The Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman with a sobering look at the Heat's season: "Let's say, somehow, the Heat goes 3-2 on its upcoming trip and then takes six of its remaining eight the balance of the month (no, haven't been drinking today, which is why the sentence starts with 'Let's say...'). That puts it 17-28 at the end of January. Then let's say, during a February that includes six road games and six home games, the Heat goes a charitable 8-4. That puts it 25-32 going into March. Then in a March that includes three sets of back-to-back road games, perhaps 10-7 could be achieved. Perhaps. That would make it 35-41 going into April. See where this is going? It's not, even with the most wide-eyed optimism. They've blown it already. And it certainly won't be corrected by the Feb. 21 trading deadline. Therefore, everything from this point has to be about the future."
Piss off a city full of artists and musicians at your peril. I think we're averaging about one anti-Isiah Thomas original acoustic guitar song a week here on the internet. The latest song, however, is surely the best so far. (Via Knickerblogger)
The eight best shot-blockers in the NBA. Andrew Thell of Empty the Bench explains why Kevin Garnett is ranked second overall despite averaging only 1.5 blocks per game: "Set aside the relatively low blocks per game. If you want a lesson in Low-Post Defense 101, check out the end of Wednesday night's Houston vs. Boston game. Fast forward to about three minutes left, and witness Garnett do everything possible to keep the taller Yao from scoring. He blocks a shot, he plays him physical in the post, he denies him the ball and he steals an entry pass. The Big Ticket guards everybody from centers to point guards, chases people to the perimeter and camps underneath, comes from the help side and bodies up, fronts to deny the ball and keeps people out of the post. What it all boils down to: if Kevin Garnett decides he doesn't want you to score on any given play, you're probably not going to score."
Hardwood Paroxysm polled some bloggers and TrueHoop made a bloging All-Star team, and is the running for some end-of-season hardware. I need precinct captains and busloads of volunteers to help me get out the vote.
You can get all excited about Detroit at Boston tomorrow night. But Rasheed Wallace is not going to get hyped. He and his Piston teammates swear all they care about right now is beating Toronto tonight.
Ben Gordon's trip to the bench doesn't seem to be hurting the Bulls. He has been something of a Vinnie "Microwave" Johnson-like scorer, and Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times points out what is happening to the starters: Kirk Hinrich and Chris Duhon have run the offense well since Boylan moved Duhon into the starting lineup. The point guards have combined for a 7.1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (64 to nine).
The Heat's offense is a bit of a mystery, but even more perplexing is how, even before Alonzo Mourning's injury, the team had gone from one of the best defensive teams in the league two years ago to one of the worst.
Something for Reggie Theus to think about: Kevin Martin is shooting better than ever from downtown, but he is also shooting fewer three-pointers than last season. Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty says it has a lot to do with being a primary scoring option, who gets the ball early in the possession: "... being forced to create offense takes away a major weapon for sharpshooters -- the assisted three-pointer. In 2006-07, 60% of Martin's made jumpers were assisted. This year, 51% of Martin's made jumpers are assisted. (This is just all jumpers -- I'd assume the effect is magnified were you to have the data on just threes.) It's a fair difference, and it's simply easier to get off a three off a draw or screen than when you're forced into dribbling on the perimeter."
FreeDarko mashed together last night's two TV events: voting in Iowa and the Blazers vs. the Bulls. The result is PG-13 and includes, for instance, an artful comparison between Travis Outlaw and Mike Huckabee: "Anyone notice how Huckabee went from a fringe hick, to a novelty act, to a viable candidate who made the same old crap seem refreshing? That's a lot like Travis Outlaw: wasted draft pick, athletic cyclone, and now all of a sudden a deadly shooter and clutch item. But like Huckabee, the Fender-cranking preacher who somehow won a primary, Outlaw's teetering between incidental and truly original. Poor Man's Gerald Wallace (thanks, Ziller) or Rashard with a motor? Only God knows."
Matt from Blogabull is bitter about everything today, but at least it's entertaining. For instance: "An adage of hoops pundits is that a good team will get extra points at the end of periods. The Bulls suck at the end of periods, and games. Their plan is usually to give the ball to Ben Gordon and let him dribble a lot. Even if it's not the last possession and there's no incentive to run out the shot clock. And if you really want to add a wrinkle, send Ben Wallace out there to set a pick with 4 seconds left. Because that way your two options are Gordon shooting over two defenders, or a pass to Wallace 25 feet from the basket."
Chris Herrington of Beyond the Arc can give Memphis fans a lot of reasons to be excited, including the play of Mike Conley. He is also hoping for better days ahead from the coaching staff: "I thought Marc Iavaroni was a great hire at the time and he impresses me personally. And I still think he has a chance to be a great head coach. But there's no denying that he's struggled more than anyone expected. With the NBA generally thought of as a player's league, I think coaching is sometimes undervalued. Two of the teams that have exceeded my own expectations this season are the Pacers (whom I expected to be among the league's worst teams) and the Magic (whom I expected to be around .500 despite the presence of Dwight Howard). What do those teams have in common - new, proven veteran coaches in Jim O'Brien and Stan Van Gundy. Those coaches have maximized their talent, much as Hubie Brown and Mike Fratello did here. Iavaroni is not a proven veteran coach, but a rookie head coach, and he's looked like it. This team's talent isn't great, but it's much better than its record and when a team underperforms, the onus has to fall first on the coaching staff."
David Berri of Wages of Wins shows that Isiah Thomas has gone out and signed a bunch of scorers, which is exactly what a lot of people would like to do (he also famously drafted anti-scorer Renaldo Balkman, as well as David Lee). In any case, Berri musters a certain limp defense of Thomas as a product of his environment: "If we focus on scoring then we have to conclude the Knicks are an above average team. Unfortunately, year after year, the team's won-loss record tells a very different story. And it's that story that has made New York fans so angry with Isiah Thomas. But I would argue again that this is not his fault. He seems to believe, like so many others, that scoring is the most important thing to look at in evaluating a player. And I would argue, it's not Isiah's fault that he was given enough money to show that the team with the most scorers is not always the team with the most points when the game is over."
Aubrey McClendon, popular minority owner of the SuperSonics, making more friends.
Phoenix started their game against Seattle in comedy-retro headbands, and played terribly. Paul Coro of the Arizona Repubic blogs: "Suns pharaoh of media factoids Vince Kozar pointed out after the game that Phoenix outscored Seattle 93-70 after ditching the headbands."
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