Scoring Title Aside, Carmelo Anthony Doesn’t Deserve All-NBA First-Team Nod
Carmelo Anthony had a terrific year—by some measures, his best ever—but the voters who named him to the All-NBA Second Team got it right. Even after averaging more points per game than any other player in the league, ‘Melo didn’t deserve a spot on the NBA’s first team ahead of either Kevin Durant or LeBron James.
That probably shouldn’t come as a shock anymore, as the slow growth of analytics in NBA front offices and among fans is starting to pull the curtain back on the surprisingly low value of low-efficiency, high-volume scorers.
To be clear, this past year was one of Anthony’s very best because he was more efficient than ever. His high number of shot attempts (22.2 per game) and rather pedestrian field-goal percentage (45 percent) might not make it seem that way, but because ‘Melo jacked 6.2 threes per game at a 38 percent clip and knocked down 83 percent of his foul shots, his overall season was remarkably efficient.
As a result, he posted a career-high PER of 24.83 and a true shooting percentage of 56 percent, which was the first time since 2007-08 that Anthony had reached that mark.
Plus, from a team perspective, he was the best player on a New York Knicks squad that posted its most wins (54) since the 1996-97 season and captured its first Atlantic division title since 1994. For the first time in a very long while, it became hard to accuse Anthony of being an “empty stats” guy. Team success tends to have that effect.
Summation: ‘Melo was really good during the 2012-13 season.
But James and Durant were a lot better.
By every conventional statistical measure besides points per game, Anthony fell short of the two forwards who earned spots on the NBA’s first team.
| Player | PPG | RPG | APG | BPG | SPG | FG% | 3P% |
| Anthony | 28.7 | 6.9 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 0.8 | .449 | .379 |
| Durant | 28.1 | 7.9 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 1.4 | .510 | .416 |
| James | 26.8 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | .565 | .406 |
Looking at some more advanced metrics, the outcome is the same. Anthony’s PER of 24.83 was good enough to rank fourth in the NBA, but it paled in comparison to James’ league-leading 31.67 and Durant’s 28.35.
The list could go on, but you get the idea: Anthony’s excellent season just wasn’t on the same level as either Durant’s or James’.
If there’s an argument against such a strong reliance on the numbers (and there always is), it’s that Anthony didn’t have the star talent surrounding him like James and Durant did. The thinking is that a better supporting cast would have taken the pressure off of Anthony and resulted in better numbers.
While it’s true that nobody on the Knicks is as dangerous a teammate as Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or Russell Westbrook, the argument that Anthony’s numbers would have been better if he’d had a more capable sidekick is a lazy one.
How do we know that better surrounding players wouldn’t actually have detracted from Anthony’s production? It’s conceivable that his percentages might have improved, but any such uptick would likely have come at the cost of the counting stats that many people cite as evidence of his quality as a player.
And here’s the other thing: Anthony is a stone-cold scorer. In one-on-one situations, he has a single thought in mind: getting buckets. That kind of mental process makes it hard to pair Anthony with another star-caliber player because no matter who he’s playing with, Anthony is never going to work to set up his teammates.
While James and Durant have proved themselves willing to occasionally take a backseat, function as a facilitator or focus on doing things besides scoring, Anthony has never shown a similar willingness to subjugate himself for the betterment of his team.
And as for the notion that better teammates would have drawn attention away from Anthony on offense, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Knicks’ style basically left Anthony free to operate in isolation all the time. By spreading the floor and getting the ball to ‘Melo in space, the Knicks essentially created a situation that allowed Anthony to work without being doubled.
We know how good Anthony is, and more importantly, we know who Anthony is. It’s just not sensible to say that he’d be any better with a different cast than the one he played with this past season.
So, Anthony’s failure to make the All-NBA First team isn’t really a “failure” at all. And saying that he didn’t deserve to be named one of the two best forwards in the game is hardly a knock against him.
He just had some historically great competition that he wasn’t good enough to overcome.
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Advising Joe Dumars so He Doesn’t Waste Detroit Pistons’ Free-Agency Cash Again
Let’s just be clear about one thing. I am not a Joe Dumars hater.
I love and respect the man for not only helping the Detroit Pistons win two titles during my early years, but I also appreciate all he did in building a winner in my senior year of college.
My formative years on this planet have been dramatically influenced by this man.
That being said, I am not 100 percent sure that I can trust him right now.
The Detroit Pistons are about to embark on just their second offseason during the Dumars era in which they have a heap of cash to spend on prospective free agents.
We already know that the NBA draft will be tough sledding for the Pistons since the basketball gods deemed them unworthy of luck during the draft lottery (I knew we were in trouble when ESPN rolled out its karma list and had the Pistons drafting first).
The best they can hope for at this point is that Shabazz Muhammad slips to them with the eighth overall pick.
So it will be up to Dumars to turn this team around quickly through free agency
Here is what I would do to advise Dumars as he sets out to build a winner this summer.
Restore the Defense
Dumars has a lot of pressure on him these days. He has an owner who is antsy, and who can blame him? Tom Gores bought the Pistons for upwards of $300 million and wants to see a return on his investment.
But since Gores took control, the Pistons have become a tough sell to the fans.
Obviously the economy is still struggling in Detroit, but it’s been struggling for over a decade. During the last decade, the Pistons were consistently the biggest draw in the NBA. Obviously they were winning back then, but they still were drawing.
The reason the Pistons were so great to watch back then was because they had a story that people could relate to.
They were a team of castoffs and busts that assembled together and found their identity as a tough, defensive-minded group of ballplayers.
Average fans could relate to them and their “going to work” mantra.
One of the biggest reasons for this relationship was the fact that Pistons’ fans love defense. They love rough play and they love effort.
But when Dumars finally pulled the plug on his core of title winners, he decided to change his approach.
The league had changed into a more offensive-friendly sport. Dumars thought that his only option since he couldn’t beat them was to join them.
So he used his cap space to sign talented yet soft Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon.
Both, obviously, were colossal busts.
So what exactly should Dumars do this summer?
The Pistons need to get back to a tough-minded and defensive-centered approach. They already have an excellent defensive center in Andre Drummond who should be able to anchor the interior for years to come.
But outside of him, this team is short on defensive talent.
Luckily for Detroit, there are a few players that could immediately help the Pistons on the defensive side of the ball.
Corey Brewer is a player that I have been focusing on all year. He is a big, long and athletic freak who loves defense and has steadily improved his long-range shooting.
Tony Allen is another player that should have Pistons fans excited. A fan favorite with the Boston Celtics and now with the Memphis Grizzlies, he is generally considered one of the top perimeter defenders in the league.
He also can jump out of the gym and has a good attitude.
And then there is Josh Smith.
Smith is one of the few max-contract types of players available this summer. He is a fantastic forward who is athletic, strong and is versatile on the offensive side of things.
He also is a stellar defender.
That being said, he will cost way too much money and probably should be avoided by Detroit.
Brewer and Allen are the type of player that the Pistons should be focusing on, but they aren’t sexy picks. Smith is the type of player that could get Pistons fans excited, but he is not the right fit.
The Pistons don’t want to just win the press conference; they want to win games.
Smith could potentially pair well with Drummond, but at what cost? If they sign him to a big deal, will they still have money available when their other young talent is looking for their extensions?
The answer is probably not.
That’s why the Pistons need to focus on one of these two players and sign him to a four-year deal. The Pistons will probably have to overpay a little bit, but they should still each be a good value.
What Dumars needs to remember is that there usually aren’t any quick fixes in basketball. Rarely do teams get a transcendent player to just plop in their lap like the Cleveland Cavaliers did with LeBron James, the San Antonio Spurs did with Tim Duncan or the Chicago Bulls did with Michael Jordan.
Instead, he needs to make subtle and smart moves.
Unclear Time Frame
It remains to be seen how much time Dumars has to figure things out.
This past season’s attendance was embarrassing—ESPN reports that at 14,782 per game, the Pistons’ attendance was third-worst in the league—and that can’t be lost on the owner. There is a real possibility that Gores decides to light a fire under Dumars’ can and get the process rolling.
He already has been advised by some smart basketball people like Dave Checketts and Phil Jackson.
So how hot is Dumars’ seat?
I would imagine that his resume and a perceived fan outcry is the only thing keeping Dumars employed. Gores must believe that Dumars still has the potential to get this thing right.
But how much patience can he have? And if he indeed is pushing Dumars, what could that lead to? If Dumars is being pushed by Gores to win at all costs, you may see the Pistons offer Smith a big deal.
Or perhaps they could go after a restricted free agent.
Personally, I think that Dumars’ biggest fear should be spending too much money on a free-agent class that is flawed and end up rudderless—and lost and unemployed to boot.
If Gores is pushing Dumars, there is a real possibility that this summer involves some serious fireworks.
But it all comes down to how far away this team feels it is from playoff contention. Could this current roster be just one or two players away from the playoffs?
Or are they further away than that?
Personally, I think that this team has no shot at winning until they find out what its team philosophy is. Dumars probably is looking to get back to a defense-first mentality since he knows that that can work.
Therefore, it makes sense to improve the depth of the team and the overall team defense. And they can do this through subtle, relatively inexpensive moves.
Trades Are Also an Option
Dumars also needs to realize that the draft and free agency aren’t the only avenues available to him.
The Pistons also have the potential to deal one or two of their players.
I have been an open proponent of dealing Greg Monroe. I have questioned whether or not he fits with Detroit’s current team dynamic. He isn’t athletic, he plays awful low-post defense and he needs to work on his offensive range.
That being said, the fact that three of the four teams remaining in the playoffs have a similar big-man situation bodes well for Detroit.
However, they should at least field phone calls for Moose.
Rodney Stuckey is another player who should be shopped. He is athletic, quick and probably just needs a new environment.
The NBA is quickly running out of shooting guards, so he should have some value on the open market.
If the Pistons can deal Stuckey for either a first-round pick that they can package with their existing pick for a chance to move up or for some young talent, they should count themselves lucky.
The bottom line is that the Pistons need to explore all options; a team this bad really can’t be picky about taking phone calls.
Outlook
This really comes down to how much pressure Dumars is under.
Something tells me something big may be coming down, and the Pistons need to be careful. They could mortgage their future for a chance to win a press conference.
That’s why its this writer’s belief that the Pistons need to target a defensive wing right away and throw enough money at him to pry him away.
That being said, they can’t break the bank. Luckily for the Pistons, they have other options.
But the most important thing is that Dumars avoids dropping a pile of cash on the wrong player. He needs to be smart with his cash, and if the pieces aren’t right, he needs to walk away from the table.
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Why Hero Ball Doesn’t Cut It in NBA Playoffs
In the NBA playoffs, winning is the only thing that matters, which makes the prominence of Hero Ball a head-scratching reality. Just because a mentality is firmly entrenched in our collective consciousness doesn’t mean that it’s the proper method of approaching a situation.
During the regular season, this strategy can occasionally work. But during the postseason, when defenses are ramped up more than a few notches and everything slows down, Hero Ball is a terrific recipe for an early exit.
So far, the extracurricular affairs of the 2013 season have seen Mark Jackson call on Jarrett Jack to run isolation plays for the Golden State Warriors. Kevin Durant took over down the stretch for the Oklahoma City Thunder—and during the rest of the game, for that matter—once Russell Westbrook was hurt. Carmelo Anthony seemed to do nothing but play Hero Ball.
What do all three of those players have in common?
They’re all sitting at home and watching the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs continue to duke it out for a shot at holding up the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Coincidence? I think not.
The very notion of playing Hero Ball is one that’s rooted in failure. You might think of the concept as giving the best player on the team a shot to win. The ball is in his hands, after all.
However, think about the opportunity cost of the play. By committing to one player, and only one player, the team is forgoing any semblance of team play. It’s essentially admitting that it has no confidence in its ability to generate a quality look by running a set, instead settling for what’s likely to be an extremely difficult shot.
ESPN’s Henry Abbott has a brilliant idea:
Abbott’s argument is simple, but it’s rather profound. Sometimes the best ideas are the one’s rooted in simplicity. Occam wouldn’t have been able to shave if that weren’t true.
Teams need to stop insisting that difficult shots by the best players are the route du jour and instead focus on getting the easiest look. That’s the principle that the San Antonio Spurs have built their offense around for years.
Using backdoor cuts, tons of ball movement and plenty of unselfishness, Gregg Popovich has installed a system that ensures a team passes up a good look for a great one.
Why isn’t that the case in crunch time for all teams? Why can’t they pass up a bad look for a better one?
And make no mistake about it, a difficult shot taken by a terrific scorer can still be a bad look. Even Durant, ‘Melo and Stephen Curry can hoist up unfavorable attempts in late-game situations.
Instead, teams should be attacking the rim and devising plays that free up open looks, not heavily contested one-on-four situations for their best players to navigate. According to Shane Battier, defenses are actually softer during these crucial situations, possibly because the thought of fouling makes them nauseous.
Are they soft against one player trying to take on an entire team by himself? Not so much.
You can see Battier’s full thoughts on Hero Ball in the embedded video.
During that same video, ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz brings up the interesting point that coaches might be conditioned to give the ball to the superstars in late-game situations because they’re loss averse. No one can blame them if their superstar fails, but a blown play at the end could look quite bad in the headlines the next day.
Loss aversion is everywhere in sports. It’s why football teams don’t go for it more on fourth downs, even though it’s mathematically beneficial to do so. It’s why baseball teams with new managers are more likely to get rid of incumbent players who are slumping. They can’t afford to wait it out and hope for a return to prominence.
And yes, it’s part of the reason that Hero Ball has become so omnipresent in the 2013 playoff landscape.
But trust me, you don’t want to get me started on loss aversion in sports or else you’ll be reading a 50,000-word tome. So let’s move on.
If you’re looking for evidence that Hero Ball isn’t working during the postseason, you’re in luck, because there’s plenty out there.
Let’s roll back the clocks and look at the New York Knicks’ overtime loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the first-round series. The game is tied at 84 with the clock ticking down in the final quarter, and Anthony has just clanged a three-point attempt off the back of the iron. Tyson Chandler tips the ball out and the play resets.
Above you can see ‘Melo establishing position on the elbow with 15 seconds left on the shot clock.
Take a good look at where Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert and Chandler are positioned.
The ball is thrown in to Anthony with nine seconds left on the shot clock and 29 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Again, look at Kidd, Shumpert and Chandler.
See any differences yet?
Mike Woodson is making absolutely no effort to run any sort of play, instead resigning himself to the fact that Anthony needs to create his own shot when the defense on him is at its tightest.
Jeff Green bats the ball away from ‘Melo, which puts him in an even worse position. Now instead of having an established spot on the elbow, he’s well behind the three-point arc with only six seconds to get off a shot.
Meanwhile, Raymond Felton backs off, and here’s the crucial part: Jason Terry is well aware of what’s going to happen. You can see him motioning to Avery Bradley that he should be ready to pick up Felton if necessary.
Terry is now prepared to give Green a little bit of help in ensuring that the team in green doesn’t lose on this shot.
Boom. Terry makes his move and doubles Anthony.
You know, because the situation wasn’t tough enough for the league’s leading scorer already.
Notice anything else? Not a single teammate has moved. Even as the situation spirals downward, there’s no attempt to abandon Hero Ball.
Anthony pulls up, and the ensuing jumper ricochets off the back of the iron. Just like his last attempt did.
Surely this wasn’t the best look that the Knicks could find. There had to be better options than ‘Melo jacking up a deep two-pointer as he faded away and drifted to the side in an attempt to avoid the double-team.
But…Hero Ball!
Let’s not just pick on Anthony and the Knicks, though.
If you go back and watch any of the Thunder losses to the Grizzlies, you’ll see Durant trying to take over too much in late-game situations. It seemed like he took every single shot down the stretch until a game was out of hand.
During the 2012 playoffs, Abbott—yep, him again—conducted an interesting study on Hero Ball. He looked at 15 star players (Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Manu Ginobili, Danny Granger, LeBron James, Joe Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook) and compared their performances during the last five minutes of games in which the teams were separated by less than five points to the shooting of the non-stars.
The stars shot 71.8 percent from the field and 25.6 percent when they were behind the arc. Meanwhile, the non-stars posted respective percentages of 54.2 and 36.
You tell me which you’d rather have.
Although I don’t have numbers for this postseason readily available, your eyes should be telling you that a similar story is unfolding.
This isn’t a new problem. It’s one that’s been around for quite some time, meaning that even the legendary Phil Jackson ran into trouble with Hero Ball when he and assistant coach Doug Collins had Michael Jordan under their metaphorical wings. The following is a passage from Sacred Hoops, Jackson’s book that should be considered a must-read for any hardcore basketball fan:
The problem was that Jordan’s teammates were often just as enchanted as the fans. Collins devised dozens of plays to get the rest of the team involved in the action; in fact he had so many he was given the name Play-a-Day Collins. That helped, but when push came to shove, the other players usually faded into the background and waited for Michael to perform another miracle. Unfortunately, this mode of attack, which assistant coach Johnny Back dubbed “the archangel offense” was so one-dimensional the better defensive teams had little difficultly shutting it down.
“The archangel offense” is quite similar to Hero Ball, even if it didn’t necessarily take place late in the game. And if Michael Jordan couldn’t get it to work, who exactly can?
There are plenty of reasons for a coach to just hand the ball to his superstar in a crucial situation and hope for the best as the other players get out of the way. The problem is, there are more reasons for him to do anything else.
Winning is one of those reasons that falls into the latter camp. In the playoffs, that should be enough to sway even the coaches most hell-bent on going to war with Hero Ball as the only weapon in their arsenal.
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Kevin Durant Doesn’t ‘Give a Damn’ About Critics Who Compare Him to LBJ, MJ
Kevin Durant isn’t LeBron James. Or Kobe Bryant. Or Michael Jordan. Or Magic Johnson.
And he’s perfectly fine with that.
Speaking with reporters less than 24 hours removed from the Oklahoma City Thunder being eliminated from the postseason by the Memphis Grizzlies, Durant had a message for any cynics preparing to jump off his bandwagon.
“I don’t give a damn. I’m going to be who I’m going to be,” Durant said (via Royce Young of Daily Thunder). “I’m not Kobe Bryant. I’m not Michael Jordan. I’m not LeBron James. I’m not Magic Johnson. I’m me.”
“I’m not ever going to compromise myself and my integrity and what I believe in for winning some basketball games or winning a championship,” he added.
Durant was responding to criticism of his belief that this season wasn’t a “wasted year.” Players like Kobe and MJ have conditioned the general public, and most of the NBA‘s inhabitants, to believe that any campaign which fails to culminate in a title is a lost season.
But Durant didn’t see it that way. He instead paid homage to his teammates and the city he represents. And he made it clear he had benefited from the season’s events.
“I’ve grown so much as a man since the beginning of the season,” he said. “I’ve grown so much as a leader. Nothing is ever wasted.”
Not everyone is staring through the same looking glass as Durant, though. Winning is supposed to mean everything. Personal, or even collective growth, means nothing.
Just look at Kobe. Would he have five championship rings if he didn’t believe every year gone without a championship was a tragedy? Would Jordan have six? Would Magic have five? Would LeBron have his one?
Just look at them. Then look back at Durant. He’s not them. If that’s his greatest flaw, then so be it.
Durant’s Thunder may have fallen well short of their desired goal, and Durant may have proved he’s no LeBron, but he still left his mark.
He became just the 31st player (via basketball-reference.com) in league history to log at least 44 minutes per game through 10 same-season playoff contests. And he was the first player in NBA history to exit with averages of at least 30 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one block.
He still left everything on the floor. For that, he should have no regrets. And he doesn’t.
“I enjoy playing the game, I enjoy being here, but I’m never come out to the media and say I wasted a year because we lost a championship,” Durant reiterated. “Like I said, I don’t have to be Kobe Bryant.”
He doesn’t have to be. He’s Kevin Durant, one of the most diligent athletes to ever play the game.
Failing to appreciate that would be the real tragedy.
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Pierce doesn’t expect to be back?
Paul Pierce like any aging star in sports is now faced with the decline in his skills, the possibility of his career ending, and most importantly, wondering when and where it will end. Pierce is aware that many a great athlete has ended his career in a different city. Pierce is prepared for that, so now the waiting game is set to begin. Pierce could easily retire, and enjoy the privilege of playing for one singular franchise, and going out on his terms. Pierce wants to play a few more years, so now he’s stuck with the fact that he might play elsewhere. According to Yahoo Sports, Greg Dickerson, a sideline reporter with CSNNE is reporting that close to Paul Pierce are suggesting that Pierce doesn’t believe he’ll be a Celtic next season. Dickerson for his part, doesn’t think Pierce will be a Celtic anymore either. “I don’t think they will (bring Pierce back),” Dickerson said Sunday on CSNNE. “And I know that the company that Paul Pierce hangs around in, they do not believe – and I don
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LeBron James Says He Doesn’t Flop, LeBron is Lying (Video)
When you commit a crime, I understand you don’t want to confess when someone asks you if you did it, but I am sure LeBron was laughing in his mind when he said this.
“It’s kind of the same as when people said I was overrated, I have the same response,” James said. “I don’t need to flop. I play an aggressive game but I don’t flop. I’ve never been one of those guys. I don’t need to flop. I don’t even know how to do it. So it doesn’t mean much to me.”
Come on now LeBron, we have eyes and thankfully Youtube.
Calling someone a flopper and calling someone overrated are two different things. LeBron was never overrated, he was probably a bit underrated because he didn’t have ring protection until last year. The flop is a provable action, being overrated is someone’s opinion.
In the immortal words of Sheed “Ball Don’t Lie”, just because LeBron is the best player in the NBA doesn’t excuse the fact he is one of the best floppers as well.
As I said at the beginning, can’t confess to
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Stephen Curry doesn’t have much time to recover
Jarrett Jack will be ready to go for Game 4 if Stephen Curry can’t
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New Rutgers basketball coach doesn’t have degree (Yahoo! Sports)
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers says it made a mistake identifying new men’s basketball coach Eddie Jordan as a graduate of the university.
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Joakim Noah doesn’t let obscene gestures ruin his day
Chicago Bulls canter Joakim Noah said Thursday that getting a middle finger thrown into his face as he walked off the court after getting ejected in Game 2 on Wednesday against the Miami Heat wasn’t fun but it wouldn’t ruin his day. “Do you have fun when
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Why is Kobe Bryant’s mom forced to sell his stuff? Why doesn’t he just give her some money?
Could Kobe Bryant be considered a cheap person? I mean here we go again with his mother trying to sell his stuff. Why won;t he take care of his own mother with some of the millions he has made in the NBA? Why is she trying to sell his things in the first place? Does she need the money to get buy. A better question might be, why is all Kobe’s stuff at his mothers in the first place. The guy is old enough to take care of his own things. In stead of giving his mother what she needs, he finds it easier to get involved in a court battle over his things being auctioned off. This is past the point of being crazy already. For Kobe to end up in court over his things being sold by his mother, shows his priorities are in the wrong place. He has more than enough money to take good care of his mother. he should be doing the right thing and not be in court with his mother as the defendant. Come on Kobe, man up and take care of your mother.
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