Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Sorry that the November 20 edition is late today.
Carmelo Anthony made his season debut on Tuesday night.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Gerald Herbert/AP.)
Carmelo Anthony made his debut with the Portland TrailBlazers on Tuesday against the shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, the Blazers were undermanned also with Damian Lillard out.
There’s no doubt that we’re rooting for Melo and the Blazers to do well. But I also had doubts whether both parties need each other. Maybe the Blazers need it more because they’re so short on players? Or maybe Melo needs it more because he wants to finish his NBA career on his own volition.
So this is what I compare Melo to. He probably doesn’t deserve an analogy like this but bear with me here (plus we can probably all relate to this). You know how there’s someone you don’t really want to be friends with? But you didn’t hang out with them in a while because of certain reasons? And then you hear a bunch of good things from that individual. That person is saying all the right things and completely endearing his/her self to a group.
And then you finally hang out with that individual and you remember why you stopped hanging out with them in the first place.
This seems to be where we’re headed with Carmelo. Sure, we were like, “Yay! He made a three-pointer! This MIGHT be really good!”
And then you see all the missed shots, including four from midrange, and you remember what you DON’T miss (well, Melo missed a lot). A 4/14 performance is not exactly a great first impression. Plus all the fouls he committed as players blew by him. AND all the turnovers and the lowest +/- stat of the game at -20.
To be fair, the Blazers haven’t been great defensively all season. And we never said Melo was good in that department. There were points where we can tell he’s genuinely trying but there were also points in the game where you see him pointing and then losing his man. He’s not going to improve this defense anytime soon but I’m sure the Blazers knew this coming in.
Melo will be much better when Lillard comes back. At the very least, he can still be a threat from the perimeter and the post and it will help open up things for Dame and C.J. McCollum. Let’s also be honest here: Melo was exposed big-time when key players were out (Andre Roberson in OKC and Chris Paul in Houston, to name a few). He won’t get that help defensively in Portland but he’s probably brought in to open up the offense a bit more.
The good news for Carmelo is that there is another game in a day or two. Unless the Blazers unceremoniously dump him immediately. The NBA can be a cold world. Carmelo Anthony has already experienced that.
Still, Melo has been a great NBA player throughout his career, even if he was unfairly criticized a few (a lot of) times. Let’s hope he gets to exit the league on his own terms.
Bullet Passes
It’s rough when you have other Suns play point guard that is not Ricky Rubio, who is currently hurting with back spasms. Aron Baynes being out, too, made a huge difference as the Suns fell short of a comeback against the suddenly hot Kings, who have won six of eight.
Break out those pesky Warriors! They finally won their third game of the season! Alec Burks did his thing with 29 points.
The Lakers gave the Thunder a few openings but man, when they play defense, THEY PLAY DEFENSE. LeBron James continues to amaze; he got a triple-double against the Thunder and it made him the first player to get a trip-dub against all 30 teams (I assume current because there is no way he got a triple-double against the Rochester Royals).
Seriously, it’s like the Lakers play 90s ball. Lots of post-ups. Lots of midrange jumpers. Lots of SHOT BLOCKING.
I’m not saying the Lakers are going to win the championship. But the last title team that really relied on physical and post play was the 2010 Lakers. The Mavericks really used that three as the weapon. So did the Heat. The Spurs had the Beautiful Game. The Warriors was a combo of ball movement and three-point shooting. And the Cavs and Raptors had LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard as their playmakers with lots of shooters to surround them.
We have seen some City Edition jerseys for certain NBA teams. But as much as I was thrown off by this at first, I really do like the Bulls jerseys.
That shade of blue is ALWAYS a good jersey color.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Chicago Bulls.)
The color is based off the Chicago city flag so it plays off the heritage of the city. Yes, blue has never been a team color and it will throw off a lot of people. But I think it looks great.
I was also thrown off by the St. Patrick Green Bulls jersey when they first came off. But ultimately, I had no complaints about it. Then again, I’m not the type to complain much about these sort of things.
I like the Bulls City Edition jerseys. But what do I know about taste?
Watch This Play
This is a really difficult alley-oop from Rajon Rondo to Anthony Davis.
(VIDEO CREDIT: BALLIN’ OUT.)
First of all, ignore the inaccurate subtitle. Also, I give props to Dennis Schroder for standing up for Nerlens Noel, who got kicked in the head by Davis while he was hanging onto the rim.
Still, hell of a play by the Lakers.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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