BasslineSpin.com

 

December 7, 2009 ...Who is playing at the highest efficiency in the East and West? These guys are the ones playing like All-Stars: EAST; Guards - Dwyane Wade .594, Rajon Rondo .566, Danny Grainger .560, Paul Pierce .545. Forwards - Lebron James .799, Chris Bosh .779, David Lee .695, Kevin Garnett .641, Ersan Ilyasova (wow!) .625. Centers - Dwight Howard .724, Al Horford .617, Joakim Noah .610. WEST; Guards - Chris Paul .870 (highest EFR in the NBA), Kobe Bryant .694, Steve Nash .673, Kevin Durant .645. Forwards - Tim Duncan .820, Carlos Boozer .756, Carmelo Anthony .726, Dirk Nowitzki .713, Carl Landry .685. Centers - Greg Oden .741 (was on his way to being an All-Star), Andrew Bynum .664, Nene .663. Since Oden is hurt - let’s acknowledge Marcus Camby’s .661 EFR. ...We’ve been watching lots of college hoop. God bless the DVR! Evan Turner - the Ohio State kid who recently took a horrible spill and broke his second and third lumbar vertebrae, was easily one of my favorites in the NCAA.  Others that I am fond of so far include post man Ed Davis of North Carolina, and guard Terrico White of Ole Miss.

 

December 1, 2009 ...The Chicago Bulls are off to a terribly disappointing start. Understanding that they have played ten road games and only five at home - I still have to shake my head at Chicago’s 6-9 record. What is worse? The Eastern Conference is so bad that the Bulls putrid 6-9 mark would make them the eighth seed for the NBA Playoffs if the season ended today. Chicago ranks 27th in the Association in point differential (-6.2). ...In Oakland - Monta Ellis is in a groove. His first step is lethal. He scored a career high 45 points last night despite fouling out halfway through the fourth quarter. ...The Philadelphia 76’ers have lost seven in a row but they are still playing hard even though they are missing Marresse Speights and Lou Williams. ...How about your Charlotte Bobcats after the trade for Stephen Jackson? They have completely righted their sinking ship. The Bobcats are allowing a league-low 87.9 points per game and have yielded just 83.0 during their four game winning streak. ...Gilbert Arenas was held under ten points in consecutive games for the first time in seven years in the Wizards two most recent outings. Arenas and teammate Caron Butler have been having some issues but according to the Washington Post the two met and have “cleared the air”. 

 

All I know from where I watch in Rocklin, CA in high definition is that Arenas is not the same player I saw killing it in the preseason. Scientifically - his numbers are down a good .100 EFR points—mostly due to an overall lack of activity. He rarely rebounds and his field goal percentage over his partial 2008-09 and this season to-date, is a woeful 38%.

 

November 29, 2009 ...Josh Smith, a career 27% 3-pt FG shooter,  launched 87 three point shots last season and his EFR was down to a recent low of .498. This year through 16 games—the Hawks, modern-day human highlight reel, has jacked just two three pointers. By taking his game inside - Smith is rolling at a EFR of .676. ...To refresh your memory - we believe a player has to shoot 33% or better to earn a green light from deep. ...More proof of inside power being the way to win comes in the form of the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard. The Magic are 9-0 when their big Center takes 11 or more shots and 4-4 when he shoots it ten times or fewer.

 

November 28, 2009 ...As a watcher - I can look past poor grammar skills from commentators as long as the announcer committing murder of the English language is enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Steve Smith - of NBA TV butchers the spoken word nightly but overall I like him. He REALLY knows the NBA and his love for the game comes through the screen. He has fun and is never condescending. While I’m at it - Eric Snow is another former player that I enjoy listening to. Snow sometimes mumbles or speaks too quietly but other than that - you can tell that he is a likeable guy. ...Sean McDonough remains the best in the business at  TV college basketball play-by-play. I learn something new about the teams, and individuals each time he is behind the mic. I don’t know who was directing the Maui Invitational but whoever it was did a great job. The best directors in television actually listen to the announcers and follow their discussion with the appropriate “pictures” in support.

 

November 27, 2009 ...There are some players playing in the NBA today that really should be sent down to the D-League. Who? Glad you asked. How about Wayne Ellington? The Minnesota rookie is the lowest rated newcomer by the Efficiency Rating . When you combine summer play, preseason and the minutes he has logged to date this regular season—Ellington has only 16 free throw attempts in 434 minutes. To play the TWO spot in the NBA effectively you need to be a  “Scoring Guard”  - not just one that shoots jumpers.  Ellington’s EFR is .233 which would have ranked 88th out of 90 last season at that position. ...Who else among rooks should be D-League bound? Jermaine Taylor of the Rockets, Wesley Matthews of Utah, Taylor Griffin from Phoenix, and Danny Green in Cleveland would be a good place to start. Let’s add three more. Jeff Teague in Atlanta needs to learn shot selection. DaJuan Summers in Detroit and Earl Clark in Phoenix are two more that stink from an efficiency standpoint. ...Does a player’s EFR early always indicate what type of player he will become? NO. There are many cases where a player (especially a guard) struggles early in his career only to become a better, more productive and efficient player. Kevin Martin’s EFR in limited minutes as a first year player was low  enough to have me thinking he didn’t belong. Hard work, good coaching, and his natural scorer’s instincts took over and Martin is now among the top-ten at his position in the NBA. Donte Greene, who I’m not ready to completely sign off on - was the lowest rated (EFR) player at Small Forward at the end of last season. Clearly - he has improved. Greene—you may recall WAS sent down to the D-League last season.  Of course—there are more examples of guys with low EFR’s at the start of their career that never improve much. Antoine Wright comes to mind.  Quincy Douby, Fred Jones, Sasha Pavlovic, Erick Barkley and Luther Head fit the bill—plus a million more guys. Which brings me to this… Many guys labeled “defensive specialists” are not  really THAT much better than others defensively. They just are so bad on offense that  we call them “defensive specialists”.  The truth is - these guys KILL a team’s chances of winning. Trenton Hassell? The Nets have yet to win a game. It’s not all on Hassell, of course - but if you total the individual efficiency of the five playing the most minutes for New Jersey—not so coincidentally—that total will rank 30th in a 30-team league. ...The moral of the story? As always - efficient players give a team a chance to win. ...Tidbits: The Celtics are shooting 26% from beyond the arc over their last nine games after shooting 45% during their 6-0 start. ...There are only a few teams with reliable rotations in the NBA. The Celtics have one of them to date. Their starters have been the same in all 15 games.  Ditto the Oklahoma City Thunder.  ...Keep an eye on Thunder rookie Serge Ibaka who has shown signs of efficient play through his first 100 or so minutes in the big show.