2015-16 NBA Regular Season

[Billie]

With the biggest upset of the year the Lakers reminded us not to crown GS with the record just yet. Pretty shocking. I still say they have a very good chance of breaking it but that was a bad one to drop.

I didn't know what you meant so I went online to find out the big upset from yesterday. So they have 6 losses so far. Of all teams Lakers were the least likely to upset them, but we are proven again that anything can happen on any given day. They have about 20 or so games till the end of the regular season, could happen but it is not a given. But chasing any record brings more attention of that sport to me.

 

[britbox]

Lakers just beat Orlando... 2 wins on the spin. The streak starts here...

 

[brokenshoelace]

I'm not totally on board with Cali on the Chris Paul hate, but I do think the fact that he hasn't been past the second round of the playoffs in his whole career should count against him. I think he's a great player and I definitely think higher of him than Cali does, but Paul is a bit of a choke artist (and a complete bitch but that's besides the point). He knows how to run an offense and he's a great traditional point guard. However, I don't agree one bit with choosing him on a team over Westbrook, and the OKC Thunder are my favorite team so Westbrook has driven me mad on numerous occasions. That said, if I want to win games, I'd take Westbrook any day. Yes, his decision making can be maddening but he also has a much higher ceiling and has simply performed better than Paul on average, especially when it counts the most.

Russ is awful in the fourth quarter (like really terrible for the most part), but he dominates the majority of games in ways Paul wouldn't even dream. He's by far the best rebounding guard in the NBA and for all the talk of Paul being a floor general, Westbrook is averaging significantly more assists.

Oh, and for as great as Paul is, his defense is extremely overrated.

 

[DarthFed]

It's oftentimes tough to compare players in team sports especially when we are talking two point guards who play a completely different style. I also wouldn't call .7 assists "a significant amount more" and this is the first year Russ has averaged over 9 assists. Paul has always been a more efficient scorer on top of it, he is not the type to take 30 shots a game to score 40 points. Russ is still something of a volume shooter and that's despite having an incredibly efficient and dominant offensive player in Durant. I'm not talking just talent or ceiling here but who consistently makes their team better by a higher margin? It's debatable for sure.

Paul's biggest choke was the OKC series in game 5, no denying that. But what does his career look like if he's playing alongside Kevin Durant who we both agree is the best player on that team. And do you think Russ would be making deep runs if he switched teams with Paul?

 

[brokenshoelace]

It's oftentimes tough to compare players in team sports especially when we are talking two point guards who play a completely different style. I also wouldn't call .7 assists "a significant amount more" and this is the first year Russ has averaged over 9 assists. Paul has always been a more efficient scorer on top of it, he is not the type to take 30 shots a game to score 40 points. Russ is still something of a volume shooter and that's despite having an incredibly efficient and dominant offensive player in Durant. I'm not talking just talent or ceiling here but who consistently makes their team better by a higher margin? It's debatable for sure.

Paul's biggest choke was the OKC series in game 5, no denying that. But what does his career look like if he's playing alongside Kevin Durant who we both agree is the best player on that team. And do you think Russ would be making deep runs if he switched teams with Paul?

Paul might compliment Durant's game a little better in the half court. I don't deny he's a better floor general than Russ. But I do think Westbrook is the better player, and probably capable of carrying a team further when he's at his best as like I said, I think his ceiling is much higher.

Yeah, I do think Russ benefited from playing with Durant as far as playoff runs go (he couldn't carry OKC to the playoffs last year although in fairness he would have easily done that if he didn't miss 10+ games at the beginning of the year himself). My thing with Russ vs. Paul as far as who makes the team better (without comparing their individual skill sets as I don't think that's how basketball works) boils down to this: If I'm playing an elite team in a playoff series, I would probably prefer to have Westbrook on my team.

 

[DarthFed]

^ All depends on the circumstances. If you're talking a team that's badly overmatched and needs someone who could drop 40+ a bunch of times then yes.

Anyways it is a close call and Westbrook has come a long ways. When he first got in the league he was too out of control and just mostly a freak athlete. He has become a tremendous player obviously. Will be interesting to see if OKC can keep both him and Durant. They are just unlucky this year to be up against 2 beastly teams in GS and SA but maybe they have some hope vs. San Antonio in the 2nd round series.

 

[kskate2]

Darn... Raps got really close to beating the GSW today. Close ain't enough though...

Nope. It's not. Celts had a really good chance last night, but let it get to OT and that's all she wrote. But the lowly Bucks take down the champs and end the Warriors 24-0 streak. :clap

Celts finally get it done against the Dubs. They go into Oracle and hand GSW their first home loss since Jan 2015. :clap

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

^ Just like tennis, match-ups matter in the NBA too, no? Some teams play certain other teams hard, always...Good job from the Celts.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Like a moron, I missed the NCAA final game and apparently it was one for the ages...

 

[kskate2]

It was. A buzzer beater too. How cool is that? :clap Maybe you can catch it on youtube

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

It was. A buzzer beater too. How cool is that? :clap Maybe you can catch it on youtube

I watched the last minute and a half. Paige's 3 was a poster moment. Usually you see the dunkers on posters but that 3 was athletic. And then the buzzer beater...MJ was in tears...again.

 

[britbox]

So the Warriors tie the Bulls 72 win record... Is there one regular season game left against the Grizzlies?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Yeah I think the Warriors should beat the Grizzlies and break the record. They've been phenomenal this season. The Spurs are looked at as the team with the most chance to stop them but they can't keep up with them offensively. Yes, they defend them better than any other team in the league but if the Warriors heat up and make a run the Spurs just can't come back in the game.

OKC have the talent, fire power and athleticism to stay with the Warriors but lack the defensive discipline and the coaching of the Spurs. It's almost like you need to combine the two teams to stop GSW.

 

[calitennis127]

If anything CP3 is underrated. At worst he is the 3rd best PG and that's the lowest he'd be ranked in a long time. And while Westbrook is the better individual player at this point but I'd take Paul on my team all day over him. Check their record without Griffin this year. He is one of those players that wherever he goes the team will be good. The knock against him and it is a fair one is that he has had some really bad moments in the playoffs. The collapse vs. Houston last year wasn't his fault but he badly choked away the pivotal game 5 vs. OKC the year before.

OKC has the 2nd best chance in the NBA vs. Golden State in the playoffs...and barring injuries it is not a good one. The main edge is that OKC is about the only team Golden State would face that would have 2 of the 3 best players in the series.

Twisted, please give me one basketball reason for why Chris Paul is "at worst the 3rd best PG in the NBA". Please make reference to athleticism or skill.

 

[calitennis127]

I'm not totally on board with Cali on the Chris Paul hate, but I do think the fact that he hasn't been past the second round of the playoffs in his whole career should count against him. I think he's a great player and I definitely think higher of him than Cali does, but Paul is a bit of a choke artist (and a complete bitch but that's besides the point). He knows how to run an offense and he's a great traditional point guard. However, I don't agree one bit with choosing him on a team over Westbrook, and the OKC Thunder are my favorite team so Westbrook has driven me mad on numerous occasions. That said, if I want to win games, I'd take Westbrook any day. Yes, his decision making can be maddening but he also has a much higher ceiling and has simply performed better than Paul on average, especially when it counts the most.

Russ is awful in the fourth quarter (like really terrible for the most part), but he dominates the majority of games in ways Paul wouldn't even dream. He's by far the best rebounding guard in the NBA and for all the talk of Paul being a floor general, Westbrook is averaging significantly more assists.

Oh, and for as great as Paul is, his defense is extremely overrated.

You forgot to mention a discrepancy in athleticism that is massive. Westbrook is one of the best athletes in the history of the NBA and can physically take over games. Paul isn't even in the top half of NBA point guards when it comes to athleticism.

 

[calitennis127]

It's oftentimes tough to compare players in team sports especially when we are talking two point guards who play a completely different style. I also wouldn't call .7 assists "a significant amount more" and this is the first year Russ has averaged over 9 assists. Paul has always been a more efficient scorer on top of it, he is not the type to take 30 shots a game to score 40 points. Russ is still something of a volume shooter and that's despite having an incredibly efficient and dominant offensive player in Durant. I'm not talking just talent or ceiling here but who consistently makes their team better by a higher margin? It's debatable for sure.

Paul's biggest choke was the OKC series in game 5, no denying that. But what does his career look like if he's playing alongside Kevin Durant who we both agree is the best player on that team. And do you think Russ would be making deep runs if he switched teams with Paul?

Paul takes less shots than Westbrook because he can't get them as easily as Westbrook. Your point is like the argument that I have heard over the years about JR Smith, that he "jacks up threes". My response to that is what Jeff Van Gundy said as he was commenting on the game two seasons ago where JR took 22 threes against the Heat: "I don't think people realize how hard it is to just take 22 threes in an NBA game." Van Gundy was absolutely correct. Likewise, for Westbrook to play with the motor that he does and get anywhere on the floor to have realistic shot attempts is remarkable. Comparing the number of shot attempts he has to Paul's numbers is comparing apples and oranges.

I don't think Paul would have ever reached the NBA Finals with Durant. The Thunder got to the NBA Finals on the back of the scoring power of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden as a trio. Paul would not have fit that blend as well as Westbrook did.

 

[calitennis127]

So the Warriors tie the Bulls 72 win record... Is there one regular season game left against the Grizzlies?

Sad day for the NBA, Britbox. This Warriors team is balanced and has some strengths, but they shouldn't be winning 70+ games. That owes to the ineptitude of the rest of the league.

 

[DarthFed]

Twisted, please give me one basketball reason for why Chris Paul is "at worst the 3rd best PG in the NBA". Please make reference to athleticism or skill.

Passing, ball handling, assist/turnover ratio, defense and efficiency. Your view of bball is so narrow its not even funny. Everyone would take Curry, many and perhaps most would take Westbrook, and then if age is left out there is no way anyone in the know would take another point guard over Paul.

Apparently basketball is just a running and jumping contest and extra points are handed out for taking difficult shots and making them at a low %. That's why it was easy to tell you loved Ricky Davis...RICKY DAVIS

 

[DarthFed]

Paul takes less shots than Westbrook because he can't get them as easily as Westbrook. Your point is like the argument that I have heard over the years about JR Smith, that he "jacks up threes". My response to that is what Jeff Van Gundy said as he was commenting on the game two seasons ago where JR took 22 threes against the Heat: "I don't think people realize how hard it is to just take 22 threes in an NBA game." Van Gundy was absolutely correct. Likewise, for Westbrook to play with the motor that he does and get anywhere on the floor to have realistic shot attempts is remarkable. Comparing the number of shot attempts he has to Paul's numbers is comparing apples and oranges.

I don't think Paul would have ever reached the NBA Finals with Durant. The Thunder got to the NBA Finals on the back of the scoring power of Durant, Westbrook, and Harden as a trio. Paul would not have fit that blend as well as Westbrook did.

Paul takes less shots than Westbrook because he is a true point guard. Paul would do just fine if he took over 20 shots per game but on average he isn't going to do that. And I'm not dogging Westbrook here, he should be taking a lot of shots because aside from Durant there are not many good options on the Thunder. The Clips have many more scorers for Paul even though none are in the same universe as KD.

I disagree in regards to Paul not making the finals with that team back then. Westbrook was not really a great player yet when OKC made the finals, that was mostly about Durant and it was a surprise they beat San Antonio that year in the playoffs.

 

[DarthFed]

So the Warriors tie the Bulls 72 win record... Is there one regular season game left against the Grizzlies?

It's in the bag now. Warriors had a rough stretch that put the record in doubt but they are going to be 73-9. The Bulls record lasted 20 years which is a fairly long time but I figured we wouldn't see that mark get broken anytime soon. To win over 8 out of 9 games in the course of a grueling 82 game season is absurd.

With that said they still have to follow it up with an NBA title. No one thinks about the 16-0 Patriots incredible regular season, they remember their only loss in the Super Bowl.