SB Nation User Blog: olympicmike

Pete Newell Dies at age 93

olympicmike — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:41:07 -0000

Pete Newell Dies at age 93

A real legend of the game.

Biedrins, an All-Star? An early look at the #'s.

olympicmike — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:21:19 -0000

I for one have been blown away by AB's play early on so I thought it would be fun to take a look at the competition at the center spot for this years All-Star game. Yeah, I know it's really early to be talking about this but consider this the first installment in an ongoing series.

Taking a look at the ballot I think it's pretty safe to say you can cross a couple of guys off the list. I'll eliminate Okur and Collison from the discussion (I should probably get rid of a couple more but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt). Also I'll keep this comparison limited to the stats that matter most for a center just to keep this simple, Pts Reb Blk FG%. Now remember to give Brad Miller some bonus points for his 6ast per game.

Biedrins 16.8 Pts 14.8 Reb 1.7 Blk 52.7 FG%

Bynum 9.9 Pts 8.9 Reb 3.0 Blk 45.5 FG%

Camby 7.0 Pts 9.4 Reb 2.8 Blk 45.2 FG%

Chandler 7.7 Pts 9.5 Reb 2.0 Blk 54.5 FG%

Jefferson 22.1 Pts 10.7 Reb 1.9 Blk 48.5 FG%

Kaman 12.5 Pts 9.9 Reb 2.0 Blk 51.3 FG%

Miller 13.6 Pts 10.0 Reb 1.2 Blk 43.6 FG%

Oden 4.7 Pts 6.0 Reb 2.3 Blk 40.0 FG%

Shaq 16.1 Pts 9.2 Reb 1.2 Blk 65.1 FG%

Yao 16.2 Pts 9.7 Reb 1.6 Blk 47.0 FG%

Ok so at first glance his biggest competition is Jefferson. He has the magic 20-10 averages that seem to make you an elite big man in most people's mind. IMO I'd rather have the guy averaging 17-15 with a higher %, but hey that's just me.

Another thing to consider is that the guy voted in is rarely the best player. Is it still a foregone conclusion that Yao will get the most votes? Probably, right? So that leaves one spot for center with the possibility that they use one of the non specified spots on a center (not usually the case right?)

Yet another factor is winning. This one always seems to be taken into account with the coaches selections. I doubt we will be doing that great in the W-L column but if we can hang around despite the injury to Monta that may earn us some respect around the league.

So, what do you guys think? Will this be the year? Are his early numbers a fluke? Will he be robbed by someone less deserving?

Also, a quick reminder that the All-Star ballots are up at NBA.com so vote early and vote often. If we can send Obama to the White House we can send Andris to Phoenix.

Poll

What's your prediction for AB's All-Star chances?

Jackson: A Worst Case Scenario

olympicmike — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:31:32 -0000

First of all, let me say that I am hopeful that Jack and his contract situation don't become a major issue during the season. I don't expect him to get any sort of extension before the season starts and I would think that once the season starts Jack will be just as loyal to his new teammates as he has been to all of his other ones and man up and play hard despite his perception that he is underpaid.

BUT, what if he does take it personally and can't get over it? I'll warn you that if you are not in the mood for hypotheticals stop reading now. This is all going to be pure speculation based on the idea that Jack will become a problem in the locker room and need to be moved. Let's be honest, I'm a little bored and there really hasn't been anything to talk about for a while.

So, here are a few ideas if things get ugly, like real ugly. It's important to keep in mind that these trades would be made under some duress (or perhaps before things completely deteriorate) so they won't be ideal. Some are more optimistic than others, so take it for what it's worth.

S. Jackson, M. Bellinelli

for

J. Terry, 1st Rnd pick

For GSW

Pros: Well, Jet would work pretty well in a backcourt with Monta. He could help handle the ball and facilitate the offense when need be. He would also space the floor and help open lanes for Monta and Maggs. He could play either guard position which Nellie would like. A mid-to-late first Rnd pick would always be nice (if we could get one out of them).

Cons: His contract is longer than Jack's so this would essentially kill any flexibility that we would have in 2010. Defense would definitely be an issue. Monta and Jet would likely be very soft and undersized on the defensive end.

For Dallas

Pros: They are definitely in win now mode this year and they don't really have a SG who is ideal for their system. Jackson would definitely make them a stronger defensive team and he plays well in an "iso" type system where he can space the floor, attack the basket 1 on 1, or post up. Plus it frees up some salary in 2010 at which point this team would probably be in rebuilding mode.

Cons: We all know what makes Jack less than ideal. After Howard's trouble they might not want to take on another guy with "character issues".

Jack, Marco

for

Q. Richardson, D. Lee

Note: Lee is kind of a wildcard here. D'Antoni is reportedly not very high on Lee but he has received a lot of hype during his time in the league. This is kind of contingent on the NYK deciding that Lee doesn't fit in with their future plans. With the new management in NY I really have no idea what these guys are looking to do.

For GSW

Pros: We get a shooter to space the floor who has in the past excelled in an up-tempo system in Q-Rich and an extremely talented (if offensively limited) rebounder in Lee. We would maintain our financial flexibility if we don't decide to extend Lee at the end of the year. Of course if he turns out to be as good as a lot of people think he could be we would be happy to extend him.

Cons: Defense. Q-Rich is a big step down from Jack. He hasn't played well in quite a while. Lee could create a bit of a logjam in the front court (might not be a bad thing). Also, Lee doesn't make a whole lot of sense next to Andris offensively, so he might not make much sense long-term.

For NYK

Pros: Jack is definitely an upgrade over Q-Rich. Assuming that D'Antoni won't make much use of Lee, this trade would make them a better team. Plus, honestlly, Jack was born to be a Knick, right?

Cons: Are they really ready to give up on Lee? Is Jackson in NY a recipe for disaster? Are you really still reading this?

S. Jackson, A. Harrington

for

A. Daniels, N. Young, A. Blatche, E. Thomas, 1st Rnd pick (maybe)

For GSW

Pros: Can you say youth movement? Al has reportedly quietly asked for a trade already so it would make sense to move them together if possible. Daniels would play well alongside Monta with his ability to run the offense and guard the opposing SG and be a positive veteran presence on the team. Young is an exciting young player who would fit in well in Nellie-ball and score in bunches. Blatche is a long athletic forward oozing with potential and is locked up for a few years at a very reasonable price. Thomas writes poetry and is politically active... yeah that's about it.

Cons: Well this would seal the deal. No playoffs. Definitely a step back with some hope for the future. Nick Young might not make a whole lot of sense next to Monta long-term in that they are both undersized SG's at this point in their career. We are giving up the two best players in the trade, and under normal circumstances you never want to do that.

For the Wiz

Pros: Hey, a line-up of Arenas, Jackson, Butler, Jamison, Anyone, with Harrington as a 6th man sounds pretty potent to me. They could win a lot of games with those guys. They get rid of Thomas' contract.

Cons: Are there enough shots to go around? Are they willing to part with their youth to commit to this line-up?

Conclusion

Well, after taking a look at some possibilities that might still be on the table if Jackson becomes a problem, I'm hoping even more that this is a non-issue. We are already on shaky ground and being forced into a trade this season could spell disaster. Let me make it clear that Jackson doesn't really have any leverage here beyond becoming a malcontent, but the fact that he might not be a part of Mullin's long-term plans might also compel him to trade him now while he is coming off of a career year (mostly thanks to high MPG and a ton of FGA's). Also, I can't believe that I wrote this much about such a vague hypothetical topic. Dang, I'm ready for training camp.

Questions:

What do you guys think we could get back for Jackson if Mullin decides to make a move this year?

Does this situation scare you?

Did I really just spend that much time writing about something that will probably never happen? Should I go to bed now?

Here is a little clip to help those of us who haven't seen much of this guy.

olympicmike — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:35:10 -0000

Here is a little clip to help those of us who haven't seen much of this guy.

I know this is kind of old but, does it strike anyone else that KG might be a little...

olympicmike — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:21:19 -0000

I know this is kind of old but, does it strike anyone else that KG might be a little crazy?

Emotion and passion are one thing but this guy strikes me as a little unbalanced (or possibly under the influence?). I love his intensity on the court but every time I see an interview with him I get the same feeling as when a slightly incoherent homeless person decides to strike up a conversation with you on the street. You know, just a little uneasy, like he might snap at any moment. =P

Is it wrong that as a Warriors fan I am more comfortable in the lottery than in the playoffs? It's...

olympicmike — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 05:36:14 -0000

Is it wrong that as a Warriors fan I am more comfortable in the lottery than in the playoffs? It's a sickness... or maybe just a way of coping.

CBA Help: TPE Questions

olympicmike — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:01:20 -0000

Hey guys, I'm sorry to say you won't find any of my sparkling basketball analysis (haha) in this diary. Instead I hope to clear up something which has been bothering me for a while...

The much talked about but seldom understood Traded Player Exception!

Yay! This should be mildly more fun than beating my head against my desk!

OK, first of all I finally sucked it up and did a little research to better understand this exception. If you're interested I would check out Larry Coon's FAQ. In fact to get specific this part and this part are what we are talking about here.

Well we have all heard "you can't combine the TPE with outgoing players in a trade". I have read this and typed it quite a few times on this site. Well If I'm reading Mr. Coon's very insightful FAQ correctly this is not entirely true.

After reading this the impression I come away with is that it is in fact acceptable to combine players with the TPE so long as the player coming back does not have a salary greater than the total value of your TPE.

Is this in fact the case?

If so that would open up a myriad of trade possibilities (particularly involving Monta, a valuable player with a low salary).

Let me clarify by giving some examples of what would be legal and illegal (if my interpretation is correct):

Legal:
Miami
J-Will 8.9 mil

GSW
POB 2.2 mil
TPE (9.9 mil max value)

We would get J-Will and retain 3.2 mil of our TPE.
Miami would receive POB and a 6.7 mil TPE of their own (which would expire a year after this trade was made).
The Key here is that J-Will's contract is less than or equal to our TPE.

Illegal
Miami
Shaq 20 mil

GSW
Al Harrington 8.4 mil
Andris Biedrins 2.6 mil
11 mil total salary + TPE 9.9 mil (max value)

We are not allowed to use the TPE to fill the gap for a player making more than 9.9 mil.

This all may be incredibly boring to some but if this is correct it could open up some interesting possibilities.

Say, for instance, Gerald Wallace becomes available at the deadline and for whatever reason they would like Monta to come over and take all J-Rich's minutes. We should be able to make this trade:

Wallace 9.5 mil

for

Monta 0.7 mil
+TPE 9.9 mil (max value)

Yeah, I know it's not realistic but that's not the point.

The point here is if someone becomes available who makes 9.9 mil or less we could offer players up to that amount without worrying about matching salaries exactly. We could offer a player and salary relief in the same deal. Basically it would make it a lot easier to deal Monta (something I do not want to do) because we could basically give a team the cap relief to re-sign him.

So here is my call to the CBA experts (JAE). Am I reading this correctly? If not please clear up the confusion once and for all.

Tyrus Thomas Available?

olympicmike — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:47:21 -0000

It seems that according to ESPN's Ric Bucher the Bulls have made Ty Thomas "available". This is a guy that many of us here have drooled over from time to time, but it seems that he has fallen out of favor in Chicago as he continues to fall short of expectations.

My questions to you are:

1. Will Tyrus ever live up to his sky high potential, and could Nellie be the man who holds the key?

2. What would you be willing to give up to get him?

Have fun...
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/trademachine

BTW I found the story on RealGM but I couldn't get the direct link to work, so if anyone has a link to the story it would be greatly appreciated.

Team Defense: Dazed and Confused

olympicmike — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 20:32:31 -0000

This is not another panic diary =P. I just wanted to bring up something which is getting a little overlooked (by some). Our team D is a mess.

Hey, I don't pretend to understand all the subtleties of our team defensive scheme, but it's pretty clear to me that the boys on the floor probably don't either. I'm not saying this to bash the team or call players out, this is actually a little encouraging to me because I think it will improve ever the course of te season. With Jackson out (our biggest defensive leader on the court) there seems to be a lot of confusion and missed assignments.

I think this a big cause of our offensive problems as well. You guys all remember last year. I've seen a lot of guys complaining about how we aren't getting out on the break enough, and I think it's pretty clear it's because we aren't forcing enough turnovers. What we are doing is getting caught out of position with slow feet and reaching like crazy to rack up tons of fouls and wreck the pace and flow of the game.

If we are going to be successful with our small line-up and -18 rebound differential we need to be forcing mass amounts of turnovers and blocking shots at a near league leading clip. And we somehow need to do this without fouling or turning the ball over ourselves.

Can we do this? Dang, I hope so.
Lets give these guys the benefit of the doubt for now. I'm thinking that as the season moves forward, Jack comes back, and Nellie gets his line-up/rotation sorted out this will improve. For now it's definitely something to keep an eye on.

Oh yeah, Check out the poll.

Poll

What is our biggest problem so far?

Baron's shot selection

4 votes

Rebounding

11 votes

Starting Line-up

3 votes

Jackson's suspension

13 votes

T-Huds Hair

10 votes

Team Defense

28 votes

MP is braindead

3 votes

72 votes | Poll has closed

Sarunas: Stock Rising? (I hope)

olympicmike — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:54:23 -0000

Sarunas: Stock Rising?

A lot of attention has been paid to Marco and Andris playing in EuroBasket 07 but I wanted to share a little bit about our very own Sarunas Jasikevicius. Sarunas is actually the current EuroBasket 07 assist leader and has apparently been doing his best to prove his worth and re-assert himself as a dominant international player. Lets hope that NBA GMs are paying attention.

It's pretty clear and has been well documented that while having a nice skill-set Sarunas is a bad fit in our system. There has been some talk of a buyout recently to free him up to go back and play in Europe but the W's don't seem too interested and it looks like they are still holding out hope to use him (or his expiring contract) as a part of a deal in the future.

I have seen him play about as much as the rest of you and I have little doubt that he could be a very reliable back-up PG for the right team. He is excellent in the pick and roll and has a nice outside shot (especially when he gets enough minutes to get in rhythm) and shows great leadership on the floor in international play. Unfortunately he has little lateral quickness which makes him a liability on defense and he just can't keep up with an up-tempo team like the Warriors (not to mention his poor judgment on the fast-break, a stark contrast to his exceptional judgment in pick and roll play).

So I wanted to ask you all this:

What team do you think Sarunas would be most effective playing for?

Probably a team which plays at a slower tempo and features a lot of pick and roll. He would be good playing along side a low post threat because of his catch and shoot skills. Utah, San Antonio and NY come to mind but I'll leave that up to you. If your bored (like I am) and tired of the lack of Dubs info, see what kind of possible trades you can come up with and tell us why you think it would work (for both teams).

I also wanted to pass along an interesting article on him that I found on the EuroBasket 07 website.

http://www.eurobasket2007.org/en/coid_s7ykUuGHIss7dWa5pV9YD0.articleMode_on.html

Some of my personal favorite parts:

Sarunas is one of the best players in Europe, in my mind, and in the world. He did not have a special season in Indiana (and Golden State) in the NBA. But he's a special player, and every coach dreams about that kind of player. He can do anything," said Butautas, coaching Jasikevicius for the first time.

Even Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic was full of praise, saying: "He was just fantastic. When it was really a tough fight, he really found his holes and he was definitely the best player out there tonight."

The Bosnian also questioned why Jasikevicius hasn't been allowed to do more in the NBA, adding: "He showed tonight that American coaches don't understand basketball. They're not able to understand him."

"I'm happy to be back in business, happy to play for something meaningful. I missed that. In the NBA, you're on the road so much and wait for the end of the season to come," he said.

Lets all hope Sarunas has a MONSTER EuroBasket 07, the better he plays the more we can get for him. lol.

===========================================

[Moderator's Note, by OptionZero:]

Unnecessary comments deleted, trying to get this focused on Sarunas. Let's put all the Saras related stuff here, no need for new diaries on the subject.