Friday Five's (11.2-11.9)

Hello readers, followers, and fans of the game. This will be a new bi-weekly compilation where I talk about five different elements of the NBA that catch my eye over the course of seven days. It will consist of occurrences that have stood out to me, things I like, things I dislike, points of intrigue, trends, etc.

With that being said, let’s get to it.

1. Freedom of movement

Much to the dismay of defensive-minded players and teams alike, the NBA passed a new point of emphasis over this past off season. Not necessarily a rule change, as the NBA has long progressed upon minimizing the contact between opposing teams. Emphasized more so with on-ball interactions over the last decade, the referee's have now been mandated to pay close attention to the same contact but in off-ball scenarios as well. This is an issue because there is plenty, and I mean plenty, of holding and grabbing that occurs off the ball. Many teams implemented defensive schemes where contact is needed to maneuver around those many off the ball screens to get offensive players open. Over the first few weeks of the season, final scores were sky-high and players were in foul trouble as the rule and its trial period. Teams have finally caught on and scores have come down to earth as adjustments have been made. We will see if this becomes consistent or if this will be an up and down affair as the season progresses.

2. Sustainable success or early season hot streaks?

Teams expected to be solid and relevant in terms of playoff seeding (in Milwaukee and Denver), and potential representation of the conference (regarding Toronto), have gotten of to starts as good as they could ask for. Each of these three teams is getting it done on both ends of the floor. They have taken advantage of the slow starts of favorites in their respective conferences and have now earned a spotlight nationally via their play. Moving forward, they will be expected to sustain the early season success they have enjoyed thus far. For Toronto, the expectation holds much more validity given their recent history, veteran core, continuity, and moves they made this off-season. For the younger teams, Denver and Milwaukee are floating in uncharted waters atop their conferences. Their cores will be tested even more so now because the veteran teams will be waking up soon and instead of hunting, they will have to play the role of hunted, and hold it down. Denver specifically, has been and will be missing Will Barton who is now out for around five more weeks after having hip surgery, key acquisition Isaiah Thomas due to his own hip recovery, and coveted draft pick Michael Porter Jr. It is quite fair to believe they can sustain their success, but it can also be expected that they may hit a rough stretch when integrating those key cogs back into their system. Time will tell, but these three teams look like contenders early on.

3. Did the media (and plenty fans) consider Philadelphia a contender too soon?

The Process has seemingly stagnated yet again. Coach Brett Brown has a few decisions to make and soon regarding this team. Full of young talent and as much upside/potential as any other franchise, they are seemingly fed up with that notion. They are ready for these entities to manifest into a true contender, but their youth seemingly continues to gleam and bright in inopportune moments. Currently 28th with 16.1 turnovers/game, it is a slight improvement upon last seasons mark, but they continue to sabotage their growth as the giveaways lead to mounting frustration. They struggle particularly with the turnovers of the careless variety, the unforced ones. They also struggle with three-point shooting, and that could be attributed to some of the line-up's deployed. They have inserted Markelle Fultz into the starting line-up, and his putrid shooting numbers (combined with the almost nonexistent ones of Ben Simmons) make for head scratching results. They need to re-insert JJ Redick into their starting line-up to bring that off the ball movement, shooting prowess, threat, and dynamic to their most important line-up. They need to infuse that balance and Redick's veteran presence would also be a calming one to the young guys as well. For all their frustrations, Embiid has enjoyed great success so far, averaging 27.7 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 3.4 apg, and 2.3 bpg. With a few changes and more experience, they could round into that formidable opponent to the Raptors and Celtics they are expected to be. But as of now, the process has hit a rough stretch that is testing their youth.

4. Players showing growth to keep an eye on

Some are up and coming, some are coming across new successes, and others are just downright underrated and are seeming fed up with being overlooked (and maybe incentivised by being in a contract year). Regardless, here are five names that have been on a tear so far. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kemba Walker, Khris Middleton, Victor Oladipo, and Zach Lavine. These names will undoubtedly be mentioned more moving forward, but in the meantime keep an eye out for the numbers these guys are posting next few games. Also, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

5. Unwritten Rules

It is well broadcasted that there is an elaborate set of rules that are essentially established by the players in a community-like setting where certain things just do not happen out of respect for your opponent. The aforementioned streaking Jamal Murray broke one of those rules in a game where he enjoyed a career-high 48 points en route to a message sending home win against the Boston Celtics. Murray, who was 2 points shy of the half-century mark as time expired, decided not to dribble the clock out as his team was up and the game was out of reach (which, if he did dribble the clock out, would have followed said unwritten rules). Instead, he chucked up a three pointer as time expired. Although he missed, the fact that he attempted the shot rubbed the Celtics the wrong way, so much to the point that opposing guard Kyrie Irving sought after the ball, knowing Murray would want it because it was a career night for the young guard, and chucked it rows up into the lower bowl of the stadium. Irving was assessed a 25k dollar fine and was completely ok with the consequence in this situation.

When asked about that decision a day later at practice, Irving held nothing back.

"From a competition and competitive standpoint, I think it absolutely deserved to go in the stands still. You just don't play basketball like that. It's as simple as that. You just don't. There's a tradition and a respect within the league, as well as in any basketball game. Obviously you've won the game, you have it sealed, you've had a great game, game of your life, and you do something like that, it's just ... it's petty. It's immature."

Irving then concluded his comments with a statement that suggest we should mark in our calendars when they will meet again, on March 18th in Boston.

"We'll see him again though."

That will be plenty of fun!

Although I understand Kyrie's perspective and the professionalism and respect expected from a winning team, the game is predicated on scoring points and is 48 minutes. Not 47 minutes and 58 seconds. In all, if you do not want somebody to score (or attempt to score), don't give them the opportunity. Simple as that. Play for 48 minutes, put up a soft double team on him as he crosses half court, even minimal effort could have deterred the thought of that last second shot form Murray.

*All stats and information accurate entering games on schedule for Friday, November 9th and come directly from basketballreference.com unless stated otherwise*