Pippen On Bulls’ Playoff Failure

Some good quotes from Scottie Pippen courtesy of ESPN

“When you’re playing at this stage of the playoffs, the best of the best are still there and you have to have guys stepping up,” Pippen told ESPNChicago.com. “And I just felt like it finally caught up with the Bulls, who didn’t have consistent play from guys who needed to play big down the stretch. When those pieces are not falling into place, you’re going to fall out of it.

“Miami was the better team, they have better finishers and more finishers.”

Free Throw Shooting Brilliance In Playoffs

Dirk’s phenomenal shooting at the line Game One of the Western Conference Finals has peaked my curiosity.

Mavs = Masters Of Clutch In 2011 Playoffs

ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reports

Mavs Clutch Play

Consider the Mavs the kings of crunch time during these NBA playoffs.

Just check their numbers in the moments widely considered clutch, which is when the score is within five points with five minutes or less remaining. The Mavs have outscored their playoff foes by 29 points in 19 such minutes.

The Mavs performing well in clutch situations is certainly nothing new. They’re 29-12 in games decided by three points or less under coach Rick Carlisle. But they’ve taken it to a totally different level during the playoffs.

According to NBA.com’s Stats Cube, the Mavs’ clutch net rating (points per 100 possessions) in the playoffs is plus 73.91. That dwarfs their outstanding regular season clutch net rating of plus 25.12.

2011 Free Agent List

Unrestricted Free Agents

Guards: Delonte West, Jamal Crawford, TJ Ford, JJ Barea, Sasha Vujacic, Willie Green, Earl Watson, Ronnie Price, Carlos Arroyo, Anthony Carter, Mike Bibby, Roger Mason Jr, Marcus Banks, Roko Ukic, DJ Strawberry, Earl Boykins, Acie Law, Luther Head, Chris Quinn, Sebastian Telfair, Acie Law, Sherron Collins, John Lucas

Wings/ Forwards: Jason Richardson, Caron Butler, Tayshaun Prince, Andrei Kirilenko, Shane Battier, Grant Hill, JR Smith,

Artest Suspended

ESPN notes

Lakers forward Ron Artest was suspended one game without pay for his foul on Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals series against Dallas.

With 24.4 seconds left in the Mavericks’ 93-81 win over the Lakers, Artest reached out with his right hand and grabbed Barea by the face and essentially clotheslined him. Artest was immediately ejected after picking up his second technical foul.

2011 Playoffs: Miami’s Lineups vs Boston

Miami’s substitution pattern so far

• Q1 – first six minutes – starting lineup – Bibby, Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Big Z
• Q1 – 6 minute to 9 minute mark – Miami bring in Chalmers and J.Anthony for Bibby and Big Z respectively
• Q1 – 9 mins to 12 mins – Miami switch to a small ball lineup. They have J.Anthony as their sole big man alongside J.Jones, M.Chalmers and Wade/LeBron.
• Q2 – first 7/8 minutes – Bosh and Joel Anthony start teh second quarter. They begin alongside three bench players; Chalmers, M.Miller and J.Jones. Then Miami brings back in Wade or LeBron. A few moments later, they bring the other one back.
• Q2 – final 4 minutes – A few different lineups being used here. They came back with Bibby to finish the first half but kept Chalmers in the game during the second half. Big Z has remained on the bench. Then they decide whether to use (1) J.Anthony in a two big man lineup (2) or whether to go small with J.Jones with only one big (3) or whether to go big on the perimeter and use a non-PG lineup. I think this was the period in game one where they tried that (edit: it was the 6-9 minute mark of second quarter in game one).

2011 Head Coach Candidates

Excellent list complied by Henry Abbott over at Truehoop on available head coach candidates.

Well worth scanning through – link.

Larry Bird On 2011 Pacers

Some interesting quotes from Larry Bird on his 2011 Indiana Pacers players

Danny Granger

Granger had a good playoff series, but Bird felt he took some small steps backward this year and wants to see him step up his game.

“He’s a top-30 player,” Bird said. “I’ve always thought he could be an All-Star and he’s close, but he’s not there yet. I didn’t think he was as committed consistently as he’s been in the past. It would be really nice if he could be our second scorer.”

Link: Jerry Zgoda Article

Very good article by Jerry Zgoda examining the differences between Memphis’ + Minnesota’s development over the past two years when they both finished with 24 wins and 58 losses.

Link – click here

James Worthy Non-Trade

Interesting trade that never happened involving James Worthy – link

Before the 1986 draft, the Lakers, who had just lost to Houston’s Twin Towers — Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson — agreed to trade James Worthy for Aguirre and rising 7-footer Roy Tarpley.

Owner Jerry Buss pulled the trigger, personally, assuming General Manager Jerry West would be OK with it.

When West wasn’t, and in a big way, Buss asked Carter to let him out of the deal, saying he might lose his GM.