Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
What’s popping, family? Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you.
I wanted to chat a bit about the irony of Draymond Green missing Jordan Poole’s homecoming at Chase Center on Friday night when the Wizards play the Warriors.
Now, it’s obvious these two don’t like each other. The lingering effect from the punch hasn’t gone away. It’s been rehashed over and over again over the last year with a bunch of memes and jokes that have come with it. And, look, I get it. Looking back on it, there’s certainly some humor to find there. I mean, who among us didn’t laugh at this Draymond Green edit of Jordan Poole slipping on the floor? That’s funny, y’all.
But, honestly, thinking about the circumstances today made me kind of sad.
It’s not that Jordan Poole needed to stay in Golden State forever. It seemed obvious that he had ambitions that were probably never going to be quelled by playing his entire career with the Warriors. Poole getting dealt was for the best — especially considering the chemistry hit to the Warriors last season.
But what’s profoundly sad about this to me is that now, it’s clear, that Jordan Poole was never really the problem.
Poole is gone. The chemistry still stinks. Draymond Green is still having these violent incidents — except now they’re on the court instead of in practice. Poole might have been the issue of the day when Draymond Green socked him, sure. He could’ve said something or done something that drew Green’s ire. But it’s obvious now that he wasn’t the issue.
Now this moment shared between both of them has completely reshaped their careers. Green is an obvious Hall of Famer, but the first folks will talk about when they bring him up in, say, 10 years will probably be all of these incidents. He won’t be able to shake that.
For Poole, he’s turned into the NBA’s latest whipping boy. It’s easy to make fun of him now. Every time he makes a mistake on the court, it becomes a joke. Surely, you’ve seen the “I understand, Draymond” tweets by now. They’re crass and silly. But they’ll probably follow him for the rest of his career.
Maybe someday they’ll be able to break free from the stigma the incident between the two of them has left. Friday would’ve been an amazing opportunity to do so with them both on the court together at the same time.
Unfortunately, though, that won’t happen this time.
Where have all the buzzer beaters gone?
If it feels like you haven’t seen as many buzzer-beating shots to win games so far this season, you’re not tripping. You haven’t.
Ja Morant’s buzzer-beating layup to put the Pelicans away was just the second shot of its kind so far this season, per our Bryan Kalbrosky. We’re on pace for just about six (!!!!) buzzer-beaters so far this season. That’s criminally low.
“Just three days prior, Miami’s Jimmy Butler hit the only other buzzer-beater we have seen during the 2023-24 campaign. Based on how many games the NBA schedule has had so far, that means the league is on pace for around six buzzer-beaters this season.
That is significant according to the database at Basketball Reference, which tracks all of the shots made when the shooter’s team was tied or trailing and left no time on the clock after it went through.”
This is the weirdest thing. There’s no explanation behind it or nothing instructive as to why this isn’t happening. It’s just…not happening.
It’s strange — especially considering how competitive some of the games have been this season. There’s a lot of teams in the middle of the pack this year.
Maybe we’ll see more as the season progresses. I hope so, anyway. Bring me the drama!
Becky Hammon doesn’t have to explain herself
I can’t believe Becky Hammon took to Twitter to explain to folks why Jalen Brunson probably can’t be the best player on a championship team. It’s obvious why — he’s too small!
That’s exactly what she said. That’s what NBA history says, too. Yet, so many folks out there took exception to what she said.
Just like me, Meghan Hall is extremely annoyed by this. She wrote about it. Here are her words.
“In case you’re not familiar with Becky Hammon, as a player, she was a bronze Olympic medalist and a six-time WNBA All-Star. As a coach, she won WNBA Coach of the Year honors in 2022 and has led her team to back-to-back WNBA Championships. She’s also a Hall of Famer.
In other words, SHE’S QUALIFIED TO SPEAK ON BASKETBALL.
…
Yet, Thursday evening, Hammon clarified her comments because the internet had thoughts and took exception to a woman speaking on men’s basketball. Be better, internet. Be better.”
Couldn’t have said it better. Some of y’all need to relax, man. Let Becky cook. If y’all make Becky do this again we’re going to have to fight.
Shootaround
— I tried to pick out five games the Pistons could win to end their losing streak. I’ll probably be wrong. Again.
— Speaking of the Pistons, Cade Cunningham is in denial about how bad his team is. Poor Cade. Robert Zeglisnki has more.
— There’s a surprise at the top of the latest Bleacher Report Mock Draft. Charles Curtis has more here.
—Joel Embiid is the MVP front-runner so far this season, but it doesn’t really matter yet. Bryan Kalbrosky has more.
That’s all, folks! Enjoy your holiday! Hope you have a fantastic one. Let’s chat again soon! Til then, peace.
-Sykes ✌️