New Official Quest for the Ring Song: Gyptian: African Prize

The founder and main basketball fanatic of the Quest is also a reggae fanatic. One love and irie by brethren! Not much to say about the new Official Song, since the overall power, the rhythm, and the great lyrics speak for themselves.

Hopefully when LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Kobe Bryant stop over, they will get their reggae vibe on after listening to this song.

Soon there will be new reggae juke box players on the Quest music site.

The song has been posted here and has also been given a permanent showing on the Quest home page.

The Quest for the Ring proudly introduces the new Official Song:



And the official remix:

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Latest Videos: Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics; He Plays Point Guard, and also Hero

Rajon Rondo did not so much play point guard as hero for the Boston Celtics in 2008-09, including in the playoffs:

Build your own custom video playlist at embedr.com

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The Common People Have Lost Faith in King George Karl Again

The Quotes below are taken from this Denver Post article.

So just how much are the Nuggets missing Kenyon Martin and Anthony Carter, anyway? In Carter’s case, if I were to make that decision on the emails I receive, that answer would be: They’re not missing him at all.

But we know better than that.

Don’t we?

You won't know better than that if you ask Mr. George Karl about this, laugh out loud. But why do I suspect that is exactly what is going to happen next...

“People forget we have two of our best defenders sitting on the bench,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We didn’t defend and we didn’t pass. Having another point guard on the court would help that. And I think Kenyon and AC are, by far, people know, our best defenders.”

Damn, I knew it, George Karl was going to be asked! How did I know? laugh out loud.

Umm, do people really know that Kenyon Martin and Anthony Carter are the best defenders on the Nuggets?

DENVER NUGGETS
DEFENDING SUB RATING
All tracked and hidden defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
As of February 20 2009

Nene Hilario 0.493
Chris Andersen 0.431
Kenyon Martin 0.415
J.R. Smith 0.409
Renaldo Balkman 0.379
Carmelo Anthony 0.362
Anthony Carter 0.329
Chauncey Billups† 0.293
Linas Kleiza 0.201
Dahntay Jones 0.195

Well, Kenyon Martin is near to but not at the top of the list, so there you go again, Mr. Karl, being biased toward the more veteran player (in this case, Martin) over the younger, inexperienced player (Nene). Kenyon Martin is one of your best defenders, but he is not the best.

I don't usually publish the hidden defending component that is part of the overall defending I just reported above, but I certainly stand by the accuracy of it, as long as the statistics at NBA.com / Lenovo are correct...

DENVER NUGGETS
HIDDEN DEFENDING
Based on Points Allowed Per Minute, this is a very close estimate of untracked defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASN
Through February 20 2009

Nene Hilario 0.174
J.R. Smith 0.157
Kenyon Martin 0.121
Renaldo Balkman 0.117
Anthony Carter 0.108
Carmelo Anthony 0.104
Chauncey Billups† 0.096
Chris Andersen 0.071
Dahntay Jones 0.069
Linas Kleiza 0.036

This is as close as anyone will ever get to rating man to man defending and defensive recognition, reaction, and rotation. (The three defensive r's.). But there are no style points here. Mr. Karl is, like many others, forgetting that "the best style" does not necessarily translate into the best results. You may agree with Mr. Karl that Kenyon Martin has the best defensive style on the Nuggets, but I don't care who has the best defensive style; all I care about is who has the best defensive results, and I just reported to you who does have the best defensive results.

J.R. Smith's defending style may often appear to be kind of awkward, kind of reckless, kind of inconsistent, sometimes kind of pathetic. His style doesn't seem to generate a lot of confidence among many people who watch basketball games. But does it really matter "how much confidence his style generates"? No, it doesn't matter, and the results speak for themselves. As you can see looking at the two listings above, the Nuggets are as good defensively this year when J.R. Smith is out there as when Kenyon Martin is out there.

As for Anthony Carter, he is not one of your best defenders at all. While he is above average in the hidden defending actions (the ones that generate the most style points) he is overall not a great defender, and is not as good this year as is Nene, Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Renaldo Balkman, and even Carmelo Anthony. And isn't this the same Anthony Carter who you wouldn't start in the Lakers playoff series because, gasp, he isn't a great defender? Or did you forget?

I’m not saying the duo would cure all of the Nuggets’ ills, because, as we all know, that team was losing games with both players in the lineup. But let’s take the Sacramento debacle on Sunday night. Kenyon Martin is the Nuggets’ best defender. That’s a fact.

Wrong, Mr. Karl! That is not a fact. Kenyon Martin is not the best defender on the Nuggets, Nene is. If there was a vote on who has the best defensive style, I'm sure that Kenyon Martin would trounce Nene. But any vote on style would not change the fact that Nene is the best defender on the Nuggets, nor the fact that Marcus Camby was the best defender on the Nuggets in 2007-08:

DENVER NUGGETS
DEFENDING SUB RATING
All tracked and hidden defending
2007-08 REGULAR SEASON

Marcus Camby 0.583
Nene Hilario 0.508
Eduardo Najera 0.461
Yakhouba Diawara 0.374
Kenyon Martin 0.348
Allen Iverson 0.300
Linas Kleiza 0.274
J.R. Smith 0.263
Carmelo Anthony 0.259
Anthony Carter 0.203
Chucky Atkins 0.168

Last year Kenyon Martin was not the best defender on the Nuggets either, Mr. Karl, I hate to break it to you and your fooled fans. Kenyon Martin is a good or very good defender (your choice) but not a great defender, sorry to break it to you.

Martin, with fast hands and fast feet, giving him the ability to guard out on the perimeter, could have been placed on Spencer Hawes, rather than the reluctant-to-leave-the-paint Nene, who was late out to the Kings center time and again, allowing Hawes to have target practice from the 3-point line.

Mr. Karl, why is it that you and some of your fooled fans insist on blaming every perimeter problem you have on whoever is playing center? Why can't anyone else bear any blame when your perimeter defense goes to hell? Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups deserve some of the blame if blame is going to be thrown around in public.

More broadly, why do you not play zone defense more than you do? Is it because you don't like the styles that emerge when zone defense is used?

Those shots went in. Contested? Maybe they don’t. And if that’s the case, the Kings don’t get off to the same hot start and the Nuggets don’t get buried early, allowing them a chance to get on track offensively and win the game.

The thing you don't understand about three-point shooting, Mr. Karl is that you can not lock down defend against the three no matter what you do and no matter who you have doing it. That is the whole point of why good franchises like the Spurs always without fail have a "crew" of good three point shooters. In the playoffs especially, the Spurs roll out their three point game in order to overcome any defense that is overweighted on the inside and is attempting to shut down the paint. Even if you do partly shut down the paint, a good three-point team can still beat you, Mr. Karl. Just as a good 2-point jump shooter needs to be able to and can make some mid-range jumpers even if they are constested, a good 3-point shooter can make threes whether they are contested or not. (Whereas, by the way, not good 3-point shooters can not make many threes whether they are contested or not.)

If you had what you are dreaming of in the Sacramento game, Mr. Karl, maybe the Kings are 12/29 instead of 14/29 on threes. 12/29 would be about normal for a good three-point team on a good night. You still lose the game, Mr. Karl, because you lost by 8, and since your team, by your own admission, was bad offensively. At least you are honest and not wrong about that.

Offensively, the Nuggets have returned to individual basketball. In their loss at Utah, the Nuggets had just three assists on their first 12 made field goals. At Sacramento they had five assists in the first half. Carter, who has no need to look for his own shot, would help that. He knows his assists are down and turnovers are up over the last month, but says that’s due to a bad hip, which has caused him to miss the last two games. I’ll take him at his word on that. He could return tonight.

In the Sac-Town game, you, Mr. Karl, were afraid to play the very young but extremely tall Johan Petro, which left you too small inside. You are playing Sacremento, Mr. Karl, one of the worst teams in the League! Why were you afraid to play Johan Petro? It was for games like this that Johan Petro was made available to you.

Also, either Chris Andersen, Renaldo Balkman, or both had to get more playing time if you were going to win the game.

It's your fault, Mr. Karl, that J.R. Smith is more inconsistent than ever, so that it is hopeless that he will help you in too many games. It is you who told him that he isn't good enough to start, and that there is something wrong with how he thinks, and with his personality. So it's your fault that Smith believed some or all of what you said and that his natural reaction has been to press too much. And everyone knows that all basketball players become more inconsistent than they were before when they press too much.

On the one hand, J.R. Smith is rebounding to beat the band for a 2-guard, and is defending and fouling with the best of this year's Nuggets. But on the other hand, his 3-point shooting has arguably never been less reliable than it is right now. So what have you gained with all your tinkering with J.R. Smith, Mr. Karl? Have you really made any net gains? I don't believe so.

But more than anything, Martin and Carter bring toughness – particularly mentally – and the Nuggets have lacked that in large amounts lately.

Oh, here we go again. Yes, we know Mr. Karl. Anthony Carter, Kenyon Martin, and so on and so forth have better personalities than J.R. Smith, mostly or totally because J.R. Smith is less mature, which is not his fault, and has little to do with basketball. And Nene is, well, he's a... a foreigner! His native language is Portuguese! He talks funny, so how can he have a good personality and be mentally tough? How could he have a personality which meets the full approval of Mr. Karl? He couldn't, on account of the language thing and his other funny, foreign mannerisms.

Laugh out loud, Mr. Karl!

You know, it's not just me and so many of the "common people" who don't like you anymore. It's also that the referees don't like the defending that you put out on the court much anymore, and this is one of your biggest problems right now. The refs have more and more concluded that your defending is too heavy on aggressiveness and fouling and too light on skills, and they are starting to throw the rule book at you. Your team is being buried in personal fouls, Mr. Karl!

And oh, it's getting kind of pathetic again in Nuggets Land. On the one hand there are all these people on Nuggets blogs and forums starting to post things like "Karl is the problem," and "Karl must go," and "Karl will definitely go if the Nuggets don't win a playoff series this year" and so on and so forth. Meanwhile, other, more "credentialed" people, such as reporters, are still trying to find out why the Nuggets are losing now from who? You guessed it, George Karl. It seems that when it comes to the Nuggets, it doesn't matter how many common people think he is a lousy coach. The royalty is faithful to him and looks for answers from him no matter what.

I hate to break it to those of you who realize that Mr. Karl needs to go, but George Karl, unless he voluntarily retires, which is extremely unlikely, because the Nuggets will have won too many regular season games for that, and because there is one final year left on his contract, will almost certainly be back again next year, no matter how badly the Nuggets tank the rest of this season, and no matter how bad they are in the playoffs.

If the Nuggets franchise really and truly cared about winning in the playoffs, George Karl would not be around right now.

Can you see it coming in the distance yet, Mr. Karl? That train coming down the tracks, which comes every year? You and your lame philosophies are going to lose in the playoffs again.

But oh, that's right, you don't really care much about the playoffs, and you have a lock on making your regular season quota this year already, which was 45 wins at a minimum, so you are all set and all comfy for the year regardless of how many people want you to be fired this year, and regardless of what happens the rest of the way.

======================================================
Here are the actual comments that have been posted under the Post article at the Denver Post site as of this writing. Despite the premise of the reporter, that George Karl will know the real reasons the Nuggets are losing, every one of the comments 5 out of 5, blame Mr. Karl himself, first and foremost!

5 Comments »
I think George Karl is the problem.

Comment by nicole — March 9, 2009 @ 12:42 pm

Missing Kenyon is HUGE to our team–not so much AC.
I am really amazed that we did not attempt to pick up a big post man for the second half of the season–instead we picked up a point guard.
We really don’t need a point guard, we need some big presence inside. Bird is good and Nene has great hands, but he is getting beat up and we don’t have an enforcer in the line-up without Kenyon.

Comment by T — March 9, 2009 @ 1:57 pm

Carter has mental toughness?? One of the teams best defenders? Only in Coach Karl’s eyes. His turnovers are ridiculous, and whomever he guards lately scores AT WILL. If he has a bad hip at this age, its only going to get worse. Plus, he should NEVER be on the court the same time as Chauncey.

Comment by JD — March 9, 2009 @ 2:47 pm

Toughness? I haven’t seen it since the Laker game. Karl needs to go..it’s obvious he has given up…you don;t think players pick up on that..as he sits there sucking on throat lozenges..and buries his head in his hands after another forced shot by JR..the man has given up. It;s time to make some personnel moves Rex…someone the players can relate to. Even 70 year old Jerry Sloan still gets out of his seat yelling at the refs, getting his players fired up. It’s called passion George!

Comment by JimRam — March 10, 2009 @ 9:02 am

JimRam and Nicole—I certainly agree with you! I had hoped to have a new coach this year, but acquiring Chauncey got everyone’s attention off of the coach. Just suffering thru his substitutions from the bench is painful. And, the energy of the team has been horrendous–two guys crashing the boards for a rebound and the others watching. If this team has the talent to move into first place, then they have the talent to remain in first place. Something or someone is sapping the energy and enthusiasm from this team and it is most likely the coach!

Comment by T — March 10, 2009 @ 10:42 am

For complete details about how and why Real Player Ratings and Sub Ratings work, and for very detailed information about how Real Team Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the USER GUIDE

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The Denver Nuggets Have Been Very Clever, but the Referees are on to Them Now

This year the Nuggets were very clever when they changed their stripes and became a defense first rather than an offense first team. They may or may not know just how clever they are. They got rid of their two best players from last year: Marcus Camby and Allen Iverson and, due to panic surrounding the economic meltdown, they felt they could afford only one really good player in exchange: Chauncey Billups.

Now Billups is an even better offensive than he is a defensive player, yet nevertheless the Nuggets were smart enough to become a defense first and pride in defense type of team. This was was fundamentally clever because with Iverson gone, with Billups responsible for running the offense and unable to be a power scorer at the same time he is running it, with Carmelo Anthony downsized in terms of scoring under instructions from George Karl, with Linas Kleiza unable to reestablish the modest offense he had the last couple of years, and with J.R. Smith even more inconsistent than in the last couple of years, the Nuggets simply no longer have the players necessary to be a good or high quality offensive team anymore.

Furthermore, if you are bargain shopping for NBA players, you can get some nice bargains when it comes to "defensive specialists" who are, unfortunately, players who will not do you any good to speak of offensively in the playoffs.

So the Nuggets, correctly realizing that defense was the only good way to go, went out and picked up some incredible defensive specialist bargains, notably Chris Andersen and Renaldo Balkman.

That was clever. But why exactly was this extra clever? Because the 2008-09 Nuggets appeal to a different group of fans than the 2007-08 Nuggets did. Last year's Nuggets were appealing to those who believe that if you don't have the superstars you won't get anywhere in the playoffs. This year's Nuggets are appealing to those who believe that if you don't have the defensive effort, pride, and purpose, you won't get anywhere in the playoffs.

Last year's fans were not going to be this year's fans regardless of how the Nuggets might change their stripes, after watching the Nuggets be embarrassed and totally destroyed by the Lakers in the first round last April, despite having more than their fair share of superstars and stars. Many if not most of last year's fans are now fans of other teams, or not following basketball closely at all.

The hardcore Nuggets fans, the ones who want to remain fans come what may, used what to me are strange rationalizations in order to remain fans. These never say die types have claimed that Marcus Camby's defensive style is so bad that he is not really a good defender, so it was a smart franchise move to give Camby away and to start clearing up payroll space. Many of these folks were also gung ho on Iverson being traded away, largely based on the claim that Iverson would never reduce his shooting and thus make the offense less easy to defend even if he were asked which, however, has been proven false because that is exactly what Iverson has done for the Detroit Pistons after being traded to them by the Nuggets for Chauncey Billups.

Getting back to extremely clever: the Nuggets, by changing from offense first to defense first, have attracted a largely new fan base. They have successfully replaced last year's fans of superstars with this year's fans of defense. Especially if you are a middle sized market with relatively weak interest in basketball, you need to appeal to at least one major subgroup of basketball fans, or you run the risk of your franchise going into a "recession" of its own. The owner and managers of the Nuggets very wisely decided that they would try to avoid a franchise recession, while at the same time dealing aggressively with the recession in the economy as a whole, by dumping some pricey players overboard.

So it seems that the clever but never quite ready for prime time Nuggets are very good at playing fans as if they were violins. And in about the first two thirds of the 2008-09 regular season, the Nuggets have been very good at playing referees as if they were violins. Their swarming, aggressive defensive style, a bare bones, inexperienced version of defending that can be successful in the playoffs if a good offense goes along with it, has been up until now as much admired by the referees as by the fans of defense in basketball. The referees have been easy on the Nuggets as far as calling fouls is concerned in the first two thirds of the season.

But the Nuggets' way of defending, long on energy but a little short on skills, recently appears to be wearing thin among those who wear the striped shirts and call fouls during games.

Most contending teams are low fouls per game teams. There are a very small number of exceptions: the Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz are essentially the only exceptions. The Spurs, the Rockets, and the Mavericks commit the fewest fouls per game in the NBA, and the Hawks, the Cavaliers, the Magic, the Hornets, the Lakers, and the Trailblazers are all below normal in fouls per game. In other words, most contending teams rely more on defensive skill and less on defensive aggressiveness per se in order to win,

Conversely, many of the lottery teams are high fouls per game teams. This would be due to some combination of lesser abilities to defend well without fouling, and perhaps to not trying quite so hard to defend without fouling due to not being a contending team. It takes a lot of hard, tough work to defend well without fouling. Very hard and very tough.

It's one thing for the packed with stars and superstars and defensively highly skilled Boston Celtics to be one of the highest fouls per game NBA teams. But it is another thing entirely for a team with a smaller number of stars and superstars, and for a team which has fewer real defensive skills, and for a team that hasn't won anything in the playoffs in recent history, namely, the Denver Nuggets, to think that they can continue indefinitely to have the referees "on their side." The Celtics are intentionally using both skilled defending and aggressive defending resulting in a fairly large number of fouls. The Nuggets are using the aggressive defending, but they don't have anywhere near the skills for defending that the Celtics do. As a result, although the Nuggets undoubtably impressed the referees for much of this regular season, the referees are becoming less and less impressed as the season goes along, as they realize that the Nuggets' defending is 7 or 8 parts aggression and only 2 or 3 parts skills, whereas the Celtics' defending is 4 or 5 parts aggression and 5 or 6 parts skills.

When the referees become less impressed with defensive energy, look out. They will gradually start calling more and more fouls against your aggressive defenders, as well as more and more goal tends. This is what is starting to happen with the Nuggets. In Friday's loss to the Jazz, which in all fairness was an extremely difficult to win back to back road game, the Nuggets, who average 22.9 fouls per game, were called for 32 personal fouls! The Jazz, who average 22.2 fouls per game, were called for 26 in that game. In the 100-95 loss to the Pistons in Detroit on March 3, the Nuggets were whistled for 27 fouls, the Pistons for 21. In the 120-117 loss to Milwaukee on February 22, the Nuggets were whistled for 31 fouls, although the Bucks were called for 32. In the 116-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls on February 20, the Nuggets were called for 26 fouls, whereas the Bulls were called for 20.

There have been few games lately where the Nuggets were called for fewer than their average of 22.9 fouls, although the 106-90 win over Portland on March 5 was a game where the Nuggets were called for just 18 fouls.

The Portland game illustrates the main point just as the high foul games do. The main point is that when the referees "let them play" and don't call some of the fouls, the Nuggets can still be successful with their way of defending. When the referees decide to call a game more closely, more in strict adherence to the detailed rules, then the Nuggets are in deep trouble.

A defensively aggressive team wins if and only if the referees allow a substantial number of fouls to go uncalled. Uncalled fouls are almost like free money: the team that benefits has prevented a possession from being a score on the cheap.

The big problem for the Nuggets is that there is a tendency for the referees to gradually call tighter and tighter games as the regular season goes along, which has the effect of more and more penalizing teams that are long on defensive aggressiveness and short on defensive skills. Not to mention that in the playoffs, the refs generally are even more likely to call relatively "strictly according to the rules" games. As the referees become more and more strict and less and less impressed with the Nuggets' way of defending, the Nuggets are finding and will continue to find it harder and harder to win games.

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The Rocky Mountain News Lives on Here (Sort of)

The Rocky Mountain News, one of the two major Denver area newspapers, has been closed by corporate forces profit driven as always and currently panicked about the depression to boot. This is just a little tiny drop in a sea of economic disasters ongoing as we speak. Until an economy is established where people are more important than money and big corporations, this kind of thing is going to continue.

In the video left behind in the wake of the closing of this source of information about the Nuggets and of course many more things, it mentions that bloggers have mostly opinions and not facts to contribute. Knowing this to be generally true, and not liking the idea of being limited like that one bit, I decided to do everything possible to make my reports tilted heavily in the direction of facts. Thus, I have the heavy statistical focus, including my own custom made statistics. In other words, I use the NBA scorekeepers as my reporters to the maximum extent possible.

However, traditional reporters are still needed; you can't do every last thing in terms of discovering and revealing the truth with statistics! Here are two examples of things I would like to know right now, but can't find out unless a reporter is able to report on them, or unless I sneak around Denver for a couple of days, beg for information, and get lucky (with no pay, laugh out loud):

1. What exactly are the incentives in J.R. Smith's contract?
2. Is Linas Kleiza likely to get a new contract and return next year or not?

Traditional off-line organizations including basketball teams traditionally divulge certain information only to traditional reporters. If they don't start divulging the information to some non-traditional reporters who operate online, and the number of traditional reporters shrinks, they will be able to maintain a lot more secrets. That's not to say that traditional reporters such as those who are now no longer working for the Rocky Mountain News always were aggressive at getting facts that organizations might want to be kept secret. All too often, they were not as aggressive as they could be. Also, there are some things the organizations are going to keep secret come hell or high water, regardless of how aggressive reporters might be.

All bloggers should go for more facts and fewer opinions but, in any event, a shortage in reporters who come up with facts that some are trying to hide is here and is apparently going to get worse. Some secrets will be relatively easy to keep regardless of how many "internet news sources" there are, because bloggers are not authorized (or "credentialed" as they say) to dig out the most closely kept secrets, whereas traditional reporters are.

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Houston Rockets vs Denver Nuggets Possible Playoff and March 9 Game Preview

Using very important efficiency ratings, Real Player Ratings, and Real Player Production for the Rockets and the Nuggets, we can prepare ourselves for a possible playoff series between the two teams in round one of the NBA Championship next month. Also, this is a great preview for tonight’s Rockets-Nuggets game.

OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY
Rockets 15th in offensive efficiency in the NBA, 108.4 points per 100 possessions.
Nuggets 11th in offensive efficiency in the NBA, 109.0 points per 100 possessions.

Rockets 5th in defensive efficiency in the NBA, 104.1 points allowed per 100 possessions.
Nuggets 11th defensive efficiency in the NBA, 106.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.

For the player ratings, first we will look at the ratings separately by team and then we will combine both teams to see how the players stack up even more clearly.

QUICK USER GUIDE NOTES THAT APPLY TO THIS COMPARISON OF TEAMS:
1. Players who have been traded away have been removed.
2. Players who have been lost for the season due to injury have been removed.
3. Players who were acquired by trade are included; their ratings are from playing on their previous teams.

COMPLETE USER GUIDE
For complete details about how and why the Ratings work, and for very detailed information about how Real Team Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the USER GUIDE

ROCKETS = NUGGETS MATCHUP WITH RATINGS SHOWN BY TEAM

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Quality of Players
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEB. 20 2009

ROCKETS
Yao Ming 1.008
Ron Artest 0.765
Luis Scola 0.716
Carl Landry 0.695
Kyle Lowry 0.591
Aaron Brooks 0.582
Von Wafer 0.580
Shane Battier 0.524
Brent Barry 0.503
Chuck Hayes 0.429

NUGGETS
Nene Hilario 0.864
Carmelo Anthony 0.860
Chauncey Billups† 0.859
Chris Andersen 0.755
J.R. Smith 0.749
Kenyon Martin 0.724
Renaldo Balkman 0.716
Anthony Carter 0.652
Linas Kleiza 0.558
Dahntay Jones 0.424

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Quantity of Players
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEB. 20 2009

ROCKETS
Yao Ming 1453.20
Luis Scola 1064.25
Ron Artest 890.00
Carl Landry 723.85
Aaron Brooks 621.70
Kyle Lowry 621.65
Shane Battier 464.65
Von Wafer 402.40
Brent Barry 273.15
Chuck Hayes 228.30

NUGGETS
Chauncey Billups† 1322.40
Nene Hilario 1303.00
Kenyon Martin 1050.05
Carmelo Anthony 1034.90
J.R. Smith 919.45
Anthony Carter 765.75
Linas Kleiza 668.90
Chris Andersen 584.40
Dahntay Jones 379.50
Renaldo Balkman 267.65

===========SUB RATINGS===============

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
DEFENDING SUB RATINGS
Tracked and Hidden Defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEB. 20 2009

ROCKETS
Yao Ming 0.564
Ron Artest 0.481
Chuck Hayes 0.355
Shane Battier 0.338
Brent Barry 0.304
Luis Scola 0.296
Carl Landry 0.252
Aaron Brooks 0.187
Kyle Lowry 0.177
Von Wafer 0.163

NUGGETS
Nene Hilario 0.493
Chris Andersen 0.431
Kenyon Martin 0.415
J.R. Smith 0.409
Renaldo Balkman 0.379
Carmelo Anthony 0.362
Anthony Carter 0.329
Chauncey Billups† 0.293
Linas Kleiza 0.201
Dahntay Jones 0.195

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
OFFENSE SUB RATINGS
Tracked and Hidden Defending
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEB. 20 2009

ROCKETS
Yao Ming 0.872
Luis Scola 0.683
Carl Landry 0.643
Ron Artest 0.632
Von Wafer 0.575
Aaron Brooks 0.526
Shane Battier 0.456
Kyle Lowry 0.424
Brent Barry 0.418
Chuck Hayes 0.374

NUGGETS
Chauncey Billups† 0.645
Carmelo Anthony 0.574
Nene Hilario 0.483
J.R. Smith 0.451
Renaldo Balkman 0.412
Anthony Carter 0.398
Linas Kleiza 0.383
Kenyon Martin 0.380
Chris Andersen 0.360
Dahntay Jones 0.282

================================================

ROCKETS = NUGGETS MATCHUP WITH COMBINED SORTS

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Quality of Players
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
Through Feb. 20 2009

Yao Ming Houston 1.008
Nene Hilario Denver 0.864
Carmelo Anthony Denver 0.860
Chauncey Billups Denver 0.859
Ron Artest Houston 0.765
Chris Andersen Denver 0.755
J.R. Smith Denver 0.749
Kenyon Martin Denver 0.724
Renaldo Balkman Denver 0.716
Luis Scola Houston 0.716
Carl Landry Houston 0.695
Anthony Carter Denver 0.652
Kyle Lowry Houston 0.591
Aaron Brooks Houston 0.582
Von Wafer Houston 0.580
Linas Kleiza Denver 0.558
Shane Battier Houston 0.524
Brent Barry Houston 0.503
Chuck Hayes Houston 0.429
Dahntay Jones Denver 0.424

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
A Great Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

HOUSTON ROCKETS VS DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER PRODUCTION
Quantity of Players
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
Through Feb. 20 2009

Yao Ming Houston 1453.20
Chauncey Billups Denver 1322.40
Nene Hilario Denver 1303.00
Luis Scola Houston 1064.25
Kenyon Martin Denver 1050.05
Carmelo Anthony Denver 1034.90
J.R. Smith Denver 919.45
Ron Artest Houston 890.00
Anthony Carter Denver 765.75
Carl Landry Houston 723.85
Linas Kleiza Denver 668.90
Aaron Brooks Houston 621.70
Kyle Lowry Houston 621.65
Chris Andersen Denver 584.40
Shane Battier Houston 464.65
Von Wafer Houston 402.40
Dahntay Jones Denver 379.50
Brent Barry Houston 273.15
Renaldo Balkman Denver 267.65
Chuck Hayes Houston 228.30

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ROCKETS VS NUGGETS
SUMMARY IN TERMS OF REAL PLAYER RATING SCALE CATEGORIES

HISTORIC SUPERSTARS
Yao Ming, Rockets 1.008

SUPERSTARS
Nene Hilario Denver 0.864
Carmelo Anthony Denver 0.860
Chauncey Billups Denver 0.859

STARS
None on either team

OUTSTANDING / SOLID STARTERS
Ron Artest Houston 0.765
Chris Andersen Denver 0.755
J.R. Smith Denver 0.749
Kenyon Martin Denver 0.724
Renaldo Balkman Denver 0.716
Luis Scola Houston 0.716

MAJOR ROLE PLAYERS
Carl Landry Houston 0.695
Anthony Carter Denver 0.652

ROLE PLAYERS
None on either team

MINOR ROLE PLAYERS
Kyle Lowry Houston 0.591
Aaron Brooks Houston 0.582
Von Wafer Houston 0.580
Linas Kleiza Denver 0.558

VERY MINOR ROLE PLAYERS
Shane Battier Houston 0.524
Brent Barry Houston 0.503

POOR PLAYERS
Chuck Hayes Houston 0.429
Dahntay Jones Denver 0.424

QUEST NOTES ABOUT THE ROCKETS—NUGGETS MATCHUP
Carmelo Anthony is improved from a month ago, which slightly increases the Nuggets chance of winning a playoff series against anyone. On the other hand, Linas Kleiza is really starting to have a miserable year now, and J.R. Smith has become even more inconsistent than he was last year, something that would have been regarded as absurd if you did not see it with your own eyes.

The Houston Rockets are one of the more likely possible matchups for the Nuggets in the playoffs. Very significantly, if the Nuggets play the Rockets, they could possibly win it now, due to the Rockets loss of their second best player, Tracy McGrady, due to an injury. It's not out of the question anymore, but the odds remain against it.

Also, the Rockets are going with Aaron Brooks at PG now that Rafer Alston is traded to the Magic. Brooks has rated only as a minor role player so far. Although he will undoubtedly rise to at least role player, Alston was the better bet for the Rockets for the playoffs.

Despite the above, I am as of now still predicting a Rockets win over the Nuggets in the playoffs, should they meet. If forced to predict the result in games, I would say Rockets 4 Nuggets 2, but I would be just surprised somewhat and not shocked at Rockets 4 Nuggets 3.

Let's check how the Nuggets' ratings have changed in the last month:

DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
Through Jan. 15 2009

Chauncey Billups 0.909
Nene Hilario 0.845
Renaldo Balkman 0.830
Carmelo Anthony 0.821
J.R. Smith 0.787
Chris Andersen 0.763
Kenyon Martin 0.744
Anthony Carter 0.637
Linas Kleiza 0.552
Dahntay Jones 0.455

DENVER NUGGETS
REAL PLAYER RATINGS
2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
Through Feb. 20 2009

Nene Hilario 0.864
Carmelo Anthony 0.860
Chauncey Billups 0.859
Chris Andersen 0.755
J.R. Smith 0.749
Kenyon Martin 0.724
Renaldo Balkman 0.716
Anthony Carter 0.652
Linas Kleiza 0.558
Dahntay Jones 0.424

With Carmelo Anthony improved and with a truly startling number of quality players showing up in the Nuggets ratings, with eight players who are major role players or better, it may be time to start considering the Nuggets more seriously. Not me yet, but maybe you.

What I need to consider the Nuggets seriously for the playoffs is a change at 2-guard. Were J.R. Smith to start and were Dahntay Jones' minutes be reduced substantially, the Nuggets could possibly defeat the Rockets now that Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston are gone. The Rockets advantage would be reduced to a very small amount, and who won would be mostly based on playoff experience and coaching. Whoever played better and smarter would win a probably close series. I would still say Rockets but would not be shocked if the Nuggets won in this matchup.

But with Dahntay Jones playing a lot of minutes, and J.R. Smith still relegated to a "black sheep type role", the Rockets remain favored, although not by anywhere near as much as they were when they had Rafer Alston and especially Tracy McGrady.

ADDED 1 HOUR AFTER ABOVE WAS POSTED
I just noticed that if you look closely, the Rockets' offensive sub ratings are better than the Nuggets' by more than the Nuggets' defending sub ratings are better than the Rockets.' This is another clue I think that the Nuggets can not in fact defeat the Rockets in the playoffs this year.

On the other hand, the Rockets are playing it risky with Aaron Brooks as PG and just Lowry as a backup. Although most likely no team in my life time will ever be as lost at PG as the Nuggets were last April, the Rockets can not exactly rest easy regarding their PG situation for the playoffs yet.

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Another Year, Another Group of Frustrated and Fooled Nuggets Fans

Having in fact predicted that the Nuggets would not win more than 43 games this season, I knew the Nuggets were not going to win a playoff series from day one of this season, so I produced my annual George Karl Isn't Going to Win a Playoff Series Report early this year.

Then too there is the Laugh Out Loud that Dahntay Jones is Going to Start in the Playoffs Report.

And don't forget this posting reporting that the world's highest volume basketball writer David Friedman, who in fact is very rarely wrong about anything, agrees with me that the Nuggets can most likely not win a playoff series. Unlike Friedman and I, most NBA basketball writers are confused about the Nuggets, and trying to ignore the Nuggets and are not making predictions one way or the other.

And there is also this report on how Carmelo Anthony is no where near as good as he was in recent years, and that as a result the Nuggets, unlike the teams that will win playoff series, have no real power offensive, go to guy anymore.

And there are many other reports, including the January report that really annoys Nuggets fans even though I was just reporting in a very frank way, and was not intending to nor wanting to annoy, titled Rose Colored Glasses.

There are only two known ways the Nuggets could win a series. They could be lucky enough to play a team with a key player or two not available due to injuries. The only other way is if they play a team that is just as clueless and/or as inexperienced as they are regarding the playoffs, and there really are not any, although I have a few doubts about Dallas since, for one thing, they as number one seed lost to the 8th seed Golden State Warriors a few years ago..

I'm as stupidly optimistic as the next guy about this, that, and the other thing in life, but when it comes to basketball, I decided I was going to turn over a new leaf and not be stupidly optimistic with my reports. And I don't regret it, and I won't regret it even if somehow the Nuggets do win a playoff series. In my basketball reports, I'm never going to be looking like this:



What's interesting also about this strange Nuggets winning is that I think, generally, that a different group of fans thinks the Nuggets can win a playoff series this year than were thinking that last year. The Nuggets have co-opted a whole new group of soon to be frustrated believers with their clever but ultimately limited basketball strategies and tactics.

Last year, those who know that a critical mass of superstar and star players are necessary to win in the playoffs were thinking that the Nuggets could possibly win a playoff series, despite their, to put it nicely, questionable methods of playing the game. Because the Nuggets. despite their disorganized offense and lacking defense, did in fact have that critical mass of superstars and stars. When the Lakers utterly decimated the Nuggets in the playoff series, we were rudely but through no fault of our own shown to be fools, mostly due to George Karl's coaching in general and to his inability to understand that you can not win a playoff series without a position-based guard strategy in particular.

Even I for a while last year underestimated just how lacking George Karl's way of managing a basketball offense is with respect to the NBA playoffs. For me, seeing how Anthony Carter was no longer the point guard in the playoffs was the ultimate slam in the face realization that George Karl is not qualified to be an NBA playoff coach.

This year, it's those who think defensive priority and pride is very important who are thinking the Nuggets could win a playoff series. I think it's largely a different group of people, not only because those who place a heavy emphasis on defense are generally a different group from those who simply consider the number of star players to be most important. Also, you could not have fully absorbed how the Nuggets were totally destroyed by the Lakers last April, and then how Marcus Camby was given away for just about nothing, and be confident right now that the Nuggets could win a series this year. So the people who think the Nuggets can win a series this year were more or less not around last year; with the kind of defending the Nuggets were doing last year, it would have been next to impossible for those who think that defending is crucial to think that they could ever win a series last year. Probably, the believers in defense were only light fans who were not closely following the team last year.

But what about the really hardcore Nuggets fans? Among those who were real fans both last year and this year, there have been claims that the fact that Marcus Camby has a defending style that does not feature lock down man to man defending makes giving him away for nothing alright. Which in turn means that the Nuggets might actually be better this year than last. There is a fundamental disagreement here in Nuggets Land, because both that Camby is not really a great defender and that the Nuggets are better defensively and better overall this year than last year are regarded as absurd by me and by those who think like I do. For the record, the defensive efficiency statistics have been showing that the Nuggets are no better and no worse defensively this year compared with last year.

Yes, there have been a lot of changes in the Nuggets from last year to this, many for the better, with the defensive changes being the most outstanding, more outstanding in fact than the change from Anthony Carter to Chauncey Billups at point guard. Because if the Nuggets had not become aggressive and proficient at defending, they would have been a losing team this year without any doubt.

But some things are a little worse, such as Carmelo Anthony and Linas Kleiza, and some problems are the same, such as the extreme inconsistency of J.R. Smith. The biggest thing that is worse is that the Nuggets do not have the star power they had last year anymore. True, Chris Andersen, Renaldo Balkman, and Nene are all stars this year, and are all much better than expected. This has been a big surprise to just about everyone who follows basketball.

But first time ever stars are not the same thing as veteran stars. In a soon to be posted "Denver Nuggets 2007-08 Real Player Ratings Revised With the Improved System" report, you will see quite plainly that the Nuggets disposed of their two highest quality players from last year to this: Marcus Camby and Allen Iverson. If you compare the 2007-08 ratings to the latest 2008-09 ratings, you will see that both Iverson and Camby last year played at a higher level than the three Nuggets stars are playing at this year (Nene, Billups, and Carmelo Anthony).

Unfortunately, the way I see it, both last year's and this year's group thinking the Nuggets might win a playoff series were and are going to be wrong the way I see it. Both groups have made use of the rose colored glasses that are distributed for free by the Nuggets' coaches and managers before and during every season.

Oh well, nobody and nothing is hurt if you believe in your team even if in actuality there is almost no chance they can win. You have to believe in something.

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Real Team Ratings as of March 5 2009

The NBA Real Team Ratings with about 6 weeks left in the regular season are here. There is a new, small adjustment included for the first time. Since there is a mild reverse correlation between pace and winning in the playoffs, there is from now on a "Pace Overweight Adjustment" included. Although the amount of this adjustment is small, it was enough in this case to move the Cleveland Cavaliers from a very small amount behind the Lakers to a very small amount ahead of them.

REAL TEAM RATINGS
Teams Rated According to Playoffs Potential
NBA: NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
AS OF MARCH 5, 2009

1 Cleveland Cavaliers 51.80
2 Los Angeles Lakers 49.80
3 Boston Celtics 49.10
4 Orlando Magic 35.10
5 Houston Rockets 22.70
6 San Antonio Spurs 16.20
7 Utah Jazz 12.40
8 Portland Trail Blazers 10.70
9 New Orleans Hornets 10.00
10 Denver Nuggets 5.20
11 Dallas Mavericks -6.90
12 Atlanta Hawks -9.10
13 Phoenix Suns -15.00
14 Miami Heat -15.10
15 Detroit Pistons -15.10
16 Philadelphia 76ers -19.60
17 Chicago Bulls -23.10
18 Milwaukee Bucks -24.00
19 Charlotte Bobcats -24.50
20 Indiana Pacers -26.80
21 New Jersey Nets -31.60
22 New York Knicks -35.30
23 Golden State Warriors -47.10
24 Toronto Raptors -53.00
25 Memphis Grizzlies -54.90
26 Washington Wizards -63.90
27 Oklahoma City Thunder -64.20
28 Minnesota Timberwolves -67.80
29 Los Angeles Clippers -74.20
30 Sacramento Kings -86.20

QUEST COMMENTS AND PROJECTIONS
Since obviously we are going to stand by the accuracy of these ratings, as far as Quest for the Ring is concerned, the Cleveland Cavaliers are very much for real in this year's Quest, and are not only a threat to the Celtics' getting the ring, but are also a threat to the Lakers getting it as well. Of course, whether the Cavaliers could actually win the Quest would depend largely on one single player: LeBron James.

Generally speaking, this year's Quest is way too close to call between the Celtics, the Lakers, and LeBron James (the Cavaliers). The Magic are a darkhorse possibility; they have in terms of probability roughly a 1.5% chance of winning the Quest. Their chances would have been roughly 2.5% had Jameer Nelson not been removed from their list of available players. At the beginning of the season, it was hoped that the Rockets and/or the Hornets would be competitive with the Lakers, but this was not to be.

It is next to impossible that any other team other than the Lakers, the Celtics, the Cavaliers, or the Magic will win it this year. For example, even the Spurs are simply not fully competitive with these teams this year.

The Nuggets are the NBA's most surprising team this year, but our system rates them lower than most other raters do, and our system shows that the Nuggets are probably not going to win a playoff series, unless they are able to take full advantage of another team's injury, such as Tracy McGrady's injury for the Rockets.

The Pistons are one of the NBA's most surprising teams on the downside this year. Nevertheless, unless they have to play the Celtics, the Cavaliers, or the Magic in round one, the Pistons still have a very decent potential to win a playoff series this spring, precisely because they have a lot of talent that has been mostly hiding out so far this year.

Given how much trouble the Magic have had with defeating the Pistons in head to head games in recent years, including this year, it is not yet out of the question that the Pistons can defeat the Magic in a playoff series. The Magic seem to be very disrupted by the way the Pistons play defense. But as the ratings show, you would have to say as of now that the Magic would be heavily favored over the Pistons if they play in the playoffs this year.

Quest is currently sticking with our Championship forecast of Lakers 4 Celtics 3, but quite honestly the thing is up for grabs between the Lakers and Celtics, and very possibly the Cavaliers as well.

INTERPRETATION OF RATINGS GUIDELINES: TO BE USED AFTER MARCH 1 OF EACH YEAR ONLY
Of all the popular American sports Leagues, the NBA is the one where the better team is most likely to avoid being upset in the playoffs. Therefore, the RTR system can be used to gain knowledge of which team is most likely to win playoff series.

However, due to statistical error, especially unavoidable error introduced by the counting of wins and losses among the best 16 teams, there has to be a 3-4 points difference between teams before you can start to have any confidence at all that one team will defeat another in the playoffs. Aside from statistical error, there are also unknown factors, especially what the injury situation will be for the teams.

Another factor that becomes a big one when two teams with very similar ratings are playing is home court advantage. Home court advantage is estimated to be worth between 5 and 7.5 points.

Interpretation of ratings is not very useful before March 1, due to the need for a fairly high percentage of the season to be over before the projections are statistically meaningful, and due to the fact that the ratings are not relative to time, but rather expand with time.

In the numeric interpretaton guide that follows, the word "roughly" is repeatedly used in front of the probability numbers, as a reminder about statistical error, and to emphasize that unknown factors, especially injuries, will in some cases result in substantially different actual probabilities.

The probability percentages are based on the historical results in the NBA:

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 0 AND 3.9
The series is a toss-up, when statistical error is considered. There is a strong possibility of a 7 game series. The higher team has roughly a 64% probability of winning the series if it also has home court advantage. But if the slightly higher team does not have home court advantage, then the lower team has a roughly 60% probability of winning the series. These probabilities are too low for anyone to have any confidence in using this system to say who will win.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 4.0 AND 7.9
The series can easily go either way, although the higher team has a slight edge, and roughly a 72% probability of winning if it also has home court advantage. If however the higher team does not have home court advantage, then the probability that the higher team will wins drops to roughly 54%, a probability so small that the series is essentially a toss-up. In the latter case, there is a strong possibility of a 7 game series.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 8.0 AND 11.9
The series can go either way, but the higher team has a clear edge. The higher team has a roughly 78% chance of winning the series if it has home court advantage, and roughly a 65% chance of winning the series if it does not have the home court advantage.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 12.0 AND 15.9
The higher team has roughly a 90% probability of winning the series if it also has the home court advantage, and roughly an 80% chance of winning the series if it does not have the home court advantage.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 16.0 AND 19.9
The higher team has roughly a 96% probability of winning the series if it also has the home court advantage, and roughly a 90% probability of winning the series if it does not have the home court advantage.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 20.0 AND 23.9
The higher team has roughly a 98% probability of winning the series if it also has the home court advantage. It is basically impossible that the higher team will not also have the home court advantage.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS BETWEEN 24.0 AND 27.9
The higher team has at least a 99% probability of winning the series. It is impossible that the higher team will not also have the home court advantage.

DIFFERENCE IN RATINGS IS 28.0 OR MORE
It is close to a 100% certainty that the higher team will win the series. It is impossible that the higher team will not also have the home court


For complete details about how and why Real Player Ratings and Sub Ratings work, and for very detailed information about how Real Team Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the USER GUIDE

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Carmelo "Che Guevara" Anthony?

Carmelo Anthony refuses to come out of the March 1, 2009 Nuggets at Pacers game. Has Carmelo Anthony suddenly become a revolutionary? Will he help us get an economy back? It’s very doubtful. This was a very interesting event, but nothing all that surprising if you know the background.

Carmelo Anthony, apparently realizing he is in a George Karl box as described extensively in the Quest report titled "Carmelo Anthony is now Downsized Thanks to George Karl", and getting very tired of and frustrated with that box, decides to become a little bit of a rebel.

During the first three quarters, it’s Melo in the box as usual: he gets fewer shots than he used to get, and he makes a lower percentage of them. It’s business as usual at the George Karl Center for Downsized but Well Rounded Basketball Stars. Then late in the 3rd, he makes two jump shots. He helps the Nuggets take a small but important lead.

He flashes back to the past, which nowadays seems kind of magical. He flashes back to high school games in Towson, Maryland and in Virginia for Oak Hill Academy. He flashes back to college games for Syracuse University and to games in his early Denver years. He flashes back to times when, for all practical purposes, he won games for his team, and to quarters when he could not miss a shot. He flashes back to Coach Jim Boeheim, who was a positive Coach, one who usually focuses on good things. Positive is good, it might even win you a NCAA College basketball Championship. Coaching that often focuses on negative things, such as criticism of styles and personalities, leads to a lot of first round exits in the NBA playoffs.

Those were the good old days. The days before Denver could not win a playoff series for half a decade, the days before George Karl became everyone’s parole officer, the days before the economy went to hell in a hand basket. He wants those times again, he wants those wins again, he wants out of the box. So suddenly, Melo changes his “I will do whatever Mr. Karl tells me and just be a good little kid with a good personality, while I make millions” policy. With a minute and change left in the 3rd, he refuses to come out of the game.

He refuses to come out for: Linas Kleiza! Yes, Linas Kleiza! Kleiza is in a Karl box of his own, is defensively porous, and is offensively inconsistent. The Nuggets are winning by 6 points, and a player such as Linas Kleiza is one of the worst players to insert into a game you are winning by a small margin, but have not yet closed down. Especially since, in case no one has noticed, Kleiza’s relatively inept defending has stood out like a sore thumb on this year’s Nuggets, who have been swarming like locusts on defense. It’s a good thing for him that his personality is solid, or else Kleiza would not be playing at all by now. Not to mention that Kleiza, who was denied a contract extension going in to this season, is almost certain to be going to another team this summer..

A full scale Melo rebellion would be very dangerous to the Nuggets, because they already have one black sheep on their squad, J.R. Smith, and they most likely consider one black sheep to be enough. I, on the other hand, recently pointed out that normal, quality basketball franchises make sure they don’t have any black sheep on their teams at all. On big time teams, a player such as J.R. Smith is either converted into being a normal sheep or, if he actually really and truly is a bad sheep, is sent packing to another team.

But I need to get back to the Carmelo Anthony has a flashback and momentarily becomes a rebel story.

So where were we? Oh yes, he decides to refuse to come out of the game late in the 3rd quarter,

Unfortunately, what Melo forgot, or doesn’t know in the first place, is that as a major basketball star, he could have largely ignored George Karl when Karl told him to rebound and pass more, and to not worry so much about scoring. Instead of that, he could have tried to bring the good old days into the present and the future. Make some minor adjustments, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Why would you not want the good old days to come into the future? It’s not as if the Nuggets are stuck on the LOST island, unable to control what time they are living in. Or actually, maybe that is their problem, metaphorically speaking of course.

Had he remained a “power scorer,” Carmelo could have escaped any punishment as long as he remained secretive (or on the down low, to the hip hop crowd) and respectful about not complying. But having decided to obey like a little kid, he now decides to stick up for himself as a man, and to stick up for the good old days, by refusing to come out of a game.

Wrong move! Or maybe, right move, but wrong time; you might get away with it in the playoffs if you are Carmelo Anthony. But in Mr. Karl’s precious regular season, refusing to come out of a game is a major violation of the ethics, morality, and honor of basketball. Plus, refusing to come out is expressly forbidden by the George Karl Style Manual. The Personality Judge, George Karl, is definitely going to throw the book at you for that, and then Colorado fans will be twittering about how bad your personality appears to be.

So Melo is suspended for the Pistons game, loses a game’s pay (and don’t think that owner Stan Kroenke won’t be happy about that in this economy) and gets treated like a little kid all the more after getting very tired with being treated like a little kid.

Naturally, the Nuggets lost the Pacers game. And for good measure they lost the game that Melo was suspended for, the Pistons game. This story would not have been as much fun had the Nuggets won either. More importantly, some of my points might be wrong had the Nuggets won. In the Pacers loss, Melo played 8 of 12 minutes in the fourth, still in the box of course. You can not quickly break out of a basketball box you have allowed yourself to go into and that you have been in awhile. Also contributing to that Nuggets’ loss was that Karl had to make sure that obscure players with sparse crunch time track records, such as Linas Kleiza and Chris Andersen, played almost the whole 4th quarter. And perennial Karl favorite Anthony Carter had to be given plenty of crunch time burn also.

Try to think of this the way Mr. Karl does: Carmelo Anthony is just one of the bunch. He's too young to be "special." Who needs Carmelo Anthony as a power scorer in crunch time? What do you think this is, a full scale pro basketball franchise?

Carmelo, how can you be so naïve? I wonder all the time, is Carmelo Anthony really as naïve as he sometimes seems to be, or does he actually fake it for ulterior motives? If it were me refusing to come out, I would have a sneaky ulterior motive up my sleeve. With Melo, I don't know for sure, but I doubt he had any ulterior motive.

Anthony needs to think long and hard before he makes any major changes in the way he plays basketball that are requested or demanded by George Karl. Karl apparently thinks that the NCAA is child's play, so he doesn't respect Anthony's NCAA Championship the way many other coaches do. Has he ever said one word about trying to transfer what Anthony did in the NCAA to the NBA? Not one that I know of. Karl is an establishment type coach, and all such coaches look at the NCAA as being just about meaningless compared with the glorious, mighty NBA.

But the NCAA does matter, and Anthony winning it was truly a great and notable accomplishment.

Many statements Karl has made over the years about Anthony not being a complete player, and about how he has to be changed, or reformed, show that he does not think that Anthony is all that great and that he doubts that Anthony will ever be all that great. He has repeatedly spoken about how Anthony is not a "well rounded player".

Moreover, Karl wanted to trade Carmelo Anthony in the early summer 2008 time period, when teams such as the Nets and the Pistons came calling. Were Karl in charge of trades, Anthony would not even be playing for Karl and the Nuggets right now!

Executives with other teams say Denver's management group is divided over Anthony's place with the team. They say Karl wants to trade him, but that general manager Mark Warkentien and club advisor Bret Bearup are against the move.

Source Here

Carmelo Anthony: your instructions are to stop making changes for a Coach who has a lower opinion of you than many other coaches do, and who would trade you if he had the power. Reverse the changes you have made to the extent possible.

The bottom line is that Karl is creating a self fulfulling prophesy with respect to Carmelo Anthony: he is having him make changes under the false premises that Anthony is not qualified to be a power scorer, and is never going to be great unless big changes are made, and probably will never be great even if big changes are made. But the truth is essentially the reverse: if Anthony makes the changes, which he has been doing, it will no longer be possible for him to be considered a great player.

When all is said and done this is not at all complicated: the only way Carmelo Anthony will ever be considered an historically great player is if he is a power scorer. This is what he most wants to do and what he has been capable of doing in the past.

Seriously Carmelo Anthony, you need to start acting like many successful (and relatively unsuccessful but rebel) men do, which means you ignore instructions from on high that you are sure are bad. Stop passing and rebounding so much and start making more moves that will get you the ball more. And start taking and making more jumpers, layups, and dunks. Nene and Chauncey are fine players, but Nene is basically a playoff rookie, and Chauncey can not run the offense and be a power scorer at the same time.

To be crystal clear, without Carmelo Anthony as a power scorer in the playoffs, the Nuggets are most likely going to lose their series, even if they have home court advantage, which, however, seems increasingly unlikely.

Oh well, for every Carmelo Anthony in this World there is an Anthony McDyess, someone for whom being treated like a little kid is out of the question. McDyess wanted no part of Denver and it’s obsessions with personalities, styles, and treating players like they are little kids. He refused to play for the Nuggets after he was traded along with Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson this season.

Recently, John Hollinger at ESPN claimed that McDyess must be upset that he refused to play for the Denver Nuggets, seeing how the Nuggets have been so wonderful and how the Pistons have stunk. Oh ye of little faith.

Mr. Hollinger had better check himself on that particular claim. Anthony McDyess, who has been a major leader for the Pistons this season, is no one’s fool. The Nuggets are skidding now, while the Pistons have just defeated the Magic, the Celtics, and the Nuggets themselves in the last three games. The Pistons sweep the Nuggets this season 2 games to none. The Pistons know very, very well that it is not over until the fat lady sings, and she doesn’t sing until May or even June for playoff teams.

The Pistons can all of a sudden taste emerging from the dozens of rotation experiments that made everyone’s head spin. The Pistons can now taste a late season surge and a sweet redemption. They can taste winning a playoff series while Chauncey Billups and the Nuggets lose yet another series. The Pistons have only begun to fight, while the Nuggets’ act is becoming very old very fast.

But what about Carmelo Anthony? Has he only begun to fight, or will he go back to being a nice little kid again?

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NBA Real Player Ratings by Team as of Feb 25 2009

Here they are everyone, the Real Player Ratings for the NBA, presented by team. Go to here to see the ratings presented in one big list, for the NBA as a whole. For the first time, the ratings include an adjustment for defending actions that are not recorded by the League or by anyone else! This is, as they say, really big.

USER GUIDE NOTES THAT APPLY TO THIS PRESENTATION MODE
All players, including traded players, who have played 300 minutes or more for a team, are shown by the team played for. If a traded player has played for two teams 300 minutes or more, he is listed with both of those teams. To fully consider the current quality or strength of NBA teams, you need to include players recently acquired by trade. Such players may be listed only with their previous team, that is, the team they were traded from.

For complete details about how and why the Ratings work, see the User Guide:

USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports for the NBA, for NBA Teams, and for Games

SCALE FOR REAL PLAYER RATINGS
Perfect Player? Is there Such a Thing? 1.000 and more
Historic Super Star 0.950 and more
Super Star 0.850 0.949
A Star Player; An Extremely Good Starter 0.775 0.849
An Outstanding Player; A Solid Starter 0.700 0.774
Major Role Player 0.650 0.699
Role Player 0.600 0.649
Minor Role Player 0.550 0.599
Very Minor Role Player 0.500 0.549
Poor Player at This Time 0.450 0.499
Very Poor Player at This Time 0.350 0.449
Extremely Poor Player at This Time / Disaster and less 0.349

REAL PLAYER RATINGS BY TEAM, ALPHABETICALLY
NBA: NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
FOR THE 2008-09 REGULAR SEASON
AS OF FEBRUARY 25 2009

Joe Johnson Atlanta 0.820
Josh Smith Atlanta 0.782
Mike Bibby Atlanta 0.764
Al Horford Atlanta 0.762
Zaza Pachulia Atlanta 0.721
Marvin Williams Atlanta 0.648
Ronald Murray Atlanta 0.637
Acie Law Atlanta 0.588
Solomon Jones Atlanta 0.460
Maurice Evans Atlanta 0.455

Kevin Garnett Boston 1.008
Rajon Rondo Boston 0.908
Paul Pierce Boston 0.765
Ray Allen Boston 0.748
Leon Powe Boston 0.686
Eddie House Boston 0.665
Kendrick Perkins Boston 0.590
Tony Allen Boston 0.555
Gabe Pruitt Boston 0.466
Glen Davis Boston 0.448
Brian Scalabrine Boston 0.307

Emeka Okafor Charlotte 0.798
Gerald Wallace Charlotte 0.765
Boris Diaw† Charlotte 0.691
Raymond Felton Charlotte 0.684
Jason Richardson† Charlotte 0.649
D.J. Augustin Charlotte 0.592
Raja Bell† Charlotte 0.544
Jared Dudley† Charlotte 0.500
Shannon Brown† Charlotte 0.465
Juwan Howard† Charlotte 0.420
Matt Carroll† Charlotte 0.381
Nazr Mohammed Charlotte 0.361
Adam Morrison† Charlotte 0.293

Kirk Hinrich Chicago 0.789
Joakim Noah Chicago 0.766
Drew Gooden Chicago 0.745
Derrick Rose Chicago 0.725
Ben Gordon Chicago 0.724
Luol Deng Chicago 0.716
Tyrus Thomas Chicago 0.710
Larry Hughes† Chicago 0.648
Andres Nocioni† Chicago 0.577
Thabo Sefolosha† Chicago 0.566
Aaron Gray Chicago 0.553

LeBron James Cleveland 1.305
Zydrunas Ilgauskas Cleveland 0.912
Mo Williams Cleveland 0.800
Delonte West Cleveland 0.738
Ben Wallace Cleveland 0.628
Anderson Varejao Cleveland 0.624
J.J. Hickson Cleveland 0.553
Wally Szczerbiak Cleveland 0.500
Sasha Pavlovic Cleveland 0.454
Daniel Gibson Cleveland 0.443

Dirk Nowitzki Dallas 0.974
Jason Kidd Dallas 0.923
Jason Terry Dallas 0.863
James Singleton Dallas 0.763
Jose Juan Barea Dallas 0.751
Erick Dampier Dallas 0.747
Josh Howard Dallas 0.733
Brandon Bass Dallas 0.682
Gerald Green Dallas 0.487
DeSagana Diop† Dallas 0.444
Antoine Wright Dallas 0.413
Devean George Dallas 0.320

Nene Hilario Denver 0.864
Carmelo Anthony Denver 0.860
Chauncey Billups† Denver 0.859
Chris Andersen Denver 0.755
J.R. Smith Denver 0.749
Kenyon Martin Denver 0.724
Renaldo Balkman Denver 0.716
Anthony Carter Denver 0.652
Linas Kleiza Denver 0.558
Dahntay Jones Denver 0.424

Allen Iverson† Detroit 0.744
Antonio McDyess Detroit 0.712
Rodney Stuckey Detroit 0.700
Rasheed Wallace Detroit 0.697
Amir Johnson Detroit 0.688
Tayshaun Prince Detroit 0.680
Richard Hamilton Detroit 0.638
Kwame Brown Detroit 0.580
Jason Maxiell Detroit 0.558
Arron Afflalo Detroit 0.321

Andris Biedrins Golden State 0.957
Brandan Wright Golden State 0.855
Ronny Turiaf Golden State 0.787
Stephen Jackson Golden State 0.765
Anthony Randolph Golden State 0.734
Corey Maggette Golden State 0.732
Anthony Morrow Golden State 0.710
Kelenna Azubuike Golden State 0.708
C.J. Watson Golden State 0.700
Jamal Crawford† Golden State 0.612
Marco Belinelli Golden State 0.574
Monta Ellis Golden State 0.557

Yao Ming Houston 1.008
Tracy McGrady Houston 0.793
Ron Artest Houston 0.765
Luis Scola Houston 0.716
Carl Landry Houston 0.695
Rafer Alston Houston 0.618
Aaron Brooks Houston 0.582
Von Wafer Houston 0.580
Shane Battier Houston 0.524
Brent Barry Houston 0.503
Luther Head Houston 0.446
Chuck Hayes Houston 0.429

Danny Granger Indiana 0.895
Troy Murphy Indiana 0.847
Rasho Nesterovic Indiana 0.841
T.J. Ford Indiana 0.832
Roy Hibbert Indiana 0.760
Marquis Daniels Indiana 0.725
Jeff Foster Indiana 0.723
Travis Diener Indiana 0.693
Mike Dunleavy Indiana 0.614
Jarrett Jack Indiana 0.571
Stephen Graham Indiana 0.484
Brandon Rush Indiana 0.408

Marcus Camby LA Clippers 1.008
Zach Randolph† LA Clippers 0.947
Baron Davis LA Clippers 0.772
Chris Kaman LA Clippers 0.746
Paul Davis LA Clippers 0.621
Eric Gordon LA Clippers 0.612
DeAndre Jordan LA Clippers 0.558
Al Thornton LA Clippers 0.541
Mardy Collins† LA Clippers 0.523
Steve Novak LA Clippers 0.520
Fred Jones LA Clippers 0.520
Brian Skinner LA Clippers 0.478
Jason Hart LA Clippers 0.459
Cuttino Mobley LA Clippers 0.444
Ricky Davis LA Clippers 0.358

Kobe Bryant LA Lakers 1.052
Andrew Bynum LA Lakers 0.931
Pau Gasol LA Lakers 0.929
Lamar Odom LA Lakers 0.825
Trevor Ariza LA Lakers 0.756
Jordan Farmar LA Lakers 0.650
Luke Walton LA Lakers 0.629
Derek Fisher LA Lakers 0.613
Sasha Vujacic LA Lakers 0.600
Vladimir Radmanovic† LA Lakers 0.531
Josh Powell LA Lakers 0.477

Hakim Warrick Memphis 0.688
Darko Milicic Memphis 0.680
Marc Gasol Memphis 0.645
Mike Conley Memphis 0.638
Kyle Lowry† Memphis 0.591
O.J. Mayo Memphis 0.579
Rudy Gay Memphis 0.564
Greg Buckner Memphis 0.481
Darrell Arthur Memphis 0.479
Quinton Ross Memphis 0.463

Dwyane Wade Miami 1.128
Shawn Marion† Miami 0.715
Michael Beasley Miami 0.679
Mario Chalmers Miami 0.615
Udonis Haslem Miami 0.605
Chris Quinn Miami 0.599
Jamaal Magloire Miami 0.522
Daequan Cook Miami 0.473
Yakhouba Diawara Miami 0.456
Joel Anthony Miami 0.434

Andrew Bogut Milwaukee 0.875
Charlie Villanueva Milwaukee 0.830
Ramon Sessions Milwaukee 0.781
Michael Redd Milwaukee 0.716
Luke Ridnour Milwaukee 0.710
Tyronn Lue† Milwaukee 0.665
Richard Jefferson Milwaukee 0.628
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Milwaukee 0.600
Dan Gadzuric Milwaukee 0.527
Malik Allen Milwaukee 0.517
Charlie Bell Milwaukee 0.437
Joe Alexander Milwaukee 0.416
Francisco Elson Milwaukee 0.415

Al Jefferson Minnesota 1.017
Kevin Love Minnesota 0.735
Craig Smith Minnesota 0.646
Corey Brewer Minnesota 0.644
Randy Foye Minnesota 0.634
Mike Miller Minnesota 0.609
Sebastian Telfair Minnesota 0.571
Ryan Gomes Minnesota 0.530
Brian Cardinal Minnesota 0.529
Kevin Ollie Minnesota 0.486
Rodney Carney Minnesota 0.459
Rashad McCants† Minnesota 0.457

Devin Harris New Jersey 0.832
Vince Carter New Jersey 0.826
Brook Lopez New Jersey 0.730
Keyon Dooling New Jersey 0.669
Josh Boone New Jersey 0.654
Jarvis Hayes New Jersey 0.614
Yi Jianlian New Jersey 0.604
Ryan Anderson New Jersey 0.603
Eduardo Najera New Jersey 0.535
Bobby Simmons New Jersey 0.468
Trenton Hassell New Jersey 0.456

Chris Paul New Orleans 1.216
David West New Orleans 0.738
Devin Brown New Orleans 0.649
Antonio Daniels† New Orleans 0.580
Tyson Chandler New Orleans 0.567
James Posey New Orleans 0.543
Morris Peterson New Orleans 0.525
Peja Stojakovic New Orleans 0.513
Rasual Butler New Orleans 0.501
Sean Marks New Orleans 0.446
Hilton Armstrong New Orleans 0.409

Zach Randolph† New York 0.955
Nate Robinson New York 0.912
David Lee New York 0.844
Al Harrington† New York 0.729
Tim Thomas† New York 0.712
Jamal Crawford† New York 0.681
Chris Duhon New York 0.652
Wilson Chandler New York 0.579
Quentin Richardson New York 0.574
Jared Jeffries New York 0.449

Kevin Durant Oklahoma 0.821
Joe Smith Oklahoma 0.720
Russell Westbrook Oklahoma 0.684
Chris Wilcox† Oklahoma 0.632
Jeff Green Oklahoma 0.626
Nick Collison Oklahoma 0.589
Johan Petro† Oklahoma 0.561
Nenad Krstic Oklahoma 0.555
Earl Watson Oklahoma 0.506
Damien Wilkins Oklahoma 0.454
Kyle Weaver Oklahoma 0.427
Desmond Mason Oklahoma 0.397

Dwight Howard Orlando 1.031
Jameer Nelson Orlando 0.906
Rashard Lewis Orlando 0.723
Marcin Gortat Orlando 0.705
Hedo Turkoglu Orlando 0.673
Tony Battie Orlando 0.609
Anthony Johnson Orlando 0.546
Mickael Pietrus Orlando 0.504
Keith Bogans† Orlando 0.453
Courtney Lee Orlando 0.443
J.J. Redick Orlando 0.403

Andre Miller Philadelphia 0.895
Andre Iguodala Philadelphia 0.866
Marreese Speights Philadelphia 0.766
Elton Brand Philadelphia 0.749
Samuel Dalembert Philadelphia 0.673
Thaddeus Young Philadelphia 0.632
Lou Williams Philadelphia 0.611
Willie Green Philadelphia 0.585
Reggie Evans Philadelphia 0.447
Royal Ivey Philadelphia 0.349

Shaquille O'Neal Phoenix 0.900
Amare Stoudemire Phoenix 0.852
Steve Nash Phoenix 0.841
Leandro Barbosa Phoenix 0.802
Boris Diaw† Phoenix 0.727
Grant Hill Phoenix 0.705
Jason Richardson† Phoenix 0.666
Matt Barnes Phoenix 0.563
Louis Amundson Phoenix 0.521
Raja Bell† Phoenix 0.507
Goran Dragic Phoenix 0.474
Robin Lopez Phoenix 0.467

Brandon Roy Portland 0.907
LaMarcus Aldridge Portland 0.794
Joel Przybilla Portland 0.747
Rudy Fernandez Portland 0.730
Sergio Rodriguez Portland 0.722
Greg Oden Portland 0.681
Steve Blake Portland 0.664
Travis Outlaw Portland 0.604
Channing Frye Portland 0.537
Jerryd Bayless Portland 0.493
Nicolas Batum Portland 0.489

Brad Miller† Sacramento 0.758
John Salmons† Sacramento 0.683
Jason Thompson Sacramento 0.675
Kevin Martin Sacramento 0.657
Beno Udrih Sacramento 0.646
Bobby Jackson Sacramento 0.639
Francisco Garcia Sacramento 0.618
Spencer Hawes Sacramento 0.593
Shelden Williams Sacramento 0.589
Donte Greene Sacramento 0.529
Mikki Moore Sacramento 0.512
Bobby Brown† Sacramento 0.447

Tim Duncan San Antonio 1.093
Manu Ginobili San Antonio 0.923
Tony Parker San Antonio 0.866
Matt Bonner San Antonio 0.740
Kurt Thomas San Antonio 0.724
George Hill San Antonio 0.637
Roger Mason San Antonio 0.519
Michael Finley San Antonio 0.509
Ime Udoka San Antonio 0.507
Fabricio Oberto San Antonio 0.476
Bruce Bowen San Antonio 0.372

Chris Bosh Toronto 0.882
Jose Calderon Toronto 0.844
Kris Humphries Toronto 0.784
Jermaine O'Neal† Toronto 0.771
Jamario Moon† Toronto 0.730
Roko Ukic Toronto 0.621
Will Solomon† Toronto 0.601
Andrea Bargnani Toronto 0.562
Anthony Parker Toronto 0.562
Joey Graham Toronto 0.546
Jason Kapono Toronto 0.432

Carlos Boozer Utah 0.992
Andrei Kirilenko Utah 0.939
Paul Millsap Utah 0.912
Deron Williams Utah 0.902
Kosta Koufos Utah 0.803
Matt Harpring Utah 0.787
Mehmet Okur Utah 0.763
Brevin Knight Utah 0.719
Kyle Korver Utah 0.651
Ronnie Brewer Utah 0.637
Ronnie Price Utah 0.527
C.J. Miles Utah 0.498

Andray Blatche Washington 0.836
Antawn Jamison Washington 0.814
Caron Butler Washington 0.742
Nick Young Washington 0.710
Darius Songaila Washington 0.648
JaVale McGee Washington 0.634
Javaris Crittenton† Washington 0.616
Dominic McGuire Washington 0.533
Juan Dixon Washington 0.525
Mike James† Washington 0.485
Etan Thomas Washington 0.448
DeShawn Stevenson Washington 0.370

For complete details about how and why the Ratings work, see the User Guide:

USER GUIDE
For very detailed information about how Real Player Ratings were developed and are calculated, please consult the User Guide for Real Player Rating Reports for the NBA, for NBA Teams, and for Games

You Can Post Your Response to Anything on Quest Here