Posts by Tom Ziller at FanHouse

Manu Ginobili hobbled through the Spurs' embarrassing five-game loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, dashing San Antonio's dreams of repeat O'Briens. And despite the wishes of an S.A. front office which would have liked to see Manu spend the summer recuperating, Ginobili got himself in shape to help Argentina defend its gold medal in Beijing. That didn't end well: Manu re-aggravated his injured ankle in the first half of Argentina's semifinal match against the United States. Argentina went on to earn bronze without Ginobili.

And now, it's gotten worse: Ginobili tells La Nacion he will need to have surgery to repair a damaged ligament, and he may miss the start of the NBA season.

I don't need to tell you how important Manu is to the Spurs. Really, he's more vital than ever. Houston stole away Brent Barry, leaving Tim Duncan and Tony Parker as the only Spurs who can score reliably. Duncan is getting up there in age, and his scoring output and efficiency sunk a bit last season. Parker's still lovely, but he's nowhere near the scorer Manu has been. Is it really up to Michael Finley to pump in threes and Fabricio Oberto to scoop up easy baskets? Are we going to be subjected to many Kurt Thomas baseline "jumpers" (more like flat-footed tosses)?

The Spurs' attempt at re-levitating to the NBA throne suffered a major blow with this one, unless Manu bounces back quickly and see no ill effects beyond his rehab time period.

After receiving pushback from the federal government for visa issues, Iranian center Hamed Haddadi (or Ehadadi or Hadadi, depending on the source; the league is going with "Haddadi") got permission to join the NBA, and Memphis has signed him. It's not known whether it's a guaranteed deal, based on the Grizzles' press release.

Will Haddadi help? Memphis has a weird, weird frontcourt. Marc Gasol played well but not amazing in Spain last season, and will be a rookie. Darko Milicic is ... Darko Milicic. Hakim Warrick is a livewire who will still be raw when he's a 12-year veteran. Darrell Arthur is only 20 years old, and couldn't play center in Billy Knight's dreams. And then there's that shooting guard masquerading as an occasional power forward Antoine Walker. Oodles of fun.

I don't know what Marc Iavaroni will be thinking in a month. Darko and Warrick looks right, but if I'm a Grizz fan I'm praying Gasol and Arthur develop quickly. Where does Haddadi fit into that? I imagine on "the bench" is the right answer, though we'd all love to be surprised.

ESPN scribe Bill Simmons has taken much of the summer off to work on his NBA-focused book. While a huge firebrand for all sports fans, his NBA stuff has been mostly well-received over the years. He clearly loves the game (he has Clippers season tickets, for self-mutilation's sake) and has some good insight.

That said: the title of his tome might be a little ... presumptuous.



Oh, I hope that's a working title. (He's got plenty of time to change it. May '09? In the middle of the second round of the playoffs?)

For volumes which don't purport to be the greatest ever (but might have a better shot than Simmons' effort), might I suggest Free Darko Presents ... The Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac: Styles, Stats, and Stars in Today's Game or Men with Balls: The Professional Athlete's Handbook?

[Via KOGOD's Reader shares. Seen also at Deadspin.]

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Even on a team lacking tangible bright spots, Danny Granger has gotten a bit lost in translation from the outside perspective. You rarely hear his name mentioned with the Iguodalas and Smiths and Dengs ... but he's certainly in the same class. He's due a contract extension this summer, but there have been only minor rumblings, and it could very well be that the Pacers will let him get to restricted free agency next summer.

That's a mad gambit, because Granger's a tremendous player who is only getting better.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

The level of bidding T.J. Ford sparked this summer seems a bit of a sham. Obviously, concerns about his spine should be a factor in considering his services; proper prudence on matters of possibly dire health is key. Thirty missed games two years after a real serious neck injury -- that's unnerving enough for me, too. But Ford has come back from each injury sparkling, and the concept of "injury histories" are mostly overblown. (See: Marcus Camby, Antonio McDyess, Steve Nash.)

This is to say that when Ford is on the court (often), he is simply spectacular. For a small (demerit) guard who can't shoot (demerit) or defend (demerit), you'd be hard pressed to find a more able lead for your backcourt. Despite playing in an offense ill-suited to his unique skills, Ford tallied a PER above 20 last season ... no small feat. Toronto under Sam Mitchell runs a slow offense, predicated on a surprising amount of isolation, draw-and-kick and high pick-and-roll play. Despite the presence of Bryan Colangelo and his Nash-style point (Ford), this was no Phoenix North.

So, if under Mitchell Ford could be an excellent offensive player, how will things go in Indiana? Well, Jim O'Brien likes to play fast -- transition offense, defensive gambling, early threes encouraged. Ford loves to gamble and is at his best in the open court (so long as Al Horford's not around). By all indications, Ford is as good a fit for Indiana's up-tempo affair as anyone. I can imagine a team that guns and slips to the rim every time down, with T.J. running the show like a Broadway choreographer.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

It's amazing how a guy can be vastly underrated for four years, sign a massive contract, and immediately become a scapegoat for the troubles of a troubled franchise led by troubling decision-makers. Until signing his $90 million contract in 2005, Michael Redd topped any list of quiet stars. Money equals fame, I guess -- overnight, Redd become a burden instead of the sole bright light in Milwaukee.

It's a shame Larry Krystowiak, MIL's 2007-08 coach, bought into the nonsense. In 2006-07, under Terry Stotts for most of the season, Redd showed exactly what he is: one of the absolute best scorers in the league. He finished 5th in per-game scoring, dropping 26.7 on less than 20 FGAs. Krystowiak, though, blamed Milwaukee's rough season in part on Redd's scoring focus, and forced Mike to diversify his game, shooting less, passing more, going at the glass, taking on tougher defensive assignments.

The result? Redd scored less and less efficiently. Milwaukee got no better. What Krystowiak -- and some Bucks fans and national pundits -- failed to realize is that Milwaukee has been bad in spite of Redd's performance, not because of it. Setting the table has never been a part of Redd's game. Forcing him to take on that task distracts from what he's really, really good at.

The New York Times, in a larger story on the ability of American athletes to market themselves in China, mentions some must-see television for Chinese sports fans, starring Kobe Bryant:

This year, Nike even produced a reality television program, "Kobe's Disciples," that was broadcast on China's biggest television network. It featured 24 Chinese youths living and training in the United States and getting tips from Mr. Bryant.

"The reason Kobe is as big as he is here is not an accident," Charlie Denson, Nike's brand president, said in an interview in Beijing. "Kobe realized some years ago that the China market is a great place to be. And he's been here consistently, every year, for five or six years."

Here's an apparent montage of clips from the show, an advert of some sort. It gets real hot at the 2:45 mark.



Neat stuff, though I'm not sure it can be as compelling as the last NBA-related reality show (Mark Cuban's The Benefactor). Although honestly, what could be as compelling as The Benefactor?

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

The next player on the list is a special case for me, in that for several years I spent garbage time at ARCO Arena chanting his name. (Also, his decision to retire from the Slam Dunk Contest at age 19 after being jobbed by the judges also earns points. That was a political statement.) But even if you're aren't a mark like me, you can easily appreciate the game of Gerald Wallace.

His two common nicknames make more sense than peanut butter and jelly: "Crash" and "Multiplicity." The latter comes from the surreal box scores Wallace collects: he has 18 career 4x4s -- games in which you tally at least 4 points, rebounds, assists and either blocks or steals. (All these plus two others with 4 blocks and fewer steals.) Maybe the perfect example of Wallace's explosive versatility is legendary January 13, 2006, game against Milwaukee: 21 points, 15 rebounds, 8 steals, 4 assists, 4 blocks.

That other nickname -- "Crash" -- comes from Wallace's propensity to bash himself head-first into any center or crowd of men or tall building he comes about. It's a trait which has earned him several concussions, the last of which last season forced Wallace to retire from the power forward position. That relates to this next note, which is that in 2007-08, Crash changed completely.

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Few players have seen their stocks fall as precipitously as Josh Howard over the past year. (His teammate, Jason Kidd, is the top contender in this category.) Part of Howard's slide came from on-court production: Josh went into a massive funk over the second half of 2007-08, a funk which extended into the postseason and helped derail Dallas's title hopes quite early.

Perhaps a larger character in Howard's perceived slide has been his off-court junk: public admissions he smokes weed in the offseason, holding a birthday bash during the playoffs and inviting teammates even though Avery Johnson put the preemptive strike on it, being completely unrepentant when cited for drag-racing in your hometown. We who have defended Howard have received precious little support from Howard himself over the past year. But has he faltered completely?