Photo by digipam from Flikr

What makes this speech shocking is a man willing to stand in front of peers and press and say things like: “I wish I had been a better father” or looking down at his mother and saying things like “Me and my mother have never gotten along” and “She kicked me out” and “I resented her” and “my mother rarely ever hugged me or my siblings….she didn’t know how” and yet still make everything he’s saying sound like a remorseful, respectful tribute to her.

Via “D-Rod can still shock us” by Evil Ted

Dennis Rodman’s induction speech was about as emotionally raw as you can get. No need for me to rehash the speech any further since Basketbawful did that splendidly. What I can do is reminisce about one of the NBA’s greatest players. Pull up a chair, it’s story time. To the 90s we sojourn…

As someone who had absolutely no jump shot and routinely played with older kids, it was always a cold day in basketball hell when I saw the ball on offense. So to make up for my freeze out on that end, I busted my butt on defense and the boards seeking to prove my worth. Eventually the older guys started comparing me to the Worm. Sure, I still didn’t get the ball on offense, but a measure of respect had been gained.

So whenever I would see the illustrious Rodman on TV, I sympathized with and cheered him while jeering the snooty media not so much for his own sake, but for the enhancement of my own basketball reputation on the courts. When Good Morning America was buzzing with coverage of Rodman wearing a wedding dress, I merely shrugged. Sure it was different, but I didn’t find it necessarily strange. The incessant fixation people had on his dyed hair fascinated me more than the dyed hair. The cover of his book caused a ruckus. Faithfully, I ventured to the cinema to see his Van Damme collaboration Double Team. Hell, I even witnessed his WCW match with Karl Malone live on Pay-Per-View.

The only time I got upset with Rodman was when he delivered a crushing blow to a cameraman’s crotch in Minnesota, but even then I thought the victim was playing up his injury for the potential lawsuit money. But like any childhood fixation, Rodman fever had cooled and in 1999 I wisely avoided Simon Sez and watched in horror as Rodman turned into a vagabond for Los Angeles and Dallas. He finally seemed a caricature of himself.

However, the preceding was all tabloid Rodman. What I truly marveled at was basketball Rodman. The one I was unbelievably compared to on the courts. The man would gyrate, slither, leap and bound his way to any and all rebounds. He’d frustrate opponents with a series of tricks that even annoyed me, an ardent Rodman supporter. But the results couldn’t be denied. Rodman would get his technical and go about his business while the opponent would be mentally unstable for the rest of the game. Most importantly, watching Rodman recklessly dive into the crowd for a loose ball and save it taught me a play was never dead.

Thankfully, the memory of the Worm will not die either so long as the Hall is around. To my surprise, Rodman didn’t have a terribly long wait to get into the Hall of Fame. It was overdue but he had to pay some price for the horrible biopic of Bad As I Wanna Be.

Congrats, Dennis.

Post-Script: A fun video I made of Dennis’s highlights. Can’t believe I forgot about this earlier.

Photo by donaldmacleod on Flickr

June 26, 2008: The Charlotte Bobcats pick D.J. Augustin with the ninth pick in the draft. This is surprising, as they already have Raymond Felton on the roster. Everyone assumes that they’re planning to trade one of them as soon as possible. They don’t, though — when the season begins, Augustin backs up the former number-five pick and shares the floor with him, too.

April 15, 2009: On the last night of the regular season, Charlotte loses by 25 to the eventual Eastern-Conference Champion Orlando Magic. It finishes 35-47, a new franchise-best in its first year under coach Larry Brown. Felton and Augustin start together for the third straight game and combine for a total of three assists whilst shooting 4-16 from the field. This is the same day that Bill Simmons publishes his MVP column, angering the blogosphere by calling Felton “the guy I’d pursue this summer if I ran an NBA team” and comparing him to Chauncey Billups.  He credits Felton for dealing with “ten weeks of trade rumors” and, at season’s end, many assume Felton is done with Charlotte as he approaches restricted free agency. Augustin’s promising rookie year means that Felton seems expendable, especially when looking at the rookie’s excellent efficiency in games in which he started, that Magic game notwithstanding.

September 22, 2009: Felton signs a one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer to stay with the Bobcats. David A. Arnott writes, “here’s hoping that Felton backs up Augustin by default going into the season.” Tom Ziller writes that Felton has “proved if nothing else over four seasons that he is just not very good.”

December 5, 2009: After losing confidence and shooting less frequently and accurately than he did as a rookie, Augustin registers his second straight DNP-CD with Philadelphia in town. Felton hits the game-winning layup, playing through bruised ribs. Larry Brown says of Augustin’s benching a month into his sophomore season, “He hasn’t defended like he needs to defend. He hasn’t made shots. He hasn’t distributed the ball.” Ten days later, Frank Isola writes that Augustin is a “player of interest” for the New York Knicks.

April 26, 2010: The Bobcats are swept by the Magic in their first playoff series in franchise history. Augustin averages 18 minutes and shoots 5-17 from the floor in those four games. Felton averages 32 minutes a game and, like everyone else going up against that Orlando defense, failed to score efficiently. With unrestricted free agency looming, his future is once again uncertain.

July 9, 2010: Felton signs a two-year, $15 million contract with the New York Knicks, three days after Amar’e Stoudemire signs there. This is the Knicks’ big free agent splash, after spending years creating cap room. I’d say this means Augustin is no longer a “player of interest” for the organization.

October 27, 2010: In his first game as a full-time starting point guard, Augustin scores 8 points on 2-10 shooting and adds 5 assists in 40 minutes against the eventual-champion Mavericks. Charlotte loses by 15.

December 4, 2010: The Bobcats lose by 18 in Philadelphia and Gerald Wallace says that they look like an AAU team and miss Felton. He continues,  “D.J. doesn’t have the fight. Not to compare them as far as abilities, but D.J.’s personality is not as high as Ray’s was as far as aggression and attitude on the court. D.J. is more laid-back.” Larry Brown familiarly says, “We don’t play together, we don’t play hard enough. We don’t move the ball, we don’t defend as a team.” Stephen Jackson adds, “We had such professionals last year… And Raymond led this team.” Meanwhile in Chicago, Raymond Felton records his first 20-point game and his first 10-assist game as a Knick. He shares the floor with another small guard, Toney Douglas, who scores a career-high 30 points. The two combine to shoot 9-15 on threes against the team that would finish with the best record and best defense in the league.

December 21, 2010: The Bobcats take a 1-point lead into the fourth quarter at home against Oklahoma City, then allow a 25-3 run. They register their first field goal with 2:52 left in the game and go on to lose by 18. Due to first-half foul trouble, Augustin only plays 18 minutes. Backup PG and personal favorite Shaun Livingston plays 18 and Sherron Collins, called up from the D-League that day, plays 13. The next day, the Thunder lose to Felton and co. in New York. Also, Larry Brown is fired in Charlotte.

December 27, 2010: Augustin plays his first game under new coach Paul Silas. He scores 27 points on 15 shots in 36 minutes in a 5-point win over the Pistons. Gerald Wallace says, “He was free. He looked like a little kid at the park, just out there playing ball.” Silas adds, “Raymond wasn’t nearly the shooter this kid is, but he was stronger and more vocal. At the end of the day, you’ve got to (accept) they’re two different people.” Two days later, Augustin scores 28 on 14 shots against the Cavaliers and Tim Povtak publishes a feature where Felton says, “I think now, I’ve found my home. I’ve found it. I’d love to spend the rest of my career in New York. When this contract ends, hopefully we’ll work out another one.” A day after that, Felton has his worst shooting night as a Knick, finishing with 14 points on 6-22 shooting, including 1-7 on threes. New York loses to Orlando by 9. This is the beginning of a regression to the mean — at this point an All-Star candidate, Felton shoots 29% in January, struggling to convert floaters and layups. His team loses six straight games against Western Conference opponents starting on January 12, as we are bombarded with stories about Carmelo Anthony coming to NYC.

February 21, 2011: A day after the All-Star Weekend, Felton, along with just about every asset New York has, is traded to the Denver Nuggets as part of a package for Carmelo Anthony. His replacement? Chauncey Billups. Once again, he finds himself teamed with a younger point guard: his successor at UNC, Ty Lawson. There is much speculation over whether or not Denver will trade him somewhere else in the next three days. Meanwhile, Augustin is hoping the break will be the end of a slump that saw him shoot 14-49 over six games.

February 24, 2011: On trade deadline day, the Bobcats trade Gerald Wallace to the Blazers for a pair of first-round picks. This solidifies that the team is in rebuilding mode, a process that began with letting Felton walk and trading Tyson Chandler to Dallas the previous summer. Felton remains a Nugget, despite his agent saying the previous day, “Raymond is not going to be a backup.” He makes his debut that night on TNT, coming off the bench to score four points in a strange 14-point victory over a depleted Celtics squad. Marv Albert quotes Scott Schroeder during the broadcast. Felton continues to come off the bench for the rest of the year, but gets about the same amount of playing time as Lawson on an incredibly fun team that has similar depth at every position.

April 13, 2011: Charlotte ends its regular season with a win over an Atlanta team resting its starters. Augustin finishes the season on a high note, averaging 16.7 points and 10.7 assists with 65% shooting in his last three games, though it should be added that none of them had playoff implications on either side. In an exit interview the next day, Stephen Jackson tells Silas and General Manager Rod Higgins that he wants to stay in Charlotte. Jackson also has a revealing end-of-season presser, saying that he lost respect for Larry Brown before the season when Brown told him that they weren’t going to be a playoff team. Augustin adds, “We have a good coach now.” Felton sits out of Denver’s final game of the regular season against the Jazz, so he can rest for the highly-anticipated THUNDERNUGGETS matchup.

April 25, 2011: The Nuggets avoid a sweep and Felton gets his first playoff victory of his career. It was mostly thanks to starting point guard Ty Lawson’s 27 points, though. Two nights later, their season ends in OKC. The next day, General Manager Manager Masai Ujiri says, “We are going to try and keep the core together and build from here.” With a team characterized by interchangeable high-quality parts and no true stars, however, one has to wonder who makes up the “core.”

June 23, 2011: On draft day, new Charlotte GM Rich Cho pulls off a three-team deal with the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Going out are Stephen Jackson and Shaun Livingston, coming in are Corey Maggette and the #7 pick in the draft. The Bobs already owned the #9 pick, but added another with their sights set on a defensive big. They unsurprisingly take Bismack Biyombo at #7, then at #9 they choose Kemba Walker, an undersized point guard. Immediately, there are questions about Augustin’s future with the team. Also that night, Felton is traded to the Blazers for Andre Miller. This is his third new team in less than a year, after spending his first five years with the Bobcats. Thankfully, he’s reunited with Gerald Wallace, the original Bobcat.

It’s been three years since they were questionably aligned in Charlotte and I’m not sure either of these point guards has found his place yet. Felton, the superior player based on his defensive ability and relative consistency, has found himself in a superior situation — he has talented teammates and he does not have a highly-touted rookie competing with him for minutes. However, he’s let himself go this summer to the point where Jonathan Abrams said, “he looks like a roly-poly.” So there’s that.

Augustin’s in a tricky spot, even if he knows it well. He can play with the younger Walker for stretches on a rebuilding team, but we all know they can’t both be part of the long-term plan. On the court, these players are extremely similar right now, but Kemba’s bringing Charlotte the personality, the smile, and the NCAA Champion pedigree, while Augustin is weighed down by years of up-and-down play and a continually shifting role. It feels like the best thing for Augustin is to get a fresh start somewhere else. Mind you, if there’s one thing that we’ve learned through this saga, one’s place within the context of a team and in the landscape of the NBA can change instantaneously.

Eddie Vedder and Dennis Rodman | Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

This is a photo of Eddie Vedder on Dennis Rodman’s shoulders from 2007.

Rodman said he wanted either his son or Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder to serve as his presenter Friday night, but Hall of Fame officials informed him a current member had to do so. Enter Phil Jackson.

via Dennis Rodman: Dennis Rodman says NBA’s monster salaries have to go – Chicago Tribune.

And then I was informed “Black, Red, and Yellow” from Pearl Jam’s B-sides album was written about Rodman, and features a voice message from Rodman.

I also heard that Rodman performed “Alive” at his birthday party.

Upon discovering this, I remarked that this was the most Dennis Rodman song of Pearl Jam’s that Dennis Rodman could have sung, which was later verified by his Hall of Fame speech, in which he made mention of the fact that he didn’t honestly think he’d be alive to see himself in. In reality, the song’s about a son losing a father (Eddie’s big on the whole patronage angle, see: “Daughter,” the song), and then the mother embracing the child sexually. So that’s pretty messed up, which, again, is pretty Rodman. I then wondered which song would be the rest of the 97 Bulls from “Ten.”  I mean, Jordan’s pretty “Jeremy” what with the obsession over how he’s treated, though if Jordan were Jeremy he’d just set out to ruin his classmates’ lives forever. Pippen’s probably “Even Flow” what with the feeling like you’re constantly pressed down. I like to think Jud Buechler was “Porch” but I’m not sure why.

Rodman’s middle name is Keith.

The end.

Photo by whitecatsg on Flickr

The 2009 rookie class was supposed to be weak. After Ricky Rubio decided to chill in Spain and Blake Griffin messed up his knee, it was supposed to approach 2000-weak. Then, Brandon Jennings dropped 55 on a Saturday in November, Tyreke Evans became the most unstoppable rook we’d ever seen completely rely on his right hand, and Stephen Curry put up numbers that didn’t make sense because he still looked like he was 15. DeJuan Blair made John Hollinger want to have his ACL’s removed, pre-rookie-wall-Omri Casspi hustled his way into our hearts and the Kings’ starting lineup, and we watched Hornets games sans Chris Paul because Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton were the most lethal rookie backcourt tandem since… actually, I’ve no idea. Terrence Williams had me giddy about a 12-win squad. Serge Ibaka blocked 7 shots in 28 minutes in a playoff game. Rodrigue Beaubois finished alley-oops, dropped 40 on a Saturday in March, and made everybody question Rick Carlisle’s decision-making a month later. Ty Lawson was a per-minute beast and Jrue Holiday’s defensive potential was evident from the start. This class looked awesome, Thabeet be damned.

Unfortunately, for a lot of them year two didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated. We were ready for Evans to be an All-Star and Jennings to get that FG% somewhere in the 40’s, but their progress was stalled by injuries. Collison was meant to shine with his own team to run in Indy, not sit in fourth quarters behind T.J. Ford. Jason Kidd talked about coming off the bench behind Beaubois, but it turned out they didn’t need Roddy’s shot creation to win a title. Terrence Williams had a controversial stint in the D-League, a string of embarrassing Twitter outbursts, and 290 frustrating minutes of floor time split between New Jersey and Houston. Marcus Thornton’s defensive deficiencies kept him glued to the bench before a trade to Sacramento revived his season. Even babyfaced Steph faced some harsh criticism at times. There were definite bright spots — DeMar DeRozan’s scoring, Taj Gibson’s defense, and the Ibaka-James Harden-Eric Maynor trio come to mind — but the class that exceeded expectations out of the gate collectively did not live up to the new ones it created.

Heading into year three, there is some doubt where there once was nothing but optimism. But if a few things go right, I can see this being seen as one of the strongest, deepest classes in recent history. I expect a healthy Evans to quickly reassert himself as an elite scorer. I’m hopeful that Jennings can make the small changes necessary to produce a large jump in productivity. Harden should finally move into the starting lineup in OKC, Beaubois should at least have the opportunity to do so in Dallas, and Cleveland Casspi could be a consistent Casspi. Add the Jeff Teague we saw in the playoffs, the presence of Jonas Jerebko (who missed all of last season with a partially ruptured Achilles), and three-point range for DeMar DeRozan? How about a mid-range jumper for DeJuan Blair? Suddenly this class might look pretty damn good again. Imagine if Jonny Flynn gets it together in Houston.

Expectations and injuries made one year’s pleasant surprise seem like the next year’s small letdown. If you can look past the fact that we didn’t see any major leaps, though, you’ll see a long list of solid contributors. The big leaps may well be coming soon and I’m not going to make the mistake of doubting this group again.

Photo by Mohamed Malik on Flickr

In two NBA seasons with the Phoenix Suns andOrlando Magic, Earl Clark has yet to garner any regular playing time, appearing in only 93 out of 164 career games.

That’s the biggest reason Clark is headed to the Chinese Basketball Association — he just wants to play.

Clark officially signed a one-year deal with the CBA on Friday afternoon.

via Orlando Sentinel: Playing time biggest factor in Earl Clark’s move to China 

There have been rumors that a slew of NBA players are soon to leave to play overseas as the lockout has dragged on and on, and some of those rumors have come to fruition. Today, another player can officially be added to the growing list of players that have signed with overseas’ teams. Unlike many players, Earl Clark’s deal with the CBA team Zhejiang doesn’t seem to provide an out-clause. Clark’s choice also seems to differentiate in motive, as he apparently simply seeks to earn consistent and copious playing time. Clark is still very young (at age 23) and maintaining viable minutes for one season could be important in allowing him to move closer towards reaching his considerable potential.

The NBA career of Earl Clark has been largely inconsistent. He came to the league carrying heavy expectations as a Suns late lottery-pick (14th), and was unable to translate his skills immediately upon entering the NBA. He played in only 51 games during his first season, and spent time in the D-League. Clark possessed (and still possesses) the ability to be a strong defensive player, but his skill set blended poorly with a fast-paced, offensive-minded Suns team. Throughout his time (1+ years) with the Suns, Clark never shot above 39% from the field or played more than 8 minutes a game. On a team loaded with similar, more experienced, and refined players, Clark always had trouble meshing effectively.

After an early season trade to the Magic in 2011, Clark’s troubles began to dissipate to some extent. He was able to use his versatile defensive skills with more frequency on a team (playing 11.9 MPG in 33 games) that lacked size, and he even made strides in offensive efficiency. Unfortunately, Clark’s strides were less than extensive, and his PER still hovered at a below-average 9.8. Even with the change of scenery, Clark’s role in the Magic’s rotation was far from ensured during the season, and that same uncertainty remained regarding his future with the team.

Now, with a possible lost season looming, Clark has decided to forgo waiting and has chosen the certainty that the CBA offers. He’ll likely be a force to be reckoned with on the court in China, and he’ll have the opportunity to further explore his strengths and weaknesses with the pedigree he’ll carry in the league. For a player as young and inexperienced as Clark, the added confidence he gains while playing for Zhejiang could be essential in improving his game when (or if) he returns to the NBA in 2012. The effects of the lockout environment are largely negative for the immediate future of players (not to mention team employees, media, and fans), but for Clark and a few other players, the added viability that playing overseas offers (encouraged by the harsh environment of  the lockout) could be a helpful tool in their development.

Photo by Funky Tee on Flickr

SPRINGFIELD — Commissioner David Stern, despite NBA owners and players being far apart in reaching a labor accord, told the Globe tonight that he “expects” an eventual agreement that would prevent cancellation of the season.

“I would say that we have very smart players who recognize that this system is very good to them,” he said. “You’ve got 13 players on a roster averaging $5 million apiece, that’s $65 million and what the owners have said is, ’we’re going to try very hard as we reset this thing to keep you as close to that number as we can.’

via Boston Globe: Stern hopeful of NBA labor agreement 

Though he may be going on vacation for the next two weeks, David Stern still holds the belief that an 2011-2012 NBA season will occur in some form. I suppose this is good news and indicates that Stern may want to earnestly work out a deal with the players, but it’s hard to draw much positivity from a statement like this, mostly because it’s just a statement. Until even the slightest action exists to back up Stern’s words, they hold little weight.

We’re more than a month into the lockout now, and virtually nothing has happened between the NBA and NBPA in terms of viable discussion. There’s been little to no negotiations between two sides that are significantly far apart (according to Billy Hunter, $800 million per year apart), and this is the first positive note I’ve seen come from the NBA/owners’ side of thing in seemingly forever (though every time a player is asked about the lockout during an interview, their first response always seems to be “Well, it doesn’t look good…”).

But whether or not I think he’s going about the right course to solving the differences currently dividing the league, Stern knows more about the inner workings of the situation than I do. Maybe he actually believes the owners are willing to make a genuine, concerted effort to give the players a fair deal, though what’s a “fair deal” in the owners’ minds is usually significantly different than what seems fair to the players’ union. The main positivity that I can glean from Stern’s statement is that it’s always a good thing for the main figure in a set of negotiations to believe that the negotiations at least have a chance of being resolved.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to wait for something to actually happen. Maybe one of these days Billy Hunter will call up Stern and the following (completely fictional) discussion will take place:

Hunter: IT’S TIME.

Stern: Time for what? Time to make more comments to the press about the sincerity our sides truly hold?

Hunter: No, I think we should just end this lockout. Kobe’s been calling and yelling at me about how he has no interest in sandwiches (something about Turkey?) and I’m scared that Scalabrine might be the next player to leave.

Stern: You should hear what Donald Sterling’s been saying lately.

Hunter: What’s he been saying?

Stern: Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with the lockout, but I still don’t get it.

Hunter: Let’s all meet tomorrow and try to figure something out.

Stern: Sounds good.

Hunter: This is going to be the best shortened season ever!*

*You better believe this would be playing in the background.

But it probably won’t happen anytime soon. For now, let’s just hope each day to read more and more vaguely positive comments in the news.

Photo by Connor Huchton (me)

This article is a two-part post profiling young players and the circumstances that shaped them. If the profiles seem biased, that’s because they probably are. 

The Winding Path of Landry Fields

by Connor Huchton

I’m not here to tell you that Landry Fields is the perfect player. He has his faults. He’s not a great dribbler, an impeccable finisher, or an unstoppable athletic force. What’s interesting about Landry Fields goes beyond the surface of playing style. It lies in a matter of identity.

Most people thought there would never be a start to the NBA story of Landry Fields, and who could blame them? Chad Ford and the majority of other draft websites hadn’t even mentioned him in passing. Sure, he had some skills, but he wasn’t a top 100 prospect. What position did he play? He was too slow to play guard or small forward at the NBA level, and not physical enough to play power forward. He couldn’t shoot the three, could he? He was versatile, but he wasn’t ‘NBA versatile’. The twenty-two points and nine rebounds he had averaged while shooting 49% at Stanford had been the product of a weak league. He had carried the burden of almost everything for his team, but how far had that got them? No, he couldn’t be an NBA player. It wasn’t happening.  For NBA fans, he would soon fade into the obscurity of the D-League or Europe.

I remember combing through articles (as a lifelong Stanford fan), desperately searching for some indication he could be drafted. I could hardly find a thing, so I gave up on the notion almost entirely. I was confused why a player with the wide range and size of Fields couldn’t be drafted, but I decided it was a useless exercise to continue searching, though some small hope still remained.

When the New York Knicks drafted Fields with the 39^th pick, people were shocked. Madison Square Garden was less than enthused. “Who the hell is Landry Fields?” most Knicks’ fans seemed to wonder, along with the majority of experts.

But by the middle of Summer League 2010, people were starting to figure out exactly who Fields was.  He was one of the best players throughout summer league, averaging  15.6 PPG and 4.8 RPG. And the NBA world started noticing. Regarding Fields, David Thorpe believed “When considering talent plus fit, I think this may be the best overall draft selection of all 60 picks.”  Knicks’ fans, who had originally decried the pick as mindless, began to tout Fields as a “steal”. His quick cuts, improved three-pointer, and large frame won many over immediately. Others said the praise for Fields was premature. After all, it was just summer league.

After summer league, Mike D’Antoni told reporters that both Fields and his bro/fellow 2^nd round draft pick Andy Rautins would almost certainly be on the Knicks’ roster when the season began, so little question of making the team existed. The Mike D’Antoni system usually creates a deep rotation, and the Knicks lacked the depth to keep Fields from having a strong likelihood of breaking the rotation. Only where Fields would fit into that rotation was in question.

The shooting guard position was a question for the Knicks as the season neared. Other than Fields, only Toney Douglas and Bill Walker seemed like viable options at shooting guard, but D’Antoni surprised many by choosing Fields to begin the season as the Knicks starting shooting guard.

Fields hit the ground running. In his first game, he acquitted himself well, scoring eleven points and recording four rebounds (a number which would pale in comparison to his average output), but it wasn’t a fluke. He recorded a double-double in the only the second game of his career, and the Fall of Landry Fields was only just beginning. His high rebounding, low-usage skill set became the trademark of his play. Fields could often be seen sprinting past an uninvolved opposing guard and grabbing an offensive rebounding and scoring with a quiet intensity. He made the open three-pointers often offered him at a high rate. He did exactly what he could do well, and he rarely disappointed at providing his strength to a ridiculously fun team. On November 16^th, in a road game against the Denver Nuggets, the talents of Fields culminated to result in a performance that was distinctly and beautifully Fields-ian. He scored 21 points on 10-15 shooting and recorded 17 rebounds, five of them offensive. It was beautiful basketball to watch, no matter who you were. Legions of Knicks’ fans began to love him if they already hadn’t.  Fields finished his first month in the NBA with a 56.2% FG.

Things progressed well for Fields as the season continued. There were games where he struggled. The NBA is not transitioned to easily. It was a faster, stronger, meaner world that Fields entered, and teams began to game plan for the cuts and dashes and hustle of Fields.  As it is for any player, there were games where Fields couldn’t make a shot. On December 6^th against Minnesota, he shot 1-7 from the field, but he provided 10 rebounds. When one part of his game wasn’t working, Fields never allowed the other aspects of his game to suffer. He was a vital cog to what the Amar’e-centered 2010 Knicks team needed. It was a team where Wilson Chandler or Danillo Gallinari (or even Toney Douglas) often had to shoulder the scoring load, and Fields was always there to fill in around them.

The media soon started noticing the play of Fields on a more widespread scale, and Fields’ personality started to reveal itself more and more. He was funny and more outgoing than many expected an unassuming second-round draft pick from Stanford to be. He starred in a hilarious video in which he tried to sell his own jersey at Modell’s. He won two Rookie of the Month awards. The New York media sang. Donnie Walsh, the Knicks’ GM, was praised for his savvy pick.

Fields continued playing well as the trade deadline neared, adjusting to the NBA three-point line and improving his percentage in that area. He was an essential component of a blossoming team, and the Knicks had no interest in losing a young commodity like Fields.The team outlook was thoroughly positive, and retaining Fields seemed essential to that positivity.

Soon, the scope of that outlook would change significantly. Rumors abided (as they had all season) that the Knicks sought to make a blockbuster deal for Carmelo Anthony, and those rumors eventually became reality. The Knicks wanted another superstar to join Amar’e Stoudemire, and dealt Gallinari, Chandler, Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov, for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. ‘Melo and Billups played their first game for the Knicks on February 23^rd , and suddenly the circumstances surrounding Fields were vastly different.

Yes, the Melo-led Knicks were a different team than the previous 2010 Knicks. Removing four rotation players from a team structure and replacing them with a high-volume scorer (one of the best in the league) and an aging, formerly elite point guard is bound to have its effects. The role of every player on the team was forced to change, and that included Landry Fields.

On the surface, the decline in Fields effectiveness after the ‘Melo trade seems slighter than many Knicks’ fans will tell you it was. He averaged 10.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on 51% shooting before the trade, and a line of 9.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 45.3% shooting after the trade. His rebounding suffered considerably more than his scoring did, especially his offensive rebounding (he recorded OREBs at virtually half the rate before the trade). What suffered the most in Fields’ game seemed to be his level of comfort in a Knicks’ offense.

But why did the decrease in Fields’ production happen virtually instantly after the ‘Melo trade occur? Was it the addition of a high-volume scorer who demanded the ball and never seemed to establish good chemistry with Fields? Was it the presence of a new point guard in Billups (who also demanded a higher usage rate than Felton) who was less comfortable in hitting a cutting Fields with a pass? Did Fields finally hit the proverbial rookie wall as defenses began to control his capabilities? Did Fields’ efficiency suffer in a new-look Knicks’ offense that relied on him largely as a spot-up shooter?

The answer lies somewhere in the combination of these questions. The addition of Anthony, an excellent rebounder at the small forward position, certainly may have affected Fields’ ability to function as the central backcourt rebounder. Billups seemed less able or willing to locate Fields as he rushed towards the basket, but Fields maintained virtually the same field-goal attempts per game as he had before the trade. While it’s impossible to definably attribute something to “The Rookie Wall” or the new Knicks’ personnel, Fields was a different player during the last two months of the season (25 games total), culminating in a seven-game stretch in April where Fields shot 43% from the field and averaged 7.6 PPG and 4.3 RPG (on only 24.5 MPG; Fields averaged 31.0 MPG game for the entire season). Fields seemed less confident than earlier during the year, and his minutes decreased as the playoffs neared, though Mike D’Antoni continued to start the now quasi-struggling Fields. The Knicks needed Fields at full strength as they returned to the playoffs for the first time in years and faced the Boston Celtics.

For the rookie Fields, the playoffs only heightened and extended his struggles. His confidence seemed to recede and his movements became forced, and his play seemed to exemplify the underwhelming performance from the Knicks’ team as a whole. Fields averaged 1.8 PPG and 1.3 RPG on 20% shooting and 17.8 MPG. The effort was clearly there from Fields, but he simply couldn’t shake the funk that had imbued his play for the last month. The Knicks were swept before the team, and Fields, could right the ship.

So why is the 2010-2011 season of Landry Fields worth remembering? Sure, it was a success story. Second-round draft pick makes All-Rookie first team, wins two Rookie of the Month awards, and gains a plethora of fans along the way? Great headline. But for a year (and hopefully many more), Fields was a representative of identity and perseverance and struggle in the NBA. His relentless movements may have led to jaw-dropping plays like this, but it also led to creating a player that exemplified the rejuvenation of basketball in New York, and it’s ultimate fall back to Earth. Basketball is forever a game of ebbs and flows that can turn with an instant, and the players that are paid to play the game are no different. And no player represented the maximization of a skill set to the level that Fields did.

But attempting to maximize skill level isn’t always enough in the NBA. Circumstance plays as heavy a role as anything else, and it shaped the rookie year of Fields to a significant degree. The Knicks were the perfect fit for a rookie like Fields when he first began his career. The fast pace and the reliance on three-pointers that made up the team’s offense allowed Fields to expand on the most effective aspects of his game and immediately play a major role on the team. But as the season continued, the double-edged sword of circumstance turned against Fields. He was thrust into a new role as the season came to a climax, and he was never truly able to adjust adequately. As Fields continues to develop as a player, how he responds to the external situation he’s faced with will be vital to determining his future in the NBA. Circumstance waits for no one.

He played to his strengths always, but even they dissipated for stretches because of indeterminable factors. We often can’t control our surroundings as people. We can’t change the course of others to suit ours as a whim. The best we can do is capitalize on our traits as best we can when the opportunity arises, and Landry Fields often represented the effort within all of us that can shine when placed in the right situation. My only hope is that we’ll be able to see him (and the rest of the NBA) continue to do so very soon.

James Johnson: Basketball Player, Kick-Boxer, and Enigma

The author of this James Johnson profile is Brian Schroeder. Brian contributes to Ridiculous Upside and maintains his own personal blog, Tyrus Thomas Forever. You can also find him on Twitter as @Cosmis and at various other places on the Internet. His interests inside basketball (aside from James Johnson) include Reggie Williams being exciting, Joakim Noah being crazy, and Tyrus Thomas being awesome. His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls, for some reason.

James Johnson was born on February 20, 1987, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He attended East Cheyenne High and eventually Wake Forest University on a basketball scholarship. He was born to a family of kick boxers, and holds both a black belt in the sport and an undefeated 20-0 mark.

He is, at his essence, what LeBron James would be if you replaced his mind with the mind of an overly excitable puppy. And then taught that puppy how to be a kick boxer. The Bulls, perhaps seeing the rabid karate puppy waiting to be freed that I do, drafted Johnson 16^th overall in the 2009 Draft, directly ahead of a string of approximately 347 point guards.

Soon afterwards, with the 22^nd pick, they selected Taj Gibson, resulting in a draft that left most Bulls fans (including yours truly) disappointed. Most Bulls fans had been expected to end up with some combination of Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, and DeJuan Blair, an arrangement that, in retrospect, I’m happy didn’t come to fruition. My first real exposure to JJ’s career as a Bull came with his awesome set of rookie photographs, best exhibited here and here.

2009-2010

In only his second game as a Bull, a preseason outing in London against the Jazz on October 7, 2009, Johnson buried a game winning buzzer beater. He continued to show a high level of activity and defensive effort all throughout the 09-10 preseason, playing well enough that most Bulls fans considered him a better prospect than Taj Gibson, who was still in the “if this guy isn’t horrible, I’ll be satisfied” phase of his Bulls career.

Johnson’s playing time, while never steady, improved at a rate consistent with the improvement in his game, a pleasing outcome for a coach such as Vinny Del Negro, who has a reputation for quite the opposite (just ask Tyrus Thomas). During the Bulls’ ten game losing streak (which was played without the services of Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and, for a few games, Derrick Rose), James Johnson was thrust into the starting role, and was, along with Acie Law, the “best” player on the team. This culminated in a 20 point, 6 rebound performance in a loss against Miami. He ended the season posting averages of 3.9/2.0/0.7/0.3/0.7, in 11.6 minutes per game, with a 20.5% turnover rate and .532 TS%. Not blowing anyone’s mind (to put it lightly), but there were signs of promise. Johnson briefly reached national “prominence” when LeBron James dunked on him during Game of the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Fun times, indeed.

2010-2011 (Bulls)

The Bulls’ addition of touted defensive mastermind Tom Thibodeau seemed to be a good omen for a fast, active, relentless young defender like Johnson, who seemed like a safe bet to blossom under Thibs tutelage. In early August 2010, stories surfaced of Johnson dropping from his recorded 2009 weight of 245 pounds down to around 225, with the expressed intent of defending at least three positions in Thibodeau’s new defensive system. This promise seemed to be fulfilled on October 30, 2010, the Bulls’ second game of the regular season, when Johnson came off the bench in the 4^thquarter and helped key a 34-9 quarter and a Bulls win with his activity and defensive intensity. He finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 3 fouls, only one turnover in almost 19 minutes, by far his most effective game as a Bull. For some reason, after this game, Thibodeau seemed to lose faith in Johnson, playing him less and less as the season went on.

2010-2011 (Energy)

Surely some of this can be attributed to early season rotations being trimmed down, but Johnson seemed to have earned at least some consistent playing time, especially when Luol Deng was playing the entirety of the fourth quarter in 20 point victories. This was nearly infuriating to me, so you can imagine how James himself felt about it, and on January 27^th, 2011, he was sent to the Iowa Energy, Chicago’s D-League affiliate (apparently at his own request). During his stint, he showed off all of his varied strengths and weaknesses, averaging 19.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1 steal, 2.5 blocks and 3 turnovers a game in eight contests, all of them starts. The fact that James Johnson seemed to be too fast, strong and big for forwards in the D-League, a league known for its faster tempo and athletic forwards (sup, Latavious Williams) bodes well for his future as a possible defensive stopper in the NBA. All he needed was a place to get some burn, and a coach willing to give it to him.

2010-2011 (Raptors)

On February 22, 2011, James Johnson was traded to the Toronto Raptors for a first round pick, one the team received in the Chris Bosh sign and trade with the Miami Heat. He was immediately inserted into the starting lineup by Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano, a position Johnson would hold for the remaining 25 games of the regular season. His first game, coincidentally, came against his former team, a Raptors victory in which he scored 9 points and added 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in nearly 27 minutes of play. Over the course of the rest of the season, Johnson endeared himself to Raptors fans with his chicken-minus head level of activity, and managed to turn in some fairly decent performances, including a Raptors career-high 18 point, 6 rebound, 6 assist, 3 steal game against New Jersey on April 10, 2011.

The Future?

One of the few plausible benefits of the NBA Lockout is the possibility of James returning to his kick boxing career in the downtime, a possibility he’s already mentioned as an alternative to his NBA career. Johnson’s future with the Raptors, while seemingly solid for next season (whenever that is), is still very much in doubt. It remains to be seen what new Raptors coach Dwane Casey (James’ fourth coach in the NBA) has in store for the Ninja Raptor, but rest assured, it will be awesome (this story from March should explain it nicely).

Photo from nikname via Flickr

Every year in the NBA, we have 1-2 teams per conference that surprise us and find their way into the playoffs, usually delighting all spectators on the way. Last season, that team out West was the wonderful throwback squad built inMemphis(throwback in the offense-from-the-post-out, play-hard-on-defense angle), while out East we saw the athletic defensive Sixers and the Indiana Pacers, who somehow managed to be new and exciting without actually being new and exciting.

Not that the Pacers weren’t enjoyable – since Jim O’Brien was mercifully fired and Frank Vogel took over, the Pacers engaged in a youthful, almost naïve brand of basketball that was endearing to watch. But this was still a 37 win team that hung its hat on being slightly better than average defensively, without any particularly marketable star or future prospect (though I’m a major Paul George believer). New? Darren Collison wasn’t on the roster a year earlier, I guess, and the Tyler Hansbrough-Josh McRoberts combo was never before used as the main force behind one’s power forward rotation, but that hardly gives you the same first-time chills as recent inaugural playoff squads like the Fear the Deer Bucks, or the Paul-West-Chandler Hornets, or the We Believe Warriors.

And yet, there the Pacers were, facing the best team in the NBA in the regular season with no fear in their eyes (except during the final 4 minutes of every single game), always primed to grab the win, only done in by an unfortunate combination of playing against Derrick Rose and not being able to do anything right with the game on the line.

Of course, resting on the laurels of your encouraging playoff series as an 8^th seed only works if you have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Luckily, there seems to be an explicit intent to do no resting on any laurels of any kind.

It started on draft night, as Indy swooped in with their 15^th pick to acquire San Antonio’s George Hill, a player who somehow manages to promise much and yet doesn’t project to improve much. Hill’s 2010-2011 campaign was an unremarkable one – he was a very good 3^rd  guard, but that’s what he was in 2009-2010 as well, and he did it with the same smack-dab average PER – but you don’t become Gregg Popovich’s favorite player just because you have beautiful eyes. There something there, in George Hill. The Pop system was always one that put its emphasis on the team, on synergy, on the different ways to complement the Duncan-Ginobili-Parker trifecta, on maximizing its role players’ abilities as role players and not necessarily as more than that, even if that role player emerges as the clear 4th best player on the team.

This isn’t to say that Hill is a star in the making, the first 3 years of his career wasted by Pop’s petulant insistence that he take a secondary seat to 3 perennial all-stars. Even the most optimistic views must admit that at age 25, while Hill still has quite the future ahead of him, he is unlikely to dramatically alter his abilities overnight. But shooting guard has been a sore spot since Stephen Jackson was sent as far away as possible, a problem that remained unsolved when the O.J. Mayo for McRoberts trade fell through last February. Hill is similar if not better than Mayo, can play both guard spots at an above average level, and given the Brandon Rush/Mike Dunleavy Jr. types that acted as Indiana off guards recently, will be gladly taken.

So George Hill is here. However, shooting guard was hardly the only thing needed for this roster to take the next step, and nobody knows this better than the team’s best player, Danny Granger:

I think with what’s on the market at power forward, we have the opportunity to go get one of them. David West, Nene and Carl Landry are available. There are some good power forwards out there. I think we need to be deeper at that position.

via Q&A: Pacers’ Danny Granger frustrated with NBA lockout | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com.

Granger knows what he’s talking about – Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts are both fun but if you’re comfortable with them as your entire rotation you’re probably on the other team’s payroll – but even if we ignore the huge question mark that is whatever the new CBA is, Larry Bird’s ability to draw in a top notch 4 is sketchy at best. Nene would indeed be the pipe dream, but he’ll probably draw close to a max contract to go with either the hometown Nuggets or a title contender signing the dotted line. David West is a near all-star, but is also 31 years old, coming off a gruesome knee injury, and will ask for more money than what he’s worth at this point.

Landry may be the best fit by default – his 2009-2010 Houston stint showed that he’s good enough in the post to anchor an offense for stretches (of course, his Sacramento stint completely discredited this line of thinking, but we’re glass half full, right?), something the Pacers desperately need – but he’s a poor rebounder and a bad defender, which could create a problem next to the 15% rebound rate Roy Hibbert. And who else is out there? Kris Humphries? Kenyon Martin? Do we have nothing better to waste our time with?

This is the problem with young teams stocked up on good but not great assets. The ideal line of thinking is indeed the OKC one – get your studs, let them develop, tweak where necessary and/or possible – but not all studs are all world-class players. I love Hibbert, I love Collison, I love Hill and I love George, but how many all-star appearances do we expect among them? Teams with 5 above average starters rarely get it done, and free agency is too fickle a strategy to go all in with, unless you have Pat Riley presiding over the process. It’s on these guys to amount to more than just above average.

Odds are, once this lockout nonsense finally dies out, Danny Granger gets his wish in the form of some overpaid mid-level-esque power forward. But unless a fantastic opportunity arrives via trade, the way out of mediocrity and back to the cream of the crop likely consists mostly of internal improvement. With the potential onIndiana’s roster, that’s not necessarily a bad situation to have, but magic fixes won’t cut it. Danny Granger probably knows this too.

Photo from Christiaan Briggs via Flickr

As you’ve probably noticed, there hasn’t been a whole lot of basketball lately. August is usually that time of year when the offseason slows down, general managers take a breath, and the internet turns its focus to one or two painfully uninteresting stories that have somehow remained unresolved (usually a restricted free agent who may or may not sign for his qualifying offer, and something to do with Ramon Sessions).

But with the lockout taking away our beloved July frenzy, basketball in all its shapes and forms has been reduced to various Youtube videos, filmed in suspicious venues and of varying quality, in which NBA athletes play the game with the simpletons and the peasants. Heroes descending upon Pro-Am leagues and playgrounds, treating us to glimpses of their talent that were presumed to be locked away behind fiscal calamities.

Brandon Jennings is one of many NBA players now blessed with too much spare time, and between stints at his Under Armour internship, he too has taken to the amateur tour, doing foolish Brandon Jennings things.

Oh, Brandon, you devil. That’s not cool. That poor fellow is a human being, with friends and a family, who will now all laugh at him forever. You can’t just do that. I hope you don’t appear in another video doing something very similar mere days after that.

Yikes.

This is probably the stage where grumpy scribes who miss the good ole days of Bob Cousy and the early 70s Knicks will begin lamenting just how far basketball has slipped, how different this is from the times when basketball was played the right way, when 10 gentlemen alternated missed 20 footers taken at a frenetic pace, not this current incarnation of selfishness and money-making, and what good is it to humiliate a fellow sportsman when you can’t even convert the layup, and grumpidy grumpo grump grump.

Well, phooey to those. Because Brandon Jennings is what makes this game beautiful.

Throughout NBA history, there have been plenty of promising point guards who have stagnated during their second year. Some of them broke through in year 3, some of them didn’t. Which group Brandon Jennings will belong to is still an unknown at this point. But the reason we were excited about him in the first place (and still are), the reason we’re not just dismissing this kid as yet another sub-40% shooter in a league where such a breed has no place, is because of that creativity, that different way in which the mind grasps reality, that Brandon displays during both these Pro-Am stunts and in select glimpses during his Milwaukee tenure. Not the frustrating conformity of yet another diminutive point guard struggling at the rim against giants and settling for the easy-way-out 3 pointer, but the unique blend of speed and absolute control that leads to bending time and space in a way that introduces a round object to another round object which just happens to be a dude’s head.

And if Brandon is to continue the ascension promised during that tantalizing rookie year, and not the stagnation displayed in the injury riddled campaign that followed, it is this special knack for the magnificent that will lead him there. In today’s golden era of floor generals, there are many point guards who can both score and find teammates, many Davids rising above the Goliaths, but few with just that amount of oomph and oh-oh-oh-aaaah and other words that are now annoying my spellcheck but whose meanings you understand better than I can verbalize.

So thrive on, Brandon Jennings. Dribble between and around and over stuff as much as you please. We won’t complain when it results in inevitable turnovers, or missed off-balance jumpers that you have no business taking, or even in a – gasp – pass to Drew Gooden. Because we know what the eventual pay off will be. That there will come a point when these herky-jerky moves will no longer be just eye candy, but will propel you to stardom. That they will finally help you drive to the basket whenever you please, or free yourself for open jumpers that you will some day – you will, I know you will – learn how to make, or because that flashy pass will find a streaking (and healthy!) Andrew Bogut for a dunk, and the foul.

Oh, and keep the eye candy too. That stuff is awesome.

Most importantly, don’t slump your shoulders. Don’t give up and conform to point guard normalities that were created as an antithesis to that showman’s mentality that can be so neatly integrated in your game. If we wanted to see another point guard who can’t shoot but is solid in an unspectacular manner, we have enough Eric Snow tapes to last a lifetime. We want something else.

Photo from aperturelfp via Flickr

Somewhere during last season, I had enough. The pain became unbearable, the sleepless nights no longer a fair price to pay for so little reward. I decided to give up on Terrence Williams.

It was a decision that was brewing in my mind for quite a while, and yet one with which I was never truly at peace. Williams theoretically possessed everything anybody should enjoy watching in a player. A combination of size and passing ability that is usually reserved either for Hall of Famers or epic flameouts, nothing in between. Rare athleticism overflowing from every pore. Perhaps even more impressively, this was not the Saer Sene type of athleticism, the one flanked by a seeming inability to use it. Williams always seemed comfortable using his considerable gifts to get anywhere he wants on the court in a graceful manner. Of course, getting there while maintaining possession of the basketball was a far rarer occasion, but that should come with time, said my giddy brain, rendered nearly useless by the never ending stream of could-be.

Of course, it took less than two NBA calendars for Terrence to push the boundaries of said projected amount of time from a few seasons to almost infinite proportions. Every mind-blowing stat line from those last few weeks of that awkward rookie season on a 70 loss team, every pass, every drive, every dunk contest campaign – everything was lost in a whirlwind of low basketball IQ and an inability to learn. A projected key role on the 2010-2011 Nets became yet another battle between Avery Johnson and a player whose education just wasn’t easy enough, the prospect of learning under an offensive mastermind in Rick Adelman became a disaster hidden at the end of the bench.

What was once a promising sophomore season was shredded to pieces by a refusal to make any progress. The impressive assist rate remained, but the turnovers ran so high that allowing Terrence to handle the ball became a near death sentence for an offense. The already horrendous shooting marks continued to drop into the dark depths of clunkerdom. Things were so bad that only 290 total minutes over the span of 21 games were registered in Terrence Williams’s yearly stat sheet, and with the way he preformed, one would find it difficult to blame any single coach. Potential, it seemed, had just failed.

With the lockout in full bloom, what little was left was supposed to fizzle away into the darkness. After all, players who sport motivational and/or mental issues rarely use long layoffs without pay to change their fortunes for the better.

Then again…

I mean, this is nothing. Gerald Green knew how to dunk during fast breaks too. And this is a random summer league game in a summer which saw virtually every NBA player take to such venues with half-joking scoring implosions. For every Kevin Durant Rucker Park legend we have a John Lucas III scoring 60 somewhere. This is as important as yet another report of sources close to Kobe Bryant saying that he’s maybe kinda considering sending his agent’s secretary to pretend to bump into a Besiktas official while just shopping in an Istanbul supermarket because “it may be really far from home and coincidentally really close to your home, but honestly, I always shop here, they have great organic vegetables!”.

But then again… did you see how high he jumped?! Did you see the shirt-ripping swag (if you ignore the walk of shame that concluded in putting it back on)? And it was against Derrick Caracter! That’s an NBA player! Don’t tell me that nonsense about how Derrick Caracter is awful, he has an NBA contract, he’s an NBA player, and Terrence Williams destroyed him!

I know what you’re saying. My head is saying it too. Terrence Williams just won’t happen. Too messed up, too stubborn, too many players ahead of him in this league who can claim a work ethic and basic understanding of basketball to go with perhaps slightly inferior talents. But this is what a lockout does to us. As we sit in our dark, basketball-less rooms and reminisce about that time we saw Joel Anthony airball a dunk, we cling to our old dreams and hopes, somehow reminding ourselves that the clearly impossible once seemed possible and might be such yet again. And no lost dream was quite as bright as the one of Terrence Williams, after he learned to take care of the ball and shoot and play defense and fit within the scheme of an actual basketball team. True, that sentence has more conditionals than your ideal player description, but the promise behind them is almost unparalleled.

Do I believe in Terrence Williams again? No. Part of me wants to, but I’m not sure anybody still does or still can. But a random pick-up game described by the immortal Trey Kerby as “possibly the most hilarious basketball game that has ever been played” reminded me of the hope that once was, and that still lies there, somehow. At the very least, that’s something Terrence Williams has given us.