Category: General NBA insight

General NBA insight

Soccer helped Kobe Bryant footwork

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant played soccer as a kid, and it likely helped his footwork in basketball. The New York Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports:

Bryant took baby steps toward learning those moves while playing soccer in Italy, where he spent a chunk of his childhood and his father, Joe Bryant, played basketball. Playing soccer, his feet touched the ball as much as a basketball now meets his hands. … “I’ve always worked on it, always worked on it since I was a kid,” Bryant said. “I just watched different players — Olajuwon, Michael, Charles — and just all kinds of footwork and just tried to emulate them. Playing soccer, I think, had a lot to do with it as well. It’s just growing up overseas.”

Bryant is currently up against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Here’s Magic swingman Mickael Peitrus, as quoted by the New York Times:

“He has great footwork; he has great body control,” said Pietrus, who guarded LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals only to have his hands full again with Bryant. “He has great everything. Compared to LeBron, he’s very different because he’s moving a lot and he knows how to get you unbalanced to make his shot. He’s Kobe Bryant, so I’m not surprised.”

Watching what Bryant does on a basketball court is a thing of beauty. Be sure to catch the rest of the NBA Finals, before the long off-season begins.

Free agent Zaza Pachulia could leave Hawks

Atlanta Hawks forward/center Zaza Pachulia had a decent season in 2008-9, averaging 6.2 points and 5.7 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game as a backup. He’s a decent role player and worth having on a roster. But his time with the Hawks could be over. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Sekou Smith) reports:

Zaza Pachulia’s days with the Hawks could be numbered. He has 24 days left before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, ending his four-year run with the team. Granted, he could start another one, if he and the Hawks come to terms on a new contract, but there’s a level of uncertainty that comes with free agency that’s undeniable for a player in Pachulia’s situation — there will be a scramble for quality big men at a reasonable price on the free-agent market.

At 6-11 and 275 pounds, the 5th-year player can help just about any team in the league as a prime backup big guy, so expect him to get plenty of offers.

NBA luxury tax to continue

The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: If the Jazz choose to wade into NBA luxury-tax territory — something they’ve said they’re willing to do if need be next season — they won’t be getting a bailout. League Commissioner David Stern told reporters covering the NBA Finals in Los Angeles this week that there are no plans to temporarily shelve the tax, even in light of the country’s current economic plight. “No,” Stern said when asked at his annual Finals news conference, “there’s no contemplation of eliminating or reducing luxury tax.” The tax — part of the current collective-bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players union — is levied upon teams that exceed the league’s maximum team-payroll threshold, which has not yet been determined for next season. It amounts to a fine of $1 for every dollar over the threshold, plus a ban from sharing with under-the-threshold teams in distribution of the taxes that are collected.

Lil Wayne Kobe Bryant song

Rapper Lil Wayne has made a song about Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

Tonight in L.A. the Orlando Magic visit as Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals tips off.

Just from hearing this, I assume some Lakers-related people were involved in producing or putting it together. I base this on the audio footage they chose to include.

Listen to Lil Wayne’s Kobe song:

Lamar Odom loves candy

The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) reports: Lamar Odom’s sweet tooth is legendary in NBA locker rooms. He brings bags full of treats to games at home and away, a cause of only minor concern for Jackson and the Lakers’ coaching staff. “Well, Halloween is one of the worst nights of the year,” Jackson said. “I’ve gotten several calls and e-mails and texts from doctors who want to tell me that the sugar blues are one of the toughest things to fight, especially with kids. Lamar, as we know, is not a kid anymore. (But) he really doesn’t do that much sugar, he really doesn’t.”

Conference Finals: History sides with Lakers, Magic

If history were grading Orlando’s chances of advancing to The Finals, it would give the Magic an A. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, all time in the postseason there have been 187 best-of-seven playoff series in which a team has taken 3-1 lead. That team has advanced to the next round 179 times or 96 percent. Orlando has won five games on the road during the playoffs, the most wins away from home during a single postseason in team history (previous high was four in 1995). The Magic clinched its first round series with a win at Philadelphia in Game 6, and advanced to the conference finals with a Game 7 victory in Boston, marking the fourth and fifth times that Orlando won a series-deciding game on the road. All time in the playoffs, however, Cleveland, is 42-25 (.627) at home, including winning of eight of its last nine playoff games at The Q. Orlando is responsible for the lone loss, besting the Cavaliers in Game 1. Since the 2006 postseason, the Cavaliers are 21-7 (.750) at home, which accounts for the second most home wins in the postseason over that span behind San Antonio (22-7).

The Los Angeles Lakers took another step towards advancing to their second straight Finals by defeating the Denver Nuggets 103-94 in Game 5 yesterday to take a 3-2 series lead. Teams with a 3-2 lead are 193-33 (.854) all time, with 122 of those series ending in six games. Of those 122 Game 6 wins, more than half (69) came on the road. The last team to win a series after trailing 3-2 was the San Antonio Spurs, which defeated the New Orleans Hornets in last year’s conference semifinals.

Notable: There have been 20 games this postseason decided by three or fewer points, surpassing the previous high of 19 (2006). Orlando has played in seven of those games, winning three.

–NBA News

Cavs must step up in Orlando tonight

After sweeping through the first two rounds of the Playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves in, if not a must-win situation, at least an almost-must-win scenario tonight in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT). The Orlando Magic leads the series 2-1 as it continues its success over Cleveland. In NBA history, only eight teams have been able to wipe out 3-1 deficits to win best-of-seven series. It happened last in 2006 in the first round the Playoffs, as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers after dropping two of the first three games. It’s occurred twice in the conference finals: Washington (vs. San Antonio) in the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals and Boston (vs. Philadelphia) in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals.

Versus the Cavaliers, Orlando has won 10 of the last 14 games played at home, and three of the last five at Cleveland. Orlando is 5-2 this postseason at Amway Arena and has an all-time postseason home record of 27-18 at home. The Magic finished 32-9 (.780) at home during the regular season, which was the most wins at home since going 37-4 in 1995-96.

After allowing only 78.1 points per game over the first two rounds, the Cavaliers are surrendering 101.0 points per game to Orlando. Five Magic players in this series are averaging double figures in scoring: Dwight Howard (21.3 ppg), Rashard Lewis (20.0 ppg), Hedo Turkoglu (16.3 ppg), Mickael Pietrus (13.0 ppg) and Rafer Alston (11.0 ppg).

In three games against Orlando this postseason, LeBron James is averaging 41.7 points on .531 shooting, 5.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.7 steals. In 11 playoff games this year, James is averaging 35.3 points on .531 shooting, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals. James’ 28 career 30-point games is the most in the NBA since he made his playoff debut in 2006. He has seven career 40-point games in the postseason, including three this year, which is also the most in the league since 2006. James is the third player in NBA playoff history to compile at least 300 points, 80 rebounds and 60 assists in the first 10 games of a single postseason. It marks the second time in his career that he amassed these totals in a postseason.

Notable: There have been 19 games this postseason decided by three or fewer points, which ties the mark for most games decided by three points or less in an entire postseason (2006). For the first time in NBA history, the conference finals began with four games decided by three points or less. The 12 2009 first round games decided by three or fewer points tied the mark for most such games in the first round. There were 12 games decided by three or fewer points in the first round in 1984.

–NBA News

Mark Cuban, Kenyon Martin feud

Yeah, so as you know, during the NBA playoffs an angry Mark Cuban, who was engaging with some fans, let Kenyon Martin’s mom know that her son was a thug.

Obviously Martin wasn’t too pleased about it. And since then, Cuban apoligized, on his blog, BlogMaverick.com.

Cuban had also reportedly attempted to say sorry to Martin in person, though for whatever reason it didn’t happen.

Anyway, the latest reports are that Martin doesn’t really accept the apology.

And, really, that’s about it. So Martin isn’t a Cuban fan. And probably never will be. But maybe someday the two will meet and chat for a second. And then maybe the two will like each other more. It’s really not a particularly fascinating story. The world will still revolve around the sun, even if these two never fully resolve their differences.

If additional stuff develops in the near future, I’ll address it here in this blog, or quote it on the InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page.

I see little reason to care a lot about the latest developments of this story. It makes sense to care that an owner is saying some things he shouldn’t say. That’s worth discussing. But that the player who was being talked about, and the owner, don’t like each other, shouldn’t really be such a surprise. Cuban, on his blog, at least, took the high road and said he was sorry. Martin is apparently still pissed off. And there doesn’t appear to be more to it than that.

Pau Gasol ready for Kenyon Martin

The Los Angeles Times (Broderick Turner) reports: As Pau Gasol walked down the Staples Center hallway Sunday, stopping every so often to sign autographs, to take pictures, to accept congratulations on his 21-point, 18-rebound effort against the Rockets, he answered every question about Kenyon Martin’s behavior like a man not going to be intimidated at all. “You play through it,” Gasol said. “You raise your aggressiveness level. You’ve got to try to be smart. At the same time, you’ve got to play through it.” Many remember last season’s NBA Finals, when the Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett seemed to back Gasol down, when all the Lakers seemed to wilt. Martin tries to be as hard-edged as Garnett is. Martin is a good defender, Gasol acknowledged. But Gasol didn’t sound like someone who would back down against Martin in the best-of-seven series. “He’s kind of like their post-up stopper,” Gasol said. “You’ve got to play hard. Don’t back down. Don’t expect any calls. Try to play through it and be aggressive.”