Stand out West Coasters

Here’s a look at some of the West’s most outstanding players that haven’t gotten much pub.

John Salmons
Dude has been great when given the opportunity. He’s shooting 48.7 percent, posting 18 points while dishing out 4 dimes and reeling in 4 boards. He came up huge against Phoenix and even bigger against San Antonio, but the Kings ended up losing those two contests each by 2 points. If not for a fourth quarter collapse against Phoenix and several botched opportunities against the Spurs, the Kings would be looking at a 6-1 win streak.

O.J. Mayo
Too bad nobody else (okay, save you Marc Gasol) can shoot the rock worth a damn on the Grizzlies in the early going. If Rudy Gay were shooting anywhere near his career norms, this team would have at least 2 more wins. The Grizz lost by 5 against the Kings, Phoenix, and Milwaukee. In those games, Gay has shot 40 percent, with a .235 percent against Denver where the team lost by 10. In those same games, Mayo is shooting 50 percent. As it stands, for the month of November, Mayo has been filling up the stat sheet, shooting 48 percent, with 23 ppg, 2.6 apg, 4.4 rpg, and 1.3 spg. Add to that deadeye marksmanship from beyond the arc (45%), and he’s hands down been the West’s best rook, and is neck and neck with Derrick Rose for the league’s best.

Rudy Fernandez
Unless of course you consider this guy’s efficiency. Sporting a rookie high 21 PER, Mr. Fernandez has been stellar. He’s hit 45 percent of his shots and his 3s and is shooting 94 percent from the line. Throw in a steal, 2 assists and 3 boards, and he’s the perfect game changer for the Blazers off the bench. Plus, he's so much fun to watch.

Roger Mason
Nobody expected Parker to join Ginobili on the injured reserve, but Roger Mason has stepped up to the challenge of trying to replace them. Shooting a blistering 47 percent from beyond the arc, the journeyman guard has given the Spurs some much needed perimeter scoring and ballhandling. He hit the game winner against the Clippers last night and is looking for his shot. And when his shot hasn’t been falling, he’s found other ways to contribute. Didn't give this guy much love when the Spurs signed him, thought it was appropriate to give credit where credit is due. Another solid signing by San Antonio.

Andris Biedrins
My man. Yup. Dude has been transcendent and a big reason the Warriors aren’t a laughingstock. The hype is all around undrafted rook Anthony Morrow right now (37 and 11 will do that) and the money’s being thrown at Stephen Jackson ($28 million), but the leader of this team in terms of playing ability has been AB. Leading the league in rebounds (15 per) and remaining in the top 20 in FG percentage (53) while boosting his atrocious free throw percentage north of 60 has resulted in a career year for the Latvian. Can’t mess with 17 ppg, 15 rpg, 2 apg,1.5 bpg and a sparkling 22.10 PER. He’s turned into Dr. Slantedstein’s monster all by his lonesome.

Shaquille O’Neal
The Big Diesel has been playing great. He’s also been pushing Rockets to the floor and leveling Pistons. All the while amassing only fines—no suspensions yet. His 1.27 blocks lead the Suns (that’s actually kind of pathetic) and he’s second on the team in scoring. He’s even averaging 2 dimes. All this while shooting a stellar 59 percent. He’s been a big reason why the Suns sport the West’s second best record. Now if only he could avoid back-to-backs the rest of the season.

Nene
Maybe it’s the quality of the opponents (Memphis, Minny, Charlotte, Dallas) that might curb onlookers’ enthusiasm for a 4-1 stretch this past week and a half. But that 9-point win in Boston was impressive no matter how poorly Doc Rivers thinks his team is playing. Credit the addition of Chauncey Billups, but don’t sleep on Mr. Mono-Name. Only taking 9.2 shots per contest is a crime for his production, because, unlike every other starter on his team who is well below the 45 percent mark, Nene is sizzling at 64 percent. He’s also throwing in nearly 2 steals and 2 blocks per contest. The rebounding isn’t great, but the steals and blocks show that he’s making things happen. Key reason, especially with a team in flux, why the Nuggets are looking more and more like playoff material (they just need to add some height and they’ll be set).

Westside Connection Pt. 2

-Clippers got their first win and guess who played 30 minutes? Eric Gordon. He got some time and, oh my god, he shot 50 percent and hit 3-4 from beyond the arc. Sure, he wasn’t the only reason the team got the monkey off their back, Baron did have 22 and 10 and Camby added 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. But, this is the team that we should see more and more. The one that will have the most success. Ricky Buckets still can’t seem to find his shot. And, Cat? Cuttino Mobley still got 33 minutes, but put up only 8 shots. I really don’t hate Mobley. He got some time at SF because Thornton, who had a good game, was limited by foul trouble. The team held the Mavs (minus Josh Howard) to 92 points. The defense is starting to jell, and the Clips are learning how to play with each other. The Kings, Warriors, Spurs and Thunder are the upcoming games...all very winnable. The Spurs were struggling with Tony Parker playing as the best player in the league. They’ll be without him for a month, so the Clips should have more than enough to get by San Antonio. In fact, the brutal part of their early schedule is out of the way. After the Thunder, the Clips travel to play a worse-than-expected Philly team, and Mike Dunleavy should be plenty fired up to win that game. Then they’ve got New Jersey, New Orleans, Denver and Miami. They could realistically go 7-2 which would put them back at .500. It’s going to be an uphill battle for them the rest of the way, but Baron helped lead a less talented team to the brink of the playoffs last year. Still think this team could win 45-48 games.


-The Grizzlies had a disappointing second half against Denver, a great deal of it because O.J. Mayo went stone cold after being scalding hot dropping 20 points in the first quarter where he shot 8-9 with 3-3 from beyond the arc. He still ended with 31, but only had 5 in the second half. The team just won’t be able to win if Rudy Gay shoots 4-17. Just won’t happen. One problem the team has is that Gay and Mayo fall in love with their jumper too much. Both players need to get to the basket more or work the ball inside to Marc Gasol. Gasol can’t play 40 minutes and only shoot the ball 4 times. And the jumpshot-itis is not just confined to the team’s two stars. Everyone on the roster jacks up way too many jumpshots—you just can’t win consistently like that. Even still, they held a high scoring Denver team under their season average as they’ve done with every team they’ve played this year. Defense is keeping them in it. They’re sitting at 3-4 on the season, but, tell me one person who thought they would have as many wins as the Spurs and Mavericks combined? Love Darrell Arthur’s game. A bit like a bruiser version of Trevor Ariza. They just make things happen. Ditto with Kyle Lowry. The point guards just need to learn to shoot the three. If and when that happens, this team will get a whole lot better. Q Ross was a good pickup for this team. He and Greg Buckner come off the bench and offer great defense.

-Denver looks a lot more balanced now with Chauncey, even though dude has yet to find his shot. 2-13 is putrid for any player. But the 16, 6, 10 and 3 steals is very nice. Part of the reason he couldn’t find the hoop was due to the pressure he was seeing from Mayo and Lowry and whoever, but if Chauncey could’ve hit four more shots, this game wouldn’t have been as close as it was. J.R. Smith hasn’t taken to Billups as fast as I thought he would. But Renaldo Balkman and Nene are loving him. Melo too, though he missed some absolute gimmes including a wide-open two-handed jam. Denver’s defense looks a lot better though. A lot better. They’ve got someone who can actually play defense at the one. Once Chauncey gets more comfortable with his shot and K-Mart comes back, this team will start to climb back into the race in the Northwest, though the rest of their schedule this month is tough. They’ve got the Cavs, Celtics, Lakers, Hornets and Houston, and, though people might laugh at me, I’m going to put the Clippers into the equation as well. Don't let their 1-6 record fool you. The Clips are a good team. Denver's got an uphill battle going forward, but they've added defense to a still potent offense. They are not as flashy, but they are definitely a better team. If Antonio McDyess wasn't such a baby, he could really help this squad out.

It's Sad to See a Giant Fall

I've hated the Spurs for so long. Usually, the teams you hate are the ones that are good, and San Antonio has been no exception. That's why everyone hates the Lakers. I'm sure there are Celtics haters now. In any event, I had a hunch the Spurs would fall in the standings this year. Manu's injury. Duncan's age. Hell, the team's collective age. No bench, or a very shallow bench. Now, tonight, news is that Tony Parker has hurt his ankle. This bodes ill for the Spurs no matter how you spin it. Depending on the ankle injury, Parker could miss anywhere from a single game to 4-5 weeks. The Spurs were barely hanging on with Parker sporting a 36 PER and averaging 33 points per game with 7 plus dimes. With him out? The Spurs might hit the lottery for the first time in a decade. All the hate for Bruce Bowen and Timmy D's exasperated faces after every single call or non-call. The eyeball-gougingly painful to watch, though highly effective Hack-A-Shaq. The slowdown offense. The highly effective defense (with all the cheap non-call fouls). The flopping. In a way, if the Spurs do indeed fall...what a run huh? A new bad guy will have to rise up and take their place. A new team to hate and root against. Let's hope Parker gets better real quick.

East Over West?

Wouldn't you know it. The year I decide to give the Westcoast the much deserved love it has been dying to have with this website, the year after the greatest and deepest western conference in the history of the sport, the season that was supposed to be even deeper and better than last, the Western conference has come out of the gates sputtering. Overall, the West has a losing record 31-36 to the East's 34-29. Egads. What's going on?

Well, the Clippers have sucked. Baron and Camby both have missed time. That one hurts because I was so excited about them. But, I still have hope that they will turn things around, just as soon as Mike Dunleavy decides to let the kids play (Jordan and Gordon please!!!!). In fact, I feel better about them than the Spurs whose weak bench and lack of a third star due to the Manu injury have resulted in San Antonio sucking. You can never count them out, but Tony Parker is playing out of his mind, and the team is 1-3. Portland lost Greg Oden in the early going (though, Joel Przybilla is playing great once again) and Brandon Roy can't shoot (and despite those two amazing shots last night, is at 40 percent). My hopes for Minny and Denver (who look to be getting back on the right track with Mr. Bigshot in town) were also, at least in the early going, a bit in vain. I still stick by my predictions. I think the Clippers can find momentum as Camby gets healthier and more in tune with the team. I think the Spurs will still end up being the Spurs, though a 7th or 8th seed seems more likely now. And, yes, Portland will be boosted by that miracle shot by Roy last night and start to roll. Even without Oden.

A Baseball Aside

Let’s get this Manny Ramirez thing out of the way. I mean, I’m a Dodger fan through and through (okay, love the Angels too) so, even though this is a basketball site, I’ve got to weigh in on the offer from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.

For those who don’t know, it’s a base salary of $25 million per season, at around 2 or 3 years. The worst part about it is that Colletti threw out a not-so-subtle hint, “The offer won’t be there forever.”

Colletti, if we hadn’t gathered by your stellar signings—Jason Schmidt ($47 million), Juan Pierre ($45 milion for 5 seasons), and Andruw Jones (36.2 million for two seasons)—you really are a freaking idiot.

Here is a no-doubt hall of famer and you offer 2 years? A player who, single-handedly saved your ass from complete humiliation considering that the only good pieces of your team were drafted and handpicked by the two GMs who came before you.

Man Ram is the only good thing (scratch that, he’s a great thing) that has come from your tenure with the Dodgers. And don’t try to sell me on the merits of Jeff freaking Kent.

Manny hit .396 with 17 homers, 53 RBIs, 36 runs scored and a so-good-it’s-like-playing-on-easy-in-MLB-2k9-good 1.232 OPS. His whole season, Boston included, was a .332 average, 37 homers, 121 RBI and a 1.031 OPS. Very, very, very elite. Not to mention all the revenue that Manny Mania stirred up in Los Angeles, the fact that they were a sub .500 team before he got there and still managed to not only get into the postseason, but into the NLCS. There’s also all those Manny dreadlocks that were sold.

And, just like classic Manny, he was even more dangerous in the postseason, hitting .520 with four homers, 10 RBIs, nine runs scored and 11 walks in eight playoff games. He’s helped lead Cleveland to two World Series, helped Boston win two World Series, and helped the Dodgers get into the NLCS for the first time in 20 years. Instead of insult him, why don’t you embrace him.

Tell him, that you and the McCourts love him so much and think of him so highly that you are going to make him, per season, the highest paid player ever in the history of the sport. That’s how highly you think of him.

Offer Manny $30 million for 3 with a 4th year option. You know that shorter deals are always better, especially a player at his age. But, uh, a 2 year deal? That’s straight up spitting in his face.

And this is all coming from a guy who has never, ever, ever liked Manny. Despite the HOF career, I can't respect anyone getting paid ungodly amounts of money who quits on his team and acts the diva. Hated Bonds. Hated Sosa. Hate Curt Schilling.

Was listening to Scott Boras on ESPN radio talking about how he got Bonds and ARod deals that both took and will take them to 42 years of age. Big deals. Arod, the biggest.

Uh, if I were Boras, I’d maybe rethink that line of thinking. Bonds got to play until he was 42 because, well, he put unnatural substances into his body. Now, whether you believe that or not, you can’t deny that 99.9 percent of all players who push 40 years of age, decline rapidly. None of them, Bonds included, have ever hit 40 plus homers and batted .320 into their 40s. But that’s what a $25 million per season salary signifies.

Also, Arod plays both ways, and while Manny is better-than-advertised in left, he’s not an asset by any stretch of the imagination.

Accept a shorter deal and be content in the knowledge that you got your client the most lucrative, per season salary of all time. Another notch on your belt. Because, if you keep trying to get a 6 year deal, the Dodgers might just go out and try and trade for Jake Peavy and sign C.C. Sabathia instead. Because, like Cole Hamels has shown once again, pitching wins in the postseason.

So, let’s get the Manny deal done people. Please.

Westside Connection Pt. 1

Westside Connection will be posts that highlight a few different teams each week. Here's the first installment featuring the Clippers and the Nuggets.

-Denver, with their trade for Chauncy Billups, have boosted themselves up into the playoffs, especially considering the Clippers’ dreadful start, Portland’s injury to Greg Oden, and San Antonio looking like they have a big 2 and that’s it. Chauncy Billups is exactly what the Nugs need. He is selfless, a real point who gets others involved, and one who can muscle opposing guards and play way better defense at the one than Denver has seen in years. Plus, he will get the ball to Melo, J.R. Smith, and Nene, so the team will stop giving Kenyon Martin 12 shots per game. K-Mart is best as a finisher. Let Chaunce be the initiator. The team even has a decent bench now, with Linas Kleiza, Chris Anderson, Renaldo Balkman and Anthony Carter. You can even throw in Cheik Samb, who should get some minutes with Steven Hunter's knee being messed up.

-Another tough loss for the Clippers tonight. They played, for the first 3 quarters, as I had envisioned them playing when they made their roster overhaul. They held the high-scoring Lakers to only 71 points over the first 36 minutes. They played slowed down, grind-it-out defense. Marcus Camby got 7 boards and 4 blocks…in 16 minutes. He and Kaman with Baron (3 steals) is a formidable trio on defense. The rest of the team is shaping up too. Al Thornton, by the way, looks like the real deal on offense. He’s taken another step towards improvement. He’s got a pretty consistent, though admittedly ugly-looking fadeaway jumpshot that, when he shoots it, you look and think, “Damn, that’s ugly, no way that’s going…” and then he nails it. Mike Taylor is greased lightening. All he needs is a chance to, gasp, play more. 7 and 4 with only a single turnover in 12 minutes is better than anything Jason Hart could hope to do on his best day.

-The main problems for the team are that Baron hasn’t found his shot yet, they’ve played two whole games together, and that Mike Dunleavy doesn’t know how to utilize the talent he has on his team. He’s totally misused Ricky Davis.

-Come to think about it, I’m about to call for Mike Dunleavy’s head. Cat Mobley getting 39 minutes? Really? I mean, really? He shot 4-11 and actually improved his overall shooting percentage to 39 percent. He’s at 33 percent from beyond the arc. He’s sporting a 0.5 assist to turnover ratio, a nifty little 9.75 PER and jacking up nearly 14 shots per game. I don’t know what Eric Gordon has done, or if Dunleavy just has some sort of prejudice against athletic wings who get to the hole (Maggette), but EG should be playing. Period. No question. Who cares if the team struggles with him out there? They’re 0-5 anyway and Eric can’t possibly do any worse than Mobley. Plus, there’s plenty of upside. Gordon’s a solid defender, so there won’t be too much drop off there. What he brings to the table is the ability to actually shoot the freaking ball. He can rain threes from anywhere—which would open up the middle for Kaman and Camby to go to work instead of allowing opposing defenders just cram the middle. Thornton has improved his 3 (hit 2 of 3 tonight) but the team needs floor spacing. Gordon would provide that. Plus, he’s the future, and Mobley is not. I hope they are showcasing Cat in the hopes of trading him, but at the rate he’s “producing” the Clips would be better off sitting him and letting his rapidly fading rep of a savvy veteran do the talking.

-Uh…pretty much ditto for Tim Thomas. Though, while I’m sure DeAndre Jordan would bring some WOW dunks, he might look completely lost out there. Then again, pot-smoking Darrell Arthur is playing well out in Memphis, so why not roll the dice on the upside? What have they got to lose…More games?

-Check my Lakers blog for a Lakers update www.nflfootballonline.com/dodgerblue15/weblog/5230/how-does-kobe-be-better-than-mj.html

My Bear Crush on the Grizz

I like the Grizzlies. Sure, two wins, one over a struggling Warriors team and the other over a struggling Orlando team, don’t really amount to jack diddily, but, just for the record, here’s a post I wrote all the way back in July.

www.nflfootballonline.com/dodgerblue15/weblog/2882/chris-wallace-is-smart.html

After Gasol’s outbreak Monday night, 27 points and 16 boards (albeit, against the Warriors) as well as Darrell Arthur who has looked incredibly raw no doubt, but in general a beast, it’s not too hard to say that the Grizzlies are much better off after trading away Pau Gasol.

No question.

Yeah, the Lakers are the best show in any town, but the Grizz have looked very respectable. And while my generous love for Marko Jaric and slight liking of Antoine Walker (both of whom have yet to dislodge their butts off the pine) may have been on the overly optimistic side, I gotta just say toldja to all the Grizz haters of the trade.

Of course, in my preseason predictions, I felt like they would be a great offensive team and not be able to stop anyone so, can’t be right all the time, though, we strive to be more righter than everyone else at all times here at Westcoast Slant.

The Grizz are, in fact, quite the opposite. Ranked sixth in the entire league in defensive efficiency and holding their opponents to a measly 85.3 points per game for fourth best, the Grizz’ active defense and general athleticism have kept teams off balance and been the main reason behind their success. Their opponents haven't been too shabby either. SW division leaders, Houston (a game they were very much in until they collapsed in the fourth quarter), Orlando, Chicago and Golden State. Especially considering that the average age of their starters is barely old enough to drink (21.5 years).

My mans Q Ross and even Greg Buckner have added to this defensive mindset. But O.J. Mayo and Gay and Gasol have all stepped up to the plate. Darrell Arthur can mix it up too.

I’m not going to go pronounce them team of the century anytime soon, but nobody’s talking about how lopsided the Pau Gasol trade is anymore.

And, dude over at Hornets247, shut yo mouth!