here is your regular insane Rockets Statistic.

Of the Rockets 9 man rotation, here are their True Shooting %

Nene Hilario 69%
Clint Capela 68%
James Harden 63%
Ryan Anderson 62%
Trevor Ariza 61%
Chris Paul 61%
P.J. Tucker 58%
Mbah a Moute 57%
Eric Gordon 57%

57% is the low, Eric Gordon. 57% would be good for #6 in the NBA among teams, and Eric Gordon is #140 of 336 qualified players on ESPN. The entire rotation is efficient at shooting the ball, and the majority of the the shots are being taken by players shooting over 60% TS. For a comparison point, last year, 49 players in the NBA finished above 60% TS. 2 years ago, 26. 3 years ago, 22. 15 years ago, it was 6.

The other team with an insane TS%? The Warriors. Both the Rockets and Warriors are above 60% TS as a team, which (correct me if I'm wrong here, I had a hard time finding this stat pre 2000) no team has ever done. The Rockets are a bit more balanced in their rotation, but the Warriors higher overall at this point. But right now, by TS%, they're putting together the 2 most efficient seasons of all time, in the same season. And the NBA league wide scoring is more efficient than it has ever been, as well. In case you were wondering, the previous best TS% is Golden State at 59.7%, last year. Cleveland this year is also at 59.7%.

he's got a long way to go on his shot but lonzo busted out by far his prettiest (or at least most normal looking lol) midrange pullup last night, going *right*, too.

lakers finna lose by 30 tonight

well when nance, brewer and kuzma all have their best game of the season, and when the other team is missing their 3rd best player and only rim protector, crazy shit can happen.

Watching the Rockets coast thru these games is basically like watching a kid playing around on a skateboard and doing sick moves but you know he's going to faceplant and break like ten bones eventually. Normally I'd be ok with Harden getting more rest during the regular season and having to deal with blowing an 11 pt lead to the Kings but aside from home court advantage, #1 seed is most likely the difference between having to go through both San Antonio and Golden State or just one of them. It seems like there is a pretty clear top 3 in the West and a drop off, so #1 seed could be really important. I’m kind of not anticipating them holding onto the one seed regardless but it would be fun if they did. They are super hot atm but only 0.5 up on GSW and the schedule gets a lot more difficult. It’s not impossible for Houston to hold onto it but if I had to place money on it, I think the Warriors finish first. Once we get to March and it looks out of reach, give Harden some rest. But if it is in play, #1 seed is definitely worth chasing.

i'm cracking up at this game recap announcer just hating on the atlanta hawks for no reason

http://nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/video ... 0_5904.mp4

i genuinely feel bad for markelle fultz and hope things fall into place for him soon, but also i find myself thinking about the swarms of dickhead sixers fans* who are so quick to jump into threads to totally trash Zo or BI- or other teams young guys for that matter- and i can't help but enjoy a feeling of vindictive satisfaction wrt having to sweat about their newest #1 pick.


*not to say a large % of laker fans aren't as aggressively ignorant about their own teams' players and others'.

In the case of Lakers fans, they were taunting about Embiid's injury.

loved this for some reason

the almost all-star line

all-star starters draft scenarios:

Scenario 1: LeBron takes both SFs with his first 2 picks...
LEBRON'S TEAM..........CURRY'S TEAM
Cap: LeBron...............Cap: Curry
1. Durant..................1. Harden
2. Giannis..................2. Davis
3. Embiid...................3. DeRozan
4. Kyrie.....................4. Cousins
in this scenario, LeBron totally screws Curry by sweeping up both of the bigger wings and leaving Curry's team to try and guard them with Harden/DeRozan/Davis. LeBron completely dictates this version because picking Durant leaves Curry with no option but to pick Harden (if he doesn't, it gets even worse). And picking Giannis also means Curry has to pick Davis because there is no way he's wasting that pick on DeRozan and Davis is the best of the bigs. After LeBron picks Embiid over Cousins, the rest of the lineup fills out automatically (although i guess Curry could pick Cousins 3 and DeRozan 4, but either way he ends up with both because LeBron would pick Kyrie either way and Curry wouldn't pick Kyrie with either spot). Curry basically has zero choices except if he wants to just throw crazy shit in the mix (like picking Kyrie in that DeRozan). i guess he could pick Giannis over Harden, knowing that every realistic scenario leads to him having DeRozan anyway. but if he does that, the rest of the draft goes the same way. and honestly, even with the defensive nightmare of having Harden/DeRozan/Davis guard LeBron/Durant/Giannis, i'd still rather have Harden over Giannis in the game. Curry would just need to go hard on wings asap off the bench.

Scenario 2: LeBron takes Harden #1...
LEBRON'S TEAM..........CURRY'S TEAM
Cap: LeBron...............Cap: Curry
1. Harden..................1. Durant
2. Giannis..................2. AD
3. Embiid...................3. DeRozan or Cousins
4. Kyrie.....................4. Cousins or DeRozan
damn i expected this to play out differently. but its just the same after the 1st round. I see no reason for LeBron to do this, no disrespect to Harden.

Scenario 3: LeBron says "Fuck Kyrie"...
LEBRON'S TEAM..........CURRY'S TEAM
Cap: LeBron...............Cap: Curry
1. Harden..................1. Durant
2. Giannis..................2. Davis
3. DeRozan................3. Embiid
4. Cousins.................4. Kyrie
he would need Harden in this scenario, and that necessitates picking DeRozan and taking whichever big man Curry doesn't take with that 3rd round pick (i've just been assuming Embiid over Cousins, but that could be different in any of these scenarios. in any case, it would never change the picks around it).


i can't imagine a scenario in which the top 4 picks aren't those top 4 picks and the bottom 4 are those bottom 4. not necessarily just because of talent, but because wings will be an absolute priority here, DeRozan is the easy man out once Harden/Durant/Giannis are picked so you know a big man is going over him, and Kyrie isn't getting picked by either team that early given that Curry has no reason to pick him and LeBron should know that. i guess the only chances of those 4 top picks being different is if Curry values Embiid/Cousins over Davis, which i doubt.

i guess there is one more possibility
Scenario 4: LeBron picks a big with his 2nd pick...
LEBRON'S TEAM..........CURRY'S TEAM
Cap: LeBron...............Cap: Curry
1. Durant..................1. Harden
2. Davis....................2. Giannis
3. DeRozan................3. Embiid
4. Kyrie.....................4. Cousins
i would think, because he'll ultimately have the choice rather than Steph, that LeBron will want to avoid having the 2-bigs, otherwise its possible he would go Embiid or Cousins over DeRozan here. this scenario presents the most normal looking team, but i think the other scenarios give LeBron a bigger advantage and he holds all the cards.


#imacompletenerd.

edit: just dawned on me that they might do a snake draft, in which case fuck everything i just said.

I doubt they'll be playing defense anyway.

So, there's basically a two-tier draft? They have to draft from the starters and then from the reserves?

Here's the player vote for the starters (not counting the captains):

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo 226
2. Kevin Durant 204
3. Kyrie Irving 181
4. Anthony Davis 150
5. James Harden 141
6. DeMarcus Cousins 114
7. DeMar DeRozan 105
8. Joel Embiid 94

I don't expect it to go this way (LeBron probably takes Durant), but let's switch the top two and do a snake:

LeBron-Durant-Davis-Harden-DeRozan
Curry-Giannis-Irving-Cousins-Embiid

F Davis (4) ........ Embiid (7)
F Durant. (1) ..... Cousins (6)
F LeBron (C) ...... Giannis (2)
G DeRozan (8) ... Irving (3)
G Harden (5) ..... Curry (C)

DeRozan would only go last because team Curry used up the other guard spot. Otherwise, it would be Embiid. That's my prediction. I'm operating under the assumption that you can't take more than three frontcourt players and two backcourt players.

If it's not a snake:

LeBron-Durant-Irving-Harden-Embiid
Curry-Giannis-Davis-Cousins-DeRozan

Kind of the same as you, but different order.

F Embiid (7) ... Cousins (6)
F Durant (1) ... Davis (4)
F LeBron (C) ... Giannis (2)
G Harden (5) .. DeRozan (8)
G Irving (3) .... Curry (C)

The screw Kyrie scenario:

LeBron-Durant-Davis-Harden-DeRozan
Curry-Giannis-Irving-Cousins-Embiid

F Davis (3) ..... Embiid (8)
F Durant (1) ... Cousins (6)
F LeBron (C) ... Giannis (1)
G DeRozan (7) . Irving (4)
G Harden (5) ... Curry (C)

But I bet it's a snake draft. Or at least LeBron picks one, Curry picks two, and then they alternate.

The other option is that LeBron picks first for starters and Curry picks first for reserves.

why are you guys putting this much analysis into the all star game draft

I don't always have a lot to do at work and when I do, I'm often more efficient if I can distract myself from time to time analyzing something pointless.

But today, I don't have anything to do. I'm watching Michigan State to scout JJJ. Love the shooting form and how his head seems to be always on a swivel on defense. There's an entirely petty complaint I have. I wish he'd do the Kevin Garnett thing and block shots after the whistle. If a guard is going to go to the basket on a dead ball, don't let him lay it in. Why would you do that? Make him think about you next time.