NBA Season 2014-2015

[Jay]

WE'RE GOING TO THE POST SEASON! ;D

WE'RE GOING TO THE LOTTERY

Kings cant finish worse than 6th.  I think we can still go to 5th if Magic win last remaining games and we lose all remaining (which is possible with DMC, Gay and Collison all out injured)

You must've said that a few times over the last 5 years ;)

I think you'll still be 2 games in front/behind (whatever you want to call it) of Orlando in terms of the lottery. But it will be interesting to see how Sacremento use their first round pick this year. Trade for an established player to pair with DMC perhaps? Or possibly trade DMC, get a top 4 pick and rebuild around the two young guys.

Not sure the George Karl and Boogie fit is totally clean - an interesting offseason to come.

[valkorum]

Not sure the George Karl and Boogie fit is totally clean - an interesting offseason to come.

Look at the stats.  DMC has higher numbers (in all categories) under Coach Karl.  2 of his 3 career triple doubles have come since Geroge has takent he reins. 



PG - Collison, he just needs to get healthy. Then you have McCallum and Miller backing him up (and now David Stockton who we just signed).  We are much stronger when Collison is playing

SG - McLemore is coming along ok, he needs to work on his defense.  Stauskis (Sauce Castillo) starting to show some signs.  Both need to take big steps in the offseason

SF - Gay, happy with this and Casspi is starting to show signs he can hold his own as backup

PF - HUGE HOLE HERE.  We really need some help here.... and quickly. (prob why George has put Gay here and started Casspi at the 3)

C - DMC, extremely happy with this but we have no backup for him.

The biggest issue I can see is we have no bigs to help/backup DMC - NONE.  Why do you think I was so keen on us trying to get J Smoove. 

[Jay]

Wow you're right, I just looked at the numbers for this season. He's literally got better in every category.

With George Karl:
24.8 points @ 47.3%, 13.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.8 blocks, 3.8 fouls, 2 triple doubles

Without George Karl:
23.8 points @ 46.5%, 12.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.7 blocks, 4.2 fouls,, 0 triple doubles

Boogie has played for way too many coaches than a young player should, and even more point guards. Would not surprise me at all if him and his agent decided he's had enough.

[R.Griffen]

Klay Thompson feeling it again, State are going crazy at Oracle.
15/21 from the field
8/10 3pt
42 points

4:03 left in the 3rd quarter

[j959]

WE'RE GOING TO THE POST SEASON! ;D

WE'RE GOING TO THE LOTTERY

Kings cant finish worse than 6th.  I think we can still go to 5th if Magic win last remaining games and we lose all remaining (which is possible with DMC, Gay and Collison all out injured)

WE'RE GOING TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Suns will finish around 10th-11th get no high draft picks and possibly 'lose' Brandon Knight in free agency ... I understand Phoenix management had to get something when Dragic said he was gone but they panicked a bit and traded IT for a middling pick - that made no sense and traded away Plumlee and Tyler Ennis for a Knight 'rental' ...   :P

[Cookie Monster]

WE'RE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL

To visit Ibaka and Durant through the post season coz we're done.

[Jay]

WE'RE GOING TO THE POST SEASON! ;D

WE'RE GOING TO THE LOTTERY

Kings cant finish worse than 6th.  I think we can still go to 5th if Magic win last remaining games and we lose all remaining (which is possible with DMC, Gay and Collison all out injured)

WE'RE GOING TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Suns will finish around 10th-11th get no high draft picks and possibly 'lose' Brandon Knight in free agency ... I understand Phoenix management had to get something when Dragic said he was gone but they panicked a bit and traded IT for a middling pick - that made no sense and traded away Plumlee and Tyler Ennis for a Knight 'rental' ...   :P

Not a great place to be considering you guys had one of the brightest futures in the league after last season.

I actually liked the Dragic trade for them, two first round picks is a nice haul. The IT trade I have no comment on, apart from thank you ;)

Giving up the Lakers pick, Ennis and Plumlee just to overpay Knight wasn't a smart move either :P

[AFEV]

Bucks rebrand looks fantastic!

[Jay]

Jay's 2014-15 NBA Season Awards Ballot

Most Improved Player

Candidates:
Draymond Green
Jimmy Butler
Giannis Alphabet
Hassan Whiteside
Rudy Gobert
Klay Thompson
Khris Middleton

This award was tough to narrow down, every one of those guys could make a case to be the most improved depending on your criteria. I factored in the expectations on a player in this, for example, no one expected Jimmy Butler to turn into an elite offensive player after being a below average starter last year. I didn't put Whiteside on my ballot because he's only played a hair over 100 NBA career minutes before this season, its hard to gauge how much he's improved when he's barely played. I originally had Giannis at 3rd, but he's still ironing out a lot of flaws in his game and while he has improved, its just not as much as the other 3 guys - he was right behind them though. Klay has gone from good to very good but he's not quite the force on both ends of the court like Butler.

3rd place: Draymond Green
Over the past 3 seasons, he has gone from 2nd round pick, to being a defensive role player but liability on offense, to elite defender and crucial piece to the best team in the league. The Golden State offense is #2 in the league and its defense is #1. However when Draymond is off the court, those numbers fall to #13 and #14. His PER, shooting, rebounding and assists are all up from last season and going from starting only 12 games last year to 78 this year gets him my 3rd place.

2nd place: Jimmy Butler
I had no idea this kind of breakout season was coming - I knew he was an elite defender, and although that's slightly slipped this season, Butler has turned himself into a great offensive player. The players this season who have a PER >20 and offensive win shares >8 are James Harden, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Jimmy Butler. Solid offensive company and then factoring in his defense and its fair to say he is much improved this season - if Butler continues this in the playoffs, the Bulls aren't going out in any less than 7 games to anybody in the east.

1st place: Rudy Gobert
I'm heavily biased towards Gobert, but he is simply awesome. He has become the best rim protector in the NBA, leading the league in block percentage and also holding opponents to less than 40% shooting when he's near the rim, which is the lowest mark in the league. When he's on the court, the Jazz defense is 2nd to only Golden State and he's the reason why. Since the Jazz traded Kanter leaving Gobert the starting centre role, Utah have gone 19-9, the 5th best record in the league over that span. His rebounds, assists and steals have all gone up while his turnovers and fouls have drastically dropped. Most immpresively, his PER has gone from a measly 12.9 to 21.6 - the 7th best mark for any player under 25 years of age (he's 22). Gobert is already one of the best defenders in the league, and its scary to think how good he'll be when he hits his prime.

[j959]

WE'RE GOING TO THE POST SEASON! ;D

WE'RE GOING TO THE LOTTERY

Kings cant finish worse than 6th.  I think we can still go to 5th if Magic win last remaining games and we lose all remaining (which is possible with DMC, Gay and Collison all out injured)

WE'RE GOING TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

Suns will finish around 10th-11th get no high draft picks and possibly 'lose' Brandon Knight in free agency ... I understand Phoenix management had to get something when Dragic said he was gone but they panicked a bit and traded IT for a middling pick - that made no sense and traded away Plumlee and Tyler Ennis for a Knight 'rental' ...   :P

Not a great place to be considering you guys had one of the brightest futures in the league after last season.

I actually liked the Dragic trade for them, two first round picks is a nice haul. The IT trade I have no comment on, apart from thank you ;)

Giving up the Lakers pick, Ennis and Plumlee just to overpay Knight wasn't a smart move either :P

yep, they just panicked ... I like Knight and thought he was a good get but for a 'rental' they just gave up too much - they could've really used Plumlee once Len broke his nose ...

I have to say I was surprised the Bucks effectively traded Knight for MCW but i'm guessing it's because he's more of a pure PG than a hybrid like Knight??

agree AFEV, just had a look at the Bucks roster and they have youth and flexibility ...  8)

IT to Boston - let's just say i'm expecting some Boston favours to Phoenix at some point in the future - look McDonough came from Boston so i'm sure there's goodwill both ways ...  ;)

at least Phoenix aren't totally flowered because they do have a lot of picks and a fair bit of cap room - so there are a lot of options - I get that management went for flexibility but what top-line free agent would want to come to a small market, middle of the road team??  :P    ;)

[Jay]

With Jae Crowder's game winner today, we're now locked into the 7th seed. You know what that means... Bring it, LBJ 8)

@j9 - I think Milwaukee traded Knight for MCW because they didn't want to be the ones to give Knight his next contract, which is going to be huge. With MCW and Giannis they have a crazy amount of length on the perimeter and the potential to switch on ever PnR. They're going to be an aggresive defense, just need to teach MCW how to shoot ;)

[j959]

With Jae Crowder's game winner today, we're now locked into the 7th seed. You know what that means... Bring it, LBJ 8)

@j9 - I think Milwaukee traded Knight for MCW because they didn't want to be the ones to give Knight his next contract, which is going to be huge. With MCW and Giannis they have a crazy amount of length on the perimeter and the potential to switch on ever PnR. They're going to be an aggresive defense, just need to teach MCW how to shoot ;)

ah yes, that makes sense ... another one of these talented players who you can't pay max contract for but have the potential and sometimes I reckon their agents get it in their heads that they 'deserve' the max ...

from memory even Steph didn't get max extension but he's definitely earnt it this season!  :o   :)

[Rusty00]

Curry with a lazy 77 consecutive 3 pointers at training :o

[Jay]

Jay's 2014-15 NBA Season Awards Ballot

Defensive Player Of The Year

Candidates:
Andrew Bogut
Draymond Green
Tim Duncan
Kawhi Leonard
DeAndre Jordan
Tony Allen
Rudy Gobert
Anthony Davis

3rd place: Kawhi Leonard
He's an absolute force on defense, and if he played more minutes, would have a real case for #1 in this award. The Spurs defense when he's on the court is the best in the league, but drops to 14th when he's off. He leads the league in steals per game and is 2nd in ESPN's Real Plus Minus. His flexibility on defense is his greatest strength with his ability to guard 4 positions. What makes it all the more impressive is that unlike most of the candidates for this award, he's guarding the opposition's best offensive player every night whether that's CP3 or Lebron etc.

2nd place: Rudy Gobert
Basically what I wrote in the most improved award applies here... He has become the best rim protector in the NBA, leading the league in block percentage and also holding opponents to less than 40% shooting when he's near the rim, which is the lowest mark in the league. When he's on the court, the Jazz defense is 2nd to only Golden State and he's the reason why. Since the Jazz traded Kanter leaving Gobert the starting centre role, Utah have gone 19-9, the 5th best record and the best defense in the league over that span. I honestly think he can become one of the best big man defenders of the last 20 years.

1st place: Draymond Green
The best defensive player on the best defense in the league. He can legitimately guard every position, including centre - Steve Kerr has used a lineup with Green at centre multiple times this season and its presumably dominant offensive and Draymond is good enough to make it work on the other end of the court too. The lineup of Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Igoudala and Green outscores its opponents by 23.3 points per 100 possessions - incredible. He's 2nd to only DeAndre Jordan in defensive win shares, and 4th in ESPN's real plus minus. The only other player averaging more blocks and steals per game than Draymond is Nerlens Noel. The Golden State defense from 1st to 15th when he leaves the court - that's insane.

[R.Griffen]

Just a casual 23 point quarter for Westbrook

But that doesn't matter the Pelicans all over Spurs early