2013-2014 NBA Discussion Thread

[GSG]

The Dunk Contest Format Is Completely Different This Year

 

 

It works like this: The six dunkers will be divided into two teams, East and West, and will all participate in the freestyle round simultaneously. Basically, it will be a layup line, with each dunk attempt immediately followed by another one from a different player, and it will go on like this until the timer runs out. Things could get messy if everyone is biffing their attempts left and right, but if the players are able to get a decent pace going and feed off each other's energy, it should be a lot of fun to watch.

 

Once the freestyle round is over, a winning team will be announced and the battle round will begin. Whichever team won the freestyle round gets to choose who goes first in the next round, and then the three players from each team are paired off for a head-to-head matchup. When a dunker loses one of these battles, he is eliminated from the contest. Once a team wins three battles, the contest is over.

[Mavric]

A day after posting the worst defeat in the NBA this season - a 45 point beatdown - the 76ers are down 66-33 at the half. Good effort, fellas.

[Mavric]

His Vipers might just be the most running, gunning team pro basketball has ever seen. ESPN stat guru Kevin Pelton has described their style of play as “the most extreme professional basketball in America,” and their pace is historically fast: At 109 possessions per game, the Vipers play far faster than any NBA team in the past two decades, including Mike D’Antoni’s Seven Seconds or Less Suns, who averaged around 98 possessions per game. The NBA has sped up since then, with the league average now at 96.5, but even this year’s fastest team, the Philadelphia 76ers, at 102.6 possessions per game, are tortoises compared with RGV.

 

The Vipers also fire an unprecedented barrage of 3s, taking nearly half their shots from behind the line and averaging 45 3-point attempts per game. The Rockets, who lead the NBA in 3-point attempts, shoot only 26 per game, good for about a third of their shots.

 

When they aren’t bombing 3s, Smith’s Vipers shoot almost exclusively close to the rim: 41 percent of their field goal attempts come within five feet of the basket. That means, combined, 88.1 percent of the Vipers’ shots are 3s or short 2s. They’ve scored a whopping 3 percent of their points this year from midrange. When Smith’s players warm up, they don’t bother shooting inside the 3-point line, except for maybe a few bunnies in the paint. Just look at their shot chart:

 

 

Grantland Article

[Mavric]

Video that goes with the above:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5m1GghFRUY

[StPaulHusker]

So does the NBA not see any conflict of interest in Phil Jackson becoming president of the Knicks and his soon to be wife is part owner and president of the Lakers?

[Mavric]

So does the NBA not see any conflict of interest in Phil Jackson becoming president of the Knicks and his soon to be wife is part owner and president of the Lakers?

They've "taken appropriate steps."

 

[Omaha-Husker]

This game is getting physical. Miami and Indy exchanging blows.

[Omaha-Husker]

Tony Allen .

[GSG]

Mitch McGary Declaring For NBA Draft, Victim Of NCAA Reefer Madness

 

After missing most of last season with a back injury, University of Michigan forward Mitch McGary seemed likely to head back to Ann Arbor for another year of work on his sketchy offensive game and another deep run in the NCAA tournament. Instead, he'll be declaring for the NBA draft—all because he got high.

 

Yahoo's Dan Wetzel has the story, which is significantly dumber than you'd think. As Michigan was celebrating their Sweet 16 win over Tennessee, it seems, some NCAA guy grabbed McGary—who hadn't played in months—and demanded he submit to a drug test. It came back hot, as McGary had smoked weed two weeks before. If he'd failed a Michigan test, McGary would have been in for a three-game suspension; this being an NCAA test, though, he was in for a year-long ban. (Adding to the absurdity, the NCAA recently announced that, among other policy changes, it would be halving the suspension for "street drugs," so that McGary would have been subject to a penalty even the NCAA thinks is draconian.) Understandably enough, he's going pro.

[GSG]

[Mavric]

Sam Foltz ‏@samfoltz27 3m

When you sit down on the toilet and realize there's no more toilet paper... pic.twitter.com/nBzGrfA1Gx

 

[Hooked on Huskers]

NBA still playing ? I didn't know that.

 

I read CNN article on Sterling thing. He (Sterling) didn't even use the N word. What he said wasn't cool, but I don't think it was as bad as the media jokers makes it out to be. Plus it was a private conversation (Bo flashback). Oh well, I guess free speech.

[Mavric]

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 21m

Roy Hibbert: 7 of 19 (36.8%) shooting inside 5 feet of the basket this postseason, worst in NBA (min. 15 att). Hibbert is 7'2 #ATLvsIND

[Mavric]

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 2m

7 games have gone to overtime this NBA postseason and the 1st round isn't done yet. The record for OT games in an ENTIRE postseason is 10.

[GSG]

Kyle Korver Shows Off His In-The-Building Range