NBA 2017-2018 Regular Season

[The G Man]

Rumors that Cleveland want to trade Shump and Frye for Greg Monroe. Not sure why Phoenix would want either and Shumpert is owed $11M for next year.

[Steve Minkin]

Embiid -- 46 Pts | 15 Rebs | 7 Asts | 7 Blks

Looking forward to tonight's streak vs streak in Boston!

[The G Man]

Embiid -- 46 Pts | 15 Rebs | 7 Asts | 7 Blks

Looking forward to tonight's streak vs streak in Boston!

Kerr said that Boston is the team of the future in the EC but it's really not obvious. Embiid and Simmons, both have the potential to be among the game's all-time greats if they reach their full potential and stay healthy.

[walto]

Watched the Boston/Golden State game last night. Kind of ugly. When GS played well, they'd get double digit leads and Boston would be awful. During Boston comebacks, Both teams would look bad, Boston would get calls and slowly claw their way back. It was one more home game, and I wouldn't take too much from it.

I'd have liked to hear Barkley (who basically said Boston sucks and has no chance) after the game, though.

[walto]

I saw the Spurs/OKC game last night. My Spurs seem pretty goddam good to me, even without their star (or Tony Parker). Better look out for them, everybody.

[Steve Minkin]

A game with two 47-point quarters! Pity that the season series with Philly is over before December, definitely a fun team to watch.

[The G Man]

A game with two 47-point quarters! Pity that the season series with Philly is over before December, definitely a fun team to watch.

I don't know if you subscribe to The Athletic, but there's great Warriors coverage there. Jason Lloyd, who I like, writes on the Cavs.

There was a podcast led by Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami with guest Tom Haberstroh. One of them heard that Looney has been destroying Bell in practice. Looney has earned a spot in the rotation. He's lost 20 pounds and has improved his defense. McCaw has mostly lost his through timid play. It's a little puzzling why the lobs to McGee have mostly stopped this year. Kerr wanted Iggy and Livingston back but neither has been good. Iggy is mostly there to play against LeBron in the finals. They think that Cleveland should be favored to beat Boston to make the finals but that Boston would be a harder opponent for the Warriors. They also speculated that Curry's decline in 3 pt% may be due to his bulking up. There was a mention of Roy Hibbert, who declined precipitously after adding a lot of upper body strength. They also observed that Durant doesn't not draw double teams because he can't or won't muscle in towards the basket and that Thompson makes a higher percentage on the same shots when Curry is in versus out, a weird thing.

My favorite team to watch is the Sixers. Robert Covington has been playing out of his mind, compared to his past career and just signed a multi-year contract extension. His shooting will regress to the mean but Embiid will contribute more as his mpg increase and he gets in better game shape. I think he said a few days ago that his stamina was 69% of what it should be.

[Steve Minkin]

Looney's been a beast the last few games. He's lost 20 pounds and Kerr named him the MVP of camp . . .

He's still impacting games. What an improvement! He's not only in the rotation, he'll play some crunch-time minutes.

During half-time of the Philly game, Q told Steph his 3s were coming up short and to shoot for the back of the basket. He was locked in the second half. He may have put on enough weight to affect his elevation, needs to adjust his shot.

As I said, Andre's lost another step. Livingston's been pretty good, though. And West is having his best season in a while, he's looking great.

[walto]

I think he said a few days ago that his stamina was 69% of what it should be.

As I think all three of us knows, though, he (weirdly) rounded up there. The precise figure is 68.37%

[jon abbey]

in shocking news, the Clippers offense is a tire fire without Chris Paul, JJ Redick and Jamal Crawford. Griffin and Porzingis matched up against each other which was pretty fun, the box score is pretty even but KP seemed to abuse him almost whenever he wanted, on both ends.

[jon abbey]

Knicks just threw up a 41-10 3rd quarter against the Raptors, and Porzingis didn't even do that much. too bad they don't get to play like 70 home games, or they might be good.

also, the league seems terrible so far, with an obvious handful of exceptions, but injuries plus player movement have made it so there really aren't many good teams right now.

[jon abbey]

Mnah a Moute was +57 off the bench in 26 minutes for HOU tonight against DEN. that is pretty good.

[The G Man]

Mnah a Moute was +57 off the bench in 26 minutes for HOU tonight against DEN. that is pretty good.

That's the best going back to 2000-1 (basketball reference). Here's the top 5:

1. Mbah a Moute 57
2. Joe Smith 52
2. Wally Szczerbiak 50 in 21.5 minutes
3. Jared Jefferies 50
4. Tyronn Lue 49

This group would not be a very good starting five.

[The G Man]

Eastern Conference is seven games over .500!

I'd like to take back three bad predictions I made before the season. All were pretty much consensus views but look terrible now.

1. The Eastern Conference would be historically awful.
2. Danny Ainge made a terrible trade with Cleveland.
3. Indiana made a terrible trade with OKC.

The two biggest injury disappointments have been Hayward's injury and the slow healing of Kawhi Leonard's quad.

The most under-performing team may be MIlwaukee. Kidd is their version of Mark Jackson and is holding them back.

OKC is 8-9 but they rank 5th in the league in schedule adjusted point differential. Unlike last year when they won almost every close game, this year they are losing them.

Boston ranked #27 in d rebound % last year. This year they rank #1. That accounts for a lot of their improvement on defense.

[walto]

Mnah a Moute was +57 off the bench in 26 minutes for HOU tonight against DEN. that is pretty good.

That's the best going back to 2000-1 (basketball reference). Here's the top 5:

1. Mbah a Moute 57
2. Joe Smith 52
2. Wally Szczerbiak 50 in 21.5 minutes
3. Jared Jefferies 50
4. Tyronn Lue 49

This group would not be a very good starting five.

I think I saw the Szerbiak and Smith games. None of the other ones.

[The G Man]

Walto, Embiid says he's now up to 81% capacity.

[The G Man]

Warrior trouble points -- Draymond is hitting .333 from deep, Igoudala just .222 and virtually all of those shots are open. Defenses are giving them the open three and mostly ignoring Zaza, who is only hitting .563 from 0-3 feet. McGee isn't getting the lobs from Draymond and others this year, either. His attempts near the rim are down 20%. Curry's 3 pt percentage, a career low .411 last year, is only .383 this season.

Houston is #1 in offense, GS #2. Houston is #8 in defense, GS is #9. That's pretty equal but Houston has mostly played without Chris Paul whereas the Warriors have been healthy.

[walto]

Curry was terrible in the Boston game. But I guess he wasn't at full strength. OTOH, Iggy had a nice game.

[walto]

Walto, Embiid says he's now up to 81% capacity.

Haha. Yeah I saw that.

[The G Man]

Curry was terrible in the Boston game. But I guess he wasn't at full strength. OTOH, Iggy had a nice game.

Curry got in foul trouble and only played 31 minutes. Kerr kept him on the bench to start the fourth even though he had already rested with four fouls. I don't think that would have happened in a playoff game.
Iggy shot 3-5 but the Dubs were -18 when he was on the court.