2009-10-26 11:05 | #1 |
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[To pku47]ESPN.com The Mag's Western Conference Preview 3. San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan BIOLOGY — C All the new blood will invigorate the team, but if it can't keep Manu Ginobili healthy and driving fearlessly down the lane, the Spurs will still be shy their big-game, go-to guy. CHEMISTRY — B Of course, Roger Mason and George Hill were unfazed by trade rumors that included them. So how does Richard Jefferson fit into this low-key culture? ECONOMICS — A-minus This is the first time the Spurs have paid so much luxury tax; don't look for them to spend so freely again if it doesn't pay off. HISTORY — A Coach Gregg Popovich realized Tim Duncan and Ginobili were able to watch a lot of fourth quarters in those title years because they'd built adequate leads. That's why he's built these Spurs to go eight deep with players who can score in double digits. Really -- even Matt Bonner did it 31 times last season. MATH — -- A The NBA's worst offensive rebounding team nabbed one of the top offensive rebounders in college history, second-round steal DeJuan Blair. OVERALL GRADE: B-plus |
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2009-10-26 11:06 | #2 |
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回复: [To pku47]ESPN.com The Mag's Western Conference Preview Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Updated: October 23, 10:03 AM ET The Mag's Western Conference Preview ESPN The Magazine This story appears in the Nov. 2 issue of ESPN The Magazine. This NBA season hinges on the kind of bonds the contenders concoct in the lab -- or at least on the court. But if chemistry were the only subject that mattered, the Spurs would be working on one for the thumb -- the second thumb. So we're taking a look at how each of the 30 NBA clubs fares in a variety of subjects: Chemistry, yes, but also Biology, because trainers countrywide will be working overtime to ready hobbled or aging stars; Economics, because salary caps and team finances are as formidable an opponent as Dwight Howard in the paint; History, because what has happened before has happened for a reason; and Math, because, the numbers -- well, ESPN Insider John Hollinger's anyway -- never lie. Our report cards are tough but fair. And before you tell us that the overall mark doesn't add up -- c'mon, haven't you heard of grading on a curve? 1. Los Angeles Lakers Pau Gasol BIOLOGY — B-plus Clutch threes aside, Father Time is rapping on Derek Fisher's door. Is Jordan Farmar ready? CHEMISTRY — B-minus Ron Artest's antics and Lamar Odom's reality TV life will be pesky distractions, but Andrew Bynum's thinking that he's outgrown Kareem's counsel will be the real trouble. ECONOMICS — A Sure, they have the league's bulkiest payroll -- including Phil Jackson, its priciest coach -- but they re-upped Odom and lured Artest at bargain prices. HISTORY — C After decades of repeats and three-peats, no NBA champ has successfully defended since the Lakers did it in 2002. MATH — B-plus The Artest-for-Trevor Ariza swap works out like this: Artest is the superior spot-up shooter and that makes him a better fit beside Kobe and Pau Gasol. Ariza's hot streak last spring? A fluke. He's a career 29.9 percent from the arc. Artest hit 39.9 percent from distance last season and is 34.2 percent in his career. OVERALL GRADE: A-minus 2. Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony BIOLOGY — B Turns out, Kenyon Martin was right: Talentwise, Denver was the best, or most complete, team last season. Only its sketchy mental health led to its undoing. Problem is, that talent edge is gone -- and the psych cases aren't. Unless, of course, this is the season Carmelo Anthony finally evolves from gifted to gritty. CHEMISTRY — A A nonissue since Chauncey Billups arrived. Won't be one 'til he leaves. ECONOMICS — D Owner Stan Kroenke is adding Premier League soccer squad Arsenal to his portfolio. That will be at the expense of the Nuggets' arsenal. HISTORY — C-minus Coach George Karl has been to the conference finals four times with three different teams. But he's never been twice in a row. MATH — A Don't let the door hit you ... Of the team's regulars, departed Linas Kleiza (minus-8.1 points per 100 possessions) and Dahntay Jones (minus-8.4) had the team's two worst on-court vs. off-court differentials. OVERALL GRADE: B-plus 3. San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan BIOLOGY — C All the new blood will invigorate the team, but if it can't keep Manu Ginobili healthy and driving fearlessly down the lane, the Spurs will still be shy their big-game, go-to guy. CHEMISTRY — B Of course, Roger Mason and George Hill were unfazed by trade rumors that included them. So how does Richard Jefferson fit into this low-key culture? ECONOMICS — A-minus This is the first time the Spurs have paid so much luxury tax; don't look for them to spend so freely again if it doesn't pay off. HISTORY — A Coach Gregg Popovich realized Tim Duncan and Ginobili were able to watch a lot of fourth quarters in those title years because they'd built adequate leads. That's why he's built these Spurs to go eight deep with players who can score in double digits. Really -- even Matt Bonner did it 31 times last season. MATH — -- A The NBA's worst offensive rebounding team nabbed one of the top offensive rebounders in college history, second-round steal DeJuan Blair. OVERALL GRADE: B-plus 4. Portland Trail Blazers Andre Miller BIOLOGY — B The most depth in the league is undermined by the fact that two pieces of the long-term nucleus -- Brandon Roy and Greg Oden -- already have thick medical folders. CHEMISTRY — B-plus The second unit will be more productive behind PG Andre Miller. But if the vet wants to be part of the crunch-time crew, he needs to get right with Roy's handling the ball. If he can't, Steve Blake will start and finish -- and the Blazers will be easy prey to teams that can lock up Roy with a single defender. ECONOMICS — B-minus They paid handsomely to get Miller, so if he's only coming off the bench and not playing at crunch time, it's money badly spent. HISTORY — C What you see is what you get: GM Kevin Pritchard has made one meaningless in-season trade since he took over in 2007. MATH — C-plus Last year, Oden had the league's eighth-worst minutes-per-foul ratio: 5.5. So basically the guy isn't likely to be on the floor when you need him. OVERALL GRADE: B 5. Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd BIOLOGY &madsh; C-plus The eight new faces make them older, and yet more athletic. That's a sign of how few cylinders were firing last season. And there is no way to hide that the two superstars, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, have slowed down. Who cares if Shawn Marion and Josh Howard (coming off ankle surgery) are flashing down the wings if the old guys can't keep up? CHEMISTRY — B Coach Rick Carlisle has pointed out to his Mavs that they all have huge contracts but no rings. Common mind-sets can achieve a common goal. ECONOMICS — A Owner Mark Cuban will happily deal Erick Dampier's $12 million nonguaranteed deal for a ritzier player who fits. HISTORY — C Maybe the roster overhaul will finally exorcise the ghosts of the choked-away '06 title and first-round, top-seed bounce in '07. MATH — A-minus Cuban has mastered the art of dodging the cap with nonguaranteed deals. He used Jerry Stackhouse's to get Marion. Hmmm -- what will Drew Gooden bring? OVERALL GRADE: B 6. Houston Rockets Tracy McGrady BIOLOGY — C-minus Down a couple of go-to scorers -- Artest and Yao -- the Rockets have plans to push the tempo to get their points. But how is Tracy McGrady going to do that? He wasn't fit enough to be a fast-break threat before his knee woes. If he's actually faster and fitter after microfracture surgery -- and missing camp -- it'll be a miracle. CHEMISTRY — A-minus Doubts about their ability to win without T-Mac or Yao have galvanized this team in the past. No reason to think it won't again. ECONOMICS — B The Rockets are hopelessly over the salary cap this season. But they can dream of next summer, when nearly $40 million could fall off the books. HISTORY — A In 18 seasons of work, coach Rick Adelman has failed to make the playoffs only twice -- his two years with the Warriors. MATH — A GM Daryl Morey always aces this subject. Latest example: Minus Yao, sixth-man-bargain Carl Landry averaged 17.4 points per 40 minutes on 57.4 percent shooting. OVERALL GRADE: B-minus 7. Utah Jazz Paul Millsap BIOLOGY &mndash; B-minus Only Matt Harpring, who may still opt to call it quits, is past 30; both Mehmet Okur (30) and Andrei Kirilenko (28) have also seen their best days. CHEMISTRY — C-minus The mess at the 4 -- Paul Millsap or Carlos Boozer, both of whom fancy themselves starters -- is a minor nuisance compared with the team's recent lack of spirit. Backing into the playoffs? Bowing out with a whimper? They're tired either of one another or of coach Jerry Sloan's voice. And they seem unwilling to make a shake-it-up change. ECONOMICS — A Somehow, the league's sixth-smallest market could support one of its top five payrolls. HISTORY — C The Jazz had the worst road record among West playoff teams last season. (Blame their 20th-ranked defensive field goal percentage.) MATH — C Perimeter players need to be able to shoot. Utah was 27th in both three-point frequency and accuracy. How many defenders can foes squeeze in the paint? All of them. OVERALL GRADE: B-minus 8. Phoenix Suns Amar'e Stoudemire BIOLOGY — C The squad's petri dish depth means more heavy minutes for oft-injured and aging Grant Hill and Steve Nash. CHEMISTRY — B-plus No one will cop to the shadow cast by the Shaqtus, but the Suns do look relieved to be rid of the tempo butcher. Camaraderie should be back to early-Nash era levels as long as free agent-to-be Amar'e Stoudemire can keep himself from obsessing about his stats. Coach Al Gentry is hoping that making him part of a tricaptaincy will focus him in the right way. ECONOMICS — C-minus After shedding a quarter of their payroll with the Shaq sendoff, they can almost see the salary cap again. HISTORY — C Phoenix imagined itself a title contender in each of the past five years. It will be a relief to just be gunning for the playoffs. MATH — C Yes, they led the league in offensive efficiency for five straight seasons, but it will be tough to make it six without Shaq's team-leading PER and True Shooting percent. OVERALL GRADE: C-plus 9. Los Angeles Clippers Craig Smith BIOLOGY — C-minus Coach/GM Mike Dunleavy instituted a training-camp conditioning test. Big deal -- the offense isn't about to rev any faster than last season's 19-win plowshare pace. CHEMISTRY — C Bridging the gap between Dunleavy and Baron Davis was priority No. 1. So they hired a middleman: John Lucas. If he can keep the two alpha dogs content, he'll have done his job. ECONOMICS — C-minus Owner Donald Sterling forced Dunleavy to pare his coaching and scouting staffs. Other teams did too though. Guess for once the tightwad has cover. HISTORY — D Rook Blake Griffin has been hurt twice already. Coincidence or Clippers curse? MATH — A-minus Of LA's many moves, getting Craig Smith from the Wolves may be the most beneficial. Smith averaged 20.4 points per 40 minutes on 56.2 percent shooting. Departed gunner Zach Randolph got 23.7 on 47.5 percent. In other words, similar production for a sixth the cost -- and a 60th of the headache. OVERALL GRADE: C-plus 10. New Orleans Hornets Peja Stojakovic BIOLOGY — C-minus Peja Stojakovic spent training camp running in a pool, gingerly executing drills and accepting a sub's role to protect his creaky back. The precautions better keep him in more than last season's 61 games; he's the Hornets' only defense-spreading deep threat. CHEMISTRY — B Chris Paul sent nothing but sweet tweets about the team's training-camp vibe, but just wait until he tries to work with three new faces in the starting lineup. ECONOMICS — C-plus Stojakovic is now a $14 million sixth man, which makes James Posey a $6 million seventh man. Only title teams can afford to have $20 million wrapped up in two bench players. HISTORY — C-minus Starting 2-guard (Rasual Butler), reserve point (Antonio Daniels) and Tyson Chandler are all gone. Someone must want to test CP3's loyalty. MATH — B-plus Ike Diogu's per-40-minute numbers over the past two seasons: 22.1 points, 10.8 boards. That minimum-salary deal looks like a bargain now, huh? OVERALL GRADE: C-plus 11. Oklahoma City Thunder James Harden BIOLOGY — B-minus Kevin Durant is stronger, and Russell Westbrook is smarter. Oh, and adding Etan Thomas will make them tougher. CHEMISTRY — A-minus The Thunder pointed no fingers during last season's 3–29 start, and many of them hung out and worked out together this summer. You can't find that kind of solidarity outside San Antonio or Boston. And GM Sam Presti did his part for team-building by drafting James Harden. Call it a vote of confidence for Westbrook at point guard. ECONOMICS — F At times, OKC will be playing against a team that has spent $30 million or more than it did on its players. HISTORY — D Only one guy -- Nick Collison -- is left from the roster Presti inherited in Seattle two seasons ago. MATH — C-minus Durant's on-court vs. off-court differential was an unstudly minus-8.9 points per 100 possessions, for a second straight year. Coach Scott Brooks has no choice but to overlook that. OVERALL GRADE: C-minus 12. Golden State Warriors Monta Ellis BIOLOGY — D-plus Coach Don Nelson has told people Acie Law could be as good as Monta Ellis in his system. Ellis' fragility assures he'll get a chance to be proved wrong. CHEMISTRY — D The Warriors' faithful can create quite the cacophony. Think they can make that kind of noise wearing hazmat suits? (You know to protect them from the toxic on-court mix.) ECONOMICS — C-plus Owner Chris Cohan is open to selling the team. And luckily for the Warriors, there is interest. HISTORY — F Fifteen years ago, Golden State was such a cesspool everyone wanted out. The team had to overpay solid citizens for years -- Derek Fisher, Adonal Foyle, Antawn Jamison -- to make the place livable again. Now, Stephen Jackson and Ellis are bitching and moaning and making fans long for the old days. MATH — D Why did the suits pay ex-Cap'n Jack star money? Because they don't understand fast pace and heavy minutes can turn a middling scoring rate into a gaudy 20-point average. OVERALL GRADE: D-plus 13. Memphis Grizzlies O.J. Mayo BIOLOGY — C Coach Lionel Hollins' problem of how to fit Allen Iverson in has been solved. AI is out for several weeks with a bad hammy. All problems should have such easy solutions. CHEMISTRY — F Maybe it's a grand plan to test the character of O.J. Mayo and the rest of the young Grizzlies. But only if they can isolate Zach Randolph, as the young Blazers did, and refuse to fall in with Iverson, as the not-so-young Pistons did, can GM Chris Wallace's sick joke be foiled. ECONOMICS — D If AI can't accept a second-unit role, and his flickering star power doesn't spur a noticeable bump in walk-up sales, he'll be waived in a heartbeat. HISTORY — D This franchise has never had a plan for building a winner. Snatching up AI and Randolph should have surprised no one. MATH — F Memphis had the lowest rate of assisted baskets a year ago. We hate to beat the same drum, but can the team's new pair of me-first gunners cure that? (It's a rhetorical question.) OVERALL GRADE: D 14. Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Love BIOLOGY — C-minus Take two and call us in the morning: Corey Brewer and Al Jefferson are both coming off major surgery. CHEMISTRY — D Only five faces return from last season and that's including Brewer, who played 15 games. ECONOMICS — C-plus Glen Taylor is a small-market owner, but he knows how to spend what he has. Example: bolstering his too-young backcourt with Ramon Sessions. Pricey? No. Smart? Yup. HISTORY — C-plus Be it the natural osmosis of seven seasons riding shotgun or a more purposeful re-creation, new coach Kurt Rambis is rocking old boss Phil Jackson's system, teaching style and, some say, speech. The Wolves will try to run, but they'll also use the Triangle when they can't. Kevin Love will benefit most. He's small by conventional power forward standards, but his versatility and hoops IQ are a nice fit here. MATH — A Brian Cardinal (PER 8.13) out; Oleksiy Pecherov (PER 14.50) in. OVERALL GRADE: D 15. Sacramento Kings Tyreke Evans BIOLOGY — F There was panic when rookie Tyreke Evans needed an MRI in training camp for a knee bruise. That's because the team is desperate for him to contribute from the opening tip. He won't, at least not enough to keep the Kings from being worst in the West again. CHEMISTRY — D-minus Who's the leader? Kevin Martin and Beno Udrih are too quiet; Evans is too young; and Andres Nocioni, a natural firebrand, is too far away from his prime for anyone to listen. ECONOMICS — D-minus The Maloofs insist they aren't leaving Cali's capital, but a new arena looks far off and they're hemorrhaging dollars in tiny, old Arco. HISTORY — F Arguably the league's worst defensive team hired Paul Westphal, whose forte is & offense. At least it was when he last coached -- eight years ago. MATH — C Evans had a minus-1.29 pace-adjusted Pure Point Rating in college. He may one day be an NBA star, but it's sure not going to be as a point guard. OVERALL GRADE: F |
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