NBA Games Discussion Thread - Part 6

[nate33]

I haven't watched the game yet but was Bryant ever in the game at the same time as Kat? I doubt it.

For the most part, no. They overlapped a little bit in the 3rd quarter, but Robinson was also in the game so Bryant was guarding him. They didn't dare try to guard KAT with Bryant.

[payitforward]

...a guy who normally shoots 32%.....

Oh c'mon nate...!

In 3 of his 7 seasons, Bryant has been over 40% shooting 3's.

On his career his TS% is 65.2% -- that's terrific!

He's also been a pretty good rebounder.

Last night, he posted 11 points on 5 shots & 2 FTAs. His on off was plus 7.

Give a guy his due....

[nate33]

...a guy who normally shoots 32%.....

Oh c'mon nate...!

In 3 of his 7 seasons, Bryant has been over 40% shooting 3's.

On his career his TS% is 65.2% -- that's terrific!

He's also been a pretty good rebounder.

Last night, he posted 11 points on 5 shots & 2 FTAs. His on off was plus 7.

Give a guy his due....

I did.

Thomas had a nice game thanks to improbably going 3 of 4 from 3-point range for a guy who normally shoots 32%. I was real happy for him.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Didn't that Bryant guy used to play for us

Yep.

nate33 says he's a total liability. That's Queen is like him

I agree, Queen is similar to how Bryant is playing right now, but is even better,

Thomas had a nice game thanks to improbably going 3 of 4 from 3-point range for a guy who normally shoots 32%. I was real happy for him. But a hot shooting night does not make him a consistently good player. Prior to tonight, he has been an ABSOLUTE DISASTER for Indy in the playoffs.

There's a reason why he played just 9.7 minutes a game. Up until tonight's game, Bryant' playoff per 36 numbers were:

9.1 points
6.4 rebounds
0.9 assists
1.1 blocks
1.1 steals
2.1 turnovers
5.0 fouls
.607 TS%
-4.1 BPM
-9.8 on/off differential.

He was so bad, he got completely benched in Games 3 and 4 in favor of Tony freaking Bradley, a guy who literally played just 113 total minutes in the regular season after being out of the league for 2 whole years!

You can't ignore this awful play for 15 games, then watch him improbably hit 3 of 4 3-pointers in one game, and conclude that Derrick Queen is the guy we should draft. You are providing a whole new definition to the term, recency bias.

Oh, I CAN ignore all those bad games to see what I want to see,

I'm selective.

I still say Morris Almond was a decent NBA player. Same with Kevin Seraphin.

--The games when Almond was a Wizard, they were 6-0 and he played great defense.

--Kevin Seraphim and Jan Vesely actually played well together at the close of a season. Seraphin fell victim to the Wizards having Okafor to play alongside Kevin's mentor, Hilario.

As far as Bryant being miserable this playoffs, I'll look for why.

I see him to be what he is, a role player. Wizards Juan Dixon helped in a certain role.

Many years ago, the Seattle Supersonics started Gus Williams and Dennis Johnson. They were terrific. They also had Downtown Freddy Brown. He often changed games.

I think DQ will be that kind of player.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Didn't that Bryant guy used to play for us

Yep.

nate33 says he's a total liability. That's Queen is like him

I agree, Queen is similar to how Bryant is playing right now, but is even better,

Thomas had a nice game thanks to improbably going 3 of 4 from 3-point range for a guy who normally shoots 32%. I was real happy for him. But a hot shooting night does not make him a consistently good player. Prior to tonight, he has been an ABSOLUTE DISASTER for Indy in the playoffs.

There's a reason why he played just 9.7 minutes a game. Up until tonight's game, Bryant' playoff per 36 numbers were:

9.1 points
6.4 rebounds
0.9 assists
1.1 blocks
1.1 steals
2.1 turnovers
5.0 fouls
.607 TS%
-4.1 BPM
-9.8 on/off differential.

He was so bad, he got completely benched in Games 3 and 4 in favor of Tony freaking Bradley, a guy who literally played just 113 total minutes in the regular season after being out of the league for 2 whole years!

You can't ignore this awful play for 15 games, then watch him improbably hit 3 of 4 3-pointers in one game, and conclude that Derrick Queen is the guy we should draft. You are providing a whole new definition to the term, recency bias.

Those 15 games were awful, indeed!

[Rafael122]

They're gonna make KAT the scapegoat for all of this even though he was carrying this team through stretches. Hart is the guy they should move.

[nate33]

They're gonna make KAT the scapegoat for all of this even though he was carrying this team through stretches. Hart is the guy they should move.

The Knicks just made the conference finals. I don't think they need any major changes. What they need is for Thibs to do a better job of developing his bench in the regular season so he doesn't have to rely on just 6 guys for the entire playoffs. Also, it would be nice if they used Bridges as a creator a bit more, to take some of the pressure off of Brunson.

Towns is terrible on defense and that needs to improve, but you fix that by coaching him up, not by trading him. Dude was a beast on offense except for the handful of terrible decisions he always makes.

[closg00]

No assembled super teams in the finals and I love it. I hope the series is competitive, otherwise who knows what Skeletor will do.

[tontoz]

Thibs fired. The fans will certainly be happy but it will probably be a step backwards.

[nate33]

Thibs fired. The fans will certainly be happy but it will probably be a step backwards.

I think the move could work.

Tibbs was a very good coach because he built a culture of toughness and defense first. But he was a mediocre coach with respect to player minutes management and offensive ingenuity. I think it's possible that they can bring in a new coach to address those issues while the culture of toughness may have enough inertia to last a year or two after Thibs' departure.

[AFM]

I’m surprised after Brunson had his back in the presser after Game 7.
And by all accounts they are going to be aggressive in adding players this summer…

[Kanyewest]

Remember Coach Thibs almost working for the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas (and Nick Young) claim that it was Gilbert Arenas who got him fired after they saw him run the practice.

[9 and 20]

I got the Thunder in 5. Too many good players.

Indiana is impressive though. Also have good depth and a couple of recent lotto guys that could contribute even more next year.

It's funny how much the Wiz are the Kings East. Kings had a year or two run and couldn't help themselves but to mess it up, sending Hali to Indiana.

[LyricalRico]

I got the Thunder in 5. Too many good players.

Indiana is impressive though. Also have good depth and a couple of recent lotto guys that could contribute even more next year.

Hard to pick against OKC, but I'll be rooting for Indy. Don't think I ever shared this, but the Pacers were my first favorite team back when Reggie Miller had the Gumby (until I came to my senses and sentenced myself to yelling at the local team for the rest of my life). Let's go Indy!

[LyricalRico]

Read on Twitter

[Northwest Roddy]

Growing up, I had a Police Boys Club baseball coach named Buddy Burkhead. Buddy was a fantastic practice coach. we were well drilled and he was a strict disciplinarian. My only gripe was not letting us drink water in the DC summer heat and the rubber balls and wooden bats he'd pull out in thunder storms because he thought we should keep practicing in the rain. He was less good as an in game strategist. No one complained though because we knew how much we were improving and maturing through the opportunity to play for him. Anyway, Thibs reminds me of Coach Burkhead. The difference is that grown NBA players eventually tire of the discipline.

For the record, I think the the Knicks are making a big mistake. it reminds me of the Chargers firing Schottenheimer and replacing him with Norv Turner and going from title contenders to scrubs in a few short seasons.

[Kanyewest]

Growing up, I had a Police Boys Club baseball coach named Buddy Burkhead. Buddy was a fantastic practice coach. we were well drilled and he was a strict disciplinarian. My only gripe was not letting us drink water in the DC summer heat and the rubber balls and wooden bats he'd pull out in thunder storms because he thought we should keep practicing in the rain. He was less good as an in game strategist. No one complained though because we knew how much we were improving and maturing through the opportunity to play for him. Anyway, Thibs reminds me of Coach Burkhead. The difference is that grown NBA players eventually tire of the discipline.

For the record, I think the the Knicks are making a big mistake. it reminds me of the Chargers firing Schottenheimer and replacing him with Norv Turner and going from title contenders to scrubs in a few short seasons.

Chargers made it to the conference championship the year after Marty was fired and lost to the at the time undefeated New England patriots-Rivers was playing with a torn acl and LT, Gates, and Merriman were ruled out with injuries. At worst, it was a lateral move.

Funny thing is that Washington went from a contender with Norv (they beat the Ravens and Giants that season who both made it to the super bowl) and became scrubs a few seasons later. Dan Snyder fired Norv for playing Brad Johnson over George. A few seasons later, Brad Johnson ended up winning a super bowl.

[9 and 20]

Haliburton are you kidding me. What a game again.

(obligatory F both these teams and F the lottery)

[AFM]

WOW!!!!

LETS GO!!!!

[montestewart]

Hope all the games are this great