NBA Analysis: Pure Scorers at SF

In order to create the All-NBA pure team (which Danny Green has already earned a spot on with his three-point shooting ability), we need a scorer. For this breakdown, I have decided to use the small forwards, because they are frequently used on NBA teams as scorers. So, here are all of the NBA small forwards who average 11.5+ points a game:

Pierce and Anthony are among 17 small forwards on this list

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City

Carmelo Anthony, New York

LeBron James, Miami

Paul Pierce, Boston

Rudy Gay, Toronto

Paul George, Indiana

Dalino Gallinari, Denver

Luol Deng, Chicago

Chandler Parsons, Houston

Nicolas Batum, Portland

Evan Turner, Philadelphia

Vince Carter, Dallas

Metta World Peace, LA Lakers

Andre Iguodala, Denver

Corey Brewer, Denver

Jeff Green, Boston

Martell Webster, Washington

These are our 17 top scorers at the small forward position. Now, we need to look at some highlights of their scoring abilities.

Now that we have seen highlights, I am going to narrow the list down to top 10 scorers and their averages:

Indiana's Paul George is still on the list after one cut

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (28.4)
Carmelo Anthony, New York (27.4)
LeBron James, Miami (26.6)
Paul Pierce, Boston (18.7)
Rudy Gay, Toronto (18.3)
Paul George, Indiana (17.6)
Dalino Gallinari, Denver (16.2)
Luol Deng, Chicago (16.1)
Chandler Parsons, Houston (15.1)
Nicolas Batum, Portland (14.7)

Now, look at the conferences. 6/10 players on this list play in the Eastern Conference, `while 3 out of those 6 are in the Atlantic Division. All of these players are on their own, because none of their teammates are here. Six of these players have made the all-star team, and half of these players were drafted before 2007. This list is now ranked by points per game, so I will re-rank it as to the amount of points they have each scored this season:

LeBron and KD have scored the most points this season

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (1,962)

LeBron James, Miami (1,784)

Carmelo Anthony, New York (1,453)

Paul Pierce, Boston (1,231)

Paul George, Indiana (1,179)

Rudy Gay, Toronto (1,136)

Dalino Gallinari, Denver (1,053)

Chandler Parsons, Houston (1,013)

Luol Deng, Chicago (1,001)

Nicolas Batum, Portland (988)

To be fair, I am going to eliminate every scorer who has not scored at least 1,100 points this season. So we are down to six competitors for a spot on the All-NBA pure team:

Kevin Durant

LeBron James

Carmelo Anthony

Paul Pierce

Paul George

Rudy Gay

Now, here are the top scoring teammates of these competitors, to really see if they are pure:

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City: 23.2

J.R. Smith, New York: 17.7

Dwayne Wade, Miami: 21.3

Kevin Garnett, Boston: 14.9

David West, Indiana: 17.2

DeMar DeRozan, Toronto: 17.6

So, to rank these six competitors, I will multiply their teammate's points per game by ten, then I will subtract that number from the number of points they have scored this season. After that, I will multiply their points per game by ten and add that to their score. Here are the final results:

Winner: Kevin Durant--2,014

2nd--LeBron James: 1837

3rd--Carmelo Anthony: 1550

4th--Paul Pierce: 1269

5th--Paul George: 1183

6th--Rudy Gay: 1143

Well, it looks like Kevin Durant will be joining Danny Green on our All-NBA Pure Team. Thanks for reading today, and look for rebounding power forwards next time!

Analysis: Best "Shooting" Guards in the NBA

Today I am analyzing one of the key positions in basketball, the shooting guard position. I will rank all of the best three-point shooters in the NBA at the shooting guard position. Most of the time, shooting guards are meant to be three point shooters, but unfortunately, a lot aren't. This post will analyze those shooting guards who can shoot three-point shots.

Here are all of the shooting guards who shoot .380 or better from behind the arc:

Vince Carter and J.J. Redick are among 18 shooting guards
who hit 38% of their three-pointers

Danny Green, San Antonio

Kevin Martin, Oklahoma City

Roger Mason, New Orleans

O.J. Mayo, Dallas

Thabo Sefolosha, Oklahoma City

Ray Allen, Miami

Randy Foye, Utah

Ben Gordon, Charlotte

Vince Carter, Dallas

Gordon Hayward, Utah

Wesley Matthews, Portland

Anthony Morrow, Dallas

Klay Thompson, Golden State

Paul George, Indiana

J.J. Redick, Milwaukee

Jamal Crawford, LA Clippers

Leandro Barbosa, Washington

Joe Johnson, Brooklyn

 

We have a decent group here. Eighteen shooting guards shoot .380 from behind the NBA's three-point line. To analyze this even more, though, let's look at the form of some of these players' shots.

 

Ray Allen

Kevin Martin

Randy Foye

J.J. Redick

 

Now, lets narrow this list down to the top ten shooters at the shooting guard position. Here they are:

1. Danny Green

2. Kevin Martin

3. Roger Mason

4. O.J. Mayo

5. Thabo Sefolosha

6. Ray Allen

7. Randy Foye

8. Ben Gordon

9. Vince Carter

10. Gordon Hayward

Here, we have two Thunder players, two Mavericks players, and two Jazz players. Only two players on this list (Ray Allen and Ben Gordon) currently play in the Eastern Conference. To analyze this even more, let's re-rank these players to see who has hit the most three pointers this season.

1. Danny Green, 140

2. Randy Foye, 133

3. Kevin Martin, 132

4. O.J. Mayo, 120

5. Vince Carter, 119

6. Ray Allen, 101

7. Ben Gordon, 85

8. Thabo Sefolosha, 82

9. Gordon Hayward, 64

10. Roger Mason, 56

As you can see, San Antonio guard Danny Green stayed at the top of the list. Let's narrow this down more by cutting off everyone who hasn't made at least 100 threes. These 6 are left:

Danny Green

Kevin Martin

O.J. Mayo

Ray Allen

Randy Foye

 Vince Carter

So the question is: which one of these shooting guards is purest? Is it someone young, like Danny Green, or is it a veteran, like Ray Allen? The only fair way to rank them is to add together the number of threes they have made with their percentages. So here are the final rankings, with each score:

Winner: Danny Green: 582

2nd: Kevin Martin: 561

3rd: O.J. Mayo: 540

4th: Randy Foye: 534

5th: Vince Carter: 529

6th: Ray Allen: 511

 





Predicting What the Playoffs Would Look Like Starting Today

The playoffs could be interesting this year, and we never know what surprises could happen. Will the Lakers make a late push? Who will be the number one seed in the West? What teams will end up with home court advantage? We don't know for sure the answers to these questions, because the playoffs are months away. But this is a prediction of what would happen if the playoffs started today.

First Round

Eastern Conference Matchups:

1 Miami vs 8 Milwaukee

2 New York vs 7 Boston

3 Indiana vs 6 Chicago

4 Brooklyn vs 5 Atlanta

Western Conference Matchups:

1 San Antonio vs 8 Utah

2 Oklahoma City vs 7 Houston

3 LA Clippers vs 6 Golden State

4 Memphis vs 5 Denver

 

Miami vs Milwaukee

The Heat are on a 16 game win streak, and even though the Bucks are hot, they have no chance against the champs.

Prediction: Miami 4, Milwaukee 1

New York vs Boston

This would be a very interesting match up, because the Knicks have never been able to defeat the Celtics in the playoffs. Even though the Celtics are contenders, though, they have no Rajon Rondo. The Knicks would be able to pull this one out.

Prediction: New York 4, Boston 2

Indiana vs Chicago

With a central division match up, this one would be fun to watch. But if the playoffs started today, the Bulls would not have Derrick Rose, and they would not be able to defeat the Pacers.

Prediction: Indiana 4, Chicago 1

Brooklyn vs Atlanta

Even though Brooklyn would have home-court advantage, the Hawks are doing well right now. If they can get Josh Smith going, I think they would be able to win this one.

Prediction: Atlanta 4, Brooklyn 3

San Antonio vs Utah

You are thinking that the Jazz would be no match for the Spurs, but San Antonio would have no Tony Parker if the playoffs started today. The Jazz just got Mo Williams back, but the Spurs would still be able to win.

Prediction: San Antonio 4, Utah 2

Oklahoma City vs Houston

This would be a very interesting thing to watch, because of James Harden being pitted against his former team. However, Houston would not be able to defeat OKC.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 4, Houston 2

LA Clippers vs Golden State

Out of all of the first round match ups, I would be most interested in this one. The Warriors are winning their regular season series vs LA 3-1 right now, and Stephen Curry would surely have something in store. However, Lob City is not getting out in the first round.

Prediction: LA Clippers 4, Golden State 3

Memphis vs Denver

With Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, Memphis is doing well. But if you look at Denver, they are smoking. Denver is going to the next round.

Prediction: Denver 4, Memphis 2

 

Second Round

Eastern Conference Matchups:

1 Miami vs 5 Atlanta

2 New York vs 3 Indiana

Western Conference Matchups:

1 San Antonio vs 5 Denver

2 Oklahoma City vs 3 LA Clippers

 

Miami vs Atlanta

The Hawks would have a very tough time in the playoffs. The Heat wouldn't.

Prediction: Miami 4, Atlanta 0

New York vs Indiana

Now this is the kind of match up I'm talking about. The old rivalry pitted back together again. This would be fun to watch. If Paul George could start heating up, and Melo was still struggling with that knee, then New York is in for an upset.

Prediction: Indiana 4, New York 3

San Antonio vs Denver

This would be the upset of the century. Tony Parker would be out with an injury, and Denver would be fun to watch.

Prediction: Denver 4, San Antonio 3

Oklahoma City vs LA Clippers

This is even better than Indiana vs New York. Chris Paul would be under a ton of pressure to beat Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant would have a lot of pressure against Lob City too. However, the Thunder would pull it out.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 4, LA Clippers 3

 

 

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference:

1 Miami vs 3 Indiana

Western Conference:

2 Oklahoma City vs 5 Denver

 

Miami vs Indiana

This would be fun to watch, but the champs are just dominant. The conference finals wouldn't be as good as the second round. Miami would win.

Prediction: Miami 4, Indiana 2

Oklahoma City vs Denver

This would also be fun to watch, but Denver's great season comes to an end here. They have no superstar to challenge KD.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 4, Denver 2

 

The Finals

1 Miami vs 2 Oklahoma City

 

 

Game 1

The Heat would have home-court advantage in this Finals re-match, and the crowd on their side. However, the Thunder would come to Miami with a lot of energy too. This would come down to the buzzer, and don't be surprised when Russell Westbrook rims the shot and complains the call.

Prediction: Miami 94, Oklahoma City 92

Game 2

With the Heat up 1-0, the Thunder would be under a lot of pressure to win this game. If they didn't, that would be horrendous for them, but they are strong enough.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 90, Miami 84

Game 3

This is where Oklahoma City would go back home. After winning the previous game, they would have motivation, drive, and a crowd behind them to win this game. I would be surprised if Miami were to pull off the first game in Oklahoma City.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 110, Miami 100

Game 4

By this time, LeBron James would realize that there is no more time to mess around. The Heat would go back to their dominant form, and pull it off.

Prediction: Miami 108, Oklahoma City 89

Game 5

With the series tied 2-2, this would be a pivotal game for both teams to win. They would both have motivation, and they would both come into this game with passion. This would come down to KD winning it at the buzzer. It would have been LeBron, but he doesn't have his fans behind him.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 121, Miami 120, OT

Game 6

So LeBron goes back to Miami with his team down 3-2 in the series. His fans believe in him, his teammates trust him, and he has a white jersey on. What does he have to lose? He gives it to Ray Allen for a three to seal the deal in this low-scoring affair.

Prediction: Miami 78, Oklahoma City 70

 

Game 7

Now, this would be the game of the century. Game seven in Miami. The last time the Finals went to game seven was in 2010, when the Lakers were able to beat the Celtics. This match up would be as good as Magic vs Bird, and it would be a close one.

Prediction: Oklahoma City 96, Miami 90

 

FINAL PREDICTION: Oklahoma City would win the Finals if the playoffs started today.

Trade Deadline Recap

The trade deadline wasn't as exciting as we have seen in past years, considering that no stars were traded. A lot of teams made some interesting moves, but nothing major was made. The biggest loser from the trade deadline is the NBA's fans, because they did not get to see a lot of trades. You can see everything that happened right here:

Wednesday

On the night before the trade deadline, the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, and Phoenix Suns made a three-way trade. 

The Rockets got:
Thomas Robinson

Francisco Garcia

Tyler Honeycutt

2013 2nd round pick (Suns)

The Kings got:

Patrick Patterson

Cole Aldrich

Toney Douglas

The Suns got: 

Marcus Morris

It was a pretty good trade for the Rockets, who did a good job getting Thomas Robinson. This trade is also interesting because the Morris twins are now re-united in Phoenix, Markieff and Marcus.

Thursday

Here are all of the trades that happened on trade deadline day:

Miami Heat Trade

The Miami Heat sent Dexter Pittman to the Memphis Grizzlies for a 2013 second round pick.

Celtics Acquire Talent

The Boston Celtics sent Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins to Washington and received Jordan Crawford.

J.J. Redick is among 18 players who were traded on deadline day.

Raptors Get A Backup PG

The Toronto Raptors sent Hamed Haddadi and a second-round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Sebastian Telfair, who will likely back up Kyle Lowry for Toronto.

Portland Also Gets A Backup PG

The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired Eric Maynor from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a trade exception and rights to Giorgio Printezis.

Bucks Get A Shooter

The Milwaukee Bucks have sent Doron Lamb, Beno Udrih, and Tobias Harris to the Orlando Magic for J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayon, and Ish Smith.

Hawks Swap Guards With Dallas

The Atlanta Hawks have sent Anthony Morrow to the Dallas Mavericks for Dahntay Jones.

The Bobcats Get McBob

The Charlotte Bobcats have sent Hakim Warrick to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Josh McRoberts.

Thunder Get Ronnie Brewer

The Oklahoma City Thunder got Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks for a second-round pick.

Golden State Makes 2 Small Trades

The Golden State Warriors made two trades today. The first one sent Jeremy Tyler to the Atlanta Hawks for a second round pick. They also received a second round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers, to whom they sent Charles Jenkins.

It wasn't a very exciting deadline day, but at least some trades did happen. One surprise was that Josh Smith was not traded. The Hawks pulled out of a three-team deal at the last minute, so Smith will be staying. Another surprise is that the Utah Jazz did not make any trades, despite having so many players who are free agents this summer. It was an interesting day. Thanks for reading.

Analysis: Carmelo Anthony vs Kobe Bryant

On Thursday, the Knicks, led by Carmelo Anthony, easily took care of the Lakers at MSG. 

Kobe Bryant has always been a more talented player than most--excepting LeBron, KD, and CP3, and possibly one or two other NBA players. But this year, we have seen the Knicks and their success, with Carmelo Anthony leading them. Meanwhile, in LA, Kobe has a lot more talented teammates, particularly Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Pau Gasol. Somehow, though, Kobe's Lakers have started 9-14, while Anthony's Knicks are 17-5 and undefeated at Madison Square Garden. Has Carmelo Anthony proved himself a better player this season than Kobe? Let's analyze this match-up.

Scoring

Carmelo Anthony scores 28.3 points a game, while Kobe only scores 26.6.
Edge: Carmelo Anthony

Sharing
Carmelo only sets up shots 2.7 times a game, and Kobe is up at 5.6.
Edge: Kobe Bryant

Rebounding
Carmelo Anthony has 6.5 rebounds a game, and Kobe only has 5.3. Sorry Kobe, you need to grow a couple inches.
Edge: Carmelo Anthony

Defense
Kobe only averages 0.3 blocks per game, and Melo is only at 0.5. However, Kobe is at almost 2 steals a game, and Anthony isn't even at one.
Edge: Kobe Bryant

3-Point Shooting
You might not believe this, but Kobe is only making 1.7 threes a game, while Anthony is making 2.7. Carmelo also has a better percentage than Kobe at 40.1%. Sorry Laker fans.
Edge: Carmelo Anthony

Field Goal Percentage
Despite not shooting well from downtown, Kobe Bryant is surprisingly averaging 46%, while Melo is at 44%.
Edge: Kobe Bryant

Turnovers
Kobe Bryant is turning the ball over 3 1/2 times a game, and Melo is only at 2.7.
Edge: Carmelo Anthony

Free-Throw Shooting
Carmelo Anthony is not shooting as well from the line, though. He is at 82%, and Kobe is at more than 84%.
Edge: Kobe Bryant

Team Success
It all comes down to this. Sorry Kobe Bryant, but your Lakers are 26-29, and Melo's team is 32-19. If you want to be better than Melo, then the Lakers need to be better than the Knicks.
Edge: Carmelo Anthony

Winner: Carmelo Anthony

Power Rankings: 25-21

25: Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are looking pretty good, but they are not a playoff team. Kyrie Irving is an amazing point guard with amazing talent, but he can't carry this team on his back. They need more pieces to this team. C.J. Miles, Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters. These are all key pieces to this team, but the team needs more to become a competitor. I am excited to watch the Cavaliers this season, but they won't be making the playoffs.

24: Toronto Raptors. Toronto picked up some key players in the offseason: Kyle Lowry, Landry Fields,  Terrence Ross, and former draft pick Jonas Valanciunas. They have definitely improved from last year, but they still aren't ready for the playoffs. They could be a playoff team right now, because they had the number one pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. But they picked Italian center Andrea Bargnani, who hasn't lived up to expectations. This guy is a center that can shoot threes. He should be starting on the all star team. For Toronto to make the playoffs, Bargnani definitely needs to improve. Another player on this team that needs to step up is DeMar DeRozan. This guy should be the next Vince Carter. He has been in the dunk contest twice. If veterans DeRozan and Bargnani can step up, this team will be playoff ready.

23: New Orleans Hornets: The hype this year for the Hornets all comes from the number one pick, center Anthony Davis. I think Davis can be really good and lead this team to an eventual return to the playoffs. But the player that needs to be the leader for this team is Eric Gordon. Gordon was injured most of last year, and that is what the problem is. But if Eric Gordon is healthy and playing well, and Anthony Davis is living up to expectations, this team still isn't making the playoffs. Why? They need a small forward. Who does New Orleans have at the three position right now? Al-Farouq-Aminu? Hakim Warrick? Darius Miller? To be a playoff team, you need solid players at all positions. These guys are not solid players. So when Anthony Davis is living up to expectations, Eric Gordon is healthy and at his best, and the team has a solid player at the small forward position, then this team can talk about playoffs.

22: Phoenix Suns. The Suns did not have a great offseason. The main thing that hurts them is losing Steve Nash. Nash was an amazing player for this team. He always carried Phoenix on his back. He is so good because he knows the fundamentals and is arguably the best floor general in the game. He always can get the ball to the right places, no matter what his age is. The reason the Suns narrowly missed the playoffs last season is that Nash had no great scorer to get the ball to. The Suns were so successful in the 2010 playoffs because Nash had someone to get the ball to. Nash to Stoudemire was the thing. But when Amare Stoudemire left, the Suns stopped making the playoffs because they had no great scorer. Fortunately, the team signed Goran Dragic, who had a great last season. Hopefully he can be this team's next Steve Nash.

                   21: Houston Rockets. Houston had one of the worst offseasons in the league. They got rid of everyone to attempt to get Dwight Howard, but that failed. Now they are one of the youngest teams in the NBA. They have three first round picks, Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, and Terrence Jones, along with rookies Scott Machado and Donatas Motiejunas. They have second year players JaJuan Johnson, Marcus Morris, Greg Smith, and Chandler Parsons. Their third year players are Gary Forbes, Patrick Patterson, Jeremy Lin, and Omer Asik. That's 13 players! That's like the whole team! Kevin Martin, Carlos Delfino, and Shaun Livingston are the main veterans on this team, but they need more. You can't have a team this young with only a couple of veterans making the playoffs. They need more veterans.

Power Rankings: 30-26

For the upcoming season, I am going to rank every NBA team 30-21 to see all of the worst teams and which of them are expected to do better than others this season. After this season, we will see which teams finished as expected. Here are teams 30-25.

30: Orlando Magic. The Magic gave away Dwight Howard and got basically nothing. Arron Afflalo? Al Harrington? Nikola Vucevic? And all of those draft picks they got aren't going to help them this season. They now just have no star on this team (but they still have some stars on the logo. because Dwight Howard is a jerk. All he wants is to win. He has no loyalty to his team. I'm not saying he is the only selfish NBA player, I'm just saying that that the Orlando Magic could have gotten a lot more for Dwight Howard.

29: Charlotte Bobcats. Last year, the Bobcats had the worst NBA season of all time. To top that, they lost the first pick in the draft, so they missed out on Anthony Davis. They settled for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist instead. In my opinion, Kidd-Gilchrist is overrated. He really isn't that good. Anthony Davis would have given them a bright future, but not so much of a future with Gilchrist. The Bobcats also lost D. J. Augustin, arguably their best player last year, only to replace him with Ramon Sessions. Corey Maggette did well for them also last year, but he is also gone now. The only hope for Charlotte now is for the young guys Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to step up and lead.

28: Sacramento Kings. The Kings, I'm sorry to tell you, stink. But they shouldn't stink. The Kings have some talent on their team-Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, and Marcus Thornton, just to name a couple. The problem is they don't pass the ball. Everyone on the team is looking to score. That is the reason that the Kings stink. They shoot too much. If the Kings start passing the ball, then they will start winning games. And, if you win games, you become a better team. The Kings could move cities anytime, but until then, pass.
                                                  27: Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have some pretty talented young guys. Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe, and now Andre Drummond. They are looking pretty good for this season, but we can't be sure How well their young (and old) players will play. They have opportunity for a great season, but also opportunity for a disappointing season. Tayshaun Prince is one player on this team that needs to step up, as well as veterans Corey Maggette, Jason Maxiell, and Charlie Villanueva. The young guys are the key to this team's success, but the veterans also need to be key contributors. If I could choose a face for the franchise, it would be Greg Monroe. This is his chance; his season to step up and lead. If the Pistons want success, mix the veteran play with the young guys' athleticism.

26: Washington Wizards. The Wizards are overrated. They did pick up some solid players in the off-season, but they haven't proved anything at all yet. Some things need to happen before they become a playoff team. The first thing is John Wall. He needs to play at an all star level and be a leader and a floor general for this team. They also need chemistry to mix the young players with the veterans. Nene, Trevor Ariza, and Martell Webster are just some of the veterans on this team that can and need to lead as well. Bradley Beal, the rookie and number three pick overall, also needs to work on his game. The most important thing for him is just to knock down the three when he is open and when it is needed. So basically, John Wall needs to mix with the veterans and be a leader.