NBA Chat With Anthony Macri 9/18/12

Coach Anthony Macri writes the weekly Coach’s Notebook column for HOOPSWORLD and was recently named the CEO of the ASEAN Basketball League, the first regional professional sports league in Southeast Asia. Coach Macri gets started at his new time of 10am EST every Tuesday.

  1. Chumpalump

    In the two years Kobe Bryant didn’t have a dominant big man to play with in 2006-2007 + 2007-2008: Shaq, Pau or Bynum the Lakers were a 7th seed both years and bounced by the Phoenix Suns in the 1rst round. The inability to carry a team to victory during these years impacts where I place Kobe on the all-time great list. Players such as Dirk Nowitzki consistently wins 50+ games with Dallas despite a constant turnover of players or Allen Iverson who took Philly to the Finals with only Aaron McKie and Theo Ratliff as his sidekicks. Yet Kobe can’t get do better than a 7th seed or get out of the first round??? Do these years of underachieving by Kobe when he didn’t have a dominant bigman impact your view on how great the SG was? Why or why not?

    • Anthony Macri

      Happy Tuesday everybody! Good to be back at my regular day and time. Hope you are well. The season is right around the corner. Been busy writing a segment of the HOOPSWORLD team previews – check them out if you haven’t already. Hoping to be back to regular articles this week or next. Only a little over a month left! Let’s get to your questions…

      If I felt strongly about this, I would have to take down the rankings of guys like Michael Jordan (he had the best three man in the game with him when he won anything) or Magic (he had the most depth and a killer center) or Larry Bird (best frontcourt ever?). The reality is that really good players can stand out even without the team achievements of championships. If this was our measuring stick, I would think LeBron would be really high on everyone’s list. Even if he didn’t win a championship with Cleveland, he took a team full of spare parts pretty darn close for a few years there.

  2. Mr. Ballistik

    If you could make ONE change to the format of the NBA game, what would it be?

    Personally, I like Simmons’ idea of putting a ref at each end of the court in an elevated tennis-ref style chair, just to watch for goal tending, three and five second violations. Free up the other three officials to watch for the rest.

    • Anthony Macri

      Only one? I’d make the court just a tad bigger. Not much, but definitely a little wider. If I got two, I would start utilizing a five second closely guarded rule like they do in college. I don’t mind your change but I get the feeling it might lead to more stoppages, which I’m not a fan of.

  3. LA in LA

    Hey Coach, another PG question:
    Who do you like more between Rondo and Rose? I think Rondo is the far better passer, defender, plus a a triple double threat but his shooting and FT shooting bother me.

    • Anthony Macri

      It is so dependent on the roster I have. If I had to start from scratch and had to pick between them as the first player on my team, I’d take Derrick Rose, but not necessarily because of talent or physical gifts. I love his attitude and I think it rubs off on whoever we put on a team around him.

  4. Charlie

    How would you rank the following teams in terms of number of wins next year: Phoenix Suns, Portland Trailblazers, and Sacramento Kings.

    • Anthony Macri

      I like Portland more than the other two. Flip a coin between Phoenix and Sacramento, edge to Phoenix.

  5. Mac

    Who will win more games next year and what is the #1 reason for making this decision: Houston Rockets or New Orleans Hornets.

    • Anthony Macri

      That is a really tough question. I assume you are asking given the notion that the rosters will stay as they are now. Every time I choose one side and make an argument to myself, I say, “but…” and go in the other direction.

      I’ll give it to the Hornets, because I think they are just young and naive enough to be dangerous, and win a few games they have no business being in. But I’m not terribly confident about it.

  6. birdie

    Who wins in 7 games. Prime bulls team 72 wins vs prime laker team with shaq kobe,glen rice. Assuming both team cant play ron harper cause he played for both. Who wins? Prime bulls vs prime spurs with duncan n robinson? Thanks coach!

    • Anthony Macri

      I tend to think the Bulls would really be better than both of those teams, but I do feel the Lakers team would give them some trouble because Shaq would be a real load to deal with. I like those teams with Duncan and Robinson but not enough to beat the Bulls of that timeframe.

  7. tiger

    Coach its kinda frustrating to see fellow country men not being able to show their skills in the nba asian guy who are shooting guards are ask to play pf or center. Will this trend be corrected?

    • Anthony Macri

      It is going to take a significant amount of investment of time and energy in regional basketball to really make it happen. The Philippines has great basketball history, but they don’t have the population alone to create a strong enough infrastructure for NBA player grooming. Southeast Asia as a region can do it, but the effort has to be coordinated and integrated. We are working at it in the ABL, but expect it to take some time.

  8. Chumpalump

    I compare LA Laker fans to New York Yankee fans. They don`t care about parity if their team is winning. Looking at payrolls, the Lakers spent 100 million compared to my home team Toronto`s 60 million. Laker fans will brag about their success, but shouldn`t they finish with a better record?? Similar to Yanks spending 197 million to the Blue Jays 75 million = difficult to compete year in and year out. Even in a cap sport, there are clearly rules and exceptions which benefit the big market teams who spend more money = easier chance to win. So even if I used this extra payroll unwisely aka. The New York Knicks or Prokhorov taking on Joe Johnson`s contract, my chances of winning are much improved. You still need good management agreed. But probability tells us solid executives and a very large team salary beat solid executives with fewer resources more often. Agree or Disagree?

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t agree or disagree – I am a bit in the middle. I think we can look at plenty of teams who do a lot with payrolls that are much more subdued (i.e., San Antonio). The reality is that the Lakers are overpaying for a few of those pieces. I like the idea of seeking out and finding value. Sometimes as an executive it is much easier to do your job within certain limits rather than having unlimited resources but failing to target the right players.

  9. Chumpalump

    John Hollinger came up with a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) which takes into account positive accomplishments, such as field goals, free throws, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, blocks and steals and negative ones, such as missed shots, turnovers and personal fouls. The formula adds positive stats and subtracts negative ones through a statistical point value system. The league average is 15. Looking at the PER stats last year, Kobe Bryant was 17th overall behind Al Jefferson, Manu Ginobli, Keneth Faried, and Greg Monroe. Question: Do you think Hollinger`s PER is a good measure on a player`s overall impact on the game. And are you surprised how poorly Kobe was in the rankings or does that just come with old age?

    • Anthony Macri

      I like Hollinger’s system as much as any other for what it is: one tool among many. If you use it as your only tool, it is well short of providing a complete picture. I think the Basketball Prospectus guys have done a good job creating an accessible analytic system as well. In the end, the value of those systems as single determinants depends largely on how they weight their data. In addition, a player’s opportunity to impact the game factors into any statistical model. In this case, I’m not too surprised, he took a ton of bad shots and was not operating in the flow of much offense (not that Mike Brown’s teams have much flow). I bet his PER is better this year, even if his scoring is down.

  10. Mr. Ballistik

    You’re Mike Woodson. Its game seven of the WCF against OKC. The game is tied at the start of the fourth. Nash/Kobe have been burned trying to cover Westbrook/Harden off the dribble — and Dwight has five fouls from the resulting penetration.

    What do you do?

    • Anthony Macri

      If I’m Mike Woodson, that means I’m watching the game. Am I in the stands or am I at home or a hotel room? I think I’d definitely consider getting a hot dog if I was at the game; at home or at the hotel I might consider popcorn or room service, respectively.

      If I was Mike Brown, which is what I think you meant, it would depend on my normal rotations, but I’m likely starting with Dwight on the bench and Pau in the middle, and maybe throwing a zone look their way for a few possessions. My goal is to grind the clock a bit and get Dwight in with around 10 minutes to play (maybe I can stretch it to 9). Am I home or away? That does make a difference…

  11. miami zalza

    Why do u think the best team in the planet ,heat , didnt sign turiaf,kenyon martin, birdman anderson, or jermaine o. Instead they went for josh h. ?

    • Anthony Macri

      Why add age? I like athletes and guys who can do different things. Not sure if Varnardo is still moving well but I used to like him back in the day. Harrellson can shoot a little. Looks to me they know their bread is buttered with the big three and if they can get one of these guys to be a solid producer at the end of the bench, great. No need for big names down there.

  12. pedro

    When its all said and done,who do u think should have a.bronze statue outside miami’s arena TODAY, wade,thardaway,alonzo, shaq or lebron? No pat riley answer ok :)

    • Anthony Macri

      If it was me, right now, I’d go with Alonzo. That guy was the heart and soul of that team for quite some time. But if you argued Wade I wouldn’t disagree. LeBron will be the guy but needs another 2-3 years with the franchise.

  13. Brandon

    Who do you think will make the rockets final roster out of the PG and PF?

    • Anthony Macri

      I’m a big Scott Machado fan. I went to a small school in the same conference as Machado’s Iona Gaels. I have liked him since he was a high school player at St. Benedict’s (NJ). I think he sees the floor well and makes great decisions in the fullcourt. I haven’t followed their PF situation as closely – tried to do a quick search just now but turned up empty. Can you give me any specifics?

  14. Sal

    What do you think of marshon brooks and do you have anyone you could compare him to?

    • Anthony Macri

      I like how he scores and I like the pace he plays with. I also appreciate that he takes a majority of good shots with the occasional “what the…?” instead of mostly “what the…?”s while sprinkling in occasional good decisions. He reminds me, in that way, of a better version of Doug Christie, the old Sacramento Kings guard. Brooks is a more talented overall scorer, but Christie had that mostly-solid-occasional-puke personality. I’d have to think about it a bit more to come up with a better comparison.

  15. Kyle

    Should the Bulls trade Luol Deng for draft picks then amnesty Carlos Boozer to free up enough cap space to sign Andrew Bynum? He and Derrick Rose would be one hell of a tandem

    • Anthony Macri

      I don’t like that tandem as much. Bynum is slow and doesn’t run, and the Bulls defensive philosophy is completely scrapped as a result. I prefer athleticism with Rose, guys who can create space and utilize lanes much more effectively than Bynum.

  16. Seth

    Any news on earl boykins? Dude surprises everyone everywhere he goes.

    • Anthony Macri

      Amazing that he is still around. That guy was GOOD back in college (and still today, obviously – just remember him crushing souls at around the same time I was in college).

  17. ray

    Hey how long until the bulls become actual title contenders again? also is it a possibility that they tank this season and shoot for the lottery to add a second option for Rose or would that second option come about through trade/free agency

    thanks!

    • Anthony Macri

      I think they can go right back to contender next season. If they can sneak their way toward the postseason this year and Rose can get healthy in time, you never know what might happen down the stretch. I do not believe for one second they will tank this season in whole or part. I see them being smart and judicious with any moves they make, but I do believe if they add a piece it will come via trades / free agency, not the draft – no guarantees given I think they will be outside the lottery.

      Alright folks, that just about does it for me. Hope all is well! Keep checking those team previews and be back next week for another chat. See you then!