The Spurs exploited the Warriors' weakness in the middle. Maybe teams that aren't as good as the Spurs and don't have a coach as good as Pop won't do it as effectively, but it is something the Warriors will have to fix.
Quote:The Warriors weren’t just replacing Harrison Barnes with Durant; they were also replacing Andrew Bogut with Zaza Pachulia. Bogut never got enough credit for all he did for the Warriors. He was instrumental to what they did on both sides of the ball, and they clearly missed him against the Spurs. Bogut is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, and he’s also mobile enough to slide his feet and guard in the pick-and-roll. On the offensive end, he’s great at setting screens, passing the ball, and rolling to the rim. The Warriors’ best lineups feature Draymond Green at center, but he can’t play that position for 30 minutes a game over the course of the regular season. They need someone who can hold the fort and eat some minutes there.
The Spurs went at Zaza right away. They put him in pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll, and there was nothing he could do about it. He doesn’t have the foot speed to switch screens and guard smaller players on the perimeter, and he can’t recover to the paint fast enough to bump the ball handler when he’s coming off the screen. Even backing up in order to cut off penetration and wall off the paint isn’t much of an option because he’s not a deterrent at the rim. There are two statistics from last season that should really concern the Warriors: Pachulia’s 0.9 block percentage is nowhere close to Bogut’s 5.8 percent, while Bogut was in the 72nd percentile of all qualifying NBA players in pick-and-roll defense, compared to 48th for Zaza.
Zaza was a decent starter for Dallas last season, but the spotlight in Golden State is much brighter and harsher. His poor pick-and-roll defense wasn’t as big of a deal for the Mavs because opposing offenses had so many different places they could attack. Now that he is playing with Green, Durant, and Klay Thompson, there aren’t as many weak links around him.
Cavs pick up Kyle Korver from Atlanta in a trade. Another piece to a repeat championship puzzle? Kyrie and Kevin Love playing better (more consistent and healthy) this year too.
(01-09-2017 10:41 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote: Cavs pick up Kyle Korver from Atlanta in a trade. Another piece to a repeat championship puzzle? Kyrie and Kevin Love playing better (more consistent and healthy) this year too.
Whelp! Cavs have lost 3 in a row and 4-6 over their last 10 games.
This is just so bizarre. I really do think it was time for Kupchak and Jim Buss to go, but to replace them both with novices does not inspire confidence. And Magic wanting to bring in Kobe? Ugh.
If the idea is that Magic is the public face of management and in charge of recruiting stars to the Lakers, that would work. Certainly a better plan than Jim Buss butting his way into meetings with free agents.
But if the idea is that Magic, without help from an ace GM, can build and maintain the roster as well as Jerry West did, not so much. Management across the NBA as a whole is much more professional now than when West became GM. West could learn the job over a few years while nearly all other teams were run by guys who didn't know what they were doing.
On the other hand, if Magic hires a staff full of smart, experienced people who know their jobs well, then it could work as well as, say, John Elway running the Broncos.
Quote:Los Angeles Lakers president and co-owner Jeanie Buss has thwarted a legal attempt to strip her of her controlling ownership of the team by her brothers Johnny and Jim Buss.
The older Buss brothers had filed a motion to hold a meeting with the Lakers minority owners on March 7 to elect a new board of directors for the Lakers, and replace Jeanie Buss.
Quote:Lawyers for Jeanie Buss challenged that motion in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, by filing a temporary restraining order, saying the older brothers actions were continuing to "breach their duties" by challenging her controlling ownership.
They wanted to have a vote on the board of directors to remove her, but the trust says she's the controlling owner and also says the controlling owner must sit on the board. Jimmy Buss is a moron. Moreover, the guy actually said publicly that he'd step down if the Lakers didn't get back to being a top team. This stuff inspires no confidence.
And now the Buss Family Christmas is gonna be REALLY awkward...
She says that one of the brothers' proposed new directors is an executive with AEG. AEG already controls the 2 (of 5) board seats not appointed by the Buss family. Electing the AEG guy proposed by the Buss brothers would give AEG control of the Lakers' board, and presumably the authority to approve a sale of the franchise.
Well, the Hornets managed to choke off making the playoffs this year.... inexcusable for a team with our talent not to be able to make the post season in a completely SUCK Eastern division.
Yeah, we had injuries.... but we also had way to many WTF losses... Better make some good trades and/or draft picks to fix this.
Celtics got caught napping. When Magic was playing, he liked to say that a playoff series doesn't really start until one team loses at home... Bulls-Celtics has started.
(04-16-2017 10:35 PM)Wedge Wrote: The Rockets look goooooood.
Celtics got caught napping. When Magic was playing, he liked to say that a playoff series doesn't really start until one team loses at home... Bulls-Celtics has started.
The Thunder are Westbrook only....
Celtics, not really caught napping as probabbly Thomas still dealing with family issues....we'll see what goes down in game 2.