2016-17 Around the NBA

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AsUpRoDiGy

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Melo is the ultimate team killer. He would almost be better suited coming off the bench to generate offense...for an already good team. Otherwise...expect to lose.
 
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AzStevenCal

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cheesebeef said:
man... there are just zero big men in the East... or really even many superstars left. The league is a relatively boring, ugly place right now.
Click to expand...

I don't know how Embiid didn't get the nod? I watch him play almost every game and I am continually astounded by the things he does. For the long term anyway, I'd take him over any other big if it weren't for the injury risks.
 
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Embiid plays 25mpg and sits out every third game on a team with a losing record. He has a great rookie season and great impact WHEN he plays but no-way Embiid should have been an allstar when he played barely half the minutes of other allstars.

And here is why Russell Westbrook is not starting

TLDR: He plays among the worst defense in the league in order to pad his rebounding numbers. Contests the least shots and gives up a FG% 7% higher than expected to his opponent.

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slinslin

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Westbrook is playing defense like NBA2K players play when they are fishing for triple doubles with their guards.
 
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AzStevenCal

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slinslin said:
Westbrook is playing defense like NBA2K players play when they are fishing for triple doubles with their guards.
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I didn't look at the chart but I find it interesting that it's a similar complaint to what I've said about Tucker the past few years. PJ isn't nearly as bad as Westbrook but when he's not matched up against a big name player, he does the exact same thing and cleans up a handful of easy rebounds on those nights (by observation).

It's also why I challenge the assertion he's a great defender. He's only a great defender on those nights where he takes the challenge against a Harden or Davis or Melo, the rest of the time he's free lancing with an eye to positioning himself for the rebound. It's great that he has taken that defensive challenge more regularly this season but I can't help wondering if that's Watson's influence or the fact it's a contract year.
 
BC867

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AzStevenCal said:
I didn't look at the chart but I find it interesting that it's a similar complaint to what I've said about Tucker the past few years. PJ isn't nearly as bad as Westbrook but when he's not matched up against a big name player, he does the exact same thing and cleans up a handful of easy rebounds on those nights (by observation).

It's also why I challenge the assertion he's a great defender. He's only a great defender on those nights where he takes the challenge against a Harden or Davis or Melo, the rest of the time he's free lancing with an eye to positioning himself for the rebound. It's great that he has taken that defensive challenge more regularly this season but I can't help wondering if that's Watson's influence or the fact it's a contract year.
Click to expand...
Is that the same as stepping up to the occasion? If he weren't on a team going nowhere, then the occasion would be on many more occasions. Plus, he was demoted to the bench, a different mindset than a starter.

Once again, I don't like Tucker's personal behavior, but he is the difference maker on the Suns and our only strong defensive presence. To move him without replacing him with another defensive specialist on the wing/frontcourt would be a mistake, don't cha think?
 
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Finito

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slinslin said:
Westbrook is playing defense like NBA2K players play when they are fishing for triple doubles with their guards.
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Anyone who questions his effort is just fishing that guy plays harder than anyone in the NBA. Your actually criticizing him for getting triple doubles on a team where they need him to be a star wow
 
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AzStevenCal

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BC867 said:
Is that the same as stepping up to the occasion? If he weren't on a team going nowhere, then the occasion would be on many more occasions. Plus, he was demoted to the bench, a different mindset than a starter.

Once again, I don't like Tucker's personal behavior, but he is the difference maker on the Suns and our only strong defensive presence. To move him without replacing him with another defensive specialist on the wing/frontcourt would be a mistake, don't cha think?
Click to expand...

No, it's not the same as stepping up to the occasion IMO. And I don't think it has anything to do with him coming off the bench but that's just my guess. I'm convinced it's money related, if you're not, oh well.

He played this same way prior to his last contract season too. And once he had that contract he got busted for the extreme DUI, missed team busses and team flights, and played defense maybe once a week at most. He did that for 2 full seasons and now, with a new contract looming and huge dollars in the mix, he's back to giving it full effort.

He always races around and gives the appearance of effort but much of the time it's been just cosmetic and as Benjamin once said "never confuse motion with action". I just don't see him as this difference maker that you and some other's do. Although I would say he's been a plus this season, I believe through his career he's cost us much more in the loss column than he's helped us on the win side.

For his career I'd estimate (guess) he's maybe been a great defender 40% of the time and the worst offensive player in the NBA 95% of the time. This season, I'd say he defends well maybe 75% of the time which is a huge improvement but the value of that defense is questionable when you look at the impact he has on the rest of this team on offense.
 
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AzStevenCal

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Finito said:
Anyone who questions his effort is just fishing that guy plays harder than anyone in the NBA. Your actually criticizing him for getting triple doubles on a team where they need him to be a star wow
Click to expand...

I agree with slin. You can see it unfold if you watch their games. This isn't the same guy who played 5 years ago, he's almost as lackadaisical on defense now as Harden was last season. Maybe you can excuse it away because of how hard he plays on offense but to me there's no doubt he's taking defensive plays off so that he can pad his rebounding stats.
 
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