Tag: rj barrett

ACC players selected in the 2022 NBA draft

Who from the Irish’s conference have made the jump?

For the fourth time since 1999, a Duke player was the first overall selection of the NBA draft. That also made it the ninth consecutive year in which the ACC had one of its players taken within the first four picks. The conference had a decent night overall, but the 2022 NBA Draft particularly was amazing for Duke, like that surprises anyone. Meanwhile, Notre Dame saw one of its own selected in the first round, which had not happened in seven years.

While it would be nice to guarantee that all of these players will hit it big in the NBA, we all know that’s unlikely. Some might be future superstars, and others might not even register a single minute in the league. Time will let all of these careers play out, and it’s not really the time to speculate on who will be good or bad. This is the time for them to celebrate the next chapter of their lives.

Here are the ACC players who were drafted by NBA teams in 2022:

Knicks offseason preview: What to do with RJ Barrett, stargazing and more

After a surprisingly competitive 2020-21 season where the Knicks finished 10 games over .500, the organization went into the offseason with high expectations to build off their success. They aggressively re-signed most of their role players, added Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, and extended Julius Randle after earning All-NBA 2nd team honors.

It turned out that the Knicks may have overachieved in a season led by an outlier shooting performance by Randle. The first-time All-Star and his shooting regressed to the mean this year while the rest of the Eastern Conference got much stronger. They are now headed back to the lottery for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

Despite the relatively disappointing campaign, the Knicks are well-positioned going forward. For starters, they are only on the hook for another season with most of their role players. This will allow them to reset in the 2023 offseason when they could have significant cap space. They also have all their first-round draft picks as well as 18 second-round picks over the next eight drafts. They have the flexibility to reshape the roster and the assets to make a big move in the near future.

Knicks offseason preview: What to do with RJ Barrett, stargazing and more

The Knicks have the flexibility to reshape the roster and the assets to make a big move in the near future.

After a surprisingly competitive 2020-21 season where the Knicks finished 10 games over .500, the organization went into the offseason with high expectations to build off their success. They aggressively re-signed most of their role players, added Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, and extended Julius Randle after earning All-NBA 2nd team honors.

It turned out that the Knicks may have overachieved in a season led by an outlier shooting performance by Randle. The first-time All-Star and his shooting regressed to the mean this year while the rest of the Eastern Conference got much stronger. They are now headed back to the lottery for the eighth time in the past nine seasons.

Despite the relatively disappointing campaign, the Knicks are well-positioned going forward. For starters, they are only on the hook for another season with most of their role players. This will allow them to reset in the 2023 offseason when they could have significant cap space. They also have all their first-round draft picks as well as 18 second-round picks over the next eight drafts. They have the flexibility to reshape the roster and the assets to make a big move in the near future.

The entire basketball world paid homage to Coach K ahead of his final home game at Duke

Coach K has impacted basketball in an immeasurable way.

Mike Krzyzewski is so influential in basketball as a sport. It’s not limited to just one section.

It isn’t just the players he’s coached through the years — though, they’re showing up to his final game in droves. It’s not just the NBA players he’s coached through Team USA or the ones that have watched him from afar through the years. It’s not even just the coaches he’s gone up against.

It’s all of them. All of them combined.

He’s touched so many people through this sport of basketball that we all love. And for his final game, so many of them paid tribute to him in one way or another.

Here’s a look at some of the kind words from folks that have shown up through social media.

The Knicks reunited Duke teammates Cam Reddish and R.J. Barrett, so NBA fans want Zion Williamson to join them

Everyone made the same comment on Twitter.

The New York Knicks brought together two of the centerpieces of the 2018-19 Duke team that made it all the way to the regional finals of the ’19 NCAA tournament before losing to Michigan State.

Cam Reddish is now a Knick, with the Atlanta Hawks dealing the small forward to New York. That pairs him with his former Blue Devils teammates R.J. Barrett, who’s coming off of the best two-game stretch of his career.

The third player we’re talking about here? Zion Williamson of course.

Williamson is currently on the mend from foot surgery … and, more importantly, is still a member of the New Orleans Pelicans. That didn’t stop everyone from hoping for a reunion:

You absolutely have to watch this edit of RJ Barrett’s game-winner edited to Kanye West’s ‘Runaway’

Come for the Kanye West version. Stay for the “Bing Bong” version.

There are few things in sports more exciting than a buzzer-beater to win a game and Knicks wing RJ Barrett reminded us why on Thursday.

After a hot start to the season, New York currently has a losing record in 2021-22. If the season ended today, they would have to win multiple play-in games in order to make the postseason. It’s not exactly the step forward they had hoped to make after an exciting playoff run last year.

That’s why, when facing against their longtime rival Boston Celtics on Jan. 6, it was a must-win game. But fortunately for the Knicks, as the clock expired, Barrett sealed the deal with a jaw-dropping 3-pointer to win the game.

It’s exactly the morale boost that the franchise — and more importantly, the fan base — needed. As part of the celebration, there were some awesome edits of the buzzer-beater that circulated on social media. One of my favorites was the supercut that included every angle captured on camera.

However, nothing beats the contribution from Knicks Film School’s Andrew Claudio. He edited Barrett’s game-winning shot over Kanye West’s hit 2010 song “Runaway” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

As the low pitch piano notes build, that song does a tremendous job of building suspense until the accompaniment kicks in around thirty seconds into the track.

Claudio did a fantastic job of synching the game-winner to reach its climax just as the song takes on a new life with more instrumentation and power. It’s a nearly flawless edit.

However, I couldn’t help but notice someone respond to Claudio telling him that he should have used the “Bing Bong” version of the song courtesy of @misc_mashups on TikTok. It’s only fitting considering that those two words have become the catchphrase of the team!

I was pretty surprised to learn that there was a “Bing Bong” edit of the Kanye West song. But the rules of the internet dictate that if something exists, there is probably a version of it in your fandom.

So if Claudio had decided to use the “Coney West” version of the song (which auto-tunes this Sidetalk video to create Kanye’s music, even including the iconic line that mistakenly calls the U.S. president Joe Byron) when he made the edit, it would have likely looked a little something like this:

At this point in the season, the most diehard Knicks fans might feel “Bing Bong” is a bit overplayed. Their rallying cry was used against them when they began losing more often, which is never fun.

However, if you’re a Knicks fan, it’s hard to dislike anything when it’s edited over Barrett’s first game-winner of his career.

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NBA free agency: Projected lineup for Knicks with Kemba Walker

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

During his first year as head coach of the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau got the most out of his players. Julius Randle took a huge step forward, winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley outperformed expectations and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second-Team.

The organization built on that success by re-signing Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel. They have also managed to sign big names such as Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, who were actually teammates on the Boston Celtics in 2020-21.

Statistically speaking, Walker’s play was elevated quite a bit once Fournier joined the Celtics. Boston outscored opponents by an excellent 14.8 points per 100 possessions when Walker and Fournier were on the floor at the same time during regular-season action, per PBP Stats. Boston’s net rating (1.1) was much worse when Walker appeared without Fournier.

Meanwhile, Walker averaged 27.0 points per 36 minutes when he shared the court with Fournier. Compare that figure to the 22.5 points per 36 minutes in minutes he played without Fournier this past season.

The two players can add some value to the momentum that the Knicks had en route to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. especially if players like Quickley and RJ Barrett continue their development.

NBA free agency: Projected lineup for Knicks with Kemba Walker

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

The New York Knicks made a splash with a playoff appearance this past season and have continued to make noise with an active offseason.

During his first year as head coach of the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau got the most out of his players. Julius Randle took a huge step forward, winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley outperformed expectations and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second-Team.

The organization built on that success by re-signing Derrick Rose and Nerlens Noel. They have also managed to sign big names such as Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, who were actually teammates on the Boston Celtics in 2020-21.

Statistically speaking, Walker’s play was elevated quite a bit once Fournier joined the Celtics. Boston outscored opponents by an excellent 14.8 points per 100 possessions when Walker and Fournier were on the floor at the same time during regular-season action, per PBP Stats. Boston’s net rating (1.1) was much worse when Walker appeared without Fournier.

Meanwhile, Walker averaged 27.0 points per 36 minutes when he shared the court with Fournier. Compare that figure to the 22.5 points per 36 minutes in minutes he played without Fournier this past season.

The two players can add some value to the momentum that the Knicks had en route to the 2021 NBA Playoffs. especially if players like Quickley and RJ Barrett continue their development.

Andrew Wiggins leads an unbelievable comeback, but Canada falls to the Czech Republic 103-101

Andrew Wiggins led one of the wildest FIBA comebacks of all time, but Canada fell short in OT against the Czech Republic to end their Olympic hopes

Nothing went right for Canada on their home soil until the last 50 seconds of regulation against the Czech Republic. The heavily favored Canadian team featuring Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins, New York Knicks PG RJ Barrett, and six other NBA talents bowed out of Olympic qualifying in a 103-101 OT loss to the Czech Republic.

The first half went against the expected script with the Czechs dominating the game on both ends and taking a surprising 8-point lead into the break. Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky and French League pro Blake Schilb led the way in both halves, as it was all comfortable for the underdogs until under a minute left in regulation.

The game and all hopes of an Olympic berth felt over for Canada as they trailed 92-82 with 57 seconds left. From there, a wild sequence of turnovers by the Czechs was capped off by six straight points for Wiggins, including the game-tying three with 17 seconds left, as the Canadians forced an improbable overtime session.

While the momentum carried over for the first few minutes of OT and helped Canada build a five-point lead, Satoransky got the last laugh with an off-glass gamer over Lu Dort:

A gorgeous set play from Canadian head coach/Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse got Trey Lyles a wide open look from 15 feet, but it rimmed out at the buzzer.

Schilb led all scorers with 31 points for the Czechs while Wiggins poured in 22 points and Barrett added 23 for Canada. The Czech Republic advance to take on the winner of Turkey-Greece with the winner heading to the Olympics in Tokyo.

 

 

Only 11 players played the full schedule, the lowest total since 1967

Now that it is behind us, there was nothing easy about the 2020-21 NBA regular season, especially for those participating in every game.

Now that it is behind us, there was nothing easy about the 2020-21 NBA regular season, especially for those participating in every game.

Whether it was due to injuries some may attribute to a shortened offseason or various restrictions and complications related to COVID-19, it was incredibly rare to see a player on the floor every single night. Ultimately, when it was all said and done, there were only 11 players who were able to play in all 72 games.

If that number seems low, you are absolutely right, as it was nearly half of the total from the most recent full season (21) in 2018-19. In fact, since the league moved to an 82-game schedule in 1967-68, this is the lowest number we have seen.

There is nothing surprising about only 11 players completing the full 72-game slate when considering the chaotic schedule that teams faced this year. But for perspective, while fewer than a dozen players appeared in each game for their squad, that number was as high as 58 in 1999-00.

While it is always impressive for a player to be counted on night after night, this year, that accomplishment deserves even more praise than ever before. In this case, it may even factor into the MVP discussions as Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic was the only All-Star who played all games.

Another individual worth saluting includes No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards, who played the full season despite a coaching and ownership change for his Minnesota Timberwolves.

No one should be too surprised to see RJ Barrett, who finished with the second-most total minutes played in his first season under New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, widely known to expect intense minutes from his roster.

Others who met these qualifications for top playoff contenders include Mikal Bridges (Phoenix), Bojan Bogdanovic (Utah), Georges Niang (Utah) and Ivica Zubac (LA Clippers).

Hopefully, next season will be more normal and we can see more players get the full 82-game experience.

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