He was asked about it in the locker room after the game, which was pretty entertaining. He mentioned that he's won games with a negative plus/minus (think he specifically said he'd won games with a -10 plus/minus), so that stat isn't meaningful to him. Still, I think the point remains that his team isn't likely to win many games if he puts up a dreadful +/-, and last night was his worst as a pro.
Josh McRoberts returned from a broken foot and made his season debut for the Mavericks last night. He played three minutes, missed a three-pointer and picked up a foul. His three seasons with Miami were marred by injury -- here's hoping the 30 year-old can fully recover for additional playing time.
Now we're just waiting on one more injured Mav to return.
Twolves playing OKC tonight... Teague may return so watching Tyus attempt his defensive wizardry vs. Westbrook may not happen. Bummer...
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Some pretty interesting tidbits from Zach Lowe, arguably the best NBA writer out there, on Justise Winslow: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...miami-heat-nba
Key quotes:
Richardson jumped Winslow as Miami's small forward of the future, and James Johnson leapt him as their go-to small-ball power forward -- Winslow's best role. Lineups with all three of Winslow, James Johnson, and Whiteside might be fatally short on shooting. Multiple rival executives labeled Winslow as Miami's version of Jahlil Okafor. (That is a little much.)Am I the only one who thinks it's nuts that Tyus Jones could be the best NBA player of his Duke class (Grayson included)? Damn...Even so, before the season, Whiteside for Cousins was my favorite potential fake trade in the league, though it required New Orleans falling out of the playoff race. The Pelicans have hung in. Meanwhile, the trade values of Whiteside and Winslow are cratering at exactly the wrong moment. Very few teams need centers.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
It's a bit early to call that race . . . Tyus put up some gaudy stats in his first few games as a starter, but in this most recent stretch, he's been just OK. In his last 5 games, in which he's played 31 minutes per game, he's averaged just 7.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.8 turnovers, 40.5% from the field, 14.3% from 3. Unfortunately, the NBA 3 is a bit outside of his comfortable range. He's a solid player, but probably not a long term starter.
I still think Winslow has a chance to be really good. He's even improved as a shooter, up to 39% from deep this year, and he's still one of the top defensive wings in the league. I think he just needs a change of scenery. Also, if Jah can just get his defense up to slightly below average, he could probably be a 20 and 10 guy on a bad team . . . or a 15 and 7 guy off the bench for a decent team. His NBA ceiling is becoming this generation's Greg Monroe.
Last edited by kAzE; 01-10-2018 at 10:34 AM.
You clearly skipped over my usage of the word, "could".
I think Winslow has a ton of potential left. Like you said, he isn't valued in Miami. But unlike Okafor, I think there are a lot of teams that would still be interested in Winslow's services. He just needs to continue to work on his shot.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
As a Miami fan, I don't really agree with this assessment. The Heat organization is one of the best in the league at developing talent, and I don't think they are doing anything to get in the way of Winslow reaching his potential. He started plenty of games last year before his injury, and same thing this year. I'm sure he's logging 20+ minutes and Miami has used him in just about every way imaginable, having him serve as a primary ballhandler in one game and then having him defend the other team's center in the next.
The disappointing thing about his injury this year was that he finally seemed to be hitting some outside shots, which would open up the floor tremendously when he's in the game. At the time he went out, a hot streak had brought him to 5th in the team in 3 point percentage. His defensive numbers have not been great this year, but he's still pretty well-regarded on the defensive end. His Achilles heel is finishing at the basket, but I have to believe that will improve too. I think the Heat organization is behind him and the fanbase remains very much behind him as well, but that doesn't mean he won't get traded if Miami has a chance to grab a superstar. It's just business. Where I disagree is I don't think he will be better off if that happens.
Tyus went back to the bench as Jeff Teague is healthy again. The TWolves destroyed OKC 104-88 and Tyus did play 19 minutes, most of anyone on the bench. His game was prety forgettable from a stat standpoint with just 3 points, 1 assists, and 1 steal.
The Hawks played at Denver last night... meaning Hawks starting C Miles Plumlee went against Nuggets starting C Mason Plumlee. The Hawks won the game (whaaaat?!?!?!) but Mason outplayed his big bro. Mason had 9 points on 4-5 shooting with 5 boards, with 4 assists and 3 steals as well. Miles had 5 points on on 2-6 shooting with 4 rebounds.
Luke Kennard had 13 points and 6 boards in just 19 minutes of action. It is getting hard for the Pistons not to play him more. In the same game, Jah played 17 minutes for the Nets but failed to score on 3 shots. He had 4 rebounds but he is clearly still regaining his feel for the game after such a long layoff (thanks Sixers!).
But the biggest story of the night may come from Utah. Rodney Hood was ejected from the Jazz game last night and swatted the phone out of a fan's hand as he left the court. Not a good look from Rodney and I won't be at all surprised if the NBA imposes some kind of fine for this:
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
In a "NBA Rumors" article on SI.com, there was this snippet at the end:
"I seems the Pistons are open to moving two former top-15 picks. Detroit is reportedly fielding offers for Stanley Johnson (eighth overall, 2015) and Luke Kennard (12th overall, 2017). Johnson is a solid defender but is shooting just 35% from the field while Kennard has shot an impressive 44% from three for the season. (Ian Begley, ESPN)."
Given that Kennard seems to be having a very solid season, I wonder what the thinking is.
Other sources suggest that Pistons are offering Johnson, but teams are asking for Kennard. Johnson is getting the "D" part of the "3 and D," but is shooting below 30% from 3, even though close to half of his shots come from behind the line.
Kennard has worked his way into the rotation, particularly since PG Reggie Jackson went down with an ankle injury (which will keep him out for a while). Luke moves the ball well and makes good decisions.
SVG prefers experienced players, and has a knack for grabbing undervalued younger players with experience, eg Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley.
Looks like his next is Evan Fournier of the Magic. The Magic might be wary of SVG, he snatched Harris from them a couple of years ago.
If SVG has his sights set on Fournier, I could see him give up Kennard. I could also see SVG keeping in touch with Luke and bringing him back under the right circumstances.
SVG will not hesitate to make the move he believes will make his team better.
Rodney Hood's fine came in at $35,000.
So, who's starting the GoFundMe?
It depends on what your 2 cents says. you could be banned for making such a a statement