HOOPSWORLD Week in Review
Solving Problems: Bulls Need a Scorer
By Joel Brigham
Usually, it’s pretty difficult to find significant weaknesses on the team that posted the best record in the NBA, but that’s not the case with the 62-win Chicago Bulls. In their case, the weakness is extremely glaring, perhaps more glaring than any other weakness any other team has in the entire league.
Put simply, the Bulls need a shooting guard.
Last season, the Bulls started Keith Bogans at that position and he was among the least effective two-guards in the NBA, averaging a scant 4.4 ppg. Nothing against Bogans, who’s always been a solid pro, but when your starting shooting guard isn’t, you know, shooting, then you’ve got a serious problem.
NBA’s Most Cost-Efficient Cs
By Jason Fleming
There is always much debate in professional sports about which players are overpaid or underpaid, which ones are the most efficient on the floor, and which ones are simply the most productive. But what about a marriage of all of those? Which NBA players are the most cost-efficient?
This is the third piece in a series looking at the starters at all five positions (check out the point guards, shooting guards , small forwards and power forwards), one at a time, in an attempt to determine which players are the most cost-efficient players taking into account their production and salary. The assumption is there should be a general correlation between a player’s production – and for this purpose we will use John Hollinger’s Player Efficiency Rating – and his salary.
Will that hold true? Take a look at the list of starting centers below, with their 2010-11 salary and PER, plus a final column dividing their salary by PER to give a simple dollar amount of how much each point of PER cost their team.
Coach: Avoiding NBA Preseason Injuries
By Anthony Macri
At the risk of speaking too soon, and in the spirit of a deal on the horizon, there may be some value in looking at what players can do over the next few weeks to prepare themselves to avoid injuries when training camp finally does start. As we are seeing in the NFL right now, players who move to training camp without comprehensive formal preparation run an increased risk of lower body injuries (hamstrings, ankles, knees, groins, etc.). What kind of things can an NBA player do now to make sure he is not a preseason statistic if and when everything gets started?
The single most important factor in avoiding injury is to prepare the body accordingly prior to each and every physical activity. Usually, this involves warming the muscles up before creating any real tension. For most players, this is accomplished through gradually more intensive movements over a ten minute period. The goal is to increase overall heart rate and bloodflow to the active muscle centers. Jogging or biking that increases in intensity is a good start, but players should do more than just break a sweat and create heavier breathing – it should genuinely feel like the workout has already begun by the time the warm-up is over.
Solving Problems: A PG for the L.A. Lakers
By Eric Pincus
The Los Angeles Lakers, like every other team in the league, await resolution to the lockout and a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That time may come before the 2011/12 NBA Season is lost or it may be an even lengthier delay.
At some point, when there is indeed resolution, the Lakers and General Manager Mitch Kupchak will need to address a number of issues to give the team another shot at the title (and the longevity to keep trying for it).
The underlying question – was last year’s failure (in a four-game second-round sweep by the Dallas Mavericks) attributable to fatigue from three straight NBA Finals appearances or do the Lakers have deeper rosters issue that must be addressed for the team to compete at an elite level?
Solving Problems: The L.A. Clippers Need a Closer
By Eric Pincus
The Los Angeles Clippers have their first true franchise player in All-Star forward Blake Griffin and that changes everything . . .
After the team’s 32-50 2010/11 season, the team is not only thinking playoffs (once the lockout is resolved) but making some noise once they get there.
Armed with cap space and tradable assets, the Clippers may be on the verge of a breakout season.
The question is how do they get there?
The obvious need is a starting small forward after Ryan Gomes’ subpar year and with a young Al-Farouq Aminu still learning the NBA game.
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