Game 58: Pelicans @ Suns

[spanishninja]

I honestly feel that Dragic is a top 3 PG in this league, and really think he is the best in the West.

Which 2 PGs in the East do you think is better than Dragic? IMO, he's the 2nd best PG this season only behind Curry. I don't think any PG in the East is better or even close to as good as him this season.

If I did give the nod to Curry, it would just be by a nose. Curry is an excellent FT shooter at 86.9% compared to Dragics 76.7% and dishes 8.9 dimes per game to Goran's 6.1.

Goran's is a much more efficient shooter at 51.2% overall and 41.5% from 3. Curry shoots 46% overall and 41.7% from 3. Curry scores more than Dragic because he takes nearly 18 shots per game (and a ton more 3's) while Dragic takes a modest 14 shots per game. At his excellent shooting efficiency Goran should be taking 18 shots per game.

Honestly I'd take Goran over Curry because of durability and overall beast mode he regularly plays in.

Also, Dragic currently doesn't have the luxury of playing off the ball nearly as much as Curry does. So many times I watch Warriors games Curry is allowed to get wide open, something that shouldn't be the case for such a shooter.

[Gorilla Warfare]

Can't believe I missed this game. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and they didn't have one **** TV with ESPN on. I asked them to turn a spare TV to the game like six times and it never happened.

Wanna know what I love most about Dragic? Dude is a stone cold killer. Straight up killer instinct. Raises his game every single time he needs to. It's unbelievable. What a trait.

I stopped going to Buffalo Wild Wings after they wouldn't change the channel from an ESPN Classics boxing match between 2 boxers I've honestly never heard of before (and I grew up watching a lot of boxing) to the live NBA draft. The draft didn't really end up mattering because I'm pretty sure it was the draft we took Robin Lopez, but still, haven't been back since. Plus their customer service is just the worst.

[DirtyDez]

I honestly feel that Dragic is a top 3 PG in this league, and really think he is the best in the West.

Which 2 PGs in the East do you think is better than Dragic? IMO, he's the 2nd best PG this season only behind Curry. I don't think any PG in the East is better or even close to as good as him this season.

There will always be people who cling to CP3 as the best, but honestly this season, he missed too much time, and while he was gone Blake Griffin basically proved that the Clippers were now his team. Paul has still been good but he's not as much of an undisputed leader as he was last year.

But aside from that, whenever somebody says Lillard or Irving is a better PG than Dragic, I literally laugh in their face.

Lillard is starting explode without Aldridge as did Dragic when Bledsoe went down. It will be interesting to see how long LMA is out for.

Curry I would rank above Dragic due to his increased playmaking this year and Wall/Paul are up their but Goran is probably a top 2-3 PG this season. Haters be damned.

[BurningHeart]

I love when Los Soles comes in and drops his nuts on a thread.

[Revived]

3-year overall RAPM ratings, weighted toward recent play, minimum 5000 possessions this season (pure numbers, no box score influence):

1. Andre Iguodala
2. LeBron James
3. Chris Paul
4. Kevin Love
5. Mike Conley
6. Channing Frye
7. Stephen Curry
8. LaMarcus Aldridge
9. Dirk Nowitzki
10. Amir Johnson

(That doesn't mean he's the 6th best player in the NBA. But in terms of his unique - perhaps indirect - contributions to this team...the numbers say he's incredibly valuable. This is THE most well-respected overall metric in advanced stats circles.)

He's valuable to the team in spurts but he's still struggled offensively and defnsively.

Suns offense with Frye on the court: 110.9 OffRtg (points per 100 possessions) -- leads the team
Suns offense with Frye on the bench: 99.9 OffRtg

In contrast:
Suns offense with Markieff on the court: 104.9 OffRtg
Suns offense with Markieff on the bench: 108.2 OffRtg

Example:
Dragic-Green-Tucker-Frye-Plumlee -- 111.8 OffRtg
Dragic-Green-Tucker-Markieff-Plumlee -- 92.5 OffRtg

I'm not anti-Markieff. But it pisses me off that people still don't appreciate Frye. I get it: his value is largely indirect; it's subtle. A lot of NBA fans aren't into subtle. (But if you aren't into the subtleties of basketball...what the hell are you doing on realgm?

I appreciate his value...coming off the bench. I don't think Kieff should start, I think he's perfect off the bench. We have tried having Kieff start in the past and it hasn't worked out too well.

And those stats can be skewed based on the fact that Frye gets more minutes with Dragic when Dragic is fresh and not tired (beginning of games & beginning of 3rd QTR etc). I'm sure Kieff's "team" numbers would be same as Frye or real close to it or better if he was starting. That doesn't mean much.

When Tucker & Frye come off and Morris twins go in, we play at a much faster pace and actually play with energy on offense & defense.

I'm totally against starting Frye but I'm fine with it right because we don't have a better option. Like I said earlier, Kieff is better off the bench.

[RunDogGun]

I love when Los Soles comes in and drops his nuts on a thread.

I know. I love how he takes thoughts I'm thinking in my head, and shows them in a nice and neat 3x5 notecard crammed with all the stats needed for a calc final.

[Revived]

Dragic and Davis are game-time decisions.
Barbosa returns.
ESPN.

What's the name of that girl on the extreme right?

Brittney.

I should know, as she is standing right next to Mrs. Kerrsed in that picture.

She's smoking hot. "Mrs.Kersed" ain't bad either though she needs some meat on those bones.

[spanishninja]

Which 2 PGs in the East do you think is better than Dragic? IMO, he's the 2nd best PG this season only behind Curry. I don't think any PG in the East is better or even close to as good as him this season.

There will always be people who cling to CP3 as the best, but honestly this season, he missed too much time, and while he was gone Blake Griffin basically proved that the Clippers were now his team. Paul has still been good but he's not as much of an undisputed leader as he was last year.

But aside from that, whenever somebody says Lillard or Irving is a better PG than Dragic, I literally laugh in their face.

Lillard is starting explode without Aldridge as did Dragic when Bledsoe went down. It will be interesting to see how long LMA is out for.

Curry I would rank above Dragic due to his increased playmaking this year and Wall/Paul are up their but Goran is probably a top 2-3 PG this season. Haters be damned.

Yeah I notice that he's actually having to do well in wins too, which is contrary to earlier in the season when he actually did worse when the blazers won (another testament to it being LMA's team).

Curry is better than Dragic right now but not by much, and I'm not sure he can operate the way he does without other offensive threats like Lee and Thompson on the team. Let's say he switched places with Dragic I don't know if he can get open shots the way he sometimes does.

[Revived]

There will always be people who cling to CP3 as the best, but honestly this season, he missed too much time, and while he was gone Blake Griffin basically proved that the Clippers were now his team. Paul has still been good but he's not as much of an undisputed leader as he was last year.

But aside from that, whenever somebody says Lillard or Irving is a better PG than Dragic, I literally laugh in their face.

Lillard is starting explode without Aldridge as did Dragic when Bledsoe went down. It will be interesting to see how long LMA is out for.

Curry I would rank above Dragic due to his increased playmaking this year and Wall/Paul are up their but Goran is probably a top 2-3 PG this season. Haters be damned.

Yeah I notice that he's actually having to do well in wins too, which is contrary to earlier in the season when he actually did worse when the blazers won (another testament to it being LMA's team).

Curry is better than Dragic right now but not by much, and I'm not sure he can operate the way he does without other offensive threats like Lee and Thompson on the team. Let's say he switched places with Dragic I don't know if he can get open shots the way he sometimes does.

I don't think Klay Thompson is any better than Green really.

[mixerball]

He returned and put us over the top in he 4th and then fouled out and the Suns went down hill. Then the following game (which he should have played) the Suns never had a chance.

Best medicine to an ankle injury is playing through it. Like I said, stars play through injuries. These aren't regular games to us anymore. Every game matters from here on.

We came this far to sit players out? Who's willing to bet me if Dragic plays tonight and has a bad game, Suns sit him out for a week. If he plays, has a great game and is still "sore", suns will let him continue on playing.

lol, is this real life? are you serious/trolling?

[Jdiddy701]

Have you ever rolled an ankle? By not putting pressure on it, it's only gonna get worse. I'll be damned if rolled by ankle and sat out after. Might as well tie my knot into a bow after too.

Also, proves my point isn't wasn't bad cuz he came back and scored 40. I hate when players sit out. It's not fair to the fans. That's why I respect Kobe. Any injury he goes through, plays through it. Doesn't make excuses for nothing.

[mixerball]

i have rolled my both ankles numerous times(double digit number on each ankle)in my playing days, to know what a rolled ankle brings. playing through it is not best medicine. playing through it is just what players need to do in some situations. but playing through it gets injury worse if not given time to heal or regenerate.

goran was playing with heavily taped ankle plus painkillers. yeah he scored 40, but after the game when stiffnes comes back its no picnic. and why do you think he is rolling his ankle without stepping on someones foot? because its not healed from prevoius damage. in the long run, its always bad to play through injury.