Props to Joe Dumars

Don’t know if anyone has noticed, but Detroit has themselves a pretty nice young bench.

Yesterday against the Raps, with 4:43 to go, Jarvis Hayes checked in for Lindsey Hunter. At 26, he was the oldest Piston on the court. The rest of the youngins joining him:

Aaron Afflalo 22
Amir Johnson 20
Jason Maxiell 25
Rodney Stuckey 21

The Pistons were up 83-75 at the time, and the lead had only been 6 three minutes earlier when Johnson came in for Ratliff. They held on to win 91-84. That Flip Saunders left crunch time in the hands of two rookies (Stuckey, Afflalo) and three other guys with not much more service time is significant.

Was it a meaningless game? Maybe. The Raps didn’t have a shot at the 4 seed because of Cleveland’s head-to-head tiebreaker and maybe they don’t have a preference who they face between Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland.

But maybe not. They did have Ford, Calderon, and Bosh on the floor at the end of the game and couldn’t chip away at the Pistons' lead. Regardless of just how hard the Raps were playing it, the youngins’ performance in this game isn’t the ultimate point. Rather, the game was representative of the kids' success, and a pointer to the Pistons' future.

Maxiell has established himself as their sixth man, and Stuckey and Jarvis Hayes get the 7th and 8th most minutes, respectively.

While this may not be indicative of their playoff minutes, as those will likely skew to the older guys (more time for Ratliff and Hunter), the point is that the Pistons bench is very young, and possibly primed to take over the reigns once the current group tires.

Credit goes to Joe Dumars for not having any high picks and still doing so well. These guys have been to the Eastern Conference Finals 5 years running, so naturally their draft position hasn’t been anything to get excited about. Look at where Dumars grabbed these guys. None higher than Stuckey at 15, and even as low as Amir Johnson at 56. And everyone just keep in mind how little value there is to be had outside the lottery. Maybe in a year or two people will consider forgiving him for Darko, and years from now it’ll be the only blotch on an otherwise impeccable resume.

I think its fair to say that the Pistons have only 2 years left with their current core. Sheed’s contract is up next year and Rip’s is up in ’10. They’ll be 34 and 32 respectively at the end of each of those. Even if those guys have something left in the tank after playing close to a 100 games a year for maybe as many as 8 consecutive years, and are re-signed for reasonable money at a reasonable length, Chauncey’s recent deal will then expire in ’11 and then Rip will be the youngest of the three at a spry 33.

So its safe to say that that group’s window is closing. But I think the Detroit fans will have it good for years to come.

They’ve already maintained without Ben Wallace, after they let him leave when he became too old and too pricey. In part, because of Maxiell, and to a lesser degree Johnson (1.29 bpg at only 12 mpg). In Afflalo and Stuckey (look at how Stuckey has responded to more minutes in April) they perhaps have the backcourt to replace Rip and Chauncey, and the 28 year old Tayshaun* (signed through ’11) will be the bridge.

No, I’m not going so far as to predict anything big, because that would be withholding the current group’s just due; what they've accomplished will be tough to match, plus who knows how these kids will pan out. I’m just giving props to Joe Dumars and the Pistons for drafting well and being able to account for the present as well as the future without sacrificing one at the expense of the other.

So no, there aren’t any guarantees of everlasting success, but we can expect Dumars to continue to draft well. And what they do have is promise, and options, and very few teams can claim that in tandem with present-day title hopes.



*Dumars also snagged Prince with the 23rd pick in 2002.

Johnny Cueto, no longer on your fantasy waiver wire.

The Cincinnati Reds' rookie pitcher has started off extremely strong. His 1-0/2.03 after two starts is nice, but what's especially impressive is his K/BB ratio of 18/0. The lack of walks puts his WHIP at a ridiclous 0.45. This comes on the heels of a great Spring Training for the righthander, who throws a slider (his strongest pitch), fastball and changeup.

Obviously it's early, but Cueto's season should be fun to watch, assuming Dusty Baker hasn't pitched him into the ground by June. The Hardball Times tells us not to worry about that: "Dusty Baker is not a professional arm shredder."

Here's Cueto in spring training.

Jake Long and the Dolphins

The Dolphins have begun contract negotations with Michigan OT Jake Long, setting him up to be the first pick of the draft; he will most likely start at LT, with Vernon Carey moving to RT. Long improved his already-high stock by demonstrating great upper body strength at the NFL Combine. At 6'7" and somewhere around 300 pounds (depending on which website you read - he's been variously reported at 295, 310, 313, and 315), Long will fit with the pattern (which we've mentioned earlier) of Miami acquiring physically huge guys this offseason.

Overall this looks like a good move for Miami: RB is one of their few bright spots, so getting a top-shelf run blocker will allow them to press this advantage; also, the team has been looking for the successor to Richmond Webb for years. John Beck obviously has to be feeling good about this pick - not only will his protection improve, but this mean that Matt Ryan won't be heading to Miami, allowing Beck to remain the QB of the future at least a little longer. And while the 1-15 Dolphins obviously have plenty of other needs, particularly on defense, it's not surprising that Sparano, a former OL coach, would want to start his rebuilding project here.

Re: The Big Lead's Question

Touting their choice for NBA MVP the other day, The Big Lead pointed out that Paul was averaging 21 points and 11 assists, and rhetorically asked who the last player to throw up 20 and 10 in a season was.

The question was answered in the thread, but let us probe deeper and consider the significance of Paul's accomplishment and its timeliness.

Here's the full list of 20/10 seasons in NBA history:

Tiny Archibald '72-'73
Isaiah '83-'87 (Four years in a row!)
Magic '86-'87, '88-'89, '89-'90
KJ '88-'91 (three in a row)
Michael Adams (who?) '90-'91
Tim Hardaway '91-'92, '92-'93

First, a couple of points of interest:
1. That '72-'73 season for Tiny was amazing: Points and Assists titles, APG season record, PPG season record for a guard. The next year he tore his Achilles and came back to earth, hovering around 20-7 for three years before more injuries did him in.
2. Michael freakin' Adams, he of the 14 ppg for his career. He can thank Paul Westhead for the Loyola-as-NBA-team experiment. The Nuggets' numbers that year: 119.9 PPG, 130.8 PPG allowed, and a 20-62 record.

But back to Paul and the present day.

If the elite company that he'll be joining isn't enough, consider that he's also leading the league in steals. MVP or not, he's had one of the greatest PG seasons in history.

The bigger picture is that for a decade, starting with the 1983-84 season, the NBA had a 20-10 PG. In '87, '89, and '90, it had two of them. It's no coincidence that those years are best remembered with nostalgia and the subsequent decade is associated with stagnant offenses and ugly basketball.

Now, after an almost 15 year drought, we have this season from Paul and a 19 and 10 from his doppelganger Deron Williams. For all the talk of the dawn of the new NBA era, this might best indicator yet that it's actually happening.

Pressure: Fresh Expectations and Free Throws

A couple of thoughts on the NCAA championship game.

1. Because of Carmelo Anthony and his ilk it has become expected for college freshman to do great things. With the hevay emphasis on AAU ball and summer basketball camps, college freshman are much more seasoned than they were 10 years ago and it is no longer a novelty to see a Kevin Love, an Eric Gordon, or a Michael Beasley mentioned in Conference POY and even National POY conversations.

As such, I had to catch myself being surprised at Derrick Rose's cold start in the first half. But was it really so strange? He's still an 18 year-old kid playing in front of millions, with a rabid fan-base (or even a city, if you heard Calipari's pre-game comments) relying on him. He was seeing double teams from different angles - it was obvious that the Jayhwaks' top defensive priority was to stop Rose - and wasn't able to find his offensive rhythm. He finished the first half shooting 1-4. He was regularly giving up the ball early in the possession, not confident in his ability to score, or at the very least penetrate and create. Instead his passes were more statements of surrender.

When he did get going in the second half, he was great, his 15 second half-points keying Memphis' run. All I'm saying is its not so shocking that it took him until the second half to get going and play with confidence. It's also not shocking that he missed an important free throw near the end...


2. So Memphis lost on free throws. Up four, with a minute to go they clanked four in a row (3 by CDR, 1 by Rose) until Rose made his second attempt. Not such a surprise. Anyone who followed college basketball this season knows that free throws were topic number one when anyone wrote or talked about Memphis. It really got going in the past month and a half when they lost the #1 vs. #2 match-up to Tennessee by throwing up bricks from the line and letting the Vols come back, and more recently as they shot well during their tournament run, the media unleashed an equal amount of "Memphis doing it from the foul line" stories. We even picked them to miss out on the Final Four because we were so sold on their shortcoming.

Sometime between the Tennesse game and the tournament Calipari tried to quell the free-throw panic, saying, on PTI, something like that free throw shooting is the 25th most important skill that he valued in a basketball player. At the time it sounded reasonable, I thought, sure maybe everyone was exaggerating it a little too much.

But looking at CDR and Rose brick those shots, so visibly nervous before and after, I couldn't help but feel bad for them - especially when the game went to OT and they eventually lost. You can't evaluate free throws just as you would any other skill - passing, shooting, etc. as coach Cal did with more than a little bit of arrogance on the aforementioned PTI appearance. Because when these kids are at the line (especially if the game is in the balance - and they are kids after all) they are made to feel the attention of the entire arena, and the country. More than any other basketball skill, free throw shooting relies on the mental component.

The more I think back to Calipari's words the more he sounds like a parent coddling their child, refusing to label them as wrong or weak, or anything else that's negative, and promoting a positive self-image at the expense of reality. Perhaps thats all coach Cal could do with so much of the season already passed and so much of an avalanche falling on him regarding the FT woes. But regardless if he exacerbated his team's mental problem or not, it was only fitting (and sad) that it was the free throw shooting that did them in.




And a question: Did anyone else think that Rose's two was originally called a two, only to be overturned twice (to a three, and only then back to a two) during the referees' conference?

Thoughts on a China Olympics Boycott

We've discussed before on this site the controversy over China's hosting this year's Olympics. Recently there's been a lot of talk in the US and elsewhere about boycotting the Beijing games.



The problem with these boycotts is that they come at enormous cost to the athletes themselves. The intense training and short window of opportunity for athletes means that a boycott can effectively derail their life's efforts up to that point. Recently Canadian athletes spoke out against such a boycott - including some who are still pained by their country's boycotting of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This article from the SF Chronicle describes the fate of US athletes who missed their chance because of the 1980 boycott - although it goes too far in the other direction in overestimating the ability of the Olympics to change a host country for the better.



"If there is one thing more punitive for a repressive regime than an Olympic boycott, it is the Olympic spotlight. Adolf Hitler's twisted vision of Aryan superiority was shattered by the four-gold performance of Jesse Owens, an African American, in the 1936 Berlin Games. "

... leading Hitler, of course, to see the error of his ways and resulting in the peaceful, willing dissolution of the Nazi regime.



If ordinary Americans are upset about China's human rights practices and want to express their disapproval, here's an idea: instead of outsourcing the sacrifice to some track runners and swimmers, how about boycotting watching the games instead?

UPDATE: Clinton suggests, maybe just the Opening Ceremony (found on TheBigLead)

Darren Collison Shits the Bed

The nationally acclaimed point guard, a borderline lottery pick, couldn't back up the hype tonight against Memphis. His line: 2 pts on 1-9 shooting, 4 assists and 5 TOs. Oh yeah, he also fouled out with three minutes to go. The foul obviously came as a result of frustration. Collison had just missed another lay-up (a contested one sure, but a lay-up nonetheless), and was late coming back on defense. When he caught up to Derrick Rose just past half-court, Collison lazily reached in for the ball and fouled out. Packer and Nantz rightfully let him have it, questioning why he would commit such a dumb foul.

The fact is Rose had abused the smaller and slower Collison to the tune of 25-9-4, and stifled him on the defensive end where Collison was regularly unable to feed the ball to Love in the post. The UCLA offense was never in rhythm and that responsibility was Collison's. It's fair to say that he's the reason why they lost. His last sequence of the game was the exclamation point: between the missed lay-up and Rose's made free throws the resulting four-point swing helped seal the win for Memphis.