Points in the Paint

» March 12, 2009 6:57 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

John Hollinger delivers a sobering assessment of Boston’s post-Christmas record: “The Celtics need to worry more about the team below them than the two teams above them. Orlando is only a game back in the loss column, and though the Celtics are likely to own the tiebreaker over the Magic due to a superior conference record, that becomes a factor only if they stop losing ground.And losing ground they are. If you want a sobering thought for Celtics’ fans, just look at the chart. Since its epic 27-2 start, Boston has cooled off to a much more pedestrian 22-14 mark. Believe it or not, 10 other teams have better marks than the Celtics since Christmas Day, including all eight likely Western Conference playoff teams.”

L. Jon Wertheim of SI.com: “In keeping with his physique, Robinson suffers from a chronic case of arrested development. Knicks players and coaches uniformly use the term ‘big kid’ to describe him. They’re not kidding. Robinson lists his favorite book as The Cat in the Hat and has a voracious appetite for cartoons. When he isn’t playing basketball, a video-game controller is all but surgically attached to his hands. Even his trademark crowd salute is a nod to the game Call of Duty: World at War. Last year Robinson was playing Madden online against teammate Mardy Collins—since traded to the Clippers—and losing badly. Robinson paused the game, drove 10 minutes to Collins’s home, barged through the door and unplugged Collins’s console so the loss wouldn’t count against his record.” [HT: FanHouse]

Jerry Tarkanian, known for clashing with the NCAA, once described AAU sheister Pat Barrett as the “biggest whore” he ever met.

20 Second Timeout: “Although a plurality of NBA GMs still consider Kobe Bryant to be a better player than LeBron James, Morey recently said that James is the best player in the NBA, adding, ‘There’s a reason the (NYT) article is about Kobe, not LeBron.’ Morey laughed as he said that but here are some serious numbers for Morey and his statistics crew to ponder: Bryant averaged 31.0 ppg on .514 field goal shooting (including .444 from three point range) as his Lakers swept the Rockets 3-0 this season; James averaged 24.0 ppg on .409 field goal shooting (including .250 from three point range) as his Cavs split their two games versus the Rockets.”

Thankfully, former NBA Coach Eric Musselman’s blog deviates from basketball from time to time. (My RSS reader appreciates the NBA reprieve.) I enjoyed this one: Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Jazz beat writer Steve Luhm on Utah’s physicality: “Watching the Jazz’s 100-93 loss at Atlanta on television, I once again had to laugh about their reputation as a physical team, which always seems to be discussed when opposing players and coaches are asked about Utah. When he played, coach Jerry Sloan was tougher than a cheap steak. When he played, Karl Malone was as physical and intimidating as any player in league history. When he played, John Stockton was a tough and physical as possible for a 175-pound point guard. Those days are long gone, however, and this team is not physical or intimidating. In fact, the Jazz’s lack of physical toughness is the one thing they lack that other top-tier teams possess.”

Seth Deveney breaks down the MVP race: “The Cavaliers are a team on pace to win 65 games, thanks mostly to the performance of James, whose numbers stack up very well against Wades on their own — 28.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.1 assists. Plus, his team could very well finish as the best in the NBA. Watch the Cavs play, and you see the way James controls a game, the way he gets teammates involved with his passing and playmaking, the way he helps out teammates with his defense. When he needs to take over a game, he does it. And it’s not a coincidence that guys like Mo Williams and Delonte West are having career years. James is helping to elevate them. Those who give credit to Wade for carrying a bad team should remember the flip side of that argument, which is that James sacrifices some of his own stats for the betterment of the team, whereas the Heat have few other options besides Wade.”

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