Erick Blasco

No, but the Lakers were expected to be the best team in the NBA, and even better than last year's versions. Instead, the Lakers have needed how many game-winners? And the Lakers' two biggest threats to a title are 4-0 against them. They've just held serve. Nothing less, but nothing more.

With the season halfway over, it’s time to see which teams are passing this season’s tests with flying colors, and which teams still need to do more homework. The grades aren’t only based on performance, but on expectations as well. For example, the Kings and Timberwolves are taking remedial classes to help them for the future, while the Spurs and Cavs are taking the most rigorous championship-level courses in a quest to become valedictorian. On to the grade book. Atlanta Hawks: A The Hawks are right on the precipice between being a very good team and a championship-caliber team. Either level is a step above where many thought they’d be. Josh Smith’s maturity has been the biggest difference maker, but Marvin Williams has quietly become a solid two-way player. Do they have the bench to survive an injury and will the starters and super sub Jamal Crawford be burned out come the playoffs? Boston Celtics: D- Kevin Garnett’s athleticism is sapped, Ray Allen is slipping, and the team’s depth is non-existent. Rasheed Wallace is even less willing to play in the post, he shoots far too many blanks, and his normally superb help defense has deteriorated from the beginning of the season. Tony Allen isn’t ready for prime time, and what did the Celtics expect out of lumbering Sheldon Williams anyway? Rajon Rondo has been the team’s only constant. If the Celtics want to win another ring, they’ll need a major postseason from Paul Pierce. Charlotte Bobcats: A- The Bobcats’ defense has been solid throughout and Stephen Jackson has given their impotent offense a shot in the arm. Can Gerald Wallace continue his miraculous season, and will Tyson Chandler provide anything to help secure the franchise’s first ever playoff berth? Chicago Bulls: C It took Derrick Rose a quarter of a season to attack the rim and stop settling for floaters. John Salmons isn’t a two-guard and couldn’t replace Ben Gordon’s lost production. Adding Kirk Hinrich to the starting lineup has improved Chicago’s spacing, shooting, and speed but for every great performance (like Chicago ripping apart the Western Conference playoff picture on a six game road winning streak), the team lays too many eggs. Chicago should be better than what they are. Cleveland Cavaliers: A+ LeBron James was implored to improve his shooting stroke, his mid-range game, and his on-ball defense and he’s grown by leaps and bounds in each area. And nobody has ever had his combination of speed, strength, and skill. The Cavs have learned to incorporate Shaquille O’Neal, but Anderson Varejao has been the team’s unsung hero. They defend, they shoot the lights out, and they have the team’s best player. The Cavs are clearly the class of the NBA. Dallas Mavericks: C The team’s perimeter defense fell apart forcing their desperate but necessary acquisition of Caron Butler. Dirk Nowitzki still isn’t a good help defender, and Josh Howard was too flaky to be reliable, hence his being shipped out. If Caron Butler isn’t the answer, where does Dallas go next? Denver Nuggets: A- Carmelo’s been his usual spectacular self, Nene’s the most unheralded big man in the league, and the Nuggets have athleticism galore. Aaron Afflalo has replaced and exceeded everything Dahntay Jones provided, while Kenyon Martin does the dirty work on defense. If J.R. Smith stops whining and starts producing, the Nuggets absolutely have the goods to win the West. Detroit Pistons: F The Pistons’ continuity doesn’t work because Rodney Stuckey isn’t a smart distributor and Jonas Jerebko doesn’t set the same screens as Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace used to. They can’t play iso-ball because Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, and Ben Wallace aren’t one-on-one players. The team doesn’t play hard for John Kuester, and don’t have faith in him. He’s the second straight swing-and-a miss coaching hire, while Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva have been swing-and-a-miss free agent signings. Sacrilege as recent as two years ago, one more strike and Joe Dumars may be out. Golden State Warriors: F Even with zero expectations, the Warriors find ways to embarrass themselves. Don’t blame the players though, they’re simply following Don Nelson’s orders. Blame him for an absurd small-ball gameplan, and Chris Cohan for letting Nelson run willy-nilly. Houston Rockets: A Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier have been non-scorers, Trevor Ariza can’t create his own shot, the team’s defense has suffered under the need to generate offense, and yet the Rockets are alive and kicking for a playoff berth in the West. Rick Adelman is easily this season’s Coach of the Year. Indiana Pacers: D The Pacers have no commitment to defense, and a team-wide shortage of athletes. Sure Danny Granger can ball, but he spends too much time on the perimeter and is too defenseless to be a premier player. A.J Price isn’t quick enough to be a fixture at the point, and Roy Hibbert is slower than a tree. The Pacers need to be committed to a youth movement that extends beyond Granger. Los Angeles Clippers: D Eric Gordon is talented and Chris Kaman is solid, but what else is there? Baron Davis’ performance—and interest level of playing for the Clippers—is sporadic at best. Marcus Camby continues to be less than meets the eye, and there’s nothing coming off the bench. The team needs a higher basketball IQ, and Baron Davis’ departure. That Blake Griffin guy probably wouldn’t hurt either. Los Angeles Lakers: C+ They’re starting to round into form, but they’ve needed to be bailed out by Kobe Bryant too many times. Pau Gasol is getting pushed around like it’s 2008, Derek Fisher continues to degrade, Andrew Bynum still suffers from maturity problems, their depth has been compromised due to injuries, and Kobe’s dominated the ball too often. On the other side, they still have more talent than anyone else, including the Cavs, Nuggets, Magic, and Celtics. They know that Kobe can push them over the top late in games, and they’ve played with togetherness in his absence the last several games. If Kobe’s talent can merge with the team’s continuity, the Lakers will overtake the Cavs as the team to beat. Memphis Grizzlies: A+ The future is now in Memphis. O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay are growing up, Zach Randolph is playing the best basketball of his career, and Marc Gasol plays above his years. They still have to add an impact point guard and improve defensively, but the Grizz will be flashing their claws from here into the near future. Miami Heat: B+ Few teams get the most out of limited rosters as the Heat do. The youngsters haven’t made strides, Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Magloire, Quentin Richardson, Carlos Arroyo and Rafer Alston are all over the hill, and Dwyane Wade’s had to carry the team all on his lonesome. Miami’s counting down the days until free agency starts—and praying that Wade is still with them when they rebuild their roster. Milwaukee Bucks: A How are the Bucks not a bottom feeder? Brandon Jennings’ quickness, Luke Ridnour’s court awareness, Ersan Illyasova’s shooting, Andrew Bogut’s post play (but only against subpar teams), and Scott Skiles’ perpetual demands for smart play and hard work. Minnesota Timberwolves: D- It’s a given that Kevin Love and Al Jefferson can’t play together, but everything else is a mystery. Is Corey Brewer a key part of the future? What to do with Ricky Rubio? And where can they find an athletic wing scorer? Three years of questions, precious few answers. New Jersey Nets: F- Devin Harris is the league’s least improved player, Yi Jianlian is the league’s softest player, and Courtney Lee‘s game is lost and nowhere to be found. Brook Lopez is okay, but he’s too stiff to be an impact center. It’s one thing to be bad. The Nets are embarrassing. New Orleans Hornets: D+ The Hornets are still a team that relies too much on their point guards. Byron Scott needed to go so Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton could get more minutes. Peja Stojakovic and Emeka Okafor have been disasters. Hilton Armstrong gave them nothing, but the Hornets still have little frontcourt depth. It’ll be a major surprise if the Hornets sneak into the playoffs with Chris Paul out for another month. New York Knicks: C+ The team lives and dies with Chris Duhon. When he’s shooting well, the Knicks’ drive-and-kick offense performs well enough to scare any team in the league. If he isn’t shooting well, the Knicks don’t have talented one-on-one scorers to score consistently. David Lee’s become a terrific offensive player and rebounder, but his defense is awful, as are most of his teammates. The franchise is close to purging itself of the mistakes of the Isaiah Thomas era, but signing LeBron James is a pipe dream and not a reality. Oklahoma City Thunder: A+ The more Kevin Durant plays, the better he gets at making scoring points appear effortless. Russell Westbrook is an uber-talented running mate who is improving by leaps and bounds, and Scott Brooks has the team committed to defending, sharing the ball, and playing as a team. Last year, people thought the Thunder might be the worst team in NBA history. This year, they’re right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt. The scary thing is that they’re only going to get better. Orlando Magic: C The Vince Carter trade has been a disaster as Orlando’s offense isn’t as sharp without Hedo Turkoglu as their prime decision maker. Instead of Turk’s ball movement, the Magic have been stuck with Carter’s timid drives to the rim, bad shot selection, and poor decision making. With Carter forcing the offense, there’ve been less touches for Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis, Orlando’s true prime-time players. Philadelphia 76ers: D- Lou Williams hasn’t developed into the point guard the Sixers need him to be, Elton Brand isn’t the same as he was before signing with the Sixers, and Andre Iguodala isn’t a go-to scorer. The team misses Andre Miller and isn’t benefiting from Eddie Jordan’s almost whimsical rotations and game plans. Phoenix Suns: B Steve Nash is the eighth wonder of the world and the glue holding the Suns to a playoff spot. Their return to the run-and-gun stylings popularized Mike D’Antoni has helped generate an offense that masks their deplorable defense. If they do make the playoffs, they’ll be cooked in the first round. Portland Trail Blazers: B Brandon Roy’s surprising petulance and reluctance to play alongside Andre Miller set a bad tone from the start, and the bad karma has continued with a rash of injuries. Through it all, the Blazers have plugged away and would be one of the West’s eight playoff teams if the postseason started today. Credit Nate McMillan for getting the team to play with togetherness through a trying season. They’ll still need a low post scorer and post defender if they want to advance in the postseason. Sacramento Kings: A They’ve fallen on hard times after a hot start, but in Tyreke Evans they have the athletic star they’ve been searching for since the Chris Webber days expired. Omri Casspi has been a pleasant surprise, and the kids play with enthusiasm. What’s next on Sacramento’s to-do list? A back-to-the-basket player, and an answer as to whether they fancy Evans a shooting guard or a point guard. San Antonio Spurs: D Tim Duncan is graceful enough to continue to produce despite diminishing athleticism, but what has happened to Manu Ginobili? Richard Jefferson has provided absolutely nothing, Roger Mason hasn’t duplicated his 2008-09 success, and in Duncan, DeJuan Blair, Antonio McDyess, and Matt Bonner, the Spurs are lacking in frontcourt athleticism. San Antonio was supposed to be the main challenger to the Lakers in the West. Instead, they’re behind Denver, and perhaps Utah in the West’s pecking order. Toronto Raptors: B- The Raptors sure can shoot the ball. And with enough of an inside presence from Chris Bosh, and enough defense from Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson, the Raptors have reared their teeth after a disappointing start. Don’t expect the Raptors to escape the first round though. Utah Jazz: B Andrei Kirilenko’s reentrance into the starting lineup has energized the Jazz. Their offense is crisper, and AK47 provides defensive length and athleticism to a frontcourt that desperately needs it. The Jazz execute their offense as well as any team in the league. In other news, the sky is blue and the grass is green. Washington Wizards: F It was embarrassing enough to expect a team jacked with perimeter shooters and lacking everywhere else would be successful, but Gilbert Arenas’ idiocy sunk the franchise to new lows. Caron Butler was having a miserable go of it before being traded, and Nick Young and Andray Blatche are too immature to realize their considerable gifts. The Wizards kept assuming that a defenseless, perimeter-oriented roster would ever taste postseason success (one playoff series victory over a mediocre Bulls team in six years is not success). Now, Ernie Grunfeld has to pay the price.

Just wanted to correct my above statement, Nash isn't twice as good as anyone when it comes to on-court/off-court eFG%. Steph Curry for example is about +4%. I misread something I saw, but it is still really really good.

Ellis eFG% and true shooting percentages are awful. He's poor from downtown, he takes a lot of field goals for every free throw, and he's not a great free throw shooter. He also doesn't make his teammates better. Phoenix shoots five eFG% better with Nash on the floor than without him. That's about twice as much as the next player. So he's ineffective offensively (Ellis generates 0.99 points per possession which is extremely poor), he doesn't make his teammates better, and he's poor defensively. He also plays on a bad team and commits a lot of turnovers (though in fairness, his TO ratio isn't horrendous and is inflated like his points because of how many minutes he plays). Can I get repped and quoted for truth?

A little bit of bad luck then. I don't even think he played that poorly offensively (minus the turnovers). What I saw from him against the Nets is what I've seen from him against most teams. Against a smaller team, Jennings may have made an extra layup but I didn't watch the game and go, "Man, Jennings usually plays much better than this!" And it's telling that Ridnour gets so many minutes at the point late in games, and the Bucks played so much better in New Jersey with Ridnour than BJ. I like Jennings' game, he seems to enjoy being unselfish, yet he has some swagger to him. He can be a nice starter. The expectations for him were blown sky high after his 55 point game though. I remember Jalen Rose declaring him the guaranteed starter for the All-Star Game in November.

There's Tool and there's everyone else.

It's cause Dinosaurs are fricken cool! New Jersey's mascot is a wolf. Their team name is the Nets. It makes no sense.

Over the first half of the season, the Sacramento Kings’ Tyreke Evans and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Jennings have established themselves as the two best rookie point guards in the league. But which one is better, and how good can each of them be? In two separate games—Sacramento’s 118-114 victory over the New York Knicks, and Milwaukee’s 97-77 victory over the New Jersey Nets, I set out to answer that question. Here’s the stat line of each player’s performance: Evans: 11-26 FG, 0-1 3FG, 5-7 FT, 10 REB, 6 AST, 3 TO, 1 STL, 27 PTS Jennings: 3-8 FG, 0-0 3FT, 1-2 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 5 TO, 2 STL, 7 PTS Evans Offense Evans has a wealth of natural talent, which he used to lead Sacramento back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit. He almost always operates from the top of the key where he looks to either feed a wing down screen for one of Sacramento’s perimeter shooters, or receive a screen and go from there. If the down screen doesn’t open up, Evans will stay at the top of the key, get the ball back, and either reverse the ball or go into the screen/roll. Late in the shot clock, Evans will forego the screen and simply isolate at the top. Whether he’s isolating or using a screen, Evans gets to the rim an incredible amount of times. Of his 26 shot attempts, 18 came in the immediate basket area, and one was a short floater. While he missed the floater and seven layups, the majority came early in the game or on indecisiveness on which hand to finish with at the rim. Evans only finishes with his left hand when his attempts are uncontested. In traffic, he has little confidence with his left and makes shot attempts more difficult by attempting to finish with his right on the left side of the rim. When Evans sees an opening, he covers an enormous amount of ground with his natural speed, explosive first step, and his lengthy strides. He also lulls opponents to sleep because he doesn’t play at full throttle on simple plays. His ability to change gears and play at different speeds overwhelms opponents. Over the first three quarters, Evans played at three-quarter speed, gliding through the game, setting up teammates, and only attacking when he saw a seam to the basket or a defensive mistake. All that changed in the second half. Going one-on-one at the top, left-to-right spin moves straight into Jared Jeffries sent him sprawling backwards while Evans had all the space in the world to finish a layup. A right-to-left spin left Jeffries frozen in space while Evans found himself uncontested at the basket to sink a layup. Another drive forced a double team, where a drop off pass to Jason Thompson led to an uncontested dunk and a tied game. The combination of terrific speed, raw strength, hang time, and creativity puts Evans on an approximate talent level as last season’s version of Derrick Rose. The natural abilities are all there. However, Evans has major work to do on his jump shot. He still releases the ball over his head (though not as dramatically as early in the season) and doesn’t get enough extension with his elbow. As a result he has little control over where his jumpers will land, and he only connected on one of his seven attempts outside the paint. He has good court vision and is a creative passer. Three of his assists came on good decisions in transition, two came on accurate passes on down screens, and the sixth was the game-tying dime to Thompson. However, he failed to read the Knicks overplaying a high post entry pass and the pass was deflected. He also threw a bad pass off the dribble that was deflected out of bounds, and an attempted drive and drop was deflected by David Lee when Evans threw a chest pass that should’ve been a bounce pass. Evans’ other two turnovers came on a palm early in the game, and a pass straight to Omri Casspi that Casspi failed to attempt to catch. Meaning that despite several bad passes and several turnovers, only once was Evans responsible for a bad pass turnover. Despite this, Evans has a habit of putting his head down on his drives. This keeps him from inspecting the entire court and seeing events unfurling. At least twice Evans had his head away from the action when a shooter was all alone in the corner and a cutter was wide open under the basket. Also, Evans literally does nothing on offense without the ball in his hands. Part of this is his responsibility to balance the court, but he never receives the ball with any kind of off-ball action, which limits the possibilities he has to attack. He doesn’t cut, he doesn’t fill, he doesn’t screen away, he simply stands around watching. The only time Evans made any meaningful basketball move without the ball was on the final play of regulation where Evans was asked to inbound and make a backdoor cut, but he was defended well and the backdoor pass was easily broken up. For Evans to continue his ascent as an elite point guard, he’ll need to dramatically improve his understanding of how to be a factor without the ball in his hands and how to attack from various parts of the court. He also has major work to do on his jump shot, and needs to further develop his ability to finish with his left hand. Based on raw athleticism alone though, Evans is as good as it gets at the point guard spot. Jennings Offense Because Milwaukee’s offense features more ball movement, player movement, and general complexity, Jennings’ has a lot more responsibility as a facilitator than a scorer in Milwaukee’s offense. As so, Jennings’ main attack opportunities come in transition or around screen/rolls going to his left, his dominant hand. Jennings is fairly quick, but not much quicker than the stable of ultra-quick point guards already employed in the NBA. If Jennings was quick enough to turn the corner on screens, he wasn’t quick enough to beat New Jersey’s contesting helpers converging at the rim. Jennings shot attempts were equally distributed inside and outside the paint. In the paint, he missed three of his four layups, both his right handed attempts, and a left-handed reverse layup which was swatted by Brook Lopez. Both of Jennings’ made jumpers were wide open. A short banker after his blocked layup bounced back to him, and an open jumper going left off a screen. A step back jumper going left, and a jumper going right were missed. If Jennings didn’t force any shots, he forced a pair of passes. A forced chest pass in traffic needed to be a bounce pass to reach its destination. Instead, Yi Jianlian picked up a steal. Also, an entry pass to a post player being overplayed was knocked away. Jennings drove parallel to the foul line going right after a screen on the left side, couldn’t turn the corner against a wall of Nets, didn‘t take the jump shot that the Nets gave him, picked up his dribble in able to throw the ball back to the weak side wing, found the angle cut off, and took an extra step to find a passing lane. His other two turnovers came when he tried to catch a pass with one hand and it rolled out of bounds, and when he didn’t meet the ball, and had it stolen by Courtney Lee, hinting at a lack of focus. Jennings is far too small to be a reliable finisher, and his overall field goal percentage is actually lower than his three point percentage. His puny size also allows defenses to push him where they want him to go, and he’s not quick enough to compensate. While he has decent vision, he’s prone to stretches where he loses focus, and therefore isn’t adept at running an offense yet. While Jennings is certainly okay, he’s not the difference maker Evans is. Evans Defense Evans’ defense was almost as bad as his off-ball offense. On the weak-side he does nothing but ball gaze, allowing Jared Jeffries to beat him back door once, though the Knicks never took advantage. When Evans’ teammates get beat off the dribble, Evans ends up in no-man’s land, neither throwing his body in the way of the penetration, nor being in a position to contest his own man should a pass make its way to him. Worse, Evans’ closeouts are atrocious, and any quick move can either get a player past Evans, or get Evans sprawling in the air. Evans is tentative defending screens, usually needing the screen defender to take a step back so he can go under the screen without giving up too much room for a jump shot. Even with this strategy, Evans had difficulty recovering after reading the screen. On-ball Evans’ defense of choice is to reach around the ball handler to try and poke away the ball from behind as the ball handler beats him off the bounce. Indeed, the only player Evans defended with success was Chris Duhon who Evans was able to stay on par with and use his long wingspan to discourage a shot over him. Otherwise, Evans’ hands are at his sides, he doesn’t contest dribbles, and plays with no aggression whatsoever. In other words, as talented as Evans is offensively, is as poor as he is defensively. Jennings Defense Due to Scott Skiles’ philosophy, Jennings is by default a better defender than Evans simply because Milwaukee’s point guards will pressure the ball up the floor. While Jennings doesn’t make a major impact on wrecking an opponent’s philosophy, the extra second or two to get an offense set up is an intrinsic help. Jennings is more willing to move his feet and raise his hands on defense, and he’s slightly more alert in his weak-side defense. Jennings’ main problem is because of how tiny he is, he gets wiped out by every single screen, and on one play, even fell to the floor after getting nailed by a Brook Lopez pick. Indeed Devin Harris screen/rolls found great success for the Nets due to Jennings’ diminutive stature. When Jennings did stay within the vicinity of Harris, as he did on one particular drive, Harris just drove to a spot 12 feet away from the hoop and shot over Jennings—something most average-sized point guard can do with regularity against Jennings. If Jennings has some speed and quickness to play adequate defense, he needs to put on weight or he’ll be at the opposition’s mercy. Scoreboard Speed/Quickness Jennings may be quick, but Evans can get to the basket at will thanks to his natural speed and his long strides. He can also shake and bake with the best of them. If Jennings may be able to beat Evans in a 40-meter dash, Evans beats Jennings to the basket. Edge: Evans by a little. Strength Evans is made of steel while Jennings is a runt. Edge: Evans by a lot. Scoring At The Rim Jennings is one of the worst finishers in basketball right now, while Evans has the body type and body control to be a terrific finisher. Each is uncomfortable with his off-hand, but Evans is stronger with his dominant hand. Edge: Evans by a lot. Jump Shooting Evans’ form still needs major reconstructing. Jennings isn’t a terrific shooter either, but has more range. Edge: Jennings by a fair amount. Classic Point Guard Skills Evans plays in a simpler offense and has somewhat less responsibility than Jennings. Both have good vision, though Jennings sometimes loses focus and Evans plays with his head down. Evans is much more of an attack guard, while Jennings is more of a distributor. Edge: Jennings by a little. Defense Jennings is slightly less awful than Evans, though if Evans learns to take more pride in his defense he has more upside to become a good defender. Edge: Jennings by a little. Intangibles Evans can take over games by his lonesome, as he essentially did against the Knicks. He lives in the paint, has more explosive moves, and his strength and size allow him to be dominant down low. He was given the responsibility of carrying his team back in order to win on the road and succeeded with flying colors. However, with Evans’ attacking mindset and raw strength, it’s a wonder if he’ll eventually become a playmaking combo guard or if he’s really set in stone as Sacramento’s point guard? Jennings isn’t even the best point guard on his own team, as Luke Ridnour’s vision, unselfishness, smarts, and tricky mid-range shooting has him on the floor in crunch time and relegates Jennings to the bench much more often than an elite point guard would be. One caveat—Evans is given maximum playing time because he can play both guard positions, while Jennings really isn’t a two-guard at all. Also, Jennings hasn’t been given full reign to play and make mistakes with the Bucks in contention for a playoff spot. Edge: Evans by a lot. Final Score Jennings has the potential to develop into an above average NBA point guard. Evans has the potential to be mentioned with the best point guards in the NBA. Edge: Evans, and it’s not even close.

I implore everyone to just go on youtube and watch all the ridiculous videos Steve Nash is in, especially his vitamin water commercials. He's easily the funniest person in the NBA.

There's nothing really special Ellis is doing besides compiling points on a bad team. And how Josh Smith still isn't an All-Star is mind-boggling. He's the main reason they've taken the leap they have. Lee's become an excellent offensive player and rebounder, while being a horrible defender on a losing team. Smith's been excellent across the board and actually contributing to wins.

Being a douche is funny?

Agreed wholeheartedly. No team should exclusively use advanced stats. All teams should use advanced stats in some context though.

/facepalm What a loser you are Hilton Armstrong.

They didn't look terrible, but they don't generate the same shots they did last season. Except for the third quarter, Orlando's offense didn't generate a whole lot. In a game against, say, Cleveland, they'd have a lot of trouble generating the same shots they generated in last year's conference finals.

Woot! I've never finished the team scouting reports this early before!

A 36-11 third quarter blitz spurred the Orlando Magic on to a 96-89 victory over the Boston Celtics that had more to do with Boston’s inauspicious play than Orlando’s execution. In fact, even as Orlando has won eight of their past 10 ball games, there’s hardly any feeling of magic transpiring in central Florida. Here’s what’s working like a charm, and what’s just a fairy tale. Offense Orlando has had to make numerous tweaks to their offense to allow for Vince Carter’s poor decision making on high and wing spread screen/rolls. Whereas the Magic used to heavily rely on spread screen/rolls, and still do generate a large portion of their offense that way, they run a bunch more 1-2-2 sets used to get Carter a handoff from the left high post, into a screen from the opposite post. This set is a far more conventional NBA set and doesn’t quite generate the immaculate spacing of the one-four spread. With fewer players outside the three-point line (the 1-4 spread usually has the ball handler and at least two other players beyond the three-point line as opposed to Orlando’s 1-2-2 which maxes out with two players beyond the arc), Orlando’s offense doesn’t quite have the perimeter firepower as last year’s version. This is a direct result to the Magic not having Hedo Turkoglu as their primary decision maker. Whereas Turkoglu’s unique combination of length, vision, shooting, handles, and decision making allowed him to see events unfolding on the court, Carter and Jameer Nelson are shorter, more selfish with the ball, and have far less vision than the Turkish Delight. Carter himself has been an unmitigated disaster. His numbers against Boston look terrific—7-13 FG, 3-4 3FG, 3-4 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 TO, 20 PTS—but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. His three baskets from the outlands came on two wide open catch-and-shoots and a screen/roll with Rashard Lewis where Kevin Garnett expected Lewis to fade and left Carter, Paul Pierce had to stay with the rolling Lewis, and VC had a wide open look. Carter did execute an alert basket cut early in the game but was so scared of Garnett that instead of driving to the basket hard, he leapt from eight feet out and attempted some wild double-clutch flipper that hadn’t a prayer of going in. In fact, most of Carter’s attempts were wild flings more than strong layups, and his main inclination was to avoid contact at all costs. When Carter couldn’t turn the corner on screens he’d often panic, pick up his dribble, and fire easily diagnosed cross-court passes that were deflected if not intercepted outright. Carter’s always been talented enough to take mediocre teams to the playoffs, or to make awful teams mediocre, but there isn’t enough substance to his game to make an elite team a championship. Dwight Howard continued to show glimpses of both the talent that can make him unstoppable, and the unrefined post moves that hold him back. There were 14 attempts where Howard tried to initiate his own post offense against the Celtics, nine against Kendrick Perkins, two against Glen Davis, two against Rasheed Wallace, and one against Kevin Garnett. Against Perkins, Howard: Missed a right hook from the left box.Was single teamed and tried to throw a cross court pass which was deflected out of bounds.Missed a left-to-right spinning banker from the right box.Connected on a sweeping right hook from the left box.Forced a reach-in foul on Perkins.Missed a right-to-left spinning hook from the left box.Hit an uncontested 16-footer.Faced up and drove strong with his left hand, drawing a foul on Perkins and knocking down both free throws.Missed another sweeping right hook from the left box. Against Wallace, Howard: Was overaggressive in establishing post position resulting an offensive foul.Was fouled in the act of shooting and converted both free throws. Against Davis, Howard: Tried to face and drive and was stripped by Davis.Missed a right hook from the left box. In his only position against Garnett, Howard posted, was doubled, and found Rashard Lewis for a made open three. The stats—2-7 FG, 4-4 FT, 1 AST, 2 TO, a bad pass that didn’t result in a turnover, and a non-shooting foul forced. Subtracting the non-shooting foul and non-turnover pass, that’s a total of 11 points on 12 possessions, definitely a subpar number. Howard was also a non-factor on the offensive glass with just two offensive rebounds. As always, his best attribute was his ability to present a huge target when cutting to the front of the rim without the ball. Still, Howard isn’t close to where he needs to be in order to dominate the best defenses in the game. Rashard Lewis is never involved enough in the game but he always makes critical shots, including a pair of threes, and the game-sealing floater. And his presence as a roller and not a fader in the second half caused the confusion that led to one of Vince Carter’s made triples. Jameer Nelson overhandled, routinely split double teams, and sank his early jumpers. While Nelson didn’t have a very good floor game—5-10 FG, 4 AST, 5 TO, 15 PTS—he kept the Magic close early until his teammates could find the groove. Matt Barnes was active without the ball and plugged his threes—3-4 3FG. Mickael Pietrus was another accurate member of Orlando’s bomb squad—2-4 3FG. J.J. Redick wasn’t afraid to drive to the basket and he’s normally an accurate three-point marksman. Jason Wiliams made perfect decisions with the ball in his hands, reading help on screens, crossing over Eddie House and getting to the basket, and always keeping the offense moving. The Magic missed six first half layups, and missed zero in the second half, a factor of their increased second half focus. Offensively, Stan Van Gundy showed that he’s willing to make necessary tweaks to get the most out of his team. And Orlando showed that even when their offense isn’t humming, they have enough firepower to shoot their way out of self-induced slumps—11-22 3FG. Defense Orlando’s defense was extremely shaky to begin the game. Nearly everything Boston wanted Orlando gave to them. While Carter actually did a good job defending Paul Pierce one-on-one, he was horrendous in help situations, especially in losing track of Pierce twice on baseline screens. This fact was compounded by Dwight Howard arriving late on each occasion. On a switch, Carter left Garnett allowing KG an opening to dunk in an alley-oop. Both Carter and Barnes were deplorable chasing Boston around various screens. Nelson and Williams were torched by Rondo the entire game, and Williams went under a House screen allowing him to make an open three. Redick was abused by Marquis Daniels in the post, so much so that when Daniels entered for his second-half rotation, Stan Van Gundy immediately yanked Redick from the game. Pietrus played the first half in a daze, failing to contest a number of shots. Rashard Lewis was late in his baseline rotations, as was Howard, as was Marcin Gortat. In the second half though, Orlando tightened up their defense considerably. The Magic did a better job in defending high screens by having their big men show high and hard. Particularly effective was Lewis. Lewis also pressured Garnett hard at the high post when KG was scanning for teammates opening up. As a result, KG usually had to kick the ball out to a guard to reinitiate the offense. Orlando’s rotations were much more alert in the second half. Orlando also did a better job anticipating weak-side skip passes and their close outs were effective. Ray Allen was crowded during the second half and his baseline drives were met by heavy traffic. Orlando pressured passers and passing lanes more often selling out at the expense of leaving Rondo open. If Rondo did sink a pair of triples, he was generally reluctant to fire his jumper. Howard was a force on broken plays in the second half, and was much more cognizant in protecting the rim. Overall, the Magic played about 18 minutes of good basketball and the Celtics played 30, but Orlando’s 18 good minutes were more explosive than Boston’s 30. That’s not a good recipe for pulling out victories. So while the Magic showed that they’re a very good team in their win over Boston, the game mostly highlighted Boston’s own flaws. Fortunately, the Magic still have a second half of basketball to fix themselves before the money season arrives. One thing is for sure. If Orlando doesn’t play with more consistent focus, there won’t be any talk of a Disney ending in the Magic Kingdom.

You're right, my mistake. Glanced at the standings a bit too quickly.

I love how three days after this post goes up, Milwaukee catches Miami and is a game behind Toronto and Chicago for the 5 seed. Clearly the Bucks are a lock to miss the playoffs.

The Atlanta Hawks blitzed the Chicago Bulls in the first quarter, held serve in the second, and stumbled through the third quarter of a game they most likely would’ve lost the previous handful of seasons. How often did the Hawks overwhelm a team with their athleticism only to crumble when an opponent decided to fight back? Only this time the Hawks didn’t fold, blasting the Bulls in the fourth quarter and outscoring them by 16 to prevail 91-81. While there were many reasons why this year’s Hawks are better set to overcome adversity than their previous versions, front and center is Josh Smith. His newfound maturity has led to an increase in focus, more focus at each end of the court, and an elimination of inefficient plays on offense—he’s attempted only four three-point attempts this season. When the Hawks began the fourth quarter down six and floundering, Smith absolutely took over. He anticipated a Kirk Hinrich pass, jumped into the passing lane, and stole the ball. He was fouled on his breakaway dunk attempt, and converted one of his two free throws.Smith outhustled two Bulls defenders in chasing down a long corner rebound.A deft basket cut from the top of the circle led to a tough finish in traffic.Smith challenged a John Salmons layup attempt, and while he didn’t record a block, altered the shot and forced a miss.Smith grabbed a defensive rebound after Salmons missed a jumper.Smith outjumped two Bulls defenders in grabbing an offensive rebound.Smith tried to cut from the weak to strong side along the baseline but was overplayed. He stopped at the strong-side box, reversed field, caught a lob pass under the basket, missed a layup, but a quick second jump led to an easy putback.Salmons tried to drive along the baseline but Smith expertly cut him off, forcing an out pass and Rose to hoist a jumper with the shot clock expiring.A tough catch in traffic led to Smith getting fouled and making one of two free throws.Smith outworked the Bulls to secure two offensive rebounds on one possession. After grabbing the second offensive board, Smith found himself crowded in the paint where his vision spotted Mike Bibby open in the left corner for a three-pointer, Smith’s 10th assist, a triple double, and the dagger that killed the Bulls.A pair of alert rotations and shot contests later and the final buzzer sounded on a fourth quarter where the Hawks outscored the Bulls 27-11 and dominated every aspect of the game. Smith’s stat line was prodigious—7-14 FG, 4-7 FT, 14 REB (eight in the fourth quarter), 10 AST, 1 TO, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 18 PTS. Two of his field goals came on putbacks, one came on a successful foray into the passing lane leading to an uncontested dunk, two came on sweeping left hooks, one came on a well-timed cut, and one on an alley-oop. In fact, Smith almost always goes to his left hand and has no right handed counter. Because of his prodigious wing span, Smith was doubled virtually all the time in the paint. With Derrick Rose turning his head more often than the Exorcist, any pass to the corner would be wide open. With the Hawks knocking down their open threes—8-18 3FG—Smith’s assist totals skyrocketed. On the glass, few players have as long and as quick a second and third jump as Smith and his persistence on the glass deflated a Chicago Bulls team playing without Joakim Noah. Smith’s interior rotations were on point for the most part. If he had trouble staying in front of players off the dribble, and if his rotations were lax in the second and third quarters, he was able to rouse himself from his doldrums for the final period, something that couldn’t always be counted on in previous seasons. Over his career, once Smith pressed the off switch, he couldn’t find a way to turn himself back on. No doubt with Smith playing smarter, more focused basketball, the Hawks have taken flight. And no doubt that Josh Smith’s omission from the All-Star game was the fans and coaches most egregious error. Of course Smith gets plenty of help from his friends. Joe Johnson is a classic isolation scorer, a willing distributor, a plus defender, and one of the game’s premier wings. When Jamal Crawford heats up, he has 30-plus range. That’s in miles, not feet, by the way. Marvin Williams has made major strides and is now an athletic on-ball defender and talented baseline player who can post up and knock down corner threes. The farther into his career he gets, and the farther away he gets from being the second overall pick of the 2005 draft, the better he appears as a player. Al Horford forced a bevy of shots and had trouble with Chicago’s muscle might down low, but he has a soft touch, good athleticism for a center, and is rangy enough to provide good help on screens. Mike Bibby will hit his shots and won’t make many mistakes. Mo Evans is a tough on-ball defender, a smart help defender, and another in Atlanta’s assembly line of passing lane assailants. Joe Smith is on his last legs, but Zaza Pachulia is limber enough to make things happen on defense and on the glass. With the Hawks playing with more focus, they’ve become more consistent and have cleaned up on the sub-500 teams they’ve faced. And as their season sweep of the Celtics shows, they’re able to beat the big boys as well. As the Celtics appear older and slower, and as the Magic continue to have trouble orchestrating their offense, the surging Hawks just may be the biggest competition to Cleveland in the East.

I'll go a different route. The Spurs were supposed to be elite this year. They're not even a lock for the playoffs. They've been a mild disappointment. Washington I expected to be a lower playoff team too, so they're my number one disappointment, but what did people really expect out of that all-style, no substance roster?

I see that too. He's deadly accurate but it takes him a tick to shoot. I'd be shocked if he has a good performance. And I know Cook won last year, but does he have to defend his title? He's shooting 28% from the floor this year.

The Jekyll and Hyde Miami Heat continued their descent down the Eastern Conference standings after falling in Cleveland to the Cavaliers 102-86. The Heat were able to hang around for three quarters, but when Cleveland’s defense buckled down in the fourth quarter, Miami’s offense fell apart. Here are the particulars. Dwyane Wade is Miami’s resident superstar and he certainly filled up the stat sheet—11-26 FG, 1-3 3FG, 1-2 FT, 3 REB, 9 AST, 6 TO, 4 STL, 24 PTS. However, his performance was uneven from half to half. In the first half, Wade had no problems splitting loose double teams, penetrating to the cup, and posting up once for a short made jump shot. In the second half, Cleveland was more cognizant on showing tighter on screen/rolls, and occasionally outright double teaming Wade behind the three point line. Cleveland was more alert in loading up the basket from the baseline and forcing Wade to beat them with passes or from the perimeter. Because of this, Wade recorded six of his nine assists after halftime—mostly on screen/fade jumpers by Jermaine O’Neal—but only tallied six of his 24 points. Defensively, Wade attacked sloppy passes, but tended to lose discipline for too many stretches, fouling jump shooters, turning his head, and playing uncharacteristically lazy. Usually Wade plays MVP-caliber defense, but there’s one element of his game that holds him back from MVP-caliber offensive players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Whereas Kobe is a terrific jump shooter and LeBron has improved his shooting each year in the year, Wade is still iffy outside of the paint. Against the Cavs he was 3-13 from outside the paint and couldn’t shoot well enough to spread Cleveland’s defense out of the paint. Plus Wade’s jumpers mostly fell off the front of the rim in the second half, a sign of fatigue. Too bad he didn’t get much help from his supporting cast mates. Michael Beasley started off the game successfully. A pair of successful lefty drives from the right mid-post resulted in layups, and he was able to either catch and shoot or dribble in place at either elbow before connecting on a trio of jump shots. As the game drew on, Beasley simply faded. He airballed a baseline jumper, badly missed another baseline jumper after catching an offensive rebound and fading away for no apparent reason, and botched a layup. Beasley’s talent is apparent but he’s a touch soft and takes his time to make decisions. He’s also much more adept at going to his left than to his right and good defenses can take advantage of his indecision and set their defense up to force him into help spots. As a passer, he made a pair of nice passes out of the midpost to find cutters darting through the lane, and after a Wade screen was strung out above the three point line, Beasley slipped the screen, caught the pass from Wade, and instinctively found Dorell Wright in the corner for an open triple. Defensively, Beasley was slow to anticipate off-ball screens, was lazy in his show and recovers, and is still at a rookie’s level at understanding help situations, though he shows better timing as a shot-blocker. Beasley also tended to get outworked on the glass. The majority of his 12 rebounds were completely uncontested and he doesn’t always box out. Beasley’s a future talent but he’s still not where he needs to be in able to provide a reliable second-option to Wade. Because of his tendencies to make mistakes on defense and his slow reactions on offense, he’s not even trustworthy for Eric Spoelstra to give him minutes late in games despite being Miami’s second most talented player. Jermaine O’Neal was overwhelmed by Shaquille O’Neal and banished to the bench with early foul trouble. He was lead footed on Cleveland’s drives, slow on rotations, and provided minimal resistance in the paint. Offensively he’s become little more than a pick-and-pop jumper shooter—6-12 FG, 14 PTS—who can post up or isolate only against the worst opponents. He’s also weak on the glass—three rebounds in 25 minutes. Nowadays, O’Neal can only put up one or two good games every couple of weeks. Quentin Richardson turned his head on defense and disappeared on offense in a useless performance—0-7 FG, 0-3 3FG, 0 PTS. Of his four attempts inside the arc, three were blocked, a marker of Q-Rich’s increased age and diminishing athleticism. Rafer Alston is still learning his new offense and teammates, and one of his turnovers came when he expected Beasley to dart hither rather than thither. But his jump shot has failed him this season, he’s always been a wimpy finisher, and his defense is average at best. Carlos Arroyo hit a pair of open jumpers, but takes too long to get Miami into their offense and is a poor defender. He’s strictly a fifth body on the floor for the Heat. Joel Anthony wreaked havoc on the offensive boards, shows well on screens, and plays a better Udonis Haslem than Haslem does. For his part, Haslem bricked a trio of open jumpers—including an airball—and is limited by a bad back. Wright is an accurate shooter—2-6 FG, 2-4 3FG, 3-3 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 9 PTS—a high-skiing rebounder, and an awful defender who plays defense with his hands and was guilty of botching at least six help assignments. Jamaal Magloire is a bull in a china shop, but his roughhousing didn’t faze Shaq. Any minute Daequan Cook plays is too many minutes. The Heat tried putting Wade at point guard for the final quarter with disastrous results. With Wade operating as a facilitator, the Heat couldn’t draw up any creative way for Wade to get the ball in an attack position aside from giving him a high screen. And while Wade made good decisions, his teammates couldn’t convert. In 13 possessions with Wade at the point, Miami: Had Beasley isolate where he missed a layup.Used a handoff and roll with Wade and O’Neal but Wade missed a jumper, grabbed his own rebound, and missed another jumper.Used a high screen to get Wade into the paint where he kicked to Beasley who made a three.Set up an O’Neal isolation where he drove the baseline, and missed a layup. After Miami grabbed the offensive rebound, O’Neal missed an iso pullup.Had Wade deliver a pinpoint pass to Richardson all alone under the basket but Richardson missed the layup.Another screen/roll had O’Neal rolling to the hoop and timidly passing the ball to Beasley on the baseline. Beasley had nowhere to go, but a Cleveland defender turned his head and Wade cut to the basket for a score.Wade found O’Neal for a jumper but O’Neal missed an open attempt. Somehow Wade spectacularly tipped the ball in from at least six feet out.Wade went away from an overplayed screen and Zydrunas Ilgauskas let Wade dunk uncontested.Wright missed a catch-and-shoot three.O’Neal isolated and Richardson cut, but after O’Neal passed to Richardson he was half stripped, half blocked at the rim.Wright occupied two defenders on a baseline screen/roll. The Cavs didn’t close out to O’Neal who hit a jumper.Beasley missed a screen/fade jumper.O’Neal isolated and was fouled (he missed both free throws).13 possessions, 11 points, an unacceptable ratio. With Wade’s supporting cast teetering between inconsistent and inept, it’s a small wonder they’re even close to .500. O’Neal and Richardson are too old, Beasley is too young, the point guards are pointless, and what Haslem and Anthony have in heart, they lack in raw size and strength. When O’Neal and Richardson aren’t bogged down by the weight of their long NBA careers and the weight of innumerable injuries, when Wade is making the impossible look routine, when Beasley is making more shots than mistakes, then the Heat can beat anyone at anytime. But because the Heat can’t rely on all of those events happening, they’re doomed to uneven, sporadic performances, the predicating factor behind their bizarre number of blowout wins and blowout losses. If there’s one thing the Heat can rely on, it’s that they’re a .500 team and will remain that way the entire season.

Vets because they play better and make fewer mistakes. It's why young teams are often losing teams, and veteran teams are usually winning ones.

It isn't as if he's asked to solve the Heat's problems, just that he's been just as bad with the Heat as he was with the Nets. How many layups has he missed? And I bet there are a ton of forced drives too.

Not the Bucks.