I estimate only 10-12 Primates care about the NBA, but with our own thread, we won’t detract from what this site is really about: the fiscal cliff and Civil War generals.
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402. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 14, 2013 at 11:40 PM (#4347234)
No they're not usually this bad. Not sure what happened though.
Saw this in twitterverse - Bulls had 59 rebounds, Hawks had 58 points.
403. Squash
Posted: January 15, 2013 at 12:59 AM (#4347286)
Huh, Zach Randolph had 12 rebounds tonight, 10 of which were offensive. That's a pretty crazy distribution. We don't have a handy Elias Sports Bureau in basketball to give us junk statistics (do we?) but I wonder what the fewest number of defensive rebounds a guy has ever had who pulled 12 total or more.
Huh, Zach Randolph had 12 rebounds tonight, 10 of which were offensive. That's a pretty crazy distribution. We don't have a handy Elias Sports Bureau in basketball to give us junk statistics (do we?) but I wonder what the fewest number of defensive rebounds a guy has ever had who pulled 12 total or more.
that is one weird list. popeye jones, rasho nesterovic, evan eschmeyer, michael ruffin, lorenzen wright. dennis rodman, jerome williams, horrace grant, zydrunas ilgauskas, lamarcus aldridge.
405. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 15, 2013 at 10:50 AM (#4347417)
BTW, what's going on with the Grizzlies? Losing at home that badly to the Clips without CP3, the Rudy Gay trade rumors, etc...
406. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 15, 2013 at 11:11 AM (#4347440)
Hardwood Paroxysm ?@HPbasketball
.... Just checked it. The Hawks had a 64.2 offensive efficiency last night, and an efficiency diferential of -40.7. They had an eFG of 30.5%
"The disturbing thing is the effort part. I shouldn't have to come out and coach effort every single night. Effort is what your being paid, to bring effort every single night. - Larry Drew after last night's debacle in Chicago
Goodbye, Josh.
408. andrewberg
Posted: January 15, 2013 at 11:28 AM (#4347452)
Huh, Zach Randolph had 12 rebounds tonight, 10 of which were offensive. That's a pretty crazy distribution. We don't have a handy Elias Sports Bureau in basketball to give us junk statistics (do we?) but I wonder what the fewest number of defensive rebounds a guy has ever had who pulled 12 total or more.
Hibbert did something similar recently. I think he had 9 OREB out of 10 total. It is very strange indeed. Makes me think the defensive scheme is not optimizing their rebounding abilities.
BTW, what's going on with the Grizzlies? Losing at home that badly to the Clips without CP3, the Rudy Gay trade rumors, etc...
Must be Hollinger's fault. They need to get out of their moms' basements and watch a basketball game.
"It was like going to Morton's Steakhouse and paying $63 for porterhouse and they bring out cube steak," said McGuinness, who said he bought his ticket on the resale market. "That's exactly what happened here."
Something tells me he is not going to win this.
410. NJ in DC
Posted: January 16, 2013 at 10:28 AM (#4348093)
The Nuggets dedication to Andre Igoudala ISOs is fascinating.
JaVale played the second worst game I've seen him play this season. I think it was the Knicks game that was the only one that was worse. As someone who watches the Knicks and the Nuggets regularly, what I've noticed about him and STAT in terms of their post-Dream School post-game is that they seem much more decisive. I wonder whether Hakeem emphasizes decision making more than anything. JaVale got a little out of control last night and struggled to finish, but he's been generally very effective this year catching the ball and immediately making his move whether it's a turnaround, a backdown, or a post-spin. In particular, the strategy of quick decision making seems post effective with the post-spin because I think most bigs playing defense gear up to stop a methodical backdown when the ball is tossed into the post.
411. Squash
Posted: January 16, 2013 at 11:59 AM (#4348177)
that is one weird list. popeye jones, rasho nesterovic, evan eschmeyer, michael ruffin, lorenzen wright. dennis rodman, jerome williams, horrace grant, zydrunas ilgauskas, lamarcus aldridge.
Wow, you've got to love Popeye Jones throwing up 12 boards, all offensive, zero defensive. That is wacky.
25 now for boozer, 11-15 6 rebounds 3 assists 1 turnover 1 foul at the half
416. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 11:04 AM (#4348993)
The Bulls should petition to move to the Atlantic division. They're now 8-1 against them. They also should just play all their games on the road (11-5). And they definitely should never have to play a team from the West (4-9).
---
The media keeps focusing on Carlos Boozer and his "Eastern Conference-leading 21st double-double" last night. Superficially, he is playing "better" than last year - he counting stats are up. But his rate stats are down - he's shooting the lowest FG% in his career. However, he's actually playing worse than his first year in Chicago - across the board. He's not playing more minutes. He's not getting more shots. He's only getting these double doubles that seem to be mesmerizing everyone. Now, I will say he does seem more engaged defensively and you see more effort plays out of him. But that could simply me my, and others', selective memories at work.
Having said all that, he actually has been really damn good this month (8 games), after a really bad Nov/Dec. He's averaging 24/11 on 56% shooting, so there's a narrative forming about his whole season. It's kind of funny to see the gymnastics people are going through to defend him now after all the #### he's taken the last 2 seasons.
417. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 11:36 AM (#4349051)
@BeckleyMason: .@Scalabrine's tale of taking 3 concussions in a month, fooling doctors, then returning for playoffs http://es.pn/Wi5ORG
418. Booey
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 12:30 PM (#4349139)
Having said all that, he actually has been really damn good this month (8 games), after a really bad Nov/Dec. He's averaging 24/11 on 56% shooting, so there's a narrative forming about his whole season. It's kind of funny to see the gymnastics people are going through to defend him now after all the #### he's taken the last 2 seasons.
That's pretty much what my memory of him was during his Utah tenure as well. It would almost be easier to accept if he was simply a bust, but instead he was one of the most frustrating players I ever cheered for cuz he'd go through stretches - not just a random game here or there, but sometimes several weeks in a row - where he'd look simply unstoppable. But then he'd get bored for a few games, barely bothering to get involved in the offense and completely checking out on defense. It was maddening.
He was a big part of the 2007-2010 Jazz's success so I'll always root for him, but I wasn't too sad to see him go, either. The bi-polar play just got to be a bit much for my liking.
Edit: Oh, and getting injured if people looked at him funny, of course. He has the Malone/LeBron physique that looks like he should be durable, but he...well...isn't.
419. andrewberg
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 12:32 PM (#4349140)
Moses- the advanced stats are almost identical to where they were 2 years ago (PER and WS/48). They were better last year, but it is hard to draw conclusions based on the weird season. He missed a few games that first year, so I suppose that poisoned the well a bit (nobody wants to see a big ticket FA sitting on the bench) so just seeing him producing at the same rate and playing consistently might help the perception. I agree with you, though, that he has looked mor effective to my naked eye. That might have something to do with Rose being out for so long and not being compared to that measuring stick.
420. John M. Perkins
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 12:47 PM (#4349159)
An aside on the Spurs suit. 48 Minutes of Hell has adopted the lawyer's analogy. The Spurs bench is now known as the Cube Steaks.
421. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 03:14 PM (#4349307)
Been a while since anyone's talked about the Billy Hunter/Derek Fisher brouhaha at the NBPA.
Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS
In 469-page report, Paul, Weiss firm finds Billy Hunter's actions "inconsistent with his fiduciary obligations..."
Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS
Hunter "did not properly manage conflicts of interest" and concealed that his contract as executive director was "never properly approved."
Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS
Backed by an avalanche of evidence, the firm concludes union "should consider whether Mr. Hunter should remain" as executive director."
Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS
NBPA probe concludes "the evidence does not show that Mr. Hunter embezzled or stole money from the NBPA."
Ken Berger ?@KBergCBS
But report concludes Hunter "displayed poor judgment" and "paid little attention to the appearance of impropriety."
422. smileyy
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 03:32 PM (#4349322)
Reading about a play involving Chandler Parsons, the mashup "Tyson Chandler Parsons" popped into my head, and I started thinking about the most talented or most complete player mashup.
For example, I'm not sure Bryant Stith really brings much to "Kobe Bryant Stith", but "Kobe Bryant Reeves" is an interesting beast. LeBron doesn't have a lot of holes in his game, but LeBron James Harden's FT% and Rate would be (more) frightening.
Dwight Howard Eisley?
Michael Jordan....Crawford? ...Hill?
423. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 03:52 PM (#4349341)
Reading about a play involving Chandler Parsons, the mashup "Tyson Chandler Parsons" popped into my head, and I started thinking about the most talented or most complete player mashup.
Didn't Moses suggest Joakim Price at some point?
425. smileyy
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:12 PM (#4349367)
Sure, but the names don't mashup. Interestingly, no player with the first name of "Noah" has ever played in the NBA.
Sure, but the names don't mashup. Interestingly, no player with the first name of "Noah" has ever played in the NBA.
Oh, I see what you mean now. Sorry. I thought we were just coming up with #######' players.
428. Manny Coon
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:35 PM (#4349394)
Chris Paul has a lot of options: George, Arizin, Millsap, Pierce, Mokeski, Shirley.
429. andrewberg
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:36 PM (#4349399)
Lebron James Worthy would be excellent. Paul George Mikan would be a lethal inside-outside combo. Bill Russell Westbrook would be hard to beat. We are oh so close to winning the contest with Julius "Earvin" Johnson.
How about Larry Bird-man Andersen?
430. andrewberg
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:37 PM (#4349400)
Chris Paul George Mikan!
431. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:39 PM (#4349401)
Paul George would also have Gervin, Karl, Muresan, etc.
432. smileyy
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 04:47 PM (#4349405)
I wonder if George Karl Malone would have been able to get the championship monkey off both their backs?
While admitting that there were things he "could have done better," Billy Hunter vowed Thursday to continue in his role as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association.
After a massive, scathing 469-page report by an independent law firm eviscerated Hunter's actions as head of the players' union, Hunter said Thursday, "I look forward to continuing my work with the NBPA, adopting additional recommendations from the report and opening a new chapter of NBPA governance."
439. jmurph
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 06:58 PM (#4349502)
There's been a lot of great moments in the ... 5 (6?) years of this thread, but the name mash-ups on this page goes right into my top 5.
I was trying to think of the worst possible combination, but unfortunately I can't think of anyone whose last name was Eric or first name was Snow (because obviously Eric Snow would be in this combination).
440. Kurt
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 07:05 PM (#4349508)
Carmelo Anthony Barone would kill himself.
441. kpelton
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 07:13 PM (#4349512)
While it may not technically meet the criteria, Petey Pablo Prigioni remains the winner in my book.
I was thinking Wallace Shawn Kemp if only one needs to be a basketball player.
Never bet against a Reign Man when fertility is on the line.
444. smileyy
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 08:19 PM (#4349543)
I was trying to think of the worst possible combination
I was trying to think of that too (but didn't get very far)...some of these combined skillsets would be the greatest player ever in the NBA. But I bet there's lots of combinations that are still a *$(# sandwich.
norris cole aldrich
tony allen iverson
terrell brandon bass
terrell brandon jennings
steve blake griffin
marshon brooks lopez
luol deng gai
ben gordon heyward
jeremy tyler hansbrough
lebron james johnson
lebron james jones
carl landry fields
carmelo anthony randolph
isiah thomas robinson
brandon roy hibbert
mike scott machado
447. andrewberg
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 08:48 PM (#4349558)
I was one asking to withhold judgment til we knew more about what Hunter did or didn't do, but I'm ready to say he was wrong now.
448. OCF
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 09:02 PM (#4349562)
steve blake griffin
I'm trying to picture the face. This is a pretty odd looking guy, right?
450. Manny Coon
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 09:23 PM (#4349568)
I'm trying to picture the face. This is a pretty odd looking guy, right?
How does he compare to Chris Paul Mokeski?
451. RollingWave
Posted: January 17, 2013 at 09:31 PM (#4349573)
Muggsy Bradley : tall as Muggys, run like (Shawn) Bradley ...
Omer Kerr : tall as Kerr, shoots like Asik ...
Though the other ways around for these combo would be pretty good.
Rockets after a big run now lost 5 strait, some of their guys really look like their hitting a wall, expected from a team where almost no one played a full year as starter last year I guess.
Saw the Nuggets top Portland in OT Tuesday night. They pushed the lead up to 9 with about 5 minutes to go, and I said to my son, they are either going to win by 20 or they are going to win on a last second shot. Within a few (real time) minutes, it was pretty obvious which direction they were going.
On the way home, listened to the post game show. George Karl said something really interesting, talking about the growth of his team. He said the really good teams play hard 42 minutes a game. And that Denver had improved a lot over the past 20 games, and were now up around 32 to 35 minutes a game.
That captured the Portland game perfectly. They had 8 dominant minutes at the end of the game, and spurts of 3-4 minutes where they either whittled down a lead or built a slight cushion. Like a lot of their games the past few weeks, there was a period in the 4th quarter where their defensive pressure was so strong that the other team turned the ball over more times than they shot and missed. But they needed just a few more minutes of that level of intensity, and instead they retreated from working to playing and let Portland back in.
Anyhow, I thought of evaluating teams on the basis of the # of minutes of playing hard was pretty interesting.
456. Jimmy P
Posted: January 18, 2013 at 01:08 PM (#4349981)
first two i came up with were cutesy: allan ray allen and shelvin mack calvin.
some more are: willie warren jabali, dave meyers leonard, jason terry porter, david wesley matthews, reggie lewis lloyd, jarrett jack sikma (who is better than reggie jackson vroman).
459. Into the Void
Posted: January 18, 2013 at 02:39 PM (#4350072)
Everyone looking forward to the Sixers/Raptors game tonight? Should be a fun one.
460. smileyy
Posted: January 18, 2013 at 02:45 PM (#4350082)
I'm probably not looking deep enough, but Jason Terry Porter strikes me as making a player not fundamentally different than his constituents, in either skills or talent level.
Michael Jordan Crawford amuses me because Crawford brings high usage and fearlessness in taking a shot to the table. Except there was plenty of that on the table already.
Kobe Bryant Stith is another wait-why-do-I-need-to-be-mashed-up-with-you guy, I think.
Almost all the tweets I've seen re: Gentry miss the point of the Suns being in the part of the rebuilding cycle where talent acquisition and talent development are more important than any Xs and Os. Kevin Pelton gets this (although I don't understand why he's down on the super-cheap signing of Scola - he'll be a great trade chip this coming offseason).
Jason Terry Porter - i thought jason terry davis was too boring, but you're correct. i actually like the similarity - sort of like with willie warren jabali (though jabali was, of course, better - also, i thought the latter it was a fun name).
really though, allan ray allen and shelvin mack calvin are all i needed to say.
Everyone looking forward to the Sixers/Raptors game tonight? Should be a fun one.
yeah, it actually was.
they're still ####### terrible, though. they pulled a win, but they had to come back from being 20 down, at home, against toronto, so it's not exactly a banner performance.
468. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 18, 2013 at 10:18 PM (#4350412)
I want the Celtics in the playoffs.
Seriously though, if Rose is at even 75%, the Bulls can really do some damage in the playoffs.
Nuggets may very likely wind up in the 4th slot by the end of the month. They have 7 of their 8 remaining games at home. Thankfully, a few are against good teams so they are more likely to play hard.
But the comment about them being pointless feels kind of dead on.
This doesn't feel like a team that can play hard enough to win a playoff series, even if they have home court advantage.
477. NJ in DC
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 11:25 AM (#4350511)
[476] The Nuggets are going to play the Grizzlies in the first round and they are going to beat them. No idea what happens after that though.
478. andrewberg
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 11:40 AM (#4350519)
Speaking of pointless, I'm overly excited about the Wolves signing Gelabele. They really needed a 3&d swingman earlier in the year. Now they're too far gone, but I still like him. Also signed Chris Johnson. He just sucks.
[477] If that's a 1st round matchup, the winner will likely lose in the next round, I would guess. I don't trust Denver to defend enough or Memphis to score enough to really make a run. Granted, it's only midseason, though, so a lot can change.
Moses is clearly baiting me by quoting Mr. Finger Guns. :-)
480. PJ Martinez
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 03:58 PM (#4350642)
Josh Smith and Johan Petro for Pau Gasol. Who says no?
481. tshipman
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 04:09 PM (#4350650)
Josh Smith and Johan Petro for Pau Gasol. Who says no?
Certainly not the Lakers.
I was one asking to withhold judgment til we knew more about what Hunter did or didn't do, but I'm ready to say he was wrong now.
Since I was one of the ones arguing with you about this, thank you for following up on it. I think it's a shame that Hunter will basically be able to get away with this after having forced Fisher out.
482. PJ Martinez
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 04:18 PM (#4350655)
The word, by the way, is that Smith is very available. He was suspended for a game by the Hawks "for conduct detrimental to team" and reportedly kicked out of a practice before that. He's a free agent after the season.
483. Moses Taylor
Posted: January 19, 2013 at 06:26 PM (#4350687)
Moses is clearly baiting me by quoting Mr. Finger Guns. :-)
The whole finger gun thing has always been lame. And he made a big deal that he was going to stop it after the Newtown shooting, but sometimes he just can't help himself.
I didn't mention yesterday, but Deng's injury doesn't sound great. It's not terrible, but he's going to miss some time (although they officially won't even say he's not playing tonight when it's clear he won't). He had tweaked the hamstring before, and looks like he re-pulled it. He might struggle with that all year. I hate to see how the Bulls offense is going to look with him out too. I like Jimmy Butler and think he can do some nice things, but he's not at all reliable offensively yet.
The word, by the way, is that Smith is very available. He was suspended for a game by the Hawks "for conduct detrimental to team" and reportedly kicked out of a practice before that. He's a free agent after the season.
Other being a free agent at the end of the season, that's not really a status change for Josh Smith.
Though...
Lou Williams is out for the year.
...I suspect this sad news makes it more likely Smith is traded during the season, as opposed to Ferry playing hardball with potential trade partners and taking his chances on a better sign-and-trade deal in the Summer. But, without a great offer for Smith, I still think Ferry chooses to play the season out and take the cap space.
487. King Mekong
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 12:07 PM (#4350924)
[474] in their defense the Wizards have been playing pretty well since John Wall got back.
489. bob gee
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 01:01 PM (#4350953)
mchale is an awful coach. using lin as a 3 point spot-up man. running harden/lin/parsons tons of minutes, benching lin / harden at the same time, having virtually no pick and rolls, playing ISO-harden (no picks/screens or cuts away), always spotting up forwards for 3 point shots so there's limited chance for them to get rebounds on misses, etc.
and i don't know whether it's mchale or morey who has almost instituted a "no 2 point shot unless it's 5 feet away". the reason a 3 point shot is good is because there's not a huge % difference in the 21 foot shot and the 24 foot shot. but there IS a huge % difference between the 10 foot shot and the 24 foot shot.
he's got four very talented players (harden, lin, parsons, asik) and if the rox are playing run and gun, they need to sub more. if they're playing halfcourt, they need to pnr/screen more. as is, they look awful - and many of those problems are the same ones that were present during the first games of the season, except that harden was bailing them out.
Lakers getting absolutely killed to start the game in Toronto. It's embarrassing to watch how little resistance they're putting up on the boards, and on defense in general.
Everyone keeps waiting for things to get better, and for the personnel to click with the game plan. It's not happening, and the more you watch this team the more you realize it'll never happen for this group.
491. kpelton
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 01:36 PM (#4350972)
there IS a huge % difference between the 10 foot shot and the 24 foot shot.
Obviously everything is contingent on openness, but the numbers don't really bear this out. Away from the rim, percentages stay relatively constant no matter the difference, as you can sort of see here:
http://hoopdata.com/teamshotlocs.aspx
492. PJ Martinez
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 01:52 PM (#4350975)
Was just looking at Pau's numbers. I knew he was having a down year, but I didn't realize *how* down he was. What's going on?
493. bob gee
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 02:22 PM (#4350991)
@491 - yes, i should have clarified - depending on openness. the numbers cited are game/pressure (the closer shots are more likely
to be contested than the far away ones). however, there are many more opps for open closer shots in their game - they're just passing out for similarly open threes.
495. Tripon
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 03:32 PM (#4351017)
The inquiry, which focused on allegations of nepotism, conflicts of interest and potential misuse of funds, concluded that Hunter did not embezzle or steal from the union. But it found that Hunter’s current contract was not properly approved by union leadership, and that he failed to inform the committee of this fact; that he was paid $1.3 million for unused vacation time without independent review; and that he failed to disclose conflicts of interest when hiring family and friends.
The investigation also found that Hunter made decisions that “call into question his stewardship of union resources” when he considered investing millions of dollars in a failing bank without disclosing that his son, Todd, was a director. Hunter also pursued “speculative” business ventures; bought luxury gifts with union funds, including a $22,000 watch that he gave to Derek Fisher, the union’s president; and spent about $28,000 on personal legal fees for Charles Smith, the former executive of the National Basketball Retired Players Association.
Why does Billy Hunter still have a job? Also, I think the fact that the majority of the players in the NBA aren't college graduates is really hurting them here. Its pretty clear that Hunter thought and knew he could take advantage of a league that wouldn't question him. Especially compared to the leadership of the other current Player Associations/unions, Billy Hunter is scum.
496. PJ Martinez
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 03:45 PM (#4351021)
Pau Gasol went for a season-high 25 points today. In related news, Dwight Howard was ejected in the second quarter.
Of course, in other related news, the Lakers lost to the Raptors anyway.
Isiah Thomas thinks Lindsey Hunter is going to be the greatest head coach in the league since himself.
499. andrewberg
Posted: January 20, 2013 at 06:24 PM (#4351288)
It can't help Pau that's he has played on bad knees and out of position. We have beaten this topic to death, but I still think he should play all of the backup C minutes (and at least HE looked better today, and I am pretty sure they outscored TOR after Howard got the heave-ho).
I thought McHale did well as an interim with the Wolves a few years ago in terms of optimizing offense. As good as he was defensively, he did not coac it well.
500. Squash
Posted: January 21, 2013 at 02:25 AM (#4351646)
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are the hawks really this bad?
Saw this in twitterverse - Bulls had 59 rebounds, Hawks had 58 points.
that is one weird list. popeye jones, rasho nesterovic, evan eschmeyer, michael ruffin, lorenzen wright. dennis rodman, jerome williams, horrace grant, zydrunas ilgauskas, lamarcus aldridge.
Goodbye, Josh.
Hibbert did something similar recently. I think he had 9 OREB out of 10 total. It is very strange indeed. Makes me think the defensive scheme is not optimizing their rebounding abilities.
Must be Hollinger's fault. They need to get out of their moms' basements and watch a basketball game.
"It was like going to Morton's Steakhouse and paying $63 for porterhouse and they bring out cube steak," said McGuinness, who said he bought his ticket on the resale market. "That's exactly what happened here."
Something tells me he is not going to win this.
JaVale played the second worst game I've seen him play this season. I think it was the Knicks game that was the only one that was worse. As someone who watches the Knicks and the Nuggets regularly, what I've noticed about him and STAT in terms of their post-Dream School post-game is that they seem much more decisive. I wonder whether Hakeem emphasizes decision making more than anything. JaVale got a little out of control last night and struggled to finish, but he's been generally very effective this year catching the ball and immediately making his move whether it's a turnaround, a backdown, or a post-spin. In particular, the strategy of quick decision making seems post effective with the post-spin because I think most bigs playing defense gear up to stop a methodical backdown when the ball is tossed into the post.
Wow, you've got to love Popeye Jones throwing up 12 boards, all offensive, zero defensive. That is wacky.
---
The media keeps focusing on Carlos Boozer and his "Eastern Conference-leading 21st double-double" last night. Superficially, he is playing "better" than last year - he counting stats are up. But his rate stats are down - he's shooting the lowest FG% in his career. However, he's actually playing worse than his first year in Chicago - across the board. He's not playing more minutes. He's not getting more shots. He's only getting these double doubles that seem to be mesmerizing everyone. Now, I will say he does seem more engaged defensively and you see more effort plays out of him. But that could simply me my, and others', selective memories at work.
Having said all that, he actually has been really damn good this month (8 games), after a really bad Nov/Dec. He's averaging 24/11 on 56% shooting, so there's a narrative forming about his whole season. It's kind of funny to see the gymnastics people are going through to defend him now after all the #### he's taken the last 2 seasons.
That's pretty much what my memory of him was during his Utah tenure as well. It would almost be easier to accept if he was simply a bust, but instead he was one of the most frustrating players I ever cheered for cuz he'd go through stretches - not just a random game here or there, but sometimes several weeks in a row - where he'd look simply unstoppable. But then he'd get bored for a few games, barely bothering to get involved in the offense and completely checking out on defense. It was maddening.
He was a big part of the 2007-2010 Jazz's success so I'll always root for him, but I wasn't too sad to see him go, either. The bi-polar play just got to be a bit much for my liking.
Edit: Oh, and getting injured if people looked at him funny, of course. He has the Malone/LeBron physique that looks like he should be durable, but he...well...isn't.
For example, I'm not sure Bryant Stith really brings much to "Kobe Bryant Stith", but "Kobe Bryant Reeves" is an interesting beast. LeBron doesn't have a lot of holes in his game, but LeBron James Harden's FT% and Rate would be (more) frightening.
Dwight Howard Eisley?
Michael Jordan....Crawford? ...Hill?
Didn't Moses suggest Joakim Price at some point?
Oh, I see what you mean now. Sorry. I thought we were just coming up with #######' players.
How about Larry Bird-man Andersen?
EDIT: Or Isaac Austin Car(r)melo Anthony Mason Plumlee
That's a perfect storm of coming up short.
This player would probably start balding in middle school.
On the flip side, Chris Anderson Varejao would have the coolest hair in the league.
I was trying to think of the worst possible combination, but unfortunately I can't think of anyone whose last name was Eric or first name was Snow (because obviously Eric Snow would be in this combination).
Otherwise, Shawn Bradley Beal sounds like an intriguing combo.
Never bet against a Reign Man when fertility is on the line.
I was trying to think of that too (but didn't get very far)...some of these combined skillsets would be the greatest player ever in the NBA. But I bet there's lots of combinations that are still a *$(# sandwich.
tony allen iverson
terrell brandon bass
terrell brandon jennings
steve blake griffin
marshon brooks lopez
luol deng gai
ben gordon heyward
jeremy tyler hansbrough
lebron james johnson
lebron james jones
carl landry fields
carmelo anthony randolph
isiah thomas robinson
brandon roy hibbert
mike scott machado
I'm trying to picture the face. This is a pretty odd looking guy, right?
How does he compare to Chris Paul Mokeski?
Omer Kerr : tall as Kerr, shoots like Asik ...
Though the other ways around for these combo would be pretty good.
Rockets after a big run now lost 5 strait, some of their guys really look like their hitting a wall, expected from a team where almost no one played a full year as starter last year I guess.
Darius Miles Plumlee
Donyell Marshall Plumlee
Bryce Drew Gooden
Antoine Carrmelo Anthony Randolph Morris Peterson
Kobe Bryant Stith
Manute Ginobili
The poor man's Chris Paul Mokeski. Still better than Tate Georghe Muresan.
On the way home, listened to the post game show. George Karl said something really interesting, talking about the growth of his team. He said the really good teams play hard 42 minutes a game. And that Denver had improved a lot over the past 20 games, and were now up around 32 to 35 minutes a game.
That captured the Portland game perfectly. They had 8 dominant minutes at the end of the game, and spurts of 3-4 minutes where they either whittled down a lead or built a slight cushion. Like a lot of their games the past few weeks, there was a period in the 4th quarter where their defensive pressure was so strong that the other team turned the ball over more times than they shot and missed. But they needed just a few more minutes of that level of intensity, and instead they retreated from working to playing and let Portland back in.
Anyhow, I thought of evaluating teams on the basis of the # of minutes of playing hard was pretty interesting.
some more are: willie warren jabali, dave meyers leonard, jason terry porter, david wesley matthews, reggie lewis lloyd, jarrett jack sikma (who is better than reggie jackson vroman).
Michael Jordan Crawford amuses me because Crawford brings high usage and fearlessness in taking a shot to the table. Except there was plenty of that on the table already.
Kobe Bryant Stith is another wait-why-do-I-need-to-be-mashed-up-with-you guy, I think.
really though, allan ray allen and shelvin mack calvin are all i needed to say.
they're still ####### terrible, though. they pulled a win, but they had to come back from being 20 down, at home, against toronto, so it's not exactly a banner performance.
Seriously though, if Rose is at even 75%, the Bulls can really do some damage in the playoffs.
Heh.
But the comment about them being pointless feels kind of dead on.
This doesn't feel like a team that can play hard enough to win a playoff series, even if they have home court advantage.
Moses is clearly baiting me by quoting Mr. Finger Guns. :-)
Certainly not the Lakers.
Since I was one of the ones arguing with you about this, thank you for following up on it. I think it's a shame that Hunter will basically be able to get away with this after having forced Fisher out.
The whole finger gun thing has always been lame. And he made a big deal that he was going to stop it after the Newtown shooting, but sometimes he just can't help himself.
I didn't mention yesterday, but Deng's injury doesn't sound great. It's not terrible, but he's going to miss some time (although they officially won't even say he's not playing tonight when it's clear he won't). He had tweaked the hamstring before, and looks like he re-pulled it. He might struggle with that all year. I hate to see how the Bulls offense is going to look with him out too. I like Jimmy Butler and think he can do some nice things, but he's not at all reliable offensively yet.
Wait, how did no one take that to "The Tyson Chandler Parsons Project"?
Other being a free agent at the end of the season, that's not really a status change for Josh Smith.
Though...
...I suspect this sad news makes it more likely Smith is traded during the season, as opposed to Ferry playing hardball with potential trade partners and taking his chances on a better sign-and-trade deal in the Summer. But, without a great offer for Smith, I still think Ferry chooses to play the season out and take the cap space.
and i don't know whether it's mchale or morey who has almost instituted a "no 2 point shot unless it's 5 feet away". the reason a 3 point shot is good is because there's not a huge % difference in the 21 foot shot and the 24 foot shot. but there IS a huge % difference between the 10 foot shot and the 24 foot shot.
he's got four very talented players (harden, lin, parsons, asik) and if the rox are playing run and gun, they need to sub more. if they're playing halfcourt, they need to pnr/screen more. as is, they look awful - and many of those problems are the same ones that were present during the first games of the season, except that harden was bailing them out.
Everyone keeps waiting for things to get better, and for the personnel to click with the game plan. It's not happening, and the more you watch this team the more you realize it'll never happen for this group.
Obviously everything is contingent on openness, but the numbers don't really bear this out. Away from the rim, percentages stay relatively constant no matter the difference, as you can sort of see here:
http://hoopdata.com/teamshotlocs.aspx
to be contested than the far away ones). however, there are many more opps for open closer shots in their game - they're just passing out for similarly open threes.
Why does Billy Hunter still have a job? Also, I think the fact that the majority of the players in the NBA aren't college graduates is really hurting them here. Its pretty clear that Hunter thought and knew he could take advantage of a league that wouldn't question him. Especially compared to the leadership of the other current Player Associations/unions, Billy Hunter is scum.
Of course, in other related news, the Lakers lost to the Raptors anyway.
Assistant coaches Elston Turner and Dan Majerle may be leaving organization.
I thought McHale did well as an interim with the Wolves a few years ago in terms of optimizing offense. As good as he was defensively, he did not coac it well.
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