Posts Tagged ‘Ian Mahinmi’

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Hibbert Still Important When Not Scoring

December 20, 2012  ·  11:03AM



HANG TIME NEW JERSEY – Roy Hibbert is getting paid, with a capital P, a capital A, a capital I, and a capital D.

So the Pacers are just going to have to ride with their 7-foot-2 center through his offensive struggles. Hibbert is shooting just 39 percent this season and has the free throw rate of a contact-shy point guard.

Back-up Ian Mahinmi hasn’t exactly been Tyson Chandler in terms of efficiency, but he’s been more efficient than Hibbert, and he had a strong game (14 points on nine shots) in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Still, Pacers coach Frank Vogel went back to Hibbert for the final seven minutes of a tight game against a division rival.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star spoke with Vogel about that decision before the Pacers crushed the Jazz on Wednesday …

Pacers center Roy Hibbert’s offensive problems this season have been well documented.

And despite those struggles, Vogel said he will stick with Hibbert over Ian Mahinmi late in games.

Mahinmi had 14 points off the bench against Milwaukee compared to Hibbert’s eight points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Still, Vogel went with Hibbert at the end of the game because he’s the anchor of their defense.

“We always consider going with the hot hand,” Vogel said. “There are things that Roy brings to the table that Ian doesn’t that have won for us at a high level the last couple of years. Typically we’re going to go with him unless there’s an extreme example.”

The decision didn’t really work out for Vogel. The Bucks outscored the Pacers 17-15 over the last seven minutes, Indiana shot 3-for-11 (Hibbert didn’t take a shot) and lost the game 98-93.

But Hibbert is still the right choice for Vogel. The Pacers are a pretty awful offensive team, but they’re better right now (101 points scored per 100 possessions over their last 10 games) than they were earlier in the season (94 points scored per 100 possessions over their first 10 games). Plus, they’re 14-12 because they rank second in the league in defensive efficiency.

Hibbert has been the anchor of that No. 2 defense. Indiana is allowing just 96.3 points per 100 possessions with Hibbert on the floor vs. 100.2 with Mahinmi on the floor. And the numbers show that Hibbert is one of the best big men in the league at defending the rim.

Lowest opponent FG% in restricted area while on floor
(power forwards and centers)

Player OppFGM OppFGA OppFG%
Ekpe Udoh 135 291 46.4%
Ronny Turiaf 76 162 46.9%
Kosta Koufos 156 329 47.4%
Roy Hibbert 206 408 50.5%
Larry Sanders 167 329 50.8%

Minimum 100 FGA

As the anchor and rim-protector of the No. 2 defense in the league, Hibbert deserves some early Defensive Player of the Year consideration. He also deserves plenty of playing time, even when he can’t put the ball in the basket.

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As Collison Surges And Kidd Splashes, Guard Shuffle So Far So Good

November 8, 2012  ·  4:09PM

 

HANG TIME SOUTHWEST — After another Dallas track meet Wednesday night netted the surprising Mavericks a third consecutive victory, pace-setting point guard Darren Collison was asked if he’s looking forward to a mano-a-mano showdown against Jason Kidd when Dallas visits the Garden on Friday night.

After all, Collison replaced Kidd, who had agreed to a three-year deal to stay in Dallas only to suddenly abandon ship and swim to the Big Apple. Kidd’s about-face so hissed Mark Cuban that the Mavs owner vowed not to hang Kidd’s No. 2 next to Dirk Nowitzki’s No. 41 one day as an expected shrine to the tandem that delivered Dallas its only championship.

“Nah,” Collison said sheepishly. “Come on, man. It’s just a team thing. New York has got it going; we’ve got it going.”

Both teams are arguably the surprise of their respected conferences, entering the game with a collective 7-1 record. Dallas is 4-1 despite playing without Dirk Nowitzki (arthroscopic knee surgery) and other injury snags that have bounced key players in and out of the lineup.

The truth is, Kidd’s change of heart actually did himself, the Knicks, the Mavs and Collison all a colossal favor. (more…)

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Brand, Mavs agree to one-year deal

July 13, 2012  ·  5:51PM

The Dallas Mavericks were the winners for the services of Elton Brand Friday, claiming the 33-year-old forward off of amnesty waivers for $2.1 million. Getting Brand continues a strong comeback for the Mavericks after losing out on Deron Williams and Steve Nash at the start of the free agency negotiating period.

Brand wanted to go to Dallas, a source told NBA.com Wednesday. And he got his wish, giving the Mavericks a big who has never scored less than double figures or averaged fewer than 6.1 rebounds per year in his 13-year NBA career. He will back up Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman at the center and power forward spots, but Brand is most interested in showing that he can still be a major contributor to a good team.

Last season, Brand averaged 11 points and 7.2 rebounds for Philadelphia in the regular season. Those numbers went down in the playoffs, but Brand was dealing with a neck injury that limited his range and effectiveness.

In Dallas, he’ll re-team with former Clippers teammate Chris Kaman, whom the Mavericks signed to a one-year deal Wednesday. The Mavericks also traded for guard Darren Collison and swingman Dahntay Jones in a deal with the Pacers for backup center Ian Mahinmi.

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Pacers Stick To Underwhelming Deals

July 13, 2012  ·  2:26PM

Few in the executive offices around the NBA command more respect than Donnie Walsh. Likewise, few GMs from generation-next created more buzz than Kevin Pritchard, both when he got hired and unceremoniously dumped in Portland.

But trusting in the wisdom of the men making the deals isn’t the same thing as trusting one’s own eyes when assessing personnel moves. That’s why the Indiana Pacers’ latest maneuvers triggered so much head-scratching among the team’s fans and here at Sekou’s Hang Time hideout.

Darren Collison, a legitimate starting point guard but one who finished last season coming off the Pacers bench, is gone. So is wing defender Dahntay Jones, reserve scorer Leandro Barbosa and off-the-bench big Louis Amundson. They’ve been replaced by D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Ian Mahinmi and rookie center Miles Plumlee – well, replaced might not be the best word, so let’s say their roster spots have been taken by those newcomers.

Doesn’t seem like much, as judged here at HTH. Not even a push, never mind an upgrade to the Pacers’ roster. And that’s what Indiana was hoping for, wasn’t it, a surgical move or two to vault it into close-second status in the Eastern Conference this season behind the Miami Heat?

Beat-writer extraordinaire Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star tried to explain the moves to a fan base growing increasingly restless:

Fans don’t like what they’ve seen so far. Some already want Walsh to retire and Pritchard to go somewhere else.

Have the moves been flashy? Not even close.

Are the moves good enough to catch Miami in the Eastern Conference? Not as long as the Heat have LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

But it’s all about progression for the Pacers.

They had no choice but to trade point guard Darren Collison…

Wells then explains that Collison, though he said he would be willing to continue as George Hill’s backup, really wasn’t happy in that role. Well, that shouldn’t have bothered the Pacers one bit – would they prefer a backup who doesn’t burn to start? Even then, Collison figured to have trade value in excess of Mahinmi – that deal withDallasseemed to gift the point guard and Jones to the Mavericks. Augustin doesn’t have nearly the juice, and can leave next summer as a free agent anyway.

Moving out some of the other players while trusting the latest mature version of Green, compared to all his previous incarnations, might not be the most sound decision either.

There’s a tendency to rely on Walsh and Pritchard, based on the basketball bank accounts both have amassed in their careers. But for a team that had the Heat down 2-1 in their best-of-seven East semifinals, for a club that was thinking about an Eric Gordon signing as this offseason’s signature move – as well as retaining center Roy Hibbert and point guard George Hill – the Pacers’ approach of one step forward, maybe two back, is hard to embrace.

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Rosen’s Report: Dallas at Phoenix

March 8, 2012  ·  10:12AM

Despite the dismantling of their championship squad, the Mavs still nurture hopes of defending their title. For now, they are languishing in the lower-seeded playoff bracket but are only one game away from earning the third seed in the West. They also anticipate that their corps of veterans will have their respective A-games honed when the money season commences.

For the Suns, competing in the playoffs is both a distant memory and an unimaginable future. While Phoenix is still a moderately competitive team, two of their stalwarts — Grant Hill and Steve Nash — are learning that the older they get the faster they get old. Is it time, then, for management to utter the “R” word — Rebuilding?

HOW THE MAVERICKS CAN WIN

Unless he’s double-teamed, Dirk Nowitzki’s dreadnaught arsenal of off-balance, step-back, wrong-footed shot-releases can seldom be deterred. Plus, he’s a dead-eye shooter with 3-point range, is virtually unstoppable when driving left, and has the most convincing shot-fakes in the NBA. Nowitzki has certainly recovered from his early-season slump, yet he remains somewhat erratic — especially before the halftime intermission.  However, Nowitzki usually has long arms whenever a game is up for grabs. Even though Jared Dudley is Phoenix’s best defender, Nowitzki will still have to be two-timed — which will create opportunities for Nowitzki’s timely passes to generate open shots for his teammates.

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Blogtable: One Memorable Moment

June 14, 2011  ·  11:34AM

We’ve asked our stable of scribes to take one last look back at the 2011 NBA playoffs.

In 10 years, the one get-out-of-my-seat-and-scream-“Wow!” moment from the 2011 playoffs that I’ll remember:

Steve Aschburner: Derrick Rose put all his 2011 MVP wonderfulness on display in Game 3 of the Bulls’ Eastern Conference semifinals series against Atlanta. Rose scored a career-high 44 points, hit four of his seven 3-pointers on a night of 16-of-27 shooting and played at a higher sped than anyone else on the floor. No other Bulls starter scored more than seven points, all five Hawks starters reached double figures – and it didn’t matter with Rose seeking-and-attacking. “The first timeout I called, 49 seconds into the game, I saw an energy level that right away I knew we were in trouble,” Atlanta coach Larry Drew said.

Fran Blinebury: He does so much. He makes much of it look easy. But when LeBron James split Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki  and zoomed in to throw down that vicious one-handed tomahawk dunk on Ian Mahinmi in Game 3 of the Finals, I could practically feel it down to my toes. And probably so could most of Mahinmi’s fellow countrymen back in France.

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Game 6 Sights And Sounds

June 12, 2011  ·  6:44PM

MIAMI – Sights and sounds from AmericanAirlines Arena in the hours leading up to Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks…

  • It was unseen, but the Larry O’Brien trophy is in the building, secured in storage. There’s also a room set up to take post-game photos with the trophy if the Mavs win.
  • Marc Anthony rehearsing the national anthem.
  • A group of NBA officials at midcourt going over the plan for the trophy presentation, but not actually going through the trophy presentation.
  • No t-shirts on the seats, but the same white seat covers as usual. And fans were handed white “Let’s go Heat” signs.
  • Rodrigue Beaubois and Ian Mahinmi getting some extra shooting in, but leaving the court once Jason Kidd emerges from the Mavs’ locker room. “When J-Kidd steps on the floor, we shut it down,” Mahinmi tells Brian Cardinal.
  • Several Mavs fans dress in blue among the first spectators in the building and finding seats near the Dallas bench. One group has a large Puerto Rican flag, and J.J. Barea is quick to acknowledge them as he goes through his shooting routine.

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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. Send him an e-mail or follow him on twitter.

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Haywood’s Status For Game 4? TBD

June 6, 2011  ·  4:26PM

DALLAS – Watching Brendan Haywood knock down shots on the practice floor Monday makes it hard to believe the Mavericks’ backup center isn’t ready to play in The Finals.

The shooting drill didn’t require much movement, though. And movement is Haywood’s major issue right now. He strained his right hip in the Mavericks’ Game 2 win over the Heat in Miami and missed Sunday’s Game 3 loss here at American Airlines Center.

Ian Mahinmi replaced him in the rotation and there’s no doubt the Mavericks’ low-post defense took a step back. Haywood was coy about his status for Tuesday night’s Game 4. He said he was scheduled for a second MRI this afternoon and that his status would not be updated until some time Tuesday afternoon, making him a game-time decision for the second straight game.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Haywood said. “The hip is one of those areas; it’s in charge of a lot of stuff. It’s in charge of your lateral movement, it’s in charge of when you’re taking off and running and stuff like that. So, it affects me in just all movements basically … the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone. The thigh bone’s connected to the knee bone.”

Jokes aside, Haywood’s in serious enough pain that he can’t get on the floor in the biggest series of his NBA career.

“I’m able to move at a little better clip, so we’ll see how it feels,” Haywood said after finishing his shooting work Monday. “Really, really striding out is a problem and sometimes making explosive plays under the basket is a problem.”

An even bigger problem for Haywood is being forced to watch his teammates work in The Finals and not being able to do his part. And the 7-footer was a factor in Game 1. He’s played 16 minutes a game throughout the postseason as Tyson Chandler‘s backup. His presence on the floor would make a huge difference against a Heat team that loves to attack the rim.

“I need to be able to go out there and feel like I can play a normal game or at least at 70 or 80 percent,” he said. “If I feel I’m pulling something or something’s straining on every play, then I probably don’t need to be out there. We’ll see how it goes.”

When asked if he would be able to play if the Mavericks had a game Monday night, Haywood got playful with his answer.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have a game tonight,” he said and then smiled. “Today wasn’t a good indication of where I’m at, because this was some really light stuff.”

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StatsCube: Best Bench in Basketball?

March 18, 2011  ·  11:34AM


On Wednesday in New Jersey, the Chicago Bulls trailed by seven when Omer Asik entered the game in the first quarter, and by four when Ronnie Brewer and Taj Gibson checked in a couple of minutes later. When Asik checked out in the second quarter, the Bulls were up four. When Gibson checked out, they were up eight. And when Brewer checked out, they were up seven.

As great as Derrick Rose is, the Bulls’ bench has been absolutely critical to their success.

The Bulls rank 23rd in the league in points per game off the bench, but in Thursday’s StatsCube analysis of Sixth Man Award candidates, I wrote that the Bulls have the best bench in basketball because of how strong their second unit is defensively.

A day later, I’m going to admit that the “best bench” proclamation was made a little hastily — and with a big emphasis on defense. According to NBA.com StatsCube, the two best defensive lineups in the league (with a minimum of 100 minutes on the floor together) are Bulls’ lineups that include Brewer, Gibson and Asik.

But the No. 1 offensive lineup in the league is also a bench unit. The Spurs‘ lineup of George Hill, Gary Neal, Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner and Antonio McDyess barely meets the 100 minutes requirement, but has been amazingly efficient.

That Spurs lineup edges out the Bulls’ lineup of Rose, Brewer, Luol Deng, Gibson and Asik as the best bench lineup in the league overall. And yes, Ginobili, Rose and Deng are all starters. I’m defining a “bench lineup” as one with at least three players who don’t normally start for their team.

Bench lineups with positive plus-minus

Team Lineup GP Min. Off. Eff. Rank Def. Eff. Rank Diff. Rank
SAS Hill, Neal, Ginobili, Bonner, McDyess 23 101 129.2 1 93.6 14 35.6 1
CHI Rose, Brewer, Deng, Gibson, Asik 37 126 113.7 25 83.2 2 30.5 3
DAL Barea, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, Mahinmi 20 102 117.8 10 97.3 28 20.5 9
PHI Williams, Turner, Iguodala, Young, Brand 31 108 108.8 56 92.3 11 16.6 15
LAL Blake, Brown, Bryant, Odom, Gasol 31 108 118.6 8 104.0 67 14.7 18
LAL Blake, Brown, Barnes, Odom, Gasol 36 175 109.4 49 95.5 20 14.0 20
OKC Westbrook, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Collison 39 130 109.7 47 96.7 26 12.9 26
DAL Barea, Terry, Marion, Nowitzki, Haywood 44 341 113.2 27 102.2 58 11.0 35
CHI Watson, Brewer, Deng, Gibson, Asik 32 111 86.5 132 77.0 1 9.5 40
OKC Maynor, Harden, Green, Ibaka, Collison 25 130 116.3 13 108.6 100 7.7 47
LAL Blake, Brown, Walton, Odom, Gasol 21 127 103.1 91 95.5 21 7.6 49
DAL Maynor, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Collison 35 106 104.6 83 100.0 44 4.6 65

Off. Eff. = Points scored per 100 possessions
Def. Eff. = Points allowed per 100 possessions
Rank is among all 133 lineups that have played at least 100 minutes together.

There are a lot of stars mixed in with those lineups, but that’s the way it goes in this league. Lineups comprised of five reserves are rare in this league. The Suns had a very effective one last year, but with all their roster changes, they haven’t been able to capture that same magic.

So even though they’re coming off the bench, it’s critical for bench players to complement their team’s stars and fit the coach’s game plan. The Bulls’ reserves obviously do that. Tom Thibodeau‘s squad ranks just 15th in the league offensively, but is at the top of the Eastern Conference because of its No. 1 defense.

No Miami Heat lineup is listed above, and it’s been said often that a lack of depth is one of Miami’s biggest issues. They rank dead last in the league in bench scoring at 22.2 points per game.

The Heat have five lineups that have played at least 100 minutes together, and they all have a positive plus-minus, but they all include Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Amazingly though, each of Miami’s 15 most-used lineups have a positive plus-minus. That’s a lot of mixing and matching, and it’s all been relatively successful. And though the Heat don’t have any great lineups with at least three bench players, they do have a lot of guys on their roster who have contributed.

Bench players with a positive plus-minus (see notes below):
7: Miami (Chalmers, Jones, Anthony, House, Dampier, Haslem, Howard)
6: Oklahoma City
5: Chicago, Denver, L.A. Lakers, Orlando, Utah
4: San Antonio
3: Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia
2: Charlotte, Golden State, Houston, Memphis
1: Atlanta, Indiana, New Jersey, Portland, Toronto, Washington
0: Cleveland, Detroit, L.A. Clippers, Minnesota, Phoenix, Washington

Notes:
1. Only players who have played at least 300 minutes and have started less than 50 percent of the games they’ve played in were counted.
2. Players are counted for their current team. For example, Nate Robinson is counted for the Thunder.

So while Miami doesn’t have any reserves who have consistently put points on the board, Erik Spoelstra has managed to find ways to use them effectively.

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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. Send him an e-mail or follow him on twitter.

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About Last Night: The Maverick Way

December 8, 2010  ·  8:59AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Star power is one thing the Dallas Mavericks have not been short on in the past decade, courtesy of resident rock star Dirk Nowitzki and a host of other All-Stars and standouts.

But the Maverick way is changing these days. Sure, Nowitzki is still the leader of the pack. But a concentrated effort in the offseason to beef up the supporting cast is paying immediate dividends in Dallas these days.

The Mavericks are riding a 10-game win streak after knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the Fan night showcase Tuesday night. And they’ve got five more home games to work with to stretch their streak.

Credit Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the front office staff with retooling this roster; the Mavericks have never hesitated to move bodies and take risks to improve the team, even when the move is an unpopular one. We also need to give a nod to Rick Carlisle and his coaching staff for transforming the attitude of this group. A defensive-minded Mavericks team is what Avery Johnson had in mind when he coached this team. But it never seemed to translate to the locker room.

After seeing these Mavericks in person a couple of weeks ago, it’s clear Carlisle has smoothed out whatever rough edges existed previously. Not every team can go down the roster on a given night and squeeze a 12-point, 10-rebounds, two-steal performance out of the likes of Ian Mahinmi the way Carlisle did Tuesday night.

It’s been written here several times in the past year that we don’t appreciate the Mavericks’ sustained excellence as we should. And we’ll say it again now, after seeing them do it the Maverick way once again (check it out here in the Daily Zap):

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