December 8, 2010
PBP Roundup
Dec. 7

by Bradford Doolittle

The league takeover in New Orleans has sprung relocation speculations all over the Web. Naturally, I was drawn to Sam Amick's piece on Kansas City, in which he references a source that believes the league favors a Hornets move to Missouri. I put out some feelers on the subject to some of my former collegues in KC and without exception, the response was this: Who is going to own the team? No one believes it will happen. This isn't definitive. If the NBA really wants to go to KC--which I doubt--it'll happen. However, the Sprint Center has been around for a few years now, and there has not been a single company or wealthy individual in that city to express an interest in buying into the league. There is no real buzz on this subject in Kansas City and I'm not sure what would be the spark of any NBA plan to move there.

Elsewhere, the players' latest proposal in the CBA negotiations was leaked. The main points are that the union is willing to introduce a new BRI floor, which would give owners some flexibility in the portion of BRI that goes to the players. Also, the players reiterate their belief that the league needs enhanced revenue sharing. In effect, the players are saying that if the owners want to spend less on salaries, we'll give you that flexibility, but the onus is on you to exercise some fiscal responsibility. As for the revenue sharing, the stance is the same--if the league is profitable league-wide, but individual franchises are struggling, it's on the owners to share the wealth. These are reasonable demands by the players. However, the owners know all too well that they can't trust themselves to exercise restraint when it comes to handing out fat contracts. Whether or not it's right, the owners are seeking a system that protects them from themselves.

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LIVE AT BASKETBALL PROSPECTUS

1. Toasts of NYC: KU, Syracuse Cruise. (Free preview)

2. Poll Position: Rise of the Aztec Empire. (premium)

3. Cream of the Crop: Is Record vs. Winning Teams Meaningful?. (premium)

4. The Replacements. A look at big nights from little-used Ian Mahimni and Patty Mills. (Unfiltered)

5. Kevin Pelton, our resident expert on hoops in the northwest, breaks down Washington's win over Portland--college style. (free preview)

6. Sebastian Pruiti breaks down the Pacers' breakout season using video, text and all sorts of tricks. (premium)

7. The latest Trend Watch looks at the Lakers' slump, Wesley Matthews' ascension and the history of point guard scoring. (premium)

8. Why are so interested in the North Carolina Tar Heels? (Unfiltered)

9. Kevin Pelton reviews FreeDarko Presents the Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History. (Unfiltered)

10. Illinois made an early statement by dispatching with Gonzaga in Seattle. (premium)

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FANTASY PROJECTIONS

Our downloadable Basketball Fantasy Projection spreadsheets are available for anyone with a premium subscription to Basketball Prospectus. The sheet is updated daily and can be found on your 'Manage Profile' page. The download includes a forecast for the next seven days for every player, game-by-game projections and health status updates.

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HOT FIVES

POWER RATING (POW)      GR (12/06/10)          WP82 -- ALL              WP82 -- ROOKIES
celtics,boston, 63.0    smith,josh, 54.6       james,lebron, 24.4       griffin,blake, 16.0
spurs,sanantonio, 61.8  scola,luis, 39.3       bryant,kobe, 22.3        wall,john, 9.2
mavericks,dallas, 61.4  gasol,pau, 33.6        williams,deron, 22.2     bledsoe,eric, 3.4
heat,miami, 55.8        curry,stephen, 33.0    ellis,monta, 18.8        cousins,demarcus, 2.9
jazz,utah, 55.8         matthews,wesley, 32.3  westbrook,russell, 18.3  fields,landry, 3.1

Note: GR leaders are from previous night only.

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TUESDAY'S BOX SCORES & RECAPS

NOTE: Glossary is at bottom of page.

HAWKS 116, NETS 101 (box)

NJN (6-16)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   ATL (15-8)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
lopez,brook          71%  33%  0.88  -24 31.0   smith,josh           79%  25%  1.82  +17 54.6
harris,devin         77%  26%  1.23  - 8 24.4   crawford,jamal       76%  28%  1.36  +19 20.0
morrow,anthony       73%  11%  1.49  - 3 13.6   horford,al           74%  29%  1.22  +25 18.3
farmar,jordan        56%  25%  1.34  -20 13.3   bibby,mike           55%  15%  1.46  - 3 10.4
humphries,kris       50%  15%  1.54  -15  9.2   williams,marvin      51%  14%  1.07  +21  7.5
james,damion         40%  28%  0.86  + 1  6.9   powell,josh          31%  14%  1.00  -12  6.9
ross,quinton         17%  11%  1.85  + 2  5.6   pachulia,zaza        29%  12%  1.07  - 4  3.9
favors,derrick       50%   6%  1.34    0  5.2   wilkins,damien       21%  18%  1.51  - 2  3.8
petro,johan          29%  13%  0.97  + 9  4.1   teague,jeff          10%   8%  2.04  + 4  2.6
outlaw,travis        36%  10%  0.98  -17  2.5   collins,jason        40%   5%  1.49  - 2  2.5
uzoh,ben              1%   -%  0.00    0  0.0   thomas,etan           7%  21%  1.93  +12  2.5
murphy,troy (DNP)                               evans,maurice        27%  14%  0.10    0  0.2
PACE: 87.2          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 87.2          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
nets,newjersey     115.9 .514  .256 .149 .187   hawks,atlanta      133.1 .641  .294 .126 .141

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BOBCATS 100, NUGGETS 98 (box)

DEN (13-7)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   CHA (8-13)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
billups,chauncey     73%  29%  1.30  + 2 25.4   jackson,stephen      83%  30%  1.16  - 5 29.3
hilario,nenê         76%  11%  1.51  + 9 21.3   wallace,gerald       85%  27%  0.97  + 3 24.4
anthony,carmelo      81%  36%  0.65  - 1 15.9   diaw,boris           85%  12%  0.97  + 9 14.8
smith,j.r.           51%  25%  1.14  + 2 14.5   thomas,tyrus         32%  36%  1.20  + 6 13.5
afflalo,arron        68%  16%  0.96  - 3  8.2   augustin,d.j.        79%  15%  1.61    0 12.0
lawson,ty            40%  11%  1.39  - 8  6.7   livingston,shaun     40%  19%  0.80  + 4  6.7
harrington,al        42%  21%  0.91  - 2  5.5   mcguire,dominic      31%  15%  0.56  + 1  3.6
williams,shelden     51%   2%  1.88  - 6  4.2   mohammed,nazr        31%   8%  0.81  - 1  2.3
forbes,gary          19%   9%  1.37  - 3  3.7   brown,kwame          35%   3%  0.78  - 7  0.9
balkman,renaldo (DNP)                           brown,derrick (DNP)
carter,anthony (DNP)                            carroll,matt (DNP)
ely,melvin (DNP)                                collins,sherron (DNP)
PACE: 93.1          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 93.1          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
nuggets,denver     105.3 .500  .171 .172 .151   bobcats,charlotte  107.5 .558  .242 .193 .095

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76ERS 117, CAVALIERS 97 (box)

CLE (7-14)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   PHI (7-14)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
gibson,daniel        57%  17%  1.77  -16 28.9   young,thaddeus       59%  22%  1.96  +18 21.6
hickson,j.j.         56%  32%  0.87  - 3 18.9   meeks,jodie          62%  25%  1.08  +16 21.5
williams,maurice     66%  29%  0.93  - 9 18.5   holiday,jrue         84%  22%  1.04  +17 19.6
jamison,antawn       44%  23%  1.24  -17  8.8   iguodala,andre       75%  21%  1.10  +15 19.0
parker,anthony       64%  13%  0.93  - 1  6.8   williams,lou         43%  33%  1.35  + 5 16.8
varejao,anderson     61%   9%  1.36  -12  6.8   hawes,spencer        66%   9%  2.22  +10 16.3
sessions,ramon       34%  27%  1.04  -11  6.5   brand,elton          63%  16%  1.11  +13  8.5
graham,joey          42%  11%  1.22  - 8  5.5   nocioni,andres       16%   4%  5.61  + 1  6.9
powe,leon            21%  16%  1.27  - 3  4.1   turner,evan          30%  12%  0.64  + 5  1.9
hollins,ryan         18%  10%  1.23  - 5  2.3   battie,tony (DNP)
williams,jawad       31%  19%  0.33  -14  1.5   kapono,jason (DNP)
moon,jamario          6%  17%  0.67  - 1  0.7   speights,marreese (DNP)
PACE: 88.6          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 88.6          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
cavaliers,cleve    109.4 .545  .125 .135 .084   76ers,philadelphia 132.0 .568  .273 .079 .149

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MAVERICKS 105, WARRIORS 100 (box)

GSW (8-13)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   DAL (17-4)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
curry,stephen        87%  23%  1.12  - 2 33.0   nowitzki,dirk        76%  28%  1.06  + 5 18.1
lee,david            84%  29%  0.90  -10 22.1   butler,caron         71%  25%  1.03  - 5 16.2
wright,dorell        93%  16%  1.38  - 3 16.6   terry,jason          69%  19%  1.45  +17 13.4
ellis,monta          89%  25%  0.93  - 7 14.0   mahinmi,ian          44%  18%  1.50  + 8 11.7
biedrins,andris      66%   6%  2.06  - 5  6.1   barea,jose           36%  25%  0.73  + 7 10.9
radmanovic,vladimir  11%  33%  1.56  + 1  5.0   kidd,jason           68%   7%  1.94  - 6 10.8
gadzuric,dan         11%  34%  1.63  + 8  4.8   stevenson,deshawn    27%  26%  1.08  - 8  9.5
amundson,louis       35%   8%  1.05  - 6  2.0   marion,shawn         53%  15%  1.12  +10  9.0
williams,reggie      24%   9%  0.10  - 1  0.3   haywood,brendan      37%  14%  1.03  - 4  6.1
adrien,jeff (DNP)                               ajinca,alexis        19%  22%  1.12  + 1  3.3
bell,charlie (DNP)                              cardinal,brian (DNP)
lin,jeremy (DNP)                                novak,steve (DNP)
PACE: 96.3          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 96.3          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
warriors,goldenst  103.9 .522  .310 .197 .059   mavericks,dallas   109.0 .489  .340 .166 .123

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ROCKETS 97, PISTONS 83 (box)

DET (7-15)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   HOU (8-13)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
prince,tayshaun      68%  20%  0.94  -26 16.9   scola,luis           85%  35%  1.13  +30 39.3
mcgrady,tracy        47%  23%  1.07  + 4 16.4   lowry,kyle           88%  24%  1.54  +27 26.1
gordon,ben           77%  20%  0.64  - 7 14.2   martin,kevin         54%  31%  1.22  +17 23.4
stuckey,rodney       68%  34%  0.85  -17 11.8   battier,shane        78%   4%  2.60  +31  8.4
monroe,greg          51%   8%  1.80  - 7 10.3   hayes,chuck          53%   9%  0.84  +16  3.7
wallace,ben          59%   9%  1.25  -14  9.3   budinger,chase       22%  35%  0.73  -17  3.3
daye,austin          38%  18%  1.68  + 9  7.5   hill,jordan          12%   6%  2.07  -13  2.5
hamilton,richard     32%  33%  0.59  -12  4.2   miller,brad          28%  29%  0.22  -19  1.7
maxiell,jason        36%  10%  0.90  + 1  2.0   taylor,jermaine      12%  23%  0.28  -13  1.1
wilcox,chris         16%  18%  0.58  + 5  1.7   lee,courtney         46%   7%  0.53  - 3  1.1
bynum,will            8%  27%  0.18  - 6  0.3   jeffries,jared       23%   2%  0.00  +14  0.0
summers,dajuan (DNP)   smith,ishmael (DNP)
PACE: 87.8          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 87.8          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
pistons,detroit     94.6 .458  .257 .205 .105   rockets,houston    110.5 .507  .250 .182 .155

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TRAIL BLAZERS 106, SUNS 99 (box)

PHX (11-10)         PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   POR (10-11)         PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
nash,steve           81%  30%  1.21  + 5 28.4   matthews,wesley      77%  24%  1.23  +10 32.3
hill,grant           81%  27%  1.00  - 7 26.1   aldridge,lamarcus    82%  20%  1.13  +11 21.7
frye,channing        61%  16%  1.44  - 1 14.6   mills,patrick        60%  19%  1.03    0 16.5
dudley,jared         67%  14%  1.38  - 7 12.9   roy,brandon          79%  28%  0.95  - 3 16.1
turkoglu,hedo        38%  10%  2.44  - 2  8.3   fernandez,rudy       47%  15%  1.53  +12  8.4
barron,earl          68%  12%  0.57  - 1  5.0   batum,nicolas        59%  18%  1.00  + 8  7.5
richardson,jason     50%  15%  0.58  - 2  3.9   camby,marcus         52%  15%  1.04  - 8  5.1
warrick,hakim        22%  30%  0.59  - 5  3.3   przybilla,joel       21%   3%  3.61  + 3  2.7
childress,josh       13%  15%  0.79  - 3  2.4   johnson,armon        12%   7%  1.95  + 1  2.0
dragic,goran         19%  21%  0.18  -12  0.9   cunningham,dante     12%  25%  0.58  + 1  1.2
clark,earl (DNP)                                marks,sean (DNP)
siler,garret (DNP)                              miller,andre (DNP)
PACE: 93.5          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 93.5          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
suns,phoenix       105.9 .562  .069 .203 .099   trailblazers,port  113.4 .500  .143 .128 .155

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LAKERS 115, WIZARDS 108 (box)

WAS (6-14)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR   LAL (15-6)          PLY%  USG   PCP  +/-   GR
young,nick           67%  31%  1.41  + 9 28.3   gasol,pau            89%  23%  1.33  +19 33.6
wall,john            79%  23%  1.61  -13 23.6   odom,lamar           77%  20%  1.41  + 6 25.3
arenas,gilbert       78%  32%  0.87  -12 21.8   bryant,kobe          73%  40%  1.02  +20 24.7
booker,trevor        45%  19%  1.40  +17 20.7   artest,ron           82%   8%  1.72  +16 13.4
jianlian,yi          54%  12%  0.98  -24  5.6   blake,steve          36%  12%  2.26  -11 12.0
mcgee,javale         44%  14%  0.89  -16  5.2   fisher,derek         64%  14%  1.49  +18  8.1
thornton,al          32%  14%  0.80  -16  4.5   brown,shannon        38%  20%  1.57  -11  7.1
seraphin,kevin       40%   5%  1.78  +11  4.1   caracter,derrick     11%  23%  0.18  -12  0.7
hinrich,kirk         43%  10%  1.27  +11  4.1   barnes,matt          29%   9%  0.39  -10  0.6
armstrong,hilton     17%   3%  0.00  - 2  0.0   ebanks,devin (DNP)
seraphin,kevin (DNP)                            vujacic,sasha (DNP)
martin,cartier (DNP)                            walton,luke (DNP)
PACE: 91.6          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%   PACE: 91.6          ORTG eFG%  oRB%  TO% FTA%
wizards,washington 117.9 .572  .281 .186 .125   lakers,losangeles  125.5 .489  .468 .142 .168

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NEWS & MOVES

Minutiae from around the league

TRAIL BLAZERS: "The Portland Trail Blazers have assigned rookie forward Luke Babbitt to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by General Manager Rich Cho. " (press release)
Raymond and Charlie's long-lost brother hasn't been getting any run in Portland, so down to the D-League he goes.

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FAB FIVE

A selection of our favorite NBA links

1. Great stuff from Neil Paine, looking at the NBA players that have carried the greatest offensive load, post-merger.

2. I seriously doubt that we'll see Antoine Walker in an NBA uniform anytime soon, but you can't blame a guy for trying.

3. This is about Kevin Seraphin, but Bulls rookie Omer Asik would do well to heed the same advice.

4. This piece gave me pause. We don't write much about the WNBA here, even though one of us works for the Seattle Storm. However, if I felt like there was a demand, I would have no hesitation to advocate for the addition of a writer that focuses on women's hoops. What do think?

5. Jerry Sloan, on Miami's Big Three, as only he can put it.

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ON TAP

Tonight in the NBA

WTC  VIS @ HOM,  GAMETIME     NBAPET LINE    OFFICIALS
+16  den @ bos,  7:00 PM EST [ bos by 10 ]   Ed Malloy, Kevin Fehr, Kane Fitzgerald
-12  chi @ cle,  7:00 PM EST [ chi by  9 ]   Bill Spooner, Matt Boland, Kevin Scott
+ 1  tor @ nyk,  7:30 PM EST [ nyk by 11 ]   Dick Bavetta, Tony Brothers, Violet Palmer
+ 3  ind @ mil,  8:00 PM EST [ ind by  2 ]   Dan Crawford, Brian Forte, Eric Lewis
- 7  okc @ min,  8:00 PM EST [ okc by  4 ]   Scott Foster, Rodney Mott, Haywoode Workman
- 6  det @ nwo,  8:00 PM EST [ nwo by 14 ]   Steve Javie, Brent Barnaky, Courtney Kirkland
- 2  gsw @ sas,  8:30 PM EST [ sas by 19 ]   Monty McCutchen, Olandis Poole, Michael Smith
+ 3  mem @ phx,  9:00 PM EST [ phx by  7 ]   Greg Willard, Mark Ayotte, Leroy Richardson
+16  mia @ uta,  9:00 PM EST [ mia by  4 ]   Joe Crawford, Tony Brown, Mark Lindsay
- 9  was @ sac, 10:00 PM EST [ sac by  3 ]   Zach Zarba, Derek Richardson, Gary Zielinski
- 8  lal @ lac, 10:30 PM EST [ lal by 14 ]   Ron Garretson, Tommy Nunez Jr., Tom Washington
Note: WTC is a junk stat rating the "watchability" of a game, taking into
account the quality of the opponents and the likelihood of a close game.

Through Tuesday, 314 of 1,230 games (25.5%) have been played in the 2010-11 NBA regular season.

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GLOSSARY
+/- (Plus-Minus) Raw data is from official box scores from NBA.com.
GR (Game Rating) Reflects a player's Points Created total, or the portion of his team's offense for which he gets credit based on his box score line. This number is then adjusted for estimated defensive performance based on box score counterpart productivity. GR is pace-adjusted so you can compare players from game to game.
PCP (Points Created Per Possession Used) An estimate of each player's points created per possession used, a measure of offensive efficiency. The stat accounts for a player's entire box score line, not just the scoring categories.
PLY% (Play percentage) An estimate of the percentage of a team's possessions on which the player was on the court.
USG An estimate of how many of those plays a player used by shooting, going to the line or committing a turnover, with a portion the team's offensive rebound total subtracted.
TEAM STATS
PACE: Estimated possessions in the game.
ORTG: A team's points per 100 possessions.
eFG%: Team's shooting percentage with an extra half-point added for each made three-point field goal.
oRB%: Percentage of a team's misses that they retrieved off the offensive glass.
TO%: Percentage of at team's possessions resulting in a turnover.
FTA%: Percentage of a team's possessions resulting in a trip to the foul line.

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Bradford Doolittle is an author of Basketball Prospectus. You can contact Bradford by clicking here or click here to see Bradford's other articles.