Amare Stoudemire for Tim Duncan?

Posted by HoopsAvenue on August 4, 2008 under General NBA, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs | 2 Comments to Read

Ok, calm down, this trade has not happened and probably won’t, but I was thinking the other day about what the Spurs should do to get back to the Finals and I came up with this biggie. While it doesn’t seem to make sense that the Spurs should trade away their franchise player, I’m not sure that Tim Duncan is the best fit in San Antonio anymore (Spurs fans gasp here). He’s been slowing down the last few seasons and plays mostly in the half court making his own shots and kicking it out to perimeter shooters. But, the thing is, neither Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker is a spot up shooter. Brent Barry is gone as well. Bruce Bowen can still knock down shots as can Michael Finley, but they aren’t exactly young either. Maybe it’s time the Spurs make a move for the current and the future, and go all-in with a new, up-tempo style? If Gregg Popovich could accept the trade without having a heart attack, it makes a lot of sense.

The Suns, on the other hand, gave up some young, athletic talent in Shawn Marion to get the lumbering Shaquille O’Neal. Time is not exactly on Shaq’s side and how nice would it be to see him paired with his former nemesis? The Suns didn’t win a title with their up-tempo style and now that Shaq is there and D’antoni is gone, why not give up Amare and transform into a veteran, half-court team? Nash likes to run, but I’m sure he won’t exactly have a problem getting easy buckets for the big men in the halfcourt either. And, Shaq and Duncan still both command double teams so it’s be a shooter’s paradise in Phoenix. Not to mention, Phoenix would have the best interior defense in the league.

I went over to RealGM’s trade checker to see if the deal works and it doesn’t when you make the trade straight-up because of Timmy’s salary, but the Suns would just have to add one more player, perhaps their draft pick Robin Lopez.

So, what do you think? Do you want to see the run-and-gun Spurs vs. the boring Suns next season?

The 10 Most Consistent Shooters in the NBA

Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 14, 2008 under General NBA, NBA Stats | Be the First to Comment

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

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.