Queen City Hoops

Allen Iverson - Potential Bobcat

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

Allen Iverson averaged 19.0 points per 40 minutes last season - something only 21 other players 6'-5" and under managed. However, only 3 of those players accomplished the feat while managing a lower points per shot than Inverson's 1.193 (and one of them was Rashad McCants). As he has been known to be throughout his career, Iverson continues to be a volume scorer/shooter. One thing to note: That number was quite a drop from his previous 2 season's of work, when he nearly set a career high in 06-07 (1.302) and then did set the mark in 07-08 (1.391). The point being - maybe his situation in Detroit contributed to his declining numbers a bit and it was not entirely an erosion of ability due to advancing age. For a team in need of scoring, The Answer might still be a possible (short-term) solution.

Which brings us to the Bobcats. When it comes to shooting guards (or overall team offense - CLT was 27th in offensive efficiency last season), few teams match the Bobcats' lack of scoring punch. Of the guards who played at least some SG for the Cats last year, only D.J. Augustin surpassed A.I.'s number (D.J. at 1.369). Raja Bell managed a 1.158, Cartier Martin a 1.117, Raymond at 1.073, and the rest are no longer Bobcats (technically Raymond is not confirmed for next season, but the expectation remains the Cats resign him). So, despite an only so-so season for Iverson, he still managed to out-perform all but one of the current Bobcats in both volume and efficiency.

Though Larry Brown has said previously that he believes Iverson would be better served by joining a team that can contend for a title, the names of interested suitors that I am aware of remains Memphis, Miami, and Charlotte. With a young shooting guard on the rise in O.J. Mayo (and nearly no shot at the playoffs), I wonder what the Grizzlies' thinking is: Ticket sales? Likewise in Miami, Iverson's position is taken - Dwyane Wade can handle the role of scorer/distributor more than competently. Charlotte is the one who lacks a volume scorer (or at least is perceived to be lacking someone for that role).

The Bobcats best points per shot mark (of anyone playing more than 200 minutes) belonged to Gerald Wallace at 1.457 (15th best in the league for players above 16 points per 40 minutes), then Emeka at 1.405 (22nd), D.J. 1.369 (33rd) and Boris at 1.197. That is it - Iverson would be the fifth most efficient scorer for the Bobcats. The difference being that Iverson was scoring more frequently - for the season, he scored 24.9 points per 100 team possessions, Gerald and D.J. were both about 2 points per less, 22.7 and 22.9 respectively. Important note: Those are pace independent stats, as we are looking at points per 100 possessions - I just want to make sure no one assumes the discrepancy comes from the Bobcats slow pace.

Are those 2 points per 100 possessions worth the financial and chemistry risks the Bobcats would be taking? Tough to answer - but Iverson does represent an interesting option for the Bobcats to consider. Another consideration: Defense. Known as a gambler (for steals - not the poker kind like MJ), would AI be a detriment to the Bobcats' significantly improved defense from this past season? I have got Iverson's numbers for your consideration.

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Iverson has some interesting numbers - his opponents' per minutes stats are all down, but their PER against him was significantly better than (over 1 point difference) expected. That improvement was due almost entirely to their improved shooting percentages when facing The Answer. 4.2% better from the field with a 2.8% increase in true shooting percentage. On top of that, it seemed teams were going after Iverson, as opponents averaged a half point more per 100 team possessions than expected, with most of that increase coming in his brief time at SG. Does Iverson need to have a bigger guard on the court beside him, to handle some of the defensive burden? Maybe, but considering the job Raymond did at the 2 this year, that may be possible for the Bobcats to handle (see Ray's Season Review for a refresher).

With all that said, I still do not have a firm answer to the question, "Do you want the Answer on the Bobcats?" At the very least, I am intrigued. With that I will close, and below are the rest of the standard numbers I provide when looking at a player's performance. Look them over and then let me know if you want to see Iverson in Bobcats blue and orange next season.

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Dontell Jefferson - 08-09 Season Review

Mon, 6 July 2009 12:00:00 EST

The Bobcats third point guard-shooting guard at the end of the 08-09 season, Dontell Jefferson appears to be returning to CLT for the 09-10 season. Though his contract is not guaranteed for the coming year, Sean Singletary got cut loose and Dontell did not. Being a 6'-5" point guard has its advantages.

With that said, there is not a whole to add: Mr. Jefferson did not even play 2 games worth of minutes this past season and only so much can be extrapolated based on that. So, to the numbers.

Click to enlarge the following:

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The TrueHoop Network List (and Twitter)

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

UPDATE: Added the newest member, Howlin' T-Wolf to the list. End Update.

I was going through my list of followed users on twitter and realized I was not sure if I had the rest of my colleagues from the TrueHoop network among. As I worked to rectify that, I thought that may have interest to some of my readers as well. So, here you go - a full list of every TrueHoop network blog, a link to their site and to their twitter account (where applicable):

General NBA and the Namesake: TrueHoop - Twitter:@TrueHoop
Cumulative Account: @truehoopnetwork - This account acts as a twitter rss feed for new posts from across the network.
General NBA: HardwoodParoxysm- Twitter:@HPBasketball
General NBA: The Painted Area- Twitter: None
General NBA: Wizznutzz- Twitter:@wzzntzz
European Basketball: BallinEurope- Twitter:@BallinEurope
Atlanta Hawks: Hoopinion - Twitter:@Hoopinion
Boston Celtics: CelticsHub- Twitter:@CelticsHub
Charlotte Bobcats: QueenCityHoops- Twitter:@BrettQCHoops
Chicago Bulls: By The Horns- Twitter: None
Cleveland Cavaliers: cavs: the blog- Twitter: None
Dallas Mavericks: The Two Man Game- Twitter: None
Detroit Pistons: PistonPowered - Twitter:@PistonPowered
Denver Nuggets: Roundball Mining Company- Twitter:@RoundballMiner
Golden State Warriors: The WarriorsWorld- Twitter:@WarriorsWorld
Houston Rockets: Rockets Buzz- Twitter: None
Los Angeles Clippers: ClipperBlog.com- Twitter:@ClipperBlog
Los Angeles Lakers: Forum Blue and Gold- Twitter:@Forumbluegold
Memphis Grizzlies: 3 Shades of Blue- Twitter:@3shadesofBlue
Miami Heat: Hot Hot Hoops- Twitter:@hothothoops
Milwaukee Bucks: Bucksketball- Twitter:@Bucksketball
Minnesota Timberwolves: Howling' T-Wolf- Twitter:@howlintwolf
New Jersey Nets: Nets Are Scorching- Twitter:@NetsRScorching
New Orleans Hornets: Hornets247- Twitter:@Hornets247
New York Knicks: KnickerBlogger.net- Twitter: None
Oklahoma City Thunder: DailyThunder- Twitter:@DailyThunder
Orlando Magic: OrlandoMagicDaily- Twitter:@OMagicDaily
Philadelphia 76ers: Philadunkia- Twitter:@Philadunkia
Phoenix Suns: Valley of the Suns- Twitter:@ValleyoftheSuns
Portland Trail Blazers: BeyondBowie- Twitter:@BeyondBowie
Sacramento Kings: Cowbell Kingdom- Twitter:@Cowbell_Kingdom
San Antonio Spurs: 48 Minutes of Hell- Twitter: None
Toronto Raptors: RaptorsRepublic- Twitter:@RaptorsRepublic
Utah Jazz: Salt City Hoops- Twitter:@saltcityhoops
Washington Wizards: Truth About It (dot) Net- Twitter:@Truth_About_It

If there are any broken links (or crossed links), please let me know and I will fix. I was wearing down by the end.

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Derrick Brown - Charlotte Bobcat

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

With the 40th pick of the NBA Draft, the Bobcats selected Derrick Brown, a 6-8 small forward/power forward from Xavier. A good athlete with great strength, Brown benched 185 20 times at the pre-draft combine, good for third best performance this year (among those he bested - DeJuan Blair who put up 18 reps). Brown is also an efficient scorer, shooting better than 40% on threes, 50% from the floor overall, and a decent 74% at the stripe.

Again, with the aid of advanced computer imagery techniques, here is a mock-up of what Derrick Brown may look in Bobcat colors:

And here is a Derrick Brown highlight reel/Xavier promotional video to see him in action:

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Gerald Henderson - Charlotte Bobcat

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

With the 12th pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats selected: Gerald Henderson of Duke. The 6-5 shooting guard joins the NBA after his junior season, during which he was named All-ACC First team and Honorable Mention All-Defensive Team. Oh and did I mention that he went to Duke? See, that is a big deal because some of the Bobcats staff went to UNC...you know what, I cannot do it. I am already sick of the big deal that was made about that last night during the draft coverage. It is stupid to think a team would not consider a player because of a college rivalry - the next writer or analyst who mentions it gets bonus points for being lazy. Ok, rant over.

Back to Gerald: Thanks to advanced computer image generation techniques, here is an early look at what he might look like in a Bobcats jersey next season.

Ok, so I am really bad (and kind of lazy) with Photoshop. As you can tell from Gerald's hairline, he is not one of the youngest players in the draft: Henderson is 21 now and will be 22 in December. The good news is that he should be able to contribute from the start, as a capable backup to Raja Bell - and not unlike Bell either. Henderson has a solid mid-range game, a developing perimeter shot, long arms and a defensive tenacity that should endear him to Larry Brown.

Time for some clips: We start with my favorite.

This next one shows off a bit more of his defensive presence.

So, an introduction to Gerald Henderson for those who may have been curious. Weigh in on the Bobcats pick in the comments.

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ESPN TrueHoop Network NBA Draft LiveBlog

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST

We start at 5pm eastern. Be here. TrueHoop Network NBA Draft Liveblog-O-Rama-Rama

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TrueHoop Network Draft LiveBlog

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST

Quick post to give everyone a heads up: The TrueHoop network is coming together tonight for a massive NBA Draft LiveBlog. Hardwood Paroxysm got the ball running, just like last year, when they ran a 8 hour live blog for the draft. I was there and it was epic. Join us tonight, starting at 5pm for an even bigger event.

The LiveBlog is going to be run through CoverItLive and it will be posted on most all of the TrueHoop Network blogs. So, 30ish bloggers and all of their readership coming together for the NBA's biggest night. It's on like Donkey Kong.

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Alexis Ajinca - 08-09 Season Review

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Speaking of fouling-est players, Alexis come on down. 7.7 fouls per 40 minutes for the lanky young man. But you know what? I am ok with that, for one primary reason: Alexis was accomplishing something defensively with his aggression, to the tune of 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per 40 minutes to accompany those fouls. I can live with that tradeoff as Alexis continues to learn the game.

First up: Efficiencies. Incredibly small sample for Ajinca as he just does not have the body to handle the pro game yet. So, look at these numbers and enjoy them, but do not read too much into them.

Defensively, Alexis got abused. His man scored more often and far more efficiently against him and the only saving grace was that he somehow slowed them down on the glass. Considering Alexis own poor rebound rate, I am somewhat confused by that, but no matter. One note: Nice to see that overall (again, somehow), Alexis managed to hold his opponent to a lower PER than expected.

Good free throw rate...and that is about it. Too many jumpers for Alexis and too many misses.

Anything learned from this? The kid is a project - a 7 foot project with a ridiculous wingspan who showed a slight knack for blocks and steals. Enough to be intriguing, at least to me.

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Juwan Howard - 08-09 Season Review

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:30:00 EST

One of the fouling-est players in the NBA: Juwan Howard. Whoever Juwan was guarding made it to the line nearly 33% more often than their average numbers. Juwan averaged 6.2 fouls per 40 minutes as a Bobcat, good for 20th in the league (among players with 400+ minutes). For all the talk about good fouls and making them earn it - well, fouling that often makes it tough to put up a good defensive efficiency number, as Juwan's numbers show.

Aside from the strain his slow feet put on the defense, Juwan was not much on the other end of the court. A decent field goal percentage was countered by his low free throw rate for a big man. On top of that, he rebounds like a small forward.

Higgins and Jordan, if you are listening: Please do not resign Juwan. Give his minutes to Alexis (or any other young big man who has a glimmer of promise). They may foul just as much, but at least there is a promise of potential there.

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Sean May - 08-09 Season Review

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EST

Well, with word coming out that the Bobcats have decided to not extend a qualifying offer to Sean May, the former TarHeel may be the first player to get an End of Season review done who will not be with the team next year. Personal preference: Sean and the Cats agree to terms on a short-term deal that gives him a chance to prove himself (and gives CLT some kind of break for drafting him in the first place). We shall see. Looking at his numbers does not give any reason to want him back - but memories of that NCAA title run are hard to forget.

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Raymond Felton - 08-09 Season Review

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EST

Ok, I am going to start this out by saying I cannot explain it. Near the middle of the season, I did this post: Massive Midseason Musings on Bobcats Guards. At that point, Ray was competent defensively, but D.J. had better defensive numbers. However, when I ran the end of season numbers for Ray, things had changed...a lot. Just how much? Now, my numbers show him having held his man (when playing the point) to a -3.56 PER mark compared to his opponents' average stats. That is huge. What changed? Like I said, I cannot explain it, other than that the team as a whole was defending better as the season progressed, and I guess Ray was more of that improvement than anticipated. I give up - just look at the numbers for yourself (and be glad the Bobcats extended the qualifying offer to him today).
Click to enlarge.

Offensively, Ray needs to be at the point (and the team needs him there). I know that is a problem, since D.J. shows some much offensive promise. But just look at how much better Ray performs when acting as the point (meaning D.J. is not even on the court) compared to the 2.

Unsurprisingly, Ray comes out ahead in Net Performance at the 1 and no where else. After looking at the other 2 charts, there should not have been any doubt.

One thing to remember when looking at the team's efficiencies with Ray on the court: They were a very bad team prior to the Diaw and Bell trade. That did not entirely change because of the trade, it was also due to the increasing familiarity with how Larry Brown wanted them to play. Due to those early season struggles (and the high percentage of available minutes Ray played during them), his season long efficiency numbers are not good. Just wanted to make that caveat and I hope it can help explain these numbers and why they do not seem to match up with Ray's individual performance.

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Raja Bell - 08-09 Season Review

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:00:00 EST

Raja Bell came to Charlotte, with a basketball identity pretty well the polar opposite of the man he replaced, Jason Richardson: J-Rich had been brought in to score, Raja was coming to prevent the opposition from doing that same thing. Jason was decent at his job...and so was Raja.

As the numbers show, Raja is no longer a lock-down defender. He was solid, but he actually allowed his man to shoot better from the field than their average and sent them to the line for more trips than would be expected as well. The man will be 33 in a few months - it is to be expected. (Click for larger view)

The good news for the Bobcats - Raja has developed into a good shooter during his time in the league. The bad news - because Raja is no longer a stopper defensively, there is a bit of a gap between what he gets and what he gives, despite his solid defensive effort.

With the net numbers looking like they do (and the number of injuries Raja sustained last season), it is no wonder the Bobcats are looking to draft a replacement.

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Cartier Martin - 08-09 Season Review

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EST

When the Bobcats signed Cartier Martin, I was pulling for him to do well. Who does not like tales of a player toughing it out, playing in multiple leagues before getting a shot in the NBA and sticking. Unfortunately, in Cartier's part of a season with the Bobcats, he did not show much to think he was long for the league. While the team's efficiency numbers with him on the court are great, once you start looking at his personal numbers, you realize that it probably was not him responsible for that success.

Defensively - Cartier got beat by a not very good cumulative opponent. I think a 13.22 cumulative opponent PER is the lowest we have seen but I am too lazy to check right now. If someone remembers differently, please make note in the comments. (click on the image for full size version)

Offensively - not much shooting for a (primarily) shooting guard.

Bad defense + bad offense = bad net effort, so no surprises to see here. The only areas where Cartier out-performed his man: Rebounds and blocked shots.

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Emeka Okafor - 08-09 Season Review

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 21:35:14 EST

Solid. Consistent. Good, but not great. Fair description of Emeka in my mind. Do those words describe a player who received the contract he got prior to this past season? Well, obviously, yes - they describe Emeka and he got the contract. Better question, should they? I do not have that answer right now - but I will come back to it after running similar numbers for other centers making comparable money. For now, let's look at Mek's numbers:

Click any image for a larger view:

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Nazr Mohammed - 08-09 Season Review

Mon, 8 June 2009 21:30:09 EST

Not too much to talk about here: Nazr played little this season for the Bobcats, did not play well when he was on the court, and made a large sum of money for his troubles. Expect more of the same if he remains in CLT next season - Emeka, Diaw, and Diop are going to get the bulk of the minutes in the frontcourt - as they should - and Nazr will continue to be a well paid bench weight.

Click on any image below for the full size version:

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