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The Odd Looking Celtic Prince
It sure is strange seeing Tayshaun Prince drive the lane and hammer in lefty dunks wearing a Boston Celtics uniform. Such was the case Thursday night when the Rick Mahorn-nicknamed “Long Arm of the Law” was on the court for the C’s during crunch time of a comeback win in Portland.
Tayshaun Prince
Prince hasn’t been a Piston for a couple of years now, but somehow seeing him in Celtic green feels ten times more odd than his suiting up for Memphis. Tayshaun is reportedly not thrilled at being dealt from one of the NBA’s best teams to one of the worst, but he must come to the realization that contenders no longer view him as a real piece to a championship-level squad.
He might only be 34, but it’s kind of a Carlos Guillen-type situation -- meaning, the guy is in his mid-30’s, but moves around like he’s pushing 90.
Can We Bring the NCAA 3-Point Line Over to the NBA?
Things are less than peachy for former U of M hooper and current Sacramento Kings rookie, Nik Stauskas. Sac-Town grabbed the sharpshooter with the 8th pick in the draft thinking he would come in and immediately add a dangerous outside shooting component to the team. The only thing his shot has been dangerous to is the rim and backboard that the ball keeps careening into.
For whatever reason, Stauskas has lost his J as a professional. He’s a 33 percent shooter from the field and an even scarier 27 percent from downtown.
Nik Stauskas
Last week, he went consecutive games without even taking off his warmups, a rare occasion for a top-10 pick on a hapless NBA team. Generally, such franchises will want to get their young pups as much action as possible while the team is floundering. Apparently Stauskas has been so ineffective that there aren’t even minutes for him in this seemingly ideal scenario.
He did manage to get off the pine for seven minutes the other night against Brooklyn, yet somehow also managed not to record a single meaningful statistic during the brief on-court visit. Not a shot attempt, not a rebound, not even a turnover. Looking closer, he did commit one foul, so at least we know that his body was actually in motion at some point.
Speculation of late is that Stauskas might be traded, and there is even the possibility he’ll be sent down to the D-League. After such an outstanding sophomore year that saw him take home Big Ten Player of the Year honors as a Wolverine, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen this type of pratfall so early in Stauskas’ career. Turns out he’s got some company, though.
Trey Burke Grabs Some Bench
Entering Thursday night’s game in Milwaukee, Trey Burke had played 41 times for the Jazz this season, and been announced with the starting five each and every time.
Things changed last night.
In a surprising move, coach Quin Snyder relegated Burke to the role of sixth man, elevating rookie Australian guard Dante Exum into the starting lineup. Snyder babbled on about “the second unit needing more scoring” and “the team needing a jolt,” but make no mistake. It’s a demotion for Burke.
Trey Burke
When the move comes right on the heels of a 1-for-10 game from Trey, you don’t have to be Dr. Naismith to connect the dots and determine that the move was very much performance-related.
Burke’s numbers have not been terrible this year, but they are far from what most pundits expected after Burke’s star-studded career at Michigan. He’s posting about 12 points and 5 assists per game. Free throw percentage over 80, which is terrific; three-point percentage hovering around 30, which is unsettling.
There was an almost two week stretch to start 2015 that Burke was playing at a fairly high level. He was knocking down shots and reaching or eclipsing 20 points most nights. But then he went into a little funk and suddenly the second-year pro is second banana to the 19-year-old Aussie.
The Jazz did pick up a nice road win against the Bucks in the first game with the new look. Burke was so-so, hitting on 4-of-11 for 10 points. Meanwhile, Exum canned five 3s and out-earned Trey in the minutes department, 35 to 24.
It must have been a blow to Burke’s ego getting yanked in favor of the teenager with 7:26 remaining and the Jazz down just a point, but it’s a routine he might have to start getting used to.
Perhaps Burke and Stauskas should have used up a little more of their eligibility in Ann Arbor. Just like their buddy currently rotting in Minnesota...
An Early Leap Into the Abyss
Does anybody, I mean anybody at all, have any idea why Glenn Robinson III felt it even the least bit appropriate to jump to the NBA after his relatively ho-hum second year at Michigan? Judging by his highly uneventful rookie year as a pro, the T-Wolves probably wish the young fella would have gotten a little more seasoning, too.
The Timberwolves are bad. Not just kinda bad -- it’s more the “you could take your kid to one of their games, but it’s more of a punishment than a reward” type of bad. They are 7 and 34, second worst mark in the entire league behind the Knicks (7-36).
Glenn Robinson III
Minnesota has played 20 games at home and won three of them. Much like with Stauskas, it’s alarming that GRIII can’t find 15-20 minutes of court time while such an inept roster takes the floor every night.
For Pete’s sake, Robbie Hummel starts for this team. No really, he does. A player that underwent no less than 135 knee surgeries during his time at Purdue is starting games for an NBA team. And Glenn Robinson III is fetching him water during timeouts.
It was one of the most head-scratching early entry decisions in recent memory. Robinson could have stayed at U of M, been an 18-20 PPG scorer and the go-to guy during a March Madness run, and seen his stock rise much like predecessors Burke, Stauskas, McGary. Instead, he played to mixed reviews as a sophomore, never seemed to improve his jump shot, and more or less decided, “Ehh whatever, maybe I’ll just enter the draft.”
The guy was basically the exact same player that Bernard Robinson, Jr. was at Michigan, yet Bernard at least had sense enough to play all four years trying to diversify his game and develop an outside attack. Sure, neither of those things really happened, but at least he allowed his career to follow its most natural path. The few years Bernard did spend in the NBA would likely never have happened had he jumped from the college game too early.
The move from Glenn Jr. is still confusing to the hoops world, and one made all the more frustrating for Wolverine followers after seeing Caris LeVert now laid up for the rest of the year with a foot injury. The team will undoubtedly struggle to qualify for the Big Dance now, whereas had Robinson hung around, such a fall likely would have been avoided. And a more promising professional career could have begun, albeit one short year later.
A Move That Keeps Getting Better With Age
The Pistons cut Josh Smith about a month ago. Since that time, things have gone swimmingly, with the team winning 12 of 15, many of the blowout variety. Conversely, the Houston Rockets quickly snagged Smith and have been nowhere near the juggernaut they were prior to the pickup.
The Rockets stormed out of the gate 21-7, pre-Smith. Since the addition, they’ve been just a tad above average, nine up and seven down.
Josh Smith
The perfection with which this situation has played out for Detroit was on full display Wednesday night.
The Pistons whipped the Magic and tallied a season-high 128 points. The Rockets got destroyed in Golden State, J-Smoove looked disinterested throughout, and eventually got himself ejected with his team trailing by 25 in the third quarter.
Why the streaking Rockets found it necessary to bring in Josh Smith after his emotionless year and a half of ball in Detroit is something I’m not smart enough to figure out.
Thankfully, he’s somebody else’s problem now.
As the great Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Good luck with ALLLL that.”
