As ungodly as
Kevin Durant and
Steve Nash have been, do they add up to a 12-3 record? What about, you know, everyone else?
The Starting Lineup
PG Steve Nash - 16.1 PPG 10.0 APG 4.1 RPG 5 A/TO ratio 64.2% drive stop 63% shooting, 48.7% 3P shooting
Nash ranks 4th in assists and a mind-blowing 2nd in FG shooting in the league (
John Henson is first at 65.7%). He's whatever defensively, but his floor generalship has been as good as advertised and his shooting accuracy has been legen-wait for it....-dary. Legendary!
SG Stephen Jackson - 7.5 PPG 4.8 RPG 1.6 SPG 36% shooting 30.4% from 3 point 54.3% drive stop rate
I'm stunned to see S-Jax doing this poorly in terms of drive stopping and shooting accuracy, but his ability to steal the ball and hit the 3 pointer (average 3.1 attempts a game) has helped redeem his value. He'll certainly be let go at the end of the year.
SF Kevin Durant - 38.4 PPG 7.7 RPG 1.9 SPG 1.4 BPG 52.2% shooting 42% from 3 point range (9.2 longball attempts/game) 85.7% drive stop rate 0.7 PA/SF
So like, we knew KD was freaking amazing offensively, but his defensive numbers have been holy crap way better than expected as well. I've never seen a statline as awesome as this one in all my days. Sure, I'd like the turnovers (4.1 a game) to be a little less, but
his efficiency is 33.9, tops in the league. In fact, the only other players at 30+ efficiency are
Kevin Love (31.9) - T-Wolves are 9-7 in a crowded West - and
Chris Paul (30.9) for the West-leading Clippers.
Steve Nash, by the way, is our only other player in double-digit efficiency at 24.6. Then it's a long, steep drop to Jason Richardson's 9.3
PF Glen Davis - 8.9 PPG 5.7 RPG 41.9% shooting 0.8 PA/SF
Ugly shooting, as Big Baby relies way too much on the jump shot, but he's been very quality defensively, even with the lack of playmaking. If I was the coach, I'd make him work on his shooting form, but since I'm not, he'll have to go without instructions because I'm too lazy to get at
Sam Mitchell about fixing Davis's form.
CE Greg Oden - 5.1 PPG 3.6 RPG 1.0 BPG 59.6% shooting 0.9 PA/SF
As it turns out, Oden has been worth the price of the min-sal admission. Terrific shooting accuracy and solid defense, especially on the blocking end, have made him terrific there.
Bench Notes
Despite
Jason Richardson's 10.7 points and 1.1 steals and
Harrison Barnes' 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds, this reserve unit is largely held together with scotch tape and
Jameer Nelson's terrific 5.6 points, 3.8 assists, 2.3 A/TO ratio and 89.2% drive stop rate. Lot of mediocre shooters on this squad, including J-Rich and Barnes.
Basically, we really *are* where we are because of Durant and Nash. Either one of them goes, our season goes.
Team stats?
We're living by our explosive offense and our willingness to share the ball. Points allowed is pretty good, too, but this is very much a smoke and mirrors situation.
Only trade is a second round pick for
Mike Dunleavy, so minor it's not worth looking at.
We decide to go see who's on the block around the league to shore up our big man situation with
Greg Oden dinged up.
And that's when we find ourselves making a bigger splash than we anticipated.
Orlando Magic receive
C Kwame Brown
Milwaukee Bucks 2013 1st round pick
Charlotte Bobcats 2013 2nd round pick
Milwaukee Bucks receive
PF Glen Davis
Orlando Magic 2013 1st round pick
What this means for the Magic
Brown got a 2 year, $10.4 million contract from the Bucks in free agency, but found himself on the outside looking in, appearing in just 3 games and averaging 4.3 minutes when he did check in. Great at drawing fouls (but then again, so is Davis) and a good rebounder who knows when to take his shot inside (55.6% in limited minutes this season).
This also opens up a starting spot for rookie
Harrison Barnes as an undersized 4, and Orlando not only gets a new starting center that fits the
Jestor mold better and more PT for the prized rookie, but they get a probable high second round pick and likely move up in the first.
What this means for the Bucks
Milwaukee, at 7-7, wasn't going to do any better than maybe a low playoff seed and Brown was becoming a locker room problem because of his lack of playing time.
Samuel Dalembert and
Drew Gooden are both 30 or older, so the 26 year old Big Baby gives them a good reserve now and a future starter later, but that's an awful lot of pick real estate to give up for a non-starter.
Winner: Orlando
The Magic will get a little weaker defensively, but their shooting accuracy will improve and they lop off of a year by not having to pay Davis a third season. Their rebounding will also go up with Brown in the fold.
118-94 road loss to the mighty Clippers (how weird that sounds) to open December.
Blake Griffin forces Harrison Barnes to 5 fouls in just 5 minutes, wrecking
Kevin Durant's 43 point night,
Kwame Brown's 15 point, 10 rebound debut, and
Jameer Nelson's 10 bench points. Griffin blew us up for 36 points and 17 rebounds. Oops.
We stay at the Staples Center another night and lose 97-79 to the Lakers. I'm starting to think I did a very, very bad thing.
Ron Artest (because MWP is a stupid name) crushes
Kevin Durant defensively, holding him to 21 points on 9 of 24 shooting and not even
Jason Richardson's 14 bench points help.
Finally, the bleeding stops a bit with a 113-102 road win over the Suns.
Kevin Durant with 33 points and
Harrison Barnes at long last with a good game as the starting PF - 25 points and 6 rebounds on 9/15 shooting, 4/5 from 3 point. Quite a cry from a couple nights ago when he was 2 of 11 and
Pau Gasol owned his shorts for 21 points and 9 rebounds. Other keys to the Phoenix victory -
Steve Nash with 13 points, 11 assists, and
Kwame Brown picking up 11 points, 10 rebounds while forcing
Marcin Gortat to a 5 of 17 brickfest.
...HAHAHAHA!
Quote:
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Dwight Howard complained about playing time this week, but GM Sam Presti refused to take the bait and said only that they would discuss it privately.
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Comedy.gold. The Thunder, by the way, are a mediocre 10-9. The bastard Heat are still perfect at 16-0. Milwaukee has gone from 7-7 to 9-8, so the trade is working out decently for them so far.
Exciting 108-104 win over Denver to continue our road trip.
Kevin Durant hits 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks, while
Harrison Barnes again flourishes with 22 points and 4 steals.
Steve Nash has 11 points and 13 assists with 0 turnovers and
Jameer Nelson paces the reserves with 10 points. Oh, 13 bench boards for
Reggie Evans.
First time home in a long time and it's a 119-114 scorefest win over
Kevin Love's Timberwolves. My friend and yours
Kevin Durant leads the charge with 38 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, while
Steve Nash hands out 10 points and 17 assists.
All five starters scored 10+ points, but the breaking news is
Greg Oden lowering the bench boom - 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Another home game, another win, 104-92 over the Wizards. 35 points
Kevin Durant, 22 points and 10 assists
Steve Nash, but what pleases me most is
Kwame Brown going 8/8 for 16 points and 9 rebounds.
The Miami Heat finally lose a game and are 20-1 when they come to town to set up an epic Florida Wars matchup.
That deserves its own buildup, so we'll stop here and pick up next time with that highly anticipated battle.