Former Cats in the NBA

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:27 pm

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/p ... /77944816/" target="_blank

Pistons' Johnson's energy, defense sparked rally effort

- Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press 9:47 a.m. EST December 28, 2015

Stanley Johnson may be a 19-year-old rookie just 31 games into his NBA career.

Yet in two of the past three games, the youngest Detroit Piston has come off the bench to ignite a frantic rally, though Saturday night's attempt fell short in a 99-93 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Johnson had 12 second-half points (5-for-6 shooting) in over 14 minutes, jump-starting a sluggish group that has seen its ultra-productive starters hit a wall recently, and trailed by 16 points early in the fourth quarter vs. the Celtics.

"Something just came up out of me," said Johnson postgame. "I was just tired of chilling."

He started the comeback by forcing consecutive turnovers. His steal and breakaway lay-up was part of a 9-0 Pistons burst to climb back into the game.

"Everybody wants to know like what was said in the locker room. That has nothing to do with leadership," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said postgame. "Leadership is what Stanley (Johnson) did defensively, that gets people going. You have to do something, you can’t talk about energy, and talk about 'c’mon guys.' No, you need to set a tone and I thought Stanley did and got us playing a little bit."

Sure, Johnson has been inconsistent like all rookies, as seen in the first half against the Celtics. He was 0-for-5 from the floor with one rebound, one assist and one turnover in 11:08 of run, as the Pistons committed 13 first-half turnovers in a sloppy half.

The third quarter was much of the same for the Pistons, until Johnson provided a spark.

Center Andre Drummond, who posted his fifth 20-20 of the season with 22 points and 22 rebounds, said he fed off Johnson's effort and hustle defensively.

"You felt the energy the way he just forced them to make bad decisions." Drummond said. "It was great to see him do that and lead for us.”

The No. 8 overall pick in June's NBA draft, Johnson has put together arguably his best five-game stretch, averaging 11.8 points on 49% shooting, including 8-for-14 shooting from long range, to go with 4.6 rebounds in 25.2 minutes. Those performances came against four playoff teams in Boston (twice) and road games at Chicago, Miami and Atlanta.

“I’m a rookie, I’m trying to learn a lot of things," Johnson said. "Me and Marcus (Morris) was just like ‘we need to do something,’ … I got a steal and a stop, but I’m not out there by myself. I can’t take all the (credit).”

The Pistons hope Johnson can continue his recent play as the calendar turns and the playoff races tighten.

EOCT · Post by **EOCT** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 3:17 pm

"Everybody wants to know like what was said in the locker room. That has nothing to do with leadership," Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said postgame. "Leadership is what Stanley (Johnson) did defensively, that gets people going. You have to do something, you can’t talk about energy, and talk about 'c’mon guys.' No, you need to set a tone and I thought Stanley did and got us playing a little bit."

I love this. Here's a part of Stanley's game which CSM can clearly say he influenced in a major way. This kind of talk hopefully gets to JJ and othersto demonstrate CSM's keen focus on D and player development, and his concrete achievements in those departments.

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:25 pm

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/t ... he-process" target="_blank

T.J. MCCONNELL IS PART OF THE PROCESS

There may be no avatar more suitable for the Philadelphia 76ers' infamous Process than T.J. McConnell, an undrafted rookie who has started more than half of the team's games at point guard. This is a complicated sort of compliment, but McConnell highlights the benefits and the shortcomings of the long-term rebuilding strategy. That he's played pretty well is, as is often the case with the Sixers, almost beside the point.

If not for general manager Sam Hinkie's approach to the end of the roster, which eschews veterans in favor of lottery tickets, McConnell might not be an NBA player right now. The 76ers brought him into training camp after a successful summer league stint, and the two-time All-Pac-12 Defensive Team standout fought his way onto the roster against heavy odds, beating out Pierre Jackson and Scottie Wilbekin—and their larger but insignificant guaranteed salaries—for a fourth point guard spot that wasn't supposed to exist.

"When I signed with the Sixers to come to training camp, I knew nothing was guaranteed," McConnell told VICE on Sunday. "So I went with the mentality that I just had to fight every day. "

McConnell doesn't necessarily look like a fighter, with friendly blue eyes and a positive, excited-to-be-here demeanor, but he does looks like a Sixer, in that he doesn't necessarily look much like any other NBA player. He attacks the rim with a bouncy, probing style that's more Floyd Mayweather than Sleepy Floyd, and his jump shot has enough lean to impress Future. McConnell's odd mix of strengths and weaknesses—he's also a deft passer and indefatigable defender—kept him off most draft boards, even after he helped lead Arizona to the Elite Eight; both Draft Express and ESPN's Chad Ford ranked him outside the top 60. Where others may have seen a non-prospect, the Sixers saw a potentially undervalued player who wouldn't even cost them one of their bundle of second-round picks. They took a no-risk chance, and McConnell did the rest.

"The Process and stuff, I've heard it so much," McConnell said. "I'm just trying to be a guy that kind of flew under the radar and picked up, that no one ever expected to be playing in the NBA."

The hypothetical scenario for Philadelphia, going into this year, involved adding a more steady veteran presence to run the offense, feed the team's young post players, and serve as mentors to a very young roster. Whether McConnell was so good that the team had to scrap this strategy or whether the Sixers just opted to go a different way—as usual, they're not saying—the result is familiar. This part of the Sixers' strategy is the one that's been criticized most and put under a greater microscope due to the off-court issues of Jahlil Okafor. The opportunity cost of taking fliers on would-be NBA talent is not using the roster spot on certain NBA talent; the opportunity cost of carrying a rookie is not having a veteran. The result of all these calculations has lost 28 of 29 games this season.

Conversely, the opportunity cost of signing a veteran is one fewer lottery ticket. McConnell, like Robert Covington before him, has made Philadelphia's unending end-of-roster churn look savvy.

McConnell is averaging seven points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.3 steals in 24.8 minutes, and advanced metrics grade him as one of the team's better players. He's a strong ball-handler and a smart passer, ranking in the top ten in playmaking usage, per data from Nylon Calculus. While McConnell doesn't score much off the drive and takes a well-below-average portion of his shots at the rim, he uses his forays inside to create for his teammates, and rates among the top ten in the league in pass percentage when driving. He basically never gets to the free-throw line—a whopping nine attempts in 29 games—but McConnell has killed teams when they drop under screens in the pick-and-roll, knocking down 50.8 percent of his mid-range jumpers and 35.7 percent of his outside looks. Aesthetically, his outside shot looks a little strange, but there's nothing ugly about 35.7 percent accuracy from three-point range.

McConnell's role stands to decrease now that Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall are working their way back to health. The team misjudged Marshall's timeline recovering from a torn ACL, as Hinkie told ESPN's Zach Lowe, and while McConnell's a willing playmaker, he knows he's not yet as adept at setting up teammates as Marshall. Regarding the shooting struggles of teammate Nik Stauskus, for example, McConnell took ownership.

"I think some of it is me as a point guard and us as a team, we're putting him in bad spots sometimes," he said. "That's making him shoot shots he probably normally wouldn't take. And that can mess with a guy."

Head coach Brett Brown also likes the idea of closing with a more veteran point guard, who can help "walk the game down," limiting the team's panic in late-game scenarios.

Wroten and Marshall played in the same game for the first time last Wednesday; McConnell was limited to 17 minutes, his second-lowest total of the season. "It's good to have them back," he said. "We need them." That's gracious, and true, but McConnell's minutes could continue to decline in a crowded backcourt, even with the merciful end to the farcical Maybe Isaiah Canaan Is A Point Guard experiment. Wroten brings an ability to create for himself that nobody else on the Sixers has, and Marshall is the team's best passer and a solid outside shooting threat.

Still, McConnell figures to play a role as those two build up to a full workload, and he could be deployed as a change-of-pace guard even once the rotation solidifies. "I know if I was an opposing guard, it would be tough to go from guarding Tony, then to a guy like myself, and then Kendall. They don't really know what to expect," McConnell said. McConnell is the best defender of the three and creates easy offense the other way by corralling defensive rebounds or jumping passing lanes. He's a useful player, in short, and coaches find ways to use those.

Even if McConnell's role is reduced, in him the Sixers have turned a roster spot seemingly designated for intangibles into a very tangible asset. That asset is on a four-year contract at the league minimum with only $100,000 guaranteed, making him a discount rotation player or a potentially valuable trade chip—and, important for this organization, one with literally no downside if he were to get hurt or see his performance decline. Not that anyone should expect it to.

"I coached Matty Dellavedova for years with the Olympic stuff, and there's a lot of similarities as far as nobody gave him a chance. And just through resilience and toughness, he just never went away," Brown said Sunday. "He's grabbed an opportunity."

That same persistence may serve to slow, stall, or even prematurely end Hinkie's Process. Questions abound about ownership's stomach for more losing after they added the legendary Jerry Colangelo to the team's brain trust. The constant turnover is a nice way to turn up overlooked assets, but this is also a team made up of humans, and there are some very reasonable concerns that the churn might stunt the development of the long-term pieces, too. Brown admits that he has had to simplify things with players, particularly point guards, "revolving in and out."

Whether or not this particular aspect of the strategy is ultimately found wanting depends in large part on how McConnell and his teammates progress as NBA assets. That progress may not see McConnell become the type of all-around player a team can consider a foundational building block, but at his pay rate and with his background, any value McConnell provides, even a third-string piece, is found money.

"It's tough because you obviously want to prove that you have an all-around game," McConnell said. "But if you stick to what you're good at, what could go wrong?"

Regarding the end of his roster, Hinkie has been more focused on asking, "What could go right?" On a Philadelphia team that's still shot through with question marks, McConnell stands out as one of the answers.

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 4:30 pm

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 7:08 am

DWill with a couple of nice slams...

http://www.slamonline.com/media/slam-tv ... E6RemY0.97" target="_blank

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 8:38 am

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:48 pm

TJ is the leading scorer at the half tonight and the Sixers are leading by one over the Lakers.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:48 pm

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:01 pm

Stanley brought them back but Chalmers hit a 2 at the buzzer to win

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:35 pm

Alieberman · Post by **Alieberman** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:49 pm

Merkin, you should post that for enfuego in the Kansas thread.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:08 pm

DWill went for 18 & 6 tonight in 28 minutes in an OT win.

JMarkJohns · Post by **JMarkJohns** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:24 pm

Chicat wrote:DWill went for 18 & 6 tonight in 28 minutes in an OT win.

Had the Garden chanting his name in crunch time.

That's the dream. I can't even imagine.

Like Josh Hamilton in the derby at Yankee Stadium.

Those are the moments you tell grandchildren about. Not just your grandkids. Any grandkids.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:58 pm

Luke Walton gets demoted...

BearDown89 · Post by **BearDown89** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 8:46 pm

Warriors vs. Pacers tonight: Kerr, Walton, Q, Iggy, Jordan Hill, Solo. Am I missing anyone?

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 8:47 pm

BearDown89 wrote:Warriors vs. Pacers tonight: Kerr, Walton, Q, Iggy, Jordan Hill, Solo. Am I missing anyone?

Bruce Fraser

BearDown89 · Post by **BearDown89** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 8:52 pm

UAEebs86 wrote:
BearDown89 wrote:Warriors vs. Pacers tonight: Kerr, Walton, Q, Iggy, Jordan Hill, Solo. Am I missing anyone?
Bruce Fraser

That's Q.

Alieberman · Post by **Alieberman** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:00 pm

BearDown89 wrote:Warriors vs. Pacers tonight: Kerr, Walton, Q, Iggy, Jordan Hill, Solo. Am I missing anyone?

I'm watching this game right now and it's like a Wildcat All star game

Bear Down!

Alieberman · Post by **Alieberman** » Fri Jan 22, 2016 9:17 pm

Alieberman wrote:
BearDown89 wrote:Warriors vs. Pacers tonight: Kerr, Walton, Q, Iggy, Jordan Hill, Solo. Am I missing anyone?
I'm watching this game right now and it's like a Wildcat All star game

Bear Down!

And you missed Budinger!

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:00 pm

Not quite NBA:

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:21 am

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:24 am

Story is apparently bogus, some kind of publicity stunt.
(Still stupid)

http://hiphollywood.com/2016/01/exclusi ... tantiated/

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:26 am

Still a godawful embarrassement.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 6:25 pm

That was for enfuego.

ghostwhitehorse · Post by **ghostwhitehorse** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:25 pm

AG has taken over the starting spot from Frye the last couple of games. 19-14-5 vs. the Celtics today.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:28 pm

ghostwhitehorse wrote:AG has taken over the starting spot from Frye the last couple of games. 19-14-5 vs. the Celtics today.

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 8:06 pm

TJ w a great game tonight starting in place of Ish Smith. Several big buckets and assists in the 4th and two big steals in the last minute that sealed the win.

17 pts (7-10, 2-2 3pfg) 6 assists 2 TO

84Cat · Post by **84Cat** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 1:31 pm

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:23 pm

AG to the finals against Levine

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:26 pm

Follows up his 49 with a 50!

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:31 pm

Another 50

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:34 pm

Two more 50s and a screw job 47

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:36 pm

WildcatStunner · Post by **WildcatStunner** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:39 pm

UofA players always get screwed in the dunk contest. Such BS. Levine's dunks weren't even from the FT line but they gave him 50's.

Main Event · Post by **Main Event** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:40 pm

He had the 2 best dunks of the night and it wasn't even close

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Thu Feb 18, 2016 10:50 am

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Fri Feb 19, 2016 8:34 pm

Solomon Hill in at the end of a close road win over the Thunder. They needed his defense.

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 5:10 pm

And two women called his mother a racial slur during the game too. Two young ladies I know personally where seated right next to her when it was said. Thankfully, they were outed very quickly thanks to some Thunder fans. Both have posted their formal denials, one of whom even threatened legal action for slander. Which is funny, because a special beardown wildcats member found out she had been disbarred for unethical conduct to include stealing money from and jeopardizing the legal residency statuses of her clients. So that went right underneath everything cool she had to say.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:21 pm

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:26 pm

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 2:00 pm

Just a simple screen by Channing. Sounds like he will be back in 5 or 6 games.

TJ got carried off the court last night too, rolled his ankle

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:45 pm

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:13 am

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Mar 08, 2016 3:57 pm

Pretty good article about AG: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14927 ... -slam-dunk" target="_blank

As Aaron Gordon and his friend got into the backseat of a black town car outside the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia two weeks ago, a group of autograph-seekers bolted down Broad Street.

These days, Gordon's signature is in higher demand than it used to be, and he graciously signed all of the fans' items before closing the car door and departing for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant.

Make no mistake: Gordon wanted to finish first in the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and take home the trophy. In his mind, he had executed all his dunks to perfection -- including his jaw-dropping "Take a Chair in the Air" dunk over Orlando Magic mascot Stuff that still has America buzzing.

But all the praise and adulation he's received since finishing as the runner-up (and we use the term loosely) to two-time defending champion Zach LaVine in overtime hasn't been a bad consolation prize.

The day after Gordon put on an aerial display that arguably rivaled some of the all-time greats, the 20-year-old's agent, Calvin Andrews, told him, "Sometimes when you lose, you win."

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Tue Mar 08, 2016 4:43 pm

Aaron put up 20pts & 16rebs last night against the Warriors. Guarded Steph, Klay, Draymond, Barnes and Roy. He held his own but Steph got him...

Might guard Kobe tonight as well

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/o ... story.html" target="_blank

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:21 pm

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:07 pm

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:46 pm

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Mar 23, 2016 8:34 pm

TJ went for 17 & 5 tonight. The Sixers dicked around and lost at the buzzer. For some reason, TJ wasn't in for most of the end of the 4th when Canaan and others were jacking up stupid 3 pointers for no apparent reason and blowing their lead.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Thu Mar 24, 2016 10:16 pm

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