tchow (Tony Chow, video producer): Jared, Dre, Louis … we are back with another NBA chat, and I feel like we have to start with what’s probably the biggest story in the playoffs so far: injuries. Every matchup in these conference semifinals has had to deal with the loss of at least one star player, […]
Ever since Rudy Gobert was permanently inserted into their starting lineup midway through the 2014-15 season, the Utah Jazz have routinely had one of the NBA’s top defenses. Making the best shots in the league less profitable for opponents is one of the most surefire ways to build a top defense, and Gobert is better […]
End-of-year NBA awards are a good lens through which to evaluate the league’s best performances, but the framing isn’t always quite right. Certain seasons are so exemplary that viewing them only in the context of same-year contemporaries sells them badly short. The 2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year Award serves as one such instance. While […]
For a few hours this past weekend, it seemed like the Utah Jazz’s chances of winning the NBA title (which FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR-based predictions model pegs at 15 percent) might have evaporated. Donovan Mitchell’s ankle injury looked plenty scary in the moment, but an MRI revealed no structural damage, and Mitchell is merely expected to miss […]
Through most of his 12 seasons in Memphis, Mike Conley Jr. was a true floor general. The Grizzlies, who also featured All-Star big men Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, ran an offense that relied heavily on post-ups and the pick and roll to create scoring opportunities. It was regularly among the slowest offenses in the […]