khandor’s sports blog

Today’s question comes courtesy of “John Palandra” [a comment contributor at From Deep].

Based on talent and productivity at the Center position … and, assuming for a moment that the Collective Bargaining Agreement [CBA] would actually allow the deal to go through, which it would NOT, in real life …

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According to John P:

David Lee [6-9, 240, drafted by the Knicks, No. 30, overall, in 2005; $1.8 M, 1 yr] is not an example of a Less-than Top Tier Center in the NBA today who 

Andrea Bargnani [7-0, 250, drafted by the Raptors, No 1, overall, in 2006; $5.2 M, 2 yrs] would struggle to match-up with on an everyday basis, given their specific skill sets and assorted other personal attributes.

This is a perspective which is not shared by yours truly.

According to this corner David Lee is:

* A PLUS [+] Defensive Player [both Team and Individually]
* A PLUS [+] Rebounder
* An EVEN [0] Offensive Player

if/when he’s matched-up against Il Mago.

When there are 8 teams in the Eastern Conference separated in the standings by only 4.5 games, between the 7th and 14th positions, at the half-way point of the regular season schedule, it speaks to the parity which exists today in the NBA.

The fact is …

There is very little tangible separation between any of these teams, whether they fall into the Middle-of-the-Pack or the Low End categories.

Injuries, coaching decisions and the different managerial moves which each team makes in-season will determine [i] which ones qualify for the playoffs this spring and/or [ii] become a likely candidate for substantial improvement heading towards next season and beyond.  

A brilliant piece of creative analytical work by Hardwood Paroxysm.

You absolutely MUST read it ALL. 

What Doesn’t Kill You Only Makes You Less likely To Rebound: Seven Seconds Or Less And The Dark Knight

The crux of what the Joker says in that speech is that there is a perceived way to function in the world, and when you threaten that, people’s fear overcomes them and drives them to irrational behavior. And similarly, he offers to Harvey an alternative to the lifeview that resulted in the death of his fiance, the release of every criminal he’d helped detain, and of course, that little matter of the left side of his face. He proposes to him a path of unhinged action, of violent opposition to a system that clearly fails to uphold the ideals it claims to value. And the temptation for Dent is how easy it is to give into the alternative, because it rewards all of the dark impulses that exist inside of him, namely, murder, destruction, and most importantly, revenge.

Now, the natural reaction to this line of thinking, despite its temptations, is twofold. First, there’s the fact that, you know, unrestrained, indiscriminate destruction and violence is inherently wrong. But of course, the chaos side of the argument gets around that by disavowing the entire concept of right and wrong as part of those tenets you have to hold on to. Secondly is the matter, that the Joker ends up getting his ass kicked, swinging from a roof after his master plan completely failed. But think about why it failed. In the end, his failure, even in the short-term, was the result not of the caped crusaders’ punching and kicking and bataranging. It was the inability of people on the boats to push the button. The decision not to go through with the most chaotic of impulses, the disregard of those exact tenets. In reality, the tenets didn’t dictate the action, the action validated the tenets through their existence. People are inherently good because they didn’t push the button. This of course goes back to a fairly long-standing and unspeakably more complex philosophical debate than I can articulate, but that’s neither here nor there, so bear with me.

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First. Acknowledge the Top Notch work by a virtuoso, HP.

Second. Allow yours truly … to articulate clearly and concisely the remainder of the “fairly long-standing and unspeakably [?] more complex philosophical debate” which HP does not provide for you, here & now:

Yes, indeed … “The battle’s eternal, and necessary between the two. Chaotic, freewheeling mania versus controlled, disciplined order” … but,

The simple fact is that … The Joker, in the end, loses … each and every time.

Whether we, as human beings, like to acknowledge it, or not, is irrelevant.

Live Long and Prosper … the Spurs, Celtics, Pistons, Lakers, et al.

It’s the crux of what THIS world is all about.

If you had to choose a single standard Game Stat to base your assessment on, which one would it be?

re: the case for Points Allowed Per Possession

Not the worst defensive coach out there: Mike D’Antoni
if you wanted a quick way to rate the defense of Mike D’Antoni’s teams, or any coach, I would advise you do this: Add up the number of points his opponents have scored all season, and divide it by the number of possessions they have had. It’s beautiful, right? It factors in everything above — every miss or make, every foul, every blocked shot — in a real world setting. It tells you, essentially, if your team has the ball, and D’Antoni’s team is playing D, how many points are you likely to score before his team gets the ball back.

Other defensive stats might tell you more about how such a thing happens. But this statistic is surely king when it comes to quickly telling you which team is the best at stopping people.

———————————

re: the case for FG Percentage Differential

A link for you to consider.

If you do … here’s some of what you should then be able to see for yourself. 

PLEASE NOTE: If you really want to get a better handle on which teams [or coaches] are the best defensive squads [or coaches] in the NBA, you will begin to assign ordinal ranks to individual defensive categories and then combine those into an unified metric, for example, along the following lines …

Field Goal Percentage Differential Rank
+
FG Made Differential Rank
+
3FG Made Differential Rank
+
FT Made Differential Rank
+
Points Differential Rank
+
Opponents Points Scored Rank [Inverse]
=
Defensive Quality Rating

This will provide an accurate appraisal of each team’s ability [relative to one another] to Get A Stop when it’s needed most in a close, hard-fought playoff type game … which is a substantial part of what separates the Winners from the Losers, on a night-to-night basis, in the NBA.

At the beginning of last season, this corner forecast the precipatous decline of ‘Seven Seconds or Less‘ … and then went on to proclaim early-on that, after 3 years at-or-near the top of the Western Conference, knocking on the door of the NBA Finals, Phoenix WOULD NOT EVEN MAKE IT OUT OF THE 1st ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS LAST SEASON …

* NBA Playoffs Preview [2007-2008]
* Legitimate Contenders in the NBA: Part IV
* Eclipse of The Suns: An Update
* Hubris, The Big Aristotle and the Phoenix Suns
* Eclipse of the Suns

which is precisely what happened.

==========================

Looking back on 2007-2008 …

Q1. What exactly did the Suns accomplish, since the start of last season?
A1. By …

* Replacing Mike D’Antoni with Steve Kerr [former PG with the Bulls & Spurs]
* Adding Grant Hill [6-8, 225]
* Replacing Shawn Marion [6-7, 230] with Shaquille O’Neal [7-1, 325]
* Replacing Mike D’Antoni with Terry Porter [former PG with the Blazers]
* Retaining & then elevating Alando Tucker [6-6, 205]
* Adding Robin Lopez [7-0, 255], Matt Barnes [6-7, 226], Goran Dragic [6-4, 180], Sean Singletary [6-0, 185] and Louis Amundson [6-9, 225]

they’ve changed the entire culture of the organization … AND dramatically improved their chances of returning to the upper echelon of the Western Conference next season and beyond.

That’s what they’ve done in Phoenix over the last 12 months.

Whereas, last year at this time, the Suns were an ALL OFFENSE, NO DEFENSE & POOR REBOUNDING team, using a bandjo-tight 8-man rotation … with almost no legit chance to ever win four [4] consecutive series in the NBA playoffs [what it takes to claim the title!] … as they head to training camp this year … this is NO LONGER the eternal and/or external make-up of this team.

THIS TEAM, this season … with the line-up it can now put on the floor, night-in and night-out:

STARTERS
1 - Nash [6-3, 178]
2 - Bell [6-5, 215]
3 - Hill
4 - Stoudemire [6-10, 249] 
5 - Shaq
————-
KEY BENCH SUBS
1 - Singletary [or Dragic]
2/1 - Barbosa [6-3, 202]
3/2 - Tucker [or Barnes]
4/3 - Diaw [6-8, 235] [or Amundson]
5 - Lopez
————-
RESERVES
1 - Dragic [or Singletary]
3 - Barnes [or Tucker]
4 - Amundson
————-
HEALTHY SCRATCHES
3 - Piatkowski [?]
4/5 - Marks [?]

is as deep and athletically talented as any other outfit in the Western Conference,

this side of the LA Lakers, and

has a solid chance to return to the Western Conference Playoffs … WITH a legit opportunity to win a round or two and, possibly, advancing to the WC Finals, once again … as an upper echelon team, in the NBA.

By returning the focus in Phoenix to what makes for a championship calibre product, in this League … i.e. a commitment to REBOUNDING, Team Defense and a Balanced [higly structured] Team Offense … Steve Kerr may have accomplished in just one season at the helm something which Jerry Colangelo, Bryan Colangelo & Mike D’Antoni [before him] were NOT able to do over the course of their careers in the ‘Valley of the Sun’ … i.e. transform this team into a LEGITIMATE CONTENDER for an NBA championship … i.e. please see, What it takes to win the NBA Championship.

Which is not an easy feat … working for an owner with the reputation of one Robert Sarver.

Q2. Could it be … ‘The Rising of a New Sun[s] in Phoenix‘ this season? 
A2. Yes, Sir, indeed … it just might be that exact thing.

Straight from the horses’ mouths …

Post-game comments from members of Team USA

Click the link ^ … and read each one.

What it means to be a TEAM.

Oh, My!

Da Bulls’ problem is no more

as, given these results for the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery …

this team SHOULD now be back in business, in a BIG Way … fast.

==========================================

Who was the saddest looking man in Secaucus (NJ) last night?

He who shoulda waited two more weeks … before signing his contract to become the next head coach for the New York Knicks.

(watch that vid-clip again, beginning at the 1:00 minute mark, when the Charlotte Bobcats were announced with the #9 selection, and check out his ‘reaction’ for yourself, at the 1:32 mark)

Billy Donovan was allowed a Do Over last year … why not Mike D’Antoni?

Q1. When the Code by which you live is, “Run, Run, Run …“, how can you possibly hope to respond … during times of hardship … with steadfastness?

A1. In all likelihood … you can’t.

———————————-

After an oftentimes spectacular 4+ years at the helm of the Phoenix Suns, head coach, Mike D’Antoni seems as though he will soon be moving on to - what he hopes will be - greener pastures.

In a searing indictment of all that’s at the root of the Basketball Philosophy, ‘Seven Seconds or Less‘ (Jack McCallum), Adrian Wojnarowski (Yahoo! Sports) explains the how’s & why’s.

D’Antoni ready to leave his desert mirage behind

Mandatory reading for all.

Let me ask you these two questions:

If you flipped TJ Ford for Steve Nash (let’s say in a fantasy world) … do you think the Suns would stand a snowball’s chance in h*ll of getting past the Spurs this year?

How about the Raptors vs the Magic?

If your answers to those two queries are a resounding,

No Way, Jose!

and

Like, for sure, dude!

then you’re beginning to see that the major problem with this team is that … unlike what happened in Phoenix when Colangelo, Jr. COMPLETELY LUCKED OUT that Steve Nash WANTED to return to the Suns when Mark Cuban cut him loose BECAUSE NASH’S WIFE & KIDS ALREADY LIVED IN THE PHOENIX AREA (not because BC is a top notch GM who knows what he’s doing) … THERE IS ONLY ONE STEVE NASH AND HE ISN’T PLAYING FOR THE RAPTORS, JUST YET.

Steve Nash is/was the architect of Phoenix’s rise from the ashes … which Bryan Colangelo orchestrated with their once-proud team … no one else.

Because Steve Nash wanted to live in Phoenix, he signed with the Suns when Cuban said, “Thanks but no thanks, Stevie boy, I don’t think you’ve got what it will take to Win a Championship for me with the Mavs, at the price you’re asking.” FULL STOP.

Because Steve Nash is the best ‘Pick & Roll/Pop’ PG in the History of the NBA (so sayeth an authority like Mark Jackson, during the Suns/Spurs Game 2 match-up) … when Colangelo fired Frank Johnson (who he had previously picked to run the Suns) and appointed Mike D’Antoni … IT WAS D’ANTONI WHO INSTALLED THE SUNS’ 4 OUT/1 IN OFFENSIVE SYSTEM, tailored specifically for Steve & Amare (who is the perfect under-sized but super athletic Center to run that system) and deserves 2nd billing on the Suns credit roll for their resurgence as a first-tier franchise in the NBA.

If not for Colangelo’s decision NOT to re-sign Joe Johnson … Phoenix might well have its 1st NBA title already.

Then … “when the going actually got tough” in Phoenix and daddy was out as the principal owner … that’s when the ‘Golden Boy’ decided to ‘Bolt the Ship’ and head for greener pastures … in mid-season 2006 (think about THAT for a second or two) … for the comfy ‘international’ confines in The Great White North, with free reign to call the shots AND a Big Ticket contract.

Want to know THE reason this version of the Raptors isn’t quite ‘tough enough’ to get the job done in the post-season?

When a fight breaks out (like it did in Phoenix) … what does a really tough ‘hombre’ decide to do … FIGHT or RUN?

(what did Colangelo, Jr. do in the Valley of the Sun?)

7 Seconds or Less … is the Coward’s way to play NBA hoops … and will never ever be rewarded with the championship.

The old Boston Celtics … with my MAN, Bill Russell at the CORE … and the ShowTime LAKESHOW … with my MAN, Earvin at the CORE … both shot it plenty quick enough to rack up devastatingly Big scoring numbers but neither operation would EVER have been referred to as TOO SOFT to get it done in the playoffs … cause their success was built upon a BALANCE between

OFFENSE … DEFENSE … and, most important of all … REBOUNDING,

not an “offensive philosophy of 100 shots per game”.

MLSE does not know what it’s doing AND should not be in the business of running ‘pro sports teams’ in Toronto … cause they KEEP HIRING THE WRONG PEOPLE to head up their basketball & hockey operations (e.g. see the current debacle with Anaheim’s GM, Brian Burke).

As the old Chinese Warlord could tell you from his personal experience … the strategy that works best when training an army of men … is decapitating the heads of the two most favoured concubines appointed to lead the masses in the first place.

(know who the concubines are in this case?)

It ain’t rocket science, to be sure … but, dem Chinese Warlords sure did know what they were doing … when it came to BUILDING & MAINTAINING their Dynasty.

Food For Thought … as always.

———————————–

In Peace, Victory & Excellence.

Colangelo waiting it out
As the Raptors lurch toward the post-season, Bryan Colangelo tempers his disappointment with the knowledge that the season isn’t yet complete.

“We have arguably a more talented team than last year, we have arguably under-utilized some of that talent to some extent this year at various points throughout the year,” the team’s president and general manager said yesterday.

——————————————-

Ominous words to hear for the Raptors’ head coach, Sam Mitchell, heading towards the post-season … given Bryan Colangelo’s track record of handling head coaches for the Phoenix Suns …

When things didn’t quite go according to plan, in Phoenix, it was the head coach who was changed.