Manu Ginobili on the new flopping rules: “It’s going to be very hard to determine when it’s a flop and when it’s not,” Ginobili said. “There’s a lot of contact, a lot of heavy players, and it can be tricky. I don’t think (fining players) is going to happen much … “It’s going to be very hard to determine,” he said. “Many times, it’s an exaggeration of contact. That’s not a flop. A flop is when there is not contact and not a foul. So we’ll see how they explain it and how it works.”
Darnell Mayberry: “A few observations from those drills: Durant’s post D against Ibaka looked solid. On several occasions, Durant stripped the ball from Ibaka after Ibaka made a post move but just before he went up for the shot. Or KD contested Ibaka’s shot so well that he tipped it. Good sign. Maynor’s shot mechanics still has that wind up before his release. But it was going in, so who cares? PJIII looked comfortable attacking, but as a rookie he still has minor details to learn, as evidenced by coach’s pulling him aside and trying to show him angles and such.”
Hasheem Thabet was watching the debate last night.
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the new flopping policy: “And that’s the heart of the matter. In the NBA now, some of the most brilliant and competitive players are also some of the most brilliant and competitive floppers. I’m talking about LeBron James throwing his head back violently while driving the lane, Chris Paul falling down in the open court after a little bump from a defender or Dirk Nowitzki jumping out of bounds, as if shoved from behind, while rebounding. The qualities that make a great athlete (anticipation, balance, vision, abhorrence of losing) are helpful in making floppers, too. Those best players, however, are too good at it to get caught in really obvious offenses. And they make far too much money to really sweat the fine.”
KD’s on a billboard in Times Square.
An apology to Royce White from Darnell Mayberry: “After careful consideration, I have concluded that I owe Royce White, the millions of people coping with anxiety and their loved ones affected by their condition an apology. In a recent blog post I used an extremely poor choice of words in describing White, the promising rookie for the Houston Rockets. I called him a head case. For that, I am deeply sorry.”
Oct. 31 isn’t just a deadline for Harden, but Reggie Jackson, Cole Aldrich and Lazar Hayward.
Steve McPherson of HoopSpeak on rivalries: “We like rivalries because they make for good stories, so maybe the difficulty with Durant and James comes from not knowing what story we’re looking at. It might be the rise of a new, collaborative kind of competition that emphasizes the process as much as the product. Or maybe it’s the story of friends pushing each other to get better until a breaking point drives them apart, a sort of Magic-Bird in reverse.”
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/10/friday-bolts-10-5-12/
Hardwood Paroxysm: "Sort this by FG%, becomes more interesting. RT@brad_schwartz last 15 yrs 15 players drafted average 15 pts and 5 assists http://bit.ly/T5qZ6e"
It is a pretty good list, and sort of shakes up a lot of common thoughts about distributors who also score.
@ou_sas That list also shows some problems with win shares. Kyrie Irving was worth far more to that team than win shares gives him credit for.+
@cemitten I think that's total win shares over their careers so far.
@ou_sas @cemitten It is. Kyrie was also injured during a shortened a season. Kyrie had 0.125 WS/48, highest on the team other than Uzoh, who played 13 minutes and Varejao, who was also injured and had 0.131 WS/48 in half the minutes Kyrie played.
@ou_sas Oh, in my mind this list was rookies who averaged 15 and 5, and their stats for that season. I didn't realize it was cumulative career.
Question DTers: Who right not is our worst matchup. I used to say the Mavs but no Terry and not 2ft pgs running around.
JA Adande mentioned the Clippers but i still think it is the Spurs. Tony Parker murders Russ to often.
@Bsooreal Spurs are if they return to last year's form. I don't think they will. Other than that, Memphis like @justin_mia mentioned.
@Bsooreal Memphis.
@justin_mia
forgot all about them. Yes they are a horrible match up for us.
@Bsooreal My thought on our bad first round matchups is that they'd almost have to get a critical injury at some point to even land the 7-8 seed. That said, I could see Minny getting that and giving us a rough go of it, or even Denver. But the Clips and Spurs I'm expecting to get in the 5+ range seeding wise.
@ou_sas
i think a minny opening series would be great. We'd win in 5 fun fun games.
@Bsooreal Yeah.. as I said, The tougher teams (even Memphis) for us I just don't see falling to us at the 7-8 spot.
This morning I woke up and thought my points said 8500 and there was a practice report from yesterday.
I cried when reality hit.
Happy Friday my fellow DTers!
@ThunderBelize Happy Friday! May our day be filled with positive signing news!
Practice Report!!!!! http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/10/practice-report-backup-point-guard-is-up-for-grabs/
From a couple days ago.... :-(
@ThunderBelize Paragraph 1: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/131/896/gaijin4koma2_peersblog_1200684608.jpg?1307579749
Paragraph 2: http://media.ign.com/games/image/article/738/738102/gaijin4koma_peersblog_1200684654.jpg
@ou_sas Should we come down on you about shortening URL's like we did on dynamictrio?
@ThunderBelize Since I'm the one who gave him those URL shorteners it's doubly bad. XD
That said, I thought Livefyre would put previews in for some reason. Hence my leaving it as is. My bad. I blame it on posting while trying to give baby_sas his breakfast.
Nick Collison: “We’ll see how it plays out, I’m not really sure how it’s going to work. I think it’s something the league feels like they need to do something about, but they’re not sure exactly the best way to do it. I guess, until I hear what the system is going to be and what exactly is going to define a flop, I don’t really know exactly what to say about it … Some of them you get pretty hard, others not as hard. So I’m definitely interested, curious to see how they regulate it.”James Harden: “Good. It’s good. Guys can’t be flopping and getting away with it anymore. It was bound to happen at some point and obviously the league got fed up with it and put it in, so I’m happy they did it.”
@OkcBaby Hey, I linked Gothic Ginobili's capsule on Eric Maynor yesterday in the previous thread for you. Did you manage to catch it?
WOAH!
http://www.businessinsider.com/jared-sullinger-not-invited-nba-draft-2012-6
Blake Griffin - “I think the way we feel as a team and the pieces we have, we can contend for a championship." Really? Does anyone here think they can realistically contend? I feel like they still will rely too much on CP3 creating for spot up shooters and in the playoffs, that doesn't seem to work out too well.......
@Godofserenity They traded in underrated big man depth for downgrades there, at SG and risks at SF and PF. Is Hill going to stay healthy? Has Odom removed himself from the gutter?
They took the fifth most 3s last year and were above average at making them. They got rid of their two best from that range, Mo Williams and Randy Foye, and replaced them with guys who are average or bad from that range (Willie Green shot well last year but is right at 33 percent for his career).
If they improve, it will be because of Paul and Griffin. I think their supporting cast has a lot of work to not be worse than last year, much less better.
@Jooseppi I know right? And they still Vincent (the clamps) as coach, so I can't imagine that they will implement a scheme to use their strengths..... or a scheme at all for that matter.....
The incredible part of Lebron's defense is not just his athleticism, but his positioning. If you watch, he makes subtle, smart movements so that he's hardly out of position and can help but still recover to his man. I mo thats the biggest thing we need to work on. We either unaware of whats going on or are over aggressive with energy. Positioning is key.
@Thunder S His ridiculous size and athleticism are core to his ability play defense that way . Obviously without the positioning it would be moot, but it enbiggens the area he's able to effectively cover. He wasn't always the amazing defender his is now, hopefully our boys will show the same improvement over the next few years. C'mon Brooksy! Less heart, More Smart!
@Godofserenity @Thunder Anyone using the term "enbiggens" deserves likes.
@SoonerSpens @Godofserenity @Thunder
Just was typing the same thing SS. I fear the 'Less Heart, More Smart' could become a DT battlecry.
I'm very skeptical of this whole "KD has put on muscle" thing Darnell was promoting. What's he been off since the Olypmics like a month to 6 weeks. No way, particularly with someone of KD's body type, has he put on much in terms of muscle in that time. At most he might have gained some short term muscle volume via creatine or something similar like a nitric oxide product such as NO-xplode.
@Old Man Game dude you can put on muscle or even tone up in like a week easy. the whole first week i didn insanity i dropped a few pounds and realized i had toned up. and thats with just lil ol me doing a workout at home. KD has freaking NBA type facilities to go to so..yeah its not all that unreasonable to believe kd put on some muscle.
case in point. we saw russ in the olympics and he didnt look as big as he does now. He just got done working out with Rose and Love and now his muscles can flex so.
@Old Man Game Promoting is a good word for what Darnell does sometimes. And the story line of "KD needs to get stronger to play in the post" is not really accurate, sure it would help in the post but his weakness last year was being aware of double teams in the post. Strength would help him fight off defenders and probably help rebounding. but I think his offensive game in the post can still be productive at the same weight.
@OBoymuzik That's a good point. Being bigger/stronger than your defender isn't a prerequisite to success in the post. Hakeem completely abused Shaq on the low block in the '95 finals for example. Guys that are really gifted offensively don't have to just move people out of the way in order to score. They create space in other ways.
@OBoymuzik @Old Man Game Oh ok, If reading double teams is his problem, then that will just come through experience then...
@kennygee90 @Old Man Game Strength would help him defend in the post much more than on offense IMO
@kennygee90 @Old Man Game It would help, but his shooting percentage from the post isn't bad and is improving at a good rate while he's going to the post more every year. His problems were that at times he couldn't stay in the post long enough because he would get blindsided with a double team. He's not Dwight Howard he doesn't have to be inside 10 ft to make a shot from the post.
@Old Man Game @OBoymuzik don't you have to be strong enough to get post position on your defender.. I don't think Durant needs to get stronger physically but his base does, in order to get better post position in order to make the shot a high percentage one..what you think?
@Old Man Game Every year they talk about this.
@justin_mia It seems especially unfounded during this relatively short off season.
Oh, before I forget - TC, thanks for recommending Young Adult, my partner and I enjoyed it. I can't remember what else there was on those lists that you and Prez had put together but I"m pretty sure I watched another one on there, just can't remember what it was now. Anyone seen Looper yet? I thought it was very good, one of the best time travel related films I've seen.
@Godofserenity looper was badass, all im saying :)
@Legendary_Dork @Godofserenity Looper was good.. I missed LD in the Warren by one time slot. Worth seeing, and I don't go watch very many movies.
Sigh.
@El Prez I was wondering when you'd make an appearance...... I'll admit my ulterior motive was to get Prez to react. Though after watching it, I understand why it wasn't appealing to some. It's a little whimsical and simple but what can I say, the mood was right and I was in the mood to escape into a whimsical and simple world for 90 minutes.
I was absorbed watching the Rams improve to 3-2 with their 17-3 win over the Cardinals tonight. I was actually one of Sammy's hockey coaches for three seasons. i have a special place in my heart for Sam. Sucks that Amendola broke his collarbone...that will hurt. Great post game set with Chris Long and James Laurenitis. You tell me pro players are just their for the paycheck.
@Godofserenity
Haha, you just lost points with El Prez for that one. Got Looper on my 'to see' list . . .
@ThunderChick2010 Oh, dw about Pwezzie. I'm sure I'll make it up with some of that nasty he's so fond of. :P Check it out, it's a lovely entaglement of issues and topics but doesn't force its' message down your throat. Probably need to see it again to really get it but well worth the price of admission.
@ThunderChick2010 I didn't think it would either, I tend to stream of consciousness type without proof reading, so forgive me if I cross a line.
@Godofserenity @ThunderChick2010
Btw, I see you're fond of the nicknames . . . but Pwezzie ain't gonna work.
I suppose this is about the time you guys are just about thinking of heading to bed? It's 1:30pm Friday in Aus! Distract me from work dammit! Give me news! Royce? One post today? When was the last time that happened?
@Godofserenity every saturday in the offseason.
@OBoymuzik ............ fiiiiine, then where's my video to discuss!?
Don't make me go to espn....... :'(