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

lin is super herky-jerky to me and dragic is smooth, almost a poor man's manu. also i think lin is better

Yah dragic is super fun to watch. All kinda weird awesome turnaround pivot up and unders and such.

lin has a pretty wide variance between "completely take over a game" performances and "make 10 mistakes in a row and get pulled" performances. still wish mchale let him go a little more.

dragic is fun to watch, I just don't think his moves are exactly pretty

thunder have a great chance to win it all right now

boris!!

BOOOOOOOOOOORIS

what he do?

I still want to like harden and when he is on he is devastating

If he could figure out how to give 45% of the effort on defense he gives to offense he would probably be a top ten player overall

Obv staying in the Manu role in OKC would have made them unstoppable

marvelous catch w a glorious spin xpost

I'd also still give him another half season to finish adjusting to being the first option esp w Dwight there I think he can still clean up the bad threes and what not but if he doesn't he probably ends up just being a briefly more exciting Stephen Marbury or Gilbert or whatever yikes

jogged a little, too

ha

http://m.sporcle.com/games/jfey5/0009NBAMVP

got 138 but having the team names felt like cheating

Ibaka shooting corner threes is kind of a nice wrinkle

yeah i was just gonna say, makes 100% sense for him to be shooting that shot. probably shoots it in the high 40s

Totally unfair but when I appraise Lin all I can think of is that first Miami game where Wade and Bron went all Jordan/Pippen-on-Kukoc on him.

Keep fighting it
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/12/21/lebron-says-heat-shooters-already-upset-about-christmas-day-jerseys/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

srsly though, they may interfere with shooting, but at least they look stupid

but hey you can put an Exxon logo right on the sleeve, net gain

Totally unfair but when I appraise Lin all I can think of is that first Miami game where Wade and Bron went all Jordan/Pippen-on-Kukoc on him.

― Call me Shitmael (CompuPost), Saturday, December 21, 2013 10:48 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He is definitely a player that can be shut down if a team focuses on it, but I feel like he's not worth that kind of effort in most games. I remember that game and I almost felt like they just wanted to give him a little reality check or "welcome to the NBA" kind of hazing.

The last time the Blazers had fewer than 10 losses through 28 games was in 1999-2000, when they started 21-7 en route to a monumental fourth-quarter meltdown in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers

Let's hope history repeats itself!

I was nearing the end of my first year of college that year btw, and after the lakers won that game my roommate took his tv outside and smashed it to hell with a baseball bat and threw it in a dumpster all while yelling "fuck shaq" over and over again. We were the "art" dorm so nobody really cared.

Oh no, totally that's what happened. It was basically Wade/Bron deciding to up and play playoff-level defense for a relatively meaningless game and Lin was obviously unprepared for it. I'm sure 95% of the league would've looked just as helpless as Lin that night. It just sticks out in my head.

Not really sure anyone would defend Lin's contract from a strict stats-based estimation. Still, I find he's still an exciting player to watch-- he's a great driving the ball. It probably comes off as herky jerky because iirc he has a tendency to pick up his dribble in the paint, a bad habit that probably robs him of a few extra points a game and definitely contributes to his TO rate. He's kinda redundant for the Rockets, so I think his skills orobably get devalued more than they should. I think he has the highest TS% of any point guard in the league this season!

Xp lol. Hope you guys weren't shamed for watching bball.

Mike Trudell
@LakersReporter
D'Antoni on Nick Young: "He rubs off on me. He makes me happy. He starts ... swagging ... or something ... and it gets me going."

Even if (houston) is a bit wonky now, I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up in the finals soon if they ever sir themselves out.

― Call me Shitmael (CompuPost), Saturday, December 21, 2013

based on a recent small sampling, the rockets -- pacers finals won't be all that compelling.

I was nearing the end of my first year of college that year btw, and after the lakers won that game my roommate took his tv outside and smashed it to hell with a baseball bat and threw it in a dumpster all while yelling "fuck shaq" over and over again. We were the "art" dorm so nobody really cared.

― #SwaggyRambo (Clay), Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:46 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I nominate clays roommate for the ilh hall of fame and expect no objections

I was nearing the end of my first year of college that year btw, and after the lakers won that game my roommate took his tv outside and smashed it to hell with a baseball bat and threw it in a dumpster all while yelling "fuck shaq" over and over again. We were the "art" dorm so nobody really cared.

― #SwaggyRambo (Clay), Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:46 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lmao sounds like a scene out of PCU

Clay filmed it and submitted it as his final project for ART242: Movement and Physicality of the Human Form

I was nearing the end of my first year of college that year btw, and after the lakers won that game my roommate took his tv outside and smashed it to hell with a baseball bat and threw it in a dumpster all while yelling "fuck shaq" over and over again. We were the "art" dorm so nobody really cared.

― #SwaggyRambo (Clay), Sunday, December 22, 2013 1:46 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao. perfection

hahaha yes

Lmao

ahhh yes roommate otm, i was rooting so hard for the blazers too and not just cause i h8 the lakers that team was sweet

http://m.sporcle.com/games/jfey5/0009NBAMVP

got 138 but having the team names felt like cheating

― k3vin k., Saturday, December 21, 2013 10:38 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the two i missed in 2005 are completely bizarre

Missed Brandon Roy

How quickly we forget

the two i missed in 2005 are completely bizarre

― call all destroyer, Sunday, December 22, 2013 10:48 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark

Camby and PJ? Me too

yeah--camby only started 66 games that year (on top of them both having completely unremarkable stats)

i got 134

the lesson of that quiz for me was that i totally forgot carlos boozer played for utah

booz was so good for a while

Yeah he was good in Utah. So was dwill.

Feel like every PF did well in Sloane's pick and roll setup tho

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BcG8rakCQAA0r6M.jpg

reggie jackson is looking p dece

Is Mr. OKCtober too good?
Reggie Jackson has exploded, but will the Thunder be able to keep him?
Updated: December 19, 2013, 10:28 PM ET
By Tom Haberstroh | ESPN Insider

In case you haven't noticed, the Thunder are juggernauts again. They're 20-4, which is the best record in the NBA. And they've achieved that lofty record despite the sixth-toughest strength of schedule in the league thus far. With 10 victories over winning teams -- no other team has more than eight -- they've earned the top spot on the Hollinger Power Rankings with a comfortable cushion over the rest of the league.

Kevin Durant is playing like an MVP once again, pushing his ceiling to seemingly impossible heights. Russell Westbrook is back, registering a Westbrook-like 23.2 PER in December. Only one other player can match Serge Ibaka's 14.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game this season, and he was drafted No. 1 overall a year ago -- Anthony Davis.

We knew the OKC trio was good. We just didn't know teammate Reggie Jackson would be this good, this quickly. This season, he is averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. Not impressed? Well, those numbers are deflated because he's playing as a reserve. He is averaging 17.6 points, 5.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds per 36 minutes while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. As I pointed out in last week's episode of The Big Number, the list of players who can match those totals is a short one: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili.

Yeah, Jackson's good. But OKC fans might be dreading that he's too good. Here's why: One of the ironclad rules during general manager Sam Presti's tenure in OKC is he does not let his young studs get to free agency. Sign them to an extension before their rookie deal expires or flip them to another team for more assets. Jackson is eligible for an extension in July.

The small-market organization can't afford to let the open market set the prices. Faced with the possibility that his young player could walk away for nothing, Presti has made his policy clear: extend early or trade before it's too late.

Presti is serious about this rule. Just ask James Harden, who was traded four days before the final season of his rookie contract began. Look at Jeff Green, who was starting for the division-leading Thunder before he was dealt midseason in 2010-11.

Is Jackson next?

This is where OKC fans hope the alternate ending hits. Jackson has one more season left on his contract after this one, so the Thunder have some time to figure out his future. But he is boosting his price tag seemingly every game. At 23, Jackson is earning just $1.3 million this season and is due $2.2 million next season before his contract is up. The Thunder already have about $50 million dedicated to their star trio -- Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka -- in 2015-16, which is when Jackson's possible extension would kick in.

Here's the good news: The Kendrick Perkins albatross will expire that summer. Assuming Presti does not have a fetish for turnovers and pouting, Perkins won't be re-signed at big money, which would lift nearly $10 million off the books. The Thunder could fit Jackson into that space, assuming that he doesn't attract max offers from other teams in the same way that Harden did.

But Jackson is not as productive as Harden was at this age and likely wouldn't garner an eight-figure salary in 2015-16. That math changes if Jackson develops a 3-point shot. He already is an elite penetrator and finisher at the level of Harden, but the Boston College product has lacked a complementary jumper.

However, that might be a thing of the past. In 24 games this season, Jackson already has made more midrange jumpers than he did in 70 games last season. Jackson converted 35.4 of his shots in that area last season and is now up to 47.2 percent. His 3-point shot efficiency also has risen from an awful 23.1 percent last season to 29.3 percent. If Jackson continues to develop his perimeter game, the Sixth Man of the Year Award will be his. And then some.

Jackson is getting better and already views himself as a starter in the league. When recently asked by The Oklahoman about whether he saw himself as a starter in the NBA, Jackson gave an ominous (to OKC fans) response.

"Why not?" Jackson said. "To be the best, I think you eventually have to get to a starting role and you have to do it consistently. Thirty-plus minutes night in and night out and get championships. So that's the thing that motivates me each and every day and what I strive for."

Jackson doesn't have a starting gig. And he's not averaging 30 minutes night in and night out. The Thunder hope that Jackson doesn't follow in Harden's footsteps, looking for a starting opportunity and a star's salary, because he probably won't find it in OKC.

The Thunder have been notoriously stubborn about their starting lineup even though it's getting clobbered by a margin of 10.1 points every 100 possessions this season, according to NBA.com. Jackson has played with the starting personnel in place of Thabo Sefolosha for just 20 of his 590 minutes this season. The Thunder have outscored opponents by seven in those 20 minutes, if you were wondering. Even better: Jackson in place of Perkins, where the score is 91-59 OKC in 40 minutes of action.

Jackson deserves more playing time, but he is playing behind a top-10 player in Westbrook. Perhaps Jackson could supplant Westbrook one day and allow the Thunder to find similar production at a discount price. But breaking up one of the top duos in the game doesn't seem prudent for a small-market team that has them locked up through 2016-17.

Ultimately, this is a good problem to have. OKC has produced yet another Sixth Man of the Year candidate out of nowhere to complement its stud trio.

Rest assured, the majority of NBA front offices would gladly trade their problems for OKC's "dilemma" of having too much young talent. Two summers ago, OKC fans wondered if Jackson could step in and be the next Harden. They'd better hope the impression goes only so far.

if scotty brooks doesnt stop playing perk and fisher i might murder him

Looking forward to the 60 Minutes exposé on Perk blackmailing Brooks to stay in the league.

Also, is this old interview between Minny-era Garnett and John Thompson common knowledge for people? Somehow had never seen it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef-f7EeDpYI

(ftr, the clip is just Garnett breaking into tears of frustration because he's playing for a losing team)

huge win for the raptors on the road in OKC. Guess they're making the playoffs.

i don't really hate these wolves jerseys. clips' are an eyesore tho