- The Orlando Magic getting a nice couple of wins on the West Coast. The Lakers win, turning Dwight Howard against himself with an effective use of fouling him late in the game.
- Mike Conley Jr. The Grizzlies are awesome this year, and Conley has been way better. Want proof? His TS% and eFG% are up over last year and his career numbers. His WS/48 is up from .141 to .211. He’s shooting better from 3, getting to the line a bit more, and his assist percentage is up a bit. All in all, he’s looking like an elite point guard when you see him play, and the numbers back it up. Nice!
Lakersfreude. (noun) Pleasure derived by someone from the misfortune of the Lakers.
Sure, I know that they’ll eventually be fine. They have too much talent for it to be otherwise, and Dwight Howard will get healthy.
Does that stop it being fun watching them struggle right now? And to see the gnashing of teeth and lamentations of the Lakers fans? No, it does not. Not at all.
This long piece about the Thunder from the NYT on Sunday is absolutely worth reading. Not only about Durant, but Wayne Coyne, creative municipal tax policy, and hipsters.
I’m bringing this back for the new NBA season. Daily (more or less) songs and NBA thoughts.
Today’s thought is derived from watching the first couple of Knicks games.
Basketball is a game where you want to generate easy shots for yourself on offense, and prevent the other team from getting easy shots on defense.
One of the nice things about having experienced veterans like Kurt Thomas and Jason Kidd is that they aid in both those things. A well-timed pass, a well-set screen, intelligent rotations and limited gambles all help the team get themselves easy shots and prevent the other team from getting them.
It wouldn’t work if there weren’t guys like Tyson Chandler and Carmelo doing their respective awesomeness on defense/offense, but to me, it’s those subtle things that take a team from okay to much better than okay.
3
