***2012-13 NBA THREAD!!! New Season/New Thread - LET'S GO!!!!!***

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Just heard a crazy stat...Since coming into the league in 2003, Lebron James has scored 29 more points than Kobe, and he's done so on 526 fewer shots. Wow.

Jalen Rose brought up this point on his Podcast yesterday. When he was a player, the gold standard for scoring was Allen Iverson. AI won an MVP shooting 42 percent. Lebron might top 57 or 58 percent this year. Those are Shaquille O'Neal in his LA prime numbers. For a forward.

And this is going on across the league. Durant shoots a higher percentage on 3 point shots than AI shot overall. Even gunners like Westbrook and Harden tend to shoot in the mid 40s. It's just not a league where you can be inefficient on offense and hope to win.

I think Lebron really studied his game in the off-season and more or less took every inefficient shot out of his repetoire. He's only shoot long jumpers if they are a 3 now. Everything else is either at the rim, in the low post or in the high post, where he is basically unguardable because if you single-team him he's going to take two dribbles and get to the rim and if you double team him he's going to make the right pass over the defense every single time.

The days where he would take the ball above the free throw line, take three jab steps and then hoist a fade away jumper are long gone.

[Destino]

The sleeves make them look like some Horizon League team. It just looks weird as hell. I hope it doesn't catch on with other teams. Tanks have always been what teams have worn.

They used to wear short shorts too.

[RonArtest15]

Jalen Rose brought up this point on his Podcast yesterday. When he was a player, the gold standard for scoring was Allen Iverson. AI won an MVP shooting 42 percent. Lebron might top 57 or 58 percent this year. Those are Shaquille O'Neal in his LA prime numbers. For a forward.

And this is going on across the league. Durant shoots a higher percentage on 3 point shots than AI shot overall. Even gunners like Westbrook and Harden tend to shoot in the mid 40s. It's just not a league where you can be inefficient on offense and hope to win.

I think Lebron really studied his game in the off-season and more or less took every inefficient shot out of his repetoire. He's only shoot long jumpers if they are a 3 now. Everything else is either at the rim, in the low post or in the high post, where he is basically unguardable because if you single-team him he's going to take two dribbles and get to the rim and if you double team him he's going to make the right pass over the defense every single time.

The days where he would take the ball above the free throw line, take three jab steps and then hoist a fade away jumper are long gone.

Lebron's b-ball IQ is off the charts. This is part of the reason why I think he'd make a seamless transition to the 4 if he's ever at the point where he's too slow to play the 3. And if that day comes, I'd guarantee he'd be the best at the position as well. Dude is ridiculously crafty near the hoop. I can't wait to see where his game is a few years from now. He's taken his game to a whole new level. I love KD...but what Lebron is doing this year is unfathomable. He should be the undisputed MVP of the league.

[Destino]

As for Lebron:
Lebron is greatly helped by the fact that he's got Bosh and Wade. Like LKB said if you double him you're screwed by his passing and you have two other stars that have to be accounted for. That makes life awfully easy for Allen, Lewis, Battier, and others. They've built a team that absolutely dares you to double anyone, with three guys that can beat any one on one defender. This is not to say what Lebron is doing isn't amazing, it is. The guy is peaking and its spectacular to see it. What he's doing in terms of efficiency shouldn't be possible.

As for efficient scoring, I think the "gunner" is almost entirely dead. The amount of 20ppg scorers is down to a handful because the game simply doesn't allow for guys scoring 24 points on 24 shots anymore.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

He should be the undisputed MVP of the league.

Until about halfway through last year, you could at least conceive of a game plan to stop him. It generally consisted of "force him into bad jumpers and hope he misses," but it existed. That doesn't work anymore because he will not settle for bad jumpers.

The only thing that could conceivably slow him down is that he is playing 40 minutes a night, having the offense run through him, and playing intense defense. It's possible he could wear down in the playoffs. Except for...well...look at him.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

Until about halfway through last year, you could at least conceive of a game plan to stop him. It generally consisted of "force him into bad jumpers and hope he misses," but it existed. That doesn't work anymore because he will not settle for bad jumpers.

The only thing that could conceivably slow him down is that he is playing 40 minutes a night, having the offense run through him, and playing intense defense. It's possible he could wear down in the playoffs. Except for...well...look at him.

The guy is a robot. It's like he doesn't get tired. I heard the other day after playing against the Wizards, he ran from Verizon center back to where they were staying in Georgetown. Can't remember where I heard that though.. Who does that?

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

So D-Rose is pumping the breaks on a return this season.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...letely-healthy

If he sits out the rest of the year, that'll mean he's sat out about 12-15 months. I don't understand why he would sit out that long unless he's has a mental block about getting injured again.

To me, sitting out that long will just create more rust. I know ACLs are crazy but sitting out that long is overkill IMO. Just like with RGIII, I feel like you can't sit there and baby your knee for a year and a half

[stevemcqueen1]

what system do you play on? what settings do you use to play? i am playing 8 mins quarters and getting around 85-110 depending on how much i push the tempo

X Box 360 with 9 or 10 minute quarters depending on how patient I am. I play with all of the default settings otherwise. I would play on 8 minute quarters because I find I can still get my numbers in that time. But it throws off the numbers of the rest of the team a whole bunch.

[I_Bleed_B&G]

Lebron is just tearing **** up. My goodness!

[stevemcqueen1]

Steph Curry has gotten really good... on offense. I like what the Warriors have built offensively between him, Thompson, and Barnes. But they are going to be horrid defensively no matter what they do

Kind of like the Warriors teams with Mullin, Richmond, and Hardaway.

---------- Post added February-12th-2013 at 11:14 PM ----------

Houston--Golden St., showcase of dumb basketball. I thought the Wizards were bad, but their collective BBall IQ dwarfs either of these teams. Both of these teams will get absolutely pounded in the playoffs.

[Shabby]

Lebron is just tearing **** up. My goodness!

Dude is playing out of his mind this season, especially these last 6 games hes played. unbelievable

[Dan T.]

More evidence of the me-first attitude that degrades the NBA...

NBA Stars Don't Take Last Second Shots Because They Don't Want to **** Up Their Shooting Percentage
by Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo Sports

During the 1990s, I noticed a curious trend that All-Star guard Tim Hardaway seemed to be at the forefront of. ... It was the way he treated last-second, buzzer-beating three-pointers. Not close shots at the end of a game or shot clock, but half-courters at the end of each of the first three quarters. He seemed to be purposely letting the ball go just a half-second after the buzzer went off, presumably in order to shield his shooting percentage from the one-in-100 shot he was attempting. If the shot missed, no harm all around. If it went in? Then the crowd would go nuts and he’d get a few slaps on the back, even if he wouldn’t earn three points for the scoreboard.

NBA players have been working this way for years, not exclusively, but it’s not uncommon to see players holding off on taking those bombs. And until today I’d never heard anyone cop to it. Not until the NBA player that most deserves to cop to it – the legendarily efficient MVP candidate, Kevin Durant – told Daily Thunder’s Royce Young that, no, he’s not going to take that shot if his shooting percentages on the night aren’t up to his drool-worthy snuff.

Here’s Durant, from Daily Thunder:

“It depends on what I’m shooting from the field. First quarter if I’m 4-for-4, I let it go. Third quarter if I’m like 10-for-16, or 10-for-17, I might let it go. But if I’m like 8-for-19, I’m going to go ahead and dribble one more second and let that buzzer go off and then throw it up there. So it depends on how the game’s going.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ba...7263--nba.html

Durant isn't the only one on the Thunder that does it, but he's the one that flat out admitted it. It got so bad that during a recent practice OKC coach Scott Brooks had to practically beg his guys to tkae the shot.

[stevemcqueen1]

That's what I do on 2K13. I don't hoist it at all though. But that's a video game and I'm a perfectionist. It's absolutely goddamn ridiculous that real life NBA players care that much about their shooting percentages. I do not like hearing that KD keeps track of his percentages throughout the game.

No question in my mind that FG % is the most overrated stat in all of basketball. Even the players freak out about it? That's so stupid.

But it's basically the thing media members and fans use to denigrate players they don't really like. I know this because I've done it myself in the past.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I watched the last six minutes of the Heat-Blazers game. Lebron is playing another sport entirely right now.

What is stunning is his defense. He had two block shots in the last six minutes (one of which may have been a goal-tend) that would have been season highlights for nearly any other forward. He blocked one layup where he started to make his move from out of bounds near the three point line. Is it possible that he is the best defensive player in the league now too?

[Monte51Coleman]

Is it possible that he is the best defensive player in the league now too?

Not just now. He was last year, as well. He can effectively guard 1-4, could probably guard 5's, too, if need be.

He should have been DPOY last season. Tyson Chandler? Please.