Nba 2016-2017 Season! Let's Get It On!

[vienvenido]

Gusto ko ang laban sa Finals ay Cleveland vs. sino man dito sa tatlo: Lakers/Clippers/Spurs

hehehe.. clippers and spurs pde...

 

lakers...mga 2-3 years pa siguro.

 

If they play the way their doing now... in 2 years time matitibay na buto nyan... May mga all star na panigurado ang gusto lumipat sa solid team....

[chapy7]

Nice lakers won.. Those kids have great potentials!

Basketball enthusiasts, what do you think of the Lakers' current emergence & do you find it surprising at all?

My take is, they could've actually done better last year. Playoffs was a longshot of course but a better record definitely. 2 major factors for me:

1st off, Kobe. It was all about Kobe's final season last year. They chose to honor him w/ farewell tours than win. No disrespect. The man deserved it.

2nd: Byron Scott. I think he's a stubborn coach who insists to implement his system than recognize & adjust to the tools that he has. For example, that D'Angelo Russell is the clear cut starting PG of the team. Yet Scott kept him on limited minutes & just seemed ignorant on how to use him.

Now that Luke Walton's taken over, everything seems to be falling in place. Lakers fans thought the Mozgov acquisition was a joke. Look at him now man the paint.

The 2016-17 Lakers is a stacked team from top to bottom. They have players that resemble each others' games that it hardly matters if one sits down and another plays. I'm talking about Russell, Clarkson, Lou Williams, Nick Young, & Brandon Ingram. You can pretty much alternate these guys and get similar if not the same production.

Just when we all thought it would take several years for them to get back into playoff contention, here they are now looking to kick the door open.

I was never a Laker fan but watching these young guns play should be a treat for any true basketball fan like myself. Plus I'm really digging their new mantra.

[Vertrag1]

Yes! Chicago Bulls won!

[Guiness]

The Timberwolves are the NBA's biggest disappointment Which will break first? Tom Thibodeau or the Timberwolves roster?

 

By Dieter Kurtenbach Dec 7, 2016 at 7:31a ET

 

Yes, it's early in the NBA season.

 

And yes, the Minnesota Timberwolves are a young team.

 

And yes, they're playing for a new coach, who has brought in new systems, a new style, and new standards.

 

But it has to be said: Minnesota should be better than this.

 

This season was supposed to be the Timberwolves' breakout year. With the talent on Minnesota's roster -- which includes a possible transcendent superstar in Karl-Anthony Towns -- and a weakened Western Conference, you could see the Wolves making a jump into the postseason in 2017.

 

But those playoff aspirations are dwindling away before 2016 has ended. After Tuesday night's 105-91 loss to a Spurs team that started Nicolas Laprovittola at point guard, the Timberwolves have a 6-15 record and hold a better chance of landing another Top 5 pick than the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

 

A slow start isn't unforgivable, especially for a young team with a new coach, but there's little indication that the Timberwolves' poor play to start the year is merely an early-season funk.

 

Watching the Timberwolves play, you have to ask: Where's the athleticism? Where's the excitement? Where's this talent that can't be denied? Is this the team that was supposed to make the leap this season?

 

Tuesday night's game would have been a great time to show the world that, yes, the Wolves are still worthy of the hype.

 

We didn't see that, though.

 

This is not the team we expected to see.

 

The Spurs are a hard team to beat, no doubt, but they were shorthanded for Tuesday night's game and they are a squad that thrives in the half court. They can play an up-tempo game, but really they want to slow the contest down.

 

The way you beat San Antonio is to make them run -- you blitz them. That had to be a welcome message to a young, athletic, and raw team.

 

So why did Minnesota only have nine fast break points Tuesday?

 

Why did they play at a low-90s pace?

 

Because that's the way that Tom Thibodeau wants them to play.

 

And that's the way it's always been with Thibs. And if that doesn't change, the Timberwolves will probably never reach their full potential.

 

Thibodeau was handed full control of the team this past offseason -- he's both the head coach and the general manager. It was a necessary concession if Minnesota wanted Thibs, and after a year of aimlessness, the Timberwolves brass decided it would be a good idea to bring in someone who could provide this young team discipline -- particularly on the defensive end. Thibodeau has a well-earned reputation around the league as a defensive genius -- he's credited with innovating a strong-side overload defense that can smother dribble-drive point guards, as well as a two-man scheme for stopping a side pick-and-roll.

 

It's heady stuff, but it works -- Thibodeau made the playoffs all five seasons he was head coach of the Bulls.

 

So far this season, Thibodeau's defensive changes haven't taken. That's not unexpected, but Minnesota is allowing 107 points for every 100 possessions, the sixth-worst mark in the NBA.

 

For now, the Timberwolves' best chance to win games is to dominate on the offensive end -- something they are capable of doing, if only they were playing in a system that leaned on the team's best players.

 

But they're not, and it's unlikely that will change.

 

And that's the crux of the Timberwolves' problems.

 

The Timberwolves are putting up points this season -- they average 105 per 100 possessions -- but they're playing a relatively old-school style with new-school players.

 

It's no longer the age of the high pick-and-roll -- NBA offenses need to be more complex than that now -- but someone forgot to tell Thibs.

 

The Timberwolves give Towns plenty of touches, sure, but they don't run the offense through him, their best player. The offense isn't run through Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine either.

 

Instead, Minnesota's offense is manned by point guard Ricky Rubio, whose style of play is reminiscent of Rajon Rondo's -- a player who Thibodeau coached in Boston. He can't shoot and he doesn't necessarily have the ability to draw defenders inside the 3-point arc, but he is an excellent passer in the open court, should the Timberwolves ever find themselves there.

 

And because neither Rubio or his backup, rookie Kris Dunn, can stretch the floor or command double or triple teams, the Timberwolves lead the league in shots taken against tight defense (a defender within two feet at release) this year.

 

Still, Minnesota scores. Towns, Wiggins, and LaVine are just that good.

 

But could you imagine how good they'd be if they played in a progressive offensive system -- a kind built for three players of their skill and upside?

 

It's ridiculous that they have to overcome their own offensive scheme. Right now, the Timberwolves' young stars are being stifled by an offensive system that is becoming more antiquated by the week and run by players that defenses don't have to respect, and given everything we know about Thibodeau, he'll probably ride that system for the next five years.

 

Even after 21 games, it's abundantly clear that Thibodeau is beholden to his schemes -- they have been successful elsewhere and he won't concede that they might not be successful in Minnesota in 2016 and beyond.

 

Remember, Thibodeau has full control over the roster. Why adjust systems when you can adjust personnel?

 

But so long as the Wolves run high pick and roll with Rubio on most every play, Minnesota won't achieve its offensive ceiling. He's not Derrick Rose in his MVP-winning prime.

 

Furthermore, it's unlikely that Rubio could be moved for the impact point guard this Minnesota offense needs. Dunn, the fifth overall pick in the past draft, might be that point guard down the line, but so far there's been little to back up that hypothesis.

 

Unless they want to move Wiggins or LaVine, the Timberwolves will need to make the point guards they have work.

 

That said, if the Timberwolves are in the same position this time next year, there will be loud calls for radical changes. (That's a long ways away though.)

 

Of course, Thibodeau could simply tweak the Timberwolves offense -- he could play through Towns in the high post, or run Wiggins as a four-out point guard until the Timberwolves can find the right guy to take over at point guard this offseason, but Thibodeau has shown little flexibility over the years unless his hand was truly forced. (Like when the Bulls ran their offense through Joakim Noah in the high post when Rose was injured in 2014.) It's not going to happen.

 

Which leaves Minnesota, a team blessed with a generational offensive talent and star-caliber second options, sitting in neutral.

 

This Minnesota team is a grand experiment -- these players could develop into a squad of Warriors killers or it could be another batch of wasted potential.

 

It's a big-picture game -- patience is key -- but in the short term, this Minnesota team has only been frustrating and disappointing, and change doesn't appear to be on the horizon.

[Guiness]

Don't be fooled -- the NBA MVP race is more than the Harden-Westbrook Show Those two might have gaudy numbers, but a closer look pokes holes in the facade

• by Bill Reiter
• 1h ago• 6 min read

 

Through an early but extraordinary stretch of this NBA season, two players have seemed to rise above the rest. James Harden and Russell Westbrook, former teammates, have enacted a constant duel to awe us.

 

One, Harden, leads the league in assists and, under new head coach Mike D'Antoni, has channeled his electrifying excellence to reach another level. The other, Westbrook, is on pace to be the second player in league history to average a triple-double for an entire season.

 

Perhaps most important, and in many ways most striking, is that their domination of the ball and the stats that have followed have also helped them lead their teams to strong starts. Westbrook, with a league-high 41 percent usage rate, has his Kevin Durant-less Oklahoma City Thunder sitting at 14-8 and riding a six-game winning streak. Harden, with a usage rate of 34.1 percent, fifth highest in the league, has the Rockets at 14-7.

 

The natural conclusion has been that if this continues it'll surely be Harden vs. Westbrook for this season's MVP honors.

Not so fast.

While Westbrook's numbers are gaudy on a historical level -- an average of 31 points, 10.9 rebounds and 11.3 assists per game -- there are still some things to see once we look under the hood. He leads the league in turnovers with 123 (Harden is second at 121), good for 5.6 per game. He's shooting 33 percent on threes, 45.6 percent from the field and has at times required a lot of (bad) shots to put up some of those bold numbers: 17-of-44 to score 51 against Phoenix, 9-of-26 to score 36 against Toronto, 12-of-35 to score 35 versus Washington, and so on.

 

Harden, too, has his imperfections waiting behind the sheen. On top of scoring 28.7 points per game and an NBA-best 11.6 assists per game, he has those turnover issues -- 5.8 per game. His defense still begs some effort, to say the least. He has a 3.7 offensive win share and a 0.6 defensive win share. His "Ole" issues on D remain, to a level that would make Roger Dorn proud.

 

This isn't to hate on these guys. Far from it. They've been fabulous. But focusing just on these two players doesn't tell the complete picture. If the NBA's Most Valuable Player ballot was due today, here's how I'd rank the respective five best players so far this season.

Between Harden and Westbrook, one would be in the running for my first-place vote. The other's not quite there.

AN EARLY COP-OUT, MAYBE, BUT WE HAVE A THREE-WAY TIE FOR NBA MVP

OK, so I can't yet give you one guy who's at the very top over the others, but I can tell you who it wouldn't be. We have a Harden-less three-way tie.

 

1a) Russell Westbrook. Yes, his lack of efficiency can drive me crazy, and the nights where he goes Bad Kobe Bryant make me want to pull my hair out. But it's his imitation of Good Kobe Bryant that has him atop a list of players during a stretch that has seen some remarkable individual basketball.

Westbrook's utter toughness, like Kobe's, and his to-hell-with-losing worldview that borders on mental illness has infected his team. No Durant? I won't say no problem, because obviously it is one, but Westbrook has filled that void with his greatness and his will and an approach that has shaped and defined his team and made them so much better than many expected. What more could define a Most Valuable Player?

 

That, and, damn, if you're going to average a triple-double for a whole season it'll be tough to argue against you.

1b) Anthony Davis: But if I did vote against Westbrook, or elevate someone ahead of him, Davis would get a long look. Yes, he's had injury issues throughout his career, and, yes, his Pelicans team is 7-15. But they are, to use the clinical term, some hot garbage. It's hard to hold Davis responsible. He shows up every night, and boasts a league-leading 31.6 points and 2.8 blocks per game.

He also plays more minutes (38) per game than anyone else in the NBA, and his 31.2 PER is also tops in the league. That, and the eyeball test is off the charts. There may not be as many people watching him play each night as Westbrook, but he is no less a basketball savant and a player to behold. Don't sleep on Davis just because his team loses night after night.

 

1c) LeBron James: Can we get the King the respect he deserves? I'm still second-guessing myself for voting for Steph Curry over LeBron in last year's MVP race, and while I think I made the right call, I also wonder if we're at a stage now where we simply take LeBron for granted. If we don't give him his due because we've lost our awe for what he does.

 

He is going to end up as somewhere between the single- to third-greatest player ever, and we're getting too used to just how amazing he is at this game. If familiarity breeds contempt, it can certainly breed a fogginess in seeing someone clearly.

 

To that point, he's averaging just -- just -- 23.9 points per game. Not as sexy, not as flashy, and not as shiny and new as Russ's triple-doubles and the Beard's freewheeling game down in Houston. But LeBron is shooting 54.6 percent from the field, and averaging 7.7 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game, good for the second-most and most of his career, respectively.

 

LeBron has reached a stage of his career that is not just dominating, though it is, and not just brilliant, thought that's true too -- it's also graceful in its execution and tactical thinking. He's taking a play out of Gregg Popovich's book, and doing great things while building for the Finals so that he still peaks at the right time, not showing up the world in the regular season and then running out of gas.

 

How can we doubt the value part of MVP after what he's done the past two Junes? Or after watching the Warriors chase 73 wins and run out of steam?

 

LeBron is playing at a level as high as anyone, and he belongs on this list -- maybe atop it.

 

4. James Harden: Howl all you want. He's great, no doubt, but I want to see more to move up. He's got tough, tough company, even if his play is shiny and new and fun to watch. Defense (see: A.D. and LeBron) matters almost as much as offense. Flashiness is great, but it's not everything.

5. Kevin Durant: If I had to vote here at the No. 5 spot, I'd vote for KD. He's averaging not just 27 points per game, but a career-high 8.4 rebounds per game, as well as 4.7 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals each night. On the season, he's shooting 56.5 from the field, and 42 percent on threes. That's astounding.

 

Still, other names belong close to the No. 5 spot -- Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo (trust me), maybe even Chris Paul. And Klay Thompson did just score 60 points.

 

The point is this: Westbrook and Harden are dueling dynamos, and watching them paint each NBA night with their greatness and their gotta-be-kidding-me stats is fun, and, more to the point, effective. But there are some other names who belong in their company -- not because those two guys are actually less great than first meets the eye, but because some other players are even better than you might think if you spend too much time watching the Harden and Westbrook show.

[BlackMamba08]

RIP Mr. Sager

[ppdd]

RIP Craig Sager :'(

[strideryu]

GSW beat Cavs by almost 30 points

[Chinito831]

GSW beat Cavs by almost 30 points

Cavs are weak

[san.juan.vicente]

CAVS all-in basta spread.

[strideryu]

OKC won against Dallas today! 109-98

[mariz_2122]

Go cavs

[kamotenights]

Lebron just got burned by the big ticket!

[teng3]

GSW!

[Kriliin]

Sana yung Wizards di Mag choke sa Playoffs, lakas ng 1st five nila..Porter grabe inimprove

Sana Wizards vs. Cavs sa East ganda laro nila

 

Sa kabila naman tahimik lang talaga yung Spurs maintain lang yung record nila.

Pero nakakabahala jan yung Run-and-gun Style ng Rockets at medyo nag ok na depensa ni Harden dagdag mo pa si Capella nag improve sa center