Thursday Mini-Bullets
December, 6, 2012
12/06/12
6:04
PM ET
- Jerry West says that "in terms of talent" Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker ever. So what are the non-talent qualities essential to hoops greatness?
- Potentially related, here's former Laker assistant coach and current CSKA head coach Ettore Messina, blogging on Sports.ru talking about teamwork on his current team: "Nothing increases the level of trust like seeing a teammate pass up a shooting opportunity when you’re in a better position, or create an angle that allows you to safely pass the ball from under the double team instead of turning it over, or set a staggering screen for you to get open and receive the ball. So, in modern basketball trust that’s necessary for good defense actually comes from enjoying the game on the offensive end together. That point is further proved by the amount of frustration you see every time a player puts his head down and tries to force things in one-on-one situations, or takes a contested shot rather than feed a wide-open teammate. All that breaks the desire to play together, cover for each other and sacrifice for the sake of the team, essentially depriving you of things that are vital for good defense."
- This is a fancy tool from Ian Levy at Hickory High where you can assess shot selection, expected points, and actual outcome ... and learn that Ryan Anderson is one hell of a scorer.
- The meaning of 30,000.
- The next time guns are an NBA issue everyone should remember this Bob Costas talk. Or, better, let's figure out all that stuff now and, just maybe, reduce the chance of something like the incident that just rocked the NFL.
- "Merry Christmas," say the Timberwolves, and "meat is good."
- Gilbert Arenas in China, not really playing basketball but instead wandering the court for a few minutes, hitting a step-back 3, then sitting with an injury.
Henry Abbott | email
TrueHoop, NBA- Senior writer for ESPN.com
- Founder of TrueHoop blog and network
- Began writing about NBA for magazines in 1999
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