UCONN Alum NBA Thread

[Gurleyman]

As if today wasn't bad enough for Lamb - Morrow goes off for 20 on 8-13 shooting with 6 mins left and and is 5-5 in the 4th so far.

On edit: Morrow finished with 28. Shot 8-8 in the fourth. Expect a starting lineup switcheroo. That back injury that kept him out for the first couple weeks was ill times.

 

[Walker11]

Bazz splash. How the hell have the Heat become my favorite team in the League to watch.

 

[superjohn]

Shabazz in there again at the end, had a steal a couple nice passes and hit a 3. He is definitely the closer pg for the Heat.

 

[aceboon]

Bazz took care of his minutes, kinda wish he pulled the trigger on that 3 since he was coming out but oh well, he played a very solid defensive possession on the next trip down.

 

[superjohn]

Shabazz played very good D and the overall D is good in this game but the offense is just putrid.

 

[UConnSwag11]

idk how you dont have bazz in over chalmers... he's better at running the offense and can create his own shot if he cant get the ball to wade

 

[BUConn10]

Right now Bazz is getting good minutes for a rookie with Miami. Spo has shown that he trusts Bazz enough to let him play late in the game due to his good FT% and high IQ. Bazz is playing a style right now that he isnt really accustomed to playing as of late and thats deferring to more veteran guys higher up on the food chain than him at the moment, we cant forget its only his 8th or so NBA game. He is doing a great job of getting the ball to Wade and Bosh which is going to be valuable as he continues to carve out his role on the Heat, which quite frankly have a PG position thats up for grabs.

 

[Gurleyman]

Wow - Kings blow a 24-point lead on Tuesday, then blow a 26-point lead tonight in Memphis (Rudy had 25 and 7, but cooled off late).

They lost in ridiculous fashion. Up one, McElmore missed two FTs with 0.6 left up by one. Memphis calls timeout on the rebound, and they set it to 0.3. Then they get a guy open at the rim and he catches and finishes a layup from his waist. After a 10-minute review, it counted.

The NBA's advance the ball on a timeout rule continues to annoy me. There's no more ridiculous rule in sports. I know they do it so teams call all their timeouts in the last minute, which is great for advertising revenue, but it bastardizes the sport. You shouldn't get rewarded for a timeout. Imagine getting 15 free yards in football for one.

 

[aceboon]

I went away from the game after McElmore got the defensive rebound(the Grizz home play by play man even said the game was over, lol), and then a few minutes later I hear the same guy screaming from the other room after the finish. I know there wasn't definitive evidence but there's no way that ball wasn't tipped, that pass seemed to take a weird dip as it reached the area where Lee caught it. Also, who blew the defensive assignment, I only watched the replay once but Thompson was supposed to stick with Lee after the screen and not Rudy, right?

 

[BUConn10]

Wow - Kings blow a 24-point lead on Tuesday, then blow a 26-point lead tonight in Memphis (Rudy had 25 and 7, but cooled off late).

They lost in ridiculous fashion. Up one, McElmore missed two FTs with 0.6 left up by one. Memphis calls timeout on the rebound, and they set it to 0.3. Then they get a guy open at the rim and he catches and finishes a layup from his waist. After a 10-minute review, it counted.

The NBA's advance the ball on a timeout rule continues to annoy me. There's no more ridiculous rule in sports. I know they do it so teams call all their timeouts in the last minute, which is great for advertising revenue, but it bastardizes the sport. You shouldn't get rewarded for a timeout. Imagine getting 15 free yards in football for one.

its a ridiculous rule but it adds excitement to the game and probably doubles the number of buzzer beaters in the game, which is exciting for fans, but I can see why it annoys you. Kings can blow the nice record they built up, especially in the tougher West. Rudy has played well this season but their bench is painfully thin.

Irrelevant observation: mention Rudy Gay around any Raptors fan and watch them spaz out. Its like they cant bear that Rudy simply didnt fit in Dwayne Casey's offensive system (not like he made an effort to get Rudy involved besides just late shot clock iso moments) and Rudy playing alongside Derozen was just a bad idea, same type of player/game but different positions. They act like Rudy is garbage because he didnt work out for them but refuse to see his massively improved numbers in Sacramento. If Im coaching a team Im taking Rudy over Demar every time, I see now value in a SG that cant shoot but see infinite potential in an uber-athletic SF like Rudy that can do it all.

SF is currently one of the most star-studded positions in the NBA but is top heavy, despite this Rudy can be easily argued to be a Top 5 SF in the NBA (in order): Lebron, KD, Paul George, Carmelo and Rudy. The direction the game is evolving into which is "wing-centric" makes Rudy a very attractive target for GM's in free agency despite his efficiency issues, but I think that he has shown with the proper environment Rudy can thrive.

 

[champs99and04]

Did folks catch the Zach Lowe article on Drummond today? It explains some of his struggles while also highlighting some signs of encouragement.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/andre-drummond-detroit-pistons/

 

[UConnSwag11]

kemba is playing the suns right now... bazz playing against the heat, down by 14...drummond with 6 and 11 so far

 

[aceboon]

Lamb is playing very well, 15pts so far in the 3rd. Brooks ran plays for him right off the bat and he knocked down his shots. Nice response from him but he's gonna have to learn to play better on the road.

 

[Gurleyman]

Lamb back from the dead. Having a nice all around game.

 

[aceboon]

Very good win for Kemba and the Hornets on the road against Phoenix. Phoneix has overwhelmed teams in the 4th the past couple of games and looked like they were bout to do the same to the Hornets after they had built up a 4th quarter lead but they recovered down the stretch. Kemba had two great scoring drives at the rim in the 4th and finished with 19, 5, and 4 on an efficient 8/16 shooting night. They needed that after collapsing against the Lakers and Blazers.

 

[Walker11]

Lamb has his first career double double with 24/10. AJ had 14. Bazz 4. Andre 9 and 15 on 4-11 from the field.

 

[Mots010]

Bazz needs to fill up the box score a bit more with the minutes he's playing.

 

[James]

Bazz needs to fill up the box score a bit more with the minutes he's playing.

he's having problems creating his own offense and its a serious issue. he gets a secondary pnr on offense, doesn't get into the paint to do anything, usually gives the ball up in a late shot clock situation. he is working hard and adding new things to his game ( 7-8 games into the year), so thats good.

defensively, sometimes size just wins. in the nba its about what you offer as a help/team defender, not just staying in front of your man. withing the heat defensive scheme, napier is a lot of times challenged ( guarding/quick covering the roll man while he on the weakside). I would actually say he's pretty advanced defensively for a rookie.

Just really want him add a floater. while its not sexy, he has yet to attempt a floater all year. you need the giant killer if your a little guy on the court. it would help him create more quality looks for himself. overall not a bad start to his rookie campaign.

 

[huskiesnyc]

How about AJ Price? He's carving out a nice NBA career for a guy drafted late in the 2nd round. He's averaging 11.4 PPG this year in only 20 MPG.

 

[ctchamps]

he's having problems creating his own offense and its a serious issue. he gets a secondary pnr on offense, doesn't get into the paint to do anything, usually gives the ball up in a late shot clock situation. he is working hard and adding new things to his game ( 7-8 games into the year), so thats good.

defensively, sometimes size just wins. in the nba its about what you offer as a help/team defender, not just staying in front of your man. withing the heat defensive scheme, napier is a lot of times challenged ( guarding/quick covering the roll man while he on the weakside). I would actually say he's pretty advanced defensively for a rookie.

Just really want him add a floater. while its not s e xy, he has yet to attempt a floater all year. you need the giant killer if your a little guy on the court. it would help him create more quality looks for himself. overall not a bad start to his rookie campaign.

From what people are describing it appears his rookie season in the NBA is similar to his freshman season as a Husky without the cockiness. Kid is a cerebral player. I think he's still assessing things. He won't surprise me one bit if he becomes the best guard in his class.

 

[UConn990411]

Very encouraging stuff from Lamb last night. Just needs to figure out how to play well on the road, like someone said earlier in this thread.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

How about AJ Price? He's carving out a nice NBA career for a guy drafted late in the 2nd round. He's averaging 11.4 PPG this year in only 20 MPG.

Based on a sample of one play, I was pleasantly surprised to see how strong and quick AJ looked making a step-back 2 on the left side with Bazz trying to defend him.

 

[upstater]

AJ Price 7-11, 2-5 from 3, 21 points, 24 minutes, Indiana beats Chicago at Chicago.

Indy fans are in a pickle trying to figure out what to do about AJ. They have injuries, but he's competing with George Hill (who they all like as the starter), CJ Watson (who is guaranteed his millions), and Whittington (who is young developing talent).

4 pgs competing for 3 spots, but unless the Pacers eat Watson's contract and put their faith in Price, then AJ may be out of luck.

 

[Scottzer]

Small sample, but shooting 49% from the field, too! If Indy decides to get rid of him, I hope somebody realizes how well he's playing.

Any news on Jeff Adrien? With how well he played toward the end of last year, I'd really hate to see nobody pick him up.

 

[djct1999]

AJ Price 7-11, 2-5 from 3, 21 points, 24 minutes, Indiana beats Chicago at Chicago.

Indy fans are in a pickle trying to figure out what to do about AJ. They have injuries, but he's competing with George Hill (who they all like as the starter), CJ Watson (who is guaranteed his millions), and Whittington (who is young developing talent).

4 pgs competing for 3 spots, but unless the Pacers eat Watson's contract and put their faith in Price, then AJ may be out of luck.

I believe his 10 day contract expires today. What was an easy decision a week ago has quickly become a very difficult one for the Pacers. Not only has he played great, he actually was a main reason they won two games. I am very curious to see what the Pacers do..............letting him go will not be easy. Either way, we have to think AJ played himself on a roster for the remainder of the season!!!!