Hornets head coach James Borrego has a unique way of keeping rookie forwards Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels galvanized to give maximum effort in Charlotte, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer relays. If their play is not to the level of their teammates, they will be sent down to develop with the team’s G League affiliate the Greensboro Swam.
“It’s their job to put pressure on me to keep them here,” Borrego said. “For them to stay in our program right now, there is a level of accountability, there is a level of professionalism they need to carry themselves with.” Small forward Martin went undrafted out of Nevada, while power forward McDaniels was selected by the Hornets with the No. 52 pick out of San Diego State.
There’s more out of the Southeast Division:
- Wizards big man Davis Bertans, an unrestricted free agent in 2020, credits coach Scott Brooks with letting him develop his shooting stroke, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.
- Newly-minted Heat All-Star Bam Adebayo was confident coming into the season that he could make the All-Star team if he hit certain statistical benchmarks and his team was winning, according to Khobi Price of the Miami Sun-Sentinel. His goal was averaging 16 PPG, 10 RPG and 5 APG in a winning environment. He is currently averaging 15.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the 35-19 Heat, alongside fellow All-Star Jimmy Butler. “I guess my prediction was right,” Adebayo said during media availability Saturday.
- To take the leap from All-Star to MVP, second year Hawks point guard Trae Young must evolve on defense, according to Scott Gleeson of USA Today.
Trae Young doesn’t need to get better on defense.
James Harden is proof you can win mvp w out defense.
Hawks would be better off putting better defenders around young to cover his deficiency.
I agree mostly except that Harden is too 20 maybe top 15 in steals per game and he’s strong as f***. he can guard 1-4 and Trae is limited. He’s young and his defensive IQ will continue to grow. Also better guys around him especially Capella will elevate him and hide his flaws.
Lol….. You said it correctly… Narrative.
LeBron in his prime was an elite defender, Harden has always been one of the worst and he’s in his prime now. Nothing physically limiting Harden, just desire I guess. And yes LBJ definitely takes plays off now and I really can’t come up with a superstar player that didn’t once they got to this age and point in their career. But to compare LBJ’s defense in his post prime to Harden who has never been a good defender com’on man.
As far as Trae….. yes he needs to improve defensively to take it to the next level. He’s not Steve Nash defensively, but he has some horrible moments. The Hawks have put the making of a strong defensive starting line up around by adding Capela and already having Reddish and Hunter, who have been good defensively for rookies. Collins has also improved. Trae will never be a better defensive player than the four mentioned above, however if he wants to lead and be an MVP he will have to step it up on the defensive end.
Back to Harden…… I don’t want to sound like I’m tearing him down. He’s a complete offensive weapon and one of the most gifted offensive players we ha ever scene. However he and Westbrook’s MVP’s are garbage! You can’t be MVP in seasons you set all time records for turnovers! Plus not play any defense. Harden has the physical stature, ability, and strength to guard most 2’s and 3’s, plus smaller 4’s, he just doesn’t, I truly don’t know what entire game I have watched, that I came away with a positive opinion of his defense.
Harden Westbrook MVPs tho…
James Harden is proof of the power of Narrative. 1.6 steals for his career isn’t bad defense. Lebron James takes plays off as much, if not more so, than James. Talking points, the truth it does not make.
Lol….. You said it correctly… Narrative.
LeBron in his prime was an elite defender, Harden has always been one of the worst and he’s in his prime now. Nothing physically limiting Harden, just desire I guess. And yes LBJ definitely takes plays off now and I really can’t come up with a superstar player that didn’t once they got to this age and point in their career. But to compare LBJ’s defense in his post prime to Harden who has never been a good defender com’on man.
As far as Trae….. yes he needs to improve defensively to take it to the next level. He’s not Steve Nash defensively, but he has some horrible moments. The Hawks have put the making of a strong defensive starting line up around by adding Capela and already having Reddish and Hunter, who have been good defensively for rookies. Collins has also improved. Trae will never be a better defensive player than the four mentioned above, however if he wants to lead and be an MVP he will have to step it up on the defensive end.
Back to Harden…… I don’t want to sound like I’m tearing him down. He’s a complete offensive weapon and one of the most gifted offensive players we ha ever scene. However he and Westbrook’s MVP’s are garbage! You can’t be MVP in seasons you set all time records for turnovers! Plus not play any defense. Harden has the physical stature, ability, and strength to guard most 2’s and 3’s, plus smaller 4’s, he just doesn’t, I truly don’t know what entire game I have watched, that I came away with a positive opinion of his defense.
Gamma male wall of text, great…
1. 1.6 steals for his career isn’t one of the worst defenders ever. There’s a difference between taking plays off and being a bad defender. Scoring 40 points a game as a routine doesn’t allow you to expand energy on the defensive end. Everyone that knows anything about basketball knows this is the case.
2. So what if lebron has dominated defensively? That’s all he has had for most of his career, that and the ability to drive to the rim on ANYONR, but he’s barely developed a reliable 3 point shot after the past couple of years. What Lebron is defensively, is what James is Offensively. That’s like saying lebron wasn’t the best player for the last ten years because he wasn’t the same offensive weapon James is. Ridiculous, especially when Lebron now takes A LOT of plays off now, which is understandable because of his age.
3.Scoring 40 points a night can physically stop you from guarding effectively, yes.
4. Lebron hasn’t played effective defensive since dawning the purple and gold. He does when he wants to, just like James, but at least James has completely mastered offensive basketball, and he is a good defender, he’s just not great. He lacks elite speed qnd refuses to allocate resources on the defensive end.
5. Na dude, you just sound like a hater that watches way too much commentary and not enough of the game itself. If a screen drives your thought process then maybe you should put the screen down. Narrative will never be truth.
6. Westbrook’s Mvp maybe, but not Harden’s. He’s been robbed twice. Westbrook’s mvp should’ve been James’ in my humble opinion, but James absolutely deserved that mvp. So what if he got the record for turnovers? His usage rate was above or at Westbrook’s rate so logic would dictate a lot of turnovers if you handle the rock literally the majority of the minutes played in a season. That can be overlooked when you set almost a bottomless pit of offensive records for a season and being the single reason the rockets made it as far as they did that year. Absolutely deserved, no question.
7. 1.6 steals for his career is playing some defense. Even his blocks aren’t bad, and I believe he’s one of the top in the league for defections. His defense is opportunistic since he can’t expand energy on that end.
8. Wth are you talking about? He guards bigs on a nightly basis. That’s where he gets a lot of his steals from, that and defections. He’s actually good at guarding bigs, he’s as strong as them but faster. This is a big tell tell sign that you don’t watch James play at all but act like a women and go by gossip and narrative.
9. I truly don’t think you have ever watched any of his games or you just see only what you want, but the truth is there.
10. There’s several games where he has several steals and blocks that make you think, why can’t he do that all the time? Then you remember he scores 40 a game.
I hope this helps expand your basketball knowledge.
1. Not sure you saw Lebron in Cleveland until the title & Miami.
2. Comparing James and James should start with using more individualized handles. It was not always clear who you were referring to anyway.
3. Another’s post was too long? So shorten yours.
4.”Narrative will never be truth” wrong.
>Narrativetimeline< is replacing it in the current trend, although that word was stolen from graphics.
Ha, the use of arrows in these boxes do not survive transmission.
“Narrative” does not mean lies, or in it’s current popularity, a story intentionally constructed to create a false impression. The words’ usage and meaning has become overstretched.
In the recent past it just meant a story, tale, plot, telling or disclosure structure, presumably sincere, maybe strategic.
Narrative is a political term. The Greeks used it in large effect to galvanize their people. The Roman’s would later perfect it with travelling thespians spouting how great the empire is. In modern times it’s used to sell the public on s**t they don’t need or on things they wouldn’t otherwise care about.
Where do I begin! Guess I’ll start at one.
1) the amount of steals a player gets, does not reflect how good they are defensively. And anytime you say any one who knows anything about blank…. you are just yo confident in your own opinion, without even challenging it yourself, for yourself.
2) lol… where is LBJ on the all time scoring list? All-time assist list? Triple double list? So all he and I is defend and drive? GTFO! I haven’t heard a all time greats list in the last ten years without LBJ on it. Seriously.
3) I don’t disagree, however he didn’t and doesn’t have to score 40 a night. That’s where he chooses to focus his energy. He’s played with 3 HOF’s, 2 MVP’s, one of which is one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. So if he where doing it in a way Kobe did, tones of isolations, not many open shots, I’d completely agree with you, that he needs to conserve energy on the offensive end. Oh wait, Kobe was an elite defender in his prime. So No!
4) ive already said LBJ takes plays off at this stage. However you are comparing a player bearing the twilight of their Carter to a player in his prime.
5) Hater? No just honest. Get Hardens C-Ck out your mouth and then you maybe able to see he sucks on defense! Pun intended!
6) he didn’t have to handle it that much, he chose to! IDK if you’ve ever played sports? But in every sport turning the ball over is the worst thing you can do! Worst than bad shots, worst than bad defense! It’s taking a position away from your team! That’s one less chance you have of doing something positive! So for someone to do it st an all time rate, yes that’s truly BAD.
7) Again steals don’t measure good defense. Some numbers are not products of what they indicate. Steals are not always good play of passing lanes or picking pockets. Sometimes they are picking up loose balls that the other team list. And yes Harden gets a lot of those. So right place, right time? Absolutely. Good defender NO!
8) you’re delusional
9) I actually do watch his games and like him on the offensive end. Just honest about him as a player. I love basketball ball! You just live Harden with blunders on.
10) Even more delusional!
At the end of the day, you’re watching the game with blinders on. You’re a huge Harden fan, I get it. But take off the blinders, he’s not a good defender, and never has been! I’ve seen all the greats take on the other teams greats in the closing minutes, except Harden! He and Steph Curry ( greatest shooter in history) are the modern day Steve Nash’s on the defensive side of the ball.
This post is the definition of a Strawman fallacy. You’re jousting at windmills guy.
I will address #7 though.
1. You haven’t defined what you mean by good defense. You’re using a blanket definition that I didn’t state.
2. He is a good defender, not great. Why? Because of his offensive responsibilities. You haven’t refuted that point.
3. The next question is, what kind of defense is he playing? An on-ball defense or an opportunistic defense? Obviously an on-defense will take too much resources from the offensive end, thus he plays an opportunistic defense. You haven’t refuted this point.
4. Now that we know what kind of defense he play, we apply our standards to that style of play. For example, if you’re going to critique his game using an on-ball defensive play then you’re a beyond a fool and unable to successfully compare apples to apples etc.
5. He’s one of the best in the league at getting defections, thus plays the passing lane a lot because he utilizes an opportunistic defensive strategy.
6. 1.6 steals is indicative to picking an opponents pocket. THE STAT IS CALLED STEALS. This is why I’m only correcting #7, you’re not worth the time.
10. The truth is that the Rockets defensive system puts more emphasis on steals, than rebounds for instances. Those loose balls and steals are designed. You really don’t know basketball do you?
11. One of your points was that I’m delusional, while my points actually address the flaws in your logic.
I’m comfortable saying that anyone reading our two posts will be able to identify the fraud.
9. Your argument is that Harden is lucky. You sound like a little boy who can’t play and lost to someone and says, “It’s cuz they’re lucky” That’s you.