It’s been over 2 years since we brought you 20 of the fugliest items from the NBA Store, and it’s time for us to once again pillage the league’s scrap heap of foul fan apparel and memorabilia.

We call it The Fugly Files… that’s right, it’s a new series from your old friends at ETB. Yay! And I think we’ll be expanding our rummaging and thrifting to the NFL and MLB stores, too. It’s almost like we’re those guys from A&E’s Hoarders who remove all the trash from those filthy houses. Kind of. Not sure yet if this will be a “weekly” or a “whenever” thing, but we’ll be doing it regularly all the same and hope to have some guest bloggers and writers featuring their favorite fugly items from time to time too.

And what a fine piece of women’s clothing we have today. Now available on clearance for just $19.97, but first offered on QVC for four easy payments of $28.42, this Majestic Threads Golden State Warriors Baron Davis Womens Tank w/ Swarovski Crystals is “fitted to complement your feminine shape” and will “look as good as you feel.”

And those crystals!

Brings back fond memories of the middle-school days when decking out Chicago White Sox and Oakland Raiders hats with glue-on rhinestones at home was all the rage. In this picture, you can’t really see the intricate detail to which each rhinestone crystal is delicately placed within the Warriors logo, but trust me, once you zoom in the artisan craftsmanship reveals this garment as a truly unique swath of fabric.

Ladies, this is a must own. I think it’ll fit you too, Justin Bieber.

1) Jason Heyward, OF, Atlanta Braves:

Stephen Strasburg, below, gets more hype, but Atlanta’s right fielder of the future is poised to make the biggest impact this season. The Braves missed out on overpaying for Johnny Damon this winter, which means Heyward will get an opportunity to be the Braves starting right fielder on Opening Day. Heyward has been making the most of that chance, going 10-for-22 and reaching safely in all 10 games in which he’s played this spring and playing solid defense while just about locking up the job.

Heyward is a big man, but he’s not just a masher – he has all the tools to excel at the plate, in the field and on the bases. Standing at 6-4, 220 lbs. and born in 1989, Heyward already has the plate approach of a veteran, above-average speed and a cannon arm. Heyward is listed as Baseball America’s No.1 prospect and comes in second on Baseball Prospectus‘ list heading into the season. He’s the complete package and ready to make a big splash before his 21st birthday.

Jason Heyward photo credit: Icon SMI

2) Neftali Feliz, RP, Texas Rangers:

Feliz got his MLB debut last season pitching out of the bullpen for Texas and looked stellar doing it. The Rangers prized prospect made 20 appearances and struck out 39 hitters while allowing 8 walks in just 31 innings en route to a jaw-dropping 1.74 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and .124 BAA. Those numbers don’t lie either, as Feliz throws a fastball in the 96-100 MPH range that simply leaps out of his hand and also features a curve and changeup that should develop as plus pitches.

He will eventually be featured in Texas’ starting rotation, but with a lackluster spring it looks like Feliz will spend another season in a long-relief role in the Rangers bullpen before making the move to the rotation for 2011. Even so, fantasy leaguers should take note – he’s not in the same class as Strasburg in the long run, but there may not be another pitcher in baseball who can give you the per-inning upside Feliz offers.

3) Stephen Strasburg, SP, Washington Nationals:

The No. 1 overall pick last year, Strasburg is the most electric young pitcher in baseball and the most hyped draft pick in recent memory. He features a 94-97 MPH fastball that tops out at 101, a giant power curve and a changeup with excellent command (195 Ks to just 19 BBs as a senior at San Diego State). His stuff is so impressive and MLB-ready that there was speculation he could see time with the Nationals late last year, but Washington wisely didn’t push their prized prospect. The speculation was on once again heading into camp in 2010, and the youngster poured fuel on the fire by starting the spring with five scoreless innings while regularly hitting in the high 90s on the radar gun and blowing by professional hitters.

Once again, though, the Nationals will prudently exercise caution and have the phenom start the season in the minors to get his arm ready for pitching on an MLB schedule (and will, conveniently, likely delay his service time in the process). We can expect to see the top pitching prospect in baseball make his debut this season, and it’ll be fun to watch with that 97-101 MPH fastball of his, but the fact that he’ll likely be in the minors the first few months bumps him down to third here.

4) Brian Matusz, SP, Baltimore Orioles:

The first pitcher taken in 2008, Matusz had already reached the bigs by the end of his first full season and has been impressive this spring, striking out 10 batters over four innings in his first two starts (though also giving up four runs) before holding a largely-intact Phillies lineup to three hits and one run in five innings in his third turn. He’s polished for his age, featuring four strong pitches: a low-90s fastball, sharp curve, decent slider and great changeup – all of which he can throw for strikes. The Orioles should slot Matusz into the back end of their starting rotation from day one and he is capable of producing a respectable line from the get-go, though that park and the fact that he pitches in the AL East should severely limit expectations.

5) Carlos Santana, C, Cleveland Indians:

After an offseason surgery on his right hand the Indians’ top prospect will start the 2010 season at Triple-A Columbus, but he’s fully healed and should be mashing for the big league club before long. Santana isn’t the best catcher prospect in baseball, that honor goes to the Yankees’ Jesus Montero (even if he’s unlikely to stick behind the plate), but he is the most likely to make an impact this season at the always talent-starved position.

While he’s unlikely to ever be a great catcher, unlike Montero, Santana does have a plus arm and the tools to stay at the position. However, it’s his offense fantasy owners are concerned about – and the kid doesn’t disappoint at the plate. The 2008 California League MVP and 2009 Eastern League MVP posted a .943 OPS, 23 home runs and a league-leading 90 walks last season. After a few solid weeks at Triple-A we could see a call-up for Santana, and that kind of plate approach should play well at the Major League level out of the box; 15-20 HRs with a solid .370 OBP isn’t out of reach.

Mammoth centers who enter the league as projects are a dime a dozen, and the outcomes are all over the place. Sometimes you get a Yao Ming or a Chris Kaman (good one, NBA08). More often you end up with a Frederic Weis or a Curtis Borchardt (who you’ll find more news about on WNBA boards).

With any luck, you hope your team’s coaching staff can keep a big project from turning into a big waste. Enter Roy Hibbert. The 7-2 280-pounder got notoriety at Georgetown for his solid defense despite his underwhelming rebounding numbers (he never averaged 7 boards per in any of his four collegiate seasons). Sure, he was huge and pounded some Big East opponents, but usually he was getting schooled by smaller centers with more mobility.

After graduating in 2008, Toronto took a chance on Hibbert with the 17th selection because as the old adage goes, “You can’t teach size.” Two weeks later, he was on his way to Indiana as part of the Jermaine O’Neal trade, and the potential big stiff became a Pacer. All the signs of he-won’t-work-out were there: he was slow, he played upright, and he was often overwhelmed by smaller opponents. He began his rookie season as a reserve behind Rasho Nesterovic and Jeff Foster, usually not a sign of great things to come.

Roy Hibbert photo credit: Icon SMI

The Pacers started poorly and were out of the running by Christmas, so Coach Jim O’Brien decided to start the youngster for 42 games over the last two-thirds of the season. Hibbert still wasn’t playing much more than 15 minutes per, partly due to foul trouble and partly due to Foster putting together a pretty solid campaign, but he showed late in the season that he could handle a larger scoring and rebounding role. As you’d like to see from rookies, Hibbert’s best month was his last. In April, he averaged 12 points, 6 rebounds, 6 free throw attempts, and 1.6 blocks in only 21 minutes per.

The summer of 2009 is when Hibbert finally started to look like a first-round pick. In the Orlando Summer League, Hibbert showed that even though he was slow of foot, he was coachable and was willing to put in the effort needed to improve. He dominated the six-team league, averaging 20 points, 9 boards, 1.8 blocks, and 6 trips to the line per game. He hit 63% from the field and 75% from the charity stripe on his way to MVP honors while leading the Pacers to a 5-0 record.

In addition to displaying more energy around the hoop than he did as a rookie, Hibbert was finally bending his knees and getting low to maintain balance, strength, and to aid in explosiveness for rebounds. This was a good sign since most project giants tend to stand straight up in order to be as tall as possible; it’s often counter-intuitive for 7-footers to get down, but Hibbert was obviously listening to his coaches.

This season has been a pleasant surprise for fans who last saw Hibbert as a mostly unproductive rookie. He’s started almost every game for Indiana and is connecting on 49% of his shots and 77% of his free throws, both improvements from last year. With more minutes, he’s getting ink all over the boxscore, averaging 11 points, 6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and nearly 2 assists per.

This last number doesn’t do his passing justice, an area in which he’s one of the top bigs in the league. He’s a great bounce passer out of the high post, but his teammates put him in company with Orlando’s Jameer Nelson, two players who make far more passes that should be assists than they get credit for. In Nelson’s case, it’s because everyone hacks Dwight Howard when he has the ball; Hibbert has inept teammates who nearly lead the league in turnovers and only convert 43.7% of their attempts, the third-worst mark in the NBA.

There’s no question the second-year center is getting it done and is well on his way to not being a certified bust, but something is obviously wrong. That something is the team he plays for. The Pacers have the worst record in the East other than the Nets, but the real issue is how they play. Indiana likes to run and gun. They play at the second-fastest pace in the NBA and they shoot the fourth-most 3-pointers. If there’s one thing a slow big man doesn’t want to do, it’s run down the court after his teammates, watch them jack up tons of bombs at a low rate before he’s in position to rebound, then have to sprint back the other way in hopes of stopping a fast-breaking opponent who most likely has more talent than his teammates.

Even in a system that he’s not built for, Hibbert is having some of the most success of any Pacer. His adjusted plus/minus is barely behind Danny Granger’s, the best of the Indiana regulars. And check out how many of the top 3-man units on the team include Hibbert, something that wasn’t happening a year ago.

But he’s not built for this type of team, and he needs to go elsewhere to continue his maturation as a player. There are plenty of slow teams that could use more depth at the center position. The Pistons need a lot of rebounding help and play at a crawl. The Blazers play even slower, and their two centers on contract for next year are sidelined with terrible injuries. The Bobcats are always looking for defensive-minded players, and the Nets are slow and could use darn near anyone who can play.

Big East fans expected nothing from Hibbert in the NBA. He ended his first year on an upswing, changing some minds along the way, and his play over the summer raised more than a few eyebrows around the league. Many pundits’ attitudes about him have changed, and I can’t say I’m shocked anymore that he appears to be on his way to a decent professional career. I only hope he can get a change of scenery. Otherwise the Pacers are doing themselves and their young center a disservice.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

From out of the unbearable murk that has become the Detroit Pistons 2009-10 season, three updates on three Pistons covered in this space earlier this year:

- A little over 2 months ago I called out Tayshaun Prince for pulling an Ewok on the Pistons on the team’s youth movement and rebuilding process. I suggested that the team’s most vital, versatile glue player during the franchise’s most-recent glory years had morphed into a high-plains drifter, a man searching for a concrete role where one no longer existed.

Maybe I was too harsh.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve long been one of Prince’s biggest fans. (In the interest of full disclosure, for those not paying attention the last 3 years, I was born, raised, and remain a fierce Pistons’ supporter no matter how the wins-and-losses column reads.) I don’t particularly enjoy reading what I see as the writing on the wall for Prince (and Rip Hamilton, below), and of course wish he could forever be that beguiling 25-year-old talent with a flair for dramatic defensive stops and, most importantly, for winning. But while we can all forever appreciate what our aging heroes accomplished, only the delusional can dismiss the notion that Prince, now 30 years young, now has his better NBA days behind him.

That doesn’t have to mean, however, that he can’t stave off the inevitable a little bit longer than some might anticipate. Before the All-Star break, Prince was limited to just 19 games due a ruptured disc in his back, and his production during that stretch tumbled to near-career lows. Funny thing about injuries, though, is that even after they’re “healed”, they can still detrimentally impact performance.

That ruptured disc no longer seems to be a factor: in 15 games since the break, Prince has shot 50% from the field and is averaging 15.8 points, 5.9 boards, 3.9 assists, and almost 1 block and steal per. Though a small sample size, those would all be career highs if they were on the season. He’s become as aggressive on offense as I’ve perhaps ever seen him, shooting the ball with confidence, backing down overmatched defenders without hesitation, and essentially competing with Rodney Stuckey to become the team’s second-best scoring option behind Hamilton.

Trade Tayshaun Prince? Yes, sadly, I still think it can and should happen. Fortunately for the Pistons, his trade value this summer or next season has gotten much, much higher than it was at this year’s trade deadline, especially since he’s on the books for just one more season at $11.1 million.

Quick takes on Rip Hamilton and Jonas Jerebko after the break…

- With Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace both gone, who was going to be the Pistons’ most marketable player this season and moving forward? Free-agent additions Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva? Stalwart veterans and reminders of better days Hamilton and Prince? Former face of the franchise Ben Wallace, back after a few seasons spent adrift elsewhere? Or, maybe, emerging star Rodney Stuckey?

Five months ago nobody would have guessed the answer would be Swedish-born rookie Jonas Jerebko, who was taken midway through the second round of the draft and was not expected to contribute much this season. What a pleasant surprise to see Jerebko defy expectations and quickly make a name for himself in the league and endear himself to Pistons fans.

Since I announced his arrival back on December 1, all Jerebko has done is get better, and better, and better, cementing a job in the starting lineup at power forward over Villanueva and becoming one of the league’s premier irritants and hustle-stats guys. During Wallace’s heyday, fans flocked to the Palace donning afro wigs and went nuts for gongs of the Big Ben clock after a rebound, blocked shot, or alley-oop dunk. The clock still gongs, but it’s the blow of a viking horn recognizing a plus play from Jerebko that we’re hearing more and more. The wigs, too, have been replaced with viking horns.

And with good reason: Jerebko has been electric since the All-Star break (when he participated in the annual Rookie-Sophomore Challenge), averaging 11.5 points (51% FG), 6.8 boards, and 1.3 steals. Those aren’t huge numbers, but consider that he gets very few plays designed for him to score, and hey, numbers aren’t everything: the immeasurables are there, believe me, a fact reinforced by him becoming the first Detroit Pistons rookie to be named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month (in February) since Zeljko Rebraca was honored back in 1992.

- Logic said that the Pistons weren’t planning to pay Ben Gordon $55 million over the next 5 seasons to back up incumbent starting SG Richard Hamilton. Given the team’s dearth of quality big men, it made sense to assume the team would immediately begin exploring any and all trade options for Hamilton; maybe they did, maybe they didn’t, but as the season wore on, and as Hamilton spent much of the first few months watching from the bench and nursing a severely sprained ankle, it became clear that his trade value had plummeted to as low as it’s probably ever been since his ascension to perennial All-Starish status.

He became so difficult to watch, in fact, that I had to call him out for having one of the NBA’s worst contracts, which he actually does: he’ll collect an excess of $37 million, every penny of it guaranteed, over the next 3 seasons. Hamilton was pressing post-sprained ankle, taking nearly 17 shots per and making them at just a 39% clip before the All-Star break. But considering how much criticism I’ve leveled his way this season, his improved play over the past month or so deserves mention.

The old Rip Hamilton we’ve all come to appreciate has, mostly, resurfaced. His shooting has improved, his decision-making has improved, and like Prince, he’s done his best to put on a happy face despite mounting losses and increased his effort level, which was flagging for awhile there. And, guess what, he’s also outplaying Gordon and making him look like the superfluous piece, not the other way around.

Gotta love those Redskins.

Just when it looked like it was “out with the old and in with the new” in Washington, owner Daniel Snyder does it again by signing former All-Pro running back Larry Johnson to a 3-year deal that could pay him as much as $12 million.

We’re assuming GM Bruce Allen isn’t a total dolt and has made these incentives relatively unreachable for a broken-down back of Johnson’s caliber: things like playing in more than 8 games, rushing for more than 3.5 yards per carry, totaling more than 500 yards combined, not claiming he deserves 25+ carries a game, not publicly clashing with the similarly broken-down Clinton Portis. All would be goals reasonable men know LJ will not realistically attain.

Forget that the Redskins haven’t won their division since 1999. And that they’ve won just one playoff game since 1999. And that they were lucky to scratch out a 4-12 record last season. And that they have fielded one of the most boring, inefficient offenses in the NFL for years, and that few outside of Washington find them even remotely watchable. Forget all that, Snyder is not going out like a chump. He spends money, damn it, that’s what he does, and he’s not going to change just because there’s a new GM and a new head coach on the team. He’s no fool, that Snyder: c’mon, you all know how awesome Johnson is on Madden ‘05.

The Mike Shanahan and Daniel Snyder marriage is perfect in that it brings together two stubborn men who are going to prove their point, that they’re right and you’re wrong, at all costs. Snyder cares not and hears not the criticism of his careless, free-spending ways on free agents every offseason; Shanahan, for his part, will not be told he can’t just turn anybody into an effective, efficient, successful running back. His track record is remarkable, give him that, but this move is one of his most arrogant yet.

It wasn’t enough to think he could resuscitate Portis, who over eight NFL seasons has carried the ball something like 8,000 times and missed half of the 2009 season due to a lingering concussion. To be fair, he’s only one season removed from playing in all 16 games and rushing for nearly 1,500 yards and 9 TDs, but as we’ve seen with guys like Shaun Alexander, Priest Holmes, and LaDainian Tomlinson, the dropoff in production for aging running backs is often a preciptious one. It happens fast, and once it does, there’s usually little left of value in terms of on-field usefulness. Harsh, yes, but that’s just how it is.

Speaking of Holmes, Johnson recently said he envisions the ‘Skins backfield combo of him and Portis working like it once did with him and Holmes in Kansas City. Hm, no, Larry, can’t see that happening. Now 30 years old, Johnson last rushed for 1,000+ yards in 2006, when he carried the ball 416 times (!) for 1,789 yards, totaled 2,200 combined yards, and scored 19 TDs. The next year he played in just eight games, rushing for 559 yards and scoring 4 TDs. He was eventually fazed out in KC, averaging a paltry 2.9 YPC last season before being released and finishing out the season as a backup for the Cincinnati Bengals.

This is quite a reclamation project for Shanahan, the debilitated duo of Portis & Johnson; let’s not forget the ‘Skins don’t really have a quarterback, either, though I assume they’ll be drafting one. Yep, it’s going to be another thrilling year of offensive fireworks in Washington.

Can’t wait!

Larry Johnson Photo Credit: Icon SMI

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/15/larry-johnson-signs-with-redskins/feed/ 3 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/15/utah-jazz-building-momentum-for-playoffs/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/15/utah-jazz-building-momentum-for-playoffs/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:18:48 +0000 Brian Spencer http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=7594 By Brian Spencer

We haven’t talked much about the Utah Jazz this season. No particular reason why, we just haven’t. We’re not the only ones though: though this team has successfully been working towards securing home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs, if not more, they’ve been doing so relatively quietly, as Jerry Sloan’s teams tend to do, and with very little fanfare.

Know this, however: the Jazz are not to be taken lightly.

Currently holding down the Western Conference’s #4 seed, and just 2.5 games back of the Northwest Division-leading Denver Nuggets, the Jazz are in great shape to make a run for second billing behind the LA Lakers. Though the strength of their remaining schedule (9 of their last 16 games come against sub-.500 teams) is mitigated some by a healthy number of road games (8 home, 8 away), the Jazz seem to be hitting their stride at the right time both individually and collectively.

Carlos Boozer, a big question mark coming into the season, has been stellar all year long and especially the last 2 months: he’s double-doubled in 14 of his past 17 games, dished a season-high 8 assists on February 22 against the Atlanta Hawks, and gobbled up a career-best 23 rebounds on February 21 against the Portland Trail Blazers. All in all, it’s so far been one of the finest statistical seasons of his 8-year career, through 62 games averaging 19.4 points (55% FG), 11.3 boards, 3.3 assists (career best), 1.1 steals, and 74% from the free-throw line, the highest percentage he’s shot since joining the Jazz in 2004.

Fifth-year PG Deron Williams is on his way to a third-straight year averaging at least 10 assists per, and is currently on pace to establish new career bests in three-pointer made (1.3), rebounds (4), and steals (1.2). Paul Millsap is adjusting nicely to the Boozer’s return to prominence and his role as a backup, shooting a career-high 56% while averaging a big 11.4 points and 6.3 boards off the bench. Kyle Korver has realized that less can sometimes mean more, as he’s averaging career-lows of 4.8 field-goal and 2.1 three-point attempts per, but shooting career-bests of 51% FG and 57% 3PT. And unheralded rookie SG Wesley Matthews has adjusted nicely to his elevation into the starting lineup after Ronnie Brewer was traded to Memphis.

As a team, the Jazz are incredibly difficult to stop or even slow down when they’re on their game, like last Wednesday when they breezed past the Pistons 115-104 in Detroit. I was bowled over by the crispness of nearly everything they did: precise outlet passes, well-timed and constant cuts to the basket, smart backpicks, ball movement around the perimeter, jump shots from Korver, Okur, Williams, and Boozer that consistently hit nothing but net. On defense, they made up for their lack of an intimidating presence in the paint with smarts, namely help rotations that were rarely late.

They have shooters a-plenty, they have one of the NBA’s top-five point guards and one of its most productive big men, and they have a roster full of unselfish guys who know their role and are happy to fill it to the best of their ability. Yes, the Utah Jazz are very impressive, and as long as they stay healthy, the Utah Jazz are very dangerous too.

As an aside, maybe that unpopular trade that sent Brewer to Memphis for a first-round pick wasn’t such a bad idea after all. They did lose a helluva wing defender and high-percentage shooter, but Matthews and the combination of Ronnie Price and C.J. Miles off the bench have proven serviceable replacements, and there’s a good chance the Jazz would have lost Brewer to free agency after the 2010-11 season anyway. Plus, don’t forget that thanks to the Knicks, Utah will have at least a top-10 pick in this year’s draft to use either on a big man or, possibly, an off-guard to compete with Matthews next season.

Yep, the Utah Jazz are in a good place, and it’s only getting better.

Deron Williams Photo Credit: Icon SMI

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/15/utah-jazz-building-momentum-for-playoffs/feed/ 4 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/12/friday-boxscore-breakfast-starring-john-salmons-luck-for-the-bucks/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/12/friday-boxscore-breakfast-starring-john-salmons-luck-for-the-bucks/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:32:45 +0000 ETB Contributor http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=7603 By: Zachariah Blott

Milwaukee on a roll with Salmons: Chicago couldn’t wait to get rid of John Salmons by the trade deadline. He’s making $5.8 million next year, which got in the way of the Bulls’ ability to offer a max contract this summer. So he was sent to Milwaukee for Hakim Warrick, and the Bucks ended up with a good luck charm. Since his arrival, Milwaukee has won 10 of 11 contests. They beat Cleveland. They beat the Celtics. They barely lost in Atlanta. Most impressively, they moved from out of the Eastern Conference playoffs into 5th place faster than you can down a Milwaukee’s Best.

Playing similar minutes as he did with the Bulls, Salmon’s scoring is up from 13 to 19 points per, his assists are up from 2.5 to 3.2 per, and his free throw attempts are up from 3 to 5 per. His FG% and FT% have both increased, and he’s clearly a bigger part of his new team’s offense. Whereas he had trouble getting his hands on the ball in Chicago with Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, and Luol Deng controlling the action, Milwaukee is more than happy to let him share lead scoring duties with Andrew Bogut and ball handling duties with Brandon Jennings.

John Salmons photo credit: AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps

Evans completes third rookie triple-double in a month: Tyreke Evans went for 19-10-10 on Wednesday in a win over Toronto, completing the third triple-double by a rookie this season. Not only that, they all occurred within a month of each other. Exactly 28 days before Evans turned the trick, Stephen Curry blew up the Clippers for 36 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. Darren Collison joined in the fun last week, abusing the Pacers for 18 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. While this season was supposed to be Blake Griffin’s Rookie of the Year showpiece, it’s turned out to be a year belonging to first-year guards (don’t forget about Ty Lawson, Brandon Jennings, and Jonny Flynn).

Yet another rookie PG makes his mark: Dallas selected Rodrigue Beaubois with the 25th pick of the 2009 draft, making him the 11th point guard taken that night (depending on how liberally you classify all those players). The speedster started the year slowly, but he’s really stepped up in Dallas’ last five games. From March 3 through the 10, Beaubois played significant minutes each night, earning pers of 18 points, 3.4 assists, 1 turnover, 0.6 steals, and 1.6 triples. He shot well during the stretch, connecting on 55% from the field, 35% from deep, and 86% from the free throw line. His top single-game performance was on March 6 in a tight 122-116 victory at Chicago, during which the youngster had 24 points (10-17 shooting), 5 assists, and 0 turnovers in a starting role.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/12/friday-boxscore-breakfast-starring-john-salmons-luck-for-the-bucks/feed/ 0 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/11/lebron-james-2010-free-agency-2/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/11/lebron-james-2010-free-agency-2/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:01:26 +0000 ETB Contributor http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=7580

By: Zachariah Blott

It’s official: the New Jersey Nets are now the number one destination for LeBron James this July. That is, if he leaves Cleveland (big if). The Nets earned the top contender billing by blasting the Knicks 113-93 in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night after falling behind by 16 in the first quarter. That win means the 7-56 Nets are 2-2 against the Knicks, a team many people feel LeBron could sign with during the 2010 Free Agent Gold Rush.

New York’s place in the LeBron Sweepstakes already took a big hit on March 1 when Cleveland clowned them for a 31-point victory, which included King James acting the part of the jester and dancing for the crowd’s enjoyment during the game. Then came the New Jersey incident.

Although the Knicks probably still retain a better chance of landing LeBron’s services than the Clippers and Bulls, they’re now a distant distant third in the running. My money is on him returning to the Cavs, but I’m willing to discuss why the Nets would be an intriguing new home. Here’s the rundown of why he could or should end up on each of these three likeliest clubs.

Why LeBron Probably Stays in Cleveland

Let’s start with the most obvious reason: superstars tend to remain with their teams for the long haul if they’re treated well. The Cavs have continually shown that they’ll listen to LeBron’s roster suggestions and that they’ll spend money to surround him with talent. GM Danny Ferry goes out and gets pretty much whoever the star wants. An aging Shaq at $20 million to bully Dwight Howard, you say? Yes, sir. An endless group of guards who are good at shooting wide-open threes? Sure. Use 12-year company man Ilgauskas Zydrunas as a pawn to bring in Antawn Jamison? Not a problem.

The results have been quite good, another major reason he will likely stay put. Lest we forget, Cleveland was 17-65 the season before LeBron’s arrival. The Nets are mathematically within reach of that win total. With the maturation of LeBron and the overhaul to their supporting cast, the Cavaliers were a NBA-best 66-16 last year, and are a NBA-best 50-15 this year. Next year, they return everyone except Shaq and Big Z, but I’m sure they can find adequate replacements with the $20.6 million these two earn; replacements like Shaq and Big Z.

Last but not least, Cleveland is his home. LeBron was born and raised in Akron, Ohio, a town less than 45 minutes south of The Mistake by the Lake. He still hangs out with his high-school buddies back in Akron, and he’s heavily involved in events and charities in both communities. LeBron is very close to his mother, the only relative he lived with while growing up, who still lives in the area. Also, his long-time girlfriend, who is the mother of his two children, is a high-school sweetheart, so you know her family is in the area. LeBron has a high comfort level in Ohio, something that can’t easily be discounted.

And, oh yeah, he stands to make more money in Cleveland than any suitor can offer him.

Why LeBron should play for the Nets or Knicks after the break….

Why LeBron Should Play for the Nets

The perfect Big 3 for any squad consists of a center who can control the paint defensively and grab 10 boards a night, a fast point guard who makes good decisions, and a versatile scorer who can do the inside-outside thing. Now imagine this: Brook Lopez, Devin Harris, and LeBron James. Lopez and Harris wouldn’t be expected to carry the load, so they can focus more on what they do well and less on forcing the action so that there is some action. You could pencil in all three as perennial All-Stars, which would put them head-and-shoulders above any trio you can name on Cleveland.

Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, and Chris Douglas-Roberts would suddenly be far more open for scoring opportunities, and Terrence Williams could concentrate on what he was born to do: defend. Josh Boone would start to look like the Josh Boone people imagined when he was drafted, a hard-nosed defender and rebounder who lays in a few easy ones each contest. Throw in another $20-30 million (NJ’s on the books for only $22 million next year) for a couple perimeter defenders/shooters and a veteran banger, and you have a team that conceivably looks better than Cleveland right now.

Oh yeah, they also have a top-4 draft pick. Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson (deadly shooter with all the skills to be a great defender) or an interior monster like Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors, Kansas’ Cole Aldrich, or Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins all fit the bill for areas of need. It goes without saying that the Nets are soon moving to Brooklyn, the cool part of New York, and they have a new owner who’s considered pretty hip (which in this case means he is tall, very rich, and has an accent — congratulations to Mikhail Prokhorov’s parents).

Why LeBron Should Play for the Knicks

They play in Madison Square Garden (bu-bye to Kobe’s 61), which is in The Big Apple. He’ll score 47 points per under Mike D’Antoni. They also have the money to bring in Chris Bosh. Their defense is certain to remain bad enough to necessitate that LeBron plays every minute and constantly stays in must-take-over mode. Uhmmm… Danilo Gallinari?

Look, either he’s dying to play for the one team in the sexiest market on Earth no matter what, or he isn’t. I’m assuming he has standards.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/11/lebron-james-2010-free-agency-2/feed/ 4 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/10/dwight-howard-impossible-to-gameplan-for/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/10/dwight-howard-impossible-to-gameplan-for/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:25:07 +0000 ETB Contributor http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=7575

By: Zachariah Blott

Imagine being an NBA coach, and your squad is about to face the Cavaliers. What do you do about LeBron James? Who do you have that’s willing to stick him, has the quickness to not get embarrassed on the perimeter, and has the size and strength to not get embarrassed in the paint?

Gameplanning for James’ offensive abilities is obviously a devastating thought, as it is when you face Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and a handful of other premier offensive centerpieces. But are you really that worried about any of these stars shutting down your offense? You popping any Advils thinking about who Kevin Durant might guard on your squad tonight?

Usually a team’s defensive system, not its individual players, is what you gameplan for on that side of the ball, but occasionally a coach has problems on his hands if the other club just happens to have Ron Artest and Shane Battier in their starting lineup. More often, a true stopper in the middle needs to be accounted for from an individual standpoint: Are we going inside against Chris Andersen? Eh, let’s roll the dice from the perimeter.

Rare is the player who opposing coaches have to consider and plan around because of both parts of their game. Dwight Howard pops out as the most complete WTF-do-we-do-about-that-guy player in the league. Not only is he far and away the most intimidating defender, altering and discouraging just about everything inside of 15 feet, his capabilities define how the Magic’s offensive scheme works to a degree that only Steve Nash’s relation to the Suns’ fast break can compare.

To see how difficult a task gameplanning for Howard is, one should examine what he provides in terms of offense and defense, and how important he is to what the Magic are trying to accomplish on both ends of the court.

Gameplanning for Howard’s Defense

It’s no big secret that Howard is the best defensive player in the league. He’s the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, the odds-on favorite to win it again this year, and his team’s Defensive Rating continues to sit right near the top of the league. In fact, Orlando’s defensive rating has ranked between 1st and 6th in the NBA for each of the past four seasons, including the current one. That would be every year since Howard turned 20 years old.

Much more on Dwight Howard’s strangehold on the NBA after the break…

Whereas an amazing perimeter defender can slow down a great scorer, an amazing interior defender can slow down whole teams. Consider the transformation of the Magic’s defense: for the fourth straight season, they rank among the game’s elite. The previous four seasons—which includes Howard’s two seasons as a teenager and the two prior to his arrival—were abysmal. They had the worst defensive rating in the entire league in 2003-04, the year before Orlando wisely drafted Howard over Emeka Okafor. That season is mercifully mixed in with others in which their defense ranked 18th, 20th, and 24th in the league, putting their D squarely in the below-average to worst range.

How’d he flip his team’s defensive mojo so drastically? (Brian Hill was the coach before and after the big turnaround, so don’t assume Stan Van Gundy came in and straightened things out.) For starters, his blocked shots have risen sharply from 1.4 to nearly 3 per due to experience and a better ability to slide into the paint from the weakside. More importantly than that, however, is the perception that he can block any shot inside the lane.

This creates fear in opponents, and fear creates bad shots. Three blocked shots out of 85 attempts doesn’t drastically improve a defense. But 3 blocks coupled with 10-15 fearfully poor shots inside, plus another 10 that are now taken a little farther back than desired so they won’t be rejected can screw up an offense real good.

The Magic yield only 17.3 buckets per inside of 10 feet. The only team to allow less, Cleveland at 17.1, plays at a significantly slower pace. Additionally, Orlando allows only 52% of shots that close to go in, the lowest in a league that surrenders 56% from that distance. Howard’s blend of sheer physical force paired with his rare-for-his-size explosiveness makes for a defensive force any opposing coach would be scared to send players near, which creates some problems because the most fruitful shots and passes are supposed to happen close to the hoop.

Not only are other teams not able to hit as many shots as they’d like against the Magic (who allow a 44% FG%, best in the league), they can’t get the rebounds either. Orlando tops everyone in defensive rebounding percentage at 77%. I don’t have to tell you who’s about to lead the league for the fifth straight year in rebounds and third straight year in defensive rebounds.

Gameplanning for Howard’s Offense

Howard averages 19 points on 10 shots per. Think about that. He misses an average of only 1 shot each quarter. No one in the league can approach that level of efficiency. Sure, he’s only second in effective field-goal percentage and true shooting percentage, but he averages far more points than Nene and Kendrick Perkins, the two players who are barely ahead of him in each category right now.

Howard’s field-goal percentage has been up around 60% for the past four seasons, which puts him right on par with Shaquille O’Neal’s best stretches. Shaq certainly did a better job of demanding the ball for more shots, but he is also a 53% career free-throw shooter. Howard definitely isn’t great from the charity stripe, but he’s knocked down over 60% for his career and for this season.

This is where most opponents take their chances with Howard: at the free-throw line. He leads the league with 10.3 free throw attempts per, so it’s clear what coaches want their players to do with him in lieu of getting dunked on: Hack-a-Dwight. Sometimes an opposing coach wants to stop Howard altogether and opts to double-team him; this is where Howard’s true importance to the Magic offense becomes evident. They have been built to punish any team that gives him too much attention.

As Cleveland and the rest of us learned in the 2009 Playoffs, Orlando likes to shoot 3’s… a lot of 3’s. They have eight players who average at least 2.5 triple attempts per. As a team, they toss up over 27 per, way ahead of anyone who plays at their speed. And for the teams that play much faster and jack lots of triples in transition, like Phoenix and Indiana and New York, the Magic average more than them too.

Because Howard attracts so much attention in the paint, the rest of his teammates can hang out on the perimeter waiting for their chance to throw up bombs over a collapsed defense. Everyone’s shooting improves dramatically when they don’t have defenders pestering them (ask Cleveland’s Delonte West and Mo Williams), and Orlando’s perimeter shooters don’t get nearly the attention Howard commands. Without the big guy in the middle, Orlando wouldn’t be shooting 36% from deep (7th in NBA), and they sure wouldn’t be leading the league by a mile with 30 points per off trifectas.

The result of this unique system—get it inside to Howard for certain points or outside to wide-open shooters if he’s covered tightly—is a healthy 53% eFG%, the NBA’s third-best rate. The Magic’s Offensive Rating is around 110 for the third straight season, something Orlando hasn’t accomplished since Shaq was in town, back when the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”/”Blossom” lineup was working wonders for NBC.

There are very few players in the NBA to whom you can attribute the entire success of their team’s offensive system (giving LeBron James high-fives is not a system). Orlando has a distinct way of trying to score, and it has no chance of working without Howard. Steve Nash running the Suns’ fast break also falls into this category. Outside of these two, no one else is so responsible for the structure and outcome of a team’s offense.

Bringing It All Together

Howard is in a league by himself when it comes to giving opposing coaches headaches. There are probably 12-18 players whose offensive skills legitimately can’t be neutralized without sacrificing massive amounts of production from their four teammates. Howard is certainly in this group. Additionally, Orlando’s team was specifically built to score based on what Howard brings to the table. Appropriately, it is quite a good offense.

On the defensive end, only an inside enforcer can drastically affect a team’s overall ability to curb scoring. Luc Mbah a Moute and Tayshaun Prince can throw a monkeywrench into Durant’s plans to drop 25 points in a night, but a single wing defender isn’t turning a bad defense into a great defense: a big with the right instincts and attitude can. As great a job as Gerald Wallace and Andrew Bogut have done in this capacity, Howard is the best in the business at patrolling the paint, making scoring a real chore for other teams.

Gameplanning for either of these two types of players—offensive juggernaut or defensive stopper—is enough of a pain, and Dwight Howard’s the only NBA player near the top of the game at both. Good luck coaches; Howard’s more than capable of “surprising” the world again this post-season.

Zachariah Blott cannot recommend Rick Telander’s “Heaven Is A Playground” enough.

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/10/dwight-howard-impossible-to-gameplan-for/feed/ 8 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/09/best-nfl-2010-free-agents/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/09/best-nfl-2010-free-agents/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:18:57 +0000 Andrew Thell http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=7548

Julius Peppers photo credit: Icon SMI

By Andrew Thell

2010 is not the free agency bonanza we sometimes see, even though we are entering the uncapped season, but there are some serious playmakers who have already signed with new teams and who still linger in unrestricted free agency. In a class short on star power, Julius Peppers appears to be the only franchise-changing player to hit the market, and he was quickly taken off the board by a team few people were excited about the prospects of after last season – but perhaps should be now.

Below you’ll find a list of the nine players who have signed with news teams in rough order of the impact I expect them to make followed by a list of seven of the finest free agents still on the market – as of this writing, at least, things change fast in early free agency.

You’ll notice five prominent omissions on the Best of the Rest section: LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker, Larry Johnson and Thomas Jones. We all know what that quintet has in common. They’re former stars at the running back position who are over the age of 30, have been run into the ground or both. The position is not one of longevity in today’s NFL, and yesterday’s superstar back is on today’s scrap heap in shockingly short order. That’s the way of the league, and there’s nary a player at the position who can buck the trend – except one man, who made my first list …

The Most Significant Free Agents Signings Thus Far

Julius Peppers, DE, Chicago Bears: Peppers is an elite talent, there’s no question about that. In a pass-happy league where every team is desperate for more pressure Peppers is the type of player who can dominate a game from the defensive end position, manhandling any left tackle in the league when he’s on. When the Panthers pulled off a shocking win against the Minnesota Vikings back in December it was partly some strong play by QB Matt Moore and RB Jonathan Stewart, but it was much more Peppers embarrassing Bryant McKinnie every down and making Brad Childress look foolish for refusing to give his struggling LT help. He was that good. There are some concerns about Peppers mentally, if he loves the game and if he’s committed to getting the most out of his talent (especially with that fat contract in place). Making a guy with those issues the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL could come back to haunt them, but on paper he’s going to go a long way toward making that Bears defense scary again.

Karlos Dansby, LB, Miami Dolphins: Dansby is a plus player. He can rush the QB, is decent in run support and drops back into coverage well. He’ll make big, timely plays. Miami’s big acquisition isn’t in the same class as Peppers, and $8 million per season with $22 million in guaranteed was probably more than anybody else was willing to pay, but Dansby will certainly upgrade the Dolphins linebacking corps.

Antrel Rolle, S, New York Giants: Rolle couldn’t cut it as a cornerback, but the exceptional athlete has morphed into an above-average safety since making the position switch. The $37 million contract, with $15 million guaranteed, is a bit rich but the Giants simply couldn’t head into next season without upgrading their dismal safety play. Rolle doesn’t have great instincts, which killed him as a corner, but he can make up for it with great range and a knack for making plays at safety. If SS Kenny Phillips can return to form one of the Giants major weaknesses from 2009 could be a strength in 2010.

Dunta Robinson, CB, Atlanta Falcons: Dunta Robinson is a solid playmaker with the tools to be a strong cover corner, but he’s a tad overrated and you get the feeling that the Falcons overpaid for a brand name here. $25.5 million guaranteed is a bit steep for such an inconsistent player coming off a disappointing season, but such is the market for corners and at 27 Robinson could still blossom into a Pro Bowl level talent.

Chester Taylor, RB, Chicago Bears: He’s 30 years old, but Taylor has only topped 300 carries once in his career and never gone over 160 in any other season. A consummate professional, Chester is a strong blocker, catches the ball well out of the backfield, runs hard and can play on any down – excelling in a third-down capacity when called upon.

After the pedestrian effort we saw out of Matt Forte last season it’s not out of line to suggest Taylor is the most complete, valuable back on the Bears roster heading into next season. Taylor excelled as a starter for Minnesota before the drafting of Adrian Peterson and is one of the most underrated backs in the NFL with plenty left in his tank despite the advanced age.

Chester Taylor Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Aaron Kampman, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars: Coming off a torn ACL and a season in which he looked completely out of place playing linebacker in a 3-4, teams looking to upgrade their pass rush in a 4-3 defense at a slight discount were targeting Kampman. However, at 30 years old and unlikely to be at full strength for the start of the season the Jags are a curious destination. Still, he’s a quality pass rusher who can bring the heat and the contract is less than a third of what Peppers went for in total.

Kyle Vanden Bosch, DE, Detroit Lions: Vanden Bosch is a productive, high-motor player that should be a nice move toward revamping the toothless Lions defensive line. At 31 years of age the four-year, $26 million deal seems a bit steep but I think he’s got plenty left in the tank. Lions coach Jim Schwartz previously served as the Titans defensive coordinator and he knows what Vanden Bosch will bring to his team – on the field, in the locker room, in the weight room and in the meeting room – and playing alongside newly acquired DT Corey Williams, who will return to his natural position in a 4-3, the Lions line should be improved.

Nate Burleson, WR, Detroit Lions: Even with uber talent Calvin Johnson on board, this was a far bigger area of need for Detroit than many realize. Burleson has had an inconsistent career, but he has all the tools to be the No. 2 receiver Detroit so desperately needs opposite franchise cornerstone Megatron. Burleson has a bit of an injury history, but he also possesses good hands, decent speed, can gain yards after the catch and is capable of making plays in the air. He’ll be the best receiver to line up opposite Johnson in his short career and, along with second-year TE Brandon Pettigrew, should give young QB Matthew Stafford a nice safety blanket and secondary playmaker to take the constant pressure off of Johnson.

Tony Pashos, T, Cleveland Browns: The Browns got a slight discount after Pashos’ injury-marred season in 2009. He’s shown an ability to stay healthy in the previous eight years of his career and Pashos is capable of thriving in a power running attack like the one we expect Mike Holmgren to install in Cleveland. He’s not quite of the Bobbie Williams or Stephen Neal caliber, but Pashos was one of the finest guards on the market.

After the jump, the best players left on the UFA market …

Darren Sharper photo credit: Icon SMI

The Best Left on the Unrestricted Free Agent Market

Leigh Bodden, CB, New England Patriots: Bodden isn’t the exceptional talent many considered him during his Cleveland days, but he is a solid cover corner and there just aren’t enough of those to go around. After a failed stint in Detroit he rehabbed his value in New England with five picks and 18 pass breakups. Bodden could provide a nice, not great, upgrade for a lot of secondaries out there – though I would be a bit surprised if the Pats let him walk.

UPDATE: The Pats have re-signed Bodden for five years at $28.5 million with $10 million guaranteed.

Ryan Clark, S, Pittsburgh Steelers: Clark is a big-time hitter who isn’t commanding a big-time paycheck, so teams looking to upgrade their rush defense and tacking over the middle could do well for themselves by handing him a modest contract. The Steelers secondary played poorly in the absence of Troy Polamalu last season, but Clark has good instincts and managed 89 tackles. Clark makes all kinds of sense as a reasonably priced replacement for Antrel Rolle in Arizona.

UPDATE: The Steelers re-signed Clark to a four-year, $17 million contract.

Bobbie Williams, G, Cincinnati Bengals: I’m a little surprised this guy hasn’t garnered more attention on the open market. He’s 33 years old, but Williams is a nasty blocker that could really help a team’s running for a few seasons to come. He had a great 2009 blocking for Cedric Benson, but if nobody else jumps into the bidding it’s looking like the Bengals will be able to re-sign Williams for a reasonable price.

Dwan Edwards, DE, Baltimore Ravens: Edwards flies under most radars, but he’s a big young defensive end that is coming from a great defensive system and can get in the trenches and mix it up. After playing in a 3-4 at end, Edwards would likely be best served shifting to tackle on a 4-3 and providing solid run support with the burst to occasionally harass passers.

Antonio Bryant, WR, Tampa Bay Bucs: He’s a head case, and any team that gives Bryant consideration will need to have a steady hand at coach and strong leadership in the locker room. That said, Bryant is still in the prime of his career and the man can stretch a field. A team like Baltimore, who is looking at Bryant, could really take advantage of that with strong-armed Joe Flacco under center.

Ben Watson, TE, New England Patriots: The position is changing at an alarming rate, and the athletic TE is very much en vogue. Watson isn’t a huge playmaker in the passing game or the blocking game, but he can do both and he’s an above-average athlete who can make plays inside the 20.

Darren Sharper, S, New Orleans Saints: Sharper isn’t nearly the safety his interceptions numbers would lead you to believe and he’s overhyped even more after the Saints Super Bowl run. At this stage of his career he’s actually a big liability in coverage, but you can’t ignore his nose for the ball, leadership and big-play ability. Teams with strong cover units and a need for playmaking on defense could do a lot worse than inking Sharper to a mid-level, one-year deal.

Oh hi, Courtney Lee. Good to see you! We’ve been anxiously awaiting your arrival in New Jersey for, oh, damn near 4 months now. Better late than never, I suppose?

You might remember Lee as the only real asset the Nets received in last summer’s deal that shipped Vince Carter to the Orlando Magic (well, that and cap space to entice LeBron James but ultimately to overpay Amare Stoudemire in a few months here). A late first-round pick from Western Kentucky in ‘08, Lee played a pivotal role in the Magic’s ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference during his rookie season, evolving into one of the team’s top perimeter defenders and flashing raw, intriguing offensive capability.

If anything, we learned he’s a smart player, even as a rookie, who did little to hurt his team and a lot to help it. On the season, Lee started 42 regular-season games, finishing with modest pers of 8.4 points (45% FG), 2.3 boards, 1.2 assists, 1 steal, and 1.1 triples in about 25 minutes a night. The Magic probably would have preferred to keep him, but they’re firmly in win-now mode and despite his considerable warts, Carter gives them a better chance. (Even though, you know, he’s sort of a loser.)

And so, much to his chagrin, Lee was dealt. Can’t imagine why he’d be less-than-psyched about going from a contender like Orlando to a bottom-feeder like New Jersey, but he eventually relented and seemed to recognize this as a golden opportunity to step right into a different kind of starting job than he’d had in Orlando. One where he’d be relied upon as a primary scoring option, not as a guy nibbling on scraps left over from Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, etc.

What more could a young guy want? Yeah, playing for a functional franchise not pinning its future on ping-pong balls and the whims of in-demand megastars would be nice, but hey, you can’t everything.

And so it was that Courtney Lee was penciled in for 35+ minutes a night for the Nets and given the green light to do whatever it took to make it happen. One problem: it didn’t happen. Lee missed 7 of the team’s first 13 games due to injury, and shot a “blistering” 31% from the field in the 6 games he did play in. He’s since missed just 4 games, but until recently, it’s mostly been ugly, including an abyssmal January in which he averaged 10.3 points (41% FG, 33% 3PT), 2.9 boards, 2 assists, and 1.2 steals in 31:30 minutes per in 13 games. This is for the Nets, mind you.

But, suddenly, hardwood epiphany. Lee has scored at least 21 points in 6 of his last 10 games (let’s just ignore that 0-9 effort a few weeks ago against the Heat), has shot an even 50% during this stretch, and helped propel the Nets to three whole wins along the way, which has pushed their overall record to 7-56, a mere 41 games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers for top seed in the East. The 6-5 shooting guard capped it Monday night with a career-high 30 points (13-20 FG) along with 5 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals in the Nets’ nailbiter of a loss 107-101 to the Grizzlies.

Fluke, or has Lee turned a corner? The kid received high praise from his Magic teammates after the trade, and is widely respected around the league. Shaquille O’Neal said Lee would “make the Magic pay”. Me, I’m not worried about Lee’s long-term future. For now, I’m just happy he finally showed up.

Courtney Lee Photo Credit: Icon SMI

]]> http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/09/courtney-lee-on-fire-for-nets/feed/ 0 http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/08/fantasy-basketball-waiver-wire-tips/ http://www.emptythebench.com/2010/03/08/fantasy-basketball-waiver-wire-tips/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:33:38 +0000 Brian Spencer http://www.emptythebench.com/?p=6572

By Brian Spencer

With just 2 weeks remaining until the fantasy hoops playoffs roll around, I’m left to grasp at one last straw with two of my three teams currently on the outside looking in: streaming.

Few strategies are as polarizing as the daily add-drop, add-drop, add-drop approach to amassing stats and winning categories. Some dismiss it as borderline cheating, as a desperate interpretation of the rules in leagues where the commish failed to institute a cap on roster moves. Others see it as just another means of achieving an end, and recognize that there’s plenty of strategizing and thought that go into it.

When do you start the process? Who should you add, and who should you drop? Which categories are you trying to “steal”, and which categories are you outright giving up on? Which players are worth hanging onto just in case it works and you advance?

The fact is my two teams still gunning for a postseason bid have seriously underperformed. In one league, Jason Richardson and Charlie Villanueva haven’t exactly graded out as the 5th- and 6th-round picks I made them, Greg Oden and Michael Redd bowed out early with season-ending injuries, and, well… let’s just say this is the last time I reach on Elton Brand.

In the other, Jose Calderon has a been a huge bust as a third-round pick, Oden’s body happened, and Tyrus Thomas, Trevor Ariza, Jason Thompson, and Ramon Sessions have all not taken the fantasy steps forward I was banking on. My last few picks on draft day were terrible.

So what am I supposed to do? Give up, even though despite it all I’ve managed to stay within 3.5 and 5 games, respectively, of a playoff berth with 2 weeks to go? Fuck no. I’m streaming till the bitter end.

But we’ve already covered this topic before, so let’s reach into the vast ETB vault and pull out Andrew’s fine case for streaming in fantasy hoops:

Let’s take a moment and discuss the ethical status of streaming first: there is none. There is nothing wrong with streaming. First, it’s perfectly permissible within the rules. You can look them up. Nowhere will you find a clause specifically prohibiting adding and dropping players to gain a strategic edge.

Second, this is a legitimate fantasy sports strategy: it takes basketball knowledge, it takes skill, it takes diligence, it takes timing, it takes the ability to project performances, it takes finesse and there are real risks built into the league (FG%, FT% and TOs).

Third, this is a competition. It’s supposed to be cutthroat. So not only can you stream, as a participant in a communal contest it is incumbent upon you to maintain the competitive integrity of the league. We all frown upon those owners who give up on their teams weeks or months before the end of the season because it ruins that competitive balance. If you lose by 10 points and a couple of add/drops would have put you over the edge, you’re not much better.

That’s just the tip of the streaming iceberg. For much more on the underrated art of streaming, including best practices and how to fight back when somebody does it to you, revisit Andrew Thell’s case for streaming in fantasy hoops.