2013/14 NBA season chatter - let the LBJ hating begin!

• robj55

  

  sportchampps;1608918 wrote:BTW Dwight Howard is still overrated 1-9 in his last 10 playoff games

  He's only overrated him if you value him very highly.
• DeyDurkie5

  

  robj55;1608919 wrote:He's only overrate him if you value him very highly.

  no shit
• robj55

  

  DeyDurkie5;1608927 wrote:no shit

  I just mean I don't think anyone thinks he's Shaq or anything like that, but he's damn good.
• KB0938

  robj55;1608905 wrote:Yeah but teams have tendencies, and they just don't do the little things well. They also play too much one on one and their shot selection is poor for the most part including Durant and Westbrook. They can't seem to get stops when they need to either.

  KD is shooting 50% and 40% from 3, not sure how bad of shots he can be taking lol
• robj55

  

  KB0938;1608930 wrote:KD is shooting 50% and 40% from 3, not sure how bad of shots he can be taking lol

  It's more Westbrook but Durant forces quite a few too, or gets bailed out by foul calls. Tonight he went 10-27 and had a ton of poor shots. That team is never going to win anything until Westbrook and Durant learn how to get their role players involved and make the game easier for them. Also would help if they were both great defenders, which they're not.
• KB0938

  Eh, hes a star. No different than any other star getting bailed out by foul calls. Like Lebron or Melo or even Wade gets more than his share of weak foul calls.
  Hes a scorer though, hes not gonna be a point forward and get everyone involved, its not his game and doubt it ever will be. He could be a better defender with his length though yeah
• robj55

  

  KB0938;1608933 wrote:Eh, hes a star. No different than any other star getting bailed out by foul calls. Like Lebron or Melo or even Wade gets more than his share of weak foul calls.
  Hes a scorer though, hes not gonna be a point forward and get everyone involved, its not his game and doubt it ever will be. He could be a better defender with his length though yeah

  A lot of people have said he's the most protected superstar in the game, even more so than Jordan was. Not sure if I agree or not but I know Lebron gets to the lane a lot more than Durant does and doesn't get half those calls KD does. Not saying he really has to be a point forward but he has to do more than score, was saying that a few years ago and it's still true really. He is a scorer but if he wants to win a ring he needs to become a better than below average defender and has to make impact plays in ways other than scoring. Just my opinion though.
• robj55

  

  I see your point about the fact that he's more of just a scorer but most of it not all of the greats evolved their game and grew in areas where they needed to in the off season. Can we say that about Durant? Barkley brought up a great point that he's never going to reach that level until he gets an actual post game.
• KB0938

  Eh he may get protected a bit, but I dont know about it being the most protected player in NBA history. James gets protected himself in his own way, he is called for the least amount of fouls I think I have everrr seen for a superstar. (I remember seeing stats about him setting records for minutes played and least amount of fouls called lol).
  
  
  I mean yeah I agree he has to do more, but he does average 6 assists a game this year for a SF who is more times than not a scorer, thats really not too bad in terms of getting teammates involved IMO. But he def needs to step up his defense
• KB0938

  And this better not be a flagrant 2, he hit the ball including his head. Honestly it shoudl just be a damn personal foul
• robj55

  

  KB0938;1608937 wrote:Eh he may get protected a bit, but I dont know about it being the most protected player in NBA history. James gets protected himself in his own way, he is called for the least amount of fouls I think I have everrr seen for a superstar. (I remember seeing stats about him setting records for minutes played and least amount of fouls called lol).
  
  
  I mean yeah I agree he has to do more, but he does average 6 assists a game this year for a SF who is more times than not a scorer, thats really not too bad in terms of getting teammates involved IMO. But he def needs to step up his defense

  I dunnoo I think he's getting a pass, I mean this is what his 7th year in the league, how can you basically be the same player when you are on the cusp of winning it all? The only thing I've seen him improve on is being a bit more aggressive and jacking up more shots to improve his ppg.
• KB0938

  His assists and FG% have pretty much gone up every year since hes joined the league. So even if his shots are going up in terms of attempts per game, its not like hes AI
• robj55

  

  KB0938;1608940 wrote:His assists and FG% have pretty much gone up every year since hes joined the league. So even if his shots are going up in terms of attempts per game, its not like hes AI

  His assists have gone up along with his ball handling duties which go hand in hand, a natural progression. His FG% has basically been the same the last 4 years, it was actually a shade down this year. He could be much more efficient if he didn't jack up so many bad three point shots.
• KB0938

  Yeah, but hes still shooting 50% from the field 40% from 3 and damn near 90% from the line. Those are on par with some of the best shooters in NBA history. Sure not all his shots are the greatest, but as long as hes still shooting a damn good % overall, I think its a non issue. Really all I think he needs to work on is his defense and maybe strength overall
• KB0938

  I mean in comparison to LBJ. He shot better from 3, better from the line, rebounded the ball better, and was within 1 assist per game of him. Im not sure what more you could want him to do aside from defense.
• robj55

  

  KB0938;1608942 wrote:Yeah, but hes still shooting 50% from the field 40% from 3 and damn near 90% from the line. Those are on par with some of the best shooters in NBA history. Sure not all his shots are the greatest, but as long as hes still shooting a damn good % overall, I think its a non issue. Really all I think he needs to work on is his defense and maybe strength overall

  Not questioning that he doesn't shoot a great percentage, he's one of the best shooters this league has ever seen. But when it comes to winning a losing a game, each possession counts, and you have to maximize what you are getting each time down especially in the playoffs. 2 or 3 bad shots and you can lose a game, and be that much closer to going home. That's pretty much what I was getting at when I was talking about evolution of his game, along with the post up game. Him or Westbrook don't seem to value possessions enough in the postseason and it hurts them.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  robj55;1608934 wrote:A lot of people have said he's the most protected superstar in the game, even more so than Jordan was. Not sure if I agree or not but I know Lebron gets to the lane a lot more than Durant does and doesn't get half those calls KD does. Not saying he really has to be a point forward but he has to do more than score, was saying that a few years ago and it's still true really. He is a scorer but if he wants to win a ring he needs to become a better than below average defender and has to make impact plays in ways other than scoring. Just my opinion though.

  I can tell you 100% that D howard, James Harden, Dwade, and Blake Griffin are more "protected" than KD. KD was the best player in the NBA this season IMO. Better than LBj, which might be due to min restrictions etc, but KD did more.
• robj55

  

  Commander of Awesome;1608946 wrote:I can tell you 100% that D howard, James Harden, Dwade, and Blake Griffin are more "protected" than KD.

  I dunno, not with certainty. Harden, Wade and Griffin all get to the basket more than KD does, yet KD gets more calls than anyone. I can't tell you how many games he had with 13 plus free throw attempts this year, he had a shit ton of them. No real way to say who gets more calls but based on the eye test Durant does to me. I mean you can't even breathe on the dude and it's a foul. Maybe it has to do with his slight of frame build? IDK.
• Commander of Awesome

  

  Eh I think Dwade and Blake Griffin are bitch boy players who QQ ever every single call (like Doc Rivers) and that effects their foul calls. I think Harden is just barrels into ppl and have a fake superstar mentaility (like Vince Carter or Tmac) and gets the benefits of the calls. I can't stand to watch Harden player, the guy is a negative player IMO when you combine his pathetic defense tot he equation (I know ppl joke about top 26, but the guy is a joke on defense and wouldn't be in my top 20 for NBA players). Harden would be on my top 20 offensive player and worst defender top 20.
• robj55

  

  Commander of Awesome;1608948 wrote:Eh I think Dwade and Blake Griffin are bitch boy players who QQ ever every single call (like Doc Rivers) and that effects their foul calls. I think Harden is just barrels into ppl and have a fake superstar mentaility (like Vince Carter or Tmac) and gets the benefits of the calls. I can't stand to watch Harden player, the guy is a negative player IMO when you combine his pathetic defense tot he equation (I know ppl joke about top 26, but the guy is a joke on defense and wouldn't be in my top 20 for NBA players). Harden would be on my top 20 offensive player and worst defender top 20.

  Can't argue that Harden doesn't play defense lol But I think every superstar whines when they don't get calls, it's always been that way. Humble and quiet Tim Duncan used to be the worst cry baby ever when it came to the officiating. Every superstar I can ever think of has whined about calls, not really gonna make a negative judgement about them for that. They would all be bitch boys if that were the case lol.
• robj55

  

  GS needs Bogut badly
• KB0938

  Thats a charge
• friendfromlowry

  Speaking of whiny players, let me mention Kendrick Perkins real quick. I always forget about him when we have the "players you cant stand" discussions, but damn he's annoying. He must think he never commits fouls.
• robj55

  

  good lord lol
• KB0938

  Without that BS foul on Green the game is tied