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The NBA started their 2020-21 season last Tuesday, Dec. 22, and a couple interesting things so far:
>>The Chicago Bulls, who were hyped by a lot of people as being much improved, and who hired a new head coach (Billy Donovan) and paid him $24 million over 4 years, were blown out at home in their opener to the woeful Atlanta Hawks 124-104. Looks like another long season for Bulls fans. They play the Indiana Pacers tonight.
>>The Golden State Warriors, who appeared in 5 straight NBA Finals from 2015-2019, and won 3 NBA Championships ('15,'17,'18 ), are off to an 0-2 start, and both games were blowout losses- a 26 point loss to Brooklyn and a 39 point loss to Milwaukee. They are still missing Klay Thompson, who is still recovering from an ACL tear after missing all of last season. But maybe Shawn Livingston was a bit more important to the team that anyone thought?
>>The bright point for Golden State so far is 7' center James Wiseman, the rookie from Memphis East HS, who played on the same high school team with Bradley's Antonio Thomas. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and through 2 games he is averaging 18.5 ppg (one point less than leading scorer Stephen Curry), and he leads the team in rebounding with 7.0 rpg, and blocks (1.5 bpg).
>>The #1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony Edwards of Georgia, plays for the MInnesota Timberwolves. In their only game so far, Edwards came off the bench for an impressive debut with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in a 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 11.3 ppg in 3 preseason games. They play at Utah today.
>> And the #3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft was LaMelo Ball, the youngest of the 3 Ball brothers. He plays for the Charlotte Hornets. I think he has the potential to eventually develop into a decent NBA player, but I think he has been over-hyped at this stage of his career. Last season he played in the Australian pro league, the NBL. He was playing against a lot of lower-level pros who are well below the level of the NBA. He averaged 17 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and he shot only 37.5% overall, and 25% from three. He also lead the league in shots taken for any player who averaged less than 20 ppg, and was top 7 in turnovers per game.
His NBA debut was a disaster. He came off the bench in the Hornets' 121-114 loss to the pathetic Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were maybe the worst team in the NBA last year, and are projected to finish near the bottom this year. But the Cavs lead virtually the entire game by as much as 24 points, and cruised to the relatively easy win.
LaMelo Ball was 0-5 from the field, 0-3 from three and was scoreless. He also had 3 turnovers, along with 3 assists. It was the first time since 2013 that an NBA top 3 draft pick went scoreless in their debut. They play again today against OKC.
https://lonzowire.usatoday.com/2020/...ut-highlights/
>>The Chicago Bulls, who were hyped by a lot of people as being much improved, and who hired a new head coach (Billy Donovan) and paid him $24 million over 4 years, were blown out at home in their opener to the woeful Atlanta Hawks 124-104. Looks like another long season for Bulls fans. They play the Indiana Pacers tonight.
>>The Golden State Warriors, who appeared in 5 straight NBA Finals from 2015-2019, and won 3 NBA Championships ('15,'17,'18 ), are off to an 0-2 start, and both games were blowout losses- a 26 point loss to Brooklyn and a 39 point loss to Milwaukee. They are still missing Klay Thompson, who is still recovering from an ACL tear after missing all of last season. But maybe Shawn Livingston was a bit more important to the team that anyone thought?
>>The bright point for Golden State so far is 7' center James Wiseman, the rookie from Memphis East HS, who played on the same high school team with Bradley's Antonio Thomas. He was the 2nd overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and through 2 games he is averaging 18.5 ppg (one point less than leading scorer Stephen Curry), and he leads the team in rebounding with 7.0 rpg, and blocks (1.5 bpg).
>>The #1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony Edwards of Georgia, plays for the MInnesota Timberwolves. In their only game so far, Edwards came off the bench for an impressive debut with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in a 111-101 win over the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 11.3 ppg in 3 preseason games. They play at Utah today.
>> And the #3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft was LaMelo Ball, the youngest of the 3 Ball brothers. He plays for the Charlotte Hornets. I think he has the potential to eventually develop into a decent NBA player, but I think he has been over-hyped at this stage of his career. Last season he played in the Australian pro league, the NBL. He was playing against a lot of lower-level pros who are well below the level of the NBA. He averaged 17 ppg, 6.8 rpg, and he shot only 37.5% overall, and 25% from three. He also lead the league in shots taken for any player who averaged less than 20 ppg, and was top 7 in turnovers per game.
His NBA debut was a disaster. He came off the bench in the Hornets' 121-114 loss to the pathetic Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were maybe the worst team in the NBA last year, and are projected to finish near the bottom this year. But the Cavs lead virtually the entire game by as much as 24 points, and cruised to the relatively easy win.
LaMelo Ball was 0-5 from the field, 0-3 from three and was scoreless. He also had 3 turnovers, along with 3 assists. It was the first time since 2013 that an NBA top 3 draft pick went scoreless in their debut. They play again today against OKC.
https://lonzowire.usatoday.com/2020/...ut-highlights/