re: General NBA Links

Some more links-

538 on 3 pointers and their value. They are not as bullish as others, notably Box Score Geeks, but their point is valid.

LINK

More on shot selection. A bit older, but still good. Tom Ziller on the Green Triangle

LINK

Two Knicks fans on Grantland discussing Phil. That's not terribly interesting but this part caught me

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I’m less interested in whom Phil might hire than I am exhilarated by the prospect of the Knicks actually having an ethos and an identity. The Knicks are a team of parts acquired with little to no regard for how they might fit together. The triangle would at the very least offer a framework.

Think about it: Mills is a blank slate whose moves, such as they are, might actually be Dolan’s moves or CAA’s moves or who the hell knows. Woodson’s coaching philosophy is a verbal commitment to defense that in no way mirrors an on-court reality. And he has a fundamental distrust of the small-ball offense that is the team’s strong suit. Melding Melo’s game with Amar’e’s has been a struggle. There is no synergy between the front office, the coaching staff, and the players, no through line linking all levels of the organization.

Ignore the questions about coaching personnel and whether the team’s players fit the triangle. The triangle means structure. It’s like the difference between free-jazz improv and trying to play an actual song.

Dubin: The league’s best franchises all have a synergy that extends from the front office down to the coaching level and then onto the court. Buford connects to Pop connects to Duncan; Riley connects to Spoelstra connects to LeBron, etc. If Phil can instill even a little bit of that in the Knicks, it’s a massive improvement over whatever it is we’ve been watching for the last 15 years. During that time period, the only direction the Knicks have had was, as I said the last time we exchanged emails: “WIN NOW, RIGHT NOW, AT ALL COSTS, EVEN IF THOSE COSTS ARE DRAFT PICKS AND PLAYERS AND MONEY AND LIVES, DAMN IT.”

But here’s the thing about structure, ethos, identity, whatever you want to call it: The stuff at the bottom of the food chain matters. And if Phil is really going to be a top authority figure who has final say but doesn’t run the day-to-day operations hands-on, those subordinate pieces suddenly become a hell of a lot more important.

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LINK

And lastly, a look at coaches on the hot seat. Monty makes an appearance.

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New Orleans Pelicans:

New Orleans has plenty of talent, but it was never anything close to a sure bet for the playoffs. The Pelicans will miss the postseason by a wide margin, and how the front office will react to that is unclear. It's probably best to bet that Monty Williams will get another try with basically the same group -- and a healthy Ryan Anderson, who makes a huge difference -- but it's possible general manager Dell Demps will decide it's time for more drastic changes. Williams is one of the league's youngest coaches, but his approach is decidedly old-school in an increasingly new-school league.

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LINK