Editor's Note: This is Insider's weekly series that identifies and analyzes tendencies or trends exhibited by five players. Things change fast in this league, and depending on the team and situation, some trends can mean the difference between a spot in the starting five and a DNP-CD. Just look at the Minnesota Timberwolves' Derrick Williams, a player whose struggles we touched on last week; once Kevin Love made his season debut against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, Williams appeared in only one of the Timberwolves' next three games for a grand total of 11 minutes. Sure, a demotion was inevitable upon Love's return, but had the former No. 2 overall pick been playing better, it would have likely been impossible to keep him off the court. As it stands now, we have to wonder how much of a role Williams will have going forward. This week, we take a look at five other players who are trending in different directions: Trend: Missing shots he used to make Lin's game is one that has been analyzed as much as anyone's in the NBA over the last 12 months, as he continues to be one of the most fascinating players in the league today. Though Lin helped his new team blow by his old team on Friday as Houston blew out New York 131-103, he clearly isn't the same offensive threat that he was when Linsanity peaked last February. Omar Shaik of HoopData.com wrote on Friday that one of the biggest reasons for this is the sudden disappearance of Lin's jump shot: "Last season, Lin ranked in the NBA's top seven among point guards in field goal percentage from 10 to 15 feet and 16 to 23 feet. He was more accurate from these distances than many household names, such as Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Derrick Rose, andRussell Westbrook. He demonstrated a jump shot that deserved to be respected, and teams adjusted accordingly." Through the Rockets' first 12 games this season, Lin is shooting 16.7 percent from shots in the 10- to 15-foot range, and 29.4 percent on attempts from the 16- to 23-foot range. Those numbers are, to put it mildly, not good. Most worrisome, defenses will adjust and limit Lin's ability to penetrate as they back off, knowing his shooting is so suspect. It probably won't be until Lin plays another season or two until we can safely say whether the real Lin is closer to the guy we saw last season with the Knicks or the one who's struggling to find the net this season with the Rockets. But you can bet that won't stop the conversation on the topic between now and then. Trend: Taking better care of the basketball Phoenix moved quickly to ink Dragic to a four-year, $34 million deal just hours after agreeing to send Steve Nash to Los Angeles in a July 5 sign-and-trade deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. Replacing a legend like Nash couldn't be an easy situation for anyone to step into, let alone Dragic, a former Sun who played behind the Canadian point guard for two-and-a-half seasons before being dealt to Houston. But so far, the 26-year-old Slovenian is proving to be one of the biggest bright spots on a Suns team that -- admittedly or not -- is in rebuilding mode. Playing a career-high 33.3 minutes a game in his first season back with the Suns, Dragic is on track to shatter his career bests in all of the major categories. But the most impressive part of Dragic's game so far this season is the way he's taking better care of the basketball. Dragic's 2.2 turnovers per game are less than the 2.4 he averaged while playing nearly seven fewer minutes a game with Houston last season. And his current 3.43 assist-to-turnover rate shatters his previous career high of 2.24, set last season.Jeremy Lin's lost jumper
Bledsoe's scoring, Hickson's cleaning the glass among other emerging trends
Jeremy Lin | PG | Houston Rockets
Goran Dragic | PG | Phoenix Suns
ESPN的内部一周综述,讲几个球员的趋势,有小林一份。
Jeremy Lin's lost jumper
Bledsoe's scoring, Hickson's cleaning the glass among other emerging trends
所有跟帖:
• 别人的不熟,对小林的部份还是挺fair 的。 -新林迷- ♀ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:20:50
• 小林的jumper原来有很好吗?安的印象中他的优点在于penetration。 -LakersFan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:32:27
• 上个赛季小林的中距离投篮,即使在蛋痛下岗以后,都也还是不错的。三分是差一点。 -DCDCDCDC- ♂ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:42:30
• 呵呵,原来上季中投有46%,全被那个penetration给蒙蔽了。 -LakersFan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:51:49
• 还记得W总的吃乌鸦贴?就是为了林的跳投 -toosad- ♀ (225 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:44:00
• 是,我就觉得floating更合适,还是希望他打拿手的。 -LakersFan- ♂ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:53:46
• 小林今天训练后视频,情绪不错 -toosad- ♀ (59 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 12:38:24
• 还要一两个season 才有好戏看?这也太长了!俺先歇息一下。 -万绿丛中- ♀ (47 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 15:40:26
• 昨天歇了,今天练了。才打十几场就有累了,他实在是应该雇个更称职的体能师。 -toosad- ♀ (0 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 15:47:38
• 体能师和投蓝教练都应该换个更专业的,明摆着两样夏天练的都不行。 -万绿丛中- ♀ (111 bytes) () 11/26/2012 postreply 15:55:35