- Little White Statistics has been analyzing Kobe Bryant's shooting like crazy. A recent post examines six games in which he shot the most. "For the six games where Kobe takes drastically more shots than his season average (30 shots or more while he averages 21.44 in non-blowouts), there are three very clear criteria that each take place in at least five of the six games: First, the Lakers are playing without Gasol or Bynum; Second, the Lakers fall behind by double digits at some point during the second half; and Third, the Lakers come back -- in every single game -- to make it competitive, while Kobe's shot attempts increase during the comeback. It's a very close match between these criteria and the games. The lack of the Lakers' other offensive weapons will obviously lead Kobe to shoot more, and that the Lakers are threatened at some point has been shown in our study to lead to an increase in Kobe's shot attempts. And, as we've seen, when Kobe's shot attempts go up, the Lakers come back."
- Houston GM Daryl Morey as a guest blogger on R World a few months ago: "I generally have libertarian views and believe the Guvment should basically only do roads, courts, police, the army, and tax externalities. Otherwise, stay out of our lives please. When I moved to Houston, I was excited to hear they had no zoning. I was very curious to see how well this worked, independent folks finally able to make free choice in how to use land! Long story short, I have basically come to the conclusion that it does not work and the list of what Guvment should do is now reluctantly one longer."
- FreeDarko is, for some reason, imagining all 1,230 NBA games of this season in advance. There's some fun reading in there, however. For instance, from Tom Ziller: "Reacting to a rumor that Chris Paul ate a four-egg omelet at a local diner, Deron Williams order a five-egg omelet. And a side of corned beef hash."
- One way to become a key player in an NBA team: Be part of building the Trade Machine.
- The more you can get to the line, the less you need to call timeouts to rest your team. Therefore. Corey Maggette is extra valuable to the Warriors, who like to run.
- If you read this article carefully, there's the suggestion that in some parts of North America, NBA basketball might be less popular than rodeo.
- Oklahoma City fans, who have bought tickets like crazy even though no one expects the Thunder to be good, love their team. But, writes Tony Mejia of Pro Basketball News, don't be at all surprised if you see a lot of Hornets jerseys in OKC, too. Because this could be a truly special season for the Oklahoma's other (kind of) home team.
- These rats play basketball. Actual rats. Some of the training, as described on the website of Heureka, the Finnish Science Center. (No joke, in some ways this reminds of what us journalists learned at IMG, although if you watch the video you'll see that the rats get tons of snacks from their coaches, while we did not.): "The rats are gradually taught to play basketball. First, the rat kitten is taught to grab the ball and to find it on the court. The next phase involves coaxing the rat to travel with the ball in its mouth. At first, the distances are only a few steps in length, but slowly they increase. The rat is guided by hand to travel to a particular end of the court, because each rat must learn to recognise their own hoop. The basketball rat teams are established by teaching half of the rats to put the ball in the basket on the right side and half on the left side of the court. How does the rat learn to score? Scoring a basket is not taught to the rat kittens until the very end of their training period. To start, a platform is used to enable the rat to simply drop the ball down through the hoop. Gradually the platform is lowered and the rat learns to lift the ball up and into the basket. Finally, the rat kitten begins to be ready for an actual game with another rat. In Heureka's basketball programme, rats become professional players within 2-4 months of training. Does every rat learn to play? Any tame rat can learn to play basketball, but brave rats which are relaxed playing in front of an enthusiastic audience will be the best professionals!" UPDATE: More video.
- Congratulations to SLAM's Lang Whitaker, who, according to a press release, has a deal to write "a humorous, thoughtful, and knowledgeable fan's memoir of following manager Bobby Cox and the Atlanta Braves for the past two decades."
- Ryan Schwan of Hornets247 on one of the quietest GM's in the League, New Orleans' Jeff Bower: "As a talent evaluator, things have been a mixed bag for Bower. It was Allen Bristow, not Jeff Bower, who drafted David West 18th and Chris Paul 4th. Bower landed Peja Stojakovic, but probably overpaid for him. Bower sold his Draft Pick for cash this season, a fairly questionable strategy that hasn't worked out well for other teams. His trade of Bobby Jackson for Bonzi Wells and Mike James last year can't really be considered a win for the Hornets -- especially since Bobby has since been turned into Ron Artest by the Rockets and we remain on the hook for 2 years of questionable Mike James production. To balance the good trade of PJ Brown and JR Smith for Tyson Chandler and the drafting of Julian Wright, Bower brought in busts Arvydas Macijauskas, Marcus Vinicius and Cedric Simmons. Morris Peterson was a decent signing, but the extension Rasual Butler was given and is still playing out was clearly excessive for his production. Despite that -- I'd still rate Jeff Bower as one of the top 5 GMs in the league. His easiest virtue to appreciate is his ability to stick to a team concept and build a team that works together. I've said this over and over here on this blog, but Bower has put together a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. He doesn't succumb to numbers and slap together a team like Denver that has brilliant isolation scorers in Anthony, Iverson and JR Smith that can't work together or play defense, or the Bulls, a team of hard-working players who lack Genius. Bower has brought in players that each provide something that improves the effectiveness of the other players on the team, and more, he's brought in players that fit the mold of what Byron Scott wants on the floor."
- More on how the European game is different than the NBA game, from Brian McCormick who played in Sweden: "In one of my first games playing in Sweden, I pump faked my defender and jumped into him to draw the foul, a la Kobe. I made the shot, but did not get the call. After the game, an American coach pulled me aside and told me I would never get that call in Europe, a total contradiction to the perception among the popular American media.
But, it's true. FIBA rules allow much more contact than the NBA." - So, how is Danilo Gallinari working out? Too soon to tell, as he hasn't played yet. But Mike D'Antoni assures the media that Gallinari's still breathing, saying they check his pulse every day. Gallinari is not, reportedly, destined for the D-League.
- Vintage Joe Dumars highlight video.
- Kelly Dwyer is a little bummed that the Celtics cut Darius Miles.
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