lol lebron talking about making big mistakes and he's throwing hissy fits on the court, visiting his best bud.
Does phil even have the balls to trade melo? He's basically shields phil from criticism of the shit team he's built because everyone just goes after Anthony.
Let's say he does wave his no-trade, it'll only be for a big market where Lala could do her thing as well and I don't know what team would want him badly enough to give up any talented young assets.
Let's say he does wave his no-trade, it'll only be for a big market where Lala could do her thing as well and I don't know what team would want him badly enough to give up any talented young assets.
By giririsss Go To PostI dunno. Cuz has too much for z-bo these days.You were saying? lol
It can't be stressed how awful the Bulls are. No wonder there's tension between Jimmy and the locker room. his teamates are garbage.
Hoiberg doesnt know how to crack the whip
that sounds bad
Hoiberg doesnt know how to crack the whip
that sounds bad
By PSYCH! Go To PostYeah, I'm really surprised they didn't push hard for an all star with their assets like Griffin or DMC. They might end up drafting another role player and start tread milling.
They might offer a max contract to Barnes, DeRozan or someone else that won't really move the needle. I don't see any premier FA going there either.
They're doing really well on the season and is a testament to Stevens' coaching but I doubt it lasts in the playoffs. IT2 won't be able to bail them out in the post season once a team locks him up and their front court is doodoo. If they're getting out of the first round they have to avoid drawing a healthy Indiana or Charlotte.
Yeah. They're in a very weird spot. They need to start turning Assets into stars / all stars.
I mean, they could tread water for another 6 years as a 3rd to 8th seed and first / second round exit team just based on always having youngry players and letting role players go when their rookie contracts are up. But really you need to try a bit more than that.
By knux-future Go To PostI want anybody who can get their own shot without dying.
I want a second quality big to put alongside Len. Also not opposed to drafting another PG if they're going to ship Knight or Bledsoe.
Looks like the Suns will have their pick (top 4) and a 10 - 14 pick from the Wiz and the Cavs first rounder too (27th?).
Spurs clinch playoff birth if they win tonight. Warriors clinched the night they played OKC I believe. This is insane.
I love it. James Harden literally jumped on the back of Jrue Holliday unprovoked and began pushing him down and Harden gets two shots.
I don't think I have ever hated the fuckery of a player more then I do with James Harden.
I don't think I have ever hated the fuckery of a player more then I do with James Harden.
By DY_nasty Go To PostYo Philly ima need yal to chilltanking never sleeps. don't worry
By Red Blaster Go To Postive settled into my 10th pick future, faze, moris, knux, who yall looking at in the draft
jaylen brown has some nasty dunks but he's literally worst than justise winslow on offense
i like buddy hield a lot
haven't looked into it much cuz we sold our pick ;-;
but i'm not big on hield..took him until forever despite good minutes to really have a huge year which I usually see as a red flag. you look at guys like cj and damian--fourth year senior guards yea, but they were doing their damage from jump.
jaylen brown concerns me quite a bit because of steal rate...he's too athletic not to be averaging less than a steal per game so it says something about his awareness. he might be a dumb version of stanley johnson with better handle.
jamal murray is doing a lot despite not being a sexy pick, simmons is good but less because of him being some god but because he's a big guy who can pass out of the pick and roll with upside to be super draymond if he really wants to be, ingram is probably a can't miss all-star, grayson allen is a risk but I like him
By Zeus Ex Machina Go To PostFair enough I'm still hoping Woj was right about him waiving it eventually.maybe but it kills any trade talks until he does
By Red Blaster Go To Postive settled into my 10th pick future, faze, moris, knux, who yall looking at in the draftlot of raw bigs at around 10 this draft
jaylen brown has some nasty dunks but he's literally worst than justise winslow on offense
i like buddy hield a lot
By unknown Go To PostLeonard dropped 11 pts in 12 min.11 points in a quarter isn't that impressive B.Even Melo could do it.
By Red Blaster Go To Postive settled into my 10th pick future, faze, moris, knux, who yall looking at in the draft
jaylen brown has some nasty dunks but he's literally worst than justise winslow on offense
i like buddy hield a lot
Simmons or Ingram. Our pick is only top 3 protected but only the top 2 picks are of any interest to me right now.
People that talk about a team lacking "effort" during a 4th in 5 nights game on the road annoy the shit out of me. League needs to find a way to completely eliminate those games stretches.
By unknown Go To PostLeonard dropped 11 pts in 12 min.This wasnt even worthy of a post. keep pimpin your boi tho
I am almost convinced that despite public statements and Gentry's in game body language that we are secretly trying to tank through our lineup choices.
There is just no other explanation outside of sheer incompetence(which I am not completely ruling out) as to why Gentry continues to minimize the number of minutes Jrue and Davis are on the court together after such overwhelming data and evidence.
There is just no other explanation outside of sheer incompetence(which I am not completely ruling out) as to why Gentry continues to minimize the number of minutes Jrue and Davis are on the court together after such overwhelming data and evidence.
By Kuma Go To PostPortland forgot they were playing basketballBut reilo said...
By Kuma Go To PostPortland forgot they were playing basketball4 games in 5 nights on the road, like, the winning percentage of teams on that 4th game is like absurdly low. They didn't forget to how to play basketball, their bodies are too fatigued to do so.
By romrei Go To Postblazers won congrat reilo portland will win west llillard so good
how you lose faith breh? I am ashamed to call you Cs fan
but reilo......... but lilard but cjmacoulum uhauahu celtics baby east am ours uauha slaent amateurs papangus
By etiolation Go To PostDamn what a shot by ConleyThat was fiya
Fran BlineburryJesus F Christ. The collection of Ls continues for the Rockets.
No NBA team taking at least 30 3-pters in a game has made fewer than 4 in last 30 years. Rockets 2-for-33 tonight.
Dynasty hope we celtics hornets dont faces first round i am afraid kemba batum fuck The blazers reilo Chicago lol i want atlanta first round
By fertygo Go To Postwtf how peli end up lose
By reilo Go To PostAnyone got Insider? http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/11540720/the-negative-effects-dreaded-4-5-schedule-nba
On an early Sunday morning in late December last season, the Houston Rockets flew to Oklahoma City for a tilt against the Thunder. It was a tough matchup for Houston, but there was reason for the Rockets to feel some good vibes.
The squad led by James Harden and Dwight Howard were riding a three-game winning streak. The Rockets had a relatively clean bill of health and Oklahoma City would be without star point guard Russell Westbrook, who succumbed to another serious knee injury just four days prior.
But then they took the court. The Rockets got trampled by the Westbrook-less Thunder 117-86. This was a bloodbath. Harden and Howard both played perhaps their worst games in a Houston uniform, shooting 2-for-9 and 4-for-13, respectively. Both sat the bench for the entire fourth quarter.
Why did the Rockets suddenly fall apart? The answer, as sports scientists and sleep doctors will tell you, may be found in the schedule.
You might have heard the horror stories about the NBA's punishing and sleepless back-to-backs where teams are forced to travel overnight, but the Rockets were swallowed by a scarier monster that lurks on the schedule: the dreaded "4-in-5." That's two sets of back-to-backs sandwiched around only one off-day in between. Teams typically have a couple of these traps in the schedule. Oh, you thought you were done with just one back-to-back set? Fly to a new city and endure another one.
You wouldn't need a fortune-teller to tell you that the Rockets would get smacked after arriving in their Oklahoma City hotel in the middle of the night. After the drubbing, Rockets coach Kevin McHale was asked whether fatigue played a factor. He defiantly shook his head. He was having none of that.
"You're playing basketball," McHale said. "You're not logging tall timbers, believe me. Four games in five nights . . . next question."
Exactly one year earlier to the day, the Rockets lost to the Thunder by 30 points. It was, as circumstance would have it, on the fourth game in five nights. McHale's take on fatigue?
"We're not laying brick in 110-degree heat," McHale said. "We're playing basketball."
It might not have been in 110-degree heat, but the weary Rockets were indeed laying bricks.
It's no surprise to hear McHale minimize his players' fatigue. Keep in mind, this is a Hall of Famer who famously played on a broken foot during the entire 1987 postseason. However, 4-in-5s are nothing to scoff at if you're an NBA coach. Or just a fan interested in your team's chances of winning a game.
The numbers
The 4-in-5 is an ugly byproduct of the league's decision to cram 82 games in 170 days with an extended All-Star break. According to a recent study by Jeremias Engelmann, an ESPN contributor and developer of the real plus-minus metric, back-to-backs are bad, but 4-in-5s are worse. Analyzing 13 seasons of data, Engelmann found that teams in the Rockets' situation – the nightmarish 4-in-5 on the road – typically play demonstrably worse than normal over a full game. To be precise, 2.0 points below normal once you control for team strength and home-court advantage.
Bradley and Green can't be looking forward to their road schedule this season. Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports
This confirms the so-called eye-test. A two-point hit might not seem a lot, but when you compare that deficit to the most advantageous situation – playing with one day's rest at home – it's a point difference of 3.7 over a full game. Relatively speaking, it's the same point differential that separated the playoff-bound Atlanta Hawks and the 29-53 Detroit Pistons last season.
That, my friends, is the power of rest.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, the NBA's schedule-makers gift-wrapped another 4-in-5 on the road for them this season. But this isn't just any 4-in-5. This time, for their fourth game (March 7) in five nights, they have to fly to Denver, statistically the worst road venue in the game. Since 2006, the 12 teams facing the Mile High 4-in-5 have been thumped by an average of 10.4 points. That's as close to a "schedule loss" as you'll get. But even though the trip starts across the country in Atlanta on March 3 (followed by home games March 4 and March 6), it isn't even close to being the longest 4-in-5 of the season. Which one takes the cake? Let's get out the measuring tape.
The worst of the worst
As you might have guessed, by lengthening the All-Star break without lengthening the season, the NBA tossed in more 4-in-5s into the schedule, not just back-to-backs. There will be 69 instances of a team playing a 4-in-5 in 2014-15, which represents about a 10 percent increase from 63 last season. Six unlucky teams will face four 4-in-5s this season: Denver, Detroit, Golden State, Milwaukee, Portland and Washington. Sorry about that.
As it turns out, San Antonio and Oklahoma City were spared. They have no 4-in-5s on the schedule.
It's those brutal back-to-back and 4-in-5 stretches that keep teams up at night, especially when they hop across time zones. This isn't to say that the league uses 4-in-5s to carry out an agenda. The NBA is not plotting this out in a dungeon and unfairly needling the Rockets, nor is it favoring the small-market Spurs and Thunder. The Rockets' statistician and Picasso of Twitter graphics, Ed Kupfer, is quick to note to ESPN.com that the Rockets will open the season with the league's softest schedule in November after accounting for opponent, rest days and travel. Also, as Kupfer illustrated on Twitter, no team will play more games with less rest than its opponent than the Thunder. Schedule quirks tend to even out over the full season, but it doesn't make it any less harsh on the athletes.
What's the harshest 4-in-5 of the season?
After analyzing the travel distances of every game this season, I discovered that the Boston Celtics effectively pulled the short straw and will have the longest 4-in-5 trip, covering more than 3,000 miles from Portland to Denver to San Francisco to Salt Lake City. Four games in four cities with only one built-in travel day. It gets worse: You'll notice that each of the second games on the back-to-backs will be played at high altitudes, where the air is thinner and the lungs are screaming. Oh, and they'll be losing an hour of sleep on both overnight trips due to time-zone differences. The Celtics will need all the four-leaf clovers they can find.
Here's another vicious trip: Take a look at the Clippers' trek right before Christmas. Friday night in Denver; Saturday night in Los Angeles against Milwaukee; Monday night in San Antonio; Tuesday night in Atlanta. Yep, that's a 4-in-5 that hits four time zones. They're losing two hours going from Los Angeles to San Antonio, then losing another hour going to Atlanta. Sleep tight.
The schedule doesn't let up on the Clippers. After that 4-in-5, the Clippers have to fly all the way back to Los Angeles the next day to play on the NBA's golden Christmas slate on Thursday. No truth to the rumor that the NBA will also put coal in their game socks on Christmas morning.
The longest trip on a back-to-back this season, you ask?
The NBA is asking the Sacramento Kings to jet from Boston to Minneapolis on a three-hour flight . . . on New Year's Eve night . . . to play on New Year's Day . . . after playing the day before. From a schedule perspective, that's cruel and unusual punishment. The silver lining for DeMarcus Cousins and Co. is that the Boston game on New Year's Eve is at 1 p.m. ET. Still, flying that long on New Year's Eve night is just asking for trouble.
The most back-to-backs a team will endure this season is 22 (Detroit and Charlotte). The Lakers have the fewest (16), and four other teams have 17 (Dallas, Miami, Orlando and Sacramento). More than 95 percent of these back-to-backs will require overnight travel.
Sleep deprivation is one thing, but sleep disruption brought about by overnight travel is another. Dr. Charles Czeisler, the director of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, worries that the demands of the NBA schedule will cause players to start their sleep cycle at varying times of the day. Circadian rhythm – the body's internal clock – can be completely thrown off. It's not just how much sleep a player gets, but when he gets it.
"Irregularity in the timing of your sleeping is just as important as the duration of sleep," Czeisler said. "Disruption of timing of sleep can have an adverse effect that is comparable to reduction of the duration of sleep."
How teams are fighting back
Navigating the NBA schedule is tough business, but companies like the Australian-based Catapult Sports are trying to lead the way in injury prevention. This past season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban bought a stake in the sports biometric company, and 13 teams now subscribe to its services. The company's growth continued this summer when Catapult partnered with STATS Inc. to streamline its analytic data with SportVU tracking and deliver more information to teams than they could have ever dreamed of five years ago.
Michael Regan, who has worked with the Spurs on injury prevention, is the head of sport science at Catapult. Sports scientists like Regan have found that overworking athletes can lead to soft-tissue injuries like hamstring pulls and abdominal tears. As the Raptors found out last season, taking recovery-focused measures like cutting down on jump-intensive shooting drills following game nights helped make them the healthiest team in the NBA.
Stretches like a 4-in-5 in multiple time zones can make Regan's job challenging, but no less vital to a team's success. Resting properly can lead to healthier, more successful campaigns that keep stars on the floor. In the past couple of seasons, Regan has worked with several NBA teams to try to deal with the exhausting demands of an 82-game grind. The Spurs were famously the first team in NBA history to have zero players average more than 30 minutes per game.
"Schedule-wise, when trying to maintain output levels in your athlete, the NBA schedule is just super tough," Regan said. "It's a massive challenge. There is absolutely no doubt that the NBA and the MLB are the two hardest schedules to deal with from a sports science point of view."
Teams are looking for more and more Michael Regans. It is Regan's job to crunch player exertion data and help keep athletes on the playing field performing at their best by making sure they rest properly. Regan analyzes data from GPS-tracking accelerometer devices that monitors a player's explosive movements and then works with teams to help design regimens to better manage a player's minutes throughout a season littered with 4-in-5s.
This season, the NBA will feature a team playing a 4-in-5 about once a month on national television, kicking off with Kobe Bryant and the Lakers' fourth game of the season against the Golden State Warriors. Quite the warm welcome for Bryant. Now will new Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott pull a Gregg Popovich and rest Bryant to prevent excessive wear-and-tear? And what about the other coaches and stars around the league?
It's not hard to see where this is all going. It's a copycat league. Teams are paying more attention and trying to be smarter with player health. If teams take the defending champion Spurs' lead and rest their stars during these grueling 4-in-5 stretches, it will bring new meaning to the term "schedule loss." When stars sit out because of the schedule, it's not just the teams that can lose. It's the fans who lose out, too.