G League gets it right on reviews
The petri dish that is the G League is alive and well. The league has always been used as an experimental place for rule changes and tweaks and it’s the same this season. The most important? To me, it’s that there are only five “triggers” for video replay and not included among them are out-of-bounds plays. The league does allow for one coach’s challenge each game and that’s the only way they can now look at out-of-bounds plays — a move which will undoubtedly speed up the end of games and not allow referees to take the easy way out by making a call and then turning over responsibility for whether it’s right or wrong to someone watching on TV.
A change in Cleveland: In an effort to juice their offence, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to bring former starter Tristan Thompson off the bench to start a frontcourt of Jae Crowder and Kevin Love. Thompson seemed quite fine with the move. “I’m going to go for Sixth Man of the Year, put myself in position to do that,” he told reporters in Cleveland.
The process continues: The 76ers finally got a look at 2016 top draft pick Ben Simmons, who had six points, seven assists and nine rebounds in his pre-season debut. Simmons missed all of last season with a foot injury. “That kid, they’re not talking about him enough . . . Once he gets confidence in his shot where you really have to close out all the way to the three, wow. He’s a big-time talent,” Memphis coach David Fizdale said. Simmons did not, however, get to play alongside Joel Embiid, who was only cleared for five-on-five play Thursday.
Debut time: One of the more intriguing combinations to watch in the coming season is Chris Paul and James Harden, two ball-dominant guards on the same Houston team. They made their first pre-season appearance in limited minutes together against Oklahoma City this week, combining for 27 points and 17 assists. “We played a lot this summer, and I think that helped, spending that time talking about communicating and stuff like that,” Paul said. “But we can always get better.” Doug Smith