OFFICIAL 2010-2011 NBA PLAYOFFS THREAD : VOL. MOST. ANTICIPATED. PLAYOFFS. EVER?

proshares · Dec 6, 2010

I'm still on the side of Bosh > Amare but to be honest I have become more of an Amare fan this season.

But OKB to say Amare hasn't been good this year is crazy, even for you. I have been one of his bigger critics over the years and regretted the Knicks giving him that sizable contract but I am eating my words with each game. And I'm happy that I am.

proshares · Dec 6, 2010

I'm still on the side of Bosh > Amare but to be honest I have become more of an Amare fan this season.

But OKB to say Amare hasn't been good this year is crazy, even for you. I have been one of his bigger critics over the years and regretted the Knicks giving him that sizable contract but I am eating my words with each game. And I'm happy that I am.

proshares · Dec 6, 2010

http://[h3]

[h3]NBA to buy Hornets?[/h3]
9:01AM ET

[h5]New Orleans Hornets [/h5]

UPDATE No. 2: Marc Stein reports a formal announcement from the league will come no later than Wednesday.

According to Stein, the league would prefer that the team stays in New Orleans, but if they are to move, Anaheim , Kansas City and Seattle top the list of available relocation cities.

Las Vegas is reportedly low on the list due to the poor economy.

-- Nick Borges

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UPDATE: There's more chatter this will happen.

Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated reported Sunday that two league sources have indicated they expect the team to change hands to the NBA soon -- with one saying it could happen within 48 hours.

Thomsen also adds this bit of information to the fray: "A league source has identified a potential administrator to run the team on an interim basis -- Jac Sperling, vice chairman of the Minnesota Wild."

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ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Friday night that the NBA is considering buying the New Orleans Hornets from owner George Shinn.

Shinn has been trying to work out a deal with minority owner Gary Chouest, but that has fallen through.

According to The Times-Picayune, Chouest doesn't think he has the time to run the NBA team and his own business.

The NBA is hoping to find an owner that will keep the team in New Orleans. It was reported earlier this week that the team could get out of their lease with the state of Louisiana, if attendance benchmarks are not met in the next 13 home games.

-- Nick Borges

[h5]Marc Stein[/h5]
Hornets could be like Expos

"Two sources likened the NBA's potential involvement to Major League Baseball's purchase of the Montreal Expos before the team was ultimately sold and moved to the nation's capital as the Washington Nationals in 2005. It's believed, though, that the NBA's intent -- if it goes through with buying the Hornets -- would be to try to secure a buyer willing and able to keep the franchise in New Orleans now that Shinn's anticipated sale to minority partner Gary Chouest has apparently collapsed."

Click to expand...

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http://[h3]Carney's right foot[/h3]
8:35AM ET

[h5]Rodney Carney | Warriors [/h5]

Rodney Carney has been playing with an injured right foot, but it was hurting too much on Sunday and he had to miss the game against Oklahoma City.

"I tried to practice," Carney told The Oakland Tribune, "but I couldn't walk."

According to the newspaper, Carney said he hopes it's just a sprain, but it could be plantar fasciitis. He is scheduled to have tests to determine what is exactly wrong with the foot.

Carney doesn't know when he'll return to the lineup.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]Scott looking for leaders[/h3]
8:10AM ET

[h5]Byron Scott | Cavaliers [/h5]

The Cavaliers lost another game on Sunday and head coach Byron Scott says he's looking for leaders on the team.

"I want someone in that locker room to get (peeved) besides me," Scott told The News-Herald. "It's like what I asked them, 'When is going to be enough? After we lose another one tonight?'

"We have to get back to playing good, sound defense. That's what I want. I want them to compete for 48 minutes."

Scott also says he'll consider making changes in the playing rotation.

"Right now, yeah, I'm considering that," Scott said. "I'll probably wait a few games for that to happen."

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]Williams dominating the D-League[/h3]
8:03AM ET

[h5]Terrence Williams | Nets [/h5]

The Nets sent Terrence Williams to the D-League on Nov. 27. Head coach Avery Johnson said at the time that Williams wasn't being punished, but rather it would give him the opportunity to play.

Williams has already posted two triple-doubles for the Springfield Armor, but the Nets head coach didn't want to discuss when the shooting guard might be recalled. According to The Star-Ledger, Johnson said he'll need to speak with general manager Billy King before a decision will be made.

Williams scored 36 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 7 assists Sunday against the Maine Red Claws.

He is now averaging 28 points, 11.3 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 1.3 steals in three games.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]Knicks targeting a low-dollar PG[/h3]
7:31AM ET

[h5]Bill Walker | Knicks [/h5]

Two NBA executives tell The New York Times that the Knicks are looking for a low-dollar point guard. The Knicks don't want to add to next year's payroll, so they only want a point guard with an expiring contract.

The team is reportedly willing to deal Bill Walker, who is making $854,389 this season and $916,100 next season.

The Knicks, if they can't find a suitable trade, could always sign a free agent point guard to a minimum contract.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]Andersen suffers broken vertebra[/h3]
6:53AM ET

[h5]Chris Andersen | Nuggets [/h5]

Chris Andersen hurt his back on Friday against the Clippers. It was revealed on Sunday that he has a small fracture in a lower left vertebra and will miss 10 to 14 days.

The Nuggets defense will miss Andersen's rebounding and shot-blocking. It's something the team has already dealt with this season

"I think everybody knows and feels and sees what he adds to our defensive dimension," Nuggets head coach George Karl told The Denver Post. "Band-aiding that up we can do -- but would rather not. I'm just hoping he gets healthy and feels better. I'm not sure that we can continue to sustain our size factor, but we've tricked-it-up for 19 games. Why not another five, six or seven more?"

Andersen missed the first 13 games of the season, after he had surgery on his right patella tendon in the offseason.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]Kaman came back too early?[/h3]
6:30AM ET

[h5]Chris Kaman | Clippers [/h5]

Chris Kaman had been clamoring to play, after missing almost a month with a sprained his left ankle. He was activated on Friday against Denver and played 13 minutes. On Sunday he lasted only nine minutes after he re-injured the ankle.

Kaman was upset after the game in Portland and says he may have come back too early.

"I'm frustrated right now," he told the Los Angeles Times. "I'd rather not talk about it. I don't know what I did. I don't remember the play. Maybe I came back too early. Maybe it's not strong enough."

He will probably miss Monday's game against Sacramento.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]O'Neal won't rush back[/h3]
6:12AM ET

[h5]Jermaine O'Neal | Celtics [/h5]

UPDATE No. 2: According to The Boston Globe, O'Neal will continue his individual workouts this week and hopes to practice next week.

O'Neal and the team are looking long-term, which is why he won't return early to the active roster.

"I think our staff has done a good job of saying, 'There's a bigger picture here. We want to play you March, April, May, June, and not really compromise everything, really compromise our season,' " O'Neal said."

-- Nick Borges

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UPDATE: O'Neal spoke with Rivers on Wednesday and informed his head coach that he intends to start working out next week.

"That's the first time I've heard that. That's a good sign," Rivers told ESPNBoston.com.

O'Neal last played on Nov. 8 against Dallas.

-- Nick Borges

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Jermaine O'Neal is in the third week of rehabbing his sore left knee at the Celtics training facility. Head coach Doc Rivers says O'Neal is not close to being activated.

"No, he's in town, he's working out, and doing all the stuff he should be doing," Rivers told ESPNBoston.com. "But I haven't even checked [on his status], honestly. He's not playing this week, I can tell you that."

The Celtics are being cautious with O'Neal and they're not going to rush him back to game action.

-- Nick Borges

http://[h3]MCL sprain sidelines Tolliver[/h3]
4:43AM ET

[h5]Anthony Tolliver | Timberwolves [/h5]

Wolves forward Anthony Tolliver suffered a sprained MCL (medial collateral ligament) in his right knee on Friday against San Antonio. He is out indefinitely.

"It's substantial," head coach Kurt Rambis told the Pioneer Press. "He's going to be out awhile."

An MRI is scheduled for Monday.

"Something like this will have to heal on its own," Rambis said.

Heading into the season, the Milwaukee Bucks were widely considered to be knocking on the door of the Eastern Conference's upper echelon. Over the summer, an ESPN panel of 93 NBA contributors forecast that the Bucks would win 46 games en route to the sixth seed in the postseason standings.

A lot has changed since then.

With a 6-11 record, the Bucks don't look like a playoff team, much less one that was supposed to make some noise in the postseason. The team's only win over the past seven games came at home against the Charlotte Bobcats, another 2009-10 playoff team that has fallen off the map early -- and it was by only three points. To make matters worse, four of the Bucks' past six losses were by double digits. Sure, we can hand them a free pass on the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz blowouts, but not the ones to the Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers.

Perhaps the most interesting part of their slide is that practically no one saw this coming. In fact, none of the 93 ESPN panelists voted Milwaukee for "Team Turmoil" -- the team that would suffer the most problems in the upcoming season. The Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls each drew at least one skeptic in the crowd. But not the Bucks. They were safe.

So what happened?

For starters, the offense has been nothing short of abysmal. The Bucks score 97.1 points per 100 possessions, making them the least-efficient team in the NBA. It doesn't matter how many offensive rebounds Drew Gooden and Andrew Bogut collect. It doesn't matter if Corey Maggette toes the line 15 times. A team won't score consistently if it can't shoot. And the Bucks can't buy a bucket these days.

With an effective field goal percentage (a shooting metric that properly weights 3s) of 44.3 percent, the Bucks trot out easily the worst shooting team in the NBA. In fact, they could hit their next 25 3-pointers and they still wouldn't surpass the Sacramento Kings for 29th place in shooting. We haven't seen a team convert this poorly since the 2002-03 Heat, who prominently featured "sharpshooters" like Mike James, Malik Allen and Travis Best.

Did most analysts dismiss the effect of the career years that Luke Ridnour and John Salmons experienced last season and the unlikely contributions from Jerry Stackhouse? Probably. While Ridnour wasn't a starter, he was one of the Bucks' top scorers and shot-creators last season. Whether his efficiency was sustainable or not, the team needed to replace his scoring void somehow. Salmons, who is currently shooting 36.5 percent from the floor, has the Bucks feeling some early buyer's remorse after they handed him a five-year deal worth $40 million in the offseason.

Which brings us to Maggette. Acquired from Golden State in the offseason, the walking whistle was supposed to resuscitate the Bucks' offense and inject some scoring. But somewhere along the way from Oakland, the Duke product forgot how to finish at the rim. When he's not getting a foul call, he's missing twice as many shots around the basket as he's making, according to Synergy data. At this point in his career, if Maggette isn't routinely getting to the charity stripe, the 31-year-old brings little else to the table.

And as hard as it may be to point a finger at Bogut, the Aussie has been nowhere near as effective as he was last season -- when he does actually play. Now out five straight games with back spasms, Bogut's field goal percentage has fallen nearly 10 percentage points, from 57.7 percent two seasons ago to just 48 percent this season. Playing with one arm will do that -- as painful as it is to watch Bogut labor in the paint, it's evidently more painful to play.

It's bad enough that Bogut is far from 100 percent, but exacerbating the problem is Gooden's newfound love of his spot-up jumper. Instead of helping out his ailing co-pilot down low, the 6-foot-10 journeyman has migrated to the midrange, shooting 6.4 long 2s per 40 minutes, according to Hoopdata.com. Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Beasley and Kevin Garnett are the only regular power forwards with a hungrier appetite for the long 2-pointer, and with good reason: They make those shots at a high rate. Gooden, on the other hand, has converted only 37.1 percent of his 16- to 23-footers, which is far below the league average. In general, trading shots at the rim for long 2s is a losing exchange, but that's especially true for Gooden and the starving Milwaukee offense. They need him on the block, banging for rebounds and getting high-percentage looks -- not pretending to be someone he isn't.

There's no doubt that the Bucks are battling injuries right now. But that won't excuse them from failing to surround Brandon Jennings with a capable ball-dominant scorer in the offseason who could relieve him of some of his scoring burden. Instead, the Bucks will pray that the $53 million they will still owe Salmons and Maggette after this season will yield a shred of return. We're only 17 games into the season, but it appears that the offseason deals have backfired and the scoring issues only got worse.

Sure sounds like "Team Turmoil" to me.

proshares · Dec 6, 2010