I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. The lockout has lifted, we have a season, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) And in the spirit of renewal, our shiny new cadre of writers is putting together previews for all 30 teams in true HP style. From where teams are going to what their disgrace is to explorations of pop culture, we are about to rock, salute us, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) So sit back, relax, and ponder the awesomeness of this fully operational Hardwood Paroxysm 3.0. -Ed. 

Quo Vadimus (Where Are We Going?)

by Scott Leedy

Who are the New York Knicks? It’s become a fairly complicated question. Certainly the pipe dream of Chris Paul or Dwight Howard paired with Melo and Amare seems to be dead; and while the Knicks of the past few years were mismanaged and generally awful, we at least knew what to expect. Now?  The Knicks have found themselves two iso specialists, no real point guard, a defensive center carrying only two worthwhile years on his resume with all others ranging from serviceable to downright disappointing, and a coach whose system seems to in no way match his personnel. There are so many questions that surround the Knicks: Can Amare’s knees hold up? Will Tyson Chandler be motivated? Can he and Mike Woodson turn Amar’e and Carmelo into serviceable defenders? Does Mike D’Antoni even know that defense exists? Is Shumpert the next Gary Payton? Can Landry Fields continue to be the chillest bro in the league? How long until Carmelo Anthony murders Toney Douglas? All of these questions are certainly important to think about and discuss, but I can’t help but feel the entirety of the Knicks existence and place among the NBA hierarchy will comes down to this question: Who is Carmelo Anthony?

I’m not so much interested in talking about what Carmelo has been, or what the general basketball wisdom has come to define him as. I’ve written extensively on the subject before, but I think even as a poor defender and flawed but dominant offensive force, Carmelo brings a lot of value to any team he’s a part of. However, the gap between what Carmelo is capable of, and what he actually produces remains significant.

Be it Carmelo’s own stubbornness, lack of creative coaching, or something else entirely, Anthony has developed a poor habit of forcing contested jumpers in isolation. Melo has always provided scoring in bunches, but often failed to tap into his potential as a playmaker for his teammates. This is where the pairing of D’Antoni and Carmelo Anthony becomes intriguing. At first I thought D’Antoni and Melo were a terrible fit; D’Antoni was going to resent Carmelo for slowing down an offense predicated on ball movement and quick decisions, and Melo would in turn become frustrated by D’Antoni’s insistence on changing Carmelo’s style of play. However this tweet from John Schumann really opened my eyes to an incredible possibility:

From watching this film-room footage, it seems like Melo will be bring the ball up as much as (or more than) Douglas.

December 16, 2011 5:06 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@johnschuhmann

John Schuhmann

Carmelo Anthony as point forward. Could it really work? The short answer is yes, HELL yes. D’Antoni has been known to squeeze every last ounce of offensive potential out of his players, and a re-invention of Carmelo Anthony would rank among his greatest feats. There’s genius in its jarring simplicity.

On the other end of things, Carmelo absolutely has the physical gifts and basketball skills to pull this off. He’s tall, quick, gifted at getting to the rim, and possesses a deft handle for someone his size. As Gian Casimiro noted over in a great piece for Posting and Toasting, Melo was extremely aggressive coming off the pick and roll against New Jersey, and showed great court vision dumping the ball off to open cutters. Carmelo the playmaker is a real and frightening(for other teams at least) possibility.

Fans generally live at the edges of potential, remaining exceedingly optimistic about their team’s prospects for success. For New York, all of that upside and possibility hinges on Carmelo Anthony. Doubters, and “realists” will claim Carmelo is incapable of this transformation; that reinvention is nothing but a wistful fantasy. However, dredging around in what has been, rather than basking in what could be, feels foolish. Knicks fans are too familiar with the depressing reality of the past. It’s time to stretch and push at the possibility of the future.

Popular Theories In Emerging Basketball-Cultural Cross-References 

by Connor Huchton

Much is made of the New York Knicks’ rabid fan base, and rightly so. They’re enthusiastic, large, and desperate for success. Now that their team is finally within seeming reach of success, the yells are nearing justification.

“Iman Shumpert will be an All-Star!” said the dedicated Knicks’ fan.

And who can blame that fan? The Knicks are finally good, they have the stars they’ve yearned for throughout the last decade, and an entire lockout allowed fans to romanticize high expectations once again.  It’s fair to be excited somewhat irrationally when you’ve faced down a decade of either “Isiah Thomas-ing” or “blowing it up because of Isiah Thomas-ing”.

The Knicks didn’t always make the right moves. They traveled the wrong path despite holding all of the trappings of a dominant franchise. When Jim Dolan attempted to right this path, the shift didn’t come easy. There were failings and sacrifices (the McGrady trade), and losses upon losses. But Dolan continued with his plan, clearing cap space by dire means in the ever-failing pursuit of stars. He didn’t get LeBron James, but he signed Amar’e Stoudemire, and traded the house for Carmelo Anthony. A steep price of identity was paid, but a necessary change ensued, a change that sought a higher goal. Changes like these garner enthusiasm from a fan base that’s rightly convinced that the future should be brighter, deserves to be brighter.

But what clouds this expected enthusiasm is a team with no clear standing. Are they an upper-echelon team or a Hawks-ian squad guaranteed a second-round exit? The team hasn’t existed in any one form long enough to understand who they truly will be in coming seasons. They have the frontcourt, complete with recent addition Tyson Chandler, to trump any other Eastern team, but lack pedigree in most other aspects. But after Mike D’Antoni explicitly stated that the Knicks are aiming for a championship this season, expectations will rise once again. Teams that are set to compete for a championship can’t afford to get swept in the first round of the playoffs. The Knicks must leap again, this time to a higher pedestal.

In “Billy Madison”, Adam Sandler’s title character languishes aimlessly before deciding to embark on a quest (a quest far more difficult than one would ever expect) to earn a high school degree, grade by grade. He’s a man born into money, holding infinite wealth but little maturity, trying to find his way to an emotional mountaintop. He’s made every wrong choice despite an unending amount of capital available to aid in making the correct choices. What saves Billy is his determination to change that morbid path of overspent living. The freedom grows tiresome. He seeks structure. He seeks a plan. And so his journey to educational redemption begins.

Only a “championship” could save Billy Madison. He had to become the best, after months of hanging out with Norm MacDonald and tilting his hat sideways. What he lacked in intelligence was compensated for by ever-increasing self-belief. Despite everything he possessed in material wealth, the odds stood against him in an arena that demanded personally created strength. Conquering that arena of competition only became possible when he took it upon himself to gain that strength.

Perseverance and wealth disposal are the collective names of Adam Sandler’s game in “Billy Madison”, not overwhelming talent and skill.  The Knicks face the same issues Billy once did, issues they’ve attempted to alleviate during a painful shifting period. This period need not stagnate permanently, as they hold the ability to continue that change unto the point when changing is no longer constantly needed. Only derailment of the Knicks’ (and in a way, Billy Madison’s) plan can stop success, success that looms closer and closer with every game and every minute.

Will You Remember Me? I Will Remember You.

by Sean Highkin

The Knicks used their last remaining cap space and trade assets—and then some—to acquire Tyson Chandler. A great fit, to be sure, but also one that completes the transformation of the identity this team has taken on for much of the last decade. There’s no more “This year is just preparation, because next year we’re going to make a run at [LeBron James/Chris Bosh/Joe Johnson/Carmelo Anthony/Chris Paul/Dwight Howard] and then we’ll be contenders.” There are no more stars to chase, no major moves to plan for. These are the Knicks for now and for the future. This will be the year we see whether or not the last several of being mediocre to bad and clearing cap space pay off.

And it may well. Melo-Amar’e-Chandler is as formidable a front line as there is in the Eastern Conference, provided the latter two stay healthy. Chandler in particular is a legitimate defensive force, a rarity in Mike D’Antoni lineups. Rookie Iman Shumpert has shown promise in the preseason. Second-year guard Landry Fields (a favorite of our Connor Huchton) should continue to develop into a solid player after a better-than-expected rookie campaign. Whatever they can get out of Baron Davis once he returns from back surgery could very well be enough to make up for the fact that Mike Bibby will probably be their starting point guard for the first half of the season. This could be an elite team if everything breaks right health-wise, and if the influence of Chandler and new assistant Mike Woodson rubs off on the rest of the team defensively. Either way, this is it. This is what they’ve been building towards since the start of the Isaiah Thomas era.

Circa September 23, 2011

On Thursday night Jimmer Fredette hosted a casual exhibition game in Provo, Utah that mostly consisted of NBA rookies and a few collegiate ball players. Though Jimmer was unquestionably the main attraction, Kenneth Faried reportedly stole the show.

According to fellow TrueHoop blogger, Nick Smith, of Salt City Hoops, Faried was “the most active, athletic, and NBA-ready talent on the court.” Smith would later go on to say this regarding his up-close impressions of the “Manimal”:

Faried’s offensive game leaves a ton to be desired but he makes up for it in virtually every other aspect of the game. Faried seemed to be one of those players that somehow is always in the right place at the right time. He is relentless down low on both sides of the court and runs the floor as well as any PF in the league today. After watching tonight’s event, I’d say Denver should feel ok about Kenyon Martin’s departure to China.

Kenneth Faried enters Beast Mode at Jimmer All-Star Game 

-RoundballMiningCompany

Heard of Jimmermania? Of course you have. Spawned in Provo, Utah, Jimmermania swept the nation. Now imagine the 22 pick in the NBA draft stealing the show in the triumphant return of it’s favorite son. To end up a productive member of the NBA one must possess an NBA skill. This Manimal, this Beastman, boasts no less than two.

Demonte Harper provided the last second heroics as Morehead State toppled Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament a little under a week ago, but it was Faried who denied the Cardinal’s last second shot and carried his team as he so regularly has throughout his four year career as an Eagle. Tallying 17 rebounds in that game, and 13 in Morehead’s subsequent loss to Richmond in the round of 32, Faried did the same thing he’s done his entire career: hustle, play with toughness, and pursue absolutely every loose ball on both ends.

Though Faried has collected many of his NCAA modern-era record 1673 rebounds against less than elite competition in the OVC, his performance against Louisville was one of a number of eye-opening outings he’s turned in against top competition. Going for 20 and 18 at Florida and 15 and 12 versus Ohio State back in November amongst a handful of other double-doubles against top-25 teams in previous years, Faried has proven that he can get the job done against comparably talented prospects. The question is where that places him…

From DraftExpress.com 

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. The lockout has lifted, we have a season, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) And in the spirit of renewal, our shiny new cadre of writers is putting together previews for all 30 teams in true HP style. From where teams are going to what their disgrace is to explorations of pop culture, we are about to rock, salute us, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) So sit back, relax, and ponder the awesomeness of this fully operational Hardwood Paroxysm 3.0. -Ed. 

Photo via Dapper Dinos

Quo Vadimus (Where Are We Going?)

by Danny Chau

The Raptors will play hard this season. They’ll have to – the organization didn’t hire Dwane Casey as head coach for nothing. They’ll scrap, swarm, and generally show more discipline on defense than last year, where they were the worst defense in the league. They’ll keep games close. They have the young legs and now, a defensive identity to do so. They will often come up short, and the semisweet moral victories won’t last long. Still, there are reasons for optimism.

Toronto will be playing the waiting game. They’ll be waiting for DeMar DeRozan. He’s made strides in diversifying his offensive game, drawing fouls and getting to the line at a much higher clip than he did in his rookie season or even in the first half of last season. DeRozan has added range to his much-improved jumper, which is promising news, but what about the rest of his game? Casey should make a big difference in terms of DeRozan’s defensive effort, which was inconsistent (though he was hardly the only culprit in that area). Whether he can become a willing passer is something worth looking into, because at this point, it’s the barometer for how much further DeRozan’s offensive game can develop.

James Johnson has gotten some good reviews during the Raptors’ training camp, and he’s looking as svelte as he’s ever been. As versatile as he’s been on both ends of the court, his boneheaded turnovers and shot selection have to improve. Ed Davis is a bit bigger (though that isn’t saying much considering how rail-thin he was last season), which hopefully will help him hold his ground defensively, to go with his already superb per-36 numbers in rebounds and blocks. If he’s able to defend the bigger bodies in the league and show off more of his offensive game this season, the Raptors will be in a much better position come next season.

Barring a miracle, the Raptors will finish with a record landing them in great position for a terrific draft pick in a terrific draft class. They’ll wait for Jonas Valanciunas to make his official arrival next season, and they’ll all hope that he can be antithesis of what Andrea Bargnani has been for the past half-decade (though recent developments suggest Bargnani might be ready to fully commit to the game outside of scoring). If the Raptors nabbed a prospect like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to go with Valanciunas? There’s enough fiery energy between those two to light up Downtown Toronto for a decade – or at least until they bolt for a large market team back in the States.

There’s lots to look forward to in the near future, but just seeing the team with a defensive pulse should provide enough optimism going forward.

The Disgrace: Andrea Bargnani’s Rebounding

by Curtis Harris

Yes, this is an obvious disgrace, but the disgrace is getting worse and worse despite it being clearly evident for half a decade now. His rookie year, Andrea’s total rebound percentage (TRB%) was 9.2%. That means when he was on the court he grabbed 9.2 of every 100 rebounds. That stayed pat his 2nd season. Improvement was achieved in 2009 (10%) and in 2010 Bargs hauled in a stunning 10.4%!

Then last year the SS Bargs went a-sinkin’ with an abysmal 8.6 TRB%. The 7-foot Bargnani grabbed the same amount of rebounds as 6’6″ Kobe Bryant. It’s become clearer and clearer that Bargs is a shooting guard trapped in a big man’s body. Of players who are at least 7’0″ tall and have played 300 games in the NBA, Bargs is 2nd to last all-time in TRB%. Only Brad Sellers has been worse. Brad Sellers. Yeesh.

Video Interlude

by Curtis Harris

Welcome to life under Bryan Colangelo’s Toronto Raptors. You were promised a leisurely, fun stay at a prehistoric amusement park. Cute brachiosaurs, orinthomimuses, and triceratops. Instead your franchise has had the power knocked out and Colangelo has found a way to turn the amusement park into a shop of basketball horror. As you prepare for what disaster looms next… there’s only one thing you can do…

Gamera Goes Maracas for… Jamaal Magloire

by Curtis Harris

Returning home to Ontario for his 12^th NBA campaign, Jammin’ Jamaal is the embodiment of Toronto hoops. He has a mesmerizing 6’11” frame that is anointed with 260 lbs of pure, 100% Canadian muscle. For a dozen years now, he has pummeled, trampled and bludgeoned lesser big men into submission. Curiously, despite his utter domination of the pivot for the past decade, Magloire was chosen for a solitary all-star game. Ever the opportunist, Magloire made the most of his one show at the February classic in 2004.

His sizzling 9-16 shooting performance led to 19 points and he manhandled the glass for a whopping 8 rebounds. Sadly, his Eastern Conference teammates, composed of slothful Americans, let Magloire down and the team fell 136 – 132 to the West. Voters, ever-blinded by ill-begotten victory, awarded then-Laker Shaquille O’Neal the game’s MVP instead of rightfully recognizing Magloire.

Carrying the hopes and dreams of Toronto’s 5 million denizens, Magloire is ready to rampage once again. His playing time in recent years has been the victim of political sabotage by various coaches in Milwaukee, ­­New Jersey, Dallas and most egregiously Miami where the evil-hearted Chris Bosh had the Torontonian Magloire blackballed and relegated to the bench. All that is in the past, though. Like prehistoric dinosaur DNA brought back to life by John Hammond’s insane genius, we can look forward to Magloire rising from the ashes and drop-step dunkin’ Bosh and all other sucka big men.

For all that and more Gamera gets excited.

Very excited.

Shake it, Gamera!

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. The lockout has lifted, we have a season, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) And in the spirit of renewal, our shiny new cadre of writers is putting together previews for all 30 teams in true HP style. From where teams are going to what their disgrace is to explorations of pop culture, we are about to rock, salute us, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) So sit back, relax, and ponder the awesomeness of this fully operational Hardwood Paroxysm 3.0. -Ed.

Photo via Planet Basketball

Quo Vadimus (Where Are We Going?)

by Curtis Harris

Wherever it is the Rockets have been going the past two seasons. Enceladus? Sioux City? Cracker Barrel?! None of the above. It seems Daryl Morey is intent on finding a franchise player instead of good time country eatin’ with a storefront full of novelty items. That much was clear when he tried to acquire Pau Gasol in the ill-fated three-way trade with New Orleans and Los Angeles. (Can you imagine Pau Gasol in your grits?) Morey was so close to plucking that apple from the tree, but getting a franchise player has been the target of a fruitless quest that is now entering its third year.

Actually…

On a larger scale, this has been the general state of the Houston Rockets since the demise of the Olajuwon-Barkley-Pippen triad in 1999. There was a brief fulfillment of promise in 2009 but that evaporated with the final crumbling of Yao Ming. For the last dozen seasons, Houston has run through false prophets (Steve Francis) and defective real McCoys with no factory warranties (McGrady and Yao) in a largely failed quest for success. Whether Gasol would have changed the state of things is debatable, but the current group anchored by the very-good-but-not-great core of Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry has a very real ceiling of pluckily scrapping together juuuust enough wins to get an 8^th seed and then get annihilated but whoever is in the #1 spot.

Third year in a row for that same old ceiling.

If Morey can’t capitalize on this current group of talent (and $11 million of cap space) for a big name star like Dwight Howard, Deron Williams or even Pau Gasol, then it is time to completely detonate this rocket ship. Blow it to smithereens and collapse into the lottery for a real chance at drafting the stud that has eluded the Rockets for a dozen years.

In the meantime the on-court product will still be worth catching. The very-good-but-not-great core is one of the more efficient trios going in the NBA. I’ve yet to see Patrick Patterson miss a mid-range jumper. Chase Budinger continues to prove he was quite the draft steal. Kevin McHale is now patrolling the sidelines and is sure to give a great quote a night. The Chuckwagon will still be roll…

oh wait…

Get well, Chuck. You’re truly a stagecoach amongst apple carts.

The Disgrace

by James Herbert, Whiny McWhinerson (not official title -Ed.)

I’m supposed to write about what I hate about the Rockets. Problem is, I actually quite like them. I like smart offensive basketball, so I’m a huge fan of both Luis Scola and Kevin Martin. I write about basketball online, so I adore Kyle Lowry. I write for this particular site, so I care about Terrence Williams. I just watched this video, so I care about Jonny Flynn, too. I think Patrick Patterson’s underrated, Marcus Morris will contribute right away, and Chandler Parsons was a STEAL at #38. I’ll miss Kevin McHale as an announcer, but I think he’s a solid hire. You know what I hate, though?

None of these guys are Pau Gasol. None of them are Nene.

I just went through all the teams in the league and predicted their records. I feel uncomfortable about all my picks and can’t stand making context-less predictions, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is I put the Rockets at 32-34 and I hate that. I’d hate it even if we weren’t talking about “outright lies” from the Commissioner’s office. I hate it because the last time the Rockets were in the playoffs, Yao Ming went down with a goddamn hairline fracture. I hate it because that was the first time they’d reached the second round since Charles Barkley was on the team. For years, Daryl Morey has been making smart little decisions. He’s been collecting assets and putting an entertaining team on the floor, waiting until the time was right to grab the elite players needed to win big. Heading into this abbreviated free agency period, he had a roster composed of a few very good players, a few reclamation projects, and an abundance of solid young role players. This doesn’t make for a great team, but it does make for an ideal trading partner if you’re trying to move a star. For a brief few hours, it looked like the organization would be rewarded for its patience. It looked like the days of the Rockets being a middle of the pack team were over. Now? Not so much. Now, this team is just confusing. With all this depth, I’ve no idea where the minutes will go.

Pau and Nene would have given the Rockets one the best frontcourts in the league and made them an immediate contender. If not for the veto, I’d be dreaming of Gasol-to-Nene interior passes. I’d be giddy over pictures of McHale working with his two new post players in training camp. I’d be contemplating how they’d match up with the bigs on the Grizzlies and the Knicks. Instead, I’ve projected this team to finish just outside of the playoffs again and I’m wondering about Jordan Hill’s development. Spending time thinking about Jordan Hill isn’t a bad thing and Houston won’t be a bad or boring team this year. It’s just not what could have been.

Video Interlude – The Red Dream

by Connor Huchton

Let’s Start A Cult About: Chandler Parsons

by Danny Chau

Consider this a sub-cult. For those of you who have been spurned by the Cult of Hedo Turkoglu, Chandler Parsons may hold the key to your happiness. Before he got lazy and grossly overpaid, he stood at the altar where point-forward fetishists prayed. While much of Hedo’s allure has washed away with age and sloth, we are only witnessing the beginning of Parsons’ career. As such, patience will be rewarded, but patience must be obtained first.

While we may have to wait for tangible evidence of Parsons’ awesomeness, we can already begin gawking at his versatile skill-set. In the NBA, where pick-and-rolls are king, Parsons has the ability to pop, roll, and initiate the sets after four years in Billy Donovan’s PnR-heavy offense at Florida. He has a clean stroke on his jumper, he can rebound the ball well despite his thin frame, and he already passes and handles the ball better than a lot of NBA wings.

The cult will start off slowly. Houston’s roster has a wealth of young talent in need of development, but the team doesn’t have enough minutes in the rotation to accommodate their youth while keeping their more proven veterans happy. Parsons will likely take up the role of Chase Budinger’s doppelganger as the tall and athletic floor-spacer, but with Terrence Williams and more widely-anticipated rookie Marcus Morris also deserving of minutes, Parsons won’t be playing much, realistically.

That’s okay, though. Everyone has faith in something improbable, something that has all the evidence pointing vigorously to the contrary. Cults exist beyond logical explanation. They exist to entertain a tantalizing notion, to watch that notion potentially grow into something special. So come join the Cult of Chandler Parsons. Because any chance of erasing the post-Orlando (first stint) Hedo Turkoglu from our collective memory will surely be worth the wait.

 WILL YOU REMEMBER ME, I WILL REMEMBER YOU

by Matt Moore

This team has been lovable for years. And this is shaping up to be another year where the Rockets are adored by the masses. KLOE, Thabeet maybe being good, Scola being Scola, etc. I’m over it, but that doesn’t mean this team is any worse. Well, you know, they lost Chuck Hayes, but that’s OK. And they don’t really have a center, but that’s fine. And their chemistry is likely compromised by the failed trade that actually wouldn’t have really made them all that better just more expensive. But whatever.

What we’ll remember about this team? Good team, tried hard, incomplete. This is probably the last time it’s constructed this way. McHale’s going to want to remake them in his own image. Morey’s going to have to get desperate and pull the trigger on a big upgrade, because much like me or you, he doesn’t want to get fired. Since all the good players are headed for a coastal city that isn’t located in the Republic of Tejas, this does not bode well for the young wizard.

So enjoy this team now. Take pleasure in KevMart getting wing slips from Lowry, Scolas’ no-lift 18-footer, Terrence Williams’ rollercoaster and Patrick Patterson drifting in the background screaming ‘WHY DOES NO ONE LOVE ME WHEN I TRY SO HARD?” Nothing gold can stay, and the same goes for stable teams. Eventually inertia gets the best of the foundation and once the cracks show, they spread like vines.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone. The lockout has lifted, we have a season, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) And in the spirit of renewal, our shiny new cadre of writers is putting together previews for all 30 teams in true HP style. From where teams are going to what their disgrace is to explorations of pop culture, we are about to rock, salute us, can I get an Amen? (Amen.) So sit back, relax, and ponder the awesomeness of this fully operational Hardwood Paroxysm 3.0. -Ed. 

Quo Vadimus (Where Are We Going?)

by Noam Schiller

In the summer of 2004, Bob Johnson was given a new NBA franchise. Apart from a horrendous name, questionable color scheme and a previously scorned market, the new Charlotte Bobcats were a clean slate. Sure, they would be terrible early on, but that terribleness could have been developed in every direction possible.

The chosen direction was building around Emeka Okafor, trying to work with the scrap heap that Charlotte obtained in the expansion draft (which produced Gerald Wallace, the best player in franchise history, and a bunch of well-remembered luminaries such as Brevin Knight and Primoz Brezec), fail miserably on a few lottery picks (Sean May! Sean May! Sean May! Sean May! Why have you forsaken me?), and try to pick up a few above-average veterans to shoot for that 44 win season and a 7th seed.

The shot hit the target in 2009-2010, but after a a still-juggernaut Orlando Magic squad demolished the enjoyabgle Raymond Felton-Wallace-Stephen Jackson Cats in the playoffs, the re-dismantling of a team that mishandled the entire situation to begin with was a near certainty. Luckily, Charlotte’s brass realized this (though still not as fast as one would hope), and so, once again, the Bobcats enter an NBA season with the words tabula rasa drawn all over their roster sheet.

This is a good thing. This is something to be excited for. And even though the Bobcats’ roster is currently empty-incarnate, we can’t help but want to watch every single second of it.

Don’t get us wrong, Charlotte isn’t winning anything this year. They will lose almost all nights, lose miserably most. The talent just isn’t there, and the refinement on whatever talent is there is too little. But how will they lose? That’s what we just don’t know.

Will they lose because their scrappy defense just won’t be enough once the ball goes inside against Boris Diaw, center? Will they lose because even though Gerald Henderson is extremely enjoyable as he inefficiently bounces towards 16 points on 15 shots, the sheer notion of him as the best scorer on an NBA team is laughable? Will they lose because Kemba Walker will shoot too much on Friday, but defer too much on Wednesday? Will they lose because Tyrus Thomas will get himself ejected on a nightly basis, or despite his breakout 18-12-4 averages? Will they lose because Bismack Biyombo (coming this year to an NBA near you!) will only block 12 of the opponents 75 field goal attempts? Who knows? Who possibly could?

That’s the beauty of the 2011-2012 Bobcats: anything can happen, any path can be taken there. We believe the 4 years remaining on Tyrus’ deal work out, we hope that Kemba and Biyombo are not only legit NBA players but stars in the makings, we know Henderson is a good wing in an actual basketball league, we fear Corey Maggette and everything for which he stands; but the Bobcats, as a whole? Would you dare predict a single thing about where they stand in the year 2013?

So often, expectations are nothing but shackles, a pre-determined limitation to the otherwise careless mind that is just trying to watch some basketball. Well, mind, you are free. Don’t delve into the depths of losing (which will come) or the flaws of youth (which are bountiful). Let your mind wander, let your essence float in the empty room. Don’t steer towards an exit – they are too far away to even know what they look like. You will get to one anyway, eventually, but you will have fun with the element of surprise. Whether that element is D.J. Augustin looking like a legit all-star point guard in February and a frightened college player in March, or Matt Caroll laughing in your face as he clunks another three pointer (THE ONE DAMN THING HE SHOULD BE GOOD AT) and gets paid for it.

Most of all, cherish it. Recognize how rare it is to see a team where results don’t matter and a record is just that button you press on your DVR to make sure you don’t miss Reggie Williams. Most of all, enjoy it. If Paul Silas smiles on the sidelines no matter what happens to his team, you owe it to him to smile back.

Video Interlude – The Known Future

by Connor Huchton

The Disgrace

by Curtis Harris

You mean aside from the obvious team name, which my middle school used? I’m not being snarky, my middle school legitimately was called the [quaint small town suburb] Bobcats. At least we weren’t named to gently stoke the ego of our erstwhile owner. Where was I… oh yeah, Desagana Diop still having a spot on this roster while Primoz Brzec has been banished to Europe is abominable. Wait, that wasn’t it either…

Oh yes, Charles Oakley not returning as an assistant coach. That’s the disgrace stinking up the Queen City. Unfortunately, Oak is dealing with a bad back and we do wish him well in his recovery from surgery, but he ought to have a nice comfy spot on the Bobcat sideline awaiting him. Aside from being the Toughest Man Alive, Oakley managed to get Kwame Brown to use his massive 6’11”, 280 lbs frame effectively. Kwame Brown. Effective. Let that marinate…

Now thank Charles Oakley for basting Brown’s  sorry career in the marinade of toughness, gumption and struttin’ confidence. Hopefully Charlotte changes course and welcomes Oakley back at some point, but until then we’re sincerely not thrilled with his absence.

Video Interlude II – The Unknown Future Boogaloo

by Connor Huchton

Gamera Goes Maracas for… Matt Carroll

by Curtis Harris

That effervescent jumper of Matt Carroll. So sweet, so fine. Whether coming off a screen or pulling up in transition, there is nothing better than Matt Carroll stroking. The Notre Dame alum puts a saccharine arc on all of his shots that makes honey fall from the sky. It’s hell to get that honey cleaned up and ruins all the tobacco in North Carolina, but my lord is it worth it to see Carroll stick his hand in the cookie jar on each jumper. When he awakes from his diabetic coma after watching a Matt Carroll mix that’s smoother than velvet cake, Gamera just gets to shakin’ his maracas for joy…

Four years ago someone asked the Sonics’ then-general manager, Zollie Volchok, if he would consider trading Sikma for Moses Malone. “I wouldn’t trade Jack Sikma for the resurrection of Marilyn Monroe in my bedroom,” was Volchok’s reply, and the feeling was that he spoke for a majority of the bedrooms in Seattle.

Via A Buck, For a Change

Years Active: 1978 – 1991

Career Stats: 15.6 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 0.9 bpg, 1.0 spg, 46.4% FG, 32.8% 3-PT FG, 84.9% FT

Accolades: 7x All-Star (1979 – ’85), All-Rookie 1st Team (1978),  All-Defensive 2nd Team (1982), FT% Leader (1988) Champion (1979 Sonics)

The NBA career of Jack Sikma began on the low-end of “no expectations.” He played college ball at Illinois Wesleyan, a small university in the NAIA garnering very little attention nationwide. However, he did catch the eye of Seattle Supersonics executive Lenny Wilkens. Much to the disbelief, chagrin and jeers of Sonics fans, Sikma was selected 8^th overall in the 1977 draft. By the time he was traded to Milwaukee nearly a decade later, Sikma had become a cherished idol of Sonics fans with his rock steady play.

Sikma’s game was a curious blend of power and finesse. Until his senior year in high school, he played guard. However, his height exploded to 6’ 10” shifting him to the post. Barely able to hop over a phonebook and still figuring out his own dimensions and abilities in his new body, Sikma routinely had his shot blocked by opponents.  As he recalled it, “I had SPALDING written across my forehead a few times.”

(more…)

Photo by Clicksy via Flickr

Jeff Green got some bad news Saturday, but in reality it’s great news.

After he failed his physical following signing a one-year, $9 million deal with Boston, doctors couldn’t nail down an odd medical ailment. It was finally announced that Green had an aortic anuerysm, something that if ruptured, could end Green’s life. But it was caught, and most importantly, before any real harm to Green happened.

via “Jeff Green tweets about losing his season” by Royce Young

To state the obvious, an aneurysm anywhere is not good, but having one in an extremity is at least survivable. Having one in the aorta is pretty much a death warrant. The aortic artery is the largest blood vessel in your body and it emerges straight from the heart carrying the oxygenated blood that makes your life possible. If it ruptures, pretty much your entire body will be deprived of oxygen and… well, bad things happen after that.

In my lifetime, the basketball world has seen Hank Gathers die on the court despite having his heart condition discovered. Gathers, however, didn’t entirely heed the medical advice given to him. And one of my earliest basketball memories is of Reggie Lewis collapsing on the Boston Garden parquet. Although his death would occur later in that summer, his stunning collapse is not a scene anyone wants repeated.

That Jeff Green discovered this during a physical signals the greatest luxury professional athletes have relative to the general population: routine and vigorous health checks. Chuck Hayes is another player to recently have heart trouble spotted thanks to physicals and in the NFL, the Detroit Lions’ Jerome Harrison had a tumor discovered during a physical prior to a trade. Green will thankfully undergo a procedure in early January and should be good to go for the 2012-13 season.

This does lead to an uncomfortable position for the Boston franchise. Everyone is relieved that Green will be on the mend soon, but it leaves the already shorthanded Celtics scrambling for a bench. Playing 66 games in 120 days further clouds matters for the aging roster. I consider Jeff Green a middling player, but his loss may doom Boston to a lackluster 1st Round exit.

Danny Ainge already has tried trading Rajon Rondo to revamp the Celtics roster. Perhaps deals for Ray Allen’s expiring contract will now be entertained as Boston may conclude that its championship window, already just a crack open, has firmly shut. If Jeff Green returns to the Celtics in 2012, he’ll likely find a roster drastically different than the one he’s just had to leave.

I do hope his return is done on an entirely clean bill of health. It’s not always easy to take these kinds of health scares seriously in sports where the pressure to perform is so enormous and especially with the Celtics’ predicament of needing warm bodies just to man the bench. He and the Celtics should be commended for taking the prudent course here.

Via Flickr, National Maritime Museum

Four points guards on the roster. Who do the Clippers think they are, the Minnesota Timberwolves? Not to mention three of which are All-Stars. How do you get that many potentially fragile egos on the court successfully?

The obvious place to start is with Chauncey Billups at the 2-spot, which actually makes complete sense, as outlined by also-traded-(back)-to-the Clippers-from-the-Heat Kevin Arnovitz. Chauncey at the starting SG was my immediate reaction as well, so it was nice to see some additional supportive numbers to what the eyeball test had indicated. Billups has always been a shoot-first point anyhow — an approach that’s served he and his teams well throughout his career.

But, what about Mo?

My initial reaction was that Williams is also a shoot-first PG-type, so where does he fit into this all? HP’s own Amin Vafa took a look into the potential of this blowing up in the Clips’ faces, but Mo insists he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon (well, unless he was hacked. Again). We all realize Vinny D isn’t exactly the brightest boat on the bay, and the current Clippers backcourt depth chart reads thus…

…which isn’t helping anyone, especially the development factor of Bledsoe. Let’s slide Mo over as the primary backup at shooting guard and see if his history compares favorably to such a switch as it has in Billups’ case.

First stop was 82 Games, which has breakdowns of players’ Production by Position, where we find Mo actually played better as a 2 than a 1 for both the Clippers and Cavaliers. But, small sample-sized? How do the numbers hold up over a larger sample size?

From 2008-09 to present (Mo was traded last year from Cleveland to Los Angeles)

Mo Williams as a SG

PER 18.7, Per-48 Min PPG  27.4, Per-48 Min APG 7.3, % Team Minutes 11.5%, Win% 48%

Mo Williams as a PG

PER 15.7, Per-48 Min PPG 21.8, Per-48 Min APG 8.1, % Team Minutes 32.0%, Win% 53%

• PER has been better as a SG than a PG every team, every year

• Played a higher % of team’s positional minutes at the SG than PG in Cleveland before traded to the LAC in 2010-11 season

• Number of assists at either position is negligible, and in fact has posted more dimes as a SG two times

• His team’s Win% is not largely affected by which backcourt position he’s played, overall

• Has twice posted a higher Win% as a SG than as a PG

• Best PER posted as a SG for CLE in 08-09, 22.0

• Most PPG per-48 posted as a SG for LAC in 10-11, 30.6

• Most assists posted per-48 as a SG for CLE in 10-11, 12.1

• 08-09 Mo played 23% of the Cavs SG minutes. That Cleveland team went 66-16 and went to the Eastern Conference Finals

Whenever Chris Paul needs a breather the Clippers can rest assured that they have a plethora of capable points to spell him — indeed, the ClipShow easily boasts the deepest backcourt in the NBA, with four fellas that can feed Blake Griffin at any given time, a formidable threat. Should they have need, the Clips could throw out a different All-Star point guard for 120 consecutive minutes.

And both Billups and Williams are more-than-capable shooting guards. No need to squabble.

Given how monumental the Chris Paul trade to the Clippers and the resulting team will likely be in modern basketball history, I decided it garnered ample discussion. In this podcast, I talk to Jovan Buha (of Clipper Blog and Hardwood Paroxysm blogging notoriety) about what to expect from this Clippers team now and in the future.

Podcast Paroxysm-Clippers' Talk With Jovan Buha Download (251)

In this Podcast Paroxysm, hosts Connor Huchton and Sean Highkin discuss the trade that sent Chris Paul to the Clippers, this year’s remaining free agents, and the state of the Western Conference.

Podcast Paroxysm: Chris Paul Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (252)