Finding New Ways to Fail

Wow..

Just How Well is LeBron Playing Right Now?

LeBron James is absolutely torching the league so far this season. Most people (with at least some justification) have little interest in his regular season performances anymore, and simply want to see if he can win a ring while having some sterling games in the Finals. But it's worth marveling at what we are currently witnessing.

James' PER is currently 32.49. best in the league. His teammate Dwayne Wade has the second highest PER at 26.59, just above Chris Paul, who comes in at 26.52. Kevin Durant and others closely follow.

The difference between James' and Wade's PERs is about 6 (5.90 to be exact). If you drop 5.90 "points" off Wade's PER you get...Spencer Hawes, who has the league's 31st highest PER. That's right, the difference between the #1 and #2 PER is the same as the difference between the #2 and the #31 PER.

How rare is this kind of statistical dominance? John Hollinger's website includes all PERs since the 2002-03 regular season. During that time frame, the difference between the player with the top PER and the second place finisher has been: 1.21, 3.09, 1.30, 0.76, 1.34, 0.03, 1.17, 2.36, and 1.58. Of that group of numbers, even 3.09 is somewhat of an outlier. And it's barely more than half the gap between LeBron and Wade as of now.

And unlike players like Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, and Greg Monroe, who benefit greatly from a purely box-score driven composite statistic like PER because it hides their defensive deficiencies, LeBron is also one of the best defenders in the league (as has been detailed on this blog on a number of previous occasions).

We are still a tad less than half-way into a shortened season, so who knows whether LeBron can sustain this level of dominance. And we'll all be holding our breath in the Playoffs and wondering whether he will settle for long distance jumpers in crunch time (or even allow the opposing team to simply erase him from the play). But for now, lets appreciate the historic performance that is being displayed.

It Was a Bar Fight!

If you haven't seen this latest great KG interview, here it is.  Anyone else wonder if KG has ever been in a real bar fight?  He came to the league out of high school, has never had any off the court issues, and is known to not go out much (He asked Billups if he should go to Boston and was worried about lack of nightlife here.  Billups responded, "What do you care, you don't go out anyway.").  Barkley on the hand, should know very well about bar fights.

Magic's Secret Defensive Strategy

Watch Magic's bench.

Your 2011-2012 New Orleans Hornets!

Thanks to an inability to make any moves until Chris Paul gets dealt, and an inability to deal Chris Paul until David Stern decides he doesn't want to run the NBA as though he's Vladimir Putin, the New Orleans Hornets roster currently reads:

Guards: Chris Paul, Willie Green, Jarrett Jack, Justin Dentmon, Jerome Dyson, Carldell Johnson, Terrico White

Forwards: Trevor Ariza, Quincy Pondexter, Patrick Ewing Jr., DaJuan Summers, Moses Ehambe, Trey Johnson, Lance Thomas

Centers: Emeka Okafor, Brian Butch

This collection of "talent" is set to begin their season starts in thirteen days.

CPIII to the Lakers...Oops, never, mind, I take that back

First of all, let me say that as a Celtics fan and as a resident of New Orleans, I was not pleased when I read that Chris Paul was being traded to the Lakers. I wanted Paul to go to any team BUT the Lakers, and wasn't thrilled with the Hornets return.

That being said, the turn of events after this deal was agreed to is nothing other than embarrassing. The league let Dell Demps negotiate with the Celtics, Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, and who knows what other teams for the last week. They let offers come in, and counteroffers get sent back out. Not a single word was uttered about a deal being disallowed. When Demps realized that Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon were not going to be part of any trade due to Paul's unwillingness to sign long-term with the Warriors or Clippers, he pulled the trigger on a deal that would have netted the Hornets three bona fide starters: Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, and Kevin Martin. They also would have received Goran Dragic and a first round pick. And the Lakers were giving up Pau Gasol, one of the top 20 players in the league, and last season's 6th Man of the Year. I would have preferred a deal in which the Hornets got more pieces for the future, but considering that everyone knew that their feet were to the fire, Demps' haul was far from a swing and a miss. Should they have agreed to the Celtics offer--Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and 2 first rounders--instead? Perhaps, but it's debatable. Rondo easily has the most potential of anyone in either offer. But it's becoming clear that Rondo will continue to be a confounding player, whose shooting woes substantially detract from all his positives. And Jeff Green, well, he's the guy that Danny Ainge traded for last year in a deal that was pretty much universally derided. Noone really cares about Jeff Green.

So Dell Demps agreed to a deal that would have left the Hornets with a competitive team, though little youth. He agreed to it after tirelessly working the phones ever since the lockout ended. And then the league, and who knows whether the "league" here refers to David Stern, Dan Gilbert, Mark Cuban, or some combination of the three, decided to pull the plug on the deal. So why did they allow for any negotiations to occur over the last week? Why didn't they just say from the get-go that Paul couldn't be traded until a new owner came in? And what exactly are the Hornets supposed to do now?

Sarah Palin's Contribution to Basketball

You are probably wondering why a picture of Sarah Palin is on here and what she has to do with sports.  This one is too good not to post up.

New Biography Claims Sarah Palin Had A One-Night Stand With Glen Rice In 1987

The National Enquirer grabbed some details from the upcoming Joe McGinniss Sarah Palin book, and this chunk is too delightful not to share with you immediately. Apparently Palin had a fling with former Heat/Hornet/Laker Glen Rice while he was in college and while she was a sports reporter in Alaska, all the way back in 1987. Rice confirms it in the book.

Here's the Enquirer:

In the book, which will be published on September 20th, McGinniss claims Sarah had a steamy interracial hookup with basketball stud Glen Rice less than a year before she eloped with her husband Todd.

Sarah hooked up with the NBA great, then a 6-foot-8 junior at the University of Michigan when he was playing in a college basketball tournament in Alaska in 1987, the book says. At the time, Sarah, just out of college, was working as a sports reporter for the Anchorage TV station KTUU.

A publishing source told The ENQUIRER that McGinniss claims Sarah had a "fetish" for black men at the time and he quotes a friend as saying Sarah had "hauled (Rice's) ass down."
[...]
In the book, McGinniss quotes Rice as confirming the one-night stand.

 I guess Glen Rice was hitting more then just 3's back in his Michigan days.

Blake Griffin Is Pretty Funny

Z-Bo will be Z-Bo

Zach Randolph has changed from a stat machine and a team killer into a stat machine and team maker.  He went from using his money to supposedly finance huge drug rings to making very smart and practical financial decisions, he opted to take his 2010-11 salary out over 18-24 months in the event a lockout happens.  But, even with all the change and the all the positive, Z-Bo will always be Z-Bo.

Police say Zach Randolph met a man dealing marijuana aboard a charter cruise ship in Portland on Friday and invited him to his mansion later in order to sell weed to the 20 or so guests at Randolph's after-cruise party.  James Ruben Beasley told police he was encouraged to sell marijuana to anyone interested, until he was beaten with pool cues around 4 a.m. Saturday.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

And then

Earlier this week, West tweeted that he was applying for a job at Home Depot, and the seven-year vet says that’s not the only retail job he’s looking into.

“I actually might have work with Sam’s [Club], BJ’s, selling knives,” West said. “That’s pretty cool too. I get a microphone and everything.” 

I guess not the most mighty, but still funny (and sad) to see.  It is not like Delonte West was the lowest paid player in the game last year either, he did make over a million dollars.

Durant's Tattoos

Looks like Durant is aware of his clean cut image and is trying to protect/keep it.  You won't be able to see any of those tattoos when he is wearing his jersey.  It can also be pointed out it is definitely time Durant is introduced to the weight room.

KAAAHN!

Do the Timberwolves/David Kahn ever stop being hilarious?  I hope not.

"Just one player not in our Top 100 was drafted on Thursday. The Blazers took Targuy Ngombo for the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night with the 57th pick in the draft. Ngombo plays in Qatar and was discovered by Timberwolves international scout Pete Philo at a tournament in Manila, Philippines, last year.

While Ngombo lists his age as 21 on his passport, a number of other sources, including Qatar's FIBA website, suggest he's actually 26. If proven to be true, that means he's ineligible for the draft and the Wolves will have to forfeit the pick per NBA rules. Considering Minnesota traded for the pick and paid the Blazers some compensation (as of Monday the two teams were still haggling over what the price would be given the revelation), I'm sure owner Glen Taylor isn't thrilled." -Chad Ford

NBA Trade Rumors

The Lakers are the ones putting trade calls out on Pau Gasol, according to FOX's Sam Amico.  Previous reports have made it sound like other teams were calling the Lakers about Gasol's availability. But according to Amico, it's the other way around.

Very interesting.  I have no idea what Lakers are expecting to get back for Gasol, but unless it is something of Dwight Howard caliber they will be on the losing end.  Also makes you wonder how much of a problem there is in the Laker's locker room right now.  This wouldn't be the first time Kobe has pushed someone out of LA.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Atlanta Hawks are checking out what they can get for forward Josh Smith and reportedly Smith would not mind being traded.  Smith has not asked for a trade. but he would prefer being sent to Boston, Houston, New Jersey or Orlando, if he's dealt by the Hawks.

This is the first time I can ever remember a player in his prime being asked to be traded to Boston.  This is probably due to his friendship and connection with Rajon Rondo, with who he roomed with at prep school.  Josh Smith's talents are largely untapped and he could still be a star in this league, but he has his flaws.  Namely, taking too many low percentage jump shots instead of attacking the rim.  Doc Rivers, a veteran team, and Rondo, could have a chance of pushing him in the right direction though, and this would add much needed youth and athleticism into the Celts aging roster.  I am not sure what they would give up for him or how the line up would work.

Andre Iguodala "loves" the idea of playing for the Clippers, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.  Iguodala feels unappreciated by the fans in Philadelphia and played his college ball out west.

More and more reports are coming out about Iguodala going to the Clippers for Kaman.  Bodog currently has 2/5 odd on Iguodala not being traded before the end of the draft on Thursday and 17/10 odds he will, meaning Vegas thinks he will be out of Philly.  Iguodala, like Loul Deng, continues to be one of the more underrated players in the NBA due to being overpaid (Not his fault GM offered him the contract), public not appreciating defense, and not boasting a high PPG.  I would imagine Clippers would have to offer more then injury prone Kaman (avg 48 games played in last 4 seasons), but if they do pull this off the Clippers starting line up would be scary.  Though they would need more depth and Blake Griffin committing to playing both side of the floor, they have the youth and talent to build off of and be a real force in a year or two.  For the 76ers this would open the door for Thadeus Young to take over, but still would be a significant downgrade due to Iguodala being one of the best defensive wing players in the league his ability to play point-forward.

Lebron James' Postgame Comments

Lebron's response when asked if he was bothered by people rooting for him failing:

"All the people that were rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I'm going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. So they can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they got to get back to the real world at some point."

Wow.  Where are Lebron Jame's PR people?  Does he realize he is not just talking to his 'haters', and is addressing every single sports fan out there?  Win or lose, every fan is going to go back to doing what they do.  Lebron might as well of said, "F the world, I am rich and you aren't."  For someone who's main goal is become a billionaire he sure knows how to get fans and support.   Ever since losing to the Celtics in the playoffs last year and saying, "I spoil a lot of people with my play", he has continually stuck his foot in his mouth and seems to miss the point.  A couple hours later he then tweeted:

The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time. Right now isn't the time.

I can not say I am positive, but I think Lebron showing no signs of life, aggression, or desperation for the second year in a row in do-or-die games had more to do with him losing then the 'Greater Man Upstairs'.  There is no excuse for the best player in the league to average just 15 shots (almost 1/3 of them were 3 pointers) per a game in the finals and differ every 4th quarter to far less talented players.  38 year old Juwan Howard is not going to bail you out.

More on the finals coming up later.

Deshawn Stevenson's Lebron Shirt

He might be tatted up and doesn't like sitting on internet or typing, but that doesn't mean he can't get great custom shirts.

Hey Lebron!  Hows my Dirk taste

Internet Thuggin'

When asked about dissing Lebron James on facebook Deshawn Stevenson responded,

 "There’s like 37 people that are acting like me on Facebook.  I mean, if you look at me and look at all these tattoos, do you think I’d be sitting on the Internet and typing?" 

I don't even know why reporters would ask him this question.  Isn't it common knowledge everyone who is tatted up doesnt do nerdy stuff like sit on internet and type?

Really?

There is people who will hate Lebron no matter what he does, like Yahoos' Wojnarowski, but things like this do not help.  Wrong place and time... Especially when you still have the mysterious elbow injury in the not too distant past and have not been playing up to par in last two games.  Wade doing this is even worse.  He might have the most excuses/flops/complaints in the league, and not a couple hours after this he had a mysterious injury that led to him leaving the game.. twice.

What to Watch For in Game 5

It will be very interesting what changes the coaches and players will make going into game 5.  The most obvious thing to watch for is how Lebron rebounds after scoring just 8 points in game 4. 
The other not so obvious changes I am looking forward to seeing is how much playing time Bibby gets, he has been atrocious on both ends of the floor.  He is not hitting open shots, the one thing that is really asked of him, and, as expected, Barea and any other Mav he is guarding is blowing by him easily.  Chalmers has severely outplayed him in every aspect of the game, and the Heat also have no problem having Lebron handle the 1 and have no point on the floor at all.  I think this is actually when they are at their best.  Wade/Lebron/Miller/Haslem/Bosh spreads the floor and provides great defense.

The second change I expect to see is Miami attack the rim and Tyson Chandler much more.  Chandler has been huge for the Mavs on both ends of the floor.  He is eating up offensive boards, averaging 6.6 in the last 3 games, his defensive presence is huge as he makes scoring at the basket in half court sets extremely hard, and he can make the other team pay on offense when his man lags off him.  This was enough reason to get him in foul trouble, something he has always been prone to doing his whole career, but with Haywood out the Heat need to add even more emphasis to this strategy.  The only person Mavs have now to back up Chandler is Mahinmi, who is not close to ready to play at this stage.  Every minute Mahinmi is forced to play is great for the Heat.  In the last 83 minutes Chandler only has 5 total fouls.  This needs to change for the Heats sake.  Lebron, whether he is making the basket or not, needs to be more aggressive and attack the body of Chandler and force the refs to blow the whistle.  

Nowtizki's Flu Game

While it wasn't exactly Jordan's Flu Game, this was another memorable game in what is turning into a historic playoffs for Dirk Nowtizki. It should never again be said that Dirk does not show up in big games or that he chokes in big situations (I have been guilty of this in the past, though my brother has not). Here are some random notes from game 4:

• Nowtizki missed a free throw. And yes, that is worth a bullet point. He is now 163/174 in the playoffs and 33/34 in the finals.
• Only six Dallas players scored last night. Funny that going into the series the main reason that people did pick Dallas was because they are so deep and have so many players who can put the ball in the basket.
• On the topic of teams being deep, all four of the Miami bench players who saw the floor finished with + in +/- and all five starters finished with -. What a big difference a semi-healthy Haslem and Mike Miller are. They went from having by far the worst bench in of all playoff teams to now having one of the deeper squads.
• Outside of Dwayne Wade, Mario Chalmers looked like the 2nd best Heat player on the floor yesterday. He was aggressive with the ball and attacked the paint instead of playing the perimeter, played great D and caused turnovers, and made good decisions which led to 6 assists in just 29 minutes. Since hitting the game tying 3 pointer with Kansas in the NCAA championship game, Chalmers has looked like he relishes the spotlight and big games. While I do love players like this and it is great to always have one on the the team, this leads to my next point.
• Chalmers will undoubtedly get the X-factor tag placed on his name and be overpaid this off season. I can't wait to see the contract offers he gets. We could name these type of contracts after James Posey.
• Lebron James had his lowest point total in a playoff game in his career. He ended up going 3/11 for 8 points. Yes, he had a very bad game and has not been playing amazing in the finals, but no, this is not proof of him choking and not performing in the clutch. Did we already forget how they got to the Finals? Besides this game Lebron has not played a bad Finals. Sorry he is not forcing shots when his teammate Dwayne Wade is being covered by the likes of Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. Last time I checked averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and being an absolute menace on defense is a pretty good thing.
• The MVP of last nights game was Dallas's zone defense. Carlisle implemented it perfectly as he waited until the end of the game to use it. The Heat's offense looked lost and did not know how to respond. They were left taking contested jumpers with little time left on the shot clock and got no easy baskets at the rim. They went 1/9 in the final 7:23, and in a stretch of one minute between 5:16 and 4:18 left in the game had 3 of their 13 total turnovers. Also, wasn't it great when the Heat took a timeout and Dallas went back to man-man? This almost assuredly messed up the play that Spoelstra had just drawn up. Dallas went right back to the zone after that possession.
• Another part of the game Carlisle did a great job of controlling last night was only playing a 7 man rotation, but still getting players rest. Only Chandler was forced to play over 40 minutes as Haywood was obviously not up to the task.
• This can not entirely be Haywoods fault, but it is not too often you can see a player be on the court for just 3 minutes but have a -10 in +/-.
• I realize this oversimplifies basketball, but it really consists of three things: offense, defense, and rebounding. Please, do no confuse rebounding with defense. Kevin Love and Al Jefferson are perfect examples of players who excel at rebounding but are absolutely terrible at defense. It is hard to find examples of players who excel at defense but are horrible at rebounding, but as a team, that is just what Dallas is doing (the Celtics did this all the time). They are forcing Miami into hard shots and then turning to looking at the ball instead of finding somebody to box out. The only one who had an excuse last night was Nowitzki, who looked like he could hardly move and had to box out the extra athletic Joel Anthony. Dirk still ended up with 11 rebounds. If Dallas boxed out and kept Miami off the offensive boards it would not of been a close game. Wade, who led all guards in the regular season in offensive boards with 1.6 a game, is killing Dallas with easy put back dunks. He has gotten 3 a game so far in the Finals.
• I have to agree with Van Gundy, something NEEDS to be done about the flopping in the NBA. They need to start penalizing players and suspending them when they flop. Lebron James' flop in the first half, when he acted as if a NFL player had just hit him, led to 3 easy points via a tech on a Mavs coach and the two free throws. When the total difference in the last 3 games is 7 points, every point matters. You can't fault the players (except when Lebron is winking after flopping); at this point it is whatever it takes to win. If the ref is going to make the call, are you really not going to flop for the integrity of the game? The NBA needs to come down hard on this.
• What did Corey Brewer do to Carlisle? As Wade continues to abuse the Mavs, averaging 29.8 points while shooting .588 shooting, why not throw your best wing defender at him? I realize Carlisle wants to spread the floor, but at what cost? Especially when Barea is not hitting open 3s anyway. They could easily put Terry and Brewer in the back court at the same time. They could hide Terry, who Wade has been abusing, on whoever is playing point for the Heat and have Brewer cover Wade.

The Media's Idiocy Regarding LeBron, the Need for Brewer to Get Peja's Minutes, and Other Assorted Thoughts

Three games in and it's Miami 2, Dallas 1. Outside of Dallas' torrid stretch at the end of the fourth quarter in Game 2, Miami's defense has been the story. Some thoughts going forward:

• John Hollinger has a an interesting article regarding some moves that he believes the Mavs need to make. First, he recommends starting Jason Terry. I really don't care either way about this one--who starts doesn't matter all that much, as long as Terry gets his minutes. Second, however, he makes a very timely statement regarding the need to "shake up Dirk's minutes." Hollinger points out: "Dallas has played only 20 minutes without Dirk in the series, but in that time the Mavs are a staggering minus-31. At that rate, Dallas would lose a 48-minute game by 74 points. Basically, the Mavs are outplaying the Heat as long as Nowitzki plays, but they're getting killed in his few minutes of rest." The primary culprit for these terrible numbers? Peja Stojakovic. He's not hitting shots and getting absolutely toasted when he attempts to play something resembling defense. Like Hollinger, I believe Carlisle needs to show Peja the bench and give his minutes to Corey Brewer. In fact, Brewer should be getting run in the late minutes as well if Dallas is able to substitute offense/defense, as he's much better equipped than Jason Kidd to cover Dwayne Wade.
• I do like Carlisle's strategy of giving DeShawn Stevenson a quick hook at the beginning of the first and third quarters and replacing him with J. J. Barea. Doing so allows Barea to get his minutes against Mike Bibby.
• Speaking of which, Mike Bibby should probably start getting about 10 minutes a game. Much like Peja, he really isn't bringing anything to the table.
  
• The LeBron negativity emanating from the Skip Bayless wing of the journalism world is, put plainly, stupid. First of all, it ignores the first three rounds of the playoffs, in which LeBron's clutch shooting reached historic levels. Second, it ignores matchups. Jason Kidd cannot cover Dwyane Wade. He gives Wade about five feet of room all the way to the free throw line, allowing for easy and uncontested jumpers. And Wade dominates him on the block. Also, Tyson Chandler doesn't care to cover Chris Bosh; he would much rather stay around the rim. Therefore, Bosh can get an open jumper nearly whenever he wants. Third, it ignores LeBron's passing--he's had great assist numbers during Finals' fourth quarters. And fourth, it ignores defense. LeBron has continued to show that he is arguably the best perimeter defender in the NBA (it's between him, Andre Iguodala, and Tony Allen) by shutting down Jason Terry to such an extent that Dirk is calling JET out for his lack of clutch scoring. Apparently, when it comes to the media, little has changed in the last three months.
• The Mavs have shored up their defensive rebounding quite a bit since the first game, with Dirk in particular greatly improving his box outs.
• Udonis Haslem's jumper has been an effective weapon throughout his career. But man, is it ugly.
  
• Assuming Brendan Haywood is out, Chandler's play in light of an increased workload bears watching. Ian Mahinmi reminds me of Shelden Williams in last years' Finals--clearly not ready. If Chandler begins to struggle due to playing nearly 40 minutes a night, or if he gets in foul trouble and forces Mahinmi onto the floor, the Mavs will be in trouble.
• The Mavs have a tough road ahead, but the series is not over. Dallas needs to win the next two and then hope to steal one in Miami. Difficult, but quite possible.

• On a non-Finals note, there has been talk of a Monta Ellis for Andre Iguodola swap. If this deal happens, it would be a great day for Golden State, and a slide away from the playoffs for the 76ers.