http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/4562 Recent articles about Bobby Jones en-us The Bobcats and PF Emeka Okafor have agreed to a six-year, $72 million contract extension. Nenad Krstic will leave the Nets to play for a team in Moscow paying $3 million euros a year, the equivalent of about $9 million dollars. Philadelphia has picked up former Indiana Pacers SG Kareem Rush Detroit and free agent PF Kwame Brown have agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal Ricky Davis' return to Miami didn't last long, as he just agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Knicks have traded F Renaldo Balkman to the Denver Nuggets for a 2010 second round draft choice, SG Taurean Green and SF Bobby Jones. Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:59:53 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297361 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297361 The Denver Nuggets have acquired forward Renaldo Balkman from the New York Knicks in exchange for guard Taurean Green, forward Bobby Jones and a second-round draft pick in 2010. The Nuggets also get cash in the deal, announced Monday by Mark Warkentien, Denver's vice president of basketball operations. The 6-foot-8 Balkman averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 65 games for the Knicks last season. He has averaged 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in two seasons with the Knicks, shooting .499 from the field. Green averaged 1.1 points in nine appearances with Denver last season. Jones averaged 3.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in two stints with the Nuggets during the 2007-08 season. Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:41:05 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297063 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/297063 The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets have had serious talks discussing swapping former-first round pick Renaldo Balkman for point guard Taurean Green and small forward Bobby Jones. If the trade happens, the Knicks could cut Green and Jones, which would get them to 15 players, as well as saving $1.32 million dollars in cap space. Balkman has a team option for the 2009-2010 season which likely would not be renewed. Currently, the Knicks have 16 players on the roster with the signing of Anthony Roberson, and need to get down to 15. Currently, Green and Jones do not have guaranteed contracts. However, Green's contract becomes guaranteed this Thursday and Jones's on August 15th. After the Nuggets signed Chris Andersen and Dahntay Jones, both Green and Jones became expendable. Balkman, is not a good fit in Head Coach Mike D'Antoni's up-tempo system. He shoots under 20% from downtown and less than 50% from the line. With Danilo Gallinari, Quentin Richardson, David Lee, and Wilson Chandler on the roster, there is little room for Balkman. D'Antoni favors forwards who are versatile on offense and who can shoot from outside. The third year player has not yet found a consistent role for the franchise and has only averaged 4.2 points for his career. He could seemingly be a good fit in Denver, because he is known for his defense, hustle and energy. The Nuggets allowed the second most points per game at 106.95. Former team president Isiah Thomas reached for Balkman at No. 20 in the 2006 NBA Draft. Thomas claimed that the Suns (27th pick) were interested in the South Carolina product. That is ironic because former Mike D'Antoni was the Suns coach at the time and seems ready to ship him of New York. Isiah passed on Rajon Rondo, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Kyle Lowry, and Jordan Farmar. The 21-26 selections have had greater impacts in the league in their short time than Balkman has had. If the Knicks decide to keep Green, he could add more competition at point guard. The 23 year-old was the starting point guard for the Florida Gators who won national titles in 2006 and 2007. The Florida native ranks second in career free throw percentage (.856), seventh in assists (400) and tied for eighth in three-point field goals made (186) in school history. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2nd round in the 2007 NBA Draft. Green only appeared in 17 games last season and was traded to the Nuggets for Von Wafer. Yes, the same Von Wafer that was on the Knicks' Summer league team in Las Vegas. His father Sidney Green played two seasons for the Knicks in the late 1980's. Bobby Jones has been in the league for only two years but has played with five different teams. He seems destined to be a career backup, but, like Balkman, is known as a defensive stopper. If this trade goes down, it makes fiscal sense for the Knicks and Donnie Walsh can focus his efforts on moving Zach Randolph. Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:18:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296935 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296935 Marc Spears reports in the Globe that the Celtics are still interested in Darius Miles. Miles hasn't played for 2 years after suffering what was diagnosed as a career ending injury. Unlike when the Celtics requested cap relief when Reggie Lewis died, the league granted the Blazers relief from Miles' salary. The fun part of this is that if Miles signs with a team and plays 10 games, the Blazers are on the hook for the remainder of the 18 million they owed him for the 2 years that were left on his contract. Miles will start the season with a 10 game suspension for testing positive for what has been speculated as performance enhancing drugs. He is looking for a minimum contract and there are other teams interested as well including the Suns and the Mavericks. He reportedly struggled in his workout with the Mavs but reports out of Boston were that he impressed them with his workout there. He has worked hard to get himself back to playing shape from the injury and as long as the knee holds up it may be worth the risk. After threatening to join the exodus to Europe, Andris Biedrins signed a lucrative 6 year contract with the Warriors worth a reported $63 million. This is the second player in the last few days who is being overpaid by his team after threatening to go to Europe if they didn't offer enough. First, Sasha Vujacic signed a three-year, $15 million contract after threatening to leave for Europe and now this ridiculous contract for Biedrins. This may be a disturbing trend as teams pay too much for players because they threaten to go overseas. I actually believe that the Hornets overpaid for Posey and may regret it somewhere down the line. Although, he may be the piece that puts them over the top as a contender so we won't know until it all plays out. The Hawks lost Josh Childress to Europe and now it doesn't look good for them to sign the other Josh either. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that there are at least two, blockbuster sign-and-trade proposals that the Hawks are considering for Smith. One proposal is reportedly from a Western Conference power and the other from an Eastern Conference contender. Rumors have been floating that the two teams are the Lakers and Pistons with Lamar Odom and Tayshaun Prince as the centerpieces of the deals with the respective teams. But the Detroit Free Press says that the Hawks were asking too much and that there is no deal on the table. But, in spite of not having a deal on the table, the Pistons are still very much interested in Smith. So, could the Eastern contender with a deal on the table be the Cavs? The Hawks clearly don't want to pay what Smith believes he is worth and won't over pay him but seem to be ok with allowing another team to do so if they can get enough back from them. In the meantime, it is being reported that the Hawks are on the verge of signing Randolph Morris to a two year minimum deal that would shore up the Hawks front court. Newsday is reporting that the Knicks are in talks with Denver to send Renaldo Balkman to the Denver Nuggets for point guard Taurean Green and small forward Bobby Jones. The Knicks are expected to waive both Jones and Green if they make the deal as both have no-guaranteed contracts and the Knicks would have 17 players. It would be a move to save money and move Balkman who doesn't seem to fit in D'Antoni's system. Personally, Balkman is one of the players I like on the Knicks. He plays hard and hustles on defense. Reports are that the Bobcats and Emeka Okafor are still not close to a contract agreement. The Bobcats are offering around 10 million a year and if Biedrins can get close to $11 million a year and Bogut can get over $12 million a year, then it would seem that the Bobcats are not willing to pay the market value for Okafor. Of course, he could accept the qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next season, but that is always risky. The Sporting News reports that teams are lining up to make offers to Devean George. The Celtics have been linked to George as a replacement for James Posey. George is a defensive minded player who also brings championship experience. The schedule for next year is almost finished. It is usually announced the first week in August, but Matt Winick, the man who makes up the schedule is running about 3 or 4 days behind this season because of the uncertainty presented with the Seattle/OKC team. Games have to be scheduled around concerts, the NHL, a rodeo or a circus, the Big 12 mens and women's basketball tournaments, and more. The schedule should be out the first or second week of August so we can look forward to that. Gerald Green has always had tremendous athleticism and potential but has not been able to transfer that into becoming a team player. The Mavericks could be his last chance to prove he can play and this week in Summer League play, Gerald showed signs of rounding out his game. He led Dallas by scoring 19 points per game, he showed off his jumper, and he was great on the fast break, finishing off several plays with highlight dunks. He's still got a ways to go, but the Mavericks have to be encouraged with how Green played this week. I'm pulling for Gerald. I have always liked him and knew that if his head could just catch up to his abilities he could be a star. He is still young and there is plenty of time for that to happen. Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:15:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296824 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/296824 The Rockets' rookie Greene exploded for 40 points in a 100-97 thriller edging the Suns, and Wilson Chandler led the Knicks with 26 points in a 97-93 win over the Cavs. Six games in all with some pretty good performances, debuts and the return of Tractor Traylor. Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:11:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290807 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/290807 Check out what's going on between the Wizards and the Grizzlies right here, right now. Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:47:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/93289 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/93289 Line of the Night: Ok, that quote above was fake. But I like to imagine that Baron Davis (6.0) has an alien from Mars inside his head too. Davis led the Warriors past the Bulls with 40 points off 13-23 shooting. He also had 6 threes, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Surprising fact of the day: Davis' career high in points scored is only 40, which he tied yesterday. For some reason, I thought that number would be higher. Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:24:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77374 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/77374 The night before, versus the Rockets, was a game that the Nuggets should have won easily, but it was as difficult a win as you will see. In this game, you had the same context, as it should have been an easy win for the Portland Trailblazers, but they made life overly difficult for themselves just as the Nuggets did to themselves the night before. But Portland did eventually beat the Nuggets, 99-96. Four injuries to two power forwards and two centers left the Nuggets with just one power forward and one center available. Plus, the Nuggets were playing on back to back nights on the road, whereas the Trailblazers were rested. But the Nuggets, with some great Iverson shooting, led 52-50 at the half. And they led 76-69 after 3 quarters, as the Trailblazers failed to take full advantage of the devastation to the Nuggets front court, by not taking it into the paint enough. At the very least, an NBA coach must "keep up with the Jones's," the Coaches of the top teams, with respect to keeping the reserves as ready to perform as possible, by giving them critical playing time on a regular basis. Instead of keeping up with the Jones's, Karl is busy limiting the potential of the Jones he has on his team. SCALE FOR THE REAL PLAYER RATINGS 1.60 More Superstar Performance beyond the Michael Jordan Level 1.40 1.60 Superstar Performance-Michael Jordan Level 1.20 1.40 Superstar Performance 1.00 1.20 Star Performance 0.90 1.00 Outstanding Game 0.80 0.90 Very Good Game 0.70 0.80 Good Game 0.60 0.70 Alright Game 0.50 0.60 Mediocre Game 0.40 0.50 Poor Game 0.30 0.40 Very Poor Game 0.20 0.30 Extremely Poor Game Less 0.20 Total Disaster 1. Carmelo Anthony, Den 1.298 2. Channing Frye, Por 1.160 3. Martell Webster, Por 1.148 4. LaMarcus Aldridge, Por 0.994 5. Allen Iverson, Den 0.984 6. Travis Outlaw, Por 0.921 7. James Jones, Por 0.681 8. Anthony Carter, Den 0.654 9. Steve Blake, Por 0.635 10. Brandon Roy, Por 0.634 11. J.R. Smith, Den 0.622 Note: Smith played only 9 minutes. 12. Joel Przybilla, Por 0.585 13. Linas Kleiza, Den 0.497 14. Eduardo Najera, Den 0.496 15. Jelani McCoy, Den 0.389 16. Jarrett Jack, Por 0.321 17. Chucky Atkins, Den 0.081 18. Bobby Jones, Den -0.014 Above is the first paragraph and the last paragraph of the game report, along with the Real Player Ratings for the game. There is much more at the link, more reporting and more revealing stats. . Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:50:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/53570 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/53570 I have just calculated what I call the real player ratings for the Nuggets for this season, calculated as of today. To find out how this is done, and why it is the best statistic for reflecting reality possible, visit the original story link and go the section of the Spurs-Nuggets game report titled " NUGGETS REAL PLAYER RATINGS--EXPLANATION" . Or, if you are reading this more than a couple of days after it was posted, (on December 17) you can visit this direct link to the explanation of the statistic: http://nuggets1reference.blogspot.com/2007/12/real-player-ratings.html I wanted to give Yardbarkers a sneak preview because Yardbarker is such a great sports site. HOW GOOD THE NUGGETS REALLY ARE 2007-08 Season Through December 17, 2007 Allen Iverson, 1.012 Carmelo Anthony, 0.984 Marcus Camby, 0.941 Kenyon Martin, 0.801 J.R. Smith, 0.748 Linas Kleiza, 0.746 Anthony Carter, 0.705 Nene Hilario, 0.649 Eduardo Najera, 0.638 Bobby Jones, 0.621 Jelani McCoy, 0.536 Yakhouba. Diawara, 0.496 Steven Hunter, 0.354 Von Wafer, 0.326 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:50:29 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/47467 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/47467 The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 102-91, but the game was essentially over after 3 quarters, when the score was 92-68. Starting power forward Kenyon Martin's 1 game flagrant foul suspension, along with an off rebounding night from Marcus Camby, who had way too much to handle from C Fabricio Oberto, who was huge, and PF Tim Duncan, destroyed the Nuggets rebounding and made a Spurs victory all but certain. Kenyon Martin was removed from the squad at exactly the worst possible time, right after Camby and company had started to trust K-Mart to be a big factor on the boards. Just when Camby was accustomed to finally getting some real help on rebounding, that help was taken away by David Stern who, after waiting until the cows came home, finally announced Kenyon's 1 game suspension on the day of the Spurs game, Saturday, even though the game in which the flagrant foul happened was Wednesday evening. The Spurs had no trouble routing the Nuggets even though PF Tim Duncan played just 20 minutes and PG Tony Parker didn't play at all due to a sprain. This would just about offset the unavailablity of PF Kenyon Martin, PF Nene, and PG Chucky Atkins for the Nuggets. So the only thing you can logically conclude is that the Nuggets have no chance if they meet the Spurs again in the playoffs, unless the way the Nuggets are managed radically changes. I guess we'll have to hope that the Suns knock off the Spurs before the Nuggets ever have to play them. How's that for optimism in the face of disaster? The above two paragraphs are the first and the last paragraph of the full Nuggets report, which is at the link. Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:04:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/46564 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/46564 The rested Clippers unwisely elected to try to jump shoot their way to a road win over the Nuggets, who were playing on back to back nights. They apparently didn't get the memo sent out to all the teams in the League that the Nuggets can be beaten if you run your offense into the paint as often as possible. Camby is not able to get enough rebounding help from the combination of Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony, Eduardo Najera, and Linas Kleiza. So the Nuggets are very vulnerable, until Nene returns, to badly losing the rebounding battle and then losing the game due to too many second chance scores for their opponent and not enough of them for themselves. But the Clippers didn't game plan correctly, and they settled for jumpers, and made just 6 offensive rebounds, and were taken out of the game when the Nuggets made a whole lot of jumpers themselves. The Clippers lacked the smarts, the plan, or the leadership to fully contest this game. That's how this game report starts. There is a lot more at the link, including great new statistical views of the games that allow you to tell at a glance who played well and who didn't. These are especially great if you don't have enough time to read the complete report. This report also has a major revision to the "Reserve Watch" feature. The objective of this is to determine which team has the better coaching staff in each particular game, by looking at the playing time and the performance of the reserves. Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:18:08 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40077 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/40077 The Los Angeles Lakers ran away with the game in the 4th quarter, outscoring the Nuggets 46-24 in the period, and defeated the drifting and Lost Nuggets 127-99. The Nuggets are Lost because they are just like the stranded passengers on that strange island on television. They are outwitted by the sometimes strange but ultimately effective strategies of their opponents, "the others," every time. The Nuggets can never become un-lost, if you will, until they can better the strategies of the others who seek to keep them lost forever. All the details about the game and the current state of the Nuggets are at the link. (Every once in a while I might be a day or so late with the report, and this is one of those times.) Sun, 02 Dec 2007 00:37:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39925 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39925 Better a little late than never, here is the game preview for the Nuggets and Lakers in Los Angeles. Can Melo break out of his routine and get some of the rebounds that Kenyon Martin would normally get were he not injured? Will Anthony Carter play more like he did against Indiana (great) or more like he did against Houston (bad)? Will J.R. Smith have an outstanding game for the first time in a blue moon? Will George Karl force the Nuggets to play with one hand behind their backs by essentially playing just 7 players instead of 8? Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:19:41 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39584 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39584 This game report is better late than never, because I spent time yesterday and today researching advanced basketball statistics. I will be providing even more juicy details about the Nuggets as this season goes along, stay tuned. I'm not like Karl, I'm not going to lose my confidence yet in the players, I put the blame for this loss where it belongs, on the injuries. It was a royal flush for injuries: the entire power forward and center roster was injured, slightly injured (Kleiza), or sick (Camby). So I predicted the Nuggets would lose and, sure enough, they did, 112-110 to the Pacers. All of the details you might need are at the link. Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:27:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39555 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/39555 The Nuggets may have no power forwards and only 1 center available for this game! With this kind of devastation, it actually becomes pretty simple to figure out what must happen if the Nuggets are to have a chance. To have any chance to win the game, both Melo and Najera have to get 8-12 rebounds each, and Yakhouba Diawara and Bobby Jones will have to be active rebounders as well. It goes without saying that Camby will have to be huge. More stats have been added to the team comparison, such as points per 100 possessions. And the probability the Nuggets will win the game, as well as other probabilities, such as whether the Nuggets will finally win a playoff series, are now included with all game previews. Tue, 27 Nov 2007 04:41:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/38826 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/38826