These Are Not The Only People Watching Evans
On The Glass This Year, Will He Be An MIP Candidate?
By Jeremy Graham
If Sampson got his strength from his hair does Reggie Evans get his strength from his beard? Are beards coming back into style? What we are trying to say, Reggie, is don’t trust sexy women unless they are into facial hair, and under any duress or circumstance… don’t shave!
Evans is the basketball cookie monster. He works himself into a frenzy and gobbles rebounds. The man is averaging 16 a game this season after barely seeing the floor in 2009 or 2010 as a perennial bench warmer. How does one morph to being the best rebounder in the league?
Maybe it’s that only 3 games have been played this year. Makes sense, but one would have to forget that he has a history of being a pretty good rebounder; he just never saw the floor enough to be among the league leaders. He had the goods: per 36 minutes, Evans has averaged between 11.5-14.7 rebounds per game every season for his entire career.
If Rebounds Were Cookies: By Reggie Evans
Next consider his team. The Raptors are a pretty terrible on the boards. Andrea Bargnani, starting center, is averaging a paltry 3 per game and his career high is 6.2. He’s actually being out-rebounded this season by guards Jarret Jack and Demar Derozen. One could say this leaves all the boards for him, but I say it’s stepping up to the challenge with almost no help.
Once you consider his history you need to watch his game. Evans is everywhere the ball goes when it comes off the rim. Maybe this is just good luck with a small sample size and maybe he just has a sixth sense for where the ball is going to be. It’s almost Rodman’esque. Like all the great rebounders before him, he always has position for both offensive and defensive rebounds. He is behind the player guarding him and boxing him out so he can get the offensive rebound. When you watch his game, it’s not luck but pure will and determination getting those boards; wanting the ball more. Rebounding really is only 20-30% skill, the rest is hustle… and heart. No one on the floor looks more determined to get to the ball than Evans. He will box out a teammate if he has to.
Then why is he only getting minutes now? The only thing i can think of was a lack of an offensive game and merely being an average defender. Despite being one of the toughest dudes in the league he’s still undersized at 6’8”. Having Bosh around must not have helped either but they sure could have used the rebounding and toughness down the stretch when Bosh was not giving a damn. If it’s offense I think a player getting 5 offensive rebounds a game should be considered a good offensive player. He’s not scoring himself but his offensive boards are converted into opportunities and point, not to mention prevent opponent fast breaks. Evans won’t even shoot after getting the board unless he is wide open so he is always making sure the ball gets back to the guys who run the offense.
People Forget That Making The NBA Is An Achievement
That Only The Most Elite Hard Working Athletes In The World Acomplish.
With This Attitude, No Wonder Toronto Signed Him
Hmm… I hate Chris Bosh! Yes I do, but I don’t want to end that way. Instead I will address some of the obvious questions.
Q: “Will he keep it up all year?”
A: The 16 per game pace. No. Rodman’esque is not actually Dennis Rodman.
Q: “Will he be among the league leaders at the end of the year?”
A: Absolutely. Only two things are in his way. First, he might start to lose minutes so the team can develop younger players, especially if Ed Davis shows some life post surgery. This could happen if the Raptors fall out of the playoff race early. The second is fatigue. Evans is playing a purely strength based and energy consuming game right now. If he’s spent his bench career preparing his body and conditioning for his break, for that kind of challenge, he will be okay. If not, it’s very likely he will slow down as the season wears on him.
One Must Agree, The Similarities Are Striking
Even considering this, if Evans gets 32 minutes a night he should easily get 12 boards a game, not to mention that 5-6 would be on the offensive end. With these numbers he could be the oldest player to win the most improved player award. Not only that but he would put himself in a good position, barring lockout, to get a nice final contract before he rides off into the sunset and eventually becomes the bouncer we all know his body made to be.ow dHow
Remember, R is for Reggie, and Rebound, that’s good enough for him.
And we mean it Reggie. What ever you do, keep the beard.
Raaarrrr!!! How Well Do Dino-Bots, And The Raptors, Function In This Winter's Canadian Climate?
Out of the off season slumber awakes a sleeping giant... Full Court Pest is back to start the season off with a full preview of the Home Country (in lieu of town) Toronto Raptors. The Raps have had the most active off-season of any team in the NBA and stand at a cross roads with regard to Chris Bosh and thus the future direction of the franchise.
Lets take a peek at the full roster as it stands today:
NUM
PLAYER
POS
HT
WT
DOB
FROM
YRS
NUM
3
Marcus Banks
G
6-2
205
11/19/1981
Nevada-Las Vegas
6
3
7
Andrea Bargnani
C-F
7-0
250
10/26/1985
Rome, Italy
3
7
0
Marco Belinelli
G
6-5
200
03/25/1986
Bologna, Italy
2
0
4
Chris Bosh
F
6-10
230
03/24/1984
Georgia Tech
6
4
8
Jose Calderon
G
6-3
210
09/28/1981
Villanueva de la Serena, Spain
4
8
10
DeMar DeRozan
G-F
6-7
220
08/07/1989
USC
R
10
5
Quincy Douby
G
6-3
175
05/16/1984
Rutgers
3
5
30
Reggie Evans
F
6-8
245
05/18/1980
Iowa
7
30
1
Jarrett Jack
G
6-3
197
10/28/1983
Georgia Tech
4
1
15
Amir Johnson
F
6-9
210
05/01/1987
Westchester HS (Los Angeles, CA)
4
15
12
Rasho Nesterovic
C
7-0
255
05/30/1976
Ljubljana, Slovenia
11
12
13
Patrick O'Bryant
C
7-0
250
06/20/1986
Bradley
3
13
26
Hedo Turkoglu
F
6-10
220
03/19/1979
Istanbul, Turkey
9
26
24
Sonny Weems
G-F
6-6
203
07/08/1986
Arkansas
1
24
21
Antoine Wright
G-F
6-7
215
02/06/1984
Texas A&M
4
21
You Think I'm Joking??? Sadly, I'm not. Go Huckabee! ;0
Obviously, Toronto has prudently been sticking to it's somewhat unofficial plan of signing Euro players. Something that makes undeniable sense to us at Full Court Pest. When Euro players and their families will enjoy Toronto, the most multi-cultural city in the world, and many American players (and people) believe our government buildings are under igloos, creating a Euro haven means free agents become easier to sign and Toronto becomes the ideal destination for the fastest growing group of ballers on the planet. Create a system that favors skill players and you've suddenly turned an unattractive US sell into the first place Euro's want to play.
So where does that leave us with Chris Bosh? (Note: CB4 is from Texas, about as non-euro as planet earth gets) He does not seem happy with the past few seasons disappointments but this season promises a much different outlook as the first full season without Sam Mitchell running the team. Unfortunately, due to Mitchell winning the COY award 2 years ago, his firing didn't actually happen till last year. Success oddly can sometimes castrate actual progress. Sometimes Sam Mitchel's face oddly resembles a knife in a Jewish delivery room. At least it was a success with the now thankfully defunct, www.firesammitchell.com blog.
Apologies For The Announcer, Maybe The Worst In The League, But This Game Shows The Flashes That Bargnani Was Picked #1 For, He's A 7 Footer Who CAN Take Over A Game
In lock step with that firing Andrea Bargnani picked up where his rookie campaign, of 06-07, left off. A developing big showing that his skills can translate to wins. Bargnani's production appears to have been directly linked to the coaching/freedom he received. Unfortunately this much reported hole in the post which they've wasted many assets trying to fill with the likes of Marion and Jermaine O'Neal now appears self-imposed. Bargnani's flashes went from moments in games, to scoring 20 PPG on + 50% shooting from 3 for the entire month of March. Bargnani's highly developed skills started taking over late season games which should continue now that he has his footing. He's not all offense however as he also averaged well over a block a game.
The nice shooting touch will work well to stretch the defense with new swing man Hedo Turkaloo. He proved Toronto's Euro Destination strategy was a winner when he reneged on an agreement with Portland after Hedo and his wife realized what living outside of the States and in Toronto would mean to them culturally. While Turk is a notoriously poor defender he's yet another long player with plenty of range. Hedo has also learned to close out big games in his Orlando years becoming a match up nightmare with Rashard Lewis. Combined with Bargnani and Bosh I can't see any way of defending 3 bigs over 6'10" who are all mobile, can take you inside, and shoot from the perimeter. 5 through 3, Toronto will be an absolute match up nightmare for any team in this league to defend much like the Magic were with Hedo last year.
We Know Why You Choose Toronto Over Portland, Mmmm... FCP Salutes, The Pride Of Turkey, The Kebab!
Orlando's real problem (who shouldn't have come close to challenging the Cavs let alone win that series) was the lack of a true point who could run the team. They were offensively broken, especially after Nelson got hurt, as their strategy down the stretch was to throw it to a scorer and see if they could get it in the hole. Dwight literally was jumping up and down waving his hands while open in the post as swing players (usually Hedo) were trying to split/collapse defenses on the perimeter. This will not be an issue in Toronto as they have about as pure a point guard as humanly possible.
If Jose Calderon was Heroin, the Toronto Raptors would be awaking with a massive hypodermic needle sticking out of a lipstick red dot on their chest after winning a Twist Contest. They'd also crush eyeballs under their toes in Tarantino's later kung-fu films. With his shot improving every year and last year's season being the all time best free throw season in history (at 98.1%) Calderon threatens to improve even more as he pulls his game together and is the core to Toronto's offense. With a system built around him any skilled player can be thrust into the mix as he facilitates the offense. He's not Steve Nash yet, but has yet to only approach his potential.
Rock... Meet "The People's Caretaker"
Sporting by far the league's best assist/turnover ratio at 4.23 no one takes care of the ball better. Two seasons ago, he had an unheard of, ridiculous, insane, 71-1 assist/turnover ration for the last month of the season. That's considering the raps were playing in a system not built around his special handling/passing skills and without nearly the offensive firepower while the team was playing with 0 emotion. With the organization stating (and acting) on promises to play a run/gun style this year, expect Calderon to start turning heads. For those of us paying attention, we already know he's playing at an all star level and is a serious contender to lead the league in assists if things go well.
When Calderon is not on the floor TO has picked up Jarret Jack as a more then adequate backup. Jack has spent his career as a cusp starter. He's not going to take a team over the top, but he's also not going to sink you when your point or shooting guard need to get off the floor for a stretch. On his best nights, he will take you over the top and win a game for you. That's everything you want in a reserve.
Rounding out the bench at the 2 guard spot is Marco Belineli. While slightly overlooked on the dysfunctional Nellie run Warriors, his second season saw marked overall improvement towards his very real potential as a solid player in the NBA. An accomplishment when playing behind Corey Maggettee, Jamal Crawford and Monta Ellis: 3 players who have never taken a shot they didn't like.
Straight Off The Streets Of C P T, Demar Derozen Was A Certified Draft Steal
Other moves have brought Rasho Nesterovic and Marcus Banks to the fold. While both players have something to offer neither can be described as potential impact players. Demar Derozen, while a rookie, could be seen as a steal at 9'th in this, one of the worst drafts in memory. Anyone who watched him play at USC knows he plays with heart, not ego, and works hard... always. Athletic scoring, rebounding and defense all seem to come naturally to him without taking away from his teammates or the system he's playing in. Solid starter on a good team will come very soon to his promising young career as a player with the potential to help off the bench right now. After Summer League, ESPN's David Thorpe ranked him 4'th out of all rookies and claimed he was most impressed by Demarr from the whole summer.
So whats the final ingredient to this team? Well known in Canadian hoops circles, but little known outside them, is interim made permanent coach, Jay Triano. Is he the kind of guy to take this team of gunners and make them run? A resounding YES from Full Court Pest! It was playing for Triano on the Canadian Olympic Team where Steve Nash got his groove back before becoming elite in Dallas resulting in Canada's best ever international finish in the Olympics. Triano is a Canadian legend in his own right who in all circumstances has gained and held a strong respect from his players as seen as Bargnani's near instantaneous resurgence under Triano last season. His mild tempered demeanor fits with the European talent on his team. With the respect of Coach K, and legit all-time Canadian hero Terry Fox, Triano seems to be the home town perfect fit for Toronto's players as well as it's dedicated fan base.
This leaves us with one player. Bosh. Is Chris Bosh really important to the Raptors now? Personally, I have never thought of Bosh as a franchise player type. I love his game, but I'm not sure if he's really a Duncan type of player. I'm sure the Raptors would be more then happy if he wanted to re-sign. If he does not, I wouldn't lose much sleep and seek a trade partner ASAP. The Raptors are a young, energetic, talented team. If they can resist the allure of trying to win right now and make steady moves contention is just around the corner.
Does Chris Bosh Still Fit In Here? We Love Him, But He's Got To Sort Out What He Wants
So decide now. If Bosh wants to stay, build around him. If he does not want to negotiate to stay by the all star break, make a splash and trade him for someone who does want to stay and join the Raptors talented young core of skill players. Would trading Bosh for Jeff Green and some of OK City's high draft picks be a bad idea? What about for the freakish Anthony Randolph and Stephen Curry? Would Cuban listen to a Bosh for Dirk trade? One thing is certain: Bosh is coveted in this league. His value will never be higher and legit building blocks could be obtained for him if he's no longer interested in being that block himself.
Its quite possible this is the year the Raptors turn it around. By finally playing small and running Bosh's mobility, along with the new arrivals, and Bargnani's resurgence, Toronto could be on the verge of becoming the league's next great offensive team. Whenever you take 3 players capable of scoring 20 PPG from anywhere on the court and put them on a team with a great point guard, athletic role players and a coach committed to playing to his team's strengths, big points is not only possible, but should become the norm with a concept that has frankly never truly been tried in the pro ranks.
Consider how little it would take to get Darko Milicic who excelled in Euro-play as a teenager... would his potential finally reach fruition when surrounded with others who grew up on the same courts as he did? Its astounding that no NBA teams have sincerely tried to copy the Euro model as other sports are trending towards finnese instead of force. European skill players now dominate the yearly NHL scoring books as a similar example a few years ahead of hoop.
Europeans Are Hungry To Play NBA Ball, But They Don't Have A Complementary Home... Yet?
Impact European players like Ricky Rubio, Gasol, Calderon, Hedo and Dirk become more and more commonplace and the Raptors plan to use it's city's international status as a marketing tool to attract any non-US talent. Not only that, but it appears they are building a team concept geared to reduce the adjustment from international to NBA basketball. We've seen veritable NBA all-star teams look lost on the international stage vs skill teams of notorious nobody's from countries as small as Greece and Puerto Rico. Its almost surprising that it's taken this long for someone to realize that if Puerto Rico can embarrass Team USA, and Spain can hang with a legit NBA allstar team in international style game, what happens when you try the reverse? A veritable international all star team playing that same skill game in the NBA's house. The Toronto Raptors are poised to find out.
When Wilt Chamberlain was 55 years of age, he famously made a claim that was so absurd I'm sure you already know it. For the rock denizens (or if this was before your time) he said in all seriousness that he had bedded over twenty thousand women. Its brought up often, but lets take a moment to examine the numbers.
I'm guessing he probably didn't have sex before puberty. Lets say he 'became a man' at age 15 (before me, damn it!) and it was 20k over 40 years. That is both sensible and gives us nice round numbers.
20,000 women a year / 40 years = 500 women a year.
Since they were different women no repeats, right?
So that means...
500 women per year/365 days =1.36 women a day
24 hours a day/ 1.36 women a day = a new woman every 17.64 hours
Wilt's Bedroom: 1. Is It Possible He Made Love To 'Wilt Chamberlain' 20,000 Times Instead??? 2. Door Disclaimer Reads, A UV Light Will Blind You
Wilt Chamberlain would have had to have had sex with a new woman every 17.6 hours from the age of 15 to 55 and must have had sex countless thousands more times if he double dipped. Suffice to say, the single greatest solution to continental drought died with Wilt Chamberlain's genitals.
I'm sure Wilt had CRAZY amounts of sex. Every kind of kinky group sex you could imagine. He had a room specifically designed in his home covered in mirrors so he could see the one he truly loved when doing the deed. I don't think its possible to have that much sex when you're spending time training; Wilt was a crazy good athlete, traveling; NBA athletes spent eons on buses and planes and who knows, maybe hanging out at his mom's house for Christmas or something.
Say... he was sick for a week... I'm sure over 40 years he got food poisoning or some such ailment. That means the next week he would have to sleep with no less then 19 women between bathroom breaks to keep up. Another record Wilt would probably claim is to have spent 40 years without a single headache.
Size Is Not Everything: Just Ask Ditya 'Romeo' Dev, The World's Smallest Bodybuilder (Note: this is must click)
If he was on a road trip spending one night in each city, and say that lasted two weeks, and say a family member died and he attended the funeral shortly after, and say he was only able to bag 10 new women for that month. The next month he'd need to get 66 more just to stay on pace.
I'm just trying to fathom the depravity that happened, or at least occurred in Wilt's 55 year old mind. Given that he spent large amounts of his life not having sex with women, much less new women, Wilt must have had rooms full of 20-30 women, new women, in lines and ready for 'the stilt'.
Chamberlain once recalled driving across Arizona or New Mexico and pulling his car momentarily to the side of the road presumably to take a leak. He says he was attacked by a mountain lion (he had scratches to prove it) that surprised him when it jumped on his shoulder. Wilt in all seriousness said he grabbed it by the tail, spun, and flung back into the woods from whence it came.
On Yo Knees Govna! My Mace Is Off Pace And Its Time For 'Your' Lamentation... BITCH!!!
The part he must have left out from the official story was with his bang count of new women in jeopardy, Wilt tracked the mountain lion to his den and made sweet love to the the lion's wife lest he fall behind his 20,000 pace. Maybe he managed to slip off with the sweet young lion daughter too... charmer that he was. Wilt most likely would have made a great comic book hero and/or spokemen for ASSociation of LAtex Producers (aka ASSLAP).
Back to surreality, if its a given that Wilt was having considerably less sex at the 15 and 55 year ends of the time frame, and it is a given, then that means he made up for the 500/year count in the middle. The sessions must have been truly epic. Maybe Wilt was counting all the reflections in the mirrors of his own love den. Either way, I've still got images of sesame street kids candle making, football players running through tires and scientists using pipettes on endless rows of test tubes. Its no wonder they called him "The Big Dipper"!
And just a PS FCP fans... I just realized that I've been able to work a midget into two straight articles without even trying. Can I complete the little people trifecta? Tune in next week, same bat channel, same bat time, to find out!
This Article Featured In: http://communities.canada.com/VANNET/blogs/kudosandkvetches/default.aspx
During a David Stern interview the other day he was discussing changesthey were considering for next season. He stated people were 'very excited' about the new Euro-style cylinder rule. Once the ball has touched the rim a player may scoop it off without penalty.
My brain bleeds a lot but never so much as when I hear Stern's occupational pretenses. His job supposedly has to do with basketball and it's quality. His paid for interviewers are about as hard on him as Vanity on Smurfette.
With the league in dire straits, scandals and economics that's the best they've got? There's bad refs, a founded perception of rigged games, refs working for the mob, rules who's threat to negatively alter the outcomes of games/series increases with competitiveness.
So here at Full Court Pest we'll do a bit of Commish work free of charge. If only he would accept it. Without further adeiu, 5 sure fire ways to fix (or at least improve) the NBA for next season.
5. The 'Leave The Bench' Rule And Near Automatic Suspensions MUST Be Changed
An authoritative 'judge' (aka: commissioner) is charged with making calls on issues that are not self-evident. That's why you have the position. Thats why its a 'ruling' and not a 'summary of obvious events.' Mandatory sentencing (and suspensions) are a cop out removing the onus of decisions from that appointed decision maker. David Stern has got to grow a pair and accept the responsibility of simply doing his job.
Stern is afraid of image. He made the leave the bench rule to hide both NBA fights and his ineptitude behind. Countless NBA series have been ruined. The best in recent memory, Suns/Spurs, was over and ruined the moment Amare left the bench even though realized what he was doing and turned around before reaching the fracas and contributing to it.
Which Jersey Got Punished For Plays Like This?
David Stern's reaction was "How am I supposed to be able to know his intentions? I can't read his mind!" You're the freaking commissioner... you're job is to make a judgment in the interests of the league and competition. Instead he issued automatic suspensions handing the series to the Spurs and ruining a fair outcome. Stern had his mandatory rule to follow and put his own stubborn image as ruler of the league in front of the game itself.
How many series have been ruined by this rule? The great Knicks/Heat showdown in the 90's. Shot dead when most of the team was thrown out for an entire game. Its a rule that punishes emotion in Stern's childish fear of the thug image. The higher the competition gets, the more drama and emotion build up, the better the games. That's a fact. The side effect is the chances of an incident also increase. That increases someone's foot crossing a line by an inch and nothing else happens, yet that can determine who wins a series. I call bullshit.
Its a strategy now. Get a less important player to sucker punch the other team's leader in front of their bench. When their players naturally react and cross the line they are suspended. Thats how Robert Horry, premeditated or not, essentially won the Suns series for the Spurs. Its pathetic and needs to be fixed as it was the Spurs irresponsible intense physicality that causes the blow up yet the Suns were punished.
This along with the suspending players for 'unsportmanlike' acts that really don't make impact on other players or the game have to go. Elbows and punches happen when you play intense sports at the highest levels. Punishing a player for being blatantly violent makes sense. Punishing a player for being blatantly competitive to be consistant with punishing the violent player is absolutely another.
Lastly, the suspension based on tech's rule will ruin an entire series/playoffs. Its coming. Do we even want the chance of that? A tech is given indiscriminately for minor things as small as TD laughing on the bench. I don't want that turning an epic series of finals. Do you? And that's why we should get rid of it before it inevitably happens. 4. Call Flops... NOW! Make Them Competitive
Call Flips Too NBA! I Bring You The First 65 Year Old League MVP!
Drawing a charge is coaxing/fooling a player into knocking you down. A skill I respect. You anticipate the spot, get there before the offensive player does and do all this craftily enough that his momentum knocks you off the position. Pure sports.
A flop is none of this. When the ref's vision is partially obscured and its 'tough to call' you use your own force to fall down and/or pull his jersey into your mirage of a foul. Cue wildly flailing arms facial expressions worthy of an Oscar. No charge there. Its actually drawing a bad call from impartial refs in an attempt to undermine the game's rules and their spirit. Some say flopping is an art. Most do not.
I actually agree with the former. Flopping is an art. It's already part of the game. A properly executed flop will frustrate the hell out of your opponent. You get to snicker. He attacks/defends less aggressively because he has an extra foul and worries you will flop again. On the fly flopping is hard. Players who complain the most are never very good. Typical jealous critics.
The problem: its already part of the game but outside the rules. The worst flop outcome is an easy path to the basket with a no-call. I say let them flop. Reward skill and the flop masters. Its not easy to do afterall. Punish the unskilled. The result will increase the quality of flops to be entertaining.
You get called for a flop? Thats foul. The flopee gets 2 free throws. If they scored on the play they keep their points. If they didn't score on the play they keep the ball. The refs get fooled a lot on flops but see plenty of them. I say call what you see. If a player is slick enough to get away with it that's his skill. How does this not make the game better (and more attractive in European markets :) ) right away? It cuts down bad flops and leaves them as a secret weapon for the craftiest players. More flops please! 3. Change The Salary Cap, Add Profit Sharing
PS: Apologies in advance but this takes time to explain. If you've made it this far I hope you bear with me. I think there's some meat. If you don't care about the cap feel free to skip.
The salary cap helps small market teams compete. NBA is not MLB and its a good thing. Unfortunately the side effects are horrible for basketball. If you sign one player to a max deal and he has a major injury you're screwed. It takes a decade: 7 years to expire and 3 to rebuild. If you mistake a player's potential or he can't reach it you're screwed again.
Why Should This Define A Franchise For A Decade?
The Magic had 7 straight losing seasons predominantly due to Grant Hill. His was useless amid his injuries and his contract untradeable. They had talent too. Dwight Howard was there for 3 years. T-Mac's own injuries were traded to Houston in 03. It was their inability to pick up other players who could contribute due to the luxury tax line that Hill's contract pushed them over.
Unless your owner does not care about money (Knicks/Mavs/Blazers) winning means GM's making virtually 0 mistakes before players developing together on the court. Bargian players and signing vets to minimum contracts rather then building the best possible squad produces wins. When a players does develop the work put in and the commitment made by fans gets sold out. They can't afford him anymore and his chemistry/continuity with him. Pro sports fans used to enjoy cheering 'their' players to reach their potential. Now signing a player is akin to filling your plate at an all you can eat buffet. By the time you're sitting you've already "If I don't eat this I can get more of that on the next trip.
Take Joe Johnson. After he became good PHX let him go just before his prime. That was followed by selling Rondo, giving away Kurt Thomas and ultimately having to choose between $Amare$ and Marion. They took Amare under the guise of 'getting better defensively.' Every move was made to avoid the tax.
San Antonio are the anti-Suns. Lots of championships. Not the best team they can be though. Crazy? They won 4? Nope! The Spurs win by surrounding one all-time great player with 2 good players and a bunch of scrubs playing for peanuts.
Mind you, the Spurs still got Manu for a KILLING. He puts up better clutch stats then Kobe on half the salary. They pay Parker under 10 to be an all star. Past that the Spurs are a group of okay but bargain basement ballers. Matt Bonner can hit 3's for 2 mil. Bruce Bowen can D up for 4 mil. The Spurs have had an amazing 18 players on their roster this year making below the league average salary. Thats their team. Great, good, good, fill the gaps. They win. Why?
Not great Spurs teams. The same Spurs team. Greece beat USA due to years of preparation. The Spurs beat more talented teams with consistency. Tim Duncan deserves all his credit, but his value has been over-inflated as the only visible great on this team that wins by buying low, keeping low and selling high. All credit to them. However...
I watch sports to see elite physicial competition... not the stock market moves which is where the real action in the NBA takes place. The NYSE is not in Madison Square Garden and the Knicks in offices are they? Fans tended to agree as the Spurs produced some of the weakest ratings in decades while ratings for things like the NBA draft has sky rocketed.
NFL profit sharing works so why not emulate it? The luxery tax boils down to a wealth redistribution mechanism. Just be blatant. Instead of a tax make a minimum profit threshold. Those above share with those below. The direct result: bringing in Jason Kidd to make the NBA product better in two seperate cities does not cost almost 50 million dollars simply because you signed Eric Dampier and got stuck with him. Punishing your successful franchises rather then helping ones in trouble is a stupid, moronic way to operate when good teams are what you're selling. It does not work either as teams have still folded/moved in Seattle, Charlotte, Vancouver, New Jersy (soon) and Indiana (possibly).
Its killing the league. Anything that makes Donald Sterling one of the most successful owners in the books and the worst on the court is just wrong. Blatantly wrong. Wake up. Figure it out. Simply trying to lower the cap/salaries will NOT fix their problem. But I seriously doubt they view anything as a problem except decreased profits.
Okay, that all needed to be said. Finally... 2. Follow The D-Lead
D-League "Founder". Isiah Thomas Corollary: If Isiah Is Wearing A Suit, Your Organization Will Fail.
Just short of NCAA style selection the D-League's playoff seeding is nothing but fantastic. Let the higher seed pick. It allows truly elite teams to face off later in the playoffs. I'm sick of team A escaping team B because of a bracket. Not only that it adds new drama.
Who's to say that a team will always pick weak? Say the Wizards were 5'th and the Cavs were first how great would it be for basketball if they said "No, we want to embarras our rivals out of the first round. We're good enough that it doesn't matter if they're better then Detroit." What a way to build swagger for a championship run.
It adds a whole other level of strategy. Orlandos dominant but have trouble matching up with Detroit. Should they pick Detroit first and take their biggest challenge when they're fresh at the start of the playoffs? Giving teams control will let them create their own fate and create an new competitive facet as upsets will always be 'chosen' by the losers.
If Detroit is the easiest match up for the Cavs however a hard match up for another team they fear more, who's to say they don't take a better team in the first round and throw a monkey wrench into the real contender's first round? It should continue right through the playoffs. With 4 teams left in each conference the highest seed lets you pick who #2 will face. An advantage that teams WILL play for rather then one extra game at home in a series or two. As it stands now every year end is highlighted by fans going to games to find out the all stars they came to see are sitting on the bench cheering on teh scrubs... except tickets are the same price. This rule alone will improve the dead period from all star to the start of the playoffs. 1. Add A Few Ref Challenges
There Has Got To Be A Better Way To Get A Few Fair Calls
One of the major problems for the entire history of the NBA has been bad calls deciding games. In the course of a game a ref has the ability to 'make up' bad calls by giving a 50/50 call back to the team who lost out on a previous mistake. Its not perfect but this nuance of reffing the games, when executed properly, keeps things under control, competition high and frustration low.
Its not enough. When players with 6 fouls are out one bad call will affect a team for an entire half or more. When there's critical end game possessions or key players in early foul trouble a gimme later is meaningless. The margin of error in basketball at this level is so tight a single blown call will ruin the game's integrity: a ref often has a larger impact the competitors themselves. Sometimes its a game, sometimes its a playoff series, and if the series is important a single call can destroy the whole point of the playoffs and thus an entire season.
A coach could ask his player "are you SURE?" If the player says absolutely they challenge the call. 10-30 seconds later the critical mistake is erased and everyone is happy. If he's wrong the other team gets a couple of technical free throws and the home/away fans have something to cheer/jeer about. If the call prevents Duncan from getting his 3'rd or 4'th foul in the first half then he can stay on the floor and play untentative D as he would have if the right call was made.
Of Course, Rick Adleman Would Have Needed 30 Challanges To Make This Game Fair: It Took 3 YouTube Clips Just To Show The Fix, Umm... Bad Calls
The only result is stronger competition and enhanced fan experience. Nothing kills a city's fanbase like bad calls. The Kings had the best franchise in the NBA and now are the worst team in the league: rumored to be in financial trouble. Does that happen if they didn't get jobbed by the refs vs the Lakers? Probably not.
We've already seen video replay improving games this season. Corrected flagrant and 3 pointer calls at the end of quarters are forcing better officiating and less blown calls. No one is unhappy when the right call is made. Theres nothing to complain about, right?
So why only extended replay to such limited circumstances? Only in the last 2 minutes. Only to see if its a 2 or a 3. Only for flagrant. We've already seen that it makes the games better and reduces player frustration so why not do this on more important calls? Due to rules refs who are reviewing a play and notice a mistake are not even allowed to correct it if its not within the defined limits of what can be changed.
This option has been open to the NBA for decades. Its been 30 years at a bare minimum since the advent of video tape. So why is it ignored? Not wanting to review every call is normal: there are enough stoppages and you can bet coaches would. That's why you give them a few challenges to be managed the same as timeouts, still use replay at the ref's discretion and the game is instantly improved.
Take it to your coach' disarms any complaining players. Gone is the pretentious bullshitting players and coaches constantly engage in when they argue calls they know they have no business getting. "Think I'm wrong? Put your money where you mouth is" is what every ref will be able to credibly say with a single glance. Failed challenges can only boost drama and make the refs look even more credible to help their image crisis of the past 50 years. It does not just help it, it dissolves it overnight. No blown games no bad image no conspiracy theories.
5 massive problems with the NBA that are simple to fix. The talent has recovered from it's post Jordan slump. No excuse there anymore. One meeting and vote by the competition committee and next year's NBA comes back stronger and better then it's ever been.
The Next NBA Ball?
Will any of them be implemented? Not likely. While Stern is into surprise changes like introducing a new ball from a secret box that drops shooting percentages while cutting player's hands he avoids rules that are 1. obvious 2. easy to implement and 3. dramatically improve the game.
We can only sit and hope that maybe, just maybe they'll start to get it. Its so damn simple NBA suits. Simple! The issues fans complain about the most are the ones you should be addressing. Could you please just do it? Fix our league? We are your customers. Please???
Feedback Additions I'm happy to add some feedback on some rules that readers have suggested. Check them out... any more suggestions send them in and I'll add them. Cheers!
1. Flopping has to go. No need for it at all. Its annoying as hell. 2. If a defensive player stays in one spot and jumps straight up in the air and the offensive player jumps into him=No call. 3. Five referees each game so that there can be a 2 to 1 player to referee ratio. 4. Ticky tack fouls should not be called. 5. If there is a loose ball on the floor and you dive first, you should not be called for a foul. 6. If some one catches an air ball as the shot clock expires, dont make them inbound the ball, just play on. 7.Consistency, the referees have to be consistent at all times. If you are going to allow physical play, dont just do it for the first three quarters, do it for the whole game. 8. Make the game more physical. Stop playing a soft brand of basketball no one can identify with. To a certain extent, the more physical a game is, the better. 9. Revert the defensive rules to allow more physical defense to be played. 10. Traveling, this has to be remedied right now. Its terrible and needs to be called better.
I'm not going to pretend that Dwight Howard is not getting attention. He's slated to win DPOY and discussed in the MVP talk but not nearly the way he should be. The Magic won 59 games this year, good for third in the east with a PG who was never taken seriously, going down, and replaced with a playground baller turned pro. The team features other such 'stopper staters' as Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson/Raefer Alston and Mickael Pietrus. Orlando Magic defensive rating: #1.
With the Celtic's latest KG news the Magic have to be considered favorites to reach the eastern finals: Philly/Chicago/beat up Celtics can't be considered a bigger challenge then Detroit/Miami/Atlanta, right? Not when the Magic have handed it to the Greens all season.
The media has anointed him 'most dominant big in the league'. Right? The magic came together as a team and he's getting all the credit he deserves. Right?
Wrong. I follow the league. Dwight Howard is the center piece of my (first place, rock!) fantasy team. I check his box scores nearly every time he plays. In a recent ESPN MVP writer's poll he got paltry results... 1 second-place vote, 2 third, 10 fourth, 1 fifth.
I follow daily yet I was not aware of his progress. The capacity of the leap is astounding. I took a look, and a double take, at the numbers. This year is not a campaign for most dominant player in the league. This year is the start of a campaign for most dominant big in history. This includes you, Big Shaqtus.
Three disclaimers.
1. I'm not comparing Dwight to Shaq Daddy today. This is Shaq in his prime vs Dwight before he enters his.
2. I realize rules have changed recently increasing things like scoring. But its also made it harder for bigs to defend and board. Move over league history. Dwight is here and will be most dominant ever.
3. Only having access to stats from 1986 on I know this leaves players out of the mix. Honestly however basketball before this time was a different game. Sorry if it offends you but Wilt and Russel would not be anywhere near the players they were after 1986 on. That's my opinion I suppose, and I cede that on sheer dominance, Wilt would blow Dwight away on these lists, but I literally don't have the resources to show that era's stats or I would. So this is really just about the more modern era of ball. On with it!
Edit: One more disclaimer. Got into a discussion on a forum about this post and a litany of incredibly angry ball fans appeared to be mortally insulted that I could suggest Shaq was anything but the most dominant player ever and Dwight his little bitch. So people should note (or perhaps you know, just read the following definition that should have taken care of this in the first place) that I don't actually claim Dwight is better then Shaq. Nor do I think he's better, greater or more acomplished then Shaq. He's too young to be compared at that level.
I claim he's more dominant which is a measure of how good you are in relation to your peers and I back it up fairly well. Shaq was great and dominant but played in an era with peer big men who were periodically above him, below him and close to him. So, to the edumacated among us, here's a place you can get help and I have some great Dr. Seuss books... lets continue.
Nature's Version Of Dwight Howard
Dictionary.com says
Dominate: –verb (used with object) 1. to rule over; govern; control. 2. to tower above; overlook; overshadow: A tall pine dominated the landscape.
Stats too often focus on a single category over a season and miss the forest for the trees. Its how a player combines all cats in a single game that counts. I define center dominance as points, rebounds and blocks. Comparison is not really what the dictionary wants here either. He must dominate the landscape as the mighty pine. So, lets compare Dwight, one player, to the entire league, of 432 of players.
First up, a double double. For bigs it only indicates you are doing your job. Its not dominant. If you block 5 shots in the process however you're starting to own the paint. How many games is Dwight's mark?
10/10/5 Club
Years Pro
Player
Pos
10/10/5 Games
1
NBA
A
32
2
Dwight Howard
C
14
3
Marcus Camby
F
5
4
Andris Biedrins
C
3
5
Tim Duncan
F
3
6
Chris Andersen
F
2
7
Yao Ming
C
2
8
Josh Smith
F
2
Not so great Dwight. The entire league has 18 more 10/10/5 games while you only have 14. Never mind that its 3 times number 2 Camby, nearly 5 times Duncan/Biedrins and 7 times everyone else. It takes the next 5 top players in the league to equal your total Dwight. You can't dominate a girl scout.
Dwight's Response: 10 points nor 10 boards are anything to get excited about. I'm all man now so get those child stats outta my house.
We'll oblige the big fella. Lets add 5 boards to that total.
10 points, 15 boards, 5 blocks
Rk
Player
Pos
Games
1
Dwight Howard
C
10
2
Entire NBA
A
4
3
Andris Biedrins
C
1
4
Marcus Camby
F
1
5
Tim Duncan
F
1
6
Al Horford
C
1
Once the numbers reflect raw pwnage inside, Howard more then doubles the entire NBA's production. Individuals only have 1 such game a piece. Lets keep going, but its not fair to list them anymore. Sorry Timmy... you didn't make the cut. Just to show whats happening with Dwight Howard vs. the world the numbers have to be increased.
15/15/5
Years Pro
Player
15/15/5 Games
1
Dwight Howard
8
2
NBA
2
20/20/5 Games
Years Pro
Player
20/20/5 Games
1
Dwight Howard
2
2
NBA
0
4 times the whole NBA in 15/15/5 games? INSANE! Did you notice? In the 20/20/5 club of "I am center, hear me roar" Dwight Howard is putting up infinity percent more then the rest of the league. Infinity percent, times two, to be precise.
Which leads us to history. For a BIG the 20/20 personifies the separation of good and great. The marker of a truly dominant player. Dwight is on pace to own the record for most 20/20 games in about 1.5 years. Maybe sooner as he is still developing. The top of the 20/20 list looks like this.
Years Pro
Player
Pos
20/20 Games
1
Charles Barkley
F
37
2
Hakeem Olajuwon
C
35
3
Shaquille O'Neal
C
34
4
Kevin Garnett
F
27
5
Dwight Howard
C
23
People Are As Close To Howard As AI Is To Making This shot
Considering potential, time remaining and all that jazz, there are no active players who are realistically close. Al Jefferson has 20/20 skills except in his fifth year he only has four 20/20 games to 23. Big Al is preobably the closest to compete!
By the time Howard is done wreaking his brand of havoc he could easily have 60 of these games. Unheard of in the modern era of basketball.
To put it yet another way: only 9 players have topped Dwight Howards 9 20/20 games this season, wait for it, in their entire cumulative careers. And none before they were 23.
As I write this Howard is not yet finished his fifth year of pro ball. He already has more 20/20's then this bunch in their whole lifetime. Be sure to note the number of years each player took, multiply by 'star power' and consider how in less then 5 years he's overtaken them.
Years Pro
Player
Pos
20/20 Games
16
Charles Barkley
F
37
17
Hakeem Olajuwon
C
35
16
Shaquille O'Neal
C
34
13
Kevin Garnett
F
27
5
Dwight Howard
C
23
22
Kevin Willis
F
22
11
Tim Duncan
F
19
16
Patrick Ewing
C
18
13
David Robinson
C
13
19
Karl Malone
F
12
17
Dikembe Mutombo
C
9
18
Chris Webber
F
9
12
Marcus Camby
F
7
20
Moses Malone
C
7
20
Robert Parish
C
7
7
Yao Ming
C
3
15
Alonzo Mourning
C
2
7
Arvydas Sabonis
C
2
Sabonis gets a pass. Had he played in his youth he would have torn the NBA to pieces. He was so good that the NBA would have been an entirely different era with different players winning championships.
Years Pro
Player
Pos
20/20 Games
78
Mike Dunleavy
G
1
Mike's Typical Day In The Paint
Mike Dunleavy also gets a pass cuz Mike Dunleavy is a FREAKING GUARD! Have you seen him? He's a rail. "BIG WOW" to you Mike Dunleavy!
Can I repeat again that he is only 23 years of age??? 50 or 60 20/20 games is actually Dwight's low mark. At 25 he should be sitting neatly at 40 and first place all time. Should we expect 80? 100? If his body can keep up like TD's (who had a 20/20 this year at 34) 100 20/20 career games might be his ceiling with 60-80 being his likely result.
Forget scoring. For a center points are the easy work. Focusing on boards alone Dwight is 10'th all time in 20 rebound games. Here's the list.
Rk
Player
Pos
Games
1
Dennis Rodman
F
159
2
Dikembe Mutombo
C
52
3
Charles Barkley
F
48
4
Ben Wallace
F
41
5
Hakeem Olajuwon
C
40
6
Kevin Garnett
F
36
7
Shaquille O'Neal
C
35
8
Kevin Willis
F
35
9
Marcus Camby
F
33
10
Dwight Howard
C
31
Yes! 159 More Excuses To Put Up Weird Dennis Rodman pics
Props to the Worm. Maybe the most under-rated player of all time and the undisputed best pure rebounder ever. I digress: that's another column. He didn't put up points or blocks like D12.
What should be noted is that at age 23 Dwight is in 10'th place with 9 more 20 board games then Duncan and 10 more then Ewing. If he continues having 10 20 board games a season (like this one) he'll pass everyone except Rodman before he's 25 and again just entering his prime.
That's historically. Measures of domination are not against history but by outperforming peers. Why can we safely assume that baring injury he's going to continue pulling down 20's so frequently? Lets look at the list of active players who have had even 1 20 board game and is under 30. No offense to TD et al, but they're in the twilight of respective brilliant careers. This is the competition.
Rk
Player
Pos
Games
5
Dwight Howard
C
23
25
Chris Kaman
C
5
28
Dirk Nowitzki
F
5
29
Carlos Boozer
F
4
32
Al Jefferson
F
4
36
Amare StoudemireF
4
44
Yao Ming
C
3
46
Emeka Okafor
F
3
49
Andrew Bogut
C
2
50
Chris Bosh
F
2
51
Tyson Chandler
C
2
61
Zach Randolph
F
2
72
Nick Collison
F
1
87
Al Horford
C
1
90
David Lee
F
1
96
Troy Murphy
F
1
There's not a lot of competition there. Only 16 have even one 20 board game and #2 is 25'th all tim with 5 of them. When you consider that most of them are closer to 30 then 25, much less 23, and most of them have already started to break down, the list is actually shrinking and this league is Howard's. A few other views to consider.
The 15/15/5 club, active and under 30, is a small club.
Rank
Player
Pos
Games
1
entire league:
A
17
2
Dwight Howard
C
12
3
Emeka Okafor
F
6
4
Yao Ming
C
5
5
Chris Kaman
C
2
6
Andris Biedrins
C
1
7
Tyson Chandler
C
1
8
Al Horford
C
1
9
Josh Smith
F
1
Lets talk blocks. (3 times fast!) D12 vs. the league. Starting at 3/game: everyone has a game with a block or two. It goes without saying: Howard is in first place for every row until you factor in the league thing. I factored in fluke games for this one. If a guy has a solitary >5 block game in an entire season that's a statistical burp; not a peer of Dwight Howard. I included some percentages on who owns what as well.
x Blocks
Howard
Entire League
Non-Fluke Games
# Of Others
# Of Non-Fluke Others
DH's % Of Total Games
DH's % Of All x BLK Games (Non Fluke)
% Of DH Games With x BLKS
% Of 432 Who Can't
% Of 432 Who Can't Or Fluke
3
42
879
830
167
112
5
5
53
61
74
4
24
312
268
100
56
7
8
30
77
87
5
15
103
72
52
19
13
17
19
88
96
6
8
33
20
21
7
20
29
10
95
98
7
2
11
7
7
3
15
22
3
98
99
8
2
4
0
4
0
33
100
3
99
100
9
1
1
0
1
0
50
n/a
1
100
100
10
1
0
0
0
0
100
n/a
1
100
100
I'm not sure what is more astounding considering any position is totally capable of having a few blocks in a game; that 5%/8% of all 3/4 block games or 30% of all 6 or more block games (non-fluke) in a league of 432 players are his.
x Boards
Howard
Entire League
Non-Fluke Games
# Others
# Non-Fluke Others
DH's % Of All x-Board Games
DH's % Of All x-Board Games(Non-Fluke)
% Of DH Games With x BLKS
% of 432 Who Can't
% of 432 Who Can't Or Fluke
10
63
2041
2005
200
170
3
3
80
54
61
11
59
1440
1379
186
130
4
4
75
57
70
12
55
990
942
147
99
5
6
70
66
77
13
51
679
645
117
83
7
7
65
73
81
14
45
435
401
95
61
9
10
57
78
86
15
34
284
259
75
50
11
12
43
88
83
16
23
169
145
54
30
12
14
29
88
93
17
19
118
100
42
24
14
16
24
90
94
18
17
75
57
36
17
18
23
22
92
96
19
14
45
28
26
9
24
33
18
94
98
20
10
27
16
18
7
27
38
13
96
98
21
6
13
7
9
3
32
46
8
98
99
22
3
9
3
7
1
25
50
4
98
99.7
23
2
5
3
2
1
29
40
3
100
99.7
Again, whats most impressive? He's responsible for almost 40% of the non-fluke 20 board games and 46% of the non-fluke 21+ board games or that half the league is not even capable of having one 10 board game while Howard has 63 of them. That's a 75% chance every night. Maybe its a nearly 60% chance he pulls down 14 boards, every, single, night. There is no player like this today. There are very few players like this in the past. Once Dwight Howard actually reaches his prime there will be no player in history like this.
Last point. Lets consider something other then stats. In the ESPN voting page I linked to one of the writers said "Dwight needs to improve at the offensive end. 20 ppg won't win MVP." Being a good offensive player is not always about putting the ball through the hoop and its not always about being the player to have the ball right before another player scores.
Dwight's presence inside demands a constant double team/team defensive strategy. Opponents collapse on Dwight which gets easy open looks for others. Go inside, the defense collapses, pass back out and swing it to the weak side for a great look. That IS the Magic's offense. Anyone paying attention when watching realizes that Howard is involved in nearly every single scoring play. Free looks and open lanes for everyone aboud and thats because of him... not Hedo and Lewis.
He's been so effective he made perennial laughing stock Jameer Nelson an all-star. The fact he scores 20 PPG only indicates his willing attitude to work within the structure of the offense to create the best opportunity to score points instead of getting his. He's happy playing for 59 wins despite downgrading his point (and losing his bench point) then for 50 and 30 PPG.
Howard is ranked 7'th or 8'th on mock MVP ballots behind players like Billups, Kobe, Pierce and Brandon Roy. I challenge anyone doing so to look at these numbers and honestly tell me he's not top 3. Dwight is unmistakeably on a historical tear starting this season and ending approximately 5-10 years later when micro fractured knees meet kryptonite edged scalpels. If they hold off till then he'll also shatter nearly every important stat for a big man in the modern era of basketball. In many cases, doubling the current all time mark. The Magic have the best defense in the league and not because #12 is really entertaining in the dunk contests. Its time for people to take notice. Superman has landed.
I was recently listening to Bill Simmons discuss the Wizard's front office futility with his buddy House, a die hard Wizards fan. The risky contract they gave to Arenas, refusal to break up the team or make trades after multiple seasons in the basement are getting panned universally. This was no different.
"Whats their ceiling? Going out in the first or second round?" was Bill's estimate.
Its overly harsh. Their handling of Lebron and the Cavs showed lots of promise that maybe was not such a surprise to the front office. What is the ceiling of the healthy Wizards? Is it really just first round exit? There's a few questions that people should be asking.
Should Arenas even be playing?
Maybe its a risk. His come backs have all been rushed and resulting in re-injury. This time he's waited over a year and reports say his leg is 8 times stronger then his last attempt. I doubt he's going to spend his summer trying to make 100,000 jumpers this time either. The most retarded rehab effort I've ever heard of... he had to stop when his knee started to swell. I'm sure he's learned his lesson. The Wizards are taking a chance but I think Gil needs to go into the summer knowing he's still capable to enter next season confident.
The following savy front office move goes unacknowledged too. Season almost over, team has the worst record, upcoming renewal for season tickets and the worst economy since the great depression. Washington swung for the fences and made contact. How many season tickets do you think will be renewed on the basis of that solitary super charged home win against their rival and best team in the NBA? I'm betting a whole bunch. In one game Arenas/Washington gave their fans something to hope for and believe in. Basketball moves don't always make money. More money always puts you in a position to win more games if your owner cares. Money is always the difference between a team staying or leaving.
So where was this team the last time they were healthy?
People's memories are short. Less then a season after the Spurs lucked past Phoenix people say "they just can't beat the Spurs without playing D." No mentions that Nash was out for the end of game 1 because of a bloody nose and/or the Amare suspension.
Bet you Steve Nash Remembers!
Thats only linked with their string of bad luck. They've been labeled not good enough to beat SA and the reason is always no defense instead of the things that caused their losses. People call the past Lakers three peat team unstoppable except they were bailed out by the refs against the Kings/Blazers and the Charles Barkley injury in successive years. No one mentions their 3 straight were not earned. Short memories.
In 05/06 the Wiz had the sixth best offense in the league and took Cleveland (who made the finals) to an incredibly tight 6 games. It says something that they almost beat the team that did beat Detroit. In 06/07 when last healthy they had the best record in the Eastren Conference, were 10 games over .500 and playing over .600 ball. Things were looking up, way up.
What happened... did they lack the talent to win?
Then the problems started. Caron Butler missed 20 games that overlapped Jamison's own missed 12 games. Once back they lost Arenas and the season was over. They managed to salvage a .500 record and make the playoffs but got swept in the first round by Bron Bron and the Cavs.
In 07/08 Agent Zero rode the IR for a full season (consequently destroying my fantasy team's first place hopes. :( 2'nd) Solace: Caron Butler started to blossom into a big time player. Taking and making game changing shots he and Jamison led the Wiz to a 43-39 record and the playoffs without their best player. They couldn't handle the Cavs but they were playing without a player who produces 30 points, 6 dimes, 5 boards, 2 steals and is their unquestioned game closer. If the Cavs played without James I bet they don't beat Washington with Arenas either.
Should they have resigned 'The Hibachi'?
They re-signed their injured cornerstone hoping the medical staff was right when they said he could make a full recovery. People spout opinions but never have the sensitive data from team doctors about health. Statements are almost always conjecture amid the ballyhoo of the armchair athleate.
Denver got slammed for giving Nene a contract and now he's the best defensive NBA 5. Wade got written off too: he's an MVP candidate. Arenas has entered the Wade zone and is hoping for redemption. You have to recgonize that teams employ the best sports medicene specialists in the world to help them make decesions 'not' based on conjecture. So at least give a little slack. It sounds risky to me too: but if Arenas is fully back he is a max deal player without doubt.
So what can they do now... has the team gotten better or worse?
Move to the present. In the draft they picked up super athletic Nick Young and solid big Javale McGee. Brendan Haywood continues to develop as a dependable rotation player. Add a bonefide superstar to the mix (pending full recovery by Arenas) and the Wizards are looking like a legitimate sleeper to come out of the east.
Sooner Then Later: Griffin's Going To Make Impact Wherever He Lands
That's now. Consider this year's draft prospects: a serious shot at Blake Griffin. After watching Griffin in the tournament his addition to the Wizards roster would push them to contender and improving status. If the balls don't go their way however they still get a very high pick and can grab a solid point guard from whats left in a weak draft year for every other position.
Whats their ceiling? I'm not sure they have one. A team with a legit superstar in his prime if Arenas can complete The Wade next year. A legitimate second scoring option who can and has been #1 on a winning team. Talented youth. Experienced vets. Bring in a decent coach from the large pool of qualified non-working coaches. Lots of options for trades.
That's a winning combination for a very successful team and you've got to at least say they could make the East finals. Without Arenas Butler/Jamison took them to 43 wins. 3 or 4 more puts them in 4'th place matching up against a very beatable Atlanta Hawks. Could they challenge the Cavs in a series like they used to? It looks possible.
Back to that game. It meant way more to Cleveland then they let on. Dates with Orlando, San Antonio and Boston are on the schedule. Half of their remaining games are on the road and Celtics/Lakers have favorable schedules. They needed this game to secure home court in a tight race.
They Didn't Just Win , They Beat Lebron James
Washington didn't just win this game. And it wasn't a matter of the Cavs expecting to coast and being caught off guard. James was quoted saying "Records don't matter when we play eachother." The Wizards controlled the game against their rival from the opening tip with the first healthy Arenas in 2.5 years. The Wizards' have 17 wins. The Cavs have 60+ and came into Washington riding a 13 game winning streak.
Too many make their names by jumping on teams/people who are down. Its easy to kick people with bad luck: they already look like losers which puts them right at boot height. How many tough breaks a franchise can get in a row? The Wizards are still wondering what happens to their team when that luck finally starts to turn back to positives. I think a little faith is admirable in today's sports universe. Sometimes faith pays off. Ask Lebron James what happens when the down and out kicks back. They play again at home and you can bet its going to be a barn burner. Blog Listings
Even this AI fan is falling for it. Allen Iverson has just shut it down for the season due to a 'back injury'. He's played through sprained ankles, debilitating sickness and broken bones. Its not his back people. He's encountered a strain to a part he just can't cope with: his heart.
I appreciate JA's analysis and perspective but he has this call wrong. There's 3 basic jobs in the NBA. GM's assemble teams for success. Coaches take players and create the best possible team/individual system and shows people how to play in it. Players follow the direction of the coach and execute that system to win games.
When 2 of these 3 institutions do a good job the result is success: two groups will motivate the third. When only one of them do their job an organization becomes disjointed and all three show frustration as it's sucked into the void. View any clippers season (except the one before Livingston got hurt and the Larry Brown year) and you'll see examples.
Is Iverson to blame? Partly, for sure. But JA is wrong when he thinks its only Iverson's issue.
Some Coaches Solve Problems, Some Sulk And Blame Their Players
Dumars brought Iverson into a system that was an obvious bad fit before the ink dried on the dotted line. Michael Curry failed in developing a system he could sell to his top 3 players and the team as a whole. Iverson? I truly believe Iverson has tried to work with the Pistons. His statement is honest: his game is dominating the ball and doing this is how he's most effective. Its not his fault: it's just who he is and he's saying he's not being competitive. Remember: the Pistons chose him... he did not choose the Pistons.
That's Dumars' fault but realistically the Iverson trade was a money dump which makes sense for the future of the team. He has done his job but it will just take a few years to show up in the W column. Iverson would love to do his job but can't and is a little past his prime to win lots of games with his style. These are facts. That leaves us with Curry. Curry really has not done much but try and slot Iverson into different roles of the team he used to coach before the trade happened.
No wonder he's had trouble selling it to the players. How do you really sell a game plan to the players that takes an all-star guard and puts him on the bench so the new guy can try and outperform him in that role? How are the other starters who went to war, won a title and made 7 straight conference finals with Rip at the 2 going to react to that? Badly. Iverson clearly does not fit Rip's role in the starting system anyway. Rip played it at a championship level so how does changing something that's not broken improve your team?
Plan B failed too. Take a player who's entire game is working with the ball in his hands and try and make him fit in as a reserve. How do you sell that to the team or Iverson? An all-star with the ball in his hands who made the finals that way. Now you expect him to excel hitting spot ups off the bench? Iverson feeds off of competition, playing hard and above all else contributing to his team's success. He's a hero player. Its his game.
I say kudos to both Rip and Al for trying both attempts over this season but hand Curry a big boo-urns for sulking that Billups is gone. Both minimally complained and expressed personal frustration that coming off the bench is not helping them help the team. Only Iverson took heat however when he complained that him being on the bench does not help the team and not adjusting. The man no one is talking about though, the coach, has been trying to fit square pegs in a round holes all season long.
Instead of creating a maximizing approach for his team's abundant talent Curry he's hanging onto his past team like Britney holds onto her past career. Its to the point now where Iverson is considering retirement openly. Curry gave up on a still prolific and capable player before he got there. In doing so he gave up on a season as well.
Whats needed is a game plan. One built around the pistons on the roster. One that keeps everyone happy. One that has a role for everyone to contribute. Whats needed is some compromise. So why not give Allen Iverson this challenge.
You say: "AI, we know you've got trouble playing with our team. We know you need to be the star to be effective. Lets try something no one has ever done with you before."
I guarantee you, I'd bet a year's salary on it... Iverson's ears would perk up at this sentence. Instantly. What he told the press was not "I want to quit basketball" but that he's starting to think basketball is quitting on him. That everything has been tried and he just does not work on winning teams anymore. AI is saying he's not in it for the money.
Throw down this plan on him. Instead of trying to make Iverson change his style create a separate system for him. Build a second unit around his skill sets, then use it to crucify opposing team's benches and starters alike. It would be feared in the league. Say "We don't want to change how you , AI, we want you to change games."
Iverson is absolutely listening now. Iverson is still coming off the bench but because of the packaging rather then insulting his talent its challenging him. Show him clips of the Knicks team that made the finals with Spreewell leading a second charge off the bench that would change up the looks the opponents saw and often blow them away as the defense tried to adjust to the style switch on the fly. Teams were constantly caught with their pants down when Ewing went off the court the tempo changed.
It makes sense. The starters are too good together to change their system. Iverson is too Iverson to be effective playing any other way. Its a way to be himself, be proud of the way he contributes and not distract the team. It absolutely makes the Pistons much tougher to scout and match up with. Using the 'bad boy' unit you can lock down and dig in. Then switch to AI mode and run them off the floor and no team will know when its coming. Check out the line ups.
"Bad Boys"
5 Sheed
4 Dice
3 Prince
2 Rip
1 Stucky
That is what the Pistons are winning with right now. Great starting 5.
"AI Mode"
5 Kwame Brown (who did prove he can play a little in LA in the playoffs)
4 Jason Maxiell (who's also under used)
3 Amir Johnson/Hermann
2 AI/Afflalo/Bynum
1 AI/Afflalo/Bynum
Unit 2 is not going to win 50 or 60 games. But they could win 5-10 minute stretches. No sweat. There is not a leader who plays with more heart then AI. Its right on his sleeve and it WILL get Kwame going. It will get their bench guys going who thus far are severely under-performing.
Lots of combinations and possible tweaks exist too. Move Maxiell or Johnson to center and go small. Take prince and put him at the 3. Take any starter and move him to play with the second unit. The main point is that when the second unit is on the floor you play with a different game plan that utilizes Iverson's skills to put points on the board.
Its a match up nightmare. Your team gets ahead in the game D'ing up Detroits systematic offense. Your 2 is fighting Rip off screens. Your 4 or 5 is getting help to contain Sheed's inside/outside game. You're defending the pick and roll and Detroit's other half-court sets well. Then Iverson comes in and your point guard is getting isolated on the wing while the rest of the players are clearing out the strong side to run back in off screens while Iverson creates. Do you really think Daniel Gibson could have handled this in the Pistons last Cavs loss? Nope and I'll prove it.
Curry's ineptitude was shining bright recently in Cleveland. Iverson was finally given some minutes in the fourth. That is after running the offense throuugh Will Bynum created a 7 point deficit in the quarter. 9 plus/minus if you include the Bynum shot that Joe Smith swatted. 11 if you include his missed dunk. 13 if you count his bricked jumper. 14 because he could not stay in front of Mo Williams who hit Bron for an clear path pass on a back door play. The Cavs announcer needed extra dry cleaning to say the least after that.
So at the nine minute mark Iverson was allowed to use the ball. Every time AI pushed, this happened. Drained a pull up. Uncontested jumper in the key. Shot a pass to Maxiell from the 3 point line under the hoop for an easy lay in. Will Bynum missed a point blank lay up in transition. Shot Sheed a pass from under the hoop to the 3 point line for a wide open trey. (missed) Split the defense, drove the lane, easy lay up. Will Bynum threw a pass away then promptly raced down to foul 23 for the and 1. (at least he got a dime!) Drew a foul on Big Z trying to contain AI. AI got blocked. Good D by MO. Stuck on MO like glue forcing him to miss a shot. Gave it to McDyce for a wide open jumper. (missed) Almost turned it over driving to the hole but ripped it away from Varajeo and called time too quickly for him to react. Then as a reward for saving the possession Curry used the timeout Iverson fought for and called to take him off the floor.
For that 5:50, with the ball, they were down 7. Iverson responded with 9 points on 4 of 5 shooting, two assists, two wide open looks for teammates, 1 drawn foul, got the lead, and was pulled from the game. They were down 3 when Curry pulled him. They lost the lead when Bynum threw the rock away and fouled Bron. In fact, the only scoring plays Bynum was involved in during the stretch was when he passed it to AI and got out of his way. Curry put the starters back in and they promptly let the lead balloon to 8 before losing by 6. Oh yea, he also took a slap-in-the-face sized stake and drove it through the most exposed heart in the league. (its on his sleeve) In 18 minutes AI outscored everyone except Rip's 13 with 11 points. 9 in that 6 minute stretch when they, you know, let him play.
It was Iverson's second game back after not playing for over a month, after he rushed back from his back injury to contribute. Whats inside the mind of Curry? Well, this was his thinking before Iverson came back.
"Maybe Allen comes in and plays a lot of time at Will Bynum's spot," Curry said.
Now legions of fans, writers and anyone else are saying Iverson's horrible attitude and selfishness is why the Pistons are not doing well. Then questioning his heart. Then saying its his fault. I'm sorry, but that is bullshit. Iverson blamed 'himself' for his frustration, 'himself' for his failure to compete, 'himself' for everything. Even when its blatently Curry's arrogance and or incompetence thats directly to blame.
Put Iverson on a stationary bike like PJ did with Rodman. Or put him in the back hitting jumpers to keep in rhythm. Just make it work. If the starters start having an off quarter you throw AI in to play at top speed with his heart on his sleeve, get the fans into it and see what might happen. Maybe the goal of the AI crew is to run Iverson at another team's bigs and tally up a few quick fouls.
The Pistons Can't Comprehend 'Crazy For A Championship' Like They Used To
Rodman is a great comparison. He wanted special treatment and the Bulls gave it. In return he gave them a 72 win season on the GOAT NBA team. Teams too caught up in cliches about attitude often forget that winning is the bottom line. Winning is 'always' the team concept and when you're playing at the highest for all the marbles its all any winning teams care about.
Rodman worked on Chicago because Jordan cared about nothing, absolutly nothing, besides winning. He was willing to give Rodman special status. I guarentee you Jordan would have cleaned his toilets if it meant the Worm was going to pull down 20 boards that night. Except thats not happenomg here because , faults that he may have, came to a team/coach with a few other bottom lines. Instead they're scapegoating him as "The Answer" to the question "why are you underachiveing."
But its actually not too late. If the team gets mentally together and approaches Iverson with a direct plan. If they say we need them to shut up our doubters. AI doubters and Pistons doubters. If they say Allen Iverson: you can be the difference between us wining and losing. We can come together then they could still make the season work if you're up for it. No doubt Iverson's treatments will be magical and his back will heal overnight. Its not likely though as egos are probably too big to admit a mistake but the Pistons just don't have enough to get past the first or second round. Possible but a crazy long shot.
Anythings better then just giving up in my books. It says silently that the Pistons are not trying to win this year and says it from the top down. Many can't recover from a move like this. The suns could never recover from the forced style change the Shaq trade brought and the knowledge the current players had that their management had given up on them. Didn't believe in them. Now Iverson has quit on the Pistons and I fear its the beginning of the end for one of the present era's best and unheralded teams.
