Posted by HoopsAvenue on July 21, 2008 under NBA Stats | 
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)!
Posted by HoopsAvenue on June 18, 2008 under Boston Celtics, NBA Playoffs |
It’s hard not to root for the Celtics to win the championship every year if we get to see Kevin Garnett go crazy every time they do. Seriously, someone get that guy some sleeping pills. At least he didn’t forget his Adidas plug to precede all his shoutouts. The NBA just isn’t going to be the same anymore without KG having a chip on his shoulder. Oh, and how about Paul Pierce ruining Doc Rivers shirt with the gatorade dump? Major bonus points for some originality in their celebrating.
This championship was a 21st century championship like no other, though (if KG’s “Anything is Possible” take on Adidas slogan didn’t tip you off). Nearly the entire team was put together in one season. There was, first, the Ray Allen deal which was reasonable. Then, the KG deal, which…well, let’s just remember it was Danny Ainge dealing with Kevin McHale. Yes, the Wolves did get some potential and 1st round picks, but they couldn’t find any other team to get a slightly better deal from? Hmm. Then, there were some smart free agent pickups like James Posey. And, Sam Cassell, successfully pulled off the tried and true veteran maneuver of riding coattails. So, Boston made just enough smart moves to put together a team that even Doc Rivers couldn’t screw up.
Danny Ainge is validated as a GM? Kevin Garnett doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder? The NBA just won’t be the same anymore.
Posted by HoopsAvenue on June 7, 2008 under NBA Playoffs |
So all anybody is talking about after Game 1 of The Finals is whether or not Paul Pierce aka The Truth really hurt his knee as badly as his theatrics would lead you to believe. Ok, let’s see, guy goes down, needs about half the team to carry him off the court, rolls to the tunnel in a wheelchair, and he’s back in about a minute of gametime (knocking down 2 big 3s shortly later no less)? Any Laker fan would tell you he was faking it, but I’m going to have to disagree. He was merely exaggerating. First of all, watching the replay, it’s clear his leg moved a bit awkwardly after Kendrick Perkins landed on him. There’s no way to fake that in the heat of the moment. So the next question is whether he was really hurt by the play. I think he was, but not to the extent he led us to believe. Pierce might be a relatively smart player, but he’s no evil genius ready to concoct a fake injury plot in the split second he had to react to that play. He is, however, very capable of exaggerating the extent of his pain as all players are (just watch any player be in excruciating pain on defense only to look perfectly healthy when his team gets the ball back).
The thing is you can’t blame Pierce for exaggerating the extent of his injury. I would argue he wasn’t even conscious that he was exaggerating. It’s just what NBA players do. It’s almost like an extension of flopping. You don’t even realize you are doing it, but you become so accustomed to it that when you get hurt, you lie down, have everyone feel bad for you, and then sometimes it isn’t really that bad and you return as the hero. Saying Paul Pierce was exaggerating would be like saying Allen Iverson carries the ball on his crossover or Manu Ginobili flops. Duh.
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