Episode 37 – Old Dudes Talking About Old Basketball

Yeah, Emile and I spend most of the time talking about late-80s/early-90s NBA… so what?

Episode 37 [ 1:49:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Photographer: @drozdetsky

Title: Industrial Playground

Date taken: 1/25/2013

Location: Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood

Description: Hidden in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood lies this often neglected court, situated just beside the Bloomfield bridge. I must admit, I lived in this neighborhood for a year or two before I discovered it on a long walk with the pup.  Randomly placed among crowded ramshackle homes and rusty remains of long dead industry, it’s of no surprise that even in the height of summer you’ll find the court littered with trash and broken glass. Not a baller in sight.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

Hey guys. Sorry, this edition is a few days late and a little short. Why? Maybe I got stuck in a funk, watching Rosanne reruns nonstop and eating ice cream straight from the tub. Maybe I got abducted by aliens and had a probe stuck somewhere uncomfortable. Maybe not. Still asking why? That’s none of your damn business, and I’ll thank you to stay out of my personal affairs.

I did manage to grab Rookie data two weeks after I last grabbed the data, so we’re still working on steady two week intervals with that. In case you care. You might not.

Enough dilly dallying. On with the show, guys.

2012 Draft Class Watch

Draft Class 2012 numbers before games on 2/5/2013; category leaders highlighted in yellow.

If there was one thing I wanted to do with IGCN this season, it’s to keep up with the rookies at a steady interval. So here I am, doing that. Unfortunately, this draft class data is all that’s in this week’s IGCN.

The data, as mentioned above, was taken Tuesday night — two weeks after last installment’s data …and that was two weeks after the installment before that’s data was taken, etc etc…. I plan on doing something more in depth tracking those numbers from week to week at the All Star break, so keep an eye out for that if it tickles your pickle. Anyways, stats time..

Anthony Davis

I just accidently typed “Anthongy Davis” but luckily caught myself shortly thereafter. Heh. Oops.

Davis shot almost 60% on field goals in January (.591), so that’s cool, but he also had his minutes drop down to 24.8. His per 36 minute numbers through 2/8/2013 show that he is averaging 6.3 PPG, 9.4 RPG, and 2.3 BPG if we consider his numbers staying consistent through playing 36 minutes per game on average. Oh, and only 3.0 PF per 36 to boot. Nice little rookie campaign he’s throwing together. But you’d expect that from the number one overall pick.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Luckily, MKG’s nasty looking head injury was “just” a concussion and nothing more serious (I know, concussions are serious, but with him dropping out cold after impact it’s kind of a best case scenario). As far as stats go, he’s not had a real stellar go of it lately. He has not scored in double digits since January 14th (though he hasn’t taken double digit shot attempts in a game since then either to be fair) and has seen his minutes dwindle a bit — down to 25.1 in January from 28 in December and 27.3 in November. He also only shot .392 FG% in January.

Bradley Beal

Beal took sometime off to help his wrist injury heal, so there’s not a large amount of stat data for him the last couple weeks. He returned on the 8th (stats not included in the chart above) to go 1 of five for the field for three points in a blow out win (!!) against the Nets.

Dion Waiters

Dion is shooting .477 so far in February. His shot selection continues to improve and he’s up to 48% around the rim for the season (he was below 40% for a bit of time earlier this season and, kinda rightfully, caused a bit of bitching in the Cavsfanosphere ). Waiters also shot for over .400 for the first month this season, shooting .412 for the month of January (no, October’s one game doesn’t count as a month). He has also seen a loss of about four or five minutes of playing time in January and February (32.1 in Nov, 31.5 in Dec, 27.5 in Jan, 26.2 so far in February before games on 2/9). If a little less playing time means a more efficient Dion Waiters, Cavs fans aren’t gonna hate on that….or at least the rational ones won’t.

Thomas Robinson

Robinson had a nice stretch at the end of January, going for two double doubles in a three game span (12 and 14, 10 and 10). In those two games, he played 26 minutes and 23 minutes. When he’s been given the minutes (basically 20+), he’s done well for the Kings. In games where he’s played 20-29 minutes, of which there have been fourteen, he has shot .465 (vs. .443 for the season) and averaged 8.3 pts/6.7 rpg. Problem is, he’s not really getting consistent minutes. He has 32 games this season where he’s played under 20 minutes, and just one game where he’s gotten 30+.

Damian Lillard

This draft class’ rookie of the year continues to be pretty much nothing short of awesome. He is averaging 21.4 points in February on .471 shooting in five games, and .393 on threes, .933 on free throws (these stats were taken after games on 8th, which are not included in the chart above). Lillard gives a big fat middle finger to the rookie wall…to this point at least.

Harrison Barnes

Barnes had a stellar game in a blowout win over the Suns on the 2nd, going 9 of 11 from the field for 21 points to go along with 8 rebounds in 32 minutes of play. He had another nice scoring game in another blowout, this time on the losing end of things against the Thunder, going for 19 points on 9 shots (with no assists or rebounds and one steal) in 29 minutes. Overall, he’s continued to be a solid contributor on an exciting Warriors team. I’ve grown to be a big fan of Barnes on this GSW team, especially alongside the other young’n Klay Thompson.

Terrence Ross

Terrence to the dunk contest! Yay!

Mr. Ross continues to be an interesting prospect for Toronto, he just doesn’t get consistent playing time [yet]. His shooting percentage is pretty low still, but I won’t fault him for that due to said playing time sitch. I’m pretty sure the Rudy Gay trade has not helped him out much in that regard. Since Gay’s arrival, Ross has averaged 13 minutes per game in four games. On the season, he’s averaging 17.5 MPG. Not a huge difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Andre Drummond

He’s got a stress fracture in his back and will be out for at least a month. I don’t want to talk about it. *wipes away a tear*

Drummond takes injury absence having a very, very shiny PER of 22.5 and per 36 minutes numbers of 13.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, and just 1.5 turnovers.

Austin Rivers

Austin ended up shooting a FG% of .284 for the month of January — .158 on threes and .391 on free throws. Send this kid down to the DLeague already, get him some burn where he can try and figure something out. On the positive side, he’s shooting better at .421 in four games in February, so that’s nice….I’m trying not to be an asshole when it comes to talking about this guy but he’s making it hard, dammit.

That’s all for now, folks. Keep on keepin’ on.

It’s fairly easy to see which NBA teams are moving in the right direction and which are moving in the wrong direction.

When New Orleans landed Anthony Davis with the top pick along with Austin Rivers later in the same draft, a lot of people were excited about the future of the franchise. Add these two top talents to Eric Gordon and it appeared a foundation was being built.

When it was announced the Hornets would be changing their name, it seemed the perfect opportunity to catapult the franchise into contender status. Instead? They fell flat.

By changing their name from Hornets to the Pelicans, the Hornets cemented themselves in the pool of teams with animal mascots – a pool with very little success.

Of the 66 NBA championships, only 12% have been won by teams with animal mascots – and six of those were the Michael Jordan led Bulls. This comes even when animals make up 27% of all NBA team mascots. If you’re into silver linings, by changing from a bug to a bird, the Hornicans can point to the Hawks as a team to have won a ring with a bird mascot, but their single title came in 1958.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Kings are moving to Seattle to become the Supersonics. Teams with job titles as mascots (Kings, Mavericks, Cavaliers, Wizards, Warriors) make up 17% of the league and have won only 3% of the championships. Highlighting why this is such a great move, even the Kings’ franchise’s sole championship came under the name Royals, not Kings – which is much less a job title as it is a lineage.

Changing their name from the Kings to the SuperSonics – a characteristic of the region of Seattle – they have increased their chance to win a ring exponentially. Regional characteristics / figures (Lakers, Celtics, Trail Blazers, Pacers, 76ers, Clippers, Heat, Thunder, Jazz, Magic) comprise 33% of all league mascots, yet have won an incredible 61% of the total championships. Not only that, but the SuperSonics have already won one title.

This is partly unfair – the city of New Orleans SHOULD own the rights to the Jazz mascot, and therefore a world of constant title competition. But that does not mean they needed to compound their misfortune by selecting a mascot from those least likely to win a ring.

Even if New Orleans felt there was no other geographical mascot that made sense other than the Jazz, they could have easily looked at the share of titles won by inanimate objects as a source for new names. Inanimate objects (Pistons, Nets, Rockets, Knickerbockers, Spurs, Nuggets, Suns) have won 20% of possible titles compared to comprising 23% of the total mascots. While not great odds, there is a loophole here that is going unnoticed – the Bullets.

The Bullets as a mascot have won two NBA titles and sit in a much more friendly category of mascots (inanimate objects) than teams named after people like the Cavaliers, Mavericks, Wizards, and Warriors. With Dallas having just won a ring, and the Warriors having three titles in their history, those teams are unlikely to change their names anytime soon – which means the Cavaliers and Wizards are competing over the name Bullets.

Of course, the old Bullets are the new Wizards – and it is those types of decisions that have doomed that franchise.

Which means the franchise that could most increase their chance at a title with a name change would be Cleveland – by becoming the Cleveland Bullets.

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Photographer: David Zavac

Location: Danny Thomas Park (South Toledo)

Date Taken: December 21, 2012

Site: Fear the Sword (David’s author page)

Description: I always imagine Nate Miles, a UCONN recruit from the neighborhood who was always as much of a legend as he was an actual star, shooting and shooting and shooting. Jim Calhoun said that Miles would be the best scorer on his 2009 team that ultimately made its way to the Final Four. Miles ended up getting kicked out of UCONN before he could even play a game, and never made it.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

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Title: Fory Honl’s Court (private), North Portland

Photographer: Kevin Baumbach

Date taken: Late September, 2012

Description: This is a court tucked away on the side lot of a house in a largely unknown pocket of North Portland.  Rain or shine, once or twice a week, year round (although it gets difficult to get a game when it gets dark at 4 near the winter solstice), Fory Honl sends an email or text out for 3 on 3 pick-up basketball.  Many of the participants, male and female, ranging in age from 20′s to 60′s, are family and  most of the others are close friends and high school pals.  All participants can still hold their own.  The backboards once belonged in the Memorial Coliseum, former home of the Portland Trail Blazers.  Fory, now in his early 60′s, usually ends up on the winning end of games because of his unbelievable accuracy.  Some days, he’ll hit 90% of his shots, and grab the rebound on 10% of his misses.  Players’ kids are always welcome and can be regularly seen on the peripheral, running along the sidelines or playing on the play structure on the south end.  A beer and a conversation often follow the last game before we thank Fory, say goodbye, and look forward to our next opportunity to continue playing the game we don’t want to give up playing.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

Title: Close at 10

Photographer (for all photos in this post): @hellzbelzz

Location: Lincoln Elementary in Lakewood, OH

Date: 12/17/2012

Title: Cudell

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Date: 12/17/2012

Title: Powerlines

Location: Islander Apartment Complex in Middleburg Hts, OH

Date: 12/22/2012

Title: Dead End Street Ball

Location: Middleburg Hts, OH

Date: 1/1/2013

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

Episode 36 – 2k13 Talk
We love 2k13 and we’re sure you do too!  Join Boosh, Demetri, Fendo from Dancing with Noah and myself  talk about 2k13 for an hour.  Yeah, it’s as good as it sounds.

Episode 36 [ 1:11:34 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Title: Chain Mesh

Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

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Title: Rope Mesh

Location: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

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Title: Imaginary Mesh

Location: Cuzco, Peru

Photographer: Marc d’Avernas

Description: The chain mesh is my stomping grounds and the other two I came across on my travels.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

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Photographer: Carrie Davison

Title: Court, Hoop and Sky

Website: www.cphotographs.com

Date: Saturday, January 12, 2013

Description: This basketball court is located at Beaty Park in Warren, PA. It borders a residential area outside of down-town Warren next to Beaty Middle School.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.