2017-18 NBA Thread

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Farewell Friends
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Middle, did you watch Thunder last night? I'm hearing they meshed well, but it was against the Knicks.

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Hoot45
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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MrCrowesGarden wrote:
I'm still shook by this video.

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themiddle54
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Farewell Friends wrote:Middle, did you watch Thunder last night? I'm hearing they meshed well, but it was against the Knicks.
I didn't watch, I had to work, I am gong to watch the LeaguePass* 10-minute condensed game in a bit.

*New tier this year, you have to pay an extra $50 to get the arena stream and if you don't go the extra $50 you get the local TV ads. Last year the arena stream was automatic with the Every Team package, so you could see the mascots dunk off trampolines, the hip-hop dance kids from the local youth club, the 9 year-olds playing a full court game during halftime, the fans going crazy for the t-shirt gun, the guy pulled from the crowd to get three chances to hit a top-of-the-key three, and all that other stuff. My thing auto-renewed for the non-arena stream, so I get the local TV ads, and local TV ads have proven to be so great and hilarious that I don't even really miss the arena stream, even though it was one of my favorite LP features in the past. The best thing about it is by watching a lot of different teams' broadcasts you don't run as high a risk of getting absolutely sick of a cheesy local TV ad and can continue to enjoy it deep into the season. I'm supposing.

Edit to add to my LeaguePass rambling....It is the single crappiest major sports media thing in existence. Last year like 45 games into the season it was still super buggy. I'd start a game on AppleTV and if I wanted to change games it would freeze. I would have to literally delete the LeaguePass app from AppleTV, reinstall, log back in, and switch games. Then do that whole thing again if I wanted to change again. If I tried to watch a highlight video late night it would play and lock me out of switching, and I'd have to do the above again. I emailed about 5 times and called about the same. I only got a cursory apology and a "we know and are working on it" with no, like, here's $100 off next year since the reason you paid for this--the reason everyone pays for this, to flip around--doesn't work.

Now, If I hit "Video" on a box score on NBA.com, it directs me to Subscribe to LeaguePass. When I go to the LP page it says "You've Already Subscribed!" There is no "Log In" button, just "Subscribe" so I can't log in anywhere. There's no "Log In" on nba.com either. I can watch on my iPhone, iPad and AppleTV, but I can't watch on my laptop because of the loop it sends me into of "Please Subscribe -> You Already Subscribed -> Pleas Subscribe -> You already subscribed." MLBTV blows this product out of the water, and MLB media in general just kills the NBA's league stuff. The NBA website is mostly video, whereas MLB's site is video but there's also a writer who covers each team. NBA really needs to get their site and LP house in order.

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themiddle54
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Farewell Friends wrote:Middle, did you watch Thunder last night? I'm hearing they meshed well, but it was against the Knicks.
Watched the whole game just now. Russ doesn't even look like the same player. He whipped the ball around the perimeter a lot more than last year. When Adams would come to the elbow from the block Russ was kicking him the ball in the high post and moving*. Last year when Adams came up from the block you could practically bet your life Russ was going to crash toward the rim or bounce off a pick for an ill-advised three. He shot like 2 threes last night, which is somewhere around the right number for him on any team, but especially one with George and Melo.

FWIW I don't hate Russ, last year I hated the fawning over him having a great year in a year that he was so inefficient and wasteful with the ball. I was taking more to task the fan reaction (same as Miggy's MVP > Trout) and also the very bad "advanced" metrics like PER that overrate him based on his usage and box score stats. The Russ I saw from last night's game I like quite a lot. I got no problem with that Russ. That Russ is an excellent player who uses his athleticism at the right times, moves the ball at the right times, takes the right shots, and gets other people involved.

*Moving the ball in and out of the paint, if you watch teams like the Spurs and Dubs they do this ALL the time. The ball goes inside not to finish the possession with a back-to-basket post-up play, but rather goes in to pull the defense so that the big can then move the ball back out into space. It's one of those Moneyball moves that great basketball teams have figured out. If Russ keeps moving the ball into Adams so Adams can keep spacing and ball movement at optimal levels this will be a hell of a team.

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Tim
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

Post by Tim »

Dennis Schroder is going to shoot the ball this year. A lot.

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themiddle54
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Tim wrote:Dennis Schroder is going to shoot the ball this year. A lot.
Yeah no kidding. I like Taurean Prince to have a grower year for them.

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themiddle54
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Giannis, holy moly.

:30 left. They're down 1. He misses two foul shots.
:30. Timeout. Giannis punches chair on bench.
Next possession, Giannis relieves McCollum of the ball, two-hand dunk at the other end. Bucks up 1.
:10 left. Blazers get it to Nurk, who heads for the hoop. Giannis blocks the shot. Bucks win by 1.
Great finish by Giannis, and he had a career high 43.

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BottenFieldofDreams
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

Post by BottenFieldofDreams »

Giannis fouled the bejesus out of CJ. Some throwback Stern-era officiating down the stretch.

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themiddle54
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

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Fun week for the Suns as they chase the Bulls to the bottom in both losses and dysfunction in the race for the last good shot the worst team has at the #1 overall pick.

Lose two games by over 40 points each.
Let Lonzo Ball almost get a triple-double and lose by 2 to the Lakers.
Eric Bledsoe tweets "I don't want to be here."
Head coach is fired.
This morning the team meets w/ Bledsoe and sends him home.
Tonight they're probably going to get smoked at home by the Kings, who are quite bad. Or, who knows, maybe they have one of those games where the team bands together and they win a game. Either way, they are a very bad team. Especially bad for a team that's had so much draft opportunity the last 5 years.

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Tim
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Re: 2017-18 NBA Thread

Post by Tim »

Hornets get to defend the Greek Freak without MKG, Zeller, Batum, MCW or any semblance of a bench tonight.

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