₦airaland Forum

Blueelf:
He does nothing special. I have asked you if he is averaging up to 9 assists sef. You came with story.

Baba does nothing special....nothing at all

Baba does nothing special, but people who are paid millions to both construct basketball teams and also critique basketball teams, non of them have ever said Draymond is overpaid or should be traded expect for you.

Blueelf:
You really do have comprehension issues. I knew it. You may even be typing with the help of a translator..who knows?

I said, make Poole focus of offense and get a legit big man defender. If possible trade looney and green for a big like the 7ft guy in Utah....if the jazz would agree that is

Poole is a more efficient scorer and plays his heart out every game because he has a lot to prove. Steph and green has won it all and play like they are being forced to..especially Steph. Which serious player runs a podcast during a playoffs series ? Not a serious player for sure

Poole is an efficient scorer when nobody is specifically game planning to stop him. Watch him when Steph and Green were out....OH we have already seen him without Steph and Green, during the same final 20 games you keep insisting that GSW were atrocious.
So your genius plan is to pair Poole with Gorbert, a more limited offensive and defensive player than the Draymond Green you are insisting on shipping.
Keep to what you know baba, because constructing a basketball team is not one of them

Blueelf:
There's nothing Draymond does offensively that no other person in the league does. There's nothing special in what he does. You're acting like he's averaging ten assists per game. Is he?

The dude doesn't even average double figures in points. So what is he doing?

Abeg make we hear word. At least stats don't lie

This just shows your level of basketball understanding. Draymond does not have assists because he is the guy that plays the pass before the assist pass. It's like saying Modric does not have huge assists numbers so he is not a good midfielder.
GSW offense is one that needs an initial initiator and is predicated on continuous ball movement with players knowing where to be based, on where the ball currently is.
You say what does Draymond do, I say watch how many times in a game he is pointing where one of the others is supposed to stand or, where the pass is supposed to go, or when he is pushing his own players away from where they are, because that is where Steph is supposed to relocate to. Draymond has the highest basket IQ on the team and it's not even an argument, so please know what he does before you start saying he does nothing.

Blueelf:
Yes I would do so

Because e have a Payton and Jordan Poole who arguably has been our best player in the playoffs

That's the bold step I would take. You saw me say - take the bold step right unless you have comprehension issues

Besides Curry has been playing very badly since before the all star break. Right now curry is only a threat from three and even that is slowly fading. Many players shot better than him from beyond the arc this season. This is the beginning of the end for Steph curry.

As for Draymond, man doesn't bring anything to the table - either offense or defense. How can you expect a 6'6 dude to guard Adams...no matter how stubborn Draymond is, he can't do anything against a human freight train like Adams.

I would focus on my young talents like Wiseman, kuminga et al. even if it means missing the playoffs next season. I like to think long term

A logical argument would have been to attach a contract to Wiseman and get back bodies that can actually help right now. Not trade a top 5 player and a top 3 defender. You saying Payton and Poole are the best players shows either how little basketball you watch or if you do watch them how much you don't understand.
Payton plays well on defense and in transition because he does not have to carry the offensive load, Poole is balling because defenses are not schemed to stop him and so he always has maybe the 2nd or 3rd best wing defender on him without any help at all.
Make Poole the focus of the defense and watch him crumble immediately, dude has never faced a trap defense and you are already anointing him as the not just the heir to Steph but also the reason for trading him. Baba you too funny

Blueelf:
You can't argue with what I said

Steph is a defensive liability yes or no?

Draymond is an offensive liability yes or no?

Klay plays both sides of the floor well yes or no?

Steph is just stat padding these days and doesn't really care if the team wins or losses yes or no?

Rodman was a offensive liability too, Dirk was a defensive liability. I will be tactful and just assume you don't watch the games you only just look at boxscores. Klay who has been missing defensive assignments like Harden and bricking shots like Westbrook is the person who is playing both side of the ball, baba abeg watch games not boxscores.

Blueelf:
Thank you for pointing this out

Exactly what I have been trying to imply

How the Bleep did we think we could get through without a traditional centre

Draymond is 6'6 at best. He isn't a traditional centre. I don't even though what that dude brings to the team apart from unnecessary shouts and triple singles.

Draymond needs to leave. And we trade him for a traditional big man abeg

The last 20 games of the season you keep hammering is a perfect snap shot of what Draymond does for GSW.
Dude is a top 3 defender in the league and practically runs the offense. Asking what Draymond does is like asking what did Rodman, Ben Wallace, Bruce Bowen all do in their playing days.

benji93:
You know it's a good thing you don't occupy any management role at GSW.

Assin, I just keep seeing blasphemy all over this thread. So they lost by 39 pts, so what is just 1 game. Stan van gundy always said that every playoff loss counts as 1, it does not matter whether you lose by 50 or by 1, both counts as one loss.

Blueelf:
GSW front office needs to take the bold step and trade either Steph or Draymond and leave Klay Thompson.

Steph is a defensive liability who is no longer a 3pt threat. These days, he's just an inefficient volume shooter

Draymond is an offensive liability who is punching way above his weight by playing centre.

Either of one of them should be traded asap

So your idea is to trade the best player, and the best facilitator and defender from the team and leave the 30+ year old wing player, who not only just missed nearly 3 years of basketball, but we are also not sure he can get back to his pre-injury form. Your GM skills need a lot of work

donlittle25:
Lmao my cousin just called me to inform me and i came here to make sure it’s true. What in the world

This game is weird, things like this happen in the regular season but seldomly happen during the playoffs. The Grizzlies have 7 players in double digits with over 8 minutes to go in the 4th. Just weird

birdman:
Can someone explain the x/os of the celtic loss. That was a gutsy comeback by Bucks. I feel like Celtics folded mentally

Just rewatched the last 3 minutes on youtube and IMHO based on the final sequences, the loss was not on any failure pertaining to XnOs. The loss boils down to effort by Bobby on the put back, timely shots by Jrue and Giannis on those 2 late 3s and finally incredible defense by Jrue to get the block and the presence of mind to throw it at Smart and keep it Bucks ball.
So the loss boils down to the Bucks 2 big shots making plays on both ends and Bobby getting an incredible offensive board plus the basket to give them a 1 point lead.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st3PF3Wx6vg

Kilishihunter:
Holiday steal, Just wonderful

Holiday is a defensive savant jeeezzzz.

etidy:
As in, efficiency na modern day concept. If you go back 14-20 years people no send efficiency.
The Hallmark of a superstar wing player was spamming difficult long twos often in traffic. Only Jordan was able to do this efficiently.

It would surprise many that kobe never shot above 50% in the course of any playoff run

Assin, the standards guys these days are judged by in comparison to the OGs is just ridiculous. For example Tatum has never had a FG% less than 45%, but the knock on him before this season was that he takes bad shots. And I am not saying that Tatum is better than any of Kobe, Tmac or AI, but if anyone of them played now they will be ridiculed for being inefficient.

PS: MJ, was just different, his level of efficiency is just mind blowing. Even in terms of advance metrics baba is still a boss even though it was not something that was around during his time

steady986:
This though. Man once averaged 38% for the entire season He could score 40 but would need 35 shots to do so. But hey, he was box office.

It's just the cold hard truth, AI, Kobe and Tmac were big time spammers of hard and inefficient shots. That does not take away an iota of their greatness IMHO. But I can recall games I watched where just kept shooting and missing and they still kept on shooting . You will just be wondering Oga una no dey pass at all

Bertans is showing why he got the bag. Dude is a snipper

A40:
His first shot was an airball. I've been following Dillon Brooks since the bubble pandemic season. That 24 on his shirt makes him think he's Kobe. He has the worst shot selection in the entire league and I'm not exaggerating.

Whatever they think he offers in defense he will easily offset with his rubbish shot selection. To make the next step he's the first guy Memphis has to trade just like GSW moved Monta and Monta was nowhere as bad as this dude

Agree with this, he either needs to do what Tatum did this year which is improve on his shot selection which led to a huge increase in his shooting percentage or he does a Kobe and starts hitting those bad shots at a very good percentage. If he doesn't do any of the above, he needs to be shipped out while he has trade value

BlueMann:
Embiid playing like he don't wanna be out there tonight. Na the MVP thing dey pain am?

The Dude got hit in the face in the 1st quarter.

etidy:
I totally disagree with this take on Trae young.
He's literally one of the best passers in the league. He may not be the most efficient shooter but efficiency is even a modern concert.
I grew up watching kobe, tracy McGrady, allen Iverson and Co spamming difficult shots to get 30 points for 40-45% shooting and it use to be praised as an awesome game.

The fact that trae had one bad series against an elite defense in a heavy lopsided series doesn't mean Trae should get this disrespect.

It's not like he just took his team to the conference finals despite an inferior squad while having multiple elite games.

Thank you very much for this, my opinion is what is the difference between going 3-13 from 3 and 5-14 from long 2s and jump shots.
The Lakers lost the finals against the Pistons because Kobe got locked up in at least 3 games by just one guy in Prince, and he spent the whole time spamming difficult shot after difficult shot. His shooting percentage was so bad in those games that the Lakers couldn't win against an opponent known for their low scoring games.
Did anyone all of a sudden call Kobe a G-League player? NO.
I love AI and will always ride with him cause he was not only box office but he had heart, but lets not pretend as if he does not have one of the worst true shooting percentages in basketball history, but you know what, nobody called him a G-League player on the nights his shots were not falling.
Kobe walked into the league with a Prime Shaq as a teammate and it still took him 4 good years to win a chip. But somehow we expect today's players with a bunch of role players to do it in the same time or less.

A40:
Their only reliable option offensively has been Butler. Saw Spoelstra try to put Tucker on Embiid and that was so amusing.

Game 5 would be pivotal for the Heat. Role players like Strus and Vincent have done nothing thus far. If the Heat don't find a way to slow down Embiid early he opens up the game for everyone else. Maxey, Harris, Harden. Then they would be coming back to Philly avoiding elimination and I don't believe even Doc would bottle such an advantage

I also saw that Tucker switch, it was amusing . IMHO they have no option but to double everytime he is in or around the paint and if Green and co keep hitting shots the Heat are in trouble

Roland17:
Come on man! Dude is experiencing swelling and soreness to his left knee which was surgically repaired in March.

The speed at which athletes sometimes comes back from surgeries surprises me. Wish him a quick recovery.

A40:
When we say this era of players spam 3's. What we mean is the league today is filled with guys that would rather consistently shoot 1/10 than develop a reliable midrange 12-18 footer that you can fall back on in playoffs setting

There's really no variety in today's game when it comes to shot making and shot selection.

We were talking about Trae Young the other day and I remember telling y'all this guy just spams 3's. Once his 3's don't fall he would look like a G-League caliber player with embarrassing numbers.

The gag is I don't even believe this era overall has better shooters. It's just that they take so many 3's it looks that way. I always like to use Marc Gasol as an example

Marc Gasol at 31 went from 0 3's per game most of his career to 4 3's at 32.

So you somehow know more basketball than the likes of Kareem, Isiah Thomas, Bird who say the players now are better shooters than they ever were.
As for 12-18fts there was never a time in nba history where those were efficient shots for role players. Why take a shot that you shoot at 40% for a 2 when you can take another where you shoot 35% for a 3. Name me one Star player that does not take 12-18fts, heck even Giannis with his limitations attempts them.

PS: As for Trae looking like a Gleague player when his shoots are not falling, that is the same for every PG who has ever played who is not only undersized but also a poor defender. If his shoots are not falling, all he has is his playmaking and that is not enough to be the number 1 option of a team. This is one of the main reasons why GMs always prefer to draft the bigger and athletic guy because even if they are poor defenders, the combination of size and effort on the defensive end can negate that weakness. But a guy like Trae even effort does nothing for him, so when his shots are not falling, he looks average.

A40:
Maybe we overrated the Heat a bit. Their scoring core is basically Herro and Butler. Bam needs someone to get him shots. Oladipo is hit and miss. With Embiid back all bets are off. Won't be shocked at all if Philly pull the comeback provided Embiid remains healthy

IMHO, the 6ers are just a bad match-up for them. They hang their hats on defense but have no one that can guard Embiid 1v1. Also Their second option on offense i.e Herro, can be targeted on the other end. Finally Lowry does not look fit at all, I know he is out there playing but he just is not okay physically and without him guys like Bam who needs someone to set them up will suffer offensively.

birdman:
It doesnt apply to everybody. I am aware some people use the phrase as a way to down this generation of players. They are wrong - there are some flat out talented shooters in the league today. Better than anything we have ever seen.

But then, there are guys who are guilty of just shooting 3s and hope to get lucky and win a few. See atlanta hawks as a prime example. That is all they do, for real. The game doesnt even make sense at that point. Many times Trae doesnt even run a set. just chucks it - sometimes it goes in enough for them to try for a win. Other times, they just lose by double digits.

Absolutely agree with you 100% about Trae. The Wolves are also an example of a team that does that but in their case it seems everyone who finds themselves on the court has the Greenlight to just shoot whenever they want.

steady986:
Yes, they shoot more threes than previous eras. But are they all about spamming threes? Talk true. Do you watch a game of basketball today and all you see is people shooting threes?

Whenever I hear the spamming 3s comment, I just sometimes wonder what people mean. If a star player is taking only 3s I can very well understand how that can be an issue, because it is expected that the star players should be three level scorers. But for role players, people act as if in the OG days role players don't go 1-10 from the field.

I have never played competitive basketball, but those who have, say the corner 3 is the easiest shot in the game, with an open, set up shot also being in the top 5 easiest basketball shots.
So lets do the maths, if a role player shoots 45% from the field if we exclude the 3pts attempts(a % which is incredibly rare for a role player) and that same role player shots just 35% from open 3s, the fact is, it is better for the team if the role player takes mostly 3s.
People always omit the fact that the 3 main reasons, these role players have open looks at the 3 point line is because either the star big man was doubled at the rim and he kicks it out to his shooters, or the star wing had the defenders collapse on him as he drives to the basket and he then kicks it out for a 3, or from ball movement as a result of star player either passing out of a trap or probing and then kicking.
New age basketball defense no longer has that old school useless ego driven 1v1 defense for star players. They are either doubling, or sending help or trapping the star player all in an effort to take away the ball from them. This results in more open looks for role players, but history has shown that role players don't beat you 4 out of 7 game series, so coaches are willing to live with it.

PS: in game 4, the Mavs took 18% of the their shots from the corner

Roland17:
Remember, I have always said Finney Smith Jr is one of my favorite players. You guys have the best 3 and D guys in the league. Don’t forget Bullock also! He has been cooking..

His journey to the nba just shows how there is not a one size fits all, when scouting nba caliber talent.

Jalen Brunson's agent was one of those wishing for a 7 game series with the Jazz winning it. His play so far against the suns is just highlighting his limitations.

donlittle25:
Per Bayless: the Celts settled for 50 threes! Made only 18! Shot only 34 twos

Context matters, the Celtics did not settle for 3s, they took them because they were the best shots available.
With Lopez, Portis and Giannis blocking and affecting shots anywhere near the paint, it made taking them harder. You add the fact that two of the Celtics best drivers to the rim were compromised with Brown coming in with a strained hamstring and Smart basically playing on 1 leg for about half of the game, then IMHO it is understandable why they not only reduced the number of times they drove to the basket, but even when they decided to take the drive they ended up kicking it out for a shot.

etidy:
Nothing beats playoffs basketball sha otalenu.
With right coaching and attitude this Memphis will be a problem in the west for a long time.

They are only lacking consistent half court offense, if they figure that out, they will be very hard to beat moving forward.
They have depth, incredibly hustle, spacing and big shot takers and makers, and the role players that fit their stars.

A40:
Ohh come on that's not a Flagrant 2 anywhere. Gimme a break

It touched his face from another angle

A40:
He needs to have something. A jump hook. A 8 to 10 footer. Something to punish the opponent for hiding defenders on him.

Saw the numbers of passes between Mitchell and Gobert and it was shocking. Just passes never mind assists

The dude will be fighting for position against a player who he has 7inches on and his fellow players still pass up on giving him the entry pass. It shows just how little they trust him and it is on him to earn that trust

Poole is gonna get paid big time

A40:
Memphis punishing Golden State with size

This is one thing I love about well coached teams. Exploiting your opponents weaknesses

Roland17:
Naaaa. The "Hack a Shaq" was never employed by Ime. All his FTs were not "Hack a Shaq" fouls, they were fouls that occurred when he was trying to score. He made the first 4 but finished 6-11.

I am not saying he employed it. I said maybe after he made his first 4 Ime decided that today might be one of those days Giannis makes a large percentage of his FTs. So he decided not to use it