Official NBA 2012-2013 Season Thread

[solarius49]

ok cool, lets look at that
They have an 18ppg scorer
3 guys above 13 ppg
2 guys above 10 ppg
average 22.4 apg as a team
They aren't very good on the offensive end, but at 15-12, the 6h best record in the East ahead of teams like the Celts, Nets and 76ers, the Bulls are doing just fine without him

Let's look at some of what you've written...

No primary shot creator = no easy shots on offense.

The EAST is down this year and these Bulls are simply overachieving thanks to Thibs. They're completing the easier part of their schedule too and they're also a Deng / Noah injury away from being lottery bound. Your second statement which I've bolded is pretty outlandish. So much so, you have Knicks fans in an outcry...

I dont think its really that outlandish

In the past couple weeks they've beaten the Knicks twice (while scoring 110 points in one game and 93 in the other) and the Celtics (while scoring 100 points). They won a low scoring game against the Nets, beat the 76ers twice....and those are just games this month. I'm not saying they are equally as good as they would be with a healthy Rose, but they are VERY competitive, and are out here winning games against superior teams

pls respond



not even tryna be a smartass, just wanna hear other opinions on the matter

 

[franknbeans]

i'm not even a big Chris Paul fan, and I think you are an idiot. He's barely even trying in half these games, and only averaging 33 minutes per game. Guys like Derrick Rose (when healthy) only wish they could average that many minutes.

lol so the clippers have an easy schedule in the month of December which allows Chris Paul to sit in the 4th and now they're the show time lakers?,I'm a idiot because I'm stating facts about Chris Paul's history??.lol ok,Holla at me in late march when he's got a few significant injuries he's playing through.honestly don't matter whether he play 20 or 40 min a night.dudes fragile.

 

[fray salters]

When asked specifically about Collison, Westbrook cut off his postgame interview and cussed on his way out of the locker room.

 

[solarius49]

Serge with 19 points 17 rebounds and 5 blocks

 

[bhzmafia14]

I'm happy for you

I'm not >: I need this rematch to happen








I'm glad you all are doing well mj

 

[antidope]

I'm gonna need the Clippers to lose ASAP. This thread cannot continue this way

 

[Ja's 2¢]

When asked specifically about Collison, Westbrook cut off his postgame interview and cussed on his way out of the locker room.

Yup them stats darren put up looked like what russy should have got last night instead of his horrendous fg attempts/%

 

[reduce523]

I'm gonna need the Clippers to lose ASAP. This thread cannot continue this way

No matter what this is going to be a good year for the Clippers. Bench is deep. Team is having fun playing. Players are resting. Yes our schedule has been a lot of under .500 but the nuggets and celtics are not some pushovers.

Best team for LA I dont ever remember saying that.

 

[Chester McFloppy]

I'm happy for you

I'm not >: I need this rematch to happen

Memphis don't want none of the Clippers.

 

[tuna629]

Tonight's gonna be a real test for the Clips, if they can get past this game then who knows the streak would end.

 

[cato312]

pls respond

not even tryna be a smartass, just wanna hear other opinions on the matter

Ok...

You wrote that they were doing just fine without him. Sure, if you consider treading water as doing fine. Best regular season record in the East the last 2 years and now they're middle of the pack. Contender to average.

With Rose for the majority of last regular season the Bulls had a top 5 offense. This year they're near the bottom. If these aren't gauges of his impact, I'm not sure what else is.

They're a defensive team that is overachieving in a weak Eastern Conference. One of the wins against the Knicks was without Melo, and the other in MSG was more of an anomaly especially since Hinrich had the best game of the season and he shot over 35%. The Nets are in a tailspin, and the Sixers aren't very good either. Celts haven't meshed together yet either.

"not that outlandish" = outlandish

 

[Coupé It]

Clippers have a real shot this year to make it deep. Maybe even the finals.

OKC has not gotten better, I hope people realize that.

 

[fray salters]

Clippers have a real shot this year to make it deep. Maybe even the finals.
OKC has not gotten better, I hope people realize that.

Have they gotten worse?

 

[yungchris504]

So...

Is DWILL still > CP3 like some of you believe...

 

[coldcity]

So...

Is DWILL still > CP3 like some of you believe...

he NEVER was

 

[Coupé It]

Have they gotten worse?

No James Harden, I'd say they were a better team last year. Is that it true?

 

[solarius49]

pls respond

not even tryna be a smartass, just wanna hear other opinions on the matter

Ok...

You wrote that they were doing just fine without him. Sure, if you consider treading water as doing fine. Best regular season record in the East the last 2 years and now they're middle of the pack. Contender to average.

With Rose for the majority of last regular season the Bulls had a top 5 offense. This year they're near the bottom. If these aren't gauges of his impact, I'm not sure what else is.

They're a defensive team that is overachieving in a weak Eastern Conference. One of the wins against the Knicks was without Melo, and the other in MSG was more of an anomaly especially since Hinrich had the best game of the season and he shot over 35%. The Nets are in a tailspin, and the Sixers aren't very good either. Celts haven't meshed together yet either.

"not that outlandish" = outlandish

Right...my point isnt that DRose isnt an elite player, or the leader of that team....my point is that the Bulls have been VERY competitive, and a pretty good team without him. How many teams can say that? If you took the star player off of most teams they would fade into Bolivia, but the Bulls have managed to maintain a level of competitiveness, and are still a playoff team (at this point in the season).

And your point about their wins is basically saying "yeah they won those games, let me find an excuse why it doesnt count". The Knicks should destroy the Bulls everytime. Same with the Celts...but they have been good, Deng has been solid, Noah has been solid, Nate Robinson too. I just think people arent giving them the credit they deserve for winning with the team they have


and even without them being the team we may have thought they were, a lineup of

DWill
Joe Johnson
Crash
Reggie Evans/Hump
Lopez

should beat a lineup of

Hinrich
Marco Bellinelli
Luol Deng
Boozer
Noah

9 times out of 10

 

[pmatic]

Joakim Noah is in a battle with Tim Duncan for Defensive Player of the Year right now.

Edit:

I'd say the Thunder are slightly less explosive because of the Harden-Martin dynamic (who here feels confident in Martin in a tight playoff game/series?), but Durant and Ibaka have both improved their games. Westbrook has been inconsistent, but is still very good. Collison and Sefolosha are solid. Thabeet is serviceable all things considered and Perkins is as useless as ever. Backup PG is a question mark and I think a true backup SF is still a need so Durant can play PF. And Brooks is still stubborn, which may cost the Thunder long-term. But the Thunder will still win their 60 games, so really they should be using the regular season to experiment with what they've got.

 

[fray salters]

No James Harden, I'd say they were a better team last year. Is that it true?

They're one game behind having the best record in the entire NBA.

I see nothing that suggests that they are worst off.

 

[BIG LEEMELONE]

I'm jelly of the Clippers right now I gotta admit. the only weakness I can see is that they struggle against teams with guards that can shoot (irving/waiters curry/thompson..nash/kobe ). Lakers gotta get some bench pieces if they're gonna compete

 

[bigmike23]

so dwade your not a dirty player?

 

[airjordan jb23]

When asked specifically about Collison, Westbrook cut off his postgame interview and cussed on his way out of the locker room.

Crazy finish last night though... Collison's shot was

Dallas had their chances in OT too... Those missed FT's & TO's killed them.

 

[antidope]

So...

Is DWILL still > CP3 like some of you believe...

he NEVER was has been for years

Fixed.

Joakim Noah is in a battle with Tim Duncan for Defensive Player of the Year right now.

Edit:

I'd say the Thunder are slightly less explosive because of the Harden-Martin dynamic (who here feels confident in Martin in a tight playoff game/series?), but Durant and Ibaka have both improved their games. Westbrook has been inconsistent, but is still very good. Collison and Sefolosha are solid. Thabeet is serviceable all things considered and Perkins is as useless as ever. Backup PG is a question mark and I think a true backup SF is still a need so Durant can play PF. And Brooks is still stubborn, which may cost the Thunder long-term. But the Thunder will still win their 60 games, so really they should be using the regular season to experiment with what they've got.

I think its gotta be TD, and thats not the fandom talking.

At 36, can Tim Duncan be DPOY?
Spurs' aging star enjoying a rebirth and putting on clinic in blocking shots
Updated: December 21, 2012, 11:49 AM ET
By Tom Haberstroh | ESPN Insider


Even if the Mayans had turned out to be right, I'd have been half-expecting Tim Duncan to find a way to continue to put up double-doubles on a nightly basis. That's how ludicrously consistent the Big Fundamental's career has been.

Seriously, here were are, just a few days away from 2013, and Duncan ranks as the NBA's top big man in player efficiency rating (PER) at 25.2. This is a guy who made his NBA debut in October 1997 just after Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond blew out the candles at his fourth birthday party. There's more: Duncan was playing in the NBA at the same time as Charles Jones, who used to be Dr. J's teammate.

Yes, Duncan is 36 years old and still dominating the league, 45,000 minutes later. Here's a long list of players who have averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks at age 36:

Tim Duncan.

And that's it. No one else.

Chris Bosh called Duncan a "timeless classic" earlier this season, effectively making Duncan the "Citizen Kane" of basketball. The Heat center has a point; it feels like we can always count on Duncan for a good ol' 20-and-10 and a few swats on the side.

Chris Bosh called [Tim] Duncan a "timeless classic" earlier this season, effectively making Duncan the "Citizen Kane" of basketball.

And it's those swats that has made this Duncan season as remarkable as any.

As startling as it sounds, Duncan, a 13-time all-defensive big man, has never had a better shot-blocking campaign in his career. He's currently collecting 2.6 blocks per game with an average of only 30.6 minutes of playing time. In other words, he's blocking more shots per 36 minutes (3.0) than at any point in his 15 seasons in the league.

And the best part? He probably hasn't left his feet for most of those blocks.

He certainly didn't leave his feet on Tuesday when he blocked the 7-foot-2 pogo stick JaVale McGee. Duncan barely left Earth to pin Corey Brewer's reverse layup to the backboard on Tuesday as well. Duncan just casually rotated over, reached up with two hands and stopped the ball dead in its tracks against the glass and descended to the ground with the rock. Before Brewer saw what happened, Duncan had already raised the ball above his head to distribute the outlet pass.

This is where the beauty of Duncan's game lies, the same technical mastery that gave him the Big Fundamental moniker. Rather than swat it like a volleyball spike as so many young players tend to do, Duncan politely rejects the shot attempt with a certain delicacy that undoubtedly loses him macho points. More importantly, Duncan's compassionate blocks allow him to easily snatch away the possession.
Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw
Derick E. Hingle/US PRESSWIREDuncan could show youngster Anthony Davis a thing or two.

Duncan is particularly adept in this underrated realm of block recovery. Research from 82games.com has found that only 57 percent of blocks are recovered from the defensive team and one of every six blocks is sent out of bounds in vain. But a quick viewing of the tape shows that the Spurs recovered 16 of Duncan's last 25 blocks, which is a 64 percent recovery rate. In Tuesday's game against Denver, he reeled in four of his five swats.

Another hidden value of Duncan's blocks: He stays home rather than chase rejections all over the floor. In fact, 83.6 percent of Duncan's blocks come within five feet of the basket, which is the highest rate among the 17 players with at least 40 blocks to their name this season.

Contrast that with Dwight Howard who registers a lot of blocks, but only 67.6 percent of them come in the immediate basket area, which means that Howard spends much of his time blocking lower-percentage shots that probably won't go in anyway.

In some ways, Duncan's lack of athleticism is a blessing in disguise; it keeps him in close proximity of the rim and prevents him from block hunting on jumpers like others. Seen another way, the average shot distance of a Duncan blocked shot is 2.9 feet. Among the top 25 shot-blockers in the league, only Bismack Biyombo posted a shorter block average (2.7 feet). Compare that 2.9-foot average with Anthony Davis, who's often hailed as the next Duncan. His average blocked-shot is 7.1 feet away. Andrei Kirilenko? 8.4 feet. JaVale McGee? 5.2 feet. Duncan probably silently scoffs in their general direction.
Shortest blocked shot distance

(minimum 30 blocks)
Player Feet Blocks
Bismack Biyombo 2.7 39
Tim Duncan 2.9 67
Serge Ibaka 3.3 80
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 3.3 34
Josh Smith 3.6 48
Average 4.8

Duncan isn't cherry-picking against lesser players either. Duncan remains the only player in the NBA to block MVP candidates Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony each on multiple occasions. Poor Al Jefferson has been victimized by Duncan six times this season; Paul Millsap and DeMarcus Cousins have been rejected by Duncan three times.

More evidence of Duncan's subtle dominance on defense: He almost never fouls. As an illustration, let's compare him to his contemporaries. Serge Ibaka, Larry Sanders, Roy Hibbert and Dwight Howard are the only players who have more blocks than Duncan, and they've received 3.5, 4.3, 5.7 and 3.7 whistles per 36 minutes, respectively, this season. Duncan's foul rate? 2.1 fouls per 36 minutes, almost half those shot-blockers collective rate of 4.1 blocks per 36 minutes. Again, the Big Fundamental.

It might be too early to talk about defensive player of the year candidates -- then again, this is the Internet - but the Spurs have been defending like mad this season. They're currently ranking seventh in defensive efficiency on that end of the floor which is the team's highest ranking since 2008-09. Looking at the list of top defensive teams, it's hard not to at least consider Duncan as an early favorite, especially when you consider that he also has the fourth highest defensive rebound rate in the league as well.

As crazy as it sounds, Duncan's path to his first defensive player of the year award could be clearer than ever. Howard's balky back has drastically limited him this season, and Tyson Chandler's candidacy is hurt by the fact that the Knicks currently rank as a below-average defense in efficiency (16th), a ranking that could only get worse when Amar'e Stoudemire returns.

No one has ever won the top defender award after age 34, but that shouldn't stop Duncan from accomplishing the feat. When it comes to basketball, nothing seems to stop Duncan from accomplishing anything.

__________________

Its not up for debate IMO hes playing out of this world on defense.

 

[addict4sneakers]

uhhhh what does deron williams do better than CP3 besides getting coaches fired?

 

[fray salters]

CP3 and D-Will used to be somewhat of an arguable topic for a year or two maybe...but based on the past 3 years...there is not absolutely one thing you can point to that suggests D-Will is better than CP3.