Around the NBA: Week 6 (11/24 - 11/30)

[Mori Chu]

Nationally televised games this week
Source: https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/tv-sch ... -schedule/
all times Eastern (sorry)

Mon 11/24
7:00 pm Cleveland Cavaliers vs Toronto Raptors, Peacock
9:30 pm Houston Rockets vs Phoenix Suns, Peacock

Tue 11/25
8:00 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Orlando Magic vs Philadelphia 76ers, NBC, Peacock
11:00 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Los Angeles Clippers vs Los Angeles Lakers, NBC, Peacock

Wed 11/26
5:00 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Detroit Pistons vs Boston Celtics, ESPN
7:30 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Minnesota Timberwolves vs Oklahoma City Thunder, ESPN
10:00 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Houston Rockets vs Golden State Warriors, ESPN

Thu 11/27 (Thanksgiving)
none

Fri 11/28
7:30 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks, Prime Video
10:00 pm NBA Cup Group Play: Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers, Prime Video

Sat 11/29
5:00 pm Boston Celtics vs Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA TV
8:30 pm New Orleans Pelicans vs Golden State Warriors, NBA TV

Sun 11/30
none


NBA News

CBS Sports: NBA One-Month Superlatives.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba- ... ers-bulls/

SI.com: Chauncey Billups pleads not-guilty to poker scheme charges.
https://www.si.com/nba/chauncey-billups ... me-charges

ESPN: What to know about Damon Jones, the man at the center of two NBA scandals.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/470 ... ling-poker

Yahoo!: Injury/absence updates for KD (family matter / sandy vagina, 2 games) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring, 4-6 weeks).
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking-n ... 32577.html
https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking-n ... 39008.html


Power Rankings

Since I did the news thread so late, the power rankings are actually up.

NBC Sports (Suns #8): https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/nba- ... r-top-five

Jordan Ott has impressed in his first season as a head coach, and may even be in line for some Coach of the Year votes if Phoenix keeps playing this well. The first thing that stands out is he just has the Suns playing hard, which is a big step forward for anyone forced to watch this team the past couple of seasons. One of the things Ott has preached is Phoenix winning the possession game, and you saw that Sunday in a comeback win over San Antonio when the Suns took 20 more shots on the night. Can they do that on Peacock NBA Monday in a great early-season showdown against Houston, a game worth streaming to catch?

NBA.com (Suns #7): https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings ... -week-6_v2

Week 6 Team to Watch

Phoenix — The Suns have been the biggest surprise in the Western Conference, but they’ve played the league’s second easiest schedule. The big tests come this week, when they face three of the top four teams in the West, hosting the Rockets on Monday, visiting the Thunder on Friday and hosting the Nuggets on Saturday.

...

Last Week:16↑
Record: 11-6

OffRtg: 116.9 (10) DefRtg: 112.0 (7) NetRtg: +4.8 (10) Pace: 100.7 (20)

The Suns’ schedule got a little tougher last week, but they haven’t slowed down. They’re now 3-2 against other teams that currently have winning records, pulling off an incredible comeback against the Wolves and, later, running past the Spurs in the second half over the weekend.

Three takeaways

It was somewhat of a miracle that the Suns were able to force three turnovers as they came back from eight points down with less than a minute to go against the Wolves on Friday. But the Suns force a lot of turnovers, having seen the biggest jump in opponent turnover rate from last season. Their 19 steals in Portland three nights earlier were the most for any team this season.
Devin Booker fouled out well before the comeback began, and it was Collin Gillespie draining the game-winning runner with 6.4 seconds left. Gillespie’s numbers have been remarkably consistent over his three years in the league, but he’s finally getting a real opportunity to play and his 193 total points this season are just one shy of the 194 he totaled all of last season. The Suns have the league’s fifth-ranked bench and have outscored their opponents by 22.2 points per 100 possessions in 170 minutes with Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin on the floor together.
Having allowed just 107.2 points per 100 possessions over their last seven games, the Suns are now one of six teams that rank in the top 10 on both ends of the floor.
Coming up: Now the Suns’ schedule gets really tough. Their win over San Antonio on Sunday was the start of their first stretch of five games in seven days, which includes games against three of the top four teams in the West. They’ll be at a rest disadvantage against the Rockets on Monday night.

Week 6: vs. HOU, @ SAC*, @ OKC*, vs. DEN

[pickle]

Wonder what Kemp would be in today’s game. A 5 who can’t quite shoot 3s? I didn’t understand basketball that well back then. I don’t remember him to be a particularly effective defender but he was a good rebounder?

[SunsRIt]

Wonder what Kemp would be in today’s game. A 5 who can’t quite shoot 3s? I didn’t understand basketball that well back then. I don’t remember him to be a particularly effective defender but he was a good rebounder?

Kemp was all Power forward. Not a center.

[pickle]

Back then of course. I’m wondering what would happen in today’s game if he can’t shoot 3s.

[Mori Chu]

Back then of course. I’m wondering what would happen in today’s game if he can’t shoot 3s.

Shawn Kemp was fun to watch in his day. There were some more modern players with similar games, like Blake Griffin who just retired from the league a few years ago. And maybe you could throw in guys like Aaron Gordon or John Collins as more modern PFs who had crazy athleticism and dunking. But the game has changed, and now these guys need to be able to shoot to stay on the floor. I know it's tempting to miss the old days when we didn't have every single player chucking 3s. But if that's a more efficient way to win, why shouldn't they? My recollection is that you don't have to shoot 100% 3s to have an efficient offense; you need a mix of 3s and layups, dunks, and short 2s. The main thing is to eliminate all those contested mid-range and long-range 2s from your offense. You can still have an athletic dunker at the 4 as long as he can hit a corner 3 here and there.

[O_Gardino]

Back then of course. I’m wondering what would happen in today’s game if he can’t shoot 3s.

Shawn Kemp was fun to watch in his day. There were some more modern players with similar games, like Blake Griffin who just retired from the league a few years ago. And maybe you could throw in guys like Aaron Gordon or John Collins as more modern PFs who had crazy athleticism and dunking. But the game has changed, and now these guys need to be able to shoot to stay on the floor. I know it's tempting to miss the old days when we didn't have every single player chucking 3s. But if that's a more efficient way to win, why shouldn't they? My recollection is that you don't have to shoot 100% 3s to have an efficient offense; you need a mix of 3s and layups, dunks, and short 2s. The main thing is to eliminate all those contested mid-range and long-range 2s from your offense. You can still have an athletic dunker at the 4 as long as he can hit a corner 3 here and there.

I saw some analysis that showed that we don't shoot more jumpers. It's just that long 2s late in the shot clock have turned to 3s earlier in the shot clock.

[O_Gardino]

Back then of course. I’m wondering what would happen in today’s game if he can’t shoot 3s.

Shawn Kemp was fun to watch in his day. There were some more modern players with similar games, like Blake Griffin who just retired from the league a few years ago. And maybe you could throw in guys like Aaron Gordon or John Collins as more modern PFs who had crazy athleticism and dunking. But the game has changed, and now these guys need to be able to shoot to stay on the floor. I know it's tempting to miss the old days when we didn't have every single player chucking 3s. But if that's a more efficient way to win, why shouldn't they? My recollection is that you don't have to shoot 100% 3s to have an efficient offense; you need a mix of 3s and layups, dunks, and short 2s. The main thing is to eliminate all those contested mid-range and long-range 2s from your offense. You can still have an athletic dunker at the 4 as long as he can hit a corner 3 here and there.

I saw some analysis that showed that we don't shoot more jumpers. It's just that long 2s late in the shot clock have turned to 3s earlier in the shot clock.

"We" don't shot more? I do shoot more jumpers. My old ass can't get anywhere near the rim these days.

[ShelC]

Looks like we've moved a bit to the left this week

[Wally_West]

[Shabazz]

Cooper Flagg is going to be really, really good.

[Shabazz]

Another potential nightmare: