Because They Don't Have Fours

The Dream Team documentary in HD

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:36:47 -0400

The entire documentary is available on one player on YouTube, and available for download on the page.

New blog for basketball history

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 22:34:12 -0400

Here’s a new blog I started, containing some BTDHF posts as well as my less numbers-centric Basketball-Reference Blog posts. Hope to write some long-form stuff about NBA history!

National Day of (Alonzo?) Mourning

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:26:00 -0400

National Day of (Alonzo?) Mourning:

The name-lender of this blog has retired. I shimmy in sadness.

Must… listen… to… Roundball…....

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:55:31 -0400

Must… listen… to… Roundball…. Rock….

“The Energizer,” Chris Gatling, was unique —...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:48:44 -0400

“The Energizer,” Chris Gatling, was unique — perhaps underrated and overrated at the same time. He was a rarity, a one-dimensional big man whose only skill was post scoring.

Through 1997 he was tracking to have one of the best career FG%s ever (57% ranked 7th all-time going into the ‘98 season); he then proceeded to shoot 45.1% from ‘98 onward, a rate that wasn’t helped by a bizarre proclivity for 3s in 2000 and ‘01. Despite the gaudy FG%s, Gatling wasn’t a shooter, as attested by his .660 FT%. He had no face-up game. He was, however, a tremendous off-the-bench post scorer, with a career 18.9 P/36 rate that peaked at a staggering 25.0 in 1997. That season, Gatling had a usage rate of 31.7 — the same rate LeBron James has in 2012! No reserve big man has ever done that, before or since. And it was all from pure post scoring!

Gatling is best known for playing for 8 NBA teams in his career. He typified the “trade zone”, because he was useful as a scorer but ultimately a flawed player. While he rebounded some, he was a mediocre defender, a total non-passer/black hole, and had coachability concerns. Teams wanted him enough to get him, but not enough to keep him around longer than a half-season or so.

Don’t shed any tears for Gatling, though. Being a one-dimensional NBA journeyman netted him almost $30 million over an 11-year career. There are worse careers to have, even if his Hall of Fame Probability is exactly 0.0%.

Spree and Houston at their respective bests.

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:40:00 -0400

Spree and Houston at their respective bests.

Video

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:38:00 -0400

Terence Morris’ draft stock shot up after he was probably...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:44:59 -0500

Terence Morris’ draft stock shot up after he was probably the best all-around player on a 1999 Maryland team that featured future NBA star Steve Francis. One NBA scout said of Morris in 1999: “He’s outstanding. I don’t know if he’s the best player in the country, but he’s very athletic. He’s like a poor man’s Kevin Garnett. He’s a 6-9 runner, shooter, slasher. He blocks some shots. His body isn’t great but he’s quick to the ball, great in [Maryland’s] press. He’s versatile, one of that new breed of power forwards: thin and athletic but not very physical in the post.”

In retrospect, Morris should have declared for the draft right then & there. He likely would have gone very high in the lottery, probably in the top 5 (in reality, the 5th overall pick went to HS entry Jonathan Bender). Instead, Morris returned to Maryland and was exposed, shooting worse and stagnating as a scorer. As a senior in 2001, he helped the Terps reach the Final Four but had a poor individual season (shot 43% from the field while falling to 3rd in Maryland’s offensive pecking order). Aside from a slightly better rebounding average, Morris’ numbers at age 22 were down across the board compared to age 20.

When he finally entered the draft, he was taken 33rd overall by the Hawks and traded immediately to Houston, where he spent 2 seasons proving he didn’t belong in the league. He was a decent rebounder and showcased an improving midrange game in 2003, but he was also a poor defender & ballhandler who could only create low-percentage shots and couldn’t shoot the 3.

Morris lasted just 139 career games in the NBA, a fact that would have been shocking back in the summer of 1999. He should have come out then, instead of giving scouts enough time to realize he was terrible.

Baller Breakdown: Rodney White

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:30:00 -0500

Basketball-Reference: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whitero02.html

Background: 6-9 SF/SG. #9 pick, 2001 draft, Pistons. Declared after freshman yr at UNC-Charlotte, 18.7 PPG on 48.7% FG, 6.5 RPG. Mediocre nonscoring/nonrebounding #s (Ast+Stl+Blk per min) in college. Old for freshman (20 in 2001).

Scoring: Average to above-average at creating own shot. Some scoring ability carried over from college. Highly inefficient, though. Extremely poor true shooting % (48.7 career) and points per possession (0.92). Created low-percentage shots, settling for midrange jumpers despite good size for position. Less than 1/5 of shots come from 3-point; not an inside player either. Not adept at drawing fouls.

Shooting: Average to below-average pure shooter. Career 74.9 FT%, 31.4 3P%. Shot 45% on twos, many of which were long/midrange. Not good enough shooter to get by on those.

Floor Game: Not a passer, career 13.2 ast%. Turned ball over with frequency when asked to handle too much. Needed to be assisted on high % of field goals (not generating chances off dribble).

Rebounding: Below-average rebounder for position in the pros. Poor on offensive and defensive glass. Very disappointing, given his size and rebounding #s in college.

Defense: Mediocre overall, possibly average in 2005 but certainly below-avg before that. Lack of quickness detrimental vs smaller wings. Prone to fouling. Struggled to earn minutes on better defensive teams.

Verdict: Rodney White was drafted in the lottery but was ultimately a letdown for both Detroit and Denver. He couldn’t create high-percentage scoring chances, shot poorly, and added nothing in non-scoring areas. He washed out of the NBA at age 24 and is now playing in South Korea.

Tiny Lakers action figures from 1997: Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones,...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:54:09 -0500

Tiny Lakers action figures from 1997: Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones, Byron Scott, Robert Horry, and Nick Van Exel.

Remember that one year Dan Dickau was randomly decent for New...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:09:00 -0500

Remember that one year Dan Dickau was randomly decent for New Orleans?

During his Charlotte Hornet days, Eddie Robinson was an...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:06:00 -0500

During his Charlotte Hornet days, Eddie Robinson was an underrated gem of a ballplayer.

siphotos: Kobe Bryant made history on Monday, passing former...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:41:00 -0500

siphotos:

Kobe Bryant made history on Monday, passing former teammate Shaquile O’Neal to become the NBA’s fifth all-time leading scorer. Despite the record, the Lakers fell to the 76ers 95-90. Bryant score 28 points to reach a career total of 28,601, moving past O’Neal’s 28,596. (AP)

GALLERY: Rare Photos of Kobe Bryant

Mookie Blaylock, the most underrated of all 90s PGs…

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:59:00 -0500

Mookie Blaylock, the most underrated of all 90s PGs…

Isaiah “J.R.” Rider’s Yinka Dare mix. Pure...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:02:00 -0500

Isaiah “J.R.” Rider’s Yinka Dare mix. Pure East Bay Funk!

Sweet NBA preview from 1999.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:58:00 -0500

Sweet NBA preview from 1999.:

SI’s annual NBA preview… They just don’t make them like this anymore.

The only ‘Toine jersey that will never end up on...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:35:00 -0500

The only ‘Toine jersey that will never end up on StraightCashHomey.net.

Call it ‘Caravan’ or ‘Da Goodness’, this...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:26:48 -0500

Call it ‘Caravan’ or ‘Da Goodness’, this song looped endlessly in NBA 2K1. And that wasn’t a bad thing.

Walker Wiggle.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:53:00 -0500

Walker Wiggle.