waiting for the other shoelace to drop: 2013-2014 NBA regular season thread (part 2)

JR can't even sit on the bench w/ his bro anymore, Knicks are some meanies ;_;
― Call me Shitmael (CompuPost), Wednesday, January 15, 2014 7:09 AM

gooooooooooood title

ayyyyyy

Dubs/Nugs on espn tonight

heads up that espn has dubs/thunder on friday night for those who don't want to subject themselves to the 2013-2014 nuggets

they are still fun dude :(

yeah if anything adding nate nate made them even more fun

Brian Windhorst ‏@WindhorstESPN 3s
Can confirm Heat have traded Joel Anthony and 2 future draft picks for Toney Douglas in three-team trade. Move likely saves Heat 10M+

the nugs are nowhere near as fun as last year but they still play fast and have several reserves who are watchable, something that can't be said about even most good teams, or god help me ILH ex-faves the fucking grizzlies

how in the world does that move save ten milli??

yeah i don't understand that, maybe tax?

whoa jordan crawford to the warriors, very good move by GSW

yeah they needed that, celtics picking up more picks, v nice

Jeff Goodman ‏@GoodmanESPN 1m
Celtics just got two draft picks for Jordan Crawford, potentially a first-rounder. Miami dumped Joel Anthony's salary, gets Toney Douglas.

potentially? must be one of those things where a protected pick ages into a 2nd rounder eventually

anyway if they got a first rounder holy shit man jackpot

lol heat do not give a fuck about their draft picks at all, guess its cool if you can keep attracting the top free agents

yeah, that actually makes sense for the Heat, assuming they're going to try to keep their Big 3

basically three second-round picks to the c's is what i'm reading, unless philly finishes outside the lottery in either '14 or '15

philly will prob make the playoffs next year id imagine

niiice

if they haven't conveyed the first rounder in '14 or '15, it becomes second rounders in '15 and '16. future picks have gotten as confusing as fuck

ah philly could give up a p nice 1st rounder in the teens next year score

Jordan Crawford is alright? Crap shooting percentages aside?

hes fine but my impression is the dubs need anyone with a pulse to score/handle the ball off the bench

yeah toney douglas wasn't working out at all

he had some really good stretches of play this year but don't expect too much. he'll be ok in the role kev is describing.

he was super hot like all star level for the first couple months of the season but has reverted recently, hes a perfect fit for the warriors bench imo cause he can handle the ball and is very unshy about scoring, total microwave type, great pick up imo

i dont think he will level out at how good he played earlier this year but theres good reason to think hell be better than he has in the past season considering hes young and played for a highly dysfunctional team in dc

in the past seasonS

yeah agreed, i am a little worried that he did so well earlier this year because he was being coached to actually play point guard, not bench gunner. he is capable of playing really well-rounded games but it's bad news when he gets selfish.

yeah the dubs prob need something in between, a scoring point type

anyway im glad my fav teams made this mutually beneficial trade

he's got the talent to prob average like an 18/5/5 with dece percentages. will be interested to see if mark j. can keep him focused.

jackson really needs to mix up his lineups better tho my god, like two starters shd be on the court at all times, theres no reason why thats not feasible

hopefully will be good for H Barnes too, take some pressure off him

did the dubs give up any of the picks?

sounds like one of the picks is miamis and the other(s) is phillys, and the dubs just absorbed anthonys salary, im just deducting that tho

thats what i got from it too

deducing even

i think the heat had a pick from philly, so the heat traded two

right

philly wanst in the trade

i love looking a randos opinions on twitter after things like this, boston fans all broke up abt losing crawford and warriors fans upset that he isnt a true point guard lol smh infinity

https://twitter.com/search?q=crawford

haha

seriously ANY production at all will be a major step up

TRADE: Warriors get Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks. Celtics get Joel Anthony, 1st and 2nd round pick. Heat receive Toney Douglas.

wait the celtics get anthony lol

did the dubs give up anything in this transaction

gotta feel like eventually the celtics will roll some of those draft picks into a real player. they're bordering on too many picks if they're not already

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/warriors-make-three-team-trade-with-celtics--heat-172636712.html

here's the woj article

fuck

poor dragic

this is rough :(

suns are 5/24 from 3, yeesh

i'll rest a little easy knowing they would have crushed the pacers in the second round had they been an eastern team.

also get your game in order mike conley ffs

christ, bledsoe

well missing the playoffs in the west bumps your pick up about 6 spot so that's nice

jeff hornacek is not amused by that remark

I broke a rib taking an elbow in basketball. I was out if commission for 8 months. Hurt to sleep for 2 months. Couldn't catch that last inch of breath for a few weeks. Horrible stuff. Get well big man.

i cracked a rib *coughing* when i had bronchitis at age 22 or so and yeah it's the worst. can't imagine doctor's orders being "don't sneeze"

pretty blatant tank by the heat last night to avoid chicago in round 2 by conceding the 1 seed

the heat aren't scared of chicago

also the bulls are losing in the first round

isn't chicago likely to climb to the no. 3 seed in the east, over toranto? bulls final game is against an already-locked bobcats team that shouldn't care at this point. toranto's final game is at the NYK.

and if the bulls move into the no. 3 slot, they're beating the no. 6 wizards.

toronto will beat the knicks

who also have nothing to play for

also the wizards could totally beat the bulls, who can't score at all

and yet for no reason the Knicks beat the Bulls over the weekend, after losing their playoff spot. yer killin me Knicks

pro athletes need to be pretty demoralized to just give up on playing to win.

btw, with all the playoff berths sewed up and almost all the matchups, ilh can think about a new thread for the playoffs and maybe a poll or two.

I made a threads

it's THE 'OFFS 2014: last chance to wear yr Bobcats gear

I'm kind of excited to watch Paul pierce stamp out the embers of the Knicks season for ten minutes or so

might as well close the regular season out with revelations that blake griffin was Christian homeschooled and may be a young earth creationist

http://deadspin.com/so-apparently-blake-griffin-is-a-young-earth-creationis-1563541238

ha the photo

Lol this comment:

I don't want to do the math, but somewhere around there.

-Wilt Chamberlain

yeaaaaaaaaah, i'm feeling like the NYK will beat toronto in the finale, and maybe the nets lose their last two. if those events unfold, how does it impact the seeding? i think it means a first round bulls/nets series (no. 3 v. no. 6), with the winner getting no. 2 miami in the second-round.

Rizz ‏@Rizzmigizz 2h -- You son of a bitch Nets. Be careful what you wish for.

lol.

these grey nets sleeved jerseys are a travesty

man i hope they are done away with completely next year

anyone mind posting this?
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10789728/handing-2013-14-haberstrophy-awards-nba
seems like a fun read

thanks in advance

Most Inconsistent Scorer
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Stephen Curry
Inconsistency is the only consistency when you launch an NBA-high 7.9 3-point attempts per game. Curry has three single-digit scoring games and three 40-plus scoring infernos on his ledger. Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony have zero single-digit scoring games combined. For two weeks in March, Curry couldn't crack 20 points. And now he's scored 31, 24, 30, 47 and 32 in his past five games. Put it all together and he owns the NBA's highest standard deviation of scoring totals (9.2). Wild.

Most Consistent Scorer
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Serge Ibaka
Oh, you thought it would go to another OKC guy? Well, Ibaka is as steady as they come. He doesn't mess around from beyond the arc and he rarely depends on whistles to get points, so he eliminates two areas that can throw off scoring totals. He averaged 15.2 points with 33 games between 13 and 17 points, and never more than 27, giving him the lowest standard deviation of those with at least a 15-point scoring average. Ibaka stays within his lane; Durant can't be contained.

Most Improved Player In-Season
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Russell Westbrook
This HabersTrophy is a little twist on the Most Improved Award, which no one actually understands. For this, I looked at the player who had the greatest jump in PER before and after the All-Star break. And that honor belongs to Westbrook, who went from 20.2 PER before to 28.7 PER after (plus-8.5). It's amazing what some time off and not playing on back-to-backs will do for a player's efficiency. And guess what: no back-to-backs in the postseason. Buckle up, y'all.

Most Precipitous Decline
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Roy Hibbert
Big trees fall hard. The 7-foot-2, nearly 300-pound behemoth shot a ghastly 39.7 percent after the All-Star break, which is hard to believe considering how good he looked early in the season. But it wasn't just scoring; his in-season rebounding numbers could be best illustrated by the backslash on your keyboard. Hibbert posted a 16.1 PER before the break and just 8.9 after the break, which gives him the single biggest drop-off in the league (minus-7.2).

Biggest Loser
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Thaddeus Young
Thursday morning can't come soon enough for this guy. No one suffered a bigger deficit while on the floor this season than Young, which is a shame because he was easily the 76ers' best player. The Sixers were outscored by an NBA-worst 650 points with him on the floor. In fact, Young found himself behind on the scoreboard more this season than Kawhi Leonard has in his entire career (1,800 minutes versus 1,498 minutes). A silver lining for Young: Kemba Walker got this Habbie last season, and now he's in the playoffs.

Best Driver
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Kevin Durant
Just a shooter, right? Wrong. According to SportVU data, the Thunder scored 1.44 points on average on Durant's drives this season, which speaks to his vastly improved playmaking abilities. Whether it was kicking it out to open shooters or getting to the free throw line, no one created more points by putting the ball on the deck and penetrating the paint. Not even LeBron James; the Heat averaged "just" 1.34 points on his drives.

Longest Run
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Jimmy Butler
Who else? Per the SportVU 3D tracking cameras, Butler legged out a season-high 3.97 miles in the triple-overtime win over the Orlando Magic on Jan. 15. He played a season-high 60 minutes in that game, so the measuring-tape reading isn't a total surprise. Keep in mind, this guy suffered from turf toe a month earlier in the season. Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is probably disappointed Butler didn't cross the four-mile plateau.

Highest Block Retention Percentage
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Andrew Bogut
It's a real bummer we probably won't get to see Bogut work his magic in the playoffs now that he's dealing with a fractured rib. Bogut does a remarkable job of turning blocks into steals. Exclusive SportVU data tells us that the 29-year-old Warriors big man registered a league-high 68 percent block retention rate, which matches Tim Duncan's Habbie-winning rate last season. It's just another reason why Bogut deserves some Defensive Player of the Year love. Get better, big guy.

Most Hockey Assists
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Ricky Rubio
If we counted hockey assists, or what SportVU calls "secondary assists," Rubio would have topped John Wall for total assists this season. The hockey assist, for those who don't know, is when a player makes a pass that precedes an assist. Rubio tallied an NBA-high 165 such passes this season. Rubio can thank Kevin Love for not just his heap of assists this season, but the hockey assists as well.

Deadliest Open Shooter
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Jose Calderon
Think of Calderon as a store-brand Steve Nash, which makes sense if Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wanted to recreate the old Dirk Nowitzki-Nash magic on a budget. According to Synergy tracking, Calderon shot 50 percent on unguarded catch-and-shoots this season, giving him a league-leading 74.6 percent effective field goal percentage once you account for the added value of the 3-pointer. Now, if he could just prevent open jump shots on the other end ...

Most Points Per Touch
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Klay Thompson
This season, Thompson scored a point every two times he touched the ball on average. To be more exact, he scored 0.48 points per touch, which was the highest rate in the league, per SportVU data. As an elite spot-up shooter (41.6 percent on 3s), Thompson isn't tasked with ballhandling duties often, and for good reason. (If you're wondering why he doesn't get more touches, stay tuned.)

Fastest Runner
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Patty Mills
There are spark plugs off the bench, and then there is Mills. Per SportVU, the Aussie point guard clocked in at 4.8 miles per hour on average this season, which is by far the fastest pace of any player in the league with at least 1,000 minutes of action. Not bad for a guy whom his coach, Gregg Popovich, characterized as "a little fat ass" last season. A side note: Mills was 33 percent faster on the floor this season than James Harden (3.6 mph).

Biggest Ball Hog
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Russell Westbrook
This isn't a surprise to Per Diem regulars. Back in late November, I identified Westbrook as the league's biggest ball hog, and he hasn't relinquish his throne. After crunching SportVU data, I found that Westbrook holds the ball for a league-high 7.9 seconds between passes on average. That may not sit well with Durant devotees, but at least Westbrook gets results.

Biggest Black Hole
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Klay Thompson
Wanna know why Thompson has the highest points per touch in the league? As soon as he gets the ball, the shot's going up. Thompson passed the ball just 1.2 times for every shot he took, which is the lowest rate in the NBA among players who log 20 minutes or more per game. Unfortunately, Nick Young just missed getting the Habbie this year, checking in with an impressive 1.5 black hole rate. Better luck next year, Swaggy P.

Most Dribble-happy
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... John Wall
Here's a fun little SportVU nugget: John Wall dribbled the ball 38,131 times this season. If for some bizarre reason today (April 16, 2014) you felt inclined to spend one minute of every day dribbling a basketball, how long would it take you to catch up to Wall's total this season? Try Jan. 8 ... of 2016. See you then.

Most Drives Allowed
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Brandon Jennings
Wondering how Detroit ended up with the NBA's 25th-ranked defense despite its massive size up front? You can start with the point of attack. And that starts with Jennings. The frail point guard allowed a whopping 491 drives this season, which was the highest total of any player in SportVU's database. No matter how many big bodies there are out there, that's a lot of mess to clean up.

Most Unselfish
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Josh McRoberts
The Charlotte Bobcats big man was the most charitable of all NBA players this season. McRoberts passed the ball on 87.3 percent of his touches, the highest rate in the league, and it's not really close (Calderon came in second with 82.7). McRoberts' frequent passing made up for his teammate Al Jefferson, who dished the rock on only 57 percent of his touches, one of the lowest rates in the league. In the case of Big Al, no one's complaining.

Most Touchdown Passes
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Kevin Love
Another great SportVU stat: long-distance outlet passes. I call them "touchdown passes." These are defined as passes off of defensive rebounds that travel at least 20 feet and lead to a fast break. As you might have suspected, Love destroys the competition with 76 of these deep bombs, more than the next two highest totals -- Spencer Hawes (33) and DeAndre Jordan (32) -- combined. There were 41 Love-to-Corey Brewer connections alone. Someone get this info to Adrian Peterson.

Most Dependent
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Anthony Tolliver
With an unassisted jumper on Tuesday night, Jared Dudley just missed getting his Habbie. Instead, it goes to Charlotte Bobcats stretch big Anthony Tolliver, who was assisted on a ridiculous 94.6 percent of his buckets this season. Of Tolliver's 129 baskets, all but seven were set up by a teammate. Amazingly, none of his 102 3-point splashes were unassisted. Bravo, Tolliver.

Most Opportunistic Scorer
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Brandon Jennings
Another Jennings appearance. After crunching some numbers in NBA's StatsCube database, I found that Jennings' scoring rate per 36 minutes jumped 8.2 points from when it was a one-possession game (13.6 points per 36 minutes) compared to when the scoreboard showed a double-digit rout (21.8 points per 36 minutes). None of the 150 qualified players padded their scoring totals more in blowouts.

Least Opportunistic Scorer
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Jose Calderon
On the flip side, there's Calderon again. In close games (score within three points), Calderon scored 15.9 points per 36 minutes, which is 4.3 points higher than he put up in routs (11.6 points per 36 minutes). Calderon actually got far more aggressive with his shot in tight games than when it got out of hand. Let's see if that continues in the playoffs, where his track record is limited.

Best 4-point Shooter
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Jamal Crawford
I couldn't resist. Assuming we instituted an imaginary 4-point line at the 28-foot mark, who would have the highest success rate on those shots? Mr. Crawford, of course. Here's the absurd thing: He went 15-for-25 (60 percent) on shots between 28 and 35 feet. More of that, please. Not leading this list is Kyle Lowry, who shot 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) on 4-pointers. Less of that please.

Best Half-Court Heaver
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Tony Wroten
This might be the most Tony Wroten thing ever. A total of 174 players attempted a heave from beyond half court this season and only 11 actually converted. None caught lightning in a bottle twice -- except for Wroten. Amazingly, he shot better on heaves (2-for-7, 28.6 percent) than his overall 3-pointers (21.5 percent). Don't stop doing you, Wroten.

Worst Case of Basketphobia
And the HabersTrophy goes to ... Steve Novak
On Nov. 26 against the Nets, Novak floated to the rim and missed a tip-in at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime. And that, my friends, was his only shot within 3 feet in 531 minutes of action this season. And he missed it. In fact, he missed all four of his shots inside 10 feet. Never change, Novacaine.

nice

wow thats comprehensive

John Wall 31,000 dribbles kinda freaking me out a lil

that's so many dribbles

smh calderon best open shooter in the league passes up the 2nd most attempts

I'm suuuuuuper bummed about this and have spent time writing to management and adding comments to columns like: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/warriors/2014/03/26/jim-barnett-in-your-words/ but sounds like the decision is pretty much in stone.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jim-barnett-is-calling-his-final-regular-season-game-on-wednesday--which-is-a-shame-185650280.html

really sad

Yeah Jim fucking rules

It's cool that the Blazers wore their Rip City jerseys the other night for Barnett's last game announcing at Portland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDG6EkLZO8A

yeah thats really cool

mavs/grizz fighting to the death to avoid the spurs is really weird the losers is just gonna have to play okc

being not the most athletic or fast teams if i were them id rather play the spurs cause okc will just run them down like arthritic gazelle

not sure i need another okc-dallas series in my life

yr wish is my kazaam

this bogut injury is really depressing clips gonna average 130 for the series

shouldn't be that bad draymond should start and draymond/iggy cause some major havoc on D. but yeah not expecting but maybe one win, games should be competitive tho.

MAYBE HARRISON BARNES WILL SHOW UP GUYS!

not sure i need another okc-dallas series in my life

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, April 16, 2014 7:59 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not excited for this either. would LOVE to see dirk do some dirkin tho obv

can't believe something like this actually worked!

I'm suuuuuuper bummed about this and have spent time writing to management and adding comments to columns like: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/warriors/2014/03/26/jim-barnett-in-your-words/ but sounds like the decision is pretty much in stone.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jim-barnett-is-calling-his-final-regular-season-game-on-wednesday--which-is-a-shame-185650280.html

really sad

― IKEA metaballs (Spottie), Wednesday, April 16, 2014 2:30 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Jim Barnett • 12 hours ago
Featured by Fast Break Warriors Fan Blog

This is a perfect time to express my thanks for the incredible support the Fast Break blog has given me during this personally strange season. My first thanks go of course to Adam. His continual support prior to this year has always been noticed and appreciated. And the unexpected column to #KeepJim and bring me out of retirement was a game changer. That's when the groundswell began with the overwhelming positive posts provided by you, the people who are the gatekeepers of the blog. Words cannot possibly due justice to express my personal appreciation for wanting me to return. Your generous and positive statements influenced me and the Warriors organization. We took another look at what might transpire and have simply put a hold on my hanging it up completely next year. Whatever arrangement that eventually unfolds will be one that we can all support and affirm.

I am happy with the outcome and I will certainly do my best to bring the best of the Warriors to you next year, in as many games as that will be. Eventually there has to be a change. I will want it and the organization will need it. That time will come about naturally to the benefit of all parties. And that includes you: the loyal and knowledgeable fans who write on this blog!

A final shout out to Chris L as his prose carried a strong message of support as well. I also had the pleasure of meeting him at a game recently. I wish I could meet more of you. There is so much more I would like to say.

Once again I am grateful to you contributors who came on here for the first time; the ones who had not posted here for some time; and you regulars whom I feel like I already know. (I don't read all comments as it sometimes becomes too much). There is so much to read elsewhere to try and keep up, and I do have a life beyond this wonderful game that has defined my life. But I certainly read Adam's and Chris's synopsis regularly.

Once again, thank you!

Jim Barnett

whew

NBA Legion ‏@MySportsLegion 7h -- Carmelo when asked if he wants to return to the Knicks: "I want to come back....I also want to win.."

he is so gone.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2031486-milwaukee-bucks-to-be-sold-to-wesley-edens-and-marc-lasry-for-550-million