NBA Season 2025-26

[Who]

Cooper Flagg update

6 games 32.5mpg
13.8ppg 6.5rpg 3.0apg 0.8spg 0.5bpg
37.3% FG 12.5 FGA 28.6% 3PT 3.5 3PTA 49.3% TS
100% FT. Made all 21 FTs taken. 3.5 FTA per game.
1.8 turnovers per game

12/39 on jump-shots. 30.8% FG. 21 of them 3s. 32% eFG. So he is either at the rim or shooting 3s. Not much midrange. About half his shots in the paint. About 30% from three. About 20% from midrange.

21 straight FTs made to start your career is impressive. The rest of his statistics not so much. I am surprised his blocks & steals are so low. Low assists. Low scoring efficiency. Killing the Mavs on offense. This PG expirment isn't working.

Mavs now 2 wins 4 losses. They need to be careful. They don't want to end up with too much to do to get back in the play-in race. Kidd was optimistic about an early Kyrie return (Thanksgiving). I saw AD was out the other night so he already has some type of injury. Both of those stars are prone to missing games. Getting in an early hole could be dangerous for them.

Jason Kidd explained the Mavericks' reasoning behind starting at point guard.
 
?There?s a couple of things behind him playing point guard. One, is our health,? Kidd said. The other part about handling the ball is being able to handle the pressure when April comes around and you?re playing for something greater. Just to have that experience early on here is a blessing and I think it will only help him in this marathon.?

[Who]

Bilal Coulibaly comes back and Washington gets blown out in both of his first 2 games (19pt loss, 31pt loss).

I don't like their starting lineup with Coulibaly there at guard. So they have CJ McCollum as their starting PG. Not a real PG. Coulibaly at SG. Not a real SG. It is basically a scoring combo guard / SG at PG in McCollum and then 3 SFs and a big.

I liked their floor balance better with Bub Carrington starting in the backcourt next to CJ McCollum. Two guards to run the offense. To protect and distribute the ball. Shared duties.

Without Bub and with just McCollum, I don't like their lack of guard play. Lack of ball-handling & passing. Even shooting off the dribble.

The mix just doesn't work well with Coulibaly as starter. Nothing he is doing wrong. He is a solid starting caliber SF. He just isn't a guard and isn't what the rest of that starting unit needs from that position.

[Goldstar88]

How good was Keyonte George tonight. Danny hit it out of the park with that pick (16th overall).

[Who]

I am impressed by Portland. I think if they were in the East, they would be a top 4/5 seed. I like them better than all of the middle of the pack teams in the East chasing the final playoff spots / play-in positions.

G: Jrue Holiday, Scott Henderson
G: Shaedon Sharpe, Blake Wesley
F: Toumani Camara
F: Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant
C: Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, Yang Hansen

Others: Kris Murray, Matisse Thybulle, Rayan Rupert, Sidy Cissoko, Duop Heath, Caleb Love

I did not realize they had been playing without Scoot Henderson to start the season. No real backup PG. They have been playing Blake Wesley there. He is playing great D for them. I am not sure which of their backup SFs are first choice. It seems like it can be any one of the first three guys there (Kris Murray, Thybulle, R Rupert) on any given night.

Their balance is better the middle class in the East. Portland have strong interior defense & rebounding with 3 quality centers. They have 3 starting quality forwards. They have 3-4 good guards. There 3rd string guys are youth that is maturing. They look capable of contributing this season. Kris Murray in particular looks much improved physically / athletically and defensively. A more reliable bench guy. Rupert too.

A top defensive team. Great interior D with Clingan / Timelord. Great guard D with Jrue and B Wesley. S Sharpe playing good D. His growth in maturity is impressive. Locked in. Committed to doing the dirty work. Committed to playing team ball. Night and day from all scoring / nothing else SG he was when he came into the league. The forward defense is exceptional. T Camara is 1st team All-Defense guys. Avdija is quality. Jerami Grant well above average. The switchability they have is exceptional. Quick long forwards with tall bulky guards.

[Atzar]

I am impressed by Portland. I think if they were in the East, they would be a top 4/5 seed. I like them better than all of the middle of the pack teams in the East chasing the final playoff spots / play-in positions.

G: Jrue Holiday, Scott Henderson
G: Shaedon Sharpe, Blake Wesley
F: Toumani Camara
F: Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant
C: Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams, Yang Hansen

Others: Kris Murray, Matisse Thybulle, Rayan Rupert, Sidy Cissoko, Duop Heath, Caleb Love

I did not realize they had been playing without Scoot Henderson to start the season. No real backup PG. They have been playing Blake Wesley there. He is playing great D for them. I am not sure which of their backup SFs are first choice. It seems like it can be any one of the first three guys there (Kris Murray, Thybulle, R Rupert) on any given night.

Their balance is better the middle class in the East. Portland have strong interior defense & rebounding with 3 quality centers. They have 3 starting quality forwards. They have 3-4 good guards. There 3rd string guys are youth that is maturing. They look capable of contributing this season. Kris Murray in particular looks much improved physically / athletically and defensively. A more reliable bench guy. Rupert too.

A top defensive team. Great interior D with Clingan / Timelord. Great guard D with Jrue and B Wesley. S Sharpe playing good D. His growth in maturity is impressive. Locked in. Committed to doing the dirty work. Committed to playing team ball. Night and day from all scoring / nothing else SG he was when he came into the league. The forward defense is exceptional. T Camara is 1st team All-Defense guys. Avdija is quality. Jerami Grant well above average. The switchability they have is exceptional. Quick long forwards with tall bulky guards.

I may be letting some anti-Laker bias talk here, but I thought Luka should have side-eyed Portland as a potential landing spot before just extending in LA.  They have nearly everything he needs around him.  Secondary scoring, defensive length and athleticism, rim protection.  Might want a little more proven shooting but that's about it.  A more certain-looking future than what the Lakers currently possess.

[Who]

Bam Adebayo added the three point shot to his skill-set last season. He made 35.7% of his threes and took 2.8 threes per game. So far this season, Bam has upped his volume from 2.8 to 6.8 threes per game. Slight decline from 35.7% to 34.1%.

That is a huge jump in volume.