Allen Iverson looked rusty in his return to the 76ers after a short-lived one-month retirement. Iverson brought energy to the entire squad in the first half. Samuel Dalembert defended the paint like Dikembe Mutumbo swatting away six shots and finished with a game high 15 rebounds. Thaddeus Young worked inside and attacked the basket to finish with 21 points. AI looked to get his teammates involved, perhaps a few times to a fault. He ended the game with 11 points, six dimes and five boards. Modest stats in light of his supersized career. However, there he was enough of a potential threat that he drew double teams and allowed the other AI, Andre Igoudala, a chance to show what he can do when he doesn’t have to face double and triple teams for entire games.
Igoudala was making everything during the first half, including a 94-foot heave a split second after time expired at the end of the second quarter. He ended the game with 31 points, but only scored eight of them in the second half and six of those came on a pair of triples during the closing minute when the game had already been decided.
Iggy’s production fell off for one specific reason. After a solid, but unspectacular first half in which he had six points, three rebounds and three assists, the Nuggets backed off of doubling Iverson. Instead, they made the adjustment of putting speedy Ty Lawson on him. Lawson was able to stay in front of AI, who admitted after the game that his legs were tired (he shot 4-11 in 38 minutes). With Lawson shadowing his every move (even blocking one of his shots), the Nugs were able to double on Igoudala and force him into tougher looks.
That being said, as Iverson gets his sea legs, he’ll be a 15 to 20 point threat every night and will draw doubles on enough occasions that it will make life easier for Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young and at times Igoudala. He might not be a 30-per-game scorer anymore, but I wouldn’t bet against him dropping 30 at least a couple of times before the season is completed.
If the Sixers can maintain the defensive work they put in during the first half, limiting the League’s highest scoring offense to a paltry 41 points, then the addition of Iverson’s offense should be enough to make a legitimate push towards the playoffs, even for a team mired in a ten-game losing streak at 5-16. A bit on that defense to end. Thaddeus Young hounded Melo into a miserable 5-21 shooting affair. Iggy is one of the best wing defenders in the Association and Elton Brand, at one time in his career, could play some D. If Dalembert can bring a consistent effort on defense, this team will be much better. Stingy defense will lead to transition buckets and this team is still at its finest when running the break.
Tonight is an example of what Vince Carter brings to the Magic.
In the Magic’s win over the Warriors tonight, he took over late in the third quarter when Dwight Howard was forced to sit after picking up his fifth foul. After three consecutive Warriors baskets including two layups, Carter went to work scoring eight points including three trips to the line in which he tagged CJ Watson with his fifth, Monta Ellis with his fourth and Anthony Randolph with his third—basically the three best players for the Warriors tonight. While the Warriors took the lead, it was Carter’s offensive savvy that kept the Magic within three at the close of the period.
Carter was also involved with eight key points in the last three minutes when the game was still up for grabs. He deflated Oracle arena with his three pointer that put the Magic up 117-114, then stole the ball following the Warriors’ timeout and got to the line, sinking both freethrows. He then found an open Mickael Pietrus for a three. Ball game.
Hedo Turkoglu was pretty good at creating his own shot and getting people involved, but his offensive game has nothing on Carter’s. The Magic don’t pull this one out without Carter’s contributions during crunch time.
* * *
Small Forward
Still love me some Vladimir Radmanovic. The Space Cadet (as so endearingly called by Phil Jackson) helped energize the crowd tonight. His defense, as I said before,
He’s even shored up that non-existent defense, working to stay in front of his man and usually getting a hand in his opponent’s face.The best change that I’ve seen in Vlade, however, is his activity around the basket...Vladimir, on nearly every shot other than his own, dives towards the basket and uses his 6-11 frame to at least try and touch the ball. I’d say about 85-90 percent of the time he fails, but during that other 10-15 percent, he often makes positive things happen. He’ll get tip outs to teammates on the perimeter. He’ll get putback buckets. He’ll get offensive rebounds.And it’s these little aspects, nuances that he contributes, like the hockey assists and the hand up on defense that have added to his game and made it possible for him to stay on the floor even when his high-arching shot isn’t falling.
All of those things seem to be evident with him now that he’s getting major rotation minutes with the Warriors. Since joining GS, he’s averaging 32 minutes. His December has been spectacular, despite the three losses (the Orlando and Houston games were both very winnable). He’s averaging 15 points, 2.7 assists, 6 rebounds, 2.7 steals and shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent overall.
* * *
Center:
Amare Stoudemire was a beast on the boards tonight against the surprising Sacramento Kings who gave the Suns a hell of a game that will hurt even more tomorrow when the face the Lakers.
Amare pulled down 21 caroms, including 9 offensive which justifies his STAT moniker. The somewhat disappointing reality is that this was only his fifth game of the season with double digit boards. While it seems like he’s been working to be better defensively, the extra board work clearly has taken its toll on his offensive game. In those five games, he’s shooting 48 percent. In all other games he’s shooting a blistering 59 percent but pulling down a paltry 5.6 caroms. He’s faced some big time centers in those five contests including Shaq, Brendan Haywood, Jermaine O’Neal, Dwight Howard and a thus far impressive Jason Thompson, which could account for the dip in shooting percentage, but it doesn’t explain the paltry glass work against lesser centers.
With Jason Thompson only playing 23 minutes tonight, Amare should have had nearly 30 boards. He got his hands on several, but it’s obvious that he doesn’t have a natural ability to rebound. Just watch a guy like DeJuan Blair to see the stark difference.
And, not to continue to pick on Amare, because I mentioned him to show appreciation for the work he put in tonight, but I have a problem with him not wearing his protective shades while shooting freethrows. I used to wear goggles before I found soft contact lenses, so I understand the discomfort. But he ditched his goggles last year and ended up on his face for 22 hours a day for nearly two weeks.
He should not be taking any unnecessary risks whatsoever. Good players aggressively box out the shooter. He could get poked in the eye on a box out. What I worry about the most is that one of his shots bounces long, or right back at him, and he gets poked in the eye because the shades are up on his head. Along those lines, he’ll never be aggressive to rebound his misses because he’s unprotected. Which, ironically or not, goes back to my beef with his paltry rebounding numbers.
Point Guard:
During the Suns/Kings game, a poll was taking on who the public believes to be the early favorite for rookie of the year. Brandon Jennings won outright with over 50 percent of the vote. Tyreke Evans came in second with only 23 percent. Yeah, I know dropping 55 points got everyone’s attention. And leading the Bucks, sans Michael Redd, to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference is a big accomplishment. I know the stat geeks will point out that he’s leading the rookie class in PER (18.10) and scoring.
But Evans is playing equally as well, if not better. He’s averaging nearly a minute more per game, putting up 19 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds (the only other players to do so are Dwyane Wade, Lebron James and Andre Igoudala) and he’s playing in the Western Conference.
Jennings was phenomenal during the first 11 games of the season, a stretch that saw the Bucks go 8-3. But he’s largely been resting on that stretch to keep his numbers up. Over his last seven games, the Bucks are 1-6 and Jennings is averaging 14 ppg, 6.5 apg, 2.85 rpg, 1.42 spg and 2.42 turnovers on 30 percent shooting. Add to that the fact that the Bucks are ranked 29th in strength of schedule, and Jennings, while a worthy candidate, should in no shape or form be the clear cut frontrunner for the ROY.
Meanwhile, over Evans’ last seven games, the Kings have gone 4-3 and he’s averaged 22 ppg, 6 apg, 6 rpg, 1 spg, and 3.71 turnovers on 50 percent shooting. The Kings have had it pretty easy as well ranking 24th in strength of schedule, but it has to be noted that they are one game out of the Western Conference playoffs and doing so sans their star player on a team that many pundits picked to finish in last place.
The season is long. Picking awards now is stupid. But as of right now, Evans appears to be on his way up, while Jennings has fallen off quite a bit.
Power Forward
Speaking of beastly play and a guy with a natural talent for rebounding, look no further than Marcus Camby, the Clippers starting power forward. Camby has been on a five-game blistering of the backboards averaging 16 caroms including a 17-board effort tonight in a win against Indiana. He too had a 21-rebound game last week against, yeah, Indiana. In addition to his rebounding, Camby has been contributing across the, ahem, board averaging 3 blocks, 2.6 steals and 3.6 assists over that span while shooting 53 percent. While the competition has not been stiff (only the height-challenged Rockets has a winning record), it has to be noted that Camby punishes those teams that should be punished. Take notes STAT.
Look, I don’t mean to belittle Pau Gasol’s tip back that tied the game with a minute to go or his pair of clutch freethrows to bring the game within two with nine seconds to go. I especially don’t want to overlook Derek Fisher’s step back three that put the Lakers within a point with four seconds left in the game. All of those plays were critical, vital even.
I’m also not going to argue that Dwyane Wade missed a freethrow after Fisher’s triple that would have ensured the Heat at least overtime. Hell, the guy went 12-18 from the stripe last night (a side note, Wade’s freethrow total nearly matched that of Bryant, Gasol, and Andrew Bynum combined (21), who, as noted in ESPN’s Weekend Dime make up three of the top five players in the NBA in scoring in the paint).
But I will say it again. Kobe won that game. He put the team on his back going into the fourth quarter and turned a 76-76 tie into a six-point Laker advantage a minute and ten seconds into it. The boxscore indicates he only had three assists, but he fed several wide-open looks to Ron Artest, Fisher and Shannon Brown (a combined 9-32) that they just didn’t hit. He was moving the ball around in the first half and only took six shots.
And because of his last second game winner, nobody is even talking about him slicing between three defenders and fading away to a hit running-bank to end the first half.
Kobe also helped to limit Wade to 2-9 from the field in the first half.
In fact, Bryant seemed to make it his mission to harass Wade and outside of about six times a high pick came and Wade made something happen via scoring himself or assisting on a bucket or getting to the line, Bryant accomplished his mission. Wade did a lot of his damage when matched up against Brown and Artest. Brown, while energetic and athletic, doesn’t possess the savvy necessary and Artest, who is a brute and can hang with bigger small forwards, doesn’t have the speed to hang with Wade.
The Black Mamba put full body pressure on Flash and forced him into tough shots or giving up the ball (though I’m still not sure why Bryant picked him up at half court and beyond).
Offensively, Kobe put on a show as well. He hit a now standard fake left, turnaround fadeway jumper, a running, left-handed baby sky hook, as well as a couple of different and ones, including a scoop shot off a drive into JO (which could have been a charge…)
And of course, he hit this shot. Watch it again. StaplesCenter…Where Kobe happens.
Oh, it’s also where Sasha Vujacic can put up a statline of zeros across the board and yet still manage to have a +6 in the +/- department. (Hint, he was in during the last few seconds of the game when Fish and Kobe both hit their improbable threes.)
Two years removed from the Jason Kidd for Devin Harris trade and the Mavericks have to feel somewhat justified for their decision.
Sure, Harris played like an all-star last year, but managed to play in only 69 games and the Nets failed to make the playoffs largely because he missed those 13 games. This year, he’s already missed ten and the Nets have been historically horrific (0-18). In fact, the 26-year-old Harris has averaged 69 games per season in his five seasons, with a high of 80 games, only 61 of them as a starter. Which brings into question how Harris, who relies on his athleticism and speed, will age going forward seeing as how he has already proven to be frail in his youth.
Furthermore, while Harris made the all-star team last season, his numbers were boosted by an incredible November in which he averaged 26 points and 6.5 assists on 48 percent shooting and an equally impressive February where he averaged 25.7 points and 7.1 assists on 46 percent. He also had a horrible January where he averaged 16.6 points and 6.4 assists on 39 percent as well as a miserable close to the season with 12.3 and 5.7 averages on 41 percent. This season? His numbers look a lot closer to his January/April than his November/February at 15.6 points and 5.4 assists on 36 percent. I know he’s coming back from injury, but that’s the point.
Meanwhile, the 36-year-old Kidd has missed seven games total over the past four seasons and while he’s no longer a hall-of-fame caliber point guard, Kidd has transformed himself into a valuable asset and key cog on a Dallas team that is currently leading its division. And while Kidd’s numbers have taken a hit due to age and a decline in athleticism, he’s managed to make himself better in other areas. Kidd has the highest true shooting percentage of his career (.592) and it isn’t even close (last year at .550 was his second highest). More specifically, his three-point (48) and freethrow (90) shooting are both career highs. And it’s not like he forgot how to do what he does best. Kidd is a very close fourth in the league in assists at 9 per game.
While there is every possibility that Harris will remain an all-star level talent, being injured doesn’t help the Mavs who are in win-now mode. The Mavs don’t make a surprising run to the playoffs last year with Harris sidelined for 13 games. Likewise, they don’t lead the Southwest division this year with Harris missing ten.
There were, of course, other variables involved in the trade, though none of them matter all that much. Antoine Wright and Trenton Hassell are pretty much semi-decent defensive players who offer little else, DeSagana Diop is an overpaid (thanks to the Mavs laughable five-year, $31-million contract) third string center, Malik Allen is a bench warmer and Mo Ager isn’t in the league right now.
As for the two first rounders Dallas gave up, the Nets turned one of them into Ryan Anderson who turned into basically Courtney Lee. The other we’ll have to wait and see during this upcoming draft, though, because of how well the Mavs are playing, it won’t be a high pick. A Harris and Lee backcourt could be formidable, even if they are a bit undersized. But the duo has to remain healthy. Lee’s already missed seven games this year as well.
Even with Kidd at an advanced age, going forward, the Mavs have already found their point guard of the future in Rodrigue Beaubois. At 21 years of age, he’s putting up very similar numbers to Harris’s rookie campaign. Of course, Beaubois has something Harris didn’t when he was a 21-year-old rookie—the unique ability to learn from and develop under one of the greatest point guards to ever play in the Association.
If you took a poll before the season began of the vast majority of people who care about NBA basketball, 99.8 percent of them would have told you that the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings would spend this season vying for the dubious honor of being the worst team in their respective conferences. Even the most positive glass half full Bucks faithful would have told you that the playoffs were a stretch and the most optimistic Sacramentonians would have been ecstatic with 30 wins.
Of course, there was plenty of ink dedicated to the franchises two respective rookie point guards. On that front, nothing has changed, not with Brandon Jennings’ 55-point explosion, his 22 ppg average or his dynamic ability in leading the surprising Bucks to a 9-7 record. Nor with Tyreke Evans leading the Kings to an 8-8 record in the ultra-competitive Western conference, while averaging nearly 19 ppg, 5 assists and 5 rebounds and joining the Dwyane Wade/Andre Igoudala/Lebron James trio of wings who are averaging at least 18 points, 5 dimes and 5 boards.
So, I’m sure you’ve heard of them if you’ve even remotely been paying attention to the NBA.
But the rookie sensations are only half the story. Here’s a few guys from both the Kings and the Bucks who probably haven’t gotten too much ink, but whose importance and contributions to the hot starts of both teams can not, nor should not be overlooked. Basketball is a team sport and these guys have helped put Ws in the left column.
Bucks:
Andrew Bogut
Andrew Bogut is being more aggressive on the block which has resulted in a career year in the scoring department capped off by his 22 point, 15 board, 3 assist, 4 block, 3 steal-night on Monday. This season, in the games the Big Aussie has played in, the Bucks are 6-2 (both losses by shots at the buzzer). More importantly, Jennings has shot 45 percent when Bogut plays as opposed to 36 percent when he doesn’t. While Bogut may never live up to being taken over Deron Williams and Chris Paul, in a twist of fate, it’s worked out pretty nicely now that Jennings is on board. Outside of Greg Oden, haven't seen any 7-foot double-double machines with a post game in the last three drafts.
Luke Ridnour
Remember this past offseason when everyone had no idea why the Bucks wouldn’t re-sign Ramon Sessions, a 23-year-old guard with a career PER over 17? Remember in August of 2008 when everyone questioned the Bucks motive in trading for Luke Ridnour? Well, Jennings is the answer to question one and Ridnour has thus far answered that second question. At 28, Luke is having his finest season blowing away his career highs in field goal percentage (51), 3-point percentage (38) and PER (18.39). He’s hit some clutch shots and has been key in facilitating the Bucks offense when Jennings goes to the bench.
Ersan Ilyasova
Ilyasova’s two seasons playing in the ACB with Barcelona have done wonders for the 22-year-old. While I don’t hold too much stock in per-minute numbers, Ilyasova’s rebound rate puts him in the top 25 rebounders in the entire Association and he hits threes at a 36.4 percent clip, which is a rare combination. While he sometimes looks skittish during crunch time, there’s no doubt that his emergence has helped soften the blow of losing Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and to a lesser extent Joe Alexander. Ilaysova has averaged 14 points and 8.6 rebounds over the past five games. While the Bucks lost four of those, it must be noted that they lost to the Magic by two points and the Hornets by three and were missing not only Mbah a Moute, but Andrew Bogut and for all intents and purposes, Michael Redd.
Carlos Delfino
I’ve always like Carlos Delfino’s game and though his shot hasn’t been falling and his rebounding is down, he has been money from beyond the arc at 42 percent, a crucial aspect of the Bucks offense.
Kings
Omri Casspi
I love watching Casspi play. While it’s notgood that his freethrow percentage (47.4) is nearing his three point percentage (45.7), in another light, you can think of that as phenomenal even if you have to sit through the occasional hack-a-Cass. Casspi is averaging 10 ppg and 3.7 rpg on 51.7 percent shooting, but more than the boxscore, he’s one of those players who just makes things happen. In fact, he is third on the team in +/- behind, well, behind the next two players.
Beno Udrih
ESPN’s John Hollinger is pretty reserved in his bias, but when the numbers speak to him, he sometimes listens with a vengeance. To that end, he’s been extremely critical of Beno Udrih after the Kings signed the 27-year-old to a five-year $32 million contract before last season. Udrih is currently making the Stat-king eat a bit of crow. Using Hollinger’s own system, Udrih is putting up nearly a 17 PER, which ranks him ahead of such all-star players as Devin Harris, Jameer Nelson, Mo Williams, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Kidd, while also outplaying up-and-coming talents like Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose and Aaron Brooks.
Sergio Rodriguez
I knew Sergio would have a blast in a Paul Westphal-run offense. So far, when given the opportunity, he’s played out-of-this-world. In his last five games, he’s gotten 20 minutes per and done wonders with the limited time. He’s shot 56 percent, including 41 percent from three, while averaging 13 points and 4.6 assists to only 1.4 turnovers. The Kings have won three of those contests (sure, they included the Nets and the Knicks, but still). Right now, the Kings have an extremely potent three-guard combo that doesn’t include Kevin Martin. Who would have thought?
John Brockman
Mr. Garbage man has to get some love here, since he’s fourth on the Kings in +/- and fourth in the entire Association in rebound rate. When put in that light, his 2.8 points and 3.7 boards on 61.5 percent from the field look pretty spectacular for a 6-7 power forward.
So people still think the Pau Gasol trade is the worst heist in the history of the NBA? Still scratching your head about why the Grizzlies swapped the elder Gasol for Kwame Brown, Aaron Mckie, Marc Gasol, Javaris Crittenton and what basically became the draft rights to Darrell Arthur?
Please stop.
First off, Kwame and Mckie were pure salary dumps that helped put the Grizzlies in the position to get…well, they went out and got Zach Randolph. While I question that choice, in some respects I understand it, especially considering the Grizzlies drafting of Hasheem Thabeet.
You can denigrate the Thabeet selection all you want. But that was a Heisley move. So Chris Wallace, like he’s done for quite some time now, tried to make the best of it.
Yeah, Pau Gasol is a stud. He was a key component in getting the Lakers their 15thchampionship last season. The Lakers are a ridiculous 120-35 with the elder Gasol in the lineup. But this year has been a coming out party for the younger Gasol who is turning into a monster himself.
If you look at the trade now, you can see that despite Heisley’s best efforts it has turned out rather nicely thus far. Marc Gasol is a 25-year-old banger averaging 16 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 64.3 percent shooting. He’s one of only two centers (the other being Marcus Camby) in the League that is averaging at least 1.5 blocks and over a steal per game.
And he hits free throws at a 76 percent clip.
Remember, this guy was the reigning MVP of the ACB League, the second best league in the world, before coming over to the States last season.
Of those players who have played at least ten games, Marc has the highest true shooting percentage (68.8) in the NBA after Chris Paul. He’s got more double-doubles than David Lee, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki. And in his last game against the Clips Sunday, Gasol dropped this statline: 26 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals on 13-18 shots.
Gasol’s PER of 22.57 ranks him 21st in the entire league and sixth amongst centers behind his brother Pau (who has only played five games), Duncan, Dwight Howard, Nazr Mohammed, and Greg Oden. Outside of the anomaly of Mohammed (we’ve seen his stud for two weeks routine before) that’s some pretty lofty company. And while Mohammed only plays 14 minutes a night, Gasol is tied for second amongst centers with Brook Lopez in minutes per game at 35.9 (the injury-prone Chris Kaman leads all centers at 36.9, just another reason why Dunleavy should be fired).
So, a Gasol for Gasol swap all by its lonesome would have been looking pretty decent now. But add to Marc the services of 28-year-old Randolph, who, despite the horrific rep, is averaging 19 points and 9 boards and 2 assists and shooting over 50 percent for the first time since his sophomore season, and we begin to see the real value of the trade.
With the Gasol/Randolph duo, Rudy Gay’s matured game and the surprising run of Jamal Tinsley (who knew?), the Grizz find themselves with a 4-1 record over their past five, which really should be a 5-game winning streak after blowing a 22-point lead against the Clips.
And this is without seeing what Arthur, who had a pretty decent rookie season but is out with a torn pectoral muscle, can bring to the table as well as who the Grizzlies will draft with the pick they had returned to them when they traded away Crittenton to the Wizards.
In five years, we could be saying that the Grizzlies got the better end of the deal, even if the Lakers win three more championships, seeing as how Pau couldn’t carry a team all by his lonesome (no one can).
So please, please, please. Let’s stop with this most lopsided trade of all time talk. That’s so, 2008…
This team, out of any of the other playoff-hopeful teams, has the least margin for error. I’m talking microscopic. Could the 09-10 Bugs compete for a championship this year? While anything can and does happen in the NBA, the Bugs have a realistic shot at a championship if three main things come to pass.
The first is what avoided them last season…health. Everyone needs to stay healthy this year. Last season, Tyson Chandler missed 37 games, Morris Peterson missed 39 and Peja Stojakovic missed 21. Add to that Julian Wright only playing in 54 contests due to falling in and out of favor with Byron Scott, and it’s amazing that last year’s team won 46 games.
Peja, in particular, is key to the Hornets’ chances of making a championship run. When Peja is healthy and shooting like he has proven he can over the course of his career, the Bugs are formidable. This is a dude who is only 31-years-old. Last season, back spasms not only caused him to miss games, it also hampered him into missing plenty of shots. His field goal percentage fell below 40 percent for the first time since his rookie campaign.
But remember, this is a guy who was the best shooter in the league for six or seven years running (no offense Ray Ray). He posted back-to-back-to-back seasons of 48 percent shooting, and then averaged 24 a game for second best in the league on his way to carrying the Kings to a 55-27 record while finishing fourth in the MVP voting. (I don’t want to throw salt on an open, festering wound, but CP3 finished fifth last season).
Point is, dude was and has the potential to be wicked good. Injuries have pretty much derailed his career up to this point, but it should be no surprise then, that when he was healthy two seasons ago, and played in 77 games and shot 44 percent, that the Hornets won 56 games, took the Spurs to seven in the second round, and had CP3, this close, to an MVP. With Paul and David West on board, the Bugs don’t need Peja to be an MVP, just a lethal and efficient and healthy third scoring option.
Finally, the Bugs will need huge contributions from all of their young players. Before we get into this point, I’d like to point out the major weakness of this team and why it will be hard for them to break the top five in the west let alone contend for a championship even if everything breaks in their favor.
Similar to the plight of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Bugs just don’t have enough big bodies. Sure, they have four power-forwards in David West, Sean Marks, Ike Diogu, and the recently acquired Darius Songalia, but West and Diogu are undersized, Songalia fits in, but is not a difference maker, and Marks is 34, thin and not athletic. As for center, the Hornets have Okafor and the thus far hugely disappointing Hilton Armstrong.
Fun fact. There’s nobody over 7-feet on the roster. And in a conference that boasts Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Amare Stoudemire, Al Jefferson, Andres Biedrins, Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, etc. etc. not having 7-footers who are at least decent is a huge problem.
Armstrong has proven to be one of the most turnover-prone players in the NBA. To make matters worse, statistically, his rebound rate last year was only slightly better than the 6-foot Chris Paul. Chandler blossomed when he turned 24, so there remains a sliver of hope for Hilton, but unlike Hilton, Chandler showed signs of being good before hooking up with CP3, while Hilton’s been pretty god-awful even playing with him.
The addition of Okafor, at the very least, is an upgrade over Chandler in that he’s more likely to play 75 plus games. He’s also more well-rounded bringing a much better offensive game. But there’s plenty of downside to his acquisition as well. Okafor is undersized, can’t jump or finish like Chandler, and doesn’t play bigger than he is (a la Chuck Hayes, Charles Barkley, etc.). He’s also not as mobile as Chandler, thus creating a major dilemma for the team’s stated desire to run more this season.
Of course, Okafor’s never had the opportunity to play with anyone even remotely close to the caliber of Paul, and seeing as how CP3 is widely considered to be the best point guard in the league, I’m sure Okafor’s game will improve through osmosis. Chandler’s game exploded when he hooked up with Paul and I suspect Okafor’s game will have a similar up-tick. He could very well shoot over 60 percent this year. Okafor's offensive presence will also ease the burden on David West. West has been a solid second option for three years running now, but despite playing back-to-back seasons of 76 games, over his career, he hasn't been the most durable.
But even if Okafor posts better numbers than last season and West plays another 76 games, the Bugs will still struggle to match up with the bigger teams. I mean, West had a career year in rebounding averaging 8.9 two seasons ago, so Okafor has got his work cut out for him. Signing James Posey (whose "intangibles" and defense were perfect for the Celtics at the money he used to make, but remain the bare minimum for a team who needs much more from a player making $6.5 million) two offseasons ago instead of a big body continues to haunt New Orleans.
Okay, back to the youngins. The Hornets, as commissioned by owner George Shinn, will be looking to develop and play their young guys, which should spell out good things for both the team as a whole and those stated young guys.
Julian Wright, Marcus Thornton, Diogu, Armstrong and Darren Collison should therefore get every opportunity to develop and succeed.
Backup point guard, a huge positional weakness last year, suddenly has become a strength with the drafting of Darren Collison. After trying to fill the position with journeymen Devin Brown, Antonio Daniels and Mike James to varying degrees of unsuccess last season, the Bugs now finally have a player who can orchestrate a successful team while Paul rides pine.
My affection for and excitement over UCLA alum Collison is well documented in this blog. But his play during summer league (18.5 points, 4 assists on 45 percent shooting) and his history at UCLA that includes one trip to the championship game and two other final four appearances, should give Hornets fans comfort that when Paul comes out of the game, the ball will be in very capable hands.
What will be interesting to see is how much Collison and Okafor play together. Collison played four years under Ben Howland who ran half-court, slowed-down, methodical offensive sets. As mentioned above, this is ideal for Okafor’s offensive game. Either way, Collison’s presence will lessen Paul’s minutes and provide a confidence in the bench that wasn’t there last season.
While there are those who think the Hornets reached for Collison at 21, I’m of the opinion that any big man they took at that position had too many question marks to make a true difference this year. San Antonio taking DeJuan Blair was lower risk because of the lower draft choice and because he won’t be crucial to their rotation. Anything he gives the Spurs will be a major bonus. But Blair on the Hornets? That would be like a much shorter Chandler saga all over again. No thanks.
Another boon to the bench will be Marcus Thornton who was one of the top scorers in the Summer League and has a varied offensive arsenal and good range that should help out a second unit in dire need of scoring.
And whether or not he starts or comes off the bench, the wildly inconsistent Wright must take a huge step forward in his game this year for any talk of a deep playoff run. While a superb defender, Wright settles for too many jump shots and has no post game whatsoever. Consistency on offense will go a long way for him to get minutes.
Diogu, is entering his fifth year, but has only played in 187 total games, at about 12 minutes per contest. With a career 16.1 PER, he is the prototypical John Hollinger player in that he puts up efficient and eye-opening per-minute stats, but has never actually gotten the minutes. Case in point, his ten game stint with Sacramento last year resulted in a 24.9 PER which would make him better than Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Al Jefferson and Amare Stoudemire. Hornets success this year hinges on if Diogu can come in with the Bugs second unit and be the offensive force his numbers suggest he is.
All in all, if healthy, and if the young players progress as planned, and if the Bugs can get 07-08 Peja back, then it's within the very realistic realm of possibility that this team will be a 50 to 55 win squad and could finish as high as the 2nd or 3rd seed. If any or all of those things go awry, the Hornets will struggle to a bottom seed or might fall out of the playoffs all together.
Everybody knows that Michael Jordan is being inducted into the Hall of Fame today. He's entering with John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and David Robinson.
After reading an insightful post on the Painted Area, I began to reflect on just how much, in my mind at least, David Robinson’s overall value had fallen. My lingering memories of him were of his cheesy McDonald’s commercials, his devout love for Jesus and his complete dismantling at the hands of the Dream.
It got me thinking about the greatest centers of all time and where Robinson fits in. I’d always rated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as the top three centers, followed closely by Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal. Going over numbers and awards and quality of play, I’m leaning to exclude Mr. O’Neal from the top five and slip the Admiral right on in there.
First off, I understand that Shaq has four rings to Robinson’s two, and while they both have one MVP, Shaq has what many consider to be the more valuable finals MVPs (three of them). But I don’t think Russell was better than Kareem because he has 11 rings to Mr. Skyhook’s six. And O’Neal’s four rings have become Jordanesque in that many people believe he won them on his own. But that’s a discussion for a different blog.
O’Neal has eight all NBA First Team selections to Robinson’s four, but it must be noted the difference in eras. Robinson played and succeeded during an age of centers. Two years ago, ESPN ranked the top 10 centers of all time, and while I don’t agree with the order of the people on it, it will be noted here that five of those players played during Robinson’s career.
Robinson caught the tail end of Moses Malone’s career. He was subject to the Dream Shake of Hakeem. He tussled with Patrick Ewing and then he banged with Shaq (Robinson, was, of course, the fifth).
In addition, while not all-world, Robinson also faced off against Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutumbo, and Arvydas Sabonis, three centers, that in their prime, would have been the best center in the league (outside of Shaq) during Shaq’s prime reign.
Entering his prime at the age of 26, the Big Diesel spent the majority of his time playing against one of three kinds of centers. The past-their-prime rapidly aging group including: Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, Sabonis, Mourning and Mutumbo. The bad-to-the-pretty-good group that included: Kurt Thomas, Shawn Bradley, Vlade Divac, Greg Ostertag, Jermaine O’Neal, Erick Dampier, Zydrunas Ilgauskus and Marcus Camby. And the just-getting-their-feet-wet group including: Dwight Howard, Yao Ming and Pau Gasol.
While Howard will most likely grow into a HOF caliber player, with Yao Ming's career in question, the rest will have a hard time making anyone’s top 20 centers of all time list, let alone a top 10. So, looking at the centers and the conditions of the centers Shaq played against while he dominated the league, it’s no wonder about his dominance.
To put an exclamation on this point, the centers Shaq has faced in the finals on his way to three Finals MVPs include: Dale Davis/Sam Perkins; a 34-year-old Mutumbo and Todd MacCulloch; the fearsome combo of MacCulloch/Jason Collins; and the combo of Erick Dampier/DeSagana Diop. And while the Lakers did beat Duncan/Robinson, go back and check the history books on who really won those series for the Lakers (hint, hint, Kobe/Shaw).
When facing a legit center in the finals (Olajuwon and Ben Wallace), Shaq has gone 1-8.
As for Robinson, the Admiral beat Ewing for his first ring and the combo of Mutumbo/Collins for his second. He also ousted Shaq/Kobe in 02-03.
As for how well Robinson matched up against Shaq, the Diesel overall wins the battle in terms of production, but lost in the overall wins column 12-11. The stats follow:
Looking at the numbers more closely, however, we see that Robinson played half of these games well into his 30s. If we compare the games from 2000 back, we see that it’s a lot closer.
The numbers are very close. Of course, Shaq has played three more seasons, going on four, but Robinson’s career numbers look mighty good next to Shaq’s, especially with that 1.4 career steals and three blocks(a feat only Olajuwon and Robinson share). Looking further at PER, here’s a list of their prime career numbers.
O’Neal is clearly better over a sustained period of time, but I bet Robinson’s numbers surprise you. Not only that, but his best year, a year he averaged 30 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 4.8 apg, 1.7 spg, and 3.3 bpg on 50.7 percent shooting, tops O’Neal’s 30 ppg, 13.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, .5 spg, 3 bpg on 57.6 percent shooting by the slimmest of margins.
Offensively, PER does an adequate job of interpreting their relative offensive games and comes to the conclusion that O’Neal’s was better.
But basketball is played on two sides of the court, and here is where Robinson separates himself from O’Neal and where PER no longer helps us. While there is no perfect way of measuring defensive presence, even when Shaq was at his penultimate self, he still never showed on the pick and roll.
David Robinson led the league in rebounding on two separate occasions, was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times, the second team four times and also won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 91-92. In comparison, Shaq has never led the league in rebounding (was runner up on four separate occasions), has made the All Defensive Second Team three times, and has never come close to a DPY award.
Going further, only three of Robinson’s 14 seasons saw the Admiral with Defensive Win Shares below five and one of those seasons was the year he missed all but six games. For seven consecutive years, he had DWS over six—quite a bit better than known defensive stalwarts like Dikembe Mutumbo and Alonzo Mourning.
Robinson’s DFWs were also very comparable to Patrick Ewing and Ben Wallace during their prime stretches of defensive dominance. For reference:
P Ewing: 5.4, 6.7, 7.9, 7.8, 6.4, 6.1, and 6.9 Big Ben: 6.2, 7.2, 7.5, 8.9, 6.4, 6.6 and 6.7 D Robin: 7.2, 7.7, 6.8, 6.3, 6.3, 6.9, and 7.3
As for O’Neal, his DWS are quite a bit less impressive. He managed seven in his dominant 99-2000 MVP season, but only had one other season over five (his rookie year at 5.9). He’s played in a 130 more games, yet still trails Robinson in career DWS by 16.2.
To further exemplify this point, the Spurs, with David Robinson as an active member of the roster, never finished outside of the top ten in defensive rating. During Robinson’s career, the Spurs led the league in defensive rating four times, were second three times and third three times.
Obviously adding Duncan in 97 helped tremendously as Robinson aged, but Robinson-led teams still managed to lead the league twice and come in third two other times. Furthermore, Robinson’s team went from third in defensive rating with him, to last in the season he missed, back up to second when he and a rookie Duncan joined forces.
As for Shaq, his Orlando-led squads never finished higher than 11th and his Miami-led squads never finished higher than sixth. He’s also been a part of some of the worst defensive teams, including last year’s 26th ranked Suns, and while it certainly wasn’t all his fault, he did play 33 games for the 24th ranked Heat in 06-07.
In 1999-00, that one shining year, Shaq’s MVP season, he dominated the league as did the Lakers who led the league in defensive rating. However, the year before Shaq’s MVP, the Lakers were 23rd in defensive rating and the year after? They reverted back to 21st.
And here’s why I believe that in spite of O’Neal’s offensive brilliance, Robinson should be ranked ahead of him. O’Neal had all the tools to be the best center of all time, but he chose to coast on his athleticism and dominating size rather than hone his game.
Shaq’s career is continuing to be more and more the question of what could have been. What could have been if he could hit 60-65 percent of his freethrows? What could have been if he and Kobe stayed together? What could have been if he developed a couple of post moves or truly took to making Amare a better player? What could have been if he had simply worked as hard as Jordan or Bryant?
In fact, Robinson should be celebrated over Shaq because he was everything Shaq was and is not. He worked tirelessly to keep his body in peak physical condition. He didn’t chase money and fame in a bigger city but stayed true to the Spurs, a small market team, his entire career. He never needed to be the center of attention. He made 74 percent of his freethrows throughout his career. And while Shaq and the Admiral were and are both well-liked by many, Robinson never bad-mouthed anyone.
When Duncan joined the team, Robinson not only mentored and helped develop the blossoming star, but he stepped aside, adjusted his game and took a complimentary role. He amped up his already impressive defense and worked hard at rebounding and defending while letting Duncan shoulder more and more of the offensive load.
We all know Shaq’s story. A man who jumped the Orlando ship as soon as the glitz of Hollywood became available. A man who despite what he says, has always made it all about himself. A man who, after winning his first MVP, decided to take more and more time off during the offseason and come into camp in worse and worse shape. A man who, in spite of his lazy offseasons, demanded a raise while he was in the middle of a contract paying him $26 million. A man who spent most of his time off the court at other ventures besides basketball, including movies and music, but never improved any aspect of his game (save for that one season where he shot over 60 percent on freethrows). A man who has bounced from team to team and bad-mouthed everyone on his way out the door.
For a 7-foot-1, 350-pound man with nimble feet, crazy agility and uncanny speed to call himself the Most Dominant Ever and never lead the league in rebounding, pretty much sums up all the above points.
And while he did, in some ways, step down and let Dwyane Wade take center stage when the Heat won in 06-07, he was ultimately selfish with the Penny and Kobe situations and despite all his lip service, stunted Amare Stoudemire’s growth last year. Maybe you disagree, maybe you think I’m just a Shaq hater, but due to Robinson’s defensive presence and his underrated offensive game that was both prolific and efficient, not to mention his leadership and ability to be a better teammate I’d say Robinson was a better overall player than O’Neal.
Congrats Admiral on the Hall of Fame. You clearly deserve it.
The franchise formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics has turned into everyone’s favorite offseason darkhorse/cinderalla team. Yeah, I think they’ll improve a great deal from last year’s 23-win effort, first and foremost because there’s no way (save a Kevin Durant injury) that the team gets off to another horrific 3-29 start. I mean, after that terrible beginning, aided by the midseason acquisition of Nenad Krstic, the team went 19-30 to begin 2009.
But I’m not drinking the Koolaid to the point where I believe they can make the playoffs…not just yet. My concerns do not lie with the core group. Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and now James Harden make, perhaps, the most promising 1-4 in the whole league. It’s that fifth position, normally considered along with the one as the most important position in basketball, that has me worried.
Of course Krstic’s presence was not the only reason for the success enjoyed by the team to begin the new year, but he was certainly an upgrade over the undersized body of Nick Collison (who is a solid player as a power forward, but definitely not a center), or the rawness of Johan Petro or the one-way play of Chris Wilcox (also undersized) or the plodding, unrefined game of Robert Swift. (Just for the record, B.J. Mullens doesn’t look like the answer.)
And the Thunder need a true center, a Tyson Chandler-like presence—a rebounding, defensive-minded five who eats space in the middle. And yet, I not only understand, but I completely agree with why Sam Presti opted to move away from Chandler.
But that’s neither here nor there.
The addition of Etan Thomas, while certainly not the answer, is a good start…if he can stay healthy. When given minutes and when he’s been able to keep himself on the court (has averaged only 53 games over seven seasons and missed one season entirely), Thomas has been a pretty effective center. While he’ll most likely be the backup, Thomas, though a bit undersized, brings energy, rebounding and some shot blocking to the table. He’s not known as the best clubhouse guy (just ask Brendan Haywood), but perhaps, coming to a team of youngsters as an elder statesmen will be just what he needs to keep his attitude in check (a la Stephen Jackson).
As for Krstic, who I expect will start, the dude can shoot, has an offensive game plan that he executes well and has enough length to make the opposition think about coming into the paint. In the season of his knee injury, Krstic was averaging 16.4 points, seven rebounds and two assists on 52.6 percent shooting with the Nets and many thought he would be the center of the future. But the injury limited him the next year and following his disappointing 07-08 season, he moved to the Russian Super League for a brief stint to regain his old form. As he proved last season with the Thunder, the 25-year-old is a quality player to be sure, but despite being 7-0 feet tall, his game is more power forward than center. He's been playing really well in the Eurobasket Championships the past couple of weeks and was the best player on the floor against Spain which included both Gasol brothers. Krstic led the Serbian team to victory as well.
So, with the team the Thunder will have going into the 09-10 season, a great deal of its success will ride on the thin (though reportedly 10-lbs more muscular) shoulders of one man. Since being chosen second overall in 2007, Durant has increased every aspect of his game by leaps and bounds. From 20 points per game as a rookie, to 25 as a soph, he also improved his shooting percentage (43 to 47), his three point percentage (28 to 42), his rebounding (4.4 to 6.5), his assists (2.4 to 2.8) and his minutes played (34.6 to 39) while maintaining his turnover rate. That’s remarkable improvement in only a single season. While I believe he will make progress this year as well, I wouldn’t expect his numbers to jump quite as much as they did last year. He could very well push for 30 points per game, but I am of the impression that that would be to the detriment of the team as a whole.
Watching Durant come out to Summer League in Las Vegas and sit on the bench, bond, and offer advice to teammates James Harden, Sean Livingston, Mullens, D.J. White, Serge Ibaka and Kyle Weaver, not to mention the half dozen other guys he won’t even be playing with this year, solidified in my mind that he is all about the team and is serious about his role as a leader. It also won him the respect of everyone on the team from the last man on the bench to Scott Brooks.
While I didn’t catch all of Summer League, I caught enough and read about enough to know that no other star player on any of the other 29 teams came out to Vegas and sat on the bench for nearly every game like Durant did. I saw Baron Davis out there, but he was dressed up all snazzy and sat in the bleachers. Durant was on the bench, well, except when he got on his feet to cheer his squad on.
The Thunder have had one more year to mature. I caught Russell Westbrook working out over at HAX in L.A. a month ago and he’s looking to have a big season. While his scoring will most likely remain around the 12 to 15 point mark, look for his assists to go up and his shooting percentage to be better by a few percentage points. He’ll need to be a better distributor with this team who are growing up together and will feature a lot of weapons. In addition to the obvious primary importance of KD and the refined, Euro-game of Krstic, Westbrook will have Harden/Thabo Sefolosha and Green as starters.
Green, like KD, has matured rapidly over the past two years. His production jumped across the board in his sophomore year as well—10.5 to 16.5 points, 1.5 to 2 assists, 4.8 to 6.6 rebounds, .6 to 1 steals, 27.6 to 38.9 in three-point percentage and 42.7 to 44.6 overall field goal percentage. Being that he’s playing a bit out of position as an undersized power forward, he’ll need to boost that rebounding even more to help offset the lack of a true interior presence, but if his overall post game (both offensively and defensively) has developed and if he’s learned a few new things in guarding bigger, stronger players in the post, those improvements will be just as vital to the Thunder’s success as anything from Durant or Westbrook.
I got to watch Harden play in Summer League and, like many other pundits and scouts out there, I was impressed with his ability to make the right play. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll go through growing pains in his rookie campaign, but seeing the pieces he has around him already, his skill set is perfect.
The big thing I harped on last year for team success was the importance of depth. I chose the Lakers, Jazz, Rockets and Portland to finish in the top four in the west last year based on this theory. While the Rockets and Jazz finished in the bottom half of the West’s playoff teams, depth helped soften the blow of Tracy McGrady’s season-ending surgery and it also helped keep the Jazz afloat while they suffered a myriad of injuries to all of their key players.
Depth on the Thunder is looking like a strength. Livingston has a lot of potential and has been slowly making his way back from his devastating knee injury two seasons ago. If he can regain anything close to the form he showed in his last year with the Clips, he’ll lead a bench that will include Sefolosha, Collison, Thomas and Weaver all of whom were capable starters at various points of last year. Of course, Sefolosha and/or Thomas could win the starters roles, which would send Harden and Krstic to the bench. If this happens, the bench will be more dynamic, though not as good defensively, while the starters will be better defensively, though not the offensive force. Either way, the bench will be at the very worst, solid.
If every "if" is answered, this team could potentially push for the playoffs. But without a true center, I find it very difficult to see how they can consistently win against those squads with a big front court. Playoffs or not, this will be the year that everybody outside of Oklahoma City proclaims Durant's name in the same breath as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade.
I’m not going to outright say that Denver is going to take a step back, I’m just leery of hyping up last year's success. While they’ll be good, contender is a bit of a stretch for my vocabulary. I honestly think they’re not going to be any better, and more likely than not, slightly worse than last year.
For as dominant of a finish as this team had to the regular season, it only improved by four games over the previous season. So I get that Chauncey Billups brought with him stability and consistency at the point guard position, but adding a healthy Nene and the energy and shot-blocking/altering ability of Chris Andersen off the bench was just as big for the team. All this “most lopsided trade in the history of the sport” is so far overblown, it’s become tiresome. AI wasn’t the anti-Christ and Billups wasn’t the Savior.
Look, I’m not trying to diminish the impact that Billups had on the overall culture of the squad, his leadership and ability to effectively run an offense are clearly better than Allen Iverson’s, who is a natural-born shooting guard.
But to give all the credit to Billups is like giving all the credit to Kobe Bryant or to Lebron James or Dwight Howard—it’s just so, unbasketball-like. A variety of different things, including the Billups acquisition, allowed the Nugs to make their run.
For starters, Nene had a terrific season two years ago, before injury put him down. At 26, he has clearly been a player on the rise, so his career 08-09 season had more to do with his maturing and remaining healthy than Billups’ influence. Mr. Big Shot really didn’t have all that much influence on Birdman’s game, outside of the occasional lob and all the missed shots that made for offensive rebounding opportunities.
True, culture change can be a huge difference. Billups initiating the offense, actually looking for Nene as a first option or swinging the ball over to Smith for the three, those little things help make a basketball team flow. But, looking back, not sure the culture changed all that much. I mean, J.R. Smith was and continues to be a knucklehead. Kenyon Martin continued to lose his cool, pick up Ts, etc., and ultimately, the Nugs choked and slunk away when the pressure was on just like they had when AI was on board.
Furthermore, when one really sits down and evaluates the Nuggets playoff run, they’ll see that they faced a severely crippled Hornets team and a Mavs squad playing over its head with arguably its second best player (Josh Howard) gamely playing on one leg. Even still, in game three, if Dirk Nowitzki or Howard or Jason Terry hit a couple of free throws, or Melo doesn’t hit that three, the series could have been easily 2-1 instead of 3-0, and then, who knows how it would have ended up?
Just like the Lakers didn’t dominate the Magic who were equal in talent (if only Jameer had been healthy…), the Nugs didn’t dominate the Mavs, a significantly worse team (last year) in terms of talent and health. To me, that speaks a lot more about how Denver measures up then the pyrite shine of a western conference finals showing and a two seed in the injury-depleted west.
With that long-winded intro, we get into this year’s squad. As with all teams, health will play a major factor in the success or failure of the 2009-10 Nuggets. While some teams, like the Mavs, Lakers and Blazers can ably withstand injuries, the Nuggets do not have that luxury. In addition, many of the players that are being counted on to remain healthy have a history of injury and/or suspension. Case in point, Smith will already miss seven games to start the season because of suspension and had some questionable Twitter posts this summer that caught the ire of the public.
As for injuries, in the four prior to last season, Nene had missed nearly two complete seasons and in the other two averaged less than 60 games. Kenyon Martin, who has survived micro-fracture knee surgery on both knees has averaged about 68 games per year, excluding the year he played in only two contests. Backing up Nene and Martin is Chris Andersen, who was kicked out of the league for testing positive for a “drug of abuse” which defined by the NBA includes cocaine, PCP, meth and acid. All of these drugs take money to support and the Birdman just signed a new five-year deal worth nearly $26 million. While all indications point towards him remaining clean, it only takes one slip-up to be right back nose deep in drug addiction.
The only other bigs on the roster are Johan Petro and Malik Allen and if Petro is the first big off your bench, you aren’t a contender, at least not this season.
As for the backcourt, Billups is one year older, and he seemed to tire in the playoffs. The drafting of Ty Lawson and the retaining of Anthony Carter is just what the doctor ordered. Lawson tore up summer league. Take that for what it’s worth, but he does have a track record as a winner with UNC. He also has the perfect point guard to learn from in Billups and to a certain extent Anthony Carter, both who have maintained a workmanlike attitude and use veteran smarts to level the playing field in their favor. Lawson excels when he has weapons around him, and, well, the Nugs supply is not as abundant as last year. In fact, with Smith most likely moving into the starting lineup, Lawson might have to emulate his Summer League run where he averaged 17 points a game.
When Smith returns from suspension and gets inserted into the starting shooting guard spot, projected starter Arron Afflalo will be the two for the second team. While he was a good get and can emulate a lot of the things that Jones brought to the table at a younger and cheaper price, he can't do what Smith does. What could happen, and might be good (if Smith remains content with a sixth man role) is if Afflalo can win that starter's gig during Smith's suspension. We'll see how Afflalo plays and what George Karl wants to do.
Speaking of the bench, or lack there of, one thing to watch out for is who backs up Carmelo Anthony. Linas Kleiza’s burn was spotty in the playoffs, but during the regular season, dude played in all 82 and averaged 22 minutes a game. The only other small-forward type left on the team is Renaldo Balkman, and while his hustle and athleticism will work well in transition, unless he suddenly learned how to shoot outside of five feet at even a decent clip this summer, Kleiza’s overall game and outside shooting are going to be sorely missed.
If the team ends up signing Desmond Mason, who still has some of that dunk-contest winning leaping ability, his lack of any semblance of an outside shot (that goes in) will not be the answer either. In fact, the team would be better off just playing the 25-year-old Balkman for all the little things he contributes that Mason doesn’t.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Melo will be primed and ready to bounce back from a down year. He absolutely murdered in the playoffs, averaging 27, 6 and 4 while shooting 45 percent (would have been even better but he faltered against the Lakers) and if that is any indication of where he’ll be next season, the Nugs could push the 55-win plateau. Of course, when he does average 27 a game, Billups supporters will point to it and say how much Chauncey has helped Melo mature and completely neglect to acknowledge that Melo averaged 29 points playing with Iverson. But, whatever.
If Nene stays on the court for 75 plus games and Martin plays 70 and Birdman and Smith don’t get suspended (anymore), and Melo rises back up to a top ten NBA player, the Nuggets will have a championship caliber starting five. But their almost inevitable fall from last year's heights will be because of the salary cap and Stan Kroenke's reluctance to pay it. A weakened, inexperienced bench pushes the Nugs back to the middle of the pack.
Of course, if the bench somehow develops, like Petro suddenly blossoms, Lawson makes a run for rookie of the year and Afflalo comes up huge, a championship could be in sight.
But in reality, I just don’t think this team has the depth to make a legit run because the bench has been significantly downgraded while a lot of other Western powers have upgraded. Plus, that’s a lot of “ifs” to be counting on. And iffy ifs at that.
Any extended injury to Nene, Melo, Billups, Martin, and/or Smith, and the Nuggets will struggle to win 45 games in the uber-competitive Western Conference.
