NBA 2020-21 reg season 1st half thread

jokic is the MVP through 12 games and it’s not even close, but idk about the nuggs being a clear top 3 team now. I’m not concerned long-term because the issues are mostly with the bench which can be fixed with trades and starters are more important in the offs, but they’re all over the place right now

murray has had a weirdly effective season. his shooting percentages are all up but his usage is down and his rebounding/assists/steals/blocks have all plummeted. the shooting being up is a good sign I think

i think we can safely say they're one of the 6 best teams in the west... how we could say they're clearly better than phoenix, utah, dallas or the clippers i have no idea. nuggets defense has been heinous. who emerges from the phx/utah/dal/den tier to challenge the clippers to see the lakers in the finals feels like a complete toss up to me

btw lebron has a very strong case for MVP thru 12 games but i know that's boring and nobody wants to hear it

https://i2.wp.com/9to5google.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/01/dr-james-naismith-doodle.gif

i think its LAL > LAC >> DENVER > utah/phx/dallas >> pdx/gsw/sas

phx is unproven and relying on like 3 players to make a leap (ayton has regressed, mikal looks to have made the leap, booker flat so far) and an old CP.
utah we know exactly what they are... no one is making a leap on that team (bubble mitchell is not coming back)
dallas is good they may be the best of this group but depends on how zinger looks

Denver started slow but they are proven enough imo.

lebron has a case most every year but especially if they finish with the 1 seed

within the logic of mvp awards lebron deserves to get one more at least

finishing as the one seed, coming off a championship, with no offseason, in this cursed and miserable basketball year, would definitely meet MVP criteria

i support it

utah was shorthanded in the bubble, their roster has gotten better since then, whereas denver's roster has gotten worse, and in the bubble that series was basically played to a draw. even just between those two teams i would take utah... and i'd be more concerned about what happened to bubble jamal murray than bubble donovan mitchell

Fair. I just hate Gobert and don’t believe in him or a team that he’s one the best two players on at all.

that was an epic series but also pretty random and kooky i think denvers better

"James, how would you describe your conditioning level now at this point in the season?" pic.twitter.com/M5zzOcY2Z4

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 15, 2021

Jokic has been the most valuable basketball player in the league through 12 games. They’re amazingly good with him on the court, really bad with him off and it’s settled out at 6-6.

https://deadspin.com/the-confessions-of-an-nba-scorekeeper-5345287

Six Wizards players, according to GM Tommy Sheppard, have tested positive for the coronavirus

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 15, 2021

jfc

has it been determined what is up with kyrie? (Covid protocols aside) like what does he want

still undetermined

he's still thinking about it

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30717575/kyrie-irving-fined-50000-rejoin-brooklyn-nets-saturday-five-day-quarantine

KAT has Covid if that guy's year couldn't get any worse

wow man that poor guy.

the last paragraph :(

🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/bk0tzC6jiV

— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) January 15, 2021

the league should

Giannis shooting 66% from the field and 10% from the free throw line

yeah it is very cute for basically the best player in basketball to go 1/10 from the line

Giannis shooting 66% from the field and 10% from the free throw line

― frogbs, Friday, January 15, 2021 9:59 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

have you watched closely enough to notice his pre-shot process on free throws this season? i've heard media people allude to his process being really bad and inconsistent.

Zach LaVine is averaging 28.3 points on 63.4% TS. 39.6% from 3 on 9.3 attempts per game.

38.6% on 5.8 pull-up 3s per game. 43.8% on catch-and-shoot 3s.

— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) January 16, 2021

still taking Ls

Caris Levert out indefinitely with a small mass on his kidney.

Carisis not Leverted for the Pacers. :( (don’t remember which of you gents had that as your screen name for awhile but it was all time)

(it me)

have you watched closely enough to notice his pre-shot process on free throws this season? i've heard media people allude to his process being really bad and inconsistent.

― call all destroyer, Friday, January 15, 2021 9:33 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

not sure exactly what they're referring to here but it's amazing they haven't found a way to fix it given his Kobe-like dedication to the game

worried about levert :(

i think they were saying his prep is inconsistent, like sometimes he takes a million dribbles, other times he's rushing. hasn't found a routine that works for him that he can stick to.

The levert thing is pretty fishy tbh.... how did he pass his physical?

Maybe the pacers knew about it and think it’s fine

yeah presumably they found it in his trade physical

that was reported as being what happened

would our resident doc do me a solid and let me know why a team would be doing abdominal scans (mri? CT?) on a new arrival? you’d think he’d have to be reporting pain for something like that

speaking as a doctor bet they just scan that whole mfr, lot at stake why not

should prob just do a bunch of big surgeries too just in case

pull out the extra organs

if you think about it most of the organs are just weighing you down (bad for dunks)

for your typical citizen it doesnt make sense to prioritize dunking but for a basketball player its a different story

clay idk tbrr

from what i can garner players are mrid at the start each season and prior to a trade

disgusting no call there to sink the hornets

Ben Simmons for three pic.twitter.com/1NknX33kOz

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) January 17, 2021

Re giannis free throws uhhhh

Umm what the heck Giannis?? pic.twitter.com/NXun7MaPMx

— Doc (@MJK_NY31) January 17, 2021

the time-honored tradition of forcing your partner to do laps

oh yeah, i read that whole feature. there's kind of a weird media narrative about how competitive giannis is which i assume comes from the fact that he doesn't give the media much else to talk about.