Empty the Bench

You can always count on Major League Baseball to produce stats that are so obscure they require Stephen Hawking to do the formula. Today over at Yahoo! Sports, fantasy expert Matt Buser graced us with a fantasy-baseball related piece that looks at select player’s “BABIP” stats from the 2006 season, then takes the findings to help project their stats for the upcoming season. He also, um, explains what the hell BABIP is and why it’s important:

Batting average on balls put in play, or BABIP, is an interesting stat. One of the most interesting things about it is that it’s widely acknowledged that luck plays a part in each player’s BABIP. For hitters, there are three things that play a large part: skill, speed, and luck. To actually calculate BABIP for hitters, the following formula used is: (H-HR) / (AB-HR-SO). You’ll note that home runs are subtracted in the equation, since it is not possible to make a defensive play on a ball that is hit into the stands.

“It’s always funny until someone gets hurt, and then it’s just hilarious.” – Faith No More

At least Vladimir Radmanovic’s teammates are showing a sense of humor about his little ice patch slip snowboarding incident. After admitting last week that he lied about the cause of his shoulder injury sustained during All-Star weekend, Los Angeles Times writer Mike Bresnahan reports that the Lakers aren’t exactly thrilled with the whole situation:

The Lakers haven’t decided whether they will fine him for lost time since his confession that a separated right shoulder was caused by a snowboarding spill, not a fall on a slippery sheet of street ice in Park City, Utah, his initial explanation. He is banned from snowboarding in his contract and will miss seven more weeks.

Vladimir Radmanovic hasn’t yet formally apologized to teammates, but they’re aware of his admission of guilt. “They’re calling him ‘Slalom Vlade,’ ” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

There you have it, folks: “Slalom Vlade,” one of our favorite new NBA player nicknames. Amazing!

Tom Kowalski reports for MLive.com that the Washington Redskins are set to make yet another pricey splash in free agency and will sign middle linebacker London Fletcher-Baker to a lucrative contract on or around Friday.

One of the biggest jokes in the league is that teams can’t “tamper” with players until the official start of the free agency period (which is Friday). However, at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, it’s tradition for teams to do a lot of preliminary negotiations with the agents.

The report today on profootballtalk.com is true — the Redskins appear to have a deal in place already with Fletcher. The Lions knew going in that signing Fletcher was going to be tough because of the high-spending Redskins.

Kowalski fails to point out, however, that it also would have been difficult for the Lions to sign Fletcher-Baker because their GM is a guy named Matt Millen, who once called former Lions wide receiver Johnnie Morton “a faggot” and accused an unnamed Lion of being a “devout coward.” Classy.

“Make it rain,” by the way, refers to the act of tossing around cash money like confetti, ideally in a strip club. Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones is an expert in “making it rain.”

The St. Paul Pioneer Press has reported that just before the NBA Draft took place this summer, the Chicago Bulls made an aggressive and highly competitive offer for All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett. The Chicago Bulls have been looking for a low-post scorer the last year or so to pair with the backcourt scoring of Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, and the graduate of Farragut Academy in Chicago has been the apple of their eye all along. The Bulls thinking is that they have been in the rebuilding stages for a while now, and it is the time to pair the young talent with a veteran leader to make a run at an NBA Championship for the next few seasons. It was the same logic that went into all the Pau Gasol trade speculation and the signing of Ben Wallace this offseason.

The pairing of Garnett on the block with Ben Wallace should be enough to make any NBA fan drool. Wallace would provide the interior defense, hustle and rebounding he always does and would complement KG’s jump-shooting offensive game very well. The two would likely constitute the best defensive frontcourt in the NBA, and in tandem with Hinrich and Gordon up top and Andres Nocioni on the wing the Bulls would be very scary.

People who know say just before last summer’s NBA draft, the Timberwolves could have traded Kevin Garnett, who turns 31 this spring, to the Chicago Bulls for 7-foot-1, 235-pound Tyson Chandler, 24; 6-9, 220-pound Luol Deng, 21; the Bulls’ 2006 first-round draft pick (No. 2 overall) that ended up being 6-9, 215 Tyrus Thomas, 20, and the Bulls’ first-round pick they are to receive from the Knicks in next June’s draft, which is expected to be a lottery pick.

Another in a long line of coulda’, woulda’, shoulda’ moves to add to Minnesota General Manager Kevin McHale’s resume for worst GM in the league (Hey, at least the Knicks are fun to watch and have some prospects in Channing Frye, David Lee and Eddy Curry). With the rapid development of Luol Deng, it’s unlikely the Wolves could get an offer of that caliber again. Bulls fans would have had reason to be excited, and Minnesota fans would have had reason for hope again.

It’s time to face facts in Timberwolves country: they aren’t going to compete for a title in KG’s prime, which will only be another three or four years. If the trade had gone down, Minnesota would have had a young and exciting starting lineup that could have looked like this: rebounding machine Tyson Chandler at the five, emerging star Luol Deng at the three, Rashad McCants either at the two or coming off the bench, and two of the following rookies manning the other positions: Rudy Gay/Tyrus Thomas/Randy Foye/Brandon Roy/Adam Morrison/LaMarcus Aldridge. They would also have the Knicks lottery pick still to come next season. Alas, it wasn’t to be, and the Wolves now stand with little hope for the future, only two young prospects, and no first-round picks for the next two seasons. If you’ll excuse me, I have the sudden urge to blow my brains out.

New York Knicks guard Steve Francis stumped the United States of America this afternoon when comparing his balky right knee to a color on the terrorist-threat rainbow, which ETB confirmed was established by the previously-thought-to-be-mythical Department of Homeland Security.

Speaking with the New York Post’s Marc Berman, the former franchise “cornerstone” of the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic had this to say about the possibility of his season ending prematurely:

“I don’t know. I don’t want to say something that isn’t there but I’m not sure. You just got to be smart. You know a terrorist alert, when a security alert is orange? That’s my frustration level.”

Many Americans were confused with Francis’ comparison: what is this “security alert,” and what do you mean “when it’s orange?” Wasn’t that “terrorist color alert” thing just a joke on Letterman? At time of publication, it was unclear if Francis was trying to say he’s a terrorist, or if he just wants a contract buyout.

We just love corporate speak that says absolutely nothing here at Empty the Bench, especially when it comes from Mr. David Stern. Today the NBA announced a partnership with YouTube wherein b-ball fans are encouraged to upload videos of their “best basketball moves.” According to the riveting press release, “the top ‘Post Up the NBA’ videos submitted will be selected and compiled into a special weekly highlight reel “NBA Top 10 on YouTube” that will be featured on the “NBA Channel.”

Sayeth Squarepants Stern:

“NBA fans will be able to interact and share their passion for the game by posting their ‘best moves.’ YouTube’s popularity and wide-reaching community of users provides the NBA with another unique way to reach our fans.”

Cheers, David. I’m pretty sure that’s the most generic statement you could possibly make on the matter, and boy, it sure gets me pumped up to finally show the world my killer crossover! You can keep tabs on and vote for your favorite fan-submitted videos here, and please do drop us a line if you find any especially good clips that we should post at ETB.

Suffice it to say, we here at ETB are not a fan of the newly imposed NBA age limit. We don’t go so far as to say the new NBA age limit is the worst thing to happen to college basketball in 30 years, as Bobby Knight asserted, but we’re not a fan. It really makes no sense, and seems like just another example of David Stern enforcing his own personal preferences as law (See NBA dress code).

I mean, people who are 18-years-old can vote for president, go to war, be punished as adults in the judicial system and work any number of dangerous jobs around the country, and yet they can’t play basketball? Does that make sense? What other employer could get away with banning qualified applicants of legal age based on the specific date of their birth? What if a young man’s family is depending on the income he can rightfully and legally earn as an NBA rookie out of high school? What if that young man suffers a torn ACL in his freshman year of college?

Well, another column for another time. But as fans, lets face facts: a good number of the most accomplished and exciting players in the NBA came straight out of high school. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Jermaine O’Neal, Tracy McGrady and Amare Stoudemire come to mind right off the bat. These players are perennial All-Stars and represent some of the best the National Basketball Association has to offer. With them in mind, ETB takes a look at the best young players in the NBA who are 21 years of age or younger (with a combined two seasons of college experience among them). Be sure to keep these guys in mind during next season’s fantasy draft because all of them are set to dramatically improve over the next couple of years.

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We’ve somehow pulled ourselves away from the dramedy of Oscar Night to bring you our top 10 games in the Association this week. Please bookmark Empty the Bench and check back every Sunday, for without our guide you might get stuck with a 76ers game when there’s professional-grade basketball to be found two channels up in your League Pass.

1. Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs, 8pm, Monday: Chris Bosh and the surging Raptors come into San Antonio having won 12 of their last 15 games, most recently a road victory yesterday in Charlotte. The Spurs are always tough to beat at home, but the Raptors are playing together and seem like one of the hungrier teams in the league at the moment. We expect the Spurs to pull this one out, but we’re rooting for the Raptors. Request: no token shots of Eva Longoria tonight, mmkay? Please?

2. Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz, 9pm, Monday: The Lakers are very underwhelming on the road (just 12-16 coming into this contest), which doesn’t bode well for them against a Jazz team that’s posting one of the better home records in the league at 22-6. This game also marks the second game of a back-to-back for the Lakers, but we all know that Kobe is capable of single-handedly winning one for his team on any given night. As for the Jazz, point guard Deron Williams has played very well lately, Carlos Boozer is back from injury… but more importantly, Masha has a clothing store opening soon.

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Impressed with the machine’s high performance and potential to sculpt big, beautiful, chiseled pectoral muscles, Boston Celtics G/F Wally Szcerbiak said Sunday that he is drastically changing his workout regime and purchasing a Pec-Flexor 3000. Having battled major and minor injuries for the majority of his 9-year career, Szcerbiak was convinced the Pec-Flexor 3000 could do wonders for his overall physical health after watching the below clip of Elementary School Soccer Coach Jon McGuirk at the Pump It Up gym. The 6′7 guard is confident that he “won’t overdo it” like McGuirk did.

In case you were wondering how many pounds Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood dropped (30!), or who had laser-vision eye surgery during the offseason, Roto Authority has a pretty sweet running list of guys who, physically at least, improved themselves for the better in preparation for the 2007 baseball season.

It’d be interesting to go back and revisit this list as the season goes on to see which players actually experienced a statistical improvement over last year. No, I’m not volunteering to do it.

Tim Kurkjian for ESPN the Magazine has a piece today outlining 10 key training camp battles around Major League Baseball. Not everything on his list is a “this player vs. that player” item, including his questions about how new Chicago Cub Alfonso Soriano will adjust to dealing with the unpredictable weather at Wrigley Field:

It still isn’t clear where Soriano is going to play for the Cubs, but for now, it most likely will be another new position, center field. Wherever it is, he is going to have a hard time defensively given that Wrigley — with its cold and sun and wind — is perhaps the most difficult ballpark for a defensive player, especially one who is so new to the outfield.

Detroit Pistons 95, Chicago Bulls 93

The Pistons/Bulls rivalry is back. Ben Wallace returned to Detroit for the first time since signing a 4-year, $60 million contract with the Bulls to face his former team, but it was his replacement that stole the show this afternoon. Detroit’s prodigal son Chris Webber tipped in a wayward Chauncey Billups jump shot with 2.2 seconds to go in the game, and the Pistons held on for the two-point victory after Ben Gordon’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

The first few minutes of the game were filled with dazzling Ben Gordon play on the offensive end (8 points in the first few minutes) and Hubie Brown slobbering all over his mic in discussing Ben Wallace’s “intangibles” on four separate possessions. Gordon and Kirk Heinrich sat for the bulk of the first quarter with two fouls, however, as the Bulls built a 27-25 lead after one and 53-45 advantage at the half.

It got ugly for the Pistons after the turn, hitting only 1 of their last 16 shots with 8 minutes left in the third. An offensive foul and ensuing tech on Ben Wallace, however, woke up the crowd and the players alike, with Detroit cruising to a 12-0 run to trim a 16-point lead to just 2 after three quarters.

With Jason Maxiell providing a huge spark off the bench in the fourth quarter (see ‘Bench Player of the Game’ below), the Pistons clawed their way back behind 20 (yes, 20) offensive boards in the second half and a strong effort from Tayshaun Prince. Prince, who has been wildly inconsistent the past few weeks, scored some big buckets and brought the house down with one of his patented, highlight-reel block shots on a Luol Deng breakaway. How many times have we seen Tayshaun swoop in from out of nowhere to make these bigtime blocks? This is what second-half-of-the-season NBA basketball is all about.

Fantasy Player of the Game: Chris Webber stepped up in a big way amidst the national-television spotlight today when the Pistons called his number. Detroit fans had to love seeing it, especially the ones living in Michigan who’ll never forget C-Webb’s famous choke against North Carolina in the NCAA Finals. Webber scored the best all-around fantasy numbers for today’s contest, capping his 21-point, 9 rebound, 3 steal, and 9-19 FG day with a game-winning tip-in off a missed Chauncey Billups’ jumper with 2.2 seconds to go. He also added his second 3-point shot as a Detroit Piston.

Fantasy Dud of the Game: Hobbled by a “slightly sprained ankle” early in the third quarter, Rasheed Wallace was a total non-factor in the win for the Pistons. ‘Sheed hit an early 3-pointer, and then… nothing. For the day, Wallace was 2-11 FG%, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and 2 turnovers.

Bench Player of the Game: Chris Duhon had a solid game off the bench for the Bulls (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), but while his fantasy numbers were better than the Pistons’ Jason Maxiell, Detroit took the win and Maxiell provided a huge lift in the second half when his team needed it most. Underwhelming box-score numbers—4 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks—but just about every one of those stats came at opportune moments. We’re huge fans of J-Maxx here at ETB, and think this kid will only get better over time.

And to Wrap It Up… Big Ben Wallace’s much-ballyhooed return to Detroit pretty much lived up to billing, at least in terms of the competitiveness and energy displayed during the game overall. On the day, Wallace posted the kind of ho-hum numbers he’s been putting up all season so far: 6 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2-8 from the free-throw line. Hey, it’s great to get a few notches in all columns by your fantasy center, but these can’t be the numbers the Bulls enjoy writing a $60 million check for.

Wallace was roundly booed by the home crowd today, starting with his introduction in the Bulls’ starting line-up as “one of the cornerstones of the re-emergence of Detroit Pistons basketball.” The other half of Wallace & Wallace, Rasheed, “was having a laugh,” Andy Millman style, at Ben’s expense in warmups, running over and tossing Ben a headband. It seemed like the loudest cheers of the day were for Big Ben mishaps: an offensive foul call, missing 6 of 8 free throws, a technical foul. The inter-divisonal move by Ben Wallace has clearly brought even more passion into the long-standing rivalry between the Bulls and Pistons, and that can only be a good thing for the NBA.