NBA Jammed: Dante Exum to get extra minutes, world goes gaga for Patty Mills, LeBron tension at Cavs
NBA JAMMED: Dante Exum to get extra minutes, LeBron at odds with Cavs coach and Patty Mills the name on everyone’s lips - all in our weekly column.
LEBRON and Cavs at odds with coach, Patty the name on everyone’s lips and all your NBA Christmas disasters.
It’s all in our weekly NBA Jammed column.
EXUM TO GET EXTRA MINUTES THANKS TO INJURED TEAMMATE
Utah Jazz starting shooting guard Alec Burks is out for the season with a shoulder injury. It’s bad news for the young team, but the silver lining for Aussie NBA watchers is that Dante Exum can expect more minutes.
Rodney Hood has been elevated to the starting shooting guard role, but his fellow rookie Exum has also been marked for an increase in the 18.2 minutes per game he has so far averaged in his first NBA season.
“Someone’s misfortune is another’s opportunity,” Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey told the Salt Lake Tribune.
“Certainly Rodney will get a lot of those minutes. We wanted to see Rodney as a two-guard, so here’s a little bit of his opportunity. Last night, Dante played a lot with Trey [Burke], and Dante’s certainly big enough to handle the position as well. And then there are some guys who haven’t received as much opportunity — Ian Clark, Toure’ Murry, Patrick Christopher — that we’ll be able to kick the tires a little bit and take a look at.”
Exum, 19, said he was looking forward to greater opportunities on the floor.
“I guess everyone wants a bit of extra minutes,” he said.
“I think I’m just going to continue to play my game. Everybody’s got to keep working for their minutes. I have to stick to what I know and not try to play at a million miles an hour.”
The jury is still out on whether Exum, a natural point guard, can develop into a genuine option at shooting guard. He is averaging 4.8 points per game this season, shooting 39.3 per cent from the floor with 33.8 per cent from the three-point arc.
INGLES MAKES UNWANTED ALL STARS TEAM
Aussie Joe Ingles finally got his crack at the NBA with the Utah Jazz and he’s captured attention - though in this case, he’s copped a back-handed compliment.
Ingles has been named on the bench for Grantland.com’s Luke Walton All Stars - “for journeymen thriving in unexpectedly large roles.”
Averaging 16 minutes off the bench and less than three points per game in his first season, Ingles fits the bill.
“A drinking game guaranteed to leave you sober: Drink every time Joe Ingles takes a shot!” Grantland’s Zach Lowe wrote.
“He’s shooting only 25 per cent from deep, and he needs to be Grand Canyon levels of wide open to even think about shooting.”
Lowe applauded Ingles’ willingness on defence - yet also wrote he “somehow always looks as if he hasn’t showered in days”.
Meanwhile, his Jazz teammate Steve Novak has offered up a New Year’s resolution: to improve his Aussie accent.
@stevenovak16 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/eQFcfQ7LwB
— Renae Hallinan (@RenaeHallinan) December 28, 2014@RenaeHallinan & u know I cant live w/ myself if I'm not respected by @Joeingles7 & @daanteee LOL! Need I remind u of the last pic I posted!
— STEVE NOVAK (@stevenovak16) December 28, 2014NBA GOES GAGA FOR PATTY
You’d think Patty Mills had been resurrected from the dead, such has been the response to his season debut for San Antonio on Monday.
Mills picked up right where he left off in last year’s NBA Championship series, saving his best for the final quarter against the Houston Rockets when he piled on eight points and forced a crucial turnover in the dying minutes.
NBA fans and his own teammates can’t get enough of the 26-year-old Aussie, though the US commentators who repeatedly called the Canberra native “the Tassie Devil” during the Rockets game should probably brush up on their geography.
When you get ya mate back @Patty_Mills #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/InFOdDVZ8C
— Aron Baynes (@aronbaynes) December 29, 2014FINALLY: Patty Mills returns from shoulder surgery, sparks 4th-quarter rally as Spurs overcome Rockets. Did this so often last year.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 29, 2014@Patty_Mills is currently trending on yahoo! Nice bala!
— rick martinez (@rickstar36) December 29, 2014It was an awesome feeling stepping on the hardwood with my Bala's last night. Not sure if there is anything I missed more. #GoSpursGo
— Patrick Mills (@Patty_Mills) December 30, 2014Mills, who played a crucial role in San Antonio’s title run last season, had been sidelined for the entire season so far after undergoing shoulder surgery in the off-season.
He backed up his comeback game with 10 points and three assists in a loss to Memphis on Wednesday, then seven points and three assists in a win over New Orleans on Thursday.
With Spurs starting point guard Tony Parker expected to miss more games with an injured hamstring, we can expect to see plenty more of our man in the coming weeks.
LEBRON AND THE CAVS ARE PLAYING UP: REPORT
Just as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season looked like it was on the improve, there are reports that LeBron James and his teammates have already had enough of first-year coach David Blatt.
One of Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s great achievements was managing the egos in the locker room while also harnessing the star power at his disposal.
ESPN reports that Blatt may already have lost that battle, with a suggestion that the Cavs players have given Blatt’s offensive system the boot and that James has “taken over point guard without even consulting Blatt”.
James later denied a rift between the players and their coach, but all is clearly not well at Cleveland, which lost to the woeful Detroit Pistons by 23 points on Monday.
He did, however, offer startlingly accurate analysis of how the Cavs are playing:
"We're not a very good team, as far as on the court, where we're still trying to find our way… - LeBron James pic.twitter.com/ogc5WM8fFz
— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationNet) December 29, 2014LeBron now has other worries: He’s set to miss the next two weeks with nagging knee and lower back problems.
GARNETT A NON-SENSUAL BLOWER
Brooklyn Nets veteran Kevin Garnett must sit back and scoff at serial pest Lance Stephenson’s work.
While Stephenson has gained notoriety over the past two seasons for his attempts to upset the NBA’s best players with his array of distraction tactics and annoying habits, Garnett has been doing it for more than a decade.
The original prankster was at it again when the Nets took on the Indiana Pacers earlier this week, with Garnett - like Stephenson did to LeBron last year - blowing into an opponent’s face.
This time Davis West was the victim, and he wasn’t impressed, though he did offer an amusing appraisal of the severity of Garnett’s little breeze.
David West on KG's Lance imitation: "It was an aggressive blow at that. I think Lance's was more sensual. That was an aggressive one."
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) December 28, 2014SHAQ DESTROYS CHRISTMAS TREE
If I was a Christmas tree, the last person I would want cannoning into me is probably Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal was listed at 147kg during his playing days, and it’s fair to say the 216cm giant has packed on a few more since hanging up his boots four seasons ago, so the sight of the former Magic, Lakers, Heat, Suns, Cavaliers and Celtics star bearing down would be beyond frightening.
O’Neal and TNT co-host Kenny Smith took their call for tougher play in the NBA a little too far on Christmas Day, with Smith’s jovial shove sending a running O’Neal flying into a tree in the studio.
Yeah, it was a setup, but try telling that to the person who has to fix those decorations.
HARDEN HAS ULTRA SENSITIVE ARMS
Remember when you were a kid and your brother or sister would give you a light clip on the arm during a bit of biffo?
Remember selling your grievous bodily injury for all it was worth, to get that sibling in trouble?
Houston Rockets star James Harden never grew out of it. Well, either that or Rockets coach Kevin McHale has hands of ninja death.
Harden did not take kindly to a tap of encouragement from McHale during a game against Orlando.
Frankly, it’s a miracle he survived.
THIS CHRISTMAS OUTFIT WINS
When a player has been out injured for a while, sometimes they’ll try to find other ways to contribute.
LA Clippers big man Spencer Dawes decided to make his contribution to world fashion, rather than his team, by showing up to the Clippers’ game against Golden State in a Christmas-themed suit.
We’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
NEW TEAM, SAME AIRBALLING SMITH
Being completely unwanted by an NBA franchise despite being its highest-paid player could have been the wake-up call that Josh Smith needed.
But Smith apparently failed to pick up on the subtle hints that were being thrown his way when he was shipped more than 2000km to another team.
Smith’s long-range shooting is famously atrocious, and cost the Pistons numerous games when he was entrusted with the final shot during his time there.
Now the Rockets are the beneficiaries of his misfiring left hand, as evidenced by this effort against Memphis this week.
Smith, whose three-point accuracy this season currently sits at 22.5 per cent, is still probably arguing that his shot was “nothing but net”.
Originally published as NBA Jammed: Dante Exum to get extra minutes, world goes gaga for Patty Mills, LeBron tension at Cavs
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