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justallstar · 3 years

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Rookie All-Stars

45 players became NBA All-Star Game selections in their rookie season, commonly known as Rookie all-stars. Out of all the Rookie all-stars players, three Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, as well as Oscar Robertson received MVP honors as rookies playing the All-Star Game or Rookie all-stars.

However, Jack Molinas as well as Patrick Ewing are the Rookie all-stars who were not selected because they were unable to play in the NBA All-Star Game. Out of Rookie all-stars, the players who played in some other leagues as well leagues like ABA as well as NBL. Moreover, created the All-Star Game in their first NBA that the National Basketball Association season is not included.

In the modern National Basketball Association, creating a league-wide impact and that too in the first season is very rare. Whereas, the Rookie all-stars players like Tre Young and Luka Doncicrookie are the rookie starlets who have created wonders in the sport over the past few years.

However, only two first-year players have been recognized as the Rookie all-stars players after the turn of the millennium. Moreover, LeBron James' meteoric don’t even earn a pass of the biggest weekend of the rookie season. Nevertheless, the National Basketball Association of the year 2019 has made a draft of the class, which could give signals of the turning of the tide.

Whereas, luckily there are five players of Rookie All-Stars, who are projected to go in the Top 10 as well as serve as an immediate spark for their teams. On the other side, Duke's R.J. Barrett played a physical perfect style for the heavy contact leagues in Texas. Nevertheless, Tech's Jarrett Culver can be the most excellent two-way prospects of the past five years, whereas Murray State's Ja Morant has looked at the National Basketball Association Nba ready from October itself. And alsoin addition, Vanderbilt's Darius Garland is commonly called as the next Damian Lillard.

In the year 2019 the National Basketball Association created a class , which is brimming over with talent, however, Only 45 players of the Rookie All-Stars in history are having the accomplishment of the feat as well as the odds are more and more stacked against them.

On the other hand, Williamson is the common guess, about how he will be at NBA All-Star 2020 with some of his abilities, which includes either Rising Stars or the Slam Dunk Contest. However, Williamson is still an unknown quantity on an NBA stage.

#Rookie all stars

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junker-town · 4 years

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The 3 ways NBA players react to getting dunked on

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

How would you react after getting dunked on?

Getting owned is rough. Getting owned on national TV sucks even more. Getting owned on national TV by a youth is the absolute worst, but it comes with the job when you’re an NBA player. The question is how you’ll deal with it.

There are three different logical conclusions to an “ah, damn, I got dunked on pretty hard” type of play.

The first is the most common. Just walk it off. After getting dunked on, you can kinda just jog ass down to the other end of the court. Don’t make it a scene. Just acknowledge it happened, let the viral clip live for a day or two, and then watch it fade out of existence. Plenty do this. It mitigates the degree to which you got owned.

See Jusuf Nurkic’s reaction to one of the best LeBron James dunks ever, which came at the expense of his soul.

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The second option is rarer, but comes off best. Fall in love with the dunk that hurt you. Hyping up how hard a rim-rattling dunk owned you is hard, but makes for excellent, replay-able banter on TV and with teammates and media. Failure is relatable, and what better way to recover than to admit defeat and laugh along. It earns respect among peers, fans and with the youth who tried to get you to delete all of your accounts. It’s what Kevin Love did just a few weeks ago when Ja Morant nearly landed the dunk of the year.

Ja Morant was this close to breaking Twitter: (via @SportsCenter)pic.twitter.com/GMyjF5uRrX

— SLAM (@SLAMonline) December 21, 2019

Morant missed the dunk, but the basketball world was still in awe of what he’d done — and so was Love. He helped Morant up and talked to the Grizzlies’ bench about what had happened. “He legit jumped over me,” Love said after the game. “I was so glad he missed that dunk.” Then a reporter asked if he’d have helped Morant up if the dunk actually went down. “Yeah, I might go streaking, throw my jersey off and say ‘I’m done. I’m done with this basketball thing. I’ve met my end.’”

Then he reenacted what Memphis’s entire bench looked like after he stood up from the dunk attempt.

Go down laughing.

The third possible reaction is to get angry at the youth who inflicted damage, and this comes with consequences. This might help your relationship with fellow NBA olds, but will hurt your public image. It’ll also put you at risk for getting owned again by Gen Z. That’s what Robin Lopez did after getting dunked on by the Timberwolves’ rookie, Jarrett Culver.

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Going Full Boomer on the court is never advisable, and even Lopez’s teammates didn’t rush to his aid. Yes, the circumstances were a bit different here than in the Morant case, as Culver definitely talked a whole lotta crap after finishing that dunk, but Lopez hardly took it in stride. He chased Culver, and pointed in his direction, going Snitch Chris Paul levels to make sure the Wolves wing earned a technical foul.

After the game, Culver’s coach, 33-year-old Ryan Saunders, said he “I love it. I love it. Everything. I loved it.”

Hey Coach, how do you really feel about @jarrettc08’s dunk over Robin Lopez? pic.twitter.com/WYKOoNhohz

— FOX Sports North (@fsnorth) January 2, 2020

So really, the only person here who got Big Mad was Lopez. Whereas Morant might be more hesitant to ruin Love’s career in the future, Culver now has added reason to do the opposite. In fact, he might’ve recruited Morant by now. Lopez might become the biggest dunk target in the league. All because he wasn’t able to accept that he got owned.

Take notes, NBA olds. You could be next.

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goalhofer · 4 years

Video

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Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night: December 21, 2019.

10. Shabazz Napier pass to Evan Turner at Portland.

9. Cody Martin dunk vs. Utah.

8. Markieff Morris buzzer beating 3 pointer vs. Chicago.

7. George Hill; Jr. dunk at New York.

6. Hassan Whiteside block on Malik Beasley vs. Minnesota.

5. Kevin Knox; Jr. dunk vs. Milwaukee.

4. Spencer Dinwiddie alley-oop to Hyland Jordan; Jr. vs. Atlanta.

3. Jarrett Culver dunk at Portland.

2. Kawhi Leonard dunk at San Antonio.

1. Athanasios Antetokounmpo dunk at New York.

#Top 10 #Sports #Basketball #NBA #Minnesota Timberwolves #Portland Trail Blazers #Utah Jazz #Charlotte Hornets #Chicago Bulls #Detroit Pistons #Milwaukee Bucks #New York Knicks #Los Angeles Clippers #San Antonio Spurs

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actutrends · 4 years

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Ranking our favorites from the dunkiest night of the NBA season

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JANUARY 01: Jarrett Culver #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves soaks over Robin Lopez #42 of the Milwaukee Bucks during the second half at Fiserv Online forum on January 01, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. KEEP IN MIND TO USER: User specifically acknowledges and concurs that, by downloading and or using this photo, User is consenting to the conditions of the Getty Images License Contract. (Picture by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

New Year’s Day randomly turned out to be the dunkiest night of the NBA season up until now. We ranked our 5 favorites.

An 82- video game season can be a grind however the constant march of basketball suggests lots of opportunities for lightning to strike. For instance, last night when Anthony Davis dunked his method through Aron Baynes and Jarrett Culver put Robin Lopez in a combating mood. Here are our 5 favorites from a random Wednesday night that developed into an unscripted disrespectful dunk competition.

5. LeBron’s lob and breakaway pump

These 2 dunks stand out for amplitude but eventually don’t hold up next to the carnage to come. Davis’ reverse-alley-oop is creative however Devin Booker ensures to get himself out of the poster. LeBron could have taken his foot off the pedal and let Mikal Bridges work himself back into the play as a challenge to be soaked over, however he goes for huge air and the side pump instead.

4. Mitchell Robinson‘s go-go-gadget arms

I’ve enjoyed this at least a lots times and I still can’t inform how Robinson actually gets the ball through the hoop. It’s an excessively aggressive go by Randle, conserved by Robinson’s unreasonable length and leaping-ability. However Anfernee Simons comes through on the baseline just as Robinson reroutes, producing the illusion of a ripple in the space-time continuum, some omnipotent alien lifeforce reaching into our measurement and nudging a turnover into a highlight dunk.

3. Kelly Oubre Jr. climbs up Mt. McGee

This is a stunning act of violence played out in slow motion. As quickly as Oubre Jr. gets the rebound and relies on look up court you can practically see him focus in on McGree, targeting him for posterization. It resembles he starts picturing the dunk at his own 3-point line and utilizes the next 60 feet approximately to gradually control all the pieces into position. Inspect. Mate. Flex.

2. Anthony Davis deals with Aron Baynes like a piece of meat

The correct way to celebrate a dunk like this is gulping mead from a hollow ram horn and gnawing your method through a charred leg of venison.

1. Jarrett Culver treats Robin Lopez like a mascot

The dunk here is sensational, particularly the little additional bit of rise Culver gets at the end as makes contact. Nevertheless, he requires to share credit with Robin Lopez who helps sell the disrespect of everything by going after Culver to midcourt to tell him that no one, not Bennie the Bull and definitely not some snot-nosed novice, is going to do him like that.

The post Ranking our favorites from the dunkiest night of the NBA season appeared first on Actu Trends.

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dizzedcom · 4 years

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Wolves rookie Culver goes viral with dunk over Lopez

We take a look at Jarrett Culver's monster dunk over Robin Lopez and more in this week's Young Wolves Tracker.

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nbagifstory · 4 years

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Jarrett Culver — Minnesota Timberwolves

#Jarrett Culver #Minnesota Timberwolves #NBA #gif #Basketball #2010s #201920 #120119 #Dunk

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buddyrabrahams · 5 years

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10 college basketball games to watch in December

November college basketball is a wild ride. Half the games are big time match-ups fabricated by sponsored tournaments and the other half feature certain blowouts. One thing both genres share in common is lack of national interest. Tournaments held during Thanksgiving week draw out the die-hards but lack attendance or TV viewing from even casual basketball fans.

Flipping the calendar from November to December makes things start to feel real in college hoops. Some conferences tip off league play, while some blue-blood programs schedule enticing match-ups in on-campus gyms. Gone are the sleepy vacation resort crowds, and in their place are the pep bands and student sections that make this sport great.

Over the 31 days of December, there is plenty to attract your attention, highlighted by this slate of games featuring top teams throughout the nation.

Purdue at Michigan, Dec. 1

Last year, the Big Ten moved a few conference games for each team to the early part of January to compensate for the league playing its conference tournament abnormally early. Most power conferences end their tournament in the 48 hours prior to Selection Sunday. Because the Big Ten wanted access to Madison Square Garden, which is already booked in mid-March by the Big East Tournament, the Big Ten moved things up a week.

This year, the Big Ten Tournament is back where it belongs in Chicago, but the early December conference games remain on the schedule. Big Ten brass looks to the semester break and a newly expanded 20-game conference slate as the reasons.

Whatever the case, it will always feel strange to have important conference games just days following Thanksgiving. That’s where we find ourselves this very Saturday, with two of the league’s top teams squaring off already.

Though it feels like Conference Player of the Year won’t be awarded for millennia, Carsen Edwards can cement himself as the frontrunner for the honor. Getting off to a hot scoring start, especially with a win in Ann Arbor, would put the spotlight on Edwards for the rest of the Big Ten season.

Iowa at Michigan State, Dec. 3

Just two days later, two more of the Big Ten’s best will go toe-to-toe. This is not a match-up that necessarily flashed off the calendar preseason. Michigan State looked to be the class of the conference and while Iowa seemed poised for a strong year, they have impressed more than expected. The Hawkeyes are undefeated, with wins over Oregon, UConn, and Pitt. Iowa can already start to prove itself as a team capable of a tournament run with a win in East Lansing.

In the other locker room, things have not gone fully according to plan. Sparty has already lost twice, to Kansas and Louisville, as they adjust to life without Miles Bridges on campus. Michigan State has the talent to be in the conversation at the top of the bracket, but needs to start banking high quality wins to stay in that conversation. This would be the perfect game to do so.

Iowa State at Iowa, Dec. 6

Just three days after that crucial conference match-up, Iowa turns around and hosts one of the most underrated rivalries in college basketball. The Cyclones and Hawkeyes play in two of the sport’s most iconic venues and have tussled once per year since 1970. Since the teams started playing yearly, Iowa leads the series by a narrow margin of 25 wins to 23.

This year’s match-up will be greatly affected by the availability of a host of Iowa State contributors. So far this season, four Cyclones have yet to suit up. Lindell Wigginton and Solomon Young have been injured, while Cameron Lard and Zoran Talley were suspended by the program for the team’s first seven games. Combined, those four players started 97 times last season. Coach Steve Prohm is hopefully that his team will continue to build as it comes back together healthy.

So far, even with a chunk of the team unavailable, Iowa State has looked excellent, winning twice at the Maui Invitational. Freshman Talen Horton-Tucker looks like a future star and Virginia transfer Marial Shayock has always been able to score.

Nevada vs. Arizona State (in Los Angeles), Dec. 7

If you’ve only been following college basketball from the surface so far this season, you’ll want to check out Nevada as soon as possible. The Wolf Pack isn’t just good for a mid-major; Eric Musselman has built one of the best teams in college basketball. After reaching the Sweet Sixteen last March with a team already almost exclusively assembled via transfers to Reno, Musselman added three more quality transfer players and a talented freshman in big man Jordan Brown.

The Wolf Pack will make an interesting challenge for Arizona State freshman guard Luguentz Dort. The Canadian phenom has been spectacular this season, yet has not faced Top 25 competition yet. Nevada has tons of options when defending Dort, making this a very intriguing match-up when the Sun Devils have the ball.

Gonzaga vs. Tennessee (in Phoenix), Dec. 9

The Zags look like the headliner in this match-up, thanks to their fantastic win over a dominant Duke team in Maui. I wouldn’t, however, overlook Tennessee when considering possible Final Four teams. Perhaps because the Vols lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, many seem to have forgotten just how good Tennessee was last season. A team that won 26 games last season returns the 11th-highest percentage of its minutes played last season. Grant Williams won SEC Player of the Year last season and has been treated like a relative afterthought this year.

The Vols showcased what they are capable of already by taking Kansas to overtime earlier this month. Williams fouled out just before the extra period and the Jayhawks prevailed, though Tennessee was impressive. The game felt as much like a tournament match-up as any other game so far this season, except for Gonzaga’s win over Duke. This game should have plenty of juice behind it and be a nice test for both teams.

Villanova at Kansas, Dec. 15

Although Villanova has bounced back to a certain degree, there may be no worse fate for a team in need of turning things around than a trip to Phog Allen Fieldhouse. In 15 years at Kansas, Bill Self has more Big XII Conference titles (14) than losses in his home gym (11). It’s just so rare for any team to sneak into Lawrence and leave with a win, especially for this Villanova team, which is clearly both less talented and less polished than any Jay Wright has had in half a decade.

The Wildcats have taken the 9th most three-point attempts this season, but have shot just 32.9 percent as a team. No Villanova team has shot under 33 percent since 2012. That number could recover with a hot shooting night, but that percentage is a symptom of a deeper problem. Villanova isn’t making shots because none of the Wildcats excel at creating shots, for themselves or for others.

Against a rangy Kansas defense, that could be a serious problem. Kansas fans will be salivating at the chance to avenge NCAA Tournament losses to the Wildcats in 2016 and 2018.

Gonzaga at North Carolina, Dec. 15

Because Gonzaga has reached a point in its program history where it can seek a number one seed every March, but still plays in the West Coast Conference, we as the viewing public are treated to a few extra gems involving the Zags every December. While most high-profile teams will play one or two big games, often because they are sanctioned to do so in a tournament or challenge-type event, the Zags find themselves scheduling tough games, often away from the comforts of home.

This game features one key question for the Tar Heels: who on the Carolina roster can cover a player like Rui Hachimura? We’ll see who Roy Williams tries on a player of Hachimura’s size and athleticism during this game, taking notes for later down the road. Coach K will have an eager eye on UNC’s defense against a player as springy and agile as Hachimura, knowing he and freshman Zion Williamson have at least two future dates with North Carolina.

Duke vs. Texas Tech (at Madison Square Garden), Dec. 20

You didn’t think we could make it through this entire list without a Duke game, did you? Of course not! The Blue Devils have been the hottest ticket in college basketball all season. Every win has been exhilarating and full of dunks and highlights. Duke’s only loss was arguably the best played game of the young season. So of course we have to recommend checking out the Blue Devils in their home-away-from-home at the “Mecca of Basketball” in New York City.

They’ll face a Texas Tech team that should provide ample challenge. Sophomore Jarrett Culver has increased his scoring, rebound, and assist numbers this year, now posting 18.8 points per game with 50 percent shooting from long range. He is a rising name among NBA scouts and should make for an intriguing defensive assignment for the Duke guards as they also try to impress decision makers at the next level.

Kansas at Arizona State, Dec. 22

While Kansas gets Villanova in the comfy confines of Phog Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks will travel to Tempe to face off with Luguentz Dort and the Sun Devils. Remember that stat above about how few home losses Bill Self has at Kansas? One came last year at the hands of Bobby Hurley’s Arizona State program. The Jayhawks started that game on a 15-2 to run before losing in convincing fashion.

The second half of the home-and-home series gives Kansas a chance for revenge. Lagerald Vick should draw the assignment of guarding Dort, though based on match-ups, this should be a game dictated by the Kansas bigs. Dedric Lawson is poised to comfortably record a double-double in this one.

North Carolina vs. Kentucky (in Chicago), Dec. 22

Give Roy Williams and his staff some credit this year. The Heels will play five KenPom Top 50 teams before Christmas and also started their season with true road games at Wofford and Elon. Duke, by the way, won’t play a true road game until Jan. 8, while the Tar Heels will have played five away games by that date.

This game, like so many early season Kentucky tilts, will be a good measuring stick to determine which freshmen are prepared for conference play. That goes for both teams here, as UNC is also giving high volume minutes to two freshman. Point guard Coby White looked pedestrian at Michigan this week. An up-and-down race with Big Blue is the kind of game where his attacking style could thrive.

Shane McNichol covers college basketball and the NBA for Larry Brown Sports. He also blogs about basketball at Palestra Back and has contributed to Rush The Court, ESPN.com, and USA Today Sports Weekly. Follow him on Twitter @OnTheShaneTrain.

from Larry Brown Sports https://ift.tt/2PaAfKZ

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junker-town · 4 years

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What can the Nets do about Kyrie Irving?

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Brooklyn has been better without Kyrie, just as the Celtics were. But the Nets can’t trade him because of Kevin Durant. So now what?

The Nets collapsed against the Hornets on Wednesday, dropping Brooklyn to 13-11 on the season and 9-4 since Kyrie Irving went out with a shoulder injury. Irving could be back any day now, which will shift Spencer Dinwiddie inevitably into more of a supporting role, unless Kyrie radically changes who he is as a player, which seems entirely unlikely given that this is a player who requested a trade to get out from LeBron James’s shadow after winning a championship with him.

As others have pointed out, this is the third straight season in which Irving’s team has shown it does not miss Kyrie that much when he’s out. Since 2017-18 (Kyrie’s first year with the Celtics), his teams are 82-56 (.594) when he plays and 35-15 (.700) when he’s out.

What good is this information, though, if there’s not a practicable way to put it to use? The Nets cannot trade Kyrie without destroying their franchise. Irving was a package deal with Kevin Durant, who won’t play a game in a Brooklyn uniform until next season. At that point, the Nets will have two guaranteed seasons with Durant before he can opt out. Trading Kyrie this season would run the enormous risk of alienating Durant, and there’s no telling how that would affect his comeback or future. Durant could very well demand a trade the next day, and he wouldn’t take much blowback from the broader NBA community. Sean Marks would be seen as a villain. It’s franchise suicide to do anything with Kyrie given his relationship with Durant.

So what’s the use of the knowledge that something in Kyrie’s performance is being lost in translation? Perhaps it’s this: the Nets should be ultra cautious with Irving and manage his load vigorously. During this time, Dinwiddie performs extremely well, and perhaps LeVert will too once he comes back. This grows Dinwiddie’s value, and once Durant and Irving are on the court together, you either have a third star to augment the attack or you flip him (and/or LeVert) for the necessary piece (a shutdown wing defender, perhaps) to play for a title.

A Kyrie-led team with Durant is perhaps both not very good and not very useful. This was always going to be a weird season for Brooklyn, waiting on KD. Make it even weirder: minimize Kyrie’s role until KD is back, make the playoffs led by Dinwiddie, and figure out what to do early next season with a full complement of players on the court.

Scores

Rockets 116, Cavaliers 110 Celtics 117, Pacers 122 Lakers 96, Magic 87 Clippers 112, Raptors 92 Hornets 113, Nets 108 Hawks 102, Bulls 136 Jazz 127, Wolves 116 Grizzlies 115, Suns 108 Pelicans 112, Bucks 127 Thunder 93, Kings 94 Knicks 124, Warriors 122 (OT)

Schedule

All times Eastern. Games on League Pass unless otherwise noted.

Sixers at Celtics, 8, TNT Cavaliers at Spurs, 8:30 Mavericks at Pistons, 9 Blazers at Nuggets, 10:30, TNT

Links

Nothing but love in Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Raptors. Been a rough week for Toronto, though. And L.A. stomped them by 20. Did I curse the Raps? We’ll see. We’ll see.

Mike Prada on why the Bucks don’t miss Malcolm Brogdon ... yet.

Ricky O’Donnell on Matisse Thybulle, the cult hero Philly deserves.

Interesting thought from Zito Madu on Ja Morant’s load management and how a soccer-style NBA schedule could help the cause. Speaking of Ja, what a freaking dagger dunk against the Suns. This angle: SHEESH!

Matt Ellentuck investigates what’s wrong with the Jazz.

As Whitney Medworth figured out MONTHS ago, Victor Oladipo was indeed Thingamajig on THE MASKED SINGER.

Ramona Shelburne is really good at tick-tocks of disasters. Here’s her take with Adrian Wojnarowski on the Knicks nightmare.

Jarrett Culver’s brother scored 100 in a college game and the box score is absolutely wild.

Is Rob Pelinka good now?

Dan Devine hands out some first-quarter awards.

The great Darius Soriano on Anthony Davis’s early case for Defensive Player of the Year.

Another pretty crazy win for the No. 7 seed Kings. Richaun Holmes is probably the team’s MVP at this point.

Be excellent to each other.

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goalhofer · 4 years

Video

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Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night: November 10, 2019.

10. Markelle Fultz dunk vs. Indiana.

9. Chris Paul pass to Dennis Schroder vs. Milwaukee.

8. Ken Bazemore; Jr. block on DeAndre Bembry vs. Atlanta.

7. Will Barton III buzzer beating 3 pointer at Minnesota.

6. Jarrett Culver dunk vs. Denver.

5. Jabari Parker dunk at Portland.

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo dunk at Oklahoma City.

3. Devonte Graham pass to Malik Monk at Philadelphia.

2. Hamidou Diallo dunk vs. Milwaukee.

1. Nikola Jokic 3 pointer at Minnesota.

#Top 10 #Sports #Basketball #NBA #Indiana Pacers #Orlando Magic #Milwaukee Bucks #Oklahoma City Thunder #Portland Trail Blazers #Denver Nuggets #Minnesota Timberwolves #Charlotte Hornets #Philadelphia 76ers

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actutrends · 4 years

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What exactly is the plan for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The Minnesota Timberwolves are in a rut, with no discernible identity and an ugly cap situation. How can they build properly around Karl-Anthony Towns?

Two years ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. It looked like it might be the beginning of something, with the acquisition of Jimmy Butler boosting a young team seemingly on the rise. The Wolves had gone from 16-66 to 29-53 to 31-51 in the three years before jumping to 47-35 and finally returning to the postseason. Of course, things have only gone downhill since then.

Butler requested a trade, then staged what essentially amounted to a prison-break, getting himself traded to the Philadelphia 76ers a month into the season — but not before putting on as public a show as possible about how much the Wolves really need him and how dissatisfied he was with both his teammates and the difference between some of their contracts and his. Tom Thibodeau was fired 55 days later, with the Wolves’ record sitting at 19-21. Scott Layden saw Gersson Rosas hired higher up the food chain a few months later, after the team had slumped to a 36-46 finish.

Rosas elected to keep interim coach Ryan Saunders in place, handing him a multi-year deal to steer the team into the future. The Wolves moved one piece of the Butler return (Dario Saric) to Phoenix for the right to move up five spots in the 2019 NBA Draft, where they snagged Jarrett Culver at No. 6 overall. They then let Tyus Jones, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson and Anthony Tolliver walk in free agency, replacing them by signing Jake Layman, Jordan Bell and Noah Vonleh, and trading for Shabazz Napier and Treveon Graham.

Two-plus months into the ensuing season, the highlight of the Wolves’ year so far is Lizzo admitting that she has a crush on Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota is 11-19 after winning Thursday night’s game against the Kings, tied for 12th in the Western Conference. They’ve been outscored by 3.7 points per 100 possessions on the season, 22nd in the NBA; and Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating system has them looking even worse, with a schedule-adjusted point differential of minus-4.17 points per game.

A look under the hood doesn’t reveal much reason for optimism. The Wolves’ 20th-ranked defense is one that rarely forces turnovers (24th in opponent turnover rate) and that sees them both foul excessively (22nd in opponent free-throw rate) and struggle on the defensive glass (25th in defensive rebounding rate). They’ve actually done an all right job of forcing opponents into poor shooting nights (16th in opponent effective field goal percentage), largely thanks to their ability to limit 3s and force misses at the rim. Unfortunately, they’ve hemorrhaged corner 3s at a higher rate than all but six teams in the league, and they’ve allowed opponents to take more than 45 percent of their shots from within 10 feet of the rim.

Minnesota’s 19th-ranked offense is essentially in the opposite situation. They’ve done a decent job protecting the ball (13th in turnover rate) and securing bounces off the glass (13th in offensive rebound rate), and they’ve paraded themselves to the line at the fifth-highest rate in the NBA. But they can’t shoot. They’re 26th in effective field goal percentage, with struggles finishing at the rim (26th in the NBA) and from 3-point range (29th). They’ve taken an extremely healthy amount of 3s (fourth in 3-point rate) but almost none of them have come from the corners (30th), and they have generated fewer dunks than every team save for the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, and Boston Celtics.

The season has been … rocky. Towns got suspended for “fighting” with Joel Embiid, and has missed a few games with a knee injury. Layman has been listed as day-to-day with a toe injury that is still lingering and holding him out more than a month later. Andrew Wiggins got off to an absurdly hot start that had people wondering if maybe he’d make his contract into a non-disaster after all (26 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game with 48-36-74 shooting splits through 11 games) but has regressed back his previous self since then (24-5-3 per game but with 44-31-75 shooting splits). Covington hasn’t really shot well all year (33.3 percent from 3), while Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver have consistently been drags on the offense without bringing quite enough to the table defensively to make up for it. Jeff Teague was benched about a month ago, and while the team won its first two games in the wake of that benching, it lost 11 consecutive contests immediately after.

Given the way all of this has gone, it’s worth asking: Where are the Timberwolves going? They don’t do anything particularly well. They don’t have a roster that either accentuates the strengths or mitigates the weaknesses of their foundational superstar. There’s not enough shooting, there’s only one guy who creates shots for his teammates at anything resembling an above-average level, and there are maybe two high-level defenders on the whole team. They benched their starting point guard (the aforementioned creator) for a rookie who can’t yet shoot and doesn’t appear ready to run the offense. (Culver does appear on track to be a good multi-positional defender and he’s at least contributing by rebounding fairly well for his position.) Wiggins’ bump is looking more and more like a blip.

Worse yet, the books are weighed down by bad contracts like those belonging to Gorgui Dieng ($33.5 million between this season and next) and especially Wiggins. The long-term deal for Towns will be just fine assuming he remains perhaps the most efficient and diverse scoring center in the league, but combining it with the Wiggins contract makes clear how little wiggle room this team has to add talent over the next several years. That duo makes $54.8 million this season, and will make $59.0 million, $63.2 million and $67.5 million over the next three seasons before Wiggins’ contract expires in 2023. That’s somewhere close to 50 percent of the cap — and potentially more — for those two players in each of the next four seasons.

We’ve seen what a Timberwolves team based around Towns and Wiggins as its two foundational pieces looks like. It’s not pretty. It was only when they had Butler alongside them that they were remotely successful. But because those two take up so much space, because Wiggins is such an anchor that he’s nearly impossible to trade for positive value while clearing room on the books, and because Minnesota is not typically a preferred destination, it seems unlikely that they’ll be adding a significant, Butler-like talent in free agency. That means they’ll have to primarily do this through the draft, and by making smart trades like the one where they sacrificed Saric — who they probably were not going to pay on a long-term deal after this season — to move up in the draft to land Culver.

The most tradable asset the Timberwolves have left is probably Robert Covington. They’re on the hook for just $36.4 million to him over the next three seasons, and his ability to defend any position on the floor carries tremendous value to teams that are actually, ya know, good. It’s extremely easy to see any number of contenders targeting him, and the three years left on his deal are actually a positive — especially ahead of an offseason where the free-agent crop is so weak and teams will have to avoid the temptation to overpay marginal players. (The problem there is the exact reasons why he would be appealing to other teams are the reasons it would be tough to part with him. He’s a helpful player for the type of team the Wolves should aspire to be, too.)

Teague’s contract is expiring, which seems valuable on the surface, but his $19 million salary is a bit bloated and there don’t seem to be many teams out there who are a Jeff Teague away from being a real contender. They could try to use his deal as part of a larger package for somebody on a long-term contract, but what are they enticing teams with? The Wolves are not in a position where they should be sacrificing future draft picks; they’re not going to give up on Culver this soon; and neither Okogie nor Keita Bates-Diop seems likely to be enough bait to drag in the type of player needed to elevate the Towns-Wiggins tandem.

So, again, where is this team going?

It’s early enough in Rosas’ tenure that we don’t really know his plan just yet. The Saric trade and Layman signing look like smart, forward-thinking moves. The Bell and Vonleh signings less so. He’s well-respected and well-pedigreed, though, and that’s more than we can say for some previous Wolves executives. It’s still incredibly early for Saunders as well, though at least he is pushing the players to pursue the right kinds of shots. After instituting new practice rules that reward corner 3s and punish long 2s, the Wolves are up to fourth in 3-point rate and eighth in the percentage of their shots that have come within three feet of the rim, while they’re down to 27th in the percentage of their shots that have come between 16-23 feet away. That’s something to build the foundation of a good offense on, even if the players simply aren’t good enough shooters to turn that foundation into an actual good offense just yet.

It doesn’t necessarily look like Culver is going to be a lead ball-handler, but he’s also not really asked to be one while playing in an offense with Towns and Wiggins. It made a degree of sense to separate Teague and Wiggins because the latter is far more useful with the ball in his hands than without it, but an offense where Wiggins has the ball the majority of the time is probably bound to be below-average.

Sending Teague to the bench seems like a sure sign that he won’t be back beyond this year, which means finding a point guard of the future who knows how to create the best shots and can put Towns in position to succeed probably has to be the team’s highest trade deadline and/or offseason priority. There are obviously improvements to be made defensively, but a player like Towns should be an annual foundation of a top-10 offense. He’s a damn near 50-40-90 center who moves like he’s 6-foot-2 but is actually 7-foot. His team should not be struggling this badly to score. Figuring things out on that end seems easier than building an entire defense, though, if only because a big enough upgrade at 1-spot probably gets you there, while the defense needs far more work.

It seems premature to worry about this team given that Towns is under contract through 2024 and he’s the one this whole thing is going to be built around. But 2024 will be here sooner than it seems, and if the Wolves haven’t turned themselves into a contender by the time 2022 rolls around (that’s just two years, by the way), you can count on Anthony Davis/Giannis Antetokounmpo-style attention being directed Towns’ way. That’s not that much of a runway to get this team in gear. There are also clear obstacles in the way of the Wolves’ ability to do so quickly and competently. That makes the situation more interesting, but also more difficult.

The post What exactly is the plan for the Minnesota Timberwolves? appeared first on Actu Trends.

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kansascityhappenings · 6 years

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Kansas tops Texas Tech for record 14th straight league title

Devonte’ Graham #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks goes to the basket against Norense Odiase #32 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second half of the game on February 24, 2018 at United Supermarket Arena in Lubbock, Texas. Kansas defeated Texas Tech 74-72.(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)

LUBBOCK, Texas — Devonte Graham scored 26 points and No. 8 Kansas set an NCAA record with its 14th straight regular-season conference championship, clinching at least a tie for the Big 12 title with a 74-72 victory against sixth-ranked Texas Tech on Saturday.

Graham hit a tiebreaking jumper with 1:30 remaining to help Kansas (23-6, 12-4) to its fourth straight win and a two-game lead over the Red Raiders, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season. The Jayhawks never trailed.

All 14 of the titles have come under coach Bill Self, who finished second in his first season at KU. Four of the previous 13 championships were shared. UCLA won 13 straight Pac-10 titles from 1967-79.

The current skid for the Red Raiders (22-7, 10-6) started when leading scorer Keenan Evans injured a toe in the first half of a loss to Baylor that pulled Kansas even in the Big 12 race. The senior guard scored six points in his third straight game in single digits since the injury.

Zhaire Smith scored 20 points and fellow freshman Jarrett Culver had 18 for Texas Tech, which dropped its second straight game since reaching the highest ranking in school history. The Red Raiders surpassed last week’s No. 7 ranking that matched the 1995-96 team.

Smith had a putback dunk to pull Texas Tech even at 68-68, but Graham hit the go-ahead jumper and got an off-balance shot to fall while the Red Raiders committed turnovers on consecutive possessions.

Svi Mykhailiuk scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half for the Jayhawks, who scored the first eight points of the game.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas: Mykhailiuk and Graham, both seniors, formed a pretty good first half-second half tag team. The Ukrainian guard had a team-leading 15 points and three assists before halftime, and Graham had 18 points in the second half.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are trying to get as much out of Evans as possible, subbing him frequently to rest the injured toe. But his impact clearly isn’t the same, and whether the toe improves is likely to have a say in whether Tech can make an NCAA Tournament run.

SMITH IN, GRAY OUT

Texas Tech senior Zach Smith entered in the first minute after missing 13 games with a broken foot. He replaced Justin Gray, who was flattened when he didn’t see a screen by 7-foot, 280-pound Udoka Azubuike. Gray stayed down for a couple of minutes before walking slowly to the bench. Gray didn’t return, and Smith finished with one point and four rebounds in 22 minutes.

UP NEXT

Kansas: Home against Texas on Monday before regular-season finale at Oklahoma State next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At No. 12 West Virginia on Monday before finishing regular season at home against TCU next Saturday.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2018/02/24/kansas-tops-texas-tech-for-record-14th-straight-league-title/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/02/25/kansas-tops-texas-tech-for-record-14th-straight-league-title/

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nbagifstory · 4 years

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Jarrett Culver — Minnesota Timberwolves

#Jarrett Culver #Minnesota Timberwolves #NBA #gif #Basketball #2010s #201920 #111319 #Dunk

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zeroviraluniverse-blog · 6 years

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No. 1 Virginia wraps up ACC regular-season title

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/no-1-virginia-wraps-up-acc-regular-season-title/

No. 1 Virginia wraps up ACC regular-season title

Virginia’s Nigel Johnson (23) dunks over Georgia Tech’s Moses Wright (12) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018, in Charlottesville, Va. (Zack Wajsgras/The Daily Progress via AP)(Photo: The Associated Press)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Ty Jerome scored 18 points and top-ranked Virginia held off depleted Georgia Tech 65-54 on Wednesday night, clinching the regular season title and top seed next month in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

Virginia (25-2, 14-1) won its eighth regular-season title and third in five years.

The Cavaliers also got nine points each from De’Andre Hunter and Mamadi Diakite. They led just 31-30 at halftime and didn’t open a double-digit lead until just 5:14 remained.

Ben Lammers scored 22 points to lead the Yellow Jackets (11-17, 4-11). They lost their sixth in a row and 10th in the last 11 games.

No. 3 VILLANOVA 93, DEPAUL 62

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 27 points and Phil Booth added 14 in his return to the lineup to lead Villanova past DePaul on Wednesday night.

Booth played 16 minutes, going 4 for 6 from the field and 2 for 4 from the arc in his comeback from a broken right hand that sidelined him seven games.

Eric Paschall had 16 points, and Jalen Brunson added 11 points and seven assists to help the Wildcats (25-3, 12-3 Big East) beat DePaul for the 16th straight time.

Max Strus scored 21 points for the Blue Demons (10-17, 3-12).

No. 4 XAVIER 89, GEORGETOWN 77

WASHINGTON (AP) — Naji Marshall scored a career-high 21 points and Xavier beat Georgetown, bouncing back from its loss to No. 3 Villanova.

J.P. Macura added 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and Quentin Goodin had 19 points to help the Musketeers (25-4, 13-3 Big East) swept the season series with Georgetown for the second straight season.

Jamorko Pickett tied a career high with 21 points for Georgetown (15-11, 5-10).

No. 5 DUKE 82, LOUISVILLE 56

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Grayson Allen scored 28 points and Duke routed Louisville.

Freshman big man Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 18 points and a season-high five assists, and Gary Trent Jr. had 11 points to help the Blue Devils (23-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their fourth straight game — all coming with star freshman Marvin Bagley III out with a sprained knee.

Ray Spalding scored 17 points, and V.J. King and Deng Adel had 10 apiece for Louisville (18-10, 8-7), playing for the first time since an NCAA panel upheld sanctions against the program in the wake of its sex scandal — which cost the school about $600,000 in tournament revenue, 123 victories and its most recent national championship.

OKLAHOMA STATE 79, No. 6 TEXAS TECH

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Kendall Smith scored 21 points to help Oklahoma State stun Texas Tech.

Lindy Waters added a career-high 18 points, and Jeffrey Carroll had 14 points. The Cowboys (16-12, 6-9 Big 12) got a huge boost to their hopes of gaining an NCAA Tournament bid.

Zhaire Smith scored 18 points, and Jarrett Culver added 15 for Tech (22-6, 10-5), which needed a win to tie Kansas for the Big 12 lead. The Red Raiders lost their second straight.

Tech’s Keenan Evans, the Big 12’s No. 2 scorer, finished with two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

No. 10 NORTH CAROLINA 78, SYRACUSE 74

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Theo Pinson scored a career-high 23 points, Joel Berry II added 18, including the tiebreaking layup with 1:36 left, and North Carolina held off Syracuse.

North Carolina (22-7, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won six straight, but this was the most difficult against a team fighting for its postseason life. Syracuse (18-10, 7-8) was coming off an important road victory over Miami and was teetering on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering the game.

Tyus Battle scored 26 points, and Frank Howard had 23 for Syracuse.

No. 12 AUBURN 90, ALABAMA 71

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jared Harper scored 21 points, Chuma Okeke had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Auburn beat rival Alabama even without ailing star Mustapha Heron.

Down to seven scholarship players, the Tigers (24-4, 12-3 Southeastern Conference) turned a five-point halftime lead into a blowout thanks largely to big performances from Okeke and Malik Dunbar off the bench.

Auburn responded with Heron out with a stomach ailment a game after center Anfernee McLemore was lost for the rest of the season to an ankle injury.

Collin Sexton scored 25 points for the Crimson Tide (17-11, 8-7).

No. 13 WICHITA STATE 93, TULANE 86

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Shaquille Morris had 25 points and nine rebounds to help No. 13 Wichita State outlast Tulane.

Conner Frankamp scored six of his 18 points in the final four minutes, Markis McDuffie had 15 points and C.J. Keyser added 11 for the Shockers (22-5, 12-3 American Athletic Conference).

Melvin Frazier scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half for Tulane (13-14, 4-11). He also had 11 rebounds.

VIRGINIA TECH 65, No. 15 CLEMSON 58

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Justin Robinson and Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 14 points each for Virginia Tech.

The Hokies (20-8, 9-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won six of their last eight games to move into a tie for fifth place in the conference standings. Marcquise Reed led Clmeson (20-7, 9-6) with 23 points.

No. 17 MICHIGAN 72, PENN STATE 63

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Duncan Robinson scored 19 points and Moritz Wagner added 18 for Michigan.

Jordan Poole had 13 for the Wolverines (23-7, 12-5 Big Ten) who won their fourth straight.

Tony Carr scored 21 points, and Lamar Stevens added 19 for the Nittany Lions (19-11, 9-8).

No. 19 TENNESSEE 62, FLORIDA 57

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grant Williams bounced back from one of his worst performances of the season to score 23 points for Tennessee.

Williams had a season-low five points Saturday in a 73-62 loss at Georgia. The Tennessee scoring leader responded Wednesday by shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and 7 of 8 from the foul line.

Admiral Schofield added 16 points and eight rebounds for Tennessee (20-7, 10-5 Southeastern Conference). Jalen Hudson had 13 points for Florida (17-11, 8-7).

No. 20 NEVADA 80, SAN JOSE STATE 67

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Kendall Stephens scored a career-high 30 points and Nevada hit 14 3-pointers.

Jordan Caroline and Hallice Cooke had 15 points apiece for the Wolf Pack (24-5, 13-2 Mountain West). Cooke scored all his points on 3-pointers in the first half as the Wolf Pack opened a double-digit lead.

Ryan Wellage had 22 points and nine rebounds for San Jose State (3-23, 0-15).

#1 #ACC #regularseason #Title #Virginia #wraps #News #Random News

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