Hoops Analyst - - Page 110

Surprise Squads So Far

by Harlan Schreiber • January 5, 2008 • 0 Comments

If you had to pick the surprise good teams of the first two months of the season, Portland, New Orleans, and the Lakers are the three teams that are really outperforming expectations. Yes, the Celtics are probably the most outperforming so far, but I don’t anyone really expected any of other three teams to break .500, let alone be on paces to break 50 wins. How realistic is it that any of these three team can keep this pace? First off, here are their current records and point differentials:

-New Orleans Hornets, 22-11, .667, 1 game back in the Southwest, point differential of +4.2 per game

-Los Angeles Lakers, 20-11, .645%, 2.5 games back in the Pacific, point differential of +5.5 per game

-Portland Trailblazers, 20-13, .606, 0.5 games back in the Northwest, point differential of +0.5 per game

By the purest measure, aggregate point differential, the Lakers looks the most legitimate of the group. In fact, they have the third best point differential on the conference, barely behind Phoenix (+5.7) and the Spurs (+6.6). Of course, point differential is instructive but could be a function of luck, competition, or even fluke injuries. Let’s take a quick peak at each team and see:

Transactions

Transactions 12/6-12/28

by Harlan Schreiber • December 30, 2007 • 0 Comments

Boston Celtics

12/18 Waive Brandon Wallace

Wallace made the opening night roster as a pet project of Danny Ainge and was then sent over to the NBDL, without ever playing a regular season game. The Celts cited roster flexibility when they cut him, which has sent speculation that a trade may/free agent signing be in the offing (adding some veteran depth?). Stay tuned…

Charlotte Bobcats

12/14 Waive Ronald Dupree

12/14 Acquire Nazr Mohammed from Detroit in exchange for Primoz Brezec and Walter Herrmann

Considering that none of these guys played much, there was a decent amount of talent exchanged in this deal. From the Bobcat’s perspective, they Herrmann was stuck behind Gerald Wallace, Jason Richardson, and Matt Carroll and they were sick of Brezec, whose numbers and playing time have really waned since his peak in 2004-05. Nazr isn’t a great defensive player but he is much better than Brezec and has a more well-balanced game. There is a price, however, for this adequate center play. This is the salary situation for the traded parties:

–Mohammed (age 30): has about $20 million and three years left on his contract after this season.

–Brezec (age 28): his contract expires after this year (he makes $2.8 million this season)

–Herrmann (age 27): his contract expires after this year (he makes $2 million this season)

Best In Franchise

All-Time All-Rookie Teams: Pacific Division

by Harlan Schreiber • December 26, 2007 • 0 Comments

After some delay, we finally reach the conclusion of our six-part series on All-Time All-Rookie tours by division. The final installment takes to out to the Pacific Division, where three of the five teams are original pre-shot clock NBA teams all of whom fled the Northeast to try their hand out west. Do the ages of these franchises yield more quality rookies to choose from? Let’s take a look….

-Golden State Warriors: In the case of the Philadelphia Warriors (now Golden State Warriors) there is a wealth of rookies to choose from, including maybe the best player (and the best rookie) of All-Time. We are, of course, referring to Wilt Chamberlain’s monster rookie season in 1959-60 (37.6 ppg, 27 rpg). No matter what you think about level of competition or pace if play from the early 1950s, you just can’t top it. And it’s not like the Warriors or lacking for good rookie seasons from centers. Nate Thurmond, Robert Parish, Joe Barry Carroll, and Marc Jackson all have been very useful as rookies.

Quick Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber • December 19, 2007 • 0 Comments

1. Celtic Soar: While I remain skeptical that the Celtics are one of the best teams of All-Time, their first 22 games certainly support the proposition that they have a shot at entering the conversation. At 20-2 and a ridiculous +14.2 point differential per game, the Celts look pretty good. Yes there are still some tests left, the Celts haven’t had a West Coast swing yet and have a pretty easy schedule but 20-2? How unprecedented is that kind of start? Let’s take a look at the 22 game starts of some other great teams:

–2006-07 Mavericks, 15-7 (finished 67-15)

-2005-06 Pistons, 19-3 (finished 64-18)

–2004-05 Suns, 19-3 (finished 62-20)

–2003-04 Lakers, 18-4 (finished 56-26)

-1999-00 Lakers, 17-5 (finished 67-15)

-1996-97 Rockets, 20-2 (finished 57-25)

-1996-97 Bulls, 19-3 (finished 69-13)

-1995-96 Bulls, 20-2 (finished 72-10)

-1993-94 Rockets, 21-1 (finished 58-24)

-1993-94 Sonics 20-2 (finished 63-19)

-1991-92 Bulls, 18-4 (finished 67-15)

-1990-91 Blazers, 20-2 (finished 63-19)

-1986-87 Lakers, 17-5 (finished 65-17)

-1985-86 Celtics, 19-3 (finished 67-15)

-1982-83 76ers, 18-4 (finished 65-17)

-1972-73 Celtics, 19-3 (finished 68-14)

-1971-72 Lakers, 19-3 (finished 69-13)

–1970-71 Bucks, 19-3 (finished 66-16)

-1966-67 76ers, 20-2 (finished 68-13)

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Uncategorized

Playoff Turnover

by Harlan Schreiber • December 12, 2007 • 0 Comments

In this early season, we always look at the surprise teams, both good and bad. It’s always nice to see a team become great out of nowhere. Going from the lottery to contention in a one-year period is fun but rare. Like the 2007-08 Celtics, the exceptions to the rule are usually memorable (e.g., 2001-02 Nets, 2004-05 Suns). Even intermediate change is rare. We see that this year that some other younger teams in Atlanta and New Orleans are also poking their heads into the playoff picture. This got me wondering how much turnover in the playoff teams should we expect from year-to-year.

Transactions

Transactions 10/15-12/5

by Harlan Schreiber • December 6, 2007 • 0 Comments

Atlanta Hawks

10/25 Waive Antywane Robinson, Steven Smith and Jamaal Tatum

No real shocks here. Solomon Jones and Mario West won the battle for the last few roster slots, which is great for them, but really doesn’t affect the Hawks much in terms of wins and losses.