Around the League 2/19
> People like ESPN’s Henry Abbott love to rip on the Lakers and especially Kobe Bryant for their exploits in crunch time. Abbott is probably most famous for the plethora of statistically based articles he’s written that in his mind prove that Kobe is guilty of playing “hero-ball” when Los Angeles needs a bucket with the game on the line.
I’m not denying that Bryant can force bad shots in these situations but when you look at who he’s on the court with you really can’t blame him. Laker Coach Mike Brown likes to use Derek Fisher, Kobe, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as his closing five. Let’s put aside that Brown’s offensive sets are a tad on the unimaginative side for now and focus on the people on the floor.
Fisher ranks 57th out of the 62 qualified PGs in PER ahead of only Keyon Dooling, Sebastian Telfair, Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby and Jeremy Pargo. If you prefer traditional numbers Derek is shooting 36.5% from the field and 26.7% from three. Likewise Metta is tied for 54th out of the 62 qualified SFs ahead of such fabled luminaries as Sasha Pavlovic, Damien Wilkins, teammate Jason Kapono, Travis Outlaw, Shawne Williams Ryan Gomes and Rasual Butler. World Peace also can’t hit a cow’s ass with banjo shooting 33.5% from the field and 20.6% from three.
My point being that when the game is on the line LA trots out two of the worst guys league wide at their respective positions. With Gasol and Bynum being low post players that gives the Lakers exactly one guy who can create his own shot off the dribble. So LA is basically playing 3 on 5 in crunch time and two of the three need someone else to get them the rock.
Since Fisher and MWP can’t hit open shots anymore this allows defenses to pack the paint and deny Pau and Drew the ball in the places they like to get it. This in turn then allows the defense to focus solely on Bryant whether it be by double teaming him or taking away his driving lanes. Everyone knows the Mamba’s will to win is practically unmatched so rather than force a pass to the post or create an open look for a non-shooter he does what he thinks is best which is getting himself a shot. Even if said shot is not great, which a lot of times it isn’t, it’s still better than the alternative when the bottom line is winning.
To further illustrate my point John Hollinger wrote an article this week (insider) where he explains a new rating system he created called BAD (Below Average Dependency). It’s a little on the stats-y side but in it he unveils that the Lakers have the highest BAD score as a team with 12,499 BAD points. Check it out if you can.
> I haven’t written about the 76ers yet this season because as Dennis Green would say “They are what I thought they were.” I had Philadelphia winning the Atlantic and finishing third in the East but lacking the star power to advance out of the first round of the playoffs. With the Knicks adding Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith and Baron Davis to Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler I’m not sure that Sixer President Rod Thorn can afford to sit still anymore.
I have to give credit to my former editor at the Monday Morning Mehta for this idea but it is time for Philly to sell high on a few players and get a go-to scorer and another big man in return. The combination of Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams could fetch an awful lot right now or at the 3/15 trade deadline.
Iggy was just named to his first All-Star team, is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, is shooting a career high 37.6% from three and has his highest PER since the ’08-09 season. Williams is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and is averaging career highs in points, 3-point shooting and PER (20th in the NBA overall at 22.51).
I think those two could easily return this or this or any number of other combinations that I don’t have the time or patience to concoct. Of course there are risks involved in breaking up a squad that is playing so well but I believe this Sixer group is just about at their ceiling right now and I fear it starts leveling off or going downhill come next year.
Sometimes as a GM you have to be ahead of the curve and I believe this is one of those times. I compare it to when Philly fired Larry Brown as coach but then didn’t finish the purge by unloading Allen Iverson while he still had value around the Association. Just like how the Lakers should have traded Pau Gasol the summer after they won back-to-back titles. Being a GM isn’t a popularity contest and besides getting rid of AI2 and Lou Dub opens up more space for Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday to spread their wings and develop at a faster rate.
> Anther topic I’ve been remiss in writing about is the play of Cleveland’s rookie PG Kyrie Irving. He leads all rookies in PER at 21.82 which puts him 24th overall. He’s shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.4% from three and 83.8% from the line while scoring 18.2 points, handing out 5 assists and grabbing 3.5 rebounds. He is very fundamentally sound, knows how to run a team, has a cat-quick first step and is an outstanding finisher in traffic at the rim.
The Cavaliers recently lost two of the three games Irving missed with a concussion and he’s the main reason, along with a career year from Anderson Varejao (19.23 PER), that Cleveland is on the fringes of the Eastern playoff race. Now I doubt the Cavs can stay there without Varejao (out 4-6 weeks, right wrist) but Kyrie has a Chris Paul-like ability to keep his team in every game and steal them in the end.
> On 2/13 New Orleans announced that Eric Gordon had arthroscopic surgery to correct the “bruise” on his right knee and will miss at least six more weeks. Ummm…since when do people need surgery to fix bruises? Yet again the NBA has shown us all why they shouldn’t own a team. I think there are two plausible reasons why the league would hide the severity of Gordon’s injury. 1) They are trying to preserve the franchise’s value for perspective buyers. 2) They are trying to hide the fact that Eric was already injured when they traded for him. Either way the media blackout on the topic reeks like a bad cheese, but why should Stu Jackson and his boys stop shooting themselves in the foot now?
Trade #1 (PER)
Kevin Martin – 18.13
Goran Dragic – 14.48
Luis Scola – 13.46
Lamar Odom – 10.22
New York’s record – 16-16
Trade #2
Eric Gordon – 17.65 (played in only 2 games thus far)
Chris Kaman – 14.49
Al-Farouq Aminu – 8.58
Minnesota’s record – 16-16
> Speaking of the Timberwolves I wanted to mention that they start FOUR white guys and are actually a pretty decent side. Kevin Love (26.05 PER, 4th overall) is arguably the best PF in the game and Montenegrin big man Nikola Pekovic (22.54, 19th) has been going gangbusters since permanently taking over the starting center job from Darko Milicic. Then you’ve got Spanish rookie sensation Ricky Rubio (16.13, 2nd in steals & 5th in assists league wide) and wily veteran Luke Ridnour (12.54) manning the back court. The weak link in the starting unit is by far SF Wes Johnson (6.12). Who says the white NBA player is a dying breed?
> If you haven’t already heard it I highly recommend checking out Bill Simmons’ podcast with Larry Bird. There are so many interesting tidbits I can’t even mention them all.
I’m not denying that Bryant can force bad shots in these situations but when you look at who he’s on the court with you really can’t blame him. Laker Coach Mike Brown likes to use Derek Fisher, Kobe, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as his closing five. Let’s put aside that Brown’s offensive sets are a tad on the unimaginative side for now and focus on the people on the floor.
Fisher ranks 57th out of the 62 qualified PGs in PER ahead of only Keyon Dooling, Sebastian Telfair, Toney Douglas, Mike Bibby and Jeremy Pargo. If you prefer traditional numbers Derek is shooting 36.5% from the field and 26.7% from three. Likewise Metta is tied for 54th out of the 62 qualified SFs ahead of such fabled luminaries as Sasha Pavlovic, Damien Wilkins, teammate Jason Kapono, Travis Outlaw, Shawne Williams Ryan Gomes and Rasual Butler. World Peace also can’t hit a cow’s ass with banjo shooting 33.5% from the field and 20.6% from three.
My point being that when the game is on the line LA trots out two of the worst guys league wide at their respective positions. With Gasol and Bynum being low post players that gives the Lakers exactly one guy who can create his own shot off the dribble. So LA is basically playing 3 on 5 in crunch time and two of the three need someone else to get them the rock.
Since Fisher and MWP can’t hit open shots anymore this allows defenses to pack the paint and deny Pau and Drew the ball in the places they like to get it. This in turn then allows the defense to focus solely on Bryant whether it be by double teaming him or taking away his driving lanes. Everyone knows the Mamba’s will to win is practically unmatched so rather than force a pass to the post or create an open look for a non-shooter he does what he thinks is best which is getting himself a shot. Even if said shot is not great, which a lot of times it isn’t, it’s still better than the alternative when the bottom line is winning.
To further illustrate my point John Hollinger wrote an article this week (insider) where he explains a new rating system he created called BAD (Below Average Dependency). It’s a little on the stats-y side but in it he unveils that the Lakers have the highest BAD score as a team with 12,499 BAD points. Check it out if you can.
> I haven’t written about the 76ers yet this season because as Dennis Green would say “They are what I thought they were.” I had Philadelphia winning the Atlantic and finishing third in the East but lacking the star power to advance out of the first round of the playoffs. With the Knicks adding Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith and Baron Davis to Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler I’m not sure that Sixer President Rod Thorn can afford to sit still anymore.
I have to give credit to my former editor at the Monday Morning Mehta for this idea but it is time for Philly to sell high on a few players and get a go-to scorer and another big man in return. The combination of Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams could fetch an awful lot right now or at the 3/15 trade deadline.
Iggy was just named to his first All-Star team, is a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, is shooting a career high 37.6% from three and has his highest PER since the ’08-09 season. Williams is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and is averaging career highs in points, 3-point shooting and PER (20th in the NBA overall at 22.51).
I think those two could easily return this or this or any number of other combinations that I don’t have the time or patience to concoct. Of course there are risks involved in breaking up a squad that is playing so well but I believe this Sixer group is just about at their ceiling right now and I fear it starts leveling off or going downhill come next year.
Sometimes as a GM you have to be ahead of the curve and I believe this is one of those times. I compare it to when Philly fired Larry Brown as coach but then didn’t finish the purge by unloading Allen Iverson while he still had value around the Association. Just like how the Lakers should have traded Pau Gasol the summer after they won back-to-back titles. Being a GM isn’t a popularity contest and besides getting rid of AI2 and Lou Dub opens up more space for Thaddeus Young, Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday to spread their wings and develop at a faster rate.
> Anther topic I’ve been remiss in writing about is the play of Cleveland’s rookie PG Kyrie Irving. He leads all rookies in PER at 21.82 which puts him 24th overall. He’s shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.4% from three and 83.8% from the line while scoring 18.2 points, handing out 5 assists and grabbing 3.5 rebounds. He is very fundamentally sound, knows how to run a team, has a cat-quick first step and is an outstanding finisher in traffic at the rim.
The Cavaliers recently lost two of the three games Irving missed with a concussion and he’s the main reason, along with a career year from Anderson Varejao (19.23 PER), that Cleveland is on the fringes of the Eastern playoff race. Now I doubt the Cavs can stay there without Varejao (out 4-6 weeks, right wrist) but Kyrie has a Chris Paul-like ability to keep his team in every game and steal them in the end.
> On 2/13 New Orleans announced that Eric Gordon had arthroscopic surgery to correct the “bruise” on his right knee and will miss at least six more weeks. Ummm…since when do people need surgery to fix bruises? Yet again the NBA has shown us all why they shouldn’t own a team. I think there are two plausible reasons why the league would hide the severity of Gordon’s injury. 1) They are trying to preserve the franchise’s value for perspective buyers. 2) They are trying to hide the fact that Eric was already injured when they traded for him. Either way the media blackout on the topic reeks like a bad cheese, but why should Stu Jackson and his boys stop shooting themselves in the foot now?
Trade #1 (PER)
Kevin Martin – 18.13
Goran Dragic – 14.48
Luis Scola – 13.46
Lamar Odom – 10.22
New York’s record – 16-16
Trade #2
Eric Gordon – 17.65 (played in only 2 games thus far)
Chris Kaman – 14.49
Al-Farouq Aminu – 8.58
Minnesota’s record – 16-16
> Speaking of the Timberwolves I wanted to mention that they start FOUR white guys and are actually a pretty decent side. Kevin Love (26.05 PER, 4th overall) is arguably the best PF in the game and Montenegrin big man Nikola Pekovic (22.54, 19th) has been going gangbusters since permanently taking over the starting center job from Darko Milicic. Then you’ve got Spanish rookie sensation Ricky Rubio (16.13, 2nd in steals & 5th in assists league wide) and wily veteran Luke Ridnour (12.54) manning the back court. The weak link in the starting unit is by far SF Wes Johnson (6.12). Who says the white NBA player is a dying breed?
> If you haven’t already heard it I highly recommend checking out Bill Simmons’ podcast with Larry Bird. There are so many interesting tidbits I can’t even mention them all.
posted by D$ at 2:39 PM
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