The 2019-2020 Around the NBA thread

BC867

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To no one's surprise, the Suns power ranking around the country shows rankings from 5-12
for their accomplishments so far. And how they are accomplishing it.

We are officially in the radar. It will be up to Monty and the Suns to see how successful they
will be under those circumstances. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

Booker, Rubio and Baynes, of course, are being recognized as the team leaders on the court.

Can three weeks of amazing turnaround obliterate the memory of a decade of futility? Hey,
this is here and now. That's all that matters!

https://www.azcentral.com/story/spo...-williams-phoenix-suns-legit-real/2562024001/
 

CRC83

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Shame about Hayward, when healthy that dude is a top ten player.
I don’t know about top 10, or even top 20 but he’s good. He would have to be better than 10 of the following...LeBron, Davis, Leonard, Harden, Lillard, Embiid, Jokic, Giannis, Curry, Durant, Towns, Doncic, Klay, Booker, George, Westbrook, Siakam, Gobert, Butler, Kemba. Probably missing some guys too

Edit: I forgot Baynes. Haha
 
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CardsSunsDbacks

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James Harden has ruined stats forever.
The rules changes have done the most. Way too easy to draw fouls these days and defenders just aren't allowed to offer much resistance to perimeter players, but Harden is making the step back three a very popular thing.
 

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The rules changes have done the most. Way too easy to draw fouls these days and defenders just aren't allowed to offer much resistance to perimeter players, but Harden is making the step back three a very popular thing.
Not hating on him either. A TS% over .60 despite missing 10 three’s a game is amazing.
 

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The rules changes have done the most. Way too easy to draw fouls these days and defenders just aren't allowed to offer much resistance to perimeter players, but Harden is making the step back three a very popular thing.

It's not just drawing fouls but how Harden abuses the system. Last year he finished with almost more than 200 FT attempts than the next player. He had 858 to Giannis' 686. If you take the player that finished with the 20th most FT's in the league last year and double it, it's still short of Harden's total. That's insane. Here's the list, for reference...

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He draws the majority of his fouls on the perimeter also. Most of the players on the list are forwards or centers because playing inside leads to contact, that's inevitable. The closest guard on that list is Lillard with 513 FT attempts. How exactly does Harden get fouled that much more than Lillard? I say he doesn't, he just flops his happy ass around all game and hopes for a whistle. He has a ton of talent but he has to be the worst MVP in the last 30 years to try and watch play.
 

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Not hating on him either. A TS% over .60 despite missing 10 three’s a game is amazing.

Because of free throws. He's shooting 39% from the field and 30% from 3. He's averaging 15.2 FT's a game which dwarfs his 11.0 last year.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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He draws the majority of his fouls on the perimeter also. Most of the players on the list are forwards or centers because playing inside leads to contact, that's inevitable. The closest guard on that list is Lillard with 513 FT attempts. How exactly does Harden get fouled that much more than Lillard? I say he doesn't, he just flops his happy ass around all game and hopes for a whistle. He has a ton of talent but he has to be the worst MVP in the last 30 years to try and watch play.
It amazes me that the league allows it, but then again the league is the ones that asked for it by making the rules so soft. Refs need to get better at ignoring the reaction of the player and simply watching the contact. Let Harden flop enough without calls and maybe he will get the memo to stop doing it.
 

SirStefan32

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Watching the Mavs/Celtics game and Porzingis has looked SO bad. He had three possessions with Smart guarding him in the post and managed two near airballs on turnaround jumpers and one offensive foul.

He's been terrible this year. I feel bad for Luka. Celtics kept double-teaming him every time he touched the ball. He was finding open shooters, mismatches in the post, and nobody could hit the water if they fell out of the damn boat.
 

CardsSunsDbacks

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He's been terrible this year. I feel bad for Luka. Celtics kept double-teaming him every time he touched the ball. He was finding open shooters, mismatches in the post, and nobody could hit the water if they fell out of the damn boat.
Haven't watched a lot of him this year. Does he just appear to have lost a step from before the injury or is it more just a decision making thing?
 

SirStefan32

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Haven't watched a lot of him this year. Does he just appear to have lost a step from before the injury or is it more just a decision making thing?

It's confidence. He'll pull a crazy crossover on one play and then not be able to score in the paint against a player ten inches shorter two minutes later. I think he hasn't gotten over his injury mentally. Physically he is fine, but mentally he is not there yet.
 
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Mainstreet

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He's been terrible this year. I feel bad for Luka. Celtics kept double-teaming him every time he touched the ball. He was finding open shooters, mismatches in the post, and nobody could hit the water if they fell out of the damn boat.

Luka is an IRON MAN carrying the Mavericks. If Porzingis rounds into form they will be hard to beat.
 

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I don’t know about top 10, or even top 20 but he’s good. He would have to be better than 10 of the following...LeBron, Davis, Leonard, Harden, Lillard, Embiid, Jokic, Giannis, Curry, Durant, Towns, Doncic, Klay, Booker, George, Westbrook, Siakam, Gobert, Butler, Kemba. Probably missing some guys too

Edit: I forgot Baynes. Haha
Impressive list for sure, but I would take him over half those guys if he was healthy. Guy is a better defender then most on that list and is scary efficient and can create. But it’s a mute point he can’t stay healthy.
 

Johninromania

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Because of free throws. He's shooting 39% from the field and 30% from 3. He's averaging 15.2 FT's a game which dwarfs his 11.0 last year.
Damn, don’t I hate this current version of the NBA. I really do miss the late 80’s and 90’s.
 

AzStevenCal

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Damn, don’t I hate this current version of the NBA. I really do miss the late 80’s and 90’s.

Different strokes. I miss the NBA of the 60's, 70's, much of the 80's but I miss the NBA of the 90's like I miss disco, which is to say not at all.
 
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Mainstreet

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There's a "right" disco? For my musical tastes the closest thing to good disco is the Bee Gees.

Here is a disco song I have in my collection by Moby titled "Disco Lies."

The recorded version is much better in my opinion but the live version will give you a flavor

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Mainstreet

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It looks like Eric Gordon could be out up to 6 weeks for the Rockets.

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AzStevenCal

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Here is a disco song I have in my collection by Moby titled "Disco Lies."

The recorded version is much better in my opinion but the live version will give you a flavor

I didn't recognize the live version and I didn't remember the song title so I looked through my collection and sure enough, I have the studio version (or a studio version, you never know with Moby) but it's on one of my least favorite Moby albums (Last Night).

On my music library list "Disco Lies" is sandwiched in between "The Disco Kid" (Tony Burrows/First Class) and "Disco Strangler" (Don Henley lead). So color me surprised when I realized you could have chosen an Eagles song instead! Anyway, I listened to those 3 songs in a row and wasn't overly enthused by any of them although I'd give the nod to "The Disco Kid" - probably because I've always been a sucker for Tony Burrows even though most of what he did would likely be called Bubblegum or at least bubblegum-ish.

I'm not sure if you're old enough to remember Burrows but he sang lead for a half dozen studio manufactured bands and had hits with "My Baby Loves Lovin", "United We Stand", "Gimme Dat Ding", "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows" and a few others. He also sang harmony and backup for Elton John on "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer" along with backing up Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart and many others. But I still don't care for disco. :cool:
 
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Mainstreet

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I didn't recognize the live version and I didn't remember the song title so I looked through my collection and sure enough, I have the studio version (or a studio version, you never know with Moby) but it's on one of my least favorite Moby albums (Last Night).

On my music library list "Disco Lies" is sandwiched in between "The Disco Kid" (Tony Burrows/First Class) and "Disco Strangler" (Don Henley lead). So color me surprised when I realized you could have chosen an Eagles song instead! Anyway, I listened to those 3 songs in a row and wasn't overly enthused by any of them although I'd give the nod to "The Disco Kid" - probably because I've always been a sucker for Tony Burrows even though most of what he did would like be called Bubblegum or at least bubblegum-ish.

I'm not sure if you're old enough to remember Burrows but he sang lead for a half dozen studio manufactured bands and had hits with "My Baby Loves Lovin", "United We Stand", "Gimme Dat Ding", "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows" and a few others. He also sang harmony and backup for Elton John on "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer" along with backing up Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart and many others. But I still don't care for disco. :cool:

I'm not into disco but I was trying to come up with some more recent examples of disco music I like. Moby's "Disco Lies" and Madonna's "Hung Up" are newer to my song list. Of course "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees is in my library as well. My wife loves that song.

Thanks for introducing me to the name Tony Burrows. I've heard the music but I didn't realize the voice behind it. Great artist.

Another thing I might want to explain about my music tastes. Some of my library contains classics, a mix of modern and some music are wake up songs. Examples of my wake up songs include AC/DC- "Thunderstruck," The Rolling Stones "Paint it Black" and Golden Earring "Twilight Zone."

I get my best sleep in the morning so I need to get rocked out of bed. :wink2:
 
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Hoop Head

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I didn't recognize the live version and I didn't remember the song title so I looked through my collection and sure enough, I have the studio version (or a studio version, you never know with Moby) but it's on one of my least favorite Moby albums (Last Night).

On my music library list "Disco Lies" is sandwiched in between "The Disco Kid" (Tony Burrows/First Class) and "Disco Strangler" (Don Henley lead). So color me surprised when I realized you could have chosen an Eagles song instead! Anyway, I listened to those 3 songs in a row and wasn't overly enthused by any of them although I'd give the nod to "The Disco Kid" - probably because I've always been a sucker for Tony Burrows even though most of what he did would likely be called Bubblegum or at least bubblegum-ish.

I'm not sure if you're old enough to remember Burrows but he sang lead for a half dozen studio manufactured bands and had hits with "My Baby Loves Lovin", "United We Stand", "Gimme Dat Ding", "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows" and a few others. He also sang harmony and backup for Elton John on "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer" along with backing up Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Cliff Richard, Rod Stewart and many others. But I still don't care for disco. :cool:

I'm not into disco but I was trying to come up with some more recent examples of disco music I like. Moby's "Disco Lies" and Madonna's "Hung Up" are newer to my song list. Of course "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees is in my library as well. My wife loves that song.

Thanks for introducing me to the name Tony Burrows. I've heard the music but I didn't realize the voice behind it. Great artist.

Another thing I might want to explain about my music tastes. So of my library contains classics, a mix of modern and some music are wake up songs. Examples of my wake up songs include AC/DC- Thunderstruck, The Rolling Stones "Paint it Black" and Golden Earring "Twilight Zone."

I get my best sleep in the morning so I need to get rocked out of bed. :wink2:


One of my favorite things about this board is how familiar most of the posters are with each other and these weird little side chats that people have. They're not usually more than 5-6 posts in total and no one needs to be told to get back on topic because that happens naturally. It adds layers to the personalities here.

I don't think it happened as often, or was as friendly, over the past few years because the team sucked but there is an infectious positivity here because the Suns are finally competitive that helps loosen everyone up.

Never thought I'd get a little lesson on disco on a Suns forum.
 
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