What's up with the Lakers?

Kobe needs to recapture his aggresive
style of play to give the Lakers
any kind of chance.

If you remember from my blog last week titled "Western Conference Semifinals Preview" I predicted the Lakers to beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games.  I expected the Laker's size to be far too much for the Mavericks to handle, and for Kobe to go off against the Mavericks usually porous defense.  Thus far, both of these predictions haven't came to fruitition, although in Kobe's defense he has been shooting the ball well.  In spite of some desperation attempts at the end of the game yesterday, Kobe was shooting 8-12 from the field up until the Lakers fell behind with three minutes to play.  However, Kobe only shot ONE free throw all game, ONE FREE THROW! During the regular season, Kobe averaged 7.1 free throw attempts per game, and he has averaged 6.3 per game throughout the playoffs.  Kobe needs to be more aggresive going to the hoop, as he has only attempted eleven free throws the entire series. Part of the reason why the Mavericks were so successful yesterday was because they shot 29 free throws. Even if you take out the free throws the Mavericks made at the end, they still attempted 23 free throws.  The Lakers will need to be more aggresive if they want to win another game in this series, let alone attempt to comeback from such a deficit.

Another advantage the Mavericks have utilized in this series is three-point shooting.  I pointed at this as a potential weakness for the Lakers, and it has definitely been exploited.  The Mavericks shot 12-29 from three in Game 3, 8-25 in Game 2, and 9-20 in Game 1, shooting a combined 29 for 74 for 39.2%.  Conversely, the Lakers are shooting 10 for 52 for 19.2%.  The Lakers lack a prolific three point shooter that most contenders have right now.  Stojakovic and Terry are proficient from beyond the arc for the Mavericks, along with Ray Allen for the Celtics, Kyle Korver for the Bulls, James Jones and Mike Miller for the Heat, and Kevin Durant for the Thunder.  Steve Blake, Shannon, Brown, and Ron Artest are not up to par from beyond the arc, and the Lakers clearly miss the shooting of players such as Sasha Vujacic from a few seasons ago.  Regardless, shooting 19% from behind the arc is awful.

Barea has been quite the sparkplug off the
bench for the Mavericks!

Finally, point guard play has really hurt the Lakers and has been a boon to the Mavericks.  Jose Juan Barea has provided speed, shooting, and energy off the bench, burning the Lakers defense for some easy layups.  In addition, his emergence allows the Mavericks to rest Jason Kidd.  Derek Fisher has been atrocious for the Lakers.  He shot 3-6 from the field in Game 1, 2-7 in Game 2, and 3-8 in Game 3.  Considering most his shots are hardly contested, he should be shooting a higher percentage.  In addition, his decision-making was questionable at the end of Game 3.  Fisher fouled Jason Terry going for a steal with eight seconds left on the shot clock in the final minute of the game.  Why one would foul such a good free throw shooter with the shot clock winding down makes little sense to me...  On the next possesion, Fisher tried throwing an in-bounds pass to Lamar Odom that sailed over his head.  The Lakers should have designed a play in which Fisher could ahve inbounded to Kobe, but regardless a veteran like him should not be hurting his team's chances like this late in the game.  The Lakers veteran team seems to be falling apart, and without strong three point shooting and agressive play from its superstar, is most likely heading home early this year.

Western Conference Semifinals Preview

Following Memphis's 99-91 victory over the San Antonio Spurs last night, the Western Conference Semifinals are set.  #8 seeded Memphis Grizzlies vs #4 Oklahoma City Thunder, and the #2 Los Angeles Lakers vs the #3 Dallas Mavericks.  Everyone expected the Lakers and Mavericks to be here, but the Thunder surprisingly crushed a hot Nuggets team in five games while the Grizzlies defeated an elderly and fading Spurs squad in six.  At this point in time it seems like anybody's game regarding who will make the NBA finals, as the Lakers have yet to exude their dominance from the past few seasons.

Oklahoma City vs. Memphis

Z-Bo carried the Grizzlies to a
surprising upset over the top
seeded Spurs

The Thunder defeated Denver in convincing fashion 4-1, with Kevin Durant taking over games at will.  He averaged 32.4 ppg against the Nuggets and got to the free throw line an average of 11.4 times per game.  More importantly, Durant averaged 30.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg against the Grizzlies this year, yet the Thunder were only 1-3 against them during the regular season.  Will this trend continue? I doubt it. Memphis was 2-1 against the Thunder with Rudy Gay, and without him they lack a threat at the 3 on offense that can also force Durant into playing stronger on defense and tiring him.  Tony Allen and Shane Battier are adequate at defending Durant, but neither is capable of shutting him down.  Durant will get his points, although he may not shoot as well as he did in the Denver series.  If the Grizzlies want to win this series, they will need a strong offensive performance from Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.  These two players should make for some intriguing matchups with Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka, and Nick Collison and Nazr Mohammed are capable fill-ins if the starters run into foul trouble.  At this point in time, stopping Zach Randolph seems pretty difficult.  He looked real impressive in the Spurs series and should continue to play well against OKC, as he averages 26.5 ppg, 13.0 rpg, and shot .580% from the field against OKC this year.  Considering Randolph's success seems like a given, Marc Gasol will have to perform well.  The matchup, that in my opinion, sways the series in OKC's favor, is Russell Westbrook against Mike Conley Jr.  Westbrook is an elite point guard and has put up 24.5 ppg and 9.0 apg against the Grizzlies this season.  Conley has been much less effective, to the tune of 13.0 ppg, 6.5 apg, and a dismal field goal percentage of .370%.  I just don't think Conley is the type of player that can carry a team deep into the playoffs, as point guard play and experience is of utmost importance in the playoffs.

Make it: Thunder in 6

L.A. Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks

Kobe looks to lead the Lakers
past the Mavs on their way to
a third straight championship

The Lakers looked pretty shaky at times against the New Orleans Hornets, but were able to right the ship and defeated the Hornets handily in Games 5 and 6 to put their fears to rest.  The Mavericks slipped up a bit against the Trail Blazers, letting a double digit lead evaporate in the fourth quarter to lose Game 4, but were able to close out their series at Portland with a dominating performance by Dirk Nowitzki.  The Lakers and Mavericks played three times this season, with the Lakers winning two of the three, and most notably the third game at home by 28 points.  Has this Lakers team played like two-time champions this season? No.  Can they repeat? Possibly.  Will they win this series? Definitely.  Andrew Bynum has returned to form and played spectacular down the stretch to end the regular season.  Although his health is a bit iffy at this point I still think he can have a profound impact in this series.  The Mavericks don't have the size to compete with the Lakers down low, as they can't play Dirk on either Gasol or Bynum.  However, what the Mavericks do have in their favor is superior point guard play and shooting from the outside.  Jason Kidd provides strong point guard play compared to Derek Fisher, while the outside shooting of Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic trumps that of Kobe, Ron Artest, and Matt Barnes and Shannon Brown if they're in the game.  As great as the Mavericks can shoot at times, they can't compete with the Lakers down low and don't have any strong defenders to guard Kobe.

Make it: Lakers in 5

Kobe Bryant's Homophobic Slur: Too strong a punishment?

This past Tuesday Kobe Bryant lashed out at a referee following a technical foul.  Kobe alarming chose to use the phrase "fucking faggot" while directing his speech to the referee.  Following this angry incident, the NBA deliberated and decided to fine Kobe $100,000 for his remark. Clearly Kobe deserves to be fined for using a curse word to describe a minority orientation, but is it worth $100,000?



Clearly Kobe was yelling something
totally different here...

 The word 'faggot' or 'fag' has, unfortunately, become a part of some people's slang.  One may refer to someone as a 'fag' just because they are unathletic, dress in a peculiar way, or enjoying assuming typical domestic tasks such as cooking or cleaning, etc.  Clearly none of those determine sexual orientation, yet those words, to the chagrin of many, have been relatively mainstreamed into popular culture.  I can understand to a point that one can call his good friends a 'fag' or 'faggot' in a joking manner, as the friend clearly has no malintentions, but why joke around when it could be offensive and could have repercussions if used in a more public place? 

The backlash against Kobe's poor word choice has been strong, and for good reason.  Many people look up to Kobe as a role model, and why not? He's won five NBA titles, works hard and plays through injury, and has kept a pretty clean record besides his 'rape' trial in which he was acquitted.  Does Kobe have to be a role model? No. He's just out there playing basketball making a living.  But many people do see him as one, which is what makes his actions troubling.  One would expect such an exploit from DeMarcus Cousins or Rasheed Wallace, but not Kobe. 

Fortunately Kobe has already taken some steps to "repair" his image.  Kobe and the Lakers decided to team with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to help fight homophobia in basketball.  This is clearly great PR, but just because Kobe couldn't find a better word choice doesn't mean that he is a homophobe.  In a piece for the New York Times, a former NBA player cites: "You spoke ill-advised words that shot out like bullets, and if the emails I received from straight and gay young people and sports fans in Los Angeles alone are anything to go by, you did serious damage with your outburst."  Such a backlash is not surprising, but did serious damage occur? Kobe was clearly not speaking out against the homosexual community as a whole, let alone labeling the referee he was speaking to as a fag.  Yes his word choice was repulsive and ignorant, but was he seriously condemning the referee as a "fucking faggot"? No.  Kobe's large fine was not warranted, he'll learn enough from the backlash from the community and will probably put forth more than $100,000 worth of his time toward helping the homosexual community from this point out.  Chris Paul was recently fined $15,000 for 'verbally abusing' a referee. Verbal abuse generally means saying more then a two-word phrase.  Kobe clearly does not deserve a $100,000 fine for his ignorant actions, and it's unfortunate that the NBA feels the need to fine him such a large amount when he'll lose enough money and fans for his poor word choice.

The Value of LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the aftermath of 'The Decision' on this year's Cavaliers

Wow Cleveland has fallen! Following some of last night's Los Angeles Lakers-Cleveland Cavaliers game made me cringe looking at the box score.  A final score of 112-57? Seriously? The last well publicized game I remember being so lopsided was when the Boston Celtics absolutely crushed the Lakers 131-92 in Game 6 of the 2008 finals.  57 was the least the Cavs had ever scored in a game and the least the Lakers allowed since the introduction of the shot clock in 1954.  The Cavaliers currently boast the NBA's worst record at 8-30, and LeBron seems to be reveling in the glory of their downfalls.  I received a text from my girlfriend earlier today citing a tweet from LeBron referring to last night's demolition of the Cavaliers. 

Obviously much of the Cavaliers decline hinged on one 'Decision,' in which superstar and two-time MVP Lebron James decided to 'take his talents to South Beach' to form 'The Heatles' with Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and friends down in Miami.  To the chagrin of Cleveland fans, Lebron was gone and the Cavs were forced to carry on without him.  Lets take a look at the current Cavaliers lineup compared to last year's:

January 2010                  January 2011

G - Mo Williams                                        G - Mo Williams
G - Anthony Parker                                   G - Manny Harris
F - Lebron James                                     F - Antawn Jamison
F - JJ Hickson                                           F - JJ Hickson
C - Shaq                                                    C - Ryan Hollins

The only players that remain are Mo Williams and JJ Hickson, as Anthony Parker is currently injured and Shaq and Lebron have moved to other teams.  However, the loss of Parker and O'Neal is relatively marginal.  Lebron James WAS the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Below are some statistics that one may be familiar with, but some others that may truly stand out, courtesy of Basketball Reference.


Cavaliers All-time Free Throw Attempts
1. LeBron James 814 2005-06
2. LeBron James 773 2009-10
3. LeBron James 771 2007-08
4. LeBron James 762 2008-09
5. LeBron James 701 2006-07
6. LeBron James 636 2004-05
7. Shawn Kemp 635 1999-00
8. Brad Daugherty 579 1990-91
9. Ron Harper 564 1986-87
10. Shawn Kemp 556 1997-98

Cavaliers All-Time Season Points Per Game




1. LeBron James 31.4 2005-06
2. LeBron James 30.0 2007-08
3. LeBron James 29.7 2009-10
4. LeBron James 28.4 2008-09
5. LeBron James 27.3 2006-07
6. LeBron James 27.2 2004-05
7. Mike Mitchell 24.5 1980-81
8. World B. Free 23.4 1985-86
9. Ron Harper 22.9 1986-87
10. World B. Free 22.5 1984-85

The above individual statistics assert Lebron's dominance as the best player ever to play for Cleveland.  But lets be honest here, who was not aware of that?  The significance of Lebron's last two seasons with the Cavaliers, and the claim that he is the best player in the NBA, can be summarized by two short acronyms: PER and WS.  For those who are not familiar with basketball statistics, PER stands for Player Efficiency Rating.  PER, in short, measures a player's per minute productivity.  More information on PER can be found here. WS stands for Win Shares, which I found to be described well in this quote:

"In other words, a Win Share is kind of like baseball's VORP stat...it relies on the assumption that efficiency is the key to wins, looks at a player's offensive efficiency compared to the league average, a player's defensive efficiency compared to the league average, corrects for minutes played, then adds up the corresponding Offensive and Defensive Win Shares to get one number that estimates how many wins that player was worth."

Both PER and WS are sabermetrics.  Sabermetrics attempts to find answers objective questions in sports such as: Which player on the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons contributed most to the team's offense?  Was Rickey Henderson faster than Tim Raines?  Does Lebron James contribute more to his team than Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant?  Below are recent statistics on PER and WS, cementing Lebron's meaning and impact on the Cavaliers and how different the team is without him.

Win Shares - 2008/2009 NBA       Win Shares - 2009/2010 NBA


1. LeBron James-CLE 20.3                                          1. LeBron James -CLE 18.5
2. Chris Paul-NOH 18.3                                               2. Kevin Durant -OKC 16.1
3. Dwyane Wade-MIA 14.7                                         3. Dwight Howard -ORL 13.2
4. Pau Gasol-LAL 13.9                                                4. Dwayne Wade -MIA 13.0
5. Dwight Howard-ORL 13.8                                       5. Dirk Nowitzki - DAL 12.3

PER - 2008/2009 NBA                   PER - 2009/2010 NBA


1. LeBron James-CLE 31.76                                           1. LeBron James-CLE 31.19
2. Dwyane Wade-MIA 30.46                                          2. Dwayne Wade-MIA 28.10
3. Chris Paul -NOH 30.04                                               3. Kevin Durant-OKC 26.23
4. Dwight Howard-ORL 25.44                                        4. Chris Bosh-TOR 25.11
5. Tim Duncan-SAS 24.51                                               5. Tim Duncan-SAS 24.79

PER Ratings and more Sabermetrics from ESPN

Based of off the win share data above, LeBron James was clearly the most valuable player to his team the past two NBA seasons, sporting the highest Win Share value as well as the highest Player Efficiency Rating in both seasons.  These ratings credit the supporting casts of superstars like Kobe Bryant, who does not show up on any of these lists.  The closest Cleveland player on the PER lists is Antawn Jamison in 2009/2010, with a PER of 17.66. He checks in at #66 throughout the entire NBA (don't let his contributions fool you though, he only played for Cleveland for the 2nd half of the year and was a larger contributor when he played for the Wizards earlier in the season).  For 2008/2009, Zydrunas Ilgauskas ranks #53 with a PER of 18.03.  Ilgauskas's Win Shares was 6.6 for that season, while Jamison's was 7.0 for last year. 

In addition to win shares, we have what I believe to be the most important statistic, EWA.  EWA stands for Estimated Wins Added, over a replacement player.  LeBron James had an EWA of 30.5 in 2009/2010 and 32.3 in 2008/2009, both being tops in the league.  Clearly this impact is gigantic, as if not for him, these numbers predict the Cavaliers would have won 30 or 31 games last year as opposed to the 61 that they did win in the regular season. 

In conclusion, LeBron was more important to the Cavaliers than any single player on any other team.  If not for him, they would have only won half the games they did last year.  His paramount PER, WS, and EWA make him not only the most indispensible player to his team for 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, but the most valuable player in the NBA.  Now that he's a member of the Heat these numbers may decline, but the Cleveland Cavaliers are getting crushed with out him, and the numbers prove their demise.