Bledsoe was good -- really shows how team style and pace can affect a player's performance. IMO this Pels team should run run and run, even with Zion and BI.
Last edited by ice-9; 05-10-2021 at 04:51 AM.
Last season the Pels ran a lot more and both Zion and BI were great. All those highlight alley oops from Lonzo to Zion from last season? Mostly missing this season.
Various experts blamed the Pel's poor defense last season on the faster pace. So this season they slowed it down...but the defense is still poor, except now you have some ill-fitting pieces like Bledsoe, Lonzo when his shot is off, Adams and Hayes.
Great Knicks-Lakers game tonight. Old school physical battle. They are going at it, OT in important game for both teams. Barrett not doing anything offensively but playing hard on defense.
AD working his I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. off and will need multiple IV’s. Julias Randall playing like superstar. 1 pt Knick lead in OT with 55 secs left.
Laker stifling defense at end and Barrett heaves desperate 3 for win - unfortunately an air ball. Much improved Knicks vs decimated Lakers made for a very even matchup: 20+ lead chances.
Im sure going 2 for 11 with 7 points for the game didn’t help his case. But for the season his shooting has gotten a LOT better - fg% improved from 40 to 44%, ft from 61% to 75% and 3pt% from 32% to 40%. He just didn’t have it tonight. Well not on the offensive end, at least.
From watching RJ night to night, on offense, it often can take him a long time to get it going. Last night, he was never really dialed in, and with the Knicks being thin in the backcourt because of the Quickly and Burks injuries, Ntilikina came off the bench, went 3-4 from 3 (rare) and took some of RJs minutes. This has been a great year for him, and I read an article where he said he and Drew Hanlen are going work on some specific offensive skills this offseason, which I agree are areas where he needs to improve:
"Some point to a clear hole in Barrett's offensive game: his poor shooting on non-rim 2-point shots in the paint, generally referred to as "floater range," from roughly three to 10 feet. For the season, Barrett is shooting 33.7% on those shots, the fifth-worst percentage in the league.
He also is shooting a below-average 56.6% on shots in the restricted area."
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...tt-year-2-leap
Justise Winslow had his biggest game of the season with 25 points and 14 points as the Grizzlies beat Sacramento.
Not a meaningful game in the standings, but perhaps Justise can do some good things in the playoffs.
Ben Wallace to the HOF. Not a Duke link but what a player. Humble, hard working and fierce. The good old days...
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
Some nice stats
RJ Barrett finished the regular season with 40% accuracy from 3-pt, and improved his FT shooting to 74.6%
Kyrie joined the exclusive "50/40/90" club by finishing with 50.6% from the field, 40.2% from 3-pt, and 90.2% from the FT line.
I normally don't consider transfers in this "Dukies" in the NBA thread, but this Semi Ojeleye factoid was too interesting to pass up:
Ojeleye just set a new high-water mark for at least the last 30 years by playing the most minutes without registering a blocked shot by a player 6'6" or taller.
While he is a fairly stout defender (and unquestionably a stout human being at 6'6" 240 lb), Ojeleye played 950 minutes over 56 regular season games and did not register a single blocked shot.
The only other players who played meaningful minutes without blocking a shot are much smaller guards who played way fewer minutes than Ojeleye--Tyler Johnson (6'3", 684 minutes), Brandon Goodwin (6'0", 620 minutes), Ryan Arcidiacono (6'3", 450 minutes) and Langston Galloway (6'1", 438 minutes)
And here are some players ahead of the 26-year old, 6'6" Ojeleye on the blocked shots list this year:
- Facundo Campazzo (5'10", 30 years old) - 14 blocked shots
- Stephen Curry (6'3", 33 years old) - 8 blocked shots
- Jordan McLaughling (5'11", 25 years old) - 6 blocked shots
- Patty Mills (6'1", 32 years old) - 3 blocked shots
- D.J. Augustin (5'11", 33 years old) - 1 blocked shot
In the last 30 years, the next closest mark from a player 6'6" or taller was Michael Redd in 2012, who played 770 minutes in his final, injury-riddled season.
Evidently the all-time record (since blocks became a recorded stat in 1974) belongs to former Cavs/Timberwolves/Wizards coach Randy Wittman, who played 1071 minutes in 1984 without blocking a single shot.
The Ringer's KOC with an extensive video breakdown of RJ's sophomore NBA season
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvODVmmraZU
Tatum hits 50!