Points in the Paint

» October 12, 2009 3:35 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

Last Friday, TrueHoop published a blog titled “The Kevin Durant Conundrum.” Read the whole thing, but here’s the conclusion: “Anyway you slice the +/- numbers, he’s one of the Thunder’s worst players.” Durant, predictably, took umbrage with Abbott’s blog, and fired off a few choice messages on Twitter. Abbott’s response is long on keen observations, ending with this one: “All that talk about offense, in the original post and this one, is probably silly. The same statistics that show your team is not as good when you’re playing also hint at why: When you play, the offense is a little bit worse. But the defense falls off a cliff. When you’re playing, your team gives up 111 points per 100 possessions. When you’re on the bench, they give up 103. That’s one of the biggest gaps in the whole NBA. Again to the video. And again, the Synergy Sports stats show you’re good at most categories of defense, except the two most common ones: Making spot up shooters miss, and defending that darned pick-and-roll.”

Brian Windhorst: “After the Cavs signed Joe Smith last season, they stopped playing small ball (LeBron at power forward) as much. Now with Shaq, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon on the team, the formula is perfect for LeBron to play a lot at power forward. With he and O’Neal or Varejao playing as the ‘bigs’ surrounded by shooters, the Cavs could create numerous matchup problems on offense.”

From Howard Beck’s NYT article on the Cavaliers: “‘I kind of right now feel like the old Kareem, when he had all those young studs around him,’ O’Neal said, referring to the Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played until he was 41. ‘On paper, it’s probably the best team I’ve been on.’ Gilbert, with a knowing smile, offered another observation about why O’Neal would be at his best this season: ‘I think Kobe winning the championship has put another kind of motivational factor behind him.’”

Rasheed Wallace believes this year’s Celtics can make a run at the league record for most victories in a season.

Andre Miller made waves this past weekend when he told Yahoo!’s Marc J. Spears that he wouldn’t have signed with Portland if he knew he could be relegated to a reserve role. In an article at The Columbian, Miller insists he’s still a team player.

Dejuan Blair continues to turn heads in San Antonio. From Mike Monroe’s recap of Sunday’s Spurs-Heat preseason game: “Blair has proved a quick study since training camp began two weeks ago. His teammates praise his willingness to seek advice and then to apply lessons taught. ‘I’m getting a lot more comfortable,’ Blair said. ‘My teammates are putting a lot of trust in me. I’m still here for rebounding. The points will come from what they come from each night. The rebounds weren’t falling my way today. I know (Popovich) said, ‘He only had one defensive rebound today,’ but if you look at the tape, they hit every shot.’ In fact, the Heat missed 39 of their 75 shots, so Blair will get a reminder of his shortcomings on the glass when the tape rolls. ‘I can’t wait until the film session,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be fun. But that’s just me being me.’”

Chris Paul on endorsing the Jordan brand, and his relationship with MJ, via Dime: “It was real big. There’s a number of guys signed to Nike, a number of guys signed to Reebok, adidas, all that different stuff, but there’s very few guys signed to Jordan and it’s a very elite group of guys. Not on just being signed to the brand, but having my own shoe under the brand. There’s only a few guys – me, ’Melo and Derek Jeter – that can say that. It’s a humbling experience, but MJ’s always been that guy who not only teaches us different things but he motivates us. We all went to dinner the summer before last and we’re sitting there and he’s talking about, ‘You don’t play no defense.’ You know I was like, ‘Man, I’ve been First Team All-Defense!’ He always snaps back, ‘I was First Team six times’ and stuff like that so it’s motivation.” Note: Jordan made the All-Defensive 1st team 9 times.

Social media mogul Peter Robert Casey published a bucket list of 200 NBA sites to visit before you die.

Veteran sportswriter Sam Smith predicts the coming season’s busts and bust-outs.

Brian Hendrickson of SI.com: “Brandon Roy didn’t raise an eyebrow when Nate McMillan called during the summer and issued his challenge. The Trail Blazers’ All-Star guard and his coach had been talking regularly in the offseason, tossing back and forth ideas for what Roy should focus on to improve his game. His new maximum-level contract — estimated at more than $80 million — was in hand. He was the Blazers’ unquestioned leader and their offensive centerpiece. What should be the next step? The pair bantered about the topic until McMillan called one day, assured he had the answer. Make the All-Defensive team. ‘You should make a goal to defend on a high level every night,’ Roy said McMillan told him. ‘Not only would it take us as a team to the next level, but it would take me to that next level as a player that I want to be at.’”

A snippet from Adrian Wojnarowski’s scathing critique of the Chris Cohan/Robert Rowell/Stephen Jackson situation: “Before the Warriors turn this franchise over to a marvelous rookie guard, Stephen Curry, and a promising 7-footer, Anthony Randolph, Cohan should stop sputtering with overtures to sell the Warriors and do everyone a favor: Sell now. The bid of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has been out there, but details of another intriguing offer to buy the Warriors has emerged, several sources told Yahoo! Sports. There is a well-moneyed and politically connected Bay Area group that has approached Cohan about purchasing the team and building a privately funded arena in downtown San Francisco. What’s more, the group has already had third parties call several well-respected NBA front-office executives about running the team. As for Ellison, sources say he knows what the Warriors are worth in his mind and he isn’t inclined to raise the offer Cohan has already rejected. The Warriors and NBA deny the team is for sale, but as one official with knowledge of the bids says, while Cohan ‘can go hot and cold,’ the San Jose Mercury News’ reports over the summer were accurate. It’s just a matter of time until he sells. For everyone’s sake, the sooner, the better. The Warriors are endemic of a bigger problem in the NBA: bad ownership draining good markets.”