How did the two former Irish players do this past week?
[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] didn’t play in the San Antonio Spurs’ first game this past week. He more than made up for that though with his best game of this young season Nov. 7.
In a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Wesley made all four field-goal attempts and both free throws he attempted for 10 points, his first double-digit scoring game of the season. He also dished out a game-high eight assists. Those aided a week in which he averaged 6.7 points and 4.0 assists a game.
[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had his best game so far this season in the Milwaukee Bucks’ Nov. 4 loss to the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. He scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds, had five assists and recorded his first two steals of the season. That allowed him to average 4.8 points and 2.5 assists a game for the week.
Here are photos of Notre Dame’s two NBA representatives in action over the past week:
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
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve got a great weekend ahead of you.
We’re about an eighth of the way through the NBA season, which isn’t very much. Teams have only played about 10 games or so at this point. There’s not a large enough sample of anything to make any determinations about everything.
But you know how the conversations about this league go. It’s always about who can make it to the end of the race instead of where teams are currently at. Who are the real championship contenders? How do you separate the real from the fake.
The conversation surrounds the usual suspects. In the West it’s the Thunder, Suns, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Lakers. That’s the championship circle at this point.
But in the East? All anyone seems to talk about these days is Boston — especially with the Knicks, Bucks and 76ers all floundering in their own ways. The path for Boston is supposedly easy in yet another all-time bad Eastern Conference.
Regardless of the outcome in this one, you should believe in the Cavaliers. Not just as one of the best teams in the East, but as a strong contender to dethrone the Celtics and make it all the way to the NBA Finals.
Cleveland has given you every reason to believe this season. The team’s +12.1 point differential is the best in the East today. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley all look like All-Stars. Jarrett Allen has been elite defensively and a plus on offense. The wing depth that has been a sore point for this team over the last few years actually seems pretty good now.
Best of all, Kenny Atkinson is pulling the right threads. One of the major problems with JB Bickerstaff’s Cavaliers last season was that the combinations of players he threw together just didn’t work as well as you’d have wanted.
To be fair to Bickerstaff, a huge part of that was health. But it also came down to his overall decision-making.
For example, this season the Cavs’ second most played lineup of Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen plus Isaac Okoro has played 31 minutes together and has a +22.2 net rating. That combination looks awesome together — especially defensively.
Subtle moves like that are what puts these Cavaliers over the top. The talent has always been there, but Atkinson is pressing the right buttons now. Things are working.
Obviously, things will slow down at some point. The Cavs won’t go 82-0. And this team has to stay healthy to remain in that championship circle.
But it’d be a huge mistake for you to overlook the Cavs right now.
Bronny 🤝 NBA G League
John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Bronny James should finally have more opportunity to play. The Lakers have sent him to the NBA G League to play for the South Bay Lakers — the Los Angeles affiliate team.
Not only is it a huge deal that Bronny will finally get some reps, but he’s also making a huge difference for the G League already.
South Bay ranked last in attendance the season before last, drawing an average crowd of 441 fans per game. The venue has a small capacity of less than 1,000 people, for what it is worth, but drawing any interest to the Lakers G League affiliate is no easy task.”
I’m not sure I’d count being famous as an accomplishment on its own. But the fact that Bronny is this sort of draw is impressive.
This could be a huge deal for the G League moving forward depending on how long he plays there.
What did you think of Cleveland cutting down the nets for Bronny?
Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James scored his first career NBA basket during a road game against his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
It was a blowout loss for the Lakers against the Cavs, where LeBron James spent two different chapters of his NBA career. The most memorable moment of the game was when Bronny finally earned his first regular-season basket.
While it was an awesome accomplishment for Bronny, there was a surprising decision made after the game. The Cavaliers gave the rookie the net that was used on his first regular-season basket, which is a gesture usually reserved for when teams win the championships.
Bronny James left with the net from the basket he scored his first NBA points on tonight. Really cool gesture by the #Cavs. pic.twitter.com/wL9EbjK5Fh
This was a special moment for Bronny, who basically grew up in that arena when his father played for the team. He may not get many opportunities for scoring much more soon, either, as he will soon play in the G League.
So we asked our staff what they thought of this decision by Cleveland.
What was your initial reaction when you saw this?
Michael D. Sykes: This was a pretty nice gesture from the Cavs, but it’s also kind of funny. Did someone just win a championship, or????
Prince Grimes: LOL
Blake Schuster: To laugh at the treatment given to a player that no one else would have ever gotten.
Robert Zeglinski: A cackle followed by a requisite eye roll.
Bryan Kalbrosky: I was frankly glad to see that someone has finally dethroned UConn as men’s back-to-back national champions!
What should Cleveland have done?
Michael D. Sykes: Nothing! The crowd had already given him an ovation and cheered for his first points. I think that’s more than enough for Bronny. He felt the love, I’m sure.
Prince Grimes: I didn’t have a problem with the net-cutting, only because it was Cleveland. Otherwise, I would say nothing. It was only funny because my brain associates net-cutting with winning a championship.
Blake Schuster: Look, I’m not trying to be a hater. It’s really cool that Bronny did this in Cleveland and even cooler that the crowd reacted the way it did. But cutting down the nets after a blowout loss is pretty cringe. Give Bronny a game ball in the locker room. Let LeBron hand it to him. Make it a moment, but let’s also stay in the right lane here.
Robert Zeglinski: The Cavaliers have a lifelong debt to LeBron James (for spurning them, then coming back) so they should actually grovel every chance they get. Abandon all concepts of self-respect.
Bryan Kalbrosky: They probably workshopped retiring his jersey and putting a statue of him next to the one they will eventually build out for LeBron, but I’m glad they realized that was a step too far.
What is a milestone for Bronny that deserves a red carpet?
Michael D. Sykes: He’ll be in the G League soon. So if he can actually get people to tune into G League games, feel free to give him another pat on the back.
Prince Grimes: The Lakers should do a whole Jumbotron presentation of his garbage time highlights on the night he gets his first start.
Blake Schuster: When he drops 50, he can cut down the nets for sure.
Robert Zeglinski: Plays any (read: absolutely any) non-garbage time minutes. Make him an MVP candidate for it.
Bryan Kalbrosky: They ought to do this for him at every arena if he scores. That doesn’t just include the NBA, by the way. When he is suiting up for the South Bay Lakers in the G League and goes 1-for-6 against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, he deserves that net as well. That is the G League affiliate for the Miami Heat, where LeBron won championships as well. It makes sense.
Bronny James finally got his first NBA basket. Did LeBron James miss it?
Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James scored his first NBA basket on the road against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
However, his dad, Lakers superstar LeBron James, might not have seen it or didn’t have much of a reaction to it when it happened.
It was a tough night for the Lakers, as Bronny James played in the game late as Los Angeles trailed Cleveland by double digits and LeBron James was on the sideline.
We’re not sure if LeBron James just missed the moment when it happened or if he was just so bummed about how the game was going. It’s probably a coincidence, but a funny one at that.
No matter what, we’re sure LeBron James loved to see Bronny James finally get his first points. It’s also really cool Bronny James got his first NBA points in Cleveland, where his dad’s career started.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are quietly positioning themselves as dark horse championship contenders, with the potential to be a Top 4 team in the Eastern Conference this season. Donovan Mitchell’s contract extension removes any offseason uncertainty, …
The Cleveland Cavaliers are quietly positioning themselves as dark horse championship contenders, with the potential to be a Top 4 team in the Eastern Conference this season. Donovan Mitchell‘s contract extension removes any offseason uncertainty, securing the All-Star guard for at least the next three years. Now, the focus shifts to new head coach Kenny Atkinson, who inherits a talented roster returning with the same formidable starting five.
After a promising run last year, the Cavaliers are poised to aim higher. Anything less than a deep playoff run will be considered a disappointment. Mitchell, one of the elite guards in the league, is a dynamic scorer who can create his own shot, facilitate for his teammates, and attack the rim. His backcourt partner, Darius Garland, also dealt with injuries in the postseason, but when healthy, the duo forms one of the most potent backcourts in the NBA.
The Cavs’ starting five – Mitchell, Garland, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen – ranks among the best in the league. While there may be concerns about depth, the combination of Mobley and Allen gives Cleveland a defensive edge, especially in the paint, where both excel as shot-blockers, averaging 1.4 and 1.1 blocks per game, respectively, last season. Mobley, only 22, continues to develop into a star, and his growth will be key to Cleveland’s success this season.
As the team looks to avoid the luxury tax (after re-signing Okoro), potential roster moves may involve cutting non-guaranteed contracts like Tristan Thompson or Sam Merrill. However, with the same roster largely intact, Atkinson’s coaching and Mobley’s continued development, particularly in improving floor spacing, will be the key factors in propelling the Cavaliers into serious championship contention.
After his playing career was over, Rose made a classy decision. Rather than just post on Instagram and other social media platforms, the three-time All-Star point guard chose to show some love to his fans who are a bit less online as well. He also provided them with a cool physical item that they can keep forever as well.
Rose bought a full-page ad in six newspapers across the country, thanking all of the fans who supported him in each city that he played for both in college and in the NBA.
So he took out full-page ads in the following New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Commercial Appeal, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Minneapolis Star Tribune.
That is a cool move from Rose as he moves into this next chapter of his life.
One of the most exciting parts of buying NBA 2K annually is seeing the player ratings and how they’ve changed from seasons prior, particularly for one’s favorite players.
One player who has always ranked highly in the game is, of course, LeBron James, who was rated 78 as a rookie by NBA 2K, 88 as a sophomore and then never fell back below 94.
NBA 2K25 has the GOAT candidate rated as a 95, which could prove low depending on how James performs this season.
Below, check out LeBron James’ NBA 2K ratings through the years.
But before that, his final tweet about the NBA was breaking the news that Isaac Okoro, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, re-signed with the Cavaliers as a restricted free agent. It was the final news he broke during his time with ESPN.
While it wasn’t the biggest news he broke during his career, it was the last piece of reporting we got from Woj before he switched to join the front office for the St Bonaventure Bonnies.
We’ll see. Because Tran did a good job of shooting her shot on a podcast (was she inspired by Travis Kelce?), and what we know is that Strus is following her on Instagram.
She was on The Viall Files and there was a discussion about how she has a crush on Jayson Tatum. But he’s dating Ella Mai.
So she had this to say, instead: “I’m switching my celebrity crush. Max Strus, if you’re out there and you’re single, I’m here and I’m ready.”
Someone noticed Strus is following on Instagram, so … stay tuned!
Cleveland Cavaliers star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell continues to embrace the city, where he recently signed a long-term extension. Before the Cleveland Browns’ Week 1 game against the Dallas Cowboys, Mitchell was seen in the Muni Lot with fans and defensive end Myles Garrett.
In typical tailgating fashion, Mitchell was keg bowling with fans in downtown Cleveland as the city prepared for the Browns’ season opener. Despite all the rumors surrounding Mitchell since his arrival in September 2022, he has shown tremendous love and support for the city’s other franchises and its fans.
The Cavaliers star is fresh off another strong postseason run, including a series win over the Orlando Magic in seven games. With Garrett recently becoming a minority owner of the Cavs, two of the biggest faces in Cleveland sports have been excellent city representatives.
The city of Cleveland is buzzing. Can the Browns reward their faithful with a strong Week 1 showing?
