Page 987 of 2956

      Who has the “thinnest line” in the NBA?

      April 28, 2010 /

      What is a “thin line,” you ask? Well, I’m not 100% sure I coined it, but it’s my term for a player who scores, but brings almost nothing else — rebounds, assists, steals or blocks — to the table.

      In order to determine who has the thinnest line in the NBA, I divided the player’s points by the sum of their rebounds, assists, steals and blocks to come up with the Thin Line Ratio (TLR). The bigger the number, the thinner the line.

      To be eligible, a player has to average at least 20 minutes per game. And to be fair to the biggest scorers in the league, if their rebounds, assists, steals and blocks add up to 10+ per game, then they’re not eligible. So players like Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Danny Granger and Kobe Bryant are in the clear. I figure any player who is posting 10+ in those four categories is bringing plenty to the table.

      So here’s a look at the 10 thinnest lines in the NBA:

      1. Kevin Martin (TLR: 2.89)
      2. Jamal Crawford (2.79)
      3. Marcus Thornton (2.69)
      4. Ben Gordon (2.51)
      5. Eric Gordon (2.43)
      6. Ray Allen (2.43)
      7. Jason Terry (2.36)
      8. Richard Hamilton (2.33)
      9. Corey Maggette (2.31)
      10. J.J. Redick (2.28)

      Surprise, surprise…that’s a list of nine or ten shooting guards, depending on how you classify Corey Maggette (and maybe Jamal Crawford). These are players whose job it is to shoot the ball and they obviously embrace that role. You won’t see these players battling for rebounds or doing a lot of penetrate and dish.

      The top point guard in TLR? Aaron Brooks (2.19), winner of this year’s Most Improved Player award.

      The top small forward (other than Maggette)? Josh Howard (2.12)

      The top power forward? Bill Walker (2.14), but he played in just 35 games. Al Harrington (2.12) was the next highest PF on the list.

      The top center? Andrea Bargnani (1.91), but is he really a center? The next highest eligible center is Channing Frye (1.33).

      Who has the thickest line (i.e. the lowest TLR)?

      PG – Jason Kidd (0.61)
      SG – Thabo Sefolosha (0.72)
      SF – Luc Mbah a Moute (0.78)
      PF – Jared Jeffries (0.71)
      C – Marcus Camby (0.43)

      Jason Kidd plus four defensive specialists. Boy, that would be some ugly offense, but they’d be a bitch to score on.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      When released, what are Russell’s options?

      April 28, 2010 /

      It’s a foregone conclusion that JaMarcus Russell will be released by the Raiders at some point this offseason. And when he does, where pray tell will he wind up?

      Now that he has reportedly ballooned to 300 pounds, some are wondering whether or not Russell can put on 20 more lbs. and play offensive line. That might not be a bad idea, although the position would still require a fair amount of football intelligence, which is something he has lacked since entering the league.

      All kidding aside, which team would be willing to take on a massive project like Russell? What offensive scheme does a quarterback with a strong arm, no accuracy and zero football IQ fit into? What coach would be willing to take on a player that hasn’t shown the desire to work on his craft or keep his body anywhere close to playing shape in the offseason?

      There are a lot of coaches in the NFL that believe they can mold any player, which is why Russell will likely re-surface somewhere when he’s released in Oakland. Peter King of SI.com suggests that the Eagles might give him a shot, although I don’t know how Russell can fit into his pants, nevertheless the West Coast Offense. (His accuracy is one of his worst traits and the WCO relies on a QB that is accurate.)

      This is just speculation on my part, but what about the 49ers? Mike Singletary and acting GM Trent Baalke have done nothing but shower Alex Smith with confidence this offseason by passing on the opportunity to trade for Donovan McNabb and draft a quarterback like Jimmy Clausen. But Smith is a free agent after the season and 2010 will be a make or break year for the 25-year-old anyway. I’m not suggesting that Russell has the ability to overtake Smith because he doesn’t, but if there were one coach that I could foresee giving Russell the giant kick in the ass he needs, it would be Singletary. (I know most 49er fans want to burn me alive right now for even suggesting this, but this more about my faith in Singletary than Russell’s abilities.)

      But again, I’m just speculating. There’s a very good chance that Singletary and the Niners want absolutely nothing to do with Russell, much like every other team in the league. It’s kind of funny that whenever a troubled player is about to hit the open market, the first team that is always mentioned is the Raiders. But now that Oakland doesn’t even want him, Russell won’t have a ton of options.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Why won’t the Nuggets run more pick-and-roll?

      April 28, 2010 /

      Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop brought up an interesting statistic regarding the struggling Nuggets:

      According to Synergy Sports, the Nuggets have choreographed a pick-and-roll — then hit the roll man — 17 times in this series. The results:

      * Nine made baskets
      * Six trips to the free throw line
      * Two missed shot attempts

      That’s an 88.2 percent success rate.

      Those 17 possessions in sequence is an impressive reel of video. Ball-handlers/passers include Billups, Anthony, Ty Lawson and J.R. Smith. All the Nuggets bigs are represented among the roll men. Whatever the scenario, the Nuggets score on 15 of the 17 opportunities, which leaves you with one question:

      Why are the Nuggets running this action only four times per game?

      When asked why his team isn’t running what seems to be working, interim head coach Adrian Dantley had this to say:

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Lakers: “Not so fast.”

      April 28, 2010 /

      Much was made, and justifiably so, of the Thunder’s blowout of the Lakers in Game 4. This is a young, talented team that has a chance to become a Western Conference power for years to come. But the Lakers clearly took the loss to heart and turned around and blew out the Thunder, 111-87, in Game 5.

      Did Kobe go for 35-40 points? Nope. He posted 13-3-7 on nine shot attempts, but more importantly, he checked Russell Westbrook for much of the game. Westbrook’s quickness gave Derek Fisher fits in the first four games of the series, so the defensive change makes a lot of sense.

      Pau Gasol (25-11-5) and Andrew Bynum (21-11) dominated down low, combining to hit 18-of-26 shots (69%) from the field. Even Ron Artest had a nice offensive game with 14 points and five dimes.

      The Lakers lead 3-2 and head back to OKC for Game 6 on Friday. Is this series over? Not even close. The Lakers have not played well on the road in this series and if the Thunder can defend their home court yet again, they’ll have a puncher’s chance to win Game 7. It’s going to take a monumental effort to beat the Lakers in L.A. in that scenario, or the Lakers will have to lay an egg. Either way, it would be interesting to see the young Thunder play in their first Game 7.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑