The Official Week 25 Thread...where "Only the ******* Knicks could **** up tanking."

[hans moleman]

And so we finally reach the end of the Regular Season with Playoff seedings and Lottery odds still up for grabs in these final few days.

But before we get into all that, let's first look at everyone's least favourite part of the Weekly Thread...



The Efficiency Graph

The graph below plots Offensive and Defensive Efficiency (points scored and allowed per 100 possessions, adjusted for League Average and Strength Of Schedule) with post-All Star squiggles. Basically the further in the top right corner you are, the better you are.
Once again, credit for the original idea goes to Bigfooty User Final Siren, who created the concept in the thread: The Race for the Flag in Squiggly Lines).

Graph movements of note:

• Indiana's offense took a big jump upwards last week, dispatching Eastern foes to keep the pressure on Boston and Brooklyn for the 8th seed.

• Another solid defensive week for the Pelicans, but once again their offense doesn't know if it's going up or down.

• Th OKC "defense be damned" mindset rolled on for yet another week. The Thunder just haven't been able to get over the hump against Western Conference Playoff teams lately, their Conference record (23-27) now much inferior to that of fellow Playoff aspirants the Pelicans (27-22).

• San Antonio's offense keeps chugging along, riding the league's longest winning streak at 10. Currently sitting in 5th spot in the West, I'd like to see them finish as either the 2 or 3 seed since a Warriors/Spurs Western Conference Finals matchup would be ideal, but they can't get there unless either Memphis or the Clippers slip up in their last couple of games.

• After 6 weeks of travelling backwards, the Raptors actually improved their Defensive Rating last week. They've got the inside track on the Bulls for that 3rd seed. If they hold onto that spot, then we may be denied another compelling LeBron/Bulls Playoffs meeting.

• Only a handful of games left, so it's unlikely that teams will deviate much from their current positions on the Graph...

• If we take the last 10 Championship teams as a reference then we see that Atlanta, San Antonio, the battle weary Blazers and of course Golden State are the teams that meet the Offensive & Defensive standards required to win the Championship.

• The Clippers and Cavs have the requisite Offense, but we haven't seen teams with such mediocre Defensive Efficiencies win the title in the last decade.

• According to the Graph, it'd be a surprise if any of the other teams manage to make the Finals, let alone win it all.

That Was The Season That Was

With this being the final Weekly Thread of the season, the time is right to look back at the stories that shaped BigFooty's view of the NBA in 2014-15...

2014-15 was the season where coaches helped teams outperform expectations, like Kerr's Warriors, Budenholzer's Hawks and Steven's Celtics.

But then there were Shaw's Nuggets, Vaughn's Magic and Wittman's Wizards. (What's that? Wittman is still employed???)

It was a season that saw a record number of Aussies in the NBA, from defensive stalwart Bogut to the neophyte Exum.

It was the season Cleveland may have regretted giving up on Wiggins. A season of Payton's craftiness, LaVine's dunk contest theatrics, Nurkic's brawn, K.J. McDaniels highlights and P.J. Hariston's flops.

It was the season of Sauce Castillo.

And the month of March belonged to one rookie in particular:

Another day, more Nikola.

Niko is God. God is Niko.

It was the year of waiving Josh Smith, firing Mike Malone, Phoenix trading Goran Dragic and Philadelphia trading just about everyone. We said "Goodbye" to Nash and "Welcome Back" to Garnett.

It was a season of Otto Porter blind spots and Trevor Booker flip shots. Of forming f*cking walls and punches to the balls.

It was the season the Anthony Davis bandwagon began overflowing, a bandwagon driven by one particular poster:

Duncan's spot at the GOAT PF is officially on notice though.

It was the season of Westbrook's triple-doubles, Irving's 57 against the Spurs, Klay's 37 in a quarter and endless Curry threes.

It was the year of James Harden, this season's winner of "The Most Polarising Player Award". A player so skilled yet so annoying in his habits, that he coaxed us into make loaded statements:

I'd rather watch KG win rings than ever see Harden get one.

And for brief moments it was the year of Swaggy P, Hassanity and the Stifle Tower. Of Rasual Butler and Marreese Speights.

Like seemingly every other year, it was the year of the injury: Durant, Rose, George, Bosh, Matthews...Kobe wasn't even on court long enough to allow us to make "warrior" jokes.

It was the year of LeBron the Player, Coach and GM. Of LeBron tweets indirectly criticsing Kevin Love. Of LeBron instagrams conspicuously missing Kevin Love.

It was the season of J Shuttlesworth head pics (not what you thnk), flight23 vines and Damon_3388 stats. Of frustration filled L2M4G and Hipster Doofus posts.

I hate basketball more than Michael Rappaport

It was the season of the #lolknicks who can't even lose when they're supposed to (see thread title, quoted from a certain BigFooty Knicks fan). A season of Phil Jackson's frustration and angry James Dolan emails. Of Melo the Business Tycoon, Melo's hat and Amare's jacket.

It was the year of Hack-a-Jordan, Hack-a-Drummond, Hack-a-Dwight and Hack-a-Smith.

It was the season where we doubted the Spurs (again). And the season where they eventually rounded into Championship contending form (again).

It was a season where Sam Hinkie told us there was more to Basketball than just winning. And where Larry Sanders told us there was more to life than just Basketball.


...And finally, it was the year of Kirk Hinrich.




In the next post: results of the BigFooty Basketball Survey...

 

[hans moleman]

The 2014-15 Season: How You Saw It


You've heard enough of my views in the Weekly Threads, so I thought I'd give the final word on the 2014-15 season to you guys.

If you hadn't noticed, I spammed the Basketball Board last week asking for responses to the BigFooty Basketball Survey.

A big thanks to those of you who answered the call - we ended getting a healthy number of replies. The results are below.

(Note: I conducted a similar survey just prior to the 2013-14 season. I have noted those results where appropriate to give an indication of the difference that a couple of seasons can make).



Playoff Predictions

Which team will win the Eastern Conference?

1. Cleveland Cavaliers -- 83.3%
2. Atlanta Hawks -- 16.7 %


Which team will win the Western Conference?

1. Golden State Warriors -- 58.8%
2. San Antonio Spurs -- 35.3%
3. Memphis Grizzlies -- 5.9 %


Which team will win the 2015 NBA Finals?

1. Golden State Warriors -- 41.2%
2. Cleveland Cavaliers -- 29.4%
3. San Antonio Spurs -- 23.5%
4. Memphis Grizzlies -- 5.9%

A poster of a certain league-leading NBA team didn't answer and wrote: "Don't want to jinx anything."



Players

If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?

1. Anthony Davis -- 88.9%
Tied-for-2nd. LeBron James, DeMarcus Cousins -- 5.6%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. LeBron James 52.2%, 2. Kevin Durant 30.4%, 3. Anthony Davis 8.7%)


Which player surprised you the most in 2014-15?

1. Hassan Whiteside -- 25.0%
2. Rudy Gobert -- 20.0%
3. Russell Westbrook -- 15.0%
T-4. Giannis Antentokounmpo, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala*, Evan Turner, Stephen Curry, Kris Middleton, Jordan Clarkson

* Since he "totally bought into the bench role"


Which player do you hate the most?

1. James Harden -- 19.0%
T-2. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Blake Griffin -- 9.5%
T-5. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Matt Barnes 1, Evan Turner, Joakim Noah, LeBron James, Kirk Hinrich, Dwyane Wade, Tyler Hansbrough, DeAndre Jordan* 1, Dion Waiters** 1

* The poster voted this way "only because Dwight was so injured."
** The poster described Waiters as "The human virus. A poor man's JR Rider."

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Dwyane Wade 30.4%, 2. Dwight Howard 17.4%, 3. Kobe Bryant 13.0%)


Who is the best Point Guard in the league?

1. Stephen Curry -- 60.0%
T-2. Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook -- 20.0%


Who is the best white guy in the league?

1. Marc Gasol -- 22.2%
2. Kevin Love -- 16.7%
T-3. Dirk Nowitzki -- 5.6%
T-3. Gordon Hayward -- 5.6%
T-3. Kirk Hinrich -- 5.6%
T-3. Josh McRoberts -- 5.6%
T-3. Alex Len -- 5.6%
T-3. Blake Griffin -- 5.6%
T-3. Nikola Vucevic -- 5.6%
T-3. Matt Bonner -- 5.6%
T-3. Adam Silver -- 5.6%
T-3. "Steph(????) Klay(????????) Do Euro's count? Are those guys white?" -- 5.6%
T-3. "There's white guys in the NBA?" -- 5.6%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Kevin Love 47.8%, 2. Dirk Nowitzki 30.4%)


Which player would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?

1. Stephen Curry -- 42.9%
2. LeBron James -- 14.3%
3. Kevin Durant -- 9.5%
T-4. James Harden, Kobe Bryant, Damian Lillard, Victor Oladipo, Paul Pierce, Kyrie Irving, This Guy -- 4.8%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: T-1. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving 18.2%)



Teams

Which team disappointed you the most in 2014-15?

T-1. Phoenix Suns, #LOLKnicks -- 16.7%
T-3. Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards -- 11.1%
T-6. Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers*, New Orleans Pelicans, Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, "Ask me again in a week" -- 5.6%

* The poster voted for the Lakers because he "thought theyd be worse than this but they arent. hence disappointed"


Which team is the most fun to watch?

1. Golden State Warriors -- 84.2%
T-2. Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks -- 5.3%

There was also a shoutout to the early season Dallas team.

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Golden State Warriors 72.7%, 2. San Antontio Spurs 9.1%)


Which team do you most like seeing lose?

T-1. Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers* -- 16.7%
T-3. Boston Celtics -- 12.5%
T-4. Oklahoma City Thunder**, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks -- 8.3%
T-9. Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies -- 4.2%

* One poster voted for the Clips only after realising Collingwood couldn't be nominated.
** One vote for OKC was due to Playoff implications

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Miami Heat 43.5%, 2. Los Angeles Lakers 30.4%)


Which team couldn't you care less about?

T-1. Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets -- 25.0%
T-3. New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors -- 10.0%
T-5. Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic -- 5.0%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: T-1. Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks 25.0%)



Awards

Who is your pick for MVP?

1. Stephen Curry -- 83.3%
T-2. James Harden*, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis -- 5.6%

* The reason? "The team only wins 25-30 games without him, 50-55 with him."


Defensive Player Of The Year?

1. Draymond Green -- 50.0%
2. Kawhi Leonard -- 22.2%
T-3. Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan -- 11.1%
5. Marc Gasol -- 5.6%


Rookie Of The Year?

1. Andrew Wiggins -- 94.4%
2. Nerlens Noel -- 5.6%



BigFooty

Which team has the most annoying fans on BigFooty?

1. Houston Rockets -- 55.6%
2. Los Angeles Clippers -- 22.2%
T-3. Chicago Bulls*, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers

* The voter who nominated the Bulls named names (all in good humour of course): "In particular Stewie Griffen"

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Houston Rockets 52.7%, 2. Miami Heat 21.1%)


Which team has the best fans on BigFooty?

1. New Orleans Pelicans -- 36.8%
2. New York Knicks* -- 21.1%
3. Golden State Warriors -- 15.8%
4. Chicago Bulls -- 10.5%
T-5. Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Orlando Magic -- 5.3%

* One voter said: "I feel Pricey and VC deserve a special mention here for enduring Knick fandom in good humour."

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: T-1. Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks 16.7%)


Which team has the most bandwagon fans on BigFooty?

1. Golden State Warriors -- 26.8%
2. Miami Heat* -- 19.0%
3. Cleveland Cavaliers -- 14.3%
4. Los Angeles Clippers -- 9.5%
T-5. Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, OKC Thunder, Utah Jazz, "New Orleans Pelicans next season", LeBron James -- 4.8%

*One voter explained: "It's been pretty quiet on the eastern (Miami) front since a certain person left."

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Miami Heat 68.4%, 2. OKC Thunder 26.3%)


Which team has the most irrational fans on BigFooty?

1. Houston Rockets -- 33.3%
2. Los Angeles Clippers -- 22.2%
T-3. New York Knicks*, Chicago Bulls -- 16.7%
T-5. Denver Nuggets, Sacramento Kings -- 5.6%

*As one New York poster (and fan) put it: "Knicks. 2016 IS OUR YEAR."

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: T-1. Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls 30.0%)


If you had to pick a '2nd team' to support, which would it be?

1. Portland Trail Blazers -- 25.0%
2. Golden State Warriors -- 20.0%
3. New Orleans Pelicans -- 15.0%
T-4. Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Minnesota Timberwolves, "The Bucks or the Kings", "A team without Kirk...like the Warriors."* -- 5.0%

* Hinrich was a running theme in this poster's answers

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Golden State Warriors 37.0%, 2. Chicago Bulls 11.1%)


Who is the player most underrated by BigFooty?

1. Gordon Hayward -- 14.8%
2. Al Horford -- 11.1%
T-3. James Harden, Chris Paul, Kris Middleton, Paul Millsap -- 7.4%
T-7. Rudy Gay*, Michael Carter-Williams, Draymond Green, Nikola Vucevic, Taj Gibson, Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe, Derrick Favors, Danny Green, LeBron James, Kirk Hinrich, The Atlanta Hawks Starting 5 -- 3.7%

* The voter writes: "hai stewie"

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: T-1. Avery Bradley, Blake Griffin, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Tony Parker 8.3%)


Who is the player most overrated by BigFooty?

1. Derrick Rose -- 25.0%
T-2. Kirk Hinrich, Rajon Rondo -- 15.0%
T-4. Kobe Bryant, John Wall -- 10.0%
T-6. Russell Westbrook, Michael Carter-Williams, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol, Nikola Mirotic -- 5.0%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Avery Bradley 21.7%, T-2. Kobe Bryant, Jimmy Butler 17.4%)


Who's better?

Westbrook or Rose?

1. Russell Westbrook -- 94.4%
2. Derrick Rose -- 5.6%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Derrick Rose 100.0%, 2. Russell Westbrook 0.0%)


Curry, Harden or Eric Gordon?

1. Stephen Curry* -- 89.5%
T-2. James Harden -- 5.3%
T-2. "Curry, but with Harden's beard. This needs a photoshop." ** -- 5.3%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. James Harden 78.3%, 2. Stephen Curry 21.7%)

* One poster smartly noted that Steph is being paid the least of the three.
** Ask and you shall receive (a poorly photoshopped image):

Amar'e or Dirk?

1. Dirk Nowitzki* -- 82.4%
T-2. Amar'e Stoudemire -- 5.9%
T-2. "At defense? Nobody wins" -- 5.9%
T-2. "Rather stick a cactus in my arse and then invite Kobe over." -- 5.9%



Misc

Favourite Aussie in the NBA?

1. Andrew Bogut -- 55.6%
2. Don't Care -- 16.7%
T-3. Matthew Dellavedova, Patty Mill, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Brett Brown -- 5.6%


What annoys you the most?

1. The Clippers whining -- 31.8%
2. The way James Harden always draws fouls -- 22.7%
3. Kirk Hinrich -- 9.1%
T-4. Interminable Video Reviews -- 4.5%
T-4. "All of the above?" * -- 4.5%
T-4. Excessive Timeouts and Stoppages -- 4.5%
T-4. The San Antonio Spurs -- 4.5%
T-4. The Los Angeles Clippers -- 4.5%
T-4. "Tyler Hansbrough's face" -- 4.5%
T-4. "Enes Kanter's face" -- 4.5%
T-4. "The continued disgraceful scapegoating of Captain Kirk. A player interminably maligned by the silly Chicago campaigners." -- 4.5%

* The poster wrote: "Except for Kirk - I love Kirk, aka God's righteous punishment inflicted upon Bulls fans with covetous eyes for a certain lanky young basketball star with a prominent brow."

If you could post bikini/nudes/semi-nudes on this board, whose photos would you post?

1. Kate Upton -- 22.2%
T-2. Kendall Jenner* -- 1.1%
T-2. Nina Dobrev -- 1.1%
T-2. Krista Allen -- 1.1%
T-2. Alex Breckenridge-- 1.1%
T-2. Christina Hendricks -- 1.1%
T-2. Anna Kendrick -- 1.1%
T-2. Scarlett Johansson -- 1.1%
T-2. Alexandra Maria Lara -- 1.1%

(2013-14 Preseason Survey Results: 1. Kate Upton 13.0%)

*Shoutout to the poster who was kind enough to send a pic of their nomination.



What To Watch For This Week

Watch anything and everything you can. Just about every game has Playoff implications at this stage. May all your teams move up in seedings, qualify or tank as necessary...

 

[jod23]

You truly are a genius bro.

Playoff implications are going on right now. Bucks lead Brooklyn by two just before half time and the Celtics are pasting the Cavs nearing half time, up 24!?

 

[jod23]

Also nobody tagged me in the above voting stuff. Disappointment

So for the record.

Win the East - Chicago
Win the West - GSW
Win Chip - GSW
Starting franchise - Brow
Most surprised - Jimmy G Buckets
Most hated - Mario Chalmers
Best PG - Curry
Best white guy - Keith Van Horn
Game winning shot - Durant
Disappointing team - Bobcats
Most fun to watch - OKC
Like seeing lose - Cleveland
Team I couldnt care less about - Denver
MVP - Curry
DPOTY - Leonard
ROTY - Wiggins (Niko is life, life is Niko)
Annoying fans - Houston
Best fans - Chicago
Bandwagon fans - GSW
Most irrational - NYK
Second team - Pels, the Brow. Come home.
Most underrated - Atlanta Hawks bench
Most overrated - Gasol of the Marc variety.
Who's better - Westbrook, Curry and Dirk
Fave Aussie - Bogey
What annoys me the most - Kirk Hinrich
Posting nudes - Emma Watson, who else??

 

[Son of Skeletor]

Quality reading as always hans moleman - kudos on taking the time to put this all together, especially the survey.

That graph is probably the best thing on this board - well that and the Kate <BIGFOOTYcensored> Upton pic.


Also, dear Indy - help a brother out today, yeah? David West, looking in your direction.

So far the Bucks are doing the right thing by Indy, while it's looking like a very good day indeed for the Celtics.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

My Team Sucked.

#lolKirk subbed.

 

[peternorth]

boston again beating the cavs. what's the season record in this series?

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

boston again beating the cavs. what's the season record in this series?

To be fair today was against the lower half of the Cavs.

 

[peternorth]

get this man a contract!

 

[God Save Max King]

Can't beat the Pacers, pull the plug on the season Scotty, pull the plug.

Or, alternatively, do your best to win us the game, same effect. *

 

[smashh]

Key games going on right now.
OKC losing to Indiana in the 3rd and NO up over Houston at the first break.
Also the battle for the scoring title is on. RW currently just edging Harden, and he's adding to it today

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Another step in the right direction.

 

[stewie griffen]

Phx get a tech for trying to get a guy on court not part of the official roster.... lel

 

[peternorth]

Another step in the right direction.

moved past a very big mental hurdle there

 

[fidstar]

I see Westbrook isn't going to wonder "What if?"

 

[Special Agent Utah]

Westbrook going full Kobe tonight

 

[God Save Max King]

Down 12, Russ suspended tomorrow, that just about finished off the season.

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

get this man a contract!

That guy must play a whole lot of 2k.

PS. I Russell Westbrook. Pure entertainment.

 

[flight23]

stay tough pelicans

 

[smashh]

Down 12, Russ suspended tomorrow, that just about finished off the season.

Damn. Was that his 16th? Not even mentioned by the Indiana crew. That's huge

 

[flight23]

Down 12, Russ suspended tomorrow, that just about finished off the season.

against Portland as well

 

[smashh]

GO RUSS!!
OKC were $23 on the live odds on that last timeout.
Never count out RW

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Damn. Was that his 16th? Not even mentioned by the Indiana crew. That's huge

They just figured it out now

 

[J Shuttlesworth]

Ol' straight up ey...Ol' straight up.

 

[fidstar]

I've had a go at Westbrook saying his run has been overrated, but he has been great tonight.