NBA Offseason
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George Steele's Barber
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Didn't he go to Duke. That's all the reason anyone should need to shit all over everything he does.
Plus if I'm a Cavs fan, I'm pretty pissed that he doesn't at least fulfill his contractual obligation to the team. And his reason isnt exactly a good one. Its not like he wants to be closer to his dying kid or something. By demanding a trade he has decreased his value considerably and most likely made the team worse. That hurts for their fans.
But mostly the Duke thing.
I've never understood Duke hate. Aside from their winning (and I suppose Grayson Allen), what exactly is there to dislike?
Christian Laettner. He had a whole 30 for 30 made on how much people hated him. For good reason. Throw in a long cast of annoying players like Brian Davis, Chris Collins, Wojo, Greg Paulus, Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, etc. over the years and the perception that many have of their student fans and throw that on top of their success and it's not hard to see why many dislike them.
I understand the dislike for Laettner, but that was 25 years ago. And I understand it for Grayson Allen, but that wouldn't explain all the years before him.
What problem exactly is there with those other guys?
George Steele's Barber
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I'm old and a Carolina fan. Plus it can be fun to show irrational hate since my feelings are not even close to as strong as I pretend.
I don't get all the hate for Nickelback when a band like Maroon 5 exists.
Ahh...well that's understandable then.
I've heard Nickelback far more than I've heard Maroon 5. So that's the issue for me.
The_Misson
Occasional Pre-Show
New rumors on Carmelo say that he'll only waive his no-trade clause if he's traded to Houston. He's no longer willing to waive it for a Cleveland trade.
BestSportsEntertainer
I Don't Need No User Title
Could Melo/CP3/Harden even compete with the Warriors? IMO Warriors still win in 6.
I don't think there are enough basketballs in the league for those three guys to play together.
Laettner was such a visible guy....he was the veteran star player on 2 straight national champions, I think he was the "face" of Duke basketball for a long time in people's minds even after he left.
Greg Paulus liked to flop. There was a well circulated gif when he played of him falling down when there was at least a foot of space between him and the offensive player. Fans don't like floppers.
Collins and Wojo would get chippy out there, always yelling and overcelebrating, slapping the floor, etc. Those types tend to draw the ire of opposing and many neutral fans, especially when they are marginal players. Recall Wojo literally sticking his feet out and trying i to trip Ed Cota as Cota handled the ball at the top of he key. He was basically playing footsie with him.
Brian Davis had those qualities too, plus he was well known as Laettners inseperable buddy.
Basically, Duke does a lot of flopping defensively. They're hardly the only team as it became a bit of a college bball epidemic the last 15 years or so, but Duke is one of the poster children for it and rightfully so.
Duke has seemingly had a lot of those chippy, fiery, sometimes a little dirty type players over the years and a good number of them were fairly mediocre players which makes it worse to people.
Remains to be seen. I think Paul is a smart enough player and a good enough shooter that he can be effective off the ball too even though he's always been a PG who really runs the show. Harden is great with the ball too, so Paul would have to change a bit. I think he can.
Harden fit in just fine with KD and Westbrook early in his career. Of course, he wasn't the level of guy that he is now. But still, I don't recall him having any trouble not having the ball in his hands all the time. Will be an adjustment for him to be sure. But he's also a guy who can play well off the ball as he often did in OKC.
Melo has never really been in that position other than when Denver had Iverson for a year and a half. Statistically they played very well together. Melo is well known for playing great in the Olympics where he's mainly been off the ball and more of a spot up shooter. The Knicks have had little offensive talent basically his whole time there so he's had to have the bball a lot. He's getting older....this would be the perfect time for him to alter his game a bit. He could be an absolutely deadly efficient 2nd scorer type if their games mesh.
Will be interesting to see if it happens. It would most likely take time. I do think all 3 of them have good enough and versatile enough skill sets to play together.....all 3 of them can do a lot of things offensively. A lot of it would be on their willingness to all sacrifice a bit and play a little differently, and on Dantoni and staff to make it work.
A11oftheLights
Getting Noticed By Management
Didnt James Harden just break the turnover record? That would not be my definition of good with the ball
He also averaged 29 ppg and 11 apg, which on the surface is pretty insane. I'm struggling to think of anybody that's done that? Maybe Oscar back when the pace of play was insane?
If you want to just look at the raw numbers....then you've gotta look at all of them. Lots of turnovers, lots of points, lots of assists. The guy had the ball in his hands all the time.....a large part of the reason for all of those numbers.
He's highly skilled with the ball. Unlimited range, can shoot off the catch and off the dribble, great hesitation and crossover, pull-up j, quick and deceptive with the ball, capable passer, great at getting to the rack and getting to the line
A11oftheLights
Getting Noticed By Management
yeah but he turns the ball over way too much. its the worst thing you can do with the ball. If it wasnt for westbrook his last two seasons would be the top two seasons for turnovers. The fact his turnovers went up this year also not a good thing.
So your point is that James Harden and Russell Westbrook aren't good with the ball because they turn it over a lot? Seriously? That's two of the best offensive players in the NBA. Harden's turnovers went up because he had the ball more. His assists and points went up too, for the same reason.
They turn it over a lot because it's constantly on them to make something happen on their teams. You're going to have some turnovers in their situations. You realize Magic Johnson, widely considered the best point guard ever, had numerous seasons where he averaged 4 or more turnovers per game?
All time NBA Point Guard turnover leaders:
1. John Stockton
2. Jason Kidd
3. Isiah Thomas
4. Magic Johnson
5. Steve Nash
I mean....that's 5 of the best point guards ever. And they're the top 5 in turnovers for point guards. Less talented guys don't have the ball as much.
I think Paul and Harden can work it out easily. Who else could dribble in a Clippers uniform apart from Griffin when Paul was on the floor? With Melo I think it won't work but at the same time how bad could it be when you have two guys who can beat almost anyone 1 on 1 and then probably the best true point guard in the league holding the ball with 2 minutes left in a playoff game down 2 or tied.
Richard Blonoff
Make America Rassle Again
I think it's two fold, at least for me it is.
1) It's the winning. In all sports I tend to dislike the teams who are consistently at the top. Part of it is a jealousy thing. I'm fortunate that most of my rooting interests in both pro and college sports have had success in my lifetime. The Colts won it all in '06, the Braves won it all in '95 and have more division titles than I can count, the Pacers have never been basement dwellers, IU Basketball had some good runs, Texas football won a title with Vince Young. I've had some good moments in my life. Teams like Duke though always seem to be at the top.
2) The fans. I don't think Duke fans are the worst, usually I reserve that for New England fans or fans of Notre Dame football (sorry Sly), but they are up there for most entitled/persecuted. They act like if they don't make it to the Sweet 16 it's the fault of the refs or some BS conspiracy by the NCAA to keep them down. Plus, they never seem to accept that they have had some real shit bag players. Yeah, every program with the spotlight that Duke has on it is going to face increased scrutiny, but there are large groups of fans who believe Grayson is treated unfairly.
I don't hate them like I hate, say, UK, but there isn't an ounce of my being that would ever root for them.
Fire Marshall Bill
Let me show ya somethin!!!
Big Nick Dudley
Nick
Sure, Houston can win. If Chris Paul is Chris Paul, Harden takes good shots and plays defense, and Carmelo plays in the post and plays defense. Unfortunately I doubt Harden and Melo will do any of that, so no, they stay behind San Antonio and GS.
Carmelo strictly in the post? Why? His jumper is deadly.
Big Nick Dudley
Nick
They need a post scorer and he would be far more efficient? Of course he can step out, but that's where he would help the most. He needs to take less shots on that team but still score a lot. He won't do any of that, just laying what I feel would be best for that team.
Eh, they don't really play that style of ball where they need a big post scorer. Most teams don't. Melo can still post up, but he doesn't have the lift he used to have. His biggest strength is the variety of ways he can score....he can post, he can be a spot up shooter, he can ISO and create for himself and when he's locked in he doesn't miss that off the dribble mid range j, he can pick and pop....which he and CP3 would be deadly at.
You don't get Carmelo Anthony and make him a one dimensional guy IMO. He'll be more efficient just on the strength of playing with a good point guard for the first time since Billups, and on being on a team with multiple threats.
Edit: I don't think it was a coincidence that Melo won the scoring title in the year he had Jason Kidd. And Kidd was pretty much washed up by then! But he could still get the ball to the right guys in the right spots. Melo has lost a lot of athleticism since then so he won't be winning any scoring titles, but his skills are still there and playing with CP3 would bring out the best in him, IMO.
Big Nick Dudley
Nick
As long as Melo isn't taking 35 shots, whatever.
That's a tired and lazy narrative IMO. He's been the only good offensive player on his team for years, so he should have been shooting a lot.
If he goes the the Rockets, he should still shoot a lot....just not quite as much.
He's an above average passer and always has been. There's only a few "point forwards" in the game and he ain't one of them. But he sees the floor pretty well and passes the ball pretty well. It's never been his primary role to set others up, though he did lead the Knicks in assists two years ago.