Dallas/Houston Game 4 Observations

I attended Game 4 of Mavs/Rockets in Dallas on Sunday. I had no rooting interest in this game. A few things of note:

• Terrance Jones hit two impressive, right-handed floaters in traffic in the 1st quarter. I hadn't seen that from him before. Maybe he has been attending the Donatas Motiejunas Ambidextrous Jump Hook Academy. More on Jones, my friend Brian made a comment about how Terrance Jones, in his two years at Kentucky, was a bit of an afterthought given he played alongside the likes of Anthony Davis, Brandon Knight, MKG, etc. He was a role player -- a really good one. So he was refining that skill in college whereas most guys were stars of their college team. 

• I sat ~20 rows above the Mavs bench. And I like being able to clearly see the bench activity, particularly during time-outs. But on a few occasions, Tyson Chandler would stand up during a defensive possession and shout coverages to teammates. It was very evident he cares about winning - especially lining up across from Dwight.

• Speaking of D12...At one point he was 1-11 from the FT line (and finished 3-13). I think I could make 1-11 of the promotional "Recliner Shots" from UT basketball games. That's just silly.

• Obviously the Hack-A-Dwight strategy hurts Howard's confidence, but I also noticed how much it bothers Harden (and everyone else) by disrupting any kind of offensive rhythm. Harden had a pretty pedestrian night (by his high standards).

• Not game related, but damn, the American Airlines Center is nice. It looks like a musuem. I've been to several games there, but it is always a pleasant surprise.

• The Mavs made a point to feed Aminu in the post a few times in the first quarter while he was being guarded by Harden. It's a good idea until they (smartly) realized that Aminu just isn't going to be able to score efficiently against Harden, who a) is so damn strong and b) is a pretty good on-ball, isolation defender. When Houston plays a team who doesn't have a guy to "hide" Harden on, the Rockets will be in trouble simply because he is a human life-preserver for the Houston offense, and any significant energy expended on the defensive end may cause a Houston offensive implosion.

• Basketball geeks love the corner 3; it's 21 inches closer than the other 3-point attempts, and it's 1.5x more valuable than a 2-pointer. Dirk Nowitzki, floor-spacer extrodonaire, hoisted a corner 3 last night and it just looked...weird? The numbers confirmed that sentiment. Dirk has 274 3PA this year, and only 11 have come from the corner, per NBA.com/Stats. He missed.

• Which leads me to my last point. A few weeks ago, Bob Fitzgerald, Warriors play-by-play guy, mentioned a trend he and his partner had noticed throughout the year: when an opponent misses a corner 3 against the Warriors, it leads to a transition lay-up or dunk. So I've kept an eye out for it, and the elite teams teams seem to convert those chances more often than not. When Dirk missed his corner 3 attempt, the Rockets fudged up a transition opportunity on the other end. Just a fun thing to monitor going forward. 

Evaluating Final Four Draft Prospects

Photo: SI via Cal Sports Media via AP

Find guys who you think can be starters (or contributors, at least) on a title team. That's the end goal of the NBA Draft. Sometimes the #1 overall pick's ceiling is key defensive cog on a title contender (Andrew Bogut). Rarely does a lottery pick develop into a mega-star. Below are some scatter-brained thoughts on NBA prospects from Final Four teams that appeared on both DraftExpress and ESPN's top 30 rankings. Note: S.O.A.T.T. denotes "Starter On A Title Team?"

Jahlil Okafor -- Duke C

I remember exactly when I reserved a seat on the "Jahlil #1 Draft Pick Hype" bandwagon. With 18:46  remaining in the 2nd half of Wisconsin/Duke from December, Okaford caught the ball in the post. He spun baseline and had a step on Kaminsky, he then faked a reverse and pivoted back for a wide open lay-in. (At 3:29 of this video). He has a tremendous feel for the game -- he leverages people with his hips. And at 278 pounds...that's a lot of leverage. He uprooted upper-classmen all year. Has really soft hands and a deft touch around the rim. The struggles from the free thrown line are concerning, but his jumper certainly doesn't look broken. I was impressed with his defense in isolation situations in Indy. His feet tend to look a little slow in pick-and-roll situations against proficient guards, and he's more earthbound than your ideal NBA rim protector, but again, I think his instincts will mask some of the physical deficiencies.

S.O.A.T.T: Yes

Karl Towns -- Kentucky PF/C

I admittedly didn't watch as much of Towns this year as I would have liked. His game lacks some polish, but he's an undeniably great talent. Legit NBA rim protector and defender with a 36.5" vertical per DraftExpress. Not to be nit-picky, but the 57% FG percentage was a little underwhelming; Okaford shot 66% on a hundred more attempts, Anthony Davis shot 62% as a frosh at UK, etc. Maybe, since Towns was used on only 23% of Kentucky's possessions, and played only 21 mpg, that he didn't have the opportunity to show all the arrows in his quiver. Maybe. Really impressed by the 81 FT%. I'm both excited and unsure how what his NBA ceiling is.

S.O.A.T.T: Yes

Justise Winslow -- Duke SF

Winslow is riding the wave as a potential number one selection of late. Obviously I like his versatility on defense; he's naturally a real strong kid, but he has good feet as well. Has the inherent advantage of being a lefty ala James Harden, but he more reminds me of Wade. Uncanny knack for getting to the rim -- he's a freight train in the open court. He finished the the year 41% from three, but is a slasher first. Scored in double figures in 20 of 21 games to end the year. He's a rich man's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Stat-sheet stuffer.

S.O.A.T.T: Yes

Willie Cauley-Stein -- Kentucky C

If I could go into a scientific lab and genetically produce a human that is the model for a 2015 rim protecting NBA big man, I would name him Willie Cauley-Stein. If you throw the ball relatively near the rim, he will go get it. Very quick off his feet, rotates well. I was disappointed to see how much trouble he had staying in front of Dekker, who is a great athlete in his own right. But I've seen WCS gobble up smaller, ostensibly quicker wings throughout the course of the year. His BPG regressed from a ludicrous 2.9 to 1.7 this year -- probably because his team had other shot blockers. A young Tyson Chandler. Very high on him.

S.O.A.T.T: Yes

Frank Kaminsky -- Wisconsin C

Frank the Tank is obviously a great story -- an unprecedented rise from borderline scholarship player to NPOY. I was impressed with how he played against NBA size and length this year. Has great ball skills and a nice touch. He keeps defenders off-balance with a dirty spin move. He'll need to be able to take and make NBA 3s to be an effective cog on a good team, but I think he will adjust well. His 3P% rose in each of his four years. He handles the ball well -- I bet Brad Stevens would kill for this guy.

S.O.A.T.T: No

Devin Booker -- Kentucky SG

He has the most aesthetically pleasing jumper in the NCAA -- and accordingly, is touted as the best shooter in this draft. At 6'6 Booker has the prototypical size of an NBA SG. But Booker didn't make more than two 3s in his final 19 games -- and you have to believe the majority of his attempts were pretty good looks. Struggles to finish in transition when his shot is well-contested. He navigates off-ball screens well, nice mid-range game (which is mitigated by the increasing trend of teams shooting only from the paint or from 3). Overall nice prospect; bench player on a good team.

S.O.A.T.T: No

Sam Dekker -- Wisconsin SF

I have a soft spot for guys who hit game-winners in high school state championships: Dekker joins D-Rose & Gordon Hayward; the latter two have both fared well in the NBA. Speaking of Hayward, Dekker is similar, although I don't foresee him every eclipsing Hayward's outside shooting. He attacks the rim well and shot 63 (!)% on 2-pointers this year. His 3P% has dipped in each of his three seasons at Wisconsin; he isn't a born-sniper, but hit some clutch 3s in the tournament (against Arizona, Kentucky). Underrated athlete. His frame filled out nicely from year 1 to year 3.

S.O.A.T.T: No

Trey Lyles -- Kentucky PF

The few times I tuned in to watch Kentucky drub an SEC foe, I was really impressed by Lyles. Big fella who can face-up and shoot it from 10-15 feet. He also showed some back-to-the-basket prowess, albeit against smaller defenders. But he kind of disappeared late in the tourney. He only grabbed 1 rebound in 29 minutes in UK's loss to Wisconsin. He's a pretty good athlete whose overall game would stand out anywhere but UK. Again, he wields a nice jumper, but certainly didn't have the green light from 3: 4-29 on the year. Could turn into a solid second-unit guy on a good team in a similar mold to Marreese Speights.

S.O.A.T.T: No