Nitro

What? This makes no sense. His GOD-AWFUL TS% is not a product of him taking a lot of shots...it's a product of his poor decision making. And the Lakers do NOT need another iso scorer...Kobe is taking more shots than anyone else in the league (doing it all pretty much in iso situations), Bynum does all of his damage off iso's from the post (where he doesn't pass from), and Gasol does his damage off iso's from the low and high post. They either need someone to set the offense up, or someone who can play off-ball and knock down all the open 3pt attempts they'd be given. Right now, the league is FILLED with talented PG's, yet the Lakers have probably the worst starting PG in the league (Fisher, Blake...both fit that statement). Knowing that there are so many of them out there who can be an upgrade, that is where their TPE should go to. That is, unless Gasol can net them Deron Williams or something, in which case then they'd have to use the TPE on a PF. In 4 seasons Beasley has started way over half his games-played and is taking over 17 FGA's per 36min. How in the hell can you spin it to show that Beasley just hasn't been given a chance? It is NOTHING like Jeremy Lin.

Overall, he wasn't particularly efficient or inefficient last season...the lack of 3pt shot killed his efficiency (.530 TS% last season). This season he's under a .500 TS% which is awful for someone who takes as many shots as he does. Here's what I think- This season the Raptors are in the bottom 8th of the league in pace. Last season they were top 10. This season, only 31% of Demar's shot attempts are in the first 10 seconds of the clock (compared to 37% last season), where easy shot opportunities from the fastbreak and unset defenses are at a premium....this area is especially important for a guy like Demar, who doesn't have any elite attributes in the halfcourt to create efficient offense for himself (besides maybe getting to the line). This season, 44% of his shot attempts are in the final 8 seconds of the shot clock, compared to 34% last season. The end of the shotclock is the hardest time to create easy offense. Add it all up and I believe the pace is what's hurting him the most. I do think his role has changed a bit this season, with higher expectations and him being the primary scorer with Bargnani being out so much (I think this helped aid the extra 10% of his FGA's with 8 seconds or less...the go-to scorer is always the one stuck with the responsibility of scoring at the end of the shotclock). . As it currently stands he is a poor 3pt shooter (eliminating him as a threat in catch-and-shoot opportunities), and he doesn't have the handles and ability to be effective in a slowed-down game and in iso situations. This is problematic, and has led to him being an inefficient scorer who takes quite a few attempts per game. I find little value in guys like Demar because the only area he can be really effective in as a scorer is when he gets those easy opportunities off of fast-paced offense. That is FINE...but he needs to get better elsewhere if he wants to make an impact on a good playoff team (not talking the barely .500 clubs).

I actually agree with ECN (omfg I think I just puked in my mouth). It is illegal to hire solely based on race, and if Magic openly does this he will have lawsuits filed against him. However, I wouldn't necessarily trust that one line in the article to jump to that conclusion. I am sure Magic has a team of lawyers that would advise him how to properly run his own television channel in accordance with the law. To believe anything else is kinda stupid.

http://i.imgur.com/1XV3x.gif

He's only taking 2 attempts per game, and he's shooting at a percentage that I'm inclined to believe is an abberation. Regardless, you can get better 3pt shooters AND keep the Kobe/Bynum/Gasol core intact by avoiding this trade. And even if he can hit that 3, his TS% of .482 has got to be among the 5-10 worst in all of the NBA by players who take over 10 FGA per game. And once again, he's a tweener, which comes with a whole other set of problems.

This is the issue. He has the physical tools of a PF, but the skills of a SF. In theory that sounds like an advantage, but in reality it is a disadvantage. His primary skillset is as a perimeter scorer, but he's simply not very good at it, and at SF he doesn't have the speed to really blow by his defender (and defensively doesn't have great lateral quickness). The common sense approach there is to slide him in at PF, but he lacks the rebounding and post defense to be effective there (and he's a tiny bit undersized as well). Similar issue as guys like Josh Smith and Jeff Green.

The old ones from 2008 were so, soooooooo much better. The Olympic jersey's aren't ones you should really get cutsie and shit with the design. Keep it simple and straight-forward. These new ones look ridiculous.

I understand he can improve, and as I said in my last post he really needs to improve the non-scoring aspects of his game. If you are not a legit 1st or 2nd scoring option, then you have to be proficient in other areas in order to be an impact player on a good team. 3pt shooters and big men who can catch and finish are the exceptions to this, although even they are somewhat situational unless they are effective in other areas. Players whose main attribute is to score at low efficiency and ineffectively in iso situations don't last long, and are the types of players that can rarely be a positive on a good playoff team. If he puts a lot more effort and practice into rebounding and defense, and becomes effective and impactful in both areas, he will have a bright future. But I can't see him ever being an effective 20PPG scorer. He may get that forced on him, and he may be able to produce those 20PPG on bad efficiency, but he'll never be in that role and on a good playoff team at the same time. The last 2 seasons Derozan has taken more FGA's than Ariza ever has. The one season Ariza took close to the number of shots Derozan has the last 2 seasons he was at 14.9PPG.

It's because it's been like 10 years since Chappelle's Show, and he's hit the weight room and gained a lot of weight... http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Dave-Chappelle-Buff.jpg

This could end up being extremely serious and require microfracture. I wish him the best.

Before looking at the stats I have listed below, I thought it was ridiculous...and still do. Evans is pretty much useless besides rebounding. Jordan has his shortcomings, but he is still a tremendous finisher at the rim, good rebounder and one of the best shotblockers in the league. In fact, he is their ONLY big who can protect the rim, and considering the Clippers are still in the bottom half of the league in defense, he needs to start. BTW, for the season Jordan has a net +/- average of +15...Evans is a -14. When Evans is on the floor, the team gives up 10 more points per 100 possesions. When Jordan is on the floor, they give up 12 points less than when he is not on the floor.

This guy's been at a few different games, including in college basketball, I believe.

Wade is 2nd in the league in PER (at least he was a few days ago last time I checked), Chalmers is playing very well and shooting like 46% from 3, and the backups have been good as well. There is no way SA should get a better grade than Miami,

If it's a mid-season report card, how does SA, with Ginobili out nearly the entire season, get a better grade than a Chalmers/Wade backcourt?

He's a big body with incredible strength, craftiness in the post (although he doesn't use it a ton...he's like Melo in face-up situations in that he doesn't waste moves, he gets right to what he wants to do), a very solid rebounder, and good post defender. The one big weakness is that he's very slow-footed defensively, so he can definitely be taken advantage of in PnR situations, or by centers who can stretch the floor. Still, in a league that depleted of talented centers, this guy will be very valuable moving forward.

I highly doubt he'd go to Toronto. He's a big-city personality, so unless Toronto offered him a big contract that he just couldn't turn down, I see him heading to a bigger market than there or Milwaukee (although I believe he will be restricted, and I doubt Milwaukee doesn't match pretty much any offer).

Demar is at a crossroads in his NBA career. He has proven this season that he just doesn't have the capabilities to be a go-to scorer on even a bad NBA team...he lacks a consistent jumper, isn't a great ballhandler and lacks the ability and instincts in iso situations. The big issue is that he doesn't impact the game anywhere else. He has the physical tools to be a good defender, but he doesn't have the proper mechanics or instincts. With his length and athleticism, he should be grabbing at least 6RPG, yet this season he's averaging only half that. And as I stated before, he isn't a great ballhandler and he doesn't have the vision to be an effective playmaker. All of that adds up to a pretty ineffective NBA player, and one that could never be an impact player on a good playoff team. If he wants to advance his career, he desperately needs to mold his game after a guy like Trevor Ariza. Derozan has all the tools to be a great energy guy who can impact the game defensively, on the boards, on the fastbreak, off cuts within the offense, and occasionally being able to generate his own offense if he needs to. Unless he makes HUGE improvements, he will never be an effective 2nd or 3rd option on a great team, so he needs to become proficient in all other aspects of the game. How Ariza performed on the Lakers is exactly what Derozan needs to do. With his physical tools, if he puts all his energy into the "dirty work", while being opportunistic offensively and playing off his teammates, he can be a difference-maker despite not being the 20-25PPG guy a lot of Raptors fans were envisioning. As for his future with the Raptors...unless management/coaches realize what he needs to be once they get enough pieces to be a playoff team, and start coaching him up to be that player, they should trade him while his value is still high and he's on his rookie contract.

Badly. They have HUGE holes at PG and SF, and yet they give away one of their only 4 valuable trade chips (Odom) for essentially nothing. They still have the TPE, which might net them a decent player, but they've pretty much backed themselves into a corner where they need to trade either Bynum or Gasol to give them the pieces to properly fill out their roster.

BFT, I think you are right with those 6 guys being ahead of him...7th is about correct. I'd also consider putting Kyrie Irving ahead of him (he's been sensational this season), and Curry, Lowry, Lawson, and Jennings (having an underrated year, though he's fallen off a bit recently) aren't far behind.

Durant is absolutely ridiculous. Hit the 3 to cut it to 2, then a really strong, quick drive for the dunk to tie the game up with 4 seconds to go. If this game goes to OT, he will be on his way to the first 50pt game of his career. Curious to see who the Nuggets go to on this possession.

As I said before, the paint and 3pt line are the two most efficient areas on the floor, and the Magic are proficient in both areas. I was strictly talking about how they could be a really bad matchup for the Heat, because the Heat are actually one of the worst teams in the league at defending the 3 (because they focus on stopping all penetration towards the hoop), and they'd have a 6'6'' center or Bosh/Haslem defending Howard most of the series. I think the Bulls would make easy work of the Magic, but 3pt shooting teams like the Magic give the Heat a ton of problems.

Sucking wind at the end of games? He was absolutely dominant in the clutch last year in the post-season. And last year he actually wasn't all that inefficient. Last season he shot over 50% and had a TS% of over .550 which is pretty good for an iso scorer scoring over 20PPG, and in the playoffs he was over .530 which isn't great but not awful (especially since he played an extremely good defensive squad in Thunder in the 2nd round). What I value with Zach is he is one of the very few big men in the NBA that can be a true #1 option. When your team needs a basket, you can give him the ball in an iso situation and expect him to make a strong play. It's something Dirk can do extremely well, which is why he's IMO been the best PF for years despite his lack of rebounding and defense. Blake is still raw and cannot be relied on to do that, Love is not a very good iso scorer, Bosh can do it for stretches but doesn't have the mentality of a go-to scorer, Amare needs a PG who can give him the ball on the move for him to consistently be able to get to the rim without barrelling over someone for an offensive foul, etc... Also, I LOVE his ability on the glass, specifically on the offensive glass. He's a bully down there, and last year was at 12RPG despite a very good, big-bodies center by his side. Last year he also finally showed some unselfishness and leadership, which really left an impression on me. I don't know if for sure I'd put him at #2 PF in the league when he's playing the way he did last year, but you can definitely make a very good arguement for him.

With the lack of stability over there, it's hard to reach the development of places like the US and most of Europe. Regardless, my point is that Islam itself is peaceful at its core, it's just when people manipulate it it can be used as a weapon. With the instability over there, it's a perfect place to use religion to manipulate the desperation of the people. However, pretty much every religion has been used to manipulate people to do evil, it's not an Islam exclusive thing.

I love Rubio and have been preaching that he'd be a very good NBA player since a few years ago, but his jumper is still very much a concern...he's shooting under 38% from the field and 33% from 3. The rest of his game is tremendous, but if he ever wants to be a truly elite PG he needs to develop a better jumper because he is not the kind of athletic freak that can get to the rim and finish at will.

I disagree, I think lacking that go-to perimeter scorer in clutch time is what makes them a pretender. However, if Howard stays, the Magic are the one team I think the Heat should really fear in the East besides the Bulls. The Magic kill you in the two most efficient areas of the floor, and the two areas the Heat are weakest defensively...in the paint with a dominant center, and at the 3pt line. If Hedo can return to his 08-09 form where he was taking over games in the 4th quarter, the Magic are a really scary team for the Heat.