Is Artest the Answer for the Rockets?
July 31, 2008
On paper, the Rockets look like championship contenders, but, then again, this is Tracy McGrady’s Rockets and not Hakeem Olajuwon’s. With the addition of Ron Artest yesterday, the Rockets undoubtedly have one of the best trios in the league. Artest-McGrady-Yao, when healthy, probably only falls behind the Celtics trio of Allen-Garnett-Pierce. The Wizards, Lakers, and Spurs all have decent arguments, but whatever your opinion, the Rockets are going to be right up there. The supporting cast is not bad either with Rafer Alston at the point, and the up-and-coming Luis Scola at power forward. Then, you’ve got a great defender and role player in Shane Battier off the bench. Brent Barry and Luther Head can come in and hit some shots, too.
All the pieces are there and Rick Adelman is a good, experienced coach, but I’m not putting my money on the Rockets to win it all. You’ve got to worry about the fact that T-Mac is probably going to miss a fair chunk of games, same goes with Yao, and then even if they do get to the playoffs healthy, T-Mac has never gotten out of the first round!
No question this is an intriguing move and the Rockets could have a magical season, but Rockets fans shouldn’t hold their breath.
What do you think? Can McGrady finally do it?
Will Kwame Brown Blossom in Detroit?
July 29, 2008
Seven years ago, he was drafted #1 overall straight out of high school. Three teams later, he’s the butt of many NBA jokes, especially in the Washington area. Make no mistake about it, Kwame Brown is not half-bad as far as NBA centers go, but he’s certainly never met even the most modest expectations. Although his scenery has changed several times, it’s always been the same story with Kwame. Just like pre-2004 Red Sox fans, Kwame apologists keep on saying, “just wait, this is gonna be the year.”
After arriving in DC, Wizards fans couldn’t wait to see this athletic 6′11″ big man paired with MJ. It didn’t take long, though, before Kwame was driven out of town by the pressure and his own lack of effort. If you think his stock had hit rock bottom after failing in DC, the Lakers proved that theory wrong by offering up Caron Butler for Brown. It was hoped that playing alongside Kobe, Kwame could flourish in an A-list city where he could just as well be anonymous. But, it didn’t work out in L.A. either. His time there was plagued by injuries and, then, the emergence of Andrew Bynum dimmed any chance he had at the limelight in a Lakers jersey. So, now he’s been in the league over 6 years and done hardly anything…he’s worthless right? Well, not to the Grizzlies who were willing to part with all-star Pau Gasol for Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and some draft picks.
Now, after just half a season in a Grizzlies uniform, Brown is leaving for Detroit. He could have signed with a lot of teams and not raised an eyebrow, but Detroit doesn’t just sign anybody. They try to sign pieces to their championship puzzle. And, when you consider that the Pistons haven’t been able to replace Ben Wallace, maybe they are looking at Kwame to fulfill this role? Like Brown, Wallace struggled early in his career in Washington, and was uncoveted when he arrived in Detroit. The two have similar physiques (although Kwame is a bit taller) as well. Kwame’s strength’s are his defense and rebounding, which is all they are going to ask him to do in Detroit. He won’t need to touch the ball on offense and he’s surrounded by veterans with a ring on their fingers who lead by example rather than words. Kwame’s not going to have anybody screaming at him in the Motor City. They’d just bury him at the end of the bench if he doesn’t want to play. At 26 years old, Kwame still has time to become a high caliber player, and maybe, just maybe, he’s finally landed in the right situation.
Fun with Oklahoma City Nicknames
July 25, 2008
I remember in 1997 when my hometown’s franchise (now the Wizards) was in the process of choosing a new nickname to replace the old moniker Bullets. Oh, how odd those name choices sounded: Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, and Wizards. Those were the five name choices according to Wikipedia, but I remember Monuments being a sixth option, which I had wanted the team to choose. Eventually, of course, the name Wizards was chosen…I thought it sounded stupid, and now 11 years later it’s hard to imagine the team with any other nickname. The Oklahoma City franchise is going through a similar process this off-season and their name choices sound equally awkward. Here are the choices:
- Barons - This one doesn’t sound so bad at first, but if you do a little digging it’s rather amusing. The first definition for baron is, “a member of the lowest grade of nobility.” I guess the franchise formerly known as the Sonics wants to set low expectations? Of course when you hear baron, you might think along the lines of a business tycoon rather than a member of nobility. In fact, capitalist is a synonym of baron, which is a pretty good description of the franchise’s ownership (as Seattle fans will no doubt agree). Maybe since the franchise ain’t that good and is run by a seemingly greedy owner, Barons is an apt choice.
- Bison - Alright, this one is just plural for buffalo. Are you ready to imagine a logo similar to the Buffalo Bills or Colorado Buffaloes? It doesn’t seem to really fit in a sport that favors a deft combination of agility and athleticism over brute force. I think I could live with this name, though.
- Energy - Are you kidding me? Is this an electric company or a basketball franchise? In a day and age when we are talking about conserving energy, choosing this nickname would make the OKC franchise the butt of NBA jokes for years. Then again, maybe if the team were to turn down private jets for buses that run on clean, natural gas, they could start a revolution.
- Marshalls - Now, this one is weird. According to the patents filed, the NBA is spelling this one with two Ls when the normal spelling only has one. The spelling difference is minimal, but the difference in meaning is enormous! The NBA is choosing a cheap family clothing store over a military officer of the highest rank! Or, could they be naming the team after a particular person named Marshall? Hmm, Marshall Faulk? No. Marshall Mathers? In David Stern’s nightmares maybe.
- Thunder - Enough with the weather nicknames! We’ve got the Lightning and Hurricanes in hockey and we’ve got a soccer team named the Earthquakes. These weather nicknames belong in second-rate professional leagues and wrestling. Plus, let’s save the OKC fans the annoyance of hearing synthesized thunder at all their home games.
- Wind - Arghhhhh! What did I just say? Aren’t you listening, NBA? I guess the idea here is “swift as the wind.” I could do without the newspaper headlines, though, “The Wind is Howling!” when they’re on a winning streak and “Blown Over by the Wind” when they beat an opponent. It might not be good for PR when the real wind comes to OKC in the form of a tornado, either.
So, here we are once again, with a bunch of nicknames that look laughable, but whatever the choice is, we’ll get used to it.
The poll on your left has been updated to ask you what nickname you’d choose. Looking forward to your votes!
How Players Deal with a Bad Shooting Night
July 21, 2008
Every player reacts differently to having an off night shooting. Some will let it get to their heads and their entire game falls apart while others are able to focus on getting their teammates involved or hitting the boards. We decided to take a look at how players reacted last season to having a game where they shot under 30% from the field. How were their assist, rebound, and turnover numbers affected? To keep everything relevant, we only looked at players who averaged at least 10 points per game during the season and who had at least 10 games where they shot under 30% from the field.
On a per minute basis, we found that rebounding averages were the same in bad games as during the season, but assists dropped 3% and turnovers increased 4%. So, that wasn’t very interesting, but some of the individual players stood out. Linas Kleiza of the Denver Nuggets must have pleased coach George Karl with his ability to tune out bad shooting performances and increase his rebounding by 29%, his assists by 38%, and decrease his turnovers by 36%! Although he doesn’t record many assists to begin with (1.2 per game), the increase in rebounding is interesting.
If you’re not impressed by Kleiza because he isn’t enough of an impact player, how about Hedo Turkoglu? Hedo increased his rebounds by 24%, his assists by 18%, and decreased his turnovers by 6% in bad shooting performances.
Ok, so now you’re wondering, who are the guys who completely stink up the joint when their shot isn’t falling. Sam Cassell falls into that category with his turnovers going up 22%, rebounds down 37%, and assists down 14%. There’s not much trash to talk when Sam I Am is having a bad game, apparently. Grant Hill, surprisingly, isn’t much better with his turnovers going up 16%, rebounds down 14%, and assists down 34% in bad games. Josh Smith is pretty consistent with his rebounding and assist numbers in bad games, but he turns the ball over, pathetically, 51% more often when he’s having a bad shooting night! (Sorry for posting this while you’re on the free agent market, Josh)
The turnover numbers are the most interesting here so let’s look at the increase in turnovers for the 10 biggest culprits (of letting their poor shooting get to their head):
| J.R. Smith | 61% |
| Josh Smith | 51% |
| Al Horford | 50% |
| Luis Scola | 46% |
| Kirk Hinrich | 44% |
| Paul Pierce | 43% |
| Lamar Odom | 40% |
| Wally Szczerbiak | 39% |
| John Salmons | 35% |
| Andres Nocioni | 31% |
Coach, you might want to bench these guys when their shot isn’t falling (except Pierce, he might get hot)!
New Sortable NBA Rumors Page
July 19, 2008
HoopsAvenue is proud to announce the unveiling of our new NBA Rumors page. We’ve completely revamped how we are displaying NBA rumors and now you can sort rumors by player and team. Every day we gather news and rumors from all the local papers so you can get all your league news in one place. Now you can sort those rumors however you want. You can access the NBA Rumors page from the front page by clicking on More NBA Rumors or find the links at the bottom of each team and player page. Here are some example pages which you could access via the new NBA Rumors page:
We hope this new feature will make following the NBA that much easier. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have feedback. Thanks for visiting.
Clippers Desperate? Hornets Destined?
July 18, 2008
After losing out on Elton Brand last week, the Clippers finally landed somebody this week picking up Marcus Camby for virtually nothing. It’s usually a good thing to pick up a solid player for virtually nothing, but in the Clippers’ case, they are more or less waving the white flag in the free agency market this summer. Josh Smith is still out there. Emeka Okafor and Andre Iguodala are too. They are all young and will star for your franchise for years to come, but the Clippers instead decided it wasn’t worth the risk of going after a restricted free agent. But, why Camby? What does he add to the Clippers at 35 years old? Don’t get me wrong, Camby is a great rebounder and shot-blocker, but he’s not going to get them to the playoffs.
So, the Clippers, in their ongoing misery, manage to add Baron Davis and get the fanbase excited and then proceed to lose Corey Maggette and Elton Brand. And, now they tie their money up with an aging player? The sad thing is this is par for the course for the Clippers.
On the other side of the spectrum, the New Orleans Hornets are having a great free agency. They signed Chris Paul to an extension which basically guarantees the playoffs for the foreseeable future and they just picked up James Posey who was so important to the Celtics title run. So, the team that was 2nd in the West, just behind the Lakers with youth on their side, now picks up a championship level defender. The Lakers will have Andrew Bynum back next season, but it will be hard not to pick the Hornets to come out of the West. The Hornets definitely will be in the discussion when you talk about Western Conference contenders.
Comparing the NBA and MLB All Star Games
July 16, 2008
With the MLB All-Star Game having taken place last night, I thought it would be a good time to compare it to the NBA’s All-Star Game and the All-Star festivities in general. Being a huge NBA fan, it’s hard to look at this objectively, but let’s do our best to compare the two:
MLB All-Star Futures Game vs. NBA Rookie-Sophomore Game
Advantage: MLB. This game is a dream come true for hardcore MLB fans as they get a chance to see their team’s heralded minor league prospects, imagining them leading their team to a World Series one day. Minor leaguers are generally players that you’ve heard about, but never actually seen, giving them a mysterious quality which is unveiled in the Futures game. The NBA, without a developed farm system, doesn’t have this option. Instead, it produces an entertaining game usually with some good highlights and dunks, but these are all players we’ve seen during the season so we mostly tune in to see the highlights. It’s interesting to see who plays well and there is a good, healthy competition for the MVP award sometimes, but the game doesn’t quite have the intrigue of the MLB game.
MLB Home Run Derby vs. NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Advantage: NBA. This was a tough one. Both contests are very exciting and had fallen on hard times earlier in the decade, baseball with its steroid issues and the dunk contest with its lack of originality. The major advantage the NBA has here is the creativity element of the dunk contest. Both contests have the awe factor (whether its the awing power or hops), but the dunk contest allows, and actually requires, you combine that ability with creativity. You’re always wondering, “what’s he gonna do? what’s he gonna do?” before a player does his dunk. The home run derby is nice when you’ve got 1, or preferably 2, players putting up big numbers, but I’ll take the dunk contest.
MLB All-Star Game vs. NBA All-Star Game
Advantage: NBA. This is where being a huge NBA fan really shows its bias, but I think if you compare the NBA All-Star Game to an NBA regular season game, and do the same for baseball, the NBA has the more amped up event. The MLB All-Star game basically needs a close game for it to have much excitement. You might see some nice home runs or fielding plays, but not nearly the volume of highlights you’ll see in an NBA All-Star Game. I basically don’t want to take my eyes off the NBA game because you might miss a spectacular dunk, pass, etc. One advantage the MLB game does have though is that it now has more meaning to it now with the World Series home advantage. I wouldn’t say players don’t care at all about winning the NBA game, but let’s just say winning MVP is probably just a bit more important.
Overall
Advantage: NBA. So, taking 2 out of 3, the NBA gets the nod as having the better All-Star game. Of course those aren’t all the events. To make it a fair comparison, I had to leave out the 3-point shootout and Skills challenge so the NBA would probably win by an even wider margin. We could probably do without the Shooting Stars competition, but the NBA is doing pretty good when it comes to All-Star weekend. MLB isn’t doing bad either, certainly a lot better than the NFL’s Pro Bowl (does anybody watch?)
Newspaper Gaffe - Andris Biedrins Gets No Respect
July 15, 2008
After leading the league in Field Goal Percentage this year, Warriors center Andris Biedrins is being courted by both the Warriors and Pistons in the free agent/trade market this off-season. Good numbers, good demand…makes you think Biedrins might get some respect, but not in Myrtle Beach where the Sun News made this little gaffe back in March:
Yeah, that “whoever” leading the league in FG% is Mr. Biedrins. C’mon, Sun News, we’d understand if you did that to Erick Dampier, but Biedrins is an up-and-coming player. You’re better than that!
The 10 Most Consistent Shooters in the NBA
July 14, 2008
A few weeks back we looked at the most consistent scorers in the NBA and found that Corey Maggette of the LA Clippers topped the list. But, what about the most consistent shooters? Everyone has an off night every now and then, but which players are the most reliable to hit their shots? Once again, we used the coefficient of variation (CV) statistic to determine the answer to that question. We took 3 point shots out of the picture and just looked at 2 pointers. Using a minimum of 50 games played, here’s what we found:
The 10 Most Consistent 2-Point Shooters
| Lebron James | 0.21 |
| Al Jefferson | 0.22 |
| Hakim Warrick | 0.23 |
| Carmelo Anthony | 0.23 |
| Monta Ellis | 0.23 |
| Amare Stoudemire | 0.23 |
| Kevin Garnett | 0.24 |
| Andre Miller | 0.24 |
| Kobe Bryant | 0.25 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0.25 |
Surprised not to see more big guys on the list? Overall, bigs post higher shooting percentages than guards, but apparently they aren’t as consistent, although Amare Stoudemire and Kevin Garnett are the notable exceptions here. Hakim Warrick and Monta Ellis are the guys who really stand out on this list though. Warrick was highly consistent at hitting 50% of his shots despite putting up less than 10 shots per game. That’s a difficult thing to do, but it shows that Warrick was ready when his opportunities came. Ellis, though, might even be more impressive when you look at his stats as a whole. He’s only 6′3″, but is able to shoot 53% and shoots it consistently. Of course, being able to dunk like he can has to help your shooting percentage:
Most of the other guys on the list shoot high volumes so it’s a bit easier to get in rhythm and get close to your shooting percentage.
Oh, and the most inconsistent shooter? Louis Williams of the 76ers. Right behind him? Not surprisingly, Jason Kidd.
2008-09 Fantasy Basketball
July 12, 2008
You may have already noticed it on the left sidebar and your eyes do not deceive you…HoopsAvenue Fantasy Basketball is here for the 2008-09 season. Just so you don’t forget we invite you to register for the site now so you’ll get the e-mail announcement when you can being setting your roster.
Click here to register for Fantasy Basketball!
Here are some of the feature of the fantasy basketball league:
- Daily and season leaderboards
- Unique demand-based player pricing
- Innovative “coach” features
That’s juat a quick summary. You can read all the details on our 2008-09 Fantasy Basketball page.
It’s never too early to get ready for fantasy basketball so we invite you to register today.
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