Points in the Paint

» November 6, 2009 4:52 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

NBA.com’s John Schuhmann keeps spreading the wisdom. His newest article takes a look at trueshooting percentages in clutch situations. Kobe Bryant, nearly universally regarded as the best clutch shooter in the game today, ranks 38th among players who’ve attempted at least 180 field goals in clutch situations over the last five seasons. It’s hard to argue with the results, but I think Schuhmann’s methodology is flawed. Schuhmann takes a page from 82games.com, defining clutch situations as “the last five minutes of a game with a scoring margin of five points or less.” Five minutes is an eternity in the NBA. A made bucket to cut the deficit to 3 with 4:30 remaining shouldn’t qualify as a pressure situation. I prefer 82games’ “super-clutch” stats, which are defined as “4th quarter or overtime, less than 2 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 3 points.” No matter how you slice it, Manu Ginobili is indeed “a bad, bad boy.”

Also worth noting is this little tidbit from Michael Lewis’ article on Shane Battier and Houston GM and MIT alum, Daryl Morey: “Since the 2002-3 season, Bryant had taken 51 3-pointers at the very end of close games from farther than 26.75 feet from the basket. He had missed 86.3 percent of them.”

Charley Rosen has another list on FOXSports.com. Not that it really matters what the topic is, but this one happens to be his favorite NBA players.

Jason Friedman at Rockets.com rolls out an All-Defensive team campaign for Chuck Hayes.

SI has a scout’s take on the Rockets: “‘It’s a lot like how they won those 22 games in a row (two years ago): it’s by committee. They’ve got Aaron Brooks as their main guy to scramble the defense up, and after that if you’re open then you shoot it, and if not then you make the next pass with everyone sharing the ball. What a concept! The thing that’s amazing is they don’t have any inside force, and it’s not like they’re super quick where they can run you. One thing Rick Adelman has usually done is to stick with a rotation of eight or nine guys, even if they’re in shooting slumps. So if you’re one of those guys and you know he’s going to stick with you even if your shots aren’t falling, you’re not going to stress over getting your numbers or getting your touches before you get yanked out of the game — because he isn’t going to yank you for that. So there isn’t that kind of tension for each player ‘to get mine’ at the expense of the team.’”

Lang Whitaker muses about the CP3/Rondo skirmish in today’s edition of The Links: “The CP3/Rondo cold war is amusing if only because I wonder if this could turn into something more long-term. Remember how Jordan supposedly kept Isiah from being on the Dream Team and winning a gold medal? Well, you know how CP3 is close with LeBron and all the guys currently involved in USA Basketball? Will CP3’s private recourse be keeping Rondo from ever getting a gold medal?”

Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine: “Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis has no regrets about choosing basketball over football. That’s because he’s achieved success and a championship with the Boston Celtics — and also because he doesn’t believe his days on the football field are over. Davis, the Celtics’ 6-foot-9, 290-pound forward, said he eventually wants to play in the NFL. ‘I will try it,’ said Davis, who’s on the injured list for six weeks with a broken right thumb sustained in a fight. ‘When I become an All-Star in the NBA, when I become a great player in the NBA, then I’ll try football. One of my dreams has always been to play football.’ Davis was a terrific two-way football player at University Laboratory High School in Baton Rouge, La., starring at defensive end, defensive tackle and tailback. But he chose to hang up his cleats and accept a basketball scholarship to LSU, where he became an All-American. ‘I definitely could have made it to the NFL,’ Davis said.”

Chris Ballard describes a chance encounter with Shaquille O’Neal that led to a dragrace down a suburban road in Phoenix.

Kevin Pelton has a comprehensive look at the league-wide increase in scoring.

John Hollinger analyzes Cleveland’s early season struggles. (Insider)

Ian Thomsen of SI.com: “Bucks coach Scott Skiles spent the final year of his career playing in Europe — he finished the 1996-97 as player-coach of the club PAOK in Thessalonika, Greece — which gave him insight on Jennings. ‘That he could fight his way through something that maybe a lot of people couldn’t,’ said Skiles. ‘Because I’ll tell you, I was 32 when I went over there, and hardly a week went by when I didn’t think of coming home. I wouldn’t have done it; I had a contract, but it can be a difficult environment, and for a kid 19 years old in his first year out of high school to go through that, I think that’s something you can admire.’ The Bucks gained faith in Jennings based on his responses to a midseason coaching change at Rome and the erratic playing time he earned. ‘It’s not uncommon for a well-known American player to go over there and all of a sudden the guy is only playing 17 minutes,’said Skiles, who sought advice on Jennings from his Rome teammate Andre Hutson, who, like Skiles, attended Michigan State and was a forward at Lottomatica last season. ‘I had a couple of long conversations with Andre and he just raved about Brandon, that when it got tough his default mechanism was to get in the gym and work on his game — and not to get pouty and sulky. For a young player coming into the league, he’s going to take some lumps early on and then what do they do? If the default mechanisms are to blame (others) and to make excuses, maybe they stunt their own growth. But if it’s, ‘Hey, I’m showing up an hour and a half early tomorrow for practice because my shot’s not going in, I need to get up 400 jump shots?’ Now you’ve really got something to work with.’”

Category: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Hornets, Points in the Paint