Author Archive

Irrelevant and Gratuitous Fun at the Clippers’ Expense

March 13th, 2010

Our younger readers may not know that in 1978, the owners of the Celtics and the Buffalo Braves—both crazy guys who made bad personnel decisions and didn’t really belong in the NBA—somehow convinced the league to let them swap franchises. The owner who ended up with the Braves—a guy named Irv Levin—moved the Buffalo franchise to Los Angeles San Diego and renamed them the Clippers. As part of the transaction, the Clips (sorta) blew a chance to land the right to the C’s 1978 draft pick that became Larry Bird.

Why is this relevant? » More: Irrelevant and Gratuitous Fun at the Clippers’ Expense

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Posted in Notebook

Saturday Notebook: Perk Lives, Doc’s Trickery, a New Practice Schedule?

March 13th, 2010

• The most interesting tidbit (to me) in today’s news is the idea that Doc might hold the vets out of some games so they can practice more. Here’s his explanation, via A. Sherrod Blakely at NECN:

“One of the things we talked about with him [Pierce] and Kevin and a couple of the other guys is we’re going to do more conditioning with them,” Rivers said. “Even if it means that they can’t play in a game, or play less in a game.”

And discussing the fact that a super-competitive player might not like this idea:

“I’m not going to worry about that, because at the end of the day, the key for us is [Garnett] and Kevin to be at their peak when the playoffs start,” Rivers said. “So if, you know, doing that makes them miss a game here and there, then that’s what we’re going to have to do.”

Lots of talk from Doc lately about “change,” huh? Doc obviously wouldn’t be the first coach to hold key players out of games to keep them fresh for the playoffs; Gregg Popovich did it last season in San Antonio.

But Doc might be the first coach to frame the idea as an opportunity to allow those players to practice more—and harder. » More: Saturday Notebook: Perk Lives, Doc’s Trickery, a New Practice Schedule?

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Posted in Notebook

The “Start Daniels” Movement Gains Steam

March 12th, 2010

A few commenters have been suggesting it for several weeks, and now Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com gives some MSM cred to the idea of starting Marquis Daniels and placing Ray Allen with the second unit:

At a time when Boston is clearly struggling to generate open looks for Allen, maybe it makes more sense to get a slasher on the floor like Daniels, who is sure to remove some stagnancy from the first unit with his tireless movement.

What’s more, Daniels is one of Boston’s top defenders, allowing him to guard the opposing team’s best player and taking some of that pressure off Paul Pierce early in games.

And:

The other benefit is that Allen now comes off the bench, not only driving down his minutes, but giving Boston a Jamal Crawford-like scorer with the second unit. Sure, Nate Robinson was brought in for similar bench output, but if there’s one knock on Boston’s second unit, it’s that their scoring isn’t always overwhelming.

Let’s compile a brief pro/con list: » More: The “Start Daniels” Movement Gains Steam

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Posted in Commentary

Nate’s Slow Start

March 11th, 2010

Nate Robinson has played nine games for the Celtics. I realize this is a tiny sample size, and we will all forget about these nine games if Nate catches fire in the playoffs.

But so far, this is not the player for whom the Celtics traded Eddie House (and Bill Walker, and J.R. Giddens). I’ve never really liked Nate Robinson (that’s an understatement, actually), but I backed the trade because Robinson brings two skills Eddie House doesn’t really have. In order of importance:

1) Ability to get to the rim;

2) Ball-handling/passing—i.e., passable point guard skills.

I haven’t noticed much of either so far, and the numbers back up that impression. » More: Nate’s Slow Start

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Posted in Commentary, Features

An Argument Against the Pierce Iso

March 11th, 2010

Henry Abbott on TrueHoop has a post examining Kobe Bryant’s incredible run of clutch jumpers this season. Kobe is 7-of-12 from the floor on shots that could win or tie a game in the last 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. That is insane. The league average on such shots over the last decade has been in in the high-20 percent area; Kobe is now 26-of-89 (29.2 percent) over the last decade in this situation, a mark Abbott describes as “slightly above league average.”

Using numbers from the NBA’s Stats and Information Research group, Abbott tells us the following:

Bryant has attempted by far the most such shots of anyone over the last decade. His 89 is trailed by Vince Carter’s 69, Paul Pierce’s 57, Dwyane Wade’s 51 and LeBron James’ 50.
Bryant’s 26 makes also lead the League, followed by Carter with 20, Ray Allen with 17 and Allen Iverson’s 14. Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce have each made 13.

You see Paul Pierce’s name there? Add up those two bullet points, and you find that Pierce is 13-of-57 on shots that could win or tie a game in the final 10 seconds of regulation and overtime. That works out to 22.8 percent. That’s not good. » More: An Argument Against the Pierce Iso