Official NBA 2016-2017 Thread - 30 teams, 1 goal. 2 weeks left, so much can happen!!
Dirk is done; sad but true....
Russell Westbrook
, James Harden ; and the East is pure trash; How you get blown out, Charlotte, and Irving didnt even play
; For the last 3 years, utter trash.....
, James Harden ; and the East is pure trash; How you get blown out, Charlotte, and Irving didnt even play; For the last 3 years, utter trash.....
Melo how are you gonna let a Dude have possibly one of the greatest single game performances in history and you play like Robert Covington? 
Trash trash trash....Melo how are you gonna let a Dude have possibly one of the greatest single game performances in history and you play like Robert Covington?
Russell Westbrook
Lebron is the real deal
Melo how are you gonna let a Dude have possibly one of the greatest single game performances in history and you play like Robert Covington?
Melo is off this year mentally. I think the losses have taken their toll and he realized that Phil aint the guy to turn the ship around. He looks beat down sometimes.
Melo is talented, but he's never been a superstar tho...
Hey @shaddyvillethug , how the fuck your boy Pooh gonna get lit up for the best all around game in NBA history Bruh?!?!?! Nigga bum sauce, da fuck you give of 50/15/15? TELL ME NIGGA!?!?! 
gonna get lit up for the best all around game in NBA history Bruh?!?!?! Nigga bum sauce, da fuck you give of 50/15/15? TELL ME NIGGA!?!?! 
Hey @shaddyvillethug , how the fuck your boy Pooh
Westbrook and Harden really going at it...
Battling.......
Rajon Rondo, should he remain benched, says he 'absolutely' will seek a trade from Bulls
Rajon Rondo makes his move. (Getty Images)
Rajon Rondo wore the headband, on New Year’s Eve. He had the headwear on, while his Bulls lost another one to a division foe. This time it was the Milwaukee Bucks who watched as Rondo watched, missing the entire game as a healthy scratch just a day after sitting out the second half of a game he originally started in, as Chicago lost in Indianapolis.
The Bulls signed Rondo to a two-year, $27.4 million deal in the offseason, seemingly bidding against themselves for a player who had flamed out both professionally and personally in his three previous stops in Boston, Dallas and Sacramento. With Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg’s decision to dump the former All-Star in the starting lineup in exchange for 2013-14 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, Rondo has admitted that he’ll ask to meet with the team’s front office in order to suss out his options moving forward after just 29 games as a Chicago Bull.
He couldn’t even make it until 2017. Who, besides the obvious in red and black, didn’tsee this coming? From Vincent Goodwill at CSN Chicago:
“Absolutely,” said Rondo when asked if he accomplished enough in the NBA for the Bulls to accommodate him on a trade or some transaction to allow him to seek another team should the benching continue.
“Gar (Forman, Bulls GM) and I will have a talk. We’ll talk tonight and go from there. I don’t know if it’s right now, maybe the next 30, 18, 45 minutes. Tonight, before ’17 (the clock strikes midnight).”
[…]
“No, I’m not surprised. Not surprised,” Rondo said. “It’s been a tough season. Certain buttons are being pushed and the Bulls are trying to figure things out.”
“He was great, very professional” Hoiberg said. “We talked about accepting whatever role he has and helping our guys stay ready.
“I was proud of how he handled the situation (Friday night in Indiana). He was cheering for the guys from the bench and talking to them when they came out for rotational reasons. That is very admirable for a guy who has had the type of career he has had.
“I know he’ll be ready when he’s called upon. It’s just the decision we decided to go with to see if we can change the flow of our team.”
Rondo, to his credit, has handled the demotion with on-record ease:
“I’m going to explode,” Rondo said sarcastically about his response to being benched. “Nah, I’m going to continue to work. Play more 1-on-1. Stay fit. Take care of my body. Lift. And give these young guys as much advice as I can while I’m on the bench supporting them.”
Rondo’s role in the flow of the Bulls (16-18, losers of 14 of 22) being altered seemingly beyond repair is up for debate, but neither side in this discussion can get away from the fact that Rajon is part of the problem.
The 30-year old, a champion in 2008 with the Boston Celtics prior to a career-altering ACL tear in 2013, averages 7.2 points, 7.1 assists and 6.5 rebounds a game, but he acts as perhaps the worst defensive guard in the NBA. His inability to shoot leaves the Chicago offense (ranked dead last in three-pointers made, attempted, three-pointer percentage, Effective Field Goal percentage and second to last in field goal percentage) at a massive disadvantage that even the presence of the sub-MVP stylings of Jimmy Butler cannot overcome.
Replacement Michael Carter-Williams is not your typical former Rookie of the Year. His 2013-14 season was the prize of one of the worst freshman class performances in NBA history, and he’s been traded twice since taking the award. MCW even missed Chicago’s training camp due to the late timing of his most recent trade, and an early-season wrist and knee injury knocked him out of the rotation from Halloween until Christmas.
He contributed nine points, six rebounds and an assist in the second half against Indiana, but Carter-Williams missed five of six shots against the Bucks and shoots 23.8 percent on the year. His Milwaukee counterpart, rookie Malcolm Brogdon, contributed 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in the Bucks’ win on Saturday. MCW seems a potent and credible replacement to take a chance on, but only in theory at this point.
To the great shame of the Chicago front office, Rajon Rondo never even looked like a proper fit for the Bulls in theory, much less inaction in action.
The point guard was asked to leave the Dallas Mavericks in 2015 after just a few months with the team, months that saw his skill set drag the previously-top ranked offense into the muck. His time with the Sacramento Kings included his role in the verbal attack and outing of respected referee Bill Kennedy. In terms of pure basketball prowess, he is a millstone of the highest order – a poor player that nevertheless finds himself in high usage situations.
The problem here is that, through what has to be characterized as “his game” and through the off (although, technically, on)-court actions, Rajon Rondo has achieved a state of basketball irrelevance that hardly portends well for his future. If Rondo has his way, he’ll soon be sent to his fifth NBA team in less than a 25-month span. At this point in his career, despite the nice box score stats, he remains an uneasy watch: the basketball non-entity that outed a grown man against his wishes just because didn’t agree with the way a sports game was going.
The Chicago Bulls front office will circle the wagons, as that s the way they’ve done thing for years under owner Jerry Reinsdorf and his hires, and the team will be loath to admit its mistake in signing Rondo. Waiving the point guard isn’t out of the question – the second year of his two-year contract is only guaranteed for $3 million, which the Bulls could stretch out over three years at relatively little payroll or cap loss. Alas, this isn’t Christmas Eve, so the Bulls probably won’t fire last summer’s sparkly new appointee. Rondo, even at a quarter of the price, is untradeable.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Rajon Rondo is not a player that can help an NBA team with his NBA play, and everyone but the Chicago Bulls seemed to know this last summer prior to Chicago’s decision to hand him a guaranteed $14 million to play basketball this season. What the Chicago Bulls apparently did anticipate, is the thoughtful and professional way Rajon Rondo has handled his demotion – something we didn’t think him capable of after his time in Dallas and Sacramento.
It is early, though.
Rajon Rondo makes his move. (Getty Images)
Rajon Rondo wore the headband, on New Year’s Eve. He had the headwear on, while his Bulls lost another one to a division foe. This time it was the Milwaukee Bucks who watched as Rondo watched, missing the entire game as a healthy scratch just a day after sitting out the second half of a game he originally started in, as Chicago lost in Indianapolis.
The Bulls signed Rondo to a two-year, $27.4 million deal in the offseason, seemingly bidding against themselves for a player who had flamed out both professionally and personally in his three previous stops in Boston, Dallas and Sacramento. With Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg’s decision to dump the former All-Star in the starting lineup in exchange for 2013-14 Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams, Rondo has admitted that he’ll ask to meet with the team’s front office in order to suss out his options moving forward after just 29 games as a Chicago Bull.
He couldn’t even make it until 2017. Who, besides the obvious in red and black, didn’tsee this coming? From Vincent Goodwill at CSN Chicago:
“Absolutely,” said Rondo when asked if he accomplished enough in the NBA for the Bulls to accommodate him on a trade or some transaction to allow him to seek another team should the benching continue.
“Gar (Forman, Bulls GM) and I will have a talk. We’ll talk tonight and go from there. I don’t know if it’s right now, maybe the next 30, 18, 45 minutes. Tonight, before ’17 (the clock strikes midnight).”
[…]
“No, I’m not surprised. Not surprised,” Rondo said. “It’s been a tough season. Certain buttons are being pushed and the Bulls are trying to figure things out.”
“He was great, very professional” Hoiberg said. “We talked about accepting whatever role he has and helping our guys stay ready.
“I was proud of how he handled the situation (Friday night in Indiana). He was cheering for the guys from the bench and talking to them when they came out for rotational reasons. That is very admirable for a guy who has had the type of career he has had.
“I know he’ll be ready when he’s called upon. It’s just the decision we decided to go with to see if we can change the flow of our team.”
Rondo, to his credit, has handled the demotion with on-record ease:
“I’m going to explode,” Rondo said sarcastically about his response to being benched. “Nah, I’m going to continue to work. Play more 1-on-1. Stay fit. Take care of my body. Lift. And give these young guys as much advice as I can while I’m on the bench supporting them.”
Rondo’s role in the flow of the Bulls (16-18, losers of 14 of 22) being altered seemingly beyond repair is up for debate, but neither side in this discussion can get away from the fact that Rajon is part of the problem.
The 30-year old, a champion in 2008 with the Boston Celtics prior to a career-altering ACL tear in 2013, averages 7.2 points, 7.1 assists and 6.5 rebounds a game, but he acts as perhaps the worst defensive guard in the NBA. His inability to shoot leaves the Chicago offense (ranked dead last in three-pointers made, attempted, three-pointer percentage, Effective Field Goal percentage and second to last in field goal percentage) at a massive disadvantage that even the presence of the sub-MVP stylings of Jimmy Butler cannot overcome.
Replacement Michael Carter-Williams is not your typical former Rookie of the Year. His 2013-14 season was the prize of one of the worst freshman class performances in NBA history, and he’s been traded twice since taking the award. MCW even missed Chicago’s training camp due to the late timing of his most recent trade, and an early-season wrist and knee injury knocked him out of the rotation from Halloween until Christmas.
He contributed nine points, six rebounds and an assist in the second half against Indiana, but Carter-Williams missed five of six shots against the Bucks and shoots 23.8 percent on the year. His Milwaukee counterpart, rookie Malcolm Brogdon, contributed 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds in the Bucks’ win on Saturday. MCW seems a potent and credible replacement to take a chance on, but only in theory at this point.
To the great shame of the Chicago front office, Rajon Rondo never even looked like a proper fit for the Bulls in theory, much less inaction in action.
The point guard was asked to leave the Dallas Mavericks in 2015 after just a few months with the team, months that saw his skill set drag the previously-top ranked offense into the muck. His time with the Sacramento Kings included his role in the verbal attack and outing of respected referee Bill Kennedy. In terms of pure basketball prowess, he is a millstone of the highest order – a poor player that nevertheless finds himself in high usage situations.
The problem here is that, through what has to be characterized as “his game” and through the off (although, technically, on)-court actions, Rajon Rondo has achieved a state of basketball irrelevance that hardly portends well for his future. If Rondo has his way, he’ll soon be sent to his fifth NBA team in less than a 25-month span. At this point in his career, despite the nice box score stats, he remains an uneasy watch: the basketball non-entity that outed a grown man against his wishes just because didn’t agree with the way a sports game was going.
The Chicago Bulls front office will circle the wagons, as that s the way they’ve done thing for years under owner Jerry Reinsdorf and his hires, and the team will be loath to admit its mistake in signing Rondo. Waiving the point guard isn’t out of the question – the second year of his two-year contract is only guaranteed for $3 million, which the Bulls could stretch out over three years at relatively little payroll or cap loss. Alas, this isn’t Christmas Eve, so the Bulls probably won’t fire last summer’s sparkly new appointee. Rondo, even at a quarter of the price, is untradeable.
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Rajon Rondo is not a player that can help an NBA team with his NBA play, and everyone but the Chicago Bulls seemed to know this last summer prior to Chicago’s decision to hand him a guaranteed $14 million to play basketball this season. What the Chicago Bulls apparently did anticipate, is the thoughtful and professional way Rajon Rondo has handled his demotion – something we didn’t think him capable of after his time in Dallas and Sacramento.
It is early, though.
Everywhere he goes...
Everywhere he goes...
He did well in Sac Town...Bulls constructed a team that goes against the coach system, they went for names
Hawks fielding trade offers for Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver
The Atlanta Hawks have begun listening to trade pitches for All-Star forward Paul Millsap in recent days, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks, fearful of losing Millsap in free agency without compensation in the summer, are not openly shopping him but are taking calls on the 31-year-old and other pending free agents, notably sharpshooter Kyle Korver and swingman Thabo Sefolosha.
Although the Hawks managed to signDwight Howard in free agency last summer to fill a frontcourt void, they were stung by the free-agent departure of Al Horford in that Horford, in the words of one source with knowledge of the team's thinking, got away "for nothing."
The feeling within the organization now, sources said, is that it's best to gauge the trade market for Millsap, Korver and Sefolosha between now and the Feb. 23 trade deadline to guard against a repeat scenario.
The Hawks slumped to 48-34 last season and took a 17-16 record into 2017 after an offseason in which Teague was traded to Indiana before Horford's free-agent defection to Boston.
Denver Nuggets last summer, before the Hawks ultimately decided it was best to keep the versatile forward, who has ranked as one of the league's biggest matchup problems throughout his time in both Utah and Atlanta.
The Toronto Raptors, sources say, are another team that has expressed interest in Millsap in the past.
Millsap, who turns 32 two weeks before the trade deadline in February, entered Sunday night's home date with San Antonio averaging 17.4 points and 8.0 rebounds. He has earned Eastern Conference All-Star berths in each of his three seasons since joining the Hawks in free agency before the 2013-14 campaign, and he earned All-Defensive Second Team honors for the first time last season.
The Atlanta Hawks have begun listening to trade pitches for All-Star forward Paul Millsap in recent days, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that the Hawks, fearful of losing Millsap in free agency without compensation in the summer, are not openly shopping him but are taking calls on the 31-year-old and other pending free agents, notably sharpshooter Kyle Korver and swingman Thabo Sefolosha.
Although the Hawks managed to signDwight Howard in free agency last summer to fill a frontcourt void, they were stung by the free-agent departure of Al Horford in that Horford, in the words of one source with knowledge of the team's thinking, got away "for nothing."
The feeling within the organization now, sources said, is that it's best to gauge the trade market for Millsap, Korver and Sefolosha between now and the Feb. 23 trade deadline to guard against a repeat scenario.
The Hawks slumped to 48-34 last season and took a 17-16 record into 2017 after an offseason in which Teague was traded to Indiana before Horford's free-agent defection to Boston.
Denver Nuggets last summer, before the Hawks ultimately decided it was best to keep the versatile forward, who has ranked as one of the league's biggest matchup problems throughout his time in both Utah and Atlanta.
The Toronto Raptors, sources say, are another team that has expressed interest in Millsap in the past.
Millsap, who turns 32 two weeks before the trade deadline in February, entered Sunday night's home date with San Antonio averaging 17.4 points and 8.0 rebounds. He has earned Eastern Conference All-Star berths in each of his three seasons since joining the Hawks in free agency before the 2013-14 campaign, and he earned All-Defensive Second Team honors for the first time last season.
Sources: Pelicans hope to have deal with Donatas Motiejunas by Monday or Tuesday
The New Orleans Pelicans are in the process of finalizing a contract with Donatas Motiejunas and hope to have a deal done with the free-agent big man by Monday or Tuesday, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN that the Pelicans, who are restricted to offering a contract at the $1.1 million veterans minimum, intend to have Motiejunas signed to a one-year deal within the next 48 hours.
To create a roster spot, New Orleans waived veteran swingman Reggie Williams on Sunday.
The Pelicans are one of at least three teams to show interest in Motiejunas since the end of his long-running contract saga with the Houston Rockets. ESPN reported earlier this week that the Los Angeles Lakers had flown Motiejunas in for a recent audition in front of Los Angeles' front office and coaches, while sources said Sunday that the Minnesota Timberwolves had also expressed some interest.
Motiejunas, 26, became an unrestricted free agent Dec. 15 after a contract situation with the Rockets that spanned more than five months.
The 7-footer, while still a restricted free agent, signed a four-year offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets in late November that was potentially worth up to $35 million. After Houston matched the Nets' offer sheet, Motiejunas refused to report for his physical, which led to the sides reworking some of the contract terms in a new four-year deal.
The Rockets, though, ultimately decided to surrender their rights to Motiejunas and make him an unrestricted free agent after he finally took his physical, severing their ties to him after four seasons together following negotiations with his agent B.J. Armstrong and league officials.
The Rockets traded Motiejunas to theDetroit Pistons as part of a three-way deal last February, but the Pistons rescinded the trade after a physical revealed concerns about Motiejunas' back. Motiejunas ended up rejoining the Rockets and playing the rest of the 2015-16 season, recording a double-double (14 points and 13 rebounds) in Houston's only win over Golden State in the teams' first-round series in the spring.
The Lithuanian then struggled this past summer in restricted free agency to attract much outside interest until after the Rockets pulled their two-year offer starting in the $7 million to $8 million range on Nov. 22. Houston was only willing to guarantee the first season of its original two-year offer in a nod to Motiejunas' injury history.
The New Orleans Pelicans are in the process of finalizing a contract with Donatas Motiejunas and hope to have a deal done with the free-agent big man by Monday or Tuesday, according to league sources.
Sources told ESPN that the Pelicans, who are restricted to offering a contract at the $1.1 million veterans minimum, intend to have Motiejunas signed to a one-year deal within the next 48 hours.
To create a roster spot, New Orleans waived veteran swingman Reggie Williams on Sunday.
The Pelicans are one of at least three teams to show interest in Motiejunas since the end of his long-running contract saga with the Houston Rockets. ESPN reported earlier this week that the Los Angeles Lakers had flown Motiejunas in for a recent audition in front of Los Angeles' front office and coaches, while sources said Sunday that the Minnesota Timberwolves had also expressed some interest.
Motiejunas, 26, became an unrestricted free agent Dec. 15 after a contract situation with the Rockets that spanned more than five months.
The 7-footer, while still a restricted free agent, signed a four-year offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets in late November that was potentially worth up to $35 million. After Houston matched the Nets' offer sheet, Motiejunas refused to report for his physical, which led to the sides reworking some of the contract terms in a new four-year deal.
The Rockets, though, ultimately decided to surrender their rights to Motiejunas and make him an unrestricted free agent after he finally took his physical, severing their ties to him after four seasons together following negotiations with his agent B.J. Armstrong and league officials.
The Rockets traded Motiejunas to theDetroit Pistons as part of a three-way deal last February, but the Pistons rescinded the trade after a physical revealed concerns about Motiejunas' back. Motiejunas ended up rejoining the Rockets and playing the rest of the 2015-16 season, recording a double-double (14 points and 13 rebounds) in Houston's only win over Golden State in the teams' first-round series in the spring.
The Lithuanian then struggled this past summer in restricted free agency to attract much outside interest until after the Rockets pulled their two-year offer starting in the $7 million to $8 million range on Nov. 22. Houston was only willing to guarantee the first season of its original two-year offer in a nod to Motiejunas' injury history.
Russell Westbrook still deserves to be NBA MVP over James Harden
In case you’re waking up a little late from your New Year’s celebration, you need to know what Houston Rockets guard James Harden did on Saturday night.
He totaled 53 points 17 assists and 16 rebounds in a win over the New York Knicks.
Rub your eyes again and look at those numbers. That would be the first 50-15-15 game in NBA history. And if it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: Harden and Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook are now in one heck of a two-man race for NBA MVP.
Before diving into who deserves to be the front-runner as 2017 kicks off, take a look at their respective numbers.
Let’s start with Westbrook: He’s still Mr. Triple Double, averaging 30.9 ppg (which leads the league), 10.7 apg and 10.5 rpg. He leads the NBA in PER at 30.41, although he’s turning the ball over 5.4 times per contest.
Here’s where you might be surprised to look at Harden’s numbers: 28.5 ppg, 12.0 apg, 8.1 rpg. That’s right, he’s almost at a triple-double average with more assists than Westbrook and fewer points. He also leads the league in win shares at 7.6 (Westbrook is at 5.5, ninth overall).
One reason to vote for Westbrook is the aforementioned Oscar Robertson triple-double average. But if Harden gets there — and he might, he’s already totaled eight triple-doubles in 2016-17 — what’s the tie-breaker?
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The answer comes down to their teammates. If you remove Harden from the 26-9 Rockets or Westbrook from the 21-13 Thunder, which team is better? I’d take the Rockets thanks to their secondary options and deeper bench. Beyond Victor Oladipo and some scoring from Enes Kanter, the Thunder don’t have much more to work with, which means one thing: Westbrook is a one-man wrecking crew single-handedly leading his team to a playoff spot.
As of Jan. 1, my vote is for Westbrook. But no matter where you land in this argument, this is going to be an incredible race to watch.
Knicks enter 2017 at a crossroads
The Knicks' defense didn't offer much resistance to James Harden on Saturday night. Tim Warner/Getty Images
If you’re looking for a strong summary of what you’ve seen from the New York Knicks thus far, listen to what center Joakim Noah had to say the other day:
“We have three guys on this team that can score with the best of them. If we can just somehow find a way to build defensively, I think we can really make some noise.”
The problem is, the Knicks haven’t built much on defense lately, and they’ve barely made any noise.
New York enters 2017 on a four-game losing streak after dropping all three games on a road trip to close out December, including Saturday night's 129-122 loss to the Houston Rockets. They’ve lost seven of nine overall and will have to answer an important question starting with Monday’s game against theOrlando Magic:
Have the past two weeks been an aberration, or is it the new normal?
We should find out the answer to that question this month. The Knicks play 17 games in 30 days in January and have four back-to-backs.
The club needs to tighten up its defense if it hopes to turn things around. New York hasn't been able to defend on the perimeter -- in both pick-and-roll situations and one-on-one matchups -- which is one factor in its struggles on defense. The Knicks entered play Saturday at Houston with the sixth-worst defensive rating in the NBA.
That's one reason their 16-17 record feels a bit hollow. The Knicks have the 15th-best record in the league but rank 23rd in net differential (minus-3.5).
The good news for the Knicks is that their first seven opponents this month have a record of at or below .500. The opponents are a combined 31 games under .500.
So New York has a chance to bounce back. But, as Noah notes above, they need to find some answers on defense to do so.
Mixed bag for Rose: Derrick Rose had just one assist in 38 minutes against the Pelicans on Friday but tallied seven in 41 minutes against the Rockets on Saturday. The Knicks lost both games, so the assist totals were a minor footnote. But Rose’s ability to distribute the ball and orchestrate a competent offense has far-reaching implications for New York. The Knicks will have to decide if they want to re-sign Rose as a free agent this summer or ink him to an extension before he hits the market.
The take here is that it’s way too early to make any hard conclusions on a long-term commitment to Rose. But it’s worth noting that Jrue Holiday, who played well in a win over the Knicks and has had a strong season thus far, will be on the market as well. And if recent history is any indication, the Knicks may have interest in Holiday. Phil Jackson expressed interest in trading for Holiday earlier in his tenure as Knicks president, according to sources.
It’s unclear if Jackson's opinion on Holiday has changed. The Knicks are probably evaluating all of their options at this point and should be able to afford one of the top point guards on the market. With a few minor roster moves, they can create the cap space needed to offer a max contract this summer.
New year, same old Knicks: Saturday’s loss to the Rockets left the Knicks at a game under .500. The Knicks have entered the new year under .500 for four straight seasons and in 12 of the past 15 seasons overall (excluding the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season).
Each year has its own specific set of circumstances, but this year feels like a pivotal one for Jackson’s presidency. Jackson will have to decide what he wants to do at point guard -- which could have major implications for the future of the club -- and will have an important draft pick to make (the Knicks own their 2017 first-rounder).
The take here is that, whatever the Knicks do, they need to keep an eye on building a team around Kristaps Porzingis that’s ready to compete once LeBron James and theCleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry and the Warriors start to slow down. That will be their best chance to end their 40-plus season title drought.
It will be interesting to see if Jackson takes that approach -- or if he continues to put together teams built to compete in the present, as he did this season.
The Knicks' defense didn't offer much resistance to James Harden on Saturday night. Tim Warner/Getty Images
If you’re looking for a strong summary of what you’ve seen from the New York Knicks thus far, listen to what center Joakim Noah had to say the other day:
“We have three guys on this team that can score with the best of them. If we can just somehow find a way to build defensively, I think we can really make some noise.”
The problem is, the Knicks haven’t built much on defense lately, and they’ve barely made any noise.
New York enters 2017 on a four-game losing streak after dropping all three games on a road trip to close out December, including Saturday night's 129-122 loss to the Houston Rockets. They’ve lost seven of nine overall and will have to answer an important question starting with Monday’s game against theOrlando Magic:
Have the past two weeks been an aberration, or is it the new normal?
We should find out the answer to that question this month. The Knicks play 17 games in 30 days in January and have four back-to-backs.
The club needs to tighten up its defense if it hopes to turn things around. New York hasn't been able to defend on the perimeter -- in both pick-and-roll situations and one-on-one matchups -- which is one factor in its struggles on defense. The Knicks entered play Saturday at Houston with the sixth-worst defensive rating in the NBA.
That's one reason their 16-17 record feels a bit hollow. The Knicks have the 15th-best record in the league but rank 23rd in net differential (minus-3.5).
The good news for the Knicks is that their first seven opponents this month have a record of at or below .500. The opponents are a combined 31 games under .500.
So New York has a chance to bounce back. But, as Noah notes above, they need to find some answers on defense to do so.
Mixed bag for Rose: Derrick Rose had just one assist in 38 minutes against the Pelicans on Friday but tallied seven in 41 minutes against the Rockets on Saturday. The Knicks lost both games, so the assist totals were a minor footnote. But Rose’s ability to distribute the ball and orchestrate a competent offense has far-reaching implications for New York. The Knicks will have to decide if they want to re-sign Rose as a free agent this summer or ink him to an extension before he hits the market.
The take here is that it’s way too early to make any hard conclusions on a long-term commitment to Rose. But it’s worth noting that Jrue Holiday, who played well in a win over the Knicks and has had a strong season thus far, will be on the market as well. And if recent history is any indication, the Knicks may have interest in Holiday. Phil Jackson expressed interest in trading for Holiday earlier in his tenure as Knicks president, according to sources.
It’s unclear if Jackson's opinion on Holiday has changed. The Knicks are probably evaluating all of their options at this point and should be able to afford one of the top point guards on the market. With a few minor roster moves, they can create the cap space needed to offer a max contract this summer.
New year, same old Knicks: Saturday’s loss to the Rockets left the Knicks at a game under .500. The Knicks have entered the new year under .500 for four straight seasons and in 12 of the past 15 seasons overall (excluding the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season).
Each year has its own specific set of circumstances, but this year feels like a pivotal one for Jackson’s presidency. Jackson will have to decide what he wants to do at point guard -- which could have major implications for the future of the club -- and will have an important draft pick to make (the Knicks own their 2017 first-rounder).
The take here is that, whatever the Knicks do, they need to keep an eye on building a team around Kristaps Porzingis that’s ready to compete once LeBron James and theCleveland Cavaliers and Stephen Curry and the Warriors start to slow down. That will be their best chance to end their 40-plus season title drought.
It will be interesting to see if Jackson takes that approach -- or if he continues to put together teams built to compete in the present, as he did this season.
Firing Fred Hoiberg would be another Bulls mistake
After botching the summer, Chicago is reportedly thinking about blaming on the coach. This is what the Bulls do.
by Tom Ziller@teamziller
Jan 2, 2017, 9:24am EST
The Bulls are 16-18, a half-game out of the No. 8 seed in the East. Chicago has the No. 18 offense and the No. 13 defense. They are mediocre in every sense.
The preseason concerns have come home to roost: the Bulls are dead last in effective field goal percentage, dead last in three-point percentage and the only team in the NBA taking fewer than 20 threes per game. (For comparison’s sake, the Rockets are taking a hair under 40.) Less than a quarter of the Bulls’ shots come from beyond the arc (league’s lowest mark) and less than a fifth of their points come from there (league’s lowest mark).
As a reminder, the Bulls, who are built around superstar Jimmy Butler, added Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo in the offseason. Both are career 29 percent three-point shooters.
As another reminder, coach Fred Hoiberg was hired in 2015 to bring his spread 4-out offense to the stodgy Bulls.
Something is wrong here.
Further evidence that something is wrong comes from Marc Stein’s Friday report thatHoiberg is the NBA head coach with the hottest seat as we approach the midway point of the season. I wrote back in November that this could be the first season in a long time without a midseason firing, provided Alvin Gentry could survive New Orleans’ awful start. Stein’s researchers determined that the last season without a firing was 1970-71, 46 years ago!
I didn’t even include Hoiberg on my list when I wrote that piece, in part because the Bulls started well and in part because the Bulls gave Hoiberg a huge amount of guaranteed money in 2015. He has at least $15 million in guaranteed salary remaining (including this season). Plus, the Bulls are still paying Tom Thibodeau after firing him in 2015. The idea that Hoiberg would be at risk seemed (and seems) absurd.
In college, you can have a system and build a team around it. You make recruiting decisions and build rotations around what will work in your system. It doesn’t work like that in the pros. Unless you’re the rare coach with personnel powers — only Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau and Mike Budenholzer currently do — you have deal with what your bosses give you.
Hoiberg was hired to revolutionize the Bulls’ offense. His bosses have not given him the personnel to accomplish that. In fact, they have done the opposite.
On a basic level, this is just plain malpractice by the Bulls front office. If you pay a coach $25 million to do something, you should give him the tools to do that thing. When he fails to do what was asked of him immediately because you gave him the wrong tools, don’t blame him. Reconsider your decisions, perhaps by considering trading some of the players who don’t fit.
Instead of sculpting a roster to help usher in the Hoiberg-Butler era as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah moved on, the Bulls front office opted for win-now mode, signing Wade and Rondo. Now Rondo has been benched and will potentially be waived, and Wade is being wasted as Butler’s sidekick. So the Bulls are not winning now, the Hoiberg revolution is further delayed and the team may cut bait and eat salary anyways. What a waste of time and resources.
The Bulls front office — John Paxson and Gar Forman — have some real hits on their resumé, including drafting Butler No. 30 overall in 2011. But at some point they are the problem, not their coaches. If you want Hoiberg to make you a beef bourguignon, stop buying him hot dogs.
Rondo is just a perfect example of the Bulls’ front office having no idea what they were doing this summer. They needed a point guard after trading Rose and spending a huge chunk of cap space on Wade. But with Wade and Butler in place, you need defense and shooting at the point. You need to avoid ball-dominant point guards at all costs. So ... the Bulls handed a big paycheck to Rondo, a ball-dominant point guard who can’t shoot and hasn’t played consistent defense in half a decade. Oh, and two straight teams had given up on him within a season of acquiring him. Now he’s sulking on the bench and Chicago has no back-up plan at the point.
If Jerry Reinsdorf cared at all about his basketball team, he’d prevent Paxon and Forman from firing Hoiberg until they can explain what the hell they were thinking this summer. This is front office malpractice, not a bad coaching performance.
Russell Westbrook still deserves to be NBA MVP over James Harden
In case you’re waking up a little late from your New Year’s celebration, you need to know what Houston Rockets guard James Harden did on Saturday night.
He totaled 53 points 17 assists and 16 rebounds in a win over the New York Knicks.
Rub your eyes again and look at those numbers. That would be the first 50-15-15 game in NBA history. And if it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: Harden and Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook are now in one heck of a two-man race for NBA MVP.
Before diving into who deserves to be the front-runner as 2017 kicks off, take a look at their respective numbers.
Let’s start with Westbrook: He’s still Mr. Triple Double, averaging 30.9 ppg (which leads the league), 10.7 apg and 10.5 rpg. He leads the NBA in PER at 30.41, although he’s turning the ball over 5.4 times per contest.
Here’s where you might be surprised to look at Harden’s numbers: 28.5 ppg, 12.0 apg, 8.1 rpg. That’s right, he’s almost at a triple-double average with more assists than Westbrook and fewer points. He also leads the league in win shares at 7.6 (Westbrook is at 5.5, ninth overall).
One reason to vote for Westbrook is the aforementioned Oscar Robertson triple-double average. But if Harden gets there — and he might, he’s already totaled eight triple-doubles in 2016-17 — what’s the tie-breaker?
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The answer comes down to their teammates. If you remove Harden from the 26-9 Rockets or Westbrook from the 21-13 Thunder, which team is better? I’d take the Rockets thanks to their secondary options and deeper bench. Beyond Victor Oladipo and some scoring from Enes Kanter, the Thunder don’t have much more to work with, which means one thing: Westbrook is a one-man wrecking crew single-handedly leading his team to a playoff spot.
As of Jan. 1, my vote is for Westbrook. But no matter where you land in this argument, this is going to be an incredible race to watch.
fuck this argument...
it didn't work 2 years ago when Harden lost the MVP race to Curry...
it ain't working now...Harden shouldn't be penalized because the GM in OKC is a fuckin idiot...
Product of that weak ass eastern conference, really ain't another way to twist it!!!
Updated January 1, 2017 9:42 PM
By Al Iannazzone al.iannazzone@newsday.com
Jeff Hornacek has issued a challenge to his team, and particularly his starters, saying that the type of passion the Knicks showed in their hard-fought 129-122 loss to the Rockets on New Year’s Eve has to be the norm in 2017.
He also said he might use his bench more because of the energy the reserves provided.
“We got to have an effort like we did, all-out 48 minutes of playing hard,” he said. “You should come in this locker room after the game and be dead tired. That’s the way it should be. If you come in the locker room and you’re not huffing and puffing and tired, then you didn’t play hard enough.”
Even without starters Kristaps Porzingis and Courtney Lee for the entire game and Carmelo Anthony for the second half, the Knicks were down three as the four-minute mark approached. But the Rockets, led by James Harden’s monstrous 53-point, 17-assist, 16-rebound performance, didn’t let the Knicks get any closer.
Hornacek wants that kind of effort more often, especially after watching too many games in which his team hasn’t gone all-out. It’s partly why 2016 didn’t go out the way the Knicks wanted. They dropped their last four games and seven of their last nine to start January under .500 for the fourth straight season. They were 14-10 on Dec. 13 but will take a 16-17 record into tonight’s game at the Garden against Orlando.
Anthony (sore left knee), Porzingis (sore left Achilles) and Lee (sore right wrist) all believe they will be able to play tonight. But even if they do, that doesn’t mean the Knicks can exhale.
Hornacek has said this mostly veteran-laden team relies on its talent too much and has a tendency to “cruise” at times, which is an indictment of the starters.
After Brandon Jennings and Justin Holiday played well in extended minutes and rookies Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Willie Hernangomez and Maurice Ndour were a part of the group that helped spark a comeback from 19 down, Hornacek might turn to them more.
“Some of the young guys can put that effort in there,” he said. “We have to take a look at maybe getting them in the games more, maybe giving our older guys a little bit more rest so maybe when they’re on shorter minutes, they can put the full effort out there. We’ll take a look at everything.
“We have 17 games in January. The bench is going to have to come up big for us.”
The Knicks may need more than that. Their bad finish to 2016 dropped them from fourth in the East to the ninth spot. Many of the Knicks’ January games are against teams they’re chasing or in the hunt with them.
They began 2017 1 1⁄2 games out of fifth and two games out of 12th. The Knicks realize they need to have more of a sense of urgency or this season could end like the previous three — out of the playoffs. “We got to come ready to play every night,” Jennings said. “This is a time where we can take that next step or it’s going to get ugly.’’
“It’s a new year for a reason,” Derrick Rose said. “We can put everything behind us.”
Post the games that each of those players had played in as comparable to the points scored....
Hawks front office are idiots; but it will be interesting to see if Millsap is traded; Interesting to see if Toronto really makes a push for him....
Chart is based on age. Not games played. If you add in those players 3-4 years of college production they still fall short.
Of course they would fall short if you add college production; college is 20 games, the nba is 60,70,80 games; I cant believe you would even try to make that point; but anyways I would like to see how many games were played by each of those players to get a true gauge of actual production; that would be a more accurate assessment...
They let Hortford get away for nothing; They have been trending downwards for the last couple of years; They are stuck in the middle; not wanting to rebuild but not improving as a team;
Similar threads
