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2017-18 NBA: FIRST HALF


Dolfan in NYC

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LeBron is closing the gap rapidly though.

 

I was trying not to panic about the Pistons losing streak, lot of close loses to really good teams, but they got waylaid by Denver and it was ugly. Seven straight loses and down from 14-6 and second place to 14-13 and 8th in the East. Yikes.

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1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

Knicks could sneak in at 8 "because the East".

How fucking funny would that be after trading Carmelo?

Especially when coupled with Oklahoma City NOT making the playoffs. 

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Hey Jae... would you trade or keep Niko at this point?

I have to say keep. He’s only 26 and fits with the rebuild. Unless his recent play is fool’s gold.

He looks like a completely different player though. Oozing confidence.

 

 

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16 hours ago, Thibs said:

Hey Jae... would you trade or keep Niko at this point?

I have to say keep. He’s only 26 and fits with the rebuild. Unless his recent play is fool’s gold.

He looks like a completely different player though. Oozing confidence.

 

He's gone on streaks before where he's looked like the guy we hoped we'd get. But he falls off eventually. His whole problem has always been consistency. 4 games isn't enough to change my mind when I've seen him play 218 before that.

In the last three seasons he's averaged about 10 points. Lauri Markannen in his first season(granted it's only 25 games or so) has averaged 14. And that kid is expanding his game every night. To me he is the future.

I've read people saying that Niko is playing better because he's the first scoring option. He's failed before when he wasn't. This might be true. I don't think he's an Alpha, which is why he got shook by Thibs, he got shook by Jimmy Buttler, and he couldn't beat Taj Gibson for a starting job and they WANTED to give it him. So if you're telling me the reason he's playing well is because he's the #1 guy, then Yeah, I'm absolutely trading him, because there's no way we go anywhere if he's our number one.

I also can't say that he's soul reason behind our current win streak. I do believe David Nwaba's energy helps. He's a big spark during bench rotation. I also believe that Kris Dunn putting it together the last two weeks has been MASSIVE for this team. Zack Lavine just got cleared for contact, and he's going to want the ball. It'll be interesting to see how Niko deals with another guy looking to take on the scoring burden.

We can't trade him until January 18th, and even if he still is playing this way, I'm still leaning on trading for as much as we can get out of him. We need the future assets at other positions and we have young player now who can already do what Niko does.  He might change my mind before then though. Who knows, maybe getting punched in the face made him the Dirk 2.0 we dreamed of. 

 

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8 hours ago, jaedmc said:

He's gone on streaks before where he's looked like the guy we hoped we'd get. But he falls off eventually. His whole problem has always been consistency. 4 games isn't enough to change my mind when I've seen him play 218 before that.

In the last three seasons he's averaged about 10 points. Lauri Markannen in his first season(granted it's only 25 games or so) has averaged 14. And that kid is expanding his game every night. To me he is the future.

I've read people saying that Niko is playing better because he's the first scoring option. He's failed before when he wasn't. This might be true. I don't think he's an Alpha, which is why he got shook by Thibs, he got shook by Jimmy Buttler, and he couldn't beat Taj Gibson for a starting job and they WANTED to give it him. So if you're telling me the reason he's playing well is because he's the #1 guy, then Yeah, I'm absolutely trading him, because there's no way we go anywhere if he's our number one.

I also can't say that he's soul reason behind our current win streak. I do believe David Nwaba's energy helps. He's a big spark during bench rotation. I also believe that Kris Dunn putting it together the last two weeks has been MASSIVE for this team. Zack Lavine just got cleared for contact, and he's going to want the ball. It'll be interesting to see how Niko deals with another guy looking to take on the scoring burden.

We can't trade him until January 18th, and even if he still is playing this way, I'm still leaning on trading for as much as we can get out of him. We need the future assets at other positions and we have young player now who can already do what Niko does.  He might change my mind before then though. Who knows, maybe getting punched in the face made him the Dirk 2.0 we dreamed of. 

 

There’s no doubt that he’s gone on these sort of streaks before, especially in March, and its always fallen off. This seems different though. 

He’s gotten himself in awesome physical shape, his footwork seems so much more fluid, and his basketball IQ seems head and shoulders above what it was.

I agree that him being a first option might be the reason for his current play. And yes, he won’t be our number one option. BUT, could he be a first option for the second unit coming off the bench? I think so.

i guess time will tell. But come January, if he’s playing anywhere near the level he's at now, and the choice is trade Portis or trade Niko...I don’t know how you get rid of Niko in that scenario. 

Of course you could keep both and just have Bobby punch him in the face every time he goes back to chucking bone headed 3’s from mid court. 

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On 12/14/2017 at 9:09 PM, Thibs said:

I agree that him being a first option might be the reason for his current play. And yes, he won’t be our number one option. BUT, could he be a first option for the second unit coming off the bench? I think so.

 

I'd be fine with this, but I don't think he would be. Especially with the way he's playing now. 5 in a row after last night. You ask him to be the backup and he's asking to be traded. 

Him and Portis fighting for starting minutes(while Markannen is dealing with his back) may be the best thing to happen to this team. Read a stat that said over the last 3 games the team is +46 when Portis and Nwaba are on the floor together. 

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13 hours ago, Thibs said:

Still trying to trade Niko after tonight, Jae?

Niko will average 6 points a game in January and I will laugh at this convo. I hope i'm wrong.  Fell in love with the guy as soon as he came over, but i seriously doubt he will ever develop into a consistent player.  The NBA season is just too long for him.

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