SB Nation - Rashad McCants

The Intimidation Factor of Dwight Howard, Part II

jonnichols — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:15:19 -0000

by Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

Last week I took a look at how Dwight Howard impacts the effectiveness of close attempts for opponents. Specifically, we saw that opponents take it to the basket less often when Howard is in the game, but they are slightly more efficient in making those attempts and getting to the free throw line.

As promised, today I'm going to show which opposing players are the most affected by Howard. To do this, I again turned to the play-by-play data. First, I narrowed the list down to players who attempted at least 10 close shots (dunks or layups) against Howard last season. For each player, I calculated their field goal percentage in close shots and close attempt rate (amount of close attempts divided by total attempts), as well as their free throws per field goal attempts rate. All of these were calculated when they weren't facing Dwight Howard. I then calculated the same three statistics when Howard was in the game, and compared the differences. The results are available in the spreadsheet below:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvNKNGJ_AHijdHMyTHh0V2ZWejJpZFJNUUZ1cTkzckE&hl=en

There are a couple of important things to note. First, we have the weighted averages, located at the bottom of the sheet. Unlike the last study, in which we had mixed results, Howard has a decidedly negative impact (a good thing for the Magic) in each category for these players. He has the strongest impact on their free throw rate, but he also reduces their close field goal percentage by a decent amount as well.

We still need to separate these results so that they're showing the impact of just Dwight Howard and not the entire Orlando Magic team. Therefore, for each player, I looked at how their stats changed against the entire Magic team. These players increased their close attempt percentage by 0.2%, but saw their field goal percentage go down 2.6% and their FT/FGA go down by 3.3%. What additional benefit did Dwight Howard (or at least the lineups featuring Dwight Howard) provide? He lowered the close attempt percentage by an additional 1.2%, the close field goal percentage also by an additional 1.2%, and the free throw rate by an additional 4.3%.

I'm not exactly sure why the results are different from last week. The last study had the risk of being too broad, but this study has the risk of being too narrow and including small sample sizes.

With that being said, just for fun, let's look at which players were "intimidated" the most by Dwight Howard last year. Among the players that qualified, LeBron James shied away from close attempts more than any other player when Howard was in the game (of course, LeBron still takes it to the hole more than most players). Dwyane Wade is not too far down the list at #5, so perhaps these former Olympic teammates of Howard showed some respect.

Despite challenging him less, those two players still were more efficient around the rim when Howard was in the game. The same cannot be said for Bobcats Boris Diaw and Gerald Wallace, who saw their field goal percentages plummet when they took the ball inside against Howard. Finally, let's discuss free throws. A pair of big men, Anderson Varejao and Zach Randolph, saw their free throw rates decline the most when opposing Howard.

Who wasn't intimidated by Howard? An unlikely pair, Rashad McCants and Russell Westbrook, appeared to love a challenge and attempted considerably more dunks and layups than normal when Howard was in the game. They didn't experience much success, though. Marquis Daniels became much more efficient at the rim against Howard (as did James, T.J. Ford, and Wade), while Brandon Roy was the most adept at increasing his fouled rate versus Howard. For the record, Wade had the most total close attempts versus Howard during the season, followed by David Lee.

Next week I'll take a look at something that's been hotly debated: Hedo Turkoglu vs. Vince Carter.

LeBron and HasBeen + 10

Stop-n-Pop — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:45:52 -0000

(Shaq studying his playbook.)

The Cleveland LeBrons are in town tonight and this time they've brought along an aging reality show star who is a season or two away from being fired from the Donald on Celebrity Apprentice.

Last year's Target Center appearance from LBJ marked something of a low point for the 2008/09 Wolves. First, the entire crowd was treated to a fantastic display of basketball by Mr. James and they were clearly more enamored with #23 than they were with the home squad. I don't think I have ever seen a home crowd give a standing ovation to an opposing player in the 4th quarter. Second, it gave the Wolves a 4-21 record with little or no hope of improvement. I'm pretty sure this is the game that let Papa Glenn know the team, fan base, security staff, Crunch, and beyond had tuned Randy Wittman out as being a possible catalyst for a mid-season turnaround. Third, there were 4th quarter chants of "we want Mad Dog" (clap, clap, clap) and "let's go Vikings" (clap, clap, clap). Fourth, the game ended to a series of boos that were much, much louder than the buzzer. Fifth, the team was performing at a level below the 2007/08 version of the club in a few key areas:

	2007 (rank)	2008 (rank)
SRS	-6.25 (25)	-7.41 (28)
OE	103.8 (27)	101.7 (28)
DE	112.2 (27)	110.1 (26)
Attendance	25th	27th
Points diff	-6.8 (30)	-7.8 (28)
eFG%	45.4 (20)	48.4 (29)
deFG%	51.3 (26)	51.4 (27)
TO	15.7 (20)	15.3 (13)
Oreb%	27.5 (11)	28 (8)

Sixth, and most importantly, the dearly departed Rashad McCants engaged in one of the most ridiculous actions in recent Wolves memory: He tried to get physical on defense with Mr. James while jawing off at the best player on the planet. LeBron's response (if you could call it one) was to crack a smile and torch the bench warming malcontent with the greatest of ease. For those of you who cannot or do not want to remember the on-court action from last November/December, it is worth noting that Shaddy was doing his jawing while putting up the following numbers:

Moving over to Rashad McCants, Shaddy is currently the only guard in NBA history (with the minimum number of minutes required to qualify for the scoring title) to average less than 35% from the floor, 25.5% from 3, 1 apg, and 10 ppg. He is epically bad. If you extend these numbers to forwards and centers, only a 36 year old Jerome Kersey (98/99), Manute Bol (89/90), and Chuck Hayes (current season) can compete with Shaddy's ineptitude. Each and every single Wolves fan should quickly end any fantasy of Shaddy being traded for anything other than a toaster. He may be the single most ineffective regular in the NBA.

You tell 'em Rashad!

It's been a long year for Shaddy. Last year at this time he was starting and dating the future Mrs. Odom:

He is currently out of the league and without a d-list celebrity girlfriend.

Speaking of d-list reality stars and washed-up talents, Shaq now joins the ever-entertaining and spectacular LeBron James on his return visit to the Target Center. While I am very aware that we are only two games into the new season, the Big RealityStar is reminding all of us just how quickly he can turn an entire city of admirers into a legion of fans who want nothing to do with the guy. Whatever happens during the remainder of the season for the Cleveland LeBrons, you can bet it will be more recognizable to a TLC producer than Mike Brown. At least the Wolves had the good sense to vote their self-absorbed reality-wannabe off the island, unlike the Cleveland Kates who just let Jon back in the door for ~~another year of camera time and stripper money~~ one more shot at glory.

Hey, you get what you pay for.

2009 Season Preview

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:00:25 -0000

Team Name: Minnesota Timberwolves

Last Year's Record: 24-58

Key ~~Losses~~ Additions By Subtraction: Calvin Booth, Bobby Brown, Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Randy Foye, Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants, Mike Miller, Kevin Ollie, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Shelden Williams, Kevin McHale.

Honorary Member of the Addition By Subtraction club: Mark Blount.

Key Additions: Wayne Ellington, Jonny Flynn, Ryan Hollins, Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jared Reiner, Ramon Sessions, Damien Wilkins, Kurt Rambis, Bill Laimbeer, Reggie Theus, Dave Wohl.

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

Grab a chair folks, this could take a while.

I think the best way to illustrate just how much has happened here in Wolves Land is to take a look at last year's opening day starting line up:

Randy Foye
Mike Miller
Corey Brewer
Ryan Gomes
Al Jefferson

...add in the key reserves:

Kevin Ollie
Rashad McCants
Rodney Carney
Craig Smith
Kevin Love

...compare them to the line up and reserves from the last game of the 08/09 season (and yes, Kevin McHale thought it would be a good idea to give the paying customers at the Target Center their own special version of a Seniors Night):

Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
Mike Miller/Rodney Carney
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen/Kevin Love/Craig Smith
Jason Collins/Shelden Williams

...before finally taking a peak at the rotation in the team's first 2009/10 preseason game against Milwaukee:

Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions/Mustafa Shakur
Corey Brewer/Sasha Pavlovic/Wayne Ellington
Ryan Gomes/Damien Wilkins
Kevin Love/Brian Cardinal
Al Jefferson/Ryan Hollins/Jared Reiner

Let's take a quick peak at those starting/closing day lineups with the dearly departed x'd out of existence:

~~Randy Foye/Kevin Ollie~~
~~Mike Miller/Rashad McCants~~
Corey Brewer/~~Rodney Carney~~
Ryan Gomes/~~Craig Smith~~
Al Jefferson/Kevin Love

~~Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown~~
~~Mike Miller/Rodney Carney~~
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
~~Mark Madsen~~/Kevin Love/~~Craig Smith~~
~~Jason Collins/Shelden Williams~~

And no, I do not believe there is another team in the league with only three remaining players from the rotation of their final 08/09 game. Only the Raptors come close.

What did the Wolves lose?

Net Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG	-0.5	-.061	-1.5	0%	-1.9	-0.7	-0.2	-0.0	-1.1	-3.8	-7.0
SG	0.1	-.034	-0.1	4%	0.1	-0.3	-0.2	-0.0	-0.3	-1.1	-2.4
SF	-3.5	+.001	-2.5	-1%	0.9	0.5	-0.5	0.1	-0.8	-5.5	-4.2
PF	0.3	-.016	-0.3	8%	-0.2	0.3	-0.6	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5	-2.3
C	6.1	-.057	2.1	4%	1.8	-0.9	0.2	-1.1	0.8	6.0	+2.4

They gave up a whole lot of nothing at the point, a Randy-Foye-January-fueled-it-was-really-worse-than-the-final-numbers-suggest basket of crap at the off-guard, a bowl of ineptitude at the 3, some holy-crap-there-is-nobody-behind-Love at the 4, and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love at the 5.

Enter David Kahn.

While I think it is safe to say that most Wolves fans who were paying attention at the time of his hiring (all 1,700 of us) were upset that the team seemed to have bumbled its way through its most important new addition in years (Kahn seemed to be a secondary choice and candidates from the Blazers and Spurs appear to have walked away from the position), The Demolition Man quickly and confidently made a series of moves that have placed the Wolves in a position to win.

He turned Kevin McHale, Jerry Sichting, and Dean Cooper into Kurt Rambis, Reggie Theus, Bill Laimbeer, and Dave Wohl.
He turned two moderate-sized expiring contracts into Ricky Rubio.
He turned a Sebastian Telfair/Kevin Ollie point guard rotation into a Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions one.
He picked up an athletic big who can play the reserve 4/5.
He drafted the 2nd best shooter in the draft late in the 1st round.
He cleared (probably) between $13-15 milion in 2010 cap space.
He picked up another 2010 first round pick.

Best of all, Kahn has made the Wolves interesting again. The process has been full of goofy quotes, funny interviews, nearly weekly roster moves, and the entire Ricky Rubio saga, but the bottom line for Kahn and the Wolves is the results:

Their core is good and tremendously young.
They have drafted the 2 best Euros in the past 2 drafts and stashed them overseas.
They have 3 likely 1st round picks in the 2010 draft.
They will have in the neighborhood of $15 million below the cap in 2010 free agency.
Chances are, they now have a functional point guard on their roster.

This thing is clearly still a work in progress (the team needs help on the wing and the Rubio situation still needs to be resolved one way or another) but it is also clearly pointed in the right direction.

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Rebounding. Rebounding. Rebounding, and more rebounding. Kevin Love is one of the league's top 3 rebounders, Al Jefferson's game is built to be close to the bucket and he collects a net positive on the offensive boards, and Corey Brewer can hold his own at either the 2 or 3. If there is a player from last year's squad to get a little chippy about his departure, it is Mike Miller. Despite not shooting the damn ball, Miller was a very solid defensive rebounder and it will take a well above average effort from Pavlovic, Brewer, and Gomes to match Miller's efforts on the glass at the 2/3. Miller was the team's 3rd best rebounder and he did so from the wing. That's going to be harder to make up than what I think most people first realize, especially with the crew of Pavlovic, Brewer, Gomes, and Ellington trying to make up the difference. Ramon Sessions should make up for some of the lost rebounding production vis-a-vis Sebastian Telfair, but Miller's loss probably will have some effect on the glass. How much is something that remains to be seen.

In theory, the Wolves should also be a very good free throw shooting team this season. Last year Ramon Sessions had the 25th best FT/FG rate in the league at 36. Kevin Love was 18th at 39. Big Al was all the way down at 154 with 19. By all accounts in college, summer league, and his small sample of preseason games, Jonny Flynn has all the makings of a high-contact guard who will draw a lot of fouls in an up-tempo system. Last year the Wolves had one fairly legit threat of getting to the line at a high rate: Kevin Love. This year they have 3 players who should draw a ton of contact with one guy (Jefferson) who will have a modest rate but a high volume due to his number of touches.

It's pretty hard for me to overstate just how big of a deal improved free throw shooting will be for the Wolves. Last year the Wolves averaged 2.3 fewer FTAs than their opponents. The year before that they were a league-worst -6.9 in that category (which should give you an idea of the relative merits between Kevin Love and Craig Smith). For a team with a -4.9 point differential these are points that simply cannot be left on the board. With the addition of Sessions and Flynn, and with the continued development of Love, the Wolves appear to have addressed one of their biggest weaknesses of the past 2-3 years and turned it, hopefully, into a positive. For those readers who are just casual fans of the game, I cannot stress enough how important the free throw differential is to the bottom line. I also cannot stress enough just how bad the Wolves have been on this front over the past several years.

The final thing the Wolves are going to be good at is physicality. This is something that will be pretty hard to define over the course of the year but I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to be scrappy. One of the most striking things about their play in camp was they way in which guys like Love, Brewer, Sessions, and Ryan Hollins were getting after it. This has a chance of positively impacting the play on the end of the court they need help with the most. I'm not saying that they are going to be a defensive dynamo, but this year's squad has the opportunity to run out a rotation of Sessions, Brewer, Pavlovic, Jefferson/Love, and Ryan Hollins, which is a fairly significant defensive upgrade over anything they were able to offer up in the 08/09 campaign. This especially becomes the case if Brewer develops into the plus-defender we all hope he can morph in to. Sessions/Brewer/Pavlovic has the potential to turn the epic defensive weakness of Telfair/Foye/Miller into a positive for this club. It's probably not a lineup you'd run out there for long stretches of time, but it is something that this club did not have at its disposal under McHale. All three of those players held their 08/09 opponents to below their average production. The same could not be said for Telfair (-0.009% of opponents' average), Foye (whose opponents went 10.8% over their average production against the former Villanova star), and Miller (a mere 5.6% over average production). If you throw Ryan Hollins into the mix, the Wolves may have something approaching an effective defensive unit that they could trot out on the floor for 4-8 minutes per night.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense, wing play, turnovers, and outside shooting. I don't really know if there is a good way to break this down in much greater detail but the Wolves are still going to have problems on defense; their 2 and 3 will be manned by a rotation of Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Gomes, and their backcourt will be led by 2 point guards who will be in their first year with the team. David Kahn has been pretty frontal in his assessment that Gomes and Brewer are both in put up or shut up years. Pavlovic is on a 1-year contract. Nothing is promised or owed to any of these players and if they can't figure it out this year, I think it is becoming more and more obvious that when the Wolves do cash in their draft/free agency chips, it will be for a wing player. At media day and during camp both Gomes and Brewer said enough to make everyone well aware of the fact that they too know the score. As you can see from the positional chart listed above, the score on the wing isn't exactly in the Wolves' favor to begin with.

While I mentioned the possibility of a fairly solid perimeter defensive rotation with Sessions, Brewer, and Pavlovic, the fact remains that there is nothing on this team to suggest a significant overall improvement in defensive efficiency. Until we see some improvement in action, it's hard to believe it in theory. Ryan Hollins gives them a lengthy shot blocker but he fouls a ton. Corey Brewer has the potential to be an A+ defender but he is coming back from injury and is close to completely ineffective on the offensive end of the court. Ramon Sessions is a slightly above average defender at the point but he could end up with a lot of minutes at the 2. The point here is that even with the defensive positives the Wolves have some issues when it comes to weighing their best overall lineups against their best defensive ones. I'd be peachy keen with anything close to a neutral OE/DE ratio.

It can also not be overstated just how bad of an outside shooting club the Wolves are going to be this year. Wayne Ellington is probably their best shooter, their likely starting two guard (Brewer) has a career .250 three point average, their best point guard has 41 career three point attempts (with a .220 average), and Sasha Pavlovic's numbers from beyond the arc have seen a four-year fluctuation of .365, .405, .298, and .410. Could Ryan Gomes be the team's best outside shooter? If that's the case, then the Wolves are in for a long, long year from a perimeter shooting perspective. It's already proving to be a big problem in their limited preseason action.

4. What are the goals for this team?

a- At least a neutral OE/DE rating. Last year the Wolves had a -5.3 point gap per 100 possessions. While this was an improvement over the -7.4 point gap per 100 possessions from the year before, it still is a giant pile of suck. With the addition of a real starting point guard, and the maturation of Kevin Love, here's hoping the Wolves can pick up 2-3 pp/100 poss on the offensive side of the ball and that the return of Brewer and the addition of Sessions and Pavlovic can gain a point or two on the defensive side of things.

b- An increase in pace and shots within the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock. If the Wolves' new offensive is going to pay dividends we should see an increased pace with more shots taken in transition. 36% of the Wolves' shots in 2008/09 were in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and 26% came in the next 5. If those numbers go up, it means the Wolves are running and getting opportunistic buckets. Last year the Wolves finished 15th in the league with 91.6 possessions/game. That number needs to go up.

c- Free throw neutrality (or more). As mentioned above, the Wolves should have an increase in free throw attempts this season. I have been harping on this point for two years now: You can't win games while losing by a mile at the free throw line. It can't be done. Between Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Jonny Flynn, the Wolves have three guys who can really draw contact and get to the charity stripe.

d- Injury free.Will Kevin Love break the Wolves' 2nd year injury curse? From Shaddy to Foye to Brewer, 2nd year draft Wovles draft picks have all suffered season-ending injuries in their 2nd campaign. This is one curse that needs to be broken this year. (UPDATE: Of course, as this goes to post, Kevin Love breaks a bone in his left hand and will likely be out 6-8 weeks.)

5. Did David Kahn screw the pooch on draft night?

Let me begin by giving a simple yes or no: No. However, the (excellent) addition of Ramon Sessions begs the question of whether or not the Wolves could have walked away from the Draft with Rubio and, say, Demar DeRozan instead of Jonny Flynn. Sure, it would have been a big bet to wait out for Sessions, and who knows what would have happened with Sessions' negotiations if Rubio stayed in Europe and Flynn wasn't sitting there as a sure replacement, but..well, it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the Wolves had two big first rounders and a free agent signing over the summer and they were all at the same position. Yes, it's at a position that has killed the Wolves since the days of Sam Cassell but isn't there a nagging little thought in the back of your head that is whispering "it could have been done better?" I think Kahn has done a terrific job but it will ultimately depend on which point guard(s) stick around in 2-3 years and how much he can get with the one (or two) that gets sent away. Will that equation end up being more valuable than the previously mentioned Rubio/DeRozan/Sessions combo? Who knows?

Projected Finish: 31-51

Poll

How many games will the Wolves win this year?

Less than 15

28 votes

16-20

83 votes

21-25

147 votes

26-30

183 votes

31-35

83 votes

More than 35

30 votes

554 votes | Poll has closed

Kings Errata, September 30: Beno Udrih's Swag, Kevin Johnson's Arena Push

Ziller — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:30:16 -0000

Sacramento Bee: Beno Udrih will have to fight to keep point guard job
Sam Amick gets at the less vitriolic side of Beno Udrih, incumbent starting point guard.

StR FanPost: A Loyal Small Market Fan: The Reasoning behind the Insanity
A must-read FanPost from here at Sactown Royalty on why we root.

Sacramento Press: Mayor Kevin Johnson: New arena is a "front-burner" issue
Mayor KJ keeps hitting on the arena issue. It'd be interesting to find out how much of this is welcomed by John Moag of the NBA, if not the Maloofs.

More after le hop.

KCRA: W. Sac 'Hungry' To Change Bad Rep
The mayor of West Sacramento tells KCRA's Walt Gray that a potential Kings arena is too big a project for his city to take on. So at least we're clear that an arena is a bigger undertaking than an IKEA. (A bit surprising, that.)

Associated Press: New Kings Coach Westphal Emphasizes Improvement
Some soft quotes from Paul Westphal on media day.

The Dream Shake: Rockets sign Romel Beck instead of Rashad McCants
Rashad McCants just can't catch a break.

LA Times: Top pick Blake Griffin on sidelines as Clippers open camp
RoY watch: Griffin could be out a week of training camp with some patellar nonsense. I'm knocking furiously on wood will discussed rookie injuries, of course.

Kings.com: Tyreke Evans Interview
Kings.com: Jason Thompson Interview
Kings.com: Andres Nocioni Interview
We posted the Westphal and Martin interviews on the front page, but here are a few more from the morning session in Natomas yesterday. Someone should install an amplifier on Tyreke's mouth.

Got more links? Stick 'em in the comments.

Rockets sign Romel Beck instead of Rashad McCants

Tom Martin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:07:19 -0000

In a sudden turn of events, the Rockets have elected not to sign Rashad McCants, and instead will sign swingman Romel Beck. This, according to ESPN's Marc Stein:

Sources close to the situation say Beck has been lined up to fill the vacancy in Houston's training camp created when the Rockets elected not to go through with their intended signing of Rashad McCants.

McCants is carrying an abdominal injury that limits his immediate availability, so Houston has opted to sign Beck -- who played for San Antonio's summer-league team -- to a non-guaranteed deal.

So McCants is gone for good, right? Actually...

Yet Rockets general manager Daryl Morey made it clear in a statement Tuesday that signing McCants when the former North Carolina star is healthy is still in his thoughts.

"Unfortunately Rashad is still recovering from an abdominal injury that would have made it very difficult for him to earn a spot on our roster," Morey said. "We were looking forward to seeing him compete with the mix of guards we have in camp, but he simply would not have been completely healthy. We are open to taking another look at him down the line when his condition improves."

Here's what you need to know about Beck:

Yeah, that was Kobe Bryant defending.

Something to keep an eye on, though, is Beck's ability to play team ball. From Rotoworld:

There are concerns about Beck's ability to play a team game after he was removed from the Mexican national team during the FIBA Americas Championship.

I'll find out more on Beck and include it in the upcoming season preview, which will be up on October 7th.

Rockets sign Rashad McCants

Tom Martin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:13:49 -0000

From SB Nation's Andrew Sharp:

So the Rockets have officially lost Yao Ming, yes, but with players like Trevor Ariza, Carl Landry, Aaron Brooks, and Luis Scola, there's still plenty of excitement in Houston.

And even moreso, now the Rockets have signed Rashad McCants, who will provide offense in bunches off the bench. Yao or no Yao, the Rockets will be fun to watch next year.

So, uh, about Jermaine Taylor and Chase Budinger having to earn a roster spot? Yeah, it's going to be even tougher now. With our backcourt still shuffled the way it is, more competition isn't a bad thing.

Or perhaps the front office isn't as confident in the two rookies as once thought...

Who's Left?

Roy_Hobbs — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:53:42 -0000

For some reason, most of these guys are still available...

View full size photo »

Following up on Jeff's article yesterday about the 15th roster spot, here's a look at some of the remaining unrestricted free agents:

PGs: Carlos Arroyo, Chucky Atkins, Dan Dickau, Tyronn Lue, Stephon Marbury, Mike Taylor, Jamaal Tinsley, Jacque Vaughn

SGs: Juan Dixon, Bobby Jackson, Flip Murray, Rashad McCants

SFs: Gerald Green, Joey Graham, Stephen Graham, Darius Miles, Wally Szczerbiak, Ime Udoka

PFs: Raef LaFrentz, Mark Madsen, Stromile Swift, Antoine Walker

Cs: Mark Blount (pending release), Dwayne Jones, Courtney Sims, Robert Swift

Obviously, none of the names above are spectacular. However, there are a few players who could help teams that are in need of some depth.

For the Celtics' purposes, none of the above is a perfect fit, of course; if they were, they'd probably be here already. I really like Bobby Jackson as a player, but he's a bit long in the tooth, and one wonders if he could play beside Eddie House in the backcourt. Jamaal Tinsley is a mess. Chucky Atkins is ancient, and his game is in decline (although he's another guy I've always liked). Flip Murray can't stick with a team, and has always seemed like a "scoring first, second, and last" type of guy. Wally is... well, he's Wally. He's a good shooter, but he's not going to bring much else to the table, especially on the defensive end (although, in his defense, I will say that he played strong defense on Ray Allen in the playoffs).

So, in the end maybe none of them makes sense, and it's a better strategy to maintain roster flexibility to sign a free agent during the season or to take back players in a 1-for-2 deal.

Update: Dan Dickau has turned down the Celtics invitation to camp and will attend the Suns camp instead (Source: Globe)

Our New Sports Reality

Ziller — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:28:36 -0000

This conversation actually happened this evening on Twitter. (Sic'd to death, of course.) Starring Sean May as Lindsay Lohan, Rashad McCants as the art freaks and Donte Greene and Jason Thompson as The Plastics.^

***

Sean May (@BigMay42), 7:49 PM: Watching a little football steelers vs titians

Jason Thompson (@jtthekid), 7:53 PM: At the monarchs game wit my boys @dontegreene n woo payne. Kickin it courtside. Trying to route on for the ladies. Wave to me if u c me!!

Donte Greene (@dontegreene), 7:53 PM: at da monarchs game wit @jtthekid and woo. shout out 2 @quinnie20 c u in a few days boy. lol

Sean May, 8:13 PM: @jtthekid @DonteGreene damn yall ain't wanna hit me and see if Big May wanted to come to da game! see how my teamates treat me yall!

Rashad McCants (@RashadMcCants), 8:13 PM: @BigMay42 uh huh what i told ya

***

I ain't ready for this type of world.

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Indiana Pacers: A One Man Show

Fantasy Junkie — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:00:29 -0000

There's not much to like about Indiana this year. Injury plagued point guard (TJ Ford), starting 2 guard is out until January (Mike Dunleavy), your starting power forward doesn't play defense (Troy Murphy), you lost your backup point (Jarrett Jack), and you didn't improve on a team that won just 36 games last year and finished 3 games out of the playoffs. Danny Granger makes this team bearable. Tyler Hansbrough's nonstop energy will be a welcome sight for those fans who actually like watching players hustle. But other than Granger and the hope that Hansbrough actually plays well, there's not a whole lot to like about the Pacers.

Offseason Additions
VIA DRAFT
Tyler Hansbrough (No. 13)
AJ Price (No. 52)

VIA FREE AGENCY
Dahntay Jones (from Nuggets)
Earl Watson (from Thunder)
Solomon Jones (from Hawks)

Offseason Subtractions
VIA FREE AGENCY
Marquis Daniels (to Celtics)
Jarrett Jack (to Raptors - didn't match the RFA contract)

WAIVED
Jamal Tinsley

There are really just 2 things that matter to me when I think of this season's Indiana Pacers: Danny Granger and Mike "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Dunleavy Jr.

1) Danny Granger
He is the one and only reason that watching the Pacers doesn't make me want to rip my eyes out. Smooth isn't smooth enough to describe just how smooth he is. Or maybe it's because when he faces the Warriors he doesn't miss. He averaged 41.5 in the two games against the Warriors. No, not 41.5 minutes, 41.5 POINTS. He was a perfect 31-31 from the line and also averaged 9 boards and 4.5 assists. I'm afraid to see what he'll do this year. He scored 40+ 3 times in a game last year, two of those were against the Warriors. Nice defense.

He may be one of the least discussed, most underrated stars in the league. Oh and the Warriors passed on him to take...drum roll...Ike Diogu. But don't feel bad Warriors fans, many other teams passed on him to take Andrew Bogut, Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton, Martell Webster, Charlie Villanueva, Channing Frye, Fran Vazquez, Yaroslav Korolev, Sean May, Rashad McCants, Antoine Wright, and Joey Graham. Ouch.

In a couple years Granger may just be the best player in the NBA. He's building himself a bat cave. How cool would that be? If he can do half of what Batman does and translate those skills into the NBA, LeBron won't stand a chance. A superhero with a jump shot.

I wanted an underground tunnel entrance.

2) Mike Dunleavy
What would a Pacers preview be without a little Funleavy Foto Fun? If you don't remember, he signed that 5 year, $44 million deal with the Warriors and GSOM celebrated with 44 reasons (Part I | II | III | IV) to crack up.

And my personal favorite

Big Mike is coming off a season in which he only played 18 games. He was expected back in December of last year, but didn't make it back until January. He played 3 minutes in a game against Washington on February 8 and then was shelved for the rest of the season with a severe knee injury. He underwent successful surgery this offseason and is again eyeing a January return. Tough break for DunDun just as he was playing well 2 seasons ago and finally playing up to what people thought he could do. Hopefully he can step back on the court so he can provide us with some more hilarious images.

Remember when Jack was in Indiana? Artest, Jermaine, Jax. What a team that could have been if they didn't self-destruct. Check out some highlights of Jax from a few years ago.

Pretend you're Larry Riley. The Pacers called, they want Stephen Jackson back. They’re offering a deal centered around Mike Dunleavy (2 years, $20.3 million remaining) for Jax (4 years, $35.4 million remaining). They’ll make the salaries work.

Make the trade! Get rid of Jax.

301 votes

Uhhh no. It's still Dunleavy.

827 votes

1128 votes | Poll has closed

Guarding against no Rubio

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:47:50 -0000

by Morry Gash - AP

View full size photo »

Before I get around to talking about the guy who could very well be the newest Timberwolf, let me take a moment to stroll down memory lane, circa December 2008:

What are the reasons for the current state of disarray? I think you can point to two main factors: awful offense and terrible back court play. Let's focus on the guards. Not only were Wolves fans treated to a historically brilliant player in King James, but they were also witness to one of the most inept back court rotations in recent NBA memory.

Plugging in starting point guard Randy Foye's numbers into Basketball Reference's full court machine, he is having a season comparable to the 93/94 campaign of Greg Graham, 99/00 Larry Hughes, 08/09 Acie Law, 69/70 Wayne Chapman, and 98/99 Kendall Gill. These are the top 5 seasons of guards who shot less than 40% from the field, <25% from 3, <5.5 apg, and < 15 ppg.

Moving over to Rashad McCants, Shaddy is currently the only guard in NBA history (with the minimum number of minutes required to qualify for the scoring title) to average less than 35% from the floor, 25.5% from 3, 1 apg, and 10 ppg. He is epically bad. If you extend these numbers to forwards and centers, only a 36 year old Jerome Kersey (98/99), Manute Bol (89/90), and Chuck Hayes (current season) can compete with Shaddy's ineptitude. Each and every single Wolves fan should quickly end any fantasy of Shaddy being traded for anything other than a toaster. He may be the single most ineffective regular in the NBA.

Current starting off-guard Mike Miller is complete disinterested in playing anything remotely approaching defense and he is averaging career or 5-year lows in FGA, 3P%, 3PA, and ppg. He doesn't have a good enough handle to get his own and he requires a labyrinth of screens to get his shot off on a team with zero threat of guard penetration.

Backup point Sebastian Telfair is in McHale's dog house after signing a contract extension in the off season. He is shooting .313% from the field. He boasts a current OE of 86 and a DE of 112. Contract extension or not, there's a reason why he's not playing this year.

Kevin Ollie is...well, I like Ollie. He's a 35 year old vet who is earning his paycheck. He is what he is and he's probably the best guard on the squad. This fact alone should condemn each and every single front office basketball operations employee to immediate termination. Yes, this includes the Triangle of Non-Accountability: Freddie Iowa, Toronto Ron, and Jesus Jim. Fire now, fire yesterday, fire tomorrow.

While the season's quality of guard play didn't quite end up where the late-December trajectory suggested it might, the Wolves still ended the season with the following positional splits:

Net Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG	-0.5	-.061	-1.5	0%	-1.9	-0.7	-0.2	-0.0	-1.1	-3.8	-7.0
SG	0.1	-.034	-0.1	4%	0.1	-0.3	-0.2	-0.0	-0.3	-1.1	-2.4
SF	-3.5	+.001	-2.5	-1%	0.9	0.5	-0.5	0.1	-0.8	-5.5	-4.2
PF	0.3	-.016	-0.3	8%	-0.2	0.3	-0.6	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5	-2.3
C	6.1	-.057	2.1	4%	1.8	-0.9	0.2	-1.1	0.8	6.0	+2.4

Outside of Randy Foye tearing it up against sub-par (and depleted) competition in January, the Wolves featured the worst backcourt in the league and it really wasn't even close.

As it stands right now, and before the Ramon Sessions matter plays itself out, the Wolves are staring at a backcourt rotation of Chucky Atkins, Bobby Brown, Wayne Ellington, and Jonny Flynn, with Damien Wilkins and Corey Brewer possibly providing relief at the 2. While Flynn and Ellington are unproven rookies, the rest of that rotation can easily be described as nothing but awful. Brewer and Wilkins are not the type of players who can spend long minutes at the two because of issues with handle and outside shooting. Atkins and Brown are D-League starters at best. All of this brings us to Sessions.

No matter what he may bring to the table in terms of chemistry or his effect on the long-term prospects of Ricky Rubio, I think it's fairly clear that Sessions would be the best guard on this team the second he puts his foot through the door. Not only that, but a fairly solid case could be made that he would be the best Minny guard since Sam Cassell.

The basic argument for his signing goes like this: He immediately becomes the best guard on the team while providing a two-PG proving ground for the next 2-3 years that Ricky Rubio remains in Europe.

The basic argument against his signing looks something like this: He is a ball-dominant player who can't shoot from the outside (at all) with a player option in the year that Rubio may come over to the NBA. He's also not above 6'4".

My question to all of you is this: Is Sessions and his 4th year player option a good philosophical fit for the Wolves? Is his acquisition a good thing simply by way of increasing the backcourt talent pool? We'll take a look at his numbers in a future post. In the meantime, what say you?

SB Nation - Rashad McCants

The Intimidation Factor of Dwight Howard, Part II

LeBron and HasBeen + 10

2009 Season Preview

How many games will the Wolves win this year?

Less than 15

16-20

21-25

26-30

31-35

More than 35

Kings Errata, September 30: Beno Udrih's Swag, Kevin Johnson's Arena Push

Rockets sign Romel Beck instead of Rashad McCants

Rockets sign Rashad McCants

Who's Left?

Our New Sports Reality

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Indiana Pacers: A One Man Show

2009-2010 Around the Association

Pretend you're Larry Riley. The Pacers called, they want Stephen Jackson back. They’re offering a deal centered around Mike Dunleavy (2 years, $20.3 million remaining) for Jax (4 years, $35.4 million remaining). They’ll make the salaries work.

Make the trade! Get rid of Jax.

Uhhh no. It's still Dunleavy.

Guarding against no Rubio