This Week in the NBA 12/15-12/20

Life Beyond The Arc: The great Zach Lowe of Grantland takes a look at the current and future of the 3-point shot in the NBA. Is this shot the end of the NBA or will defenses catch up? And Lowe concludes that the 3-point shot is definitely the future of the NBA but defenses are already becoming more sophisticated in stopping the corner 3. This story won't go away because analytics are here to stay in the NBA like they are in baseball.

Knicks Gonna Knick: I'm guessing this will become a regular feature every week. The Knicks are a train wreck and find more creative ways to shoot themselves in the foot. I already this week went over their horrendous loss on Monday night. Then on Wednesday night Andrea Bargnani did this instead of just killing clock.



In that same game JR Smith jacked up 17 3-point attempts and came away with only 19 points on the night. And he'll shoot that many 3's again if he gets the chance.

But trust me give me that chance again I'll shoot it again!
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) December 19, 2013

Love you Knicks.

Could The Blazers Win The Championship From The Outside?: One of the complaints about the Portland Trailblazers great start is that they are a jump shooting team and that those shots aren't always going to fall. Their coach Terry Stotts wonders why a jump shooting team couldn't win the championship? And he brings up a good point about how the Spurs have become more of a jump shooting team along with the Heat and their slash-and-kick game.


Passes per Touch: Andrew Lynch takes a look at the players who pass the least and most every time a player touches the ball. I'm honestly surprised Josh McRoberts and his weird hair passes the ball the most per touch. Not surprising that there's a lot of forwards and centers and Rudy Gay who pass the least per touch.

Who or What can the Warriors trade?: Anyone who has watched the Warriors this season will tell you they don't have much of a bench and could use some help. Only one problem though is that the Warriors don't have much to offer as explained by Golden State of Mind. They could trade a first round pick but that pick won't be valid until 2018 and no one is trading for David Lee's horrendous contract. The Warriors might be stuck where they are at.

A look ahead: Looking at the best games of the upcoming week.

Friday, December 20th: Phoenix at Denver- Two of the most surprising teams in the league. Phoenix is playing well past their expectations and I highly doubt people thought Denver would be this good without George Karl.
Saturday, December 21st: Oklahoma City at San Antonio- Again I ask why isn't this game on during the week on national TV?
Monday, December 23rd: Dallas at Houston- The hack-a-whoever was cute when the Kings did it to Shaq, but my God is that strategy hard to watch as time goes on. I'm sorry but I don't want to watch Dwight Howard in a free throw contest.
Wednesday, December 25th: Houston at San Antonio and Clippers at Warriors- Most of the Christmas day games are duds because most of the teams playing that day are awful for one reason or the other. But the two late games are actually worth watching.
Thursday, December 26th: Clippers at Trailblazers- Two jump shooting teams enter, which one survives?