Category Archives: NBA

NBA

NBA Points of Interest

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  • Shaquille O’Neal is likely not to make the all-star team for the first time in his 16-year career. He’s averaging a career-low 14.2 points and grabbing just 7.8 rebounds per game. O’Neal has already missed eight games with injury this season, and he’ll miss some more time with a hip problem.

    He entered the league in 1992 when I was eight years old. He was the first superstar I’ve watched since the beginning. He still has two years on his contract, but he appears to have very little diesel left in the tank. Watching him limp to the finish after he dominated the league for so many years is depressing.

  • Kwame Brown was booed at home in a bad Lakers loss to Phoenix last week. Yes, Laker fans are frustrated that Andrew Bynum was injured 35 games into his breakout season. But they’re also frustrated with Brown, who has been a bust with two teams now. The Lakers traded Caron Butler, who has since become an all-star player in Washington, in order to get Brown.

    Now in his seventh season, Brown’s pedestrian career averages of 7.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game raise an interesting question: Is Kwame Brown the NBA’s worst number one draft pick in the lottery era? I say yes. Who else is even in the running? Michael Olowokandi? Pervis Ellison? While he is still just 25 years old, Brown’s numbers and lack of impact suggest he is worthy of this dubious distinction.

    Who did the Wizards pass on in 2001 to take Brown first overall? Pau Gasol, Jason Richardson, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Tony Parker were all available. Oh, and someone named Gilbert Arenas slipped all the way to the second round.

  • With NBA teams at or around the 41 games played mark, the conference standings couldn’t be more different. In the East, first place Boston is the only team in the league. without double digits in the loss column. Detroit is chugging along in second place, and only four other teams are above .500. Meanwhile in the West, ten teams have records above .500, and first place New Orleans is just five and a half games ahead of Utah, who would be lottery bound if the season ended today.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA

Bad News in L.A.: The Bynum injury

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News came down today that Lakers center Andrew Bynum will miss eight weeks with a subluxation of his left kneecap and bone bruise.

Obviously this is a big blow to a Lakers team that has won six in a row and nine of their last 10 games. At 25-11 overall, the Lakers are within ½ game of Phoenix and Dallas for first place in the Western Conference with a game tonight against Seattle.

Who knows where the Lakers will find themselves in the standings in eight weeks upon Bynum’s return. In the ultra-competitive Western Conference, ninth place Utah is just five games back of first place, which means the Lakers could very easily slide from playoff contention.

Their schedule over the next eight weeks is going to be challenging. Between now and the end of the month they’ll play Phoenix, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, Cleveland and Detroit. That Detroit game on Jan. 31 is the opening night of a nine-game road trip.

But even more frustrating for Lakers fans than their immediate schedule, is the fact that they’ll miss out on 25-30 games worth of Bynum’s development this season.

The 20-year-old’s development into a capable big man has been one of the brightest spots for a Lakers team that has caught many off guard this year. His work with Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been paying off as Bynum has averaged 13.1 points per game while shooting better than 63 percent from the field. He’s also averaged 10.2 rebounds and 2.06 blocked shots per game while playing 28.8 minutes a night.

Bynum signifies hope for the Lakers’ future, but the early returns they were getting from him this season had Lakers fans wondering about how far this team could go. Expectations will have to be tempered for now.

Without Bynum in the lineup, the Lakers will look for Kwame Brown and Ronny Turiaf to increase their production, but there’s no doubt the team will anxiously await the return of Bynum.

His flashes of brilliance this season have made Lakers fans thankful the team nixed rumors of a trade involving Bynum last season for Jason Kidd of the New Jersey Nets. Bynum now seems poised to become one of the elite big men in the NBA, but first he’ll have to recover from his first major setback since the waves of success began flowing his way this year.

If the Lakers can stay afloat in the playoff race, and Bynum can return to full strength by April, there’s still a chance that they could make noise in the playoffs.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

College Basketball, NBA, NFL

Thoughts and Links From the Workweek

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It’s been a busy week in the office and on my social calendar (hence the lack of updates this week). I have managed to do plenty of Web browsing throughout the week though.

Check out these links to some of the most interesting sports news items and stories that caught my eye.

  • You have to read Wright Thompson’s story about Tony Harris, the former Washington State basketball player whose corpse was found in the forests of Brazil. This is not a sports story. This is a human story whose main character just happened to play basketball for a living. It’s a truly gripping and saddening tale. Thompson traveled to Brazil to unearth as many details as possible. You may also want to read Henry Abbott’s conversation with Thompson about the story on Abbott’s phenomenal blog, TrueHoop.
  • In more upbeat news, Bob Sanders had a great week. Already voted a Pro Bowl starter for the AFC, anders was named the 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and voted to the NFL All-Pro team. I’ve watched Sanders play since he was an RB/DB listed as Demond Sanders at Cathedral Prep and it’s been amazing to watch him develop into a star through hard work and hard hits. This Indianapolis Star article says Sanders plays the same way he played as a kid growing up in Erie, Pa. He’s also got his own special on the NFL network, “Who is Bob Sanders?” The show airs tonight at 10:30 with reairs on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
  • Like Sanders, Clayton Holmes was a Super Bowl-winning defensive back. But that is pretty much where the similarities end. Holmes’ tragic story is told by ESPN.com Page 2’s Jeff Pearlman.
  • Scoop Jackson makes an interesting case for Derek Fisher as the most important player to the Lakers success. I wrote a poem called “The Fish That Saved Los Angeles” after Fisher hit the game winning shot against the Spurs in game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals. Maybe it’s time for a reprise.
  • Did you see the biggest story in college basketball this week? Of course, I’m talking about 7’7” Kenny George, the tallest player in NCAA history. The UNC-Asheville junior got dunked on by North Carolina Tar Heel star Tyler Hansbrough in a 92-81 Tar Heel victory. George had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks in the loss, and he is definitely a player to keep an eye on.
  • Finally, have you read about 50-year-old basketball sharpshooter Dave Hopla? This guy makes more than 90 percent of his college-range 3-point shot attempts. And his streak of 1,234 consecutive made free throws really makes me feel like I need to improve upon my personal best of “thirty-something.”

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

College Basketball, College Football, MLB, NBA, NFL

How Often Do Championship Games Actually Live Up to the Hype?

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After watching three of the first four BCS bowl games turn out to be blowouts, I began wondering about the chances that LSU-Ohio State would also be a blowout similar to the Buckeyes-Gators championship from last year. And that got me thinking about championships in general. How often does the final game of the season actually live up to the hype of a championship?
I did some research and compiled tables (see below) from the past nine championship games (the first BCS champion was in 1999) in college football, the NFL, the NBA, college basketball and Major League Baseball. If we set parameters of a “close game” as 7 points or less in football, 6 points or less in basketball, and 2 runs or less in baseball, only 22 of 45 championship-deciding games have been close in the aforementioned sports since 1999.

 

It’s hard to compare across sports because obviously basketball games are higher scoring than football games, and baseball games are much lower scoring. Perhaps there’s some statistical expert out there who knows how to formulate a stat that could eliminate the variables and compare the scoring margin across the sporting world. But until that person steps forward, I’ll just offer the data and my observations.

 

Comparing football to football, the BCS championship games don’t quite stack up against the most recent Super Bowls. The average margin of victory in BCS title games is 15.33 whereas the Super Bowl margin of victory has been just 12.0 since 1999.

 

Judging the World Series and NBA Finals is also difficult because, unlike the other sports, they decide their champion in a series. But judging by the final game of the series, they are slightly more likely to be close games. In the case of Major League Baseball, no deciding game has been decided by more than 3 runs in the past nine years. Unfortunately, five of those years saw the World Series end in a four game sweep, which significantly lessens the drama and intrigue of the closeout game.

 

The Nielsen TV ratings indicate that the BCS is performing strongly. While the Super Bowl remains the standard by which all televised sporting events are measured, the BCS ratings average is greater than all of the other sports listed.

 

What does all this mean? I’m not completely sure, but basically it seems to suggest that even if the game Monday night is a blowout, I’ll probably be watching. Yeah, sounds about right.
(Click the images below to view full size.)


For more information, visit MattHubert.com.

NBA, personal stories

One Week Later: My thoughts from Lakers-Cavs 12/20/07

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Last Thursday, along with my brother Mike, my dad, my best friend Colvin and his dad, I traveled to Cleveland to watch the Lakers take on the Cavs. It was my first NBA game since 1998. That game was also Lakers-Cavs, though both teams bore little resemblance to their ’98 counterparts.

The only thing I remember about that ‘98 game is Mario Bennett, who scored a career high 21 points and pulled down double digit boards for the Lakers in an otherwise unremarkable 105-93 victory.

After looking at that old box score, it turns out Derek Anderson of the Cavs was actually the leading scorer in the game, not Bennett. And Shaq had 26 points to pace the Lakers, but he did so on 11-of-23 shooting.

Did you know three players from last week’s game also played in the ’98 contest? Derek Fisher, Zydrunas Ilgauskaus and some kid named Kobe Bryant.

As for the Cavs 94-90 win over the Lakers this time around, I have several observations:

  • The loudest ovation of the first half, and arguably the entire game, was the introduction of the newest Iron Chef, Cleveland restaurant owner Michael Symon. No offense to the chef, but you would think the fans of the reigning Eastern Conference Champions would be a bit more excited, especially for LeBron vs. Kobe. Also, piping in chants of de-fense – not very impressive.

  • There were at least two or three occasions when the Lakers used a halfhearted hug technique to foul LeBron on drives to the hoop, allowing him to get his shot up on the rim for the “and-1” opportunity. Part of that is LeBron’s strength, but you have to be able to commit a clean, hard foul in those circumstances to prevent the three-point play. You coach that in high school.

  • Poor Larry Hughes. It’s not his fault the Cavs signed him to a ridiculous contract, but he looked overmatched by everyone in a purple uniform. My brother actually apologized to the Cavs fans sitting next to us that they had to have Hughes on their roster. I think he was only half joking.

  • From the second quarter on, I kept saying, “It feels like we should be winning by a lot more than we are.” The Lakers enjoyed a double-digit lead for about 20 seconds late in the third quarter, but they had several key turnovers to stifle their own momentum throughout the game.

  • If you ask me, the game was lost in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter when Phil Jackson went with a lineup of Trevor Ariza, Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Jordan Farmar and Andrew Bynum. The Cavs turned a 78-75 deficit into an 83-78 lead in less than three minutes before Jackson reinserted Bryant into the lineup. I actually like what each of those players brings to the Lakers team, but as a unit, they brought the offense to a screeching halt.

  • After LeBron hit two free throws to put Cleveland up 92-90 with 1:44 to play, the Lakers had five chances to tie or take the lead, including two shots from Kobe. I’ll take those chances every game. This game, however, the shots simply didn’t fall.

  • Early in the season, when Kobe trade rumors were swirling, I proposed a four-team mega deal that I e-mailed to Bill Simmons, who calls himself the Picasso of ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine. At the time, you could make a case for all four teams, but I said the Cavs would be first to say no when it came to dealing LeBron. Fast forward to today, and the Heat and Knicks are dying for this sort of deal. But I think the Lakers are now as hesitant to deal Kobe as the Cavs would be to deal LeBron.

For more information, visit MattHubert.com.