everybody is now talking about kobe's place in history ... i think by looking at the most accomplished nba mvps in basketball history, it's easy to see kobe is now a top 10 all-timer ... and at age 31, he has plenty of time to climb even higher on this list as he stacks up even more nba accomplishments in the future ... i can't put kobe up there just yet with russell, jordan & kareem. but kobe has certainly entered the pantheon of magic, duncan, shaq, wilt & bird. take a look yourself & rank kobe where you see fit in comparison to his fellow nba legends ... MEDAL COUNTS OF THE NBA MVPs players.............rings..mvp..top5...russell...allnba...years LeBron James......0.......2.......5.........0.........6..........7 Kobe Bryant.........5.......1.......8.........2........12........14 Dirk Nowitzki........0.......1.......3.........0........10........12 Steve Nash..........0.......2.......3.........0.........7........14 Kevin Garnett.......1.......1.......4.........0.........9........15 Tim Duncan.........4.......2.......9.........3........13........13 Allen Iverson........0.......1.......3.........0.........7........14 Shaquille O’Neal..4.......1.......8.........3........14........17 Karl Malone ........0.......2.......8.........0........14*.......19 Michael Jordan...6.......5.......10........6........11*.......15 David Robinson...2.......1.......5.........0........10........14 H. Olajuwon.........2.......1.......6.........2........12*......18 Charles Barkley...0.......1.......4.........0........11*.......16 Magic Johnson....5.......3.......9.........3........10*.......13 Larry Bird............3.......3.......9.........2........10*......13 Moses Malone@..1.......3.......5.........1.........8*.......19 Julius Erving@....1.......1.......5.........0.........7*.......11 K. Abdul-Jabbar...6.......6.....15.........2........15*.......20 Bill Walton...........1.......1.......2.........1.........2*.......10 Bob McAdoo........2.......1.......3.........0.........2*.......14 Dave Cowens......2.......1.......4.........0.........3*.......10 Willis Reed..........2.......1.......3.........2.........5*.......10 Wes Unseld ........1.......1.......1.........1.........1*.......13 Wilt Chamberlain..2.......5.....10.........1#......10*.......14 Bill Russell........11.......5......11........0#......11*.......13 Oscar Robertson..1.......1.......9.........0#......11*.......14 Bob Pettit............1.......2+.....8.........0#......11*.......11 Bob Cousy..........6.......1+.....4+........0#......12*......14 * In the 1988-89 season, the NBA expanded its All-NBA teams from two teams to three teams. # The NBA did not have a Russell NBA Finals MVP award until the 1968-69 season. @ Only NBA honors are included above ... for the record, Malone had an additional 2 ABA seasons ... Erving had 5 additional ABA seasons with 2 ABA rings, ...

really good movie ... go see it june 25 ... and go read my story on "grown ups" @ hoopmag.com nowwww ... :)

[update: fyi, my friends @ hoop also ran this column over at hoopmag.com] back in the '90s i used to make a yearly call to coach wooden ... his number was listed in the phonebook back then--believe it or not--and he would always answer his calls. so when i wrote for sport magazine from 1992-2000 and needed a special quote, THAT'S when i'd give coach a call ... mind you, i never wanted to abuse the privilege and bother the 80-something-year-old legend by calling him more often than that ... but once a year, i figured, was enough time to stay in touch with coach, while also getting his insights on life & basketball. and everytime i spoke with the former ucla basketball coach, it was like "tuesdays with morrie" ... we'd talk for 20-30 minutes, and in that short time, i'd get more insight there than i did in some semester-long courses in college. he was a special man with a special way of viewing life. john stockton was his favorite nba player. the only player coach wooden said he'd pay to see. now mind you, for years, i never had a good relationship with stockton. i would try & try to break the ice ...

far be it from me to tell the greatest organization in 21st century sports how to run their business ... but if i were gm'ing the san antonio spurs, i wouldn't change up too much for the 2010-11 season. yes, the phoenix suns thoroughly outplayed the spurs in the 2010 nba playoffs ... but i still believe this spurs' team is a top contender and will only get better in the future ... they just ran into a hotter team this time around (suns were 34-9 since january 26). the common theme from critics is that san antonio is too old ... but that song has been sung since 1999 ... the spurs always have veteran teams. that's how they won 4 championships ... but in reality, this spurs' squad was one of its youngest--the 5th youngest team in the playoffs this year at 27.0 years average age. san antonio does have 3 starters in their 30s--tim duncan (34), antonio mcdyess (35) and manu ginobili (32)--but if you look at their playoff adjusted plus-minus (+5.26, +3.12, +2.40) or their playoff oncourt/offcourt rating (+14.58, +8.21 & +2.08), those were 3 of their 4 best players in the playoffs ... yes, the 30somethings may decline ...

now that we know the atlanta hawks in IN, here are the T.R.U.E. nba championship & nba finals probabilities for the remaining 8 teams in the 2010 nba playoffs. the cavs-celtics and lakers-jazz game 1 results were not factored into these equations ... 2010 nba champion probabilities 1. cleveland cavaliers ... 45% 2. san antonio spurs ... 17% 3. orlando magic ... 12% 4. los angeles lakers ... 9% 5. atlanta hawks ... 6% 6. phoenix suns ... 5% 7. utah jazz ... 4% 8. boston celtics ... 2% 2010 eastern conference champ probabilities 1. cleveland cavaliers ... 60% 2. orlando magic ... 21% 3. atlanta hawks ... 12% 4. boston celtics ... 7% 2010 western conference champ probabilities 1. san antonio spurs ... 38% 2. los angeles lakers ... 28% 3. phoenix suns ... 17% 4. utah jazz ... 17% ... photo by marvin fong / cleveland plain dealer

T.R.U.E. Projection 2010 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks I take the regular-season T.R.U.E. score and multiply it by the percentage of playoff playing time to get the TRUE-derivative score. I then compare the two team numbers, factor in home-court advantage and let the numbers determine the most likely seven-game scenario. Note: Any alterations made to T.R.U.E. or p-MPG will be denoted and explained below. MAGIC score: +8.07 HAWKS score: +5.92 T.R.U.E. Projection: MAGIC IN 7 Chances of MAGIC Series Win: 59% Chances of HAWKS Series Win: 41% Magic ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG ... T-d Rashard Lewis ... -0.64 ... .798/38.3 ... -0.51 Vince Carter ... +1.91 ... .771/37.0 ... +1.47 Jameer Nelson ... -0.19 ... .756/36.3 ... -0.14 Matt Barnes ... -1.45 ... .563/27.0 ... -0.82 Dwight Howard ... +13.89 ... .552/26.5* ... +10.04 Marcin Gortat ... +5.11 ... .448/21.5* ... +1.42 Mickael Pietrus ... -5.65 ... .389/18.8 ... -2.20 J.J. Redick ... -4.74 ... .281/13.5 ... -1.33 Jason Williams ... -1.45 ... .244/11.8 ... -0.35 Ryan Anderson ... +2.73 ... .189/9.0 ... +0.49* Brandon Bass ... +0.89** ... .009/2.0 (1) ... +0.00* Anthony Johnson ... -3.00** ... .000/0.0 ... 0.00 MAGIC score: +8.07 Hawks ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG ... T-d Joe Johnson ... +0.38 ... .854/41.0 ... +0.33 Josh Smith ... +5.72 ... .751/36.1 ... +4.30 Al Horford ... +5.23 ... .750/36.0 ...

T.R.U.E. Projection 2010 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Phoenix Suns vs. San Antonio Spurs I take the regular-season T.R.U.E. score and multiply it by the percentage of playoff playing time to get the TRUE-derivative score. I then compare the two team numbers, factor in home-court advantage and let the numbers determine the most likely seven-game scenario. Note: Any alterations made to T.R.U.E. or p-MPG will be denoted and explained below. SUNS score: +4.46 SPURS score: +9.11 T.R.U.E. Projection: SPURS IN 6 Chance of SUNS Series Win: 36% Chance of SPURS Series Win: 64% Suns ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG ... T-d Amare Stoudemire ... -0.70 ... .721/34.7 ... -0.50 Steve Nash ... +11.46 ... .687/33.0 ... +7.88 Jason Richardson ... +0.48 ... .672/32.3 ... +0.32 Channing Frye ... -0.07 ... .595/28.5 ... -0.04 Grant Hill ... -2.65 ... .562/27.0 ... -1.49 Jared Dudley ... +0.33 ... .445/21.3 ... +0.15 Leandro Barbosa ... -1.30 ... .324/15.5 ... -0.42 Louis Amundson ... -2.12 ... .318/15.3 ... -0.67 Goran Dragic ... +2.77 ... .313/15.0 ... +0.87 Jarron Collins ... N/A ... .286/13.7 ... -1.29 Earl Clark ... N/A ... .044/4.3 (3) ... -0.20 Dwayne Jones ... N/A ... .033/5.0 (2) ... -0.15 Robin Lopez ... -1.52* ... .000/0.0 ... injured SUNS score: +4.46 Spurs ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG ... T-d Tim Duncan ... +6.77 ... .773/37.2 ... +5.24 George Hill ... -1.23 ...

T.R.U.E. Projection 2010 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz I take the regular-season T.R.U.E. score and multiply it by the percentage of playoff playing time to get the TRUE-derivative score. I then compare the two team numbers, factor in home-court advantage and let the numbers determine the most likely seven-game scenario. Note: Any alterations made to T.R.U.E. or p-MPG will be denoted and explained below. LAKERS score: +6.22 JAZZ score: +4.31 T.R.U.E. Projection: LAKERS IN 7 Chance of LAKERS Series Win: 58% Chance of JAZZ Series Win: 42% Lakers ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG ... T-d Ron Artest ... -0.59 ... .770/37.0 ... -0.45 Kobe Bryant ... +8.25 ... .766/36.8 ... +6.32 Pau Gasol ... +3.22 ... .753/36.2 ... +2.42 Derek Fisher ... -2.74 ... .669/32.2 ... -1.83 Andrew Bynum ... +1.13 ... .620/29.8 ... +0.70 Lamar Odom ... +3.31 ... .547/26.3 ... +1.81 Shannon Brown ... -2.84 ... .316/15.2 ... -0.90 Jordan Farmar ... -2.81 ... .294/14.2 ... -0.83 Luke Walton ... +0.61* ... .130/6.2 ... +0.08 Josh Powell ... -11.47* ... .071/4.0 (5) ... -0.81 Adam Morrison ... N/A ... .045/6.5 (2) ... -0.20 D.J. Mbenga ... N/A ... .019/5.0 (1) ... -0.09 Sasha Vujacic ... out for 2-3 more weeks LAKERS score: +6.22 Jazz ... T.R.U.E. ... p-PT%/p-MPG = T-d Carlos Boozer ... -0.11 ... .859/41.2 ... -0.09 Deron Williams ...

T.R.U.E. Projection 2010 NBA Playoffs Round 2 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics I take the regular-season T.R.U.E. score and multiply it by the percentage of playoff playing time to get the TRUE-derivative score. I then compare the two team numbers, factor in home-court advantage and let the numbers determine the most likely seven-game scenario. Note: Any alterations made to T.R.U.E. or p-MPG will be denoted and explained below. CAVS score: +13.53 CELTICS score: +4.55 T.R.U.E. Projection: CAVS IN 5 Chance of CAVS Series Win: 82% Chance of CELTICS Series Win: 18% [update: i've also decided to use percentage probabilities in these series projections. so i replaced the sweep projection with a series projection ... 05.01.10 4 p.m. pt] Cavaliers ... T.R.U.E. ... p-MPG = T-d LeBron James ... +16.64 ... 41.0 = +14.21 Mo Williams ... -3.37 ... 37.2 = -2.61 Antawn Jamison ... +1.95 ... 35.0 = +1.42 Delonte West ... -0.08 ... 27.4 = -0.04 Anthony Parker ... +1.03 ... 26.4 = +0.57 Anderson Varejao ... +4.63 ... 25.2 = +2.43 Shaquille O’Neal ... -2.03 ... 20.6 = -0.87 Jamario Moon ... -1.60 ... 14.2 = -0.47 Zydrunas Ilgauskas ... -2.86 = 6.8 ... -0.41 J.J. Hickson ... -6.65 ... 4.4 = -0.61 Daniel Gibson ... -2.13 ... 0.8 = -0.03 Jawad Williams ... N/A ... 0.6 = -0.06 CAVS score: +13.53 Celtics ...

first off, my favorite team, los san antonio spurs, beat the mighty mavericks from dallas to advance to round 2 of the 2010 nba playoffs thursday, and i could not be happier for timmy, batmanu ginosebleeee, tp, pop & the whole gang. second, i've been getting a lot of facebook chatter today asking me what happened to my pick, the mavs, because of what i said back in february. so i thought i would address the chronology here rather than hold 10 different press conferences, lol. yes, i thought the mavs made themselves the championship favorites when they acquired brendan haywood & caron butler february 13, shoring up some glaring weaknesses ... but remember, 4 days later on twitter and later at fresno beach, i changed my #1 prediction to the cleveland cavaliers once they acquired antawn jamison ... by getting j.j. hickson out of the rotation and replacing him with a top 50 player, i thought cleveland became the clear favorite. and once the spurs started getting healthy--namely, tony parker--i thought they had become a top 3 west team in march--along with the mavs & lakers--and then moved slightly ahead of dallas & los angeles in april before the playoffs ... the spurs ...

"i know, i know, i know this much is T.R.U.E." TOP 30 POINT GUARDS ... TWA ... TRUE ... MINUTES 1. Steve Nash, PHX ... 20.90 ... +11.46 ... 2632.47 2. Deron Williams, UTA ... 18.12 ... +8.88 ... 2722.18 3. Andre Miller, POR ... 12.97 ... +6.10 ... 2460.23 4. Russell Westbrook, OKC ... 11.60 ... +3.86 ... 2787.82 5. Stephen Curry, GSW ... 11.12 ... +3.35 ... 2848.23 6. Jason Kidd, DAL ... 10.32 ... +2.70 ... 2881.08 7. Chris Paul, NOR ... 10.30 ... +7.86 ... 1675.03 8. Raymond Felton, CHA ... 9.59 ... +2.88 ... 2613.07 9. Jamal Crawford, ATL ... 8.86 ... +2.74 ... 2459.98 10. Baron Davis, LAC ... 7.77 ... +1.79 ... 2483.13 11. Rajon Rondo, BOS ... 7.68 ... +0.78 ... 2924.67 12. Derrick Rose, CHI ... 6.77 ... +0.24 ... 2871.02 13. Rodney Stuckey, DET ... 6.30 ... +0.57 ... 2498.68 14. Louis Williams, PHI ... 5.70 ... +1.49 ... 1911.95 15. Aaron Brooks, HOU ... 5.54 ... -0.63 ... 2875.52 16. Beno Udrih, SAC ... 5.29 ... -0.14 ... 2438.88 17. Goran Dragic, PHX ... 5.14 ... +2.77 ... 1421.82 18. Tony Parker, SAS ... 4.79 ... +1.07 ... 1728.10 19. Chauncey Billups, DEN ... 4.77 ... -0.61 ... 2462.83 20. Brandon Jennings, MIL ... 4.73 ... -0.86 ... 2610.03 21. Kyle Lowry, HOU ...

true 'dat, true 'dat, T.R.U.E. data ... Top 30 Teammates ... TWA ... TRUE ... MINUTES 1. LeBron James, CLE ... 31.19 ... +16.64 ... 2965.83 2. Dwyane Wade, MIA ... 29.09 ... +16.44 ... 2792.55 3. Dwight Howard, ORL ... 26.01 ... +13.89 ... 2842.98 4. Kevin Durant, OKC ... 24.01 ... +10.52 ... 3212.83 5. Steve Nash, PHX ... 20.90 ... +11.46 ... 2632.47 6. Deron Williams, UTA ... 18.12 ... +8.88 ... 2722.18 7. Kobe Bryant, LAL ... 17.72 ... +8.25 ... 2793.63 8. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL ... 16.51 ... +6.42 ... 3038.85 9. Ray Allen, BOS ... 16.17 ... +7.18 ... 2781.98 10. Nene, DEN ... 15.85 ... +7.17 ... 2729.47 11. Chris Bosh, TOR ... 15.71 ... +8.00 ... 2525.63 12. Josh Smith, ATL ... 14.60 ... +5.72 ... 2872.35 13. Al Horford, ATL ... 13.77 ... +5.23 ... 2845.12 14. Tim Duncan, SAS ... 13.67 ... +6.77 ... 2438.40 15. Zach Randolph, MEM ... 13.02 ... +4.08 ... 3051.30 16. Andre Miller, POR ... 12.97 ... +6.10 ... 2460.23 17. Luol Deng, CHI ... 11.61 ... +4.30 ... 2650.77 18. Russell Westbrook, OKC ... 11.60 ... +3.86 ... 2787.82 19. Andrew Bogut, MIL ... 11.51 ... +6.23 ... 2156.28 20. Marc Gasol, MEM ... 11.44 ... +4.81 ... 2469.12 21. Stephen Curry, GSW ... 11.12 ... ...

this much is T.R.U.E. ... Top 30 Rookie Teammates ... TWA ... TRUE ... MINUTES 1. Stephen Curry, GSW ... 11.12 ... +3.35 ... 2848.23 2. Jonas Jerebko, DET ... 6.71 ... +1.54 ... 2232.52 3. James Harden, OKC ... 5.18 ... +1.59 ... 1709.40 4. Omri Casspi, SAC ... 4.80 ... +0.54 ... 1912.43 5. Brandon Jennings, MIL ... 4.73 ... -0.86 ... 2610.03 6. Marcus Thornton, NOR ... 4.67 ... +0.56 ... 1853.50 7. Darren Collison, NOR ... 4.33 ... -0.33 ... 2087.70 8. Taj Gibson, CHI ... 4.26 ... -0.61 ... 2203.75 9. DeJuan Blair, SAS ... 4.10 ... +1.01 ... 1494.35 10. Chase Budinger, HOU ... 3.77 ... +0.65 ... 1470.43 11. Tyreke Evans, SAC ... 3.26 ... -2.02 ... 2643.20 12. Jrue Holiday, PHI ... 3.15 ... -0.84 ... 1730.75 13. A.J. Price, IND ... 3.04* ... +2.67* ... 854.00 14. Eric Maynor, OKC ... 2.88 ... +0.11 ... 1254.77 15. Hasheem Thabeet, MEM ... 2.58* ... +1.38* ... 883.30 16. Terrence Williams, NJN ... 2.57 ... -1.55 ... 1750.53 17. Wes Matthews, UTA ... 2.25 ... -2.20 ... 1965.00 18. DeMarre Carroll, MEM ... 2.21* ... +1.09* ... 794.88 19. Wayne Ellington, MIN ... 1.71 ... -1.98 ... 1363.83 20. David Andersen, HOU ... 1.68* ... -0.66* ... 879.85 21. Chris Hunter, GSW ... 1.47* ... -0.71* ... 777.48 22. ...

it's finally here ... i've been tinkering with this creation all year long and have finally come up with the perfect formula to evaluate nba players, which not only gives a one-number figure for teammate ratings utilizing efficiency (t.r.u.e.), but also another figure for player value in a given season (true wins added). it's like the good folks at reese's peanut butter cups ... they didn't invent chocolate; they didn't create peanut butter ... but my combining the two, they concocted the most delicious candy ever. i think i've done the same by combining aaron barzilai's adjusted plus-minus numbers (pioneered by the great dan rosenbaum in 2004) with john hollinger's player efficiency ratings. i give one-third value to 1-year adjusted plus-minus numbers ... one-third value to 2-year adjusted plus-minus numbers ... and one-third value to player efficiency ratings (which i subtract 15.0 from so that i put it on an equator with the aforementioned adjusted plus-minus stats) ... i then divide that total by three and come up with teammate ratings utilizing efficiency aka t.r.u.e. for true wins added, i then take the aforementioned t.r.u.e. figure, subtract a replacement player value (-4.5) from that, multiply the subtotal by the number of minutes played and ...

this story is in the may-june 2010 issue of hoop magazine. ... photos by hoopmag.com

now that i've established the new t.r.u.e. 3.0 version, i thought it'd be a good time to post the 2009-10 nba top 10s ... and they carry the 76% tag since we're 76% of the way through the 2009-10 nba season (i count the playoffs). remember, these teammate ratings utilizing efficiency (aka t.r.u.e. score) combine adjusted plus-minus numbers with player efficiency rating multiplied by playing-time percentages. T.R.U.E. 2009-10 NBA MOST VALUABLE TEAMMATE (76%) 1. LeBron James, Cavs ... +12.67 2. Dwyane Wade, Heat ... +12.27 3. Kevin Durant, Thunder ... +8.83 4. Dwight Howard, Magic ... +8.53 5. Steve Nash, Suns ... +7.31 6. Kobe Bryant, Lakers ... +6.68 7. Deron Williams, Jazz ... +6.48 8. Josh Smith, Hawks ... +5.68 9. Chris Bosh, Raptors ... +5.48 10. Nene, Nuggets ... +4.80 T.R.U.E. 2009-10 NBA TOP 10s (76%) Point Guards 1. Steve Nash, Suns ... +7.31 2. Deron Williams, Jazz ... +6.48 3. Chris Paul, Hornets ... +4.28 4. Andre Miller, Blazers ... +3.84 5. Stephen Curry, Warriors ... +2.79 6. Russell Westbrook, Thunder ... +2.52 7. Jamal Crawford, Hawks ... +2.19 8. Raymond Felton, Bobcats ... +1.55 9. Tony Parker, Spurs ... +1.31 10. Jason Kidd, Mavs ... +1.30 Shooting Guards 1. Dwyane Wade, Heat ... +12.27 2. Kobe Bryant, Lakers ... +6.68 3. Ray Allen, Celtics ... +3.90 4. Manu Ginobili, Spurs ... +2.33 5. Brandon Roy, Blazers ... +1.87 6. Andre Iguodala, 76ers ... +1.90 7. Stephen Jackson, Bobcats ... +1.13 8. Corey Brewer, T-Wolves ... +1.13 9. Kyle ...

[update: this version of t.r.u.e. is outdated ... please go to this T.R.U.E. link] with the advent of early 21st century basketball analytics, i have been trying to come up with a simple metric that ranks players using adjusted plus-minus, player efficiency rating and playing-time percentage ... i've tinkered with it here and there, and now i've come up with a system that actually places a numerical value on what i call t.r.u.e. also known as teammate ratings utilizing efficiency. because you've seen previous incarnations of this--albeit, they did not place a numerical value on t.r.u.e.--i will be calling this version t.r.u.e. 3.0. here's how it works ... t.r.u.e. stands for teammate ratings utilizing efficiency ... one-third of it is based on 1-year adjusted plus-minus numbers ... one-third is based on 2-year adjusted plus-minus numbers ... and one-third is based on player efficiency rating ... these metrics are supplied by the great aaron barzilai and john hollinger ... the combination of these three scores is what i call the t-subtotal ... once you get the t-subtotal, subtract 15.0 from that score and then divide that number by 3 to get the t48-total (the reason i subtract 15 is to pinpoint the average-point mark in ...

ball street tells us the oklahoma city thunder is the best investment in the nba: 6 of their top 10 minutemen are 23 and under and they're already on pace to be a 50-win team ... check out the thunder's t.r.u.e. data along with their ball street derivatives. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data thunder ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg nenad krstic ... 0, -4.70, 13.9, 46%, 22.8 jeff green ... -6, -7.75, 14.0, 77%, 36.9 kevin durant ... +5, +17.77, 25.5, 82%, 39.3 thabo sefolosha ... +1, -6.40, 9.7, 59%, 28.4 russell westbrook ... +4, +4.11, 18.2, 71%, 34.4 james harden ... +8, -2.52, 14.2, 43%, 22.9 nick collison ... +4, +6.01, 13.1, 40%, 21.0 eric maynor ... +3*, +3.32, 10.7, 31%, 15.3 serge ibaka ... -10*, -10.07, 14.4, 32%, 17.6 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives thunder @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives krstic @ 23 mpg ... 0, -2.3 green @ 37 mpg ... -4.6, -6.0 durant @ 41 mpg ... +4.3, +15.2 sefolosha @ 28 mpg ... +0.6, -3.7 westbrook @ 36 mpg ... +3.0, +3.1 harden @ 23 mpg ... +3.8, -1.2 collison @ 21 mpg ... +1.8, +2.6 maynor @ 16 mpg ... +1.0, +1.1 ibaka @ 15 mpg ... -3.1, -3.1 thunder's ball street analysis the thunder's ball street derivative is a good ...

no matter who the jazz suit up at guard alongside deron williams, ball street tells us they are always gonna contend ... check out utah's t.r.u.e. data along with the ball street derivatives. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data jazz ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg mehmet okur ... -1, -4.99, 15.7, 53%, 29.4 carlos boozer ... -2, -5.56, 21.2, 69%, 34.6 andrei kirilenko ... +2, +1.08, 18.4, 48%, 29.0 wes matthews ... +1, -1.60, 12.4, 49%, 23.6 deron williams ... +10, +16.66, 20.6, 70%, 36.9 paul millsap ... +2, -4.50, 16.5, 58%, 27.4 c.j. miles ... +1, +4.09, 11.2, 34%, 22.7 kyle korver ... +6, +9.36, 15.5, 21%, 17.6 ronnie price ... 0, +1.86, 10.6, 19%, 13.0 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives jazz @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives okur @ 31 mpg ... -0.7, -3.2 boozer @ 37 mpg ... -1.5, -4.3 kirilenko @ 30 mpg ... +1.2, +0.7 mathews @ 25 mpg ... +0.5, -0.8 williams @ 39 mpg ... +8.1, +13.5 millsap @ 28 mpg ... +1.2, -2.6 miles @ 23 mpg ... +0.5, +2.0 korver @ 18 mpg ... +2.3, +3.5 price @ 9 mpg ... 0.0, +0.3 jazz ball street analysis they gave up good rookie eric maynor so that the thunder would take matt harpring's salary dump ... then they traded starter ronnie ...

ball street now tells us that denver may indeed be the third best team in the west, battling san antonio for that distinction in the playoffs if they should face head-to-head ... check out the t.r.u.e. data along with the ball street derivatives that makes the nuggets' case for contending. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data nuggets ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg nene ... +10, +10.55, 19.0, 70%, 33.8 kenyon martin ... +2, +1.54, 13.4, 54%, 34.9 carmelo anthony ... +5, +1.38, 23.1, 65%, 38.3 arron afflalo ... -2, -2.82, 10.5, 56%, 27.0 chauncey billups ... -3, -5.00, 20.9, 62%, 34.1 j.r. smith ... +3, -3.69, 14.8, 52%, 27.8 chris andersen ... +11, +16.51, 16.0, 44%, 22.7 ty lawson ... -7, -6.49, 16.5, 34%, 21.0 anthony carter ... -10, -13.59, 10.8, 22%, 16.9 joey graham ... -3, -6.18, 10.1, 20%, 12.1 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives nuggets @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives nene @ 36 mpg ... +7.5, +7.9 martin @ 36 mpg ... +1.5, +1.2 anthony @ 40 mpg ... +4.2, +1.1 afflalo @ 27 mpg ... -1.1, -1.6 billups @ 36 mpg ... -2.3, -3.8 smith @ 28 mpg ... +1.7, -2.2 andersen @ 24 mpg ... +5.5, +8.3 lawson @ 13 mpg ... -2.7, -3.7 nuggets' ball street analysis their +10.75 ball street derivative score ...

ray allen is the only one of the big 3 who is still posting great adjusted plus-minus numbers, but thanks to a deep bench, the big green machine is still humming along ... check out boston's t.r.u.e. data & ball street derivatives. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data celtics ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg kendrick perkins ... -1, +1.71, 15.2, 57%, 27.8 kevin garnett ... +6, +2.41, 19.9, 52%, 29.8 paul pierce ... +1, +1.14, 18.1, 60%, 33.9 ray allen ... +9, +8.76, 15.1, 73%, 35.6 rajon rondo ... +1, -3.19, 19.4, 74%, 36.3 rasheed wallace ... 0, -3.14, 13.1, 45%, 22.7 nate robinson ... 0, -1.34, 16.7, 29%, 21.1 marquis daniels ... +3, +3.28, 9.3, 25%, 19.8 glen davis ... -2, -2.74, 12.3, 22%, 17.1 tony allen ... -3, -3.47, 13.8, 22%, 16.4 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives celtics @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives perkins @ 28 mpg ... -0.6, +1.0 garnett @ 32 mpg ... +4.0, +1.6 pierce @ 36 mpg ... +0.8, +0.9 r. allen @ 38 mpg ... +7.1, +6.9 rondo @ 38 mpg ... +0.8, -2.5 wallace @ 23 mpg ... 0.0, -1.5 robinson @ 10 mpg ... 0.0, -0.3 daniels @ 12 mpg ... +0.8, +0.8 davis @ 15 mpg ... -0.6, -0.9 t. allen @ 10 mpg ... -0.6, -0.7 celtics' ball ...

the five main minutemen in atlanta are all in their 20s and only two of them (crawford & johnson) are in their peak years ... that tells us there's a lot of upside in the hawks' future ... and the t.r.u.e. data plus ball street derivatives say atlanta's present is pretty darn good as well. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data hawks ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg al horford ... +6, +11.45, 19.4, 73%, 35.2 josh smith ... +10, +9.80, 21.5, 73%, 35.2 marvin williams ... -1, -1.22, 13.1, 62%, 30.3 joe johnson ... +1, -10.66, 19.0, 77%, 38.2 jamal crawford ... +4, +5.28, 18.4, 63%, 30.9 mike bibby ... -2, -2.20, 13.0, 57%, 27.4 maurice evans ... -8, -11.76, 12.0, 30%, 15.4 zaza pachulia ... +1, +0.18, 11.6, 26%, 13.4 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives hawks @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives horford @ 38 mpg ... +4.7, +9.1 smith @ 38 mpg ... +7.9, +7.8 williams @ 33 mpg ... -0.7, -0.8, johnson @ 41 mpg ... +0.9, -9.1 crawford @ 34 mpg ... +2.8, +3.7 bibby @ 30 mpg ... -1.3, -1.6 evans @ 16 mpg ... -2.7, -3.9 pachulia @ 10 mpg ... +0.2, 0.0 hawks' ball street analysis atlanta's +9.50 ball street derivatives score (+11.8 t-score, +5.2 1 apm) may not be ...

ball street tells us that the magic is in the neighborhood of a championship. same zip code they resided in last year when they reached the finals ... check out the t.r.u.e. data along with the ball street derivatives that makes orlando's case for contending. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data magic ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg dwight howard ... +10, +17.91, 24.0, 72%, 34.7 rashard lewis ... +6, -3.93, 14.5, 59%, 33.3 matt barnes ... +1, +0.84, 13.6, 53%, 25.9 vince carter ... +2, +2.18, 16.9, 58%, 31.2 jameer nelson ... +3, -2.71, 14.9, 45%, 28.4 j.j. redick ... -4, -7.17, 14.4, 45%, 21.6 jason williams ... 0, -1.00, 13.8, 44%, 21.3 mickael pietrus ... -4, -6.72, 10.8, 44%, 22.9 marcin gortat ... +6, +6.35, 14.1, 27%, 13.4 ryan anderson ... +5, +3.47, 16.1, 23%, 14.8 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives magic @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm derivatives howard @ 36 mpg ... +7.5, +13.4 lewis @ 33 mpg ... +4.1, -2.7 barnes @ 26 mpg ... +0.5, +0.5 carter @ 31 mpg ... +1.3, +1.4 nelson @ 29 mpg ... +1.8, -1.6 redick @ 20 mpg ... -1.7, -3.0 williams @ 19 mpg ... 0.0, -0.4 pietrus @ 21 mpg ... -1.8, -2.9 gortat @ 12 mpg ... +1.5, +1.6 anderson @ 13 mpg ... +1.4, +0.9 magic ...

why might this cavs' team be a championship squad, whereas last season's team wasn't able to get it done? easy. ball street tells us it's the depth ... lebron is always gonna be lebron, making his team 13, 14 or 15 points better. but this year's 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th cavs aren't a drain on the team as in years past. nine different cavs have two-year adjusted plus-minus scores of 0 or better. that's depth to go along with mvp ... check out the t.r.u.e. data along with the ball street derivatives to see the numbers explain themselves. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data cavs ... t-score, 1 apm, per, pt%, mpg anderson varejao ... +8, +11.91, 16.1, 58%, 29.0, antawn jamison ... +3, +3.21, 17.3, 64%, 37.3 lebron james ... +17, +16.96, 31.6, 78%, 39.0 anthony parker ... +3, +2.36, 9.6, 58%, 28.2 mo williams ... -4, -10.47, 15.6, 60%, 34.4 j.j. hickson ... -7, -6.40, 14.5, 41%, 20.0 delonte west ... 0, 0.00, 14.3, 37%, 24.7 shaquille o'neal ... -2, -1.56, 18.0, 36%, 23.3 zydrunas ilgauskas ... 0, -2.78, 12.7, 32%, 20.5 daniel gibson ... 0, -4.93, 11.5, 31%, 20.0 jamario moon ... 0, -2.62, 11.7, 26%, 16.9 ball street 2010 nba playoff derivatives cavs @ projected playoff mpg ... t-score derivatives, 1 apm ...

on the very day (february 13) that the dallas mavericks made their blockbuster trade to get haywood & butler, i said on twitter & here on fresno beach that they had just won an nba championship ... of course, i amended that statement 4 days later when the cavs acquired antawn jamison for essentially nothing (zydrunas ilgauskas just re-signed with cleveland today) ... still, i tried to show through basketball analytics exactly why i believed in cavs & mavs ... and dallas gave further proof of bigtime improvement by going on a 13-game win streak soon thereafter, which included wins over the lakers, magic & hawks ... so now it's more than 5 weeks later and dallas has gone 14-4 (.777) since the trade and is playing on par with the cavs (13-4), magic (14-3) & lakers (11-5) ... i think people are starting to believe dallas is for real ... meanwhile, ball street is still telling us that the mavs are the best team in the west and a worthy adversary for the cavs come june ... check out the t.r.u.e. data along with the ball street derivatives that makes the case for dallas. 2009-10 nba t.r.u.e. data mavs ... t-score, ...