2017-18 NBA REGULAR SEASON THREAD PART 1 ALL OF AMERICAS FAVORITE TEAMS ARE BACK

and the thunder are always a lil bit of a drag because of it despite having many cool players over the years

who are top 5 hoops IQ active players? Bron. CP3. ??

are passing and defense best indicators of IQ? shot selection a tier below those two?

xp ya good point re the ability to read defenses being necessary to attack like he does, tho even there he does some weird shit consistently like jumping into defenders and expecting to get the call that never comes, coach nick had a good video where he contrasted russ's jumping into people approach to hardens draw the foul on the ground then jump style which is much more effective

whereas (vintage) D Rose, you throw a solid trap at him 30ft from the hoop and he's totally defeated

who are top 5 hoops IQ active players? Bron. CP3. ??

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, November 10, 2017 4:24 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

harden is a mad basketball genius, like he finds flaws in the system that they have to change the rules over, but then hes super inconsistent too taking bad shots and going zombie on D

i think Dray is a very smart player, almost a criminal mastermind if you will

suspect Kawhi is up there in IQ

steph is def way up there in IQ and he changed the game too, also remade himself from a bad into a solid defender despite not having great athletic skills, i might give him the overall crown

russ is insanely focused on hoops, which is definitely a kind of discipline and it produces a kind of hoops smarts. and as a whole package, he produces at an all-star level. it's a bit harsh to imagine he 'ought to be' much better than he is.

his game is never going to look like chris paul's and it shouldn't. the flaws we see are generated by his whole approach to the game, but his approach has also consistently delivered some astonishing things, so WYSIWYG.

David West is very bright.

al horford seems like a really smart player ive almost never seen him get himself into bad situations

I so dislike Harden that I wouldn't give him any accolades willingly, but can't argue that he does have a sort of genius for exploiting shit.

al horf is def a low key master of the game with an insanely calm head

i think Dray is a very smart player, almost a criminal mastermind if you will

― omar little, Friday, November 10, 2017 4:29 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

dray id put more in the harden mad genius category like he reads defenses effortlessly but then also cant figure out how to not bend his knees so much when shooting and loses the finals cause he cant help but attack other players nuts

I had good seats watching Horford play once. Was directing the defense like a middle linebacker, calling out the other team's plays, etc.

long term I think football and hockey are fucked

soccer and basketball are so much more global

football contract structure is non-guaranteed and WAY underpaid, plus with concussion stuff i'd bet we're going to start seeing a huge dropoff in elite athletes going into football (this is probably already happening)

basketball and soccer are super low cost to enter, you need a public park and a ball that costs $15, football and hockey programs are super expensive, my nephews spends shitloads of my bro in law's money on youth hockey, literal thousands a year

soccer and MLS will only grow in US

actually baseball might even have a better long-term outlook than football and hockey just because it has a better worldwide talent pool

(hockey basically has the same probs as football with maybe an even WORSE culture, less popularity and it's already basically only a regional sport to begin with)

dray reads *offenses rather, tho he reads defenses good too xp self

Always hear Marc Gasol mentioned wrt his IQ but man I've prob seen like 40 mins of actual gameplay of his total

coaches always praise Rondo's "knowledge of the game" but uh does he even play anymore haha no seriously i don't know

i literally don't know anyone who wants their kids to play football except for one friend from college whose wife is opposed to football for their son, and he keeps plastering her FB wall with "actually football is very safe and here's why" articles from quacks.

Rondo's on the Pelicans!

according to Reddit Jaylen Brown took calculus

m gasol is def a good one tho id deduct points for not realizing until late in his career (last year) that he shd be scoring more

marc def a top ten smart player

i literally don't know anyone who wants their kids to play football except for one friend from college whose wife is opposed to football for their son, and he keeps plastering her FB wall with "actually football is very safe and here's why" articles from quacks.

― omar little, Friday, November 10, 2017 4:38 PM (forty-three seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is the big one imo parents not letting their kids play, also something im surprised hasnt been happening is high schools getting sued by explayers/families and shutting down their programs

according to Reddit Jaylen Brown took calculus

― reggae mike love (polyphonic), Friday, November 10, 2017 4:39 PM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

kinda a nerd for sure, yet to be seen re basketball smarts, tho i def like his trajectory!

In terms of basketball smarts I might go Kawhi.

my son is doing flag football and im happy that he hates it and we wont be doing it again. so many aggro parents on the sidelines. his coach yells at the kids like theyre in high school (not at my kid, though, cos he's not good enough for the coaches wrath)

any player that excels on defense should be up there. you have to have your mind in it all times. any mental lapse results in an easy bucket.

high school football such a big deal in a large part of the country, I'd be pretty surprised if it went away any time soon. and idk NFL is such a fixture of weekend routines for so many y'know? There needs to be something to give cover to daytime drinkers!

fn insane youth coaches how do these guys not see their own foolishness xp

kawhi shd def be in the conversation, super subtle game + has consistently improved at an unbelievable rate

conley and gasol seem like smart players but i havent actualyl watched a full game of them in like 3 years so idk

shoutout to the gawd Manu too

The Spurs last champinship team was like 90% bball geniuses

and yeah rondo was really smart back in his heyday

he's spent so much time not playing basketball lately that i dunno if he's still got it

The Spurs last champinship team was like 90% bball geniuses

― Spottie, Friday, November 10, 2017 4:49 PM (nine seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that was an amazing run they won with so much less talent than the competition, something no one ever talks about cause they still had name stars but really duncan-manu-parker were half cooked and kawhi wasnt quite there yet

duncan def in the alltime IQ hof, nash too

totally. surgical precision on both ends of the floor. prime boris too.

xp

oh man, Boris *swoons*

Hubie Brown said Jason Williams was the smartest player he ever coached. Learned the entire playbook from every position in a couple days or so.

Who could have guessed putting melo and Russ together would result in the fewest passes of any team

I think Russ is a genuinely smart player though he's just drunk on his own gifts, it's hard to think pass first when you can just nonchalantly blow past anyone in the league even after like a dozen knee surgeries

but everyone falls in love w/3's. they are alluring.

Other players know they’d get benched tho

russ doesnt just take and miss a shitload of threes, he takes bad ones, its shameless

he cld easily shoot 35% if he were more selective

feels like he rushed his shot like he's trying to be quick like curry. his midrange shot looks much more measured and calm (still quick tho)