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NBA Playoffs |OT| AKA Derrick Rose's family time

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G

Gully State

Member
Also, we already have a potential replacement for Barnes production/role on the roster right now in Kevon Looney...6'9, long, can defend multiple positions, has a 3 point stroke...
 
A

Atomic Playboy

Member
Gully State said:
I think you can be sad or even dissatisfied that your team didn't advance and still consider the season to be successful at the same time.
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It's called being a Blazers fan. "What, we're not in the lottery? Shit, we made the second round of the playoffs? We're getting swept by the Warriors? Don't care, season is a net positive."
 
G

George Claw M.D.

Member
Gully State said:
Also, we already have a potential replacement for Barnes production/role on the roster right now in Kevon Looney...6'9, long, can defend multiple positions, has a 3 point stroke...
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Where does this info come from? I think I saw maybe 2min of him playing since GSW drafted him. Is this based on his college game, because I admittedly don't follow college ball.
 
P

PadWarrior

Member
friskykillface said:
warriors cocky owner: "yeah you can leave and get paid or sign for cheap and get more rings, we have Dray, Klay , Steph and now KD for the next few years, what do you want more?"
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That sounds like him lol
LyleLanley said:
How much of a bench do you really need with Steph, Klay, KD and Draymond?



If I could find an online bookie that would let me make that bet I'd put my life savings on it. I'd even take out a loan to put more on it.
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I think Livingston and iggy and even speights are really important bench guys to have. Not only that but Durant would be destroyed when they go small if he played the 4.
 
G

Gully State

Member
George Claw M.D. said:
Where does this info come from? I think I saw maybe 2min of him playing since GSW drafted him. Is this based on his college game, because I admittedly don't follow college ball.
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Yeah he played at UCLA. He was a mid to top first round prospect before they found out he had hip issues.

According to draftexpress

The 10th best prospect in the 2014 high school class according to the RSCI, Kevon Looney got off to an extremely strong start for UCLA. He cooled off significant as the year moved on, but still had a good freshman season overall, helping the Bruins make the NCAA Tournament's Sweet Sixteen, where they fell to Gonzaga. On a team with little to no depth, Looney was forced to shoulder all the minutes and touches he could handle right off the bat, which is any freshman prospect's dream scenario, but did expose his limitations to a certain degree.


(Video may not load with Internet Explorer. Use Chrome or Firefox)

Looney has good size for a power forward, measured at 6-9 ½ in shoes, with a huge 7-3 wingspan by USA Basketball in 2013. He is not an exceptional athlete, as he possesses just average quickness and explosiveness, and also does not have a great frame by NBA standards, with high, narrow hips that give him somewhat of an awkward build.

Most of Looney's offense at the moment derives via hustle plays, with the biggest share of his production coming on the offensive glass according to Synergy Sports Technology, and spot-ups, cuts, pick and roll finishes and transition plays making up the rest of his profile.

Looney has a great knack for crashing the offensive glass, showing terrific instincts and timing going out of his area and pursuing loose balls using his superior wingspan, often without even jumping. He shows a very nice competitive spirit here, boxing out well and not being afraid to mix things up with older and stronger players than him. His 4.2 offensive rebounds per-40 minutes ranks 11th best among Top-100 prospects.

He's not quite as prolific on the defensive glass, ranking 17th among Top-100 prospects, but should be able to hold his own here as his frame continues to fill out. He likes to take the ball off the defensive glass and ignite the fast-break on his own at times, showing solid ball-handling ability in the open court.

Looney also shows potential as a floor-spacer, knocking down 22 of his 53 attempts (41.5%) from beyond the arc on the season in the 36 games he played in. The sample size leaves something to be desired here, particularly when you consider the fact that he shot just 63% from the free throw line, but his mechanics are solid and he appears to fairly consistent when shooting with his feet set. When defenses close out too aggressively, Looney has the ability to attack closeouts and make his way to the basket in a straight line, although he does not have any type of pull-up jumper at this stage due to his rudimentary footwork and slow release, making just 5 of his 21 off the dribble attempts on the season.


US Presswire


Defensively, Looney shows nice versatility, often playing at the top of UCLA's zone and covering ground nicely on the perimeter, contesting shots impressively with his long reach. His lateral quickness is solid, and he's able to get in a low stance, which aids him in keeping smaller players in front of him. He's much more limited as a post-defender at this stage, where his average frame and lack of strength is not a good combination. While he's clearly a competitive player, he can get pushed around relatively easily at this stage, which may be an issue for him in the NBA early on in his career.

Looney tends to tire fairly easily and often looks fatigued as the games move on, grabbing onto his shorts and really struggling with his effort and awareness. This was increasingly an issue as the year moved on, which may explain why his production took as much of a nose-dive as it did. It's not clear if this was due to a lack of conditioning or something more deeply-rooted.

As a scorer, Looney just wasn't all that prolific this year, especially against better competition, where he simply struggled to make his presence felt in the half-court, scoring 13.9 points per-40 on a paltry 43% from 2-point range against BCS teams over .500. Overall, his 14.4 points per-40 minutes pace adjusted ranks 74th among the 82 college players currently in our Top-100 prospect rankings, and he wasn't very efficient to compensate for that, ranking 70th in true shooting percentage.

Looney doesn't possess any type of post-game, lacking the strength or footwork needed to score with his back to the basket, as he hit just 8 of his 32 attempts on the year. He is just an average ball-handler when forced to create a shot for himself as well, struggling to get by power forwards due to his underwhelming first step. Most alarming is his inability to finish plays around the basket, as he converted just 52% of his shots inside the paint this year in the half-court, which is fairly poor for someone with his size and length. His lack of quickness and explosiveness limits his upside as far as the NBA is concerned, as he may be relegated to somewhat of a one-dimensional role in turn.

Looney is still very young, only turning 19 in February, which means he still has plenty of time to develop as a prospect. He has a nice feel for the game, posting a positive assist to turnover ratio, and his length, rebounding prowess and developing shooting range gives him some nice things to fall back on. Some of his limitations are fairly worrying, though, and could certainly limit his potential to develop into a starting caliber player in today's hyper-athletic NBA, so continuing to develop his perimeter game and trying to maximize his frame and explosiveness will be imperative moving forward.
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C

Crimson_Echidna

Banned
Gully State said:
I think you can be sad or even dissatisfied that your team didn't advance and still consider the season to be successful at the same time.
Click to expand...

If the Heat advances to the ECF and goes out swinging against the Cavs, I'd count it as a win personally given the fact that they've done all of this without having Bosh on the team since the ASB.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Looney probably would have been a top 15 pick if not for the hip issues. He reminds me of Tayshaun Prince.

Also Bill Simmons claiming the Lakers will go after Paul George hard this offseason and could offer their pick (if they keep it) and DAngelo for him. Mitch pls no.
 
G

Gigglepoo

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Looney probably would have been a top 15 pick if not for the hip issues. He reminds me of Tayshaun Prince.

Also Bill Simmons claiming the Lakers will go after Paul George hard this offseason and could offer their pick (if they keep it) and DAngelo for him. Mitch pls no.
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Wait, you wouldn't want PG13?
 
G

George Claw M.D.

Member
Gully State said:
Yeah he played at UCLA. He was a mid to top first round prospect before they found out he had hip issues.

According to draftexpress
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Ah okay. Man, reading that analysis I'd think he wasn't even a top-20 projection let alone a top-10. Lol. But as you said, there's potential. With him being so young and not really getting experience at the NBA level, he feels like a question mark at this point. Even looking at college, that's only 1 season to go by, but I guess that's good enough for scouts considering players get drafted out of high school.
 
G

Gully State

Member
George Claw M.D. said:
Ah okay. Man, reading that analysis I'd think he wasn't even a top-20 projection let alone a top-10. Lol. But as you said, there's potential. With him being so young and not really getting experience at the NBA level, he feels like a question mark at this point. Even looking at college, that's only 1 season to go by, but I guess that's good enough for scouts considering players get drafted out of high school.
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Draftexpress is really critical and it's a really good resource. Actually I think basketball scouting in general is usually pretty good compared to the other sports. These guys are followed through HS and college so there's plenty of film on him. Now, I don't think he's the same exact type of player that Barnes is (not as athletic) but the plan is that he's going to give you the same type of production that Barnes has given (space the floor with the 3 ball/ length and size to play the switching defense/ hustle for boards). I do worry about his hip issue though. A big reason why Barnes is able to guard the 4 and why Draymond is able to check centers is because they both have a strong base (Guys have a difficult time posting up on Dray and Barnes because of this). Looney doesn't have that which might make him a liability against post players. At the same time, he's 19...so he's technically not done growing yet
 
G

Gully State

Member
timetokill said:
They drag out the playoffs for way too fucking long.

Games should be played on consecutive days, with one day rest on travel days.
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hell no....back to backs severely impact not only the quality of the game but put further risk of injuries especially in a playoff atmosphere.
 
T

thehypocrite

Member
Ninja Scooter said:
Not for a top 2 pick and Dangelo. We don't have enough assets to unload the cupboard for one guy.

Paul George is a great player, but he's not an elite tier guy. It'd feel like the Knicks unloading to get Melo.
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Macadinho94 said:
Going win now for the Lakers would be disastrous. They should develop their young players and go for free agents in 2 or 3 years, not trading the limited assets they have.
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Remember the deadline of 3 years, he doesn't have the time to wait.
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
Ninja Scooter said:
Looney probably would have been a top 15 pick if not for the hip issues. He reminds me of Tayshaun Prince.

Also Bill Simmons claiming the Lakers will go after Paul George hard this offseason and could offer their pick (if they keep it) and DAngelo for him. Mitch pls no.
Click to expand...

If I was in charge of the Lakers I'd probably do it for the 3rd pick and D'Angelo. Not sure if the Pacers would do it though.
 
A

Atomic Playboy

Member
FallingEdge said:
I want the first round to go back to 5 games. Maybe even the second round as well.
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Someone's forgotten 2009. Celtics-Bulls, 7 game series with a total of 7 overtimes across 4 of those games? How would that series be improved by taking away the last two games (which Chicago won both of to steal the series)? That's one of the single best series in NBA history and you'd throw away the chance for another first-round series like that just because a lot of them end up being terrible? A 5-game first round series would still be bad for the Warriors this year, as Curry would still have been injured but had fewer games to recover; that's not good for the league. No, I'll take my frequently shitty first round series for the occasional bit of brilliance or chance to recuperate. After all, if it is indeed a blowout, it's just one extra game.
 
U

Undefined

Member
Sucks to hear about Chris Bosh.
But I don't think it would have much impact on these playoffs.
They would still beat Raptors and I'd still give them no shot vs Cavs.
 
B

Bread

Banned
Atomic Playboy said:
Someone's forgotten 2009. Celtics-Bulls, 7 game series with a total of 7 overtimes across 4 of those games? How would that series be improved by taking away the last two games (which Chicago won both of to steal the series)? That's one of the single best series in NBA history and you'd throw away the chance for another first-round series like that just because a lot of them end up being terrible? A 5-game first round series would still be bad for the Warriors this year, as Curry would still have been injured but had fewer games to recover; that's not good for the league. No, I'll take my frequently shitty first round series for the occasional bit of brilliance or chance to recuperate. After all, if it is indeed a blowout, it's just one extra game.
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For every Celtics/Bulls there are 15 Celtics/Cavs.
 
G

Gigglepoo

Member
friskykillface said:
who is left after Ingram and Simmons?

if the lolakers get 3rd I'd say trade the pick
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You sound like Billy King. When he traded for Gerald Wallce he gave up a top-3 protected pick because he thought there were only three good players in the draft. The Blazers drafted Damian Lillard with the sixth pick.
 
L

LyleLanley

Banned
Gigglepoo said:
You sound like Billy King. When he traded for Gerald Wallce he gave up a top-3 protected pick because he thought there were only three good players in the draft. The Blazers drafted Damian Lillard with the sixth pick.
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I'd say a team is much more likely to get a Darko than they are a Lillard. If you can get someone like Paul George for the third pick in what everyone seems to think is a 2 man draft you'd be an idiot to say no. The problem with what King did wasn't that he traded the pick it's that he traded it for Gerald Wallace.
 
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