October means NBA

Bynum: Does he care? 

Let's do this! The NBA season begins in 29 days and this excites us to no end. At this time of the year, optimism and overreaction reign supreme. In our 28th year of intently observing and analyzing the NBA we have learned that (at this time of the year) teams are too optimistic, and the media, and public are prone to overreaction. 

The Bynum addition to Philly is potentially HUGE. Bynum's efficiency rating was actually a fraction of a point better than Dwight Howard's in last season's shortened schedule. Despite losing mainstays Andre Iguodala, and Elton Brand, the Sixers starters became better "by the numbers" by adding Bynum and advancing Evan Turner into a more prominent role. 

On the common sense side of the Bynum equation, it is more than fair to wonder why he didn't take care of his knee situation sooner. Reports say Bynum had his knee treated as late as September. 

For what it is worth, a plugged-in source in Los Angeles says this of Bynum, " (A) dude I know works at a car shop where Bynum would buy his BMW's. They would ask him Lakers questions and he would say, 'That's not my life'. " ...The Source adds, "Literally, that's how Andrew Bynum feels about basketball. It's 'not his life' -  just a check."

It's a tip-off not a kick-off

I say this every season seemingly. We "tip-off" an NBA season; as opposed to the way The Sports Network puts it: "The Sixers, ... kick off their 2012-13 regular season by hosting Denver on Oct. 31." ...The preseason national television schedule for NBA hoops will tip-off domestically on Sunday. Orlando will face New Orleans on NBA-TV at 2:30 pm eastern. 

Nuggets channel Marquette

The Nuggets have new alternate uniforms that remind us of Marquette.  Denver joins San Antonio, New York, Portland, Brooklyn, and Charlotte as teams that have tweaked their look for 2012-13. 

The Bobcats have the dubious distinction of being ranked as our 30th best team in the NBA headed into this new campaign. They are a team without one player that ranks in the top-20 at their respective position. Their highest ranked player by last regular season's efficiency is Ramon Sessions - who rated 21st in the league at point guard. Hyper-active draft pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist may prove to be a top-tier shooting guard in time but Charlotte's likely front court rotation of Byron Mullins, Bismack Biyombo, Brendan Haywood, and Tyrus Thomas is simply over-matched too often to think Charlotte can make any noise. 

Quote of the day comes from the Twitter feed of Jeff McDonald... "Tim Duncan on Tony Parker's link to summertime bar fight: "That's what we were going for this summer. To up our street cred."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/01/4870989/sixers-c-bynum-sidelined-with.html#storylink=cpy

Draft pick skeletons in the closet. 2005 revisited

Don’t believe the hype if ANYONE declares “winners and losers” as it relates to franchises in the 2010 NBA Draft. We do not know now. What we can do is look back at the 2005 NBA Draft.   

There were seven players selected that are either stars or superstars. Chris Paul should have been the number one pick. Instead he went fourth behind #1 Andrew Bogut, #2 Marvin Williams, #3 Deron Williams. D-Wil should have been second followed by David Lee (pictured at right), who was taken 30th. Bogut probably should have gone fourth with Danny Granger fifth. Granger was a steal at #17. 

Andrew Bynum is sixth in this five-year hindsight exercise. He was actually selected tenth by the Lakers. From a value standpoint our hindsight seventh pick, Monta Ellis was the best pick of the 2005 NBA Draft. Dude was snatched at #40 in 2005. 

The next tier of players begins with the hindsight eighth pick. (It becomes subjective as all get up so just roll with it.) #8 Ersan Ilyasova. You might say, “huh?”. Ilyasova is coming off a terrific season for the Bucks and he ranked as the eighth most efficient Small Forward in the NBA in 2009-10. Ilyasova was the 36th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.   

Lou Williams of the Sixers probably should have been the ninth pick. He went 45th. Jarrett Jack is our hindsight tenth pick. The pro’s pro ranked 20th (EFR) in 2009-10 among Point Guards. Jack was taken 22nd. 

The eleventh pick  in the do-over is Nate Robinson. “Little Nate” went 21st in `05. ...Andray Blatche should have been 12th. He was the 49th pick in 2005.  ...13th should have been Linas Kleiza. He was actually picked 27th. ...Raymond Felton was picked fifth but 14th would have been about right for the former North Carolina star. 

We’ll go with Marcin Gortat (pictured at left) as the should-have-been 15th pick. Gortat made nearly six million dollars to play behind Dwight Howard this season past. He has roughly 28 million still coming to him after a massive haul last summer in free agency. Gortat was the 57th pick in 2005. Brandon Bass is the 16th choice in this do-over of 2005. Bass was chosen 33rd on the forrealla. ...We’ll go with Francisco Garcia as the should-have-been 17th pick. Cisco went 23rd in `05.  

Ryan Gomes comes in as the 18th pick in the do-over. Traded to Portland yesterday, Gomes was originally the 50th pick in 2005 by the Boston Celtics. ...Ronny Turiaf gets the nod as the 19th selection in the re-do. He went 37th in 2005. 

The most subjective pick in our do-over is Charlie Villanueva slipping to 20th (not hating—just not a fan. He was only the 49th rated PF in 2009-10). Charlie V was seventh in 2005. ...Painfully for the Atlanta Hawks, we rate Marvin Williams as the should-have-been 21st pick. ...Hakim Warrick feels right as the 22nd pick. He was 19th in `05. ...Give us C.J. Miles 23rd in the do-over. Miles, who still has not touched his potential, was grabbed at #34 in 2005 by Utah. That closes out that “tier”. 

We will finish the do-over first round with: #24 Channing Frye (8th in `05), #25 Martell Webster (6th in `05), #26 Jason Maxiell (26th in `05), #27 Sean May (13th in `05), #28 Antoine Wright (15th in `05), #29 Joey Graham (16th in `05), and #30 Johan Petro (25th in `05). ...Be sure to follow us (click the “follow” button on upper left.)