Around the League: Week 8 12/14-12/20

[carey]

Week 7 is in the books. We finally saw the end of the Warriors win streak on the 7th game of a 7 game road trip on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. The streak may never be equaled. It was a remarkable run.

ESPN's week 7 power rankings: LINK We're back up to 19. Still not in the top half of league teams, and considering we are 4 games under .500 still that might be considered a favorable ranking.

Tyson Chandler is back, and the Suns' frustrating run of seven straight games decided by five or fewer points (3-4) has been halted. Next on the agenda: With more than 110 free-agent signees from the summer becoming trade-eligible Tuesday, stay tuned for a potential resolution to the Suns' long-running Markieff Morris drama.

Nationally televised games this week

Tuesday: Cleveland @ Boston 7:30PM EST NBATv, Milwaukee @ L.A. Lakers 10:30PM EST NBATv
Wednesday: Memphis @ Chicago 8:00PM EST ESPN, Phoenix @ Golden State 10:30PM EST ESPN
Thursday: Oklahoma City @ Cleveland 8:00PM EST TNT, Houston @ L.A. Lakers 10:30PM EST TNT
Friday: L.A. Clippers @ San Antonio 8:00PM EST ESPN, New Orleans @ Phoenix 10:30PM EST ESPN
Saturday: Charlotte @ Washington 7:00PM EST NBATv
Sunday: Nothing.

NBA News

The NBA reduces the years retired requirement for potential HoF inductees: http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/s ... index.html

The Grizzlies as we know them are dying: http://www.sbnation.com/2015/12/14/1010 ... it-n-grind

Kawhi Leonard is good: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/12/14/ ... ense-stats

D.A.'s Morning Tip - New coach hasn't yet fixed Bulls' long-standing problem: http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/d ... index.html

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/YourManDevine/status/676523262092967936

[Furlanfufi]

This is so hilarious!!!
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... 43366.html

[Indy]

This is so hilarious!!!
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... 43366.html

And in such a perfect way. The way his team looks at him afterwards is priceless.

[Mori Chu]

This must be the week for current/former NBA players embarrassing themselves by saying politically incorrect things. Gilbert Arenas had a disrespectful Instagram rant about the WNBA. The league fired back.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/12/ ... highlights

[carey]

Everyone see Jimmy Butler called out Fred Hoiberg? http://chicago.suntimes.com/basketball/ ... -laid-back

“I believe in the guys in this locker room, yeah,’’ Butler said, when asked if this team needed a change in personnel as a shake-up. “But I also believe that we probably have to be coached a lot harder at times. I’m sorry, I know that Fred’s a laid-back guy, and I really respect him for that. But when guys aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do, you gotta get on guys, myself included. You gotta do what you’re supposed to do when you’re out there playing basketball.

[pickle]

A huge culture change from Thibs to Hoiberg for sure, and I think the Bulls know that they aren't playing as well as they should. I still think the problem starts with Rose though. If he could accept coming in off the bench, that team gets better in an instant.

[Superbone]

I was surprised at how ordinary Rose was in our last game against the Bulls.

[TOO]

I was surprised at how ordinary Rose was in our last game against the Bulls.

He's done. He'll have a nice game here or there, but he's basically Jameer Nelson now. Sad.

[pickle]

I still think that Rose is creative enough with his dribble and convincing enough with his head and shoulder fakes that he could be destructive off the bench, particularly if he paces himself. But if he insists on taking 18 shots a game given his current physical limitations, I think he's just kidding himself and hurting his team.

[ShelC]

I might be biased because he's on my fantasy team and I kinda need him to do well, but I think Rose is going to be OK. Physically he looks fine to me. Is he 2011 DRose? No but he's still getting where he wants on the floor. He's still having trouble with his vision and might be tentative finishing in the lane, but again, I don't see him struggling much other than his jumper. And I even expect that to come around. I think the new offense and learning to play with Butler are the challenges for him.

[pickle]

For me the real issue is his ability to finish. I think he's lost maybe 5 to 10% in terms of accuracy at the rim due to his diminished athleticism. In his heyday he used to hit those impossible shots. Now he misses them much more often. I'm sure there are advanced statistics sites where I could look this up, though I'm not sure what they are. If anybody has a pointer I'd love to take a closer look.

Rose never had a good outside shot, not sure about his mid-range accuracy prior to injury though.

[Split T]

Basketball-reference.com says he's a career 57% shooter at the rim(0-3 feet) and 43% from 3-10 feet. This year he's shooting 48% at the rim and 30% from 3-10.

[Mori Chu]

Rose is done. Penny Hardaway v2.0. I feel for the guy and loved him when he was whole, but he will never be that guy again. I don't think he is a net positive to an NBA team, especially not at his current monster salary.

[carey]

Rose is done. Penny Hardaway v2.0. I feel for the guy and loved him when he was whole, but he will never be that guy again. I don't think he is a net positive to an NBA team, especially not at his current monster salary.

He's destined to be a Knick anyway.

[specialsauce]

Rose was the most overrated player in the league when he was healthy anyway.

[pickle]

I feel like Rose had a lot of good intangibles that didn't necessarily make it to the stat sheet, and I'm not talking about willingness to take a charge stuff, that have come to work against him now that he's not the same athlete. He had a confidence that rubbed off on the other players, and he wasn't selfish per se, he just had so much faith in himself, which was mostly justified, that people just thought of as special and followed him into battle. He was willing to pass up the last second shot as much as he was willing to take it. He walked a fine line between early Lebron's overly unselfish to Kobe's god mentality and came out looking good.

He's still largely the same guy, except he can't finish those shots anymore, so he's no longer drawling double or triple teams and his kickouts are no longer really effective. Yet he still has so much faith in himself that he's shooting 20 a game and saying stupid things to justify it, which now looks simply delusional. What's up with worrying about money so that his children wouldn't go hungry (paraphrasing) while he's still got 2 years left on that super max contract anyway? That is not endearing to fans or teammates.

[pickle]

Basketball-reference.com says he's a career 57% shooter at the rim(0-3 feet) and 43% from 3-10 feet. This year he's shooting 48% at the rim and 30% from 3-10.

Thanks T. I will take a closer look at basketball-reference.com.

[Indy]

Basketball-reference.com says he's a career 57% shooter at the rim(0-3 feet) and 43% from 3-10 feet. This year he's shooting 48% at the rim and 30% from 3-10.

Thanks T. I will take a closer look at basketball-reference.com.

It is a great site.

[The Bobster]

It's an indispensable basketball stat resource, and it's great that they've added NBA box scores back to day 1. I got to help them fill in some of their statistical and transaction gaps early on.

Another cool site is http://fivethirtyeight.com/

They have some interesting player and team projections and analysis.