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 ...

"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 ...