NBA Hot Takes: Red Hot Rockets and "Kawhisland"

WHO’S HOT

Daniel: Chris Paul

Although the Clippers have stalled after a scorching start that took the league by storm, Chris Paul continues to show that he may be the single hungriest player in the league. Much maligned for his outward criticism of his… less savvy teammates, Paul has gained a reputation of striving for nothing less than basketball perfection. Last Saturday night, he came as close as any mortal could, scoring 20 while dishing out another 20 dimes without a single turnover. Chris Paul continues to add to his MVP résumé as he attempts to lead the Clippers to a championship (or at least the Western Conference Finals).

Marcus: The Houston Rockets

The Rockets have yet to lose in the month of December since knocking off Golden State on the 1st. Since then, they have won an additional nine games in convincing fashion, solidifying their rebirth under head coach Mike D’Antoni. They have shown that they can hang with the top teams in the West and are flourishing with James Harden’s incredible statistical season running the point. Don’t forget that the team has also twice broken the record for most 3’s made and attempted in a game this month. With a few tough matchups, against the likes of the Clippers and Spurs, before the year comes to a close, we will truly see if Houston can place itself among the elites and challenge the Warriors in the West.

John: Anyone that played the LA Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were a very pleasant surprise in the early NBA season, where they defied projections and started 10-10 with a likable group of young budding stars. However, the universe righted itself again, and the Lakers are in free fall. They had an 8-game loss streak that was broken just last night against the Sixers. The streak included losses against the bottom-dwelling Suns, Nets, Kings, and a 39-point pummeling by the red hot Houston Rockets. Granted, quite a few of those losses have come without their two biggest stars, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell, but both have now returned and things still aren’t really looking up.  To make matters worse, Jordan Clarkson did not take advantage of the prime opportunity he had with Russell out, and really hasn’t shown much improvement after his great rookie campaign.

WHO’S NOT

John: Donatas Motiejūnas

Motiejūnas has had an interesting past couple of weeks, as his very extended contract negotiation with the Rockets came to an end after he received a 4yr/$37 million offer from the (hapless) Brooklyn Nets.  He signed it without hesitation, but the Rockets were feeling clingy and used their restricted free agent powers to match the offer sheet.  Motiejūnas really wanted out of Houston, so he decided that signing the offer and ducking on his team physical was the best course of action, which proved to be costly as he lost both of his offers completely.  He then grudgingly signed a smaller deal with Houston, and actually showed up for his physical, but got into a disagreement with the staff and was promptly released.  And he can no longer sign with the Nets.  Best of luck to you, Donatas.

Daniel: The Spurs Defense (feat. The Kawhisland)

Putting the back to back DPOY is guaranteed to make any lineup a little bit tougher defensively, right? Enter the “Kawhisland” (credit to CBS’ Matt Moore). Rather than having their best player go toe-to-toe with Sugar K, teams have opted to shove Kawhi’s man in the weakside corner, effectively removing him from the play. Playing 4 on 4 is inherently easier on the offense thanks to the extra space freed up by the Kawhisland©. Forcing the laterally challenged Tony Parker and Pau Gasol into any sort of pick and roll will result in easy buckets for any competent offense.

Marcus: Demarcus “Boogie” Cousins

What else is new? As talented as a player he is, Boogie has never learned in his years in the NBA how to control his temper. Annoyed by a reporter’s inquiry about a pending lawsuit involving himself and teammate Matt Barnes, Cousins got into the reporter’s face then subsequently refused to talk to reporters in the postgame interview unless the aforementioned reporter leave. This is just another incident in a long line of problems Cousins has caused in his time in Sacramento. It’s also another blow to his ever-relevant trade value, as the Kings have been shopping him before he inevitably leaves in free agency this summer. Hopefully, Boogie can live up to his immense potential in another city.

*Links to all photos embedded. Credit to respective sites

Basketball: On and Off the Court

John Askins
Staff Writer

Flashback 6 years ago.  It was a cool, cloudy fall afternoon.  Saturday, to be exact, which meant one thing: basketball.

I stood on the damp pavement, ball in hand.  Eucalyptus trees rose towards the sky all around me, their leaves flowing down and gently blanketing the court.  A tall field of grass with a seldom-used baseball diamond extended out to the right of me, a well-worn playground in between.  Crestmoor Elementary: a small public school with a little court tucked into a canyon of trees, the “alma mater” for many of the members of our little ball club.  From an outsider’s perspective it wasn’t much, but it was everything we needed.  Every weekend anyone who wanted to play basketball came and did just that.  Sometimes there were many of us, sometimes only a few; sometimes we played hard, sometimes we chucked 3’s; sometimes we fought, sometimes we laughed.  But one thing stayed the same: when it was over, we were already looking forward to the next one.

Today I stand in the exact same place, ball in hand, and a strong wave of nostalgia hits.  Though it’s changed immensely since the days we began playing -- Crestmoor was closed and the campus reassigned to a private school, the ground resurfaced, the backboards changed -- it’s still home.  Memories dating back 6 years seemed to project onto the court.  Every bucket, every block, every “that’s not a foul!” -- still fresh in my brain.  Many of us played for our schools and AAU teams, nonetheless we religiously made our way out every weekend, because we just couldn’t get enough.  We dreamed of becoming the next Wade, Lebron, or Durant.  We’d spend games doing our best impersonations: hollering “KOBE” whenever we took a bad shot; turning and pulling face-up jumpers saying “Melo!” as it sunk through the net with our right (or left, in my case) hand hanging in the air; popping a 3 from 10-feet beyond the arc while letting loose a “STEPH CURRYYYY” — all were common occurrences on the court.  Though the dreams of making it big may now be outdated, the passion remains.  6 years later, we assemble in the exact same place.  Some old faces, some new; all with the same love for the game.

We looked -- and still look -- up to NBA players as role models, number 2 or 3 to only Mom and Dad.  It wasn’t as obvious while we were living it, but crystal clear now: NBA players have an enormous impact on today’s youth.  Not only with their actions on the court, but off as well.  From the shoes kids wear, the shots they take, the things they say, the way they celebrate… all a page torn right out of an NBA star’s book.  

With the emergence of social media, fans are now able to see nearly everything a player does.  Whether it’s a positive contribution to society, or a bad mistake made, it’ll be known by hundreds of thousands of NBA fans within a couple of hours.  The platforms have allowed to us to see headlines such as “Memphis Grizzlies Visit Patients at Local Children’s Hospital”, “WATCH: Lebron’s Son Catches Trout on Family Vacation”, “BREAKING: Blake Griffin Out 6-8 Weeks After Breaking Hand Punching Trainer at Nightclub”, and even “Draymond Green Accidentally Posts Picture of-”… ehh I won’t go into that one.  The social media saturation can be detrimental at times, but it could also be very helpful and inspiring.  

So many NBA players have become so influential, and many are using their fame in a very positive way.  It doesn’t take much scrolling to find a picture of perhaps the NBA’s most beloved star, Stephen Curry, visiting a patient in a hospital, or even taking time out of his famous pregame routine to talk to my own cousin, who endured a hemispherectomy due to brain complications.  Seeing first-hand now how much something as simple as a “hello!” and a conversation can make somebody feel better makes me appreciate the NBA and its players that much more.  From Commissioner Silver and his brilliant, conscientious leadership to Lebron James’s Family Foundation that does so much for Cleveland citizens: players and officials having an awareness of their effect on kids — or anybody, for that matter — is extraordinarily important.

There’s a huge population of little ballers making their way through their elementary schools, middle schools and AAU teams who dream to be the next generation’s James Harden, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, or whomever they want to be.  The NBA is so unique in the fact that each player has their own identity.  Almost every player has their own charisma and brings a distinct aspect of their game to the stage. Jordan and Bird, Kobe and Wade, and now Joel Embiid and KAT; the league is full of personality and color, aspects wildly attractive to people all around the U.S. and beyond.  It connects to the population like not many other sports can, forming for a glorious melting pot: the sport, the players, its fans, and true emotion embedded deep throughout its history.

How to stop Russell Westbrook

Matthew Huang
Staff Writer

Through 19 games, Westbrook has lead the Thunder to a Western Conference 6th-best record and is currently averaging a triple double.  Westbrook is no doubt the motor of the Thunder offense, willing them to wins off his intensity and insanely athletic highlights.  But if a team were to stop Westbrook would the Thunder fall apart? And further, how would a team stop Westbrook? One of the most athletic players in the league is not exactly a rotational adjustment but rather adjusting how a whole team plays.

Following a very impressive performance from Russell Westbrook in New York, another triple double and a win is tallied for Oklahoma City and their star point guard.  Posting a 27/18/14 statline on 39.1/66.7/100 with 7 turnovers is an impressive feat for any player, but when your point guard is posting a near 20/20 statline, it begs the question: is Westbrook hurting the Thunder with his ‘stat-chasing’ by playing out-of-role?

And if his triple-double-chase is not hurting the Thunder, to what extent is he ‘carrying’ them?

After watching the Knicks game on Monday, 11/28, a thought emerged.  Westbrook’s dominance on the ball is no secret - just look at the stats - but if Westbrook were to be shut down or stopped, would the Thunder be stopped as a whole?  Westbrook leads the league in Usage, accounting for 40% of all the Thunder’s posessions.  For a team that is 3rd in possessions/gm to have a player playing 35min/gm and account for 40% of those possessions means that without Westbrook, the Thunder would look pretty lost on offense, to say the least.  They’d have about 38.5 more possessions to figure out who to take the ball up, lead their fast breaks, run their plays and every other dynamic that would come with losing one of the most ball-dominant players on a relatively dependent team.  So how does a team go about shutting down, or even slowing down, an animal like Russell Westbrook?

The Knicks made something extremely apparent after their loss on Monday to the Thunder.  It is that Westbrook, as dominant as his stats suggest, actually struggles in the halfcourt setting.  Westbrook’s authority over the game is extremely dependent on his explosive athletic abilities, and if you take away that advantage, relatively speaking, he is much less effective.  When we dig into some stats, a weak pattern emerges -- the Thunder prey on teams that are in the bottom half for Team Opponent Fast Break Points/gm.  It is not 100% a rule, as the Thunder have beaten teams in the top 10, but a majority of Thunder losses have been from teams that handle the fastbreak well, stopping Westbrook’s largest source of good looks.  While it may seem obvious that the best teams have the best defense and therefore the best fast break defense, take note that Golden State, Cleveland and San Antonio are all in the bottom half of that stat because they play faster paced basketball, effectively giving the other team more opportunities because of the pace they command.  This stat proves to be ineffective standing by itself, so we must move away from generalizing the discussion and specialize, focusing on much more specific instances on why the Thunder have lost while still keeping in mind that they generally destroy teams that let them run in the open court. When Westbrook is in the open court at full speed is when he is at his best, and everyone knows this.  Whole teams will collapse to stop him and if there isn’t a strong contest he is either getting a quality look off the break, or using the attention he draws to create open looks for teammates.

Westbrook draws attention and dishes to Oladipo on the break

(Check this video out about Westbrook' finishing ability and how it's not as good as you think it is!)

It was stated earlier that Westbrook, without his freakishly athletic ability, actually struggles a little bit in the half-court.  Against the Knicks, Westbrook spent a lot of time looking for his shot, and if the shot wasn’t taken on a fastbreak or within 10 seconds of the shot clock, Westbrook was extremely inefficient, converting a little under 30% of attempts. The Knicks played solid team defense, challenging Westbrook to take tough shots like this one that left him fading 15ft away from the hoop on top of a tough contest.  

Westbrook - tough square up, fading away, over Derrick Rose 15ft from hoop

However, it goes without saying but Russell Westbrook is still an extremely talented player and a prolific scorer, and plenty of these shots like these will go in.  There’s not a lot you can do about it besides playing good defense and hoping for the best. Even with great perimeter defense, Westbrook will still produce.  Against the Knicks, Westbrook dropped 14 dimes.  Russell’s playmaking has come a long way from even last year and has become a tool Westbrook relies on in the halfcourt whenever he can’t get an open lane or jack up a three.  Rose played very well on Russ, locking up for the majority of the matchup but when ‘Russ-ball’ turned into a 2-man game, the Knicks almost fell apart.  Westbrook tore apart the Knicks pick-and-roll defense, whether it be assisting a Kanter pick-n-pop, throwing a nice lob to the rolling Adams, or skipping the Knicks rotation and hitting a wing for a corner 3, Russell has the tools to win even if you shut him down scoring-wise.  Russell’s desire to win is so strong he will do anything he can to best the opposition, almost willing the Thunder to a Western Conference 6th-best record.  It is also important to note that while Derrick Rose may have put some cuffs on Westbrook, the Knicks often times look lazy, hence why they struggle in guarding the pick and roll, which takes a whole team effort.  Additionally, the Knicks also let Russell have free reign in the open court where, again, Westbrook flourishes.

The goal should not be to shut Westbrook down, (because that might be impossible) but to shut parts of his game down that would mitigate his efforts on offense, inherently crippling the Thunder’s offense, evident in the early season matchup with the Warriors. The Golden State Warriors beat the Thunder early in the season by controlling Westbrook. While it was early in the season, the Thunder looked lost on offense and struggled to get anything going that didn’t result in a turnover or a bad shot.

Westbrook struggled against the Warriors, one of the best defensive teams in the league.  They played their flexible, active defense; sent doubles, swarmed passing lanes and did everything in their power to shut down Westbrook, which essentially shut down the whole team.  GSW held Westbrook to 4/15 shooting and forced 6 TO’s, baiting him into shots like these that had him pulling post-escape shots out of a double team.  In fact, Westbrook does this often when faced with team defense..

Westbrook chucks ball at backboard out of double team

Pachulia grabs Westbrook's shot out of his hands in a double team

Westbrook attacks rim with two established and defenders and gets swatted by third.

While this may have been one way to slow Westbrook down, there is only one Golden State and the Warriors team defense is not exactly easy to replicate.  However, there remains another way to stop Westbrook and incorporating every single point discussed so far, the best way to beat the Thunder would be to stop the Westbrook-domination on offense which you can only do by either playing very good team defense or a much easier method would be to cut out his quality fast break look entirely.  Teams that have successfully stopped the Russ-break have gotten a majority of the team back and clogged the lanes while also stopping the ball at the perimeter.

Westbrook is stopped early by Thad Young help D

While this “break” was off a made shot, Westbrook is definitely near full-speed, ahead of most of his teammates and trying to get an easy bucket in the end of transition.  The Pacers get all five guys back, with three of them clogging lanes and looking to help in the likely chance of a drive.  Thaddeus Young plays a vital part, containing Westbrook while Teague was still catching up. After Teague catches up, he contains the sideline drive in anticipation that Westbrook will capitalize on the rotation/switch, then rushes back to his man.  This kind of defense involves a whole team effort which may be hard to do for 48 minutes, but what if a team were to make a similar effort much earlier in the possession? ‘Containing Pressure’ similar to what Thaddeus Young is doing can be done much earlier which could slow Westbrook down and buy his teammates time to get back and obstruct any lanes and also, more importantly - take away the Thunder’s most important weapon, Westbrook on the break. Getting five back off of every missed shot would be extremely hard to do but is very effective and similar results can be garnered from early pressure from an offensive rebounder.  If a team were to send their 3 or 4 crashing the boards on every shot, it would result in either 1) the offense gets a 2nd chance, or 2) the 3 or 4 pressures, for a couple of seconds, Westbrook upon his receiving the ball either by rebound or outlet essentially buying his teammates 3 or 4 more seconds to get back on defense and clog the lanes and most importantly, not letting Westbrook get to full speed because as mentioned earlier, when you take away Westbrook’s athletic advantage, he tends to struggle in a halfcourt set which would mean the Thunder as a whole team would begin to struggle.  Outside of the entire team locking in for 48 minutes, this is the best way to stop Westbrook as it: is not terribly physically demanding, would keep your point guard in the game for as long, would stop Westbrook (the motor of the Thunder), would stop the break.

Concluding this lengthy article, Westbrook is definitely the powerhouse of the Thunder and his dominance through the first quarter of the season has been immense.  The Thunder are at a conference 6th-best, they're on a three win streak and looking strong, but if Westbrook's athleticism were contained and his fastbreak's stopped producing for the Thunder, they most likely would begin to struggle like how they fared against Golden State.  Most teams cannot lock up for 48 minutes against a fast paced team like the Thunder so a simple method of containment (sending an offensive rebounder to pressure Westbrook early) would go a long way as it would shut down the Thunder's biggest offensive weapon and allow for the defending team to get more people back.  Lastly, this is all in theory and a beast like Westbrook would be extremely difficult to stop but a lot of the evidence points in this direction and as the Thunder get better and better, new methods of stopping them will become necessary.

Reverse Jam's NBA Power Rankings: Week 4

REVERSE JAM NBA WEEK 4 RANKINGS

#	John	Daniel	Matt
1	△2	△2	(-)
2	(-)	(-)	(-)
3	▽2	▽2	△1
4	(-)	(-)	▽1
5	△2	△1	△5
6	△2	▽1	△1
7	▽2	△4	▽2
8	▽2	▽1	△6
9	△7	△5	△6
10	△4	△5	▽2
11	▽1	▽1	▽5
12	▽1	(-)	(-)
13	▽1	▽4	▽4
14	▽5	▽6	△2
15	△3	△1	▽4
16	▽2	△2	▽3
17	▽4	△11	△2
18	▽1	▽5	(-)
19	(-)	(-)	▽2
20	(-)	(-)	△3
21	△1	△8	△1
22	△6	▽1	▽1
23	▽2	▽6	△5
24	△2	△2	(-)
25	▽2	▽2	△1
26	△2	△1	▽1
27	△3	▽5	▽7
28	▽4	▽4	△2
29	▽4	△1	▽2
30	▽3	▽4	▽1

Matt:

Buy Low: Utah Jazz

While Hayward has been officially back for the last 9 games, the Jazz have still underperformed, losing their last four games.  My “Buy Low” on the Jazz is rooted in my belief of not what their team has done, but what I know they can do.  They’ve showed glimpses of great cohesive basketball in short stretches and their almost-traditional starting lineup is a refreshing sight placed amongst an oversaturated league of small ball and threes.  Hill has been exceptional but is currently injured, Hood was playing extremely well in the few early games in absence of Hayward and once they begin to share the wing together, I know we will see improvement out of them. Their upcoming two games should be very good indicators of their current form.  Make sure to watch 1) Nuggets @ Jazz, Wednesday Nov 23rd to see a very competitive matchup against a team that has thus far fared similar woes, and 2) Hawks @ Jazz, Friday Nov 25th to see the Jazz face a team playing in early-season contender form.  

Buy Low: Chicago Bulls

The Bulls have shown great signs thus far, playing far above 

anyone’s expectations while also being entertaining, but I believe they will only keep improving and paired with an extremely opportune upcoming schedule, I could easily see them finishing 4-1 over the course of the next few games tying them for 2nd in the East, a current upgrade to their 3rd best at (9-5).  A curious thought is the philosophy on the composition of the Bulls’ team.  The Bulls backcourt consists of Rondo, Wade and Butler who are by no means new to the game.  There is so much experience and leadership in these veterans that the Bulls possess an extremely stable nucleus while still retaining their youthful energy that a normal, veteran-heavy team would experience.  The veteranship typically is what will get younger teams through the long NBA season and is what will keep the Bulls’ in the position they are at.

Daniel:

Buy low: Boston Celtics

With the recovery of Al Horford and Jae Crowder’s imminent return, the Celtics look poised to make a return to a spot closer to their preseason ranking. Although their rebounding problem does not look to be going away anytime soon (cue video of 5 Celtics outrebounded by a player literally lying on the floor), these two players are pivotal for the Celtics to maintain any semblance of a defensive presence. As expected, the offense will also feel a boost and should keep their offensive rating firmly within the top 10. Perhaps too much credit has been given to head coach (and future United States president) Brad Stevens, but he has given no reason to doubt his ability to make the pieces fit in a coherent manner. Look for the Celtics to have home court advantage in the first round, barring disaster.

Sell high: Los Angeles Lakers

Call me a skeptic, but I remain unconvinced that this scrappy band of lovable underdogs has what it takes to crack the playoffs, or even just the upper half of these rankings. (Also, it makes me slightly nauseous to refer to the Los Angeles Lakers as lovable up and comers.) Although Timofey Mozgov has managed to not too bad in comparison to some other overpaid centers around the league (shoutout Phil Jax), Luol Deng has prematurely begun his transition into veteran that provides “leadership and locker room presence”. Keep in mind that this man is actually younger than his teammate Nick “Swaggy P” Young! Contracts aside, Russell and Randle appear to be taking another step towards becoming potential all star caliber players. At the end of the day, this still appears to be a young team that will provide 48 minutes of entertaining gameplay, as long as you don’t expect the.500 basketball they’ve eked out so far.

John:

Buy Low: Utah Jazz

A few weeks ago, the Utah Jazz got Gordon Hayward back, and 

looked to be absolutely set to jettison themselves into the top of the standings… then George Hill jammed his finger, and Derrick Favors sustained a bone bruise on his knee.  Hill was among the biggest surprises in the league before going down, averaging over 20 points and 5 assists a game on some crazy shooting numbers. He proceeded to miss the next 8 games due to the injury, and the Jazz have gone 3-5 in that span, the 3 wins coming against a handful of bottom-dwelling Eastern Conference teams.  Favors has missed the past 3 games -- all losses -- and is out for the “foreseeable future”.  However, Hill is expected back soon, and if Trey Lyles can step up, (which he is very capable of,) expect a hearty serving of W’s on the Jazz’s plate.  There are a lot of borderline teams in the 5-8 seeds, so the spot is theirs, if they can play up to it.

Sell High: Houston Rockets

I had a lot of trouble figuring out a good sell high candidate this week, as most of the teams that are hot look like they’re going to be able to sustain it for the foreseeable future.  So this sell-high is more like a challenge to the Rockets, I want to see them succeed and prove that they’re a real contender.  Harden has been playing out of his mind all year, taking full control of the offense as the team’s primary guard and dropping dimes like it’s going out of style (12.5 per game, best in the league.)  I’ve never been a huge fan of teams who live and die by the 3-ball, but this squad (aka Harden and chuckers) has too much firepower to sleep on.  With big games against the Raptors and Trail Blazers coming up on the schedule, they have a chance to carve out a spot near the top of the standings.