Bronchos

Through two weeks of the WNBA season, where does each team stack up and what are some prime takeaways?

WNBA Power Rankings 5/22

A perfectly orchestrated out-of-bounds set is a thing of beauty.&nbsp;
Plays ran after timeouts, or ATOs as they're commonly referred to, are by far the most intricately designed sets in any NBA game.
We hear the phrase "read and react" quite frequently, but that's truly the best way to describe the typical flow of NBA offenses. Possessions in the half-court without any sort of stoppage regularly feature some sort of pick-and-roll or handoff action, maybe with 1-to-2 additional tinkerings depending on the team you're watching. But the point is: There is a great deal of freelancing going on out there. These guys are pros for a reason &mdash; they don't need a guy in a suit telling them exactly&nbsp;what to do for every second of the game.
ATOs, however, are quite different. They allow head coaches to step in, sit down with their players for a full minute and 15 seconds, precisely rehearse and recall a scripted action from practice, and, most of all, tactically prey on the weaknesses of an opponent.&nbsp;
And when they're executed well? Sheesh, there's truly nothing better.&nbsp;
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Now, just for size, imagine watching two back-to-back successful ATOs in the final eight seconds of a playoff game. That'd be crazy, right? Huh?! For all my play-by-play geeks out there?
Alas, that is what happened during Tuesday's Game 5 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Let's set the stage a little bit: This contest was not a gorgeous showing of pristine execution. It was a back-and-forth, frenetic affair, with both teams streaking up-and-down the floor like the Gatorade coolers had been spiked with C4 pre-workout. All of that speed didn't necessarily equate to production; collectively, both teams turned the ball over a ghastly 39 total times, and Memphis couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from deep at just 25.0% (7 of 28).
Minnesota controlled the tempo for most of Tuesday's game, building a lead as large as 13 in the second half. The Grizzlies looked dead in the water on their home floor, unable to get much of anything going in the halfcourt. Then, Ja Morant did this, and the mood completely changed...
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Chasing History -Episode 12 🏆 A jaw-dropping dunk&hellip;.a clutch late 3&hellip;.a game-winning shot. Ja Morant did it all in game 5, leading the Grizzlies to victory over the Timberwolves to take the 3-2 series lead. <a href="https://t.co/pKbwxriEws">pic.twitter.com/pKbwxriEws</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1519677816828313601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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(Seriously, it's tough to get enough of this freakin' dunk. BBN's Mark Schindler even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ja-morants-jadropping-dunk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an entire article on it</a>! I mean, what the actual HECK, Temetrius Jamel Morant.)
That audacious poster lit something inside of Morant, who went on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-grizzlies-helped-ja-morant-find-himself-as-a-scorer-in-game-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an absolute tear in the final period of the game</a>, eventually boosting his fourth-quarter point total to 16 after a pair of free throws. This put Memphis up by 3 with just eight seconds remaining.
With the first-round series hanging in the balance at 2-2, Minnesota needed a three-pointer more than ever to even things up at 109 apiece. And gosh darn it, Wolves head coach Chris Finch delivered.&nbsp;
Minnesota sets things up with Jordan McLaughlin inbounding, its two strongest offensive players &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards &mdash;on the strong side of the floor and D'Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels on the weak side.
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McLaughlin inbounds the ball to Towns at the left slot to initiate things. All the while, McDaniels streaks toward the left dunker spot and Russell brushes a backscreen for McDaniels. Then, Russell proceeds to "ghost" or fake a secondary back-screen for Edwards cutting up from the low block to the right slot.
Here's a video of that specific action involving that trio of players:
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In the end, it was a simple exchange of positioning; McDaniels had replaced Russell in the right dunker spot, Edwards had taken McDaniels' place as the lifted shooter on the weak side of the floor, and Russell was now in Edwards' spot on the strong side. But most importantly, Brandon Clarke, the largest Grizzly available, was now tasked with manning rim-protection duties as the "low man."
Now, let's zoom out a bit. Minnesota inbounds the ball to its most dangerous offensive player, Towns, who at this point has scored a team-high 28 points on the night. Yet as the inbounder, it's McLaughlin who is technically the most dangerous player on the floor, and so Towns immediately returns the rock to give the zippy backup a running start. As such, McLaughlin gains a step on his defender, Kyle Anderson, and this causes Clarke to hesitate for a second, unsure if he's supposed to protect the rim or track the weak-side shooters.
Because Clarke decides to hold his ground in the paint, Morant then becomes responsible for "zoning up" and guarding the two weak-side offensive players, Edwards and McDaniels. So, Edwards drifts down to the baseline for deep positioning to create a brutally tough angle of recovery, and McDaniels sets a back-screen on Edwards' man (Morant).
This specific screening setup is known as "exit" action, where one offensive player pins the "zoned-up" defender with a screen to generate a corner three for his teammate. (Finch loves&nbsp;his exit-screen plays, I tell ya.)
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McLaughlin flicks a ridiculous bounce pass to the corner like he's skipping rocks across a pond, and Edwards&mdash;quietly shooting ~42% on catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season and postseason&mdash;nails the corner jumper over an excellent closeout from Clarke.
Here's Finch's pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance in full:
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Tie game at 109.
Which meant it was Taylor Jenkins' time to cook for the Grizzlies' response.
Unlike Minnesota, Memphis set up by overloading one side of the floor with Desmond Bane, Anderson and Morant all sharing the strong side, and Tyus Jones on the weak side.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-04-27-at-5-24-36-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="700" height="376" />
Morant sets a cross-screen for Jones to cut across the paint, only to have Ja then come off a pindown screen from Desmond Bane. This specific action is known as "screen the screener," in which a player (Morant here) sets a screen for one teammate (Jones) and then receives a screen from another (Bane). Meanwhile, Anderson cuts across the paint from the left corner to the right slot to drag Minnesota's only rim-protector, Towns, completely out of the play.
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Memphis' screen-the-screener setup, or STS, forces Morant's defender (Edwards) to navigate not one, but two&nbsp;off-ball screens while tracking the hottest player on the floor. Edwards falls slightly behind the lightning-quick Morant, and exasperates things by gambling for the steal. Ant giveth, Ant taketh.
Now, Morant has the advantage with a free lane to the rim and Clarke in the right dunker spot. Jarred Vanderbilt rotates over to the stop the drive, and Towns inexplicably (??) turns his body away from the ball instead of rotating down to Clarke. This effectively leaves Vanderbilt in no man's land, forced to defend perhaps the best downhill dude in the league and&nbsp;a premier lob-threat... and, well, you know the rest.
Let's see the full play.
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Game. Set. Match. The Grizzlies went on to win Game 5 by a final of 111-109, and took an emphatic 3-2 lead in the series all behind Morant's 18 fourth-quarter points.
And sure, the night was dominated by the highlights (again, whew, that dunk), but it's sequences like the final eight seconds that make this NBA game what it is &mdash; great.
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Matt Brooks gives kudos to both Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins for their ATOs in the crucial moments of Game 5 in Memphis.

Applauding Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins' ATO play-calling wizardry

It was the upset that ruined the majority of March Madness brackets.
On Thursday night, 15-seeded Saint Peter&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shocked the world</a> by slaying Goliath, the 2-seeded Kentucky Wildcats, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Many publications had Kentucky as 20-point favorites against the Peacocks, but as the Wildcats found out, seeds and favorites mean nothing once it&rsquo;s gametime.&nbsp;
Daryl Banks III led the way with 27 points, while Doug Edert poured in 20 off the bench to overcome a 30-point, 16-rebound explosion by Kentucky star Oscar Tshiebwe.
It&rsquo;s important to note that Kentucky had never lost to a team lower than an 11-seed in the history of the program. And they hadn't lost in the first round since 2008, when they were the No. 11 seed and were defeated 74-66 by 6-seeded Marquette.
In fact, the last time they lost in the first-round as a higher seed was back in 1987, when they came up short in a 8-seed vs. 9-seed game against Ohio State.&nbsp;
So yes, for Kentucky faithful, this upset was disastrous, cataclysmic, devastating, catastrophic and every other adjective fans have used since Thursday night.&nbsp;
I caught up with Derek Anderson &mdash; who helped lead Kentucky to a national championship in 1996 before becoming a lottery pick and 11-year NBA veteran &mdash; to get his thoughts on the upset.
Etan Thomas: "Okay, DA, the dust has settled a bit after the shocking loss. What was your reaction?"
Derek Anderson: "Well, as a fan, you&rsquo;re definitely disappointed. As a former player, you&rsquo;re hurt for various reasons &mdash; bragging rights being one of them. I had us going to the championship. But just watching the game, a lot of these young guys are just not being trained to make in-game adjustments and some of the decision-making was just frustrating. I mean, fans are upset, and they have good reason to be upset.
"As a former player, we would&rsquo;ve known to make certain adjustments because they were guarding [Sahvir] Wheeler differently. I don&rsquo;t know if you remember but with the San Antonio Spurs, when Avery Johnson couldn&rsquo;t shoot, they put him on the baseline. So when they were trying to match-up, they kept him down there, and that&rsquo;s where he hit his open shots. It was just frustrating. But the team played hard, no doubt about that. There was no quit in them. I love Oscar&rsquo;s work ethic. [Keion] Brooks did well. They gave it their all, so that wasn&rsquo;t the issue. But the adjustments just weren&rsquo;t there and that&rsquo;s unfortunate."
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Thomas: "In the postgame press conference, Coach Calipari pointed out that ya'll were up by six with three minutes to go. What do you think went wrong?"&nbsp;
Anderson: "Well, the team took a timeout and went zone. So they made the adjustment and to be quite honest, we didn&rsquo;t adjust. We were fortunate to send it to overtime. But if we would&rsquo;ve adjusted, had Oscar set some screens up and then hit the glass, had two guys up top and Oscar could&rsquo;ve filled the baseline and had Brooks or someone catch in that free-throw-line area and had those two guys crash and get in that lane, I think we would&rsquo;ve had a better chance. But we simply didn&rsquo;t adjust."
Thomas: "How impressed were you with Shaheen Holloway? I played against him for four years while he was at Seton Hall, and he used to always give us fits. He&rsquo;s been doing a phenomenal job coaching. I&rsquo;m happy for him."
Anderson: "I was super impressed. I&rsquo;m watching a lot of these young coaches do really well. He&rsquo;s a former player and he actually gets adjusting. He said, 'Hey, we gotta adjust. We can&rsquo;t guard Oscar one-on-one, so we gotta change it up.' And unfortunately, we didn&rsquo;t adjust to his adjustment. And that was the game. Shaheen did a great job. Even the body language; he never got down, so they never got down. His head was up, so their heads were up. He never panicked, so they never panicked. He did a tremendous job."
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Thomas: "I know a lot of people are upset about the loss and it's raw emotions, but a lot of Kentucky faithful are saying that there may need to be a coaching change with Calipari. What are your thoughts?"&nbsp;
Anderson: "Kentucky fans are passionate. They want to win. It&rsquo;s great that it&rsquo;s an amazing catapult to the NBA, but Kentucky fans want to see the team win, period. It was a tragic loss &mdash; the first time we have ever lost to a team that was the 15th seed. And that&rsquo;s absolutely no disrespect to Saint Peter&rsquo;s, because they&rsquo;re hoopers obviously, right? People get too caught up with rankings sometimes, but I think the raw emotions of the UK fans are more about winning than it is about the coach."
Thomas: "Okay, that&rsquo;s fair. But now that a little time has passed and the dust has settled a little, what does Derek Anderson say about whether there should be a coaching change?"
Anderson: "Well, I don&rsquo;t want to say anything negative about Calipari because it&rsquo;s still raw emotions; it hasn&rsquo;t even been 48 hours yet. But I will say: I wish he would&rsquo;ve made different adjustments, like we all do. I don&rsquo;t have any ill feelings towards him, I just wish we would&rsquo;ve made adjustments during the game."
Thomas: "So, what&rsquo;s next for Kentucky? I&rsquo;ve seen things written and comparisons to Virginia when they lost to a low seed and then came back and won the championship the next season. What are your thoughts about what to expect next year?"
Anderson: "I think TyTy is really built for the NBA. He's really good one-on-one in open space. I think Oscar has a great opportunity to pursue his dreams, help his Mom get here; he has other things he&rsquo;s thinking about to help his family and I don&rsquo;t blame him at all for that, and nobody else should either. So I think those two guys will probably leave, if anybody. I think the rest of the guys would benefit from coming back, staying, growing. I don&rsquo;t know how good we&rsquo;ll be; we just had a de-commit from one of the top players (Skyy Clark), so I&rsquo;m not sure.
"But we really need some leadership. I think we need to look into this transfer portal and get someone like Oscar who has been playing some basketball for a few years and can lead the team. Wheeler is a good player, just struggled with his shooting, but he did everything else really well. It all depends on who comes and then I can give you a better evaluation. But whoever we bring in, we have to be able to make adjustments during the game or it won&rsquo;t matter. Adjustments are what wins games."
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Kentucky alum Derek Anderson weighs in on the Wildcats' shocking loss to Saint Peter's, John Calipari's future and what's next for UK.

Derek Anderson on Kentucky's loss to Saint Peter's, Coach Cal's future

Deep down, everyone knew.
All of you knew once you finalized your picks: The half-ass research, the questions to your even less knowledgeable friends, the &ldquo;expert&rdquo; analysis &ndash; none of it was going to matter. Your bracket was going to be busted by the end of the night. You didn&rsquo;t know how, you didn&rsquo;t know by whom, but you had an idea that even on day one of the men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament, your bracket would get cooked.
You probably just didn&rsquo;t know it would be by Saint ******* Peter&rsquo;s University &ndash; against Kentucky, at that &ndash; who won 85-79 in overtime, destroying the evening of bracket-builders, parlay-players and spread-bettors alike.
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PEACOCKS. WIN. <a href="https://t.co/Jf10r5zyb4">pic.twitter.com/Jf10r5zyb4</a>
&mdash; Saint Peter&rsquo;s Athletics (@SPUAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/SPUAthletics/status/1504634900875550723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
If you don&rsquo;t know, Saint Peter&rsquo;s is a private Jesuit school in the middle of Jersey City, New Jersey. And if you&rsquo;ve ever been to the campus, you'd be even more surprised by this upset. Depending on who you ask, Saint Peter&rsquo;s could have either <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanFieldABC/status/1504645256586973185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,300</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryGrumbach/status/1504634530338160642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2,600</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanAGraham/status/1504634903484375043" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3,500</a> students; either way, we know the University of Kentucky likely has 10x that, if not more.
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How's that bracket looking??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StrutUp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StrutUp</a>🦚 <a href="https://t.co/c5JXAN2kzb">pic.twitter.com/c5JXAN2kzb</a>
&mdash; Saint Peter's Men's Basketball (@PeacocksMBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeacocksMBB/status/1504664039338782721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
The gap actually has nothing on the wage disparity between each team&rsquo;s head coaches. John Calipari reportedly banks in $8.5 million annually from Kentucky, which doesn&rsquo;t included bonuses of any kind. Shaheen Holloway was hired as Saint Peter's head coach in 2018, and he reportedly made less than $270,000 (including bonuses) in 2019. That means Coach Cal is paid 30x more than Coach Holloway before his first bonus check.
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St. Peter's men's basketball coach Shaheen Holloway made $266,344 in 2019, including bonuses paid and value of benefits, per school's most recent federal tax dox. John Calipari's basic pay from UK for this season -- not including bonuses, benefits and perks -- is $8.5 million.
&mdash; Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByBerkowitz/status/1504647038163726362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
More on the financial side, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/saint-peter-kentucky-win-marks-111130742.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Yahoo Sports report says</a>, &ldquo;In the 2019-20 school year, the most recent season unaffected by COVID-19, Kentucky outspent Saint Peter&rsquo;s $18.3 million to $1.6 million in men&rsquo;s basketball, per the U.S Department of Education. In terms of both expenditures ratio and raw difference between budgets, that is the biggest disparity since 2007, as far back as data is publicly available... Kentucky outspends Saint Peter&rsquo;s in basketball by a multiple of 11.7, just edging out the 11.5 ratio from CJ McCollum and Lehigh&rsquo;s win over Duke exactly 10 years ago.&rdquo;
Furthermore, Kentucky reportedly spent over $138 million for its sports teams in 2020. Saint Peter&rsquo;s? Only $7.2 million.
We&rsquo;ve watched the University of Kentucky become a factory for producing countless pros. And it's not just the high-level NBA stars we see thriving in the league today like Anthony Davis, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo and Karl-Anthony Towns. On opening night of the 2021-22 NBA season, <a href="https://ukathletics.com/news/2021/10/19/mens-basketball-uk-mbb-leads-nation-with-27-players-on-nba-opening-day-rosters.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kentucky had 27 alums on rosters around the league</a>. In their history, they&rsquo;ve had <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=kentucky" target="_blank" rel="noopener">125 players appear in the NBA</a> &ndash; a number that's sure to increase following the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 NBA Draft</a>. The Wildcats have potential 2022 lottery picks in TyTy Washington and Shaedon Sharpe, and a possible late-first-rounder in Oscar Tshiebwe, among other expected NBA prospects.
Kentucky has the most wins, highest winning percentage, second-most national titles, most national-title-game appearances (tied with UCLA), most NCAA Tournament appearances, most <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2021-07-30/these-college-basketball-teams-and-conferences-have-most-nba-first-round-draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first-round draft picks</a> and most NCAA tournament wins.&nbsp;
By the way, how many NBA players came from Saint Peter&rsquo;s program? <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.fcgi?college=stpeters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four. Just four</a>.
Bill Smith played nine NBA games in 1962. Harry Laurie played nine games in 1971. Elnardo Webster played 24 games in 1972. And Rich Rinaldi played 84 games between 1972 and 1974. That&rsquo;s it. Even Keydren Clark &ndash; who was the <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/keydren-clark-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NCAA's scoring leader in 2004 and 2005</a> while at Saint Peter&rsquo;s &ndash; didn&rsquo;t sniff the league after graduating in 2006.
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Four is also the number of NCAA Tournaments that MAAC Champion Saint Peter&rsquo;s has made in their history, with zero victories until last night. Their 85-79 win over Kentucky nuked all your hopes of a perfect bracket, and simultaneously reminded us why March is one of the best sports months on the calendar.
This only marked the ninth time in tournament history that a No. 15 seed knocked off a No. 2, and all of them have happened since 1991, including Oral Roberts taking down Ohio State &ndash; also in overtime &ndash; just last year. This one, because of the distinctions between the two institutions both in size, recruiting advantages, budgets and basketball history, could be the biggest upset we&rsquo;ve ever seen.
People love blue-blood programs, and in the case of Kentucky, love to hate them. But this is why people gather around TV screens this time of year, to see improbable stories like these unfold.
Others say they want the best facing the best with no upsets, and that&rsquo;s cool, but where&rsquo;s the enjoyment in that? If you only watch basketball for &ldquo;starzzzzz&rdquo; and &ldquo;hooperzzzzz,&rdquo; this probably doesn&rsquo;t excite you, but if this level of improbability can&rsquo;t resonate with you, why? That&rsquo;s strange. The fact is, in life, more people can and should be able to identify with the Saint Peter&rsquo;s element of this. Chances are, if you&rsquo;re reading this, you&rsquo;re closer to them than Kentucky, and that&rsquo;s OK. So don&rsquo;t be disappointed that Kentucky blew it. Embrace the uncanny underdog Peacocks from Jersey City, led by their badass head coach from New York City, who reminded you after the game, that it&rsquo;s just ball after all.
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Q: &ldquo;Did you ever get nervous.&rdquo; Shaheen Holloway after No. 15 Saint Peter&rsquo;s upset No. 2 Kentucky in OT &ldquo;For what? It&rsquo;s basketball.&rdquo; <a href="https://t.co/t0odjVyGWb">pic.twitter.com/t0odjVyGWb</a>
&mdash; George Balekji (@GeorgeBalekji) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeBalekji/status/1504637225685987342?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2022</a></blockquote>

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No. 15 Saint Peter's managed to beat No. 2 Kentucky in overtime. Bryan Fonseca explains why it may be the biggest upset ever.

Putting Saint Peter’s shocker over Kentucky in historical context

Hi, hello, and welcome to another edition of "Roaming The Baseline"! This will be a weekly endeavor where I point out some things that caught my eye: a hot or cold streak from a player, a developmental flash, a well-run play, a funny tweet, who knows? There will be film &mdash; it&rsquo;s me, so of course there will be film &mdash; but this will also be a bit looser. It&rsquo;s an extension of my Twitter feed, if you will.&nbsp;
With that said, let&rsquo;s roam the baseline.
IT TAKES TWO (TO THE BALL)
The Golden State Warriors are humming to start the year, shaky performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder not withstanding. They're 4-0, sporting the NBA's 6th best net rating (plus-7.3) and offense (111.4).&nbsp;
It's not a shock that the Warriors are playing well, but the&nbsp;way&nbsp;they're getting it done is both fun and encouraging when projecting forward.
The Dubs have trended smaller; their nominal starting center, Kevon Looney, is averaging a shade over 16 minutes a night. That has allowed them to play with more pace and, with Looney off the floor, more space.&nbsp;
As a defense, the last thing you want to do is give Stephen freakin' Curry more space to operate in. You can't afford to single-cover him; any slip from his primary defender causes mass hysteria elsewhere.
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Nobody bends the game quite like Curry. So surrounding him with space and quick-processors make the Warriors virtually impossible to defend when they're rolling &mdash; figuratively and literally.
Curry's leading the NBA with 1.8 secondary assists, a mundane-looking number before you consider he averaged 0.9 during his 2015-16 campaign, and peaked at 1.4 during the 2017-18 season.
You've seen the song and dance before. Curry shakes free &mdash; either darting around in transition, or running a defender off of an on or off-ball screen; a second defender jumps up to help; a pass is slipped to a rolling teammate, and that teammate slings the pill to an even more open teammate.
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Unless you have the personnel for a switch-literally-everything scheme, I'm not sure what you can do. And even if you do, Curry can still dance on you, create an advantage on the drive, and start the chain all over again.
EARLY RETURNS ON RUSS
The Russell Westbrook Experience has been a wild one through four games. He's filling the stat sheet (17-8-9), missing a lot of shots (44.3 eFG%), and trying to find his spots in between. The season opener was awful (8-5-4, 31% FG); his performance against the Spurs on Tuesday night (33-10-8-3, 56% FG) was masterful.
It's been fun to track his usage on the floor, particularly in ball screens. It was clear that traditional pick-and-rolls wouldn't do the trick; <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr</a>, my co-host at <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>, noted how teams were <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1453036197417086987?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">simply ducking under screens</a> against Westbrook pick-and-rolls, and that creativity would be needed.
We've seen some alterations on both sides. With Westbrook handling the ball, the Lakers have dug into their bag with "ghost" and "flat" screens.
Using a (movement) shooting threat to run up to, then abruptly dart away from Westbrook has generated some fruitful stuff.
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Going with flat screens &mdash; setting the pick directly on a defenders back, as opposed to their side &mdash; makes it difficult, at best, to duck under the action.
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It's also nice to see Westbrook actually setting screens. Inverted ball screens with him and LeBron should lead to small-on-LeBron switches that defenses don't want, or short-roll opportunities for Westbrook.
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More of this, please.
HASSAN WHITESIDE: DOING THE LITTLE THINGS (FOR NOW, AT LEAST)
The Utah Jazz are also off to an undefeated start (3-0). While I'm here for Rudy Gobert owning the interior on both ends, and Donovan Mitchell making magic in pick-and-roll (he'll hit shots soon), you know who I've enjoyed watching?
Hassan Whiteside.
That's right, 8 points and 8 rebounds in 16 minutes per game off the bench is doing it for me right now.&nbsp;
In all seriousness, as someone that covered his entire stint in Miami, one thing that frustrated me was how much he left on the table. His physical gifts and (before knee issues sapped it) rare nimbleness for a guy his size were incredible. He also had a tendency to break scheme to chase blocks, and just. would. not. set. solid. screens.
Both things are happening so far.
Whiteside has been a legit deterrent in Utah's drop scheme. Though he's averaging a little over a block per game, it's been fun to see him go with vertical contests instead of looking to swat the ball out of bounds.&nbsp;
Offensively, he's setting screens. Holding before releasing. Flipping the angle when necessary. It's simple stuff, but so important to getting teammates open.
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Utah runs a "Veer" set &mdash; the screener faking a ball screen before darting away to pry a shooter loose &mdash; and I mean, look at Big Fella work! Stonewalls Monte Morris, waits for Jordan Clarkson to survey the floor, then flips the pick to disrupt Morris' path as Clarkson attacks.
This version of Whiteside, if he commits to this moving forward, is worth a lot more than the vet's minimum.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO "HMMMM"
<ul>
<li>Cam Reddish is averaging nearly 19 points but I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. He's lighting it up from 3 (56.3% on 5.3 attempts), but he's converting roughly 42% of his shots inside of three feet. The jumper will cool off and the rim shots should normalize, but I don't know what that's going to look like.</li>
<li>On Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pick-and-rolls, his teammates are shooting 8-of-40 (20%) following his passes (Synergy). The screeners have converted two (2) of 18 shot attempts. I just-</li>
<li>Quick shoutout to Seth Curry who, after his 0-of-4 night against the Knicks on Tuesday, is shooting (checks notes) 13-of-21 (61.9%) from three on the year.</li>
<li>It's too early for lineup data. I know this, because the net rating leaders among starting lineups are Memphis (plus-41.0), Atlanta (plus-29.9), Toronto (plus-22.9), Orlando (plus-22.3) and New Orleans (plus-17.8).</li>
<li>Much has been made about the new rule changes and their effect on foul-drawing. The league is averaging 19.9 free throw attempts, its lowest mark in history. You know who's leading the NBA in free throw attempts right now? Rudy freakin' Gobert at 10.7. Of course.</li>
</ul>
PLAYS I LIKED
Trapped in the Elevator
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If you're able to bet in your state, and you can find a site for it, you should hammer whatever the number is on Duncan Robinson scoring the Heat's first basket. Virtually every game begins with choreography designed to spring him free for a triple.
Two things stand out to me, here. Using Chicago action &mdash; a pindown into a dribble handoff &mdash; as decoy action is pretty cool, though I wish Jimmy Butler would've sold it a little more.
Beyond that, Robinson electing to push put his defender into the elevator instead of using it for himself? Chef's kiss. Three points on the board.
Give Me a Lift
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Brief aside: we have to tinker the "alley-oop attempts aren't actually shooting fouls" rule at some point. There's no reason Dwight Powell shouldn't get free throws for that.
Anyway, we get not one, but two (2) lifts to stress out Toronto's defense. As Powell trots up the floor to set a screen for Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. sets up shop above the break at the same time. While Luka and Powell get busy, Kristaps Porzingis lifts from the dunker spot (subscribe!) to the left elbow area.&nbsp;
Luka is trapped, setting up a 3-on-2. With Hardaway Jr. being spaced where he is, the 3-on-2 is really a 2-on-1 with Dallas' frontcourt setting up a high-low read against Toronto's shortest guy. No wonder this ends in a foul.
Simplicity Sells
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Terrence Ross had himself a night on Sunday, scoring all 22 of his points in the 4th quarter during a surprising Magic win. What tripped me out about the explosion, aside from its ridiculousness, was how easily it happened.&nbsp;
The Magic legit spammed this double stagger look for Ross throughtout the 4th, generating open look after open look after open look. Thibs had to be losing his mind watching his squad get torched by it.&nbsp;
THE READING LIST
There is plenty of high-level basketball content out here if you know where to look. I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am as a writer without reading a ton of <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zach Lowe</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/Herring_NBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Herring</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1452614316553867269" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Cooper</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/MirinFader">Mirin Fader</a>&nbsp;or, well, you get the point.&nbsp;
Anyway, here are some &mdash; not all, but some! &mdash; of the stories I&rsquo;ve read this week that I think you should check out. Their Twitter handles will be linked under their names, so click and follow if you don&rsquo;t already.
<a href="https://twitter.com/MirinFader">Mirin</a> came through with the goods <a href="https://twitter.com/MirinFader/status/1453001746373136387?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Immanuel Quickley</a>.&nbsp;
<a href="https://twitter.com/Herring_NBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris</a> wrote about the <a href="https://twitter.com/Herring_NBA/status/1450815448228970498?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intrigue of this year's Chicago Bulls</a>. They're off to a great start so far.
<a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1452614316553867269" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin</a> with some early goodness on the <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1452614316553867269?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacers' starting frontcourt</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/CoupNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Couper Moorhead</a> on giving <a href="https://twitter.com/CoupNBA/status/1453084258877194240?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tyler Herro room to grow</a>.
Not a traditional basketball piece, but this from <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Robbins</a> is well <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaBRobbins/status/1453392882472206342?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worth your time</a>. Best of luck on the Wizards beat!

In Nekias Duncan's weekly notebook, he shares things that have caught his eye. He breaks down players, teams, plays and stats.

Roaming the Baseline: Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Hassan Whiteside

76ers fan Marc Lamont Hill discusses the Ben Simmons situation, potential trade scenarios and whether a reconciliation is possible.

Marc Lamont Hill: The 76ers coddled Ben Simmons, then turned on him

Five years after the NBA Global Academy opened its doors, Australian swingman <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft/big-board/players/joshua-giddey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Giddey</a> is set to become the first graduate selected in an NBA Draft on Thursday night.
&ldquo;I give a lot of credit to the NBA Academy,&rdquo; Giddey said at his pre-draft media availability. &ldquo;They got me in there at an early age, when I personally thought that I didn&rsquo;t have a big future in basketball. They got me in and they believed in me when I didn&rsquo;t necessarily believe in myself. I was there for 18 months and they worked with me every day, so I give &lsquo;em a lot of credit.&nbsp;
&ldquo;They developed me and pushed me in the right direction and set me up to where I am today, essentially. So, the NBA Academy was big for me. It allowed for me to go overseas and get the exposure that I wouldn&rsquo;t have gotten if I stayed back home in Melbourne. It&rsquo;s a big honor and it makes me pretty happy to be the first NBA-Academy player to be drafted.&rdquo;
Chris Ebersole, the NBA's senior director of international basketball operations, worked closely with Giddey during his time at the NBA Academy and Basketball Without Borders (BWB), and he's watched as the son of two professional basketball players went from an off-the-radar prospect to a top-10 projected pick in rapid fashion.
Ebersole knew Giddey from an early age through Marty Clarke and members of the Academy's coaching staff. (Clarke was actually teammates with Giddey's father, Warrick, in the NBL.) Having shown promise at BWB Asia, Giddey found his way to the Academy in 2018.&nbsp;
When Giddey arrived in Canberra, Australia, he was around 6-foot-5 with a good amount of potential. When he left, he was a 6-foot-8 sensation who was highly coveted by NBA decision-makers. Even Ebersole couldn&rsquo;t predict that his ascent would happen this fast.
&ldquo;To be completely honest, I don't think any of us had potential lottery pick in the 2021 draft in our sights for Josh at the outset,&rdquo; Ebersole told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview.
To be fair, Giddey didn't see this coming either.
&ldquo;Up until I moved to the Academy, I was a good player, but nothing special,&rdquo; Giddey <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nbl-adelaide-36ers-josh-giddey-good-chance-ill-be-declaring-for-2021-nba-draft-prospects-australia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told our Matt Babcock back in March</a>. &ldquo;I was challenged every day by my teammates and my coaches, and at times, I struggled early on and didn't enjoy myself. But as I grew into it, I fell in love with wanting to get better, and my coaches never took it easy on me &ndash; and that was a massive part of my development.&rdquo;
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Giddey didn&rsquo;t make an Australian junior national team until he played for the U18 club. But as he grew literally, Giddey also grew skillfully. Between sprouting three inches to 6-foot-8, developing his perimeter skills, improving as a playmaker and asserting himself as a lead ball-handler, it was clear that his ceiling was rising as a player -- and that was before any draft buzz.
&ldquo;I think from that point [of making the U-18 squad], that was maybe when a switch sort of went off that he had a chance to be special in basketball,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;I think it's always been a dream for him, but the fact that he went through some of that adversity at a young age and the disappointment of not making some of those teams probably fueled him. And by the time he was 18, he was not only making a state team, but he was excelling on it and leading those teams.
&ldquo;In basketball terms, in relative terms, you could sort of label him as a late-bloomer in terms of how quickly his stock has risen. I think a lot of those traits have been there the whole time, but a lot of times it's confidence, it's putting it all together on the court, and I think that's the part that's really blossomed.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s not just his size that stood out, either.
&ldquo;Beyond that, he's also developed his game, and that part is really the key. There are not a lot of 6-foot-8 people out there who are able to do what Josh can do on the court,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;I mean the size certainly helps, but the development of his game in terms of growing into such a rare level of passer and leader of an offense on the court, I think that's the part that catches most people's attention &ndash; just how advanced he is in those areas of his game.&rdquo;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/nba-academy_kcr73e8twrdd17vg5u66aoa2s_lg.jpg" alt="" width="555" height="312" />
The Academy traveled to different tournaments and took on varying levels of competition. Ebersole recalls the 2020 Torneo Junior Ciutat L&rsquo;Hospitalet, a tournament that featured the top junior teams around Europe. Giddey <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/au/nba/news/australias-josh-giddey-mvp-nba-global-academy-fc-barcelona-2020-torneo-junior-ciutat-de-lhospitalet/10xt6unne3wrg1b6j6ljrut7yc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">led the Academy to a win in Spain over the local FC Barcelona club</a> and earned MVP honors after averaging 11.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Giddey saved his best performance for last, contributing 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the tournament final.
&ldquo;He was never fazed,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;He elevated his game... He makes those jaw-dropping plays look routine. Just an interesting part of his game is that he's able to make passes that no one else on the court, or watching the games, could see [coming]. And so, he'll make a pass and you're almost wondering where the ball is going, and it'll end up in the hand of his teammate right under the hoop. He does that multiple times a game (laughs). He can throw all different types of passes with both hands from any angle, and so he actually ends up making these extraordinary plays look very routine in his game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;There have been countless examples of that just watching him, whether it's games at some of our events [in the] States or overseas; you see him make those types of passes and you just kinda look at each other on the sidelines and you sorta shake your head. It's so advanced, it's so rare to see a player of his age with that understanding of all the moving pieces on the court.&rdquo;
Just two months later, instead of coming to the United States to prepare for the NBA via college or the G League Ignite, Giddey elected to sign with the Adelaide 36ers of the National Basketball League as a part of its Next Stars program (just like LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton). It turned out to be a brilliant choice, as Giddey boosted his stock even further.
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With the 36ers, Giddey won the NBL Rookie of the Year Award. He averaged the most assists in the league (7.6), and led Adelaide in rebounds per game (7.3). Giddey also scored the fourth-most points per game (10.9) on the team, while playing the second-most minutes per contest (32.1). The 18-year-old also became the youngest player in NBL history to record a triple-double (taking the record from LaMelo). Then, he did it again the very next night, making him <a href="https://nbl.com.au/news/night-of-sixers-celebrations-against-bullets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the only Australian to have triple-doubles in consecutive games</a>.
&ldquo;Obviously, his time in the NBL [was] a huge factor in developing his confidence,&rdquo; Ebersole said. "He was handed the keys in a lot of ways when he got to Adelaide. The fact that he was able to translate all those skills in a league of that caliber... the NBL is a league of grown men and really talented players. For him to go in and showcase his skills at that level and translate them so quickly at that level, I think, is a huge boost for his confidence. I think at each level, he's able to now realize that he can impact these games and he's not out of place and he can hold his own.&rdquo;
"Great kid, very nice," Giddey's 36ers teammate and former NBA pro Brandon Paul told BasketballNews.com. "I think he's more mature than his years the way he carries himself on and off the court, and he's just someone who's got a crazy ceiling."
Giddey&rsquo;s stint with the 36ers ended on May 16, when both parties agreed to allow him to begin preparing for the 2021 NBA Draft. He carried over the momentum from the NBL into this summer, joining the Australian team&rsquo;s pre-Olympic training camp as one of 24 invitees and giving him a chance to play with some fellow Aussies whom he'd looked up to. Many NBA scouts and executives were in attendance to observe the practices and exhibitions.
&ldquo;He's definitely garnering significant attention throughout this whole process,&rdquo; said Ebersole, who was present with Giddey in Las Vegas. &ldquo;And of course with his time in Adelaide in the NBL &ndash; although there was maybe some limitation on how many scouts could get there to see him just given some of the restrictions on travel &ndash; it was clear the buzz around him was picking up during that time frame... I think he's gotten somewhat used to it.&rdquo;
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Even though the Boomers left Giddey off their Olympic roster, they did name him as a replacement player and the experience was beneficial.
&ldquo;It was fun. Obviously, it sucks I didn&rsquo;t make that team, but I still got to be around the guys and be able to train and compete against them every day right up until they left,&rdquo; Giddey said. "So for me, it was great because I got to compete against guys like [Matthew Dellavedova], Patty Mills, Joe Ingles &ndash; and then learn and train against them every day. So it was such a beneficial kinda month, two months for me, being able to learn from those guys.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And then, it&rsquo;s such a good environment to me. I think for me going forward, it&rsquo;s gonna be critical to get this early taste of it because hopefully [in] the next 12-15 years, I&rsquo;m gonna have a long career playing with the national team.&rdquo;
Ebersole is a California native, and he describes Giddey's personality as similar to his own: laid-back and self-deprecating. He says that Giddey is always fun to be around and has great leadership qualities. He can lead by example, but he's also a good communicator with both teammates and coaches alike.
"I've seen him interact with people and [he's] always very welcoming, even when he's being hounded," Paul added.
Ebersole assures that Giddey is a &ldquo;hooper at heart.&rdquo; As for his off-court interests, the young Aussie is a sneakerhead.&nbsp;
When asked what kind of team or situation would be conducive to Giddey thriving as a rookie, Ebersole confidently said &ldquo;anywhere.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I don't think there's necessarily one team or type of team that sticks out,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;I think he does have such a versatile game that he'll be able to have an impact anywhere he goes... He's sort of proven that he can be that primary ball-handler, lead operator out of the pick-and-roll. But if he goes to a team where he's asked to play off the ball and go into some of those secondary actions, I think he's fully capable of doing that as well. When he was with our Academy, he played both roles at different points, so I think he's fully capable offensively playing either role.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Defensively, I think that's one part of his game that people may be questioning. But I think he actually has a chance, just given his size, to be a multi-positional defender too and be able to guard multiple positions. He's versatile on both sides of the ball, and that's gonna allow him to thrive [in] whatever situation that may be. I think he's got a good chance &ndash; whether it's the primary guy or the secondary ball-handler &ndash; to impact offenses and keep the ball moving, which is his number one NBA skill at this point.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
"I love passing the ball and he loved shooting the ball" 🇦🇺 <a href="https://twitter.com/joshgiddey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@joshgiddey</a> on his friendship with <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> guard and fellow NBA Academy alumni <a href="https://twitter.com/Mojaveee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mojaveee</a> and how they continue to push each other. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GiddeyUp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GiddeyUp</a> Watch the 2021 NBA Draft, July 30 on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> and NBA League Pass. <a href="https://t.co/IyEf9UQiyt">pic.twitter.com/IyEf9UQiyt</a>
&mdash; NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA_AU/status/1419103123092623360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Ebersole acknowledges that he's impressed with how Giddey has handled the pre-draft process and the hype surrounding him. The 18-year-old has approached it with humility, staying grounded and true to himself while &ldquo;keeping those blinders on.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I don't think it's easy for a young person to have this amount of pressure and success and expectation placed upon them in such a short amount of time, especially in Josh's case &ndash; where only a few years ago, he was not on anyone's radar in terms of the NBA-draft potential,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;[It] speaks to the type of worker he is, the type of focus he has.
"And that, of course, bodes well for his future &ndash; because once he gets to the NBA, that noise only grows. The fact that he's been able to sort of stay on course through all of this and not get side-tracked or distracted, I think, speaks to that character he has.&rdquo;
In a day&rsquo;s time, Giddey will hear his name called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It's a dream come true for him to be drafted, and I think even for him growing up, this was obviously a dream, but only in the last two years has it really accelerated and evolved into reality,&rdquo; Ebersole said. &ldquo;I think for him, it's somewhat surreal &ndash; but I know he's really excited and probably somewhat anxious to figure out where he's going to end up, as is the case, I think, with every prospect in the draft. But I think he's just beyond excited to finally realize his dream.&rdquo;
And the moment that Silver utters those words, Ebersole will not only be happy for Giddey, but for those who will come after him in the NBA Global Academy.
&ldquo;We're definitely proud of him, obviously. To have our first graduate to be drafted be somebody like Josh &ndash; who's a selfless player, who has just a great approach to the game and approach to life &ndash; I think it makes it that much more special,&rdquo; Ebersole said. "I think it opens the doors to future breakthroughs.
"Our first draft pick in the 2021 draft will likely be Josh, and then you turn around and look at the door that&rsquo;s gonna open. In 2022, we expect to have multiple draft picks coming out of the NBA Academy program. We've now had NBA-Academy alumni in each of the first two years of the G League Ignite program (Princepal Singh and Dyson Daniels) and expect that to continue to grow... It's going to inspire future generations. There's a generation of young Australian players who are looking up to Dyson Daniels, young Argentinian players looking up to Francisco [Caffaro], young Indian players looking up to Princepal Singh. All of these individual successes are great in their own right, but they also open up the possibilities to so many others, so that's the part that really gets us excited. It's much bigger than any one player.&rdquo;
Giddey echoes those sentiments, and is honored to be a part of a global movement in basketball that is only getting stronger.
&ldquo;On the international scale, you see how big the game&rsquo;s growing worldwide, outside of America. I think it&rsquo;s good for players all around the world because they can look at role models in their countries and see how well they&rsquo;re doing, and it allows the next generation to come through," Giddey said. "So, it&rsquo;s exciting times for basketball all around the world. And I think it&rsquo;s evident now, with countries beating the States &ndash; when 10 years ago, it was America just dominating on a world stage. So, it&rsquo;s really good to see.&rdquo;
BasketballNews.com's Senior NBA Draft Analyst Matt Babcock has Josh Giddey projected to go No. 7 overall to the Golden State Warriors in his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft</a>.

Spencer Davies chats with NBA international basketball ops director Chris Ebersole, who witnessed Josh Giddey's meteoric rise firsthand.

In the blink of an eye, Josh Giddey ascended to top NBA Draft prospect

One week from now, we will know who is playing in the NBA Finals. It appears it will be the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, but we should have learned by now to never count out the resilience of the Los Angeles Clippers.&nbsp;
And the Atlanta Hawks? Just ask anyone from Philadelphia or New York whether that team should be underestimated.
This is somewhat uncharted territory for Adam Silver and the NBA, who have grown accustomed (along with all of us) to having all eyes glued to LeBron James or Steph Curry at this point of the season.
Also, our NBA body clocks are saying &ldquo;draft, draft, draft.&rdquo; But due to the pandemic, we've all had to readjust to this slightly different schedule. So the end of the Finals are still quite a ways down the road, the draft and free agency are going to happen at the end of the July and beginning of August, respectively. The Olympics are looking like a walkover for a <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/jerami-grant-to-join-team-usa-james-harden-to-withdraw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">loaded Team USA</a>... but we have seen that movie before, and the ending is not always a certainty. FIBA competition usually takes care of that.
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No matter which two teams make the Finals, though, it will be the first time in a long time (or ever) that the Bucks, Clippers, Suns and/or Hawks got that far.
So let&rsquo;s refresh everyone&rsquo;s memory. Or, let&rsquo;s fill in the younger generation on what folks in the four finalists' cities have endured over the years.
PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are one victory away from making the championship round for the first time since 1993, back when Charles Barkley was playing against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was the summer before Jordan decided he wanted to change professions and become a Major League baseball player.&nbsp;
The Bulls won Game 1 and Game 2 in that 1993 series, and battled in a classic Game 3 that went three overtimes before the Suns won and chopped the series lead down to 2-1. Chicago won Game 4 at home, but the Suns took Game 5 in Chicago (the format was 2-3-2 at the time) and the series returned to Phoenix for Game 6 on June 20. The Bulls were going for a three-peat under Phil Jackson with a roster that included Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and John Paxson. Barkley was flanked by Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Kevin Johnson, Cedric Ceballos and Danny Ainge.
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Barkley and Jordan were friendly, but the edge in competitive streak was in favor of Jordan. Back then, fraternization on off days was common, and Barkley and Jordan were fewer than two years removed from being teammates on the original Dream Team. The way the story has been told, Jordan took Barkley out to Majerle&rsquo;s bar on the night of June 19 after everyone traveled, and the drinks flowed freely... except the drink of choice for Jordan was water.
Then, on the night of June 20, the Bulls were ahead by eight entering the fourth quarter, but then went cold. In the first 6:09 of the fourth, the Bulls didn&rsquo;t score. They committed three shot-clock violations in that span, and Phoenix was ahead 98-96 with 14 seconds left. But the Bulls had the ball, and Grant found John Paxson open at the three-point line for a shot that Paxson drilled. Prior to that, all nine of the Bulls&rsquo; fourth-quarter points had been scored by Jordan. Phoenix had the final possession, but Barkley rolled to the basket off the inbounds play and Phoenix did not get the ball to him. Instead, Kevin Johnson attempted a runner from the lane just before the final buzzer, and Grant blocked it. Game over. Bulls 99, Suns 98. And Phoenix has not hosted an NBA Finals game since.
MILWAUKEE BUCKS 
The Bucks are up 2-1 on the Hawks now after Khris Middleton was Mr. Everything last night in Atlanta except for being Mr. Airball, an award that will be retired in honor of Giannis Antetokounmpo for what he has been doing from the free-throw line the past few seasons, but especially this postseason. These teams will be back at it Tuesday night, and hopefully the referees will be briefed, too, on allowing a player shooting a three-point shot to have enough space to land without turning an ankle because an official was too close. Are there enough ace bandages in "The A" to wrap Trae Young tightly enough to give the Hawks a chance to even this series? Or is Milwaukee advancing to the Finals as a fait accompli currently maneuvering speed bumps?
Whatever the case, the Bucks are favored for good reason, and if they make it to the Finals, it&rsquo;ll be the first time it's happened for that franchise since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar&rsquo;s sky hook was a lethal weapon. That was back in 1974, before Kareem decided he did not like living in Milwaukee following a 4-3 loss to the Celtics in the Finals and forced a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, a maneuver for which he was never forgiven in the city where Mike Budenholzer now calls the shots. The Bucks last won a title in 1971, and have not been back since despite being led at different times by Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Giannis, Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon, among others.
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They dropped four straight in the Conference Finals three years ago against the Toronto Raptors, and they went out in seven games in 2001 against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. All of the sports glory in the state of Wisconsin since then has belonged to Aaron Rodgers and Frank Kaminsky, and all those years of losing have been drowned out by beer, cheese, frozen custard, bratwurst and beer. The last time the Bucks won, the team was a member of the Western Conference and the Brewers were still adapting to the American League following the franchise&rsquo;s move from Seattle, where they were known as the Pilots. Al McGuire and Marquette provided a couple years of glory, but aside from the accomplishments of the Packers, there has not been much to celebrate.
But losing is never permanent unless your favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Bucks are halfway to breaking through the organization's three-and-a-half decades of frustration. So stay tuned.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 
Ahead of a win or go home scenario in Monday's Game 5, Kawhi Leonard is once again unable able to play, and could be more seriously hurt than the franchise has let on. There are reports out there that he needs knee surgery and is upset with the Clippers' medical staff; one would think the league office would order the Clippers to provide some clarity on this matter, since Leonard is a pretty good basketball player whose health is a determining factor in whether Steve Ballmer&rsquo;s team has a snowball&rsquo;s chance in hell of being championship material.
The Clippers have never been to the Finals, before or since relocating to California from Buffalo, spending 1978-1984 in San Diego. They blew 3-1 leads in the conference semifinals in 2020 (to Denver) and 2015 (to Houston), and went out in six games against Oklahoma City in 2014. There is only so much that Paul George can do without his fellow superstar teammate, and if Leonard is truly done and legitimately unhappy in L.A., the offseason unrestricted-free-agency market just got a heck of a lot more interesting.
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Before they were the Clippers, they were the Buffalo Braves and joined the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1970 along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. Their Hall-of-Famers included Bob McAdoo and Ernie DeGregorio, and in one of the most interesting pieces of NBA cameo trivia, they had Moses Malone for a grand total of two games before trading him to Houston for a pair of first-round picks.
In 1975, the franchise made it to the conference semifinals, but were defeated by the Washington Bullets. Since then, the Clippers have a franchise history that everyone in the NBA outside of Minnesota can laugh at. Except Clippers fans, of course. And those poor folks deserve either our pity or our sympathy. But to Clippers fans and Timberwolves fans, we can only say: &ldquo;The Cubs eventually won, okay?&rdquo; Perhaps that will help.&nbsp;
ATLANTA HAWKS 
Dominique Wilkins was a heck of a hooper and had one of the greatest nicknames in the history of professional sports: &ldquo;The Human Highlight Film.&rdquo; But he never appeared in a single NBA Finals game, and his only championship came with Panathinaikos in 1996 when the &ldquo;Greens&rdquo; won the Euroleague championship.
The Hawks franchise has not won a title since 1958 when they were based in St. Louis, and they reached the Finals in 1960 and 1961 only to lose to the Boston Celtics. The closest they came since then was 2015, when they reached the Conference Finals but were swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The Hawks are closer now than they have ever been, but when your entire team gets outscored by a single player in a single quarter (Khris Middleton had 20 points to the Hawks&rsquo; 17 in the fourth last night), you really have to dig deep for resiliency &ndash; although we would not put anything past Trae Young at this point. At the very least, the Hawks have two games remaining. In the first round, they bounced back from a Game 2 loss in New York and won the next three. Atlanta was down 2-1 against the Sixers last round and gutted out that series in seven games, winning three times on the road. The team has a terrific mix of young and old, and Nate McMillan has worked wonders with these guys.
A victory in Game 4 would turn this into a best-of-3, and we already know that hostile arenas do not faze them. Middleton had the hot hand in Game 3, and who is to say that Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter or Danilo Gallinari cannot be that type of player for Atlanta sometime in the coming week? Count the Hawks out at your own peril. Knicks fans and Sixers fans will tell you not to take them lightly.
We've got a big week ahead of us. Let&rsquo;s hope it brings more good stories than bad.
But the only thing we know for sure is that one of these four franchises will eventually end a very long drought.&nbsp;

Chris Sheridan refreshes everyone's memory and fills in the younger crowd on what folks in the four final teams' cities have endured over the years.

Sheridan: A history lesson is in order as the NBA Finals draw near

Hi, hello, and welcome to yet another edition of Roaming The Baseline! This will be a weekly endeavor where I point out some things that caught my eye: a hot or cold streak from a player, a developmental flash, a well-run play, a funny tweet, who knows? There will be film -- it&rsquo;s me, so of course there will be film -- but this will also be a bit looser. It&rsquo;s an extension of my Twitter feed, if you will.&nbsp;
With that said, let&rsquo;s roam the baseline.
DONOVAN MITCHELL IS BECOMING SCHEME-PROOF
We're reaching the point where there is no good answer for Donovan Mitchell in a playoff setting.
The numbers speak for themselves: 32.9 points with a 60.9 True Shooting percentage through his first eight games of the postseason. A 43% clip on nearly 11 threes per game is patently absurd.
Beyond the numbers, the way that Mitchell is going about this has been eye-opening. Base schemes just haven't worked.
Drop coverage has invited Mitchell to pull-up at will. Straight drives into shots, screen rejects into open pockets. You name it, he's done it.
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Switching has also been futile. Mitchell has been diligent about hunting mismatches. Players at a speed disadvantage have been dusted by Mitchell. Not switching quickly enough has left wide enough windows for Mitchell to pull-up against.&nbsp;
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The Clippers have had to break character. Not only have they limited the amount of time they've had a traditional center on the floor with Mitchell, they've dialed up their aggression with their smaller units. They're sprinkling in doubles to throw off the rhythm of Mitchell's attacks.
It's a gambit that has succeeded -- at least compared to the other base schemes. It's also a gambit that Mitchell is starting to get comfortable with.
We're starting to see more possessions like this, where Mitchell sees where a double is coming from and attacks the opposite side. It's not just the method of attack, it's how quickly he's attacking.&nbsp;
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The Leap may be upon us, folks.
JEWELL LOYD SETTING THE TABLE
[Insert fancy intro about how Breanna Stewart isn't the only good player on the Seattle Storm here.]
We'll start with a couple of stats.
Jewell Loyd is one of two players -- the other being Liberty wing Betnijah Laney -- that ranks in the top-10 in scoring (19.2, eighth) and assists (4.2, 10th).
Among 32 players that have logged at least 50 pick-and-roll possessions this season (passes included), Loyd ranks eighth in efficiency (.904 PPP). Among the seven players above her in that ranking, only Skylar Diggins-Smith (15.6) is averaging more possessions than Loyd (12.4).
Put another way: Loyd is one of the best high-volume pick-and-roll threats in the sport.
Loyd's handle is tight. She combines that skill with superb footwork, allowing her to create space and fire on a whim. Watch how quickly she reads the coverage (ICE/"weak"), and how easily she flows into the jumper.
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Loyd is also a strong passer. I enjoy how quickly she recognizes passing windows, as well as her overall ball placement. She might just be the best entry passer in the sport because of it. She's also wildly good at hitting slips, an element that makes quick-hitting pick-and-rolls with Stewart impossible to defend.
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Loyd doesn't just get busy with the ball in her hands. She's a strong off-ball mover, able to cut into open space when attention is paid elsewhere. Her ability to balance herself carries over to her off-ball screen usage. Not only is she experiencing a career-year as a three-point shooter (39.5% on 5.8 attempts), that production is coming off a heavy dosage of looks like this.
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Combining that kind of off-ball utility with her on-ball chops is why Loyd is one of the most dangerous offensive players in the W.
JEFF GREEN, FILLING THE GAPS
Lost in the fun of Kevin Durant's historic night and the Milwaukee Bucks' insistence on playing stu-, er, less-than-optimal basketball, was Jeff Green lighting it up beyond the arc.
Green dropped 27 points on Tuesday night, joining Durant (49) and Blake Griffin (17) as the only Nets to score in double-figures. Green went 7-of-8 from deep; let's just say this is not a thing that Green, a career 34% three-point shooter, does with any regularity.
Beyond the hot shooting night, I was impressed with his defense. He found himself matched up with all three of the Bucks' star players at different points, either switching ball screens or defending (stagnant) isos. He more than held his own, particularly against Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second half.
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It's unreasonable to expect that kind of shooting performance from Green again, but it's important that he does offer some spacing. He has the ball skills to attack closeouts. Defensively, he has the mobility to hang when switching, and he has enough strength to make post-ups difficult.
The Nets have missed Green's versatility; Tuesday night's game was a great example of what he can bring to the table.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO "HMMMM"
<ul>
<li>The Bucks</li>
<li>completely forgot</li>
<li>how to play</li>
<li>NBA basketball</li>
<li>and lost Game 5</li>
</ul>
Okay, in all seriousness:
<ul>
<li>Did you know that Tina Charles is leading the W in scoring (24.0) this season? Did you also know she's sandwiched between Kayla McBride (5.5) and Natisha Hiedeman (5.3) in three-point attempts per game (5.4)? It's not only a career-high, it's triple the volume she put up last season. I'm here for the game expansion.</li>
<li>A quick Aces update: the A'ja Wilson-Liz Cambage pairing has a plus-10.1 net rating in 230 minutes together. It still pales in comparison to Wilson and Dearica Hamby (plus-15.7 in 205 minutes), but it's nice to see the Twin-Towers look working well.</li>
<li>I can't get over Jordan Clarkson averaging 16.0 points off the bench, shooting 45% from three on 10 attempts per game, and having easily the worst plus-minus (minus-12.5) on the team during this Clippers series. The Jazz bench has been down bad, figuratively and literally.</li>
<li>Among 21 players that have logged at least 75 pick-and-roll possessions this postseason, only three have generated more points per possession than Kevin Durant (1.156 PPP). One of those players is Monte Morris (1.159). What a postseason run that guy had.&nbsp;</li>
<li>So, uh, there were some #things that went down on WNBA Twitter between Skylar Diggins-Smith and Jazmine Jones. Sydney Colson's <a href="https://twitter.com/SydJColson/status/1404572135906066434" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recollection of the timeline</a> was easily my favorite.</li>
</ul>
PLAYS I LIKED
Going Ghost
Some simple, yet effective stuff from the Hawks here.
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John Collins and Clint Capela set up like they're about to flow into Double Drag, but Trae Young calls for something different.
The something different: some screen-the-screener action involving Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Capela sets a screen for Bogdanovic to come off, then Bogdanovic "ghosts" the screen for Young. Since the Sixers don't want to switch Seth Curry onto Young, Curry simply shows. Ben Simmons stays home, which puts two to the ball. Bogdanovic ends up getting an open three out of it.
Cutting it Close
This is freaking beautiful execution.&nbsp;
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Kelsey Plum (glad to see her back!) flies off the baseline exchange, lifting to the left wing. Destiny Slocum pitches the ball inside to Hamby as Plum finishes the first part of her route, but peep the weak side. You'll notice that the same thing is happening. This is essentially an option play.
Slocum chooses the side with Hamby and Plum. As Hamby receives the ball, Plum flips the funk and goes backdoor. This feels like a variation of "Blind Pig" action. Not 100% sure, but I dig it either way.
Improvisin' in the Valley
I will never get tired of watching Chris Paul pull strings in the half-court.
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Much like the Hawks example up top, the Suns give a Double Drag look. The Nuggets are playing drop coverage with JaVale McGee (loosely defending Dario Saric), but are hedging hard on the first screen.&nbsp;
Oh, wait, are they playing ICE coverage? Look at the way JaMychal Green positions himself.&nbsp;
Wait,&nbsp;is Michael Porter Jr. hedging?
It may not be clear, but it ultimately doesn't matter either way. Paul sees an opening, so he cuts his route short and flips the ball ahead to Saric. Cameron Johnson reverses course immediately, and Saric acts in concert with Johnson by flowing into a handoff. With McGee below the free throw line, there's no hope for a contest.
THE READING LIST
There is plenty of high-level basketball content out here if you know where to look. I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am as a writer without reading a ton of Zach Lowe or Chris Herring or Caitlin Cooper or Mirin Fader or... well, you get the point.&nbsp;
Anyway, here are some -- not all, but some! -- of the stories I&rsquo;ve read lately that I think you should check out. Their Twitter handles will be linked under their names, so click and follow if you don&rsquo;t already.
Gibson Pyper, also known as <a href="https://twitter.com/HalfCourtHoops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Half Court Hoops</a> on Twitter and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/HalfCourtHoops" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/HalfCourtHoops/status/1404774427636781060?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a breakdown</a> on Spain pick-and-rolls. If you thought I wasn't sharing this, you don't know me at all.
<a href="https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PD Web</a> goes deeeeeep with a <a href="https://twitter.com/abovethebreak3/status/1399850462157934597?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">breakdown of Jalen Green</a>.
Feels like <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jackson Frank</a> has been in here every week, but his <a href="https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1398345792050454528?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">feature on Mikal Bridges</a> is well worth your time.
<a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Heindl</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs/status/1399084697691512845?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Miami's abrupt end</a>, and the perceptions around it.
<a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA">Zach Lowe</a>'s breakdown on the layers of the <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/1402631438399275010?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suns' pick-and-roll attack</a> is tremendous stuff.
<a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Schindler</a> wrote the most thorough <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1402370651172790277?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Bouknight breakdown</a> you'll read this year.
<a href="https://twitter.com/TylerRickyTynes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tyler Tynes</a> is one of the best feature writers on the planet. This one, <a href="https://twitter.com/TylerRickyTynes/status/1405181167234654209?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Dawn Staley</a>, won't disappoint.
<a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Cooper</a> writes her farewell to the short-lived <a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1402709890964017154?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nate Bjorkgren era</a> in Indiana.

Roaming the Baseline: Donovan Mitchell, Jewell Loyd, Jeff Green

Hi, hello, and welcome to yet another edition of Roaming The Baseline! This will be a weekly endeavor where I point out some things that caught my eye: a hot or cold streak from a player, a developmental flash, a well-run play, a funny tweet, who knows? There will be film -- it&rsquo;s me, so of course there will be film -- but this will also be a bit looser. It&rsquo;s an extension of my Twitter feed, if you will.&nbsp;
With that said, let&rsquo;s roam the baseline.
DEMAR DEROZAN IS LEADING THE CHARGE
The Spurs kicked off April with a five-game losing streak. A post-All-Star break slide was somewhat expected due to the strength of their schedule. A 26-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, however, wasn't part of the plan.
So there they were, reeling in the middle of a tightly contested play-in battle. And here they are now, winners of seven of their last 10 games. They're closer to the sixth seed (2.5 games back) than they are to 11th (4.5 games ahead).
If you're doling out praise, it has to begin with DeMar DeRozan. He's been playing All-Star-caliber basketball all season long, providing his usual brand of mid-post purity and rim attacking. He's especially perked up during this 7-3 stretch for the Spurs, averaging an efficient 25 and 8.
He marches to the beat of his own drum, offering up-fakes and pivots whenever the song needs a little juice.
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The combination of touch and footwork are only rivaled by a handful of players in the league. He has all the tricks of the foul-drawing trade. And because he's such a threat inside the arc, defenses have to shift to cut off his space.&nbsp;
What do you do when your counters are countered? Well, you counter those countered counters.&nbsp;
For DeRozan, that means making a leap as a playmaker for the third or fourth year in a row. He may not cause perimeter jump-outs as often as the Steph Curry/Damian Lillard/Trae Young division, but he's able to leverage his driving prowess to create similar passing windows.
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The glass ceiling on a primary that doesn't threaten from deep has been talked about ad nauseam. I've been guilty of it. We get it.
Let's just get back to basics with DeRozan: this dude is really freaking good at basketball.
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DARIUS GARLAND, PULLING UP
Young man's got some sauce to him.
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This feels straight out of Madden '07 to me. Instead of putting Ryan Arcidiacono on his hip, Garland slithers under him like he flicked "up" on the Highlight Stick. <a href="https://youtu.be/JYotsNmfM3g?t=22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You know the animation</a>. With Arcidiacono's momentum carrying him forward, Garland decelerates while retreating with a behind-the-back dribble, then flows immediately into a triple.
This. Is. The. Way.
Since the All-Star break, Garland is averaging a shade under 20 points while posting a 57.8 True Shooting percentage. The aggression has been the big key for him. He's taken 126 threes in 23 games since the All-Star break; he took 125 in the first 28 games of the season. A 43% clip on 5.5 attempts is dope for a 23-game sample. The funny part is that he's still&nbsp;leaving some food on his plate.
With Garland more willing to fire, defenders are creeping up a tad bit more. That's allowing him to get into the paint more often. Those paint touches are allowing his passing chops to shine through more clearly.
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This campaign has been a bit of a mess for the Cavs because of their injuries (and the occasional <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-something-has-got-to-give-with-kevin-love-cleveland-cavaliers-koby-altman-discipline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin Love lash-out</a>), but Garland figuring out that he can get to his shot just about whenever he wants may be the biggest development of their season.&nbsp;
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THE OTHER SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE
Joe Ingles is not having a very fun stretch. Over his last three games, he's shooting 32.4% from the field (1-of-5 from two, 10-of-29 from three). He's taken four free throws in that stretch, making half of them.
Meh.&nbsp;
With that cold patch, Ingles now has a True Shooting percentage of... wait, hold on... am I reading this correctly?
Ingles IS STILL POSTING A 70.0 TRUE SHOOTING PERCENTAGE. That's No. 1 among all players, and there's a significant gap between Ingles and runner-up Jarrett Allen (68.4).
Jordan Clarkson has felt like the frontrunner for the Bench Scorer of the Year Sixth Man of the Year award all season. I'd simply like to pose this question to you: why?
Clarkson has been a tremendous spark off the bench, though he's started to slide a bit with his jumper. Ingles has been lighting it up from beyond the arc all season, while also adding value as a passer and multi-positional defender. He can fill gaps -- on both ends of the floor -- in a way that Clarkson flat-out can't.&nbsp;
12-4-4, a 70 TS%, and solid defense across two-and-a-half/three positions on the best team in the league. What's not to like? What is the case against Ingles aside from points?
It is 2021, man. I think we should be a little past sorting the points-per-game section for bench players and handing out the award that way.&nbsp;
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THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO "HMMMM"
<ul>
<li>Let's continue to keep an eye on Luka Doncic in one-on-one situations. We know he loves the stepback, and how hot-and-cold it has run throughout his career. He's leaning more into his post game, a fun counter when he's matched up against like-sized or smaller defenders. He's generating 1.13 points per possession on post-ups (passes included) this season, the seventh-best mark among 49 players with at least 75 post-up possessions.</li>
<li>Ja Morant is shooting 41.4% from three-point range on moderate volume in April. He ain't that, but as my podcast co-host <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a> pointed out on this week's episode of "<a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1386679481709080576?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot</a>," he does look a lot more comfortable navigating against "under" coverage. Give any player with that level of IQ the same look over and over, and he's bound to beat it.</li>
<li>Guess who leads the Raptors in fourth-quarter scoring over the past two weeks? If you guessed any of the usual suspects -- Pascal Siakam (5.4), OG Anunoby (3.6), Fred VanVleet (2.0), or Kyle Lowry (1.3) -- you'd be wrong. The rookster Malachi Flynn is not only leading them in scoring (5.8), but he's doing so efficiently (47/46/92 shooting split). Another "got some sauce to him" guy to keep an eye on moving forward.</li>
<li>Kendrick Nunn (and just about every other guard) missed Monday night's loss to the Chicago Bulls, but the Heat have been getting the goods from Nunn as of late. He's averaging 16-4-3 while shooting 42% from deep since Victor Oladipo has been out. There's a real argument to be made that he's been Miami's best guard this season; you can quibble about what that means for Miami, but it's a timely development for Nunn as he enters an offseason where he <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/several-teams-tried-trading-for-kendrick-nunn-prior-to-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">may be pretty coveted</a>.</li>
<li>The Warriors are 2-2 and have been outscored with Stephen Curry on the court since <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/steph-curry-on-if-hes-the-mvp-i-gotta-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said he should be the MVP.</a> He's still played pretty well (28.5 points with a 46/39/87 split), but the timing of the dip is pretty funny.</li>
</ul>
PLAYS I LIKED
Hit 'Em With the Flex
It's always a good time when teams flow out of Elbow Series. Toss the rock to your high-post hub and let him play quarterback. It's a LeBron staple, a Jokic staple -- really any frontcourt player who can hit a cutter. This was a fun one from Toronto.
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Just tremendous work on the flex action from OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet. Anunoby sets up RJ Barrett with a filthy juke; VanVleet lays the lumber and&nbsp;hooooolds it,&nbsp;freeing Anunoby for the flush.&nbsp;
Going Wide in Brooklyn
An effective way for teams to get busy in (early) transition is to have a big set a high, off-ball screen around the middle of the floor. It's tough enough for defenses to match up in transition; doing so while trying to navigate a screen and a player flying downhill off the catch can be darn-near impossible at times.
I always think of the Milwaukee (Khris Middleton, specifically) when I see these early screens, but this was a good rep from the Nets.&nbsp;
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The Suns are in drop coverage due to Frank Kaminsky being their 5. They don't want to switch him, so he's hanging back while eyeing Blake Griffin. Griffin sets the screen for Kevin freakin' Durant; it's fair to say the Suns have no intention of switching Kaminsky onto him.
That leaves four eyes on Durant and a whole lot of space for Griffin to pop into. Easy money (sniper).
Early Chaos
Nothing says "we're young" like doing just about everything at 150 MPH. They turn a simple HORNS Flare look into a scramble drill.
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There is&nbsp;a lot&nbsp;going on here. Darius Bazley (#7) essentially ghosts the initial screen as Theo Maledon pivots to his right. The Celtics switch that ghost screen, but still find themselves trailing the action due to how quickly the Thunder are moving.&nbsp;
We get a quick pitch from Maledon to Aleksej Pokusevski, all while Moses Brown is "chasing" the ball to flow into a quick-hitting pick-and-roll. The Celtics can't switch&nbsp;that&nbsp;one -- Semi Ojeleye gets bumped by Brown -- and that allows Poku to waltz into a pull-up.
THE READING LIST
There is plenty of high-level basketball content out here if you know where to look. I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am as a writer without reading a ton of Zach Lowe or Chris Herring or Caitlin Cooper or Mirin Fader or, well, you get the point.&nbsp;
Anyway, here are some -- not all, but some! -- of the stories I&rsquo;ve read this week that I think you should check out. Their Twitter handles will be linked under their names, so click and follow if you don&rsquo;t already.
<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexmRegla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alex Regla</a> on Talen Horton-Tucker's <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexmRegla/status/1385250226638770178" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downhill dynamism</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/FredKatz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fred Katz</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/davidaldridgedc">David Aldridge</a> tag-teamed on a <a href="https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/1386687635364753412?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robin Lopez breakdown</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/seeratsohi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seerat Sohi</a> waxes poetic on how <a href="https://twitter.com/seeratsohi/status/1385321563159810054?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steph Curry's magical run makes us feel</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/RobMahoney">Rob Mahoney</a> on why the Milwaukee Bucks <a href="https://twitter.com/RobMahoney/status/1385234420555124736?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shouldn't be slept on</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/MirinFader" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mirin Fader</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/MirinFader/status/1385237454894952450?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a tremendous feature</a> on Rockets rookie Jae'Sean Tate.

In Nekias Duncan's weekly notebook, he shares things that have caught his eye. He breaks down players, teams, plays, stats, etc.

Roaming the Baseline: DeMar DeRozan, Darius Garland, Joe Ingles, more

Hi, hello, and welcome to the first edition of Roaming The Baseline! This will be a weekly endeavor where I point out some things that caught my eye: a hot or cold streak from a player, a developmental flash, a well-run play, a funny tweet, who knows? There will be film -- it&rsquo;s me, so of course there will be film -- but this will also be a bit looser. It&rsquo;s an extension of my Twitter feed, if you will.&nbsp;
With that said, let&rsquo;s roam the baseline.
DEVONTE&rsquo; GRAHAM IS BUZZING&nbsp;
The Charlotte Hornets have been League Pass darlings all season long. Most of that was behind the play of LaMelo Ball, though the enthusiasm of an Eric Collins call is up there on the intrigue list. Seriously, that man is the Kevin Harlan of local broadcasts.
Anyway, Ball is out of commission with a wrist fracture. He&rsquo;s missed the last five games, and the Hornets&hellip; are 4-1, with their lone loss coming in overtime against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.&nbsp;
What stood out in that game -- aside from a blown and-1 against Miles Bridges and Devin Booker cooking the <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1376555228791771139?s=20">Hornets&rsquo; early help</a> -- was Devonte&rsquo; Graham&rsquo;s shotmaking. That dude ran hot.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/devonte-pull-up.gif" alt="" width="575" height="321" />
Graham isn&rsquo;t the only player keeping the Hornets afloat; Terry Rozier continues to be a #ClutchGawd, Gordon Hayward is doing his smooth-operator things in the mid-post area, and Miles Bridges is dunking just about everything.
But the bounceback for Graham has been huge. Via InStat tracking, Graham has drained 40% of his pull-up threes during this five-game stretch. It&rsquo;s made him more or less the type of pull-up threat he was during his breakout sophomore campaign.
(Can sophomore campaigns classify as &ldquo;breakouts&rdquo; or do we just call that progression? Hello? Bueller?)
Getting back to that level of shotmaking is going to help the Hornets stay afloat. And, on a more personal note, reestablishing himself as that sort of threat is going to help get him paid this summer.&nbsp;
Kudos to that man!
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CHRISTYN WILLIAMS CAN BALL, TOO
The Lady Huskies of UConn have made their 13th-straight Final Four appearance. The talk of the town is guard Paige Bueckers, who is one of the best freshmen guards we&rsquo;ve seen in a looooong time. She&rsquo;s been great during the tourney, averaging 22.5 points (47/37/91 shooting split), 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals.&nbsp;
But UConn is much more than a one-woman show. They&rsquo;ve gotten key contributions from a host of players, but I&rsquo;d like to spotlight Christyn Williams for a bit.
The 5-foot-11 junior has been a two-way force for the Huskies. She&rsquo;s added value as a driver, especially against closeouts. She&rsquo;s also been bombing away from three, drilling 41% of her triples on nearly six attempts per contest. Her shot-making has been key to helping the offense loosen things up against the zones they&rsquo;ve faced.&nbsp;
Defensively, she&rsquo;s been a disruptor at the point-of-attack. Her on-ball tenacity played a large part in Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark having her third-least-efficient game of the season -- 0.75 points per play, via the good folks at <a href="https://herhoopstats.com/">Her Hoop Stats</a>.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/christyn-williams-defense.gif" alt="" width="574" height="323" />
This is more of a feel thing, but the plays that Williams has made throughout the tourney have felt timely. She doesn&rsquo;t just hit threes -- she knocks &lsquo;em down to cap a run or to end one from the other team. She doesn&rsquo;t just get to the rim; she breaks up the side-to-side swings and adds some juice to the offense near the end of the shot clock.&nbsp;
Bueckers may be the driving force, but the Huskies wouldn&rsquo;t be in the Final Four without the play of Williams.
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OG ANUNOBY CAN GUARD ANYBODY
I mean anybody.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/og-vs-cp3.gif" alt="" width="574" height="319" />
I mean anybody.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/og-vs-barton_jokic.gif" alt="" width="574" height="319" />
I. Mean. Anybody.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/og-vs-bam.gif" alt="" width="575" height="319" />
It freaking sucks that OG Anunoby hasn&rsquo;t been able to string together a large swath of games since, like, January. His development was something I was looking forward to this season, and so much has been outside of his control.
Even still, he&rsquo;s averaging a career high in points (14.7), rebounds (5.9), assists (1.8, bleh),&nbsp; steals (1.7), blocks (0.8), and three-point shooting (40.6% on 5.7 attempts). We&rsquo;ve seen some fun on-ball flashes from him, and the defense has been worthy of an All-Defensive team selection. Let&rsquo;s hope he stays healthy for the rest of the season.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO &ldquo;HMMMM&rdquo;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Aaron Gordon averaged roughly 13 shot attempts per game over his final three-ish seasons in Orlando. He&rsquo;s taken 13 shots total in his first two games in Denver. It&rsquo;s way too early to know if that means anything meaningful, but there seems to be an inherent buy-in on being a glue guy around the Jokic-Murray-Porter triumvirate.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Very quietly, Andrew Wiggins is on a bit of an upswing. In March, he&rsquo;s drilled 54.1% of his threes on north of five attempts per contest. The on-ball defense has largely held all year long. Another thing to keep tabs on: the Curry-Wiggins-Draymond trio without Kelly Oubre on the floor has a plus-15.1 net rating in 221 minutes, per <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612744&amp;Season=2020-21&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=203952,1626162,201939,203110">PBP Stats</a>.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Going back to the UConn-Iowa matchup in the Sweet 16, I still can&rsquo;t believe Iowa went that entire game without trying to attack Paige Bueckers in pick-and-roll. It is unfathomable to run a pick-and-roll heavy offense against a team that was willing to switch 1-through-3, and not attack the player that doubles as the worst on-ball defender in the lineup and their most important offensive player. What a blown opportunity.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Nearly a third of the Clippers&rsquo; shot attempts have come at the rim over the past two weeks. That ranks 11th during the stretch, and the actual number (32.9%) would rank 15th if extrapolated over the course of the season. That isn&rsquo;t an elite mark by any stretch, but &ldquo;average&rdquo; is all they need to complement their jump shooting. Also, 15th is a lot better than their actual rank (29th). And they&rsquo;ve done this without Rajon Rondo playing. It&rsquo;s almost like&hellip;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">It took until mid-February, but De&rsquo;Anthony Melton is a regular part of the Grizzlies&rsquo; rotation. And it is glorious. He&rsquo;s providing his usual brand of hungry-bulldog defense across both guard spots. More intriguing: since February 19, he&rsquo;s shooting 44% from deep on four attempts per contest. His contract (4/35) was a steal at the time of the signing. If his three-point shot is even close to what it&rsquo;s been this season, his agent may have some &lsquo;splainin&rsquo; to do.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
PLAYS I LIKED
Smart Improvisation
Marcus Smart made some, uh, decisions later on in Boston&rsquo;s loss to the Pelicans, but I liked this possession from him. He pushed the ball after a made basket to set up an early clock post-up. Robert Williams then lifts from the free throw line as an outlet before receiving the pass from Smart. From there, Kemba Walker curls around Williams to receive the handoff, then Smart sets an impromptu screen to get Walker downhill.&nbsp;
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/smart-improv.gif" alt="" width="574" height="319" />
I&rsquo;m not sure if that&rsquo;s a set piece or some freelance goodness, but it looked pretty. So, here we are.&nbsp;
Mikal Bridges Fakes the Funk
What a freakin&rsquo; ATO. A simple, but layered beauty.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/mikal-fake-dho.gif" alt="" width="574" height="319" />
This entire play is about deception. The Suns love running Double Drag almost as much as the Hawks do, so you can see hints of &ldquo;Aha! We&rsquo;re ready!&rdquo; as Bogdan Bogdanovic is preparing to switch the first action. He plays it high as Trae Young trails Chris Paul, but the exchange never happens.
Bridges pulls the football from Charlie Brown, darting to the hoop for an easy deuce. The hidden goodness is Devin Booker hauling tail to the left corner before things kick off, essentially turning this into an empty corner affair on the right side of the court. Danilo Gallinari tries to rotate over, but he can&rsquo;t get there.
The Heat have options
Everyone and their mother knows that the Heat want to get Duncan Robinson looks from three. The issue is that 1) he&rsquo;s insanely good at getting open and 2) the Heat do a fantastic job of making you think.
Quick, what does it look like they&rsquo;re setting up here?
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2021_03_31_18_18_00_lg.png" alt="" width="576" height="324" />
I could argue that Goran Dragic is setting a cross screen for Robinson so he can run off the Trevor Ariza screen on the left side of the floor. I could also argue that the Heat are setting up &ldquo;Elevator&rdquo; doors for Dragic to pop out on the left wing. Heck, I could argue Dragic could reverse course and come off of Ariza&rsquo;s screen himself, then flow into a 1-4 PnR to force (and attack) a switch.
This is what actually happened.
<img src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/duncan-triple.gif" alt="" width="574" height="319" />
Dragic aborts, then Robinson basically crawls through a mouse door to shake loose for a three from the left wing.&nbsp;
Good luck.
THE READING LIST
I&rsquo;m still working out the kinks of how I want this thing to flow, but I know this will be a staple. People reach out to me pretty often (humbling, to say the least) asking how to get better at this writing thing. I surely don&rsquo;t have all the answers -- I maintain that I&rsquo;m not even the best Duncan doing this -- but I do have one simple piece of advice: write a ton, and read more than you write.
There is plenty of high-level basketball content out here if you know where to look. It&rsquo;ll help you become smarter and better at what you do. I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am as a writer without reading a ton of Zach Lowe or Chris Herring or Caitlin Cooper or Mirin Fader or, well, you get the point.
Anyway, here are some -- not all, but some! -- of the stories I&rsquo;ve read this week (since 3/24) that I think you should check out. Their Twitter handles will be linked under their names, so click and follow if you don&rsquo;t already.&nbsp;
<a href="https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Cooper</a> on <a href="https://www.indycornrows.com/2021/3/29/22351630/nobody-puts-edmond-sumner-in-the-corner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Edmond Sumner&rsquo;s usage</a>, as well as the Sumner-TJ McConnell backcourt at large.
<a href="https://twitter.com/rohitnaimpally" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohit Naimpally</a> with a <a href="https://rohitnaimpally.substack.com/p/weekly-rewatch-5-nets-wizards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fantastic deepdive</a> on a fun Nets-Wizards game.
<a href="https://twitter.com/Herring_NBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Herring</a> on the <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/25/andre-drummond-rebounding-daily-cover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">current value of rebounding</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/LaurenWilli23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lauren Williams</a> with a <a href="https://www.mlive.com/pistons/2021/03/meet-the-woman-helping-build-the-detroit-pistons-back-into-a-contender.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dope feature on Britta Brown</a>, the newly hired senior director of basketball administration for the Detroit Pistons. Never a bad day to highlight a black woman in a position of power in the sports world.
<a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katie Heindl</a> on the <a href="https://basketballfeelings.substack.com/p/what-kind-of-business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murky business of trades</a>. I&rsquo;d also recommend checking out her appearance on the latest <a href="https://twitter.com/wtevs/status/1376914647819911175?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">episode of Spinsters</a>, a basketball-and-more podcast hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/HaleyOSomething" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Haley O'Shaughnessy</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/_jordanligons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jordan Ligons</a>.

In Nekias Duncan's weekly notebook, he shares things that have caught his eye. He breaks down players, teams, plays, stats and more.