Author: Inside Hoops

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Knicks starting a flock of rookies

The Knicks have a solid, fun flock of rookies who aren’t big-time NBA players yet but have talent and have been enjoyable to watch this season. Here’s the latest update on several of them, and the starting lineup, from the New York Post:

The Knicks’ rookie power trio will start together for the first time this season.

David Fizdale has made one more starting lineup tweak, adding undrafted rookie guard Allonzo Trier in a small-ball shuffle that sends power forward Noah Vonleh to the bench and 2018 lottery pick Kevin Knox from small to power forward.

Amid a lousy start record-wise at 4-11, the lone upside is Fizdale buying in completely to a youth movement and showcasing the three promising rookies.

Center Mitchell Robinson has started over Enes Kanter since the season’s sixth game and will make his New Orleans homecoming Friday vs. the Pelicans.

Each rookie has shown flashes. They may not be winning much so far this first month of NBA action but they’re providing entertainment and the potential for legitimate growth as pros.

Billy King seeks return to NBA front office

Former Nets GM Billy King, an experienced basketball executive who also traded years and years of Nets first round draft picks away in a deal that never should have happened, reportedly seeks a return to an NBA front office. Here’s the New York Post with details:

Billy King knows he’ll always have to answer for The Trade, but the ex-Nets general manager would to answer for it if another NBA franchise will give him the chance.

King, now president of a startup television network, occasionally appears as a guest on NBATV but remains infamous for mortgaging the Nets’ future in what is considered the worst trade in NBA history. By some measures, it is the worst trade in sports history…

King was the GM who spearheaded the disastrous 2013 deal that brought Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to Brooklyn. In return, the Celtics received everything but the lighting fixtures.

Gerald Wallace, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Keith Bogans and Kris Joseph were sent to Boston, along with, most damagingly, first-round draft picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as swap rights in 2017.

King will have to work hard to overcome this, presumably by pointing to his other work spanning many years, and perhaps by sharing more about the mindset behind that big Nets deal, which even as it happened was obviously a very risky, massive gamble that came up craps. He certainly has the personality to win people over if given a shot.

He is a good guy. And has been fun to listen to as an analyst on TV.

But man… that trade.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey issues statement on Carmelo Anthony

Rockets GM Daryl Morey issues statement on Carmelo Anthony

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey today issued a statement on forward Carmelo Anthony’s future with the team.

“After much internal discussion, the Rockets will be parting ways with Carmelo Anthony and we are working toward a resolution,” said Morey. “Carmelo had a tremendous approach during his time with the Rockets and accepted every role head coach Mike D’Antoni gave him. The fit we envisioned when Carmelo chose to sign with the Rockets has not materialized, therefore we thought it was best to move on as any other outcome would have been unfair to him.”

Anthony was originally the third overall pick by Denver in the 2003 NBA Draft and is a 10-time All-Star. He is one of 11 players in NBA history with career averages of at least 24.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Anthony is also a three-time Olympic gold medalist and is USA Basketball’s all-time leading Olympic scorer and rebounder.

Brook Lopez shooting threes like crazy for Bucks

Brook Lopez shooting threes like crazy for Bucks

Taking his height and position into account, Bucks center Brook Lopez has been taking an absolutely wild amount of three-pointers this season. Here’s the Chicago Tribune marveling at the spectacle:

Dirk Nowitzki owns the NBA record for 3-pointers in a season by a 7-footer, making 151 for the Mavericks way back in the 2000-01 season.

It’s a record that Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen flirted with last season before falling six short, the third-most since Nowitzki also sank 148 during the 2002-03 campaign.

Through 14 games, Bucks big man Brook Lopez is on pace to not only break Nowitzki’s record but shatter it. Freed to launch freely in new Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer’s aesthetically pleasing offensive system, Lopez would sink 240 3-pointers if he maintains his current — and ridiculous — pace.

Lopez has been taking 7.0 three point attempts per game this season, second on the team behind Khris Middleton, who takes 7.4/game.

Lopez took 4.4 three-pointers per game last season for the Lakers, and 5.2 per game in 2016-17 for the Nets. In his previous seasons, between 2008-16, he never averaged more than 0.2 three-point attempts per game.

I’ll never be a big fan of centers acting like shooting guards, but the Bucks are 10-4 so far this season and their offense has been one of the most effective in the NBA. You can’t argue with success.

Dwyane Wade out on paternity leave

The Miami Heat are 5-7 this season and while they’re focused on winning now and in the coming seasons as they hope to pivot towards being a contender, the season is also a celebration of the career of Dwyane Wade, who will hang up his sneakers at the end of 2018-19. Of course, D-Wade is still playing, and competing, averaging 14.3 points in 25.7 minutes per game. But after each final buzzer, fans in Miami but also around the league are aware that they’re waving goodbye to Wade, at least as an NBA player. But Wade hasn’t actually been on the court lately. He’s on paternity leave. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting:

The paternity leave of Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will extend for another week, with the guard in Los Angeles with his newborn daughter.

After missing the past three games, Wade posted an Instagram photo Sunday that he was in Los Angeles.

Asked last week if Wade would be taking a paternity leave, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “It’s day to day, but as much time as he needs.”

Wade has missed the past three games, a victory over the San Antonio Spurs and losses to the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards.

— Full Article

Knicks rookie Mitchell Robinson blocks 9 shots in one game

The Knicks are rebuilding, awaiting eventual return of Kristaps Porzingis, and mostly relying on very young players to compete. There will be some wins, but plenty of losses, and hopefully positive signs from their youth along the way. And although the Magic won a decisive victory against the Knicks yesterday, center Mitchell Robinson put on a block party. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Knicks rookie center Mitchell Robinson was drafted 30 slots behind Orlando’s rookie Mo Bamba, but only one of them made the history books Sunday at the Garden.

Robinson set a new Knicks rookie record for blocks with nine as the lone home-team standout in Sunday’s 115-89 shellacking by Orlando. Robinson, who had a handful of rejections at the perimeter, broke the record shared previously by Kristaps Porzingis and Lonnie Shelton, who both had seven.

“I can thank coach,” Robinson said of David Fizdale. “He puts me in position to get those blocks. He was like drop back, don’t worry about my guy. If you see him going full speed at the rim just go get him and meet him at the rim.”

Robinson was one off the Knicks franchise record for blocks — which he said he believes he will break one day.

— Full Article

On the Blazers win vs Celtics

Here’s the Oregonian reporting on the Trail Blazers, who are off to an excellent start this season and on Sunday enjoyed a big win against the Boston Celtics:

For all the Blazers had accomplished heading into Sunday’s game against the Celtics, one thing had eluded them: A close victory.

Eight of their first nine wins had come by double-digits and they owned the NBA’s third-highest point differential (10.0 points per game) prior to facing the Celtics. What’s more, the Blazers had lost their only close games of the season, falling 125-124 to the Washington Wizards in overtime and 114-110 to the Los Angeles Lakers. They also failed to capitalize on chances down the stretch in a closer-than-it-sounds 120-111 loss to the Miami Heat.

So it was notable Sunday that they won a two-possession game in which they had to hold off the Celtics, who had rallied from a 21-point deficit to make things interesting in the closing minutes.

“You’ve got to win close games in this league,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “I think a lot of times, winning close games over the course of your season, makes the difference of how you look back on your season.”

— Full Article

Lakers use no-PG lineup to close game vs Hawks

The Lakers began the season 0-3, then won 7 of their next 10 games, and at 7-6 are currently the 8th seed in the Western conference through Sunday’s games. Rotation adjustments will likely continue for weeks or longer as head coach Luke Walton continues to learn how to mesh LeBron James with young players that the team hopes will be around for a long time with the team’s veterans, many of whom are signed to one-year deals.

As for how they closed things out in a one-point win Sunday against a rebounding Hawks squad, here’s the LA Times reporting:

With the outcome of the game in the balance, Lakers coach Luke Walton chose to use an unconventional lineup — with no point guard — to close against Atlanta on Sunday, a decision he made because he wanted his best defenders on the court.

In the final minutes of a tense game at Staples Center, Walton’s resolve to leave point guards Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo on the bench served the Lakers well.

Ball had replaced Rondo with seven minutes, 41 seconds left in the game. Ball had not played in the fourth quarter of the previous two games, but now he was getting his opportunity.

Then with 4:32 left and every defensive stand being crucial in a game the Lakers were trailing by three points, Ball was replaced by Josh Hart, who the Lakers consider to be one of their better defenders because of his ability to guard multiple positions.

Hart closed out the game with LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Tyson Chandler.

— Full Article

Grizzlies 5-0 at home so far this season

Grizzlies 5-0 at home so far this season

The Grizzlies were not on on the national radar entering this season. Which was understandable. There was no reason for them to be. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are both over 30 years old. The rest of the roster is filled with youth or role players. But they’ve earned some attention, thanks to a 5-0 home record, and a 7-4 overall record which ties them with the Spurs for the 6th best win-loss percentage in the league. The season is still young — it began four weeks from tomorrow — but for now, this squad deserves real respect. Here’s the Memphis Commercial Appeal reporting on that along with a look at home attendance:

Entering Monday night’s game against the Jazz in Memphis, the Grizzlies are 5-0 at FedExForum, making them the last team in the Western Conference undefeated at home…

The 5-0 home start is the second-best in franchise history, trailing only the 2014-15 team’s 8-0 home start. Memphis started 13-2 overall that year. Crowds of 17,000 or more packed FedExForum for six of the eight games that were part of the prolific beginning to a 55-27 season…

Just one crowd of 17,000 saw one of the team’s first five home games this year, and that was for the home-opener against Atlanta when Chandler Parsons purchased 1,000 tickets to give away for free…

The Grizzlies are averaging 88.1 percent of FedExForum’s 18,119 capacity.

— Full Article