2018-19 NBA Thread

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Jocephus
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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33anda3rd
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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We talk a lot about individual skills/tools in baseball and how they can be game-changers. Pedro's changeup. Pujols's right-handed power. Vince Coleman's raw speed. We don't talk enough about that in basketball, probably because the individual skills are a bit blurred by how they are constantly interacting with other skills for our perception of overall performance/value/excellence. Also in the NBA outstanding individual tools can still mean very little. Dennis Smith Jr can jump out of the gym but he's trade bait now that the overall game of Doncic has arrived.

The single most impressive tool on any player in the almost 40 years I've been watching the NBA is Curry's long-range shooting. It's a game-altering tool in the way others are not. It stretches the floor and demands the defense cover an extra 130 square feet on the floor that they don't have to defend against other teams. Shots that he puts up, some of them if another player took the shot you'd think "UGH why are you shooting from there" and if it goes in you think "Well, you got lucky on that one." But with Curry you never worry about how far away the shot is, and you expect it to go in.

There was a run there last night. 4 minutes left in the third. Dubs are down 13. Curry hits three 3s in a minute and a half, then hits a fourth, then hits another one 20 seconds later, then one minute later another. Six threes in 3.5 minutes. And the Dubs are only down two. It was pretty awesome.

Watching Curry the last few years is like watching Pedro in 1999-2000. It's like watching Peak Bonds. It's like watching Serena in 2002-2003 and 2015-16. It's like watching Tiger in the 2000s. Federer in the mid-late 2000s. It's the greatest shooter in history at his absolute peak.

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st.lewis11
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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33anda3rd wrote:We talk a lot about individual skills/tools in baseball and how they can be game-changers. Pedro's changeup. Pujols's right-handed power. Vince Coleman's raw speed. We don't talk enough about that in basketball, probably because the individual skills are a bit blurred by how they are constantly interacting with other skills for our perception of overall performance/value/excellence. Also in the NBA outstanding individual tools can still mean very little. Dennis Smith Jr can jump out of the gym but he's trade bait now that the overall game of Doncic has arrived.

The single most impressive tool on any player in the almost 40 years I've been watching the NBA is Curry's long-range shooting. It's a game-altering tool in the way others are not. It stretches the floor and demands the defense cover an extra 130 square feet on the floor that they don't have to defend against other teams. Shots that he puts up, some of them if another player took the shot you'd think "UGH why are you shooting from there" and if it goes in you think "Well, you got lucky on that one." But with Curry you never worry about how far away the shot is, and you expect it to go in.

There was a run there last night. 4 minutes left in the third. Dubs are down 13. Curry hits three 3s in a minute and a half, then hits a fourth, then hits another one 20 seconds later, then one minute later another. Six threes in 3.5 minutes. And the Dubs are only down two. It was pretty awesome.

Watching Curry the last few years is like watching Pedro in 1999-2000. It's like watching Peak Bonds. It's like watching Serena in 2002-2003 and 2015-16. It's like watching Tiger in the 2000s. Federer in the mid-late 2000s. It's the greatest shooter in history at his absolute peak.

Great post!!! It got me thinking about other special basketball skills. Like you, I've also watched NBA for many years. (in fact, was also a fan of the old ABA's Spirit of St.Louis.....damn, I'm old).
A special skill that immediately came to my mind was Kareem's skyhook. It was unstoppable, especially during his days on the Bucks as Lew Alcinder. Such a unique shot, impossible to defend......& incredibly, no other player has ever been able to duplicate that weapon successfully, another reason why it was so special.

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Victor Oladipo has been diagnosed with a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee which will require season-ending surgery.
This is the same injury that Tony Parker suffered during the 2017 postseason, and it took him roughly six months to get back to the court. A surgery date for Dipo hasn't yet been announced, but he's guaranteed to miss the year, so he can safely be sent to the waiver wire in all re-draft formats. This is something that could rob Oladipo of some of his athleticism, so he'll be an extremely risky draft target next year. Tyreke Evans and Cory Joseph figure to see a boost here, with Evans being the guy you'd want to grab in standard leagues; although he wasn't great in his previous Dipo-less stint.
Related: Tyreke Evans, Cory Joseph
Source: Indiana Pacers on Twitter
Jan 24 - 1:06 PM

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thrill
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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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That seems like it would be insanely painful.

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Pacers are screwed without Dipo, he's their offense. They need to trade Myles Turner while there are still people out there who value Myles Turner. He's their third best big after Domantas Sabonis and Kyle O'Quinn. O'Quinn is super underrated and underused, like when he was a Knick. He's an exceptional rebounder and a really great passer for a big, and if he played with the first unit instead of the third he would look even better.

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Anthony Davis has told Pelicans he won't re-sign, agent says
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2586 ... ns-re-sign

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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Jocephus wrote:
Anthony Davis has told Pelicans he won't re-sign, agent says
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2586 ... ns-re-sign
And wants traded.

And that agent is Rich Paul, who owns his agency with his childhood friend, Lebron James. And Paul has a history of steering clients toward LeBron teams, just lower-profile ones like Tristan Thompson and JR Smith.

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Re: 2018-19 NBA Thread

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You don’t make the trade until this offseason when Boston can get involved (and when you know who has the number one pick). Unless Philly offers you, like, Simmons, Fultz and the Heat pick.

No reason to trade for the Lakers mediocre assets.

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