NBA '20/'21

[ShakeWell]

I'm really just making this thread to celebrate Giannis signing his contract extension with the Bucks. YEAH.

 

[pudik]

Not a whole lot of excitment going on so far tbh. wiseman and edwards have looked like solid rookies, curry put up 62 (60 points feels less exciting these days but it's getting a lot of coverage), and a bunch of teams really look to be breezing through the regular season.

expansion's exciting though!

 

[Issun]

Curry putting up 62 the other night is worth mentioning as well.

 

[pudik]

I did. I'm downplaying it a bit, but even though there have been 12 60+ games the past 5 years, there's no reason to not be impressed. Also the most points since '17. It's also just kind of a big story because there's too much talk about him not having it anymore which is clearly wrong. Surprised his 3 rate has been <40% so far, but that shouldn't last.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

I feel like the expectation is less that he's lost it, and more that a significant amount of his success was a product of him playing within a very advantageous system/along side very advantageous pairings. When you played most of your career alongside a shooter that was nearly as deadly and prolific like Klay Thompson, and then Kevin Durant, it made getting shots off a LOT easier. Since if you get double teamed, that leaves those other shooters wide open, and visa versa. And absent those two on the floor (and a general dearth of talent on the team) defenses can begin to game plan entirely around stopping him, which would limit his effectiveness. I think the dip in shooting percentages is probably reflective of that, but Curry is still a supreme talent regardless and can still score with the best of them when he wants. It'll be interesting to see if he can keep up the momentum over the course of a shortened/accelerated season like this year, or if defensive schemes begin to plan for him better. If I'm another team, I just double him nonstop and ask the rest of the Dubs to beat me instead.

The Kings had a hot start out of the gates but have quickly fallen back down below .500. It was entirely expected and yet I'm still disappointed. Sasuga Kings. On the bright side, our rookie this year is basically the steal of the draft/will give Wiseman a run for his money for RotY. So that's nice.

 

[Rascally Badger]

The Warriors don't work without Steph, but they also don't work with only Steph. This makes him not unlike any other great player.

 

[pudik]

it'll be interesting to see what next year is like. they'll likely have two lottery/near lottery picks, and the draft class is alright. Either will be enough to make them competitive, or Curry spends the end of his prime grooming the next warriors core.