WE are officially on the home straight for season 2016-17. Some teams have lived up to the hype and exceeded expectations, others not so much and have plummet towards the bottom of the lottery. Teams have been reviewed at the quarter, halfway and three-quarter mark of the year. Let’s quickly wrap up the third portion of the season so far for the teams from the Central division.
Cleveland Cavaliers (41-17)
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THE Cavaliers resurgence in the past month or so can be attributed to their elite scoring ability. Having two of the most gifted offensive players in Kyrie Irving and Lebron James helps, but the likes of Kyle Korver, Derrick Williams and Channing Frye have all lifted their output lately. They take and make the 2nd highest amount of three’s a game which is a massive contributor to their huge point totals.
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INJURIES played a factor in their tough start to 2017, with every man, woman and dog holding an opinion about Lebron’s dangerously high workload. However, they seem to slowly be building towards a deep playoff run yet again. Losing Kevin Love for six to eight weeks hurts and hopefully he won’t miss too much playoff time.
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SERIOUSLY can the Cavs get any deeper? We thought the addition of Kyle Korver was big news, but now the defending champs have added 3x All-Star Deron Williams AND former #1 pick Andrew Bogut. Anything short of another title from here on out is a clear failure.
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Indiana Pacers (31-29)
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INDIANA was one of the best three point shooting teams over the past few months, going at roughly 39% as they pushed themselves right back into the playoff race. C.J. Miles and Paul George have been shouldering the downtown bombing responsibilities, however newly crowned dunk champ Glenn Robinson, Jeff Teague, Myles Turner and Thaddeus Young (more from him later) have all contributed.
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THE three point shooting dominance hasn’t translated to much success though, with the Pacers taking a six game losing steak into the All-Star break. They did however win seven in a row leading up to that losing streak and consistency will be key if they plan on making some noise in the playoffs. Their offense seems to be pretty solid, but they struggle to stay switched on at the defensive end. A perfect example came when they held OKC to 90 points in one February game and two nights later gave up 132 to the Cavs.
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TURNER and Teague have been huge for the Pacers this year, obviously along with All-Star forward Paul George. I’ve got my eye on Thaddeus Young for the home stretch though. After missing some time with injury, expect Young to come in and step up in a big way to give the Pacers another weapon moving forward.
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Chicago Bulls (30-30)
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THEY haven’t capitalised on their rebounding dominance, however they may have learnt about the importance of the three point shot. They have combined to make 36 in their last three at an average of 12 a game, much better than the league worst 6.7 makes they average this year. Who would have known the three point shot is useful?
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TRADING Doug McDermott and Taj Gibson shows that the Bulls are transitioning into a new era. You know what would have sped up that rebuild? Trading Jimmy Butler to Boston. He clearly doesn’t want to be here and I think the rumoured package from the Celtics was the best deal they are going to get.
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AS touched on above it will be interesting to see if the Bulls continue to jack up perimeter shots and make them at a capable rate. The next 20 games for the franchise are super important as they audition for free agents and we potentially see Butler in Chicago red for the last time.
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Detroit Pistons (29-31)
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THE month of January was the best of the season to date for Andre Drummond. With his name coming up in trade rumours close to the deadline, the organisation made the right decision by opting to hold onto the fourth year big man. If he can continue to up his scoring output that will be huge for the Pistons future. As discussed in the 1st and 2nd reviews they don’t have any issues on defense, thanks to Drummond, but they need buckets.
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CLEARLY no-one wants Reggie Jackson or the Pistons would have offloaded him right? Anytime the debate is being made between whether you or Ish Smith should be starting, my guess is you aren’t worth the $14.9 million you are making this year.
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IF was them a tactical slide down the standings to nab an elite scorer from this draft would be a better move than scrapping into the post-season. Their prize will probably be the Cleveland juggernaut or a Celtics/Wizards team looking to prove a point. Go for the higher draft pick. Malik Monk anyone?
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Milwaukee Bucks (26-32)
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THE Greek Freak’s showing in the All-Star game confirmed the poorly kept secret around the association. One day Antetokounmpo will own this league. He put up 30 points including impressive slams galore with his lanky ‘go-go gadget’ arms in NOLA, rubbing shoulders with the best of the best and looking right at home. It’s only a matter of time before Giannis is recognised as one of the best players in the NBA. That is, if he hasn’t ticked that off already.
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NO surprises here, the Jabari Parker injury was devastating for the franchise. The Parker/Antetokounmpo tandem was exciting fans on a nightly basis, but a second ACL injury for Parker robbed us all of the highlight factory and the Bucks of a potential postseason berth. Bummer.
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LET’S weigh up the pros and cons of making the playoff for the Bucks. Pros: they get experience into their young core and start to build that necessary winning culture. Cons: they could get a good draft pick in a loaded draft class and without Jabari they will probably exit in the first round of the post-season anyway. It will be interesting to see what path they venture down from here on out.
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IF you liked what you read be sure to check out the Central division team’s 1st quarterly and 2nd quarterly reviews as well as more SportsbyFry articles by hitting this link. Follow our fan pages on Facebook and Twitter to never miss a minute of the action!
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