2016-2017 NBA Thread

[Blueobelisk]

I just declared Toronto the series winner. If so, @Faltemer wins the second round.

- - - Updated - - -

(Btw if you're reading from the future, there's still like 10 mins left of the game as I typed that.)

- - - Updated - - -

Toronto Raptors win in 7 over Miami Heat:
6/13 chose Toronto (Knyx, Packers01, Blueobelisk, Demoncrash, Faltemer, The Bigzoman).
4/13 chose Toronto in 7 (Packers01, Demoncrash, Faltemer, The Bigzoman).

With this, the second round has come to an end.

Congratulations to Faltemer for winning the second round of our predictions.

Faltemer guessed 3 correct teams (GS, CLE, TOR) and their respective records. He only missed SAS, as most of us did.
Demoncrash was a close second with 3 correct teams and 2 correct records.
Had Miami won this game, Racthoh would have won the round with 4 correct teams (but only 1 record).

Biggest loser is ItachiZaku with only one correct team (Cleveland) but no correct predictions. (Lol he picked Portland, SA, and Miami.)

Feel free to start predicting the conference finals if you haven't yet:
GSW vs. OKC
CLE vs. TOR

[Rennadrel]

Cleveland-Toronto/Golden State-Oklahoma City would be the most lack luster conference finals, Cavs in 4, GS in 5.

Nah, Cleveland in 6. Depends though, after their performance today, who knows just what they can do against Cleveland. Toronto didn't have bad games against them in the regular season, and if they get some guys stepping up like they did today, I think they can steal game 1 at least, and probably game 3. Cleveland has had what, a week off? The Raptors are going in on a high note.

[Blueobelisk]

Updated the sheet up to this point. We're already at 13 people and I didn't give my predictions yet. Niether did @Gumboy, @bestellen, @THE Bigzoman.

- - - Updated - - -

Lol so far for the conference finals 13/13 people picked Cleveland. Everyone's like "yeah congrats for making history for your franchise Toronto but you're about to get knocked out sooooooo."

11/13 for GS. Packers

Oh wait it's not 13 people. I put Packers01 down twice lol. Oops.

- - - Updated - - -

I'll choose GSW in 5 and and Cleveland in 5.

I really want to say Cleveland in 4 but they were shaky already. I guess Toronto may win a game.

GSW are probably laughing to themselves and will probably spend the whole first game vs. OKC bowing down thanking them for taking out SAS. Then they'll get back to business and win four straight.

- - - Updated - - -

Btw I just watched a video of Drake on Saturday Night Live from last night and it was funny how the commentators for this game kept asking where he was for this game. It's funny how deeply associated he is with Toronto/Canada and the NBA.

[Rennadrel]

You gotta hand it to Toronto, they really turned up the heat (pun definitely intended) on Miami today. They were in control even when the lead slipped down from 20 points to 8, but they kept the jets going and turned the amp up to 11. 27 point win is decisive, but Miami really showed their age today, had they won, they would be utterly embarrassed by Cleveland, I think the Raptors at least can make the series interesting.

[Faltemer]

Worst to first
From glancing it still seems most are still reasonably close which is good.

[Blueobelisk]

Video of an interview with Grant Hill for Steph Curry about his unanimous MVP winning.

It's actually not that great. It's kinda theatrical with a lot of interruptions of Steph highlights. I just wanna hear him talk straight up. I already know what he did. So ehhh idk watch it if you're free I guess.

It really hits you when he talks about it though how of all the great players in the NBA no one won a unanimous MVP and he did. Wow at how great basketball is right now. We all want to see Golden State vs. Cleveland.

[THE Bigzoman]

GSW in 4.

Cleveland in 5.

[Blueobelisk]

They already set the schedule.

OKC @ GSW is Mon, Wed, Sun. (TNT)
TOR @ CLE is Tues, Thurs, Sat. (ESPN)
Friday no games.

Funny how TNT and ESPN each get a series. Then ABC gets the Finals.

ABC getting the Finals is w/e since ABC uses ESPN's analysts. I really prefer the TNT Crew. I think everyone else does too.

[shahharsh2010]

I am gonna go with GSW in 6 ( because how okc is playing atm and how regular season games were super close )

And Cleveland in 6 as well

[Allerius]

He was tenth in assists. And he shoots contested shots all the damn time. He may not make a move around a defender, but he doesn't have to. He looks people in the eye and throws the ball up with resounding accuracy. Number one in free throw percentage. Number one in steals.

I mean, it sounds like you're saying he can't be the best because of his size and what position he plays. He takes what he has and does more with it than anyone else.

Curry gets a lot of assists because he is on the best shooting team of all time. When people hit so many shots, it's not hard to get assists. Despite that, he is still only 10th. More importantly, his assist to turnover ratio is only around 2. An elite passer and playmaker (e.g. Chris Paul) has a ratio of 4+. His playmaking isn't bad, but it's far from elite just as I previously claimed. FT% is just an extension of shooting, which we all know he can do. Steals are a meaningless stat. James Harden (lol) was first in steals a year or two ago, and it's because he gambled a lot due to his inability to play defense. Curry is an average defender at best so that's a whole end of the court he is far from elite on. If you're just shooting with a defender on you then that defender is doing a bad job. It's not reliable against strong competition. His driving and post play is barely average as well, it's just that the pressure of GS's spacing makes helping on him hard because he will just pass out to one of the other 4 players that are chilling on the 3 point line and the rim protectors are pulled away from the basket. Like someone else mentioned, Curry is just a better version of Kyle Korver.

It's not about his size or position either. Westbrook is both his size (6'3) and plays the same position. However, Westbrook is a dominant all around player at point guard. He can play lockdown defense (when engaged), rebound and pass better than Curry. If Curry was Westbrook but with his current shooting touch he would be the GOAT 100%, so it's not about size or position. Westbrook's biggest problem is he doesn't have a reliable 3 point shot and is playing point guard in 2016.

Top 5 current NBA players:
1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Russell Westbrook
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Stephen Curry

Conference Finals Predictions:
Cavs in 4
GSW in 6

Finals:
Cavs in 7

[Racthoh]

rip to the heat ;_;

[Blueobelisk]

Top 5 current NBA players:
1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Russell Westbrook
4. Kawhi Leonard
5. Stephen Curry

(1) Lebron is getting kinda old. I don't think he can carry a team athletically like he used too. From a skills and IQ perspective he's amazing. Athletically he's probably still amazing as a player, but he's at the point where he has to pace himself for his career.

(2) Uhhhh okay. I'm only judging this based on previous reputation. I haven't watched enough OKC games to decisively say that KD is that great. His stats are good, though. If I was building a big budget/good player team KD would be my very first pick.

(3) Athletically he's amazing. If he had a team built around him and he wasn't playing with KD, it'd be a completely different situation. He wouldn't look selfish and no one would tell him to pass, he'd look like a franchise face. He could probably work on shooting. If he doesn't want to work on shooting, then he needs to work on reading the situation to take better shots. But that's also a function of him having reliable teammates.

(4) He's pretty good, but the Spurs are good so this is the same thing with Steph where he may be a product of a good system. He's good at what he does but placing him at #4 seems way huge. I do think he's very talented and is building up the experience.

(5) Have to bump him up. His shooting is just too amazing. He's probably the hottest man in sports at the moment. I don't think he's athletic, though. He's physically fit, but not a monster like LBJ/Westbrook.

I would take Klay Thompson as a reliable consistent guy btw. Top 5 for sure. You're gonna have to bump someone or multiple people down for him.

Finals:
Cavs in 7

I would be infinitely happy if the Finals went to 7 games. Being a Cleveland vs. Golden State rematch (even a Cleveland vs. OKC Lebron vs. KD rematch) would be amazing.

I love it when it's one great game per night so you can take time to focus on it. That's why football is so popular (sort of, at least the Super Bowl is), and also why my grandma complains that she never gets to watch her TV shows from my grandpa and wonders why games are still being played. From a casual "I only know big names" perspective, Cleveland's healthy Big 3 vs. full Golden State would be ridiculous. Like every night would be super bowl level snacking for me.

Actually I think Cleveland vs. Toronto is going to be boring, but GSW vs. OKC could be great. I think GSW vs. Spurs would have been next level amazing...I feel bad for SA still. I remember they went out drinking last year after Clippers knocked them out. It has to feel bad climbing so high all regular season only to exit early, when you plan on going the distance.

- - - Updated - - -

Btw for reference:

Top 3 if I'm building a championship team with 1 other top 10 guy, and maybe 1 other top 20 guy, and some good role players:
1. Kevin Durant
2. Russell Westbrook
3. Lebron James

It varies heavily on who the other guys are. Obviously some combinations (positions) make some players better than others, but this is a "I have to pick this guy first."

Top 3 if I'm trying to create a team, but I have a budget or I can't necessarily attract the right big names to co-star (so I have to build around this person with who knows):
1. Lebron James
2. Russel Westbrook
3. Anthony Davis
(Those three would change around depending on long term or short term visions.)

[Allerius]

(1) Lebron is getting kinda old. I don't think he can carry a team athletically like he used too. From a skills and IQ perspective he's amazing. Athletically he's probably still amazing as a player, but he's at the point where he has to pace himself for his career.

(2) Uhhhh okay. I'm only judging this based on previous reputation. I haven't watched enough OKC games to decisively say that KD is that great. His stats are good, though. If I was building a big budget/good player team KD would be my very first pick.

(3) Athletically he's amazing. If he had a team built around him and he wasn't playing with KD, it'd be a completely different situation. He wouldn't look selfish and no one would tell him to pass, he'd look like a franchise face. He could probably work on shooting. If he doesn't want to work on shooting, then he needs to work on reading the situation to take better shots. But that's also a function of him having reliable teammates.

(4) He's pretty good, but the Spurs are good so this is the same thing with Steph where he may be a product of a good system. He's good at what he does but placing him at #4 seems way huge. I do think he's very talented and is building up the experience.

(5) Have to bump him up. His shooting is just too amazing. He's probably the hottest man in sports at the moment. I don't think he's athletic, though. He's physically fit, but not a monster like LBJ/Westbrook.

I would take Klay Thompson as a reliable consistent guy btw. Top 5 for sure. You're gonna have to bump someone or multiple people down for him.



I would be infinitely happy if the Finals went to 7 games. Being a Cleveland vs. Golden State rematch (even a Cleveland vs. OKC Lebron vs. KD rematch) would be amazing.

I love it when it's one great game per night so you can take time to focus on it. That's why football is so popular (sort of, at least the Super Bowl is), and also why my grandma complains that she never gets to watch her TV shows from my grandpa and wonders why games are still being played. From a casual "I only know big names" perspective, Cleveland's healthy Big 3 vs. full Golden State would be ridiculous. Like every night would be super bowl level snacking for me.

Actually I think Cleveland vs. Toronto is going to be boring, but GSW vs. OKC could be great. I think GSW vs. Spurs would have been next level amazing...I feel bad for SA still. I remember they went out drinking last year after Clippers knocked them out. It has to feel bad climbing so high all regular season only to exit early, when you plan on going the distance.

- - - Updated - - -

I rank my top players based on two way play when it matters. These are the guys I want on my team in the Finals. I don't believe that the regular season really matters, so that's why although Lebron rests and cruises through the regular season I still think he can turn it on in the playoffs and be the best player on earth. Last finals he led the series in points, rebounds and assists, the first time in history that has ever happened. He took 2 games against a good team with 2 allstars injured and JR putting on a disappearing act and should have been finals MVP. The guy is still an absolute monster when he wants to be, he's just knows at this point in his career the season is a marathon, not a sprint. Klay and Green would be somewhere in the next 5-10 for sure, but I don't really care about ranking B tier allstars.

I think CLE vs GSW is going to be a hell of a series. Cavs are something like 12-0 in the playoffs with a healthy big three, and we all know what GSW can do. Basketball fans are going to be the real winners regardless of who takes the series, which is almost surely going to be very close. I still think Lebron is gonna push it to the next level and will Cleveland to its first championship ever. The cavs are much hungrier than the warrs who have been the NBAs 'golden boy' the last couple years.

Spurs always overachieve during the regular season. They've lost to a lower seed many times now in the last decade. If you go with a philosophy that the regular season doesn't mean much and look at their actual roster, I think their loss makes sense. Leonard is a top 5 player, but he is a bit overrated (placed 2nd in MVP voting) and his offence is unreliable. Aldridge has always been a B tier allstar. Beyond that the old big three of Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili are too old (for real this time lol) and aren't anything more than role players at this point in their career. Green isn't that good either. They play good defense and help each other, but against dominant, ungaurdable players like Durant and Westbrook that doesn't mean much.

[Blueobelisk]

Wow time flew by.

GS is playing OKC right now. Not accepting any more picks obviously (for this series, at least).

[Buckeyenut88]

Sloppy start for OKC...

[Blueobelisk]

I would take Klay Thompson as a reliable consistent guy btw. Top 5 for sure. You're gonna have to bump someone or multiple people down for him.

Klay just dropped 19/5/2 in the first half. I stand by my decision of including him in the top 5.

- - - Updated - - -

Holy shit I said it but I haven't seen OKC play in a while. Wtf is with Russell Westbrook's haircut?

- - - Updated - - -

Wow OKC came back from being down 14. If Golden State loses this...

[Blueobelisk]

I thought that was a travel...

[Blueobelisk]

@THE Bigzoman is only loser who chose GS in 4 lols. Kinda surprising everyone else said series wouldn't be decided in 4.


Well even I said OKC would take the first game but damn it feels bad losing in Oakland. OKC is stunning people.

[Racthoh]

Mmm Mmmmm Mmm that OKC bandwagon

I thought that was a travel...

1000% it was lol

[Blueobelisk]

TNT Crew is basically blaming it on GS not relying on their big guys. Well, Kenny said they took quick shots. Shaq/Chuck said it's because of big guys. But that's really biased considering their positions so...Idk if I agree with that.

It's like Reggie Miller said, both teams have the ability to score. GS should have scored better. They should have had better plays, and better trap defense. For sure GS has a better cast.

Btw Racthoh I really wanna see GS vs. Cavs rematch :/.