🏀🏹 Klay Wins it, LeBron's Reign Continues, NBA's Player Participation Policy Explained - 11/02/23

Welcome to “Hoop’d There It Is” - Your daily 5-6 min dive into all things NBA.

Who I’m Watching for Tonight (11/02/23)

• In an unusual turn of events, the Suns and Spurs are facing each other once again in Phoenix ☀️. I've seen teams play home and away games, like the recent back-to-back between the Knicks 🗽 and Cavs. However, having both games in Phoenix is definitely rarer. I'll be watching with similar expectations 👀.

• I'm eager to see if the new additions to the Sixers' roster will play and how they'll address their apparent surplus of forwards. Who will start at the 4? My guess is Covington, with Morris coming off the bench. But that might be a projection for later in the season, not necessarily for Day 1.

What Stood Out to Me Last Night (11/01/23)

Lot of thoughts on a busy day 🤯

1. Great game between the Warriors and Kings. Pretty close the whole way - tough D, good shotmaking capped off by a Klay game winner 🏹. Nice move to create some space and drilled it. The reason for the meme for that don’t know — Klay also had a record 37 point quarter v. the Kings too. Now this game-winner.

2. Only caught OT of the Lakers/Clippers game, but LeBron is insane man. He’s dropping 35/10/7 games in his 21st season in the NBA? What happened to his minute restriction? 👑

3. Chet excels in "verticality," 🚫 becoming a defensive wall without fouling. Roy Hibbert comes to mind with "verticality," but his slowness 🐢, evident in the 2014 playoffs against the Hawks, affected his defensive value. Chet, in contrast, is agile and athletically superior.

4. I caught the Blazers/Pistons game in the 4th. Disappointed that Scoot, my Hoop’d team pick, went out with an injury 🤕. The Blazers' defense shone, with Ayton and Williams dominating the paint. Cade had so many turnovers in the 4th.

5. Also Shaedon Sharpe looks like a star, great body control, nice handle, scored from different places, got himself to the line. He looked more under control than last year.

6. Shawn Marion once had the NBA's quickest second jump. Now? It's Zion, whose rapid re-jump is even more impressive than his actual leap.

7. The Bucks 🦌 clearly need time to adjust.

8. How did the Pacers lose by 54, scoring 101? 😲

Random NBA Thought

So I’m thinking of snagging tickets for one of the Warriors' back-to-back games the next weekend. I’m tempted by the Sunday game, but there's this nagging fear of Curry potentially resting because it’s a back-to-back game. If he does, that ticket drops in value to me 💔.

You know the drill nowadays: seasoned stars often hit the bench in B2B matchups. It’s all about that "load management" buzzword. Keep the big names fresh for those playoff battles. Kawhi in Toronto is like the poster child for this tactic.

Now, here’s where things get a little more interesting. The NBA’s tossed in this new thing called the Player Participation Policy (PPP) for this 2024 season.

Breaking it down:

1. Only one all-star max can rest if they’re healthy. i.e. Cannot bench BOTH LeBron and AD if they're both available.

2. If you’re an all-star within the last 3 years? Gotta lace up for those national TV games and the brand new “in-season tournament” games. Unless you are truly injured.

3. You must balance out those star absences between home and away with the NBA preferring players to rest more home games 🏠. Why you might ask? Picture some hyped kid in Charlotte dropping $200 to see Steph Curry live in his only visit of the year, to find out he's resting. NBA’s trying to dodge these kind of situations.

4. Full-on shutdowns of star players? Big no-no. i.e. when the Blazers or Wizards sat Lillard or Beal down for the rest of the season last year to effectively better their chances at a higher overall draft pick.

But anyway back to my ticket situation. Here’s the kicker: Warriors vs. TWolves? That’s an in-season tournament game. So, if Curry's all good, he's gotta play ball. Meaning his only chill day might be against the Cavs.

Sunday game it is then.

So…here's the pro tip: Before diving into your wallet, double-check those NBA schedules - there’s a lot to keep track 📅.

I might make the stat of the night thing more a weekly thing than a daily.

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