2013-2014 NBA Season Thread

[Mexi]

He'll be back before that

 

[bosoxlover12]

1225

holy fuck

 

[Pugz]

holy fuck

i dont get it

 

[bosoxlover12]

You just totally beat ESPN's reasoning

"Oh, Kobe is ranked #25 for best player, and Lakers are ranked #12 in the West. Clearly that's what 1225 means on Kobe's twitter"

Thanks Obama

 

[bosoxlover12]

^that pugz

 

[Pugz]

got it. bleh

 

[buzzy]

Welp. Read it somewhere else.

Might just be a PR stunt by ESPN and the Lakers/Kobe together. On one hand you have the underrating story, on the other his return date.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

ESPN isn't saying Kobe is the 25th best player, btw...

 

[Mexi]

Who is then nola

 

[bosoxlover12]

ESPN isn't saying Kobe is the 25th best player, btw...

it is in their player rankings

 

[Mexi]

Slam's top 10

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Chris paul
4. Melo
5. Harden
6. Kobe
7. Rose
8. Dwight
9. Kyrie
10. Curry

11. Parker
12. Russell
13. George
14. Wade
15. Love

You may disagree, but their lists are always better than ESPN. They only do 50 though

 

[Pugz]

switch 5 with 6 and 4 with 7, shit 11 and 10 too

 

[jonathanlambert33]

it is in their player rankings

It's not player rankings, it's which players will have the biggest contributions overall. The quality AND quantity of the players contributions. Given the fact that Kobe is rehabbing and nobody even knows when he'll really return, I'd say 25th is a fair ranking.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

So I was thinking, last season Houston was a slightly below average defensive team. 16th to 18th, depending on how you look at it. They had Omer Asik at C last season, and he was one of the best defensive centers in the league. This year they have Dwight Howard, and while I would say Dwight is a better defender than Asik, I don't think he's a significant upgrade. So realistically, how big of an improvement can Houston make?

 

[Pugz]

offensively theyre a lot better but pretty much the same defensively, as you said, although the offense is going to be better on terms of spacing. so if the shots aren't falling they wont be much better.

 

[Mexi]

They should be top 4 in the west

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I think they'll see a pretty small jump in both. Maybe from 16th defensively to 14th, and 6th offensively to 4th? I guess? Maybe a spot higher on both ends.

 

[Pugz]

They should be top 4 in the world

 

[jonathanlambert33]

They should be top 4 in the west

I have them fourth.

 

[BwareDWare94]

So I was thinking, last season Houston was a slightly below average defensive team. 16th to 18th, depending on how you look at it. They had Omer Asik at C last season, and he was one of the best defensive centers in the league. This year they have Dwight Howard, and while I would say Dwight is a better defender than Asik, I don't think he's a significant upgrade. So realistically, how big of an improvement can Houston make?

 
McHale's had Kelvin Sampson focus on defense all summer, from the Summer league and into training camp. The entire team should be better defensively. Remember, we're potentially looking at Beverly/Parsons/Smith or Jones/Howard around Harden in the starting 5. Without Lin pairing with Harden to form the worst defensive back court in the league, this team should be significantly better. 
 
This also leaves Asik to hold down the second group of himself/Smith or Jones/Garcia (a good defender) and Lin. I have no idea who our backup SG will be. Is Ronnie Brewer really all that good?