UCONN Alum NBA Thread

[champs99and04]

This one is over. Hornets looked terrible. Just hope Kemba doesn't ruin a good stat line with some late three-point chucking.

The Lance signing has been a disaster thus far. He's shooting 31% on the season - small sample size and all, that's tough to do.

 

[Gurleyman]

Frustrating game to watch since Kemba was doing a great job exploiting a match up and the Hornets ran their whole offense away from him to go through Stephenson and Jefferson. I think I'd rather see Gerald Henderson than Stephenson right now, other than Stephenson being a very good rebounder. He's shooting 30 percent and his only 3 this year was banked in. Kemba's slumping but at least got himself close to 40 percent on the season with his 7-11 tonight. And Henderson will run off screens and get the team into some decent sets - Stephenson wants the ball to score.

Really could have been a day Kemba had 27 and 10, instead of 17 and 4. His teammates cost him a bunch of assists (and the Lakers statisticians didn't help not giving assists on post feeds to Jefferson, when he takes his time), and he could have exploited his matchup.

 

[Matrim55]

Kemba's last 5 games: 49% FG, 39% 3FG, 84% FT, 15.4 points, 4.2 reb, 5 assist, 1.2 TO

Hornets are just 2-3 in that span. Stephenson has been bad, and the Marvin Williams signing was poopy.

 

[traitor71]

Napier with a poor night shooting but played 25 minutes in a nice win over the mavs. his defense is further along then his offense, something i didn't predict. Miami looks like an offensive juggernaut early in the season

I don't know if it is sustainable. Spoelstra is a smart guy though, and is not adverse to learning from, or copying what others do. Right now, it looks like he really learned something about ball movement from that Spurs series. As for Bazz, it's clear that they like him. If he finds a shot, one of the other point guards is going to be gone for another big body.

 

[aceboon]

The Lance signing has been a disaster thus far. He's shooting 31% on the season - small sample size and all, that's tough to do.

After the offseason I was a much bigger fan of signing Lance & Marvin Williams at the combined money they got over the offer sheet that Gordon Hayward signed to. Its super early, and reportedly Lance isn't in good shape, but after watching Hayward in Utah so far this year, its looking like I'm going to have walk that one back. Hayward looks like he would be the much better fit in Charlotte.

 

[JesusAllen11]

Kemba Is really strugling with shot, once he get thats down he should look amazing.
Thunder injuries are giving Jeremy the opportunity he needed, avg 17ppg right now.
Rudy Gay on track to have his best season yet , not surprising tho its a contract year.
Shabazz is being groomed to be the starting pg for the heat. He doesnt start , but he has played most 4th quarters over/with cole.
I thought Drummond would break out this year , he still might , but he is struggling with foul trouble. and shooting 45% vs 61% last year. its early tho

 

[JesusAllen11]

Think Kemba and Lance are having trouble getting chemistry. Some games Lance looks really frustrated. I think he thought coming to Charleotte , it would be his team. Nope still Kemba's and Al Jeffersons.

 

[aceboon]

Nice night for AJ, 12pts thru 3 quarters. Not sure what the future holds for him once the Pacers get healthy, but hopefully he performs well enough to get a look somewhere else if there's a roster spot that is free or shakes loose. During the broadcast the Pacers broadcast team said he was considering signing over in China after he got waived by the Cavs so an opportunity is probably scarce.

 

[Kembacity]

Nice night for AJ, 12pts thru 3 quarters. Not sure what the future holds for him once the Pacers get healthy, but hopefully he performs well enough to get a look somewhere else if there's a roster spot that is free or shakes loose. During the broadcast the Pacers broadcast team said he was considering signing over in China after he got waived by the Cavs so an opportunity is probably scarce.

20 points, thats ridiculous. I know someones going to pick him up in my fantasy league, but I'd say theres no way he can do that too many times this season

 

[aceboon]

20 points, thats ridiculous. I know someones going to pick him up in my fantasy league, but I'd say theres no way he can do that too many times this season

After reading up he might not be playing much further beyond this week, he's only with the Pacers for 10 days and its very hard to make a team after rosters are finalized before the start of the season. 10 days contracts aren't allowed until Jan, he might make an overseas move before then.

http://www.vigilantsports.com/2014/...-pacers-aid-as-team-manages-list-of-injuries/

 

[aceboon]

AJP finished with 22, with a midrange turnaround J as the shotclock was expiring to cap the night

 

[UConn990411]

On a negative note, Drummond continues to look pretty bad - 0-5 from the floor with 4 fouls in just 20 minutes.

That roster needs a shakeup, and quick.

 

[champs99and04]

Yeah, Drummond's been disappointing. He's still a beast on the boards and a terror on rolls through the lanes, but the rest of his game hasn't really developed. Frankly, Monroe is probably the better player right now.

 

[aceboon]

Hopefully Rudy keeps it up, its a contract year so I think he realizes what he needs to do to get one more big payday before he exits his prime.

https://medium.com/the-cauldron/rudy-gay-is-finally-earning-that-money-a1550273e63a

 

[UConn990411]

Yeah, Drummond's been disappointing. He's still a beast on the boards and a terror on rolls through the lanes, but the rest of his game hasn't really developed. Frankly, Monroe is probably the better player right now.

To me, this isn't (or shouldn't be) a Drummond vs. Monroe thing. Its more that those two and Josh Smith simply can't all play together.

Drummond and Monroe had already established excellent chemistry by the end of Andre's rookie season. And instead of rolling with it, Dumars threw big bucks at Smith, completely blowing up that whole scenario.

 

[champs99and04]

To me, this isn't (or shouldn't be) a Drummond vs. Monroe thing. Its more that those two and Josh Smith simply can't all play together.

Drummond and Monroe had already established excellent chemistry by the end of Andre's rookie season. And instead of rolling with it, Dumars threw big bucks at Smith, completely blowing up that whole scenario.

Yup, the Josh Smith signing was one of those moves that was a head-shaker at the time and looks even worse now. If you're building a team around Smith and Drummond - and it sure seems like that's what's going to happen once Monroe leaves - that's already 40% of your starting lineup that can't shoot. And if Brandon Jennings happens to play point guard for you, you're just not going to be a good team. The Knight/Jennings swap even looks worse for Detroit with Knight off to such a good start in Milwaukee this year. Everything about the way that team was constructed just seemed completely inconsistent with the team-building process in todays game. It was like they were putting a fantasy team together.

 

[aceboon]

Lamb with just an absolute disaster of a night, yikes

 

[Matrim55]

Shabazz & Kemba

 

[Gurleyman]

Today makes me want to give up on League Pass and find a hobby. First Rudy's Kings blew a 24-point lead and now the Hornets blew a 23-point lead and lost to Portland. Rudy played pretty well (26-8-8 PRA) just with too many turnovers. Kemba started out well and then went off the rails into painful to watch territory. Lillard just seemed like he was on a different level (although he took one of the dumbest shots I've ever seen and got away with it).

 

[UConn990411]

Is it just me, or does the Lance Stephenson signing feel eerily similar to the Josh Smith signing?

Very good player, but not a great fit.

 

[johnhuskies95]

Yup, the Josh Smith signing was one of those moves that was a head-shaker at the time and looks even worse now. If you're building a team around Smith and Drummond - and it sure seems like that's what's going to happen once Monroe leaves - that's already 40% of your starting lineup that can't shoot. And if Brandon Jennings happens to play point guard for you, you're just not going to be a good team. The Knight/Jennings swap even looks worse for Detroit with Knight off to such a good start in Milwaukee this year. Everything about the way that team was constructed just seemed completely inconsistent with the team-building process in todays game. It was like they were putting a fantasy team together.

Knight isn't really a guy that's gonna start on a top 5-10 team in the league, or someone you can build around, so I understand why the Pistons got rid of him. He's just way too turnover prone. But Brandon Jennings is not the answer.

 

[UConnSwag11]

bazz on at espn at 730 playing the pacers... price is on the pacers, correct?

 

[UconnU]

bazz on at espn at 730 playing the pacers... price is on the pacers, correct?

yep. Starting now.

 

[msgordon]

drummond needs to stay out of foul trouble

 

[aceboon]

Bazz just got some love from the studio crew (Burke, JRose, Avery Johnson) for closing out games in the 4th quarter