Hoopus Archive

I've been following the "smoking gun" E-mail story out of Seattle as it relates the potential move of the Sonics from Seattle to Okla. City. Clay Bennett is the second sports owner I've been wondering about in recent months in addition to our own Mr. Taylor--how did these guys ever become wealthy? Can't Mr. Bennett afford decent tech support, or at least salient advice on how to use e-mail effectively? More than likely it won't affect the exodus out of Seattle, but it's pretty damming evidence, and will probably end up with the city extracting even more settlement money for Bennett to break the lease and skate on out of town. However, one can never predict outcomes when lawyers are involved, and I would imagine Commissioner Stern doesn't like being embarrassed and lied to, so the final chapters of this story may not be as obvious as everyone thinks.

What does this have to do with our team? Maybe nothing, but...

Again: I'm very happy to see the team ending the season on a winning note. However, for a second there right before the 1/2 I thought that they had found a new way to utilize Mark Madsen's amazing tanking abilities: the little-known you-can't-come-off-the-bench-with-your-shirt-untucked technical. At that point in the contest I started to prepare myself for a 4th quarter full of an unkempt Madsen making his way off the bench for 30 second increments, possibly jacking up a few 3s in the process.

Last night's game was the 3rd statistical oddity in a row. Here's how the 2 teams stacked up in the 4 Factors:

The Wolves::

• FG% (eFG): 51%
• TO: 13
• Offensive (and total) rebounds: 24-62
• FT: 11-16

The Grizz:

• FG% (eFG): 44%
• TO: 7
• Offensive (and total) rebounds: 17-45
• FT: 26-43

While I'm clearly not part of the "tank it" crowd, and I love to see the team do well and win, if anything is to be taken from last night's victory in Orlando, it is that we may have to change the name of the team to the Blind Minnesota Timberquirrels.

Last night, the team with the worst free throw shooting discrepancy, fewest FTMs, 2nd worst FTAs, 8th worst 3pFG%, 6th worst 3pFGM, and 6th worst 3pFGA went 17-20 (85%) from the line and 9-16 (56.3%) from beyond the arc.

Actually, I shouldn't get too caught up on the attempt side of things. The Wolves pretty much hit their attempt averages for both FTs and 3pFGs. What they did do was increase their makes by nearly 4 beyond the arc and by nearly 2 at the line. All in all, good shooting brought about 14 additional points with essentially the same number of total shots.

With each team in the NBA having no more than three games remaining and the tanking talk hotter than ever, I thought it might be valuable to lay out the potential scenarios presented to the ping-pong ball chasers. For an explanation of how the lottery works see here. As of Saturday morning, April 12th the standings look thusly:

I show the top six because after running "best" and "worst" scenarios Milwaukee always stayed in 7th (in this post best and worst use the Wolves' lottery odds as a frame of reference). So even if the Clippers win their last three (all on the road, no less) and the Bucks lose their last three, the Bucks will still be 7th in the lottery rankings.

As much as I enjoy criticizing Kevin McHale, this bit over at Draft Express on a couple pre-draft events caught my eye in a positive light:

As usual, Portsmouth will be competing with the Nike Hoop Summit (which we’ll also be covering) for the attention of NBA executives—but unlike previous years (when it was held in Memphis), it will be more difficult for everyone to try and cover both—which means that some will have a decision to make. Considering that most of the players here are well known and it would be surprising if any first-round prospects emerged, it’s understandable why some will decide to go and see the international prospects playing in the Nike Hoop Summit (particularly Serge Ibaka and Alexis Ajinca), as people’s comfort level with them may not be quite as strong.