– Brett Brown begins the task of shaping Noel
“It’s a real eye-opener for me where, in my old job, you saw just hardened men, veterans, who knew how to navigate 82 games,” said Brown, the Sixers’ head coach. “It’s such a skill, a mind-set, a toughness, that people have the ability to back things up, and that’s life in the NBA. Our group has to learn that now. Nerlens has to learn that now, and I’m very curious.”
Read it here: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20141102_Brown_begins_the_task_of_shaping_Noel.html
– Can the Spurs’ defense survive without Tiago Splitter? (from JGomez, poundingtherock.com):
Read and view it here: http://www.poundingtherock.com/2014/11/2/7147257/spurs-defense-tiago-splitter-aron-baynes
– Van Gundy knows Pistons shooters will revert to form, so focus goes to D, ball movement, screens (from Keith Langlois, nba.com/pistons):
” (S)hooting wasn’t a point of emphasis of Sunday’s practice, one that left Van Gundy pleased with the demeanor of his 0-3 team for its spirit and attentiveness the day after a disheartening home-opening loss to Brooklyn. All the things that lead up to shooting, however, were high on the docket.
Among them: cleaning up defensive breakdowns, getting better ball movement and setting sturdier screens. Van Gundy counted 20 points Brooklyn scored simply because of game-plan mistakes in the defense. Get more stops, he says, and your shooters are going to play with more ease and confidence, not feeling like every possession is do or die because of an alarming yield on the other end.
“I honestly believe that stuff goes hand in hand. If you’re not stopping people and then you go down and have to make shots, that’s not easy. But when you know your defense is holding and you’re sort of playing free and easy, the game gets better.”
Read it here: http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/van-gundy-knows-pistons-shooters-will-revert-form-so-focus-goes-d-ball-movement-screens
– The Houston Rockets, Andrew Wiggins, and transition threes (from Jack Maloney, Hardwood Paroxysm):
Read and view it here: http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2014/10/31/film-room-friday-houston-rockets-andrew-wiggins-transition-threes/
– Randy Wittman, Byron Scott and Understanding Shot Selection (from Ian Levy, nyloncalculus.com):
” Both coaches are working with a misunderstanding is bigger than the relative value of two and three-point baskets. While it’s framed as an analytics discussion this really about understanding the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of players and how best to put them in positions to succeed. Wall and Beal are capable of attacking the basket and that’s where the majority of their drives should end. The Lakers don’t have the same quality of penetrators and, without a legitimate post threat besides Kobe, attacking the rim is often indistinguishable from forcing the issue.
Analytics offers some general rules of thumb about which shots to pursue. The final determining factors should be how open the shot is and the personnel involved. That, ultimately, is where Scott and Wittman seem most disconnected from conventional wisdom.”
Read and view it here: http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/10/30/randy-wittman-byron-scott-understanding-shot-selection/
– Blake Griffin still finding room to improve (from Robert Morales, Long Beach Press-Telegram):
“He works on his game so much that as long as he’s healthy, in is prime, he’s going to continue to improve, continue to play at an extremely high level. The mental side of things, for him, I think is the biggest challenge.”
Funny Redick should say that. Besides working hard on his shot with his shooting coach during the off-season, Griffin ventured into a different realm more than usual.
“I think this summer I watched more film than I ever have before, just to kind of break down things and try to see things from a different perspective,” Griffin said. “I hope it will be put to good use. Really, the only thing about it is that mental side.”
Read it here: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20141029/blake-griffin-still-finding-room-to-improve-for-clippers
– Lakers’ defensive issues main contributor to 0-4 start (from Mark Medina, insidesocal.com):
“Scott has chalked up the Lakers’ perimeter defense mostly toward leaving corner three-pointers uncontested out of fear of leaving the top of the key open. Scott has implored for the Lakers to play on offense at a deliberate pace and for his team to hustle back on defense to ensure more half-court sets. Scott also took aim at Lakers center Jordan Hill and forward Carlos Boozer.
“Our bigs got to do a better job,” Scott said. “You’re playing against teams like this that run multiple pick and rolls, if we’re trying to trap it, our bigs got to be up there. If we’re trying a hard show, our bigs got to get up there. There were too many times our bigs were just flat and back on their heels. You can’t do that with these guys. They’re too good.”
Hill conceded he needs to improve on defense, but he also spread the blame.
“We definitely got to communicate. Everybody does,” Hill said. “There’s a lot of wide open layups. There are times I had to help the guard and no one cracked out on my man. But we’ve been having trouble the past couple of years on the defensive end. We have to make it our main focal point. If we communicate, talk loud and be in the right position at the right time, we shouldn’t have nothing to worry about with getting any wins or contesting against any other good teams.”
Read it here: http://www.insidesocal.com/lakers/2014/11/02/lakers-defensive-issues-main-contributor-to-0-4-start/
Tyson Chandler (from Bobby Karalla, mavs.com):
” The Mavs’ prodigal son at center is averaging 2.0 offensive rebounds this season, second on the team only to Brandan Wright (who also deserves plenty of praise for his play this week). Chandler has battled against some of the best rebounders in the NBA to do it, too — during this week’s three games, his adversaries included Tim Duncan, Derrick Favors, Anthony Davis, and Omer Asik.
It’s the situations in which Chandler gives Dallas a second chance that matters most. Per NBA Stats — every single one of you should check out the league’s newly designed stats page right away! — 1.7 of Chandler’s offensive rebounds have followed shots from at least 13 feet, and all of them have come with at least one opponent in the immediate vicinity, what the NBA refers to as a “contested” rebound.”
Read it here: http://www.mavs.com/player-of-the-week-tyson-chandler/
– Saturday’s Games (from Jonathan Tjarks, Patternofbasketball.com):
Read it here: http://patternofbasketball.blogspot.com/2014/11/saturdays-games.html
More Player updates:
– Brandon Jennings: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2014/11/01/detroit-pistons-brandon-jennings/18344449/
– Jimmy Butler: http://www.csnchicago.com/bulls/bulls-clutch-effort-shows-depth-jimmy-butlers-game
– Darren Collison: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/kings-blog/article3518485.html
– Shane Larkin: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/knicks-guard-shane-larkin-holding-nba-best-article-1.1995674
– Brandan Wright: http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/11/01/6250911/wright-right-back-into-a-zone.html
– Donald Sloan: http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/sloan-steps-spotlight and http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/sloan-steps-spotlight-part-2
– Bojan Bogdanovic: http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/brooklyn-nets/post/_/id/21019/bogdanovic-nba-adjustment-not-that-easy
-Trevor Booker: http://www.sltrib.com/sports/1775300-155/booker-jazz-utah-game-games-angeles
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