Morning Bell – 4.20.2009

Thing About Nuggets/Hornets
This was a theory first proposed by JE Skeets from the Internet. In a massive Gchat festival last night he opined that if New Orleans had any shot in this series, he’d have to play about 45 minutes a game. Considering his backups are Antonio Daniels (washed up two years ago) and Devin Brown (is Devin Brown) this is a patently obvious truth.

Howevsies, I added something to this theory. Yes, the Hornets need Paul to play heavy minutes, but just as important is that those minutes have to be intense minutes. Paul has a tendency to let the game come to him the first three quarters, and then really seek to put his imprint on the game in the fourth. If the Hornets stand a chance, that can’t happen. Paul needs to be dialed in and dominating from the jump, otherwise the Hornets are playing from behind. And with the lack of firepower they have, that’s not good.

Outside of Paul, no one on that team is creating shots for themselves or others. For all his faults, Jannero Pargo could create shots, so you have to put a little blame on New Orleans’s front office for not giving Paul any support besides jumpshooters. Then again, Paul is good enough to win games on his own. He just needs to do that right away.

Thing About Mario Chalmers
During Matt’s liveblog last night, humans got to talking about Mario Chalmers’s potential. I’m pretty indifferent about Chalmers. I think he’s a fine player, but not really an impact maker. He’s certainly an NBA player, and probably a starter (definitely for the Heat), and someone made the comparison to Derek Harper, which seems about right.

Me being the tempered soul that I am, I kindly pointed out that Chalmers turns the ball over quite a bit, more often than Dwyane Wade even. Matt stated that while that’s true, he’s a rookie and rookies turn the ball over, which is also true. True dat, double true. (Lazy Sunday reference. Hey 2007!)

But, I don’t know that peeps realize how often Chalmers actually turns the ball over. In the past five seasons, only 8 rookie guards who played at least 20 minutes a game have turned the ball over more often than Chalmers. Now, the guards that have turned the ball over more often than him range from Jose Calderon to Sarunas Jasikevicius, so this can go either way; but it’s definitely something that needs to be changed.

Things About the End of the Magic/76ers Game

Big ups to Grimace Iguodala for hitting that shot because Hedo played perfect defense. He turned him once, and cut him off from getting to the basket twice. Then as Grimace stepped back, Hedo closed out hard enough that he was forced to fade a good three feet on his jumper. And Hedo’s entire hand and body was in Iggy’s strained face. Aside from the shot being wet, the defense was played exactly how you want it.

Iguodala shoots way too many jumpers, and he’s not good at them, having an eFG% of .388 on his jumpshots. In the clutch, he’s even worse, when his eFG% drops to .313. It’s not surprising that he’d settle for a shot outside, it’s surprising that he’d make it. Mad props to Grimace and Hedo.

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