2020-21 NBA Season Discussion

[Peregrine01]

Is Jokic the best offensive player in the NBA right now?

He's putting up 25/11/10 on 66% TS and an obscene 129 ORTG and has Denver 3rd in ORTG at 116. All this despite Denver's other key offensive guys being either hobbled or out of the rotation. It's insane the easy looks that he creates.

[eminence]

I'd have it as Gobert pretty easily to date.

Isn't it funny how you were whining about the Jazz being garbage and basically jumped ship only for them to turn around and go on a 6-game winning streak and play some of the best basketball in the league?

I was bothered by inconsistent effort, I certainly haven't thought they've been garbage in quite a while (not since Snyder arrived, '14 before that was pretty ugly). Arguably only their 2nd truly poor season in my time as an active fan (starting early/mid 00s). I'm happy they're playing well, I still watch all their games. In a lot of ways still my favorite team/franchise, but pretty much any team with Draymond suiting up for them will be my favorite for the foreseeable future.

[parsnips33]

I'd have it as Gobert pretty easily to date.

Isn't it funny how you were whining about the Jazz being garbage and basically jumped ship only for them to turn around and go on a 6-game winning streak and play some of the best basketball in the league?

I was bothered by inconsistent effort, I certainly haven't thought they've been garbage in quite a while (not since Snyder arrived, '14 before that was pretty ugly). Arguably only their 2nd truly poor season in my time as an active fan (starting early/mid 00s). I'm happy they're playing well, I still watch all their games. In a lot of ways still my favorite team/franchise, but pretty much any team with Draymond suiting up for them will be my favorite for the foreseeable future.

A man of taste

[parsnips33]

Barring major injuries (or virus weirdness), I think we're gonna have a really fun playoffs this year. Still see Lakers as the clear favorites, but there's a bunch of really good teams in both conferences, who are all fairly distinct in there playstyles

[freethedevil]

yeah, the lakers being the raptors 2.0 for giannis seems to check out lmao

[eminence]

Dray's so considerate, knowing I was conflicted about which game to watch tonight, gets himself tossed just in time so I can watch a great end of the 1st/2nd half from the Jazz.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Again

Imagine the only thing your future centerpiece can do is finish and you give him 2006 style spacing

They are literally 29th in three point percentage and 25th in attempt ratio

I’m not even talking about adams, they have 1 guy shooting above league average from three right now

[MyUniBroDavis]

Dray's so considerate, knowing I was conflicted about which game to watch tonight, gets himself tossed just in time so I can watch a great end of the 1st/2nd half from the Jazz.

I like the Pelicans because they have the laker babies and me liking Zion is a meme irl so he’s my fav

But watching them play makes me PROGRESSIVELY ANGRIER AND ANGRIER

[eminence]

Dray's so considerate, knowing I was conflicted about which game to watch tonight, gets himself tossed just in time so I can watch a great end of the 1st/2nd half from the Jazz.

I like the Pelicans because they have the laker babies and me liking Zion is a meme irl so he’s my fav

But watching them play makes me PROGRESSIVELY ANGRIER AND ANGRIER

I enjoy how unique their offense is (should be faster), but the defense is certainly frustrating.

[bondom34]

Dray's so considerate, knowing I was conflicted about which game to watch tonight, gets himself tossed just in time so I can watch a great end of the 1st/2nd half from the Jazz.

Read on Twitter

He got tossed for yelling at Wiseman .

Also, the Knicks being .500 right now is something I never saw. 3 point shooting luck or not.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Dray's so considerate, knowing I was conflicted about which game to watch tonight, gets himself tossed just in time so I can watch a great end of the 1st/2nd half from the Jazz.

I like the Pelicans because they have the laker babies and me liking Zion is a meme irl so he’s my fav

But watching them play makes me PROGRESSIVELY ANGRIER AND ANGRIER

I enjoy how unique their offense is (should be faster), but the defense is certainly frustrating.

Tbf I’m a more Zion and zo fan lol

Lonzos been ehh but it’s clear he’s improved even if the performance isn’t there, if he gets his shot from last year he’d be solid probably. I do think he will have a break out year in like the next 3-4 years at some point

Zions development is gonna be interesting though. He’s in a bit more of an on ball role this year (although half the
time he nopes into a handoff to someone else without any action so it does nothing) but after a rough start in the new role he’s actually been really solid as of late, against some pretty tough defensive matchups.

He’s been averaging 26.4-8 in his last 8 games (including this one) shooting 62% from the field and 73% from the field. His numbers are definitely a bit empty, but given he has the worst spacing in the league and he’s genuinely more limited outside of his inside game than Simmons, his efficiency this early on is pretty great. I definitely think he’s been pretty impactful on offense too, nothing crazy but a strong positive, esp with his offensive rebounding

I’m curious how his defense will progress. I there’s clearly a “don’t go too crazy” thing the Pelicans are doing with Zion, in terms of his explosiveness, and it’s pretty clear his weaknesses are an iq thing rather than a slow footed thing, which should be fixable

Either way he’s 36 games into his nba career and he might be a top 15 scorer and one of the most efficient in that group already, but he’s incredibly raw compared to other high performing prospects. Either way his finishing really is crazy to watch sometimes

[bondom34]

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2021/01/22/triple-team-donovan/

3. Okay, we’ll talk TNT
My Jazz beat partner Eric Walden has a good wrap-up of everything that happened tonight between the Jazz (and especially Mitchell) and the national TV broadcast on TNT tonight.

Here’s my perspective on it: Inside The NBA is the most decorated studio show of any sport ever for a reason — those guys have been entertaining in a way that most sports talk isn’t. There’s a whole lot of sports talk out there that is basically former players coming up with new ways to say one-word ideas over and over again. Basically, they fill time.

I was watching a game yesterday in which a color commentator said a player needed to be more aggressive. Then he said that the player needed to be more forceful. Then he said the player needed to attack the teeth of the defense. Then he said that the player needed to enforce his will on the game. Then he said that the player needed to play smash-mouth basketball. And he did all of this in one 10-second spiel, describing one play. It was a remarkable display of boring filler, but this kind of thing happens all the time in sports commentary.

Inside The NBA is not that. Their filler is full of non-sequiturs, larger points about basketball, the commentators making fun of each other, or political points. And that’s why they’ve been successful: because they’re different. Watching them is unlike watching any other studio show. In the past, it’s been entertaining.

What’s happened with Inside The NBA, though, is that this success in non-basketball elements has emboldened them to lose touch with the league entirely, instead just doubling down on the bits that made them famous. Shaq’s bit is just to attack players who haven’t won a ring, because it reminds the audience that he has. Charles has a big heart, but makes such bad predictions that it’s a bit of the show to write them down and make fun of them later. Kenny is clearly the best analyst of the three, and he’s still misreading plays on the big board all the time.

While Inside the NBA wasn’t paying attention, the game changed from underneath them. There are certainly TV analysts who have kept pace with the league’s changes, so it is possible. But because Shaq, Chuck, and Kenny got all of this credit for being the best sports show on TV for not really being about sports, they haven’t bothered with the work of actually watching games.

That’s why they all still think it’s funny to mispronounce Giannis Antetokounmpo’s name, or say Nikola Jokic is from Russia — both legitimately disrespectful things from the league’s premier broadcast about two of the league’s premier players. Tonight’s awkward segment with Donovan Mitchell was just another example of the same kind of thing that happened when Shaq said he hasn’t watched 5-year veteran Christian Wood, who averages 23 points per game, play. Why respect the current game when the accolades say you don’t need to?

The problem is that we’re now going on a decade of this. I had high hopes that this approach would change when the Golden State Warriors became the league’s dynasty. After all, the Inside The NBA crew famously said a jump-shooting team couldn’t win the trophy; the Warriors did it three times. That should have been a slice of humble pie, and instead it disappointingly made zero impact on how they view the game.

In the end, Inside The NBA’s tone is just such a huge disservice to the league. The quality of play is at an all-time high, with players more skilled and smarter than ever before. And instead of championing this, the show is full of commentators that are just itching to tell you how bad it all is, how it doesn’t compare to their own accomplishments.

Here’s the meat of the issue: Shaq went after a guy who put up 36, 7, and 4 in the 7th game of a 7-game winning streak tonight. Would you ever, ever, see an NFL broadcast do that? No, because they’re in the business of keeping people impressed with their product. The NBA seems to want to do the opposite.

We need to champion commentators who do their homework, who love the game. Doris Burke is terrific, as is Richard Jefferson. Hubie Brown still clearly loves everything about his job. There are tons of commentators out there that could really add respect and insight to the Inside The NBA crew.

But for now? Inside The NBA is just the “funny guy” at school repeating the same joke for the 500th time. The joke is now stale, and by now, we can tell — he’s repeating it to hide that there’s nothing else there.

[eminence]

Lol, what dumb thing did Shaq say to Donovan?

[MO12msu]

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2021/01/22/triple-team-donovan/

Perfectly worded. The most high profile Nba show is all (usually funny) jokes and the lowest quality actual basketball analysis you can find. I’ve actually been muting their halftime show for the last couple of years because they provide zero in depth analysis.

I’m not even sure what Shaq was trying to accomplish last night with that exchange with Donovan.

[bondom34]

Lol, what dumb thing did Shaq say to Donovan?

Read on Twitter

I've always liked Shaq, he seems like a jovial dude, but at this point Inside the NBA just went from fun loving goofy show to something trying to tear down its own product. I've always preferred them to ESPN but its getting to a point where I'd rather neither.

[eminence]

Yeah, I don't get what Shaq's out here trying to do anymore, ahh well.

[MisterHibachi]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Somebody on Twitter made a comment the. Embiid in this highlight video is much bouncier than he is now. I haven't watched a lot of Sixers this year. Does anyone see a noticeable physical/mobility difference in Embiid this year compared to this video? All reports seem to indicate he's playing the best basketball of his career right now.

[MisterHibachi]

Would you ever, ever, see an NFL broadcast do that? No, because they’re in the business of keeping people impressed with their product. The NBA seems to want to do the opposite.

This is really the most infuriating part about the league's TV coverage. The talking heads all seem to dislike the game. There's a lot of that on realgm too, particularly the General Board.

[KTM_2813]

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/jazz/2021/01/22/triple-team-donovan/

Perfectly worded. The most high profile Nba show is all (usually funny) jokes and the lowest quality actual basketball analysis you can find. I’ve actually been muting their halftime show for the last couple of years because they provide zero in depth analysis.

I’m not even sure what Shaq was trying to accomplish last night with that exchange with Donovan.

I try not to overexaggerate, but last night was my first time watching a game on TNT in a few weeks, and it was genuinely shocking. Not only was Inside the NBA bad, but the broadcast itself was even worse. Some examples: Cutting to the game from commercials and replays way too late, the screen being sliced so the bottom was at the top, amateur-looking graphics on the court, Marv Albert not realizing they were back on the air, and Chris Webber not doing a single in-depth breakdown of any plays or strategies. To call the broadcast "dumbed down" would be putting it kindly. This is beyond that. This is a broadcast tailored for 12-year-olds watching the game from the toilet in-between rounds of COD. The presentation of NFL games is leagues ahead.

[yoyoboy]

The NFL also has commentators and analysts who are willing to promote all kinds of analytics and nuanced means of looking at the game. While the NBA has chosen to completely cater to the casual fans who don’t even watch the games in the first place, hate non-counting stats, treat every game like it’s the a representation of a player’s entire career, and love First Take style arguments. It’s embarrassing.