Sounds good to me.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
God forbid! The regular season is meaningless enough already. At least winning the most games currently means something.
They do need to change the whole concept of the all-star game though or scrap it completely
It is ok if the All Star Game sucks. Even when it is good it is forgettable. Do not do anything drastic.
Terrible for MLB, will be no better for the NBA.
The trouble was that this time it was so bad it was actually memorable for being so.
Warriors finally win a close match, but they are not playing that well.
On the other hand, how is it possible that a team with Rose, Anthony and Porzinkis is nowhere near the playoff zone?
On the other hand, how is it possible that a team with Rose, Anthony and Porzinkis is nowhere near the playoff zone?
Because Rose is horrible, Anthony a chucker who plays no defense and Porzingis a young talent in his second year.
Isn't that exactly the problem?
I thought they were a little better second half. What was pleasing to me though was that they did finally win a game that was back and forth down the stretch. Invariably this season, even with KD, they have tended to lose those close ones.
Wow, I thought the Hawks loss was the biggest choke today but hahahaha @Boston what an epic meltdown.
Easy. Phil is the PBO and Dolan the owner.
Rose is quietly playing the best he has since 2011...if only he'd stop trying to shoot 3 pointers. 
Oh and pretend to play some D
Oh and pretend to play some D
Playing for a contract.Rose is quietly playing the best he has since 2011...if only he'd stop trying to shoot 3 pointers.
Oh and pretend to play some D
That was hilariousWow, I thought the Hawks loss was the biggest choke today but hahahaha @Boston what an epic meltdown.
Kings also choked nicely, like they realized late on that they have to tank. What was the confusion about Gobert's basket about? It looked perfectly legal from the beginning.Also Wizards dropped a heavy lead too. It was a choke night in the NBA.
That was hilarious
Also Wizards dropped a heavy lead too. It was a choke night in the NBA.
huh? We came back from 16 points down!
I mean Magic against Wizards
It's a great night in the NBA when teams are choking right and left and the Dubs are not one of them. Having said that it was the Knicks and it's not beyond the realms of impossibility that they were trying to lose anyway. But hey a win's a win.
I like how much Cavs seem to rest their best players. They did it again in Miami last Saturday and got beaten by 28 but they don't care, they won't have home court advantage in the finals anyway and having all players fresh and ready in the Finals will be a bigger advantage to them than an extra game at home anyway.
They will probably play both LeBron and Irving today and beat Miami by 20.
They will probably play both LeBron and Irving today and beat Miami by 20.
Never mind resting, they could all go on sabbatical for the next month and they'd still make the finals.
Plus the fact that anybody that comes out of the West will already be pretty knackered before they even get to play against the Cavs.
Bogut lasted 58 seconds with the Cavs
Fractured Tibia - he's done.
Fractured Tibia - he's done.
He Owen Hargreaves'd it
Sad to see that. Always liked Bogues.
Kawhi...that's the real MVP. 3 and a block on Harden in the last 30 seconds to seal the W.
Nah. Doesn't selfishly pad his stats enough. That's what the NBA MVP award's all about, you know.
Yeah I feel ya. Not choking the ball enough, no ISO hero shot misses over the block either and definitely not enough turnovers.
You guys know that Kawhi is on a much much better team than Harden and that without Harden the Rockets would be a lottery team, don't you?
I've been saying it for months that it should be between him and Harden, but for whatever reasons he is getting ignored in the discussion.
He is the best performing player in the league. Likely the best defender in the league, in addition to being a top 5 attacking player. If Spurs get the best record in the league, then it shouldn't be even a discussion about who should get the award. Really, without him Spurs are nothing. In each critical moment, he is stepping up, leading the team to victories and getting the responsibility for the final shots.
I think that today it was my favorite Kawhi moment. Scoring a triple in the last seconds of the match (in an another 30+ match) and then making a run to make a brutal block on James Harden to keep the advantage. Then being chased by the entire Rockets team and still managing to not get fouled and so getting an important victory.
While it should be between him and Harden, I had the opinion that Harden should be the favorite (because of amazing stats), but really I am starting to change my opinion. On attack, Harden is still better, but if you are in the closing moments of the match, and you can choose one player for the action in entire NBA, I would choose Leonard. And considering that the defense is as important as attack, Leonard being the best defensive player in the league with Harden being one of the worst, that is a real advantage for Leonard.
Leonard would be the MVP if only the decision makers can look past the stats. He is essentially playing like James at his best.
That is Draymond, unfortunately.
I think it is very close between them, and even if Green is the best defensive player in the league (I would probably agree with that), Leonard is like the second best. Which isn't a very big difference.
So, him being a best/second best defensive player in the league, a top 5 or so attacking player, being a very good team player, not many turnovers, a killer in the last moments (how many close matches have Spurs won this season, and how many times in half time they were losing but still getting the win on the match), should probably be enough for him to get the MVP. Essentially, if Spurs manage to leapfrog Warriors (which I think it can really happen considering that Warriors aren't playing well without KD) and they have to face each other a couple of times.
I keep hearing this from both the Westbrook and Harden supporters about how the rest of their team is terrible. The problem Russ has is that he makes nobody on his team better. As a whole him being on the team means they may win more games, but the rest of the team have become so dependent on him they're never going to win long term. As for Harden, he has 3 of the top 11 volume three point shooters in the league this year in Gordon, Anderson and Ariza and they're all shooting at a decent clip with Anderson actually over 40%. There is no way they would be a lottery team without him. As for Kawhi, he is on a much better team, because he makes them a much better team. He is the anti-Westbrook. No fuss, no padded stats, no look at me I'm the man. He just quietly gets it done. He is in the top 4 players in the League (along with LeBron, KD and Steph). Because of his age, if I was picking one player to build a franchise around it would be him. Harden and Westbrook might have the stats - Kawhi has the wins. He really should be the MVP this year.
I am starting to think Leonard will win the MVP. He's been awesomely consistent and his team's record will obviously be a big help. I think the narrative about it being *his* team (with Duncan now gone) will also probably help. (Side note, the dude has more steals than fouls in his career, does that amaze anyone else?)
LeBron is hurt by the fact that he is LeBron. He's competing against his high standards and I think the attitude at this point is just simply, 'well we could give it to him every year.' But they elect to give it to others.
Russ and Harden are doing the most individually with the worst teams. OKC without Westbrook would be just unbelievably bad. Bottom three in the West for sure. Probably bottom two. I think the Rockets would be a lottery team as well without Harden, but they'd be better than the Thunder. Harden is my second choice at the moment because the Rockets will get the 3rd seed and he is going to average some crazy numbers.
Despite really wanting Westbrook to win it (and thinking he should because his team is just ass - he is literally doing everything. The fact he might not average 10 assists but will get the rebounds is embarrassing for the rest of the team who can't hit a shot to save themselves. Anyone putting up 48/17/9 but still losing is just unfathomable to me). But anyway, the team seeding won't be good enough for him to win it. So I am willing to concede.
LeBron is hurt by the fact that he is LeBron. He's competing against his high standards and I think the attitude at this point is just simply, 'well we could give it to him every year.' But they elect to give it to others.
Russ and Harden are doing the most individually with the worst teams. OKC without Westbrook would be just unbelievably bad. Bottom three in the West for sure. Probably bottom two. I think the Rockets would be a lottery team as well without Harden, but they'd be better than the Thunder. Harden is my second choice at the moment because the Rockets will get the 3rd seed and he is going to average some crazy numbers.
Despite really wanting Westbrook to win it (and thinking he should because his team is just ass - he is literally doing everything. The fact he might not average 10 assists but will get the rebounds is embarrassing for the rest of the team who can't hit a shot to save themselves. Anyone putting up 48/17/9 but still losing is just unfathomable to me). But anyway, the team seeding won't be good enough for him to win it. So I am willing to concede.
No - that would be 2 time NBA Defensive Player of the year winner Kawhi Leonard.
Draymond is an excellent and versatile defender - but Kawhi is stil ahead of him.
If Kawhi is in the conversation then so is LeBron. If anyone else was playing like he is, people will be blown away. Because it's him though, it's taken for granted. And I'm a big fan of Leonard.
LeBron is Lebron and his stats have been great this year but that Cavs roster is stacked. You could actually argue that they have underachieved in terms of wins and losses. Kawhi on the other hand is playing with a bunch of old men. Tony Parker and Pau Gasol are 34 and 36 respectively and their 2nd and third guys off the bench (Man Utd Ginobili and David Lee) are 39 and 33. It's no coincidence that the Spurs only got one all-star this year. Kawhi is a beast.
They don't have to play at their best in reg. season though and they know that.
That's true and for me that's why it's hard to put LeBron in the MVP conversation when he and his team have been coasting for a good part of the year. Nothing wrong with coasting, I think the Dubs have been doing that too, at least until KD's injury.
LeBron wasn't that good (in MVP terms) in the first half of the season, IMO. He has been likely the best player in the league in the second half of the season (when he decided to bother, and actually his minutes went up to), but then him despite having a better roaster than Kawhi, has a worse win record.
We all know that LeBron is the best player in the league (and probably isn't even that close), but I think that Kawhi has performed better this season. A shame that Durant got injured, cause he would have been in contention with those two too. Harden and Westbrook have the numbers, but Thunders' position doesn't do a favor to Westbrook, neither his shooting accuracy (one of the worst -if not the worst - in top 40 scorers in the league). Harden has been the best attacking player in the league, but cannot see past Kawhi when you look at the entire package. Attack, defense, be the best when it matters most, make the team better, etc. He's essentially doing what LeBron does, but with a team that has a better record, and for the entire season.
I would also like to say that I love Kawhi, and I hope he gets MVP and Spurs to the finals.