Board 8 > NBA Stats and Discussion - Where Tanking Happens

(+) Yeah! (+)

it's incredible how predictable games that involve a tanking team are this year

the tanking is so competitive
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RIP my pistonz
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it just hit me - Derozan is a modern Paul Pierce
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He didn't even touch JV there. Bullshit.
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pierce was a better 3 point shooter, and more physical than derozan - i'm not sure i could see derozan as a small-ball 4?

i honestly think he's more kobe than pierce
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gotta say, i'm a little surprised that valenciunas is still closing games for toronto

also the raps announcers just called those the two biggest FTs of JV's career. that's kind of sad considering how much he's been in the playoffs.
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great game. I wouldn't mind if that were the nba finals
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Oh ya go my raps
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https://streamable.com/7xzmj

that derozan shot is why I said pierce
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not enough animosity, you gotta have celtics-rockets!

i only caught literally the last few minutes, but it was really great t owatch
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transience posted...

https://streamable.com/7xzmj

that derozan shot is why I said pierce

watching it live i thought kobe, but i can definitely see it as pierce, too - especially the part where you think he might lose the ball lmao
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also, i'm absolutely gutted at this video from reddit

caption: "Refs in TOR HOU half time game miss obvious taunting tech"
https://streamable.com/ocyt4
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I'm really hoping this is the year that the Raptors break through in the playoffs.
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transience posted...

it just hit me - Derozan is a modern Paul Pierce

has he come out in a wheelchair and gotten back in a game yet
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some coworkers invited me to play basketball tomorrow

I don't think I've tried playing a game in like 15 years

I am going to die

RIP me just like the Pistonz
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dammit kings stop beating bad teams

SE you win this round
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https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/972644311505489920?s=19

Dear God I am so excited for the western conference playoffs.
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That's a name I haven't seen in awhile
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the Grizzlies with 30 points at halftime, down 25 to the Mavs

and playing a starting 5 of JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin, Dillon Brooks, Kobi Simmons and Ben McLemore, with PERs of 14, 11, 9, 8 and 8. yep
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aww yeah Thunder

aww yeah random Nick Collison 4th quarter playing time
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Dr_Football posted...

aww yeah Thunder

aww yeah random Nick Collison 4th quarter playing time

omg he livesss

poor spurs :(
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Kawhi is set to make his return on Thursday I'm okay with it
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save_us.kawhi
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i'm too scared to get excited for it given what happened earlier this season, but fuck it i am SO excited for kawhi to come back
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I guess I wonder what the point of bringing Kawhi back is

San Antonio's not going to touch Houston or Golden State
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I mean, it seems silly to just give up! If Kawhi is healthy, the spurs at least have the potential to compete. A harden injury or a few draymond nut punches and you never know.

Once again, assuming Kawhi is 100% good to go this time.
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Try to get to 50 wins?

Also never count out playoff Pop
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I can't think of a postseason where San Antonio actually outperformed their expectations

some of that is because they always have 50 wins, but you know what I mean
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transience posted...

I can't think of a postseason where San Antonio actually outperformed their expectations

some of that is because they always have 50 wins, but you know what I mean

I don't think they were the favorites to win the title every year they won.
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Obviously they want him playing so they can trade him in the offseason for maximum value since they hate him now.
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they definitely were in 99. I think they were in 03 but everyone was scared of Shaq and Kobe. they were definitely preferred in 05 and 07, I think? and then 2014 was kind of a push especially after the extremely close 2013 finals.
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Weren't the Suns the favorites one of those years?

I mean, no one is ever really surprised when the Spurs win, which makes it hard to exceed expectations in the first place.
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05 is tricky because you had the Suns/Heat/Pistons

07 was the Mavs until they got knocked out round 1, then it was the Spurs to lose unless you think the Suns were favored or thought really highly of LeBron/Pistons four
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okay looking it up. spurs were

3 seed in 1999 (but was widely seen as the best team because they started the awkward short season 6-8 before blitzing the rest of the league)
1 seed in 2003 (tied with Dallas, had homecourt)
2 seed in 2005 (behind Phoenix, I think the Spurs were seen as favourites in that series but I don't have anything to back my memory up on that)
3 seed in 2007 (#1 Dallas lost in the first round and I think this is the series where Horry took out Nash and the #2 Suns - again, probably 50/50 at worst to win that matchup)
1 seed in 2014

I don't think they were ever seen as a surprise finalist or anything. the bigger surprises was the .4 Fisher shot, that one phantom 3 point play that put Dallas in the 2006 finals, and Miami's Ray Allen shot (though I think the Heat were thought of as big faves that year)
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anyway, I'm not dumping on the Spurs. I'm just saying they've never outperformed expectations enough to say "believe in Pop". I think he's a goat coach but he's never won a series on his own or anything. it's not super surprising that Duncan is gone and the Spurs chemistry has started to show cracks.
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although leaving Duncan out of that game 6 should be talked about a lot more as one of the all time blunders in NBA history
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transcience posted...

although leaving Duncan out of that game 6 should be talked about a lot more as one of the all time blunders in NBA history

Believe me, I do.
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I must seem like a total Spurs hater. I actually think (and may have said) that the Spurs winning the title is like saying 'there's no one else good this year so let's give the Spurs the title"

the only exception to that is 2013-14, where the Spurs were legitimately great.
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they beat the 2005 pistons

also they literally ended the shaq/kobe dynasty. comparable to the mavs ending kobe/gasol.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZdik09RGJI" data-time="

still have nightmares
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Shaq and Kobe ended on their own. I'd have to dig up proof but they were a real mess by 03

I don't think very highly of the Pistons either. they beat a dysfunctional team when the glue that held their broken team apart got hurt. I think higher of the Suns.
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The Pistons squad post-Rasheed Wallace trade held 5 straight teams to under 70 points. The team that broke the stream scored 71 points. Their defensive rating after the Rasheed Wallace trade would have been the lowest in NBA history extrapolated over a full season. They literally had to change NBA rules because they were such a suffocating defense.
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they had to change it because it was awful basketball to watch! not because no one could handle it
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To be fair Tim Duncan was a monster

He started out as first team all nba for his first seven seasons! And was all defense too, thats really impressive given his competition at the forward position

They also had David Robinson for the first two championships and plenty of strong role players for the other championships (Parker, Ginbili, Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry etc)
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transcience posted...

they had to change it because it was awful basketball to watch! not because no one could handle it

I mean, they literally changed it because other teams couldn't handle. There was a dynasty waiting to happen for the Pistons had they not made that change (and they still went to the Finals anyway cause they were still really fucking good!).
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nah. the Pistons were helped out by Indiana self destructing who was a very real threat. they lost to not yet peak Wade and James during their absolute prime run. one title seems right to me. they were a good team, but not an all time one.
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transience posted...

nah. the Pistons were helped out by Indiana self destructing who was a very real threat. they lost to not yet peak Wade and James during their absolute prime run. one title seems right to me. they were a good team, but not an all time one.

If they were allowed to play by the rules that allowed to win them in 2004, they likely win in 2005 and 2006 (likely because Larry Brown doesn't end up getting his ass fired).

The only thing that undoes them is the pending free agency of Ben Wallace.
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http://www.espn.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/defensiveEff/year/2004

ehh, I'm not buying it
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transience posted...

http://www.espn.com/nba/hollinger/teamstats/_/sort/defensiveEff/year/2004

ehh, I'm not buying it

You're literally ignoring the whole "their defense got significantly better after the Rasheed Wallace trade."

I calculated it years ago but their defensive rating was 95.4 for the season on basketball-reference, but the post-Rasheed trade was in like the 80's. They went from one of the best defenses in the league that year to an all-time great defense, maybe best ever.
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then why weren't they best defense in 05 or 06?

compare it to the Dallas offenses of that era, or Phoenix, where they're miles ahead of the league. (another reason Nash is all-time.) Detroit was never even the best defense for a year. it's a narrative that plays well because they won a title when LA got hurt.
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