Off-Season Miscellaneous

[esqtvd]

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[donemilio21]

Yes, shows mentality of protecting your business investment.
We invested $28m into a guy, we shouldn't shy away from putting in another $500k to increase the chances of positive outcome from that investment.

[50CalClips]

Is Zubac the most valuable trade piece?
Or is Zubac "untouchable"?

[nickhx2]

has to be shamet. combination of harrell/lou will should also have some good value.

[esqtvd]

Some cool Shamet numbers, compliments of Fansided

https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/05/l-a-clippers-landry-shamet-fit/2/

Strength: Spacing
Landry Shamet is a great shooter. In fact, the former Wichita State guard was probably a top-10 shooter in the league in year one.

According to the basketball-index’s new gravity metric (an attempt to quantify how attached defenders stay to players in certain zones on the floor), Shamet has some of the best gravity in the league.

Shamet ranked in the 91st percentile in 3-point gravity per-game, and the 95th percentile in total 3-point gravity on the season. Simply put, if Shamet was moving outside the arc, defenders were attached to his hip.

Spacing is the oxygen that allows superstars to breathe. Shamet provides the LA Clippers slashers all they could need.


Shamet has a versatile stroke. He can shoot going either direction, off screens and from either wing. He even flashed a pull-up game, one of the most valuable shots in the modern NBA, shooting 40.7 percent on one attempt per game:

...

The effect Shamet had on the team’s offense was immense. The Clippers had a 114.9 offensive-rating with Shamet on the floor, a number on par with the best team offenses in the league (Golden State came in at 115.0). When the sharpshooter sat, that number dropped to to 107.5.

The team posted a blistering 55.0 effective field-goal percentage when Shamet played, a mark that would’ve tied Milwaukee for 2nd in the league. When Shamet moved to the bench, the teams percentage dropped to 52.3 (roughly 17th overall).

On D, worse than I thought, but he really didn't get posted up too much. Not much of a one-on-one defender. He's gonna need a lot of help, but he's in just the right place for it with Kawhi and PG switching like maniacs and covering his ass.

Defensive Real Plus-Minus is far from a perfect stat, but Shamet’s minus-1.59 backs up the eye test.

He’s not very attentive off-ball, and gets roasted in one-on-one coverage.

Here are Shamet’s defensive numbers against some specific play types:

Post-up: 1.28 points per-possession (6th percentile)

Isolation: 1.19 points per-possession (8th percentile)

Spot-up: 1.05 points per-possession (38th percentile)

Shamet graded out well as a pick-and-roll ballhander defender with the Sixers (0.96 points per possession, 82nd percentile), but didn’t have enough possessions with the LA Clippers to qualify.

Shamet at least tries on D. Any player, within reason, can get better on defense with an appropriate level of effort, coaching and attention to detail. Shamet should improve as he gains experience and his body fills out.

[esqtvd]

Trezz feelin it

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[Young Sterling]

This is kind of random (which is why I'm stuffing it in this thread) but I've been hearing a lot of talk from the media (and even quite a few Laker fans) that Lebron is better than Kobe. There's even this weird Lebron v. MJ comparison and I just can't.. I thought it was like a fact that Kobe was better than Lebron. What do you guys think?

[QRich3]

I never really cared about this all-time rankings, but I'd have Lebron comfortably ahead of Kobe if I had to rank them. For most of his career Kobe was a one dimensional scorer, and not an incredibly efficient one. Which still makes for a pretty great player, not gonna lie, but not great enough to be mentioned in the same breath than all time greats that affected the game in every area, as Lebron does/did. Kobe was a good wing defender early in his career, but that went away pretty quickly, and while his assist numbers are not bad, he was never a great playmaker. His +/- numbers never suggested he impacted the scoreboard as much as his contemporary stars, and he fell off quickly after his 2010 last ring, which makes his prime shorter than Lebron.

His legend status has more to do with aesthetics and a few memorable moments than it does with his on court impact. Lebron contributed considerably more to his teams' wins than Kobe did.

[TheNewEra]

Trezz feelin it

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Makes the team all the more dangerous if Harrell and Zu can stretch the floor to at least the mid range

[nickhx2]

I never really cared about this all-time rankings, but I'd have Lebron comfortably ahead of Kobe if I had to rank them. For most of his career Kobe was a one dimensional scorer, and not an incredibly efficient one. Which still makes for a pretty great player, not gonna lie, but not great enough to be mentioned in the same breath than all time greats that affected the game in every area, as Lebron does/did. Kobe was a good wing defender early in his career, but that went away pretty quickly, and while his assist numbers are not bad, he was never a great playmaker. His +/- numbers never suggested he impacted the scoreboard as much as his contemporary stars, and he fell off quickly after his 2010 last ring, which makes his prime shorter than Lebron.

His legend status has more to do with aesthetics and a few memorable moments than it does with his on court impact. Lebron contributed considerably more to his teams' wins than Kobe did.

pretty much all this

lebron's just been the higher impact player on both ends of the floor. kobe's status has quite a bit to do with big shots and "KOBE!!!!!!"

[Young Sterling]

I never really cared about this all-time rankings, but I'd have Lebron comfortably ahead of Kobe if I had to rank them. For most of his career Kobe was a one dimensional scorer, and not an incredibly efficient one. Which still makes for a pretty great player, not gonna lie, but not great enough to be mentioned in the same breath than all time greats that affected the game in every area, as Lebron does/did. Kobe was a good wing defender early in his career, but that went away pretty quickly, and while his assist numbers are not bad, he was never a great playmaker. His +/- numbers never suggested he impacted the scoreboard as much as his contemporary stars, and he fell off quickly after his 2010 last ring, which makes his prime shorter than Lebron.

His legend status has more to do with aesthetics and a few memorable moments than it does with his on court impact. Lebron contributed considerably more to his teams' wins than Kobe did.

pretty much all this

lebron's just been the higher impact player on both ends of the floor. kobe's status has quite a bit to do with big shots and "KOBE!!!!!!"

Ok here's the thing. You know how there's a saying about stats not taking everything into consideration? It's totally true in cases like Avery Bradley last year, but I don't think it does a good job of measuring some other guys, Kobe included. The inefficiency in his shots throughout the season is one thing, but he becomes a different animal when Championships are on the line. Ultimately, you want a player not because of the stats he pads up, but because you want a guy who can win you a title. Take Kawhi for instance. With all the load management he's doing, he may not win an MVP award. James Harden pads better regular season stats then him. It's just, the more veteran players know regular season doesn't mean as much as the Playoffs. Even if Kawhi never wins a regular season MVP, he's more likely than not gonna get the Finals MVP along with that Larry O' B so long as he can sniff playoffs. He understands what's important.

Lebron dishes out dimes, sure. But Kobe doesn't dish out as many dimes, not because he can't but because he knows it's a lot better if he just shoots it. That's why he gets paid the big bucks. Lebron defers a bit too much, it's definitely cost him some Finals. Kobe will put the team on his back and win, or lose and look selfish. Plus, remember the tail end of Kobe's career where he started to show everyone his ability to rack up assists? Reporters asked Kobe if this was a new part of his game, and he said it was always there but he just preferred to shoot.

Lebron is a beast, and a legendary player. But with the amount of talent he possessed individually and team wise at times is pretty ridiculuous. All the glorious stats, but still a 3-6 Finals record. Sure he looks good in playoffs, because he was always in the East which was a cake walk for quite some time compared to the West during the King's reign. That's why he lost so many finals. It's a different level what a Western Conference team has to go through to even sniff finals.

At the end, if results in Finals are what matters most, if you were going into a Finals... you're telling me you wouldn't take Kobe over Lebron because of stats? I'm sure we'd all take Kawhi over Harden regardless of regular season stats and MVP awards right?

[QRich3]

Ok here's the thing. You know how there's a saying about stats not taking everything into consideration? It's totally true in cases like Avery Bradley last year, but I don't think it does a good job of measuring some other guys, Kobe included. The inefficiency in his shots throughout the season is one thing, but he becomes a different animal when Championships are on the line. Ultimately, you want a player not because of the stats he pads up, but because you want a guy who can win you a title. Take Kawhi for instance. With all the load management he's doing, he may not win an MVP award. James Harden pads better regular season stats then him. It's just, the more veteran players know regular season doesn't mean as much as the Playoffs. Even if Kawhi never wins a regular season MVP, he's more likely than not gonna get the Finals MVP along with that Larry O' B so long as he can sniff playoffs. He understands what's important.

I'd agree with that, problem is, that's more legend than truth. Kobe's scoring efficiency actually drops in the postseason, as it does with most players. His +/- numbers drop in the postseason, as most players do since the competition is harder. A guy like Kawhi, he actually does improve his efficiency numbers in the postseason, which were already considerably better than a guy like Kobe (60 TS% to 55 TS% in RS), to a crazy 62 TS% in the postseason.

Again, Kobe's reputation is more legend than truth. If what you say actually applied to him, I'd agree, but it doesn't, he just shoots more, and happened to hit a bunch of big shots in memorable moments. He's a scorer, a damn good one that can carry all the volume you ask of him -and that's an important skill- but far from good enough to be considered among all time greats.

[Young Sterling]

Ok here's the thing. You know how there's a saying about stats not taking everything into consideration? It's totally true in cases like Avery Bradley last year, but I don't think it does a good job of measuring some other guys, Kobe included. The inefficiency in his shots throughout the season is one thing, but he becomes a different animal when Championships are on the line. Ultimately, you want a player not because of the stats he pads up, but because you want a guy who can win you a title. Take Kawhi for instance. With all the load management he's doing, he may not win an MVP award. James Harden pads better regular season stats then him. It's just, the more veteran players know regular season doesn't mean as much as the Playoffs. Even if Kawhi never wins a regular season MVP, he's more likely than not gonna get the Finals MVP along with that Larry O' B so long as he can sniff playoffs. He understands what's important.

I'd agree with that, problem is, that's more legend than truth. Kobe's scoring efficiency actually drops in the postseason, as it does with most players. His +/- numbers drop in the postseason, as most players do since the competition is harder. A guy like Kawhi, he actually does improve his efficiency numbers in the postseason, which were already considerably better than a guy like Kobe (60 TS% to 55 TS% in RS), to a crazy 62 TS% in the postseason.

Again, Kobe's reputation is more legend than truth. If what you say actually applied to him, I'd agree, but it doesn't, he just shoots more, and happened to hit a bunch of big shots in memorable moments. He's a scorer, a damn good one that can carry all the volume you ask of him -and that's an important skill- but far from good enough to be considered among all time greats.

Yeah but "Happened to hit a bunch of big shots in memorable moments". There's just too many of those memorable moments for it to be pure luck. So much of it has to do with the clutch factor, especially if those memorable moments led to some shiny hardware. If you look at Lou Williams, he's not exactly efficient, his net rating last year is 0, meaning statistically he makes no impact. FG% is average. But WE know Lou Williams' worth and his ability to take over games in the most clutch way possible. Stats don't capture just how important Lou was to us. Guys like Lou and Kobe don't care about stats, they care about winning and taking the tough shots they know they have the best chance of making, even if they miss and look a bit selfish. They can also flip the switch in clutch moments and start shooting with Steph Curry efficiency, but when it matters. Lebron can average a triple double while getting swept in the finals. He's also pretty image conscious, so if he defers the ball (since he doesn't have the guts to take the blame in tough moments) and his teammate misses, that teammate gets skewered later Lebron style. I mean at that point why not just take every shot? Because it'll also come with some blame? Lebron doesn't have that same fearless quality that Kobe and Lou do. Lebron IS clutch, that's for sure. But even in his arguably most impressive accomplishment (3-1 comeback in finals) Kyrie hit that game sealing shot and said he went "mamba mentality". That's just it. You want stats? Lebron mentality. You wanna win, put it all on the line, step up to the plate and show that you have balls the size of smart cars? Mamba mentality.

My question is, if you were going into the Finals and you had a choice between taking Lebron and Kobe as teammates, you wouldn't choose Kobe?

[nickhx2]

you are really heavy into the GB kool-aid

[50CalClips]

Toronto fan's real reaction to Kawhi signing with the Clippers

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[50CalClips]

Love to listen to Gilbert Arenas' thoughts on BBall.
Mind you, I didn't necessarily like him as a player, but he has a great Podcast, "The No Chill Podcast"


On Kawhi and the Clippers...

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In deep with Lou Will...

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