Here for your blogging needs

[Lottery_Mafia]

Dear All

Some of you may have seen the most recent blog on RealGM about two misconceptions about the Bobcats upcoming season: http://basketball.realgm.com/blog/23037 ... -14-Season

That was my first/trial article for RealGM, since then I have accepted the role as RealGM's Bobcats blogger! I just thought I would introduce my self to the loyal forum users, my names is James Plowright, I have written for Bobcats Planet, Bobcats.com and recently started my own website thelotterymafia.com.

As you are the main guys I will be writing for, I thought it would be good to create a thread where people can post anything they think would be interesting to write about. I will obviously have my own ideas, but if there were any trade targets, anything you became particularly concerned with or draft targets post here and I will do my best to cover it and make sure I give you a credit for the topic in the article

If anyone finds it curious how a recent University graduate from England is more passionate about the Bobcats than just about anything then find out here:

http://thelotterymafia.com/2013/05/01/j ... ef-writer/

Thanks all

[Liver_Pooty]

In before someone request anything related to Jeremy Lamb.

[fatlever]

well now that you are a contributor for the site, i hope we see you post here in the forum more often. i'll add this thread to the index so it will be easy to find. feel free to bump it when you post a story and others can dig it up if they have an article idea.

[Lottery_Mafia]

That sounds great, thanks.

I will try to as much as I can, obviously I have time restraints like any of us do and I have to split my "NBA web time" across Bobcats Planet, Real GM and my own site, but now I am contributing I will try to become more involved.

[Lottery_Mafia]

I am looking to write my next blog this week, I have a few ideas but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas

[Eoghan]

MJ said he wanted to spend money this offseason, you could speculate how he could go about doing it. Our biggest need is a SG that can actually shoot and be worth starting but those seem pretty thin in 2014's FA class. I think swinging a trade makes more sense but our most likely trade asset is Jefferson?

[mrknowitall215]

I am looking to write my next blog this week, I have a few ideas but was just wondering if anyone had any ideas

I don't know exactly what do you mean by ideas, but I have a few things going on with the Bobcats that I think should be mentioned, from Biyombo's sudden emergence into a more than serviceable big now that he's actually catching the basketball & rebounding well, to the new defensive identity that the team has adopted under Clifford's coaching. You have to admit that it's more than quite a accomplishment for this team to go from being dead last in defensive efficiency by a wide margin the past 2 seasons to top 10 so far this year, granted it was just preseason and two regular season games

[fatlever]

adding to what others have said - perfect time for an in-depth look at the new offense and new defense brought by clifford.

of course i would also be in favor of articles about the following:

the ladycats
steph ready
eryn gradwell
the awfulness of ben gordon
walter herrmann
where are they now? - tyrus thomas
famous people who love the bobcats
the future of rufus

[Lottery_Mafia]

I am going to do an in depth look at the offence and defence after a few more games (approx 10), the sample size is so small right now, all statistics are skewed (Pachulia, Jordan Hill and Spencer Hawes lead the league in PER). I think I am going to do a post looking at Biz's emergence and also the connecting capability of Josh McRoberts, MJ and Clifford have both come out recently saying he was the key to this team. Thanks for the feedback everyone

[Eoghan]

This isn't Charlotte specific but I thought of something today that Lamar might enjoy.

The Sky hook: Lost art or secret first victim of analytics?

Morey ball has to hate hook shots, right? Never a three and you rarely get fouled shooting one. All my life I've heard commentators pine over the lost art of the sky hook but without seeing Kareem play that much I'm pretty sure they're just really nostalgic about how deadly KAJ was with it. Is there even a way to find out Kareem's sky hook percentages to see if he was accurate enough to be worth more than a 3 or free throws?

[yosemiteben]

Good question.

[LamarMatic7]

This isn't Charlotte specific but I thought of something today that Lamar might enjoy.

The Sky hook: Lost art or secret first victim of analytics?

Morey ball has to hate hook shots, right? Never a three and you rarely get fouled shooting one. All my life I've heard commentators pine over the lost art of the sky hook but without seeing Kareem play that much I'm pretty sure they're just really nostalgic about how deadly KAJ was with it. Is there even a way to find out Kareem's sky hook percentages to see if he was accurate enough to be worth more than a 3 or free throws?

some thoughts on this:

1) isn't it fair to say that the sky hook itself was a lost art way before analytics came into play? certain late 80s/early 90s guys would attempt one from time to time but, all in all, it died after KAJ ended his career.

2) I think it's almost completely improbable that someone will start taking sky hooks in the Morey ball era. as you said, post play is discouraged and reserved only for the best (unless you're a very good passer or your team is adept at creating shots out of the post). and the AAU culture will prevent any youngster from picking it up. everything is so damn homogenized that it's so unlikely for a youngster to pick up such an oddity.

3) obviously, this is a biased opinion since you tend to notice and remember the times greats excel. but my feel-o-meter, from all of the games I've seen with Kareem, says that he was a good 50% at the sky hook. it feels like a pretty reliable weapon for him when you watch him in action.

but this definitely is a good idea. as I said a couple of days ago in the Around the NBA thread - I've been thinking that I have the resources and interest to produce way more content on vintage NBA. taking a Lakers playoff run, watching it and charting Kareem's sky hooks could be an idea for a good column.

[JDR720]

i love sky hooks, its the only post move i can do well.

[LamarMatic7]

i love sky hooks, its the only post move i can do well.

wow! really? a sky hook!?

I like taking sky hooks from the corner three while shooting the **** before practice. I think I've made three since last August...

[Eoghan]

This isn't Charlotte specific but I thought of something today that Lamar might enjoy.

The Sky hook: Lost art or secret first victim of analytics?

Morey ball has to hate hook shots, right? Never a three and you rarely get fouled shooting one. All my life I've heard commentators pine over the lost art of the sky hook but without seeing Kareem play that much I'm pretty sure they're just really nostalgic about how deadly KAJ was with it. Is there even a way to find out Kareem's sky hook percentages to see if he was accurate enough to be worth more than a 3 or free throws?

some thoughts on this:

1) isn't it fair to say that the sky hook itself was a lost art way before analytics came into play? certain late 80s/early 90s guys would attempt one from time to time but, all in all, it died after KAJ ended his career.

2) I think it's almost completely improbable that someone will start taking sky hooks in the Morey ball era. as you said, post play is discouraged and reserved only for the best (unless you're a very good passer or your team is adept at creating shots out of the post). and the AAU culture will prevent any youngster from picking it up. everything is so damn homogenized that it's so unlikely for a youngster to pick up such an oddity.

3) obviously, this is a biased opinion since you tend to notice and remember the times greats excel. but my feel-o-meter, from all of the games I've seen with Kareem, says that he was a good 50% at the sky hook. it feels like a pretty reliable weapon for him when you watch him in action.

but this definitely is a good idea. as I said a couple of days ago in the Around the NBA thread - I've been thinking that I have the resources and interest to produce way more content on vintage NBA. taking a Lakers playoff run, watching it and charting Kareem's sky hooks could be an idea for a good column.

1) That's definitely the way it seems but a caveat to that is I doubt analytics grew out of a vacuum. There has to have been some proto-Moreys using their nerdy basketball philosophical inclinations when they could. KAJ's last 10 years included the 3 point line so it would be interesting to see if there was a correlating decline in him using the sky hook. It is interesting that he had a stranglehold on the player efficiency rating (1st every season but '69-'70, '73-'74, and '79-'80 where he was 2nd) until the '81-'82 season when he starts dropping. I'd assume that's just age associated decline but the sky hook isn't really predicated on athleticism, right? So if he started relying on his sky hook more as he got older and his efficiency dropped correspondingly that could be interesting.

2) Yeah, analytics has to be the final nail in the coffin. Watching the NCAA tourney this year, it seems like the most prevalent post move is the standard over the shoulder jump hook and it either goes in or leads to an easy defensive rebound and occasional fast break.

[JDR720]

i love sky hooks, its the only post move i can do well.

wow! really? a sky hook!?

I like taking sky hooks from the corner three while shooting the **** before practice. I think I've made three since last August...

i have always wondered why players dont use it, its pretty simple shot. i guess they just dont have the touch. i would probably say my best shot overall is a floater i can hit those things from pretty far out.

my top 5 shots

1-floaters
2-mid-range jumper, catch and shoot or a step back thing i do. (dribbling away from the rim turn around and fire it)
3-sky hook (not much range on it though, probably 10 feet max)
4-layups/scoop layups
5-open catch and shoot three


if FT's count i would put that #1.

[LamarMatic7]

1) That's definitely the way it seems but a caveat to that is I doubt analytics grew out of a vacuum. There has to have been some proto-Moreys using their nerdy basketball philosophical inclinations when they could. KAJ's last 10 years included the 3 point line so it would be interesting to see if there was a correlating decline in him using the sky hook. It is interesting that he had a stranglehold on the player efficiency rating (1st every season but '69-'70, '73-'74, and '79-'80 where he was 2nd) until the '81-'82 season when he starts dropping. I'd assume that's just age associated decline but the sky hook isn't really predicated on athleticism, right? So if he started relying on his sky hook more as he got older and his efficiency dropped correspondingly that could be interesting.

2) Yeah, analytics has to be the final nail in the coffin. Watching the NCAA tourney this year, it seems like the most prevalent post move is the standard over the shoulder jump hook and it either goes in or leads to an easy defensive rebound and occasional fast break.

Oh yeah, they definitely didn't. Certain assistant coaches used +/- and on/off splits already in the mid-90s. Some hadn't caught up yet.

In regards to Kareem - wouldn't that be the case with every center and his post game though? His offensive efficiency decreasing with age due to the growing inability of getting dunks and having to take post shots, jumpers?

As far as the 3-point line of the 80s is concerned, I'm not certain how prevalent its impact would have been in this case. Teams adopted it very slowly. It was basically a gimmick the first five years. Very few had it in their strategic gameplan (Pitino's Knicks come to mind, he was an early adopter of the long ball).

[Eoghan]

In regards to Kareem - wouldn't that be the case with every center and his post game though? His offensive efficiency decreasing with age due to the growing inability of getting dunks and having to take post shots, jumpers?

Yeah that's mostly true. Some post games are better than others at drawing fouls though. Duncan used to visit the free throw line every game off the rip through, Nowitzki pump faked guys into him, etc. It's really difficult to get fouled shooting a sky hook.

It would be pretty difficult to research, for sure.

[LamarMatic7]

In regards to Kareem - wouldn't that be the case with every center and his post game though? His offensive efficiency decreasing with age due to the growing inability of getting dunks and having to take post shots, jumpers?

Yeah that's mostly true. Some post games are better than others at drawing fouls though. Duncan used to visit the free throw line every game off the rip through, Nowitzki pump faked guys into him, etc. It's really difficult to get fouled shooting a sky hook.

It would be pretty difficult to research, for sure.

This reminds me. I was checking stats.nba.com today for certain Big Al numbers and I took a look at the league-wide leaders in post offense.

Dirk is freaking second among players with at least 200 possessions in points per possession. He's eighth in post offense frequency, yet produces 1.07 points per a possession. Unreal.

Add to that the fact that each of Dallas's players excel when playing with Dirk (the JJ Barea's of the world having wide open lanes to the basket when teams hedge pick-n-rolls with Dirk) and it's crazy how impactful he still is. He'll soon turn 38.