I want to say we’re to the point where Poole is just a very good NBA scorer. Game log is only showing me his last 10 on my phone, but the consistency seems to be there. Only one of those last 10 has he scored fewer points than he’s had FG attempts.
Unfortunately Duncan, Tim Hardaway, and LeVert have all really struggled to score efficiently this year.
Jordan still fails to crack 40% shooting in over half his games, but he also tosses in 3 or so flamethrower games every two weeks (like last night), so he’s very feast or famine, but it averages out to somewhat above average efficiency. Hardaway’s struggle is more that he shot awfully when Luka was out, he took more shots and made less. Levert has always struggled with efficiency…Duncan is a concern.
I just read that Isaiah Livers will be on the active roster for the Pistons tonight. They play OKC. There’s at least a chance that he sees the court.
He’s not on ESPN’s list of available players in the box score
Yeah. I either got some bad info from Pistons Twitter or a change was made before tip-off.
Meanwhile, the Pistons blew an 18-point 2nd half lead and lost.
Two week update time.
Franz Wagner, after coming back to earth a little bit in our last update, has shot pretty well over the last two weeks. He’s scored 19 points a game over his last 7 games, with nearly 5 boards and over 4 assists per game, with his turnovers hovering closer to 2 per game…a pretty “dang” good stretch. Surprisingly most of his work has come inside the arc - he’s at 52% shooting over this stretch, and 50% from 3, but he’s only taking about 3 three-pointers a game (about 1 fewer than he had attempted prior). Advanced stats has him as an overall pretty neutral defender so far this year, and his “playmaking” on that side is pretty marginal (he gets a steal per game). Still - this is a really strong stretch for him.
Last update, Mo Wagner was coming off his strongest stretch of play in over a season (based on some pretty good three point shooting), but was suddenly thrown into a bit of precarity immediately afterwards. He got a DNP in his next game, 11 seconds a few games later, and a DNP last night. Between those, he has gotten normal rotation minutes in 4 games, and it’s been…fine. He’s only shot 39% from the floor, and not that well from three point land. In the 11 second game and last night’s DNP, Robin Lopez got 14+ minutes, so it appears as if him losing the “center off the bench” minutes is on the table. We’ll see.
Ignas Brazdeikis has played 11 minutes since our last update and missed 1 shot in that span. I have to think his time on this roster is short.
Jordan Poole maintained his season-average pace, putting up about 18.5 ppg in the past 2 weeks, with 3 games at 20 or more, and 3 in the low to mid double digits. His shooting also pretty much mirrored his season to date - 45.6% from the floor, but an improved 39.5% from 3 (he’s at 36% for the season). The only real blemish here is that his assist to TO ration in this span got a little closer to even, but overall, this has been a solid consolidation year for him, and he’s shown that the flashes last year can appear most nights as a starter. Klay is coming back soon, but I’d be shocked if he played more than 20-25 minutes a night in the regular season, and it will be less so at the start. Regardless, Jordan will see his minutes diminish with Thompson’s returns, but it remains to be seen who will see their minutes cut most. Personally, I think a Green, Wiggins, Thompson, Poole, Curry lineup to close games strikes me as most likely. He did take it easy on the Wagners in their matchup, only going for 12.
Last time, Caris Levert had found increased efficiency with reduced usage -dropping from 33% to 27% usage on the season in a two week span. His usage fell a little bit, but not much - so he probably ticked up a bit from the prior two weeks, but obviously not to initial levels. His performance in this stretch has really run the gamut - the first two games since last update, he scored 15 points on 26 shots (23% from the floor, 9% from 3), then followed that with 87 points on on 69 shots over his next four games (49% from the floor, 43.8% from 3). The shooting all averages out to match his season long marks - 42% from the floor, 29% from 3 - and is pretty emblematic of him as a player. He’s still an effective secondary playmaker (24 assists to 8 to’s), and occasionally can really get to the line, but other nights, won’t take a free throw. On a macro level here, he’s kind of doing what he always does, but the Pacers have essentially announced that they’re breaking it up, and with limited time left in his deal, Caris is a serious trade candidate. We’ll see where he lands.
Trey Burke continues to play only when either Luka or Brunson are unavailable - which means he’s played in 5 of their 8 games since our last update. He’s scoring 6.5 points in about 12:45 of time a game, but his true shooting sits a bit under 50%. At this point, he’s really just an injury reserve and doesn’t flash much to suggest he should be more.
Last week, I noted that Tim Hardaway Jr. had a brutal shooting stretch, but figured it mostly had to do with seeing his main facilitator on the bench, and having to take a number of additional shots (he was taking 6 more shots a game (from 11 to 17) when Doncic sat. Needless to say, Jason Kidd didn’t see it my way, and Tim has moved to the bench in favor of Reggie Bullock. He’s getting about 6-7 fewer minutes a game off the bench than as a starter. Since this change, he’s shooting 38.5% from the floor, and 28% from three - so the problem hasn’t exactly been solved (Doncic has missed 2 games in this 8 game stretch). Positively, Bullock’s shooting numbers are a virtual carbon copy of this, so it’s not like he’s seized the opportunity. We’ll see how it goes.
I will admit to some concern about Duncan Robinson’s season at last update, and he’s only connected on 35% of this three’s since the last update, but he’s at 48.4% from three over his last 5 games (his first two games after the last post, he shot 1/15 from 3). He also has two 20-point games in this stretch - against Indianapolis and a skeleton crew game against Chicago. Hopefully this is him turning it around.
Trey Burke had his biggest night of the season as the Mavs blew out the Hornets. In 23 minutes, he had 22 points, 6 assists, 3 boards, and a steal. He was a team-leading +24 for the night and shot 9-14 FG/4-7 3-PT.
I had no idea where to put this, but it is so strong that I had to share it. An in depth look at the high level defence Golden State is playing this season…
Green is such a paradigm shifting defensive talent. Steph Curry, obviously, single handedly changed the NBA but Draymond play no small part in that. Truly one of the smartest players on the court I’ve ever seen (at least on the defensive side of things).
What sticks out of how often he knows where the ball handler is going even before the ball handler does
He can name every player drafted ahead of him. I have no doubt that he knows the offensive tendencies of every player he faces.
He’s defending and hustling
CHAUNDEE HAS JUST CHECKED IN!!!
and got blocked by Karl Anthony Towns (BUT THAT DOESNT MATTER)
I was surprised by how small he looked out there. However, there were times that he was matched up defensively on Towns and he seemed to hold his position well. He didn’t make a shot but he didn’t seem lost or overmatched out there. Somewhat similar to Livers’ debut. Hopefully, Isaiah gets some run this afternoon vs. Houston.
Meanwhile, another strong statistical night for Franz: 27 points (on 11-23 FG. 0-3 3PT) 6 boards, 4 assists, and a steal.