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The All Star break is over and the last leg of the season began last night. There were 9 games and I gorged myself on as many as I could. This is a list of four things I came away with from these games.
The All Star break is over and the last leg of the season began last night. There were 9 games and I gorged myself on as many as I could. This is a list of four things I came away with from these games.
1. Al Jefferson is one of the most talented big men in the
game. This was evident last night as he got into an offensive flow early in the
third quarter against the Warriors and scored at will against any and all
defenders. The Jazz as a team had a very efficient offensive game shooting 50%
from the field and 47.6% from behind the arc but Jefferson served as the
bailout whenever points were getting hard to come by. If the shot clock was
expiring or the offense was becoming stagnant the ball would go to Big Al and
he delivered all night. Jefferson unleashed a flurry of post moves to score a
team high 24 points on 11 of 18 shooting and helped the Jazz cruise to a 115-101
victory. If he could just become better committed on the defensive end he would
easily catapult to one of the most devastating centers in the league.
2. Golden State is not the same team they were earlier this
season and I sorely miss the pre-Bogut Golden State. The team that played a
blistering frenetic pace and scored at a league high clip is fading fast. They have
lost 6 straight games and Bogut has actually hurt rather than helped the defense
while simultaneously slowing the offense down by making them operate more in
the half court. He was ineffective against Jefferson and was hurting the
offensive flow so much that he was benched allowing Jefferson and the other
Utah bigs to continue to abuse Bogut’s undersized brethren. Bogut is clearly
not at 100 percent and he has hurt the dynamic warriors with his plodding feet.
If he can’t serve as an effective defensive anchor then the warriors need to
focus on their offense and continue their small ball attack. The season is
quickly coming to a close and I would love to see the dynamic warriors of the
first few months in the playoffs not the dysfunctional group of today.
3. Javale McGee is one of the most entertaining players in
the league. He makes so many ridiculous athletic plays but those are at least
equal to his just ridiculous plays. He started the third quarter last night
with an amazing and one dunk. Yet, he follows such a great play with two boneheaded
basket interference calls. The first one was particularly egregious, where he
stuck his hand through the basket to poke out a Jason Terry jumper that looked
like it was about to harmlessly roll off the rim. You can tell these mistakes
just kill George Karl, but I can’t help but chuckle after these plays and his
subsequent dramatic reactions of disbelief after each call. No one in the
league has the length and athletic skill of Javale but also there is no one as
boneheaded (except maybe Ryan Hollins). But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
4. Andre Iguodala had an abysmal shooting night but the Nuggets
still prevailed. He went 0 of 7
from the field and recorded only one point on 1of 4 shooting from the free
throw line. It’s one thing to miss shots but it was the way in which he missed
shots that was particular bothersome. He missed from every spot on the floor,
from inside the paint to outside the three-point line. Two of these shots in
particular were especially painful. The first was Air balling an uncontested mid range jumper and
the second was grazing the rim on one of his three missed free throw attempts. Iguodala’s
night last night was indicative of his whole season as he is shooting an
abysmal 31.1% from three-point range and only 60.1% from the free throw line.
His field goal percentage rests at 44.6% and is inflated by his ability to
slash inside and the nuggets lead leading fast break attack. If he is not
getting in the paint then he is not a viable scoring option. Iguodala is a
tough defender and an athletic wing but if he could ever get a consistent jump
shot the Nuggets would be a far deadlier team and it would help justify his
team high nearly 15 million dollar salary.
It was a wild night in the NBA last night and it has me
excited for the Cavs first nationally televised game of the season tonight.
Make sure to check out our podcast tomorrow where we will be discussing the
Cavs big Espn game tonight and any trade deadline deals.
Logan
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