– Ever wonder what NBA players would look like if they were animated by Trey Parker and Matt Stone from South Park? Ever wonder what those animations would look like if they were based on the player’s statistical outputs? Wonder what I’m talking about?
– We’ve all heard the phrase “playing to strengths.” Well Kevin Pelton from Basketball Prospectus thinks the Miami Heat’s offense is “playing to weaknesses.” I also learned a new word, Anergy, reading this article. If you haven’t guessed from the subject matter, Anergy is the opposite of Synergy.
– With their wins over Miami and the Lakers last week, the Pacers and their 7’2″ center, Roy Hibbert, have been getting plenty of attention. Matt Moore at Hardwood Partoxysm lends his literary talents to an examination of Hibbert’s astounding improvement this season.
– Hoopism has created a series of word clouds for each NBA franchise containing the names of the players who have played the most minutes for that team. The more minutes they have played, the larger their name is. It’s a pretty intriguing way of illustrating the information.
– Anyone who thinks the Heat would be best served by sending Erik Spoelstra packing and bringing Pat Riley to the bench should read this piece by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
– Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, Danny Granger, Chris Paul, Brandon Roy. Which one of those players has scored the most points over the past four seasons? The answer might surprise you.
– Have the Pistons traded away a starting five capable of making the playoffs?
– How well do you know your Jewish NBA history? FreeDarko and TabletMag teamed up giving you an opportunity to create your own Hebrew Dream Team.
– Here are some recaps of LeBrons James’ return to Cleveland. Literary. Numeric. Vitriolic.
You can also find Ian at Hickory-High.com and Indycornrows.com
I’ve heard that this is fake and neither Jordan nor Nike did this audio for this purpose. But still AWESOME…
Pelton’s breakdown of the Heat’s struggles put into black and white what so many know, but can’t articulate. It’s like Wade, James and the Heat thought that because LeBron went for 29.7 and Wade 26.6 last year, they would automatically get 56 a game this year. It doesn’t work that way. Not to mention 56 can win a JV game but not too many NBA games. And Chris Bosh? We might as well call him Sesame Street because bottom line – one of these things is not like the others; one of these things just doesn’t belong.
The Jordan commercial says it all. LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh are all products of a society focused on instant gratification.
Ian,
You got to love this young Pacers team. Maybe they are not going to win a ton of games nor championships, but they play with enthusiasm. Hmmm…they don’t need championships to play hard? What a novel idea.
Another way of looking at Thursday’s game: LeBron can elevate his play when it is personal.
I agree. We’ve questioned on here before whether he has that burning desire to dominate.
Wow – I feel dumb. Obviously it is fake, but I forgot that the whole Jordan part was its own commercial a few years ago. Great editing by the guy who made this though.
I do love watching the Pacers’ this season. (I’m a Pacers fan if anyone didn’t already know.) They have been playing really hard and competing most every night.
One thing I struggle with is how much frustration to allow myself. They have been so bad the past few years that I felt fine being frustrated with just about everything. This season it’s hard because I see them make stupid turnovers or run awful sets out of timeouts and I want to be frustrated because I know they can do better. I have to frequently remind myself to be thankful for the improvement they have already made and the fact that they look like a playoff team at this point.
Hibbert has been terrific and seems like he has the inside track at most improved player. Danny Granger has cut back his usage rate and is playing much more efficiently. Posey and Ford have been terrific defensively. Even Mike Dunleavy looks like a basketball player again. They definitely have an attitude and a swagger this year that they can compete with anyone. It’s been a lot of fun to watch.
Unfortunately, they might be getting Posey on the downside of his career.
Oh, we are definitely getting Posey on the downside of his career. He doesn’t shoot anything but threes and doesn’t even do that particularly efficiently. His lateral quickness is almost completely gone and he essentially just guards power forwards where he used to be a very effective defender on the perimeter.
However, he’s got championship experience, conducts himself like a professional on and off the court. he competes hard every night, plays defense, moves the ball, draws charges and commits HARD fouls around the basket. All things the Pacers have been missing the past few seasons. Also the team’s defensive rating with him on the floor is down around 97, which is remarkable. Hibbert, Granger and Rush have been playing great defense. But when Posey and Ford are out there as well is when the Pacers really become a Top 10 defensive team.
When and how did the Rockets acquire Courtney Lee?
He was part of the Collison/Ariza deal.
Indiana received – Darren Collison, James Posey
New Jersey received – Troy Murphy
Houston received – Courtney Lee
New Orleans received – Trevor Ariza
I think some cash may have been exchanged to make it all balance out.