EuroBasket - Round 2 Gets Underway

by Steve Perrin on Sep 7, 2011 11:48 PM PDT in News

I did not manage to watch the games today. Mainly because Spain-Germany was on at 5 AM or some such, so that wasn't happening.

As the second round got underway, Germany's hole got a little deeper. They kept it close against the defending champs, pulling within three in the final three minutes, but Spain eventually put them away, led by los hermanos Gasol (Marc 24 points, Pau 19 all in the second half). Chris Kaman had a pretty good game (15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks) - until you notice the 5 turnovers. Yikes. Three of those were travels, where the international refs may be watching his pivot foot more closely than NBA refs do. And what's with the free throw shooting? Always decent from the line for a big, Kaman is barely over 50% (11 for 21) in the tournament.

In the other two games, France beat Turkey and Lithuania beat Serbia. That Lithuania win dampens Germany's hopes of advancing that much more. The Germans weren't really expected to beat Spain, but now they trail Lithuania by two full games. If they can win out, they will finish ahead of Turkey, currently sitting on 2 losses. But the second two loss team is Serbia thanks to Lithuania's win. Unfortunately for Germany, Serbia also owns the head to head tie-breaker, so they probably have to finish ahead of Serbia to advance - tied probably won't do it. Remember, four of the six teams in Group E will advance to the knockout stage - that means that Germany has to finish ahead of two teams to move forward.

Germany's not eliminated - yet. But it's getting pretty serious. Obviously they have to win their last two games, against Turkey and Lithuania. They also need for France to beat Lithuania on Friday. There are other ways for them to advance, but that's the most straightforward, and really, the tough part is winning out. If they do that, they probably advance. If they don't, they don't deserve to.

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So I watched the season finale of Keeping Up with the Kardashians last night

What sort of deal do people think Kris Humphries will command? He had a crazy productive season last year, but is he under-valued throughout the league? Assuming the Clippers could re-sign Jordan, sign Humphries and trade Kaman for a SF, we’d take that right? The 3 big rotation gets upgraded (albeit with Griffin playing more time at the 5) and you flip an expiring contract for a position of need (SF.)

BTW, Humphries is an idiot for spending $2MM on an engagement ring when he’s a free agent and there’s a lockout ongoing.

by Michael White on Sep 8, 2011 8:00 AM PDT reply actions

Another problem is his wife takes up two very expensive seats when she sits down at games.

"20" - The number of fans in the stands in Jacksonville and students at Vanderbilt actually from Tennessee! Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration

by PV Mike on Sep 8, 2011 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions

Why here?

Why not make it into its own post. Nevermind.
I’m assuming Humphries primarily played power forward next to Brook Lopez. In this scenario how much center do you see Griffin playing? Humphries?
How much money do you think it would take to bring in Humphries? What do you think Jordan will cost?
It’s a very interesting idea. Did you see Humphries on TV and casually look at his stats, because I had no idea he was a 10/10 guy last year.

by John Raffo on Sep 8, 2011 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Why here?
No real reason other than the Eurobasket posts (while great) are clearly about Chris Kaman. My proposal is directly related to Kaman as well so I felt it was okay and not a threadjack.

How much center is Griffin playing?
Probably quite a bit. Humphries is better than Jordan so you’d want to maximize the amount of time that your two best front-court players are on the floor. Also, add in Jordan’s fouling problem and you’re probably leaning on BG to play a lot of center where he didn’t look that comfortable last year.

How much money do you think it would take to bring in Humphries? What do you think Jordan will cost?
I really don’t know and was looking for some guidance from the commentariat. Humphries hasn’t made much in his career (making less than $3MM last season) and has been a backup most of the time. If you can get him for a price anywhere near that you absolutely do it.

Did you see Humphries on TV and casually look at his stats
I remember him getting the better of Griffin in that game last year where the Clips blew the lead late in New Jersey. Humphries was dominant and I knew he had a pretty great second half. Him being on TV made me think simply “this guy’s marrying a woman in CA, nobody thinks he’s a star, he might be undervalued and interested to coming to LA.”

by Michael White on Sep 8, 2011 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions

It's good thinking...

It’s just that one part: “…add in Jordan’s fouling problem and you’re probably leaning on BG to play a lot of center where he didn’t look that comfortable last year.”
If you’re thinking you’re giving up Kaman to bring in Iguodala I get it, if you’re giving him up for something less… Kaman’s a better fit.

by John Raffo on Sep 8, 2011 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions

I think Humphries would play more C than Blake

but that is only a title…put Blake and Humphries on the floor together…i dont care what they call themselves…its a good hustle front court on both ends of the floor

Humphries would be an awesome pick up…for comparison’s sake….its like…if Blake was Superman, Humphries would be Clark Kent…no hype, really simple, but inside has the secret tools to be well above average.

even if the Clips can’t flip Kaman for a SF….a frontcourt rotation of Blake-Kaman-Jordan-Humphreis would be dominating no matter how you pair them

oh yea…and Kim will be Jessica’s replacement…i wonder if Lamar would come to games support his brother-in-law-in-law ?

I Am Witness to the 1st BLAKE GRIFFIN Triple-Double! And the 2nd Triple-Double!

by KidJustin on Sep 8, 2011 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions

I've always liked humphries

and think he’d be “persuaded” to being interested in moving to LA. He’s always seemed like a good hustle guy, and was great off the bench for a long time. But I’m not sure he’d be of interest to the clips. I mean I don’t think getting another PF is a big priority, especially if it means playing Blake out of position. Seems like the backup PF position has a lot of other options including bringing back Rhino or Diogu, and keeping Trey Thompkins around. If you’re really going to swap out Kaman for a SF (and that’s still not guaranteed, especially in what limited time before FA signing), then to me it’d be better spent getting a true backup center (dalembert, kwame, etc.).

I’m not sure how undervalued Humphries is, and I think he’ll be looking for a starting role, and starters money. If he’s coming for backup money like you suggest (<5mil?), I guess I don’t have a problem with it. Being part of a reality show and such is a pretty big turnoff for me though. Seems like an unnecessary distraction, even if it means kim showing up at all the clips games.

and just to keep this post on track….. Dirk Nowitzki

by osamu on Sep 8, 2011 1:43 PM PDT up reply actions

nets fan here,

all nets fans and myself believe kris wants to be a starter making as much as he can get, there has been talk of him wanting 7 to 8 mil plus as a starter , he doesnt want to be a backup although he would be open to new york or los angeles since kim has houses in both places

by jadedeed2327 on Sep 9, 2011 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions