Re: NBA 2017-18 Thread: Everything's Coming Up Minhouse
Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 10:35 am
Lowe has Shabazz(le Dazzle) in his 10 Things: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22146666/zach-lowe-10-things-like-including-other-clippers-nba
Maybe I was wrong!
LeBron's draft pick has finally come into his own after Miami and Orlando gave him away for literally zero basketball assets. (You could make a decent team from guys the Magic lost for nothing over the last five years.) Napier is shooting 48 percent overall, and 43 percent from deep -- career highs by a mile -- and slicing into the lane with a speedy new confidence.
Like Kemba Walker, Napier has discovered that his most obvious limitation -- his height -- can be an advantage. He scrunches through double-teams on the pick-and-roll, hunching so low as he skitters through traffic that he almost vanishes.
This is like the inverse of DeAndre Jordan's vertical spacing. Jordan and his ilk extend the terms of engagement 2 and 3 feet above the rim, where only they can reach. Napier takes the game down to toddler height, where bigger guys can't reach him -- and he can still scan the floor for teammates.
The craft has translated to his shooting. Napier has hit 63 percent of shots within the restricted area after failing to crack even 46 percent -- hideous for a player of any size -- in any prior season.
Napier's leap has unlocked some fun new lineups for Terry Stotts. The Blazers have outscored opponents by 22 points per 100 possessions in 140 with C.J. McCollum, Damian Lillard, and Napier on the floor, 30th among almost 1,900 trios who have logged at least 100 minutes together, per NBA.com. (Seven of the 29 above them are combinations of Golden State players.)
Maybe I was wrong!