– Why Memphis Grizzlies Are NBA’s Most Dangerous Dark Horse (from Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report):
” What’s so scary about this Memphis team? How is this version of the Grizzlies any different from the ones we’ve always ignored until that “Hey, wait a minute; Memphis is good” moment in the season’s final weeks? Let’s break it down.”
Read and view it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2255029-why-memphis-grizzlies-are-nbas-most-dangerous-dark-horse
And from Zach Thomas at 3sob.com: http://www.3sob.com/2014/november-2014/memphis-is-4-0-quicksand-is-the-new-mud/19324/
-Lance Stephenson Vows To Take Charlotte’s Offense Into His Own Hands (from Michael Scotto, Sheridanhoops.com):
” In Charlotte, Stephenson must learn how to play cohesively with a fellow New York City point guard who has a similar game, Kemba Walker.
“We’re similar, he’s just in a little body,” Stephenson said. “He’s a great point guard, he’s smart with making decisions, he’s a winner and when you need that big shot, he’s there to make that. Just being on his side and being on this team is incredible.”
Walker represents a stark contrast to Stephenson’s previous backcourt mate in Indiana, George Hill.
Walker flourishes with the ball in his hands while creating his own offense with a deadly step-back dribble at the top of the key and crossover to penetrate into the paint.
Hill is a solid shooter capable of freelancing without the basketball around the perimeter, which freed Stephenson to dominate the ball as the primary playmaker.”
Read it here: http://www.sheridanhoops.com/2014/11/03/scotto-lance-stephenson-vows-to-take-charlottes-offense-into-his-own-hands/
– Raptors offense productive early despite warts (from Blake Murphy, raptorsrepublic.com):
” There is one primary reason why the offense hasn’t looked great aesthetically but has been effective nonetheless: the things they’re doing well don’t necessarily stand out. The two areas the Raptors are thriving are in ball control, which is more often picked up for its absence than presence, and getting to the free throw line, which is more noticeable but not exactly pretty, and at times irritating to watch (again, from, an aesthetic standpoint only).”
Read it here: http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2014/11/04/47786/
– Warriors vs. Clippers: Introducing the New Faces of the Clippers (from Chris Nielsen, goldenstateofmind.com):
” How is this season’s version of the Clippers different? How do the Warriors matchup against them?”
Read it here: http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2014/11/4/7153019/Warriors-vs-clippers-preview-Blake-griffin
– Steve Kerr has Warriors on the move (from Antonio Gonzalez, Associated Press):
” (W)hat Kerr expects out of the Warriors: unselfish basketball without worrying about individual accomplishments.
Kerr has gotten players to embrace that philosophy, rolling out a new offense and a new rotation that are working wonders for the Warriors so far. Golden State is 3-0 for the first time in 20 years, and Kerr is the franchise’s first coach to begin his career with three consecutive wins since Neil Johnston did it to start the 1959-60 season.
Kerr said he has been proud of the way his players have accepted his way of doing things, which could’ve been complicated after the team fired popular predecessor Mark Jackson following a 51-win season and back-to-back playoff berths. He’s also quick to note that the season is just a week old and his rotation is far from flawless.
What has pleased Kerr most is that the Warriors are still winning while adjusting.”
Read it here: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/sports/3059718-181/kerr-has-warriors-on-the#page=0
– Festus Ezeli is back and a defensive bully again (from Andy Liu, goldenstateofmind.com):
” After a year and change without playing professional five-on-five basketball, Festus Ezeli is back. Noticeably skinnier, he looks just as explosive as before.
Read and view it here: http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2014/11/4/7153773/golde-state-warriors-festus-ezeli-defense-healthy
– Trail Blazers look inward at a ‘laundry list’ of issues (from Joe Freeman, oregonian.com):
” When you open a season of expectations with just one win in three games, when your All-Star point guard is in a funk, when your starting small forward looks distracted and when your best and most trusted asset — a high-powered offense — is stuck in neutral, you tend to look inward rather than outward.
And, for the Blazers, there are a host off issues to reflect on. When coach Terry Stotts addressed reporters Monday afternoon, he held a stack of papers in his hands and waved them about, noting that one of them contained a “laundry list” of issues plaguing the Blazers. The “laundry list” featured 10 items that ranged from cutting and screening to ball movement and pace.”
Read it here: http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2014/11/trail_blazers_look_inward_at_a_laundry_list.html
– Lakers’ Downward Spiral Raises Plenty of Questions but Has Few Easy Solutions (from Kevin Ding, Bleacher Report):
” The Lakers are putting in a new system under a new coach—unlike all four of their opponents so far—with their one star player having played just six shaky games in the past year and a half. They had significant and demoralizing injury absences—unlike all four teams they faced. And without having built a post-Mike D’Antoni defensive identity yet, they were playing four games in five nights for the only time all season…against four excellent offenses.
Throw in the fact that the Lakers aren’t quite stacked with talent in the first place…
With full acknowledgement that 0-4 is as much of a failure as could possibly be recorded right now, it’s still a little early to be calling anything or anybody a real failure.”
Read and view it here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2255363-lakers-downward-spiral-raises-plenty-of-questions-but-has-few-easy-solutions
– The Lakers’ roster doesn’t fit (from The Great Mambino, silverscreenandroll.com):
” (P)rofessional basketball isn’t playing checkers — it’s playing three dimensional chess. Against a robot. That Bruce Wayne designed. It’s never an apples to apples comparison when evaluating two players. One can’t simply say that Jerry West was a better player than Hakeem Olajuwon. There are too many variables to consider — positional differentiation, offensive statistics, defensive metrics, teammates, minutes played, offense and defensive systems played in, usage rate …. I could go on. But the point is, taking a player, or a group of players, and assigning overall value to them without looking at varying factors doesn’t a fair contrast make. That’s like saying a meal in Mexico is better than a meal in Seattle because you shelled out more coins for it. You’ve got to have context.
In comparing last year’s team to this one, it isn’t about the amount of talent, it’s how that talent fits.”
Read it here: http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2014/11/4/7146927/la-lakers-roster-problems
– Life Without Westbrook and Durant (from Zach Lowe, grantland.com):
” The Thunder will use the absence of Durant and Westbrook as an opportunity to build a motion offense that is less predictable and less prone to stagnancy. The Thunder have been a scoring powerhouse at full health, but in one-possession games against elite playoff defenses geared up for the Durant and Westbrook show, having an extra counter or two every trip can be the difference between winning and losing.
“We can still get better in that area,” Collison says. “Everyone asks: ‘Why don’t they move the ball?’ But it takes time. We have two 25-year-olds that can just take their man and score. But now it’s about balance and having faith in what is the correct way to play.””
Read it here: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-playoffs/
– Bulls having fun again on offense (from K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune):
” Fun isn’t a word that would be associated with watching the Bulls’ offense last season. Sleep-inducing, painful and challenging are words that better fit the overall experience.
This is what can happen when Derrick Rose is lost for the season and Luol Deng is traded to avoid a luxury tax payment: The Bulls averaged a league-worst 93.7 points, a full 1.3 points behind the next-lowest team in Utah. They shot 43.2 percent, also an NBA low.
Three games represent a small sample size. But with an average of 106 points, fourth-best in the league entering Monday night, and 47.8 percent shooting, one word about the offense kept surfacing following Monday’s practice.
“It’s fun, really fun,” Taj Gibson said. “The thing about this squad is everybody’s really unselfish. Everyone wants everybody to succeed. It’s never, ‘Why didn’t you look for me on that last shot?’ Everybody’s like, ‘Take that shot. We’ll live with it.’ ”
Read it here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/ct-bulls-spt-1104-20141103-story.html
And Luol Deng compares Bulls/Heat offensive philosophies (from Joseph Goodman, Miami Herald):
– Can Perry Jones Be OKC’s Unlikely Savior? (from Danny Chau, grantland.com):
” The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of a two-month-long doomsday prep drill. Except, as it turns out, this is not a drill. The stakes are too high, and the margin for error is too slim and getting slimmer still. The reasons for competing haven’t changed, but almost everything else has. Seven different players are injured; Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both out until around December. In only the second game of the season, the Thunder saw the floor beneath them collapse into oblivion. And yet spirits are high — as high as they can be in such ruin. It didn’t take long for the Thunder to find a small silver lining. Perry Jones has become the team’s unlikely savior. A few months ago, he was an afterthought, a player with no guarantee as a rotation player on the team. So then, how did this happen?”
Read it here: http://grantland.com/the-triangle/perry-jones-oklahoma-city-thunder-savior/
– Quick Hitters for Tuesday (from Jeff Fogle, nyloncalculus.com):
“How bad are the Lakers, How Good are the Warriors, How Fast are the 76ers?”
” We’re already seeing a big difference between the NBA and basketball reference estimates (of the # of offensive possessions per game) before the tabulations come into play… What’s going to happen when critics of basketball analytics find out that there isn’t agreement on how to count to 100?!”
Read it here: http://nyloncalculus.com/2014/11/04/nylon-notebook-quick-hitters-tuesday/
– Previewing this week’s games (from Paul Flannery, SBNation):
” With so many games, the savvy NBA consumer needs to plot out their week in advance. This week, we’ll be paying attention to the Warriors’ difficult schedule and six other intriguing matchups”
Read it here: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/11/3/7149757/nba-schedule-2014-viewing-guide-golden-state-warriors
– Tristan Thompson: http://www.wkyc.com/story/sports/nba/cavaliers/2014/11/04/thompson-is-force-on-the-glass/18449219/
– J.R. Smith: http://theknicksblog.com/knicks/examining-the-motivations-for-trading-j-r-smith/
– Patrick Patterson: http://probballreport.com/raptors-patterson-credits-john-calipari-for-his-defense/
– Trevor Booker: http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2014/11/04/trevor-booker-three-pointers-like-paul-millsap/
– Brandon Knight: http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/11/offense-optional-milwaukee-bucks-indiana-pacers-preview/
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