Denver Turnovers
Forget the Denver Omelette, the newest thing in town is the Denver Turnover. The Nuggets have been one of the worst teams in the NBA in turnovers, averaging 16.3 per game. And for most of the season, Emmanuel Mudiay has taken the brunt of the criticism for this problem. There’s definitely some merit there: Mudiay has the eighth most turnovers in the league. But what happened when Mudiay missed his first game of the season last night in Washington?
Denver turned the ball over an astounding 29 times, a new season high for the Nuggets and the most by any team this season. Yikes.
The lack of discipline on offense is far from a Mudiay problem. This whole team needs to get it together and play more fundamental basketball, and fast.
Marcus Smart Warned by NBA for Flopping
Boston’s Marcus Smart is arguably the face of the flop in the NBA, and the league office has once again taken notice. The flop that caught the league’s eye this time happened at the end of the Celtic’s loss to Houston on December 5:
In response, the league has given Smart an official warning in accordance to the anti-flopping policy. Will it stop Smart? Probably not, considering he already received a $5,000 fine last year for the same flop:
This vine will never get old.
Matt Barnes and DeMarcus Cousins sued over night club altercation
The New York night life can be unforgiving to NBA players on the road, especially when these players come from a city like Sacramento. Following a loss to the Knicks Sunday night, DeMarcus Cousins and Matt Barnes were allegedly involved in an altercation at a night club in which Barnes is accused of choking a woman and striking two other individuals in the ensuing brawl. The victims have since filed a lawsuit against Barnes and Cousins. Not a good look, especially for Barnes who received a suspension last season after a physical altercation with Derek Fisher.
Mo Speights calls out Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers have a longstanding reputation for complaining about the officiating, and after getting picked apart by the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night 112-98 for their fifth loss in seven games Marreese Speights had seen enough. Here’s what he had to say:
For a star-studded team that has had a core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan for the past few years, this is a pretty embarrassing statement to be made regarding the culture of the team. But he does have some merit in his comments. Speights played three seasons with Golden State and was a part of the 2015 championship team, so he knows a thing or two about a winning culture. Maybe it will be enough to finally get the Clippers to the next level.
Draymond Green kicks his way into the limelight
He’s back at it again… last week Draymond kicked James Harden in the face, then got very defensive about it when he received backlash from the league about the “unnatural leg extension”. Here are Green’s comments:
I just laugh at it. It’s funny how you can tell me how I get hit and how my body is supposed to react. I didn’t know the league office was that smart when it came to body movements. I’m not sure if they took kinesiology for their positions to tell you how your body is going to react when you get hit in a certain position. Or you go up and you have guys who jump to the ceiling. A lot of these guys that make the rules can’t touch the rim, yet they tell you how you’re way up there in the air which way your body (is supposed to go). I don’t understand that. That’s like me going in there and saying, ‘Hey, you did something on your paperwork wrong.’ I don’t know what your paperwork looks like. But it is what it is. … I don’t know. Let them keep telling people how their body react I guess. They need to go take a few more kinesiology classes though. Maybe they can take a taping class or functional movement classes. Let me know how the body works because clearly mine don’t work the right way.
It’s like Draymond hasn’t heard of Kiki Vandeweghe, the VP of Basketball Operations and a former player who almost certainly understands how an NBA player’s body works. And funny enough, the same day after making these remarks Green struck again, this time kicking Suns’ rookie Marquese Chriss in the hand.
No other kicks have been reported since last Saturday, but teams playing against the Warriors are proceeding with caution.
