OK, so we discussed draft strategies and the folly of overreacting to Two DNPCDs to start the season in our last update. Now let's discuss another aspect of your 30 week odyssey into Basketball Geekdom; namely, Trades. I'm not talking about the fantasy trades that only affect how well your opposition is doing relative to your own team. I'm talking about real-world, NBA-League trades. Sometimes, those trades can give a player you have a sudden, unexpected fantasy boost, sometimes, your player ends up losing out. For instance, let's say you have Allen Iverson and he plays for... I don't know, let's say the Nuggets. But then, he gets traded to... just for the sake of argument, let's say he gets traded to the Detroit F'ing PISTONS! Well, then you might see his stats take a hit from a trade like that. Don't worry though, it shouldn't be anything drastic. He shouldn't go from top 5 in scoring with 7+ assists to 17 points and 3 assists. Right? I'm going to cry.
OK, so I'm back. Let's talk about the other side of these NBA Trades. Sometimes, you look at the NBA and there are trades that seem so obvious at the time that they're made that you just ask yourself "Why didn't the Commish (AKA the accomplice) just mandate this one at the beginning of the season?" Al Harrington got traded to New York for Jamaal Crawford. How perfect is that!?!?! This trade takes one valuable fantasy player and creates 3 high-quality fantasy players with a single swipe of the pen. Crawford is a good player. But he's no All Star. He doesn't have the personality or the game to Rule a city like New York. But in Golden State, where they sell out 50 loss teams and stand up rooting like it's the final four? He will be treated like a king. The fact that he shoots too often and doesn't really give your team a chance to win won't matter, which means that Don Nelson will be free to play him at the 3 alongside Stephen Jackson with both of them jacking up half-court fallaway threes with two guys on them. Throw Monta Ellis in the mix, driving into two seven footers and just throwing it off the back-board a la Dwayne Wade, but without the accuracy or the foul calls... a la Flip Murray... Well, Let's just call this team the "7 passes or less" era for Golden State. If the guards make more than 20 passes in a game, everyone in attendance gets a free Chalupa from Taco Bell!!!
Look at New York's end of the Deal, though. Not only do you get a shooting "big-man" to go alongside David Lee, but you free up time on the floor (and thus, shot attempts) for Nate Robinson. Harrington was not happy in Golden State for whatever reason. Now he's going to the only other Coach in the league that will absolutely correctly utilize his exact offensive skill set while gleefully ignoring his glaring defensive deficiencies (read: Steve Nash, 2-time MVP, 438th out of 367 in Defensive Player of the year voting).
Interesting side note here: The two best offensive head coaches, who play nearly the exact same style of basketball made a trade involving players who were built and trained to only play in that type of system. This is like the Rockets trading Shane Battier for Bruce Bowen. It's a once-every-ten-seasons trade that makes perfect sense for every single person involved. From the parties traded, to the other members of the teams they were traded to/from, the coaches and even for the franchises and the fans. And speaking of those coaches, everyone knows that Nelson practically invented NBA Small Ball. I mean, we call it "Nellie-Ball" for defense' sake. But I think D'Antoni has perfected it. Nelson said that he could win without defense, as long as his players could rebound, run fast and shoot. And he was right. But D'Antoni had this crazy idea that his players should also be able to pass to the open man so that guy could take the shot. Simple, obvious, should have been done from the start. Just like this trade.
The NBA: Where "Why didn't I think of that?" Happens
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
RIP Pete Newell
Pete Newell passed away today. For anyone who has enjoyed the game of basketball over the last 50 years, and especially if you, like I, have enjoyed watching the great post-players of the last half-century, then you understand why I couldn't sleep tonight without mentioning coach Newell first in this space. He has influenced nearly every post-player in the world and EVERY coach who teaches Low Post/High Post offense or defense on the West Coast.
I first learned about Pete Newell through his Big Man Camps because my favorite team, The Lakers, employs one of the longest tenured coaches for the Camp (Stu Lantz) as a color-commentator. Through his tutelage, and his philosophies on Post play and "Big-Man" play, some of the most famous and successful players have increased their skill level and overall knowledge of the game. Coaches the world over teach his techniques to their players because he his nuanced, results-oriented training approach has produced a list of basketball legends who quickly credit Pete Newell with helping them to improve their game as long as any coach you can name: Bobby Knight, Coach K, John Wooden... Pete Newell.
Here's a few of the names on that list that I can think of right now:
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Jack Sikma
Bill Walton
Shaquille O'Neal
Alonzo Mourning
Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing
David Robinson
Stu Lantz
Tim Duncan
Andrew Bogut
Shareef Abdur-Raheem
Derick Coleman
and plenty of others
A moment of silnce for Pete Newell:
...
...
...
...
I first learned about Pete Newell through his Big Man Camps because my favorite team, The Lakers, employs one of the longest tenured coaches for the Camp (Stu Lantz) as a color-commentator. Through his tutelage, and his philosophies on Post play and "Big-Man" play, some of the most famous and successful players have increased their skill level and overall knowledge of the game. Coaches the world over teach his techniques to their players because he his nuanced, results-oriented training approach has produced a list of basketball legends who quickly credit Pete Newell with helping them to improve their game as long as any coach you can name: Bobby Knight, Coach K, John Wooden... Pete Newell.
Here's a few of the names on that list that I can think of right now:
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Jack Sikma
Bill Walton
Shaquille O'Neal
Alonzo Mourning
Hakeem Olajuwon
Moses Malone
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing
David Robinson
Stu Lantz
Tim Duncan
Andrew Bogut
Shareef Abdur-Raheem
Derick Coleman
and plenty of others
A moment of silnce for Pete Newell:
...
...
...
...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Fantasy Basketball Update #2 (Damn You Scott Skiles!!!)
OK, so a month ago, I went on and on about how much energy we put into something with the word "Fantasy" in its title. For me, at least, it has paid off. In the opening week, I won in all 5 of my Fantasy leagues. in 3 head to head match ups, I cam out on top and in two Rotisserie Leagues I was number 1. This, depite starting Ramon Sessions in Week 1 and Scott Skiles Vowing to forget that he exists and leave him on the end of the bench, as well as starting Deron Williams on the Same Fantasy team in a format that counts totals, not averages.
Well, this brings me to my real point here. If you are so damn stuck on Defense that you are willing to allow Offense to go by the wayside for FOUR SEASONS in Chicago; if you refuse to play players who don't earn their minutes defensively; if you claim to be a "True student of the game" who has his team playing a certain way and doesn't want to change because of popular opinion; and if these oh-so-strong core values of your are so important that you would basically flip off a guy who's being paid millions of dollars by your employer to do a job that you're not letting him do, just because he doesn't do it exactly like you think he should; then stick to your F'ing guns!!!!
Ramon Sessions got two DNP-CDs in his first two games this year, despite being the best Point guard on the team presumeably because he doesn't play defense. Now I could understand this if Joe Dumars was your other Point Guard. Or even Derek Fisher. But he sat Ramon Sessions for the "Defensive Juggernaut" known as Luke Ridnour. Just to put that in perspective, imagine parking your Lamborghini for your Pinto because the Lambo doesn't have any cup-holders built into it... Only, your Pinto's cup holders are too small to hold your cups. So your coffee keeps spilling into your lap and burning your right leg. Now imagine that the guy who sold you the Pinto told you before you bought it "Oh, don't try to use the cup holders. I know it says that it has cup holders, but they don't work. Trust me. I've tried it. It just won't work", and you still do it anyway.
That's what Scott Skiles did for the first few games causing me to say "You know what? Even though I spent more hours than Ramon Sessions' stalkers did keeping up with his movements, workouts and medical reports this summer. I knew that Skiles was more of a defensive-minded coach, but I didn't think he was insane. Clearly, he is insane and he's not going to play his best lineup because of a tiny little issue that he has. One that's not even resolved by playing the alternative. It's a lost cause, I shouldn't have drafted him in the Sixth Round. I'm going to drop him and pick up Wilson Chandler (who I'm not mad I picked up at all).
And, of course, as soon as offered to wash the Pinto, the Lamborghini comes out of the garage. And someone else swoops in to take him. Damnit! Damnit, Damnit, DAMNIT, Scott Skiles!!! A Pox on your house for further ruining a fantasy basketball team that already included injured superstars Deron Williams and Josh Smith. A Pox, I say!
Well, this brings me to my real point here. If you are so damn stuck on Defense that you are willing to allow Offense to go by the wayside for FOUR SEASONS in Chicago; if you refuse to play players who don't earn their minutes defensively; if you claim to be a "True student of the game" who has his team playing a certain way and doesn't want to change because of popular opinion; and if these oh-so-strong core values of your are so important that you would basically flip off a guy who's being paid millions of dollars by your employer to do a job that you're not letting him do, just because he doesn't do it exactly like you think he should; then stick to your F'ing guns!!!!
Ramon Sessions got two DNP-CDs in his first two games this year, despite being the best Point guard on the team presumeably because he doesn't play defense. Now I could understand this if Joe Dumars was your other Point Guard. Or even Derek Fisher. But he sat Ramon Sessions for the "Defensive Juggernaut" known as Luke Ridnour. Just to put that in perspective, imagine parking your Lamborghini for your Pinto because the Lambo doesn't have any cup-holders built into it... Only, your Pinto's cup holders are too small to hold your cups. So your coffee keeps spilling into your lap and burning your right leg. Now imagine that the guy who sold you the Pinto told you before you bought it "Oh, don't try to use the cup holders. I know it says that it has cup holders, but they don't work. Trust me. I've tried it. It just won't work", and you still do it anyway.
That's what Scott Skiles did for the first few games causing me to say "You know what? Even though I spent more hours than Ramon Sessions' stalkers did keeping up with his movements, workouts and medical reports this summer. I knew that Skiles was more of a defensive-minded coach, but I didn't think he was insane. Clearly, he is insane and he's not going to play his best lineup because of a tiny little issue that he has. One that's not even resolved by playing the alternative. It's a lost cause, I shouldn't have drafted him in the Sixth Round. I'm going to drop him and pick up Wilson Chandler (who I'm not mad I picked up at all).
And, of course, as soon as offered to wash the Pinto, the Lamborghini comes out of the garage. And someone else swoops in to take him. Damnit! Damnit, Damnit, DAMNIT, Scott Skiles!!! A Pox on your house for further ruining a fantasy basketball team that already included injured superstars Deron Williams and Josh Smith. A Pox, I say!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Really? Mike D'Antoni Isn't The Early Favorite For Coach Of The Year?
OK, so someone said to me a few months ago "Why do you even need a coach in professional sports? If they're being paid that much money, shouldn't they just be able to play?" Well, here is the difference that a coach can make. The Knicks come back with essentially the same team they had last year, and not only do they have a winning record (Anyone can have a winning record 8 games into the season) but they actually look good doing it. They have an offensive system that they all seem to believe in and D'Antoni is clearly a master at casting the right actors as the right characters in his plays (or lack-thereof). It's amazing what they're doing so far and I, for one, hope it continues. It's always nice to see the Knicks in the Playoffs because there is NO better atmosphere for a sporting event than MSG in May... except maybe MSG in June. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The NBA: Where "Injuries" Happens
Greg Oden was the Number one pick in the draft. A year removed from high school, he was given the hopes of a franchise, along with a multi-million dollar contract and a plenty of endorsements. He then had micro-fracture surgery on his knee and it was declared that he would not play for at least a year.
So we waited. We waited for an entire year for him to make his debut. And on the eve of his return, the newspapers were littered with stories pitting him against Andrew Bynum - who had taken 8 months to come back from his own knee injury, four years after being drafted at 17 years old. The Matchup of 7'0", 285 pound, young centers could not be ignored. It was billed as everything from Olajuwon Vs. Robinson to Bush Vs. Ahmadinejad... And then, he got injured in the second play of the game. And then, yesterday, Andrew Bynum was hurt IN PRACTICE(!!!)
Deron Williams, Micheal Redd, Monta Ellis, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Manu Ginobili, and of course Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, when they get injured around 45-60 games from now. The List of Big-Name Starters (and Manu Ginobili) getting hurt to start this NBA Season is enough to drive a guy away. I'm almost afraid to ask who's going down next. It just goes to show you exactly why people involved with teams always throw that little caveat in there when talking about their hopes for the season ("We could go all the way, barring any serious injury").
It's been a minute since I actually posted ANYTHING. I wanted to wait until the election was over (it's over for me, I voted this morning after waiting in line for over two hours) before I posted anything. Politics are important in this country, people. More important that sports (even basketball?). If you haven't voted yet tonight, and still can (HI, CA, OR, WA, AZ, AK, etc), I Urge you to hurry out to your polling place and do it. It's one of the most powerful decisions you'll make all year, and it only takes the stroke of a pen or the push of a button... or the touch of a screen or the depression of chad... Look, just vote, OK!!! And make your vote Count.
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: We didn't even get out of the week before another star player went down. Josh Smith will likely be out for about a month, thus ruining my fantasy league in which I picked up Deron Williams and Josh Smith 12th and 13th (Yeah, I picked last in my draft).
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: As if to prove my point, today shortly after Josh Smith's ankle fell off, Kirk Hinrich suffered a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament because every team is trying to have at least one injured player before the week is out. Thankfully, for the Lakers, that one player is Sun Yue, who got Mono a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE [Sunday, November 16th, 2008]: OK, so get this. For the last four years, T.J. Ford has been regarded as a good player who can change a game wiht his speed, passing and ballhandling ability, but one who just can't stay healthy. Last year, when he inevitably missed half of the season, his backup played better than he did and the team was better too. so this summer the Raptors traded Ford away to clear room for Jose Calderon to take over the starting position because you can't ever guess whether or not Ford will be in the lineup from one game to the next. Well, of course, Jose Calderon was held out of today's game and it's unsure how many games he will miss because of this injury. Meanwhile, TJ? Healthy as an ox. Ah, the NBA. "Where Irony Happens"
So we waited. We waited for an entire year for him to make his debut. And on the eve of his return, the newspapers were littered with stories pitting him against Andrew Bynum - who had taken 8 months to come back from his own knee injury, four years after being drafted at 17 years old. The Matchup of 7'0", 285 pound, young centers could not be ignored. It was billed as everything from Olajuwon Vs. Robinson to Bush Vs. Ahmadinejad... And then, he got injured in the second play of the game. And then, yesterday, Andrew Bynum was hurt IN PRACTICE(!!!)
Deron Williams, Micheal Redd, Monta Ellis, Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Manu Ginobili, and of course Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, when they get injured around 45-60 games from now. The List of Big-Name Starters (and Manu Ginobili) getting hurt to start this NBA Season is enough to drive a guy away. I'm almost afraid to ask who's going down next. It just goes to show you exactly why people involved with teams always throw that little caveat in there when talking about their hopes for the season ("We could go all the way, barring any serious injury").
It's been a minute since I actually posted ANYTHING. I wanted to wait until the election was over (it's over for me, I voted this morning after waiting in line for over two hours) before I posted anything. Politics are important in this country, people. More important that sports (even basketball?). If you haven't voted yet tonight, and still can (HI, CA, OR, WA, AZ, AK, etc), I Urge you to hurry out to your polling place and do it. It's one of the most powerful decisions you'll make all year, and it only takes the stroke of a pen or the push of a button... or the touch of a screen or the depression of chad... Look, just vote, OK!!! And make your vote Count.
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: We didn't even get out of the week before another star player went down. Josh Smith will likely be out for about a month, thus ruining my fantasy league in which I picked up Deron Williams and Josh Smith 12th and 13th (Yeah, I picked last in my draft).
UPDATE [Friday, November 7th, 2008]: As if to prove my point, today shortly after Josh Smith's ankle fell off, Kirk Hinrich suffered a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament because every team is trying to have at least one injured player before the week is out. Thankfully, for the Lakers, that one player is Sun Yue, who got Mono a couple of weeks ago.
UPDATE [Sunday, November 16th, 2008]: OK, so get this. For the last four years, T.J. Ford has been regarded as a good player who can change a game wiht his speed, passing and ballhandling ability, but one who just can't stay healthy. Last year, when he inevitably missed half of the season, his backup played better than he did and the team was better too. so this summer the Raptors traded Ford away to clear room for Jose Calderon to take over the starting position because you can't ever guess whether or not Ford will be in the lineup from one game to the next. Well, of course, Jose Calderon was held out of today's game and it's unsure how many games he will miss because of this injury. Meanwhile, TJ? Healthy as an ox. Ah, the NBA. "Where Irony Happens"
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