Sports 4 Dorks

That was fun.

Thanks
to everyone who stopped by last night for the liveblog. Computer issues
forced me to peter out just as I was putting together what would have been a
hilarious and earth-shattering bit about Brad Miller dunking, but we appear to
be back on track for now.

I was a little behind the action, usually 15 minutes worth,
but we’ll get better at that: I usually Tivo the TNT
games and don’t start them until they’ve been on for a half-hour so that I can
fast forward through commercials, but I’ll get quicker if we continue to do the
liveblogs. Promise.

And, to the commenter that thought I was ripping off the
Sports Guy? Save it. I was doing live diaries (with the instruction to "continually hit F5, or ‘Refresh’ on your
browser") for playoff games in 1999 (plenty of Isaiah Rider jokes, bongs
out of Coke cans, you get the picture), along with the 1999 Draft for
OnHoops.com; a tradition that continued for several years after that at several
different websites.

Considering that I didn’t even read a single word that Bill
Simmons (who I like, a lot) wrote until June of 2001, it’s pretty safe to say
that we were operating pretty independently of each other.

Detroit
90, San Antonio 80

I love the Pistons when they bear down and refuse to let the
game get away from them.

I don’t like the Spurs when Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker
combine to miss 18 of 25 shots from the floor.

For more on the game, skim
through the liveblog.

Sacramento
116, Memphis 113

There is precious, precious little in John Salmons‘ past
that would suggest that this sort of play (28 points, 11 rebounds, seven
assists last night) was possible.

Yes, he’s 28 and in his prime. Yes, he was drafted in 2002
as a sort of all-around passing guard; Pete Myers with more skill. Yes, the
Kings are missing their three best players and there are plenty of shots to go
around.

Still, things are out of wack. Usually when great players go
down and average-to-good players take over, they’re able to put up more shots
and score more points, but because the players aren’t all that great to begin
with, the shooting percentages go down, the efficiency goes down, and the team
suffers. Not with Salmons.

Usage rate is a solid indicator of how many possessions a
player uses up over 40 minutes of play. A player "uses up" a possession when he
scores, dishes an assist, gets to the line, turns it over, etc. Though several
factors go into the stat, it is best used as an indicator of being able to
create your own shot.

Guards who have to wait for others to set them up for a
three-pointer, or big men that only shoot as a last option usually have poor
usage rates, whereas someone like LeBron James (the league leader this year, at
32.2) usually boasts one in the high 20s or low 30s. Entering this season,
Salmons had an average Usage Rate of 14.5, including a 14.7 mark last year.

This year, he’s around 20; which usually means he’s being
forced to chuck more shots (thus shooting a lower percentage from the floor), and
turning the ball over because he’s not great at dribbling his way to freedom
and getting off a shot.

Well, the latter is holding serve, but just barely: Salmons
is turning the ball over on 13.3 percent of the possessions he uses up, and
that mark was at 12.1 last season. Still, that’s passable considering the context
(Dwyane Wade is at 13.6).

His shooting? Holy cow: 52 percent from the floor, 41
percent from long range. He’s your anomaly in a headband, the guy who is
shooting way more (about four shots per 40 minutes more as compared with
2006-07) but somehow shooting a higher percentage (John was at 45.6 percent
from the field last year, and 35.7 from long-range).

The Kings and Grizzlies played a great game last night; Sacramento staged a late
comeback based around shots from Salmons, Quincy Douby, and Francisco Garcia.
The last guy hit a game-winner off a pass from Salmons, he’s averaging about 19
points per 40 minutes this year (after averaging 13.6 per 40 last year), while
playing solid help defense.

Rudy Gay was terrific for the Grizz, scoring 31 points on
just 13 shots, but he lost the ball in Memphis’
final offensive possession, securing the Sacramento
win. As great as the Pistons and Spurs are, America would have much preferred
this one on TNT.

Utah
108, Phoenix 86

Not much to take from this, Phoenix
was without three of its four-best players; Utah was without Andrei Kirilenko and Matt
Harpring, but still dominated for the better part of this game.

Remember how I talked about lesser players stepping up,
having to take more shots, and seeing the shooting percentages go down? Marcus
Banks, Raja Bell, Brian Skinner and Eric Piatkowski combined to shoot 7-40 from
the floor, and Boris Diaw couldn’t be bothered to try to make an imprint:
missing four of six shots in 34 minutes of action. What a waste.

Ronnie Brewer: 21 points and six rebounds in just 32
minutes, on just 14 shots. Nice.