SB Nation - Robert Horry

Robert Horry may be gone (from the NBA) but not forgotten

grungedave — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:48:38 -0000

With the close of December... we're beginning to see a lot of "best of the 2000s"/end of the decade sort of material. Which is cool. I like retrospectives. It's an analog to top-10 lists -- which is always a writer's crutch for story ideas.

This time around though, it brings us back to the blog's secondary purpose... getting Robert Horry into the Hall of Fame! And Robert Horry is going to be found everywhere in these best of the 2000s stories. He won rings in five of the 10 years of the decade (no one else can say that. Not even Steve Kerr this time!)

So, while Robert Horry is no longer an active player in the NBA... we'll have to settle for these reminders of his overall awesomeness. And if SI.com is any indication, the last ten years of the NBA have been dominated by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, the FatAss, LeBron James....... and Big Shot Rob.

See for yourself.

Here (signature moment of the decade)
Here (best free agent signings)
and here (top games of the decade).

Also of note... the Rockets' 22 game winning streak is listed as a memorable performance. Hell yes it was! An even more memorable performance? Lee predicting it. True story.

My Soft Spot is Super Athletic Combo Forwards

David Arnott — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:38:08 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

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If you caught my Reggie Miller reference in the Pacers game preview, you know I've been reading Bill Simmons's Book of Basketball. I can't find exactly where I read the observation, but I've come to agree with the assessment that Simmons is a top-notch memoirist and, at best, a hit or miss analyst. For instance, he lists Robert Horry as his 85th best NBA player of all time. All. Time. He also leaves guys like Chris Bosh out of the Top 96, but makes Tom Chambers his number 96 and puts Kevin McHale in one of his higher levels, even though Bosh compares favorably to both.

Why? Because Simmons privileges his emotions and his personal feelings over basketball production. You'll drive yourself crazy if you count how many times he uses the phrase "when it mattered". You'll also drive yourself crazy trying to parse which players he thinks were capable of leading their teams to championships. See, Dirk Nowitzki hasn't done it, so he can't. If he was capable, he would have done it. Clyde Drexler couldn't do it. Bill Walton could when he was healthy for most of a season, so, in one of the most ludicrous passages of the book, Simmons says that even if he knew in advance how it would play out, he would choose Walton as his franchise center over David Robinson, who missed significant time once in his career, was All World for his first seven seasons, merely really, really, good for four more and passable for two more.

You can't convince Simmons otherwise, because Walton gives him fuzzy feelings. He was, essentially, as good as Robinson was for the Admiral's second title, but because Walton did it for the Celtics, that's a bonus, and Robinson was just riding Tim Duncan's coattails.

I think he's utterly wrong about a lot of this, but that's okay. As long as we all know it, and acknowledge it, we can make our appropriate adjustments when listening to someone's opinions. The same thing happens to everyone. I can explain to the Official Roommate of Rufus on Fire why Gerald Wallace might be a top thirty NBA player right now, but he'll hear none of it. Try to tell him that Devin Harris isn't nearly worth his contract and might barely crack the top ten point guards, though, and he'll go on a rant about how wrong you are and scurry off to Basketball-Reference to prove you wrong.

My soft spot is for super-athletic combo forwards, both skilled and unskilled. Derrick Brown fits in that category. Joe Alexander. Crash. Josh Smith. I could go on for hours about what Michael Beasley brings to the table. I'm convinced that Cleveland could have a non-zero chance at going undefeated if they'd only play LeBron at the four. Yes, I'm totally unreasonable when it comes to these guys, and they'll always get the benefit of doubt from me. I like to think I use my Rational Hat 999,999 times out of a million, but it's impossible to get away from biases.

What's your soft spot?

Kobe Enjoys Shanking the Rockets

DexterFishmore — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:15:19 -0000

There was never any hope that last night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets was going to be pretty. For the Lakers it was part two of a back-to-back on the road. Their best player was ill and had played 46 minutes the night before. Their second best player had played zero minutes the night before, not to mention the nine games before that, because of a hamstring requiring attention from a multinational team of doctors. The Lakers entered the game tired, shorthanded and far from the comforts of home.

And the Rockets... well, unpretty is just how they play. They stretched LA to seven games in last year's playoffs with punishing defense and a grinding pace, and for all the talk of their up-tempo, post-Yao persona, slow and grinding is still their best shot at competing with talent-rich NBA superpowers. Throw in the weird, ambient bitterness on both sides over the Ariza-Artest thing, and the Magic 8-Ball clearly pointed to Slow-Motion Hammer Fight as the likely outcome.

But who says hammer fights can't be fun! They're especially good times* when you're not the one getting the final crack across the face.

(* = SS&R doesn't actually endorse literal hammer fights. Please, kids, stick with your fists.)

Even with expectations in check, there was plenty in last night's game to drive Laker fans to narcotic usage. The offense in the first half was stuperous, lacking in purpose and ball movement. Possession after possession ended with a long, challenged two-point attempt. Kobe Bryant had all kinds of energy, possibly finding an extra gear in the company of supposed nemesis Shane Battier, but no other Laker really distinguished himself.

Wait, scratch that: Josh Powell distinguished himself. Seriously, Josh Powell! He had seven points in the first half, including a shockingly natural-looking three bomb. As Chris observed in the comment thread, Powell appears to be developing a Robert Horry-ish skill set. Stay tuned.

The Lakers, to their credit, avoided a repeat of the turnover orgy we saw against Oklahoma City on Tuesday. After turning the rock over on 25% of their possessions against the Thunder, the Lakers did so on only 9% of their possessions last night. Yay! Improvement is good.

On defense there were successes and failures. Artest continued his string of superb lockdown efforts by hounding Ariza into a terrible (5 for 21) shooting performance. Less enjoyably, Aaron Brooks tortured the Laker D with the drive-and-dish, repeatedly setting up Carl Landry (20 points on 9-for-12 shooting) and Chuck Freaking Hayes (14 on 7-for-9), who's one of the worst offensive players in the NBA.

Also, Houston got assloads of offensive rebounds all night long. This was annoying.

The scoring picked up in the third quarter. Lamar Odom found his outside stroke, while Brooks, Ariza and The Odious Luis Scola spearheaded the Houston attack. Scola, I must point out, throws elbows around like he's a child molester passing out candy. I counted three egregious instances of such, resulting in one offensive foul, one truly absurd defensive foul and one no-call. I do not like Luis Scola, and I don't care who knows it.

In the fourth, shit got really weird. Against the Laker bench the Rockets built a seven-point lead to open the quarter, at which point Kobe came back in and activated his MVP Settings. With an array of baseline turnarounds and step-throughs, he abused Battier to the point where by the final few possessions and with the game in the balance, the Rockets started running a second defender at him. This appeared to be a fatal mistake when Kobe found Artest for a wide open, top-of-the-key bomb that put the Lakers ahead by three with 30 seconds to play.

On the ensuing possession, Ariza had his moment. A jump ball landed in his mitts at the three-point line near the right elbow, and he smoothly drained it for the tie. This was the first of two examples of poor Laker endgame execution. With a three-point lead, they should have fouled Ariza and sent him to the line for two freebies, instead of allowing the look that tied up the game.

The second late-game FUBAR came when the Lakers brought the ball back up the court with 14 seconds left. Kobe handled the rock - so far, so good - but rather than flattening out into the usual 1-4 isolation set, Bynum left the baseline to set a high screen. This succeeded only in drawing another defender onto Kobe and thus mucking up the whole shebang. The ball got fumbled out of bounds, and regulation ended with a hopeless long-distance lob attempt. Overtime, bitches!

The back-and-forth continued in the extra period, with Kobe trading hoops with Brooks and motherf-cking Chuck Hayes. Scola and Hayes eventually fouled out, Bynum made some clutch throws in the final minute, and Derek Fisher came up with a huge strip of Ariza with seconds left to seal the un point victory. The Lakers are now 4-1.

Unforch, they're once again staring at the possibility of life without Bynum. On the final Laker possession of overtime, he was on the receiving end of a hard foul that appears to have sprained his elbow. At the time I'm writing this, early morning in LA, not much more is known about the extent of his injury, other than that he was "very sore" while getting dressed in the locker room. Please pray to your diety of preference that it's not serious.

(Or whatever, sacrifice a virgin if that's appropriate for your faith. I'm serious about this. Another extended Bynum outage is not what my life needs right now.)

But that's depressing, so let me end on a happier note. Kobe, it must be said, is making an early statement in the MVP race. In a slow, arduous game, he rang up 41 points in pretty efficient fashion against one of the best defenders around. And he did so, with apologies for repeating myself, having played 46 minutes the night previous. And while sick. And without his second offensive option to draw defensive heat away from him. And on the road dammit it was all extremely difficult.

A grand performance, it was. Grand every step of the way. Let us all bow our heads in respect.

	Poss.	TO%	FTA/ FGA	FT%	EFG%	TS%	Off Reb%	Def Reb%	PPP
Lakers	95	9	0.30	71	45	49	33	61	1.08
Rox	95	21	0.28	71	49	53	39	67	1.07

(H/T Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times for the Bynum report.)

What to do about the salary cap albatross known as "Brian Cook"?

grungedave — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:11:54 -0000

As of this morning, the Houston Rockets roster looks like this:

Houston Rockets Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
David Andersen	13	C	6.23.80	245	6-11	None
Trevor Ariza	1	F	6.30.85	210	6-8	U-C-L-A
Brent Barry	17	G	12.31.71	210	6-7	Oregon State
Shane Battier	31	F	9.9.78	220	6-8	Duke
Aaron Brooks	-	G	1.14.85	161	6-0	Oregon
Chase Budinger	10	F	5.22.88	218	6-7	Arizona
Brian Cook	43	F	12.4.80	250	6-9	Illinois
Joey Dorsey	15	F	12.16.83	268	6-8	Memphis
Chuck Hayes	44	C	6.11.83	238	6-6	Kentucky
Carl Landry	14	C	9.19.83	248	6-9	Purdue
Kyle Lowry	7	G	3.25.86	205	6-0	Villanova
Tracy McGrady	3	G	5.24.79	223	6-8	None
Pops Mensah-Bonsu	-	F	8.7.83	240	6-10	George Washington
Yao Ming	11	C	9.12.80	310	7-6	None
Luis Scola	4	F	4.30.80	245	6-9	None
Jermaine Taylor	5	G	12.8.86	210	6-4	U-C-F
James White	8	G	10.21.82	200	6-7	Cincinnati

Going line-by-line, we can see that one of these things is not like the other. David Andersen is new and our "center" for next season (miss ya already, Yao). Trevor Ariza is not going anywhere after being the big splash signing in our offseason (miss ya already, Crazy Pills). Brent Barry may or may not be going to the Clippers or some other potential playoff team (miss ya already, Von) - but at least teams are interested in his services.

Shane Battier is our glue guy, and if a trade involving him hasn't happened yet, it probably won't happen this year. This is a good thing. We kinda like Shane here. Even if he is a Dukie.

Aaron Brooks was mentioned in a lot of trade rumors in June/July, but he remains our starting point guard. This is a good thing. Since Ricky Rubio can't be acquired from Barney Fife for a couple years, I'm content to let Aaron continue to develop under the watchful eyes of Daryl Morey and Rick Adelman. He may be our leading scorer this year, after all.

Chase Budinger is a rookie. He also likes to party. Joey Dorsey may have a friend... Chase is also inexpensive and can actually contribute. In kinda the way we wanted Steve Novak to contribute.

Joey Dorsey better not be going anywhere. I need the material.

Chuck Hayes has many fans in his corner. Most importantly Adelman and Morey. He may be the shortest starting center in the history of the NBA, but he's amazingly solid for his limited athletic abilities. He's even slightly improved his awful free throw shooting stroke.

Carl Landry is good enough for me to have bought his jersey. While I recognize that he's been a rumor of many trades - that just means that other people respect his game, too. Plus, he is one tough S.O.B.

Kyle Lowry is one hell of a good backup point guard. He's a freakin' bulldog on defense and he has a knack for getting to the free throw line. I know I'm not the only person who has at times advocated for him to be the starting point guard for this team. He could be that important to our roster. Thanks, Memphis!

Tracy McGrady. Uhhh, yeah, I'll just leave this one to Tom. But I don't expect McGrady to go anywhere until this summer when he can go be some other team's "LeBron backup plan."

Pops Mensah-Bonsu just signed last week. So it would be highly unlikely that he is just some pawn in Daryl Morey's plan to trade half the team to clear cap space. I'm not sure Pops is as good as Carl Landry, but he is another big body we can use for defense and rebounding next year. With the shortage of tall people on the roster, Pops must feel like a giant for the first time since college.

Yao Ming. F--k. Let's just move on.

Luis Scola. Luis Scola is a badass. He's going to be a 20/10 guy this year and no one outside of Houston will even notice it. That's how awesome he is. I also have his jersey and wear it to damn near every game. If we trade him, I will be rioting. Consider yourselves warned.

Jermaine Taylor. Not the boxer, though I do hope our version has "bad intentions" when he takes the ball to the basket. Another rookie who signed a multi-year deal. He isn't going anywhere.

James White has a contract, but it is not guaranteed, so there is an ever-increasing chance that he gets released before the season starts. This will save the Rockets about $1 million and change if they make this decision. It's not much, but in a luxury tax world, it's money Les Alexander would rather not spend since it looks like White just isn't going to develop into a legit NBA player anytime soon. Which is sad, because he had many chances.

Who does that leave?

This guy:

I don't even want to show a picture of him in a Rockets jersey. That's how much of an albatross to our salary cap he is. Now, granted, there is some part of me that is happy we have Brian Cook on our roster. I mean, without his contract and hollow shell talent -- Rafer freakin' Alston might still be a Rocket. Perish the thought.

That said: Brian Cook is more worthless than Alec Baldwin. He had the chance to do the honorable thing, fall on his sword and not pick up his player option for 2010. But nooooooo.... he had to go and pick up the option that will force us to pay him an insane $3.5M ths year. Do you realize that makes Brian Cook the fifthhighest paid Rocket this year? And since McGrady and Yao don't really count - Cook is our third highest paid "active" player. He's making more money than Luis Scola!!! How messed up is that?!?

The worst part? I have no idea what to do about this.

No one (not even Memphis) is dumb enough to trade for Cook and his contract. On the flip side, because Brian Cook is afraid to step inside the three point line - on offense or defense - the fact that he's 6'10" is completely negated. Hell, Aaron Brooks plays more above the rim than Brian Cook. That's just sad. Worst of all, Cook is taking up a roster spot that could belong to Robert Horry. This fact just pisses me off. Brian Cook is still in the NBA while Robert Horry is reduced to being on lame reality TV shows with Terrell Owens and Joanna Krupa. That's just wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

Then again, with Rafer Alston exiled, Tracy McGrady still hanging out in the trainer's room and Luther Head gone and never to be heard from again....... at least Brian Cook gives me a target to pick on on all season. So I have that going for me, which is nice.

D-Leaguers Participating in the NBA Asia Challenge

Jon L — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:00:22 -0000

Lanny Smith and a handful of other D-Leaguers are headed to Korea and the Philippines for the NBA Asia Challenge.(via images.chron.com)

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I first heard about this awhile ago, but the details were just released yesterday: a team made up of former NBA stars and current D-League players is heading to Asia later this week to play against fellow "legends" in South Korea and the Philippines, in what's being called the NBA Asia Challenge. The team will be coached by new Dakota Wizards coach Rory White, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar serving as the "celebrity assistant coach." The other retirees (sorry, "NBA Legends") who will theoretically be playing are Tim Hardaway, Dominique Wilkins, Robert Horry and Vlade Divac. The New Jersey Nets' dance-slash-dunking team and "zany mascot" ~~Slylock Fox~~ Sly the Silver Fox will also be in attendance. But enough about them. D-Leaguers!

They'll be joined by point guards Lanny Smith and Russell Robinson, shooting guards Billy Thomas and Derrick Dial, forward Chris Ellis and center Marcus Hubbard. I said "theoretically" above because assume that most of the team's plays will consist of Hardaway walking the ball up the court, then passing it off to Dial who will do most of the work, then they'll swing it to Wilkins for a flat-footed jumper. Then Hubbard gets the rebound while Divac falls down. Then in the fourth quarter the D-Leaguers do all the work while the NBA guys sign autographs. Repeat!

Not that they'll be facing a stiff defense or anything (or playing any themselves), but this is a goodwill trip more than anything else - the NBA, I would imagine, is realizing that "expanding into Asia" means more than "drafting Chinese players" and as such is trying to get folks in other Asian countries excited about their product. This is reportedly the largest NBA event in the Philippines to date, for instance. Of course, it would be even better if some of these D-Leaguers made it to the NBA this year so that people who saw them play in Seoul or Incheon or Manila could follow them there, but if nothing else this could lead to more Futurecast viewers, maybe even enough to make up for the lack of Sun Yue.

The games are on September 5, 6 and 11, but I'm not sure what level of coverage we'll have on them. I'm not even sure they'll have boxscores. Then again, it's a slow month for the D-League. If nothing else, this is a good move for the NBA and I'm sure it will be a good experience for the D-Leaguers.

Top 5 Most Despised in the West (New & Improved With a Poll!)

Wil Cantrell — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:24:16 -0000

More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP

Phil, I don't like you or the team you coach.

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So I am attempting to slowly chill out on a Sunday night. I'm reading a book, looking at some of my tweets or twits or twids or whatever they're called, and I see something about Drew Gooden signing with the Mavs. And this got me thinking how it appears that Dallas is loading up, ready to make a real run at the Lakers next year. Then I got to thinking how much I don't like the Mavericks, how they are a big rival for me and my beloved Suns, and how I hate to lose to them. But then I realized how much I hate to lose to the Spurs, but especially how much I hate losing to the Lakers-the Phil Jackson led Lakers. I then realized that there are a lot of teams to despise in the West, but I am in flux. Which team should I despise the most? It's easy to dislike Mark Cuban, anything L.A., the Spurs (or anything related to Robert Horry), yet it's also pretty easy to dislike a Don Nelson led team-even though watching him get pissed off and tossed from a game is great fun to watch!

So, I'm coming out with My Top 5 Most Despised in the West list. Feel free to let out a little anger and disgust, you may sleep better:

1. Lakers-Phil Jackson, L.A. and those phony fans. I find it hard to despise any one worse than these guys.

2. Mavericks-The Joe Johnson thing still remains, yet more importantly, Mark Cuban is a total schmuck.

3. Spurs-two words-Robert Horry.

4. Denver-I used to like George Karl for some reason. Now I don't. Probably because his squad (save Billups) is full of thugs and punks like J.R. Smith, NoNo or whatever he calls himself, KMART (is he still a Nugget?), and the Bird.

5. Utah-Maybe i should be thinking that I like the way Jerry Sloan coaches or how he maximizes the most from his team or how the fans are so devoted or something. But all I can think of is Stockton to Malone, and that used to anger me. And then it was that Ostertag sloth. He always annoyed me. OK, maybe it is Jerry Sloan. Ah, I just hate losing to the Jazz.

Who you got? Feel free to let loose with some unjustifiable anger. No one will judge you.

Poll

What Western Conference foe do you despise the most?

LA Jacksons

235 votes

Spurs

231 votes

Mavericks

35 votes

Just Don Nelson

6 votes

Portlantd (How can you hate Portland, it's such a great city!?)

7 votes

Houston/Mainly Sam Cassell

6 votes

Denver NeNe's

26 votes

Utah

13 votes

559 votes | Poll has closed

So Yao is out... what next for the Rockets?

grungedave — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:50:33 -0000

We know officially now that Yao Ming will miss the entire 2009-10 season. This hasn't been surprising or shocking for about a month now, but it still sucks to see. Additionally, while we've heard that Tracy McGrady's rehab is ahead of schedule and that everything is going well post-microfracture -- it's still unlikely we'll see McGrady able to take part in a game until January or February (and whether that's in a Rockets uniform is a whole different matter).

The good news is that Daryl Morey is not sitting on his hands cursing the gods and moaning about how unlucky he is. No, that's just what I would be doing. Okay it is what I am doing at this very moment. So, uh, good thing *I* am not the GM of the Rockets (then again, I would have signed Robert Horry... and how awesome would that have been?) Nevertheless, the Rockets have a lot of questions entering next season.

But first of all, to everyone who has been complaining about Morey not acquiring a legitimate center to either back-up Yao or to relace Yao: are you crazy? This is the complete list of legitimate centers (i.e., guys that actually play the position) in the entire NBA.

(in no particular order)

Yao
Dwight Howard
the Fat Ass
Andrew Bynum
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Marcus Camby
Chris Kaman
Tyson Chandler
Joel Przybilla
Greg Oden
Mehmet Okur
Andris Biedrins
Brook Lopez
Hasheem Thabeet

... that's it. That's the list. Now, I know there are a bunch of names you want to toss out to fill the list: Al Jefferson, Chris Anderson, Amare, Chris Bosh, David Lee... maybe even Tim Duncan. Here's the thing -- none of those guys are a center. They may be forced to be listed as centers. But they are all power forwards... and in the case of Amare and Chris Anderson, they might even be small forwards. The point is that you just don't go out and "get a center" anymore. Most teams in the NBA fulfill the center position via smoke and mirrors. It's been done before. For the Rockets, however, it is further complicated because you don't just replace Yao Ming. Every generation has maybe 2-3 legitimate franchise centers. The Rockets have been fortunate to have three (Moses, Hakeem, Yao).

Therefore, instead of complaining about not having a center... or ripping on Morey for not cloning Yao (though I'm sure the Chinese government is working on it) ... or trading McGrady's expiring contract for Dwight Howard (even if we throw Brian Cook in as a sweetener)... how about we work with what we have? While I don't expect David Andersen to be the answer to all of our problems, Luis Scola has raved about him, and dammit that's good enough for me right now.

As of today, our lineup next year will be:

PG - Aaron Brooks
SG - Shane Battier
SF - Trevor Ariza
PF - Luis Scola
C - Chuck Hayes

off the bench we will have a plethora of bodies, just none taller than 6'10". Kyle Lowry, Carl Landry, Brent Barry, Jermaine Taylor (?), Joey Dorsey (?), James White, Chase Budinger (?) and the aforementioned Andersen...

/momentary pause while I stop to wipe away a few tears/

Okay, so the Rockets are going to be the smallest team in the NBA next year. And no one except Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry and Brent Barry have the ability to actually dribble the basketball. No problem. Rick Adelman's entire system is geared towards quick passing and not one-on-one activity. And with Battier, Scola and Chuck, you know these guys will play tough defense. You'll never question the effort of this group. Plus, it will be kinda cool to see Luis Scola try to be a 20/10 guy (though this will kill our leverage next year when we try to re-sign him).

I just have no idea how we are going to put the ball in the basket. Center or no center. A typical Rockets win will probably be of the 82-79 variety.

Okay, now the news about Yao is depressing me. #(*&#@*(!!!!!!!

I'm torn - who was a better #11 overall pick: Reggie Miller or Robert Horry?

grungedave — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:26:55 -0000

Ian Thomsen must have been bored of doing mock drafts, because this week he did an article ranking the best players to be taken at a particular spot in the NBA draft (Magic Johnson being the best overall pick ever...).

Now, it kills me that Olajuwon barely got mention in the "best #1 overall picks" discussion... somehow ranking behind the Fat Ass, but I digress. No, my concern today is about the #11 overall pick. Thomsen chooses Reggie Miller, who was drafted by the Indiana Pacers way back in 1987. Damn I feel old. But was Reggie Miller the best player ever chosen at this spot? I mean... he was great, and I am a huuuuuge Reggie fan, but this is what Mr. Thomsen said about it:

11. Reggie Miller, Pacers, 1987: This has been a good slot in which to acquire shooting: Allan Houston, Robert Horry and Kiki Vandeweghe were all No. 11 picks, as was Jamaal Wilkes. But none made a bigger impact on the team that drafted him than Miller, a clutch scorer who matured to set a standard of leadership for the Pacers.

Sure, yeah, go ahead and reduce Robert Horry into the Allan Houston/Kiki Vandeweghe category of "good shooters". I find that to be blasphemous. Do any of those guys have seven rings? I think not. Reggie Miller doesn't even have one ring. The one time Reggie did get to the Finals, Big Shot Rob was there to block him from the promised land. For his third ring. Of what would be seven. One for both ring fingers and both thumbs.

Man, I'm torn... who was a better pick there? Reggie Miller or Robert Horry. Both are future Hall-of-Famers, so it's not as easy as it may seem. And while I am obviously partial to anything Horry does, I gotta admit that the Indiana Pacers might not even exist today if not for Reggie Miller. So, championships or not, I think I gotta give him the edge here. He saved a franchise. That's something that not even Horry can say.

It isn't said enough... Reggie Miller was a badass.

For full disclosure... there are exactly two players whose jerseys I own that never played for the Rockets. One was Penny Hardaway (that guy was awesome until the knees gave out). The other is Reggie Miller. Of course, I own *two* Horry jerseys. I even own the Rockets' pajama jersey with Horry's #25. Not that I ever wear it.

Orlando Magic News for June 18th: Hedo Turkoglu Dominates The Headlines

erivera7 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:31:29 -0000

Turkoglu to Europe Not So Crazy a Thought
More Hedo Turkoglu news, courtesy of Bethlehem Shoals of The Baseline.

Hedo Turkoglu might yet turn into the hot story of the summer. And throw a whole 'nother monkey wrench into this most strange of summers. According to The Hoop, Hedo hasn't received an overseas offer, but isn't ruling out that possibility: [...]

But foreigners aren't all about just being happy to be here, or proving their people can hang. Hedo's over that. He's in line for someone to pay him like a star, and if that's not going to happen in America -- his adopted basketball home, the place he thought he'd infiltrated like a son of the soil -- then it might have to go down back in Europe. It's so obvious, and emotional, that I can't believe no one thought of it before.

I wouldn't read too much into the news.

The odds that Turk goes overseas next season are low. This type of storyline springs up during the off-season, just have to take it with a grain of salt.
Derek Fisher proves titles not won with great point guards
Scott Howard-Cooper of Sports Illustrated provides this interesting tidbit.

Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times connected the dots: Hedo Turkoglu was on the Kings when Robert Horry hit the historic shot in the 2002 Western Conference finals. Turkoglu was on the Spurs when Fisher's twisting fling of a buzzer-beater delivered an improbable victory in Game 5 of the 2004 second round. Turkoglu was on the Magic when Fisher burned Orlando with two series-turning three-pointers in Game 4 of the 2009 Finals. He's haunted.
X’s & O’s of Basketball: The 5 Angles of the Ball Screen
Coach Bruchu of the X's and O's of Basketball talks about the ball screen. I felt this was something relevant to post, given that the Orlando Magic run a ton of pick & rolls as the primary offensive sets. Doesn't hurt to gain a better understanding of how this particular play works in basketball.

With the NBA and college seasons done and a break in my studies, I'm starting to go through all the notes I've colle cted over the past year. I went through one today I thought was worth talking about, Ganon Baker calls it "the 5 angles of the ball screen" (side, middle, flat, horns, baseline step-up).
In case you haven't read my analysis and news update on Fran Vazquez earlier this morning, you can click here to check out the post.
2009 Finals SPM Scores
UPDATE: Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference provides the statistical plus/minus numbers for the 2009 NBA Finals and for the entire playoffs, too.
Rafer to the Hawks? AJC columnist prefers Alston to Bibby
UPDATE 2:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jeff Schultz is calling for the Hawks to forgo any attempt to re-sign free-agent point guard Mike Bibby and instead make a deal for the Magic's Rafer Alston. How about Marvin Williams in return?

It seems like Alston is a goner in Orlando one way or another. What do you guys think? Would it bother you to trade him away inside the division?
Let the Rafer Alston talks commence.

Lakers-Magic Game 4: Tempo-Free Boxscore Breakdown

DexterFishmore — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:36:36 -0000

It was a pleasure doing business with you, Otis Smith.

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In Game Four, Derek Fisher had a Robert Horry kind of night. This is a more complicated notion than you might think and, as hoops compliments go, is both enormous and enormously qualified. It invokes a sense of role player yin-and-yang that manifests equally in long stretches of ineffectual play, on the one hand, and historic, era-defining big shots, on the other. It describes a performance that screams out for big-picture context and perspective.

History remembers Horry primarily for the long threes he hit to change the course of many a playoff series. Those of us with doctorates in Advanced Horrysian Studies, however, know that this is but part of his tale, as in spite of his postseason heroics, he was among the more infuriating players to have on one's team. The fourth-quarter daggers were great, but they were often preceded by thirtysome minutes of GM-worthy underproduction. For the first 85 possessions of a game, Horry would wander the court without presence or direction, notching maybe three points and two boards and leading an angry Laker nation to ask the musical question, Why the hell is this guy playing?

But then, the answer, in the form of the shots that we all remember. The daggers that, yes, changed NBA history and rearranged how we look back on seasons and entire careers. I dig seeing the clips of Horry's classic bombs, but I also remember thinking, That win would have been a lot easier if he hadn't waited until the last second to do something useful.

Fisher's Game Four performance shares the same contours. Not the classic Horry fecklessness, of course; Fish is one of the all-time, try-hard badasses and one of the rare athletes who actually earns the overused adjective gritty. But let's be honest with each other: how many of us groaned irritably at his first five three-point misses and, through the TV, demanded his benchitude? And the thing is, we weren't necessarily wrong to do so, strange as it sounds. Up until there were four seconds left in regulation, Fish wasn't that great, and his not-that-greatness was a reason, one among many, the Lakers needed a historic comeback.

This isn't meant to disparage Fish's performance in Game Four; honestly, it's not. (Making three-pointers, after all, is actually difficult, especially against the Orlando Magic in their gym.) I mean only to observe that we as sports fans tend to focus overmuch on sequence. Whatever happened last seems most important, even though baskets made in the fourth quarter don't count any more than those made in the second. There were hundreds of tiny moments and interactions that led to Fish's bombs, so as we lavish praise for the shots that will likely lead to a Laker championship, let's not forget love for those who kept the Lakers in it until Fish could find the range.

For Pau Gasol, for instance, whose defense turned Rashard Lewis into a 6'9" version of J.J. Redick. For Luke Walton, unassumingly finding his role and his game after a season in the wilderness. For Trevor Ariza, who ripped third-quarter holes in the Orlando D and did some unsung work on the glass. For Otis Smith, who somehow saw fit to trade Ariza to the Lakers for - ahem - Maurice Evans and Brian Cook. And for Nick Anderson, who still carries with him the gypsy curse that makes the Orlando Magic miss free throws in the NBA Finals.

The Game Four numbers await you after the jump. Tick tock, Clarice....

Thursday night, including the overtime period, was a 95-possession affair, which prorates to 86 possessions per 48 minutes of play. Anyone up for a 15-second shot clock?

	TO Rate	FTA/FGA	FT%	EFG%	TS%	Off Reb%	Def Reb%	PPP
Los Angeles	8%	0.22	75	46	50	23	74	1.04
Orlando	20%	0.50	60	47	50	26	77	0.96

Want to know a stat I absolutely hate? Points off turnovers. It's an utterly useless metric that to my annoyance continues to appear in the conventional boxscore. I suspect that it's a carry-over from football, in which a turnover can set up good field position and an easy score. In today's NBA, however, teams really don't fast-break off turnovers that much - see, e.g., the pace numbers for this entire series - and as a result, there's hardly any relation between the occurrence a turnover and what subsequently happens at the other end. The value of the turnover is almost entirely defensive, in that you end your opponents' possession without their having attempted a shot.

Anyhow, the Magic turned the ball over on a fifth of their Game Four possessions, and at this point I feel comfortable in saying: they are the worst passing team I've ever seen advance deeply into the NBA playoffs. They're just a hot nasty mess. Dwight Howard might be, like, the third-best passer on the team. Stan Van Gundy should try him at the point.

The wide-angle view of this series is looking pretty bleak for Orlando. Over four games, these two teams have played out 367 possessions, divided almost equally between Staples and Amway, and the Lakers are outscoring the Magic by 0.09 points per. (See composite series-to-date numbers below.) All available evidence tells us that Orlando just isn't good enough to beat the Lakers three straight times. If all three remaining games were in Orlando, L.A. would still be favored to take at least one of them. With two of the three to be played in the 213, there's really no reason, outside of the anything-can-happen unknowability of the future, to think that this series isn't effectively over.

Until it's official, though, I'll keep dropping the stat bombs like you're begging me to do it.

The Magic backcourt was back to its usual capering on Thursday: aside from Frenchman Mickael (why isn't it Michel?) Pietrus, who scored 15 on 11 shooting possessions, Orlando guards were ghastly. Our good friends Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Jameer Nelson and Redick scored 23 points on 42% True Shooting. Reached for comment, Pietrus announced plans to commence a general strike to secure improved working conditions, meaning teammates who can shoot.
How bad is Anthony Johnson that he can't get a minute of playing time in this group? At least he got mentioned in my column, which I'm told is just as exciting as appearing in the NBA Finals.
Howard and Hedo Turkoglu together missed 13 free throws, thereby voiding the warranty on the Amway Arena rims. Nobody dunk too hard, as repairs are all out-of-pocket from now on.
Sashawatch 2009! This needs its own theme music. Four minutes played, oh-for-2 shooting. He hasn't scored since May.
Pau has turned the ball over only four times in 170 minutes played this series. Dwight Howard turned the ball over four times while you were reading this sentence. BURN.

(As promised, composite series numbers are below.)

Savor Game Five, my peoples! It could be the last time we get to watch this maddening, magnificent edition of the Lakers.

	Poss/48 Mins	TO Rate	FTA/FGA	FT%	EFG%	TS%	Off Reb%	Def Reb%	PPP
Orlando	87	16%	0.42	70	48	53	24	73	1.01
Los Angeles	87	11%	0.27	76	50	54	27	76	1.10