It’s been 53 years since we lost the St. Louis Hawks, and I don’t see the NBA back here unless I’m to fall into a billion bucks and buy us the St. Louis Hochs.
Still, our town can appreciate and follow the NBA from afar. The modern game is a beautiful game and is truly a modern game. You’ve got a reigning MVP in 7-footer Nikola Jokic who passes like a 6-footer, and you’ve got 6-footer Trae Young who dominates games as if he were an 8-footer.
There’s never been more scoring across the game, yet the defense is better and savvier than the days of “nobody plays defense in the NBA.” Offenses are innovative — passes thrown on the court from angles seldom seen ... and to destinations seldom seen. And some local legends and former Mizzou personalities are primed for huge seasons.
Jayson Tatum enters this season with two things he didn’t have last season: a stronger upper-body and a gold medal. The Boston Celtics All-Star was the No. 2 scorer for Team USA and spent the summer learning from the likes of Kevin Durant. And visually, the small forward Tatum looks brawnier this preseason — perhaps like a power forward. But his game is still perimeter-oriented, where the former Chaminade Red Devil and Duke Blue Devil creates space and then creates offense with his dagger of a jumper.
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Last season, some Celtics battled COVID-19 and injuries, and the team didn’t flow like it had in years past. In a season when many people are talking about the Bucks, Nets, Heat and Hawks, I think the Celtics will surprise and rise into the top four of the Eastern Conference.
Prediction — this is the year Bradley Beal wins the NBA scoring title. Goodness, he was close last year, but Stephen Curry, in his return to being Stephen Curry, finished with 32 points per game. Beal, alas, had 31.3. The Washington guard is a wizard, if only because he actually got his team into the playoffs. And this season, there’s even more of an onus on Beal, the Chaminade grad. Russell Westbrook joined LeBron James and Anthony Davis in L.A. Beal is the lone star in Washington.
He’s proven he’s a gifted player, and playing through pain last year, he’s proven he’s a gritty player. But if Washington slips this season, he could be the talk of the trade deadline.
Michael Porter Jr. is going to shoot. He could be double-teamed, triple-teamed, covered by the entire 1996 Bulls team, and he’s going to shoot. The former Missouri Tiger passes on passing. But that’s fine, it works, it’s his game — and it erupted last season.
The Denver Nuggets forward averaged 19 points last season and had a 30-game stretch late in the year in which he averaged 23.3 points. And his shooting efficiency (54.2% from the field) was excellent. The NBA tabulates “true shooting percentage,” a single advanced metric that accounts for 2-point shooting, 3-point shooting and free-throw shooting. Last season, Porter’s true shooting percentage was 66.3, just behind Durant’s defense-bedeviling 66.6. And for players with at least 60 games played, Porter’s percentage ranked seventh-highest in the NBA.
OK, but can he be a team’s No. 2 producer? Jamal Murray (ACL tear) might not be back until late this season, if at all. The Nuggets, as presently built, need the 23-year-old Porter to take on more of an offensive role. Safe to say he’s fine with that. But this means more shots, more minutes, more defensive possessions to survive, more adversity, more pressure.
Quick — who had the most wins in the NBA last season? The answer, perhaps surprisingly to some of you, is the Utah Jazz.
Quin Snyder, the former coach of the Missouri Tigers, has designed a fascinating, flowing offense that features so many 3-pointers, air traffic control monitors their games.
Quite simply, the Jazz led the NBA in 3-point attempts (43 per game) and 3-pointers made (16.7). And for more context, the Jazz finished fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage (38.9). One of the key contributors to this barrage is a former Missouri Tiger, albeit a bit younger than those from Snyder’s days. It’s Jordan Clarkson, the 3-point rainmaker and reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year. Consider that he averaged 18.4 points last season — and did so in 26.7 minutes per game.
Question — just how deep is Utah? The guy who finished second in NBA Sixth Man voting is on the Jazz, too. “Seventh Man” Joe Ingles shot an absurd 45.1% from 3-point range. But Snyder’s Jazz also have star power — or rising-star power, if you will. Donovan Mitchell is unfailingly and almost unfairly talented, creating offense often off the dribble. Rudy Gobert, the French shotblocker nicknamed “The Stifle Tower,” is the NBA’s top post defender. Utah now has a second Rudy — forward Rudy Gay, who will provide a veteran presence.
Quantifiably, this offense works in the regular season, but the postseason has doomed Utah in recent seasons. So have untimely injuries. But I see Mitchell as this year’s Devin Booker — a young scorer ascending to another level. The Lakers are silly-good on paper, but from a cohesion standpoint, the Jazz could be the team that proves best in the West.