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Blogtable: ‘Cats, Cavs, Wizards

January 2, 2013  ·  11:43AM




Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Week 10: The best team in the NBA | Show us you’re worth it | Best, worst: ‘Cats, Cavs or Wizards

At the end of the season, who has the best record: Charlotte, Washington or Cleveland? Worst?

Steve Aschburner: Ah yes, the single-digit sweepstakes, the NBA equivalent of lobsters trying to claw over each other to get out of the pot. My guess for the final ranking of the Eastern Conference’s three worst teams is 1) Cavaliers, 2) Wizards, 3) Bobcats. Cleveland has two guys – Kyrie Irving and Anderson Varejao – who have played at an All-Star level, something neither Washington nor Charlotte can boast. The Wizards are anticipating a bump when point guard John Wall returns, though their head coach – Randy Wittman – probably is shakiest of the three fellows leading these clubs. The Bobcats remain in developmental mode, with victories nice, but playing time and seasoning as higher priorities for their young players. No team, frankly, is playing less to win this season than Charlotte – and that mission likely will be accomplished.

Fran Blinebury: With a healthy Kyrie Irving back in the lineup, I like Cleveland in this race of bottom dwellers. But that’s assuming the Cavs don’t unload Anderson Varejao at the trade deadline.  The worst of the bunch is clearly the Wizards, a train-wreck of a franchise that long ago went over the basketball cliff.

Jeff Caplan: I want to say Cleveland will have the best record of three solely because of Kyrie Irving. He’s a phenomenal talent, but he has so little help. So I’m picking Charlotte to have the best record of this woeful trio. Even though they lost 18 in a row, as crazy as that sounds. I think they have a better overall roster and the pain from  the seven-win season remains with them. As for the Wizards, I am impressed how hard this team plays yet nets so few results. Unless John Wall returns soon and is spectacular immediately, this group will remain in the cellar.

Scott Howard-Cooper:  Washington. There, I said it. The Wizards need to make up four games to move to the front of your illustrious pack. That is very much within reason because (a) they are planning to have John Wall and Nene healthy the second half of the season, and (b) the Cavaliers and Bobcats are the competition. Cleveland will challenge for the lead as well. Worst: Charlotte. While the long losing streak is not a true read – the Bobcats are better than that – the roster has more holes than the others.

John Schuhmann: I can’t begin to tell you how many times I was asked this exact question at my holiday get-togethers. Such a hot topic in the streets! Cleveland will finish with the best record of the three, because Kyrie Irving is the best player on any of these teams and the Cavs have played the toughest schedule in the Eastern Conference thus far. And Charlotte will finish with the worst record of the three, because they’re just awful on both ends of the floor. The Wizards have been good enough defensively to keep them in some games, and maybe John Wall will be back soon.

Sekou Smith: Based on the presence of Kyrie Irving alone the Cavaliers should be the pick. But the Bobcats, even with that nasty losing streak on their first quarter report card, still sit ahead of both of the Cavaliers and Wizards in the standings right now. As much as they’ve been ridiculed here and elsewhere for their struggles, it’s hard to see how two teams that couldn’t make up ground on a team in the midst of a staggering 18-game losing streak are all of a sudden going to pass the Bobcats up now that the worst is presumably over. And to their credit, the Bobcats battled during that losing streak. They were not just taking beatings without putting up a fight. That kind of intestinal fortitude will come in handy over the next three and a half months of action.

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A Six-pack Under The All-Star Radar

December 26, 2012  ·  5:57PM



HANG TIME, Texas — All-Star.

It’s a word that explodes rather than rolls off the tongue. It’s the gaudy label that usually gets attached to the players who crackle, pop and send sparks flying like an electricity transformer that’s been struck by lightning.

But what of the players who spend their long careers quietly humming through the power lines and rarely getting noticed?

The patron saint of the overlooked is Eddie Johnson, who played 17 seasons with the Kings, Suns, Sonics, Hornets, Pacers and Rockets, 1,199 games and scored more points (19,202) than any player in NBA history without once being selected to play in the All-Star Game. He still ranks in the top 50 all-time scorers in the league, ahead of Hall of Famers Gail Goodrich and Scottie Pippen.

Sitting at Johnson’s right hand is Derek Harper, who played 16 seasons with the Mavericks, Knicks, Magic and Lakers and retired in 1999 ranking 11th on the all-time steals and 17th in career assists and never got a single chance to take an All-Star bow.

So with a nod of appreciation for their efforts and in honor of Johnson and Harper, it’s time to take a look at a six-pack of current players who have been flying under the radar and might be due some All-Star love before they’re gone:

Jamal Crawford, Clippers, 13th season — All those years of playing for bad teams in Chicago, New York, Golden State and Portland with the only two playoff seasons of his career mixed in with the Hawks has built up and often well-deserved reputation as a mad gunner who’ll take any shots as soon as he’s in the building. But consider those teams, consider that he was often cast in exactly that role to provide big points off the bench. Now he’s in a perfect place in reserve with the best-in-the-NBA Clippers and is having the time of his career.

Al Jefferson, Jazz, 9th season — He’s learned to use those big hands to become a very good passer out of double-teams, but his strength is still as a low post scorer from the left block. His scoring average is down a bit over the past few seasons because he doesn’t have to carry so much of the load with an influx of talent. Nothing at all fancy about the way he plays, but shows up every game to put in an honest night’s work and produces. Playing the bulk of your career in Minnesota and Utah will never help anybody’s profile. He has deserved his due.

Kevin Martin, Thunder, 9th season – How foolish now does anyone feel who wondered if this guy would be able to step into the hole left by James Harden’s departure in Oklahoma City? There’s no beard and he doesn’t have the explosiveness, but having already proven over a seven-year span in Sacramento and Houston that he could carry an offense, now he fits like a hand inside a custom-sown glove with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. He’s shooting a career-best-by-far 45.5 percent on 3s, 93 percent on free throws and, most important, has not caused OKC to miss a beat.

Andre Miller, Nuggets, 14th season — How does a guard you’d never want taking a shot with your life on the line keep moving ahead in his second decade in the league? But using his slick veterans moves to get to the rim himself or to use his amazing passing skills to get up his teammates for layups or dunks. Either way the result is usually an easy finish. In every one of his seasons there have always been other point guards who were faster and quicker and could fill up the basket more. But a guy with his smarts and productivity should have taken one All-Star bow by now.

Josh Smith, Hawks, 9th season – Because he’s still only 27, because he can still make your jaw drop from either a stupendous or stupid shot, the NBA world has managed to turn right by Smith. That’s despite his putting together a career stat line — soon to be 10,000 points, 5,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists and 1,000 blocked shots — that will rank him among the all-time greats. There are signs that he’s finally learning and other times when his shot selection still makes you cringe. If there is a current player who can eclipse Eddie Johnson as the best to never play in a single All-Star Game, it’s J-Smoove. But at 27, maybe there’s still plenty of time.

Anderson Varejao, Cavs, 9th season – For the early part of his career he was merely the one-trick pony who threw himself around like a bucking bronco just let out of the chute. But now Varejao is leading the league in rebounding at 14.4 per game, also averaging a career-high 14.1 points and therefore is tied for fourth place in double-doubles with 16 in his first 25 games. While the big question around the league is whether a would-be contender will be able to pry him away from the rebuilding Cavs, the other is if Cleveland’s place near the bottom of the standings will cost Varejao his earned recognition as an All-Star?

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It’s Not The End Of the World, But…

December 21, 2012  ·  8:38AM

HANG TIME, Texas — Go ahead, take another look at that Miami logo.

Maybe the Mayans weren’t predicting the end of the world for Dec. 21, 2012, but the beginning of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh raining down on the planet in the fiery start to the Heat dynasty. Just missed it by six months.

Of course, if the Mayans were so good at predicting the future, there might still be Mayans.

Or as the famous Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz once reassured: “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”

That said, there are a few things we wouldn’t mind seeing wiped off Planet NBA permanently:

P.A. screamers — We don’t need a courtside announcer to bellow that there are “Dos Minutos!” left in the game or to screech that it’s proper fan etiquette for the home crowd to make sure the visiting player is shooting “Two nooissssy free throws!” Doing the basics of the job would suffice, such as pronouncing names correctly. Though it’s too late for the former 7-foot-6 All-Star center of the Rockets, we would like you to become just the slightest bit worldly and understand that last basket was scored by Yao, not Ming. And we can only hope that more than a few of you to learn that it’s not RAY-jon Rondo.

Back-to-backs — In the days of private charter jet travel, computer programs and individual game tickets that cost in the hundreds — and even thousands — of dollars, there is no reason to keep selling an inferior product. When one team is rested and the other is flying in from having played the night before, it is the fan who is negatively affected most. Yes, some teams are different than others, but there is no reason that gap should be widened or closed by an uneven playing field. Since neither players or owners will accept the financial cutbacks necessary to play a 66-game schedule, there is another way. Eliminate virtually all of the preseason, start the regular season two weeks earlier, run the schedule two weeks longer and eliminate the exclusivity window that restricts the number of teams that can play on Thursdays. In addition to competitive balance, it’s time the paying customer doesn’t sit through a night where one team looks like the zombies from “The Walking Dead.”

Whining about Hack-a-Shaq – There are few things more deplorable than watching a supposed All-Star center stand at the foul line and struggle to make 50 percent of his free throws. The one thing that is worse is listening to the apologists who want to outlaw the intentional foul. If a batter in baseball can’t hit the curve, should he be allowed to request only fastballs? Try hypnosis, green tea, reciting poetry and going to your happy place while standing at the stripe. Or just shut up and stay in the gym until you learn to perform a fundamental part of the game.

Mascot skits — We understand that it’s not just a game anymore, but a full “entertainment experience.” Yet there are too many of the furry/silly mascots who don’t grasp the fact that their primary job is supposed to be generating enthusiasm for the team. When the home team is on a 10-0 tear, the visitors are disorganized and forced to call timeout, that is the occasion to keep the crowd cheering and whipped into a frenzy, not trot out a corny routine that you hope will one day get you an invite to “Inside the Actors Studio.”

Pointless fastbreaks — How many times will we be forced to watch a team come down the floor with a 2-on-1 or even 3-on-1 advantage and see a pass back outside for a 3-pointer rather than taking the ball all the way to the hoop? The analytics crowd can have their effective field goal percentage. A lot of folks would prefer to see a guard handle the ball in the middle of the floor and dish to a wingman for a simple layup or dunk. Wasn’t it good enough for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird?

Offensive basket interference — In effort to have the game played by the same rules all around the world, it’s time the NBA went with the international community and made any ball live and in play once it hits the rim. It means the ball could be swatted off the rim by a defender or tapped or pushed down into the basket by an offensive player. The play requires not just leaping ability, but timing and skill and does not happen as often as you might think in international play or in the NBA D-League, which is experimenting with the rule. For the anti-Hack-a-Shaq crowd, it could even help Dwight Howard with his free throws if a teammate was there to clean up his misses.

All-Star voting outrage — It’s time that the purists stopped the annual carping that accompanies the release of each round of vote totals. We know that Anderson Varejao, Greg Monroe, O.J. Mayo and Stephen Curry are having the kind of starts to this season that merit attention and admiration. But the All-Star Game is purely a popularity contest and, let’s face, it, everybody wants to watch LeBron, Carmelo, Kobe and CP3.

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Sweet 6 Could Make All-Star Debuts

December 13, 2012  ·  1:22AM

HANG TIME, Texas — Every year when the first batch of NBA All-Star vote totals is announced, it is often reminiscent of one of Capt. Renault’s famous lines from “Casablanca”: Round up the usual suspects.

We could pretty much count on LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony being in the starting lineups on Feb. 17 in Houston even before the first online ballot was ever cast.

There are other questions, of course. Will the resurgent Tim Duncan make a return to the Western Conference team after his 12-year streak was broken last season? How many votes will Derrick Rose get, even though he’s been rehabbing his knee and hasn’t played a single game? Will a groundswell of “Linsanity” put Jeremy Lin onto his home court in Houston?

But the most interesting question — and the hottest debates — usually come down to the players that are trying to break out under the All-Star Game spotlight for the very first time.

So, we present a six-pack of the most deserving candidates to take their All-Star debuts this season:

Stephen Curry, Warriors – Nobody’s writing him off as being too fragile anymore, worried that the ankles just won’t hold up. Now in his fourth season, the sweet shooting guard is having his best year. He’s averaging career highs of 20 points, 6.5 rebounds — numbers among point guards that are eclipsed only by OKC’s Russell Westbrook. Perhaps most significant, he’s playing 37.2 minutes a night, having not missed a game. He’s showing the quick release and the accuracy from 3-point range that everyone predicted coming into the league and, now that he’s finally healthy, Curry is playing the role of leader on a 14-7 Golden State team that has been virtually without center Andrew Bogut.

James Harden, Rockets – The Beard exploded into the headlines by scoring 37 and 45 points in his first two games for the Rockets almost before he learned the names of his teammates. It was widely acknowledged that Harden had been sacrificing a big piece of his game and potential stardom by coming off the bench for the Thunder. But did everyone think it was a piece the size of Greenland? At 24.7 a game, he is fifth in the league in scoring, trailing only Bryant, Anthony, Durant and James. He also kicks in 5.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game and, quite frankly, does about anything he wants in the Houston offense, raining in 3-pointers or getting all the way to the rim off the dribble. Just by pulling on the uniform, he’s made the Rockets relevant again.

O.J. Mayo, Mavericks — Who would have predicted this when the Grizzlies held the door open and told him not to let it him on the way out last summer? The Mavericks may have struck out in their bids for the high profile names in Howard and Deron Williams, but likely scooped up the free agent bargain of the offseason in Mayo. He ranks 10th in scoring at 20.8 per game, a career best. He’s also shooting at a 48.7 clip, including a sizzling 53 percent from behind the 3-point line. With Dirk Nowitzki sidelined while recovering knee surgery, the Mavs were desperate for someone who could fill up the basket every night and be able to make the big shots down the stretch every night. With a consistency and a concentration of focus that always eluded him in Memphis, Mayo has done it all.

Joakim Noah, Bulls – It might have been easy for the Bulls to simply resign themselves and tread water while waiting for the return of Rose. But Noah is a splasher and he’s responded along with teammate Luol Deng by tirelessly attacking every game as coach Tom Thibodeau has significantly raised his playing time and the level of expectation. Noah ranks seventh in the league in rebounding (10.8), seventh in blocked shot (2.3) and also averages 1.4 steals, all of which has helped give the Bulls the most efficient defense in the NBA and has to put him high in the early conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s also averaging 13.6 points and 4.3 assists at the other end of the floor.

Josh Smith, Hawks – He’s flown beneath the radar for so long that it has somehow become acceptable to take what he’s done for granted through eight seasons and counting. By the time this one is over, J-Smoove will likely have 10,000 points, 5,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists and 1,000 blocked shots with the same team. That will put him on a select list with Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Julius Erving, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett. All but Ewing have at least one MVP award to their name and Smith is the only one who has never appeared in the All-Star Game. It took him a little while to get rolling this season, but Smith now has things in gear. He was just named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for averaging a double-double (21 points, 12 rebounds) in leading the Hawks to a 3-0 record. He is their leading scorer in a 12-6 season that has Atlanta No. 3 in the East standings.

Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers — How is it that the best center in the Eastern Conference could be on the trading block? It has to do more with the Cavs’ miserable 5-17 record rather than any of what Varejao has brought to the table. He’s averaging a career-high 14.8 points and leading the league with 14.9 rebounds per game. Varejao is tied with Memphis’ Zach Randolph for the league lead in double-doubles with 15, and for the 11 games when Kyrie Irving was injured and on the shelf, he might have been the only reason to watch the Cavs. Of course, every G.M. in the league has been watching and with Cleveland in full rebuilding mode, seeking draft picks and young players, there’s a good chance he’ll change uniforms twice this season. That is, of course, assuming he’ll switch into an All-Star jersey for the first time in Houston.

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Thibs On Asik: “He is Like Yao Ming”

November 21, 2012  ·  10:11AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – How much does Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau miss having Omer Asik at his disposal now that the rebounding machine is plying his trade in Houston?

Apparently a whole lot.

What else would lead Thibodeau to compare Asik to Yao Ming, the Rockets former All-Star center whose career was cut short by injury.

Now before you go snatching your own hair out over this one, here’s a little context from Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:

“In a lot of ways,” Thibodeau said, “he is like Yao Ming.”

In a lot of ways, he is quite different. Yao, who worked extensively with Thibodeau with the Rockets and in the offseasons in China, was blessed with an uncanny shooting touch and well-honed offensive moves. Asik is the backbone of the Rockets’ defense, largely on the strength of quick feet for a 7-footer, but has a relative lack of offensive skills.

Yet a day before Asik was set to face the Bulls for the first time [Today] at Toyota Center, Thibodeau, who spent four seasons as a Rockets assistant, saw what Asik and Yao had in common.

“Very, very bright,” Thibodeau said of his former big men. “(Asik) has size, intelligence, great feet, drive and a willingness play for the team. He reacts quickly, anticipates, and he’s relentless. He’s a multiple effort guy. He’s a 7-footer, smart, driven. He will get better.”

… “O’s the best defensive center I’ve been around since I’ve been in the NBA,” Rockets acting head coach Kelvin Sampson said. “When Andrew Bogut was healthy, he was special, too, but I would put Big O in his class, and that’s a big compliment to Big O because I thought Bogut was a great defensive center.”

Sometimes it’s hard for us to see the resemblance. But the compliment from Thibodeau to his former big man is one that shouldn’t be dismissed as silly.

Asik has a legion of admirers in the coaching community and front offices around the league. He has embraced parts of the job that many of his big men brethren abandoned a long time ago in favor of expanding their shooting range to beyond the 3-point line. He’s a throwback in the way that the true purists of the game love above all else.

Asik has a skill — rebounding — that is just as critical to a team’s dynamic as scoring or facilitating. His role for the Rockets is as clear-cut as James Harden‘s. Asik averages 12.3 rebounds, third best in the league behind Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph and Cavaliers big man Anderson Varejao. The only one of the three who is just as accomplished offensively, as Yao was during his playing days, is Randolph.

To his credit, Asik is averaging a double-double this season (10.8 points to go along with those rebounds). So he is still very much a work in progress. Yao finished his career with averages of 19.1 points and 9.2 rebounds, with highs of 26.6 points and 10.7 rebounds. Asik might never be that kind of scorer, but he’s already a more proficient technician on the glass.

And who knows, maybe some day those comparisons to Yao won’t seem quite as far-fetched as they do (without the full context) right now?

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Film Study: The Cavs’ Bad Defense

November 14, 2012  ·  5:20PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – When Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters combined for 52 points in a road win over the Los Angeles Clippers last week, we started to see some real potential in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Since then, the Cavs have lost four straight games. And on Tuesday night, they took over as the worst defensive team in the league, having allowed 107.8 points per 100 possessions, eight more than the league average.

The Cavs’ defense actually ranks in the top eight in forcing turnovers and defensive rebounding. But it has major holes on the interior, despite the presence of Anderson Varejao, an excellent defender.

Highest opponent FG%, restricted area
Team OppFGM OppFGA OppFG%
Cleveland 152 199 76.4%
New York 76 116 65.5%
Chicago 114 178 64.0%
Boston 120 189 63.5%
Sacramento 140 222 63.1%

Through Tuesday, 11/13

Through Tuesday’s loss in Brooklyn, the Cavs are allowing their opponents to shoot a ridiculous 76.4 percent in the restricted area

Now, you will notice that teams 2, 3 and 4 in the table to the right all finished in the top five in defensive efficiency last season. And there’s more to defense than keeping your opponent from shooting a high percentage near the basket.

But you will also notice how big of a difference there is between the Cavs and every other team when it comes to defending the rim. Their opponents are shooting almost 11 percent higher than any other team’s opponents and more than 18 percent higher than the league average (58.2 percent).

To make it clear how bad that is, note that only one player (Dante Cunningham) took at least 100 shots from the restricted area last year and shot better than 76.4 percent. He was 89-for-116 (76.7 percent).

On Tuesday, the Nets shot an amazing 24-for-28 in the restricted area, recording 60 points in the paint, their highest total since April of 2010.

A look at the film makes it easy to see why, because the the Cavs’ defensive breakdowns were obvious, plentiful, and almost comical…

Problem: No hustle. Spotlight on: Alonzo Gee

The Cavs are allowing 19.7 fast break points per 100 possessions, second only to Milwaukee. Part of the problem is turnovers, and part of the problem is … well, just watch Alonzo Gee after Irving misses a shot in the paint…

 

 

When Kris Humphries grabs the rebound for Brooklyn, Brook Lopez is at the foul line and Gee is at the 3-point line. And when Lopez scores on the opposite end of the floor, Gee has barely cross the mid-court line.

(more…)

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Will Tim Duncan Take Advantage Of His Rule For All-Star Start?

November 11, 2012  ·  2:02PM


HANG TIME SOUTHWEST – So which player could be the first to take advantage of the so-called “Tim Duncan Rule,” the tweak to the All-Star ballot that will ask fans to vote for three “frontcourt” players instead of the traditional two forwards and a center?

Um, how about Tim Duncan? The league will debut the new ballots on Tuesday. The 2013 All-Star Game is on Feb. 17 at Houston’s Toyota Center.

For years, the San Antonio Spurs’ mellow superstar has masqueraded as a power forward really by name only. When Yao Ming entered the league in 2002-03, he generated such an enormous number votes from his home country that there was no way Duncan, who broke in with the Spurs alongside 10-time All-Star center David Robinson, would have ever started an All-Star game if classified as a center.  As a power forward, Duncan started 12 consecutive All-Star games from 2000 to 2011.

Highest def. reb. percentage, 2012-13
Player GP DREB DREB%
Anderson Varejao 5 47 32.0%
Tim Duncan 7 60 31.4%
Spencer Hawes 6 36 29.8%
Al Jefferson 7 55 29.7%
Kevin Garnett 6 46 29.3%

Through Saturday, 11/10
Minimum 100 minutes played
DREB% = Percentage of available defensive
rebounds obtained while on the floor

(Frankly, with so few true centers being viable All-Star candidates these days, the ballot change was overdue.)

That streak, as well as 12 consecutive All-Star appearances ended last season as youngsters Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin dominated fan voting to earn starting spots, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge simply couldn’t be left off as reserves, and reigning NBA champ Dirk Nowitzki appropriately got the nod despite a slow start.

Most observers figured Duncan’s All-Star days were behind him with his stats trending down as coach Gregg Popovich continued to reduce his court time while shaping the offense around guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili and the club’s perimeter shooters.

Of course, the move of Dwight Howard to the Western Conference could well make the discussion of Duncan as a starter moot anyway, assuming fan backlash toward the maddening, flip-flopping center doesn’t hurt him on the ballot.

Nevertheless, Duncan is certainly making it interesting.

At 36, he is playing like he’s 26. With the Spurs off to a West-best 6-1 start, Duncan is far and away the team’s scoring leader (18.9 ppg) and he’s dominating the boards, averaging 9.7, more than three more rebounds a game than anyone else on the team.

Consider this nugget shared by NBA.com stat guru John Schuhmann: Duncan’s defensive rebounding percentage of 31.4 is the highest of his career (defensive rebounding percentage is the percent of available defensive rebounds he got when he was on the floor, so with the Spurs on defense there have been 191 available rebounds with Duncan on the floor, and he’s grabbed 60 of them). He ranks second in the league in the category behind Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao.

If Duncan keeps this up, he will be a top candidate to make a 14th All-Star roster. But how realistic is it for a 13th career start? Again, the Howard dynamic is in play, but the new format at least creates the discussion. You have to believe that Durant and Blake will again dominate fan voting and take the top two spots.

But here’s the catch for the third: Other candidates have either started the season slowly or injured. Love and Nowitzki have yet to even suit up and could still be out a few more weeks. LaMarcus Aldridge, an All-Star newbie last season, is off to a poor-shooting start (a career-worst 43.6 percent although he’s averaging 21.8 points and 7.3 rebounds) on a Portland team in transition. Pau Gasol is off to an inauspicious start in the Lakers’ soap opera.

Memphis’ big-man duo of Marc Gasol, an All-Star last season, and Zach Randolph, off to a monster start, will make hard cases.

Bottom line is if Duncan continues at this rate, how does he not make the team? It will be an interesting couple of months.

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Rick’s Tips: Trends vs. Mirages

November 5, 2012  ·  4:00PM




The first week of any NBA season is loaded with unpredictable events, but the first week of 2012-13 has been as crazy as it’s been historic. As such, I am back with the top 5 value-risers across eight categories.

Time to play one of my favorite games within the fantasy game: trend vs mirage.

 1. James Harden, Rockets: Many projected Harden to have first- or second-round value coming into the season, but few saw 82 points in his first two games. Through week 1, Harden is second only to Kyle Lowry across eight cats through three games, and “The Beard” should remain in the top five all season. Diagnosis: Trend.

2. Mo Williams, Jazz: Mo was one of my favorite sleepers coming into the season because he has always put up numbers as a starter. Plus, he’s the QB on a team loaded with young, athletic talent. Williams is ninth across eight cats after three games, averaging 22 points, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.0 threes. Diagnosis: Trend.

3. Kevin Martin, Thunder: Thanks in large part to 28 points on 6-of-8 shooting against the Hawks on Sunday, Martin is 11th across eight cats after three games. He is averaging 20.7 points in 30.3 minutes, but his track record of missing games overshadows his contract year status. Diagnosis: Mirage.

4. Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers: I was actually mocked in my brother’s five-cat draft for taking Lillard in the third round of a 12-team league. That sound you hear is me laughing last. After seeing him blaze through Vegas, I was sold, and I’m not one bit surprised he’s 19th across eight cats after three games. Diagnosis: Trend.

5. Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers: Andy set career highs in rebounds (23) and assists (nine) in the opening win over Washington, and he kept the beat rolling over the weekend as well. After three games, he ranks 22nd across eight cats with rounded averages of 14-15-4 and a shooting percentage of .643. However, his history of injuries makes me think selling high is the way to go. Diagnosis: Mirage.

Rick Kamla is an anchor on NBA TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @NBATVRick and check out the rest of NBA.com’s fantasy coverage here.

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Irving For MVP in 2017?

October 31, 2012  ·  12:51AM

Opening night and there were enough MVP awards inside two arenas that if you laid them end-to-end they might stretch all the way from American Airlines Arena in Miami to Staples Center in Los Angeles, which is where we’ve already got the 2013 NBA Finals scheduled for next June. Don’t we?

There was LeBron James with his three trophies, Steve Nash with his two, then Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett with one apiece. Toss in Dirk Nowitzki recovering from knee surgery back in Dallas and there were eight MVP seasons represented in the two marquee games that everybody was watching.

But if the parlor game was to pick out an opening night candidate to be named MVP five years from now, maybe it was little ol’ Kyrie Irving hiding in the shadows of Cleveland. (more…)

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Flopping Fines Start Now

October 29, 2012  ·  6:35PM

HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – So who’s going to be the first player to be officially warned by the league for a flopping violation?

Flopping penalties
Violation Penalty
Violation 1 Warning
Violation 2 $5,000 fine
Violation 3 $10,000 fine
Violation 4 $15,000 fine
Violation 5 $30,000 fine
Violation 6 Subject to discipline reasonable under the circumstances, including an increased fine and/or suspension.

In order to curtail flopping, the NBA has put a system in place to warn and fine players who disrespect the game by over-emphasizing contact. Flopping calls won’t be made on the court, but violations will be issued by a committee headed by the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, Stu Jackson.

Here’s the official wording from the league and what will earn players a flopping violation…

“Flopping” will be defined as any physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player. The primary factor in determining whether a player committed a flop is whether his physical reaction to contact with another player is inconsistent with what would reasonably be expected given the force or direction of the contact.

Physical acts that constitute legitimate basketball plays (such as moving to a spot in order to draw an offensive foul) and minor physical reactions to contact will not be treated as flops.

The video above, including an absolutely hilarious example from Tony Parker, let’s you see what the league is talking about.

(more…)

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