Archive for the ‘Lazy weekend post’ Category

I was reading Cavs The Blog today to find out how the Bobcats managed to wallop Cleveland by 17 points on Friday, and if Antawn Jamison looked as bad as his stat line (0-of-12 from the field, few other positive stats). 

Much to my surprise, I found this excerpt in John Krolik’s recap of the game:

A player going 0-12 or worse from the field and making two or less free throws has only happened seven other times since 86-87…Jamison also only had one assist. When you add that to the previous criteria, only four games qualify. The only players to go 0-12 or worse, make two free throws or less, and record zero assists in a game are Zach Randolph and Dino Radja.

If there’s anything guaranteed to perk me up and get “Blind Melon” songs into my head, it’s a mention of Dino Radja, whom my girlfriend, of course, failed to notice when they crossed paths in Croatia last summer. 

Obviously, I had to look up the box score to the classic Radja Fail game in question, a 99-85 loss to the Spurs in December ‘93. The C’s would finish the ‘93-94 season 32-50, the first time the team finished under. 500 since Larry Bird came into the league. That season began a streak of eight straight below .500 seasons that didn’t end until 2002, when the Pierce/Walker C’s made their memorable run to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

The full box score, and a hefty does of nostalgia, after the jump. » More: The Ghost of Dino Radja in Antawn Jamison

• Stephen Hawkins, AP: “Not only bigger in Texas. The biggest.” 

• Sam Amick, Sacramento Bee: “Everything about the event was grand, with the locals boasting that they had lived up to their motto that everything is bigger in Texas.” 

• Julian Benbow, Boston Globe: Everything’s bigger in Texas, but this was ridiculous – the scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium made the basketball court look like a sandbox.

• Eddie Sefko, Dallas Morning News: You have to give credit to Jerry Jones. He saw an opportunity to be different with the huge video board and it captured the fancy of fans, who truly embrace the idea of everything being bigger in Texas.

• Bethlehem Shoals, Fanhouse: Everything’s bigger in Texas, and this Caron Butler swap is no exception.

• Dirk Nowitzki, pre-game welcome to fans: “Everything is bigger in Texas.”

• John Hollinger, TrueHoop: Since everything’s bigger in Texas, as Dirk Nowitzki reminded the crowd before the start of the biggest All-Star Game ever, let’s focus on another thing that became even bigger as a result of tonight: The idea of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James playing together in Miami next season. 

• AP, two days before the game: When it comes to the NBA All-Star Game, everything is bigger in Texas.

• Bob Cooney, Philadelphia Daily News: They really do do things bigger in Texas. And Sunday night at the NBA All-Star Game, the players noticed. » More: Did You Know: Everything’s Bigger in Texas!

From last night’s Blazers-Lakers game in Portland:

Kobe Bryant: 14-of-37, 2-4 (free throws)= 32 points

Brandon Roy: 9-of-11, 13-14 (free throws)=32 points

Look at those numbers: Brandon Roy scored the same number of points as Kobe Bryant despite taking 26 fewer shots.

This has to be a record for the largest differential in field-goal attempts between two players who scored the same number of points in a game. It has to be. Someone get Elias Sports Bureau or the ESPN Sports and Information group on this. 

Do you realize the perfect storm required for this happen? A bad shooting day for Bryant? Check. A defender (Martell Webster, according to Blazers Edge) on his game hounding Kobe all night long? Check. Some questionable officiating? Well, the Blazers attempted 39 foul shots compared to just 10 for the Lakers, so either Portland got some hometown calls or the Lakers just decided not to attack the paint all game. I didn’t watch the game, so I don’t know. 

But I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that Roy and Bryant set this bizarre record last night. 

Also: I may never have played high-level basketball, but I’m guessing it’s not a good thing for one player to attempt five fewer shots than the other four players in the starting line-up combined.

One of the major themes of this season has been the notion that the Orlando Magic struggle to contain opposing point guards. Ben Q. Rock of the outstanding Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post (formerly Third Quarter Collapse) investigates this trend and finds two things (which should be accepted with all the caveats Mr. Rock lists in his post):

1) Opposing point guards who can create their own shot have played better against Orlando than distributor types, and high-scoring games from opposing PGs have contributed to several of Orlando’s nine losses.

2) Opposing point guards have scored significantly more points (18.1 per game versus 13.6) in games started by Jameer Nelson versus games started by Jason Williams. They have also shot a higher percentage from the field in games Nelson has started. 

If you’re interested, you should really go read the whole post. Lots of good stuff there.

This is a troubling pattern for the Magic, though it’s really too early to classify it as a pattern set in stone. Let’s wait for Nelson to get back to full health and Orlando to get into its mid/late-season schedule. 

But let’s also watch and hope that Rondo continues to build an independent offensive game.