NBA Thread 2013-2014

[Jordan4life_2007]

So question for J4L. If lebron would have averaged 45 a game in the 80s (more than mike) and if you think lebron is as good in this era as mike was in his era (and you think this era is better), is lebron better than Jordan? Apologies for rehashing an old argument, but I've been drinking so whatevs

 

45 ppg was an exaggeration. 40 ppg probably is as well. Just as the silly notion that MJ playing today would average 40/45 ppg or could score 100 points. LeBron would be every bit as dominant, probably moreso, in the 80's (inferior athletes across the board and drastically inferior defense outside of the Pistons) as he is today. No, I don't think LeBron is better than MJ as of 2013. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Apparently you can call respected mods f***ing idiots (Steve to Balta) and not get suspended. But I can get 30 days for laughing at something people think I shouldn't laugh at. I laugh at beheadings, too, by the way Soxtalk mods. Does that warrant 60 days?

[Steve9347]

45 ppg was an exaggeration. 40 ppg probably is as well. Just as the silly notion that MJ playing today would average 40/45 ppg or could score 100 points. LeBron would be every bit as dominant, probably moreso, in the 80's (inferior athletes across the board and drastically inferior defense outside of the Pistons) as he is today. No, I don't think LeBron is better than MJ as of 2013. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Apparently you can call respected mods f***ing idiots (Steve to Balta) and not get suspended. But I can get 30 days for laughing at something people think I shouldn't laugh at. I laugh at beheadings, too, by the way Soxtalk mods. Does that warrant 60 days?

Welcome back.

[Boogua]

45 ppg was an exaggeration. 40 ppg probably is as well. Just as the silly notion that MJ playing today would average 40/45 ppg or could score 100 points. LeBron would be every bit as dominant, probably moreso, in the 80's (inferior athletes across the board and drastically inferior defense outside of the Pistons) as he is today. No, I don't think LeBron is better than MJ as of 2013. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Apparently you can call respected mods f***ing idiots (Steve to Balta) and not get suspended. But I can get 30 days for laughing at something people think I shouldn't laugh at. I laugh at beheadings, too, by the way Soxtalk mods. Does that warrant 60 days?

I agree that Lebron would be better in the 80s due to the tempo, but he wouldn't be as big then as he is now. The pace would be too much for him that he would have to slim down a decent amount. It's obviously impossible to tell, but thanks for the response. I forgot that I had written that.

[Quin]

It's worth noting that Artest said that the hardest player he has ever had to defend was MJ. Wizards MJ.

 

And I know it was a younger Artest, but current LeBron is going up against an old Artest.

 

[Harry Chappas]

ESPN Radio this morning was discussing the fact that LeBron is now shaving his head, why do I still even care a little about ESPN.

[Steve9347]

ESPN Radio this morning was discussing the fact that LeBron is now shaving his head, why do I still even care a little about ESPN.

I actually don't hate that as a topic.

 

[witesoxfan]

He kinda looks like an alien

[Kyyle23]

I actually don't hate that as a topic.

 

 

 

I dont mind it as a mention. ESPN is making it a story. He shaved his head because his hair was going away, thanks now lets move on

 

*true words spoken from a fellow balding man*

[2nd_city_saint787]

No love for the Dexter Pittman signing? He's lost a lot of weight, and he's 6-11" with a 7'6" wingspan....Thibs'll fix em

[Quin]

No love for the Dexter Pittman signing? He's lost a lot of weight, and he's 6-11" with a 7'6" wingspan....Thibs'll fix em

 

He's kind of a douche.

[2nd_city_saint787]

He's kind of a douche.

 

Well he's our douche now....(maybe, it's not a guaranteed contract)

[Rowand44]

No love for the Dexter Pittman signing? He's lost a lot of weight, and he's 6-11" with a 7'6" wingspan....Thibs'll fix em

He's been "losing a lot of weight" since his Freshman year at Texas.

[2nd_city_saint787]

He's been "losing a lot of weight" since his Freshman year at Texas.

 

lol well when you start out at 370 you've got a lot of weight to lose.

 

 

 

Doesn't look bad.

Edited August 23, 2013 by scs787

[SexiAlexei]

<!--quoteo(post=2859672:date=Aug 22, 2013 -> 09:16 PM:name=Rowand44)-->

<!--quotec-->He's been "losing a lot of weight" since his Freshman year at Texas.

 

lol well when you start out at 370 you've got a lot of weight to lose.

 

 

 

Doesn't look bad.

 

He had a few dunks in summer league? NBA Championship here we come!

[2nd_city_saint787]

He had a few dunks in summer league? NBA Championship here we come!

 

I posted that in reference to his weight, he doesn't appear to be in that bad a shape.

[lostfan]

45 ppg was an exaggeration. 40 ppg probably is as well. Just as the silly notion that MJ playing today would average 40/45 ppg or could score 100 points. LeBron would be every bit as dominant, probably moreso, in the 80's (inferior athletes across the board and drastically inferior defense outside of the Pistons) as he is today. No, I don't think LeBron is better than MJ as of 2013. Sorry for taking so long to reply. Apparently you can call respected mods f***ing idiots (Steve to Balta) and not get suspended. But I can get 30 days for laughing at something people think I shouldn't laugh at. I laugh at beheadings, too, by the way Soxtalk mods. Does that warrant 60 days?

LeBron in the 80s would've been more of a banger (if he wasn't a clone of Magic), not the same type of player he is right now (unless he was a shooting guard and not a small forward). It was a different game then, different rules, much harder to get to the rim than it is today, different tempo, a lot more going on near the basket and post play was emphasized more. Jordan was the first to do that and he changed the game and left a lot of new standards and trends, and the rules of the game have changed which means LeBron's adapted to today's game different than he'd have adapted in the 80s.

 

That said, when people say LeBron would be some kind of shrinking violet and he'd get beat up in the 80s or whatever that's really asinine. It's like they've never actually SEEN LeBron.

[Steve9347]

Hey, I dreamt Derrick Rose came back last night. It was cool.

 

I wonder if he'll play this year.

[witesoxfan]

Hey, I dreamt Derrick Rose came back last night. It was cool.

 

I wonder if he'll play this year.

 

Only God knows. He'll have to be 110% before anything else though.

[iamshack]

So I was reading something last night that pointed out that 1 in 6 American men 7-foot tall or more between the ages of 20 and 40 is in the NBA. I found that pretty incredible.

 

Additionally, I read that NBA players are not only disproportionately tall, but they have disproportionately long wingspans. This is just as important, if not more important, than their height. In regards to offensive rebounding, longer wingspans are more important than height, whereas for defensive rebounding, height is slightly more important. Black players tend to have longer wingspans than white players, although the average white player in the NBA is taller than the average black player.

 

I think I read that there are only 2 players in the NBA with a shorter wingspan than is proportionate for their height....JJ Reddick, and Yao Ming, who is obviously seven-five.

Edited August 27, 2013 by iamshack

[witesoxfan]

So I was reading something last night that pointed out that 1 in 6 American men 7-foot taller or more between the ages of 20 and 40 is in the NBA. I found that pretty incredible.

 

Additionally, I read that NBA players are not only disproportionately tall, but they have disproportionately long wingspans. This is just as important, if not more important, than their height. In regards to offensive rebounding, longer wingspans are more important than height, whereas for defensive rebounding, height is slightly more important. Black players tend to have longer wingspans than white players, although the average white player in the NBA is taller than the average black player.

 

That's actually crazy stuff. I'm guessing NBA teams figure that, so long as we can get the ball into you, you should be able to make it.

 

Regarding the final white/black point, I wonder how much of that is actually due to the fact that shorter black people make it in the NBA far more often than shorter white people do. Consider that the highest a true white person scored was David Lee at like 18.5 per game (Robin Lopez is part Cuban) and that the most a white person scored under the height of 6'10 was 15.9 by Chandler Parsons (Klay Thompson is part Bahamian).

 

Blacks, by and large, are far more athletic than white people are and, as such, are attracted far more to sports like football and basketball. White people play too, but don't see around as long due in large part to that athleticism, or lack thereof in their case.

[LittleHurt05]

So I was reading something last night that pointed out that 1 in 6 American men 7-foot tall or more between the ages of 20 and 40 is in the NBA. I found that pretty incredible.

 

Additionally, I read that NBA players are not only disproportionately tall, but they have disproportionately long wingspans. This is just as important, if not more important, than their height. In regards to offensive rebounding, longer wingspans are more important than height, whereas for defensive rebounding, height is slightly more important. Black players tend to have longer wingspans than white players, although the average white player in the NBA is taller than the average black player.

 

I think I read that there are only 2 players in the NBA with a shorter wingspan than is proportionate for their height....JJ Reddick, and Yao Ming, who is obviously seven-five.

 

I guess I don't find that first stat very surprising. First, how many 7-footers do you ever see? It's rare to be that tall. Secondly, many of the 7-footers in the NBA suck at basketball. They are just so tall, teams put up with the badness because of the size. You can't teach 7 feet.

[iamshack]

That's actually crazy stuff. I'm guessing NBA teams figure that, so long as we can get the ball into you, you should be able to make it.

 

Regarding the final white/black point, I wonder how much of that is actually due to the fact that shorter black people make it in the NBA far more often than shorter white people do. Consider that the highest a true white person scored was David Lee at like 18.5 per game (Robin Lopez is part Cuban) and that the most a white person scored under the height of 6'10 was 15.9 by Chandler Parsons (Klay Thompson is part Bahamian).

 

Blacks, by and large, are far more athletic than white people are and, as such, are attracted far more to sports like football and basketball. White people play too, but don't see around as long due in large part to that athleticism, or lack thereof in their case.

I was mentioning this book, The Sports Gene, in another thread. It actually addresses some of these things, and puts forward some very interesting theories.

 

Apparently, since the days of the basketball combine, there has never been a player drafted that could not at least grab the rim. So even the guys that have been really short, such as Mugsy Bogues, Nate Robinson, Spud Webb, etc, had insane leaping ability and long wingspans. Nate Robinson is 5'8 but has incredibly long arms and can obviously jump.

 

Some of the reasons black people are more athletic when it comes to sports like basketball, is that black athletes whose ancestry comes from West Africa tend to have a larger proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers in their legs, which allow for quicker and more explosive actions, such as leaping and cutting quickly. This also allows them to accelerate more quickly, which is ideal in confined spaces for jumping. The faster one can accelerate, the higher speed one can attain in a short distance, which allows more force to be put down onto the achilles tendon, which compresses the tendon more and creates a bigger springing action, which leads to a bigger leaping ability. Combine this with height and wingspan, and you have the makings of a basketball player.

 

Additionally, people who live closer to the equator tend to have longer limbs than those who live far from the equator. This is most likely because developing a more linear (longer legs and arms) surface area allows one to dispel heat better than a more compact surface area, which retains heat much better. So many people of african descent tend to have longer legs and arms than those who descended from folks living away from the equator.

Edited August 27, 2013 by iamshack

[Dick Allen]

How many of the 7 footers in the NBA are actually at least 7 feet?

[iamshack]

How many of the 7 footers in the NBA are actually at least 7 feet?

Not sure exactly, but the percentage of 7 footers doubled from about 5% in the '70's and early '80's to 11 percent once teams started literally scouring the globe for 7-footers. The number has leveled off since then. It seems that we have reached the limits of our population of 7 footers, basically.

[Jordan4life_2007]

LeBron in the 80s would've been more of a banger (if he wasn't a clone of Magic), not the same type of player he is right now (unless he was a shooting guard and not a small forward). It was a different game then, different rules, much harder to get to the rim than it is today, different tempo, a lot more going on near the basket and post play was emphasized more. Jordan was the first to do that and he changed the game and left a lot of new standards and trends, and the rules of the game have changed which means LeBron's adapted to today's game different than he'd have adapted in the 80s.

 

That said, when people say LeBron would be some kind of shrinking violet and he'd get beat up in the 80s or whatever that's really asinine. It's like they've never actually SEEN LeBron.

 

In the 80's? I don't think so. You might have a case in the 90's. But definitely not the 80's. No way, no how. Have you seen those crazy ass circus numbers? I know the pace was faster. But team defense then was nowhere near what it is today. Watch any Heat/Bulls game of the last three years and then go watch an 80's game and get back to me. The Pistons were the only team from that decade that really emphasized defense (and even that wasn't until the late 80's), which is why they stand out so much. By today's standards, they'd be simply a really good defensive team. Not the GOAT status they've attained over the years.