PC Board OT thread

[ceiling raiser]

Considering Doc plays favorites and one of those guys won him a championship and another one of those guys is literally his son, this doesn't bode well for LAC.

Yeah, pretty much.

Think they can do *anything* with Crawford/Smith? Move them, try different lineup combos (though they've exhausted most), ask them to play different roles, etc.?

[tone wone]

Their Bench brigade which tries ( and fails miserably ) to be an equivalent of the GS death squad plays is rubbish.

It's their 5th most played 5 man lineup

Smith
Pierce
Wesley
Crawford
Rivers

Has a net ORTG of -32.8

Yikes.

What do you think they should change?

For whatever reason he just doesn't believe in staggering Paul/Blake/Redicks' (their 3 best offensive players) minutes. The love affair with Crawford means neither Paul nor Redick get much time with the 2nd unit. Crawford-Rivers are tethered together in the backcourt. Not surprisingly, the 2nd unit plays with very little structure as a result.

[HeartBreakKid]

Considering Doc plays favorites and one of those guys won him a championship and another one of those guys is literally his son, this doesn't bode well for LAC.

Yeah, pretty much.

Think they can do *anything* with Crawford/Smith? Move them, try different lineup combos (though they've exhausted most), ask them to play different roles, etc.?

I have a theory that the reason why Rivers hasn't been able to trade Crawford is because he overrates Crawford's value and asks for too much. Ideally, Rivers should give away Crawford for loose change, but he has a very high opinion of him which I am sure is reflected in trade conversations with other GMs.

Not sure if he should trade Smith, I think Smith has potential to be good. Rivers needs to find a better rotation with Smith most likely.

[bondom34]

Considering Doc plays favorites and one of those guys won him a championship and another one of those guys is literally his son, this doesn't bode well for LAC.

Yeah, pretty much.

Think they can do *anything* with Crawford/Smith? Move them, try different lineup combos (though they've exhausted most), ask them to play different roles, etc.?

I have a theory that the reason why Rivers hasn't been able to trade Crawford is because he overrates Crawford's value and asks for too much. Ideally, Rivers should give away Crawford for loose change, but he has a very high opinion of him which I am sure is reflected in trade conversations with other GMs.

Not sure if he should trade Smith, I think Smith has potential to be good. Rivers needs to find a better rotation with Smith most likely.

I tried in the offseason to come up with deals to get them actual bench players, but they never did anything til they got Lance/Smoove. I never bought in to it, and now I think they're basically stuck. Agree the rotation is as much an issue as the players, but Crawford drags them down a ton. Someone on the trade board always mentions the idea of having 1 knucklehead on a team is fine, but when you get to 2 or more, its asking for real trouble. They've got at least 2, probably more (Lance and Smith fall into for sure IMO). Between that and Pierce's decline, I almost wonder if they'd be able to trade Redick and get a bench.

[RSCD3_]

Warriors exposed finally lost. Well now at least they should be a little looser, they seemed to be slightly affected by fatigue these last 3-4 games and i'm sure they're kind of glad, the pressures somewhat off

[Texas Chuck]

I tried in the offseason to come up with deals to get them actual bench players, but they never did anything til they got Lance/Smoove. I never bought in to it, and now I think they're basically stuck. Agree the rotation is as much an issue as the players, but Crawford drags them down a ton. Someone on the trade board always mentions the idea of having 1 knucklehead on a team is fine, but when you get to 2 or more, its asking for real trouble. They've got at least 2, probably more (Lance and Smith fall into for sure IMO). Between that and Pierce's decline, I almost wonder if they'd be able to trade Redick and get a bench.

I still think there are deals to be made. I think you could turn Lance into a couple different bench options if you are willing to take money into next year. Wizards would probably give you Humphries and Garrett Temple just to get off of Humph's money for next year. Orlando might give you Frye if they start to fall off a bit to clear his money. Despite what Pacers fans say on the Trade Board I think they might give up Stuckey for him. Not great players, but some different guys to throw into the mix.

But yeah the bigger problem is his loyalty to his guys--Jamal, Truth, and of course Austin and his stubborn refusal to stagger Blake and Paul's minutes more. Either one of them is capable of keeping the offense alive while the other gets a blow, but they have no one else when both are sitting. Truth doesnt appear to be that guy anymore and Jamal just looks for his own nonstop.

I believed in their bench moves and I thought the DeAndre thing forced them to deal with some of their internal issues and they would close ranks in an us against the world move. But it looks like Paul just said what he had to say to get Jordan to stay and its right back to business as usual and you can see it particularly in how DeAndre is playing with less fire this year.

Them and Houston being such a mess both surprise me as I had them both as potentially top 4 teams in the West.

[Clyde Frazier]

Their Bench brigade which tries ( and fails miserably ) to be an equivalent of the GS death squad plays is rubbish.

It's their 5th most played 5 man lineup

Smith
Pierce
Wesley
Crawford
Rivers

Has a net ORTG of -32.8

Yikes.

What do you think they should change?

For whatever reason he just doesn't believe in staggering Paul/Blake/Redicks' (their 3 best offensive players) minutes. The love affair with Crawford means neither Paul nor Redick get much time with the 2nd unit. Crawford-Rivers are tethered together in the backcourt. Not surprisingly, the 2nd unit plays with very little structure as a result.

Doc, Byron and Fisher need to have a group coaching intervention on why staggering lineups is a good thing. I'm at the point where i'm yelling at the TV whenever Fisher puts in 5 bench guys at a time.

[bondom34]

I tried in the offseason to come up with deals to get them actual bench players, but they never did anything til they got Lance/Smoove. I never bought in to it, and now I think they're basically stuck. Agree the rotation is as much an issue as the players, but Crawford drags them down a ton. Someone on the trade board always mentions the idea of having 1 knucklehead on a team is fine, but when you get to 2 or more, its asking for real trouble. They've got at least 2, probably more (Lance and Smith fall into for sure IMO). Between that and Pierce's decline, I almost wonder if they'd be able to trade Redick and get a bench.

I still think there are deals to be made. I think you could turn Lance into a couple different bench options if you are willing to take money into next year. Wizards would probably give you Humphries and Garrett Temple just to get off of Humph's money for next year. Orlando might give you Frye if they start to fall off a bit to clear his money. Despite what Pacers fans say on the Trade Board I think they might give up Stuckey for him. Not great players, but some different guys to throw into the mix.

But yeah the bigger problem is his loyalty to his guys--Jamal, Truth, and of course Austin and his stubborn refusal to stagger Blake and Paul's minutes more. Either one of them is capable of keeping the offense alive while the other gets a blow, but they have no one else when both are sitting. Truth doesnt appear to be that guy anymore and Jamal just looks for his own nonstop.

I believed in their bench moves and I thought the DeAndre thing forced them to deal with some of their internal issues and they would close ranks in an us against the world move. But it looks like Paul just said what he had to say to get Jordan to stay and its right back to business as usual and you can see it particularly in how DeAndre is playing with less fire this year.

Them and Houston being such a mess both surprise me as I had them both as potentially top 4 teams in the West.

Yeah, I really wonder how much DJ ends up helping them in the end, they coulda had a different big and bench signings that mattered. Houston surprises me (though they seem to be turning around), LA doesn't really. Sort of but I didn't think they really improved much if at all. Houston I thought could be a top 3 team out west.

[dontcalltimeout]

So, we have a couple of decent championship contenders this year...

[RSCD3_]

That rondo business is dirty. I wish society was beyond using gay as an insults.

I also can't understand why people are like " why is he proud? " well because pride is the opposite of shame and many gay people were made to feel like there was something wrong with them, felt compelled to live a lie. Etc.

Declaring you are gay is taking yourself of a box and not having to worry about censuring yourself all the time in fear of negative reactions / actions and all the stuff that comes with it. Of course it also could make you a huge target for others to laugh at, make examples of and etc, which is why it's brave.

Imagine you were born to black parents in the 1900's and had just enough random recessive genes to pass as white and not have to worry about any of the drawbacks. People just thought you were white and you got along with everybody, even though you knew deep down a lot of people would think less of you if they knew you were black. Then imagine throwing a lot of that away and declaring yourself as black. Well the discrimination today isn't as severe as African Americans in the turn of the century but it's essentially like that.

[Texas Chuck]

So I never really trust Broussard not to just make stuff up so no idea if these numbers are accurate, but he reported today that he talked to 41 front office people about the Warriors chances of winning 73 and only 9 thought they would.

Not sure what to make of that really. Obviously injuries are always a concern as is what they will want to do once HCA is clinched, but this certainly feels like a team that could win 73 if they played every game straight.

[Dr Spaceman]

So I never really trust Broussard not to just make stuff up so no idea if these numbers are accurate, but he reported today that he talked to 41 front office people about the Warriors chances of winning 73 and only 9 thought they would.

Not sure what to make of that really. Obviously injuries are always a concern as is what they will want to do once HCA is clinched, but this certainly feels like a team that could win 73 if they played every game straight.

That seems about right actually. As things stand currently we're still talking about them maintaining about an 87% win percentage for the rest of the season, which is higher than last year's pace (~82%). I would say more likely than not they don't get it, although they have the advantage of being able to chase the record, not just set it (so they have the advantage of being, say, 69-8 and saying "let's just go nuclear for the last week and try to win out"). IIRC now that they've lost a game the odds won't match last seasons win% until about halfway through the season, and even then a 67 win season is still a historical outlier.

What is the next best after 72? It's 69, right?

[Texas Chuck]

^^ Didn't run the numbers and realize it still requited that type of percentage.

[NinjaSheppard]

So the 24-1 team doesn't lead the league in point differential

[bondom34]

So the 24-1 team doesn't lead the league in point differential

Only their 2nd biggest MOV tonight.

[RSCD3_]

Can we say SA has been just as impressive as GS?

[theonlyclutch]

Why is SAS-GSW over a month away? This would be a hell of a matchup...

[ThaRegul8r]

What is the next best after 72? It's 69, right?

Correct. '72 Lakers and equaled by '97 Bulls.

[ThaRegul8r]

Can we say SA has been just as impressive as GS?

It's interesting for me to save the Spurs' progress, as all the attention has been on the Warriors, and years from now people are going to be talking about their 24-0 start when they talk about this season.

[HeartBreakKid]

Did Rondo and other people in the NBA know the ref was gay before he came out to it publicly? If so, then Rondo is truly classless for saying that.