THE 2015 NBA PRE SEASON THREAD: BEST WISHES TO LAMAR ODOM

[mgrand15]

So was there some type of reasoning for CJ Watson and Terrance Jones being invited to the USA camp? I think they should have invited Nerlens Noel.

Well Terrence Jones is actually good and young.

Did you see the PGs playing during this showcase? They were probably looking for any American NBA PG in shape and in Vegas. CJ was probably the lone candidate.

 

[pastor glo]

so the lakers got a starting pg arching his eyebrows 

 

[a-friend]

 

 
Word around the campfire is...

Nice edit G, as always, perfection.

 Stephs face though, and Russ with the "damn damn smirk face"

 

[pmatic]

So was there some type of reasoning for CJ Watson and Terrance Jones being invited to the USA camp? I think they should have invited Nerlens Noel.

They were in Vegas training already (probably at Impact).

 

[jphysique]

Terrance Jones is nice! 

 

[HIM]

LeBron's scholarships don't matter because the education system is stupid and needs to be changed.

Or something.

 

[rck3sactown]

Hallo guys

Wie geht es euch?

Good I hope.

I miss you all.

Danke schoen [emoji]128513[/emoji]

 

[pums]

Terrance Jones is nice! 

No he isn't

 

[trueprada]

^^ 

 

[wavycrocket]

Excuse me. I am reliving the SUmmer of 2011 man. GREAT time

Baltimore was sooooo lit that summer

Used to stalk Twitter to see where the surprise runs would be at. And try to get there before it became packed and they started charging.

Brandon Jennings was interning at Under Armour for the summer and used to pop up at the Melo Center and St. Frances all the time.

KD would drive himself 45 minutes from DC just to hoop. Dolo in his all white Benz . All the NBA players would come to St. Frances...which is in the heart of the hood in East Baltimore.

When Melo brought Bron, KD and Cp3 and other stars to Morgan State

 

[pmatic]

 

[abematic]

Baltimore was sooooo lit that summer

Used to stalk Twitter to see where the surprise runs would be at. And try to get there before it became packed and they started charging.

Brandon Jennings was interning at Under Armour for the summer and used to pop up at the Melo Center and St. Frances all the time.

KD would drive himself 45 minutes from DC just to hoop. Dolo in his all white Benz

. All the NBA players would come to St. Frances...which is in the heart of the hood in East Baltimore.

When Melo brought Bron, KD and Cp3 and other stars to Morgan State

Sounds awesome! 

 
The energy level must've been over 9000

 

[wavycrocket]

Sounds awesome!   

The energy level must've been over 9000

It was crazy.

One of those things the old heads tell you about the summers at the Rucker in the 70s that you wish you were around. City was too live.

Baltimore's young local talent was flourishing. With Aquille Carr just bursting on the National scene. Will Barton, CJ Fair, Josh Selby, Roscoe Smith just finished up their Freshman years. Gary Neal's first year in the L. Melo and Rudy Gay occasionally popping up. All these guys would come out and go toe to toe with the NBA guys.

Just a lot of assessable high level basketball that summer.

 

[jpzx]

@joevardon: A point of clarification for some reports I've seen about LeBron's scholarship program. U of Akron will pay for it, NOT LeBron or foundation

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

So was there some type of reasoning for CJ Watson and Terrance Jones being invited to the USA camp? I think they should have invited Nerlens Noel.

USA had a ton of injured guys so those guys were most likely in the area just filling out both teams

I agree though Noel would be nice to just have in the system

 

[earldagoat]

 

[abematic]

Personal opinions, 

Do you believe in analytic in the NBA? Does it work? and for teams that does it, I believe like the Warriors, the results showed..

Will give my opinion later after I'm done with work.. 

 

[jpzx]

It's not about believing in them, because that part is settled. They exist as tools if used in the right context.

 

[Vincent Van Goat]

Personal opinions, 

Do you believe in analytic in the NBA? Does it work? and for teams that does it, I believe like the Warriors, the results showed..

Will give my opinion later after I'm done with work.. 

When folks discuss this, for example Charles Barkley, I wonder what they're really asking/saying. What does analytic nba really mean exactly

 

[earldagoat]

 "Honestly Tracy McGrady might have been the GOAT!

The above tweet by Los Angeles Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell no doubt made people wonder what his teammate Kobe Bryant might think about that.

There are also people who think Bryant is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

How do they compare?

Looking at each player's best season

In 2002-03, McGrady put together his best season. He led the NBA in scoring at 32.1 points per game, averaged 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, and finished with a player efficiency rating of 30.3.

Who ya got?
Comparing the peak seasons of Tracy McGrady (2002-03) and Kobe Bryant (2005-06)
MCGRADY BRYANT
PPG 32.1 35.4
APG 5.5 4.5
RPG 6.5 5.3
PER 30.3 28.3

At that point, the only other non-big man in NBA history to finish with a PER of 30 or more in one season was Michael Jordan, who did it four times, the first time coming in his age-24 season in 1987-88. In his age-23 season, McGrady was also the youngest player (regardless of position) to finish with a PER of 30.

So in terms of players 23 or younger, McGrady was the GOAT.

Although there’s not much debate about who had the better career, there’s plenty of evidence to make the argument that McGrady’s peak was better than Bryant’s.

Bryant’s best season by several standards (scoring, PER and win shares) was 2005-06, when he averaged 35.4 points and dragged a team that started Smush Parker, Chris Mihm and Brian Cook to the playoffs.

Here’s where Bryant supporters scoff at the notion that McGrady was on Bryant's level: So they both led the league in scoring? Kobe averaged over three more points per game!

Averages in peak season
The points Tracy McGrady (2002-03) and Kobe Bryant (2005-06) were responsible for in their peak season
MCGRADY BRYANT
Points scored 32.1 35.4
Points assisted 12.9 10.7
Pts. resp. for 45.0 46.1
Pct. of team points 46% 46%
McGrady also accounted for more than two more points off assists per game, and when you consider he did so for a 2002-03 Orlando Magic team that averaged a point less than the 2005-06 Lakers, both accounted for 46 percent of his team’s points – a wash.

Looking at nontraditional statistics

Here’s where the nontraditional numbers support McGrady. McGrady’s PER was two points higher than Bryant’s, and he finished with more win shares. While within a tenth of a point on 2-point field goal percentage compared with Bryant, McGrady shot a better clip from beyond the arc, resulting in a higher effective field goal percentage.

But what about defense? Kobe’s an all-league defender!

Yes. In 2005-06, Bryant was first-team All-Defense. Basketball-Reference.com’s Defensive Box Plus-Minus estimates a player’s defensive impact per 100 possessions compared to a league-average player. In general, it passes the smell test.

Of the 10 players named All-Defense last season, none finished with a negative Defensive Box Plus-Minus. In 2002-03, McGrady was basically average, finishing at minus-0.1. He averaged twice as many blocks as Bryant in his peak season and nearly one fewer foul per game.

Bryant in 2005-06 finished with a defensive box plus-minus of minus-1.5, the second-worst mark of his career and the worst by any Lakers rotation player that season.

What about a three-season perspective?

Taking a look beyond just their best season, the same argument can be made looking at their best three-season span. For McGrady, we’ll use 2001-02 to 2003-04 and for Bryant, 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Both led the NBA in scoring twice during their respective runs. And although Bryant’s peak average was higher (31.7 points per game to 28.6), the advanced metrics point to McGrady having the superior three-season run.

In addition to a better three-season PER, McGrady has the edge over Bryant in both Offensive and Defensive Box Plus-Minus. Considered an offensive genius, Bryant ranked fourth in the NBA with an Offensive Box Plus-Minus of plus-6.2 during his three-season peak.

During his three-season peak, McGrady’s Offensive Box Plus-Minus was plus-7.6, which easily led the NBA and would have also been the best by any player during Bryant’s three-season peak.

The difference between McGrady and the player with the second-best mark from 2001-02 to 2003-04 (Ray Allen) was the same as the difference between the second-best and 11th-best, putting McGrady on a level of his own during the best three-season stretch of his career."

http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/po...-about-mcgrady

 

[abematic]

It was crazy.

One of those things the old heads tell you about the summers at the Rucker in the 70s that you wish you were around. City was too live.

Baltimore's young local talent was flourishing. With Aquille Carr just bursting on the National scene. Will Barton, CJ Fair, Josh Selby, Roscoe Smith just finished up their Freshman years. Gary Neal's first year in the L. Melo and Rudy Gay occasionally popping up. All these guys would come out and go toe to toe with the NBA guys.

Just a lot of assessable high level basketball that summer.

I actually watched all those videos when they posted it up during  those runs were happening. 

A lot of those guys would definitely had played with a chip on their shoulders against those big names I would assume... It wouldn't be no other way. 

To have that type of atmosphere in your city would be damn amazing. I would be out there to spectate if given the chance but nothing of that level happens here in Milwaukee.. 

 

[sea manup]

teams have been using analytics for decades to give them an advantage

all teams should be using stats and "advanced" stats by now

specific stats are very helpful when doing a scouting report, knowing that melo shoots better from the right elbow than the left elbow helps the defender out

however, the all inclusive advanced stats are pointless garbage. PER, win shares, ect. you are better off just looking at the stats that are inserted into the formula rather than a biased formula that some nerd created

i also dont understand the boring nerd mentality of getting wet over a statline rather than actually watching the game.

its a overall self centred mentality people have these days that stats are more important than winning. "its okay that he lost, he still had a better PER than all these winners". Just a bunch of losers trying to convince themselves that losing is acceptable, what a joke.

 

[sea manup]

LeBron's scholarships don't matter because the education system is stupid and needs to be changed.

this is just ignorant 

 

[pastor glo]

 
this is just ignorant 

its truth to that, the same education system that taught us columbus discovered america 

 

[earldagoat]