Category: General NBA insight

General NBA insight

Monday NBA stars

NBA.com reports: Shaquille O’Neal, Suns, scored 29 points as Phoenix wrapped up a six-game East Coast swing with a 103-87 win over Washington. O’Neal went 10-for-14 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line…  Dwyane Wade, Heat, finished with 35 points and Miami held Atlanta without a field goal for nearly 131/2 minutes during one first-half stretch in a 95-79 victory…  Chris Paul, Hornets, had 27 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and seven steals for his fifth triple-double of the season, and the Hornets defeated Philadelphia 101-86…  Brandon Roy, Trail Blazers, scored 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting to lead Portland to a 113-88 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers…  Al Jefferson, Timberwolves, had 23 points and 10 rebounds, lifting Minnesota over short-handed Milwaukee 90-83.

James White rocking the D-League

NBA.com (Matthew Brennan) reports: James White is unstoppable on offense at the NBA D-League level, averaging 29.8 points in January including a D-League season high 47 last week. He has come a long way in developing his all-around game since his assignment to Austin two seasons ago, and has to be at the top of the list regarding any call-up discussion. I am looking forward to seeing him play at All-Star Weekend (both in the D-League game and maybe the Dunk Contest), but will be surprised if he is not on an NBA roster by then.

Questioning the Pistons rotation

The Detroit Pistons have been a losing team lately, dropping 7 of the 9 games they’ve played since January 10: They lost big in Utah, lost a close home game against Charlotte, lost a close game in Indiana, lost in Oklahoma City, lost at home against New Olreans, won at Memphis, won big at home against Toronto, lost big at home against Dallas, and lost a close game at home against Houston.

It’s not Michael Curry’s “fault,” necessarily, but he has yet to come up with a solution to the problem of a roster with plenty of talent but with too many good players at the small spots and not enough good big guys.

The Pistons now start Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson in the backcourt, Tayshaun Prince and Amir Johnson at forward, and Rasheed Wallace at center. The key guys off the bench are Richard Hamilton, Jason Maxiell and Antonio McDyess.

I question the decision to start Iverson while using Hamilton as a bench reserve. The reverse makes more sense. Hamilton clearly has chemistry with Prince, Wallace, McDyess and the other key Pistons. Iverson is the newcomer. He’s the guy that has to keep learning to fit in.

A scorer who is better at putting the ball in the basket than in the hands of teammates, if I was coaching Detroit, I’d use Iverson as instant points off the bench.

And if Iverson doesn’t want to come off the bench? Tough. Deal with it. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, obviously another change would be made.

–Jeff

Nene having great season

The Denver Post (Mark Kiszla) writes: In a season full of pleasant surprises for Denver, the biggest one has been Nene. “I’ve been so, so, so impressed with Nene, from his skill level to his IQ for the game. He’s an all-star, man. Without a doubt. When Nene’s on a good team, he’s unstoppable,” Billups said Sunday, when Denver trounced Utah 117-97. While Anthony is the Nuggets’ most talented player and Billups is the team’s most valuable player, Nene is the one player who will determine how far Denver goes in the playoffs… For a man who doesn’t like to be called a center, Nene is playing as strong as anyone between Houston (Yao Ming) and Los Angeles (Pau Gasol) at his reluctantly adopted position. And that includes you, Shaquille O’Neal.

76ers hope Elton Brand fits in

NBA.com (John Schuhmann) reports: With Andre Iguodala’s numbers and the standings as Exhibits A and B, the Sixers have been better without their high-priced power forward than they’ve been with him. Saturday was Elton Brand’s first game action since dislocating his shoulder 5 1/2 weeks ago. Before he went down, the Sixers were 11-14 and fired head coach Maurice Cheeks just 23 games into the season. While Brand was injured, the Sixers were 10-7 and a much better offensive team. The simple conclusion is that Brand’s post game is not a good match for his teammates who play more aggressive when there’s not a big man taking up space in the paint. And 42 games into the season, it’s hard to argue otherwise. The Sixers led 34-22 when Brand entered the game Saturday, having connected on 15 of their first 23 field goal attempts. Now, they weren’t going to keep up that pace whether Brand played or not, but their offense did get noticeably stagnant with Brand on the floor. There was less penetration and less ball movement. Defense was even more of an issue, but that could be chalked up to the Knicks just getting hot from downtown.

Post your daily opinions on the InsideHoops Philadelphia 76ers message board.

Nate Robinson plays COD5 on XBox Live

New York Knicks point guard Nate Robinson apparently enjoys playing the video game Call of Duty 5 on XBox Live.

According to Al Trautwig of the MSG television station, Robinson was playing COD5 against some random other player via the internet, and told the guy who he was.

Naturally, the guy doubted he was playing with a real NBA player.

So, according to Trautwig, Robinson told the guy that to prove it’s really him, he’d do a COD5 salute during his next free throws.

And Saturday evening, as the Knicks were in Philadelphia playing against the 76ers, Robinson did just that, in the second quarter.

Hopefully, that gamer was watching.

Cavaliers defending well

NBA.com (John Schuhmann) reports: The Cavs currently rank as the second-best defensive team in the league, just behind the Celtics, allowing 101.5 points per 100 possessions. Last season, they didn’t crank up the “D” until the postseason, but this year has been different. “Everybody bought into the system and everybody is committed to playing defense,” Ben Wallace said Monday in Los Angeles. “That was one of the things we stressed in training camp. “Defense has to start with the individuals. You can’t be a good team defense if you got five poor individual defensive players out on the floor, so it has to start with an individual. Everybody has to take it personal that they’re going to go out there and do whatever they can do to go out there to try to get stops. Once one, two, three players start it, it gets contagious and everybody buys into it.”

John Paxson thinks he stinks

With 18 wins and 25 losses the Chicago Bulls sit in 10th place in the Eastern conference. They’re probably a bit better than their record indicates, but not by much.

The man who put the roster together is former NBA player John Paxson. He was a good outside shooter. But when asked about the team’s lack of success, he’s firing at himself.

The Chicago Sun-Times (Brian Hanley) reports:

Bulls general manager John Paxson is not happy. Not with his team. Not with himself. “The only person I’ll evaluate right now is myself, and I obviously haven’t done the job of putting the type of team that I want to have on the floor in terms of competitiveness and effort,’’ Paxson said Wednesday when asked about the job coach Vinny Del Negro and his staff have done. The Bulls are 18-25. “That falls on me. That’s the only person I’m going to critique. That’s the way it is.’’ … “We’re not very good right now,’’ Paxson said. “We’re not playing well enough to win those [close] games. I’m obviously not happy with how we’re playing. I don’t think my expectations were such going into the season thinking we were going to be a top, top level team. But what I want to see is the team play together. And right now, through 40-plus games, we’re not that. And that concerns me.”

A bright spot has been the play of Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose, who is a top favorite for the NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Jason Terry having great season

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Jan Hubbard) reports: Jason Terry has had a distinguished career, averaging 16.1 points for the Hawks and Mavericks in his first nine seasons. But this season, his 10th in the league, he’s taken it to a new level. Rick Carlisle has been consistent with Terry, preferring him to come off the bench rather than starting, even with the muddled situation at shooting guard. Terry has had to start seven games because of injuries, but his primary role has been as a reserve and he’s been nothing less than spectacular. Terry is the only non-starter in the league averaging more than 20 points a game, and considering that the majority of his points come from the perimeter, his 46.6 shooting percentage is solid. But even more significant is Terry’s willingness to accept his role. Most 20-point scorers in the league would pout if they did not start. But not Terry, who is averaging a career-high 20.6 points.