Tag: Danilo Gallinari

Sarah Spencer: Hawks Have “Caught Fire”

April 28, 2021 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Trae Young’s growth in his third year has propelled the Hawks to a top-five playoff seed. (AlexanderJonesi/Flickr)

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Going into the 2020-21 season, the Atlanta Hawks revamped their roster, hoping a few high-profile veteran additions would help their talented young core finally make the playoffs. The plan didn’t exactly work out as intended, as the team incurred a slew of key injuries and fell to 14-20, which triggered the firing of its head coach, Lloyd Pierce. Under Nate McMillan, however, the Hawks have completely turned it around, playing high-quality basketball that’s put them in prime position to achieve a top-five playoff seed. And their veterans are excelling, including Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari and Clint Capela, who was acquired via trade last year. In the process, they’ve learned how to close games, most recently registering a 41-point fourth quarter to defeat the Greek Freak-led Bucks Sunday night, all without the services of a banged-up Trae Young. Joining Aaron to discuss this spirited group, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Sarah Spencer makes her first appearance on the pod. Near the end, she also touches upon what beloved Atlanta-based journalist Sekou Smith meant to her and her paper.

18:26–20:02: “The biggest factor for them has been [Clint] Capela. He’s been a good fit on both sides of the ball too because he gives Trae Young another rim-running target. … They needed someone to kind of organize and get things moving. I remember having a conversation with Kevin Huerter about this, and he said, ‘We want Trae to do that on offense; we want Clint to do that on defense.’ That’s what you need. You need guys to be vocal. And this was a pretty quiet team last year.”

26:02-26:28: “In the first half of the season, the Hawks were really pretty dreadful in the fourth quarter – that’s how they lost a lot of games. In the second half, in the fourth quarter, it’s pretty much been the exact opposite, which has been crazy how dramatic that turnaround has been. And I think Trae’s been a part of that. He’s had a few games where he’s come alive and been really steady in the fourth quarter, and that’s what you want to see out of a guy like that.”

Tomer Azarly: The Clippers Want to “Build Own (LA) Identity”

April 7, 2019 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Patrick Beverley, according to Doc Rivers, is “unstat-able,” and guest Tomer Azarly agrees (FrenchieInPortland/Creative Commons).

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Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points goes in depth and breadth on the special 2018-19 Clippers team that has exceeded expectations despite significant player turnover. The Clippers are back in the playoffs, but whom should they hope to avoid in the first round? Tomer also touches upon what’s made the Clippers so effective, including super-subs Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, “unstat-able” Pat Beverley, Landry Shamet’s outside shot, reinvigorated coaching from Doc Rivers, clutch play and more. Obviously, the discussion closes with some Kawhi Leonard talk. Enjoy some noteworthy clips/Clips (*Due to dynamic advertising, excerpt time stamps may vary per listener):

10:30-11:15: “That [loss to the Lakers] complicates things a bit more, because they could certainly fall to the 8 seed and see the Warriors in the first round. I think right now Portland is probably the matchup they want to see…The Rockets, I think, are a matchup they really, really do not want to see…James Harden is in the midst of the greatest scoring season I’ve ever seen…The Denver Nuggets pose an interesting threat, but I think their lack of experience, and we’ve seen over the last couple weeks where they’ve struggled to sort of have consistency on both ends of the floor. We’ve seen Nikola Jokic’s lack of patience with the officials. Teams are really going at him and Jamal Murray in the pick and roll, which I think is a very exploitable scenario for the Clippers.”

16:30-17:08: “In speaking to some players, there was that two-day gap between when Tobias was traded and when they made the Avery Bradley trade and the Ivica Zubac trade. And over that two-day period, it was very weird in that they [the players] were just like us. They didn’t know, ‘Hey, are we tanking? Are we trying to make the playoffs? What is our endgame here, because we just got picks from Philly, we just got a young guy in Shamet, Wilson Chandler, those guys?’ And so once they made the trade, especially for Ivica Zubac, once they got solid role players in JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple, solid role players, solid veterans who have played the game for a while, I think it wasn’t that hard for them to put it together.”
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Adam Mares: “Guys Are Figuring Out New Roles Around Millsap”

November 7, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

In Paul Millsap’s first season in town, Adam Mares sees clear contributions on both sides of the ball. He also believes the forward’s teammates are still adjusting to their new roles (Keith Allison/Creative Commons).

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The 5-5 Denver Nuggets are currently about as good as their record would suggest, according to this week’s guest, Adam Mares, host of the Locked on Nuggets podcast and site manager for SB Nation’s Denver Stiffs. He argues that despite the team’s considerable continuity, many players are still adjusting to new roles this season. In addition, the Nuggets are still incorporating Paul Millsap into their game plan, particularly on the offensive end. Adam discusses this process, Denver’s many young guards and much more in this action-packed episode. He strikes gold throughout, but here are some examples (the exact time stamps slightly vary from user to user depending on the length of one’s customized ads):

7:28-8:23: “[Nikola] Jokic really quarterbacked the offense last year from the center position – he was a point-center. And that wasn’t just a cliché. He really was the facilitator on offense…Steve Kerr was in town yesterday with the Warriors, and he said that the Nuggets’ offense last season was like a pinwheel where Jokic was the center of that and everybody’s kind of operating and cutting and spacing around him. Well, this season, they haven’t really gotten to that yet – I think they’re moving in that direction. They’re playing through Paul Millsap a lot as I think you would expect – he’s a four-time All-Star – and guys are just kind of figuring out new roles around Millsap, Millsap’s learning how to play off of Jokic and Jokic off of Millsap. And so, right now, in particular, their half-court offense has been pretty bad. Not just a little bit of a step back, but I think a huge step back.” Continue reading

Clippers Basketball “Transports” Will & Grace Co-Creator David Kohan

October 24, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

Patrick Beverley, who was acquired in the Chris Paul-centered blockbuster trade with the Rockets, is David Kohan’s favorite new addition and he tells us why (Pkantz/Creative Commons).

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David Kohan, best known for co-creating the pioneering hit comedy series “Will & Grace” is actually a huge Los Angeles Clippers fan, attending games as early as the late ‘80s. In this episode, Aaron had the opportunity to talk with David about both the return of Will & Grace after 11 years off the air and his beloved Clippers. We’ll hear about a wide array of topics, including how David processes the loss of Chris Paul, his take on Blake Griffin’s newfound 3-point stroke and why Patrick Beverley is our guest’s favorite new addition. Some non-Clippers areas covered include why the show has returned, what, if anything, is now different with the program and when David might collaborate with his sister, Jenji, who created “Weeds” and “Orange Is the New Black.” Some clips, pun intended, are excerpted below:

*But, first, two quick editor’s notes:

Early on, when David is referencing the 2016-17 Clippers’ hot start through 10 games, Aaron remarks, “14-1 or something like that.” In fact, those Clippers began 10-1 and 14-2. So he was close, but no cigar.
Between the interview recording and release, rookie point guard Milos Teodosic’s foot MRI results were revealed. He’ll be sidelined indefinitely with a plantar fascia injury.

4:31-4:50: “There was something about last season that felt joyless. In fact, that should have been what it said on the T-shirts: joyless. This year so far, in the two-game sample size, they seem looser and freer. It seems more fun.”

10:30-11:54: “The thing that I will miss about Chris Paul is he was the guy that, in any crunch-time situation, he was the one you trusted the most. I trusted Chris Paul as a scorer, as a defender, as a team leader, as the guy who was going to make the right decision more than anybody else on the team by far. So it was scary initially when he was traded. Continue reading

Jovan Buha: Blake Griffin Will “Surpass Paul as Best & Most Important Clipper Ever”

July 7, 2017 / Aaron Fischman / 0 Comments

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ESPN.com’s Jovan Buha joins the podcast to analyze the Los Angeles Clippers’ tumultuous 2017 offseason, highlighted by the departure of Chris Paul and the re-signing of Blake Griffin. Developments from the last couple weeks have raised so many questions. Fortunately, Jovan can reliably provide compelling answers.

Enjoy these clips (pun intended; puns are always intended here):

4:14-5:03: “He [Paul] obviously wants to win a championship, wants to make the conference finals, get that monkey off his back, and I think for him, surveying the scene, I think Houston and San Antonio both had more upside. The Clippers, with their cap situation, were most likely going to lose J.J. Redick no matter what and still might end up losing Luc Mbah a Moute, who actually ended up being a bargain signing for them with the bi-annual exception. So I think just looking at it from that perspective, the Clippers were basically going to return the same team as last year minus their two starting wings. And if I’m Chris Paul and we just won 51 games and lost in the first round, that’s not very attractive to me.”

28:57-30:20: “I thought they added depth, they added versatility, they added some youth, and they added assets. At the worst, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverley can both be flipped easily if you want to flip those guys…In the macro sense, the Clippers lost the trade because they lost a top-10 player and they went from a fringe contender to a playoff hopeful.” Continue reading

Faudree on Nuggets: “[Gallinari] Should Be in Their Future Plans”

January 10, 2016 / Loren Chen / 0 Comments

Danilo Gallinari (left) and Kenneth Faried (right) are two Nuggets that could find themselves on the move this trade season. (Matthew D. Britt/Flickr)

Danilo Gallinari (left) is one member of the Nuggets who could find himself on the move this trade season. (Matthew D. Britt/Flickr)

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The Denver Nuggets have had their fair share of struggles so far this season, with a new head coach, a bottom-tier defense and numerous injuries to key players. We were joined this episode by Justin Faudree, a lifelong Denver Nuggets fan and periodic contributor to ESPN TrueHoop’s Roundball Mining. He takes us through all the reasons why this team has gotten off to such a poor start this season, with only one win so far against a winning team. Despite that, he is still optimistic for the future and believes that with a young core of Mudiay, Jokic and Nurkic, there are good times ahead.

Choice cuts are highlighted below:

4:45-5:40: “[Will Barton’s] been the team’s most consistent player. He’s basically taken mostly the entire offensive burden, especially when Gallinari went out with injury and Mudiay has missed 14 straight games… For what he’s had to carry and do everything so efficiently, it’s crazy, especially for someone who basically came out of nowhere for the most part.”

7:25-8:25: A possible silver lining for Emmanuel Mudiay’s ankle injury: “[Mudiay] might benefit from taking a step back and taking some time to observe the game because he’s the kind of guy who will do that. He’s a very, very hard worker. He takes his job very seriously even at 19. And he has, off the court, the right kind of attitude in order to overcome his problems, I’m sure. So, when he gets back from injury, we’ll be able to see more what he processed and if he was able to gain anything from that, and I’m betting that he did.”

Tag: Danilo Gallinari

Sarah Spencer: Hawks Have “Caught Fire”

Tomer Azarly: The Clippers Want to “Build Own (LA) Identity”

Adam Mares: “Guys Are Figuring Out New Roles Around Millsap”

Clippers Basketball “Transports” Will & Grace Co-Creator David Kohan

Jovan Buha: Blake Griffin Will “Surpass Paul as Best & Most Important Clipper Ever”

Faudree on Nuggets: “[Gallinari] Should Be in Their Future Plans”

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