AROUND the NBA:

[Winter]

Didn’t see the game, but his stats look really bad - did Luka foul him out?

No, he fouled a bunch, and couldn't find any rhythym early and was almost immediately on the bench.

[dirkfansince1998]

Last remaining unbeaten team...6-0 Memphis Grizzlies. Would argue that they benefited from a soft schedule (2x Kings, 2x Utah) but it's still impressive for a team that started the season with Vegas lines in the 30 win range.

[Winter]

Last remaining unbeaten team...6-0 Memphis Grizzlies. Would argue that they benefited from a soft schedule (2x Kings, 2x Utah) but it's still impressive for a team that started the season with Vegas lines in the 30 win range.

Memphis is as deep a team as the Mavs. Boozer looks great.

Acuff was good last night. 38 efficient points. 9-14 from the 3-pt land, 5 assists. But SAC has almost nothing else.

[dirkfansince1998]

Will be interesting to see how the SGA narrative changes now that he has to carry a mediocre/bad team on his own. Can he match the floor raising ability of Jokic or Doncic. Taking mediocre/bad teams to the playoffs (or even on a deep playoff run).

[Winter]

Will be interesting to see how the SGA narrative changes now that he has to carry a mediocre/bad team on his own. Can he match the floor raising ability of Jokic or Doncic. Taking mediocre/bad teams to the playoffs (or even on a deep playoff run).

His shooting percentage and assists have dropped significantly. Defenses are loading up against him, and I guess he has nowhere to go. Mara can only play limited minutes. 

Houston just man-handled them last night in nearly every quarter.

[Scott41theMavs]

Will be interesting to see how the SGA narrative changes now that he has to carry a mediocre/bad team on his own. Can he match the floor raising ability of Jokic or Doncic. Taking mediocre/bad teams to the playoffs (or even on a deep playoff run).

I was checking leaguewide stats last night and noticed that he is toward the bottom of the top 50 in FTA. Bye-bye, MVP candidacy, lol. I feel bad for some Thunder fans. I don't feel bad for SGA.

[myconsumerclub]

https://youtube.com/shorts/xMUxqQcRZgQ?i...156m-X_Gkh

[Chicagojk]

Yaxel with 37 tonight. He has been awesome so far.

[KillerLeft]

Yaxel with 37 tonight.  He has been awesome so far.

in 2031, Cooper Flagg will be the same age Lendeborg is right now. I mean no disrespect to everyone super impressed with him, but OF COURSE he's doing well. It helps that he was drafted by an old team desperate to put him into the perfect role for him immediately. It's just a flat out good match for him in GS, imho. 

He wouldn't be making such an impact here, I don't think, as he would be playing behind both Flagg and PJW (the roster overlap would be even worse) and it probably means the Risacher trade wouldn't have happened. Call me crazy, but Risacher's age and skillset complementing Flagg's is a big deal for me. I'm on record as being a little disappointed with Johnson's start, but I'm still high on his future and very happy with how things are.

[ThisIStheYear]

Man, Yaxel is really effing good. Probably already top 25. I’m not surprised because he was so dominant in College, but still, Damn.

And there’s no of course to it. To be the 20-25th best player in the world at age 24 as your starting point is amazing and better than probably all but one or two guys in his class will achieve.

[KillerLeft]

Man, Yaxel is really effing good. Probably already top 25.  I’m not surprised because he was so dominant in College, but still, Damn.

And there’s no of course to it. To be the 20-25th best player in the world at age 24 as your starting point is amazing and better than probably all but one or two guys in his class will achieve.

Nah, he’s not 20th-25th best player in world. FAR from it. He’s just on a team that needs him to have the ball AND has other, older players who know what they’re doing to complement him. It’s an extremely rare situation for a rookie to find themself in. 

And, again, OF COURSE he’s acclimating faster than other rookies. He’s 24! He’s older than many of the players drafted FOUR years ago!

[CooPerFan]

Man, Yaxel is really effing good. Probably already top 25.  I’m not surprised because he was so dominant in College, but still, Damn.

And there’s no of course to it. To be the 20-25th best player in the world at age 24 as your starting point is amazing and better than probably all but one or two guys in his class will achieve.

Normally a basketball player enter its prime at 24 years of age. That means yaxel is already in his prime as a rookie.

[windjc]

Man, Yaxel is really effing good. Probably already top 25.  I’m not surprised because he was so dominant in College, but still, Damn.

And there’s no of course to it. To be the 20-25th best player in the world at age 24 as your starting point is amazing and better than probably all but one or two guys in his class will achieve.

If Yaxel is top 25 so are Acuff and Boozer. 

He ain’t anywhere close my friend.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Rod Boone: Coby White is not on the injury report for tomorrow's game against Detroit. His season debut is happening tomorrow.

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Darius Acuff Jr. became the first teenager with nine threes, doing it against the Grizzlies.

HoopsMatic

[dirkfansince1998]

Might be the best version of Luka I have ever seen. Offense ist beyond any doubt anyway but his defense is close to elite/all-defense level right now. Not sure if he can carry an insane load like this for the entire season but he looks leaner and seemingly isn't suffering from any lingering injury issues.
Problem for him is that the Lakers suck. Second time in a row that they have blown a 20 point lead with Luka on the bench.