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Spurs, Lakers battle back to tie series

April 21, 2011 / John Paulsen

The top two seeds in the West found themselves down 0-1 after Game 1 in their respective series. Game 2 becomes a “must-win” for those teams, because it’s extremely tough to recover after dropping the first two games of a seven-game series at home. Not only are you down 0-2, but your confidence wavers and you have to find a way to win at least two games on the road against a good team.

Both the Spurs and Lakers gutted out a couple of fairly ugly victories on Wednesday night. San Antonio got a boost when Manu Ginobili (17-7-4 with four steals) was cleared to play. The scoring was balanced for both the Spurs and Grizzlies, who each had five players in double digits. But it was the Spurs three-point shooting (7-for-17) and defense that was the difference in the 93-87 win.

The Lakers/Hornets had the feel of a mid-90s NBA brawl, before the league changed the rules to clean up the game. The Hornets shot themselves in the foot with 18 turnovers and 12 missed free throws. Credit the Laker defense, which looked championship-caliber for the first time in weeks.

Pau Gasol was curiously passive (2-for-10, eight points), while Kobe Bryant (11-3-2) had a quiet game as well. But Andrew Bynum (17-11), Lamar Odom (16-7) and Ron Artest (15-6-2, with two steals and two blocks) picked up the slack. Bynum does look like a franchise center when he’s playing…when he’s playing.

Game 3 of the Lakers/Hornets series is on Friday, while the Spurs visit Memphis on Saturday.

External Sports, NBA

2011 NBA Playoffs

Who is the NBA’s greatest Road Warrior?

April 20, 2011 / John Paulsen

In general, NBA players play better at home. That’s a fact. The Top 250 players (in terms of total minutes played this season) are 6.3% better in Efficiency Per Minute (EPM) when playing at home.

But as with anything in life, there are exceptions to this rule. There are certain players who, for whatever reason, play better on the road.

The table below shows the Top 50 players (in terms of Efficiency Per Game), along with both their home and away EPM, and the “percent better” they are when playing at home. If the number is negative, the player actually performs better on the road.

External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

2010-11 NBA season statistical studies

Did Ryan Mallett miss visit with Panthers after late night out?

April 20, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

As usual, my timing couldn’t be worse when it comes to predictions, projections or flat out just sharing my opinions on certain players or teams.

One day after I wrote this sparkling piece about how teams may regret passing on Ryan Mallett in next week’s draft, the National Football Post is reporting that the former Arkansas QB skipped his team visit with the Panthers earlier this month after “a late night on the town.”

Mallett apparently met Carolina officials for dinner on April 8, which was the first day he arrived in Charlotte. The bulk of his visit was scheduled for April 9, but he apparently called the Panthers that day and said he was sick, even though sources claim he was seen out on the town late the night before. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune and Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer both confirm the Post’s report.

This news does nothing to quell the concerns that Mallett has major character flaws. He was arrested for public intoxication in March of 2009, has admitted to at least experimenting with drugs in college, was perceived as arrogant when talking to the media at the scouting combine in February (when asked about his alleged drug use), and now apparently skipped a visit with a National Football Team. Even though he’s a prototypical pocket passer with great size and a cannon for a right arm, there’s a good chance he’ll fall out of the first round. And if he does, I hope all of the partying he has reportedly been doing was worth it because it’ll wind up costing him millions in the pros.

I’m going to contradict what I wrote yesterday, which I feel inclined to do after reading this report. But if you’re a NFL GM, why even bother with this kid? You can’t baby sit your franchise quarterback because he likes to do drugs and party. Granted, Brett Favre was a wild-child in Atlanta before being traded to Green Bay, so players can change. But again, why even bother? Let someone else deal with him and once he gets cut from his first NFL team, scoop him up when he’s matured and humbled.

External Sports, NFL, NFL Draft

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Is there an internal conflict brewing among NFL players?

April 20, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

The Sports Business Journal is reporting that a group of NFL players are set to sign a lawfirm to intervene in the Brady vs. NFL case. The exact tweet from SBJ’s Daniel Kaplan’s is below.

BREAKING NEWS: Breakaway group of NFL players close to signing law firm to intervene in Brady case, reporting now in SBD…

The “breakaway group” as Kaplan calls it, is believed to be 70 mid-tier players that want to be represented separately at mediation. The motion is expected to be filed by the end of the week and will not contest the Brady v. NFL lawsuit, but will demand the other group of players have their own seat at negations.

If this report is true, then this situation looks bad on the players, who obviously want to be perceived as a united front during this dispute. Any signs of discord among the players will be viewed as leverage for the owners, whom I believe are stalling until they can get into August or September. The longer the owners hold out, the more some of these young players blow through their savings, get arrested and/or turn on their leaders.

There’s also belief among some players that their leaders did not take this second round of mediation under Judge Susan Nelson seriously. If that’s the case, then I wonder if some players will start getting vocal about their displeasure for the way talks have progressed (or regressed) to this point. If a group of players are already in the process of signing a lawfirm to intervene in the Brady vs. NFL case, then when will some of these athletes really start turning on each other through the media? You know Twitter is a feeding ground for players who love to make comments without first thinking them through.

We could be witnessing some major cracks in the players’ foundation.

External Sports, NFL

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Top 10 plays from LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin [video]

April 20, 2011 / John Paulsen

The NBA.com editors have been busy putting together Top 10 clips for the best players in the league. Here are the top plays from LeBron, Kobe and Blake Griffin.