Off the Index: What Does History Say About Jason Kidd Coaching the Nets?

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said he wants to win an NBA championship by 2015. He and Billy King must think Jason Kidd will be 1 of the greatest coaches of all-time for that to happen.

Off the Index: 2013 March Madness Picks

It's March Madness and that means it's time for brackets. Here are my brackets from Yahoo! and you can find the biases that influenced those picks listed in this post.

NBA Preseason Cinema: The Royce White Solution

Royce White, one of the Houston Rockets first round draft picks, has a fear of flying that resulted in him missing the beginning of training camp, so the team has spent the preseason working on solutions to get him to road games. I've got one for general manager Daryl Morey's suggestion box.

2012 Basketball Hall of Fame Puts 1980 NBA Finals MVP Up For Debate: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Jamaal Wilkes?

Jamaal Wilkes deserved to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday night, but did he or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also deserve to be MVP of the 1980 NBA Finals instead of Magic Johnson?

Juwan Howard: Where Will He Rank Among NBA Rappers on Full Court Press Vol. 1?

Juwan Howard on Full Court Press
from Ramy Romany on Vimeo.

Juwan Howard made news this month when it was announced that he recorded a rap record with Rick Ross and Trina for the album Full Court Press Vol. 1 that will feature NBA players and rap stars. Howard was an NBA champion on the court last season, but where will he rank among NBA players in the recording booth?

Off the Index: 2012 AIDS Conference

The Drs. Platt at the 2012 AIDS March in Washington, D.C.

20 years after Magic Johnson announced he was HIV-positive, an April HEATcast featured a discussion of the science and politics of HIV/AIDS, and the research behind that discussion is being presented this week at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

One More Nite of Black History

Legendary graffiti artist JamesTop began Black History Month celebrating Hip Hop icon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 3D at the Azucarera Gallery in Sugar Hill, Harlem and ends it with One More Nite of performances at the Sapphire Lounge on the Lower East Side of NYC.

Juan Marquez Showed Manny Pacquiao Not In Floyd Mayweather's Class

Manny Pacquiao’s performance in his third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez showed two flaws: his trainer Freddie Roach is overconfident and Pacquiao is only half as good as Floyd Mayweather.

Off the Index: Joe Paterno, the Distinguished Gentleman

Summing up the Joe Paterno and Penn State sex scandal in 140 characters or less...

NBA Players’ Black Wall of Silence

“Athletes today are scared to make Muhammad Ali type statements.”

Carmelo Anthony told Michael Tillery from The Starting Five blog that athletes are scared to speak their minds on important issues. Why is that?

Off the Index: Floyd Mayweather Sets Record Straight On Victor Ortiz and Manny Pacquiao

Floyd "Money" Mayweather went into his post-fight press conference and explained why Victor Ortiz got what he deserved in the ring, why Larry Merchant should be fired by HBO and why Manny Pacquiao needs to take a drug test.

Off the Index: NCAA & “The U” = Guns & Butter

Reporters like Charles Robinson, the Yahoo! writer that published the story on Nevin Shapiro and the University of Miami, are leeches sucking players dry just like the NCAA system they claim to expose.

Shaq Kept It Gangsta During Mob Week

Several recent news stories illustrate Shaquille O'Neal was Godfather of the NBA on, and off, the court.

Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia Eagles: The Difference Is Not Collusion

The differences between free agency for the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Heat are race and talent — not collusion.

Off the Index: Looking for Answers from the Director of “No Crossover”

In a Q&A session last night, director Steve James revealed that the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson” wasn’t really about “The Answer” but the Hampton, Virginia community’s reaction to the search for answers about the bowling alley brawl and trial that landed its brightest star athlete in prison.

Off the Index: Defending Allen Iverson

The 2011 NBA Draft is Thursday and the typical articles on draft busts have been popping up on the blog circuit. An article at Hoopism was very good but an article at the new Wages of Wins Network blog, Shut Up and Jam, could use some work.

Allen Iverson has been a popular target for criticism on the Wages of Wins Network because the statistical models published in the Wages of Wins illustrated that he didn’t have the winning impact the media claimed. There’s no denying that Iverson’s poor shooting percentage and turnovers created as many problems as his scoring and steals created highlights, but James Brocato made a mistake when he used wins produced to label Iverson a mistake as the first pick in the 1996 draft.

Yes, it’s a little silly to defend an 11-time All-Star and future hall-of-famer labeled a “bust” by a blogger, but it just takes a little context and the same statistical models to illustrate why Iverson was the right choice for the Philadelphia 76ers in the summer of 1996.

Off the Index: How Many Wins Did Donnie Walsh Bring the New York Knicks?

Donnie Walsh agreed to leave his position as President of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks on Friday. Some Knicks fans blamed him for not signing LeBron James last summer while others felt that he had the franchise on the right track with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.

So which is it? How productive was Walsh for the Knicks? Let’s take a look at the numbers to see how many wins were produced by the players Walsh brought to the team during his tenure.

Off the Index: What Makes a Great Rebounder?

For some reason, rebounding is always a hot topic on the Wages of Wins Network and there has been lots of math and statistics provided in those discussions.

• The Rebounding Myth
• Re-examining myths and explaining how regression works
• A Few Replies
• The Rest of the Story
• Contested vs. Free Rebounds
• Frequently Asked Questions and Comments

Is rebounding really that complicated? Do rebounds just fall into the hands of the closest player? I remember Chris Bosh said after a game this season that rebounding is really just about "going to get it." So why are some players better at getting them than others? I think there's a big factor in rebounding that's pretty simple.

Off the Index: The NBA Playoffs' Top 100 Scoring Games of Last 20 Years, Ranked by Win Score

This post was prompted by a tweet from my man, Alfredo Arteago of HeatFreak.com and the Miami Heat Talk Podcast. He said Dirk Nowitzki's performance last night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was the best NBA playoff performance he'd seen since he became an NBA junkie in 1983.

Let's see what the numbers have to say...

Off the Index: You Might Need to Hit the Lottery If...

...Your starters are worse than the reserves on the Chicago Bulls. That was the point made on the ESPN 980's  John Thompson Show in Washington D.C. on Monday by Coach Thompson's co-host, Rick "Doc" Walker.

ESPN 980 Audio Vault - Play Now

After watching Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Doc Walker wondered what some of the other NBA General Managers were doing assembling rosters with starting lineups worse than the Bulls' second unit of C.J. Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Taj Gibson and Omer Asik.

Is Doc Walker right? Are there teams with starting lineups that are worse than the Bulls bench? Let's take a look at the wins produced by the Bulls bench and the starting lineups in the NBA.