At age 33, J.J. Barea is averaging the most points per game of his career, 12.4. Unlike most players who peak around age 28 or so, Barea is peaking in his thirties, and he might not be done peaking yet. I could attribute this to a few things: his short stature which means he only…
Read MoreTag: Dallas Mavericks
Maxi Kleber 16 Points Full Highlights (11/29/2017)
Maxi Kleber is already so much better than Tim Ohlbrecht (the previous “next Dirk”) that it’s making me, paradoxically, a little sad. Happy as well, but also sad. I was told directly, by high-ranking Houston Rockets officials, that Ohlbrecht was “the ultimate player, perfectly suited to the NBA game, in the mold of Dirk Nowitzki…
Read MoreJ.J. Barea 20 Points/7 Assists Full Highlights (11/18/2017)
One of the nicer stories of the off-season was Mark Cuban loaning his private jet to J.J. Barea so that the latter could fly in supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. That’s something where I can’t even make a snide comment or racially insensitive remark about it. It was just a good thing to do. Puerto…
Read MoreWesley Matthews 22 Points/8 Assists Full Highlights (11/18/2017)
I’m looking at Wesley Matthews’ shooting numbers right now and it seems like they’re backwards. He’s shooting over 40% on long balls, but he’s shooting 33% on all two-point attempts. That doesn’t even make sense. Layups are supposed to be easy. Other two-point shots might be more difficult than layups, but they’re not more difficult…
Read MoreDennis Smith Jr. 27 Points Full Highlights (11/14/2017)
This one caught me off guard. I was looking at the boxscore for this one with about a minute remaining and saw Dennis Smith Jr. had 20. A good game for him, but not anything amazing, so I began snack preparations for the night ahead. Imagine my surprise when I returned from my microwave to…
Read MoreYogi Ferrell 18 Points Full Highlights (11/12/2017)
That insane three-point shooting performance Yogi Ferrell had on national TV really inflated his reputation among NBA fans. That was the first many people had seen of him, and probably also the last. First impressions mean a lot, because I still see people talking about him as if he’s some sort of incredibly underrated young…
Read MoreDennis Smith Jr. 21 Points/7 Assists Full Highlights (11/11/2017)
My vibe receptors can be overly sensitive sometimes. On occasion I will receive false or erroneous vibes. If I stand too close to my microwave while it’s cooking me a Hot Pocket, for example, any NBA player I see will give me Matt Carroll vibes. The nuclear-energy research facility a few blocks away gives me…
Read MoreDennis Smith Jr. 22 Points/8 Assists Full Highlights (11/7/2017)
New strategy for the Mavericks: run that lob play between Wes Matthews and Dennis Smith Jr. every time down the court for the whole game. It worked so well on the first possession of the season, as well as the first possession of this game, that I don’t see why they wouldn’t just do it…
Read MoreSalah Mejri 10 Points/5 Blocks Full Highlights (11/7/2017)
After tonight, Salah “The Tunisian Munition” Mejri is averaging almost 6 blocks per 36. Can you say “Mark Eaton”? What about “Manute Bol”? And, unlike last year, he’s not even fouling out in that time! One of the main problems with low-usage shot-blockers is that they tend to foul a heck of a lot. If…
Read MoreDennis Smith Jr. 18 Points Full Highlights (11/4/2017)
OFFICIAL NBA PLAYERS WHOSE NAMES SOUND LIKE A BANKER’S POWER RANKINGS 1. Harrison Barnes 2. Dennis Smith Jr. 3. Alec Peters 4. David West 5. Ryan Anderson 6. Guerschon Yabusele 7. Jake Layman POWER GAP 419. Montrezl Harrell 420. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 421. Giannis Antetokounmpo
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