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July 6, 2010 ...The NBA Summer League in Orlando started play yesterday. There are eight teams represented in the games being shown live on NBA-TV. ...The Player of the Day for day one was Jrue Holiday who led his Summer Sixers past New Jersey 84-74 in the nightcap game. Holiday played the Point Guard position well—scoring 23 points on 8-13 FG, with eight assists and only two turnovers. ...Our “All Day One Orlando Summer League Team” (their game efficiency rating). ...PG - Holiday - PHI. .750, SG - Lance Stephenson - IND .733, SF - Evan Turner - PHI .778,  PF - Luke Harangody - BOS. .768 , C - James Augustine - UTA .905. ...Bench: Guards: Terrence Williams - NJ .636, Jerome Randle - ORL .636, James Harden - OKC .571. Forwards - Gordon Hayward - UTA .615, Magnum Rolle - IND .684, Jeff Adrien - ORL .667. Center: Byron Mullens - OKC .697.

 

July 1, 2010 ...Lost in all the talk about where Lebron James may wind up is one other pertinent question. What position does he play? I’m sure you are like, “Duh. Small Forward, dude.” Not so fast Spicoli. Lebron has spent the majority of his career as a SF but in a routine check of his birthdate on his NBA.com player profile I noticed something. King James’ three point percentage for his career is just .329. The last two seasons he knocked in .344 and .333 of his deep shots. Why is that news or noteworthy? We have long believed over here that a crucial element to offensive balance in the NBA is having a THREE man (SF) that can stretch the defense with accurate three-point shooting. Our “rule” is that, among other criteria, an effective SF should shoot 33% from long range at minimum. Lebron is clearly right on that borderline—hitting the 33% exactly this last season, but being slightly below the cut off point for his career. Obviously - Lebron James playing ANY position on a basketball team would benefit a squad. But we are talking about the NBA, where history has proven that  “inches, fractions and angles matter”. Perhaps those “inches” are a significant factor in why the NBA’s most talented player is still looking for his first championship ring. We humbly suggest that perhaps Lebron would be more useful to the overall balance of a team if he were playing Point Guard. Why? The absence of James at SF would allow his team to plop a legit, NBA accurate, three-point shooter on the floor. Suddenly - whatever team James is on has a stretched floor that would allow him more room to operate off-the dribble, where he is most dangerous. Overall team size would increase - which would almost certainly lead to a higher rebounding percentage. Skeptical of Lebron as a Point Guard? Check the data. Lebron is so skilled that his assist-to-turnover ratio was 2.49 to 1. That is a higher and better ratio than what was posted in the regular season by Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Ty Lawson, Earl Watson, and a slough of other players known as pure Point Guards.  Defensively -  James would overmatch 99.9% of his opponents. I believe even the quickest little PG’s would not bother Lebron that much. He is an elite athlete himself, and even he if was beaten—we all know that he recovers faster and more strongly than any defender in the NBA. I don’t see a downside to Lebron James being a Point Guard full time. Not only do I not see a downside. I actually think it may be the his best chance to win it all.

 

June 30, 2010 ...In my morning Sacramento Bee I read that the Kings may be interested in the following four free agents: Steve Blake, Anthony Morrow, J.J. Redick, and Nate Robinson. While I appreciate Blake’s enthusiasm and professionalism, I hope to heck that he is NOT a guy the Kings sign. Blake is not efficient. Never has been. He was 65th among PG’s in 2009-10. He is a decent three point shooter  (although his shot is a line drive). On the positive, he brings it on every possession. But so do about ten guys at the local Y. Blake simply does not have the God given athletic ability to ever be more than a 11th or 12th man on a good team. If a team thinking of signing Blake believes that he is somehow going to become more athletic as he ages - they are not thinking correctly. While not as old as Andres Nocioni, Blake is 30. He is about to enter that stage where nothing gets better athletically. In fact, a slight reversal in athleticism can be expected—which for a guy already limited is a horrible thing. ...Redick is a better player than Blake but he too is limited athletically. J.J. improved to .403 EFR in 2009-10. That said, .403 is still just the efficiency rating you find in a back-up. Redick is a more natural TWO guard than a PG although his assist-to-turnover ratio suggests he could play PG offensively. At age 26, Redick’s .403 EFR ranked 44th in the NBA at SG, and 46th at PG last season. Blake, in my opinion, is the superior defender but neither player strikes in any fear in an opponent. ...Morrow digressed from his rookie campaign but he still ranked higher than Blake and Redick. Morrow (24) is a GREAT shooter but he doesn’t do much else. His EFR of .432 was 31st ranked among Shooting Guards in `09-10. …”Little Nate” Robinson would easily be our choice among the four players mentioned. He is an NBA caliber athlete on both offense AND defense. His hyper-athletic, hyperactive game has yet to reach its full potential. He has room to grow. He is dynamic. Fans love him. He has a huge heart. He never takes a play off.  And most importantly—the data supports every claim. There are no excuses to be made with signing 26 year-old Nate Robinson. At .471 EFR—Robinson rated 23rd at Point Guard, suggesting he is a starter-type talent in the NBA. ...As a Kings fan - I am begging, please do not sign Steve Blake. I could live with Redick. I would be okay with  Morrow.  But Nate Robinson is clearly the best choice here.