Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Celtics Going Small
The first question that Brad Stevens was asked in the post-game scrum was what he told his players at halftime that would explain the remarkable run they went on. After losing the first half by 26 points, the Celtics mounted a furious comeback and had several shots to tie the game in the final minute, eventually losing by 5. Stevens smiled and shook his head. A big half-time speech isn't going to move the needle in the NBA.
A coach isn't thinking what he's going to say to the guys on the floor - he's trying to figure out what guys he should put on the floor. A line-up adjustment is the best way for a coach to put his fingerprints on a game and that's exactly what Stevens did on Monday, when he took out one of his big men and played small, with 4 perimeter players and 3 PG's in the game. It's a line-up that could pay dividends going forward.
The Celtics closed out the game with Jared Sullinger, Jeff Green, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo on the floor. "It wasn't so much the three guards as the four guards," Stevens said afterwards. "We were playing really small. We had an all 6'8 and under team out there for awhile. We defended with purpose, got into the ball and played more into our identity. We made them uncomfortable."
Changing the line-up had a domino effect on the entire game. In the first half, the Mavs made absolute hay out of attacking the Celtics two big man sets, running pick-and-rolls at Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk and creating wide-open shots almost every time down the floor. Dallas got whatever they wanted - one big man couldn't move his feet at the point of attack and the other couldn't move his feet as the second line of defense.
In the modern NBA, the first question that every team must answer is whether they are a 4-out or a 2-in team. As a rule, a team that goes small is increasing their floor spacing and team speed in order to be more effective on the offensive end of the floor. The Memphis Grizzlies are the archetypal example of a team that stays big - they want to control tempo, grind you out in the half-court and suffocate you on defense.
The whole point of playing two big men together is to improve your defense and match-up with bigger teams. So if the Celtics can't find a two-man combination out of Olynyk, Sullinger, Brandon Bass and Tyler Zeller that can play good defense, there's really no point in them not going small. "We had a hard time guarding Dirk [when we went small]," Stevens said, "but we had a hard time guarding Dirk anyway."
With Green at the 4, Boston becomes a much faster team and they have a much easier time leveraging the strength of their team - the perimeter defense of Bradley, Rondo & Smart. That should be a law firm because those three can straight up lock down other teams. Stevens must have said "get into the ball" 5x in his press conference afterward. The three of those guys combined to force 6 steals from the Mavs guards.
Smart, in particular, was very impressive, as he can slide between all three perimeter positions on defense. That's what makes him so intriguing from a line-up perspective - at 6'4 220 with a 6'8 wingspan, he can be the fastest SF in the league or the biggest PG. Line-ups with Smart in them can do a lot of switching and blitzing, as he has the size and toughness to defend guys much bigger than him in a 1-on-1 scenario.
He stuffed the stat-sheet in his first game back in his home-town - 7 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block - and did it with a lot of flair too.
The one thing he will have to avoid is flopping, as he came into the league with a bit of a reputation and ones as egregious as this aren't going to win him many friends in the officiating ranks. He might need to be fined for this, really:
Smart at the 3 moves Green at the 4, which is another plus for this line-up, as most combo forwards are more effective using their speed on PF's than using their size on SF's. The Mavs had no answer for him, either, as he went for 35 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 14-28 shooting. He makes good money, but I bet he looks at Chandler Parsons and thinks, this guy is making $15 million dollars? Let me holler at some of that.
* Not saying that Green is better than Chandler. Just that, from his POV, since he can win the 1-on-1 match-up, how can that other guy be better than me?
Going small also benefits Jared Sullinger, who is still trying to figure out who he is in the NBA. He is trying to prove he is a three-point shooter, which is fine, but you don't want him abandoning what got him in the league in the first place. He has a big ole butt, soft hands and good footwork around the basket - that's where he worries other teams. While Sullinger went 0-2 from 3 against Dallas, he snagged 7 offensive rebounds.
Even if they play their 7'0, they are still going to be at a huge disadvantage in the paint, as Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones proved on Saturday. They might as well go small and take advantage of the strengths that are on their roster and live with the fact that they will have to concede some points from some of the bigger front-lines in the NBA. Either way, it's going to be a matter of what Stevens wants to give up.
One of the reasons you can't jump to any big conclusions in the first week of the season is that coaches are still trying to find their team's best line-ups. It's all about experimenting, throwing different groups on the floor and seeing what sticks. Brad Stevens may have found something against the Mavs tonight. Rondo, Bradley, Smart, Green and Sullinger are his five best players. Might as well play them all at once.
A coach isn't thinking what he's going to say to the guys on the floor - he's trying to figure out what guys he should put on the floor. A line-up adjustment is the best way for a coach to put his fingerprints on a game and that's exactly what Stevens did on Monday, when he took out one of his big men and played small, with 4 perimeter players and 3 PG's in the game. It's a line-up that could pay dividends going forward.
The Celtics closed out the game with Jared Sullinger, Jeff Green, Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo on the floor. "It wasn't so much the three guards as the four guards," Stevens said afterwards. "We were playing really small. We had an all 6'8 and under team out there for awhile. We defended with purpose, got into the ball and played more into our identity. We made them uncomfortable."
Changing the line-up had a domino effect on the entire game. In the first half, the Mavs made absolute hay out of attacking the Celtics two big man sets, running pick-and-rolls at Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk and creating wide-open shots almost every time down the floor. Dallas got whatever they wanted - one big man couldn't move his feet at the point of attack and the other couldn't move his feet as the second line of defense.
In the modern NBA, the first question that every team must answer is whether they are a 4-out or a 2-in team. As a rule, a team that goes small is increasing their floor spacing and team speed in order to be more effective on the offensive end of the floor. The Memphis Grizzlies are the archetypal example of a team that stays big - they want to control tempo, grind you out in the half-court and suffocate you on defense.
The whole point of playing two big men together is to improve your defense and match-up with bigger teams. So if the Celtics can't find a two-man combination out of Olynyk, Sullinger, Brandon Bass and Tyler Zeller that can play good defense, there's really no point in them not going small. "We had a hard time guarding Dirk [when we went small]," Stevens said, "but we had a hard time guarding Dirk anyway."
With Green at the 4, Boston becomes a much faster team and they have a much easier time leveraging the strength of their team - the perimeter defense of Bradley, Rondo & Smart. That should be a law firm because those three can straight up lock down other teams. Stevens must have said "get into the ball" 5x in his press conference afterward. The three of those guys combined to force 6 steals from the Mavs guards.
Smart, in particular, was very impressive, as he can slide between all three perimeter positions on defense. That's what makes him so intriguing from a line-up perspective - at 6'4 220 with a 6'8 wingspan, he can be the fastest SF in the league or the biggest PG. Line-ups with Smart in them can do a lot of switching and blitzing, as he has the size and toughness to defend guys much bigger than him in a 1-on-1 scenario.
He stuffed the stat-sheet in his first game back in his home-town - 7 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block - and did it with a lot of flair too.
The one thing he will have to avoid is flopping, as he came into the league with a bit of a reputation and ones as egregious as this aren't going to win him many friends in the officiating ranks. He might need to be fined for this, really:
The 2014-15 Flop of the Year award goes to.... Boston Celtics Marcus Smart. https://t.co/nQKdmTaULR
— MFFL (@MavsFansForLife) November 4, 2014
I do love that he tried to sell the ref on it afterwards, though. There's no shame in his game.Smart at the 3 moves Green at the 4, which is another plus for this line-up, as most combo forwards are more effective using their speed on PF's than using their size on SF's. The Mavs had no answer for him, either, as he went for 35 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 14-28 shooting. He makes good money, but I bet he looks at Chandler Parsons and thinks, this guy is making $15 million dollars? Let me holler at some of that.
* Not saying that Green is better than Chandler. Just that, from his POV, since he can win the 1-on-1 match-up, how can that other guy be better than me?
Going small also benefits Jared Sullinger, who is still trying to figure out who he is in the NBA. He is trying to prove he is a three-point shooter, which is fine, but you don't want him abandoning what got him in the league in the first place. He has a big ole butt, soft hands and good footwork around the basket - that's where he worries other teams. While Sullinger went 0-2 from 3 against Dallas, he snagged 7 offensive rebounds.
Even if they play their 7'0, they are still going to be at a huge disadvantage in the paint, as Dwight Howard and Terrence Jones proved on Saturday. They might as well go small and take advantage of the strengths that are on their roster and live with the fact that they will have to concede some points from some of the bigger front-lines in the NBA. Either way, it's going to be a matter of what Stevens wants to give up.
One of the reasons you can't jump to any big conclusions in the first week of the season is that coaches are still trying to find their team's best line-ups. It's all about experimenting, throwing different groups on the floor and seeing what sticks. Brad Stevens may have found something against the Mavs tonight. Rondo, Bradley, Smart, Green and Sullinger are his five best players. Might as well play them all at once.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Celtics Scouting Report
At Mavs Moneyball, a look at a rebuilding Boston team as they begin a new season.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Value of a 2nd Contract
Halloween in the NBA is annually one of the biggest days of the season, as it's the deadline for guys entering their fourth season to get an extension on their rookie deals. After playing under the rookie wage scale, it's their first shot at real NBA money, the type of long-term contract than can set up a player and his family for generations. For teams, it's the chance to secure a young player as a part of their core through the prime of his career.
A total of eight guys from the 2011 draft ended up getting extensions - Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Alec Burks, Markieff and Marcus Morris, Nik Vucevic and Kenneth Faried - along with a guy from 2010 (Ricky Rubio) who spent an extra year in Europe before coming over. The flood of TV money expected to come into the league makes judging these things a little more difficult, but we can still safely assume that some got underpaid and some got overpaid.
That, however, is based off judging these contracts in a vacuum, which you cannot do. Every player is different and every team is different and there are a number of idiosyncratic reasons why the two parties came to the agreement that they did. When judging these extensions from the POV of the teams, the most important thing to remember is the opportunity cost. Namely, what else would some of these teams do with their money?
A good example of that is Nik Vucevic in Orlando, who agreed to a 4-year $53 million deal. Even with the premium for skilled size, many observers around the league called it an overpay. There are certainly some issues in his game - he's not a great rim protector, he doesn't stretch the floor and he hasn't proven he can be a primary option in the post. Nevertheless, he's a proven NBA center and it's not like those guys are lining up to sign with the Magic.
In their first two seasons post Dwight, the Magic have drawn plaudits for accumulating young talent while sitting at the very bottom of a bad conference. They are likely to be bad this season and next season - if they don't want to be bad for the next 5, they can't afford to jettison any of their good players. The holes in Vucevic's game could be exposed in a seven-game playoff series, but they will cross that bridge when they come to it.
It's the same situation in Utah, who received a decidedly mixed reaction to the four-year $43 million deal they gave to Alec Burks. Salt Lake City might be the most unappealing free agent market in the NBA - if the Jazz are going to bring in any good players, it is probably going to have to come through the draft or trades, which means accumulating young assets like Burks that other teams could presumably be interested in, down the road.
Too much of the coverage of these extensions assumes that every team in the NBA is in Miami or Los Angeles, markets where it actually makes sense to clear out as much cap space as possible. The vast majority of NBA teams are in markets where NBA players don't particularly want to live. Look what happened to Oklahoma City with Pau Gasol - they are a 60+ win team and they had no chance to sign him because he wanted to live in Chicago.
Even if you are a premier free agent destination, the ability to dive into unrestricted free agency may be more curse than blessing. In the NBA's current economic climate, guys don't become UFA's until their 8th or 9th seasons in the league, when the majority are well in to the decline stage of their careers. The average NBA career is only 4.5 seasons long - basketball is a young man's game and many guys drop off fast in their 30's.
A good rule of thumb in free agency is you only want the best of the best. If you can do what Miami did in 2010 and swoop up LeBron, D Wade and Bosh, then go for it. The greatest players are declining from such a peak that they can adjust their games in their 30's and still be very effective. Where you start to worry is when you get to the second and third-tier free agents in their late 20's - if they fall off, there's no floor to catch them.
You can see that happening in Golden State, where they are already starting to worry about paying the back end of David Lee and Andre Iguodala's contracts. Those guys were really good NBA players in their primes, but they are already beginning to show their age and keeping them may mean the Warriors have to say goodbye to young players like Draymond Green and Harry Barnes. The third contract rarely pays off for NBA teams.
The size of Klay Thompson's extension has been the biggest topic of discussion surrounding the Warriors ever since the Kevin Love trade fell through, but it was a little bit of a red herring. It may or may not have been an "overpay", though his 43-point explosion on Saturday is an encouraging sign, but either way, Golden State was getting a really good two-way SG through the prime of his career. If Klay stays healthy, he is going to help the team.
That's the nice thing about locking up guys on their 2nd NBA contracts - you are paying for their age 24-29 seasons. Those are the best years of a player's career, as their mental game catches up with their physical game, which doesn't really start to slip until around 30. A contract that looks like an overpay when it's signed, like DeMar DeRozan or Taj Gibson, can quickly become an underpay, as those guys come into their own in the NBA.
What really kills a salary cap isn't a player in his prime making more money than his market value, it's a declining player dealing with injuries who can no longer be the player he's being paid to be. See: Amare Stoudemire. That was Amare's 3rd contract and the Suns were like no way we're paying him for his early 30's. People see established NBA vets as safe plays in free agency, but they are really some of the riskiest, due to the increased risk of injury as they age.
Restricted free agency is really an extension of a process that goes all the way back to draft night - an economic system that allows NBA teams to keep the vast majority of the league's talent base out of free agency until they are almost into their 2nd decade in the league. As a rule, teams in smaller markets don't want to have to depend on free agency to acquire players. They want to be able to draft, develop and pay their own guys and develop an internal culture.
The worst thing you can do is develop the rep of a franchise that doesn't take care of its own. Younger guys are always watching the guys ahead of them and if they think they are not going to get a fair shake come contract time, they are going to start playing for their own stats with one eye on impressing every other team in the league. It's all well and good to ask them to sacrifice for the good of the team, but that's a two-way street.
When you look at the nine guys who agreed to extensions, my guess is the vast majority of them are going to be worth the money. Even if you end up wanting to trade them, a starting-caliber player in his mid to late 20's whose locked up for several years is always capable of being moved. As far as guys like Kawhi Leonard and Reggie Jackson who didn't get signed, their teams better hope they keep them b/c they will impossible to replace.
There's a premium on starting-caliber players in this league and there's not many ways to acquire those types of players. If you have to go out on the market to get them, not only are you running the risk of paying for someone else's problem, but you have to compete with multiple teams who are pursuing them. The easiest way to not overpay is to only negotiate with one party. Long story short, it's in the best interest of most NBA teams to pay their young players.
A total of eight guys from the 2011 draft ended up getting extensions - Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Alec Burks, Markieff and Marcus Morris, Nik Vucevic and Kenneth Faried - along with a guy from 2010 (Ricky Rubio) who spent an extra year in Europe before coming over. The flood of TV money expected to come into the league makes judging these things a little more difficult, but we can still safely assume that some got underpaid and some got overpaid.
That, however, is based off judging these contracts in a vacuum, which you cannot do. Every player is different and every team is different and there are a number of idiosyncratic reasons why the two parties came to the agreement that they did. When judging these extensions from the POV of the teams, the most important thing to remember is the opportunity cost. Namely, what else would some of these teams do with their money?
A good example of that is Nik Vucevic in Orlando, who agreed to a 4-year $53 million deal. Even with the premium for skilled size, many observers around the league called it an overpay. There are certainly some issues in his game - he's not a great rim protector, he doesn't stretch the floor and he hasn't proven he can be a primary option in the post. Nevertheless, he's a proven NBA center and it's not like those guys are lining up to sign with the Magic.
In their first two seasons post Dwight, the Magic have drawn plaudits for accumulating young talent while sitting at the very bottom of a bad conference. They are likely to be bad this season and next season - if they don't want to be bad for the next 5, they can't afford to jettison any of their good players. The holes in Vucevic's game could be exposed in a seven-game playoff series, but they will cross that bridge when they come to it.
It's the same situation in Utah, who received a decidedly mixed reaction to the four-year $43 million deal they gave to Alec Burks. Salt Lake City might be the most unappealing free agent market in the NBA - if the Jazz are going to bring in any good players, it is probably going to have to come through the draft or trades, which means accumulating young assets like Burks that other teams could presumably be interested in, down the road.
Too much of the coverage of these extensions assumes that every team in the NBA is in Miami or Los Angeles, markets where it actually makes sense to clear out as much cap space as possible. The vast majority of NBA teams are in markets where NBA players don't particularly want to live. Look what happened to Oklahoma City with Pau Gasol - they are a 60+ win team and they had no chance to sign him because he wanted to live in Chicago.
Even if you are a premier free agent destination, the ability to dive into unrestricted free agency may be more curse than blessing. In the NBA's current economic climate, guys don't become UFA's until their 8th or 9th seasons in the league, when the majority are well in to the decline stage of their careers. The average NBA career is only 4.5 seasons long - basketball is a young man's game and many guys drop off fast in their 30's.
A good rule of thumb in free agency is you only want the best of the best. If you can do what Miami did in 2010 and swoop up LeBron, D Wade and Bosh, then go for it. The greatest players are declining from such a peak that they can adjust their games in their 30's and still be very effective. Where you start to worry is when you get to the second and third-tier free agents in their late 20's - if they fall off, there's no floor to catch them.
You can see that happening in Golden State, where they are already starting to worry about paying the back end of David Lee and Andre Iguodala's contracts. Those guys were really good NBA players in their primes, but they are already beginning to show their age and keeping them may mean the Warriors have to say goodbye to young players like Draymond Green and Harry Barnes. The third contract rarely pays off for NBA teams.
The size of Klay Thompson's extension has been the biggest topic of discussion surrounding the Warriors ever since the Kevin Love trade fell through, but it was a little bit of a red herring. It may or may not have been an "overpay", though his 43-point explosion on Saturday is an encouraging sign, but either way, Golden State was getting a really good two-way SG through the prime of his career. If Klay stays healthy, he is going to help the team.
That's the nice thing about locking up guys on their 2nd NBA contracts - you are paying for their age 24-29 seasons. Those are the best years of a player's career, as their mental game catches up with their physical game, which doesn't really start to slip until around 30. A contract that looks like an overpay when it's signed, like DeMar DeRozan or Taj Gibson, can quickly become an underpay, as those guys come into their own in the NBA.
What really kills a salary cap isn't a player in his prime making more money than his market value, it's a declining player dealing with injuries who can no longer be the player he's being paid to be. See: Amare Stoudemire. That was Amare's 3rd contract and the Suns were like no way we're paying him for his early 30's. People see established NBA vets as safe plays in free agency, but they are really some of the riskiest, due to the increased risk of injury as they age.
Restricted free agency is really an extension of a process that goes all the way back to draft night - an economic system that allows NBA teams to keep the vast majority of the league's talent base out of free agency until they are almost into their 2nd decade in the league. As a rule, teams in smaller markets don't want to have to depend on free agency to acquire players. They want to be able to draft, develop and pay their own guys and develop an internal culture.
The worst thing you can do is develop the rep of a franchise that doesn't take care of its own. Younger guys are always watching the guys ahead of them and if they think they are not going to get a fair shake come contract time, they are going to start playing for their own stats with one eye on impressing every other team in the league. It's all well and good to ask them to sacrifice for the good of the team, but that's a two-way street.
When you look at the nine guys who agreed to extensions, my guess is the vast majority of them are going to be worth the money. Even if you end up wanting to trade them, a starting-caliber player in his mid to late 20's whose locked up for several years is always capable of being moved. As far as guys like Kawhi Leonard and Reggie Jackson who didn't get signed, their teams better hope they keep them b/c they will impossible to replace.
There's a premium on starting-caliber players in this league and there's not many ways to acquire those types of players. If you have to go out on the market to get them, not only are you running the risk of paying for someone else's problem, but you have to compete with multiple teams who are pursuing them. The easiest way to not overpay is to only negotiate with one party. Long story short, it's in the best interest of most NBA teams to pay their young players.
Saturday's Games
Saturday's slate of games was the perfect advertisement for League Pass. After two months of playoffs and a four month off-season, I had kind of forgotten how much fun it was to flip through 7-8 NBA games in the span of an hour and a half. I had money on a few college football games and I couldn't even check 'em out really, there was just too much fun stuff happening in the NBA.
Hat tip to the Daily Thunder
Check out the last shot he made and remember this is a 6'11 guy. A guy with the size of a center should not be able to do the things that PJ3 can do.
Mavericks 109, Pellies 104
This was a really fun game - two talented teams going back and forth for 48 minutes. The ball was flying around the court and there were multiple guys on each team getting buckets. New Orleans has some issues to work out, but they have the talent to run with just about anyone in the league on a nightly basis.
Anthony Davis did Anthony Davis things, but there are other guys on this team who can play too. Tyreke Evans almost had a triple double, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. He was playing like a 6'6 Monta Ellis - an elite slasher and underrated passer who doesn't need a 3-point shot to take over the game. Get him in the right situation and his contract won't seem like a big deal.
From the Mavs POV, Tyreke's play showcased the biggest hole on their team. Without Shawn Marion and Vince Carter, they don't have many perimeter stoppers and they have precious little size on the wings. Chandler Parsons has been billed as a versatile defender, but he really couldn't do anything on Tyreke.
As for the demerits side in New Orleans, take a look at this box score and tell me if you notice something different about Eric Gordon's stat-line.
Jazz 118, Suns 91
Utah got soundly drubbed in their first two games, so of course they turn around and beat the stuffing out of a Phoenix team that had just upset San Antonio. You have to love the first week of the season - no one knows anything. No team has been beaten down by the losing yet. There's optimism in the air and the arenas are (mostly) packed.
The key to the Suns first two wins was their second-unit guards, when they brought IT2 and Gerald Green off the bench and had them play next to The Dragon or Bledsoe. They were going up against guys like Ronnie Price and Cory Joseph and they were absolutely slaughtering them. That changed on Saturday, with the Jazz going strength on strength and throwing Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Dante Exum and Rodney Hood at them. That is a ton of length and athleticism.
Exum was the real highlight of the night to me. He went 3-4 from 3-point line, which was considered the weakest part of his game coming into the NBA. If he can consistently knock down 3's, there's going to be no stopping this kid. You should have seen the way he towered over IT2 - he's a sleek 6'6 killing machine. I'll put it out there already - if he's knocking down 3's, he's winning ROY. Trey Burke is good, but Exum - Burks - Hayward on the perimeter could be something special.
Raptors 108, Magic 95
Shh. Nothing to see here. The Raptors are now 3-0 against the spread and they have been handing out solid beatings to every team they face. So while they haven't really played anyone yet, they have been doing work. People are going to be shocked to see how good this team is at the end of the season.
I love all their guys, but the one I have to put on for is Terrence Ross. He is a bad MF and most people have no idea. James Herbert at CBS is working on a big thing about him, so watch out for that. He's Canadian, which means he has on the ground access as well as free health care. (Thanks, Obama.) Really watch out for anything James writes, but you already knew that.
Rockets 106, Celtics 90
The Celtics come into Dallas on Monday, so I wanted to watch them ahead of time to get a feel for what they were up to this season. If we go by what happened on Saturday, it's not a damn thing.
They attacked with Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard and they bloodied up Boston at the rim. Then James Harden got going, creating easy drives for himself and open 3's for everyone else, and then the game was over.
Since he has come in the league, Jones has gotten less publicity than Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, but he straight gave those guys the business. He had 25 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks on 10-16 shooting - he was ballin outrageous on the Celtics. I don't really understand which young guys the media decides to gas up and which ones they don't, because they sure aren't basing it on talent. T. Jones is definitely on my first-team Y'all Need to Stop Sleeping on These Guys team.
Thunder 101, Nuggets 92
This was the famous Pop in Miami game, when he got fined for sending the Big Three home and then almost beat the Heat with his scrubs, except turnt all the way up to 100. The Thunder didn't just win the game - they were up 55-33 at the half. That first half was about as dominant a display of basketball as I've seen in some time ... and they weren't playing the Washington Generals either!
Even without any of their guards, the Thunder still have a good frontcourt - they start three 6'11+ elite athletes with the skill-sets to do multiple things on offense. Eveyone knows about Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka, but these last two games have been all about Perry Jones III.
Check out the last shot he made and remember this is a 6'11 guy. A guy with the size of a center should not be able to do the things that PJ3 can do.
PJ3 is just as long and athletic as KD and Serge Ibaka and he can dribble, pass and shoot. Definitely worth giving this guy some minutes.
— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) November 2, 2014
OKC is up 55-33 on Denver and my boy PJ3 is +24. #believe
— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) November 2, 2014
PJ3 with 20-2-2-2 on 8-15 shooting and a team high +19.
— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) November 2, 2014
@JonathanTjarks perry jones dagger ball
— chris staggopoulos (@staggo9) November 2, 2014
It's been a long, cold six months for Team PJ3. There wasn't much to say, but me and people like my man staggopoulos have been keeping note of some of the slander that was being thrown so recklessly across the interwebs. Perry Jones the First! Ha!Mavericks 109, Pellies 104
This was a really fun game - two talented teams going back and forth for 48 minutes. The ball was flying around the court and there were multiple guys on each team getting buckets. New Orleans has some issues to work out, but they have the talent to run with just about anyone in the league on a nightly basis.
Anthony Davis did Anthony Davis things, but there are other guys on this team who can play too. Tyreke Evans almost had a triple double, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. He was playing like a 6'6 Monta Ellis - an elite slasher and underrated passer who doesn't need a 3-point shot to take over the game. Get him in the right situation and his contract won't seem like a big deal.
From the Mavs POV, Tyreke's play showcased the biggest hole on their team. Without Shawn Marion and Vince Carter, they don't have many perimeter stoppers and they have precious little size on the wings. Chandler Parsons has been billed as a versatile defender, but he really couldn't do anything on Tyreke.
As for the demerits side in New Orleans, take a look at this box score and tell me if you notice something different about Eric Gordon's stat-line.
Sometimes the stats lie, but this is not one of those times. EG really was that bad. The obvious move is to make him the 6th man and allow him to take away possessions from guys like Jimmer Fredette and John Salmons instead of Jrue Holiday and Evans. Monty Williams could learn a lot from Rick Carlisle when it comes to staggering minutes.Jazz 118, Suns 91
Utah got soundly drubbed in their first two games, so of course they turn around and beat the stuffing out of a Phoenix team that had just upset San Antonio. You have to love the first week of the season - no one knows anything. No team has been beaten down by the losing yet. There's optimism in the air and the arenas are (mostly) packed.
The key to the Suns first two wins was their second-unit guards, when they brought IT2 and Gerald Green off the bench and had them play next to The Dragon or Bledsoe. They were going up against guys like Ronnie Price and Cory Joseph and they were absolutely slaughtering them. That changed on Saturday, with the Jazz going strength on strength and throwing Gordon Hayward, Alec Burks, Dante Exum and Rodney Hood at them. That is a ton of length and athleticism.
Exum was the real highlight of the night to me. He went 3-4 from 3-point line, which was considered the weakest part of his game coming into the NBA. If he can consistently knock down 3's, there's going to be no stopping this kid. You should have seen the way he towered over IT2 - he's a sleek 6'6 killing machine. I'll put it out there already - if he's knocking down 3's, he's winning ROY. Trey Burke is good, but Exum - Burks - Hayward on the perimeter could be something special.
Raptors 108, Magic 95
Shh. Nothing to see here. The Raptors are now 3-0 against the spread and they have been handing out solid beatings to every team they face. So while they haven't really played anyone yet, they have been doing work. People are going to be shocked to see how good this team is at the end of the season.
I love all their guys, but the one I have to put on for is Terrence Ross. He is a bad MF and most people have no idea. James Herbert at CBS is working on a big thing about him, so watch out for that. He's Canadian, which means he has on the ground access as well as free health care. (Thanks, Obama.) Really watch out for anything James writes, but you already knew that.
Baron Davis's hair really is difficult to explain pic.twitter.com/kyTHtthcCr
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 2, 2014
Rockets 106, Celtics 90
The Celtics come into Dallas on Monday, so I wanted to watch them ahead of time to get a feel for what they were up to this season. If we go by what happened on Saturday, it's not a damn thing.
They attacked with Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard and they bloodied up Boston at the rim. Then James Harden got going, creating easy drives for himself and open 3's for everyone else, and then the game was over.
Since he has come in the league, Jones has gotten less publicity than Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk, but he straight gave those guys the business. He had 25 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks on 10-16 shooting - he was ballin outrageous on the Celtics. I don't really understand which young guys the media decides to gas up and which ones they don't, because they sure aren't basing it on talent. T. Jones is definitely on my first-team Y'all Need to Stop Sleeping on These Guys team.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Pellies Scouting Report
At Mavs Moneyball, a breakdown of one of the most interesting teams in the West.
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