Starting Five:

-          Mario Chalmers

-          Dwyane Wade

-          Michael Beasley

-          Udonis Haslem

-          Jermaine O’Neal

Key Reserves:

-         Jamaal Magloire

-         Daequan Cook

-         Quentin Richardson

-         Carlos Arroyo

-         Yakhouba Diawara

Significant Off-Season Additions:

-         Acquired Quentin Richardson from Timberwolves

-         Signed Free-Agent guard Carlos Arroyo

Significant Off-Season Losses:

-         Lost Jamario Moon to the Cavaliers

Man on the Hot Seat: Michael Beasley

The second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft is in the hottest of seats this season. Coming off the lowest point in his life during the summer at rehab, Beasley is ready to prove the doubters wrong. Beasley averaged 14 points in 25 minutes of play last season as a rookie sixth man. That doesn’t seem like a lot but not many players in the league can produce that much in such a limited role. No matter what people say, Beasley is an enormous part of the Heat and hopefully he can get his act together on and off the court.

Biggest Question:

Can Dwyane Wade produce another MVP type season alone and stay in Miami after this season if that’s the case?

I believe Wade has the power to produce another type of season like last season. The problem this time around is will he want to do it alone? This year Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers are not rookies anymore and Wade should be expecting more help from them. The fact that Beasley was the second overall pick in the 08 Draft makes him a target for success.

Wade has already been public about wanting more help in Miami or else he will bail on them at the end of the season. What will Pat Riley do? Trade for talent? Tell Wade to navigate to storm alone for one more season and help will be on the way? If you listened to Wade over the off-season, he is really serious about this, he is in the prime of his career and he doesn’t want to waste it in a team that will not go back to the Finals. As of right now, The Miami Heat might as well be called the Miami Wade until we see if the rest of the team can help the One Man Band.

09/10 Record: 48-34 (4^th East, 2^nd Southeast Division)

Playoffs: Eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3)

Here is what happened 24 hours after Heat’s Jamaal Magloire and Pistons’ Jonas Jerbko got into a fight during a game when these two fellows met. Right now, both of these dumbasses are suspended and here is their dumbass discussion:

Haha Jonas, I killed your egg-headed ass during that game man!

Look who’s talking? Why does your face look like that?

Shut up, I’m sexy.

Yeah, right, you are. But so am I with my nice highlights in my hair.

Doesn’t that make you gay?

Hey, hey, shut up! At least I’m not suspended!

White boy, you are too!

No I’m not!

Go on ESPN and find out.

Okay, I’m looking. What the…?

See?

I don’t have time for this. Here, just talk to Stephen Hill.

No don’t leave me here with him!

Hey Jamaal, how’s it going man? Want to come over to my house and play some PS3?

Yeah, I gotta go.

Go where?

I’m going Dwayne’s house so I don’t think we’ll talk.

Oh.

But here, you can talk to Darko.

What’s up?

DYN-O-MITE!

Let’s get out of here.

Yeah, let’s. I’m feeling amorous anyways.

An average day in the Memphis front office: making deals, pointing at things, yelling.

For better or worse — it’s usually worse — the off-season is when GMs really come alive.

The focus is off the players, and franchise front-offices start wheeling and dealing in full view of the NBA’s significant fan-base. Incredible moves are made, sometimes representing a smart trade that addresses weaknesses in both teams, but usually mystifying fans and pundits alike.

All the while, owners, coaches and managers are knocking out new directions for their teams. Refocusing roles, shaping new or younger players, and developing strategies for the coming season are integral processes in a regular off-season.

In full knowledge of this, The Sport Count subtly manipulated Patriot Acts laws to get access to the front-office phone lines of some of the franchises. What follows are excerpts of the hours of recorded conversation picked up. Each highlights the precise moments in a discussion when the next day’s news was made. See if you can figure out what each ones concerns.

“We can offer you a sign and trade.”
“Ok, sure. But you better not say what I think –”
“Yi –”
“No.”

“Hey Chris, we’re looking at trades here, and we’re wondering what you think.”
“Mmm hmm, you know I’m listening.”
“Okay, so… we’d take on Mayo, Gay, and Gasol –”
“Right, yep.”
“And you take — “
“I was agreeing to it. Yep. As in, yes, I’ll do it.”

“Let’s go after Turkoglu.”
“I don’t know, Kevin. I feel like we’re sorted at the three-spot.”
“With who? Batum?”
“A quality defender.”
“Fernandez?!”
“A great three shooter, only getting better.”
“Outlaw?!!”
“Clutch, can create shots, good guy.”
“Not enough. I want Turkoglu. Offer him every spare dollar we have.”
“You’re not thinking clearly, Kevin!”
“I WANT SMALL FORWARDS!! I WANT EVERY SMALL FORWARD IN THE NBA ON MY TEAM!!”

“I’m just not doing it.”
“Don, you have to play Anthony Randolph more than 7 minutes per game, he’s our best young star.”
“Ok. I’ll play him ten minutes. How does that sound?”
“That sounds like a great start Don… Hang on…”
“Don’t say it Chris.”
“Don.. I have to say it. You can’t play him ten minutes then arbitrarily bench him for two games.”
“THAT’S MY PREROGATIVE, CHRIS. THAT’S WHAT I SIGNED ON FOR.”

“Can you get me a list of every European basketball player in the world?”
“What’s that, Bryan?”
“Every single European. Get me stats and backgrounds on all of them. I’m going to sign them all.”
“That’s going to take a while.”
“That’s okay. I’m busy next week anyway, scouting in Europe, and watching the Euroleague on my European television. Oh, and hey, call around and see what kind of value we can get for Bosh. If he’s going to leave, we can at least get some Europeans in return.”

“Chris, get me Iverson.”
“He really won’t work with our team.”
“I want to sell some more tickets.”
“We’re a young team. We should be selling promise. Let’s market Rudy and O.J. instead. And Hasheem.”
“You’re Chris Wallace. I may have hired you, but I don’t have to respect you. Get me Iverson right fucking now.”

“So we have an offer out to Sessions: 3 years at the MLE. He’s going to accept.”
“What impact does this have on 2010?”
“Uh, none Donnie. It’s the mid-level exception.”
“I’m worried about the impact in 2010.”
“There’s no impact. It’s okay”
“What I’m trying to do, is sign two max free agents, and I can’t deal with you and your idiot signings clogging up the cap space.”

“I want a contract extension. I feel like I’ve earned it.”
“Who is this?”
“Ray.”
“Ray… Allen?”
“Felton. Ray Felton. Rod! It’s me!”
“Felton? Hmm… no, nothing.”
“Starting point guard?”
“Nope, sorry. Isn’t DJ our starting point guard? I swore Larry told me he would be.”
“…”
“Is this a joke call?”

“What’re you thinking re: Magloire, Pat?”
“We only have four centres rostered. Re-up him at the minimum.”
“Wouldn’t an empty spot be worth more to us?”
“Nah, I like Magloire. He was an All-Star. I like All-Stars. Magic was an All-Star. So was Kareem. Wade is too. Jamaal Magloire is an All-Star.”

“Hi, it’s Larry.”
“No thanks. Just don’t bother. Sorry.”
*dials*
“Hey, Kevin. It’s Larry.”
“Sorry, Larry. It’s a no.”
*dials*
“Hey, Chris. It’s Larry. How are you?”
“Nope, sorry. Even I’m doing that.”
“WELL, WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH TINSLEY?”

“Morning KB. This is really a formality. $90M over 3. Good? Good. Sorry to interrupt your breakfast.”
“Y’know, I took Vanessa and the girls to New York last week. Nice place.”
“$130M over 3.”
“Thanks for calling Jerry.”

Posted By: Alex, Anton & James

Follow the Sport Count on Twitter.

By Jesse Jones

“Ready to Rule.”  That’s what the Wizards organization is thinking with a healthy starting five for the first time in three years.  With Arenas healthy and training with the same trainer that helped Wade and Bryant, Haywood back, and Stevenson rehabilitating, it was time for the Wizards to look for extra help outside the team.

After acquiring Mike Miller and Randy Foye via trade for Etan Thomas, Oleskiy Pecherov, and Darius Songaila, one would think the Wizards are done with their offseason moves.  However, according to Mike Jones from the Washington Times, this is not the case.

Mike Jones has reported that the Wizards were looking at five, but now four big men to add to their roster.  He reports that Rasho Nesterovic, Channing Frye, Jason Collins and Jamaal Magloire are all on the Wizards radar to add as a player that can give Haywood and McGhee a few extra minutes of rest.  All players don’t average big minutes or stats, so it can be inferred that the Wizards feel that they have good enough big men to compliment the explosive talent found in all their guards, and to be used like Brian Scalabrine was used by the Celtics during their playoff run.

Look for the Wizards to add a big man before the season starts, and watch to see if all the players can be unselfish enough to give up shots they would normally take in order for the team to succeed.

     The Miami HEAT have just announced a trade that will send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to the Toronto Raptors, and in return, Miami will receive  Jermaine O’Neal, Jamario Moon, and a future first-round draft pick, to come sometime between 2010 and 2015. It’s lottery-protected, so it means that the first time the Raptors make the playoffs after this season, their first-round pick goes to the Miami HEAT. Bryan Colangelo, GM for the Raptors said to Sports Illustrated today, ”This is a win-win for both Toronto and Miami and we wish J.O. and Jamario the best,”

The trade comes Hours after Marion’s last-second dunk lifted the Heat past the Chicago Bulls. The dunk, was his most memorable moment in a Miami HEAT uniform. Now, as I believe that the trade was good, I must stop and say Thank You to Shawn Marion. People might think I’m crazy, but in reality I am sane. Because of Shawn Marion, the HEAT are where they are right now. Yes, I understand that most people will argue that it’s because of Wade that the HEAT are fifth in the Eastern Conference , and I agree. But you can’t forget to give Shawn Marion his dues. Without him, we would not be where we are right now. Pat Riley could have traded anyone for Shaq last season, but he chose to trade for Marion. Marion was third in the HEAT in scoring this year behind Wade and Beasley, whom might take his starting spot, and was leading the HEAT with nine rebounds per game. In O’Neal, Miami is getting a player who averaged with the Raptors 14 ppg, and 7 rebounds per game. O’Neal has an advantage in points, but Marion has the advantage in the rebounds department. Beasley and O’Neal have the same scoring average, but again, O’Neal has the edge in the rebounds.

Now, I believe this was a great trade for both teams. Miami was in desperate need to upgrade the center position and Toronto was needing a forward who was defense oriented. furthermore, Marion was not fitting in so well in Miami, that’s another reason I believe Pat Riley didn’t sign him to a long term deal and traded him. Marion’s numbers took a free-fall as soon as he got to the HEAT. Miami is not a run-and-gun offensive team so therefore Marion was underachieving in South Beach. I truly only wish him the best and am glad he’s with a team that is decent. 

Now, to the part of the trade most fans tend to overlook… Miami’s primary area of concentration, just like every other team in the NBA, is keeping cap space clear for the summer of 2010, when Wade, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh can become free agents. And with this trade, Miami only has one player under contract for that summer. The trade cleared another $4.8 million in cap room for that summer; that’s how much Marcus Banks was going to be due to get.

“It gives us some power down low, which since Shaq left we’ve been missing,” Wade said to Sports Illustrated . “We really need that to compete in the Eastern Conference. Our main thing is we need to get it together fast. Making a trade at this time sometimes makes it tough on teams to get everybody on the same page. Hopefully, we can.” As HEAT fans know, Miami has used four players as the center position this year alone. Udonis Haslem began the season at center, then he was replaced by Joel Anthony, later Mark Blount and the latest was Jamaal Magloire. Now, Jermaine O’Neal will be our starting center.

One negative note of the trade:  Because Banks is gone, Miami has only two true point guards in it’s roster, rookie Mario Chalmers, and Chris Quinn. Miami does have room to sign another player, and because of this, people believe Riley will likely pursue either picking up a guard through free agency or making another trade.

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

'Who? Danny Ferry? I'll call him back. I'm resting my feet.'

Just when you thought Danny Ferry–that shiny-headed testament to expensive mediocrity–had stepped his game up, he reminds you why he should be fired. From HoopsWorld.com:

A report from the Cleveland Plain Dealer has linked the Cleveland Cavaliers to free agent forward Juwan Howard. They cite his numbers from Houston two years ago – 9.7 points and 5.9 rebounds in 27 minutes per game – and label him “productive.”

The last time Juwan Howard was a serious frontcourt force, Jay-Z was still retired, The Passion Of The Christ was getting panties in bunches, and Marilyn Manson was culturally relevant.

Similar story with Jamaal Magloire, who recently inked a minimum money deal with the Miami Heat — a team apparently basing its personnel decisions on the ‘hey, at least we’re not just calling up another D-Leaguer, right?’ principle. The most positive spin on Magloire we’ve seen? From Slam: ‘it can’t turn out worse than the Smush Parker signing last season.’ Unless Jamaal chokes two valets.

Sure, the veterans minimum won’t kill your cap space, and the temptation to chance a previously useful veteran is semi-understandable. But are you seriously telling me that a lumbering goon like Ol’ Man Magloire is going to help your team more than, say, Rod Benson? Does Danny Ferry really think Juwan Howard represents the frontcourt help LeBron needs?

Posted By: Anton

In breaking news: The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that the Sixers are set to sign Donyell Marshall.

More breaking news: The Sport Count reports Kevin McHale has been impressed with John Havlicek in workouts. ‘He’s still got it,’ McHale said, wearing a sweater. ‘He’s as old as time itself, but he’s still got great footwork, and he’ll be a great veteran influence on our young team.’

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.  Let’s go coast to coast.

• The Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that the 76ers are to sign free agent Donyell Marshall.  The contract is likely to be for the veterans’ minimum.  The team was in need of bolstering their outside shooting so Marshall seems to be a good fit for coming off the bench.
• The Ben Gordon saga appears to be far from over.  The Arlington Daily News is reporting that the Bulls are offering a 6-year, $59 million deal.  Gordon reportedly wants around $12 million a year.  Gordon has also stated that he expects a sign and trade soon.  However, league sources claim that there is not one credible rumor of a team that is seriously interested.  He also claims he’d rather play in Greece for one year at $10 million than stay for one awkward season with the Bulls.
• The Palm Beach Post is reporting that the Miami Heat will sign free agent Jamaal Magloire.  The Heat are in desperate need of some help at center and don’t have much cap room to spend.  But Jamaal Magloire won’t exactly help much.
• ESPN has come out with some of their preseason predictions.  You can see them here.  For the awards they are predicting LeBron James to win MVP, Michael Beasley to win Rookie of the Year, Elton Brand to be the best newcomer, and Baron Davis and Jermaine O’Neal to be the worst newcomers.
• ESPN has also released predictions for how they think the Eastern Conference will shake out.  According to them the playoff teams from the East will be Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington, and Miami.
• They have also come out with their predictions for the Western Conference.  The predicted playoff teams are Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, Utah, San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas, and Portland.
• There are pictures flying around the internet of what the logos and uniforms of the Oklahoma City franchise will be.  It is expected that they will be named the Thunder but nothing has been official.  Everything is supposed to be announced this week.  But it can’t hurt to look at what the uniforms and logos are rumored to be.
• The USA Today is reporting that the Phoenix Suns and head coach Terry Porter are planning on limiting Steve Nash’s minutes in the regular season to make sure that he is fresh for the playoffs.  I’m not sure if this matters much.  Their championship window appears to have closed especially with how much the Western Conference has improved over the last couple years.
• Slow news day around the league.  Over the next couple months I’ll be posting my breakdown of each of the divisions in the NBA as well as my preseason power rankings.  So stay tuned.

¿Pensabais que la cosa había parado en la NBA? Pues no, el mercado sólo se bajó un poco el ritmo para los Juegos Olímpicos. Pero se sigue moviendo, si no con superfichajes, sí al menos con traspasos dignos de mención (más o menos), y con algunos rumores jugosones, jugosones…

Zach Randolph: Dicen las malas lenguas que los Memphis Grizzlies estarían planteándose el fichaje de Zach Randolph, a quien los Knicks no han conseguido colocar en ningún equipo en todo el verano, y es que su ficha es mucha ficha. Con el historial de fichajes de los Grizzlies no me extrañaría que Randolph terminara en Memphis… pero qué duda cabe de que sería un malo, malísimo fichaje. Espero que todo sea un simple rumor. Y no, no voy a poner (otra vez) ese vídeo suyo que tanto me gusta.

Jamaal Magloire: Al parecer los Heat echaban de menos ser el geriátrico de hombres grandes de la liga tras la marcha de Shaq a Phoenix, y acaban de llegar a un acuerdo con Jamaal Magloire, que deberá pelear por minutos en el juego interior con gente como Mark Blount, el pívot de segundo año Joel Anthony y Alonzo Mourning, que aún se recupera de su terrible lesión sufrida en diciembre, y ha anunciado que seguirá en activo. Es triste que de entre todos éstos, siga pareciéndome Mourning, con todas las lesiones y avatares que ha sufrido en los últimos años, la opción más sólida de los Heat. Pero claro, por eso quedó Miami como quedó el año pasado, y por eso ganó sólo 16 partidos. En cuanto a Magloire, no hay que olvidar que jugó un All-Star hace sólo cuatro años, aunque casi parezcan cuarenta. Desde entonces hasta ahoy su rendimiento no ha hecho más que bajar, y a sus 30 años, está por ver que pueda levantar cabeza. El año pasado sólo disputó 7 partidos (y menos de 30 minutos en total) con los Dallas Mavericks, con eso está todo dicho…

Patrick Ewing, Jr.: Es lo que tiene ser hijo de una leyenda del baloncesto. El hijo de Patrick Ewing fue drafteado por los Sacramento Kings el pasado mes de junio, pero sus derechos fueron enviados a los Houston Rockets como parte del traspaso de Ron Artest. Ahora, tras jugar (sin destacar demasiado) en Georgetown, los Knicks le han fichado de los Rockets a cambio de los vetustos derechos de draft del francés Frederic Weis… es decir, por nada. Supongo que es un movimiento más sentimental que otra cosa, y está por ver que el pequeño Ewing tenga la capacidad para hacerse un sitio en los Knicks. No parece fácil, pero con tanto vividor como hay en el equipo de la Gran Manzana, nunca se sabe.

Shaun Livingston: Este chico debe de estar alucinando. ¡Le vienen a ver más equipos cuando está lesionado que cuando está sano! Si el otro día decía que los Warriors podrían fichar a Livingston como solución de contingencia ante la lesión de Monta Ellis, ahora los Heat se suman a la fiesta. Perdidos los servicios de Jason Williams, y sin haber renovado todavía a Chris Quinn, el equipo que dirige desde los despachos Pat Riley baraja hacerse también con los servicios del base ex de los Clippers. Sus otras opciones incluyen a un trotamundos como Marcus Banks o el rookie Mario Chalmers.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Aunque dicen estar tranquilos con el juego interior que tienen (que básicamente consiste en Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace, Anderson Varejao y el rookie J.J. Hickson), los Cavs no descartan fichar a otro hombre alto. Y como deben pensar que Ilgauskas (33 años) y Wallace (34) no son lo bastante viejos, están pensando en jóvenes promesas de la liga como Lorenzen Wright (33 tacos) o Juwan Howard (34). Por experiencia en liga no será, sin duda, pero está por ver que puedan aportar algo al equipo…

This man: a little iffy about the whole China thing.

As I’ve mentioned, I’m a real fan of the Sports Illustrated vault. In this feature from 2006, Jack McCallum follows David Stern around Europe. Early in the piece, the commissioner receives a Blackberry message telling him that Stephen Jackson, then a Pacer, has been arrested after firing a gun outside a strip club:

The commissioner shakes his head as he scrolls. “I wish we could legally ban players from carrying guns,” he says. “But we can’t.”

Then, on page three, things take a turn for the topical:

It troubles [Stern] that the league is increasingly doing business in countries with abhorrent or at least questionable government policies [...] China presents a great conflict for Stern because it has both colossal business potential and a terrible human rights record. The commissioner has traveled throughout the country, both for business and to satisfy his intellectual curiosity, and there is no doubt that China is critical to the global future of the NBA. Yet its repressive policies fly in the face of the league’s mission statement.

Miami is considering inking former All-Star Jamaal Magloire. (And yes, seriously, he was in the All-Star game. I swear). Kelly Dwyer at Ball Don’t Lie is justifiably baffled by that. You do wonder why NBA teams insist on re-signing old, busted veterans who offer nothing but a warm arse for your bench (speaking of which, Juwan Howard is a free agent, ladies and gentleman).

Now that Condoleezza Rice — a real Hornets fan, I assume — has personally approved NBA teams negotiating with Iran, Yahoo reports that the Grizzlies are seriously considering signing Hamed Ehadadi. Please let this happen. The Grizzlies are already set to be one of the most entertaining teams to watch in ‘08-’09, even if they won’t be particularly good. Throw a 7′2″ Iranian in there, run the ‘triangle offense of evil,’ and you can guarantee I’ll be torrenting Grizzlies games like a fratboy torrents Girls Gone Wild videos.

The Pacers are still looking to trade Jamaal Tinsley. Really? There aren’t takers? I’m shocked. The bad news is we’re getting closer and closer to Tinsley shooting TJ Ford. Having to replay and analyse the murderous footage five or six times will be the worst night of Stuart Scott’s life.

Posted By: Anton

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.

We found an interesting piece in ESPN.com’s Daily Dime last week. They decided to list players from recent championship teams that are still in the NBA. They happened to miss a few players who we added. We might have missed a player here and there. If we did, leave a comment with an update on their status since it’s hard to keep track of all these leagues around the world.

You may notice that the number of NBA superstars from championship teams has decreased in recent years with the exception of Carmelo Anthony. We feel it is pretty clear that this is becasue a lot of guys who are NBA stars decided to skip college or not stay around long enough to win a title. We’re pretty sure Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard (he would be a senior now!) would have affected the NCAA tournament a little.

The list:
2006-07 Florida: Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, Taurean Green, & Chris Richard.
-All of the UF guys seem like they could end up being solid pros. Even Richard who is spending time in the NBDL could end up being a decent bench guy. Horford has exceeded expectations and is challenging the much more hyped Kevin Durant for Rookie of the Year honors. The real question is whether any of them other than Horford will become stars in the league. Noah and Brewer have a chance, but we aren’t sold on them yet. We think Noah will end up being a solid contributor if he can keep his mouth shut.

2005 North Carolina: Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, Sean May, & Marvin Williams
- All of the Tar Heels have turned into respectable NBA players, which isn’t surprising to anybody who say this team play. May hasn’t played this year due to injuries, but was putting up respectable numbers when he was healthy. Felton and Williams are definitely the studs of this group although McCants does show flashes of brilliance up in Minnesota not that anybody sees the Timberwolves play.

2004 Connecticut: Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, & Charlie Villanueva
- While this group has turned out 3 solid NBA players (Okafor, Gordon, and Villanueva), we get the suspicion that none of these guys will turn into the superstars they were expected to be. It seems hard to believe that a lot of people thought Orlando made a mistake drafting Dwight Howard ahead of Okafor in 2004. However, this is a solid group of pros that will probably end up being the equal of the last 2 championship teams (UNC and UF).

2003 Syracuse: Carmelo Anthony & Hakim Warrick
- While Melo has lived up to the hype and is a perennial All-Star, it appears that Warrick is going to stay in the 10 PPG and 5 RPG range, which is probably worth a $8 mill/yr contract or a max contract if Warrick can wait for an offer from Isiah. Having seen this team play at the East Regional in Albany that year, this is one of our favorite championship teams particularly because they were the last team that was a big surprise winning the tournament. We knew that Gerry McNamara’s game wouldn’t work at the NBA level, but we always liked him and often thought that he was closer to Jameer Nelson in college than a lot of analysts were willing to admit.

2002 Maryland: Juan Dixon, Steve Blake, & Chris Wilcox
- The players from this team, which won the ugliest Final 4 in recent memory, have done just about what we expected as pros. Dixon has been a solid player who is often underappreciated by his team and has floated around the league but contributed everywhere he has gone. Steve Blake has provided solid if unspectacular point guard play and won a starting job in Portland for a time over the uber-hyped Sebastian Telfair. Wilcox has been somewhat of a disappointment. He puts up solid numbers, but has never turned into the star that his athletic ability suggests he could be. Of course, he was the same way in college so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

2001 Duke: Shane Battier, Chris Duhon, Carlos Boozer, & Mike Dunleavy
- It amazing that on this team with several college superstars (including Jason Williams), that Boozer turned out to be the stud of the group. While Casey Sanders’s lack of development forced him to play the center position more than he probably should have, he was a guy who was routinely abused by Brendan Haywood. Somehow, Boozer grew a pair of huevos; so much so that he stabbed a blind man in the back. Just imagine what Boozer could have become if he had stayed in Cleveland to play with Lebron James. Battier, Duhon, and Dunleavy are all solid NBA players even if they haven’t lived up to their draft status (Dunleavy) or hype (Duhon-”What a man!”). To be fair, Battier was selected after Kwame Brown and Eddy Curry, so maybe he wasn’t taken too early. The most disappointing thing about this group is that we never got to see what Jason Williams could have become. Although he struggled adjusting as a rookie with the Bulls, he showed flashes of brilliances including a triple-double against a still-in-his-prime Jason Kidd.

2000 Michigan State: Charlie Bell, Morris Peterson, & Jason Richardson
- Jason Richardson has put up solid numbers even if we have a hard time considering him a star. He’s a phenomenal athlete who has never really made the transition to the superstar (except in fantasy basketball) that many projected for him. Morris Peterson had a solid run as a consistent double-figure guy in Toronto before going to New Orleans this year. As for Bell, we never expected much out of him, but he has had a nice little career and actually averaged 13.5 PPG last year. That championship team’s heart and soul was Mateen Cleaves who had a couple of nice seasons where he was one of the top cheerleaders in the league particularly when he was on the Kings. However, he never stuck and according to Wikipedia he is now playing for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBDL.

1999 Connecticut: Richard Hamilton & Jake Voskuhl
- This team, which we ranked as the best team of the past 10 years, knocked off an unbelievably loaded Duke team that might have been in the top 10 of all-time had they won that night in St. Petersburg. While Hamilton has been an excellent NBA player and one of the few guys in the league who can hit a mid-range jumper, the rest of this team has been a disappointment. We had no idea that Voskuhl was still in the league and barely noticed him when we knew he was in the league. The team’s other star Khalid El-Amin played for a short time in the NBA before finding his way to the CBA and Ukranian Basketball League before end up with Türk Telekom B.K. of the Turkish basketball league. We weren’t able to find much information about Ricky Moore, the star of the title game. We’re assuming that he had a rather undistinguished career after that night in St. Pete.

1998 Kentucky: Nazr Mohammed & Jamaal Magloire
- The Wildcats, who weren’t expected to win the title this year, were fueled by a big comeback against a very young Duke team in the South Regional finals. Looking back at this team’s roster, we couldn’t see anybody else on this team making a big impact in the NBA. Magloire had a run from 2002-2006 where he averaged around 10/10 and made an All-Star team (more the result of the lack of centers than his exceptional play) while Mohammed has had a slightly less distinguished career. His most notable achievement was helping the San Antonio Spurs win the 2005 NBA Championship (with an assist from Isiah Thomas).

1997 Arizona: Mike Bibby & Jason Terry
- Both Bibby and Terry have had excellent careers as was expected for them coming out of college. The more intereresting story is that of the team’s star Miles Simon. Simon was never considered a top NBA prospect, but we at least expected that he would stick around the league because he could make plays. Instead he spent a year in Orlando then traveled across the globe, before ending up in the CBA where as his Wikipedia page states he became “the most decorated player in CBA history”. Not exactly what we expect out of the MOP.

1996 Kentucky: Antoine Walker, Derek Anderson & Nazr Mohammed
- This was likely the last of the all-time great teams. This team was incredibly deep with 6 guys who had significant NBA careers (including Tony Delk, Ron Mercer, and Walter McCarty). This team just crushed the teams they played utilizing Pitino’s press with their superior talent and athleticism. None of the players ever became a superstar, but all of their studs had solid NBA careers including a handful of All-Star appearances and awards. We’ll leave Rick Pitino’s stint in Boston for another post.

1995 UCLA: N/A
- This team didn’t really have as many superstars as other championship teams did, but they played very well together finishing an impressive 32-1. They had 2 first-round picks (Ed O’Bannon and George Zidek) who had short-lived NBA careers. The team’s other stars were Tyus Edney, Toby Bailey, and Charles O’Bannon, but none of them ever did anything notable in the NBA.

1994 Arkansas: N/A
- Nolan Richardson’s “40 Minutes of Hell” team used a late Scotty Thurman rainbow 3 to knock off Grant Hill’s Duke team, which basically consisted of Hill and a bunch of nobodies. Corliss “Big Nasty” Williamson had a nice career first in Sacramento then in Detroit even winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2002. Thurman ended up leaving school early, going undrafted, and playing in the CBA.

1993 UNC: N/A
- This team didn’t really have any guys we considered potential NBA All-Stars back in 1993. Of course, we were 10 at the time and were already learning to hate the Tar Heels. We’ll let you look at the starting lineup and make up your mind: Eric Montross, Brian Reese, George Lynch, Donald Williams, and Derrick Phelps. Not exactly a murderer’s row of talent there. To be fair, Montross, who hails from the same high school as Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. (Lawrence North in Indianapolis), was selected 9th overall by the Celtics and had a decent rookie season before falling off the map. George Lynch was also considered a solid prospect coming out as 12th overall to the Lakers. He only had a mediocre pro career never averaging over 8.6 PPG and his main NBA achievements on Wikipedia are wearing 3 numbers (#24, #30 and #9) while with the Lakers and being traded to the Grizzlies to clear up cap space (and buffet space) for some guy named Shaq. Phelps played briefly in the NBA. And when we say briefly we mean 3 games and 1 shot, which he missed. Donald Williams, who is best remembered for being the MOP and having a huge game against the Fab 5 in the title game, spent his professional career floating around every league on the planet except for the NBA. The more interesting thing is that the Tar Heels actually had more talent the next year when they added Jerry Stackhouse and a young Rasheed Wallace (who in a sign of things to come got tossed from the McDonald’s All-American game) to this nucleus. However, the 1994 team never really came together and lost to Bill Curley and the Boston College Eagles, which was famously captured on this SI cover.

1991-92 Duke: Grant Hill
- Along with the 1996 UK team, Christian Laettner’s Blue Devils were the last of the teams that we consider truly great. To consider how big/great this team was, you have to remember that before this team, Mike Krzyzewski’s boys were the lovable losers who couldn’t win the big one despite multiple Final 4 trips. After this team, Duke became Duke. This team was really built around their 3 superstars: Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and Grant Hill. Everyone knows their college accomplishments: Laettner (#12 on ESPN’s list; maybe the top college player since 1990); Hurley (NCAA all-time assist leader); and Hill (also led Duke to the title game with a YMCA team around him in 1994). Laettner actually had a decent pro career, which most people would realize if he hadn’t been so great in college or if he wasn’t the most hated college player of all-time (multiply Joakim Noah by 100 and you get Laettner). His career highlights include an All-Star appearance as well as being an original Dream Teamer (ok, I can’t type that with a straight face). Hurley was selected 7th overall by Sacramento, but had his career derailed early with a car accident (signs of things to come for another great Duke point guard). However, we don’t think he would have ever become a great NBA PG as evident by how Jason Kidd destroyed him in the 1993 NCAA tournament. Hill actually had the best NBA career of the bunch and was considered one of the top 5-10 players in the league before multiple foot/ankle injuries eventually turned him into a shell of the player that he once was. Antonio Lang was taken 29th overall by Phoenix, but never did much in the pros. Brian Davis played a season in the NBA before floating around the basketball planet and settling on running a Duke-based group that tried to buy the Memphis Grizzlies with Laettner (the deal fell through). Thomas Hill (best known for being the guy crying after Laettner’s 1992 East Regional shot) was drafted 39th overall by Indiana, but never played in the NBA as he played in the Australian National Basketball League for a few years.

That’s all I have on these guys/teams. If you have any more information or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section.

Jamaal Magloire, a center the Mavs are interested in signing, he can be added to the 15-man regular season roster at any point and still be eligible for the playoff roster because the Nets released him prior to March 1. Last season the Mavs signed Kevin Willis at the beginning of April, but because he was not on another team’s roster at any point from March 1 on, he was eligible for the Mavs’ playoff roster.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Multiple sources confirmed the Pacers approached the Nets about a week ago, asking about Carter ($13.3 million). To make it work, the Nets would need to add Marcus Williams ($1.08 million) and Jamaal Magloire ($4.0 million) to match O’Neal ($19.728 million). That’s the Indy point of view.

NY Post

A quick preview of tonight’s action. 

6:30 Bulls’ time – Comcast Sports Net – Bulls vs. Nets

Joakim Noah is out for tonight’s game.  As far as we know at this point Ben Wallace is expected to play.  The Tribune is interestingly projecting Joe Smith to start at PF.  I would have guessed it would be Tyrus.  Everything else should go according to the default plan.  If Wallace doesn’t play I’m guessing Smith moves to C and Thomas starts at PF, but it could always be Noce too.

The New Jersey Nets aren’t, in my opinion, anything for the Bulls to worry about this season.  They haven’t played well against the Nets in the recent past, but the both teams are a year older this year and that’s a good thing for Chicago while it’s a bad thing for New Jersey.

The Nets have Nenad Kristic back this season which should make a huge difference.  He showed some great progress in his young career before missing last season with an injury.  They also added Jamaal Magloire who is a solid big man if not spectacular and should add much needed depth up front.  Mikki Moore is gone, but shouldn’t be missed too much.  He had a decent season statistically because he had a lot of playing time for a guy with his limited talents.  Overall, the Nets are a more complete team this season than they were last season but they’re also getting old.  Jason Kidd is 35 and his age is going to show up in his play sooner rather than later.  He looked good in the Tournament of the Americas this summer, but in the NBA he’ll be playing with far less talent around him and far more on the opposing teams.  Vince Carter, coming off of a great year statistically, also isn’t as young as he once was and, more importantly, isn’t in a contract year.  Vince has shown himself to be the Randy Moss of basketball, an amazingly talented player who only tries when it suits him. 

The Nets suffered a lot of injuries last season and very well could again this season.  If they don’t, they should have a decent record.  If they do, they’re done for.  I think the age of Kidd and Carter will become more and more evident as the season progresses.  However, they should be fresh enough on opening night.  I think this game will be close for a long time and then one team will pull away.  New Jersey is a -2.5 favorite.  I’m not sure who will win, but I think it will be by more than three points.  Since it’s the first game of the season and I don’t have much to work with, let’s say Chicago wins and covers the spread.

I plan to do a mini diary during the game and post it afterwards, so look out for that later tonight.  Go Bulls!

Depth Chart:

PG: Jason Kidd – Marcus Williams – Darrel Armstrong

SG: Vince Carter – Antoine Wright

SF: Στέλλα* (Richard Jefferson) – Bostjan Nachbar

PF: Nenad Krstic – Josh Boone – Sean Williams

C: Jamaal Magloire – Jason Collins

Σχόλιο: Με το γυρισμό του Krstic οι 4 θέσεις είναι σίγουρες. Πολλοί λένε ότι ο Collins θα είναι βασικός Center αντί του Magloire αλλά δε μπορώ να αποδεχτώ πως ο μόνος συμπαίχτης του Kidd στην ιστορία που δε κατάφερε να βελτιωθεί και που κάθε χρόνο σχεδόν είναι από τους χειρότερους starters (=Collins), θα πάρει τη θέση του προ 3ετίας All-Star (=Magloire). Η νεκροψία θα δείξει…

* = Σύντομα θα δημιουργηθεί Buzzer Beater λεξικό για τις εξηγήσεις όλων των nicknames

• Star Players:
  • Ο πιο θεαματικός παίχτης του ΝΒΑ: Vince Carter
  • Το καλύτερο PG στην ιστορία: Jason Kidd (Διαφωνείς; Άσε το σχόλιό σου.. μπορείς! )

• Best Case Scenario:

Μια καλή πορεία στίς ψηλές θέσεις playoff.. και ποιος ξέρει…..;

• Worst Case Scenario

Αποκλεισμός τελευταίας στιγμής με τους Kidd και Carter ένα χρόνο ακόμα γερασμένους χωρίς κούπα.

• Key Players:

Magloire. Τόσα χρόνια αυτό τους έλειπε.. ένας σοβαρός Center. Τώρα ίσως τον βρήκαν…

• Έχει ανάγκη από…
  

Βάθος στο πάγκο και βοήθειες στους ψηλούς. To θετικό είναι πως ο Williams πίσω από τον Kidd φαίνεται πολύ καλό μελλοντικό PG..

• Δεν έχει ανάγκη από..
  

Άλλους out-for-season τραυματισμούς όπως πέρυσι..

Ότι κι αν κάνουν οι Nets, το μόνο σίγουρο είναι πως θα μας γεμίσουν highlights…

There’s not much to say about the Joe Smith signing.  Given the players the Bulls were looking at Smith was far and away the best option.  Chris Mihm didn’t play all of last year and was never all that impressive.  Mikki Moore’s decent season last year probably won’t be repeated.  He’ll be 32 when the season starts so you know he’s not going to get better than he is now. 

         
Joe Smith should follow in Antonio and PJ’s footsteps.  All he has to do
now is become a part of the NBA Player’s Association leadership. Davis
has been the Executive Committee President in recent years and Brown
has been a Vice President.

Smith, who will also be 32 when the season starts, has had a much more consistent career than Moore.  Smith has also performed at higher levels in his career than Mihm ever did while healthy.  All the reports say he’ll bring a steady veteran leadership to a locker room filled with youth.  He won’t bring much back-to-the-basket scoring, but who will?  Smith should fill the role that P.J. Brown filled last season and that Antonio Davis did prior to P.J.  Hit jumpers from the elbow, rebound and defend decently, provide quiet yet strong team leadership, maybe take Noah under his wing (because Big Ben isn’t really the mentoring type).

$10 million is kind of a lot for a player of Smith’s current quality, however because it’s only a two year contract it won’t cripple the team’s financial flexibility in any significant way.  Paxson, as we’ve come to expect, made another smart yet conservative move picking up Joe Smith. 

One thing we’d like to know is why the Bulls never even looked at Jamaal Magloire?  He’s a couple of years younger and brings more or less the same qualities to the table that Smith does.  In the end Smith still may have been the smarter pick, but Magloire definitely deserved a look over Mihm and Moore.