New Posts at Hickory High on Thunder-Mavericks and Pacers-Magic

Video breakdowns of the Thunder-Mavericks and Pacers-Magic Game 1s are up at Hickory-High.com, go check it out!

Indiana Pacers vs Orlando Magic

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks

 

 

First Round Series Previews at Hickory High

There’s a ton of great NBA Playoff info at Hickory High.  Video and statistical previews abound.  You’ll get more great tidbits there than anywhere else.  Go check it out:

East

Chicago Bulls vs Philadelphia 76ers

Miami Heat vs New York Knicks

Indiana Pacers vs Orlando Magic

Atlanta Hawks vs Boston Celtics

West

San Antonio Spurs vs Utah Jazz

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Dallas Mavericks

Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets

Memphis Grizzlies vs Los Angeles Clippers

New Post on Bullets Forever Breaking Down the Wizards’ Win Streak

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For the Wizards this year, Singleton has excelled as a screener in the pick-and-roll. He is averaging 1.09 points per possession as the roll-man, a number that would rank around the top 30 in the NBA if he had enough possessions to qualify. The majority of these possessions involve him popping out for a jumper instead of rolling to the hoop.

New Post at Bullets Forever on the Wizards’ Youngsters

There’s more on John Wall, Kevin Seraphin, Jan Vesely, and Chris Singleton, so go check it out!

Whether by design or through Singleton’s own inaction, he almost never makes off-ball cuts. There are other players in similar situations as Singleton: stuck in a spot-up role with limited shooting ability. The difference is that these players also change things up by cutting to the basket and crashing the offensive boards. Singleton doesn’t do much of either.  Watch the clips below to see some of Singleton’s recent missed cutting opportunities. Note how many times his defender turns his back while Singleton remains motionless.

Head over to Bullets Forever for a lot more.

New Post at Hickory High Breaking Down the Heat-Knicks 4th Quarter

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After the Chandler three-second violation, the Heat went to Lebron in isolation. As Lebron goes through his series of jab steps, Chandler is jumping in and out of the lane. He’s ready to help on a drive and also avoiding a defensive three-second violation. With all of the focus on Lebron, Chandler and Iman Shumpert confuse their rebounding assignments. Both Chandler and Shumpert go to box out Wade under the basket, while Joel Anthony finds himself wide open for an easy putback.

Head over to Hickory-High.com to see more.

New Post at Bullets Forever: Kevin Seraphin’s Breakout Year

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Among the 36 players in the league that have shot at least as many hook shots as Seraphin (32 hook shots), Seraphin has the second best field goal percentage on those shots.

Seraphin’s left hand has also developed over the course of the season. Since the Detroit game last week, it would be hard to guess whether he is left- or right-handed. In the post, Seraphin has spun left an equal number of times as he has spun right. He has scored or been fouled on 55 percent of his left handed hook shots and 54 percent of his right handed hook shots.

 

There’s plenty more at Bullets Forever

New Post on Avery Bradley at Hickory High

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Bradley’s talent for disrupting offenses is unparalleled.  It is hard to think of a player who has been consistently and single-handedly able to destroy a team’s attempts to initiate their offense like Bradley.  Watching his one-man full court press is reminiscent of something you would see at the youth level, where there can be large talent disparities.  However, these are NBA point guards getting their pockets picked like high school players.  The video below shows what happens when Bradley is hounding opposing point guards trying to set up their offense.

There’s tons of great content over there, so go to Hickory-High.com

Carmelo Anthony Gets the Glory, but Don’t Forget About Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Carmelo Anthony hit two ridiculous three-pointers to tie and win the game, but his teammates also deserve some credit for their clutch performances.  Let’s take a look at a few crunch-time plays.

The Trailblazers Miscommunicate Their Way to a Win over the Mavericks

(AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

On Friday night, the Blazers and Mavericks played to a draw until LaMarcus Aldridge’s buzzer-beater decided the game in overtime.  However, before they got to that point, the Blazers defense had major trouble with the Mavericks’ pick-and-roll with Dirk as the screener.  Let’s take a look at the many miscommunications and missed rotations.

New Post at Bullets Forever on John Wall and the Pick and Roll vs. Milwaukee and Indiana

There’s a lot more over there,  so go check it out!

On Monday night versus the Bucks, Wall saw the same defense over and over when he ran the pick-and-roll. Milwaukee decided to have Wall’s defender fight over the top of the screen and the screener’s man play far away from the ball, daring Wall to settle for the jumper. Although Wall didn’t score on a single pick-and-roll all night, his process was good. He didn’t fall into the trap of taking jumpers and instead attacked the help defender with reckless abandon. On his pick-and-roll possessions, only one of his shots was from outside of the lane. His layups didn’t drop this time, but it’s usually good when Wall gets to the hoop. Among point guards, he ranks near the top when it comes to finishing at the rim (62 percent) and drawing fouls (0.45 free throws per shot attempt). The video below shows how Milwaukee defended Wall and the resulting attacking drives.