WTF???

Posted on | June 7, 2010 | 8 Comments

You know, I remember back when Jordan was in his prime, Jerry Krause, the then-GM of the Bulls, was fawning over what many said was the European Magic Johnson. After drafting Toni Kukoc in the second round, Krause talked him up like he was going to be the future of the Bulls. This annoyed Jordan, as Kukoc hadn’t even played a minute in the NBA and he had decided to stay in Europe for three more years before joining the Bulls. The fact of the matter was, however, that Jordan had almost no input into personnel moves. He didn’t like Krause trading his good friend Charles Oakley for Bill Cartwright but Krause did it anyway. Both moves, however, helped bring consecutive Championships to the city of Chicago.

You see, while Krause may never have been the best people person, and often had a rather contentious relationship with Jordan, he was a good GM and knew how to run a club. He never asked Jordan for advice about what he should do because it was simply not Jordan’s job. Jordan was one of the best players to ever play the game, but that certainly didn’t give him the qualifications to give advice on personnel moves, and Krause knew that. And everything that Jordan has done since leaving the court proves this.

So when I read that LeBron was basically making decisions involving trades, I shook my head. Is this what the NBA has come to? Allowing the inmates to run the asylum? It’s no wonder that the Cavs roster looked like a patchwork of players that didn’t go together. I don’t mind when franchise players are given some input on personnel moves, but to be given the power that LeBron had is ridiculous. So when Cleveland’s real GM, Danny Ferry, announced he was “stepping down”, I was of two minds. Well, three. First, I didn’t really believe that he was stepping down. And if he did actually step down, he should have been fired. Also, is it fair to fire a guy when he wasn’t even the one making the decisions? Then again, if the GM is really giving decision making power to one of his players, he SHOULD be fired.

This brings up Chris Bosh’s assertion that the Raptors need an All Star who can create his own shot. Does that mean, if Colangelo wants to retain Bosh, he should do what Bosh asks? Of course not. It’s not that the Raptors don’t need one, it’s just that there are things higher on their list of needs. Like defenders. That’s why the latest trade rumour involving the Raptors made little sense to me. Now, I wasn’t a big fan of Mo Williams when he was in Milwaukee because he was a shoot first PG who didn’t seem to know how to run an offense. And he didn’t play much defense, either. In Cleveland, though, he fit fairly well. The Cavs already had the offense running through LeBron, but what they didn’t have was someone who could create his own shot, other than LeBron. Williams did that.

I simply don’t understand the point of the Raptors trading Calderon for Williams. First of all, with it being likely that Bosh AND Turkoglu won’t return next season, shouldn’t you want a PG who can run an offense and make his teammates better? Calderon certainly has a weakness on the defensive end, but there were many times he saved the Raptors when he came into the game with the second unit and jumpstarted the struggling offense. He’ll hurt you on the defensive end, but he has a much bigger impact on the offensive end than most fans realize.

Mo Williams WAS an All-Star with Cleveland, but if anyone thinks that had more to do with him as a player than the fact that he was the second best player on the NBA’s best team, well I’ve gone an oil well in Texas to sell you. Williams would not improve the team, but it might be something that would entice Bosh to stay. If it doesn’t improve the team, then it frankly isn’t worth it.

Of course, then I read that Doug Smith asked about it and was told to “Forget it.”

Hold on, though. How could this widely circulated story possibly be based on nothing? I decided to do some digging…

Nets Turn Down Dooling Deal For Beasley

Heat Never Offered Beasley To Nets

Okay, that’s a little weird.

Report: Wizards Ready to Dump Arenas. Will Consider Buyout

Wizards Like Duo of Wall-Arenas

Mmmm.

Wesley Claims LeBron Leaning Strongly Toward Bulls

Source: LeBron Seriously Considering Joining Wade In Miami

WTF?

You know, I’m starting to wonder whether I can believe ANYTHING I read now. It’s almost as though half of the NBA rumours out there are completely bogus with very little basis in fact! Talk about your world crumbling.

It makes me wonder about the latest Raptor rumour making the rounds, about Colangelo wanting to move up in the draft. Well, you’ll excuse me if I pee my pants. Where do I sign up for this? I don’t know if there is a trade I wouldn’t do in order to get the number 2 pick from Philadelphia. I just get the feeling that Evan Turner is going to be a special player in the NBA. With Bosh probably gone, the Raptors need a new franchise player and getting the number 2 pick would be a huge step in the right direction.

Of course, now we wait a couple of days for an opposing article…

Category: Bulls, Cavs, Free Agency, Heat, NBA, Nets, Raptors, Trades, Wizards

Sucks To Be You!

Posted on | May 14, 2010 | 4 Comments

Cavaliers Celtics BasketballAfter watching LeBron James walk off the floor after a humiliating loss to the Celtics and an early ouster from the playoffs, it occurred to me that possibly the top four free agents couldn’t have finished the season on a worse note. And, most likely, each of their teams is going to end up paying for it.

Perennial pessimistic Raptor fans were not surprised when, with Chris Bosh out for the rest of the regular season, the team basically gave up and gave away the last playoff seed to Chicago. Many felt this was the last nail in the coffin for Bosh in Toronto and he would leave to go somewhere he had a chance of winning. Most wouldn’t blame him if he did, quite frankly.

Bosh ended the season on the outside looking in as the rest of his free agent class got ready for the second season. Something Bosh had only experienced twice in his seven years in the league. But it wasn’t long before Bosh had to realize that making the playoffs wasn’t the magic elixir it seemed to be. Ask Dwayne Wade, for starters.

Wade’s Heat ended up as the 5th seed, and there were many that felt that they could upset the 4th seeded Celtics. The Celtics were old and played uninspired basketball for the majority of the season. Garnett was a shadow of himself and Rasheed Wallace, their big offseason acquisition, looked almost as disinterested as he did in his last playoff game in Detroit, last season, when he failed to score a point and allowed Detroit to be swept in the first round.

It was Wade’s supporting cast, however, that looked like they didn’t belong, and barely put up any fight on the way to a 4-1 outer in the first round. Never before had Wade’s supporting cast looked as pathetic as in those 5 games against Boston. And never before had there been more of a reason for Wade not to return to Miami.

Wade would not be the first big name free agent to be given a reason to leave his team due to underperforming in the playoffs. Next was Joe Johnson and Atlanta.

Atlanta was coming off their best season in 13 years, winning 53 games, and began the playoffs as a 3rd seed. They barely made it past the feisty Milwaukee Bucks, only to get easily swept in the second round against the Orlando Magic. It was such a bad defeat that the Hawks were not even competitive in one single game against the Magic. It was a humiliating end to a promising season. If there was any doubt whether Johnson would leave the Hawks before, it’s gone now.

At least the Hawks were not expected to really get past the second round of the playoffs. The feeling is that Cleveland and Orlando pretty much had the Conference Finals locked up. Many felt that no matter what LeBron did in the offseason, Cleveland could, at least, live in the now as favourites to win the title.

Not so fast.

That same Boston team that some predicted would lose against the Heat, ended up shocking the Cavs and sending them home in 6 games.

Four of the top free agents, all in different situations, but all with disappointing ends.

The thing is, though, this all could have been predicted.

Bryan Colangelo, Pat Riley, Rick Sund and Danny Ferry all took very different approaches to trying to keep their future free agents. And all had flawed plans.

Colangelo’s Raptors were coming off a disappointing season, and some felt that Colangelo might end up trading Bosh in the summer or before the trade deadline in order to get back what he could for him before he left. Colangelo took a different approach and tried to quickly surround Bosh with enough talent to make him want to stay. It was risky approach, and one that ultimately failed, at least in the sense that the team was not successful.

Colangelo had cap room to spend, and when his first choice of free agent, Trevor Ariza, declined his offer, Colangelo decided that he needed to make a splash in the free agent market in order to give Bosh a reason to stay. Instead of being choosy and realizing that there simply was a free agent available that was worth signing, Colangelo overpaid Turkoglu, ignoring the fact that his lack of defence and rebounding would hurt the team. In essence, Colangelo had a poorer hand than he had hoped, and bluffed. And then lost.

Pat Riley took a very different approach. Unlike Bosh, who needed a reason to stay in Toronto, Riley felt Wade wanted to stay in Miami, and that he had more wiggle room. Instead of spending their free agent money on a lesser player, in the hopes of doing what Colangelo tried to do, Riley played the waiting game. If Riley didn’t spend any money, he’d have enough money to re-sign Wade AND another max free agent (perhaps Bosh) this summer. This was also a gamble, but one that didn’t include paying out big, long term contracts that he would end up regret giving out.

Unfortunately, Riley may not have noticed just how little talent he had accrued since the Heat last won their Championship, and a summer of doing nothing didn’t do anything to help that. Having enough money for Wade and another max player is great, but when there’s virtually no one else on the team with any talent, that’s shooting the team’s chances of re-signing in the foot. Of all the big name free agents, Wade was probably the one most felt was going to re-sign with his team. After seeing what little talent he will return to if he does, no one will be surprised if he signs somewhere else.

Sund and the Atlanta Hawks did have talent. Young talent, too. Sund had just taken over from Billy Knight and took the safe and steady approach. Atlanta had made progress every year and were growing as a team. Sund added Jamaal Crawford, but other than that, simply made sure the rest of the rotation players would return. No reason to mess with success, right?

Well, not quite.

For all the talent Atlanta had, they were not a team anyone expected to be a legitimate contender. A perimeter oriented team without much of an inside scoring threat is not one that generally lasts long in the playoffs. And Joe Johnson, for all his talent, is not someone who you’d want to be the best player on your team. And against Orlando, we discovered why.

While it’s tempting to not stir the pot, Sund should have realized that the current Hawks roster, while good, needed to be altered in order to contend. They are the perfect example that having 6 good players is not better than having 2 great ones. In the NBA, it’s not quantity, it’s quality. Teams are measured by their top two or three players, and while Atlanta has some good ones, none are going to appear on any All NBA team.

When talking quality, it doesn’t get any better than LeBron James. Nearly every GM in the league would give up their entire roster for one LeBron James. He’s that valuable. Danny Ferry decided early on in his career as the Cavs GM that he was going to try and surround LeBron with as many veterans as he could, knowing it’s veteran teams that have the most success. What this meant, though, was that he would be forever retooling and adding. Veterans came, declined and then left, only to be followed by new ones. While most contenders see a slow rise of success, LeBron and the Cavs have seen hills and valleys.

Five years ago, they won 50 games and lost in the Conference semi-finals. The next season, they won 50 games again, but went all the way to the Finals. It looked like this might be the turning point for the team, but they saw a decline in their win total the next season, 45 wins, and lost in the semis once again. The next year they won a Cleveland record 66 games, but were ousted in the Conference Finals by an Orlando team they simply did not match up well against.

With one year left until LeBron would become a free agent, Ferry decided to roll the dice. He traded for an aging Shaquille O’Neal, who had not gotten along well with his Phoenix teammates the year before and ended up not even making the playoffs. Ferry felt, however, that getting Shaq was what Cleveland needed to get by Orlando, the team they felt would be their biggest obstacle to the Finals.

Then they were able to pick up another veteran, Antawn Jamison, the stretch four that Ferry felt the team was missing to compete against Orlando. Ironic, since they didn’t even face Orlando in the playoffs before being ousted. And now, most of the best players on the Cavs are in decline. Shaq might have trouble finding a home next season. Ilgauskus might also, unless he wants to sign somewhere for the minimum. And Jamison, who was supposed to be the guy who put the Cavs over the top, has two more years and nearly $30 million coming to him after doing absolutely nothing in the playoffs but giving LeBron another reason to leave town. Suddenly, that lopsided deal to get Jamison doesn’t look so lopsided anymore.

So before Raptor fans start calling Colangelo a failure for not giving Bosh a reason to stay, remember that he’s not the only GM to fail at the worst time.

Category: Cavs, Hawks, Heat, NBA, Raptors

The Case Against Bargnani

Posted on | April 9, 2010 | 7 Comments

Blogger’s Note:

Is anyone else pissed that LeBron played against the Raptors, but took the night off against Chicago, which resulted in a Bulls win? How exactly is that fair? If the Bulls end up getting one more win than the Raptors, and make the playoffs, the Cavs should be fined heavily. Actually, they should be fined anyway. That just sucks.

Now back to my irregularly scheduled blog…

I’ve been accused of being too hard on Bargnani. And with the likelihood of Bosh leaving increasing, the chance of the “Bargnani-era” starting in Toronto is increasing. You’ll excuse me if I shudder while I type that, won’t you?

In the days leading up to the 2006 draft, I had high hopes that the whole Bargnani thing was a smokescreen. I hoped that Colangelo certainly didn’t think a soft, jumpshooting big man who couldn’t rebound and wasn’t a great defender was worth the number one pick. I was wrong. And disappointed.

I’m going to make a confession here. I’m a bit biased when it comes to basketball players. I think PG’s should pass first and shoot second, and I think big men should rebound and defend on top of whatever else they want to do. I believe these are ingredients to Championship basketball. And I’m not completely set on the pass-first point guard as long as you’ve got SOMEONE who can run an offense.

When I saw Bargnani, I saw everything I hated in a big man. He didn’t rebound and didn’t seem to know how to defend. Sure, being able to score inside more than he did would have been nice, but, quite frankly, I didn’t really care about his offense. To me, a big man who can’t rebound is like a hooker who can’t give a blow job. It’s sort of necessary for the position.

Look back for pretty much as long as you like. Every single Championship team has had their two starting big men average, at the very least, 7 rpg per 36 minutes. And those that averaged as little as 7 rpg were extraordinary defenders. Bargnani as never averaged close to 7 rpg per 36 minutes, and is certainly not an extraordinary defender.

Now, Bargnani’s backers will point to his strengths, which he does have. For a seven footer, he’s a very good shooter, and he is extremely agile for his size. He’s no lumbering giant. The main problem with his strengths, which I’ve discussed in earlier posts, is that he’s simply not an efficient enough offensive player to become a top scorer in the league. And if you’re rebounding and defense are as lacking as Bargnani’s, you have to be a GREAT scorer. And he will never be that.

The problem, of course, is he’s a jumpshooter, plain and simple. That’s really all he does well. After four years in the NBA, he’s still a poor post player, he doesn’t move well without the ball, and his only real move is a pump fake and drive from the three point line. He’s never, ever going to dominate a defender because he can’t. He depends so heavily on others creating shots for him, that he can never be counted on to be the 1st option in any offense, and probably shouldn’t every be the second option, either, considering how poorly he creates his own shot.

An incredibly high 75% of Bargnani’s shots are assisted. That’s a whopping 25% more than Bosh and 11% more than a guy like Amir Johnson, who would not be someone who you think of creating his own shot. He’s actually on par with a player like Denver’s Nene, who is certainly not close to the 1st or 2nd option. In fact, I’d say he’s usually the last option in Denver’s offense. Same with Boston’s Kendrick Perkins. The difference between those guys and Bargnani is they actually are above average rebounders and defenders, so any offense you get from them is a bonus. The funny thing, though, is that Nene only scores 3 ppg less than Bargnani, but he shoots at a much higher percentage, but you also get defense and rebounding.

In an earlier post, I discussed WHY Bargnani can’t become a top scorer. He doesn’t get to the line, which is a necessity. As we’ve seen recently with Bargnani, if his shot isn’t going down, he has little else in his arsenal to put points on the board. With Bosh, if his jumper’s not going, he can still get to the line. In a sense, manufacture points. Bargnani’s only real move to get to the line is the pumpfake, which doesn’t really work if his shot’s not going down. In fact, Bargnani is getting to the line at a LOWER rate than ever before.

The rate is derived from dividing the free throws attempted by the field goal attempts. This gives a true indication of how well a player gets to the line, because it doesn’t take into consideration their role in the offense or how many shots they take.

2007- .227
2008- .233
2009- .278
2010- .208

Last season, it looked like he had made a leap, which I discussed in the earlier post, but not only regressed this season, hit rock bottom. In fact, Bargnani gets to the line at the lowest rate of any rotation player (I didn’t check the others). That’s horrible for your second option.

And for a guy who is supposed to be such a good shooter, it would be nice if he actually showed it. Did you know that Bargnani is not even in the top 60 for 3 point percentage? There are 67 players in the league with a better 3 point percentage than Bargnani. This is his biggest strength, yet he’s not even above average at it.

So, he is an average shooter, doesn’t get to the line or create his own shot, doesn’t rebound and plays extremely inconsistent defense. Explain to me again why I am being too hard on him?

Now, Bargnani certainly has his backers, and I don’t think I’ve encountered a player who has more excuses from fans than Bargnani. Here are some:

Bargnani only plays outside as much as he does because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

WRONG! Bargnani has been asked to play inside more, even with Bosh healthy, but consistently floats outside. He doesn’t hold position well and doesn’t catch the ball well in the post. And when he does get the ball in the paint, more often than not will it end up being a fade away. Triano is loathe to publicly throw someone under a bus, but coaches have privately told reporters that Bargnani has frustrated them by continually floating outside when they want him inside.

Bargnani would have improved more had he had better coaching.

WRONG! Again with the coaching excuse. Many Raptor fans seem to be under the impression that good coaching is a cure all. NBA graveyards are littered with talented big men that Hall of Fame coaches never got what they needed from them. Larry Brown certainly didn’t make Darko Milicic an All-Star. Phil Jackson never made Stacey King look anything like what he was expected coming out of college. It’s Brad Sellers, though, who I am reminded of when talking about Bargnani. A lottery pick for the Bulls, he had a very good coach in Doug Collins teaching him. Collins, for all his weaknesses, was always considered a great teacher.

of the big pieces of which the Bulls were building around a young Jordan. Sellers could score, rebound and defend. He was athletic and had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, he seemed to be allergic to the paint. After a promising rookie season, Sellers eventually faded away into NBA obscurity because he was the player he was. A soft, jump shooting big man. No one, not Doug Collins nor Michael Jordan could change that.

Bargnani worked out with Moses Malone this past summer, a Hall of Fame big man. He’s been taught by coaches like Marc Iavaroni, a big man with a lot less talent who won a ring as a starter in Philadelphia. He’s been tutored by veterans like Bosh, Nesterovic and Reggie Evans. At some point, it’s up to the actual player to develop his skills.

Bargnani rebounds at a lower rate because he is out on the perimeter.

WRONG! Apparently no one told this to guys like Dirk Nowitztki and Troy Murphy, who are three point shooting big men who don’t hurt their team on the boards. Being a perimeter player only hurts your chances of getting OFFENSIVE rebounds. On defense, chances are you’re in the paint guarding the other team’s big man.

Bargnani rebounds at a lower rate because Bosh takes his rebounds.

WRONG! Bargnani rebounded at a LOWER rate when Bosh was injured this year.

Bargnani is a good defender, because he gets timely blocks.

WRONG! Bargnani looked like he might become a pretty good defender this season, but he continues to constantly miss rotations, turn his back on the ball on defense, and allow his man to grab offensive rebounds. He’s not a good defender, and getting a couple of blocks doesn’t change that fact.

Bargnani is playing out of position and would be better if he played power forward.

WRONG! This has got to be one of the stupidest excuses. What position Bargnani plays has absolutely no bearing on how many rebounds he’d get, how often and where he’d score, and how good a defender he would be. In fact, playing at PF would allow more agile defenders to guard him, guys that are more accustomed to defending on the perimeter. And it would mean that Bargnani would also have to guard more out on the perimeter, which he is not very good at. And there are far more good PF’s in the league than centers, so day in and day out, he would have tougher defensive assignments. The fact is, Bargnani is best suited for center because few centers have the ability to guard him on the perimeter, which means he can get more open looks.

Bargnani has improved his post up game.

WRONG! Okay, maybe that’s not wrong, but his post game has gone from awful to below average for a big man. Sonny Weems, who is by all intent and purposes a rookie, has better post moves than Bargnani. Watching him during one play when he bullied Paul Pierce for a hook shot is something I’ve never, ever seen from Bargnani in fur years.

CONCLUSION

Bargnani is the type of player that can be fun to watch if you don’t really know a lot about the game. It’s amazing to see a guy that size shoot the three and the fact that he does sometimes get some timely blocks makes some people forget all the lapses on defense during the other 35 minutes of the game. Or maybe they simply didn’t notice them in the first place.

The reason I’m harder on Bargnani than any other Raptor is because every other player actually does something that is above average. Turkoglu is a great passer and playmaker. Calderon is an above average shooter (better than Bargnani) and is adept at running an offense. Johnson rebounds and defends very well. Wright is an above average defender. Both Weems and DeRozan are incredibly athletic gym rats who should only get better. Belinelli is a great passer, above average shooter and excellent playmaker. Bargnani is an average shooter who does very little else.

It’s been four years and he’s relatively the same player he was in his rookie season. And he wasn’t all that good then.

Category: Bulls, Cavs, NBA, Raptors
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