Predict the final records of all the playoff teams

DrTom · 2018-03-09T16:35:56+00:00

Give them the hardest schedule in the league and they're still not losing 7 games. They've won 17 straight, for fuck sake.

DrTom · 2018-03-09T16:32:44+00:00

Knock on wood, but we've been insanely lucky with injuries. We've remained mostly healthy and our opponents have not. I like to think this is karma for enduring the past 40 years.

DrTom · 2018-03-09T16:30:11+00:00

I was in Vancouver recently, which you'd expect to have at least a few Blazer fans. And there might be, but I didn't see them. Definitely saw some Raps gear, though.

DrTom · 2018-03-09T16:26:50+00:00

I don't know how Buford's and Pop's duties break down on the management side, but Pop at least has a big part in that side of things.

DrTom · 2018-03-09T03:59:19+00:00

I get that I'm coming off confrontational (sorry, not intended), but I did use that correctly!

DrTom · 2018-03-09T00:19:52+00:00

Yeah it was only for those 8 pre-season games but that was enough for me to start appreciating NBA refs.

DrTom · 2018-03-09T00:17:36+00:00

Nope! In the NBA. 2009. The lockout ended before the regular season started but the entire pre-season had replacement refs. Link

DrTom · 2018-03-09T00:14:35+00:00

Don't remember the exact year. I wanna say around 2011. Whenever it was, it got sorted out very early in the season. I think maybe only preseason game had the replacement refs.

EDIT: 2009 Replacement refs were used for the entire pre-season.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:47:37+00:00

I remember watching highlights and trying to reconcile them with the reports. I figured the clips were just super selective but he looked plenty athletic to me. Thin, but athletic.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:43:02+00:00

And for me, CJ McCollum! I can't believe he fell to 10 the year after Dame won ROY. Their profile's looked shockingly similar

	Lillard	McCollum
Height	6'2.75"	6'3.25"
Weight	189	197
Wingspan	6'7.75"	6.6.25"
Max vert	39.5	38.5
Age	21	21
Stats	24.5p/5r/4a	23.9p/5r/3.9a
Injuries	left foot fracture	left foot fracture
School	small conference	small conference

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:23:57+00:00

Keep me updated on that. I'm really interested to see where that takes you. We desperately need better defensive statistics. With all the tracking data and play type data cropping up I'm hopeful something can emerge.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:21:41+00:00

Yes, but fixing that one thing doesn’t take him from a poor defender to a good one

But that's not what happened. He's been improving year over year since he was a rookie. It started with effort and now we're seeing improvements in technique. We're just in Portland so no one notices.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:16:33+00:00

60 win pace those last 20 games with Nurk.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:15:25+00:00

I don't know, man. I don't think there's enough time for us to catch GSW.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:13:38+00:00

But dying on screens was by far his biggest defensive shortcoming. His team D, effort, and on ball defense has never been a major issue. Dramatically improving that one thing makes all the difference.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:12:31+00:00

Well, I'll give you credit where credit is due. You did guess what I was going to say. lol. If you really believe that, then you have no in fact watched many Blazer games. Lillard is obviously improved, especially on pick and roll defense.

DRPM is extremely unreliable as a defensive metric. Is DeAndre the 19th best defensive center? Is Marc Gasol the 26th best? Is Robin Lopez the 52nd best? Is Irving the 78th best PG defender? Is Klay really the 40th best SG defender, one spot behind Jason Terry?

DrTom · 2018-03-08T21:01:44+00:00

It's not a popular opinion on /r/nba but I don't think the refs do a bad job. I remember during the ref lockout a few years back seeing the difference between the replacements and what we have now, and I've been a lot more understanding since then. It's a hard job and with 2 minute reports, increased exposure, and fans' ability to record and dissect game footage they're coming under increased scrutiny. The actual calls haven't been worse, though. At least not in my opinion. Why would they? That said, I'd still like to see them improve, but I think it's good to see a humanizing video like this, too. They're not monsters. They're just people doing their job.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T20:43:49+00:00

Defense can't be overstated. He's been amazing this year. Going from far below average his rookie year, to barely below average last year, to considerably above average this year. And in the process leading us to a probable 50 win season and potential home court advantage in the first round.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T18:54:51+00:00

I'm glad /u/2for1hoops tagged this post from 2for1hoops.com as [2for1]. How else would I have known this content was, in fact, from 2for1hoops.com? 2for1 2for1 2for1?

DrTom · 2018-03-08T18:24:20+00:00

I would say definitely the former based on "I would say him and I have learned more about each other since I left that would’ve helped us when I was there".

DrTom · 2018-03-08T17:54:32+00:00

Yeah I agree in general, but most people attach significance to the round numbers. 50-40-90, a 30 point season, a triple double, etc.

The difference is that 50/40/90 is an a priori standard whereas here you're creating the standard to fit your conclusion. It's an important difference.

But again, KAT is amazing and he's incredibly unique offensive talent. I just think his merits stand on their own. You could easily argue that he's the most complete and unique big big man on the offensive end without doing this sort of thing.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T17:40:33+00:00

His numbers are amazing but I'm not a fan of searching for arbitrary thresholds. Drazen Petrovic averaged 52/45/87. Kiki Vandeweghe averaged 52/48/89. And I just pulled those two out of the air because they were Blazers. I'm sure there are plenty of others who hover around that threshold, too.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T17:11:16+00:00

And top four in both conferences are on a 51 game win streak.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T16:41:42+00:00

This sub always does that. It's annoying. Those are exactly the sort of deals you need to make. Yes, there are risks, but your MVP is peaking. It's the time to take those risks for a chance at a ring. Like you said, I do those moves 11 times out of 10.

DrTom · 2018-03-08T16:38:16+00:00

Well, yeah, but it didn't help that Jrue missed 40% of his games on average the four years after that season. And only played 31 MPG when he did get on the court. And remember, as a 22 year old he put up 18/4/8 on the slowest paced team in the league. You're going to tell me that injury free he wouldn't compete for a place among the top 5 PGs at his peak?

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