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BasslineSpin.com October 9, 2007 ...Losing
weight is the deal right now for many NBA players hoping to have a better
season. Al Harrington is
down 20 lbs. in Oakland. Brad Miller lost
25 and Earl Watson is
slimmer after forsaking fast food. ...I attended the
Kings-Sonics
game tonight at ARCO Arena. It was the first NBA game for Kevin Durant—and the first NBA game coached by Reggie Theus. ...My varied observations… Robert Swift is heavy. He looked nothing like the
twiggy-kid that was drafted 12th in 2004. ...Durant was as advertised -
knocking down shots with his pure stroke. I will say again that what makes
him special is his combo of length, mobility,
and accurate shooting.
There ARE others with similar bodies but they don’t shoot the rock like
Durant does. He also is a better ball handler than most 6’9” guys. ...Orien Greene can help the Kings the way Randy Brown once did. Brown is now a Sac
assistant coach. Greene was disruptive defensively holding Durant and Delonte West in check. West was great in the first
half - showing me he will have to be a major part of new Seattle coach P.J. Carlesimo's game
plan. ...Johan Petro just
hasn’t developed the way I envisioned he would. His hands are poor. Chris Wilcox
looked heavier than normal but he was still effective. ...Kevin Martin was great for the Kings. He snookered
Durant on two back-door cuts that would have made
Pete Carril proud.
Ron Artest
looked sharp and ready to ball. In a
very similar bruising way - Damien Wilkins played
well. ...John Salmons looked
to be in mid-season form. I appreciate the way he goes to the rim and squares
himself up to convert. ...Mikki Moore was
horrid for the Kings. He turned it over five times and looked completely lost
offensively. I am not making any long-term determinations here—I am simply
saying Moore looked like pooh TONIGHT. ...Quincy Douby was
noticeably more comfortable on the floor. ...The Sonics played without Kurt Thomas, and Wally Szczerbiak. ...Sac balled without Francisco Garcia, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Also missed… Sara, my former favorite Kings dancer, is not on the
team this year. October 8, 2007 ...What
kind of deal is it that there are three NBA preseason games tonight and not
one of `em is on TV? My guess is that programmers are scared of Monday Night
Football. America is nutso for football and going against the ESPN show would
be ratings suicide. ...For giggles - how many guys that played in all 82
regular season games in 2000-01 are still playing in the NBA? There were 45
guys that were ‘82 gamers’ in 2000-01 and now those left in the show are
these 20: Paul Pierce, Bruce Bowen, Aaron
Williams, Ray Allen, Jason Terry, Andre Miller, Antawn Jamison, Michael
Finley, Baron Davis(!), Dirk Nowitzki, Mike Bibby, James Posey, Damon
Stoudamire, Wally Sczcerbiak, Lindsey Hunter, Mike Miller, Derek Anderson,
Tim Duncan, David Wesley, and Jacque Vaughn. ...Of the above—you may have
noticed only one international player. A trend? Now I am curious. How about
those that played all 82 in 2001-02? How many of those cats are still in the
NBA? And is the trend toward American players being the guys playing all the
games? Well - in 2001-02, 42 players played in every regular season game.
Those still in the NBA are: Bo Outlaw, Devean George, Hunter, Szczerbiak, Jason Kidd, Darrell Armstrong, Steve Nash, Jamison, Antonio Daniels, Pau Gasol, Williams, Pierce, Ricky Davis, Darius Miles, Kurt Thomas, Nazr Mohammed, Vaughn, Jamaal Magliore, Malik Rose, Troy Murphy, Andrei Kirilenko, Stephon Marbury, Jeff Foster, Davis (!!!), Duncan, and Chauncey Billups. Of the 26 players still in the
league who played all 82 in 2001-02 only two (7%) (Gasol and Kirilenko) are
truly international players. Yes Nash is Canadian but he played college ball
at Santa Clara. How about last year?
35 guys played in every regular season game. Of those 35—only two were
international players (Carlos Delfino, and Andris Biedrins). Last season there were 85
international players in the NBA. There are roughly 450 player spots
available in the entire league. That means 18% of the league is
international. Yet only 5% of 82-gamers last year were international players.
October 6, 2007 ...So
while the rest of the world was watching ‘Gut Check Saturday’ in college
football or digging in for a triple header of MLB Playoffs - I was watching
the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors in the first pre-season NBA game. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce played well in the Boston win. Eddie House provided an offensive spark off the
bench. For the Raptors - I thought T.J. Ford, Andrea Bargnani, Carlos Delfino, and Jose Calderon looked sharp. ...The injury to Sean May has me taking Charlotte out of being my ’sleeper’
pick in 2007-08. May being gone leaves
the Bobcats hurting for a low-post scorer.
...At this juncture - here are the playoff teams the way I see it…
WEST: Denver, Phoenix, Houston, Lakers, Dallas, Utah, San Antonio, and Golden
State. EAST: Chicago, Boston, Washington, Detroit, New Jersey, Atlanta,
Toronto, and Miami.
October 5, 2007
(Part II) ...They have “futures” bets where I am at in Nevada.
The Odds to win the NBA championship at the Hyatt Sports Book have Dallas as
the favorite at 7/2. I will put some money on Phoenix at 4-1, Boston at 18-1,
Chicago at 15-1, and Denver at 20-1. ...For the NCAA Men’s Basketball
Championship—they list UCLA as the fave at 4-1. I am going to take a chance
on UCLA somehow stumbling. I see value in Texas A&M at 75-1, Louisville
10-1, Kansas 8-1, Mississippi St. 50-1, and North Carolina 5-1 October 5, 2007 …(From
Incline Village, NV.) ...God bless the DirecTV DVR. With the Tivo-like unit’s
help we have an ambitious scouting schedule for college hoops. I thought Larry Bird made a lot of sense when he spoke
about the measure of a great player being the level that he performs at ‘on
the road’. With that thought in mind—our scouting schedule is designed to
view individual players in hostile or foreign environments (when possible).
The
schedule is here. …True, the Cavs still need to sign Anderson Varejao but they helped themselves immensely
with the free agent additions of Devin Brown and Hassan Adams. In a trade—David Wesley became Byron Scott’s problem and the Cavs received a
promising young BIG in Cedric Simmons in
return. Good job Cleveland. ...For the record - Jarvis Varnado—Mississippi State—is the best player
that no one is hyping enough. You heard it here first. |