I’m not quite sure how this slipped by me last week, but here’s the latest of the Texas Legends promo videos. Featuring: the exquisite stylings of J.R. Slagendorff, and relative newcomer on the scene, Draino.
Or, for those who can’t handle videos longer than 30 seconds:
Tyson Chandler, with one of the weirdest game-winning dunks in the history of weird game-winning dunks. It was more surreal than clutch, as the fine people running Team USA’s scrimmage at the World Basketball festival decided to use a bizarre, sudden-death overtime system. Regardless, Tyson Chandler had a free look at an alley-oop thanks to JaVale McGee, and won it for the Blue team.
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve installed the Disqus comment system, which is a much better format for conversation/interaction/response. Sign up for an account if you’d like and if you haven’t already, and play around with the functions and settings.
Tom Haberstroh calculated the league’s top bargains by using WARP2 (Kevin Pelton’s updated version of WARP, or wins above replacement player) and contract values. One Mav came up pretty high on the list. It wasn’t Dirk Nowitzki, who is undoubtedly Dallas’ top producer independent of salary. It wasn’t Rodrigue Beaubois, who generated a ton of points on a measly contract. It was frequent scapegoat Jason Kidd, who is a veritable WARP-generating machine.
A few follow-ups on yesterday’s post regarding new positional designations: The Thunder (courtesy of Royce Young), the Knicks (courtesy of Seth Rosenthal), and the Rockets (courtesy of Tom Martin). Great player classifications and questions all around.
Mark Cuban, on his blog: “What I have learned in 11 years in the sports business is that the dumbest guys in the room are always the media guys. Some do a decent job of reporting, most just spew opinions. And those opinions change more often than they brush their teeth. So what the media was saying was of zero impact or influence on what i was going to do. Listening to the media only increases your odds of failing at whatever you are doing. So I ignore them.”
Aykis Yerocostas of Pick and Scroll has been profiling the unsung heroes of each NBA team, and his pick for the Mavs is Shawn Marion: “Age and injuries have slowed down the Matrix from his stellar Phoenix days, but he’s still a player that can have a big impact on the court. He’s a stellar rebounder for his position (career 21.2 DRB%, although only 15.2% last year), and a good defender too. Last year when he was on the court, Dallas performed 3.3 pp100 better on offense, and 3.5 pp100 better on defense. His very good FG% comes from his great shot selection, as he tends to take the majority of his shots around the rim or from less than 10 feet. He’s very good at taking care of the ball (10.6 TOV%), and playing defense without fouling.”
Mouhammad Faye continues to impress me. He seems a very likely candidate to end up in Frisco next season, and Faye could conceivably grow into a defensive-minded, reserve 3 for the Mavs down the line. His length is already paying dividends, but for now he’s far too lean to be an effective defender against NBA forwards.
Moussa Seck has officially developed a cult following. His status as a Summer League novelty was cemented by his string of impact plays in the first half against the Bucks, and the good news is that all of his plays should be replicable. He didn’t luck into a few skyhooks, he simply contested shots on defense, ran at the rim while looking for the feed on offense, and worked hard to rebound. Nothing special, but good progress for Seck.
Amara Sy hit a step-back 20-footer. What?
Not only does Seck have roughly the same waist size as Rodrigue Beaubois, but he’s also by far the slowest player on the team. To call him ‘lumbering’ doesn’t say the half of it. He’s also not very quick off his feet, which makes him pretty vulnerable defensively, even with his absurd height and length.
Jeremy Lin hasn’t demonstrated an ability to execute more difficult drives, but he can definitely finish after contact. Lin had one of the most impressive finishes of the Summer League thus far on an and one over first rounder Larry Sanders.
Omar Samhan has had some strong showings, but he’s not great at protecting the rim. Just doesn’t have the athleticism for it. He’s a pretty decent post defender though, and that’s where his size and strength really give him an edge.
Good for North Texas product Eric Tramiel, who was able to make the Mavs’ Summer League roster. Unfortunately, this is where the road ends for him. Just doesn’t look the part of an NBA player. Tramiel holds his own on the defensive end, but he’s definitely a limited offensive player, even at this level.
Clarification: Dominique Jones’ jumper is shaky, but it’s actually not too shabby within the free throw line extended. It’s when Jones steps outside that his touch starts to go.
Rodrigue Beaubois has been picking up a ton of fouls, but he did make up for a pretty inconsistent game by nailing a game-winner in overtime. All’s well that ends well?
A terrific look back at Dirk’s various milestones in Dallas, but it doesn’t feel very complete to me. Nowitzki has accomplished plenty, but I don’t think I’d mind if he came back to write a few more chapters. Would you?
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Photo from Getty Images via Trey Kerby.