We get letters
Posted January 7th, 2006 by Brian Windhorst
opinion why LeBron’s season high in offensive rbs is a mind-blowing TWO
this year. Not only is that the worst of the top 50 scorers in the
NBA, but almost all PGs in the league
have done better this year. Iknow he is asked to do many other things by Mike Brown, but playing 40+
minutes, he should "luck" into more then he does…he is 6′8 240,
extrordinarily quick, and can jump out of the gym. His athletic
ability, size and minutes, dictate that TWO offensive rebounds is just
not getting it done. I know it is a crime to criticize LBJ in
Cleveland, but come on, this stat is really bad, and frankly shows a
lack of hustle.
Steve
BW: Steve, you have a point but I don’t think it’s a big deal. Most scorers don’t offensive rebound much, especially guys that take a lot of jump shots. Of the top 15 scorers in the NBA, only two average more than one offensive rebound per game, LeBron averages a little less than one. He is at the low end, but I don’t think his game is worse because of it.
***
Brian,
light hearted moments where you can suggest things. Who Mike
Brown chooses to replace Larry Hughes is another critical decision and Damon Jones is not the answer . This would be a perfect time to see what Luke Jackson
can do because he has the mentality as a starter and I know it is college but he
never is in a shooting slump and could emerge like Chris Mullin.
Steve in Arizona
BW: I can suggest things to Mike, but if I were him I wouldn’t listen to a reporter or a fan. Right now, Brown has little faith in Luke Jackson. I know people want to see him play and I promise you he wants to play, but right now I don’t sense Brown is anxious to give him lots of minutes.
***
Brian,
I read today
that Zendon Hamilton was released this afternoon. Not a hugh move when you look
at it obviously, but is there more to it? I know his contract was guaranteed
through the rest of the season if he made it past Jan 15th, was this simply a
move to free up space for Varejao or are there other moves involved with this?
Greg
BW: Cavs did this to free a roster spot and to save a little green. Now they could trade one player and get two back. Hamilton was headed for the inactive list with Varejao coming back and there’s already a big on there, Martynas Andriuskevicius.
***
Brian,
I’ve developed a funny little habit this Cavalier season. I just can’t help watching the bench for funny little moments, facial expressions, reactions to the game, etc. during replays, timeouts, foul shots, and 
any other slow moment. Those basketball players, they make me laugh sometimes. Besides LeBron’s excessive nose picking and nail biting, and Z’s complete blank stares, one other thing sticks out to me every time. No matter what part of the game, how close the score, Coach’s words of wisdom during time outs, and even the noisy starter announcements at the beginning of the home games, Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic never stop talking to one another. It makes me laugh, a lot. They lean over people, shout across the bench, and tap each other on the shoulders all of the time. You have to wonder what it is that they have so much to say about.
OCrossOutTheEyes
BW: Andy and Sasha talk about what any 21-year-olds would: women, sex, video games, cars, basketball and the GDP ratio differential between Brazil and Serbia and how it relates to the definition of international and multicultural middle class.
***
Hello Brian, Happy New Year.
Drew impressed me on Saturday but he does
not always play thay way. Do you think he can be traded for a more
tough minded forward? Someone who comes to play everyday. Sometimes he
plays like he dosen’t care about whats going on on the court. Like he’s
lost Can he be traded?
Cornell
BW: I think Drew always cares, he just sometimes loses focus because that’s his weakness. Oh yes, he can be traded but I’m not sure you can get back a proven, young, big man like he is. We’ll see.
January 7th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
True, Mike Brown obviously isn’t anxious to give Luke Jackson lots of minutes, but from everything I’ve seen, Mike Brown shouldn’t be given lots of minutes, either. When Dell Curry…Uh, I mean Luke Jackson is eventually discarded for absolutely nothing, five years from now, all the local writers are going to be getting all whimsical about the stupidity of it all. I’ll be sure to keep the Visine handy.
There’s little doubt that Ferry grossly misjudged and was unable to comprehend that Damon Jones was able to exist only because O’Neal and Wade were constantly double-teamed. O’Neal has excellent skills to be able to kick out the ball to an open shooter. Ilgauskas, on the other hand, will either travel, have the ball stolen, have the shot blocked, or simply just trip over his own shadow before a remote thought to pass the ball has an opportunity to take an elevator up to his Terminal Tower head.
You get the sense that one of the reasons Brown appears scared to sit Jones is due to the “Whipped Factor.” Like Jim Thome and Carlos Boozer before him. When new wives with new lucrative marriage contracts force the men to do whatever the women want. I don’t know if Jones bought Brown a Christmas present, but it might as well have been a tutu.
January 7th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Brian, consider this to be my letter, because I have a serious question:
I’ve always wondered why some coaches stand during the entire game instead of sitting down. It’s usually, but not always, the second-tier coaches that do this. Is it an ego thing, or what? Does he think that standing makes him look more impressive and important? Is Sears or J.C. Penney going to give him a bonus because he’s prominently displaying their brand of suits? NBA players don’t do one thing differently because a coach is standing instead of sitting. So why is he doing it?
I don’t have season tickets anymore, and I can’t speak for the folks that have to sit behind Mike Brown for 41 regular season games and a few playoff games, but if I had spent many thousands of dollars on tickets for a pair of seats directly behind some coach, a coach that spends each and every minute standing while the game is in progress, I’d be very inclined to start throwing things at him like he’s Ron Artest.
January 7th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
vis-a-vis (look it up, you morons who don’t know and/or tucker) the letter about LBJ not getting enough offensive rebounds…
well, it’s obvious the guy who wrote it knows nothing about b-ball, or he would know that guards are told to stay off the off. glass to maintain def. floor balance!
and while LBJ is listed as a 3 he REALLY plays a 1 or 2 for most of the game and is needed to keep def. floor balance.
in other words, to get back on D and prevent wide open fast breaks from occuring! if LBJ crashed the glass, that would leave snow or djones to try and prevent any run-outs on def. rebounds. i wish brian would’ve explained that to the guy who was so concerned with finding a flaw in LBJ’s game…sheesh…
and luke showed tonight why he deserves more minutes. i have no idea how he practices, but his last 2 GAME apperances combined with hughes’ injury DEMAND that brown play him more.
oh, and speaking of tohight’s game, LBJ impressed me again by playing the 4 in the first half and then, because of the bucks weird match-ups, guarding t.j. ford in the 2nd half and doing a damn good job on him! amazing…
January 7th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
and tucker, your ignorance is beginning to show vis-a-vis djones…he’s getting many of the same shots he got in miami, he’s just not making them!
the fact is that because of lebron, mainly, he’s getting many of the same wide open looks he got last year. only this year, there not going down at the clip they normally would. but everyone should just chill, because guys who’ve been in the league for 5 or 6 years always end up with the SAME basic stats as they did the previous years; which means at the end of the year djones will be shooting around 40% on 3’s…mark it down…
January 8th, 2006 at 5:20 am
I’ve been pleased with Luke Jackson’s play the last couple games, but plug the same performance in by, say, Damon Jones, and I suspect we’d hear no end of grumbling about the performance.
One more note on Damon Jones and Danny Ferry’s signing of him: In the offseason, ESPN analyst John Hollinger listed him (in an ESPN.Insider column) as the third best long-distance shooter currently in the NBA (behind Korver and Donyell Marshall). Hollinger was considering more than just the most recent season’s performance (although I’m sure that factored in strongly).
This is to say that Ferry wasn’t alone in his assessment of quality outside shooters. Unfortunately, Jones hasn’t shot as well thus far this year as he did last year. (Nor has Marshall, who has dropped off significantly this year in this percentage, btw.)
January 8th, 2006 at 7:55 am
wow, finally some more people commenting on this blog who actually KNOW something about basketball…
anyway, kevin is right on the mark. yes, donyell and djones MIGHT have a below avg. shooting year this year but a statistical analysis (not a fly-off-the-handle “i was at tonight’s game and damon sucks” radio-call-in show “take!”)shows that veteran guys like marshall and jones will end up at the end of the year with a pct. on 3’s in line with their previous performance.
in other words, it’s wayyyyyy too soon to be judging the free-agent signings of ferry. and what’s with booing a player from your home team? just goes to show cleveland sprots fans lack class and, i fear, always will. too many browns fans, i guess…and if you don’t know what i mean, go to the stadium some sunday.
January 8th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
NEWSFLASH: The game is played on a floor, not on a statistic.
The computer also wants to know what John Hollinger’s statistics say about numbers of poor ball-handling skills, numbers of failures to make a particular pass, numbers of inabilities to penetrate, numbers of poor shot selections, numbers of failures to move without the ball, numbers of blown defensive assignments, and numbers of transactions unable to be made because of some guaranteed $16.2 million over four years. To mention just seven of the 35 additional computer statistical questions in addition to three-point percentage needed to create a complete computerized statistical analysis of the young man. I don’t subscribe to any Insider at espn.com., so help me out here. What do the computer’s statistics say?
Espn.com’s John Hollinger. I have never read an Insider word of espn.com’s John Hollinger, but he sounds like the Red Smith of the 21st century. Like Hal Lebovitz without Hal’s published passion for the comfort of wearing leisure suits.
John Hollinger. Together with Stuart Scott, revolutionizing sports media. As cool as the other side of the pillow. BOOYAH!
January 8th, 2006 at 3:15 pm
I was the one questioning LBJ and offensive rebounding. I understand what his role is on this team, and for that matter there are other guys around the league that play the “LeBron role” for their teams. (Kobe, Wade, Pierce, TMac, and others to a lesser degree). Those guys are ALL out performing LeBron in this area.
Brian- As proof that he is doing fine, you say “only 2 of the top scorers avg more then 1 o-rb per game”. Well, it is actually 12 of those 15. LBJ, AI, and Arenas are the only guys that do not. And AI is the ONLY one to avg less then Lebron.
January 8th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Tucker you’re right, DJ isn’t playing as well as I would have liked him too. Although I suppose we are getting what we knew we were getting. A low D guy to shoot threes. Was he worth the money?? We’ll see I suppose
Steve. I’m assuming he mean only 2 of the top overage over 2. So in reality only 1 less per a game from Bron than those other guys. You’re telling me a guy ave. 6.5 boards a game (more than all but paul and dirk in the top 10 scoring) and 1.8 steals (good for 8th in the league) doesn’t hustle??
KJ Nothing ever demands a coach do anything. Ands what’s your facination with the phrase vis a vis? Just learn it? I didn’t a love seat could be brought into b-ball convo that often.
January 8th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Steve.. Your bitching about 16 rebounds. Thats the total amount of offensive rebounds that James would have to have had to reach 1 per game.
16 rebounds in 33 games. I could (maybe) see your point if the Cavs didn’t have two of the very best offensive rebounders in the NBA on the same team with James.
Here’s an interesting stat for you, the team that holds the opponents to the fewest offensive rebounds in the league? You guessed it, your Cleveland Cavaliers.
January 10th, 2006 at 9:25 am
golly, DOES windy (brian windhorst) actually read this blog? here’s what he wrote yesterday in the BJ: “LeBron James is versatile, indeed. In Saturday’s game at certain times he played power forward but also guarded Bucks quick point guard T.J. Ford on numerous possessions…” and here’s what I said on this here blog on jan, 7th:”LBJ impressed me again by playing the 4 in the first half and then, because of the bucks weird match-ups, guarding t.j. ford in the 2nd half and doing a damn good job on him! amazing…”
hmmm, coincidence??? or maybe windy knows his basketball too? most likely the latter…
and aaron, please, learn the english language, THEN learn how to type and THEN, and only then, might you be able to try and dis my blog comments, ok?
oh, and here’s something else for windy and all of you to chew on for a while. hollinger came out with his team off. and def. efficiency stats and the cavs are #2 off. and #12 def. and to you people who still believe that it’s ALL about def. well, 8 out of the top 10 in off. efficiency are currently play-off teams and 7 out of the top 10 in def. efficiency are currently play-off bound. makes one think, eh?
oh, and i’ve thought for 2 years now that def. field goal pct. was NOT the best indicator of a teams success! if you look at the numbers, rebounds and turnovers are JUST as good an indicator of a team winning a game than is opp. field goal pct.
hollinger is the NEW bill james!
January 10th, 2006 at 11:14 am
“hollinger is the NEW bill james?” Wow. That’s pretty impressive. Computerized statistics. That’s what caused Bill Russell to be benched and converted to backup point guard. That’s what caused Henry Finkel to completely dominate Wilt. That’s what caused Jo Jo White to be cut and then forced to become team mascot.
What complete and utter bull****. Computer statistics as a replacement for due diligence, a pair of eyeballs and common sense. Gee, what’s next? Brian Windhorst is the NEW Carrot Top. I’d even buy that before I’d buy the latest and greatest computer statistics calculated while Damon Jones and Ira Newble compare their discount Chinese shoes.
January 10th, 2006 at 11:42 am
alan, you are proving to be as dumb as you are sad…the “hollinger is the NEW bill james!” was a joke…ok, from NOW on i will add some little thing like (tounge in cheek) or
so people like YOU will KNOW the author is making a joke or mocking statement, ok?
and since you clearly wish it was still 1963, how did you EVER figure out what a computer is, much less a blog???
and to any others who pooh-pooh stats all the time, i have a question; then why the hell do we keep them? let’s get rid of ALL stats except the game score, ok? and if you think that sounds CRAZY, it’s just as good an idea as it is to dismiss ANY other stats as being the evil spawn of computers and men who actually can think outside the norm, or, dare i say, outside the box.
i suggest alan, that you go back to watching celtics highlights on your black & white tv…