Around the League: Week 3 10/29-11/4

[carey]

Nationally televised games this week

Monday: Los Angeles Minnesota 8:00 PM EST NBATv
Tuesday: Philadelphia @ Toronto 7:30 PM EST NBATv
Wednesday: Indiana @ New York 8:00 PM EST ESPN, San Antonio @ Phoenix 10:30 PM EST ESPN
Thursday: Milwaukee @ Boston 8:00 PM EST TNT, New Orleans @ Portland 10:30 PM EST TNT
Friday: OKC Washington 8:00 PM EST NBATv, Minnesota @ Golden State 10:30 PM EST NBATv
Saturday: Boston @ Indiana 7:00 PM NBATv
Sunday: None

NBA News

Cavaliers fire head coach Tyronn Lue: https://www.fearthesword.com/2018/10/28 ... tyronn-lue

Larry Drew is refusing to take the job for the full season w/o a contract for next season: https://www.fearthesword.com/2018/10/28 ... commitment

How the Boston Celtics became the NBA's best at defending three-pointers: https://www.celticsblog.com/2018/10/25/ ... s-nba-film

Here’s why NBA teams are scoring so many dang points this year: https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/10/26 ... iors-bucks

The Timberwolves need to move on from the Jimmy Butler era, because this is embarrassing: https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/10/27 ... it-already

New season, same ol’ Washington Wizards: https://www.bulletsforever.com/2018/10/ ... new-season

Pitino hoping to become head coaching candidate: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2511 ... -candidate

Love likely out more than a month: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2511 ... more-month

Can the Nuggets really become the 2nd best team in the West? https://www.si.com/nba/2018/10/26/nugge ... rs-rockets

The Cavs should clear out the rest of the LeBron era: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/10/2 ... -lue-fired

This is the new Blake Griffin we've all been waiting for: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/10/2 ... ly-success

[O_Gardino]

I still can't understand why the Cavs gave that contract to Love. I thought for sure he was gone for a winning team this season.

[Ring_Wanted]

I still can't understand why the Cavs gave that contract to Love. I thought for sure he was gone for a winning team this season.

So they can try to compete for the playoffs in the weak East while also keeping the player's value if they decide to rebuild and trade him. Otherwise they are looking at a Jimmy Butler scenario where the player is good but his value is low due to his contract status.

[O_Gardino]

I still can't understand why the Cavs gave that contract to Love. I thought for sure he was gone for a winning team this season.

So they can try to compete for the playoffs in the weak East while also keeping the player's value if they decide to rebuild and trade him. Otherwise they are looking at a Jimmy Butler scenario where the player is good but his value is low due to his contract status.

I think Love's value in a trade is low because of that monster contract.

[In2ition]

I still can't understand why the Cavs gave that contract to Love. I thought for sure he was gone for a winning team this season.

So they can try to compete for the playoffs in the weak East while also keeping the player's value if they decide to rebuild and trade him. Otherwise they are looking at a Jimmy Butler scenario where the player is good but his value is low due to his contract status.

I think Love's value in a trade is low because of that monster contract.

Isn't he going to making less than Booker? In comparison to Wall's contract, it seems manageable.

[Split T]

92 points at halftime for the warriors. 17 3's so far with 10 coming from Klay

[Xylus]

Klay is going for 70

[Xylus]

He now has 52 points with 5 minutes left... in the 3rd....

[Flagrant Fowl]

14-24 from 3 point range is ridiculous.

[Superbone]

14-24 from 3 point range is ridiculous.

It's the new NBA record for 3s made in a game. Pretty sure he, Curry, and Durant are done for the day. They were up 40+ last time I looked.

[UglyTruth]

Doncic with 31, 8, 6 and 4 against team with the best HC in the NBA.

But nAw hE WilL StRuGgLe iN tHe NbA.

[Split T]

Doncic with 31, 8, 6 and 4 against team with the best HC in the NBA.

But nAw hE WilL StRuGgLe iN tHe NbA.

No one really thought Doncic was going to struggle

[UglyTruth]

[TOO]

Cool, 8 rebounds. LOL, these stats the internet pump out these days are ridiculous.

Anything to make something seem significant.

[specialsauce]

Doncic with 31, 8, 6 and 4 against team with the best HC in the NBA.

But nAw hE WilL StRuGgLe iN tHe NbA.

Troll post

[Mori Chu]

Ayton has been everything I could have hoped for. But I do have to admit that I'm watching a lot of Doncic highlights and wondering about what might have been. I think I would rather be watching Doncic do his thing every night on this team than what I am seeing right now. But I concede that Ayton was probably the right pick and has been quite impressive.

[Ring_Wanted]

Ayton has been everything I could have hoped for. But I do have to admit that I'm watching a lot of Doncic highlights and wondering about what might have been. I think I would rather be watching Doncic do his thing every night on this team than what I am seeing right now. But I concede that Ayton was probably the right pick and has been quite impressive.

I watch Doncic but in my case I don't have 'drafter's remorse'. Still, the way PHX is currently constructed won't allow me to just sit and enjoy having Ayton. Every game I find myself cursing at the screen when the handler won't even look at the monster rolling to the basket, or having position under the rim, or wide open for that automatic midrange shot. I don't even ask for a winning team at this point, just a product that makes sense considering the 4-5 good pieces we luckily have in place. Can't have in your rotation four, five, six guys that are a net negative 75% of the time. The extreme TOs are particularly harmful to Ayton, because he clearly is not a good rim to rim center at the momentthis and the TOs force him to keep going up and down the court like games are a big Leger test. Our offense needs to be much more methodical and our wings need to work their asses off to go back after a shot/TO or else our big man, he gets gassed and starts watching too much.

Regarding Doncic, I'll say he is surprising me in two ways:

1.- He is scoring more volume than I thought. Up to this last game vs the Spurs, his %s were right about where I expected in his rookie season, although I believe they will go back to less than average efficiency with a larger sample.

2.- He is not taking care of the ball as well as I thought, posting 4 TOs and 4 assists (low regardless of TOs), especially as he is not directing the offense as much as he could. DAL will tell you this is because his teammates suck, but then again, so do Ayton's, and he is even more dependent on others to get his.

Anyway, in both cases the sky is the limit.

[Ring_Wanted]

By the way, I just loooove how MIL is now the last undefeated team. Last season we missed on their pick by one spot as we needed MIL to finish #15 or #16, but they ended up #17. Now they look like a top5 team in the regular season and the pick won't convey this year either. We are looking at a low 1stR in 2020 (it's top7 protected by then). Just great.

[Democritus]

Yes, same here. Doncic is great but I was expecting more assists from him. He creates more for himself which is strange while everyone expected that he would be first of all a primary initiator.

[JeremyG]

Well Dallas is playing him at power forward, which may explain the fewer assists and more rebounds. The talk for the Suns was that they would try to turn him into a point guard--who knows how that would have worked out.

Remember when Boris Diaw used to be a point guard until Mike D'Antoni turned him into a center?