Author: John Paulsen (Page 38 of 937)

Who’s stepping it up in the NBA Playoffs?

April 27, 2011 / John Paulsen

It’s tougher to play better in the postseason because the competition is generally better than the regular season and the games are more intense. That said, there are 26 players (of the 98 who have played at least 90 minutes in the playoffs) that are actually faring better statistically on a per minute basis.

I calculated Efficiency Per Minute for both the regular season (EPMr) and playoffs (EPMp) and took the difference as a percentage of their performance during the regular season. The resulting percentage is the gain (or drop) in their statistical production in the postseason.

Here are 26 players that have stepped up their games in the playoffs:

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Granger: Noah “pulled a cowardly move.”

April 27, 2011 / John Paulsen

Danny Granger had some choice words for Joakim Noah after the Pacers were eliminated in Game 5, per ESPN.

“He pulled a cowardly move,” Granger said. “He cheap-shotted a couple of my teammates, and one gets thrown out …
“The refs never catch what he did … it’s cowardly. And I’m going to say something about it. I wanted to say something about it all the way to the game was over. I just don’t think the game should be played that way. You can play hard and fight and battle, but when you start cheap-shotting people it gets out of hand.”

For his part, Noah didn’t escalate the situation any further:

“I played dirty? OK. I’m just trying to win basketball games, man,” Noah said. “It’s the name of the game.
“I’m just out there trying to do what I gotta do. Like I said, I give a lot of credit to their team. They play hard as hell. They were competitive. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. Everybody saw what happened out there. Now you want to call me a dirty player? I don’t think I’ve ever been a dirty player. It is what it is. It’s OK.”

Josh McRoberts didn’t seem to take issue with Noah’s play.

“I’m not mad about it,” McRoberts said. “He got a good hit on me. They caught me trying to hit him back.
“It’s part of the game. I’m not going to say it’s dirty. That’s Game 5 of a playoff series. You can’t say it’s dirty, it’s part of basketball.”

Here’s the play in question. You’ll see at the 0:25 mark that Noah was standing still underneath the basket with his elbow raised and McRoberts initiated the contact. Noah does nothing wrong.

Noah is not a popular player outside of Chicago, but I like his game. He plays with great energy and has a terrific feel for the game, especially for a big man. He is the heart and soul of this Bulls team.

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2011 NBA Playoffs Chicago Bulls Danny Granger Indiana Pacers Joakim Noah Josh McRoberts

7th-grader Gunnar Legas trick-shot video

April 26, 2011 / John Paulsen

If you’re wondering where those majestic mountains are — it’s Provo, Utah.

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great videos

NBA Playoffs: Monday Roundup

April 26, 2011 / John Paulsen

Grizzlies 104, Spurs 86 (MEM leads series 3-1)
Things are getting interesting in the West, especially in this 1/8 series between San Antonio and Memphis. The Grizzlies are playing very good basketball right now and beat the Spurs with balance (nine players scored 8+ points). The Spurs shot 47% from the field, which would usually be enough to win, but Memphis shot 51% from the field and 42% from 3PT land, while the Spurs turned it over 17 times. The Grizzlies are in control of the series, but don’t count the Spurs out. They have to win three games in a row, but two of those games are at home, so it’s doable. Right now, it just looks like the Grizzlies are the better, deeper team.

Mavericks 93, Blazers 82 (DAL leads 3-2)
Give the Mavs credit. They didn’t fold after blowing a 23-point lead in Game 4. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, but Dallas was balanced in the fourth quarter with six different players scoring in the first seven and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 20 rebounds, while Jason Kidd dished out 14 assists. As an encore to his brilliant play in Game 4, Brandon Roy only managed five points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Nuggets 104, Thunder 101 (OKC leads series 3-1)
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both scored 30+ points, but it wasn’t enough as Ty Lawson dropped 27 points and five other Nuggets scored in double-figures to help Denver avoid elimination. Westbrook’s play is a little perplexing. He went 12-of-30 from the field and went 0-for-7 from three-point range, including three misses in the final 30 seconds. Can the Thunder win without traditional point guard play from their All-Star?

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2011 NBA Playoffs