Around the NBA: Playoff Edition #2

[Payt10]

Norman Powell. Another 2nd rounder. 46th player taken. Athletic freak with 42 inch vertical. Led the Raptors with 25 pts last night in their big win. It seems like in recent years with more Euros entering the draft and so many one and doners, 2nd round picks have become more valuable than ever. The odds of getting a Jokic, or an IT or even a guy with high high upside who's starting to show it, Powell and so many others we see in the league.

Watching Powell as briefly as I did this year, he plays a lot like DeRozan. It's actually really weird watching the two of them on the floor together. He is the type of athletic freak the Bulls have been lacking forever. They need those young guys to run and gun in Hoiberg's offense.

[Ice Man]

Entering tonight, the Rockets were +12 when Harden wasn't playing, and OKC was -40 with Westbrook not playing. And you know what the narrative will be after the Rockets win the series -- see, Westbrook is a stat hogger, while Harden is a winner.

[JDRochholz]

I'm dying...that auto tune segment had me rolling.....Charles was so pissed...LOL

[Dan Z]

Norman Powell. Another 2nd rounder. 46th player taken. Athletic freak with 42 inch vertical. Led the Raptors with 25 pts last night in their big win. It seems like in recent years with more Euros entering the draft and so many one and doners, 2nd round picks have become more valuable than ever. The odds of getting a Jokic, or an IT or even a guy with high high upside who's starting to show it, Powell and so many others we see in the league.

Watching Powell as briefly as I did this year, he plays a lot like DeRozan. It's actually really weird watching the two of them on the floor together. He is the type of athletic freak the Bulls have been lacking forever. They need those young guys to run and gun in Hoiberg's offense.

It's crazy that he was the 46 pick in the 2015 draft.

[Payt10]

Iso Joe at it again.

[High level]

Nene is Taj worst nightmare.

[TheSuzerain]

It looks like Portland wants the broom already

It's to bad Nurkic got injured. I think they could have been mote competitive with him in this series. Definitely not get swept.

They'd be swept either way.

[erlim]

Teams that have the single best player usually win playoff series, but not always. The Bucks might be one of those exceptions.

The Bulls might be too.





Let's hope not.

I think in all fairness you need to give that title to Isaiah Thomas. He has changed the pace of the series, Jimmy just gave his team a brief shot.

[Ice Man]

Sure enough, as I predicted, the NBA's summary of the Rockets' victory was "Hardens's leadership pays off." Where was this "leadership" last year, when the team was 41-41? And apparently this year, his leadership extends to the fact that the Rockets have good players who beat the other team when he's not even on the floor. That's some leadership.

If one team beats another, it doesn't all come down to its best player vs. another. It really doesn't.

[Ice Man]

I think in all fairness you need to give that title to Isaiah Thomas. He has changed the pace of the series, Jimmy just gave his team a brief shot.

I think in all fairness, that's balderdash. IT wasn't even all that good in Game 3, and while he was great in Game 4, so was Butler. That Gerald Green >> Jerian Grant has nothing to do with the performance of anybody else but those two guys, and Green >> Grant was the difference in Game 4. If Grant were >> Green, the Bulls would have won Game 4, and nobody would be talking about IT as being the best player in the series.

Why should Grant vs. Green affect the evaluation of other players on the court? Players should get credit or blame for what they do, not for what the players next to them do.

[dumbell78]

I still can't get over the fact that OKC had Harden, Russ, Ibaka, and Durant yet managed to somehow F##k it up. That's like almost impossible, and especially dumb considering all this new TV money. You pay and make it work, after you pay you can easily move any of those guys if you must.

[veji1]

I still can't get over the fact that OKC had Harden, Russ, Ibaka, and Durant yet managed to somehow F##k it up. That's like almost impossible, and especially dumb considering all this new TV money. You pay and make it work, after you pay you can easily move any of those guys if you must.

Yeah, it's amazing BUT when you think about it, they weren't good complements to one another, still they should have made it work !

[veji1]

Norman Powell. Another 2nd rounder. 46th player taken. Athletic freak with 42 inch vertical. Led the Raptors with 25 pts last night in their big win. It seems like in recent years with more Euros entering the draft and so many one and doners, 2nd round picks have become more valuable than ever. The odds of getting a Jokic, or an IT or even a guy with high high upside who's starting to show it, Powell and so many others we see in the league.

Watching Powell as briefly as I did this year, he plays a lot like DeRozan. It's actually really weird watching the two of them on the floor together. He is the type of athletic freak the Bulls have been lacking forever. They need those young guys to run and gun in Hoiberg's offense.

It's crazy that he was the 46 pick in the 2015 draft.

The offer has gotten so big in the draft now between uni players and internationals, that there are more chances to find gems later on and also that the "middle of the pack quality" is a lot denser. You have the top 5/10 talents but then you might have a group of 20/30 or even 40 young players whose quality level is quite similar and whose success will rest on much more than just talent level. It has become damn more complicated but full of possibilities.

[dumbell78]

NBA drafting is radically different today, 2nd round picks are no longer just throw aways. We need to stop treating them like garbage. Especially when we hardly have any talent.

[johnnyvann840]

My dislike for Steph Curry and the Warriors has grown to full on hatred. Everytime I see that Muscle Milk commercial I want to break something. They play it seemingly every commercial break. Now, his little shoulder shimmy while sitting on the court is even more nauseating. yeah, wiggle this , buddy.

Since it's obviously gonna be another Warrior/Cavs Finals I'm going to have to root for Lebron again. Sucks, but I just hate the Warriors even more now that Durant is there. Somebody has to beat them. PLEASE.

[Ice Man]

The OKC situation explains why there will be more superteams in the future. Fans say that is a bad thing, but then they praise players who join strong teams for being "winners," and they pick at the guys who are loyal and stay on weaker teams for being losers. Durant will have his ring, and Westbrook is just some guy with gaudy stats who doesn't know how to win. That is the narrative.

Hey, I think it's a terrible narrative and dead wrong. So I have the right to decry superteams. But those who buy into the notion that players are better because their teams win, never mind what their teammates do, well sorry you don't get to say that the Heatles and Golden State are bad things. You enable those teams. You support their formation.

[MGB8]

Entering tonight, the Rockets were +12 when Harden wasn't playing, and OKC was -40 with Westbrook not playing. And you know what the narrative will be after the Rockets win the series -- see, Westbrook is a stat hogger, while Harden is a winner.

This goes back to Morey, who while he has had some misses, has had more successes. And it seems he's moved over to successfully acquiring (and usually at a discount) undervalued (but established) talent.

Eric Gordon - terrible injury history, not an ideal starting 2 - but a very strong reserve. Lou Williams - a great combo guard backup point guard. Both guys being "pro's-pros."

Ryan Anderson - much maligned for his defensive weakness - but a perfect fit in terms of opening things up offensively and just enough of a defender (especially at the 4 versus the 3) that when he's put on the court with three defenders around him (Beverly, Ariza and Capella) he's doesn't wreck everything.

Nene... another vet whose gas tank doesn't have that much left - but enough if not overplayed.

Add the find in Capella, upgrading defensively from Chandler Parsons (who is declining into Budinger territory now) to Ariza, keeping Beverly, and finding a good coaching fit for Harden... (At the same time, Houston hasn't gotten punished yet for extensive time going small with Ariza at the 4, Harden at the "3." Don't know if that will work against better teams.)

Compare that to OKC, who has a nice talent in Adams, two basically offense only guys in Kanter and Sabonis, a defense only guy in Roberson, a larger version of Avery Bradley in Victor Oladipo (who people hoped would be more, but he's just a solid guy whose best as a #3 or #4 on offense, not a #2 or #1 - where he gets stuck with that when Russ isn't on the floor) and a nice talent who could develop into a Fournier type in Abrines - but is too young right now. And Bust McDermot and no-offense Taj....

[MGB8]

The fact that Memphis won two games against the Spurs is a testament to how good Conley and Gasol are... given the lack of much of anything else on that team - an aging, slow Z-Bo, an aging Tony Allen, the skeleton of Vince Cater, a young, inconsistent JaMychel Green, and a bunch of young guards who don't really know how to be positive contributors in the NBA yet.

Also a testament to the fact that the Spurs probably aren't true contenders this year. It's Golden State, with an outside shot that Utah or Houston knock them off if everything goes right for the underdog team...

[the ultimates]

We all know the media will play favorites and push narratives like Westbrook shoots too much or doesn't trust his teammates. How about putting some blame on the great Presti who put together this non shooting roster and hired Donovan? The same Billy Donovan who blew a 3-1 series lead last year to the Warriors. The same Billy Donovan who for much of that fourth quarter yesterday had three non shooters on the floor in Adams, Grant and Roberson. The same Donovan who was hired in a similar way Hoiberg was in Chicago. Garpax caught hell for it while Presti freaking skated.

[ATRAIN53]

Holy wow, watching Westbrook trying to beat the Rockets by himself was like watching shades of 85-90 MJ.

It doesn't come off like that since OKC has been good and a playoff team that just lost Durant-

But like they were saying last night as Westbrook was bricking shot after shot in a critical 4th qtr, he was out of gas and had nothing left. That's what MJ looked like after being hacked for 40 min by Lamebeer, Mahorn and James Edwards.

MJ had to learn to adjust his game - FORGET ABOUT HIS INDIVIDUAL STATS - and stop driving to the FT stripe every possession and pass the ball to the open guy for the easy shot as he drew 3 defenders to him.

I dunno how much of a student of the game Westbrook is but I suspect he targeted that Triple Double stat line this year specifically because it was one of those records that everyone said could NOT be broken. He broke it but now he's golfing instead of playing more meaningful basketball.

He's awesome but he has to learn to sacrifice, make his teammates better before he's winning any titles. Someone needs to walk him thru those pre championship Bulls teams and show him what MJ learned. I want to LOVE this guy but I wouldn't want to be on his team until he adjusts his game.