Hello! I’m Mike Shearer, and I’ll be filling in for Katie every Thursday. A brief introduction: I write Basketball Poetry, an NBA blog with very little actual poetry but plenty of long-form analysis and bad wordplay. I’m excited to have this space to share whatever I’ve seen happening around the league, and hopefully, you’ll be informed and entertained in equal measure. I’ll also include a Mildly Interesting Stat (or Play) of the Week at the end, something to make you purse your lips and tilt your head for a brief second as you consider whether it’s meaningful or not (that’s my enticement to get you to click through!).
Right now, we obviously don’t have a sample size to speak of; we’re not deep-diving so much as puddle-skipping. So instead of overreactions, here are a handful of measured reactions, things I’ll be tracking as the season progresses.
Rookies living up to their billing
Analysts were not high on the 2024 rookie class, and for one game, at least, the rookies did little to prove them wrong.
The number-one pick, Zaccharie Risacher, came off the bench. Popular Rookie of the Year choice Reed Sheppard scored four points. Fifth pick Ron Holland did some fun defensive stuff but was a clear offensive liability, and top-10 picks Tidjane Salaun and Rob Dillingham never left the cedar. Zach Edey made history.
Sure, plenty of guys showed a few flashes, but only two rookies really shined. In Toronto, Jamal Shead is a ballhandler’s boogeyman, duct tape stuck to their jersey. If his offense can be enough to keep him on the court, he’ll be a dark horse All-Rookie team candidate. Yves Missi had the other debut worth highlighting, and we’ll discuss him more below.
It’s only been one game, of course, and several newbies will make their debuts tonight (Stephon Castle and Alex Sarr, in particular). Rookie struggles are normal and expected. This is not meant to bury the 2024 class, call anyone a dud, or anything like that. But strong starts are preferable to slow ones, and unfortunately, most rookies stalled out.
A chorus of whistles
My four-year-old has recently become obsessed with whistling. It’s adorable; he’s unbelievably terrible at it.
He could take lessons from the referees last night.
I foretold before the season began that the NBA would experience a record low for free throws this season, continuing a trend started by the leaguewide crackdown on soft calls in the second half of last season. So far, that prediction is off to a worse start than the rookie class.
Teams have tried a whopping 27.1 free throws per 100 possessions, which would be higher than any full-season number since the dark days of 2006-07 (and is 5.2 attempts more than last year). Notably, the Hawks, led by Trae Young’s 16 attempts, tried 46, and the Jazz shot 45. Those are big numbers (somewhat counterbalanced by the Celtics needing just eight FTAs in their demolition of the Knicks). Even LaMelo Ball (in a very impressive performance) had 10 freebies!
We often see more fouls called at the beginning of the season, so there’s certainly nothing definitive yet. But the league has hinted that we’d see more physicality and fewer stoppages, and through two nights, that hasn’t been the case.
Again, the usual sample size caveats apply, but anecdotally, it felt like defenders weren’t being given the benefit of the doubt they were by last season’s close. This may be the usual early-season tightness for players and refs alike, but I’ll be closely watching to see what free throw levels stabilize at as the season winds on.
The Pelicans’ center surprise
People have discussed New Orleans’ hole at center all offseason, and with Zion Williamson missing Game 1 due to illness, uncertainty increased.
And while starter Daniel Theis looked creakier than a haunted house staircase, rookie Yves Missi had a debut to remember. 12 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks (and just two fouls) in 23 minutes for the rookie, whose athleticism and energy stood out.
Missi set fat screens, showed solid positioning and cutting instincts, resisted the urge to jump too early on defense, and generally played with a veteran cool belying his youth.
It’s also worth noting that the undersized Jeremiah Robinson-Earl logged a few minutes at center and nailed two triples; that could be something worth exploring further next to Zion, particularly if Theis doesn’t limber up.
New Orleans will undoubtedly move to shore up the position sometime before the trade deadline. Still, if Missi’s rim protection instincts, in particular, are true, they may be in a better position to weather the time between than we expected.
Two Hawks showing out
Atlanta has some kinks to work out after barely scraping by a Nets team already praying to the ping-pong gods, but a few Hawks popped off the screen.
First, the long-awaited Onyeka Okongwu coming-out party may finally be here. Okongwu had one of the most impressive performances in the NBA last night, full stop, dropping 28 points on 11-12 shooting (with seven dunks!) and smacking away three shots, to boot. He played 28 minutes to Clint Capela’s 20, and if he keeps balling like this, it won’t be long before he takes Capela’s starting gig (although Capela is a habitually slow starter).
Equally encouraging, Dyson Daniels’ first game as a Hawk went as well as could be expected. Daniels’ defense has never been in question (five steals and a block last night!), and he looked like the long-armed, versatile on-ball menace Atlanta hoped Dejounte Murray would be next to Trae Young. But the other side of the ball was even more promising. Daniels’ offense made him unplayable at times last year, but in his opening night, he did a little of everything. He had three offensive rebounds, two assists, and scored 15 points while going 2-4 from deep, highlighted by some fancy footwork for a layup after a determined drive to the rim.
If Okongwu (23 years old) and Daniels (21) can sustain anything near these levels, Atlanta’s youthful supporting cast around a still-just-26 Trae Young becomes far more promising.
Mildly Interesting Stat of the Week
Nine different Phoenix Suns blocked a shot in their narrow Game 1 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers (and none were Jusuf Nurkic!). The inclusivity of that block party is highly unusual. Last year, the feat happened only once, when Memphis did it against New Orleans the day after Christmas.
Phoenix, somewhat miraculously, finished last year with the 12th-ranked defense; I’m curious to see if that can hold this year, with aging core players, little size, and a new coach. If nothing else, the Suns may be able to find some collective rim protection among its various wings and centers. Heck, they even tried Royce O’Neale at center to guard Ivica Zubac down the stretch — and it worked!
