khandor’s sports blog

According to Tim Povtak, a senior writer at NBA Fanhouse …

Aging Theo Ratliff Has Sparked Bobcats’ Playoff Rise

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However …

If you take a closer look at the individual Game Logs for 3 specific players on the Bobcats’ current roster [shown below]:

Theo Ratliff’s Game Log This Season For Charlotte, since Feb 19

Tyrus Thomas’ Game Log This Season For Charlotte, since Feb 19

Tyson Chandler’s Game Logs This Season for Charlotte, since Feb 19 

you should be able to see clearly that the team’s recently improved performance has actually coincided with the return to good health of Tyson Chandler [i.e. Charlotte's Back-up Center] and the gradual integration of Tyrus Thomas [i.e. Charlotte's Back-up Power Forward] into their primary rotation, as much as [or, perhaps, even more than] the role and production of Theo Ratliff, as their Starting Center.

When a team like Charlotte finally turns the corner and morphs into a legitimate playoff contender it is rarely the case that there is only 1 player responsible for this actual transformation.

The simple fact is …

Charlotte has been engaged in the process of a long term build-up over the course of the past 2 years, given the additions of:

Larry Brown, Head Coach

DJ Augustin, PG [acquired via the Draft]
Alexis Ajinca, C [acquired via the Draft]
Boris Diaw, PF-SF [acquired via trade]
DeSagana Diop, C [acquired via trade]
Gerald Henderson, OG [acquired via the Draft]
Derrick Brown, PF-SF [acquired via the Draft]
Tyson Chandler, C [acquired via trade]
Stephen Graham, SF-OG [acquired as an UFA]
Stephen Jackson, OG-SF [acquired via trade]
Tyrus Thomas, PF-SF [acquired via trade]
Theo Ratliff, C [acquired via trade]
Larry Hughes, G-F [acquired as an UFA]

and,

Michael Jordan, Principal Owner,

in conjunction with the decision to retain the services of:

Gerald Wallace, SF-PF
Raymon Felton, PG
Nazr Mohammed, C

… and, the single individual most responsible for their success today is their once much-maligned General Manager, Rod Higgins.

Related:

Kudos to the Bobcats for resurrecting their once morbid franchise 

5 Men On A Single String … Kudos to Larry Brown

During Wednesday’s television broadcast of the Orlando/Toronto game, Jack Armstrong, Toronto’s analyst, made the following observation about the perceived talent level for this year’s Raptors team:  

Then, on Thursday evening , during the FAN590′s ”Hoops” broadcast, Eric Smith, Toronto’s radio analyst, tried to re-iterated this same point of view, when a caller suggested that the Charlotte Bobcats should actually be considered as “a better team with more NBA talent than the Raptors” … along with, at least, 4 other teams in the Estern Conference, i.e. Boston, Orlando, Cleveland and Atlanta.

After hearing Eric’s response to that caller, this is the exact comment [including errors] which was submitted by yours truly to his FAN590 blog, The Rap, on Friday, Dec 18 2009, at 2:17 PM:

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Hi, Eric.

I heard you on speak with a caller on last night’s show, just prior to 8:00 PM, concerning your belief that the Raptors [11-17/.393] are a better team than the Bobcats [10-14/.417]. According to what you said, your opinion was based on conversations you have had with various NBA insiders who you have encountered across the league and what their impression of Toronto and Charlotte has been to this point in the season.

Respectfully, it is my contention that you … and these NBA insiders who you happened to have communicated with regarding the relative strength of these two teams … happen to be incorrect in this assessment, and will eventually be proven wrong are the season plays itself out.

After starting the season poorly, without Stephen Jackson on their roster, the Bobcats have begun to climb up the standings in the Eastern Conference, and are now ahead of the Raptors. Although the Raptors [#4] have played a more difficult schedule than the Bobcats [#15], to this point, IMO, Charlotte has more “NBA talent” on its current roster, and should probably be expected to close out the current season by finishing ahead of Toronto in the final standings.

Calderon [+1] > Felton
DeRozan < Jackson [+1]
Turkoglu < Wallace [+2]
Bosh [+2] > Diaw
Bargnani < Chandler [+3]
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Jack = Augustin
Belinelli < Henderson [+4]
Wright < Brown [+5]
Johnson = Mohammed
Nesterovic [+3] > Diop
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Banks < Murray [+6]
Seems [+4] > Law
 Mensah-Bonsu = Graham
Evans [+5] ?
O’Bryant = Ajinca
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Triano < Brown [+7]

PS. Hopefully, the fanbase should now be able to see that we’ve been saying for a while now, re: Jose Calderon’s relative lack of individual defensive prowess not being the major catalyst for the team’s many short-comings on that side of the ball, has been a highly accurate assessment.

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As you can clearly see there are several typos and what appear to be “publication errors” contained in that specific comment, which was submitted rather hurriedly and is still awaiting moderation/publication at The Rap.

In an effort to clear up any mis-understanding which Eric Smith - or other visitors to his blog – might have … 

Here is a more “in-depth” analysis of the rosters for the Raptors and the Bobcats, with a few adjustments to the initial ratings that more accurately reflect the current state of affairs with these two teams, from the perspective of this coner:

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Visitors here are invited to elaborate further on their own answer to this question in the comments section.

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The defensive system of an elite level basketball team is based on the execution of Rules and/or Concepts which are created by a team’s coaching staff to cover each situation which might occur during that team’s season; Rules and/or Concepts with which a casual [or, even, a die-hard] fan might not be familiar with already.

During this specific sequence:

Chris Bosh is X5, checking Tyson Chandler [C/O5].
Andrea Bargnani is X4, checking Boris Diaw [PF/O4].
Hedo Turkoglu is X3, checking Gerald Wallace [SF/O3]. 
DeMar DeRozan is X2, checking Stephen Jackson [OG/O2].
Jose Calderon is X1, checking Raymond Felton [PG/O1].

WHEN O1 MADE THE INITIAL LOW-POST ENTRY PASS TO O2 [RIGHT BLOCK] AND LAKER CUT TO THE WEAK SIDE OF THE FLOOR:

X1 was responsible for denying the Pass-back to O1 [as he cut through the lane to weak side of the floor [which is exactly what X1 did]. Once O1 got to the weak side, X1 was responsible for: i. Being outside of the lane on the weak side [to avoid an Illegal Defense Violation]; and, ii. Releasing Off his individual check [O1] to Zone Up against whichever opponents [i.e. 1, 2 or 2+] were located on the perimeter of the weak side.

X2 was responsible for defending against O2 in a 1-v-1 situation.

X3 was responsible for: i. Being outside of the lane on the weak side of the floor [to avoid an Illegal Defense Violation]; and, ii. Releasing Off his individual check [i.e. O3] to Zone Up against whichever opponents [i.e. 1, 2 or 2+] were located on the perimeter of the weak side.

X4 was responsible for: i. Being outside of the lane above the Free Throw Line [to avoid an Illegal Defense Violation]; and, ii. Releasing Off his individual check [i.e. O4] to Zone Up against whichever opponents [i.e. 1, 2 or 2+] were located on the perimeter above the Free Throw Line Extended [either on the weak or the strong side of the floor].

X5 was responsible for defending against O5 [located at the ball side elbow] in a 1-v-1 situation.

SPECIFIC RULES FOR O2 vs X2 POST-UP SITUATIONS vs MAN-2-MAN D

Since X2 is a frail 1st year player [20 yrs of age] who cannot defend successfully vs O2′s post-ups … based on a lack of guile and physical strength … X4 was responsible for Covering Down on the ball-handler to get the ball out of O2′s hands [in an effort to avoid the 1-v-1 isolation vs X2]. In general, there are three different techniques which a team can use to execute this specific Cover Down with X4, after the Post Entry Pass has already been made: I. Immediately, On The Initial Catch; II. Delayed, On The 1st Dribble; and, III. Late, on the 2+ Dribble. In this instance, the Raptors chose not to Cover Down Immediately, but to execute either Option II or III … which one exactly is unclear, given the physical movement of X4. All that’s known for certain is that X4 did not execute Option I.

AS X4 PREPARED TO INITIATE HIS COVER DOWN [either Option II or III vs O2]

X3 was responsible for Stepping-up Above The Free Throw Line Extended in order to maintain a Zoned Up position vs O4 [who moved above the Three Point Line] on the weak side of the floor [i.e. in order to avoid an Illegal Defense Violation].  

X1 was responsible for maintaining a Zoned Up position vs O1 [weak side FTLX] and O3 [weak side Corner].

X5 was responsble for: i. Denying an interior pass to O5 [who had cut to the weak side Block]; ii. Being within a step of O5 on the weak side of the floor [in order to avoid an Illegal Defense Violation], iii. Providing Help against a baseline drive by O2.

THE PASS FROM O2 TO O3 HAPPENED WHEN:

1. X4 shifted to the Left Elbow and waited for O2 to take his 1st dribble … which never came … in order to initiate Option I or II in his Cover Down vs O2.

2. X3 failed to communicate with X1 and X5 that he [i.e. X3] was Stepping-Up to defend the area of the floor above the Free Throw Line [i.e. where O4 was positioned] in unison with X4′s Cover Down; and,

3. X1 and X5 failed to: i. Recognize that X3 was Stepping-Up to defend that specific area of the floor and was no longer responsible for being Zoned Up on the weak side of the floor [i.e. vs O3 and O1]; and, then, ii. React quickly to the baseline basket cut which was beautifully executed by O3.  

SPECIFIC RULES FOR O2 vs X2 POST-UP SITUATIONS vs ZONE D

If the Raptors had shifted into their Zone Defense vs O2′s post-up, then their players would have been located in the following positions [in a 2-3 Zone]:

X2 – Left Baseline Defender … checking O2, in a 1-v-1 situation

X4 – Left Top Defender … at the Left Defensive Elbow

X1 – Right Top Defender … at the Right Elbow

X3 - Right Baseline Defender … at the Right Block

X5 – Middle Defender … at the Left Block

Since, X1 [i.e. Jose Calderon] did NOT step-up to the Right Elbow position and, instead, X3 Stepped-up to defend against X4, this indicates that the Raptors had not shifted into their Zone Defensive alignment during this sequence but were responsible for moving and reacting to O2′s post-up within the parameters of their Specific Man-2-Man Cover Down Rules.

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PS. Follow-up queries are welcome in the comments section.

Toronto [5-5] has now reached the 10 game mark of the regular season schedule.

For those of you keeping track, these were the suggested outcomes that were listed here in September [approximately 1 month in advance] for the team’s first 20 games this season, from the perspective of an astute NBA observer:

Current Regular Season Standings, 2009-2010:

It will be very interesting to see how the next 10 games play out for the Raptors … especially, now that Antawn Jamison is set to return to the line-up [Wed Nov 18 vs Cleveland] for the Wizards [2-7] and Charlotte [3-6]  acquired Stephen Jackson early today. 

Related:

Toronto Raptors Season Preview: Games 1-20

khandor giveth … and, sometimes, khandor taketh away.

No one’s perfect. That’s a fact of life; Kelly Dwyer, included.

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Anthony Morrow hits for 47 summer league points
And the name I kept hearing was “Marco Belinelli,” who played exceedingly well in Golden State’s 2007 summer league outfit.

Here’s the problem with that. Marco’s international stats translated horribly to the NBA. He was not, nor should have ever been, on any team’s radar. The Warriors, smitten with the idea of an international big guard named “Marco,” went ahead anyway. And a month after drafting the guy, seemed pretty happy when he went off in the NBA-sponsored offseason tournaments.

But Marco went right back to being Marco once the NBA season started. And it’s not a case of the guy not getting the minutes he deserved. I’m sure Belinelli is a lovely chap, but he’s not NBA material.

Morrow is. Morrow proved that in 2008-09, not in the summer leagues, and Thursday’s 47 should be a reminder of such.

The Warriors, who I must remind you are “a joke of an organization,” probably don’t want to know. Not while Nelson is running things, especially. He gets bored, and he plays to the ignorance of fair weather fans.

The ignorance, and this isn’t their fault (they’d rather pay attention to the 49ers) that tells you that Morrow’s hot 2008-09 start was a bit of a fluke, and it’s OK to slowly decrease his minutes until you get to 7.6 minutes per game in February.

(Well, Kelly, he shot 36 percent in February. Which came first, the low minutes, or the bad shooting? Nellie’s been at this since the 1960s, and he’s reacting to Morrow’s cold touch.)

No, he’s being Nellie. You try coming off the bench for seven minutes toward the end of a 20-point loss and firing up a 24-footer two and a half hours after warming up. It’s bound to go in, no matter how good a shooter you are, about 36 percent of the time.

Of course, Morrow averaged nearly 41 minutes per game in April, but that’s how this joke of an organization works. Poorly.

The point I’m getting at is that, overall, Morrow is a stud. The guy shot 47 percent on three-pointers last year. Couple that with a 6-6 frame, and you have a player that should be starting, or at least playing more than 22 minutes a night (his average). Or, and I know I haven’t been doing this since the 1960s, playing consistent minutes, as opposed to 41 minutes in April, and 7.6 minutes in February.

The problem here is that, as unorthodox as Nellie is, the man completely falls in line with NBA orthodoxy when it comes to sitting or starting guys he likes. He’ll twist things to his advantage, every time, just as long as it leaves him looking like a plucky upstart who was thisclose to taking down the well-heeled favorite.

Morrow’s an unheralded shooter? Then you can move him around a bit. He’s always replaceable. He’ll always be on the bench, ready to shoot.

Anthony Randolph doesn’t have much of a jump shot? He hasn’t put on weight? Well, then there’s no way he can score, consistently. Even though he’s scoring, you know, pretty damn consistently. Even though he’s giving you eight and six with a block and a steal in only 18 minutes AT AGE 19, without you running any plays for him.

So just remember this, in January. Morrow’s no fluke. Randolph is still a stud. They can both play, even if they aren’t, and while Stephen Jackson is still averaging 41 minutes a night.

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FYI …

Here’s a version of the comment which was left by yours truly a few minutes ago on Ball Don’t Lie:

KD,

You are right about Anthony Morrow.

You are [really!!!] right about Anthony Randolph.

You are right about G-State, in general.

You are wrong, however, about both Don Nelson and Marco B.

Don is a terrific unorthodox coach that does things in a way that others … who are not good head coaches, in their own right … simply DO NOT understand. That said … it’s THOSE other people who are WRONG if/when they try to put down what Mr. Nelson has accomplished in this League, as a terrific head coach. He may not be YOUR kind of head coach but he is still terrific, nonetheless.

[Please Note: In the NBA, you simply DO NOT amass the number of Wins and Losses that Don Nelson has to his credit WITHOUT being an outstanding head coach.]

Likewise with Marco Belinelli … you are WRONG to think that he is NOT a NBA player. This could not possibly further from the truth actually. Marco is a perfect example of a very good basketball player who has specific strengths and weaknesses and is doomed to failure IF HE DOESN’T GET THE CHANCE TO PLAY FOR A COACH WITH WHOM HE FITS ON A PERSONAL LEVEL AND WHO APPRECIATES HIS INDIVIDUAL GAME FOR EXACTLY WHAT IT IS.

Marco’s game simply doesn’t fit with who Don Nelson is, as a very good NBA head coach … but it is not correct to classify Marco as being something other than a legit NBA player.

e.g. If Marco B is traded to New York and gets the chance to function under a coach like Mike D’Antoni .. the offensive gifts that he has would have a chance to flourish.

Marco needs a change of scenery.

IMO, however, he is a totally different player than, say, JC Navarro … who is not a NBA player … and just needs a chance to strut his “stuff” on a consistent basis with a coach who isn’t looking for an “athletic stud” and will be in his corner as a STARTING POINT GUARD in the NBA.

For D’Antoni’s Knicks, Marco would be a “star” player … in the mold of a poor man’s Steve Nash.

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That said …

Kelly remains a gifted new-age sports writer who each of you should be reading on a daily basis.

He connects, with power, on a much more frequent basis than he strikes out.

Coming out of the annual All-Star Break and heading toward this week’s Trade Deadline  [Feb 19, 3:00 PM] … as different trade rumours swirl about the NBA [on-line & elsewhere] … it can be instructive to assess where certain marquee players rank amongst their brethren, at the specific position[s] they play the best.

When considering Big Men [i.e. Centers/C and Power Forwards/PF], it is also imperative to understand what their fundamental role is within the NBA game and what qualities are the most important for them to exhibit on a consistent basis, if their respective team’s are going to have a legitimate chance to win a League Championship, now or in the not-too-distant future.

Big Man Ranking Criteria

* Leadership
* Rebounding [which includes: i. Defensive; ii. Offense]
* Team Defense [which includes: i. Interior Rotations; ii. Perimeter Rotations; iii. Execution of Pick & Roll Techniques; iv. Transition Effectiveness; v. Shot blocking off the ball; Switching off the ball]
* Low-Mid Post Scoring
* Passing Effectiveness
* Individual Low-Mid Post Defense [which includes Shot blocking on the ball]
* Individual Perimeter Defense
* Screening Effectiveness
* Picking Effectiveness
* Perimeter Scoring
* Offensive Transition
* Physical Traits: i. Quickness; ii. Agility; iii. Explosive Power; iv. Size & Strength
* Psycho-Emotional Traits: i. Stability; ii. Intelligence; iii. Intensity; iv. Toughness 

These are the current rankings, according to this corner:

Use the “comments” section to provide your feedback.

FINAL SCORE: Raptors 112, Warriors 108 [OT]
Game Info

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TREAT[S]

* Chris Bosh’s play, on offense, coming down the stretch [in the 4th Q & OT] 
* Exploited the Andrea Bargnani vs Brandon Wright mis-match
* Solid efforts by Jose Calderon & Anthony Parker who held their own in some very tough match-ups, notably, vs Stephen Jackson & Corey Maggette

TRICK[S]
* Lost the Rebounding Differential by a wide margin for the 2nd consecutive game [TOR 36, Gsw 46]

KEY POSSESSION OUTCOME[S]
* 00:29.3 of the 4th Q, TOR 92, Gsw 93 … when CB4 was isolated on the right wing vs Andre Biedrins and drove baseline for a dunk, while Al Harrington failed to execute his defensive assignment properly … which was to double-team Bosh, as Biedrins forced him to his right-hand drive, in order to create a Pass-out situation and a designated defensive rotation, that never happened, as a result … TOR 94, Gsw 93 
* 00:14.5 of the 4th Q, TOR 94, Gsw 96 … when CB4 was isolated vs Stephen Jackson at the FT Line, was able to drive & spin into the lane, get fouled and made 2 clutch FT’s … TOR 96, Gsw 96
* 00:2.5 of the 4th Q, with the score tied … when Corey Maggette was isolated at the Top Of The Key, drove into the lane and was tripped by Jamario Moon, with no foul called & the resulting Turnover … TOR 96, Gsw 96

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Despite solid contributions from Bosh, Bargnani, Calderon & Parker, and playing just well enough, as a group, to win their home opener … moving them to 2-0 … if the Raptors continue to put together deficient Rebounding Differentials, like this:

1st Q – TOR 21 Pts, 6 Rebs; Gsw 17 Pts, 10 Rebs – TOR/+4, -4
2nd Q – TOR 30 Pts, 8 Rebs; Gsw 33 Pts, 13 Rebs – TOR/-3, -5
3rd Q – TOR 26 Pts, 11 Rebs; Gsw 25 Pts, 8 Rebs – TOR/+1, +3
4th Q + OT – TOR 35 Pts, 12 Rebs; Gsw 35 Pts, 16 Rebs – TOR/0, -4

they are not going to be an Elite Level Team in the Eastern Conference this season, considering that the Warriors played without their starting PG, Monta Ellis, and are probably going to finish in the lower third of the Western Conference.

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Please Note:

WARNING SIGN