NBA Week 19/20 - Where we pull a Swiftie

[hamG]

If it’s not Celtics v Nuggets in the finals then there has been a big injury or two.

Locked in imo.

You'd think but all the top 6 teams in the west are pretty dangerous. Even stumbling into the Lakers or Warriors in the first round is not ideal when Steph and Lebron still exist.

 

[peternorth]

Reckon we were coasting up until the all star break. Can already tell the difference in the 3 games since.

Malone has also said they aren’t worried about seeding, just trying to keep everyone healthy

This.

Getting more minutes into the role players and others too is beneficial. Get to the playoffs and turn it on. You should be confident ordering your WEG back to back poster now.

 

[peternorth]

They're doing it again.

LeBron, Lakers voice frustration with officiating after loss to Suns - ESPN Video

LeBron James and Darvin Ham discuss their frustrations after the Lakers attempt a season-low eight free throws in their loss to the Suns.

www.espn.com.au

FOULS
Lakers - 14
Suns - 12

Advantage Suns

FREE THROWS
Lakers 8
Suns 19

There's the game.

 

[Gak Attack]

FOULS
Lakers - 14
Suns - 12

Advantage Suns

FREE THROWS
Lakers 8
Suns 19

There's the game.

What's that bring down the margin to #2 to?

 

[mumblingpie]

It’s always a good day when warriors and lakers lose

 

[Son of Skeletor]

FOULS
Lakers - 14
Suns - 12

Advantage Suns

FREE THROWS
Lakers 8
Suns 19

There's the game.

I actually found this quote astounding.

Could you imagine if an AFL coach said with a straight face that they go out of their way to try to win the free kick count every game?

"That's something we focus on, trying to win the free throw line every game," Ham said. "And so that's tough. I'm telling my guys to drive downhill; we're trying to love and live in the paint. And you're not getting calls. I see guys with their hands in our guys' ribs or swinging, swiping at their heads, trying to block the shot but not getting the ball, but getting a piece of the body. And it's not being called, as simple as that.​

 

[scaryness]

Shai being slept on for MVP in the media.

 

[Iceman!]

I actually found this quote astounding.

Could you imagine if an AFL coach said with a straight face that they go out of their way to try to win the free kick count every game?

"That's something we focus on, trying to win the free throw line every game," Ham said. "And so that's tough. I'm telling my guys to drive downhill; we're trying to love and live in the paint. And you're not getting calls. I see guys with their hands in our guys' ribs or swinging, swiping at their heads, trying to block the shot but not getting the ball, but getting a piece of the body. And it's not being called, as simple as that.​

I think it makes sense and is incredibly common in the NBA, FTA’s is a metric all teams use to gauge how they are playing and if they are playing in a style they want to.

If you attack the rim you will shoot more free throws, that’s all that comment is suggesting isn’t it?

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

Looking like Lakers will sign LeBron to a 2 year deal and Bronny will simply join the Lakers roster given he will slide past the draft

 

[Iceman!]

Shai being slept on for MVP in the media.


View attachment 1914093

Clear top 4 for me this year. Luka, Jokic, SGA and Giannis. Barring injury or something drastic that should clearly be the top 4.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

I think it makes sense and is incredibly common in the NBA, FTA’s is a metric all teams use to gauge how they are playing and if they are playing in a style they want to.

Not really, for a variety of reasons.

Just off the top of my head, one of the Lakers' own announcers said on air a couple of weeks back that the Lakers were dead-last in the league for drives to the hoop. So Ham's statement doesn't really marry with reality to begin with.

Secondly, it doesn't take into account the other end of the court, which is where the real story with the Lakers' ongoing discrepancy lies. It's one thing to claim to be aggressive in the paint, but it doesn't explain a lack of fouls called on you the other way.

They were called for the least amount of fouls in the league last season, and this season they're committing even fewer. They're not even within two standard deviations. They commit 2.3 fouls per 100 less than the Hawks who rank fourth best. 2.3 fouls per 100 committed is the difference between the Hawks and the Blazers, who rank 25th. That is to say, the gap between first and fourth is as big as the gap between 4th and 25th.

They conceded the lowest rate of free throws last season, and the second lowest this season. They were miles ahead of the second ranked second in free throw differential last season - the Lakers were +476, the Kings in second were a mere +173. That's an incredibly large gap between first and second, another mathematical anomaly.

LeBron's response a few weeks back to a game with a massive discrepancy in the Lakers favour (I think it might have been the infamous Raptors game) was: "They fouled, we didn't''. When the shoe's on the other foot, the reaction is much, much different. In that game the Raptors easily outscored the Lakers in the paint, so the Lakers shooting more free throws then, as now, wasn't really a relevant or useful metric to gauge whatever it is that Ham insists he's trying to measure, or attain.

If you attack the rim you will shoot more free throws, that’s all that comment is suggesting isn’t it?

Ostensibly, but in reality not really.

I mean I'll give you an example from today. Zion Williamson attacks the rim and lives in the paint probably more than any other NBA player in volume. He basically never shoots jumpers. The average distance of his shots is 3.9 feet away - ie a lay-up. Over 95% of his attempts come from within 10 feet of the basket, ie the paint.

Today he had 15 shots and 2 free throws. DeMar DeRozan on the other hand shot 12 free throws, or drew six times as many fouls in other words. On our home court. I'm not going to claim that it's the reason we lost, but it does give lie to the theory that if you attack the rim more, you're bound to shoot more free throws.

League wide, shooting more free throws seems to depend more on how awkwardly you land and/or force contact (risking an offensive foul) than it is about the number of times you're actually hit. My general observation is that players who contort their body in order to give themselves the best chance of making the lay-up get fewer calls for themselves than players who plow straight through defenders just hoping to get a call. So it's not really about attacking the paint so much as it is deliberately initiating contact with defenders.

And again, overall this is only half the equation. It doesn't explain the calls, or lack of calls, at the other end of the court.

The three teams who more than any other by design block off the paint and allow their opponents to shoot a higher proportion of threes are Miami, New Orleans and Chicago. So you'd suspect that these teams would be among the league leaders in avoiding fouling opponents for free throws, but it doesn't really work out that way. Miami rank 4th, New Orleans 13th and Chicago 16th.

***

Anyway, perhaps Ham phrased it clumsily, but regardless I don't even think it was the point of what was said. It's the same thing that happened after they had a controversial loss against the Celtics last season, or lost the free throw count by two to Miami earlier this season. Each time there was an immediate narrative spun in the media straight after, using incredibly selective stats. And each time it resulted in the Lakers having a string of games thereafter where they absolutely dominated the free throw counts.

It's not hard to read between the lines. The team with by far the biggest free throw discrepancy in their favour over the last 18 months always goes straight to the media on the rare occasions they're on the wrong end of the count. It's a not-so-subtle demand for favourable (more so) officiating, and based on recent history it'll be granted. Talk about the rich crying poor.

 

[Braklet]

It's not hard to read between the lines. The team with by far the biggest free throw discrepancy in their favour over the last 18 months always goes straight to the media on the rare occasions they're on the wrong end of the count. It's a not-so-subtle demand for favourable (more so) officiating, and based on recent history it'll be granted. Talk about the rich crying poor.

Well said.

I'd just like to point out that effective foul attraction has been a part of basketball as long as I've been aware of basketball. The clumsy bottom end of that skill is justifiably derided as "flopping," but some players are very, very good at it.

The extension of that aspect of the game is coaches working the refs. These press conferences are part of it.

 

[fidstar]

It does get old listening to podcasts, especially Ringer ones, and they just always go “be scared of the Warriors!” or “be scared of the Heat!” but the Warriors have been mid or s**t for 4 of 5 seasons, and the Heat are so inconsistent with effort and results to the point where they shouldn’t receive any benefit of the doubt when they are a 7 seed.

Were we mid or shit in 2022?

 

[fidstar]

Shai being slept on for MVP in the media.


View attachment 1914093

I'm not sure being second favourite is being slept on?

 

[Memphis]

Jersey is fire, logo is trash.

 

[Iceman!]

Jersey is fire, logo is trash.

Yeah the logo is really really bad

 

[Braklet]

Jersey is fire, logo is trash.

Send 'em back to San Diego

 

[peternorth]

Jersey is fire, logo is trash.

It’s hard to go wrong with red white and blue.

I think clippers looks better than los angeles

 

[Borough Blood]

Knicks got away with one against Detroit. L2M should be interesting.

 

[DT_35]

lol league is rigged AF

 

[peternorth]

Knicks got away with one against Detroit. L2M should be interesting.

lol league is rigged AF

what happened

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

My general observation is that players who contort their body in order to give themselves the best chance of making the lay-up get fewer calls for themselves than players who plow straight through defenders

... unless your name is Karl-Anthony, then you (rightfully) get called for offensive fouls that nobody else does

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Jersey is fire, logo is trash.

Navy ones look mint. Glad they returned to the old font, even if it was a pale facsimile of the Lakers version.

Logo is 'meh', but at least it's more interesting than their current bland effort. Overall a better rebrand than the first Microsoft one.

 

[Son of Skeletor]

what happened

You don't really get a good angle of it, but you get the idea.

 

[Nicho50]

Bout time we are on the right end of a bad call. We’ve been stooged a few times this year so I won’t complain.