The basketball thread
-
@Wolfs It's like they hired people with the explicit goal of designing the ugliest jerseys possible on purpose, over and over again, for decades.
It's like a team tradition. Only somehow the same (?) team somehow landed Wilt and Curry. Fuckers.
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
-
@Arkandel In Wilt's case, he did start out with the original Philadelphia Warriors and went west with the franchise.
They definitely got a lot of attention for "The City" look in the 70s, but that fit the 70s.
-
@Arkandel said:
... But I haven't seen a team this good and dominant at least since the 2000-2001 Lakers. They are even better than some of the great Spurs teams.
I'm not so sure I agree.
Golden State has lost to: the Bucks; the Mavericks; the Nuggets; the Pistons; and the Trail Blazers. These aren't great teams (the Mavs are currently the best at 31-28). I'd expect a dominant team to crush the opposition, and only struggle with teams of their caliber -- like the 2000-2001 Lakers.
The Spurs have a better point differential and give up 10 fewer PPG, even if they have a worse record. The Spurs have more home wins, and are still perfect at home (as the Warriors are). In other words, don't over look the Spurs; they could feasibly trounce the Warriors.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
-
@Ganymede See, I'm not so sure about that. The level of intensity required to win so often is a hard commodity to come by in the regular season for any team - especially the better ones who know they're gonna be in the playoffs no matter what, and even more so for the ones whose actual slot in the playoffs is more or less guaranteed. It's such a grind, people don't bring their A game often.
So GSW did against the big teams this year. They decimated the Cavs in Cleveland and crushed the Spurs. But it's a bit harder to convince yourself to put in the extra mile I guess playing the freakin' Pistons.
I really think at least this year's chip is theirs to lose - and I say this as an antifan. If anything the only thing I can see stopping that train is injuries (they've been quite lucky, all things considered) and officiating turning against them in a best of seven series.
-
@Ganymede I'm going to be "that guy."
The loss to Milwaukee was on the second night of a back-to-back, finishing a 7-game roadtrip, after winning a tough overtime game in Boston the night before. For that to be their first loss after 24 straight wins is remarkable. Milwaukee also has some length they struggled with, as the rematch in Oakland shortly after that was also close most of the way.
The loss to the Mavericks was without Curry and they looked terrible. The next game, also without Curry, Thompson stepped up and they beat the Rockets.
The Nuggets and Pistons games were stinkers. So was the Blazers game, but they did draw closer at halftime before having a truly awful third quarter with 13 turnovers as Portland did everything right all night long. That was one of those "what can you do?" nights.
They've had letdowns in a few cases and struggled mightily in other games they came back to win, which is more a testament to how hard it truly is to win so many games at this level. Sometimes they lose focus and intensity and pay for it, but when they turn it back on they're a nightmare to deal with.
So far tonight, OKC is meeting and exceeding their intensity.
-
And then Curry did all of THAT.
-
Remember these are reactions by NBA players. Some of whom are actually expecting to face the Warriors on the way to the Finals, and knowing most of them carry huge egos.
Magic Johnson: If @StephenCurry30's game winning 3-pointer doesn't prove he's the greatest shooter we've ever seen, I don't know what will!
@StephenCurry30 has a chance to be the greatest player we've ever seen, if he plays at this level for the next 4-5yrs!
Lebron: @StephenCurry30 needs to stop it man!! He's ridiculous man! Never before seen someone like him in the history of ball!
Dirk: No way
Dwayne Wade: Curry is UNREAL!!!!
Porzingis: is this real life?
Spencer Hawes:
Meyers Leonard: Steph is open when he steps off the bus. Man this guy is the ultimate definition of a video game player
Demar Derozan: He can't be human.
Parsons: Steph is literally insane!!
Ezeli: Ok still sitting in the same spot in the same position trying to figure out what I just saw
Bazemore:
Fournier: What amazed me the most was Coach Kerr not calling Time Out. He knew that was coming
Rudy Gay: Steph curry best shooter ever -
OMG did you see that win tonight... So much respect. Curry put on a show. That last shot would be amazing... if we hadn't seen it many times before from him.
-
@Wolfs said:
I'm going to be "that guy."
You're not really "that guy"; you're everyone in the league and on television, and that's fine.
The comment was about dominance, and I was making a counterargument to that. Numbers are numbers.
“It is better to live doing the things that you like. It is foolish to live within this dream of a world seeing unpleasantness and doing only things that you do not like.” -- Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
-
@Ganymede I know everyone is talking about Curry and it can get old... but this is history in the making. We might never see someone do that stuff again. It's not just good, it's something which if he can keep it up for a few seasons puts him into that conversation about GOAT.
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
-
Last night's performance:
This one has more than just the 3-pointers:
-
@Warma-Sheen
I think the biggest issue there is that they are winning with a different type of basketball then what usually wins championships. There has been other teams to build a roster in a similar manner and play a similar style but they for the most part did not have playoff success.
When you break new ground you always have to deal with some level of that ain't the way it's done pushback. -
@ThatGuyThere I guess that's true. I hate that mentality though. To me, it seems like it would be even more of an accomplishment to win in this kind of fashion by doing it differently. After all this time no one else could do it like this? But you did? That's amazing. More than that, its notable.
To be honest, I didn't really think of them as different, though I've heard people say that. I haven't followed them that much so there's probably stuff I'm missing. I know they don't have a giant guy down low, but "small ball" has worked in the past for championship teams. But there hasn't been a 3 point shooter like Steph Curry in forever, so if they are doing it differently, that's probably why it hasn't worked before.
Also, while we praise Curry and his game, is there any word on Kevin Durant's big time mental collapses at the crucial ending moments last night when the Thunder could have put the game away? What was he thinking? Not as bad as the Bengals in the playoffs, but pretty bad.
-
No one has really been small ball to the level of the Warriors though.
Even the Bulls who never were known for a center still used them effectively and had either Horace Grant or Dennis Rodman down in the paint and while Rodman was not all the big in size he played a very "Big man", and the Heat or recent vintage had Udonis Haslem who while not getting a lot of ink was a big factor in their championship wins, and well has having LeBron who like Magic and Oscar before him could legitimately play any position on the floor.
Every Other Championship team I can think of going back to the early 80s had a well known productive Big so I would say the Warriors are winning in a unique way.
Note I said Big not necessarily center. And I do consider Dirk and Tim bigs even if they are Bigs that can shoot. -
Like... what the actual fuck.
-
Yeah Curry has just been unbelievable, I knew he was having the best shooting year I had seen that chart just really bring it home.
the thing that gets me is not just that he is hitting 3 pointers but that he is hissing the type of three pointers that with anyone else shooting would be no change long bombs and they go in regularly. -
You can see where his numbers went up at the trail end of 2013-2015. I guess he finally mused, "I wonder what would happen if I just did that the whole year instead of just the end...?" Cut to 2016.
-
@Warma-Sheen 2016-2017: "I wonder what would happen if I took all my shots behind the half court line, lol".
-
@Arkandel said:
I know everyone is talking about Curry and it can get old... but this is history in the making. We might never see someone do that stuff again.
Maybe you're simply misinterpreting what I said, so I'll try again.
Dominance is measured through stats, in my opinion. Even if Curry is pulling out one of the best statistical years in history, that does not mean that his team is dominant; that means that he's an incredible shooter who is likely willing his team to victory through points alone.
I think the Spurs are more dominant, numbers-wise. They don't just outscore you; they outscore you and shut your offense down period. They will crush you on both ends of the court, and they will do it through a combination of good coaching and veteran experience. Like Brady and the Patriots, their system is what makes them so damn good. And, like the Patriots, Pop has been doing that shit for years. The Detroit Red Wings, as much as I hate them, fall into the same category of greatness.
With the Warriors, Steve Kerr could smoke a blunt on the sidelines, and they'd still win because of their scoring talent. Match them against an equally-talented scoring team (not saying any exist right now), and their defense -- whatever that is -- comes into play. Also, take out the cheap-ass illegal screens.
-
To note, the top 5 teams in defensive efficiency as of right now (points allowed per 100 possessions):
1 - SAS - 95.7
2 - ATL - 99.5
3 - IND - 99.7
4 - BOS - 99.9
5 - GSW - 100.0Last season, GSW was #1 at 98.2.
These are from whatever the Hollinger stat is on ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/defensiveEff
Basketball Reference has their own ratings that lead to different numbers but similar rankings overall, both this year and last:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2016_ratings.html
So, it's not just a matter of the Warriors outscoring everybody in shooting battles. Now, if that's the direction the game goes, they are much better equipped than the Spurs to do that, but they can and do dominate through defense as well.
