League Pass Diaries: 11/6/12

New York vs. Philadelphia: This was my first look at New York.  There's a tremendous advantage to everyone knowing their role on a team and I was reminded of this by watching this game.  New York, or shall I say Melo started off the game cold, however that didn't stop his teammates from wanting to get him the ball.  Melo continued to shoot until he hit a few shots and his teammates made sure he touched the ball every time down the floor.  This is possible when the other 4 guys on the floor know their role.  Between Kidd, Felton, Brewer, and Chandler, you have 4 guys who don't need the ball to be happy and make a contribution to the team.  If Amare comes back in starts, this could change the whole dynamic they've got right now.  I was impressed with New York's defense as well.  Philadelphia's small ball tactics didn't work with New York also playing small.  New York was impressive helping on drives and rotating on shooters.  Despite getting down early, New York slowly beat the brakes off the Sixers.  There was no crazy run, it was just a slow beating, due to bad Philadelphia offense, and good New York defense.  I'll save judgement of Philadelphia for when Bynum has a few games under his belt.  Evan Turner might not ever turn the corner on his development.  He's a great rebounder and ball handler, but he's nothing special at creating shots for himself and others.  Thaddeus Young looks pretty decent at the 4, but I'm not sure his game will jive with Bynum when Bynum is healthy......you're going to want floor spacers and Thaddeus is a slasher who prefers to work close to the basket. 

 

Minnesota vs. Brooklyn: This game was close in the end and that was the part I watched a lot.  Brooklyn's offense as anyone could have guessed consisted of Joe Johnson isolations, and Deron/Brook pick and pops.  Adelman is no dummy so both of these plans were foiled, and ultimately the Barea/Pekovic pick and roll was more effective down the stretch.  It's only a matter of time before Shved takes all of Brandon Roy's minutes.  That guy just isn't who he used to be.  Derrick Williams is moving towards bust-land.  He has no above average NBA skill except jumping. 

 

Phoenix vs. Miami: As I've mentioned before, Miami has completely embraced the small ball concept.  There is no more Joel Anthony and Dexter Pittman getting major minutes.  Two things stood out from this game and then I'll move on because this game isn't worth convering.  First, Miami clearly came out with the mindset that they wanted to rest starters in the 4th quarter.  They looked sharp.  Second, Miami is thinking big picture in these games.  You don't see them running any of the stuff that they ran last playoffs (e.g. Lebron posting up).  They're working on different things that might not yield amazing results now, but will pay off towards the playoffs. Also, Phoenix played.

 

Golden State vs. Sacramento: This was a bad team playing against a really bad team and the really bad team won.  Sacramento is a terrible team to watch.  I think the coach just shows up or maybe he tries, but they're not listening to him.  Cousins is the most talented player, but it's hard to tell.  Even when the guards do get him the ball he is usually 20 feet from the basket and a poor shot attempt is inevitable.  Tyreke loves the contested fade away long two pointer.  Thornton is a guy that comes in and maintains the culture of selfishness of the bench.  I've got nothing against Isaiah Thomas, other than he's just Isaiah Thomas, and with all due respect he's probably the worst starting PG in the league.  Bogut is playing (for now).  When he's on the floor the Warriors are not the worst defensive team in the NBA.  Steph can't guard anybody.  When his shot isn't falling he becomes worse than Isaiah Thomas.

 

Cleveland vs. LA Clippers: This was the nights most anticipated game.  It was good to compare Kyrie and CP3.  Right now the only difference between the two is CP3 sees the game in slow motion, while for Kyrie it's just starting to slow down.  Kyrie takes a lot of tough shots right now, but thats understandable because Cleveland is a two-man team.  The other ball player is Waiters.  I'm still feeling the potential of this backcourt.  Waiters is supremely confident in his abilities, and he's been the most fearless rookie along with Lillard this year.  He really feels like he's the best player on the floor, regardless of who he's playing with and against.  Cleveland won this game because they wanted it more.  Alonzo Gee, the starting small forward has taken the responsiblity of guarding opposing PGs, which is interesting.  Waiters has been matching up against small forwards, but Gee has been great harassing PGs for 90 feet, and making it difficult for oppositions to set up their offense.  The Clippers kind of ho hum'd the whole game and when they tried to get serious, it was too late.  Waiters and Kyrie's confidence were sky high by the 4th quarter.  CP3 will always wait until the 4th to take over, and he did that.  It was the other guys that have no excuse to not play as hard as they did against the Lakers.  Bledsoe finally got to see crunch time minutes.  He was the one guy who had a handle on Kyrie yesterday.  The Clippers always look better when he is on the floor (even with CP3).