Photo by Jonathan_W on Flickr

Jason Terry really wants DeShawn Stevenson back in Dallas:

“What he did in this organization for us, you can’t put a price on it. Because me, watching the playoff series, not only the championship, but the first, second, third rounds, he defended his butt off and he set the tempo for us,” Terry said. “That kind of toughness you can’t buy. It has to be in you. He’s one of the few guys in this league that has that and it’s special, it’s unique and I believe it’s at premium. And, I think it’s something that we have to have on our team going forward.

Via Jet makes strong plea for DeShawn Stevenson, 9/21/11

It’s not the first time we’ve heard that JET wants Stevenson back (via Rob Mahoney), but it’s notable that he feels so strongly about it. If you showed me that quote out of context, I’d guess that Terry was talking about Tyson Chandler, not the guy I called a “trash-talking Keith Bogans” on a list of subpar rotation players. Despite earlier indications that he and the Mavs both want him to return, I’d thought he was a superfluous piece — if Rodrigue Beaubois, Corey Brewer, and the trophy-tatted Dominique Jones make newcomer Rudy Fernandez seem somewhat expendable, then certainly Stevenson would be too. Terry and Mahoney have made me reconsider this position.

Stevenson isn’t an ideal choice, but he is (1) an incredibly solid perimeter defender who is still somehow underrated despite his efforts on the league’s biggest stage against its biggest stars, (2) already familiar with Dallas’ system on both ends of the floor, and (3) likely to come at a reasonable price.

Via Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, 8/24/11

The Mavs’ championship run was predicated on Rick Carlisle and his staff getting the absolute most out of their players. They had upper-tier talent on the roster, but there’s a reason the Mavs were never considered a favorite. Carlisle and defensive specialist Dwane Casey discovered a formula that had the team functioning as much more than the sum of its parts, meaning that it will be incredibly tough for teams to copy them and a slight shift in personnel risks a larger-than-expected effect. Stevenson is not much more than league-average player, but his absence could change Dallas’s defensive identity. With Casey up in Toronto, it would be unwise to lose any of the pieces he deployed so expertly.

Photo by manufolio via Flickr

Something is going to have to give here, either via trade or some positional shift. This is why the Jazz experimented toward the end of last season with Millsap at small forward in an ultra-big lineup that included both Jefferson and Favors. Millsap is a good athlete with smart feet, capable of working off the dribble occasionally and finishing drives at the rim with both hands. But he’s 6-foot-8, weighs 250 pounds and just doesn’t seem built to chase small forwards around the perimeter. In a league getting smaller, quicker and more three-happy, is playing Millsap at small forward really workable?

via The Point Forward » Posts Positional Quandary: Can Millsap play SF? «.

While it may take two to tango (or cha-cha, or whatever dance they force you into doing on some reality television show), a revolution – with apologies to John Lennon – clearly takes at least ten.

Most fans, I’d venture, dream about using the disparate pieces on their roster in unique ways that challenge the status quo and opposing defenses. Heck, I’ve been a proponent of a team getting its best five players on the court as often as possible, regardless of (what I considered) meaningless positional designations. That’s how you’ll win, baby! It’s the NBA Moneyball – if you’ve got five shooters, get them on the court. Five Shaqs? …well, I’m not going to mention Mr. O’Neal and court right now (you know why), but that would be terrifying! Bynum, Odom, and Gasol all on the floor at the same time for the Lakers? The Lakers are the bizarro Marie Antoinette of the NBA – no, you can’t eat cake, because you’ll never get your hands on this precious basketball*! Aldridge and Crash anchoring the front line in Portland? Sounds like a dream for your team and a nightmare for the opposition – and don’t you dare distract me with facts! Sure, going big largely creates spacing issues on the offensive end. Going small leaves a team without a low-post threat and susceptible on the defensive end, particularly when it comes to rebounding. It’s much simpler (and more entertaining), though, to ignore that reality and focus on the fantasy.

*Even the bizarro Marie Antoinette makes no sense whatsoever. Apparently basketballs are dessert. The lockout-French Revolution doesn’t owe you an explanation.

Unfortunately for the dreamers – and myself – every roster action has a ripple effect across the court. One does not simply walk into Mordor, and one does not simply choose to ignore positional designations without consequence. It’s great to have a mismatch on offense, but what happens when you get down to the other end of the court? How do you deal with a team whose normalcy and traditional lineup is diametrically opposed to your revolution for great basketball justice?

Most notably, those teams that consider going big face the challenge of defending opposing small forwards, as Mr. Lowe is quick to point out in his “Positional Quandary” series. Having a 6’8″, 250-pound monster at small forward leaves a team susceptible to opposing 3s running rampant around screens and the perimeter – unless, of course, you’re the Miami Heat and said monster is capable of defending every position on the court. (Cheaters.) Mr. Lowe does a fantastic job of detailing the positive and the negative of these various thrusts into the positional breach, and I highly recommend you check out his take on the various rotation options the Lakers, Jazz, and Blazers face for the upcoming season.

You say you want a revolution? We’d all love to change the world, but you’d better make sure you know what you’re getting into before you jettison every label. Sometimes they’re there for a reason – particularly when a person (or a team) has to get defensive.

Basketball-Reference.com recently added a section allowing users to view the entire trading history of every team in the NBA, by partner. This series will run down each team’s trading record, ranking the best and worst deals in all 30 franchises’ histories and pulling out anything else I find interesting along the way. I may switch up the order, but for now I’m going alphabetically, which means the Atlanta Hawks are first up.

The Hawks’ track record of trades leaves a lot to be desired. The five trades I’ve selected as their most embarrassing are a diverse array of past and future Hall of Famers, while most of their “good” ones are of the “Well, this draft pick turned out to be pretty good” variety (Josh Smith) or involved giving up a significant asset (the Rondo pick in the Joe Johnson deal).

(Note: these trades are listed chronologically and are not meant to be ranked for superiority, although on both lists the earliest one is the clear winner.)

(more…)

With Shaq announcing his retirement in June, the NBA lost not only one of its greatest players, but greatest comedians, jokesters and personalities. Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms have allowed players to bond with fans, showing them a different side of the giants that take the court for 82+ games. We’ve learned who’s normal, who’s simple-minded and who’s a little off beat. This begs the question, who is the funniest player in the NBA?

Is it Dwight Howard, who tries so hard to mimic Shaq and his Superman schtick? What about Kevin Love or Blake Griffin, the two young guns who know how to use social media to their advantage? Or how about Ron Artest, who seems crazy enough to do just about anything? Well those guys have their moments, but when it comes down to it, the NBA’s funniest player is … Steve Nash.

Whether it’s post-game interviews, commercials for Toyota or Vitamin Water, being a correspondent at the World Cup, promoting himself for the All-Star Game, playing FIFA or making movies with Baron Davis, Nash has it all covered. HP’s very own Matt Moore originally conceived the idea of debating the NBA’s funniest player when he hinted at Tim Duncan. I beg to differ, calling Nash the funniest player in the game. I’ll let Nash’s top-10 funniest videos/commercials/etc. do the talking.

(Here’s his latest video and the original subject of Matt’s piece):

Without further ado, here are Nash’s top-10 funniest videos/commercials:

10. Steve Nash Is Awesome-ly bad

9. Is That A New York Accent?

8. I Challenge You To A Duel In My Honor!

7. I Take Competition Very Seriously

6. Steve vs. Landon

5. Mr. Infomercial 

4. The Most Ridiculous Man In The World

3. Nash and B.Diddy … Step Brothers?

2. Never Put Phoenix Next To L.A.!

1. I’m Just Like You, But Ten Times Better

Extra credit: How many other NBA players can say they got a lap dance from Nicki Minaj and kept their composure? Only CP3.

Photo from fanbase.com

Indeed, individual accolades were about the only glory associated with the SuperSonics during their first seven seasons, as the team finished with a winning record only once. Rule continued to be a scoring force, tallying 49 points on November 15, 1969, to set a then-team record for points in a game. He was named an All-Star for the 1969-1970 season.

Via “Seattle SuperSonics — Part 1″ by Dan Johnson

Years Active: 1968 – 1975

Career Stats: 17.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.3 apg, 46.1% FG, 68.6% FT

Accolades: All-Rookie 1st Team (1968), All-Star (1970)

He held the Sonics rookie-record for ppg until Kevin Durant showed up just a few seasons ago. He set a Sonics franchise record with 49 points in a single game in 1971. His 47 points in a game as a rookie is still the highest for a Sonics (or Thunder) rookie. He could knock down the mid-range jumper. He was methodical on the boards. A handful downlow on offense.

But I’ll be honest with you. I’ve only seen a grand total of maybe 10 minutes of Bob Rule on the basketball court all from this YouTube video of a 1967 Christmas Eve game between the San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. Everything I know of him has been distilled from the written word. There’s no video of him easily accessible. The photograph leading this story was the lone one I could find that had Rule with a basketball in hand. Even the Seattle Sonics had trouble finding Rule’s whereabouts when they wanted him to participate in team functions after his retirement. It’s as if Rule never existed.

(more…)

Photo by DJ Bass via Flicker

“Chris Mullin, a member of the NBA’s 2011 Hall of Fame class, is set to have his #17 jersey retired by the Golden State Warriors.

The NBA great, known for his sharp-shooting, will have his number retired in a ceremony on January 20th during the Warriors’ home game against the Indiana Pacers.”

Via “NBA Great Chris Mullin To Have Number Retired By Golden State Warriors” by Randall Stevens

Great news from the Bay Area! Hopefully, the season will have started by then for Mullin to have one more moment of glory. However, there are  many players at the moment who should be in Mullin’s holding pattern predicament of hoping the lockout ends in time for a jersey retirement ceremony. Some of these players, frankly, have no shot because they’ve either been retired for so long that the generation that grew up admiring their play are themselves all retired. Then there’s the also the problem of franchises having pulled up stakes and refusing to acknowledge their past heroes in other locales.

Just within the Warriors franchise there’s the twin examples of Joe Fulks and Paul Arizin. Both are Hall of Famers who revolutionized the game, but did so during the 1940s and 1950s when the Warriors were in Philadelphia. Their particular stories will have to wait for another day. However, I’ve selected 5 primetime candidates for jersey retirement from the last 35 years who have varying degrees of hope but all are universally qualified, in my opinion to have their numbers hanging from their respective rafters.

Mark Aguirre – #24 Dallas Mavericks

It’s been said many times, but in pretty much the same way: the 1980s was a bonanza for scoring forwards. One of the most prolific was the barrel-chested Aguirre. Spending 7+ seasons with the Mavericks he was the dynamo that spurred the franchise from expansion push over to perennial playoff participant culminating in the 1988 Western Conference Finals where Dallas lost in 7 games to the Lakers. Upon leaving the Mavs in a trade to Detroit in 1989, Aguirre was the all-time leading scorer in franchise history and is still 3^rd with 13,930 points behind running mate Rolando Blackman and Dirk Nowitzki.

Aguirre is however still the all-time leader in points per game at 24.6, ahead of Dirk’s 23. He’s also in the Mavs Top 10 in games (7^th), minutes (6^th), FG% (7^th), rebounds (6^th), assists (9^th), and steals (8^th).

Usurpers to the number: Jim Jackson, Hubert Davis, and Pavel Podkolzin

Derek Harper – #12 Dallas Mavericks

Photo via Hardwood Hype

Initially splitting backcourt duties with Brad Davis (who in the big scheme of things was slightly worse but still has his number retired by Dallas), Derek Harper eventually became the lead PG general for those 80s Mavericks that were one tough cookie every season. In his 10+ seasons in Dallas, Harper just like Aguirre managed to get all over the Mavericks leader board. He’s #1 in assists and steals by a mile, is 3^rd in games and minutes played and 4^th in points scored. In addition, Harper was one tough son of a gun on defense. There’s a reason Pat Riley traded for him to bolster the Knicks in the mid-90s.

Usurpers to the number: none. De facto retirement mayhaps?

Jeff Mullins – #23 Golden State Warriors

Via NBA.com

A useful secondary scorer, SG/SF Mullins stepped to forefront when Warriors star Rick Barry bolted for the ABA in the late 60s. 4x averaging 20+ points and a 3x all-star Mullins along with Nate Thurmond kept the Warriors afloat and competitive until Barry regained his senses and rejoined the team for the 1973 season. By the time Golden State won the title in 1975, Mullins was on his last legs, but they had a lot of good miles on them after 10 seasons of play for the Warriors. Mullins is top ten in games (3^rd), minutes played (5^th), points (6^th) and assists (5^th). Truly a forgotten Warrior.

Usurpers to the number: Mitch Richmond, Scott Burrell, Tim Legler, Jason Richardson, CJ Watson, Al Thornton

Nick Anderson – #25 Orlando Magic

Via Basketball Wives

His Magic career will forever be reduced to four missed free throws and that’s a shame. Surely, that’s the most memorable moment (in no small part because Orlando fans were just merciless in its aftermath) but it shouldn’t obscure the fact that the Magic wouldn’t have been in a situation for Nick to choke without Nick in the first place. He was the franchise’s first draft pick ever in 1989. Initially a 6^th man over his first two years, Nick blossomed into a solid scorer and threat from downtown with back-to-back 19.9 ppg campaigns in 1992 and 1993. With the arrival of Shaq and later Penny Hardaway, Anderson’s offensive role reduced but he stepped up his defensive game becoming the Magic’s best perimeter defender on their way to the 1995 Finals. He was the last of the original Magic and spent 10 years with the franchise.

He’s the all-time leader in points, steals, games, minutes, FGs made, and FGs attempted. He’s also 5^th in blocks and assists, 3^rd in rebounds, and 2^nd in 3-pointers made.

Usurpers to the number: Chris Gatling and Chris Duhon

Charles Oakley – #34 New York Knicks

Saving the best for the last. Oakley gave the Knicks the 10 most bad ass years from any player over the last 25 years. A muscular force of intimidation and rebounding, Oakley was the heart and soul of the Knicks teams that battled the Bulls and Pacers for Eastern Conference supremacy. That fearless demeanor on the court translates off it as well for Oakley and it may very well be preventing his jersey retirement. He’s been an unabashed critic of Knicks owner James Dolan for years. But if he had to kiss James’s boots for the ceremony, I say let the injustice continue.

Oak  is currently 6^th in games played, 3^rd in minutes and rebounds and 2^nd in steals. And of course 1^st in eraser flat tops.

Photo by photon_de via Flickr

Javie, rated as one of the league’s top officials during the past 15 years, is retiring because of an arthritic right knee… The injury forced him to miss the end of the 2009-2010 season, but he returned last fall with the hope of making it to the 25-year mark as an NBA referee.

…

Bob Delaney, who also reached the 25-year milestone last season, is retiring as well, a decision he announced at the start of last season.

Via “Steve Javie retiring as NBA referee” by Ric Bucher

As much as complaints are lodged against NBA refs, the men and woman who regulate the hardwood jungle really do a good job, all things considered. The pace and flow of NBA games is insanely fast. What at first glance may appear to be a charge, flop or tipped ball off one man’s fingertips often turns out to be incorrect and we quickly rail against the ref’s blind eye. Of course, we come to this conclusion many times only after having seen a replay of the controversial call umpteen times on TV.

Referees don’t have that luxury. It’s quick as a flash and until recently, they had no recourse to replay. Something happens and in a split second the ref must judge who’s the offender and assess the penalty. Anything that a human is asked to judge in snapshot fashion is bound to be rife with errors.

With that in mind, 50 combined years of NBA refereeing are turning in their whistles. Bob DeLaney and Steve Javie are calling it quits after a quarter-century a piece of maintaining law & order on the mean parquets of the NBA. And they were two of the best. Javie’s only true fault was that he was kind of quick to shoot first and ask questions later (a.k.a. give out technicals). For Bob DeLany there was no such fault, maybe because he knew what real irritation was from his law enforcement days. To ply a trade so well for 25 years is a noble accomplishment and a lot has changed in those 25 years…

When these two men entered the NBA, Larry Bird was in the midst of winning three straight MVP awards. Patrick Ewing was Rookie of the Year. The previous year’s ROY, Michael Jordan, was sidelined most of the year with a foot injury, but came back in time for the playoffs to hang 63 points on Bird’s Celtics. The Heat, Magic, Timberwolves, Raptors, Grizzlies, Hornets and Bobcats were but shimmers on the horizon.

The Kings had just moved from Kansas City to Sacramento. Washington’s basketball team was still speeding up the court as the Bullets. Stockton and Malone were just beginning their pick and roll machine. But it was another promising dynamic duo, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson, that captured the NBA’s attention as they dethroned the L.A. Lakers in the Western Conference.

Elsewhere, the first PC virus was unleashed. The Mir Space Station was launched beginning its reign of space debris terror. Apartheid was still in South Africa and the USSR spanned Eurasia, although both would not be around for much longer. Lady Gaga, Rafa Nadal and Gerald Green were welcomed into the world. Georgia O’Keefe, Perry Ellis, and Hank Greenberg all departed it.

And so the big wheel keeps on turning. Javie and DeLaney are leaving. Two new referees will step in to the void. However, they will merely replace the role not the unique spirit in how it was handled. If you haven’t do so before, properly consider the work that these men  have done. Complain less about errant calls, or at least understand that when you screw up at least thousands at minimum and million at most aren’t watching. Send them a fruit basket. Or send them a cupcake. Most of all, just appreciate.

I don’t expect you to be a fan of Ron Artest/Metta World Peace if you’re from Indianapolis. The Malice at the Palace  was awful for everyone who cares about the NBA and, if you’re a Pacers fan, it turned your championship contender into an average team. The roster moves that followed mired them in several more years of mediocrity from which the team is still trying to escape. Apologizing to the organization after winning a title was awesome, but it did not undo the damage that was done that night in Detroit. This WISH story on his name change bugged me, though. From the above video:

His publicist says, “The new first name, Metta, in the Buddhist tradition means loving, kindness, and friendliness toward others,” which we failed to see in Detroit a few years ago.

I know it’s just a 50-second item on the show’s rundown, but it annoys me when people act as if the brawl in Detroit was the only thing that, uh, World Peace has done in his lifetime. To get my biases out of the way, I’ll admit I’m a fan of the guy and I’ve got this print on my wall. The whole thing seems in poor taste, though — the story opened with, “Ron Artest is no more… sort of,” which caused the second anchor to laugh. It closed with joking about him wearing a pageant sash. I’m not going to get on my high horse and demand that the people of Indiana forgive him, but he deserves more respect than this, no? He’s a J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award winner, dammit.

Photo courtesy of therapup.net

Artest told Yahoo! Sports he plans to wear No. 70 next season, but the NBA has rules that prevent players from switching their uniform number from year to year. The deadline for a player to change his number is in early March to have it go into effect for the next season and once a number is changed, it has to be worn for five seasons with that team before a player is allowed to change it (unless he is traded to a new team or leaves as a free agent).

Artest wore No. 37 after signing on as a free agent with the Lakers in 2009-10 and did switch to No. 15 last season. It’s not clear what he had to do to accomplish that.

The uniform rule does not come with any stipulations for a name change, however.

If there is a request or circumstance that calls for a number change within the five-year period is approved, it may come with a cost of some kind, according to a league source.

via Los Angeles Lakers’ Ron Artest’s name now officially Metta World Peace – ESPN Los Angeles.

Look, I can’t say I care too much that Ron Artest is changing his name to Metta World Peace. As amusing as it’ll be to see “World Peace” on the back of a dude’s jersey during actual NBA games, I probably won’t start calling him that. Unlike Chad Johnson, who introduced the “Ocho Cinco” nickname informally a couple of years before making it official, Artest is expecting the entire sports world to start calling him by a new, esoteric name over a decade into a career that hasn’t exactly been low-profile.

No, what interested me most from Dave McMenamin’s report on Artest’s name change was the explanation of the process for jersey-number changes, something I’ve always wondered about and been fascinated by. Why does the NBA make players wear the same number for five years? Is it just so they don’t have to print new jerseys to sell? Major League Baseball doesn’t seem to have any rules about this whatsoever. When the Giants acquired Carlos Beltran at this year’s trading deadline, manager Bruce Bochy switched his number from 15 to 16 so that his new power hitter could keep the number he had worn for six years with the Mets. They made the decision at Beltran’s introductory press conference, and both his and Bochy’s new uniforms were ready for the game that night. Considering the NBA’s willingness to bend this rule for its stars (more on LeBron James and Mario Chalmers in a minute), its very existence seems somewhat archaic and unnecessary.

This got me thinking about other noteworthy number changes in recent NBA history, and the reasoning behind them.
(more…)

Photo by deep_shot on Flickr

 

Valanciunas might have the most upside of any draft pick in this year’s class. Who doesn’t need a scoring machine who can rebound, run and defend? He’s also a high-motor player.

Put it this way: If he was coming out of college after a year at UNC, he’d have gone No. 1 overall.

Via High Hopes for Knight, Valanciunas, 9/8/11

I was conflicted when I read that David Thorpe piece. On the one hand, I’m pumped to see Jonas Valanciunas here in Toronto. I’ve jumped off my couch a few times watching live streams, seeing him finish alley-oops and get weakside blocks. Right now, he’s a solid help defender and rebounder with a nice shooting touch. I’m a fan of his game and a huge fan of the energy he brings, so much so that I’ve felt a bit Lithuanian during this tournament. If a basketball mind like Thorpe’s thinks he can develop into a number one option who can draw double teams, I should be dancing. But, um, the most upside? No. 1 overall? Whoa.

“I don’t think I’m ready for the NBA yet,” [Valanciunas] said. “I still have one more year here and I’m going to do a lot of physical work, getting my body stronger. Then we’ll see.”

Via Valanciunas living up to all the hype, 9/12/11

I just watched Lithuania and Serbia play a EuroBasket consolation game. In the game, particularly In the first half, Kosta Koufos pushed Valanciunas around like the skinny 19-year-old he is. This should be a reminder that, even if we rightfully get excited seeing him hold his own against Spain’s ridiculous frontcourt, he’s a work in progress. Yes, he dominated Serbia like he did the entire U-19 tournament, but in Zach Harper’s words, the Serbs “didn’t defend anybody at the basket and he could just stand there and catch it.”

We knew going into the draft that Valanciunas needed to get much stronger and improve his post game. He’s had an impressive summer, but these things are still true. I believe he’ll develop into a more-than-solid starting center and, seeing Thorpe’s comments above and here, I’m inclined to believe he has All-Star potential. I’d be shocked if he won Rookie of the Year in 2012-2013, though — it’ll take a year or two to adjust to playing in the paint for 82 games at the highest level. Patience and hope, Raptors fans. Extra emphasis on “patience.”