NBA News Summary

Not much has happened in the NBA in the past couple of days, but I thought I’d do a quick summary on the few deals that have been agreed.

In one of the earlier moves of the free agency period, point guard Darren Collison opted out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead, he decided to join the Sacramento Kings on a $16 million contract which will acquire Collison’s services for 3 years. He will be a loss for the Clippers, especially as he’s just come off his best season yet, averaging 11.4 points per game in just under 26 minutes per game. However, he is easily replaceable and the cap space he has freed up could be key in trying to get Paul Pierce. How successful this deal was for the Kings, all depends on the decision of free agent Isaiah Thomas. If he decides to stay, then Collison will provide great back up from the bench, but if he leaves then Collison may struggle as a starting point guard.

The Clippers then instantly splashed the cash on Spencer Hawes, a center who recently left the Cleveland Cavaliers. He signed a 4 year deal worth $23 million and is joining a franchise that could be serious contenders next year with the additions they’ve made in the free agency. This is a great move by the Clippers and is being widely lauded by fans and the media. It provides them with better back up at the center position than they had last year (no disrespect to Ryan Hollins) and allows them to add another three-point shooter to their side, alongside J.J. Redick.

Another team who were after Hawes were the Portland Trail Blazers. When it became obvious they weren’t going to get him, Portland turned their attention to Chris Kaman, a center who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers. The rumours of a signing were confirmed on Kaman’s twitter account. Details of the contract haven’t been released yet, although he is expected to sign a 2 year deal for $10 million. Kaman is expected to back up Robin Lopez at the center, with young prospect Meyers Leonard hoping to learn from the seasoned veteran.

In one of only a few deals to be completed in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks added Swiss shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha. The Hawks are currently in the market for a small forward and Sefolosha could easily fill that role due to his versatility. But with the Hawks still actively going after other small forwards, such as Carmelo Anthony and Luol Deng, Sefolosha may be forced to drop to the bench, maybe as a 6th man. At $12 million for 3 years, Atlanta haven’t over-spent on him, leaving cap space for another big signing, if they’re able to make one.

There was no surprise in Dallas as Dirk Nowitzki added another 3 years to his contract, signing a $10 million a year extension. He took a pay cut, losing nearly 50% of his salary in the process. This is reportedly to allow the Mavericks to put some pieces around him to create a stronger side. A very selfless move that epitomises his illustrious career.

Another predictable move came out of Brooklyn in the eighth coaching change made this off season, as Lionel Hollins became head coach just four days after Jason Kidd left the team. Hollins’ last job was in Memphis where he took a Grizzlies side to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history. He gained respect from the NBA world and only ended his tenure due to “philosophical differences” with the new management at the club.

The San Antonio Spurs have been on a high recently, after winning the 2014 NBA championship and securing two solid draft picks in Kyle Anderson and Nemanja Dangubic. However, they were brought back down to Earth with a bang recently as it was revealed that backup point guard Patty Mills was required to have surgery on his right shoulder. An official return date hasn’t been released, but he is expected to miss 7-9 months. And the bad news kept on coming when Manu Ginobili was told that he had a stress fracture in his leg. This could keep him out for two months. Both stars are likely to miss the FIBA World Cup which starts in late August.

What's Wrong with Roy Hibbert?

During the regular season, Roy Hibbert was one of the most dominating players at his position. He contended for the Defensive Player of the Year award all year (eventually finishing 2nd) and he helped the Pacers to the best record in the East.

But recently he hasn't looked like his usual self. The skills that make him one of the most formidable centers in the league seem to have evaporated. This slide started to take its toll on him earlier in the season, but now, in the play-offs, it has taken a turn for the worse.

Hibbert looks like a changed man in the play-offs... And the change isn't a good one

A quick look at his stats summarises the problem quite neatly. His minutes may have decreased by about 6 minutes per game compared to the regular season, but the rest of his stats have spiralled downwards by a greater extent. He's only grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game, a number that is beaten by Pacers guard Lance Stephenson (to name one of many). This fact is only made worse by the height difference between the guys, which currently stands at 9 inches (Stephenson standing at 6'5", Hibbert at 7'2"). He's also only scoring 4.8 points per game on 31% shooting. Hibbert was never a fantastic attribute to any team on the offensive end of the court, but these numbers are poor for any starter in the NBA. It was also announced recently that Hibbert has the worst Player Effiency Rating (PER) of any player to play in the All-Star game in the same season. The previous record stood at 5.3, set by Larry Costello in the 1965 playoffs. Hibbert reduced that number... To 0.8.

One statistic that Hibbert could always pride himself on was the amount blocks he made. He was 4th in the league this season, averaging 2.5 blocks every game. In the post-season, this number has dwindled to 0.6. The more worrying number that can be taken from the box score is that Roy Hibbert gets blocked 1.6 times a game (including one big block by Kyle Korver in Game 1). Opposing players seem to have lost the fear factor that was once held against him. When he swatting shots left, right and centre, players were afraid to come in the paint, in fear of being rejected. But now, due to his poor form, players are starting to attack the basket, and converting easy lay-ups and bank shots. As well as losing some of his presence, some of his leadership qualities seem to have vanished. Part of the job description for being a center is you have to be loud and direct your players. As the team's form went downhill, so did Hibbert's dominance, an effect that is only amplified by a squad as fractured as Indiana's (more on that later).

Roy Hibbert beat Larry Costello's (above) record for lowest post-season PER for an All-Star. The record stood for nearly 50 years.

Some sympathy has to be offered to Frank Vogel, head coach of the Indiana Pacers. He can't exactly go to his back-up plan, as that happens to be Andrew Bynum, who isn't exactly known as the personification of reliability. Bynum is currently out with knee soreness, and is unlikely to return before the end of the season. Vogel also has Ian Mahinmi at his disposal, but the Frenchman has failed to impress in his 6 seasons in the NBA, so is likely to stay on the bench. Two more options available to Vogel come in the form of Luis Scola and David West. Either West could slide down to the 5 position, or he could keep his preferred power forward position and play Scola at center. This, however, would leave the Pacers with a distinct lack of height, as both West and Scola stand at 6'9". All of these tactics are risky at any time of the season, never mind when you are trailing in game 6 of the play-offs, but this won't put Vogel off. When asked if he was going to consider changing his starting 5 ahead of the game, he replied "I'd consider everything at this point".

It's not exactly like Hibbert's facing up against the best players in the league (no disrespect to the Hawks' roster). The Hawks are the 8th seed for a reason. Their starting center is Pero Antic, a man who is only averaging 7 points per game and 4 boards himself. Drop down to the Hawks' bench and you'll find players such as Elton Brand and Mike Muscala. Brand is in the twilight years of his career, so his effect is limited to coming off the bench for 15-17 minutes a game. Muscala has only played in one post-season game this year, and even then, he only made a fleeting 5 minute appearance.

Frank Vogel has had a tough job on his hands considering the expectations placed upon the fairly inexperienced coach.

All in all, Roy Hibbert seems to be the epitome of the Pacers' problems this season. They haven't had the dominant season that everybody thought they were going to have. They coasted the last half of the season, knowing that a top two play-off berth in the East was guaranteed (barring a miracle run from one of the lower teams in the conference, such as the Bulls or Nets). Towards the tail end of this season, their campaign seemed to go off the rails a bit. There have been reports of training fights, the most recent one being between Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner. Frank Vogel, a coach in only his 4th season in the NBA must be finding it hard to control all those egos, whilst being expected to at least win the Eastern conference finals. All of these problems have mounted up, and with Roy Hibbert under-performing the most, he is the perfect scape goat to pin all the blame on.

First Round Surprise?

So, that's it. The regular season is done, and now we move onto play-offs. There are plenty of great match-ups this year, and there are so many contenders for the title.

But first the contenders have to get through their first-round matches against the lower-seeded teams left in the competition. Looking at these fixtures, there are plenty of potential banana-skins for the top teams.



Indiana Pacers (1) v Atlanta Hawks (8)

Indiana have been awful lately, only holding to the top seed through their good start to the season, and Miami's reluctance to take it off them. Atlanta on the other hand have been in fairly good form, winning 7 of their past 10 games, including a win at Indiana, where they beat them by 19 points.

In my eyes, there are two key factors to this contest. The first is whether big stars like Paul George and Lance Stephenson will turn up. Stephenson has been a bit quieter recently, and he can't do that in the post-season. George should perform well, but could struggle to bear the load on his own.

The other factor lies with the big men. Pau Millsap has had a very good season, and has been the base on which the Hawks have built their success. Roy Hibbert has also had a decent season, but has been utterly appalling recently. If this continues in the play-offs, Indy could struggle, especially with the news that Andrew Bynum is to miss the first round.

Verdict: Indy won't be counting their chickens before they've hatched, but they should hold Atlanta off. Indy in 5.

Toronto Raptors (3) v Brooklyn Nets (6)

The Raptors made their first post-season since 2008 this year, in a very impressive 3rd seed. Their reward? Playing a vastly improved Brooklyn side. Life doesn't seem fair, eh?

Since January 1st, the Nets have looked a completely different team. They have gone 35-17 (a percentage of .673). This record would have put them 2nd in the East. However, a terrible start to the year means they're languishing down in 6th place.

Toronto have had a fantastic season (their best to date based on their record) and deserve the 3rd spot. However, they do lack a bit of play-off experience, with big stars like DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry never having played in the post-season. Brooklyn have no such problem with seasoned players like Deron Williams, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Verdict: Brooklyn could surprise people here. It depends on how Toronto's stars perform on the big play-off stage. Brooklyn in 6.


Oklahoma City Thunder (2) v Memphis Grizzlies (7)

Memphis only just made the play-offs this year after a thrilling 3 way battle, with the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks. OKC have been comfortably in contention all season, as expected.

To get the 7th berth, the Grizzlies went on a fantastic 6-2 run in April (whilst being undefeated at home), which earned Dave Joerger the honour of being named the Western Conference Coach of the Month. The Thunder have been struggling recently, losing 4 of their 8 games, including what should have been a gimme win against the Pelicans.

However, this lack of form could just be the Thunder coasting. Having Russell Westbrook and the scoring champ in the form of Kevin Durant is a big aid in their play-off bid.

Verdict: The Thunder's poor form can be put down to them resting their big stars. Expect them to cruise. Thunder in 5.


Los Angeles Clippers (3) v Golden State Warriors (6)

The Clippers and the Warriors are two brilliant teams to watch, and this play-off series is unlikely to disappoint. The season series is tied at 2-2, so it's guaranteed to be a close one.

The battle to watch will be between the star point guards, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry. Both have had fantastic seasons this year, and have been the natural leaders of their respective teams. Paul has the benefit of experience over Curry, but it is hard to defend Curry, a man averaging 42% from beyond the arc. This could be the key to who wins the series.

Another battle would have been between the big men of each side. However, Warriors' starting centre Andrew Bogut has been injured and likely to miss the playoffs. Jermaine O'Neal is a good replacement, but could struggle against younger, more athetlic stars like Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Verdict: This could be the best first-round match-up to watch. The Clippers should get the job done, but the Warriors could spring a surprise if shooters like Curry and Thompson step up. Clippers in 6.