[Bill Simmons] "Almost Famous" NBA offseason Part 1

I don't think Daryl Morey would specifically mention a trade target to a journalist, even if off the record. But I do think it's fairly plausible that he would hint at the possibility of some very intriguing possibilities presenting themselves closer to the deadline.

In a lost season, the wiser managerial perspective would be to wait out the unlikely jackpot than to take the underwhelming bird in hand. I think it's clear that is what Morey is doing and you won't see any deals this summer unless of the asset-for-cash variety.

With Jerry Stackhouse's contract off the market, I think that would push us to the forefront in a hypothetical Chris Paul sweepstakes. As remote as the chances of that scenario coming to fruition, you wait that out.

 

I guess we have different limits for this story. On the other hand, I fully understand how someone can think differently. The real question is probably whether Artest's teammates and coaches have reached their limit with him. It's easy for me to have a laugh at the thought of Ron running into the bus in his underwear when I am not one of the guys working my ass off prepping for the biggest game of the season and had to wonder where the hell Ron was.

 

i've stated before.. Ron is crazier than Maxwell.
But it was fun season for the fans at least.

 

Just another reason why we all need to trust the organization to make the right moves since we all know nothing of what goes on behind the scenes. If someone is being a disruption then Les and Morey will make the appropriate decision.

 

I think without a doubt it was the sum of the parts. No single player really led the team statistically throughout the series. Every one of those guys had their moment. Without any of those guys, I don't think they get out of the first round. That said, I think a big part of why they got out of the first round was Artest's attitude and passion for the game and for rallying the team when needed.

People want to get on him for shooting too much and getting out of the flow of the offense and I can understand that, but everyone must also recognize that after Yao went down, he became the primary option. He wasn't brought here to be the man. He was brought her to help take some of the pressure away from the man. In that Lakers series before Yao went down, he was shooting 50% from the field.

Another thing, and by now you'd think Rockets fans of all people would know, we are a 3-point shooting team. Ron has never been a great 3-point shooter, yet he shot a career high 383 of them this season. Does he deserve the blame for that? Yes, of course, but the coaching staff deserves some of the blame for that too.

 

Agreed. Despite some negatives, he made a difference on this team. Without Ron-Ron the Rockets wouldn't have won 50 games or advanced into the 2nd round of the playoffs. And, good or bad, the guy is extremely fun to watch play.

I like Ariza's youth, athleticism, and upside. Ultimately, it was a smarter play to sign Ariza over retaining Artest, but I will miss Artest's in game antics.

 

During the season yes, but Artest being on the floor allowed Yao to have his second highest FG% of his career.

 

Forget the playoffs, the issue is that Artest shot badly the whole season. Sure he had a good year shooting the 3 (.399) but that was only 383 of his shots. Overall he shot a pathetic .401 from the floor. If you do the math that means for his 654 2pt shots he shot .402.

Sorry, but I have a tough time believing that our getting out of the first round or Yao's FG% was dependant on a guy averaging 17pts on 40% shooting.

 

I'm glad Artest was here last year.

I'm glad he won't be here next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. And the year after that.....

 

Let's look at the numbers.

In the games where both Artest and Yao played, Yao shot 0.544 from the floor.

In games where Yao played but Artest didn't, Yao's shot 0.573 from the floor.

It appears that Yao shot better when Artest wasn't on the floor.

 

by lowering Yao's FGAs or because Yao was putting back Artest's misses?

 

This is a very wise post. If something big comes along, you strike, but right now, don't trade in your old BMW for a crappy bicycle and a pogo stick.

The sad thing is - with a healthy T-mac and Yao, we'd have definitely won the title this past year.

 

This was probably the weakest I've ever seen the league since I've been watching basketball. Forget about an '05 McGrady, with an '08 McGrady, this team would have cruised to the title this year. It's tragic, really.

 

http://www.82games.com/0809/0809HOUP.HTM

If you go by a minute by minute basis, the numbers look closer. Yao's FG% with Artest is on is a bit lower, but overall the team performed better with Yao+Artest than it did with Yao alone.

 

Ok, let's review the facts:

- It was stated that Artest being on the floor helped improve Yao's shooting pct.

- I pointed out that Yao's shooting pct. actual was lower when Artest played.

- You are now pointing to a per minute stat which also shows that Yao's pct. was lower with Artest on the floor.

Sounds like the idea that Artest helped Yao's shooting pct. has been clearly disproved. As for how the team played with or without Artest, that has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not Artest helped Yao's FG%.

 

They played 60 out of 82 games together. Since shooting percentages trend downward overtime, I think it is safe to say that the odds of Yao keeping up a 57% shooting clip aren't very good, especially considering he was about a 51-52% shooter for his career coming into his first season with Artest.

The minute by minute numbers with and without Artest on the floor brings it closer to reality, but I think we can agree that minute-by-minute calculations are also distorted because of the way the minutes are disbursed over time and 5 man groups. In any case, it does still show Yao did actually shoot better, so I stand corrected by less than .02.

Yao played 66% of his minutes with Artest (the most with any other Rocket) on the court and 34% with someone replacing Ron. So 54% shooting 66% of the time vs. 56-57% shooting 34% of the time. The bottom line is that we're not comparing equal time, shots, minutes, etc we're not going to have a complete picture.

However the team won 76% of their games with Yao and Artest on the court together...the highest of any 2 player combo including Yao.

Bed time.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

morey is a math guy and he looked at the stats and looked at the tapes. he saw that ron played his worst season on both ends statistically. his PER was the lowest of his career in both the reg. season and playoffs. and those things told him a long term contract is out of the question.

 

Bill?He is a joke...especially his weird ideas...

 

Last year during the playoffs and some of artests possesions I kept being reminded of the old Charles Barkley. And now it seems I wasnt alone lol

 

Just like Charles helped finally got us past the Sonics, Artest helped us finally get out of the first round.