NBA Season 2024-25

[jpotter33]

So, as a result of not advancing in the Cup, it looks like we?ll get four days off followed by a home game against Detroit and an away game against Washington.

Honestly, that?s about as good of a scenario as you can ask for record-wise - rest + weak competition.

https://x.com/SteveBHoop/status/1864304958297784602

[Who]

Houston and 15 wins 7 losses for 2nd in the West but look at these numbers from their starting backcourt.

VanVleet

Good: 5.9 assists per game against 1.2 turnovers

Bad: 16.1ppg but on 39.5%FG%  on 14.3 FGAs per game. 32.3% 3PT% on 7 threes per game. Only 2.8 FTAs per game. A TS% of 51.7%.

Jalen Green

Bad: Only 2.7 assists per game for a guy who has the ball in his hands as much as he does. Who does so much dribbling. Who runs many PnRs. I checked the stats. He is 11th in the entire league for number of PnR plays. He also averages 2.6 turnovers per game. A 1:1 AST:TOV ratio which is what you expect out of your center. Not a starting guard.

Bad: Jalen's shooting numbers are horrendous as well. He takes 16.1 FGAs per game and shoots only 40.3%. 7.8 of those attempts are from three where he shoots only 33.1%. A TS% of 53.5% for his 19ppg.

Guard Rebounding

They do average 4.8rpg (Jalen) and 4.2rpg (VanVleet) for 9 rebounds a game from their starting backcourt. That is a strong contribution. Houston is out-rebounding their opponents by 6 rebounds per game. A huge differential. These two guys are doing a lot to help out in that regard.

[liam]

In 31 mins of play tonight, Elfrid Payton had 21 assists for the Pelicans. Haven?t seen a 20+ assist game in a while.

Crazy. They just picked him up as a FA recently due to an injury crisis and the guy comes in with 14pts 21ast 7reb.

Update

And now New Orleans have waived Elfrid Payton.

He played 7 games for them. What is that? 2 weeks?

Outside of that 14pts 21ast 7reb game, Payton averaged 5.7ppg 4.5apg 2.8rpg in just 18.8mpg. He shot 45.7% from the field. He made no three pointers. Only took 1 in the 7 games. He only got to the foul line once in 7 games where he split a pair. So TS% would be bad.

I feel sorry for him that he can't stick around. You would think a guy like that could at least get a 3rd stringer job.

I?ll never forget the poster on these boards who insistently maintained for multiple seasons that Payton was a better player than Smart.

I would rather have Pritchard than Smart on my team. PP makes half of what Smart makes. PP plays more shoots better and is more consistent. PP knows his role. Smart thinks he's a star. Smart drove me crazy, Terry Roiser did too. I love our three guard rotation, four if you count Jaylen.

[tonydelk]

So, as a result of not advancing in the Cup, it looks like we?ll get four days off followed by a home game against Detroit and an away game against Washington.

Honestly, that?s about as good of a scenario as you can ask for record-wise - rest + weak competition.

https://x.com/SteveBHoop/status/1864304958297784602

These respites will really help after the injuries and the long season for JT, Jrue and DWhite.  Jrue looks tired this year and not quite himself.  Hopefully they continue to give him days off with PP playing so well.  I'd also love to see Springer get a start against a bad team to see what he can do with JB and JT.  His defense is so good when he's in there you'd like to see if he's a long term solution or just trade fodder.

[Donoghus]

In 31 mins of play tonight, Elfrid Payton had 21 assists for the Pelicans. Haven?t seen a 20+ assist game in a while.

Crazy. They just picked him up as a FA recently due to an injury crisis and the guy comes in with 14pts 21ast 7reb.

Update

And now New Orleans have waived Elfrid Payton.

He played 7 games for them. What is that? 2 weeks?

Outside of that 14pts 21ast 7reb game, Payton averaged 5.7ppg 4.5apg 2.8rpg in just 18.8mpg. He shot 45.7% from the field. He made no three pointers. Only took 1 in the 7 games. He only got to the foul line once in 7 games where he split a pair. So TS% would be bad.

I feel sorry for him that he can't stick around. You would think a guy like that could at least get a 3rd stringer job.

I?ll never forget the poster on these boards who insistently maintained for multiple seasons that Payton was a better player than Smart.

I would rather have Pritchard than Smart on my team. PP makes half of what Smart makes. PP plays more shoots better and is more consistent. PP knows his role. Smart thinks he's a star. Smart drove me crazy, Terry Roiser did too. I love our three guard rotation, four if you count Jaylen.

What does that have to do with Elfrid Payton?

[RodyTur10]

In 31 mins of play tonight, Elfrid Payton had 21 assists for the Pelicans. Haven?t seen a 20+ assist game in a while.

Crazy. They just picked him up as a FA recently due to an injury crisis and the guy comes in with 14pts 21ast 7reb.

Update

And now New Orleans have waived Elfrid Payton.

He played 7 games for them. What is that? 2 weeks?

Outside of that 14pts 21ast 7reb game, Payton averaged 5.7ppg 4.5apg 2.8rpg in just 18.8mpg. He shot 45.7% from the field. He made no three pointers. Only took 1 in the 7 games. He only got to the foul line once in 7 games where he split a pair. So TS% would be bad.

I feel sorry for him that he can't stick around. You would think a guy like that could at least get a 3rd stringer job.

I?ll never forget the poster on these boards who insistently maintained for multiple seasons that Payton was a better player than Smart.

I would rather have Pritchard than Smart on my team. PP makes half of what Smart makes. PP plays more shoots better and is more consistent. PP knows his role. Smart thinks he's a star. Smart drove me crazy, Terry Roiser did too. I love our three guard rotation, four if you count Jaylen.

What does that have to do with Elfrid Payton?

It's a mix-up between Payton Pritchard and Elfrid Payton.

[Donoghus]

In 31 mins of play tonight, Elfrid Payton had 21 assists for the Pelicans. Haven?t seen a 20+ assist game in a while.

Crazy. They just picked him up as a FA recently due to an injury crisis and the guy comes in with 14pts 21ast 7reb.

Update

And now New Orleans have waived Elfrid Payton.

He played 7 games for them. What is that? 2 weeks?

Outside of that 14pts 21ast 7reb game, Payton averaged 5.7ppg 4.5apg 2.8rpg in just 18.8mpg. He shot 45.7% from the field. He made no three pointers. Only took 1 in the 7 games. He only got to the foul line once in 7 games where he split a pair. So TS% would be bad.

I feel sorry for him that he can't stick around. You would think a guy like that could at least get a 3rd stringer job.

I?ll never forget the poster on these boards who insistently maintained for multiple seasons that Payton was a better player than Smart.

I would rather have Pritchard than Smart on my team. PP makes half of what Smart makes. PP plays more shoots better and is more consistent. PP knows his role. Smart thinks he's a star. Smart drove me crazy, Terry Roiser did too. I love our three guard rotation, four if you count Jaylen.

What does that have to do with Elfrid Payton?

It's a mix-up between Payton Pritchard and Elfrid Payton.

Ya think?

[keevsnick]

So, as a result of not advancing in the Cup, it looks like we?ll get four days off followed by a home game against Detroit and an away game against Washington.

Honestly, that?s about as good of a scenario as you can ask for record-wise - rest + weak competition.

https://x.com/SteveBHoop/status/1864304958297784602

Its looks like the NBA prioritized getting an extra match ups vs teams that had only played each other in conference 3 times. The Celtics play six eastern conference teams 3 times: Bucks, Magic, Hawks, Pistons, Pacers, Wizards. But of course the first three of those teams are in the Cup and so off the table. That left Pacers, Pistons, Wizards and they drew the latter two.

[Atzar]

So, as a result of not advancing in the Cup, it looks like we?ll get four days off followed by a home game against Detroit and an away game against Washington.

Honestly, that?s about as good of a scenario as you can ask for record-wise - rest + weak competition.

https://x.com/SteveBHoop/status/1864304958297784602

Yeah that suits us great.  We're in the middle of a five-games-in-seven-nights stretch, and we're a bit tired and dinged up already.  Pritchard probably wants to play every night while he's hot but the rest of our guys could use a breather for one reason or another, lol. 

[Who]

It is sad to see the disappearance of Elfrid Payton.

He is a very good defender. A good rebounder. A good ball-handler. A good passer. But he can't shoot jump-shots ... so there is no place for him in the league anymore.

He is good to very good at literally everything else.

[Phantom255x]

Lakers going back down to earth a bit? They are 12-9 now, and currently down 13. Apparently they've also now slipped to the 9th seed in the loaded West. Wowzers

Golden State has also lost 6 straight and are now the 7 seed.

[Who]

Lakers going back down to earth a bit? They are 12-9 now, and currently down 13. Apparently they've also now slipped to the 9th seed in the loaded West. Wowzers

Golden State has also lost 6 straight and are now the 7 seed.

A 41 point beatdown by Miami vs LAL. Demolition.

[Who]

Milwaukee look so weak. No offense from anyone other than Dame or Giannis here.

I wonder how much Khris Middleton might be able to help once he returns. They desperately need a 3rd option. And especially a 2nd option when 1 of the 2 stars is resting.

B Lopez and B Portis need to contribute more on offense. I always believed they should post B Lopez up more often. Not a lot. Just now and again. Give the opposition a different look. Give B Lopez an opportunity to be more aggressive offensively. Give your offense some diversity.

The lack of passing is also glaring. It just Dame or Giannis taking turns playing one on one basketball. Giannis is a good but not great passer. Dame has always been mediocre passing wise. A scoring guard. Not a passing guard.

Milwaukee rank 27th in the league in percentage of baskets assisted on. They do not share the ball. So little movement both in terms of player movement and ball movement. Too many role players who play stationary on offense around the perimeter. No movement. No ability to catch and drive. Just spot up and hope one of the stars gets them an open shot.

[Goldstar88]

Lakers going back down to earth a bit? They are 12-9 now, and currently down 13. Apparently they've also now slipped to the 9th seed in the loaded West. Wowzers

Golden State has also lost 6 straight and are now the 7 seed.

A 41 point beatdown by Miami vs LAL. Demolition.

They should trade for Brogdon. Maybe even Smart. Need a guard who can play defense.

[Kernewek]

Lakers going back down to earth a bit? They are 12-9 now, and currently down 13. Apparently they've also now slipped to the 9th seed in the loaded West. Wowzers

Golden State has also lost 6 straight and are now the 7 seed.

Controversial, but thinking about relative records as 'seeds' when teams have barely played more than 20 games played seems silly.