khandor’s sports blog

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

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What it takes to win the NBA Championship

Upon hearing the first report that the Phoenix Suns were actually thinking of waiving Mickael Pietrus … after his failed physical with the Toronto Raptors … the first thought which came to mind was that he would be a fantastic pick-up for Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics.

To wit:

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Suns waive Mickael Pietrus

Before the Suns’ preseason home game against the Nuggets, head coach Alvin Gentry was asked why Pietrus wasn’t a fit, and to him, it seemed clear that Pietrus, for whatever reason, just wasn’t happy in Phoenix.

“I don’t know that,” Gentry answered. “I was excited about getting him. I think that, like I’ve said, he had size, he was really kind of our kind of player — a big guy that can shoot the ball, three-pointers and stuff like that. I think in order for it to be a good fit, you’ve got to want to be here. And I’m not sure if he was ever fully engaged in being here.”

UPDATE: Pietrus is “leaning heavily” towards signing with the Celtics, reports A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. He would need to clear waivers first, but if that happens, it looks like Boston may be at the top of his list.

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After being under-valued by the Suns organization, since his acquisition last season from Orlando … where he was a key player in the Magic’s run to the NBA Finals in 2008-2009 … it would be poetic justice for Pietrus to become a vital part of what the Celtics are attempting to do this year [i.e. reduce salary overall WHILE remaining competitive in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference].

Although this specific clip might be the first time Larry Brown Sports is featuring a video of a noteworthy NBA player displaying his prodigious soccer skills:

it should not be viewed as a “first-time” experience for sports blogs, in general:

vs

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

“The Beautiful Game” has long been considered a legitimate training ground for erstwhile aspirants of “The Hard-court Version.”

The ugly details of last night’s defeat look like this:

Toronto Raptors 106
PHOENIX SUNS 114
Complete Game Summary

* Phoenix was in difficult back-2-back situation [i.e. having played a 3OT game, in Los Angeles, against the Lakers, the previous night]

* Phoenix played without Grant Hill [Starter, SF; flu-like symptoms] and Mickael Pietrus [Back-up, OG/SF; knee injury] for the final 3.5 quarters of the game

* Toronto led by 6 points [Tor, 103; PHO, 97], at the 4:25 mark of the 4th Quarter, after scoring 2FGs on 3 consecutive possessions

* Phoenix closed the game on a 17-3 run

* Phoenix converted on 7 of their final 9 possessions [i.e. CR = 78.8%]

* Toronto converted on 2 of their final 10 possessions [i.e. CR = 20.0%]

* Toronto’s “Individual Player CR” looked like this:

Andrea Bargnani, 1-5
DeMar DeRozan, 0-2
Leandro Barbosa, 0-2
Ed Davis, 1-1

* Phoenix’s “Individual Player CR” looked like this:

Steve Nash, 3-4 [2 Ast]
Marcin Gortat, 2-2
Jared Dudley, 1-1
Aaron Brooks, 1-1
Channing Frye, 0-1

* Phoenix’s PSPP [Points Scored Per Possession] for the game = 1.036

* Toronto’s PSPP for the game = 0.090

* Phoenix’s PSPP for the final 4:25 of the 4th Quarter = 1.889

* Toronto’s PSPP for the final 4:25 of the 4th Quarter = 0.300

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Question
What could the Raptors have done differently, during the last 4:25 of the 4th Quarter, when the Suns went to their Zone Defense, exclusively, to generate a different outcome?

Answer
When Alvin Gentry made the decision to go with the following 5-man unit:

Brooks [PG] + Nash [OG] + Dudley [SF] + Frye [PF] + Gortat [C]

vs

Calderon [PG] + Barbosa [OG] + DeRozan [SF] + Davis [PF] + Bargnani [C]

Jay Triano needed to go “bigger”, at the Guard and/or Forward positions, by using any of the following player combinations:

Calderon + DeRozan + Johnson
Calderon + Weems + Johnson
Calderon + Barbosa + Johnson

instead of the 3-man unit comprised of:

Calderon + Barbosa + DeRozan

… even though Barbosa’s solid play down-the-stretch vs OKC was instrumental in the Raptors’ W.

This would have allowed Toronto to:

i. Retreive more of their missed FGAs … by putting a 3rd offensive rebounder on the floor – i.e. Davis, Johnson and DeRozan – with only 2 perimeter shooters;

and,

ii. Generate more shot specific opportunities for Jose Calderon, who is their most consistent perimeter shooter … and who took zero [i.e. "0"] shots during this phase of the game last night … in addition to Bargnani.

Unfortunately, the Raptors lost last night’s game because:

A. Their best player [i.e. Jose Calderon] did not get an opportunity to shoot the ball, at all, coming down-the-stretch;

B. Their young players performed poorly down-the-stretch:

i. Andrea Bargnani [i.e. 1-5, on offense],
ii. DeMar DeRozan [i.e. 0-2, on offense; on defense: a. Failing to "switch out" to Steve Nash vs the staggered screens/4:18; and, b. "Helping off" Aaron Brooks when he should have stayed home on the kick-out by Marcin Gortat/1:42], and
iii. Ed Davis [i.e. 01, on offense; on defense, "helping off" Marcin Gortat when he should have stayed home/00:58];

C. For the most part, Jay Triano was out-coached by Alvin Gentry.

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!

The specific take from this corner on the recent 3 team trade involving Washington, Orlando and Phoenix looks like this:

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Comparing the “before” and “after” rotations for each team …

Means that:

The WIZARDS … should be able to improve their performance immediately with the introduction of a solid, veteran player like Rashard Lewis, and the re-introduction of a 2nd solid, veteran player like Josh Howard – who has fully recovered from the knee injury which he suffered last season – into their regular rotation.

The SUNS … should be able to improve performance immediately with the introduction of solid, veteran players like Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus into their regular rotation; while ALSO building for their future with the addition of a 1st Round Draft Pick from Orlando.

The MAGIC … are in a whole pile of trouble going forward with their present collection of mis-matched players who are now under-sized and poorly suited to Defend and Rebound in a way which is consistent with the performance of a Top Tier team in the NBA. 

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Contrary to what you may read elsewhere today, re: the 2 blockbuster trades completed this past weekend by Orlando …

The demise of the Magic did not actually begin during:

* The 2008-2009 off season when they made the decision not to re-sign Hedo Turkoglu [SF-PF] to the type of UFA contract he was seeking, at the time, and, instead, chose to acquire Vince Carter [OG-SF] and Ryan Anderson [PF-C], from the New Jersey Nets, in exchange for Courtney Lee [OG] and Tony Battie [PF-C];

nor,

* The early stages of this current season when Orlando gradually began to lose ground to the 2 Big Dogs in the East, i.e. Boston and Miami, by losing 6 of their last 7 games.

The Magic’s actual demise began during:

* The 2nd half of the 2009-2010 regular season when Otis Smith and Stan Van Gundy gradually lost their shared vision of their team and began to juggle around the highly specialized roles of Vince Carter [down], Mickael Pietrus [down], Ryan Anderson [down], Rashard Lewis [PF], JJ Redick [up] and Matt Barnes [up] within Orlando’s regular rotation;

and, then,

* The 2009-2010 playoffs when Stan Van Gundy & Co. made the ill-advised decision to use the following rotation in their playoff series against the Boston Celtics, as opposed to the one which they SHOULD have used:

Unfortunately for Orlando, this state of confusion then continued into this season’s training camp, when Stan Van Gundy stated that the Magic would begin to use Rashard Lewis at both the PF/#4 and the SF/#3 positions this year, in an effort to improve their offensive efficiency against a defense like the Celtics which had effectively neutralized the Magic’s 3PT-shooting. 

When a head coach makes poor/wrong personnel decisions regarding his regular rotation it is only a matter of time before the environment around his team becomes completely toxic, and the individual players on the roster can no longer perform to the best of their abilities. 

Opening Night high-lights of the Tip-off to the NBA Pre-season

If the Raptors are, in fact, presented with the opportunity to end this week with the following player roster:

PG: Jack, Belinelli and Banks
OG: Weems and Barbosa
SF: DeRozan and Kleiza
PF: Diaw, Johnson, Davis, Evans and Dorsey
C: Chandler, Alabi and Jones;

while being able to preserve the full ‘TPE’ which they just received from Miami …

as suggested in this blog entry 

… then, they should jump at it immediately, as:

i. A legitimate way out of their current mess with a 1-dimensional player like Andrea Bargnani [C] at the core of their team:

and,

ii. Yet another feasible opportunity to gradually build a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference which could eventually be able to win a league championship in the not-too-distant future.

Bryan Colangelo is a resourceful and hard-working GM. He just needs to be pointed in the right drection by the people working around him.

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PS. That’s the sort of roster which just might allow the Raptors to obtain a player like Harrison Barnes [i.e. Exhibit 1 & 2] through the 2011 NBA Draft.

Update:

PPS. Just to clarify the specific trade proposal outlined here, for the benefit of those who still might be confused by it … and, to distinguish it from what’s been proposed by other ‘sources’ in the on-line hoops community … this is what it would actually look like, according to the ESPN NBA Trade Machine. And, you know what? Michael Jordan might then actually decide to go through with it, rather than getting cold feet at the last minute.

Just another regular Game 5, on another ho-hum night in the NBA Playoffs?

Think, again!

Wow.

Everything you could hope to see in a fine piece of drama of epic proportions.

Prodigal Son of Queensbridge, N.Y. resets the Lakers’ Showtime World back on its proper axis, in a final act of, at-once, desperate and sublime basketball skill.

“I just went after it.” – Ron Artest

It doesn’t get any better than THAT.

Courtesy of “Coach Nick” …