Four games ago, Blake Griffin changed up his routine at the stripe. Rather than catching the ball and shooting it–something you want to do in many situations, but not at the freethrow line–he now takes three rhythm dribbles. Griffin has attempted 27 freebies since making the change. He’s made 22 of them… about 81.5%. It’s a pretty small sample size, I know… but that’s a rather alarming stretch for a guy who’s shooting just 53.7% on the season. So, can his new routine keep him shooting nearly 30% better than he has been all year long? I don’t think 27 attempts are quite enough to make that determination, but the fact that Griffin has a pretty solid outside shot leaves me feeling encouraged. There’s no mechanical reason why he can’t make 75 or 80 percent of his tosses… the struggles are all in his head. So, I do believe it’s very possible that this new routine will keep him shooting a better percentage from the line. If he continues at this 80% pace he’ll score about 2 more PPG. Even 70% would give him another point per game, so this is huge.
Rumblings out of Portland suggest that Raymond Felton may soon be benched. This article from Oregonlive.com details Felton’s recent struggles and how his disappointing play has been effecting the Trail Blazers. It also points out, though, that Nate McMillan’s other couple of options, combo guard Jamal Crawford and rookie Nolan Smith, haven’t really looked up to the task either. Come to think of it, the PG spot has been a problem in Portland for quite some time now. Before Felton, it was Andre Miller… who couldn’t seem to carve out his niche with the team. Still, he was probably better than Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack, Sergio Rodriguez, Sebastian Telfair and Dan Dickau, who all kind of manned the point by committee from ’05 to ’09. Anyway, I didn’t even bring this whole Ray Felton thing up to talk about the Blazers. I want to talk about Jeremy Lin right now, ’cause it’s the cool thing to do. Seriously though, when I came across the news of Felton’s potential benching, I couldn’t help but think back to the 54 games he played for Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks. The last of those 54 games was played less than a year ago… on February 16th, 2011. Felton had 13 points and 11 assists in a 12-point win over the playoff-bound Hawks. He’d been averaging 17 and 9 on the season, and although he didn’t make the All-Star team there were those who felt he should’ve. Do you see what I’m getting at here? Raymond Felton has been a solid starting point guard over the course of his career. He wasn’t as good as he looked with the Knicks, and he isn’t as bad as he looks right now. He’s a solid starter who can be described accurately by his career averages of 13 and 7 on 41%. I’ll just cut to the chase here… I’m hardly convinced that Jeremy Lin is the NBA player he’s appeared to be over the past five games. I’m not trying to knock the guy; he deserves all the credit in the world for sticking it out through tough times and taking advantage when finally given an opportunity. All I’m saying is that I’m not sold on this dude being a legit 20 PPG scorer. I don’t know if other people are actually as sold as they appear to be, or if fans are just having fun with it… but if there’s anyone out there reading this who truly feels that Jeremy Lin is absolutely positively what he’s appeared to be over the past five games… I would suggest taking a look at Raymond Felton’s career. I’m not even comparing the two as basketball players… just pointing out how big an impact situations can have on a guy’s play, and when the sample size is only five games… yeah, you get what I’m saying. All of that being said, I have watched Lin with my own two eyes and he has looked very impressive. Remember that Raymond Felton is a pretty good NBA player, and if Lin turns out to be him, or a little better than him, or even a little worse than him, he’s still a great success all things considered.
Oh look, there goes Rajon Rondo, making me look stupid again. That was my initial thought as I watched double R drop a 32/10/15 triple-double on the Rose-less Bulls, but I suppose he really didn’t make me look stupid. I always say the Rajon Rondo we saw last night–the one who pushes the ball, shoots the open shot, and looks to penetrate–is a very good player. Where was that Rajon Rondo the night before, though, as the Celtics lost to the Toronto Raptors? What kind of dominant point guard only comes up with 5 points and 7 assists against Jose Calderon? Everybody has bad games, but Rajon Rondo is the only “top-five point guard” I’m familiar with that fails to show up at least once a week. At least. So, I think the people Rondo made to look stupid yesterday are the ones who took his massive triple-double and advertised it as a representation of the player that he is, when it’s really a representation of the player he could be. I’m not even talking about the numbers, I’m talking about the way he played the game… aggressively, assertively. He doesn’t play like that every night, folks. Realize that.
Josh Smith is mad because he’s not an All-Star. He says it’s all about who you know, and apparently Josh Smith doesn’t know anybody. Via the Atlanta Journal Constitution…
“You’ve got to factor in there is a lot of politics involved in the All-Star selection,” Smith said Friday. “Once you get that it’s really about politics, then nothing really surprises you. I call it ‘Nothing But Associates,’ NBA. It’s all who you know.”
One thing Smith could do to help his cause is play better in big games. He’s putting up great numbers, but four of his best lines have come against Charlotte, Toronto, New Jersey, and Charlotte again. He just had a huge 23/19 game against Orlando, and he posted 25 points in a win over the Bulls, but only 5 of his 11 double-doubles have come against winning teams. It’s not like he hasn’t had opportunities to step up, either–half of ATL’s games (14 of 28) have been against teams that are currently .500 or better. Oh, I suppose I should also mention that they’ve lost 9 of those 14 games, and one of the losses played out on National TV last night. As his Hawks were embarrassed by the Heat, Smith took more three-pointers (1) than freethrows (0) and finished with 8 points on 4-12. Look, Josh, I’m not sayin’ you didn’t deserve any consideration… all I’m saying is that maybe there are reasons you didn’t make it that don’t involve politics. Step your game up. Stop worrying about All-Star games and try to beat a team that doesn’t suck. In doing so you will earn respect from coaches and get that All-Star nod.
“You don’t often see that.” “Yeah, Andrew Bynum couldn’t do it last night.” That’s Mike Breen and Walt “Clyde” Frazier on Nikola Pekovic after they watched him back Tyson Chandler all the way under the basket and score with the greatest of ease. Pekovic went on to dominate Chandler and the Knicks all night long, scoring 21 points (on 9-10) and grabbing 13 rebounds. I’m a day late (this game was played on Saturday), but when my dude Pekovic does something like this you best believe I’m gonna make you read about it eventually.
I may or may not add more to this later. Stay tuned.
