NBA Thread

Paul didn't quite seem to be the problem: they settled almost exclusively for mid-range shots—which, to be fair, Thibodeau's defense is designed to encourage—and the only guy really hitting those was Griffin, but they went away from him down the stretch after he couldn't get anything going closer to the basket against either Noah or Gibson. Meanwhile, despite his (I think) seventeen rebounds, DeAndre Jordan did almost nothing else; I knew he wasn't much of a scorer, beyond lobs, but his defense is pretty crap, too.

I know the Bulls have been playing much more inspired basketball on the road heretofore this season, but still: no Rose, no Gasol (which, at this point, was probably even a bigger loss, given how Thibodeau has been running the offense), and at Staples, and yet the Clippers weren't really in the game after the first few minutes of the third-quarter. I'm not complaining, just a bit surprised—though I haven't watched the Clippers much in the past year or so.
 
My point was the Clips don't play defense and their success was almost solely due to CP3 being one of the top 3-5 players in the NBA, which probably isn't the case anymore. I mean, what else do they have? Blake is a good scorer in transition and is getting better offensively, but Jordan, Barnes, Reddick, etc. aren't very good players. They need Paul to be MVP level Paul.
 
I'm sure that's a part of their problems: he certainly wasn't especially aggressive last night, though both Butler (when he was switched on him) and Hinrich did a really great job fighting over screens and keeping him in front of them. But I also think Rivers isn't leveraging his roster very well; they should be a better defensive team, and—with his talent—Griffin especially should be a better defensive player.

All kinds of Bulls were getting to the basket with relative ease, and defense is one way they could compensate for Paul's slowing down—both in terms of suppressing the opponents' point totals and as a way to speed up the offense (via transitions opportunities) without Paul having to shoulder all the load. I've always thought Rivers was a bit overrated—and really leaned on Thibodeau's defensive schemes in the early Boston years with Allen, Pierce, and Garnett—but I'm surprised it's gotten quite to this point with the Clippers.
 
thethe said:
Considering the limitations of the overall team I think everyone is playing well. Denver just beat Cleveland and we almost beat them in their building.
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In other words, these guys are nothing without Durant and Russ?
 
Any team outside of the Bulls would be last in their conference without their best two players.

Even with a guy like Perry Jones over Lance Thomas and the Thunder might have won another game or two.
 
Heyward said:
Take away CP3/Blake, Love/LBJ, Harden/Dwight, and so on, those teams would struggle.

You arent gonna win in the NBA the way it is without your stars.
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Not talking about how team is playing. Talking about how good the individual players are.
 
Cousins is a beast. Not many big men can finish like he does. Has every post up move in the book and can finish high off the glass like a PG when needed. His touch around the rim is insane. Kings 7-5 baby!
 
gilesfan said:
Not talking about how team is playing. Talking about how good the individual players are.
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Basketball is a tiring sport. Hard to play well when you are being over extended. It's also a team sport and you need talent on the floor. You are just looking at box scores and have no context at all. Basically the usual with you.
 
ESP47 said:
Cousins is a beast. Not many big men can finish like he does. Has every post up move in the book and can finish high off the glass like a PG when needed. His touch around the rim is insane. Kings 7-5 baby!
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He's a top 5 player. Incredible talent.
 
Steven Adams currently sits at 44th in PER for NBA Centers. Pretty close to cracking that top 10.
 
BRule said:
Steven Adams currently sits at 44th in PER for NBA Centers. Pretty close to cracking that top 10.
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Steven Adams at this point in his career needs someone to set him up. Lets see how that changes once RW/KD comes back. This guy has only been playing basketball for a few years in an organized fashion.
 
thethe said:
Steven Adams at this point in his career needs someone to set him up. Lets see how that changes once RW/KD comes back. This guy has only been playing basketball for a few years in an organized fashion.
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Dude 44 is pretty bad no matter the excuse.
 
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