No worries. Get your money David Stern. You have to capitalize on your product the best way in which you can. Only, why is your product so lackluster?
It started festering a long time ago. Long before the East’s 141-139 win. It was more like around the time the superstars of the game started hanging around the boy who cried wolf and Ricky Gervais in this crazy movie. Most notably, LeBron James.
Yes, the LeBron who likes to call himself “King” and dance and make movies and titillate our basketball senses with acrobatics that make the Ringling Brothers jealous, is a bit of a fibber. But he’s just an example of such. Not one superstar outside of Paul Pierce and his chutzpah wanted to participate in the all-star activities.
In my honest opinion, that’s embarrassing to the sport itself. And I believe, Mr. Stern, that you feel the same way. There has to be a simple way to combat the way injuries damper all-star rosters and the inevitable “rest” talk we hear from the so-called all-stars. But even more so, the stars should be obliged to perform in the slam dunk contest, three-point shootout and skills contest as much the highlight game itself. It is my belief that while making one (the all-star game) mandatory, and having the others as some sort of opt-in endeavor, has led to the diluted interest and quality of the events in themselves.
The most dynamic player on the Warriors is Anthony Randolph.
Forget that crazy hype you thought you knew about Randolph. He’s only playing 22 minutes a game. It’s not enough to gauge him against the best of the best, let alone be in the all-star game debate.
Now Ellis, that’s a killer right there. This season, he’s exploited defenses with his quickness and slashing ability for 26.4 points per game (sixth in the NBA), 5.4 assists, 2.3 steals (second in the NBA) and 4.2 rebounds.
I wouldn’t be surprised that with his numbers he gets an all-star nod. The best players of each team should be represented. But Ellis stands up well against the entire league for his effort to keep the struggling Warriors afloat. And if there was a season in which he deserved it more, it would be this one.
It’s not just about the numbers. But they do tell a vivid story of how Ellis makes the team both a winner and a loser in one swipe.
Ellis is consistently going in every game (42.2 minutes per game) and leading the Warriors’ offensive attack. How he plays and distributes the ball directly correlates with the club’s success. The Dubs are 7-14 when he hits for average or higher, a 33 percent winning percentage that’s more malleable than the team’s 30 percent winning percentage (12-27).
In games he doesn’t hit for average? 5-13, or 38 percent.
Now put your eyeballs on two of the biggest stats of successful ball clubs: Assists and steals.
The Warriors are 8-10 (44 percent winning percentage) when Ellis has six or more assists as the off guard; 4-17 (19 percent) when he has five or less.
When he gets three or more steals, the club is 9-7 (56 percent) and 3-20 (13 percent) when he has less.
(As you can see, the Warriors are in dire need of more defense. But who doesn’t know that?)
Bottom line is, Ellis has to be Super Man for the Warriors to win games because all he has for help is the scoring ability of Corey Maggette, Randolph’s 22 minutes and Stephen Curry. And none of those fellas are pulling his minutes, grabbing steals like him, or have the ability to put the ball in the bucket like he does.
Unfortunately, the Warriors’ team defense sucks, putting the team at the bottom of the Western Conference doldrums at 12-27, 19 games behind the conference-leading Lakers.
Put Ellis on a winner with better defense, say, the Cavaliers and he’s an instant star.
Will he be denied one of the NBA’s most sacred accolades? Probably. Should he be? No way.
At one point, the NBA was the most progressive of the four major franchises, capitalizing on fan interest and participation by asking its legions of supporters for their input on selecting its all stars. And for more than 30 years, that formula worked to great success.
Today, that formula appears to have backfired.
With starting lineups for the 2010 NBA All-Star game being announced this upcoming Thursday (01/21/10), Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson are the leading candidates to start at guard in both the West and the East’s lineups.
The problem is, not even the Houston Rockets want McGrady in the lineup. And Iverson, who is compiling votes on name recognition alone, entered this season with Memphis before mutually severing the relationship, retiring for a few days and reemerging with the Philadelphia 76ers, his NBA ancestral home.
In other words, these guys are yesterday’s stars and today’s luxury players. We’re still awaiting word whether or not McGrady will get traded and actually play this season.
Here’s a quick look at both of their numbers:
Tracy McGrady
Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
09-10 HOU 6 0 7.7 0.368 0.500 0.667 0.0 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.3 3.2
Allen Iverson
Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
09-10 MEM 3 0 22.3 0.577 1.000 0.500 0.3 1.0 1.3 3.7 0.3 0.0 2.3 1.7 12.3
09-10 PHI 15 15 33.4 0.450 0.333 0.835 0.3 2.5 2.8 4.8 0.7 0.1 2.2 2.1 15.1
Neither of these guys deserve an All-Star mention. Not with guys like Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace balling out of his mind, Joe Johnson leading the Atlanta Hawks to the No. 3 spot in the East and Kevin Durant averaging 29 points a game. And these guys are mostly forwards.
What about Rajon Rondo, who is basically attempting a triple-double every night? Do you push out Dwyane Wade for him because Iverson is the top vote getter?
Or how about Brandon Roy, who is averaging 23 points a game to lead the Portland Trailblazers back to competitiveness. He’s hands down one of the best guards in the game. How do you fit him in with Kobe Bryant having locked down a spot before the season started and McGrady mailing in his own votes. Monta Ellis anyone?
There’s too much talent around the league to complain about who will be left out, as all hoop fans argue each year, but the integrity of the game appears to be broken this season more so than ever before. There will legitimately be players in the lineup who aren’t even the stars on their own respective teams.
That’s disappointing.
It’s my belief that the fans voting has always marked which players were the most exciting and most fan friendly in the league and which were the most exposed on the TNT/ESPN teams (Lakers/Mavericks/Suns/Magic/Spurs/Celtics). Adding to that, fans voted in favor of players who had performed well in the prior year.
This year shows signs of some of the former, none of the latter.
We all know it pays to play in a big market. But now we’re seeing how much it can hurt the overall game — as evidenced by the all-star voting — when the underexposure of the league’s top talent is regulated to playing second fiddle to guys who basically aren’t playing.
League commissioner David Stern shouldn’t brush aside this development. Fan voting is still integral to the game, and the league’s comments on this issue still reflect that. But the league must do a better job of marketing its real stars, the ones playing for the Thunder and the Bobcats and the Portland Trailblazers.
Idiocy is like currency. Too much of it is floating around.
Gilbert Arenas is the latest NBA player to strike fool’s gold. He took bad judgment, and put it on another stratosphere. Everything about what has transpired in Washington D.C. is an embarrassment to the Wizards organization, the NBA and to his family.
Good thing Javaris Crittenton is being quiet, because he’s an embarrassment too. But at least he’s not foolish enough to broadcast his stupidity. He’ll leave that to Agent Zero.
NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas and his Washington Wizards teammate Javaris Crittenton drew guns on each other in the team’s locker room during a Christmas Eve dispute over a gambling debt, The (New York) Post has learned.
Two officials within the league who have been briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press on Saturday that it involves a dispute over card-playing gambling debts and a heated discussion in the locker room. Neither official was told of Arenas and Crittenton actually drawing guns on each other – as the New York Post has reported.
While the details are not yet clear, the substance of what was reported Friday by Yahoo! Sports and the New York Post — that Arenas had a confrontation in the Wizards’ locker room late last month with teammate Javaris Crittenton in which both players had guns in their hands — was confirmed Friday by a league source. The incident, the source said, apparently involved a debt of $25,000 that Arenas owed Crittenton. It is not clear why Arenas supposedly owed Crittenton the money, but the dispute apparently began on a team flight as the Wizards came home the night of Dec. 19, after Washington completed a road trip in Phoenix.
The reports (and there’s plenty) go on to say that it was undetermined whether or not the two players were pointing the guns at each other.
And that’s the part that saddens me.
Why not go all the way? Why not just blow each other’s brains out? If you’re going to pull a gun, you might as well use it, right?
And while you’re at it, why not emulate every other stereotype of an ignorant, overpaid, asshole NBA baller who makes respectable black people cringe because of your constant foolish, short-sighted behavior.
Please, continue the bit of “I’m just joking about it” because if I didn’t I’d cry routine. Rather than apologizing forthrightly and coming clean, just drag it out to make sure the NBA feels the drench of the mud too.
That’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that.
Oh, that’s right. I’m not stupid.
If Arenas has any smarts left, he’ll wise up just enough to be honest about the alleged gambling and why guns were in the locker room. And I’m not talking little white lie honest. I’m talking forgive-me-for-I-have-sinned honest. Anything less, will just create SpyGate.
And Lord knows, D.C. — or America for that matter — doesn’t need another excuse to tack on said post-modifier. So just end it already. Or do we have to bust your balls?
It feels damn good to be excited about Kings basketball again. I had almost forgot what that feeling was like. It’s been so long. The Kings are still in a constant battle to stay at or close to .500, but it’s the new attitude of the team that has us Kings fans pumped. They’ve got a pulse. They seem to give a shit. It’s refreshing. Last year that was not the case, which is doubly depressing when you’ve got a team full of near teenagers who should be thrilled just to be getting a paycheck. They’re competing in every game and nobody can convince me they’re not an up-and-coming team.
All the excitement over young guys like Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jon Brockman, Jason Thompson and Donte Greene (not ready to include Spencer Hawes) maturing along with Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia, who should be entering their prime, has me getting greedy. I’ve started fantasizing about a bench of Beno Udrih, Garcia, Casspi, Greene and Brockman with a starting five of Evans, Martin, Thompson, Hawes and … wait for it … LeBron … yeah, James! I said it! Why not?! Why is that always laughed at?!
I’m actually a strong believer that he’s staying with the Cavs. I don’t think he wants “couldn’t get it done in Cleveland” hanging over his head. Even if they win it in 2010, I think there’s a good chance he’s a lifer in that city. But for the sake of argument, let’s say he’s leaving for sure. Why does everyone assume there’s no chance he’s going to Sac? If I can be cautiously optimistic for a second, I say when Martin and Garcia come back from injury (assuming they don’t break another fragile limb before the season’s over), the Kings could push for the 8th playoff spot. Nothing to get too excited about, except that I’m expecting more quality moves by GM Geoff Petrie that will have them in the next bracket up by next year. Right in the middle of the pack of playoff teams, jockeying for position.
Why wouldn’t LeBron want to throw himself into that mix? He fits perfectly into that lineup, and makes them the best team in the West. I don’t think I’m exaggerating here. And let me point out that the core group of Kings are incredibly young; they’d be competing for the title for the next five years or so. Let’s look at the guys I’m talking about:
Tyreke Evans – 20 years old
Kevin Martin – 26
Francisco Garcia – 28
Jason Thompson – 23
Spencer Hawes – 21
Jon Brockman – 22
Omri Casspi – 21
Beno Udrih – 27
LeBron wants to win. Period. I’m tired of hearing about bigger markets, he’s getting plenty of exposure and his sponsorships and endorsement deals aren’t slacking any either. I’m tired of hearing about New York, they’re god-awful. LeBron makes most any team an instant contender, but most teams aren’t as full of young talent as the Kings, and he’ll be the biggest thing that’s ever hit that city. Another selling point – billboards, posters, and headlines all over TV and the Sac Bee will read “King James.” Now that nickname is really too perfect. That has to sound appealing.
I should probably not get my hopes up, but I want to aim high. I want the Maloofs to throw every last dollar at him, and then have the city of Sacramento propose a tax to pay him even more under the table. I’m gonna get my hopes up. I’m gonna be vulnerable. I’m gonna put it all on the line. Let the Colts settle for pretty good. All I know is, he ain’t going to the Warriors. That’s ridiculous.
Boston Celtics' Rajon Rondo, right, drives into Golden State Warriors' Monta Ellis during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. AP Photo / Ben Margot
Are the Warriors coming of age — again?
Yesterday’s 103-99 win over the Boston Celtics marked only the second time this season the Golden State Warriors have won two-games in a row. It also marked the second time this season the Celtics — the East coast power — had two losses in a row.
Monta Ellis (37 points) battled it out with Rajon Rondo (30 points and 15 assists) and actually won. It was interesting to wake up this morning (after falling asleep on it) and seeing the end score.
I wonder if the Warriors have let go of all of its offseason and early season woes and are prepared to take things to another level. This is definitely a step for this team in a positive direction.
As always, I still think they need a dynamic big man before they can turn the corner. But the playoffs are not unreachable now. It’s a matter of putting together games like last night, against strong teams that are absolutely dangerous from three to four spots in the lineup, and making big shots as Ellis did in the waning seconds from the free throw line.
Michael Jordan, a.ka. the Greatest of All Time, has been getting a bad rap for his speech. Methinks that's unfair.
It’s almost like gold, except its shininess comes from a bald head.
Whenever Michael Jordan speaks publicly, the collective basketball brain trust comes together and makes damn well sure to have a camera on him with expectations bordering on amazing. It’s cult-like and it’s no secret Jordan grants few interviews, if any, and hand picks those he will talk to (if any). Michael Wilbon scored a nice interview the other day.
So when he does speak, his words carry more value than the those shiny rocks under the ground — particularly to the media.
For Friday’s Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony, and unexpectedly (to us), Jordan showed a little crass, the vengeance he’s always carried and an elephant’s memory of perceived wrongs against him. The reaction was twofold: “Jordan is an asshole;” and “Jordan was hilarious.”
I’ll side with the latter.
While some saw his comments on Leroy Smith, Byron Russell, and others as distasteful, I found them outright comical and actually in respect to stories we would never have appreciated if they were not told by the G.O.A.T. himself. These are people that provided the “wood for the fire” that Jordan kept talking about.
Michael Jordan had his pick. Dean Smith. Phil Jackson. Maybe even his good friend Charles Barkley.
Each would have been an understandable choice to present Jordan during his induction Friday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith was Jordan’s legendary coach at North Carolina. Jackson helped guide Jordan to six NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls. Barkley shared the role of rival and running buddy.
Jordan passed on all of them. Instead, he chose someone who had never coached him or played with or against him.
He chose David Thompson. The former NBA high-flyer who had starred at North Carolina … State.
“I got a call from the Hall of Fame and they asked me if I was willing to be a presenter for someone,” Thompson recently told Yahoo! Sports. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ I didn’t know who it was. … They said Michael Jordan. I was like, ‘Wow.’ He told them that he was a big fan of mine and I was the one that really inspired him. Being that there was so many North Carolina people he could’ve chose, I was honored.
Rick Pitino might blame you for his affair if you're not careful.
I haven’t followed Rick Pitino’s career too closely. Wikipedia tells me he’s coached for the Knicks and Celtics in the NBA, as well as the University of Kentucky, University of Boston and now the University of Louisville in the college ranks. Apparently, he’s highly thought of as a coach. But I know what he sucks at – owning his mistakes. And because of that, I’m finding it hard to have any respect for the guy.
I’ll even admit I haven’t followed this situation too closely, but what I do know is that the good Catholic family man impregnated another woman and paid for her to get an abortion. Not great, Rick, but Michael Vick got a freaking standing ovation in his first game back after murdering dogs. Own the mistake, apologize, be humble, swear it won’t happen again, and I promise the public will forget in no time. He’s chosen to go another route, most recently saying ‘Hey, Ted Kennedy just died. Shouldn’t we be talking about that instead?’ Observe:
Memphis' Tyreke Evans takes questions in the interview room after being selected by the Sacramento Kings as the fourth pick in the first round of the NBA basketball draft Thursday, June 25, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Royalty, it appears, comes in a cheap tin can.
The Sacramento Kings’ newest member and first-round draft pick Tyreke Evans flew into Sacramento for a workout last week, a mere five days before the NBA draft.
I think I was sitting three rows behind him on a Southwest flight from Los Angeles.
I know, classy.
Forgetting the fact that I was zoned in on Lance Armstrong being in town and what kind of competition would be devouring Nevada City, I couldn’t help but notice the 6-feet, 5-inch guard the Kings were setting up for a workout. I knew he was a baller before I confirmed his mugshot. Tall, dressed in brand new clothes and rolling with an agent-type on his hip. (Crackberry much?)
One question popped into my mind: Is this how the Kings roll out the red carpet?
I guess when you fly in 20-30 athletes for workouts in a one-month span, that’s quite a hefty expense. One that gets pretty heavy on a franchise having a tough time selling tickets.
So Kings fans, do you now have the incentive to buy those tickets? Do you see a quality lineup forming in Sacramento? A competitive team in the works? I do.
This season will be juicy and for two specific reasons: 1) Options. 2) Depth.
Unfortunately, Geoff Petrie still didn’t manage to draft a point guard because as much as he would like for you and I to believe, Evans is a 2-guard. Has been, always will be. And it’s his scoring ability that upped his pay grade, especially after working out head-to-head with some of the other top talent in the draft. He matched up well and earned his spot — even over European superstar Ricky Rubio.
But that’s not a problem. In fact, if it is a problem, it’s a good problem to have because Evans will provide versatility for new coach Paul Westphal to tinker with. Assuming Petrie and Westphal are on the same page, Evans will be in the lineup as the 1-guard, with K-Mart, Francisco Garcia, Jason Thompson and Spencer Hawes filling out the other positions. All of a sudden, you have a young, somewhat matured, lineup of go-getters. Evans gets the nod because he also can make his own shot, as shown by his 17 points per game at Memphis. With Beno Udrih on the bench, Garcia’s ability to step in at point and Bobby Jackson lurking, there’s plenty of room to mix and mash.
On the other hand, there’s a logjam at the guard position with 6 1/2 on the roster (Garcia can and will play forward). That’s depth necessary for trade bait and necessary for the inevitable Jackson ankle tear, K-Mart leadership breakdown and a revert-to-Udrih spell. Trust me, it’ll all happen at one point in the season or another. And it all just adds to the spice of the Kings’ future.
With the development of Hawes and Thompson, a new coach, a focus on leadership (are you reading this Kevin?) and motivation from a very embarrassing prior season, the Kings will have to show some new stripes. Coming into the 2009-10 season with a different attitude is the only logical reaction. Petrie has made sure the team is, at the very least, in a position to make some noise. Whether that means fourth or 10th in the Western Conference is yet to be determined.
At least we have a reason to watch now.
Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in The Union.
