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The Baseline Spin basketball blog by Bobby Gerould |
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February 3, 2010 ...Efficiency
matters. The top five NBA Point Guards by efficiency are all on winning
teams. The five are: Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Chauncey Billups, and Rajon Rondo. At Shooting Guard - eight of the
top ten (not counting Gilbert Arenas) are on teams that would qualify for the
playoffs if the season ended today. Those eight are: Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Brandon Roy, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, Jamal Crawford, and Vince Carter. The two exceptions are Nor-Cal’s Tyreke Evans (I call him a TWO), and Monta Ellis.
Kevin Martin, who
has yet to hit his stride since a return from injury, ranks eleventh. I, for
one, am hopeful that the Kings do not trade Martin. Efficient Shooting Guards
are a valuable commodity in the NBA and although I feel Evans and Martin
duplicate each other to some degree - I think you could say the same of Johnson, and Crawford in Atlanta, and that
is working out okay last time I checked. If Sacramento does not want to play
Evans at Small Forward (where I believe he could play, thus opening up the PG
for Sergio Rodriguez, or Beno Udrih) then maybe Martin needs to embrace
a sixth man role because it is clear to me that the Kings offense is more
cohesive with Rodriguez initiating it. Rodriguez actually gets the Kings into
sets - giving a chance for movement by both ball and players. Yes, Rodriguez can be out of control but I
think you have to live with that because of his uncanny vision and ability to
involve teammates. It is a FACT that the great Steve Nash has more turnovers
than any NBA player. It is also a fact
that the more involved a player can be on offense - the more likely that
player is to be enthused about playing defense. The Kings energy rises with
Rodriguez at the helm. The most
efficient lineup the Kings can have (and this is pure science) is Rodriguez,
Martin, Evans, Jason Thompson, and Spencer Hawes. Udrih would spell Rodriguez. Omri Casspi would replace either Martin or Evans,
and Jon Brockman would
be the first BIG off the bench. When Francisco Garcia returns
- his historical efficiency would put him into the mix as the ninth man. The
efficiency rating says that Andres Nocioni and Donte Greene would be seldom used as the tenth and
eleventh players. Ime Udoka, Sean May, Kenny Thomas and Hilton Armstrong would
be the odd men out in this plan. ...Oh yeah - I was breaking down the annual
league wide mid-season efficiency rating audit when I digressed into my Kings
rant. At Small Forward - four of the
top five are on winning teams; Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, and Gerald Wallace. 70% is the number at Power Forward.
Seven of the top-ten are on winning teams. Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, and Kevin Garnett are the seven. At Center we find that efficiency may not
matter as much. Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Nazr Mohammed, and Marc Gasol are the only top-ten Centers on
current playoff teams. Meanwhile these five cats in the top-ten are on losing
squads: Marcus Camby, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Samuel Dalembert, and Marresse Speights. February 2, 2010 ...The
NCAA Tournament is fine the way the way it is. Please leave it alone.
Expansion is not necessary. Adding more teams would only water it down and
render Championship Week meaningless. The way “THE Tourney” is now - we are wondering if
North Carolina and Connecticut will make it in. If we had 96 teams—as some
are suggesting - then that drama would be gone. That is just one example of
why it should be left alone. Mostly - it should remain static because in all
of sport - the NCAA Tournament is one of the handful of events that are just
about perfect. …Dan Shulman is a
rock solid basketball commentator. Add him to my list of the best in the TV
hoops world. The short list: (College play x play) Sean McDonough, Shulman, Tim Brando, Terry Gannon.
(NBA) - Joel Meyers, Kevin Calabro, Gene Peterson. (College analysts) Len Elmore, Marques Johnson, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery, Clark Kellogg. (NBA analysts) Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, Walt Frazier, Eddie Johnson,
Kellogg. (Studio) The TNT production staff deserves a nod for their work on
wacky video supplements and tricks that leave me giggling along with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.
My favorite hosts are Rece Davis, Ernie Johnson, and Brando. (Sideline reporters) no
one. I don’t like how ESPN uses the same sideline reporters in multiple
sports. I just don’t trust their hoops knowledge when I know they were just
covering a football game last week.
Also, I hate the meaningless conversations between NBA coaches and
sideline reporters during the game. Coaches never reveal anything and mostly
we have to sit through Craig Sager being
cold-war iced by unwilling talkers like Greg Popovich or Jerry Sloan.
The NBA should end that waste of time practice. And while they are at
it - the audio drop ins from huddles are so watered down - they might as well
dump those too. “Lets dig in and play some defense”. January 28, 2010 ...The
new efficiency ratings by position are listed now that each NBA team has
played at least 41 games—or half of their schedules. These rankings (linked
on the left) will remain up until the end of the season when we do another
audit. January 27, 2010 (part II) …(the numbers you see after a player's name
is the player’s current efficiency rating) ...I
would trade for T.J. Ford if I
were an NBA team with a need at Point Guard. ...In Indy - he is healthy but
not playing. ...When he does get to play for the Pacers—he plays with
inefficient guard teammates (Brandon Rush .327, Dahntay Jones .364, Luther Head .353), and a BIG that does not run
well (Roy Hibbert). In the right
situation; a team that not only wants to run but is also capable of running,
Ford will bring excitement and precision passing. I realize I am somewhat out on a limb with
my continued belief in Ford but I know from historical data - much of it as
recent as the last two seasons - that Ford is a quality Point Guard capable
of dishing assists at a high rate while playing efficiently enough to
overcome his defensive liability as a small guard. |