https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/nba-logos/sas.png

Spurs

Cinderella teams make for great stories and busted brackets. They don&rsquo;t necessarily make for great television ratings, though.
After getting a dream Final Four field last year, CBS and Turner Sports have something&nbsp;very different this weekend with Florida Atlantic, Miami, San Diego State and Connecticut making it to Houston.
The lack of recognizable names could affect the ratings.
Upsets during the first two weeks have seemingly already taken a toll. The tournament is averaging 9.11 million viewers through the regional finals, which is down 6% from last year. This after the first round on March 16-17 averaged 9.2 million, a record for the most-watched round of 64.
Last year&rsquo;s Final Four of Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova resonated even with casual fans because it was loaded with national brands. It also included Mike Krzyzewski&rsquo;s final tournament as Duke&rsquo;s coach.
This year&rsquo;s group doesn&rsquo;t have the same cachet.
&ldquo;The public is telling us that they would rather see the bluebloods. The ratings support that,&rdquo; said former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson, who now runs his own sports television consulting company. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s because they&rsquo;re not familiar with teams like San Diego State, Miami or FAU. There was relatively little press attention paid to those teams during the year. Connecticut has a history, but they&rsquo;re the only one of the four that really has had national exposure.&rdquo;
College basketball also isn&rsquo;t different from other sports when it comes to marquee teams translating to bigger audiences.
Two of last year&rsquo;s Final Four games rank among the three most-watched college basketball games in cable TV history. The semifinal matchup between North Carolina and Duke averaged 18.5 million on TBS and ranks second, while Kansas&rsquo; comeback victory over North Carolina averaged 18.1 million.
According to Sports Media Watch, which tracked Final Four ratings to 1975, the Baylor-Houston game from two years ago ranks as the least-watched semifinal at 8.36 million (individual semis started being tracked in 2002).
The low for a title game on CBS is 2004, when 17.09 million watched UConn defeat Georgia Tech. The overall low was in 2018 on TBS, when 15.99 million viewed Villanova&rsquo;s win over Michigan. CBS and TBS began alternating Final Fours in 2016.
Another thing that might factor into ratings this year is that Miami and Florida Atlantic are from the same television markets (Miami/West Palm Beach).
There are signs that suggest the viewer drop won&rsquo;t be as bad. Last Sunday&rsquo;s regional final between Miami and Texas on CBS averaged 11.3 million, which was the most-watched basketball game since last year&rsquo;s deciding game of the NBA Finals.
Also, the 2011 semifinal between Butler and Virginia Commonwealth &mdash; the last time two mid-majors met in a Final Four &mdash; was down only 2% from the 2010 early semi, when Butler beat Michigan State.
&ldquo;UConn is a very well-known program but with the other three, that&rsquo;s where the interesting storylines are,&rdquo; said Tag Garson, senior vice president of properties for Wasserman Media Group. &ldquo;There are pundits who said they were seeded on a line that wasn&rsquo;t reflective enough of the type season they had. There are some tremendous players that will be playing this weekend regardless of which team you are talking about.&rdquo;

How will a Final Four consisting of Florida Atlantic, Miami, San Diego State and Connecticut affect March Madness TV ratings?

Lack of big-name teams could take toll on Final Four ratings

♪ Your time is up, my time is now ♪ 
♪ You can't see me, my time is now ♪ 
The beat is booming, trumpets blaring. The crowd is hyped &mdash; anticipation of something amazing will do that to you.
Normally, this would be the paragraph where John Cena is described. How he plays to the crowd, the message he gives to the camera conveniently zoomed in on him <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7cqG9wQxLU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before he flashes the "Never Give Up" towel and runs to the ring</a>.&nbsp;
Instead, the music just happens to be playing during the fourth quarter of the Toronto Raptors-Los Angeles Clippers game on Wednesday night.&nbsp;
Kawhi Leonard trots up the left side of the floor with OG Anunoby, the best perimeter defender in the league by many (read: my) accounts, waiting for him near half-court. Eric Gordon steps up to set an early drag screen, but Leonard rejects it to continue his leftward path.
Leonard gains inside leverage &mdash; doing that a lot, these days &mdash; and meets Jakob Poeltl at the rim. Well, more accurately, he gets to the rim and Poeltl just happens to be in his way. It sucks for him, because he wasn't stopping the funk coming his way.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/b9ocbz" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
"You can't see me, my time is now" works for Cena. Try as you might, you're not on his level. You're distant. He's better and he knows it. He's better and his fans know it. He's better and you probably know it, deep down inside.
Leonard is different. You can see him; he just doesn't care that you can. It may be more accurate to say he can't see&nbsp;you.&nbsp;Is this the face of a man that thinks he's overcome insurmountable odds?
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2023-03-09-at-1-14-42-pm.png" alt="" width="657" height="369" />
Absolutely not.
If a dunk like that is the Attitude Adjustment (the old name was better, cowards), his middy might be the shoulder charge before the Five Knuckle Shuf &mdash; okay, I've done enough with the wrestling analogy.
(Psst, he's knocked down 50.1% of his mid-range shots this season, per Cleaning The Glass. That feels like a typo, especially when you factor in how contested they've been.)
Anyway...
What shouldn't be lost in all the hoopla surrounding the Clippers &mdash; Russell Westbrook talk, rotation talk, <a href="https://twitter.com/PodcastPShow/status/1630946315659251713?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">podcast talk</a>, Western Conference standings talk &mdash; is the metronomic, inevitable nature of Kawhi.
He's both a source of friction and a reason for optimism. The Clippers aren't here without him being on the recovery plan he's been on; conversely, the Clippers wouldn't be a reasonable playoff pick without his two-way dominance.
The further we get away from his initial return, the more terrifying he looks. Just look at his season in 10-game intervals.
First 10 (8 starts): 13.7 points on 51.7% True Shooting, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists in 26.0 minutes
Next 10: 23.2 points on 61.1% True Shooting, 6.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals in 33.4 minutes
Following 10: 29.2 points on 63.2% True Shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.0 steals in 37.1 minutes
Last 10: 27.0 points on 67.6% True Shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals in 36.9 minutes
You can't erase portions of the season for a player &mdash; at least not in good faith &mdash; but a 30-game sample of 26.5 points on 64.0% True Shooting, 6.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists (1.8 turnovers) and 1.7 steals per game certainly qualifies as elite production. It's nasty stuff, even.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
I often find myself cackling at the casual nature of Leonard's approach. No matter the arena &mdash; isolating, posting up, running ball-screens, bringing the ball up in transition &mdash; it feels like he's in total control of what's happening.
Different defenders are tossed at him. Opponents oscillate between aggressive ball pressure, switching to flatten two-man actions and all-out traps to get the ball out of his hands. Their helpers do what they can to crowd the middle of the floor.
None of it matters, really.&nbsp;
Wednesday night's "revenge game" against the Raptors felt like one of those "it doesn't matter" games. His stat line was good enough: 24 points on 15 shot attempts, a season-high 12 rebounds, 4 dimes and three gimme-dats with the Clippers winning his minutes. But how he accumulated some of those? It's like, what do you do with him?
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/4ca0th" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
You can see him; he just doesn't care that you can.
To the versatility point on offense: The Clippers have scored at an elite level when Leonard is involved in the action.&nbsp;
On trips featuring a Leonard-led ball screen, the Clippers are generating 1.085 points per possession (PPP). Among 96 players to run at least 500 ball-screens this season, that ranks No. 5 in the NBA. With Leonard setting an on-ball screen, that number rises to nearly 1.12 PPP &mdash; seventh among 209 players to set at least 150 picks.
Related: Keep an eye on the Leonard-Westbrook partnership. The sample must grow, but Westbrook screening for Leonard (1.82 PPP) and Leonard screening for Westbrook (1.00 PPP) has been pretty fruitful so far. The latter scenario has mostly been used for mismatch-hunting to get to isos or post-ups &mdash; "reverse-engineering" as expertly stated by <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a> &mdash;&nbsp; but there's real juice behind inverting the action.&nbsp;
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/ns5zmg" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
We can keep going. He's sixth in post-up PPP (1.18) among 37 players with 100 reps under their belts; seventh in PPP (1.13) among 51 players with at least 200 isolation possessions.
It simply has not mattered.
Flip the court, and the efforts to best Leonard have also been futile. He's not 2014 Kawhi anymore as an on-ball defender. The screen navigation isn't the same, nor is his lateral quickness at this stage. He remains incredibly difficult to deal with, though.&nbsp;
It's hard to move him. His prep work before the screen gets set is still superb. Even quieter, his sense of when to pursue after getting screened vs. when to peel-switch and take away a passing window is still strong.&nbsp;
At this point, it's less about what Leonard can do defensively and more about his opponents fearing what he's capable of. If he's in your face, you have your work cut out. If you get him off of you, you still have to be wary of where he is.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/4opohe" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
It's been 40 games, which puts him a little behind the 8 Ball in terms of award talk. He isn't winning MVP. He's not winning Defensive Player of the Year, nor should he. An All-Defensive Team may also be out of the question, considering how deep the class is.
I'd keep an eye on his All-NBA case, though.
It feels like three spots are written in pen (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Julius Randle), and another two are in pencil (Kevin Durant and LeBron James, who would easily be inked without their injuries, and still might be). Between Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Lauri Markkanen, Pascal Siakam and Kawhi's co-star Paul George, we may be in for a furious debate.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Leonard is No. 10 in the league (+6.1) in DunksAndThree's Estimated Plus-Minus (EPM) metric, which estimates a player's total impact per 100 possessions. That would place Leonard sixth among forwards, trailing Butler (third, +7.1), Durant (seventh, +6.6), Giannis (eighth, +6.2) and LeBron (ninth, +6.2). Markkanen trails behind in 23rd (+4.8).
The cumulative version of the metric, Estimated Wins, places Leonard outside of the top 30 because of minutes played, putting him on par with Anthony Edwards (8.2) and slightly ahead of Siakam (8.0).
Of course, those are just two metrics out of the many in the public sphere. The most important thing is that Leonard looks like a two-way force getting close to peak form. That should terrify everyone.

Nekias Duncan analyzes how Kawhi Leonard is back to being a two-way force who is nearing his peak form with the Clippers.

His time is now: You can see Kawhi Leonard, but he doesn't care

Nekias Duncan takes an early look at this year's NBA award races with an in-depth look at who leads the pack through mid-December.

Nekias Duncan's 2022-23 NBA award front-runners: MVP, DPOY, ROY, more

JOHANNESBURG AND LONDON &ndash; The 2022-23 NBA regular season features 45 games that will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as part of &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23,&rdquo; marking the 10th consecutive regular season that the league has scheduled weekend games that air in primetime in EMEA.
The 45 games start as early as 12 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CET and feature the league&rsquo;s biggest stars, including two-time Kia NBA Most Valuable Player and 2021 NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks; Greece; ties to Nigeria), four-time NBA champion and 2022 Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), 2021-22 Kia All-NBA First Team member Luka Doncić (Dallas Mavericks; Slovenia), five-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon), four-time NBA champion and Finals MVP LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers), and reigning back-to-back Kia NBA MVP Nikola Jokić (Denver Nuggets; Serbia).
&ldquo;Scheduling weekly games in primetime for fans in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is a critical component of our efforts to make the excitement of NBA basketball more accessible to casual and hardcore fans,&rdquo; said NBA Senior Vice President, Head of International Content Partnerships Matt Brabants. &nbsp;&ldquo;Over the last 10 years we&rsquo;ve seen a tremendous response to this initiative from fans across these regions, and with the quantity and quality of talent from Europe and Africa in the NBA at an all-time high and weekly appointment viewing in primetime, there has never been a better time to be an NBA fan in EMEA.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The growing impact of African players in the NBA is evident every time you turn on a game,&rdquo; said NBA Africa Senior Director, Global Media Partnerships Kornelia Semmelink. &nbsp;&ldquo;As our footprint on the continent continues to grow, the NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23 initiative is one of many ways we&rsquo;re providing localized content to our passionate fans in Africa at a time that is convenient for them on the devices and platforms they use most.&rdquo;
In addition to &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23,&rdquo; games that will air in primetime in EMEA this season include The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2022 (Oct. 6 and 8 during the preseason), one game on the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. (Nov. 25), Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 16), The NBA Paris Game 2023 (Jan. 19) and the final day of the regular season (April 9). &nbsp;In total, NBA games and programming reach fans in more than 100 countries and territories across EMEA through the league&rsquo;s broadcast partners in those regions and NBA League Pass, which features a season-long subscription package.
During the 2021-22 season (regular season and Playoffs), a record 56 games aired in primetime in EMEA. &nbsp;Opening-night rosters for the 2021-22 NBA season featured 65 players from Europe and the Middle East, 14 players from Africa and more than 30 players with at least one parent from Africa.
Below are highlights of the &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23&rdquo; schedule. &nbsp;The complete schedule is available here.
&bull; Sunday, Oct. 30: 2020 NBA All-Star Brandon Ingram, 2021 NBA All-Star Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans visit seven-time NBA All-Star Paul George, two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers at 3 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CET.
&bull; Sunday, Nov. 27: Curry, four-time NBA All-Star Draymond Green, five-time NBA All-Star Klay Thompson and the defending NBA champion Warriors visit three-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, three-time NBA All-Star and Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert (France), 2020-21 Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team member Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves at 3:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CET.
&bull; Sunday, Dec. 25: 2020 NBA champion and eight-time NBA All-Star Anthony Davis, James and the Lakers visit Doncić and the Mavericks at 2:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. CET on Christmas Day, followed by an NBA Sundays presented by NBA 2K23 rematch in Dallas on Feb. 26 at 3:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CET.
&bull; Saturday, Jan. 14: Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, 2020 NBA All-Star Bam Adebayo, 2021-22 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat host Antetokounmpo, three-time NBA All-Star Khris Middleton, four-time Kia NBA All-Defensive Team member Jrue Holiday and the Bucks at 1 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CET.
&bull; Saturday, Jan. 28: Jokić and the Nuggets visit Embiid, 2017-18 Kia NBA MVP and 10-time NBA All-Star James Harden and the 76ers at 3 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CET as part of NBA Rivals Week. &nbsp;Embiid and Jokić were the top two 2021-22 Kia NBA MVP finalists, with Jokić winning the award for the second consecutive season.
&bull; Sunday, Feb. 12: Three-time NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum, 2021 NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown, 2021-22 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics host 2022 NBA All-Star Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies at 2 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CET.
&bull; Sunday, March 5: Curry, Green, Thompson and the Warriors visit Davis, James and the Lakers at 3:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CET.
&bull; Sunday, April 9: Three-time NBA All-Star Devin Booker, 12-time NBA All-Star Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns host George, Leonard and the Clippers at 3:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 p.m. CET.
The NBA yesterday released the complete game schedule for the 2022-23 regular season, which will tip off on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, and conclude on Sunday, April 9, 2023. &nbsp;The complete schedule and team-by-team schedules are available at NBA.com here. &nbsp;
About the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. &nbsp;Built around five professional sports leagues: &nbsp;the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. &nbsp;NBA rosters at the start of the 2021-22 season featured a record 121 international players from 40 countries. &nbsp;NBA Digital&rsquo;s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. &nbsp;The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 2.1 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. &nbsp;Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
About NBA Africa
NBA Africa is a standalone entity formed in May 2021 that conducts the NBA&rsquo;s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL). &nbsp;The NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2010 before opening additional offices in Dakar, Senegal, and Lagos, Nigeria. &nbsp;The league&rsquo;s efforts on the continent have focused on increasing access to basketball and the NBA through youth and elite development, social responsibility, media distribution, corporate partnerships, NBA Africa Games, the BAL, and more.
NBA games and programming are available in all 54 African countries, and the NBA has hosted three sold-out exhibition games on the continent since 2015. &nbsp;The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and NBA Africa, is a professional league featuring 12 club teams from across Africa that recently completed its second season. &nbsp;Fans can follow @NBA_Africa and @theBAL on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The 2022-23 NBA regular season features 45 games that will air in primetime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

NBA to feature 45 weekend primetime games in Europe, Middle East, Africa

Pat Riley spoke on Monday.&nbsp;
It rarely happens now, these Riley pressers. You get one after the season, you might get one before the season and you might get one after the trade deadline if something happens. But for the most part, other than seeing him sitting alongside Alonzo Mourning watching Miami Heat games, this is it for most of us. Often seen, seldom heard.&nbsp;
So, when he speaks, it sparks a gathering, especially after a season like this one. The Heat were one shot away from beating the Boston Celtics and facing the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. One ballsy, controversial, &ldquo;f*** you&rdquo; shot from Jimmy Butler in the face of a backpedaling Al Horford would&rsquo;ve completed one of the greatest comebacks &mdash; and most epic collapses &mdash; in NBA playoff history. (The Celtics led 98-85 with 3:30 left, and just 98-96 when Butler pulled a three with about 10 seconds left.)
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/05QyiNn42XI" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/2022-nba-offseason-preview-what-takes-the-miami-heat-over-the-top" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I already previewed Miami's offseason</a> &mdash; chiefly centered around the pending decision on Tyler Herro&rsquo;s future &mdash; which Riley also spoke about on Monday. For this article in particular, our focus will be on Bam Adebayo, who drew the ire of many casual and diehard Heat and NBA observers underwhelmed by his postseason offensive consistency.
You either think he isn&rsquo;t as good as advertised or are frustrated because of your expectations for him. Or... or... or... you watch the Heat with an understanding that, while he could be better offensively, maybe he isn&rsquo;t wholly to blame for these apparent shortcomings &mdash; if we&rsquo;re calling it that.
Riley recognizes the latter.&nbsp;
&ldquo;(Adebayo&rsquo;s) been asked to do a lot of things as a young player, and he has grown into being very efficient at doing those things,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost that learning curve of being a facilitating big, either at the elbow, on handoffs, on pick-and-rolls. He&rsquo;s always getting somebody open. Duncan [Robinson] should pay him half his check, Tyler [Herro] should pay him half his check, Max [Strus] should pay him half his check.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Pat Riley on Bam Adebayo: He's always getting someone open. Duncan, Tyler and Max should give him half their check. This could be a year on how can Bam be developed in a way to improve his consistent shot ability every night. Getting 15 shots every night. <a href="https://t.co/AKzCpqQgc8">pic.twitter.com/AKzCpqQgc8</a>
&mdash; Brendan Tobin (@Brendan_Tobin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Brendan_Tobin/status/1533879183482535936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

The Adebayo conundrum is layered. It requires context that may bore you, especially if you just care about the superficial, click-baity sh**. The theories might not move you, substantive as they appear, so let&rsquo;s say what&rsquo;s real.
Though Adebayo will be 25 in July, the five-year pro has only been a full-time starter for three seasons.
In his first two years, he primarily came off the bench until taking the starting role from Hassan Whiteside toward the end of the 2018-19 season. He started 22 of the last 23 games of his sophomore campaign, and the 22 were consecutively from Feb. 27 through April 9.
In the summer of 2019, <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2022/04/06/bam-adebayo-will-never-forget-gregg-popovich-cut-team-usa-2019#:~:text=Adebayo%20was%20cut%20from%20Team,that%20won%20gold%20in%20Tokyo.">he was famously cut from Team USA&rsquo;s underwhelming World Cup team</a> that finished seventh. Still, Adebayo <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2020.html">nearly went on to win Most Improved Player in 2020</a>, and he probably should&rsquo;ve over Brandon Ingram, who was the No. 2 overall pick just four years prior. (But anyway...)
In his three seasons as a starter, he&rsquo;s been an All-Star caliber player, has been named to the All-Defensive Second Team every year and has finished in the top five for Defensive Player of the Year all three times &mdash; a feat matched only by Rudy Gobert in that span. Offensively, he&rsquo;s grown from a rim-runner and lob threat with a &ldquo;Clint Capela&rdquo; ceiling out of the 2017 NBA Draft to a versatile hub who activates the team&rsquo;s shooters. Those shooters led the Heat to their season-best 37.9% shooting from three during the regular season. That&rsquo;s a product of multiple years of point-center work, not just this season.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e6Lmd7npeto" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
But the team&rsquo;s &ldquo;shortcomings&rdquo; &mdash; an unfair term to an awesome squad that was among the last three standing, but still &mdash; have publicly been placed on Adebayo&rsquo;s broad shoulders, to some extent.
Now, more context.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ll ignore that Adebayo had COVID to close the regular season (<a href="https://account.miamiherald.com/paywall/stop?resume=259746525">thus, unable to join the Heat on a trip to the Bahamas</a>) because it didn&rsquo;t appear to have any long-lasting effects, sure. At one point, his availability for Game 1 against the Atlanta Hawks was in question, but he was ready. He didn&rsquo;t break 10 shot attempts until Game 4 and didn&rsquo;t have an Adebayo-like offensive game &mdash; the All-Star kind &mdash; until Game 5, the series&rsquo; closer with an injured Butler watching.&nbsp;
With Joel Embiid off the floor against the Philadelphia 76ers, Adebayo recorded 47 points, 21 rebounds and 7 assists on 15-of-21 shooting and 17-of-19 on free throws across Games 1 and 2. He, again, only broke 10 field goal attempts one time in the series&rsquo; final four games. It was Game 4, where he finished with 21-7-4 on 9-for-12. In the seven games against the Celtics, it was a bit more all over the place &mdash; but it encompassed this year&rsquo;s Adebayo-playoff experience.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-06-07-at-6-04-18-pm_690w.png" alt="" width="725" height="348" />
And yet, even with the offensive seesaw, without Adebayo&rsquo;s defense, there is no Game 7. There is no pushing the Celtics to seven. There might not even be a Celtics series. That&rsquo;s how good Adebayo is defensively, yet the offensive glimpses leave you pleading for more, because of the elite two-way possibilities. And it&rsquo;s understandable.&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8uBleTEx5pI" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Not to be overly simplistic, but if the Heat, I don&rsquo;t know, shot better than 31.3% from three in the playoffs &mdash; seven percentage points lower than they did when leading the league in the regular season &mdash; Adebayo isn&rsquo;t magnified to this degree. We can look at Adebayo and say: Hey, you&rsquo;ve gotten 30-plus against the Celtics&rsquo; elite defense without Butler, with heightened focus on you, and were unstoppable. Why can&rsquo;t you do this all the time? However, it&rsquo;s complicated.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JQUJLleV1WY" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
For one, when you watch the Heat, there honestly aren&rsquo;t a lot of plays drawn up for Adebayo to just go. <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/five-on-the-floor-miami-heat-nba/id1336060206" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It&rsquo;s a point made on 5 On The Floor all the time</a>, primarily by Heat reporter Alex Toledo of 5 Reasons Sports. Adebayo&rsquo;s primary offensive assignment is to activate their shooters.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t realize what he does to get people open,&rdquo; Riley said at his presser, speaking of Bam. &ldquo;A lot of that has to do with how other teams are playing (Adebayo), dropping way back, and we can get that shot. Maybe we look for that a little bit too much.&rdquo;
But Riley later adds a wrinkle that a portion of Heat fans and even media have been calling for since Adebayo&rsquo;s emergence.
More... simply, more.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This could be a year, and (Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra) and I will sit down a talk about it, about how can Bam be developed in a way to improve his consistent shot ability every night,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;Getting 15 shots every night, quality shots that he can get, he can create &mdash; whether it&rsquo;s in the post or at the elbow. He can be very prolific at times, but it can&rsquo;t always be on effort, on running, on getting offensive rebounds, on lob dunks, on little floaters.&rdquo;
And the frustrating thing for some is, the teases and flashes are there.
The two-way versatility, the ability to be a walking mismatch to opposing bigs, the fakes, the handle, the bounce passes to cutters, the mid-range jumper when he takes it confidently; it&rsquo;s why I, personally, said he&rsquo;s a jumper away from being a Kevin Garnett remix, and that was in 2019. It&rsquo;s what we saw when Adebayo <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-eastern-conference-finals-heat-vs-celtics.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was the best player in the Eastern Conference Finals less than two years ago</a>, averaging 21.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 60.8% shooting, while doing all he does on defense. (He would&rsquo;ve won that new Larry Bird MVP trophy had it been around.)
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BZBeb8Q1l3s" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&ldquo;I do think there&rsquo;s a part of him that can grow. That depends on a bit on your overall offensive philosophy and how much you want to change that," Riley continued. "I think there&rsquo;s another level at his age now that we need more consistency in his ability to get good shots, create good shots, and scoring.&rdquo;
The bottom line is that Adebayo is arguably the best defender in the NBA, and most certainly in any rational observer&rsquo;s top five as a floor. That can&rsquo;t be taken for granted, even though it clearly is, largely due to the offensive questions. As hard as he works on the defensive end &mdash; switching more than anyone, legitimately guarding 1-through-5 and being the defensive cheat code that engineers Spoelstra&rsquo;s vision &mdash; having him additionally as a No. 1 option on an NBA champion is unrealistic.
But having him as a No. 3 alongside Butler and Herro, or someone else not yet on the roster, is a place you&rsquo;d rather be. If the Heat want more of a focus on Adebayo&rsquo;s offense, they could manufacture it themselves. And he obviously has to hone his tools to prepare for, in theory, an increased role and usage.&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-06-07-at-11-00-22-pm_690w.png" alt="" width="690" height="158" />
Personally, I think adding a mid-range, foul-line/elbow jumper he&rsquo;s confident enough in to pull regularly will go a long way, and it might be all he needs. Y
You start there, and a lot else could follow, especially while continuing to be an offensive hub.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Bryan Fonseca reviews Pat Riley's presser to cap the Heat's season and how Bam Adebayo's offense will be a huge focus this summer.

Heat's Pat Riley, like most of us, wants more Bam Adebayo offense

Tyler Herro hasn&rsquo;t had the playoffs that Miami Heat fans were hoping for and that many others were anticipating. Even so, the Heat have gone 7-3 in their 10 playoff games, gentleman-sweeping the Atlanta Hawks with a +60 point differential in Round 1 before going up 3-2 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 2.
If you comparison shop, Herro&rsquo;s playoff performance is a distinct upgrade from what he displayed last year. You could say the same for the entire Heat roster given that many of them were fatigued from the year prior, <a href="https://twitter.com/BryanFonsecaNY/status/1517002610179461120">a point I&rsquo;ve made repeatedly about the bubble final four</a>. But Herro&rsquo;s production falls short compared to his rookie year postseason.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xs93fHglLrI" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
In the bubble, Herro averaged 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 43/38/87 shooting splits in 21 playoff games, logging 33.6 minutes per contest. Currently, he&rsquo;s at 14.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest, and he&rsquo;s averaging just 28.7 minutes per game in part because the Heat keep blowing teams out. (Six of their seven playoff wins have been by double-digit points, and the one that wasn&rsquo;t was a closeout win over Atlanta, in which Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry sat.)
His per-36 production is almost exactly the same: 17.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists as a rookie, and 17.8 points with the same rebounds and assists now. The difference? His shooting splits are down to 42/28 from the field and from three, and while he&rsquo;s shooting 91.3 percent on free throws, he&rsquo;s only averaging 2.9 attempts per 36 minutes, barely up from 2.8 attempts per game two playoffs ago.
Let&rsquo;s not be overly dramatic and say that Herro is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=i%27m+fighting+for+my+life+">fighting for his f*cking life</a>, but at 22 years old, he is already playing for his future. The 2019 lottery pick is extension eligible this summer, which will again be one of the most significant free agencies in Heat history regardless of how these playoffs turn out. But if Herro doesn&rsquo;t show enough in these playoffs to warrant a long-term extension, he may have to become a casualty for the team to move forward. Windows are hella fragile in #thisleague.
In the NFL, quarterbacks drafted in the early rounds have a quicker trial period than ever before, something that coincides with how little time young NBA players may have to develop while on a contender. Rookie-scale contracts in the NFL, similar to NBA first-round picks, are for up to four years at the team&rsquo;s discretion. If you&rsquo;re good enough, you&rsquo;ll play through all four years and receive an extension that would kick in immediately afterward. An NFL first-round pick typically gets a fifth-year option, which is at the heart of the controversy surrounding Baker Mayfield now.
After earning over $32 million over these last four seasons following his selection as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, he&rsquo;s now on a fifth-year option worth under $19 million. He's still on the Cleveland Browns, even as they&rsquo;ve signed DeShaun Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million deal, the largest in NFL history.
The point is that the Browns, after Mayfield&rsquo;s struggles, felt that they had to go through alternative means for a franchise quarterback. The Heat are nearing a similar fork-in-the-road decision this summer, in which Herro&rsquo;s current play will serve as a factor.
Here&rsquo;s the Heat&rsquo;s salary cap table going forward, per basketball-reference.com:
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-05-11-at-1-12-16-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="691" height="450" />
A potential Herro extension wouldn&rsquo;t kick in until 2023-24, and chances are Duncan Robinson&ndash;a prime trade candidate in this summer&ndash;would no longer be on the roster. Herro and Robinson could depart in the same package if Miami deems that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s best going forward, but would such a trade leave the Heat with enough talent to remain contenders?
Again, we're <a href="https://hoopshype.com/2022/05/11/knicks-heat-are-the-teams-that-are-closely-monitoring-donovan-mitchells-status/">seeing reports about the Heat&rsquo;s interest in Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell</a>. I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/examining-potential-trade-desinations-for-donovan-mitchell-2022">wrote about the Mitchell-to-Miami possibilities in late April</a> immediately following Utah&rsquo;s six-game first-round elimination against the Dallas Mavericks. If such a deal were to happen, Herro and Robinson would have to be included for financial reasons, and, well&hellip; never mind. I&rsquo;ll leave Utah alone this time.
But the door seems open because Herro has generally struggled this postseason. He also has, by far, the team&rsquo;s worst on-off plus-minus per 100 possessions. On the court, he&rsquo;s been a -5.7, while the only other player in the negative is Omer Yurtseven (-11.1), who has only played garbage minutes. Herro&rsquo;s on-off is a -39.8. Yurtseven has the second-worst, at -22.8, but again, he doesn&rsquo;t really play. Victor Oladipo, the only other notable rotation player, is a -6.1. All other key players are a net positive.
Now, in fairness to Herro, let&rsquo;s add more context. First, here&rsquo;s his playoff game log, again, per bball ref.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-05-11-at-1-20-36-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="712" height="212" />
Game 1 was a blowout, so they didn&rsquo;t need him. Game 2 was fine, and Game 3 was one of his best, including 7 much-needed fourth-quarter points and 12 in the second. In Game 4, he was completely neutralized, largely thanks to Delon Wright, <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1516564233684721666">who guarded him for much of the series</a>. In Game 5, without Butler and Lowry, Herro was still mostly limited, even if wasn&rsquo;t "bad" by any means.
In this series, Sixers coach Doc Rivers has talked about putting an emphasis on slowing Herro, who went off for 25 points on 53/67/100 shooting splits in the opener, and so far that has worked to a degree, as Herro has been held to 13.3 points per game on 42/32/90 splits ever since.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Doc Rivers on what he told his team when defending Tyler Herro: &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s make a mistake on anybody but Herro.&rdquo; Said he&rsquo;s fine with mistakes, &ldquo;but just not him.&rdquo;
&mdash; Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradyHawk305/status/1522037933146091522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

While Herro&rsquo;s struggles have been born out of respect, he hasn&rsquo;t fully adjusted. Luckily for the Heat, it hasn&rsquo;t been quite the deciding factor since Butler has been an All-NBA Playoff Performer so far. Herro has the team&rsquo;s second-highest playoff usage rate at 24.5, leads the team in turnovers due to bad passes this post-season with 12 and hasn&rsquo;t quite been his Sixth-Man-of-the-Year self. He did, however, find some offense late in Game 5 over Philadelphia after a one-point first half. He found angles and was able to get to his floater after knifing through the lane, scoring 9 second-half points before sitting because the game was out of reach.
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lWNoev07nSk" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Rivers alluded to adjustments necessary for stopping Butler, who is averaging about 28-8-6 in the playoffs on 54/37/82 shooting. That could mean double teams, and that could open up things for Herro in Game 6. Maybe the Heat haven&rsquo;t needed a hero in the way Nas intended, but if Butler sees increased defensive resistance in Game 6, they might. On many fronts, it would go a long way if he took advantage, both in this series, and for his career.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Tyler Herro may have won Sixth Man of the Year, but has he done enough to make himself a staple in Miami's lineup long-term?

Is Tyler Herro already playing for his future with the Miami Heat?

Early in the third quarter, Jimmy Butler casually trots down the right side of the floor.&nbsp;
He pitches the ball to Bam Adebayo above the break, then jogs to the right corner. It looks like Butler is setting up a pindown for Max Strus, which would likely flow into a handoff with Adebayo. Instead, Strus cuts through to the left side of the court, clearing the right side for Butler and Adebayo to go to work.&nbsp;
Adebayo passes the ball to Butler, then sets a screen for him. Tobias Harris gets cleared out by Adebayo's screen. Butler takes a couple of dribbles to his left, while DeAndre Jordan (Adebayo's defender) retreats as part of his drop-coverage duties. With Harris tangled up with Adebayo and Jordan dropping back, Butler is able to rise into an uncontested elbow jumper.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/k2md2u" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
It is hard to overstate how easy this is. Butler doesn't move out of first gear for this entire possession. Harris has no path to getting back in the play after the screen, and Jordan doesn't affect anything.
If that possession looks familiar, it's because it's a near carbon copy of this first-quarter stretch.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/wslq0s" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The Butler-Adebayo pairing shook loose all night. Per Second Spectrum, a Miami Heat trip featuring a pick-and-roll with Miami's stars generated 1.73 points per possession (PPP) &mdash; nearly a guaranteed bucket. It's a far cry from their regular-season mark against the Sixers (0.43 PPP).&nbsp;
We can point out the obvious, that the Philadelphia 76ers desperately miss Joel Embiid.
His ability to play the gap &mdash; walking the tightrope between taking away easy shots for the ball-handler and not letting the roll man get behind him &mdash; is incredibly valuable. There's a level of space restriction with Embiid that can't be replicated anywhere else on the roster; heck, only a handful of bigs come close to replicating it in the NBA.
The Heat knew that, which led to them upping the ante in Game 2. They ran six more picks (77) than they did in Game 1 (71). More interesting to me was their setup; much like the clips above, the Heat emptied the strong-side corner more than they did in Game 1.
Emptying a corner (or a whole side, again, like the clip above) is designed to put extra stress on everyone, with more emphasis on the screen navigation &mdash; because falling behind the play means your big has to account for two players.
More emphasis on the help one pass away. If the big can't get a tag, you at least have to bother the ball-handler. What kind of nail help is this?
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_05_05_21_27_50_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Or this?
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_05_05_21_28_52_lg.png" alt="" width="577" height="325" />
Orrrr this?&nbsp;
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screenshot_2022_05_05_20_58_12_lg.png" alt="" width="576" height="324" />
After setting 21 picks with an empty corner in Game 1, that number went up to 29 in Game 2. Not only did the volume increase, the efficiency did as well. Trips featuring an empty corner ball-screen produced well over 1.4 PPP.
The Sixers were already dealing with a personnel deficit with no Embiid. Their drop coverage was never going to hit the same with Jordan or Paul Reed (whew, boy, was he bad) anchoring things. It was&nbsp;awful&nbsp;when Miami emptied the corner against it in Game 2: seven possessions, seven shot attempts, six made shots, 14 points.
That's right &mdash; they quite literally averaged a bucket (2.00 PPP) when they saw drop coverage against an empty corner. This was the lone miss:
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/1jpiub" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
Yes, that is James Harden playing drop coverage. No, I will not be taking anymore questions.
In light of their struggles against drop, I am utterly confused by them compounding those issues by rarely attempting to keep things on the sideline.&nbsp;
Of the 29 picks they faced with an empty corner, they only went to ICE coverage on four of them. Four! The purpose of ICE coverage is to force the ball-handler down the side, using that boundary as an extra defender.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/4aifzj" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
This is a much better process from Philadelphia. Harris attempts to force Butler down the right sideline. Adebayo does yeoman's work by flipping his angle &mdash; the natural counter to ICE coverage &mdash; but that simply turns into a late switch by Reed. The play ends with Victor Oladipo committing an unforced error, but that doesn't happen if the Sixers don't take away the easy gap at the beginning of the possession.
The Sixers switched more often than not when faced with these empty-corner actions. This may shock you, but all of their switches took place with Reed or someone smaller at the 5. The Heat scored efficiently (1.3 PPP on direct plays), but look at how hard the Heat had to work for these makes. From a process standpoint, switching is their best way to bring things into the mud.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; overflow: hidden;" src="https://streamable.com/e/qqgfgx" width="100%" height="325" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
The simple (and hopeful) solution for the Sixers is to get Embiid back. Even 80% of him would bring a level of deterrence to their defense they've been lacking, and simplify roles for everyone else on the floor.&nbsp;
But with his status up in the air for Game 3, most tweaks are going to come from within. The easiest one: Downsizing more often and leaning into more switching. If there's a path to beating the Heat while undermanned, it's by forcing them to work in the half-court. It's a lot harder to that if you're feeding them pockets of space to attack.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Sixers' defensive woes against empty corner pick-and-rolls.

Emptying the clip: How the Heat torched the 76ers in pick-and-roll

Dwight Howard, Bam Adebayo, DeAndre Jordan. When the chiseled 6-foot-10 Jalen Duren comes crashing down on dunks, these are some of the names that are evoked in scouts' minds. Duren, a former 5-star recruit and current freshman at Memphis, has been a consistently positive force for the Tigers in a season that's been full of ups and downs. His immense physical tools and stand-out athleticism have had him on the prospect radar since he was a freshman in high school. Thus far, Duren has not disappointed, as he's been high on the big boards of scouts, teams and draft analysts alike.&nbsp;
From Delaware to Florida
Duren, a native of Delaware, began both his AAU and high school career with Pennsylvania roots. Duren played up with Team Final (PA) as a middle schooler. He competed with their 15-and-under team &mdash; showing no problem thriving in a league two age groups up, as he is such an overwhelming physical force. During his middle school run with Team Final, Duren blew up on the national radar, sparking a frenzy from high schools looking for the right to have him don their jersey. Duren decided upon Philadelphia's Roman Catholic High School, a program that has produced the likes of Rasual Butler, Brad Wanamaker and Lamar Stevens. The future Memphis Tiger linked up with a future LSU Tiger, Justice Williams, at Roman Catholic. During his first year with the private school powerhouse, the duo rolled their way to a historic Philadelphia Catholic League title. Duren brought home All-State honors following a strong debut season.
Duren's sophomore effort looked to be much of the same, as Roman Catholic seemed to be rolling their way to a third consecutive title, until the COVID-19 pandemic abbreviated the season. Duren and Williams opted to transfer to Montverde Academy for their junior seasons. Competing in the new National Interscholastic Basketball Conference (NIBC), the duo joined a team loaded with high-major talent. Montverde recorded a dominant 24-1 record, in which Duren earned All-American honors. Montverde reaffirmed their spot atop the high school basketball ranks with a national championship.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The Penny Way
In August of 2021, Duren made the surprising decision to reclassify, in conjunction with fellow top 2022 recruit Emoni Bates. The pair of consensus 5-stars pledged their college careers to the Memphis Tigers and head coach Penny Hardaway in the same week. Bates and Duren finished fifth and sixth in the recruiting rankings respectively, and gave Memphis a consensus top-2 recruiting class in the country. The addition of the two 5-star recruits and fellow top-50 player Josh Minott to a veteran-laden Memphis team landed the Tigers at the pre-season No. 12 spot in the country. The Tigers opened the season 6-0, featuring wins against St. Louis, Western Kentucky and Virginia Tech. Duren averaged a double-double &mdash; 13.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game during their run, while also adding 4.2 blocks per game. This impressive stretch included a dominant 22 point, 19 rebound outing against Western Kentucky's 7-5 Jamarion Sharpe. Duren was a physical monster, beasting a talented Hilltoppers squad at every turn.
After peaking at No. 9 in the rankings, Memphis hit quite a bit of turmoil, as a fissure began to form in the locker room following a string of losses. In an interview with The Athletic, Penny said, "We've got so much negativity in our locker room with veterans being jealous. Everybody's trying to get to the NBA off the ranking we had, but nobody is willing to sacrifice minutes, touches, anything. It's been miserable. You can imagine what a 17-year-old is thinking as he's trying to figure it out." Duren has remained positive for the team despite the turmoil, averaging 9.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. I recently saw Duren take on the Central Florida Knights in a game that wasn't highly contested, as Memphis struggled.
Pregame, Duren warmed up and stretched largely individually. He came sporting a very quiet, "I'm about my business" demeanor in which he was locked-in and wasn't particularly jovial. Duren was most impactful defensively during the game, where he registered 3 blocks and was an intimidator in the paint. Offensively he struggled to get into his groove in a game where the Tigers were severely short-handed (only 7 players played, as Jayden Hardaway got injured early).&nbsp;
NBA Bound
Despite a volatile year for the Memphis program as a whole, Duren's draft stock has remained relatively unchanged, as he is still a likely top-10 pick on any reasonable draft board. Additionally, Duren's physical tools have buoyed his draft stock &mdash; he is a top .001% type of athlete.&nbsp;
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
Our Sr. Draft Analyst Matt Babcock shared what he has seen out of the 6-foot-10 freshman this season:
"At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds of muscle to go along with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and good athleticism, Jalen Duren possesses impressive physical tools. He's also a capable passer with a higher skill set than what one might initially expect. Also, remember that he's supposed to be a high school senior this year. However, he chose to reclassify to attend Memphis a year early. It is yet to be determined how high he'll be selected exactly &mdash; and I am concerned with his selective motor &mdash; but I feel comfortable with the idea that he will likely be the first true big man to come off the board on draft night."
Duren currently sits at No. 6 on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BasketballNews.com 2022 NBA Draft Big Board</a>.
Looking to go to the hottest concerts, sports, theater &amp; family shows near you? Get 100% guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of BasketballNews.com. <a href="https://www.ticketsmarter.com/?utm_source=basketballnewscom&amp;utm_medium=tsaff&amp;utm_campaign=referral" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Order online now</a>!

Grant Aqui talks likely top-10 2022 draftee Jalen Duren, a talented freshman big man playing in a tough situation for the Memphis Tigers

2022 NBA Draft: Jalen Duren showcasing immense potential

Spencer Davies caught up with former NBA lottery pick Joe Alexander, who has thrived overseas by learning to adapt and adjust his game.