Author: Loren Chen (Page 1 of 9)

Sean Highkin: Portland Is “the Perfect Spot” for Jerami Grant

December 12, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

When healthy, Damian Lillard has proven that he is a worthy All-Star for the Blazers this season (@Trailblazers/Instagram).

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In a tightly packed Western Conference, where only a handful of games separate the first- and thirteenth-place teams, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report is encouraged by the Portland Trail Blazers’ start. Specifically, the Blazers have gotten All-Star-caliber, not to mention career-best, contributions from Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons. Such stellar play from Portland’s secondary stars has enabled it to weather a difficult early schedule played about half of the time without franchise cornerstone Damian Lillard. Here are some Highkin highlights on how Portland was able to stay afloat, lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe’s early flashes, what’s ahead for the Blazers and much more:

6:15-7:07: “I don’t think they’re a title contender, and I don’t think they think they’re a title contender either; that’s the other part about it. Joe Cronin, the general manager, went into the season saying that he doesn’t think this roster is complete and he doesn’t think it’s good enough right now to contend and that it’s still kind of a work in progress. … Going into the season…I said they would probably make the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed out of the play-in. At this point, I’m pretty comfortable saying that I think they’re gonna be Top-6 just because they’re currently in the middle of the toughest part of their schedule. They’ve had a ton of road games.”

13:03-13:45: “Every single one of their rotation players has missed at least one game at some point this season. … Between the injuries and just how hard their schedule has been – between how many good teams they’ve played and how many games they’ve played on the road – it is kinda hard to get a read on how good they are or are not, which is why I said at the beginning of the season if they could get through this stretch and get to Christmas at .500, they’re fine, and I still think that, and I still think they’re in a good position to do that.” Continue reading

Jason Gallagher: “Right Now, The Pieces Don’t Fit” for Mavericks

November 29, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Luka Doncic presently stands as one of a few MVP frontrunners, but will his supporting cast be able to provide more help (@DallasMavs/Instagram)?

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On the heels of a 2022 Western Conference finals berth, the 9-10 Dallas Mavericks are mired in mediocrity despite receiving historically brilliant contributions from superstar point guard Luka Doncic. Emmy Award-winning director Jason Gallagher, now head of production at The Old Man and the Three, triumphantly returns to shed light on what exactly isn’t computing.

4:38-5:14: “I believe that the shooting will improve, but I believe that the Kemba [Walker] move is a result of not having a second playmaker. Spencer is just not that. He is about as good as an X-Factor could possibly be, and that’s what you want. That’s where he thrived last year. But as a reliable sort of playmaking second option, I think that we’re coming to find that he’s just not the decision-maker that Jalen Brunson was. He didn’t have the steadying sort of temperament that Jalen Brunson had.”

12:23-14:02: “You kind of come to this conclusion of ‘Why does this feel more frustrating than before? Why does this feel like a weird stretch?’ Tim Cato tweeted that this is as about as down as he’s seen Mavs twitter in a while, and I think the reason is obviously making the Western Conference finals increases your expectations, but I also think that there’s a level of, you have a generational superstar and, as importantly, you have a core that you’ve invested a lot of time and a lot of resources to developing that still feels like a work in progress. … And I think that that is why fans probably feel frustrated. Continue reading

Justin Rowan: Donovan Mitchell Provides “Massive Boost for the Cavs”

November 14, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Present MVP candidate Donovan Mitchell is converting shots at career-best levels in Year 1 in Cleveland (@Cavs/Instagram).

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After an 8-1 start to the season that had some prognosticators pegging them as dark-horse title contenders, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been hit with the On the NBA Beat curse and have lost their last four games. To help us get into the ins-and-outs of this enigmatic team, we’ve brought on Cavaliers expert and longtime friend of the show Justin Rowan, host of The Chase Down Podcast. Justin takes us through what the offseason trade for Donovan Mitchell unlocks for Cleveland, the growth trajectory of young stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and how he projects the Cavs to compare to the other members of the Eastern Conference elite this season and beyond.

4:45-5:39: “I think the floor of what you’re hoping for is to avoid the play-in tournament. But I think they have more than enough talent to get home court in the first round, and that should be the goal. If you’re talking about translating that to the postseason, I’m always going to give the benefit of the doubt to the teams that have been there. Experience matters so much … so I’m going to give the edge to teams like Milwaukee and Boston when it comes to the playoffs, but in the regular season I do think they are up in that tier.”

7:11-7:56: “The biggest difference from Donovan Mitchell and what the Cavs probably would have been pre-Mitchell trade is Mitchell kind of combines a lot of what you were looking for from multiple players. Collin Sexton is a good scorer. He’s a very good scorer, and I think his passing maybe was a little underrated, but it’s not at the same level as Mitchell. A lot of the actions that they were probably planning on running for Ochai Agbaji, like pin-downs and all that kind of stuff, you can run for Mitchell, but you also have the added benefit of his playmaking, the volume 3-point shooting, the improvement on defense, which I think was one of the things they were banking on prior to that trade. The fact that he brings all of those elements into one player is a massive boost for the Cavs.”

Molly Morrison: “It’s a New World for Grizzlies Fans”

November 1, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Ja Morant’s exciting play has been a major reason why the Memphis Grizzlies have solidified their position among the NBA’s upper echelon (@memgrizz/Instagram).

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Last season’s Memphis Grizzlies announced their arrival by earning the second seed in the Western Conference. And with the league’s fifth-youngest roster and proven success building through the draft and player development, there’s no reason to believe their upward trajectory shouldn’t continue into this season. To discuss how this up-and-coming team can continue to bolster its franchise’s history, we’ve brought on special guest Molly Morrison, formerly of MadeInMemphis1, the most followed Grizzlies’ fan account in Memphis. She takes us through the growth that led to Ja Morant winning the Most Improved Player Award and Zach Kleiman winning Executive of the Year and where the team can go from here.

4:06-4:55: “Ja Morant obviously is just the pivotal reason as to why you’re sitting here saying, ‘They’re not even an up-and-coming team. They’re kind of already there.’ So much of that does have to do with Ja’s ability to attack the basket, along of course with his other skill-sets: the block I posted, his incredible court vision, the way he is able to create for his teammates, and just all the areas he’s willing and working to improve in. … Just some of the things he does, I truly believe that I am excited to watch every single Grizzlies game in the regular season, which is not something I could always say because there will be some sort of highlight that just doesn’t look like something a natural person would do.”

8:48-9:08: “Desmond Bane is only going to keep getting scarier, be as scary as he’s been. His impact on the offense is as good as anyone. He and Ja are becoming one of my favorite backcourts in the league, just seeing them play together and their impact on the offense.”

11:24-11:57: “They’ve been shooting better on a higher volume, which is extremely hard to do, to shoot more 3s and shoot a higher percentage on 3s, and the whole team has done that. That really goes back to what I mentioned earlier with coach Taylor Jenkins realizing, ‘OK, guys. Our defense is going to struggle. We don’t have Jaren Jackson Jr. now. We traded away two great defensive players in [De’Anthony] Melton and [Kyle] Anderson. We need to stop shooting as many midrange shots. We need to either attack the basket or shoot from deep.’ And I think you’ve really seen that pay off with the Grizzlies.”

Shamit Dua: “If You Had to Offer [Zion] the Max, You’d Do It”

March 12, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Buoyed by the CJ McCollum acquisition, Brandon Ingram had taken his game to a superstar level, but the wiry wing has recently been sidelined with a right hamstring strain (@Pelicansnba/Instagram).

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Shamit Dua, host of the In the NO podcast, discusses the promising, young New Orleans Pelicans, whose vastly improved defense and deadline acquisition of guard CJ McCollum has them jockeying for a play-in spot. Shamit discusses McCollum’s arrival, including what it’s unlocked for star wing Brandon Ingram, before exploring New Orleans’ new dual-big man starting lineup, Herb Jones’ seismic contributions to its defensive leap and the team’s prospects for the remainder of the season and beyond. Among other forward-looking topics, Shamit pays special attention to the franchise’s consequential upcoming summer decision regarding Zion Williamson’s future as its centerpiece. Enjoy some delectable excerpts below:

2:10-2:57: “From the get-go, CJ has brought professionalism, leadership and just attention to the franchise in a way that it hasn’t had before. You can tell that this is the player that all of his peers voted as the president of the [National Basketball] Players Association. He knows what he’s doing, both on and off the court, and it’s the kind of leadership that the team has really needed. Obviously on the court, he’s been producing at an extremely high rate. I think he’s up to like 27 points per game as a Pelican. He’s jelling well with the other players on the team, creating open looks and just all in all making the Pelicans offense that much more dynamic and that much more difficult to defend.” Continue reading

NBA Power Rankings (1/19/22)

January 22, 2022 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Chris Paul, who is on track to be selected to his twelfth All-Star team, leads the Phoenix Suns to the top spot in Aaron’s power rankings (Instagram/@Suns).

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We have officially crossed the halfway point of the NBA’s 1,230-game regular season, and to celebrate the occasion and welcome our show back from its hibernation, Aaron is excited to present a special solo episode of his (subjective) power rankings of the league’s 30 teams, organized into five tiers. Along the way, Aaron will also share his thoughts on a select number of teams and offer other interesting nuggets about the season so far.

Zach Weiss: Sexton’s Injury a “Mega, Mega Issue” for Cavs

November 22, 2021 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Collin Sexton is expected to miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair his torn meniscus (Instagram/@Cavs).

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The Cleveland Cavaliers outperformed everyone’s expectations during a blistering start that saw them near the top of the Eastern Conference standings and rookie Evan Mobley as the odds-on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award. Recently though, they’ve fallen on harder times with six of their top eight scorers, including four of their opening day starters and the aforementioned Mobley, missing time with injury. During the recording of this episode, we received even more bad news for the Cavs, that fourth-year guard Collin Sexton would be undergoing season-ending surgery on his torn meniscus. We brought on Zach Weiss, host of the Across the Cavs podcast, for this episode to help us weigh the good and the bad for Cleveland so far this season and provide his insight on where this young team can go from here.

3:35-4:02: “It’s clear they made the right decision to draft Evan Mobley and to pay Jarrett Allen. I think they can very much coexist. … Yes, [Mobley]’s hurt right now. He’ll be back. … When [Lauri] Markkanen, who should be back very, very soon, once they’re all together again, that three-7-footer lineup, I think it’s special. You don’t see other teams even willing to try that.”

5:04-5:24: “It’s important to kinda be realistic and say that there’s no chance the Cavs will be a top-six team by the time the year’s over. And so that being said, I think it’s all about the play-in. It’s about just trying to win as much as you can. There’s no more draft picks they need. You can only have so many young guys.”

Andy Liu on Warriors: “It’s Safe Now to Love Steph” Curry

November 3, 2021 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Stephen Curry leads the league in points per game and 3-point field goals. Could a third MVP award be in his future (Instagram/@warriors)?

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The Golden State Warriors have made their triumphant return to the upper echelon of the Western Conference behind an MVP-caliber start to the season from their star, Steph Curry. On this episode, Andy Liu of the Light Years podcast has made a similarly triumphant return to this podcast to discuss his expectations for the team this season.

2:55-4:16: “I think they could make the Western Conference finals. I think that’s their upside, and, you know, when you’re in that one series to get into the NBA Finals, anything can happen, especially if you have Steph Curry. … I think the worst-case scenario is just Steph Curry being hurt and if that happens, I mean, all right, here comes another lottery pick, right? But other than that, I think this team is bare minimum what that team was last season. They’re an eighth seed, seventh seed at the very least.”

5:06-4:30: “The amount of love Steph got when the Warriors went 15-5 at the end of last season with no chance of actually winning anything, it was incredible. It felt like everybody loved him, and he never got that same love when he was winning titles. … Steph is not a different player than he was in 2018 when they beat the Cavs. … He’s the same guy, but because the Warriors in the last few seasons, especially the last one, didn’t have a chance to win a championship, I think people are coming out the woodwork and saying, ‘All right, it’s safe now to love Steph.'”

Blake Murphy: “There’s a Million Things to Say” About Kyle Lowry’s Raptors Impact

August 16, 2021 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

After nine years, the Kyle Lowry era in Toronto has come to an end, but Raptors Chairman Larry Tanenbaum has said that Lowry’s will be the first jersey retired by the franchise (Keith Allison/Flickr).

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Blake Murphy of The Athletic joins the show to delve into the performance of the Toronto Raptors during Las Vegas Summer League, especially regarding the newly drafted Scottie Barnes. Additionally, we discuss the Kyle Lowry trade, what he meant to the city and the Raptors franchise, and how they will move forward without him next season and beyond.

9:10-10:08: “[For Scottie Barnes], the playmaking on the move is real. … Barnes’ defense is gonna be his calling card early on. I think he’s been pretty good on that end. The processing speed there is really high level and they’ve had him picking up full court, they’ve had him guarding across positions. So I think he’s going to be a real player from day one defensively as hard as that is as a rookie, but the offensive game is gonna take a little bit of time.”

18:48-20:20: “The Raptors haven’t had a lot of guys stick around nine years. They haven’t had a lot of guys win a lot in Toronto also. So I think the fact that Lowry’s […] ascension kind of parallels the franchise’s own rise to being a more legitimate franchise in the NBA, and being a pretty consistently good team and eventually a championship contender. The growth of Lowry and the growth of the team as a whole are kind of hand in hand. … Lowry has always really fit kind of what Raptors fans are about. Continue reading

Frank Madden: Bucks Should “Use Their Size” in NBA Finals

July 11, 2021 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Despite suffering a knee injury in the Eastern Conference Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered a historic performance, albeit in a losing effort in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. (Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons)

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Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak, led his Milwaukee Bucks to the franchise’s first NBA Finals in 47 years. Along the way, he received critical help from talented teammates Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez, among others. But through the first two Finals games, the supporting cast hasn’t done enough. With the Bucks trailing the Phoenix Suns 2-0 and the series shifting to Milwaukee, Frank Madden of Locked on Bucks explores what must change as the team hopes to win four of its next five in pursuit of the 2020-21 title.

7:05-8:03: “You’re tied in the Eastern Conference finals, you have the more talented team, you really should be advancing to the Finals, and then to see your superstar, two-time MVP, a guy who’s been remarkably durable, just suffer this horrible-looking injury. You know, I kind of half-jokingly referred to it as like from a fan perspective, it was like a near-death experience. Basically, those 24 hours thinking that ‘Geez, I have to be prepared that he’s blown out everything in his knee and next year is gone too’ to then, the next day hearing no structural damage and we’ll see what happens here over the next couple weeks. … To win those two games the way they did to close out the Hawks series was incredible to know that Giannis still had a chance to come back at some point in the playoffs. It just felt like a new lease on life, I think for Bucks fans, just that we had a chance at that. And then for him to come back and actually play at a high level has just been incredible.”

15:27-16:07: “Now you’ve got to win four out of five, so they [Middleton and Holiday] can’t afford to have three off games out of five. They’ve gotta pretty much be good to great more or less every game from here on out. Certainly, they can’t both be bad, as we saw in Game 2, shooting the ball. It’s just really tough. And again, I mean, I think we’ve seen those guys when they have their game, they’re really valuable two-way guys. They can both create for others as well as themselves. But you know, that’s the difference between a top 5-10 player and a top 30-35 player. I think those two guys are both in that latter category, and they’re just not going to be able to give you 25-30 points every night in the playoffs.”

Author: Loren Chen (Page 1 of 9)

Sean Highkin: Portland Is “the Perfect Spot” for Jerami Grant

Jason Gallagher: “Right Now, The Pieces Don’t Fit” for Mavericks

Justin Rowan: Donovan Mitchell Provides “Massive Boost for the Cavs”

Molly Morrison: “It’s a New World for Grizzlies Fans”

Shamit Dua: “If You Had to Offer [Zion] the Max, You’d Do It”

NBA Power Rankings (1/19/22)

Zach Weiss: Sexton’s Injury a “Mega, Mega Issue” for Cavs

Andy Liu on Warriors: “It’s Safe Now to Love Steph” Curry

Blake Murphy: “There’s a Million Things to Say” About Kyle Lowry’s Raptors Impact

Frank Madden: Bucks Should “Use Their Size” in NBA Finals

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