nurk (and Ed and Bazz) deserve the credit for our improved D. If Stotts ever decides to add depth to his playbook (on either end of the floor) then maybe he can get some credit too...but the bitch is basic.
Perhaps. But the whole team doesn't just decide to play better defense, especially if the defensive scheme didn't change. Who got them to do that? Stotts.

I understand and respect for you basketball knowledge, but even if it's just a matter of motivating the troops, whatever he's doing is working.
 
Full season with Nurk? Concerted effort from Dame? Facing MANY opponents at less than full strength?
Honestly, I don't see anything in particular that Stotts is doing differently - aside from not switching EVERY screen...he doesn't deserve credit for NOT doing the dumbest shit (anymore).
Dame and Nurk (and Ed and Bazz) deserve the credit for our improved D. If Stotts ever decides to add depth to his playbook (on either end of the floor) then maybe he can get some credit too...but the bitch is basic.

What games are you watching? We switch on screens like literally more than 75% of the time.

My eye test tells me we are guarding on ball WAY better. Our rotations are 10x better than they used to be. We're defending the pick and roll differently by giving the ball handler multiple looks.

So it really just looks like you want to take a shot at Terry...
 
Full season with Nurk? Concerted effort from Dame? Facing MANY opponents at less than full strength?
Honestly, I don't see anything in particular that Stotts is doing differently - aside from not switching EVERY screen...he doesn't deserve credit for NOT doing the dumbest shit (anymore).
Dame and Nurk (and Ed and Bazz) deserve the credit for our improved D. If Stotts ever decides to add depth to his playbook (on either end of the floor) then maybe he can get some credit too...but the bitch is basic.

If you watch the games, you would realize this is just wrong....plain false.
 
What games are you watching? We switch on screens like literally more than 75% of the time.
Which is 25% LESS than we did previously! But I should have specified that I meant on the P/R.
Yes, we're guarding the ball way better, because Dame has made it a focus and we're actually using Bazz (and Nurk/Ed are better than Plumlee/Meyers).
An increase in effort is not a change in scheme (although as we both pointed out, the scheme changed slightly in regards to P/R coverage).
As I said, Dame, Nurk, Ed, and Bazz are all SIGNIFICANTLY better than last season - I chalk up our improved D to this (along with FINALLY throwing different looks at the P/R).
 
What games are you watching? We switch on screens like literally more than 75% of the time.

My eye test tells me we are guarding on ball WAY better. Our rotations are 10x better than they used to be. We're defending the pick and roll differently by giving the ball handler multiple looks.

So it really just looks like you want to take a shot at Terry...

It's interesting when the switches occur though. Nurk very rarely gets left on an island trying to defend a point guard on the perimeter. He usually hangs back when his guy picks which gives the guy being screened plenty of room to navigate through the pick. Even on TV I notice him screaming that the pick is coming well before the pick is actually set. Now because he hangs back it often leads to an open mid range shot but in the past that has been what Stotts wants to happen instead of a 3 or a drive to the hoop since a long 2 is the most inefficient shot in basketball. It used to be that the Blazers just immediately switched every time an opposing player breathed near them. It was so infuriating especially against the Clips and Mavs were you have to watch 48 minutes of Dirk or Griffin getting the ball at the free throw line with Dame or CJ on them or watching Chris Paul abuse Davis or Plumlee off the dribble.

I'm not so sure Stotts changed his philosophy. Over the summer he said he considered changing it but decided against it. Davis is not getting in those situations where he has to guard a smaller player on the perimeter anywhere near as much as previously though so maybe they did change it up. Collins still get switched on to a smaller guard pretty frequently but that might be because he is still learning the game. I really think Nurk should get a lot of credit for being a floor general on defense. Having a smart defensive center can completely transform a bad defense into a good one (see Boston with Garnett and Dallas with Tyson Chandler).
 
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