Is Damian Lillard Hurting The Blazers?

By nikk_la - Flickr: K26A0442, CC BY 2.0, Link

In a recent interview with New York Magazine, George Karl shared his thoughts on the performance from the Trailblazers this season saying, "I was watching the Portland Trailblazers play, and I was trying to figure out, What the hell is wrong with this team? My conclusion is that Damian Lillard is getting too much attention." 

When asked to elaborate on that thought George Karl went on to say, "Who controls the team? The coach and the point guard. And that team is not working. I think their coach, Terry Stotts, is a great coach. So I’m going to say the problem is Lillard. They were a together, connected, committed team last year. This year they’re not. What changed?"

That's right George Karl, what changed? They lost Chris Kaman but gained talents in Festus Ezeli (who is injured) and Evan Turner. So what changed? How can nearly the same team from last year take such a big drop off. 

Is it Damian Lillard? If we take a look at his numbers this year, he is averaging 27 PPG (he averaged 25.1 last season), 4.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.7 turnovers. If we look at his turnovers, they've dropped from last season (3.2) however his assists have also dropped from last season (6.2) so this doesn't really mean much. It just means he is passing less right? Wrong, thanks to NBA.com's provided stats, it shows that Damian Lillard is has about 1.5 passes per game more this season than last season. It's very, very minimal, but it shows that he is still passing but getting less assists and turnovers. To top all of this off, Lillard is scoring more while taking less shots per game. So why are they losing? 

The reason why... His teammates. This season, 4 players on the Blazers shoot under 36% when receiving a pass from Damian Lillard. 5 players on the Blazers shoot under 40% from the field in general. Last season, only 3 players shot under 40% and those 3 players only combined for a total of 81 games played. And to top that off, in the minimal amount of games that these players played in, they didn't even average over 10 minutes per game. But this season, Noah Vonleh, Meyers Leonard, and Al-Farouq Aminu are all shooting under 40% and they all are huge parts in this offense. And when given passes from Lillard, Allen Crabbe and Evan Turner both shoot below 36%. 

If we look at the team's rebounding, you'd see that the Trailblazers are 25th in rebounding. First off, you can tell they truely miss Chris Kaman as they are waiting for Festus Ezeli to recover. Their bigs aren't that great. Second, they aren't making shots, and to me, that falls on 1 person, the coach. Something has changed. Now, I love Terry Stotts, he is an amazing coach, but something needs to change with the offense. You can't have all of these players shooting that poorly. It's clearly changed from last season. Ed Davis isn't even shooting nearly as well from last season, it's bad. Sure while Lillard and McCollum might be shooting better, but the rest of the team sure isn't. You can't win games with 1 or two people shooting really well. Something in the offense has to change, and, oh yeah, they really need to rebound better.

But hang on here, George Karl was completely wrong. Damian Lillard has been more efficient and has has less turnovers while scoring more and while passing the ball even more than last season. This man isn't the reason and is really going unnoticed for how hard he is working. It's not translating to many wins, but it sure should be. If anything, Terry Stotts needs to make adjustments which is ironic considering Karl's quote saying, "I think their coach, Terry Stotts, is a great coach. So I’m going to say the problem is Lillard". I love Terry Stotts but he needs to make adjustments, and for George Karl, it's best if he just keeps his mouth shut. 

Pelicans VS Grizzlies: Davis Drops The Ball

 
After the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Anthony Davis was frustrated. Mainly at his teammates. Davis told reporters: "We had too many mental breakdowns," Davis said. "We're not talking out there and so, therefore, we have mental breakdowns that gave them easy layups at the basket and open shots." Davis ended by saying, "It's definitely frustrating. We can't get a win, it's frustrating, Whatever we need to do, we need to do it fast."

"Whatever we need to do, we need to do it fast."

Well, Davis called out his teammates and they responded, the very next game. They played a huge role in bringing the game into overtime where they'd eventually lose. Anthony Davis though? He was non-existent. After criticizing his teammates for poor play, he came out the next game completely dropping the ball. His teammates did their part, but he clearly didn't do his. He was 3-13 on the night. He had 10 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 5 turnovers! You can see Davis's shot chart below.

Anthony Davis - Shot Chart- www.nba.com/stats

 As you can see, Anthony Davis didn't play too well. He only took 4 of his 13 sots in the paint. Only 4! He was settling for far too many jumpshots and when you add the 5 turnovers in there, it just makes matters worse. Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies made it tough on him, real tough. We've seen them do it to Karl-Anthony Towns twice this season, and now they've done it to Davis.

Defensively, Davis wasn't that great. He wasn't paying that much attention. He had the 3rd worst defensive rating on his team. His teammates were much more active. In overtime is where it fell apart though. Davis clearly wasn't engaged defensively and wasn't trying whatsoever. One possession in OT he left Marc Gasol wide open for a 3 pointer, and gave no effort defensively. This would ultimately lead to the loss in OT. While Davis was clearly a problem, the Pelicans refused to sub him out in OT.

Davis dropped the ball for his team. They did everything he wanted them to do, and he didn't show up. He had 1 point in overtime. Davis didn't come to play. The Grizzlies really got to him.

Now, on to the section where I talk about how much I love the Memphis Grizzlies this season. David Fizdale is amazing. The Grizzlies couldn't have hired a better head coach (other than re-hiring Dave Joerger). He's getting his team to play amazing defense. Not only that, but he's made almost every player on that team a 3-point threat. They are now so tough to guard. Take the Grit and Grind, and give them a 3-point shot, that's what you got.

There are 3 main things in basketball you have to pay attention to. Offense, Defense, and rebounding. While the Grizzlies didn't play great offensively, they did sure did play great in the other categories. The Grizzlies had 52 rebounds on the night.

Defensively, this team was amazing. The team had 12 steals on the night. JaMychal Green had 4 blocks on the night. They were everywhere and they were making Davis's life tough. He wasn't allowed to get a touch in the paint, and that's how they played him all night. This Grizzlies team drew 4 charges in the game. 4 CHARGES! Do you know how tough it is to draw a charge in the NBA? It's tough! And they drew 4! The Memphis Grizzlies won this game by sheer hustle and amazing defense. I am amazed at how great this team played defensively in this game.

Hats off to the Memphis Grizzlies. They won that game, and they clearly didn't want to lose. However, I'm very disappointed in Davis. His teammates were amazing, but he was a -23 in the game. That was worse than any of his teammates. You can't criticize your teammates and then go out and do the things you criticized them on. Hopefully Davis learned from this and can get back to the level he was playing at.

Harrison Barnes Is Going To Be A Star Player

By Matthew Addie - https://www.flickr.com/photos/heelsports/8541868627/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26073051

This summer, the Dallas Mavericks signed Harrison Barnes after most of the big name players were taken. Many people have said that Harrison Barnes is overpaid and cannot lead a team or be a big name player. In this article, we see whether this is true or not.

While only 2 games have been played in this regular season, Harrison Barnes has looked solid, averaging 25 PPG, 7 RPG, and only 1.5 Turnovers per game in these 2 contests. Compare that to his career average of just a little over 10 PPG, and it looks pretty impressive. Barnes has also managed to shoot 56.8% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line in these games.

While these numbers are solid, this has been two games, which both happen to be losses, and have no reason to justify that he could lead a team, right? Well, let's take a look at the Rockets vs Mavericks game. Barnes had 31 points in this 8 point loss. James Harden had 26. And while Barnes did struggle defensively on Ariza, he still managed to have a great night while having the most points out of anyone in that game.


Take a look at the game vs the Pacers and it tells a whole different story. Barnes was outscored by Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, J.J. Barea, Paul George, Myles Turner, and Jeff Teague. However, Barnes did hit the shot to put the game into overtime. While he was good, he certainly wasn't great. This proves that Barnes's game was just a really good game for him right, he can't possibly do this on a regular basis right?


Well, let's take a look at how Barnes is scoring these points. Interestingly enough, Barnes has gone into Isolation about 14% of the time in these two games. While he obviously hasn't taken that many shots in isolation, he is 4th in points in isolation so far. He's only behind Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, and Damian Lillard. Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving however, have played 3 games, while Barnes has only played 2. And you may think Barnes has gone into isolation, but he can't possibly be making the shots. WRONG! Barnes has been 6 for 6 in isolation so far which means he's been perfect in isolation situations. Of course as the season continues, this will change, but he's obviously been great in iso so far. In fact, he's been better than Kawhi in isolation in not only efficiency, but he's scored more often than Kawhi in iso as well. While he's been better just catching and shooting, Barnes has shown that he can still shoot over 50% no matter how many dribbles he takes.

Harrison Barnes has also been able to shoot no matter how close the defender is to him. When a defender has been within 2-4 ft of Barnes he's hit 46.7% of his shots, and it only increases from there.

Now I know what you're thinking, Barnes has played 2 games this season, 2 games! You can't take two game to prove a point. But this isn't Barnes being left wide open to score his career high, this is him taking the ball and wanting to score. And while it's only been 2 games, he's doing it very efficiency and more than lots of NBA stars. Not to mention, Barnes is 24 years old. He still has room to grow. If he can hit isolation shots in 2 games, can't he do it in more, and if he's only 24 can't he only get better at them. It may be 2 games, but Harrison Barnes is looking like a promising player. He's been around guys like Klay, Steph, and Iggy. He knows how to improve and get to that level. And so far, it looks like Barnes is on the right track.

How The New Players On The Warriors Have To Change

By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - Kevin Durant, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

A team doesn't just win 73 games by being amazing players. They win because of their offense and defense. They win by doing what works. But when new players come in, things can change. Here's how guys like Kevin Durant and Zaza Pachulia must adapt to the Warriors offense.

Last year, the Warriors lead the league in points coming off an off-ball screen with 1139 points that season. The Thunder on the other had were 17th with only 411 of their points coming off of off-ball screens. Durant is going to have to get used to always coming off of screens. It's not about just getting open, it's about getting in  the best position to score right off of the screen. The Warriors are always moving, and Steve Kerr wants to cut down in isolation this year. KD needs to be moving all the time. In fact, the Warriors also lead the league in points off of cuts with 1225 points. OKC had 892. To get these wide open looks, isn't a talent thing, it's a movement thing. The whole team gets points by players cutting, something that KD has to get used to.

Zaza has to get used to playing more high post. The Dallas Mavericks last year had an offense that really revolved around the low post. The Warriors were at the bottom in those terms. Andrew Bogut and the other bigs for the Warriors started up top behind the three point line, made a pass, then would go to set a screen for someone to come back up to the top, cut, set a ball screen and then roll. There was very little posting up for the big men in that offense. Zaza isn't going to be able to camp out in the paint this year. He's going to be moving and moving. He will also have to learn how to work the high post like Bogut was able to. Bogut did a lot of work in the high post hitting cutters and doing hand offs. Players would curl off him and he would hand off the ball for wide open layups. The Warriors loved to keep the paint open for baseline cutters so Zaza's going to have to learn how to play outside the paint.

The Warriors' most deadly lineup last year was their small ball lineup. The reason why this lineup was so successful was because of cutting and passing. KD is going to have to learn that it isn't about getting off good shots, it's about getting off the best shot possible. Draymond's ability to move at the 5 made it tough for the big to help on guys like Curry and Thompson, but get back onto Draymond. This made it easier for guys to cut and get to the rim. It also made it so the baseline was open a lot. They'd have most of the offense working behind the 3 point line which would make it easy for cutters to come in baseline. There was very little isolation in this lineup and lots of passing and cutting, something that KD isn't that used to. The bigs are his friends, they are going to get him open, and he's going to have to help them by moving and hitting them while they are moving.


It's not just the new players that have to adapt though. Curry is going to have to realize he can't go into isolation as much. But KD is on a totally new team with a totally different offense, and him and Zaza have some changes to make.

Washington Wizards: Stability

By Keith Allison - Flickr: Bradley Beal, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

The Washington Wizards had a very disappointing season last year. This was due to injuries and locker room problems. They would have amazing games, like the game when they destroyed the Cavs but they just had some really really bad games. Another reason why the Wizards had a tough time was probably because of Coach Randy Whitman's want to play small. This took Nene Hilario out of the starting lineup and it didn't really lead to good results. Nene was a great veteran leader who brought tons of energy to the starting lineup. Kris Humphris really wasn't the best suited to start. Nene was top 5 on the Wizards in offensive rating and top 3 in defensive. On the other hand, Kris was 14th on the team for offensive rating and 15th in defensive rating! How did he start over Nene?! No clue.

Okay, now that we see the reasoning for the Wizards problems, we can now take a look at how they've been sort of solved. First, Bradley Beal was given a max contract. Now, people are complaining that Beal didn't deserve this because of injuries. First off, there is plenty of money to go around. Second, if the Wizards lose Beal, what does this do? It would probably send the Wizards back into the lottery. This not only puts the team back to a losing record, but this sends a bad message to John Wall about the direction of the team and could very well send John Wall packing. The signing of Bradley Beal wasn't just to keep Beal happy but to also keep John Wall happy.

Next, Bradley Beal and John Wall put aside their differences. Beal and Wall both acknowledged that they aren't too fond of each other at times and seem to both want to be the star of the team. However, in an interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic, Beal said, "It’s tough because we’re both alphas. It’s always tough when you have two guys who firmly believe in themselves, who will bet on themselves against anybody else, who want to be that guy. We both can be that guy. Sometimes I think we both lose sight of the fact that we need each other. I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in without John. John wouldn’t be in the situation he’s in without me, without the rest of the team. It goes hand-in-hand so it’s kind of a pride thing. We got to (hash) out our pride, figure out what our goals are individually, help each other achieve those goals, figure out what our team goal is, where do we see ourselves five years from now, 10 years from now and go from there." As you can see, Beal wants to play with Wall because he knows he NEEDS to. Hopefully they resolved this issue this summer.

The firing of Randy Whitman lead to the hiring of Scott Brooks. I think Scott Brooks is going to love working with John Wall. He is going to help Wall lead the team like he never has. Combine that with John Wall's amazing passing ability and his defense and you got the next best up and rising point guard in the league. You know he'll love Markieff. Hopefully he can adapt to using screens like the Warriors run in their offense and use that for Bradley Beal and use a lot of pick and roll with John Wall and Marcin Gortat. Kelly Oubre told my mind on sports, "I feel like everyone's bought in (on Scott Brooks' coaching)".


The Wizards also have made some great off-season moves besides the signing of Bradley Beal. Grabbing Trey Burke was huge knowing that they traded almost nothing for him. Burke has proved that he is a very efficient bench scorer in just the little amount of preseason games he has played with the Wizards. And while they did lose Raymond Sessions, who just happens to be one of my favorite players in the league, it is alright since they do have John Wall starting at the point guard slot and Trey Burke won't be asked to run the team. The Wizards also signed Ian Mahinmi who is a great guy to put in defensively. He is a great back up to Gortat and if they want to go big they can put him in for Markieff. They still have bench scorer Marcus Thornton who will bring very efficient scoring to the team off the bench.

The player I'm most interested to see this season off the Wizards bench is Kelly Oubre. He has looked so amazing in the preseason and could even take that starting role from Otto Porter. He is lengthy player and a crafty finisher. He's got a good shot and resemble Kevin Durant in some ways. I think Oubre will be amazing this season and could be a great Most Improved candidate. Oubre might just develop into something special this season.


As you can see, the Wizards look like they have fixed some major problems this season. While this doesn't fix injuries or anything, if they catch a break, they could get back into the second round of the playoffs once again.

The Indiana Pacers: Putting Together The Pieces Of The Puzzle

By File:Anthony Tolliver defending Paul George.jpg: joshuak8 derivative work: Chrishmt0423 - → This file has been extracted from another file: Anthony Tolliver defending Paul George.jpg , CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31545591

While a lot of the attention in the offseason has been switched on to the Warriors and the Knick this offseason, the Pacers have been building a masterpiece under the radar. Let's take a look at the significance of the roster they've been putting together.

Jeff Teague- This point guard comes from the 2014-15 coach of the year, Mike Budenholzer who transformed the whole Hawks team. This was a team that was second in defensive rating in the league last season, only falling behind the Spurs. However, as good as this team was, they didn't have a superstar which hurt their chances dearly of scoring when it came to the playoffs. Now Jeff Teague is a guy that likes to get the offense going. He is a fast paced guard. One of the biggest things Teague brings to the floor though, is his shooting. Last year, Monta Ellis had a rough year. The paint was very tight and his offense didn't thrive. Now that Teague, a 40% 3-point shooter and a great player off the dribble, is on the team, this will open up the paint for the rest of the team.

Myles Turner- This guy made his mark in the playoffs last year. He's proven he has a place in the league. His toughness mentality is amazing and you know he'll be learning a lot from big Al Jefferson on toughness. This just might be Myles Turner's break out season as he didn't really have a chance last season to do so. Expect big things from him defensively.

Paul George: He is star of the team. Of course with Paul George, you will know what you're getting out of him, a lot of offense and a lot of defense. With a small forward that can guard guys like KD and LeBron James you know that Pacers are going to have an easier time winning against these elite teams.

Thaddeus Young: This is probably one of the most underrated acquisitions that have happened this off-season. Thaddeus Young is known to be a good solid defender. He is one of the leading power forwards in steals for a few years now. Young has a pretty good post game and can somewhat stretch the floor. But the ability to put the ball on the deck and rebound efficiently from the power forward sport is what stands out. Young is an athletic power forward. He can drive better than most of them. And to top that off, he can rebound. This left handed big men is a big piece since the Pacers lacked good big men last season. Young brings a lot to the table that a lot f power forwards don't have. He cuts and runs the floor. You know him and Teague are going to be having a great time in transition.


Monta Ellis: This year is the year that Monta Ellis has a comeback year. It was rough for him, but for two reason. Number 1, he didn't have many big men to play pick and roll/pop with. This year he has Jefferson and Young. Number 2, with more shooters the paint will be open more. I have a good feeling about Ellis this year.

The Bench: Al Jefferson is going to be the guy to come off the bench to destroy the other team. They are going to ask him to score and rebound. He will be used constantly in pick and roll with Paul George, Monta Ellis, and Jeff Teague a ton.

Aaron Brooks is the guy that I'm so happy they grabbed, besides D.J. Augstine, I think Aaron Brooks is one of the best bench players you could have. This is a guy that is know to be able to shoot and score. But not only can he score, he has a big effect on his teammates. His ability to pass is amazing. The acquisition of Brooks is very important to the success of the Pacers success.

The other players they have, guys like Rodney Stuckey and and C.J. Miles can just flat out score. Glenn Robinson III might be a guy that can really provide a lift offensively as well as Joe Young. They also have a good defensive center in Rakeem Christmas if someone were to go down. Their bench is something that they can count on.

As you can see, the Pacers are on track to win this season. If they can stay healthy, their limit is unknown.  They are going to be a very fast paced team that is going to push tempo. To me, they have a roster that has a chance at taking down the Cavs. I can't wait to see this team in action!

The (New) New York Knicks

By Keith Allison - Flickr: Carmelo Anthony, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29829656

Phil Jackson transformed a team. Now, the hype around the Knicks is big. Even though Derrick Rose isn't the best player currently, he sure has a really big name when it comes to basketball, so are the Knicks all hype, or are they for real.

First, let's take a look at the players they added and the players they lost.
They added: G-Justin Holiday
                    G-Derrick Rose
                    C-Guillermo Hernangomez
                    F-Mindaugas Kuzminskas
                    G-Courtney Lee
                    G-Brandon Jennings
                    C-Joakim Noah
                    G-Sasha Vujacic
                    F-Lance Thomas
With these guys added, you also throw in Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Kyle O'Quinn

They Lost:   G-Jose Calderon
                   C-Robin Lopez
                   G-Jerian Grant
                   F-Derrick Williams
                   G-Arron Afflalo
                   G-Tony Wroten
                   And also possibly Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway, Kevin Seraphin, and Cleathony Early

With this being said, you can obviously see this is a different team. As of right now, they have only kept 4 of last years' players.

To start off, I'd like to propose the question of this team's health. How will they be health wise. Because out of the past 5 seasons...
Carmelo Anthony has missed a total of 99 games
Brandon Jennings has missed a total of 95 games
JoaKim Noah has missed a total of 104 games
Derrick Rose has missed a total of 163 games

All 4 of these players have proven to be injury prone in the last 5 seasons. But these injuries haven't just lead to missed games, they've also lead to a decrease in performance.
Carmelo Anthony went from averaging 28.7 PPG to averaging 21.8 last season
Brandon Jennings went from averaging 19.1 PPG to averaging 6.9 last season
JoaKim Noah went from averaging 12.6 PPG to averaging 4.3 last season
Derrick Rose went from averaging 25 PPG to averaging 16.4 last season

I'm not convinced that this team can win. Not with these 4 guys constantly having injury problems in the last 5 years. Can this team win with a guy like Kyle O'Quinn starting or Sasha Vukacic? This team could very well turn into the Memphis Grizzlies of last season or the 2012-13 Lakers. They don't have enough depth to insure them if injuries were to strike.

As you can see, this team is very, very questionable. Number one, we don't know how productive these 4 guys will be. Number 2, we don't know how healthy they'll be. And with more teams becoming more competitive, it's going to be hard if a couple player become injured.

What You Missed From Game 7

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - LeBron James, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918817

Game 7 was quite the game. At half-time, there were Warriors fans were saying that the Warriors were going to win it all. Then came the final minutes of game 7. It was neck and neck and the Cavs pulled ahead to win it. That's when everyone went nuts and surprisingly everyone missed a lot of stats and things that happened in this game. People jumped to things saying, "Curry lost the game, LeBron James won it, Kevin Love was still horrible in the series and he'll be traded." Well, here I am, and here is what you probably missed from game 7.

Curry Lost The Game?
While Curry really did blow away any chances to win the game towards the end, did he really lose the game? Towards the end, Kevin Love was guarding Curry, and of course, Curry thought he could take advantage of it. But Kevin was on Curry tight. This left room for Curry to get to the rim, but instead of trying to drive, he was set on shooting a 3; a 3 that was well off. This was a big possession and was really the turning point in this game. Curry even said after the game he "settled". He settled for shots. While it didn't lose them the game, it really hurt their chances to get back in it. Instead of closing it out, Curry settled, and that led to the loss.

But What About Klay?
While Curry got a beating from the media, Klay left without a scratch, besides the fact that he left the game without congratulating the other team. Tell me, do you remember Klay making shots in this game? Because he didn't make many. Klay had only 14 points and shot 2-10 from 3-point range. He shot worse than Curry from 3 and didn't show up to the game, yet no one really mentioned Klay at all.

LeBron Carried The Team?
LeBron did a great job in this series, but right after the game, Kyrie's performances were forgotten. This guy was on fire throughout the whole series. While I think LeBron was no doubt the MVP, everyone seemed to forget about guys Kyrie, Richard Jefferson, and Tristan Thompson. Sure, LeBron was great, but recognition for the whole team wasn't there. After all, without these guys, would've they even come close to winning the championship?

Kevin Love Hurt The Team?
People wouldn't stop talking about Kevin Love's performance throughout the series and after it was over. What people missed was Kevin Love's amazing defense and rebounding in game 7. But if they didn't miss that, they sure didn't see his +/- advantage. Kevin Love was a +19 on the floor while Kyrie was only a +10. And LeBron James, he was a +4. When Kevin Love was in the lineup, it was extremely beneficial to the team. The fact that the guy had 14 rebounds in only 30 minutes of play alone was amazing. 

Draymond...
Everyone seemed to forget about Draymond's play after game 7. The guy had 32 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2 steals. He also shot 6-8 from 3. However, no one said a word about it after the game.


And Last... Is Tristan Thompson Defensive Player Of The Year?
The media went crazy after LeBron's block on Iggy. Yet here is the thing, If Iggy didn't change his shot in mid-air, it never would've been blocked. It was a blocked shot. Now, LeBron was good defensively, but guess who was on Curry and Klay chasing out to the 3 point line through the whole game. It was Tristan Thompson. Let me make this clear... Tristan Thompson had 3 rebounds in game 7. Only 3. The reason why? He was chasing guys out on the 3 point line. Tristan Thompson contested 7 three point shots during game 7. That was more than anyone else on the team. He contested more 3 point shots than J.R., more than Irving, more than Shumpert, and more than LeBron. And guess who was doing it, that's right, the starting center for the Cavs. And even while he was out of the paint, he still managed to fit in 2 blocks. When your starting center can guard Stephen Curry, that does a lot. We see a block from LeBron and think he's the best defender, when people don't realize, there is a lot more to defense than that. LeBron might have saved a couple plays, Tristan Thompson might have saved the whole game.


 

NBA Finals Game 5 Preview

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Kevin Love, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36918954

The Cavaliers are down 3-1 to the Warriors. A lot of people are saying, "Hey, the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit this post-season, why can't the Cavs. Now I'm not saying that the Cavs can't do it, but I am going to say that what the Warriors did was totally different. The Warriors only had to play 1 game on the road while they had 2 home games left. The Cavs only have 1 home game left and have to win 2 games on the Warriors home floor. Now, this isn't impossible because 2 of the 10 teams to comeback from a 3-1 deficit only had 1 home game left after being down 3-1. One was the Celtics from the Bill Russell days, and the other team was the Houston Rockets and their clutch city team. These are two historic teams. And no one has comeback from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals, so if the Cavs were to accomplish this feat, it would be a very historic moment in NBA history.

Now, if you haven't heard, Draymond Green has been suspended for game 5 of the NBA finals due to his encounter with LeBron. He will be out of the lineup. I don't know what Steve Kerr is going to do, but I have to assume he'll start Iggy at the 3 and slide Barnes to the 4. What I do if I'm the Cavs, is start Love at the 5. Now you might think I'm crazy, but I can explain. Love at the 5 would most likely match him up with Andrew Bogut and Kevin Love is a guy that can really stretch the floor. Through the whole time Andrew Bogut is on the floor, I'd suggest the Cavs go into pick and roll/pop with Love. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving should just go into pick and roll/pop with Love until Steve Kerr decides to take Bogut out of the game. With shooters like Jefferson and J.R., if the Warriors help off of the pick and roll, these guys will have wide open shots and lanes to the basket. We've seen how the Warriors do against the small line-up in pick and roll when they have Bogut or Ezeli out there; it isn't pretty. With them down 3-1, they have to try something, and Love at the 5 might actually work for at least the first quarter.

With Draymond Green out, this really takes away the Warriors' versatility and option to go small. This is going to force them to have a big throughout most of the game and what the Warriors are going to have to hope to do is out-score the Cavs. I expect Anderson Varejao to play a big role for the team because of his versatility and hustle he brings. He can also somewhat stretch the floor. Same with Speights and I think he will also get some key minutes.









Game 5 is going to be Cleveland's best chance to steal a game in Golden State and you have to think if they can win the next 2 games, they will have a good shot at winning game 7 in Golden State.

Last 2-Minute Reports In The Eyes Of The Refs

By Keith Allison from Owings Mills, USA - NBA Referees, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14743797

If you have watched the playoffs at all this year, you know that there have been a lot of controversy over some calls that the officials make, and if you follow the NBA, you know that they release "last 2-minute reports" on the errors and correct calls that the refs make in the last 2 minutes. The NBA commissioner and other have claimed that these reports are helping the officials, but the officials beg to differ.

The NBA Referees Union claims that the "last 2-minute report" not only aren't helpful, but are actually hurting officiating. The NBRA released a statement of their position on the current L2M reporting policy. In the statement, the NBRA gave their reasons to end the L2M and other "Transparency" measures. Here they are:

• Transparency does nothing to change the outcome of the game.
• Transparency encourages anger and hostility towards NBA officials.
• Focusing on officiating statistics encourages stat-oriented, versus game-oriented, officiating. It is in the best interest of the NBA and its fans to encourage and develop game-oriented referees that balance game flow and fair play.
• Efforts to promote transparency have encouraged the idea that perfection in officiating is possible. Perfection is neither possible nor desirable; if every possible infraction were to be called, the game would be unwatchable and would cease to exist as a form of entertainment in this country.
• Transparency has been misused as a catalyst by some teams to mobilize fans against the officials in an attempt to coerce more favorable treatment.
• While the goal of transparency was to promote understanding and credibility, there is no evidence that progress against these goals is being made.

I personally like the reports because I used them all the time to see the NBA's positioning on some calls all the time. The trouble came when the media started to talk about these reports and the fans became worked up because they felt "their team" had lost because of the calls of the referees. This lead to the anger and hostility towards the refs stated in point 2. And you have to think that the media displaying this report and talking about how these calls weren't made gets into the refs heads. It causes them to call the game differently which can lead to different missed calls. This is stated in point 5.

As you know, I was a big fan of the last 2-minute reports until the media started presenting them. It really made the refs an enemy of any team where a call was missed and it effected the team negatively.

What the NBRA wants if the L2M reports are to continue in the NBA is to know who the people making these reports are. They want to who this person is making the final call, how much experience they have, and why they are the ones making the final call. They also said that they want to be able to counter those calls and disagree with some of them.

My personal opinion, is that they should give them reports to the refs and the refs only. The teams, media, and fans should not be able to access these reports because they only become upset and verbally attack the referees. Another solution to this is to only do the two-minute reports in blow-outs. As of right now the league only does them in game within 5 points in the last 2 minutes and in overtime games. This causes so much controversy at the end of games. Why not only do them where a team has the lead of at least 15 points or something. If they do this, then there will be no controversy over the outcome of the game due to the last 2 minute reports. My favorite solution is to just get rid of the whole last 2-minute reports though. I think they should incorporate challenge flags instead. I feel like each coach should get 1 challenge flag for the whole game. If they use the flag and the call is overturned, they get the flag back. This would cut down obvious missed calls at the end of games such as the Kevin Love incident when Shawn Marion clearly came down on his arm. Instead of the NBA having to apologize, and fans and the media attacking the refs, everything would have been solved when the refs would've been able to review the foul or traveling violation. This would also make coaching more important. If a team were to lose to a bad call and the team didn't have their challenge flag due to the frustration of a coach on a different play, it would be the coach's fault why they lost the game. I honestly think that the NBA should try out challenge flags. It would solve a lot of problems.

So as you can see, these two-minute reports aren't really helping the officiating and hopefully the NBA and the NBRA comes to some agreement. If you have an opinion on the "last 2 minute reports", make sure you leave a comment below. If you liked this post, stay tuned because we are going to have a lot more fun posts like this with the NBA Finals here and the upcoming draft. You can also follow me and you will be able to see the posts as soon as I post them. Join the NBA Inside The Play Nation today!

The Warriors Are the Superior Team

Warriors Lead Series 2-0

I hate to say it, but sorry Cavs fans, the Warriors are just superior to your team. Now, I'm not saying the series is over at all. I'm just saying that the Warriors are the better team and the Cavs are going to have a really tough time trying to win against them. Game 2 was a prime example of it. The Warriors wore down the Cavs and the Cavs really just gave up.

The biggest thing I took from game 2 was the Warriors heart and will to win. And what I saw was the Warriors team rebounding. They out-rebounded the Cavs 46 to 34. The Warriors hit the offensive glass hard. The Cavs just didn't seem to want to board and the Warriors did. You could tell what team wanted to win that game.

Something I want to really point out is how underrated of a defender Andrew Bogut is. The guy had 5 blocks last night. Cool, right? But there is a lot more to defense than blocking shots. Bogut's positioning and timing defensively is amazing. He reads the defense so well. You can't forget that this guy also had 2 steals in the game. I also want to point out that Bogut is a great passer. While his own offensive game is lacking. Bogut plays the high post position exceptionally well and sees the floor better than most big men.

Richard Jefferson is honestly probably the best player on the Cavs right now. Now before I get a bunch of hate mail from you Cavs fans, let me explain this. Let this soak into your brains... This guy on defense was really good. Just like Bogut, Jefferson's defense was amazing as far as positioning. He was stopping his guy. He also did an amazing job on help defense and double-teaming. Offensively, Jefferson was just as good. The veteran made great cuts to the basket as he drew the defense towards him in the game. In fact, Rich might have to start from now on. And you might say LeBron James is the best player on the Cavs; well, he's been pretty brutal when he's been on the floor. LBJ had 7 turnovers and gave up a lot of points defensively. I was very impressed by Jefferson's play and I think he should start instead of J.R. Smith. This is for a few reasons. I think J.R. will be much more productive off the bench and he will provide a ton of bench offense. Also, I think that when he comes in to guard Thompson, the Warriors will have more limited options offensively. Richard Jefferson will be a big spark for the starting lineup too. His veteran presence would hopefully start the Cavs off the right way next game.

And let's not overlook just what the Warriors did defensively. They held the Cavs to under 80 points and under 36% shooting. This defensive effort was held out by almost every player on the floor. Draymond, Bogut, Curry, Thompson, and especially Iguodala were just amazing defensively. If they keep this level of defensive play, they are going to be really tough to beat since the Cavs aren't going to be able to rely on their offense to get them to the finish line.

The Sophomores

By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA - Jordan Clarkson, Otto Porter Jr., CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45393918

 The Rookies get all of the headlines for the young talent in the NBA, don't they? After your rookie season, you don't really get much hype until your on an all-star team or lead your team to wins. While the rookies were great this season, we completely ignored the 2nd year players once against. So let's take a look at some of the best Sophomore players.

Top 5 in scoring:
              5. Zach LaVine (14 PPG): This high flying sophomore is still being overlooked as a player. He averaged a good 14 PPG for this young Timberwolves team. Not only that but he played a big role in the offense. Against the Wizards, Zach LaVine came in clutch as he hit 2 three pointers in overtime to send the game into double overtime where the Wolves would win. LaVine had 25 points that night. He is still able to score behind Wiggins and Towns. There is more to LaVine than his dunks.

              4. Jabari Parker (14.1 PPG): After his injury, Jabari Parker seemed to be forgotten. However, he made a strong comeback this season. He scoring proved valuable to this Bucks team as Parker averaged a solid 15 points in their wins. Parker and this young Bucks team have what it takes to become a powerhouse with all of their talent.
              
             3. Rodney Hood (14.5 PPG): He was selected as the 23rd pick in the 2014 draft. His rookie season wasn't that great as he only averaged 8.7 PPG off the bench. Then came the 2015-16 season. Hood looked better than ever. The kid scored 30 points in a half against the Lakers. He played a key role for the Jazz not only offensively, but defensively too. He played great. That was when Hood finally started to get recognition. Now, he's starting to look like a steal in the draft.

         
           2. Jordan Clarkson (15 .5 PPG): 2nd round pick, Jordan Clarkson is a scorer. That is what he's shown to us this season. He probably would've gone top 5 if the draft was redone. While Jordan Clarkson is a scorer. He is a consistent scorer. He never had a game over 30 points this season but he's made tons of 20 point games. Clarkson had very few games with less than 10 points. Everytime I watch Clarkson I always think, how could all of these scouts miss him? How could they not see his potential?

           1. Andrew Wiggins (20.7 PPG): I've heard a lot of people say that Wiggins doesn't have what it takes to be a star player. The guy averages over 20 points in his second season. Steve Nash never averaged over 20 points once in his career and he has 2 MVP trophies. I'm not saying he's going to be better than Nash, all I'm saying is he can be a go to guy in the league. He had ten 30 points games this season! He only had 4 games with under 10 points. He is a scorer. He is going to be sharing the spotlight with Karl-Anthony Towns, not sitting in the shadows. This guy can score. He is the only Sophomore to average over 20 points this year and is looking like the best sophomore this year.

So those are the outstanding sophomores of the 2015-16 season, and we didn't even mention guys like Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel.  So next time the rookie of the year and MVP awards come out, don't forget about the sophomores.

Raptors VS Heat (Game 5)

Toronto Leads Series 3-2

Toronto can thank DeMar DeRozan for showing up last night. The guy had 34 points on the night. While he was the main reason for Toronto's win, the Raptors could have easily lost this game.

The Heat were very stale offensively. Guy weren't getting ope shots like they did against the Hornets. I think the main reason for this is the absence of Whiteside. They opportunity to go into pick and roll is something that they aren't going to anymore. Goran Dragic just needs to go into a pick and roll with Josh McRoberts and Dwayne Wade needs to go into it with Joe Johnson. They need ball movement. If they get Whiteside back, he'll help a lot, but if they don't, they are going to really suffer if they don't go into pick and roll. Now is a time where the Heat really miss Chris Bosh as well. The Heat cannot live off of 12 assists per game. And they not only had just 12 assists, but they had 13 turnovers. When your turnovers are more than your points, that isn't going to win you many games!

Other than that, I don't know what to say. If they played like they had against the Hornets, the Heat would've won that game. And now they're going into game 6 with their backs against the wall and there is absolutely no room for error.

Spurs VS Thunder (Game 5)

Thunder Lead Series 3-2

Before the Playoffs started, I filled out a bracket with some friends. I had the Thunder making the western conference finals. I kind of took a risk just for the fun of it, but hey, I could have called it. I thought it would be a game 7 series and you really couldn't go wrong either way.

The team that only lost 1 game at home this season has now lost 2 out of 3 home games to the Oklahoma City Thunder. To start, the Spurs did a bad job on the boards in game 5, which I'm positive Gregg Popovich will bring up to his team. They were out rebounded as they had just 36 rebounds while the Thunder had 54.

I sure the other thing that Pop will bring up is that the Spurs shot tons of mid-range shots. They had few shots in the paint and not many from the 3-point line either. It isn't that they shouldn't take mid-range shots, it's that they weren't making them at all. When a shot isn't falling, you need to look for higher percentage shots. The shots chart below shows just how many mid-range shots the Spurs shot.

Spurs Team -Shot Chart - www.nba.com/stats

 Now I could say that the Spurs didn't defend Westbrook good enough, that they let him score. Westbrook was taking the shots they wanted him to take. They defended him really well and they got back in transition. It really came down to the 4th quarter though. Instead of giving the ball to Kawhi or Aldridge, Tony Parker, who had shot just 4-12 in the game took a contested mid-range shot and missed. That would've put the Spurs ahead.

Every game the Spurs have lost have been really close. That's the good news for them. They haven't lost due to a blowout. They just weren't really hitting or taking good shots last night, an easy fix for Gregg Popovich.

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 4)

Warriors Lead Series 3-1

Stephen Curry, he's back alright. I remember watching the Starters and Tas Melas was saying that Curry will probably be rusty when he comes back and he'll need a game or 2 to get going again. But Tas couldn't have predicted this. Listen, Curry had 40 points, 17 in overtime! Klay Thompson and Draymond Green had 44 points combined. That's 84 points from those 3 players.

Listen, the Trailblazers put out their best effort, but they didn't win. If you are the Blazers, what do you do? Dame was amazing, so was McCollum. Mason Plumlee played great. Unfortunately, their turnovers cost them the game, but where do you go from here. You played a great, great game and lost in overtime. If you give a really great performance and lose, you aren't going to feel good at all. I just don't know how they can even win game 5 after this loss.

There is absolutely no way to describe this game in words or stats, you have to watch it to experience it so I'll let these videos do the talking.



 

Raptors VS Heat (Game 4)

Series Tied 2-2

DWAAAAAAAAAYNE WAAAAAAAAAAADE! If you live near me, you probably heard this a lot last night. This was a game where my heart was pounding hard in the final minutes of regulation. Everytime Wade touched the ball, I was in suspense, wondering what he was going to do. This was an amazing game to watch and I feel bad for anyone that missed it.

I turned on the game towards the end of the first quarter and the first thing I saw was this giant center playing for the Raptors that looked like King Gryph's NBA 2K16 MyCareer player. You could just tell the affect that Valanciunas had on the team. When this Nogueira guy was in the game, you could tell he wasn't familiar with the offense and the Raptors really didn't run any sets when this guy was in. They did pick and roll with him and that was about it. However, Biyombo played great in the absence of Jonas Valanciunas. He was great defensively and crashed the boards well. The team gave him tons of touches (something that the Raptors didn't really do much with Valanciunas for some odd reason) and it proved to be beneficial. While he really didn't have any assists, he really got the ball moving as he passed the ball all the time.

The 4th quarter and overtime really came down to who could make shots. Both teams played great defense but it was the Heat that was the team that was able to make tough shots. Not to mention, the Raptors took a lot of their shots from mid-range. They didn't shoot any 3s past the last 2 minute of the 4th quarter and took few shots in the paint. The Heat got to the rim with Dwayne Wade and Joe Johnson.

Goran Dragic just seemed off last night despite scoring 15 points. Shots that the guy would usually make just weren't falling. He made some great moves towards the end of the game but just didn't look like himself. Shots just weren't falling. The Heat could really use better production from him next game.

Anyways, I love this series! 3-4 of games have gone into overtime! Hopefully the series continues to be close like this and we can have a game 7 come right down to the wire.

Spurs VS Thunder (Game 4)

Series Tied 2-2

You couldn't stop KD. You just couldn't. 41 points. The Spurs had no answer for what he brought last night. They might not have been able to stop Kevin Durant, but could they have stopped the Thunder? That's the real question.

I think that the Spurs did a great job defensively on Russell Westbrook. They really defended him well in transition. The mistake that they made was that they didn't defend the other guys well. The pick and roll with Adams and Westbrook really killed this team. Westbrook was always looking for the open guys and the Spurs were always helping off way to much. They challenged Adams and Waiters, and both of these players delivered.

The Spurs also didn't seem to play Spurs basketball offensively. The team only had 12 assists in the game. Kawhi and Aldridge were isolated a lot. Danny Green rarely touched the ball which who is a huge part of the Spurs offense. He only got 33 touches on the night. He never really got off a good shot. Their team was just not playing like they usually do for whatever reason and the Thunder thrived off of it.

Besides that, Tony Parker played really good for the team. He seems to be destroying Westbrook who is yet to step up on defense. Westbrook seems to be very lazy on defense still. He doesn't want to stop Parker and is acting like he isn't a threat.

Anyways, Gregg Popovich just said that Durant had a good game and he didn't have any comments really about went wrong but I positive that he knows what his team must fix to win game 5 at home. Let's also not forget that Spurs still have home court advantage. The Thunder also played great so give some credit to them. If they continue to play like this, they are going to be tough to beat.

Cavaliers VS Hawks (Game 4)

Cavaliers Win 4-0

Get out your brooms because it's a.... sorry Hawks fans. Anyways, this game was entertaining and while I wish the Hawks got a clean look at a shot, that just wasn't how the game played out.

The Hawks seemed to think that the Cavs would just stop making 3-pointers. They just didn't understand that if you get an open shot from 3, it's almost like a 3-pointer. Somehow, Kevin Love shot just 36% from the field while he shot 53.3% from 3-point on 8-15 shooting from deep. Kevin Love was literally wide open from 3-point range, and the defense never adjusted. If a guy is making 3s, you get out on him!

I thought that the defense at the end of the game from the Hawks was the worst defense from any team this playoffs. This was from a great defensive team. They allowed LeBron to get a wide open pass right underneath the hoop and they watched him put up 3 or 4 shots in 1 possession. Then, towards the very end of the game when they needed a stop, Paul Millsap, instead of cutting off LeBron, he let's LeBron catch a pass towards the hoop. Millsap trails him thinking he could just get up there and block it. Of course, this ends up being called a goaltend! All of this could have been prevented if the players made the right defensive play.

You could say the Hawks lost because of their poor 3-point shooting and shots just weren't falling. You could say that the Cavs hit lucky shots. But the fact of the matter is, the Hawks defense was brutal at the end of the game. The will to win wasn't there. There was no want from the players. They didn't want to play defense and this lost them the series. 

Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 3)

Warriors Lead Series 2-1

I want to start out this post by saying that Damian Lillard did what Damian Lillard needed to do to win this game. The kid had 40 points and 10 assists in the game. He took over for this Traiblazers team. He took advantage of this team not having the defensive presence of Steph Curry. No matter the shot Lillard was given, he made sure he made it.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were amazing. Klay had 35 points! But Draymond had 37 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and he shot 8-12 from 3-point range. A lot of his shots were wide open too. He played great but the Warriors couldn't come out with the W.

There were two reasons why the Trailblazers won. First, they didn't turn the ball over. They took great care of the ball. They only had 10 turnovers on the night. Portland made sure that they always got back in transition and the best team in transition only had 2 fastbreak points. When you limit the Warriors to 2 fastbreak points, you are doing a pretty good job at defending them.

The other reason was that the Trailblazers hit tough shots. The Warriors did a good job defensively but the Trailblazers just hit tough shots as they were lead by Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

As you can see, the Trailblazers deserved to get this win because they worked hard. If they keep this up, they could look and making this series a lot more interesting.

Raptors VS Heat (Game 3)

Raptors Lead Series 2-1

Happy Mothers Day everyone! In this post we will look at the game between the Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors and how this game came out with the outcome it had.

Kyle Lowry made shots. It took him 10 games! But Kyle Lowry actually made shots. The guy shot 11-19 from the field. However, Raptors fans, do not get your hopes up, because Kyle Lowry shot 10 uncontested shots and made 8 of the. Only 3 of his shots were defended. However, this does force the Heat of making the adjustment to actually play him.

While we aren't sure if Valanciunas or Whiteside will be back in the next game or even the series. Both of these injuries are a devastating loss. Valanciunas was honestly the best player on the Raptors. His pick and roll with Lowry and DeRozan was really key in the 2 wins that the Raptors had in this series.

The Heat finally stopped turning the ball over. They only had 9 turnovers in the game. However, the Heat only had 11 assists. Do you remember when the Heat bought out Beno Udrih's contract? They probably they wish they had Udrih now. They could sure use his play making ability and defense.

Dwanye Wade really carried the Heat. He had 38 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Nobody on the Heat team had more in any of those 3 categories. It doesn't help when your team shoots 22.2% from 3. Part of this is the stagnant offense is helping guys get open at all. In fact, Miami took 55 contested shots in the game and only 22 uncontested shots. This didn't really have to do with the Raptors defense, it was more because the Heat wouldn't get into their offense.

 Obviously some changes need to be made for both teams but game 4 is a must win for the Heat. They need to win at home, if they can't this series might just be long gone for them. They need to tie it up.