Basketball Intelligence For 10/21/22

Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis

Oct 21, 2022

TEAM-SPECIFIC STORIES

BOS: Joe Mazzulla is already making his mark
Adam Taylor, Celtics Blog

BOS: Q & A: Derrick White
Chris Forsberg, NBC Sports

BOS: Inside Jayson Tatum’s summer workouts with Kevin Durant
Jared Weiss, The Athletic

CHI: Ask Sam Smith
bulls.com

CHI: DeMar DeRozan, Ayo Dosunmu give Bulls statement win in season opener
Darnell Mayberry, The Athletic

DAL: The Mavs’ opener showed why Christian Wood could be Luka best co-star yet
Tim Cato, The Athletic

DEN: Have The Nuggets Found the Right Balance to Make a Finals Run?
Seerat Sohi, The Ringer

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DET: Ivey, Duren and a Pistons draft for the ages
Keith Langlois, Pistons.com

DET: The first step for Jaden Ivey
Joe Truck

GSW: James Wiseman Is in a Golden State of Mind
Howard Beck, Sports Illustrated

GSW: Can The Warriors Keep Breaking The Rules Of NBA Title Contention?
Jared Dubin, FiveThirtyEight

GSW: It's Strength in Numbers (again)
Duby Dub Dubs, Dub Nation HQ

IND: Tyrese Haliburton’s first-world basketball problem
Mike Vorkunov, The Athletic

IND: Takeaways from game one of the 2022-23 season
Zach Pearson, Pacers Press

LAL: Juan Toscano-Anderson and the Lakers: A ‘full circle’ moment of ‘destiny’
Jovan Buha, The Athletic

LAL: The Lakers need ‘lasers’? Shooting woes play significant part in their 0-2 start
Jovan Buha, The Athletic

Ham has continued preaching his belief in his players’ shooting ability. He said that he’s learned through his 26 years in the NBA that players are more likely to maintain their confidence with encouragement and positive reinforcement. He doesn’t want the Lakers to start second-guessing and playing timidly.
“The worst thing you can do is be wide open and hesitate or not take the shot,” Ham said pregame. “It throws off the entire rhythm of what you’re trying to do offensively. And it seeps in a little bit of a disappointment going back toward the other end to get a stop. So I want our guys to be confident. I want them to know that I trust them to step up and shoot.”

MIL: Continuity could give Milwaukee an edge amid the N.B.A.’s roster upheavals
Scott Cacciola, NY Times

MIL: As Mike Budenholzer's coaching staff evolves, the culture remains the same
Jim Owczarski, Journal Sentinel

NYK: 11 big questions for the 2022-23 New York Knicks season
Geoff Rasmussen, The Strick.land

NYK: Takeaways from season opener
Zach Braziller, NY Post

ORL: Banchero blew the doors off expectations in his debut
Jackson Frank, SBNation

ORL: Banchero ‘left a lot of points on the board’ in historic NBA debut
Khobi Price, Orlando Sentinel

PHO: Booker’s Offense And Leadership Are Evolving
Shane Young, Forbes

SAC: De’Aaron Fox feels ‘stars are aligning’ in first year with Kings coach Mike Brown
Sam Amick, The Athletic

After all these years in which Fox has been primarily a pick-and-roll or isolation scorer, and considering Sabonis’ skills as a passing big man, he’s looking to play off the ball more than ever.
“One of the biggest things that Steph has taught me is that in order to be a small guy and win at a high level, you have to know how to play off the ball,” Brown said. “If your only skill set is to have the ball in your hands and go make a play for yourself, or for your teammates, as you go deeper in playoffs, you’re facing the best teams, and championship level teams are historically, on average, a top five or better defensive team. … They know how to scheme against a pick and roll, because you’re bringing more bodies to the ball. They can take out your best player, if your best player is a pick-and-roll dominant guy. So somehow, someway, you have to be able to play off the ball and still be effective right now if you expect it to work come playoff time. And that’s what I’m pushing not only De’Aaron, but I’m pushing (second-year guard) Davion (Mitchell) to understand that as well.”
As Fox sees it, the evolution of his off-ball action should make him more dangerous.
“It makes it a little bit easier for you to get whatever you want,” he said. “Now you’re not walking up and it’s a set defense. Now you don’t have 10 eyes on you all the time. I think it will just help us.”

SAC: Battler Dellavedova keeps NBA dream alive in fitting fashion
Kane Pitman, ESPN

TOR: Koloko: A Night to Remember
Vivek Jacob, Raptors.com

TOR: Koloko impresses in NBA debut
Michael Grange, Sportsnet

UTA: Tanking? Jazz players are out to prove they’re not in on it
Eric Walden, Salt Lake Tribune