SB Nation User Blog: pookeyguru

The Clippers found out yesterday that they'll be without Eric Gordon for at least 10 days, and...

pookeyguru — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:08:23 -0000

The Clippers found out yesterday that they'll be without Eric Gordon for at least 10 days, and tonight they'll get another taste of what life without EJ is like. The first time was not a lot of fun. The Clippers have lots of experience playing without key players the last few years, but of course that's not particularly unusual in the NBA. If Houston can win games while missing a couple of guys making $20M each, shouldn't the Clippers be able to win while missing a couple of 20 year old kids? Heck, Sacramento is winning without Kevin Martin, and he's all they had.

Steve Perrin with the ultimate insult of our Baby Royals

Donte to JT lob at the end of 3rd qtr.

pookeyguru — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:07:44 -0000

Donte to JT lob at the end of 3rd qtr.

That's more than a lineup (click on the link to see what lineup's were used--PG) per minute down...

pookeyguru — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:45:11 -0000

That's more than a lineup (click on the link to see what lineup's were used--PG) per minute down the stretch and more than a substitution per minute as well. Indeed, in just those final six minutes, Nate McMillan made a total of 9 substitutions. He used LaMarcus Aldridge at both the 4 and the 5. He used Travis Outlaw at both the 3 and the 4. He went with a small trio of guards and a big trio of guards.

So how did all the mixing and matching and micromanaging play out? With six minutes to go, the Hawks were leading by 6 points: 86 to 80. When the final horn sounded? The Hawks were leading by 6 points: 97 to 91.

Ben Golliver of Blazers Edge on the fabulous usage of 7 different lineup's used down the stretch for the Blazers last night.

Sac-Memphis post game thread

pookeyguru — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:53:12 -0000

Sac-Memphis post game thread

"It is just a sport,'' he (Haddadi) said. "I don't know what happened with the two countries. I...

pookeyguru — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:37:20 -0000

"It is just a sport,'' he (Haddadi) said. "I don't know what happened with the two countries. I don't care. I just do my job. I don't think about politics ... I do not think what the two positions of Iran and Israel is.''

But Haddadi realizes the high-profile position he is in as an NBA player. In order to make a statement that this is indeed just sport, he was asked if he would shake Casspi's hand before the game.

"Why not? Which is his number? Haddadi said of Casspi, who wears No. 18. "I think it could be good (to make a positive statement).''

With the Kings not practicing Sunday, Casspi was unavailable for comment. However, he was asked last July at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas about the possibility of facing Haddadi this season.

"It's not a problem for me,'' said Casspi, whose Kings and Haddadi's Grizzlies both were in the summer league but did not play. "I don't know about him.''

Welcome to the NBA: Representing opportunity for peace on a basketball court. Via the always illustrious Chris Tomasson of Fanhouse.

Via Latin D of the almighty Spurs blog Pounding the Rock. UPDATE: Apparently this originally came...

pookeyguru — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:17:43 -0000

Via Latin D of the almighty Spurs blog Pounding the Rock. UPDATE: Apparently this originally came from Amick's twitter.

Since I’ve seen it pop up a couple of places, I figured I’d offer a link to the brief study I did la...

pookeyguru — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:14 -0000

Since I’ve seen it pop up a couple of places, I figured I’d offer a link to the brief study I did last year looking at what preseason stats can tell us about how players will perform during the regular season. (Also included are links to some of the studies done on preseason team performance.) The conclusion: They mean more than you might think, but are limited by the small sample size, making shooting percentages potentially misleading.

Kevin Pelton on the usefulness of pre-season stats. H/T to Eddy Rivera of 3QC for posting this.

No Pre-Season coverage for the Blazers either

pookeyguru — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:53:14 -0000

No Pre-Season coverage for the Blazers either

So if you were hoping to catch this game over the internets, you can think again.

UPDATE: Amick has a post on the Bee blog that basically shows it's not just Sacramento or Portland.

The additions of Jefferson and McDyess pushed the Spurs well over the tax limit (almost $9 million,...

pookeyguru — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:50:13 -0000

The additions of Jefferson and McDyess pushed the Spurs well over the tax limit (almost $9 million, according to one account) and required some arm-twisting of longtime owner Peter Holt.

"We told him that if we were going to compete, we had to go over the [tax threshold]. He did not like that answer,’’ Popovich said. "But he also said, ‘I don’t like it, but I understand it, so go out and do what you need to do.’ ’’

Peter May, of the Boston Globe, on why the Spurs went into the luxury tax (me thinks this is downright obvious as Pop says--and as some of you know, I'm not a Spurs fan)

Joe Smith signs with the Hawks

pookeyguru — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:48:51 -0000

Joe Smith signs with the Hawks

So much for the Kings having a shot at Easy Livin' Joe.