NBA Basketball Sports News in Philippines: Timofey Mozgov

Showing posts with label Timofey Mozgov. Show all posts

Monday, April 30, 2012

NBA News 2012: Andrew Bynum showing more defensive ownership

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 13: Andrew Bynum #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers controls the ball against JaVale McGee #34 of the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on April 13, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers won 103-97. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Bynum scored only 10 points in the Lakers' 103-88 Game 1 victory Sunday over the Denver Nuggets, but Lakers Coach Mike Brown rightly described him as the "difference in the game." Bynum didn't speak to reporters on the podium reserved for the game's top performers, but Kobe Bryant predicted Bynum "takes the majority of the headlines." It remains to be seen if Bynum will become one of the Lakers' storied centers, who include George Mikan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal. But he's already linked to them in history.

Bynum's triple double featured 10 points, 13 rebounds and a Lakers playoff-record 10 blocks, eclipsing Kareem Abdul Jabbar's nine in 1977 against Golden State and tying an NBA playoff record co-owned by Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon and Utah's Mark Eaton.

"The bottom line is wins," Bynum said. "Obviously I want to score more points, but sometimes that's not what's available to you so you have to do the next best thing."

Bynum couldn't score many points because Denver shuffled in its frontline combinations quickly -- Nuggets Coach George Karl compared it to hockey teams' switching lines. The Nuggets used an array of combinations, including Kosta Koufos, Al Harrington, JaVale McGee and Timofey Mozgov. The strategy ensured that Bynum didn't equal the 24.8 points on 66.1% shooting he averaged in four regular-season games against Denver.

But it hardly worked in other areas.

Bynum quickly passed out of double teams to ensure fluid ball movement, helping the starting lineup and Jordan Hill to post double figures. Bynum's help in the lane contributed to Ramon Sessions' holding Denver guard Ty Lawson to seven points. His seven-foot frame proved so intimidating that Harrington threw up an airball hook shot as he drove past Pau Gasol in one second-quarter sequence just to avoid Bynum. That was one example where Brown said Bynum "changed a gazillion shots in the paint."

"It makes us a championship-caliber team," Bryant said of Bynum's defensive presence.

But he hasn't displayed that characteristic consistently. Eighteen days ago, Bynum became the fifth player in Lakers history to grab 30 rebounds, in a game against San Antonio. But in five of his next six games, he averaged single digits in rebounds, and Brown actually sat Bynum out of last week's Oklahoma City game in the second quarter. After Jordan Hill surprised everyone with his energy and defense, Brown kept him in during the fourth quarter and subsequent overtimes.

Bynum may not replicate Sunday's blocked-shots total, but he needs to show that kind of commitment on defense.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakersnow/la-sp-ln-la-andrew-bynum-taking-20120429,0,5463645.story

NBA News 2012: Andrew Bynum (10 blocks) ties NBA record for blocks in a playoff game

Photo of Los Angeles Lakers Andrew Bynum. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum blocked 10 Denver Nuggets shots on Sunday afternoon, a mark that tied an NBA playoff record, secured just the second points-rebounds-blocks triple-double in NBA postseason history, and helped the Lakers score a 103-88 victory in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Bynum scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and corralled 13 rebounds to go with the 10 swats, posting the first postseason triple-double by a Laker since June 12, 1991, when Magic Johnson scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 20 assists in the fifth and final game of the 1991 NBA Finals, won by the Chicago Bulls.

He is just the third player to post double-figure blocks in a playoff game, joining former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton, who set the record by blocking 10 shots against the Houston Rockets on April 26, 1985, and Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, who tied Eaton's mark with 10 blocks against the Lakers on April 29, 1990. Olajuwon, too, posted a triple-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The 24-year-old Lakers center rejected attempts by Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Al Harrington in the first period, then got Lawson again in the second quarter to enter halftime with four blocks. He sent back two Faried tries in the first five minutes of the third quarter, got Harrington again and blocked an Andre Miller attempt to head into the fourth with eight blocks. His ninth block of the game, on a Danilo Gallinari layup attempt at the 6:11 mark of the fourth, tied a Laker playoff record previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Bynum took sole possession of the franchise mark by notching his 10th block with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, sending back an optimistic lefty hook attempt (termed "kind of a hesitant move" by Bynum in a post-game interview) by Denver center Timofey Mozgov to stake his claim to a piece of NBA history.

After the game, Bynum told ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters that the Laker bench told him "he needed two more [to get the record], and I was just jumping at everything trying to get it."

"You know, it was very big," Bynum said of the accomplishment. "It shows I can do two things out there, offense and defense. Today, I was just being an animal out there on defense and we won by 15. So maybe, you know, note to self: The more I play D, the better we'll be."

Recording 10 or more blocks in a game, while certainly not a regular occurrence, isn't necessarily the rarest accomplishment; it's been done 98 times since the 1985-86 season, according to Basketball-Reference.com's box score research tool. But it's only happened two other times in the playoffs, and while both Eaton and Olajuwon met with defeat in their 10-block playoff games, Bynum's Lakers exit the Staples Center with a 1-0 lead.

The 10-block playoff triple-double is just the latest career milestone in what has been Bynum's most productive season as a pro (and, also, a year at times fraught with controversy). In his seventh season since being drafted out of high school in 2005 and becoming the youngest player ever to appear in an NBA game, Bynum averaged a career-high 18.7 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, earned his first All-Star selection and became one of just nine players since '85-'86 to snare 30 rebounds in a single game. Now, he's got one more achievement to add to his resume.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/andrew-bynum-10-blocks-ties-nba-record-blocks-224738606.html

Friday, July 16, 2010

NBA News 2010: Knicks Sign Felton, Mozgov

Raymond Felton playing defense against Rodney ...

Image via WikipediaUsing cap space to sign Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov was not what anyone had in mind when the Knicks began clearing cap space in November and 2008 and it certainly was not the desired objective when they mortgaged a good portion of their future to create enough cap space for a second max contract slot.
But I've long been on record as supporting the decision of Donnie Walsh to gamble heavily on 2010, as even a 10% chance at LeBron James was clearly worth it.
Furthermore, at least the Knicks did sign Amar'e Stoudemire instead of Tyrus Thomas or Hakim Warrick with that massive amount of cap space.
Felton is at his best when he is able to get out in transition and in the pick-and-roll. Those of course are two of the main job requirements of a Seven Seconds or Less point guard. While with the Bobcats, Felton didn't receive too many of these opportunities in a slowpaced system.
He is capable of shooting the ball well from the perimeter, but he is absolutely streaky. Felton had a career best three-point percentage in 09-10 of 38.5%, up from two consecutive seasons below 30%. He came into the league shooting 35.8% with a larger sample size, but obviously struggled in maintaining its reliability. Felton's shot was something that wasn't a key strength coming out of North Carolina, but it was surprisingly better than expected once scouts were able to take a look in workouts.
I don't think Felton is suddenly going to become the next Steve Nash by coming into this system, but he undoubtedly will be a more valuable and productive player for the Knicks than he ever was for Charlotte.
Grade for Knicks on Felton: A-
If I were Felton, I would have been far more eager to secure a long-term deal given the free-wheeling climate the uncertainty of the CBA. If there is a certain kind of player that gets squeezed after the players and owners finally settle on a new deal, it will be personified by a middle of the road guy like Felton. A full MLE type of deal from another team would have paid less on an annual basis, but at least it would guarantee $34M over the next five years. The decision to accept just $14.56M puts a lot of strain on that summer of 2012 for Felton since that kind of money falls a little short of setting him up and everyone he cares about for life.
With that said, Felton now has the opportunity to prove himself to be more than just an average starting point guard in a system that showcases point guards. He could play his way into a five or six-year extension at $10M or so annually in 2012 while he's still just 28.
Grade for Felton: B
The Mozgov signing is obviously an interesting futures bet, as 7'1" guys with some agility and pure skill don't exactly grow on trees. I've never seen him in regular game action, but I watched just under 100 individual clips of him.
The biggest thing for him is if he is able to create some space for himself, as he looks pretty good in those instances. Mozgov has decent touch and lift to the bucket, but far too many of his attempts are capable of getting blocked with how he puts the ball out in front of himself. He's unafraid of being physical when posting up for position, but he tends to get a little soft upon the catch.
His hands are decent and his presence on the weakside will lead to some easy dishes after a double-team on Amar'e Stoudemire, as well as put backs. Mozgov is also fully capable of running the pick-and-roll, but he needs to receive the ball within four or five feet of the bucket.
Grade for Knicks on Mozgov: A
Mozgov's NBA career may quickly stop soon after it starts because of the potential work stoppage, but he at least will have a full season to prove himself against NBA competition. He also has the luxury of playing in a system that suits him where he is guaranteed playing time for a team with low expectations for the position.
Grade for Mozgov: A-
http://knicks.realgm.com/articles/56/20100716/grading_the_deal_knicks_sign_felton_mozgov/