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NATE > Knicks

348K views 9K replies 149 participants last post by  Magic 
#1 ·
Season starts tonight!

New season = new thread.

Get your predictions in and what not. Some of you have done that already in the off-season thread.

Tonights predictions:

Wizards at Cavs
Celtics at Heat
Mavs at Lakers
 
#2,352 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

The return of Linsanity to MSG tonight. The place where it all began. Don't let me down Lin. I'm all Lin for tonight. James Harden needs to stop hogging the ball.
 
#2,354 · (Edited)
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Lin won't do anything special as long as Harden is playing. Unless Houston goes away from their normal offensive gameplan which features Harden dominating the ball a lot and instead has Lin being the ball-dominant player on offense, which is really the only way Lin can be effective.

On another subject, it's nice to see Deron Williams finally being honest.

"I was injured the first year (and needed season-ending right wrist surgery)," Williams said Monday, a day before the Nets host the Jazz at Barclays Center. "I've really had injuries while I've been with (the Nets) the whole time. And didn't have the talent around me that I did (with the Jazz).


"And that system (in Utah) was a great system for my style of play. I'm a system player, and I loved Coach (Jerry) Sloan's system. I loved the offense there. We could've been a really good team. We just weren't that good defensively as a group."
I'll probably get flamed for it but I still believe that Deron is a system player and was a product of Jerry Sloan. Right now he's in my top 5 PG's, still remains in my top 10 though. I rank him #7 now behind CP3/Rose/Westbrook/Parker/Rondo/Kyrie.
 
#2,355 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Lin won't do anything special as long as Harden is playing. Unless Houston goes away from their normal offensive gameplan which features Harden dominating the ball a lot and instead has Lin being the ball-dominant player on offense, which is really the only way Lin can be effective.
This. I said this earlier ITT. They do not compliment each other well since their games overlap to a certain extent and negate the other's strengths.
 
#2,357 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Those stats are interesting but IDK if the difference is THAT substantial. That looks like the difference between a All-Star PG vs a very mediocre starter.

What's the sample size (# of min) on Lin's numbers without Harden on the floor? Also, how much of those numbers came when the benches were in the game?

Those two could factors could skew the stats a bit but there's no doubt, he excels without a ball dominant player/creator next to him.
 
#2,358 · (Edited)
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

106 minutes. So if you split it per 36 that's approximately a 3 game sample size. And I'm sure those numbers are skewed due to the one game where Lin played almost 40 minutes with Harden missing the game due to injury and dropped 38 against the Spurs.

Here's the excerpt that was posted on RealGM, since it came from an ESPN Insider article and I'm not subscribed to them.

But look what happens to Lin's numbers in the 106 minutes he has played when Harden hits the bench: 19.7 points, 7.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds with an above-average 55.4 TS% and a 17.7 PER.

That's pretty darn good. If those numbers look familiar, there's a reason for it. Check out Lin's per-36 minute stat line in New York last season: 19.6 points, 8.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds. 55.2 TS% and a 19.9 PER.

What we're seeing here is when Lin plays without Harden, his shooting percentages and scoring rates are almost identical to his numbers from last season. In other words, he has shown he can still be the player that took the world by storm last season. But when he plays next to the ball-dominant shooting guard, everything changes. Context, as you can see, is incredibly important.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Lin hasn't been a perfect complement next to Harden. They're both masters of the pick-and-roll, but the problem is that they can't run a pick-and-roll at the same time. Because Harden is the better player of the two, Lin usually plays off the ball and lets Harden go to work. But if Lin had a reliable spot-up jump shot, this wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately, Lin ranks 79th among 121 players in catch-and-shoot efficiency this season, according to SynergySports (minimum 50 such shots). Ray Allen, he is not.

----snip-----

But without Harden on the court? Lin visits the free throw line more than three times as often (6.5 attempts per 36 minutes) while his attempts from beyond the arc essentially doesn't change (3.1 attempts). Lin's averages last season: 7.0 free throw attempts and 2.9 attempts from deep. Mirror images.

---snip----

It bears mentioning that Lin is still just 24 years old and also coming off offseason knee surgery. He still has room to grow as a professional basketball player, considering he has only 87 games under his belt. Since 1995, only one other player has averaged 15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals per 36 minutes in their first three seasons in the league. His name: Chris Paul.
 
#2,359 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

That's pretty impressive.

I wonder if they'll experiment with Lin taking a more ball dominant role and Harden plays off-ball more, coming off screens, curls, making cuts and whatnot but Harden's mid range game is very mediocre for him to really be a off-ball threat.
 
#2,360 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

they've played around 20 games together. when they come in with similar styles it will take time for them to grow chemistry wise which will either happen or won't. enough games haven't played yet to determine whether they should be split or not as they still have a lot of adjusting to do.
 
#2,365 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Well I guess Copeland just kept his spot on the roster
 
#2,374 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

I love how everyone's no-selling the fact that the Clippers are on a 10 game winning streak and are tied with the Knicks for the 2nd best record in the NBA after OKC who are on an 11 game winning streak.

While Blake Griffin is having statistically the worst year of his career and Caron Butler is looking like he's done, there's still been a lot of positives for this team. Chris Paul is still the best PG in the NBA, DeAndre Jordan is starting to play to his potential, putting up 10/7/2 in 25.8 MPG, he's a double-double guy per36. Another reason for the Clippers superb play is their bench. Bledsoe, Crawford and Barnes are proving to be quite the trio for the Clippers, Bledsoe is showing the potential to be a star, Crawford is playing at a 6MOY level and Matt Barnes is one of the most underrated acquisitions of the offseason. If Grant Hill & Chauncey Billups can come back healthy and still be able to produce like they were last season and if Blake Griffin can get out of his slump and get it going, these guys are a scary team to face in the playoffs. But I do have sneaky suspicion that Blake Griffin peaked in his rookie year, hope I'm wrong on that for the Clippers' sake though.
 
#2,377 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

I love how everyone's no-selling the fact that the Clippers are on a 10 game winning streak and are tied with the Knicks for the 2nd best record in the NBA after OKC who are on an 11 game winning streak.

While Blake Griffin is having statistically the worst year of his career and Caron Butler is looking like he's done, there's still been a lot of positives for this team. Chris Paul is still the best PG in the NBA, DeAndre Jordan is starting to play to his potential, putting up 10/7/2 in 25.8 MPG, he's a double-double guy per36. Another reason for the Clippers superb play is their bench. Bledsoe, Crawford and Barnes are proving to be quite the trio for the Clippers, Bledsoe is showing the potential to be a star, Crawford is playing at a 6MOY level and Matt Barnes is one of the most underrated acquisitions of the offseason. If Grant Hill & Chauncey Billups can come back healthy and still be able to produce like they were last season and if Blake Griffin can get out of his slump and get it going, these guys are a scary team to face in the playoffs. But I do have sneaky suspicion that Blake Griffin peaked in his rookie year, hope I'm wrong on that for the Clippers' sake though.
I find it funny that you haven't noticed that literally 98% of the media attention so far has gone towards the Lakers and the Knicks. like the Heats' struggles are even getting ignored because of how piss poor the Lakers are.
 
#2,378 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Well it's the Lakers and the Knicks, two biggest markets in the NBA. It's expected that they get the majority of the attention.

And the Heat's struggles are for real, small ball will not work for them in the long run, they're way too small inside and they're terrible defensively. If Amar'e & Shumpert return and the Knicks are still playing at a high level, I think they're coming out of the East.
 
#2,380 ·
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

Just remembered that the Thunder actually drafted Eric Bledsoe but traded him on draft night for Morris Peterson and the Clippers 2012 pick which they traded to Boston in the Kendrick Perkins deal.

But HOLY SHIT if OKC never traded Bledsoe and assuming they never traded Harden. This is a team that OKC realistically could've had depending on how much they were willing to spend...

Westbrook/Bledsoe
Sefolosha/Harden
Durant/Green
Ibaka/Collison
?/Aldrich

Of course the trick would've been the starting center but that's a fucking amazing lineup.
 
#2,382 · (Edited)
Re: NBA Thread: 12/13 Season - SPREAD ON A LITTLE MAYO

My only comment on the joke that is the Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge better get shit done on the trade deadline. Jeff Green, Bass and Lee all have to go; especially Bass and Lee. We need a legit center in the worst way. I'm hoping there's a way we can acquire Gortat without having to trade Bradley.
 
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