in these, the waning days of stern: 2013-2014 NBA regular season thread (part 1)

yessss beas

oh there's no other option

not to take attention away from this important development but this is great

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/9975380/jr-smith-new-york-knicks-appeared-threaten-brandon-jennings-detroit-pistons-twitter

the chris smith thing is truly amazing even for the knicks

Chris Smith's inclusion on the Knicks' roster has stirred strong emotions among the team's fan base and, apparently, opposing players.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson acknowledged that Chris Smith's ties to his brother influenced the team's decision to keep the 26-year-old guard. Chris Smith also acknowledged that his relationship with his brother has helped his career.

Beyond that, Chris Smith is represented by Creative Artists Agency, which is an added layer to the Knicks' decision to keep him. CAA represents the Smith brothers and has close ties to the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. Carmelo Anthony, Andrea Bargnani, Woodson, assistant GM Allan Houston and front-office member Mark Warkentien are also represented by the agency.

Some rival agents believe Chris Smith's roster spot with the Knicks was locked in as a package deal when J.R. Smith re-signed with the team in July.

just a very well-run franchise

what i don't get is why the knicks don't just hire chris smith as j.r.'s "personal assistant" or something so he can travel with the team but free up a roster spot they very much need

it's just 490 thousand dollars i guess

i mean they already guaranteed his contract. just figure out a way for him to hang out w/out being on the actual team.

i mean... if they end up sending him to the d league, does chris smith really wanna spend his entire winter in erie??

you trying to get the pipe (frozen)?

haha

super cool!

man

i'm trying not to get my hopes up about the timberwolves right now but goddamn it's an exciting team right now!

*waits for other shoe to drop*

all about health for that team

can an insider hook it up or let me know if this is even worth reading?
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9974933/nba-golden-state-warriors-best-team-league

If you're sleeping on the Golden State Warriors, it's time to wake up.

This isn't your typical Golden State team -- the one trying to score like mad without caring whether the other team does the same. As fellow ESPN.com scribe Ethan Sherwood Strauss pointed out last week, the Warriors haven't ranked better than 10th in defensive rating in more than 30 years. If you think it's absolutely nuts that Stephen Curry could be the face of a defensive-minded team, I understand your skepticism.

But this is a new era in Golden State. For the first time in almost half a century, the Warriors are stifling opponents on that end of the floor. Just four teams so far have held opponents to fewer points per possession than the Warriors. Yes, the Golden State Warriors.

In reality, the Warriors have probably played the best ball of any team in the early going. Look, get past the 5-3 record. Context matters here. They've opened the season facing a brutal schedule with five of their eight games on the road. Two of their losses have come as visitors against the Los Angeles Clippers (the second night of a back-to-back) and the San Antonio Spurs (Warriors lost by two). Their third loss came against the Memphis Grizzlies, also on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Big Number

Tom Haberstroh goes inside the numbers about the surprising Philadelphia 76ers. He shows how the Sixers' pace of play helps tanking. WATCH

And through it all, the Warriors are the only team that resides on top of the NBA's sacred soil, ranking top 5 in both points per possession and points per possession allowed. As suffocating as the Indiana Pacers' defense has been, Indiana has scored at just a league-average rate, according to NBA.com data. And, before you fall head over heels for that 8-0 record, let's keep in mind the Pacers have yet to play against an above-.500 team. The collective record of their opponents thus far is a ghastly 24-40, with only one game against a team with a non-losing record, the 3-3 Chicago Bulls.

Teams can only play the cards they're dealt, so we should still applaud the Pacers for capitalizing on their cupcake schedule. But if you're asking me who's the best team in the NBA at this moment, I'm not picking the team with the best record; I'm siding with the beasts by the Bay. Indiana, the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State are the only teams to outscore opponents by at least 10 points per 100 possessions, but the Warriors have faced a much tougher schedule.

Plus, in all likelihood, we haven't seen the peak version of this team. The offense hasn't even taken off yet. Golden State coach Mark Jackson has been conservative with Curry's playing time so far as the shooting star has played just 30.3 minutes per game this season dealing with a gimpy ankle. Furthermore, the Warriors have played this well largely without Harrison Barnes, whose lingering foot issues have limited him to just 80 minutes this season.

But the defense has been sensational in the early going. Golden State has held its opponents under 100 points in all but two games, both of which came on the second night of back-to-backs. (Back-to-backs tend to be killer on defenses more so than offenses.) As of now, just the Spurs and Pacers have been better on that end of the floor, according to NBA.com data.

But is their nasty defense a small-sample-size fluke? Probably not. This is what happens when you pair an elite perimeter stopper in Andre Iguodala with a dominant basket protector in Andrew Bogut. Yes, the 3-point defense has been mostly smoke-and-mirrors. Opponents are shooting just 27 percent from deep against the Warriors in the early going, which some might attribute to Iguodala's arrival.
[+] EnlargeStephen Curry
Noah Graham/Getty ImagesStephen Curry is the catalyst to the Warriors' offense. Can he stay healthy a second straight season?

But, after studying 3-point field goal percentage trends of the past 10 seasons, you'll find that there's absolutely no correlation between what we see in the first 10 games and the rest of the season. It's essentially random. A team that starts out holding opponents to 27 percent from deep is just as likely to be average as a team that holds opponents to 40 percent in the early going. (For the stat geeks out there, the correlation coefficient is -0.0047).

With this in mind, don't expect Warriors opponents to continue clanking from downtown. But the paint defense? That's another story. I also looked at whether we can trust early-season opponent field goal percentage in the restricted area where the Warriors have held opponents to just 55.3 percent so far, which is eighth-best in the league. And that has much more staying power. Statistically, what you see now is mostly what you'll get.

So, even though the 3-point defense might be an aberration, the team's basket protection with Bogut manning the paint is legit. And that's far more important. According to SportVU data, opponents have shot 45.2 percent when Bogut defends a shot at the rim, which is one of the better rates among regular paint defenders (Dwight Howard, for example, allows 49.4 percent so far). A healthy Bogut means a healthy defense. Throw Iguodala into the mix and the Warriors have integrated the necessary defensive stalwarts to compensate for their heavy 3-point attack.

Don't be fooled by their 5-3 record, folks. Account for their harsh schedule and the Warriors have been just as good as anyone this season. When fully healthy, the Warriors are deadly on both ends of the floor. And if Curry and Barnes round into shape, chances are Golden State's best is yet to come.

thanks muchly

imo the spurs are clearly the best team in the league right now (again)

netw3rk ‏@netw3rk 37s
I believe the NBA's investigation of JR's tweets represents the first formalized framework for parsing subtweets in world history.

imo the spurs are clearly the best team in the league right now (again)

― twist boat veterans for stability (k3vin k.), Thursday, November 14, 2013 3:40 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

on a mission from god this yr

i'm still an anthony bennett optimist btw, remember he missed the entire preseason

it's arguable whether he should even be playing right now

Yeah they should have brought him back much more slowly. I wonder if Dan Gilbert demanded playing time.

I've only seen a ill bit of warriors this year but it seems to me healthy bogut + iguodala + half decent schemes and commitment from the other three main guys should yield a top ten defense at least

People kind of forget how destructive iguodala can be on defense, he was basically team usa's perimeter stopper for two winning tournaments

Are people really "subliminally tweeting" enough that it needs to be called subtweeting or am I just not into twitter enough to know what's up, because it sounds like some kind of basic feature, click here to view subtweets of this tweet etc

Also we used to call talking trash without naming names being a sissy

Subtweeting is an established definition but it seems like some posters just don't get it

So it's passive aggressive tweeting? I thought it was some meta thing, like retweeting.

also that jr twitter photo is hilarious

feel like there's gotta be something going on with asik beyond match ups. mchale playing a frontline of francisco garcia, omar casspi and terrence jones seems insane

on a mission from god this yr

god smiles only on the pacers. and the 76ers, maybe.

terrence jones looks terrible

dwight howard looks terrible

Barg is actually not bad at one-on-one iso post defense. It's everything else that's bad.

omer is no better than dwight.

altho i do prefer him ...

omri casspi is only 25?? jeez

feel like there's gotta be something going on with asik beyond match ups. mchale playing a frontline of francisco garcia, omar casspi and terrence jones seems insane

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Thursday, November 14, 2013 9:00 PM (1 hour ago)

morey was saying in an interview to haberstroh that the dwight/asik combo wasn't getting it done on the glass, i bet they're just doing some experimenting

lin is going nuts again btw

harden's shooting is so bizarre this year, dude is shooting like 58% on 2 pointers which is insane, but is basically josh smith from beyond the arc

ha, kerr: "i can't believe i'm about to say this, but bargnani needs to come back into the game for defensive purposes."

Houston is going to pretend that Asik is in their future plans, but it's obvious that they'll get this over with at the deadline

I could see Minnesota trading Pekovic for Asik but they'd need to find a third team

wow what a pass by Parsons

http://s9.postimg.org/xw5mlc2sf/Captura_de_Tela_2013_11_15_s_01_36_29.png

ppl i would call: NO (Randerson), Phila (Thaddeus), Bucks (Ilya).

imo pellies would be out of their minds to give anderson away for asik, that trade will never happen. would be perfect for houston though obv

that was a super late call against new york, felt like, on the harden 3.

Barry Jackson ‏@flasportsbuzz 25s

... All names being used will be announced in a week or so, after NBA approves them. Beasley says he's going with "Super Cool."

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Thursday, November 14, 2013 1:49 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao can we do a kickstarter to buy jordan this jersey

the contact was well after he released the ball

xpost they could trade via a 3rd team w/ pelicans. its the best fit, played together etc.

Parsons and Beverley really struggling from 3 this year

xpost they could trade via a 3rd team w/ pelicans. its the best fit, played together etc.

― moullet, Friday, November 15, 2013 3:49 AM (24 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, e.g. I would do Anderson for Pekovic

omg Melo are you really this dumb

LOL melo is an idiot