Hooponomics

Best Performances

Lebron James (0.301 WARP, 26-9-12, 2 stl, 3 tov)
Russell Westbrook (0.225 WARP, 43-7-5, 1 stl, 3 tov)

Notable Mention: Mario Chalmers (0.181 WARP, 25-2-3, 2 stl, 1 tov)

Worst Performances

James Harden (-0.141 WARP, 8-10-2, 4 tov)

In what was probably the most exciting game of the series thus far, the Heat held off a remarkable performance by Russell Westbrook to secure a 3-1 lead in this series. Right from the opening tip, the tone of the game was fast and physical. OKC opened up hot this time around and were up by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Miami maintained composure and steadily climbed back into the game. In a back and forth 4^th quarter, Chalmers came up big for the Heat after being cold for the past 2 games, scoring the Heat’s final 5 points. Lebron suffered what seemed to be painful leg cramps in the 4^th quarter, but doing his best Paul Pierce circa 2008 impression, returned to the game to drain a huge game tying 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining in the game.

Though Westbrook was seemingly scoring at will last night, he made a critical error in fouling Mario Chalmers with less than 5 seconds remaining on the shot clock when all the Thunder had to do was get a stop in order to get the ball back. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that Russell Westbrook is the 7^th player to make 20 or more field goals in an NBA Finals game, but he’s the first of those players to lose.

If the Thunder want any shot at getting back in this series, they need James Harden to show up. Harden looked tentative all night and missed shots that he normally makes (including a breakaway layup that he normally would have power dunked). If he doesn’t get his act together, he might very well get the label that Lebron had last year as the “choker” of the Finals.

Best Performances

None

All the stars had a turnover-ridden game (LBJ – 4 tovs, Dwade – 5 tovs, KD – 5 tovs) so no one made the best performances list last night. However, Lebron played another complete game, with a game-high WARP of 0.144 on 29-14-3, and once again came up big in the 4th quarter while KD did not continue his usual 4th quarter barrage last night. KD found himself in foul trouble yet again this game, forcing him to sit out in the 3rd quarter when he picked up his fourth foul. Thunder coach Scott Brooks made a questionable decision of sitting out a struggling Russell Westbrook at the same time and the Heat coincidentally erased the Thunder lead and pulled ahead to close out the 3Q. The 4th quarter was a battle back and forth, but ultimately, the Big 3 of the Heat were just too much for the Thunder.

The Thunder were uncharacteristically 15-24 from the line last night, which makes all the difference in the tight margins that these Finals games have been settled by.

Best Performances
Rajon Rondo (Game 2, 0.350 WARP, 44-8-10, 3 stl, 3 tov)
LeBron James (Game 1, 0.311 WARP, 32-13-3, 1 stl, 3 blk, 3 tov)
LeBron James (Game 2, 0.256 WARP, 34-10-7, 1 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov)

The two leaders in playoff cumulative SWARP continue their excellent play.

The Hornets won’t need to translate college statistics into NBA statistics to figure out that they should pick Anthony Davis in the NBA draft.  Now watch Michael Jordan and the Bobcats bungle the 2nd pick by selecting future bust Andre Drummond.

Back in April, I posted about Jet Chang, a Division II standout from Taiwan who played in the Portsmouth Invitational tournament. As a follow up to that post, Rob Reheuser reviewed Chang’s Portsmouth performance by saying…

“BYU-Hawaii’s Jet Chang, a Division II All-American, finished on a solid scoring note, leading Sales Systems LTD with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He also didn’t have a single rebound or assist, which basically summed up his play here this week. When he made shots, he looked okay. When he didn’t, he failed to move the needle as a serious prospect.”

Currently, Jet is ranked  No. 84 in Chad Ford’s Top 100 prospects for ESPN and is going through his NBA draft workouts. I came across some draft workout footage that sheds a little more light on his abilities as a shooting guard. Granted, he is shooting against no defense but you can see that his form and range is pretty impressive. He has nice arc and rotation on the ball so it is not a surprise that the majority of his shots in the video hit nothing but net. Also, I like that he keeps his release point high, which combined with his 6’4″ frame and leaping ability will allow him to get shots off over taller defenders in the NBA. I would say that he already possesses a better shot than Jeremy Lin. Also, his ability to throw it down two-handed with ease is a plus and will surprise his defenders.

However, let’s be careful not to assume this kid is the second coming of Jeremy Lin. His handle isn’t tight and does look a little suspect, as you can see for a split second in the video at 1:11. Also, he has an amateur crossover for a guard, as seen at the 1:04 mark. Lastly, the video displays nothing about his on-the-court maturity/IQ, passing, rebounding, and defense but it is enough to keep my interest to watch out for him this summer. Hopefully, he gets an invite to play in the NBA Summer League this July to gain some needed exposure.

Leaders
LeBron James, MIA (0.868 SWARP, 30-10.8-6.2, 2.7 stl, 0.7 blk, 2.8 tov, 0.504/0.167/0.725)
Tim Duncan, SAS (0.507 SWARP, 21-9.3-3.3, 1 stl, 2 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.594/0/0.8)
Russell Westbrook, OKC (0.494 SWARP, 25.6-5.4-4.6, 1.6 stl, 0 blk, 0.8 tov, 0.485/0.3/0.818)
Rajon Rondo, BOS (0.47 SWARP, 14.1-7.4-12.7, 2.1 stl, 0.1 blk, 3.9 tov, 0.447/0.143/0.765)
Kobe Bryant, LAL (0.363 SWARP, 31.2-5.2-3.4, 1.6 stl, 0 blk, 2.2 tov, 0.426/0.111/0.863)
Kevin Durant, OKC (0.359 SWARP, 26.8-8.6-3.2, 1.6 stl, 0.6 blk, 2.8 tov, 0.516/0.391/0.853)
Dwyane Wade, MIA (0.301 SWARP, 26.2-5.5-3.3, 1.3 stl, 1.3 blk, 3.2 tov, 0.472/0.375/0.717)
Paul Pierce, BOS (0.243 SWARP, 17.7-7.4-3.3, 1.7 stl, 1.3 blk, 2.6 tov, 0.402/0.348/0.943)
Blake Griffin, LAC (0.23 SWARP, 21-7.8-2.3, 1.3 stl, 2 blk, 1.8 tov, 0.468/0/0.8)
Andrew Bynum, LAL (0.196 SWARP, 16.6-9.4-1.6, 0.6 stl, 1.8 blk, 1.6 tov, 0.435/0/0.852)
Kevin Garnett, BOS (0.194 SWARP, 19.7-11-1.3, 1.4 stl, 1.1 blk, 2.9 tov, 0.504/0.5/0.75)
Serge Ibaka, OKC (0.189 SWARP, 8.8-5.6-0.8, 0.4 stl, 4 blk, 0.2 tov, 0.468/0/0)

Laggards
Leandro Barbosa, IND (-0.17 SWARP, 5.2-2-1.2, 0.5 stl, 0 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.318/0/0.5)
Caron Butler, LAC (-0.19 SWARP, 7.5-3.5-1.8, 0.5 stl, 0.3 blk, 1.8 tov, 0.375/0.364/1)
Steve Blake, LAL (-0.208 SWARP, 4.6-3.4-1.2, 0.4 stl, 0 blk, 1.6 tov, 0.389/0.308/1)
Ramon Sessions, LAL (-0.319 SWARP, 6.8-2.4-3, 0 stl, 0.2 blk, 2.4 tov, 0.353/0/0.833)

Leaders
*LeBron James, MIA (1.309 SWARP, 29-8.7-5.9, 2.5 stl, 0.5 blk, 3.5 tov, 0.493/0.263/0.769)
*Rajon Rondo, BOS (1.012 SWARP, 15.3-6.7-12.3, 2.7 stl, 0.2 blk, 3.8 tov, 0.455/0.25/0.692)
*Tim Duncan, SAS (0.813 SWARP, 17.6-9-2.9, 1 stl, 1.9 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.54/0/0.792)
*Russell Westbrook, OKC (0.784 SWARP, 24.1-4.7-4.4, 1.9 stl, 0 blk, 1.6 tov, 0.472/0.304/0.815)
*Dwyane Wade, MIA (0.718 SWARP, 23.8-4.5-3.6, 2 stl, 1.3 blk, 2.8 tov, 0.486/0.294/0.663)
*Kevin Garnett, BOS (0.645 SWARP, 19.2-10.8-1.6, 1.4 stl, 1.5 blk, 2.2 tov, 0.505/0.5/0.811)
*Kevin Durant, OKC (0.614 SWARP, 26.7-8.1-3.4, 1.3 stl, 1.1 blk, 3.2 tov, 0.488/0.367/0.836)
Kobe Bryant, LAL (0.538 SWARP, 30-4.8-4.3, 1.3 stl, 0.2 blk, 2.8 tov, 0.439/0.283/0.832)
Andrew Bynum, LAL (0.513 SWARP, 16.7-11.1-1.5, 0.4 stl, 3.1 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.477/0/0.783)
Darren Collison, IND (0.484 SWARP, 8.7-1.3-3, 1.3 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov, 0.514/0.364/0.87)
*James Harden, OKC (0.478 SWARP, 17-5-3.1, 2 stl, 0.2 blk, 2.1 tov, 0.419/0.333/0.901)
Blake Griffin, LAC (0.475 SWARP, 20.2-7.2-2.7, 1.8 stl, 0.8 blk, 2.3 tov, 0.516/0/0.635)
Jrue Holiday, PHI (0.455 SWARP, 15.8-4.7-5.2, 1.5 stl, 0.6 blk, 2 tov, 0.413/0.408/0.864)
Chris Paul, LAC (0.413 SWARP, 17.5-4.7-8.3, 2.8 stl, 0.1 blk, 3.8 tov, 0.429/0.364/0.86)
Roy Hibbert, IND (0.394 SWARP, 11.7-11.2-1.1, 0.4 stl, 3.1 blk, 2 tov, 0.5/1/0.667)
*Serge Ibaka, OKC (0.391 SWARP, 9.8-6.1-0.7, 0.4 stl, 3.7 blk, 0.4 tov, 0.538/0.25/0.6)
*Paul Pierce, BOS (0.373 SWARP, 19.3-6.9-3.5, 1.5 stl, 1 blk, 3 tov, 0.417/0.347/0.913)
Carmelo Anthony, NYK (0.321 SWARP, 27.8-8.2-2.2, 1.2 stl, 0.2 blk, 2.8 tov, 0.419/0.222/0.756)
Marc Gasol, MEM (0.315 SWARP, 14.5-7-3.3, 0.3 stl, 1.7 blk, 1.7 tov, 0.517/0/0.794)
Al Jefferson, UTA (0.305 SWARP, 18.3-8.5-2.5, 1.3 stl, 0.8 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.529/0/0.25)
*Tony Parker, SAS (0.302 SWARP, 19.1-3.4-7.1, 1 stl, 0 blk, 3.3 tov, 0.43/0.286/0.81)
Pau Gasol, LAL (0.283 SWARP, 12.5-9.5-3.7, 0.5 stl, 2.1 blk, 1.7 tov, 0.434/0.4/0.828)
David West, IND (0.282 SWARP, 15.3-8.5-2, 0.7 stl, 0.5 blk, 1.5 tov, 0.446/0/0.818)
Joakim Noah, CHI (0.279 SWARP, 15-9.3-3, 0.7 stl, 1.3 blk, 0.3 tov, 0.731/0/0.636)

Laggards
Matt Barnes, LAL (-0.21 SWARP, 3.5-3.3-1.5, 0.9 stl, 0.5 blk, 1.4 tov, 0.271/0.161/0.5)
*Kendrick Perkins, OKC (-0.218 SWARP, 3.9-5.9-0.9, 0.3 stl, 1.6 blk, 1.2 tov, 0.412/0/1)
Leandro Barbosa, IND (-0.235 SWARP, 5.7-2.2-1.3, 0.5 stl, 0.1 blk, 1.2 tov, 0.37/0.15/0.5)
Evan Turner, PHI (-0.242 SWARP, 11.2-7.5-2.5, 0.9 stl, 0.5 blk, 2.3 tov, 0.364/0/0.688)
Steve Blake, LAL (-0.242 SWARP, 6.3-2.8-2.3, 0.7 stl, 0.2 blk, 1.3 tov, 0.419/0.419/0.714)
Jason Collins, ATL (-0.255 SWARP, 2.4-2.4-0, 0.2 stl, 0 blk, 2 tov, 0.545/0/0)
Caron Butler, LAC (-0.308 SWARP, 8.7-2.8-1.1, 0.6 stl, 0.2 blk, 1.6 tov, 0.375/0.286/0.833)
Ramon Sessions, LAL (-0.401 SWARP, 9.7-3-3.6, 0.3 stl, 0.1 blk, 1.8 tov, 0.377/0.16/0.743)

* denotes still playing in the playoffs

Can someone explain how San Antonio can take a player waived by the worst team in history (Charlotte), make him a starter, and have him contribute significant minutes for a team has now won nineteen straight games???

Best Performances
LeBron James (Game 6, 0.359 WARP, 28-6-7, 3 stl, 1 tov)
LeBron James (Game 5, 0.289 WARP, 30-10-8, 1 stl, 1 blk, 4 tov)

Worst Performances
Ray Allen (Game 6, -0.162 WARP, 9-3-0, 3 tov)

Best Performances
Rajon Rondo (0.246 WARP, 13-4-14, 2 stl, 3 tov)
Brandon Bass (0.240 WARP, 27-6-1, 2 stl, 2 blk, 2 tov)

Worst Performances
Ramon Sessions (-0.279 WARP, 8-5-3, 1 blk, 6 tov, 1-6 FG)
Thaddeus Young (-0.164 WARP, 6-4-1, 4 tov)