The Bobcats Rebuilding Plan: 2012 Edition

The Bobcats are starting year 2 of their rebuilding process. As noted previously, the "tear down to build up" strategy has worked for Memphis and Oklahoma City, only it took 4 years for each team. At the end of year 1, how does the situation look?

• Roster. One year ago, the team had arguably two players that might be starters on a contender: DJ Augustin and Gerald Henderson. Today? The team has four (DJ Augustin, Gerald Henderson, Kemba Walker, and Bismack Biyombo).
• Salary Cap. One year ago, the expiring contracts of note were Boris Diaw ($9 million) and Eduardo Najera ($2.6 million), with $20 million coming in 2013 (Stephen Jackson, Diop, Carroll). Today? The Diaw and Najera contracts are gone, and the same $20 million cap relief is coming in 2013, with the added bonus of moving up 12 spots in the draft (for Biyombo), courtesy of effectively swapping S-Jax for Maggette.

So, year 1 provided some positive steps despite the historically awful record. And, while the #1 pick didn't fall the Bobcats' way, that doesn't knock the plan completely off the rails. With that in mind, here's a few suggested steps that the Bobcats should take in the next two months.

1. Draft Andre Drummond or Thomas Robinson. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I really like both of them as prospects,, and think both offer reasonable risk/reward. I lean slightly toward the former versus the latter (the easy part about being an armchair quarterback: you get to hedge your bets, while the pros have to make a pick. I don't envy you at the moment, Rich Cho).

2. Trade DJ Augustin for the #16 pick. In case you didn't know, the Houston Rockets have some issues at PG. Kyle Lowry wants to be traded, and Goran Dragic is an attractive free agent target. As insurance, they might be persuaded that a one-year insurance policy at point guard is worth their 2nd 1st round pick. So, why should the Bobcats let him go?

First, it gives Kemba Walker the full time point guard role (and rids us of the dreaded 6-foot backcourt). Second, there's a strong possibility that Quincy Miller will be there at #16, a prospect I truly believe has elite NBA scoring potential. He's generally disregarded as a player coming out a year early, but that has little to do with his ultimate NBA value. Definitely worth the pick.

3. Sign Roy Hibbert to an offer sheet. Over the last 4 years, Hibbert has proven to be a durable anchor on the offensive and defensive sides of the floor, in addition to being a great locker room example for younger guys. Market value for his services is probably in the DeAndre Jordan / Marc Gasol range ($11-15 million per year). Signing him to the high end would either 1) convince him to join the Bobcats, or 2) force a conference rival to pay at-or-above market value. (Note: this might work, to a lesser extent, with Brook Lopez).

Why should the Bobcats spend their cap room like this? Well, because they've got a lot of it. Starting with the summer of 2013, the Bobcats will have over $30 million a year in salary cap room with its amnesty still intact (another $8 million if Tyrus is cut loose). Signing Hibbert at a $15 million clip and using the amnesty on Thomas would only use a net $6-7 million of all thet cap room. That means that there'd still be plenty of room to sign a max free agent.
Assuming all this happens, the Bobcats roster would look very different.
PG: Kemba Walker, Cory Higgins
SG: Gerald Henderson, Matt Carroll
SF: Quincy Miller, Corey Maggette
PF: Andre Drummond / Thomas Robinson, Bismack Biyombo
C: Roy Hibbert, BJ Mullens
So, you don't have to be completely depressed that the team lost out on Anthony Davis. The team still needs a teaching head coach and a decent veteran backup at point guard, but there are paths back to relevance that don't involve the 'Brow.

Heat Pacers Summary

Best Player: Lebron James (Individual +39). The best thing about watching Lebron in this series had to be the passing displays he put on the last 3 games. Even as a high schooler, his passing ability stood out as sublime. Well, even if his career's development has been more MJ than Magic, he continues to prove that, when in command of all his abilities, he's a one man wrecking crew.
Worst Player: Leandro Barbosa (Individual -26). This is less a reflection on Leandro, and more likely a reflection of a current chink in the Pacers' collective armor. As a great defensive team, they'll likely be in most games even in the playoffs, but at a certain point, someone has to take the reins and find a bucket in crunch time. When looking at the similar plus/minus numbers for Darren Collison, it's clear that this was a problem, particularly for the 2nd unit.
Most Valuable Player: Roy Hibbert (Net +44). Much like Marc Gasol last year, his seems pre-destined to be the summer contract that raises a few skeptical eyebrows. Well, if you look at Roy's numbers compared to the best centers in the league over the last 3 years (Howard, M. Gasol, Bynum, Chandler), he gives you slightly less production, fewer minutes per game, but more actual games played. And those other 4 guys are currently on contracts that average $15.7 million per year. So a 5 year / $60 million deal ($12 million per) doesn't seem that crazy to me.
Least Valuable Player: Dwyane Wade (Net -20). Whether it was nagging injuries, difficult defensive matchups (like Paul George), or some other reason, this was not D-Wade's best series. One thing I don't understand... with the Thunder, the national media seem to obsess about the shot count of Durant versus Westbrook, presuming that since Durant is the better player, he has to take more shots for the team to play better. Given the utter dominance Lebron is submitting, shouldn't we be doing the same thing for the Heat?
Reverse Jerome James Award: Danny Granger. It feels like Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Danny Granger, Pau Gasol, Josh Smith, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Bosh should start a support group called "I'm Not the Scapegoat Everytime." Is Granger one of the best 15 players in the NBA? No. Is he better than Kevin Durant, Lebron James, or Carmelo Anthony? No. That's because those are arguably the three best scorers in the NBA. The Pacers aren't trying to win a superstar arms race. They're trying to build the Spurs East. You don't hear the Spurs complaining that Tony Parker isn't as good as Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook or Steve Nash. They know he's a cog in a machine, and the machine wins or loses on more than one guy's contribution. Maybe Pacers fans should try that next season.

Thunder Lakers Summary

Best Player: Russell Westbrook (Individual +51). Nevermind that, for two series in a row, the best player in a Lakers series was the opposing point guard (can't blame it on Fisher's defense, either). 2 years ago, it was such a big deal that Kobe Bryant decided to guard Russell, it must have single-handedly swung the series that year... a series that would've gone seven if Pau hadn't tipped in a Bryant airball at the end of Game 6. Fast forward two years, and Westbrook has evolved into the kind of offensive force that cannot be shut down, only contained if his shot is falling. The "if" part of that sentence probably decides the Western Conference finals.

Worst Player: Pau Gasol (Individual -49). Just one year ago, I was staunchly defending the Spaniard, whose plus/minus numbers held up surprisingly well in the 4-0 loss to the Mavericks. That wasn't the case here. With Bynum and Bryant demanding virtually all low post touches, and with Ibaka waiting to send every gentle layup into the upper deck, Gasol had very little chance of positively impacting the series. Although, he did surprisingly little with the 2nd unit as its primary scorer. However, I think there's plenty left in the tank, and some other win-now contenders could easily fit him into their plans (Atlanta, trading Josh Smith or Miami, trading Chris Bosh).

Most Valuable Player: Andrew Bynum (Net +24). The heir apparent of the Lakers handled himself quite well, and aside from motoring down on occasion (and, honestly, what dominant center of the last 20 years didn't have his motor questioned at times), seems to be a very strong future as a franchise player ahead of him. Hard to argue that a roster centered around his talents won't do well for the next 5 years.

Least Valuable Player: Derek Fisher (Net -21). Other than looking a lot fresher in his spot duty relative to his starter days as a Laker, there's just not a lot to say here.

Jerome James Award: Jordan Hill. It's hard to believe that three years ago, the draft world thought more of Jordan Hill than Brandon Jennings, Jrue Holiday, and Ty Lawson. Now, while the other three have had the better careers to this point, has Jordan Hill had the opportunity to show his stuff? Not really. Hopefully, the 2012 playoffs showed GM's enough to give him a shot next year and beyond. But, let's be honest... playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum doesn't give us the best gauge of his game. Hopefully, his market value reflects that.

Spurs Clippers Summary

(In a nod to reader commentary, the customary summary box will now come at the end.)

Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Tony Parker (Individual +56, Net +21). He's officially a 2nd team All-NBA player this year, so it's a little harder to say he's under-rated. But why is it that players like Paul Pierce and Chauncy Billups get so much more credit than TP? He's got as many Finals MVP's (one) as they do, and he's got more overall rings (3) than they do combined. In the discussion of best point guards in the league, everyone agrees on some order of Rose, CP3, and Deron Williams at the top... I think, based on resume, Tony deserves to be on that level.

Worst Player: Chris Paul (Individual -37). He's arguably the best pure point guard in the league, and most would say that he belongs on the short list of fiercest competitors in the NBA: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul. Well, the true test of competitive fire should be postseason success, right? Both Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams (supposedly me-first, coach-killing, stat-hunting players) have led teams to the Western Conference finals, losing only to the eventual NBA champions. Chris Paul has never played in the conference finals. It's likely that he gets there soon, but at this point, perception might be bigger than production.

Least Valuable Player (Net -24): Tiago Splitter. Last year, I was so confident in the evolution of Tiago Splitter, that I was willing to take the Spurs as preseason sleepers to win the NBA title. While that team did manage to grab the West's best record, Splitter wasn't a huge reason why. It'll be interesting to see if he's more productive against forwards and centers that pose less of an offensive threat in OKC.

Jerome James Award: Kawhi Leonard / Danny Green. Both these guys have played well for the Spurs in this postseason. As far as Kawhi goes, some may remember my enthusiasm for him in last year's draft:

"I see shades of Gerald Wallace (great rebounder, energy and versatility on defense), with a little sprinkle of Andre Iguodala (underrated passer handling the ball, particularly in the open court, potential lockdown defender). Is he the best player on a title contending team? No. But the last 6 champions needed a glue guy wing defender like this on their team (Prince, Bowen, Posey, Bowen, Posey, Ariza, Artest)."

They've both been important cogs in the San Antonio machine. But the Spurs organization is just that - a machine. A machine that can run smoothly with parts that other people have discarded or devalued. Part of that is freeing players to do what they do best, and hiding their weaknesses. A bigger part is getting to play next to 3 All-Star caliber players, one of whom is the greatest power forward of all time. Everyone sees the wonderful abilities of Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw on display now, but any Bobcat fan can tell you that those guys either couldn't or wouldn't produce like this for a lesser team. Let's remember that when assessing these players: this could be hint of things to come for both Leonard and Green, or it could be a perfect marriage of player and circumstance.

Steve Kerr is Wrong About Raising the Age Limit

Last week, Steve Kerr wrote a piece on Grantland concerning the NBA's current age limit. It's hard to say that there's a definitive right or wrong answer to the question he posed: is there an ideal age for players to enter the NBA? However, there were several points that seemed carelessly constructed or simply wrong, and I feel compelled to show the other side of his viewpoint.

1. Player Maturity

Kerr makes the point that a trend among young NBA players is a lack of maturity. Many of them seem unprepared to deal with the rigors of the NBA. That's probably because outside of playing in a foreign professional league like Brandon Jennings or Tony Parker did (neither of whom played college basketball), there is no good preparation for living life as an NBA player. And, for every example of an immature young player, there's an example of petulant behavior from players that went to college for 2+ years.

• Allen Iverson (2 college years) won scoring titles with little postseason success for years.
• Shaquille O'Neal (2 college years) didn't become a champion until Phil Jackson got him to fully commit, for 48 minutes, on both ends of the court.
• Chauncey Billups (2 college years) played for 4 teams before "figuring it out."
• Metta World Peace (2 college years) has had 2 careers' worth of issues.
• Deron Williams (3 college years) constantly clashed with Jerry Sloan, eventually prompting the longest-tenured coach in the NBA to resign rather than deal with him.

Basketball players, like everyone else, mature at different speeds. College is not a magic elixir to speed that process up.

2. Financial Costs

According to Kerr, the one-and-done rule harms the NBA financially by 1) allowing players to make more money by having longer careers (which is supposedly bad for some reason); and 2) losing the NBA money because teams invest money in bad draft picks versus good ones.

First off, NBA team salary levels aren't really dependent on the age of their players, for two reasons:

• NBA teams have to spend 85% of the salary cap each year on players. If they don't, like the Kings didn't a few years ago, they have to distribute the shortfall to all the players on the roster.
• The collective bargaining agreement guarantees that NBA players have to receive at least 49% of the league's basketball-related income.

Second, being an college upperclassmen doesn't make the draft evaluations any more accurate. There have been plenty of poorly evaluated players that spent 2+ years in college.

• Adam Morrison (Jr) was drafted ahead of Brandon Roy (Sr) in 2006.
• Nick Young (Jr) was drafted ahead of Aaron Afflalo (Jr) in 2007.
• Jason Thompson (Sr) was drafted ahead of Roy Hibbert (Sr) in 2008.
• Tyler Hansbrough (Sr) was drafted ahead of Ty Lawson (Jr) in 2009.
• James Anderson (Jr) was drafted ahead of Landry Fields (Sr) in 2010. Also, Jeremy Lin (Sr) went undrafted.
• Chris Singleton (Jr) was drafted ahead of Kenneth Faried (Sr) in 2011. 

3. Player Development

Using the examples of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan, Kerr makes the argument that players with 2+ years of college experience arrive ready to play. Aside from the obvious flaw in using 3 of the 10 best players of all time as normal examples, that doesn't mean young players don't ever contribute right away. Younger players have stepped in and improved a team immediately.

• Amare Stoudemire took the Suns to playoffs in 2003 as a rookie out of high school. In his first ever playoff series, matched up with Tim Duncan (league MVP) and the eventual champion Spurs, he averaged 14 and 8, shooting 52% from the field.
• Carmelo Anthony joined the Denver Nuggets in 2003, turning a 17 win team into a 43 win playoff team as a rookie.
• Derrick Rose led the Bulls to the playoffs in his rookie year, taking the defending NBA champion Celtics to 7 games in arguably the greatest 1st round playoff series ever.

4. Marketing

College basketball is a great way to get non-NBA players national exposure at little to no cost to the NBA, giving the league an immediate boost in business for the teams that draft them. Kerr believes that the power of this effect has waned since the rookie years of Ewing, Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Hakeem, even asking rhetorically, "how often does that happen today?"

Well, as it turns out, in today's NBA, it happens quite a bit. To the right you can see the largest increases in home attendance over the past 10 seasons. Overall, there are two main drivers: winning, and big-time rookies. Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony all generated significant buzz despite only 1 year of college. Yao Ming and Ricky Rubio were big draws despite never playing a single college game. How many college upperclassmen registered with fans as rookies? There's no alum on the list from the 2-time national champion Florida Gators. No players from UConn's title teams. No upperclassmen sensations like Jay Williams, Adam Morrison, Stephen Curry, and Kemba Walker. The only upperclassmen entry? Raymond Felton and Sean May, from UNC, who were drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats in Charlotte, NC. Fans don't need college basketball to show them young talent. They can find it just fine on their own.

5. A Sense of Team

Kerr mentions here that the structure of the college game will be able to teach players lessons that will help them at the next level. These lessons, while lacking at other levels of basketball, exist in college.

Both Stephen Curry and Jimmer Fredette honed their offensive skills in at least 3 years of college basketball. However, neither of them learned to play adequate defense, and are both considered among the worst defenders in the NBA today. In both cases, you could argue that Davidson and BYU needed their scoring to win, even if it meant they never played defense. College coaches, like NBA coaches, are paid to win games, not develop players.

During Game 7 of the Lakers-Nuggets series, Kerr himself joked about the rawness of Javale McGee's offensive game, a stark contrast with the complete arsenal of Andrew Bynum. Well, one of those guys (McGee) spent two years in college, and one of them (Bynum) jumped straight from high school. In what way did McGee's 2 extra years of college development help him as opposed to Bynum the high schooler?

6. Mentoring

Kerr states that the league's stars need more professionalism and maturity:

"...it's the maturity and professionalism of veteran stars like Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, Grant Hill, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, and Paul Pierce — guys who spent multiple years in college — setting the tone for everyone else. We need more of them."

 There are almost too many examples of quality leaders that didn't get 2 years of college.

• Everyone who covered the 2008 Celtics swears that Kevin Garnett (0 years of college) created the identity of toughness and intensity that pervades the Celtics, even getting historically non-defense guys like Ray Allen (3 years of college) and Paul Pierce (3 years of college) to buy in.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder has arguably the best young core in the league. The qualities of humility, tireless preparation, and laser-like focus flow from the leader of that team, Kevin Durant (1 year of college). In addition, most observers believe that part of OKC's failure in last season's playoffs stemmed from an inability of Russell Westbrook (2 years of college) to meld his talents with the team concept.
• Derrick Rose (1 year of college) and Kevin Love (1 year of college) have clearly changed the culture of their respective franchises, showing teammates the value of tenacity both on the court and in the offseason.

The argument for raising the NBA age limit seems to be based on anecdotal evidence at best, and no evidence at worst. The NBA as a business is as well-positioned as it's ever been, and the young talent is resonating with the fanbase. The current path of the league doesn't need to be altered, let alone "fixed" by changing this rule. As for other reasons for potentially changing the rule, I think that Commissioner Stern said it perfectly years ago:

"it's for [prospective players] and their parents to make the decision rather than all of us sanctimoniously and piously making these judgments."

Clippers Grizzlies Summary



Best Player: Rudy Gay (Individual +16). Last year, I sympathized with Rudy during Memphis' playoff run. It seemed like anything short of 1+ series wins this year would be deemed a failure, and he'd be the easy fall guy. "Rudy can't figure out how to play with Z-Bo and Gasol," etc... and look what happened. Well, here's a few other theories about what went wrong: 1) Darrell Arthur's injury left Memphis no reliable frontcourt depth. 2) The Vasquez trade left no reliable backup PG, and the 2nd unit offense fell apart. 3) Memphis had a better 1st round matchup last year. None of this softens the blow of losing, but stay the course, Memphis: with a healthy Z-Bo and Arthur, and a backup PG, the contender window is open next year.

Worst Player / Least Valuable Player: Caron Butler (Individual -22, Net -21). Caron probably could've bowed out with no shame or guilt given his injury, and he didn't. So he'll hear nothing from me. Way to tough it out.

Most Valuable Player: Nick Young (Net +17). Every once in a while (read: every time I write a summary), I wonder if this way of looking at series makes any sense at all. Nick Young as series MVP validates it for me. In a few weeks (probably) or years (definitely), the world will look back on this series as further proof of Chris Paul's greatness, or our first collective look at postseason Blake Griffin. But Nick Young loomed just as large. Given his professional resume before this series, we should probably wait a year to decide if he's truly turned a corner as a player. But, no matter what happens, Nick Young played arguably the biggest part in one of the greatest NBA playoff comebacks ever.

Jerome James Award: DeAndre Jordan. I enjoy the DeAndre Jordan career arc. College basketball talking heads trashed him for leaving early and getting drafted in the 2nd round. So he responded by working into a serviceable defensive center with some serious upside potential in 2 short years. While his 2nd contract seemed a little steep, a "poor man's Tyson Chandler" was worth it. Well, for one round, it definitely wasn't. Versus his regular season numbers, Jordan gave the Clippers 7 fewer minutes per game, 4 fewer points, 4 fewer rebounds, and very little "Chandler-lite" defensive impact. Having said all that, he's about to face the Spurs, and the league's best finisher at PG in Tony Parker, so all this could change in a few games.

Lakers Nuggets Summary



Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Ty Lawson (Individual +22, Net +20). And the decade-long tradition of Lakers teams giving up big series to quick point guards continues. Lawson's end-to-end quickness is amazing to watch, but this series revealed that a reliable 3 pointer is probably all that stands between Lawson and All-Star level play.

Worst Player: Steve Blake (Individual -17). Steve Blake's shooting in Games 4 and 7 probably won the Lakers series, right? Then why is is plus/minus so bad? Probably because of the minutes he logged playing shooting guard with the 2nd unit, and getting torched by Andre Miller. Lucky for him, World Peace arrived just in time to take this defensive assignment off his hands. This is extremely important for the Lakers, because waiting in the next round is James Harden, who will probably prove a tougher cover.

Least Valuable Player: Danilo Gallinari (Net -18). Aside from Game 6, Gallinari's plus/minus numbers were just terrible. It's hard to figure this one out, because with World Peace out, there was no theoretical matchup to keep this guy in check other an ailing, aging, shorter Bryant. As a big Gallinari fan, his career ceiling may have shifted from poor man's #1/quality #2 to #2/#3 with this series.

Jerome James Award: Kenneth Faried. Yeah, he averaged a double-double in the series. Yeah, he's got an awesome nickname. And yeah, he's one half of my regular season highlight of the year. At the same time, let's pump the brakes on the Manimal love-fest. He clearly has a place in the league as a backup energy guy, rebounder. He's probably great from a chemistry perspective as the 7th or 8th guy on a team. But unless he's the second coming of Charles Barkley, Game 7 showed everyone the limit of his game: against engaged, legitimate NBA size, he will have trouble on both ends of the floor. And that in no way keeps him from being my new favorite Denver Nugget.

Celtics Hawks Summary



Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Kevin Garnett (Individual +58, Net +36). Given the general lack of true centers in the NBA, moving Garnett to the 5 has worked out really well. There just aren't many centers in the league that he'd have trouble guarding (Howard, Bynum, maybe Marc Gasol), and he may not see any of them the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the defense overall doesn't suffer, and the lineup options become way more varied. This concludes the section where I give the Celtics credit for anything.

Worst Player: Marvin Williams (Individual -9). What is there to say? For a 6-8 small forward with no reasonable defender across from him (in terms of height or athleticism), he has officially descended from "maybe a change of scenery will unleash his real talent" to "oh yeah, I forgot he existed."

Least Valuable Player: Brandon Bass (Net -23). A truly confusing outcome, to say the least. Four Celtics played 93% of the minutes in this series for the bigs. And while Garnett really produced, the other three (Bass, Stiemsma, Hollins) not only couldn't keep up, two of them were really negative contributors. Either the other bigs simply gave up a big run every time Garnett sat down, or Boston played a really small lineup to great success. Either way, a team with legit size could present a large problem down the road... if it existed.

Reverse Jerome James Award: Josh Smith. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what isn't Josh Smith's fault when it comes to the Hawks. Maybe he's the secret GM that picked Marvin over CP3 and Deron, and I'm the only one who doesn't know that. Regardless, despite his forgettable last shot of the season, he had a pretty good series. In terms of net plus/minus, his hobbled production was the same as Al Horford, who can do absolutely no wrong (apparently nobody saw those last two free throws). I'm not saying J-Smoove is a perfect player, but maybe like Horford, his true talents might be better enjoyed by everyone if he could get away from the Hawks.

76ers Bulls Summary

Best Player / Most Valuable Player: Andre Iguodala (Individual +22, Net +13). It's been a personal belief that a team with Andre Iguodala as its #2 guy could easily win a title. Outstanding defense, great passer to the point of still being under-rated, great going to the basket and in transition, and a decent resume as a part time closer (Game 1, 2009 1st round against Orlando before Game 6). The problem is, his supporters say that's selling him short, and his detractors say he's overpaid. Well, guess what? The NBA has a very finite supply of true alpha dogs (Lebron, Dirk, Kobe, Wade, Dwight, CP3, Durant), and none of them can win it alone. Plus, the #2 guy on the last few title teams (Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett) were miscast as #1's and had pretty hefty contracts.

Worst Player: Luol Deng (Individual -9). Played a ton of minutes through some seriously painful injuries, so I'm not taking any shots at him. An understated priority in the offseason for Chicago is getting Deng healthy and finding someone to spell him at SF for the regular season. He can't keep averaging 39 minutes a game in the regular season with all Thibs asks him to do.

Least Valuable Player: Evan Turner (Net -9). Not sure if Doug Collins lucked into this or not, but Evan Turner's point guard-ish game is the perfect compliment to Jrue Holiday's 2 guard-ish game. Probably shouldn't have taken 68 games to figure it out, but hey, better late than never.

Jerome James Award: Richard Hamilton / Carlos Boozer. It's not rocket science to heap blame on Boozer's shoe-polished head for the team's performance. But there's very little heading in Rip's direction. Look at their scoring numbers in the regular season and in the last 5 games of the series, post-Rose injury:

Richard Hamilton		FGA	FTA	Shots	PPS	PPG
Regular Season		11.1	1.3	12.4	0.94	11.6
Last 5 Games		12.6	3.2	15.8	0.75	11.8
Change		1.5	1.9	3.4	-0.19	0.2
Carlos Boozer		FGA	FTA	Shots	PPS	PPG
Regular Season		12.8	2.1	14.9	1.01	15.0
Last 5 Games		16.4	1.2	17.6	0.82	14.4
Change		3.6	-0.9	2.7	-0.19	-0.6

Both guys started scoring the ball at a much worse clip. Now, granted, Boozer has the bigger contract, but which one of these guys has more postseason experience? Hamilton. Which one has been to the NBA Finals twice, winning a title once? Hamilton. He's definitely not the guy he was 7 years ago, but Andre Miller isn't either, and he's finding a way to make an impact for the Nuggets. I think the whole series can be thrown out from a Bulls fan's perspective, except for one thing: Hamilton was brought in, in part, for the value he'd bring when the playoffs got tough. At least for these 5 games, that's not what he brought.

Pacers Magic Summary

(note: this series was largely banished to NBA TV, and I didn't see nearly as much as I should have to comment on what went on, so unfortunately, all I have to share is the raw numbers)

Best Player: David West (Individual +63).

Worst Player: Glen Davis (Individual -43).

Most Valuable Player: David West (Net +19).

Least Valuable Player: Darren Collison (Net -17).



Heat Knicks Summary

Best Player: Lebron James (Individual +53). If only there was anything important to be gained from a 1st round performance. But, for the best player in the league, there just isn't.

Worst Player: Carmelo Anthony (Individual -54). Most people would have guessed that, going into the series, the outcome would be the Heat in a short series, with a possible outburst from Melo to break the boredom. Well, Melo got 28 a game, scoring 0.84 points per shot, but managed to lead his team to victory with a 41 point Game 4.

Most Valuable Player: Mike Bibby (Net +25). Most of this number is coming from Game 3, which was 84% garbage time. Remember 10 years ago, when Mike Bibby was the closer on the most entertaining team in basketball (the '02 Kings), hitting dagger jumpers in the Western Conference finals? Seems like forever ago, and watching him now, it really was forever ago.

Least Valuable Player: Mike Miller (Net -19). Every championship team usually has a non-star glue guy that provides big moments along the way. After the Big 3 signed in the summer of 2010, Miller was supposed to be that guy. I'd argue that Miller's contract (5 years, $30mm) might have been a worse signing than Bosh's quasi-max deal at this point. Bosh at least had the Bulls series last year.

Jerome James Award: Shane Battier. This was supposed to be a key, savvy addition by the Heat in the offseason. This was the benefit of being the favorite: cherry picking the best free agent who would easily outperform his salary. There's just one part that doesn't fit: he's too old to guard both wings, relegating him to small forwards. But he already plays with arguably the best small forward defender in the NBA as a teammate. That, combined with Battier's pedestrian shooting from 3, and I'm not sure why this is the missing piece over a true center.

Spurs Jazz Summary

Best Player: Tony Parker (Individual +31). Thankfully, enough people who follow the NBA are giving Tony credit for his awesome season. In my opinion, the most under-rated NBA player of the last decade. How many guys have started at point guard for a playoff team at 18? How many guys outplayed Gary Payton in their first playoff series, as a rookie? We'll probably look back on his career resume, and like most Spurs players, be shocked at how little credit we gave him.

Worst Player: Al Jefferson (Individual -51). There's very little to say about a guy in his first playoff series, you're not supposed to dominate. Al was supposed to be the classic numbers-over-winning player the last 5 years, but I like him too much to bag on him for not winning against the NBA's best regular season team.

Most Valuable Player: Derrick Favors (Net +38). Considering the physical tools, attitude, and work ethic at Favors' disposal, we probably don't talk enough about the upside he may possess. He manages to affect games positively despite a lack of refined skills or any veteran savvy. To wit... while Gordon Hayward posted a -61 in 123 minutes, Favors was -1 in 116 minutes. There is clearly something here that bears watching.

Least Valuable Player: Stephen Jackson (Net -20). Given the depth San Antonio displayed in this series, this doesn't concern me that much. I still remember Jackson keeping the 2003 Spurs in games with timely shooting and defense (check the tape on Game 6 of the Mavs series), so I know his time will come when the stakes are higher down the line.

Jerome James Award: Boris Diaw. Watching Boris is watching a player gifted with a variety of skills on offense and defense, and a player cursed with a demeanor almost completely unfit for any leadership role on a team. After quitting on the Bobcats, he's landed in a situation that combines high ego-massaging (somehow started all 4 games despite arriving in March) and low expectations (his contributions are basically a luxury). Watching him flip the switch on a new team only reinforces the idea that the "get bought out, join a contender" maneuver leaves a bitter taste for most fans of "have-not" organizations in the league.

Thunder-Mavericks Summary

The NBA playoffs are back in full swing, which means one thing: the return of the recaps that raise more questions than answers. A brief refresher from last year: the plus minus stats from every game are used to identify how players performed in the series.

Best Player: James Harden (Individual +32). In a change from last year, this is a category that has been added to each recap. Which player put up the best individual plus/minus number in the series? The answer is James Harden, and it's not even close. All the dimensions of his game were on full display in this series. How much of that was a product of a great matchup, and how much was his innate ability? We likely won't know until the 2nd round, when he gets defended by Afflalo/Brewer or Kobe/Barnes/World Peace.

Worst Player: Jason Terry (Individual -24). Last year, particularly in the Finals, Jason Terry placed a lot of pressure on his own shoulders, and then came through in a big way. Not so much this spring. Granted, in a series where Dallas seemed hopelessly overmatched, it's not odd that a guy who played so many minutes for a team that got swept wouldn't have a good plus/minus. Then again, JET was -34 in 144 minutes, while one of his teammates played 138 minutes and was +2 overall...

Most Valuable Player: Jason Kidd (Net +21). Most people have bought into the narrative that Jason Kidd exemplified all the flaws of the 2012 Mavericks: two steps slow, which no amount of experience would be able to overcome. Unfortunately for that theory, Jason Kidd was +2 in a series his team lost by 26, while a more athletic, defensively versatile guy like Shawn Marion was -13. As an impending free agent, there's probably a lot of teams that might benefit from his supposedly "over-the-hill" services.

Least Valuable Player: Thabo Sefolosha (Net -16). Thabo's best attribute for the Thunder is playing very solid perimeter defense on the other team's best scorer. Since the Mavericks don't really have that guy on their team, and Serge Ibaka drew the Dirk assignment (and did very well, I might add), Sefolosha didn't really bring a lot to the table that the Thunder needed. Much like Harden, though, this number might look different playing against guys like Kobe or Gallinari in the next round.

Jerome James Award: Dirk Nowitzki. In every playoff series last year, Dirk had a positive plus-minus, and his team was better with him on the court than off. Not so in this series. The Mavs may have thrown this whole season for Deron and Dwight Howard, and no one embodied that idea more than Dirk's beginning to the season. And in this series, no one could argue there was just something missing. Last year, we watched him score in every conceivable situation in crunch time. This year, we saw his team lose 4 close games in the 4th quarter. Being the leader means getting disproportionate credit and blame, and in the absence of another obvious scapegoat (I'm sure Kendrick Perkins will look worse later this spring), this is the most logical choice. The Finals MVP just got swept out of the playoffs by the same team he beat in 5 games last year. Enough said.