At Basketball Prospectus, an article by Kevin Pelton tackling the hows and whys of home-court advantage.

At Basketball Prospectus, it's an article by Kevin Pelton about Daniel Kahneman's book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, and how it relates to the NBA.

ed: bumped to front page

Just like he did in college at Villanova, Cunningham is playing center again. Yep, he's Marc Gasol's backup in Memphis.

The Grizzlies even think well enough of Cunningham at the backup 5 to have waived a fellow former Blazer, Brian Skinner, who's older than dirt.

Anyhow, I never understood why many folks thought he should be a 3. Cunningham's natural position is the 4, while he went through college playing the 5. Never, however, did he show an ability to effectively play the 3, particularly on offense.

I'm now starting to see this with people commenting on Nicolas Batum, who is not, was not, nor ever will be capable of competently playing the 2. Like with Cunningham and the 3, Batum's offensive skill set doesn't fit the positional requirements needed to play the 2.

A timely, well-written article by Lee Jenkins of SI.com, with an anecdote from former player Matt Bullard.

The lesson learned here is that, well, pro basketball is simply a job for these athletes. An occupation. A means of employment. Not only first and foremost, but also last and least. Nothing more, nothing less.

And that's O.K.

Wow, a pace factor of 100.

100 possessions per 48 minutes, eh.

Well, I'll be damned. Color me surprised.

Yet, I don't expect that this'll continue.

We shall see, though. We shall see.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that the Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to acquire All-Star point guard Chris Paul and two future second round picks from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for guard Eric Gordon, forward Al-Farouq Aminu, center Chris Kaman and an unprotected 2012 first round pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

To remove any doubt: the Hornets have sent out a press release confirming the particulars.

ed: text updated, bumped to front page

Can't say I blame Chris Paul. A trio of Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, and him would form a spectacular core.

The Clippers have got some fantastic assets -- such as Chris Kaman's expiring contract, stopgap PG Mo Williams, PGOTF Eric Bledsoe, prospect Al-Farouq Aminu, and Minnesota's 2012 first-round draft pick -- and also the cap room needed to take back Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. All in all, the Clippers would make for a fair trade partner.

Hill's month-old article is full of win, especially his line that "parity is the way to go ... the way to go stale."

Ugh, another medical retirement gone wrong.

The new CBA should eliminate that altogether.

Silent majority is now speaking up.

Nobody is immune during this lockout.

A $1,000,000 Tweet?

In this article, David Aldridge of NBA.com explains in detail that "[t]he NBA has always been a league of dynasties, with few teams able to break through and challenge the hegemony of the dominant franchises."

Guess what? He's right.

As Aldridge wrote, "judging competitiveness by championships won, the NBA has never been competitive."

Man, I couldn't've written it any better myself.

To argue otherwise, according to Aldridge, "ignores six decades of history."

And that, folks, is why there is no argument to be had.

Here's Rodman's opening statement from that interview:

"Well, I think it was important, I thought it was important for me to go in there and win. Y'know, it wasn't, uh, I don’t have a job to speak to people. My job is to collate and understand how people work and do my thing. And make people believe in the fact that you belong there. Y'know, talking to people will come, relating to people will come. If they see you performing, and doing your job, and being with the group. That’s all I want, that's all I want. I don't [clearing throat] me and Scottie, we're cool; me and Scottie, we’re cool today. Y'know, we’re a little older, we're a little wiser; we’re cool today. I mean me and Scottie [stammering] me and Scottie and Michael never had a conversation in three years in Chicago. Only time we had a conversation was on the court. And that was it. And nobody believes that [laughing] ..."

Strong evidence from a ring wearing Basketball Hall of Famer, "The Worm," that off-court chemistry has got no value whatsoever. Yet, even with his first-hand account that dismisses off-court chemistry as nauseating drivel, countless people will still mawkishly cling to the hokey sentiment that such a meaningless intangible is worth something. I'm sorry, folks, but off-court chemistry is a hollow concept that's got nothing to do with winning in basketball. Nothing at all. What truly matters is on-court cohesion, which that trio had in spades.

An informative article at Grantland.com written by Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Executive VP of Basketball Operations Sam Hinkie, which touches on a plethora of topics ranging from Moneyball the movie to the future of quantitative analysis.

In this article by Jonathan Tjarks at RealGM.com, here's the money quote:

"TV revenues are the life-blood of professional sports, and they have been exploding rapidly in the last few years. Parity prevents teams from gaining traction with the casual fan, and casual fans are what drive TV ratings. Measures that prevent Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby from facing off in the playoffs, just like measures that would have prevented Larry Bird and Magic Johnson from playing in the 1980’s, have damaged the NHL’s popularity, and therefore, its profitability."

An interesting read about the differences in traveling conditions between the NBA and overseas.

As I recently argued, Yao Ming's opportunity at getting enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame would be as a contributor to the game.

That's right. Not as a player, but rather as a contributor.

For me, the only shock is there's no five-year waiting period to be eligible to get enshrined as a contributor.

Kudos to East Bay Express writer Paul Gackle, who wrote the in-depth "Fallen Rider" feature about former Portland Trail Blazers guard J.R. Rider.

ed: bumped to front page