SB Nation - Gerald Wallace

Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats vs. New York Knicks

David Arnott — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:46:05 -0000

Pump Up Music: Cowboy Mouth -- "Jenny Says"

The Big Picture: The New York Knicks come to the Cable Box tonight looking to continue a hot streak during which they've beaten Phoenix, Portland, and Atlanta. Though they're on a road trip, they ought to be well rested, since they last played on Friday at New Orleans.

The Knicks are in a position similar to the Bobcats for this season, in the sense that the playoffs are within sight and they're probably going to edge right up to those seven and eight seeds by game 82, but that's where the similarity ends. They play a super-fast pace, whereas the Cats tend to slow it down. Their coach loves the three point shot, and our coach grudgingly accepts it. But most important, as an organization, they're not playing for this season, whereas the Cats are going for everything they can get in 2009-10.

They've been winning despite benching Nate Robinson, who I'm pretty sure isn't a problem due to his performance. He's fifth on the team in True Shooting Percentage and fourth in eFG%, and he dishes assists nearly as often as Chris Duhon (their secret -- or not-so-secret -- black hole), so it's not like he's destroying their offense. Rather, the Knicks have had an ongoing attitude issue that Mike D'Antoni has struggled to address. If you're not playing for this season, then what are these guys playing for? If the hope is that these guys' competitive natures would take over and pull them through the full season without any other motivation, that seems rather shortsighted.

It would probably do both teams a world of good if they could trade a pinch of ethos here for a pinch of ethos there.

Key to Victory: Danilo Gallinari will probably come off the bench for New York, and he may play fewer than 30 minutes, but he represents the biggest matchup problem for Charlotte. A 6-9 forward, he leads the team in three point attempts and has made 45% of them. In our standard lineup, Gerald Wallace would usually guard him, but that would take him away from the basket to a degree most small forwards don't, and I'm worried the Knicks can find a rebounding advantage if they force Crash onto The Rooster.

Secondarily, David Lee is an excellent rebounder and I expect him to give Tyson Chandler fits. When Tyson gets the ball on offense, he simply doesn't have the offensive arsenal to exploit his size advantage, and Lee is probably a little quicker. When Lee is on offense, he can shoot from outside the key well enough that it has to be respected, finish with either hand, and he will rarely be outworked on the boards. We may well see Larry Brown limit Tyson to 20 minutes for effectiveness reasons, not foul trouble, and go with Diaw at center for long stretches.

More Gerald Wallace Facts

David Arnott — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:06:04 -0000

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I've added more Gerald Wallace Facts, most of them contributed via Bobcats Baseline. My favorite among the new ones is probably:

Gerald Wallace actually won a Nobel Prize for most "OHHHHH!!!"s and "DID HE JUST DO THAT!!!!"s.

To submit more Gerald Wallace Facts, email rufusonfireblog@gmail.com

Bobcats Lose to Mavericks in OT, 98-97

David Arnott — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:33:00 -0000

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When the Bobcats acquired Stephen Jackson, pretty much everyone guessed he would raise the team's ceiling. I think it's fair to say he raises their ceiling on a game to game basis, even if it's still an open question whether or not he'll add many more wins over the course of the season. In losing to the Mavericks 98-97, the Cats still showed they can play with anyone when Jackson is on.

By that, I mean that I sense there's more variance in the Bobcats' possible results with Jax in the lineup than there was before, but being able to beat better teams with his occasional excellent games will get washed out by his occasional inefficient stinkbombs.

They didn't shut anyone down. They contained the Mavs' stars about as well as they have other teams' stars. However, this time around, the Cats' offense kicked into gear instead of stalling out, led by -- who else? -- Gerald Wallace and S-Jax. Where, at the start of the season, we figured the formula would be to shut down the other team's offense and hope our offense was adequate, now the formula is to shut down the other team's offense, trust that our offense is adequate, and hope that they put up a better than average game.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump.

BAD

-- Team bench production. First, it's okay that Ronald Murray got a DNP-CD, though not ideal. He probably doesn't deserve it, seeing as he's pretty much the same guy he's always been, but -- all together now -- Stephen Graham stinks. Again, he seems like exactly the kind of guy you want at the end of your bench, but he has no business playing 16 minutes in an NBA game unless there's some serious garbage time. Murray sat. Gerald Henderson sat. Derrick Brown played 3 1/2 minutes. I'm at a loss. I want answers. What, exactly, concretely, does Graham do that makes him deserving of those minutes?

-- Boris, seriously. Something's wrong, isn't it? 8 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists, and 6 turnovers. Maybe it's not a bad thing that you're producing at this level, and this is just who you are. Maybe I should have been much more grateful for the exemplary team player you were last season, when you were probably playing over your head a bit. He did play the best defense possible on Dirk Nowitzki at the end of OT. Maybe Hakeem Olajuwon blocks that shot. Maybe.

GOOD

-- Stephen Jackson shot 11-25 from the field, good for 28 points. In addition, he did an admirable defensive job on Jason Kidd. He may not look as "athletic" as Gerald or many other swingmen in the NBA, but he's got the footwork and tenacity to bother the best scorers in the league, big and small. Larry Brown should take more advantage of Crash 'n Jax's defensive flexibility.

-- Gerald Wallace scored 23 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. He wasn't quite as effective on the boards in the fourth quarter and OT as he usually is, but that total contribution is still awesome. Um, Larry? Are you sure you want to be running your best player for 50 minutes in a single game?

-- Tyson Chandler stayed out of foul trouble and we saw some good results, including 11 points and a few clutch rebounds late in the game Unfortunately, he didn't rebound nearly as much as he should the rest of the time, but we're taking baby steps here, people.

-- At what point can we feel confident that Raymond Felton Gets It? I've mentioned that he should be taking fewer shots, because that indicates he's doing Point Guard things instead of following the misguided notion that he's a Go-To Scorer. However, even though he took the second most shots of any Bobcat in this game (8-16, second most behind Jackson), that seemed a function of going through Plans A, B, C, and D before resorting to that Plan E, and I'm okay with that. This was certainly Good Felton, doing Point Guard things. It's a textbook case of eschewing the things that show up in the standard box score and facilitating the offense instead because it makes the team better. He wasn't much good at those box score things, anyway, so now that he's only taking the best scoring opportunities, his rate stats are all looking much better.

Loss to Spurs Disappointing; Gameday Preview Charlotte Bobcats at Dallas Mavericks

David Arnott — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:54:52 -0000

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Disappointing seems like such a... well... disappointing and inadequate word to describe losing to the Spurs last night. On the one hand, this is the Spurs we're talking about, the dominant dynasty of the past decade. But on the other hand, Spurs version 2009 is very different from Spurs version 2005. They're still figuring things out, and this was an opportunity to steal a road win from a team that suddenly looks more vulnerable than they have in years, like last year's Pistons.

Instead, we settle for the pleasure in seeing the Cats make the game competitive with a great third quarter, even though they ultimately lost 104-85. I caution against the notion of microcosm, but if this game wasn't a microcosm (it wasn't), it was a part of the larger developing pattern.

Highlights, lowlights, and a preview of tonight's Dallas Mavericks game after the jump.

(A couple of these were contributed in last night's thread. Username of the contributor is in bold. Thanks, guys!)

BAD

-- Tyson Chandler had 8 turnovers in 21:31. That looks like a typo, and I really hope it is. That's the kind of insanely horrible line that will make a fickle guy like Larry Brown yank him from the starting lineup.

-- What do we have to do to improve the free throw shooting? The Cats only shot 18-29 from the line (62%). I shoot about 70% from the line (granted, not in in-game situations, but whenever I practice shooting free throws, I do it in between running lines). I'll show the team how to shoot Rick Barry style. When I shoot normally, I'm about 30%, but the underhand shot has been a godsend for my free throw performance. My email is in the sidebar, guys. I'm available.

-- Gerald Henderson was again marginalized, again forced to watch Stephen Graham stink for more than 10 minutes while he only got 2 minutes. I'm past the point of being angry with LB about this. Even when he finally does give Henderson real minutes on a consistent basis, I'll probably continue to harbor a grudge for this totally unreasonable and illogical railroading.

GOOD

-- Derrick Brown consistently makes good use of his minutes. In 22 minutes tonight his line was 7 pts on 3-7 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 steal. What those numbers don’t show is that he was a pivotal player in the 3rd quarter Bobcats run that shaved the once 20+ pt deficit disappear. The numbers also don't tell you about the nasty fast break throw down dunk Brown had during that run. --dudemanhey

(DA: I've shared my soft spot for super-athletic combo forwards before. This is more of the same from Brown, who, thanks to a dearth of power forward options, has shown he's capable of being a rotation player in this league.

-- Gerald Wallace shot 6-9 from the field and 6-10 from the line, for 18 points. That's an uptick from his scoring average, but still very efficient. He only got 6 boards, but that still led the team and was more than 1/5 of the 25 the Cats grabbed.

OTHER OBSERVATIONS

-- We’re always quick to revel in the numbers when one of our own contains a supposedly better player. Well, Felton and Wallace got contained tonight and what it meant was that Wallace’s numbers were merely damned good instead of incredible and Felton’s stats were reduced to mediocre instead of the numbers of an emerging star. Considering that it happened on the road against a team many think will be duking it out (or am I supposed to call it Chapel Hilling it out?) with the Lakers for the Western Conference crown, I’m not going to cry over it. --Ourdaywillcome

(DA: As contentious as we can sometimes be about evaluating Raymond Felton and defining his place in the NBA sphere, I think there's one uncontroversial thing we can all agree upon: When Felton shoots less, he tends to do more for this team. It's not a direct relationship, seeing as someone like Luke Walton can do very little negative on either end of the court and still not add much, but I do think it's indicative that he's doing other things to help the team. Combine that with a downturn in turnovers and an undeniable commitment to defense, and suddenly his outlook is rosy. Last night was a mixed bag, but was still an improvement upon his past games that inhabit my nightmares. He took only 7 shots. Four other players took as many or more field goal attempts. That's a good thing for a point guard who's never been a good scorer himself.)

===

Hey! It's a Texas back to back and the Cats will face the Mavericks tonight!

Pump Up Music: Lucky Boy Confusion -- "Hey Driver"

The Big Picture: The Mavs are coming off a win at Miami last night in which Erick Dampier absolutely sonned Joel Anthony to the tune of 20 points and 17 rebounds, and both Jason Kidd and J.J. Barea had 10 assists. I'll go out on a limb and say that probably won't happen tonight.

A developing meme I've noticed this year is the notion that Dirk Nowitzki's millionth straight amazing season is cementing his spot as greatest European player in NBA history. Maybe so. Dude's still in his prime, and that this is under consideration adds another layer to the respect we should have for him. Enjoy watching.

Key to Victory: I really don't think the Cats will have to make many lineup adjustments to match up with the Mavs, even when they go crazy with their lineup permutations. Here's how I'd do it.

When Dallas goes Barea, Kidd, Marion, Dirk, Dampier, I'd put Felton on Barea, Gerald on Kidd, Diaw on Marion, Jackson on Dirk, and Tyson on Dampier. This is specifically because, historically, Dirk has had trouble with smaller, long, defenders. He's at his best when he can put the ball on the floor against slower big men, so I'd take my chances with him posting up Jackson and everyone else is outside, turning Kidd/Marion and others into spot up shooters, which I definitely want to happen. Same thing happens when Terry is on the floor in place of either Kidd or Barea. Put Gerald on him and see what happens. Alternatively, the Cats could follow Mike D'Antoni's lead and imitate what he did when he assigned Jared Jeffries to guard Rajon Rondo: Put Diaw on Kidd, sag off, and dare Kidd to be a jump shooter. That would put Gerald on Marion.

It's still not much of an issue when Dallas goes super small with their three-guard lineup, Barea, Kidd, Terry, Marion, Dirk. Maybe we go slightly smaller with Diaw at center. Or maybe we take special care to save Tyson so we can put him on Dirk in these situations. Basically, it all comes down to a willingness to put Diaw on Marion. Dude hasn't been able to shoot threes in two and a half years. Make him beat you that way.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: Recently, Tim Thomas was linked to a 3am fight at a Dallas-area Denny's.

Gerald Wallace Facts

David Arnott — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:57:40 -0000

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First, there was Bill Brasky. Then came Chuck Norris Facts. I think it's time to create Gerald Wallace Facts, which will be the main site pushing his All Star candidacy. I'll start the break, you finish, and I'll re-post them on the GWF site. Cool? Cool.

===

When Gerald Wallace blocks a shot, somewhere a puppy is born and its family can't help but name him Gerald.

Gerald Wallace doesn't jump. When he dunks, the arena lowers itself to his eye level.

In his Oscar speech, Paul Haggis thanked Gerald Wallace for providing the title to his film.

Orlando Magic News for December 9th: Vince Carter, Fun Facts, Stan Van Gundy's Three-Point Marksmanship, and More

Ben Q Rock — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:00:17 -0000

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First-Quarter Report: Teams' Identities Have Developed, for Better or Worse
The Sporting News' Sean Deveney, perhaps best known to Orlando Magic fans as the guy who picked them to finish behind the Washington Wizards in the Southeast Division this season, writes that the Orlando Magic's addition of Vince Carter has proven to be the best move of the offseason so far.

Offseason payoff: Vince Carter, Orlando. The Magic are still working Carter into the offense, trying to find the right balance between getting him to be aggressive and dominate, and getting him to be one of the cogs on a very talented team. But so far, things have gone well, as Orlando sits tied for the best record in the East.

"Vince is going to be fine," [Dwight] Howard said. "He's been great for us, and the more he gets used to what we do, he is only going to get better."

From Basketball-Reference: Carter leads the Magic in scoring at 19.3 points per game, has a Player Efficiency Rating of 18.2, and has connected on 35.1% of his three-pointers. And despite leading the Magic in Usage Rate at 29.2%, he turns the ball over on only 8.2% of his possessions, second on the team only to Brandon Bass. The only other players to exceed Carter's usage with fewer turnovers this year are Chris Bosh, Josh Howard, Kevin Martin, and Dirk Nowitzki.
Earlier this afternoon, the Magic distributed a list of notes to the media. Here's the first fact:

At 17-4, Orlando has equalled its best start in franchise history (1994-95, 1995-96). The Magic have never been 18-4.

To save space, I've posted the rest of the fact sheet after the jump.
Stan Van Gundy to get shot at 3-point contest trophy
J.E. Skeets makes an important announcement:

The Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy will seek to become the first NBA head coach to capture the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout crown, which will be held on Saturday, Feb. 13, at American Airlines Center, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night.

No word on if Magic forward Rashard Lewis, last year's runner-up, will also take part.
The Biggest Aberration?
In a post concerning Gerald Wallace's incredible spike in rebounding this year, Kevin Pelton tries to figure out what the biggest statistical aberration in NBA History is. Former Magic guard Nick Anderson appears in his findings.

A better candidate of a very different kind is Nick Anderson's free throw shooting. Free throw percentage tends to be very stable, especially after a player's first couple of years, which makes what happened to Anderson so bizarre. He was never much of a free throw shooter for a guard, but settled in around 70 percent before inexplicably sinking to 40.4 percent during the 1996-97 season. The odds of a player of Anderson's true ability (about 70 percent) shooting so poorly are nearly 1 in 50,000.
Steve Nash Internet Day!
Visit our friends at Bright Side of the Sun as they honor Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash with Steve Nash Internet Day.
Twitter / tribjazz
UPDATE: Former Magic training-camp invitee Morris Almond is headed to the D-League, reports Ross Siler, who covered Almond when he played for the Utah Jazz:

Former Jazz first-round draft pick Morris Almond will be joining the NBA D-League's Springfield (Mass.) Armor tomorrow.
Kendrick Perkins is core of Celtics' defense, low-post scoring
UPDATE 2 (from Eddy): Want to know why Kendrick Perkins has success defending Dwight Howard? Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated explains.

Perkins' mettle in the low block was validated by his yeoman effort in rooting Dwight Howard out of his favorite spots in last year's Celtics-Magic series in the second round of the playoffs. Unlike most players, Perkins doesn't use a forearm when guarding opponents who operate with their backs to the basket. "If you use the forearm, you don't have enough balance when they spin or fade away," he said. Instead, he uses hands for sensory information; the outside hand placed on an opponents' tailbone to determine where he's going (and, if possible, to guide him), while the inside hand stabs for steals.
NBA ticket revenue slides 7.4 percent (UPDATE)
UPDATE 3 (from Eddy): Ken Berger of CBSSports.com provides an update on the NBA ticket revenue for teams in the NBA.

The Atlanta Hawks (15-6), long challenged in the attendance department but off to their best start in a decade, have seen a league-high 26.8 percent increase in net gate receipts – to $468,036 per game, up from $369,157 at this point last season. Atlanta is selling an average of 10,573 tickets per game, up from 7,900 at this point last season. The other top gainers in net gate receipts are the Denver Nuggets (up 20.3 percent), Orlando Magic (up 17.7 percent), Portland Trail Blazers (up 12.3 percent), and Cleveland Cavaliers (up 11.8 percent).

Again, make the jump to read the rest of the fact sheet the Magic sent this afternoon.

Orlando has won eight straight on the road, the longest road winning streak for a single season. Overall, the record is nine (last two in April '07 and first sevent in November '07). Under Stan Van Gundy (two-plus years), the Magic are 64-30 on the road. At 10-2 on the road this year, the Magic will look to eclipse its seasonal franchise record for road wins (27 each of the last two years).

Orlando has won 23 straight games in which it has scored 100 points. The streak dates back to Feb. 24, 2009.

Orlando has had five or more players score in double-figures in 12 games this year (11-1 record when it happens).

Orlando has made 10 or more three-pointers 13 times this year and is 11-2 when it does so.

Orlando has had 20-plus assists nine times this year and is 9-0 when it does so.

When Orlando outrebounds its opponent the Magic are 13-0.

Over Stan Van Gundy's two-plus seasons Orlando is 91-20 (10-2 this year) when holding opponents under 100 points.

Over Stan Van Gundy's two-plus seasons Orlando is 114-34 (12-3 this year) when holding opponents to less than 50 percent shooting.

Dwight Howard now has 25 career 20+ point/20+ rebound games (two already this year). The Magic are 6-2 when Vince Carter scored 20-plus points this year. Rashard Lewis is averaging 18.3 ppg. over the last six games, while shooting over 50 percent from the field overall and three-point range, compared to 12.6 ppg. and a 33 percent field goal mark the first five games he played this season.

Let's Push Gerald Wallace Into the All Star Game

David Arnott — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:41:34 -0000

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What more is there to say about Gerald Wallace? We're at about the 1/4 point of the season, and he's making a push to be the Bobcats' first All Star selection.

16 pts, 12 reb per game. 7 FTA. Trusted to be a defensive stopper every night. The crappy thing is that if the Bobcats fade out of the playoff race by the time All Star selections are made, that might be the worst thing possible for his chances at making the game.

But right now, after LeBron James and Chris Bosh, which Eastern Conference forwards deserve to make it ahead of him? Andre Iguodala is a guard, but if he's labeled a forward, that could push Wallace out. Maybe Josh Smith? Garnett and Pierce have shown signs of dropping off. Danny Granger just went out for over a month with an injury.

He's on his way. Any ideas for how we can spread the word about the greatness we see every night?

UPDATE: Rick Bonnell is thinking about Wallace and the ASG, too...

No K-Mart, no win... (Nuggets/Bobcats recap)

Nate Timmons — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:39:42 -0000

The Nuggets let one slip away in Charlotte. Without their defensive "quarterback" Kenyon Martin, the Nuggets defense gave up too many second chance points and easy buckets in the lane. Down the road losses like this may catch up with the 16-6 Denver Nuggets.

It would be easy to chalk this loss up to the team being tired and playing the second night of a back-to-back against a well rested home team, but the Nuggets inability to close out quarters, rebound and share the basketball all played a role in tonight's 107-95 loss more so than fatigue.

Last night after the Nuggets game I was able to catch the HBO replay of the middleweight fight between Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez. The fight was basically a slug-fest that came down to the last man standing. After the fight it was anyone's guess as to who the judges would give the fight to, but one thing was for sure ... it was a very close bout. The bloodied and battered Williams (who was knocked down in the first round) waited anxiously, but I felt Martinez would earn the win ... one score came in 114-114, another 115-113 and the final score ... 119-110 in favor of Williams. How was Williams able to steal such a close looking fight? Well, he did all the little things that boxing judges tend to like ... he was aggressive forcing the action and always came back after a flurry by Martinez. The Bobcats basically did the same thing to the Nuggets ... each time Denver made a run and tried to take control of the game Charlotte would answer right back and was the aggressor tonight.

The Bobcats utilized another boxing trick against the Nuggets as they were able to "steal rounds" or in basketball terms ... they finished quarters extremely well. In the first quarter Denver made a nice run to get back into the game, but Charlotte at the 1:58 mark with a 22-21 lead went on a 7-5 run to finish the quarter up 29-26.

In the second quarter at the 2:03 mark Denver was up 49-43, but gave up a 11-0 run before the half and Charlotte went into the locker room up 54-49.

In the third quarter at the 4:24 mark Denver was up 65-61, but gave up a 17-10 run and Charlotte was up 78-75 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter at "winning time" at the 5:56 mark and the score tied 87-87 the Bobcats finished the game with a 20-8 run and finished off the Nuggets.

So, Charlotte utilized four runs to end each quarter and outscored Denver in the above mentioned paragraphs 55-23 ... ouch. I think I may have mentioned it in a recap before, but I believe that Pepto Bismol may have had a hidden sponsorship in tonight's contest ... upset stomach ... diarrhea.

Another area in which Denver shit the bed tonight ... rebounding. The Nuggets missed the roughly 8 rebounds per game that the athletic Kenyon Martin provides. Gerald Wallace terrorized the Nuggets on the glass, he grabbed game high 16 boards (5 offensive) and just seemed to want the ball more than anyone else on the floor. Wallace got to a lot of misses that Martin can usually corral ... ones high above the crowd. Martin's replacements Renaldo Balkman and Joey Graham were able to replace 6 rebounds for the Nuggets tonight, but Charlotte outrebounded Denver 43-35.

On the offensive boards the Bobcats were able to get to 33% of the missed shots on the Nuggets end by grabbing 14 of the possible 42 boards on the Nuggets end. As much as I hate to second guess rotations, I almost wanted to see Johan Petro get a little burn because I think his size would have been a different matchup than going small and trying to let Balkman and Graham go up against the athletic Wallace (on the glass anyway). But I'm sure that Petro would not have made the difference ... but like in the NFL, you always want the backup QB if your starter is struggling ... that is until the backup actually comes in.

Now to the area of the game that I like to focus on ... sharing the ball. The Nuggets recorded just 11 team assists tonight. Denver did not do a good job of getting each other the ball. J.R. Smith led the team with 4 assists as Billups, Lawson, Melo, Afflalo and Graham combined for the other seven. Those are horrific numbers for an NBA team that plays its best basketball when they are sharing the ball and getting out in transition.

I'm still not totally sure why when the Nuggets face good defensive teams and are unable to hit their usual shots that they seem to revert to one-on-one basketball, but they do and it rarely results in wins. The 2-16 performance from beyond the arc didn't help either. I also think both teams may have combined for well over 600 missed shots in the paint tonight.

Denver in their six losses now has stinkbombs to three teams that were under .500 at the time they played them (and one to a team that is now under .500 in the Bucks). The Nuggets now head to Detroit for a game on Thursday with the retooled Pistons ... a place that Denver has had a lot of trouble winning.

Another one gets away and Denver is now 0-2 when K-Mart is unable to play.

Views you can use:

George Karl is now 20-19 versus Larry Brown.
Joey Graham had a nice third quarter going 3-4 from the field in the period. Graham was 3-3 in the third and then decided to take a "heat check" shot from the corner. Here is what I wrote when he took that fourth shot, "The heat check is the dumbest shot in basketball. You're telling me that after working hard to get open three times that it's a good idea to chuck up an off balance, rushed and contested shot? Why would that ever work? The "heat check" should be called "the cooler.""
Nene can't have offensive games like he did tonight ... he finished 3-6 for 8 points, but basically owned Tyson Chandler whenever he got the ball. When the Nuggets don't work Nene into the offense the entire team struggles.
Bennett Salvatore is a shitty ref. Check this picture out. At the 2:15 mark of the fourth quarter the score was 95-91 Bobcats ... Melo set up position on the top of the block with Stephen Jackson trying to front him, as Billups was making a move to the baseline (using Melo as a shield), Jackson did his best Manu Ginobili and flooped to the floor (pretending Melo's left arm chopped him in the throat ... Salvatore (on the baseline behind Melo) bought the play hook, line and sinker for Jackson and called an offensive foul on Melo. So, instead of Billups driving to the hoop basically alone and maybe cutting the lead to 2 ... Charlotte takes over and pushes the lead to 97-91. I'm not saying that play changed the game, but it is just funny that refs get suckered into these plays on a nightly basis. What could have been an exciting ending in Charlotte instead turned into another boring ending in the NBA. Oh and Salvatore got a little more involved in the game after that by calling technicals on both Melo and Billups. Melo's came because Stephen Jackson drove and spun right into Melo and threw up a wild off balance shot ... Salvatore gave Jackson the bailout call and set Melo off. I know the Nuggets get their share of calls, but with all the ref scrutiny opened up by Tim Donaghy ... we are all watching with more of a mindful eye.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com
Twitter: Nate_Timmons

Photo courtesy of AP Photos: Chuck Burton

Bobcats Stuff Nuggets 107-95; Gerald Wallace Continues His Rampage Through the NBA

David Arnott — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:52:58 -0000

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The Bobcats and Nuggets fought back and forth, with neither team proving superiority until late in the fourth quarter, when Charlotte went on a mini-run, jumped ahead, and didn't look back until the horn sounded on a 107-95 win.

It's encouraging in the big picture that the Cats dropped a Western Conference power like the Nuggets, even considering that Denver was on the second half of a back to back, and even considering that one of their key cogs, Kenyon Martin, was held out with an injury. On occasion, Charlotte has shown the ability to play like this (see the Cleveland game), and it's incredibly satisfying when they put it all together for a full game. It's fantastic to win those games, but even if they lose, we don't come away feeling like we put ourselves through the ringer.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump.

BAD

-- Can Boris Diaw be disappointing if he's not really doing anything negative? It's just that he's not doing anything positive, either. I'm sure we can do better than an upper middle class man's Luke Walton for our starting power forward.

-- 10 minutes for Stephen Graham? Really? 4 minutes for Gerald Henderson is atrocious. At least Derrick Brown got 8 and a half minutes.

-- Tyson Chandler. Dude. Please. Get it together. Or admit you've got an injury and rest until you're at full health.

GOOD

-- I don't think I can sing Gerald Wallace's praises any louder. The man deserves an All Star campaign if ever any player deserved one. Anyone want to make an advocacy video? 25 points and 16 rebounds tonight. We've gotta be careful not to grow complacent and take Crash for granted. He. Is. A. Beast.

-- I think when Good Raymond Felton shows up, it leads to a success cycle. He'll never be a great offensive player, and he's Bad Felton when he acts like he is. What I mean by that is that if he's Good Felton through the first three quarters, distributing, only taking shots when it'd be crazy for him not to, then when Must Take Crunch Time Shots Felton shows up, he's already established his willingness to facilitate, which the opponent must respect. Thus, it's easier for Must Take Crunch Time Shots Felton to score, even if, optimally, he shouldn't be taking those shots. 14 points on 6-7 shooting. Only 3 assists, but 6 steals! I love the idea that he might tailor his game in the Kirk Hinrich model, only taking way fewer three point attempts. Spend energy playing tough defense, facilitate on offense, and be fearless in a scoring role when every other option is cut off. (I know hope is a dangerous thing...)

-- I like when Stephen Jackson plays a bigger role facilitating, too. It actually plays more to Augustin's and Murray's strengths when Jax and Diaw take on point forward responsibilities, so when those guys are at the nominal PG position, maybe that should be the strategy. In any event, Jackson's 6 assists were a welcome sight, and I think it would open up the offense a bit, and perhaps jump start Diaw's game again, by giving those forwards more creative responsibilities, especially when Good Felton isn't in the game.

-- Team defense was excellent, as usual. I feared they wouldn't have an answer for Ty Lawson, but they held him in check. They kept Chauncey in check. 'Melo scored 34, but turned it over 6 times. J.R. Smith needed 16 shots to get his 16 points. Only Nene rebounded in double figures.

You're Twenty Deep: Analyzing DeMarre Carroll

djturtleface — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:08:58 -0000

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DeMarre Carroll was a player in college at Mizzou. He was a legitimate college franchise guy; they built a team around him and he carried them into the tourney.

Nobody expected that kind of play out of him in Memphis, or anywhere in the NBA for that matter. DeMarre is a perfect example of the college tweener. He plays and works his ass off to make the best use of relatively limited natural abilities, but hard work isn't enough to make you a star in the NBA.

Even a guy like Gerald Wallace, who is admittedly limited in the more skill-centric facets of the game, has to go harder than anyone else in the league to make his incredible natural abilities work like they should. DeMarre Carroll has nowhere near the physical abilities of Wallace, but the working-man spirit is the same.

Now if you're going to evaluate a hustle player, where do you look? Rebounds and steals are traditionally known as "hustle stats." I personally don't believe that for a second, Carlos Boozer grabs mad boards but he's not exactly know for his dedication to the game. And steals are a tough read on this Grizzlies team; because the overall defense is tremendously poor, there are less tipped passes out there to get down and dirty chasing.

Still lets take a brief look at turnovers. It's alright to be fearful of small sample size, I suppose, but with DeMarre on the court the Grizzlies draw just as many turnovers as they do without him on the court. This probably means that Carroll is forcing some extra turnovers while replacing Zach Randolph, while being a little less disruptive on defense than Rudy Gay.

This point brings us rather quickly into the fact that DeMarre is being played out of position when filling in for Rudy. DeMarre cannot play small forward, he is only suitable as a power forward. Using 82games.com again today, it becomes obvious pretty quickly that Carroll is pretty horrendous at the small forward spot, with a PER of only .6 while playing almost 40% of his minutes there.

And that revelation makes DeMarre Carroll's role with the team going forward a little bit ambiguous. Darrell Arthur is a better NBA player than Carroll, and should be the Grizzlies backup power forward. That means Carroll's minutes are going to dry up in a month or two, unless the Grizzlies want to suffer him trying to figure out how to play tons of extremely inefficient minutes while out of position.

Moving back to his time so far, DeMarre has been a more than adequate sub. Data shows that the Grizzlies only play about 2 points per 100 possessions worse with him in, which isn't bad for a rookie substitute and a second rounder in most drafts. But would I rather have DeJuan Blair? Yes.

That's not to say DeMarre isn't putting in his work. To move away from the statistics, it's clear that he's giving it all out there. He brings lots of energy, but doesn't have the skill yet to become an impact player. Other teams happily allow the Grizzlies to run catch-and-shoot plays for him, and his driving layup is ugly, though he's willing to jump into a brick wall if it means getting to the line.

Twenty games in, DeMarre Carroll has given the Memphis Grizzlies everything they could have expected. He hasn't impressed, but he hasn't underwhelmed either. Carroll gets in, plays hard enough to make up for most of the skill gap, and happily takes the bruises that come with being the working-man.