Giants need time / İSMAİL DURLANIK | Basket Magazine

The regular season in the NBA, which will last for six months, has begun. In the first week, we watched performances with ups and downs. Defeating their strong rivals in the championship, Brooklyn Nets in the opening game of the season, Milwaukee Bucks lost Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez in the next match, where they were beaten by the Miami Heat. Phoenix Suns, who defeated the Lakers with a superior game away, bowed to their opponent with 29 points away from Portland. I expect these fluctuations to continue for a while. Because almost no team is ready. They will keep in shape, newly formed cadres will adapt. We need to wait at least a month or two for a healthier evaluation.

Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards in the East, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves continue undefeated in the West. However, the effect of the easy fixture is great in this. Championship contenders Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets fell short of expectations with only 1 win in 3 games. The poor defense and lack of organization as well as the defeats were striking. The Lakers are a brand new team, trying to play with Westbrook, while the Nets are trying to build a structure without Kyrie Irving. It takes a while to give them credit. They need time.

In the first games of the season, we witnessed some unfamiliar images. The Grizzlies, for example, used Steven Adams as a passing station. The Australian basketball player, who has a career assist average of 1.2, played with an average of 4.7 assists as of the first three games. Especially in Clippers and Lakers games, he was very effective with the hand-offs and the passes he made to the passing players. Clippers Coach Ty Lue, who we know for his love of experimentation, showed that he will continue this habit. He used Paul George as the main offensive manager in the playoffs last year and had good results. This year we saw him give that role to Reggie Jackson. I think this is a move based on necessity rather than trial. In Kawhi’s absence, the burden of the team is on Paul George’s shoulders. I think he wanted to take at least some of the pressure on George by using Reggie Jackson, whom he used as a finisher and efficient, as an offensive manager from time to time. In this role, I expect him to turn to different alternatives such as Nicolas Batum, Terance Mann and Luke Kennard. Cavaliers Coach JB Bickerstaff made the move that surprised me the most and played Lauri Markkanen with 2.11 number 3. The Finnish basketball player, along with Evan Mobley with 2.13 and Jarret Allen with 2.11, remained on the court at the same time, forming the Cavaliers’ triptych in a sense. In the 97-98 season, Gregg Popovich had a similar trial with Will Perdue, Tim Duncan and David Robinson for the Spurs, but was undeterred. Since half-court basketball was played in those years, there was a reason to stay on the field with three players over 2.11. In today’s track and field and speed-based basketball, I find this experiment strange. Let’s see how long Bickerstaff will keep playing with the three talls.

I mentioned that the Lakers, which we will talk about a lot this year, did not start well. Although it is understandable that they lost the first two games due to the fact that they are a newly formed team and they have a lot of injured players, they lost by defending very badly and without the slightest resistance. Except for Lebron James, there was almost no player who made a positive contribution. Lebron also played a shooting game. The piercing did not attack as we are used to. Scoring three points with a high percentage showed that he has made good progress in this field. The Lakers need time and practice for alignment, defense and other issues. They won the Memphis game with an effective game in the last period, but the defense was disgraced again. Coach Vogel was careful not to keep Lebron and Westbrook on the field at the same time as possible in the first three games. I think this is correct. I think the Lakers will recover despite their bad start. However, whatever the reason may be, Anthony Davis’s stepping on Dwight Howard is a move that will eliminate the teamwork phenomenon. If Howard hadn’t remained unaccustomedly calm, it would have gone as far as a fistfight. Anthony Davis would do better if he focused on stopping opponents rather than throwing himself at his teammates.

Turks started the season well

I can say that the season has started quite brightly for our representatives. Furkan Korkmaz averaged 13.7 points and 3.3 assists in 3 games where he stayed in the game with an average of 20 minutes. It is difficult to maintain this percentage, but he scored 3 points with 46%. He played very well, especially in the Pelicans match, where he had 22 points and 5 assists with a 7 out of 11 hit rate. Furkan Korkmaz’s assist contribution is positive in terms of showing that he is a basketball player who can do more than a point shooter. With an important opponent like Georges Niang behind him, he should show more often that he can contribute to other aspects of the game. Another experienced representative, Cedi Osman, averaged 9.5 points in 18 minutes. Unlike Furkan, Cedi’s contribution to other fields was limited. Our 95-born player is probably playing with three points at the request of his Coach Bieckerstaff. He doesn’t do a bad job in this regard, but Cedi Osman is a versatile player. He should also contribute assists and rebounds as well as points. It’s good that he scored 9.5 points with a high percentage, but 2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the game are negative for him. Cedi is a player who fills out most of the statistics sheet. He should remember this feature more often.

Let’s come to the rookies; Alperen Şengün met the expectations with an average of 8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2 steals in 18 minutes in the first three NBA games. For now, he couldn’t hit from behind the three-point line, but he signaled that he would be better in the future with his versatile game. Our basketball player, who has a high level of basketball intelligence, will develop even more. It takes time and it pays off. This is acceptable for a start, but not sufficient. We know that he will do much better. Another rookie player, Ömer Faruk Yurtseven, had 8 minutes in the Milwaukee Bucks match, which the Miami Heat won differently. He did a lot in a short time with 8 points and 3 rebounds. Omer’s job is more difficult than our other representatives, who score in the middle distance with the classic center game. Because it has no clear role. He is the 3rd pivot of the team. As a matter of fact, the Heat could not find time to play in the next Indiana Pacers game despite being on the roster. He should always be ready to play and be concentrated. He should try to do his best when he finds time, as in the Bucks match example. I believe that our 98-born center, who went through very difficult paths until he took the cover of the NBA, will take a place for himself in the rotation. What they have done so far is the assurance that they will do it.