Michigan’s Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glen Robinson III will both have to play at a very high level in March in order for the Wolverines to live up to expectation.
Fortunately for them they are both very close to people who have experience playing at a high level. They are both sons of (and named after) former NBA All-Stars.
Tim Hardaway Sr. played college basketball at UTEP before coming to the NBA. Once he reached the professionals he made a name for himself as a scoring guard who could also initiate the offense. He played for a number of NBA teams, most notably the Miami Heat where he developed a strong on-court chemistry with Alonzo Mourning.
But of all the things that Tim Hardaway will be remembered for none will stand above his killer crossover dribble. Some say Hardaway not only had the best crossover in the NBA, but also revolutionized it in a way that made it a mainstream move for guards. Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Russell Westrbook; none of them could claim to have a better crossover than Hardaway.
While Hardaway Sr. needed to use the crossover to his advantage to compensate for a lack of height, his son surprisingly grew to be six inches taller than his famous father. Hardaway Jr. grew up playing one-on-one against his dad. His competitive spirit led him to eventually beat him when he was in ninth grade, a sign that he was destined to be one heck of a player.
Hardaway Jr. is averaging nearly 15 points and five rebounds on the season.
Glen Robinson went to Purdue University and eventually made a name for himself in the NBA as a tough-nosed scorer. He was a two-time All-Star and earned himself the nickname “Big Dog.”
His son irked many fans of Robinson’s alma mater, Purdue, by choosing to attend Big 10 rival Michigan. He reinforced those feelings by scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds when Michigan faced off against the Boilermakers.
Robinson III is about the same height as his dad, but some might argue he is an even better athlete. Only a freshman, Robinson has yet to announce whether he will be declaring for the NBA draft. If he chooses to jump ship he will have a chance at being a lottery pick as many scouts like his potential as a defender/rebounder/finisher. He may not generate the type of hype RGIII of the NFL did, but GRIII will be a name that we will likely hear for quite some time.
Both young men will get their chance at expanding on their fathers’ NBA legacy at some point, but right now they are both huge reasons why Michigan should be considered a favorite to win the NCAA Tournament.
Led by the two prodigies and Trey Burke, who ironically was hardly recruited by most Big 10 schools yet might be the team’s best player, the Wolverines will be a tough draw for anyone matched up with them.
My post from a few days ago was relatively well-received at reddit, and one of the readers there said that he’d like to see the same graph for some of the all-time great point guards.
So with a little help from Basketball-Reference.com, I compiled a list of (all?) the Hall of Fame point guards: Oscar Robertson, Lenny Wilkens, Bob Cousy, Jerry West, John Stockton, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Tiny Archibald, Calvin Murphy, Pete Maravich and Walt Frazier. Unfortunately, the NBA didn’t start keeping track of turnovers until the 1977-78 season, so there’s no assist-to-turnover data for the first four (Robertson, Wilkens, Cousy, West) and the data for Archibald, Murphy, Maravich and Frazier is incomplete, so I could only use their post-1977 numbers.
I also compiled a list of the top non-HOF point guards who are both retired and still active: Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson, Steve Nash, Gary Payton, Rod Strickland, Maurice Cheeks, Terry Porter, Tim Hardaway, Andre Miller, Muggsy Bogues, Kevin Johnson, Derek Harper, Stephon Marbury (yes, Stephon Marbury), John Lucas, Norm Nixon, Mookie Blaylock, Sam Cassell, Avery Johnson, Baron Davis, Nick Van Exel, Allen Iverson, Chauncey Billups and Mike Bibby. All of these players have at least 5,400 career assists, which seemed to be the cutoff for players I was interested in using for this study.
Lastly, I added seven of the top current point guards who have yet to break the 5,400-assist barrier: Tony Parker, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Deron Williams and of course, Chris Paul.
I first tackled this subject two years ago, and settled on the shot-to-assist ratio to determine whether a player is “pass-first” or “shoot-first.” The higher the number, the more of a “shoot-first” player he is. To determine whether or not a player is “turnover-prone,” I calculated each player’s assist-to-turnover ratio. The higher the number, the better the player is at taking care of the ball, relative to what he’s asked to do as a playmaker for his team. The graph takes a gentle downward slope because assists are part of both calculations. (Note: While I do like FGA/A as the criteria for shoot-first/pass-first, I am not completely sold on A/TO as the criteria for turnover-prone. Perhaps (A+FGA)/TO would show shoot-first guards in a better light? Maybe I’ll try that next year.)
Sparing the NBA an embarrassment, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash(notes) overtook exiled Houston Rocket Tracy McGrady(notes) in the final days of balloting to secure a Western Conference starting spot in the 2010 All-Star game, league sources told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday. McGrady played just six games for a total of 46 minutes until he and the team decided to separate from each other until the Rockets can work a trade for him.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ Allen Iverson(notes) was also voted into the Feb. 14th game in Dallas as a starter for the Eastern Conference, sources said.
At least Nash overtook T-Mac. This is the problem with having the fans decide the starting five. Allen Iverson has started 19 games and is averaging 14.4 points, 4.4 assists and 2.6 rebounds for the fourth-worst team in the league. In no way, shape or form does he deserve to play in the All-Star Game this year.
You can see my picks here. With Iverson’s inclusion, someone far more deserving is going to miss the game.
Of all the superstars in the NBA, I don’t remember one struggling with his declining game as much as Allen Iverson is right now. He has made it clear that he is unwilling to accept a role off the bench, and his game is such (i.e. ball-dominant, volume-shooter) that’s it’s very difficult for a franchise to insert him into the starting lineup without completely rocking the team’s chemistry. Forget about any contenders wanting to roll the dice; he’s just too much of a wild card for that.
So Philly — with Louis Williams’ injury — looks like the best place for him. The franchise knows he’ll put butts back in the seats and he knows that he’ll get heavy minutes.
It’s a win-win, but will the Sixers win any games?
“In light of the recent injury to Lou Williams, which will sideline him for close to eight weeks, we felt that Allen was the best available free agent guard to help us at this time,” Stefanski said in a release.
This reconciliation was once thought foolish after their acrimonious split three years ago. Iverson’s last game with Philadelphia was Dec. 6, 2006 in Chicago. He refused to play the fourth quarter and was banished from the team two days later. He was eventually traded to Denver as part of the Andre Miller deal, and bounced to Detroit before landing in Memphis.
With Williams out two months after surgery to fix his broken jaw, the Sixers were faced with the possibility of handing the keys over to rookie Jrue Holiday, who is only playing 13 minutes per game. Given their 5-13 starts, it’s clear that Philly is in desperation mode and felt that bringing Iverson back was the best choice.
There is too much talent on the Sixers’ roster to miss the playoffs, but unless Iverson is a good fit, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.