Season begins Tues Oct 22nd. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s up and what’s new. In no certain order …
Maybe the most surprising thing is how many are picking the Jazz for the Western Conference championship. It reminds me of this current generation of 20 and under somethings who need their own thing, so now that the Warriors are out (for a year;-), and the popular choice appears to be the LakersClippers … hmm, what flavor can be *mine-all-mine*? While there’s a lot to like about the Jazz, they lost Favors to the Pelicans and Mitchell still isn’t the guy to close games for you. So does Conley fill that role? Does Conley want to fill that role a la Chauncey big shot who he certainly resembles in no small part? Bogdonovc is a huge addition sure, and Gobert is a menace, but is it really enough to title them best in the West when the pressure is on? Hmmm …
Anthony Davis isn’t a PF or a C. He’s just the most versatile big man to ever play the game, and even though he often plays around the post we may see him setup anywhere and everywhere in the half court. Think a slightly lesser Durant. Not as great a shooter but the better passer, and even without the same quickness just as capable of putting it on the floor and driving and dishing.
Or is that LeBron’s role on the newly stylized Lakers? If he’s playing PG fresh out of the gate, does that mean he gives it up more than 50% of the time after passing half court? It’s already clear the Lakers will play the game as it is in 2019: pace n space, movement without the ball, shooters on the wings and at least 2 passes before finding the open man or lane or shot. So without the ball and say, 15 secs on the clock is LeBron now a slasher? Is he posting up?
Javale McGee may hold the answers, because with all that size (Kuzma isn’t so small either) the Lakers will have the challenge of trying to move guys through the lane and post while McGee (or Dwight Howard) occupies a good % of that space. If Davis and LeBron are free to penetrate at will, some masterful spacing might be required to get it right. That means McGee is constantly moving doesn’t it? And Kuzma possibly *not* as mobile as we’ve seen? Or mobile but only along the baseline?
The Lakers are huge and mobile, but with some big challenges to sort out. 3P shooting especially – will anyone in their starting lineup be a decent 3P shooter? Or stated differently, will the Lakers need to have both Green and Cook on the floor a lot to be successful, and if so is Kuzma really the odd man out to make way for … McGee?? Hopefully everyone remains healthy enough so that question needs to be answered. It’s really not that bad a problem to have.
And then there’s the Clippers. Are there any questions to be asked? Shooting: check. Leadership: check. Unselfish ball movement, smart shot selection, great shooters, 48 minute play mentality, defensive oriented, deep, tough, relentless. So their top two players are brand spanking new. With these guys does it really matter? There may be one thing to discuss though: how to match the length of the Lakers when the time comes? Will it matter?
Al Horford is in Philly now.Seems the offense was best with Simmons in the post, and now Horford’s there. And he’s better than Simmons at most things, so how does this work unless Simmons … oh never mind. It’ll never happen. Maybe Butler … oh wait, they let him walk. Oh! TJ McConnell of course. Shoot – let him go too. So ummm … Trey Burke?
About that new home for McConnell: Pacers are the new home for a lot of players. In addition to McConnell they added Brogdon and TJ Warren and lost Bogdonovic along the way. Lots of depth with Sabonis about to take on a major role (some say at center). If Oladipo is back to full strength by playoff time, the Pacers are once again one of the most versatile teams at both ends. But can they deal with size: Size of the Sixers. Size of the Lakers. Nuggets. Blazers. Bucks?
Speaking of that last one. Brogdon is gone. Mirotic is gone. Bledsoe is not. The Lopez bros are together which is nice, but there’s a lot of work to be done. That’s especially true wrt Giannis’ ball movement, as it’s really not as good as many want to believe. Sure they can still whip it around the perimeter, create space and have their Freak bail them out a lot. And the defense will be among the best just because, but it seems there are too many questions needing answers before granting them best in the East status. And if they’re not the best, who is?
Sixers? Doubtful without greater cohesion which seems impossible with Simmons not even fitting into an effective position. Celtics? Not sure why they would be, since there’s nothing really jumping out as “winning” there. We’ll see how Hayward starts the year. Raptors? Why not just be objective and say the Bucks, Pacers, Sixers and Raptors all have a chance at the #1 or #2 seeds in the east come April?
Maybe the Nets deserve to be there as well, though Irving is likely to muck things up before figuring out how to work with “his” new guys. New guys that probably resent the loss of D-Lo and that were doing pretty damn well without a weirdo coming in to throw water on their fire. They should make the playoffs fairly easily though, and after Boston who else is there in the East. Magic? Heat? Hawks? Bulls? Interesting teams, but Miami seems like the only lock for the playoffs.
Moving west, what’s up in Denver and Portland? Seems like quite a bit actually. Nuggets have one heck of a roster, and Jr. (as in Porter) to boot. But I’m not buying Murray as primary (and often secondary) ball handler on this team, especially with Jr. and Monte Morris and maybe 3 other guys having the potential to be better than Murray will ever be. Maybe they should have gone after Conley. Keeping him away from Utah might have been a better plan that putting all your chips on Murray. Portland has got something else going on, and not sure I’m buying that either but for different reasons …
Seems that every year there’s clamor about Portland this and Portland that, but this year there *does* seem to be more substance to the cheer-leading. Tough team now with talent and size and athleticism. Pau Gasol is there, and that could mean a lot for a team that plans to start Hassan Whiteside. Will those two even get along, or will Whiteside whine himself out of a starting position before the end of November? If not they’ve got some size and smarts and possibly a very good defensive club. But Nurkic isn’t due back until 2020 sometime, and that’s really the main reason for getting excited.
Houston – we’ll see. No clue what’s about to happen there. Seems a little bit like a running joke now.
Pelicans – well sure, but Zion has a knee injury. They still have tons of talent and are possibly playoff bound. Is Favors really on that team? And did they really steal Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the draft?? Size, shooting. Everyone’s athletic and most are two way players. If Zion gets back in time and stops injuring himself this might be more than just an exciting team to watch. Are they better than Houston even?
Are they better than the Spurs? I doubt it. DeJounte Murray and Lonnie Walker are back and fired up from what I hear. The team seems to have everything on both ends except the size needed against the Lakers. Are the Spurs a top 4 team in the West though? That’s a tough question with Denver almost certainly being as good or better than last year. Spurs at 5 maybe? Better than the Warriors? Maybe. Better than Houston hell yeah.
Dallas, Suns, Kings and Grizzlies should be all kinds of fun to watch with each team having at least 2 excellent players of the future. Could any of these make the playoffs? Sure, but no idea which one. Will Doncic get even better and will Porzingas stay healthy? If yes to those will it be enough?
Hawks, Magic, Bulls. Sure – could be some great stuff here. Not just young guys but another year with young guys getting experience, playing together and showing some grit. One should be able to make the playoffs.
Miami – I have to admit I’m not sure about the plan. Even if they’re a top 5 team in the East isn’t that all they are at best? They’ll be playing Jimmy-Ball now … that gets you at least 5 wins over the course of a year. Can Butler be an MVP candidate and if so how many games will they need to win to get people excited by the prospect?
Detroit – This roster was built to win big now. There’s no other reason to put these guys together. Isn’t that weird?
Wolves, Hornets, Thunder, Wizards, Cavs, Knicks. Really doesn’t seem like there’s anything to talk about. Stephen Adams really needs to demand a trade.
679 thoughts on “2019-2020 Regular Season ”
MVP: Jokic, Freak, Kawhi
COY: Popovich, Spoelstra, Rivers
MIP: Winslow, LeVert, Lonzo
DPOY: Giannis, Gobert, Harrell
6thM: Harrell, Dragic, Williams
ROY: Morant, Barrett, White
MVP: I’m with you on Curry. James and Davis won’t play enough. Same with Kawhi. Russ and Harden will blow each other up in Houston. I make the top 3 to be Curry, Greek Freak, and Kyrie, as they are clearly the “guy” on each of their teams.
COY: Michael Malone (I like the Nuggets to potentially be top seed in the West)
MIP: Derrick White
DPOY: Yeah, probably Giannis Antetokounmpo (I’ve long since learned how to spell his name)
6th MOY: Gordon Hayward
ROY: Ja Morant (Zion will miss too much time to injuries and Ja steps right into the Conley role)
Year end predictions:
Eastern Conference playoff teams: Bucks, 76ers, Pacers, Celtics, Heat, Raptors, Magic, and Nets
Eastern Conference finals: Bucks over 76ers
Western Conference playoff teams: Nuggets, Clippers, Jazz, Trailblazers, Lakers, Rockets, Warriors, and Kings (though I figure the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns to be right in the fight for a playoff spot)
Western Conference finals: Clippers over Nuggets
Eastern playoff seeding:
1. Bucks
2. 76ers
3. Pacers
4. Celtics
5. Heat
6. Raptors
7. Nets
8. Hawks
Western playoff seeding:
1. Nuggets
2. Clippers
3. Jazz
4. Spurs
5. Warriors
6. Lakers
7. Rockets
8. Blazers
My only playoff two predictions are Clippers in the finals, and the Pelicans won’t make it in.
I updated my MVP projection and usurp the right to change it all the way up til opening tip.
😉
I don’t think the Warriors or the Lakers will win enough during the regular season.
Updated my season awards.
MVP: Jokic
COY: Popovich
MIP: LeVert
DPOY: Giannis
6thM: VanVleet
ROY: Morant
I just found out Zion had surgery for a torn meniscus. Really bad news for him for a couple reasons. First, he’s enormous and powerful. That’s a lot of force on knees and ligaments and cartilage. Second, even if it heals that quickly (it might), he can’t come back and play exactly the same way. Maybe not for 6 months.
It actually makes more sense to shut him down for the year.
The stories about the surgery today say he’ll only be out 6-8 weeks, which seemed short to me.
I think that’s the typical time table for that kind of injury. I hope I’m wrong about his size being the issue, because other great athletes have come back fully after similar surgeries. Russell Westbrook and Lonzo Ball for instance. Zion puts a *lot* more stress and pressure on his joints though, so not knowing exactly what to expect I don’t see how the team can put him right back out there when they don’t really need him right now. Except to sell tickets.
Jaylen Brown signs extension for $115 over 4 years. Absurd especially for a team that has a better player in Hayward at the same position. Ainge is going backwards.
Brown is 22 years old. Hayward is 29 years old and is still coming back from a major injury. Hayward already got the big contract, so why not lock up the youngster? Particularly when you’re not sure yet if Hayward will return to top form. Yes, I picked Hayward to be 6th man of the year because I expect him to return to top form, but he still has to prove that. With both under contract, Ainge is in a good position to trade one of them in the future if Hayward proves he’s back.
I meant that in my opinion he’s just not that good. For me one of the most over-rated in the league.
Ingles just got a $14M extension and I think he’d be much more valuable in Brown’s place. It’s just too much money for that guy.
Brown was trying to prove your point tonight. Lots of foul trouble, no assists, few points. Looks like the Celts started Gordon Hayward at PF tonight. I hope that isn’t the plan. Hayward will get eaten alive by other PFs. Particularly against the 76ers tonight where the had Embiid, Harris, and Horford in the front court plus 6’10” Simmons at PG. That was a huge size differential and it looks like the 76ers used it to their advantage.
Steve Kerr said that Klay Thompson is unlikely to return this year. If this is true, I might drop the Warriors out of the playoff picture. This could be the Warriors recognizing that they won’t be champions this year with or without Klay, so why not hold Klay out to make sure he completely recovers before he returns. I’m sure Klay will be itching to return sometime after the All-Star break, but I think the Dubs are already looking toward next year.
I assumed he’d be out all year or until April at earliest. I’ll keep them at 5th in the West.
Damn TNT broadcast of the Lakers-Clippers kept freezing up, including half of the last minute. When the broadcast returned with 27 seconds left, it was basically over. Don’t know if the problem was on TNT or Comcast’s end (it wasn’t happening on other channels, so I suspect TNT), but that was damn frustrating.
In any event, the game showed why I picked the Clippers well above the Lakers in the West. Lakers have next to nothing after LBJ and AD (Danny Green scored a lot tonight, but that won’t happen consistently) and certainly no bench. Clipper without Paul George had Williams, Harrell, Harkless, and JaMychal Green coming off their bench and pulverizing the Lakers. Clippers are so much deeper than the Lakers. The Lakers are going to wear out LBJ and AD. Injuries to one or both are inevitable.
Pretty good game for opening night. I’m a bit more optimistic than you regarding the Lakers. Even though I see the bench issue it’s the overall talent that doesn’t match up well with Nuggets, Jazz and Clippers. Good news is they have plenty of time to figure it out. Bad news is they don’t have enough time to load manage Davis. I’m less concerned about LeBron.
I wasn’t seeing Davis get enough help as he tried to initiate from the outside. When you have McGee outside the paint and trying to be one of your primary slashers something’s gotta give. Namely opportunities for good outside shooting and good quick passing to and through scorers and shooters. Seemed like Davis didn’t have the room he needed to operate half the time even without a double team. Of course, opening up against a *great* defensive team tends to do that to you.
Scary: we’re not hearing about the “Big 3” in Clipperland, but I think we will as soon as George is back. Whatever they lose defensively when Williams is on court they easily make up with everyone else. And with Williams exhausting the heck out of defenses he’s effectively a two way player vs. teams not having the luxury of throwing several guys at him. And even for the other teams … how the heck do you cover Kawhi, WIlliams and George at the same time? And if you go really small with Shamet out there as well.
I’m thinking about how great Reggie Miller would have been if he had the skills to play starting PG. Same question about Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton and Klay Thompson. I think they’d all look a bit like Lou Williams – a complete menace.
I think we should be concerned about LeBron. He is 35 years old and coming off his first full off-season since his early days on the Cavs (and after only playing 55 games last year). Despite being well-rested, he was a different man in the 2nd half last night. Great first half and so-so second half is something I think we’ll see a lot of this year. LBJ played 36 minutes last night (AD had 37 minutes). The Lakers need to get that down to around 30 minutes a game to keep him fresher. It’ll help when Kuzma gets back, but the lack of depth and Frank Vogel knowing he has to win this year since he was nobody’s first pick to be head coach, means that LBJ and AD (and Kuzma when he returns) will likely get played too much this season. I see a lot of injury problems ahead for the Lakers.
It’ll be interesting if and when Iggy gets bought out by Memphis. He’s all but said he’ll head to Los Angeles (because he’ll be prohibited from signing with the Warriors). Does he join Kawhi and PG in Clipperland or LeBron and AD in Lakerland? I think Iggy looks at those two situations and sees the Clippers as the team to beat this year and joins them. Regardless of which LA team he signs with, I expect Iggy back with the Warriors next season when they’ll be able to sign him again.
I agree there’s concern and there will be fewer minutes and “load management”. I’m just not as concerned about him as I am Davis who looked like he was being asked to do much more than he’s ever done right out of the gate.
Iggy would fit in there so well if he’s healthy. If he goes to the Clippers will he be happy with his minutes? I’m no so sure that Kawhi will sit out that many games. If he does then Iggy gets a lot of minutes. If not then maybe less than he wants.
On the Lakers he’d be badly needed but I’m not sure about the rotation unless Kuzma starts in place of McGee eventually. Then you’d have McGee and Iggy coming in together to give LeBron a rest. Iggy could possibly be a 6th man candidate if he’s up for those kinds of minutes.
With Zion out the race for ROY might be wide open, because even if Morant is the best rookie this year he may not win unless the Grizzlies win games. That’ll be hard to do, so for tonight’s games I’ll be looking at how these four do straight out of the gate: Tyler Herro (Heat), Cam Johnson (Suns), Cam Reddish (Hawks), D’Andre Hunter (Hawks)
In particular Herro. When the Suns selected Cam Johnson I was pretty sure they were also looking at Herro but chose Johnson because of the height difference. But I didn’t realize Herro is 6′ 6″ then, and now I don’t understand how so many teams let him fall so low. I’ve seen him listed at 6′ 4″ but he looks much taller in some preseason vids. I wonder if he grew an inch or more since the beginning of the year.
Is Lou Williams not the most under rated player ever?
One of, certainly. It is his defensive deficiencies that keep him from being rated higher
Giannis Antetokounmpo was interviewed by a Harvard professor earlier this year as part of a study into how a small-market NBA team builds a winner and keeps a superstar. As part of the interview, he said this:
“So far, we have been doing great, and, if this lasts, there’s no other place I want to be. But if we’re underperforming in the NBA next year, deciding whether to sign becomes a lot more difficult.”
I think the Bucks will perform well this year, so it won’t become an issue, but if they don’t…
smart kid
Whoa. Luka! It’s not just what he’s doing it’s how he’s doing it. Like he’s been injected with speed.
Didn’t get to see that game here, but it looks like Luka had a good game, though not many assists. Porzingis had a good comeback game. They beat a Wizards team they were supposed to beat, so let’s see how they do against tougher teams.
Kyrie making me look good picking him to be a top 3 MVP candidate. As with Luka against the Wiz though, I want to see Kyrie do that against tougher teams. Nets managed to blow Kyrie’s big game by losing to the T-Pups at home no less. That’s not they way things were supposed to go in Brooklyn this year.
My take on what I saw last night and some from the night before. Aside from the Suns game I didn’t watch much of anything save a small part of the Heat-Memphis game.
Kelly Oubre is a stud. Rubio is a stud. Booker seems to be a renegade maverick of some sort however, and may actually hinder the Suns’ progress. Either that or his new coach is the same as the old one and the one before that and just let him do whatever he wants, which last night meant continually dribbling himself into a corner from which he *needed* to shoot out of. Meanwhile everyone else on the team is either out of play or running to get him out of trouble. I’m not sure what he thinks he’s doing, because the team *does* have backup PGs when Rubio is out.
Another reason Booker’s ball handing doesn’t make sense is that it doesn’t seem to be the Suns style at all. Including Booker, they will always have at least 3 guys on the floor that can either shoot long or short or put it on the floor and drive and dish. And other than Cam Johnson I think all the others are much better than average at these things. So you’d think it would *never* make sense to dribble yourself into a corner when you can just as well get the ball back and in the same spot by letting your teammates find you. Unfortunately I get the nauseating feeling that Booker doesn’t trust his teammates (minus Rubio) to do this. That would be bad news for these guys.
When Oubre, Rubio and Bridges are out there together they are a menacing ball stealing trio! Suns are going to be *very* good in this regard. Rubio was a brilliant pickup, as it’s easy to see him leading by example which is something the young guys (minus Oubre) need to see. He takes things to a different gear a la Westbrook. Suns have great or at least very good depth. Kaminsky, Javeon Carter and Tyler Johnson were huge in starting the run the led to the blow out. Saric may lose his starting spot to Kaminsky within the week, unless he doesn’t like coming off the bench. Ty Jerome didn’t suit up. Injury report says due to ankle.
Meanwhile across the league …
Kendrick Nunn is easily first out of the gate for ROY which is normally something not worth mentioning, but he was doing the exact same things in preseason. Instrumental in getting his team a win on opening night – something that can’t be said for Morant or Barrett.
Gordon Hayward great out of the gate. No, he can’t play PF against a lot of teams but maybe he knows Horford’s game well enough to do so last night? Unfortunately for the Celtics, that new contract may come with a promise that Brown gets to start a lot of games, begging the question who decided that he would start last night – Ainge or Stephens?
Porzingas is back – great way to start all over again. DeJounte Murray is back and played very well helping the Spurs to a win. That roster is deep.
Conley took a very puzzling 16 shots. That could not have been his idea. Weird. Mitchell was dazzling with only 1 TO. I see Ingles came off the bench. If I would have known that, and that VanVleet was going to start, I’d have picked Ingles for 6th man.
Wiggins took 27 shots and made 10. WTF??? Irving *great* shooting night, 7 assists and 0 TOs! The loss seems related to TOs and poor FT% from the rest of the guys, because the Nets should never lose to a Wolves team when Wiggins shoots badly with volume. Ughh.
Fultz had a nice opening night. Promising and helped his team to win.
TJ Warren not a good debut as a starter for the Pacers. I’ll be very surprised if he has another such bad night (5-12 FG and 0-2 FT) any time soon.
A lot of players played very well to get wins for their teams. Doncic, Porzingas, Winslow, Dragic, Siakem, Van Vleet, Lowry, Kawhi, Lou, Harrell, Drummond, Derrick Rose, Vucevic, Simmons, Tobias, Towns, Aldridge, Booker, Ayton, Oubre
Hawks, Bucks, Rockets and Warriors up next. Fully expecting the trend to continue with Curry, Green and Freak to have great games. No idea what kind of game Harden or Westbrook will have since it’s impossible to guess at how many shots they’ll take. 50? 60? Big game for Hawks & Pistons since neither team can afford to lose this one. I assume both Reddish and Hunter will get a lot of touches.
Forgot to mention Jokic only because he was the first one I checked on this morning and I figured I’d mention him automatically. So yeah,just as much as any other player so far he was the reason for his team’s win. I stopped watching after he was benched early.
I just randomly heard about 60 seconds of radio talk and had no idea that several announcers on SiriusXM radio are picking him for MVP. I had no idea. That means he’s now a known commodity to the media in general or will be extremely soon. IMO makes it a lot more likely he’ll win if he’s being watched early and they win those kinds of games.
It wasn’t just that the Nuggets won that game (on the road in Portland), but that Jokic was draining 3s in the 4th quarter to put it away. He’ll have to watch the fouls which got him benched in the 1st half, but he was still an easy double-double (20 and 13). When you are the reason your team won a tough road game, that will get you noticed. Not sure why Malone didn’t play Porter at all though. Did he get injured in the preseason?
My guess is it was too big of a game for Porter? Maybe wait until after a few wins and against a bad team when there’s no pressure on him. Or versus the Suns who I believe are next in line for the Jokic firing squad. Porter can come in once the Nuggs are up 20.
No real surprise that the Clips blew out the Warriors tonight. That being said, Warriors defense, both in the interior and on the perimeter, is atrocious. Green hurt his elbow early, so that probably didn’t help and Cauley-Stein isn’t playing yet and he will improve the interior D. Still, without KD, Klay, Iggy, and Livingston from last year’s team, the defense leaves a LOT to be desired. Not every team will be able to take advantage as well as the Clips did, but the Warriors year will be all about trying to outscore other teams.
Clips were clearly focusing on Steph early, but that left Russell open and he was hot early. If nothing else, all the Dubs’ youngsters are getting some experience.
Both Harden and Russ had near triple-doubles, but the real key was that the Bucks defense hounded them both (and Gordon) into bad shooting nights. Greek Freak played like the MVP he is. Bucks have to feel good about going into Houston and winning with a dominant second half.
No surprise that Trae Young looked like a stud in leading the Hawks to a road victory against the Pistons. Cam Reddish couldn’t hit a shot though. Blake Griffin wasn’t playing again. Word is that he is out until sometime in November. His history of injuries has destroyed his career.
Freak looked better than I’ve ever seen him. More decisive and with better control. Meanwhile Kawhi has played 2 games in a row, though not back to back. Amazing in 21 minutes with 9 asts & 1 TO. Jokic was remarkable as you described. Mitchell and Simmons excellent as well.
Butler didn’t play the Heat’s first game, and could be on the same list. I would include Doncic but he had 6 TOs and I really doubt the Mavs remain undefeated for long. Same with Trae Young, and neither team played a top opponent.
Lots of other players have been great leading their teams to early season wins, but I have to think that those 5 at top are the front runners for MVP until one of them loses. That may not happen until Weds when Clips play Jazz.
Bucks play Heat tomorrow, so an excellent chance for Butler to get into the MVP conversation.
Bad news for the Suns. DeAndre Ayton got suspended for 25 games for a failed drug test (reportedly a diuretic was detected). That puts him out till sometime in January. Suns looked good in their opener, but it’ll be tough to win games without Ayton.
That’s terrible news. He has a long way to go and needs to be on the court. Dammit. There’s hope though. This hot off the presses …
“The NBPA has the ability to expedite two cases a year with the league, and sources say it’s likely the union will use one of them on Ayton to try to get him back on the court as soon possible.”
I doubt they will though. I’m guessing that the diuretic in question (used to mask use of other illicit substances which I assume are steroids) isn’t something anyone would “accidentally” ingest. That’s likely the reason why he was suspended.
I agree with 25 games as a good number for steroid use.
While someone wouldn’t accidentally ingest a diuretic, they are used for weight loss in addition to helping mask illegal substances. I haven’t seen Ayton this year yet so don’t know if he put on weight that he was trying to get off. So its possible that he was an idiot using it for weight loss purposes, but you still gotta know what is banned and what isn’t.
The Heat is really deep and has a chance at several end of season awards. And although “champions” isn’t one of them, a conference finals berth isn’t out of the question. But I could see these guys being in the running for awards ..
Butler MVP
Nunn ROY
Winslow MIP
Dragic 6th man
Spoelstra COY
MVP is the least likely I think, because if they’re good enough to win a lot of games it’ll be because of the team effort.
My all too soon post-season awards makeover leaders:
MVP: Giannis, Jokic, Kyrie
ROY: Barrett, Morant, White
COY: Carlisle, Spoelstra, Rivers
MIP: Fultz, Winslow, VanVleet
6th Man: Williams, Harrell, Gordon
DPOY: Giannis, Gobert, Kawhi
OK. I suggest for this end of year stuff to be meaningful we have a firm cutoff. I say the cutoff is the tipoff for the 3rd game off the season for any team. 3 players / coaches each per your design.
that tip-off is the Pistons game at 4:00 Pacific today. not expecting you to change anything though.
Yeah, my latest picks seem fairly decent. Seems doubtful that Curry will be an MVP candidate after all because teams will double and triple team him and dare others to beat them.
something is very wrong with Conley, and it’s not just his shot selection. he looks lost and maybe even panicked. worse is that they lost by only 9 and he’s most to blame. at least you can be sure that Jazz fans see it that way. meanwhile mitchell continues to impress.
My new new end of season awards. 6th man is almost impossible – hard to know the rotations just yet. I’m assuming Lou Williams starts a lot of games. But maybe not!
MVP: Jokic, Freak, Kawhi
COY: Popovich, Spoelstra, Rivers
MIP: Winslow, LeVert, Lonzo
DPOY: Giannis, Gobert, Harrell
6thM: Harrell, Dragic, Williams
ROY: Morant, Barrett, White
A lot of crossover/sameness in our picks. Guess we’re seeing the same things.
I noticed, but some good differences as well. And I’m still trying to find a spot for Nunn on MIP. And/or LeBron for MVP.
Wow. 3 games into the season and there’s some great stuff happening. Hard to list all the great performances last night. If I stick with players that were efficient with volume and led their teams to victory and had 1 or fewer TOs the list is fairly long …
Oubre , Saric , Nunn , Horford , Kemba , Anunoby , DeJounte Murray , Derrick White , Mitchell , (Jazz) Bogdanovic
Horford & Kemba 0 TOs in huge games
Regarding Suns victory over the Clipps …
32 assists for the team – fast clean ball movement like I’ve rarely seen in the NBA. Similar to the Warriors but with faster players on average. A lot of outside in and vice versa. Oubre has to be a front runner for MIP and should get strong all star consideration if the Suns can stay around 50% W-L. Jevon Carter started in place of Rubio (knee sprain) and together with Oubre and Mikal Bridges are ridiculous scrappers: fast hands everywhere, often before the Clipps could get set in any kind of offense.
Suns won because they moved the Clipps defense all over the half court and out of position and ended up with space on their shots as well as space for the entry pass or drive to the hoop. Suns extremely active around the basket.
These guys are coming together – Oubre, Kaminsky, Bridges & Carter are now looking like a tight young unit that feed off each other and love playing together. Kaminsky quickly a team and fan favorite that also could be considered atop both the MIP and 6th man lists. Tyler Johnson fits right in perfectly. Baynes allows them to play faster since he runs the floor and can stop near the 3pt line. Against the Clippers the Suns were able to get away with Baynes and Kaminsky at center. Harrell was dominant, but the overall “Desert Swarm” was too much for the rest of the team – specifically Lou Williams who couldn’t get where he wanted as easily. Suns play the game as if they have 6 guys on the court when Booker is out. When he’s in they slow down a bit on both ends. He needs to see what’s going on out there and get with the program, because there’s no need for him to be dribbling around to look for his shot. He should just watch Curry videos every morning with his coffee I think.
The plan seems clear with this team: except for Rubio and Ayton you have every player (about 8 of them) being able to shoot long, pass, think quickly, move without the ball and do it *fast*. One consequence of all that fast movement is that there will be a lane open for someone to drive to the hoop, so not much lost when Rubio is in, but with Carter playing like this he should be starting with Kaminsky, Ty Johnson and Rubio coming off the bench.
About Booker … he has some mean potential here once he figures it out (Rubio and Oubre need to just sit his ass down to watch films). Turns out he moves extremely well without the ball and on this team there’s just no reason for him to be holding onto the ball much. This assist from Saric is a great example of how the Suns won last night …
https://youtu.be/oUGZOcNNH4A?t=113
I haven’t seen any games this weekend as I’ve been down in Monterey, but that is a damn impressive win. You may recall that late last season I made the bold prediction that the Suns would be a playoff team this season. I didn’t follow through with that in my preseason prediction (though I said they’d be in the running for the 8th spot) because the West got a lot stronger. But it doesn’t surprise me that they are playing well.
I remember your comment – it was after a game where they played together defensively with Oubre leading (once again) by example. Now they seem to be tight at both ends as a unit. If you haven’t watched Jevon Carter yet you should tune in the next chance you get: small but very fast PG who plays at both ends and can shoot. I’m sure he’s too small for a lot of teams which is how he ended up on the Suns where it may not matter considering all the space these guys make for themselves. Or just check out some highlights of the guy. You may not have to because I see he lit up the Dubs for 30 last season as a Grizz.
Suns passed on Coby White in order to end up with Saric and Cam Johnson. It’s too early to assess the +/- of that decision, but considering the addition of Jevon Carter (Suns starting PG who plays at both ends) and the now proven *fact* that Cam Johnson isn’t slow at all and can put the ball on the floor and pass quickly … I’m guessing we’ll end up seeing that the move made the Suns deeper for the future. If the penalty for that is too many guys needing minutes then hopefully it ends up being a good penalty to have.
Ty Jerome hasn’t played a single minute either. I think the Suns have a tremendous trade package they can put together that would interest a lot of teams. A 3 for 1 type of deal, but for what type of player? Saric, Kaminsky and Baynes are all mobile big men that can shoot, but even with Ayton they still don’t have a rim protecting presence or even an above average defender with size (although Kaminsky may be underrated here).
I’d love to see them try to make a move with either the Grizzlies (Jaren Jackson) or Hawks (John Collins) who could all use a bit more depth. And there’s this: does LeBron really have time to wait and see what Kostas Antetokounmpo is going to become? Don’t guys like Tyler Johnson & Saric fit perfectly with the Lakers right now and for the next few years?
I’ll have to check the ESPN Trade Machine sometime soon and see where various teams are at cap wise for trades. Fairly certain that teams like the Suns, Grizz, and Hawks have a lot of cap room, but less certain about the Lakers. I know Iggy wants out of Memphis. I wonder how he feels about Phoenix. Perhaps a Saric, Kaminsky, Baynes for Jackson and Iggy deal?
I was lucky to almost randomly tune in to the end of regulation for the Grizz/Nets. What I saw was pretty much what I’ve been waiting for: an indication that Morant understands that he’s the man when they need him to be. What’s scary about him, or should be for all other teams in the league, is that with all the gifts he is floor general and passer first. When he’s playing a true PG his timing is spot on (and even too good a la Magic who would make perfect passes only to find teammates didn’t get where they should be), when it’s in his best interest to score he seems to hesitate – as if he feels selfish for doing so? Or just being a rookie?
When he decides to score I noticed that something good almost always comes of it even if it doesn’t drop. He moves fast and thinks fast and jumps high, all under control. I’m looking forward to much more scoring from him.
Grizzlies
STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
J. MorantPG 32 13-22 1-2 3-4 1 3 4 9 1 1 6 3 +10 30
Porzingas has been excellent. Maybe he should be considered for MIP?
Porzingis played pretty well the last time he played before missing most of the last two seasons to injury. I think he was an All-Star the last time he played a full season. Baseball has a comeback player award for that situation. If the NBA had a comeback award, Porzingis would probably be the leading contender, but not for MIP.
I agree and might have made the same case wrt LaVine when (I think) you chose him for MIP?
I’ll reiterate. The Dubs defense is truly atrocious. It doesn’t help that Looney is missing this road trip and they still don’t have Cauley-Stein on the court. But its very disturbing how easy other teams are finding it to get open shots on the perimeter and in the paint. However, the Warriors being out of the playoff picture come the All-Star break may be good for them. Then they won’t rush Klay back and could be in line for a high draft pick that can be added to the core.
Warriors finally got a win tonight in New Orleans. Offense and hustle were there, but defense was still shabby, particularly in the paint. Not real surprising given that Draymond (officially 6’6″) started at center. The Dubs built up a huge lead (that the scrubs let the Pelicans whittle down to single digits in the end) because they were flying all over the court and guys like Jordan Poole and Damian Lee were draining 3s. However, the Pelicans were playing without Zion, without Favors, and without Holiday, perhaps their best 3 players. Simply put the Pelicans were even more inept than the Warriors. So glad they won, but still not happy about their defense.
By the way, if you haven’t read this article on The Athletic yet, do so. Really heart-warming story about Glenn Robinson III.
https://theathletic.com/1325824/2019/10/27/sunday-randomness-with-a-twist-a-heart-warming-random-act-of-kindness-by-warriors-forward-glenn-robinson-iii/
Robinson has been the starting SF for the Warriors so far this year.
enjoyed the article, thanks. i had no idea he was starting.
Jazz won because Gobert hit frickin 11 out of 12 FTs. That and Booker kept losing the ball or fouling on crucial possessions.
Still waiting for Ty Jerome to play his first game. That’s the guy I’m hoping to run the offense at the end of games.
Jazz-Clippers (on ESPN) and Warriors-Suns (local cable here) tomorrow night.
I don’t see how the Warriors have a chance vs. the Suns. It’s probably the worst team for them to play.
Now when was the last time I thought that?!
Dubs may have Cauley-Stein back tonight, which will help with the interior defense. But I expect Booker, Oubre, and Saric to get a lot of good looks from the arc. It’ll be interesting to see whether the Dubs put Green on Saric or Oubre (with GRIII getting the other on defense).
Oubre sneaks around the baseline and gets to the basket when he wants on both ends. Whoever covers him will be more concerned about that than his outside shooting.
You nailed it as far as this match-up goes. The Suns crushed the Warriors in the 1st quarter, outscoring them 43-14. This was before Steph’s injury, so you can’t blame it on Steph being out the game. I will say that the Warriors’ scrubs are making a game of it in the 4th quarter despite starting out nearly down 30. But Suns’ starters were looking pretty comfortable against the Dubs’ shoddy D for 3 quarters.
How good is Brogdon?
Didn’t see the game, but 13 dimes on the stat sheet looks good, as does going into Brooklyn and beating the Nets despite Kyrie going 28-7-6.
Yeah. And Warren is playing his part with solid minutes now. I’ll stick with Pacers as a top 4 team in the East, although Celtics appear to be better than I thought early on.
Myles Turner is out with a sprained ankle, so that team looks different now. More run and gun I assume. Apparently Brogdon is the man to lead the charge.
Steph took a nasty fall driving to the basket that resulted in a broken left hand. Don’t know how long he will be out, but it is looking very much now like the Warriors will be a lottery team this year. It’s D-Lo’s team now. We’ll see how he does with the scoring burden pretty much solely on him.
Having seen replays of the fall many times now, Steph only has himself to blame. The fall results from Steph hitting Baynes as he went up to the basket, but Baynes clearly was set, so the play was clearly a charge. Steph tried to avoid the contact, but could not do so. It was unfortunate that Steph went down hands first and that Baynes’ ass landed on Steph’s hand, but contact was initiated by Steph.
did NOT like the casual way Baynes “fell” on him. although Steph *might* have a bit reckless on the drive, there was no reason for Baynes to fall like that.
OK. I think I need to take it back: Baynes was just trying to keep his feet set outside the arc so the refs could see where they were and that he wasn’t moving. Unfortunate.
Yeah that’s the way I saw it. Baynes wanted to make sure that he was clearly taking the charge and not blocking. Plus, with the way that Steph was trying to slide around him, I don’t think Baynes would have any way of knowing that Steph’s hand would end up under him as he fell. It was the other player that was trailing the play that knocked Steph under Baynes. That player also had no way of avoiding the contact with Steph.
KD on First Take this morning said that Draymond blowing up at him last year did play a part, not necessarily the main or biggest part, in him leaving the Warriors. Also seemed to indicate that the media coverage of him joining an already great team also played a part in him leaving. Ultimately, he said it was simply time for a change.
We should probably mention the fight last night between Embiid and KAT. That was one of the more intense fights I’ve seen on the basketball court. It looked like Embiid started it on the replays, but I’m guessing there was something said or done by Towns before that because players don’t just start throwing punches for no reason. After the fight went to the ground, Ben Simmons ended up on KAT’s back with a chokehold on him.
Then after the game, the feud escalated on social media with, among other things, Embiid calling KAT a pussy. Gotta figure that both Embiid and KAT and probably Simmons receive suspensions. I’d still like to know exactly what started it.
When I saw the “choke” hold I couldn’t believe it, so I replayed over and over. It wasn’t a choke hold. Pretty sure the league has some good angles on that to show it was Simmons arm reaching across the top of Town’s chest.
The bigger question is whether what Simmons did makes sense in that circumstance. I really don’t know, but he might have been the reason things didn’t get any worse.
Looks like the league thought Simmons was just trying to break up the fight. Embiid and KAT both received 2 game suspensions and no action taken against Simmons.
Tyler Herro is a complete stud. Atop the ROY list with Barrett, Morant, White and Nunn.
Herro and Nunn will end up with the best record of all these guys, and they are more likely to be responsible for winning games than the other guys. Herro is a total stud though. A bit like Durant. Booker. Harden. Ruthless.
Herro comes out of the great Kentucky program, so no real surprise that he is this good. Nunn, however, is a great story. Undrafted out of college, he played for the Dubs’ G-League team last year. Showed enough there that Miami signed him last April to a contract for this season. It would really be something if someone like him won the ROY award.
Was watching some of the Heat-Hawks game while waiting for the 49ers-Cardinals game to begin. Without Trae Young, the Hawks play out of control too much. I don’t know how long Young will be out, but they need him back badly.
Curry had surgery on the hand this morning. He’s expected to be out three months, so probably will be back around the All-Star break in February.
The silver lining for the Warriors? Without Steph for the next 3 months, the Dubs are likely to not make the playoffs this year. Even if they do, it will be as a very low seed. That means the Warriors will likely keep their 2020 1st round pick, which was traded to the Nets as part of the KD-DLo exchange, but is protected if the pick falls within the 1-20 range. If the pick does not get conveyed to Brooklyn next year, the Nets instead get the Dubs’ 2025 2nd round pick.
In addition, the Dubs, already one of the youngest teams in the league, now get to give their youngsters additional playing time over the next 3 months. This will help their development. I expect Jordan Poole to start next to D-Lo in the back court most of the time. Dubs also signed Boston College’s Ky Bowman to a 2-way contract this season. As the only other PG on the roster, he’ll likely get some time on the big team’s roster while Curry is out. I think the Dubs have also been trying to makeover Jacob Evans into a PG, so he may see some time at the position when he returns from his own injury.
In the end, the Warriors likely get a healthy Steph and Klay back later this season and/or by next season, a top 10 draft pick, the hard cap goes away after this season, and they bring back Iggy next season. Plus, they perhaps package D-Lo in a deal for a top front court player. This year is now a write-off for the Warriors, but they should be back with a vengeance next season.
Crossing fingers it works out this way – it’ll be hard for Kerr to *not* get these young guys back to the Dubs winning ways. Maybe he and Dray should be load managed as well.
Bucks won’t win as often with this kind of line from Matthews:
STARTERS MIN FG 3PT FT OR DR REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
W. Matthews 20 0-1 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 +2 0
Oh the other hand, a break out night for the Chenz …
D. DiVincenzo 17 5-11 4-7 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 1 0 1 +34 14
Interesting note that Whiteside “Has not entered the game” going into the 4th. Blazers ahead of the 76ers 102-92.
Does it make sense for Irving to take so many shots? I don’t see how that’s a winning formula for the Nets.
Several great games today. Lakers @ Spurs. Jazz @ Clippers. Rockets @ Heat.
Even Bulls @ Pacers is a good matchup as neither team can afford to lose more games in the first 3-4 weeks.
DeJounte Murray is back after load management, and Kuzma has scraped off the dust one game in. LeBron is doing *way* too much early on, but he may have to do it again today. He’ll need to sit out one of these early games, but I’m not sure today is the day for that.
Meanwhile, Kendrick Nunn is running away with ROY. Or will be if someone doesn’t stop him. Houston seems to have no defense to speak of so I look for a crazy high scoring game with about 4 Heat players going nuts today. They are GOOD.
Nunn’s game log so far…
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3056247/kendrick-nunn
Complete stud so far.
Both Russell and Draymond missed last night’s game with minor injuries. So no Curry, no Green, no Russell, no Thompson, and no Looney. These are not the Warriors we are used to. So even the Hornets can come into San Francisco and beat the Warriors.
Great basketball being played not even 2 weeks in. The league has changed dramatically in that regard from even 5 years ago. From last night …
Lakers are the real deal at both ends and Kuzma isn’t contributing yet. Dwight Howard is incredible, and I think already a fan favorite in any arena. Again. LeBron is en fuego.
DeJounte Murray – this guy is a must watch, because he doesn’t always do what Pop wants him to do. Doesn’t look like a Pop player at all, unless one goes back to when Ginobili was asked to take over games. Spurs don’t need that with DeRozen & Aldridge out there. Do they? Regardless, it’s happening and it’s damn fun to watch. “System” my ass. I think Pop-o-ball is changing, and Murray looks awesome.
Elsewhere, Montrezl Harrell. I need to pull up his stat lines for all games played so far. Maybe the most efficient player with volume? Damned impressive to see this guy do what he does.
Miami is too much. As good as any team in the league and maybe better. Just too many weapons. At Denver tomorrow (Tues) night. Battle of the deep?
Since opening night, a *lot* of players have been playing at MVP level. From last night it should be clear that should things remain as they are, voters will have a hard time choosing the best candidate. Doncic, Mitchell, Kawhi, LeBron, Butler are all as deserving as anyone else. Again, not even two weeks in though but these guys are all playing at an elite level.
It’s still hard for me to buy into the Lakers’ hype when they’ve got no depth, are one of the worst 3-pt% teams in the league, AD and LBJ both playing 35+ minutes a night, and no PG forcing LBJ to play point (he’s doing an incredible job of it so far). As I’ve said before, I think the injuries will come to AD and/or LBJ and, when they do, that team will struggle.
I’m looking at the playoffs with this team, and think there may be more depth than you realize. Sure, AD and LeBron will sit a lot this season for whatever reasons. And unlikely they’ll be a top seed. But come April I think we’ll see a better Kuzma, Bradley, Caruso, KCP, Daniels and a *very* rejuvenated Howard. Add in what Cook, Rondo, McGee and Green give you every night and at I think the depth is better than you think. Plus, that team doesn’t need quite as much depth as others in the playoffs.
My point is simply that they look good *now*. A lot better than I expected and it’s not because of James and Davis. They’re better than they were opening night. Maybe a lot better. If they continue to improve, injuries or not they’ll be a force in the playoffs.
Miami – just full of surprises. Indicative of the amount and level of talent in the NBA, and they aren’t the only team that seems stacked. Clippers. Nuggets. Spurs. Several other teams may have deep talent as well – we’ll see. Silver must be taking note of this. Maybe it’s time for expansion?? Seattle is obvious.Las Vegas?
Point in fact Meyers Leonard is playing well. Another Miami candidate for MIP if he increases his volume like he’s done the last 2 games. FT shooting needs work though.
sorry for the bad formatting. not sure how to format comments yet.
Harrell’s stats 12 days into the season …
Harrell is playing many more minutes than the nominal starting center Zubac. I’m guessing that the Clips feel that they don’t need as much scoring out of the starting center spot than they do with the second unit, so that’s why they keep bringing Harrell off the bench.
Wow! Two huge upsets tonight.
Last year, the Dubs and Blazers met in the Western Conference Finals. None of the nine players available to play for the Dubs tonight were a part of that series. The starting line-up for the Warriors was Willie Cauley-Stein, rookie Eric Paschall, Glenn Robinson III, rookie Jordan Poole, and two-way contract player Ky Bowman. Coming off the bench was Alec Burks, Marquise Chriss, Omari Spellman, and two-way contract player Damion Lee. It looked like the Blazers thought this game would be a pushover. What happened was the Warriors youngsters simply out-hustled the Blazers the entire game. Paschall, who had 25 points in his last game, went off for 36 points (4-6 from 3-pt arc) and 13 rebounds. He was attacking the basket a lot and got several And-1s and was 8 of 8 from the line. Given how much he is likely to play this year, he may be putting himself into the RoY discussion. Damion Lee was money from the charity stripe down the stretch when the Blazers were having to foul to stop the clock. Every Dub played well while the Blazers seemed to be going through the motions (except for Dame who shot and made Curry 3s). I have a feeling that after the Hornets game on Saturday, the Dub coaches got all over the youngsters about not hustling enough and they listened and responded. By the way, the Warrior defensive strategy, particularly in the 2nd half, was to run second defenders at Dame and CJ and force other Blazers to beat them and it worked pretty well.
The other big upset was the Suns dealing the Sixers their first loss. I’m sure this happened in part because Embiid missed the game with his suspension, but his replacement–some guy named Korkmaz–put up 20 points in his place. I didn’t see the game, but it looks like Horford and Harris did their part, but Simmons was held pretty much in check (I’d love to know if Rubio or Booker was defending him). On the Suns side, Booker went off for 40 points on 15 of 19 shooting (3 of 4 from 3) and Rubio was 3 rebounds short of a triple-double. Beyond those two, it looks like a bunch of other Suns had solid games. Hope you got to see the game and can give a report.
Awesome stuff from the Dubs. Once I found that Embiid wasn’t playing I should have watched that one instead. So, add Paschall to the ROY hopeful list?
I really wasn’t that engaged with the Suns game. For one, I didn’t like the style of play with Booker completely hogging the ball resulting in less ball and player movement. Also, without Embiid the Suns *should* have won because they lead the league in points in the paint. Or did.
But man, Booker was awesome. Scoring from everywhere. Some tremendous drives and finishes at the rim.
I have no idea what the Sixers offense is supposed to be. Richardson and Simmons don’t play well together. Simmons seemed lost – dude does not move well without the ball unless he’s just going to the block.
The caveat on Paschall is how much he plays. He is starting in place of Draymond right now. When Dray returns from his finger injury, we’ll see if Paschall perhaps slides over to the starting SF spot (his ability to slash and drive, which was on full display last night, suggests he could play that spot) or if he returns to a reserve role. Even though Paschall had two games with 20+ points before last night, he had never before attempted an NBA 3-pointer. Clearly, what little scouting the Blazers had on Paschall said to let him shoot from deep. Paschall’s first three 3-point shots last night (all made) were wide open as his defender drifted off of him when he was at the arc. I’m guessing the scouting will change on him now, so we’ll see how defenses approach him now. Warriors need scorers though with Curry and Klay out, so if Paschall gets minutes, yes, he’ll be in the RoY discussion.
A couple Suns related comments: the 2018 draft day trade that landed Mikal Bridges in Phx is proving brilliant. Quick hands and quick thinker and always under control. Great presence at both ends. Suns need to figure out how to have both Oubre and Bridges out there more often together. Unfortunately, that’s likely to mean Booker running the point. Or Oubre covering the opponents PF. We’ll see what Monty Williams decides, but it’s become clear now that the scrappers on the team are Oubre, Rubio, Bridges, Carter and Kaminsky.
John Collins was just suspended for PEDs. Maybe now is the time for that trade – Ayton for Collins;-)
from CBS Sports …
“Ty Jerome (ankle) is no longer wearing a walking boot, but he remains without a return timetable, Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM reports.
The rookie point guard has been battling a fairly severe ankle sprain, and while he’s moving in the right direction, coach Monty Williams said Monday that Jerome is yet to return to any on-court work. Expect the Virginia product to remain out for at least a few more weeks.”
Not so good for the younger Spurs PGs last night. Their horrible shooting might have cost them the game. Meanwhile, Jabari Parker continue to impress, as did the Hawks rookies and of course Trey Young who dropped 13 dimes in the win. Spurs were outscored 38-24 in the 4th.
Kawhi is skipping tonight’s game for load management. Unfortunately for ESPN, it is a nationally televised game against the Bucks. He also took a load management game a week ago against the Jazz. Both the Jazz game and tonight’s Bucks game are the 1st games of back-to-backs. So not real surprising that Kawhi is getting a night off, but I’d bet the NBA would prefer that he take off tomorrow’s non-nationally televised game against the Blazers instead.
Saw much of the Clips-Bucks game. Greek Freak was his usual unstoppable self (38-16-9 and 6 blocks). Middleton, however, spent too much time hanging out around the arc and not slashing much. Bledsoe though does drive the basket frequently, but made the single stupidest play I may have ever seen. Referee handed him the ball so that he could inbound it. Instead, he stepped onto the court and started dribbling. On the Clips end, Harrell was taking (and making) some funky looking floaters. Harrell and Williams were both in the starting line-up and both had huge games, but without them on the bench, the Clips bench got outscored 47-20 by the Bucks bench. Of course, with the Clips playing without Kawhi and PG, they were unlikely to win, but they made a game of it in the end. Giannis hit most of his free throws down the stretch though (14 of 18 overall), so the Bucks were able to hold them off.
I was pretty impressed with Robin Lopez, but I only watched about 5 minutes of the game. Seems that he brings them a missing element they haven’t had, especially if he can score around the basket. I see he only played 14 minutes though. Maybe he would have had more if he didn’t take the 3s???
Well, Robin was signed by the Bucks to be his brother’s back-up, so he won’t be playing major minutes. But he’s not in Brook’s league when shooting the 3, so he shouldn’t be launching them at all, much less several times a game in his limited minutes (he’s already more than half-way to his career high in 3-pt attempts). That being said, the Bucks launch more 3s than any team in the league other than the Rockets, so I think they must give everybody the green light when they are open. For that matter, Brook’s 3pt% is down to 28.6% right now after hitting at 36.5% last year. So maybe he shouldn’t be taking as many 3s either.
Story in The Athletic about Mikal Bridges. One thing that I think they’re missing is that it’s Bridge’s size which keeps him off the court. He’s listed at 6’6″ and even 6’7″ at times but he may be 6’5″, and he’s pretty light, so the issue is who slides over to PF when he’s in? If he’s OK with a second unit role, he can be SF on a potent 2-way group in Kaminsky, Baynes, Tyler Johnson & Ty Jerome or Jevon Carter. Putting it this way makes me wonder how Cam Johnson fits into the rotation. Seems like he doesn’t once Jerome comes back.
Listening to NBA radio yesterday and lots of speculation about what Blazers will need to do now that Zach Collins is out for something like 4 months. Not sure if the Suns can help them directly, but I could see a scenario where the Suns get involved with trade talks throughout the league. I wouldn’t want to see Bridges go, but he’s a great trade chip alongside Cam Johnson & Saric.
Add TJ Warren to the MIP list. Starting to look like the Pacers play well when he shoots well. Meanwhile still no timetable on Oladipo’s return. Very potent offense when he gets back.
Heat @ Suns tonight. Heat might be one of the worst teams for Phx with all the athletic defenders and the great bench. Big test for the Suns. Unfortunately I think Booker will try to take this over long before the 4th Quarter and I really doubt he can keep shooting like he has, but if there’s anyone that will try it will be him.
I”m not sure if you saw this phantom foul by Bledsoe last night. I didn’t even bother to see if it was overturned by Rivers’s challenge. It was obvious and absurd. And yet it was *not* overturned!! Silver needs to get involved or at least address Rivers in this case. I’m sure there are other cases of bad calls not being overturned but this one is really dumb …
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28025971/la-clippers-doc-rivers-says-done-coach-challenge-rule-questionable-foul-stands
Yeah, I did see that. Bledsoe really sold it. Even if Williams had made contact with Bledsoe, I’m not sure it was a foul. Football is having the same problem with obviously wrong calls not getting overturned. By the way, here is the video of Bledsoe’s hilarious inbounds blunder:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uXJFoOB4es
That’s something that I might do, especially if a bit winded. And you were probably wondering why I’m not a professional basketball player;-)
Saw about the last 20 minutes of the Clips-Blazers game. The end of the 3rd quarter and beginning of the 4th were all Blazers. But the Blazers offense is pretty much the same as the Rockets. Lillard or McCollum playing ISO ball taking a 3 or driving the lane. Occasionally, they will kick it out to a teammate. They are good enough to be effective, but it encourages teammates to disengage in the offense. Even when they were off the court, the rookie, Anfernee Simon, plays the same way only far less effectively. In any event, most of the Blazers damage was done while Kawhi was on the bench. When he returned to the court in the 4th, the Clips played better and retook the lead for the win.
Dragic was all kinds of fired up last night v Suns. I’ve been watching him quite a bit – his career is rejuvenated with this bench move. It’ll be a tight race for 6th man this year, though I still have Harrell in front. Harrell’s consistency is impressive as hell.
Butler looks like he’s now ready for prime time after the Denver loss. And hard to see what Monty Williams game plan was for stopping him, with Booker and Rubio getting big minutes while Bridges and Ty Johnson sitting for too long IMO.
And Adebayo – looks like Shawn Kemp to me, but not quite the shooter. Maybe improving there. How many teams have a guy like this? I’m not sure how you stop him, but you need to meet his size with size somehow. For the Suns the attempt apparently started with Saric. I see this getting worse for a lot of teams as Adebayo gets more comfortable with his offensive role.
Meanwhile Winslow didn’t play due to concussion protocol.
just now seeing some great games tonight. especially Sixers @ Nuggets & Heat @ Lakers. still got the league pass, but not sure how much longer I want to pay for it. guess I’ll be clearing the schedule!
Damn, how is it that ESPN has the Cavs-Wiz as the nationally televised game?
quick comments from last night ..
Mike Conley seems to be righting his ship. He has been absolute S#!T early in this season until recently. Jazz needed v Bucks that while Mitchell had an off night.
Alex Caruso can play at both ends. Although he’s no Kyrie, I like the LeBron-AD-Caruso punch better than LeBron-Kyrie-Love. Add in players that are just better than JR Smith & Shumpert and this team is better than the Cavs team that won it all. Assuming everyone’s healthy of course:-)
Miami gets careless with the ball at times when Dragic or Butler aren’t handling. Not sure if that’s a coaching issue but it’s an issue. Although only 12 TOs, the slop resulted in late shot clocks and poor shot selectioin. Winslow still out due to concussion.
As expected, TJ McConnell is one of the best backup PGs in the NBA. Great news for the Pacers if he likes that role. Also good for them: the bench will be deep when Oladipo & Turner return. The Holiday brothers look like they can play.
And as painful as this is for me, I include Wiggins season averages below because it’s time for me to take a chance that he doesn’t implode after I do. Not an all-star, but becoming a legit starter?
Wiggins has always been a scorer and he certainly showed that last night. But compare those numbers to his career averages. They are virtually the same. His PPG is up from the last two years, but about the same as it was before that. This season’s PPG is skewed by last night’s 40 points, which won’t happen often with KAT being the focus of the offense. The Warriors got KAT into foul trouble early last night, so the scoring burden fell on Wiggins. Despite the 40 points last night, his season 3P% and FT% both dropped because he was 2 of 7 from the arc and 4 of 8 from the charity stripe. Even the Warrior announcers last night were saying that Wiggins was playing better this year, but I think that is a mirage. His stats are basically the same as they’ve always been.
Before last night, KAT was shooting 46.7% from the 3-pt line and he’s always shot pretty well from deep. But in past years, he never averaged even two attempts per game from the arc. This year, he’s been taking more than 4 shots per game from deep. He was only 2 for 6 shooting 3s last night, but if he can maintain his average while shooting more 3s this year, that will make him that much harder to defend.
D-Lo went off last night. It was his first game back from the sprained ankle and he looked no worse for the wear. Without Curry, the Dubs offense was more D-Lo ISOs and pick and rolls. Although D-Lo can slash, the bulk of his 52 points was 3s, some of the Curry variety, and deep 2s (6 of 7 on those). The Dubs should have won the game last night but for their inability to beat the T-Wolves’ full court press with 25 seconds left in regulation and the lead. D-Lo had a good look for a 3 at the end of regulation that also could have won it, but the T-Wolves dominated OT.
The big difference is Wiggins consistency. I’ve watched him closely as I’m hoping you remember. He doesn’t put this many games together without terrible turnover rates and extremely bad shooting %. What he does very well is lose games for the Wolves because of the horrible decision making that is very evident in the box scores for stretches of games. I believe he’s only had one game like that this year. The announcers are correct IMO, but it’s still early.
I think this makes my case and that of the announcers. At the very least he is clearly not putting together a string of terrible games that correlate well with Wolves’ losses.
WIGGINS 2019 SO FAR
I think this makes the point. Hopefully you can see the sort of stretches I’m referring to. The hallmark of Wiggins game has been things that result from not thinking: jacking up the ball as soon as he gets it. thinking if he has the ball in his hands he needs to score and not think to pass, dribble himself into trouble where he jacks it up instead of passes, gets lost out of position and makes a careless pass if the ball comes to him. Turnover or not his “ball movement” often results in bad things for the Wolves.
WIGGINS 2018-19
Well, through just eight games, it is hard to say that this is consistency. I see some eight game stretches last season that don’t look too different.
That was my point or clearly a critical one: “And as painful as this is for me, I include Wiggins season averages below because it’s time for me to take a chance that he doesn’t implode after I do. Not an all-star, but becoming a legit starter?”
Two more injuries to note. Gordon Haywood, like Steph, broke his left hand. They are going to examine it tomorrow and determine if it needs surgery or not. Hopefully, he will not be out as long as Steph.
Speaking of the Warriors, yet another injury. Eric Paschall has a hip pointer and missed tonight’s game against the Thunder. Fortunately, he should not be out long, but at the rate they are suffering injuries, it’s gonna be a long season.
That’s crappy news. I seem to remember Hayward breaking his hand when with the Jazz way back when. Maybe not. And I wonder how they treat hip pointers these days. That’s something that a simple injection should all but eliminate. Hard to see him out for more than just a couple games.
Looks like Paschall had an injection since he was back on the court last night.
So Dubs got Paschall back quickly, but have now lost Curry’s brother-in-law Damion Lee, who was probably their 2nd or 3rd best shooter from deep (after D-Lo and possibly Poole) to a broken right hand. I haven’t heard yet if the hand will require surgery.
wow. how many guys currently have broken hands in the NBA???
I was thinking the same thing. You don’t hear about broken hands often, but right now you’ve got Curry, Hayward, and Lee all with broken hands. Curry will apparently need another surgery next month, but that won’t affect his timeline to return. I believe the time frame for Hayward is 6 weeks.
I wasn’t going to write about the Suns, because I had a hard time watching the Nets’ porous defense. Not sure the Suns really played *that* well. And Rubio’s night isn’t likely to happen again. I know it’s happened before, but maybe just once a year. And Kaminsky has been painfully disappointing shooting-wise. There are two very good things regardless …
Cam Johnson had his first great night. A very good thing early in the season.
Devin Booker continues an incredible start. All-star and First Team Offense worthy if it continues.
Except for the second game vs. the Nuggets some great numbers for a winning team.
well … he’s had some foul trouble hasn’t he. hmmm
Well, it looks like Booker was in foul trouble a lot in the first week or two of the season, but has largely brought it under control since then.
I hope you saw this Ja Morant play on highlights somewhere (go to the 1:25 mark of the video).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaDsNjs9mag
That’s a behind-the-back dribble in traffic, splitting two defenders, taking contact and still managing to finish the lay-up. As if that wasn’t enough, go to the 3:40 mark in the video to see his game winning drive and lay-up. Basically beats his man on the dribble and has 4 defenders collapse on him as he goes to the hoop and still made it look easy. Ja is going to be a human highlight reel.
I saw both! I was going to post the link here as well. Right. It seems like he’s figuring out how much his team needs him to do that. Meanwhile Kendrick Nunn had another amazing night last night. Those two have to be the ROY front runners.
Cam Johnson had another good night. He’s nothing at all like the scouting report. NOT a one trick pony. NOT slow. And definitely plays defense, although has a lot to learn. He looked very comfortable out there for 20 minutes last night. D’Andre Hunter looked great last night even though he went only 5-15. Tyler Herro with another solid game. This looks like a great rookie class.
Meanwhile Barrett not so good last night and Michael Porter Jr. played only 4 minutes? Coby White taking way way too many shots off the bench. Needs to get to the FT line if he’s doing that, especially in a loss.
The highlight reels aren’t posted yet for tonight’s Grizz game, but I’ve seen a couple more Ja highlights on-line already.
Suns have a bit of a problem with their rotation, because there’s been talk (apparently) by Monty Williams of shortening it. But how? Ty Jerome will be back soon and these guys are locks to get minutes …
Booker
Rubio
Saric
Baynes
Kaminsky
Oubre
Cam Johnson
Ayton and Jerome will be in there by January. That leaves Ty Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Jevon Carter questionable. That’s a heck of a trio for any team that needs shooting AND defense. Throw in Kaminsky and that should be enough for a significant trade. still wondering if there’s any way Memphis would give up Jaren Jackson Jr.
The Suns have built a very nice and deep roster. They should have plenty of assets to potentially trade. I don’t see the Grizz giving up Jackson. He and Ja Morant are both 20 years old and figure to be the backbone of the team going forward. What you might look for is a a playoff team or team that thinks they should be a playoff team that might be willing to unload a good young player in return for increasing their depth for a playoff run. The Suns are already a pretty young team, but they should think of offering up slightly older players like Johnson, Baynes, Saric, and Kaminsky (Rubio is the oldest, but they really need him at the point). Some players I might target if I were them are Zach Collins (currently injured, so its a pick for the future and the Blazers are getting desperate if they are signing Melo); or Jarrett Allen (who might not fit as well as a non-scoring big man when KD returns next year); or Justice Winslow (who isn’t as needed with Butler and the emergence of Nunn).
I’m thinking more size than Winslow provides. If Kaminsky was a rock on defense then the Suns are all set and he can simply move over to the PF spot. So yes, Allen or Collins or John Collins or Dwight Powell of the Mavs. Possibly Adebayo if he starts making shots. The problem there is that Miami won’t want to mess with what looks like good chemistry.
Baynes makes the most sense in a trade, as he could either start or be 6th man for almost any team. But one has to wonder if the Suns might consider him at the PF spot when Ayton comes back. I hadn’t considered that. Hmm …
I’m not sure where Mikal Bridges fits in here. I think he’s made it clear that he doesn’t like the minutes he’s getting. He’ll start getting even less when Ayton and Jerome suit up. He’s too young to be relegated to the bench.
Seems like more proof that it’s time for Silver to consider expansion. Vegas and Seattle. When guys like Bridges can’t get playing time on an average team it means there’s too much talent in the league IMO.
Kendrick Nunn so far. Stud, or quickly becoming one.
Coby White has had some crappy games in losses already. Looks like a ball hog to me…
Consider if you will…
NBA team has a 7-year playoff run. Then it’s star player gets hurt and the team has a bad year, finishes with one of the worst records in the league, wins the draft lottery and drafts the best player coming out of college. They then go on an unprecedented playoff run.
The team I’m describing is, of course, the Spurs. They had a 7-year playoff run, David Robinson then gets hurt, they finish 20-62, won the draft lottery and drafted Tim Duncan. They haven’t missed the playoffs since.
It is not a perfect analogy and it is premature, but the Warriors have had a 7-year playoff run. They now have two star players hurt in Curry and Thompson who will miss much or all of the season. Warriors currently have the worst record in the league and will likely finish with one of the worst records. They will like draft in the top 5 and, if lucky, maybe get the top pick. I don’t know this year’s top college (or Aussie in LaMelo’s case) players yet, but the Dubs figure to land a great player. If the Warriors land their Tim Duncan, maybe they can look at a long playoff run like the Spurs have.
Not a bad scenario. Not at all.
Some notes from around the league …
Avery Bradley will be out for sometime with a hairline fracture in his leg.
James Harden looks unstoppable while the Rockets are winning. Westbrook seems ok with fewer shots.
Utah isn’t half the team the pre-season chatter would have you believe. Something is missing and I think it’s Favors.
Jaylen Brown is looking consistently good so far. Great news for the Celtics if it continues.
Sixers had great production from their starters last night an yet lost to OKC. Not all is what it should be in Philly.
Clippers are set to play both Kawhi and George tonight v. Hawks at home.
Also, from last night’s Celtics-Dubs game, D-Lo suffered a sprained thumb and Paschall jammed something in one of his hands as well, though he continued to play through it.
As for Boston, Kemba, Tatum & Brown are all averaging better than 20 ppg. Prior to Kemba, the Celts had two very ball-dominant PGs, Kyrie and IT. Now there seems to be more equilibrium on the team. 3 guys averaging better than 4 apg. 3 guys averaging better than 7 rpg. Ball moves around much more. Losing Kyrie may have been a blessing for the team.
Ja highlights from last night …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nur573zB04
The plays at the 40 second and 50 second marks were the ones I was seeing on-line last night. The play at the 1:40 mark is also great. Through 12 games, he leads the Grizz in points (18.9 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg) while only playing 27.7 minutes a game. He’s hitting 3s at a nearly 42% rate. He needs to get better on his FTs (only 74.5% so far), but he’s living up to the hype so far.
NFATL (notes from around the league) …
Harden took 22 3 pointers last night and made 8.
Porzingis and Doncic had 15 rebounds each. Doncic leading all guards with almost 11 rebounds per game.
Kendrick Nunn looks to be the go to guy on a very good team in his rookie year. Led the Heat in shot attempts and minutes.
Outstanding game from L. James
I didn’t see the game, but LeBron going to the line only once tells me not much defense happening on the hawks side.
Well like the Dubs, the Hawks are among the worst defensive teams in the league. The night before against the Clippers, the Hawks lost by nearly 50 points and give up 150 points to the Clippers who were load managing Kawhi on the bench.
What disturbs me though is that the Lakers had LeBron play 33 minutes in a game where they were up by 20-30 points most of the game. If you are not going to limit his minutes in a game like that, when will the team do it? They held AD to only 28 minutes. Frankly, with the lead they had, LeBron and AD should have played no more than about 24 minutes.
OK. I hear you loud and clear and I have a theory. LeBron’s goal is to have his team make the playoffs and be healthy then. Maybe he’s trying to get them one of the league’s best records before Feb, and then take a bunch of games off until April. AD may be doing the same thing. So they can figure out how good they can be and what to work on now rather than later.
Pretty sure some of that makes sense. Maybe not all of it.
NFATL
The Holiday brothers started for the Pacers with a combined 16-30 FG 8-13 3FG 44 PTS 3 TOs
Lauri Markkanen continues to struggle badly early on. Season aves 36% FG 27% 3FG
Rubio sat out and Suns got almost no production from starting PG Carter. Booker shot only 13 times.
Wolves beat Jazz with great production from Teague 21 PTS 11 ASTS 2 TOs
Harrell with another great one:13-20 FG 12 REBs 2TOs 28 PTS
You didn’t mention Luka’s 40-pt, triple-double that led the Mavericks to a win over the Spurs. Luka became the second player to ever record a 40-pt, triple-double before the age of 21 (the other being LBJ). Doncic has to be in the early MVP running with his 29.5 ppg (4th in league), 10.7 rpg (11th), and 9.3 apg (2nd) averages. I would not be surprised if Luka ends up averaging a triple-double for the entire season.
I didn’t because he’s turning the ball over too much. And the fact that nothing that kid does surprises me. When he gets the TOs down he can be MVP.
More recent games are at bottom.
I suspect that much of Luka’s TOs are a result of him expecting too much from teammates. If I’m Rick Carlisle, I’m telling Luka to keep playing his game and let the team catch up to you, rather than telling him to dial back his game because his team can’t keep up with him yet. Dubs are in Dallas tomorrow night, so I’ll get to see what the Mavs are doing.
Sure, but still needs to get the TOs down. I’m confident he will, just maybe not this year.
Dubs probably should have just forfeited tonight’s game against the Mavs. Draymond was held out with a sore heel and the Warriors had just 8 healthy bodies to play. The Mavs ran out to a 44-16 1st quarter lead. Doncic had more points, rebounds, and assists in the 1st quarter than the entire Dubs team. Luka finished up with a 35-point triple-double in just 24 minutes.
That being said, Luka also had 5 TOs in those 24 minutes. A few were passes where it was unclear if the pass was bad or the teammate didn’t do what Doncic expected. But he also had his pocket picked a few times because he didn’t pay enough attention to help defense. Luke definitely needs to work on the issue.
Warriors in Memphis tonight. Two lousy defenses and very young teams. But I’ll be watching in order to see some Ja Morant and Eric Paschall. Paschall had 30+ points in his last game, the second time this season he’s exceeded 30 points. He was the first rookie this year to do that.
On this road trip by the way, Steve Kerr is experimenting with a starting line-up of Draymond at PG, Alec Burke at SG, GRIII at SG, Paschall at PF and Cauley-Stein at C. That’s a pretty big line-up. I’m not sure which of these guys gets the job though of covering Ja Morant.
PG Dray. Finally!
What this line-up seems to have done is improved the Dubs defense. Dubs held the Grizz under 100 pts. Ja had a very quiet 20 points with no highlight reel plays. The Warriors defended him by taking away his drives to the basket. That seems like a risky strategy since he shoots 3s so well, but he only took three 3s and made just one. The Warriors, on the other hand, were repeatedly attacking the basket, which not only resulted in easy buckets, but got both the Grizzlies’ big men, Valanciunas and Jackson into foul trouble (Jackson fouled out). The Warriors are still one of the best free throw shooting teams, so aggressive drives work well for them.
Dray the PG came up two points short of a triple-double. However, he had a nasty fall on his elbow. Left the game for a bit, but put on an elbow sleeve and came back in. We’ll see though if further examination of his elbow results in missed time. Burks, GRIII, Chriss, and Paschall all shot well, though Paschall was in foul trouble and only played 24 minutes. Once again, the Dubs looked like they just out-hustled the Grizz.
NFATL
Jokic back at it, but with 7 TOs, in win v Rockets. 27 pts 2-4 3FG 12 rbs
Beverly stole the show in win v Celtics: 4-7 3FG 16 rbs 7 ast 3 stl 2 blk 2 TOs
Marcus Smart in loss to the Clipps. How is 1-11 3FG a good game plan??
Miami’s Duncan Robinson in the win v Cavs: 9-15 FG 9-15 3FG 29 pts
Spurs lose 7th in a row with Mills starting over Murray. Beal with another great game for the Wiz
Wiggins back to his losing ways in loss to Utah with 1-10 3FG
Fultz not exactly MIP, but maybe figuring it out in a starting role for the Magic?
Generated 11/21/2019.
Beverley is also an early nominee for best flop of the year for this play…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2et7GkBEBw
This is the same Patrick Beverley who mocked KD for overreacting to a foul by Beverley in the playoffs last season.
Hey. That’s better than Ginobili even!
We have yet to mention the biggest highlight of last night, perhaps of the entire season…Ben Simmons attempted his first 3-pt shot of the season last night and (gasp) made it! He’s shooting 1.000 from 3-pt range this year! For his career, he’s…checks notes…1 for 18 from the arc. LOL! We’ll see if he dares putting up more deep shots this year.
That’s right! I considered the mention, but an awfully small sample size;-) Still noteworthy. I really do like a lot of his game, but he really needs to watch films of Doncic and Dray to understand what he’s missing. “Verve” is the best word I have for it.
https://youtu.be/O-I3fl5rXo0
Suns lost their 3rd game in a row. Notable absentees were Baynes and Rubio. The consequence is that other players are shooting too much (Oubre) or rushing their shots (Saric, Kaminsky). With Ayton out the problem is compounded by not being able to settle on a rotation. Instead of starting Jevon Carter last night they went with Ty Johnson at PG. He’s good, but he doesn’t ram the ball down opponents’ throats like Rubio does, nor get them on their heels for the inside out and about passing and movement game that has led to a lot of the Suns’ success.
If there’s good news it’s that Cam Johnson, Bridges and Oubre are getting touches and working on their offensive games. But a losing streak isn’t a good idea for the Suns right now, especially with Ty Jerome set to debut soon. His first game shouldn’t be one where he’s expected to save the day.
They put things together tonight to beat the T-Wolves. Booker (one assist shy of a triple-double) and Oubre came up big, but without Ayton and Baynes, it looks like they were pretty helpless against Towns. They did a good job defending the perimeter.
NFATL …
Dinwiddie is showing how things can and probably *should* look in Brooklyn. This seemingly Kyrie related problem should have been obvious. It was to me, as was a fix that included starting Dinwiddie. Sean Marks should have seen an issue brewing long before signing Kyrie, and now you have a pretty big mess that likely results in having to trade Dinwiddie which won’t go over well with the rest of the team. Nets *need* to right the ship asap or this experiment is a huge fail.
Celts lost Walker to concussion and still almost beat Nuggets in Denver. Add in that Hayward was also missing and Denver is fully healthy. Jaylen Brown with another solid performance is my front runner for MIP even though Bam Adebayo is getting more love. Bam needs to do a heck of a lot more to catch up to Brown. Meanwhile Wiggins was back to his Wiggins ways recently. We’ll see how he does v Suns tonight.
Spurs lost their 8th in a row. Wow. Complete mess that will really test Pop’s patience. Can he change some of his ways or decide to retire? Derrick White was out and DeJounte Murray back in at starting PG. Paddy Mills and Murray combined for crap in their total of 49 minutes at the PG position. very un-Spurs like.
James Harden is pure magic. Amazing how close the Rockets came to beating a very good Clippers team in L.A. It almost happened and it’s because of Harden. He’s freaky-good at what he does. Never seen anything like it. Perfect example of the magic here at 2:54 into this vid. Did Harden foul Beverly in the seconds before the shot? Maybe, but impossible to see well since it was so quick. He’s simply the best at this … https://youtu.be/SpOlLTybifI?t=174
Finally time for a shout out to Bradley Beal who is winning (some) games for the Wiz. Check it out …
https://www.basketball-reference.com/pi/shareit/U6XGe
And yes, Harden also traveled on the play. There’s just so much going on in this short span of seconds, how do refs see it all? Soooo sneaky quick.
Damn. Zach LaVine was 13 for 17 from the arc tonight. He’s a career 37% 3-pt shooter, which is pretty good, but not that good. His last one was a game-winner with less than a second left.
I was sure that’s a record but I guess not? I watched some vid of that performance – some of those had some good distance to them. meanwhile NFATL …
Coby White’s great game was overshadowed by the LaVine explosion. 34 mins 12-19 FG 4-9 3FG 3 TOs
Morant running away with the ROY. And seemingly getting better each game. We’re going to see some trip-dubs from him very soon. I think his game looks very similar to Doncic’s, but with a bit more air speed;-)
Ingram almost beat the Jazz. Although Adebayo is getting the love for MIP early on, I think eyes are going to turn to Ingram once the Pels start winning. They’re playing well enough and I see Ball is back. My other MIP pick is Jaylen Brown right now, but Ingram is the one putting up the big numbers.
Carmelo stunk it up right on schedule. Blazers lose to Cavs.
TJ Warren continues his roller coaster production. Bad game as the Pacers barely beat the Piston with solid play from the rest, including once again those dynamic Holiday bros.
Fultz looks to be taking more shots, though incrementally. Solid stat-lines and looking good.
Josh Richardson turned on the jets against his former team last night. Miami was destroyed early in Philly with Butler having an off night and some pretty bad shooting from the Heat principals.
Spurs win! Spurs win! … vs knicks. barely. sigh.
No, LaVine’s triples were not a record. Both Klay and Steph have put up 13 treys in a game before and Klay holds the record with 14. As I recall, Klay put up 13 several years ago. Steph then tied it last season, but with a week or so, Klay came back with 14.
It is incredulous to me that the Trailblazers looked at the slow start to their season and said, “you know what, Melo could turn this around for us.”
I’m surprised that the % with volume isn’t a record. When Steph and Klay did it what was their %?
I’ll try to refrain from any more mention of Melo. This is sad.
Finally looked this up. When Klay set the record last year, he was 14 of 24 from the arc (18 of 29 overall for 52 points). Before that when Steph had the record at 13 in a game, he was also 13 of 17 like LaVine (16 of 26 overall for 46 points). FWIW, there have been 18 games where a player has made 11 or more 3s. Curry has 8 of those games, Klay has 2, and nobody else has more than 1. Of the 47 games with 10 or more 3s, Steph has 15 of them and Klay has 5. JR Smith was on there with 3, but I don’t think anyone else had more than 1.
Thanks!
So, who’s an all-star in 2020? Some good talent will miss out this year. Doncic and Siakem and Trae Young are in. Harrell definitely should be there. Not sure about Lou Williams, but if Doc Rivers represents the west he’ll be in as well. Ingram? McCollum? Guys that probably shouldn’t make it but will are Lillard and Westbrook. Steph, Klay and KD are clearing some spots.
Would be great to see Morant make it in his first year. If Memphis starts winning some games the West coach will have a hard time not selecting him. Who else will be first time all-stars? Tatum? Booker?
Wasn’t planning to answer my own question, but I’ve been thinking about it. So I’ll start with the West.
Who without any doubt will be a West All-Star?
LeBron
AD
Jokic
Kawhi
Harden
Who clearly should be an all star after those?
Doncic
Harrell
Mitchell
Who is next after these?
Gobert
Ingram
Booker
George
Lou Williams
Towns
Lillard
Westbrook
Murray (Denver)
Paul
Stephen Adams
Morant
McCollum
Did I leave anyone out?
Thus far:
Without a doubt West All-Stars:
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Karl-Anthony Towns
Luka Doncic
James Harden
Clearly should be an All-Star after that:
Kawhi Leonard
Nikola Jokic
Damian Lillard
Donovan Mitchell
Next after above:
Rudy Gobert
Devin Booker
Brandon Ingram
Clint Capela
Andre Drummond
Russ Westbrook
Kristaps Porzingis
I can’t in good conscience put Paul George on the list yet with only 5 games played, but assuming he stays healthy, I’m certain he will gain a spot. I would love to have Ja Morant on this list, but his numbers aren’t there yet, so he’ll end up in the Frosh-Soph game. Montrezl needs to step up another level to where he’s a double-double nightly before I put him on the list. Maybe he’d get there if the Clips simply put him in the starting line-up where he belongs.
Drummond is in the East:-)
I left off Porzingis because I don’t think his numbers are what they should be yet, but Harrell’s definitely are IMO. But here is where there’s a logjam, which I think says something about the league right now. Big Men are back, and I think if Rivers is coaching the West he’ll select Harrell over Porzingis and Capela. With Towns, Jokic, Gobert locks will Rivers select Harrell? I’m not sure there are enough spaces for either of those guys.
No doubt Booker deserves to make it, but these injuries and Ayton’s stupidity are killing his chances this year. Regarding Morant, I put him there because I really think he’s improving so fast that the numbers will be there soon and wins will result. Just a guess, but he already looks like a better player than a lot of these guys. Scary.
Drummond…DOH!!
Just sitting here laughing at what this foreign dude named Luka is doing to my favorite sport. Has he no respect?
My god. It hasn’t stopped since his first game during which I wrote.”Whoa. Luka! It’s not just what he’s doing it’s how he’s doing it. Like he’s been injected with speed.”
Some kids I tell ya.
Just read today that the reason that the Kings passed over Luka in the draft was that Vlade didn’t like Luka’s dad. Vlade is Serbian and Luka is Slovene and there is no love lost between those two former Yugoslavian countries, but don’t know if that plays into it at all. If Vlade actually chose Bagley over Doncic for this reason, the Kings’ owners should get rid of him. Just think if the Kings were running out Fox, Hield, Doncic, Barnes and Dedmon or Bjelica as their starting line-up. Or maybe if they have Doncic, they don’t trade for Barnes last season and instead trade for a big man and/or sign a big man in the off season. I think the Kings would be a much better team now if they had Doncic instead of Bagley.
Wow. That’s hard to believe, but I understood the Bagley selection at the time regardless. What’s going on with him anyhow – injuries?
Who without any doubt will be an East All-Star?
Embiid
Butler
Giannis
Kemba Walker
Beal
Simmons
Kyrie
Who clearly should be an all star after those?
Siakem
Drummond
Trae Young
Who is next after these?
LaVine
Tobias Harris
Love
Van Vleet
Adebayo
Vucevic
Sabonis
Tatum
Pretty sure I left some guys out,. Markkanan has fallen way off, but he may still be deserving. Again the logjam with the Big Men even if you count Giannis as a big man. And Adebayo certainly plays like one. And maybe Marc Gasol deserves to be here as well.
Yeah, no real debate here. You got some good choices.
Tatum has convinced me now. He needs to be in my “should be an all star” after those that are in the top tier. And Siakem needs to be in that top tier. With them in, and even if removing Drummond, that’s 10 players that are pretty damned good in the East. I’m not sure Simmons is as good as any of the other 9.
Here are his stats. He’s clearly taking way too many 3s – without those he’s playing like a top 15 player. https://www.basketball-reference.com/pi/shareit/ZXhld
It’s almost painful to watch the Suns right now. Similar to the Warriors I’m sure. Most of these games they’re losing would be wins if they could run their game plan more efficiently with the right personnel. Instead it seems like every game is a different experiment with a different guy having to step up in the absence of Baynes, Rubio and Ayton. Last night two completely different players had great showings in Okobo and Diallo.
Suns must be thinking about a trade before the deadline, if just for draft picks. Once Ty Jerome suits up and Ayton gets back some good players will be bench ridden unless they do.
I know it’s still early in the season, but this is pretty remarkable. If you look at the highest single-season Player Efficiency Ratings (PER) of all time, you see some names you’d expect. Chamberlain. Jordan. James. Curry in his 400 treys season. At this moment though, the top 2 positions are Doncic and the Greek Freak this year. Doncic has a PER right now that is over a point higher than anyone ever. The Freak was on the list already for his MVP season last year, but his current PER is a point above that. I assume that the PER for both of them will head down as the season goes on, but this tells you something about how well each has been playing so far this year.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/per_season.html
I’m hoping you saw last night’s Raptors-Sixers game and can explain what the Raptors did to hold Embiid to ZERO points. He was 0-11 from the field, including 0-4 from the arc, and 0-3 from the charity stripe. I’ve seen guys have off nights before, but that is a horrendously bad shooting night. So I’m wondering if the Raptors were doing something special to shut him down.
I didn’t see it, but something is clearly very strange there. Psychological maybe?
Earlier this season, you noted that Andrew Wiggins seemed to be playing much better this year. SI had a story today about the reasons behind Wiggins’ renaissance:
https://www.si.com/nba/2019/11/27/andrew-wiggins-minnesota-timberwolves-revival
Didn’t realize that Wiggins had such a close relationship with Flip Saunders’ kid or that the T-Wolves had hired a new team president with a history of player development in Houston. Maybe Wiggins can justify the big contract after all.
It’s encouraging. If it lasts I think the Wolves are extremely lucky. When he signed his big contract, there really was no reason to think he’d ever be much better than he was.
He’s 24 yrs old, but up until I read this following statement I assumed his attention span and willingness to listen was going to remain that of a pre-teenager. There’s some hope now.
“You can see him mentally and physically make the adjustment of, ‘No, I’m not going to settle. I’m going to get all the way to the rim,’” Rosas told SI.com. “You can see his commitment to doing what we asked him to do.”
Word has it that Ty Jerome will be with Suns on their 4 game road trip starting tomorrow.
You mentioned a week or two ago that Bam Adebayo is looking like a top MIP candidate. Although he had an off game offensively against the Warriors Friday night, he has become a regular double-double guy and is now averaging 4.2 apg (also 1.5 spg and 1.2 bpg). All these numbers are much improved from prior years, though part of that is that he plays a lot more this season since the Heat shipped out Whiteside during the off-season. Guess Pat Riley liked what he saw of Adebayo in his two prior seasons as a back-up and felt comfortable getting rid of Whiteside.
LaMelo Ball is playing well over in Australia (17 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 6.8 apg). Beginning to see stories about him possibly being the #1 pick in the draft next year. He is not a great shooter (only hitting 25% of his 3-pt shots and 46% of his 2-pt shots and 72% from the FT line) though, so maybe not a good fit for a team like the Warriors. Dubs may prefer someone like James Wiseman, who plays defense and rebounds well and is a monster in the paint. Doubtful that Penny Hardaway’s stupid decision to pay for Wiseman’s family to move to Memphis will be held against Wiseman in the draft even though it led to Wiseman’s current suspension. Not sure who else is in the early running for the top pick.
Here’s a better look at how LaMelo is doing in Australia…
https://theathletic.com/1421530/2019/11/30/lamelo-ball-vs-rj-hampton-taking-a-close-look-at-the-showdown/
Apparently, LaMelo’s team is really bad so he tries to do it all, but his poor shooting should be enough to keep him out of the top spot in the draft.
Wow. I didn’t like what I saw from LaMelo at all. He’s not ready yet.
Jerome looked good in his first game. Focused on defense – another Suns’ pest with hands everywhere. Always looking to pass, keep the ball moving. Only 12 minutes last night, but 0 TOs and 3 steals should be enough to get him closer to 20 per game soon. Maybe more since Rubio’s back spasms appear to be a “thing” this year. Jerome is clearly the new PG hope in Phoenix.
▼
What I like most about Jerome is the height which appears to make up for his lack of speed. (he looks slow anyhow). I think the Suns game plan will work well in Jerome’s favor especially when Ayton gets back. He’s a frickin pass-to-the-rim master. Can really see the floor on par with Rubio. What he lacks in his ability to get to the hole at will he makes up everywhere else. Better defender than Rubio it seems. Definitely a better shooter.
The 4 fouls in 12 minutes is a bit concerning, but presumably that comes from not playing up to now. I wonder if Jerome proves he can play, would the Suns move Rubio at the trade deadline?
It’s a good point. I assume foul trouble is an issue for a lot of players being thrown into the fire in their first game, but Jerome seemed so focused on defense that I can see it being a learning experience.
I’m also assuming the guy is smart. He plays a smart game anyhow, so hard for me to believe he won’t figure it out. We’ll see more tonight v Orlando
Thoughts on the officiating fiasco in San Antonio last night? The refs ruled that this Harden dunk did not go through the net…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlAkIarPbzI
I get that it was a difficult play to judge because the ball rarely gets flipped around back on top of the rim after going through the net, but how did 3 refs miss this. The Spurs, down 15 at that time with just under 8 minutes left, then went on a furious comeback to tie the game by the end of regulation, then won in 2 OTs. Two issues here: 1). the call should absolutely be reviewable and D’Antoni said he was trying to challenge the call, but the refs ultimately said he made the challenge too late; and 2). given that the call was clearly wrong, what does the NBA do about it.
The game was in San Antonio, so it’s possible that the arena scoreboards were not replaying the play so as not to tip off the refs that they were wrong. If the score counts, Houston might win in regulation since that is 2 more points that the Spurs have to catch up to. Frankly, the NBA needs to replay the last 7:47 minutes of the game. Otherwise, this is a complete travesty.
Is there a precedent where the league has over-ruled after the fact for such an egregious mistake? I seem to remember there was a game replayed, or rather the last few minutes of a game replayed once. Maybe that was due to a power outage or some other malfunction though.
Another opportunity for Silver to not be Stern I think. He’s doing a great job of that so far.
Yeah, about 10-15 years ago, the NBA ordered the last minute of a game to be replayed because the refs mistakenly ruled that Shaq had fouled out of a game when he only had 5 fouls. I believe I also read that there was a game back in the 80s where a portion got replayed later because of an error.
Silver ruled against the Rockets. He said that the Rockets were right that the rules were misapplied, but that there was plenty of time left in the game to overcome the ref’s mistake, so the game protest could not be granted. That’s pretty stupid to me.
Silver doesn’t want to create this precedent?
Well, as I noted above, it has been done before, so he wouldn’t be setting precedent. Seems pretty simple to me. Replay that last 8 minutes and see how it would have turned out.
Maybe I didn’t see all your comments, but what I see above is Shaq fouling out which is magnitudes worse than this IMO. Regarding the other issue, you mentioned an error but didn’t say what it was. If it wasn’t similar to this then I think the issue is the precedent being set for single plays called incorrectly that involve a 2 point basket (given or taken). To me this is no different from getting a goal tending wrong, or a travel right near the rim, or a foul (call or no call), etc etc. Taking the case of fouls alone, everyone including the refs know that they get calls wrong during the game and at least a few of those result in baskets incorrectly given or taken away. So the unspoken policy is to try and get as many right as possible without showing favoritism. If Silver allows this as an exception then I think it opens a door for other teams to ask for consideration for a whole slew of other types of call. In the playoffs especially I can see it becoming a mess.
We had Eric Bledsoe’s hilarious in-bound to himself earlier this year, now we have LeBron James hilarious travel tonight…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6AcGoc1E4w
Even more hilariously, he got away with it. Apparently none of the refs was looking at the player with the ball at that time.
NFATL
– Ty Jerome isn’t ready for prime time. More than his lack of speed, he looks to be too out of shape to play at the “Rubio pace”. I’m guessing he’s back to the G league soon
– Cam Johnson looks good. The Suns seem to have proven everyone wrong by taking him early in the draft
– Houston beat Raptors in Toronto with Westbrook shooting 7-27 FG 0-6 3FG and 8 TOs
– in the same game Ben McLemore started and in 29 minutes went 8-17 3FG for 28 pts
– Nuggets had 8 players in double figures v Knicks. Jokic wasn’t one of them. What happens when he gets in shape and decides to start scoring?
– 76ers lost to the Wiz by turning the ball over 21 times to the Wiz 11. Embiid had 8 and Simmons 7
Booker looks great this season. I think he’s improved every facet of his game and is a top 15 player in the league. He’s starting to look a lot like Curry without the handle. Even that has improved, although the TOs aren’t great. I think that’s because he needs to do more on a bad (getting better) team with the ball in his hands.
The Suns seem to be all about developing players. Everyone gets to dribble, shoot and make passing decisions as long as they keep the movement flowing quickly. Night in night out Booker is doing the heavy lifting, and it should surprise some that he isn’t turning the ball over even more than he has been. I wasn’t sure of this until now but here it is: Booker can be the #1 option on a championship team. At least the Suns got that pick right. Now, If Ayton can evolve into a #3 (I doubt he’ll ever be a #2), the Suns are legitimately one player away from contention. Tall order I know, but the Suns are sitting pretty with their ability to trade for picks or possibly land that kind of player. A Jaren Jackson type would be nice. Adebayo. Or this guy that somehow that Pels stole in this year’s deep-as-hell draft …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9bD-xwv3A
Even last year I would have said this about Booker: good player on a bad team and will have nights like last night’s vs. bad teams and very few against the good ones. But if you look at what he’s doing here by finding great spots on the floor to operate and dish (like Curry, Kawhi, Doncic, LeBron), the all around game has improved to where he does a lot of this every night regardless of the opponent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCGUS5Tx2Nw
Booker’s stats so far this season …
I think Rubio made a huge difference for Booker this year. As you said, Booker does not have Curry handles. Booker is a good, but not great PG, but is a great SG. Last year, Booker was the primary ball handler and did a good job. If you look at basic stats, you might think that Booker isn’t quite as good as last year since his points and assists per game are down a little bit. But by freeing him of primary ball handling duties, he can find better shots. His shooting percentages are way up this year. He is shooting 41% from the arc, 55% on 2-pt shots, and almost 95% from the charity stripe. All will easily be career highs. Getting Booker off the ball more makes him a better player.
There are several big differences from last year, but none bigger than the pace at which he’s moving to his spots with the ball in order to operate. Very similar to Curry and Kawhi in this way. I’m sure Rubio has had some effect, but this is Monty Williams offense and I’d assume it’s because of that the Suns picked up Rubio.
Last year when Booker tried this the end result would have been little or nothing. His teammates weren’t moving and he simply wasn’t as good at handling the ball. He wasn’t getting these kinds of inside the arc shots or dishes – his points would largely be 3s and layups. This doesn’t show in the stats.
I don’t think this is about freeing him up from ball handling though. He’s doing just as much as he did for many games last year. Maybe even the bulk of them. This is about his improvement coming because of the better handle which he’s utilizing within a system where defenses need to lay off him a bit as his teammates slash and dive and spot up. It’s a great example of how a system can help improve players.
I think this begs the question about what kind of PG is best to put alongside such a skilled SG. Wade didn’t need a great PG. LeBron doesn’t. Kawhi doesn’t. I think of these guys as SGs in the same way Booker is. Doncic and Curry not so much.
I’m not sure Rubio is great alongside Booker though, and I have my doubts about Jerome as well. definitely needs to be able to shoot, but a very heady and quick thinking shooter and ball protector. Lowry would do it. Too bad he’s 33.
Whatever the PG they end up with, it may not make sense to go after a Morant type since we’re starting to see how the Suns benefit with Booker having the ball in his hands a lot. No prima donna’s allowed either. Frickin Dinwiddie would be awesome in the role.
And no … definitely will never have the handle that Curry has, but as far as SGs go he’s starting to look as good as the best of them ball handling wise. I’m not sure Beal handles this well for instance. I wouldn’t have thought that last year.
We have a coaching casualty. The Knicks have fired David Fizdale. I’m not sure what the Knicks were expecting with the terrible squad they put together. No coach could do much with that team. Apparently, one of the assistants will get the interim coaching job. No idea if they will get a new permanent coach during this season or if they will wait to the off-season. If I was a basketball coach, I would not want that job, but I’m sure the money is too good to pass up.
Artest a candidate? Hard to not like this guy …
http://www.espn.com/watch?id=28239727
OK Mr. Trade Machine. Let’s say Suns went hard after Dinwiddie. How to get him? I’m thinking you need to give up something big. Like Baynes and Bridges, but that won’t be enough. I think this is exactly where the Suns can get a big payoff for the overstocked talent. Offer more than Dinwiddie might be worth on the market.
Oddly enough as I write this I realize that Saric isn’t dispensable. Without him the Suns get destroyed every night. Regarding Oubre, if it was straight up this works for the Suns but it won’t be. On the other hand Oubre and Baynes is too much. If the Nets need another shooter then Oubre and Cam Johnson might do it tho.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to make this work, but I’m not seeing a real good way to get it done. Nets won’t want Baynes given that they have Allen and Jordan already at the center spot. Would the Nets want either Oubre (and his $15 mil per year deal or Bridges when they both play the position that KD returns to next year? If the Nets are giving up Dinwiddie, they’ll probably want a PG back in the deal as they won’t have anyone to back-up Kyrie. I’m sure the Suns would give up Jevon Carter, but the Nets would probably prefer Ty Jerome. Nets could probably use an upgrade at PF where they are starting a decent, but not great Taureen Waller-Prince. Would the Nets take Frank Kaminsky? Don’t know, they’d probably prefer Saric. So I think the Suns only real shot at getting Dinwiddie would mean trading Saric and Jerome (and adding Okobo to make the salaries work). Would the Suns do that?
Easy to answer, and yes I agree this isn’t easy and as such the Suns won’t be able to give the Nets the best offer unless they really want Oubre. First, I’ll add that Mikal Bridges is another guy who’s improving early this season. He’s a pest for other teams, and I think he’ll be greatly coveted by many if available. Second, Nets can have Jerome if they want him since the Suns get Dinwiddie back in the deal. Third Kaminsky isn’t the player I thought and would be last off the bench for a good team. The consistency is the issue, and I doubt he’ll ever get there without starters minutes. Saric would be a steep price to pay, but Dinwiddie is worth it. If Suns need to give up Jerome, Saric and either Cam Johnson or Bridges for Dinwiddie & Waller-Prince then it makes sense to me.
Suns put up a good fight vs Rockets last night. Booker’s terrible FT shooting as well as about 6 missed easy layups right at the rim for the rest of the guys did them in, but their defense looked pretty good. Once again no Baynes and Ayton. Jerome looked like his feet were moving a little faster, but he still looks like he doesn’t belong out there. Scared or confused somehow. I think it’s the pace.
Oubre was bothering Harden a bit. I worry when Oubre plays so well at both ends, because contenders will want to snatch him up in 2021. He’s a starter or 6th man on any team in the league. Works his tail off.
Looks like the Nets issue might be a good one to have. They either start Dinwiddie and Kyrie together or they trade Dinwiddie. Either way they have some great talent. Seems to me they can get a pretty nice haul by trading Dinwiddie sooner and while he’s showing his worth. Do it before there’s an injury or his production goes to hell once Kyrie returns.
Why keep Dinwiddie when Durant will need the handle and the shots next year? Isn’t a trade needed?
I just got into a discussion about Dray’s performance so far this season. Apparently there are a lot of people that have waited to say “I told you so” to people like me that think Dray is pretty awesome. I think it’s obvious that there are several reasons for his weakened stats. And those reasons seem obvious to me, but I haven’t followed the Warriors at all for over a month (except to read your posts). What you say to all this?
Draymond has been playing hurt all year (heel and torn finger ligament), but when he plays, most of his stats are in line with last year. His assists are a little down, but that’s hardly surprising since he’s not passing off to Steph, Klay, and KD this year. He’s down one rebound per game from last year and down several rebounds per game from his best years, but again hardly surprising as opposing defenses do not have guard the arc as much, so his offensive rebounds are coming against a more compact defense. Defensively, his teammates are so bad at defense, his attention always is being diverted to opposing offenses driving the lane that he can’t set himself up for rebounds as well. His 2-pt shooting percentage is way down, but again, without Steph, Klay and KD on the court with him, he isn’t finding the easy shots anymore. In any event, given the team around him this year and his injuries, you can’t expect his stats to be as good this year. In at least a few of the 5 wins the Dubs currently have, Draymond has been a key reason for the win.
NFATL
– too bad Baynes is about 5 years older than most guys on the Suns. the Ayton-Baynes combo will be impressive once it gets clicking. Ayton is due back next Monday.
– Kings seem to have found a no-Fox lineup that works. they beat Dallas and then Houston both away games. Richaun Holmes and Bjelica are ballin
– Rubio 14 asts 1 TO
– Wiggins hasn’t changed a bit. He’s awful. Like Pavlov’s dog he salivates if he so much as sniffs a 3 pt shot. He shoots under 30% 3FG. One of the NBA’s best defenses must be to funnel the ball to him near the arc.
– Pels are losing a lot of games they should be winning. 9 losses in a row. Shooting seems to be the issue. Redick went 1-10 last night
– Morant gets right back to it in his return. This is a rookie? He commands the floor like Chris Paul
– keeping eyes on DiVincenzo who’s getting minutes. the Bucks guards are playing well together. wasn’t expecting that after Brogdon left
I like that Westbrook had his words eaten. After he scored for the lead with a couple of seconds left, he called “game.” Kings didn’t get ruffled. Just called timeout, got the ball moved to the frontcourt and ran a play that left Bjelica wide open, albeit from 30+ feet, for the winner.
Warriors more or less shut Morant down the last time they played with a 2-3 zone designed to keep him from driving the lane or shooting 3s. Morant figured out how to beat that this time. Meanwhile, his running mate Jaren Jackson was a defensive monster totally shutting Eric Paschall down. Jackson had several blocks on Paschall and was constantly altering his shots. The Grizz have great building blocks with Morant and Jackson.
agreed. Dylan Brooks has looked good as of late as well.
Dude is a natural …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlpCEGyeTqU
I was surprised to see Barton fill in for Murray after Murray went down last night. Why not Morris? I thought Barton barely scraped by with PG duties, and the decision to put him in that role lost them the game. Too many times he had his head down completely ignoring the fact that one of the league’s best passers and talents (Jokic) was right there and available to take over decision making duties.
I really don’t understand the Nuggets and what they’re doing with all that talent while their PG play is so time consuming that it keeps the ball away from other players. Jokic primarily. Meanwhile you have the Suns doing the opposite and showing how well it works to get everyone involved. The Nuggets, like the Suns, often have 5 players out there that can pass shoot move and make decisions with the ball, but they play as if the only decision makers should be their PG and Jokic.
I thought Mike Malone was a better coach than that.
He might be, and maybe I’ve overestimated Morris’s PG abilities but then that’s another problem: with all this talent where in the heck is the solid backup PG? Barton was scoring well and his assist numbers were good, but he must have thought his job was to be a finisher over the last 2 minutes. I would think Malone would have taken him aside and told him that’s definitely not his job with 4 other guys out there. It seemed like Barton decided ahead of time that it was going to be him vs. the entire Sixers team. Horrible decision making.
some tremendous games from the youngns last night (those not named Herro anyhow), but what I saw from D’Andre Hunter was impressive as heck. So well composed and careful with the ball. I think he plays as well as Barrett, or rather has the same skilset as Barrett from what I’ve seen.
As much as I have uncertainties about the 76ers chances this year, there’s a big reason to think that will change: Matisse Thybulle. This guy is improving. Came in as a defensive specialist but a la Kawhi is surprising offensively. Looks solid to me, or rather improving enough to get there. He’s getting a lot of minutes and helping them win.
Generated 12/11/2019.
looking at this fairly good list here, it’s remarkable to note how much talent is in the league currently.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/top-100-nba-players-for-2019-20-lebron-james-edges-kawhi-leonard-for-no-1-zion-williamson-only-rookie-to-make-the-cut/
what’s missing (and I feel this will change for next year’s list) is Booker’s place in the top 20. This list screams Expansion Time! for the league. Luka, Booker, Siakem, Simmons, Ingram, D’lo, Dinwiddie, Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jaren Jackson, Adebayo, Trae Young, Harrell, Brogdon, Hield, Sabonis are just some names of players ascending rapidly. Add in Oladipo, Klay, Morant, Zion, Hunter, Nunn, Thybulle, Van Vleet, John Collins, Jarrett Allen and probably several others I’m surely forgetting and there’s so much talent, talent that knows how to play the game – many of these guys play at both ends, share the ball and can shoot. It’s time for Seattle and Las Vegas to get teams IMO.
Yep, a ton of great young talent, although they left Ja Morant off the list. I realize it was a preseason list, but they still should have known better. You’re right that Booker should be pushing the top 20. Doncic may be top 10, but I understand them not putting him there before the season began. Butler also should be pushing the top 10. Greek Freak should be #1.
I meant fairly good list for preseason. I think Booker is a top 15 player right now. If Beal is at 13, Booker needs to be 12, or Beal needs to go to 14. I have no idea why Beal is ahead of Butler or why Butler is below Towns and Green. (Green was a big mistake on this list IMO). Butler must be most under-rated in the league. Totally unselfish 2-way player. A lot like Dray and LeBron. Even Doncic needs to start being more like Jimmy. Come on.
Good lengthy article about D-Lo in The Athletic today…
https://theathletic.com/1413231/2019/12/11/dangelo-russell-opens-up-about-his-twisted-lakers-past-nets-revival-and-desire-to-make-a-home-with-the-warriors/
Among other nuggets in the article, he chose the Dubs deal for the chance to learn under Kerr, Steph, Klay, and Dray. He knows he may get traded at some point, but that opportunity (and max money) made it worth it.
all you need to know from last night. need to see this from the right angle to get how amazing this was. what is his vertical??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUcpjuJRnpg
to put into perspective, Morant is doing everything that Mitchell does and then some already in his rookie year. he’s also a top 5 PG already. what teams wouldn’t improve by swapping out their PG for him? Warriors and maybe Boston the way Walker is playing. That I had to think about Dallas says it all. Wow.
Don’t even need to click on the YouTube link to know that is the video of Ja dunking over Baynes. Yes, he appears to have a very impressive vertical. Right now, he’s only averaging 29 minutes per game. Don’t know if the Grizz coach (Taylor Jenkins, who?) is doing that intentionally to minimize the risk of him getting hurt or if the Grizz are getting blown out too often (11 losses by 9 or more points) so that the coach is sitting his starters at the end. Morant still has some things to work on (FT shooting, rebounding/defense), so you figure he’s still going to get better.
This Athletic article explains why we are unlikely to see many trades before the February trade deadline…
https://theathletic.com/1452678/2019/12/12/hollinger-five-key-reasons-why-this-nba-trade-season-might-be-a-dud/
It appears that the trades that do happen will mostly be salary dumps. It appears the Kevon Looney could be a casualty of that.
It might be a thin trade mid-season, but I’m surprised there was no mention of Chris Paul in the piece. It may not happen, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Paul move elsewhere before March.
I’ll stop including Mikal Bridges in trade talks. He’s getting better rapidly. Prior to the 2018 draft it was thought, as an older player, he had less of an upside. Philly drafted him and traded him. They’re regretting that move which I’ve always assumed was a James Jones choice.
Great game for the Suns without Booker & Ayton. Suns beat the Spurs even though the score doesn’t show it. Almost everyone stepped up, none more than Rubio who was able to seal the game twice in OT. For some reason he screwed up badly both times leading to the loss. Great game for Suns regardless.
Interesting to see DiVincenzo’s minutes with Bledsoe out last night. He started alongside Matthews and played well and more minutes than both Matthews and George Hill.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161027
They’ll need him as it looks like Bledsoe will be out for a little while. Luka also sprained an ankle and will likely miss a few weeks.
I’m impressed by Brogdon. Considering how often he handles the ball this year, less than 3 TOs is pretty good. Would be nice if there’s a stat for minutes touching the ball.
How does Bagley look tonight?
Didn’t see the game, but the Kings are bringing Bagley back slowly and he is coming off the bench. Gotta imagine that he’ll be starting soon. He had 17 points (on 7 of 13 shooting) and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes. Either Holmes or Bjelica will get pulled from the starting line-up soon in favor of him.
Ty Jerome didn’t play a single minute vs. the Spurs Saturday. This was with Booker out of the lineup. Suns play tonight vs. Blazers and I’m guessing he’ll sit out as well. Ayton is back tomorrow, and I’m hoping this will be Jerome’s chance to show that his defense, height, shooting and lob passing can get him minutes. Unfortunately, it’s looked like his court vision isn’t all that great getting himself into all kinds of trouble, but maybe having Ayton as an easier target will help.
Jerome has only played in 6 games with the Suns and limited minutes in them. The only way he is going to get better is to get playing time. If the Suns aren’t going to play him, they might as well send him down to the G-League and let him get some real playing time there.
Yep. I think this week might be his last chance to play for a long time. He needs to do something great for more than just a couple games to stay on this roster. Too much talent already.
watch this. might require a twitter account
https://twitter.com/i/status/1204594335129296896
Gotta hand it to Brook for being amiable about being the punching bag in that.
NFATL
only one so far, and before this game is over. in the category of WTF?
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161040
maybe the most bizarre is that Hardaway Jr. is currently 1 for 10.
seriously, not having seen any of this game the box score is hard to interpret in favor of the Mavs. Porzing & Curry had great games, but that shouldn’t be enough. brunson had 11 assts which usually would get an “ah ha!”, but DiVincenzo with, get this …10 rebs 9 assts 3 stls 1 TO
Scoreboard says Mavs won. Moreover, they had a very comfortable lead with 2 mins to go.
And they did it without Luka. Hard to believe.
Saw a couple of highlights. Porzingis hit a couple of Steph-like, really long 3s. He’s 7’3″ and can hit those shots. That is hard to defend.
I think it’s safe to say at least two up-n-coming teams will make the Western Conf playoffs. Dallas seems a lock already should they stay healthy. Kings are improving and beating good teams while Fox and Bagley were out. Now Bagley’s back and Fox is due to play tonight. Suns have a chance at the 8th spot with Ayton returning tonight, but I’m not sure any of these teams are as good as Memphis. The Grizz play all kinds of fired up ball and for all good reasons. Athleticism, shooting, size and Morant. Jackson is hitting 3s like a Curry, but this guy here has caught my eye recently. Brandon Clarke went #21 in this past year’s draft and is making noise… https://www.basketball-reference.com/pi/shareit/ku3Vs
Clarke’s eFG% for the season is 68%
I didn’t really notice Clarke in the 2 games against the Dubs this year (looks like he was inactive for one of them, but had 17 pts in the other), but he’s averaging 12.7 ppg and 6 rpg in a little over 21 minutes per game. Grizz are starting Jaren Jackson and Valanciunas in their frontcourt right now, but I could see them moving Valanciunas to the bench and Clarke into the starting line-up. I doubt the Grizz are a playoff team this year, but figure another decently high pick next June and tons of cap room should they desire to make a free agent splash and this team will be good next year. If they can turn Josh Jackson around (currently playing on their G-League team), that’s another player to throw into the mix.
I was thinking of betting on it, but too many things can happen. But I’ll take Dallas and Memphis as the new teams in this year. Blazers, Spurs won’t make it. OKC, Suns and Kings will fight for the 8th spot.
🙂
Unfortunate result for the Suns in Ayton’s first game back. Early on they played their game moving the ball and getting excellent and easy shots and uncharacteristically missing them. The entire game was playing catch-up and rushing things getting themselves into trouble. Ayton looked good – *easily* abused Harrell on the block and played fairly good D. Oubre has been great lately and was especially so last night. But Baynes and Saric kept missing easy shots – layups and put backs. They needed Booker badly – he’s still out with a forearm issue they’re calling a “contusion”. Strange thing to keep a player out for a week – I’m thinking this is load management or some kind of player development thing for the guards. Jerome played and had his best game, but he wasn’t especially effective navigating the Clipper defense. He played alongside Rubio which seemed helpful. I think the Suns style is a bit too fast for Jerome, but if he can hit shots he’ll likely keep getting minutes. At least while Booker is out.
After last night Bam Adebayo is out in front of the MIP race IMO. The field is stacked though and plenty of time for others to jump into the pack. But to see Adebayo hit those mid-range shots – scary stuff for non-Miami fans. BTW, after last night it should go without saying that Wiggins isn’t any different at all and doesn’t belong on any sort of “improved” list. Another Wiggins like boxscore for him – he apparently thinks he’s Kobe taking all those shots. Zero assists. Soooo glad he’s not on any of my favorite teams.
Agreed. Adebayo is now the MIP frontrunner and Wiggins has reverted to form. Minnesota looked good earlier in the season, but they’ve now lost 8 straight and many of them are pretty ugly. Wiggins ain’t helping them.
I watched a good portion of the 76ers-Heat game last night. Sixers looked great in the first quarter, but they have a horrid bench. As soon as the reserves got into the game, the Heat turned a double-digit deficit into a double-digit lead. That doesn’t bode well for the regular season where you don’t want to overplay your starters, but may not matter as much in the playoffs where you ride the starters hard. Another terrific game from Nunn as well.
Jokic looked different last night, although I haven’t seen him play for a week. Almost light on his feet (heavy on the almost). If conditioning was the issue the first part of the season then watch out … here come the Nuggets. And while on the Nuggets topic, what’s the plan for Monte Morris? He seemed like a key up and comer for them and now he’s averaging less than 18 minutes a game. Doesn’t make sense to me with Murray, Harris and Barton getting so many minutes. Morris could easily be at 20-24 minutes a game to spell one or all of those three.
Had to get home in time to watch Lakers-Bucks. LBJ vs Greek Freak. Should be an awesome game. The Rockets vs. Clips follows. Might have to watch that as well.
It was looking like a blowout in the first quarter, but the Lakers fought back to make it a game. Greek Freak was too much though. He was hitting 3s, making spin moves on drives, and had a couple of monster Eurosteps, though he missed the shot on the best one. He got in foul trouble and that allowed the Lakers to make a comeback. LBJ had a triple-double, but missed a lot of shots. AD was a force in the paint and got to the free throw line a lot. Both teams played really great defense for the first 6-7 minutes, but they started hitting some 3s and that opened up the middle for AD and Giannis.
On a sidenote, there were 3 Antetokounmpos on the teams, though 2 of them didn’t play. Thanasis, the older brother, is on the Bucks and becomes a free agent at the same time as Giannis in the Summer of 2021. Kostas, the younger brother is on a two-way contract with the Lakers. I wonder if some teams might look to sign one or both of Thanasis or Kostas over the next two summers as a way to entice Giannis.
Scary. I wonder how many 3s he’ll take in the playoffs. Regardless, although Milwaukee is clearly the team to beat this year there’s plenty of time for these “newer” teams to get things together. Miami, Boston, Indiana and both LA teams shouldn’t be as far away from the Bucks as they currently are, but given the talent and the focus on defense for all 5 of those I think things will tighten up a lot. The Sixers have a lot more work to do in my opinion, but it’s possible they can get there. Raptors, Nuggets, Rockets, Mavs & Jazz – I think it says a lot about how good the league is that these very good (or even great) teams are less likely to make it to the conference finals this year. But even then I’m not counting them out.
Ja Morant doing Ja Morant things tonight…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJvHeuCLJAs
Yes, he missed the dunk, but that is serious hops. Kevin Love had a good sense of humor about it, tweeting a picture of it and saying that Ja nearly ended his career tonight and adding that Ja is a great talent.
WOW
I think the best part of that is the refs must have been so shocked they didn’t see the obvious offensive foul:-)
NFATL
– Dragic is back and with a nice game to boot
– The Tatum & Brown duo looks unstoppable
– Kemba’s worst shooting night (0-6 FG) and with 7 TOs he had the highest Celtics’ +/- last night
– Are the Mavs deep? Curry and Brunson again help them to a W, this time vs. Sixers in Philly
– Jokic with 16 shots and 10 makes. 10 assts. 2 TOs in the win over the Towns-less Wolves
– Past time for an SGA shout out. Another MIP candidate with an awesome game vs Suns last night.
I don’t think this play at 1:48 in is a travel, but even if it is the refs won’t call it. Bad defense yes, but look at the space covered on this drive …
https://youtu.be/nZP5JP3O6go?t=108
I agree with you that is not a travel.. Huge strides, but not a travel. I’ve seen Giannis make drives like that.
I was thinking Giannis as well, but started thinking of others that do the same thing under control and didn’t come up with anyone else with that size and speed. Maybe Dr. J 🙂
I’m sure Siakem has had a few like that. It says something that I can’t think of LeBron doing the same. Not sure why. Scary to wonder if Doncic will ever add this kind of thing to his game.
Since the MIP race is getting ridiculous, I say we start a running list on the topic. I won’t include Siakem even though a lot do – if there’s any year where a player won’t be a repeat winner it’s this year. So no. No Siakem even if he ends up winning MVP. And I disagree Doncic belongs – he was too good last year. Here’s the list I have so far …
Adebayo
Devonte Graham
SGA
Jaylen Brown
Van Vleet
Ingram
Dinwiddie
Not sure about these but they’re on the radar …
Hield
LaVine
Sabonis
Harrell
Also, there’s a volume scoring player that I was surprised to see is hitting around 90% FTs. Can’t think of his name yet but looking it up. I think it was …
Brogdon
Yes he’s been a good shooter, but he’s doing it with more attempts. I think he could easily be on the MIP list.
That’s a pretty good list. The only addition I might make is Davis Bertans, the Latvian PF on the Wizards, who is proving to be one of the top 3-pt shooters this year. As for your maybes, I would definitely put Sabonis on the list, but probably none of the others. Harrell’s stats are slightly better than last year, but that is primarily because of his increased minutes. Hield and LaVine look pretty much like they did last year and Hield’s 3-pt% is actually way down this year.
Rockets @ Suns tonight. Very entertaining. Harden v Booker. I see Booker playing decent defense v Harden, but Harden sucks trying to cover Booker. I’m guessing this will be a factor as this game progresses. Booker has done some excellent work as PG so far.
DiVincenzo has to be one of the luckiest players. He’s on a team (Bucks) that’s not PG dominant, is very tall and currently has injuries to the “right” guys allowing him to get starters minutes. He plays more minutes than George Hill and keeps his TOs down. Definitely proving himself to be a player in the league. Nice choice for Bucks to pick him at #17 in the 2018 draft.
NFATL
– Jalen Brunson playing really well, last night v Raptors 21 pts 9 assts 2 tos and some great shooting
– Raptors needed 47 pts in the 4th Q v no-Doncic Mavs. Should not happen even without Siakem
– SGA awesome game vs. Clippers. getting to the FT line. 32 pts 5 assts 2 tos in 34 minutes in a win over no-Kawhi Clipps
– Fascinating to see DiVincenzo’s minutes vs. his stats. Bucks win with him on the court, so clearly Budenholzer is seeing something beyond the stats which sucked last night. I assume it’s his movement. Probably wearing guys out a la Reggie, Rip & Klay
Re: Raptors needing 47 4th Q points to beat Mavs…the Luka-less Mavs have already beaten the Bucks and Sixers on this extremely difficult stretch (also lost close games to Heat and Celtics in past 5 games). So, I would say that maybe the Mavs should have beaten a Siakam-less Raptors team.
It is clearly the Cenz’s hustle that Budenholzer likes. He is everywhere, gets in the grill of the players he guards, and throws himself after the ball when necessary. By the way, that Villanvoa team a couple of years ago with the Cenz, Brunson, Omari Spellman, Mikal Bridges, and Eric Paschall had some serious talent.
Ha. Good replies, but hold on a sec! First, I’m thinking the no-Luka Mavs might have gotten one or both the other games for other reasons like matchups or a down night for one of those teams. But the Mavs were up by 23 at the start of the 4th:-) I would never have expected that even knowing how they’ve been playing.
The Nova team was excellent. I think that final game was fantastic – I forgot Paschall was on that team.
Kuzma is back and looked very comfortable handling the ball last night. He was playing LeBron’s role for much of the game. I like the idea – see how he improves in a floor general role. 0 assists, but that’s because he was directing from the perimeter and getting rid of the ball early in the shot clock. Will be worth watching him to see if the assists start becoming part of his game while LeBron is out.
We’ll see if LeBron plays on Christmas day. If he does I’m guessing it’s the last we’ll see of him for weeks. While his load management (if you want to call it that) is probably coming earlier than he wants, might be a good time to lose some games while Kuzma gets his game back and forms some kind of chemistry with AD. Lakers need him to be their #3 guy pretty badly.
Nuggets @ Suns was a strange one. Booker was kept out for a lot if not most of the 4th quarter and part of the 3rd, not because of foul trouble (he had 4 and picked up his 5th early in the 4th Q I think) but because his teammates were on a roll without him playing great D and getting good shots. But Booker went only 1-6 from 3pt land and most of those were open shots. I’m surprised Suns almost won the game, as Denver looked pretty damned good at both ends. Booker had a chance to win it at the buzzer – a shot he’s made plenty of times before and missed. Some speculation that his arm/hand is still bugging him.
Dubs with the 2-game win streak! They no longer have the worst record in basketball…temporarily at least. Of course, they only beat a Towns-less (and Covington-less for much of the game after he got injured) T-Pups. That led Wiggins to shoot even more and it was terrible. He was 1 of 8 from the arc and 10 of 27 overall. He was putting up shots he had no business taking. Alec Burks looked great for the Dubs, which probably increases his chances of getting traded to a contender in the next month or so. D-Lo has been fantastic the past couple of games.
Make that 3 in a row for the Dubs! I didn’t see the Christmas day game against the Rockets (only Xmas basketball I saw was the 2nd half of Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown blowing out the Raptors), but heard plenty about it on the radio when driving home last night. Apparently, the Warriors strategy for defending Harden was doubling him every time he touched the ball and playing zone defense against everyone else. Basically, they wanted Harden to give up the ball and force other players to beat them, which the other players failed to do. Westbrook got 30 points, which sounds good, until you hear that he was 11 for 32 shooting, including 0-for-8 on 3s. Overall, Russ is only making 24% of his 3s this year, so Dubs and other teams will be more than willing to allow him to keep shooting from deep.
Is it fair to say at this point that the Rockets were a better team with Chris Paul. Paul is a much better shooter. Yes Russ gets more assists and rebounds, but Paul does fine in those areas. I don’t think Russ and James work well together because they are both ball hogs. I believe D’Antoni staggers their minutes a little bit to account for this, but I’m sure it eats Russ alive that Harden is the go to guy when they are both on the court. And you gotta figure that as bad as Russ shoots from the arc, Harden doesn’t trust him enough to give up the ball to Russ when he gets doubled. Together, Harden and Westbrook take about 50% of all the Rockets shots, so most of the other players can’t be very happy either. Both Harden and Westbrook make $40+ million per year, so the Rocket have little wiggle room to make their team better. I don’t see the Rockets as a championship contender with this group.
4 in a row as the Dubs took down the Suns tonight. The Suns controlled the game for the first three quarters and had a 12-pt lead after three. But it was a deceptive lead. The Dubs forced the Suns into a lot of turnovers (26 in all in the game) and the Dubs were stone cold with their shooting. In the 4th quarter, the Dubs started hitting their shots and it completely turned around. Booker did what he could throughout the game, but got little help. The Warriors were daring Rubio to shoot and he mostly failed when he did. The Warriors were out-hustling the Suns all game. Suns have now lost 7 straight. Not sure what has happened to them in December.
There was also the first Smailagic sighting tonight. He only played 5 minutes in the 1st quarter, but picked up 4 points, a rebound, and a block in that time. Both buckets he scored were on really nice plays. Warriors need to find out if he can become a rotation player because they can’t keep Bowman and Lee on the big club much longer on their 2-way contracts.
The Warriors scored 121 points tonight, yet still lost by 20 to the Mavericks. The Warriors actually led by two at halftime, 74-72 because neither team was missing many shots in the first half. D-Lo made 8 threes in the first half. In the second half though, the Mavs kept making shots, while the Dubs came down to earth. Doncic had a 31-12-15 triple-double. Together the teams had 42 threes made (24 for the Mavs, 18 for the Dubs), just one short of the record. It was a pretty incredible shooting display, particularly the first half.
Doncic with 3 TOs. He’s going to change this league even more rapidly than we’ve seen it change recently. It’s not exactly D’Antoni and certainly not anything like what Pop or Ainge has been trying to architect. I think it’s a perfect style for Morant and either or both Steph & D’lo. Trae Young clearly likes the style, but I’m not sure it’s Atlanta’s best option. It seems Jamal Murray wants to play this way but he’s not great at it. Harden won’t play this way but I think he should. Maybe the same should be said of Lillard and Kawhi, although I can’t see Kawhi changing his game for this more “selfish” style of play. Jrue Holiday could do it though, and it might be the right style for them but it would require trading Lonzo. Siakem could do it, and I think he should try. Giannis as well, but really no need to change anything with the Bucks right now.
A prediction: the Sixers won’t get to the conf finals until they start to play Doncic style. Right now that would mean Richardson playing the role, and that won’t happen with Simmons needing all those (un-necessary) touches. His trade value is probably as great as it will get – the smart move is to move him before next season IMO. I realize that’s very unlikely though. They’re stuck.
It’s no secret but worth stating that most of Phx losses on their streak were because Booker is struggling terribly from 3 pt. This is the reason they lost to Denver for instance – so much relies on his ability to convert from there. Almost happened again last night. For some reason the Suns had a ridiculous number of TOs vs the Warriors as well. No question the Dubs had something to do with that, but there’s never any excuse to turn it over that many times. From what I’ve seen the Suns look good at both ends, but when they can’t convert easy opportunities they fade later in games. Whatever is bugging Booker is a big problem – they’d easily be on a win streak otherwise.
If I haven’t done so it’s worth pointing out that Rubio has been making a habit out of playing very well keeping them in the game and then making ridiculous even boneheaded mistakes at the ends of games to give it away. Not sure if that happened vs. Warriors, but I’ve seen it all too often. Not sure what’s going on with him. Exhaustion or trying to hard or both maybe.
Speaking of trip-dubs, Jokic was awesome last night with only 1 TO and the win over Memphis. It’s looking (to me) like this is what it’ll take to keep Memphis out of the playoffs. They’re better than Portland and OKC in my opinion. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Morant start taking more shots resulting in wins rather than some of these losses. He should be scoring 25 a night. If they even want to make the playoffs that is.
On the MVP race front … it seems clear to me that there are only 3 realistic contenders in Freak, Doncic and Harden. Although I believe the Vegas $$ is still heavy in Freak’s favor I think it’s an even way split at this point. LeBron will have to start sitting out games – he’s too smart to do otherwise: thinking it makes sense to aggravate his aches & pains at this point of the season. I don’t see him making it to the All-Star break without taking a huge load off.
Harden and Doncic are having historic years – that won’t be ignored even if the Bucks record winds up much better than the Mavs and Rockets. Unless Freak starts hitting more 3s with consistency – whole different ball game in that case, but hard to imagine it will happen with any sort of volume. Harden leads the league in FT attempts and is shooting 87% from there. His scoring average is absurdly high while they’ve been winning games. Of course, Freak’s effective FG% is absurdly high, but the Bucks have been looking somewhat vulnerable as of late. Regarding Doncic, I believe the Mavs will end up with a better record than Houston and they’re only 5 games behind the Bucks. A great case could be made for any of these three if their teams stay at the top of their conferences. Of course, Jokic is coming on strongly. It’s not too late for him to enter the race if they keep winning and he keeps his TOs as low as they are. I can’t be the only one who’s amazed that he can do what he does without turning the ball over more – he just needs to be more consistent at that.
I think right now, my list would go:
Antetokounmpo
Doncic
LBJ
Harden
AD
Jokic
You’re right that LBJ may fall back if he starts needing time off (ironic in that he was just quoted as saying that he wouldn’t be load managed). AD is having the best season of his career, but Jokic may overtake him with the way he’s playing lately.
NFATL …
– Michael Porter Jr. started in Nuggets win v. Kings. 26 mins 19 pts 8-10 fgs 6 rebs 0 tos
– SGA maintains his MIP lead as others appear to be falling back a bit. 32 pts 3 tos in 39 mins in win v. Raptors
– Siakam still out with a groin injury
– Doncic looked rattled and slowed after falling on his back. Mavs weren’t playing Luka ball after that in loss to Lakers
– neither Harden nor Westbrook played in loss to New Orleans
With Millsap out the past couple of games, the Nuggets started Plumlee at PF against the Grizz and Porter against the Kings with each getting a large dose of back-up time when the other started. Both acquitted themselves well in both games. I don’t know how long Millsap will be out for, but gotta think that the Nuggets are hoping Porter will grab hold of that spot and not let go as he has far more upside than Millsap or Plumlee.
By the way, I hope you saw these slick moves by the Joker last night…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn4PCrnFkgI
Around the back, not once, but twice on one drive to the basket and in both directions to boot. How many centers can do that?
Ha. If you ask Shaq he’ll say two. Doubtful.
Here come the Suns. The team with Ayton is so much better than the one without. He takes up a tremendous amount of space around the basket on both ends, is a fantastic rebounder and shooter, demands attention and *care* from opponents otherwise he’ll get fouled as they try to get in his way or worse push him away.
He’s currently out of shape and the footwork looks awkward. Ayton has great footwork though:-) Cannot wait for him to get into the flow of this offense – the Suns should be the highest scoring team in the league, and if he’d been on the court they’d have won at least 7 more games than they have.
I forgot to mention he runs the floor as well as any big man ever. Kind of an important point to leave out:-)
Yeah 16 and 14 in his first game back ain’t bad. Once he shakes some of the rust off, he’ll be a monster. Suns made a great comeback in the 2nd half, but dug too big a hole to get out of in the 1st half.
I was going to include footage from that game with all of Ayton’s plays. What I saw gave me goosebumps: the first part of the game sucked – he looked like a high school player out there by mistake doing everything wrong and getting in the way. The switch flipped sometime before the mid-3rd quarter and he was destroying almost every plan the Lakers had at both ends. When he was in that is. He does too much on offense to not cause problems for opponents. It’s like the Suns have added 1/2 a player to who Baynes was at the start of the year. As good as Baynes was then, it’s like the Suns now have more than 5 guys out there. I think that’s how defenses have to approach it, and it means everyone not named Ayton and Booker are going to start having even greater impacts.
Meanwhile Bridges is improving steadily and Oubre is in the middle of an impressive run. Suns should be able to challenge everyone once Ayton gathers some amount of consistency to his game.
So SI had its basketball reporters make some bold predictions for the coming decades. Several of them went with expansion (in various sports like Seattle, Louisville, and Mexico). But the first one listed is by Chris Mannix and it is asinine:
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/01/01/nba-bold-predictions-2020s
Harden to the Warriors. Not a chance in hell. Not. A. Chance. I’m onboard with the idea that the Rockets may eventually look to move on from Harden if they come up short in the playoffs once again, but the Warriors would never take him. His iso game doesn’t fit with the Warriors offense, his defense is lacking, and he makes more each year than Curry. That means that Curry, Thompson, and Harden would eat up the entire salary cap by themselves. The Dubs will look to add the Freak or Towns, but not Harden.
Agreed. Westbrook to the Dubs long before Harden, and Westbrook would never happen so …
More realistically, few thought that D’Lo made much sense and I was surprised by Swaggy-P two years ago as well. I realize now both made sense for financial reasons (much more than that in the case of D’Lo who has tremendous value now and for the future). In any case, I’m unlikely to be surprised after this no matter what the Dubs do. Outside of picking up Wiggins or Wall that is. Towns – check. Lillard – check. AD – check. Simmons – check. Freak- check. Just naming some guys that would probably love to play there. What would be the *most* fun the Dubs can have with new signings? How about Dinwiddie or Jarrett Allen to the Warriors. Or Joe Harris. Anything anti KD & Kyrie would be awesome.
Heard a radio interview today with one of the Warriors’ beat writers. He said that Alec Burks (currently averaging 15.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3 apg, and 1.3 spg) is very likely to get traded in the next couple of weeks. Burks is on a minimum contract making $1.6 million this year. With those numbers, he would make a great bench option for some team like the 76ers. Warriors would likely only ask for a 2nd round draft pick in return, though some player may be needed to make the salaries work. Warriors would only want some player on a non-guaranteed contract that they could immediately cut. They would then use the money saved to sign Damion Lee and Ky Bowman off their 2-way contracts to keep them on the big club. Otherwise, they’ll have to be sent to the G-League soon as they’re close to maxing out their NBA team allotted on the 2-way contracts.
Another nice game from Michael Porter, Jr. tonight. Millsap is back, so Porter came off the bench. 25 points in 23 minutes. Nuggets coaches and front office must be pleased right now.
So the Pelicans beat the Rockets last night, which would be remarkable except that the Rockets were playing without Harden, Westbrook, and Capela. I wonder if the Rockets thought they could beat the Pelicans without their big 3 and gave them all the night off for load management purposes or if they had actual injuries. Notable in the game though was that Lonzo went 7 of 12 from the 3-pt arc. Lonzo is now shooting 36% from 3 this season, a nice step up from his first two years. He also had a 27-10-10 triple-double. Ingram, Holiday, and Moore all had 20+ poins for the Pelicans, while Favors had a solid double-double. Pelicans have won four straight and, remarkably, those 4 wins have been against the Trailblazers, Nuggets, Pacers, and Rockets. Zion is also now practicing, though no timetable as to when he might play, so this team will only get better.
Right. The Pels and the Suns should start turning more heads. Maybe the Hawks as well now that Collins is back from suspension.
Quick shout out to Orlando fans. Something is a-brewin there as they’re holding on to the 8th spot in the East and improving. They have the second best value for opponents’ points scored (Celtics are first), and their scoring average is the worst in the league at 103.5. Averages of course. In their first 10 games they surpassed their scoring average only once. Since then 8 times. If Aaron Gordon could only score more consistently.
I like what Monty Williams did last night – his closing lineup was the one I’ve been hoping for: Booker, Ayton, Oubre, Bridges, Baynes
Four of these guys can shoot long range and pass the ball. 3 are excellent rebounders. 2 are top tier defenders. One is among the best shooters and finishers in the NBA. And Ayton, maybe the quickest most adroit for his size in the league, is about to become the go to guy while the other spread the floor to give him space.
If you haven’t seen the play resulting in I.T.’s ejection check it out. Pure prima donna BS from him – he seems to never stop with this kind of crap. Quickly working his way out of the league for good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QyjsvZBOUo
Jeez, that was like 2 minutes into the game. Won’t be surprised to see the Wizards trade him before the deadline. Speaking of players looking to get traded, looks like Kevin Love would really like to get out of Cleveland…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsv3JVCEvPg
He also blew up at the Cavs’ GM before the game. It appears that Love isn’t going to ignore stupid mistakes (like Sexton not getting the team into a 2-for-1 as he should have) by his young teammates. Love’s got a big contract though, so he won’t be easy to deal.
Coaching problem there. He must be frustrated with coaches and management, but he could have seen that coming 2 years ago. No?
Possible that management is tanking and Love is annoyed that he’s still there?
ruminations after discovering that the grizzlies destroyed the clippers today in LA with Kawhi, Montrezl and Lou all having great games …
As much as I still like the Ayton pick from 2018, knowing what we all know now I think it’s easier to have picked a guy like Jaren Jackson and then filled the center spot later rather than the other way around. Still not sure about that, but Jackson is starting to look like the best PF since Duncan (although I’m not sure if Giannis qualifies – just seems like a SF to me regardless of what they call him).
No Paul George and Patrick Beverley though. Still, you’d expect the Clips to beat the Grizz anyway. The Grizz won with Brooks and Crowder throwing up nearly twice as many shots as Jackson and Morant, who were far more efficient shooters. With no Beverley to guard Morant, I’d want him taking more shots and Jackson was 9 of 10 from the floor, so not sure why they didn’t feed him more. Speaking of Morant, here’s tonight’s Ja being Ja highlight…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStBLchInMw
He’s actually lucky he didn’t get called for the push-off, but that was a cold-blooded stare down before draining the 3.
Grizz were up by 24 going into the 4th. maybe the lead was greater earlier in the 3rd, and that’s why Jackson and Morant didn’t take more shots. but Morant *isn’t* taking a lot of shots even though it’s obvious he will before the end of the season. that’s probably the main reason I think the Grizz make the playoffs – Morant seems to be in no hurry to show everyone what he can do. I’m sure there are great reasons for that, but I assume they’d like to make the playoffs. That seems like the best thing for him and Jackson Jr – neither one needs “development”. That might be true for Dylan Brooks who also plays like a veteran. So time will tell, but my guess is that Morant + Jackson Jr. as a pair end up taking 10 more shots per game come April.
I take this comment back completely. Unconditionally, irreversibly, unreservedly and finally. Watching Suns v Grizz right now. I take Ayton over everyone but Doncic from that draft.
https://youtu.be/lwfuUyTMpVY?t=50
He’s not as good as Embiid, and in some ways can’t ever be, but he looks like Embiid if Embiid could move like a gazelle. I like this look for a center that can shoot and rebound and play a little defense.
Apparently the Warriors haven’t found a trade to their liking, so they have waived Marquise Chriss, whose contract would have become guaranteed on January 8th. This gives them the salary cap room to sign Damion Lee off his two-way contract and keep him on the roster. Don’t know if it also gives them enough room to sign Ky Bowman off his two-way contract as well.
Luka with another triple-double tonight to lead the Mavs over the Bulls. This particular is play is sick…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gElMKsLYKck
Luka nearly fakes himself out of his own shoes then drives the hoop and executes a slick Eurostep between two defenders for an easy basket. Luka has the build of a linebacker with the moves of a quick point guard. It is a deadly combination.
I watched almost none of that game, but somehow I saw that during the 3 minutes or so that I did watch. Sick is right. 3 TOs.
I assume you meant the play at this timestamp here: https://youtu.be/gElMKsLYKck?t=123
I watched that and then the play which follows it in the video which really bothered me (stupid ultra long range Curry-esque 3 pointer – the game was way too close for that to have made sense), so I stopped watching. Then i had to remind myself he’s only 20 years old. Crazy kid!
Yeah, that’s the play I was referring to. I meant to say that it happened at the 2:05 mark of the video I posted, but forgot to do so. Luka now has twice as many triple-doubles at age 20 than anyone else. LBJ had 5 at 20 yrs old, Luka’s got 10 already.
I hate doing the white guy to white guy comparisons, but Luka is the first player I’ve watched who reminds me of Bird. I can see Bird playing the exact same style today albeit less selfishly and more … curmudgeonly:-)
It’s that comparison which has me believing that Luka could actually win MVP this year, because I think Bird would win it if he played today even considering how well Giannis is playing. And, for me anyhow, Luka’s style of play and willingness to try and do it all leaves Harden in the dust. And Harden is playing at historic levels on the offensive end.
I’m a big fan.
Looks like Blake Griffin may be having season-ending knee surgery. It’s a shame that he’s hardly ever gotten through a season without injury. We may never know how good he could have been.
amazing that guys with similar bodies and activity don’t get injured as much as Griffin. like LeBron – how do his joints and ligaments stand so much impact??
I’ve been waiting for this: an ESPN article suggesting the Lakers could move Kuzma before the deadline. It makes sense. It’s the kind of move I expect to happen much more often, but since these are always financial decisions and rarely up to coaches or players …
Kuzma will be a very good if not great player one day. He’ll likely become exactly the kind of player the Lakers want and need, but he’s shown no signs he’ll be that before April. That’s why I think you move him. But how do you replace him with a guy that does things the Lakers need NOW?
The obvious answer is that you trade him to the Pels instead of Ingram. That didn’t happen so what else is out there? Who else is tall, can defend PFs, can move the ball and make plays and shoot fairly well? I didn’t expect to come up with an answer but I have one: Dario Saric would work well on the Lakers. More consistent at everything. Not as good a handle but a more consistent shooter and rebounder. Better floor vision than Kuzma at present (although Kuzma has gotten much better in this regard).
Here’s a trade that makes the Lakers significantly better and hurts the Suns in the short term but not later: Kuzma and (fill in the blank) for Saric and Baynes. Now how to include (fill in the blank) so that this works?
Kuzma and Caldwell-Pope or Avery Bradley for Saric and Baynes works, though Caldwell-Pope would have to consent to the trade if he’s involved. If this deal got done, the Suns would be running out a starting line-up of Rubio, Booker, Oubre, Kuzma, and Ayton. I like that.
One of the Kings writers said that they were also trying to acquire Kuzma with Bogdanovich being the major piece going back. Bogdanovich makes as much as Saric and Baynes combined, so I think it might be harder to structure a deal.
I think Lakers trade for Bogdanovich in a heartbeat.
Regarding the Suns lineup you penciled in, I now realize it reveals how limited Oubre’s offensive game is. Or rather is on average (I expect his excellent recent offense recently is a temporary thing). What I’d like to see is something like this fairly soon as the Suns top 7 players: Booker, Ayton, Bridges, someone like Kuzma, someone like Jarrett Allen, Cam Johnson and … ???
It’s the ??? that will be interesting to watch and see what materializes before the 2022 season. By then Booker should be good enough to play a Harden-like version of a PG. Pair him up with a tall passer-driver with great floor vision who can defend adequately. Given that I see more guys like this than ever before I assume even more will come out in the next 2 drafts.
I like what Jones is building, but he may need to use Oubre in a trade to get the look they need to have. Unless Oubre starts developing better floor vision, I’m not sure he’s the right guy for the Suns.
How bout a straight up Oubre for Dray trade??
more NFATL …
– It’s clear that Jokic hasn’t been in shape and that it’s been his main issue. What’s scary about his 47 points and ZERO tos last night is that he’s moving more quickly but *still* not in shape. No one has any idea what this guy (or rather “kid”!) will do when his cardio is up there with average centers. If he wants an MVP he’ll get an MVP. Some day.
– DiVincenzo is back to the bench now that Bledsoe is back. Bucks lose to the Spurs. A quick glance at the box score and it sure seems that Bledsoe was a big reason for that.
– Markkanen had a good night. Seems like he’s finally got his groove back
– Fultz had a great game and few Nets players showed much of anything in Magic win
– TJ Warren with one of his best games ever with brogdon out: 36 pts 14-24 fg 6-6 ft 5 rebs 3 assts 1 to
“Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Oladipo was ‘hopeful’ to make it back to the court by late-January. However, coach Nate McMillan later said the Pacers still haven’t established an official timetable for his return.”
I believe it – a few minutes here and there before the All Star break. The team has it all to challenge in the East if Oladipo is healthy in April: a great defensive team, a great scoring team and one of the deepest rosters in the league. For some reason they aren’t a great rebounding team though – surprising given the Sabonis-Turner combo. Hmmm
I just watched the Gobert foul on Ingram at the close in New Orleans last night. Seems like everyone is focused on the arm contact which was definitely there, but seems to me Gobert made body contact before that which might have thrown off Ingram’s shot. I would have absolutely no problem if the league decided to allow Ingram to shoot 2 FTs asap. Like tomorrow. They frickin blew the replay and admit it. Come on Silver!
Trey Young doing Ja Morant things last night…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WbmUos9R4c
Go to the 5:30 mark of the video. We were talking about sick moves and this is a sick move. He fakes a behind the back dribble or pass that fools two defenders and allows him an easy lay-up.
Yeah. Welcome to the big leagues MPJ!
AD’s MRI came back negative. Phew! I don’t expect him back anytime soon though. I’m curious to see how Kuzma’s role changes now.
That’ll probably put a damper on Kuzma trade talks for a little while.
Again to the MIP topic …
Somehow I spaced and didn’t realize Shai Alexander is a 2nd year player. Whoops. Now I think because of the competition this year he can’t win it regardless of how he’s been playing. Ingram is playing extremely well and with consistency. A lot of people are set on Devonte Graham. Adebayo is in the mix. Jaylen Brown.
I have no idea who will win this year. And I’m probably leaving out 2 or 3 others.
I was looking forward to watching the Nuggets @ Mavs game tonight. You’d think that the Joker (33-6-7) vs. Luka (27-9-10) match-up would be a good one. However, the game was sloppy, players were taking terrible shots and making poor passes, and there just seemed to be a real lack of rhythm to the game. Perhaps it was because the Nuggets were at the end of a 5-game road trip. It was a tight game throughout with the Mavs leading pretty much all the way until the very end. The game ended appropriately with the Mavs throwing the ball away as time ran out instead of getting a shot up.
After that game, I watch the Bucks @ Warriors game, expecting a blow-out. Surprisingly, the Dubs kept it close all game, but…if anything, the shooting was even worse in this game than in the Nuggets-Mavs game. Bucks shot 40% for the game, but only 21% from the arc (the Dubs were basically daring the Freak to shoot 3s to prevent him from driving to the hoop and he only hit 1 of 7). The Warriors meanwhile shot 37% for the game, although 39% from 3, and committed 18 turnovers and 30 fouls. It was an ugly game to watch. It was close for awhile at the end with the Dubs employing a Hack-a-Freak strategy in the late 4th quarter, but the Bucks away for a 9-pt win in the end.
In other NFATL:
* Harden and Trae Young had twin 40-pt triple-doubles against each other, apparently the first time that has ever happened. Hawks made a good comeback in the 4th, but had dug too big a hole before then to complete it.
* The Spurs crushed the Celtics by 15 in Boston. Kemba got tossed for profanity after only playing 18 minutes and some Celtic fan threw a beer can over the Spurs bench onto the court.
* Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren got into it during the Heat @ Pacers game that the Heat won. Warren got ejected and Butler had harsh words for him after the game. Heat had 7 guys score in double figures. On the bright side for the Pacers, Oladipo is planning on returning to the line-up at the end of the month.
By the way, the Warriors had Greek Heritage Night at Chase Center last night. Guessing not a coincidence. The Dubs have the Freak squarely in their sights.
Apparently. ha
Did Warren challenge Butler to a fight – like out in the parking lot? I heard that from Legler.
I love it when guys like Jokic and Butler say things like “you can’t guard me”. Makes the matchups more interesting. Next Heat-Pacers game is March 20th in Indiana.
Butler had some great trash talk after the game. Here’s a couple of his statements:
“To me, I think it’s tough for him because I can guard him and he can’t guard me. But like I said, I think you just gotta watch your mouth in certain situations. There’s some s— that you just don’t say as a man. He’s gotta see me the next time, because I feel like what he said was truly disrespectful. And it’s all good because we see them again. I ain’t scared of nobody.”
“The kid’s soft. He’s soft. He’s not even in my f—ing league. Like, nowhere near me. If I was their coach I would never put him on me, ever again. Put somebody else on me, because I’m gonna tear that s— up every time.”
Embiid has a torn ligament in his hand and is having surgery on it tomorrow. No idea yet how long he will be out. Philly has been a pretty inconsistent team this year and currently sit in 5th place in the East (a game ahead of Indy and a game behind Toronto). This was a team that I was expecting to challenge for the top of the conference this year, but I think without Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick, they lack the killer instinct that those two brought to the team which the additions of Al Horford and Josh Richardson did not solve. There has been a lot of reports about Philly maybe needing to trade Ben Simmons to get better, but I doubt they would do that. I’m beginning to think that the solid young nucleus of Embiid and Simmons isn’t going to rise to the heights that I thought they would.
i’m not sure what management thought would change after trading McConnell. at best they might have considered the team was talented enough to not need a true PG, but that seems like leading the horse by the cart. as if there was already all this proof that Simmons will be a superstar that can do it all.
It’s always been wishful thinking. Like with Wiggins – as if you can force a good athlete to play correctly. In both cases it’s too late to get max value for these guys in a trade.
The Thunder had a nice tribute to Russ Westbrook last night (which set off a social media spat between KD and Kendrick Perkins) then went out and destroyed the Rockets. Chris Paul gave this reminder why 7-footers should not be guarding him on the perimeter…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y3QUdHychM
Must have been an off night for Harden. Just 17 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds on 5 of 17 shooting (2 of 9 from 3). With the blowout happening, Harden didn’t play much of the 4th quarter.
By the way, Chris Paul probably pulls the nutmeg move more than any other player ever as this video shows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpinoLYEUB0
He should be playing with LeBron. There’s no way to swing a trade within reason?
Unlikely. Paul is making $38 million. After LBJ and AD, the next highest salary on the Lakers is Danny Green’s $14.6 million, then KCP’s $8 million. After that, it is players making $4 million or less. To make the salaries work, you’d have to trade a lot of Lakers, which would create roster problems for both teams.
Still hard to believe Griffin swung that deal. Really hard to believe that the Lakers *needed* to give up so much. Griff was very public about wanting Ingram and how he saw Ingram becoming a star. I doubt the Lakers needed to give up Hart or THREE!! 1st rounders.
I know the claim is that Boston was coming hard with its own offers, but I don’t believe Griff would have gone that route if Lakers absolutely insisted “no Hart and only 2 first round picks”. Given that he knew Zion was on the way, Lonzo and Ingram (rather Griff’s idea of Ingram) made too much sense relative to what … Tatum and what else? Just my opinion I know, but I doubt Griff would have passed on Ingram.
If able to read Quora Q&A check out this one here and my comments to this guy’s answer to “Why has Popovich been so anti-three pointer?”
https://qr.ae/TJ2eSS
Very easy way to see why the Suns have lost so many games: watch last night’s close one vs. Orlando.
Booker did what he’s been doing most games: he is not settling until the final minute or two. He tries to keep the ball moving and get everyone involved. The result is consistently Rubio or Oubre screwing things up at the end of games. Sometime’s Baynes or Cam Johnson simply missing shots because Booker’s trying to keep them invovled. True the team is still getting used to having Ayton out there, but the result of that is the Suns not having bigger leads early in the game or rushing shots that they weren’t rushing earlier in the season.
At the end of games Rubio and Oubre are consistently effing things up because Booker is giving up the ball too soon. If he got back to taking over games early in the 4th the Suns have n a win streak. Obviously that’s not what Booker and/or Monty Williams are going after, but how to develop players and team chemistry when guys as good as Rubio and Oubre are screwing it all up?
Now’s the best time for Suns to trade Oubre – he’s smokin. Irving is back y en fuego. Oubre to Nets for Dinwiddie and whoever/whatever else Suns can get.
I see LeVert is back as well. Nets are a different team.
NFATL
– Monte Morris is still getting fewer minutes and playing well. arguably as well as Gary Harris. Last night was a great example in Nuggs win v Clipps. The easy way to explain is Malone likes Harris defensive presence while needing to get MPJ minutes. I think there’s more to it. Am guessing Morris stays in some sort of trade coming. Imagine what the Nuggets can get for a Harris and X combo for instance, where X isn’t MPJ or Jokic. If there was ever a case of too much talent on a team it’s the 19-20 Nuggets. Makes no sense to keep them all in a huge rotation.
– yep. Jokic decided he likes being a pro apparently.
– whatever is wrong with the Clippers it’s not because of Kawhi. Clipps outscored by 15 in the 2nd last night. I’m putting it on Rivers. Time to start Harrell in these big games and extend his minutes. Time to stop the Load Management and get everyone playing well before the All Star break. The team doesn’t seem to have an identity.
– Suns – same thing last night: Booker being unselfish. Once again like clockwork the plan seems to be to wait until late in the 4th for the rest of the guys to get Booker the ball. Once again Rubio blows it trying to do so. Suns got lucky with a win, and this reliance on Oubre’s shooting is ridiculous. If that worked to give the Suns big leads earlier in the game then great, but it rarely does. Instead it makes Oubre think he’s a marksman settling for too many contested 3s instead of driving. His *thing* is stopping the ball movement. Hard to believe this is what Monty Williams wants (unless he’s shopping Oubre)
– Ayton seems like he does everything effortlessly. He changes everything while out there – the rebs and close put backs alone should be killing opponents. GREAT hands – among the best I’ve ever seen in a guy that big and possible the most nimble I’ve seen since Hakeem. Maybe moreso – if you didn’t know his height you’d think he’s a SF.
– I didn’t see the Knicks-Heat but looks like NY played some great defense. Rare to see Dragic with so many TOs. Barrett had a great game in 40 minutes and 0 TOs
– Utah won its 9th in a row v Wiz. Mitchell was out. Bogdanovic and Clarkson had great games. The streak comes with an asterisk: only 2 out of the 9 are playoff bound, and one was Orlando. Good test tonight for the Jazz v Nets
– Irving with the great game in his 1st game back v Hawks w/o Trae. 20 mins 21 pts 2 TOs 3 assts 4 rebs
– Spurs are 6-4 in their last 10 with win v Raptors with Siakam back in the lineup (30 mins). Full team effort – it’s starting to get interesting in San Antone
– Grizz have won 5 in a row with win v Dubs. They now sit 8th in the West playoff picture. Valanciunas a possible candidate for MIP?
Back to Kuzma – is Oubre playing well enough for Lakers to consider a Kuz for Kelly trade? MUCH better defender than Kuz, and if Lakers really think he can shoot then isn’t it a no-brainer for them? Unfortunately Lakers can’t offer much else in the deal. Even if Baynes was included what else can Lakers give up that Suns want?
I think the Lakers are more interested in guards than a SF like Oubre. With LBJ and AD entrenched at the forward spots, the Lakers need help in the backcourt. Apparently, the Lakers approached the Kings about Bogdanovich, not the other way around. So looks like the Lakers are really looking to beef up at a guard spot.
Oubre plays guard fairly often. A common lineup for Suns is Rubio, Oubre, Saric, Baynes, Bridges with Bridges playing more at the 3 and Oubre at the 2 on offense. I don’t see Kings parting with Bog.
swap Ayton in for Baynes now.
ALL STAR NIGHT 4 SGA
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28479763/shai-gilgeous-alexander-youngest-ever-20-rebound-triple-double
Really great game for SGA. I think it is fair to say that the Thunder got the much better end of the SGA, Gallinari, 5 1st round picks (and right to swap spots in two other first rounds) for Paul George deal. Given that OKC also got Chris Paul and two 1st round picks, plus the ability to swap two other 1st round picks (various protections put in), the Thunder are going to adding a lot of young talent in the next five years that they can add to SGA who is only 21 years old.
Is Gentry the right coach for Lonzo? I’m all for getting him big minutes and using this year to develop all aspects of his game, but what’s with the outrageous number of 3FGA some nights and most importantly, where are the FTA??
https://www.basketball-reference.com/pi/shareit/rpToS
Lonzo is averaging 6.4 3-pt attempts per game and making them at a 35.5% clip so far this year. I don’t have a problem with that. It is a lost year for the Pelicans, so they might as well see if he can become an outside threat. The 1.3 FTA per game is concerning. What I don’t know because I don’t see the Pelicans play except against the Warriors is whether the low number of FTA is because he is not driving to the basket as much as he should or if the refs aren’t calling fouls on him when he does.
Speaking of the Pelicans, there are rumors that Zion may return to the court this Thursday. If not then, soon thereafter barring further injury in practices. Zion won’t be starting initially and will likely be on a minutes restriction for a little while, but we should soon see what a Lonzo, Ingram, Zion-led Pelicans team looks like.
For Lonzo to average that much he needs to take a lot more than that some nights. 9 is too much I think. 8 seems high for him. I’m not sure how 36% justifies the volume, when he has so many other ways of contributing. Sorry, but I don’t get it. He needs to work on finishing at the rim and drawing fouls instead.
If the Pelicans were in the playoff hunt, I would agree that 8 or 9 3-pt shots per game at a 35.5% clip is too many. But since they won’t be a playoff team this year, I don’t care if he takes a lot of 3s. Maybe the repetition will make him a better shooter next year. I agree that he needs to work at driving and drawing fouls. That is a necessary part of his game.
OK. I get the point, but from my POV Lonzo has a chance to be among the league’s best penetrate and dish guys *if* he learns how to rule the paint as Kidd did. He’s not there yet, and I think they need him to get there. But that’s only half the point – if he’s taking that many threes and missing 2/3 of them those are empty possessions not leading to the development of the rest of the team – specifically young guys that are better shooters. Shooting 3s this year might help Lonzo, but missing so many doesn’t help the team going forward. It’s also not helping his value as an asset if he becomes known for creating empty possessions.
So Marquise Chriss cleared waivers and it appears that the Warriors will bring him back on a two-way contract since they have a two-way contract spot available, having signed Damion Lee from his two-way contract to a regular contract when they waived Chriss. So essentially they have swapped the spots of Chriss and Lee on the roster. Chriss likely won’t spend much time in the G-League. The Warriors will activate him only on game days (“assigning” him to the G-League on practice days, which means he can’t practice with the Dubs, but he won’t be going to Santa Cruz either), which will extend how much time he can spend with the Dubs on this contract. The Warriors are saving money against the hard cap by having only 13 or 14 guys on the roster, instead of 15. Eventually, they will have saved enough money that they will be able to sign Chriss to a regular contract for the remainder of the season.
What value is Chriss to the Warriors? As a trade asset maybe? I really doubt he’s part of the team next year, unless he’s somehow grown up recently.
Chriss very much appears to have grown up this year. Depending on who the Warriors draft with their high draft pick next June–assuming they don’t trade the pick–Chriss could have value for the Warriors backing up Draymond and/or being part of a center rotation with Looney and Spellman (doubtful that Cauley-Stein sticks around). Don’t know if Chriss came into the league thinking he would be a star given where he was drafted, but he has appeared very comfortable as a role player with the Dubs this year.
More Ja doing Ja things…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAeZopCx7YA
Check out the following time stamps on that video: 48 second mark (behind the back in the paint for the assist); 1:07 mark (behind the back into a drop pass to the trailing player for a dunk); and the 1:25 mark (behind the back into a delayed alley oop for a dunk). Ja is making assists look pretty good. Oh and the Grizz beat the Rockets, due in no small part to Morant’s 26 pts, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. Harden went for 41, but was his usual highly inefficient self with 13 of 37 shooting, including 5 of 19 from 3. Westbrook didn’t play.
I was going to make a comment last week that Morant seems to defy the rule “don’t leave your feet unless you know where you’re going with the ball” or some such phrasing. He’s got such amazing court vision together with timing and spacing and he’s quick and can jump through the roof. Magic had the height and size that allowed him to do everything almost effortlessly, Ja has that elevation and quickness.
I have no idea why people think of John Wall as a good comparison to Morant. First, Ja should be compared with some of the best floor generals with excellent vision. Chris Paul makes much more sense. Regarding his athleticism and explosiveness, maybe someone more careful with the ball. I guess Westbrook makes a little sense, as that might end up being the way Ja takes over games in the future: relentless attacking.
I’m having a little trouble putting Morant into perspective. Kidd was my favorite guard out of college. Partly for obvious reasons, but also because I was too young and busy with other things when Magic ruled. For me Kidd was the greatest after Magic. That I need to wonder who’s better in their rookie year – Kidd or Morant- makes me think Morant will be an all time great.
Check out this comparison of each player in their rookie year …
looking at the above am surprised an impressed Kidd kept his TOs at 3.2 per in almost 34 mins per game. 7.7 assists per game.
I’d include Nash, Paul and others if I could but … oh, ha. I can make a separate table. comin up
The Big O’s rookie stats are freaking amazing. As for Ja, he is clearly on his way to be a superstar.
Weird that I left out Curry. I added him.
My All-Star selections. Apparently the vote counts double on Tues and Thurs – something like that. Vote here: https://vote.nba.com/en/thankyou
WEST
Jokic was too lazy early this season so I left him out. Gobert’s been amazing and a case could be made for him. Towns could be there if he played enough games. Harden’s been amazing as well … until recently. Some good competition there: Ja, Booker and Mitchell in particular. Fox hasn’t played enough games. Lillard isn’t winning games.
EAST
Sabonis has had a great year, but I’m not sure it’s been enough. Drummond isn’t leading his team to wins often enough. Siakam’s been out too long. Walker gets my vote because Brogdon has been out too long. Simmons and Dinwiddie are up there. Trae Young – hard to say. Only 9 wins, so …
Just occurred to me this is going to be an All Star game for the ages. Doncic isn’t going to slow down just because it’s the break. And I assume coaches will vote in Morant over Booker, Westbrook, Murray and McCollum. So, maybe Morant and Mitchell in as backup guards? I forget the format. Lillard if there can be 5 guards.
Yeah, I may watch this one;-)
It’s possible, maybe even likely, that the coaches leave Morant for the rookie vs. 2nd year game. That’s what happened with Doncic last year even though he should have been in the main game.
I just voted for the following:
Eastern Conference: Freak, Embiid, Butler, Young & Beal
Western Conference: LBJ, Kawhi, Joker, Harden & Luka
We’ve got only two differences in our votes. I took Joker over AD because of his passing. And I took Trae Young over Kemba because he gets more points and assists per game.
fair ’nuff
My favorite sports radio guy (Termine) went on an awesome rant yesterday regarding Gobert. Made the case for not only getting him on the All-Star team for “the first frickin time!”, but including him in the MVP race as well as Defensive Player of the Year. Thought it was absurd that Gobert has been on All NBA teams and not the All Star team. Great stuff here if you can view Twitter …
https://twitter.com/termineradio?lang=en
Check out the voting. Gobert is nowhere to be seen …
https://www.nba.com/article/2020/01/09/all-star-voting-2020-second-returns-official-release
Gobert plays in the Western Conference where he is competing with LBJ, AD, Joker, Kawhi, Capela, Porzingis, and a few others in higher populated areas that will cast a lot more ballots than SLC will. Not surprised that he is far down in the voting, but the coaches better get him in as one of the reserves this year.
This isn’t Termine’s point though, since there are many “stars” in similar places. Mitchell for instance.
His point is that media and sometimes coaches ignore him publicly as one of the leagues best players. Not flashy for one. The other must have something to do with how he presents himself outwardly. Put Deandre Jordan in the exact same position and media would pay more attention. Coaches as well. Termine makes an excellent point, because it’s true for me as well – something about him keeps me less interested. The opposite is true for Ingles, Mitchell and Bogdanovic.
If he was 6th or 7th in all star voting then there’d be more logic to this. He’s not in the top 10 however.
Kyrie is a cancer. What the hell is he doing throwing his guys under the bus by actually naming some and not others? He specifically appears to be calling out Joe Harris. Right after he lost last night’s game almost single handedly?
“I mean, it’s transparent. It’s out there. It’s glaring, in terms of the pieces that we need in order to be at that next level. I’m going to continue to reiterate it. We’re going to do the best with the guys that we have in our locker room now, and we’ll worry about all the other stuff, in terms of moving pieces and everything else, as an organization down the line in the summer.
“It’s just something that we signed up for. We knew what we were coming into at the beginning of this season. Guys were going down left and right for us. [Garrett Temple] is out, [DeAndre Jordan] just got hurt tonight, Wilson [Chandler] is just coming back. We have complementary young guys as well that have done a great job the last three years.
“Collectively, I feel like we have great pieces, but it’s pretty glaring we need one more piece or two more pieces that will complement myself, [Kevin Durant], DJ, GT, Spence [Dinwiddie], Caris [LeVert], and we’ll see how that evolves.”
NFATL (mini version)
– on a night when Kemba and Smart are drilling it long range and playing well defensively, Tatum and Hayward really shouldn’t need to do much to seal the deal. Granted they lost to the Bucks, but those two going 2-14 3FG collectively shows a glaring weakness IMO. Outside of Smart and Kemba the team went 6-28 3FG.
– DiVincenzo played 28 minutes and had a great game v Boston. He played more minutes than Bledsoe, Matthews and Hill. 19 pts 0 tos 4-6 3FG 2 stls
– Ingram with the career night v Jazz, but the real story appears to be the shooting for both teams. Bogdanovic, Gobert, Mitchell & Clarkson combined for 36-72 FG 13-28 3FG 19-23 FT while Favors, Ingram, Alexander-Walker & Moore combined for 37-59 FG 7-15 3FG 17-23 FT
Cenzo is getting more minutes and it is largely because of his defense. He doesn’t contribute a lot on the offensive end, but his defense is tough. Combine that with Giannis and Bledsoe and that is a big reason why the Bucks are currently sporting one of the highest +/- in league history. If Cenzo ever develops an offensive game, he’ll become a regular starter.
From last night – teams will need to start prepping for this. If it’s even possible that is …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKNDrdVEDUg
I was curious so I did a stat comparison Aaron Gordon & Kelly Oubre. I think Jones’ head might be on the block for even suggesting this straight up, but I think this makes the Suns much better because of Gordon’s court vision, leadership, maturity and quick thinking. His 3pt % is the concern I suppose, but consider if it was a younger Dray Green being discussed. Does it matter?
I don’t know what’s acceptable in GM ranks, because every move is finely analyzed across the league. But I can’t see a clearer case of Sell-High and Buy-Low than trading Oubre for Gordon. I think it improves the Suns dramatically, and it also allows some room for considering a Saric trade since Gordon can defend PFs and rebound like Saric. Oubre cannot (or rather does not – this may be the problem).
current ruminations on the MIP race …
If Ingram is to be considered strongly then the comparison needs to be vs. Luka and Siakam rather than Jaylen Brown, Adebayo and Graham. And unfortunately for SGA, even if he was a 3rd year player how to compete with these Ingram numbers as well as those from Doncic and what everyone knows we’re about to see with Siakam?
To put into historical perspective, when did the league ever have 3 guys like Ingram, Siakam and Doncic improve from very good to outstanding so rapidly so early in their careers?
When I think of MIP, I don’t think of the guys who went from very good to outstanding, I think of guys who went from average to very good/outstanding. Siakam last year was a great candidate for MIP. This year, he has improved some more, but not as much as he did last year from the year before. Same with Ingram between his 1st and 2nd seasons. Guys like SGA, Adebayo, Graham and Brown have made bigger improvements this year. So I wouldn’t put Ingram in the MIP race, though you may be right that he will be.
agreed, but I’m discovering that’s not likely the way the vote will go. from what I’ve been hearing and reading there are two camps: Adebayo-Graham enthusiasts, and Ingram-Siakam enthusiasts.
the problem with the way you (and I) want it to go is that both Ingram and Siakam have sky rocketed (Siakam earlier and am guessing he’s about to take off again). it’s getting too much attention to ignore.
thinking on this a bit more, I don’t think Doncic has improved as much as the others. he was incredible his first year and has improved a good amount. that’s all though.
Our second trade of the season went down yesterday:
T-Wolves get: Allen Crabbe
Hawks gets: Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham
I don’t know what the T-Wolves are doing here. Trading Teague leaves them woefully short at PG. Maybe they think they have a realistic shot at trading for D-Lo (it won’t happen). While the T-Wolves could use a shooter, Crabbe’s shooting percentages have been way down this year and have been basically trending down for the past two seasons.
The Hawks meanwhile were barren behind Trae Young at PG and now have Teague to pick up that slack (Graham looks like a throw-in to make the money work). This is a good trade for them.
How bout the Knicks move to Vegas and the Wolves move to Seattle after the owners are offered deals they can’t refuse. Seriously … there’s enough $$ to go around and Dolan for instance must have a price.
Trade 3 of the season:
Trailblazers get: Trevor Ariza, Wenyen Gabriel, and Caleb Swanigan
Kings get: Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver, and two 2nd round picks
The Kings are taking on bigger salaries, but expiring contracts. I’m guessing the 2nd round picks were the big draw for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they buy out Bazemore and/or Tolliver, though they could supply some help off the bench. Their season is mostly lost at this point though, so this ain’t a deal designed to make a playoff push.
The Trailblazers are simply shedding salary here. They are way over the luxury tax threshhold, so this will cut down their penalties. Essentially they paid two low draft picks to the Kings to dump salary. Trevor Ariza won’t be much help for their limited playoff possibilities.
I believe Swanigan was re-acquired by Portland. Natural to believe their prepping for the return of Nurk – likely looking to make a Whiteside trade (inevitable even if not til the summer), and swapping out Tolliver for Swanigan for age purposes. Also, with Melo performing well as a starter, Ariza can come in to fill a similar role that Bazemore couldn’t.
Nurkic is due back at some point in Feb.
The almost nightly Ja being Ja.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVr9aUhJZX4
Go to the 5:30 mark for the almost dunk, pass back for a dunk, followed almost immediately by a big throwdown at the 5:38 mark.
Ja-WOW
The Mikal Bridges era has arrived in Phoenix. I see this guy as the team leader going forward. Together with Rubio should Rubio remain for several more years. Although not the same talent as someone like Grant Hill, his demeanor is similar. Solid, smart, conservative player on both ends. Reminds me of Battier but with much better offense. Last night the Suns got lucky v Celtics without Walker and Brown, but Bridges started at Oubre’s spot (he’s still out with a concussion I think). Really easy to see – Suns are a better team with Bridges as the starting 3, or the 2 with Booker at PG. Bridges 10-13 FG, 6-8 3FG, 2 stls, 2 blks, 0 tos
Meanwhile Jevon Carter played a solid 17 minutes as the primary backup PG.
I’m not seeing a spot for Oubre going forward. Not on the Suns anyhow.
“Per the NBA’s tracking data, among the 98 players who get the ball off cuts at least once per game, Bridges shoots 80.6% on those looks, the sixth-best efficiency of that group.”
https://arizonasports.com/story/2224019/james-jones-mikal-bridges-has-been-phenomenal-lately-for-suns/
Perhaps too soon? Bridges against Spurs tonight…32 minutes, 4 points (on 2-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, and 1 turnover. I didn’t see the game, so not sure what happened, but that’s a lot of minutes with almost nothing to show for it.
not too soon. I saw the game – his defense and decision making are excellent. there’s a reason why DeRozan went 5-15 FG and 5 TOs. Suns played one of their best all around games all year, but did it vs. Forbes who couldn’t be stopped going 8-11 3FG, and seemingly always there to kill the Suns rally. Not sure why Bridges had 0 rebs though …
Monty Williams has a challenge I think, because when Oubre is in it’s hard to tell what Bridge’s role is offensively. He’s a bit like Shawn Marion for whom the Suns never called plays for, so he roams around outside the paint. A bit frustrating because I think he’s a better offensive player than Oubre.
and Suns were killing the Spurs at the end. Derrick White was excellent, and maybe the only reason the Suns lost in the final minute. interesting note: with almost 6 seconds on the clock Booker pulled up for something like a 32 footer to win. Suns needed only a 2 to tie, and Booker had plenty of space and time to get to the rim. It didn’t hit and Suns lost. That was William’s decision not Bookers apparently. Oubre fouled out and Ayton had 5 fouls, so Williams actually said he didn’t want to go to OT. Still not sure what to think about that.
Fultz with another nice game. Can’t blame the Sixers – no one knew this could happen. Very happy for Markelle – it’s a great story.
Warriors are assembling some excellent pieces. I don’t know why I’m surprised but I am. It’s like their brain trust has a bag of assorted candies in front of them and can’t go wrong picking 4 or 5 (or more) almost at random to stay long term. I’m hearing Spoelstra and Riley as Coach & Executive of the year respectively. Not so sure about that, although if the Dubs got executive of the year who would it be?
BTW, Russell would be a complete fool to want to play anywhere else. Are people claiming he’s a fool? Right team for him at the right time. Klay can play the 3. He’s 6-6 and can defend SFs just as well as some of the best SFs out there for chrissakes.
While Bob Myers has assembled some very nice pieces, both among the rookies (Poole, Paschall, Smailagic), the new vets (Burks, GRIII, Spellman, Cauley-Stein, Chriss), and the two-way contracts (Lee and Bowman), there is no way that Myers gets executive of the year for a last place team.
I could see Russell staying if the Dubs end up drafting James Wiseman, which would likely mean that they cannot obtain either Towns or the Freak in a trade. If, however, the Dubs draft Georgia wing Anthony Edwards, that probably means they’ve got a trade for a big man planned. Of course, such a trade could occur before the draft where the Dubs package D-Lo and the #1 pick. Warriors love D-Lo’s offense, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired, resulting in Kerr putting Russell on the bench in late minutes where they are trying to play tough defense. Even Curry plays better defense that D-Lo. Without Klay on the court, Warriors can’t hide D-Lo on the defensive end.
Ahhh … I assumed you’d realize I’m saying they *won’t* be a last place team. In fact, I can see quite a few wins from the Dubs from now through April. No incentive to be last place and all the incentive in the world to start winning. That’s the only way I see awards coming.
I know I’m not in front of the action as you are, but I think I have some backup for thinking they’ll win quite a few more games. How about 15 as a number to throw out there, going 15-23 from here on out? Here’s why I think it – I was pretty sure that the Warriors have been in a lot of games they’ve lost even in the 4th quarter to good teams. So I took a look at the following and clicked on box scores for some of the losses to good teams, and sure enough Dubs hang tough almost til the end. They’ve also played well and had some good wins often enough to get my attention. In particular Poole is coming on, so I can see why the execs will be noticed even if it’s just the 3 new young’ns together with D’lo and Cauly-Stein … from where I sit that’s quite the coup seemingly coming out of nowhere. The only other teams I see with so many young no-names becoming somebodies is well … who? Nunn and Robinson on Miami, but that’s only 2 guys.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2020_games.html
I used last place team because that is where they are right now. Assuming no further big injuries, I agree that they will win more in the 2nd half than they did in the first half, particularly once Curry returns. However, I think my point still stands. There is no way that Myers wins executive of the year for a non-playoff team. Far more likely that Riley wins or maybe the Clips’ GM.
I’m not so sure about the non-playoff qualifier, though I do see Riley having a head start because of the success there. The points worth noting are big ones and clear to every front office in the league: the warriors lost Boogie, Klay and Durant, they lost a championship because of it, they lost Curry this year, they somehow grabbed D’Lo from a sizzling hot FA market, they once again selected outstanding talent from lower draft positions, and exactly how many new faces are on the roster?? If that becomes a 25 win team I doubt many voting will care about the playoffs, but to your point many others will care. How many though?
Of course, OKC, Dallas & Memphis are also in the running. And several other teams could go on huge winning streaks and jump ahead of the Heat. Dallas for instance. Again, to your point, if there are 5 teams in the running and only 1 is not playoff bound … sure the Warriors lose that race if it’s them vs. the field. But I don’t think they lose only to the Heat for that reason.
Shout out to Kuz. No way they trade him now, at least not for Bogdanovic or Oubre.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28513123/at-rajon-rondo-request-kyle-kuzma-slows-russell-westbrook-lakers-win
Maybe AD’s injury has been a blessing in disguise as it has forced Kuzma to step up. We’ll see if he continues to play like this once AD returns.
Lakers must be brainstorming now. LeBron, Vogel, Rondo, Kidd, Pelinka. Maybe even Davis. If Kuzma thrives on lots of touches and a yellow-green light to shoot (mostly green), then maybe keep the focus on him when AD gets back? They have to be discussing this. How do you do it though? Keep him slashing throughout the first half maybe? Set screens clearing room for him to run the baseline and curl up along the sideline (like Reddick)? Or do you have him play LeBron’s role while LeBron is on the floor? Am currently looking for Kuzma vid showing alley-oop prowesss …
Well, Kuz isn’t assisting much according to the stat sheet. Would help to work on that perhaps?
A game or two past mid-season I thought I’d grade myself on my preseason synopses. Not Bad! Albeit with a bit of luck, because although some calls have been right on they aren’t for the reasons I thought. In order of significance …
1. Bucks are better than I thought because Brook Lopez and Donte DiVincenzo are contributing defensively in ways I didn’t expect. Sure Giannis is better this year, but I expected that. Mostly I’m surprised at how well all the guards have filled in for the loss of Brogdon.
2. OKC – who would’ve thunk it? A great story this year, and one from a small market to boot. SGA and Gallinari are playing well and getting press. Maybe a playoff team, depending on the Spurs and Grizz.
3. I can’t remember why but I picked Memphis as one of my newcomers to have a shot at the playoffs. Like OKC, another great story so far this year. Right now they’re playing as well as any other team going after the 6th spot in the West.
4. Celtics are better than I thought they’d be. Mostly due to Jaylen Brown’s surging play. Didn’t see that coming, although I’m hesitant to claim they’ll make the ECF. Doubt they have the guys to stop the big men in their way.
5. Jazz are surging. I didn’t see it for two reasons after the loss of Favors. First, I didn’t think Mitchell was ready for such consistency with volume. He’s proven me wrong, and that alone keeps the Jazz in the game on almost any given night. Second, I’ve underestimated Gobert’s offense. More a solid part of their offensive scheme than I understood. With the Clippers showing some weakness, the Jazz could make it to the WCF after all but lots of competition.
6. Lakers. Better than I thought and I thought they’d be great but not so soon. Sure they still want to add shooters to their roster, but with this defense they’re an excellent match for the Bucks in the finals. I’m not sure they need to change anything.
7. Clippers. Still plenty of time for them to gel, but it’s taking longer than I expected. Still, the organization from top to bottom is chalk full of braniacs. It’s a key point for me to remember, since they’re going after a title and not best record before the all-star break. But they got destroyed by the Bucks in Milwaukee with everyone healthy and playing. There has to be some concern, because they’re not blowing teams out like they should. George is out of course. I’m expecting a big run after the all-star break in order to find their identity.
8. Spurs. I think I got this right and I expect them, and not OKC, to grab the 8th spot in the West.
9. Miami – I won’t punish myself here. No one could possibly have known the contributions from Nunn, Robinson and Herro. Deep deep team with a great shot at the ECF.
10. Sixers, Pacers, Rockets, Pels, Pistons – looks like I got these right. Raptors I didn’t say much except that they’ll bea contender for the ECF. I still think that’s right.
11. Portland – no one knows til Nurkic gets back, though it certainly seems it’ll be too late for a playoff run.
I’m giving myself the grade of B at mid-season. No better, since I didn’t see the Miami talent for even half of what it is, and or taking both Mitchell and Gobert for granted.
So AD returned to action tonight, but the Celtics laid down a whupping on the Lakers. That pushes Kuzma back to the bench, where he had 13 points and 3 rebounds in 23 minutes. AD only played 23 minutes himself, but that was largely because the Celts had such a big lead that the Lakers starters didn’t play in the 4th quarter. Apparently the Celtics were dominating the boards in the game. Enes Kanter was a force off the bench with 6 offensive rebounds and 11 total rebounds. I’m gonna assume for now that Kuzma will continue to get 30 or so minutes a night when the Lakers are in games, but we’ll see.
So for Zion’s debut tonight, Alvin Gentry’s plan was to play him for the first 4 minutes of each quarter. As I recall, this is exactly what the Warriors did when Cousins returned to action last year. For the first 3 quarters, Zion did not do much, scoring a few points and picking up a few rebounds. The Spurs defensive plan was to dare him to shoot from outside and cut off all opportunity to drive to the hoop. It was pretty much the same for the first 3 minutes of his 4th quarter stint and Gentry had Derrick Favors head to the scorers table to get ready to replace Zion. I think Zion realized he was about to leave the game and something clicked inside of him. Over the next 3 minutes, he went off. 4-4 from the arc, an alley-oop lay-up, a nice assist, and some good drives to the hoop. I believe he scored 18 consecutive points for the Pelicans. Gentry kept sending Favors to the scorers’ table and pulling him back. Gentry finally called a timeout with a little under 6 minutes left and pulled Zion from the game. During the streak, the Pelicans went from double digits down to a small lead. With Zion out of the game, the Spurs retook the lead and won the game. I’m not sure what changed for Zion in that last 3 minutes he was in the game, but if he can keep that up, he will live up to his draft hype.
Here’s the video of that 3 minute stretch of the game…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV4OVJd_ddI
Accolades aside, Zion also turned the ball over 5 times in his limited minutes. I’ll chalk that up to rust, but he’ll need to work on that.
Saw it all. Great passing! And the 3s are the best thing that could happen in his debut, as I doubt the next team will leave him so wide open. In any case, man is he quick. Very Barkleyesque, but bigger!
Kobe with some interesting comments on women who could play in the NBA. I’m sure they could, but both Moore and DellaDonna would be enormous defensive liabilities IMO. Taurasi should have been in the NBA years ago – not sure if she could start but definitely a solid backup PG. Unfortunately for us, she’s 37 now.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2872628-kobe-bryant-says-diana-taurasi-maya-moore-elena-delle-donne-could-play-in-nba
All star voting is complete. I have no issues with Siakam starting over Butler. Both missed time this year. But Beal finished 9th in the East for guards. Just sad. Really wish he hadn’t signed his recent contract to stay in DC.
While the voting is complete, the results have not been released yet. The vote totals on NBA.com are from a week ago. Starters will be announced tonight during TNT games. Based on the prior total