Orlando Magic’s own #31, Adonal Foyle, is hosting a happy hour tomorrow night, November 17, at The Black Olive in downtown Orlando to benefit the Kerosene Lamp Foundation.

When: November 17, 2009
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Where: The Black Olive, 22 E Pine Street, Orlando
Why: To raise funds for disadvantaged youth in the Eastern Caribbean (Foyle’s a native of St. Vincents & the Grenadines)

$15 will get you a glass of wine, hors d’oevres and a raffle ticket.

For more info, e-mail: info@kerosenelampfoundation.org.

Following on from our recent features on teams without a future (the Raptors and the Kings), we’ve come to the latest in the installment: the inimitably run Golden State Warriors.

"I treat this little fella better than most of my rookies."

First things first, I’m adding a fairly large caveat to this feature: I am not going to mention Don Nelson.

We’re talking about the future of the team, and — at least, theoretically — you can fire Nellie. Whilst his decision making and constant mind games with his playing personel is one thing, we’re going to focus on the playing staff and how this rag tag band can possibly be transformed into a contender.

On initial inspection, the Warriors seem to be a team with a bright future. The unique skills of Anthony Randolph, the scoring and up-tempo potential of Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis, and the creepiness of Fritzl-in-the-making Andris Biedrins, make an entertaining, and promising, core. Surely a lot of teams out there with aging veterans cobbled together for one last roll of the dice would covet the Warriors’ outlook? Think again.

Let’s look at some of the salary facts. Whilst there’s no glaringly obvious Eddy Curry or Zach Randolph on this team, cumulatively there have been enough woeful contract decisions to seriously hamper the team’s long term flexibility:

#1: They currently owe Stephen Jackson — a man who has openly declared he doesn’t want to play for them — $36 million over the next 4 years. Not much to pay for your mercurial captain? Well, he’ll be 35 by the time this contract is expired… alarm bells ringing yet?

Jackson’s contract is close to untradeable, but he’s by no means the worst asset on the team, in contract terms.

#2: $40m over 4 years. That’s how much money they owe Corey Maggette; one of the most dispensable scoring 3s in recent history. This is the guy that KG once congratulated after a blowout loss with the elegant insult, “way to get your numbers”. In the context of this current environment of fiscal responsibility, it’s incomprehensible that Corey Maggette got this contract last year. It’s bewildering to pay that much for a solid 18 ppg at a bad clip, and nothing else.

#3: Now, the third piece of the puzzle. Monta Ellis. While he’s exciting, and — at his best — could be a good deal on his $11m per year deal, he’s hardly the guy you want to build around. He injured himself by engaging in contractually prohibited activity in the offseason directly after getting overpaid. He has openly declared that he “cannot” play with the team’s first round draft choice. He once finished second in a chilli eating contest rumoured to have been instigated by Adonal Foyle. You get the picture that he isn’t exactly a young franchise player in the making.

In fact, with Ellis, Jackson and Maggette — three guys who think of themselves ahead of almost anyone else — and SVU suspect in the making, Biedrins, the Warriors have nearly $41m dollars committed through to 2013.

The good news is they’ll still have room for a max/near max player. The bad news is that they’ll need to field a team of 5 players — including the bench — to succeed in doing this.

Posted by: James

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It seems with every passing week of the summer, NBA players pad their egos and karmic banks with charity events, raising fractions of their incomes for their cause of choice, and generally getting their backs slapped by each other and their entourages. Good on, them, I say. Even if many of these events reek of narcissism and tax breaks, it still beats buying a big-ass chain and a property in the Cayman Islands.

However, some of these charity events are far from super entertaining, so the Sport Count has decided to weigh in with our creative ideas on how to make these charities both newsworthy and great for the kids involved.

'Count my points, little girl, and I'll cure your illnesses.'

Allen Iverson | Numbers for My Numbers

We all know that Allen likes numbers — preferably in his stat line.

To make up for his lack of them last year, Iverson starts a foundation which hands out factsheets and textbooks prior to every game, so children can learn to count with AI, by filling in his points, assists, rebounds, steals and — most importantly — minutes.

Iverson pulls the plug when kids start tallying his turnovers.

Greg Oden | Post-up Against Progeria

Whilst he doesn’t have progeria (a debilitating disease where a child’s body ages rapidly), Greg Oden understands what it’s like to age early — both in his ridiculously old-looking face, and his ridiculously old-feeling/moving/hurting knees.

Oden invites fellow NBA progerite, LeBron James, who ends the event by confiscating a tape of a frail child walking past him.

Monta Ellis | Monta’s Mopeds for MS

San Francisco is a hilly place, which is great for the thrill-seeking Monta and his adventurous multiple sclerosis benefit.

Monta chose MS on the basis of alliteration, and bolted on a charity element after discussing with his accountant ways to bolt tax breaks and benevolence  on to his regular off-season preparation.

Mike Conley | Frag-Fest for Fibrosis

Mike Conley combines his love of gaming with his love, um, hate of cystic fibrosis by holding the largest not-for-profit LAN gaming event ever seen.

With such video game luminaries as Andrew Bynum, Chris Bosh and Hakim Warrick on hand, Conley’s event establishes itself as the least sociable charity event of all time.

'I made this charity chili while sitting on the bench.'

Adonal Foyle | Adonal’s Chili Bake-Off

A lot of people don’t know this, but Adonal Foyle makes a mean chili. His chili is so mean that he’s the only person to ever defeat Monta Ellis in an extreme eating contest, and given Monta’s love of action sports, that’s no mean feat.

Foyle’s Chili Bake off currently has no cause. However, it would be easily inserted into any organisation’s sponsorship program or company’s CSR program.

Posted by: James

Follow the Sport Count on Twitter.

In the midst of searching for a new team, Adonal Foyle still finds time to help others in St. Vincent and Grenadines

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-43-37/Adonal-Foyle–Altruism-and-Happiness.html

Todo contrato de deportista profesional suele contar con un sueldo base, aumentado luego según diferentes incentivos que pueda ir cumpliendo el jugador: ya sabéis, como meter 30 goles en fútbol, meter 100 triples en una temporada, cosas así. Sin embargo, algunos jugadores NBA tienen incentivos ciertamente curiosos en sus contratos…

Leo en NJ.com un listado de los incentivos más inusuales de la liga, y me quedo de piedra al ver algunos de ellos. Entra dentro de lo normal incentivar a un jugador propenso a las lesiones por el número de partidos que juegue en una temporada… pero Baron Davis tiene un incentivo por el cual cobra un millón de dólares más si juega 70 partidos en una temporada y gana al menos 30 de ellos. En otras palabras, cobra un millonazo de dólares (que es mucho dinero) por jugar 12 partidos menos de lo que suele jugar casi cualquier hijo de vecino… y por alcanzar la pírrica cifra de 30 victorias. Yo también quiero un incentivo así. (Por cierto, para que quede constancia, Davis sólo ha superado los 70 partidos en una de las últimas siete temporadas…)

Pero ese es uno de los incentivos más “normalitos”. Matt Bonner, el hombre de los San Antonio Spurs, tiene un incentivo por el cual cobra 100.000 dólares más si la suma de su porcentaje de tiros de uno, de dos y de tres supera 169 (no 170, ni 168… me imagino a su agente peleando con los hombres de los Spurs por un… ¿1 por trescientos?). Para aquellos que os lo estéis preguntando, Bonner ha superado esa cifra en dos ocasiones… concretamente, en los dos años que jugó en Toronto. Por ahora no ha logrado llevarse esos 100.000 pavos en Texas…

Dicen que Pat Riley y los Heat están obsesionados por la forma física de sus jugadores. Varios miembros de la plantilla, entre ellos Mario Chalmers, tienen un incentivo de algo menos de 20.000 dólares asistir a una liga de verano y apuntarse al programa de acondicionamiento físico del equipo. Tampoco parece mucha pasta… seguro que gente como Antoine Walker se privaría del “placer” si eso sólo iba a suponer el ingreso de unos pírricos 20.000 dólares.

Más rarezas. Nick Collison, el gran Collison, tiene un incentivo de 100.000 dólares… por ganar el MVP de la liga. (Pausa de varios segundos para apaciguar la risa). Por Dios… ¡si Collison gana algún año el MVP, será para hacerle un monumento, no para darle 100.000 dólares! El agente que firmara ese incentivo debía de ser un cachondo…

Otro con incentivo por ganar el MVP, en este caso de 500.000 dólares, es Adonal Foyle (sí, hombre, ese center que chupó banquillo en los Warriors durante una década antes de pasar a hacerlo en Orlando…). Lo de Foyle ya es de traca, porque tiene otros 500.000 dólares de incentivo por ser el MVP de las Finales de la NBA. Para los curiosos, Foyle ha jugado un total de 8 partidos de playoffs en su carrera… y aunque dos de ellos fueron este año pasado con los Magic, no jugó ni un solo minuto en la final, de manera que no pudo intentar ganar ese medio milloncejo.

Pero el MVP no es el único galardón por el que se ofrecen incentivos. También lo hay por ser Jugador Defensivo del Año: Luke Ridnour ganaría 1,5 millones más por llevarse ese galardón. Por desgracia para él, nunca ha estado demasiado cerca… Por último, Rafer Alston gana 15.000 dólares cada vez que es nombrado Jugador de la Semana, hasta un máximo de 120.000, y 50.000 si es elegido Jugador del Mes. También ganaría 325.000 dólares más si jugara un All-Star. Hasta ahora, no ha conseguido ninguna de las tres cosas…

Luego están los incentivos que premian a los jugadores por algo que deberían hacer de por sí con los sueldos que cobran: Carlos Boozer cobra 333.333 dólares (curiosa cifra) si juega 65 partidos y termina entre los 12 mejores reboteadores de la liga… cosa que ha conseguido, como mínimo, en dos ocasiones. Larry Hughes cobraría 1,6 millones si su equipo gana 55 victorias o más… aunque no especifica si él tiene que contribuir en algún sentido a esas victorias. Seguro que no le importaría fichar por los Cavs o los Lakers…

Por último, un jugador con muchos incentivos es Tony Battie, que se embolsaría 100.000 dólares por jugar 50 partidos y promediar 8 rebotes, otros 100.000 por jugar 50 partidos y lanzar 5 tiros libres por partido, y otros 100.000 por jugar 50 partidos y llegar a segunda ronda de playoffs. Este año pasado imagino que se embolsó 100.000 pavos de más gracias a la buena marcha del equipo en playoffs: lo de promediar 8 rebotes y 5 tiros libres está más complicado…

A la vista de todo esto, no puedo evitar acordarme del contratazo recién firmado por Anderson Varejao con los Cavs, por 50 millones en 5 años, y que, dicen, está plagado de incentivos. ¿Qué tendrá que hacer el Actor Secundario Bob para llevarse toda esa pasta? ¿Tener los mismos números que LeBron James, o algo así?

Hala, y con la sonrisa que me ha provocado este tema os deseo un buen fin de semana…

This video gives the Orlando Magic my vote of confidence in tonight’s Game 2.

Could it get any more perfect? This is the perfect video for not only this website, but for fans of Marcin Gortat. How can you not just help but laugh at the “Polish Hammer’s” reaction in this video, it’s priceless.

For some reason, Adonal Foyle also cracked me up.

(Credit to Steve Reed for putting me up on these gems)

You’ve seen him sitting on the bench. You’ve seen him pat his teammates on the back. You’ve even seen him get three minutes in a blow-out, contributing hustle rebounds and inexplicable turnovers. But what do you really know about D.J. Mbenga?

Didier Ilunga-Mbenga is an enigma, a large-eyed Belgian mystery. He appears good-natured, the Fezzik of the league. Like that friendly giant of popular culture yore, Mbenga was born into cruel circumstances:

“Congo Cash” was born in and raised in Zaire [...] where his father was a government employee. When a new regime took over power, it sought everyone who worked for the previous leader. As unrest in the country escalated, Mbenga’s father was imprisoned^. Although he was eventually unable to save himself, he did manage to negotiate on behalf of his sons, who were also imprisoned and waiting to be executed. Mbenga fled the country on a plane to Belgium, where he received asylum. While living in a refugee center, he was discovered by Belgian basketball legend Willy Steveniers, who eventually served as Mbenga’s personal basketball mentor.

An incredible story… and just the kind of tale of misfortune overcome that Adonal Foyle would really enjoy reading about.

Yes, Adonal is a reader. (He’s also a member of a profession in which simply reading books consistently marks you as a person of substantial interest).

He’s also a writer of poetry — he collaborates with Washington Wizards centre Etan Thomas — and book reviews. In 2001, he founded Democracy Matters, a grassroots organisation designed to ‘counteract apathy’ on campuses across the United States. In other words, he’s a very good human.

And so, when an enigmatic benchwarmer with a personal history out of a James Baldwin anecdote goes head-to-head with a literate, thinktank-operating walking inspiration, what do you have?

You have a battle played out in the timeouts and stoppages of the Finals; two engaging (if only sporadically active) ballers duking it out in the ‘getting to know the players’ promos run by ESPN, ABC and TNT.

Human interest — that’s Foyle’s bread and butter. But with Mbenga’s tale of international adversity, D.J. is a dark horse candidate to steal the narrative limelight from Adonal.

Advantage: Anyone who loves a good story!

Tyronn 'Ken' Lue Vs. Sun 'Chun-Li' Yue

Yue starts the round by blocking — a prudent move against the fireball happy Lue, who blazes away with two medium punch hadokens.

Lue then leaps backward, only to be thwarted by Yue’s spinning bird kick, which is good enough for first strike and some additional damage.

Now cornered, Lue brings out the big guns, a three hit dragon-punch, right to the guts, sending the bench splintering and Sun Yue’s hopes at game time spinning away as fast as the birds around his head.

Dizzied, Lue throws Yue across the screen. This one looks like it’s over…

The screen flashes yellow… you know what time it is: ULTRA COMBO! Sun Yue strings together a 16-hit spinning bird kick, feather kick finisher, ending this bout.

Neither player flirts with court time throughout the whole round.

Posted By: Anton & James

Today was deadline day in the world of sports.  The NBA had their trade deadline which ended at 3pm EST and the NFL had their deadline for teams to place their franchise tag.  As it has been in recent years, deadline day was pretty uneventful.  No big names were moved in the NBA and how interesting are franchise tags really?  Anyway, here’s a breakdown of today’s NBA trades.

The biggest trade of the day was a 3 team deal featuring the Rockets, the Magic, and the Grizzlies.

• The Rockets receive: Kyle Lowry, Brian Cook
• The Magic receive: Rafer Alston
• The Grizzlies receive: 2009 1st round pick (Orlando), Mike Wilks, Adonal Foyle, cash

I’d give this deal a B for all three teams.  The Rockets get rid of an aging Alston and his $5 million contract and get a young PG in Lowry to groom for when T-Mac gets back.  The Magic get a viable replacement for the injured Jameer Nelson who will be out for the season.  The Grizzlies get some cash and expiring contracts as well as a  late 1st round pick.  More importantly, they answer the question of Mike Conley or Kyle Lowry.  This move keeps the Magic in the top 3 in the East and shows Houston’s willingness to suspend their hopes until next season.

Next, a deal between the Thunder and the Bulls.

• The Thunder receive: Thabo Sefolosha
• The Bulls receive: The lesser of Phoenix and Denver’s 1st round picks

This trade makes sense for both teams but is pretty uneventful overall, I’d give both teams a C.  The Thunder need some defense in their starting lineup, especially in the backcourt considering Durant does nothing but shoot.  They only give up a late 1st rounder.  The Bulls unload a completely expendable Sefolosha now that they have a stacked backcourt with Hinrich, Rose, Gordon, and Salmons and they get a late 1st rounder in return, not bad.

In another move involving the Thunder, they make a player for player deal with the Knicks.

• The Thunder receive: Malik Rose, cash
• The Bulls receive: Chris Wilcox

I give the Knicks a B and the Thunder a C on this one.  The Knicks get a pretty good player with an expiring contract who can help them throughout the remainder of the season and help them get some money off the books after the season.  The Thunder get a lesser player but they do get some money out of it from the Knicks.

The Knicks also made a move with the Bulls (seems like there’s only 3-4 teams making moves).

• The Knicks receive: Larry Hughes
• The Bulls receive: Jerome James, Tim Thomas, Anthony Roberson

This deal is one of my favorites.  Tim Thomas leaves the Knicks (for the second time) to go the Bulls (for the second time) to play for a coach that he once played along side.  Jerome James and Anthony Roberson are virtually useless in this deal so it’s basically a player for player swap with others thrown in for cap balance.  The Bulls needed a SF and the Knicks needed a SG.  Neither acquisition is too good but it fits a little better than what they had.  C’s all around.

The T-Wolves and the Kings broke the trend of all New York, Chicago, and OKC.

• The T-Wolves receive: Shelden Williams, Bobby Brown
• The Kings receive: Rashad McCants, Calvin Booth

I give both teams an A for this one.  Williams, Brown, and Booth all have expiring contracts, and the Wolves have been pretty open about wanting to get rid of McCants.  The Wolves get some salary dump and the Kings get a player with a lot of potential.  I loved McCants coming out of UNC (in part because I love UNC) and he has shown a lot of ability to score.  If he can be taught to play defense and pass the ball, he can be a great player.

You probably know a lot about basketball. But unless you’re Hubie Brown, you don’t know everything. Here are some interesting facts that may have passed you by:

Gerald & Mariah: Childhood friends.

Did You Know? Gerald Wallace grew up next door to Mariah Carey.

Did You Know? Ben Gordon has a 117mph fastball.

Did You Know? David Lee played Claire Fisher’s boyfriend on season three of Six Feet Under.

Did You Know? Mo Williams upset his then-teammate Desmond Mason by menacingly telling Mason that he is ‘going straight to hell,’ without explaining why.

Did You Know? Ronald ‘Flip’ Murray’s nickname stems from his love of John Kerry.

Did You Know? Danilo Gallinari is a direct descendant of the Medici family.

Did You Know? Shelden Williams once beat Pat Riley in a game of Risk after a chance meeting at a Vegas hotel pool in the off-season.

'Even Rick would have been fine.'

Did You Know? Dallas Mavericks General Manager Donnie Nelson has always resented the fact his dad didn’t give him his own name, ‘like Bruce or Mike or something.’ These feelings came to a head during the 2007 Warriors-Mavericks playoff series, during which Mark Cuban was seen gently holding a sobbing Donnie by a concession stand.

Did You Know? Allen Iverson’s favourite Sega Genesis game was Columns.

Did You Know? Stephon Marbury has written an unpublished ebonics translation of the Bible, called ‘The Juice.’

Did You Know? Adonal Foyle once came 2nd in the Florida Annual Big Chili Cook-Off.

Did You Know? Robert Swift speaks Thai.

Did You Know? Luc Mbah a Moute has a courtside translator.

Did You Know? LaMarcus Aldridge was originally going to be called Rebecca, until he was born a boy.

Did You Know? Corey Maggette claims to have eaten 96 kinds of hot sauce, and calculates he’ll eat his 100th with good friend Adonal Foyle at the ‘09 Northwest Cook-Off.

An early 30 Seconds promo shoot.

Did You Know? Luke Ridnour was the original drummer in 30 seconds to Mars.

Did You Know? While injured, Greg Oden wore a ’spinner hat’ to each Blazers practice last year, leaving coach Nate McMillan both confused and amused.

Did You Know? Jarrett Jack gets ‘weirded the fuck out’ every time he hears the way his surname is pronounced on NBA 2k8. ‘It sounds like the dude is jerking,’ Jarrett said to Steve Blake during a gaming session last year. Steve Blake agreed.

Did You Know? Andrea Bargnani wishes he was given less playing time.

Posted By: Anton, Alex & James

At face value, the answer is simple. Having surpassed Erick Dampier’s all-time Mississippi State record of 249 career blocked shots this past Saturday, Jarvis Varnado is clearly more prolific at sending the ball back from where it came. Even more amazing is that Varnado needed 20 less games than Dampier to amass his current career total of 255 blocks.

But totals are one thing, is Jarvis Varnado a better shot blocker than Erick Dampier? The stats point to yes.

Per game statistics don’t tell the whole story as they don’t always indicate how a player performs with the minutes he is given. Dampier averaged 2.7 blocks per game for his career. So far, Varnado is swatting 3.5 per game.

Part of the deeper tale is how many blocks a player is getting in his minutes on the court. For his career, Dampier averaged 28.4 minutes per game. So far, Varnado is clocking in at 21.1 per. To even the playing field, let’s compare how many blocks each player swatted per 25 minutes on the court in each of their first three years.

Full Raw Data Spreadsheet

As you can see, while Dampier remained a consistent shot blocker throughout his three-year career (a 2.36 blocks per 25 minutes average), Varnado is improving his rate. Of course, the 08-09 sample is small as Varnado has only played four games against inferior competition. However, Jarvis’ rate increased 14.5% between his freshman and sophomore years, while Dampier’s went down 4.6%.

What percentage of opponent shots are blocked?

If the opponent is shooting more shots, then there are more opportunities for blocks. Part of assessing the shot blocking prowess of Dampier and Varnado is looking at what percentage of opponent field-goal attempts end up being blocked by those individual players. However, it’s hard to directly compare because Varnado only averaged 13.5 minutes per game his freshman year while Dampier averaged 23.4 minutes per game in his first season at Mississippi State.

I don’t have a way of measuring exactly how many shots were taken while Varnado and Dampier were on the court. I’m sure those in-depth statistics are kept by someone, but they are not available to me. So, for each respective season, I’ll adjust total opponent field goal attempts to match the ratio of each player’s average minutes to the full 40 minutes of a college basketball game. It’s an imperfect statistic, but it better compares the percentage of opponent attempts blocked when the players are averaging different amounts of minutes per game.

If you want to better understand, you can check the full data here. Similar to blocks per 25 minutes, Dampier’s numbers remain relatively flat throughout his career. I won’t necessarily discuss this current year for Varnado since, as mentioned, the sample size is so small. Dampier blocked about 6% of opponent shot attempts adjusted to his time on the court (6.13% career average). Varnado, in contrast, has sent back more than one out of every 10 opponent field-goal attempts adjusted for his time on the court (10.67% career average).

Block, but don’t foul.

Blocking shots is an art. A player must have discipline and cannot go after every shot that comes his way or he’ll be spending time on the bench, unavailable to help his team. So, an obvious comparison would be to look at how many shots a player blocks against how many fouls he is committing.

Raw Spreadsheet Data

Both players have similar blocks-per-foul ratios for their first seasons (Dampier – 0.79, Varnado – 0.91). However, in year two, when both players averaged similar minutes per game (Dampier 28.4, Varnado – 28.5), and when both players committed 99 fouls on the season, Varnado swatted 79 more shots than Big Damp.

SEC Record Book

Last year, Jarvis Varnado tied Shaquille O’Neal for most blocks by an SEC player in a season with 157, albeit O’Neal accomplished that number in four less games.

SEC Record Book [PDF]

Currently, with 255, Varnado ranks 9th on the SEC’s list for most career blocks:

1. Shaquille O’Neal, LSU (90-92) – 412
2. Kyle Davis, Auburn (01-04) – 360
3. Lavon Mercer, Georgia (77-80) – 327
4. Steven Hill, Arkansas (05-08) – 318
5. Robert Horry, Alabama (89-92) – 285
6. Dwayne Schintzius, Florida (86-90) – 272
7. Jamaal Magloire, Kentucky (97-00) – 268
8. Roy Rogers, Alabama (93-96) – 266

Will Varnado finish his career as the SEC’s all-time leader in shots blocked? Undoubtedly. For one, I simply cannot see Varnado jumping to the NBA after this season. If he were three inches taller, maybe. But the kid is still skinny and his offensive game has a long way to go. Of course, that’s not to say he can’t be in the league as a hustling, defending big who runs the floor like a gazelle, yet with not much offensive game to speak of. However, NBA players have the strength and know-how to avoid getting their shot blocked, so Varnado would be much better prepared for the next level with four full years of college seasoning.

If Varnado repeats his sophomore block amount of 157 in each of these next two seasons (which would total 538 career blocks), he’d not only shatter the SEC career record, but would also break the NCAA Division I career shots blocked record. (The list: Wojciech Mydra, Louisiana Monroe: 1998-2002 – 535; Adonal Foyle, Colgate: 1994-97 – 492; Tim Duncan, Wake Forest: 1993-97 – 481; Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown: 1988-92 – 453; Ken Johnson, Ohio State: 1997-2001 – 444).

With 19.7% of last year’s total through only four games, Varnado is well on his way to breaking more records. No, he won’t continue to face the North Alabamas and Fairleigh Dickinsons of the world, but I imagine that Varnado’s minutes, currently 24.5 per game (down 4 minutes from last year), will increase as the competition increases.

Either way, don’t blink Mississippi State fans, you may be watching the best shot blocker in college basketball history, much less Mississippi State school history.

Other Notes:

Varnado was also named the SEC player of the week, here are the media coverage links:

• “The Blog” Clarion-Ledger
• Inside Mississippi State Sports with Brad Locke
• Varnado Tabbed SEC Player Of The Week – MStateAthletics.com
• MSU’s Varnado named SEC basketball player of the week – Clarion-Ledger

Easily the most impressive performance last night on the docket in the NBA was put forth by the Magic:

Magic 118, Bobcats 80
Full Play-By-Play
Box Score
Recap

If you look at that 1st Quarter demolition Orlando laid on Charlotte [an improved squad, in their own right], it’s apparent that the Magic mean business this year.

The most impressive individual lines from the perspective of this corner?

The three highlighted in bold and italicized below.

——————————————-

Field Goals			Rebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	pts
M.Pietrus	G	24:50	5-8	1-3	2-2	0	4	4	2	4	1	4	2	13
J.Nelson	G	20:38	2-5	0-1	6-6	0	5	5	1	4	0	1	0	10
H.Turkoglu	F	24:10	2-5	1-3	4-4	1	1	2	1	6	0	1	0	9
R.Lewis	F	22:05	5-8	0-2	7-8	2	1	3	4	4	1	2	1	17
D.Howard	C	25:05	6-9	0-0	8-10	3	5	8	1	2	0	5	5	20
B.Cook		18:20	1-10	1-3	6-6	1	3	4	0	2	1	1	0	9
T.Battie		18:18	3-3	0-0	2-2	1	6	7	0	0	1	0	0	8
C.Lee		17:54	4-8	0-1	1-2	0	4	4	1	2	1	1	0	9
A.Johnson		17:14	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	7	4	0	2	0	0
A.Foyle		15:20	2-4	0-0	3-4	3	3	6	1	3	1	1	2	7
J.Redick		13:58	3-4	1-2	5-5	0	2	2	0	1	0	1	0	12
J.Richardson		12:00	0-4	0-0	2-2	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
M.Wilks		10:08	0-2	0-0	2-2	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	2
K.Bogans			-	-	-
M.Gortat			-	-	-
D.Jones			-	-	-
Total		240	33-70	4-15	48-53	12	37	49	18	33	7	19	10	118
			47.1%	26.7%	90.6%	Team Rebs: 5				Total TO: 19

——————————————-

If Orlando can get consistent production from their three main new additions to the line-up, like this …

* Pietrus, with a solid all-around game;
* Johnson-A, with 0 shot attempts, 7 assists and 2 turnovers; and,
* Battie, with a solid all-around game;

they are going to join the Celtics and the Pistons, as a legitimate 3rd team, in the fight for the No. 1 Seed (overall) in the Eastern Conference Playoffs this season.

[Note 1: With Keith Bogans and a healthy JJ Redick ... i.e. two improving 3PT-shooters ... coming off the bench for the Magic, there will be few, if any, gaping holes remaining in Orlando's line-up.]

After running a fine-toothed comb through the champion Celtic roster, The Sport Count team heads way out west to apply its famed analytical skills to the Bay Area’s best.

B-Diddy turns his back on Golden State, just as he would in the off-season.

Golden State Warriors | Total Salary: $56,133,870

Straight off the bat, $56M doesn’t seem like much to pay for a team who knocked the Western Conference champions out of the playoffs two years ago, and only just missed the post-season last year.

These past two seasons have been characterised by the excitement prompted by Golden State’s hyper-offensive plays, and their colourful team: Baron Davis’ unbelievable consistency, Monta Ellis’ breakout season, and Stephen Jackson’s fixation with handguns.

But then the off-season happened. Baron packed up bags for a town a few clicks south, Monta did something and now won’t start the season, and the Warriors’ cap space was gambled on a European (always a mistake) and a talented-but-egocentric swingman. So for now, Golden State are an unknown quantity. Can Monta fulfill his role at the point? Will Maggette fit into a team where he isn’t the first option on offence? Will Biedrins justify his obscene contract?

If so, we might see another season of upsets in the West. If not, Golden State will be the new Clippers.

Adonal Foyle | $9,750,000 | 1 year

It’s impossible not to like Adonal Foyle. He has a history degree, founded a grassroots organisation called Democracy Matters, and reviews his favourite books on his official site. He’s a genuinely fantastic human being.

Regardless, Adonal could cure cancer in the off-season and his bloated salary would still be ridiculous. Especially considering he’s not even on the Warriors roster.

Al Harrington | $9,226,250 | 2 years

Harrington has a great contract. Having a young guy who can score and play a bit of defense inside is a great commodity — particularly one who can stick with the ridiculously high-octane offense Nelly is runs.

The issue with this contract is that Harrington is being stupidly used — because the Warriors don’t do half-court sets, Harrington is constantly forced to the perimeter. So while we’ve got $9M in contract just oozing potential, who knows if we’ll ever get the chance to see if it’s worth it. Oh well, that’s Don Nelson.

Andris Biedrins | $9,000,000 | 5 years

When you’re looking at the $9M over two which Harrington is getting as a bargain, you can then look at this contract and start to think a little closer about Golden State management. They let Baron Davis go – who was only looking for a couple of million more than Biedrins – and instead signed their undersized, soft-as-tissue-paper big man for nearly $50M over five years. Well, that’s just silly.

Every time I see the pundits on ESPN or wherever talk about how ‘this is a solid signing for the Warriors,’ I laugh and cry simultaneously because, as a Knicks fan I know that, somehow, Biedrins will end up in the blue and orange before too long. In fact, this contract makes me want to instigate a new salary cap rule: Europeans are only allowed to be paid $5M or less a season. The league will thank me.

Corey Maggette | $8,600,000 | 5 years

Anyone who has owned Maggette in a fantasy team, or watched one of the two Clippers games ESPN has ever shown, would be aware of his consistently respectable offensive numbers. He is more than competent at the two position; a quality second-tier shooting guard. At Golden State, Maggette looks to benefit from having Monta (unless something drastic happens), Al Harrington and Captain Jack around, as he’s unlikely to be guarded by the opposition’s best defensive player.

At the same time, you get the feeling that no longer being the stand-out shooting option on the team could be something Corey finds it hard to adjust to. The contract this year is worth the gamble. In five years’ time though, he just might be the next Larry Hughes.

(Side note: Interestingly, when you look up the word Maggette in a French dictionary, the literal translation is ‘knee-jerk’).

Stephen Jackson: a talented forward, an even more talented set thrower.

Stephen Jackson | $7,140,000 | 2 years

A wonderful contract, because it adheres to ‘The Artest Principle,’ whereby a hugely talented guy with ‘character issues’ will always be available cheaply.

Unless Captain Jack starts spraying bullets down by North Beach, he’ll deserve every cent he gets.

Ronny Turiaf | $4,000,000 | 4 years

When it comes to guys you want on your bench, Turiaf is in a league of his own, the French energy man constantly swiping and swishing two or three large white towels through the air. If you were paying Ronny only to psyche his teammates up — like a hulking, bearded, Sarkozy-ruled cheerleader — his contract would be worth every cent.

The fact he’s a rabid rebounder with a surprisingly soft mid-range touch who is paid less than the league average? Well, that’s a nice bonus.

Brandan Wright | $2,081,100 | 1 year

Wright will turn into a decent player, injuries notwithstanding. Tough to judge rookie contracts though, as we all know he’ll probably bolt for some silly team looking to pay him $40M over five years after he averages eight and six down the stretch in limited minutes. That’s the NBA.

Kosta Perovic | $1,944,000 | 2 years

Let’s be honest, I’ve never seen Kosta Perovic play. But I can tell you one thing… with that name, he’s certain to be absolutely worthless unless he’s unguarded from three-point range.

Anthony Randolph | $1,424,400 | 2 years

Are rookie contracts – with the exception of those offered to white guys – ever that bad? An athletic left-hander who seems to have a bunch of upside to support GSW’s sharp-shooting forwards is worth the money. The only question is whether Don Nelly will elect to ignore his inside game as he has done with Al Harrington, and keep him on the perimeter.

Marco Belinelli | $1,205,600 | 1 year

Belinelli came out firing in the 2007 summer league, putting up 37 points in his first game. Don Nelson gushed. ‘I think he’s been sensational,’ said Nellie. ‘He’s very unpredictable offensively, and that’s what I like about him.’

Then Nelson played ‘Bench The Eurobust’, playing him in just 33 games. Say it with me: ‘thank god for rookie contracts.’

Marcus Williams | $1,262,520 | 1 year

Williams posted halfway reasonable numbers in his rookie and sophomore seasons at the Nets, given his bench-heavy minutes. With Monta out, Williams will have the opportunity to demonstrate whether he can find a place at the point. Meanwhile, every player at Golden State will be leaving their laptops at home.

Monta Ellis | Apparently $66m | 6 years

If this contract was the $66M Monta was originally offered, and this was a few weeks ago, when he was healthy, the verdict would’ve been simple: you’ve just paid a good player with a load of upside the money that he’s worth.

Now, however, we have a situation where you might pay a good player what he’s worth. And you’re now in a position to justifiably say ‘Monta, you’re getting less money, because you were a douche. You went and did something we explicitly told you not to. You could do anything you wanted bar about three activities, and you chose one of them.’

Going on his form from last year though, you’d have to say any contract from $66M down is a pretty good contract for Monta.

Posted by: Alex, Anton & James

Previous Rosters Rated: New York Knicks, Boston Celtics.

Note: when expressing the years remaining on a contract, we’ve taken the team’s potential liability into account, meaning we assume a player will accept their player option. A team option is not considered a liability.

¿Pensabais que el mercado de traspasos norteamericano se había frenado ante la proximidad de los Juegos Olímpicos? Pues no, amigos. Nada demasiado importante bajo el sol… pero sí un par de rumores que valen su peso en oro, sin duda.

J.R. Smith: Parece que los Cleveland Cavaliers buscan algún recurso ofensivo que le quite un poco de responsabilidad anotadora a LeBron James, y se han fijado en el eterno sexto hombre de los Denver Nuggets, que ahora mismo es agente libre restringido. La verdad es que, si algo sabe hacer Smith, es anotar: el año pasado se fue a más de 12 puntos de media en menos de 20 minutos por encuentro, lo cual está muy bien. Si logra mantener una línea de juego regular, podría convertirse en un elemento muy útil en Cleveland… Además, seguro que el chico está por la labor de cambiar de aires, a la vista de cómo se las gastan en Denver últimamente con el tema del recorte salarial (recordemos a Marcus Camby). Y encima, los Nuggets han fichado a Dahntay Jones, que aunque es una medianía, podría quitarle minutos a Smith. ¿Le veremos pronto con una cinta roja en la cabeza y acompañando a LeBron?

Delonte West: Siguiendo con los Cavs, parece que el base seguirá en el equipo y no dará el salto a Europa, aunque todavía no se sabe si renovará por más de una temporada o aceptará la qualifying offer que le han hecho los Cavs, la cual le dejaría como agente libre sin restricciones el año que viene.

Luke Ridnour: No ha sido la mejor de las temporadas para el pobre Ridnour, que además tiene un contrato bastante gordo (13 millones en los dos años que le quedan). Se habla de Cleveland, Denver, Houston y Miami como posibles destinos, pero casi siempre como tercer base. Supongo que será para aliviar límite salarial, pero aun así lo veo complicado. Y mira que este muchacho apuntaba maneras…

Shawn Kemp: (Cada vez que escribo su nombre en agosto de 2008, es como si viajara en el tiempo…) Nuestros peores temores cada vez cobran más forma: una voz “oficiosa” del Premiata Montegranaro ha confirmado el fichaje de Shawn Kemp por el equipo italiano. Yo me lo creeré cuando le vea jugando un partido de verdad. Los chicos del Montegranaro no paran ahí, y parece que ahora van a por un jugador bastante más interesante, nada menos que…

Gerald Green: El campeón del concurso de mates en 2007 fichó este verano por los Mavericks como agente libre y ha sido una de las sensaciones con los Mavs en esta pasada liga de verano. Pero eso no parece importar al Montegranaro. Parece improbable que se pueda marchar, pero el muchacho tiene un salario lo bastante asequible (menos de 900.000 dólares al año) como para que Dalals se preocupe un poco. ¿Tendrá el Montegranaro algún magnate ruso o griego entre bastidores que le haya inyectado algunos millones de euros? Sea como sea, aquí os dejo una imagen del bueno de Green posterizando en la liga de verano a un pobre diablo… ¡Ah, no, que el pobre diablo es Sean Williams, el pívot de los New Jersey Nets! Madre mía, si éste es una de las opciones a ser titular en los Nets, apaga y vámonos…

La coña con Europa: Ahora se ve que a los americanos les hace mucha gracia lo de los equipos griegos y rusos que ayer eran vistos como ladrones de talento en la NBA. Un ridículo periodista norteamericano se preguntaba el otro día si Olympiacos sería capaz de ofrecer 40 millones de dólares por temporada a LeBron James la temporada que viene, cuando será agente libre, y el mismísimo Kobe Bryant ha dicho medio en broma que por ese dinero, sin duda se iría a jugar a Rusia. Alguien tendría que ponérselos encima de la mesa sólo para ver cómo se comía sus palabras…

Adonal Foyle: Ha renovado por un año con los Magic. ¿A alguien le importa?

We are just a few hours before NBA free agency gets started, and it is that time of year when sports talk typically turns to the changes that Ernie Grunfeld should make to Wizards. Well as many know, the Wizards have their own free agents to worry about – Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Roger Mason, Jr. After signing Gil and Antawn (and most likely losing Roger), the Wiz will not have a significant amount of money to spend on free agents, nor will they have a lot of roster space. They currently have 10 players under contract, not including Gilbert, Antawn, Roger and

The Wiz need someone in the paint who can rebound, block shots and occasionally score. And while Brendon Haywood had his best season last year and the Wiz just drafted JaVale McGee, it is important to look for help here – particularly since no one knows yet how Etan Thomas will play if/when he fully recovers. And because of the limited amount of money that the team is expected to have available, it is important to look at potential players that will not break the bank. Below is a list of potential free agents that appear to best fit this criteria.

NAME	TEAM	08 SALARY	POINTS*	REBOUNDS*	BLOCKS*	FG%*	FT%*
Primoz Brezec	Raptors	$2,750,000	7.6	4.1	.41	.500	.706
P.J. Brown	Celtics	$226,650	9.1	7.7	1.02	.460	.794
Theo Ratliff	Pistons	$199,452	7.9	6.1	2.63	.497	.711
Adonal Foyle	Magic	$1,219,590	4.1	4.8	1.64	.476	.499
DeSagana Diop	Nets	$2,146,000	2.1	3.9	1.19	.433	.517
Jamaal Magloire	Mavericks	$231,183	8.6	7.2	1.03	.479	.65

es*Career averages

• Primoz Brezec, who is 28 years old and 7-1 and 252 lbs, could have the best long term potential. He is not much of a shot blocker, but he has showed the ability (in the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons), to score in the double-digits and pull down around 6 rebounds a game.
• P.J. Brown has been a solid player for a number of years and at 6-11 and 239 lbs, he is not afraid to bang with anyone. However, at 38 years old, you may only get 1 more season out of him.
• Theo Ratliff, at 35 years old and 6-10 and 235 lbs, is intriguing. Ratliff has been the best shot blocker on the list. If he is currently healthy, he could provide the Wiz with an excellent, defensive-oriented backup center for a season or two allowing McGee some time to develop.
• Adonal Foyle (6-10 and 270 lbs) fits into the same category as Theo Ratliff, while not as proficient in blocking shots. And while he is two years younger (33 years old) and more expensive, I would tend to lean towards Theo Ratliff instead.
• DeSagana Diop (7-0 and 280 lbs), much like Primoz Brezec, is an interesting choice because of his age (26 years old). He played on a team that runs (Dallas) and one that runs a similar offense (New Jersey), so you would think that he would have an easier time fitting in with the Wizards. And since he is still young, you have a player who can continue to develop and legitimately challenge for the starting position. Diop, like Brezec, are at the high-end of the pay scale for this list of players, but still in the range of bargain shopping.
• Jamaal Magloire (6-11 and 265 lbs) at 30 years old still has a number of good years in him, but is also a former all-star performer at the center position. However, the style of play that best suits him is not the style that the Wizards play.

Considering this list, the two players that most interest me are Theo Ratliff and DeSagana Diop – for largely two completely different reasons. Theo was a very good shot-blocking center, but may be well past his prime. If he can be effective in limited minutes, Ratliff could be an effective defensive presence off the bench. He would be a short-term solution, buying the Wiz a year or two for some of the younger guys to develop. Diop, on the other hand, is better suited to compete with Haywood for the starting position – which could have a negative effect on Haywood. He is also young enough that he could be a potential fit for a few years to come. Given that the Wizards just drafted JaVale McGee, I don’t think picking up a young guy like Diop is the best move. However, the relatively low salaries of Diop, Ratliff and the other players mentioned above means that there are some potential bargains available to the Wiz if they are looking for a backup center to grab rebounds, block a couple of shots and score a few points in the paint.

Note: Since this post was published, the Winshares formula has undergone some revisions of some substantive import, as well as a renaming. To see the most current iteration and accurate tables and graphs, please see the BoxScores page.

This post is a lengthy discussion of the theory and methodology behind the Winshares player value metric. If you are already familiar enough with Winshares, or are impatient, read the “In brief” section just below, and then you might want to skip ahead to the payoff graphics at the very end of this post. As always, comments and criticisms are encouraged!

In brief

Winshares are a statistic developed to estimate a player’s value in terms of wins. Combining individual statistics with team performance, Winshares allocate credit for team wins according to each team member’s contributions to team total production. As of the end of the 2007-08 regular season, Winshares are calculated as follows:

winshr = (val / team val) * team wins

val = pts – fgx*0.5603802 – ftx*0.9345311 + as*0.7697530 + or*0.8709732 + dr*0.7111727 + st*0.9190908 + bk*0.9495596 – to*0.8473544 – pf*0.7729732

Motivation

Why create yet another statistic that attempts to reduce all of player value to one number? Especially when there are so many other good and widely accepted measures already in use? Because the theory is sound, the operationalization is elegant, and the results appear valid.

Why use boxscore stats, ignoring plus/minus and everything that modern science now knows about possessions and efficiency, especially since defense is so poorly captured and other statistics, like assists, are arbitrary? Because boxscore stats go back to the beginning of professional basketball. Plus/minus is extremely data-intensive to calculate, and we have no way of getting that kind of data for most historical games. I’m ignoring possessions, and not emphasizing defense, because it is my belief that comparing one player’s boxscore stats to those of his team gives a reasonable estimate of player contributions–sometimes overestimating, other times underestimating, but on average, getting it approximately right. Mostly, though, calculating Winshares is possible as long as the same stats are tracked for all players on a team, and we know how many times the team won–meaning it can be applied very generally.

Why even try to use statistics to measure player value? You can’t capture that with a number! There is much to be said on both sides of this issue. I am of the opinion that statistics ought to be considered within a larger context of other data, qualitative and quantitative. However, I do feel strongly that numbers have a lot to tell us–they allow us the hope of greater objectivity, and therefore possibly less subjective, more accurate assessments. When applied identically to all players, Winshares will adjudicate “fairly,” paying no attention to max contracts, shoe endorsements, nicknames, or “intangibles.” Intangibles are tricky–they may indeed be part of player value, but they are also, by definition immeasurable, and may therefore expand to fill the role required of them? Was your favorite player not voted league MVP? Certainly they failed to consider his intangibles, which would have easily put him over the top…

Why are Winshares measured in that specific way? Don’t you know that linear weights are no good, or that assists are worth much more than you give them credit for? Read on…

Theory

Imagine a cooperative grocery store, owned by those who work there. At the end of one year, the store’s revenues exceed its expenditures by a large margin, and the workers are to be paid out of this surplus. One concept of fairness might dictate that a worker who worked p% of the total man-hours for that year ought to receive p% of the surplus. Arguably, he contributed p% of whatever effort determined whether or not the store would succeed, and should be rewarded accordingly. A worker working a large number of hours could be said to have contributed more to the store’s success or failure than another who only worked one shift a month–if the store profits by a large margin, that employee should receive a larger share of the windfall, just as if the store loses money, that employee should be held culpable for a larger share of the deficit.

Now imagine another similar store competing in the same market. Its surplus at the end of the year is twice that of the first store. Is it possible to compare the value, in terms of surplus, of employees from the two different stores? I would argue that it is possible: if pay is allocated in the same manner in both stores, with worker i in store j receiving payment in proportion to his labor contribution, the worker who receives the highest paycheck is the most valuable. That is, if pay is equal to worker man-hours over store total man-hours times store surplus, we can compare employees across any two firms in the same market.

But wait–what if some employees are more efficient workers than others? What if Alice can generate three times the revenue that Bob can generate in the same number of hours? Doesn’t our payment formula then overpay Bob and under-reward Alice, and doesn’t this complicate yet again the comparison across firms? Yes it does, and so we might try to find better measures of worker contributions to the surplus. Perhaps we could keep statistics on the number of cans shelved, or the number of transactions tendered, or the number of smiles flashed–if we could figure out even just the relative value of each of these things (that is, not necessarily how they each translate into surplus, but whether one smile is worth two cans shelved, etc.), then we are back on track. It doesn’t matter whether or not we can measure exactly how much revenue is brought in by each additional shelve stocked (although this would be interesting and useful), but if we know that it’s worth more (by some scalar factor) to clean the bathroom than it is to check receipts at the door, we can still estimate each workers contribution to the total amount of valuable work being done at the store.

This analogy carries over very well to sports, and specifically here, to basketball. A player who plays fully 1/5th of total team minutes played (that is 48 minutes per game for 82 games) ought to be credited with approximately 1/5th of his team’s success or failure–both of which can be measured in terms of wins. Using minutes to assess contributions runs into the same problem as in the stores above–they say nothing about efficiency–and as such, it is useful to find other statistics that more accurately estimate contributions to team success. The statistics employed in Winshares are boxscore stats, such as points, rebounds, assists, missed shots, etc. These are imperfect measures, but to the extent their relative value can be assessed, they may be useful in estimating each player’s contribution.

Calculation

Unfortunately, this relative evaluation is very difficult. It is often claimed by more “sophisticated” observers of the game that most fans fail to look past point-per-game numbers, giving infinitely more weight to scoring than to any other contributions. Yet, it is exceedingly difficult to identify just what the appropriate weights might be. Multiple regression analysis yields somewhat unsatisfactory results when applied in a straightforward manner–typically finding, for example, that offensive rebounds are actually detrimental to team success. Other work, including that done by Berri and Hollinger, is much more thorough, but leaves something to be desired (a topic which has been covered better elsewhere than can be possibly done by this author in this exposition).

As for Winshares, it would be disingenuous to claim that the ideal and true set of values has been found, but it is my belief that the reasoning is sound, and the results pass the “laugh test,” that is, given a subjective assessment of the sport, the relative importance of each boxscore statistic seems to be, at the very least, in the right order.

To identify the weights used, we may begin with a simple but strong assumption: the most valuable “good things” are those that opponents are most resistant to allowing, and thus are relatively rare, while the most detrimental “bad things” are those that a player is most trying to avoid, and thus are similarly relatively rare. With this in mind, I present counting sums for each of 8? boxscore counting stats from 1979-80 through 2007-08 (which I call the Modern era, characterized by the introduction of the three point shot to NBA play):

* field goals missed and free throws missed

Dividing each of these totals by the sum of the totals (17,008,507), we arrive at the following frequencies:

Normalizing these frequencies to that of points, we get:

Then, subtract each of the above from 1, so we are placing more weight on the rarer occurances, and set the points coefficient to 1, because the ultimate aim of all defense is to prevent scoring, and the ultimate aim of all offense is to score:

Assign positivity and negativity according to whether each is helpful or deleterious to team success, and we arrive at a set of scalars for estimating valuable contributions (often abbreviated val):

val = pts – fgx*0.5603802 – ftx*0.9345311 + as*0.7697530 + or*0.8709732 + dr*0.7111727 + st*0.9190908 + bk*0.9495596 – to*0.8473544 – pf*0.7729732

Any player’s val less than zero is then set to zero, but val is rarely a large negative number. Compared to the difficulty of valuable contribution assessment, the final steps in Winshare calculation are extremely simple: merely find each player’s percent contribution to his team’s total sum of valuable contributions from all players, and multiply this by team wins:

winshr = (val / team val) * team wins

We are left with an estimate of individual player value that combines individual contributions and team success, and allocates the most credit to those players who did the most to win the most. There is just one adjustment made to allow comparisons across all NBA seasons: for seasons prior to the official distinction between offensive and defensive rebounds, the formula is adjusted to incorporate total rebounds in their stead.

Discussion

The first thing to note is that as we apply the formula increasingly further back in time, we might become somewhat less certain of its absolute accuracy as the boxscore statistics on which it is based drop from the official record. Thus, for the very earliest years of the BAA, we might not be as confident in our estimate as for most years since, but the results are still very compelling, and seem to hold up to scrutiny despite the relative dearth of data. One of the merits of Winshares as a measure is that it is relatively flexible across a variety of situations, relying as it does on player percent contributions, which can almost always be measured in some manner.

Another caveat is to bear in mind that Winshares is a season-cumulative statistic, and so the ceiling varies by the number of games played in a season. Winshares for the strike-shortened season of 1998-99 are much lower than other contemporary seasons, due to the fact that all teams won fewer games than they normally would have. Adjustments can easily be made, however, by finding per-game or per-minute Winshare rates, and making comparisons at that level. This helps, too, in determining the impact of an injured player, given that he has played fewer games. However, the initial impetus for constructing Winshares was to estimate player value in terms of wins, and this is best done on a season-cumulative scale.

One thing done relatively poorly by Winshares in its current iteration is measurement of the value of players traded during the season. To do this completely accurately, it would be useful to isolate only the games the player appeared in for each of his several teams, looking at individual statistics and team wins within those sub-season units. However, this sort of analysis requires data not generally available in convenient form, and truly, the logical extension of this idea is fairly well captured by the plus/minus statistic. As it stands, Winshares still does a relatively good job (subjectively assessed) in measuring traded players’ value, but it is something worth noting.

Winshares in application

Often understanding is best achieved through application, and so I present

The Top 1,000 Winshare Seasons

covering the NBA, ABA, and BAA from 1946-2008. Keep in mind the above caveats about data availability, especially for seasons prior to 1951-52. In a similar vein, here is a list of

The Top 100 Winshare Careers

again, this is cumulative across the entirety of each player’s career, and so players with longevity are advantaged. I have included games played in this listing, to allow the reader to make his or her own adjustments.

Finally, every player, every team played for, 2007-08 season.

Geometric representation

One of the more useful ways to conceptualize Winshares is as player percent valuable contributions * team success. This has a particularly interesting expression in geometric terms, where Winshares can be thought of as the area of the rectangle created by multiplying valpct by team wins. The following series of visualizations depicts Winshares as a geometric comparison of player value. The color scheme is based on playing style–more detail on this classification may be found here.

2007-08 NBA: Chris Paul edges out Kobe Bryant as most valuable player according to Winshares, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce turn in stellar seasons for the Celtics, and LeBron James carries a huge load for his team, and is rewarded in terms of Winshares, if not in post-season success.

1986-87 NBA: A season featuring more all-time greats than perhaps any other (as noted here), we see Larry Bird and Magic Johnson at the height of their rivalry, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon coming into their own, and too many other star players to even mention.

1971-72 NBA & ABA (combined): Classic Lakers and Celtics teams, a young Dr. J, Kareem’s greatest year, an almost-as-great year from Artis Gilmore, and countless other NBA past greats.

Sacramento Kings Franchise History: This storied franchise didn’t quite make the playoffs in a very competitive 2007-08 Western Conference, but its history is littered with greats such as Oscar Robertson and Chris Webber.

During Sunday’s Lakers v Nuggets Game 1, Jeff Van Gundy (NBA Analyst) made an insightful comment – one of many he makes, per game – about the value of a coach’s ‘words’ alone toward the performance of his team, vs what their habits are, on a daily basis …

“(as a coach) You cannot influence a team with your words, at halftime or in the pre-game talk … they are going to do what they do.” – JVG

… which is exactly what I thought of while evaluating the Boxscore from Toronto/Orlando Game 1 … where the the Rebounding numbers were, as follows:

Toronto 35 (Individual) + 11 (Team) = 46
Orlando 42 (Individual) + 6 (Team) = 48

meaning that the Raptors and the Magic both performed pretty much as expected when these two teams are matched-up against one another, since during the Regular Season …

Orlando (+0.31) finished 16th in ‘Rebounding Differential’; while,
Toronto (-1.54) finished 22nd.

For Toronto to effect some type of fundamental change to the ‘Rebounding Differential’ numbers in Game 2 … they will need to address their Individual Player match-ups vs the key ‘board men’ for Orlando, who are D12 (22), Turkoglu (6), Bogans (5), Lewis (4), Evans (2) & Nelson (2) … for example, by going to a player rotation that I suggested on different web sites several weeks ago …

STARTERS
1/Calderon v Nelson
2/Moon v Bogans
3/Graham v Lewis
4/Humphries v Howard/Turk
5/Bosh v Turkoglu/D12

KEY SUBS
G/Parker v Dooling/Evans
F/Kapono/Delfino v Evans/Dooling
C/Nesterovic v Foyle

which is what a ‘Top Notch’ GM & Head Coach combination, like RC Buford & Gregg Popovich, would have done with the Raptors’ player personnel … several months ago … e.g. when TJ Ford was pulling his ’sulking’ I’ll-only-play-as-a-Starter-for-this-team B.S.

Unless you can ‘think the Individual Player match-up game’ like a ‘Top Notch’ NBA head coach, it’s very difficult to truly understand what THE DIFFERENCE is between ‘the Winners’ & ‘the Losers’ in this League, in the games that have a lot of meaning … i.e. versus Plus .500 Teams.

Enjoy Game 2 this evening! … which Orlando will probably win to go up 2-0 in this 1st Round series.

With the NBA season passed its midpoint I feel it necessary as a true Recliner GM to give out some accolades – and stir up some healthy debate.  With so much outstanding individual play I almost copped out and gave awards to both Eastern and Western Conference players.  That would have appeased way too many people (not the goal) and made for a post twice as long as this already is.  With that said, let’s start the debate.    

League MVP

Chris Paul- To me this is a no-brainer.  Paul is the best player on the team with the best record in the much tougher Western Conference.   This season he has clearly been the best point guard in the game, snatching the title from Steve Nash.  Paul has rejuvenated Peja Stojakovic’s career, brought out the best in Tyson Chandler and has developed a bond with David West that could blossom into a great partnership a la Stockton & Malone – but more fun to watch.  Combine that with his potentially historic stats (steals weren’t kept when the Big O played): 20.6ppg, 10.5apg, 2.6spg (2^ndto LeBron in PER)all while shooting 48.4% from the field, and you have a player that embodies a dominant pass-first point guard.   Oh yeah and he’s only 22.  Besides all of that this pick will effectively rile up all the Kobe lovers, LeBron advocates and Boston faithful.

Honorable Mention:  Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Brandon Roy & Marcus Camby (yes, Marcus Camby)  

Rookie of the Year

Kevin Durant – I give this to him almost out of sympathy.  He was the only rookie with the entire weight of a struggling franchise thrust onto his shoulders in this draft class.  Has he lived up to the hype after his amazing freshman year at Texas? NO.  But how could he?  He is scoring a respectable 19.3ppg but shooting only 39.8% from the field and 28% from three.  I attribute his poor shooting to a terrible team which allows defenses to game plan only to stop Durant.  This leads to overall poor shot selection (mainly settling for too many jumpers)and forced shots as the team’s only true scorer and default go-to man.  With that said Durant has still made the biggest impact of any rookie, with Al Horford nipping at his heels.

Honorable Mention: Al Horford, Juan Carlos Navarro, Yi Jianlian

Defensive Player of the Year

Marcus Camby - So we all know about the blocks – 3.84blkpg & 5.24 blkp48m, leading the NBA easily.  But what goes unnoticed is that he rarely fouls out while playing such exceptional defense (2 DQ this season).  Meaning Denver gets his defensive presence on the court more often than other hackers/shot blockers in the league.  Need more convincing?  Probably not, but here’s some for the die hard KG backers (like myself); 1.40 BLK/PF (blocks per foul)probably the most overlooked stat for a shot blocker.  Camby is the only player over 1, and his current mark ranks 3^rd best in the last 8 years.  24 boards and 11 blocks in a game, only one other player has done this or better in the last 20 years (1993 version of Shaq)!    

Honorable Mention: Bruce Bowen (really have to watch him play a lot to understand his impact since he doesn’t show up in the stats much), Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard

Most Improved Player

Andrew Bynum – You gotta love it when a big man plays the way a big man is supposed to – Catch & Dunk Everything.  That is exactly what Bynum was doing before the injury bug caught up to him.  This is also why Kobe had no choice but to change his tune and fall in love with the kid.  Numbers: 13.1ppg, 10.2rpg (would be 12^th if he didn’t get hurt), 2.06blkpg (9^th), 63.6% fgs (1^st) all while only playing 7 more minutes per game than last season.

Honorable Mention: Al Jefferson (A Minnesota fan called me on this omission, so here I am correcting my slip up.  This guy definitely deserves mention as he often goes unnoticed on the struggling Timberwolves)Rudy Gay, Chris Kaman, Lamarcus Aldridge, Danny Granger (he has increased most of his numbers while playing the same # of minutes – only one of the bunch), John Salmons (of course he would get better in every statistical category AFTER Billy King trades him – he is shooting 51.5%!!)

Sixth Man

Manu Ginobili- Let me first confess I am not a Ginobili fan at all so this will be short.  I am, however, unbiased enough to admit he is by far the best non-starter in the NBA (which makes no sense considering he is vastly better than Michael Finley who would be a perfect bench player).  Manu provides instant offense, pesky defense and a consistent 3-pt threat to open things up for Tim Duncan.    

Honorable Mention: Leandro Barbosa, David (Please Trade Him Before He Rots on the Bench of a Horrendous Team) Lee, Jason Maxiell, Travis Outlaw, Jeff Foster (leads the Pacers in rebounding off the bench)

Coach of the year

Nate McMillan- He has the young Trailblazers playing with confidence, chemistry and a winning attitude.  All things no one would have imagined once the bad news about Greg Oden was announced.  Portland exemplifies team basketball, an unselfish mentality typified by McMillan’s own playing career.  

Honorable Mention:  Byron Scott, Eddie Jordan, Doc Rivers (playing the Phil Jackson role)

Executive of the Year/Biggest Surprise

Kevin Pritchard/Portland Trailblazers – The biggest surprise of the season easily goes to the Portland Trailblazers.  Predicted to be 26^th in preseason rankingsare not only in the playoffs ahead of Denver and Houston but are only a ½ game behind Utah for first in the Northeast Division.  Most of the praise for the team’s success has been spread between an emerging superstar in Brandon Roy, vastly improved Lamarcus Aldridge and the masterful coaching job of Nate McMillan.  But an overlooked piece of the team’s fortune this season is in the calculated moves made by current GM Kevin Pritchard.  He cleaned house getting rid of bad character guys, bad contracts and effectively created a team the Portland fans can like.  The best explanation of this strategy is by Bill Simmons who coined the term: Chemacterility (chemistry, character & (cap) flexibility).  Pritchard gets the edge over Danny Ainge because he created a successful and young team without the perennial superstars. 

Honorable Mention: Danny Ainge (I am a Philly fan so you can imagine I am not all that happy about all this Boston Celtic success.  But I can’t hate them as much as normal because Ainge acquired such likable superstars in Allen and KG.)

All-NBA

First Team (easy):
Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard

Second Team (tough):
Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming

Third Team (nearly impossible to pick):
Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Caron Butler, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire

 Recliner GM Originals

Most Visible Scrub of the Year

Kwame Brown - I’ve wanted to write something about Brown for some time now so I created an award just for him (how nice of me).  This isn’t going to be another Kwame bashing about his stone hands, inability to finish dunks & lay-ups consistently at 6′11, getting booed at home, being the player doing the least with the most talent (hint: he isn’t really that talented) or being one of the poster boys for NBA draft pick busts.  Instead it’s simply to point out that Kwame is NOT the worst player in the league, only the most noticeable and Sportscenter-highlighted below-average player in the NBA.

Step My Game Up in Place of an Injured Superstar Award

Antawn Jamison – 17.8ppg and 9.6rpg is what Jamison averaged before Gilbert Arenas got hurt.  After – he has averaged 22.2ppg and 10.9rpg, and Washington’s winning % is .600 compared to .375 in the first 8 games with Gilbert.  Jamison is somehow having a career year in his 10^th season and is one of five players averaging 20 points & 10 boards.

Where the Hell Have You Been Award – Adonal Foyle

Please Stop Shooting (or shoot better) Award - Larry Hughes, this guy is definitely in favor of this selection.

Fans Choice:

Why Would You Sign Him to Our Team Award – Chris Webber

Get This Guy Off Our Team Award -Stephon Marbury, if you haven’t already please enjoy.

Check out these NBA Mid-Season Awards from other bloggers:

• The Sports Beat
• NBA Obsessed
• Pickaxe and Roll
• The Sports Corner
• With Malice

There you have it.  If I thoroughly annoyed you with some of my selections or you just don’t agree, feel free to argue your players.  This post also serves as a measuring stick for when the real awards are given out at the end of the year.  But who cares – these are Recliner GM Awards.  Nothing else really matters.

Πλησιάζει το All-Star Game και φυσικά ο διαγωνισμός καρφωμάτων! Μετά τη παρωδία με τον Nate Robinson να χάνει περίπου 478 καρφώματα πρόπερσι και τελικά να κερδίζει παρά το καλύτερο κάρφωμα του Iguodala, φέτος λόγο στη ψηφοφορία θα έχουν και οι fans μέσω SMS ή με ψήφο στο www.NBA.com. Επιλέχθηκαν οι 5 φετινοί διαγωνιζόμενοι που δεν είναι άλλοι από τoυς:

• Τροπαιούχο Gerald Green που θα έχει την ευκαιρία υπερασπίσει τον τίτλο του…

• Τον κάποτε Harlem Globetrotter και φετινό rookie έκπληξη Jamario Moon.

• Το τέρας του ΝΒΑ και φετινό leading MVP Dwight Howard.

• Τον φοβερά αλτικό Rudy Gay ο οποίος κάνει μια εκπληκτική break out χρονιά.

• Και φυσικά το φαβορί Adonal Foyle με το φαρμακερό jump shot!

My ‘07-’08 installment of the most-overpaid NBA players has a mix of big-time players (well, they used to be) and some lesser-known scrubs collecting checks they don’t deserve. I love America!

Note: The salary data presented here is not guaranteed to have perfect figures (mainly because many of these washed-up players have been bought out of their original contracts for a lesser amount) – but it’s close enough. These are simply my opinions using information obtained from a host of online sources.

With that said – let’s get to it with The Top 10

Starting with the poster boy for this group – C. Webb

1. Chris Webber – $19,000,000: Wait – is he even playing this season? Oh yeah, another Billy King disaster and the tagline for this blog. Webber has the best job in the world: sit at home watching guys work their asses off in the league, contemplating which championship-contending team he will try and slither his way onto. All while still collecting checks from the Sixers. How do I sign up for that? Damn, they fired that guy in Philly who was giving out the sweet deals.
2. Juwan Howard – $7,645,344: Playing only 8.5mpg with Dallas, getting paid over $6.8M from Minnesota and no statistics worth mentioning here, Howard is pretty much doing what his buddy Webber is. Except that he has court-side seats. What’s with these Fab-5 Michigan guys?
3. Adonal Foyle – $10,157,090: Who the hell is Adonal Foyle? He’s getting $1.2M from Orlando currently and is owed $8.9M this season and $9.7M next season from Golden State. (Just shaking my head). This is when you know you’re overpaid: on Sportscenter, when you get in the game and actually do something productive the sportscaster says “Look, it’s an Adonal Foyle sighting!”
4. Steve Francis – $18,870,000: 5.5ppg, 3apg, 33% fgs, 24% 3pt in 20 minutes per night with his new/old team the Houston Rockets means Steve Francis isn’t the “Franchise” any more. He is getting $2.4M from Houston and another $16.4M from Portland via the Knicks (remember the Zach Randolph trade?). So why is he still getting paid “franchise player” money?
5. Eric Dampier – $10,590,500: He is getting paid more than Josh Howard. That makes me laugh every time I think about it. Can someone please explain to me how a starting center only averaging 6.4rpg is getting paid $10.5M? I guess when you’re a billionaire you can pay this much for a player with mediocre talent and work ethic.
6. Michael Finley - $21,696,750: Did you know he is the 2^nd-highest-paid player in the NBA? Getting about $3.1M from the Spurs and over $18M from Dallas makes Finley the most expensive token-starter in NBA history, while Manu Ginobili is the best shooting guard on the team and plays the majority of the minutes in crunch time.
7. Kwame Brown – $9,075,000: Michael Jordan’s biggest basketball mistake – drafting this guy with the #1 pick in 2001. I will give MJ a break here because he is my favorite player. This was one of the weakest drafts in terms of clear superstar talent going in. This is the reason you make the safe pick this high in the draft as to not look like an idiot 6 years later when “potential” equals “just not that good.”
8. Ben Wallace – $15,500,000: Really, who thinks Ben Wallace is worth this much money? Who thought he was worth this much money when he was in Detroit? Clearly not Joe Dumars if they let an important piece of a championship team go. His major contributions were rebounding and defense, and his RPG have declined every year since the ‘02-’03 season. That’s 3 years of regression before he got this ridiculous deal. What exactly was Chicago thinking?
9. Rasho Nesterovic – $7,840,000: Really? Do I need to say anything else – it’s Rasho Nesterovic! What does he do? What has he ever done?
10. Shaquille O’Neal – $20,000,000: It’s sad to see one of the most dominant players in the NBA on this list. Considering his production has steadily declined since his first year in Miami and since he’s been unable to play 90% of a season for most of his career with the last coming in ‘00-’01, it’s only fair. But I don’t really blame Shaq; this is the time in all great big men’s careers when they start to slide. At 35-years-old he’s no longer the “Big Aristotle” but the “Big Dollar Sign” getting in Dwyane Wade’s way.

Now meet the New York Knicks:

Stephon Marbury – $19,012,500: Umm, I don’t know what to say about Starbury at this point. Dude is just crazy now. This youtube video of Marbury being interviewed pretty much sums up why this guy shouldn’t be getting paid $19M. The commentary is just as hilarious.
Jerome James – $5,800,000: Never played more that 17mpg, scored more than 5ppg, grabbed more than 3rpg or shot over 51% from the field as a 7′1, 285-lb center. Enough said.
Malik Rose – $7,101,250: His 15 minutes of fame on the ‘02-’03 championship Spurs team netted him this hefty contract. Since he is a born-and-raised Philly guy and I’m hometown-biased, I will leave my comment as – WHY?
Quentin Richardson – $ 8,105,500: He had an OK year his last season with the Clippers, followed that up with another OK season in Phoenix. Somehow just OK warranted $8M per year. He could be a decent role player on a team with a solid point guard (PHX) – but no way do role players get $8 million dollars.

Lebron’s supporting cast:

Larry Hughes – $12,000,084: He’s just not worth $12M. Maybe if he ever consistently lived up to his potential he would be, but he has failed to effectively be a sidekick with two future hall-of-famers. So why do teams continue to pay this guy star player money with the hope that he will live up to it?
Eric Snow – $6,703,125: One of my most-hated Sixers players ever. Now Lebron has to deal with the frustration of getting double and triple-teamed only to pass to a wide open Snow at the foul line – BRICK!

UN-honorable Mention:

• Wally Szcerbiak – $12,000,000: I don’t know about you but I never thought Wally was that good, and he was pawned off on KG as a #2 guy. Yes, he can shoot but that’s about all you’re getting from him. No boards, assists or defense of any kind from this 6′7 player. If Kyle Korver isn’t worth $12M Szcerbiak definitely isn’t either
• Theo Ratliff – $11,666,667: One of the most injury-prone players I have seen, having only played five 70+ game seasons in 13 years. He could have been a coveted reserve big man for a championship-caliber team the way he played defense and rebounded.
• Brad Miller – $10,500,000: If I have Dalembert on the list I gotta have Miller. Their production is comparable; it’s just Sammy hits closer to home, and Brad doesn’t seem as dumb.
• Samuel Dalembert - $10,251,435: Why do the 76ers have the 9^th highest payroll while having the 19^th best winning %? Oh yeah – Billy King thought paying Samuel Dalembert $70M+ over 6 years was a good idea. Whew! Thank God that guy is finally out of the Sixers front office. At least we’re not in as bad a shape as the Knicks.
• Troy Murphy – $9,206,349: The numbers speak for themselves on this one. Career Stats: 11.2ppg, 7.9rpg, 0.4 bpg, and 43% fgs. Another classic example of a player having a pretty good season, getting a big paycheck, then sitting fat and happy while stinking it up for his current team.
• Jason Williams – $8,937,500: “White Chocolate” as they used to call him. When did they start paying streetball players this kind of money? “Skip-to-my-Lou” one of the NY streetballers legends only makes $4.5M.
• Brian Cardinal – $5,850,000: At 6′8 you can get 9ppg and 4rpg in 21mpg by accident. And that was this power forward’s best season. He has been injury-prone and balding ever since.
• Kenny Thomas – $7,875,000: At least Billy King wised up enough to dump this dead weight.
• Speedy Claxton – $6,306,182: This draft pick of the Sixers always baffled me. You have A.I., the BEST shoot-first little man EVER, and you go draft a vastly-worse shoot-first small guard from Hofstra? Just doesn’t make any sense.

With deals like these going around, my future kid is definitely growing up to be a ball player.

If I missed an NBA bum that you think deserves to be on the list, please let me know.

ΟΚ όλοι ξέρουμε ότι οι μεγαλύτεροι losers “μεταφορικά” είναι ο Pau κι o Dirk. Επί της ουσίας όμως…..

To τεύχος Νοεμβρίου του Sports Illustrated είχε μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα έρευνα. Έψαξαν και βρήκαν τους 5 μεγαλύτερους losers του ΝΒΑ! Στη λίστα ανήκουν παίχτες με πάνω από 300 αγώνες για να υπάρχει σοβαρή ένδειξη ότι ο παίχτης είναι γεννημένος loser με αντίστοιχο γονίδιο στο DNA

1. Jamal Crawford (New York, Chicago; 461 games): .306
2. Shareef Abdur-Rahim (Sacramento, Portland, Atlanta, Vancouver; 830 games): .331
3. Adonal Foyle (Orlando, Golden State; 652 games): .334
4. Eric Piatkowski (Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, LA Clippers; 775 games): .348
5. Eddy Curry (New York, Chicago; 451 games): .357

• Οι Crawford και Curry είχαν ζήσει τα πρώτα χρόνια της μετά-Jordan εποχής στο Chicago όπου η λέξη νίκη δεν υπήρχε στο λεξιλόγιο της ομάδας. Μετά πήγαν στο τσίρκο των Knicks και συνέχισαν το σερί.
• Το Portland πριν πάρει τον Reef είχε 18 συνεχόμενες εμφανίσεις στα playoff. Με τον Reef, χάθηκαν στο πάτο του ΝΒΑ. Παρομοίως στους Kings έφτασε στη παρακμή της μεγάλης πορείας τους με Webber-Bibby-Peja-Divac-Miller.
• O Foyle έζησε τα πέτρινα χρόνια του Golden State, τώρα όμως στους Magic θα φτιάξει το ποσοστό του κοιτάζοντας από τον πάγκο

Με τέτοια ομαδικότητα που να κάνουν νίκη

Σε ένα blog της Βοστόνης, η έρευνα συνεχίστηκε…

Νέοι με μέλλον:

1. Sebastian Telfair (Minnesota, Boston, Portland; 235 games): .255
2. Nate Robinson (New York; 157 games): .280
3. Josh Smith (Atlanta; 248 games): .310
4. Zaza Pachulia (Atlanta, Milwaukee, Orlando; 295 games): .342
5. Dan Dickau (LA Clippers, Portland twice, Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta; 251 games): .355
6. Primoz Brezec (Charlotte, Indiana; 291 games): .364

The Magic just acquired Adonal Foyle, which makes the Magic’s frontcourt one of the most powerful in the league. Although Foyle had a weak season in ‘06-’07, he is still capable of being a solid frontcourt partner of Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis.   This was a terrific addition for the boys in blue, but is in enough?  I know I ask this question quite a bit, but when you look at the rest of the east, you have to ask yourself if you think that this powerful frontcourt is really enough to get the Magic deep into the playoffs.  The answer is no!  I don’t even believe these guys will make it past the first round.  I solely place the blame for my prediction on the Magic’s lack of backcourt.  That’s where it all starts.  Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu are as weak of a backcourt as the league has seen in recent years.  Nelson has yet to prove he is a good point guard in the league, and Turkoglu’s inconsistency will only become more significant as he gets less shots with Rashard Lewis in town.  With Carlos Arroyo and J.J. Redick coming off the bench, there’s just not much depth for the coach to dip into!  If these guys make it past the first round of the playoffs, I give everyone that has just read this to rub it in my face, but I have a feeling I won’t be getting any comments come that time of the season.