khandor’s sports blog

Where does your favourite team rank at the halfway point in the regular season schedule?

Related:

What it takes to win the NBA Championship

When the ball actually stops bouncing long enough, in the NBA …

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Ex-Blazer Washington recounts his first aide trip to Congo

In the summer of 1994, I was working with Pete Newell at his Big Man Camp. At the time, his camp was probably the No. 1 camp in the world. Pete was a world-renowned coach and former general manager of the Lakers. He was the gentleman who drafted me to the Lakers out of college [No. 5 overall in 1973 Draft], and was responsible for me earning a spot as a starter in the NBA. I was working on the camp when the situation in Rwanda broke out.

The news was flooded with horrendous accounts of murder and terror, affecting hundreds of thousands of lives. My daughter, Dana, came into the room after watching the news on TV and was incredibly upset. Here was a young girl who was so sensitive and caring that if she saw a dog or cat hit by a car, she would always make me stop and pull it out of the street. She was compassionate for everyone and everything. She told me I better do something about this situation. I saw the broadcasts and it reminded me of the problems in Somalia years before when people were suffering and dying from the drought. I felt as though I should have helped those people and didn’t, and even years later still had residual guilt. I felt like this was my opportunity to change that feeling, so I looked in the phone book for an organization where I could donate money.

I called Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. I didn’t have any success speaking to a person, just to an automated teller telling me how to donate money. When I called the Northwest Medical team in Beaverton, Ore., my luck changed. They were operating 10 minutes from where I was living, and got a person on the line that was able to talk to me and give me information. They also knew who I was and were very thankful that I called so I decided to donate to them. I don’t remember how much I donated on my credit card, but I did happen to say to them before I hung up that one day I would like to go and see for myself what the conditions were really like. They said, you can go with us next week, we’re taking a group over.

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There are some truly noteworthy things accomplished in this world.

The Kermit Washington Story – i.e. Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 – is most definitely one of them.

In conjunction with:

A) Today’s official announcement made by the Rockets’ “Gentle Giant“:

Yao Ming officially retires from the NBA

and,

B) Yesterday’s unofficial internet roasting of the Lakers’ “Baby Huey“:

Andrew Bynum parked in a handicapped spot. Come on, Andrew Bynum.

it is very interesting to take a brief journey back in time … to approximately 3 years ago … when the first of three separate blog entries about Yao Ming and Andrew Bynum appeared in this space:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … You make the call [Wednesday, July 30, 2008]

which was then followed by blog entry #2:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … Part II (the call) [Thursday, August 7, 2008]

and, eventually, by blog entry #3:

Yao Ming or Andrew Bynum … Part III [The Playoff Series] [Monday, May 4, 2009]

which appeared during the next season’s playoffs, as the Rockets faced off against the Lakers.

In summary:

1. There should now be no doubt, whatsoever, that the great Yao Ming is deserving of an honoured place in the Naismith Basketball  Hall Of Fame, one day in the future, as an outstanding player with a terrific skill-set who [i] conducted himself with poise, dignity and class, at all times, and [ii] was a fantastic ambassador of the game;

and,

2. Andrew Bynum was, indeed, The Correct Choice in the poll conducted here 3 years ago.

At this point of the NBA regular season schedule, each team has played at least 30 games.

Given the history of the NBA … and what it actually takes to be able to win 4 consecutive best-of-seven games series in the playoffs … there is now a strong possibility that the 2010-2011 League Championship will eventually be won by 1 of the 8 teams shown above in “neon green”.

To everyone who takes the time to visit this little corner of the blogosphere …

Happy New Year!

If you look at the straight-forward results for last night’s game between the Rockets and the Warriors:

Houston Rockets 121
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 112
Complete Game Info

what you might notice right away is that:

1. Monta Ellis scored 44 points to keep Golden State within striking distance of Houston for the majority of the game;

2. Kevin Martin led the Rockets in scoring with 30 points;

and,

3. Luis Scola had a terrific all-around game for Houston, scoring 20 points and collecting 9 rebounds with 6 assists.

However …

What you might NOT notice right away … unless, of course, if you actually take the time to watch the game AND then:

i. Break it down, possession by possession, with the benefit of:

PART I – The Play-By-Play;

and,

PART II - A “Possession Outcome Chart” for last night’s game …

… are the outstanding contributions of, both, Courtney Lee [OG-SF] and Rick Adelman [Head Coach] in getting the W for Houston.

According to the Box Score data, Courtney Lee finished with a Plus/Minus total of +3 … which was only good enough to rank 6th for the Rockets. 

However …

What a more thorough review of the actual “data” reveals is that:

- Houston took control of this game for the final time at the 6:16 mark of the 4th quarter when Rick Adelman went with a five-man unit that included the following players:

Aaron Brooks, PG
Courtney Lee, OG
Kevin Martin, SF
Shane Battier, PF
Luis Scola, C  

- Courtney Lee only played 23:46 in this game

- 23 of the 44 points which Monta Ellis scored were when Rick Adelman made the mistake of NOT having Courtney Lee on the floor

- Only 14 of the 21 points which Monta Ellis scored when Courtney Lee was on the floor were scored when Lee was being used at the OG position    

- 7 of the 44 points which Monta Ellis scored were when Rick Adelman made the mistake of using a five-man unit that included the following players:

Brooks, PG
Lowry, OG
Lee/C, SF
Hill, PF
Miller, C

during the first 3:41 of the 4th quarter

- Once the Rockets shifted to a five-man unit that included the following players:

Lowry, PG [best defender]
Lee/C, OG [best defender]
Martin, SF
Battier, PF [best defender]
Scola, C [best defender]

which occurred at the 6:01 mark of the 4th quarter; then, Houston was able to open up a 9-point advantage - with 4 of their 5 best defensive players on the court – while holding Monta Ellis firmly in check the rest of the way [i.e. 4 points scored; 1 FGA; 2 FTM, in the last 30 secs, once the game had already been decided]

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Kudos to Coach Adelman! 

If the Raptors and the Rockets each have their full squads and are operating at their peak levels of effectiveness, then, Houston is the superior team, overall, by a substantial margin.

For this evening’s match-up, however, this is not the situation:

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When Houston made the decisions:

* To trade Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey to Sacramento, in exchange for Kevin Martin

and,

* To trade Trevor Ariza, essentially, in exchange for Courtney Lee

Daryl Morey made 2 fundamental mistakes in player personnel judgment which will haunt the future development of the Rockets for years to come.

i.e. #1. Despite the “productive individual statistics” Kevin Martin puts up, on a regular basis, he is simply not a bonafide Starter, at the OG position, at least, for a good-to-high end team in the NBA; and, at this point in his career, neither is Courtney Lee. #2. With the departure of Carl Landry, there is now no front-court player coming off the bench for Houston that is capable of giving them enough production in all 3 main phases of the game [i.e. offense, defense and rebounding] to allow them to take significant advantage of the Raptors’ weakness, at the PF and C positions, whenever Luis Scola is out of the game. 

As a result of the injuries to Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks, the current edition of the Rockets only has 2 players in the line-up this evening who will present any sort of major problem at all for the Raptors, from an Individual Match-up standpoint [i.e. identified by the "green" colour in the chart above].

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Published Wagering Line

Opening: Houston -1.5

Current: Houston -1.5

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KSS Prognostication

As long as Jay Triano utilizes his available chess pieces properly … and does not make any major in-game gaffes … and, the combination of Amir Johnson + Reggie Evans + Joey Dorsey + Linas Kleiza can reasonably contain the scoring exploits of Luis Scola, then, the Raptors should have more than enough weaponry at each of the other positions on the floor to win tonight’s game outright, on their home court.

At the moment, the Rockets are in the midst of a serious tailspin, and they will not be able to work their way out of it with the personnel they have on hand.

At the conclusion of an 82 game schedule …

there are now 10 teams left with a legitimate opportunity to win this year’s league championship … none of which are the Mavericks [W2], Suns [W3], Nuggets [W4], Celtics [E4], Bucks [E6] or Bulls [E8], according to the recent history of the NBA.

Related:

What it takes to win the NBA Championship

With a little more than 1 week left in the regular season schedule …