That metric strikes me as frequently devoid of some important context (around injuries, trades, etc), as the 2nd Half Lakers would be happy to tell you.
I just am quoting the truth here. Also Tatum lets the calls effect him, and his effort on the next possessions.
We have collectively watched a lot of sports together and we've seen plenty of teams get "hot" at the right time - or more accurately teams get favorable match-ups - and roll through the playoffs.
Yep. I mean, they have good enough players and coaching that if they got hot and played really well, they could knock off a lot of teams, and that's just what they did. Good on them. Sucks for us, but good on them.
I am pretty sure that if we dig up the stats, the favored team would be the winner the majority of the time, especially when we talk no 1 seeds vs no 8 seeds.
That's not in dispute though right? The issue that some folks are struggling with is one of a lower seed beating a higher one. It can and does happen - and it may not be a function of complete incompetence or failure to execute on the loser's end.
I literally replied to your contention that their " their regular season record and the pedigree of their players didn't matter one bit nor should it. NBA playoff game scoring doesn't reward for draft status or regular season W/L totals. That stuff is largely irrelevant once the games start."
We can agree to disagree about the value of a team's regular season record. Veteran NBA teams will often play the regular season differently than up and coming clubs. Its a long season and some teams choose to emphasize things like health or depth development etc over maximizing wins.
This feels like as good a time as any to repost these 2022-23 numbers about Jimmy Butler (I posted them a couple months back). Jimmy might be elite at getting calls, but nobody is this much MORE ELITE than every other player in the game at anything. One could make a pretty easy argument that Jimmy Butler is the most elitest elite at the elite art of creating contact that this elite league has ever seen:
Given that his GM is Darryl Morey, it is very fitting that Joel successfully whined, litigated, and lobbied his way into an MVP. Bravo, I say.
Also.. why should Jaylen have to slow down to get foul calls? In real time it’s obvious he gets as much contact or more.. if anything Jimmy going so slow makes it more obvious how much he creates the contact.
I only watched the C's series and the finals, but it sure seemed to me the Heat got way more open looks against us than against the Nuggets.
Because slowing down is how you create the contact. Refs don't reward you for barreling down the lane out of control
Yeah.. ok. So what’s your excuse then for why Giannis gets so many calls?
Thanks for posting that. It also backs up the eye test- Kobe Martin leveled way up and was nearly unguardable.
Body control is exactly right. Look at how the best so it....LeBron, Harden, Butler, etc etc. They contol the angle and the pace of their movement until the moment the defender is most vulnerable/out of position, then they use their body control to generate the contact and the foul. It's an art.
Jaylen isn't as good at Jimmy drawing fouls, because nobody in the history of the world is better at it than Jimmy.
Lebron?
I am unsure why we are still comparing Jaylen to Jimmy here. They are very different players and just because one gets to line and the other doesn't does not mean that the entire NBA is rigged.
The stat that you're waving aside is 3 point percentage. Your likelihood of getting fouled on a three pointer is less than a shot in the paint, and Butler takes a significantly smaller portion of his shots beyond the arc.
Yep, this is right. Butler is kind of the ideal "foul-getter" because he (1) doesn't take a ton of threes and (2) isn't a center or particularly big such that contact will just glance off of him. Combine that with his talent at positioning his body to draw fouls (and, yes, "selling" contact as well) and it shouldn't really be a surprise he gets tons of FTAs.
I didn’t say that it was rigged. You compared the speeds of Jaylen and Jimmy and made the claim that Jaylen was out of control so that’s why he doesn’t get calls.. then I brought up a player who is regularly out of control but still gets a ton of foul calls… and I guess you want to change the subject.. which is totally fine.
I thought the same. My daughter showed me a video last year of Bam, Butler and Herro goofing around and I couldn't help but like them.
Yes, it’s basically this. Butler is better at it, relatively speaking, although I think the rules emphasis changes have helped him. Another wing who got to the line a ton was Adrian Dantley although he was before my time.
Jokic might miss his induction ceremony, but not out of principle, just because he forgot or lost track of time...
