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your-dietician · 4 years ago

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2021 NBA Draft Prospect Profiles: James Bouknight

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2021 NBA Draft Prospect Profiles: James Bouknight

Over the next month, GBB will be profiling various players the Memphis Grizzlies may target in the 2021 NBA Draft. This year we will be breaking it up in to three sections – five to likely trade up for, five potentially available right around pick #17 where Memphis is slotted to pick, and five that surely will be there or perhaps the Grizzlies could even trade back and still select.

Next in our trade-up draft targets is the “Brooklyn Dodger” James Bouknight from the University of Connecticut.

James Bouknight, Guard, UCONN

6’5”, 190 lbs (6’8.25” wingspan), 20 years old from Brooklyn, New York

Two seasons at UCONN: 27.9 minutes per game, 15 points per game, 46 FG% (32% from three, 80% from the line), 4,7 rebounds per game, 1.4 assists per game, 0.9 steals, 0.2 blocks

ADVANCED STATS OF STRENGTH (per Tankathon) : Usage rate (31.6%)

ADVANCED STATS TO IMPROVE: Ast/TO ratio (0.64), Ast%/Usage (.41), Off Rating (108.7), Effective field goal% (49.8%), True Shooting % (54.6%)

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES: 2020-21 First Team All Big East, 2019-20 Third Team All-AAC, 2020 AAC All-Freshman Team

CURRENT BIG BOARD PLACEMENTS: 13th overall (Tankathon), 21st overall (Ringer), 8th overall (ESPN), 8th overall (CBS Sports), 9th overall (The Athletic)

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The Memphis Grizzlies are coming off an injury-riddled second season of a rebuild that saw them exceed expectations by winning the NBA play-in and making the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2017. As great as the playoff performances were from the likes of Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks, it was not enough to outlast Donovan Mitchell and the plethora of shooters that supplied the Utah Jazz’s offensive fire power. As deep as the Grizzlies were from a talent and productivity stand point last season, the Jazz series highlighted one thing that the Grizzlies need moving forward: someone not named Ja Morant who can consistently put the ball in the hoop. James Bouknight can be that guy — at a cost. As draft season started, Bouknight looked like a potential steal for teams in the 10-20 range, but now he is rising rapidly up NBA Draft boards as he flashes his potential to be a star in the league.

Bouknight will not be there at pick #17. Honestly, he probably won’t make it past the 8th overall pick. That being said, if the Grizzlies become enamored with the prospect being compared to Donovan Mitchell and long-desired trade target Zach LaVine, I won’t blame them for trying to make a move up into the lottery. Bouknight is not an analytical darling by any means but checks a lot of boxes in the Grizzlies formula that Shawn Coleman highlighted last season.

What He Does Well

IndyStar-USA TODAY Sports

A key element of this current era of Grizzlies basketball has been getting more explosive and modern compared to the “Grit ‘n’ Grind” Grizzlies of years’ past. They don’t get much more explosive than Bouknight in this year’s draft, and much to the Grizzlies blueprint, it translates to both ends.

James Bouknight sent the nets to Hell today in a tough OT loss to #9 Creighton.

Bouk scored 40 Points on 13/24 shooting in his 1st game of the season not seeing zone defense. Scored w/ ease on all levels.

Rare you see a player w/ elite athleticism have such patience & control. pic.twitter.com/rgKWwCay3r

— In Due Time (@League_Him) December 20, 2020

Offensively, there’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said. Bouknight is one of those guys that every team wants — an aggressive three-level scorer who can not only make shots, but create the separation to create his own as well. Similar to Mitchell and LaVine, he uses an explosive first step to get to the rim for acrobatic layups and highlight reel dunks. In the same mold of Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant and many other young guards, he is a patient ball handler who can draw fouls with deceptive moves as well as use hesitations and step backs to create space and get to their spots and get their shots off. As his highlight reel above shows, he’s comfortable playing off the ball cutting to the rim as a lob threat.

Defensively, Bouknight has all of the tools to be a more than capable defender at the NBA level. He took a leap on that end his sophomore season, impacting the game by using his athleticism to jump into passing lanes and flash at driving opponents using his wingspan and quick hands to strip opposing ball handlers. As is the case with every young guard, there’s room for improvement — especially in on-ball, point of attack situations — but the established floor is already really good for a 20 year old.

An underrated aspect of his game that ticks another box for the Memphis Grizzlies’ draft formula is Bouknight’s instincts on the glass. While Bouknight may be the smallest of the top-5 shooting guards in the 2021 class, he leads the group in rebounding, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game. This ability only increases his value on both ends and the likelihood of him being a draft night target for Memphis in a trade up situation.

If his play from college translates, he has the chance to be a star in this league that is more than serviceable on the defensive end of the floor thanks to his athleticism.

Where He Can Improve

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

There are two things that analytics will point to for James Bouknight to improve as he moves to the next level. One is his shot making from deep — as he only shot 32% from three over the course of two seasons at UCONN — and his playmaking. Bouknight, in a self-aware answer during the NBA Draft combine, acknowledged that his role as the “go-to guy” in college could lead to “ill advised” and “tough” shots but also stated his three-point shooting is “underrated.”

UConn’s James Bouknight put on an absolutely incredible shooting display at his NBA Combine Pro Day workout today. Shot the cover off the ball, showing phenomenal footwork, touch and body control. pic.twitter.com/XzHdjwLpRK

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 26, 2021

As shown above, James Bouknight put on a shooting display at the NBA Combine Pro Day. This shooting capability may become more of the norm at an NBA level, with the offense less centered around him and his ability to create space.

The college numbers say one thing about his shooting ability but as Elite Media Group’s Reese Holliday points out, his ability to shoot 80% from the free throw line over two college seasons shows the potential to improve into being an efficient three-level scorer on the NBA level.

In college, Bouknight was “the guy,” as all eyes were on him to make plays for offense — which could lead to over dribbling and tunnel vision, a problem a lot of young guards have in similar situations. This is something that can be worked on at the next level. With an improved supporting cast, it is a lot easier to pass out of situations instead of forcing bad shots and turning the ball over.

The Fit

There’s been a lot of discussion about the Grizzlies consolidating at the shooting guard and small forward positions moving into next season. The pipe dream of these scenarios have been Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine. With Bouknight, the Grizzlies could potentially consolidate at a smaller sell than what would be required for the established All-Stars and members of Team USA.

With the addition of Bouknight, there’s a lifted pressure for everyone. Ja Morant has a new lob threat in the starting lineup who isn’t afraid to takeover if he has to. The scoring load for Dillon Brooks lightens, allowing more catch-and-shoot opportunities as the 3rd or 4th option in most lineups. Jaren Jackson Jr. has someone else on the perimeter drawing attention away from him. Bouknight would also add a capable perimeter defender to whoever remains from the trade that would have to happen to get him in Beale Street Blue. Taylor Jenkins would have another two-way asset that can be deployed in a variety of ways in small ball lineups due to Bouknight’s versatility as a defender.

This would be a win for everyone involved.

The Verdict

Photo by Porter Binks

The Grizzlies lucked out twice last year thanks to teams using age as a negative and opting for one and done’s over more experienced players. This will not be the case for the second year guard out of UCONN as his rise up big boards has nearly locked him within the top ten.

The tools he possesses on both ends are too valuable for him to slide far, regardless of him being “older” than the one-and-done prospects in this year’s draft. If the Memphis Grizzlies want to pair Bouknight with Ja Morant, it’s going to cost them something, but the front office moves over the last few years have prepared them for a scenario like this. And if they become the team many think they can become, the picks will lose their value after so long anyway, so strike while the iron is hot and go get a guy that fits the newly established standard here in Memphis and can fill it up as a member of the young core for years to come.

Will it happen though? Only time will tell.

James Bouknight will most likely fall in the 4-8 range on Draft night. The more he falls the more the Grizzlies should entertain trading up to pair him up with a young core fresh off a playoff run.

For more Grizzlies talk, subscribe to the Grizzly Bear Blues podcast network on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and IHeart. Follow Grizzly Bear Blues on Twitter and Instagram.

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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The top 50 players in men’s college basketball

These are the players who defined the 2019-2020 men’s college basketball season.

There were so many great stories in college basketball this season that will never get the ending they deserve. The NCAA tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, an absolutely necessary move but a sad one nonetheless. We can make predictions about what would have happened in March Madness, but the reality is none of us will ever know who ultimately would have cut down the nets at the Final Four in Atlanta.

While we mourn the loss of the NCAA tournament, it’s important to remember the players who made the 2019-20 college basketball season what it was. There were veterans like Markus Howard and Udoka Azuibuike who got even better as seniors. There were players like Luka Garza and Immanuel Quickley who seemingly came out of nowhere to become stars. There were freshmen like Onyeka Okongwu who made an immediate impact.

These are the 50 best players in college basketball this season, ranked.

50. Desmond Bane, G, TCU

The 6’6 senior guard capped a productive four-year career by leading TCU in scoring (16.6 points per game), assists (four per game), and steals. He shot 43.9 percent from three-point range while nearly doubling his assist rate from last season to near 26 percent. He was named first-team All-Big 12 for his efforts.

49. John Mooney, F, Notre Dame

Mooney led the nation in double-doubles, posting at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in 25 of Notre Dame’s 31 games. The senior big man wasn’t the most efficient scorer (51 percent true shooting) due to a penchant to take and miss three-pointers (31-of-105 on the season), but his consistent work on the glass and inside scoring helped carry Notre Dame to a 20-12 record on the year.

48. Oscar Tshiebwe, C, West Virginia

Tshiebwe was one of the most physically intimidating players in the country from the moment he stepped on the floor for West Virginia. The 6’9, 260-pound freshman center led the country in offensive rebound rate (19 percent). Tshiebwe was also a critical cog protecting the paint in the Mountaineers’ No. 3 overall defense while leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots.

47. Jalen Crutcher, G, Dayton

Obi Toppin might have been the star of the show at Dayton, but the Flyers’ high-powered offense wouldn’t have been so prolific without the contributions of his trusty sidekick Jalen Crutcher. The 6’1 junior guard drastically improved as a shooter from three-point range (42 percent) and the foul line (86 percent). He ended the season averaging 15 points and five assists per game.

46. Precious Achiuwa, C/F, Memphis

Memphis’ dream season went up in smoke when star freshman center James Wiseman was suspended and ultimately left the team amid an NCAA scandal after only three games. The Tigers were still able to win 21 games and have a chance to play themselves into the Big Dance at the AAC tournament thanks to the contributions of Achiuwa, their other McDonald’s All-American freshman. A long and strong 6’9 forward, Achiuwa averaged 15.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game to lead the Tigers in all three categories.

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

45. Kaleb Wesson, C, Ohio State

There was a time when Wesson looked like the best player in the country in the early part of the season as Ohio State rose as high as No. 2 in the AP poll. Both Wesson and his team would eventually come back down to Earth before rebounding late in the season to win four of their final five games. The 6’9, 270-pound big man ended the season averaging 14 points and 9.8 rebounds while making 45 three-pointers at a 42 percent clip.

44. Zeke Nnaji, C, Arizona

Nico Mannion and Josh Green were the Arizona freshmen with the most hype this season, but Nnaji ended up becoming the Wildcats’ best player. The 6’11 big man led his team in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (8.6) while also finishing with 63 percent true shooting. An underrated part of Nnaji’s offense was his ability to get to the foul line and make free throws. He finished with 6.1 fouls drawn per-40 minutes and knocked down 76 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.

43. Nathan Knight, C, William & Mary

The CAA had lots of great players this year — Charleston’s Grant Riller and Hofstra’s Desure Buie were also considered for this list — but Knight was the guy took home the conference’s player of the year award after finishing second in the country in double-doubles. The 6’10, 250-pound senior forward was a beast inside for conference opponents all season, averaging 20.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on 61 percent true shooting. He leaves school as the program’s second all-time leading scorer.

42. Paul Reed, C, DePaul

A long 6’9 junior big man, Reed turned into a dependable scorer and one of the better defensive centers in the country this season at DePaul. He posted monstrous block (9.4 percent) and steal (3.4 percent) rates while averaging 15.1 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Blue Demons. He finished No. 13 in America in box score plus-minus.

41. Yoeli Childs, C, BYU

The 6’8 senior was again one of the most productive big men in America when he was on the court for BYU this season. Childs led his team in scoring (22.2 points per game), rebounding (nine per game) and blocks while finishing with a 60.3 true shooting percentage. His final year of college basketball unfortunately got off to a late start after he was suspended the first nine games of the season for a paperwork error related to his decision to pull out of the 2019 NBA Draft.

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

40. Kira Lewis, PG, Alabama

Lewis entered college basketball as a 17-year-old freshman at Alabama and took another step forward in his development this year. An ultrafast 6’3 point guard with emerging scoring ability, Lewis led the Crimson Tide by averaging 18.5 points, 5.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. He’s expected to be a first-round pick in the NBA Draft.

39. Keyontae Johnson, F, Florida

Florida didn’t quite live up to preseason expectations, but it wasn’t Johnson’s fault. The sophomore swing man led the Gators in scoring (14 points per game) while also being his team’s best defender. An active and athletic player on both ends of the floor, Johnson was named a first-team All-SEC selection by raising his scoring efficiency (62.4 percent true shooting) and finishing with the highest box score plus-minus on his team.

38. Isaiah Stewart, C, Washington

Stewart was blessed with adult-level strength from his early years in high school, so it was no surprise to see him have such a productive freshman year at Washington. The 6’9, 250-pound big man led the Huskies in scoring (17.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.8 per game) while finishing with 63 percent true shooting that ranked top-50 in the country.

37. Elijah Hughes, F, Syracuse

A long and versatile 6’6 forward, Hughes enjoyed a breakout junior year by becoming Syracuse’s primary scoring option. He led the ACC in scoring at 19 points per game while also averaging five rebounds and 3.4 assists per night. Hughes’ scoring punch was helped by an increased volume in three-point shooting, where he hit 34.1 percent of his 7.2 attempts per game from downtown.

36. Lamar Stevens, G, Penn State

Stevens wrapped up a phenomenal four-year career at Penn State by leading the Nittany Lions to their first ranking in the AP poll since the 1995-96 season, where they peaked at No. 9. Penn State was going to make its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2010-11 with Stevens leading the team in scoring for the second straight season. He leaves school just six points short of becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, which he would have been a lock to get had the season continued as planned.

Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

35. Nick Richards, C, Kentucky

Most McDonald’s All-Americans don’t spend their first two years in college basketball averaging less than 15 minutes per game. That was the reality for Richards as he competed in a deep Kentucky front court while he skill set took time to catch up to his physical talent. Everything clicked for him as a junior, giving the Wildcats an athletic center who finished everything inside and turned into one of the SEC’s premier defenders. Richards ended his junior year averaging 14 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, with a huge eight percent block rate and a 67.8 true shooting percentage that ranked No. 8 in America.

34. Mamadi Diakite, F, Virginia

Virginia lost Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, and De’Andre Hunter from its reigning national championship team, but the two-way play of Diakite helped the ‘Hoos maintain their excellence. After a slow start, Virginia was set to enter the ACC tournament at 23-7 overall and 15-5 in the conference. Diakite was their leading scorer and also arguably the top defensive player on the No. 1 defense in America. He should never have to pay for a meal in Charlottesville again.

33. Tres Tinkle, F, Oregon State

In his fifth season playing for his father at Oregon State, Tinkle led his team in scoring (18.5 points per game), rebounding, and steals, and finished second in assists and blocks. The 6’7 forward passed Gary Payton on March 6 to become the program’s all-time leading scorer.

32. Reggie Perry, C, Mississippi State

Coming off an MVP run with USA Basketball in the FIBA U19 World Cup, Perry built on a promising freshman year at Mississippi State by raising his numbers across the board. He averaged a double-double (17.4 points and 10.1 rebounds) while shooting 50 percent from the field. The 6’10 big man also made strides as a shooter, both from three-point range (where he doubled his makes from last year by hitting 23) and the foul line (76.8 percent).

31. Jordan Ford, G, St. Mary’s

Ford was one of the most reliable scorers in America for the second straight season. He duplicated the 21 points per game he averaged a year ago, and this time did it a tad more efficiently. Ford appeared in all 33 games for St. Mary’s this season and played 93.5 percent of the team’s available minutes. The point guard did a tremendous job of taking care of the ball, posting a turnover rate of just nine percent which ranked top-30 in the country.

Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images

30. Jalen Harris, G, Nevada

The 6’5 guard turned into one of the most dynamic backcourt scorers in the country in his first season at Nevada after transferring from Louisiana State. Harris put up 21.7 points per game to go along with nearly four assists per night. He was one of the most efficient high-usage scorers in America, ending the year ranked in the 83rd percentile of points per possession.

29. Tyler Bey, F, Colorado

Bey broke out into a legitimate first-round NBA Draft prospect during his junior season at Colorado. The 6’7 forward was one of the top defensive players in the country, posting impressive block and steal rates while having the versatility to switch onto forwards, big men, and even some guards. He was also the team’s second leading scorer at 13.8 points per game while grabbing a team-best nine rebounds per night. He was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts.

28. Sam Merrill, G, Utah State

Merrill officially owns college basketball’s most memorable moment of March 2020 with his buzzer-beater to shock San Diego State and punch the Utah State Aggies to the NCAA tournament. Merrill finished his senior year just tenths of a point from his second consecutive season of averaging 20 points per game. Mountain West teams should be thrilled to see him graduate. He leaves school as the program’s second all-time leading scorer.

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27. Filip Petrušev, C, Gonzaga

Petrusev went from a reserve in a deep and talented Gonzaga front court as a freshman to one of the best offensive centers in the country as a sophomore. He led Gonzaga in scoring (17.5 points per game) and rebounding (7.9 per game) while posting nearly 60 percent true shooting. He was named WCC Player of the Year for his efforts.

26. Ayo Dosunmu, G, Illinois

Dosunmu made a surprising decision to return for his sophomore year without even testing the NBA Draft waters. It’s a choice that allowed him to go down as one of the great players in recent Illinois basketball history. The 6’5 guard led the team in scoring (16.6 points per game) and assists (3.3 per game), but that doesn’t fully capture the impact he made in leading the Illini to what would have been their first NCAA tournament berth since 2013. It’s the clutch moments for Dosunmu that will stand the test of time, closing out wins against Wisconsin, Purdue, Rutgers, and Northwestern before hitting this game-winner vs. Michigan:

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25. Devin Vassell, SF, Florida State

Florida State won the ACC regular-season crown and were about to be a trendy pick to reach the Final Four. Vassell led the team in scoring and rebounding while being the team’s best defender and best three-point shooter. There’s a reason the 6’7 sophomore wing is projected as a possible NBA lottery pick despite relatively pedestrian per-game stats (12.7 points, 5.1 rebounds per game). He made a noticeable impact on winning every time FSU took the floor.

24. Skylar Mays, G, LSU

An athletic 6’4 swingman, Mays capped his four-year career at LSU by becoming one of the better players in the SEC. The leading scorer (16.7 points per game) on the No. 4 offense in America, Mays improved as a shooter — hitting over 39 percent of his threes — and made major strides as an offensive creator. He finished in the 98th percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler, according to Synergy Sports. He was also arguably the Tigers’ best defender, finishing with a steal rate of about three percent for the fourth straight year.

23. Marcus Zegarowski, PG, Creighton

Zagaroawski was the sophomore point guard who served as the engine of the No. 3 offense in the country. A dangerous long-range shooter (42 percent from three) and skilled playmaker (five assists per game), he led Creighton to the No. 7 overall ranking in the final AP poll of the year. The Bluejays were a major threat to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 1973.

22. Killian Tillie, F, Gonzaga

It feels like Tillie has been around college basketball forever. As a freshman, he was the French forward off the bench for a team that went to the national championship game. He broke out into a star as a sophomore by becoming a knockdown three-point shooter who hit better than 47 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. His junior season was painfully cut short by ankle and foot injuries. Gonzaga didn’t need him to be its leading man as a senior with such a talented supporting cast around him, but Tillie was still arguably the team’s most consistent offensive player. He’s going to have a long and prosperous pro career if the injury troubles are behind him.

21. Immanuel Quickley, G, Kentucky

From a sparingly used guard off the bench to SEC Player of the Year: that’s the story of Quickley’s sophomore season at Kentucky. The 6’3 guard slotted into more of an off-ball role this season next to Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans, where he blossomed as a three-point shooter (41.6 percent from deep) and eventually became the primary scoring option for the Wildcats by the end of the year. This will go down as one of the great sophomore leaps in John Calipari’s tenure at Kentucky.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

20. Saddiq Bey, F, Villanova

The improvements Bey made as a sophomore at Villanova are about to make him a very rich man. The 6’8 forward was at the center of everything Villanova did this year, leading the team in scoring (16.1 points per game) and nearly doubling his assist rate from his freshman season. His biggest strides came as an outside shooter. Bey hit 45.1 percent of his threes on 5.6 attempts per game. During a shooting-obsessed era of the NBA, Bey’s deep range should make him a first-round draft pick.

19. Tre Jones, PG, Duke

Jones was projected as a possible first-round pick last year after playing with Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish as a freshman. He decided to return to Duke for his sophomore year instead, becoming the heart and soul of the team from the moment the season tipped off. Jones raised his numbers across the board on his way to becoming ACC Player of the Year. Going from a role-player to a leading man while raising your efficiency is no easy task, but Jones pulled it off flawlessly. The NBA is still waiting.

18. Mason Jones, G, Arkansas

Was there a better player in college basketball this year who received less hype than Mason Jones? Arkansas’ junior guard averaged 22 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per night on 45.3/35.1/82.6 shooting splits. His ability to hit step-back and pull-up jumpers paced the Arkansas offense through the year while he also posted a solid 2.7 percent steal rate on defense.

17. Tyrese Haliburton, PG, Iowa State

Before Haliburton’s sophomore season ended in early February thanks to a wrist injury, the Iowa State point guard was emerging as one of the oddest yet most effective players in America. After putting up incredibly efficient numbers in a small role as a freshman, Haliburton more than doubled his usage while continuing to be hyper-efficient offensively. While the 6’5 guard wasn’t much of an attacker off the dribble, he was a dynamic threat on catch-and-shoot threes (42 percent) and finished with a 35 percent assist rate that ranked No. 26 in America. He’s expected to be a lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft.

16. Daniel Oturu, C, Minnesota

Oturu was considered one of the top recruits in Minnesota basketball history when he committed — 247 Sports only has Kris Humphries and Royce White rated ahead of him. He spent his sophomore season showing how correct that prophecy always was. The 6’10 center put up gigantic numbers all season, finishing with averages of 20.1 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game. He was one of the best two-way big men in college basketball this season by any definition.

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

15. Vernon Carey Jr., C, Duke

There was no point in which Carey looked or felt like a freshman during his first and likely only season at Duke. The 6’10, 270-pound center was considered a top-three prospect in his recruiting class, and lived up to the hype for every second he was on the floor. Carey finished the year leading Duke in scoring (17.8 points per game), rebounding (8.8 per game), and blocked shots (1.6 per game) while finishing with an efficient 61.5 true shooting percentage. He was also a monster at drawing fouls and hit a respectable 67 percent of his free throws. Could he have had the same perfect ending to his freshman year that Jahlil Okafor once enjoyed at Duke? We’ll never know.

14. Xavier Tillman, C, Michigan State

Ever since Tillman inherited Nick Ward’s spot in Michigan State’s lineup midway through last season, the Spartans big man has been one of the most impactful players in America. He proved his worth in a full-time role this season, leading the country in box score plus-minus on the strength of elite defense and solid offense. Tillman’s per-game stats of 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game don’t jump off the page, but MSU was simply a different team with him on the floor. Tillman didn’t need elite athleticism or shooting ability to be a force; he did it with strength and smarts instead. His play is a great example of what per-game numbers don’t capture when it comes to contributions to winning.

13. Jared Butler, G, Baylor

Butler became the best player on one of the best teams in the country this season as the sophomore leader of Baylor. As the Bears started the year 24-1 overall and 13-0 in conference, Butler emerged as their leading scorer and a key defender in a top-five defensive unit. The 6’3 point guard scored in double-figures in 25 of his 30 games, including a 22-point effort in a defining win against Kansas on Jan. 11.

12. Onyeka Okongwu, C, USC

Okongwu was the best freshman in college basketball all year even if most people didn’t realize it. He finished third in the country in box score plus-minus and grew into a lottery pick during his freshman year at USC by becoming one of the best two-way bigs in America. Okongwu was a skilled finisher with either hand who made a habit of dunking in traffic. He might have been even better defensively, where he posted a nearly 10 percent block rate and deterred so many more shot attempts with his length and verticality. There were freshmen who earned more attention nationally, but none that were quite as good as Okongwu.

11. Jordan Nwora, F, Louisville

Nwora is the type of player every college basketball team wants but few actually have: a big wing who can score from all three levels of the floor. He carried the scoring load for a powerful Louisville team all year, acting as the primary option on the No. 12 offense in the country. Nwora averaged 18 points per game and shot a career-best 40 percent from three on six attempts per game as a junior. He ranked in the 82nd percentile of points per possession in the country.

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

10. Jalen Smith, C, Maryland

Smith took a superstar leap as a sophomore after flirting with the NBA Draft at the completion of his freshman year. He raised his numbers across the board and emerged the best player on a Maryland team that peaked at No. 3 in the polls. The 6’10 big man averaged 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game, while extending his shooting range out past the three-point line (36.8 percent on 87 attempts). He finished the year with a 62.6 true shooting percentage after scoring with just average efficiency (55 percent true shooting) last year.

9. Devon Dotson, G, Kansas

Dotson took the superstar leap in his sophomore season that many were expecting. The point guard was excellent on both ends of the floor, leading the Jayhawks in scoring (18.1 points per game) while posting a monster 3.6 percent steal rate. Arguably the fastest player in the country, Dotson was brilliant at creating offense for himself and others, showing rare finishing touch and the ability to absorb contact at the basket. He finished No. 2 overall behind Luka Garza in KenPom’s Player of the Year award race.

8. Myles Powell, G, Seton Hall

Tom Izzo said it best during a postgame interview after Powell dropped 37 points in 34 minutes on the Spartans in a November game he was originally slated to miss with an injury: “Myles is one of the great players I’ve ever seen in college basketball.” Powell was a stud for Seton Hall this season as a senior on his way to being named a first-time AP All-American. He ended the season averaging 21 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, though his scoring efficiency dropped as the season went along (he ended the year shooting under 40 percent from the field). The Pirates were poised to make some noise in March.

7. Luka Garza, C, Iowa

Garza went from a solid starting center in the Big Ten as a sophomore to KenPom’s No. 1 finisher in the Player of the Year race as a junior. He was unstoppable both offensively and on the glass, raising his scoring average from 13.1 to 23.9 points per game while nearly doubling his efforts as a rebounder (4.5 to 9.8 per game). He even added a consistent three-ball to the mix this year, knocking down 39-of-109 shots from deep, good for 35.8 percent from behind the arc. Garza didn’t bring much defensively, but he has a case for the best offensive big man in America this year.

6. Malachi Flynn, PG, SDSU

Coming off a redshirt season following his transfer from Washington State, Flynn exploded onto the college basketball scene as a second-team AP All-American. He was the leader of a mighty San Diego State team that started the year 26-0 and likely would have been a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. He led the Aztecs in scoring and assists while also playing a critical role in the No. 10 defensive unit in the country.

5. Payton Pritchard, G, Oregon

Pritchard was one of the best guards in the country all year as a senior for Oregon, and he was ending the season on an absolute tear. He dropped 38 points against Arizona, 23 against Oregon State, 20 against Cal, and 29 against Stanford in his last four games before the Pac-12 tournament, all wins. He also provided one of the season’s most memorable moments with his takeover down the stretch against Washington in January, capped by this game-winner:

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4. Markus Howard, PG, Marquette

Howard pulled off a nearly impossible feat as a senior: leading the country in scoring (27.8 points per game) and usage rate while still finishing with nearly 60 percent true shooting despite being the smallest guy on the floor in every game he played. Howard put a cap on a brilliant four-year career by again being arguably the sport’s most lethal shooter, this season draining 121 threes at a 41 percent clip. Marquette was projected to be on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, but if they got in, you can bet Howard wouldn’t have gone down without a barrage of deep threes.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

3. Cassius Winston, PG, Michigan State

Winston had to play his senior year under unbearable grief when his younger brother Zachary was found dead just days after the season started. A personal tragedy on that level could sink anyone, but somehow Winston continued to be nothing less than the best point guard in the sport. He led the Spartans in scoring and finished top-20 in America in assist rate while hitting better than 43 percent of his three-pointers. The Spartans struggled to hold onto their preseason No. 1 ranking in the polls, but they were about to enter the Big Ten tournament on a five-game winning streak and seemed to be peaking right on time. Winston was the leader of everything MSU did, just as he had been for the last four years. Throughout his time in East Lansing, Winston personified everything you want a college basketball point guard to be.

2. Udoka Azuibuike, C, Kansas

This was the year Udoka Azuibuike put it all together. After a torn ligament in his right hand ended his junior season after only nine games, Azuibuike returned for his senior year and became the most dominant physical force on the scariest team in the country. Azuibuike was automatic inside, making 74.4 percent of his two-point shots. He took major strides as a defender and rebounder, raising his block rate to nearly 11 percent and posting career-best rates on the glass at both ends of the floor. He also played in every game and anchored the unit that finished in the top-10 of both offensive and defensive efficiency.

When Azuibuike was locked in, he felt like college basketball’s very own Shaquille O’Neal, with opposing defenses looking completely helpless unless they resorted to putting him on the foul line. Players this big and strong and still blessed with touch inside and an increasingly persistent defensive motor do not come along in college hoops very often. Azuibuike was that special.

1. Obi Toppin, F/C, Dayton

There wasn’t much expected from Obi Toppin and Dayton at the onset of the season. The Flyers were unranked in the preseason polls and weren’t even picked to win the A-10. Toppin ranked No. 43 in our preseason countdown of the best players in college basketball, and was well outside of first-round NBA Draft projections. Four months later, Toppin and Dayton were arguably the biggest story in the sport, a future lottery pick leading a No. 1 seed into March on a 20-game winning streak with designs of winning the whole damn thing.

Of course, we’ll never know how far the Flyers actually would have gone. What we do know is Toppin was the best player in America all season. The 6’9 redshirt sophomore forward averaged 20 points per game on absurdly efficient 68.4 percent true shooting. He finished in the 99th percentile of points per possession in DI. He punctuated his greatness with every dunk, going under-the-legs in a game against George Washington and throwing down too many windmills to count. College basketball is going to make Toppin a man wealthy beyond his wildest dreams by the time the draft rolls around. There is no better proof of what this sport can do for a player than Toppin’s rise this year.

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itsjaybullme · 6 years ago

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Olympia Legend: Phil Heath

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PHIL HEATH WINS A LOT

Starting with his first show in 2003, he’s 17-7, and he’s finished atop the bodybuilding world at the last seven Mr. Olympias. He’s won so much this decade it’s hard to remember him ever losing. But no one is a born winner. Success is a mindset that needs to be learned, practiced, and perfected. Phil Heath tells you how he did that and does that. These are not just lessons for bodybuilding success. Together, they’re a winning strategy for everything.

LEARN FROM YOUR LOSSES

Things came easily for Heath at first. In his only loss in the NPC, he still won his class. He turned pro on his singular try at the 2005 USA and then won his initial two pro shows in 2006. But he was still just a puppy—if a really good one. At 5'9", he could’ve competed in the 212 division—if there had been one. He was winning with shape and conditioning, but he was undersized, and that was exposed in 2007 at the Arnold Classic. “On this bigger stage, the 27-year-old simply didn’t have enough,” I wrote about Heath then, after praising his conditioning as the best in the lineup and before singling out his legs as especially weak. He finished fifth. Afterward, many wondered if he was already maxing out and if he’d ever have enough for the Arnold title, let alone the Olympia.

A little less than a year later, Heath shut up every critic when he stepped onstage at the Ironman Pro at a peeled 230. Bodybuilding, meet your future. For a year, Heath had replayed that humbling Arnold loss and the resulting criticism and used it to fuel his workouts. There was no way he was ever again going to flex weighing less than 225. Every day was focused on his workouts and his meals. He was determined to become a unicorn, that thing they said didn’t exist—the advanced bodybuilder who thoroughly transforms his physique in a single year. He never would’ve done it had he stubbornly stuck to what had already brought him great and rapid success. No, he had to admit defeat and accept why he was defeated in order to devise a plan to overcome.

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PREVENT PROBLEMS

Before preparing Heath’s meals in their Las Vegas hotel suite in the final days before the most recent Olympia, Heath’s fiance, Shurie Cremona, scrubbed down the kitchen counters and sink with bleach.

This might seem like bacterial overkill, but a bodybuilder’s immune system is stressed precontest, and Heath got sick before the ’09 Olympia, likely from food poisoning, and slipped to fifth place. At an earlier show, his food didn’t arrive, and he had to scramble to get his meals prepared. Ever since, he’s anticipated anything that could derail him, even if it only appears under a microscope. Be proactive. Strategize to stave off every potential problem, and have a contingency plan just in case something slips through.

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DREAM BIG

Not long after Heath hoisted his first Sandow in 2011, he started talking about collecting nine more. The record, held jointly by Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman, is eight. And only 13 men in 53 contests have earned one.

But having become No. 13 at the relatively young age of 31, Heath needed a new and grand motivation. Why shoot for three or five or even eight— as tremendous as any of those tallies would be?

No, the ultimate bodybuilding number is nine, and for good measure, he tacked on one more—10. As the poet Robert Browning wrote, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” It seemed ludicrous at first—10!— but year after year, Heath could quote another poet, DJ Khaled: “All I do is win.” Now it appears as if the Gift’s celestial goal might just be within his grasp in 2020. Aim high. Set a goal that challenges you to be great.

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ALWAYS BE A STUDENT

In the summer of 2006, coming off victories in his first two pro shows, a year after his one-and-done win at the USA, Heath was flying high. Then, in a happening destined not to stay in Vegas, he trained back with his friend, Jay Cutler. A photographer and I chronicled the event for FLEX readers.

There was no sugarcoating it. Heath got buried by the pace and the poundages of Cutler’s back barrage. It only magnified the fact that he was a rookie and still a puppy, while Cutler was an alpha dog who just two months later would win his first of four Olympia titles.

The Gift came back down to earth, but, more importantly, he discovered firsthand what it would take to build Olympia-worthy muscle. And he’s never stopped discovering. No matter how high you rise, chances are there is someone who has risen higher, perhaps someone who took a completely different route up the mountain. Life is a never-ending seminar. Even when you’re a teacher, you need to remain a student, too, because there’s always something more to be learned.

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ASSESS YOUR FLAWS

Let’s jump ahead to the fall of 2015. Heath had collected his fifth consecutive Sandow. But, as always, he and trainer Hany Rambod assessed the contest photos and discussed what to improve. The answer was legs.

Considering the monster truck wheels of Big Ramy and Shawn Rhoden, top contenders could potentially exploit an advantage over the reigning king. So he and Rambod developed a routine to prioritize legs, hitting them twice weekly with greater volume and intensity.

As a result, his wheels were markedly inflated at the most recent Olympia. There’s always something to improve. You need to be honest with yourself and/or listen to the assessment of someone knowledgeable to determine your greatest weaknesses. If not, you’ll likely improve your strengths and neglect your flaws, only exacerbating the problem.

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KEEP YOUR COOL

Winning is the art of not losing. That might sound tautological, but there are ways to not be a loser, even when the scoreboard says otherwise. Most important, you need to avoid letting your emotions get the best of you. When, in the 2014 Olympia, Kai Greene threw is hair at Heath and nearly threw a fist, the frustrated heir apparent had as much as admitted he couldn’t beat the king in side-by-side posing comparisons. He literally lost it. On the other hand, Heath has had to swallow some close and controversial losses, especially the one to Greene at the 2010 Arnold Classic. Graciously accept defeat, learn from it, and plot a path to victory. Save your emotions for winning.

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REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM

Talk to Heath for long and he will inevitably mention basketball. It was on hardwood courts that he learned how to win. The Gift, who topped out at 5'9", wasn’t genetically gifted for B-ball. Nevertheless, he led his high school team to a Washington state title, and he played for a Division I college. Basketball is a sport wherein steady nerves are at a premium. You may need to make crucial free throws while the opposing crowd mockingly chants your name. The current Mr. O goes back to lessons gleaned from basketball coaches and game experience and applies them to his preparation for the Olympia.

It all helps him sink the big shot, so to speak, on the Orleans Arena stage each September. Everyone has a past to learn from. Maybe it was things a coach, teacher, or parent said. Maybe it’s things you experienced, negative as well as positive. Maybe it’s simply remembering how skinny or fat or poor you used to be that motivates you toward a better physique and a better life.

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SELF-MOTIVATE

The 13th Mr. O works out alone. That means it’s up to him to get up for every workout, whether it’s precontest in Armbrust Pro Gym or in the depths of the off-season in some ill-equipped dump far from home. When Heath played basketball, he could count on his teammates and coaches to help motivate him for practices and games. But bodybuilding is the most individualistic of all sports. When you train by yourself, it’s just you and the iron. Heath uses music, short-term goals, and the will to win another Sandow to drive him through each metal session and keep him on his meal plan. Whatever it takes to motivate yourself, use it. No one else can make you hit a personal best or grind through early- morning cardio. You have to do it for yourself.

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STAY HUNGRY

When you’ve won seven Olympias, it’s easy to get complacent, to assume what you’ve done before is good enough, that it’ll always be good enough, to start to think maybe you’re just destined to win. It’s a trap. The previous three Mr. O’s—Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Dexter Jackson— all lost their crowns (Cutler twice). The Sandow is never promised. Heath knows this. He was competing in the O the last three times the champ lost, and his first win knocked Cutler off the throne. Fear of losing is one motivation.

But what most drives him ever onward is the pantheon of legends in which he now resides. Last year, as he toiled to tie Dorian Yates’ mark of six O’s, a giant photo of Yates in Armbrust reminded him of the standard he was trying to match. This year, he reached Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Olympia tally of seven. Heath is chasing immortality. The lesson is to never grow complacent. Always have a goal, and when you reach that goal, make a new and greater goal. It was Arnold who said: “For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.”

FLEX

from Bodybuilding Feed https://www.muscleandfitness.com/flexonline/training/all-i-do-win via http://www.rssmix.com/

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 7 years ago

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Davidson takes best shot; 'Bama, USC wait

Visit Now - https://zeroviral.com/davidson-takes-best-shot-bama-usc-wait/

Davidson takes best shot; 'Bama, USC wait

AP Published 3:48 a.m. ET March 11, 2018

Alabama’s Braxton Key (25) passes around Kentucky’s Sacha Killeya-Jones under the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Saturday, March 10, 2018, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)(Photo: The Associated Press)

A barrage of 3-pointers gave Davidson a shot to make the NCAA Tournament.

Another accurate day from the arc for the Wildcats could burst the hopes of bubble teams across the country.

The Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament final on Sunday between Davidson and top-seeded Rhode Island may be must-see viewing at Arizona State, Louisville, Syracuse and any other school on precarious NCAA tourney footing.

Win and the Wildcats snatch the A-10’s automatic NCAA bid away from top-seeded Rhode Island. But the 25th-ranked Rams (25-6, 14 RPI) have a good enough resume to claim a precious at-large bid even if they lose.

Davidson (20-11, 74 RPI) is no lock if it loses. The Wildcats are 3-6 against Quadrant 1 teams and ranked 108th in strength of schedule.

Quadrant 1 wins are defined as victories in home games against teams with RPIs in the top 30, neutral-court wins against teams in the top 50 or road wins against teams in the top 75.

Still, bubble teams might have reason to worry. The Wildcats’ stock is rising thanks to all those 3s: 16 in an 82-70 win over St. Bonaventure in the A-10 semifinals on Saturday to snap the Bonnies’ 13-game winning streak.

“I think it’s just us sticking to our game plan and sticking to what we do best, which is move the ball, attack appropriately, find the open man, throw to the next one,” said guard Kellan Grady, who scored 23 points.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma remains one of the more interesting teams on the bubble. The Sooners (18-13, 48 RPI) stumbled in February and finished 8-10 in the Big 12. They were booted from their conference tournament in their first game by Oklahoma State.

Oklahoma also has six Quadrant 1 wins, including a victory in January over Kansas, which beat West Virginia to win the Big 12 tourney on Saturday. The Big 12 is one of the strongest conferences in the country this season.

The brackets are scheduled to be announced Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, after the American Athletic final between Houston and Cincinnati wraps up conference tournament season. But those two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 appear to be safely in the tourney no matter what happens.

Tennessee and Kentucky also have good enough NCAA resumes regardless of which team wins the Southeastern Conference Tournament final on Sunday.

For bubble teams, that makes the Atlantic 10 final in Washington the most important game to watch on Selection Sunday.

ON THE RISE

Alabama: A 23-point loss to Kentucky in the SEC semifinals in St. Louis on Saturday isn’t the ideal lasting impression to leave on the NCAA selection committee. But the Crimson Tide (19-15, 36 RPI) may have still done enough to make the NCAAs after beating No. 16 Auburn by 18 on Friday.

“When we got on the plane to come to St. Louis, there are a lot of unknowns about kind of our future, especially in the NCAA Tournament,” Crimson Tide coach Avery Johnson said. “But the perseverance that they’ve showed this year and especially over the last 48, 72 hours … we’ve played ourselves hopefully (into) the tournament.”

Southern California: A run to the Pac-12 Tournament final against Arizona may have put the Trojans (23-11, 33 RPI) on firmer footing and made Saturday night more about an opportunity to improve NCAA seeding.

Butler: “On the rise” might be pushing it for the Bulldogs after getting blown out by Villanova in the Big East tourney semifinals. But Butler (20-13, 40 RPI) has an important Quadrant 1 win in the regular season over the Wildcats on its resume. Villanova beat Providence to win the conference tourney on Saturday.

FADING HOPES

St. Bonaventure: Coach Mark Schmidt plans to pray on Selection Sunday. The resume looks impressive with nonconference wins over Syracuse and Maryland. But the loss to Davidson deprived the Bonnies (25-7, 21 RPI) a chance to cement their NCAA tourney hopes.

“I don’t know if we could have done any better,” Schmidt said about building the Bonnies’ resume. “So I think we’re going to have a good day tomorrow. Those guys deserve it … so let’s pray that we do.”

Middle Tennessee: A threat to win a first-round game in the NCAA Tournament — if it gets in. But the Blue Raiders (23-7, 34 RPI) must rely on getting an at-large berth after getting upset by Southern Mississippi in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament.

Big Ten teams: Remember Nebraska and Penn State? When the NCAA selection committee unveils the bracket on Sunday, more than a week will have passed since the last time the Cornhuskers (22-10, 57 RPI) and Nittany Lions (21-13, 78 RPI) played in the Big Ten tourney. They’re probably NIT-bound.

___

More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25

#Bama #Davidson #shot #takes #USC #Wait #News #Random News

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He's Gone

Players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are both essential and unspectacular in the exact kind of way that allows them to be taken for granted. After the Detroit Pistons renounced his rights back in July—rejecting an opportunity to surrender over $100 million for their former lottery pick's service—Caldwell-Pope hit the open market with an agreeable game that snugly fits into the NBA’s own tactical trajectory.

He’s a shutdown wing who launches more than half his shots behind the arc. (After a slow start, Caldwell-Pope has nailed just over 40 percent of his threes over his past 10 games and is at a career-best 36.1 percent this season.) What’s not to admire? Weaknesses exist—including an offensive rigidity that prohibits him from being much more than a tepid playmaker, at best—but they’re embraced warmly enough thanks to all the thankless tasks he provides elsewhere.

Caldwell-Pope is now on the Los Angeles Lakers, where he signed a one-year, $17.7 million deal. It feels like an uncomfortable stasis for a player in his fifth season, enduring his second contract year in a row. But the 24-year-old has yet to test the shortcomings of his game for the sake of his own individual growth or production, at the cost of his team's success. Instead, he's solely focused on finding ways to move L.A.'s needle in a positive way. His teammates respect that, understand how important he is, and recognize the partnership could end sooner than anyone wants it to.

"If I put myself in his shoes, it’d just be tough to embrace everybody and kind of get into the whole team aspect knowing that next summer is another free agent year," Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. told VICE Sports. "But he’s done a terrific job of being selfless and looking out for others."

Even though he’s been integral in helping turn L.A.’s defense around—from a three-year stretch where they ranked either last or second to last in defensive rating to the top-10 unit they own today—Caldwell-Pope is understandably overlooked on a rebuilding roster that includes two of the NBA's last three second-overall picks and a mythological Almighty named Kyle Kuzma. He ranks seventh on the Lakers in usage, with a role that never calls attention to itself, for a team that currently has a 14 percent chance of making the playoffs.

“When we made this deal, me and my agent, we discussed it multiple times,” Caldwell-Pope told VICE Sports. “We knew the risk we were taking. Nine times out of 10 I’d like to bet on myself. That’s what we did. It’s a one-year deal, and so far this season it’s been going well.”

This is far from basketball purgatory, but it’s also not an obvious home. Caldwell-Pope doesn’t have a lot of time to fit in; for reasons we'll get into later on, it’s more likely than not he’ll be in a different city next season. “There’s no benefit [to a one-year deal]. I’m up again next year,” he said. “I could be here, or be wherever I land.”

The good news for both the Lakers and Caldwell-Pope is that his skill-set is seamlessly transferable. He defends multiple positions extremely well, doesn’t need the ball (but can do a little bit with it, if necessary), and levels off as a fine three-point shooter who’s accurate enough to space the floor.

“Obviously it’s always a challenge when you’re coming to a new team on a one-year deal, and I think he’s done a really nice job of playing the way that we want him to play,” Lakers head coach Luke Walton said. “It’s not like he’s learning an entire new offense or anything like that. It’s more just what we’re looking for, what we’re valuing...you learn your teammate's strengths and weaknesses and where you can help them out and where they can help you out. All that stuff just takes time.”

Caldwell-Pope has helped simplify the first two months of Lonzo Ball’s career—as a reliable target on throw-aheads and someone who’ll happily assume the stress caused by wading through the league’s wave of obscene point guard talent every night—and is an ideal chip for one of the league’s fastest offenses.

Last season, Detroit’s pace was 97.6 with Caldwell-Pope on the floor. Right now, in Los Angeles, he’s on a team that’s averaging 105.2 possessions per 48 minutes. No team in basketball is faster.

“He’s a big player for our team, man,” Ball said. “Plays on both ends of the court. He can score with the best of them, and he makes my job a lot easier, just because he can run the lane and guard the guards.”

It doesn’t take a genius to deduce that he might be finding more of his offense in the open floor than last year. And guess what? He is! According to Synergy Sports, only two players (Elfrid Payton and Darren Collison) who’ve logged at least 50 transition possessions have a higher percentage of their individual offense coming from that play type.

Caldwell-Pope gallops the floor off missed shots and turnovers, perpetually looking to cash in against a retreating, unbalanced defense. “Luke made an emphasis on that this year. He wanted to play fast,” Caldwell-Pope said. “He wanted to get the ball up and down the court—see if we got [a good look], if not get it back to Zo and then just run a play. But mostly we want to get out in transition.”

Even though his core responsibilities haven't changed, Caldwell-Pope has been asked to create less offense for himself and others. The percentage of his possessions that have come as a pick-and-roll ball-handler have dropped 10.5 percent. He’s been effective coming off screens and more of his baskets are assisted than before, but unlike a stiff catch-and-shoot wing, Caldwell-Pope is still able to wiggle into satisfactory results when opponents take away what the Lakers want to do.

Here’s an example from a recent win against the Charlotte Hornets. It’s an "elevators" action that attempts to free KCP up for a three by zipper cutting through a double-doors screen set by Kuzma and Brook Lopez.

Marvin Williams recognizes what’s happening and switches out to contest, so Caldwell-Pope puts the ball on the floor, gets to the elbow, and rises up to knock down a mid-range jumper. It’s that ability to improvise that puts him a nose ahead of comparable players like Danny Green. (Here’s how "elevators" looks against a defense that isn’t prepared to stop it.)

At 6’5” and 200 pounds, he's an occasional victim of L.A.’s switch-happy defensive strategy that invites mismatches on the block as a means to neuter the offense’s ball movement and invite inefficient two pointers. Caldwell-Pope ranks dead last as a post defender, according to Synergy Sports, allowing 32 points on 21 possessions despite fighting for position before and after the catch.

But he's polished on the perimeter, a master of the NBA's dark arts defending on and off the ball. He knows how to elude screens, lock onto his man's hip, and transform into his shadow. "He gives me tips and pointers," Lakers rookie Josh Hart told VICE Sports. "He’s talked to me just about how to guard shooters off down screens...how to just be attached and go over the top so you don’t lose that separation and get torched for threes."

Nance Jr. added: "Whether it be Kemba, or Chris Paul, James Harden, Steph, every single night there’s some kind of guard that we play that has go-off potential, and he’s done a really nice job of slowing them down thus far."

Caldwell-Pope hasn’t made any noticeable statistical strides and his True Shooting percentage is still below league average, but he plays hard within his own limitations. Given the dearth of wings who check off the boxes he does on a nightly basis, how increasingly integral spacers who can also defend have become, and the fact that he's yet to enter his prime, Caldwell-Pope should be in line for a massive raise this summer. (He'll enter a marketplace that could also include Trevor Ariza, Avery Bradley, and Danny Green.)

Caldwell-Pope is best-suited on a team that’s ready to win now, but also able to aid a less-experienced roster and help shove them in the right direction (just like he’s doing right now with the Lakers).

But unless he's willing to sign another one-year deal (unlikely!), the Lakers probably won’t keep him beyond this season. Even if they strike out on Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, LeBron James, etc. in free agency, L.A.’s President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson is all about preserving max space for the summer of 2019. The organization appreciates all KCP is doing, but would prefer to fill their cap sheet with All-Stars. So if not Los Angeles, where will Caldwell-Pope be next season?

Photo by Kelvin Kuo - USA TODAY Sports

A few intriguing candidates could elbow their way into the hunt—the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets make sense—but my favorite destination is one that wasn’t on anybody’s radar even a month ago: the Indiana Pacers. When you’re good, young, and have a ton of cap space, doors that were once closed start to creak open.

The fit is almost too perfect. Caldwell-Pope would be sublime beside Victor Oladipo, able to defend opposing point guards, spot up on the wing, and prey in transition. This could be the Pacers’ starting backcourt until Myles Turner’s prime. For a franchise that hasn’t traditionally been able to take advantage of free agency, the Pacers have money to spend, an exciting core, and boast an attractive playing style.

“That’s what I do,” Caldwell-Pope told VICE Sports when asked how he’s enjoying L.A.'s quicker cadence. “I run the floor, I run the wing. Either get easy layups or transition threes.”

There’s also the possibility Los Angeles moves him before the trade deadline to a team that’s looking to make a playoff push, but that feels unlikely for a few reasons. To start, whichever team traded for Caldwell-Pope would only receive his non-Bird Rights. Long story short, that means they’d likely need cap space to re-sign him over the summer, as the exception only allows four year deals up to 120 percent of the previous season’s salary with a five percent annual increase.

Crazier things have happened, but it’s highly unlikely Caldwell-Pope’s market value won’t be higher, strengthening the likelihood of him being a mid-season rental more than a long-term investment. He also has a 15 percent trade kicker.

Are there any teams that believe half a season of Caldwell-Pope’s service is worth a first-round pick? The Minnesota Timberwolves would almost definitely fit this description, but they already owe a lottery-protected first to the Atlanta Hawks. The New Orleans Pelicans also fall in line, but lack enough salary in expiring contracts to execute a deal; a three-team transaction is always possible but incredibly difficult to pull off assuming the Lakers and Mystery Team X both want draft picks in the deal.

Caldwell-Pope is an ideal accessory for LeBron in his eternal quest to dethrone the Golden State Warriors—the two employ Rich Paul as an agent—but even though the Cleveland Cavaliers can cobble together a sensical trade package (something like Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2021), it’s really hard to see the Lakers go out of their way to nudge James closer to a championship.

If they don't trade him, Los Angeles will probably lose Caldwell-Pope for nothing. They knew what this was the moment they signed him, but that still doesn't make it any easier to accept. He'll likely stay in the Lakers' starting lineup for the rest of the season and continue to instill winning habits in a culture that hasn't enjoyed a player like him in over half a decade. Beyond that, the only thing we know for sure is whichever team does sign Caldwell-Pope for the long haul won't be disappointed.

The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He's Gone published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years ago

Text

The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He’s Gone

Players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are both essential and unspectacular in the exact kind of way that allows them to be taken for granted. After the Detroit Pistons renounced his rights back in July—rejecting an opportunity to surrender over $100 million for their former lottery pick’s service—Caldwell-Pope hit the open market with an agreeable game that snugly fits into the NBA’s own tactical trajectory.

Caldwell-Pope is now on the Los Angeles Lakers, where he signed a one-year, $17.7 million deal. It feels like an uncomfortable stasis for a player in his fifth season, enduring his second contract year in a row. But the 24-year-old has yet to test the shortcomings of his game for the sake of his own individual growth or production, at the cost of his team’s success. Instead, he’s solely focused on finding ways to move L.A.’s needle in a positive way. His teammates respect that, understand how important he is, and recognize the partnership could end sooner than anyone wants it to.

“If I put myself in his shoes, it’d just be tough to embrace everybody and kind of get into the whole team aspect knowing that next summer is another free agent year,” Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. told VICE Sports. “But he’s done a terrific job of being selfless and looking out for others.”

Even though he’s been integral in helping turn L.A.’s defense around—from a three-year stretch where they ranked either last or second to last in defensive rating to the top-10 unit they own today—Caldwell-Pope is understandably overlooked on a rebuilding roster that includes two of the NBA’s last three second-overall picks and a mythological Almighty named Kyle Kuzma. He ranks seventh on the Lakers in usage, with a role that never calls attention to itself, for a team that currently has a 14 percent chance of making the playoffs.

This is far from basketball purgatory, but it’s also not an obvious home. Caldwell-Pope doesn’t have a lot of time to fit in; for reasons we’ll get into later on, it’s more likely than not he’ll be in a different city next season. “There’s no benefit [to a one-year deal]. I’m up again next year,” he said. “I could be here, or be wherever I land.”

“Obviously it’s always a challenge when you’re coming to a new team on a one-year deal, and I think he’s done a really nice job of playing the way that we want him to play,” Lakers head coach Luke Walton said. “It’s not like he’s learning an entire new offense or anything like that. It’s more just what we’re looking for, what we’re valuing…you learn your teammate’s strengths and weaknesses and where you can help them out and where they can help you out. All that stuff just takes time.”

Even though his core responsibilities haven’t changed, Caldwell-Pope has been asked to create less offense for himself and others. The percentage of his possessions that have come as a pick-and-roll ball-handler have dropped 10.5 percent. He’s been effective coming off screens and more of his baskets are assisted than before, but unlike a stiff catch-and-shoot wing, Caldwell-Pope is still able to wiggle into satisfactory results when opponents take away what the Lakers want to do.

Here’s an example from a recent win against the Charlotte Hornets. It’s an “elevators” action that attempts to free KCP up for a three by zipper cutting through a double-doors screen set by Kuzma and Brook Lopez.

Marvin Williams recognizes what’s happening and switches out to contest, so Caldwell-Pope puts the ball on the floor, gets to the elbow, and rises up to knock down a mid-range jumper. It’s that ability to improvise that puts him a nose ahead of comparable players like Danny Green. (Here’s how “elevators” looks against a defense that isn’t prepared to stop it.)

At 6’5” and 200 pounds, he’s an occasional victim of L.A.’s switch-happy defensive strategy that invites mismatches on the block as a means to neuter the offense’s ball movement and invite inefficient two pointers. Caldwell-Pope ranks dead last as a post defender, according to Synergy Sports, allowing 32 points on 21 possessions despite fighting for position before and after the catch.

But he’s polished on the perimeter, a master of the NBA’s dark arts defending on and off the ball. He knows how to elude screens, lock onto his man’s hip, and transform into his shadow. “He gives me tips and pointers,” Lakers rookie Josh Hart told VICE Sports. “He’s talked to me just about how to guard shooters off down screens…how to just be attached and go over the top so you don’t lose that separation and get torched for threes.”

Nance Jr. added: “Whether it be Kemba, or Chris Paul, James Harden, Steph, every single night there’s some kind of guard that we play that has go-off potential, and he’s done a really nice job of slowing them down thus far.”

Caldwell-Pope hasn’t made any noticeable statistical strides and his True Shooting percentage is still below league average, but he plays hard within his own limitations. Given the dearth of wings who check off the boxes he does on a nightly basis, how increasingly integral spacers who can also defend have become, and the fact that he’s yet to enter his prime, Caldwell-Pope should be in line for a massive raise this summer. (He’ll enter a marketplace that could also include Trevor Ariza, Avery Bradley, and Danny Green.)

But unless he’s willing to sign another one-year deal (unlikely!), the Lakers probably won’t keep him beyond this season. Even if they strike out on Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, LeBron James, etc. in free agency, L.A.’s President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson is all about preserving max space for the summer of 2019. The organization appreciates all KCP is doing, but would prefer to fill their cap sheet with All-Stars. So if not Los Angeles, where will Caldwell-Pope be next season?

Photo by Kelvin Kuo – USA TODAY Sports

“That’s what I do,” Caldwell-Pope told VICE Sports when asked how he’s enjoying L.A.’s quicker cadence. “I run the floor, I run the wing. Either get easy layups or transition threes.”

If they don’t trade him, Los Angeles will probably lose Caldwell-Pope for nothing. They knew what this was the moment they signed him, but that still doesn’t make it any easier to accept. He’ll likely stay in the Lakers’ starting lineup for the rest of the season and continue to instill winning habits in a culture that hasn’t enjoyed a player like him in over half a decade. Beyond that, the only thing we know for sure is whichever team does sign Caldwell-Pope for the long haul won’t be disappointed.

The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He’s Gone syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

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synonymousandrogynous · 8 years ago

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kei

name: kei kogane (visual base: daiya no ace - furuya, zuko’s eyebrows, haise sasaki’s hair) [written with the character for ‘blessing’] korean name - hyun tae

age/dob: 20, 2/24

height: 5′11″, 180 cm

weight: 152 lbs, 68 kg

skin tone: medium to tan

eyes: light brown, needs contacts/ eyeglasses for stay in days

hair: currently silver with black roots, usually blonde with black roots, naturally black

build: muscular (toned) and athletic, proportional

ethnicity/race: half korean half japanese

do you/others consider you attractive?: yes

clothes style: trackpants or basketball shorts and tshirts. monochromatic. baseball caps and adidas jackets

special features? scares? tattoos? birthmarks? long scar along the inside left ring finger. tattoos: black bands along left forearm, mothers advice on right wrist, fathers advice on left wrist

health: fit and exercises often, no allergies, diseases or physical weaknesses

handedness: left handed writing and sports, right handed bass

voice: rich, deep clear

speech: very basic (others say coarse) when conversing. broad vocabulary. speaks with academic or professional language easily with those unfamiliar

quirks: collecting girly hairpins and such and tying hair up to focus, completely unphotogenic, sleeps with two or more blankets

hygiene: normally very hygienic and organized, when in a slump forgets to cleanse. does not wear cologne, smells like laundry detergent

typical facial expression: deadpan

typical body language: shuffling, shrugging, speaking expressively with hands

occupation: student (biology major environmental science and urban systems and planning double minors)

describe the world you come from. where were you born? where do you live now?: real, present universe. daegu korea, california usa

family: sara jung and kotaro kogane, wealthy doctors (neurosurgeon and cardiologist) who met in seoul, moved to southern california to raise their (at the time) 5 year old son. ambitious towards their careers and loving kind and doting towards not only those near and dear to them but also to their patients. im a little spoiled. no siblings, two corgis (tae and joon) and an oversized tabby cat (peanut aka nutty)

earliest memory: posing for a photo after a hike at yosemite

schooling: public education until high school, private high school and college. no prep school or tutoring

where did you learn most of your knowledge and skill?: hard work, trial and error, self taught

what did you want to be when you grew up?: a doctor

when and with whom was your first kiss?: my eighth grade crush

are you a virgin? if not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?: alex chung on my nineteenth birthday

most important event of your life so far?: being told by parents to persue passion of environmental science and that i didnt have to be a doctor

greatest achievement?: none

greatest regret?: none

most embarrassing or shameful thing to ever happen to you?: none

secrets?: none

most evil thing you have ever done?: exacting slow vengeance on a classmate in seventh grade for calling me by slurs through emotional manipulation of him and his peers until he was completely isolated and a target of other people’s bullying

the time you were the most frightened?: when father was unaccounted for on an airplane that had crash landed

travel: taiwan, hong kong, china, korea, japan, canada, italy

religious alignment: agnostic. there’s probably some higher power, but i don’t believe in any specific god

basically optomistic or pessimistic?: pessimistic

are people basically good or basically evil?: evil

what makes you angry?: fear and shame

sad?: disappointing others

happy?: performing music, doing well in school, shopping, baths, sex

what is the most evil thing any human could do?: betrayal

do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? yes

are you superstitious?: no

the most important person in your life and why: my mother who raised me to value myself, others, life, my planet, and the opportunitites i’ve been granted

significant other: alex chung, my guitarist. we met in my second year of high school after we figured out we had been dating the same girl. we clicked instantly, first out of spite then because of similarity and music, and a year later realized that we wanted to take our friendship further. we’ve been together for three years now (korean, 6′2″ (188 cm), black hair, brown eyes, similar build, reading glasses, chemical engineering major, college baseball [5th batter, 2nd base] and cross country, frat boy and dresses like it but he steals my slides sometimes). only my parents and bandmates know

do you have a lot of friends?: many acquaintances and a few good friends from my bio study group, environmental imagineers club, jazz band in high school, bandmates)

have you ever been in love?: probably

what do you look for in a potential lover?: patience, firm beliefs that align with mine, someone to make music with, good listener

do you want a marriage, family, and/or children?: no, a lifelong partner and like 5 dogs maybe though

do you tend to argue with people or avoid conflict?: avoid conflict with those i don’t know, but argue with those i consider close to me if i am bothered

are you a listener or a talker?: talker

do you hold grudges?: rarely

do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situtations?: no

do you like interacting with large groups of people?: no

are you expressive?: only around those i am comfortable with and through my music

how quickly do you judge others?: slowly and carefully

do you care what others think of you?: rarely

favorite pastimes: practicing bass or playing catch with alex

favorite color: aqua blue

favorite food: mom’s kimbap

most prized possession: five string white warwick bass signed by oor

preferences in arts & entertainment: can enjoy anything from museums to raves to jazz clubs to pub performances, appreciates but does not understand visual art

drugs, alcohol, and sex: yeah

how do you spend a typical saturday night?: either playing a show or studying or watching movies or brunching and a nap

what is your most cherished fantasy: being able to affect global environmental policy or be a doctor that has the luxury and ability to help those affected by climate wars

how long is your attention span?: moderately long

stress: rarely stresses about academics, instead about interpersonal relationships and

humor: very bad at making jokes and puns, but enjoys those that his friends deliver

athleticism: swimming, soccer, and baseball since before i can remember and water polo when i turned 11. i played as goalie since i was 9 for soccer and since i was 14 for water polo. one year jv and one year varsity soccer. jv water polo for one year and varsity for three. i was pitcher and 5th batter in high school and played varsity all four years and am playing pitcher and 6th batter for college. the only real reason i have any muscle is because alex started pushing me to go to the gym from sophomore year onwards

artistic abilities: mediocre at guitar, better at composition and bass and can sing slightly better than average. has next to zero drawing skills

greatest strengths: wellroundedness and ambition

greatest weaknesses: inflexibility

if you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? be more open minded and a better listener

are you generally introverted or extroverted? introverted

daily routine: brush teeth, wash face, practice, shower, gel hair, morning class, brunch, afternoon class, nap, afternoon practice, study, cuddle and catch up with Alex, shower, wash face, brush teeth, sleep

what is your goal for the next six months? get good grades and a job

what is your goal for your lifetime? make a positive change in the world

#full reference #kei kogane

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He's Gone

Photo by Kelvin Kuo - USA TODAY Sports

“That’s what I do,” Caldwell-Pope told VICE Sports when asked how he’s enjoying L.A.'s quicker cadence. “I run the floor, I run the wing. Either get easy layups or transition threes.”

The Los Angeles Lakers Will Miss Kentavious Caldwell-Pope When He's Gone published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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junker-town · 7 years ago

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The Toronto Raptors keep evolving instead of breaking

Toronto is modernizing its style and strengths even if an NBA title remains out of reach.

The Biosteel Centre has become the laboratory for the Toronto Raptors' reinvention experiments. During the tail-end of practices that are open to media observation, one can find four rims occupied by shooters, a hat-tip to their designs on internal improvement from beyond the arc. In the far-right corner, a fifth and final hoop is dedicated to the harder, non-habitual challenge of the Raptors' "culture reset" that is playing out, for the most part, on the offensive end.

Lorenzo Brown stands at the top of the key and receives a pick from Jakob Poeltl, who catches the ball on the roll, and bulldozes into assistant coach Nick Nurse, who is trying to stave off the 7-foot center with two pads. Instead of trying to finish through contact, Poeltl fires a drive-and-kick pass to Alfonzo McKinnie, in the corner, who misses a three. After a few more reps, Lucas Nogueira takes Poeltl's place. After that, it's the much-maligned Jonas Valanciunas, who, after a couple tries, starts hitting McKinnie right in the pocket.

“On time, on target passes. It’s something I know guys ad nauseam get tired of us talking about it and emphasizing,” says head coach Dwane Casey. “But I'm a firm believer that you are what you emphasize.”

The Raptors’ plan to bring back largely the same personnel for the 2017-18 season yet introduce a modern, pass-happy, 3-point heavy offense was met with reasonable skepticism. It felt like a stilted mandate, the plan of a team that acknowledges the problem but can't muster a solution. If they wanted to change things, why re-sign Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka to cap-killing deals, and retain Casey as coach?

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

So far, they've made it work. At 15-7, the Raptors run the NBA’s fourth-most efficient offense. After finishing second-to-last in the NBA last season in assist ratio — the percentage of a team’s baskets that are assisted — they’re now in the top five. Casey’s goal, in training camp, was to shoot 30 treys per game. They’re shooting 32. The Raptors have always been able to rack them up, but their attack this season is more well-balanced, and they hope, harder to solve in the playoffs. In that regard, they’re certainly less solvable, but they’re still squarely behind the Cavs in Celtics in the Eastern Conference pecking order.

ERGE. #RTZ http://pic.twitter.com/3rKCOaS6h3

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) December 9, 2017

The Raptors, in the end, represent high aspirations with middling results. That is the story of most of us, and most of us don't wallow and recede merely because even at our best, we couldn't be astrophysicists. We try, and sometimes fail, to be good friends, good family members, good employees. Professional sports, of course, veer toward more win-or-go home propositions. Yet the sense of dread that accompanies most good-but-not great teams is conspicuously absent in Toronto. It is hard, it turns out, for mediocrity to become the expressed persona of a team that is so dedicated to maximizing its abilities.

As the Raptors inch closer and closer to their collective best, it is painfully clear they are a cut below elite. Yet the organization is filled to the brim with people who, everyday, are striving to be better teammates and coaches.

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Whether or not the Raptors truly believe or don't believe they can win a championship is a question best left to psychics. But I can say this: Professional athletes are so defiant, so single-minded, that if the opponent was gravity, they'd fervently contend that it's still anybody's game in the middle of a free-fall. The Raptors, who ran into LeBron two playoffs in a row, know what it's like to fall.

When you're really up against it, self-belief gives way to self-reflection. The Raptors, who plodded around the court, and ran their actions through DeMar DeRozan, the NBA’s last standard-bearer for mid-range basketball, risked going extinct.

Dippin' into the bag of tricks early. #RTZ http://pic.twitter.com/RPgcxw1ZnB

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) December 6, 2017

That DeMar's parting offseason admission was that the Raptors were toast without LeBron James, but still entered this season with a renewed ambition to re-tailor his game in order to better serve his teammates, is some kind of beautiful. A beautiful that will not veer into the transcendent but will, over time, pay the bills.

“As a competitor,” says DeMar, “you wanna do every and anything to win. Sometimes, that comes with balance.”

Casey, on the other hand, is on his own mission against instinct: biting his tongue, as the Raptors hodgepodge of young talent works through their early kinks.

There's Pascal Siakam, busting out overzealous spin moves, taking threes early in the shot clock, dribbling around the world like an oversized Fred VanVleet, bobbling behind-the-back passes in transition. There's Norman Powell, driving into traffic, angles and helpers be damned, while OG Anunoby, fishing for steals, gets back-cut by Courtney Lee again.

“I don't wanna limit myself to just be an energy guy or whatever it might be,” says Siakam. “I want to expand my game, and I'm a hard worker. I started playing basketball late, so I have a lot of things I have to learn.”

To allow reps for Anunoby, Poeltl, VanVleet, Siakam, Powell, and Nogueira, Toronto is employing a 12-man rotation that, at this juncture, isn't showing any signs of tightening. Nobody has a short leash. Everybody's allowed to mess up. After spending three seasons in a row sweating every regular-season loss, the Raptors are finally making like a playoff team and treating it like a breeding ground. Sometimes, you can't act like you've been there until you've actually, you know, been there.

The Raptors, as a result, employ one of the best second units — the best, if you ask CJ Miles — in the NBA. None of the Raptors young guns projects to be a star, but they have helped strike the near-impossible balance of winning now and building for the future.

Bench mob connection. #RTZ http://pic.twitter.com/Gax156Lu03

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) December 9, 2017

The team had plenty of reasons not to make it work. DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, career scorers, would have to shelve inborne habits. The shortened preseason hindered their ability to effectively implement a new system. The toughest stretch of their season came early, when the Raptors, in the absence of immediate results, would likely be most prone to reverting to old habits. They couldn't hit a shot for the first month of the season. DeRozan was overpassing. Lowry struggled to channel the appropriate moments for aggression.

“Training camp was tough because it was short. Trying to institute a new system, I thought, we're not there yet,” recalls Casey. “We really struggled in those exhibition games, and the first few games.”

Wax cynical if you must. But the Raptors persisted. And because of that, they managed to execute the blueprint for change that has left so many other franchise stars on the trading block and coaches unemployed. The task of real, appreciable change is often impossible at worst, and trying at best. The Raptors have done it, they’ve done it well, and they have no designs on reversion.

A Sideline Story

I am writing this, dear friends, to eat crow. Well, first, I have to tell on myself. There was a juncture of my life (read: the past year) where I was truly convinced that Andre Drummond just didn't like basketball. I wasn't the only one, and hey, there was evidence suggesting we were onto something. A tall dude without a lot offensive skill who had his first and only All-Star season in a contract year and then proceeded to fall off dramatically in all manner of non-fantasy stats? It was fishy, to say the least.

It turns out that Drummond had it in him to give a shit. A lot of shits, actually. He spent the offseason doubling his free-throw accuracy, which has settled in at 62 percent, allowing his lumbering frame to attract attention down low without being hacked. That is, combined with an attitudinal shift, why he's averaging four assists per game this season — his career high, prior to that, was one. Even when he isn't being doubled, he's done an excellent job of finding cutters from the high post, when opponents try to cheat on pick and rolls. His defense has been a mixed bag. One-on-one, he can't stay in front of quicker guys and ends up in no man's land when he's matched up against spacier guys. But he's gotten better at shutting down traditional pick and rolls, especially with Stanley Johnson on the court, and he's flicked guards out of the restricted area with ease.

.@AndreDrummond had that 20-20 vision tonight. Check out his 26-point, 22-board evening. #DetroitBasketball http://pic.twitter.com/lfXr6pYSNT

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) November 28, 2017

I don't know what the backstory is behind Drummond's resurgence (and Detroit's, for that matter) is. I'll leave that to Lee Jenkins. But what's clear to me now was that I was stereotyping a tall dude. It’s also a reminder that when things aren't right with a player, the explanation is often deeper than what's happening at the surface level.

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

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Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

It's hard to evaluate success for an NBA head coach. Wins and losses are far from a sufficient measuring stick. On-court success is obviously nice, but so is player development, the groundwork of a scheme that fits its personnel like a tailored tuxedo, adoption of modern principles, intelligent strategy, and so on.

In many cases, coaches implement, solidify, and steer the franchise's culture. They’re graded on expectations, temperament, communication skills, consistency, and execution. They’re teachers and thinkers, and even with all the data that’s available to analyze every game, possession by possession, disentangling a coach's struggle and strengths from the roster’s talent—or lack thereof—is basically impossible.

In this business perception often still rules the day, for better or worse. We know who the good coaches are, but ranking them against one another is a particularly subjective task because there’s no baseline. (In The Book of Erik Spoelstra, for example, any disillusionment his current team endures is merely a footnote; there’s no separating him from his journey to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and that makes just about any form of criticism extremely difficult, polluted by caveats that are scribbled in the margin.)

For this exercise, we’ve drifted into an alternate reality where the league’s 14 worst teams are able to “draft” a new head coach. Setting aside the fact that all 30 franchises would not want to participate, it’s hypothetical enjoyment that lets us imagine how different coaches fit into different situations.

The teams are listed by what their draft order would be if the season ended Monday morning. From there, each organization chooses from a pool that includes just about anyone (except their current coach) who’s held an NBA head coaching job in the last 10 years, basing it off who they’d want on their sideline from this point forward. Everything is taking into account, from ownership to the front office to their cap situation to the roster to where they currently stand in their timeline. (Gregg Popovich is the best coach alive, but would you want him to take over a lengthy rebuild?)

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

Brad Stevens is the best coach in all of basketball (non-Popovich edition). His unparalleled success at Butler has since carried over into the NBA, where the Boston Celtics have increased their win total by at least five games in his first four seasons and are on track to do the same this year (58 wins would do the trick; according to FiveThirtyEight that’s the exact number they’re projected to reach).

He accentuates strengths in players who, for all intents and purposes, were left for dead. Evan Turner crawled into Boston an NBA vagabond after having been buried on the Indiana Pacers—an offensive liability whose inability to hit threes turned him into a DVD player the same day Netflix revealed their own streaming service. He walked out with a four-year, $70 million contract. Isaiah Thomas went from Lou Williams to Nate Archibald. Jae Crowder morphed into a critical trade chip. This isn’t all because of Stevens, but the trend isn’t a coincidence.

Al Horford and Gordon Hayward left reputable institutions to play for Stevens. His name is synonymous with winning in unexpected, disciplined, and principled ways. Now picture him rebuilding in Chicago, where there’s already far more young talent than he had growing up with the Celtics.

Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn (who’s finally starting to show what he can do now that the ball is in his hands), and Zach LaVine are, potentially, an explosive trio. Throw in their incoming lottery pick and a fortuitous cap sheet, and all of a sudden the Bulls could be back in business as a reputable opponent.

So many of Chicago’s problems over the past couple years have been tied to malignant ownership and a front office that’s more interested in keeping their jobs than anything else. Stevens will not be able to singlehandedly turn those negatives into a good thing, but with whatever players he’s supplied on the court, there’s an almost definite likelihood that he squeezes more from them than anybody else can.

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

There’s really no motivation for Atlanta to want a new coach. Mike Budenholzer is perfectly fine, and engineered one of the most magical campaigns in recent NBA history. But for this exercise he has to go. In his place it’d be a delight to see what Erik Spoelstra could do with a roster that’s mid-renovation and prioritizing long-term opulence over present-day mediocrity.

There’s really not much criticism that can be directed Bud’s way, but it’d also be interesting to see how Spoelstra would not only shepherd Atlanta’s rebuild and carry over the guiding creed so long followed in Miami, but also utilize today’s roster. This team isn’t trying to win right now, but developing Taurean Prince’s playmaking ability and reverting Kent Bazemore back to the play-finisher he once was instead of the play-creator he’s masquerading as, would be smart.

It’d be cool to see how aggressive on the defensive end Atlanta would be. This team is already forcing a ton of turnovers and bringing bigs up to double ball screens more than most teams, but would Spoelstra ratchet that up even more? The guys in Atlanta don’t have the same supernova explosion on the defensive end that Dwyane Wade and LeBron James did during Miami’s peak years invading passing lanes, but Prince, Bazemore, John Collins, and Dennis Schroder can all create havoc when dialed in and executing a rabid scheme.

In the end, Spoelstra’s X’s and O’s aren’t the primary reason he gets the nod above every other coach in the league. Fair or not, there’s a comfort level in knowing your coach has been to the mountain top, seen it all, knows what it takes to get there, and won’t panic once the roster’s talent catches up to his own IQ. He’s a phenomenal leader whose players don’t take possessions off, and the Hawks would be set up in a terrific position with him as the face of their franchise for the foreseeable future.

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

Rick Carlisle has had an incredible decade-long run with the Mavericks. He’s constructed an impenetrable reputation and the right to coach for as long as he wants. But, as we’ll detail later on, Dallas has adopted a snail’s pace in recent years. Some of this is due to factors Carlisle can’t control, but there are players on that roster who would benefit from less micromanagement.

Assuming he’d be able to do whatever he wants, Mike D’Antoni is an ideal elixir. Dennis Smith Jr. is dying to be unleashed in an uptempo, spread pick-and-roll offense that features Nerlens Noel at the five and Harrison Barnes at the four. On the rare occasion he’s allowed to zip up the floor off an opponent’s made basket, a burgeoning star materializes with his most appealing traits.

D’Antoni has worked with some of the greatest point guards in history. Smith Jr. isn’t near that plane, but pairing him with a revolutionary genius would do wonders for his career, and jump start a sludgy attack that continues to fizzle.

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox - USA TODAY Sports

This is an odd (almost definitely incorrect) choice for a variety of reasons, but hear me out. Sacramento is in the basement of a colossal rebuild that’s nearly a generation in the making. They’re so far from where they need/want to be and regular playoff appearances feel, at the very least, like they’re at least half a decade away.

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

Kidd is not one of the 20 best coaches in the league—though that says more about how awesome NBA coaches are right now than his own shortcomings—and the defensive system he’s implanted in Milwaukee is riddled with rudimentary holes that could lead upper management to eventually make a change. But let’s throw him in this pressure-less environment and see what he does with Fox.

Kidd deserves some credit for Giannis Antetokounmpo's evolution and can’t be blamed for Jabari Parker’s knee injuries. It sounds dramatic, but Sacramento’s future will either hold strong or shatter depending on how Fox develops; even though there are a dozen superior names that can be thrown into this conversation, the logic in selecting Kidd is (sort of/maybe not) sound.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

It’s impossible to choose someone for this team, given how rudderless and confused they appear to be. But whether Memphis is gung-ho about resuscitating the Grit N’ Grind era until neither Marc Gasol nor Mike Conley can walk, or have finally embraced reality and the need to build from the ground up, Thibodeau feels like someone who’ll commit himself to either timeline with tireless energy and a tried-and-true ideology.

(Also, it's really hard to stop people in today's NBA without length on the perimeter. Minnesota's lack of depth on the wing, plus Karl-Anthony Towns' growing pains as a defensive anchor, help explain the Timberwolves' woes on that end more than any fault in Thibodeau's message.)

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

Walton is a dark-horse Coach of the Year candidate who’s convinced young players to buy into roles that were probably smaller than they expected, and had a hand in Luol Deng’s benching—the type of move that could, if handled poorly, sidetrack a growing team.

Things aren’t perfect in Los Angeles, but by all accounts Walton is a terrific communicator who’s hard on his pups without deflating their confidence. And even though he’s experienced winning at the highest level, both as a player and coach, Walton is patient enough to go through a rebuild the right way, without cutting corners—which is something a coach ultimately can’t help, more often than not.

Block out their owner from this discussion as best you can and the Suns have a genuinely promising future! Devin Booker is good enough to win a scoring title at some point, Josh Jackson has unteachable two-way tenacity, vision, and bounce, and Dragan Bender (who turned 20 three weeks ago!) is full of potential that stretches beyond his ability to knock down corner threes. It makes sense to pair them with a coach who can be in it for the long haul.

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

The Lakers’ surprising youth movement has momentarily diverted our attention away from their ambitious summer plans. Walton is perfectly fine, but bring Steve Kerr into those meetings and your chance of acquiring Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins, or LeBron James makes a substantial leap.

The Lakers may not land any of those All-Stars in July, but they will get someone. Couple that with Brandon Ingram’s pending stardom, Lonzo Ball existing as a helpful cog whose shot will—more likely than not—come around, and Kyle Kuzma's Hall of Fame resume, and L.A. can accelerate its timeline with savvy use of the trade market at a moment's notice. Overnight championship contention is a setting Kerr obviously knows how to handle.

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

Fizdale didn’t have enough time in Memphis to build up a profile or display a standalone identity, but his attempt to usher the Grizzlies into the 21st Century did not go unnoticed. Neither did his infamous, merch-spawning soliloquy during last year’s playoffs. Fizdale should still have a job and be given the opportunity to chaperone a team through tough times. The Clippers are about to experience just that, and selecting a smart home-town product who’d help them on the court (and possibly in free agency) would be a win-win for all involved.

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

From a stylistic perspective, there’s little difference between how the Nets are approaching their rebuild and what Brown did before he had genuine NBA talent to work with. They attack in transition and launch a ton of threes. It's smart basketball.

Brown and Nets general manager Sean Marks both sprouted from San Antonio’s tree, so this makes sense for no other reason than they’d be on the same page with an understanding of how to play intelligently on a night-to-night basis even with inconsistent results.

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

When healthy, the Hornets have enough win-now talent to crash parties, and even though no club in the last three years has sniffed the same amount of time attacking in the half court as Carlisle’s Mavs (as opposed to running in transition), plopping him into a Dirk Nowitzki-Free environment where he can focus on adapting more contemporary concepts that enhance a splendid dynamo like Kemba Walker, could be interesting. The Hornets have a funky roster that isn’t ideal, but Carlisle is still a mastermind who’d find ways to set up mismatches all over the floor with an intriguing cast of characters.

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

Orlando is perpetually hopeless and somehow has the second-worst defense in the entire NBA. No coach stands out as a good match for what they've got going on, but it’d be fascinating to see how an ingenious tactician like Snyder would use Aaron Gordon—how about experimenting with him at the five?—or whether he’d be able to instill any sort of confidence in someone like Mario Hezonja.

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it's him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

I've already said this at least twice, but here goes again: Popovich is the best coach in basketball. But, frankly, given his scroll of accomplishments and the stage of this Mt. Rushmore run he’s on, it’d be irrational to throw him on any roster that isn’t ready to compete for a championship right now.

The Thunder have enough talent to pierce the championship contender conversation, but as currently constituted lack the proper restraint. Getting Carmelo Anthony to come off the bench and not take out his frustration with diminished effort is much easier said than done. Calling timeout to publicly chew out Russell Westbrook for taking a terrible shot instead of passing the ball to Alex Abrines would be unheard of.

Photo by Soobum Im - USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

A cultural shift for sure. Stotts’s defenses in Portland have been some of the most conservative in the league, while Miami—personnel pending—is so dauntless on the perimeter. Beyond that, Stotts is just a really smart guy who belongs somewhere on this list. He isn't afraid to get experimental and is more analytically-inclined than most. I'm actually not sure how good a fit Stotts is with Miami's current roster, but feel like there's enough offensive talent (particularly with Kelly Olynyk at the five) for him to cook.

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

It’d be fun to see how Van Gundy—a top-10 head coach whose team magically started to play better after his starting point guard became healthy—maximizes Kristaps Porzingis. He's had three traditional franchise bigs in each of his three stops (Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond). Porzingis is the opposite of conventional, and would encourage more creativity from one of the league's most expressive personalities. The Knicks (and their media contingent) would be happy to have him.

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years ago

Text

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

It’s hard to evaluate success for an NBA head coach. Wins and losses are far from a sufficient measuring stick. On-court success is obviously nice, but so is player development, the groundwork of a scheme that fits its personnel like a tailored tuxedo, adoption of modern principles, intelligent strategy, and so on.

In many cases, coaches implement, solidify, and steer the franchise’s culture. They’re graded on expectations, temperament, communication skills, consistency, and execution. They’re teachers and thinkers, and even with all the data that’s available to analyze every game, possession by possession, disentangling a coach’s struggle and strengths from the roster’s talent—or lack thereof—is basically impossible.

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara – USA TODAY Sports

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox – USA TODAY Sports

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

Kidd deserves some credit for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s evolution and can’t be blamed for Jabari Parker’s knee injuries. It sounds dramatic, but Sacramento’s future will either hold strong or shatter depending on how Fox develops; even though there are a dozen superior names that can be thrown into this conversation, the logic in selecting Kidd is (sort of/maybe not) sound.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

(Also, it’s really hard to stop people in today’s NBA without length on the perimeter. Minnesota’s lack of depth on the wing, plus Karl-Anthony Towns’ growing pains as a defensive anchor, help explain the Timberwolves’ woes on that end more than any fault in Thibodeau’s message.)

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

The Lakers may not land any of those All-Stars in July, but they will get someone. Couple that with Brandon Ingram’s pending stardom, Lonzo Ball existing as a helpful cog whose shot will—more likely than not—come around, and Kyle Kuzma’s Hall of Fame resume, and L.A. can accelerate its timeline with savvy use of the trade market at a moment’s notice. Overnight championship contention is a setting Kerr obviously knows how to handle.

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

Orlando is perpetually hopeless and somehow has the second-worst defense in the entire NBA. No coach stands out as a good match for what they’ve got going on, but it’d be fascinating to see how an ingenious tactician like Snyder would use Aaron Gordon—how about experimenting with him at the five?—or whether he’d be able to instill any sort of confidence in someone like Mario Hezonja.

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it’s him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

I’ve already said this at least twice, but here goes again: Popovich is the best coach in basketball. But, frankly, given his scroll of accomplishments and the stage of this Mt. Rushmore run he’s on, it’d be irrational to throw him on any roster that isn’t ready to compete for a championship right now.

Photo by Soobum Im – USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

A cultural shift for sure. Stotts’s defenses in Portland have been some of the most conservative in the league, while Miami—personnel pending—is so dauntless on the perimeter. Beyond that, Stotts is just a really smart guy who belongs somewhere on this list. He isn’t afraid to get experimental and is more analytically-inclined than most. I’m actually not sure how good a fit Stotts is with Miami’s current roster, but feel like there’s enough offensive talent (particularly with Kelly Olynyk at the five) for him to cook.

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

It’d be fun to see how Van Gundy—a top-10 head coach whose team magically started to play better after his starting point guard became healthy—maximizes Kristaps Porzingis. He’s had three traditional franchise bigs in each of his three stops (Shaquille O’Neal, Dwight Howard, and Andre Drummond). Porzingis is the opposite of conventional, and would encourage more creativity from one of the league’s most expressive personalities. The Knicks (and their media contingent) would be happy to have him.

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

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flauntpage · 7 years ago

Text

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft

Any questions? Great! With all that out of the way, let the fun begin!

1. Chicago Bulls: Brad Stevens

Photo by Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports

2. Atlanta Hawks: Erik Spoelstra

3. Dallas Mavericks: Mike D’Antoni

4. Sacramento Kings: Jason Kidd

Photo by Kelley L. Cox - USA TODAY Sports

From that standpoint, skipping steps would be a major mistake, and ensuring that De’Aaron Fox can be the crème de la crème of his loaded draft class should be a focal point.

5. Memphis Grizzlies: Tom Thibodeau

6. Phoenix Suns: Luke Walton

7. Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Kerr

8. Los Angeles Clippers: David Fizdale

9. Brooklyn Nets: Brett Brown

Photo by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

10. Charlotte Hornets: Rick Carlisle

11. Orlando Magic: Quin Snyder

The Magic should be better on both ends than they currently are, and Snyder, in my opinion, is one of the five smartest minds in the league. If anyone can turn things around down there, it's him.

12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Gregg Popovich

Photo by Soobum Im - USA TODAY Sports

But these are things the Thunder probably need right now. Few people alive have the clout and stature to pull it off. Pop sits atop that list.

13. Miami Heat: Terry Stotts

14. New York Knicks: Stan Van Gundy

Imagining an NBA Head Coach Draft published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes

flauntpage · 7 years ago

Text

Kristaps Porzingis is Unstoppable

Salva Mendez recognized it early. In 2010, Mendez, a European scout based in Barcelona, reached out to a Latvian coach he was friendly with, asking if there were any players worth visiting the country for. The coach said he had a few and sent him a CD with video of a few games and no scouting report. In the second quarter, a tall, skinny teenager grabbed Mendez’s attention. After halftime, he got it again. Despite playing just a few minutes and hitting only one shot, Mendez was intrigued.

“Nothing special but I was feeling something,” he said. “I don’t know what but I was feeling something.”

Mendez contacted the coach and asked for another CD. He received it a few weeks later and saw the kid play a few more impressive minutes. The kid can run, he can shoot, he can block shots, Mendez told himself,thought, but wondered why he played so little. Still, he asked the coach if he could see if any Spanish teams were interested. That set Porzingis on his way to Sevilla, and eventually the NBA.

Still, even Mendez cannot believe the player he has become. Porzingis was 6-foot-7 and playing despite undiagnosed anemia when Mendez found him at 15. Now, he is a 7-foot-3 gazelle knocking down threes and serving as a rim protector.

Every September, Latvia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations holds a party to mark the arrival of the country’s president for the General Assembly. The joke back home is that the only person nearly as popular in Latvia as the president is Porzingis. It didn't feel like much of a joke at this year's party, as guests lined up to take photos with their favorite son. Even there, among a group of extraordinarily tall people—Latvian men are the fourth tallest in the world, and the women are the tallest, on average—Porzingis towered over all.

Latvia has seen few of its citizens make a splash in the United States. There is Aleksandrs Antonenko, a tenor at the Metropolitan Opera. Mikhail Baryshnikov, the famous ballet dancer, was granted citizenship earlier this year. And then there’s Porzingis, the 7-foot-3, 22-year-old New York Knicks player, who may be doing the most of all.

Jānis Mažeiks, the country’s ambassador to the UN, hears about him at his barbershop and from his doorman. Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the UN, once invited him to a Knicks game to cheer on his fellow countryman.

“His presence here in New York has made my work so much easier because three years ago nobody knew where Latvia was and what Latvia was,” Mažeiks said. “Now, whenever I mention Latvia, quite often it’s the other way around. ‘Oh, it’s where Kristaps Porzingis comes from.’ There’s definitely much more country recognition in the past years.”

If that is what Porzingis can do for Latvia, a small former Soviet country off the Baltic Sea, it may only be a warm-up act for what he is trying to do in New York. Restoring the Knicks to some semblance of competence and success may be the hardest feat in the league. But 21 games into the season, the Knicks not only have a winning record, they are actually fun to watch.

And they’re no longer adrift because of Porzingis, who, in his third season, has shown that he is ready to take on the franchise mantle, flashing the rare combination of scoring prowess—his 25.8 points per game rank fifth in the league—and size—his 2.1 blocks lead the NBA—and skill—40 percent from three.

“He’s just a beast,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “He’s gonna be—or he is—one of the great ones now. He’s going to keep getting better. You look at his numbers and you forget his age and what he’s doing, it’s just the scratch. He’s going to keep getting better and better. It’s scary for all of us.”

Photo by Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks have been pockmarked by constant dysfunction and ego squabbles for more than a decade, less a team than a tabloid’s backpage muse. Over the previous 16 seasons, they’ve finished over .500 just three times. They've made the playoffs four times, but even those high points were fraught. The Knicks made the playoffs in 2004, a year when they employed three coaches. They made the postseason in 2012 but only after coach Mike D’Antoni lost his job because of a Carmelo Anthony-led putsch. D’Antoni’s replacement, Mike Woodson, led the team to 54 wins the next year—their best record since 1996-97—only to be fired the following April.

The 2017-18 season, however, has been different. It has been quiet (so far) off the court, and what’s happened on the court has been heartening for those cynical and downtrodden Knicks fans. A year that was supposed to serve as a bridge to June’s NBA Draft and the hope of seasons to come has blossomed into something actually worth watching now.

Carmelo Anthony is gone. Frank Ntilikina has shown signs of a becoming a future starting point guard. Enes Kanter, the wrestling heel of a big man, has averaged a double-double and provided the team with a frontman for the soap-opera drama that drives the NBA.

"Porzingis is a great talent and I love his fire and enthusiasm for the game," Patrick Ewing, the Knicks’ Hall of Fame center, said. "You have to have thick skin to deal with the pressures in New York. He seems to be handling it well."

But without Porzingis they would be a team of disparate parts still searching for the commodity that matters most: a franchise player. A September trade sent Anthony to Oklahoma City, giving Porzingis a responsibility he spent all summer preparing for. His impact has been immense—his usage rate is higher than all but one of Anthony’s seasons in New York. The Knicks play like a 55-win team with him on the floor, according to Cleaning The Glass, and a 22-win team when he sits.

“Knowing that I’m going to have a bigger role this year, I believe I was going to be ready for it,” Porzingis said. “When you have to step up when you’re the man, I feel I have to keep going.”

Porzingis’s ascent isn’t just a young talent sucking up the shots left over by the vacuum created with the exits of Anthony and Derrick Rose. He has accepted the spotlight of being the Knicks’ star player. One team official was impressed by how well he’s stepped into that position, not only wanting the role but flourishing in it so far. He has impressed teammates with his even-keeled demeanor. Jarrett Jack, an NBA veteran, calls him a stoic. Even Knicks alums have taken notice.

The first month of the season has soothed the lingering anxiety around the team after Porzingis surprised the Knicks by skipping exit meetings last April—a brash move for a 21-year-old who hadn’t yet earned first-billing on his own team.

“I think everybody was (surprised) at that time,” Rose said. “You didn’t know what he was thinking. He kept to himself sometimes but he never showed that he was uninterested in anything the Knicks were doing at that time. That’s what was kind of weird. It seemed like he was involved in everything, it seemed like everything was cool, so for him not to go it was kind of weird.”

The decision put Porzingis’s relationship with the team on rocky ground. Phil Jackson, then the team president, talked openly of trading him. Porzingis stayed in Latvia the whole summer working out. When training camp began it was still uncertain if he and the organization had reached a détente. And that uncertainty may still linger. His brother, Janis, told Latvia’s Sportacentrs this month that the team should avoid upsetting him at the risk of pushing Porzingis out of New York.

The power play may have presaged Porzingis’s arrival as an NBA superstar. This summer seems to have prepared him for it. He arrived in New York stronger and ready for the rigors of being an offensive pillar. “He worked his ass off,” another Knicks official said.

Photo by Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Porzingis hasn’t revealed much of his summer workouts, other than through manicured Instagram posts. Porzingis’s camp initiated two weeks of training with WBC cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis in Liepaja. There, he worked out on Briedis’s normal routine—boxing, swimming, running, and strength and conditioning. He spent the tail end of his summer leading Latvia to a fifth place finish in the European Championships, where he took reps as the centerpiece of a team.

“He's very talented as an athlete,” Briedis said through emailed statements. “All the things I was telling him, he picked up really quickly, plus his work ethics is at the highest level possible. I believe that if he wasn't a basketball player, with his talent and physical abilities, he might have done any other sports and be successful.”

He used the summer to hone his midrange game and has impressed the Knicks with enhanced strength and footwork. The beloved unicorn presents a paradox in the new NBA. The big man has been lauded for his futuristic perimeter skills but his improvement this year can be attributed to his focus on a shot left behind by the modern NBA.

The key to Porzingis’s success is his work from five feet to 14 feet, where he’s taking three more shots per game, on average, than last season. He’s become a more efficient shooter despite taking fewer shots at the rim and behind the three-point line. 57 percent of his shot attempts are from mid-range, where he’s shooting 47 percent this season after hitting 40 percent last year. Instead of fighting for deep post position, he’s no longer bothered by smaller, peskier defenders and drives by bigs, getting to the line nearly twice as often as last season.

“There’s certain things about him that you’re just playing percentages,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “There’s some shots that he’s able to shoot over you because of his size and because of his skill he’s able to make plays.”

But it’s not the elbow jumpers that have rejuvenated Knicks fans. It’s a talent that sometimes seems ineffable.

“If I was a GM I would definitely build a team around a guy like KP,” Kanter said.

This year, the Knicks are playing like Porzingis—unburdened and free. The triangle offense is no longer caging them in after Jackson was pushed out in June. Their defense is no longer woeful. Head coach Jeff Hornacek, who seemed to lack control last year, is gaining praise from his players.

There is a solid core of 25-and-under building blocks, from Ntilikina to Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kanter. And they own their own first round pick. Finally, the Knicks seem as if they may have something fun and sustainable, even if their current record isn’t.

“We think about it sometimes,” Ntilikina said. “We’re young. We’re growing up. We got a lot of things to do in the future. But we’re more focused about what’s going on right now.”

Porzingis will determine what that future looks like. The Knicks have been fooled by false saviors before, but this time the organization may actually be committed to growing slowly rather than chasing short-term glory. The Knicks might not be good yet, but they’re no longer lost—and Porzingis relishes his place as the centerpiece.

“I always want more,” he said. “Appetite grows when you’re eating. It’s one thing to be the guy but you have to be able to win at the end. If I can do this, be a leader and win, that’s the ultimate goal.”

Kristaps Porzingis is Unstoppable published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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