2013-14 - Around the League Thread

[nuraman00]

Miami Heat

112
Final (OT)
Recap | Box score
110
Orlando Magic

Most valuable player: Nikola Vucevic had the game of his life, finishing with 20 points and 29 rebounds (both career highs) in the first 20-20 game of his career. His 29 rebounds set a Magic franchise record (the previous record-holder was Shaquille O'Neal, who had 28 rebounds in 1993).

Defining moment: Trailing 108-106 with 17.7 seconds remaining in overtime, Orlando had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead. But J.J. Redick threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Dwyane Wade, which led to a dunk on the other end and effectively ended the game.

That was ... an instant classic: In front of an announced crowd of 19,311 at Amway Center, the largest crowd ever to see a Magic home game, the Magic and Heat engaged in a thrilling duel on New Year's Eve that went down to the wire.

-- Eddy Rivera, Magic Basketball




7. Quote Of The Night

"I put the playbook in the freezer and just let our guys go at them."

-- Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap, on his approach with his team tied 65-65 heading into the fourth quarter. His team proceeded to snap an 18-game losing streak, beating Chicago.



9. Stat Check
By Elias Sports Bureau


LeBron James averaged 27.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game in December while making 55 percent of his shots from the floor. Only two other players in NBA history reached all those levels in a calendar month in which they played at least 10 games. Wilt Chamberlain did it in February 1967 (28.6 PPG, 25.8 Reb/G, 8.9 Ast/G, .721 FG%) and Larry Bird did that in March 1987 (29.7/9.8/8.3/.555).

 

[nuraman00]

Thanks.

 

[nuraman00]

Alex Smith is from Utah college wise. Jeremy Lin's has a Taiwanese background. I'm not Taiwanese, but my friends and family have ties to Taiwanese people, whether it be friends or through marriage. So I follow Jeremy Lin.

It's a little different because I'm from Utah and have a basketball team, so the Rockets would never be my team, I have no need to go choose a team. With the NFL, there was no NFL team in my state, so as a kid, I had to choose a team. SF, though farther away than Denver or Arizona and the same distance as Oakland give or take a bit, was my "local" team, so I rooted for them, even when they weren't good, before and during Smith's tenure here. I could have rooted for da Bears, as my uncle was from Chicago, but that was too removed for me. Then, Alex Smith from my local college at the time, went to SF. Perfect match rooting wise.

Now, I can't root for the Rockets, as they are a rival (more in the 1990's), but I do have few players I follow around the league. OJ Mayo went to USC, so I hope the best for him, but I didn't watch him much in college. Bogut will retire after being injured too long. Andre Miller is getting older.

Thanks.

Clintonite33 is also a Niners fan, and has said there's a ton in Utah.

 

[nuraman00]

From Daily Dime:

That was ... awkward: A large contingent of Kansas State fans in Phoenix for the Fiesta Bowl got off three first-half chants pleading to see former Wildcat Michael Beasley. Alvin Gentry obliged in the second quarter, and the Sixers outscored the Suns 17-6 during that span. The forward didn't return for the rest of the game.

 

[nuraman00]

MVP: Carlos Boozer did whatever he wanted offensively against the Magic's front line, finishing with a season-high 31 points and 11 rebounds. Boozer made a living in the paint and had his funky jumpshot going down from midrange for good measure.

 

[MHSL82]

Thanks.

Clintonite33 is also a Niners fan, and has said there's a ton in Utah.

I wish he would join us here. If you know him on facebook or whatnot, maybe you could invite him? I sent a message through ESPN to him, but I don't know if he checks that. We may not have the quantity of ESPN but if we added the regulars, this would be a better board, IMO than ESPN.

 

[nuraman00]

I wish he would join us here. If you know him on facebook or whatnot, maybe you could invite him? I sent a message through ESPN to him, but I don't know if he checks that. We may not have the quantity of ESPN but if we added the regulars, this would be a better board, IMO than ESPN.

He's moved on to Twitter. He prefers that over message boards.

There is one message board he likes. I can't remember what it is. I'll ask him sometime.

He keeps trying to get me to join Twitter.

 

[MHSL82]

He's moved on to Twitter. He prefers that over message boards.

There is one message board he likes. I can't remember what it is. I'll ask him sometime.

He keeps trying to get me to join Twitter.

I suppose Twitter's fine if you have a network, but right now I see it as a one-man show thing where you just send your thoughts out there into outer space. If I were more interesting, I suppose it could work. But if I posted this... ehh.

 

[nuraman00]

I suppose Twitter's fine if you have a network, but right now I see it as a one-man show thing where you just send your thoughts out there into outer space. If I were more interesting, I suppose it could work. But if I posted this... ehh.

140 characters is too little.

I can't paste articles, stats, or videos (or links to videos).

 

[nuraman00]

He does like interacting with athletes. As I mentioned in another thread, his youngest daughter would tweet with CJ Miles (using his account I presume).

And he's tweeted something to Deron before, who responded.

 

[nuraman00]

Around the League Thread

No Shock: KG Is A Difference-Maker On D NBA.com | Hang Time Blog

 

[MHSL82]

Boston Celtics' Rajon Rondo was 'just joking' with referee

I like that Rondo gets a lot of assists. I don't give him the benefit of the doubt. Suspension and "investigation" deserved. He just keeps doing it, so this is what he gets. Strict liability - you bump a ref, with your history, you're out. I'd feel the same if he were a Jazz man. And by the way, shut up about it, just take the suspension, assist in the investigation, don't bump the refs, and don't be surprised with stricter punishment than others without your history if you do.

 

[MHSL82]

The Lakers are currently 15-20, which means there are 47 games left. The last spot of the Western Conference playoffs is Portland, who is on pace to win 46 games. So if the Lakers were to catch them, they'd have to win 31 of the 47 games, a 66% winning percentage, which would be good for 7th best right now (6 teams have a winning percentage above 66%).

The Lakers have 17 games against teams with a worse record than they have, but even if they were to win all of those, they'd still need to win 14 games out of 30, a winning percentage of 47%, higher than their current winning percentage. They have 21 games against non-playoff teams. If they were to somehow win all of those games, they'd still need to win 10 of 26 games against playoff teams - that's 38.5% a little under the 42.9% they are winning now.

In 2006-07, 42 wins made it, shared coincidentally by the Lakers (Golden State tied and lost the tiebreaker). But ever since, 8th best in the WC usually carries a 46-50 wins in the record.

Do they have a chance at all?

 

[MHSL82]

I know you're not a fan of looking at schedules and I know there's no way they win all games they are better than or all non-playoff games, I was just giving a point of reference to the numbers they'd need to do. As players, they can just go out and try to win all of them.

Do you know what the biggest standings comeback in history was?

 

[nuraman00]

I know you're not a fan of looking at schedules and I know there's no way they win all games they are better than or all non-playoff games, I was just giving a point of reference to the numbers they'd need to do. As players, they can just go out and try to win all of them.

Do you know what the biggest standings comeback in history was?

No.

The worst start to make the playoffs was Phoenix in 1996-1997, who started 0-13. I don't know what the standings were at that point.

Cool Standings probably would have had it, as they would have done it by calculating playoffs odds and seen which team came back from the worst odds, but they stopped doing NBA in 2011 and MLB after 2012.

Here are their biggest MLB comebacks (I can't find NBA), to show you what I mean.

MLB Top Comebacks - coolstandings.com

Credit BobWhitsittsGhost/JLPRK/Herb_The_Crusher/Ferocious_Rooster (all the same person) for showing me Cool Standings years ago.

 

[MHSL82]

How can DeJuan Blair play without an anterior cruciate ligament in either knee?

 

[MHSL82]

The Lakers are currently 15-20, which means there are 47 games left. The last spot of the Western Conference playoffs is Portland, who is on pace to win 46 games. So if the Lakers were to catch them, they'd have to win 31 of the 47 games, a 66% winning percentage, which would be good for 7th best right now (6 teams have a winning percentage above 66%).

The Lakers have 17 games against teams with a worse record than they have, but even if they were to win all of those, they'd still need to win 14 games out of 30, a winning percentage of 47%, higher than their current winning percentage. They have 21 games against non-playoff teams. If they were to somehow win all of those games, they'd still need to win 10 of 26 games against playoff teams - that's 38.5% a little under the 42.9% they are winning now.

In 2006-07, 42 wins made it, shared coincidentally by the Lakers (Golden State tied and lost the tiebreaker). But ever since, 8th best in the WC usually carries a 46-50 wins in the record.

Do they have a chance at all?

Los Angeles Lakers' championship hopes are dead

 

[nuraman00]

Los Angeles Lakers' championship hopes are dead

Haro_78 (Not a Lakers fan) estimates they need to go 29-15 to make the playoffs (split Cleveland and Milwaukee 1-1 to have a 16-22 record).

Here's my observations:

For the sake of discussion, what do you think about these?



* In 2001-2002, Minnesota started 30-10. They finished 20-20. What would you have said if they started 20-20? Could they have finished 30-10? There weren't any major injuries.

* In 2002-2003, Indiana started 37-15. They finished 11-19. If they had started 11-19, could they have finished 37-15? There weren't any major injuries.

* In 2002-2003, the L.A. Lakers started 11-19. Shaq had missed the first 12 games. They finished 39 - 13. They lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs.



* In 2003-2004, the New Jersey Nets started 21-20. They fired Byron Scott after 42 games. They finished 26-15. The Nets won 14 in a row. Scott coached the 1st game of the winning streak, and Lawrence Frank had the rest. They lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs, to Detroit, in 7 games.



* In 2004-2005, the Denver Nuggets were 17-23 after 40 games. They had fired Jeff Bzdelik, and gone through Michael Cooper for 14 games. They then hired George Karl. They finished 32-8. They won game 1 against the Spurs, but lost the 1st round series in 5 games.



* In 2004-2005, the Golden State Warriors were 16-38 (54 games). They traded for Baron Davis, who played in the remaining 28 games, starting 19. They finished 18-10.



* In 2005-2006, the Sacramento Kings were 18-24. They then traded Stojakovic for Artest. They finished 26-14. They had a 2-2 series tie with the Spurs, as the 8th seed, but lost in 6 games. They could have won game 2, but allowed Brent Barry to hit a 3-pointer to send it to overtime, and lost.


* In 2009-2010, Boston started out 23-5. They finished 27-27. No major injuries. If they had started out 27-27, could they have finished 23-5? They made it to game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, where they had a double-digit 3rd quarter lead, but lost.



I'm now going to rank the best stretch of these cherry-picked season standings, in terms of win %.


Boston's 2009-2010 23-5 start (28 games): .821

Denver's 2004-2005 32-8 finish (40 games) under George Karl: .800

L.A. Lakers 2002-2003 39-13 finish (52 games): .750

Minnesota's 2001-2002 30-10 start (40 games): .750

Indiana's 2002-2003 37-15 start (52 games): .716

Haro_78's estimated 29-15 finish (44 games) for the Lakers to make the playoffs: .659

Sacramento's 2006-2006 26-14 finish (40 games) after trading for Artest: .650

Golden State's 2004-2005 18-10 finish (28 games) after trading for Baron Davis: .643

New Jersey's 26-15 2003-2004 finish (40 of the 41 games coached by Lawrence Frank): .634

 

[nuraman00]

(Edit time expired):

* In 2004-2005, the New Jersey Nets were 9-16. They had traded for Vince Carter a week ago, but he would make his Nets debut in his next game. The Nets also had Kidd injured in early November. The Nets finished 33-24. They got the 8th seed in the playoffs, but were swept by Miami.



New Jersey's 33-24 2004-2005 finish (57 games) after trading for Vince Carter and having him play his first game: .579

 

[nuraman00]

No, this doesn't take into account that THIS Lakers team has injuries. It's just looking at past stretches of seasons for other teams, whether they started out great or finished great.