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Official 2018 NBA Offseason Thread: the preseason cometh

Just fast forward to Rox-Dubs. This is a joke.
 
IrishSlim said:
would Chris have gone to Houston to play with Westbrook? I'd say somewhere between Hell No and Fuck No, myself
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Are you really going to start comparing CP3 and Harden to Russ in terms of meaningful playoff wins? How much help and how many chances have those 2 guys needed to get to a point to lose to the warriors in 5 this year?
 
tintinisahottie said:
Are you really going to start comparing CP3 and Harden to Russ in terms of meaningful playoff wins? How much help and how many chances have those 2 guys needed to get to a point to lose to the warriors in 5 this year?
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that ... wasn't the point of juice's hypothetical. Sports What About-ism!
 
https://deadspin.com/a-cool-thing-jayson-tatum-does-a-lot-1825606189

This is a p good point that I'd never really appreciated, with some fun gifs.

...look at Tatum’s feet, how he sets them and starts to launch before the ball even gets to him. This isn’t a scripted cut, where he begins his move before the pass is thrown, but rather a pass to a stationary position, and him launching into a drive after the pass is thrown but before it arrives. Yes, in this instance it led to a drive directly at a teammate and that teammate’s defender, and thus to a badly missed shot (he’s a rookie, dammit!), but it’s still smart and cool and the type of thing that gives opposing defenses nightmares.

After a while, this kind of decisiveness opens stuff up. Defenders get that much more frantic, knowing even unconsciously that Tatum will give them no time to recover—so that, for example, when he feints like he’s making a quick touch pass, man, it really works:
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TexasDeac10 said:
More like 15-20, imo.
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Easily 10 worse. Harden scores from 25 and the free throw line. Allows Capela and CP3 to operate inside the three, and the other guys all spot up. Russ does almost all his damage inside the arc. He doesn’t draw defenders on the perimeter which is what the Rockets thrive upon. Russ draws when he is in the paint which isn’t bad but he would crowd Capela and CP3 effectiveness.
 
Wrangor said:
Easily 10 worse. Harden scores from 25 and the free throw line. Allows Capela and CP3 to operate inside the three, and the other guys all spot up. Russ does almost all his damage inside the arc. He doesn’t draw defenders on the perimeter which is what the Rockets thrive upon. Russ draws when he is in the paint which isn’t bad but he would crowd Capela and CP3 effectiveness.
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And on the defensive end, Rockets would probably have to change their aggressive switching scheme to accommodate Russ.
 
Despite the Celtics home court edge, Sixers are a huge favorite over the Celtics in the EC Semis:

- Philly -420 (this means that you have to lay $420 to win a 100)
- Boston +340 (this means a winning $100 bet on Boston nets you $340)

Obviously, the Celtics injuries also play a factor, but everyone loves Philly right now.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Why? He's a better defender than Harden.
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I don't think that's true, actually, but I haven't dug into the numbers yet. Basically, harden's developed into a perfectly adequate defender. He's also way above average when it comes to defending in the post, so the Rockets are able to switch him onto opposing bigs with lots of success. Russ is... kinda lazy on the defensive end.
 
Pilchard said:
Despite the Celtics home court edge, Sixers are a huge favorite over the Celtics in the EC Semis:

- Philly -420 (this means that you have to lay $420 to win a 100)
- Boston +340 (this means a winning $100 bet on Boston nets you $340)

Obviously, the Celtics injuries also play a factor, but everyone loves Philly right now.
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That's really high unless Brown is more seriously hurt.
 
I like Philly to win the series, but the series price surprises me. Got to be the highest NBA series price for a team without home court.

Both the public and the sharps have been lining up on Philly so there has been a correction.
 
Pilchard said:
Despite the Celtics home court edge, Sixers are a huge favorite over the Celtics in the EC Semis:

- Philly -420 (this means that you have to lay $420 to win a 100)
- Boston +340 (this means a winning $100 bet on Boston nets you $340)

Obviously, the Celtics injuries also play a factor, but everyone loves Philly right now.
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That is nuts.

Not that I'll do anything on the series as a whole, but I might try a pick a game or two during the series if any lines look out of whack.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Zach Lowe with the breakdown on Russ: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23364202/zach-lowe-russell-westbrook-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba
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Spot on with the 5 bad shots per game that Russ should cut out. Think the article could’ve mentioned that PG and Melo have also always been ball stopping iso guys. And also aren’t known for passing and aren’t special ball handlers or anything. Can’t expect an already stagnant O to get a lot of movement by adding those guys. Basically boils down to guys have to hit shots, and PG just didn’t too often in the playoffs. And Melo, sheeeesh
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
Zach Lowe with the breakdown on Russ: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23364202/zach-lowe-russell-westbrook-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba
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Was about to post this. It's a really solid breakdown. Some of those observations are stunning-- Westbrook only setting 24 ball screens combined in 86 games this year is absurd. The article is particularly damning of Billy Donovan (emphasis mine):

Two Novembers later, Durant was gone, and Billy Donovan, Brooks' successor, took a seat in the team's practice facility and grew animated discussing the challenge of building a new playbook from scratch. Those Thunder were light on shooting; Donovan knew defenses would clog the paint against Westbrook, and that Thunder could not win big playing a straight-ahead style.

If the Thunder didn't have the shooting to create floor spacing, Donovan said, they would "create floor movement. If we swing it and swing it, it gives the defense more chances to make a mistake."

Donovan was talking about constructing a broader offensive system, just like Brooks and other Thunder elders had years earlier. It never happened. The Utah series laid it bare, again: The Thunder have no system.

They have plays: various Westbrook and Paul George pick-and-rolls; George looping across the foul line and catching the ball on the move; pindowns for George like the ones Oklahoma City ran for Durant; their pet crunch-time "Hawk" set in which George, Westbrook, and Carmelo Anthony all screen for each other; antique Anthony isolations.

If that first action leads nowhere, there often is no second one. Whoever has the ball either passes it to Westbrook, or shoots.
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This reminds me, MDMH tried to argue to me and Kory last weekend that Westbrook is the 2nd best player in the NBA, which: lolno
 
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