Author: John Paulsen (Page 533 of 937)

      Wild day of NBA action

      April 26, 2009 /

      – The Bulls beat the Celtics in a double-overtime thriller. Chicago almost squandered the win by allowing Ray Allen to get a wide open three at the end of regulation. The Bulls were down by five with two minutes to play in the first overtime, but fought back with some good defense and some clutch jumpers by John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich. Chicago jumped out to a lead in the second OT and held on for the win.

      – The Bulls spread the scoring around with seven players in double figures. Rajon Rondo had his second triple-double of the series (25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists), while Derrick Rose was one dime short of his own triple-double. The series is proving to be a great showcase of two of the best young point guards in the league.

      – Looking at the box score, something strange jumped out. It says that the Celtics were -17 in the five minutes that Stephon Marbury was on the court. That’s mind-boggling.

      – In the only snoozer of the day, LeBron James had 36 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in the Cavs’ 21-point victory over the (hapless) Pistons. Detroit got just eight points combined from Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rasheed Wallace, and were led by the unlikely duo of Antonio McDyess (26 points) and Will Bynum (22 points). I expect this will be Wallace’s last game in a Pistons uni.

      – Hedo Turkoglu hit a huge three in the waning seconds of Game 4 of the Orlando/Philly series to give the Magic the win. Orlando seizes back control of the series and now it’s a best-of-three with two games in O-Town.

      – The Rockets trailed by six heading into the fourth quarter, but locked the Blazers down defensively, allowing just 18 points in the final period. Shane Battier hit back-to-back threes, and Carl Landry followed up with a 20-footer to give the Rockets a four-point lead with 2:30 to play. Houston made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win. The Rockets got a combined 38 points and 20 rebounds from Yao Ming and Luis Scola, and now have the Blazers on the ropes.

      – Greg Oden continues his fouling ways. He had five fouls in 11 minutes tonight. In the series, he now has 19 fouls in 66 minutes. Wowsers.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      There’s a CBA storm brewing

      April 24, 2009 /

      Whenever I see the acronym “CBA,” I still think of the Continental Basketball Association, which is apparently still around, but only had four teams to start the season — the Albany Patroons, the East Kentucky Miners, the Lawton-Fort Sill Calvary and the Minot Skyrockets. Seriously.

      CBA also stands for the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, which is essentially the agreement between the league, owners and its players regarding salary cap structure, trades, length/size of contracts, etc. Commissioner David Stern wants a major overhaul to account for the number of franchises in financial straits, but Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA Player’s Association says the current system is just fine.

      “One of the principle issues is that some owners are having a hard time with cash flow,” Hunter said. “I don’t see why that automatically means more give-backs from the players. It seems to me a new revenue-sharing plan among the owners is one of the things they have to look at. Then you wouldn’t be looking to the players every time there’s a shortfall.”

      The current labor pact, signed in July, 2005, will expire in June, 2011. No substantive talks with the league on a subsequent deal will begin until after July 1, Hunter said, because union president Derek Fisher and other board members are involved in the playoffs. The current system guarantees the players 57 percent of basketball-related revenue (BRI).

      Hunter declined to outline what the players might be seeking in the new deal, but a source said repealing the age limit, reducing the amount of player salaries held in escrow, loosening rules concerning restricted free agents and changing the league’s disciplinary system top the list.

      The biggest points of contention are likely to be the age limit and the disciplinary system. The current deal requires a player to be 19 — and one year removed from high school in the U.S. — before he is draft-eligible. There has been talk that the league would like to raise the limit by another year, but one union source said “90 percent” of the current players are against it now.

      Hunter’s logic is interesting…

      Continue reading »

      NBA, NBA Draft, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Lakers upended in Salt Lake City

      April 24, 2009 /

      The Jazz rode a great performance by Carlos Boozer (23 points, 22 rebounds) en route to an 88-86 win over the Lakers. Los Angeles leads the series, 2-1, and has struggled in Utah in recent playoffs. Kobe was just 5 of 24 from the field, but still finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.

      Be sure to check out Boozer’s dunk on Pau Gasol at about the 2:00 mark.

      Sick.

      In other series, the Mavs blew out the Spurs and the Celtics beat the Bulls by 21 in Chicago.

      NBA, NBA Finals, Video

      The NBA’s Top 10 Franchise Players

      April 23, 2009 /

      Every so often, I’ll be sitting at a bar, throwing back a few adult beverages with a buddy or two and I’ll pose the following question:

      If you could have one current NBA player to build your franchise around, with the goal of winning a NBA title in the next five years – who would it be?

      Since the 2009 NBA Playoffs are in their infancy, it seems to be as good of a time as any to kick around this question. My criteria are simple – a franchise player has to be able to carry his team, while being reasonably young and injury-free.

      We’ll count down from #10 to #1. My top nine guys were pretty easy to list, but #10 was a bitch. Maybe you can help me decide. Feel free to provide your own top 10.

      HONORABLE MENTION

      Yao Ming, Rockets (28 years-old)
      I love Yao’s post up game, and he is a skilled passer, but the chances are only 60/40 that he’ll be healthy for any given playoffs and those odds are only going to decrease as time wears on. He’s like Robert Downey, Jr. — he’s great at what he does, but you just don’t know if he’s going to be there when you need him.

      Chauncey Billups, Nuggets (32)
      He seems to be more responsible than ‘Melo for the Nuggets’ great play this season, but he’s 32 years old. Still, his effectiveness depends more on strength, steady play and good shooting than it does his (somewhat limited) athleticism, so he should be able to play into his late thirties.

      Al Jefferson, Timberwolves (24)
      Jefferson is one of the few young, back-to-the-basket post players in the league. He averaged 23/11 on a bad team, which leads me to believe he could post 19/10 on a playoff team, and should only get better with age.

      Amare Stoudemire, Suns (26)
      He’s four years younger than our next guy, but he’s already had two serious injuries in his career so one wonders if this is a trend. He also seems to be a little bit on the selfish side and has a rep for being a bad defensive player.

      Continue reading »

      NBA

      Ty Lawson to enter NBA Draft; Ellington too

      April 23, 2009 /

      It’s official: Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are forgoing their remaining college eligibility and declaring for the 2009 NBA Draft.

      Lawson was arguably the best point guard in the country this season and was named ACC Player of the Year. He gutted through a swollen toe in the NCAA tournament, guiding the Tar Heels to a national championship (and f——g my bracket in the process). NBADraft.net has Lawson going #15 (to Detroit, which seems odd considering Joe Dumars has hitched his wagon to Rodney Stuckey), while DraftExpress has him slated for the 11th pick (New Jersey — another odd pairing, considering Devin Harris’ stellar play this season). Both mocks have Lawson behind Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings amongst point guards. Jonny Flynn, Tyreke Evans, Eric Maynor and Stephen Curry are ranked ahead of Lawson in one mock or the other.

      I haven’t seen much of Jennings, but I think I’d favor Lawson over the other five right now. He has everything you want in a point guard — good vision, quickness, speed, strength, shooting — except for size, and Chris Paul (and others) have proved that you don’t need to be tall to succeed in today’s NBA.

      As for Ellington, I’m surprised to see that NBADraft.net has him going 11th to New Jersey. Draft Express projects him to go with the 30th pick to the Cavs. When I first heard the news that he was going pro, my assumption was that he’d be a second round pick that might sneak into the first round with a series of good workouts. He shot the ball brilliantly in the NCAA tournament and that kind of clutch performance can really boost a player’s stock, but I’d be shocked if he becomes a lottery pick. Wings that can score are a dime a dozen in the NBA, so unless a player has a quality that really makes him stand out — i.e. Gerald Henderson’s athletic ability — they usually end up being late-first round or second round picks. We’ll see.

      College Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft, News

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