Episode 14

A weak showing sports week? We thought so until we had to cut ourselves off because we had so much to say. Yah, that’s right. If you think nothing is going on just check out our podcast and realize how much is really going on.

Episode 14

Portland vs. Seattle – Kellan

I’m gearing up for the game right now. I didn’t care about Miami-Houston really. Then again the other game of the night was originally supposed to an Oden vs. Durant match-up but due to Oden’s injury and Portland’s lackluster February I imagine people in other cities might call the whole night a wash. Only 1 of those 3 teams is making the playoffs. It stands as the opposite of last night’s game with Phoenix and the LA Lakers. There were so many subplots and it was a fast paced and close game. Just a joy to watch. I’m afraid that I may have to cringe a couple of times tonight.

John Canzano explains why Darius Miles should retire. The opening story about him and Dennis Dixon going to a strip club (that is about 10 minutes away from where I live) is just hilarious. At least it seems like everyone was enjoying themselves.

Larry Hughes got traded. Now that he’s on the Bulls I can still use him for the Least Valuable Player if the Cavaliers make it deep into the playoffs. Let’s see what happens to this Bulls team. At least they finally did something to try and motivate these guys that headed into the season as heavy favorites to make it into the playoffs. Instead they are floundering in a weak Eastern Conference.

Channing Frye challenges anyone to a game of Halo 3. I got kind of burned out on playing but I think it’d be cool to see if I could hold my own against Channing. I seem to be able to rock all of my friends in one on battle, but Channing seems like he would be pretty competitive.

Episode 13

K and J Sports – where babbling happens.

Episode 13

Least Valuable Player Continued – Kellan

I’ve decided that in order to be the least valuable player a player has to average at least 24 minutes each game played. They don’t have to be a starter, but a player that plays meaningful minutes. This will get rid of all of the players who statistically look bad, but this is because they play garbage time. I was doing another look at Hollinger’s PER statistics and decided that I’d look at Ricky Davis.

So far Ricky has played in 51 games averaging 34.9 minutes a game. Now that is some significant playing time. For the full line of stats check out the full Hollinger line. He is number 235.

Having a PER of 11.10 is not that great. But this is not an all encompassing statistic so let’s go over to 82games.com. His +- for On/Off the floor is -5.4. Which is pretty bad. But then again he is playing for the Miami Heat where every player has negative amounts for both their on the court and off the court contributions. So Dwayne Wade has a +4.0 because the team is -6.3 while he’s on the floor and -10.2 when off (I’m assuming there is some rounding that gets lost otherwise it would be a +3.9). But the -9.1 compared to a -3.6 for on vs off court production is pretty bad for Davis. We’ll have to keep track throughout the season to see if he can turn things around.

Another player I thought I’d look at is Martell Webster of the Portland Trailblazers.  He only had a PER of 11.7 which leaves him as 219 on the list.  But what about his other stats?

Martell has played 52 games averaging 28.8 minutes a game.  Sounds like a heavily relied upon player to me.  Webster actually has a -7.4 for his +- stat.  That is the worst on the Trailblazers.  I feel I have found another good candidate for Least Valuable Player.

If anyone else has any ideas leave a comment or email us at kandjsports@gmail.com.  So when the season ends I will revisit all of the players nominated and decide who has been put into the position to do well for their team but has produced the least results.  Then we will crown the Least Valuable Player in the league.

Links 2/14/08 – Kellan

Seeing as how I’m doing nothing for Valentine’s Day, and it’s been a little bit since I did a links post here are the things that I’ve been checking out.

I was at Fred Meyer the other day and thought I’d pick up The Kitchen Readings. Somehow Fred Meyer did not have one copy of this (or really any sports books at all), but they did have a bajillion romance novels. Oh well, I have a Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Powells all within 10 minutes of each other. So hopefully at least one of those three will have it. First, though, I have to get through The Rum Diary.

As long as I’m on books I’ll share with you the other things I am (or should be) reading. Volvano is a book about Jim Volvano a college basketball coach in the 70s-80s. There was a pretty big scandal while he was coaching. I’m a little over half-way through the book. It moved well in the beginning but has started to bog down as it heads towards the inevitable fall (so far it is still pretty optimistic.)

When I went home this weekend my family gave me these books to read. Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card (thank you Kinzee). JPod by Douglas Coupland (thank you Kyle). The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (thank you Dad). Exact Revenge by Tim Green (thank you Grandma). I may disappear for a couple of days so I can get through all these.

I enjoyed this story of why Larry Hughes has been having such big games. If it’s true look out for Cleveland.

Golden State vs. Phoenix

How excited am I for this game? I want to see the combined score hit more than 250. How many players will score 30? Four? Five? The two highest scoring teams in the league facing off. My dream come true. Plus Shaq is supposed to be playing tomorrow night, so this is Phoenix’s last night of being able to go full speed. I think they’ll stay in overdrive to prove that they’ll be able to keep it up with Shaq in the line-up. The games on. I’ll be back at the quarter.

Golden State is up. The game is fast paced. Last I checked they’d already combined to attempt 63 field goals and only two minutes have passed in the second. Is it possible to attempt 200 field goals in a game? I’m sure it’s happened before, but hopefully it happens tonight. This is what I love about basketball. And if the playoffs started tomorrow these two teams would be playing each other in a best of seven series? I don’t know if I could wrap my head around that series. Although things WILL slow down when Shaq comes in. Steve Nash may be able to get Shaq to fit into a faster offense than he is used to, but I don’t think they’ll ever be able to keep a pace like they are with Golden State. Note to teams: Golden State is dangerous in the playoffs because they will just keep running until you have to do it with them. Or else they can’t hit a shot and flame out. So teams need Golden State to play poorly or they’re in big trouble.

Alright, it’s 50-48 Golden State. There are still 6 minutes left in the second quarter. Anyone who is a basketball fan should watch this game cause it’s like watching the All-Star game except the players care about the outcome. There will be many a highlight from this game. Oh, and it’s now 75 field goal attempts and they’ve hit 40 of them. Awesome.

Episode 12

Ha Ha, someone has the flu.

Episode 12

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is Out – Kellan

This is what I did when I got from work today. Now anything else I do is a nice bonus. Thank to Girls Gone Sports for alerting me to the online Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

After some fighting I decided I would get with my producer for a way to actually show this on the site. Until then go here is the link to my Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Video.

Golden State vs. Washington

I think Golden State is going to do well. They’re my team. They’re gonna do it. Enough said.

This evening I get to watch this game because MOJO+ television is broadcasting the NBA Network for four hours. I now want the NBA network. I saw so many sick moves and dunks in a 45 minute period. I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt like a kid. It was great times. Now I just have to put down the money to have the network full time. Maybe I can swing it when I move into my next place.

I just watched the Blazers flame out against Houston. I’m hoping that the All-Star break will do the team some good. Brandon Roy is playing in both the Rookie-Sophomore and All-Star games, though. He gets to play back to back days on a weekend that is everyone’s break? Although I don’t think it will be quite as demanding as two games that count towards the playoffs.

On a recommendation from Jason Quick of the Oregonian I went and checked out Channing Frye’s blog. (Check it out on the links to the right.) Good writer. I also like hearing an athlete actually talking about the things that interest him. He weighs in Politics, does movie reviews, talks about his day to day life, and anything else without pretending he’s a expert. He comes across as a real person with opinions. I’m glad that blogs have become a way for fans to find out the more human side of these athletes that the leagues would have us believe are superhuman. Thank you Gilbert Arenas for beginning to popularize this and make it okay in the NBA.

Cleveland vs. Houston – Kellan

While waiting for Lost to come on this evening I decided to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Houston Rockets. I realized that I don’t really like either team. So much so that I root for both of them to make the other one look bad. Partly it is because I feel that Lebron James should somehow be able to be a part of these deals that continue to stack up the West. I mean Houston is 1/2 a game ahead of the Cavaliers in wins. But Cleveland is 4th in the East while Portland and Houston are tied for 9th place in the West.

That is a stacked West that appears to be getting worse. Yes, Miami got Shawn Marion, but Marion will have his first year in while where his team is nowhere near playoff contention. On the other hand Shaq will continue his streak of playing in the playoffs. Is there even one year since his rookie year that his team wasn’t in the playoffs?

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. But why I don’t like Cleveland is because Lebron deserves to be on a multi-superstar team that has a true chance at the Finals. I went to see if there was any possibility (only in fantasy land) that a Lebron James to the Suns trade could happen. Unfortunately they keep that thing updated so I can’t reproduce a Marion for James scenario. Too bad.

Then there is the Rockets. I think it is just Tracy McGrady that I dislike. Although since he bowed out of the All-Star voting I gained a bit more respect. Although the current root of the problem is most likely the fact that they are tied with Portland in the standings