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The jackass trustee went public to call Groce 2nd tier and say he had forwarded on a resume from the "Oregon State coach" who he thinks would be a better fit. It's a joke.
Chicago is 12-5 sans rose and 28-6 with him. They're a good team without him; they're an elite team with him. I guess that was never really in doubt.
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As a Michigan fan who went through the whole "Les Miles is ready to sign on the dotted line but the AD is on sailing trip and doesn't have his cell phone turned on" I feel for Illinois fans. Sometimes highly paid, supposedly smart people do incompetent things.
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Yes, they need Rose up to speed and in game shape. If he's not 100%, it's not worth rushing him back too soon and causing it to linger longer than necessary. Same is also true of Rip, but he does need to be on the court more now than learning in the playoffs.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090327/NEWS/903279935/1007?p=2&tc=pg
I try to be reticent about team dynamics issues; what I am seeing in the Lakerblogoshere today is a lot of long-distance psychoanalysis. Bryant talked at length with Kevin Ding about it:
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bryant-346596-bynum-game.html
That noted, my own WAGs/asspulls about the issues:
1. Bynum is a pretty smart guy and has worked hard on his game and on his many rehabs. But he has spent ages 18-24 in the Laker/NBA Bubble and has an entitled, immature side to his personality that we have seen many times: the dirty shots at Barea and Beasley, the Playboy Playmate thing, parking in the handicapped zones. This game was another example.
2. ISTM that Mike Brown does not have the presence of mind or force of personality to establish the flow of mutual respect between players and coaches that successful teams usually have. It may not actually BE that way--but it seems like it. A guy on a blog had a funny line about Brown: "He doesn't seem like an NBA coach. He seems like a sitcom dad playing an NBA coach."
In fairness to Brown, 31-19 is certainly a reasonable record for the Lakers, given their talent base, noting that they have been quite fortunate with injuries this year. And, yes, Kobe is still a very formidable player, they have the two bigs, and now they have a competent PG. But even with those plusses, Brown's job this year would not be easy for any coach. Still, he seems to impress no one other than Jim Buss.
For me, though, it always goes back to the game on the floor. The Lakers have struggled on D lately, particularly in the 4th quarter. A Lakers fan posted this at a blog yesterday:
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Part of this is the depth in the West, part of it is the Lakers being slow, but I also think part of it may be Brown riding his horses too hard and not being able to get them to fight through it late. And Bynum has not played well on D at all recently--and they need him to.
In his defense, he'll never get to 2/9 without shooting another 3. He's at 12.5% now. 2/9 would be 22% and 1/9 would only be 11%! He has so much to gain and so little to lose by shooting another 3!
Bynum, however, remains a good defensive anchor, in the big picture.
As far as the "untouchable luster" line, that is badly outdated. In the early summer of 2011, that line went around the net, but Buss to my knowledge was never quoted directly as saying it. Here is Buss from ESPN Radio four days ago:
I don't think so, but I am very biased. I think Bryant, Fisher and TAFKARA could have brought him around a little. Odom is out of shape physically, as well, though. But the downgrade from 2011 Odom to 2012 Murphy and McRob is obviously huge. Bynum, Gasol and Bryant have pretty much done as as much as they can to take up the slack, but it is a huge gap.
How about this: Phil replaces Vinny D and the 2013 Clippers bring in Odom as a bench player, Fisher as an assistant coach, and hire Jeannie Buss, ;-
Obviously, the Paul deal would have been good for the Lakers, but OTOH:
1. They may not use the TPE. I would bet they don't, actually, and buying out Odom = more cap space for Cuban.
2. Murphy and McRob pretty much suck.
Jordan Hill supposedly has an MCL issue, so perhaps I have been too hard on Brown for not getting him a little run.
But he's not worth the max...
In a vacuum, I'm perfectly happy with it. He's recruited in the Big10 before, he's young and energetic, he's done well in the tourney; lots of reasons to believe he'll be successful. Had he been the main target from the beginning, I'm sure there would still be factions saying he wasn't a big enough name or wasn't a home run hire, but because of everything that's happened it's going to take a lot of work from him and Thomas to sell him to everyone. So that just makes the job harder than it needs to be. Thomas really hasn't covered himself in glory since he's started, so hopefully for his sake all of his hires turn out to be great.
Unsure as to who he could have gotten that would be better. There's no obvious Mike Leach on the basketball side.
Well, that's the thing though - perception vs reality. Were Smart or Stevens better options? And the 'could have gotten part' counts too, since those were pretty public failings. Beckman was at best the 2nd choice to Sumlin, and now Groce is at best the 3rd choice (the Chicago papers keep counting the 3 guys from 1702 as other picks that turned the job down even though they didn't get offers).
Furtado showed up and announced he was closing it. He said it had gone too far afield and he didh't like the "writing for the slow ones" line (don't know who posted that).
He didn't "close" the thread. He zapped it. There's a big difference between the two. "Closing" a thread means announcing that "this thread is closed to further comments". It doesn't mean putting up an announcement for a few minutes and then erasing the thread from the database.
I agree that the thread wasn't one of the better political threads we've seen, but erasing it completely is far worse than simply ending it.
And where do you suggest I put it, since there's no existing alternative?
He just asked a question about a site situation, and I answered it. No big deal.
Andy,
Furtado specifically used the word "closed" in his post. So you might want to drop him a line about the issue.
Furtado specifically used the word "closed" in his post. So you might want to drop him a line about the issue.
Not only was it zapped and not "closed", but that explanation couldn't have been up there for more than five minutes before the whole thread disappeared from the site completely, including on the bookmarks column. I would have had no objection to a shutdown of a thread which had run its course (as this one pretty much had), but erasing it completely is an entirely different matter.
Did not realize that, thought they just closed it, rather than disappearing. Classy.
Sorry to have pissed in the group Corn Flake bowl. Enjoy the rest of your day!
I'd say go Knicks, but they're back to sucking again, right?
Tony Allen is unstoppable, shooting 93.8%. The Greatest Closer in NBA History (not named MJ) is shooting 27.9%. Maybe Bynum chucking 3's isn't that bad of a late game strategy.
Groce has experienced success on a national stage, whereas Beckman hasn't particularly. Part of that is the structure of college football. I'm much happier with this hire than football.
How is there no one from the Bulls showing up on that at all? I don't see any minimum requirements, and it's goes all the way to Battier's 0.0 pts average.
Those are the requirements listed at the top of the page :). Odd about the Bulls though...
That's really cool. Faried's defense had been George Karl's standard answer for why fans should expect only a gradual introduction of Faried into the lineup. (I wonder if Karl was ok w/the Nene trade.) Interesting to see it actually quantified.
We know you're a Hater, big guy. Don't need to keep showing us.
I'm starting to wonder if outl13r is Henry Abbott.
A lot of good stuff at NBA.com advanced stats as well as 82games.com.
NBA.com's new breakdown stuff in particular is really good.
That's what I get for posting before coffee. If there are minimums, then I would guess that 35 minutes is the bare minimum. Apparently the list hasn't been updated in 6 weeks either.
I legitimately believe Kobe to be the 2nd greatest closer in NBA history that I've seen. Just because I think he shouldn't be taking as many shots NOW doesn't take away from that; it's a product of his having quality teammates and injuries/age taking away from his efficiency.
If you're serious, I'm sure you could tweet at him. But you'd also want to be careful of recruiting violations.
The Knicks are winning. If it's enough to be anymore than getting the 7th or 8th seed and an almost certain 1st round exit, we'll see. Turns out D'Antonio wasn't the right coach for that bunch. Go figure.
Letting guys play in the NBA a week after their team is eliminated from the tournament would be disastrous, and that's to say nothing of his wrist injury. Be patient!
Edit--Berg's take is more judicious ;-)
I take it to mean DraftExpress thinks he'll be drafted. That's going to happen. Whether he's a bust is a different issue.
Odd. I definitely think of Jackson as being at least as good as Miller.
Worst Case: Mark Jackson
I don't follow college guys, outside of a precious few, until a few weeks before the NBA draft, but Mark Jackson was pretty good. That's his floor?
FTFY.
Edit: Sorry, you're right, it should be a week after the Final Four ends. Can't encourage tanking to get paid.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jackso003mar
I'm astounded that (1) there's never been a major league player named "Mark Jackson" and (2) that no one sees any problems with a point guard who can't shoot and can't finish at the rim?
his offensive game's looked a lot better since January. sure, he has flaws. everybody does. sure, floor of "Mark Jackson" seems ambitious. but I'd pick him ahead of, eg, Harrison Barnes...
And yeah, I've been unimpressed by Harrison Barnes. He strikes me as a role-player, not a #1 or #2 on a championship team.
Apparently so, because when I first saw that name, I thought you were referencing Randolph Childress as cautionary can't shoot PG tale.
I'd worry about his ability to guard.
Man, I still think Harrison Barnes can be a nice knockdown shooter. I wouldn't want my career depending on it, and I can't say I'd want any team I like to get him, but I'd rather have him than Marshall. Marshall's helped by a) no other point guards being worth anything this year and b) UNC getting bombed after he got hurt.
Randolph Childress was awesome, loved that dude.
Doesn't he go to school in Florida? I think your answer is right there.
Dude's projected to be the top wing and a top 5. Take the money, man.
Gay slipped to 8th in the draft, and in hindsight, he probably should have gone 3rd (or 4th, after Rondo, but few saw that coming). Of course, 2006 was a terrible draft.
5 of the Lakers' last 16 are against SA and OKC.
I could be wrong, but I believe Gay was perceived as your typical "freak athlete", whereas Barnes is usually just talked about as having "ideal athleticism". Gay is a good player, but I think the folks who questioned his will to win were at least halfway right. He doesn't strike me as the type of competitor that Kobe, Rose, Lebron, Wade and Paul are, although to be fair, few are.
He's from St. Louis. Beal has plenty of experience living in unpleasant areas.
I took that to mean that he seems to be going pro if he's spending school time in STL to think about it. Probably not a scientific truth, but there's some sense to that.
PJ- I have also thought of Gay in relation to Barnes. Granger and Deng are the other pros who cut a similar figure, all with very different games, obviously. I think he is probably the least explosive and worst off the dribble of that group, but I don't think the deficit is so large that he can't be a productive player. I'm also interested to see how he develops defensively. The things that make pros good defenders are not necessarily as the things that work in college (esp perimeter) and I'm not very good at making those translations.
This one is currently a Sixers post-game analyst and is incredibly bad at it. Hopefully Marshall can do better than Marc's 7 three-pointers in 7 NBA seasons.
As for Marshall - I don't want a guy who can't score and can't play defense. It's not like he's Steve Nash with the basketball for setting up teammates, merely NBA caliber.. I think his pros are being overrated and his cons are not properly appreciated. I would bet anyone any amount of money that he'll be a bust by any reasonable definition of the word.
As much as I hate Duke, one of my favorite live basketball viewing moments was at a Duke game against Wake Forest with Childress in 95. My college roommate's dad is a big time Duke booster and we went up to Durham from Atlanta for the game at Duke with Childress,Duncan and Rusty LaRue playing against Cherokee and Langdon. We (5 of us from college) had floor seats and watched Childress just shoot the lights out in the 2nd half to come from behind with a last second bucket to win. We were obviously rooting against Duke and so Cameron Arena's silence was about as good as a moment as I've ever had in an arena (plus we sat right behind the Duke cheerleaders). I swore at the time Childress was going to be Joe Dumars-lite but alas his NBA career never really happened.
Edit: It's getting embarrassing.
A guy who's intriguing is Henson. He could be a Varejao-lite.
Henson: 29 mpg, 13.7 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.9 bpg
ADavis: 32 mpg, 14.3 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 4.6 bpg
Obviously the blocks are a big difference. Davis is also a more efficient shooter, and Henson's two years older. But Henson could have a nice career.
Happy to oblige you.
But, yeah, Randolph is awesome.
Who can really guard Russell Westbrook, though?
This probably isn't a bad analysis. I don't think Gay is a good comparison at all. Gay is not only more athletic in just about every sense - speed, quickness, jumping - but Gay isn't afraid to drive. The biggest issue that I have with Barnes, and a lot of analysts do, is that he's content with shooting. He doesn't drive. Now, some of that may be UNC, some may be his inability to beat guys off the dribble, and some may be passiveness. It may change, but right now he's too content with jump shots.
And he gets almost zero assists. Again, it may be UNC's offense, but if he can't pass, that's a major issue.
Barnes is somewhere between Hayes and Elliott - how's that for specificity.
Davis was waaay more of a bruiser than Henson, though I like both dudes.
I said this upthread, but there have been a lot of point guards who aren't great at shooting or finishing at the rim (like Rubio). Or shooting and defense (like Mark Jackson*, Ramon Sessions). Or shooting and defense and finishing at the rim (Avery Johnson, who's faster but also a lot shorter). Or...
Marshall has a solid ceiling (outstanding playmaker + solid size and the potential to improve as a shooter) and a pretty low floor - he's an interesting ballplayer. I'd consider taking him, sure.
I liked Marc Jackson - he did a nice job of turning himself into a useful guy.
Whenever I watched Randolph Childress play, he destroyed people. Looking at his college numbers - he was pretty good (better than they may appear at first glance in some ways, due to shooting a lot of threes and free throws), worse in others (high minutes inflate numbers, plus some red flags for his future prospects with things like so so stl/min #s). Kudos to the league for not taking him higher than 19th, particular given just how awful his pro career turned out (not helped by his ACL).
* I love draftexpress but Mark Jackson is third all time in assists - that's nobody's floor.
Zach Lowe on corner 3pts.
I've seen a couple of places wondering how good the Bulls are without Rose, like Beckely Mason here and in the daily dime article by Hollinger linked in the first paragraph.
I've also really enjoyed Heat Week at the CourtVision blog.
I think Shaq is working on his.
Does Adonal Foyle? Wasn't he really smart?
I think Jimmy nailed the thing that sticks out about Barnes- he loves settling for midrange jumpers and it is disconcerting. True, maybe it is a system thing at UNC. Another guy who comes to mind who seems like he should have been better at driving is OJ Mayo. In both cases, I watch the guy and wonder why he isnt more aggressive off the dribble. Mayo has made himself a useful player despite almost never getting to the rim. Of course, with Barnes being bigger and playing forward instead of guard, you would expect him to play in and around the paint more. Mayo can shoot some threes and is a very good defender, so Barnes has to do more than just be a good jump shooter.
I guess a recent SF who has built an effective offensive game around jumpers is Josh Howard. If Barnes can rebound like Howard did before his injury, that is the sort of plus factor like Mayo's defense, and would probably warrant something like the 5th or 6th pick. If he doesn't rebound but learns to get ot the line 6+ times per game, that could make him Ricky Pierce, and that is also a good outcome. Definitely an interesting guy.
Marshall- I think he is a good late lotto guy because I think is floor is something like Darrell Armstrong or Anthony Carter: a limited scorer who can facilitate enough to effectively run the second unit. If he is a horrid defender, that changes things (although you don't need to be Gary Payton to man up on Keyon Dooling or Patty Mills for 15 minutes). I just don't know enough about his defense or- like I said yesterday- exactly how college defenses systems/skills translate into the pros to say confidently that he will be useless.
Barnes is a conundrum to me, right now he looks hesitant...sort of paralysis by anlysis. I think he could have a Mashburn-type career maybe, or if he decided to focus on defense, he could be a Battier-type. But he needs to get his confidence back - another year at UNC would have helped..
Is it possible that Barnes was a guy who was really tall and really good at shooting a basketball at a young age, but whose upside is limited beyond that?
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