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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Yet Another LeBron Opinion

But this is a good one. Usually I read the comments on the Ball Don't Lie blog to laugh at how mean-spirited and racist Yahoo! commenters are. But a Cavs fan named Holden K actually had a poignant thought about LeBron's departure:
The truth is, and most Cavs fans won't admit it, they miss Lebron. Sure he's arrogant, selfish, delusional, and immature, but who cares when you win 66 games?!? People lie and say it's the manner in which he left that pisses them off, which I'm sure is true to some extent, but eventually Cavs fans will have to admit that they would have been mad even if he left with class and tact, because who wants to lose the best player in the NBA and end up with a team full of scrubs? And this is coming from a guy that absolutely hates everything about Lebron's egomaniacal personality.
I agree 100%. Many Clevelanders love going back to "The Decision" and saying they don't mind that LeBron left as much as they do the way he announced it. I've got to call bullshit on that one. We all got our shots in about "The Decision." That's been done to death. The only reason Clevelanders still keep focusing on it is because LeBron is still gone and he truly had every right and good sense to leave.

LeBron James is the best basketball player of this generation, and Clevelanders thought everybody in their downtrodden city had an intimate connection by proximity with this person who seemed so divine. The jilted lover analogy is still the best. If you're a giant loser who lucked into dating the hottest girl in school for years, in the long run you're going to be traumatized by her dumping you no matter how nicely or cruelly she did it.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Cleveland Signs for LeBron James


Love this: "11-8?? LOOKS LIKE YOU LEFT YOUR TALENTS IN CLEVELAND"

This is MEAN: "Like Father, Like Son."

Thursday, November 25, 2010

On Tim Duncan

Amusing blurb from SI.com's Chris Mannix:
As age and injury have robbed him of some of his skills, [Tim] Duncan has quietly channeled [David] Robinson. He has ceded the spotlight in San Antonio to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili without the slightest trace of complaint and embraced the role of mentor to up-and-comers like DeJuan Blair and Tiago Splitter. Think that's easy? Ask Allen Iverson.
Read the full article here.

Friday, November 19, 2010

0, 1, 2, 3


The top four 22-and-under point guards in the NBA.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Before You Go Nuts and Draft DeMarcus Cousins for Your Fantasy Basketball Team

The Bipolar DeMarcus Cousins (NBAE/Getty Images)
Let's take a magnifying glass to DeMarcus Cousins's 2010 summer league numbers:

DATE
MIN
FG%
FT%
PTS
REB
AST
STL
BLK
TO
PF
7/12
26:02
.455
.667
14
10
1
0
0
5
4
7/13
31:23
.400
1.000
19
12
3
2
2
5
6
7/14
34:37
.529
.571
22
12
5
4
1
5
2
7/16
28:18
.278
.857
16
12
2
1
1
6
10
7/17
30:57
.200
1.000
10
7
0
1
2
3
5
7/18
27:08
.083
.571
6
6
0
1
1
5
2
AVG
29:44
.333
.735
14.5
9.8
1.8
1.5
1.2
4.8
4.8

Of course, you never put too much faith into summer league numbers, but it's the way Cousins produced these numbers that should make your finger hesitate over that big "DRAFT" button.

He started off strong, peaked in game three, then started to struggle. How did he handle adversity? He pouted like he always does, chucked up more shots, refused to adjust, and closed out the second half of the Vegas summer league with nine shots made on 45 attempts for a .200 FG%.

Maybe Cousins figures it out like my personal hero and Slim-Fast spokesman Kevin Durant did in his rookie season, but I don't see that same sense of discipline and humility in him.

DeMarcus Cousins is talented for sure, but if he walks like a bust and talks like a bust...

Sunday, September 12, 2010

What Went Right for Team USA, and Who Should Go to London in 2012?

Kevin Durant, FIBA World Champion. (AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI)
While the majority of America likely was focused on the first spate of NFL games today and kicking themselves over not drafting Arian Foster in their fantasy leagues (I know that latter part isn't just me), 5000 miles away, the USA men's national basketball team overwhelmed home-team Turkey 81-64 and took home America's first FIBA World Championship gold medal since 1994.

Although it's easy (and gratifying) to mock those critics who called this year's USA team the "B" team now that the J.V. squad has accomplished what the star-studded varsity couldn't in 2006, it's important to note that the situation is completely different.

In 2006, the USA national basketball program, as it exists today led by head coach Mike Krzyzewski and godfather Jerry Colangelo, had only been in existence for two years. The players may have changed, but the leadership and system has been around for six years now. This plays out much like a blue chip college program, which further validates Coach K as the perfect leader on the bench.

Second, and just as important, this year the rest of the world was also missing some of the crucial players that led their teams back in 2006. Just like with Team USA, some players chose not to play, and others couldn't due to injuries (notably Jose Calderon, Andres Nocioni, and Nene).

On the other hand, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Andre Iguodala, and Lamar Odom just led a much younger team with one All-NBA player and four All-Stars to gold while LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard could only get a bronze out of a much more experienced team with four All-NBA players and five All-Stars. That's a fact, if not a truth.

What went right?

1. Playing to their strengths: athleticism and versatility

Could this team have been as successful with a traditional starting line-up of Chauncey Billups at PG, Andre Iguodala at SG, Kevin Durant at SF, Lamar Odom at PF, and Tyson Chandler at C?

No, especially not with defensively-challenged Kevin Love as not just your first but also your only big off the bench. There's a reason Love barely saw the court despite being the best rebounder on the team. He played that last Leandro Barbosa lay-up in the Brazil game as well as he could play it, but that shot would've been erased from existence had Dwight Howard been down there.

Also, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, and Eric Gordon were clearly among USA's best players, and all of them would've been pushed further down the rotation with Stephen Curry if players like Andre Iguodala, Rudy Gay, and Durant couldn't shift up to the 4-spot in a pinch.

Instead, USA opponents often saw multiple ballhandlers on the court at the same time. Meanwhile Iguodala played like a less offensive-minded Josh Smith as starting power forward. The second chances he created through his offensive rebounds and other hustle plays were invaluable.

This is how a real man plays defense. (AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI)
2. Playing to their strengths, Part II: Kevin Durant

Earlier in the competition, Krzyzewski stated that he hoped to keep Durant's playing time down.

Oops.

After the 121-66 rout of Angola, Durant played 37, 38, and 39 out of 40 possible minutes respectively in the last three games of the elimination round. Oklahoma City brass may not be too happy about that kind of workload in the off-season, but Durant was spectacular in all three games, which were all USA wins.

3. Pressure defense

The luxury of having Russell Westbrook coming off the bench behind Derrick Rose is that there was almost no drop-off in talent or athleticism, which allowed USA to keep the ball pressure on opposing point guards at all times.

More surprising was the defensive tenacity displayed by Eric Gordon, which made him valuable even when his shot wasn't falling (e.g. his 0-for-5 stinker against Turkey). We can only wonder how much stronger the team would have been in this department had they kept Rajon Rondo instead of underwhelming Steph Curry.

Overall, USA forced the its opponents to 38 more turnovers than it committed over nine games, but it also held opponents to 49 fewer field goals attempted and 90 fewer field goals made while being outmatched in size in every game except against Angola.

4. Assist rate

Though USA brought so many point guards to Turkey, the big knock was that they were all score-first guards, with the exception of Chauncey Billups. American basketball critics drooled over what seemed like a luscious opportunity to dig up the old "Americans play selfish, one-on-one basketball" rants.

Yet the Americans managed to keep those detractors' mouths shut with an assist ratio of 17.0% to their opponents' 11.3%. Furthermore, 53.4% of Team USA's baskets were assisted, while 46.5% of their opponents' baskets were.

Of course, USA's opponents also included inept offenses like Angola, Tunisia, and Iran that got clobbered. How did USA's assist rate compare to the other top six teams that all played on the final day?

TeamAssist Ratio% of FGM 
Assisted
Spain18.3%61.2%
Serbia17.5%57.8%
Turkey17.1%52.7%
USA17.0%53.4%
Argentina16.0%53.1%
Lithuania14.5%48.7%

Not exactly Stephon Marbury and Allen Iverson. Team USA's assist rates sit comfortably among the other elite teams of the tournament. As George Costanza would say, right in the meaty part of the curve: not showing off, not falling behind.

5. Injuries

It's vastly unfair to say injuries went USA's way, considering they lost Amar'e Stoudemire, David Lee, and both Lopez brothers before they played a single meaningful game, robbing them of virtually all frontcourt size.

Yet, at the very least, we should admit that the injury bug went both ways. When Tiago Splitter was on the court, the American bigs couldn't contain him. Nene never played a game, but Anderson Varejao chose to sit out that game to continue resting his ankle before coming back against Slovenia. His presence (and five fouls) could've significantly altered that two-point Brazilian loss.

Brazil's healthy frontcourt duo of Varejao and Splitter. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch)
Also, in the championship game, Hedo Turkoglu rallied the Turks to a 17-15 lead before leaving with a leg injury. When he finally returned, nearly two full quarters later, his team was down 20 and the game was pretty much in the bag.

This not to say that USA wouldn't be coming home with gold right now had they lost to Brazil or had Hedo been healthy, but a few lucky breaks (ew, a pun) did go their way.

What went wrong?

1. Post defense

USA had no answer for Brazil's Tiago Splitter or Russia's Timofey Mozgov, but luckily they were two young and mistake-prone players who couldn't avoid foul trouble.

USA got lucky and completely avoided these effective veteran bigs:
  • Greece's Sofoklis Schortsanitis (who decimated the 2006 team)
  • Argentina's Luis Scola (Mr. Video Game God Mode)
  • Spain's rotation of Marc Gasol, Felipe Reyes, and Fran Vasquez
  • A healthy Anderson Varejao alongside Splitter 
Had USA battled any of them, the underwhelming frontcourt of Lamar Odom (undersized), Tyson Chandler (couldn't stay out of foul trouble either), and Kevin Love (a giant bean bag on defense) would have been exposed.

2. Scoring depth

This is my segue to asking what the hell happened to Danny Granger? Aside from Durant, Granger was the only player on this team who is the undisputed leader and best player on his NBA team, and yet he averaged seven-and-a-half minutes a game with two big fat DNP-CDs.

Granger was also the only player on this team who could put up a stat line anywhere close to Durant, averaging 24.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 2.6 3-pointers a game last year for Indiana. And that was an off-year in which he struggled with injuries compared to his MIP campaign the year before.

He really didn't stand out or play all that well through training camp or the exhibitions, but the belief must have been that he could provide the virtuoso offensive performances that would allow Durant longer breathers. Apparently his lack of focus on defense doomed that idea. I would go a step further and also add that he never seemed to find any role other than scorer (nor was he assigned one) within the flow of the game like Iguodala and Rudy Gay did.

No one on the team ended up with even half of Durant's 22.8 ppg average. Hidden behind all that defensive tenacity and Durant's miraculous shots was the truth that this team had lots of problems creating opportunities against strong teams when Durant wasn't around.

Danny Granger in a familiar spot with Team USA: on the bench. (Getty Images)
Who should go to London for the 2012 Olympics?

Based on the players currently in the Team USA program, what team would give the United States the best chance at a third consecutive gold medal, something that hasn't happened since the first three dream teams?

Ignoring players like John Wall and Blake Griffin who are too unproven to predict how they'll turn out by 2012, this would be the roster I'd bank on to win it all in London:

Starters
  • PG Chris Paul - Injuries dimmed his star last year, but still the best point guard in the world.
  • SG Kobe Bryant - Will be 34 by then, but can provide that Jason Kidd-like veteran leadership and Bruce Bowen-like defensive presence.
  • SF Kevin Durant - He just spent all summer proving why he belongs here. I'll go a step further and say any time Durant is on the court, he should be their #1 scoring option.
  • PF LeBron James - Lots of success playing the 4 last time in Beijing. No, I don't expect him to actually take a summer to learn post moves, but his size, strength, and athleticism allow him to guard any 3s and 4s on the planet.
  • C Dwight Howard - Best rebounder and post defender in the world.
Bench
  • 6 Dwyane Wade - Same as last time.
  • 7 Deron Williams - Best back-up PG since Stockton played behind Magic in 1992. Maybe better.
  • 8 Chris Bosh - Likely will still be the best post scorer on the team.
  • 9 Andre Iguodala - The versatility he demonstrated this summer means he should always be able to find a role.
  • 10 Greg Oden - Of course I'm assuming his next two years are major injury-free, but he'll likely be the second-best defensive big man in the league by 2012. I'd put Andrew Bynum here, but he's never been in the Team USA program and hasn't been the picture of health either. If both are still what they are now, go ahead and bump Carmelo Anthony in.
  • 11 Brook Lopez - Then again, maybe he'll be the best post scorer on the team.
  • 12 Eric Gordon - Every team needs a zone-buster off the bench, but Gordon's defense sets him apart from past ones like Michael Redd and Mike Miller.
Notable Omissions
  • Carmelo Anthony - He was the best player on the 2006 team, but he proved to be expendable in 2008 and is a far less efficient scorer than Durant.
  • Amar'e Stoudemire - We need defense. Chris Bosh gets the nod over him on account of having zero knee surgeries to Stoudemire's five.
  • Kevin Love - Again, defense.
  • Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo - All great players, but Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade can both do what they do except better, although that certainly may not be the case by 2012. What none of them can do right now is consistently make three-pointers, which is why Gordon got the last spot.
See you in 2012. Or not. (AFP PHOTO/ARIS MESSINIS)
Being World Champions, the next time Team USA ever needs to play another FIBA game will be for the Olympics. Until then, no more international basketball articles! See you during the NBA season!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Basketball World Championships Are Not More Important than Olympic Basketball

The 2008 USA players aren't the only missing stars in the FIBA World Championships
(Richard Giles)
Over and over again, ESPN loves touting the line that the FIBA World Championships means more to the world than Olympic basketball does. That the world consider the World Championships to have the same importance for basketball that the World Cup does for soccer/futbol. That only we ignorant, isolated, backwater Americans still consider Olympic basketball to be the most important international basketball event.

Please cut the crap.

Take a look at the list of prominent basketball players who aren't joining their teams in Turkey. These are all uninjured players who have played for their national teams in the past but personally chose not to play this time.
  • Manu Ginobili (Argentina)
  • Jamaal Magloire (Canada)
  • Samuel Dalembert (Canada)
  • Steve Nash (Canada)
  • Joakim Noah (France)
  • Mickael Pietrus (France)
  • Tony Parker (France)
  • Chris Kaman (Germany)
  • Dirk Nowitzki (Germany)
  • Theo Papaloukas (Greece)
  • Darius Songaila (Lithuania)
  • Sarunas Jasikevicius (Lithuania)
  • Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Lithuania)
  • Andrei Kirilenko (Russia)
  • Viktor Khryapa (Russia)
  • Darko Milicic (Serbia)
  • Peja Stojakovic (Serbia)
  • Sasha Pavlovic (Serbia)
  • Vladimir Radmanovic (Serbia)
  • Beno Udrih (Slovenia)
  • Sasha Vujacic (Slovenia)
  • Pau Gasol (Spain)
  • Entire 2008 USA Olympic Basketball Team (USA)
All of the listed countries are missing a top-three player. Some of the countries (e.g. Argentina, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, USA) are without their best player (unless you think Kevin Durant is the best basketball player in America).

You could easily add Yao Ming to this list, too. He's participating in basketball drills now but staying out of the tournament to rest his recovering foot. If the World Championship had the significance of the World Cup, would he still be in Houston right now instead of Turkey? Did injuries keep Wayne Rooney and Jozy Altidore from playing in South Africa?

If China cared about the World Championships, particularly after all the embarrassing stories of their absence at the World Cup, wouldn't they have pushed Yao to speed up his rehab and play like they did to him at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

But they didn't. Why? Because they don't give a damn about the FIBA World Championships. Are TV ratings for the World Championships higher than for Olympic basketball? Are national basketball organizations spending more money for the World Championships than the Olympics? What makes ESPN so sure anyone cares more about it?

One can understand why basketball purists love the FIBA World Championships. Many more teams participate, and it runs longer and deeper than the Olympics. But even diehard fans would need to be delusional to think the grander format equals greater international significance.

All I can say for sure is that some of the best basketball players in the world have chosen not to participate in the World Championships, and even the most hardcore national programs (i.e. China, USA) are giving them a pass. Ginobili even came out on his blog and specifically said, "I am just prioritizing London 2012 to Turkey 2010."

Sure, he and his wife had twins three months ago, and he wants to be there for them. Yet you can't deny the title of that post. Later, he even goes on to say, "[M]y two previous experiences on the Olympics were the best thing that ever happened to me as an athlete, including the NBA rings, European championships and everything I lived on my almost 15 years of career, and I have no doubts in my head that I would like to live that again."

The Olympics. Not the World Championships. Can't get much clearer than that.

Friday, August 27, 2010

The Best Player in Europe: How Good Is He in the NBA?

Thank you, Darko Milicic and Nikoloz Tskitishvili. Because of guys like you two and your combined 8.5 career NBA points-per-game average, the NBA trend of drafting young, unproven European league players in the hopes of finding the next Dirk Nowitzki or Pau Gasol is nearly extinct.

Lately NBA teams have either drafted talent that they know will stay and develop for a few years in Europe or directly signed European vets who already have accomplished resumes.

This year, the Spurs eagerly anticipate the arrival of 2009 Liga ACB MVP Tiago Splitter. Rudy Fernandez, the 2007 Euroleague Rising Star and 2008 Eurocup Finals MVP, is commanding serious trade interest from Chicago, New York, and Boston as the most affordable young star on the trading block. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves are still wringing their hands over when, if ever, 2007 ACB Rising Star and 2010 Euroleague Rising Star Ricky Rubio will come play for their maligned franchise.

Many of these players have been billed by the press with such unofficial, unauthoritative titles as The Best Player in Europe, The Best Young Prospect in Europe, or The Best Point Guard/Big Man/Etc. in Europe. Yet how do Europe's best translate when they come across the pond to play in Liga Americana?

To answer that, we examine the major award winners over the last decade from Liga ACB, considered by many to be the most talented basketball league outside the NBA, and the Euroleague tournament. These are players that arrived in the NBA at or approaching the top of their games. We're not talking about the Tony Parkers and Nicolas Batums of the world; we're looking at the players with real credentials on their European resumes only.

Manu Ginobili

Ginobiliiiiiiii!!!! (Photo Credit Unknown)
European Awards: 2001 Euroleague Final Four MVP

NBA Career, 2002-Present: Now this is some value. The San Antonio Spurs drafted him with the second to last spot in the second round of the 1999 draft. He received a lot of buzz before joining the Spurs in 2002, leading the Argentina team that beat Team USA on its way to a silver medal in that summer's FIBA world championships.

Ginobili did not disappoint in San Antonio, playing a crucial part in winning three NBA championships. He's been an All-Star, a Sixth Man of the Year, All-NBA Third Team, and Charles Barkley's favorite international player. ESPN's John Hollinger has even (crazily) argued Ginobili's output is comparable to Kobe Bryant's.

Also, if Tony Parker deserved to be Finals MVP of the 2007 Finals (he didn't), then Manu Ginobili should've been Finals MVP in 2005. And Ginobili was being guarded by Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, not Boobie Gibson and 34-year old Eric Snow.

Overshadowed By: Nobody. Alongside Tony Parker and Tim Duncan, Ginobili was part of the most successful Big Three of the 2000s.

Post-NBA Career: He will likely retire a Spur after his current contract, but he hasn't forgotten FIBA rules, leading Argentina to gold in Athens during the 2004 Olympics.

Andres Nocioni

The Red Bull (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
European Awards: 2004 ACB MVP

NBA Careers, 2004-Present: Fresh off winning the gold with Manu in 2004, Nocioni signed with the Chicago Bulls, where his aggressive, physical style of play earned him the nickname "Red Bull." He completely outshone the more hyped Luol Deng in the 2006 playoffs, averaging 22.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in six games against Miami.

But the next year Deng came back with a vengeance and helped Chicago steamroll Miami before losing in six to Detroit. That, by the way, was the highest point the Chicago Bulls would ever reach in the decade. Meanwhile, various injuries derailed Nocioni's career as he bounced from Chicago to Sacramento to Philadelphia.

Overshadowed By: Luol Deng.

Post-NBA Career: Still in the league now, but these days he's showing a level of disgruntlement that usually precedes a contract paid out in euros.

Anthony Parker

The Other Tony Parker (Photo Credit Unknown)
European Awards: 2004 Euroleague Final Four MVP, 2005 & 2006 All-Euroleague MVP

NBA Career, 2007-Present: Signed by the Raptors in 2007, Parker had a decent run in Toronto before being stranded with other mediocre wings Jamario Moon, Danny Green, Joey Graham, and Jawad Williams on the post-LeBron Cavaliers. Still, he's been a consistent starting shooting guard, solid perimeter defender, and three-point specialist, averaging over 112 threes a season in his four NBA years after Europe.

Overshadowed By: Candace Parker, his much more famous little sister. She's the LeBron James of the WNBA, except she makes a hell of a lot less money, no one cares about her games, and she married a mangalore.

Candace Parker with husband Shelden Williams (Photo Credit Unknown)
Post-NBA Career: Still in the league now, but will probably be making Gatorade runs for his sister in a few years.

The Point Guards

Juan Carlos Navarro and his very unambiguous Euroleague trophies (Euroleague.net)
European Awards: 2005 ACB Rising Star (Rodriguez), 2005 Euroleague Final Four MVP (Jasikevicius), 2006 ACB MVP (Navarro)

NBA Careers, 2006-10: Several European point guards have come over billed as The Best Point Guard or Point Guard Prospect in Europe (Re: Ricky Rubio). When the Portland Trailblazers bought his draft rights from the cheapskate Sarver Suns in 2006, Sergio Rodriguez was a highly touted prospect with a cool if unoriginal nickname (Spanish Chocolate!). Portland waited for him to bloom and take over the point guard position for three years before bouncing him to Sacramento and New York. And he lasted the longest.

In 2005, Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas pushed hard to get his Lithuanian countryman Sarunas Jasikevicius to join the Cavs, but Jasikevicius felt the Indiana Pacers were closer to a title and signed with them. They certainly were deeper at point guard, as he struggled to get regular minutes before being traded to the Warriors the next year and perfectly playing the role of towel-waving 12th man during their historic 2007 playoff run.

Juan Carlos Navarro signed with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2007 to join his best friend Pau Gasol. That same season, Gasol was traded to the Lakers and joined Kobe to start their string of three straight Finals appearances. Meanwhile his best bud stayed in Memphis and hit 156 three-pointers. Woohoo!

Overshadowed By: Other point guards on their team. Despite their hype, none of them could ever seize the starting spot. Rodriguez was the third man in point guard battles between Juan Dixon and Jarrett Jack and then Jarret Jack and Steve Blake before Jerryd Bayless took over the point guard of the future mantle in Portland.

Similarly, Jasikevicius couldn't get regular minutes behind Jamaal Tinsley and Anthony Johnson in Indiana, and Navarro played in a three-headed rotation with Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry.

Post-NBA Career: After two NBA years, Jasikevicius signed with Panathinaikos, which immediately rode him and Vassilis Spanoulis (another Euro with a failed NBA career) to the Euroleague championship.

Navarro peaced out after just one year in Memphis, signed with FC Barcelona, won All-Euroleague MVP in 2009, and won Euroleague Final Four MVP in 2010 while taking Barcelona to the Euroleague championship.

Rodriguez signed a three-year deal with Real Madrid this summer, and, if history is any guide, they'll probably win Euroleague either this year or next.

The Big Men

The gritty Luis Scola (Photo Credit Unknown)
European Awards: 2006 Euroleague Rising Star (Bargnani), 2005 & 2007 ACB MVP (Scola), 2008 ACB MVP (Gasol)

NBA Career, 2006-Present: Good news for Tiago Splitter: unlike their point guard counterparts, the European big men have seen quite a bit more NBA success.

While Andrea Bargnani is cut from the same Darko/Skita mold of finesse big men, the former number one overall pick has shown an offensive aggressiveness the past two years that those two never possessed. His defense is still a work nonexistent, but so was Dirk's at this point in his career. Although, to be fair, Dirk was averaging 23/10 for a 57-win Mavericks team in his fourth year, not 17/6 for a Raptors team that couldn't make the playoffs after Chris Bosh quit on them.

The two ACB MVPs, on the other hand, are definitely bruisers. After five years waiting for Luis Scola to come to the NBA, the Spurs traded him to the Houston Rockets and watched him become a crucial power forward for that team, making the All-Rookie first team and signing a five-year $47 million contract after averaging 16.2 points and 8.6 rebounds last year.

Marc Gasol has made the Grizzlies actually look slightly less egregious in trading older brother Pau to the Lakers for his rights and Kwame Brown's remains, nearly averaging a double-double last year while teaming up with Zach Randolph to form a beefy and surprisingly effective low post tandem.

Overshadowed By: If the Raptors drafted LaMarcus Aldridge instead of Bargnani, they still could've gotten a jump-shooting, barely-rebounding big man, but also with the ability to play low post and a Texas connection that might've convinced Chris Bosh to stay.

While moving Carl Landry last year unfortunately put an end to the Carluis Scolandry era in Houston, it helped solidify Scola's position on the team.

Unless you count big brother Pau in L.A., the only shadow cast over Marc Gasol these days is Zach Randolph's when Gasol gets in his way to the buffet line.

Post-NBA Career: All still in the league and looking like they'll be staying for a while.

Rudy Fernandez

Rudy Fernandez in his glory days, pre-NBA (The Oregonian)
European Awards: 2007 Euroleague Rising Star, 2008 Eurocup Finals MVP

NBA Career, 2008-Present: After seeing him tear through the Team USA defense in the 2008 Olympics, USA assistant coach and Portland head coach Nate McMillan salivated at the thought of Fernandez playing alongside Brandon Roy on the wing in Portland.

Didn't quite work out the way he thought it would. Fernandez, known as an elite athlete and all-around player in Europe, somehow fell into the familiar European transplant role of three-point specialist. His rookie season was highlighted by setting the NBA rookie record for three-pointers (159) and embarrassing himself after getting voted into the dunk contest while Joe Alexander sat at home with nothing to do.

He actively joined this summer of player discontent by refusing to answer Portland's phone calls and threatening to sit out the remaining two years of his contract. Hopefully now McMillan realizes the only Spanish prospects worth drooling over are more like 5'10" and a C-cup.

Overshadowed By: Himself, 2008 version.

Post-NBA Career: If his demands are met, this could happen pretty soon. But we've seen this before with Andrei Kirilenko. He's not going to give up two years of his professional basketball career and paycheck just to be a prick.

Danillo Gallinari

Rooster (Photo Credit Unknown)
European Awards: 2008 Euroleague Rising Star

NBA Career, 2008-Present: The Rooster's rookie season was a wash, as back problems kept him out of basically the entire season. But Rooster came back strong the next season, becoming--what else?--a three-point specialist for the Knicks, hitting 186 three pointers at a 38.1% clip.

That apparently was good enough for the Knicks to include Rooster along with Wilson Chandler and Toney Douglas as part of their core team to pitch to LeBron this summer, which is like trying to pick up a supermodel while rolling in a Mazda Miata.

Neverthless, Rooster is the still best nickname in the league, in case you couldn't already tell how I felt about it. Rooster.

Overshadowed By: If the Knicks picked Brook Lopez instead of Gallinari in 2008, they still could've been in position to get Ty Lawson if not Brandon Jennings in 2009.

Knowing how effective Lawson was last year in his few games filling in for Chauncey Billups and how fantastic Brook Lopez is period, could the Knicks then have snagged LeBron? Who knows. They're certainly not Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but are they that far off from Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah? It would have at least given some sort of basketball legitimacy to the Knicks's pitch.

Post-NBA Career: He's signed through 2012, so unless he pulls a Rudy Fernandez, he'll be in the league for at least a couple more years.

The Best in Europe?

Despite the hype surrounding established European players entering the NBA, none of them have had the same type of success as their colleagues who came over younger and learned the American game earlier. The lone exception is Manu Ginobili. Otherwise, the results seem to be either a lot of grit or a lot of three pointers.

Does playing a different style of basketball ingrain these European players with instincts that are too difficult to shake? Is the option of returning to Europe where they know they can succeed preventing them from trying their hardest to adapt to the NBA game? Or is the sample size just too small, and we're bound to see another Manu Ginobili or better soon?

Friday, August 13, 2010

In Defense of Scottie Pippen

Scottie Pippen was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame this week, but his credentials extend far beyond being Michael Jordan’s sidekick.

Scottie Pippen. (Steve Lipofsky/Basketballphoto.com)
Three years ago, I was in Shanghai Pudong airport with some friends when two gorgeous flight attendants walked toward us. When I finally looked passed them to see who was important enough to merit such an escort, I saw a 6’7” man wearing a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses. Like any idiot caught off guard by a celebrity sighting, I blurted out the first words that came to my head: his name.

“Scottie Pippen!”

“Excuse me,” he said in his low rumble, right before splitting the defense between my friend E-Y and his mom, and then bolting down the escalator to the VIP lounges. I dropped my suitcase and unzipped it, frantically looking for my camera. I couldn’t find it, but I pulled out something else that I thought might be relevant: my gray Nike Air Pippens.

“Hey Scottie!” I shouted down the escalator. “I bought your shoes!” Dude ran like I was 1989 Dennis Rodman coming up behind him on the fast break.

Nike Air Pippens. Still got'em! (The NBA from the Cheap Seats)
A Stronger Argument for Scottie Pippen

So I may not be the most unbiased source of Scottie Pippen information. More than any other basketball player, I admire Pippen’s skill set. A six-foot-seven small forward who had court vision and handled the ball like a point guard but still had the length and quickness to guard four positions and the power and athleticism to unleash thunderous dunks on the league’s best big men. People say LeBron James has no historical comparison? Pippen was clearly the template for LeBron (insert Dwyane Wade’s sidekick joke here). LeBron is just Pippen on steroids (“on steroids” just an expression, that needs to be clarified these days).

Yet some critics still find ways to detract from his accomplishments. Critics like ESPN’s Skip Bayless, whom I am absolutely positive does not believe half the garbage he says and deliberately chooses the most inane angles on sports arguments just to sound ridiculous. Fine, that’s his schtick. I get it. What aggravates me is that ESPN puts him up against a creampuff like Jemele Hill who rambles off a bunch of subjective statements (“There are a lot of players who would’ve been too intimidated to shine the way he did [next to Jordan].” Yeah, put that on Pippen’s HOF plaque.) and can’t connect even against these softballs Bayless lobs at her.

Not a clue on either side of this table. (ESPN)
Since Hill won’t give Pippen a proper defense, I will. Let’s tackle Bayless’s jokes in reverse order:

Joke #1  In his five years with Houston and Portland, Scottie Pippen averaged 14.5, 12.5, 11.3, 10.6, and 10.8 ppg.

How weak is your position when you resort to points-per-game to argue a man’s Hall of Fame credentials? Pippen joined a Houston team with Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and no real point guard. He joined a Trailblazers team with Rasheed Wallace, Steve Smith, Damon Stoudamire, Arvydas
Sabonis, Bonzi Wells, and Detlef Schrempf. On neither of those teams was he asked to carry the scoring load. He fit in because his talents are so multi-faceted that he could play other roles—like facilitator and defensive stopper—that those teams needed.

Here are the yearly career PPG averages of another Hall-of-Famer: 14.7, 16.6, 16.7, 18.7, 18.2, 16.9, 18.9, 16.8, 15.0, 14.1, 12.9, 13.3, 12.5, 9.9. This bum couldn’t even crack 20 ppg in any single year. How the hell could he possibly make it into the HOF? Perhaps on account on his 11 championship titles, considering we’re talking about Bill Russell. Not every player makes his impact through scoring. Duh.

Joke #2  At age 34, Michael Jordan averaged 29-6-4, led the NBA in scoring, was first-team All-NBA, and won his sixth Finals MVP while leading the Bulls to their sixth title. At 34, Pippen was a role player on the Trailblazers.

The only reason Bayless picked 34 was because that was the age at which Jordan won his last title. Let’s play along and assume there is some type of magical significance associated with that number. Yes, even at 34, Michael Jordan was sublime, but what if we hold other top HOF swingmen to his standard at that age?
  • Elgin Baylor 25-10-5. First-team All-NBA, All-Star. His Lakers lost in seven in the Finals to the Boston Celtics. Jordanesque, though Jerry West was clearly the leader on that team, and they also got a 20-20 year out of Wilt Chamberlain.
  • Jerry West 23-4-9. Trailed only Gail Goodrich on his team for points but led it in assists. First-team All-NBA, All-Star. His Lakers lost in the Finals to the New York Knicks. So far so good!
  • Oscar Robertson 16-5-8. Fourth highest scorer on his team, though he did lead it in assists. His Milwaukee Bucks lost in the playoff semifinals to the Golden State Warriors. Bit of a drop-off now.
  • John Havlicek 19-6-5. Played all 82 games. Second-team All-NBA, first-team All-Defense, All-Star. Helped the Dave Cowens Celtics to the Conference Finals, where they lost to the Bullets.
  • Earl Monroe 12-3-1. Came off the bench, and played only the eighth most minutes. His Knicks didn’t make the playoffs.
  • Rick Barry 14-6-4. Acted as facilitator for the Moses Malone/Calvin Murphy/Rudy Tomjanovich Houston Rockets that got swept by the Hawks in the first round.
  • Julius Erving 20-5-3. All-Star. Helped a stacked Philadelphia 76ers team with Moses Malone and Andrew Toney in their primes plus rookie Charles Barkley to the Conference Finals, where they lost to the Celtics.
  • Adrian Dantley 6-1-1. Played only 10 games for the Milwaukee Bucks.
  • Larry Bird 19-9-7. Led his team in minutes and points and was second in rebounds and assists, but missed 22 games. All Star. His Boston Celtics lost to the Pistons in the Semifinals.
  • Dominique Wilkins 24-6-2 for the Hawks before trade. 29-7-2 for the Clippers after. Still a scoring machine if no longer a highlight reel. Third-team All-NBA, All-Star. His Clippers did not make the playoffs.
  • Clyde Drexler 18-6-6. Third wheel for those Hakeem/Barkley Rockets, but he missed 20 games. All-Star. His Rockets lost in the Conference Finals that year to Utah.
  • Joe Dumars 13-4-1. His Pistons didn’t make the playoffs. 
  • Reggie Miller 18-3-2. Missed just one game. All-Star. Led Indiana Pacers team that lost in the Finals to the Lakers, though Jalen Rose carried an equal share of those Pacers. Reggie isn’t HOF yet, but he played in the same era and just happened not to retire until later.
  • James Worthy, George Gervin, and Pete Maravich were no longer playing in the NBA at 34.
Now for Pippen:

The defensive-minded Pippen. (NBA)
  • Scottie Pippen 13-6-5. Played all 82 games. On that stacked Blazers team, he was second in minutes, second in assists, third in rebounds, and third in points. Second-team All-Defense. This is the Blazers team that had the infamous collapse in Game 7 of the Conference Finals against the Lakers and let a 17-point lead slip away in the fourth quarter.
Few approached Michael Jordan’s standard. None reached it. Obviously. He's Michael Goddamn Jordan.

While Pippen may be in the bottom half when comparing his age-34 production against the best Hall of Fame shooting guards and small forwards of all  time, he is still firmly in the conversation.

Joke #3  Michael Jordan made Scottie Pippen.

This argument can be deconstructed in two ways. First, look at Michael Jordan’s career without Scottie Pippen. Number of MVP awards won: five. Number of MVP awards without Pippen: zero. Number of Championships won: six. Number of championships without Pippen: zero. Number of first-team All-NBA’s: 10. Number of first-team All-NBA’s without Pippen: one.

You can look at Jordan’s first-team All-NBA in 1987 without Pippen and say he was already on his way even if Pippen never came along, and you’d be right. But how far was he going to get without Pippen? Couldn’t you also say Pippen would have been on his way even if Jordan never came along? No logic can extract how much of those Bulls teams’ success belonged to Jordan, how much to Pippen, and how much to Phil Jackson. All those elements affected each other, and no one with a functional brain can say one of them completely manufactured another (unless you’re Skip Bayless and blowing smoke up everybody’s asses for kicks, of course).

It's Pippen's time!
(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)
Second, look at Pippen’s career without Jordan. Since we already discussed his roles on the Rockets and Blazers, we’ll focus on the two years Pippen played in his prime when Jordan was playing baseball. In 1993-1994, Scottie Pippen averaged a monstrous 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 2.7 three-pointers. He led the Bulls in points, assists, steals, and 3s along with field goals made and attempted and free throws made and attempted. He finished second to Horace Grant in rebounds and blocks.

Finally out of Jordan’s shadow, he received his first first-team All-NBA selection, remained first-team All-Defense, and finished third in MVP voting. He even won the All-Star game MVP. He led that Bulls team to 55 wins, but ultimately lost in seven to the New York Knicks. This was the series that featured his infamous refusal to come back into a game after Phil Jackson drew up a last shot play for Toni Kukoc, an admittedly selfish decision that sadly has been given far too much weight in determining Pippen’s legacy.

Unfortunately, I don’t know Pippen’s splits in 1994-1995 before and after Michael Jordan came back. I do know Jordan returned late in the season and averaged an astounding 27-7-5 over 17 games with virtually no time to prep for the season, which showed in his paltry 41.1% field goal percentage.

Still, this Bulls season belonged to Pippen, who went 21-8-5 over 79 game, received his second first-team All-NBA selection, and continued to remain first-team All-Defense. Over the entire season, Pippen led the team in total points, rebounds, assists, steals (league-leader), blocks, minutes, field goals made and attempted, and free throws made and attempted.

You’ve Got to Do a Better Job Arguing for Pippen than That

Do I expect Jemele Hill to know all of these points when arguing for Pippen? You’re goddamn right I do! You get time to prepare for these debates, and you know Bayless is going to come at you with the dumbest possible angles.

Even without preparation, anyone familiar with Pippen should be able to throw out the 55-win season, Pippen’s two All-NBA first-team selections (mostly) sans Jordan, the versatile roles Pippen was asked to play on those Rockets (point forward) and Blazers (defensive stopper) teams, the fact that saying Jordan made Pippen is just as illogical as saying Pippen made Jordan, and the fact that judging a player’s value based on PPG is makes about as much sense as using height and weight.

This is all before mentioning that Jordan himself acknowledged Pippen, an eight-time All-Defense first-team selection, may have been an even better defender than he was, as noted in David Halberstram’s seminal book on Jordan, Playing for Keeps. If Michael Jordan is giving the speech to induct Scottie Pippen into the Basketball Hall of Fame, if His Airness himself says Pippen is HOF-worthy, who is Skip Bayless to say he isn’t?

That’s right. Bayless is nobody. Congratulations, Scottie Pippen.

(Andy Hayt/NBAE/Getty Images)