2017-18 NBA regular season thread

[Virtanen18]

Nice "block" by KD, must be nice to be able to swat someone across his arms and get credited with a block.

Fouled him like 8 times, and then turns around and starts clapping like he just made an all time defensive play. So easy to dislike the guy

 

[Virtanen18]

I don’t think too many players is the problem (would be a nice problem to have though). Saric does have a somewhat similar skill set to Simmons but he’s not a particularly good ball handler and he’s a better shooter. The hope is that he develops into a stretch 4- he’s ok at that but needs to improve his 3 pt shooting. He’s also a good rebounder, especially on the offensive boards.

So to an extent, yeah, they’re not maximizing Dario’s skill as a passer but given that Brown emphasizes ball movement his passing should work itself into the offense as things get smoother. I think Fultz will be playing off the ball more when he gets back. If he cracks the starting lineup you might see Dario on the second unit, although I think I’d rather see him start and move Covington to the 2nd unit.

TJ’s improvement as a shooter this season has been dramatic. It’s still not pretty but he’s becoming a fairly reliable scorer off the bench.

But the thing with Saric is that he showed last year he can do so much more than spot up shooting. I feel there's a lot of untapped potential there. It'd be great if he could shoot 40%, and he's shooting it better this year, but I don't know if that's all the guy should be used for. Embiid has pretty good playmaking too. I would keep feeding him, but I'd try and cut down on his ISOs a bit. He can get pretty ISO happy.

Saric going to the 2nd unit and zipping the ball around with TJ could be pretty fun.

 

[Jack Straw]

I agree on both Saric and Embiid. I think over the last several weeks the Sixers have come to rely too much on dumping the ball to Embiid in the low post. That tends to be a ball stopper. They need more movement, particularly more guys cutting to the basket. That would make use of the passing skills of Saric and Embiid and get more easy baskets than the Sixers have been getting lately.

There is a good chance Saric will eventually end up on the 2nd unit when Fultz is ready to start. He and TJ are BFF so yeah, that would be fun.

 

[Virtanen18]

I agree on both Saric and Embiid. I think over the last several weeks the Sixers have come to rely too much on dumping the ball to Embiid in the low post. That tends to be a ball stopper. They need more movement, particularly more guys cutting to the basket. That would make use of the passing skills of Saric and Embiid and get more easy baskets than the Sixers have been getting lately.

There is a good chance Saric will eventually end up on the 2nd unit when Fultz is ready to start. He and TJ are BFF so yeah, that would be fun.

Definitely feeding Embiid there too much. The other guys seem to move a bit more when Embiid has the ball comapred to what I've seen in ISO from other teams when guys literally just watch that one player. He hits Simmons at least once a game on a great cut and pass for a dunk. It's just so effective. People seem to really be opening their eyes to the fact Russell Westbrook barely moves without the ball, and when you see Simmons and other PGs slashing and screening when the ball is out of their hands, you see how effective it can be.

Throwing it to your big guy and letting him post up is just a dying art really, no matter how good they are at it. Embiid can feast doing that, but other guys need to be in rhythm and such as well.

 

[Voight]

Fouled him like 8 times, and then turns around and starts clapping like he just made an all time defensive play. So easy to dislike the guy

LeBron gets away with more shit than anyone else. Now people are going crazy because a foul wasn't called on him. Please.

 

[Ivan13]

LeBron gets away with more **** than anyone else. Now people are going crazy because a foul wasn't called on him. Please.

Give me a break will you? I'm no fan of his, but he constantly gets shafted going to the rim because what would launch another player in the stands, barely registers with LBJ because he's a freak of nature and a freight tran. This was one of the most blatant no calls I ever witnessed.

 

[Voight]

Give me a break will you? I'm no fan of his, but he constantly gets shafted going to the rim because what would launch another player in the stands, barely registers with LBJ because he's a freak of nature and a freight tran. This was one of the most blatant no calls I ever witnessed.

I'm not arguing it was a bad call, but LeBron has arguably gotten away with more than any other player so people need to stop freaking out.

 

[Ivan13]

I'm not arguing it was a bad call, but LeBron has arguably gotten away with more than any other player so people need to stop freaking out.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[Virtanen18]

LeBron gets away with more **** than anyone else. Now people are going crazy because a foul wasn't called on him. Please.

So should we never complain about refs? Cause there's missed calls on everyone every game.

 

[Baxterman]

I'm not arguing it was a bad call, but LeBron has arguably gotten away with more than any other player so people need to stop freaking out.

That would be a pretty weak argument.

Lebron gets fouled all the time but it is often ignored because of how big he is and he is able to power through and still score.

 

[Voight]

So should we never complain about refs?

No but people need to stop freaking out over the call. It was a bad call and that sucks. but the game wasn't very meaningful aside from the act it was a finals rematch on Christmas. If this was the finals I'd understand the outrage.

 

[Virtanen18]

No but people need to stop freaking out over the call. It was a bad call and that sucks. but the game wasn't very meaningful aside from the act it was a finals rematch on Christmas. If this was the finals I'd understand the outrage.

It was a huge game with a ton of viewers. You're surprised people are talking about a massive game changing no call that involved probably the two most talked about players in the sport? Come on, you're not that dumb surely.

 

[Aladyyn]

win against Boston, lose to Atlanta

Wizards basketball

 

[Morozov]

Vince ftw.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Thibs is out of control. Butler played 42 last night (OT game) and is going to play 43 tonight.

 

[Jack Straw]

What an incredibly dumb play by Harden.

 

[dahrougem2]

It's nice to see Harden get a taste of his own medicine. He works the refs so much that it's refreshing to see those calls go against him.

 

[darko]

I'm not arguing it was a bad call, but LeBron has arguably gotten away with more than any other player so people need to stop freaking out.

No he hasn't.

 

[darko]

No but people need to stop freaking out over the call. It was a bad call and that sucks. but the game wasn't very meaningful aside from the act it was a finals rematch on Christmas. If this was the finals I'd understand the outrage.

No one freaked out. Ivan said "nice block" and Virtanen called out KD about carrying on about it afterwards. I think you get a touch sensitive when someone says something negative about your boy.

 

[Virtanen18]

No one freaked out. Ivan said "nice block" and Virtanen called out KD about carrying on about it afterwards. I think you get a touch sensitive when someone says something negative about your boy.

He also hates LeBron for some reason #RayAllenWasOutOfBounds

 

[Cassano]

Rockets 5 game skid. Should they be worried?

 

[Jussi]

Markkanen set new career high with 32 points.

 

[Virtanen18]

Rockets 5 game skid. Should they be worried?

I wouldn't worry. They've had injuries. Need Capela back

 

[Virtanen18]

Cousins just put up 32pts/20reb/8ast/2stl/5blk lmao

 

[Virtanen18]

Giannis was out of bounds lmfao. Doesn't really matter though. The Thunder get away with so much so no need to freak out