From Distance: Luka’s Defense

four point play….

1. On the occasion of my birthday, I took it upon myself to babble into my handy phone instead of writing beautiful sentences chronicling a Pick and Roll.

Over the last two weeks, I’m having a serious problem manufacturing interest in the Cavaliers. It is not the first time that a Cavs fan has wandered during an underwhelming season.

To be fair, I was pleasantly surprised by the early “success” of the starting lineup and I remain very bullish on Kevin Porter Jr.

It is just that I don’t enjoy watching Collin Sexton play basketball, Love has faded into the background, and I am growing tired of Garland’s 14 year-old stature. There is a future for the Cavs, but I need a present too.

When the Cavs’ youth and penchant for turnovers leave a bad taste in my basketball mouth, I grab some toothpaste in the form of Mavericks basketball.

Led by the wonderful Rick Carlisle and my boy, Luka Doncic, the Mavs employ a delightful style of play. Their bench is a wonderfully deep and varied bunch, further pointing out out the lack of NBA mid-level skill on the Cavaliers.

Yes, there is some above average to high-level talent on the Cavs, but there are few productive NBA professionals. The Mavs have a full roster of them. They are legitimately 14 deep. It is absurd.

So pardon my Luka love. We all need to have moments to play the “I told ya so game.” I am taking mine.

Pro tip: Better to do it talking sports than in one’s personal life.

2. The Rockets have been playing well after a slow start to the season. James Harden is putting up insanity on the offensive end and has flourished despite Russell Westbrook’s presence.

Still, the real second guy on that team remains Clint Capela. After a strangely unathletic start to the season, Clint has found his groove. He has 20 plus rebounds in seven of his last nine games played.

People were a bit quick to write off the big fella after only a couple weeks of subpar play. His foul shooting has taken a turn for the worse after last season’s uptick, but his defense has returned to his standard over the past month. I am happy to see it.

3. I am amused by Carmelo Anthony’s return. Good for him. There are few teams in the NBA that are happier to chuck midrange shots from ISO ball than Lillard’s Blazers.

They are pretty good at it with Dame and C.J. leading the charge. Melo is making 38% from three which has buoyed Portland’s efforts.

He is still a travesty on the defensive end and less than efficient offensively. The Blazers were just so desperate for help at the 3/4 that even Melo could help turn their season around.

But let’s chill on the praise. He was a really good player in his prime, but never great. Bill Simmons has foolishly started a theme that Melo at his best was similar to Dirk. That is abjectly absurd.

Bill, being seven feet makes you passable on defense almost by rule. Being seven feet with a brain makes you almost good.

Melo was always a terrible defender and his offensive game was forever inefficient. His best season was 2014 and he still didn’t top .200 in WinShares per48.

Dirk topped .200 seven times.

Shut up, Bill. You are disparaging an All-Time great by putting him into any category with Melo.

People have been hard on Anthony over the last few years as he has struggled to adapt his game. He has had a rough time.

While we shouldn’t underrate his midrange talent that gave him All-Star seasons, we also shouldn’t inflate what he did in his prime.

He was a chucker who chucked beautifully enough for us to think he was better than he was: A low level All-Star with a pretty one-on-one game.

4. You know who actually is great? The Greek Freak. My goodness. Giannis has a PER of 34 after 22 games. 34!!!

His winshares/48 is currently over .300 putting him in peak LeBron/Jordan zone. Giannis is my defensive player of the year right now. His mind has caught up to his body on that end of the floor and it is devastating.

Watch him when you can. He has now earned his nickname via his play.

Well, in waiting for my video to upload, I have ended up writing more than I had planned. And yet, I still have nothing of note on the Cavs.

Mike Malone can scoff if he wants, but it is true that Nikola Jokic is not playing near his previous MVP caliber play. Sure, the Joker is doing the things he does, but across the board, he has been less effective.

It breaks my heart.

Please, Nikola. Call Kevin Love. Every professional athlete can get into supreme shape. You have taken a step back from last year’s conditioning.

Last season, Jokic didn’t scream beach body, but his stamina was actually quite good. It is not the same this year. He simply must get into better shape for him to realize his enormous potential. Jokes!