Which Point Guards Help Their Teams Shoot Well?

After watching far too many Milwaukee Bucks games this season (in my gig as writer for We're Bucked), I came to a conclusion that I was sure had to be true:  the Bucks shot better from the field without Brandon Jennings on the court.  Unlike the league's top point guards, who strove to set up their teammates with high-quality shots, Jennings ran a ragged half-court offense that too often resulted in a forced isolation play by John Salmons with time running out on the shot clock.  I wanted to see the numbers on the Bucks field goal percentage with and without Jennings on the court to see if this hypothesis was true.

Eventually, I settled on using effective field goal percentage (eFG%), which takes into account the value of quality three-point FG attempts, and limited the data set to starting point guards who spent the entirety of the season leading their teams.  The data below were obtained using the newly revamped Statscube feature of NBA.com.   

KJ Finds an Interested Buyer

Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento made his presentation to the NBA Board of Governors today.  After the meeting, he took time to send the following tweet:

The problem is, though, that the ownership of the Kings -- including the Maloof brothers -- have previously indicated an unwillingness to sell.  But the Maloofs will need the approval of over half the NBA teams to get permission to relocate.  Would the other NBA teams be interested in having the Maloofs take ownership of the Hornets instead of the Kings?  In other words, could the NBA force the Maloofs to sell by not approving the relocation?  Burkle could then purchase the Kings, giving the Maloofs enough money (probably with some left over) to purchase the Hornets from the league.  The other owners would be happy to have the Hornets off their hands, the Kings could stay in Sacramento, and the Maloofs would then have a team to take to Anaheim so that they can get the lucrative cable TV deal of a large market.  Or the Maloofs could leave the Hornets in New Orleans where they currently have a viable NBA arena.

The Man Who Traded the Celtics for the Clippers:  Irv Levin.
He seems a bit Maloof-ish. (copyright: Dick Raphael)

An exchange or swap of NBA teams is not an unprecedented move.

Earl Barron Gets a Tryout with Blazers

Earl Barron tweeted that he was arriving in Portland for a workout with the Blazers.

In 7 games with the Bucks earlier this season, Barron, a 7'0" center, averaged 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while playing 12.1 minutes per game.  He was the leading scorer for Milwaukee in a loss to Boston on March 13.  The Bucks passed on signing Barron for the season after the second of his two 10-day contracts expired -- giving hm the flexibility to sign with a playoff team.  Barron also spent 12 games with Phoenix earlier in the season.

Did the Pistons' CEO Accidentally Make a Pre-Lockout Revelation of 'the Books'?

Pistons CEO and President Alan Ostfield went on-air with Piston broadcasters Greg Kelser and George Blaha during the second quarter of Friday's Bucks-Pistons game to announce that a deal was reached to sell the Pistons to Tom Gores.  In addition to a confirmation of the pact, the Pistons' chief executive offered a surprising candid assessment of the inner workings of the deal and the financial situation surrounding the organization.  According to Ostfield,

Karen Davidson and Tom Gores today signed a tentative agreement and now they're going to dot a few more i's and cross a few more t's, get the Board of Governors approval at the right time and, um, hopefully that will all happen in an expeditious manner. 

Where Does Andray Blatche's 16-Offensive-Rebound Game Rank Historically?

On a night where Jordan Crawford netted a triple-double and JaVale McGee put together a very efficient 25 points, the most astounding line of the night by far belonged to Andray Blatche.

• 36 points
• 19 rebounds
• 4 assists
• 1 steal 
• 1 block
• 16 offensive rebounds, a Bullets/Wizards franchise record

The statistics for offensive rebounding on basketballreference.com go back to 1985-86.  Here is a link showing all the players who garnered 15 boards on the offensive side.  Quite a list of players, but none put up as many as Andray's 36 points.

The fact that Blatche set the franchise record is even more impressive when you consider that Moses Malone, the holder of virtually every offensive rebounding record, played two years at the tail-end of his prime in DC.  But Moses never topped more than 11 offensive rebounds in a game as a Bullet.**

Moses holds the following NBA offensive rebounding records:

• Career:  6731                (7382, if you count his ABA seasons)
• Season: 587                  (Houston, 1978-79)
• Game: 21                      (Houston vs. Seattle, February 11, 1982)
• Career Average: 5.1
• Season Average: 7.2     (Houston, 1978-79)

It's hard to imagine averaging 5.1 offensive rebounds per game for a career that spanned over 1300 games.

Can you guess which player holds the career mark for defensive rebounds per game?  (Hint: Blake Griffin is pretty high on the list, but it's a different redhead.)

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** Offensive rebounding stats have only been kept in the NBA since '73-'74, so Wes Unseld's early years don't count.  I wonder if Wes ever got 16?