– NBA Rookie Rankings, Week 2: The Core Competencies of the Top Rookies (from Sean O’Connor, Libertyballers.com):
” The NBA rookie class of 2014-15 might be most distinguishable by not being on the court. By my count, seven of the 14 lottery selections have been hurt, playing overseas (hi, Dario!), or left out of their team’s rotation so far this season. That doesn’t count Nerlens Noel, who has missed the past two games. Injuries have taken some of the shine and sparkle off the highly heralded rookie crop.
By not being injured, the top five in my rankings survived by sheer attrition. This week, I’m highlighting the skills that have brought these rookies to the spotlight this season.”
– Seven numbers from the Bucks’ first seven games (from Dan Sinclair, brewhoop.com):
” The Milwaukee Bucks‘ 3-4 record has caught more than a few eyes, particularly after the team handed the Memphis Grizzlies their first loss, a one-point defeat in Milwaukee on Saturday night. With seven games in the books, lets take a look at seven different numbers that tell the tale of the mildly surprising start to Milwaukee’s season.”
Read it here: http://www.brewhoop.com/2014/11/10/7183035/seven-surprising-numbers-from-the-bucks-first-seven-games
– Suddenly Celtics have late-game options (from A Sherrod Blakely, csnne.com):
” For so many years, the Boston Celtics were an incredibly predictable team when it came to late-game situations.
Get it to Paul Pierce.
He’d look to score, or occasionally find a teammate for a potential score. But you knew the final play was going to go through him.
Last season, Jeff Green seemed to be that game with Rajon Rondo out for all but 30 games while recovering from his torn right ACL injury.
Well this is a different season and the Celtics are showing they have a lot of different options to turn to in the closing moments of a game.”
Read it here: http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/suddenly-celtics-have-late-game-options
– Gerald Wallace embraces mentor role (from Mark Murphy. Boston Herald):
” Brad Stevens has singled out Wallace for embracing the mentor’s role in lieu of a more involved role on the floor. The Celtics coach has predicted that Wallace will become one of his “all-time favorites” because of the way he has checked his ego at the door.
But that’s fine with Wallace. It’s like he has a second set of kids in this locker room.
“Absolutely. I talk to ’em and listen to ’em and their situations,” he said. “It’s kind of hard at times, because I know the process they’re in and where they’re going. Depending on how you look at it, sometimes it’s selfish and sometimes not, but everyone is competing and wanting to win. We have to play together as a team, and I think we’re doing a great job of that this year. For me to be able to mentor them is important.”
Read it here: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/11/gerald_wallace_embraces_mentor_role
– The Cleveland Cavaliers Offense and Its Potential (from Matthew Way, Bball Breakdown):
Read it here: http://bballbreakdown.com/2014/11/08/the-cleveland-cavaliers-offense-and-its-potential/
– Steve Kerr draws parallels from Jeff Hornacek (from Kevin Zimmerman, valleyofthesun.com):
Read it here: http://valleyofthesuns.com/2014/11/09/steve-kerr-parallels-jeff-hornacek/
– Chris Copeland’s surprising NBA career now includes even-more-surprising third act (from Dan Feldman, NBC Sports):
” Not only is Copeland making such a large impact, he’s doing so while learning a new position. He’s mostly played small forward this year after working primarily as a stretch four.
At small forward, his strengths – pulling a big man to the perimeter, taking a defender off the dribble – are less pronounced, maybe even to the point he loses his edge. He’s versatile enough to post up smaller players and take advantage on the offensive glass, but his forte still seems to be playing stretch four.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel believes this experience – serving as a go-to option, playing a new position – will only better equip Copeland once he returns to a smaller role”
Read it here: http://m.nbcsports.com/content/chris-copeland%E2%80%99s-surprising-nba-career-now-includes-even-more-surprising-third-act
– Rockets Capsules – Mini Player Reviews at the 9% Mark (from Xiame, thedreamshake.com):
” I just couldn’t wait for the 10% mark of the season. 8.5% rounded up will have to do. Otherwise I’d have to wait until Wednesday. If we all know one thing, we know this season calls for swift, decisive, and final, analysis in the absence of compelling evidence. If this season’s story is far from written, there are still some observations we can, indeed must, make on player trends observed thus far.”
Read it here: http://www.thedreamshake.com/2014/11/10/7184949/rockets-snapshots-mini-player-capsule-reviews-at-the-9-mark
– Vučević Living NBA Dream After Unusual Journey (from Mary Stevens, Basketball Insiders):
” Vučević is no stranger to the basketball world. His father, Borislav, played professional basketball in Europe for 24 years. He grew up watching his father play in Belgium and wanted to be a professional basketball player just like him. His mother, Ljiljana, also played professionally in Bosnia and suited up for the Yugoslavian national team. As a young boy, Vučević played on a basketball team that his father coached. His father never gave him any special treatment, like some fathers would. Instead, Vučević says his dad was probably a little bit tougher on him than the other kids, but that helped him become a better player. His father started him off with minutes as a bench player and he had to work hard to get into the starting lineup. As he grew older and taller, his primary goal was to play in the NBA.
Vučević had to leave his family, friends and everything he knew in order to pursue his dream. When he arrived in California, he had to learn a new language, adjust to a new culture and take care of himself at just 16 years old.”
Read it here: http://www.basketballinsiders.com/vucevic-opens-up-about-nba-journey-extension/
– Three takeaways from the Orlando Magic’s first seven games (from Evan Dunlap, orlandopinstripedpost.com):
” The Orlando Magic enter Monday with a 2-5 record, ranking 13th in the East and tied for 24th in the NBA overall. Even at this early juncture, it’s clear that Orlando won’t compete with most of the league’s teams on a night-to-night basis. And though the season has just gotten underway–the Magic still have 75 games to go–it’s never too early to start trying to assess what’s going on. Here’s some stuff we’ve noticed through Orlando’s first seven contests.”
– Wolves place trust in LaVine (from Jerry Zgoda, startribune.com):
” The Timberwolves’ season after just five games morphed from the present to the future when starting point guard Ricky Rubio fell clutching his left ankle in pain Friday night in Orlando.
Now it goes forward presumably with the ball substantially in the hands of rookie Zach LaVine.
Barely playing in the season’s first five games until Rubio went down, LaVine started his first NBA game Saturday. He delivered a 25-minute, five-point, six-rebound, four-assist, two-turnover and one-steal performance in 102-92 loss at Miami.
“Solid,” LaVine said afterward, evaluating his night.
He now steps forward into what coach Flip Saunders called the “bright lights of the stage” because of a decision Saunders the GM made two weeks ago to keep rookie Glenn Robinson III and waive third point guard J.J. Barea. It’s a decision Saunders said the team will stick with for now because signing another point guard while Rubio is out injured these coming weeks would require trading or releasing a player currently on the roster.”
Read it here: http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/282093061.html
– Defining Kings players’ roles after 5-2 start (from Rui Thomas, cowbellkingdom.com):
“Entering the third week of the regular season, Michael Malone has strictly adhered to a 10-man rotation. As the schedule strolls through winter, we should expect the Sacramento Kings’ head coach to tighten the belt on his distribution of minutes, but for now, this is how every player on the roster is being used.
“He was tough on me from the standpoint, I think he knew how good I could be,” DeRozan told Basketball Insiders. “I was the starting guard with him, (Hedo) Turkoglu, (Andrea) Bargnani, Jose Calderon. I was the only rookie out there. A lot of mistakes I made, he would just be hard on me about it so I could be better. He was a good dude. He’s a good friend of mine.”
Read it here: http://www.basketballinsiders.com/derozan-stronger-from-boshs-tough-love/
– With All-Star Benched for Lax Defense, the Nets Hang On (from Zach Schonbrun, NYTimes):
” Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic was picking and popping and draining jump shots with aplomb Sunday afternoon, so Nets Coach Lionel Hollins had a decision to make.
It was not, he said later, a particularly difficult one. But it involved keeping the All-Star center Brook Lopez on the bench in the final minutes of a tight game, and such a choice does not come without collateral debate.
“The kid made a lot of shots tonight,” Hollins said of Vucevic. “Brook was watching him make a lot of shots. I needed somebody who was going to stop him from taking those shots.”
If there was any doubting Hollins’s no-nonsense, leave-the-ego-out-of-it approach to shepherding the Nets, he left little margin for dispute on Sunday. As he watched his team’s defense take command, Hollins left Lopez in repose, and what resulted was a 104-96 victory at Barclays Center to complete a 3-1 homestand.”
Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/sports/basketball/with-brook-lopez-on-bench-brooklyn-nets-edge-orlando-magic.html
-As Knicks’ Derek Fisher Finds, Coaching’s Burdens Are Heavy (from William C Rhoden, NYTimes):
” For those who have played the game from a young age, the distance between the hardcourt and the head coach may seem short. The emotional distance is incalculable.
“I’m learning that,” Fisher said recently, after the Knicks had lost yet another game.
The season is young, but he has already aged.
Fisher played 18 N.B.A. seasons and earned a reputation as the quintessence of a floor leader. But even Fisher was not really prepared for the tremendous day-in, day-out drain — the impending sense of gloom that clings like a shadow.
“As a coach, you’re always searching,” Fisher said. “Even after a win, you’re still searching.””
Read it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/sports/basketball/as-knicks-derek-fisher-finds-coachings-burdens-are-heavy.html
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