SB Nation User Blog: David Arnott

Pistons Smoke Bobcats 98-75

David Arnott — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:35:45 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Charlie Villanueva looked like an All Star while leading the Pistons' dominating victory over the Bobcats, 98-75. He had 30 points through the first three quarters, and Detroit put the game away for good in the third period.

It's easy to turn everything into a microcosm. But when everything in a given game can be the microcosm, it's just what reality is. We knew going into the season that the offense was going to be miserable, but none of us figured it would be this disgusting. I'm hoping the putrid play we've been watching -- clanking jumpers, awkward post ups, nobody moving away from the ball -- is just a slump that happened to come at the start of the season. But eventually, we won't be able to chalk the crappiness up to bad luck, anymore. As it stands, we're staring down the barrel of a landmark terrible offense, and there doesn't appear to be any reason to think that will change.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump:

BAD

-- Just as there's no precise moment when we'll tumble over the edge of despair regarding the Bobcats' season, there's no precise moment when we'll all have acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, last season was the anomaly, and Boris Diaw just isn't that good. Tonight was a particularly uninspired game from Boris, but the turnovers, the lack of rebounds, and the drop in scoring back to his pre-Bobcats levels are all indicative of a guy who's a nice complementary player, but who's also horribly miscast as a key cog. Don't look at his contract details unless you want to cry.

-- Vladimir Radmanovic: DNP-CD. Amazing. Dude was, ostensibly, our 7th man going into the season. Larry Brown must have been trying to send a message that the space cadet thing has to end.

-- Under 50% from the field. Under 30% from three. More turnovers than assists. Choose your indicator, and the Cats weren't up to snuff.

GOOD

-- Nazr Mohammed, with 13 points and 8 rebounds in 15 minutes, continues his renaissance, garbage time notwithstanding.

-- (Good for the Pistons) Will Bynum is a pro's pro. I was going to make this point about the Magic's reserves last night, but it also applies here. Guys like Bynum and Matt Barnes bring what they bring, production-wise, but if you were to attempt to quantify the attitude that you want from your athletes, I think those guys embody a lot of desirable traits. They don't take their jobs for granted. They're intense about doing their jobs well. And they'll go toe to toe with anyone; it might actually be impossible to intimidate them.

Open Gameday Thread at Detroit Pistons

David Arnott — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:51:51 -0000

TV: SportSouth | Radio: 1660 AM | SB Nation Pistons Blog: Motown String Music

Why did Steve Perry sing about a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit? Read the lyrics to "Don't Stop Believing". I'm not sure there's a real point to the line. Does it have a materially different meaning if Perry sings: Just a city boy, born and raised in East L.A.?

UPDATE: Via Bonnell, Raja Bell is out with a calf injury. It's times like these I wish I had ESP so I could reason with Larry Brown and convince him to give Gerald Henderson playing time instead of rending my apartment as he, inevitably, gives those minutes to Stephen Graham.

Gameday Preview at Detroit Pistons

David Arnott — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:25:45 -0000

Pump Up Music: Avenged Sevenfold -- "Bat Country"

The Big Picture: At the start of last season, the Detroit Pistons still had the sheen of Title Contender. When they traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson, they still had that sheen, but things quickly took a turn for the worse as soon as everyone realized that their best remaining point guard was probably Will Bynum and they had three shooting guards who all felt they should start in the either of the two guard spots.

Today, at this exact moment, the Pistons are in going through some tough times. Both Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are out with injuries for indefinite periods, leaving the team relying on free agent acquisitions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva for offensive production. Jonas Jerebko, the Pistons' second round pick out of Sweden this year, has started four games at small forward in Prince's absence, and he hasn't exactly been a revelation. Pair him with an aging Ben Wallace at center, and Detroit has two offensive black holes in the lineup.

In other words, their path to victory is the same as ours: Play great defense, and score just enough to win. Unless someone goes off (Gordon is the best bet to go nuts), we're looking at another 82-80 type game.

Key to Victory: Raja Bell will play a high leverage role today. Since Gordon is Detroit's most potent scorer, we need Bell to forget his age, play through his wrist injury, and be at his best on defense.

Gerald Wallace is going to be a matchup problem for Detroit, since they don't have any palatable options to guard him. Jerebko and Daye are both long, but rookies, and Jason Maxiell and Chris Wilcox are both post type players who probably won't be able to deal with Gerald if he puts the ball on the floor.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: Rodney Stuckey is the only player in NBA history to come out of Eastern Washington University.

Bobcats Lose to Magic 93-81

David Arnott — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:53:56 -0000

More photos » by Chuck Burton - AP

Matt Barnes performs an exorcism on Gerald Wallace. Vladimir Radmanovic stands idly by, while Vince Carter shields his eyes in horror.

Browse more photos »

I haven't seen the AP or Observer recaps, but I'd put even money on one of them using the term "hard fought". The Bobcats went down big early, but then stormed back in the third quarter, eventually pulling within six in the fourth quarter before the Magic rounded back into form and pulled away again.

In losing 93-81, the Bobcats demonstrated they have the capacity to score against a good defensive team in stretches. However, they have also yet to show they can combine that offensive upside for a whole game with the defense they'd played last season and earlier this year. It's what separates them from the playoff contenders.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump.

BAD

-- They're not good three point shooters, yet they hoist 'em up. 2-17 tonight.

-- I'm scared for D.J. Augustin. He looks like he's regressed, and just about every relevant stat is down across the board in these first few games. Tonight? Lost on defense, lost on offense. The assured manner that marked his rookie season is somewhere in the ether, probably cavorting around with his three point stroke.

-- Forget tracking Okafor/Chandler: I'm developing an obsession with comparing Gerald Henderson's minutes to Stephen Graham's. 2 1/2 minutes for Henderson tonight, the last 2 1/2 minutes of the game, after everything was virtually decided. Graham? He got more than 11 wholly ineffective minutes, including crunch time while Chandler was out with five fouls and Diaw was playing center.

-- Dude. VladRad. My man. Something wrong? Wanna talk?

-- Tyson Chandler only played a little more than 11 minutes, but that's not really his fault. Yes, he got in foul trouble, but Larry Brown refused to play him from about 9 minutes to go in the first quarter through the end of the first half... because he had two fouls. Two! If you have three fouls at the half, you're on pace to foul out at the end of the game. It's okay to have three fouls going into the second half. Really. It is. In the second quarter, Chandler should have played until he had three fouls, and then in the third quarter played until he got his fourth, and then in the fourth quarter played until he got his fifth, until four minutes to go, when you let things fly. Not complicated.

GOOD

-- Raymond Felton played like a real point guard tonight, making smart decisions again and again. Only 1 turnover, and I counted only one wildly ill-advised shot, though that layup attempt was a score.

-- Nazr Mohammed used every ounce of veteran savvy to show why team after team has seen fit to employ him over the years, despite not a single plus skill other than height. At times, he gave Dwight Howard trouble at both ends of the floor with his quick shuffling and multiple pump fakes.

Open Gameday Thread vs. Orlando Magic

David Arnott — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:38:08 -0000

TV: Fox Sports Carolinas | Radio: 610 AM | SB Nation Magic Blog: Third Quarter Collapse

Sometime today or tonight, go into your bathroom, turn out all the lights, and stare into the mirror for about five minutes. Let your eyes acclimate to the darkness. Relax. Then, slowly, chant:

"J.J. Redick... J.J. Redick... J.J. Redick..."

You won't be disappointed.

B. Shoals on Gerald Wallace: Rebounding Champ?

David Arnott — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:56:46 -0000

B. Shoals on Gerald Wallace: Rebounding Champ?

Wallace never ceases to surprise, and may just be a little too deferential, even shy, to ever fulfill his potential.

Gameday Preview vs. Orlando Magic

David Arnott — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:39:04 -0000

Pump Up Music: Dropkick Muphys -- "Rocky Road to Dublin"

The Big Picture: Holy crap, the Bobcats are undefeated at home, and they've got a chance to continue that streak against a title-hopeful Magic team because Orlando's down a few key players. Rashard Lewis is still suspended, and key reserve Ryan Anderson will be out again with an ankle injury. Vince Carter will supposedly be a gametime decision, but with Orlando playing a back to back in Charlotte tonight and at home against Cleveland tomorrow, there will be a temptation to not risk Vince's health before the apparently tougher game.

The Cats head to Detroit tomorrow for the second half of their back to back, and then they'll have two days off before their next game, at home, against Portland. As much as we may bash Stephen Graham here, he's really kind of perfect for how many back to backs we have, since he can play filler at the two and three for stretches without completely embarrassing himself. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth men need to be able to provide these kinds of minutes on a team that imagines itself a playoff contender, and in these next two games, here's hoping the minutes get spread through all twelve roster spots, just like the last back to back.

Key to Victory: Rebounding. Without Lewis, Orlando has actually attempted fewer threes than Charlotte this season in one more game. I haven't seen Orlando's offense this year, but that implies they're not spreading the floor the same way they did last year, with four guys around the perimeter and daring teams to double Dwight Howard inside.

Last year, Orlando was tremendous on the defensive boards, but spreading the floor left them extremely thin on the offensive boards. Thus far this year, they're not quite as good at defensive rebounding, but they're improved on the offensive glass, probably because of the changed style. They were content to let opponents get lots of rebounds as long as they were making lots of threes, too, but now that the three isn't such a potent weapon for them, they can't afford to allow so many boards off their misses and continue to be successful.

Detail That May Interest .08% of You: Chris Webber was the Magic's first pick of the 1993 draft, but was immediately traded for Anfernee Hardaway and three first round picks, the last of which ended up being Mike Miller, Rookie of the Year in 2000.

The Ghost of Bobcats Future Trades

David Arnott — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:01:28 -0000

More photos » by Noah Graham - NBAE/Getty Images

Browse more photos »

At this early stage of the season, there are only a couple teams that are completely and totally out of the playoff picture: the New Jersey Nets and Sacramento Kings. Every other team's fans can entertain wild-eyed dreams of playoff basketball. Can we benefit from their situations?

First, the Nets. The only player we have that makes sense for them is Raja Bell. He's got an expiring contract that fits in with their plan to clear cap space for this offseason and sign free agents to complement their interesting young players, like Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, and Brook Lopez. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the Nets have done too good a job of clearing cap space. The only players with guaranteed contracts for next season are guys they'll almost certainly want to keep, and it doesn't make any sense for them to swap out an expiring contract for an expiring contract. We probably won't be able to even start a conversation with them unless, improbably, they grow weary of Yi and figure they'd rather cut bait.

The Kings are a different story, though. They've got some messy contracts and fiscal pressure that we might be in position to massage with a calculated gamble. No one they'd be able to offer us is a game-changer who would guarantee us the playoffs, but if they want to get out from under a horrific contract, they can give us that contract and a very good player to fill out our rotation. I'd be most interested in Spencer Hawes or Jason Thompson to come off the bench and be a backup to both Diaw and Chandler. Unfortunately, it looks like we'd have to take back Beno Udrih in any deal, which makes no sense for the Cats, because Andres Nocioni's deal is only one year longer than Radmanovic's and Mohammed's (not worth it for Sacto), and Francisco Garcia's long deal is still subject to Base Year Compensation provisions, so we can't make that work.

Here's where I'm going with this: I don't see any trades that make sense for the Bobcats, even after other teams start dropping out of the playoff hunt. No, wait. I take that back. There's one. When the Warriors give up on this season, they might consider trying to clear out some space and trade Raja straight up for Ronny Turiaf. The big guy has an unwieldy contract, extending through 2012, but he would make the team better by being a defensive presence (and about the same scorer as Chandler, i.e. way better than Diop) off the bench at both the PF and C positions. Bell, as professional as he is, is primarily a contract figure at this point, and if we put Flip in at the two, we'd get better offense, probably making up for any drop in defense, and if we put Augustin or Henderson in at that spot, we'd be giving much needed playing time to a young player. I'd also argue that we probably wouldn't see much drop in production.

The biggest problem for the Cats is that every other team is either set for the 2010 offseason, set for the 2011 offseason, or will be looking for a player to help them this season, which Bell is not. Boris Diaw might be attractive to a contender, but his contract is extremely daunting. Gerald Wallace will be attractive to a contender, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to trade away a guy who outproduces his pay scale. And Raymond Felton, of course, might be a bench upgrade for someone with the bonus that he's an expiring contract, but the contender that needs a point guard upgrade, either starter or bench, and sees Felton as said upgrade probably isn't a contender.

It's Rosterbation Monday! Are we stuck dreaming about John Wall? Or is there someone our there for the taking that we can steal? (See? I made it this far without mentioning Joe Alexander!)

Bulls Beat Bobcats 93-90; Cats Fall in Love With Threes

David Arnott — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:56:17 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

The Bobcats are still feeling out their best process on offense. When they don't play their best on defense, guys like John Salmons and Joakim Noah will light them up, and all their inadequacies on offense will come to the fore, just like in tonight's tough loss to the Bulls, 93-90.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the game was the Bobcats' tendency to bomb away from three. The Cats shot 12-29 from long distance, which says something about their offensive process. Larry Brown has said he doesn't like threes because of what they indicate: when the team takes threes it means they're not attacking the rim and potentially getting to the line. It also implies the offense isn't active and working for the easiest baskets.

However, it's also long been established that poor offensive teams can increase their chances of winning a given game by taking more threes -- higher risk for higher reward. Hit on a high enough percentage of threes consistently, and it becomes a viable strategy. The key is to not get away from the other things Brown wants from the offense. The half court sets should still seek out the easiest baskets possible, including threes.

Historically, the Cats' starters don't shoot well enough to make shooting that many threes a good idea. Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace should only do it to keep defenses honest. Boris Diaw has only done it effectively for one season. Tyson Chandler: no. Raja Bell's only offense at this point is the jump shot from eighteen feet and out. The thing is, with VladRad, Augustin, and now Flip Murray on board, they might be able to put enough guys on the floor at any given time to make it worthwhile to actively run a three point-based attack. The blueprint for this is in Orlando, where Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Dwight Howard made it happen. We don't have anyone that effective at what each of those guys does, but the overall point stands.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump:

BAD

-- Joakim Noah had himself a night. 21 points and 16 rebounds. Why does he do this to us and I never hear about him beasting on other teams?

-- Noah was huge, and Salmons also had a big game, but in general the Cats' defense simply couldn't keep up with the very athletic Bulls. I'm sure it was mostly an issue of playing back to back and running low on gas in the second half, but such is the game. Chicago shot 50% from the field and 44% from three. They also outrebounded Charlotte 44-38.

-- D.J. Augustin was shockingly ineffective against Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich. In a little more than 11 minutes, he had 0 points, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers. I suspect that's because Augustin relies on his exceptional speed to get to the rim. Both Chicago point guards are tremendous athletes, so that would negate Augustin's advantage on other PGs. What's surprising is that D.J. didn't partake in the three point barrage, considering he was a very good shooter all last year.

-- Gerald Henderson didn't deserve a few minutes? Zero minutes? Really?

GOOD

-- Early on, Boris Diaw abused Taj Gibson. He ended up with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, including 3-5 from three.

-- Vladimir Radmanovic finally did VladRad things, shooting 4-6 from three.

-- Tyson Chandler looks more and more comfortable on both offense and defense, and appears to be settling into his roles. Just as important, his teammates seem to be settling into a comfort zone with him, too. We're just seeing the familiarity usually developed during preseason being developed now.

-- Alexis Ajinca got 5 minutes in the second quarter when both Chandler and Nazr Mohammed got into foul trouble, and he didn't embarrass himself in the least. Playing against Noah couldn't have hurt, since Noah's also a long, lanky, type.

Open Gameday Thread at Chicago Bulls

David Arnott — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:46:23 -0000

TV: SportSouth | Radio: 610 AM | SB Nation Bulls Blog: Blog a Bull

MJ: Hey, guys! How's it going?
LB: Uh, Michael? What are you doing here?

MJ: I figured I'd come by and see how things are going, especially since I know this town pretty well. Lots of great memories. There was this time B.J. Armstrong and I went to Lawry's steak house in drag and ordered Big Macs until they kicked us out. Man, that was something.

LB: Look, that's great, Mike, but we've got to get on with shootaround...

MJ: Doug Collins used to let me run the shootaround. I'd make Sam Vincent stand under the basket with his hands straight up so Oak and I could practice posterizing dudes. Of course, Oak never did it in a game. You want me to run that part of shootaround so we can get Crash up to speed on his posterizing skills again?

LB: I don't think that's a real skill. It's more something that just kind of happens...

MJ: I was able to work on it and get better at it. Why can't these guys? I guess they just don't have my drive, huh?

LB: Sure, sure, Michael. Look, I've got a lot of work to do. Our offense sucks, and I haven't figured out how to make it work with the players we have.

MJ: Well, you know... I could always... I mean, if you want me to...

LB: You would? You'd suit up again?

MJ: Oh, hell no! I was talking about trading Boris and Raja for Stephen Jackson and Ronny Turiaf. It wouldn't solve our offense's problems, but it might actually make us even better on defense.

LB: Mike? I just fed that to Stein in a desperate attempt to motivate Boris to get back in shape, lest he be sent to that mess of a situation in Oakland.

MJ: Oh. In that case, carry on. Say, where's Ajinca? I want to show him what happens when I show up unannounced at Niketown!