Around the NBA part 2

[Fury]

They have to. Glad for the Sonics. Sucks for Sacramento.

[Capn'O]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

The deal will sell the Kings for approximately $500 million, with the Seattle group seeking relocation to Key Arena for the 2013-'14 season.

6m Adrian Wojnarowski Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA

The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.

kings to seattle. do they become the supersonics ?

Oh wow. That's huge. Who the **** does Woj know, man?

Anyway, this is why Sacto won't be trading Cousins anytime soon. Need to keep salaries low and assets high for the move.

[Capn'O]

All Lin would have to do is fake a three and drive, and you lose that bet immediately.

???

Don't understand. Injury?

[Wolfgang]

Sacramento sucks anyways. I'm sure all the players in the NBA are happy the team is going to a real city.

[Thugger HBC]

All Lin would have to do is fake a three and drive, and you lose that bet immediately.

???

Don't understand. Injury?

I guess i didn't understand it then, it sounds as if your wager is Lin will not improve in any shooting category.

[Capn'O]

All Lin would have to do is fake a three and drive, and you lose that bet immediately.

???

Don't understand. Injury?

I guess i didn't understand it then, it sounds as if your wager is Lin will not improve in any shooting category.

Ah, ok - worded it funny. I think it makes sense now. I'm thinking ALL THREE of FG%, PPG, and APG will be higher.

[Thugger HBC]

That's why I said "fake the three and drive".

Lin scores 63% of his drives to the rim, and is under 40% everywhere else.

[fdr2012]

As a side note, I'll take a sig bet with any of the 12/6 guys (who used to be 10-5-35% guys):

If each of Lin's ppg, ast/game, and FG% is higher than it is now by season's end I get to make your sig.

If ONE of them is lower you get to make mine.

Current:

12.3 ppg
6.3 apg
43.8 FG%


Any takers?

Yes. I'll take that bet. Naive logic says you have a 1/8 chance of winning.

[knicksnyk]

How does passer rating work? Honest question. It seems like their ratios are pretty similar everywhere besides products of offensive system and pass preference...but the passer rating difference is pretty big.

Passing rating: the gist is to reward passes leading to successful shots from close range at a higher rate than assisted outside shots, while including the rate of passing turnovers.

[Capn'O]

As a side note, I'll take a sig bet with any of the 12/6 guys (who used to be 10-5-35% guys):

If each of Lin's ppg, ast/game, and FG% is higher than it is now by season's end I get to make your sig.

If ONE of them is lower you get to make mine.

Current:

12.3 ppg
6.3 apg
43.8 FG%


Any takers?

Yes. I'll take that bet. Naive logic says you have a 1/8 chance of winning.

Then it's done. Only one I'm remotely worried about is assists.

Proposed Terms:

ANY change counts within .1% or .1. I.e. if his goes from 12.3 to 12.2 ppg Capn'O loses
Winner designs sig for loser
Loser rocks sig for 6 months
the sig should be hoop related (or at least within TOS) - i.e. I aint rockin' something that would flag the "please use more appropriate word" filter...

[j4remi]

How does passer rating work? Honest question. It seems like their ratios are pretty similar everywhere besides products of offensive system and pass preference...but the passer rating difference is pretty big.

Passing rating: the gist is to reward passes leading to successful shots from close range at a higher rate than assisted outside shots, while including the rate of passing turnovers.

Makes sense why the margin is wider then...System/Preference thing again. Looking at the numbers with that in mind, their respective passing has been very similar this year impact wise imho.

[21shumpshumpst]

At what exactly? Felton before the hand injuries was playing brilliant basketball and he fits the Knicks offensive philosophy better than Lin. I'd hope people can accept that. Lin is a good young player. Not playing up to his contract yet, but building toward it. He's got flaws that hopefully he can work on in a healthy offseason and he's also got some strengths that make him a serious threat if you don't give him proper attention. But better than Felton...not this season.

Better vision, better at getting to the rim (better rebounder, better shot selection, but w/e). He's just a better point guard. The area he needs to improve in is 3-point shooting, and I think he will.

I would say Felton is a better passer (not vision - execution), ball handler, and shooter than Lin. Perhaps a wash defensively but I give an edge to Felton there as well. Maybe better in the PnR.

Lin is a better rebounder, slasher, finisher, and orchestrator. I think he generally has a better understanding of spacing and game flow as well. Quick lil' hands too.




As a side note, I'll take a sig bet with any of the 12/6 guys (who used to be 10-5-35% guys):

If each of Lin's ppg, ast/game, and FG% is higher than it is now by season's end I get to make your sig.

If ONE of them is lower you get to make mine.

Current:

12.3 ppg
6.3 apg
43.8 FG%


Any takers?

How about this sig bet. In the playoffs at least two of his numbers will all be lower (except if he plays the Lakers) and his turnovers will be higher. Any takers? Put your money where your mouth is Lin homers.

[Falstaffxx]

Lin has new friends to do pregame rituals with:

[fdr2012]

As a side note, I'll take a sig bet with any of the 12/6 guys (who used to be 10-5-35% guys):

If each of Lin's ppg, ast/game, and FG% is higher than it is now by season's end I get to make your sig.

If ONE of them is lower you get to make mine.

Current:

12.3 ppg
6.3 apg
43.8 FG%


Any takers?

Yes. I'll take that bet. Naive logic says you have a 1/8 chance of winning.

Then it's done. Only one I'm remotely worried about is assists.

Proposed Terms:

ANY change counts within .1% or .1. I.e. if his goes from 12.3 to 12.2 ppg Capn'O loses
Winner designs sig for loser
Loser rocks sig for 6 months
the sig should be hoop related (or at least within TOS) - i.e. I aint rockin' something that would flag the "please use more appropriate word" filter...

People really need a better grasp of probabilities. You just took on a very bad bet. Lucky for you, there's nothing real at stake, but I'm hoping you're a lot less overconfident when you make real life decisions.

[3StarburyAriza21]

Still don't see why this is a Lin v Felton debate when we could and should have had both. You can't really compare the two statistically because Lin plays off-ball like half the time for the Rockets, so of course his assists numbers are going to be lower and his TO numbers will be higher because they're not pace adjusted. But you're all forgetting that Lin is still basically a rookie based on the number of games he's played. If we drafted a PG in the first round and he averaged 12/6 (which is basically what Felton averaged his rookie year), we'd all be pretty happy about that, and extremely angry if Dolan gave him away to some team for free. Look how much guys like Holiday, Rondo, Westbrook improved since their rookie seasons. Lin still has the potential to be very, very good so I don't understand how anyone can be happy he's not on the team anymore, especially considering we only have one young player.

[fdr2012]

Still don't see why this is a Lin v Felton debate when we could and should have had both. You can't really compare the two statistically because Lin plays off-ball like half the time for the Rockets, so of course his assists numbers are going to be lower and his TO numbers will be higher because they're not pace adjusted. But you're all forgetting that Lin is still basically a rookie based on the number of games he's played. If we drafted a PG in the first round and he averaged 12/6 (which is basically what Felton averaged his rookie year), we'd all be pretty happy about that, and extremely angry if Dolan gave him away to some team for free. Look how much guys like Holiday, Rondo, Westbrook improved since their rookie seasons. Lin still has the potential to be very, very good so I don't understand how anyone can be happy he's not on the team anymore, especially considering we only have one young player.

1. We couldn't have had both since Dolan wasn't willing to pay $50M in luxury tax.

2. Lin is 24.5. That's a player in his prime. He will not get much better.

3. Lin doesn't give this Knicks team anything it needs. The Knicks have thrived by taking care of the ball, shooting well and playing great defense. Lin can't do any of those things and that's why we would have had no use for him.

[Bravery]

Once again even before the Rockets got James Harden they were still building around a philosophy. The PNR & playing with pace. There was a reason why they wanted Howard to matchup with Lin A PNR big man. The Rockets got lucky getting Harden. Even Daryl Morey said you can't just build around one player. You need to have multiple players who can develop into all star caliber talent. Right now Asik is already an all star caliber talent & so is Harden. Lin & Parsons with more consistency have that potential. Why do you think the Rockets are still sticking with Royce White. Because Morey believes he has all star potential. Even there owner came out & said we are building around a idea running & they are only going to get a player that fits that idea. Even Tony Parker & Manu came out & said it that they are building like the Suns team under Dantoni. In fact the Rockets play at a pace faster than any of Dantoni's team.

I don't know man. I just don't agree on the assessment of them building on that type of philosophy as a legitimate option. I always looked at it from this point of view: Morey struck out trying to attract an established superstar to build around after the Yao/McGrady era and had to settle with restructuring their roster by means of arming himself with picks and young talent. The endgame of Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets has always been landing a big-time talent and then clean up with youthful, aux players to constitute the core.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey said the trade for James Harden on Saturday will only help the Rockets become a team that other star players want to play for.

“We have max salary room moving forward,” he said. “It’s there for the right player when the time is right.”

“You have to have a foundational player,” Morey said. “He is. Simple as that. Now we need to add another player, or have one of our current players develop. You need two All-Stars to win in this league. We’re not there yet. But he changes the whole dynamic.”

Source: http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterockets/2 ... her-stars/

Lin/Asik/Parson make up their core but in that article, Morey just echoes what I've been suspecting all along - The same rules still apply: 1-2 superstars, aux scorers/defenders + solid bench. Again, I've always viewed Lin more as a complimentary player with VERY good upside, but as of now, there is no parity between any of those players I've mentioned and Harden. The intent of the Lin/Asik deals was to attract a big time talent first or one of the players he acquired becomes an all-star, which is still very much in play. Lin though, would need to avg close to Harden's numbers and shore up his weaknesses for that to happen. The kid has the work ethic but as fans, we need to see more consistent 20+/8 eruptions from him.

[ibraheim718]

1. We couldn't have had both since Dolan wasn't willing to pay $50M in luxury tax.

2. Lin is 24.5. That's a player in his prime. He will not get much better.

3. Lin doesn't give this Knicks team anything it needs. The Knicks have thrived by taking care of the ball, shooting well and playing great defense. Lin can't do any of those things and that's why we would have had no use for him.

Heaping piles of garbage in this post.

This taking care of the ball is way overplayed also.. take the combined record of the 10 teams in the bottom of the league in turnovers and then take the combined record of the teams in the top of the league of turnovers and compare them and then tell me limiting turnovers is a straight shot to success. It's isn't.

Then mosey on over to Synergy and take a look at Lin's defensive numbers and compare them to the Knicks current starting PG and then come back and look stupid.

And then try and come in here and with a straight face tell me this team doesn't struggle to get easy buckets at the rim..

[ibraheim718]

Nobody says Lin is an all star. He's better than Felton though.

felton can bring the ball up against the heat, Lin cant without turning it over

ny has to go through MIA to get to finals in a 3 yr window, NY doesnt have the time to see if lin could learn to handle full court press + fix his 3 pt shot

Stop confusing people with facts. Lin is on his way to being the GOAT.
These minor details about not being able to bring the ball past half court don't matter.

Lin had 2 turnovers against Miami this year wich is all that should matter. And playing timidly and cautiously he had better numbers than Chalmers and Cole combined.

[Bravery]

1. We couldn't have had both since Dolan wasn't willing to pay $50M in luxury tax.

2. Lin is 24.5. That's a player in his prime. He will not get much better.

3. Lin doesn't give this Knicks team anything it needs. The Knicks have thrived by taking care of the ball, shooting well and playing great defense. Lin can't do any of those things and that's why we would have had no use for him.

I am partial on 3 but not with 2.

Lin is currently a 12/6/4 guy w/ 2 stls a pop and that's not bad for a 3rd year player. He definitely has room to grow and become better since Harden is his backcourt mate and he's definitely not a scrub. Many young players tend to develop much better when their team isn't saddled with a losing culture (Bobcats) or boneheaded teammates (WAS). Houston is littered with young talent and they are a winning ballclub - which is an ideal environment for personal growth. The same applies to rookies on a veteran winning team, where they can be mentored and groomed.

Boston had the big three and a developing Rondo, Knicks have Melo/Kidd/Tyson keeping Shumpert under their wing, Clippers with CP3/Billups and BG/DeAndre, the San Antonio Spurs, OKC, etc. When practices are tough, spirited and the team has ambitions and set goals it brings out the best in players. What this does is it also effectively keeps everybody in line - otherwise you'll end up like DeMarcus Cousins. Like the old saying goes, "when you're winning, EVERYTHING tastes better."

With that said, I'm not delusional enough to think Lin is a superstar-calibur talent. But he certainly has room to become better then what he is currently.