Luke Walton is in a complicated relationship — with his facemask

Cleveland Cavaliers March 24, 2013 1 Comment

Luke Walton’s taken advantage of his extra playing time in Cleveland, becoming a role player for the struggling Cavaliers. In his last 10 games he’s averaged 4.1 points, 4.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and shooting 46 percent from three.

But on March 16, Walton broke his nose in a game against San Antonio. He donned a facemask — the fourth time a Cleveland Cavalier has done so this season — in the following game against Indiana. It didn’t last long. Walton removed the mask after only a few minutes.

Things are getting better between Walton and his protective mask, though, even after a recent loss to Miami. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Luke Walton didn’t want to hurt the mask’s feelings.

When the Cavaliers’ veteran forward was asked how much he hated the clear mask he’s supposed to be wearing to protect his broken nose, he smiled and said, “I’m trying to develop a relationship with it, so I don’t want to talk bad about it.”

Maybe Walton realized the times you think you don’t need your significant other are actually the times you need it most:

All it took was one shot to the nose to convince Walton he had to make peace with the mask.

“I didn’t even get hit that hard and I started to get a headache and my eye was hurting so I’m going with the mask,” he said. “I’m going to keep wearing it until it gets comfortable and familiar. I’ve been wearing it around the last 24 hours trying to get more comfortable with it.

Hopefully the protective mask doesn’t weigh him down. Love’s not supposed to work like that.

Does Cleveland want LeBron James back?

Cleveland Cavaliers March 23, 2013 Leave a comment

Anger towards LeBron James’ departure from Cleveland has slowly died down since the summer of 2010.

Maybe the excessive coverage last season of LeBron’s failures drove fans crazy enough to gravitate toward LeBron, instead of further away. (At this time a year ago, television outlets still dissected why LeBron passed the ball in the final seconds of an ALL STAR GAME.)

Maybe it died down when LeBron won his first championship only nine months ago.

Maybe it died down last summer when LeBron, despite so much dislike towards him in the summer of 2010, suited up for the Olympics to help lead USA to a gold medal.

Or maybe it died down when he starred in a commercial where he got a haircut despite having one of the most obvious receding hairlines in the NBA since Clyde Drexler.

It’s tough to tell.

Whatever the reason, it’s hard to believe this would’ve happened in LeBron’s first game in Cleveland since “The Decision”.

It’s not just one overexcited fan that wants LeBron to return, either.

According to a poll from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 52 percent of voters said they want LeBron to return to Cleveland. 35 percent still do not want him to return and, as polarizing as LeBron has become, 13 percent are still undecided.

Over 3,000 votes have already been submitted.

The excitement comes from LeBron’s looming free agency, which could start 17 months from now if he opts out of his current contract. If that happens, the Cavaliers can make a run for the three-time MVP who spent his first seven seasons in Cleveland.

There’s a lot to look at already on why or why not LeBron should stay in Miami, but a lot of it isn’t worth it (yet).

17 months ago, the NBA was in the middle of a lockout that could’ve wiped out the 2012 season, Derrick Rose was the reigning MVP the season before, and a few all stars (Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul) were not in Los Angeles yet.

The same can be said for Cleveland which, 17 months ago, would not have wanted LeBron to return to a place he once left in flames.

Coming to a conclusion right now about where LeBron will or should go is foolish, but it’s still fun to think and talk about.

(Or act on if you’re a Cavalier fan plotting to run onto the court. Don’t be that guy.)

Wayne Ellington brings it against the best

Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies March 23, 2013 Leave a comment

I know, Wayne Ellington is just a role player on any team he’ll ever play with, but he’s swung a couple of games this season with his explosive shooting.

When he added three threes against Miami (bringing his total against the Heat to 10) it made me think, “Hmm, you know what? That Ellington’s pretty clutch. He might be the jazz musician in the NBA.”

So I did a little researching. All statistics are from Basketball-Reference unless noted otherwise. I love that site.

51 of Ellington’s 78 threes were against teams over .500. 10 of them came against two games versus Miami. His torching of anything Miami dates back to his time at Chapel Hill.

Cleveland hosts Miami on April 15. Watch out.

45 of his 78 threes have been made in wins, though he’s shooting 40.9% from three in wins and 41.8% in losses.

41 of his 78 threes have been made when winning or trailing by less than 5 points, but 41 threes have been made with over 6 minutes left in a quarter.

31 of his 78 threes have come in the fourth quarter. The next best number is the second quarter with 25.

Ellington has a 57.9 effective field goal percentage with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock, according to 82games.com. His highest is actually 61.4 percent with 16 to 20 seconds left on the shot clock, but he attempts seven percent less of his shots in that time frame.

He’s also the 2009 Final Four Most Outstanding Player!!!

If college awards don’t lead to success at the professional level, I don’t know what does. (Sarcasm.)

My favorite fake award: The Time Machine Champion

Time Machine Championship January 31, 2013 Comments: 2

Go back to October 26, 2010. It marked the first regular season game for Miami’s “Big Three”. I remember sitting in the living room of a college house I rented with somewhere between nine and 30 other college students. (Too many people spent several nights in too many different rooms. I could never tell who really lived there and who barged in just to drink or hook up.) Wrapped in layers of blankets on a couch that smelled like a mix of beer and barbecue sauce, I was anxious to see how Miami’s trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would play together in such a hostile environment like Boston’s.

But actually, I was even more curious to see how Boston would play. During the wildly entertaining free agent period of 2010, Boston made their own splashes by acquiring Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal to join Boston’s own big (and aging) three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. To most people, I’m sure those signings were a yawn and ho-hum minus the comedy that Shaq brought to every team he joined (or so he thought). But I’m sure a few others had thoughts similar to mine: If those guys were five years younger, they would’ve been the greatest team in NBA history.

From there, they became my first Time Machine Champion. I’ve made that award a yearly, nerdy thing for me since then, where I look at each team at the end of the season and imagine how good they would be if they were five years younger. After sifting through statistics and memories, I determine the winner. There’s no real payoff to this. I waste time thinking about hypothetical situations that will never be fulfilled until a time machine is invented. (And even if one’s actually created, who would want to waste their time determining my Time Machine Champion? Why? What a waste of time spent figuring this out each year, but I can’t help it.)

There are only two rules to become a Time Machine Champion:

  1. A team must have a formidable starting five, meaning they can’t have five forwards who were awesome five years ago. That’ll never happen in real life for any team that doesn’t have LeBron James. Breaking this rule would’ve made the 2010-11 Detroit Pistons a formidable Time Machine candidate, though.
  2. A team must have a sixth man off the bench.

That’s it. Six players is all it takes to become my Time Machine Champion. This is simply because not everyone in the league has five years under their belt, though there could’ve been an exception to Boston’s 2010-11 squad. Hubie Brown could’ve played 20 minutes a night for that team and they still would’ve been fine. Check out Boston’s top six guys with their 2006 numbers:

  • PG- Delonte West: 11.8 points, 4.6 assists. He’s also someone who could’ve taken jokes about wives and moms to a level not even Garnett could match, only in 2006 we didn’t know it yet.
  • SG – Ray Allen: 25.1 points, 3.4 threes, 41.2% from three. During his time in Seattle, Allen’s best post player was arguably Jerome James. Ouch.
  • SF – Paul Pierce: 26.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists. 2006 was arguably Pierce’s best season ever and not because of his statistics. His prima donna days from 2002 to 2005 were just one of several reasons why the NBA was a pain to watch back then, but he flip-flopped his attitude in 2006 and was rewarded with a title in 2008. (Worth noting: 2006 was the same season Boston shipped Ricky Davis to Minnesota for Wally Szczerbiak. Losing Davis may or may not have also had something to do with Pierce’s resurgence.)
  • PF – Kevin Garnett: 21.8 points, 12.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and was on the wrong end of the Davis-Szczerbiak trade.
  • C – Shaquille O’Neal: 20 points, 9.2 rebounds, and at the tail-end of his prime. 2006 was his second-to-last nice season before age and endurance issues took over with no going back. He still would’ve been a force and a great compliment to Garnett’s mid-range game.
  • Sixth Man – Jermaine O’Neal: 20.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and kind of really fell out of favor with Indiana’s fan base after the Malice at the Palace. He could’ve used a change of scenery and four Hall of Famers alongside him. That’s not asking for much.

The Garnett-Pierce-Allen trio won 66 games in 2008. They surely have won 66 games together in 2006. Throw in Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal, even if they struggled with durability in 2006, and they would’ve broke some records.

They’re even better if they go back 10 years instead of five. That would’ve disqualified Delonte West, but that squad still wins 75 games with myself at point guard and Hubie Brown ripping my game to shreds in second person:

“When Matt Femrite’s on the floor you wonder how this team, despite sporting five All-NBA talents, could be so good with a player whose skill set resembles a boiling potato. Did I mention he wrote a column about an award that doesn’t even exist and shared it to only a handful of readers on a blog called Chicken Noodle Hoop? I don’t get it, Mike [Turico], I really don’t. Look at him out there, wrapped in his blanket that reeks of beer and barbecue sauce. He looks like a human burrito.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Even in today’s league where most NBA veterans migrate to only a handful of teams, it’s nearly impossible for any roster to have six players that, if you make them 10 years younger, are just as talented as that 2011 Celtics squad. The Chicago Bulls of 1997 would’ve had an impressive roster if Pippen were in the NBA during the 1986-87 season. They would’ve had Ron Harper (an exciting athlete in the ’80s), Michael Jordan and his 37 point-per-game season, Dennis Rodman before his funky hair, and Robert Parish (43 years old in ’97 with the Bulls!) to go along with Pippen. Bill Wennington would’ve been the sixth man, though, which further ruins my hypothetical Time Machine Championship contender, but whatever.

Boston’s 2011 squad narrowly won the first ever Time Machine Champion over the likes of:

  • Dallas: Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler, and Peja Stojacovic.
  • Orlando: Gilbert Arenas, Quentin Richardson, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, Dwight Howard, and Jameer Nelson.
  • San Antonio: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Richard Jefferson, Matt Bonner, Tim Duncan, and Antonio McDyess.
  • Miami: Mike Bibby, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Mike Miller.

Detroit was really interesting with Ben Gordon, Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince, Charlie Villanueva, Ben Wallace, and Richard Hamilton but Gordon isn’t necessarily a point guard. They wouldn’t have beat out any of the previously mentioned teams anyway. I just enjoy thinking back to a time when McGrady was one of the best players in the league.

So who won in 2012?

New York (Kidd, J.R. Smith, Melo, Amar’e Stoudemire, Chandler, and Bibby), Dallas (Kidd, Vince Carter, Marion, Lamar Odom, Dirk, and Terry), and Charlotte (Eduardo Najera) all had capable teams to take the prized 2012 Time Machine Championship, but the Miami Heat edged out all three. The ’07 versions of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh would surround themselves with key cogs like Mike Miller, Shane Battier and (gasp) Eddy Curry. The Big 3 of Miami were just too good to pass up.

2013 is up for grabs. The Lakers (Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Antawn Jamison) narrowly lead Miami (James, Wade, Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller). If Miami’s roster stays intact next year, they could challenge the 2011 Celtics for the 10-years younger variation of the Time Machine Championship. (A huge deal, totally.) Their roster has to remain relatively the same for that to work out, but I just don’t see it happening with a glaring weakness at rebounding. If Miller and either Battier or Lewis leave, Miami’s sixth man will be the deal breaker.

Maybe I’ll suit up for them.

Grant Hill: Ageless wonder

90s, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA commercials January 24, 2013 Leave a comment

He looks the same now…

…as he did back in 1994. 1994!

For the sake of Hill, I hope the Clippers win a title in the next two years. He was an incredible player in his prime (a better version of Scottie Pippen) and still a key piece to any contender. Also, if Ralph Sampson can get into the Hall of Fame, so can he.

Now if Christian Laettner gets in, we got a problem.