ESPN NBA

By Henry Abbott

After New York Knick Trent Tucker caught a pass and released a jumper in a measly one tenth of a second, the NBA made a rule saying that no such shot could be allowed unless there were at least three tenths of a second on the clock.

Is 0.3 of a second really the magic threshold?

A TV show investigated, and found that Jason Kapono could catch and fire (they're unclear about whether or not it went in though) in just .22 of a second. (Comedy note: Check out Jordan Farmar's extremely limited role in this production.)

Today, people in Chicago are probably saying aha!

But what does that mean, exactly?

Nothing, really. It's not reason to change the rule.

The only next step the NBA could take is to say that now shots would be allowed in as little as 0.2 of a second. But for all we know nobody can actually can shoot that quickly. In other words, if you gave the Sixers the ball out of bounds with just 0.2 seconds left, and they inbounded to Kapono, you can't in good conscience say that he can really get a shot off in time.

He couldn't do it in a TV studio trying to be as fast as he could be, and he's one of the most practiced shooters out there.

What we do know is that timekeepers and referees can't see and act that fast. It's simply impossible for humans to take charge, live, of such minute increments of time.

All of which makes me think that what we really need is super high-tech timing based on a sensor in the ball or somesuch, and I'm certain the future will provide just that.

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

Andre Miller's departure from Philadelphia left a vacuum at the point guard for the Sixers. The team selected UCLA point-leaning-combo guard Jrue Holiday with its first round draft pick, and has now named 22-year-old, fifth-year guard Louis Williams as the presumptive starter at the point for the 2009-10 season.



Williams isn't a natural point guard, though there are some promising numbers in his portfolio:

• Williams recorded a player efficiency rating of 21.3 as a point guard (in contrast to his still respectable 15.5 PER as a shooting guard).
• Williams' passing rating was 7.7, good for 37th in the league, which isn't bad for a guy who spent most of his minutes at the two.
• His turnover percentage of 13.0 wasn't bad either (as a comp, Chauncey Billups also chalked up a 13.0 turnover rate).

The best news of all for Williams' prospects as the Sixers point guard won't be found on a stat sheet, but with the man pacing the sidelines -- new head coach Eddie Jordan.

Jordan is a devotee to the Princeton offense, or at least its NBA variation. Players and the ball are in perpetual motion in the halfcourt, which means the system is less reliant on a traditional point guard.

Here's Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski explaining the dynamic to NBA.com's Matt Winkeljohn, alluding to his days in New Jersey where Jordan served as an assistant, as well as Jordan's head coaching tenure in Washington:

It may help that coach Jordan is not counting on having a John Stockton-esqe point guard...

"Eddie has shown in Washington that without the prototypical point guard he has made it work with Gilbert Arenas so there's a lot less pressure on the point in a two-guard system than the one point guard-system," Stefanski said.

"The theory is the guy who has the less pressure on him will bring it up. When we were in New Jersey, Kerry Kittles often initiated the offense even when we had Jason Kidd [at point]."

Philadelphia hasn't exactly had a banner offseason, and will be fortunate to contend for much more than a 4 seed in the increasingly competitive Eastern conference. But from a basketball perspective, it should be fascinating to watch Eddie Jordan employ his system with the likes of Andre Iguodala, Thad Young, Williams, Elton Brand, Jason Kapono, and the decidedly un-Princeton-ish center, Samuel Dalembert.

This isn't your prototypical Princeton roster, but Iguodala and Young in particular have the potential to run opponents ragged off the ball and beat defenders to the rim in that motion offense.

Could it work?

Maybe.

In theory, the system should thaw an offense that was especially prone to rigor mortis in the halfcourt.

If nothing else, Sixers fans should be grateful for that.

The Magic beat the Lakers to hold serve ... so why then are Lakers partisans okay today, while Orlando fans are feeling cagey? Are the Lakers leaving money on the table at the point? And Toronto says goodbye to Jason Kapono. 

Kurt Helin of Forum Blue & Gold: "It's kind of amazing how different I feel as a fan during these finals. If the Lakers had lost a game exactly like Game 3 back in December, there would be a post talking about needing to hit free throws, of wanting more diversity in the offense under pressure, of execution. Mostly, we'd talk about lessons learned to apply later. Now I'm a very practical fan. I don't care about aesthetics - the Lakers won an ugly game two and that was just fine as it was. I care about the big picture, the fundamentals that underlie the score that carry over to the next game and will decide the series. And that is the reason I feel pretty good today. Orlando had the best shooting night ever in the Finals -- an insane 75% in the first half, still 62.5% for the game. They had the energy of their first home Finals game in 14 years behind them. They had Rafer Alston shooting like he only does at Amway. And it still came down to one possession at the end. It came down to Kobe Bryant having an off night at free throw line."

Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily: "I know right now should be a happy time. The Magic just won their first NBA Finals game ever and put themselves within 48 minutes of tying the series at 2-2. Dwight Howard took the Magic farther than that other big man ever could. This team is where no Magic team has ever been before. But I'm sorry. I'm having a lot of trouble enjoying it. The Magic played the best game they're going to play offensively, but still couldn't keep the Lakers from tying the game up with 2 minutes to play. They set an NBA Finals record for field-goal percentage - better than MJ's Bulls, Magic's Lakers or Larry's Celtics - yet the Lakers could've won the game as easily as the Magic did. It leaves a really sour taste in my mouth. It feels like I studied for hours and passed a mid-term, and then realized the class average was a 94. Sure, it feels good, but the outside factors take a lot of joy out of the accomplishment."

John Krolik of Cavs the Blog: "I think it was a huge mistake for the Lakers not to bite the bullet and give Jordan Farmar a true starting vote of confidence. I know he was hurt and played erratically, but Farmar's got the talent of a legit starting point guard in this league, especially in the triangle with his size, stroke, and solid pedigree, and Derek Fisher is just not a starting-quality point guard. He's really not even all that useful of a cog: he's a smart guy and has made big plays in big games, but he is not playing smart basketball. He's choking the offense for the second playoffs in a row, he's taking bad shots, and he can't stay in front of anybody. But nobody else is ready to take those 35 minutes in big games because they haven't been groomed with commitment."

THE FINAL WORD
Raptors Republic: Good riddance, Jason Kapono.
Hoopinion: Breaking down the first-round point guards.
Daily Thunder: A further examination of FD's "Myth of the Next."
 

(Photos by Ronald Martinez, Garrett Ellwood, Stephen Dunn/NBAE via Getty Images)

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

Welcome to All-Star Saturday night. 

Since my spirit is dampened by the exclusion of Steve Novak from the Three-Point Shootout, and I've never forgiven the judges for robbing Dominique Wilkins of the 1988 Slam Dunk crown, I thought it would be a good idea to bring in some help for tonight.

Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game and John Krolik of Cavs the Blog will be joining me for the evening's festivities. 

Since Rob "refuses to acknowledge the existence of the Shooting Stars competition," we're going to start our coverage with the Skills Competition. 

Follow along, won't you...

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Welcome...

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: So I just got back from the 3D studio in the bowels of the arena which, I have to say, makes this competition a lot more interesting

JOHN KROLIK: End of shooting stars...well, Detroit's season hasn't gone the way they wanted it to, but I'm sure the fans are just as happy with this.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Also visited the practice court where the 3PT participants were warming up.  Bibby looks strong

JOHN KROLIK: I've got Kapono. Until proven otherwise.

JOHN KROLIK: I like Parker, then Mo in the Skills comp. It's all about that mid-range J. If Rose hits it, it's his.

ROB MAHONEY: My heart says Roger Mason, but my brain just beat up my heart and told me to pick Kapono.  Seems like a no-brainer.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: I like Harris in Skillz..Mason in 3P...but, as I said, Bibby was stroking it on the practice court 10 mins ago

JOHN KROLIK: Mason will win if it comes down to the last shot. Dude's an assassin, right down to the name.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Minus the little swastika on his forehead, natch.

JOHN KROLIK: Playlist so far: Brittney Spears, John Legend. I'm intrigued for the night.

ROB MAHONEY: I once heard that Roger Mason killed a man.  No - AN ARMY OF MEN.  Ruthless, truly. 

JOHN KROLIK: I'm still steamed my boy OJ didn't take HORSE home. Dude hit some sick shots.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Just to review Rob's skills reforms.: Could they block two shots at the same time? Who could steal it from Chris Paul first? If all players were given a ball and a finite space, who would be the last man standing with an active dribble? Could they block a shot launched out of a machine like a clay pigeon?

ROB MAHONEY: I actually missed HORSE entirely.  I heard it was kinda lame.  Any consensus?

JOHN KROLIK: Could Rudy surprise us in the Dunk Contest tonight?

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Rudy is my bottom-dweller for the sole reason that he played THU nite in Oakland, Last night in the Rook/Soph game....So he's on a back-to-back-to-back [hat tip: Henry]

JOHN KROLIK: HORSE-Nobody was hitting at first, then guys hit some 40-footers, Rick Barry Free Throws, backwards, OJ went from the stands, but then Durant closed it out by just raining threes, which was a bit anti-climactic. Still liked it overall.

JOHN KROLIK: My bottom-dweller is Nate-I just don't think he's got 3 contests worth of dunks in him.

ROB MAHONEY: Rudy will disappoint only because no one expected anything from him, the rumors of awesome soccer-inspired dunks surfaced and got all of our hopes up, and then we'll inevitably be disappointed because well, he's Rudy.

JOHN KROLIK: Harris is going too slow around the guys.

ROB MAHONEY: Devin Harris has to slow down for the cameras to capture him.  It's all part of the plan, John.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: A Sham-mockery

JOHN KROLIK: The difference is effort, Mo.

ROB MAHONEY: The real reason Mo Williams wanted to be in Phoenix for this weekend: SKILLS CHALLENGE, YO.

JOHN KROLIK: BALLBOYGATE! The NBA All-Star conspiracy against Mo Williams continues.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: Vintage Rose.  Perfect, except for a missed J. 

ROB MAHONEY: LeBron will now carry out his vendetta against ball boys everywhere.

ROB MAHONEY: How does Derrick Rose coast through the challenge and still smoke everyone?

JOHN KROLIK: And goodbye, Tony Parker.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: The PHX fans are pleased

ROB MAHONEY: We'll just forget that I picked Tony to win.  Cool?

JOHN KROLIK: My friend put 20 bucks on TP and 10 on Mo. He is displeased right now.

JOHN KROLIK: Not really playoff intensity in the 1st round of the skills challenge.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: The problem with this event is that all the elasticity is in the jump shot...[and, to a lesser extent the passing].  So it's really a foul shot shooting contest.

ROB MAHONEY: When is the Gerald Wallace/Josh Smith/Andrei Kirilenko skills challenge?  I'm ready to have my world turned upside down.

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: 1st Place:  $35,000
2nd Place:        $22,500
3rd Place:          $9,000
4th Place:          $9,000

JOHN KROLIK: You Gotta Get Anthony Randolph and Julian Wright in there too.

ROB MAHONEY: Derrick Rose was HUNGRY for that Skills Challenge title.  Finished it nicely with a sweet dunk -- the best thing I've seen in the last two hours.

(Read full post)

I joked about it earlier today, but Michael Grange actually just wrote a story about that exact topic for the Globe and Mail. It has to do with a free-flowing offense and a man who can really shoot the ball.