Views from far far away Vol. 8
Views from far far away- March Madness
Chemistry is a huge
factor on how a team plays and how well they do this time of year. The teams
that have good chemistry and are on the brink of making the playoffs usually
get into the playoffs because they play their brand of basketball to the
highest level and see a ton of success. The chemistry is not there in New
Orleans just yet. In two games since the DeMarcus Cousins trade, the Pelicans
have dropped games to Houston and Dallas. Despite performances where Cousins
and Davis combined for 56 and 51 points respectively—as well as 22 and 29
rebound nights for the All-Star front court. There is no doubt that playing
together will take time, but how much is the question when New Orleans is
thinking playoffs. The answer to that is obviously only time will tell.
In Philadelphia, a pair
of rookies where shut down for the season; Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are done
for the season. Embiid after an MRI has shown that a tear in his meniscus in
Embiid’s left knee is “more pronounced” he will be done. For Simmons the foot
injury that he suffered in the Pre-Season was on the wrong time table and he
will need more time to recover then anticipated. The question for Embiid is; is
he still the Rookie of the Year? Only playing in 31 games, Embiid averaged 20
points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in that span. That is better than anyone in
this class. Malcolm Brogdon has been the best rookie besides Embiid and his 9
points, 2 rebounds, and 4 assists per game is nowhere close to the numbers of
Embiid. Brogdon also has played in all 59 games for the Bucks this season. So
if the NBA doesn’t agree with most of the NBA fan base, the NBA Rookie of the
Year award will most likely go to Malcolm Brogdon.
Brogdon is also my Rookie
of the Week this week. In four games this week, Brogdon averaged 15 points, 1.5
rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 49% from the field. Brogdon
along with the Greek Freak are leading the Bucks this season and as of today
Milwaukee is only 3 games out of the 8th spot in the East. That will
also help Brogdon’s case for RoY.
Getting into my Player of
the Week, and he is on fire right now, helping to his lead his team to yet
another championship. That player is Cleveland Cavilers guard Kyrie Irving. In
four games since the All-Star break Irving has averaged 27.5 points, 4.8
rebounds, and 5 assists while shooting 52% from the field. Over the past week
Irving is basically flipping a coin and the shoot is going in. amongst a league
of dominate guards like Westbrook, Harden, Curry, and Wall just to name a few
Irving has kept his own and he is shown why he is one of the most overlooked
players in the league. In a season where Westbrook is averaging a triple
double, Harden is leading Houston to a playoff berth by himself, and the Warriors
have assembled a Super Team around Curry and Thompson—Irving has just kept his
head low and played basketball.
Moving onto the upcoming
schedule this week starts to get interesting. Tonight on TNT, D-Wade and the
Bulls host the struggling Warriors at 8, then Westbrook and the new look
Thunder travel up to Portland to play Damien Lillard, C. J. McCollum, and the
Trailblazers in a high powered guard matchup. Looking at tomorrow the revamped
Cavilers go to Atlanta to face-off against Dwight Howard and the Hawks at 7PM
EST on ESPN. After that the Spurs crash the Pelicans Mardi Gras party at 9:30. Over
the weekend the Clippers to the Windy City to play the Bulls at 8:30 on ABC. Then
on Sunday at 3:30 on ABC, the Warriors to the Garden to play Porzingis, Melo,
and the Knicks at 3:30 and Westbrook and the Thunder to Texas to play Nerlens
Noel and the Mavericks at 8:30 on ESPN. Getting into the work week on TNT the
Pacers go on the road to play Kemba Walker and the Hornets at 8PM EST.
following that, the Celtics in L.A. to play Blake Griffin and the Clippers at
10:30. Wrapping it all up next Wednesday on ESPN the Pacers to go Detroit to
play the young emerging star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the Pistons only to
be followed by the Celtics staying in California to play Golden State in the
Bay area. That is all for this week, hopefully you can have better luck than
Steph Curry did this week when you step behind the line to shoot.
Sources:(espn.com,
nba.com, bleacherreport.com, sbnation.com)
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