12 points, 10 rebounds

There are oft-repeated mantras when it comes to championships in the NBA.
"Defense wins championships."
"LeBron James/Mike D'Antoni's offense/a rabid unicorn hasn't won anything yet."
"You need a Big 3."

Oscar Robertson, 73, the man who averaged a triple-double for an entire season, sat down with Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald and said this of the Heat, "I want LeBron to win. It felt like the whole country was against him last year. But I’ve always said this: To win championships, you need to have a center who can get you 12 points, 10 rebounds. The Heat don’t have that."

Obviously, just a center who gets 12 points and 10 boards isn't going to win a championship, but let's take a look at Big O's argument. First, we look to see if the team had a center who averaged 12/10 in the regular season, then if they had a center who averaged 12/10 in the Playoffs (including the NBA Finals), then whether they had a center who averaged 12/10 in the Finals. Finally, we look to see if, during the Finals, the center grabbed 12 and 10 at some point, because Robertson says "a center who can get you 12 points, 10 rebounds."

Championship Team	Regular Season	NBA Playoffs	NBA Finals	12/10 in Finals
2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks	No	No	No	Yes
2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2008-2009 Los Angeles Lakers*	No	Yes	No	Yes
2007-2008 Boston Celtics	No	No	No	No
2006-2007 San Antonio Spurs*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2005-2006 Miami Heat	No	No	Yes	Yes
2004-2005 San Antonio Spurs*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2003-2004 Detroit Pistons	No	No	No	Yes
2002-2003 San Antonio Spurs*	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2001-2002 Los Angeles Lakers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1998-1999 San Antonio Spurs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1997-1998 Chicago Bulls	No	No	No	No
1996-1997 Chicago Bulls	No	No	No	No
1995-1996 Chicago Bulls	No	No	No	No
1994-1995 Houston Rockets	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
1993-1994 Houston Rockets	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
1992-1993 Chicago Bulls	No	No	Yes	Yes
1991-1992 Chicago Bulls	Yes	No	No	No
1990-1991 Chicago Bulls	No	No	No	Yes

The 1993-1994 Rockets had two centers, arguably: Hakeem Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe. Both averaged better than 12 and 10 during the regular season. And the 1998-1999 San Antonio Spurs had David Robinson and Tim Duncan (ok, he's sort of a center, I'm being generous to Robertson) average better than 12 and 10 during the regular season and during the Finals against the Knicks.

So, is the Big O right? That depends. Did he mean a center who can get 12 and 10? Did he mean a center who gets 12 and 10 once? Averages it during the season? During playoffs? During the finals? His only resounding support comes from Shaq's Lakers, Hakeem's Rockets, and David Robinson's first championship.

The Heat can win it all. Dallas did it last year without a 12 and 10 guy... unless Chandler's one big game satisfies O's conditions...

But the late 90s Bulls and the recent Celtics team show that Robertson's thesis isn't 100%.

I think Oscar Robertson is wrong. When the Cleveland Cavaliers, featuring a certain aforementioned LeBron James, reached the NBA Finals in 2007, their center, a one Zydrunas Ilgauskas, was averaging above a 12/10 through the playoffs. It wasn't until the Finals that Big Z's production tapered off. In fact, his production tapered off enough that he only averaged 9.7 boards through the entire postseason. His Finals appearance was that bad. Sure, he had one big game, but that wasn't enough to avoid a sweep against the Spurs. The Big O is wrong - you can't just choose an arbitrary stat level as indicative of championship caliber play. I didn't go through the losing teams each year, but I would not be surprised if a few had a true center rocking more than 12 points and 10 boards at least once.

In the end, Robertson's statement is slightly more informed but just as predicive as statements like "the Lakers have never lost at home in the third game following a tremor of 4.2 against a team from Canada."


* = Because Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol play power forward and center, they were included as centers, but doing so hurts Robertson's thesis.

The Euro Step

Not to be confused with dubstep, the Euro Step is a basketball move that consists of cutting in one direction really hard and in one step. Here's a great little video of Manu Ginobili breaking down what is essentially his signature move.

Witness.



And here is Ricky Rubio breaking it down.

Jeremy Lin: The Truth that Resides

ESPN proclaims "Linsanity!"

ESPN further proclaims "Knicks find their missing 'Lin'k."

Unfortunately, the puns about point guard Jeremy Lin don't stop there. Our own wonder blogger and resident soccer expert Hsuper wrote about Lin last June. Since then, Lin appeared more likely to bounce out of the NBA after a few years of unspectacular play off the bench of a bad team. All of that changed, when Mike D'Antoni played Lin for extended minutes on Monday night.

Let's take a look at Lin's professional basketball resume (via Real GM):

Jun 24, 2010 - Jeremy Lin went undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft making him an Unrestricted FA.
Jul 21, 2010 - Jeremy Lin signed a multi-year contract with the Golden State Warriors.
Dec 28, 2010 - The Golden State Warriors assigned Jeremy Lin to the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Jan 3, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors recalled Jeremy Lin from the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Jan 9, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors assigned Jeremy Lin to the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Feb 5, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors recalled Jeremy Lin from the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Mar 17, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors assigned Jeremy Lin to the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Mar 28, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors recalled Jeremy Lin from the Reno Bighorns of the D-League.
Dec 9, 2011 - The Golden State Warriors placed the contract of Jeremy Lin on waivers.
Dec 11, 2011 - The Houston Rockets made a successful waiver claim for the contract of Jeremy Lin.
Dec 25, 2011 - The Houston Rockets placed the contract of Jeremy Lin on waivers.
Dec 27, 2011 - The New York Knicks made a successful waiver claim for the contract of Jeremy Lin.
Jan 17, 2012 - The New York Knicks assigned Jeremy Lin to the Erie BayHawks of the D-League.
Jan 23, 2012 - The New York Knicks recalled Jeremy Lin from the Erie BayHawks of the D-League.

In two stellar games at the "basketball Mecca," Lin has:
Feb. 6: 28 pts, 2 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, a three, but 8 turnovers.
Feb. 4: 25 pts, 5 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, and only one turnover.

Now the Knicks have their second win streak of the season and a short-term savior at the point guard position, despite those pesky turnovers in Lin's first start... against a perfectly average team with its own slew of injury problems.

Given that the Knicks play in New York, this means hyperbole and expectation untempered by reality reigns supreme. Sure, Lin could be the next Derrick Rose (though with a college degree), but then I could be the next Parris Glendening.

Analysis and hype aside, some folks have taken it to the perfectly sensible realm of satire. Witness the comments on today's Daily Dime:

28NYjets: Is it possible for Lin and Shump to share the ROY award? Or should they just give Lin the MVP and Shump the ROY?

EAGLESMETS14: all of u guys are so inmature like its a game so knicks fans get a little excited relax their not saying hes D-rose
28NYjets: yea, we're saying he's jason kidd

The_Truth_That_Resides: LIN IS NOW THE BENCHMARK FOR ELITE PG PLAY.

The_Truth_That_Resides: IF MAGIC JOHNSON AND MICHAEL JORDAN FUSED TOGETHER.. THEY STILL COULD NOT DEFEAT LIN.
CHI-TOWN-BULLS: Dumb...and your caps lock is on.
The_Truth_That_Resides: ACTUALLY IT IS NOT. I AM HOLDING SHIFT.

I will be very happy if Jeremy Lin becomes the new Chuck Norris-esque name in basketball, but even happier if someone makes me a shirt that says "CAPS LOCK IS NOT ON, ACTUALLY. I AM HOLDING SHIFT."