{"id":11379,"date":"2017-12-05T01:31:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T06:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=11379"},"modified":"2017-12-06T14:59:13","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T19:59:13","slug":"nba-news-under-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2017\/12\/05\/nba-news-under-radar\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Under-the-Radar Storylines from the NBA First Quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Detroit Pistons are shocking the league. The Los Angeles Clippers have just as many players in the hospital as they do on their bench. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/balllo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonzo Ball<\/a><\/strong> is (fill in the blank).<\/p>\n<p>These are all of the types of NBA articles that have been published since the association tipped off a month-and-a-half ago. The NBA, nowadays, is a top-heavy league. The Golden State Warriors are still -180 favorites to win the title, despite being on track to win *just* 60 games &#8212; almost seven games fewer than what Vegas projected before the season.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion around the league is no different. &#8220;NBA Twitter&#8221; focuses on the two, or three, biggest storylines of each night&#8217;s action. That leaves plenty more that might have slipped through your NBA-fandom lens. Here are three storylines from the NBA&#8217;s first quarter that could&#8217;ve flown under the radar.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Three Under-the-Radar Storylines from the NBA First Quarter<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Brooklyn continues to cobble together secretly-good players<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>There are not enough good things to say about Nets GM <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marksse01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sean Marks<\/a><\/strong>&#8216; ability to acquire talent and head coach\u00a0<strong>Kenny Atkinson<\/strong>&#8216;s knack for developing solid pieces. To say that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/teams\/BRK\/2016.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cupboard<\/a> Marks was given was bare would be an understatement. Outside of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brook Lopez<\/a><\/strong>, elder-statesman <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnsjo02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Johnson<\/a><\/strong> and 42.4%-career winning percentage <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngth01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thaddeus Young<\/a><\/strong>, the Nets had nothing on their roster.<\/p>\n<p>That was a year-and-a-half ago.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Nets are littered with fun pieces throughout their roster. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D&#8217;Angelo Russell<\/a><\/strong> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/russeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">chucking<\/a> at ridiculous levels.\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/crabbal01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Allen Crabbe<\/a><\/strong> is the perfect wing for Atkinson&#8217;s offense:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/3ball.io\/embed\/0021700267_27\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But two players that not enough people know about outside of Brooklyn are <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dinwisp01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spencer Dinwiddie<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allenja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarrett Allen<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/3ball.io\/embed\/0021700236_648\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Dinwiddie, in his fourth season, is controlling the Brooklyn offense in a way few outside of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4p5BD6ULBEA\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boulder, Colorado<\/a>, could&#8217;ve envisioned. He is the ideal guard for the modern NBA with his length (6&#8217;6&#8243;), shooting (38.7% 3PFG%), and defense (opponents are shooting just 41% against Dinwiddie, almost four percent lower than <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bradlav01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Avery Bradley<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/allento01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Allen<\/a><\/strong>, per NBA.com Stats). He&#8217;s even been Brooklyn&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/11\/27\/brooklyn-nets-continue-respectability-quest\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">go-to option<\/a> in crunch-time:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/3ball.io\/embed\/0021700058_632\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As for Allen, the 22nd pick in this year&#8217;s draft, his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2017\/06\/07\/jarrett-allen-nba-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">scouting report<\/a> ahead of the draft was a raw, athletic center. And what has he become? He&#8217;s a raw, athletic center. But, he&#8217;s been fun in his rawness.<\/p>\n<p>On one possession, he can hit defenders with a modern day Kareem sky hook, followed on the other end by getting lost on defense. This is what happens to rookies, but Allen has shown more promise than first thought on draft night.<\/p>\n<p>And let&#8217;s not forget, he&#8217;s rocking the NBA&#8217;s best current style.<\/p>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/collijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Collins<\/a> has been a rare bright spot for Atlanta<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Atlanta&#8217;s season was supposed to be bad. Losing your best player, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/millspa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Millsap<\/a><\/strong>, along with a complete front office restructuring, usually doesn&#8217;t end in a good outcome. The Hawks 5-17 record proves just that.<\/p>\n<p>John Collins, Atlanta&#8217;s 2017 first round pick out of Wake Forest, has proven to be a surprisingly exciting player for the Hawks. (Editor&#8217;s note: Collins is currently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/report-hawks-rookie-john-collins-to-miss-2-3-weeks-with-shoulder-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">out 2-3 weeks<\/a> with a shoulder injury).<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s an energy rebounder, especially on the offensive side, where he&#8217;s averaging three offensive rebounds and has a 15.3% offensive rebounding rate. For those, who haven&#8217;t watched the Hawks, first of all, I can&#8217;t fault you.<\/p>\n<p>But he is having a similar impact to rookie-season <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/farieke01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kenneth Faried<\/a><\/strong>. His five-minute bursts of energy have been a fun wrinkle in a disappointing ATL season.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/3ball.io\/embed\/0021700256_297\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Portland Trail Blazers lead the Northwest Division<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Before the season, all four of the other Northwest Division teams had more hype. The Jazz had to deal with losing a star. The Thunder, Timberwolves and Nuggets all gained a star (and in some cases, also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveLN6\/status\/936318335830048768\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a Melo<\/a>). For the Blazers, they sat out the offseason, for the most part.<\/p>\n<p>But their impact star addition may have arrived at last year&#8217;s deadline. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nurkiju01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jusuf Nurkic<\/a><\/strong>, after making an impact in his 20 games last season, has been the missing piece for Portland. After questions of whether a backcourt of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lillada01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a><\/strong> and <strong>C.J. McCollum<\/strong> could survive defensively, coach <strong>Terry Stotts<\/strong> found the solution in Nurkic.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/3ball.io\/embed\/0021700246_9\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Lillard is able to trail behind the shooter and prevent the pull-up three while Nurkic manages both <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chalmma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mario Chalmers<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a><\/strong>. Sure, the mid-range is wide open, but the Blazers will bet that their dynamic offense can outscore that type of low-percentage output.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of that, <strong>Pat Connaughton<\/strong> is the best player in the division you&#8217;ve never heard of. He&#8217;s quietly a very <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HPbasketball\/status\/937781791502385152\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">solid defender<\/a>, a solid shooter alongside Dame and CJ and he&#8217;s fit in seemlessly in the former-Crabbe role.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Three odd stats<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Milwaukee is shooting 51.5% on corner threes this season.<\/li>\n<li>Sacramento is shooting the fewest percentage of threes and the second-most mid-range shots in the league. Long live, <strong>Dave Joerger<\/strong>&#8216;s archaic offense.<\/li>\n<li>Opponents are shooting almost 72% on Dallas&#8217; defense at the rim. That paired with tying for the league&#8217;s fewest blocks and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nowitdi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dirk Nowitzki<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s age 39 defense gives you the worst record in your conference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main image credit:<br \/>\n<a id=\"EVGX46pSS4pIzxB9rcdbWQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/857340064\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'EVGX46pSS4pIzxB9rcdbWQ',sig:'OX8a0u9hz_xNUaZZsuq1r_wSzeiefj9W1AJMRwCAZEY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'857340064',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NBA world is abounding with rumors, but here are some things that have gone unnoticed or overlooked in the 2017-18 NBA first quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":11477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,6,2,23],"tags":[251,65,231,1043,998,96,184,1298],"class_list":["post-11379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-hawks","category-nets","category-featured","category-trailblazers","tag-atlanta-hawks","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-john-collins","tag-nba","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-spencer-dinwiddie"],"modified_by":"Lior Kozai (Managing Editor)","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}