Brand fall

The Philadelphia 76ers: As if to add more misfortune to the Sixers' season of woe, Elton Brand suffered a shoulder dislocation after attempting to block a shot by Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute Labia mud charm toucher. Brand went up, up, up and then fell down, down, down. Hard. Insult added to injury: He got whistled for the foul. No word as of yet if and how long Brand will be sidelined.

Now, here's a little theory I have. Let's assume Brand misses, say, a month. You just watch. Philly will start fast breaking again -- which was their bread and butter last season -- and go on a little mini-streak in Brand's absence. Seriously.

I'll tell you what: If anything, this incident proves that Zach Randolph is an upgrade (for the Clippers) over Elton Brand in one specific area. He will never, ever suffer a serious injury while trying to play defense. I promise you that.

Brand jump
Pictured: Something Zach Randolph
will never do. Play defense.

Scott Skiles, anger machine: The thing I really appreciated about Skiles when he was coaching in Chicago is that he doesn't mince words. He tells it like he sees it. This is quite a departure from what I hear out of Vinny Del Negro, who talks about his team like he's deathly afraid of offending someone. Walking on eggshells might spare a few egos, but spare the rod, spoil the child, you know?

However, I've noticed that Skiles' disgust is growing with every game his team drops. It's like every loss is a Dixie cup full of rat droppings and bug parts getting poured down his gullet. Here's what he said after his team's latest loss: "We had a bunch of guys who looked like they didn't feel like playing from the opening tip. We were just heavy-legged, slow-footed. We couldn't get up and down the floor and had tremendous trouble guarding them. We got exactly what we deserved. I'm bewildered by my team. I've got a really bad taste in my mouth. It was a very poor all-around effort by us." I can kinda see where he's coming from, considering the team's two biggest investments -- Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut -- combined for 12 points (plus Redd shot 2-for-13 and Bogut had a game-high 4 turnovers). But still, it's awfully early to start alienating your team. Which, as we all know, is a Skiles specialty.

Danny Granger, reality defier: You might not know this since he's a Pacer and all, but Granger signed a five-year extension worth up to $65 million earlier this season. And, despite the big payday, he's gotten better. Much better, actually. Granger's currently averaging career highs in scoring (24.4), assists (3.2), blocks (1.4) and free throw percentage (88.2) while also chipping in 5.3 rebounds per game. Oh, and his PER has jumped from 16.7 to 20.1. Last night, he scored 13 of his game-high 41 points in the final six and a half minutes to lead the Pacers to victory. He also had 11 rebounds and 6 assists, and was 17-for-17 from the foul line. I guess not everybody suffers from the Contract Year Phenomenon.

And sure, he exploded against the Warriors' non-defense, but still...Indy was without starters T.J. Ford (left groin strain) and Troy Murphy (flu-like symptoms!). I mean, come on, the Pacers haven't had a step-it-up type player since Reggie Miller retired.

The Golden State Warriors: Did I mention they gave up 127 points and got pounded on the boards by a Pacers team that was missing two of its best players? Well, they did.

Corey Maggette: I read in the AP game notes that Maggette is still out with that strained right hamstring and that he's played in only 16 of the Warriors' 25 games. This reminded me of an email I recently received from Basketbawful reader Mark L, who claimed to have a new nickname for Mags: "They've started to call him 'Bad Porn' at various Warriors boards. Their justification? 'Sure, there's penetration and scoring, but are you really happy with what you're seeing?'" I loved this one so much that I wanted to lock it in my storage space and keep it from the rest of the world. Then I realized that the rest of the worlds' needs are greater than my own. There's not need to thank me. (But really, there is. So, you know, thank me and stuff.)

Bill Walton, man love quote machine: From Andrei: "Ok, I have a submission for either the 'quote machine' or 'man love' features, possibly both. On the pre-game show for the Celtics-Hawks game I just heard Bill Walton say 'Stuart, I love the little pretty boys' in reference to Chris Paul and Tony Parker. Anyone else pick up on that?" Yes. Gotta love The Walton.

Joe Johnson: Look, on the surface, it might look like there's a lot to criticize about the Celtics-Hawks game. Boston shot 44 percent and Atlanta shot 36 percent. The teams combined for 27 turnovers which is a lot for such a low-possession game. But the mitigating factor is that this was a rivalry game played with MAN-type intensity. In the end, the Celtics won it because, quite simply, they made the plays they had to make down the stretch (especially KG, who was 5-for-5 in the fourth quarter and also had a couple sweet assists to Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo).

But still, the Hawks could have won this game if Joe Cool had played a little better. Johnson was 6-for-16 and only 1-for-7 from downtown, but his biggest boner of the night was blowing the second of two free throws with 2.7 seconds. Hitting it would have tied the game. Missing it, well, pretty much lost the game. He had been 7-for-7 before the clank. Said Johnson: "I had a chance to get us into overtime and missed the second free throw. I made the first one and some of the pressure was off." Some...but apparently not enough. The best/worst part: The Atlanta fans were chanting "M-V-P!" during Johnson's trips to the line. Speaking of of the fans...

Atlanta "fans": I noticed several Lakers jerseys/sweatshirts/whatever in the Atlanta crowd, including one Kareem jersey. What's up with that?

Glen Davis: From Chris: "Another gem from tonight's broadcast: the video from practice where Big Baby slipped on the Phillips Arena floor while in sweatpants and all. I wonder if that's going to be on YouTube any time soon." Not yet, alas. Almost (but not quite) as good as watching Baby fall on his face was hearing Mark Jackson freak out and say "Big Baby, you're better than that!" afterward. Uh, Mark, I don't know which Glen Davis YOU'VE been watching this season...

Ray Allen, unintentionally dirty quote machine: From Michael W: "Not sure if this qualifies as unintentionally dirty quote machine, but Ray Allen is credited with this little gem after the BOS-ATL match (via ESPN match report): 'Sometimes it seems as though it's a burden. That monkey grows. It's a good monkey though.' Better than a bad monkey, Ray. Or a monkey with a knife. Plus he shot 1-of-8 from downtown which surely qualifies for a Worstie." Yeah. He missed a lot of threes. But they were good misses.

Marvin Williams: Basketbawful reader Aram sent in this picture of M-Will giving Paul Pierce "The Bad Touch." Only Paul's face says that was "The Really Bad Touch."

Morris junk
Huh. I guess Williams CAN handle the Truth...


The Toronto Raptors: Check out this smackdown from the AP game recap: "Down by 12 points after one quarter, the Dallas Mavericks knew better than to panic. Instead, they waited for the struggling Toronto Raptors to crack. It didn’t take long." Added Jason Terry: "We knew they blew a big lead the other night, so we didn't get down (after the first). We just said 'Keep grinding. If we can put some doubt in their mind they may fold,' and that's what we were able to do in the second and third quarter." And a little more from Devean George: "The whole team looked frustrated, some doubt started to come into their mind. They started off smoking, but it's a 48 minute game. When you see guys going, 'Not again,' that kind of feeds into the other team. We all kind of sensed that. They were really frustrated when things weren’t going right and we started making a run."

Okay, when opposing teams and even the Associated Press know they can count on you to collapse...that's bad. The dinos have now lost three straight and are 2-6 since Jay Triano replaced Sam Mitchell.

Chris Bosh: Did he struggle? Yeah, I guess you could call scoring only 12 points on 6-for-20 shooting "struggling." He also went 0-for-5 in the third quarter, which included a missed dunk. It was a performance, both individually and as a team that was well worth booing, but Bosh wasn't happy when that exact thing happened...

The Toronto crowd: Look, we all understand why you guys are happy. You live in Canada and your team sucks more than expected. But they can't rally if you don't support them. What the Raptors need now is love, sweet love, it's the only thing that there's just too little of. Just ask Chris Bosh: "If I want to get booed, I'll go on the road. It's really tense right now. When you're down three points at home and you're getting booed, that's kind of disheartening. Whether the crowd knows it or not, they play a big part in the game." Again, I understand the reasons behind the booing, but you know, he has a point.

The Utah Jazz's first quarter: Gak, what a bad start by the Jazz. They shot 3-for-19 (16 percent) -- which included streaks of six and later eight misses in a row -- and had 7 turnovers. And it took a Morris Almond jumper with 2.8 seconds left to avoid matching the worst quarter in franchise history. (Utah scored five points in the second quarter against the Lakers on December 1, 1981.) After that misguided mess of basketball, the Jazz found themselves down 27-7. Fortunately, they were facing...

The New Jersey Nets: Yes, my friends, they are who we thought they were. The Nets choked up a 22-point lead and ended up losing by 11 (and dropped to 4-8 at home in the process). It was the largest lead they've wasted since January 29, 2001 when they surrendered a 23-point lead to a 23-win Vancouver Grizzlies team. The Nets let the Jazz score 72 points on 64 percent shooting in the second half while getting outrebounded 53-36. Fail.

The Washington Wizards: Here are the facts. Do with them what you will. The Wiz scored 74 points on 33 percent shooting. They missed nine free throws and had only 13 assists (and 12 turnovers). They fell to 4-19, which makes them only two games better than the Klahma City Thunder. And Mike James is now their starting point guard. Yes, they suck. They suck bad. Speaking of James...

Mike James, quote machine: "I keep saying I'm grateful this is the Eastern Conference. You can be 10 games under .500 and still be playing for the eighth (playoff) spot." Uh, yeah, Mike...only you guys are 15 games under .500 and a full SEVEN games out of eighth place. But don't let little things like math and reality stand in the way of your delusions of mediocrity.

Rasheed Wallace: It has been said that 'Sheed plays better after getting T'd up. Well, he earned a tech last night and yet finished with 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting (including 0-for-4 from distance) and only 4 rebounds. So, you know, maybe what's known isn't what's known.

The Minnesota Timberwolves: Not that anybody expected them to beat the Cavs, but they still lost by 23 points at home. It was their 11th straight defeat and sixth in a row since Kevin McHale took over the coaching reigns. But since McHale thinks that bloggers are costing coaches their jobs, I'm not going to say anything.

Rashad McCants: The line: 0-for-8, 2 points, 3 fouls. He doesn't even deserve a one-liner. Meh, to you, Rashad. Meh, I say!

Eric Gordon: He earned "True Clipper" status last night by fouling Ben Gordon on a three-point attempt when his team was leading by 4 points with 20 seconds left. Ben hit the shot and the ensuing free throw to tie things up. The game went into overtime and the Clippers, naturally, lost. Gordon, who also committed a critical turnover in overtime, was not available for comment after the game.

By the way, after the loss, Timothy P sent me the following email: "Just wanted to say thanks for the curse...'By the way, has anybody noticed that Zach Randolph is fitting in really well with the Clippers? In point of fact, he's playing a lot better than post-surgery Elton Brand. And the Clips have won three in a row. Who knows? It could turn out that Brand leaving was a good thing for the other L.A. team.' You managed to write this the same day Brand did a flying pirouette over somebody's shoulder, landed upside down, and dislocated his own shoulder. But who knows? It could turn out that Brand getting hurt is a good thing for the Sixers."

Yeah. Sorry 'bout that Clippers fan. I know what it looks like, but I really wasn't going for the stat curse just 'cause I live in Chicago and support the Bulls and knew the Clips were coming into town last night. Really I wasn't...

Andres Nocioni: Noc forced a big turnover in overtime when he flopped to the floor while defending Zach Randolph. And the NBA said they were going to stop the flop! Z-Bo was pretty angry, both at the time and after the game. And so was Marcus Camby: "It's frustrating because everybody in the league, everybody in the building knows what he does. He flops, but he got the benefited of the call tonight so we just have to take this one on the chin and we have try to regroup and we have two more games on this road trip." No bitterness there. None at all.

Spurs versus Hornets: Chris Paul set an NBA record for getting a steal in his 106th straight regular-season game while Tim Duncan passed the 10,000 career rebound mark. So, yeah, history was made, but that did not make this a game worth watching. Ugly. I walked away to do some things and came back early in the second quarter...and it was 15-14. The Spurs also scored only 13 in the fourth. Painful. Like a giant cyst on your back that's about to burst. And then you realize it's filled with crawling insects.

Also, an anonymous commenter asked me to mention the following two bonus pooper scoopers: "Hey Bawful, in the next WotN can you mention the stat curse the commentators put on Matt Bonner. They were talking about his league leading three-point percentage only to have him go 1-8 from downtown and 3-15 altogether. Although in hindsight it is Matt Bonner, so it probably wasnt a stat curse just matt being normal. And also the random Hornets employee who wouldn't let the fans manning the CP3 steal count put it upto 106. He was standing there telling them not to do it. even while the fans were cheering CP3 and there was an announcement about him getting the record." Consider it mentioned, Mr. Anonymous. Also, d'you suppose that having Bonner attempt eight threes was really part of Pop's game plan? I tend to think not so much.

Manu Ginobili: Basketbawful reader Garron noted: "Great game. But, down by 4 with 30 seconds left he lost miserably on a jump ball against '6-foot on a very good day' Chris Paul." True dat. The only change I would make is "6-foot while standing on a couple decks of cards and maybe a small block of wood."

Evil Ted Addendum (spurs/hornets): At one point late in this game, Tyson Chandler was called for goaltending. It was a legit and fairly obvious call, so nothing horrible there...but Jeff Van Gundy proceeds with a mini-rant that sounds something like "I don't know how any human being could possibly detect goaltending...they should have balls that light up when they start on their downward arc...I seriously have no idea how a human could possibly call a goaltend..." I found it very disturbing to hear a commentator AND former coach say something so dumb about one of the most straightforward aspects of the game - ball going down, no touchie. Maybe Gundy just enjoys the sound of his own voice?

The Laction report: Basketbawful reader Chris was kind (or perhaps obsessed) enough to compile all the trillionaires, suck differentialists and Mario brothers of the night:

Even with ESPN cameras on for two games, it couldn't stop some of the best practitioners of lactivity from shining brightly (or is that "fading dimly" in this context), even in one of those two national games! And, being doubly inspired tonight, I decided to do a salary comparison between their on-court non-performance and their actual earnings, to see how much randomly standing on the floor, or negatively contributing to the team, can be worth.

(BTW, I still haven't decided what term is best for a suck differentialist -- a "vacuum" or a "lollipop", I think a "vacuum" has to especially suck, say have a double digit SD or more than 10 minutes of playing time with a SD, while a lollipop has a single digit SD in less than 10 minutes of playing time.)

Shawne Williams of the Mavs ($1,572,960 this year/$19,182.44 a game) was one field goal away from a +4 in a full 10 minute lacktion session -- about $5000 for each SD marker he accrued; on the other side of the court, Kris Humphries ($3,200,000 this year/$39,024.39 a game) was a +1 in 1:53 of playing time for the Raptors, his missed field goal squandering away a revenue-generating opportunity. Guess you can't trust Humphries with your 401(k).

The Wizards' JaVale Mcgee was a steal away from a +1 in 2:31 of lacktion - is that a "Non-Trillion Almost As Valuable As Others?" It did help contribute to a 14 point loss, though it did not make him wealthy. (In real dollars though, he makes $1,392,240 this year, which is $16,978.54 a game.)

CJ Miles for Utah, in trying to become a true lollipop, was a +4 in a whopping 6:28 of playing time -- as a starter! -- and while +/- is not considered for SD numbers, he was -12, truly making him a Minus Man. (6 players for the Jazz -- FOUR from the bench had double digit positive +/- numbers tonight.) I guess his sweet, sweet negative lacktivity was overshadowed by his team's depth. This year's salary for him is $3,700,000 or $45,121.95 a game -- so he earned a sugary $11,280.49 for every SD marker he racked up!

Cleveland steamrolled McHale's Navy of Conscripts (appropriate given Telfair's arsenal shenangians), having enough garbage time to bring out Darnell Jackson as the biggest lollipop of the night, with 6:53 of lacktion punctuated by a SD of +7! That's a ratio of over one bad play a minute! However, he cannot be blamed for the usual cries of "LeBron lacks a supporting cast" that inevitably lead to "LeBron to Somewhere Else in 2010, Says The Media Hype Train" - he is making a mere $450K this year, only $5487.80 a game - so his cap hit per SD point is $783.96, a real bargain in the league nowadays and an easily afforadble option for those looking for a waste disposal expert. Speaking of the conscripts from Minneapolis, Kevin Love scored a grand total of 0 points on 4 shots.

In typical fashion, Donald Sterling's squad serves as a breeding ground of nothingness, with Steve Novak providing a 30 second Mario (at $797,581 this season/$9726.60 a game, he has clearly found the secret to getting rich fast), while Clippers teammate Brian Skinner - 22nd overall pick by this team in 1998 -- chose to walk away from the treasure chest and stock options by blocking one shot, thus avoiding a +1 in three minutes of lacktion. (Skinner's sole blocked shot was probably his best effort in trying to show Mr. Sterling that the contract year phenomenon applies to him, as he makes $1,262,275 this year, or $15,393.60 a game. Wanna bet that's enough for Sterling and Dunleavy to give this guy another blank check?) Oh, and the Clips only successfully made one shot in OT, unsurprisingly losing.

While the big talk in the Crescent City was CP3's 106th consecutive game with a steal, he was not assisted by fellow Hornet Sean Marks, who chose to forego a possible payday of 9 trillion in favor of taking the role of team lollipop, with a +5 through three missed shots and 2 personal fouls. (Marks, clearly bad enough to not be assisted by the contract year phenomenon, is making $1,141,838 in the last year of his deal -- $13,924.85 a game, or more specifically, $2784.97 per SD point!) On the other bench, Fabricio Oberto gave the Spurs a 40 second Mario, at the price of $3,500,000 this year/$42,682.93 a game - one of THE most expensive Marios in memory.

Man, I am still in awe at earning $42,682.93 to just stand there for 40 seconds and then get back on the bench. No wonder he doesn't mind being "used in any role" as this article states.

It's amazing how this somewhat sabermetric analysis of lacktion can be really revealing -- and make you wonder how so many GMs in this league do not understand the stupidity of spending $42K a game, or $11K a SD point, to have someone take up roster space.

And did anyone else catch Stuart Scott in the midst of the ESPN broadcast describing the upcoming Spurs game as "redicufied," a completely new and meaningless word that seems straight out of the Lovetron Language Primer?
Kobe Bryant: While in the bathroom of the Lakers' locker room, Mamba asked Luke Walton where the nearest bathroom was. When Luke gave him a puzzled look in response, Kobe said: "I'm not looking for a toilet, you moron, I'm looking for a bathroom. Haven't you ever taken a bath? Apparently not. No wonder it smells like crap in here." And Luke began to cry.

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37 Comments:
Blogger chris said...
Alienating his team game-by-game - does Skiles think he's Larry Brown already?

VERY appropriate CAPTCHA for Mr. Skiles: "hfocked"

Although Joe Johnson was mostly money at the charity stripe, I gotta wonder if his miss was an attempt to get his Hawks into the "Losses That Aren't Bad As Others" column, as it led directly to a close, somewhat palatable loss. Except it isn't so palatable when Atlanta led much of the 2nd half.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Is it just me... or was Iggy actually SMILING in the pic of Brand falling down?

Blogger Dunpizzle said...
No mention of the stat curse put on Joe Johnson!? As he was about to shoot the 2nd free throw to tie the game, the commentator said he was 7/7 from the line. I knew he was gonna miss.

Blogger Michael said...
Gah! Come on! I'm totally on your side when it comes to scoring = good and Spurs slowing things down = boring, but are you seriously telling me that Spurs/Hornets game last night was an entry all its own here on the WotN? That game was amazing! Maybe if you only watched the first 2 quarters, I would understand, but did you see any of the second half? If so, you're way off base calling the whole game as a bummer. It might have been one of the best games played this whole season thus far.

Blogger chris said...
It's funny that "boo birds" is the Word of The Day link on the sidebar, given Bosh's comments on the Toronto game. Maybe they were just booing Kris Humphries abstaining from revenue generation, though.

Meanwhile, I wonder if you've done a "Worst Teams Ever" post, as I see two bawful squads listed amongst the examples of fail in this ESPN piece:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=worstteams/081218

BTW, thanks for putting up my lacktion research on today's WOTN. What makes it easier for me is that most of the games are done well before bedtime here on the West Coast, giving me a chance to analyse poor play almost as soon as it ends.

Blogger Unknown said...
If Elton wore maybe a size or 2 bigger Dalembert woulda had a nice shoe print on his chin.

Blogger chris said...
Breaking news: Eddy Curry has a $41,000 tab at Casual Male and hasn't paid it off, thus creating a lawsuit.

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/12/18/eddy-curry-gets-sued-for-not-paying-his-shopping-tab-at-casual-m/

You know, Fabricio Oberto could donate all the money he earned in his effortless Mario last night and Curry would be out of trouble right now.

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
"Like a giant cyst on your back that's about to burst. And then you realize it's filled with crawling insects."

Aaahhh did you just YouTube search "Botfly" recently? Not for the squemish of stomach.

As long as we're doing animal planet analogies, you may as well describe Cleveland's win over Minny as a pack of Japanese Giant Hornets slaughtering the defenceless Timberwolves' beehive (do NOT click that link if you are deathly afraid of flying insects or if you enjoyed Bee Movie. It is the most horrifying nature video I have ever seen.). higher quality vid en Espanol

Blogger Andrei said...
The Red Rocket (Bonner) not only went 1-8 from downtown, but the guy blew an uncontested dunk and then while hanging on the rim tried to retrieve the ball. In other Red Rocket news, one of the ESPN announcers yesterday pointed out that if Red Rocket doesn't shoot open threes, Popovich yanks him from the game. Perhaps, having the Rocket jack up 8 threes was in Pop's game plan.

Blogger chris said...
Andrei: The sad thing is, Bonner's negative contributions for the Spurs still were more efficient towards the cap (at $2,959,190 a year/$36,087.68 a game) than teammate Oberto's insanely luxurious Mario.

Though I guess having Oberto out for a 33 trillion would have probably been less of a team detriment than Bonner's 33 minutes of mediocrity.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Grangers a stud. Needs to be in the ASG

oh an unrelated note I met alonzo mourning @ a book signing yesterday. Dude is just awesome. Signed my jersey and hinted at a return in january.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
To clarify Bawful - No Canadians are unhappy about being Canadian! About the Raps, yes, but being Canadian, no. Trust me when I say that we certainly don't want to be American. That's not a shot at the US, it's just that we DON'T want to be Americans , or even called Americans (nothing riles up a Canadian more than being called an American when travelling overseas).

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I don't think Skiles is disgusted with Redd and Bogut. They had crappy games, but that happens and they usually work hard and are generally unselfish. I think Skiles is more frustrated with the rest of the holdovers from the Larry Harris era, specifically Charlie Bell and Charlie Villanueva. They know how to pad their offensive stats so they don't end up on pages like this, but their lapses and laziness don't show up in box scores(well, it did last night in +/-). The point in the game where Skiles looked angriest happened when Redd and Bogut were off the court and Milwaukee gave up consecutive fast break layups, where a little effort would have at least forced free throws or a pull-up. Skiles called a timeout and facepalmed for a full minute.

It's gotta be more frustrating with Villanueva because he has so much talent but apparently no desire to do anything substantial with it. Milwaukee fans have seen this before, where a tall long-armed athletic wonder with a good jump shot decided he would never put forth the effort to step up his game and become a difference maker, even when the team cleared the roster so he could do just that. Knick fans, tell Tim Thomas we said "hi."

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Also about Granger, last year I thought he was a solid but unspectacular player whose 20 ppg were a product of team injuries. Seeing him this year I realize that is not the case. I've actually watched more Pacers action than any man reasonably should this year because he's been so impressive. I agree with kazam92 on Granger deserving to be an All-Star. I rarely say that about good players on crap teams...in fact this may be the first one I've supported since Richmond was in Sacramento.

Blogger Andrei said...
Chris: I suppose if your players are going to suck, it's better that you don't pay them too much to suck, can't argue with that. Besides, the comedy value of Bonner probably makes him one of the more efficiently hilarious players in the league.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
While vacuums do suck, lollipops are sucked and are delicious. I think the suck differential nomenclature needs to end there as it's getting too complicated and losing it's craptacular elegance.

Blogger chris said...
Andrei: I wish I knew what Clutch The Bear's salary was, to make a comparison of "efficient hilarity." But if Bonner can start scaring random children at conventions after standing still, or doing LOLtacular music videos, then he'll truly be a great bargain for Greg Popovich!

poptarted: I was thinking more that lollipops are "suckers" (cue up any 1940s cartoon where this connection was made clear). I do get your point, at the same time acknowledging that there is indeed a sweetness in knowing you're getting more money per bad play than people earn in a month.

Blogger chris said...
your favorite sun:
"Skiles called a timeout and facepalmed for a full minute."

Any screencaps of that?

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I'm not sure I see the point in counting dollars per game for guys making minimum. I mean, what do y'all want, that every one of the 12-15 players under contract on each team play at least twenty minutes every night? Obviously somebody has to be the scrubs, and obviously they can't be paid below the minimum. It's not that they aren't making a lot of money for little production, it's that they're just not worthy targets. Compare them to the likes of Damon Jones, Jamaal Tinsley and Starbury, who are held in such low esteem that their teams don't even want them in practice, much less within sniffing distance of playing time.

Blogger Drake said...
your favorite sun:

You know what the difference between Villanueva and Tim Thomas is? You get better shooting percentage and rebounding from Villanueva. So at least he sort of cares.

Tim Thomas, on the other hand, is generally a bum who's actually more talented than Villanueva. Too bad, he really doesn't give a shit.

Either way, both players won't really help you win - not sure about Villanueva, but with Thomas, he might help if it's a contract season.

Blogger dvjs said...
the kobe-luke stories are the best.

thank you for your wonderful site.

have always thought nocioni would be a perfect fit on the lakers but he is flop, flop city. fisher and the machine take a spill or two but nocioni is on another level.

Blogger chris said...
Anonymous: It's one thing if our trillionaires and SD folks were always the league minimum guys, but damn, I am still in awe of $45K for 40 seconds of lacktion, in a nationally televised game. THAT is noteworthy!

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Year by year FG% of Tim Thomas in his first three years in Milwaukee, in order: 49.5%, 46.1, 43. Villanueva's three years in Milwaukee: 47%, 43.5 and 42.8 so far this year. Like I said, we've seen this before. Charlie's rebounding is higher than Thomas's ever was, though they're usually the ones that fall to him rather than the result of hustling or boxing out, the latter of which he rarely does...but I guess some effort is still better than Thomas's zero effort.

It's not too late for Charlie V, he can still learn from the cautionary tale of Tim Thomas. Here's hoping, anyways, since the league certainly doesn't need another.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
chris: I've got no problem ripping on Oberto's dollars per second, which is to be both ridiculed and envied. Guys like Novak(minimum), Skinner(veteran's minimum) and even Shawne Williams(rookie scale) are on contracts that don't imply much production is expected, so it's unnecessary to say they're being paid to produce little. I mean, go ahead and highlight their Marios and SD, but their smallish(by NBA standards) contracts are beside the point.

Blogger XForce23 said...
Toronto fans are just notorious for being really bitchy sports fans. What other town will have an official chant dedicated to how much we hate a single player?

"Lets go Raptors, VC SUCKS!"

Blogger chris said...
Anonymous: Of course, that does beg the question why the NBA salary standards are so high for the trillionaires out there - though I did praise the Cavaliers for being efficient with their garbage men making it a bit of a wash on my end. :D I guess looking at it through an NBA lens, $15K per minute isn't so bad.

Does anyone know why Oberto got his blinged out Mario though? I mean, I can understand benching someone for suckage (something that coaches apparently don't always understand), but almost anyone on the planet, especially those making league minimum, could get the job done breathing oxygen and existing for a whopping sub-minute. (At least Mario West isn't getting paid too much to be a regular feature on this site.) And if the breathing oxygen part is too tiresome...well, there's always the chair that skillfully guarded Yi Jianlian in workouts, which has a softer cap iht.

Blogger chris said...
I guess Oberto's Mario thus is what Stuart Scott was "redicufied" with, as unlike Scott, he doesn't have to come up with stupid catch phrases to earn every dollar. ;)

Anonymous Anonymous said...
chris: can't find any, unfortunately. There is this:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//081218/483/03bf36f20d9a49ef8cc4947fce06709e/

It must have been taken at about the same time, and it serves as a good companion pic to his comments.

Blogger Drake said...
your favorite sun:

All you can do is hope that nobody is dumb enough to give Villanueva a big contract like multiple teams have done with Thomas.

On the one hand, you have the Bobcats and their recent dumb contracts. On the other hand, nobody was willing to offer Bonzi Wells a big contract after his contract year push with the Kings.

Blogger chris said...
YFS: Thanks for the link. Just found a photo of the Red Rocket's rim rejection there!

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//081218/483/b85cca40fc6e46ff9aa93278c535ca18/

FAIL.

Blogger chris said...
Another gem from the Yahoo photos: Stephen Graham forces Ronny Turiaf out of the way, despite Turiaf's attempts to protect himself with Baron Davis-like facial hair:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//081218/483/f8c09b4913ed48e4b6b346f60dd61b50/

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I respectfully disagree with your comment about booing. The Raps are very disappointing; as fans and consumers of the product the players are providing, we are entitled to our opinions, and if the players aren't up to par, then we should let them know. Otherwise, we become complacent, and the organization settles for mediocrity (such as in the case of their sister team, the Toronto Maple Leafs).

In a completely unrelated note, check THIS out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5NoqVa14Z4&feature=related

God bless Mr. James

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Wow, I haven't seen many games this season, but the stretch at the end of the Suns/Blazers game has had the worst officiating I've seen so far. Both Amare and Roy drive to the rim and there's all sorts of hands-on defense with no calls (I'm pretty sure the no-call against Roy was to make up for the one on Amare). Some foul called on Barnes (I think?) for having the ball stolen from him. Didn't know a steal was worth foul shots. Then, in the closing seconds, the Suns actually play good enough defense to force the inbounds pass to Aldridge, who is promptly fouled. Then the refs wait for him to pass it to a better foul shooter before calling a foul.

Of course, the Suns put themselves in a horrible situation at the end by not boxing out or rebounding (although it would seem the Blazer player is going over the back of Richardson just before the above out of bounds play -- but this is the NBA and the Blazers are the best offensive rebounders so we'll let that slide). The Blazers missed two shots but the Suns didn't even give themselves a chance to capitalize.

I like both these teams and it should have been fun to watch the end of a close game, but the refs make it so unwatchable. Oh well, that will teach me to actually try and watch the game. I should just look at box scores and pretend they're legit. [/rant]

Blogger Clifton said...
STAT CURSE!!, sort of. Not really a "stat" curse, but I think that's the generic term. Early in the game, before Roy really caught fire, Tim Kempton uttered, "Y'know, players tend to get reputations in this league, and we heard when he arrived that Jason Richardson didn't play any defense. Well, we haven't seen that tonight. Brandon Roy has had his hands full so far." Then, of course, the rest of the game happened, and Roy exploded for 52 points (5-7 from 3, 14-27 from the field overall, 21 trips to the line with 19 makes).

Dragic DNP-CD, 3rd straight game. Is it worse to get paid to suck, or to get paid to never get out of your warm-ups all night? And let's hear it for Phoenix's "renewed" "emphasis" on "defense" after a 124-119 D'Antoni-fest.

Both Blazers big men were dull tonight-- Greg "Lumpy Addams" Oden was in foul trouble throughout and only played 17 minutes, was somewhat of a factor inside, but it was a statistical dead heat with the Vanilla Gorilla, who logged 30 minutes (J-Prizz had less points, including 3 bricks in 4 attempts from the line, but pulled down 3x as many boards). As far as Suns' bigs, Shaq played his newly-created position of point center pretty well, but Lopez was his usual self (7 minutes, one basket, one board, zero defense), and Amundson -- who the Suns love because he hustles, and because he rides a bicycle -- logged 5 minutes and touched the ball twice (a rebound and a turnover).

Note: I just read that article again, and I still love how they try to squeeze as much positive juju out of Amundson as possible. "He's willing to do whatever it takes, including cutting his hair when Jerry Sloan told him to do it if he was going to join the Jazz." Good Lord-- a haircut??! Look out, everyone, he'll do ANYTHING!!

Blogger chris said...
With the Spurs' second loss in as many days, I guess they got stat cursed by the pre-game runup on the ESPN broadcast, I remember hearing this in the game preview as the Celtics-Hawks tilt winded down:

"The Western Conference should've put the Spurs down when they had the chance."

Well, apparently Wednesday AND Thursday night proved that the conference still has quite the chance to leave San Antonio's basketball team well in the dust.

Even with only two games, there was still plenty of bawful yesterday evening:

- Goran Tragic, er, Dragic was DNP-CD for the Suns, while in Orlando, the man with the most expensive Mario (F. Oberto) known so far got to sit out that one as well

- Nicolaus Batum provided a non-stellar performance as a starter, providing Phoenix with only one rebound and blocked shot in what almost was a +2 (missed shot and one foul) in a full 16:30 of lacktion. On the other end of the court, Portland's Sergio Rodriguez avoided sucktitude with one measly assist off the bench, avoiding a +4 in 7:29 of mind-numbing play.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
we were actually booing when Mavs had the ball (after a blown ...something HAHAAH)
anyways I was at the raps game
I was just thinking what's wrong with these fans stop booing and cheer for your team

we have the "Let's go Raptors. VC SUCKS" chant why can't we do "Let's go raptors. J Kidd SUCKS" or something really stop booing your own team during the game boo after when they lost by 50

Blogger Murcy said...
not to mention that batum is on the blazers, and he still rewarded the suns ;) team recogniton FAIL :Db