Notable Players this NBA 16-17 season
Teams in the NBA have played 21-22 games already, that's quarter of an NBA season. These first 20 or so games lets teams establish an identity and helps each player to find their spots and roles on their respective teams especially for newly acquired players and even rookies. They also help players to show what they worked on all summer prior to the season. We also get a taste of how much success or failure each move done in the off-season by the head office whether it's a player or a new coaching staff will benefit the team this season and for future seasons to come. in the meantime we get a picture of how each conference is shaping up for the postseason and who are the true title contenders and who are not.
However anyone can predict the top teams in the league but no one can predict what players will have an outbreak season and so far, in my eyes, these are the Notable players and performances so far;
Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors: Last night, the Warriors beat Indiana 142-106, while doing so a feat that we haven't seen since Kobe Bryant dropped 62 on the Mavericks in 3 quarters. Klay Thompson was unstoppable. He scored 60 Point is just 29 minutes which is 3 quarters. If you do the maths, Klay scored 2.7 points per minute. That is insane. Also, what is more insane is the fact he scored 37 points in a quarter! ridiculous performance by arguably the 2nd best shooter in NBA history " to be honest i believe that Ray Allen is still a better shooter but just for a argument's sake". However, in order for a player to score 60 in 29 minutes, they must have taken a lot of shots, in Klay's case he shot 63% from the field to accomplish such feat, 21 of 33 shots and he also dropped 8 three pointers in the process.
The Warriors are clicking on all cylinders, the team is finding their spots and roles, they seem like they still can shatter their last year's regular season record of 73 wins. Will they do it? i think Steve Kerr will have a thing or two to say about it. As this team is currently constructed winning a ring will be more valuable than some regular season record. Last year they come way too short on multiple occasions. First in the West Finals when they were one game away from elimination against a familiar face in Kevin Durant but Kevin and Russ choked in what led Durant to leave the Thunder to head to the Golden State Warriors. Secondly, they came up short in the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers with Lebron and Kyrie leading the charge. If the Warriors were to pursue the regular season record again this season it will be their downfall because injuries and fatigue will creep in and the reason which Kevin came for to win and win big will go in vein.
Russell Westbrook and The Thunder: Everybody thought Westbrook was going to go insane this season following the departure of Kevin Durant to the Warriors. However not a lot of people thought Westbrook will lead the Thunder to so many wins. They started the season with 6-1W/L with Westbrook averaging almost a triple double. The Basketball world assumed that now that Durant left, the Thunder will collapse and "maybe" make the postseason as the 8th spot underdog. However the Thunder are sitting 5th in the Western Conference with Westbrook actually averaging a Triple Double 21 games into the season. He is averaging 31 points, 10.5 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 1.4 steals and 1 Block per Game. Impressive numbers 21 games into the season, almost one quarter of the season gone. Now lets see how he is achieving these mythical numbers.
For Westbrook to get these numbers, he averages 36 minutes a game, that is 12 shy of 48 Minutes. That is an insane amount of minutes per game. In addition to that he is achieving an efficiency rating of 30.2, a number which we saw being achieved last year when Curry beat Wilt's efficiency rating which was legendary but that was a different case with Curry shooting three's while Westbrook is getting his points by driving the paint and dunking on players. He is also shooting an impressive 43% from the field and 34 % career best (30.4%) from three. T
he question is how is he doing this ? Well if we look at his averages, he is averaging 11.3 assists which suggests that he is passing the ball. He gets double teamed a lot, the Thunder players have shown the ability to score when called upon which has helped OKC to have a 14-8 record in the West. In addition to his impressive passing numbers, he is also averaging 10.5 boards. He is a 6'3 Point Guard which I personally don't think he is a Point Guard, he is more like a Shooting Guarding in a point Guard's body. The way he is getting boards is by grabbing a lot of defensive boards. He uses his athleticism to the fullest. Once he grabs a board, he is gone on the fastbreak for the Explosive dunk or amazing bucket which will get his team and Fans into a frenzy or if not then just find a wide open teammate for the open three and of course the assist.
Interesting fact: The only player who averaged a triple double 20 games plus into a season was the one and only the Big O, Oscar Robertson in the 1961-1962 season at the time, he was 23 while Westbrook is 28. Westbrook is has more Triple Doubles in 9 seasons than Lebron James has in his 13 years of play, Westbrook has 48 and Lebron has 45 Triple Doubles in their careers. Lastly, Westbrook has more triple doubles this season than the entire league combined. That's a crazy Fact. Interestingly enough the Media is talking about how will Westbrook keep this up? He is only human even if it's Westbrook. If they were to make the Playoffs and compete, the Thunder will need him the most especially when the Thunder live or die by his performances, his number correlate with his team's ability to win. In the last 5 games he has gotten a triple Double which has not been done since 1989 by Michael Jordan and the Thunder won all games. Now here comes coach Billy Donovan and his ability to control someone like Russell. He will have to force him to rest against lesser teams this season such as the 76er's, Dallas and the Magic, etc and not try and record which can cost him an injury.
James Harden and The Houston Rockets : Another former teammate of Russell Westbrook is having a phenomenon season. James Harden this year changed his position to Point instead of being a wing player at the Shooting Guard Spot. They also brought in Mike D'antoni to be the new Head Coach. The Rockets also lost a big presence in the middle in Dwight Howard this past summer. These changes are the reason for what James Harden is able to do.
Let us dissect these three major changes and how do they affect the team as a whole along with James Harden's number. First, prior to Harden's position change, he was the one who would get the ball to score almost every possession, the possession would start with Harden and end with him 90% of the time. The media criticized him regarding his ability to run the offense and distribute the ball because of how he doesn't utilize he teammates and especially Howard. Rumors was surrounding the Rockets Locker room of the existence of tension between the two superstars, we even heard that they hardly hang around one another because of Howard inability to get the touches he needs to feel satisfied in the offense hence affecting their relation on and off the court.
Last season we all knew that the Rockets won't go far in the postseason and also we knew Dwight wanted to leave in free agency. This year two major changes affected Harden's ability to change his position. Now he doesn't have to give up the ball and he can either drive for the finish or pass to a teammate so being the team's point will eliminate him passing to another player if he doesn't see fit. Secondly, the hiring of Mike D'Antoni enhanced that as well, for two reasons. a Few years back when Mike was hired in LA with Howard being on the team and having the same issue with the offense running through Kobe, Howard complained that he wasn't getting enough touches which eventually led to his departure to Houston. So if he had stayed this year with the Rockets that was going to be the same issue. Lastly, Mike D'Antoni is well known for his fast up and down offensive tempo and his carelessness on defense. When he was coaching the Suns when Nash was the team's extension of Mike on the court, the team ran the offense in under 7 seconds or less. Mike's time with the Suns from 2004-2008 averaged 109.7 point per game, that's a lot of scoring every game for 5 years and that gave the ability for Nash to earn the MVP two consecutive years. Same story in Houston with Harden, he is averaging 28.7 Pts, 12 Assists and 7.6 Rebounds while shooting 44.5% from the field and having a 29 Efficiency rating. These numbers are MVP numbers compared to Russell Westbrook's as well. This is the effect that D'Antoni's offense has on a the star player, it makes them from a superstar player to an MVP Caliber player. Keeping in mind of course as the season winds down, fatigue comes into place, these numbers will take a slight dip but he will be in the MVP race.
Let's compare Harden's impact on his team's ability to win or lose games. Harden is averaging 12 APG due to the fact that if he is the one who brings the ball up the floor and him also shooting the ball, teams adjust and at times end up either putting the best defender on him which makes a bit harder for him to score or even gets double teamed leading him to give up the rock to a teammate. One statistical data which we shouldn't omit is the number of Turnovers which he commits per game, the number is large especially if these turnovers can be turned into buckets. Harden is averaging 5.5 Turnovers per game, that is a staggering number to average as a player especially when you are the star player. I Predict turnover numbers will skyrocket as the season progresses.
Now comparing his assist numbers 12 with his Turnover numbers 5.5. That's almost half of what he assists on. that's very alarming stat for a team's ability to win big games against the top tier teams. Harden's inability to play defense will hurt the team as the season goes on because when you turn the ball over that much, the player should run back on defense, wasting more energy which could most likely increase his turnovers or even lead him to having lower field goal% with Harden taking more shots as the Rockets will end up trying to catch up the scoreboard.
Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans: Imagine if Chris Paul had waited and never went to the Clippers and paired up with Davis, instead of now having some unknown name bring up the ball, it was CP3 who gave him the assist every time down the floor. Imagine if Eric Gordon had never gotten injured and stayed with the Pelicans, he would have been an elite offensive force in the League. If these players had stayed in New Orleans, how much different would this team be now? However maybe if CP3 had stayed or Eric had reached his potential, Davis might have never been drafted by them in the first place.
However it's 2016 and none of these things are in place, this would have to be an alternative timeline where the Pelicans would have been title contenders every year in the west. However, the contrary is happening. New Orleans might end up in the last 10 NBA Teams come May. They are 7W-14L with the latest loss coming on the Hands of Westbrook where both stars went against each other and it was a spectacle. The question is Why are they losing when Davis is putting up MVP numbers?
The answer can be complicated, Davis is having an MVP season so far. Davis is averaging 31.1 PPG, 11 RPG and 2.8 BPG. These are crazy numbers for a player which is on a team way below the .500 win mark. Davis is shooting 51% from the field and averaging 31 PPG, now this is an insane percentage and yet the team is on the losing end. The season started with Davis scoring almost 150 Points in the first three games, a feat never accomplished before but in all of these games his team lost. When the season started Jrue Holiday was missing from the rotation because his wife had health complications and he had to be next to her until she got better. While Davis has been playing alone with a team full of role players and bench warmers so no matter what he does, it would be impossible to win. In this fashion, he would have to play the whole 48 minutes for his team to even complete which is impossible due to the fact that it will impact his health for the entire season. This was the case last season and people wondered can Davis stay healthy and be an all-star maybe even an MVP caliber player in the future? This season proves that but his team is losing a lot and an MVP was never awarded to a player if his team doesn't make the playoffs.
Now Jrue is back to the lineup and they started to win some games but Will it be enough for Davis and the Pelicans to make the postseason? Personally, i think No! we are 21-22 games into the season and this is the time when teams make a run and find their steps, as far as we have seen so far, the Pelicans seem lost! The Pelicans are ranked 22nd in scoring against other teams which means they lack scoring options and are ranked 18th in points allowed per game which is an average rank but in order for them compete, they will have to do better than this.
This brings us to this point, Will Davis stay beyond this season? Let's take a minute and see what is his current contract looking like. Davis has a contract for 5 years for $127,171,331, he will be a free agent again in 2021, by then he will be 28. He can still be an MVP type of player for years to come after that but he is a big man, millage on his body will start to show especially with the responsibility he has to basically carry the team on his back every night for them to even compete, he is averaging almost 40 minutes a night. Another question is, if he chooses to stay until his contract expires, what can his team do to avoid multiple losing seasons? That will determine his stay or departure. It comes from the top, the head office, is it possible for them to either pull up a blockbuster trade to persuade Davis to stay or draft a talent which can change the team's fortune. Can they bring back CP3 to the team which drafted him, if the Clippers don't reach deep in the playoffs? Rumors are being started about a potential break up in Clippers if at least they don't make the Conference finals this season.
What if Davis decides that he wants to be traded especially that Davis has his own Bird rights. Now, if he requests a trade what team is capable to free room for his contract and what assets can they get for him? that's the biggest question! Personally, i think that if he gets traded, it would have to be a 3 team trade, maybe the Clippers can jump on that trade and give up on Blake and some other major pieces and get Davis with CP3!! that's the best case scenario in my eyes for Davis.
