Technical Tidbits 11/15: Okogie continues high level of play in Minnesota, Banks brings new dimension to Jackets

Up at the NBA level, Josh Okogie has continued to prove himself as a viable option for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It isn’t rare for an NBA draft pick to play incredibly well early on, but it is rare for a 20th overall pick to be reliable enough for some fans to call for the trading of All-Star Jimmy Butler just so he can play more. That’s the situation Okogie found himself in prior to Butler’s trade, and now we get to see what he can do with more time on the court.

Though James Banks couldn’t quite guide the Jackets to an upset of No. 5 Tennessee after he was awarded eligibility at the absolute last minute, there’s still plenty he can do to help the Jackets for the rest of this season as the team’s top big man. The ability to bring AD Gueye off the bench instead of relying on him for scoring and playing starter minutes is among the biggest benefit to having Banks, but Ken Sugiura dives into quite a few more in the article. Rest assured that the Jackets plus Banks are much better off than the Jackets without him.

The Herm Edwards experiment at Arizona State has gone... shockingly well to this point, actually. The former Jets and Chiefs head coach has led the Sun Devils to a 6-4 start despite never really catching on at the professional level, and it appears as of now that ASU will possibly win the South within the Pac-12 — a division which looks an awful lot like the Coastal right now, with not much talent top-to-bottom. For all the jokes that were made when this hiring went down, it seems to be working out. I’d be surprised if it continued to work out, but so far so good.