Lancers

The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday&rsquo;s NBA Draft Lottery as the big winners, winning the No. 1 overall pick for the fourth time in franchise history.
Winning the lottery is a big deal for any team, as it gives them a tremendous opportunity to add an elite young talent. The <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2022 draft class</a> features a few &ldquo;can&rsquo;t-miss&rdquo; prospects who have already adequately separated themselves from the other top youngsters. Auburn&rsquo;s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga&rsquo;s Chet Holmgren and Duke&rsquo;s Paolo Banchero are easily the most electrifying players in the 2022 class.
All three of these prospects are versatile big men, which is a role that the Magic would be well-served in addressing. Orlando had two lottery picks in 2021, which they used on Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs and Michigan small forward Franz Wagner. If the Magic add a big man who grows into a superstar, their roster will be mostly set for the foreseeable future.
Of course, the allure of prospects wears off almost immediately after the draft. Ignoring the scouting process and all the work that goes into prosect evaluation, a look back at the last 10 NBA drafts reveals that first-overall picks are far from the sure things we make them out to be:
2012 NBA Draft: Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Ten years ago, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick. Davis grew into a superstar quickly, and his impact on the Pelicans was clear almost immediately. He led the Pelicans to the playoffs twice, in 2014-15 and 2017-18. The 2017-18 team was particularly good, winning 48 games in the regular season with a core of Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday. Cousins&rsquo; injury played a major role in Davis departing the Pelicans, as New Orleans failed to replace Davis&rsquo; friend and running mate. Had Cousins stayed healthy, who knows how good New Orleans could have been?
Still, Davis is clearly a great player who was absolutely worthy of the No. 1 pick. He has become an eight-time All-Star and earned a spot on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team. Davis helped the Los Angeles Lakers win a championship in 2020, and he has career averages 23.8 points, 10.2 rebounds 2.3 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals.
Verdict: Success, although not necessarily for New Orleans.
2013 NBA Draft: Anthony Bennett, Cleveland Cavaliers 2014 NBA Draft: Andrew Wiggins, Cleveland Cavaliers 
The Cleveland Cavaliers picked first overall in 2013 and 2014. The strange thing about both picks is that neither Anthony Bennett nor Andrew Wiggins made an impact in Cleveland. Both were sent to Minnesota in a package for Kevin Love. Bennett played one uneventful season with the Cavaliers, and Wiggins was sent out prior to the start of his rookie season. So, which team do we assess? Cleveland or Minnesota? Let&rsquo;s review both.
Technically, getting two consecutive first overall picks and trading them to the Timberwolves helped Cleveland win their first championship in franchise history. That&rsquo;s a big win for the Cavaliers, even if it cost them both players. Cleveland&rsquo;s championship was more so a product of LeBron James (and Kyrie Irving to a lesser extent), but Love was impactful and the trade worked out.
Conversely, Minnesota did not fare well with Wiggins and Bennett. They qualified for the playoffs only once in Wiggins&rsquo; five-and-a-half seasons in Minnesota, and Bennett was off the team after only one season. Wiggins seems to have found a home in Golden State, but he's the team&rsquo;s fourth-best player, which is not what most people expect from No. 1 picks (especially one with Wiggins' hype).
Verdict: Both are failures relative to expectations, but Wiggins has become a significant contributor.
2015 NBA Draft: Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaking of Minnesota, they fared so poorly following the aforementioned Love-for-Wiggins-and-Bennett trade that they received the No. 1 overall pick in 2015. Yes, that means they technically had the first overall picks from three consecutive drafts on their roster, at least for a short period of time.
The pick in 2015 turned out to be Karl-Anthony Towns, who has now played seven seasons in Minnesota. Until recently, the Timberwolves' front office failed to surround him with the talent needed to compete. Towns has led Minnesota to the playoffs only twice, but regardless how one views the lack of team success, Towns was a good pick. He's a career 20-and-10 guy who shoots an unbelievable 40% from three-point range. The 26-year-old is a perfect big man for today's NBA.
Verdict: The Towns pick is a relative success.
2016 NBA Draft: Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers 2017 NBA Draft: Markelle Fultz, Philadelphia 76ers
We can&rsquo;t really discuss the first overall picks of the past 10 seasons without diving into Sam Hinke&rsquo;s Philadelphia 76ers. Hinke led the &ldquo;Trust the Process&rdquo; 76ers from 2013-2016, during which time he received significant scorn from the NBA, media and basketball purists who felt he was cheapening the game by blatantly losing to increase the odds of being awarded the first overall pick.
Thoughts on Hinke&rsquo;s philosophy aside, he picked first overall in two consecutive seasons. Philadelphia won the draft lottery in 2016, selecting Ben Simmons. Then, they traded up to No. 1 overall in 2017 to nab the rights to Markelle Fultz.
Neither Simmons nor Fultz fulfilled their potential in Philadelphia. Fultz had a misdiagnosed shoulder injury, which resulted in an awkward shooting motion. After two sub-par seasons in Philadelphia, he was traded to Orlando, where he&rsquo;s played better but still nowhere near what's expected from a No. 1 pick.
Simmons was better for the 76ers, co-leading them to the playoffs in four consecutive seasons. But Simmons&rsquo; time in Philadelphia ended infamously last season, culminating with him forcing his way to Brooklyn after a lengthy holdout.
Verdict: Degrees of failure, though Fultz was considerably more disappointing than Simmons. At least Simmons became a three-time All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up.
2018 NBA Draft: Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns picked first in the 2018 NBA Draft, which is another strange case. Objectively, Deandre Ayton is a major piece on Phoenix&rsquo;s roster. In his fourth NBA season, he averaged an impressive 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Can we really analyze players in a vacuum though? Ayton was picked a few selections before Luka Doncic, who received serious first-overall-pick buzz that June. Imagine if the Suns had paired Doncic with Devin Booker? Like the Rockets and Trail Blazers both did in 1984, the Suns simply overthought this one.
2018 is too recent to accurately judge the long-term impact of this pick. Ayton could very possibly end up being a major contributor on a championship team. Still, this is a push at best, and if he ends up signing elsewhere this offseason, that makes the Ayton selection look even worse.
Verdict: Who the hell knows?
2019 NBA Draft: Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans also picked first overall in 2019, selecting the electric athlete, Zion Williamson, who is the toughest first pick to grade in the last 10 years. In his lone injury-free season, he averaged 27 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 62% on two-point attempts.
But injuries make it far more difficult to grade him. Williamson has played in only 85 of a possible 202 career games, missing the entire 2021-22 season.
Verdict: Time will tell.
2020 NBA Draft: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota is experiencing a major resurgence, and the credit belongs to Towns and the 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Edwards had a good rookie season, but he exploded in his sophomore campaign.
This season, he helped lead Minnesota to the playoffs, averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 threes and 1.5 steals on 44.1/35.7/78.6 shooting splits. In the postseason, he took his game to another level, contributing 25.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 3.8 threes, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks on 45.5/40.4/82.4 shooting splits.
Verdict: After only two seasons, Edwards looks like a huge win for Minnesota.
2021 NBA Draft: Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Last but not least, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham first overall in 2021. Despite playing alongside less talent than most of his peers, Cunningham's rookie campaign was successful. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.6 assists and 5.5 rebounds, was named a unanimous All-Rookie First Team selection and placed third in Rookie of the Year voting.
One season is too small of a sample size to grade a young player, but Cunningham looks like the absolute right pick.
Verdict: Success (so far).&nbsp; &nbsp;
In the last 10 drafts, the first overall pick has clearly been one of the best players in the draft class just four times (2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021). He has been a complete dud twice (2013 and 2017), a good player twice (2014 and 2018), a malcontent once (2016) and an injury-prone player once (2019). Five of the last 10 first picks were traded too. If Ayton is allowed to leave this offseason, then six of the last 10 are no longer with the team that drafted them, erasing the benefit of player development.
For every franchise-changing No. 1 overall pick &mdash; such as LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar &mdash; there are a handful of players who didn't work out in the long run. Sometimes, there isn't a generational player on the board; other times, the team picking No. 1 overall just overthinks it or goes in the wrong direction.&nbsp;
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The Orlando Magic came out of Tuesday’s NBA Draft lottery with the first overall pick. How successful does history suggest they will be?

Examining the success of teams selecting No. 1 in the NBA Draft

Once upon a time, not too long ago actually, a college athlete transferring from school to school was an anomaly, mostly due to the fact that said player would have to sit out a year before joining a new team, with a penalty put in place to deter it from happening. Those days are over now, as a new system has been put in place that has resulted in over 1,000 names currently being in the NCAA transfer portal.&nbsp;
This has created much discussion and debate as to whether or not this is in fact a good system to have for college basketball.
There can be many determining factors for student-athletes having the desire to leave a university. &nbsp;For instance, they could be being mistreated by a coach, something that happens far more often than many are aware of. Maybe their families simply believe their son or daughter&rsquo;s talents would be better utilized elsewhere, or maybe they are homesick and want to go to a college closer to home due to that familial support for their mental well being. Or, if their coach leaves for greener pastures, it's because their commitment, comfortability and connection was with that coach who will no longer be there.&nbsp;
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Another rising phenomenon is a player at a smaller school who had a successful season or a big tournament run having the opportunity to transfer to a bigger school. Case in point, St. Peter&rsquo;s Doug Edert. His school had an amazing March Madness run, had the entire country rooting for the Peacocks as underdogs and made it to the Elite Eight (the first No. 15 seed to do so).
Edert's coach, Shaheen Holloway, left St. Peters soon thereafter to take a job with his alma mater Seton Hall. So why shouldn&rsquo;t Edert be able to leave to go to a bigger school with a bigger opportunity and platform? (Edert settled on Bryant University, by the way.)
This has been a very controversial topic from the moment it was implemented. Some hold the position that players should have the freedom to easily transfer schools in order to find the best fit for them (just like coaches do). Others believe that athletes should be required to &ldquo;honor their commitment&rdquo; to the school and retain the negative consequences of the past (i.e., sitting out a year or losing a year of eligibility) in order to deter this from becoming the widespread situation that it currently has become.
I sat down with two assistant coaches at Louisville, former Duke assistant Nolan Smith and former Maryland interim head coach Danny Manning, to hear their thoughts on this particular topic.
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Etan Thomas: What are your overall thoughts on the transfer portal?&nbsp;
Nolan Smith: "My initial thoughts were that, 'If a coach can leave a kid after they&rsquo;ve recruited that kid and promised him and his family that he will be their coach for the duration of his college experience, why shouldn&rsquo;t the players be able to?' But now, obviously you&rsquo;re seeing kids at different colleges and universities, and they&rsquo;re not sticking around for a long time, and you&rsquo;re wondering, 'Why isn&rsquo;t this kid staying?' So, a few things here: Kids, together with their parents, need to start making better decisions about the schools they&rsquo;re choosing. We&rsquo;re dealing with a lot of transfers here now, and we&rsquo;re seeing that a lot of kids are coming in beaten down mentally and emotionally. So if that&rsquo;s leading to the transfer, I have no issue with a player removing himself or herself from an unhealthy situation.
"But, I will also say, they need to do a better job of doing their homework first. Don&rsquo;t rush decisions. If you ask the questions that need to be asked and really do your homework on a lot of these coaches, you will know which coaches you need to stay away from no matter how much they wine and dine you while they&rsquo;re recruiting you."
Etan: I definitely agree with that. Some of these coaches present a false image of themselves and their program during recruiting, and the kid gets there and they see they were lied to. But like you said, that&rsquo;s where you have to do your homework. Ask around, research, ask the non-starters on the team how the coach treats them, ask former players... like, really research.
Smith: "Exactly, you have to do your research before. But also let me say this: Sometimes, parents and players don&rsquo;t have patience. They want everything to happen immediately and it doesn&rsquo;t always work like that. You know, sometimes there is a process. Some players come in with a preconceived notion that they should be one-and-done, or two-and-done, and things don&rsquo;t always work out according to your plan. Sometimes you gotta be patient and your time will come."
Etan: Did y&rsquo;all have a lot of transfers at Duke while you were there? I&rsquo;m trying to remember, because we had a lot at Syracuse. And all for different reasons, but a lot of turnover happening all over.
Smith: "We brought in a couple. We lost two kids who were playing a good amount of minutes their freshman year. It worked out for one of them; the other is basically playing the same amount of minutes he was playing with us and same position. But yeah, we were losing guys just like every other program &mdash; two to three a year I would say."
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Etan: Do you think it&rsquo;s getting almost like AAU where guys just leave situations regularly? And do you think that&rsquo;s good for the game as a whole?&nbsp;
Smith: "It&rsquo;s definitely becoming a fad. You see starters transferring. Or you factor in NIL deals (name, image and likeness) and a kid may be in a mid-major [school] averaging 20, and he could stay there and the next year maybe average 25 and improve every aspect of his game, but he can [also] transfer to a bigger market &mdash; an ACC or Big 10 school &mdash; and has the opportunity to get a bigger NIL deal in a bigger market, and I understand that as well. Not everyone will be turning pro, so capitalizing on their earning potential is their ceiling, so you have to factor that in as well."
Etan: That&rsquo;s a great point. Does it make it difficult to build your program when there is so much turnover?
Smith: "It&rsquo;s extremely difficult. Okay, so at Duke, we were planning on recruiting four [prospects], but then you have to factor in the two transfers, so now you&rsquo;re recruiting six. So you have to either go out and get a grad transfer or [use] the portal, so now you&rsquo;re bringing in six new guys to the team, so that&rsquo;s in essence starting over. I think lot of teams are going straight [to the] transfer portal. We saw in the tournament against Arkansas and Texas Tech, [we] we&rsquo;re playing some old veteran grad-transfer led teams. They were really good and really old. But I&rsquo;m sure there was a lot of team-building things they had to do with a whole new team."
Etan: Do you think that hurts the overall college game, or do you think that helps it?&nbsp;
Smith: "I think overall I would say yes [it hurts it] because teams are rebuilding every year; it&rsquo;s essentially AAU. And as a fan of the game, you&rsquo;re not getting to know the players and see them grow and really root for them because you&rsquo;re gonna have a whole new group of players the next season. Now, let me be clear, I am an advocate for athletes and them having the freedom and flexibility to move as they do choose. But, there are some aspects from a coaching standpoint and from a fan standpoint that does make it problematic."
Etan: I definitely understand that, and at the same time like you opened up with, it allows players not to feel trapped, so to speak, when they&rsquo;re with coaches who aren&rsquo;t who the players thought they were when they recruited them.
Smith: "Definitely, 100%. With all the problems and issues and concerns, it always comes back down to that. If these head coaches are not treating these young men and young women right, they need to have the freedom to leave. So much goes on that people have no idea about, of coaches abusing their power, literally tormenting players both mentally and emotionally, or playing mind games with them, holding their scholarship over their head or playing time over their head. So now, they can&rsquo;t do that because a player has the option to leave without penalty or repercussion, and they can no longer have that power over them so at the end of the day, it always comes back down to that."
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Etan Thomas: Do you think the transfer portal is getting out of hand? There are over 1,000 players currently in it.
Danny Manning: "Regardless of what anyone thinks about the transfer portal, the fact is it&rsquo;s here. And we have to now navigate with this being the new reality. It&rsquo;s a part of college sports, and it&rsquo;s going to be here whether people complain about it or not. I&rsquo;m a fan of the portal; there are a lot of things that do go into it. Of course, you have to do your research and see why a guy is transferring; you definitely don&rsquo;t want to recruit any problem players, but sometimes, things just simply didn&rsquo;t work out in their previous situation and they are looking for a better fit, a better opportunity. And there is something to be said about having the ability from a coaching standpoint to bring in a player who has some college experience who can help out your team immediately. I do think there are more people in the portal than there are scholarships available, but that&rsquo;s a whole 'nother issue."
Etan: Yes, that definitely is a problem. How does the portal help or hurt the recruiting process?&nbsp;
Manning: "Well, again from a coach's perspective, it helps. Let me give you an example. Back in the day, the recruiting process could drag on and on, but now with the portal, it widens the pool so it would be in the player&rsquo;s best interest not to drag his process out because that position has a higher potential of being filled. Of course, the top high school athletes may be in a different situation, but for the majority of the high school players, they can&rsquo;t let it drag out and enjoy the recruiting process and waste a lot of coaches' time when they aren&rsquo;t really interested in that particular school. So now, the pressure is turned up quite a bit on that player making his decision because the pool has widened with the addition of the transfer portal."
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Etan: So from the standpoint of you recruiting other players, you like it. But what about from the standpoint of you retaining your players and your roster? It seems like a lot of guys leaving are rotation players, starters even. Has that become problematic?&nbsp;
Manning: "Yes, that&rsquo;s definitely problematic, but that&rsquo;s part of what we&rsquo;re dealing with in this new reality of the transfer portal. There are players who are in pretty good roles and pretty good situations who feel that they want to be in better roles and better situations. And they have a right to exhaust those avenues. The days of putting together a college team with the mindset of when we were in school &mdash; of bringing in this high school player and this young player is going to develop and get better over time &mdash; that&rsquo;s almost out the window. We&rsquo;re putting together teams now like a professional organization on a year-to-year basis."
Etan: And you don&rsquo;t see it going backwards? Initially, I thought it was more that the NCAA decided to allow players the freedom to transfer without having to sit out because of COVID &mdash; at least that&rsquo;s what I thought. But you keep referring to it as the &ldquo;new reality&rdquo; or &ldquo;new normal.&rdquo; So you think it&rsquo;s here to stay?&nbsp;
Manning: "I do. I don&rsquo;t think they can backtrack at this point once they&rsquo;ve given it to them. They opened Pandora&rsquo;s box now, so that&rsquo;s why I keep referring to it as the new reality because college basketball as we once knew it &mdash; where a player transferring was an aberration &mdash; is no more. It&rsquo;s going to be the norm moving forward."
Etan: In your opinion, does the transfer portal make it harder for high school players due to the fact that, like you said in your beginning statement, colleges now have the opportunity to recruit an experienced player now? Does the portal hurt high school players?&nbsp;
Manning: "Definitely. For that reason alone. You&rsquo;re a college coach and sometimes you want someone who has already been through the rigors of college, who understands the academic piece and understands navigating all of the other responsibilities that you have to handle as a college athlete. A lot of times, it takes freshman a while to adjust to that process. They&rsquo;re away from home, they get homesick, freshman blues, but just overall adjusting to life on your own and handling your business. So the level of maturity is typically already there with a transfer player because they&rsquo;ve already been through it
"My advice to a high school kid who is being recruited and they feel like a college is a good fit for them, my advice to them is jump on your offer and claim it right away &mdash; because that portal changes the game. I know with social media high school players like to post and tweet that they received an offer from this school and that school and let the process drag out. Well, with the transfer portal, you&rsquo;re going to see high school players lose offers they once had, and a coach is going to call them and say that scholarship is no longer available because we decided to sign a player from the transfer portal because you were dragging your feet to make a decision. High school players need to understand that this is a business, and they need to treat it as such, and with the transfer portal, they&rsquo;re actually at a disadvantage, and that&rsquo;s just the reality of this new norm.
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Louisville assistant coaches Danny Manning and Nolan Smith share their thoughts on the polarizing NCAA transfer portal.

Louisville's Danny Manning, Nolan Smith discuss NCAA transfer portal

Alex Caruso was <a href="https://youtu.be/H7E8OXQI4Ak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">so good as a defender at Texas A&amp;M</a> that he made it to the NBA despite never averaging 10 points per game... as a college guard!
In this day and age, where it&rsquo;s commonplace for Caruso&rsquo;s positional peers to be 20-point-per-game threats on a nightly basis, the 6-foot-5 Aggies alum found the NBA pipeline the long and unsexy way.
We &mdash; the societal we &mdash; haven&rsquo;t figured out how to measure defense through analytics in a way that unquestionably captures one&rsquo;s effectiveness, especially regarding guards. We&rsquo;re in a better place today than when Caruso was in college, but we still struggle to do so. This is why watching basketball is essential. (And sure, the eyes can sometimes lie depending on the beholder too.)
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But when he balled at A&amp;M between 2012 and 2016 as a four-year starter, he was never a go-to offensive option. Caruso was a two-time All-SEC defender and an astute floor general with a suspect hairline (it's coming for us all, man), coach-like leadership and the classic &ldquo;sneaky athleticism&rdquo; tag we bestow on our tall, white homies
Caruso averaged 8.0 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.0 steals during his time at College Station, sporting .455/.340/.685 shooting splits and a Defensive Rating of 93.4 with 8.6 Defensive Win Shares and a 6.1 Defensive Box Plus-Minus.
Offensively, as a senior, Caruso was the fourth option on a Sweet-16-bound Aggies team (once ranked No. 5 in the country), behind future NBA talents like Danuel House Jr., Jalen Jones and Tyler Davis.
(And yet, he helped engineer one of the nuttiest March Madness comebacks you&rsquo;ll ever see.)
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Caruso went undrafted and was one of the 64 college seniors to participate in the 2016 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which also hosted Bryn Forbes, Dorian Finney-Smith and Abdel Nader among others. An entire season passed before Caruso could make his NBA debut in the 2017-18 campaign, and it wasn&rsquo;t until 2019-20 that he established himself as an NBA rotation guy for a full run.
Caruso played 106 G League games between 2016 and 2019, which included All-G-League Second Team and All-G-League Defensive honors.
So, in the Chicago Bulls' 114-110 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2, it served as no surprise that Caruso was instrumental in a much-needed victory. The win evened the series at one game apiece, taking advantage of a night where Khris Middleton sprained his MCL and Bobby Portis left with an eye abrasion (hold your jokes). Even still, the Bucks fought back despite being down double-figures for the bulk of the second half, and, without Caruso, this would be a 2-0 series in favor of Milwaukee.
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The Bulls led 87-80 heading into the fourth, and if you pull up a box score, you&rsquo;ll see that Caruso finished shooting 1 of 3 (all threes) with 2 assists and 2 rebounds in over 10 minutes of play in the final period.
If you look at his 38-minute stat line for the night, Caruso had 9 points, 10 assists, 2 steals, 2 boards and 2 blocks, while shooting 3 of 7 from deep (3 of 8 overall). His plus-minus? A game-high plus-16. Like all other metrics, it's an imperfect measurement, but in this instance, it made total sense if you watched.
The dude isn&rsquo;t an All-Star, isn&rsquo;t flashy and doesn&rsquo;t produce gaudy numbers &mdash; which causes people to easily overlook certain players in this age of highlights, fantasy, gambling and "hoooooperzzz!" &mdash; but Caruso is a straight dawg who makes winning plays.
Let&rsquo;s focus on some.
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0:24 &mdash; It's a two-man defense with Patrick Williams against Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo orchestrating a screen-and-roll. Caruso pests Middleton until sending him over for the switch and cuts off the errant pass despite being knocked off balance due to the screen. It&rsquo;s a break and easy two the other way. This is like when, in football, you &mdash; a defensive back &mdash; lose sight of the ball on a go-route and just throw your hands up, so the receiver needs to work extra hard to secure the catch. It doesn&rsquo;t always work, but for Caruso, this time, it did. Activity, activity, activity.
1:17 &mdash; Caruso is matched up with Jrue Holiday at around 16 feet out, near the right wing. Holiday tries to face up, and as he does, he&rsquo;s attempting to read the floor and eye the rim while contemplating his move. Caruso&rsquo;s in the dude&rsquo;s grill the whole time and shoves his right palm as close to Holiday&rsquo;s face as possible without drawing contact, but keeps his left hand active and swipes once Holiday allows an opening for the ball to be stolen. Caruso never stopped being attentive, and wasn&rsquo;t even trying to steal the ball the entire time; he just capitalized on an opening as a smart perimeter defender would.
1:59 &mdash; You just love this. Caruso takes the challenge of a taller, bigger Middleton, who tries to impose his will on an attack. Caruso gets backed down, but &mdash; and this is the key &mdash; is not watching the ball. (I could totally rant right now about how too many players are watching the ball or their opponents eyes on defense, and how it's is an easy way to constantly lose someone due to being easily susceptable to fakes. But I won&rsquo;t get into why keeping your eyes on someone&rsquo;s chest/waste is better. Not today!) Anyway, Caruso perfectly times Middleton&rsquo;s spin and cleanly strips the ball loose. Some coaches might say you&rsquo;re better off swiping up than down to lessen your chances of fouling, but it worked here. He even finished the play once Middleton recovered and forced the pass.
2:31 &mdash; Look at this help block on Brook Lopez. Need I say more?
3:04 &mdash; And finally, we have the game-sealing play. The Bulls are up 114-109 with 10 seconds left, and the Bucks are desperate. Caruso tries to better position himself to outrebound Giannis, but doesn&rsquo;t &mdash; understandably. Still, as Giannis grabs the offensive board, Caruso holds the matchup and immediately tries smothering him. Giannis makes the mistake of pushing his arms/elbows forward, and Caruso drops down to smartly draw the charge, knowing he wouldn&rsquo;t get the block and would risk fouling if he went for the steal. Game over.
Here&rsquo;s a Caruso double-team, for good measure, courtesy of <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Dunker Spot's Steve Jones Jr.</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-theme="dark">
Caruso causing havoc, great timing on the double here. The shift to throwing bodies at not just Giannis but Jrue/Middleton is key. Bucks can&rsquo;t find a rhythm in 1/2 court. <a href="https://t.co/585MRAXZe6">pic.twitter.com/585MRAXZe6</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1517158473368276992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s a reason why Los Angeles Laker fans probably miss Caruso horribly right now. Watching him help lead the Bulls in a road win over the defending champs, while their team presumably is doing the same, can't be easy.
You need winning plays in winning time, and Alex Caruso gives you those.
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Bryan Fonseca examines Alex Caruso's huge contribution to the Bulls' Game 2 win in Milwaukee and why it shouldn't surprise us.

Winning plays in winning time: This is who Alex Caruso has always been

Is every NBA individual award still up for grabs?
Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo seem to one-up each other every single night in the MVP hunt. Suns head coach Monty Williams might be the front-runner for Coach of the Year, but Taylor Jenkins, Erik Spoelstra and Ime Udoka surely have cases. The battle for Most Improved Player is as wide-open as the criteria for the award itself. Perhaps the only trophy settled is Sixth Man of the Year, with Tyler Herro's latest 35-point outburst on Tuesday hammering another nail in the coffin.
Then, there's the Rookie of the Year race. The general consensus is that Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley and Cade Cunningham have separated themselves from the pack. Yet, the factions for and against each rookie are building their walls as the three continue to raise their games in the spring.
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If you find yourself facing some overblown talking points about your favorite Rookie of the Year candidate, I've rounded up some numbers to help you oust and dispel some discourse circling around NBA conversations.
SCOTTIE BARNES, TORONTO RAPTORS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Just thought we'd leave this highlight reel of the ROTY here 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottBarnes561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottBarnes561</a> <a href="https://t.co/rSIUQjOZFs">pic.twitter.com/rSIUQjOZFs</a>
&mdash; x - Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raptors/status/1509956966675890178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The narrative: Is his role big enough?
This is some garbage of a narrative anyway, but it feels like Barnes' case gets dimished because fans view him as a cog of the Toronto Raptors rather than a pillar. No, Barnes is not a one-way engine like his award competitors, and yes, he plays on a team with a superstar in Pascal Siakam, an All-Star in Fred VanVleet and a rising star in OG Anunoby. But Barnes' role in Toronto's surge to the Eastern Conference's top-six has been instrumental.&nbsp;
Since the All-Star break, Toronto has a clear Big Three in terms of passes per game: VanVleet (57.2), Siakam (55.6) and Barnes (54.2). Barnes ranks third among all rookies in passes per game on the season and first since the break &mdash; even ahead of Cunningham. 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 186px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 76px;">
<td style="width: 9.25957%; height: 76px;">Category</td>
<td style="height: 76px;">Touches/Game (Season)</td>
<td style="height: 76px;">Touches/Game (post-ASB)</td>
<td style="height: 76px;">Passes/Game (Season)</td>
<td style="height: 76px;">Passes/Game (post-ASB)</td>
<td style="height: 76px;">
Mins/Game (season)
</td>
<td style="width: 4.63117%; height: 76px;">Mins/Game (post-ASB)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 9.25957%; height: 22px;">Number</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">66.8</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">72.4</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">49.8</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">54.2</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">35.5</td>
<td style="width: 4.63117%; height: 22px;">35.7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 9.25957%; height: 44px;">Raptors Rank</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">4th</td>
<td style="width: 4.63117%; height: 44px;">3rd</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 9.25957%; height: 44px;">Rookie Rank</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">2nd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">3rd</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">1st</td>
<td style="height: 44px;">1st</td>
<td style="width: 4.63117%; height: 44px;">1st</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
(Mobile users scroll right to view the full table.)
Though Barnes has a comparatively low usage rate (18.8%) to his peers, this metric doesn't fully capture his involvement in the offense because it only incorporates play-ending events: shots, assists and turnovers. Furthermore, Evan Mobley is the only other rookie in a similarly-significant role for a playoff contender.
Then, on defense, Barnes takes on some of the heaviest loads of any player in basketball. In fact, he has the single-highest <a href="https://www.bball-index.com/defensive-versatility/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">positional defensive versatility</a> score of any player in BBall Index's database for this season.
The No. 4 pick contests over 37% of opponents' at-rim shot attempts when he's on the court; that ranks in the 89th percentile at his positional group. BBall Index lists his most frequent opposing matchups as "versatile bigs," "off-screen shooters," and "slashers." Barnes is integral to a Raptors defense that is top-10 on the season, and per Cleaning the Glass, it's No. 1 over the past two weeks.
Has he been as good of an individual defender as Mobley? No, but he's been pretty darn good for a rookie with a serious burden.
Barnes'&nbsp; impressive counting stats &mdash; including 17.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game with six double-doubles since the All-Star break &mdash; and Toronto's team success have put him in the race. His high-level finishing and rebounding rates give him another boost. Don't paint his success as a product of Toronto's balanced lineup, because that tosses aside the huge responsibility on the young forward's shoulders.
CADE CUNNINGHAM, DETROIT PISTONS
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
CADE CUNNINGHAM EYE MANIPULATION 🔥🔥🔥 I wish we had this from the bench view but COMPLETELY moves Brunson out of the way to get Stew an easy dunk <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pistons?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pistons</a> <a href="https://t.co/aggrjsYtlY">pic.twitter.com/aggrjsYtlY</a>
&mdash; Motor City Hoops (@MotorCityHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/MotorCityHoops/status/1512064643283312644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The narrative: Does he impact winning enough?
Well, the Pistons are 10-12 since the All-Star break, and 8-11 in those games when Cunningham plays with a young, poor-shooting, inexperienced roster, but let's add some more proof.
I'm generally not a huge impact-estimator fan, so we're going to skip the PERs, VORPs and Win Share stats of the world. What I do trust as noteworthy is that the Pistons are 5.5 points per 100 possessions better with Cunningham on the floor this season, per Cleaning the Glass.&nbsp;
Cunningham has created 27.8% of his team's assists, which is in the 99th percentile at his position. Approximately 13.3% of his passes have become assists; this ratio is 44th among 282 NBA players and in the ballpark of guys like LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Fred VanVleet and Nikola Jokic. That assist-to-pass ratio is up to 15.0% post-break, putting Cunningham 31st out of 331 qualifying players. Both rates are second among rookies behind only Davion Mitchell.
The top pick carries a ridiculous amount of weight as a creator in Detroit's offense. Cunningham is averaging 16.2 drives per game this season. Only 23% of his made field goals have come via assists, and only 37% of his total shots were assisted &mdash; both in the 97th percentile or higher at his position.&nbsp;
Even with his efficiency peaks and valleys, Cunningham has massively catalyzed one of the worst-shooting squads in the NBA and helped them reached competitive play. And if folks are still hung up on Detroit's overall record, remember that 2 of the last 12 ROTY winners have been on teams over .500.&nbsp;
EVAN MOBLEY, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
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Evan Mobley.... wtf man <a href="https://t.co/uvUACdY48C">pic.twitter.com/uvUACdY48C</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MSchindlerNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSchindlerNBA/status/1503022995417280512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 13, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The narrative: Was his second half good enough?
Mobley was the a clear-cut best rookie through the first half of the season, so critics have resorted to focusing on his second half. And we don't need to sugarcoat that Mobley has struggled relative to his first half, plus he's missed the last five games with an ankle injury. However, he's still been a phenomenal rookie and overall player without his partner in crime, Jarrett Allen, for a large portion.&nbsp;
Since the All-Star break, Mobley has contested a whopping 9.2 shots within 6 feet of the rim, second only to Nikola Jokic. Opponents are shooting 61.8% against him &mdash; tied for 34th among 68 players (and second among rookies, behind Cunningham) &mdash; contesting at least five such shots per game. Is it a downturn from his 49.1% opponent clip (second in the NBA) from before the break? Sure, but it's still a very solid number for a rookie, and again, Mobley has had to take on different roles without Allen.
On the whole this season, opponents are 4.7% less efficient at the rim when Mobley is on the floor. That drop-off puts him in the 91st percentile among bigs, per Cleaning the Glass. Since Feb. 1, Mobley has a 2.2% block rate (74th percentile among bigs) and 3.2% foul rate (79th percentile among bigs).&nbsp;
His post-break per-game counting stats include 15.1 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. Mobley is receiving 8.4 paint touches per game, good for ninth in the league, and shooting 68.8% in the paint. These numbers aren't like the massive improvements we've seen from Cunningham and Barnes, but they're still very healthy totals.
To say that Mobley's late-season challenges have taken him out of the race is both untrue and lacking context. He's been tasked with so much more on a Cavaliers team that has struggled on the whole, and Mobley's still treaded water. Plus, it makes little sense from a philosophical standpoint to apply more weight to his "second half" (which isn't truly a half of the season) more than his dominant first half.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Speaking of rookies: Keon Johnson has been fantastic recently. His jump shot was a major question mark on draft night, and it's looking phenomenal. I'll be tracking his growth in Portland.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
We gotta talk about how Keon Johnson is hitting half of his pull-up threes post-ASB and 38.2% of his total threes with the Blazers. Shot is looking very very good <a href="https://t.co/IDZgtnVaXI">pic.twitter.com/IDZgtnVaXI</a>
&mdash; Ethan Fuller (@ethman43) <a href="https://twitter.com/ethman43/status/1511091211846750211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>This is just a wild stat for the Tyrese Maxey agenda:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Best single-season 3P% by player 21 or younger (min 290 3PA) per <a href="https://twitter.com/Stathead?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stathead</a> <a href="https://t.co/m2S0Ei4xaC">https://t.co/m2S0Ei4xaC</a> <a href="https://t.co/06hxAdZ6fO">https://t.co/06hxAdZ6fO</a> <a href="https://t.co/I80kF36kQ5">pic.twitter.com/I80kF36kQ5</a>
&mdash; Mike Lynch (@SportInfo247) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportInfo247/status/1511703177078398984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">This is not a stat, but I wanted to sneak in my Rookie of the Year pick: I'm going with Scottie Barnes.</li>
</ul>
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Ethan Fuller has numbers to rebuke perceived weaknesses in the NBA Rookie of the Year race.

NBA Stats Notebook: Fighting narratives in the Rookie of the Year race

Every year, there are a few individuals who thrive during the NCAA Tournament and ultimately help their stock. This year, one of those March Madness success stories happens to be a coach: Shaheen Holloway.
The 45-year-old head coach led the Saint Peter's Peacocks to the Elite Eight, which marked the first time in NCAA history that a 15-seed advanced that deep in the tournament. After becoming a household name in recent weeks, Holloway has inked a six-year deal with Seton Hall to become their next head coach.&nbsp;
From 1996 to 2000, Holloway played for Seton Hall and he still holds the school record for career assists (681). He was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. From 2010 to 2018, he was an assistant coach with the Pirates, and now he returns to run the team.
"Life has a way of coming full circle," Holloway said. "This is certainly a full circle moment for my family and I. Seton Hall is near and dear to my heart; it's where I became a man, where I met the love of my life, where I spent countless hours honing my crafts as a basketball player and a basketball coach. To say that I'm excited to get started as the head men's basketball coach at Seton Hall University would be an understatement. Thank you to President Nyre and Bryan Felt for this opportunity. It is a dream come true. Pirates fans, I look forward to seeing you all in the community, on campus and at the Prudential Center."
Holloway was named the 2020 MAAC Coach of the Year, and he led the Peacocks to the 2022 MAAC Tournament title and three straight campaigns with 10-plus victories in conference play (and three consecutive top-three finishes in the MAAC). Under Holloway's tutelage, Saint Peter's produced five All-MAAC selections, the NCAA Division I leader in blocked shots, the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, and 10 student-athletes that were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team.
"I am incredibly excited to welcome Shaheen Holloway and his family home to Seton Hall," said Bryan Felt, the school's athletic director. "Shaheen is a winner in every sense of the word, and he is not only an incredible coach, but also an incredible educator of young men. He works tirelessly to put his student-athletes in a position to succeed, and he makes them believe that they can achieve anything with hard work and determination. That is evidenced by his historic NCAA Tournament run this month. Shaheen made an unforgettable impact here at Seton Hall first as a student-athlete and then again as an assistant coach, and now we're ready to watch him take over our men's basketball program as head coach and lead our Pirates to further greatness. Welcome home, Coach Holloway!"
Holloway and Saint Peter's became this year's Cinderella story when they defeated 2-seeded Kentucky in the first round, 7-seeded Murray State in the second round and then 3-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16. Saint Peter's is a very small school with <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/putting-saint-peters-shocker-over-kentucky-in-historical-context" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a relatively miniscule budget</a>. so it was shocking to see them eliminating elite programs.
Holloway is a finalist for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year award, Ben Jobe Coach of the Year award and Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.

After becoming a household name due to Saint Peter's tournament run, Shaheen Holloway accepted the head-coach job at Seton Hall.

Seton Hall hires Shaheen Holloway after Saint Peter's historic run

With respect to Juwan Howard and the University of Michigan men&rsquo;s basketball team, the second- and third-best upsets of the Men&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament in the Round of 32 &mdash; after Saint Peter&rsquo;s stunning Murray State &mdash; came at the hands of the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes and No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones.
In the Midwest Regional, we already saw a classic 12/5 upset in the opening round, featuring Atlantic-10 champion Richmond outlasting Big Ten champion Iowa 67-63 on Thursday. Miami got by USC 68-66 in a 10/7 win on Friday, as did 11-seeded Iowa State in beating No. 6 LSU in a 59-54 victory.
But on Sunday after, Iowa State shut down the third-seeded University of Wisconsin Badgers in Milwaukee 54-49. The stunner was followed by Miami blowing out No. 2 Auburn and expected top-three NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith 79-61 later that evening.
This sets the stage for a seemingly improbable Sweet 16 matchup between two double-digit seeds, which has only happened four other times in the tournament&rsquo;s history.
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The Miami (FL) Hurricanes have a forecast 78% chance to win against The Iowa State Cyclones with a spread of -5.0/5.0 and an over/under of 139.0. The Miami (FL) Hurricanes are 0 - 0 against The Iowa State Cyclones in the 2021-22 Season.
&mdash; Friday, March 25th Iowa State Cyclones @ Miami (FL) Hurricanes</blockquote>

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In 1997, No. 10 seed Providence &mdash; led by God Shammgod &mdash; beat No. 14 Chattanooga 71-65, or as the Washington Post put it, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1997/03/22/providence-gets-help-from-god/3f1b5666-3f30-4f88-b6f0-8d046204a8d8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GOT HELP FROM GOD</a>.&rdquo; Other notable players on Providence then? Longtime Indiana Pacer forward Austin Croshere and subsequent Big East scoring champion Jamel Thomas. You may also remember the latter from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltkGPCGu-WY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Through The Fire</a>, the Sebastian Telfair documentary from 2005.
In 2011, No. 11 VCU outlasted No. 10 Florida State 72-71 in overtime, and subsequently defeated No. 1 Kansas 71-61 in the Elite Eight to reach the Final Four that year.
In 2014, No. 11 Dayton defeated No. 10 Stanford 82-72, led by 18 points from current NBA G League guard Jordan Sibert.
Lastly, and most recently in 2016, No. 10 Syracuse slipped by No. 11 Gonzaga with a 63-60 victory. Guided by first-round picks Malachi Richardson (2016) and Tyler Lydon (2017) &mdash; along with 2016 second-rounder Michael Gbinije &mdash; the Orange claimed victory over No.1 Virginia in the Elite Eight.
Both VCU and Syracuse lost in the national semifinals in 2011 and 2016, respectively.
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(Back when putting mainstream music in highlights was acceptable.)
Additionally, there have been 15 double-digit-seeded teams to crack the Elite Eight, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_Eight">according to the NCAA Tournament's Wiki</a>. (Oh, come on. I don&rsquo;t use them for much, but don&rsquo;t act like they didn&rsquo;t get you through college, too!)
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This Miami-Iowa State matchup obviously guarantees that at least one double-digit seed will advance to the Elite Eight.
This Miami team has experienced some distinct highs of any squad left in the tournament this season, considering its standing as a No. 10 seed. After an inconsistent 4-3 start to their season, the Hurricanes won nine straight games from Dec. 1 through Jan. 8, highlighted by a win over then-second-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor, 76-74, capping a 5-0 start to ACC play.
Additionally, they Kimbo Sliced the North Carolina Tar Heels in the face 10 days later with an 85-57 victory, which was sandwiched in between two one-point losses to Florida State, who isn&rsquo;t in any postseason this year. Again, inconsistency from The U.
Most notably, the Canes have one of the oldest teams in all of Division I. Due to COVID's effect on college sports seasons, Miami players were subsequently offered an extra year of eligibility without consequence, and have taken advantage of it. The Canes have an average age of 21.38, <a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/college/2022/01/15/miami-hurricanes-5-1-start-acc-due-jim-larranaga-healthy-roster/9198049002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making them the oldest bunch in the ACC and ninth in all of Division I</a>. Kameron McGusty, Charlie Moore and Sam Waardenberg are 3 of Miami&rsquo;s 5 leading scorers, and all of them are sixth-year seniors.
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Though McGusty leads the Canes in scoring with 17.5 points per game &mdash; and was the team&rsquo;s lone <a href="https://theacc.com/news/2022/3/6/athlete-awards-acc-unveils-2021-22-mens-basketball-awards.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All-ACC First-Team selection</a> &mdash; junior guard Isaiah Wong has been the team&rsquo;s breakout star in the tournament. Wong, <a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/31769253/isaiah-wong-withdraw-nba-draft-rejoin-miami-hurricanes-junior-season">who entered the 2021 NBA Draft before returning to school</a>, dropped 22 points on 7 of 12 shooting against USC; he followed it up with 21 points on 8 of 18 shooting in the win over Auburn while also pulling down 6 rebounds. Between the two games, the 2022 All-ACC Third-Teamer has made 13 of his 14 attempts from the free-throw line.
Iowa State is 304th in points per game, but 20th in fewest points allowed. So, if the Cyclones have their way, they&rsquo;ll be looking to ground the Canes, who are 77th in points and 35th in Offensive Rating out of 358 D-I programs. The Cyclones were ranked as high as No. 8 earlier this season, and were in the top-25 for nine straight weeks from December through February &mdash; largely thanks to a 12-0 start. Iowa State's big wins this season included upsets over No. 25 Xavier and No. 9 Memphis in November, both while unranked. &nbsp;
Former Penn State and St. Bonaventure guard Izaiah Brockington arrived to Iowa State following last season, and won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team for his efforts. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Brockington is the Cyclones' leading scorer and rebounder at 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot freshman Tyrese Hunter became a constant presence in the Iowa State backcourt, averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 assists en route to Big 12 Rookie of the Year honors.
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Hunter and Brockington combined for 42 of the Cyclones' 59 points in Round 1.
Additionally, the Cyclones have senior guard Gabe Kalscheur, who is averaging 9.5 points per game this season. Kalscheur exploded for 22 points on 10 of 19 shooting in ISU's win over Wisconsin.
The winner between Miami and Iowa State on Friday night will face the winner of Kansas and Providence this coming Sunday night, which could potentially give us yet another double-digit seed in the Final Four.
We'll see if one of these teams can continue an improbable run through the weekend.&nbsp;
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Bryan Fonseca revisits the history of double-digit matchups in the Sweet 16 and previews the Canes-Cyclones clash.

Double-digit seeds Miami, Iowa State to improbably meet in Sweet 16

The second day of the 2022 NCAA tournament featured some slugfests, some blowouts, as well as a First Four team surviving another day. The Round of 32 is now completely locked-in, and we&rsquo;ll also take a peek at the must-watch matchups for Saturday.&nbsp;
UPSET ALERT&nbsp;
West Region: 11-seed Notre Dame defeats 6-seed Alabama 78-64
Alabama in recent seasons has had a strong program, with a number of players in the conversation for the NBA draft. This year the Crimson Tide&rsquo;s season has been a bit of a roller coaster, including a major win over arguably the best team in college basketball, Gonzaga, but also key SEC and non-conference losses that show in their 19-13 record coming into this game. Notre Dame had their fair share of ups and downs as well, but came into this first round matchup with momentum off their First Four double-OT win against Rutgers. The upset potential was apparent, and the Fighting Irish delivered behind a huge game from Cormac Ryan. The junior guard finished with a season-high 29 points, well above his 9.2 PPG average. Ryan has been coming on strong for the Irish with 20 and 16 points in their last two games respectively. Thanks to the efforts of Ryan and impressive freshman wing Blake Wesley &mdash; he scored 18 &mdash; Notre Dame moved on to play third-seeded Texas Tech in the second round.
Midwest Region: 11-seed Iowa State defeats 6-seed LSU 59-54
These were two teams with similar records that had similar patterns to their seasons &mdash; they both started the year with 12 game winning streaks that went through Christmas. However, playing in two of the best conferences in the country in the SEC and Big 12, both teams took their lumps through the remainder of the season. Although Iowa State took an 11-point lead around the 7-minute mark in the second half, LSU made an 11-1 run that brought the game within one point with under two minutes remaining. Iowa State pulled out the low scoring win with Tyrese Hunter being the team's major difference maker, dropping 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from beyond the arc. The freshman guard&rsquo;s clutch shooting clinic included two late threes that helped Iowa State pull away from the Tigers at the end. Hunter&rsquo;s 5 steals also led a stingy Cyclones defense that recorded 15 total. Iowa State&rsquo;s victory means they advance to the second round to take on third-seeded Wisconsin on Sunday.
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BEST GAMES OF THE DAY
Midwest Region
No. 10 seed Miami defeats No. 7 seed USC 68-66
This matchup was tightly contested throughout the first 15 minutes, until Miami began to break the game open and took a 13-point lead with three minutes remaining in the first half. USC&rsquo;s offense grew stagnant, and the Hurricanes took advantage with a 31-20 lead at halftime. However, the Trojans came fighting back to begin the second half with two threes and a fast break layup from Isaiah Mobley (he finished with 11 points) to bring them within one. From this point it was a back and forth battle that favored Miami, yet USC would manage a big basket to keep it close &mdash; USC was down by seven points with 45 seconds left in the game. A Doug Peterson three, a Miami out-of-bounds call, and then another Peterson three brought the Trojans back within one, with 25.3 seconds left in the game.
After free throws from both teams, it was tied at 66 in the final moments. Charlie Moore drove to the lane and attempted a contested layup, which earned him a foul call. Moore stepped to the line and knocked down two free throws to seal the game. A halfcourt heave at the buzzer almost fell for Doug Peterson &mdash; he ended the game with a valiant effort of 17 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Miami&rsquo;s Isaiah Wong led the Hurricanes with 22 points while dealing with foul trouble and Moore followed with 16 points. Miami will see second-seeded Auburn in the second round.&nbsp;
South Region
No. 4 seed Illinois defeats No. 13 seed Chattanooga 54-53
Illinois only led this game for 25 seconds, but it was the most important time to do so. Chattanooga jumped on Illinois early, with a 14-3 lead in the first five minutes. The Mocs had control over most of the first half, but a Fighting Illini run at the end of period brought the score to 33-29.&nbsp;
The second half started much like the first with Chattanooga playing good basketball and giving themselves an 11-point cushion, but a very resilient Illinois team fought back again and kept the game within one or two possessions over the course of the closing minutes. After some questionable possessions by Chattanooga, Illinois took its first lead of the game on a Kofi Cockburn putback with 47 seconds remaining. The Mocs received a trip to the line on the next possession and two free throws were knocked down by SOCON Player of the Year Malachi Smith (who finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds), which gave his team the lead.
On the following possession Alfonso Plummer was fouled and hit two free throws for the Illini to take the lead back. On the final possession, the Mocs gave the ball to Smith who had two looks to take home the win &mdash; he was blocked on a left hand drive, then shot a last second midrange jumper that went just a tad long. Cockburn finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Plummer provided 15 points of his own. Illinois avoided the upset and will face fifth-seeded Houston on Sunday.
West Region
No. 7 seed MSU defeats No. 10 seed Davidson 74-73
An up-and-down season for Michigan State had some experts predicting Davidson would come away with this game. However, an impressive 27 points on 9-12 from the floor by Joey Hauser was the big difference.
An interesting storyline revolved around Davidson&rsquo;s transfer starting point guard, Foster Loyer &mdash; he's a Michigan native who made the move down to play with the Wildcats after three seasons of limited production for the Spartans. This proved to be a good move for Loyer, as he&rsquo;s been the leading scorer and assist man for Davidson with 16.1 points and 3.3 assists per game this season. The motivation was there for Davidson, and the team played with a confidence that showed each time the team came up with an answer to Michigan State&rsquo;s attempts to pull away.
Davidson took a five-point lead with under seven minutes to go, but with some big buckets by Hauser, heady play by AJ Hoggard (14 points) and a three from Gabe Brown (12 points), the Spartans made a 10-0 run to take a five-point lead of their own with under four minutes left. Michigan State had an eight point lead with one minute remaining, but a late push by the Wildcats with some great clock management, clutch baskets and pressure defense that led to a bad MSU turnover brought the game back in reach. However, in the end, Michigan State was able to close it out with two Tyson Walker free throws. Michigan State will take on second-seeded Duke in the round of 32.
No. 3 seed Wisconsin beats No. 14 seed Colgate 67-60
Colgate is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, and came into this game on a 15-game winning streak. The Patriot League champs made sure Wisconsin knew this one wouldn&rsquo;t be easy. However, this would be the Raiders&rsquo;s biggest test, as the Badgers won the Big Ten regular season championship and have a projected lottery pick in Johnny Davis.
Colgate found success scoring the ball from inside before unleashing their long-range prowess. Senior Nelly Cummings for Colgate finished the game with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists &mdash; he gave the Badgers trouble on all three levels. Cummings even locked the game at 28-all with a baseline reverse layup at the buzzer to go into halftime.
But the stars shine bright on the big stage and, after a slow start, Johnny Davis got going in the second half. Davis finished with 25 points on 8 for 20 shooting from the floor and added 6 rebounds and 2 steals. Tyler Wahl followed Davis with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals of his own. The Raiders played a strong game but wore down as the battle-tested Badgers showed up down the stretch. Wisconsin has a date with 11th-seeded Iowa State in the next round.
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OTHER FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Midwest Region
2-seed Auburn defeats 15-seed Jacksonville State 80-61
East Region
3-seed Purdue defeats 14-seed Yale 78-56
6-seed Texas defeats 11-seed Virginia Tech 81-73
South Region
No. 1 seed Arizona defeats No. 16 seed Wright State 87-70
No. 2 seed Villanova defeats No. 15 seed Delaware 80-60
No. 5 seed Houston defeats No. 12 seed UAB 82-68
No. 7 seed Ohio State defeats No. 10 seed Loyola Chicago 54-41
No. 9 seed TCU defeats No. 8 seed Seton Hall 69-42
West Region
No. 2 seed Duke defeats 15-seed Cal State Fullerton 78-61
No. 3 seed Texas Tech defeats 14-seed Montana State 97-62
MUST-WATCH SECOND-ROUND GAMES ON DAY 3
No. 1 seed Gonzaga vs. No. 9 seed Memphis - 9:40 PM EST
A highly anticipated second round matchup of two potential top-10 picks in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Duren.&nbsp;
No. 1 seed Baylor vs. 8-seed North Carolina - 12:10 PM EST
Baylor is missing two key pieces due to injury, &mdash;LJ Cryer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua &mdash;&nbsp;while UNC is playing some of its best basketball of the season. Caleb Love is worth keeping an eye on.
No. 4 seed UCLA vs. 5-seed Saint Mary&rsquo;s - 7:10 PM EST
The Bruins are hoping to get back to the Final Four while Saint Mary&rsquo;s wants to prove the WCC isn&rsquo;t just run by Gonzaga. This could be a battle.
No. 7 seed Murray State vs. No. 15 seed Saint Peter&rsquo;s 7:45 PM EST
Does Saint Peter&rsquo;s have more magic for a Sweet 16 birth? Or will Murray State's toughness win out?
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Blake Hairston takes us through the upsets and thrillers of Day 2 of the NCAA DI men's basketball tournament, plus a preview of Day 3.

March Madness: Recapping Day 2 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament

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

Which top rookie in the class of 2021 will end up being the best long-term? Mat Issa breaks down the case for each young stud.

Why they are all special: A guide to the top-five NBA rookies

The Miami Heat are one of several teams that can legitimately win an NBA championship this season, full stop.
If you&rsquo;ve watched them at all through objective eyes, you&rsquo;d likely conclude that they&rsquo;re somewhere between fringe Eastern-Conference-championship contenders and potential NBA champions if certain things break right.
The Brooklyn Nets, with Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving, might have the most talented trio of the Eastern contenders, but they probably won&rsquo;t have enough time to establish their chemistry this season &mdash; even if Irving could play home games starting now. (Talent is cool, but talent and chemistry wins.)
The Philadelphia Sixers will have Joel Embiid and James Harden, but that will either really work or really won't. The Milwaukee Bucks have championship equity and the best combination of talent, chemistry and two-way basketball between Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, but have just been &hellip; weird.
The Boston Celtics have Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown without an awesome build around them, but they have an indisputably better team today than this time last week (and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-celtics-are-coming" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they've been excellent over the last month-and-a-half</a>). And the Chicago Bulls, if healthy by the spring, have one of the most balanced starting fives in the league, but have as many ifs as DeMar DeRozan&rsquo;s had points these last five games. (Okay, not quite.)
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Where that lands the Heat is simple &mdash; they can get to the NBA Finals, but like their many peers, will need plenty to break right in their favor for reasons that have grown increasingly evident in watching a healthier version of them in recent games. (Having Erik Spoelstra, arguably the best coach in the NBA, also helps.)
The Heat are, again, the workhorse team that could probably get to the highest level defensively among the teams we&rsquo;re discussing, but have questions relating to their late-game offense. That could ultimately decide their fate.
Jimmy Butler is an elite two-way player, and still one of the most underrated stars in the league in a culture that is increasingly highlight-driven &mdash; and Butler isn't known for his highlights. He&rsquo;s also engineering a Heat offense that really pops for most of the game, but grows stagnant toward the end of close encounters. It&rsquo;s like a regression to where the team was in the latter portion of Dwyane Wade&rsquo;s pre-retirement run with the Heat, as Ethan Skolnick noted on last night&rsquo;s <a href="https://fivereasons.podbean.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Five On The Floor podcast</a>.
Bam Adebayo would be garnering Defensive Player of the Year attention if not for a thumb injury that sidelined him for several weeks. His offensive aggression or lack thereof (less so as of late) is a never-ending talking point on Heat Twitter, largely because it impacts the team&rsquo;s championship aspirations in either direction. Tyler Herro is currently the team&rsquo;s best shot-creator other than Butler, and &hellip; well &hellip; as well as they do everything else, that component is what&rsquo;s holding them back from being slam-dunk championship contenders, according to some.
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I'm assuming this is the aggressive Bam Adebayo some are looking for. <a href="https://t.co/7ukBX5wceG">pic.twitter.com/7ukBX5wceG</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1493758857159479300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Enter Victor Oladipo, who is progressing toward a return from surgery, and is practicing with the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce 5-on-5, giving the impression it won&rsquo;t be long until he makes his 2021-22 season debut. Klay Thompson returned <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-provide-klay-thompson-injury-update-after-g-league-stint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three weeks after his G League stint</a>, for what it&rsquo;s worth.
Oladipo is immediately walking into a high-pressure situation, and the Heat won&rsquo;t peg him as their savior, nor should they &mdash; but there will come a time when he&rsquo;ll need to be, for better or worse. We last saw Oladipo play way back on April 8, 2021, around 40 days before the start of the playoffs. What we saw of him last season is hard to gauge because he played 33 games with three separate teams in his first full season back from quad surgery (not including games in the bubble).
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The offensive creation wasn&rsquo;t at an All-Star level, but it was still there. Between stints with the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and four games with the Heat, Oladipo averaged about 20-5-5 and 1.4 steals per game on 41/33/75 shooting splits through 32.7 minutes per contest. The lion's share of minutes came from his stints with the Pacers and rebuilding Rockets, only logging four appearances with the Heat&nbsp;before being sidelined.
With the Heat, he saw 27.8 minutes per contest, averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per contest on just 37/24/67 shooting. Even though this is the definition of small sample-size theater, you still saw glimpses of how he could impact Miami on both ends.
The Miami Herald&rsquo;s Anthony Chiang reported earlier today that Udonis Haslem &ndash; <a href="https://twitter.com/AIR305/status/1488698167579262977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who guarded Oladipo in a viral clip earlier this month</a> &ndash; says he looks way better than last year. Usually, people would file that under bullsh*t, but you can call Haslem a liar to his face if you want. I won&rsquo;t.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen enough to know he&rsquo;s definitely better than he was last year,&rdquo; <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article258423468.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Haslem told the Herald</a>. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen any limping. I haven&rsquo;t seen a lack of confidence. I haven&rsquo;t seen everything so I can&rsquo;t make a fair assessment. He looks pretty [good] about where he&rsquo;s headed.&rdquo;
Chiang noted that Oladipo &ldquo;has been doing more behind the scenes in recent weeks. He traveled with the Heat on recent trips to continue his workouts around the team and has been taking part in rigorous pregame two-on-two sessions with teammates.&rdquo;
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Now, so this doesn&rsquo;t go on forever, we&rsquo;ll use Miami&rsquo;s last two games as examples to show where Oladipo could help solve problems during some worrisome fourth quarters.
Against the Brooklyn Nets, the Heat led 89-68 at one point. The Nets, who were held to 18 points in the third, erupted for 35 in the fourth, coming within one possession of Miami, largely due to [redacted] erupting for 20 of his 29 points late.
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1:32 &ndash; Irving&rsquo;s first field goal of note came as a pull-up three at the top of the key with over eight minutes left. Anticipating a screen, Gabe Vincent was slow to contest, and Duncan Robinson was late to cover.
1:45 &ndash; He pulled another one. Vincent again drops too far, awarding enough space, and Robinson gets caught behind Patty Mills setting a screen on Vincent.
1:53 &ndash; Irving takes Vincent one-on-one, and help is late coming over. Vincent, a high-level on-the-ball defender, just gets beat. It happens.
2:03 &ndash; Robinson gets beat one-on-one, and because Butler and Adebayo are worried about each dunker spot being occupied, and PJ Tucker can&rsquo;t overcommit, otherwise Mills would be nekkid for three, Irving gets to the cup.
2:12 &ndash; He gets the angle around a Butler-Robinson double team, beats Robinson with his speed, gathers over Bam&rsquo;s arm, and floats it over Kyle Lowry. A lot of other 6-foot-3 guards probably don&rsquo;t make it to Lowry there. &nbsp;
2:23 &ndash; He gets a step on Tucker guarding him at the top of the key, and drills a mid-range fadeaway.
Is Oladipo the&nbsp;answer in this setting? That would be unfair so long removed from game action, but you can throw him on Irving here for a couple of different possessions to help give the Heat defense a shot in the arm. At his peak, Dipo was a soul-sangin&rsquo; All-Defensive guard, who should at least be a quality defender again, even if he won&rsquo;t reclaim all-world status soon (if ever).
Now, let's look at the fourth-quarter breakdown, symbolized by the Heat&rsquo;s loss to the Mavericks last night, in which Miami again squandered a double-digit lead.
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For this, it&rsquo;s simple: 40 second-half points typically won&rsquo;t get it done, especially when your opposition is wildin&rsquo; from three. This could be as simplistic as the Mavs shooting 18-for-41 from three (43.9%) to the Heat&rsquo;s 7-for-27 (25.9%). But Vincent, who played all 12 fourth-quarter minutes despite having one of his worst outings in recent weeks, probably had minutes last night that would&rsquo;ve gone to Oladipo or Tyler Herro who was out with an injury (along with Caleb Martin, Markieff Morris and Dewayne Dedmon). Vincent went 0-for-2 in the quarter, both from deep, and had two fouls. Outside of a rebound, he did nothing else offensively. The team in general reverted to a simplistic offense.
Vincent is the guy whom Oladipo will primarily compete with for minutes &mdash; last night notwithstanding, he&rsquo;s been quite a revelation this season considering that he didn&rsquo;t appear NBA-ready in the two seasons prior.
The path to Oladipo getting minutes is through being a competent shot-creator on offense, and an adequate point-of-attack defender on the other end. The high-end of this would have him finishing games, even over Herro, in a lineup of Lowry-Oladipo-Butler-Tucker-Adebayo &mdash; which is attainable, but unrealistic to expect right out the gate. It&rsquo;s, for now, a dream scenario.
If Dipo&rsquo;s great, it&rsquo;ll be a good problem to have for Miami, and it&rsquo;ll raise their floor, giving them someone who&rsquo;ll be a top-three shot-creator on the team. So, the Heat don&rsquo;t need Oladipo to contend, but it&rsquo;ll sure as hell make a lot of things easier &mdash; even as Spo will have to stay up late figuring out these rotations. It&rsquo;ll also help cover up some of the team's shortcomings otherwise, on both ends of the floor, and that could be Miami&rsquo;s missing ingredient.
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Bryan Fonseca looks at the impending return of Victor Oladipo and how he'll positively impact the Miami Heat.

Victor Oladipo is coming: How he can help raise the Heat’s ceiling

The New Orleans Pelicans have finalized a deal to acquire Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum, <a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1491069131541688321" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sources told Shams Charania of The </a><a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1491069131541688321" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Athletic</a>.
ESPN's <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1491081418684112903?s=20&amp;t=5zdXFsgsdr0ivohM4Ag0AQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski reports</a> that the Pelicans will also acquire Tony Snell and Larry Nance Jr. in the deal. In return, the Blazers will receive Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky, Didi Louzada, a 2022 protected first-round pick and two second-rounders.
ANALYSIS:&nbsp;McCollum will depart the team that drafted him No. 10 overall in 2013. The 30-year-old is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game this season and has made 39.6% of his career three-pointers. Hart, meanwhile, has also had a strong year with career highs in points (13.4) and assists (4.1) along with 7.8 rebounds per game.
Story via The Associated Press:
The New Orleans Pelicans have acquired guard C.J. McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a seven-player trade, said two people familiar with the situation.
The Pelicans will also receive forwards Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell in the deal, while the Trail Blazers get forward Josh Hart, and guards Tomas Staoransky, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Didi Louzada, as well as draft compensation in the form of a 2022 protected first round draft choice and two future second-rounders. The people spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been made official.
The trade marks the end of an era in Portland, where McCollum has been paired with Damian Lillard in the backcourt since 2013. Portland has reached the playoffs every season since they drafted McCollum. However, the Blazers struggled in the postseason, reaching the Western Conference finals only once while being eliminated in the first round five times.
The 30-year-old McCollum is averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds this season.
He gives the Pelicans a needed outside shooting threat at a time when New Orleans appears to be on the upswing under first-year coach Willie Green &mdash; despite playing this season without star forward Zion Williamson. After starting 1-12, the Pelicans (21-32) entered Tuesday's games on the heels of a three-game road winning streak and occupying the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Williamson, incidentally, has been in Oregon trying to rehabilitate from offseason surgery to repair his fractured right foot. It is unclear if he will be ready to return this season.
New Orleans is making less than 33% from 3-point range this season and they are 29th in the league 3-pointers made. McCollum has shot no less than 37.5% from beyond the arc every season from deep in every season of his career, while shooting 38.4% overall for his career.
In 2019, McCollum signed a three-year contract extension worth $100 million that runs through the 2023-24 season. It took effect this season.
This marks the second multiple-player trade the Blazers have made in advance of Thursday&rsquo;s deadline. On Friday Portland sent Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow and Keon Johnson. That move was widely seen as financial, as it put the Blazers below the luxury tax threshold.
Lillard, a six-time All-Star, has been sidelined since the start of the year with an abdominal injury that required surgery. Like Williamson, it is unclear when, or if, he will return this season, but Lillard was at the team&rsquo;s practice facility on Monday putting up a few shots.
Hart this offseason agreed to a three-year extension with New Orleans which is worth $37.9 million and includes a third-year player option. He has been a popular and productive role player in New Orleans since being traded to New Orleans during the 2019 offseason &mdash; along with forward Brandon Ingram, guard Lonzo Ball and two first-round draft picks &mdash; from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a deal that paired Anthony Davis with LeBron James on the Lakers.
Ball has since been traded to Chicago. Hart has averaged 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds this season.
Alexander-Walker was one of three first-round draft choices the Pelicans made in 2019. He went 17th overall, after New Orleans had taken Williamson first with their own draft choice and center Jaxson Hayes eighth with the first of the two first-rounders acquired from the Lakers.
Alexander-Walker has struggled to produce consistently in his first three season but has been prolific in spurts. He is averaging 12.8 points this season with a season-high of 33 points and a career-high last season of 37 points.
The Blazers have lost five straight and are in 11th place in the Western Conference standings.
The Pelicans were set to host Houston on Tuesday night, when the Blazers were at home against Orlando. ___
AP Sports Writers Anne Peterson and Steve Reed contributed to this report.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

McCollum will depart the team that drafted him No. 10 overall in 2013.

Pelicans land CJ McCollum in trade with Blazers

The Orlando Magic are competing. It might not show in the standings, where they have the worst record in the NBA at 12-41. It won't show in most of their catch-all metrics, where Orlando is 28th in Offensive Rating and 26th in Defensive Rating, per Cleaning the Glass. But this team is a quiet 4-3 over the past two weeks, and its young core has inspired faith &mdash; particularly surrounding the starting lineup.
Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter Jr. and Mo Bamba have logged 503 possessions on the court together, the 11th-most in the NBA this season according to Cleaning the Glass. These players have received attention individually; Anthony is having somewhat of a breakout second season, Wagner is a contender in the Rookie of the Year race, and Suggs was the subject of a fantastic <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dont-forget-about-jalen-suggs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent breakdown by our Nekias Duncan</a>. But their synergy together is important to note.
The quintet is the centerpiece of Orlando's currently healthy roster and the barometer for its future potential. They're far from perfect together, but some of the numbers hint at enticing upside in the young squad. In 21 games played, the five have helped the Magic go 8-13 &mdash; not too bad for a pretty rough overall team.
Among 59 lineups with at least 200 possessions played, Orlando's starters have the fourth-best DRTG, giving up 95.4 points per 100 possessions. That's the best of any group on a sub-.500 team; in fact, only four lineups on sub-.500 teams rank in the top-20. Opponents have a 44.3% Effective Field Goal percentage against this group &mdash; the lowest among any qualifying lineup.
The two-big pairing of Carter and Bamba appears to be stamping its presence. Opponents are getting 25% of their shots at the rim (92nd percentile) and making just 51% of those shots (93rd percentile). There's unreal length in the frontcourt; Bamba has a 7-foot-10 wingspan, Carter boasts a 7-foot-5 wingspan and Wagner 's hovers around 7 feet.
Instead, opposing teams typically settle for long twos and three-pointers. They've yet to make the Magic pay, and are shooting just 33.2% from beyond the arc this season. If the Magic starters get into their half-court defense, good luck. They have the third-best DRTG on half-court plays among any lineup with at least 200 possessions played.
Unfortunately, the half-court offense is on the other end of the spectrum. Orlando's starting lineup ranks 53rd out of those aforementioned 59 groupings, avering just 86.1 points per 100 half-court possessions.&nbsp;
This simply isn't a sweet-shooting group at this stage. The squad ranks in the 53rd percentile or worse in every single shot zone recorded by Cleaning the Glass. They also turn the ball over on more than 16.1% of their possessions, which ranks in just the 19th percentile.&nbsp;
However, I personally believe the lineup contains plenty of upside. Anthony has cooled off after a hot start to the season, but he's a capable three-point shooter and pull-up player. Bamba (35.3% from deep) and Carter Jr. (33.3%) are both developing stretch bigs who average at least one made three per game in addition to strong numbers at the basket. Wagner's 35.0% three-point clip is one of the better rookie rates this season. Suggs might be the biggest question mark as a shooter, and he's still a rookie.
Is this a group built to last? I don't know. Orlando will likely have at least a top-five pick in an upcoming draft with three bigs and a lead guard in the top tier. The franchise also waits on perhaps its best player to return from injury in Jonathan Isaac.&nbsp;
First-year head coach Jamahl Mosley at least deserves credit, though, for developing a starting lineup with an average age of 21.2 into a certified-positive defensive unit. As the Magic trudge through a rebuilding season, these five players have built a solid foundation of hope.
THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I find in the void):
<ul>
<li>According to Celtics writer Taylor Snow, Robert Williams III set the franchise's single-season record for dunks with his 95th deposit last Saturday. He did so in just 40 games!</li>
<li>Here's an extremely interesting graphic and fact from Peter Zanca. After an onslaught of new players in December and early January, we're in a crazy dry spell for NBA debuts.</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
After setting a record for the # of players in a season, the NBA hasn't seen any new players debut over the last 20 days. That plateau is pretty much unprecedented and likely means the COVID spike gave FOs a look at more than enough players to fill slots for the rest of the year. <a href="https://t.co/WAbSK94zAM">pic.twitter.com/WAbSK94zAM</a>
&mdash; Peter Zanca (@Peter_Zanca) <a href="https://twitter.com/Peter_Zanca/status/1489075264193810434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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

<ul>
<li>Another really cool graphic from Synergy's Todd Whitehead on how different coaches utilize late-game timeouts:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Was interested to check out the relationship between last-minute timeouts and close games situations with this cool timeout data from Mike and the high/very high leverage possession counts from <a href="https://t.co/NgjzyXILD2">https://t.co/NgjzyXILD2</a> &ndash; not as correlated as I would have guessed! <a href="https://t.co/yGsc0gWvGe">https://t.co/yGsc0gWvGe</a> <a href="https://t.co/Pf3mFmmn1x">pic.twitter.com/Pf3mFmmn1x</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1487620306944495616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Ethan Fuller looks at a young Magic lineup that has been surprisingly effective on the defensive end.

Stats Notebook: Analyzing Orlando's sneaky-interesting starting five

It has become an annual joke, one that NBA players keep repeating.
For the sixth consecutive year, players had the right to have a significant say in the process of deciding who will start the All-Star Game. The NBA uses a formula to do that now, with fan voting counting for 50% of the total, a media panel counting for 25% and the players themselves getting 25%.
And, also for the sixth consecutive year, most players didn&rsquo;t take the process seriously.
There&rsquo;s no other way to explain how 297 players had at least one of their peers &mdash; or themselves &mdash; saying that they should start next month&rsquo;s All-Star Game in Cleveland. Ben Simmons got two votes; he has not played this season because he doesn&rsquo;t want to play for Philadelphia. Kawhi Leonard got two votes; he has not played this season because of injury. John Wall, T.J. Warren, Luka Samanic and Michael Carter-Williams all got votes; they, too, have not played this season.
The NBA got votes back from 323 players in this year&rsquo;s voting. Only four players appeared on more than half of those ballots. Kevin Durant was on 64.1% of them, Giannis Antetokounmpo on 56.7%, LeBron James on 52.9% and Nikola Jokic on 51.7%.
Imagine this: More than half of the players in the NBA didn&rsquo;t think that Joel Embiid &mdash; who likely would win the MVP award going away if the vote was held today &mdash; shouldn&rsquo;t be an All-Star starter.
Make it make sense.
The NBA changed the rules six years ago for 768,112 reasons. That was the number of fan votes that Zaza Pachulia received in 2016, nearly enough to make him an All-Star starter that season. His candidacy was fueled by social-media influencers and many votes from the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Hence, the league went to the weighted formula. And players have turned it into a mockery.
In 2017, there were 283 players who got at least one All-Star starters vote from a peer or themselves. In 2018, the number was 249. In 2019, it was 289. In 2020, it went up to 292. In 2021, up again to 310.
At least this season the number went down, albeit slightly.
But it&rsquo;d be great to hear the arguments from players about why Kyrie Irving, who has played in seven games this season because of his vaccination status, got more votes from players (25) than someone like Miami&rsquo;s Jimmy Butler (23), who has helped the Heat move into first place in the Eastern Conference.
Or why someone thought Zylan Cheatham and Jay Huff should start the All-Star Game. By all accounts, they are excellent teammates. But they have combined for five NBA appearances and zero NBA points this season. Each got one vote anyway.
Moses Wright played in one game, logging 88 scoreless seconds, for the Clippers. He got two starter votes. So did McKinley Wright IV, his five points in three games for Minnesota earning him the two votes. Joel Ayayi scored two points in seven games with Washington; he got a vote. George King got a vote, which is one vote for every point he&rsquo;s scored for Dallas this season.
Many of the players who got one or two votes were hardship signings who, quite frankly, deserve enormous credit for keeping the league afloat this season when rosters were getting decimated by positive COVID-19 tests.
But most of the player votes didn&rsquo;t seem to be sentimental or look like praise for those who were brought in on those 10-day deals. They apparently were either meant to be funny, or to make fun of the process, or both.
Luckily, fans are pretty much getting what they wanted, which should be all that matters since the game is about them. The nine players who got the most fan votes were all picked as starters &mdash; James, Stephen Curry, Durant, Antetokounmpo, Jokic, DeMar DeRozan, Embiid, Ja Morant and Andrew Wiggins. The only starter who wasn&rsquo;t in the top 10 of fan voting was Trae Young; he was 11th among fans, one spot behind Paul George.
And, once again, the player voting silliness doesn&rsquo;t appear to have cost anyone a well-deserved starting nod.
But there will be a day when that happens, and that&rsquo;ll be an embarrassing day for the NBA.

Associated Press writer Tim Reynolds explains how putting the NBA All-Star voting process into the players' hands is a mistake.

Analysis: NBA All-Star voting by players, again, was flawed

It&rsquo;s been quite an unconventional season in Washington.
The summer in D.C. was drowned out by an onslaught of Bradley Beal trade rumors. Instead of discussion about Wizards president Tommy Sheppard&rsquo;s impressive offseason, questions like the ones below dominated the news cycle.
Could Beal be the missing piece for Golden State? What if Boston broke the internet to form an all-St. Louis duo with Brad and Jayson Tatum? Is this the Ben Simmons trade that&rsquo;s been sitting there underneath our noses?
Well, here we are. Seven months later, Beal is still a Wizard, and as it so happens, most of us missed the point. Washington has cobbled together a deep, impressive group of veterans, which <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kyle-kuzma-montrezl-harrell-have-wizards-adopting-dog-mentality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit the ground running with an Eastern Conference-leading 10-3 record</a> and the third-best defense in the entire league to start the season.&nbsp;
But then, the inevitable defensive regression hit like a <a href="https://www.mlb.com/video/miguel-sano-homers-22-on-a-fly-ball-to-center-field">Miguel San&oacute; deep-ball</a>; Washington has returned to its homey lair of a <a href="https://www.cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/summary?season=2021&amp;seasontype=regseason&amp;start=10/1/2021&amp;end=01/15/2022">bottom-10 Defensive Rating</a>, and the Wizards overall record has deteriorated in harmonious fashion, with the team going just 12-17 since Nov. 15. With Beal having a down year and the vaunted defense appearing... um, suddenly not-so-vaunted, Washington has since looked rudderless following the hot start.
That is, until Kyle Kuzma started averaging a cool 26 and 11 over the Wiz&rsquo;s last nine games.
His output has largely been a byproduct of circumstance. Seven Washington players entered COVID-19 health and safety protocols at the turn of the new year, forcing the Wizards to go the substitute-player route like most other ball clubs. This left a hefty load to shoulder for Washington&rsquo;s mainstays, and Kuzma, in particular, made quite the impression while eclipsing 39 minutes in three straight games to ring in 2022.
The plat principal of the Kuzma experience this season has been his inspiring commitment to rebounding. He&rsquo;s finally at his rightful position &mdash; the 4 &mdash; and has seen his overall rebounding average jump by a colossal 2.6 per game while inhaling a career-high <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/advanced/?sort=GP&amp;dir=-1&amp;CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*kuzma">12.8%</a> of available boards.
As Washington&rsquo;s corps dwindled, Kuzma only dug deeper into the comfy niche he&rsquo;s settled into this season.
Kuz&rsquo;s rebounding rate has bumped all the way up to 14.5% since Dec. 27, when nearly half of his teammates entered protocols. He's keyed in on opponents&rsquo; misses with the hunger of Shaggy and Scooby Doo on a Whole 30 diet, his hands fastening onto the rock like a toddler leash. (Side note, who the heck uses those things?)
From there, Kuz is more than capable of initiating the offense in the open floor after ripping down a&nbsp; board, something he&rsquo;s been quite potent at as of late. No longer sharing the floor with LeBron James &mdash; whose resume alone obviously merits sole ownership of a fastbreak offense &mdash; Kuzma&rsquo;s now been empowered to push the pace like true-blue point-forward.
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But Kuzma&rsquo;s more than just a rebounder. He&rsquo;s a full-blown supersized slasher that knifes through coverages with X-Acto Blade precision, and he&rsquo;s only carved opponents up with more voraciously as Washington has suffered its availability crisis.
Kuzma&rsquo;s average drives per game have nearly doubled from 5.9 to 12.2 since December 27, and he&rsquo;s shot a supremely impressive <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/drives/?CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*kuzma&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;DateFrom=12%2F27%2F2021">63.5%</a> on those forays to the rim in that time (his accuracy on drives sat at just 45% beforehand). For context, the league leader in field goal percentage off drives is Giannis Antetokounmpo at 60.2%. So basically, Kuzma&rsquo;s been the personification of the &ldquo;He Don&rsquo;t Miss!&rdquo; meme when putting the ball on the floor in the Year 2022.
Perhaps it was out of pure necessity, but what&rsquo;s largely spearheaded Kuzma&rsquo;s torrential downpour of downhill scoring has been his aggression. He&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCwZqaHipqs&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">playing through contact</a>, devising the necessary counters &mdash; like the occasional <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iANdyk_EHA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eurostep</a> &mdash; to leave opponents loopy in a drunken state. <a href="https://youtu.be/LXyy_Z8Zy5g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The glass</a> is the 26-year-old&rsquo;s friend if needed, of course. And his fabled <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkXmnXdURF4&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hook shot</a>, which earned him modest prominence during his rookie season, will peak through the blinds when applicable. (Rejoice, Laker fans, it&rsquo;s back!)
Most importantly, when he gets to that right hand, it&rsquo;s basically over. Kuzma&rsquo;s always been a sturdy at-rim finisher, and his <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4230#tab-shooting_accuracy">74% accuracy inside 4 feet</a> ties a career-high for the Flint native. His rim attacks have become a reliable source of renewable energy when Washington&rsquo;s bottom-tier offense trips up.
Here&rsquo;s a fun example of his decisiveness.
Washington sets up a pair of staggered screens for Beal, and Kuzma makes his move right when the help defender (Gordon Hayward) turns his head to bark out orders. Miles Bridges is left... miles behind (sorry) as Kuz stretches out for the layup.&nbsp;
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It&rsquo;s strange, but his size seems to stand out more now that he&rsquo;s a Wizard, no longer sharing the floor with a gaggle of giants in purple-and-gold threads. You really feel that Kuz is a full 6-foot-10 on his bull rushes to the rim. He's a towering thunderbolt of an athlete with G5 jets affixed to his highlight-blue sneakers.
Nothing is more emblematic of Kuzma&rsquo;s hot streak than his recent success from floater range. He&rsquo;s shot a hellacious <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4230?season=2021&amp;start=12/27/2021&amp;end=12/28/2022#tab-shooting_accuracy">55% on short-range middies</a> in his last nine games, a massive bump from the mere 36% he posted prior; it's also good for the 72nd percentile among his peers. Granted, it&rsquo;s unlikely that he&rsquo;ll maintain this level of preposterous efficiency on in-betweeners, as runners like the one below are a tricky diet to survive off of. But for now, I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;ll gladly take it.
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What makes all of this so impressive is that his handle &mdash; which can get a little rickety when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9t8NDEGJEE&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bothered by nearby helpers</a> &mdash; hasn&rsquo;t been especially fluid nor deceitful as of late. His vision has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmbA8HBzZl0&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">moments of genius</a>, though inaccuracy can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qmZXfjyI-Y&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plague him</a>. He grades out as a fairly average passer.
Most of all, his three-pointer remains a work in progress, and he&rsquo;s actually seen his efficiency from distance fall a percentage point to 33% during the recent hot stretch. He&rsquo;s pump-faking <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CuZ0O8dJOw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defenders out their shoes</a> without the requisite long-range weaponry typically required to make the seas part and open up the rim.
Kuz made his bed as a defensive-minded grinder in Laker Land, and that calling card is still very much intact. As mentioned before, the dude&rsquo;s mobile and huge. It&rsquo;s tough as nails to score on him in isolation, where he ranks within the 75th percentile as a 1-on-1 defender.&nbsp;
Kuzma uses his body well to shield opponents away from the rim, with his 7-foot wingspan handling the rest. It&rsquo;s tough to get him in the air on pump-fakes. His body control is pretty exceptional, and here, he uses a 2-foot jump to slow down and leap with precise control while contesting Chuma Okeke.
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Recently, he&rsquo;s even had to pick up the slack and play some 5. Montrezl Harrell was one of the many players held out due to health and safety protocols, leaving the Wizards with only one available big man, Daniel Gafford. Playing Kuz in the middle allows the Wizards to switch pretty much everything, and he&rsquo;s had some super impressive reps against the likes of LaMelo Ball, Terrence Ross, Cole Anthony and Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, just to name a few. Certainly a varied cast of opponents.
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Failing to mention Kuzma&rsquo;s legend inside of five minutes would be a disservice, because, well, you&rsquo;ll hear about it on nearly every single Wizards broadcast. Only a handful of people in human history have shown more exuberance about anything&nbsp;than Washington&rsquo;s play-by-play crew when discussing &ldquo;Klutch Kuz&rdquo;: Anthony Edwards when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Y2P-BQP5w&amp;ab_channel=DaHoopSpotProductions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranking fast-food french fries</a>, JAY-Z the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aayZ9ybDTBw&amp;ab_channel=MardyMoves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first time</a> he heard the &ldquo;Dirt Off Your Shoulder&rdquo; beat, and pretty much anyone who has ever done a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGJhjHw4sMM&amp;ab_channel=Whereuat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nardwuar</a> interview.
That&rsquo;s it. That&rsquo;s the list.
Having said this, it&rsquo;s easy to understand NBC Sports Washington's fascination with Kuz in crunch time. His <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/clutch-traditional/?sort=GP&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612764" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3.0 points</a> per game lead the Wiz in the clutch, and he&rsquo;s posting a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/players/clutch-advanced/?sort=TS_PCT&amp;dir=-1&amp;Season=2021-22&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;TeamID=1610612764&amp;CF=PLAYER_NAME*E*kuzma">70.6% True Shooting percentage</a> when it matters most. He&rsquo;s already nailed <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-cVQhyBvw0&amp;ab_channel=ChazNBA">not one</a>, but two game-winners as a Wizard, sending the Pistons' fans home with a cheery wave and a toothy smile after a cold-blooded three. Truly villainous stuff from the hometown kid, if I do say so myself.
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It&rsquo;s been quite the revenge tour for Kyle Kuzma this year. Dangled in trades for almost the entirety of last season, his former employer sent him to the nation&rsquo;s capital in the Russell Westbrook blockbuster. Shortly after, the Brooklyn Nets felt a trade exception (that will likely go unused) was more valuable than his services in the Spencer Dinwiddie sign-and-trade. In the moment, it seemed quite telling that two teams on the brink of a championship said, &ldquo;Nah, I&rsquo;m good&rdquo; to Kuz.
Now, I bet they&rsquo;d surely love a do-over.

Matt Brooks takes a deep dive into Kyle Kuzma's resurgence with the Wizards and his incredible production since Dec. 27.

Don't look now, but Kyle Kuzma is silencing the critics

Thus far this season, Golden State Warrior losses have been a lot like blue moons &mdash; seldom seen, and as a result, quite conspicuous.
Notwithstanding the team&rsquo;s 89-86 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, the Dubs have been the NBA&rsquo;s best team this season. They enter play on Dec. 29 with the league&rsquo;s top record of 27-7 and the second-best plus-minus (+10) among their peers. They also happen to lay statistical claim of being the best defensive team in the league, as they allow the fewest points per game (100.9) and yield the fewest points per 100 possessions (102.1).
Offensively, they&rsquo;ve been led by Steph Curry, who, in case you haven&rsquo;t noticed, is doing big things.
With the other half of the Splash Brothers lurking in the shadows, one can&rsquo;t help but to wonder whether the Warriors have been so good that they&rsquo;ve created a Klay Thompson conundrum.
<div class="mceNonEditable"><spike>&nbsp;</spike></div>
The assumption has always been that Golden State would become a better team once Thompson returns to the lineup, but, in the words of Jay-Z...
How you gon' upgrade me?
What's higher than number one?
Nothing immediately comes to mind.
That the Warriors have arrived here is a surprise &mdash; at least to yours truly. Their championship window <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/dynastic-demise-warriors-have-far-to-go-to-become-contender-out-west" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seemed to be closing</a> as their core aged out, but a reinvigoration of youth and their development has changed everything.
A combination of an improved Curry and a rejuvenated (and effective) Draymond Green have anchored a team that has seen auxiliary pieces like Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Damion Lee become fairly efficient shot-makers who compete defensively. 
Wiggins, in particular, has found his game in California.&nbsp;
A career 44.8% shooter from the field, he is knocking down a career-best 48.7% of his attempts, including a blistering 42.5% from three.
With players shuttled in and out of the lineup, Golden State&rsquo;s appreciable depth has been on display. Otto Porter Jr., Andre Iguodala, Gary Payton II and Juan Toscano-Anderson have each played impactful minutes when called upon, and the recurring theme for the Warriors has been finding ways to win.
And again, all of this has occurred without Thompson.
As a player &mdash; assuming he can revert to form &mdash; Klay should be expected to regain his place in the rotation and help the Warriors on both ends of the floor. At least on paper, adding a talent like him, with his specific gifts, could make the Warriors virtually unbeatable.
Nonetheless, it&rsquo;s interesting to comprehend just how good the team has been without him, and why.
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Keeping Up With The Canadians 🇨🇦 Andrew Wiggins | vs. Denver 21 POINTS 3 THREE POINTERS 8 REBOUNDS 2 STEALS<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DubNation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DubNation</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/warriors?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@warriors</a> <a href="https://t.co/SYkr43VM9d">pic.twitter.com/SYkr43VM9d</a>
&mdash; NBA Canada (@NBACanada) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBACanada/status/1476203855046086656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2021</a></blockquote>

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According to <a href="http://www.82games.com/2122/2122GSW2.HTM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">82games.com</a>, the team&rsquo;s best five-man unit is Curry, Poole, Wiggins, Green and Looney. The quintet has played 264.5 minutes together, boasting a net-rating of +21 and outscoring opposing five-man units 65% of the time.
The second-best combination replaces Looney with Porter. The group has played only 36.6 minutes together, but has a net rating of +15 and has outscored opposing five-man units 55.5% of the time. Others deployed by Kerr have smaller sample sizes, meaning that these two lineups are the ones he relies upon most heavily.&nbsp;
What becomes evident from these two, however, is that both Poole and Wiggins have been instrumental to the Warriors&rsquo; success &mdash; and that is a pair whose minutes will be reduced most dramatically once Thompson returns.
Klay is best as a catch-and-shoot player, so it&rsquo;s easy to imagine scenarios where he&rsquo;s playing alongside Poole. It&rsquo;s also easy to imagine five-man units where Green plays center with Curry, Poole, Thompson and Wiggins.
Still, reincorporating a piece &mdash; especially one who&rsquo;s expected to play starter&rsquo;s minutes &mdash; is going to cause rotational demotions. Young players don&rsquo;t always handle those well.
The last time Thompson played in an NBA game, Kevin Durant was still his teammate. Wiggins was in Minnesota, and had only recently been separated from Tom Thibodeau and Jimmy Butler. Poole was a sophomore Wolverine at the University of Michigan whose hoops dreams had yet to fully materialize.
Lots has changed.
Assuming he is able to take the floor at some point before the All-Star break, it will have been nearly three years since Thompson last set foot on an NBA court. Many things, including those he will call teammates, will have changed. So too may be the extent upon which the Dubs will rely on him.
There&rsquo;s no reason to believe that either Thompson or the Warriors will have any issue reincorporating the other, but there&rsquo;s no question that Klay will be hungry to prove that he is still as capable a player as he was when we last saw him.&nbsp;
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When he takes the court for the first time, Klay will have seen all but five of the teammates he last played with replaced. Curry, Green, Looney, Lee and Iguodala will be the familiar faces.
There will only be one constant &mdash; the Warriors will still be the bully on the NBA&rsquo;s block.&nbsp;
Only this time, they will have attained that status without Klay.
Sure, Poole, Wiggins and the rest of the team&rsquo;s pieces may willingly yield back the reps and shots they earned by scratching and clawing their way through the rotation. But just as they will have to get used to the idea of yielding to Klay, he too will have to accept the fact that 2019 was a long time ago.&nbsp;
Despite his absence, the Warriors haven't stopped being the Warriors.
In some ways, it&rsquo;s good. In most ways, in fact.
But in others, it&rsquo;s a conundrum.&nbsp;
The Klay conundrum &mdash; perhaps the league&rsquo;s most interesting storyline as we head into 2022.

After nearly three years, Klay Thompson is inching toward his return. Both he and the Warriors will need to adjust to a few changes.

The dominant Warriors may have created a Klay Thompson conundrum

The&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/joel-embiid-criticizes-nba-covid-protocol/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
Nearly two years after the NBA suspended its season due to the onset of COVID-19 among players, the coronavirus pandemic continues to plague the NBA, as teams continue to suffer from shortages in personnel due to the league's health and safety protocols.
As COVID cases continue to rise, the NBA maintains that it will &ldquo;trust the science&rdquo; and let it guide the league in managing the situation. But once again, it seems as if things are starting to get out of hand. The Philadelphia 76ers are one of many teams that have been hampered by the health and safety protocols. Sixers big man Joel Embiid had a tough bout with the virus early in the season.
&ldquo;I really thought I wasn&rsquo;t going to make it," Embiid said to reporters when he exited the protocols earlier this season.
Embiid is now back in action, but the Sixers have had a number of players sidelined throughout the season. Philadelphia started the season shorthanded due to the absence of All-Star point guard Ben Simmons and, like the rest of the league, the health and safety protocols are making an already challenging season even more difficult for Embiid and the crew.
&ldquo;I thought last year there was great precautions in place and this year it was just all over the place, and I just thought it was unprofessional and that&rsquo;s where we are now," Embiid told reporters recently.
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Joel Embiid on increase in NBA COVID cases: "I thought last year there was great precautions in place and this year it was just all over the place and I just thought it was unprofessional and that's where we are now." Full quote below: <a href="https://t.co/6lTPtm0aGy">pic.twitter.com/6lTPtm0aGy</a>
&mdash; Yaron Weitzman (@YaronWeitzman) <a href="https://twitter.com/YaronWeitzman/status/1471690136060579844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote>

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The NBA continues to enforce its health and safety protocols. Still, the rules are only as good as those adhering to it. Embiid believes that he and his peers can do a better job of taking the necessary actions to help curb the rising number of players entering the protocols.
&ldquo;We all got to protect each other," Embiid said. "Whether it&rsquo;s wearing masks, making sure whatever you do outside of basketball, that you think about your teammates, their family or your own family."
It&rsquo;s a shame that we continue to see players in and out of lineups due to the protocols, but unfortunately, this is the new normal in the NBA. Even with 97% of the league vaccinated, it seems that players missing time and games being postponed will be a regular occurrence.
Hopefully the NBA will find a more effective way to manage the COVID outbreaks going forward.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Joel Embiid was quite opinionated on how the league has been less cautious this season.

Joel Embiid slams NBA's health and safety protocols

Overpromising and underdelivering. In pro sports, the two go together as much as peanut butter and jelly.
As a culture, we&rsquo;re always looking for the next great thing. It&rsquo;s why many of us watch in the first place.&nbsp;
But an unfortunate byproduct of this unending chase is that we prematurely anoint players. Scores of youngsters are touted as the next great one before being given the opportunity to fall down, get back up and figure out who they are.
Some get crushed under the burden of great expectations. The select few who don't?
Well, they end up like LaMelo Ball.
As the Charlotte Hornets enter play on Dec. 1 at 13-10, they do so as one of the surprise teams in the Eastern Conference. And they do so thanks to the 20-year-old sophomore. It&rsquo;s safe to say that the youngest of the three Ball brothers is already the most impactful pro player.
Thanks to his older brother Lonzo and their father LaVar, LaMelo became a household name long before the NBA was within reach, and some of his accomplishments &mdash; including scoring 92 points in a high school game &mdash; garnered quite a bit of attention. But one thing became clear as LaMelo grew older. Many regarded his hype as manufactured as a result of his father&rsquo;s antics. His ascension was met with some skepticism, particularly in light of the fact that Lonzo was not able to save the Lakers and LiAngelo has struggled, to say the least.
So with all that baggage. LaMelo eventually arrived to the NBA. That was an accomplishment in itself.&nbsp;
Since then, his impact on the Hornets has been downright inspiring.
Last season, as a 19-year-old rookie, LaMelo became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double. His 22-point, 12-rebound, 11-assist effort led the Hornets to a surprise victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
&ldquo;A 19-year-old rookie does not look like this.&rdquo;
That&rsquo;s all Hornets head coach James Borrego could say after the effort.
&ldquo;This is rare what you&rsquo;re seeing.&rdquo;
LaMelo would go on to win the Rookie of the Year award in a landslide and, this season, appears determined to push the Hornets further than the 33 wins and 10th seed they earned last season.
Through the first 20 games of the 2021-22 season, Ball turned in per-game averages of 19.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals. According to <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1464387742301769731?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic</a>, he became the first player since Magic Johnson to accumulate as many as 398 points, 156 rebounds, 150 assists, 39 steals and 8 blocks in the first 20 games of a season.
And while that might appear to be one of those &ldquo;cherrypicked&rdquo; stats designed to put a player in elite company, in this instance, Ball&rsquo;s productivity has been rather remarkable.
It&rsquo;s rare that we see young players rise up and meet the expectations brought forth by the flashing lights and television cameras. As he continues to develop as a professional player, we can already determine that Ball is one of the most impactful 20-year-old players we&rsquo;ve ever seen. While he's much different than the likes of Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant or LeBron James, he belongs in the same conversation with respect to game-impact and his ability to serve as a cornerstone.
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His exposure to higher levels of competition earlier than many of his peers gave LaMelo the experience necessary to excel in the NBA from Day 1. With his rare combination of floor vision and the guts to attempt to do things we don&rsquo;t see everyday, he&rsquo;s captured our imaginations.
It's a new day in the Eastern Conference. There are some who believe that the days of the East being a joke are long gone, and it&rsquo;s hard to argue.&nbsp;
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks reside in the Eastern Conference. The title favorites, the Brooklyn Nets, do as well. The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are teams that should not be taken lightly, and many others &mdash; including the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks and Washington Wizards &mdash; have made tremendous strides over the past few years.&nbsp;
Entering this season, the Hornets weren't necessarily a team that many expected to vie for supremacy in the conference. Nonetheless, behind LaMelo, the team is currently the No. 6 seed. There's obviously a lot of season left, but with it about 25% complete, the Hornets are one of its early surprises. That&rsquo;s no accident.&nbsp;
Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak knows a thing or two about special players.&nbsp;
Kupchak has 10 NBA championship rings, seven of which came as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers&rsquo; front office. He served under Jerry West as assistant general manager before becoming the team's GM. He saw Magic and Kareem and Shaq and Kobe. He helped them win championships.&nbsp;
In a recent <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/lamelo-ball-renews-spark-in-hornets-much-to-michael-jordans-delight">interview with NBA.com</a>, Kupchak borrowed one of West&rsquo;s old sayings when discussing LaMelo rapid ascent.
&ldquo;Jerry West would use an expression about certain players, that they &lsquo;had a little gold dust&rsquo; sprinkled on them from above,&rdquo; Kupchak said. &ldquo;I do think LaMelo has that.&rdquo;
With every passing day, and every milestone, it&rsquo;s getting increasingly difficult to argue otherwise.

Moke Hamilton details LaMelo Ball's incredible start to the season with the Hornets and how it's put him in elite company.

Third time’s the charm: LaMelo Ball met the expectations and smiled

The NBA is often deemed a copycat league, and a trend doesn&rsquo;t truly become popular until it surfaces as a buzzword in our NBA lexicon.
When bully ball was deemed the route to success, big, bruising centers were at a premium. Centers like Roy Hibbert were highly coveted and &ldquo;verticality&rdquo; became the buzzword du jour. However, these centers were often too slow-footed to keep pace with the new era.&nbsp;
In fact, this next era demanded mobility. Pace-and-space came to be in direct response to the lumbering center, with the hopes of playing them off the floor.&nbsp;
This was spearheaded by the three-point revolution and the small-ball revolution (which are often conflated for one another).&nbsp;
The three-point revolution boils down to a simple math equation: 3 &gt; 2. The small-ball revolution exists to attack the limitations of a traditional roster construction. It does so by targeting a position that often struggles to guard in space: a plodding center.&nbsp;
Trends in basketball are no different than trends on the runway, in that they&rsquo;re cyclical and must come to an end (bye bye skinny jeans). While most teams are busy copying the latest fad, the most innovative teams are taking risks by developing their counters in search for the next trend.&nbsp;
The three-point revolution is unique in that the math makes it difficult to solve for. As long as a three-pointer is greater than a two, the NBA will never do away with a healthy reliance on the outside shot.
Small ball, however, is finally beginning to see it&rsquo;s counter. A new iteration of basketball is materializing, having been born out of a generation of big men who grew up watching the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; affectionately nicknamed &ldquo;Death Lineup&rdquo; make their traditional role obsolete.&nbsp;
To understand this next iteration of NBA basketball and the emergence of modern bigs, we must first understand the specific advantages that made small ball so successful and their necessary counters.&nbsp;
Small ball as a concept is easier to understand than to define. In the most simplistic terms, it is a style of play with a single big as opposed to two. A more granular definition is ripe with overlapping concepts that evolve with each new season. Buzzwords like &ldquo;positionless," &ldquo;5 out," &ldquo;pace-and-space&rdquo; and &ldquo;switchability&rdquo; have made up our understanding of small ball in recent years.&nbsp;
The base idea is by playing without a traditional two-big-man lineup, what you lose in size, strength and interior presence, you more than make up for in speed, agility and shooting. Seeing as centers are often the least mobile and fleet of foot, they&rsquo;re usually replaced by sliding a smaller player up.
For example, in 2012, while &ldquo;verticality&rdquo; was the buzzword that was taking the league by storm, Hibbert&rsquo;s Indiana Pacers faced the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After Chris Bosh got injured, the Heat were forced to play 6-foot-8 Shane Battier, a career wing, in Bosh&rsquo;s place at the 4.&nbsp;
That nerdy love child of necessity and innovation gave way to big-time small-ball success. This would grow and take shape over the next decade, playing big men off the floor and reaching it&rsquo;s pinnacle with the Warriors dynasty.&nbsp;
Trading size and a domineering interior presence for shooting and speed is not a new concept. Offensively, it has not only existed but thrived for a long time, most notably with the 'Seven Seconds or Less' Phoenix Suns from the mid 2000s. However, for the better part of the last decade, we&rsquo;ve also begun to see it succeed defensively, and that&rsquo;s when teams all over the NBA started trying to imitate it. &nbsp;
As the old saying goes: Defense wins championships. Even the poster child of the NBA's small-ball era, the Warriors &mdash; who featured two of the greatest three-point shooters of all-time &mdash; won on the back of the most versatile defense in the league. The most successful small lineups aren't just a menace on the offensive end with their elite shooting; they must also wreak havoc defensively.
As teams in the three-point era attack with heavy diets of pick-and-roll, switching defenses became a necessity. On the flip side, traditional centers being switched onto crafty guards around the perimeter usually spells doom. And with an extreme emphasis on floor spacing and three-point shooting, this mismatch can do serious damage quickly. In order for small ball to succeed in keeping the big man off the floor, smaller defenders who can more than hold their own against bigger guys are essential (&agrave; la Draymond Green).
It&rsquo;s easy to understand why small ball took the league by storm. But while most teams have conformed, trying to play smaller with an emphasis on floor spacing, a few teams have gone in another direction: banking on length and hoping that "long ball" is the answer to the league&rsquo;s small-ball reign.
Though colloquially &ldquo;long ball&rdquo; refers to spacing the floor, in this case it refers to long players replacing small players to shrink the court. This next iteration features lengthy wingspans and wreaks havoc in the best way. It's built out of wings with the dimensions of a center (and centers who have ditched the weight room for a skills clinic). A perfect example is Anthony Davis.&nbsp;
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In 2020, the Houston Rockets took small ball to an extreme, trading away center Clint Capela and having no one taller than 6-foot-8 on their roster. In the regular season, they punished bigs by playing an inverted pick-and-roll, using guard James Harden as a screener and pretend big man Jeff Green as the ball-handler.
Though the experiment was successful in the regular season, it didn't work as well in the playoffs, as the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the micro-ball Rockets in five games in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers won because of Anthony Davis, who prefers to play the 4 but moved up to the 5 without fear of getting beat up down low. Unable to punish Davis in the pick-and-roll, Houston floundered.
Davis is unique in that he has the skills of a guard and the body of a big. This is because he was a 6-foot-3 guard <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-davis-growth-spurt-2014-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">up until his growth spurt</a> to 6-foot-11 over the span of a year-and-a-half.&nbsp;
And now, we have a whole generation of future centers who are training to be like Davis. This is the revenge of the bigs, who have heard take after take about how the NBA is disposing of them and seen one too many small guys replace their role. The once foundational piece to every team&rsquo;s wardrobe has been left to either adapt offensively (&agrave; la Davis and Nikola Jokic) or be relegated to rim-runner duties.
With this archetype of big man disrupting the advantages of small ball, the question that innovative teams are asking is: How would a team fare with multiple Anthony Davis types? How about multiple Giannis Antetokounmpos? Would several tall, long men whose wingspans eat up inches on the court be able to suffocate the dimensions and disrupt passing lanes?
The Cleveland Cavaliers are testing this question out with their extra tall lineup, which many are referring to as "tall ball." &nbsp; I&rsquo;m hesitant to call this tall ball, because it&rsquo;s not about height as much as it is length. The same can be said of the Toronto Raptors, who are also bucking the small-ball trend despite not having a single player who's taller than 6-foot-10 on their roster. Instead, Toronto has six players with a wingspan of 7-feet or greater.&nbsp;
Height doesn&rsquo;t matter; length matters because it measures how far out you can guard. Basketball isn&rsquo;t played on the ground or above your head, it&rsquo;s played in the space in front of you and what&rsquo;s necessary is the arm length to guard it.&nbsp;
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The unfortunately-named Ape Index measures your height minus your wingspan. The majority of us average citizens have a neutral Ape Index, meaning our height and wingspan are identical in length.&nbsp;
Most NBA players have a positive Ape Index. The Raptors' starting frontcourt of Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and rookie Scottie Barnes have an absurdly long Ape Index, with an average of +5. What they lack in height, they more than make up for in length.
While having a long wingspan has its offensive benefits &mdash; as it allows you to get your shot up and score over your defender with relative ease &mdash; the main benefits are seen defensively.
It&rsquo;s no surprise that big men are slower than smaller guards; just Imagine Kyrie Irving and Jonas Valanciunas in a foot race. Taller men also have slower reflexes. This is because our reactions stem from electrical signals that travel along our nerves to our brain and then back to muscle that reacts. The longer the distance, the slower our reaction time. This would explain why a big man can never keep up with a guard&rsquo;s first step.
What length provides is additional leeway &mdash; the extra inches help you recover from a slower response time. Longer limbs provide better lateral movement and, not to mention, it&rsquo;s easier to block and contest shots without ever moving your feet.
The Raptors&rsquo; length affords them the ability to gamble a ton on defense, as their long limbs allow them to recover quicker than most. Toronto leads the league in deflections per game (20.9). Gary Trent Jr. leads all NBA players with 4.4 deflections per game, while Fred VanVleet ranks third (3.9), Siakam comes in at 10th (3.3) and Anunoby is 12th (3.2). That&rsquo;s four of the Raptors' starting five currently placing in the top-12 of the NBA's deflections leaderboard.
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This is a direct result of the aggressive, blitzing style of defense that head coach Nick Nurse deploys, which uses a flurry of limbs to rattle opposing offenses. Toronto's defense is still a work in progress, but it shows great promise.&nbsp;
Curiously, the NBA doesn&rsquo;t measure the in-seam. With more and more teams looking for the next Giannis Antetokoumnpo, you'd think that most teams would want to know whether a prospect can dribble the length of the court in three giant leaps.&nbsp;
Contact length measures the space between each step. Usain Bolt is often thought to be the fastest man in the world because of how he towers over his competitors. More than his height, it&rsquo;s his long legs that give him an advantage. The longer your legs, the longer your gait. Bolt only <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2008/08/usain-bolt-takes-sprinting-to-new-heights.html#:~:text=Bolt%20takes%2040%20to%2041,9%20bronze%20medalist%2C%20takes%2047.&amp;text=If%20Bolt's%20long%20legs%20give,as%20a%20detriment%20to%20sprinting." target="_blank" rel="noopener">requires 40 strides to run 100 meters whereas his competitors require at least 45 strides</a>.&nbsp;
In the NBA, that translates to the distance you can cover and ground you can make up scrambling on the court. While small ball creates space, long limbs fill the gaps. Shrinking the court allows guys to close out with plenty of recovery time to spare. It can be the added advantage in beating your man out to loose balls, and it makes getting out in transition a breeze. The Raptors rank first among all teams in loose balls recovered (7.6) and fastbreak frequency (with 20.3% of their possessions in transition).&nbsp;
No position has seen a shift in duties quite like centers. Prototypical centers of the 2010s like Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and DeMarcus Cousins had to shed weight to stay in the NBA and play in this pace-and-space era. And no team exemplifies this shift in duties for seven-footers more than the Cavaliers.
After a couple years of drafting up-tempo guards, Cleveland has gone all-in on big men, becoming home to the biggest starting lineup in the NBA. The Cavaliers start three near seven-footers Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen.
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What would once be considered an outdated and slow-footed trio is actually the most innovative starting lineup in the NBA. And it&rsquo;s all <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/evan-mobley-jarrett-allen-frontcourt-pairing-provides-unique-longterm-advantage-for-cavs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">centered around</a> the duo of Mobley (the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft) and Allen (the fifth-year center). Mobley is 6-foot-11, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and +5 Ape Index. Allen, who stands at 6-foot-11, has an impressive +6 Ape Index, with a 7-foot-5 wingspan.&nbsp;
The third big man in this gargantuan lineup is Markkanen. Despite Markkanen&rsquo;s 6-foot-11 frame, he only has a 6-foot-10 wingspan, which is the shortest Ape Index on the roster at -1. Markkanen is also far and away the worst defender of the trio (mentioned solely to stress the correlation between wingspan and good defense).
The Cavaliers' starting lineup features all three modern-big-man archetypes. Markkanen is the three-point specialist who spaces the floor and prefers to play on offense like a wing. Allen is the prototypical big who's an elite rim protector and excellent on the boards. And Mobley is the unicorn who makes this all work as a Swiss-army knife that can guard multiple positions, including hanging with quick guards on the perimeter.
The Cavaliers have a top-five defense despite the fact that their starting five features three poor defenders. The length of both Mobley and Allen more than makes up for the defensive liabilities at the other three positions. With Allen protecting the rim and Mobley guarding the perimeter, the two have been phenomenal, proving that multiple bigs can be on the floor together. Their length and ability to recover quickly mean a lot fewer bail-out fouls too. And despite being able to get to the rim, teams are having a very difficult time scoring there, as they&rsquo;ll always run into a seven-footer.
The defensive rating for the Cavs with Mobley, Allen and Markkanen on the court is 99.0 through eight games, which would be good for second-best in the league behind only the Warriors. Teams are shooting 58.5% within five feet of the basket, which is good for fifth-best in the league, per NBA.com.
Since the dawn of NBA time, giants have ruled the game. From Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon, centers were the foundation of a franchise. Within the last decade, the small-ball revolution and three-point revolution have made them an afterthought. Even All-Star ballots did away with the position, opting to keep it open to any frontcourt player.
Meanwhile, a new generation of seven-footers have been waiting in the wings and they are finally emerging. These big men were taught the value of pace-and-space and trained to exploit the lack of size in small-ball lineups, while not giving up anything in terms of speed and quickness. And now these long-legged bigs are ready to step onto the runway, with teams like the Raptors and Cavaliers going all-in on them and playing several together for the first time in a long time.
This is an era where seven-footers are long, slender and skilled, and just as adept at guarding along the perimeter as they are at protecting the rim. A new era, where seven-footer is now defined by wingspan rather than height. It's also an era certain to dictate the next NBA trend because, in the NBA, size still matters.

NBA teams like the Raptors and Cavaliers are ushering in a new era where length is valued above all else, writes Imman Adan.

Length matters: The NBA's long-ball revolution may be coming

It&rsquo;s time for another installment of our NBA picks against the spread via &ldquo;Nothing But Bets.&rdquo; Every single day, &ldquo;Nothing But Bets&rdquo; gives you the inside advantage on the slate of action before opening tip-off. So far this season, the results are in our favor, as we carry a 108-86-2 record (55.6%).
As always, our odds are provided by TwinSpires Sportsbook and over/under prop bets are provided by PrizePicks.
It&rsquo;s hammering time!
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Brooklyn Nets (-3) vs. Golden State Warriors
This is going to be so much fun, everybody. Stephen Curry&rsquo;s Warriors will go toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant, James Harden and the Nets. Golden State is coming off its first loss in a while after dropping a closely-contested battle in Charlotte on Sunday against the Hornets. Meanwhile, the Nets are cooking right now thanks to Durant and Harden being an unstoppable offensive duo. Here, we&rsquo;re siding with the Nets to win outright and cover the 3-point spread. It would be shocking to see the Warriors drop back-to-back games, but in Brooklyn we have to roll with Durant and Harden to get the job done. On PrizePicks, we&rsquo;re locking in this superstar power play that could pay huge dividends: Curry over 30.5 points, Durant over 29.5 points, Harden over 21.5 points, Curry over 5 threes, Durant over 2 threes.
Utah Jazz (-10) vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Talk about a tough matchup for Philadelphia, especially with Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle still sidelined in COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The shorthanded Sixers really don&rsquo;t hold a single advantage in Utah, relying heavily on a hot shooting night from three-point range. With that being said, I&rsquo;m hammering the Jazz to cover the big 10-point spread here. Expect a big night from Donovan Mitchell in the scoring department, while Rudy Gobert deters an endless amount of shots around the rim. Ride the Jazz and tail this over/under power play on PrizePicks: Mitchell over 25.5 points, Seth Curry over 14.5 points, Gobert over 13.5 rebounds, Andre Drummond over 13 rebounds, Curry over 2 threes.
Los Angeles Clippers (-7.5) vs. San Antonio Spurs
The Clippers are a lot of fun to watch when they hit a groove offensively. Paul George has been carrying the land in Kawhi Leonard&rsquo;s place without any issues. Also, role players such as Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum continue to step up when called upon. In this matchup against San Antonio, I love the idea of a big PG game propelling the Clippers to an easy victory. The Spurs are a feisty young team playing well under head coach Gregg Popovich, but I&rsquo;m locking in Clippers -7.5 as my best bet of Tuesday&rsquo;s three-game slate. On PrizePicks, we&rsquo;re going with this intriguing over/under power play: George over 27.5 points, George over 8 rebounds, Dejounte Murray over 7.5 rebounds, Murray over 6.5 assists, George over 5 assists.
Recapping our picks on &ldquo;Nothing But Bets,&rdquo; here&rsquo;s who I&rsquo;m rolling with for Tuesday&rsquo;s slate: Nets -3, Jazz -10, Clippers -7.5.
All users that deposit and use the promo code NEWS on Prize Picks will receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100! <a href="https://app.prizepicks.com/sign-up?invite_code=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up here</a>.

Alongside our "Nothing But Bets" podcast on BasketballNews.com, our daily picks will be posted each day.

Nothing But Bets: NBA Projections for 11/16/21

It's hard to maintain your place in the Sour Rankings.
Most teams come and go throughout the season, making spot appearances as they experience a slump or stumble into your run-of-the-mill NBA drama. The New York Knicks are making their first appearance in the Sour Rankings this week, but time will tell if the current underachievement is a blip or a theme.
The true stalwarts, however, are trapped in severe on-court disappointment and off-court turmoil. Our top (or bottom, depending on your point of view) squad holds down the fort for a third consecutive week. That's not an easy feat, and it's not exactly the recognition the franchise wants 14 games into the season.
If you're new to the Sour Rankings, here's a refresher. Unlike the typical "power rankings" that repeat themselves throughout sports media, Sour Rankings are a bizarro-world counter. These rankings highlight the top-10 most frustrating NBA franchises throughout the season, and they will be updated every week to match the twists and turns of the league.&nbsp;
This is not merely a bottom-10 of your typical best-to-worst power rankings. You will see championship contenders and playoff hopefuls mixed in with struggling squads. Teams well-under .500 may never touch the Sour Rankings because they are on track with their respective processes. Injuries, drama, transactions and generally underwhelming play will all be considered.
The central question is ultimately this: How good should you feel about the direction of each franchise? Some teams value wins this season and paths to a title, while others are looking down the road at long-term pieces. Let's get going:
Escaping the Sour Rankings:&nbsp;Four teams broke free this week. The Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns are riding serious hot streaks, and have gone a combined 13-2 over the last two weeks. The Pistons may be losing, but Cade Cunningham's 20-point outing against the Rockets and 2021 No. 2 pick Jalen Green should inspire some confidence.
The Hornets also jumped back out after a thrilling 106-102 win against the Golden State Warriors. That alone is a feather in the cap for such a young team.
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10. Milwaukee Bucks (6-8)
Honestly, I don't know how to feel about placing Milwaukee in here. Bucks fans shouldn't be panicking; the team is still working its way through injuries to Brook Lopez and George Hill, as well as Khris Middleton's COVID-related absence and Donte DiVincenzo's long-term injury. But Milwaukee is under .500 and has struggled to generate positive momentum in the early season. The Bucks wield an 18th-ranked offense and 22nd-ranked defense. It's just been a slog to start.
(Last week: Unranked)
9. Boston Celtics (6-7)
The Celtics have rather quietly locked down with the league's third-best defensive rating (102.3, per Cleaning the Glass) over the past two weeks. That comes without Jaylen Brown for most of the stretch, and also some missed time between Al Horford and Josh Richardson. The streaky shooting and general offensive inconsistencies are still confounding. But Ime Udoka has overhauled the defense in his first year as head coach, and things seem to be clicking into place relatively early.&nbsp;
(Last week: 3)
8. Houston Rockets (1-12)
Houston remains in about the same place as the past two weeks: a very bad basketball team with some, but not enough (yet) flashes of promise. The Rockets have lost 11 in a row, and it's tough to think about how the agreement to sit John Wall is costing the young players some on-court stability from a veteran.
Alperen Sengun has been a bright spot off the bench. He's 6-of-14 from three-point range to start the year, and recently had a 10-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist performance in Sunday's loss to Phoenix.
(Last week: 9)
7. New York Knicks (7-6)
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/knicks-to-begin-an-important-three-game-home-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tommy Beer has aptly summed up</a> the complete derailment of New York's defense and starting lineup. In general, the team's shooters have hit a massive dry spell. The Knicks are hitting 26.8% of their corner threes. RJ Barrett is 7-for-32 from long range in his last six games. Evan Fournier is 8-for-35 since the start of the month. There's reason to believe in positive regression, but that only takes the Knicks so far with a below-average defense.
(Last week: Unranked)
6. Los Angeles Lakers (8-6)
Anthony Davis <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/anthony-davis-rips-76-lakers-a-championship-team-not-us-right-now" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kept things pretty real</a> after a 107-83 loss to the Timberwolves last Friday:
&ldquo;We gotta decide who we want to be. A championship team? That's not us right now,&rdquo; Davis said.
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AD ... to AD! 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/eSKsNJDv1x">pic.twitter.com/eSKsNJDv1x</a>
&mdash; Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1459987246044512259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2021</a></blockquote>

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L.A. did go 3-1 last week, narrowly beating the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Davis himself put up 34 points and 15 rebounds in the most recent victory over San Antonio. We'll see if his words and actions generate some meaningful change over the next week; the Lakers still have a bottom-five offense over the past two weeks.
(Last week: 6)
5. Sacramento Kings (5-8)
We have our first report of a coaching job in jeopardy! <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/kings-losing-streak-could-have-luke-walton-on-hot-seat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shams Charania of The Athletic reports</a> that Luke Walton could be on the hot seat if the Kings keep adding to their four-game losing streak. In fairness, the current skid includes defeats of five points or less to the Pacers, Suns and Thunder. Sacramento has two very winnable games against the Pistons and Timberwolves coming up. At least for Walton's future, those matchups are becoming inflection points in the season.
(Last week: Unranked)
4. Memphis Grizzlies (6-7)
This might be the greatest free-fall of any NBA team right now. Last week, Memphis lost to the Hornets and Pelicans by 10 and the Suns by 25. Over the last two weeks, the Grizzlies are one of three NBA teams in the bottom-10 of both offensive and defensive ratings (you'll see the other two shortly). Opponents are shooting a league-high 41.3% from deep against the Grizzlies and 51.2% from the corners (?!?!) on the season.
Memphis is also second in transition frequency, but 24th in points per transition play. The team gives up the most points per play in the halfcourt among all its peers. The more I research, the worse it gets...
(Last week: Unranked)
3. Atlanta Hawks (5-9)
We arrive at the worst defensive team in the NBA over the last two weeks, and it just lost one of its better defenders in De'Andre Hunter for two months due to wrist surgery. The Hawks are giving up 118.2 points per 100 possessions since November began, which is far and away the worst mark in the NBA. They also force the fewest turnovers per game.
A 42-point barrage from Trae Young helped Atlanta finally end its six-game losing streak on Sunday against the Bucks.
(Last week: 5)
2. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-8)
Remember that eye-popping Timberwolves defense? Me neither; Minnesota is 27th in defensive rating over the last two weeks. The Wolves randomly crushed the Lakers, but are 1-7 in their past eight games.
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From Wolves/Clippers Saturday night: KAT walks back on defense before Edwards takes a pull-up three 😳<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBATwitter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBATwitter</a> <a href="https://t.co/2Miy3dGO3P">pic.twitter.com/2Miy3dGO3P</a>
&mdash; 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣&rsquo; 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/_Talkin_NBA/status/1460266347217174530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Amazingly, they not only get to the line at the third-worst rate in the league, but also give up the most free throws per 100 shots in the entire league. Malik Beasley has a horrendous 43.2% True Shooting percentage. Things are bad. But at least Minnesota got the front office drama out of the way before the season, unlike our No. 1 team.
(Last week: 4)
1. New Orleans Pelicans (2-12)
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report wrote last week that <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/pelicans-exec-david-griffin-on-hot-seat-after-slow-start-altercation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Griffin is on the hot seat in New Orleans</a>, and that the Pelicans president of basketball operations got into an altercation with former head coach Alvin Gentry. Zion Williamson is still without a timetable on his injury recovery pathway. The Pelicans are one of the worst teams in the NBA, and are demonstrating little in the way of prospect promise.
And that, folks, is how you lock up the No. 1 spot in the Sour Rankings for a third straight week!
(Last week: 1)

Ethan Fuller re-racks the Sour Rankings, with teams like the Knicks and Grizzlies floundering.

Reece