SB Nation User Blog: CMCWizard

Why the NBA traveling rule is a joke. Courtesy of the Blogfather.

CMCWizard — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:10:44 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN_ljDfevB0

Why the NBA traveling rule is a joke. Courtesy of the Blogfather.

Why All-Star voting needs to change

CMCWizard — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:53:13 -0000

Broyposse posted earlier this week encouraging everyone to support our Blazers in all-star voting. I in no way want to take away from Broyposse's (or other fans like him) support of our players, as it's the only way a starter is determined. This needs to change. I'm sorry fans, but all-star game starters should not be decided by you. China should not tell me Yi Jianlian deserves more all-star votes than Chris Bosh who's bea tearing it up this season.

As a thought experiment, here's a look at who would be playing in the all-star game this year if fans voted in the whole team (the fan's dream right!?!):

Eastern Conference Starters:

Guards - Dwyane Wade (623,311), Allen Iverson (492, 093)

Forwards - LeBron James (643,786), Kevin Garnett (495,514)

Center: Dwight Howard (775,933)

Eastern conference Reserves (going purely based on votes):

Yi Jianlian (356,556), Chris Bosh (274,195), Vince Carter (236,634), Ray Allen (174,155), Paul Pierce (153,512), Shawn Marion (144,066), Jose Calderon (124,705)

Western Conference Starters:

Guards - Kobe Bryant (719,252), Chris Paul (406,220)

Forwards - Tim Duncan (442,203), Amare Stoudemire (370,470)

Center - Yao Ming (529,290)

Western Conference Reserves (once again based pure upon highest vote total):

Tracy McGrady (332,222), Carmelo Anthony (327,233), Dirk Nowitzki (261,952), Pau Gasol (260,374), Shaquille O'Neal (227,273), Ron Artest (214,063), Mehmet Okur (162,139)

Notable snubs (for reference):

Brandon Roy (78,071), Al Jefferson (46,242), Derek Rose (102,263), Joe Johnson (94,847), Josh Smith (59,574), many others

Looking at this list, I suspect that David Stern and Co. would argue that the players who are playing the best are the most popular, and thus are selected as starters. I'm sorry, but the Allen Iverson lifetime achievement award is not the all-star game. Detroit has been terrible since he arrived and he in no way deserves to be a starter. Looking at the rest of the starters, they should be an all-star, whether as a reserve or as a starter (most should be starting if the game were played at this point in the season).

Where the fans would really fall short is the reserves, and with a long time left to go until voting closes it is more than possible to see the likes of Yi Jianlian in the starting lineup over KG for example even though he has to make up a lot of ground. Yi may be improving but 11.2 PPG and 6.2 RPG an all-star does not make. As for the western conference, TMac, Shaq, and RonRon have not been playing even close to at an all-star level. And seriously, what's up with Rondo getting no love in the east along with Derek Rose garnering more votes that BRoy!?!

Personally, I want to see the 12 most deserving guys make the team every year. There are always going to be snubs, but let that lie on the coaches and players. Last year for instance, both AI and Melo were voted in as starters, but thier Defensive Player of the Year center (yes I'm talking about Marcus Camby) was snubbed mainly because an 8 seed does not deserve 3 players on the all-star team, end of story. The popularity contest NEEDS to stop.

If the NBA is hellbent on letting fans decide things for the all-star game, let them vote for the starting 5, but AFTER the 12 man roster is set (As I said in the comments yesterday). Get the 12 best players from each conference to the game, then the week or two leading up to the game the fans get to decide who they want to start. Hell I'd be fine losing the position requirements for that. Seeing a 4 guard starting line-up would be fine by me.

If nothing is done I fear that using the number of all-star appearances as a barometer for sustained excellence is diminished, greatly. Sure most of the roster will work out fine, but it still bothers me that what market the players play in influences wether or not they get to start or even play in the game. Canzano has a great point with his column here. I have to say I agree.

David Stern, you blew the referee betteing scandal, you failed with the OKC Thunder situation, and you are failing with the all-star game. I'm sick of dealing with your blundering failures over the past few year, Mr. Stern, so fix one while you can.

I'd love to hear, based on this list, who are the biggest snubs from the all star team were it based purely on voting. Please leave a Western Conference player and an Eastern Conference player. And for the sake of discussion, BRoy just got a million votes and is voted in as a starter because Stern fears a revolution if this isn't fixed.

Poll

What should the NBA do about fan voting for the all-star games?

Keep it as is. Who cares if China votes in a bench warmer in 2020!

13 votes

Let the coaches and players choose who goes. Fans can pick the starters from there.

26 votes

Fan voting is dumber than auctioning off a senate seat even though you know your phone is tapped.

14 votes

I have a better idea of how to include the fans (please include idea in comments).

0 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

RIP Pete Newell

CMCWizard — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:29:24 -0000

Many of you may know who Pete Newell. He was a great teacher of the game of basketball. Sadly Mr. Newell passed away Monday. I wanted to honor his memory by sharing a childhood memory of my own involving Pete. I encourage anyone else to share their memories as well.

Many of you may be aware that Pete ran a basketball camp in Portland every year back in the 90's. The camp was always well run and had a wide range of ages and skill levels participating. I went to the basketball camp when I was nine years old and had never played basketball with a men's regulation sized ball. At the time I didn't have the strength to make a shot on a 10 foot hoop with the large ball. I had massive range, pretty impressive I know. But the coaches at the camp always kept me involved in games and taught me some fundamentals, which was the staple of Pete's camp.

Halfway through the camp I was scoreless and as a result of my lack of scoring the coaches, led by Pete, offered to buy my entire team ice cream if I ever scored in an actual game. An amazing offer for a bunch of nine and ten year olds. I still remember vividly scoring a basket, my only two points of the camp, on a fast break and the whole team giddy with excitement. That afternoon Pete and company took the team out and got us all ice cream, which will be a memory that I cherish forever for the big heart that Pete showed me.

Donaghy Scandal talk: A fresh perspective

CMCWizard — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:10:57 -0000

I was procrastinating from my finals studying today when I came across a very informative piece at True Hoop. Check out the piece here. It's a bit lengthy, but I found it to be one of the best reads that I have seen in a while. Very insightful and informative. I just hope for the sake of the NBA that the bulk of the "fixing" of games isn't true. But I digress...

Dave has brought up the subject for discussion and has been a very interesting read. I wanted to take a slightly different perspective on the topic. The gambler featured in this piece made it clear that he would be very interested in an NBA job. A poster, TheVolv, made an interesting point in that a man with the vast amount of NBA knowledge would be a great asset for an NBA front office. I was also unaware that our own Blazers currently employed a notable ex-gambler for similar statistical analysis. To this I posit the question: Would the Blazers benefit from the analysis of this gentleman?

My initial reaction is this would be a great acquisition. He's knowledgeable and very successful in what he does. Would this fit with our current culture? Would this be taking badly by the media and the fans here in Portland? I'd like to see where the community stands on this idea. Should PA look into hiring this guy to improve our front office even more? One big strike against him is that he did profit from our Western Conference Finals meltdown in 2000, though isn't enough not to look into this prospect in my opinion.

Poll

Should the Blazer front office look to hire Haralabos Voulgaris to improve our statistical analysis of players and teams?

Yes

9 votes

No

9 votes

18 votes | Poll has closed

Clay Bennett Interview

CMCWizard — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:47:38 -0000

There has been a lot of discussion throughout the NBA about the whole Seattle-Oklahoma City issue. There's been a lot going on, especially in the last week of the season. With the owners voting yesterday (28-2) to allow the move the Sonics to Oklahoma City. I applaud both Paul Allen and Mark Cuban making a stand and voting against the move, but in the light of the litigation that the Sonic's ownership is facing the vote should have been postponed until the legal issues were worked out. Stupid move on David Stern's part, especially should the Bennett and Co. lose the litigation and be forced to stay in Seattle until 2010.

While I am not a fan of Bennett and Co.'s tactics to move the Sonics, as it bodes poorly for other NBA franchises and their fans, I went searching for info from another side of the issue. I came across a Clay Bennett interview on the Sonic's website talking about the vote to move the franchise.

Here's the link.

After reading this I am not convinced that Seattle is going to win their last ditch effort to keep the Sonics in town, even for a short while longer. Bennett talks about how his e-mails were misconstrued, which any source, including the media, if it fits their goal. Bennett represented himself well, but I am on the fence as to whether Bennett and Co. are evil, for lack of a better term, for what they are doing to Sonic fans. Did Bennett and Co. create the disconnect between ownership and the city of Seattle just to accelerate the process of moving the team to Oklahoma City? Maybe so, maybe no. Either way it is looking worse and worse for Seattle fans.

Poll

What are the chances that Sonics will be in Seattle next season?

No way! Welcome Oklahoma to the NBA.

17 votes

They will win the litigation but are gone after 2009-2010 season

23 votes

They win the litigation and Seattle will rally around the team forcing Bennett to keep them in Seattle

5 votes

45 votes | Poll has closed

KP interview during the last game

CMCWizard — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:08:09 -0000

I was watching the game last night and was absolutely amazed with KP. The Mike's do a great job with the play-by-play, but KP definitely took the cake during the 2nd quarter broadcast. Despite skirting all of the questions, which I can't fault KP for doing...I certainly wouldn't have made that info public, KP showed how much he knows about each player in the league. He was constantly chiming in with tidbits of how __________ player rebounds well but really doesn't have a long range shot.

Maybe I'm making more out of this than I should, but KP seems to know personnel from every team and can evaluate each player in terms of strengths and weaknesses, often off the top of his head. I found that segment immensely entertaining and just reconfirmed my belief that we have the best GM in the NBA. I'm extremely excited for the offseason, but we have one game before our winning season is complete!

Energy and trade talk

CMCWizard — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:31:24 -0000

Last night's game showed me a number of things that are great indicators for next season and our ability to finish this year with a winning record (albeit a difficult proposition at this point).

-The energy that was shown last night was phenomenal. It makes me wish that we had 8 home games against the FL*kers every year. The offensive execution in the two home games this season was superb and we got huge games out of Brandon and LMA. Hands down we just come to ball when the L*kers are involved. If our guys can get up like this for every game, particularly the home games I see many more 13+ win streaks in the near future.

-Nate's post game comments were spot on last night. Most interesting to me was the comment on how our guys tend to have "too much respect" for our competition. Odom's Flagrant foul on Roy was a real wake-up call I think. LMA and Troutlaw getting in Odom's face was a great sight to see. They didn't take it too far, but it showed that we aren't going to get pushed around by anyone, title contender or not.

-There's been a lot of speculation as to what KP will (and should) do concerning the two weak spots in our line-up. Last nights game showed me one thing: we can play playoff caliber basketball with the guys we have, even short handed (No Pryz and Webster). We could use an upgrade, but if the price isn't right I think KP should sit and be patient. KP has a lot of leverage with our young talent, so a deal is entirely possible, but I'm sure KP will not overpay for any player in a trade.

-Raef doesn't get much credit for anything, his influence on this young team is invaluable. He may not be a big minute caliber guy, but he's an intelligent player and knows the ins and outs of the pro game, and confers that knowledge to our young guys. While his contract is ridiculous and I foresee him as part of a trade this year with his expiring contract, I think he deserves some props for his positive attitude all year and mentorship of the young Blazers.

Any other fans out there think that waiting until we see Oden in the line-up to pull the trigger on a huge deal? Do we want more draft day theatrics from KP? Do we wait till the trade deadline to make our blockbuster deal?

Draft day gets my vote. It's easier to rip off a team draft day with all of the excitement that most GMs get over unproven players, especially since deadline deals depend largely on the state of each team involved.

Blazer development

CMCWizard — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:09:09 -0000

I wanted to take an in depth look at how the blazers have been progressing so far this season, month-by-month, as well as looking at what we do well when we win games (statistically speaking). Based on these trends I'd like to think about what changes need to be made this coming off-season.

Not counting October (we played one game and lost to San Antonio), we have played 65 games so far this season. So what exactly do the numbers tell us? To get an idea of what the blazers do well when they win, let's look at the differences per game totals of each major stat.

PPG +12.2
APG +4.2
RPG +0.2
Off RPG -0.2
FG% +4.9%
3P% +7.3%
BPG +0.3
SPG -0.3

Based on this you can tell that our defense tends to be pretty similar on average in our wins and our losses based on our BPG and SPG totals. However we score considerably more, have more assists and shoot the ball better when we win. Logically that makes perfect sense. Rebounding seems to be roughly equal in our wins and losses too. Based on the assist numbers, the more that we move the ball the better our chances are to win. When we play one-on-one ball primarily we lose more often than not. BRoy and his unselfish play would seem to be a major catalyst for this trend, especially since we win more often than not when Roy plays well and gets others involved.

PPG +12.2
APG +4.2
RPG +0.2
Off RPG -0.2
FG% +4.9%
3P% +7.3%
BPG +0.3
SPG -0.3

Since this season is al about the growth and maturation of the team, have they accomplished this goal so far? Lets look at the numbers month-by-month, excluding the lone loss in October.

November
Record 5-10
PPG 90.9
APG 20.6
RPG 39.0
Off RPG 9.5
FG% .450
3P% .347
BPG 4.2
SPG 6.4

December
Record 13-2
PPG 101.0
APG 23.4
RPG 39.9
Off RPG 10.7
FG% .475
3P% .406
BPG 4.9
SPG 5.1

January
Record 8-6
PPG 96.8
APG 20.7
RPG 41.8
Off RPG 11.1
FG% .436
3P% .413
BPG 4.2
SPG 5.6

February
Record 5-9
PPG 92.1
APG 20.2
RPG 40.1
Off RPG 10.3
FG% .435
3P% .321
BPG 4.6
SPG 5.8

March to date
Record 3-4
PPG 98.1
APG 18.6
RPG 43.4
Off RPG 12.4
FG% .448
3P% .339
BPG 4.9
SPG 5.4

Overall there has been a trend of an increase in overall offensive output as measured by out PPG. PPG is up from roughly 91 PPG to 98 PPG in March, with highs in December during our long win streak of 101 PPG. Rebounding also seems to be improving slightly, which is a good trend for next year. Overall RPG is up 4.4 RPG from November through March, and Offensive rebounding has also improved. With GO joining the line-up next year, we can all hope that rebounding will improve even more. The remaining stats see some fluctuations, but have not seen significant increases or decreases throughout the season. The major exception is APG in relation to the overall record for that month. APG were high (23.4 APG) during the hot month of December and dropped off as the team cooled down. Shooting percentages were also high that month.

Overall improvement grade: B+

I see the improvement of the overall record as a big deal, after all wins are the most important stat in any sport. However, based on the major numbers individual team improvement has been stagnant in many areas. Rebounding has improved, but overall team defense is roughly the same as it was to start the season. Can you attribute the stagnant mid-season improvements to coaching or just to the personnel on the team? Off season improvement was significant based on the W/L record, but I would have liked to see more improvement as a team, especially considering the 13 game win streak in December.

I, just like many Blazer fans, have the impression that we play a lot of close games. I wanted to take a look at the validity to this statement. First we have played in 11 games decided by 3 points or less with a record of 9-2. This shows poise in close-game situations, which is a great indicator of the future of this young team. Also, our OT record is 5-2, also a great record for a young team. However we have played in 28 games decided by 10 points or more with a poor record of 11-17. Of those 10 point wins, our last came on January 9th and 6 of those wins coming during our streak in December. Compared to all of the elite teams in the western conference, we have far fewer wins by 10+ points. The closest playoff team to our win total in "comfortable" wins is Golden State with a record of 18-10. The next fewest 10+ point game win total is 23. This tells me that having blowout wins really helps your team maintain its momentum throughout the season. Your stars need games where they get some rest and play shorter minutes, which is something that the Blazers are not getting this year. This needs to improve next season if we are going to be a playoff team like we all expect.

Our record against good teams (over .500) is poor as well. We are only 13-22 against those clubs. With the competitive western conference, this needs to improve as well.

If you look at where the Blazers rank in major statistical categories, we can get a better idea of what specifically needs to improve next season in relation to other teams.

PPG 25th
Opp PPG 8th best
APG 20th
Opp APG 8th best
RPG 26th
Opp RPG 12th (or 18th best)
FG% 18th
Opp FG% 5th best
3P% 9th
Opp 3P% 5th best
BPG 21st
Opp BPG 1st (Blocked fewest by other teams)
SPG 30th
Opp SPG 5th best
FT% 12th @ 76.6%

So based on our NBA ranks our biggest problem areas are forcing turnovers (especially steals as we rank last in the NBA there) and rebounding. Our PPG and APG could also see marked improvement, as we are a fairly low scoring team at the present moment. Our major strengths are our overall defense (Opponent FG% and 3P% are low compared with other teams) and the fact that we don't turn the ball over very often (seen by low Opponent steal and block numbers). You could attribute being blocked the fewest number of times to the fact that we are primarily a jump shooting team and would support the Blazer fan's complaint that we don't drive it to the basket nearly enough. I would tend to agree. An explanation of our god defense is the fact that we tend to play a lot of zone. Playing lots of zone helps out defense, but hurts our rebounding. I'm hoping Oden allows us to play more man-to-man next season and use the zone as a potent weapon to confuse opponents' defenses.

So how does this all affect what we do during the off-season and where the team needs to focus on improving and upgrading next year? Its generally accepted that we need to upgrade the PG position, and I agree. We really need someone to distribute the ball and who can rack up assists and help our perimeter defense. Ball movement is critical for this team's success, especially if you look at how much better we play when we move and distribute the ball. I also think that we really need a defensive-minded small forward that is lengthy and can guar multiple positions (ala a Ron Artest or Bruce Bowen). Easier said that found. Maybe with some work Martell can improve his defensive game and work on that outside shot during the off-season. I really like James Jones there, but he is more of a limited role, bench guy that gives you solid minutes in my opinion.

Overall we need guys (at the PG and SF) that shoot a high percentage (particularly from 3) and play gritty perimeter defense. Calderone is a great fit for us in my opinion, especially since he shoots well from outside and has a monster of a assist/TO ratio. I think Blake has been playing great as of late (other than his outside shot) and distributing the ball well. If Calderone isn't an option given our cap room, I think waiting to make major moves till CP3 is a free agent would be a great move. A CP3-Roy backcourt would be killer, but there's my dream.

The SF is a bit of a project, Martell or Outlaw could fit the role if they vastly improved their defense and outside shooting, but that is more of a pipe dream. Oden should help with our blocking and rebounding. LMA really needs to improve his rebounding during the off-season. There is absolutely n reason he shouldn't average 10+ boards a game, especially if he bulks up a little during the off-season.

As for the rest of the season I really would like to see the blazers focus on off-the-ball movement on offense. The offense has been too stagnant as of late, and we need to get more plays at the rim. I also would like to see all 5 guys get after the boards. It's well known that the Blazers aren't a fast-break team, so there is no reason not to crash the boards every time at both ends.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear anyone else's take on the matter.

Poll

What should the Blazers focus on most this off season?

Toughness: we get pushed around like a bunch of 6th grade girls.

8 votes

Free throws: is Shaq our free throw coach?

2 votes

Defense: we couldn't stop Charles and his out of shape TV figure.

9 votes

Rebounding: box out, what?

7 votes

Offensive sets: can we just give Roy the ball more?

3 votes

29 votes | Poll has closed