I arrived in Orlando this afternoon and stumbled upon Chuck’s golf gear on my way to lunch. I’m a little concerned that my GM isn’t totally focused on tomorrow night’s Rising Stars Challenge.
Ask the Czar
February 22 by 1 Comment
Gary from Fredon, New Jersey has a question about New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni:
What is ‘different’ about Mike D’Antoni’s offense compared to what other teams in the NBA run? The usual explanation is his teams have good floor spacing and run a lot of pick and roll. But I’d imagine that every team in the league does that.
Coach D’Antoni assigns more responsibility to his point guard than do some of the other coaches in the league. D’Antoni puts the ball in the hands of the PG and lets him pound the ball until he can make a play happen, as opposed to other coaches who emphasize passing and ball movement. D’Antoni utilizes multiple pick-and-rolls to enable the point guard to create a shot for himself or his teammate.
D’Antoni also values the 3-pointer as an offensive weapon, so he likes to play a power forward who can shoot threes and to give guys like Amar’e Stoudemire the green light to attack from beyond the arc.
Fratello’s Fantasy Pick: Ersan Ilyasova
February 20 by Leave a Comment
Ersan Ilyasova crashed the boards and made big shots for the Bucks on Sunday. The 6-10, fourth-year forward from Turkey had career highs of 29 points and 25 rebounds in Milwaukee’s 92-85 win over the Nets.
Now in his second stint with Milwaukee, Ilasova is one of five international players on their roster, which also includes Beno Udrih from Slovenia, Luc Mbah a Moute from Cameroon, Carlos Delfino from Argentina and Andrew Bogut from Australia. Selected by the Bucks in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft, Ilasova spent his first season with their affiliated D-League team, the Tulsa 66ers, and made his NBA debut on November 1, 2006. After playing with Liga ACB club FC Barcelona the subsequent two seasons, Ilasova resigned with the Bucks in 2009.
Last year it looked like llasova was on the verge of breaking through and raising his game to the next level. However, he didn’t bust out of the gates this season the way some people expected, perhaps because of the lockout-induced late start to the season and abbreviated training camp.
Ilyasova is able to play at both the 3 and 4 positions. He can run the floor. He’s a good shooter who is capable of stringing 3-point shots together. And he is a tenacious offensive rebounder, giving fantasy owners double-double potential. Ilyasova has averaged 14 points and 12 rebounds in his last 10 contests.
Ersan Ilyasova will continue to log significant minutes in the absence of center Andrew Bogut, who is expected to be out with a fractured left ankle until at least early April. We’ll have to see if Ilyasova can maintain his momentum beyond the All-Star break. Before hosting this weekend’s festivities, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic will pay a visit to Brew City on George Washington’s birthday to play the Bucks in the first of two games scheduled for Milwaukee before the mid-season recess.
Fratello Telestrator
February 18 by Leave a Comment
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