Built Ford Tough

In simple terms, it is ultimately what it sounds like. The number of points scored per possession. However, it is not that simple when calculating it. The forumla used for determining PPP is: PPP = (100 x points scored) / ((FGA - O-Rebs) + TO + (.436 x FTA)) A explanation in words would probably be more helpful, so this should help: http://www.rawbw.com/~deano/helpscrn/rtgs.html It really is best to think about it in simple terms as just the amount of points scored per possesion and not get too in depth.

Toronto explodes in the first quarter by scoring 17 points. The sad thing is, I'm not even joking as they have scored 12, 12 and 11 in their last three 1st quarters.

Jake Gardiner scores his first NHL goal against the Islanders to tie the game up at 2.

Off the top of my head, he has defended: Hibbert Dirk Jamison (twice) Anderson Chandler Blatche Darko Okur/Shelden Williams Hawes/Vucevic I can't recall for sure, but those are the guys I remember him guarding during his games this season. In the Sacramento game he wasn't guarding Cousins so he would've been on Thompson/Hickson but he left that game midway through the 3rd with injury anyways. Also, HP takes into account everything. If he gets switched onto a guard, that is considered. If he and Amir switched assignments for a while and he guarded Love while Amir was on Darko or Williams, that would be considered as well. Do you actually think we seriously believe that he is the best one-on-one defender in the league? It was just a comment about how so far this season he has held his man to the lowest PPP (point per possession) in the NBA this season. So far this season, he has been one of the best individual defenders in the league and the numbers back that up. That is all this thread is about. Nobody actually thinks he is legitimately the best individual defender in the league.

Bargnani will be making his return tonight. There was also a change to the starting lineup. Amir has been put on the bench and Aaron Gray will be starting at center for the first time this season. All other starters are the same (Calderon, DeRozan, JJ, Bargs).

http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2012/01/24/of-course-andrea-bargnani-has-the-best-defensive-rating-in-the-nba/ The sample size is small (Bargnani has played just 387 minutes this season) but this is still impressive regardless. It would be even more impressive it it was something to do with help defense since most Raptor fans know that Bargs has actually been a fairly solid invidiual defender throughout his career and it is his poor help defense and rebounding that is the problem.

Lost in all of the Fielder hype, Tim Lincecum and the Giants agreed to a 2 year, $40.5M contract.

Brandon Morrow signed a 3 year, $20M deal yesterday. Guy has filthy stuff so hopefully he can get his control issues under control. If he puts it all together I really like a 1/2 of Morrow and Romero heading forward. They also signed Francisco Cordero to a 1 year, $4.5M contract today to continue to strengthen their 'pen.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7498176/chicago-bulls-luol-deng-torn-ligament-wrist

If I were the Pacers I'd deal Granger for Pierece in a second. Granger has the attitude and demeanor of a superstar, but the game of a 3rd option. Hibbert West Pierce George Collison with Jones, Hill, Hansbrough and Foster off of the bench is pretty nice. Of course it likely still wouldn't get them past the Bulls or Heat, but it would make them a very tough team. You aren't winning anything with the current roster anyways; might be worth the risk. I'd be hesitant on any of the other deals. The Grizzlies one is interesting for the reasons Nitro pointed out. Maybe you could argue for the Hawks deal with the same logic behind the Pacer one, but they would be creating a hole at PF by moving Smith and would have to play even smaller than they already do, especially with Horford out for most of the season. Probably wouldn't do that one. All in all, the only one I'd like pully the trigger on would be the Pacer one (from a Pacer standpoint). Of course, I see no reason why the Celtics do that, but I also hate Granger, so that may cloud my judgement.

The dollar figure isn't that bad, but the term is terrible. He is 5'11 and 285 pounds and with big guys like that they usually break down much earlier than your typical player. His dad was a pretty big boy and he was one of the best sluggers in baseball during his prime, much like Prince is. Between 26-32 years old, he averaged 37 home runs, 114 RBIs on .257/.350/.498 (average, on base percentage and slugging percentage) with an OPS of .848. In other words, in those 7 years he was among the best hitters in the league. However, his body started giving out on him and he went from one of the best hitters in the league, to being retired by 34 years old. At 32 he had 39 homers, 117 RBIs with a .252 .350 .484 .834. At 33 he had 13 homers, 61 RBIs with a .260 .358 .410 .768 At 34 he had 17 homers, 68 RBIs with a .233 .324 .401 .725 and that was his final season. Fielder is going to turn 28 in May and many people feel that his career will follow a similar trajectory as his fathers did. He is signed until he is 36, 2 years older than when his father retired. The money is fine but the term could end up being a real killer. Him being in the AL and being able to DH may help his career longevity, though.

I don't hate Barbosa. He is just completely pointless on this team. He is valuable to a contender, but on a young team in the midst of a rebuild, having a near 30 year old gunner off of the bench who literally passes the ball about 3 times a game is pointless. The Raptor players basically stop moving once he touches the ball because they know he isn't giving it up. He can score the ball but he is useless on this team, especially when the Raptors have a younger version of him in Bayless, although Bayless isn't as much of a blackhole. Also, outscoring a starting unit that consists of a Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson is hardly anything special.

It was like the Grizzlies were toying with the Warriors and seeing how big of a lead they would be able to come back from. When it got to 15 in the 4th it seemed they decided to start playing and they erased that lead in a good 4 or 5 minutes. This team is scary with how they get into your defensively. Curry and Ellis were turning the ball over left and right once Conley and Allen really started getting into their face and playing pressure defense. Very impressive display in that 4th. Golden State has issues, though. I realize Memphis is a very good team but if you are a team with playoff aspirations, there is no excuse for playing a 15 point lead so easily in the 4th quarter. Their execution down the stretch was just sad.

I knew this was coming, despite what Leonsis said. You could just tell that he had no interest in coaching this team anymore and the players had no interest in listening to him. He has completely lost the lockerrom and a change needed to be made.

Bargnani is a game time decision for this one. Will take shoot around prior to the game and then it will be decided whether he will play or not.

Today he has 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks on 5-8 shooting and 7-10 from the free throw line in 32 minutes. Oh yeah, he also got ejected for throwing an elbow at a guy. Colangelo and Stefanski were both in attendance to watch this game.

Marion almost looking like vintage Matrix out there. Draining threes, hitting all sorts of crazy one handed runners and flip shots in the lane and wreaking havoc on the defensive end. The only thing missing is him grabbing 10-13 boards a night like he used to. Very impressed with how he has been playing as of late and this game was perhaps the best of all. Mahinmi did a nice job off the bench as well. I liked his energy and he was knocking down his free throws at a nice 75% clip. I thought Nash was pretty bad tonight. His shot was off and he had a bit too many unforced turnovers for my liking. With so much pressure being placed on him to create offense for the team I understand that there will be games that he has high turnovers, but tonight many of them were just poor ones. A few misplaced passes, being lazy with his dribble and things like that. Not a good game for him tonight. Gortat played really well, though. He is really starting to hit his stride over the past 8 or 9 games after a slow start to the season. In fact, I thought Lopez should be starting over him with how he played in the first few games. That clearly isn't the case as he is proving to be crucial to this teams success.

I'm watching this game right now and how awesome was that one sequence from Odom with 4:53 seconds left in the 1st half? Gets to the line and proceeds to brick both free throws (neither one were even close to going in). Mavs get the offensive rebound, Kidd swings the ball to Odom who shoots up an airball from three. Odom's expression of disinterest throughout the sequence doesn't change for a second. The camera then zooms in on Cuban sitting on the sideline glaring at Odom and shaking his head and swearing to himself. Pretty much sums up Odom's season so far.

Even then, he will be a resticted free agent so they are at least guaranteed to have him around for one more season. I also thought I heard/read something about how they were actually fairly close on agreeing to a multi-year extension, but that might have been about some other impending RFA. Not really sure. At the very least, they will have some assets to work with and flexibility which is ultimately what a lot of people want when buying a team or taking over or whatever. Same here on both accounts about Duncan. I also loved his expression after making the shot. A mix between surprise, passion and, most predominantly, just wanting to get the hell off the floor. Yeah, Parker was impressive. It was one of the best games I've seen from him in terms of running an offense and creating open looks for his teammates. Usually he will look to score in a lot of those situations and the Hornets seemed to be playing him for that. The cut wasn't bad, but Jack basically had no chance of getting him the ball. Unless I'm mistaken as I watched the game a few hours ago and couldn't be bothered to go back and check, he would've had to feed a bounce pass by two Spur defenders to get it to Belinelli. The cut itself was nice, but the position he put himself in while cutting made it nearly impossible to get the pass through. Like I said, I could be wrong though as I don't exactly recall how the Spurs defense was lined up at that time.

Just to add to that last post of mine, my comment about them being a treadmill team didn't have anything to do about the rescinded Paul trade. It was just my opinion on what the Hornets have been for the past 4 or so years and looked to be headed towards again this season had they not dealt Paul.

I was just waiting for him to explode in the Raptor game a few weeks ago when Calderon was guarding him. Then I remembered that it is opposite season in Toronto. They are actually a decent defensive team that is bordering on historically bad offense, as opposed to the usual decent offense and historically bad defense. But yeah, I really hope it happens. With chuckers and black holes like Thomas, Evans, Greene, Cousins and Thornton on the team, I'm not going to hold my breath, though. Jimmer actually tries to play a good team game unlike 99% of the Kings. Maybe he will get sick of it after 50 or so games and just start bombing away? I can only hope.

I'd rather buy a crappy team with a potential all-star shooting guard and at least one lottery pick this season (I think 2, but Wolves may be able to sneak into the playoffs) than buy a consistent 1st round exit, treadmill team. Gives an owner the ability to really put his stamp on the team and take it in a direction that he wants, rather than being forced into something. Of course, I probably wouldn't want to buy the Hornets for a whole other reason and that is the team is a money sink considering nobody gives a damn about them. Move them to a market that will actually care about them and then maybe you will have some interest from potential buyers. Or at least let a new buyer move them as part of the agreement in buying the team. As for the game itself, nice running hook from Duncan over Okafor to win it. I thought Okafor played some pretty solid defense but Duncan just hit a nice shot. Not much else he could have done there. The final play from the Hornets was tankalicious. Seriously, what an awfully run play. How do you not at least have a backup plan to Belinelli there? Unless I missed something, it didn't even look like anybody else was trying to get open other than Landry flashing about 30-35 feet away from the hoop out of desperation. Marco did a pretty piss poor job of getting open as well.

Orlando scored 56 points in the game. Thought that was pretty obvious, haha.

I really wish the Kings would have one game where they just let Jimmer chuck away and go into BYU mode of bombing from 30 feet away. Everybody else is content with just firing it up at every chance, especially Isaiah Thomas and Donte Greene, and Freddette is easily the best shooter on the team. I'd rather have him chuck up the 20 shots that Thomas and Greene take every night. At least he has the chance to hit more than 40% of them. Cousins is really fun to watch, though. It isn't even because of his skill (which he is very skilled) but just his reactions on the floor. Every call that is made he has some sort of exagerated response that almost reminds you of Rasheed Wallace. Even when shooting free throws he is constantly yelling at the ball or something else. He also had the highlight of the game for me. Him and Hickson are battling with two Blazer bigs on the offensive glass. Hickson ends up tipping the ball into the hoop and it was clearly Hickson who was the one who tipped it. Yet Cousins raises his hand and waves it around to ensure that the refs see it in hopes of getting credit for the basket. While he is desparetly trying to get the refs attention and get credit for the basket, the Blazers are pushing the ball up the court and get a layup on the other end. Meanwhile, Cousins is all excited because he not only got 2 points, but an offensive rebound added to his stats. Priceless.

It isn't just Utah, though. He wasn't playing well prior to the trade with the Nets, either. He averaged 15 points and 7 assists on 42.5% shooting with the Nets prior to being traded which isn't terrible, but was well below what was expected of him. In fact, he has slowly regressed every year since he made the All-Star team back in 08/09. The season after that he 17/6.6 on a 51 TS%. I already mentioned the numbers prior to the trade above. He isn't bad or anything, but I think he has lost a bit of what made him so effective that one year, which was his quickness. He doesn't seem to be as explosive off the bounce as he used to be and that really hurts his offensive game as it was so dependent on that explosiveness. He also just played way over his head that one season and it made people expect too much of him. He isn't as bad as he has played this season and I agree with you that a change of scenery would be very beneficial for his game, though.