Welcome to the third edition of the weekly NBA column Pick N Roll. So much is happening right now I can’t fit it all in my head. It’s probably the same thing you’re experiencing. In Week 3 of the NBA, I’m here to report on moments you may have missed during the week along with tracking key things you’ll want to remember forever – or at least just one more week.
By Justin Robertson
WINNING
This week a lot of good things happened. Here’s a list of the good stuff.
1-The Warriors are 12-0. They have Raptors, Clippers, Bulls and Nuggets coming up. I’m tipping a loss to the Bulls or Clippers to end the streak.
2- Who else is streaking? Spurs (5) Mavs (4) and six teams on three wins in a row.
3- Kevin Seraphin. YES. Shaved PARIS into his head this week, scored 12-pts in 13 minutes and the Knicks beat the Pelicans.
4- This Jabari Parker dunk all over the Cavs had win written all over it.
5- Phil Pressey, somehow, mastered the art of dishing up an air ball that made it look like gravity had disappeared for a few seconds. It was wonderful.
6- Matt Bonner’s face made it onto an ice-cream container to acknowledge 10-years of service with the San Antonio Spurs. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard. In ten-years time, I want my face on a Domino’s box.
7- Can we have more of this please? Dirk Nowitzki after beating the Rockets: “I said to the team, screw 2011, this is the greatest win in franchise history. They hate us; we hate them. This was a beauty to watch.” It’s called hating your rivals and there’s nothing wrong with that. 8- As if you needed another reason to man-crush on Boogie Cousins. Here’s reason #878: he just paid for a high school kids funeral who was shot on the way to football practice. What a guy.
9- Yes, Steph Curry is a magician, but how good is Blake Griffin right now? New nickname: Ankle Breaker or “AB” for short.
ARE THE HAWKS THE REAL DEAL?
The Hawks are the only team to have played 12 games in the East and are 8-4, in third position. In their last 10 outings they’ve won seven, the second best in the East; only the Cavs have gone one better with 8-2. So what’s new with the Hawks? Nothing monumental. It’s been the shrimp-sized changes that have netted better returns. Jeff Teague’s shooting average is marginally up. Al Horford is more consistent. Paul Millsap continues to be the glue that holds this unit together. It’s not to say they are a dominant force in 2015-16, but they are routine and persistent and that gets you more wins than losses in the East.
CAN INJURY-PLAGUED ROSE RISE ABOVE IT ALL?
As a player in the NBA It must suck to have one disastrous injury after another: ACL tear, torn meniscus and an orbital bone fracture. And now, constant double vision. It sucks too when the player it happens to is so vital to his team’s playoffs fortunes. One thing, though, from all this, for Rose trying to play with a face mask, he’s adjusted his game. Sure, he might not be scoring 20-pts a game, but he’s playing smarter and becoming a better, all-around player because of it. He’s at 113-pts (12.5) and 54 (6.0) assists from nine games and really, what more could you expect from Rose right now? Will Rose ever get back to the form we know he’s capable of? Will he stay at Chicago? Will he always wear the mask? Let’s check back here in January or February.
BEST OF THE ROOKIES
The two standouts so far: Jahlil Okafor (19.2-pts, 7.6 rebs) and Karl-Anthony Towns (15.5-pts, 10.2 rebs.) Okafor has delivered on shooting but still struggles with boards. If he can do both at top level, he’s going to be a superstar. Towns is in the same boat although, I’d argue is performing slightly better than Okafor. Rebounding has been a huge part of his game. Then I’d slide Kristaps Porzingis in there at 11.4-pts, 6.2 rebs. The kid can dunk too.
HORNETS “ORIENTAL” SLUR
This week a New York based Toronto writer Alex Wong found that the Charlotte Hornets published the word “oriental”, a word used on their website to describe Jeremy Lin fans. This prompted the NBA team to take down the word and mile-long thread on how the term oriental was offensive, even if the Charlotte Hornets didn’t think it was. Just for the record: it’s offensive. Outdated, but still offensive.
HAS HARDEN LOST THE PLOT?
We must first congratulate James Harden belatedly on his shoe deal that he scored in August. It’s a pretty sweet $200 millionhandshake. Now, he’s into socks and underwear. It seems like Harden is more into fashion than basketball at the moment. Need proof? Just look at this and when you’re finished cringing come back here. Right. Where’s the D, James? We’ve seen an inconsistent Harden this year which has resulted in an erratic Rockets unit who have lost their past four games – including the Celtics and the 1-and-9 Nets. All I can say is bring back basketball Harden, the Harden we all know and love because socks and underwear Harden is a distracted Harden.
PHILLY’S LOSING STREAK
It’s a bitter pill to swallow, being the worst team in the NBA. Someone has to claim that mantle and right now it’s the 76ers. They are currently riding a 21-game losing streak that dates back to the last 10 games of last season. In fact, their last win wasMarch 25 against the Nuggets. It’s been 236 days since then. They’ve started this season 11-0, eight games shy of equaling the New Jersey Nets record of 0-18 to start a season. What we can say, they’ve come close to winning against the Cavs, Bucks and Heat. And in the coming days will play the Pacers, Hornets, Heat and Timberwolves. Breaking the duck egg is possible. Anything can happen in the NBA.
THE SNEAKY THREE (Three things that you should see or know right now)
1-BRING ON THE PAYNE
Against the Bulls, Minnesota’s Adreian Payne had a 10-second stretch he’d rather forget. He had the ball on the right side three and drove hard into the paint. Then the next part was a comedy of errors: he got stripped of the ball, won the ball back, then shot an air ball off balance that hit the backboard, tried to rebound it but took out the legs from under Tony Snell and fouled him. Hard. Payne gets an A+ for effort but really, he should learn when to just stop.
2-KOBE’S REACTION TO MARCELO HEURTAS
Part I – Marcelo Heurtas tries to shoot a three before the buzzer, gets blocked and then tries an ugly over-the-head shot which is rightfully an air ball. Thankgod it was an air ball, otherwise kids everywhere would be trying to copy the “Heurtas” shot.
Part II – So Marcelo did that. Then Kobe, who saw the whole thing, did this.
3- ALLEN V SHAQ
There is nothing redeeming about Tony Allen’s New Network bit. It’s super cheesy. For whatever reason, I can’t get into it. It’s missing something intangible. I almost feel Allen is drunk in parts of these clips. What I can get into, though, is Shaq’s intro to “Shaqtin’ a Fool”, that has this Chevy Chase element to it (See: Fletch Lives.) It’s quirky, it’s weird, it’s beyond words. I feel someday, it will be shown in some NBA Hall of Fame gallery, untouched, preserved and filed under “DELICIOUS THINGS.”
Justin Robertson (@justinjourno) is a freelance journalist and Hooped Up contributor based in Toronto, ON.
