SB Nation - Sean Marks

Golden Bears in the Pros: DeCoud Shines, More Forsett, Natalie Eliminated

Avinash — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:00:33 -0000

Thomas Decoud, Atlanta Falcons

Decoud earns NFC defensive player of the week honors.

First-year starter Thomas DeCoud had the game of his short professional career at safety Sunday night for the Atlanta Falcons.

DeCoud's five tackles were fifth best on the team and he added two passes defensed, but his two interceptions helped change the game for Atlanta and won him the award.

The interceptions were the first two of his career and marked the first time a Falcons player had a multiple-interception game since DeAngelo Hall's two pick game against Tampa Bay on September 17, 2006.

More on the headlines above, plus news on one pro Bear who will be at the Wazzu game, and find out where some of your favorite Golden Bear hoopsters are now playing overseas after the jump. Also, two Golden Bears got signed to two NFL 53 man squads, find out who by checking out the rest of the post!

Justin Forsett, Seattle Seahawks

ESPN's Mike Sando reports that Forsett could be seeing more action, mainly because his pass blocking abilities might be the best of the three in the corps! Good job Coach Gould and Coach M!

Justin Forsett is earning -- and will get -- more touches in the regular offense. My take three weeks ago was that Forsett, primarily a third-down back to this point, had done enough to start getting touches on earlier downs. Seattle left Forsett alone in the backfield six times in the first quarter against the Jaguars, more than he had in the first quarters of the previous four games. Forsett is challenging to become the best pass-blocking back on the team even though Julius Jones and Edgerrin James are strong in that area. He lacks top-end speed, but he's quick and appears trustworthy in key situations. He did a nice job chipping on his way out of the backfield, helping the left tackle substantially on one play.

Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons

Lots of stuff here about the matchup between Gonzalez and Dallas's returning strong safety , who is returning with a cast on one hand due to a broken thumb. He's also expected to see lots of double coverage.

"My whole career I've always tried to look at when they played against maybe Kellen Winslow, and see what they did to him, because I know he's such a threat in the receiving game," Gonzalez said during a conference call Wednesday. "But even sometimes teams will switch it up. Earlier this year we played against New England and I didn't really anticipate getting bracket coverage as much as I was that game, and because of that I only had one catch."

The Cowboys held Winslow to four catches for 30 yards and one score in the season-opener. Gonzalez has had plenty of practice adapting to varied schemes over the years.

"It's always something," Gonzalez said of the different looks he gets. "That's something I've been used to my whole career and whatever they want to do hopefully we can adjust and move the ball down the field."

Tony G was also on Pardon the Interruption for Five Good Minutes on Wednesday--check out his interview starting at about 9:55.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland Raiders

Asomugha was surprised at what happened on Sunday--in terms of Oakland's defense actually following through on what they run in practice.

On Sunday, the Raiders brought a different look to the Eagles game on defense. They blitzed and played zone -- a departure from the defensive scheme Davis prefers. It was something of a revolution, according to cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Asomugha said he lobbies every week for a more aggressive attack and less predictable coverage, but usually to no avail.

"We were shocked," Asomugha said, "because coaches say we're going to run it in practice, but we come to a game and that never happens."

Asomugha said defensive coordinator John Marshall finally agreed to make changes. "He said that he might get yelled at for it, but he'll keep going," Asomugha said.

When asked about Asomugha's claims, Cable evaded the issue.

"I think we'll do what we can, and what we think it takes to win every Sunday," Cable said.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

Football Outsiders thinks they know why Aaron is struggling to develop a good rapport with one of his primary targets (HT Acme Packing Company):

Aaron Rodgers didn't pad his stats; after a third-quarter sack and fumble, he threw only one pass in the fourth quarter, an interception. A more important question: What's up with Greg Jennings? We thought the star wideout would have a big game against the Lions, but Jennings only ended up with 38 yards on six catches in eight attempts. Our theory: Rodgers is struggling to get the protection he needs to allow Jennings to run double moves and get open downfield.

Zack Follett, LB, Detroit Lions

At least one more time, Follett will be patrolling the California sidelines on his bye week.

Rookie linebacker Zack Follett is heading back to California. He grew up in Clovis and played college football at Cal. He said he's planning to go back to Berkeley to see Saturday's game against Washington State.

"We've got three days off. I'm going to fly home and go back to the Bay," Follett said. "Catch a Cal football game and kind of refresh the mind a little bit and get ready to get back to work.

"I've already been here three months. To stay another two, it would be a tough stretch, especially with this cold weather getting up on me. I'm getting my mind ready for these winters."

Other notes

Lorenzo Alexander recorded 3 tackles in a 14-6 loss to Kansas City. You can see him against the Eagles and Desean on Monday night.
Desean Jackson caught 6 passes for 94 yards (as you saw above), as well as having 4 punt returns for 43 yards.
Dante Hughes was signed by the Chargers! Hopefully now that he's right next to the Pacific coast, he'll be able to regain his "intercepting of North Korean nuclear missiles" abilities.
The Seahawks signed Mike Gibson off the Eagles practice squad...lots of Golden Bears piling up there in Seattle!
Marshawn Lynch carried the ball 19 times for 61 yards, and 2 receptions for 11 yards.
Alex Mack was sidelined by flu-like symptoms; it's not yet known if it was H1N1 that was ailing him.
Ryan Longwell kicked four field goals, including the game-winner against Baltimore.
Brandon Mebane recorded three tackles for the Seahawks in their loss to Arizona.
Tully Banta-Cain was let go by New England...and then immediately resigned for a multi-year deal, according to Adam Schefter. He recorded 3 tackles in the 59-0 dressing down of the Titans.
Apparently long snapper David Binn once dated Pamela Anderson. Wait, WHAT?
Desmond Bishop remains on the special teams with AJ Hawk still the starter, although he is in a good spot to replace him in the future if the team chooses. He recorded one tackle in that capacity against Detroit.
Kyle Boller isn't likely to compete for the starting spot with Marc Bulger in the near future; Bulger still is the de facto #1.
The Hogs, an independent Redskins site, did an interview with Andre Carter the week before Kansas City. Carter had 7 tackles and the pass deflection you saw in the video.
Scott Fujita did not practice Wednesday because of a strained right calf he suffered against the Giants. Still not sure if he will play against Miami.
Kansas City head coach Todd Haley has found his starting right tackle in Ryan O'Callaghan.
Nick Harris punted 5 times for a 39.2 yard average for Detroit.

NBA preseason

Jason Kidd is averaging 7 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals through five preseason games. Since the Spurs are the favorites to win the division, here's what Mavs Moneyball thinks Kidd should do to slow down Tony Parker (hint: he won't): "First Jason Kidd must force Parker into becoming a passer more than a scorer. This is not going to be easy for Kidd, in fact it may be impossible! If Kidd cannot at least slow down Parker's ability to get to the basket the Mavericks will be forced to try and win a shootout, and at this point I do not feel confident enough in their rotation defense to say they can win that type of game with these Spurs."
Ryan Anderson is averaging 14 points, 4 rebounds, and over 50 percent from downtown per game for the Magic in the preseason. According to Third Quarter Collapse, his offensive rating is an astounding 118.7 (translation: very very good) with a usage rate of 23.7%. If you haven't seen it, check out danzig's highlight reel of him against the Bulls, where he hit the go-ahead bucket in the fourth quarter. You can see Anderson in action in the final preseason game tonight on ESPN against the Hawks at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST; considering that starters usually are rested a lot in these games, this might be the most Anderson plays all year long.
Sean Marks? 2 points, 5 rebounds, 30% shooting, 4 fouls per game. We should expect a lot of updates like this; pray for a gamewinning dunk here and there.
Leon Powe met with his old Celtic battery mates during the last preseason game between the Cavs and Cs (he is of course still far away from playing). It was, in his own words, 'strange'.
Rod Benson was released by the Pacers. Sigh. He'll probably be back in the D-League soon enough. Interesting stuff about dissent between Benson and his agent from Ridiculous Upside.

Elsewhere

Week 3 - Natalie Coughlin - Dancing With The Stars (via ABCNetwork)

Natalie Coughlin was eliminated prematurely from Dancing with the Stars, because people who watch Dancing with the Stars obviously hate beautiful women and prefer C-list celebrities. For those who wanted to catch her dances (all in HD!): Week 1 with the salsa, Week 2 with the quickstep, Week 3 with the rumba (her best one) is the embedded video above, Week 4 with the bolero. Here's her post-elimination interview from Good Morning America, where they wake her up at 4 to 5 AM local time the night afterwards and drag her back to the studio for an interview to ask her how much it sucks to be eliminated. You stay classy ABC.
At least it led to this gem by one of the judges. You should spot what's wrong pretty quickly.

"Unfortunately for Natalie, I think that people didn’t know who she was," said the cheorographer, actress and dancer [Carrie Ann Inaba]. "Maybe the fan base of her sport isn’t watching our show or maybe it isn’t as big as someone like Michael Irvin’s fanbase, which is basketball."

Toronto FC's Stefan Frei is a dark horse candidate for MLS Rookie of the Year.
Finally, Joseph Cannon of the Daily Cal wrote up about several Golden Bear hoopsters playing overseas. Ayinde Ubaka's starring in Australia for the Gold Coast Blaze, DeVon Hardin's been hopping from Oklahoma to Greece to Turkey and now Greece again for EO Athens, and Eric Vierneisel's been everywhere (New Zealand, Syria, Jordan), before settling on Heidelberg, Germany.

Golden Bears in the Pros: Week of October 12th

Avinash — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:00:28 -0000

All thanks as usual to danzig for the video!

Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo Bills

Beast Mode is getting back to doing what he's always done--gets amped up, plays amped up, leaves amped up.

He's back. Or, at least the Browns' awful run defense made Lynch look like he's back. He had 125 total yards on 23 touches, he blocked well (while I saw Fred Jackson whiff on at least two blitz pickups), and he made a beautiful play on a wheel route down the middle for the longest gain on the day, a 35-yard pass reception. No, it didn't matter, and yes, playing Cleveland - one of the worst defenses in the league (not that Buffalo could exploit it) - certainly helped. But for this game, he was clearly the better back between he and Jackson - and that's why he starts.

See more about BeastMode's ability after the jump, plus a litany of other Golden Bear pro performances!

Jackson, who had a phenomenal start to the season, looked bad. He picked up 47 yards on 15 touches, but couldn't find holes in the run game the way Lynch did. As I mentioned, he had a couple of poor efforts in blitz pickup - an area where he's usually top-notch. This was just a bad game for a guy who had been Buffalo's most consistent performer to date.

One last note - Lynch came out of this game really early. Again. He's become known for getting super hyped before a game, getting worked up after one or two carries, and having to leave the field to either throw up or finish hyperventilating. He has not yet outgrown that. I have nothing against a guy being amped for an NFL football game - quite the opposite, actually - but as good as Jackson is, flip-flopping runners that early gets the offense out of rhythm, too. Maybe Jackson should start games and let Lynch take more and more carries as the game wears on.

Marshawn takes his cart on the road to New York for a do-or-die game for the Bills against the Jets.

Desean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles

Jackson had a quiet game, letting his teammate Jeremy Maclin shine in the shredding of the Bucs (HT, Bleeding Green Nation).

The Eagles scored 33 points despite receiving next to nothing from DeSean Jackson, their top receiving threat. Of the three passes thrown his way, Jackson caught one of them – for one yard. Jackson also attempted one rush – and gained nada.

"That shows you how dangerous this team is when myself only has one catch and Westbrook has [eight touches for 35 yards]," Jackson said Monday evening on his weekly radio show on 950AM. "We have a lot of weapons.

You might be asking, "radio show"? Actually, it's pretty good, with lots of nice insights about how things are going for Desean and what he thinks of his fellow Eagles teammates. Oh, and he briefly gets his game on with the ladies halfway through. Smooth Desean...

#10 returns to the Bay Area to play the Raiders on Sunday.

Scott Fujita, New Orleans Saints

We strive to remain apolitical on this site, but we give kudos to Fujita for lending his voice and support to one of the bigger political issues of the day.

DZ: Do you have any concerns that teammates, fans, people will say Scott Fujita may be married and have kids, but maybe on the down low he might really be gay? Do you have concern that teammates, bloggers, the press will talk that kind of smack about you either behind your back or to your face?

SF: No, I have no concern about that whatsoever. I know who I am. My wife knows who I am. I don't care one way or the other Dave. I imagine that when some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all.

Also, the thread on Canal Street Chronicles dealing with this subject was nice to look at. Lots of different opinions expressed without much rancour.

Fujita's Saints have a big showdown of undefeated teams with the Giants.

Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons

Tony G takes a SHOT at Oakland's bleaguered ~~refrigerator~~ quarterback.

Tony Gonzalez helped explain why Matt Ryan has succeeded as a young quarterback while players like JaMarcus Russell have struggled.

"On a scale of 1-to-10 in terms of work ethic, I hear [Russell]’s like a 3," Gonzalez said. "You hear rumors [from other players] about some of these young guys who don’t get it at all, and I’ve been around quarterbacks like that. Matt’s a 10, which is what you’ve got to be to be a franchise quarterback. At Pro Bowls over the years, I’ve talked to Peyton a lot about this, and that’s the key to being great – a willingness to be prepared at the highest level."

Justin Forsett, Seattle Seahawks

Despite Forsett's awesome play, he still has his weaknesses, as noted by Field Gulls. Hopefully he'll get through it one of these weeks and make the turn upward!

All of a sudden, Forsett has a wide open cutback lane (the triangle beginning between 89 and 74 and extending towards the end zone), a cornerback to beat and Owens to block in front.

Forsett times his cut poorly and runs up on Carlson's legs. Carlson could have blocked Harvey better, but not much better. He eventually pancakes Harvey. Forsett's initial hole is not gaping, it's a cutback lane after all, but it's clear and large enough for any rusher to explode through with a head of steam. Instead he stumbles and the defense swarms around him. He gains two, but if he gets through that hole cleanly, he should have no problem taking it to the house. One only needs to see how empty the right side of the field is to see the brilliance of this play call and how close it was to a touchdown.

Alex Mack, Cleveland Browns

Coach Mangini has plenty of positive things to say about his young center's progress.

"Over the last few weeks, I think Alex has really made a lot of stride. There are multiple plays on tape where he’s getting good drive at the point of attack, whether it’s him alone or whether it’s him as part of a double team. He does a nice job down the field. Sometimes it’s pulling on some of those outside runs and sometimes he’s on the backside of that and he’s not going to be a puller, the way that he’s able to cut off linebackers. He plays with a high motor. He’s pretty good at lining the target up and finishing the block. It’s nice to see his progress each week. I think it is a function of, as he’s played more, not just things have slowed down, but he’s slowed down a little bit. There were times early where, right idea, right place, just a little too quick getting there, a little too quick if you want to execute the assignment. I think he has a better sense now not just where he has to fit, but how he has to fit and at what tempo the fit needs to be at."

Brandon Mebane, Seattle Seahawks

Mebane contributed on a huge play in Seattle's rout of Jacksonville.

The good was Brandon Mebane. After going Zapruder Film on the replay, I am pretty sure Mebane stripped Garrard a split second before Lawrence Jackson. Jackson and Reed were single blocked on the outside and Cory Redding dropped into cover. Mebane navigated a triple team before twisting close enough to Garrard to drop a meat hook on the ball. Before he could slap it away, his indomitable bull rush freed Reed by briefly forcing a quadruple team. Reed disengaged from Tra Thomas and ran across the line. He shed the idle right guard, Uche Nwaneri, before breaking to scoop the ball and run 79 yards for the touchdown.

Zack Follett, Detroit Lions

Pain Train didn't get to toot the whistle this week, but he seems to be determined to bring the heat every week.

"Just from watching, I didn't see the passion," Follett said Wednesday. "I didn't see guys running down there full speed and, like, really wanting it. I feel kind of like a pit bull that's been caged-up that's been watching every week and just been waiting for my chance. So I think I finally get it this week, so I'm going to run down there and try to change the mentality of special teams."

The Lions struggled badly on coverage units in Sunday's 48-24 loss at Chicago. They released linebacker Darnell Bing make room on the 53-man roster for Follett, a seventh-round pick this year.

"I'm strictly special teams," Follett said. "Learn every position. Coach said I shouldn't be leaving here until 8 o'clock tonight. If that's what it takes, I'm going to make sure I know my job."

Thankfully, he's only on special teams, so he won't get any chances to sack...

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Acme Packing Company is higher on their quarterback than the current stats indicate.

Build around QB Aaron Rodgers: After four weeks, he's listed as only the No. 13 QB overall by Football Outsiders, but consider that they count sacks against the QB. He's currently sitting with a QB rating of 101.1. And that's with a disappointing season from WR Greg Jennings and awful pass protection. And as I described in an earlier post, the pass protection can be fixed.

Other Golden Bear NFL pro tidbits:

Kyle Boller had a nice run at starter, but suffered a mild concussion in defeat. Marc Bulger replaced him in relief and has also reclaimed the starting role.
Thomas Decoud had four tackles, two solo, and a pass deflection in the 45-10 beatdown of the Niners.
Nnamdi Asomugha is a superhero. He also happens to be the best player on an awful, awful team. His quote after the 44-7 Giants loss? "We're underachieving as a football team." Although the Raiders are shopping around players, Nnamdi is not on the list.
Will Ta'ufo'ou was involved with many other Bears rookies in unveiling a state-of-the-art fitness center for a North Chicago high school. He is still on the practice squad.
Craig Stevens suffered a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet collision with his teammate, eerily simliar to the one he suffered at Rocky Top.
Lavelle Hawkins was inactive for Sunday Night's game against the Colts. He still remains the fifth/sixth receiver in the rotation behind Washington/Scaife/another-guy-who-I-can't-remember.
Ryan Longwell had a 47 yard field goal and five extra points in the Vikings 38-10 victory.
Tully Banta-Cain had 3 tackles and a sack in a loss to the Broncos in overtime.
Arrowhead Pride ponders whether Ryan O'Callaghan will stay at right tackle or will be moved over to the Chief's more vulnerable left side.

NBA preseason

Ryan Anderson, Orlando Magic

His preseason stats so far have been impressive. He's had three games with double digit scoring. 22 points, 6-9 from downtown starting against the Hornets in Wichita, including sixteen points in 3 and a half minute stretch...had a rough 2-10 shooting night against the Grizz...12 points and six boards against the Rockets...also led the Magic with 16 points scoring against the Heat.

Third Quarter Collapse interviewed Anderson after his performance against the Heat.

If you don't start, do you believe you can help the team pack a punch off the bench?

Oh yeah, I mean, I think this team compliments my style of play. Dwight on the inside, four shooters on the outside. It's tough to guard, it's really tough to guard and because so many guys are going to be sagging down on Dwight, it's going to create open shots for everybody along the perimeter so I mean, I think that for myself, I think I'll definitely be competing in the rotation. Whether or not ... Brandon is a heck of a player, too, whether or not he's a three-point shooter, it doesn't really matter. The guy busts his butt and he does what he needs to do. He's a strong player, like I said before, so I mean, we have so many weapons, so many options so yeah, I'm obviously going to compete for my minutes, I'm not going to be handed anything so I'm going to fight and when I get in the game, just do what I do, just shoot the ball and rebound.

Here's what Stan Van Gundy has to say.

How have you've liked Ryan Anderson's play so far?

Ryan has been terrific. I mean, I remember people, Brian Schmitz especially asking me in pre-season and I mentioned that Ryan would have a chance to start at the four early with Rashard out, he was like, incredulous, now after two games I don't think people would disbelieve as much. Obviously he stretches the floor when we play offensively but you saw other things, I mean, in both games. He can put the ball on the floor, he's rebounded the ball pretty well, he's had more rebounds than Brandon in each of the last two games so he's playing extremely well and I'm really happy with the way he's playing. I thought again, like everybody else, his pick & roll defense tonight was not good but other than that, like I said, other than two guys, I wasn't really happy defensively. Now on the offensive end and on the boards, I thought we did a pretty good job.

Yellow fever will now weep silently into his White Castle burger.

Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks

Kidd suffered a minor ankle injury at practice, but didn't miss a beat with 5 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals against the Grizz. In his other two preseason appearances he went 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, +11 against the Wizards, and 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, and a +7 against the Magic.

Leon Powe, Cleveland Cavaliers

Powe's surgery is ahead of schedule, and he could be back for the Cavs after the All-Star Break.

Sean Marks, New Orleans Hornets

I'm sure Marks is a nice guy, but...

Armstrong, Marks and Barron combined for 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 fouls. Project that production out over 48 minutes and you've got a big, steaming pile of crap

Wince. Rough.

Thunder Gameday: Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Hornets

Mr Pappagiorgio — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:30:22 -0000

The first thing you need to know about tonight's second pre-season game is that it isn't "tonight's" game at all, its actually an EARLY afternoon game, which tips off at 1pm Local time. Once again, the game won't be televised, and you're only chance to watch this one is going to be listening to WWLS, The Sports Animal, on FM 98.1 / AM 640 in the Oklahoma City area, or on 97.1 FM in the Tulsa Area. Again if there is anyone out there with a little bit of pull or power that wants to push for all the pre-season games to be televised next season, we'd certainly appreciate it, and I think just by me watching the game it'll have better ratings that "Matlock" and "In the Heat of the Night" which apparently was more important for KSBI to broadcast than showing a Thunder pre-season game. So if you can get that taken care of for us, I'm sure all us die hard Thunder fans would appreciate it.

As the Oklahoman points out in this article, essentially four players are battling for one roster spot. Those guys are Ryan Bowen, Mike Harris, Tre Kelley, and local boy Michael Ruffin. In the Thunder's first pre-season game the other night against the Memphis Grizzlies, Ryan Bowen got a nice chunk of playing time to show what he could do, while the other 3 guys watched from the bench. Bowen got 21 minutes of playing time which he used to take just 2 shots, both of which he missed (1 of which was a 3 point attempt), grab 3 rebounds (1 offensive), block 1 shot, and turned the ball over just once. All in all, just looking at the stat-line its hard to judge his performance, especially when we didn't get to see the game since it wasn't televised, but he didn't have too bad of a game, considering he's making an attempt at being the last guy on the bench, so to speak. From the article linked above, it was his hustle that really stood out, and I think one thing all Thunder fans love, and me especially (which is why I love Nick Collison so much), is hustle. Today's game should give one of the other three an opportunity to prove what they can do. Click the jump link to hear some more about today's game and what we are hoping to see.

The first thing I'm looking for in today's game is Russell Westbrook, and whether that 10 assist effort the other night was a fluke, or if he's improved his style of play so much this off-season that he's already going to be one of the leagues better point guards this season. He took just 4 shots, and racked up assist after assist to go along with 4 rebounds and only turned the ball over twice. Sure, we're used to RW0 racking up at least double digits in points, but with the addition of James Harden to the mix, perhaps that pressure for him to score upwards of 20 points per game is being lessened, significantly. If that's the case, imagine how many double doubles the kid is going to have this season, seriously! If he can keep up distributing the ball like this he'll be pushing the double digit assist mark all season, and I think we can pretty much bet that he'll be at least double digit in score on a nightly basis as well, and that's not even mentioning his rebounding which can sometimes pop up there into double digits as well.

The next thing I'm looking for is Jeff Green, and a much a improved outing for him. In Wednesdays game he had probably his work game, at least statwise that I can ever really remember seeing from him. Again, its hard to know what else he was doing on the court just from listening to the game, but, in 26 minutes of play, he managed just 6 points on 3-10 shooting to go with only 2 rebounds and 2 steals. This is not the Uncle Jeff we know and love, and this is not the guy we expect to see on a nightly basis this coming season. So it'll be interesting to see how he responds today and what kind of game he has. I'm banking on a 16-20 point performance with 5-7 boards today for Jeff Green. Let's see if he can do it.

Thirdly, is that even a word? I guess so since spell-check didn't change it, anyway, we're going with it. Thirdly, I want to see more of the young guys, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, D.J. White, and Kyle Weaver. I want to see what Ibaka can do with 20-30 minutes if he was able to score 4 points (2-2 shooting) and grab 2 rebounds in just 4 minutes of playing time. I want to see if D.J. White can continue to perform at such a high level in back to back games, and against good competition. Perhaps throw DJ out there early in the first quarter to get him some time against Nola's starters and see what he can do. Of course to do that, you'd likely have to cut into Jeff Greens time early, but hey its pre-season, why not start D.J. and throw Green out there late in the first and let him work the remainder of the 1st and most of the 2nd before bringing D.J. back in with the rest of the starters to clean up the end of the half? Look at me trying to be coach here. Anyway, I'm just intrigued by the way D.J. played on Wednesday and want to see what the kid can really do, as I'm sure Uncle Jeff's performance was just a fluke, we all know what he's capable of.

Finally, I'm just interested to see what Brooks plans on doing today. Is he going to give starters 25 minutes of playing time again? Is he gonna play with the rotations more? Work some of the young guys in with the starters to see how they will work with our premier players and against better competition? What's he gonna do? How is he going to continue to get this team prepped for the season opener which is already less than 3 weeks away! Can you believe that? just 18 more days until live regular season Thunder basketball! Man I'm excited, so turn that radio (come on guys, its the Hornets!) on at 1pm today and Thunder UP!

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

New Orleans Hornets Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Hilton Armstrong	12	C	11.11.84	235	6-11	Connecticut
Earl Barron	55	C	8.14.81	268	7-0	Memphis
Bobby Brown	6	G	9.24.84	175	6-2	Cal State Fullerton
Devin Brown	23	G	12.30.78	210	6-5	Texas-San Antonio
Darren Collison	2	G	8.23.87	160	6-0	U-C-L-A
Ike Diogu	1	F	9.11.83	250	6-9	Arizona State
Sean Marks	4	C	8.23.75	250	6-10	California
Emeka Okafor	50	C	9.28.82	255	6-10	Connecticut
Larry Owens	25	F	1.8.83	210	6-7	Oral Roberts
Chris Paul	3	G	5.6.85	175	6-0	Wake Forest
Morris Peterson	9	G	8.26.77	220	6-7	Michigan State
James Posey	41	F	1.13.77	217	6-8	Xavier
Darius Songaila	9	F	2.14.78	248	6-9	Wake Forest
Peja Stojakovic	16	F	6.9.77	229	6-10	None
Marcus Thornton	5	G	6.5.87	205	6-4	L-S-U
David West	30	F	8.29.80	240	6-9	Xavier
Julian Wright	32	F	5.20.87	225	6-8	Kansas

NBA Previews- The Hornets

atthehive — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:23:30 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

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As part of CelticsBlog's annual round of previews, it's the Hornets' turn.

Team Name: New Orleans Hornets

Last Year's Record: 49-33

Key Losses: Tyson Chandler, Rasual Butler, Antonio Daniels, Ryan Bowen, Melvin Ely

Key Additions: Emeka Okafor, Darren Collison, Marcus Thornton, Ike Diogu, Morris Peterson, Darius Songaila

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

New Orleans did its fair share of wheeling and dealing. Tyson Chandler for Emeka Okafor was the headliner, with the Hornets swapping out a defensive ace with injury questions. Okafor enters the season nursing his own injury, but the hope is he can offer more consistent minutes than Chandler did in '09. The Hornets also saved money by offloading Rasual Butler and Antonio Daniels. Via the draft, Chris Paul's new backup- Darren Collison- joined the team, as did Marcus Thornton, a potential scoring threat off the bench. Toss Darius Songaila into the forward mix, and the Hornets enter 2009-2010 with a significantly different look and feel- three new players will step into the starting roles (Peterson, Julian Wright, Okafor), and a plethora of backcourt and frontcourt minutes should go to Collison and Diogu.

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

The point guard position. Obviously, that's been the strength since 2005; however, the Hornets seem to have the backup PG position locked down for the first time in a while. The organization has shown continual confidence in UCLA's Darren Collison. On draft night, they took him over a variety of front court options. They unloaded incumbent 2nd string PG Daniels relatively early in the offseason. And instead of bringing in a veteran 3rd string standby, they decided to roll the dice on Minnesota's Bobby Brown. If things go according to plan, not only will Chris Paul be awesome, his backup will allow him a couple more minutes of rest a game.

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?

One of New Orleans' biggest issues last year was an utter lack of offensive rebounding ability. Only 5 teams went one and done more often last year (now, granted 2 of those were Orlando and San Antonio... but they made up for it in many other areas). Granted, a lot of the problems had to do with severe injury issues. However, neither Okafor nor Ike Diogu is an o-rebounder in the ilk of a healthy Chandler, so that weakness could persist.

On that same note, front court depth was another huge issue. While the addition of Diogu should help, Sean Marks and Hilton Armstrong still figure to get decent minutes off the bench. That shouldn't need much elaboration. The bench sucked in general last year, but more on that under Question 5.

Finally, the team still lacks a creative scorer outside of West and Paul. Obviously, having three marquee scorers on one team might be a little too much to ask for, but having a creative wing would help snap the stagnant stretches the offense is prone to fall into. Some have hyped Thornton into the role. I'm not saying a 6'0" shooting guard can't get that job done; there are a few examples across the league. But I'll believe it when I see it.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Hard to say. From a media perspective, the Hornets certainly won't have too much expected of them after last year's disastrous ending. From a player perspective, I'm sure a few guys are feeling some pressure. David West will be 29 next year. Chris Paul's only 24, but his chances at a title have taken a step back from 2007. From a fan perspective, I feel like a first round series win would satiate the majority of New Orleans appetites. Realistic goals will only become clear at least a couple weeks into November. Between Okafor, Wright's starting job, Collison, and Diogu, there are simply too many new pieces to say for sure.

5. Will the bench suck as badly this year?

The second unit was arguably the Hornets' biggest shortcoming last year. Antonio Daniels is the only guy I can possibly defend. Julian Wright, serious step back. James Posey, mediocre. Morris Peterson, invisible. Sean Marks, eh. Melvin Ely, bleh. And that's without even getting to the unmentionables, Hilton and Devin. Speaking of which, we should combine them into one player this year. Delton Browstrong. Okay, that sounds way cooler than this combo player possibly deserves to. Helvin Brownarms. There we go. Helvin Brownarms.

The overall point is that the bench can't possibly be this bad again. I mean... it could. But it can't.

Darren Collison is a respectable player by all accounts. Ike Diogu can be rock solid if healthy. Peja Stojakovic could have a rebound year and keep his back healthy, coming off the pine. Of course, Marks, Armstrong, and the rest are going to pick up some minutes. But a second unit of Collison/Thornton/Peja/Posey/Diogu with light servings of Bobby Brown and some Kiwi sprinkles should easily outperform last year's. It simply has to.

So to answer the question, no the bench will not suck as badly.

Projected Finish: 53 wins
Projected Finish Rationale: None whatsoever

A Look at the Orlando Magic's Last-String Power Forward/Center Options

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:00:11 -0000

More photos » by George Frey - AP

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Not so long ago, I took a look at potential free-agent point guards whom the Orlando Magic could sign to fill out their bench. Team GM Otis Smith has made it clear that point guard is his highest priority; he's also made it clear that he'd also like to add another big man to the roster. With no movement on the point guard front--except the rumor that Smith is still pursuing restricted free agent C.J. Watson via a sign-and-trade with Golden State--it's high time we look at potential power forwards and centers Orlando could probably sign on the cheap.

The operative word is "cheap." As we've noted previously, the Magic are over the salary cap and have used both the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, meaning they can only sign players to minimum contracts. NBA experience determines the specific finances of said deals, about which you can read here.

Unfortunately for the Magic, the best minimum-salary bigs have already signed. Joe Smith spurned the Cleveland Cavaliers to latch on with the Atlanta Hawks, while Rasho Nesterovic has re-upped with the Toronto Raptors after a one-year detour with the Indiana Pacers and, in arguably the best signing of the summer, the Cavs landed the productive-but-injury-hobbled power forward Leon Powe. Thus, there are few standouts on this list. Bear in mind that whomever Orlando chooses will be last on the depth chart, behind two All-Stars (Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis), two youngsters combining to earn nearly $10 million this season (Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass), and the second-year player whom the team views as a long-term building block (Ryan Anderson). In short, the Magic's mystery signee will hardly play, so he need not be exceptional.

After the jump, brief breakdowns of no fewer than 17 free-agent power forwards and centers who are still on the market.

And, as with the point guard piece, I've excluded D-Leaguers, because Smith has never made a D-League call-up in his tenure as Orlando's GM.

Calvin Booth:

The Good: Booth has parlayed his exceptional shot-blocking skills into a 10-year career in which he's earned nearly $36 million. He still has the touch, averaging a block per every 13 minutes played over his last two seasons, which he's split between Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Sacramento. And he'd undoubtedly accept a minimum contract.
The Bad: Just about everything else. He's not much of a scorer or rebounder, and one wonders if he'll even sign in the NBA this year as teams plan to carry fewer players due to the weak economy.
The Verdict: In spite of everything, he's hardly the worst name on this list, which should keep him in the conversation.

Head back to the top.

Jarron Collins:

The Good: Regarded as a stout, heady defender--just like his twin brother, whom we'll discuss shortly--Jarron Collins has carved out a respectable 8-year career despite having no discernible offensive skills. The contributions that have kept him in the league this long must go beyond the box score, since his per-game stats (4.3 points, 3.1 boards, 0.2 blocks in 16.9 minutes) are far from exceptional.
The Bad: As with most of the guys on this list, Jarron Collins is a zero on offense.
The Verdict: Think of Jarron as a younger version of Adonal Foyle, minus the rebounding and shot-blocking. In other words, think of him as Adonal Foyle, minus the skills that have kept him in the league.

Head back to the top.

Jason Collins:

The Good: Jason's career has eerily mirrored that of his brother but he enjoys a higher profile due to his presence on the New Jersey Nets' Eastern Conference Championship-winning teams in 2001/2002 and 2002/2003.
The Bad: Statistically speaking, he's worse than Jarron, in spite of his higher profile. Despite hardly straying more than 10 feet from the immediate basket area on offense, he's a career 41% shooter (Jarron's more efficient, but still unacceptable, with a career 45.9% mark from the field) . For some perspective, two years ago, Rashard Lewis shot 40.9%...from three-point range. "Awful" really doesn't begin to describe Jason's offensive ability.
The Verdict: Unless his great reputation somehow precedes him, it's hard to imagine Jason Collins playing in the NBA this season. Jarron is the better option of the two.

Head back to the top.

Melvin Ely:

The Good: If nothing else, Ely's built like a semi truck. Listed at 6'10" and 260 pounds, but likely heavier, Ely can take up space in the paint.
The Bad: But in all likelihood, when he's in there offensively, he's not doing much good. Discounting dunks and tip-ins, Ely converted just 31.3% of his shots in the immediate basket area last season. You'd almost prefer him to step out and take a jumper, which he's willing to do. 82games classifies nearly one-third of Ely's shots last season, as jumpers, which he converted at a 33.3% clip.
The Verdict: Maybe the Magic could live with Ely's considerable offensive shortcomings if he could at least rebound, but even then he's mediocre, with a career rebound rate of 11.7%, which puts him in Brian Cook (11.2% career) territory. He's a poor all-around player who hardly cracked New Orleans' rotation last season, despite their dearth of frontcourt talent. With all that said, Smith tried to acquire Ely from Charlotte at the 2007 trading deadline, so we at least know he was on Smith's radar at one point. For Orlando's purposes, it's probably best if he isn't.

Head back to the top.

Adonal Foyle:

The Good: Say what you will about his poor hands and finishing ability, but Foyle's still a tremendous defender, rebounder, and shot-blocker. I stumbled all over myself in order to praise Foyle after his first appearance last season, in which coach Stan Van Gundy called upon him to defend Yao Ming. Foyle responded with 4 points, 7 boards, and 3 blocked shots against the NBA's most offensively skilled center, in relief of the foul-maligned Howard. And, on the non-basketball side of the equation, Foyle's a great guy to have in the locker room, and as someone who eschews stories about athletes' intangibles, that's not something to take lightly
The Bad: Outside of the occasional put-back attempt, all Foyle can do on offense is set screens and box out.
The Verdict: Whichever team signs Foyle--if he's even in the league at all--will get some bang for its buck. He's worth the money for his locker-room wisdom--not a vocal leader, but more of a quiet, willing, mentor--alone. The fact that the Magic re-signed him last season solely to be a sparring partner for Howard during practices attests to his "intangible" value, and all told, he's in the upper tier of players on this list.

Head back to the top.

Aaron Gray:

The Good: In two seasons with Chicago--which owns his restricted free-agent rights, giving it the ability to match any offer another team makes for his services--the 24-year-old Gray has shown flashes of being a solid, rotation-caliber player. Consider, for instance, his career per-36-minute averages of 12.4 points and 10.5 boards. Not bad for a second-round draft pick, and arguably better than another second-rounder from the 2007 draft class who recently signed for $3 million annually.
The Bad: He's noted for his utter lack of athleticism and speed, and the Bulls would likely match a minimum-salary offer, meaning the Magic would have to obtain him in a sign-and-trade deal.
The Verdict: Physical limitations aside, Gray has decent low-post, back-to-the-basket scoring instincts, and would be worth a long-term investment were it not for the more than $100 million Orlando has tied up in Howard and Gortat over the next several seasons. If he can be had cheaply, he might be the best fit for Orlando of any player listed here. That possibility seems very remote, however.

Head back to the top.

Juwan Howard:

The Good: The opposite of Gray in many respects, as a been-there, done-that veteran. He's lasted quite awhile, hasn't he? Howard, at age 35, appeared in 42 games last season, no doubt surprising countless television viewers who assumed he'd been out of basketball for quite some time. Last season, his 15th in the league, he set a new career-high by shooting 51% from the field. And he's earned a reputation as a good locker-room presence
The Bad: If the Magic want rebounding from their end-of-the-bench big man--and why wouldn't they?--they aren't going to find it with Howard, whose total rebound rate of 9.9 last season puts him in (here comes that phrase again!) Brian Cook territory.
The Verdict: My guess is that he doesn't have much of anything else to contribute at the NBA level. He's probably not a markedly better option for Orlando than, say, either of the Collins twins.

Head back to the top.

Othello Hunter:

The Good: In extremely limited minutes for the Atlanta Hawks last season--92, to be precise--Hunter posted encouraging numbers. 8.6 points per 36 minutes isn't great, but the 9.4 boards and 15.3% rebounding rate? That's encouraging. And at 23, there's potential for long-term development.
The Bad: He's listed at just 6'08" and 225 pounds, making him a less-than-ideal size for the position. Plus, the Hawks didn't think highly enough of him to play him very often, although that might be more of an indictment of coach Mike Woodson's ability to manage players than it is of Hunter's skills.
The Verdict: Based on the small sample size, Hunter appears to be worth at least a training-camp invitation; I'd stay away from offering him a guaranteed deal until he shows what he's got in the preseason. He might stand to earn more money overseas, but at the same time, he might not want to give up on the NBA just yet. Put him at or around the top of the list, for now.

Head back to the top.

Sean Marks

The Good: Based on what I've seen, there aren't many scrappier players in the NBA. Marks is a decent rebounder (13% rebound rate) and an average shot-blocker (1.4 blocks/36 career) who plays hard. 110% and all that.
The Bad: Utterly anemic offensively, with a career 44.9% mark from the field, although he's a combined 49.5% in his last two seasons. All the hustle in the world can't put the ball in the basket.
The Verdict: He's one of the main reasons the Hornets traded for Emeka Okafor and signed Ike Diogu this summer, as Marks just doesn't belong in a contender's rotation. But in Orlando, as the 6th big man, he wouldn't be in the rotation. Not a great option, but certainly not the worst, either.

Head back to the top.

Mikki Moore:

The Good: He's only 2 years removed from averaging 8.5 points and 6 rebounds per game with Sacramento, with a respectable Player Efficiency Rating of 11.5.
The Bad: Last year, the Boston Celtics signed Moore after the Kings bought him out, hoping he'd approximate the contributions P.J. Brown made to their championship team in 2008. Predictably, it didn't work out. Moore plays hard and means well, but was so utterly lost defensively in Boston that coach Doc Rivers couldn't count on him when the games mattered more. Indeed, Moore played only 66 minutes in the postseason, while Brian Scalabrine--Brian Scalabrine!--played 246. If that's not a strike against Moore, I'm not sure what is.
The Verdict: As a sixth big man--as opposed to the third in injury-riddled Boston--Moore isn't such a bad option. And he'd actually have a fair amount of time to learn Van Gundy's defensive rotations, as opposed to last year, when he had to take a crash-course in Boston's plans. He wouldn't be a bad pickup, but certainly wouldn't be a great one, either.

Head back to the top.

Johan Petro:

The Good: His rebounding and blocked-shots statistics compare favorably to Marks', and he's 10 years younger to boot.
The Bad: His offense, though, is also similar to Marks. Worse, it's on the decline. In his first two seasons, he shot a combined 51.4% from the field. In his last two? 41.8%, a staggering drop-off due to his over-reliance on an iffy jumper. Yikes. Now the Magic wouldn't ask him--or anyone on this list, really--to create any offense for himself. But you'd nonetheless like whomever they sign to be able to bang an open jumper every now and again, as Tony Battie did last year, and as Brandon Bass will do (much more effectively) this year.
The Verdict: I'm lukewarm on Petro, which makes him better than almost everyone on this list. Of the young players, he seems the most likely to be available for the minimum.

Head back to the top.

Malik Rose:

The Good: Rose would bring championship experience to Orlando, as he won titles with the San Antonio Spurs in both 1999 and 2003. These weren't cheap rings for Rose, as he averaged 12.9 minutes per game in '99 and 24.5 in '03.
The Bad: Did the absence of any skills analysis in the last paragraph tip my hand? Rose doesn't have anything in the tank anymore, it appears. His Player Efficiency Ratings in the last three years are in the single-digits, and his rebounding rates have dipped into the 11-and-12 range. He never was an offensive stalwart, having never shot better than 47.7% from the field in any of his 13 professional seasons, and he hasn't so much as cracked 40% in any of his last 4 seasons.
The Verdict: Rose has enjoyed a decent career by most metrics, but his skills have diminished too sharply to justify granting him a roster spot.

Head back to the top.

James Singleton:

The Good: The 28-year-old James is coming off a career season with the Dallas Mavericks, averaging 5.1 points per game, in just 14.9 minutes, while shooting 52.9% from the floor. His ability to finish inside boosted his field-goal percentage, as he converted a stellar 71.4% of his shots in the immediate basket area in 2008/2009. For comparison's sake, consider that Dwight Howard shot 62.2% and Marcin Gortat shot 63.4% in the same situations.
The Bad: First, there's the question of how much Hall-of-Fame point guard Jason Kidd inflated Singleton's stats; they'd almost certainly return to Earth in Orlando, even potentially playing alongside All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson. Second, there's probably no way Dallas wouldn't match a minimum contract offer for his services, as he is a restricted free agent, and owner Mark Cuban is a freakin' billionaire (the Magic's decision to match his offer to Gortat doesn't figure into this analysis, because Cuban would match a minimum offer to Singleton regardless of the team that extended it). Finally, he's more of a combo forward than a true big man, although he still played roughly 80% of his minutes at power forward last season.
The Verdict: If the Magic can somehow find a way to grab him, their fans wouldn't have much reason to complain. He'd be worth it, even when one accounts for the statistical decline in his play without Kidd. Let me put it this way: the Magic's chances of signing him are so infinitesimally remote that he's hardly worth considering, but I included him in this post anyway because he was, frankly, just that impressive last season.

Head back to the top.

Brian Skinner:

The Good: One can take or leave Skinner's rebounding--15.1% career rate, 13.9% last year with the Clippers--but that block rate (3.6% career, 4.6% last year and 6.0% the year before) deserves some attention. Skinner is perhaps the quintessential, defensive-minded, end-of-the-bench big man. His overall statistics last year suggest that, even at 33, he's an NBA-caliber player.
The Bad: In the tradition of many mediocre NBA bigs, he tends to shoot a lot of jumpers at a low percentage.

Also, this goatee.
The Verdict: Skinner, it seems to me, is the sort of emergency big man who's not going to greatly aid his team's cause when he's on the floor... but he's not going to hurt it, either. That's about all you can ask from a sixth big man, which is why I endorse Skinner more strongly than I do any of the other veterans on this list, save for Foyle.

Head back to the top.

Stromile Swift:

The Good: He has a bad reputation for never living up to his potential--he was the second overall pick of the 1999 draft--but he's actually carved out a decent career. In 2003/04, under the tutelage of Hubie Brown, he posted a Player Efficiency Rating of 19.7, for instance, and his career PER is an above-average 16.7. So he's not as bad a player as some people might expect due to the negativity surrounding him, which stems from his high draft position.
The Bad: Sadly, Swift's mother passed away in February, which (obviously) upset him very much. He was "inconsolable," according to his agent, and a week later, the Nets waived him after his agent talked things over with GM Kiki Vandeweghe. He signed with Phoenix--where he played with Magic free-agent signee Matt Barnes, who also lost his mother recently--but did not contribute much. In short, it's been a tough year for Swift, and concerns remain about his readiness to play basketball to the best of his (underrated) ability.
The Verdict: Orlando might be the ideal landing place for Swift, as he'd re-join former teammates Anderson, Barnes, and Vince Carter. He'd also play with Nelson, a team captain and leader, who dealt with the sudden and unexpected death of his father in 2007. In short, he'd be among friends. Of this we can be certain.

Whether Orlando has much use for him, though, is less sure. He's still a great athlete (this dunk is less than two years old!) and, as I mentioned, a somewhat underrated player. If Smith feels as though he can bank on Swift's readiness to contribute in an end-of-the-bench role, then he'd be a solid pickup. But if Swift isn't mentally "there" yet, the Magic shouldn't commit to him when there are other, better options who are ready.

Head back to the top.

Jake Voskuhl:

The Good: At 6'11" and 245 pounds, Voskuhl's a big boy. Yup, that's all I've got.
The Bad: Last year, in Toronto, he posted a PER of 0.4, shot 26.7% from the field, and committed a turnover on almost exactly one-quarter of his possessions used. He also committed one foul for every four minutes he played. He was so cosmically dreadful that Basketbawful coined the term "Voskuhl" for big men whose "combined fouls and turnovers exceed his combined points and rebounds over the course of a game."

And he was no great shakes prior to last season, either.
The Verdict: There's quite simply no compelling reason to believe Voskuhl merits an NBA roster spot at this point in his career.

Head back to the top.

Lorenzen Wright:

The Good: Pardon the echo chamber here, but at 6'11" and 225 pounds, Wright's a big boy..
The Bad: He's probably worse than Voskuhl, if you can believe it. Injuries have limited Wright to 36 games over the last two seasons, in which he's combined to shoot 16-of-48, or 33.3%. No NBA team is ever going to ask Wright to do anything on offense, but his other stats don't indicate he's worth having on the floor. He'll turn 34 in the first week of the season.
The Verdict: Yeah, his NBA days are probably finished. Orlando need not seriously consider Wright, but if there isn't anyone else on the board, they might have to settle for him.

Head back to the top.

A quick survey of the above players shows that only four (Foyle, Gray, Singleton, and Skinner) are near-locks to make an NBA roster this season, which sort of illustrates the talent pool with which we're dealing. Fortunately, the Magic won't require much of their last big man, which makes these choices sightly more attractive. Foyle and Skinner are the best realistic options, at least to me, and the only way Smith can go wrong here is by signing someone on the level of Voskuhl and Wright. In other words, don't get too down on the Magic if, say, Moore is the best they can get for the minimum salary.

The Shopping List

atthehive — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:03:53 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Ike Diogu is one of the 50 front court options NBA teams have this summer.

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I took a look at our budget last post (1-2 million dollars to sign one player). Now, let's assess what people are going to cost.

I've tried to include every front court free agents (UFA and RFA) that I could find here, but if I missed any, let me know. Big thanks to this list from Depressed Fan and to ESPN player pages. Quick explanation of the table: Restricted refers to UFA/RFA status, competitors refers to projected number of teams that want the player, Salary projection is my estimation of the player's market value, and target refers to whether New Orleans can reasonably target the player (in parantheses is an explanation of why (expensive, etc)).

The full 50 player table after the jump.

Player	Restricted?	Last Salary	Competitors	Projection ($)	Target?
Rasheed Wallace	No	20.1M	3+	10-15	No ($)
Malik Rose	No	11.5M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Drew Gooden	No	3.0M	1-2	2-4	Yes ($)
Chris Wilcox	No	10.1M	1-2	2-5	Yes ($)
Stromile Swift	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Shawn Marion	No	20.1M	3+	12-18	No ($)
Ike Diogu	Yes	8.8M	0-1	2-4	Yes ($)
Lamar Odom	No	20.1M	3+	15-20	No ($)
Paul Millsap	Yes	1.6M	3+	unknown, but $$$	No ($)
Charlie Villanueva	Yes	10.3M	1-2	8-15	No ($)
Joe Smith	No	2.4M	1-2	2-4	Yes ($)
Shelden Williams	No	4.1M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Maceo Baston	No	4.5M	0-1	1-2	Yes
Cedric Simmons	No	2.7M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Marcin Gortat	Yes	0.83M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Chris Andersen	No	0.83M	2-3	2-4	Yes (DEN)
Channing Frye	Yes	9.5M	0-1	2-4	No ($, sucks)
Hakim Warrick	Yes	6.4M	1-2	4-8	Yes ($)
David Lee	Yes	6.1M	3+	unknown, but $$$	No ($)
Steve Novak	No	1.0M	0-1	min-3	Yes
Donyell Marshall	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Ryan Bowen	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Michael Ruffin	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Shavlik Randolph	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Leon Powe	Yes	0.83M	3+	Unknown, but $$	No ($)
Glen Davis	Yes	1.0M	2-3	3-7	Yes (BOS)
Raef LaFrentz	No	19.1M	0	Negative	No (sucks)
Rasho Nesterovic	No	12.6M	1-2	3-5	Yes ($)
Jason Collins	No	9.3M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Zaza Pachulia	No	8.0M	2-3	4-5	No ($)
Robert Swift	No	7.2M	0	Minimum	Yes
Aaron Gray	Yes	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes
Chris Mihm	No	5.0M	0-1	2-3	Yes
Saer Sene	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes
Jarron Collins	see Jason	4.1M	see Jason	see Jason	see Jason
DJ Mbenga	No	0.96M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Calvin Booth	No	2.7M	0	Minimum	No (sucks)
Melvin Ely	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (sucks)
Ryan Hollins	No	0.83M	0-1	1-2	Yes
Lorenzen Wright	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Adonal Foyle	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Jamaal Magloire	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Sean Marks	No	0.83M	0	Minimum	Yes (old)
Theo Ratliff	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (old)
Johan Petro	Yes	5.9M	0-1	2-3	Yes
Jake Voskuhl	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	No (sucks)
Marvin Williams	Yes	14.1M	3+	10-15	No ($)
James Singleton	No	0.83M	0-1	Minimum	Yes (DAL)
Walter Herrmann	No	4.0M	0-1	2-4	Yes

So out of the 50 UFA/RFA big men of 2009, the Hornets can put 30 of them on their radar.

As you can see, there are a ton of guys out there. Not all of these guys (or even half these guys, I suspect) are going to find homes next season. Yes, there is a good deal of variance, but the supply is definitely greater than the demand.

There are four tiers the 30 players can be split into.

"Uh Oh, Everybody's Gone And/Or (Probably And) We're Broke."

Among the 30 potential signees, we can probably classify some of them as last gasp options due to suckage, old age, or some combination of the two. Of all the players I gave a 'yes' in the far right column, here are the ones I'd categorize as last resorts:

Steve Novak: The Hornets have gaping holes in their frontcourt, but specifically they need to target rebounders. When David West and Tyson Chandler hit the bench, Byron Scott won't appreciate a big man that spends 99.999% of his time between three point arcs. Novak's rebound rate is barely half of Hilton Armstrong's. Yeah. Consider this the last last resort.
Donyell Marshall- DMarsh is another three point specialist, but he's been a stellar defensive rebounder throughout his career. The issues clearly are that he's 36 years old, and he's nearing retirement. Toss in a recent comment about how he'd want to come in and mentor guys if he joined a new team (nothing on actually playing), and you don't have a great combination.
Michael Ruffin- He's undersized but a fantastic rebounder on offense and defense. The question with him is playing time. He only got 11 games last year, 46 the year before, and 30 before that. Nobody knows how he'd hold up over 82, especially now that he's on the wrong side of 30.
Ryan Bowen- Great hustle, but I don't think I need to elaborate much here.
Shavlik Randolph- Randolph only got in 89 games in his first 4 years in the league. But he's shown some serious potential on the boards. The risk is that if we pin our one rebounding hope on the 25 year old and he blows up, well, we won't be in great shape.
Robert Swift- Showed lots of potential, once upon a time. He's the madly tattooed, infinitely riskier Shavlik Randolph.
Saer Sene- 47 games in three years. He'll be mad cheap, but he's 7'0" and weighs 220 pounds. You tell me how that's gonna end up.
Melvin Ely- Yeah.
Ryan Hollins- I rank Hollins somewhere between Last Resorts and the next category. He's a great shot blocker with good timing, and while he isn't the most impressive defensive boarder, his offensive figures are nice. He brings great energy to both sides of the floor. With Eric Dampier rumored to be on his way out of Dallas, I wonder how much the Mavs will spend to keep him. My feeling is they like him a good bit... and Hollins is only worth it if he comes cheap.
Lorenzen Wright- With age, his offensive boarding figures have slipped badly. And last year, not one, not two, but three teams (ATL, SAC, CLE) tossed him in the their respective trash cans. He brings size (6'11), if not bulk (225), and he has a career full of good defensive rebounding. One of the better Last Resort picks, though it wouldn't be a flashy signing at all.
Adonal Foyle- And if you thought Lorenzen was the antithesis of all things stylish, well, apparently, you've never seen this guy. Most famous for clanging an open 7 footer off the side of the backboard, Foyle's actually a decent option. The problem here is that he spent most of last year injured. Not sure the Hornets are willing to gamble on a 34 year old's health.
Sean Marks- I think Marks is a last resort, not because of his play necessarily, but because it wouldn't go over well with the fans. Most Hornets' supporters are looking for a front court overhaul. The truth is, Marks' 9/18/13.5 rebounding split from last year wasn't shabby at all. An understatedly decent last resort option
Theo Ratliff- Ratliff hasn't been discussed in a basketball context ever since he legally changed his name to The Expiring Contract of Theo Ratliff some time in 2004. Though the dude is older than my pet rock, he provided Philadelphia some boards and some blocks last year. Overall, he's way too old to be considered a good signing.
Johan Petro- I'd rank the Denver center higher (his rebounding numbers are terrific) but he seemingly never plays, and he is straight up horrible at basketball. A center with a 43% true shooting percentage? Unbelievably atrocious.
Stromile Swift- From 2000-2008, SS was a serviceable player. Great rebounder, good shot blocker, coudl even put the ball in the bucket unassisted, once a month. Suddenly everybody forgot about him, and he played nineteen of the most anonymous games in NBA history with NJN and PHO last season. One of those guys where if he goes to the Knicks, everyone will rag on them for getting another overpaid bust, and if he goes to the Spurs, everyone will praise them for getting another underpaid overachiever. If he goes to New Orleans? Who knows.
Walter Herrmann- Imagine Hilton Armstrong with range. (If you can actually do this, I have just one question: are you on drugs?)

"Yeah If We Got Him, Sweet... But We're Not Getting Him"

Glen Davis- Boston is going to keep him. Danny Ainge will re-sign him. Kevin Garnett will continue to make him cry. I don't see many ways around this. Plus, his rebounding is mediocre, his offensive abilities are vastly overrated on the strength of one or two jumpers he made in the playoffs, and he really isn't that great at anything else. So "If we got him, sweet" would probably not be an accurate description of Glen Davis, now that I think about it.
Joe Beast- aka Joe Smith to those unacquainted with his hip hop skills. Smith is kind of like Davis in that his team is probably going to keep him (I can't see Cleveland performing a single action that does not directly contribute towards the appeasement of the Great One). Smith is also kind of not like Davis in that he's actually good at basketball.
Antonio McDyess- Dice is likely out of the Pistons' price range this summer, though they have said they want to keep him. He made 6 million+ last year. I know there's always the chance he takes a pay cut to join a contender... but who really considers the Hornets a contender now any way?
Chris Andersen- The league leader in block rate will be getting some sort of financial upgrade, and probably one from Denver. If not, there will be plenty of teams just salivating at the thought of overpaying the 31 year old.
Hakim Warrick- Warrick is another guy in line for an upgrade on his 1.5 million a year salary. He's not the most efficient scorer, but I'd say he's the most underrated foul drawer in the entire league (6.6 FTA/36, which would be 0.3 more than Chris Paul, without the aid of superstar calls). He's a decent rebounder too. If Memphis doesn't realize what they have on their hands, plenty of others will do the realizing for them.
Marcin Gortat- If recent rumors are to be believed, the Magic are in hot pursuit of Rasheed Wallace and/or Brandon Bass. It sure sounds like they're gearing up to lose their backup power forward. The Gortat situation is a tricky one to read. On the one hand, he made under a million dollars last year. On the other hand, he had a great postseason and pretty much the entire NBA now knows about him. Positives: beastly rebounder, very efficient scorer, brings terrific energy. Downside: fouls a lot, but who really cares. But all this misses a crucial point- several teams have already reportedly discussed offering Gortat a large part of their midlevel exceptions (five million plus).

"Maybe They'll Forgive Us For Not Taking Blair Now"

Radoslav Nesterovic- aka Rasho to those unacquainted with Slovenian. Nesterovic is one of the few 30+ options I wouldn't mind. He has size (7'), bulk (250), and the career rebounding split (10/17/13) to warrant a serious look. The biggest issue would be salary. He made 7 million+ last year alone, and he hasn't earned below 2.5 mil since 2002-2003. If he agreed to take a pay cut with us, that'd be terrific.
Aaron Gray- It's universally agreed that Aaron Gray sucks, but he could help us out big time in the rebounding department. With a 14/22/18 split last year, he would bring rebounding figures that very few free agent bigs could match. He should be dirt cheap (making less than half a million last year on a second rounder contract). With a lot of teams looking at the flashier names, we're likely to receive less competition to sign him. And of course, the kicker is that he's a big from the University of Pittsburgh, something a lot of people seemed to want around these parts.
Shelden Williams- I've always loved Williams. Seemingly not in possession of a neck, he'd be the perfect complement to Hilton "The Ostrich" Armstrong. He posted super awesome terrific rebounding figures with ATL his rookie year before they moved him to Sacramento. He finished last year in Minnesota. He seems universally unwanted, but he'd be a tremendous bargain for the Hornets.
Maceo Baston- Baston's first salary was 20,000 with the Chicago Bulls in 1999. So I'm thinking he might be down to make a couple million with us next year. Last year with Toronto, he posted an 11/15/13 rebounding split in 27 games. He draws fouls at a decent rate and has a nice offensive game. He can also block a few shots here and there. The biggest problem is his size- 6'9" and 215 pounds; I don't know how long he can hold up.
Chris Mihm- Mihm has posted very, very nice rebounding numbers throughout his career. (a career 11/19/14 split). I thought we'd seen the last of him after his sparring session with D.J. Mbenga, but who knows. Could be an attractive option, given the lack of competition and low price.
Jamaal Magloire- 14/24/19 rebounding split last year. That's all you gotta know about the Big Cat. He will rebound the hell out of that ball.
James Singleton- Thanks to reader Scott for e-mailing to me about Singleton. Personally, this would be one of my favorite signings if it happened. Singleton, who broke into the League as a swingman, has seriously bulked up in recent years. He posted a 12/21/16 rebounding split with Dallas last year, terrific numbers for any player, let alone one making the minimum. He was also very efficient at putting the ball in the bucket (the most efficient out of any of the 30 on this list). Want more? He didn't turn the ball over, and Dallas put a fair bit of responsibility on him when he was in the game. And, oh yeah, he has three point range. Unfortunately, it appears we have compeition. Both my Dallas contacts confirmed that the Mavs have definite interest in bringing him back next season, and Singleton seems to like his situation there too. Don't know if it will happen, but Singleton would be an amazing, cheap add.

"The Heavens Have Smiled Upon Us"

Chris Wilcox- Wilcox parlayed a terrific contract year with the Clips into an overpaid two year stint with the SuperThunder. This summer, he's likely to return to his rightful tax bracket, and if so, the Hornets stand to benefit. At a career 9/20/14 rebounding split, Melvin Ely's twin would make Melvin himself a distant memory. Wilcox can also jump out the gym, so Chris Paul could still have an alley-oop partner when he's on the floor with the bench and Tyson's off. Wilcox's defense has been questioned repeatedly... but dude's trying to make the New Orleans Hornets' bench, not the All Defense team. I'd take him in a heartbeat, providing he agrees to slash his salary to the 2 million range.
Ike Diogu- Enter Mr. Diogu. I like Ike, and you should too. He never really got a chance with the GSW, or the IND, or the POR. Finally, he got some minutes with SAC last year, and they were predictably glorious. In the last two games, he dropped 32 on Denver, and 28 on Minnesota (oh, what's that you say about Denver resting its starters and Al Jefferson being injured? I can't really hear you, you're going to have to speak louder). He can rebound, and he draws fouls like a maniac. While he's kind of foul-prone, he doesn't turn the ball over. The kicker? His full name is Ikechukwa Somotochukwa Diogu. Pau Gasol is already recoiling in fear.
Drew Gooden- For a while there, it appeared Gooden's basketball ability had taken a back seat to him cultivating that ridiculous beard. But now all is well. Ever since he left the company of the Great Shining Internationally Renowned Supreme Basketball Talent, Gooden's been looking on the up and up. Rebounding last year? Try 10.4/22.6/16.6. 52.6% true shooting. 11.7% turnovers. 4.0 FTA/36 minutes. The one flaw is that he's lost all ability to put the ball in the bucket from the floor... but I can excuse that. Another downside: Signing the 27 year old Gooden would probably cement Jeff Bower's place as the Greatest GM in the History of Western Civilization.

So there you have it.

50 options -> 30 reasonable options -> 25 actually reasonable options -> 9 actually reasonable and good options -> 3 actually reasonable and very good options. Happy shopping.

Recap: Rockets overcome The Sean Marks Dunkathon, swat Hornets 86-66

Tom Martin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 04:10:48 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

New Orleans Hornets' Sean Marks (4) makes his first dunk against the Rockets. Marks would finish 3 for 5 on dunk attempts. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

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The recap is back, folks. We'll get to Sean Marks in a minute. But first:

Sometimes, don't you just wish you had Rick Adelman's cell phone number?

Take tonight, for instance. I was sitting in the nosebleeds - section 401, row 6. Not sure how many times I yelled "TAKE YAO OUT!", but for the better part of the fourth quarter, it's all I said. We're up 20 points, and yet Yao Ming, fresh off of some worrisome foot soreness, is still in. What was Ricky thinking? Did it really matter that much if Yao beat up Sean Marks? I'd give anything to be able to text Rick in the middle of a game and just say, "Yao out of game plz. Kthxbai."

Anyway, that was the only problem I had with tonight's game. That, and Ron Artest's 2-13 performance. I can't remember exactly how many times Ron dribbled for 15 seconds, tried to drive through four people, and then score, but it began to get redundant. Pretty soon, the people upstairs started playing the organ every time Ron would touch the ball up top, because you knew he would sit there and waste the possession away. Might as well have some entertaining music!

Brian Moehler sucks. Just saying.

For those of you who missed it, tonight's game featured something quite special. About five minutes prior to tip-off, sources informed me that Sean Marks had decided to try to apply for next year's slam dunk contest. He said that he would showcase his arsenal against the tallest center in the league, and figured that if he performed well, he would get a slot. Here's what happened in what I have dubbed the "The Sean Marks Dunkathon":

Dunk 1: 1st quarter, 2:57 -- Chris Paul drives and dishes to Marks for a two hand slam. Not a bad start - a safe dunk to open the festivities. 7/10

Dunk 2: 1st quarter, 2:11 -- Chris Paul drives and dishes to Marks for a two hand slam. Interesting idea to go with the same dunk twice in a row. Maybe he thought the judges missed his first attempt. He's going to have to provide variety at some point. 5/10

Dunk 3: 1st quarter, 0:53 -- Sean Marks misses dunk attempt. He got hung up on the rim. Oh I get it; he's imitating Darrell Armstrong. Classic move, like Robinson-Webb, right? 3/10

Dunk 4: 2nd quarter, 11:41 -- James Posey drives and dishes to Marks for a two hand slam. Seriously? This is what Sean Marks was planning to showcase? This next dunk had better be huge. 2/10

Dunk 5: 3rd quarter, 4:52 -- Yao Ming blocks Sean Marks dunk attempt. Marks pulled up from behind the block and literally tried to fly over Yao. Sorry Sean, you're no Dominique. 0/10

Results: 3/5 on dunk attempts. 17 out of 50 possible points.

That's not going to get it done, Sean. Maybe next year...

On a more serious note, tonight's win gets us one step closer to a division title and a #3 or #2 overall seed in the West. Thankfully, Dallas came from behind to defeat the Timberwolves at home, which leaves the Jazz stuck in the 8 spot. I'd much rather play Dallas than Utah, and would much rather watch Utah get crushed by the Lakers. And after this game, I wouldn't at all mind playing the Hornets as well. It's clear that they aren't in sync heading into postseason play, whereas the Rockets are on a 5 game winning streak. While many people would rather play Portland, I'd like Portland to play L.A. in round two and have us play N.O. in round 1. Everything will eventually work itself out, I hope.

Complete recap after the jump...

Three Up:

Yao Ming -- This spot was reserved for Yao before tip-off. Melvin Ely and the aforementioned Marks against the Ming Dynasty? Seriously? It was clear that we were going to force the post game early, and that's exactly what happened. Yao went to work, scoring 22 points on 8-13 shooting. He also had two blocks and went 6-6 from the free throw line. Solid game from a solid wall.

Baron Von Wafer -- The Baron had 13 points on 6-11 shooting. I'm not really sure what else to say here, because the only thing Von does is score. Um...haircut still looks wicked, man?

Carl Landry -- Carl went 10/7 in 22 minutes of playing time, and didn't miss a shot in the process. He also played some great defense, as did Shane Battier, who could have gotten this slot as well. But he didn't get shot in the leg, so sympathy points go to Landry. Sorry, Shane.

Three Down:

Ron Artest -- 2/13 from the field with 3 turnovers. Come on, now. We can't have that this late in the season. We just can't have it. Cannot play with him. Cannot win with him. Cannot coach with him. Can't do it.

Peja Stojakovic -- His Kings days are well behind him; he went 1/7 in this game. And can someone explain to me how a 6'10 guy can only snag one rebound in 30 minutes of playing time?

Halftime Entertainment -- Tonight's halftime was nothing more than a bunch of kids dancing with some power dancers. Bring Back Jazzercise!

Stats of the Night:

Field Goals: Rockets 46% - Hornets 35%

Free Throws: Rockets 100% - Hornets 60%

3 Pointers: Rockets 26% - Hornets 25%

Rebounds: Rockets 46 - Hornets 37

Assists: Rockets 21 - Hornets 15

Defense: The Rockets held Chris Paul to 9 points, which in turn stalled the rest of the Hornets offense. New Orleans only scored 66 points, which is the lowest scoring output for a Rockets opponent this season.

Dunk of the Night:

Not Sean Marks. Instead, it was Ron Artest, who threw down on Marks himself. Payback's a bitch.

Entertainer of the Night:

Again, not Sean Marks. This one goes to Luis Scola, who beautifully sang Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" during a timeout. Is there a more graceful man in America?

Next Game: Wednesday at Dallas. Tonight's win was a nice way to close out our home schedule. Now let's finish the regular season with a win in D-town.

Heat fall to Hornets in OT after Butler's game-tying 3

DolPhanDave — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:54:32 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul congratulates teammate Rasual Butler after scoring the game-tying 3-pointer last night in Miami.

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The way that Miami has been losing games the past few weeks…the playoffs could be exceptionally painful. The Heat did everything right down the stretch, and even after getting off to a very slow start in OT, came back and were in a prime position to capture the ‘W’, but couldn’t overcome giving up several 2nd chance points and a bad late turnover by D-Wade. David West also scored 8 straight points in OT, including the dagger as the shot clock expired, right after D-wade had hit a game-tying 3 with 33.4 seconds left.

It was another ugly stat for the Heat, filled with turnovers and botched offensive possessions. With the score 27-16, Miami began to turn it around with back-to-back solid defensive possessions followed by a Michael Beasley and 1 layup to close out the 1st quarter down ‘only’ 8. Michael Beasley scored 9 straight points for Miami to close out the 4th quarter, keeping the Heat close in the midst of their poor shooting.

Awesome sequence with 5:20 left in the 1st half when Jermaine O’Neal blocked an Antonio Daniels layup on a fast break, then D-Wade got it at the other end and with his trademark up-fake, he drew a foul and sunk the jumper, kissing it off the glass. And he absolutely hit the free throw, bringing the Heat to within 2 points of the Hornets. Unfortunately Miami couldn’t keep the momentum, scoring only 30 points and trailing by 10 after the first half. The second quarter was just ugly in general, with the 2 teams combining to score only 24 points (13-11 NO).

The Heat opened the 4th quarter on an 8-2 run, tying the game at 56 with just under 9 minutes left. Even better…the Heat did this with D-Wade on the bench taking his usual final rest before playing the rest of the game. Later in the 4th Miami would use a 13-3 run to go up by 3 with 63 seconds left, and were up by 4 with as little as 24 seconds left.

Then, a Chris Paul field goal followed by D-Wade going only 1-of-2 from the line would give the Hornets the ball with 10.6 seconds left. On a play that looked like it was leading to a Heat victory, Rasual Butler hit desperation 3 just as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Peja Stojakovic seemed pretty excited to be back in the starting lineup, opening the game with back-to-back three’s for the Hornets.

It was nice to see former Heat player Sean Marks. He was a bit of a fan favorite back in the day, and its nice to see that he’s still in the league and doing a good job. He played a pretty good game, and even caught a nice ally-oop from CP3.

D-Wade received his 10th technical foul of the year after throwing the ball at the padding of the basket-pole when he was called for an offensive foul. He later would be ejected in the final seconds after receiving his 2nd T of the game, bumping his season total up to 11. He leads the team in that category.

Wade also recorded a steal for the 21st straight game. The Heat record is 27 straight games, by Sherman Douglas.

Michael Beasley’s jumper to open the 4th quarter gave him 17 points and gave the Heat 50 points. Only took them 36 minutes to get there…but the crazy part is that they were only down by 4 at 54-50.

Beasley may not have been a starter, but he certainly earned a starters minutes. He played 48 minutes and made them count, scoring 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting while grabbing 9 boards and going 6-of-7 from the line. He also opened the 2nd half on the court for Miami, the first time he has started a half since Udonis Haslem went down.

You have to start appreciating the effort that comes from Jamaal Magloire off the bench. He has become the clear-cut backup center, and solidified his spot by playing strong D and going after rebounds like crazy.

I think the trend we’re seeing from Jermaine O’Neal is that he seems to focus on offense in the first half, then goes after rebounds in the 2nd. Another rebound-less 1st half for Jermaine last night, but he did score 2 points. Then in the 2nd half he woke up on the glass, grabbing 7 boards. Still didn’t score though…

He’s doing it in small does, but it appears that James Jones shot is almost back. He hit another three 3-pointers tonight, 2 of them were big 4th quarter trays in the final minutes.

Daequan Cook sat out with a strained right shoulder and is listed as day-to-day, but hopefully the extra day off before Friday’s game in Boston will allow Cook to heal in time to play.

IN THE STANDINGS

4th	Atlanta	GR-4	44-34	--
5th	Miami	4	41-37	-3.0
6th	Philadelphia	5	40-37	-3.5
7th	Chicago	4	38-40	-6.0
8th	Detroit	5	37-40	-6.5

The Hawks got a big road win north of the border, beating the Raptors by 8. The Bobcats hooked us up by beating the Sixers at home, so the Heat remained a half game up on Philly. The Bulls also won at home, beating the Knicks and moving a half game ahead of idle Detroit. Tomorrow’s Games:
Detroit @ NY Knicks- Anytime you have to go into the Garden, it’s tough. C’mon Knicks, don’t make me sounds like an ass.
Atlanta @ Milwaukee- Playing back-to-back games on the road is tough, and beating Toronto wasn’t easy. Hopefully the Bucks can take advantage.

ON THE HORIZON

It’s off to the city of chowder. Miami going for 3 straight on the road.

Game 63: Hive Drive

Junsier — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:31:02 -0000

Hornets 108, Wizards 98

Chris Paul once again demonstrated why he possibly deserves an MVP and why he ought to be compared with the greats like Magic and Isiah (pre-coaching).

- The first quarter was extremely sluggish. It looked like the Hornets were just walking up and down; CP3 only had a couple of points and assists. Even going into the second, I was really surprised to see the Hornets go down 12. But, Chris Paul pretty much owned after that. He scored 10 points in an ensuing 12-0 run, cutting the Wizards' lead to just one at the end of the half.

- And the amazing-ness continued on to the third quarter, where the Bees outscored the Wiz 40-22. Chris Paul put up 14, 6, and 4 in the third quarter alone. Eventually, the Hornets jacked the lead up to 17 in the fourth, and apart from a couple of hiccups along the way, closed out the game.

- Regarding those hiccups, I'm really starting to worry about the bench. The bench almost blew the lead, allowing the Wizards to come back within 6. If it wasn't for some good shooting from Rasual Butler, this may have ended up a harder to win game. To reiterate: the Hornets may have lost a game to the worst team in the East. The East. Looking at the non-adjusted "+/-" stats themselves, Hilton and Antonio Daniels were both -13 in 8 minutes of play each. I'm guessing that with adjusted stats, the bench would be even worse.

- Mo Pete sat out for some reason, I saw him in uniform on the bench. After missing 20 games with that foot injury, perhaps Byron just wants to ease him back by first letting him get used to the uniform? I have no idea about Coach Scott's intentions; I couldn't see a reason why Mo Pete sat.

- Sean Marks had flu-like symptoms (seems to be going around: Mike James just had the flu as well) and Peja missed his fourth game due to his back spasms.

- As a side note, I was pretty happy with Razwall's play today, he had 21 points and stopped a couple of Wiz comeback runs with threes. I also found it slightly amusing that he took 13 three pointers.

- Chris Paul = Awesome, no news, but he just got his 6th triple double with 30, 13, and 10. All he has to do is eat more so he can become better than Deron Williams.

- Oh yeah, Tyson had like 5 million dunks today.

- Taking a look around the league, this really seems to be a good day to be a Hornets blog writer (or fan, or player, or coach, or athletic trainer) as Utah, Houston, and Portland all lost. I believe this brings us up to the 4th spot in the West and a game out of 3rd. I find it very sad that no team in the West has clinched a playoff spot though.

That's it for this one, winning 8 out of the last 9. Next game in Milwakee on FRIDAY THE 13TH so beware of that one. Ramon Sessions might just dish out 100 assists.

The Pathology of Manu Ginobili

sungo — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:00:11 -0000

I no longer have cable television, and my computer is fritzwonkular most of the time. I'm also wading into what is supposedly the most difficult semester of pharmacy school, so watching Spurs games will likely be the rare occurrence for me. But I still plan on writing on special occasions, namely every Monday. Because Mondays are special. And because Mondays mark the beginnings of weeks, a time often devoid of fun, hope and general good feelings.

Much like my writing. So it should be easier for you to swallow.

Every Monday, 8:00 a.m. central time, like Swiss clockwork. I'll always throw something about the Spurs in there, sprinkled amongst ramblings, muffled cries for help, and whines, gripes and curmudgeonings. And Shins' lyrics.

You've been alone since you were 21
You haven't laughed since January

There won't be many photos though. They seem to take a lot of time to find, credit, and caption. And I would always feel like I'm just ripping off FreeDarko's visual non sequiturs.

While watching the Spurs / Hornets game from the anti-bowels of the Where the Spurs Play Center, Wayne commented how much faster Tony seemed in person.

I think Wayne was right.

There was one particularly telling fast break. Sean Marks, back-pedaling at the elbow, was essentially the only guy back for the Hornets. Tony ran at him full speed, went around him and then laid the ball in on the same side of the basket. All Marks had to do was turn around, take one step and block the shot. He didn't even get turned around.

Of course Tony does this every game, against all sizes of opponent. But seeing it live and realizing the guy still seems ridiculously fast when he's 200 feet away from you... it gives you a different appreciation for his insane athletic ability, like watching a cheetah chasing down a gazelle from a helicopter. Except Tony only has two legs.

And he didn't eat Sean Marks.

But my brains can make sense of Tony's greatness. The NBA is obviously comprised of world class athletes. Even amongst them, Tony's one of the fastest end to end, and few can match his quickness. He understands how to attack individual defenders on the fast break and has the ability to finish with either hand on either side of the basket. I understand why Tony is one of the 25 best players in the NBA. It's not complicated.

But I cannot figure out why Manu Ginobili is even in the top 100, let alone the top 20.

(None of what I am about to say is new to anyone who reads this blog. There's nothing left to say about Manu that hasn't been said here before. Well. Manu Ginobili wears 6" Jimmy Choo heels to bed. That would be new. Back to it: but for the grace of Manu goes PtR.)

He's not overly quick. He's not a great leaper. He's not a great shooter. What most befuddles me is how he continually, repeatedly, over and over again, ad nauseum, get wide open step-back jumpers from 18 feet. He'll face a guy up, work some hypnotizing voodoo or some shit, and wind up taking an essentially unguarded 18' jump shot. Most of the time the defender doesn't even get a hand in his face.

It's as if Manu has learned how to imbalance his opponent, how to get him shifting the wrong way. More importantly, he seems to anticipate the vulnerability and execute his step-back as the imbalance is occurring.

He ends up with all the time in the world.

(This must drive other NBA players crazy. It's one thing for a guy like Lebron to get the best of you. That's explainable. Just look at the guy. He's a freak. Dwight Howard? Freak (plus he prays and stuff). Tim Duncan? Tall (plus he's boring so he doesn't count). Kobe? Quick as hell, amazing athlete, crazier than shit. Yao Ming? Crazy communist genetic-engineering. Chris Paul? Ridiculously quick hands and first step. Etc.)

I don't know how Manu got to be this way. Maybe it's purely instinctual. Maybe he read Book of Five Rings and it all came together in a shroom-induced fury of clearheadedness. Maybe I'll take the ~~sportswriter's~~ easy way out and credit his time playing soccer.

I wonder if even he knows the origin, the planting of the seed. I think he does. I think he guessed the ending of the The Usual Suspects and can sense magma shifting miles beneath the surface of his earth. I think he's trying to unravel the very foundational fibers of the NBA. I think he's diabolical. I think he's formed a one-manned cabal.

The evidence is there.

He'll dribble through a guy's a leg or go around his back during a layup, but only when necessary. He'll occasionally try to dunk on somebody, but only when the situation suggests it is the most prudent course of action. He'll attempt outlandish passes and impossible shot blocks; but allow me to suggest and believe he does it primarily for the same reason Einstein attempted to quantify the universe:

Because there is joy in the attempt. And because he thought he could.

He scrapes, claws, and tosses subtle elbows as he goes to the basket, yet he does it coldly, without aggression. He rarely, if ever, makes eye contact with an opponent, but it never comes off as a lack of respect. You never seeing him talking with opponents during the game. He doesn't smile on the court, but he plays like there's no other place he'd rather be. He doesn't hype his game to the media. He downplays his own abilities and emphasizes his struggles.

This is not by accident. This is part of his game. Part of his plan.

He's won a gold medal and three NBA championships, but he's lacking something so fundamental to the NBA, to sports, to competition in general.

Manu Ginobili is entirely without swagger.

He does not strut. He does not preen. He is not there to put on a show. He does not react to hard fouls. He does not react to being booed. Manu Ginobili's performance may ebb and flow, reacting to his health, or to the situation, or to the quality of defender. But from game to game, the competitiveness never changes. Ginobili doesn't need to be pushed to achieve the paramount of his abilities, and this is why he has un(?)intentionally become a mirror that reflects the inadequacies of the NBA's world class basketball players: deep down we all know that swagger comes hand in hand with insecurity. We strut not to convince competitors of our dominance; we strut to convince ourselves.