He doesn’t start making sense until the 0:30 mark, but from that point on it’s a good monologue.
Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 8 of 274)
About this time every year, the MVP discussion really heats up. This season, it seems like it’s a two-man race between LeBron James and Derrick Rose, but I think there are a few other players that deserve consideration.
Using the same methodology that I used for my All-Star picks, let’s narrow down the league MVP candidates and see who should be on the short list.
I like to use the NBA’s Efficiency statistic, which rolls points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers, missed shots and missed free throws into one number for comparison purposes. It’s not perfect, but no statistic is. I take a player’s per game efficiency (adjusted for team pace, because a player should not be penalized because his team plays at a slow pace) and multiply by his team’s winning percentage to calculate his Adjusted Efficiency. This is a number that takes both performance and team success into account.
Let’s take a look…
I made a point to watch tonight’s game from start to finish to see how the Heat responded to the loss to the Bulls and how they weathered all of the jokes about Heat players crying in the locker room after Sunday’s defeat.
Once again, the effort was there for Miami, but the execution was not. Dwyane Wade (38 points, six rebounds, five assists) was excellent, and LeBron (31 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) was pretty damn good. That means the rest of the roster accounted for just 27 points, including Chris Bosh, who shot a dreadful 3-for-11 and scored just seven points.
He was completely outplayed by LaMarcus Aldridge (26 points), who hit jumper after jumper, including a key baseline fadeaway (on Bosh) to push the lead to nine with 2:06 to play.
But the difference in the game was Gerald Wallace (22 points, nine rebounds), who keyed the Blazers’ bench and made LeBron work on both ends of the court. Wallace was a great acquisition for the Blazers and he seems to be fitting in quickly because at heart he’s more of a glue guy than he is a player who needs the ball in his hands. Brandon Roy (14 points) also came off the bench and hit a key three pointer late in the game to keep the Heat at bay.
Back to the Heat — they did run some pick and roll with Wade and LeBron, and for the most part it was successful, but the Blazers didn’t do a very good job defending it because it took them by surprise. Whenever Wade has the ball, his defender should go underneath LeBron’s ball screen and force Wade to shoot the three or dribble into the switch. By going underneath, Wade’s defender would be in great position to switch onto LeBron and defend his roll to the hoop.
On Thursday, Miami hosts the red-hot Lakers, who will be looking to avenge their blowout loss to the Heat on Christmas Day. It should be a good one.
Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had a few thoughts to share about the Miami Heat and how they are reacting to the scrutiny they’re under.
“I do chuckle a little bit when they sort of complain about the scrutiny when they get. My suggestion would be if you don’t want the scrutiny, you don’t hold a championship celebration before you’ve even practiced together. It’s hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren’t going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you’re getting that attention. To me, that doesn’t follow.”
— Stan Van Gundy
The Heat’s summer celebration (after signing LeBron, Wade and Bosh) raised more than a few eyebrows around the league. I’m sure the players and franchise just wanted to celebrate the fact that they signed all three players, but it clearly didn’t go over very well outside of South Florida.
It is funny that anyone in their position would be surprised at the attention the team is getting. Of course the team is going to be under heavy scrutiny after the summer it had. And when you lose four games in a row, that attention isn’t going to be positive. Man up.
Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says a simple play will fix the Miami Heat’s fourth quarter problems.
Any person with basic basketball knowledge realizes Miami could fix its late-game misery with a simple play. Wade dribbles the ball at the top of the key — and James sets a pick. Then James rolls to the basket, which will cause any defense major problems. Wade either has an open jumper, or James can catch a pass for a layup.
But as Cavs fans know, James rarely set picks. He loathes the pick-and-roll unless he has the ball. Over the years, he often waived off a pick and preferred to play 1-on-1 with four teammates watching in clutch situations.
He does the same with the Heat.
Pluto’s play probably isn’t going to work on a regular basis. Ball screens are typically big/small situations where a post player comes to set a screen for the ball handler, who is generally a guard. It’s set up this way because it makes it difficult/impossible for the two defenders to switch. If Erik Spoelstra implemented Pluto’s play, LeBron’s defender would simply switch to Wade (and Wade’s defender would switch to LeBron), and no advantage would be gained. That’s why you don’t often see ball screens with two similarly-sized offensive players.
That’s not to say that the Heat don’t need to do something different as the clock winds down. They do. But a LeBron/Wade ball screen is not the solution.
As Pluto mentions in the piece, the Heat are relying too much on clearing out for LeBron in end-of-game situations. I’d try a pick-and-roll with LeBron and Bosh on the wing, with LeBron heading back towards the the top of the key, while the other two Heat players set a double screen for Wade on the opposite side of the floor. That way, LeBron has three or four moves he could make. If Bosh’s man double-teams him, (1) he hits Bosh on the pop for a wide open 16-footer. If his man is slow to get through the ball screen, (2) he can penetrate into the lane looking to score or possibly (3) kick it out to a shooter in the opposite corner. He could also (4) hit Wade on the other wing, who should have an advantage when he catches the ball because his defender has to fight through a double screen.
The Heat would have to start this play with 10 or 12 seconds on the clock to give themselves enough time to make a few passes, but such action would take the predictability out of the Heat’s offense in end-of-game situations. They would be taking what the defense gives them instead of trying to force a long jumper or bulling their way into the lane.
When I put together our NBA Preview, I predicted the Heat would win the East and lose to the Lakers in the Finals. When we published our Year End Sports Review, I predicted the Celtics would upend the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Now I’m not even sure they’ll get past the Knicks in a potential first round matchup and a semifinal series against the Bulls isn’t looking too good, either. That doesn’t mean that the Heat experiment is a categorical failure. It just means that it might take a year or two to get this thing working.
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