Around the League 1/5
I’ve been back to watching games for four days now and in an attempt to stay more relevant I’m going to try and post more often this season, even if it’s just short bursts. Unfortunately for some of you this means more Laker talk than you can probably stomach.
> Andrew Bynum has really embraced his role as an offensive focal point. So much so that I think he’s ready to be the second option on offense right now (or first, but we all know that isn’t happening while Kobe Bryant is still drawing breath). Granted Drew could get hurt or implode at any time but his aggressiveness, conditioning and skills seem to be coming together at the same time like a tasty gumbo. While this is happening shrinking violet Pau Gasol is getting pushed around like a rag doll on a nightly basis. I fully believe that if given a truth serum Gasoft would admit that he is fine playing third banana and filling in around the edges on offense. All that may sound crazy but barring a trade that is the course Coach Mike Brown should pursue.
Los Angeles’ defense has been surprisingly tough early on (2nd in opponent shooting) and is the main reason I am more optimistic about their chances than I was prior to tip-off. Their crunch time offense can be like watching paint dry but consistent defensive effort will keep them in games when they can’t buy a bucket. I was also really liking the way their rotation was shaping up until Josh McRoberts (left big toe) got hurt forcing Troy Murphy to have to play way more minutes than he should be at this point in his career. Steve Blake getting more time and closing out games over starter Derek Fisher might be Brown’s best coaching decision to date.
> If you’ve followed my ramblings over the years you know that I tend to track my playoffs picks closer than other sides early on. This leads me to my selection of the Milwaukee Bucks over the Atlanta Hawks. After seeing each team play a few games it’s quite obvious I made a blunder here.
The Bucks offense is still atrocious and watching one of their games is like watching the Lakers in crunch time for 48 minutes. Andrew Bogut still doesn’t look right, Brandon Jennings hasn’t really improved since his rookie year and newcomers Stephen Jackson and Mike Dunleavy are shooting 32.4% and 32% from the field respectively. I think GM John Hammond needs to nip this in the bud and fire Coach Scott Skiles sooner rather than later or this is going to be a repeat of last season.
Contrary to what I had been reading leading up to the season the Hawks chemistry seems A-OK to me. In fact their experience together combined with their still top notch athleticism has them 3rd in opponent shooting early on. Jeff Teague has been a welcome surprise and given them way more than I thought he could. I still think their geriatric depth will catch up with them but they are a playoff team in the East regardless.
> What in the heck is going on in Cow Town…err…Sacramento? First Coach Paul Westphal releases a statement to the media that DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins has been told to stay away from the team because “When a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.” Then after one game Boogie was back in the fold and two games later Westphal was fired. Not only is this roster a mess as I said in my preview but the owners are broke, the personnel man (Geoff Petrie) is well past his prime and the future location of the franchise is in limbo. While Westphal had clearly lost control of his guys replacing him with Keith Smart isn’t going to change much of anything for the Kings.
> We had our first in season trade yesterday that saw Memphis acquire Marreese Speights, New Orleans Xavier Henry and Philadelphia two second picks (Grizzlies 2012 & Hornets 2013). Memphis GM Chris Wallace already made one nice save singing Dante Cunningham to replace Darrell Arthur (right Achilles) and in Speights he gets a stand in for Zach Randolph (right MCL, out 6-8 weeks). Marreese’s low post game will never be mistaken for Z-Bo’s but Speights had shown a few flashes prior to being permanently stuck in Coach Doug Collins’ dog house. I think you’ll see Marreese benefit from a change of scenery and put up some nice numbers occasionally but he still won’t play any defense.
Henry is a young athletic wing player that really doesn’t have an NBA skill or position to my eyes and how he helps NOLA is unclear to me. Then again the Hornets don’t really have much worth mentioning at the wing positions outside of Eric Gordon. So when Xavier’s right ankle heals he’ll get his chances.
On the 76ers end they received two second round picks for a guy they weren’t playing nor were they going to resign in the summer. Not a bad move from President Rod Thorn considering that NOLA pick could be #31.
> Manu Ginobili will miss at least two months with a broken left hand but I don’t see that as a death knell for San Antonio at all. The Spurs have nice depth at the SG position with second year pros Gary Neal and James Anderson. I expect Gregg Popovich to act like nothing has happened and coach his club the exact same way. What this does do to SA is eliminate any chance they had for a high seed in the West but they are still making the playoffs.
> I can’t understand how Ed Davis isn’t playing more in Toronto? First he inexplicably was shafted off both All-Rookie teams after last season by the coaches (I had him first team) and now new coach Dwane Casey is only playing him 17.8 minutes a game (down from 24.6 mpg last season). I know Andrea Bargnani is now playing almost exclusively at PF but couldn’t Davis spell him for 12 minutes and then play some with him in a two PF alignment? Nothing chaps my hide more than when coaches of bad teams won’t play their young guns so they can properly develop. But that’s an entire column for another day.
> Andrew Bynum has really embraced his role as an offensive focal point. So much so that I think he’s ready to be the second option on offense right now (or first, but we all know that isn’t happening while Kobe Bryant is still drawing breath). Granted Drew could get hurt or implode at any time but his aggressiveness, conditioning and skills seem to be coming together at the same time like a tasty gumbo. While this is happening shrinking violet Pau Gasol is getting pushed around like a rag doll on a nightly basis. I fully believe that if given a truth serum Gasoft would admit that he is fine playing third banana and filling in around the edges on offense. All that may sound crazy but barring a trade that is the course Coach Mike Brown should pursue.
Los Angeles’ defense has been surprisingly tough early on (2nd in opponent shooting) and is the main reason I am more optimistic about their chances than I was prior to tip-off. Their crunch time offense can be like watching paint dry but consistent defensive effort will keep them in games when they can’t buy a bucket. I was also really liking the way their rotation was shaping up until Josh McRoberts (left big toe) got hurt forcing Troy Murphy to have to play way more minutes than he should be at this point in his career. Steve Blake getting more time and closing out games over starter Derek Fisher might be Brown’s best coaching decision to date.
> If you’ve followed my ramblings over the years you know that I tend to track my playoffs picks closer than other sides early on. This leads me to my selection of the Milwaukee Bucks over the Atlanta Hawks. After seeing each team play a few games it’s quite obvious I made a blunder here.
The Bucks offense is still atrocious and watching one of their games is like watching the Lakers in crunch time for 48 minutes. Andrew Bogut still doesn’t look right, Brandon Jennings hasn’t really improved since his rookie year and newcomers Stephen Jackson and Mike Dunleavy are shooting 32.4% and 32% from the field respectively. I think GM John Hammond needs to nip this in the bud and fire Coach Scott Skiles sooner rather than later or this is going to be a repeat of last season.
Contrary to what I had been reading leading up to the season the Hawks chemistry seems A-OK to me. In fact their experience together combined with their still top notch athleticism has them 3rd in opponent shooting early on. Jeff Teague has been a welcome surprise and given them way more than I thought he could. I still think their geriatric depth will catch up with them but they are a playoff team in the East regardless.
> What in the heck is going on in Cow Town…err…Sacramento? First Coach Paul Westphal releases a statement to the media that DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins has been told to stay away from the team because “When a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.” Then after one game Boogie was back in the fold and two games later Westphal was fired. Not only is this roster a mess as I said in my preview but the owners are broke, the personnel man (Geoff Petrie) is well past his prime and the future location of the franchise is in limbo. While Westphal had clearly lost control of his guys replacing him with Keith Smart isn’t going to change much of anything for the Kings.
> We had our first in season trade yesterday that saw Memphis acquire Marreese Speights, New Orleans Xavier Henry and Philadelphia two second picks (Grizzlies 2012 & Hornets 2013). Memphis GM Chris Wallace already made one nice save singing Dante Cunningham to replace Darrell Arthur (right Achilles) and in Speights he gets a stand in for Zach Randolph (right MCL, out 6-8 weeks). Marreese’s low post game will never be mistaken for Z-Bo’s but Speights had shown a few flashes prior to being permanently stuck in Coach Doug Collins’ dog house. I think you’ll see Marreese benefit from a change of scenery and put up some nice numbers occasionally but he still won’t play any defense.
Henry is a young athletic wing player that really doesn’t have an NBA skill or position to my eyes and how he helps NOLA is unclear to me. Then again the Hornets don’t really have much worth mentioning at the wing positions outside of Eric Gordon. So when Xavier’s right ankle heals he’ll get his chances.
On the 76ers end they received two second round picks for a guy they weren’t playing nor were they going to resign in the summer. Not a bad move from President Rod Thorn considering that NOLA pick could be #31.
> Manu Ginobili will miss at least two months with a broken left hand but I don’t see that as a death knell for San Antonio at all. The Spurs have nice depth at the SG position with second year pros Gary Neal and James Anderson. I expect Gregg Popovich to act like nothing has happened and coach his club the exact same way. What this does do to SA is eliminate any chance they had for a high seed in the West but they are still making the playoffs.
> I can’t understand how Ed Davis isn’t playing more in Toronto? First he inexplicably was shafted off both All-Rookie teams after last season by the coaches (I had him first team) and now new coach Dwane Casey is only playing him 17.8 minutes a game (down from 24.6 mpg last season). I know Andrea Bargnani is now playing almost exclusively at PF but couldn’t Davis spell him for 12 minutes and then play some with him in a two PF alignment? Nothing chaps my hide more than when coaches of bad teams won’t play their young guns so they can properly develop. But that’s an entire column for another day.
posted by D$ at 7:02 PM
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