Here’s Brandon’s Rush game-winning dunk from last night against the Detroit Pistons. (via The Basketball Jones)
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Brandon Rush
Recently, Jim O’Brien was talking about how Brandon Rush might be losing his spot in the rotation. He was struggling and Paul George, the team’s first round draft pick last June, deserved a shot. And it looked like O’Brien immediately followed through with that decision when George entered the game before Rush last Sunday against Denver. By the time George checked in 7 minutes into the game against Orlando on Wednesday, it was obvious that Rush had been leapfrogged.
Rush did get into the game briefly in the first half. But when he came back for another cameo late in the third quarter (replacing Granger, not George), he sprained his ankle.
And now he will be out for two weeks.
Swingman Brandon Rush will be out about two weeks with a sprained right ankle. Rush, who is wearing a walking boot, injured his ankle in the third quarter against Orlando on Wednesday. Price will get some of Rush’s minutes at shooting guard.
Obviously, someone getting hurt is never a good thing.
But for George, this may provide some mental security. I imagine that in addition to being excited about getting his first real, extended chance to show he can play in this league, he is a little nervous. Learning the Xs and Os in practice is much different from executing them at game speed, and you can tell that George, like all rookies, gets lost out there at times.
With Rush on the shelf, however, George should be able to stop looking over his shoulder and worrying about every little mistake. Now, he can just play basketball without fear of getting yanked.
Hopefully that assurance will help him perform better.
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If the rotation stopped rotating it couldn’t really be a rotation now could it?
What? I don’t know. This has been a busy day in Pacers town. I’m on fumes.
Here’s the latest from Mike Wells.
It’s gotten to the point where it’s not “if” Indiana Pacers swingman Brandon Rush will drift in and out, but a matter of “when.”
Rush is currently in one of those moments and it appears it could cost him a spot in the rotation.
Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said rookie Paul George is close to bumping out Rush as either the first wing off the bench or the starting shooting guard, depending on the opponent.
“The decision that I have to make is when do I move Paul definitely in front of Brandon,” O’Brien said. “That’s coming if we keep getting sporadic play.”
Brandon Rush is shooting 38.3% on his way to a whopping 8.6 ppg in 10 January games, so this isn’t a huge shock. He isn’t even playing particularly good defense either. If he’s not going to make shots or stop penetration, he really isn’t bringing anything to the table.
Paul George, on the other hand, has what appears to be a versatile skill set: he can make some dribble moves in isolation, bring the ball up the court, get out on the break, make some jumpers, slash, dunk and even play a little defense. And while he is also rather inconsistent and clearly blows some assignments, he’s a rookie so that’s expected. Brandon can’t use that excuse anymore as much as he would like some way to explain his baffling fluctuations between looking like decent player and D-League also-ran.
Even Coach Jim O’Brien is having to come up with unique ways to describe whatever it is that goes through Rush’s head, saying that the fact that Brandon “drifts in and out” is what has him poised to pull the trigger on making George the first SG off the bench (or perhaps even the starter Wells insinuates).
AJ Price is also now officially the second string PG.
Second-year point guard A.J. Price has replaced veteran T.J. Ford as the team’s backup point guard. Although he has looked rusty in his first few games, Price said he’s ready to keep the position.
Stay tuned tomorrow to see what changes next.
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(This image of JR Smith is entirely unrelated, but I included it for obvious reasons. via NBA Offseason)
Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook broke down Denver’s commitment to finding Carmel in spot-up situations last night. It’s just a fantastic breakdown of all 8 spot-up jumpers he canned last night so you should go read the whole thing.
Here’s a taste.
The way that Carmelo Anthony was used against the Pacers was completely different than the way he has been used over the course of this season. 29.7% of Anthony’s possessions against the Pacers were possessions labeled by Synergy as “Spot-Ups,” while just 18.5% of Anthony’s possessions used were ISO sets.
Instead of just giving the ball to Anthony and watching him pivot and work out of the ISO against the Pacers, the Nuggets used Carmelo Anthony off of the basketball, ran action involving other players, and forced the defense to make a decision. Specifically, the Nuggets ran pick and rolls with Carmelo Anthony on the opposite side of the court. 5 of the 8 Spot-Ups that were ran for Anthony came this way. This forced the defense to decide whether or not to sink in on the help man or stick with Carmelo Anthony.
He includes screen shots breaking down the plays and videos that show Danny Granger, Brandon Rush and Paul George all getting exposed by Denver’s pick-and-rolls.
Here’s one in which Rush is caught sleeping helpside and, shockingly, can’t recover 30 feet to close out on Melo to bother his three-point shot.
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