Really. Dude just dunks himself through the hoop. He’s lucky he didn’t dislocate a joint.
Category: NBA (Page 85 of 595)
TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott wrote a good piece about clutch performance and although there’s a stack of videos over at YouTube that might convince fans otherwise, Abbott argues that Kobe Bryant is not all that good in the clutch.
ESPN Stats and Information’s Alok Pattani dug through 15 years of NBA data (see table below) — Bryant’s entire career, regular season and playoffs — and found that Bryant has attempted 115 shots in the final 24 seconds of a game in which the Lakers were tied or trailed by two or fewer points. He connected on 36, and missed 79 times.
That’s a rate of 31.3%, and since the 1996-97 season (including playoff games), there are 24 players that have made a higher percentage of shots when “…trailing by one or two points, or tied, in the final 24 seconds…” with a minimum of 30 shots attempted.
Who’s the best?
Carmelo Anthony. He hits 47.7% of his shots under these circumstances. Maybe he’s worth trading for after all.
Chris Paul is second at 45.2%. In fact, Brandon Roy (40%), Deron Williams (38.9%), Dirk Nowitzki (38.5%), Tim Duncan (37.1%), LeBron James (33.3%) and Gilbert Arenas (32.5%) are all better in the clutch.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare Kobe to some of the other names on this list — like Shawn Marion, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis or Eddie Jones — because those guys had an advantage: not everyone knew that they were going to take the last shot. If the Lakers are down, everyone in the building knows who’s going to take the last shot. This is partly because Kobe is so good at getting a shot off, but it’s also due to his unwillingness to pass the ball in clutch situations. (As Abbott notes, from 2003-2009, Kobe took 56 shots and had just one assist in the clutch.) In his book, Phil Jackson lamented about Kobe’s insistence to always take the final shot in such situations.
However, it is fair to compare Kobe to superstars like Carmelo, CP3, Dirk and LeBron (with the Cavs) because they are typically the ones taking game-winners for their teams. LeBron and Chris Paul are especially good at passing to teammates in the clutch. Kobe has that ability, but he simply doesn’t trust his teammates in clutch situations.
Tracy Morgan stopped by the TNT pregame set to answer a couple of questions. Here’s what happened:
Morgan should know better, but he doesn’t. He has a history of pushing the envelope on live television, so this one is on Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley and/or whoever decided to have Morgan on in the first place.
With #9 BYU upending #4 (and undefeated) San Diego State last night, 71-58, I thought I’d take the opportunity to focus on BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette (43 points, 14-for-24 from the field) and look at him through an NBA lens. Everyone wonders what kind of professional player he’ll turn out to be, so read on to hear my take.
OFFENSE
On this end of the court, Fredette is clearly one of the most explosive scorers in the country. And it’s important to note, he’s a scorer, not just a shooter. He’s averaging 27.4 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. He shoots 48.2% from the field (which is outstanding for a guard who shoots so many threes) and 42.1% from long range. He shot 44.0% from 3PT last season, so these numbers are no fluke. He’s also outstanding from the free throw line, hitting 90.1% of his attempts this season. He was an 89.2% shooter last year.
He can score from all areas on the floor. He already has NBA range, and doesn’t need to have his feet set to get a good shot at the basket. His pull up jumper is accurate and he can hit it fading away as well. His upper body and core are strong which makes it easy for him to get his shoulders square even if his feet aren’t. He likes to use a wicked crossover going right to left and you’ll see a great example in the highlight package below. His strength also allows him to have a very quick release.
He has a good handle, but is sloppy with the ball at times even though he does a great job of splitting the double team on the pick-and-roll. With his upper body strength, he’s able to finish well at the hoop and is able to finish with either hand in a variety of ways. He also has an effective runner/floater which will be important at the next level where the defenders are going to be taller and more athletic. I’d definitely describe him as a “crafty” scorer.
He is a good passer in transition and made all the right choices on the break against SDSU. However, he is not much of an assist man in the half court. When he drives, he is typically looking to score, which makes sense given the makeup of the BYU team. In the NBA he will have to get used to setting other people up in the half court — right now, it’s a weakness. (He had zero assists against SDSU, but had a couple of “secondary” assists that led to buckets.) He has a tendency to get caught in the air and bail on his shot when a defender is in his face. At this level it usually doesn’t cost him, but in the NBA it will.
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