NBA 2016-17 Season

MassHysteria

United States3678 Posts

October 21 2016 04:48 GMT

Welcome to the NBA 2016-2017 Season Thread!

April Update (4/5/2017)

The last weeks of the season have brought forth many conversations for NBA fans. This season has had many players put up great seasons individually, so naturally has created one of the more heated MVP debates in a long time. While the cases for Harden and Westbrook seem to be carrying more momentum as the end nears, LBJ and Kawhi are still well-deserving candidates. Pelton takes a look at the advanced stats.

While LBJ can be considered an MVP candidate mostly every season, the Cavaliers' sub-par defense has been a bigger story. Ranked in the bottom-third of the league, will they be able to revert back to form once the playoffs begin? Or is this their new form? Adam Mares on Vice takes a more detailed look into the reasons for their defensive struggles. Not mentioned in the piece, is that the Cavaliers are also one of the older teams in the league and have had a very tough March schedule. Once the playoffs start and one-to-two rest days in between games becomes regular, there is probably no team in the playoffs that can benefit more than Cleveland. (Rather see a video on the defense? + Show Spoiler [Thanks Nemireck] +

)

This leads us to another hot topic: Player rest and days in between regular-season games. More and more teams have been resting players thinking long-term. This ultimately led to a leaked memo this season from Adam Silver to the teams urging the team governors to be more involved in these decisions. Truehoop and Habestroh dug in on the topic on his latest piece and brings up some interesting points.

Ten days to go until playoffs! While the bottom three teams (the Lakers, Nets, and Suns) are battling it out in the great tankathon, three teams are also still fighting for that 7th and 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls, Pacers, and Heat are all tied at 40 losses, and the Bobcats are only 2 games behind.
+ Show Spoiler [Eastern Conf. Standings] +

The Western Conference has Denver and Portland fighting for that 8th spot, tied at 40 losses. Remember that these two teams made a trade right before the deadline, making it even more interesting. Losing a renewed Nurkic to injury for this final stretch might be the undoing of Portland, but let's watch and see.
+ Show Spoiler [Western Conf. Standings] +

________________________________________________
+ Show Spoiler [Pre-season Summary] +

After the Warriors gave up a 3-1 lead, the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to clinch the NBA championship! Will the two teams make it back for 3 in a row?
After the loss, the Golden State Warriors went out and signed Kevin Durant. Will it be enough for them to recapture the title? Will Draymond be able to keep his hands to himself?
The Houston Rockets hired Mike D'Antoni for coach and will bring his Pick-and-Roll offense to a team that has focused on getting 3-point shooters after letting go of Dwight Howard. Harden will handle the ball a lot, and should have a great year. Could The Beard possibly lead the league in assists? Could he have an MVP-type season?
The Knicks hired Jeff Hornacek for coach and brought in ex-MVP Rose and Joakim Noah to form their version of a "superteam". Will Porzingis build on his impressive rookie season?
The Celtics signed Al Horford and look to be one of the league's best defensive teams.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have brought on Thibedaou(?) to coach what is probably the best young core in the league. Will Canadian Andrew Wiggins take the next step as a player and reward them for playing him so much last season?
The Bulls signed D.Wade and Rajon Rondo to team up with stud Jimmy Butler. Will they have enough space to operate with so many below-average 3-point shooters?
The Sixers' #1 overall pick Ben Simmons will be out for a few months with a pre-season injury. They do get Joel Embiid back after he was recovering himself all last season. Will this be the season Philly fans see the light at the end of the tunnel?
The Lakers signed Luke Walton to hopefully lead the franchise out of their own tunnel. Will the Warriors-inspired offense/culture (see second article below) he implements be enough to make an immediate impact for Russell, Randle and others? How will Swaggy P act now that he is Uncle P and in a system suited for him? Will they keep their top-3-protected draft-pick?
The Utah Jazz are one of the teams the NBA junkies are really excited about. Australian Dante Exum finally returns to play with their deep pool of guards, how will he fare?
The Pelicans are hoping to give Anthony Davis more help this time around. Will he be able to have a breakout season and be what New Orleans and a lot of people think he can be?

+ Show Spoiler [First 10 Games] +

Strength of schedule thru first 10 games:

source:http://fansided.com/2016/10/25/nylon-calculus-early-season-schedule-difficulty/

+ Show Spoiler [First Month] +

Thru First Month of Season(11/29):
[image loading]

+ Show Spoiler [Mid-Season] +

Mid Season(1/26/2017):

The league average offensive rating thru the halfway point of the season is really up there over the last 30 years or so after increasing about 3 points from last season to this one. ( A better post, this time authored by presidual, than the Sunday one.)

source

+ Show Spoiler [All-Star Weekend Schedule] +

+ Show Spoiler [March 1st update] +

March 1,2017--February was not a good month for injuries:

Not only did the champions lose one of their big-3, but Philly lost the best rookie of the season(by far), but now GS loses Durant. KD was the most efficient scorer in the league and having his best season defensively. (We see you Gordon Hayward!!)

In Lakerland, Jeannie Buss has ousted her brother from basketball-operations and appointed Magic Johnson as president. In as General Manager is Rob Pelinka, a former NCAA-champion and recent agent known as a shark: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pelinka-745309-maggette-lakers.html

hampions

Every week I try to highlight an interesting read or graphic or video that I find...

4/10/2017:-- "Who did the most with their minutes during Week 24 (April 3-9) of the NBA season?"
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Source

+ Show Spoiler [Archives] +

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 4/4/2017] +

4/4/2017:--
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]
+ Show Spoiler [Week of 3/27/2017] +

3/27/2017:-- "How has every NBA team fared on both ends of the floor since the All-Star break?"
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twitter.com

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 3/15/2017] +

3/15/2017:--

twitter.com

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 3/7/2017] +

3/7/2017:--An image to show the dominance of Rudy Gobert, a deserving DPOY winner:

"No one in last 3 years has saved more points from within six feet than 2016-17 @rudygobert27. Oh, and he has 18 games to add to his total:"
[image loading]

Source

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 2/27/2017] +

2/27/2017:--Embiid's minutes played vs other ROY's minutes played from past seasons:
[image loading]

Source
BONUS--how all NBA players in their age-40 seasons stack up in TPA during the 2016-17
+ Show Spoiler +

Source

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 2/21/2017] +

2/21/2017:--Anthony Davis vs Demarcus Cousins(right) shot charts
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Source

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 2/12/2017] +

2/12/2017:--
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Source

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 1/31/2017] +

1/31/2017:--Corner 3-PT'ers allowed vs corner 3-PT'ers attempted per game--

Source

+ Show Spoiler [BONUS--Rick Carlisle after win vs. Cavs] +

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 1/22/2017] +

1/26/2017:

Happy 40th B-Day VC!

~~01/22/2017:~~Not a great/interesting link by my part and misleading graph title on image by creator
+ Show Spoiler +

source

+ Show Spoiler [ Week of 12/11/2016] +

[12/11/2016:

source

+ Show Spoiler [ Week of 12/06/2016] +

12/06/2016:
[image loading]

+ Show Spoiler [ Week of 11/28/2016] +

11/28/2016:
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+ Show Spoiler [Week of 11/13/2016] +

Week of 11/13/2016:

source: http://fansided.com/2016/11/11/nylon-calculus-early-season-offenses-defenses-context/

+ Show Spoiler [Week of 11/6/2016] +

Week of 11/6/2016(first ~5:40 on Luke Walton is the most interesting):

+ Show Spoiler [Opening-Week] +

A somewhat-analytical look at playing defense in the new NBA and a great read: The Defensive 3-Point Revolution
+ Show Spoiler +
https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/790742978125967360

Opening-Week Bonus: With the Lakers implementing a lot of Horns sets brought over by Luke Walton, I wanted to read/find out as much as I could about their new offense. Walton will use a lot of what the Warriors use, which has roots back to the Spurs motion-offense. Although this might be too heavy on the X-and-O's for some people, it is a good primer for the interested: San Antonio's Influence on NBA X's and O's

*Bobcats are now the Hornets

NBA Playoffs begin April 15, 2017
~~Playoff Eligibility Waiver Deadline: March 1, 2017~~
~~NBA Trade Deadline: February 23, 2017~~
~~NBA All-Star Weekend: February 17-19, 2017~~
+ Show Spoiler +

~~Charlotte~~New Orleans
~~NBA Season starts: Tuesday, October 25, 2016~~

RowdierBob

Australia13430 Posts

October 21 2016 09:38 GMT

Lakers will suck pretty badly again.
Warriors v Cleveland is pretty inevitable unless injuries happen.
Bulls will miss the playoffs. That backcourt will be a shitshow.
Houston will be good but will wilt in playoffs.
Davis will have a big year. Shame his team sucks.
Back the pacers for the over on their win total!

TropicalHaze

Finland61 Posts

October 21 2016 17:24 GMT

Raptors most underrated team.. again.

They're just coming off a 56 win season, 2nd seed and taking the Cavs to 6 games in the ECF. They made no significant changes to their roster. People did the same dumb s**t last year after the Warriors won. Predicting the Spurs and Thunder would be better.

Just dumb.

andrewlt

United States7702 Posts

October 21 2016 19:34 GMT

If Steve Ballmer held on to Microsoft stock instead of buying the Clippers for $2B, he'd have an additional billion by now. And I don't think the Clippers are currently worth $2B.

MassHysteria

United States3678 Posts

October 21 2016 21:48 GMT

Last I heard/checked he still had more shares than Bill Gates, and the person with the most shares. Not sure if that has changed though...

The Raptors have a good team, and I really like Carroll's game, so I want to see how they look with him out there. They could probably be 2nd in the Eastern Conference again, but it's hard to imagine them beating a healthy LBJ/Irving team in a series. And the Thunder were really close to knocking off the Warriors last season but I get your point.

geokilla

Canada8254 Posts

October 24 2016 00:02 GMT

Anyone into sports betting? I just started and hopefully my Raptors can get into the second round at the very least. Though we already lost Sullinger and the season didn't begin yet....

icystorage

Jollibee19350 Posts

October 24 2016 06:58 GMT

Yi Jianlian, after talks with the team Sunday, has asked to be released by the Lakers and will be formally waived Monday.

ROFL

RowdierBob

Australia13430 Posts

October 24 2016 07:21 GMT

There's an unsurprising development.

JimmyJRaynor

Canada17708 Posts

October 24 2016 15:42 GMT

On October 22 2016 02:24 TropicalHaze wrote:
Raptors most underrated team.. again.

They're just coming off a 56 win season, 2nd seed and taking the Cavs to 6 games in the ECF. They made no significant changes to their roster. People did the same dumb s**t last year after the Warriors won. Predicting the Spurs and Thunder would be better.

Just dumb.

once you adjust their win total to the strength of their schedule they were more like a 52 win team in 2016.

too many injury issues to pin the team down. Lowry mismanages small injuries almost every year due to his paranoia about losing his job like he did in Houston. JV's same thumb has been fucked up 4 times. Carroll's knee? who knows. Sullingers is getting cut open. That's 4 of your starting 5.

Sullinger is getting cut open. This is not arthroscopic surgery. They are opening him up. So he'll be out a while.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-raptors-jared-sullinger-to-have-foot-surgery-200425101.html

Thus far, Ujiri's orgs have been good developing "long term projects". That's the wild card this year for the Raptors. Will one of Ujiri's projects make a surprise splash?

I give the Raptors a 4 to 1 shot at having their starters healthy come play off time. I give the odds 3 to 1 on one of Ujiri's projects ends up kicking ass this year. so the Raptors are a 12 to 1 shot at giving the Cavaliers a run for their money in the playoffs.

Cleveland is already talking about the regular season being an 82 game warm up for the playoffs so the chance of them being healthy for the playoffs is much higher than the Raptors when you add in the fact that their best players are not nearly as injury prone.

MassHysteria

United States3678 Posts

October 25 2016 17:35 GMT

#10

Added The Jump's offseason video for a recap:
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17878402

icystorage

Jollibee19350 Posts

October 26 2016 02:31 GMT

#11

ledecline

Doraemon

Australia14949 Posts

October 26 2016 04:08 GMT

#12

that block on curry. ptsd

xDaunt

United States17988 Posts

October 26 2016 04:11 GMT

#13

Warriors defense is dogshit.

dmnum

Brazil6910 Posts

October 26 2016 04:12 GMT

#14

On October 26 2016 13:11 xDaunt wrote:
Warriors defense is dogshit.

This game the whole team is shit
so
many
turnovers

Doraemon

Australia14949 Posts

October 26 2016 04:44 GMT

#15

On October 26 2016 13:11 xDaunt wrote:
Warriors defense is dogshit.

no bench

JimmyJRaynor

Canada17708 Posts

October 26 2016 04:51 GMT

#16

the Spurs played great
when aldridge is hitting 3's and making falling fade-away 20 footers.. damn.

i still remember colangelo explaining how aldridge would never develop into the shooter Barnyarni is.

last i heard barnyarni is playing in the upper boldovia elite league.

MassHysteria

United States3678 Posts

October 26 2016 06:34 GMT

#17

Ya, the Spurs were lights-out. Kawhi and Simmons along with LA looked really good.

The Spurs also showed why they were top-2 in defense last season (article linked in OP). While the Warriors, have some work to do to get there again. Four-game losing streak for this team now :O. Could it be that Bogut was more important than given credit