Sing-along now (Thin Lizzy):
The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town)
The boys are back in town
(The boys are back in town again)
Spread the word around
Guess who’s back in town
Just spread the word around
He´s back!
Steph Curry is back on the court after injury, dropping 27 in a loss to Detroit and nailing 30 in 29 minutes in an easy win against Atlanta. Starting center Damian Jones suffered an injury in the Detroit game and might be done for the season, a hard blow, until you remember who is sitting in street clothes on the Warrior bench, DeMarcus Cousins. The All-Star center continues to make progress on his return from his torn Achilles tendon and will be participating fully on practices this week, including 5-on-5 scrimmages, look out. I think the Warriors will start to look better now with Steph back, but for them to really be rolling, Draymond Green needs to come back from toe injury to anchor the defense. Did you know that Jonas Jerebko is grabbing rebounds like a mad man this year, third in the team with 5.6 a game in 19.7 minutes. Best ever since his rookie season with Detroit when he grabbed 6 rpg, but in almost 28 minutes. Against Atlanta yesterday he scored 12 points, making all of his shots including two 3-pointers, way to go Jonas!
Back, and Gone!
Lauri Markkanen (15.2 ppg, rookie season) made his season debute for his Chicago Bulls after his elbow injury, scoring 10 points off the bench in a loss to Houston. His comeback will be an important piece for the Bulls which are well positioned for a full tanking season if they decide to go all in for the 2019 super draft-class. Gone is head coach Fred Hoiberg after the brutal 5-19 start of the season, since he started in 2015 the Bulls is 115-155, not good enough. Assistant coach Jim Boylen will now steer the ship and one thing he will do directly is to make Jabari Parker come off the bench and instead start Markkanen. That is a no-brainer since the Finn is part of the Bulls future, a 7-footer that can shoot lights out that will team up smoothly with solid rookie, 6´10” Wendell Carter Jr. (11.4 ppg). Bulls have some interesting players, injured Bobby Portis 6`11” is slowly developing in the right direction, last season shooting 36% from deep grabbing almost seven boards a night. Starting PG Kris Dunn (can NOT shoot but defend) is injured and Ryan Arcidiacono out of Villanova is subbing in, he can shoot the three and plays hard, but can he be the main guy, I do not think so. Bulls got talent but can´t defend anyone, Jabari Parker and high-scoring Zach Lavine getting fooled on a nightly basis. Maybe it´s best to slowly develop the youngsters this season, find some team identity under the new head coach but make sure not to win too many games, the lottery price will be huge 2019.
Hot hot hot!
76ers is on a roll, must see basketball. The Greek Freak show, must see basketball. OKC solid! Clippers surgical. The Joker is digging for gold, 6 straight wins. League Pass, Yes!