NBA tidbits

I've been taking it easy following a recent surgery, so blogging has not surprisingly been pretty low on my list of priorities. But that doesn't mean that the NBA has escaped my attention:

The Lakers’ choke one point loss to Indiana was their first game this season decided by fewer than 7 points. The 2001-02 Mavericks were the last team to have their first 15 games decided by 7+ (they ended up at 17).

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Speaking of Indiana, that game began what has to be the most brutal stretch of games I’ve ever seen, as they played the Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers and Celtics again in a season when those teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the league.

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Maybe the most remarkable stat I’ve seen this year: the sum of the ages of the Grizzlies’ starters is exactly the same this season as the sum of the ages of the North Carolina (college) starters.

Which explains a lot about how each team is going to fare this season.

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Devin Harris and Vince Carter are averaging 24.8 and 22.3 point per game, respectively.

Only two backcourts since 1981-82 have both scored 22+ PPG. The TM of the 1990-91 Warriors’ Run TMC were Mitch Richmond (23.9) and Tim Hardaway (22.9), and the 2004-05 Wizards featured Gilbert Areans (25.5 and Larry Hughes (22.0).

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While on the subject of Harris’ amazing season, he is getting to the line so much that he’s among the leaders for the record for guys 6’4” and under should he keep it up:

Player FTA/G, Season
Jerry West 12.4, 1965-66
Jerry West 12.3, 1961-62
Allen Iverson 11.5, 2005-06
Lloyd/World B. Free 11.2, 1979-80
Devin Harris 10.9, 2008-09

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David Thorpe’s response to a chat question is priceless:

Gerry: (Indy): Does Jamaal Tinsley have value?

David Thorpe: Only to his family.

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John Hollinger’s player comment on Jarron, the lesser of the offensively-challenged Collins twins, is also worth noting:

“As with his twin brother, this Collins is a slow-moving defensive specialist who scores once every lunar eclipse and doesn't rebound much more often. Among centers, Collins ranked second-to-last in PER, third from the bottom in rebound rate and fourth from last in usage rate; those ranks would be first, second and third if he'd been an only child.”

Other lousy NBA centers must send Mrs. Collins Mother’s Day cards every year.

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Fun with box scores:

Playing for Seattle against Cleveland on January 13, 2004, Calvin Booth put up a 2 point, 0 rebound, 10 blocked shot effort in 17 minutes.

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Fun with stats:

Sam Cassell now has more technical fouls (2) than minutes played (0) this season.

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I loved Harlan Schreiber’s description of the Knicks’ salary dump trades:

“For Knicks fans, this is a partial Isiah-enema.”

I think a colonic is still needed.

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Proving that you can never pile on the Knicks too much, Kelly Dwyer had this to say in one of his great Behind the box score recaps:

“The Knicks are best when they aren't thinking, you don't want those sorts of basketball IQs having to decide much…”

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I’ll give the last word to Phil Jackson, on how to crack down on flopping: “I think if you fine them in euros, you’d find that it would really end quickly. There are some American-born players that flop, but it has come to a rather weird state in our game where it’s beginning to look more and more like European soccer.”

I’m convinced that soccer is the root of all of the world’s evil.