Author: John Paulsen (Page 597 of 937)

      CBS misses a golden opportunity

      December 20, 2008 /

      There were five Top 25 matchups in college hoops today:

      2 PM: #22 Michigan State 67, @ #5 Texas 62 – CBS
      2 PM: #7 Xavier 64, vs. #6 Duke 82 – CBS
      4 PM: #2 UConn 88, @ #7 Gonzaga 83 – CBS
      4 PM: #20 Davidson 58, @ #18 Purdue 76 – CBS
      6 PM: #11 Syracuse 72, @ #21 Memphis 65 – ESPN

      If I were in charge over at CBS Sports, I’d have set this up a little differently. Why not start one of the 2 PM games an hour earlier and one of the 4 PM games an hour later? Then market the day as “March Madness in December” and treat it like a day at the NCAA tournament. Everyone would start with the Duke/Xavier game and then if things get out of hand (which they did), we’d switch over to the Texas/MSU game. Regardless of what happened with the Duke game, we’d get most of the second half of the Texas game. Then everyone would get at least the first half of Davidson/Purdue before going out west to UConn/Gonzaga.

      For those of us in Southern California, CBS did bail on the Duke blowout to catch the last 10 minutes of the Texas/MSU game. Got to give them props when they do get it right.

      College Basketball, Television

      The NBA’s Top 10 Young Power Forwards

      December 19, 2008 /

      Here’s a quick list of the top 10 power forwards under the age of 26, ranked in the order of a combination of current performance and trade value (regardless of salary).

      I’ll also list the player’s age and his Player Efficiency Rating. Keep in mind that I am ranking the player based on their listed position at ESPN. Maybe I’ll move some of these guys around the next time I publish these lists.

      1. Chris Bosh, Raptors
      Age: 24
      PER: 22.67
      Bosh has averaged at least 22 points and nine rebounds in each of the last four seasons. He shoots 50% from the field and 83% from the line, but I’d like to see more blocks (0.8) from a guy his size. Will he rendezvous with LeBron at MSG in 2010? They would make a devastating duo.

      2. Josh Smith, Hawks
      Age: 23
      PER: 16.23
      Smith is having kind of an off year so far as he works himself back from an ankle injury. It’s a tough call between Smith and the next guy on this list, but I have to go with J-Smoov due to his versatility.

      3. LaMarcus Aldridge, Blazers
      Age: 23
      PER: 17.96
      He’s not very strong down low, but for a big guy he can really shoot the ball. He loves the face up jumper, and looks to be a 17/7 guy for the foreseeable future.

      4. Paul Millsap, Jazz
      Age: 23
      PER: 19.96
      Millsap is averaging 18 points and 11 boards (shooting 57% from the field) filling in for the injured Carlos Boozer, which makes some wonder if the Jazz should bother to re-sign Boozer when he opts out after the season.

      5. Michael Beasley, Heat
      Age: 19
      PER: 14.95
      I see Beasley as more of a small forward, but he’s listed as a PF. He is averaging 14 points and five boards in 27 minutes. I’d like to see better assist (1.0) numbers, but that should come with time.

      6. Marvin Williams, Hawks
      Age: 22
      PER: 15.74
      Williams is another guy that can play either forward position. He has really improved his long-range accuracy this season (+29%), but is still scoring at about the same rate. With the departure of Josh Childress, I thought Williams was going to take a big step forward this season, but his numbers are pretty much the same across the board.

      7. Charlie Villanueva, Bucks
      Age: 24
      PER: 17.49
      Can Charlie V play for Scott Skiles? So far, the answer seems to be yes, even though Skiles prefers Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s defense and rebounding. Villanueva is still a below average defensive player, but Villanueva can really light it up. He’s going to be a restricted free agent this summer, so it will be interesting to see what the Bucks do with him over the next 9 months.

      8. Carl Landry, Rockets
      Age: 25
      PER: 19.19
      For his minutes (21.3), Landry is one of the most productive big men in the game. He’s a great interior defender and his FG% is stellar (58%).

      9. Brandon Bass, Mavericks
      Age: 23
      PER: 13.00
      His biggest problem is that he plays the same position as Dirk Nowitzki. He’s strong as hell and has a nice face up game. It will be interesting to see how he flourishes once he’s somewhere where he’ll get 30+ minutes a game.

      10. Kevin Love, Timberwolves
      Age: 20
      PER: 15.17
      Granted, his 40% shooting is brutal, especially for a power forward, but Love is posting better than eight points and eight boards in just 24 minutes a game. With his passing ability, I thought that his assist numbers (1.2) would be better. Right now, it’s definitely looking like Memphis got the better of the Mayo-Love trade, but he should develop into a solid starting power forward.

      So who am I missing? Before you jump all over me for leaving someone off the list, be sure to check the player’s age – all these guys are 25 or younger.

      Other lists:

      Top 10 Young Point Guards
      Top 10 Young Shooting Guards
      Top 10 Young Small Forwards

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Suns’ makeover a work in progress

      December 19, 2008 /

      Steve Kerr took over as GM of the Suns in the summer of 2007 and his first move was to trade the rights to Rudy Fernandez to the Blazers for cash considerations. Obviously, with Fernandez on the short list of serious Rookie of the Year contenders, this was a bad, bad move. He came out of that draft with University of Wisconsin standout Alando Tucker, who has only played 48 total minutes in a season and change.

      He then traded Kurt Thomas and two future first round picks to the Seattle Supersonics in a straight salary dump. The next move was his biggest — he traded Shawn Marion to the Heat for Shaquille O’Neal.

      At the time, I thought it was a mistake to break up that Suns team that was a couple of bench-clearing infractions away from upending the Spurs in the 2007 playoffs. No matter how much of a distraction Shawn Marion was at the time — and as I remember, the Matrix was a pretty good citizen for most of 2007 — he was essential to the success of Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo attack.

      Those Suns were fun to watch and, more importantly, they were damn good. They made the Western Conference Finals in 2006 and lost to the eventual champs in the aforementioned 2007 playoffs. Who’s to say that one more season wouldn’t have made the difference?

      Steve Kerr, that’s who.

      Kerr is well-liked and well-respected. I always enjoyed listening to his color commentary and found him to be quite knowledgeable. But in one and a half seasons running the Suns, I am not impressed with his skills as a GM. Sure, there’s a chance that Shaq finds the Fountain of Youth and, as Roland Lazenby of HoopsHype writes, this team will be suddenly able to put it all together in time for a serious playoff run, but right now they look like a mediocre team with a bunch of good players whose best years are far behind them.

      Close your eyes for a moment and imagine this Suns team, still led by Mike D’Antoni, with Marion instead of O’Neal, and Rudy Fernandez filling the wing. Is that better or worse than what we’re watching now?

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

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