The 10-man rotation, starring Blake Griffin’s new and improved jumper
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: SB Nation, Eye on Basketball and The Los Angeles Times. Mike Prada and Matt Moore break down the new-and-improved jumper that Blake Griffin showed off during the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tuesday preseason-opening matchup with the Golden State Warriors, while Ben Bolch gets the scoop on the smoother shot from the man himself.
PF: @cjzero. Not everything in Clips/Dubs was as pretty as Blake’s new J, though.
SF: Salt City Hoops. The Utah Jazz ranked dead last in the league in defensive efficiency last season. Under new head coach Quin Snyder, what’s a reasonable expectation for their 2014-15 finish? How much could the young Jazz actually improve?
SG: SB Nation. Paul Flannery sees Paul Pierce as the NBA’s Kwai Chang Caine: “If he can avoid catastrophic injury, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Pierce continue traveling from town to town bringing enlightenment from the learned guidance of a true sage.”
PG: TrueHoop, twice. D.J. Foster and Steve McPherson look at how the hype surrounding Ricky Rubio grew, how he’s struggled to meet it, and whether he can rise to the challenge of being the leader of a rebuilding Minnesota Timberwolves team.
6th: Wall Street Journal. Chris Herring takes a look at Derek Fisher’s attempt to overhaul the New York Knicks’ defense by keeping things simple; whether he succeeds or fails will likely determine how seriously New York contends for a postseason berth.
7th: Detroit Bad Boys. Greg Monroe looked great coming off the bench for the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, but will he be cool with continuing to do so for long?
8th: Queen City Hoops. The Charlotte Hornets have done an awful lot of good things to put the franchise on the right track over the last couple of years, and James Plowright sees another that he thinks they ought to lock down as soon as possible.
9th: The Hook. Comrade Ziller’s modest proposal to NBA owners: If player salary caps need to stick around for the good of the league, then you should submit to team profit caps for the same reason. (I bet that proposal would go real far at the bargaining table.)
10th: Biscutball. Corbin Smith has some really innovative play-calling ideas for the Indiana Pacers. Maybe now that Frank Vogel’s contract extension is taken care of, the Pacers can look at add another assistant.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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