TheNorthCydeRises

To your point, here are some of the current playoff droughts EASTERN CONFERENCE Orlando Magic ( 5 seasons ) * Best draft picks ( during this period ): Olidipo ( selected #2 ) - traded . . . Gordon ( 4 ) * Best FA/Trade acquisition ( during this period ): Serge Ibaka - traded for a 1st rd pick Interesting article: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/2/14/14611298/serge-ibaka-trade-magic-awful-history Philadelphia 76ers ( 5 seasons ) * Best draft picks: Embiid ( 3 ) - injury prone . . . Simmons ( 1 ) - missed entire season due to injury . . . Okafor ( 3 ) * Best FA/Trade acquisition: Dario Saric * Interesting article: http://www.libertyballers.com/2017/5/3/15521374/sixers-tinder-owner-josh-harris-ceo-scott-o-neil-general-manager-bryan-colangleo-ben-simmons-injury New York Knicks ( 4 seasons ) * Best draft picks: Porzingis ( 4 ) . . . Hardaway Jr ( 24 ) - traded * Best FA/Trade acquisition: Derrick Rose * Interesting article: https://gothamsn.com/how-bad-could-it-actually-get-for-the-knicks-next-season-adbb69373dfc WESTERN CONFERENCE Minnesota Timberwolves ( 13 seasons ) * Best draft picks: Towns ( 1 ) . . . Lavine ( 13 ) * Best FA/Trade acquisition: Andrew Wiggins . . . Kevin Love - who was traded for Wiggins * Interesting Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/04/17/will-the-timberwolves-be-able-to-convince-anyone-to-sign-in-free-agency/?utm_term=.0d73d8acb19b Sacramento Kings ( 11 seasons ) * Best draft pick: Demarcus Cousins ( 5 ) - traded . . . Tyreke Evans ( 4 ) - traded * Best FA/Trade acquisition: Rudy Gay * Interesting Article: https://theringer.com/2017-nba-draft-sacramento-kings-tank-c6b5cd6fc74f Phoenix Suns ( 7 seasons ) * Best draft pick: Devin Booker ( 13 ) . . . Markief Morris ( 13 ) - traded * Best FA/Trade acquisition: Eric Bledsoe * Interesting Article: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2017/05/08/nba-draft-phoenix-suns-lottery-pick-playoff-drought/310908001/

What a depressing list. Dennis may be better than all of those guys, outside of Horford. And he may surpass Horford in a mere 2 years.

The big secret is this: I AM THE SUPERSTAR! Like Bruce Leroy in The Last Dragon, I just had to find my inner "Soul Glow". People have doubted me. Coach Bud has tried to humble me. Fake gangsta basketball players have tried to punk me. But now I truly know. It is MY TIME. When people ask "Who's the master" in Atlanta. I can now confidently say . . . I AM! Build around ME. Put the right players around ME, so my superstardom can truly come to the surface for all to see and to make my team and teammates better. I have always had "The Glow". Ride with me ATLANTA.

Dennis got destroyed in Game 6, mainly in transition and with his inability to contest shots in the midrange. And notice what happened the one time Dwight did come up to challenge Wall on the perimeter, midway through the video. Dennis simply has to get better at fighting through those screens, or Bud needs to hide Dennis, and put a bigger defender on the PG. This is why it was kind of curious as to why Thabo didn't get any burn in that series, even if it was just to play defense a little on Wall.

Boston had 2 very good defensive guards that they could throw at Wall, while they hid Isaiah Thomas in the corner. Bradley and Smart will fight through the initial screen, and hang with Wall.

Not nearly as detrimental as you think. Opponents are only scoring 1.3 points when Dwight is defending the roll man. The issue was with the guards fighting through or over the screen, to contest the midrange shot. The bigger Bazemore did it well. The small Schröder didn't. But even Schröder only gave up 4.5 ppg off the PnR Ball handler during the season. That shot up to 8,8 ppg, in the playoffs, when Wall started making midrange shots.

Here you go. Saved you some time. Since you trust nba.com stats so much, I'll use them. PICK AND ROLL MAN Regular season: http://stats.nba.com/players/roll-man/#!?Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular Season&sort=TeamNameAbbreviation&dir=-1&OD=defensive Playoffs: http://stats.nba.com/players/roll-man/#!?Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Playoffs&sort=TeamNameAbbreviation&dir=-1&OD=defensive PICK AND ROLL BALL HANDLER Regular season: http://stats.nba.com/players/ball-handler/#!?sort=TeamNameAbbreviation&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular Season&OD=defensive Playoffs: http://stats.nba.com/players/ball-handler/#!?sort=TeamNameAbbreviation&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Playoffs&OD=defensive

OK . . this one made me LOL.

Can't you pull up actual numbers on Dwight's pick and roll defense? Post them please, to show how awful he was.

One of the worst movies of all time. At least the 1st one was decent. The 2nd one was garbage, and just had a bunch of celebs thrown together in it.

No. I've been using this site as a reference for years. Their ORtg and DRtg are definitely accurate to what you see out on the floor. I'm not even a Dwight Howard fan, but I'm not a hater either. According to nba.com in the regular season, Taurean Prince was #5 in the league in defensive rating. Malcolm Delaney was #14. Do you really believe that? Stephen Curry is #20, by the way http://stats.nba.com/players/advanced/#!?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1&CF=MIN*GE*15&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular Season

This will clear it up, somewhat. http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/ratings.html The difference between how basketball-reference keeps the offensive and defensive ratings, and how nba.com does it, is that B-R does it on an INDIVIDUAL basis, while nba.com assigns the rating to players according to what the TEAM does, while he is in the game. There is a difference. It's inaccurate to give a person a high offensive or defensive rating, just because the team played well while they're in the game, but actually had no impact, or was a detriment individually. This is why B-R is much more accurate in assessing an individual's impact on the game from an ORtg and DRtg standpoint, than nba.com.

Oh no . . I read the response. I was trying to lead you to elaborate more on a specific answer that you gave in the quote. Namely, GMs focusing on obtaining 4 - 5 high quality players, instead of relying on the 2 - 3 top level players to carry the entire team. My follow-up question was going to be . . . what is stopping most of the GMs around the league from doing that right now? Why are they wasting draft picks on young project type players, and not trying to add more established players to their teams, that can help them immediately? I mean, nothing is stopping them from doing this. This is essentially what the Rockets did, and they got better . . . immediately. The Hawks did it too, and we caught fire for a 2 month stretch during our 60 win season. These teams obviously aren't trying to win at all costs. Some aren't doing it for financial reasons. Some simply want to build through the draft, no matter how slow of a process that is. But going all out to win a title is not on the radar for about 80% of these GMs.

Why not try to make a big move on our own? Because if Paul goes to the Spurs, that's essentially the end of the Clippers. And if that's the case, why not go after Blake Griffin? Dump our scrubs off on someone else, and go with a frontline that features Griffin and Millsap. And if you wanted to keep Howard around, that's fine too. Patty Mills is solid, but he's not making this team much better than we already are right now. Would I turn down an opportunity to sign him? No.

Jaybird is right though.

It definitely would not be a topic. We'd be basking in the glow of a championship and seeing how we can keep this thing going for a few more years. And we'd want ownership to pay whatever was necessary to keep the core of the team intact. Cleveland and Golden State, and specifically Lebron and Durant, owe no one an apology. They took matters into their own hands and altered their NBA destiny. Their respective teams couldn't build a winner around them, so they joined forces with others. I personally am not mad at those guys at all. Because had they decided to come to Atlanta, you wouldn't hear a peep out of anyone that is a Hawks fan as to the circumstances that led them here.

It's really not though. It wasn't a problem in the 1960s, when Boston dominated the league. It wasn't a problem during the Magic - Bird era of the 1980s, when the Celtics went to the Finals 5 out of 7 years and the Lakers went to the Finals 8 out of 11 years. It wasn't a problem in the 1990s, when Chicago went to the Finals 6 our of 8 years, and won 6 championships. It wasn't a problem in the 2000s, when the Lakers went to the Finals 7 out of 11 years, winning 5 more championships. Even throw San Antonio in there, with their 5 titles and 9 WCF appearances in 16 years during the Tim Duncan era. The league THRIVES when the top superstars in the league are playing for championships. And the casual NBA fan will ALWAYS choose to see a top 3 player in the league playing for championships, instead of of having a revolving door of teams play for one. Because in reality, most of the fans around the league would NOT watch an Atlanta ( or most any other ) team without a recognizable or spectacular star player, even if it was a championship level team. The last two Cleveland vs Golden State championship matchups have been the highest rated Finals since 2004 Detroit vs LA Lakers series. And Game 7 last year, ( which posted a 15.8 rating and had over 31 million people in the US watch that game ), was the highest rated and most watched Finals game since the iconic Game 6 in 1998 of Chicago vs Utah. The league knows this. So despite the lackuster playoffs this year, the league, and most NBA fans, can't wait to see Cleveland - Golden State III. Instead of fundamentally changing the way the game is played, in order to supposedly bring the "superteams" back to the pack, how about these mid-level teams ( like the Hawks ) go all out to build a championship level team? As much as I like Taurean Prince, don't let holding onto him be a deal breaker in obtaining a legit established star in this league. That's what these teams do though, They hold onto young guys that they drafted, and act like established players like Carmelo Anthony or Demarcus Cousins are so cancerous, that they wouldn't help a team that's already at that mid-level. At least New Orleans broke the mold here, trading away their lottery pick ( Heild ) and future 1st round picks, in order to get Cousins. And a direct question to you. If what you propose here were implemented, what specifically would you expect GMs to do different, in regards to roster building?

http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/stats?season=2016&category=GOALTENDING&group=1&time=2 http://www.foxsports.com/nhl/stats?season=2016&category=ICE+TIME&group=1&time=2 You basically want a hockey structure, to the NBA game. The fact that your best offensive players don't even play 1/2 of the game has enabled 16 seed Nashville to get to the Stanley Cup Finals behind great goaltending, great defense, and timely scoring. In hockey, virtually no one plays 50% of the game, except the goalie. Most top players only play 33% - 40% of the game. So your star players ( especially on offense ), don't have as much impact on the game. The goalie, however, is easily the most important piece of the hockey team. If you have an all-star goalie, it can carry you to the SC Finals, much like star offensive NBA players can carry a team to the NBA Finals. The reason why I blame GMs for the state of the current NBA, is because they're the ones taking chances and risks on "project" type players, instead of signing less upside, but more talented players. People whine and cry about these "one and done" players not staying in school, and watering the NBA product down. They want the NBA to institute a rule similar to college football, in which a kid in college can't leave until after his 3rd year. If that's all it took to improve the overall NBA product, why do those same people dog and shy away from college seniors? There isn't a single college senior projected to go in the lottery, or even the top 20 of this draft. This guy, who was a SUPERSTAR at a major program, is projected to be a 2nd round pick, because he's too small This guy, who was a SUPERSTAR at a major program, is projected to be a 2nd round pick, because he's not athletic enough. These are 2 guys who may not have the "upside" to be stars in their NBA careers, but they could IMMEDIATELY help the reserve unit of any NBA squad. But these scouts and GMs will overlook that, and have them buried deep in the draft. Then once they get into camp, they'll bypass guys like these, in order to nurture and cultivate their "projects". This is how a real good college scorer like Isaiah Thomas becomes the last guy picked in the draft. They overlook the one thing he did at an elite level ( score the basketball by getting his own shot ), and act like all of his so-called weaknesses will stunt him at the NBA level. Then people are all shocked when he not only makes the Kings squad, but turns out to be one of their better guards from Day 1. And as he gets better, even the Kings decide to let him go, These GMs and scouts are notorious for not being able to evaluate talent. And they prove it with all of the non-lottery 1st round and 2nd round picks they take chances on, instead of taking guys that can help them from Day 1, even if they don't have "superstar upside".

2017 ( One and done . . . winner of Game 1 advances OR winner of season series advances, if not actual playoff matchup ) East playoff teams: BOS - CHI . . WAS - ATL . . CLE - IND . . TOR - MIL 1st rd East winners: CHI - WAS . . CLE - MIL 2nd rd East winners: WAS ( won season series over CHI 3 - 1 ) - CLE ( won season series over MIL 3 - 1 ) East winner: CLE ( won season series over WAS 3 - 1 ) West playoff teams: GS - POR . . . UTA - LAC . . SA - MEM . . HOU - OKC 1st rd West winners: GS - UTA . . . SA - HOU 2nd rd West winners: GS - HOU West winner: GS ( won season series over HOU 3 - 1 ) Still Cleveland vs Golden State, but you'd have 4 different matchups for the Semis and Finals of each conference. And here are your storylines: * Celtics eliminated by a red hot Bobby Portis / Jimmy Butler, advances to Round 2. * Cleveland narrowly escapes elimination in Round 1, with a CJ Miles miss at the buzzer being the difference. * Joe Johnson buzzer beater beats LAC ( same story ) * Giannis shines in Bucks rout of the Raptors, to advance to the EC Semis. * Balanced attack by Houston leads to rout of Spurs in San Antonio, sending them to the WC Finals * Washington beats Chicago to advance to their first EC Finals in almost 40 years * Cleveland and Golden State advance to the NBA Finals, to complete the trilogy.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/leonaka01.html

LOL . . another condition. And that team middling in the 40s could very well see one of their own develop into a star player, even if they didn't add one. This team did just that And this franchise hasn't received higher than the #10 pick, since George McCloud in 1989, and has pretty much refused to tank, even if they did miss the playoffs a few years. And once again, the Hawks have had chances to upgrade their core of players, with a trade of a few of their younger players for a better established star. But . . . we loved our core.

Damn Al. Can't go out like that in an elimination game. At least put up some fight. http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400953698 8 points - 3 rebs - 1 asst - 3 turnovers . . ( -30 ) . . . in just 27 minutes? The Celtics paid 26.5 million this season, for THAT? I'm disappointed in the guy that some compared to Karl Malone. You gotta have more fight in you than that man.

LOL @ all of those conditions. "Extenuating circumstances" could mean adding a free agent, or drafting a young talent that helped the team, or adding a new coach. The last team to do this was the . . . (( drumroll )) . . . After winning 41 games in 2015 - 16, they decided to revamp their team and find a new voice as a coach. When they didn't re-sign Dwight Howard, and they brought in D'Antoni, no one was expecting the Houston Rockets to do anything. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/17886875/nba-projected-fall-forecast-standings-2016-17 https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-nba-predictions/ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2664038-nba-predictions-2016-17-win-loss-projections-for-every-team-pre-training-camp No one was expecting Houston to be no better than a low seed playoff team, or out of the playoffs altogether. But they added a plethora of veteran shooters/scorers, and moved Harden to the point, and the rest is history. Harden has an MVP caliber season, and the Rockets win 55 games. Had aliens not kidnapped James Harden in Game 6, maybe the Rockets would've at least extended the Warriors a little in the NBA Finals. Oh, and the other team that has done it recently . . . 2014 - 15

You don't really mean that. Because that would mean that the best man for the job, would be Dominique Wilkins.

Case in point . . . Marcus Smart. Looked like the world's greatest shooter one night . . . goes 1 -9 FG . . . 1 - 5 3FG the next, for 8 points.