Sporots

[scamboogah]

I agree with everything Bao said (except when he was too hard on himself calling himself a condescending twat).

Imagine that Griffin keeps his left hand taped to his side on that play. What happens then? Gasol jumps into him, and (as Bao pointed out) takes his arms down and rotates his shoulder and body into Griffin. Without his hand there to deflect a 7 foot tall man's shoulder coming right at his face, it's an ugly mess of a foul on Gasol resulting in potential injuries. What started out as a noble 'taken foul' on Gasol turned into a total pussy play when he rotates his shoulder into him. Bush league, Barcelona, bush league...

[isoS]

Yeah, I didn't initially see it as an offensive foul, I just thought this ex-ref's interpretation was interesting. I agree with bao too, and while I don't want anyone to get hurt, I do long for the days of the hard foul that wasn't a fucking federal case. One thing I know: if Griffin had brought that shit to Detroit in the '80s, he would've left on a fucking stretcher, and I kind of feel like that's how it should be. (Wait, that makes it sound like I do want people to get hurt. I guess I just want consequences for showboaters.)

[Batman The Horse]

Anyone give a shit about cars/racing? I'll be at the Long Beach Grand Prix this weekend trying to get Will Power (hey non-Indycar fans... that's his real name! I know!) to autograph a copy of this:

[jesterobobman]

I don't give a shit about racing, but Will Power is the #1 seed in a best sports name bracket.

[TimBuktu]

... and now Kevin Love goes down with a concussion. This is what it means to be a Timberwolves fan, this season sums it up as well as anything. It's just constant, endless misery.

[Batman The Horse]

I don't give a shit about racing, but Will Power is the #1 seed in a best sports name bracket.

My favorite: X'Zavier Bloodsaw. I guarantee you that John Carter movie would've succeeded if they named it X'Zavier Bloodsaw.

[bao]

In two games since taking over Kevin Love's minutes, Anthony Randolph is averaging 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks. I'm assuming he'll start picking up traction for All-NBA second team.

(I just high-fived myself for the single dickiest thing I have ever posted on AST. Please don't take it seriously, Tim. Also, don't despair too much -- the Wolves have the best conglomeration of talent they've ever had, though I understand waiting til next year kinda sucks when you're splitting season tickets)

[isoS]

After Bynum's 30-reb game, and thinking about Love's numbers, I started wondering if the condensed schedule, combined with the lack of a proper training camp/pre-season, has resulted in significantly lower FG% across the league. More misses = more rebounds to go around, right? I just don't know where to look up league-wide FG% on the season, never mind how to compare it to other seasons, so I need you nerds to help me out.

If nothing else, it would be interesting to look at the combined FG% of the two teams in contests where one player grabbed over 20 boards. I'm guessing the number would be lower than the average. This doesn't take anything away from Love -- or Bynum for that matter -- I'm just curious if there's any correlation.

[bao]

Yeah, points, shooting percentage, and offensive rating are down significantly this year, reaching levels of the Dark Ages (late 90s, early 2000s), but the pace is down, too, meaning only a mild increase in total rebounds (though 0.7 per game is fairly significant).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/stats.html

Its worth mentioning that Kevin Love's current rebound rate is 19.02 (basically what percentage of available rebounds he gets, accounting for pace, shooting %, etc.), which is fourth in the league and actually pretty pedestrian, suggesting that his total rebounds are slightly inflated by the fact that his team is one of the most fast-paced in the league.

That said, his 23.63 last year was off-the-charts, best-in-a-decade good, so he had nowhere to go but down.

I really hope the decrease in scoring is just a lockout induced anomaly, and not a trend.

[TimBuktu]

Your guys theories would be awesome if he didn't do it game in/game out for 2 years. Why does everyone need to find reasons to explain away Love's production?

[Americas Team]

[isoS]

Your guys theories would be awesome if he didn't do it game in/game out for 2 years. Why does everyone need to find reasons to explain away Love's production?

BECAUSE HE'S WHITE.

[Hated Milk Machine]

BECAUSE HE'S WHITE.

Uhhh, I think you mean "scrappy," right?

[bao]

Your guys theories would be awesome if he didn't do it game in/game out for 2 years. Why does everyone need to find reasons to explain away Love's production?

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but its because people like you use his stats to compare him favorably to people like a prime Tim Duncan or even LeBron James. Anyone with eyes can see that he's not in the same league as either of those two. Nor is he is the same league as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Kevin Garnett, or Karl Malone -- other forwards to whom he statistically compares favorably.

If you are using his admittedly-impressive numbers to argue that he is having a great season, and has converted himself into one of the ten best players in the league, I think few would argue with you. But to say he's as good as any of the players mentioned above, solely on the strength of his numbers, is ludicrous.

I think part of the fascination with deconstructing Love's numbers comes from the simple point that great players on great teams sacrifice numbers for the good of the team. Great players on bad teams do not need to sacrifice numbers because (a) they are always going to be the best offensive option; (b) there is no overwhelming need to get teammates involved; and (c) it doesn't matter as much if they win or not. For this reason, the history of basketball is littered with relatively mediocre guys on losing teams averaging 25+ points per game, just as it is littered with transcendentally great players scoring 20 points or less on championship teams.

To use just my favorite example: in 1973 Tiny Archibald was the only player ever to lead the league in scoring and assists, averaging a 34-11.4. Based on these stats, he probably had the greatest season of any point guard. His team won 36 games.

In 1985, Isiah Thomas averaged 21 points and 13.9 assists per game (a record at the time) on a 46-win team. Not bad. But five years later he averaged an 18-8 on a team that won 63 games and almost swept the playoffs on their way to a championship.

My point is that Isiah Thomas could have scored 25+ points per game, and averaged 12+ assists for his entire career, but he gave up his numbers in pursuit of a championship.

In his defense, Kevin Love has not yet had to sacrifice his numbers for a winning team. But I suspect he will soon, and when he does, he will not be a worse player than he is now, but his gaudy numbers will almost certainly drop.

Anyway, I guess my point is: if we scale back the hyperbole surrounding Kevin Love's season, I think the haters will disappear. I certainly had no interest in running down his season until you compared him to Duncan and LBJ.

[Americas Team]

The Dwight Howard back situation is really interesting. If his back is forever fucked he could really have screwed himself. He could have forced a sign and trade. (Dickish but business savvy.) He could have signed a longer contract with the Magic. As it stands now he only has one more year guaranteed. His indecision may have cost him millions of dollars if he never recovers from this back injury.

[isoS]

Dr. Klapper (LA orthopedic surgeon/sports injury expert) thinks he's young enough that he can recover fully. I think, like Glen Davis said, they just worked him too hard. He was playing tons of minutes, and like all dominant centers, he takes a beating every game. If you look at his scant injury history, and his career-long dedication to strength and conditioning, I'd say he's got a good chance returning to 100%.

(There, I said something nice about Dwight Howard.)

[jesterobobman]

Quick back-track to the discussion of Kobe's relative value: SUNS 125, LAKERS 105 (Kobe sat w. shin injury, or "shinjury")

Let the record show that the Lakers are 4-1 without Kobe Bryant.(Not that this necessarily proves a bunch about how good he is, but considering the 1st game was used as evidence, the sample of 5 probably can be aswell.)

[bao]

(There, I said something nice about Dwight Howard.)

I can only imagine how much it must have pained you to write that.

Lakers-Mavs game was fun as hell to watch. I realize you (isos), and many others, don't like Mike Brown, but the Lakers' defense (and especially Bynum's) has improved by leaps and bounds, and is paying serious dividends now with Kobe out.

Andrew Bynum may be the single most hatable player I can remember watching. His body language is the worst I've ever seen. He is what I imagine Rick Barry to have been like, had Barry been black, 7-foot, 300 pounds, and infinitely less talented. Not since Mark Eaton has a player depended so completely on his size to be a force. When they draw up plays in the Lakers' huddle, I can picture Brown explaining: "Ok, Kobe, you come off the high screen, Pau, you flare to the right wing, and Andrew ... um, stand there and be huge."

That said, because of his freakish size, and a newfound interest in playing defense, Bynum has become a real force on defense. Given the relaxed zone rules, with his length, he can challenge pretty much anything within about 18-feet. The Lakers, alas, are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki is the only player in the last 20 years who every time he shoots, regardless of how many hands are in his face, I expect it to go in. I'm actually surprised every time he misses.

And Derrick Rose has finally said something totally fucking obnoxious:
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story...ly-rough-fouls

Not sure why he thinks he's the only guy in the league who takes hard fouls. Also not sure why he thinks the defense shouldn't foul him hard -- thats sorta what you're supposed to do to guards when they come into the lane. Also not sure what else he expected the officials to do -- they gave Villanueva a flagrant, even though he clearly played the ball, and just clipped Rose's nose in the process. Oh well, he gets a mulligan, but he's on 'bao's watchlist.

[isoS]

Now you understand the Bynum dilemma, at least a little bit. Add to that the fact that he will inexplicably disappear for a game or two, or do something unthinkably stupid (like get tossed for taunting the opposing team's bench after a make), or get an injury after a string of games where he looks like the best big man of his generation... Ugh, it goes on and on. Yes, he's still young... But he's been in the league SEVEN YEARS. That's crazy. I've lost count of how many times I've said, "Enough of this clown," only to turn around and see him be the dominant force everyone in Lakerland hoped he would be. (...for a stretch.)

Don't worry too much about the Lakers in the playoffs though, bao: for one thing, Kobe's return is bound to discombobulate everything (Matt Barnes can kiss his nice little streak of productive games goodbye), and for another, the Thunder are just so much younger, more athletic and cohesive. Maybe (a big maybe) the re-emergence of Metta World Peace as a defensive monster can slow down Durant, but we have no answer for Westbrook. (They have no answer for Bynum, but like I said, he'll probably find a way to take himself out.) The Lakers have to hope someone like Memphis or San Antonio takes out OKC, because they can't. I'd say the Lakers can beat Dallas and San Antone, but not OKC and probably not Memphis either. Oh, and the Clippers... I don't know. I don't think they're ready to win a big playoff series, especially against a battle-tested crew like the Lakers, but who knows.

Hey, looks like this will be the first year in as long as I can remember that there won't be a team with a losing record in the playoffs. Good job, Eastern Conference! You finally got your shit together!

[Couldn'tThinkOfaName]

Someone should give Rose a copy of the Jordan Rules, or read it to him.