The Dribble: October 2006

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

NBA Live 2007 season simulation

Sam Rubenstein at Slam Online gives us news of the EA season simulation results

2006-2007 NBA Final Regular Season

Western Conference	W-L	Eastern Conference	W-L
1. San Antonio	65-17	1. Cleveland	58-24
2. Phoenix	62-20	2. Miami	54-28
3. Dallas	56-26	3 . Chicago	52-30
4. Minnesota	49-33	4. New Jersey	48-34
5. LA Clippers	55-27	5. Detroit	48-34
6. Houston	52-30	6. Milwaukee	43-39
7. LA Lakers	42-40	7. Washington	41-41
8. Denver	39-43	8. Indiana	38-44
9. Sacramento	38-44	9. Orlando	37-45
10. New Orleans	35-47	10. Boston	37-45
11. Memphis	35-47	11. Philadelphia	32-50
12. Golden State	34-48	12. Toronto	31-51
13. Seattle	31-51	13. Atlanta	27-55
14. Utah	25-57	14. Charlotte	25-57
15. Portland	22-60	15. New York Knicks	19-63

Points Per Game	Rebounds Per Game	Assists Per Game
1. A. Iverson - 30.5	1. K.Garnett - 12.1	1. S.Nash - 10.0
2. D. Wade - 28.5	2. E.Brand - 11.2	2. A.Iverson - 8.5
3. K. Bryant - 28.4	3. C.Bosh - 11	3. M.Bibby - 8.4
4. R. Allen - 27.7	4. D. Howard - 10.8	4. T.Ford - 8.4
5. L. James - 27.0	5. S.O'neal - 10.6	5. B.Davis - 8.2
6. J. Johnson - 26.9	6. B.Wallace - 10.5	6. L.James - 8.0
7. P. Pierce - 26.7	7. T.Chandler - 10.2	7. C.Paul - 8.0
8. D. Nowitzki - 26.5	8. T.Duncan - 10.1	8. D.Staoudamire - 7.6
9. C. Anthony - 26.3	9. J. O'Neal - 10.1	9. K.Bryant - 7.4
10. K. Garnett - 25.8	10. L. Odom - 10.1	10. K.Hinrich - 7.4
11. E. Brand - 25.8	11. E.Curry - 10.0	11. J.Kidd - 7.1
12. T. McGrady - 25.6	12. A. Stoudemire - 10.0	12. D. Dickau - 7.0
13. C. Paul - 25.2	13. C. Frye - 9.9	13. L. Ridnour - 6.8
14. M.Ginobli - 25.2	14. A. Jefferson - 9.8	14. S. Telfair - 6.7
15. J. Richardson-24.8	15. Y. Ming - 9.6	15. D.Wade - 6.5
16. V. Carter - 24.8	16. Z. Ilgauskas - 9.6	16. S. Marbury - 6.7
17. Y. Ming - 24.8	17. K. Martin - 9.5	17. G. Arenas - 6.7
18. T. Parker - 24.7	18. C. Kaman - 9.5	18. J. Terry 6.6

3-Point FG%	Blocks Per Game	Steals Per Game
1. P. Stojakovic - 50.0	1. J.O'Neal - 2.5	1. A. Iverson - 2.2
2. B.Davis - 48.9	2. C.Bosh - 2.5	2. P. Pierce - 2.1
3. J.Williams - 48.7	3. K.Garnett - 2.5	3. R. Artest - 2.1
4. R.Allen - 48.5	4. B. Wallace - 2.4	4. R Jefferson - 2.1
5. J.Crawford - 45.5	5. A.Kirilenko - 2.4	5. L. Hughes 2.0
6. M.Miller - 45.3	6. Z.Ilgauskas - 2.4	6. L.James - 2.0
7. R.Lewis - 45.2	7. A.Stoudamire - 2.3	7. D. Wade - 2.0
8. C.Billups - 45.0	8. Y.Ming - 2.3	8. B. Wallace - 1.8
9. K.Hinrich - 44.8	9. T.Duncan - 2.2	9. J. Terry - 1.8
10. D.Stoudamire - 44.7	10. E.Brand - 2.2	10. B. Davis - 1.7
11. G.Arenas - 44.2	11. R.Wallace - 2.2	11. G. Arenas - 1.7
12. M.Bonner - 43.7	12. S. O' Neal - 2.1	12. M.Ginobili - 1.6
13. B. Barry - 43.5	13. J. Smith - 2.0	13. R. Bell - 1.6
14. E. Piatkowski - 43.2	14. P. Gasol - 2.0	14. B. Wells - 1.6
15. M. Redd - 43.0	15. K. Perkins - 2.0	15. C. Billups - 1.6
16. B. Miller - 42.8	16. D. Howard - 1.9	16. T. Parker 1.6
17. C. Mobley - 42.5	17. A. Jefferson 1.8	17. D. Harris - 1.5
18. M. Bibby - 42.4	18. A. Mourning - 1.8	18. M.Bibby - 1.5

10/31/2006 11:32:00 PM | Permalink |

Monday, October 30, 2006

Simmons on Auerbach

Simmons on Auerbach and what he stood for

10/30/2006 11:28:00 PM | Permalink |

...and that's a wrap

Well, finally it's over... while it might be interesting to get a sneak peek at some of the players we might normally overlook, having to go through the sloppy play and irrelevant boxscores gets a little painful at times.

Why not do away with the pre-season entirely? Isn't the regular season long enough? Charley Rosen when he covered the beginning of training camp said it best:

"NBA teams are granted four weeks to prepare
for the season and the 7-10 days
that constitute the training camp period
is the most critical of this prep time."

"During any and all practice sessions,
players always want to scrimmage."

---The only true measuring stick
of a player's improvement or degradation

"Scrimmaging at 75 percent capacity
is considered to be acceptable for veterans"

---who don't usually have anything to prove

"It should also be noted that incoming rookies
and free agents are usually in top-notch shape."

---hunger and ball "envy"

Rosen's recanting of the various basic high scholl drills that teams run in practice is insightful but as he says later:

"Even so, NBA action generally lacks
a noticeable sense of cohesion until early December."

What it comes down to is having the bench players fight for roster spots and playing time which could be done with more of a sense of urgency in the regular season. Instead we witness players getting "supposedly" injured in meaningless contests under the pretext that some of these professional athletes need to get in shape.

10/30/2006 02:34:00 PM | Permalink |

Saturday, October 28, 2006

File this under: the Yeah, No Shit category!?!

Note to self:

File this under: the Yeah, No Shit category!?!

We have case in point #1

Title: Nets Know That Defense Is Their Problem (The New York Times)

Why you ask?

Well, since your being polite because Jason Collins and Cliff Robinson are the ones talking about defence that's why.

"Defense is a lot about trust,” Collins said.
“If the helper doesn’t consistently get help,
he’s going to be less inclined to go over
because his man’s going to get a layup"

"I think we’ve allowed way too many points,
way too much penetration —
areas we know we can be better at,” Robinson said.
“We haven’t rotated,
we haven’t moved our feet as well as
we would have liked. It’s a combination of things"

Could a cat fight be in the works?

Oh hell no.

Like coach Frank reminds us:

"You got to keep everything in context,”

“Not to be blasé or carefree about it,
but we still feel we’re going to be a
very good defensive team"

Sounds like he's crossing his fingers to me

10/28/2006 09:36:00 PM | Permalink |

No extension for Korolev

The LA Times are reporting that at season's end Yaroslav "Yarik" Korolev will be a free agent as the LA Clippers because of "cap management issues" declined to pick up the option on his contract ($1.72 last season / $1.96 million this season / $2.7 the next). In a pre-season game against the Warriors Korolev saw his way into the starting line-up at SG for 37 minutes and had his best game as a pro.

The Clippers however are not in a training "mood" and the 19 year old's talents and potential may never find an outlet on this present roster as the team tries to go with more experienced hustle players in James Singleton Quinton Ross and to a certain extent Tim Thomas. The Clippers injury prone roster is however leaving the door open just a crack and depending on his performance as Kevin at Clipperblog writes they may just:

"work out a new, lesser deal after Korolev
becomes a free agent following season's end"

Yaroslav Korolev Draft Express profile

10/28/2006 05:06:00 PM | Permalink |

Friedman gets it right

Friedman's 20 Second Timeout submits a post about the new and improved ESPN Shoot Around format

get his take here

P.S.: make sure to read the comments section as he covers microfracture surgery and its vics

10/28/2006 12:36:00 PM | Permalink |

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Keeping up with Speedy

The only benefit of a hand injury is you can still stay in relative shape working out while attending practices.

After tearing up the floor with a full head of steam in his first scrimmage it seems that the hand injury which had sidelined Speedy (Craig) Claxton at the start of training camp has not slowed him down and if anything built up some angst as he moves into his first full time starting point guard gig in Atlanta.

Here's what coach Mike Woodson had to say to the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution):

"Speedy's going to make them better.
He's got a great deal of speed getting the ball up the floor.
He's quicker to find people, if they are alert.
And if you're not alert you're liable to get hit
upside the head with the ball,
because he's going to push the ball.
He's going to change the way we play offensively
and also give us tremendous ball pressure
on the other end of the floor"

But 10 year NBA vet now Hawks assistant coach, Larry Drew sums it up nicely:

"Let's face it," Drew said.
"Everybody runs the same plays.
This is just such an instinctive game.
It's about letting your instincts
take over when you're out there.
A true point guard knows where people are
even before they get there.
You're talking about guys who see a play develop
before everybody else.
That's what you have when
a guy is a natural at that position.
A guy who can analyze things
and see things before they happen.
That's what we have in Speedy"

His rookie year (2001-20th pick) he suffered a torn left ACL in pre-season and missed the entire season. The following 4 seasons he never topped the 67 games he played in Philadelphia backing up Iverson and Eric Snow in 2002. After that it was off to San Antonio behind Tony Parker . Sure you might say he had his chance in Warriorland but he only started there for 29 games.

Leaving us with last season.

Speedy is coming off a contract year where he was backing up Chris Paul in NOOCHlimbo and played in 71 games. Last year's runner-up to the Sixth Man award has never been a full time starter and now has alot of pressure. How many games can he give the Hawks? One shouldn't be asking whether his teammates will be able to keep up with him, but rather will he be able to grind it out for 82 games and keep up with the young guns.

10/26/2006 03:00:00 PM | Permalink |

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

shooting for the stars

All this talk about offense, offense, offense got the Toronto Star talking to Raptor's coach Sam Mitchell and the lobbying he is doing to get his team to throw up on average ONE HUNDRED shots a game.

Mo Pete thinks:

"We have the athletes who can do it,
we have the guys to do it.
We've got guys who can come off the bench
who are just as capable as the starters."

"the Raptors went through a five-minute drill
where they had nine seconds to shoot
and the players were huffing
and puffing when it was all over"

"That's a tiring pace in practice against
equally worn-out teammates;
against teams actually trying to defend,
it's going to be interesting.

"That nine-second drill is tough, man,"
Peterson said. "I was tired the first minute-and-a-half.
We do it for five minutes"

Apparently Mitchell has been throwing this idea around for quite some time now.

If you repeat it enough they will listen.

10/24/2006 11:38:00 PM | Permalink |

was it as good for you as it was for them?

the entity knwn as ESPN.com has set up a polling event...the feedback / results should be interesting but i always found those multiple choice answers are only misleading stats anyways, i mean they give u the answers to the questions they're asking right?

Team by team (i started in alphabetical order having no real team allegiance) the poll's visitor is asked to choose:

where "their" team will finish in the division? (subjective to fan's team)

over / unders on number of wins for the season? (all those wins don't add up)

whether the coach is the right fit for the respective team? (be a gm)

a roster question (which player will impact team the most)?

10/24/2006 10:14:00 PM | Permalink |

Monday, October 23, 2006

Gil the gamer

Gilbert Arenas is blogging at NBA.com and he writes of his sponsorship of team Final Boss (XBox) in the Major League Gaming circuit (MLG):

"MLG and Final Boss are going to be huge.
It's a great investment for
me to get in at the beginning like this,
and it's fun to be involved with.
The MLG competitions are unreal --
the level of talent and energy is
unbelievable.
And once the show airs in November,
Final Boss will be
celebrities," said Arenas."

Not sure about the kind of hours Arenas is logging on his Xbox but professional videogaming can lead to major sleep deprivation, serious procrastination, tendinitis, serotonin induced mood swings, and might even be an introduction to performance enhancing "smart drugs"

10/23/2006 12:25:00 PM | Permalink |

Sunday, October 22, 2006

weekend that was

friday's standouts

On a night that Maggette goes 1-10 from the floor, Yaroslav Korolev finally has his breakout game with 37 min of playing time in a losing cause for the Clippers against the Warriors:

25 pts
10-18 fg
5-8 3pt
5 reb
2 ast
1 stl

across the floor it was Monta Ellis who basked in the spotlight for Golden State posting a double- double:

42 min
15 pts
6-14 fg
2-4 3pt
4-4 ft
3 reb
10 ast
4 t/o

Saturday's notes

J.J. Reddick was a non-factor in his first game back (12 min)
overtime was needed to decide the game between the Cavs and the Hawks dble/dbl for Josh Smith and Joe Johnson for Atlanta while the Cavs dbl/dbl came from Big Z and Gooden
Garnett and Stephen Jackson showed their pickpocketing skills with 5 and 4 steals respectively
Jarvis Hayes had his best game of the pre-season
Celtics blow-out the Knicks 113-89 and had 6 players in double figures in scoring (Wally - Perk - Bassie - Pierce - Al Jeff - Powe) but it was Leon Powe who was best in 22 minutes:16pts 4-4fg 8-12ft 3or-9tr 3stl 3blk
Michael Redd might have been the high man of the game (28pts) against the Nuggets but it was Linas Kleiza who continued his strong play:

36 min
23 pts
7-20 fg
2-8 3pt
7-11 ft
6or-8tr
3 ast
1 blk

Sunday scribbles

notes from Raptors / Cavs game

Kris Humphries falls one rebound short of his 2nd double/double of the pre-season (10/15/06 vs. NJ) in only 17 min of work versus Cavs:

16 pts
5-13 fg
6-7 ft
4-9 reb
2 stl

Fred Jones continues to impress as he leads the Raptors in mpg in the pre-season
22 pts

7-14 fg
2-2 3pt (needs to improve on 23% pre-season 3pt shooting)
6-7 ft
3 reb
3 ast
3 blk

Larry Hughes has his best game of the pre-season
14 pts
5-10 fg
1-3 3pt
3-3 ft
1-7 reb
8 ast
2 stl
1 blk

notes from Denver / Pistons game

Nene played his 3rd game of the year and in 25 min of work collected his first double double of the pre-season:

13 pts
4-7 fg
6-8 ft
3-12 reb
1 ast
1 stl

J.R. (Earl) Smith continues to show signs that he may be the answer to the Nuggets need for some output at the SG positon since Melo's arrival in Denver is now 7-15 (46%) from 3pt land after a decent showing versus the Pistons:

15 pts
5-11 fg
3-7 3pt
2-2 ft
1 reb

Jason Maxiell leads Detroit thus far in ppg / rpg / and bpg in the pre-season and on Sunday played 30 minutes for:

21 pts
7-12 fg
7-10 ft (60%ft pre-season)
4-8 reb
3 ast
2 stl

Nazr Mohammed will be fine as Ben Wallace's replacement if he keeps doing what he's done so far and Sunday had his first double/double in 25 min:

16 pts
7-11 fg
2-4 ft
3-12 reb
1 ast
1 stl
2 blk

Lakers and Suns squared off on Sunday too:

Steve Nash played 26 minutes:
10 pts
11 ast
2-3 3pt

Barbosa had 5 steals to go with his 19 pts:

Andrew Bynum one board short of a dbl/dbl: 16 pts 9 reb 25 min

after missing a triple double by one assist in his last game Lamar Odom was one board short of a dbl/dbl in 33 min of work:
18 pts
6-13 fg
2-2 3pt
4-5 ft
1-9 reb
4 ast
3 stl
1 blk

10/22/2006 10:23:00 PM | Permalink |

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Is Biedrins the Warriors' best big man?

Warriors coach Don Nelson has a history of playing with small lineups so it was no surprise to hear him gush about the 6'11 245 lb. Andris Biedrins being the "best big man" on the team. In an article by Geoff Lepper of the Contra Costa Times Nelson get cited saying that while many of the players still are fighting for a spot in the rotation Biedrins:

"... doesn't have to prove that to me.
I already know that," Nelson said.
"He's probably my best big man.
He'll play a lot."

Which isn't saying much for an out of shape Foyle, sophomore Diogu (struggling with Nelson's playcalling), injured Taft (herniated disk), or incoming rookie O'Bryant (who at least is seeing spotty action).

Biedrins is slated to back up converted center Troy Murphy til proven otherwise.

After 4 games this pre-season he is averaging:

20.3 mpg
8.3 ppg
76% fg
6.3 rpg
2.2 bpg
14% ft (yikes...)

10/21/2006 03:16:00 PM | Permalink |

Friday, October 20, 2006

NBA puts 10 players on the spot

On the spot is a new feature by John Schuhmann at NBA.com, in it he looks at players that will be scrutinized throughout the season, starting with his take then on to what the local papers are saying, and lastly the blog perspective.

Limiting this to 10 total players however is puzzling, each team has at least one player (or two) that could easily be considered into the equation. Don't get me wrong it's still worth the read.

10/20/2006 04:24:00 PM | Permalink |

Thursday's boxscore standouts

Thursday's boxscore standouts

Dwight Howard
26 min
20 pts
6-9 fg
8-12 ft
16 reb
3 stl
2 blk

Andrei Kirilenko
27 min
15 pts
5-7 fg
5-5 ft
6 reb
7 ast
1 stl
6 blk

Cutino Mobley
40 min
26 pts
7-15 fg
0-2 3pt
12-13 ft
3 reb
3 ast
1 stl

Steve Nash
26 min
17 pts
6-6 fg
2-2 3pt
3-3 ft
3 reb
13 ast
2 stl

John Salmons
33 min
15 pts
5-11 fg
5-6 ft
11 reb
2 ast
1 blk

Al Harrington
25 min
25 pts
10-16 fg
0-0 3pt
5-8 ft
3 reb
2 stl
1 blk

Jannero Pargo
26 min
17 pts
4-8 fg
3-5 3pt
6-6 ft
2 reb
10 ast
1 stl

Sidebar for Hornets game --- Mason / Simmons / West all fouled out

10/20/2006 04:23:00 PM | Permalink |

Thursday, October 19, 2006

down goes Kwame

Well it looks like Bynum is gonna get a chance to show his stuff with Kwame Brown getting results from his MRI and is scheduled to be missing in action

" three to four weeks because of a
bruised rotator cuff and bursitis in his right shoulder"

too bad, just as he was showing signs of having turned the corner.

Last year in Mihm's absence he was becoming a solid double-double player. So the Lakers options are:

soon to be 19 year old Bynum (who initailly injured Brown by "slapping the ball away during pre-game warm-ups"),
23 year old Turiaf (recovering open heart surgery patient),
softie Brian Cook

Maybe Kobe should rest a little longer cause the coming season will not be an easy one.

10/19/2006 11:18:00 PM | Permalink |

Yowzers!!!

This is the time of the year when with the season just around the corner 10 days from now you start to worry about any and all of the injuries announced.

If any severity is even mentioned it means it will affect the beginning of the season.

Case in point:

Miami Herald reports that Dorrell Wright in Miami has yet to crack the Heat's rotation. Has another standout game.

"Wright had 13 points, 10 rebounds,
two steals and two blocks
against the Hornets on Tuesday"

"Wright has a sprained left ankle

and will wear a cast for one week,
after which he'll need about two more weeks
of rehab before being able to play again"

10/19/2006 10:58:00 PM | Permalink |

What a !@#$%! catch!

What a !@#$%! catch!

Ahhh the image that is forever imprinted on my brain, a witness, to the snapshot, the catch that could define the Mets latest run at the World Series.

For a split second nobody was really sure he caught it or not, not even him.

Endy Chavez in full sprint leapt, drifting towards the wall back first.
Turning he extended, one arm stabbing so slightly at the ball in the webbing on the other side of the fence.
He knew it was still there before he hit the ground and just needed to hold on.

Sweet kudo bonus to Endy.

The Mets surely won over a few new fans.

p.s. brief post i think my cursing woke the kid

10/19/2006 10:15:00 PM | Permalink |

groupies of another kind

Jackson's defense team is claiming that he has done absolutely nothing wrong while the prosecutors are looking at imposing some jail time for his criminal recklessness seeing as he was already on probation.

Stephen Jackson is probably going to get his share of boos every where he goes this season but the Indy Star is reporting that he is getting support from players and friends:

"Stephon Marbury, Mike Bibby and Baron Davis
called. Former teammate Ron Artest tried to call
and later left a message on Jackson's
MySpace Web site page.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown,
who worked with Jackson in San Antonio
and Indianapolis, also sent regards,
as did the Spurs organization.

"It means a lot," Jackson said. "They really know me.
They know I've never been in trouble in my life.
I'm not a bad guy. I ain't no thug like
everybody is trying to portray me to be."

I guess it's just better to have Jack on your side than against you.

10/19/2006 11:38:00 AM | Permalink |

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Dystopian Future or anarchic utopia

Last night while watching V for Vendetta (curious jab at a dystopian future) and the free flowing theatrical prose the central character would extoll in deliberation of his justice, my mind wandered to the semblance of dissertations of the boys at freedarko.

Whilst others pat each other on the back with an onslaught (albeit a necessary cathartic purging of one's self) of previews, Shoals and co. consider the "March of the Positional Revolution" that is sneaking up on us as fans of the Association.

Gone are the:

"positional archetypes: powerful, gigantic center;
rugged power forward; playmaking point guard;
and silky scoring small forward.
The shooting guard became fully defined
in the Jordan era, by both His Airness and
the lowly 3-point specialists he ennobled"

and when the entire team is made of players that embrace such an ideology they [FD] have dubbed the undertaking an "Organizational Revolution" a team assembled on the basis of their players' athletic abilities / merits:

"Maybe only one or two players in the league
are truly beyond positionality; this does not mean,
however, that coaches cannot organize
a team as if their entire roster were.
Creative combinations and unorthodox dynamics
require discarding the anonymity of the
Old Basketball Order for a deeper,
more personal understanding of a player's capabilities.
What matters most is not finding
omnipotent individuals but most effectively
distributing the finite resources of those available."

Until one of the franchises embroiled in the Organizational Revolution completes its transcendent voyage to ultimate fulfilment the evolution of the game and its players will continue to be viewed as experimental.

10/18/2006 10:59:00 PM | Permalink |

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

makeover

Changes were made recently (beginning last season) to the NBA.com website as they resulting in what some are calling a more "crisp" and less crowded visual layout and page design.

Gone is the homepage's Flash scoreboard, in comes the new HTML view ressembling the boxscore page that was introduced last year.

The standings page was revamped as well adding new features such as some new stats that were previously unavailable:

Standings by conference or division;

usual suspects of wins losses,
percentage, games behind,
teams record within conference, division,
home / road ,
streaks,
last ten

Ahead and Behind;

team records at half-time,
after 3 quarters

Margin and Statistics; clearly the best of the new additions to the standings page details abound of a teams win loss record,

overtime record,
by three points or less,
by ten points or more,
when they score 100+,
when opponent scores 100+,
against .500 teams,
when leading in field goal %,
when leading in total rebounds,
when having fewer turnovers

Many of the same features are still present but special dates have been added above the feature columns at the bottom of page where the blogs squads, corporate links, upcoming events, contests, NBA services and NBA 101 are found.

Check it out for yourselves here

10/17/2006 11:52:00 PM | Permalink |

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Washington's fine tuning

Everyone is saying that the Washington Wizards did very little during the offseason in a way it's true but they (re)acquired two new players in Andray Blatche (yeah, the guy that got shot):

"The Wizards should continue to bring him
along slowly and hope he can make
some noise late in the season."

and a recovered Jarvis Hayes (knee surgery) giving the team an entirely different look and a much deeper bench. Even though their major signing of the summer Darius Sonagaila is not 100% (piched nerve in his back), the addition of DeShawn Stevenson in the backcourt gives the Wizards a variety of options for their guard rotations.

Having Jarvis Hayes on the floor changes the look of the team with his three point shooting:

"It should spread the floor more because
you won't see teams cheating off of me
on the backside like they did with Jared"

Why even the coach Eddie Jordan has a new attitude when in a pre-season matchup versus the Bulls he mockingly wondered if they would be "able to score in double digits" against the much revered / hype machine that has become the Chicago defence.

In the meantime Washington is loading up on some valuable assets that may help them finally reach the conference finals.

Make sure you check out Pradamaster's bulletsfever.blogspot.com/ for all your Washington Bullets/Wizards news.

10/15/2006 03:45:00 PM | Permalink |

Chillin' Villain needs a dance move?

Tom Enlund at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Charlie Villanueva, the new PF acquired from Toronto for T.J. Ford back on July 1st, is having a hard time so far this pre-season.

Two games in a row the "Chillin Villain" (freedarko's Dr. Lawyer Indian Chief gets credit for the nickname when he claimed "Milwaukee has constructed the hardest soft frontcourt in The Association by pairing Bogut with Chillin Villain") has fouled out after 22 minutes in the first game and a mere 18 minutes in the second.

"Man, it's frustrating," Villanueva said.
"It's really frustrating. I don't know,
I think I'm being over-aggressive or something,"

"It's frustrating because it gets you out of rhythm.
You're trying to get into a rhythm
and break a sweat out there."

Head coach Terry Stotts responded with:

"We played two teams now that have really looked
to post the big guys early in transition.
He needs to anticipate a little bit more on defense.
When you anticipate and move your feet,
you take yourself out of foul position a lot of the time.
If you're more aggressive, you get rewarded.
At least you don't get called for as many fouls.
So be more assertive and anticipate more.
Because of foul trouble I don't want him
to become less aggressive."

So what happens in the next game? Charlie was a non-factor sure he played 24 minutes getting 8 points, 4 boards only 2 fouls but committed 3 turnovers.

With Bogut out with a leg sprain from a collision he had with Steve Blake, Gadzuric and Skinner will be called upon for lots of minutes up front at the center position, leaving even fewer options at power forward. Furthering the dilemma is the injury to Bobby Simmons who is expected to miss at least a month with a heel injury and unless as Sky Hook at bucksdiary.blogspot.com reminds us:

"thus far in the preseason the Bucks lone draft choice,
6'6'' SF David Noel, has looked like a lottery pick.
And last night he decisively outplayed a real one.
He and the Charlotte Bobcats' Adam Morrison
each played 26 minutes in last night's preseason contest.
Noel made much better use of his time"

Villaneuva plays better when he's aggressive but gets into foul trouble if he can learn to walk the line between the two by working on his footwork, he could provide the Bucks with the scoring option they need, if not, well the lumbering forward may have to adopt the "Antoine Walker shuffle" to get those feet moving.

10/15/2006 02:00:00 PM | Permalink |

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Dalembert the night owl

Dalembert keeps beating up on Euros

"Dalembert averaged 18 points,
14 rebounds and 6 blocks against the Sixers' two
Euroleague opponents on this trip."

"I just told him if he plays like that,
it's going to be hard for anybody to beat us," Iverson said.
"When he plays like that, it's just on us to jump on his back
and just enjoy the ride.
He was like a one-man show out there on defense... ."

"Dalembert said he worked on his game all summer.
Among his regular activities were games
of one-on-one against teammate Shavlik Randolph,
sessions that usually got started at
the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
at midnight or later"

now he faces the Knicks on Saturday in Philly.

I'm betting he keeps it up

10/12/2006 02:42:00 PM | Permalink |

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

the Pacers have ownership issues of another kind

after the Pacers' team meeting at a stripclub the police has decided to run some DNA tests to figure out just who the baggie that was found in Tinlsey's car really belonged to

How long before we see the action somewhere on YouTube?:

"Part of the incident was captured on
Club Rio's security camera,
The grainy video shows Jackson
firing one shot in the air,
then getting struck by the car
The other events occurred outside the camera's view"

Another question the IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert asks is why the DNA test for a midemeanor is being ordered:

"Such tests are commonly requested
when officers seize large quantities of drugs,
but experts say it is very rare for authorities
to look for DNA in a misdemeanor case.
Officials did not say why the DNA test was ordered in this case"

Could the NBA be looking for closure themselves in their attempts at justifying the suspensions they are planning on handing out?

10/11/2006 10:25:00 AM | Permalink |

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

monday linkage

well Dallas is explaining why they didn't make a play for Bonzi Wells by saying they already have one of those in Maurice Ager

"Honestly, I like going to the basket."

after missing the last two Amare now has the best workout so far (yeah like that's saying much) at that pace he'll miss two thirds of the season

what was expected to be the Milwaukee Bucks stating center for the coming season sophomore Andrew Bogut is now sidelined with a left leg "strain" (6 to 8 weeks) and will miss the beginning of the season

the Knicks are practicing free throws the hard way

Chuck Swirsky live-blogs (glogs) the Raptor-Wiz game

10/10/2006 12:07:00 AM | Permalink |

Monday, October 09, 2006

Slam's Sam paints Chauncey

#28 on Slam's 50 is Chauncey

Sam paints him as a guy who fights for the Rock

Here

don't skip over his league wide Dirty 30 rundown of best and worse case scenarios

10/09/2006 11:56:00 PM | Permalink |

bondage

All this talk about playing overseas and you just knew someone was gonna come out with this angle of it, the European vacation as a bonding moment for the team and Iverson actually smiling while Cheeks brushes off the Sixers's loss as a "the guys are just having fun" trip

... kinda like the Pacers extra curricular activities maybe A.I. is just wishing he could've been there in case Jackson needed back-up.

10/09/2006 11:40:00 PM | Permalink |

autumn in the bay

Maybe it'me and maybe i've just missed out on it for so long but one the best news centrals out there (reads almost like an rss feed page) is on nba.com's link central

It allows you to follow up on (for example) the storyline in Golden State with Derek Fisher gone to Utah, Warrior's coach Don Nelson says he will showcase a starting five of:

Troy Murphy at C
Dunleavy at PF
Pietrus at SF
Jrich at SG
Baron at PG

with either

Foyle, Biedrins and Diogu adding size up front (how much Taft and when O'Bryant?)

or

Monta, McLeod or some Wagner in the back (will we see any Dijon or Barnes?)

Contra Costa Times
Richardson Determined to be Healthy for Opener

InsideBayArea.com
Nelson Names Pietrus Starting Small Forward

San Francisco Chronicle
Big Men Have to Adjust

San Francisco Chronicle
Nelson Has New Faith In Pietrus

San Francisco Chronicle
Nelson Points to Dunleavy

SportsLine.com
Murphy Eager to Play Center for Warriors, Nellie

10/09/2006 11:24:00 PM | Permalink |

Friday, October 06, 2006

friday linkage

no surprise but Mike Sweetney showed up to camp out of shape

the Kareem Rush experiment in Seattle appears to have been put on hold as the groin is worse than originally thought

Amare Stoudemire knees are not doing so good and is skipping practice regularly

Jamal Crawford has gained 8lbs.

P.J. Brown wants to play til he turns 40

and of course last but not least:

Stephen Jackson was caught on a security camera tape firing shots from his licensed handgun at a guy who punched him in the face and tried to run over him with his car while in the company of Jamal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels (just fitting right in with the Pacers) and Jimmie Hunter (yes a small amount marijuana was found in Tinsley's car). Read all about it here

10/06/2006 03:32:00 PM | Permalink |

european flavoured NBA pre-season

the NBA Europe live pre-season has begun:

Make sure you check out the NBA Europe site here

despite a double-double performance (21pt 10r) by Samuel Dalembert the 76ers lost to an FC Barcelona that finished third in their league last season 104-99 as Philly shot 54% from the free throw line (26 of 48)-now that's a lot of free throws for a pre-season game, so it's understandable they only shot 3-8 from 3pt land while Barcelona went 10-24 from outside and made the best of the 21 turnovers given to them by the Sixers

Tony Parker rightfully steals the show (yes despite an injured finger) in his native France scored 24 of his 26pts in the first half on 10-13 shooting and added 10 assists as the San Antonio Spurs went on to defeat Lyon 115-90 amidst the "TONY!" chants that shook the arena with 3 minutes left in the game

But the best part is what London Times reporter Ian Whittell writes at ESPN.com:

"when NBA Commissioner David Stern
received an informal proposal from
a delegation of mighty Spanish sporting club Real Madrid
that could lead to five NBA expansion franchises
one day being placed in Europe"

Whittell reminds us that this is not the first time we hear about NBA expansion into Europe (arena issues were the stumbling block):

"The lack of suitable venues
-- not travel or scheduling problems --
remains the biggest single obstacle
to possible European development"

"Smaller venues, lagging behind their American equivalents
in features such as suites, concessions and parking,
would not generate the necessary income
over a 41-game NBA home season"

Sounds like: "if you build it they will come"

10/06/2006 03:01:00 PM | Permalink |

Thursday, October 05, 2006

the Sports Forecaster's free mag

Go here to get ur free copy in Adobe format of The Sports Forecaster's 2006 basketball 80 page preview -projections / team reports / player reports

(approx. 5Mb)

10/05/2006 02:11:00 PM | Permalink |

the end of the bounce pass?

much is being made about the new ball the NBA has adopted made of a composite material the change was done to improve the "grip" but the overall comments surfacing have ressembled stuff like; too sticky when dry, too slippery when wet

the majority of the players simply don't like it (they were not consulted on this issue)

Hopefully the transition period will be a short one but it may take some time getting used to it despite the fact that the players have only one month before the season kicks off

for more opinions go here

10/05/2006 01:39:00 PM | Permalink |

can Chandler break out of his coccoon?

ever since his rookie campaign Tyson Chandler's offseasons have been highlighted by talks of improving his offensive game. Well nothing has changed this time around following a trade to NOOCH (Hornets), Chandler has wiped the slate clean with a new coach, teammates, and overall philosophy the transition may finally occur:

"I've already stated to Tyson about
his offensive rebounding and (passing the ball back) out --
I want him to be aggressive and put it back in"

"I'm going to give him the opportunity; there's no doubt about it"

"I do have a chip on my shoulder, in a good way," Chandler said.
"I feel like there's a lot of doubters,
and that's always a good thing,
because there's something to prove.
I can wake a lot of people up"

10/05/2006 01:15:00 PM | Permalink |

practice restrictions

the Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk brings up an interesting point concerning the practice policy the league (and the players association) has adopted and the end product on the court:

"Teams are allowed precisely three hours of court time daily"

"League rules also say that only one
of the workouts can include defensive contact"

I don't think I'm the only one who is still surprised by this as Gherardini the Ast GM to Colangelo says :

"As crazy as it sounds to you,
there are (European) teams
that practise three times a day"

"Players can be on the court,
but players need to be on the court
with the right people telling them
what is right and what is wrong."

10/05/2006 12:46:00 PM | Permalink |

the vision of Free Darko

the boys at FreeDarko have come up with a 15 step "treatise" on how to improve the NBA

10/05/2006 11:53:00 AM | Permalink |

Gladwell on sportswriting

Malcolm Gladwell author of Blink and The Tipping Point runs his own blog, in his latest post he covers athletic prowess and the "degree of difficulty issues is one of the major reasons for conflict between insiders and outsiders" and extends that argument over to sportswriting in an attempt to appreciate the feats of writers as Bill Simmons and the comedic spin he delivers in his journal for ESPN on page 2

10/05/2006 10:51:00 AM | Permalink |

Darius Miles rehabbing knee

it seems that Darius Miles is gonna miss the first two weeks of training camp so that he can rehab his ailing right knee. Head Coach Nate McMillan is planning on primarily using Martell Webster at small forward and spelling him with Travis Outlaw or Brandon Roy read Oregonlive article here

10/05/2006 10:39:00 AM | Permalink |

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

ai's going thru the motions

Before leaving for Europe for some exhibition pre-season games the Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers met with the media for a ho-hum press conference:

"It's the same song and dance every year," Iverson said glumly.
"I come into this press conference and say the same thing.
I'll do anything it will take to win,
and I'll play as hard as I can play
and I give it everything that I have.
I think every year that I've done that."

Yikes!

He sounds even more blazé than usual ...are the playoffs that much of a stretch? The good news is that he seems to have taken some pride in being an 'original' Sixer

"I don't think there will ever be a day
where I'll ask to leave."

10/04/2006 05:08:00 PM | Permalink |

Monday, October 02, 2006

Shaq says gimme five

At the end of last year's championship run with the Miami Heat, his fourth title, Shaq said:

"We'll see you again next year. Yeah, I said it.
Yeah, I said it. We will do it again next year."

Well now here's the Diesel again in an interview with the Associated Press as he sums up the eastern conference offseason and what to expect

"Five, for me, the motivation's five."

"We have a formula and we're going to stick to that formula.
A lot of guys are getting better,
but I'm not impressed by what anybody else has done.
I've seen it all before. We know what we have to do.
We already know teams, when they come play us,
they play extra hard. We`ll be ready."

"It's all about winning more titles
The first three championships that I won, I won them.
I had big numbers and I won them, and last year,
the guys won it for me. They won it for the big guy.
Numbers are overrated. There's a lot of guys in this league
who can say they've got great numbers.
But they can't say they`ve got four rings in the last six years."

If the Miami Heat won the championship for Shaquille O'Neal does he feel like he owes the rest of the team something in return now? How motivated is he gonna be? At the age of 33 how much can he really contribute?

Lots of questions, the answers will come in an 82 game format and then some.

10/02/2006 02:53:00 PM | Permalink |

Sunday, October 01, 2006

pubescent development or growing pains

The Miami Herald is reporting that Dorrell Wright, the now 20 year old Miami Heat guard that has yet to see regular minutes has grown another inch and is now listed at 6'9 (was 6'7/6'8 when drafted out of high school in 2004 #19)

"I've grown another inch," Wright said.
"I know I'm getting taller, and since I'm so young,
my body, I don't know what it wants to do,
gain weight, be skinny or what.
It's kind of up and down right now.
I'm supposed to be 6-10. Hopefully I'll get there this year."

While just a little further north up the coast the Atlanta Journal Consititution covers local boy, Josh Smith reporting that he has done some experimenting and has added 10 lbs of muscle bringing his weight up to 240.

"It's time for me to let it all hang out
and not hold back.
That's what I did the second half of last year.
I realized that the responsibility
for my actions was on me.
I love being responsible for the Hawks name
in my hometown.
And I'm as eager as anybody to see
what we're going to do this year"

Something to follow during the course of the season will their growth be positive adding yet another dimension to their game or will it be a hindrance to their development

10/01/2006 02:42:00 PM | Permalink |

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