SB Nation - Samuel Dalembert

Thoughts on Rockets 96 - 76ers 91 (Aka Game Recap)

Xiane — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:02:07 -0000

Houston Rockets' Tracy McGrady is proud to represent the nation of China in the 2009-2010 NBA All-Star Game. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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This game was viewed through the prism of an ill child (nothing serious), so my thoughts are more fragmented that usual. I'll rely more on that last resort of scoundrels, statistics.

When one looks at the 76er starting lineup, it is pretty impressive:

Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Allen Iverson, Samuel Dalembert, Thaddeus Young.

That's a lot of talent, a ton of athletic ability. Elton Brand has in the past, been one of the finest players in the NBA at his position. Iguodala has one of the more well-rounded, athletic and interesting games in the NBA. Iverson, well, he's raging at the dying of the light, at any rate, and he looks to have something left. Yet the Sixers have now lost 12 straight games. Why? I (imagine I) hear you asking. Two words: The Bench.

Players seeing minutes from the Philly bench tonight include: Willie Green (25), Jason Kapono (17), Jrue Holliday (8), Jason Smith (3), Primoz Breszec (5).

Total points in 58 out of 240 possible player minutes? Six. I repeat. S-I-X.

Let's compare that to the Rocket's bench, total points: 46 in 84 player minutes. So Philly's bench scored roughly one point every 9.40 minutes. The Rockets bench scored a point every 1.5 minutes.

This is an object lesson in bench construction (and another reason why "WE © or Ω or √ MOREY" Guess what? No little "heart" thingy.). Houston, with 40% of an NBA payroll, has a bench that, frankly, buried Philly's in this contest.

That is not how the game started. Phily jumped on Houston early, prompting fears of the 76ers once again being a team that's pure poison for the Rockets, no matter how bad they look against the rest of the league. Then the benches matched up, and the Rockets closed a Philly lead that stood at 10 after the first quarter to 3 points at the half.

When outside observers look at the Rockets, I think they often make the mistake of looking at the starting lineup and saying "That's not a high caliber NBA lineup." Well, maybe not (though I disagree). But to understand the Rockets, you have to go 9-10 deep. You could start the Rocket's second unit and give up very little, overall.

The players aren't exactly comparable, with some offering more offense, some defense, so let's look at Win Shares so far in 2009-2010. The typical Rocket starting lineup boasts a 7WS total at this point. The second unit (of 4 players) is contributing 5WS - add an average rating of one starter from the first team and you get a total of 6.4WS for the second unit (as we've yet to see much of Taylor thus far). Point being, the Rockets give up little, or nothing, switching out almost their entire lineup. This, I submit, is a powerful, and under-appreciated, advantage.

Every Philly starter played 34 minutes or more, with the exception of Dalembert, who played 29. Brand logged 43, sitting down 5 minutes of the contest, and Iguodala saw 40. Only Ariza came close to that, going 42.

Notes:

I'm very happy we didn't once again drop a game to the 76ers as we have done so frequently in the past. We need to win every single game against floundering opponents. We're going to struggle to hit .500 against the top teams, so we need to clean up on games against below .500 teams.

Iverson gave young Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks a lesson in drawing fouls and shooting FTs. Lowry is good at it, but AI is the past master, and he put on a "weak contact FT shooting" clinic in the 4th.

Carl Landry is one of the most valuable players in the NBA on a salary/production basis. I'm now surprised when a Landry shot doesn't go in, and the reasons why not usually break down to: uncalled foul on Carl, the shot was a bit out of his range. That's it.

Commenting on the Tracy McGrady All-Star Game "controversy": what would happen if TMac's first 2009-2010 game appearance was in the NBA ASG? Could the Rocket's keep him out of it, if he hadn't played for them to that point, but wanted to play in the ASG?

The Lakers are going for their 11^th straight win tonight. Some Laker apologists have made an interesting argument that LA having 17 of 21 appearances at home to start the year isn't much of an advantage. After their recent run, can this assertion be supported? We'll have to see the record they compile when they actually do leave LA for more than 48 hours at a time to know more.

You know, every time I see those weird Charlie Sheen/Michael Jordan "Haynes Undergarments" ads I think a couple of things:

1. These are terrible ads. Are there two more unlikable pitch men than Pathetic Sheen, and Arrogant Michael Jordan, blowing him off? Who would those pitchmen be?

2. I always imagine Charlie Sheen is the head scout, or cap guru, for the Bobcats. He's trying to get Jordan to pay attention to some mundane franchise detail, like player signings, or budget, and MJ just drives away, late to a tee time.

Surprisingly, the Rockets are not playing a back-to-back on the road Saturday night. Next game vs Toronto in that mysterious and far-away land known as Canada.

Game 18 Preview: Oklahoma City vs. Philadelphia

Zorgon — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:32:54 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Back in action? Nope, not yet!

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This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.

Time: 7:00 PM Central Standard Time

Place: The Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Comcast Sports Philadelphia, NBATV

Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1)

Enemy Blog(s): Liberty Ballers, Sixers4guidos, DepressedFan

Backstory: The 76ers are a surprise dissapointment among all of the good surprises that have happened this year. Someone has to fall, right? Granted, Elton Brand and Louis Williams have been injured....but that's only been recently. The bottom line is that they lost Andre Miller. And with him, they lost the glue that held the team together. Even in the latest 2 point loss to the Mavericks, the team had 4 more turnovers than assists. That isn't a recipe for winning, and it's bad news for a team that thought they could make the playoffs. Indeed, in the last two years they have made the playoffs, but it looks like they'll have to do even more post-Allen Iverson rebuilding. And no, getting Allen Iverson back doesn't count!

Meanwhile, the Thunder are a shade over .500, and they're looking to keep it that way. They've taken care of business against teams like the 76ers in the past, and the game is at home, so things are looking up. Still, injuries to Nick Collison (possibly out tonight), Kyle Weaver, Kevin Ollie, and Shaun Livingston haven't helped matters, so it remains to be seen whether they have the depth of talent to win this game.

Below: Matchups, Prediction

Matchups:

Center: Nenad Krstic vs. Samuel Dalembert

Luckily, Nenad Krstic will be back tonight, along with a possible chance of Nick Collison. The thunder will need all of the help they can get, because Samuel Dalembert is a mean machine in the post, along with being the 2nd greatest basketball player ever to come out of Canada. I'd expect Krstic to be able to score, since both Dalembert and Brand are immobile centers, but I'd also expect Dalembert lay the smack down in the post.

Power Forward: Jeff Green vs. Elton Brand

Yet another mismatch. Jeff Green will have to make sure to stay out of foul trouble, and Elton Brand will have to make sure to guard Green on the perimeter. Expect Green to have the upper hand if he can stay out of foul trouble.

Small Forward: Kevin Durant vs. Thaddeus Young

Heh, good luck Thaddeus. He'll have a better 3 Point percentage than Durant, but not much else.

Shooting Guard: Thabo Sefolosha vs. Andre Igoudala

This is yet another tough matchup for Sefolosha, as Igoudala is the primary scorer of the 76ers. Still, he won't walk all over Sefolosha, like Ariza did. Rather, I think Sefolosha will be able to shut him down in some cases and force turnovers.

Point Guard: Russell Westbrook vs. Jrue Holiday (Possibly Willie Green)

I don't think either one of these guys is any better than Westbrook. Willie Green is a scoring-type bigger guard, and Jrue Holiday is still a Rookie, with not many stats to his name. This is a real opportunity for Russell Westbrook to shine, get those assists, and score well.

Battle of the Benches

I'll breathe a huge sigh of relief if Nick Collison gets to play tonight, as he'll help out a lot down low. Still, despite all of their badness, the 76ers have a solid bench, with young life-long backup Center Jason Smith, 3 Point Sharpshooter Kapono, and solid scoring guard Willie Green. But Royal Ivey sucks. It's not a bench that blows you away with depth, but they don't really take a huge hit in talent when their backups are on the floor, and they all have clearly defined roles. Their bench gets the win over ours, because I'd say Kapono and Green pretty much own their equivalents on our team.

Coaching and Intangibles

The 76ers have just signed Allen Iverson, so the team might go into "cruise control", as they have some sort of savior coming to the team on Monday. On the other hand, they might be motivated to perform well before he gets there, but that's something I'm doubting. On top of that, they've lost 7 straight, and are away from home. The intangibles are definitely on the side of the Thunder.

Bottom Line

The real danger of the 76ers is their big post guys. If they can dominate inside, and out-rebound us, then we might have a game on our hands. Yet, if they just let Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic nail mid-range jumpers all day, then this could very easily turn into a blowout.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 100, Philadelphia 86

I haven't predicted an over 10 point victory since the Kings game....let's hope I haven't jinxed anything.

How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll!

And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I'll be in the Ford Center cheering the team on, but I'll be back to write a recap later tonight. Go Thunder!

Poll

Who's going to win tonight?

Spurs vs Sixers: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:00:29 -0000

There was something very weird about this game. I think ATS was pretty close about the game feeling in control even when it got close. I was excited for the big plays, but I wasn't super excited for the gritty stuff like usual. I think I've come up with a few culprits:

* A Sunday game

* During football season

* Against the Sixers (AI2, Dalembert, and who? I've heard of Holiday but, yeah...sorry Ivey, but I didn't even know you were on the roster until I looked at the boxscore. Shame on me.)

* Where the main event is actually post game.

Another list after the jump....

I don't listen to much Green Day anymore, but this is a great one for me.

STATS OF THE GAME

* We "live and die" by the 3 so anytime we shoot over 50% behind the arc is worth noting, 55.6% to be exact. So without Mason; Bonner, Finley, Manu, and RJ combine for 9 of 13 for 69.2%. Where were the other 5 attempts? K-Boges was 1 of 5....In his defense, I think most of them were fair attempts. You can't make them all.

* The Spurs have been doing a good job of making opposing leaders into being poor leaders. Jennings looked not so great against us. The Wizards, a veteran team, looked completely leaderless. Ariza chucked away to get his points. Iguodala 21 points and is an awesome athlete, but please don't tell him that. He was 1 of 6 from 3. If I was the Sixers coach, the first thing I would do is sit him down and say, "you are an average 3 point shooter at best, but you can rock the paint and get to line at will so if you don't drive the ball, I will bench you!" Once again, an opponents best player finishes the game with the worst +/- on the team. AI Jr. was -15.

* Dejuan Blair had a disgusting line (11 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks).....in 16 minutes of play! A note from watching the Spurs this season: Manu likes passing to Blair more than anyone else. Watch for it. Manu forced at least 3 crazy passes in this game alone at Blair. The first I remember was a turnover because Blair wasn't ready. The second was a turnover because Manu's pass went too crazy for any human or Beast. The third was an easy score. I'm not sure if Manu and him just have a a connection, Manu wants to see Blair dominate the opponent, or Manu trusts Blair's wingspan and low body center to the person guarding him to prevail, but watch when they are on the court together. As the season goes along, expect Manu to Blair, points for Blair, assist for Manu to be a very common and efficient sight.

* Duncan and Parker were monsters of efficiency. For the sake of this being a triumvirate of power, I'll include Manu who wasn't half bad either in his limited role and coming off an injury. So your Cerberus of All the is Holy has a combined stat line of 84 minutes, 46 points on 17 of 30 shooting and 11 of 11 from the line, 15 assists, 9 rebounds (in spite of Blair's night and then Bonner, Finley, and Bogans combining for another 16 rebounds), 2 steals, and 5 blocks. What turnovers? I don't see that column.....

Finally, here is the man of the night!!! Thank God every Spursday or those ones in between that we can claim this guy to our franchise so I leave you with this last stat of the night: +1 Spurs with their retired jersey saying "Hall of Fame".

RECAP: Warriors 111, Mavericks 103 - Wait... what just happened?

R Dizzle — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:39:12 -0000

Wait...what? Did that really just happen?

Let me check the Open Thread.

OPEN THREAD - Warriors @ Mavericks - Time to Get Smart

Nooo...no way did we just beat the Mavs...did we?

Ellis, Morrow lead Warriors past Mavericks 111-103 [Yahoo Sports]

Yahoo says we did. What about Mavs Money Ball?

Mavs Lose at Home to Six Warriors: Rick Carlisle Postgame Quotes [Mavs MoneyBall]

Ok ok...I still don't believe it. It's not possible. The Mavs were 10-3. Dirk was having an MVP type year (ughhh...). We had 8 active players - 2 of which were injured. We had young players.

Did we really just win?

Let me check to see what my man IQofaWarrior dropped in the Warriors Web...

Warriors Web: Warriors 111, Mavericks 103- Monta Ellis + Anthony Morrow + Stephen Curry score 82 points, Mikki Moore + Vladimir Radmanovic grab 23 rebounds

I still can't believe it...

Final - 11.24.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden State Warriors	25	25	28	33	111
Dallas Mavericks	27	27	28	21	103

Complete Coverage >

WE WON.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?! FACTOR = 3

Again, I'd like to bring your attention Figure 1 (pictured below).

Now I must admit, when the game started I was basically yelling at my laptop at the top of my lungs (and subsequently getting yelled at by people around me at the library). It was literally turnover after turnover after turnover after turnover after turnover...you get the idea. If I recall correctly (someone tell me if I'm wrong) it was close to 6 TO's in the first 5 minutes of the game. Sloppy sloppy sloppy!

But then, guys got smart, Keith Smart, that is, and decided to minimize turnovers. Let's be real, 21 turnovers is waaaaaayyyy too much (especially dumb ones) but it doesn't really matter when the Warriors can rack in 15 steals.

Question

Hey GSoM, I gotta question for you.

It's a brain teaser, but maybe you can get the answer.

You gotta think about it real hard though.

What happens when you play a FULL NBA game with these 6 players and this coach?

Stephen Curry

#30 / Guard / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-3

Weight: 185

Born: Mar 14, 1988

College: Davidson

Monta Ellis

#8 / Guard / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-3

Weight: 180

Born: Oct 26, 1985

College: None

Mikki Moore

#33 / Center / Golden State Warriors

Height: 7-0

Weight: 225

Born: Nov 04, 1975

College: Nebraska

Anthony Morrow

#22 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-5

Weight: 210

Born: Sep 27, 1985

College: Georgia Tech

Vladimir Radmanovic

#77 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-10

Weight: 235

Born: Nov 19, 1980

College: Serbia & Montenegro

Anthony Randolph

#4 / Forward / Golden State Warriors

Height: 6-10

Weight: 205

Born: Jul 15, 1989

College: L-S-U

The answer to come later.

For a hint, check out this SB Nation article.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Now it's time to play another game. It's called...

I SPY - WARRIORS EDITION

Monta Ellis

I spy...Monta Ellis

This one picture depicts his game as of late.

Examine it closely. Real closely.

I see ELLIS TO THE RIM.

It's like he was Moses - parting the sea of the Mavericks players. Going to straight to the promised land that is the basket.

It's like he understands what it means to be a leader, and he's taking charge and doing what he needs to.

Look at his stats! 48 minutes (the whole game), 4 boards, 4 steals, 8 assists. He does need to work on those 11 turnovers though.

Talk about playing a full game...

Anthony Morrow

I spy....Anthony Morrow.

This one picture depicts his game as of late.

Examine it closely. Real closely.

I see a 2nd year player that's expanding his game.

I see our future small forward with an ability to shoot (6 three pointers? Really? I mean..REALLY?!?!), pull down boards (9) and even distribute the ball (5 assists).

I see tenacity.

But most of all, I see pride. I see power. I see a bad-ass mother, who don't take no crap offa nobody!

I had to work the Cool Runnings in!

Stephen Curry

I spy...Stephen Curry.

This one picture depicts his game as of late.

Examine it closely. Real closely.

Yes, he's young, but he ain't scared.

He's got the rest of the NBA wondering where he came from. Look at Dirk. Look at JKidd. They just don't get it.

How can a rookie like him start, shoot 50% off the floor, toss out 6 dimes, AND have clutch shooting at the end of the road game?

Must be all the butter chicken.

Last but not least...

Coach Smart

I spy...Coach Smart.

This one picture depicts his coaching as of late.

Examine it closely. Real closely.

I see a coach that can take our young guys to victory. I see a man that's willing to draw a technical foul on a terrible call. I see a coach that our young players really respect.

He was ready to take over Nelly's coaching position when he was needed. He says the right things.

"Coming into this game, we had nothing to lose," said assistant coach Keith Smart, who filled in for Nelson. "The worst case is they blow us out and we move on to [Wednesday night's game in San Antonio]. But our guys have a lot of character. They played hard together and made the right decisions."

Smart dedicated the victory to Nelson, watching at home on TV."This win went out to our man in charge," Smart said. "Our guys pulled together for him. He instilled a lot of the qualities in all of us."

Now I'm not going to start saying all this "FIRE NELSON! WE WANT COACH SMART!" stuff...but I will say, it was nice to get a fresh look off the bench.

I don't want to credit all of the success yesterday to Coach Smart - it goes to a lot of players (more on that later).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer

What happens when you play a FULL NBA game with these 6 players and this coach?

To my earlier question. There's a simple answer.

A WIN.

I gotta be honest. This one was pretty rough. I could have given it to Coach Smart. I couldn't have given it to any one or all of our Big Three - Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, and Stephen Curry. Hell, I could have even given it to Vlad Rad for playing a full game and contributing.

But no, I think I'm going to dedicate last night's game to my favorite ex-player.

Yes, that's right - he gets yet another Warrior Wonder award.

Why, you ask?

Well it's simple. Things have just been a bit different without him around. Monta's been able to fill the role of leader (which he's suprising doing well in), there's more ball distribution, less dumb mistakes.

Everyone just seems a bit happier. Things seem to be working out a bit better.

Ya know I got nothin but love for ya Jack.

Poll

Think Don Nelson should move to a consulting position?

YES, Time to get Smart!

472 votes

NO, Nellieball forever!

80 votes

552 votes | Poll has closed

The Prospect of, Um, Samuel Dalembert

Ziller — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:06:35 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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Apparently, the Kings are highly interested in a defensive-minded center. Marc Stein of ESPN reports on TrueHoop that the Kings are in exploratory discussions with Philadelphia and Boston in a deal that would bring centre (boom!) Samuel Dalembert to Sacramento with Kenny Thomas and Andres Nocioni departing. Essentially, it brings in Dalembert, whose defense is well-reputed but whose offense and sometimes attitude is disastrous, for two seasons while cutting some salary off this season's ledger and freeing the team from Nocioni's longer contract. Here are the full contract details for the only three players who matter to Sacramento. (Boston, who would receive Nocioni, would also send a couple of dudes to Philly.) As always with matters of salary, thanks be to ShamSports (who you can also follow for pithy remarks, obscure transaction news and feuds with Sam Amick [no really!] on Twitter: @ShamSports).

Player	'09-10	'10-11	'11-12	'12-13
Dalembert	$12M	$12.9M	--	--
Nocioni	$7.5M	$6.9M	$6.7M	$7.5M*
Thomas	$8.8M	--	--	--

The Kings would save a solid $4 million this season, give or take as roughly 10 percent of the season's salary has already been paid out. Next season, the Kings would have $46 million in payroll on the books instead of $40 million, and would be out of the running for a major free agent chase, barring something unexpected with the salary cap. The Kings would gain $6.7 million in space in 2011-12 (putting the team at $34 million in commitments without accounting for Spencer Hawes's extension) as the then-31 Nocioni would no longer be on the books. Nocioni's 2012-13 salary is a team option, which is unlikely to be picked up by any team, unless Bueno Aires grabs an expansion club and Dorothy Nocioni is the owner. So basically, the Kings would save roughly $4 million this season, spend an extra $6 million next season and save $6.7 million in '11-12. A net savings of roughly $4.5 million over three seasons.

That's the money situation. What about the talent?

As we've discussed, Thomas is a bit of gravy right now. He's playing well on defense and on the boards, but he's really just an expiring contract. Adding another pivot would guarantee that. Heck, if Jon Brockman were an inch taller, or Sean May were 10 pounds lighter, Thomas would never get off the bench. Losing Thomas, while sad, because man we have been through a lot with that guy!, would not matter much to the product on the court. Just the product in my chest.

Nocioni has been a good contributor for the Kings, maybe the fourth best offensive weapon at any time. He's also, as we were reminded frequently during the Thunder-Kings game, an active defender, though he's less brilliant against lesser talents, where he loses concentration and chases the ball. Right now, he's the team's most easily swingable big small forward (a minor victory) and one of the team's more reliable shooters (with Omri Casspi, Beno Udrih and a healthy Kevin Martin ... and someday a healthy Francisco Garcia). You assume Ime Udoka would take over Nocioni's spot, at least temporarily, as the suggested three-guard line-up looms with Martin's expected return around the New Year. If it's not Udoka, Paul Westphal can choose between Casspi (the better scorer and more energetic defender) or Donte Greene (the ultra-athletic, hyper-celebratory choice).

But that's all temporary. Long-term, the Kings have plenty of options at the position. Udoka is the team's best defender without question, and he can hit an open shot (which is arguably all you want from Nocioni, though he tends to create in a pinch, which we'd miss until Martin returns or Spencer Hawes regains confidence). Casspi is a bright star -- not star as in NBA Star, but star as in shining light which will always rise with the moon and never disappear until it burns out in a wonderful supernova, which won't happen for millions of years. Greene, of course, is the secret lock of hair in the shoebox, the everlasting dream of tomorrow. Garcia might be a lost cause this season (he'll have about 25-30 games once he returns, and he'll need to refind his stroke on that shooting hand), but he's signed up for the long haul and can do a lot of what Nocioni can do, except for the rebounding. He is, basically, Nocioni. Which makes it weird that we have two Nocionis. But it had to happen -- we couldn't go from two Salmonses (John Salmons and Garcia) to zero Salmonses without making it up somewhere else. (Can we try two Martins or two Thompsons next time? Thanks.)

Now, to the Haitian Conflagration. Interestingly enough, I wondered about Dalembert last trade deadline.

[Tyson] Chandler's reputation is much stronger than that of Dalembert, though I can't really understand why. The only real, measurable advantages for Chandler are that he is 17 months younger, that he refuses to shoot if he can't dunk (hence the higher FG%) and he doesn't put the ball on the floor ever.

Dalembert is an equal or slightly better rebounder, a far better shot-blocker, is slightly cheaper in salary and MUCH cheaper in terms of acquisition costs.

(Quoting myself once again! The Ego is back, baby! Step off, Id.) Chandler is no longer a comparison, as he is spoken for. But look at Dalembert on his own merits: a career defensive rebounding percentage of 24.5 percent, a career block rate of 5.8 percent (that is, when on the court he blocks 5.8 percent of all opponent field goal attempts), a career individual Defensive Rating of 101.5, which happens to rank 88th in the NBA ... all time. He has played every game in each of the past three seasons. He is 75th in NBA history in total blocks, despite averaging only 26 minutes per game for his career (due to fouls and a lack of offensive ability). He was the third best rebounder in the league last season: 6th on the offensive glass (better than J.T.), third on the defensive glass (behind Troy Murphy and Dwight Howard), third overall (behind Howard and Kevin Love). He has finished top seven in the league in block rate in five of his eight NBA seasons, and top nine in rebound rate three times.

For a 7-footer, his career field goal percentage of 52.3 percent might be a bit low. But his True Shooting percentage (that's the best measure of scoring efficiency) is above league average, because unlike most defensive specialist centers he can hit free throws (better than 70 percent in each of the past four seasons and at 78 percent this year). His turnover rate is atrocious, which means he needs to stop handling the ball. I think a coach like Paul Westphal -- who convinced D.G. to stop taking hurried off-balance threes -- could impart that knowledge effectively. If not, your third big (who might start in front of Hawes -- that'd be a pretty big question) would have terrible hands. Not the worst realization, given how many top-level bigs have terrible hands, and given how good the other two prominent Kings bigs' hands are. (No Hamburglar.)

You know, if too many deals which I support come up, I'm going to be found out as an antsy Nancy who is just rooting for a trade. I'm not. But I understand the importance of interior defense -- look at much Hawes, who improved from dreadful to passable on defense, has helped! Imagine inserting a real, live, intimidating defender to the back line. The Kings, no matter how much they have surprised, are still a bad defensive team. Dalembert would help, this year and next. Given that the financial commitment is relatively short, and the price relatively small (no knock on Nocioni -- again, he's a bit superfluous here), it's something any team in Sacramento's position should consider. I trust that provided Boston is on board (Philadelphia certainly must be -- that franchise needs cap space like Jim Eyen needs a personal shopper), the Kings will consider this deal extensively. It's an intriguing one.

UPDATE: I completely neglected J.R. Giddens in this. Take roughly $1 million off this season's savings, and add a relatively old (24) Greene-level two-guard prospect. Giddens played 26 games for Kings assistant Bryan Gates's Utah Flash last season, and turned out a non-elite but good 19.1 PER. On the surface, I can tell he shot twos wonderfully and rebounded well for a 6-5 fella.

RUMOR: 76ers Contacted Warriors about Samuel Dalembert + Warriors trying to trade Stephen Jackson + Cavaliers still interested in Jackson

Atma Brother ONE — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:30:21 -0000

Kind of a stinky haircut don't you think?

via www.depressedfan.com

Jump for a tiny tidbit about the talks between the Sixers and Warriors about the man our friends over at Liberty Ballers call SAM BAM Dalembert.

Marc Spears writes for Yahoo! Sports:

One NBA general manager said the Philadelphia 76ers are still actively trying to move center Samuel Dalembert. A league source said the Sixers contacted the Warriors to see if they had any interest in Dalembert, but talks never progressed. The Warriors are still trying to trade Stephen Jackson but have yet to field a suitable offer. The Cavaliers remain interested in the veteran swingman.

Samuel Dalembert

#1 / Center / Philadelphia 76ers

Height: 6-11

Weight: 250

Born: May 10, 1981

College: Seton Hall

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
2009 - Samuel Dalembert	4	23.3	2.5	5.3	47.6	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.0	3.8	80.0	1.5	5.0	6.5	0.0	2.5	0.0	1.5	3.3	8.0

From Spears' report it doesn't appear that Stephen Jackson was what the 76ers were asking in return for Dalembert, but something like Jackson and Speedy Claxton for the Sixer Center [ESPN Trade Machine] ain't bad at all for the Warriors. The Warriors get rid of Jack before he makes a bigger mockery of himself, Robert Rowell (actually that one's pretty funny), and finishes the 2009-2010 season as the league leader in turnovers. Plus the Warriors shorten their financial commitment by 2 years, thus setting the Dubs up for the Chris Paul sweepstakes (I kid).

In terms of defense (gobbling up rebounds and protecting the paint) and unfortunately making mistakes Dalembert is Ronny Turiaf on steroids. I must say the Haitian center has always intrigued me. He never fully "developed" just like Andris Biedrins never "developed" any low post moves or a jump shot. However just like Biedrins Dalembert is raw, but effective. SAM BAM would instantly be the Warriors' best interior defender and would do a ton to help out their rebounding woes.

After this season there's only 1 year left on the 28 year old Dalembert's deal, so he could potentially be valuable as a single, sizable expiring contract during the 2010-2011 NBA season. A contender might even want to pick up his defensive tenacity for a stretch run in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Compare that to the remaining 3 years on the "Captain's" contract (thank you Robert Rowell) taking him into his mid-30's (read: way past his athletic prime) and Jack's history of well... throwing tantrums.

So why would our friends in Philly do it?

I have no idea.

And that's the problem.

Would you trade Stephen Jackson and Speedy Claxton for Samuel Dalembert?

YES: SAM BAM IT!

829 votes

NO: Sorry, just not feeling that hairdo.

316 votes

1145 votes | Poll has closed

Sixers lose to Celtics 105-74

jsams — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:25:34 -0000

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No Rondos were harmed during the taking of this photo.

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Box Score

The biggest difference between this year's Sixers/Celtics game and the games of year's past was the way it started. The Sixers came out cool, calm, and confident. In previous years the Sixers were about to pee their pants halfway through the first quarter before they eventually pulling it together, but this time the Sixers came out, played good defense, didn't force anything, and limited the turnovers. This can be attributed to a couple things. One, the team is a year older and more experienced against superior opponents. Two, their ball movement, spacing and passing actually resembles an NBA offense. And three, Lou Williams is running the offense better than expected. Now, they didn't maintain their lights out defense, nor did they refrain from turning the ball over, but it all fell apart when Eddie Jordan went to the bench.
Lou Williams has really impressed me so far. He's running the offense much better than I expected. He has the ability to score every time he brings it up, and sets up his teammates at a pretty high rate. The best way to describe his game "controlled". The offense went from smooth to stale when Lou rested.
I liked what I saw from Andre Iguodala tonight. He played good team defense, good man defense, and played the passing lanes brilliantly. He was aggressive on the offensive end, and did what a star player is supposed to do -- "take over". "Taking over" doesn't mean you force stupid shots. It means you play good defense, take good shots, and set your teammates up for easy buckets. Andre did all of that.
Thaddeus Young was awful on both ends of the floor, plain and simple.
Samuel Dalembert played really well tonight. He showed some skills in the post, including two sexy jump hooks -- one over KG and one over Perkins. And the interior defense was 10 times better when Sammy was in the game, as was the rebounding.
This was the first I've seen of Jrue Holiday this season, and nothing he did tonight warrants giving him big minutes yet. However; he still should take the majority of Bill Green's minutes. They both did about the same to help the team, but Jrue needs experience since he actually has a future.
Any combination of Kapono, Holiday, Green, Thad, Speights or Smith played little to no defense tonight.
I'm not sure what the Princeton Offense looks like, but I think I witnessed the beginning stages of it tonight -- at least when the starters were in. The ball movement and spacing is much better than it was last year -- again, when the starters were in the game.
Almost everything Eddie Jordan has done this season concerns me. The Sixers biggest downfall -- every game -- is when the bench comes in during the second quarter. You would think that Eddie would leave at least 2 or 3 starters in to prevent this from happening. No. Instead he brings 5 bench guys in at a time and they either blow the lead, or dig a deeper hole. Fail.
There are some positive things to take from tonight's 31 point loss like, Andre Iguodala's defense and aggressiveness, Lou Williams' control, Jason Kapono's shot, the Sixers' calmness to start the game, and Elton Brand who made a bigger difference than his numbers project. Let's not forget, the Celtics are a really, really, really good team, and they showed why tonight. I still have hope that the Sixers can score the fourth or fifth seed, and maybe even the third the way the Cavs are playing.

Player of the game: Sam Dalembert

Runner-Up: Jaime Maggio

Fun fact: Jrue Holiday is ambidextrous.

High/Low Expectations: SAM BAM Dalembert

jsams — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:15:07 -0000

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Samuel Dalembert #1 C

Best case: Sam embraces his role as paint protector, sucks down rebounds like the Hoover U5468-900 WindTunnel Supreme Bagged Upright Vacuum, blocks 2+ shots a game, limits his goal-tends, fouls, and fadeaway jumpers. I know how difficult it can be to watch Sam's bonehead plays night in and night out, but if he can hold it together I think he benefits the team's rebounding and defense more than he hurts the offense. Sam quietly has a nice jump-shot; he just gets carried away with them sometimes.

Best case stats: 11 points, 11 rebounds, 2+ blocks.

Worst case: Sam shoots the ball too much, complains about his role in the offense, fouls too much, goal-tends too much, turns the ball over too much, and rides the bench during crunch time on a regular basis. Now, some might argue that benching Sam would benefit the team, but it would still be the worst case for

Poll

Which is more realistic?

Best case.

76 votes

Worst case.

108 votes

184 votes | Poll has closed

Washington Wizards "beat" Philadelphia 76ers in preseason: Final wrap

Mike Prada — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:47:44 -0000

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Also see: Quick game recap | Morning Briefing

Highest plus/minus: Fabricio Oberto (+7)
Lowest plus/minus: Andray Blatche (-6)

Four Factors (bold is very good, italics is very bad)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Washington	92	97.8	48.2%	12	31.8	19.6
Philadelphia		96.7	45.6%	20	16.3	13

Before we fret about the ending, let's keep a few things in mind:

We were missing our best player, our third-best player and our marquee offseason acquisition. Philadelphia was missing nobody.
We were on the road
We were in the second game of a back-to-back
The unit that closed the game (Mike James, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee) is never going to close games in the regular season. In fact, it's quite possible none of those guys will be in our closing lineup if everyone is healthy. To be fair, 76ers fans will probably respond correctly that they aren't going to close any games with the lineup of Louis Williams, Willie Greene, Jason Kapono, Jason Smith and Marreese Speights, but that's a hell of a lot closer to their closing lineup that ours was.
When it was our "starters" vs. their starters, we outperformed the 76ers.

Now, the ending was really bad, no question. JaVale McGee made a boneheaded play to go for the spectacular finger roll (he wasn't fouled either), and Nick Young made a dumb defensive play on Willie Green. The unit also made several mental mistakes down the stretch that aided Philly's comeback.

But there was a lot more good than bad to come out of this game. In particular, the following stuff was good:

Rebounding: The 76ers were the second-best offensive rebounding team in the league last year, but they had just seven offensive rebounds last night, and three of those came in the fourth quarter. This is significant for two reasons. One, Philly was bricking a lot of shots, so there were a ton of offensive rebounding opportunities to be had. Two, the Wizards have been awful on the defensive glass this preseason, so this was a huge step in the right direction. What was the cause? I thought Fabricio Oberto was a huge presence here -- he did a great job of sealing off his man and being in position to grab the rebound. Seven defensive rebounds in just 25 minutes is excellent, and more importantly, he helped prevent the 76ers from grabbing offensive rebounds even if he himself couldn't get the defensive board.
Shot defense: Granted, the 76ers are a pretty pitiful perimeter shooting team (which will kill them this year if they stick with their starting lineup), but the Wizards did a great job of packing the lane and contesting outside shots. An eFG% allowed of 45.6% (Philly's mark) is very, very good for any defense.
Transition defense, combined with good offensive rebounding: Not sure how many fast-break points the 76ers had, but anecdotally, it appeared the Wizards did a great job with their floor balance tonight, which is key because the 76ers kill so many teams in transition. What makes this more impressive is that the Wizards actually did a great job on the offensive glass at the same time, mostly because of Brendan Haywood's work inside. Often times, you have to surrender offensive rebounding opportunities in order to get back, especially against a team as athletic as Philadelphia, but the Wizards were able to do both.
JaVale McGee: Yes, he went back to pogo-stick McGee in the last couple minutes, but by and large, McGee played extremely under control in his 15-minute stint. Unlike the Atlanta game, where he had seven offensive rebounds and zero defensive boards, McGee contributed on the defensive glass (5 defensive boards in 15 minutes). He also was in position most of the time on defense, save for a couple late breakdowns where he allowed Marreese Speights to get inside too easily.
Andray Blatche's jumper: I know what you're thinking. Get inside, Andray, and play like a big man! But as much as this makes sense, it's also worth noting that the lane gets very clogged when Blatche is in there with another big like Haywood, Oberto or McGee, all of whom either like to play inside or should like to play inside. If Blatche can hit jumpers as proficiently as he did last night while still grabbing six boards in 22 minutes, he will be a helpful player.
Brendan Haywood: He just obliterated Samuel Dalembert in the paint. Destroyed him. Dalembert hit a couple tough shots, but Haywood didn't allow him to sniff the glass and was able to get some offensive rebounding opportunities himself. He looks like he's back to form. Alas, I wish he got more post-up opportunities than he did. Too many mid-range contested jumpers from Randy Foye and Caron Butler

Some negatives? Foye continues to struggle running the offense. He had a stretch in the third quarter where he got hot and started to play well, but the end line (17 points on 14 shots) is less efficient that you'd like. I still think he's best suited to play off the ball running off screens, because he has great form on his jumper and just doesn't seem like he knows what to do once he gets inside. I know he missed a lot of Js tonight, but that's because he was taking difficult shots.

He also just doesn't have great PG instincts right now. There was one play where the Wizards would have had a fast break off a long rebound, but Foye just kept running upcourt with everyone instead of getting the ball from the big guy. It's little stuff like this that hurts the team and makes it feel like Foye's a misfit as a point guard. I still contend that he's best suited to play a lot with Mike Miller, with Miller running the point in the halfcourt and Foye coming off screens ready to shoot without dribbling.

I also thought Nick Young's defense on Andre Iguodala was pretty poor. Yes, you want Iguodala shooting jumpers, but he was wide open coming off screens several times in the third quarter. I wonder what's really hurting Young on off-ball screens so much. He clearly is working hard, but his technique just seems poor. It seems like it's really easy for an offensive player to run him into those screens because Young isn't doing enough to force the offensive players' action. Hopefully someone can help him with this, because I don't think his defensive struggles are from a lack of effort. They're from a lack of fundamentals.

All in all, good performance from the troops, win or lose. If that phantom foul at the end doesn't happen and we lose 89-88, I'm still happy. The bottom line in preseason isn't wins or losses, it's how you look, and I thought we looked very good tonight.

Sixers defeat Knicks 93-85

jsams — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:03:36 -0000

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Box Score

Game Thread

--Thaddeus Young has an uncanny ability to release after a miss and score easy buckets. It truly is an underrated skill. Besides committing six fouls, Thad had a great game. He was scoring in a ton of different ways: fast breaks, put-backs, jumpers, etc.

--Sam Dalembert's first quarter consisted of two goal-tends, a travel, a badly missed jumper, an awful outlet, a jump shot blocked by Darko, a defensive 3 seconds, and approximately 14 dumbfounded looks. I know I predicted that he'd have the best year of his career, but I'm having second thoughts. He steadily gets worse every season. It's unfortunate that no one will step up and take his job.

--New coach, new system, same poor perimeter defense. The Knicks shot 41 threes tonight and a lot were uncontested.

--Elton Brand still doesn't have his explosiveness. He missed an easy layup after a beautiful feed from Andre Iguodala, one that, if it were 2006 he would've dunked on Darko's skull. He was also swatted by Al "not known for my defense" Harrington. However; despite the lack of explosiveness, he still found ways to score. The jumper was smooth. He's adequate and will still help tremendously -- just don't expect 20-10.

--Jason Kapono can shoot the lights out. He needs to realize this and be a little less hesitant.

--Lou Williams played an excellent point guard tonight, and even though he shot 3-12 from the floor, I was thoroughly impressed. Here's why: Lou Williams played 28 minutes tonight. During that time he, himself, only turned the ball over one time, and the team turned the ball over 9 times. During the 20 minutes Lou was not playing, the team turned the ball over 19 times. When Lou was on the floor the offense looked much crisper, much cleaner, and much more efficient. Is this a testament to Lou being that good or a backcourt of Green/Ivey being that bad? Lou also rebounded well and got to the line 10 times. He's turning me into a believer.

--I'm not 100 percent sure why Andre Iguodala is turning the ball over so much this pre-season, but it could because he's throwing lobs to Primoz Brezec! I'm still not concerned. In other news, his jump shot looked solid.

--The entire bench was sloppy and painful to watch.

--Number of the night: 0, for the number of minutes Jrue Holiday played. Brandon Bowman, Dionte Christmas and Royal Ivey combined for 21 minutes. Jrue played zero! ZERO! There is no explanation for this unless he was injured. After what I've seen this pre-season, there's no reason Royal Ivey should receive more playing time than Jrue Holiday -- ever. I don't care how old he is, or how much Eddie Jordan dislikes rookies.

--Overall, the Sixers did some good things, and some bad things tonight. You'll take a win any time you can, and the great play of Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young heavily out-weigh the bad in my opinion. Sixers remain undefeated!!!