Empty the Bench

- Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Let the Al Horford for ROY politicking commence.
- Need4Sheed – Mr. Big Shot was the hero late in the Pistons’ thrilling OT win over Phoenix.
- BallHype – Is the NBA becoming a “niche sport?” Arguments for and against.
- Too Much Rod Benson – On why using the Whizzinator for a drug test is very difficult.
- HOOPSWORLD – NBA Poetry Corner favorite Rashad McCants might do a blog. Awesome.
- The Blow Torch – The 1991 Slam Dunk Competition has all kinds of wonderful nuggets.
- Fear the Beard – Bob Delaney’s phantom foul call on Monta Ellis ruined a great game.
- Depressed Fan – We’ve said it before: those Philly 76ers are pretty damn good.
- Hoops Addict – The final countdown, Scorpions style, is on for the Seattle SuperSonics.
- Star Tribune – Don’t try to double-team Al Jefferson; it’s usually not going to work.
- The On Deck Circle – Fantastic interview with professional b-baller Carl English

It has to feel at least a little bizarre walking onto an NBA court as a rookie and for the first time playing against an NBA Icon you grew up controlling in video games and watching on TV.

Could you imagine actually getting out there, cameras flashing and drunken face-painters screaming, and really guarding, say, Steve Nash in the open court? Or hunkering down on the blocks as a 20- or 21-year-old kid with Shaquille O’Neal, a guy who’s first NBA game you saw as a preschooler? I mean, I’m sure it all becomes old hat rather quickly, but still… it’s got to be weird the first few times around.

Though Nash isn’t the first NBA player (or star) they’ve each respectively guarded, Detroit Piston rookie guards Arron Afflalo and Rodney Stuckey must have had one of those surreal moments Monday night at the Palace during the Pistons’ 110-105 overtime win. Drafted 27th overall last June and averaging 3 points and 1.5 rebounds on the season, Afflalo—the reigning Pac-Ten Player of the Year—was asked to step into the starting lineup with Rip Hamilton sitting out with a sore hip. You wouldn’t know it from his paltry averages, but Afflalo has shown excellent instincts as a man defender and held his own against both guards and small forwards during the spot minutes he’s getting off Flip Saunders’ bench.

Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Saunders assigned him the challenge of matching up with Steve Nash instead of Raja Bell, and in the first half the rook wasn’t phased (unlike Rowan on office-training day). Though Nash is clearly much quicker, Afflalo did a bang-up job of staying in front of him nearly every time the Suns PG tried to get to the hole. But Nash earned back-to-back NBA MVP awards based in large part around his prolific offensive talents—as soon as Afflalo made a mistake (slipped on a juke, took too long going over a pick, flat out left him open) Nash made him pay. To the rookie’s credit, however, those mistakes were the only ones Nash scored on in the first half. For the game, Afflalo had 6 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and a steal in 21 minutes.

Stuckey, my point guard candidate for this season’s All-Rookie First Team, also benefitted from Hamilton’s absence in logging a career-high 30:12 minutes, the bulk of which came in the second half. He’s quicker and smaller than Afflalo, but Nash was still able to blow by him a few times and get into a groove in the fourth, finishing with 23 points and 9 assists. Still, Stuckey held his ground admirably for the most part, especially given the crunch-time minutes he was playing against a proven crunch-time closer. He had a very strong offensive game going too, finishing with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist on 50% FG. He just missed two difficult shots after making two semi-acrobatic drives to the basket, makes that would have given him a career-best 17.

Afflalo and Stuckey both already faced these Suns back on February 24th when the Pistons embarassed the Suns on national television 116-86 in one of O’Neal’s first games as a Sun. Neither player had an especially big impact, however… certainly nothing close to what they did the second time around against Nash and O’Neal, two veterans who were at one time hopping aboard NBA team planes for a road game while these two rookies were riding the school bus and thinking about playing NBA Jam after school on their Sega Genesis.

Tags: Steve Nash, Arron Afflalo, Rodney Stuckey

Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers

There’s obviously one big reason why the Lakers haven’t fallen off a cliff following the injuries to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol (hint: his first name rhymes with the first name of a famous Jedi), but Odom has been the unsung hero of the Lake Show’s continued success. The knock on Odom has always been that he’s too passive, too unwilling to assert himself on the court despite his rare combination of size and skills that should allow him to dominate on most nights. Lately, however, he’s been nothing short of an absolute force on both ends of the floor, especially on the glass. On the season, the 6-10 Odom is averaging a career-best 10.5 boards/per, a number that has been positively impacted by a stretch in which he’s pulled down at least 10 rebounds in 22 of the past 26 games. This includes 22 last night against Golden State (and oh, by the way, he also tacked on 19 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks). Odom now has a streak going of six straight double-doubles.

Drew Gooden, Chicago Bulls

Though half of his teammates are lining up to buy the first ticket out of town this summer, Gooden seems to have taken a liking to the Windy City. Since joining the Baby Bad Bulls in the trade deadline deal that sent Ben Wallace to Cleveland, the six-year vet (it seems like he’s been around a lot longer than that, doesn’t it?) has put up some of the best averages of his career over his first 15 games with his new team. Despite the constant meddling of the team’s rotation by interim coach Jim Boylan (or perhaps because of it), Gooden is logging the most minutes (a shade under 32/per) he ever has, and his per-game averages of 14 points, 9.1 boards, 1.5 blocks, 1.7 assists, and 47% FG are all marked improvements on his stats in Cleveland. It’s not necessarily translating to team wins, though—the Bulls are 5-10 during this stretch.

Five more players patting their fantasy owners on the back after the break…

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While the Cavaliers are worried about losing LeBron James to Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets in a few years, the Portland Trail Blazers have more pressing concerns: the music industry is banging on the door of Spanish Chocolate, otherwise known as backup PG Sergio Rodriguez. Put him behind a mic and the man spits straight fire, as seen in this teaser clip for his upcoming reggaeton album (release date TBA). Charisma, energy, lyrics—the man has it all.

Newsday – Sources say The Logo is interested in the Knicks job.
NY Daily News – Is Rick Carlisle headed to Chicago? New York?
Wall Street Journal – The NBA’s Top Gossips reside in Spain; don’t really watch basketball.
Sacramento Bee – Don’t forget about Shaun Livingston, who will be a FA in July.
LA Times – The Clippers want Gilbert Arenas, and that makes perfect sense to us.
With Malice – Mark the Calendars: April 5th is Unsung Player Day.
Cavs News – Devin Brown is the illegitimate love child of Usher and Charlie Brown.
Stamford Advocate – Bassy Telfair wants to take over for his cuz in NY.
Hardwood Paroxysm – The Facebook virus has hit the NBA.
The National Post – The Toronto Raptors are S-O-F-T, soft.

Since the 2005 season the Dallas Mavericks have been defined by two moves: Steve Nash leaving for Phoenix as a free agent prior to the 2004-05 season and the promotion of Avery Johnson to head coach on March 19, 2005. When Avery Johnson took over for Don Nelson he was tasked with taking a run-and-gun powerhouse and perennial also-ran and instilling the requisite defensive mindset and prowess required to succeed in the NBA playoffs. There was great early success, with Johnson named the 2006 Coach of the Year the Mavs advancing to the NBA Finals that season. They could easily have won a title if not for an internal collapse and the transcendent play of Dwyane Wade that led to four consecutive losses in those Finals.

Now a few years further into this project the Mavericks looks like a team that has completely lost their identity. They’re trying to be a good defensive and offensive team, but finding no balance and doing neither exceptionally well. After winning the top seed in the west last season they were embarrassed by former coach Don Nelson and his eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs, one of the biggest upsets in league history. Dallas was completely lost against the running Warriors, seemingly unable to remember what it was like to score 110 points in a game. That’s been an ongoing problem. They aren’t Golden State or Phoenix, they aren’t San Antonio or Boston, and they’re getting beat by all of them. Dallas has lost nine consecutive games against teams with a winning record — teams that have a clear identity.

Dirk Nowitzki and Devin Harris Photo Credit: Icon SMI

That trend continued on Sunday with Dallas falling 88-81 to the San Antonio Spurs, slipping even further from the West’s elite. Dallas actually led by four points at halftime and ten in the third quarter, but they still looked lost and indecisive all game. The Mavs played great defense early, and in the first half they held Tim Duncan to 1-10 shooting and the Spurs as a team to just 36 points, yet Dallas was only able to muster a four-point lead at halftime. Then they fell apart in the third in the midst of a 19-point San Antonio run. The Mavs looked like an aging squad, unable to muster any offense when they needed it, and that was before tragedy struck. In the third quarter Dirk Nowitzki went up for a block, came down awkwardly and had his leg rolled on in ugly fashion. My initial reaction was that his season, and thus that of the Mavericks, was over. Early word is that Dallas is hoping Dirk will only be out two weeks, but in the insanely competitive West that could still spell doom for Dallas’s playoff chances.

More on how Dallas got into this mess after the jump…

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1. Charges Drawn Count as Steals

Although I make derisive remarks about the practice of flopping later in this article, I truly admire the player who is willing to take an actual charge. It’s all about timing, skill, strategy and self-sacrifice and it’s high time charges drawn started showing up in the box score. They should be counted as steals. The defensive player does the necessary footwork and positioning to force the opposing offensive player into a play where the defensive player’s team gains control of the ball. That sounds like a steal to me.

Additionally, the defensive player has put the opponent in further foul trouble and potentially drawn free throws, so in many ways the charge drawn can be a significantly more valuable defensive contribution than a traditional steal. Stats never tell the whole story of a performance, but their purpose is an attempt to quantify a player’s contributions. Steals are generally intended to convey defensive performance and it’s about time that drawing an offensive foul was included in this numerical summation.

2. Deemphasized Free-Throw Shooting in Endgame Situations

I’m a fan of the free throw and excellent free-throw shooters. Free-throw shooting plays an integral role in every NBA game, and I think it should. It’s a valid and important basketball skill and a fitting retribution for various rules infractions. That said, I’m tired of seeing the last two minutes of games come down to 30 real-time minutes of stop-and-go play comprised entirely of intentional fouls and free throw attempts. If a diehard NBA apologist like myself finds these sequences anticlimactic, monotonous and off-putting then you can be sure the casual fan is also turned off by the whole ordeal.

I’ve thought about a number of ways to deal with this issue over the years, but none have seemed perfectly satisfactory. Here’s the best solution I can come up with: when a team commits an intentional foul, as determined by the referee, within the last 1:30 of a game, the team with the ball receives one free-throw attempt and maintains possession of the ball. This would completely remove the incentive to essentially turn a basketball game into a game of horse where there’s only one spot on the floor you can shoot from. Other reader suggestions to improve the flow of late-game situations are more than welcome in the comments section.

Four more proposals for bold rules changes after the jump…

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Game Two: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz

Prelude

No Andrew Bynum? No problem. Pau Gasol’s vagina hurts again ankle is sprained? Don’t need him. This year, it seems that as long as #24 is healthy and in the lineup, beating the Lakers is no small task. Tied for the top seed in the West with a 46-21 record, the Lake Show got back in the win column against Dallas the other day after dropping two in a row (to the Hornets and Rockets, respectively). Ronny Turiaf has stepped up in Gasol’s absence, logging at least 29 minutes over these past three and lending his usual hustle and post-presence at all times. Lamar Odom is the team’s leading rebounder, however, and has pulled down 60 combined in the last five.

The Lakers are the league’s fourth-best road team (22-13), but they’ll need to be at the very top of their game to have a chance in Utah. The Jazz have been nearly unbeatable in Salt Lake City, where the crowd is vanilla-white, the noise is deafening, and the home team has rattled off 19 straight triumphs. They’ve dropped just three games in Salt Lake all year long and have quietly become the trendy pick to ultimately emerge out of the Western Conference playoff fray and advance to the NBA Finals. Jerry Sloan has them playing a high level of team basketball, while third-year PG Deron Williams has been simply amazing, recording at least 10 assists in 10 of the Jazz’s last 12 games, including 20 on March 3 against the Mavericks. If they can get home-court advantage for the first few rounds, they are going to be very, very tough to beat. Some lingering health concerns, though, with Mehmet Okur, Carlos Boozer, and Andrei Kirilenko.

In-Game Notes

- A lot is being made of the booing Lakers PG Derek Fisher received in Utah in his first game there this season. Fisher, of course, was a big part of the Jazz’s success last year, but asked to be let out of his contract in the summer so he could move to LA and get better health care for his daughter. Charles Barkley said Fisher “shouldn’t take it personally, and that of course they’re going to boo him. He’s playing for a rival—he could have went to Seattle. Or Milwaukee. Or Miami. But he went to the Lakers.” For his part, Fisher’s response is to open the game’s scoring with a three-pointer. Give him 5 points in the first 4 minutes.

- Early time out for Jerry Sloan and the Jazz after Lamar Odom’s three puts the Lakers up 18-7. So far the crowd is not a factor, but of course this opens the door for a dramatic 12-2 run led by two consecutive Kyle Korver three-pointers. Nothing gets the Jazz fans revved up like consecutive Kyle Korver threes.

- It’s all Lakers early, with a little four-point run by the Jazz still only cutting the lead down to 12. Obviously, it’s very early and the exact deficit isn’t that important. But. But. The Lakers are getting whatever they want right now on offense, a combination of crisp passing, solid picks, and good spacing. It won’t matter if the Jazz snap out of their offensive funk or not; if they don’t figure out how to get some stops on the other end, they’re going to lose by 10+. At the end of the first, Los Angeles leads by 20, a lead largely built on 75% shooting, but also on fantastic team defense. The Jazz are all sorts of, uh, out of sorts.

- TNT’s Mike Fratello tells a story about Mehmet Okur that I’ll paraphrase here: “You can see Mehmet Okur is short of breath, don’t forget he’s still suffering from a flu bug. He hasn’t eaten much, he still feels sick, and he’s got his whole family in town from Turkey, so his whole house is full and they’re all sick, so he’s just surrounded by sickness.” Great story, Mike. Just great.

- Utah is doing their best to keep this interesting; Okur’s second three of the game cuts the lead to 17, which has riled up the crowd and gotten the “Defense!” chants going. But though the Lakers have cooled off (a little) in the second quarter, they’re still getting open shots and still getting to the hole for layups or fouls. It’s scary how good this LA team can be when they’re clicking on all cylinders—and without Bynum and Gasol. Very, very scary.

Notes on the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers-Utah Jazz game after the jump. Oh, the drama!

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Game One: Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks

Prelude

This one is a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Boston Celtics waltz into Dallas looking for another big road win having dispatched the Houston Rockets and their 21-game winning streak Tuesday night and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. “I’ve never seen a defense like that,” said Tracy McGrady. “I mean, if they play defense like that, night in and night out, the NBA is in trouble because that was defense at its finest.” Indeed—the Celtics are allowing a league-low 90 points/per in blanketing shooters both on the perimeter and in the post with a hand in the face on nearly every other shot. The rebounding has been stellar too, allowing their opponents under 40/per as a team; only the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers are better in that category.

As for the Mavericks, they haven’t beaten a team above .500 since Jason Kidd came to town and have slid down the Western Conference standings all the way to the 7th seed. (Of course, just four games separate the 1 and 8 seed.) They’re coming off a gutting 102-100 loss to the LA Lakers Tuesday night, which was the seventh game straight that Kidd has failed to score in double digits… or attempt more than 7 shots. I know he’s a passer first, but that’s silly—Dallas is going to need 12-18 points a night from him come playoff time if they hope to advance past the first round. A victory tonight over a Boston team that’s cruising along with an .806 winning percentage would do wonders to quell the rising tide of criticism.

In-Game Notes

- The Celtics haven’t won in Dallas since 2000, but the return of Ray Allen (ankle) should give them a big boost. Less than two minutes into the game and he’s already gone to the free-throw line and nailed a jumper that looked effortless. All in all, though, this surprisingly hasn’t been one of Allen’s better overall seasons. His 2007-08 campaign will ultimately be judged on how he performs in the playoffs, however.

- In an era when many NBA teams are getting smaller in the frontcourt, the Celtics and Mavs are both starting traditional centers in Kendrick Perkins and Erick Dampier who have very similar skill sets: big, bruising, rebounding, shot-blocking lugs. It’ll be key for both of them to stay out of foul trouble as there’s not much size behind them on the depth chart.

- I’m a Josh Howard fan and think he’s the most exciting end-to-end player on the roster. Love his game, love his hustle, love what he brings to the Mavericks. He’s the third player of Dallas’ “Big Three” (along with Kidd and Dirk) and just as integral to the team’s success.

- 29-24 lead after one quarter for the Mavs following a 12-2 run, but it feels tenuous. Even in front of their home crowd, they seem a little of unsure of themselves. Is it because of tonight’s opponent, or because of a more deeply rooted tension?

- Jason Kidd is going to play 40+ minutes a night in the playoffs; I hope he’s ready for it. His backups, Tyronn Lue and Jose Juan Barrea, can both be effective in small fits and spurts in specific situations but overall, in the postseason against teams that are stacked at the position, I think they’ll both prove to be severe liabilities, especially on defense.

- Leon Powe has a very good chance of one day taking over KG’s starting power forward spot. The 6-8 third-year banger turned in some real solid performances while KG was out with a groin problem, and tonight he came in and made an immediate impact, putting up 3 points, 1 block, a nice assist to Paul Pierce, and drawing a charge on Dirk Nowitzki during his first 7 minutes. A lot of similarities between him and his backup PF counterpart on Dallas, Brandon Bass.

Notes on the rest of the Boston Celtics-Dallas Mavericks game after the break…

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- HOOPSWORLD – The Blazers have four picks in June’s draft, but will they keep them?
- Philadelphia Inquirer – David Aldridge thinks A.I. came back to Philly a better man.
- Ohio.com – The DeShawn-LeBron feud goes back further than you think.
- AOL Fanhouse – What’s next for Tim Donaghy: a short-lived romance with Tonya Harding?
- Bucks Diary – Ding dong, the Lizard Years are dead.
- Los Angeles Times – Good news on the Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol injuries front.
- SPORTSbyBROOKS – Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill are closet larpers.
- The Association – A little piss on the Houston Rockets’ winning streak parade.
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel – Even the sorry Heat aren’t interested in Gerald Green.
- Basketbawful – Doug Collins as backcourt magician and national sex symbol.

This homage to NBA basketball from the year 1984 has it all: a fat man covering a foot-long hot dog in mustard, professional dancers dressed as street thugs dunking on a lowered rim, a cheerleading squad without a choreographer, The Fat Boys (!), nunchucks, and, of course, hip-hop legend Kurtis Blow rapping basketball and rocking his finest Lionel Richie look. Classic.

Great scene in Philly last night.

In his first game at the Wachovia Center since being traded to the Denver Nuggets last year, Allen Iverson got a somewhat surprising standing ovation from the home crowd during the starting lineup introductions. With playoff implications for both teams, the game was competitive from start to finish. The two principal components of the big trade—Iverson (32 points, 8 assists, 3 steals) and Andre Miller (28 points, 12 assists)—both turned in high-level performances.

Andre Iguodala Photo Credit: Icon SMI

And there couldn’t have been a more appropriate script written for the end: with the Nuggets trailing by two and back-to-back losses staring them in the face, Iverson spotted up from 20-feet, gunned, and clanged it off the rim. Marcus Camby’s tip-in missed the mark and the ball squirted out of the fray into the hands of Andre Iguodala, who dribbled at a sprint down the floor and celebrated the big win as time expired. It was the Sixers’ fourth win a row, and their eighth victory in the past nine. Suddenly, the team few had pegged as playoff-bound is pushing the Washington Wizards and slumping Toronto Raptors for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference.

We went to a preseason game at the Garden between the Sixers and Knicks and left thinking this team had no hope this year, that they were boring and a little depressing, that Iguodala’s one-man assault on the rim would be the only offense this team could muster, that Miller would demand a trade… and that we were definitely selling our tickets to the Philly/Knicks regular-season game included in our eight-game package.

We did unload that game (thank God), but none of those other thoughts have come to pass. As young guys like Thaddeus Young, Louis Williams, and Rodney Carney have started to find their way as the season has worn on, the Sixers have suddenly become a pretty exciting team to watch. They’re athletic, they’re active on defense, they hustle, and when they cause a turnover it’s often an intimidating four-man break going the other way. And they have leapers—Iguodala is one of the league’s most spectacular dunkers, but a few of his teammates know how to finish with pizazz as well.

The Sixers are easy to root for, and it’s going to be interesting seeing just how far they can take themselves up the Eastern standings these last 14 contests… 12 of which are against teams either locked into or fighting for a playoff berth. They’ll face LeBron’s Cavaliers twice, games that could be a preview of a possible first-round pairing if Toronto keeps slipping and Washington chokes. For more on the youth movement in Philly starting to pay off, check out Andrew’s excellent look at the state of the 76ers franchise.

Tags: Andre Iguodala, Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Miller