http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4371 Recent articles about Keith Bogans en-us LAST SEASON After going 40-42 in '06-07, the Magic improved to 52-30 under Stan Van Gundy. They lost in the 2nd Round to Detroit, but it was a definite step in the right direction. Their defense was solid and their offense was vastly improved, as their 93.4 pace factor (9th of 30) allowed them to score 104.5 points (6th) and make 9.8 threes per game (1st). OFFSEASON MOVES Key Additions: Mickael Pietrus, Anthony Johnson, Courtney Lee Key Losses: Maurice Evans, Carlos Arroyo, Keyon Dooling, Pat Garrity Orlando made a wise decision to use most of their $5.5 million midlevel exception on Pietrus. The uber-athletic swingman will do everything that Mo Evans did last year and then some. Carlos Arroyo hasn't been very consistent in the NBA, so the Magic decided to replace him with 33-year old veteran Anthony Johnson. Courtney Lee is a rookie who will battle JJ Redick for minutes at shooting guard, and both men will try to take over Dooling's role as their #1 scorer off the bench. In '02-03, Pat Garrity started 53 games and played 2,585 total minutes for Orlando, but he received under 300 total minutes in each of the past 2 seasons. His NBA career is likely over. ROTATION / PLAYING TIME You can call him Dwight Howard, D-Ho, Man-Beast, or Superman, but Ironman applies as well, because he hasn't missed a single game in 4 years. Howard played a career-high 37.7 mpg last year, which was tops among all centers. In fact, the only other centers to play 36+ minutes (Yao Ming & Chris Kaman) both missed 25+ games. Most big men aren't able to play big minutes, but Superman seems about as indestructible as they come. His backup minutes will be shared between the veteran leather-slapper Adonal Foyle and the Polish youngster Marcin Gortat. Rashard Lewis played 38 mpg (mostly at power forward), but I'm projecting that number to fall to 36-37 this season due to Tony Battie's return. Battie missed all of '07-08 after tearing his rotator cuff, but he was a key member of Orlando's rotation in the three seasons prior. At small forward, Hedo Turkoglu received a career-high 36.9 minutes of action and didn't miss a single game. Keith Bogans (26.9 mpg) started 35 games at shooting guard, but will likely come off the bench this season thanks to Pietrus. I'm currently projecting 36-38 minutes for Turkoglu, 28-30 minutes for Pietrus, and then 20-22 minutes for Bogans off the bench, which leaves about 12 extra minutes for either JJ Redick or (more likely) Courtney Lee. At point guard, Jameer Nelson played just 28.4 minutes in '07-08, but the Magic would love for him to improve so they can increase that to 30-32 this season. His primary backup will be 11-year veteran Anthony Johnson, who could get anywhere from 12-22 minutes depending on Nelson's play. DON'T SLEEP ON: Mickael Pietrus If anyone wants one of those retro Warriors jerseys with "The CITY" on the front and "PIETRUS" on the back, just let me know. I bought it a few years ago fully expecting the "French Michael Jordan" to have a breakout season. While Pietrus flashed plenty of potential as a Warrior, he never really achieved the breakout season that I expected. But fear not Magic fans, because the 26-year old is about to enter his prime. His career stats are very mediocre, but when MP gets consistent minutes and plays with confidence, he can fill up the stat sheet and be a difference maker on both ends of the floor. For example, check out his split stats from 11 games in March '08 (Golden St. went 7-4): 31.3 min, 12.1 points, 8.1 boards, 1.4 steals, .7 blocks, 1.1 threes, 47.4% FG, 36.4% 3P, 72.2% FT. His free throw shooting is a major sore spot and he's prone to mental lapses, but there aren't many guys in the league with the potential to average 1 steal, 1 block, 1 three, and 1 dunk per game. I'm guessing he won't even be drafted in most leagues, but if you want to use one of your last round picks on a guy with significant upside, I highly recommend nabbing Air France. BE CAREFUL OF: Dwight Howard I was certain the Man-Beast was going to have a breakout season in '07-08, but I wasn't expecting him to attempt the 3rd-most free throws in a season since 1990 (Shaq attempted 972 in '00-01, David Robinson attempted 925 in '93-94, and Howard attempted 897 in '07-08). As a result, I drafted him too early in a couple of leagues and my team's FT% paid the price. In Roto leagues, even if you surround him with multiple 80-90% FT guys, your team will have a tough time earning more than a couple of points in that category. As a result, I don't recommend using a Top 25 pick on Howard. There are in fact, many fantasy owners out there who won't even use a Top 50 pick (or Top 80 pick in leagues that use turnovers) on the guy, but I disagree with those people for a couple of reasons. 1) As I said earlier, the guy is an Iron Man. Sure, Yao posts better per game numbers, but when was the last time he played all 82 games? Knowing that you can rely on Howard for a full season is very comforting, and it should ease your concerns for making him your #1 center. 2) Under the right scenario, you could totally use a Top 30 pick on him and still win your league. Want an example? Let's say you have the 3rd overall pick and LeBron James (71.2% FT) falls into your lap (sweet!). In Round 2, you see that Carlos Boozer (73.8% FT) is still around at #22, so you take him. At this point, you could just decide to throw FT% out the window and grab Howard at #27. I used to not believe in "punting a category," but now I firmly believe that you can grab the Man-Beast and still win by using this strategy. Want some other players to target? -Baron Davis (75% FT). Not a very good FT% for a PG, so if he's around at #22, opt for him over Boozer. -Tony Parker (71.5% FT). Tony's shooting %'s (and threes) are like a big man's, but HE gets assists. -Tracy McGrady (68.4% FT). I usually avoid him like the plague, but he's a lot more attractive without FT%. -Ron Artest (71.9% FT). Excellent stats except for shooting %'s. Take him if T-Mac's gone. -Gerald Wallace (73.1% FT). Oodles and oodles of steals and solid all-around stats, but his FT% hurts. -Andre Iguodala (72.1% FT). Iggy is a stat-stuffer who can't make free throws. That's ok on this team. -Josh Smith (71% FT). Insane blocks, and another superb guy to team up with Howard using this strategy. -Emeka Okafor (57% FT). Howard + Okafor = Best FG% & rebound duo, but worst FT% duo. -Andrew Bogut (58.7% FT). Bogut's FT% sucks, but his big man stats are solid and he gets assists. -Shaquille O'Neal (50.3% FT). Of course Shaq belongs here because he's the main reason this strategy exists today (unless some die-hard stat geeks were playing Roto hoops in the Wilt Chamberlain era). 3) He's freakin' Superman! The sky's the limit for this kid. Would you be surprised if he had a 44 point, 30 rebound game? Me neither. Enough said. CONCLUSION: In Roto leagues, you need to be very careful of Howard's FT%, but that doesn't mean you can't use a Top 30 pick on him and still win your league! ROUND BY ROUND TARGETS (Where you should draft these guys in an 8-cat Roto league with 12 teams and 14 man rosters) (Click on the link to find out!) Sun, 10 Aug 2008 06:25:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/303659 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/303659 Part 4 of a 4 part series assessing the future of the Washington Wizards is hosted on Bullets Forever. Part 4 is actually broken up into 3 parts, 4b focuses on free agent wings and guards. Sun, 11 May 2008 14:21:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265753 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/265753 Line of the Night: For the first time since - I'm not sure when - Zydrunas Ilgauskas (5.1) out played LeBron James (4.3) to earn LotN. Big Z shot 9-11 from the floor and finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks as Cleveland beat the Clippers 98-84. It helped Ilgauskas that Chris Kaman was a DNP, so he was guarded all night by the force of nature also known as Josh Powell. Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:59:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/121417 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/121417 We are at the point of the season when most coaches have settled on their rotations and most players have settled into their roles. As a result, there are not many players who are going to shock us with a dramatic change in their production level, unless an injury or trade plays a role. Nevertheless, let's take a look at some of the movers and shakers of the fantasy basketball world. We'll tell you why Kirk Hinrich and Gilbert Arenas are players on the rise, why the values of Larry Hughes and Jamaal Tinsley are plummeting, and why Maurice Evans and Kendrick Perkins should be on your fantasy radar. Sat, 26 Jan 2008 09:25:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/95765 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/95765 Here are 5 solid free agents that will knock down a lot of three's. I have ranked the following players in the order that I believe they should be picked up in. (1) Farmar, (2) Webster, (3) Bogans, (4) House, (5) Finley Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:10:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/81252 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/81252 Stressing patience with a young, developing Magic roster. Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:57:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/74956 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/74956 The internet is dominated by short and very short articles, but my full game reports are extremely long, averaging about 4500 words these days. I know some people will never have the time to read articles that long. Short articles on extremely important topics are great for fans without a lot of time to check out and to give their opinion on. So from now on, as time permits, I will extract very important parts of game reports and post them as separate reports. Here are the real player ratings for the Nuggets-Magic game. For an explanation of the Real Player Rating, go to: http://nuggets1reference.blogspot.com/2007/12/real-player-ratings.html SCALE FOR THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS 1.60 More Rare Superstar Plus-Above Normal Even For Michael Jordan 1.40 1.60 Superstar Performance Plus-A Michael Jordan Type Game 1.20 1.40 Spectacular Performance 1.05 1.20 Star Performance 0.90 1.05 Outstanding Game 0.80 0.90 Very Good Game 0.70 0.80 Good Game 0.60 0.70 Mediocre Game 0.50 0.60 Poor Game 0.40 0.50 Very Poor Game 0.25 0.40 Bad Game-Near Disaster Less 0.25 Total Disaster NUGGETS-MAGIC REAL PLAYER RATINGS All players who played 5 minutes or more are included. Any player who played only 5-9 minutes is noted. 1. Linas Kleiza, Den 1.419 2. Carmelo Anthony, Den 1.315 3. Anthony Carter, Den 1.247 4. Maurice Evans, Orl 1.015 5. Allen Iverson, Den 0.988 6. Keyon Dooling, Orl 0.950 7. Dwight Howard, Orl 0.932 8. Keith Bogans, Orl 0.884 9. Jameer Nelson, Orl 0.831 10. Rashard Lewis, Orl 0.786 11. Marcus Camby, Den 0.738 12. Kenyon Martin, Den 0.621 13. Carlos Arroyo, Orl 0.460 14. Adonal Foyle, Orl 0.460 15. Hedo Turkoglu, Orl 0.373 16. J.R. Smith, Den 0.140…Smith played only 5 minutes. 17. Eduardo Najera, Den 0.086 OBSERVATIONS ON THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS In the friendly confines of the Pepsi Center in Denver, Kleiza and Carter played two of the best games of their respective careers. Carmelo Anthony was spectacular, while Iverson was merely outstanding in this one. Dwight Howard is a better player than what he showed in this game, and Rashard Lewis should in theory be a better player than what he showed. Camby and Martin were a little off but it didn't mean much, mostly because of the Turkoglu disaster. The Najera disaster was the first one in many, many moons. Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:10:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72808 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72808 The Nuggets, for about 10 days, had all of their players except the little used Steven Hunter off of the injury list, but things have deteriorated very quickly again, to where the Nuggets are once again a team much more hurt by injuries and ailments than the average team in the NBA. Nene has taken an indefinite leave from the Nuggets to tend to a personal medical issue, which he is not disclosing. Injuries resulting from basketball must be disclosed, but injuries and ailments not caused by basketball may be kept private, and Nene has wisely elected to keep the specifics of his ailment private for now. But everyone read between the lines of the press releases and of the Coach Karl mini interview on the Nene situation. From this reading of the tea leaves, there was a lot of speculation among fans of the Nuggets that Nene has a serious problem, up to and including some kind of cancer. This news broke just after his fine game in Phoenix, and just when fans including me were starting to believe that it was really possible that both Kenyon Martin and Nene, the two good power forwards on the team, would actually be playing most or all the rest of the season to include any playoffs. But now we are back to the norm for the Nuggets, which is that you always have at least one very expensive big man out, and usually out for a very, very long time. For the second straight year, the Nuggets had an Iverson #2, if only for a fleeting moment in time. If only actual cloning was legal in the NBA. The Nuggets would have two Cambys, two Martins, three Anthonys, and five Iversons, and they would no doubt be the best team in the world. Above are the first two and the last paragraph of the full game report, which is at the link. Also to be found there are informative statistical summaries, including the Player Ratings and the Real Player Ratings for the game, with which you can see at a glance how well or how badly different players played. Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:11:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72565 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/72565 Stan Van Gundy got sent a message for not taking the Kings' coaching job. Even though the Kings were up by 19 points early in the 3rd quarter, in the NBA no lead is safe from any team. The Kings attacked early in the game and took advantage of Dwight Howard riding the bench in the 2nd quarter. Despite a late rally fueled by J.J. Reddick and a crazy finish, the Kings were able to hold on against a very good 15-6 road team and maybe sent a message to could have been coach Stan Van Gundy. It was a game of familiar teammates squaring off. Turkish forward and potential all-star Hedo Turkoglu was drafted by the Kings, recieved a warm welcome from the crowd, and played against former Spurs teammate Beno Udrih, while Maurice "Mo" Evans was also a former King, Turkoglu also leads teammeate Rashard Lewis in all-star votes. It's unknown why Carlos Arroyo started at point guard, but it was probably to make Jameer Nelson the 6th man. The game started off hot as Dwight Howard scored the first 8 Magic points. The Kings weren't far behind as they took the lead and didn't look back as Udrih, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia scoring 20/26 first quarter points for the Kings. The Kings shot 4/4 from the beyond the arc including a 35 foot buzzer beater to end the quarter by Dhantay Jones, putting the Kings up 28-16. In the 2nd quarter the Kings took advantage of Howard on bench as they got a 10-0 run. Quincy Douby would come off the Kings bench with confidence as he would score 9 of his 14 points in the 2nd quarter, his second straight 14 point game. Udrih also had a big quarter with 10 of his 17 points in the 2nd as well. Dwight Howard was quiet with only 2 points in the quarter, mainly because they double teamed him, but Lewis would start to heat up with 8 points in the quarter, making it a 53-36 Kings lead at halftime. The Kings came in with a rare line-up of 7 footers at the end with Mikki Moore playing center, Justin Williams (6'10) at power forward and Spencer Hawes at small forward. This was to counter the Magic's interchangable line-up of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who can play both small and power forward positions well. In the 3rd quarter, the Magic started to fight back, with Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu leading the way with a balenced attack. Together, they'd score 16/20 points in the quarter. Stan Van Gundy lost his cool earning a technical foul at 6:22 after arguing a foul call. The Kings would keep their cool while keeping a distance from the Magic with and Mikki Moore and Brad Miller leading the way. Mikki Moore scored 6/8 points in the quarter and 6 of his points were dunks, including a putback dunk at the end of the quarter. Brad Miller scored 11 points in the quarter and notched his 6th of the game. At the end, the Kings would maintain a comfortable 78-62 lead, but that lead would disappear as fast as it built up. After Keyon Dooling hit 4 free throws, it seemed like it was all over after Dahntay Jones took a rebound in the a from Turkoglu for the putback slam on his head to seemingly put away the game with all the momentum on the Kings side. Rookie center Spencer Hawes even hit his second 3 pointer of the year when it hit the rim, bounced high and fell into the net. This is where the Magic would make their run. An 11-1 run gave life to them and made an 19 point lead to a 9 point lead against a fatigued, undermanned Kings team. That's when rarely used J.J. Redick came in. He made the next 10/15 points for the team, cutting the Kings lead to 101-99. Before Redick made his last free throw, Lewis fouled out finishing with 22 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a block. Jones and Turkoglu would make 4 straight free throws. Turkoglu would answer right back with a 3 pointer to make it 103-100. Francico Garcia would make one 1/2 free throws to give the Kings a 104-100 lead. That's when things got crazy. Coach Van Gundy made a terrible time out call using his last time out with 37 seconds left, which left no opportunity for the Magic to draw up any last second plays. When Redick passed up a 3 pointer he passed it to an unsuspecteing Keith Bogans who would have it knocked away by Garcia into the backcourt. Redick would get the inbounds going up the court, but in the last second he slipped and fell at the last second as Udrih got the steal and the Kings would win 104-100. Salmons was once again the hero of the night, especially hitting a shot to to beat the shot clock to put the Kings at 101. He had 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and steals each. He was followed up by Miller, who averaged 21.25 ppg, 9.5 rebounds ppg. and 5.25 apg. the past 4 games. He finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and a block. Udrih had a great scoring night and finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and a last second steal. Moore stole the show midway through the game with his explosive dunks finishing with 8 points and 12 rebounds (career high 13). Garcia was quiet throughout the game but finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and a steal. He's averaged 17.2 ppg 5.8 rpg. and 1 spg. in the last 5 games. Quincy Douby led the bench with 14 points, with Dahntay Jones scoring 8 points and Hawes scoring 8 points and 2 rebounds. Justin Williams had 2 rebounds and no points. The Kings go up to 13-20 after coming from a 1-2 road trip and losing 4 straight at home. Their last win at home came against the Bucks Dec. 10. Before Redick's surge, the Kings bench outscored the Magic bench 25-16. Dwight Howard had another huge game with 29 points, 15 rebounds (4 off.), 2 steals, an assist and a block. Turkoglu, who leads his team second in scoring, finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Jameer Nelson, who scored the game winning 3 pointer at Arco Arena last year, came off the bench to score 6 points and had 7 assists, while starter Carlos Arroyo had 2 points, rebounds and assists each. Mo Evans had 9 points 2 rebounds and 3 assists while Keyon Dooling had 5 points a rebound and an assist. This is an very underrated Kings team. They're undermanned with 3 star players injured and 4 young bench players who contribute. Kenny Thomas, the 5th man on the bench can't play anymore and 3/5 of the bench have played less than 2 years. Their current starting line-up is fatigued with 4/5 starters playing near 40+ minutes a night. "It kind of took the fun out of me, you have to have success at the end of games," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "I look at it in many ways, good teams are always going to make a run. So they made a run and we held them off." The Nuggets, Knicks, Cavs and Bulls have taken advantage of that. Denver was the first team to expose it when they were down big and Kleiza hit the demoralizing game winning buzzer beater which stayed with the team throughout thier home stretch. The Cavs and the Bulls used 4th quarters to beat them and the Knicks used it to cut a 24 point lead to cut it down to 10. Douby and Jones have stepped up the past few games. It's time for Hawes to remember how he played earlier and Williams to remember how he was averaging near a double double at the end of last year. They need minutes to give the starters a break and gain confidence. Van gundy got sent a message by the Kings organization. After basically accepting the Kings job, using the car the organization bought him and even shopping for a house, he bailed out at the last second and accepted the Magic deal in Sacramento when he heard Billy Donovan had second thoughts. He made the right choice making the team a contender in the east but did so in a way that left Sacramento a sour taste. The Magic, however, have no problem being contenders on the road, but it's at home they need to improve with an under .500 record there. They're one of only 3 teams to have beaten the Celtics (Pistions and Cavs). "We were sluggish in the first half and didn't play hard enough until the fourth quarter," said Howard. "They had it going and we didn't. When a team has it going like them it is hard to get over." They'll finish their last western swing when in 4 more games as they take their 22-14 record with them. Point guard Mike Bibby is expected back in exactly 1 week and I'll be able to see him at the Kings open practice to see him and Kevin Martin to see their progress. Bibby has missed 11 weeks after injuring his left thumb in the preseason. Martin has not been cleared to practice with the team yet after a groin strain nearly a month ago. Ron Artest will be out because of his left elbow until next month. Shareef Abdur-Rahim barely played early this season and had knee surgery to finish his year. The worst thing that can happen to the Kings right now is an injury to any of their players right now. That's one more guy not in uniform and one less bench player to turn to. For now they'll have to rely on John Salmons 19.5 ppg. as a starter, the recent all-star play of Brad Miller, Beno Udrih's reliablility as a point guard and the recent bench play of Quincy Douby and Dahntay Jones he faces the team he was on for 4 years, the Memphis Grizzilies. Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:31:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/65941 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/65941 In Sunday's weekly fantasy basketball column, FIO and TalkHoops.net writer Zach Harper clues you in on some possible fantasy free agents to lookout for in the coming week. Check out how these players could help your fantasy basketball squad. Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:44:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/35584 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/35584 In Sunday's weekly fantasy basketball column, FIO and TalkHoops.net writer Zach Harper clues you in on some possible fantasy free agents to lookout for in the coming week. Check out how these players could help your fantasy basketball squad. Mon, 05 Nov 2007 04:45:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/34482 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/34482 In case you missed it, Brevin Knight turned in a stunning 1 point, 7 assist performance last night in his first game back from surgery of the abdomin. Not too excited about the 4 turnovers, but the 3 rebounds is decent. And that made for 25 fantasy points in my HoopsAddict.com league, which is better than than the 10 points that Keith Bogans put up last night (that's right, I've been forced to play Keith Bogans!) … so Knight is going back into my lineup. Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:51:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9866 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/9866 This is part of my series of articles previewing all 30 NBA teams and the upcoming season. The Magic finished last season with a flurry and, with maybe a few more games, could have made a serious run into the postseason. Now they're not only expected to be a playoff team, but they are touted by some as the team most likely to breakthrough and have a surprising season. They've got some pieces in place. Jameer Nelson is developing into a good leader, Dwight Howard is the real deal... and don't look now, but Grant Hill is ready to play this season. They've got a team able to battle amongst the middle of the pack in the East. They need another piece or two, maybe a second bonafide scorer, before they can continue to elevate their status as a team. Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:32:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4716 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/4716