₦airaland Forum

That was a terrible game of basketball by the Lakers

So the Mavs and the Warriors decided to play zero defense tonight. Let's score each other to death

mattfeuter:
He almost cried, the guy loves playing basketball too much to ask him to sit out especially when healthy.

He shouldn't have been allowed to play at all.

Usually players would miss games entirely due to health and safety protocols. But here we have KD being allowed to start a game on the bench, then cleared during the course of the game, only to be uncleared again during the same game. I smell foul play here.

I like Adam Silver. I think the growth of the NBA has been astronomical under his leadership. But this idea of an all-star game is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Gotdammit. You're just coming off the shortest off-season in NBA history. You told your players that there would be a mini break at the halfway point of the regular season, a time which would be used for recuperation, and possibly playing of rescheduled games. Then all of a sudden we're talking of an all-star game. In a pandemic, and in Atlanta of all places. Come on man

mattfeuter:
He played 33 mins and had only 13 point. That is simply unacceptable from him.

Man got financial security and became a slacker.

Don’t even get me started with Gasol. That was the only thing rob got wrong, letting go of Dwight and McGee without an elite replacement.

It looks bad now because there's no backup center. But truly, I didn't know this is what we were getting when we traded for him

Afromentalist:
yeah after Gasol was out. They need rim protection very urgently

Lol. He played his part in that comeback, even if it was just a minor contribution He looks like a 45 year old on the court Can't jump, has regressed in shooting. Yes, we could do with another center, someone we can give 10 to 15 mins a night. But which centers are out there?

mattfeuter:
Aren’t you worried about AD?

Man, I really am. It's not even that he's shooting poorly because he's still shooting 52% from the field. It's his lack of aggression. His FG attempts have reduced slightly. He only attempted 8 last night in 30 mins. His FT attempts have gone down by 3, and to make matters worse he's shooting only 70% of it.

That lockdown D by the Lakers in that second half was championship mettle. A 12 point half time deficit turned into a 21 point victory. That's a 33 point turnaround in 24 minutes. Magical.

I'd love to see a Bucks/Nets Playoffs series. Let's see what those defensive stalwarts of the Bucks can do against the Nets offense. Would love to see Giannis vs KD on both sides of the court. I know KD is a lethal scorer and all, but it'll be interesting to see how he fares when being guarded by a 6'11" dude with feet as quick as a guard. I know KD won't guard Giannis though, cos Giannis is just too powerful for him , and we know he won't be shooting midranges.

And there's Kyrie vs Holiday, pfffff. Mouthwatering. My guess is that Middleton will take on Harden. Man, I want this match-up like crazy.

Afromentalist:
Great game from the nets but Kyrie plays too much iso / solo ball. Harden and KD we're top notch .

For real. But he was on fire last night so I'll cut him some slack. Would have been interesting to see how he fares when being guarded by a pest like Beverley.

It's like Lou Will wants to retire, because I don't know what's wrong with that man. He seems to have lost it.

Still and still, it was an even keenly-contested game from start to finish.

James Harden made the league to be attempting more threes
James Harden made the stepback three a go-to shot
James Harden changed the way the game is officiated.

Only one person did all this, and yet here on Nairaland some emotional folks want to make me believe Steph has influenced the game more than Harden. Mtcheeewww

I promise you I didn't write these articles and I didn't make these videos

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/james-hardens-rockets-changed-the-nba-forever/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nearly-every-team-is-playing-like-the-rockets-and-thats-hurting-the-rockets/

https://www.si.com/nba/video/2019/05/08/james-harden-changed-nba-officiating


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTwaSc7_jDA

KNIGHTBlaed:
Calm down, even when I dey play NBA2k19, whenever Curry holds the ball, the commentators go say "it's no doubt that he has changed the way the game is played, he's so efficient" something like that. When Harden handles the ball or shoots 3s, them go say "he is such an efficient shooter, it's amazing how he keeps doing this". So you sef see say game sef sabi say na Curry

Lol, I hope this is sarcasm

They say " Harden is such an efficient shooter"? I'm sure that's not the only lie they say in the game

The Lakers really know how to stuff teams out in the 4th quarter. But it could backfire sometimes as we saw against the Pistons.

Defense looks solid but we need some improvements on that offense. I've not been impressed over the past couple of games.

DeeMain:
Steady, do not allow hate or the love of another becloud your reasoning or objectivity. Curry so influenced and changed the game to the 3s game that is played today. Give props to whom it's due, bro. Just like the anti-Lebron elements are wont to do, you are sounding like you are anti-Curry and will say or do anything to win an argument against the one you love to hate.

Lol. I don't hate Curry, he's a loveable gentleman. I'm just stating my fact-based opinion. If you do your research properly you'll see that Houston with D'antoni and James Harden really need be given a lot of credit for the amount of threes shot today.

Let me break it down for you so you can understand what I'm saying. Since 2012, Houston has led the league in 3s attempted per game bar 2015 and this year. In 2015 Houston were second behind GS by 1.1 (GS 31.8, Houston 30.7). But compare Houston's numbers to GS's numbers for the rest of those years:

2012: 29.2 to 20.2
2013: 26.6 to 25.0
2014: 31.8 to 27.7
2016: 40.1 to 31.5
2017: 41.9 to 29.4
2018: 45.1 to 34.1
2019: 45.5 to 31.3

When did Harden move to Houston? Your guess is as good as mine - 2012. Coincidence? And as he left this year, Houston has dropped to 6th for 38.5 per game.

In all of those years that Houston led the league in 3s attempted, GS were 9th, 13th, 5th, 3rd, 5th, 14th.

Why D'antoni deserves a mention as well is because his teams have consistently been at the top echelons when it comes to 3s attempted. In his 4 years at the Knicks, the Knicks finished 2nd three times and 1st once in threes attempted. In his 2 years at LA his team never went below 7th. So when he joined forces with Harden at Houston it was sort of a match made in heaven.

The only reason we are giving credit to Curry and not Harden is because of the efficiency with which Curry shot the ball, and because he actually won championships with it. Switch their situations and we might be having a different conversation. Watch Harden's game and watch Curry's game closely, Harden is more deliberate about shooting the 3 ball than curry is, to the extent he popularised that Harden step-back. Harden would dribble 15 to 20 dribbles at the top of the arc, and he has only one thing in mind: to shoot the 3. Check how many of his 3s are assisted. On the other hand, most of Curry's 3 are assisted, either by spotting up or by running across the screen. Basically catch and shoot. That's why we say Curry is not your archetypal point guard. He's a shooting guard in point guard's clothing.

These are facts bro, not conjecture. Narratives are a very deceitful thing.

I'll leave you with this link about D'antoni and his system. Do well to read it.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2018/01/12/phoenix-suns-mike-dantoni-houston-rockets-steve-nash-amare-stoudemire-devin-booker/1029908001/

mattfeuter:
Baba, Jaylen brown over James Harden?

Oh, Harden dey east sef I forgot.

Let's go

mattfeuter:
It will never stop.

Baba torched the nets.

When he made that clutch 3, I knew it was gonna be a W

See the fire in that guys eyes. Man was possessed. I hope he can consolidate on this performance.

Just watch Undisputed tomorrow, Skip's only defense for that atrocity would be "well, they didn't have James Harden" Harden would have prevented them from conceding 149 points, he would have also made shots down the stretch even though the best scorer ever was on the court. Smh

So the Nets concede 147 points to the Cavs in double overtime, but tonight they said, "let's go one better" and BOOM! 149 in regulation time . You couldn't write this script man.

Westbrook prick dey always stand whenever e see KD

The Nuggets lighting Utah's a*s up. 79 first half points. 33 for Jokic. 15 of 17 from three

benji93:
@steady986. Brother you no dey hear word. Stop watching the back of your TV and the box score. Watch the games and do some learning. You don't need to have been one born in the 90s. Most of the relevant information from that time is available. You don't have to comment on the 90s if you are not quite familiar. . That's by the way my brother. Let me educate you small. You don't seem to understand what changing a league means even relatively one's peers. How many players do Harden's step back, even among the guards. Now travel back in time and check the number of 3s players take and the schemes with respect to shot selection before and after 2015+- 3. Very simple assignment. I understand though, those final losses still dey pain you. Its understandable.

This your "stop watching the back of TV and box score" line is getting old. No be only you dey watch the games for here. No dey talk wetin you no know. You wey begin follow basketball in 2015 when GS started dominating.

And you really asked how many players do Harden Step-back? Lol. This is someone who say he watches the game. I no get time for this argument abeg.

KNIGHTBlaed:
You guys were lucky to win, and see how you paint it like it was not just a point game win. Give credit to the Celtics jare, that team will beat any team come the playoffs. Kemba shot poorly all night, he should not have been on the court at the moment IMO. Lucky win for the Lakers, see how AD sef no believe am.

Lol. As at 1:34 minutes to go, the Celts had scored only 11 points in the quarter. We dominated them in that 4th and it's not even a debate. We had started the quarter 7 points down and were leading by 7 until 1:34, then somehow we got sloppy because we thought we had won the game. AD was attempting bad shots with the shot clock still at 14, and on the second attack small Kemba was blocking AD's shot, LeBron slipping and turning the ball over. Lol. Come the playoffs I assure you you'll see none of that.

Android17:
You brought your own argument and then changed it after you got served. This reply to you should serve as a deterrent to other uninformed trolls who want to venture into what they have not properly studied. Receded hairline Ben Simmons is what an emotional person will zero in on. Even after I said he is surely greater than Curry, has been the face of the NBA and is this generation's GOAT. That you ignored those compliments to get butthurt about hairline shows who was crying behind the scenes. As for all those names you mentioned in your second paragraph, lol, your original post made mention of in the last 3 decades (in the NBA)or else the badboi Pistons, and the fab 5 would have gotten notable mentions. So stop changing the narrative.
Curry and Klay were only able to win in 2015 because Kyrie and Love were injured? Ok. How did those same players get 3-1 down in 2016? Why did the NBA need to suspend Draymond? Why did the Cavs only start winning after Andrew Bogut got injured? Why did the NBA allow Curry to get held and pulled with no calls but then call 5 flimsy calls against him and then eject him? You don't need to take my opinion - Google Channing Frye and watch him admit that the NBA allowed them hold and pull Curry on their way to coming back. Hehe. Everytime you want to act like a troll, it comes back to bite you. And by the way, Klay Thompson was injured in 2019. It is no surprise, GSW won the only 2 games he played in and were on course to winning the game 6 when he got injured again. The Lakers were a bad 3 pt shooting team? Ok. But did they not shoot well in 4 of the 6 games that they beat the Heats and lost in the only 2 games they shot poorly from the 3? Stop arguing wass here, you will be served.

Lol. What's all this ones? This is a ridiculous attempt at trying to make your point

SmooshCHN:
You're a grown man Brother. Everything isn't about winning arguments. Watch some YouTube videos, do some Google research if you're interested in learning. Nobody is trashing LeBron. He's basically the best player in the last 20 years.

Here are some facts though:

Stephen Curry influence on basketball is almost greater than any we've seen in a long time. You will get bítch slapped if you bring James Harden "step back" into the conversation. That's a signature move and it didn't start today. If you think basketball moves like Eurostep, Dream Shake, Sky hook, Dirk Fade away should be compared to changing the way the game is played, Omo nobody here can help your poor basic basketball knowledge.
Man up, stop using stubbornness to mask the fact that you are wrong at an argument you tried to bring up just to hate on Curry and also failed at trying to shift goal post and make it about LeBron. Go do research and learn some more and stop disgracing yourself. There a ways to do it if you want to make a case for LeBron and it's not hard to do.

On a serious note, if you want to talk about influential players on the court mention Curry, MJ, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Magic Johnson, Hakeem, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Julius Irving, Kareem and co.
Off the court, you can mention LeBron and how he has changed the basketball market and how players have more freedom than ever in negotiations and free agency, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor on racism and so many others.

My argument is not perfect especially with some examples however, those who understand basketball to an extent will get my point and even point me in the right direction.

Lol. Nothing like grown man here. I made my points, and somehow the dude tried to make it about LeBron, calling him all sorts of names like Ben Simmons with a receding hairline. That's how you know he's getting emotional about it.

I've shown you how LeBron influenced the game on the court in my previous posts and I don't need to repeat myself.

The truth is that we like to dwell on narratives too much. We say them enough times until it begins to sound true. We can argue that MJ changed the game from a big-dominant league to a guard-dominant league, but that's trying to diminish the exploits of guys like Gervin, Oscar, West, Drexler and co. MJ had eight 30ppg season, Oscar had six, West had 4. I'm not even mentioning guys like Isiah, Magic and Stockton that dominated in a different way. The truth is that in every era, there have been dominant guards and bigs almost in equal proportion. MJs case was just different because he won a lot of titles in a short span.

All these players you mentioned that influenced the game on the court, can you tell me how each of them did it? I'm curious.

As for Curry and shooting threes, the Houston Rockets showed us that that is not the best attribute to rely upon if you want to win a championship. Curry and Klay were only able to win in 2015 because Kyrie and Love got injured. After they lost in 2016 they knew they needed something different, that was why they begged KD to come over. Curry with his three point prowess was never the best player on GS while KD was there, even though he was the reigning 2-time MVP at the time of KD's arrival. When KD got injured in 2019 Klay and Step couldn't get the job done. Last year LeBron and KD showed that the three is just a luxury, an afterthought. Going into the playoffs the Lakers were one of the worst 3 shooting teams in the league. In the last 5 years there has been little to prove that the 3 ball is what wins you championships.

The facts are there, this is not conjecture or inuendo. The two ball will always be more valuable and important than the three ball.

mattfeuter:
I don’t know if he’s lazy, soft or just got comfortable after winning a championship.

Has to be comfort. And a little fatigue.

Vogel is honestly doing wholesale experimentations with this team. Some night he plays THT 5 minutes, sometimes he plays him 20 like tonight. Sometimes he doesn't play at all. Tonight, both Matthews and Morris were fit but neither got on the court. I hope we'll be ready when it's time for business

Going forward I want to see AD be more aggressive. No more of that 17 point - 18 point games. You're good enough to average 30 in this league. And work on them free throws, damn it.

Who even has time for these LeBron haters? Only trash comes out of their mouths. I made a promise to myself never to engage them on anything LeBron and imma stick with it.