Points in the Paint

» July 6, 2009 9:55 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Dan Feldman of Piston Powered: “No coach challenged Sheed like Larry Brown, who demanded Sheed play in the post. But Sheed respected Brown and listened to him. Unsurprisingly, Sheed played his best basketball under Brown. I think Kevin Garnett will get similar results from Sheed. Besides maybe San Antonio, Boston is the best place for Sheed. He wants to win, and he wants to play hard. But he needs it demanded from him. After Brown left, that never happened in Detroit. Were his final years wasted in Detroit? Did his physical gifts just wear down while nobody held him accountable? In Boston, he has the best chance to flourish. There will be no more excuses for his limitations. This is the situation Sheed has talked about for a long time (and one he surely wishes he had his final years in Detroit). Ball don’t lie.”

Sam Amico: “I’m tired of listening to several Cleveland media-types act shocked about how Ariza chose the Rockets over the Cavaliers — despite the fact the Cavs were reportedly ‘set to offer Ariza the same amount of money.’ But with no state tax in Texas, Houston’s supposed offer of $33 million for five years goes a lot further than it would with Cleveland. That same offer would cost Ariza somewhere in the vicinity $9 million in taxes had he moved to Ohio. So it’s not anywhere near ‘the same amount of money.’”

Neil Paine of Basketball-Reference.com makes the case that the Lakers are better with Artest: “The main potential problem I can see is the chemistry issue, just in terms of having to divvy up a small % of possessions among a group of players who are used to seeing more. I can certainly envision this hurting L.A.’s offensive efficiency if Artest’s will (or ability) to create shots overpowers Gasol’s, because even at his peak Artest was only operating with an ORtg of ~110 (normalized to 2008-09); by contrast, Gasol’s ORtg last year was an astronomical 125.6! And that’s why it was nice for L.A. to have Ariza, who posted an ORtg of 112.4 a year ago while only demanding 16.6% of possessions, as a 4th banana. But I simply don’t see Artest accepting a 16.6 %Poss role, which means Gasol’s possessions will inevitably go down. All in all, though, I like this for L.A. right now because Artest is better defensively than Ariza and his offense is more versatile — he adds a perimeter guy who can create when defenses focus too much on Kobe, he can post-up when necessary, and he’s not going to hurt their spacing either.”

Michael Grange: “I do have some concerns that a guy left an NBA finalist and balked at signing with an up-and-coming Finals contender (Brandon Roy and Hedo running pick-and-roll? That would be very, very tough) for a team that will be touch-and-go to win 45 games. Is that a guy who will grind it out to provide full value at 33, 34 and 35 years old?”

Ryan McNeil at Hoops Addict interviews Robert Tuchman, the author of “100 Sporting Events You Must See Live.” Tuchman on MSG: “There’s nothing like the Garden when that place is rocking for basketball.”

Nets beat writer Dave D’Alessandro on Vince Carter, via Third Quarter Collapse: “Of all the superstars you might encounter in this ego-driven business, you might not meet another guy who is more accessible, approachable, affable, and agreeable. Some say that part of his personality lacks the competitiveness or edge he needs to be one of the greats. To which I say: I don’t care. To be great in this league, you have to have two things: Consistency, and the ability to do it late. I’d put Vince in the ‘pretty damn good’ category, and a likely Hall of Famer for helping save the league in the post-Jordan age. But I also admire him for not chasing an image, or trying to live up to the expectations, or seeing himself only through the eyes of others. He’s very comfortable in his own skin, and for someone of his accomplishments, that’s the best measure of the man.”