Toronto Raptors: Can John Lucas III Contend for the 6th Man of the Year Award?

 Toronto  No Responses »
Oct 132012
 

The Toronto Raptors have played two pre-season games so far.  One ended in a win, while the other ended in a very close loss.

The fact that the Raptors have only played two pre-season games is why this article may be a little biased towards John Lucas‘ play so far.

Lucas has shown he can take over in the offensive game. His ability to shoot the jumper, as well as make smart passes, has him being one of the better Raptors.

As mentioned earlier, two games in pre-season isn’t anything to rave about, but even last year in Chicago, Lucas showed that he could be a go-to guy on offense.

He brings three-point shooting to a team that lacked it last year,  making five out of the ten three pointers he has attempted so far. He is also shooting over 50 percent overall.

The problem here is that Kyle Lowry has not been playing, so Lucas has been getting more minutes. When Lowry comes back, Lucas will be behind Jose Calderon on the depth chart, making him the third point guard. 

Last year, Anthony Carter had the honor of being 3rd string and he barely played.  But Lucas is obviously a better player and more reliable than the veteran Carter, so he will be playing more minutes than Carter did.

One can say that Lucas has outplayed Calderon so far this pre-season and that his play might make Calderon expendable. 

Let’s just say Calderon gets traded. This means that Lucas gets more minutes and will be used much more effectively in Toronto than he was in Chicago.  He will be putting up better numbers and possibly leading the bench.

So far, Lucas is averaging 16 PPG on 59 percent shooting, to go along with 3.5 APG. These numbers aren’t CP3 or D-Rose numbers, but they are very good for coming off the bench in almost 23 minutes per game.

If Lucas can transition his pre-season game to the regular season, the Raptors are in good hands off the bench.

I write a blog with all up-to-date news on Toronto sports, including the Raptors, Maple Leafs and Blue Jays.

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Toronto Raptors: Can John Lucas III Win the 6th Man of the Year Award?

 Toronto  No Responses »
Oct 112012
 

The Toronto Raptors have played two pre-season games so far.  One ended in a win, while the other ended in a very close loss.

The fact that the Raptors have only played two pre-season games is why this article may be a little biased towards John Lucas’ play so far.

Lucas has shown he can take over in the offensive game. His ability to shoot the jumper, as well as make smart passes, has him being one of the better Raptors.

As mentioned earlier, two games in pre-season isn’t anything to rave about, but even last year in Chicago, Lucas showed that he could be a go-to guy on offense.

He brings three-point shooting to a team that lacked it last year,  making five out of the ten three pointers he has attempted so far. He is also shooting over 50 percent overall.

The problem here is that Kyle Lowry has not been playing, so Lucas has been getting more minutes. When Lowry comes back, Lucas will be behind Jose Calderon on the depth chart, making him the third point guard. 

Last year, Anthony Carter had the honor of being 3rd string and he barely played.  But Lucas is obviously a better player and more reliable than the veteran Carter, so he will be playing more minutes than Carter did.

One can say that Lucas has outplayed Calderon so far this pre-season and that his play might make Calderon expendable. 

Let’s just say Calderon gets traded. This means that Lucas gets more minutes and will be used much more effectively in Toronto than he was in Chicago.  He will be putting up better numbers and possibly leading the bench.

So far, Lucas is averaging 16 PPG on 59 percent shooting, to go along with 3.5 APG. These numbers aren’t CP3 or D-Rose numbers, but they are very good for coming off the bench in almost 23 minutes per game.

If Lucas can transition his pre-season game to the regular season, the Raptors are in good hands off the bench.

I write a blog with all up-to-date news on Toronto sports, including the Raptors, Maple Leafs and Blue Jays.

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Chicago Bulls Rumors: The Best Point Guards Remaining on the Market

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Jul 122012
 

The Chicago Bulls will be in the market for another free agent point guard, so who are the best remaining free agents still available on the market?

The Bulls signed Kirk Hinrich, a long-time fan favorite, this week.  But with C.J. Watson as good as gone and John Lucas’ status still up in the air, the Bulls still need another backup, veteran ball-handler in the backcourt.

Here is a list of free agent point guards who may be on the Bulls’ radar.

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NBA Free Agents 2012: Power Ranking Lakers’ Best Backcourt Options

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Jul 092012
 

Despite the huge acquisition of Steve Nash, the Los Angeles Lakers still have some work to do in the backcourt. 

For starters, they need the depth. Ramon Sessions isn’t likely to come back, and I don’t think there is a Laker fan that is eager to see Steve Blake turning the ball over almost as often as he misses open threes next season.

Beyond that, the Lakers have a bunch of unproven youth to bring off their bench for their two guard positions. Maybe one or some of these guys turns into a valuable player next year. There is athletic potential there, but that is certainly not something L.A. should be banking on.

The Lakers don’t have any cap room to bring in a free agent, but they could lure them with the mid-level exception or the veteran’s minimum. They could work another sign-and-trade, but they are about out of expendable resources.

With all that in mind, I have power ranked their best options. For this ranking, I have put a premium on the player’s ability to defend opposing point guards. With the added shooting of Nash, it is now imperative that the L.A. makes a priority of adding someone that can keep an opposing point guard out of the lane on at least a couple of drives. 

We are not talking about bringing in a guy that is going to reshape this team. We are talking about a player to give 15-20 minutes off the bench, play a little defense and perhaps add a point or two. 

None of these options is ideal, but they are the best the Lakers are going to be able to do with what they have to work with. 

 

1. Nate Robinson 

He’s a wild card, hasn’t always been regarded as the most positive influence in the locker room, can make horrible decisions on offense and defense and he shoots too much, but Nate Robinson is also a phenomenally athletic player with ample quickness. 

The Lakers would want to make it clear to Robinson what his role on this team would be, and if he in any way buys into this, then sign him. This is going to be a big if. Robinson is undoubtedly looking for a bigger role than the one the Lakers are offering. However, it is L.A., and he would be just one injury away from getting all the minutes he could handle. 

Robinson has the quickness to stay in front of guards like Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker. He isn’t going to shut them down, and he will get torched while gambling, but he will make them work to get past him. 

The other nice fit about Robinson is that he is a decent shooter, and that athleticism would look nice coming off of the Lakers bench. 

 

2. Delonte West

The Lakers are going to be hurt in their chances of signing West in the same ways they are with Robinson. He will likely be offered more than the mid-level exception, and a bigger role somewhere else.

However, according to slamonline.com, the two parties have reportedly had prior interest in each other, and one big season in L.A. and huge paydays await. Not to mention, he would have a chance to contend for a ring. 

West would be an excellent fit off the bench. He is an excellent defender and he can defend point and shooting guards. He is not an ideal answer to guard the quicker, smaller point guards, but he will offer more resistance than anything the Lakers have received in a long, long time. 

 

3. John Lucas

It is a fast and steep drop from West and Robinson to the next tier of guard options for the Lakers. The good news is that anyone from this tier is going to be far cheaper, and likely wouldn’t even eat up the entire mid-level exception.

Case in point, Mr. Lucas.

Lucas doesn’t do anything particularly well, but he is a well-rounded player who has shown eagerness to fit into a system. 

He is certainly not a stopper on defense, but he is solid against guards that can’t just overpower him, and that is really what the Lakers need. 

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NBA Rumors: Possible Destinations for Future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd

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Jun 202012
 

Jason Kidd has accomplished a lot in his 18-year stay in the NBA, but now the free agent must decide where he will continue his illustrious career.

According to Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Kidd is considering multiple options ahead of next year, including the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets and a return to the Dallas Mavericks.

The key for the veteran point guard is winning, no matter where he goes. 

Kidd says he would like to return to the Mavericks, even if it is on a one-year deal, but he acknowledged that he will likely no longer be a starter. He told the press that, “his days of playing 38 minutes are over.”

One key person that could affect Kidd in free agency is Nets point guard Deron Williams.

Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News has reported that Williams “is the key” to Kidd signing with Brooklyn. He says the two point guards have the same agent and have become close since their time playing together on the 2008 Olympic team.

The interesting factor is that Williams could also sign with Dallas this offseason. If that is the case, do not be surprised to see Kidd once again agree to be the backup for the All-Star.

If Williams and Kidd do not play together, look for the Bulls to be another option for the veteran.

As Derrick Rose attempts to recover from a torn ACL that he suffered in the playoffs, Chicago needs someone to fill his role and run the talented offense. According to Aggrey Sam of CSN Chicago, the team is already courting Kidd and Steve Nash.

This might end up being the best situation for the future Hall of Famer. 

The team showed this year that even without Rose, there is enough talent to compete for an NBA title. Also, they should have younger point guards John Lucas and C.J. Watson returning to play plenty of minutes at the position.

If Rose does make a full recovery by the final stretch of the season, Kidd would be more than happy to turn over the reins to the former MVP and settle into a backup role.

There are a lot of options for the man with over 17,000 career points, 11,000 career assists and 107 triple doubles. Any contender should make the smart move and sign Kidd, as his experience and leadership alone would be worth the cost.

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Chicago Bulls Must Go After an Elite Point Guard in Free Agency

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May 172012
 

Derrick Rose will be out rehabilitating a torn ACL for up to 12 months, meaning it’s time for the Chicago Bulls to pursue an elite point guard this summer.

While this is no time for the Bulls to panic, it is a time to scramble and ascertain the best solution possible. No one will replace Rose but, at least for the interim, the Chicago has to try.

As Sam Miller of NBA.com notes, history supports the notion that Rose will make a successful comeback. With that said, it’s the road to recovery that presents the most pressing problem.

In addition, a look at recent such surgeries on top players shows most returning to a high level of play, like Chris Paul (torn meniscus), Jamal Crawford, David West, Kyle Lowry and Al Jefferson. Tim Hardaway had the surgery in 1993-94, and while he wasn’t as explosive afterward, he was first team all-NBA three years later and twice an All-Star afterward. Dunk champion Blake Griffin didn’t have the ACL, but had a stress fracture and broken knee cap before winning the dunk contest. And there was the NFL’s Willis McGahee, who tore his ACL, MCL, PCL 10 years ago, and I think USPS, UPS and DOT. He had about 1,200 yards rushing last season.

Though most players, like Paul, tend to be at a reduced level the first season back and then regain a high level in their second season.

It’s great to know the odds favor a successful recovery, but what are the Bulls to do for up to a year without Rose? And just as importantly, what are they to do once he returns and is still attempting to regain his explosiveness?

Chicago needs a stopgap, and neither C.J. Watson nor John Lucas is the answer.

Combined, both Lucas and Watson filled in admirably for Rose during the regular season, helping lead the Bulls to an 18-9 record without their most valuable player. 

However, when Chicago needed them most, when the stakes were at their highest, the two were nowhere to be found.

Watson averaged just 7.3 points and 5.5 assists on 24.1 percent shooting in 27.3 minutes per game during the postseason. Lucas hardly fared any better, posting 7.5 points and 2.2 assists on 39.9 percent shooting against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Internally, the Bulls have the means to go on without Rose for a short period of time. For an extended period of time, like the entire year that they’re facing, though? Not so much.

So Chicago must take to the free-agent ranks to attempt to somewhat fill an irreplaceable hole.

The problem then becomes finances. After signing Rose to a monster extension, the Bulls only have the Mid-Level Exemption (MLE) to work with.

So while there are plenty of point guards to be had from this year’s free-agency pool, Chicago is limited in the caliber of moves they can make.

Could the Bulls convince a workhorse like Raymond Felton to relish in the opportunity of leading a championship-ready team for a year? Would Andre Miller be enticed by a one- or two-year deal worth between $5-$10 million? Is Jason Kidd fit for the job?

Answering those questions is a whole other conflict in itself. Not only must the Bulls convince a top-tier point guard to sign at a discounted rate, but they also must sell them on what is essentially a temporary starting job.

Could we really picture Steve Nash being interested in a below-market-value contract with a guarantee that he would be told to hit the bricks or relegated to a backup role in less than a year?

Absolutely not.

But while this seemingly appears to be an insurmountable obstacle, the Bulls cannot afford to be deterred; they must target an elite and proven point guard to run their offense for the time being.

Carlos Boozer (30), Kyle Korver (31), and Richard Hamilton (34) are at the win-now stages of their career, while the Bulls are at the win-now stage of their development.

Promising youngsters like Asik (25), Taj Gibson (26), Luol Deng (27) and Joakim Noah (27), along with Rose (23), suggest a promising future, but Chicago is one of the deepest teams in the NBA now, and is not necessarily guaranteed to be later.

The Bulls need to capitalize on their present depth, not merely their hopes for the future. But they cannot do that without a point guard, or even with inexperienced fillers.

They need an elite, veteran floor general to lead them in Rose’s absence, for however long that will be.

And while that’s easier said than done, the pursuit of a star-esque point guard is nothing short of a necessity.

Unless, of course, the Bulls are interested in another early postseason exit next year.

 

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NBA Playoffs 2012: Win or Go Home and the Chicago Bulls Go Home

 Chicago  No Responses »
May 112012
 

The promo on TNT says Win or Go Home, and that’s exactly what the Chicago Bulls did Thursday night in a game where the team and the coach both choked. To lose the way they did after overcoming a 12-point third quarter deficit and leading just about the whole fourth quarter had to leave a bitter taste to fans of the team. 

There are plenty of excuses for those looking for them. The loss of the teams only true star, Derrick Rose, and the heart and soul of the team, Joakim Noah, were too much to overcome.

The officiating cost the Bulls with the discrepancy in foul shots the Philadelphia 76ers benefited from.

Carlos Boozer not living up to his contract and scoring only three points in the deciding game.

You can come up with all kinds of reasons, but when you break it down, the players and the coach didn’t perform with the game on the line.

Despite all the adversity the Bulls faced, as has been Tom Thibodeau‘s mantra all season, “They had enough to win,” and they should have won.

Philadelphia is a mediocre team that beat a worn out and poorly coached Chicago Bulls team in this playoff series.

Thibodeau chose to run a couple of members of the bench mob into the ground. He played C.J. Watson and Omer Asik the entire second half, and they ended up being the key culprits in the final Bulls possession that led to Andre Iguodala’s game-winning free throws.

In addition to Watson and Asik, Rip Hamilton and Luol Deng barely left the court in the second half. Thibodeau rode the players who got him the lead like a rented mule.

It clearly showed he hasn’t learned anything when it comes to game management.

Asik was panting at times during that second half and had to be dead tired when he stepped to the line for those crucial free throws that cost the Bulls the game. He’s a terrible free-throw shooter to begin with. When you add in the fatigue factor for a player who only averaged 14.7 minutes a game during the season, the results should have been expected.  

Watson played more minutes in the second half than his season average of 23.7.

Thibodeau’s time allotment for his players was all over the place. Hamilton didn’t play in the fourth quarter a few games in this series after being brought here to get the team over the hump.

Kyle Korver shot well late in the season from the three-point line but only played five minutes Thursday. Ronnie Brewer was on the court for only 10 minutes after helping shut down Jrue Holiday Tuesday.

Thibodeau’s pet, John Lucas, only saw nine minutes of action, while back-up PG Mike James never saw the court the entire series in another mistake by the head coach.

Sitting up in the press box Tuesday night, I was a seat away from someone I know who has been an NBA scout. I heard him mentioning James to the guy sitting next to him, so I chimed in.

I had been saying all along James should be getting some minutes because he can run the offense as a true point guard while also offering more of a defensive presence at the same time. He agreed that James should be playing and was a better option than both Watson and Lucas.

Considering how poorly Watson played the entire series, and taking into account that if Lucas was a baseball player, he would be the “Human Rain Delay 2.” With how much clock he wastes dribbling the ball, James would have made sense.

Nothing made sense this entire series. The Bulls were only the fifth No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 since 1984.

One thing players always ask of a coach is consistency, and you get none of that with Thibodeau. There is no rhyme or reason for his substitution patterns. Some players can’t get off the bench, and others can’t get on it.

Despite the injuries the Bulls suffered, this was a winnable series. If the Sixers were named after a movie, it would be The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight.

The Bulls lost because of dumb decisions by players and coaches. There is no explanation for why Watson found it wise to pass the ball to a notoriously bad free-throw shooter with bad hands to boot instead of waiting to be fouled himself. Nothing good was going to come of that.

 

Bulls fans should be psyching up for Game 7 at the United Center Saturday instead of asking themselves, “Where does the team go from here?”

There are a lot of questions still to be asked. If the Bulls had lost on Tuesday, I had planned on asking Thibodeau if next year he would place less emphasis on getting the best record and more on the team being rested and ready for the playoffs.

I didn’t have a chance to ask that question, and there weren’t any right answers Thursday in the City of Brotherly Love.

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Chicago Bulls: Why They Must Turn to a Pair of Former Pistons to Win Game 5

 Chicago  No Responses »
May 082012
 

Richard Hamilton has played very little in the fourth quarter. Mike James has yet to play this series. If Tom Thibodeau wants to win Game 5, both of those things need to change.

Both James and Hamilton were members of the 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons and could be the key to turning around this series. The Bulls trail the 76ers 3-1 in the series and face elimination on Tuesday.

Hamilton has played less then seven minutes in the fourth quarter this series. He has sat the final quarter twice and only played 26 seconds in Game 4.

Take away Derrick Rose and Hamilton is the best distributor on the team. His 4.3 assists lead the team. John Lucas and C.J. Watson are averaging only seven assists combined.

Hamilton has also proven he is the only Bulls player capable of getting to the free throw line. His 5.3 free throw attempts per game are by far the best on the team. Joakim Noah is second with 3.7 attempts per game.

Without Rose and Noah, wouldn’t it make a lot of sense to lean on Hamilton?

It also would make a lot of sense for Thibodeau to call upon James to run the offense. When asked to play extended minutes during the regular season he played fairly well.

In five games where he played double digit minutes, he averaged 10 points and 5.4 assists. Compare that to the 18.6 points and seven assists the combo of Lucas and Watson are providing combined.

Also he is a better defender than both of them. Maybe he could slow down Jrue Holiday, who is averaging nearly 20 points per game, this series.

The season is on the line and unless Thibodeau wants the season to end, he’d be smart to lean heavily on these former Pistons. 

 

 

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @dachicagofan, and check out my weekly Bulls podcast every Wednesday on my site, The MG Experience.

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