May 31, 2009

Joe Schaller

TPR scale: 180+ MVP, 140+ superstar, 110+ allstar, 85+ starter, 65+ bench

min_____Cavs playoffs TPR_season_diff

• 591_Delonte West_____81.5__110__-28.5
  
• 580_Lebron James_____228.5_220.5_+8
  
• 541_Mo Williams_______82__118.5__-36.5
  
• 420_Andersen Varejao_85.5_102.5__-17
  
• 407_Zyd. Ilgauskas____89__121.5__-32.5
  
• 218_Joe Smith________90
  
• 176_Ben Wallace______59.5__91.5__-32
  
• 172_Dan Gibson______37.5__74___-36.5
  
• 154_Wally Szczerbiak__47.5__98___-50.5

Cleveland Cavaliers; For my playoffs analysis I have listed each players minutes played, playoffs TPR, regular season TPR and the differential.
It is rather stunning how Lebron James went from his completion of maybe the greatest individual season ever and actually improved on that in the playoffs. It is equally stunning how every other player on the club went from impressive seasons to abysmal levels in the playoffs. Most of them had career seasons and some at allstar levels. I doubt if there has ever been this much disparity in the playoffs. Indeed it was Joe Smith's 90 TPR which was the next highest to Lebron's 228.5.

Coach of the year??; Even though Mike Brown barely utilized his bench it's hard to fault him since Wallace, Gibson and Szczerbiak did nothing to improve upon the lackluster performances of West, Williams, Varejao and Ilgauskas. Yet I wonder if Popovich, Jackson, Van Gundy or other coaches would have ever allowed one player, even a Duncan or Kobe, to dominate the ball so much after a season of exceptional team play. Even though we saw the Lebron of the regular season we didn't see the same team and I hold the coach responsible for that.
My criteria for coach of the year has consistency at the top. Mike Brown is still a lousy offensive coach.

min____Nugs playoffs TPR_season_diff

• 619_Chauncey Billups___156__126__+30
  
• 612_Carmelo Anthony___157.5_121_+36.5
  
• 538_Kenyon Martin_____73.5_104_-30.5
  
• 525_Nene Hilario_______90.5_126_-35.5
  
• 435_J R Smith_________110__118__-8
  
• 328_Chris Andersen____116.5_111_+5.5
  
• 280_Dahntay Jones_____86___45__+41
  
• 228_Anthony Carter____69___67___+2
  
• 210_Linas Kleiza_______132__82.5_+49.5

Denver Nuggets; For fourteen games the Nuggets played like champions. There were some players who saw their games decline but more who stepped up their games as team leaders, superstars and sixth men. The first four games against the Lakers showed a superior team which should have been up 3 to 1. The final two games revealed the Nuggets of old with lackadaisical defense, poor shot selection and turnovers. As a young emotional team they may have burned up their intensity, something you don't see from veteran playoff teams like the Lakers.

The power rotation; If there is an area of contention for coach Karl it is the power rotation. As you can see from the table above the poor performances of Kenyon Martin and Nene Hilario stand out as the primary weakness. With Chris Andersen and Linas Kleiza performing at such impressive levels it is hard to understand why they were not utilized more- fouls were not an issue.

We already knew the superstar status of Chauncey Billups and after a subpar season he stepped it up for the playoffs. On the other hand Carmelo Anthony has never backed up his hyped up image which the media has bestowed upon him. Nuggets fans can now rest assured that Carmelo has arrived as a bona fide superstar.
Chauncey will likely see his game on the decline. Can his band of Nugheads figure out what it takes to arrive as a superteam?

Total Performance Ratings-- since 1996

1. Scoring
   
2. Scoring Efficiency
   
3. Ballhandling
   
4. Rebounding
   
5. Disruptive Defense
   
6. One on one Defense
   
7. Team Defense
   
8. Team Game Pace
   
9. Schedule Strength
   
10. Projected Improvement or Decline
    
11. Teams Wins Adjustment

Ratings indicate productivity per minute played. See my feature "The TPR Formula" for more information.

• Joe Schaller
  
• 505-722-3103
  
• schaller_6@msn.com