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The NBA 2016 Thread

ShepCock

ShepCock

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Opening night -- San Antonio 129, Golden State 100
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1) WTF?
 
2) I guess Golden State needs time to gel with their new addition Kevin Durant
 
3) But how is it that San Antonio just manages to reload with new talent every year and yet it plays with the existing team just fine?
 
4) And losing by 29 points at home....seriously, WTF?
 
 
DeRozan, Raptors KO Pistons in opener 
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It was the start of a new season, but Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy was worried that he might get a replay of the preseason finale.
 
Having lost to the Raptors by 11 last week, the Pistons got a rerun in the season opener.
 
This time, though, DeMar DeRozan had a starring role, going for a franchise opening-night record 40 points, boosting Toronto to a 109-91 win over the Pistons on Wednesday night at Air Canada Centre.
 
DeRozan scored 21 points (on 10-of-14 shooting) in third quarter and Jonas Valanciunas dominated the middle, posting a career-best 32 points and adding 11 rebounds.
 
BOX SCORE: http://detroitnews.stats.com/nba/boxscore.asp?gamecode=2016102628&home=28&vis=8
 
“DeRozan had a great night and we did a really poor job on Valanciunas and we got outrebounded by 11,” Van Gundy said. “That has nothing to do with those two guys having a great night and making shots — they did the same thing to us in the exhibition game.
 
“They just punked us on the boards. The rebounding was a major concern, 54 points in the paint was a major concern and 29 free-throw attempts was a major concern. That means a team took it right at you.”
 
Tobias Harris had 22 points and Marcus Morris 17 points and nine rebounds for the Pistons but they didn’t have an answer defensively for Valanciunas in the paint or DeRozan on the perimeter.
 
Andre Drummond (16 points, six rebounds) took a Valanciunas elbow to the face in the early minutes and played only seven minutes in the first half because of the blow and later picking up two fouls in the first five minutes.
 
Drummond was taken to the locker room to be examined for a concussion. He returned, but not until the Raptors had taken a lead late in the half.
 
“I was really shaken up and it took me a minute to compose myself and had to come back (to the locker room) for a little bit,” Drummond said. “I came back and it was five minutes left in the second quarter and it’s tough to get back into the swing of a game being out for so long.”
 
The Pistons still were in it late in the second quarter, following two free throws and a three-point play by Harris, cutting the lead to 49-46 with 3:04 left in the half. The Raptors answered with a 9-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer by DeMarre Carroll and a drive by DeRozan.
 
That pushed the lead to 58-46 at halftime — and the Pistons never got the deficit within single digits the rest of the way.
 
“We couldn’t make a dent. At one point we were down 10 or 11 and had two wide-open 3s in the same possession,” Van Gundy said. “That was our last chance to get it under 10. They’re a good team and dominated us tonight. We’re going to have to learn from it and go back and get a lot better.”
 
Playing without Reggie Jackson (knee tendinitis), last season’s leading scorer, the Pistons jumped out to an 11-4 advantage in the first three minutes. They hit five of their first six field goals, including six straight points on a jumper by Harris, a lay-in by Drummond and a jumper by Morris.
 
After Drummond’s second foul, Valanciunas hit of six straight free throws, igniting a 13-2 run, with seven consecutive points from DeRozan, staking the Raptors to a 17-13 lead at the 6:24 mark.
 
With Drummond’s foul trouble, backup center Aron Baynes entered and picked up two quick fouls and the Raptors streaked to a 29-12 run to finish the period. Morris and Harris kept the Pistons close in the second quarter, with back-to-back baskets by Morris, cutting it to 34-30, and a jumper by Harris after five straight points by the Raptors.
 
DeRozan ignited in the third period, when he scored more than half of his points, on an array of pull-up jumpers and drives to the basket, including a string of 12 of the Raptors’ 15 points during one stretch.
 
“Everybody knows what DeMar can do. Once he gets it rolling, that midrange game is really dangerous,” Drummond said. “He was taking contested twos and swishing them. It wasn’t like they were hard shots off the glass. They were rhythm shots that he takes every day and he’s just a hell of a player.”
 
Van Gundy took some of the blame for not altering the defensive strategy on DeRozan and making him take tougher shots.
 
“We didn’t have anybody who could make anything tough on him tonight at all,” Van Gundy said. “We probably should have run a second defender more and we didn’t — that’s a mistake on my part.
 
“We didn’t make it difficult on him at all. His shots were mostly relatively easy — for him.”
 
The Pistons cut the lead to 11 on back-to-back baskets by Harris, but the Raptors extended the lead to 17 with a 9-0 run, including consecutive baskets by DeRozan.
 
That's one (cough)

 
That's one (cough)

 
Pistons trying to finalize move to downtown Detroit for 2017-18
 
The Detroit Pistons are trying to finalize their move to downtown Detroit for the 2017-18 season, according to multiple reports. The Pistons, who currently play at the Palace of Auburn Hills, would like to move into Little Caesars Arena, the future home of the Detroit Red Wings, when it opens in September.
 
According to Bill Shea of Crain's Detroit Business, a deal could come in the next few days:
Official word that the Detroit Pistons will move to downtown Detroit for the 2017-18 season could come within days, if final details can be worked out, sources close to the discussions said.
 
Talks have continued this week between the Pistons' ownership and Olympia Entertainment on moving the basketball team as it prepares to open its upcoming home season on Friday.
 
...
 
The urgency to the talks has picked up because the new arena is less than a year from completion, and the Pistons' needs for locker rooms and other facilities would be more cheaply addressed now rather than after the building is open.
 
...
 
Public acknowledgement of a handshake agreement to relocate the team is likely to precede disclosure of details of the formal deal, which is expected to take months to sort out.
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The Detroit Free Press' Vince Ellis, however, reported that it could be weeks, not days, before there is an agreement:
The Pistons could move in time for next season, the source said. But the deal isn't quite at the finish line.
 
The sides are researching what it would take to modify the still-under-construction Little Caesars Arena, which is being built for the Ilitch-owned Detroit Red Wings, to accommodate the requirements of an NBA team.
 
The Pistons also are considering potential downtown locations for business offices and a multimillion-dollar practice facility.
 
At the most senior level, Gores and Chris Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, have directed their executive teams to work on a framework agreement that would permit the move, subject to approval by the NBA and city officials, the source said.
 
The two sides spent most of the summer working through details. The discussions have triggered speculation that an announcement could be imminent. But the person with knowledge of the negotiations cautioned that there is still a lot of work to do. A detailed agreement -- if it can be reached -- could be weeks away, the source said.
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Ever since Tom Gores' ownership group bought the Pistons in 2011, there has been momentum for this kind of move. Gores has acknowledged publicly that he's interested in doing this, and he'll have a chance to comment on these reports when he talks to the media before the team's home opener Friday. While there are clearly issues that need to be resolved before there is an agreement, it seems like it would be a surprise if the franchise continued to play its home games in Auburn Hills next season.
 
Lakers' D'Angelo Russell: 'There's freedom in Kobe not being around' 
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D'Angelo Russell wasn't himself for much of his rookie season. The Los Angeles Lakers guard, drafted No. 2 overall in 2015, could not always play with the same freedom that he had in college. Two men got in the way of that: then-Lakers coach Byron Scott and legend Kobe Bryant. Scott did not design their offense around Russell's best skill: playmaking out of the pick-and-roll. Bryant, in his final season, dominated the ball and took tons of shots on isolation plays.
 
Bryant's retirement and Los Angeles' coaching change means everybody is excited about Russell's second season, and it showed in Wednesday's opener, 120-114 win over Houston, led by Jordan Clarkson's 25 points, 20 from Russell and 18 from Julius Randle. Russell seems to love new coach Luke Walton, and in addition to the flashes of brilliance he showed last year, he was productive and confident in summer league and the preseason. In an interview (and a paintball session) with ESPN's Sam Alipour, Russell acknowledged that, with the Kobe circus over, the Lakers can get on with the business of being a team:
 
"We're all about playing together now," he says. "It's not about one guy anymore. It's about sacrificing for the team." Adds Russell, "Kobe deserved every bit of attention he got in his last year, but there's freedom in Kobe not being around." There's also a leadership vacuum that they plan to fill as a unit. "There's no one leader, no face of the Lakers," Russell says, citing the Spurs as the template. "When we traveled to San Antonio last season, I noticed that it's about everybody-they had all those household names, but the 15th guy got the same amount of attention as Tim Duncan, who's a legend. I feel like we're all buying into that concept. We're a team now. And that's exciting."
 
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That's a great quote, but really he's just pointing out the obvious. In 2015-16, Russell averaged 18.7 points and 4.7 assists per 36 minutes without Bryant on the court, compared to 14.6 points and 3.6 assists with Bryant, as pointed out by The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor last month. Russell had more opportunities without Bryant, and the team had better ball movement. With Walton in charge, he will have as much responsibility as he can handle, and he won't have to defer to anybody.
 
When Russell was drafted, he was supposed to be the Lakers' next star. Despite the tension with Scott and the Nick Young fiasco that marred his rookie season, he should still be seen that way. It will likely take awhile for Los Angeles to return to relevance, but it's significant that the franchise is counting on him being a big part of leading it there. Playing next to Brandon Ingram, Clarkson and Randle, Russell's Lakers are no longer stuck between eras. There is indeed freedom in building something completely new.
 
Kevin Durant yells at imaginary critics in post-practice workout
 
One of the big questions going into this season with the Golden State Warriors was how Kevin Durant would adapt to being a villain. He's been the lovable small-town hero his entire career, and now threw aside the state of Oklahoma and bolted to go "fit in" with the big, shiny, juggernaut. That means more scrutiny, more criticism, more discussion of him.
 
Durant, apparently, is using it as motivation. He stayed late after practice, in front of reporters, on Thursday, working up a sweat and knocking down buckets while yelling about his critics. From ESPN:
"They say I ain't hungry! I'm out here!"
 
Durant was working to bounce back from his team's 29-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. The former MVP stayed late after practice Thursday in preparation for Friday night's game against the Pelicans, shooting between one-on-one drills with Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco.
 
Shooting his last shots, Durant said, "They told me I ain't have no drive! I'm out here. They called me a coward! Putting in work."
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If you're a Golden State fan, it's an awesome image of a player striving to be great in the face of incredible criticism.
 
If you're pretty much anyone else, it's a weird thing for a superstar to do after one game. It's also largely imaginary. No one's ever said Durant doesn't have drive or isn't hungry. There was talk of him being a "coward" after his decision, however, and that was always a false characterization based on a career decision, even if that choice did have impacts on how we view him as a basketball player.
 
But then, this is also very normal. Players always use this kind of motivation, and will often do the same thing, yelling about critics. There have been social media videos of John Wall and LeBron James talking in the same manner. It's just notable that we're just one game in and Durant is already stressing about critics.
 
Then there's this:
 
"It's not that I read it -- it's just in the air," he said. "You know it's just in the atmosphere and people tell you and you hear about it. You guys ask me questions about it all the time, so obviously I know, but I'm not losing sleep on it. It's just wood on that fire."
 
On the media response to Golden State's big debut loss, Durant said:
 
"Obviously you hear everything. Season's over, the team is worst team in the league, you thought it was going to be easy. It's one game. I thought, after losing in the playoffs by 30 or beating someone by 30 in Game 1 of the playoffs and you say it's only one game.
 
"Durant's closing statement, said with laughter as he left: "It's one game of 82 and you f---ing guys make me feel like the world's going to end."
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So, just to review, Durant doesn't read or watch any of the sports media, but he's still finely in tune with the criticism being lobbed at him about his decision and the Warriors' opening night face plant vs. the Spurs. Somehow.
 
Durant has long had a bizarre frustration with the media. In general, he has been praised for both his game and his character, but would criticize the media for perceived slights or for even presuming to know anything about the game. Maybe that's fair, but the defensiveness always seemed odd and random.
 
The overall picture that's presented here is a Durant that seems stressed out by his situation. Perhaps that's inaccurate and he really is just amused by any and all media discussion. But one game in, Durant seems to be over all of the conversation that he had to know full well his decision to join Golden State would create, especially if they then lost their opener, at home, by 29 points.
 
The Warriors try and get back on track Friday vs. the Pelicans in New Orleans.
 
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I'm sooo glad Kobe is gone

 
Bird-flipping 76ers fan says Russell Westbrook told him 'sit down, f—ing fat boy’
 
The 76ers fan who flipped off Thunder star Russell Westbrook an NBA season opener Wednesday in Philadelphia has offered an explanation for why he did it.
 
Philadelphia urologist Dr. Richard Harkaway wrote in a private Facebook post Thursday that Westbrook first called him names, which resulted in the double-bird response.
 
“To all my FB friends who are seeing a picture of me on the Internet giving the finger to Russell Westbrook. Actually two fingers,’’ Harkaway wrote, via the New York Post . “Not as simple as it seems. I love to scream at the players and anyone who has been to a game with me knows this. Part of my charm. What you may not have seen on any of the video clips is what started the whole thing, which was Russell Westbrook saying ‘sit down f—ing fat boy’ when I stood up to boo.”
 
After Westbrook scored, he can be seen saying something, possibly a naughty word, toward the stands.
 
“I am sometimes sensitive about my plumpness," Harkaway said. “I guess I got a little out of hand.”
 
As for Westbrook, he decided to let the matter drop after the insult.
 
“I know, that’s crazy, right?” Westbrook said. “I turned a new leaf, though. I leave that alone, because that cost me $25,000 (a fine from the NBA) last time. The fan, he’ll be all right. They can say whatever they want to the players and do what they want, but my job is to play basketball, and that’s what I do.”
 
Things the N.B.A. Openers Taught Us
 
Twenty-six of the 30 N.B.A. teams have played their openers. An 82-game season is long, but sometimes you can pick up trends from just one game. Here are 10 things we may have already learned about the coming N.B.A. season.
 
Russell Westbrook is going to have to do it all. (And the 76ers are an actual N.B.A. team.)
 
Thunder 103, Sixers 97
 
The Thunder took the Warriors to seven games in the playoffs last season. But Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka are gone. That leaves only Westbrook to star for the Thunder, and he obliged Wednesday night, leading the team in points, rebounds and the unusual combination of shots and assists.
 
The Sixers nearly set an N.B.A. futility record last season. On Wednesday, the franchise savior Joel Embiid did not shoot especially well (6 for 16), but he led the team with 20 points and offered some hope, if he can stay healthy. Surely the Sixers will win more than 10 games this year. Surely!
 
Anthony Davis is really going to have to do it all.
 
Nuggets 107, Pelicans 102
 
You want a one-man team? Take a look at the Pelicans. Coming off a crushing 30-win season, the team did not do a whole lot to improve in the off season. Anthony Davis duly tallied 50 points, 16 rebounds and seven steals Wednesday night ... and the Pelicans lost at home. Davis shot 34 times, seven more than any other player in his opener. That’s a lot for a guy who has had some niggling injury issues over the years. He could rely more on his teammates, but with a supporting cast of Tim Frazier, E’Twaun Moore, Solomon Hill and Omer Asik, riding Davis hard still seems like the Pelicans’ best bet.
 
The Heat might hang in there.
 
Heat 108, Magic 96
 
No team was expected to have a bigger fall than Miami, which lost Dwyane Wade to free agency and Chris Bosh to health issues. But Justise Winslow and Hassan Whiteside dominated in the paint to win a tricky road game. No one expects a championship, but predictions of a complete collapse may have been premature.
 
The post-Kobe Bryant Lakers are getting it together.
 
Lakers 120, Rockets 114
 
Kobe Bryant’s retirement tour sucked up all the energy (and an awful lot of the shots) last season, and Los Angeles staggered to 17 wins. The post-Bryant era began with 25 points off the bench for Jordan Clarkson and 9-for-11 shooting by Julius Randle. Throw in 20 from D’Angelo Russell and you’ve got a team worth watching for something other than an aging star’s last hurrah.
 
Don’t jump on the Timberwolves’ bandwagon just yet.
 
Grizzlies 102, Timberwolves 98
 
Just about every prognosticator was expecting a big leap forward from Minnesota, which has not made the playoffs since 2004. Its opener, on the road against a consistent playoff team, seemed like a good test. And when the Wolves went up, 16-1, visions of a huge season had to be dancing in Minnesota fans’ eyes. Then the Wolves gave almost the entire lead back before the first quarter ended.
 
Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins are a great 1-2 punch, but they were pretty good last season, too, and the Wolves won just 29 games.
 
The Warriors are going to need some time. (And the post-Tim Duncan Spurs aren’t going to sink.)
 
Spurs 129, Warriors 100
 
Take a team with the best ever regular-season record, then add a bona fide superstar. What do you get? An opening night loss.
 
The Warriors won their first 24 games last season and lost only twice at home. Yet in their home opener, they were blown out by the Spurs, 129-100, on Tuesday night. Kevin Durant seemed to fit in all right, and scored 27, but Stephen Curry was 3 for 10 from 3-point range, Klay Thompson shot worse and Zaza Pachulia was a wan replacement for Andrew Bogut at center, shooting the ball just once in 20 minutes and picking up three rebounds compared with Bogut’s career average of nine.
 
Of course, the surprising result also reflects on the Spurs’ chances this season. The retirement of Tim Duncan and the aging of Manu Ginobili, 39, and Tony Parker, 34, had many thinking San Antonio was in for a down season after so many consecutive years of excellence. No chance. Kawhi Leonard cemented his status as a top five (or better?) player with a career-high 35 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 and the second-year shooting guard Jonathon Simmons appeared to be the latest Spurs find with a career-high 20.
 
The Spurs did not seize Western favoritism from the Warriors in one game, but they surely closed the gap.
 
The Cavs still have it. (And the Knicks haven’t solved all their problems.)
 
Cavaliers 117, Knicks 88
 
Will the Cavs suffer a hangover after their stirring comeback in last season’s N.B.A. finals? It sure doesn’t look like it. LeBron James had a triple-double, and Kyrie Irving had 29 points and Kevin Love 23. The main concern was the 3-for-13 performance by guard J.R. Smith, who played a crucial role last season, but at 31 may not be able to repeat it.
 
Fans were expecting a big improvement in the Knicks this season. And there were some signs of hope. Derrick Rose seems to have shaken off his recent legal woes to score 17. But the team shot poorly (do you want 7-foot-3 Kristaps Porzingis shooting 5 for 13?) and did not do much on defense. Two of their starters, Courtney Lee and Joakim Noah, failed to score a point.
 
You can’t really fault a team for losing to the N.B.A. champion on the road, but those expecting the Knicks to vault into contenders may have overreached.
 
Draymond Green: 'Teams are trying to punk' the Warriors
 
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said teams are being more physical with them this season.
 
"Teams are trying to punk us, [but] it's fine," Green said after the Warriors defeated the Phoenix Suns 106-100 on Sunday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena. "We're not going to get punked."
 
Green didn't mention a particular team or player to whom he might have been referring. He hasn't been involved in any physical altercations through the first three games. The scouting report on the Warriors the past few seasons has been to rough them up and hope they wear down as the game goes on.
 
There was one physical exchange in the second quarter. Warriors guard Stephen Curry drained a 3-pointer from the right wing, and Suns reserve guard Brandon Knight bumped him from behind, sending Curry crashing to the floor. It should have been a four-point play, but the official didn't blow his whistle. An irate Curry got up and pushed Knight into the front-row seats as the Suns attempted to get out on a fast break. Curry was called for a personal foul.
 
Kevin Durant picked up a technical foul in Friday's win over the New Orleans Pelicans when he shoved guard Lance Stephenson to the hardwood. Apparently, Stephenson was being too aggressive in guarding him. Durant was asked Sunday if he has heard of any extra jawing from opponents since he joined the Warriors.
 
"I haven't heard nothing yet from nobody, but yeah, they're going to come at us physically," Durant said. "We took it tonight. That team was pressuring us to try to get us out of our stuff. We kept moving, we had a nice pace, we got stops and ran and got good looks all night. You can talk all you want. You still got to play."
 
NBA Star Ray Allen Retires, Writes About Time in Sumter
 
NBA star Ray Allen has officially retired, as as his closing statement, he's talking about his time growing up as a teenager in Sumter County.
 
The 10-time All-Star announced his decision Tuesday on the website "The Players Tribune." And instead of a straightforward announcement, he wrote a personally penned statement called "Letter to My Younger Self." 
 
http://www.theplayerstribune.com/ray-allen-letter-to-my-younger-self/
 
In it, he spends a good amount of the time focusing on when he was 13-years-old and had just arrived in Dalzell, South Carolina. Allen's father was in the military and had just gotten stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, and Allen recalls how difficult it was being the new kid at school and in town.
 
" I wish I could tell you that it will get easier, and that you’re going to blend in, and that it’s going to be alright," Allen writes. "But you’re not going to fit in with the white kids, or the black kids … or the nerds … or even the jocks.
 
"You’ll be the enemy to a lot of people simply because you’re not from around there. This will be both the toughest and the best thing that will ever happen to you."
 
He talks about how he honed his basketball skills through hard work and dedication, and the difficulties he still had to overcome as he career progressed. 
 
Allen played at Hillcrest High School in Sumter County (which no longer exists), then went on to college at UConn, and was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1996. He'd go on to play for the Seattle Supersonics, the Boston Celtics, and the Miami Heat, winning NBA titles with those last two franchises. He also won a gold medal in 2000.
 
Allen leaves as the NBA's all-time leader in three-point field goals made. He also had a bit of acclaim in the movies, staring in Spike Lee's "He Got Game" in 1998 as the character "Jesus Shuttlesworth." 
 
While his retirement was announced now, he actually hadn't played in the NBA since 2014, but had never officially said he was done with basketball. 
 
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