2014-2015 Random NBA Thread
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Commander of Awesome
Do you have anything to add or rebut what I brought up about his FG% or his FT% against good defensive teams (IE ones that don't foul a ton. Not to mention your advanced stats about his increased win shares mostly deriving from him getting to the charity stripe, while playing awful team basketball) or you just going to continue to say I'm 5, and ***** for not willing to drop $50 on a bet with a fool with ever changing rules?lhslep134;1717966 wrote:You being too scared to throw $50, let alone $20, isn't my problem. "Put your avatar where your mouth is." LOL how old are you, 13? Don't answer, it's rhetorical. The Tina Fey picture already gave it away.
Why don't you put on your big boy pants and put your money where your mouth is? Avatar bet? Get out of here with your childish bets. The only real bets are those with cash, because men put their money where their mouth is instead of hiding behind their avatar like boys.
When you want to bet like a man, let me know. Otherwise I'm not indulging you on your juvenile bet.
I'll make friendly bets on avatars. There's nothing friendly about this conversation, it's adversarial. Put the f*ck up or shut the f*ck up and if you continue to harp on an avatar bet I'll know you can't be taken seriously.
Nothing? Must be why you keep ignoring it. -
Azubuike24
He did pay his $40 entry fee right away. -
Commander of Awesome
Well, not like he has to spend it on his dates in solon.Azubuike24;1717996 wrote:He did pay his $40 entry fee right away. -
lhslep134
I already addressed those concerns. His FG% isn't as important when he has almost 200 more free throw attempts than the next closest player. For the 200th and hopefully last time, 2 free throws are the most valuable possession in the league and you cherry picking his FT numbers against a few teams is a lot less relevant than a full season worth of MVP-quality numbers. Every knowledgeable NBA analyst knows this, and that's why he's 1 or 2 on most expert MVP ballots.Commander of Awesome;1717994 wrote:Do you have anything to add or rebut what I brought up about his FG% or his FT% against good defensive teams (IE ones that don't foul a ton. Not to mention your advanced stats about his increased win shares mostly deriving from him getting to the charity stripe, while playing awful team basketball)
You have yet to provide a good argument that I can't take down incredibly easily:
FG% down--FG's less valuable than FT's
FT% down in a couple games--wow big deal. Great point there! Completely disregard the rest of the entire season!
won't win the the playoffs--completely irrelevant to the MVP discussion
chucker who draws fouls--free throws are the most valuable possession. This is expressed in him leading in Win Shares, both offensive and overall, and Value over replacement, a stat you still haven't rebutted. -
Azubuike24
Would ANY team LeBron played on, regardless of his supporting cast, be a shocker to win the East in its current state? Not really. It speaks more about how good the conference is and less about how impactful a single player can be.
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gport_tennisJames Harden has still gotten to the line quite a bit in the playoffs, 11 per playoff game in his 1st rockets season compared to 9.6 per reg season game.
8.3 per playoff game last year compared to 9.1 in regular season. -
lhslep134
So are you going to continue to act like a little boy and bring up Solon, me being fat, or anything else from 6 years ago? Or are you going to take the bet?
$50, 50 points within Steph. Take it, leave it, whatever you want just grow up you clown. -
lhslep134
I've already had Azu and Terry vouch for me, and you've got sleeper. Crack team you got there chief.
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lhslep134
That had to do with you not liking the way he plays. COA shares the same opinion as you but he asserted Harden's lack of value not you. Did not mean to imply you didn't value him.SportsAndLady;1717988 wrote:I don't know why I am included in that lol all I said is I hate how he plays the game -
Commander of Awesome
I'm leaving that, as I've said before. My bet is avatar, 25 points. You said Harden would be a CLOSE 2nd. I've found a few MVP races in the NBA that we within 30 pts over the past 2 decades, IE close. I dont think Haredn is within 30 pts of MVP points at end of season (spotting you an additional 5 pts). Bet is avatar for 1st round of playoffs. Either sack up and take it, or dont. But stop bringing up money, not betting money tubbs.lhslep134;1718004 wrote:
$50, 50 points within Steph. Take it, leave it, whatever you want just grow up you clown. -
SportsAndLady
His actual style of play is fine. It's how he acts like such a bitch on the court. That little scruffle he got in with Lebron was enough for me. But then every time I turn on the tv he's bitching at a player and gets ratty calls from the refs because he bitches at them so much. Pisses me off lollhslep134;1718006 wrote:That had to do with you not liking the way he plays. COA shares the same opinion as you but he asserted Harden's lack of value not you. Did not mean to imply you didn't value him. -
Commander of Awesome
Same, the giffin/Dwade/KG type player. Good player for sure, but not MVP material.SportsAndLady;1718008 wrote:His actual style of play is fine. It's how he acts like such a bitch on the court. That little scruffle he got in with Lebron was enough for me. But then every time I turn on the tv he's bitching at a player and gets ratty calls from the refs because he bitches at them so much. Pisses me off lol
This bitch is MVP? LOL
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Automatik
You're not allowed to say "sack up" to a meaningless avatar bet when money is already on the table. :laugh:
$50 is a drop in the bucket, being that we're all ballers on the OC. Ammirite?
Fwiw, I don't think it will be close. Curry is running away with it. -
gport_tennisGarnett finished 2nd & 3rd in MVP voting, wade finished 3rd, Blake griffin finished 3rd...I'd say in their peaks they were all MVP candidates. Only griffin would be an MVP candidate out of that group now
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gport_tennisHe def should have been thrown out of the game when he kicked bron
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Commander of Awesome
KG was MVP in 2004, and also got his team out of the 1st round. Still a fake tough guy.
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Mulva
Urite.Automatik;1718012 wrote:$50 is a drop in the bucket, being that we're all ballers on the OC. Ammirite? -
lhslep134
You're one who won't sack up. See below post. You telling me to is hilarious on so many levelsCommander of Awesome;1718007 wrote: Either sack up
Automatik;1718012 wrote:You're not allowed to say "sack up" to a meaningless avatar bet when money is already on the table. :laugh:
Do you always ignore facts when they're staring at you in the face? It seems to be a current trend on this thread. By all means, keep bringing up something from 6 years ago that's not even true. It only gives more validity to your argument!!Commander of Awesome;1718007 wrote: tubbs.
Terry_Tate;1717984 wrote:Holy crap this has gotten intense, haha. I will vouch for lhslep that he's not even close to being fat. -
lhslep134
I'ma be childish and stoop down to COA's level for a second and say his arguing skills on this thread are like
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Ironman92
Good postCommander of Awesome;1717763 wrote:Its a skill that doesn't translate to the post season (least for Harden & Rockets).
This is what appeared to happen last postseason, when the Rockets suffered a first-round loss to the Blazers in six games. Portland scored 670 points in that series and the Rockets scored 672. Houston’s 2013-14 regular-season free throw rate[SUP]1[/SUP] was .386, which dropped to .325 against Portland. That equaled about one fewer free throw attempt per game. So, the Rockets are screwed.
Most playoff teams saw their free throw rate increase last postseason, with only the Rockets, Clippers, and Mavericks seeing their free throw rate drop. Dallas’s free throw rate dropped from .253 in the regular season to .217 in the playoffs. BUT! The Mavericks played the Spurs, who are experts at defending without fouling, and who were tied with the Charlotte for the fewest personal fouls per game in the regular season. Similarly, the Blazers only gave out 19.2 fouls per game during the 2013-14 season, sixth-lowest in the league.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/rockets-cavaliers-james-harden-lebron-james/
Be interesting to see if that changes this post season (I doubt it, see below). Still don't think the Rockets win a 1st round match up, but that's a different conversation.
"
The good news for Harden is that it appears the Rockets will avoid the Blazers in the first round this season. The bad news is that (other than foul-happy Houston) only two likely West playoff teams foul at a rate higher than the average: Golden State and the Clippers. The Blazers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Mavericks and Thunder all foul at fairly low rates. Houston will likely face one or two of those teams within the first two rounds. There's a chance all three series in the West would come against low-foul teams, if Houston proceeds that far. And as it turns out, if the Rockets make the Finals, one of the teams that currently rank Nos. 1 and 3 in foul rate (Cleveland and Atlanta) are likely to be waiting.
That's one outside force that will change for the worse for Harden in the playoffs. The other -- officials -- are a concern all the time. After all, the low-foul Grizzlies did foul Harden on Wednesday night. No dice. Why? There's a common belief that referees are less likely to blow a whistle in an uncertain moment in the most critical moments of the game because referees not named Joey Crawford would prefer not to be responsible for the result of said critical moments. Referees are encouraged by our outrage-happy sports society to be mostly invisible and let the stars determine who wins and who loses. Blowing the whistle in a crucial moment is filled with peril. So understandably, many officials fail to do so reliably.
That meant trouble for Harden on Wednesday. And because they rely so heavily on the stripe, this is a bigger problem for Harden and Houston than any other team with O'Brien aspirations. Let's hope for the sake of fair basketball Wednesday's miscue doesn't repeat itself in the playoffs. But we'd be foolish not to anticipate it."
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/3/5/8153551/james-harden-no-call-whistle-rockets-grizzlies-nba-playoffs
Seems like Harden gets to the line playing shitty teams in the shitty reffing of the reg season. Playoffs will tell. Regardless, not MVP material. -
lhslep134
And with that, I'm done with COA on this topic. You may resume random NBA chatter and anyone else besides COA who wants to discuss Harden go right ahead, I welcome the friendly debate.
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lhslep134
It is a good post and it shows why the Rockets are susceptible in the playoffs. But it also has nothing to do with my point, that getting to the line is a skill that James Harden is prodigious at, and it carries real regular season value as expressed in all of the metrics he is at or near the top of. And the regular season dictates MVP, not the playoffs.Ironman92;1718027 wrote:Good post
So yes, if James Harden doesn't get the same calls during the postseason the Rockets will have to make heavy adjustments. But at the same time, it's completely irrelevant to the MVP discussion. If you disagree, can you explain why you think the playoffs are relevant to the MVP race? -
Ironman92
I'm not part of the debate. I haven't been on here since halftime last night. I finished the game just now on DVR then came on here to read......I read his post and liked it because I was going too mention playoff teams will play better defense and keep him from the line a bit.....but his post took care of all that. I "liked" his post and then went back and read a decent portion of the debate.lhslep134;1718030 wrote:It is a good post and it shows why the Rockets are susceptible in the playoffs. But it also has nothing to do with my point, that getting to the line is a skill that James Harden is prodigious at, and it carries real regular season value as expressed in all of the metrics he is at or near the top of. And the regular season dictates MVP, not the playoffs.
I don't think the gap will be too big as LeBron and RW will take some of Curry's votes. -
Laley23
I have a question. Why is 25 (or 30) considered to be the barrier for a close race? What have there been, 2 total that have ended up under 30 points? Are we now saying only 2 races ever have been that close? -
lhslep134
COA is. I'm saying 50 points is more than reasonable as a definition of "close" given the parameters of the voting. Seems like you would agree.Laley23;1718036 wrote:I have a question. Why is 25 (or 30) considered to be the barrier for a close race? What have there been, 2 total that have ended up under 30 points? Are we now saying only 2 races ever have been that close?