NBA Chat With Susan Bible 11/17/12

1. Dave

   Susan, I’m a little concerned about Jeff Green, who seems hesitant (still) on the perimeter. I’d like to see Green with Rondo and KG in the starting lineup and think that Pierce would accept a 6th-man role since he’s always been a team player. From your experience with Green in OKC/Seattle, can he be effective on the perimeter?

   • Susan Bible

     From what I see, Jeff Green is going to need time to learn the schemes, and I don’t know if the Celtics are going to be patient – talk about a setback, what with missing the 2011-12 season to undergo heart surgery and related recovery. The interesting thing that is if you look at his Per 36 minutes production throughout his career, it’s fairly consistent with the exception of his shooting percentages this season. A huge problem though is his less-than-desirable defense in Rivers’ system at the three (and lateral quickness) (and passiveness) and his rebounding at the four (which was a definite problem in OKC). These have to be mastered to find success in Boston.

     I recall Ainge being quoted last year saying something about Pierce coming off the bench and cutting down his minutes thereby giving Green more minutes. Of course, this was uttered prior to Green’s medical situation becoming known. Pierce is a team guy, but I can’t see him happily playing off the bench. Further, Ainge recently something like “we haven’t figured out Jeff Green yet or how to use him.” Not good.

2. Yoichi

   Are the Knicks better with out Amare? When he comes back will he start and slide Melo back to 3 or will he be the 6th man off the bench ?

   • Susan Bible

     You have to be impressed with the Knicks, even though they blew their perfect record last night (to the Grizzlies, 105-95 – now 6-1 record). It will certainly be interesting to see how Stoudemire integrates when he finally returns. Shumpert, too. It appears Stoudemire will return sometime in December and January for Shumpert. For sure, rotations and minutes will change which should make fans a bit nervous. I would suspect Melo goes back to the three; perhaps Stoudemire will begin off the bench (his teammates say he’d have no problem doing it), but not for long. Eventually I think both take starting line-up spots. Then we’ll just have to see.

     Speaking of bench players – I have to make a plug for my “Fantasy Focus: Best Of The Bench” article that will go live right after my chat.

3. LSO

   Hey Suse – Now that the will-he-or-won’t-he hoopla surrounding Harden is over, what about these new guys. Namely KMart? How long in the NBA and where? What’s his background? College? Are the Thunder about ready to settle down and be consistent? Your take?

   • Susan Bible

     Thankfully the Harden talk has ended. I couldn’t take a season of will-they-or-won’t-they-pay-him talk. As I’ve said, I was pretty shocked by the news, but Martin has come in so strong. Not only has he filled Harden’s shoes well, he’s just so likable and happy to be here. Since they couldn’t pay Harden, Presti made the right move…again.

     Luckily we still have 72 games left. What I expect are certain things to start improving (energy), including cohesiveness and better decision-making. It just takes time to sort through these things with new faces and lost faces. K-Mart has always been known as Mr. Efficiency and that hasn’t changed. When I think of him, I always picture him in a Kings uniform. I also think of the potential for injury and the serious flak he’s taken for being unable to play through injury. I also always think of how thin he is and his unusual shooting form (seriously, study that) My first visit with him in the Thunder locker room with him was great – we shared a big laugh about the height of his former-turned-present teammate, Thabeet. Martin, 29, was drafted by the Kings in 2004 with the 26th pick. He’s 6’7” and weighs 185 lbs (!). He’s from Zanesville, Ohio and received a full scholarship to Western Carolina University where he played for three years before declaring for the draft.

4. LA in LA

   Hey Bible 2 questions:
   1) who is the leader for Coach of the year right now?
   Mike Woodson, who has a team many doubted 6-0 with 5 blowout wins and more importantly has Melo playing and doing the little things?
   Rick Adelman, who has a winning record despite being down his 2 best players.
   Or Rick Carlilse who has winning record despite miss Dirk and having many new players?

   2) Looks like the NBA picked the wrong year to remove Centers from the ballot. I think, depending on how quick Love and Dirk come back and return to full strength, that their are 3 All-star caliber centers: Dwight, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol, maybe you could argue even Gortat (12ppg, 10rpg, 3.3 bpg).
   It’d be a shame if Noah and Marc miss the All-star game.

   • Susan Bible

     Less than three weeks of the NBA regular season is not nearly enough time to pronounce the best coach. If I had to though, I would go with Gregg Popovich. You make a good case for the other three (except the Mavs are 5-5).

     I think they really had to remove the center position from the ballot. There are just not that many true center choices when compared to all the many choices in the other positions.

5. Peter

   I hear Boston is going to be active before the deadline and I could only imagine Atlanta is too. Since Boston only has 2-3 years left to compete with KG and Pierce getting older what do you think about them going all in on a trade with the Hawks for Josh Smith. A package of Green, Bradley, Sullinger, and Melo for Smith seems very fair and logical for both teams. Celtics could compete for a title now with Miami and New York with a lineup of Rondo, Lee, Pierce, Smith and KG while still having a deep bench of Terry, Barbosa, Bass and Darko. Plus their future is set too if they resign Smith who would thrive playing with Rondo and really needs a coach like Doc to reach his full potential as a star. Atlanta gets to keep their cap flexibility while still being able to put out a young up and coming lineup of Teague, Bradley, Green, Sullinger and Horford while still having a deep bench of Williams, Jenkins, Korver, Zaza and Fab Melo. thoughts?

   • Susan Bible

     That scenario has been floating around – Josh Smith to Boston…or even the Lakers – and the universal thought is Boston doesn’t have sufficient assets to interest Atlanta. Fab isn’t ready, Green is questionable, so would Boston give up both Bradley and Sullinger? Maybe one with lesser players and throw in cash. It would be a great coup for the Celtics to land him.

6. Nana

   Personally, do you think there’ll be any fall-out from the Perkins-Randolph dustup a few nights ago, i. e., any sanctions, suspensions, fines – or was it just “boys will be boys” in the view of Thunder management and the NBA Powers-That-Be……?

   • Susan Bible

     The league is looking into the incident to see if any fines and suspensions are warranted. No word yet; I think some type of sanction is coming though. I didn’t cover that game, so I don’t know first-hand what happened. It appears clear the two were separated in the hall near the Thunder locker room by security officers who later said it wasn’t a true altercation. One of the beat writers said there was yelling and “thud” noises as if bodies were hitting walls and doors that lasted about 20 seconds. One thing is for sure: a true rivalry exists between the two teams.

7. Jay

   Susan, Russell Westbrook is currently shooting 39% from the field. Do you think he’s trying to hard and is this something OKC should be concerned about. Also, do you think Jeremy Lamb should be getting some PT. I think he could be a difference off the bench.

   • Susan Bible

     True, Westbrook’s current field goal percentage is .388 – a career low for him. He’s a shoot-first point guard as we know; sometimes I wish he wouldn’t always look for his shot first. That said, he’s also averaging 8.5 assists thus far – a career high. Plus he’s posting a career-high 1.3 in three-pointers, unfortunately it’s at a .279 percentage.

     Lamb has averaged 3.6 minutes of playing time in five appearances with 1.6 ppg. It’s early though. I’d like to see what he can do.

8. Jim in Cyber Space

   Just watching nearly every game on TV from afar…(International TV likes OKC) looks like the Thunder team and Fan’s have both taken thing’s for granted?
   I know the games are “sold out”, but it looks like LOT’s of lower level season ticket-holder’s aren’t showing up everyday…unlike years past?
   The team has kinda been playing the same way. Not showing up everyday. Perk is “trying” to lite a fire under everyone’s backside?
   With that said… 7-3..ain’t bad, and both Martin and Thabeet looks good…What do you think?

   • Susan Bible

     I think Martin looks very good and Thabeet is surprising everyone. I can’t put my finger on why the guys aren’t showing up for every game, but I have to agree with you that something is amiss. I’m assuming the loss of Harden, Cook and Aldrich hit them all really hard, and it’s going to take some time to get that fire back. Perkins is trying

     I’ve been to every home game this year, including preseason, and I haven’t noticed a lot of empty seats. They are presently ranked fourth in attendance, but that doesn’t take into account live bodies in seats. I’ve noticed the noise level isn’t quite as loud though. I think fans are still rattled by the trade, too. This was their Welcome to the NBA moment.

9. ryan

   If Jrue Holiday keeps playing like he has this early in the season, what separates him from the elite point guards like Deron Williams?
   Holiday: 19.1 ppg, 8.6 apg, 4.0 rpg, 45.6% shooting, 44.8% 3pt
   Williams: 18.6 ppg, 7.7 apg, 2.3 rpg, 44.9% shooting, 29.7 % 3pt
   If anything going by the stats, Holiday has been better so far, and will only improve when Bynum comes back.

   • Susan Bible

     Holiday isn’t getting the respect yet, but he will. The improvement this season is way impressive…across the board. The awful 5.2 average turnovers must be addressed. He needs more time (like seasons and playoffs) showing this level of play and his name will be added when talking about great young point guards.

10. Gaga Lodge

    What do you think about the grizzlies this year? Nobody but us grizzlies fans new how dangerous they were actually going to be. 2013 finals matchup- heat vs Grizzlies with grizz taking it in 6

    • Susan Bible

      The Grizzlies are for real, and I think the everyone else is finally seeing what you already knew. I’m not putting them in the Finals just yet but fans have tons of reasons to be excited. Ranked 3rd in Offensive Rating and 7th in Defensive Rating, plus 4th in points and 6th in opponents’ points and four guys averaging double-digit scoring. Yep, pretty impressive.

11. Bigpoppa

    I love Okc, but lately they are not looking the best. Do u think losing James Harden has really affected them this much? Im very high on Jeremy Lamb, why don’t he get more playing time, I’m sure that might help?

    • Susan Bible

      Patience, Big Poppa! I think they were freaked out by the Harden trade (Cook, too – those guys were tight with him), but as in life, time tends to heal such things. They’re 7-3 and the November schedule is brutal. Have faith.

12. Tim

    Hi susan. Is there a market out there for Amare…at all? Im sure theres gotta be ATLEAST one team out there desperate enough to trade for him. I honestly think the knicks are better off shipping him out for a couple of future assets. Melo is clearly the future. Any thoughts?

    • Susan Bible

      No doubt there’s a market for Stoudemire. I know you’re not alone in your thinking; even so, it’s hard to downgrade a guy who averaged 19.2 points/8.6 rebounds last season. The team has been impressive, especially when you see the wins have come against teams like San Antonio, Miami, Philadelphia (Orlando and Dallas, maybe not so much). Woodson is going to have to be very smart when Stoudemire returns.

13. Lebronjim

    Hi Susan two questions for you,

    1. why do you think Miami’s defence has struggled early this year?
    2. Who is your favourite all time player?

    • Susan Bible

      Miami’s defense is ranked 28th in the league right now. Ouch. That’s especially painful given their 4th ranking last season. Everyone points to how early we are in the season – valid point- but still…. You have to put the blame on the second unit and the teams’ overall lack of size.

      Magic Johnson is my all-time favorite player. But I’m open moving Kevin Durant in the spot in time

14. Bill Clinton

    I was feeling great about my fantasy squad after managing to snag Bynum, Amare, Gordon, Rubio and Gerald Henderson (sleeper pick). Now all 5 five are injured. My team is struggling without these guys. Should I stay the course with these days and hope they come back to help me make a late season push? Or consider dropping a couple to pick up waiver players?

    • Susan Bible

      Thanks for the great questions this morning! Enjoy your week!

      You’re kidding?! Four of those guys were in an injured state before the season even started. You should have approached me before your draft! I fear you will get so behind now that you’ll never recover even if these guys come back. For starters, I would drop Gordon and Henderson immediately.