Empty the Bench

Kwame Brown and Ronny Turiaf Photo Credit: Icon SMI

They sure do miss their Andrew Bynum in Los Angeles. In Friday’s contest against Phoenix Kwame Brown, Bynum’s replacement, was mercilessly booed every time he took the court or touched the ball. Sure, Brown finished with 7 turnovers, 5 personal fouls, 0 blocks and just 6 boards and 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting, but the crowd disapproval rained down even before Small Hands had a chance to stink up the joint. It was so bad that Brown felt the need to publicly apologize to fans for “going into a shell.” Kwame went on to say, “I apologized to Kobe and my teammates… They tried to pick me up and I just kept making turnovers and playing hot potato with the ball. There’s no excuse for the dunks that I missed.”

Los Angeles had won the first two games against their Phoenix rivals this season with Bynum in the lineup, but were embarrassed without Bynum on Friday. As Kobe Bryant said, Los Angeles is a title contender with Bynum in the lineup. Without him, they simply aren’t in the conversation.

When the emerging superstar Bynum went down, it appeared that Kwame was a shoo-in to get a vast majority of his minutes, but perhaps Phil Jackson will be forced to rethink that approach. It’s hard to ignore the fact that, while slightly undersized, 2005 second-round pick Ronny Turiaf is playing better basketball right now. He brings more energy than Brown night in and night out, he scraps around the basket, he plays hard on the glass, he gets after loose balls, he knocks down mid-range jumpers and he’s even hitting 50.3% FGs and 74.1% FTs this season. Turiaf plays with heart, he’s a fan favorite and he’s earned the minutes more than the underachieving Brown.

In not-so-related news from the Left Coast, Keith Smart will apparently miss his pornography almost as much as Lake Show fans like their Bynum. On Saturday Smart, an assistant coach in Golden State, accidentally left Matt Barnes off the roster for the game. It caused Barnes to miss the contest. Head coach Don Nelson cleared up the situation today, saying “Keith Smart left him off because he was watching the adult movie channel and he should have been concentrating on drawing up the roster… So we’re going to take that privilege away from him for the rest of the year.”

Ouch. Talk about calling a guy out in public. While Smart looks for another hobby, we move on to the fantasy analysis…

Up and Down Game:

Push It Up:

Andrew Bogut, PF/C, Bucks: What in the world has gotten into Andrew Bogut? He’s been on fire in 2008, averaging 18.6 points and 9.9 boards on 60.5% FGs in January. He’s been even better of late, with 21.7 points and 10.0 rebounds on 60% FGs over the last week. It started on January 6th when Bogut had 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, and it was no fluke. The following day Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said:

“We’re certainly going to do that. I think what’s gone on in the past is we’ve have a couple of sets that throw it to Andrew and he hasn’t been productive and we’ve kind of stopped. I think from a coach’s perspective, you have to have confidence in your big guy and that’s what I’m doing is instilling that in him, that we’re going to keep coming at you… We’re looking to get him the ball inside and telling the other four guys, ‘Look, take a peek at him in there.’ It can be real effective.”

He’s averaging 12.4 FG attempts a game this month, by far the most in his career. If his owner thinks this production is a fluke or just hasn’t been paying attention, now is a great time to target Bogut.

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Yes, Michael Jordan really did used to be that skinny. Make sure you have the sound on; the ’80s Casio keyboard-esque soundtrack brings it all together.

Or, at least, he would have triumphed in such an event Thursday evening after winning over the hearts and minds of basketball-loving Colorodoans everywhere. His performance against the Utah Jazz stands as his finest yet as a member of the Association.

Averaging double digits in points for the first time in his three-year career since being taken late in the first round of the 2005 draft, the 6-8, Lithuanian-born Kleiza was a load nobody on the Jazz roster could handle. Here’s the carnage report: 41 points in 41 minutes, including 4 three-pointers, to go with 9 boards. The man was running the court and dunking the rock with vigor, nailing spot-up longballs, and repeatedly taking men named AK-47 and The Booze off the dribble to get short bunnies in the paint. He was dominant, he electrified the crowd, he became the first Nugget not named A.I. or Carmelo to lead the team in scoring this season.

Linas Kleiza Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Given his European blood and the reputation that many foreign-born players have as being “soft” in the NBA, let’s make one thing clear: Linas Kleiza is a wide-bodied brickhouse. Linas Kleiza is not a timid Euro–he’s gangsta Euro. Gangsta like Darko Milicic is gangsta. He doesn’t back down and doesn’t seem easily intimidated, and at times has the steely look in his eye of a high-ranking lieutenant of the Lithuanian mafioso. At one point, after being fouled hard on a fast break by Kyle Korver, Kleiza walked back over with a snarl on his face and got away with sort of kneeing Korver back down towards the hardwood. It wasn’t dirty and it wasn’t necessarily a cheap shot–it was Linas Kleiza feeling that no one could stop him. And for one night at least, nobody could.

(Reader Picks included at the bottom; feel free to add your own in the comments)

Amir Johnson, F, Detroit Pistons

Despite preseason assurances from Pistons GM Joe Dumars that this was “his year” and that there’d be no more DNP’s, the last guy to ever be drafted straight out of high school is still one of the NBA’s most hyped players who hasn’t accomplished much on the court. He’s averaging just over 8 minutes in the 24 games he’s been called upon, and even that burn has come mostly in garbage time. He’s yet to score or rebound in double figures this season, and at times looks a bit lost in the Pistons’ offensive sets; perhaps he hasn’t quite grasped Flip Saunders’ playbook enough to make his coach feel comfortable with giving him quality minutes.

That said, Johnson has flashed big promise as a shot-blocker–his 22 on the season are more than full-time starters logging heavy minutes like Carlos Boozer, Josh Howard, Chris Wilcox, and Eddy Curry–and he can run the court and finish with pizzazz on fastbreaks. He’s still only 20-years-old, but it’s time for Saunders to start regularly giving this kid some minutes here and there with the starters; his development will be stunted if he’s only playing alongside his fellow backups all year long. And there’s no reason for Primoz Brezec to be ahead of Amir in the rotation of big men. None.

Amir Johnson Photo Credit: Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI

Sean Williams, F/C, New Jersey Nets

Lawrence Frank brought Williams along slowly this year, with only two starts and a handful of DNP – Coach’s Decisions in the first 24 games. He finally inserted the rookie into the starting lineup for good on Dec 18th, and the Nets have gone 8-5 since. The lanky F/C has grabbed a solid 6.3 boards and scored 8.5 points a game on 51.6% FGs as a starter, but the reason we love to watch Williams is his explosive shot-blocking ability. He’s averaged an impressive 2.3 swats a game in just over 25 minutes/per while starting. Overall, his 2.0 blocks a game are good for tenth in the league, an impressive feat given his limited court time. Given 30+ minutes he might be able to compete with Marcus Camby for the NBA lead.

Unlike a lot of the players on this list, though, Williams is in control of his playing time. He usually has to sit down early because poor defensive positioning and bad decisions lead to foul trouble (he averages a whopping 3.5 fouls a game), something Williams should be able to improve upon as the season wears on.

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We’ll just get this out of the way up front: Gilbert Arenas and Tracy McGrady are fantastic basketball players in and of themselves. They are two of the best offensive talents in the NBA today. In the right situation, each could be a franchise cornerstone for a successful team.

Despite their considerable skills though, both franchises are winning more games without their fallen stars. The Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards appear to be better teams without their marquee names. And while it’s a harder argument to make in Houston, in Washington that fact is becoming obvious.

The Wizards completed a home-and-home sweep of the Boston Celtics on Monday, and in the process proved their recent success sans their chatty poster boy has been no fluke. Washington is now 17-11 with wins against Dallas, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, and Atlanta in addition to the two Boston victories since Arenas left the rotation. They’re currently entrenched in the playoff picture as the East’s fourth seed and pushing Orlando for the best record in the Southeast division.

During this stretch a few things have become apparent. First, Antonio Daniels is not an ideal point, but he is a better distributor and defender than Arenas. Despite being limited by injury in several contests, Daniels is averaging 6.3 assists and attempting just 7.2 shots per game as a starter. He’s also hitting 52.0% of those FGs and 81.8% of his FTs while turning it over just 2 times a game in almost 36 minutes. Sure, Gilbert scored at a gaudy 28.5 points per clip last year, but compare the efficiency in just under 40 minutes per: 6.0 assists, 20.9 shot attempts, 41.8% FGs, 84.4% FTs and 3.2 TOs.

Gilbert Arenas Photo Credit: Mark Goldman/Icon SMI

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– Lakers’ youngster Andrew Bynum, playing in his third NBA season already and still just 20-years-old, must be at least somewhat devastated by the the injury to his left knee that’ll keep him out for about 2 months. It’s important for this franchise center to keep it all in perspective, though, and realize that these things happen and that it’s not as serious as, say, what happened to Shaun Livingston last year. Detroit Pistons rookie guard Rodney Stuckey was also sidelined for 8 weeks this season, and his positive outlook during those dog days of rehab is one Bynum would also be well served to adopt (under the “Ahead of Schedule” subhead).

- With so many teams in flux–some wildly underachieving, others surprisingly in the market for added depth as they fight for a playoff berth–TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott looks at ten teams he feels are most likely to make a move as the February 21 trade deadline lurks just off in the distance.

- Fantastic column (as they usually are) today from Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who finds somewhat of a light amidst the darkness of the Chicago Bulls’ disappointing 14-21 season. Surprisingly, Wojnarowski points to the recent player-induced suspension of unprofessional rookie Joakim Noah as a strong sign that, perhaps, this team is finally finding some leadership they can buy into–it starts within themselves, and is supported by interim coach Jim Boylan.

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The education of Seattle SuperSonics rookie Kevin Durant continued Monday evening with a guest lecture by one Kobe Bryant, who graciously allowed the lanky 6-9 star-in-the-making a fleeting moment in the spotlight before donning his tweed jacket of seniority and teaching him a lesson in how to win a close ballgame.

On one of the most thrilling all-around Monday nights in recent NBA memory, the Lakers’ 123-121 overtime win was arguably the crown jewel. Faced with news that his young, talented center, Andrew Bynum, would miss about 8 weeks with an injured left knee, Bryant elevated his game accordingly, dropping a season-high 48 points on the Sonics and responding to nearly every one of Seattle’s made baskets down the stretch with one of his own.

On the other side, Seattle left it all on the floor with a fabulous effort from just about every rotation player, including Nick Collison (24 points, 18 rebounds) and Luke Ridnour (10 points, 11 steals). Durant staked his star power by nailing an improbable three-pointer from the top of the key to tie it up at 115 with 46 seconds left, but Bryant’s unflappable crunchtime savvy eventually won out, in part thanks to two free lessons he imparted upon the Sonics’ new franchise player…

Kobe Bryant Photo Credit: Jeff Lewis/Icon SMI

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Gerald Wallace Photo Credit: Chris Keane/Icon SMI

- The Charlotte Bobcats earned some respect last week. They first pummeled the Nets at home on Tuesday, enacted revenge the next night for a close loss earlier in the season to the mighty Boston Celtics by beating them, in Boston, by 12 points, took the Cavaliers to double-overtime on Friday, then gave the Detroit Pistons all they could handle on Saturday, pushing them to overtime despite no Raymond Felton, Jeff McInnis, or Derek Anderson. With no active point guards, they rolled with Matt Carroll, Jason Richardson, and Gerald Wallace taking turns running the offense, and really should have won this one on a Nazr Mohammed tip-in with time running out in OT. Instead, Emeka Okafor tried to push in a short fall-away jumper by J-Rich before it was clear of the cylinder (or so said the officials), and was whistled on a questionable basket interference call that ended the game.

Mohammed was a force all night in the paint against his former teammates (19 points, 13 boards, 3 blocks), with Okafor nicely complimenting him even though coach Sam Vincent recently pulled Mohammed from the starting lineup because he feels the two don’t pair well together. Gerald Wallace was everywhere and ran the point very effectively, showing no signs of fatigue despite averaging a whopping 46 minutes/per over the ‘Cats four games last week. Against the Pistons, Wallace was getting to the hole almost at will, finishing with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks; as impressive as those numbers are, his impact was even greater given the guard situation.

This team has caught a lot of flack thus far–and rightfully so, they should be competing for a playoff spot in the middling Eastern Conference given the solid talent base on that roster–but here’s hoping they figure out a way to build on their recent success and work their way back to relevance. After all, they’re only 4.5 games back with 46 to go from the current eighth seed (16-17 Atlanta), a squad I’m also pulling for but one that has struggled lately.

- The rumors about Tracy McGrady being traded to the Chicago Bulls are totally unverified, but such a move might make some sense for both teams. At 14-21 and showing few signs of improvement, the Bulls and GM Jim Paxson need to suck it up and make a move sooner or later, and that probably means Ben Gordon might finally be traded. Would Gordon, Ben Wallace, and Tyrus Thomas be enough compensation for Houston to surrender McGrady and, say, Bonzi Wells? (Such a scenario works according to ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine.) Like I’ve said before, the backcourt of Heinrich and Gordon is just too small, and in T-Mac they’d land a bigger guard, one who brings a better overall offensive game to the table than Gordon does, to pair with the elfish Heinrich. They’d also shed themselves of Big Ben’s albatross of a contract and of Thomas’ youthful petulance and uncertain future. Wallace is a shell of his former self, but would still be an upgrade over Chuck Hayes at starting power forward (though he’d be somewhat out of position). It probably won’t happen, but this is the time of the year when such moves are still possible.

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2007 NBA Draft Photo Credit: Sporting News/ZUMA Press/Icon SMI

ETB takes a look around the league and checks in with some picks from the 2007 NBA Draft that are making noise, with a bent toward fantasy relevance…

Kevin Durant, G/F, 2nd Pick, Seattle SuperSonics: Coming into the season I was one of Durant’s biggest proponents, insisting he would be one of the NBA’s top scorers in the next three years, but for the most part he’s underwhelmed with a dismal 40.6% FGs. I’m still a big fan though. He’s 19-years-old, he’ll be fine. Despite the poor shooting that kills your team FG%, Durant has provided great versatility this year: 19.8 points, 4.3 boards, 2.1 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.1 threes and 0.9 steals on 86.5 FT%. If you have a guard-style fantasy team where FG% and TOs are categories you generally cede anyway, then Durant has actually made for an extremely strong play.

Al Horford, F/C, 3rd Pick, Atlanta Hawks: Horford has been one of the most impressive rookies in the NBA so far, averaging 8.8 points and 9.8 rebounds on 49.8% FGs in over 30 minutes of action. He’s also coming on strong with 34 rebounds in his last two games, and has been providing great interior consistency all season for what appears to be a playoff-bound Atlanta squad. I thought he could bang a bit and score at the NBA level, but he’s showing an ability to average a double-double as soon as this season and playing good defense with 34 blocks and 30 steals on the year.

Mike Conley, Jr., PG, 4th Pick, Memphis Grizzlies: Veteran loyalty is one thing, but it was pretty clear that Damon Stoudamire was little more than a role player at this point in his career and a defensive liability. Now that Marc Iavaroni has turned to Conley as his starter and is feeding the young lefty around 30 minutes a game, he’s finally doing what we thought he could do with 9.8 points, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 3.5 boards in six starts. He should only improve from here on out.

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It’s annually discussed during the playoffs, and was reinforced last summer with The Great Donaghy Caper– “things being rigged” in David Stern’s NBA is a topic that just won’t go away. And you know what, it’s been around for a long time, dating at least all the way back to the ‘85 draft lottery. It was that day that the New York Knickerbockers were awarded with the #1 overall pick, i.e. Patrick Ewing, whom some would argue had a pretty good NBA career.

I’m a sucker for most any NBA video dated before 1990, but this one has a special place in my heart. We have Pat O’Brien in his best pre-Entertainment Tonight, drunk-psycho mode; David Stern sporting his straight-laced, 1950s FBI Agent look (a look that reportedly scored high marks back then with residents of Hyannis, Massachusetts)… and, of course, conspiracy. Bloody, wretched conspiracy.

The Bent-Envelope Theory purports that the Knicks’ envelope purposely had a bent corner, so that when Stern reached into that fateful drum, he’d know which one to pick first to ensure the NBA’s Next Big Thing wound up with a large-market team.

Keep your eyes peeled at the 4:50 mark (and later when the envelope is chosen) and judge for yourself. Was it rigged?

Stephen Jackson Photo Credit: The Daily Review/ZUMA Press/Icon SMI

- Are the Dallas Mavericks finally ready to sober up from their 2007 NBA Playoffs hangover? They’ve posted a fine 24-11 record thus far and will once again challenge the San Antonio Spurs for the Southwest Division crown, but something just hasn’t sat right with me about this team… yet. Until recently, they’ve shown little to make me really believe they’ve learned from their embarassing first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors last year and are ready to get over it and make a true run for a title. Sure, like the Miami Heat and Detroit Pistons have said in recent years, the Mavs claim they’re less focused on winning regular-season games and more on the bigger picture. But, like the Heat and Pistons before them, we’ve seen that the “flip-the-switch mentality” is a faulty one. “Beware of false prophets,” as David Brent might say.

Lately, however, they’ve been flattening lesser teams and made a convincing statement that maybe, just maybe, they’re back with a 102-86 route of the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. During the game, ESPN’s color commentator Jon Berry predicted a minimum 13-game win streak, and with the way they dismantled the Pistons and were shooting from beyond the arc (10-16 as a team), it’s hard to argue with that prognostication given their schedule over the next few weeks. They’ve currently won five straight, and their biggest challenge over their next seven comes against the Lakers on January 25.

- At 6.9 three-point shot attempts/per (and maybe rising), Warriors co-captain Stephen Jackson has truly embraced his unconscious love for jacking it up from beyond the arc. It’s really amazing to watch him on nights like Monday against the Spurs, when he hoisted up 11 of ‘em, making 4. If you can believe it, through 29 games he’s already hit double-digits six times in this category, with his high coming on December 28 against the Nuggs with 15. Fifteen! There’s no other coach in the NBA that would tolerate such cavalier shot-selection from a guy shooting just 31.7% from three-ball land, but of course Don Nelson is in a category of his own when it comes to embracing helter-skelter on the court. Warriors fans don’t seem to mind much either–you can almost hear them collectively hold their breath as he launches the ball; when it falls, they go bat-shit crazy, and when it doesn’t, they merely sigh in disappointment. I’ve yet to hear the home crowd boo SJax and his three-point adventures.

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