» February 5, 2009 6:43 PM | By Brandon Hoffman
- What a 7-day stretch of hoops. Kobe scores 61 on Monday, LeBron drops a 50-point triple-double on Wednesday, Lakers-Celtics tonight, and the Lakers and Cavs are scheduled to kick things off next week. I love this game.
- Amare Stoudemire is on the trading block. I get why Suns fans are frustrated with Stoudemire’s lack of effort on the glass and on the defensive end. But that’s nothing new. Stoudemire is never going to lead the league in rebounds or make an All-NBA Defensive team. S.T.A.T. is one of the most efficient scorers in the game. Stoudemire averaged 28.5 points per game and shot 58.8 percent after the All-Star break last season. Why? Because the Suns made him the focal point. Stoudemire averaged 17.5 shots attempts after the break. Amare is averaging 13.9 shot attempts this season. The Kings and Pistons could have interest.
- This should be fun. No double teams. Very little helpside defense. No 3-second violation. Ones and twos. I’ll take LeBron James and Dwight Howard.
- DraftExpress on OKC rookie point guard Russell Westbrook: “The sky is the limit for Westbrook, and it cannot be understated how great his learning curve has been over the past few years, and how likely an indicator it is of future progress. While he may never have the mentality of a do-everything, pure point guard, physically Westbrook is an elite class, and all of the flaws in his game and skill set are ones that he’s shown progress with and are very much fixable in the future. That he was viewed as somewhat of a project pick by most prior to the season and is now pacing with NBA-ready rookies O.J. Mayo and Derrick Rose in the Rookie of the Year race is a testament to both his current ability and his future potential.”
- Russ Bengtson of SLAM: “Knicks play defense like it’s their job—in other words, they go through the motions hoping it looks like they’re actually doing something.”
Category: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Points in the Paint, Washington Wizards
Tags: Amare Stoudemire, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Houston Rockets, Jameer Nelson, Kobe Bryant, LeBorn James, Los Angeles Lakers, Mark Cuban, NBA Teams, New York Knicks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Points in the Paint, Ray Allen, Russell Westbrook, Steve Kerr, Tracy McGrady, Washington Wizards
Discuss in Forum
February 6th, 2009 at 12:18 am
There is a lot of fan blindness driving the debate about LeBron’s 9th rebound, but it clearly was Wallace’s, not LeBron’s.
Perhaps it was star treatment that awarded the rebound to James, but it’s more likely that the statistician, who sits on the slidelines, couldn’t see through the crowd to know who got it, and assumed it was James since he dribbled away with it.
Or maybe LeBron was used his crab dribble to dazzle the statistician. ;-)
February 6th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Lol.
I hope they get it straightened out…
February 7th, 2009 at 11:29 am
If you listen to Clyde “the glide” call the live game action he sure thinks that rebound belonged to LeGone James.
“James needs one more bound for the triple double”
LOL!
this is silly, has this EVER happened before?
____________
A release from the league said: “All NBA games are reviewed to ensure the accuracy of the game statistics.”
____________
REALLY? so this is the first time that a statistician has made a mistake? not sure i’ve ever heard this before.
i mean where do i apply for the game tape stat reveiwer position?
i’d be pretty good at it.
i mean if the what the NBA says is true there has to be mistakes/ changes in who gets credit for rebound ALL THE TIME!!
this is going to wreak havoc on fantasy basketball leagues.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:40 am
when contemplating your little anti lebron argument hoffman remember that both the in game stat person, and clyde frazier call that a lebron rebound in live action.
i mean we’re talking stats here who cares right? i mean these are only “legacy” defining games at MSG.
i think the most fair thing to do in this case is pull a rebound from LeGone James, and instead add it onto KOBE!! bryant’s line in monday nights game at MSG. 61 with one rebound looks alot better than 61 with none right?
i mean we know KOBE!! can rebound whenever he wants. just sometimes he don’t want. doesn’t mean he can’t set the tone defensivly and go for 60 and a trip dub. tune in tomorrow and watch the gr8est player on the planet chew up that big fake rebounding ne ohio piece of crapalier.
those are the facts
nuff said
February 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
hoffman, i know you have connections and insider info regarding all things NBA. i am still a little confused and perplexed by the NBA’s decision to change game stats 2 days after the fact. If I were a fan in need of some transparency and understanding into the inner workings of OUR NBA! who would i address my question to? Who has the final say on who gets credit for a rebound in any given game? That’s who I want to write……..
What is this person’s title? How many games does this person review? How many game tape stat reveiwers does the NBA employ?
again where do I apply? I am very qualified to do this job.
help…………….
February 7th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
dusty:
Do you think he should be credited with the rebound? It looks to me like Wallace cradles the ball for a split second before flipping it to James. I don’t know what the rule is, but it looks like Ben had possession to me.
Check this out:
The league office actually makes after-the-fact corrections to box scores like this one — deducting one rebound from LeBron’s stat line and awarding it to Ben Wallace — fairly regularly. Yet it rarely announces those changes.
• An announcement was made in this case, league officials said, because of the historical implications and widespread coverage of LeBron’s feat. There hasn’t been a player to post a triple-double with at least 50 points since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it for Milwaukee in 1975.
• This wasn’t the first time this season the Cavs were hit with such a change. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was stripped of a blocked shot from a Dec. 6 game against Charlotte, which also was given to Wallace.
• The most recent example of such a high-profile ruling occurred in 1990, when Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon had a quadruple-double nullified after the league stripped him of an assist. The league also announced that box score amendment via press release.
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime
February 7th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Also, I don’t believe the NBA makes many “after-the-fact corrections to box scores.”
David Friedman of 20 Second Timeout has charted CP3’s assists on numerous occasions and has discovered more than a few errors:
http://20secondtimeout.blogspot.com/2009/02/after-further-review-nba-downgrades.html
February 8th, 2009 at 1:27 am
good stuff right there hoffman, you really came through for me.
just one more thing…….
does the person with the final say on who is and or is not credited with stats in any given NBA game have a name?
a title?
a tongue?
do you think we can get an interview, so maybe the distant NBA fan like myself could have a better grasp of what exactly a rebound is? or an assist? or travelling?
with every new dramatic twist the NBA becomes more and more like big time wrassslin……..
i used to love this game.
for the love of god when is tim donaghy going to write a tell all.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Good questions all.
I have no clue…