Did you know that Wesley Johnson (24), a rookie last year, is older than Kevin Love (23) and Michael Beasley (22)? Or that Beasley’s older than Ricky Rubio (21) and Derrick Williams (20)? The T’Wolves’ core is filled with youth, dreams and ceilings that reach beyond the firmament. To realize Kevin Love’s 30-30 game is to tip-toe into our past and dance with Moses Malone. To load up on youthful assets like David Kahn has done is put to faith in the future and bank on the development of at least one of Beasley, Johnson, Rubio, Anthony Randolph or Williams to partner with Love’s already historic body of work.
Being so bad for so long (last year, six teams had more wins (57 or more) than the Wolves have had over their past three years combined (56 total)), has helped Minnesota stockpile players who are barely old enough to drink. The front line is already established with a diverse threesome who can produce stats, but have struggled to generate wins. The backcourt, mostly point guard, is more mysterious. It’s not quite as confusing as crop circles, but Jonny Flynn, Luke Ridnour and Ricky Rubio give new Coach Rick Adelman options at the point. I picture a training camp where point guard front runners rotate on a daily basis like Republican Presidential candidates jockeying for position. With any luck, Kahn will throw the whole situation into chaos by drafting Marquis Teague to compete for the position in 2012.
Beyond the potential starters, Minnesota has elements of intrigue coming off the bench. Randolph perennially inspires stargazers to grab hold of isolated visions of potential and extrapolate them into 82-game projections punctuated by big, bold IFs. While the performances across his first three years as a pro have been marked by more valleys than peaks, it feels like we often forget this kid is just 22.
Then there’s Derrick Williams—Minnesota’s reward for being a terrible team yet again in 2011. Williams is an explosive combo forward; a strong rebounder with a slow, but accurate jump shot. Sometimes we see guys devour inferior competition in college, then get to the pros and look ordinary when faced with the world’s finest. Derrick is better than ordinary, but is he quick enough to guard Nicolas Batum? Is he beefy enough to bang with Serge Ibaka? Fortunately, Minnesota can ease him into these questions and peers like Love and Beasley can help provide the answers he seeks.
When winning’s not an option, an exciting underdog with a white hero to latch onto, a quadruple double threat and a previously post-hype Spanish point guard becomes an acceptable substitute. T’Wolves fans won’t have a lot of team success to celebrate this year, but the individual will be at the forefront many times over.
I know we’re all angry and upset by the league’s despicable handling of the Chris Paul trade today, but like AC Green taught us on his way to setting the NBA’s record for consecutive games played streak (1,192 straight), sometimes we have to swallow our salty tears, put a little activator in our hair and play the damn game. So tonight, in honor a man who never took a game off (except those three games he missed in his second season), I’m going to write about the Phoenix Suns; AC’s team when he broke the record.
The Phoenix Suns have had books written about them, been adored by media and fans, introduced fast break basketball to a generation who grew up with the 90s Knicks and Heat and thought bullying and intimidation was a part of the winning process; their doctors prolonged careers and their cast of characters and fan-friendly style developed something that started as a cult following but grew into full-fledged fandom. We’re all familiar with their legend and the hopes that accompanied their title runs from 2005-07. It was exciting and refreshing, beautiful and fantastic to watch Steve Nash speeding up (not down, he was and still is a one-way player) the court and shattering defensive schemes that had been designed to neutralize him … yet consistently failed. We loved it and witnessed its descent into harsh reality, wilting under the weight of time, strategic ingenuity and bad stinking luck.
But all that’s in the past and we’ve got to talk about where we are now and what the hell we’re doing here. The Suns will likely wave good-bye to a couple of aging wings in Grant Hill (New York-bound?) and Vince Carter (free agency), and probably add Shannon Brown. Barring (league approved) trades, the Suns will keep the majority of last year’s 40-42 team intact. It can’t be a time for optimism in Phoenix. Steve Nash turns 38 in February and despite the sorcery of the Suns physicians, no matter how far and fast Nash can run, time will hunt him down the way it does all of us. Nash is a free agent and at this point, he’s probably worth more to the Suns if he’s wearing a different uniform. It’s time for both parties to embrace or give a stern handshake (I get the feeling Nash is more of a hug guy though) and part ways.
Carter and Hill combined to account for just under 25% of Phoenix’s scoring last year. With Nash acting as a dribbling bodhisattva, life is easier for everyone. If Nash wills you to have points, you will have them, so I don’t anticipate scoring being a huge issue for this team. But again, here I am writing about the Suns and I’m continually drawn back to Nash. His presence as a Phoenix Sun is all encompassing.
OK, I’ll escape the Nash-vortex and acknowledge that the Suns do have a full roster. Marcin Gortat may have been the best value in the mega-player trade last December that sent Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark to Orlando for Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Gortat. He gives the Suns someone sturdy and rugged to man the paint and he can hold down the fort while Robin Lopez continues to develop. I don’t have any complaints about Pietrus or Jared Dudley. They’re both nice players in the Shane Battier mode in that they can knock down the three, both play strong defense and possess a value structure that’s appropriate for team sports as evidenced by their acceptance of roles outside the spotlight.
And then there’s Channing Frye whose career has refused to follow a predictable path: from All-NBA rookie team in 2006 to an invisible player in Portland in 2009 to potential harnessed in 2011 with Phoenix. I find this interesting mostly because of its implications for all of our lives. Maybe Frye was written off by Portland or maybe it was just a bad fit for everyone (even though Channing loved the city itself). Regardless of the cause of his departure, he joined Phoenix in the summer of 2009 and has experienced his best two seasons as a three-point shooting big man who creates matchup problems. Channing Frye’s Phoenix resurgence (Steve Nash fueled or not) reminds me to keep being inquisitive and continue to try and find congruence between ability and opportunity.
Those are all nice pieces, but they’re all complementary stylists. None of the non-Nash players I just mentioned are capable of elevating this team to anything better than the middle of the pack. Yet somehow the Suns still have nearly $50million on their payroll. Unlike the Hawks who give off a vibe of contentment, I get the feeling that people in Phoenix desperately want to be successful, they’re just not sure if they want to spend the money to do it.
That’s the Suns; still living in the inescapable shadow of a radiant past. And they’ll continue to do so until there’s a willingness from the Suns and Nash to just let go.
I can’t quite put a finger or a thumb on it, but I feel like this year’s Philadelphia 76ers are going to improve on last year’s 41-41 record and 7th seed in the playoffs. If I had big ol’, Elton Brand mitts, I bet I could get a better grasp on it, but as it stands, I just have a few ideas sketched out below. These ideas are subject to refutation by fans of the Pacers, Bucks, Knicks, Bobcats or anyone else who stands to gain from Philly failure.
Where to begin with the squad housed in the City of Brotherly Love, the home of the (Legendary) Roots Crew and formerly the greatest court in league history? Let’s start with Coach Doug Collinswho’s played, coached and commentated on the league since 1973. I was aware of Doug’s reputation as somewhat of a fixer-upper of a coach, but didn’t realize how serious it was until I took a look at his career performance as a coach:
Coach
Season
Team
W
L
Win Change
Stan Albeck
1985-86
Bulls
30
52
N/A
Doug Collins
1986-87
Bulls
40
42
+10
Doug Collins
1987-88
Bulls
50
32
+10
Don Chaney
1994-95
Pistons
28
52
N/A
Doug Collins
1995-96
Pistons
46
36
+18
Doug Collins
1996-97
Pistons
54
28
+8
Leonard Hamilton
2000-01
Wizards
19
63
N/A
Doug Collins
2001-02
Wizards
37
45
+18
Doug Collins
2002-03
Wizards
37
45
0
Eddie Jordan
2009-10
Sixers
27
55
N/A
Doug Collins
2010-11
Sixers
41
41
+14
Doug Collins
2011-12
Sixers
?
?
?
How great would it be to see Doug Collins host an NBA version of This Old House where he takes a poorly managed or neglected roster and walks us through the remodeling job? I’d watch for sure. Back to the straight dope…I’d be intentionally deceiving you if I didn’t recognize injuries and acquisitions played a role in Collins’s ability to turn a loser into a winner. The cynic might say he’s just savvy at accepting the right jobs at the right time (kind of like Red Auerbach trying to poo poo Phil Jackson’s rings) and that may be the case. But given his nearly 40 years of experience in the NBA and irrefutable successes, I would passionately disagree with those cynics.
Collins runs his team like a basketball communal. Eight players played between 21 and 37 minutes per night and six of those eight averaged double digit points with Brand leading the way at 15. Everyone contributed and did so at different positions which added to their versatility. If Evan Turner is able to develop his offensive skills and maturity and start at the two, they’ll have a pair of strong ball-handling, multi-dimensional wings to play alongside the most captivating player on the team and the primary reason I expect the Doug Collins magic to continue: Jrue Holiday: A 6’3” point guard who’s only 21, rebounds well for his position, started all 82 games last year, consistently funked up defenders with a compact spin move and has tremendous feel for the game. Part of me thinks it’s a shame that the majority of casual or local NBA fans live in the darkness when it comes to the ways of the Jrue. But then I think about it a little more and in a world where we’re saturated to the center of our beings with nonstop information to the point that we’re stressed out, anxious and distracted, I’m thankful for the truths that have yet to be mass-marketed, consumed, regurgitated and then demanded a trade…I’m thankful for Jrue Holiday.
With the natural blends of youth (Holiday, Turner, Lou Williams and maybe Thad Young and Spencer Hawes), experience (Andre Iguodala) and wisdom (Brand and Collins), and a core group that includes six to eight of their top producers from last year, Philly’s ready for organic growth and progression.
*The following was contributed by the homie Milton
When I think of the New York Knicks, the word that first comes to mind is trying. There’s been a lot of trying going on in New York for years but very little to show for it.
Sure, they’ve got two of the biggest names in the NBA under contract and fans are willing to pay admission to see them put up gaudy offensive stats and brutalize opposing defenders from 16 feet and closer, but where has this all really gotten them? In order to go forward with this team, we need to review how they got here.
When the Knicks landed Amare Stoudemire as a consolation prize in free agency 2010, the NBA was abuzz with the upcoming Stoudemire/Mike D’Antoni reunion. Amare did his part early in the 2010 season by putting up MVP numbers – 30 points in nine consecutive games is impressive. What matters more perhaps is that eight of those nine games were Knick wins and in the 9th (a home loss to Boston) Amare’s just-a-split-second-too-late-3 from the top of the key would have been the game winner. Stoudemire has never been known for his rebounding, but he was doing plenty of that early last year reaching double-digit boards in 16 of 32 games and 8+ in six more.
The cast around Amare was playing well too. Danilo Gallinari emerged as a guy that can’t be left open. Notorious fat kid and crybaby Raymond Felton was enjoying a career year. Lightly-sought-after rookie Landry Fields (Isaiah’s apologetic olive branch to NYK?) looked like a legit ROY candidate and Wilson Chandler did what he does – play good basketball and keep his mouth shut. It all seemed too good to be true. And it was.
One thing was clear from the beginning with this team: They weren’t supposed to be good yet. James Dolan’s vision of the Knicks’ return to Eastern Conference supremacy needed two things: more time and more money spent.
Carmelo Anthony made it very clear he wanted a trade to the Knicks and would only sign an extension with them. Denver, not wanting to get left with nothing in return, found itself in a bad spot. No team would give them meaningful pieces to rent Melo for the remainder of the season but Denver wasn’t going to just give him away either. For weeks the back and forth went on, the speculation in the media clearly bothered Denver and George Karl. When the deal was finally done on Feb 22nd, the Knicks gave up three key pieces (Felton, Chandler and Timofey Mozgov) for Melo, Chauncey Billups’s ball and chain of a contract, and a few other players. The Minnesota T-Wolves were involved in the deal as well, but giving David Kahn any space in this post would be wasteful, so we’ll just move on.
The results for the Knicks were nothing spectacular. The pre trade 5-man starting unit of Felton-Fields-Chandler-Gallinari-Stoudemire won 62.8% of its games while the 5-man unit of Billups-Fields-Anthony-Stoudemire-Turiaf won 50% of its games. In fact, no 5-man unit post Melo trade won more 55% of its games and each unit had a positive net turnover percentage (giving up more TOs than taking from the opposition). The Knicks made the playoffs and were promptly swept by an aging Celtics team that showed little fight in a 2nd round smothering at the hands of Lebron and D Wade. That’s all fine with Dolan and D’Antoni. 2011 was never supposed to be the Knicks’ year. This was just another season of trying because incremental improvement can be sold to fans.
As for the 2011-12 season, there’s really not too much to say about this group. They drafted Iman Shumpert from Georgia Tech – a player who rocketed up the draft board the way freak athletes do following absurd NFL combine performances but doesn’t have a true position. They’re still largely the same team that Boston swept in Round 1: Chauncey Billups is a year older. Landry Fields should be better and in my opinion is the most interesting player on this team. Melo and Amar’e will get buckets and thrill the crowd, but won’t guard anyone. And it won’t matter because Mike D’Antoni doesn’t care if they guard people. He’s been trying to win with an ill-suited system for several years. 7 Seconds or Less sounds like fun to play in but, in my view, it won’t win any rings. As constructed, I don’t think this is even a playoff team and I’ve got them penciled in for #3 in the Atlantic behind Boston and Philly.
The Knicks want Chris Paul. CP3 wants the Knicks too, in the worst of ways. If you spend any time online, you’re aware of this. If you follow the NBA, you know the Knicks don’t have the hustle to get it done. Stoudemire ($16.4 mil), Melo ($17.1 mil) and Billups ($13.1 mil) make up the vast majority of the payroll – there’s just one other player under contract set to make more than $4 million and that’s Ronny Turiaf. Zeke mortgaged their future to get guys like Eddy Curry and Jerome James so they have no picks to throw in. The only way CP ends up in a Knick uniform this year is if a third team is willing to get involved. If that’s to happen you can bet a lot of real shitty contracts will be on the move … Or CP3 can wait until next year and sign with them for dirt cheap. Not likely.
If Dolan can find a way to keep building without giving up too much of the future, the only chance they have to compete for titles is to find a coach that values both ends of the floor and all aspects of the game including developing a bench (D’Antoni is known for playing his starters heavy minutes – even in blowouts). Maybe the Knicks’ endgame is luring a highly successful, recently-retired coach back to the franchise he helped to win titles with as a player…
I’m just going to skim over the obvious Washington Wizards bullet points and save the majority of capitalonian focus for the most intriguing player in the NBA.
John Wall’s good and going to get much, much better. Hopefully all those summer games don’t sap his legs for the ultra 66-game grind.
We all know they should still be the Bullets.
The MJ era was awkward, but at least introduced us to a world where his Airness is far from infallible. At some point, we had to expect it and the Washington experience was just the first step toward mortality.
Jordan Crawford on Jordan Crawford, “I don’t tell nobody, but I feel like I can be better than Michael Jordan.”
Now that the boring shit’s out the way, let’s dissect JaVaaaaaaale McGeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
In the eyes of his peers, JaVale holds a unique place:
Ron Artest on JaVale:
“He potentially could be a really good player. I think he got to go to school a little bit more. He’s got to work on that IQ a little bit. He got to watch more tape. I don’t think he watches tape. I think he plays video games. I do. I don’t think he watches tape. I think he plays video games and I think he could possibly have an Atari. He should upgrade to a Play Station.”
Kenyon Martin on McGee:
“He’s shooting the ball like he’s Kareem. I know I’m not good, but I’m not calling for the ball.”
Lamar Odomsharing his thoughts after playing with JaVale at team USA try-outs in 2010:
“He’s not here by accident or mistake. He’s one of the most athletic players I’ve ever seen in my life…He’s 7-1, got like a David Robinson build, springs off the floor real quick, goes over the rim. If he can just get his feel for the game together, he can have an impact on a team. Because the game is called basketball, not run and jump.”
While the National Run & Jump Association has a certain ring to it, Lamar’s right. McGee’s physical talents make him one of the most captivating players in a league made up of world-class athletes and part of the reason I decided to dedicate 90% of this Wizards preview to him alone.
The director of USA Basketball, Jerry Colangelo, saw him up close during those same try-outs and added this:
“He’s very raw, he’s very young, he’s a real babe in terms of game experience and he has a real future. So that’s really how we left it with him: Keep working on your game and you may get a call sooner rather than later. You don’t know. We’re playing that by ear.
With the exception of K-Mart getting after him a bit, there’s a trend of inconsistency and lack of focus here and anyone who was willing to sit through the madcap Wizards’ antics last year knows exactly what I’m talking about. I can’t even fathom the trials and tribulations Wizards coach Flip Saunders goes through on a nightly basis:
“The cinnamon thing, that thing doesn’t cut it.”
And of McGee’s misplaced inclinations to take a defensive rebound and push the ball the length of the court?
“We’re going to eliminate his full-court dribbling, that’s what we are going to do. We’re going to eliminate or he’s going to be sitting with (reporters) at the press table for a while. Because I’ve watched that on film and that’s not good.”
Even his teammate, the 21-year-old prodigy John Wall, can see the potential impact McGee’s shenanigans have on the team:
“I don’t know what they (McGee and Nick Young) got going on. They got their own little stories, and their own little movies and they rap sometimes during the season. Basically, as long as they’re being serious and doing the right things and not playing around when its game time or when we’re having a meeting or on the road, anything like that, that’s all I can really focus on.”
McGee’s in a precarious situation in Washington. Like most youngsters, he could benefit greatly from the presence of a few veterans and some stability. Instead, he’s surrounded by other young’ns like Wall, Andray Blatche, Crawford and Young—he’s not that young by NBA standards, but still acts a fool from time to time. In the midst of that prankster-loving environment, McGee’s improved his game in each of his three seasons. His points, rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage, minutes played, games played, PER and offensive and defensive win shares all reached career highs last year. Just beyond the desperate cries for consistency from all corners of the NBA globe is the truth; JaVale’s rapidly improving and he’s only 23.
It’s a lot easier to get excited about a guy before he arrives. It’s the reason people have been flipping their shit about Anthony Randolph since he left LSU and the cause for Rubio mania. If we get a glimpse of that shining star potential, we’re hungry and imaginative about a cosmos full of possibilities and all the while the kids we pin these hopes on are just that … kids; still growing, still developing, still becoming. Some make it, some don’t and then some do this:
Deep in the heart of the south, in a place marked by crisscrossing highways and oppressive heat; an NBA franchise and its fans live in dull, apathetic pain. The strange ownership saga that began back in 2005 when the Atlanta Spirit group purchased the team is finally over, but the 2011 team, like its predecessors dating back to the Dominique Wilkins days seem destined to forever be a potential playoff spoiler and nothing more. Where Nique’s Hawks were at least entertaining, this bunch has become plodding and predictable (they ranked 27th out of 30 teams in pace last year).
The Hawks’ current path can be traced back to July 8th, 2010 when they made the decision to re-sign a then 29-year-old Joe Johnson to a six-year, $119million deal that will wind up paying him just under $25million in 2016, when he’s 35. This is the same Joe Johnson who’s made just one All NBA team (and it was an All NBA Third team) in his ten-year career. The same Joe Johnson who completed the 2010-11 season with his least productive numbers since 2006 and he’s going to be eating up nearly half of Atlanta’s cap space for the foreseeable future.
Then there’s Al Horford, Josh Smith and Jeff Teague who provide at least a glimmer beyond the dull glow of an annual second round playoff defeat. I’m trying to find something to get excited about with this team, but I’ve seen them play, there’s just not much to look forward to. At least last year Jamal Crawford had the imagination to occasionally captivate the audience. Now there’s just Jeff Teague; a 23-year-old point guard entering his third year enveloped in hopeful curiosity after his performance as a fill-in for the injured Kirk Hinrich in the playoffs. Teague could be what the Hawks have previously resisted (I won’t revisit the painful details of the 2005 draft): a pace-pushing starting point guard. The eight-game audition last spring isn’t enough to start pulling back flips and actually buying tickets to Hawks’ games, but at least it’s a departure from what’s become routine from Joe, Horford and Josh Smith (stop shooting those threes!).
With $65million committed to just nine players they have under contract, don’t expect many recognizable free agents heading to Atlanta. And since they had just one pick in the 2011 draft (Keith Benson from Oakland University), we’ll see the same crew they trotted out last year—minus Crawford and with Teague seeing more of a featured role early in the season while Hinrich recovers from shoulder surgery.
It’s not all bad though. With Boston’s big three getting older and losing some of that bark (looking at you, KG) and Orlando being distracted by new trade rumors every day, there’s an opportunity for the Hawks to be the third best team in the conference. It seems like the front office is content in that three-to-five range where they’re guaranteed to make the playoffs and, so their logic seems, at least have a chance to win it all. I blame these low expectations directly on the 2008 playoffs when the upstart eight-seed Hawks captivated the basketball world by taking the eventual champion Celtics to seven games in the first round. It was at that time that someone in Atlanta’s front office came to the conclusion that the underdog can win in the NBA and the teams they’ve built over the past three seasons have reflected that flawed rationale.
I’m sure the good marketing people in Atlanta are cooking up some compelling reasons to support the Hawks, but until this team redesigns its aesthetic and commitment to winning, I’d be hard pressed to spend money watching this them and based on last year’s attendance numbers, the residents of the Peach State agree.
For as long as I’ve been following the NBA, the Utah Jazz have been identifiable by the presence of players and a single coach who’ve cultivated a respectable workmanlike ethos. From their ancient leathery coach, Jerry Sloan, the approach flowed toward the blue collar duo of Stockton and Malone and was seamlessly transitioned to a modern-day version in Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. The Jazz we knew are no more.
The new Jazz are a mishmash of good, but not great players. Their fans go to sleep at night whispering soft prayers to the basketball gods, “Please let this be the year of The Al Jefferson. And maybe if you could see to it that Derrick Favors can become a starter and Enes Kanter can be the real deal; well, it’d kinda cool. ” Regardless of how the basketball gods respond to those requests, big Al’s support system is still young, shallow and somewhat unreliable. That description might sound more applicable to a group of teenagers, but it fits the new Jazz too. Al’s flanked by delicate Devin Harris (averages missing 14 games per year) and Paul Millsap. After that it starts getting lean. It doesn’t look like Andrei Kirilenko is going to re-sign which leaves Gordon Hayward (a tribute to classical Jazz roots), CJ Miles and Raja Bell to fight for the last two starting spots.
This isn’t a squad to inspire fear in the hearts of competitors. Unless Kanter and Favors are able to replicate some Ralph Sampson/Akeem Olajuwon mid-80s type performances, these guys should fall short of the playoffs again. With a group of good players, but no anchor, no Deron or Karl, it’s going to be a challenging climb into the top-eight in the conference. Looking at their opponents last year, they were able to compete with non-playoff teams and Eastern Conference foes, but consistently struggled against inter-conference playoff teams:
Opponent
Games
Wins
Losses
Win%
Vs West Conf Playoff teams
31
10
21
32.3%
Vs Non West Playoff teams
21
11
10
52.4%
Vs East Conf Playoff teams
16
8
8
50.0%
Vs Non East Playoff teams
14
10
4
71.4%
If Jefferson makes the leap to an elite post player (very possible given his skill-set and the lack of quality bigs in the league) and Favors/Kanter/Hayward make significant improvements, the Jazz could leapfrog Denver or New Orleans for one of the last playoff spots; aka lambs to the Mavs/Lakers/Thunder slaughter. It’s not a contending team, but the Jazz have just enough talent to compete for the playoffs and just enough youth to keep fans intrigued by a promising, but undefined future. It’s OK to let go; Karl, John, Deron, Jerry and especially Al insist on it.
The Thunder used to be in Seattle and I live in Seattle, so it seems like a good place to start previewing teams. And if you read my posts during the playoffs last season, you know I had a mostly-healthy fascination with the Thunder and the inexplicable decision making of their sparkplug point guard, Russell Westbrook.
Six months later and I still see Russell as the lynchpin of this organization’s development. They’re one of the few (possibly only) teams that return their entire roster from last year—a team that won its division and made it to the Western Conference finals. Oh, and four of the top seven in their rotation are under 24-years-old. If you’re an Oklahoma City fan, you have every reason to be frothing at the mouth when you think about the potential of this team.
But it goes back to Westbrook. I watched OKC play throughout last season and have heard/read their fans saying that no one should be surprised with Russell’s playoff performance; that’s just Russell being Russell. And to an extent, I agree. His decision making, or lack thereof, has driven Americans batshit crazy since he entered the league in 2008 (he’s started 229 of 246 games in his young career). It’s easy to dismiss his mistakes as a consequence of being a developing youngster learning through failure (the old Jordan way) and all we can do is hope that’s the case. On the surface, Russell may have been as Iverson-esque as he’s been for the duration of his career, but he just did it less efficiently while increasing his volume:
Westbrook Stats
Regular season
Playoffs
Change
Field-goal attempts/game
16.95
20.18
+19%
3pt Field Goal attempts/game
1.26
2.82
+125%
Usage Rate
31.6%
34%
+2.4%
Field-goal Percentage
44.2%
39.4%
-4.8%
PER (performance efficiency rating)
23.6
19.6
-4
eFG% (effective field goal %)
45.4%
41.4%
-4%
TS% (true shooting %)
53.8%
49.9%
-3.9%
Turnovers/game
3.9
4.6
+17.6%
The regular season-to-playoff drop-offs are disturbing and indisputable. Russell’s shot/pass selection was always suspect, but it got worse when it mattered the most. With creative geniuses, we accept the mistakes alongside the eye popping, text-message inspiring tip dunks, but for the 2011 playoffs, we saw both from Russell, just far too many of the turnover/missed shot variety.
This year will be a telling one in the Thunder’s evolving catalog. While the rest of the league’s stars spin off to form super-friend mini all-star clusters, Oklahoma City’s faced with the opposite conundrum: Too many youngsters desperate for individual acceptance; aka too many cooks in the kitchen. In the 80s, this group would’ve stayed together for a decade and won a couple titles at the least. And if Westbrook and Durant were on separate teams, they might be banging down doors to play alongside each other. As it stands though, these guys seem like a break-up waiting to happen. Kevin Durant plus Russell Westbrook plus Serge Ibaka plus James Harden… it’s great to watch, but based on math alone, it doesn’t feel sustainable. Whether our imagined Westbrook versus Durant rivalry come to fruition or Harden’s beard decides to take him to more fertile hardwoods or the salary cap decidesSam Prestijust can’t afford Ibaka; something’s got to give. Even The Beatles broke up once.
On their darkest days, they remain one of the three best teams in the west. Give them a healthy Kendrick Perkins and 66 games to gel and anything less than a conference finals appearance is a letdown. But a little growth and a little “get by with a little help from my friends”, and they’re a contender. Given their youth and what the average 24-year-old is doing at this age, the awesome expectations for this team could be their demise or the sentiment that drives them to unified success.
Hey kids, gather round. We’re 22 days away from tipping off the 2011-12 NBA regular season. From the outside looking in, the acrimony between the owners and players seems like it happened years ago. It might be winter, but we’re in the midst of a great thawing. Everyone’s already resuming their natural roles (front offices and agents negotiating, players working out at team facilities, players angling for trades via the media—just like riding a bike) and sticking to the script. Despite the oncoming maelstrom of transactions, it all feels serene and peaceful now that the lockout is mostly over.
As we move into year one of this six-year truce, I intend to write a brief prologue of each of the league’s 30 teams. Since we have roughly three weeks until the season starts and I work a full-time job, it’s altogether possible that I’m undertaking too much and will suffocate under the weight like a small man under a large garbage pile. It’s also worth acknowledging that the league might move too fast for me. If I write that the Nets have a gaping hole at power forward and then they sign David West; there’s nothing to be done—except a quick edit which probably won’t happen (I owe you honesty if nothing else).
So without wasting any more of your time or my time, let’s look to the future and hope for the sunny days.
If my head and all the gooey contents inside it happen to spontaneously explode and splatter across the white walls of my apartment or the dual monitors of my cubicle, I ask my friends, family and colleagues to please leave the remnants as a reminder/tribute/warning sign to an accelerated NBA free agency period.
As a Junky, it’s in my genes to shoot up free agent gossip with a great big syringe. The machine’s already been kicked into gear by people who move in the shadows and go by names like “unnamed sources” and apparently Chris Broussard knows a lot of these people. It’s impossible to tell if this will be a good or bad experience for NBA teams. I see two possibilities (although other outcomes are likely):
Good for the teams! Hooray! Instead of signing players in July, general managers get five full months to plan on white boards and balance sheets! How could this be bad? NBA teams typically start negotiating with players on July 1st and following a week-long moratorium, are able to sign players on or around July 8th. From there, the market shakes out LeBron James signing first and the rest of the league following suit. Of course, players and teams have likely been flirting behind the scenes (moving in shadows and shit) so it’s not like July is speed dating for players and teams. That being said, the first ten days of July are when the action goes down. One could infer that teams having an extra few months to consider the vast combinations of players and contracts would be more than a good thing; it’d be a great thing. A big part of the new CBA was helping the owners and management help themselves. The amnesty clause is the poster child of the league, owners and players acknowledging the need for the occasional do over. Of course, not all (likely) amnesty casualties are the result of owners and management making bad decisions, but it provides teams a one-time out and is GMs admitting, “Hey man, sometimes we fuck up too.” While the negotiations haven’t been allowed until now, front offices and coaching staffs had to have been discussing potential free agents …. right?
The second possibility? Well, if front offices have consistently made shitty decisions when they haven’t been under the gun or navigating through a brand new set of contracts and rules, then how well do you expect them to perform under duress? Sure, they may have had a few more months to try and put the puzzle together, but without contact with agents or players, how well could it possibly have gone; especially when you consider no one knew what kind of salary cap structure to expect. I don’t believe that NBA GMs have an easy job. It’s not easy to assess how human beings are going to perform in new surroundings in a new system with new co-workers and a new boss. Shit can and does go wrong; that’s life in my office, your office and theirs. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a huge, stinking bagful of excruciatingly shitty decisions to be made over the next three weeks.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us with question marks. We’ve got to rely on guys like Broussard and Danny Ainge to provide us with information we can trust, but we can’t trust them so we’ve got to speculate and that leads to rumors and bad information. We’re already struggling beneath the weight of Dwight Howard and Chris Paul rumors—and they’re not even free agents; but I guess that’s what happens when the top free agents are Nene, David West and Tyson Chandler.
No, my head probably won’t explode, but with a new CBA set to change the way teams do business (supposedly), an amped up free agency period and a shortened season, we’re slap dab in the middle of an NBA transformation and only God (if he’s watching) and Henry Abbott really know what’s going to happen.
Dancing With Noah 