Links To The Present: March 9, 2010
2010-03-09
“If you had somehow been able to show me this game film at the start of the season I would not have believed what I saw from J.J. Hickson. He battled Tim Duncan without fear all night. He looked to make plays for himself when he got the ball. He attacked late in the game like a seasoned veteran. He made clutch free throws. He got a clutch rebound. His growth has been astounding this season.” [Brian Windhorst – PD]
“The defense gets a fair amount of credit, too. After trouble with dribble penetration in the first half — George Hill stepped in for Tony Parker and scored 23 points — the Cavs closed up the paint in the second half. They allowed just 43 points in the second half, just eight in the paint, and just 26 percent shooting in the fourth quarter.” [Brian Windhorst – PD]
“West will not deliver a title to the Cavaliers, but the Cavaliers need him if they are to deliver a title to Cleveland.” [Patrick McManamon – Fanhouse]
“Williams logged 34 minutes of play (only JJ Hickson received more time), finishing with 17 points (7-of-16 from the floor), eight rebounds and eight assists. With a small-ball lineup surrounding him for most of the night, Williams was frequently pushing the pace, leading to easy buckets, drawing the ire of Spurs coach Greg Popovich.” [Scott – WFNY]
“Nash and the fourth-ranked player on this list, Mark Price, are the only two players in history to shoot better than 50 percent on 2s, 40 percent on 3s and 90 percent from the line for their careers. And as it happens, Nash’s general manager in Phoenix, Steve Kerr, is second on the list.” [John Hollinger’s list of Greatest Shooters Ever]
Boobie came in last night and hit a deep contested 3. No one else has mentioned it yet so here’s the proof. Every time he shoots a 3 I think it is going in.
“His performance as it relates to who he’s playing with and against is far and away the best in the league no matter how you measure it — box-score metrics, adjusted plus/minus or the old-fashioned way of just using your eyes.” [Ken Berger on NBA Awards]
“Antawn Jamison’s MRI today showed nothing serious. He’s day-to-day with sore left knee.” [Brian Windhorst’s Twitter]
Now this is interesting:
Look at these two lineups:
1.) M.Williams-Parker-James-Hickson-O’Neal
2.) Gibson-Parker-James-Hickson-O’Neal
Lineup 1 has been outscored by 42 points in 380+ minutes.
Lineup 2 has outscored opponents by 34 points in 138+ minutes.
One thing to note is that the 2nd lineup got more of its burn when Mo Williams went down with injury which was against fairly modest competition and mostly at home. However, Boobie played well against Miami both times and played very well against Orlando. This is also a reason to point out that 82games was finally updated again over the weekend.
I’ve been saying this all year. Mo and Shaq are terrible together. For whatever reason: slower pace, Boobie being better at feeding the post, etc., Boobie plays much better with Shaq.
I thought it was noteworthy that Mo actually ranked 16 on Hollinger’s list of the best shooters of all time.
Well said, action. It’s about rhythm and chemistry in a sport where split-second decisions and anticipating what others are going to do are the difference between a turnover and a dunk or wide open 3 (on offense AND defense). Even though there are stretches where I will wish that this guy or that guy would get more minutes, MB does a good job of handling the rotation overall, especially given the major changes that have happened over the past 2+ years. He’s also good at recognizing that the “starters” don’t have to be the “finishers” … which is why we’ll… Read more »
In terms of last year vs. this year, I think that being so strong last year really did us in. We swept the early rounds which gave us very little to get fired up about really. No come backs, no adversity and to top it off, sitting and getting out of sync for extended stretches. This is why there was no one but LeBron when it came time to play Orlando. While it’s true that we didn’t match up well against the Magic, I think it is also true that they overplayed their actual skill level and we underplayed our… Read more »
ozward, I hear you. The playoffs this year are going to be a terrifying experience.
Hey Guys, Haven’t commented in a while. Still read this thing every day. #justsayin #favoriteblog It’s weird as a Cleveland fan to think such things, but this team feels like “this is it”. Maybe it’s the impending doom of this summer, but there’s never been a time in my sports fan life that has felt so do-or-die. I know, we all know the stakes. But, is it worth the mental agony to even imagine the Cavs not winning the championship? Like an ignored denial, I feel more confident in this team than I have ever felt about a Cleveland sports… Read more »
You and your man-crushes on Boobie Gibson and JJ Hickson *shakes head*
Hey Mat, if you don’t have LPBB either, you can watch the games on atdhe.net
great comment, action. very well stated.
I agree that personality plays into it and the numbers alone don’t account for the strength of the opposition.
Usually when I read stats that sort of back up what i’ve seen on the court, I run with them
This year I feel like the team plays better when Mo is not court and the numbers back that up to some extent. Obviously Mo’s ceiling is much higher than Boobie’s but Boobie has been very steady this year and Mo is so feast or famine all the time.
The set starters and bench is all about rhythm. I know that doesn’t wash with stat heads, but there’s a certain ebb and flow to a player’s energy levels. It’s clear (to me) that Hickson and Jamison plays better as starters and Varejao as a bench guy. Andy’s energy brings guys back up, just as they’re naturally trending down from a fast start. Gibson comes out firing off the bench, so that seems fine. Even as a starter he waits awhile before looking for his shot. I’d like to see how Parker comes off the bench, we know a “happy”… Read more »
I haven’t been able to watch many games, living well out of the market without a TV, but have Mo’s defensive issues been related to his general effort on that side of the floor, or just on his skillset? Certainly, if Mo’s just not trying very hard, there’s no reason not to reduce his minutes, but if it’s just the fact that he can’t keep up with 40% of the other starting 1s, then letting Mo work it out in the regular season isn’t the worst.
Gibson needs at least SOME minutes, though. Come on.
Excuse the horrible grammar that post was written on my phone
I remember a time when varejao had horrible hands and dropped a lot of lebrons bullet passes. JJ hickson started off this season the same way. Hickson will be a great player on day but I still favor a line up with varejao in it for now. Also, let’s nor give up on the line up with Mo in place of Gibson. Mo will get his stroke back and has been struggling in any offense with shaq in it. The spacing just isn’t their. Whereas, Gibson fires up threes with little dribble penetration. It’s hard to let keep Gibson benched… Read more »
Issac, I have the same issue. I remember at the start of the season thinking Shaq would be best suited coming off the bench and playing with Mo when LeBron sits. Obviously he always started but at least Mike Brown started using him in that second unit. As far as Varejao goes, he does get the “energy guy” tag but he really does so much more than that. Energy guys typically play with reckless abandon, foul a lot or jack up a lot of shots. The point is, they bring a lot of energy in spurts. Varejao has a Delonte-like… Read more »
Honest question: why do teams insist so much on having set ‘starters’ and ‘bench.’ Wouldn’t it be more sensible to adjust each night to the other team? I get that egos are involved, but the small ball line up works so well, for instance, that it seems worth playing it against the majority of teams, only giving Shaq big minutes when the game requires it. And in the same vein, i’m really suspicious of this ‘energy guy’ tag that Varejao gets. It sort of makes sense till you think about it… and then i start to question its rationality.
I just can’t stop looking at the Cavs lineups. There are only 3 lineups that have been outplayed and 2 of them are our most used and 3rd most used lineups. The other is the most used lineup that doesn’t include LeBron. What does this MEAN going forward? Obviously we’ve now seen 5 games against the Lakers and Magic and we know how important having a big frontcourt that includes Shaq is to beating those teams. But the lineups with Varejao and Z are just KILLING teams. And almost across the board it looks like having Gibson in instead of… Read more »