NBA

Interesting chart about successful coaches challenges per game, feels like there’s an egregious call every single game I watch. I may be misremembering but the refs feel more off than last year, which was also bad.

Full chart

Ay boys sorry for not being around last night and today. im not sure what i have but im coupped up in bed just chilling. feeling a lot better then last night so I WILL be around tomorrow for yall. If i don't get a video out tonight I will def have something as always but just wanted to get this post out incase i end up passing out without warning. Appreciate you guys dealing with my health all the time, you guys know i get sick a lot, it's super frustrating but that's how she goes.

Ill edit this later tonight if i make one or tomorrow with disc video <3

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props ^. had to get out of bed before lines fucking move. im also adding ingram M 21.5 points+rebounds...

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Edit: porzingis and white OUT, really like tatum, brown and jrue. horford now very solid. like pritch and hauser a lot for value. keep an eye on lineup but banton could be in play. i expect kornet to get backup 5 and is firmly in play for value

Edit: giannis is OUT, love dame, like portis a lot, middleton very solid. brook lopez very solid. i prefer boston value to MIL but pat c and crowder are in play

Edit: kornet very good value. still like hauser

Edit: trent good value

Provided by : Generated 1/16/2024.

It is actually quite amazing that the Bullets/Wizards franchise has never even cracked the . That seems sure to change this season.

Over the next handful of seasons as we sort this mess out, would it sit ok with you if competing for top lottery odds meant possibly flirting and (gasp) obtaining the worst record in NBA history?

I personally am not a huge fan of needing to go that low into the history books for a rebuild, regardless if it means top odds. Plenty of teams get a nice pick in the draft finishing 2nd or 3rd (last four No. 1's have come from those positions). In fact 3rd place odds has won the lottery more than 1st place odds (9 to 8 I believe).

The NBA season is long, and when year-end awards roll around, the winners can sometimes feel inevitable. I like to check in and do my personal quarterly awards to help me remember who was playing well at various points throughout the season.

With that as the caveat, remember that this is purely for the stretch played from Dec 5th to Jan 15th, when most teams had played about 20 games (so it doesn't include yesterday's games). Let me know who you'd have picked in the comments!

Rookie of the Quarter: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

Last quarter, . This quarter, though, Wembanyama was undeniable. It’s incredible to see arguably the most hyped NBA prospect of all time come into the league and fulfill or surpass nearly every expectation.

Wemby’s quarterly statline of 20.0/11.0/3.4 is impressive enough. Add in a silly 3.7 blocks per game (a significant increase on his first quarter, as he’s been allowed to play more center) and other , and Wembanyama is making a legitimate case for All-Star and All-Defensive teams as a rookie.

He noticeably improved his decision-making and passing, averaging nearly an assist per game more and a turnover per game fewer (although, like most rookie big men, he still loses the ball too often).

[As always, I've created a bunch of illustrative GIFs for this post. They , or at the links throughout the article. I think they add a lot to the piece. Thanks!]

Wembanyama’s recent triple-double against Detroit showed his playmaking upside, and he’s already exploiting tiny cracks in the defense from all over the court: []

Defensively, Wembanyama could’ve : he’s everything, everywhere, all at once. Ballhandlers panic when they approach the paint and see him looming. He has absurd flexibility and quick-twitch movements for someone built to give Slenderman nightmares. A weird little quirk: he tries to kick passes a little often for my liking, leaving him vulnerable to pass fakes, but he’s shockingly quick to recover: []

The best part? He’s still developing his instincts. There are multiple times every game where it seems through the TV that Wemby had a chance to make a play but didn’t. He’s already getting better at that, too (his basketball IQ and rapidly improving processing speed aren’t talked about enough, given all the other exciting things to discuss).

If you like Holmgren’s ability to drive winning with two-way play as a rookie, go ahead and pick him. I did last quarter, so you’ll hear no arguments from me. It’s incredible to have two rookies playing so well that they’ll garner looks for multiple end-of-season awards meant for veterans. But Wemby is my pick this time around, and if things keep trending the way they have, I suspect he might be next quarter, too.

Shout out to Jaime Jaquez Jr. in Miami, an obsession of mine having an incredible rookie season. He is so far in third place as not to even be in the rear-view mirror.

Interior Defensive Player of the Quarter: Rudy Gobert, Minnesota Timberwolves

(I believe interior defense is foundationally more important than perimeter defense. Therefore, Defensive Player of the Year should virtually always go to a big man. But that doesn’t mean perimeter defenders don’t deserve love, so I’ve split this award into two parts.)

I thought for longer than I expected about Wembanyama — he’s been that good defensively for San Antonio. Brook Lopez made a strong case, leading the league in total blocks over this period and posting fantastic rim-protection numbers now that he’s again being used in his preferred deep-drop defense. Holmgren and Utah center Walker Kessler had major defensive impacts, and Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac posted a sneaky-good statistical case, too.

But Rudy Gobert is still the correct answer here. The Minnesota big man anchored in the second quarter. Opponents shot just against Gobert, a top mark. On the season as a whole, foes get to the rim on the court. No other player in the league combines that degree of rim protection and rim deterrence (although Joel Embiid is close, he’s missed too many games this quarter to qualify).

Something underappreciated about Gobert is that he always tries hard. He’s not perfect, but he has one of the highest motors of any big. His technique is rock-solid: his gigantic arms are always splayed out, his feet are always sliding, he lunges and recovers multiple times in a sequence — and then he’ll sprint down the floor on offense to set screens, roll hard, and grab boards. He never takes a play off; even for defensive-minded big men, that’s exceedingly rare.

Next quarter, I’m sure I’ll try to get cute and find someone else to write about. But Gobert may not make that an option.

Perimeter Defensive Player of the Quarter: Alex Caruso, Chicago Bulls

Last quarter, ; this time, he’s acknowledged for his defense. The Bald Eagle is strong as an ox, despite his 6’5” frame, and he is equally capable of guarding big wings as he is point guards. Advanced metrics love him despite (or possibly because?) of the weaker defensive talent elsewhere in Chicago.

Caruso teleports through screens as if they aren’t even there, forcing ballhandlers to pick up their dribble 35 feet from the hoop. He’s constantly pushing, grabbing, pulling, and generally making himself a nuisance. Opponents shot when Caruso guarded them, one of the best marks in the league regardless of position.

And that’s when they could even get the shot off in the first place. Watch as he absolutely destroys three different screens here, forcing the ball out of Terry Rozier’s hands (h/t to for the ).

Perimeter defense is arguably the part of basketball with the least reliable statistical backing. Once you have a reputation one way or another, it can linger for years before people recognize that narratives are no longer valid — this is how you end up with superstars getting All-Defensive nods years past their prime. While we’re better at recognizing elite perimeter defenders today, the eye test is still essential. To that end, nobody looked more impressive than Caruso in the season’s second quarter.

Herb Jones, last quarter’s winner OG Anunoby, Jalen Suggs, and Jaden McDaniels had strong cases (among many others; I can’t list them all), and due to the subjectivity of this particular process, I wouldn’t quibble if you wanted any of them.

Sixth Man of the Quarter: Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings

Monk, averaging 16 points and more than six assists per game. He hit 37% of his threes on very high volume and developed some beautiful chemistry with Domantas Sabonis. Watch as he takes the screen, waits patiently for a re-screen, then hooks a pass to Sabonis in traffic for a layup: []

Other players scored more, and others (like Caruso) had a greater defensive impact. But Monk’s combination of shooting and playmaking is rare in Sixth men and a big part of why Sacramento’s bench has survived even when De’Aaron Fox or Domantas Sabonis rests.

The passing has been such a delight. His full-year is higher than that of point guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Mike Conley, or Russell Westbrook, and while he can be a bit careless with the ball, he brings some much-needed energy to the Kings’ offense.

Watch as he softly threads this dime between three Thunder defenders to a cutting Kevin Huerter: []

To my eyes, Monk’s defense has waned a bit from last year’s career-best effort, but his offensive growth outdoes any sliding on that end. It’s wild seeing how much Monk has grown as a distributor throughout his career, and he’s a worthy winner of the quarter’s Sixth Man award.

Most Improved Player of the Quarter: Coby White, Chicago Bulls

Remember that for this award, I’m looking for players who have improved from the first quarter of the season, not from last year. So we won’t be talking about the Haliburtons, , and Maxeys of the world.

Our winner this quarter may thrust himself into that year-end conversation, though. Coby White has been a revelation since he began turning Chicago’s fortunes around.

In the first quarter of the season, White averaged 15 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 43% from the field. Decent!

In the second quarter, he averaged 22 points and identical 5.6 rebound and assist marks. Way better!

Much of this was due to an increase in responsibility following Zach LaVine’s injury, but he played so well that, even with the Bulls at full strength, he’s still been one of their featured players. In six games this quarter with LaVine, White averaged 23/5.5/5.0. White is here, and he brought a lawn chair and some snacks. He’s not going anywhere.

One blemish: after a good defensive season last year, White’s defense has slipped since shouldering this more prominent role. I’m hopeful that he’ll regain his concentration on that end as he gains more experience as a primary offensive option.

Unlike defense, an area where White has truly improved this quarter is in his foul-drawing. White has been allergic to the free throw line for most of his career, but he’s been a little more effective of late, drawing 4.4 free throw attempts per game this quarter (and sporting an now for the year). There’s still work to be done, but his handle is much tighter than in previous years, letting him get into the paint more often (, a good mark for a guard). He’s not afraid to attack tiny creases even in crowded traffic, and he’s getting rewarded: []

At just 23 years old, White still has plenty of time to develop further, too.

Coach of the Quarter: Ty Lue, Los Angeles Clippers

It’s hard to remember now, but the James Harden trade looked like a at first. The team was out of sync, joyless, and frankly embarrassing.

But Lue never lost faith. He claimed he would need 10 games to understand how to maximize James Harden and the rest of the roster; turns out, that was playing it safe. After an initial six-game losing streak (which happened in the season’s first quarter), the Clippers took off. They were 16-4 in the quarter, a run of dominance buoyed by an outrageous scoring explosion: they ranked in offensive rating over that time frame.

And Lue deserves much of the credit. He got Russell Westbrook to buy in — and excel! — in a bench role. He figured out how to get Paul George and Kawhi Leonard moving in ways that make sense around Harden. He even nailed the little things, like keeping the effective Daniel Theis as the backup center even after Mason Plumlee returned from injury and banishing PJ Tucker from the rotation (Tucker may be traded or may make a comeback in the playoffs, but he’s likely at his end as a useful regular-season player).

The team looks like they’re having fun. Westbrook is laughing, Harden is after nailing big shots, and even Leonard has cracked a smile. Winning cures a lot, of course, but chemistry starts from the top — players unhappy with their playing time or role can’t easily contribute to a happy atmosphere.

And there was a lot of potential for discontent here; so far, Lue has navigated the team through dangerous waters with aplomb. Managing big stars with big money and big egos is difficult, and corralling role players expecting more (has anyone heard from Bones Hyland in a while?) can be tricky, too. Marrying that personnel management to clever Xs and Os is even harder. Ty Lue has done all that and more.

Joe Mazzulla has done creative things in Boston for the consensus best team in the East. Will Hardy deserved a long look here and would be a deserving winner for completely turning around a Jazz team that looked dead in the water in Q1. I’ve got more Utah stuff coming soon, so I’ll save my thoughts for now.

Most Valuable Player: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder

On a per-game basis, Joel Embiid might have been the winner here. But he only played in 12 games; that’s not enough to qualify.

Luka Doncic has been arguably more impressive than Shai offensively, and he’s having perhaps his best defensive season ever. If you want to go with Luka, keeping the Mavs afloat as they battle injuries (four wins in the quarter over the hapless Trail Blazers sure helps!), I’m not going to argue.

But my Most Valuable Player of the Quarter is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder were 14-6 this quarter, behind only the Clippers and Celtics in that stretch, and Gilgeous-Alexander was the beating heart of it all.

SGA averaged 33/6/6 in that time frame (as many points as Doncic on a per-minute basis) while playing excellent defense — full stop. Refreshingly, there is no need to qualify that last part.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s ball-hawking capabilities are no joke, and he’s . Gilgeous-Alexander can play highway bandit in the passing lanes or rip someone off the dribble. He’s weaponized the poke-away from behind the ballhandler, a move lesser defenders do out of desperation but that SGA does from a position of strength: []

The Thunder have even started using him to create havoc as the vanguard of a 1-2-2 zone, as he does here: []

Offensively, Gilgeous-Alexander’s passing numbers are a bit muted by playing in an egalitarian offense in which everyone is encouraged to create for others. On other teams, he might average eight or nine assists per game. His dribble-drive game and ability to get into the paint open up easy passing avenues to the perimeter. Watch this filthy hesitation dribble to pump-fake combo that clears out 60% of defending Hawks: []

Gilgeous-Alexander is my MVP for the quarter, and if he keeps this up, he may even have a chance to break the recent big-man hegemony on the real award.