LeBron's Kid

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/lebron-james-jr--already-has-a-must-watch-highlight-mix-011116962.html

The only question now is whether he will grow to 6'8" and 250 pounds.

What is remarkable is how much his mannerisms resemble his dad.  He even has those big slow steps when he shoots a layup.  That really slow crossover in the open court where it looks like the ball weighs ten pounds.  The pensive look while shooting free throws.  The lookaway one handed pass underneath.

Josh Smith -- Waived

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/why-the-pistons-waived-josh-smith--and-what-could-happen-next-182934531.html

The oddest thing about Josh Smith is that he is a very good power forward who wants to play small forward and jack a ton of ill-advised shots.  His role model should have been Kevin Garnett, but, instead, he prefers to be Antoine Walker at his worst. 

He would make a good Cavalier if he would just agree to play defense, rebound, and STOP JACKING BAD SHOTS!!!!

But, alas, I doubt that will ever happen, and if he won't stop jacking awful shots, he isn't valuable to any team.

Remarkably, there are actually other NBA players who have had as bad of performance from 3 while shooting over 1,200 3s -- http://bkref.com/tiny/NM3QK  Thank you, Charles Barkley, for giving Josh Smith supporters someone to point to!!

Smith has shot more career 3s than Dwyane Wade (another terrible 3 point shooter).

LeBron/Kyrie/Love -- How Are they Doing?

Well, the Cavs are good at home, and good when they play terrible teams.  They are not going to beat many good teams on the road yet, and they play far too few guys and play the Big 3 way too many minutes.  That is the overall view.

Let's look at how many good games the Big 3 have had this year versus mediocre games versus poor games.

Game Score Over 30 (great game) -- LeBron 2, Love and Kyrie 0.

Game Score at Least 25 (so includes games above) -- LeBron 9, Kyrie 3, Love 2.

Game Score at least 20 -- LeBron 13, Love 3, Kyrie 2.

Let's stop there.  The Cavs have played 26 games.  That means that LeBron has been very good for roughly half of their games,  That isn't a LeBron standard of play.  LeBron, to be LeBron, needs to be over 20 Game Score for 70% plus of games,  In 2013-14, which was not a vintage LBJ year, he was over 20 for Game Score 54 times out of 77 games played -- roughly 70%.  He also had 10 games over 30....13%.  So he is currently at 8%.

Translation -- LeBron has been way, way better than Love or Kyrie, but he has been very bad for being LeBron.

Kyrie has had only 7 Game Scores over 20.  But he DOMINATES Kevin Love in this category; Love has 3.  3 lousy games.  In 2013-14 for Minnesota, Love had 50!!!  games of 20+ game score.  He actually had MORE 30+ games scores than LeBron.  LeBron had 10 such games, Love 13.

Love has had 0 star games, been very good 3 of 26 games, good to mediocre 16 more times, and then been flat out bad 7 times,

Love --     0/3/16/7
LeBron -- 2/13/10/2
Kyrie --    0/10/12/4

The Odd Case of Brandan Wright

Brandan Wright has had 4 very good years for Dallas, playing around 18 minutes a game off the bench. This year, at age 27, he is having the best year of any NBA bench player.  His PER is 26, WS/48 among the 10 best in the league.  He has been awesome.

So, as a big forward, your best years are going to be ages 27-31.  Can Brandan Wright be a starter?  The answer is "probably not."  I can think of no example where a guy at age 27 went from being a good bench player (true bench player, not some guy playing 30 mpg off the bench) to being a good starter.  None.  I am sure it has happened somewhere, but I don't remember it.

So chances are that the Celtics just picked up a guy who will give them 20 really good bench minutes and nothing else.  There is value to that.  The real question is whether the guys who take over Rondo's minutes can approximate Rondo's production. 

But anyone thinking that Wright will be a 30-35 mpg starter should think again.....or at least provide me some historical basis for your position.

Caitlin Rasmussen

Sometimes seen on Internet as "Caitlyn Rasmussen".  Houston Texans Cheerleader and Miss Austin 2014.  Remarkably, originally from Kansas.

Merry Christmas, indeed!

Tetyana Veryovkina -- Just a Day at the Beach

https://music.yahoo.com/video/russian-model-tetyana-veryovkina-soaks-114015767.html

Folks, make it past the commercial.  If you have seen ANYONE EVER who looked like this at the beach, then please tell me what beach(es) to visit.

Good lord.  10 of 10.  100 of 100. 

Jennifer Lawrence -Great Actress, Not Hard to Look At

http://www.tmz.com/2013/01/10/the-40-sexiest-jennifer-lawrence-gifs/

Michael and Wilt Lead List of 17 best Statistical Players of All-Time

Players With 100 Career Win Shares, PER Over 21, and Win Shares Per 48 Over .200:

Kareem
Wilt
Karl Malone
Michael Jordan
John Stockton
Oscar Robertson
Shaq
David Robinson
Tim Duncan
Charles Barkley
Dirk
Jerry West
Magic
Bird
Bob Pettit
LeBron James
George Mikan


(Notably absent - Hakeem, Garnett and Kobe all do not have a WS/48 above .200).

If you then take these 17 guys and give them points for where they rank in the top 17 for each category of WS, PER and WS/48 (give 17 points for being first, 1 point for being 17th), the 5 best guys are:

Michael Jordan - 47 points
Wilt - 43 points
Kareem and David Robinson (tie) - 38 points
LeBron James - 31 points

Those are your 5 greatest statistical players of all time, with longevity figured in.

Guys who the stats do not support:
Bird - bottom 40% on the list in every category
Magic - everyone always assumes he is a top 5 player; he was not top 5 in any category

Was it Stockton or was it Malone?  Stats say it was Malone.  He played longer and played better.

Guys Who the Stats Favor - David Robinson (4th best overall, great in PER and WS/48)
Shaq, Duncan, Charles - all very close to LeBron for 5th

Special case - George Mikan was an unbelievable player.  #3 and #2 overall in PER and WS/48.  But he played so few years that he ranks 17th on this list in total Win Shares.  So you could ignore longevity and say he was a top 3 overall player, but then you'd have to go through and pick out the best, for example, 7 seasons for everyone and compare them to Mikan's career.  I don't feel like doing that, so we are stuck with giving Mikan a big negative grade for playing so few seasons.  Even with a "1" for longevity, he ends up just behind Shaq at 6, tied with Duncan at #7.

6-10
Shaq
Duncan and Mikan (tie)
Charles
Karl Malone

11-15
Magic
Bob Pettit
Stockton, Oscar, Dirk (3-way tie)

16 and 17
Jerry West
Larry Bird


HM

The 101 Best Win Shares Per 48 Individual NBA Seasons of All-Time

1.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.3399	1971-72	MIL
2.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.3256	1970-71	MIL
3.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.3251	1963-64	SFW
4.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.3225	1972-73	MIL
5.	Michael Jordan*	.3211	1990-91	CHI
6.	LeBron James	.3183	2008-09	CLE
7.	Michael Jordan*	.3174	1995-96	CHI
8.	Michael Jordan*	.3077	1987-88	CHI
9.	LeBron James	.2987	2009-10	CLE
10.	LeBron James	.2983	2011-12	MIA
11.	David Robinson*	.2960	1993-94	SAS
12.	Chris Paul	.2925	2008-09	NOH
13.	Michael Jordan*	.2920	1988-89	CHI
14.	David Robinson*	.2903	1995-96	SAS
15.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2857	1961-62	PHW
16.	Michael Jordan*	.2851	1989-90	CHI
17.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2851	1966-67	PHI
18.	Chris Paul	.2840	2007-08	NOH
19.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.2835	1976-77	LAL
20.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2830	1999-00	LAL
21.	Michael Jordan*	.2829	1996-97	CHI
22.	Larry Foust	.2823	1954-55	FTW
23.	Oscar Robertson*	.2785	1963-64	CIN
24.	Chris Paul	.2785	2011-12	LAC
25.	Dirk Nowitzki	.2780	2006-07	DAL
26.	Dirk Nowitzki	.2753	2005-06	DAL
27.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2751	1965-66	PHI
28.	Michael Jordan*	.2743	1991-92	CHI
29.	David Robinson*	.2727	1994-95	SAS
30.	Kevin Garnett	.2723	2003-04	MIN
31.	Magic Johnson*	.2704	1989-90	LAL
32.	Michael Jordan*	.2698	1992-93	CHI
33.	Vern Mikkelsen*	.2696	1951-52	MNL
34.	Charles Barkley*	.2691	1989-90	PHI
35.	David Robinson*	.2691	1997-98	SAS
36.	Chet Walker*	.2685	1971-72	CHI
37.	George Mikan*	.2683	1951-52	MNL
38.	Karl Malone*	.2676	1996-97	UTA
39.	Magic Johnson*	.2673	1988-89	LAL
40.	Dolph Schayes*	.2668	1953-54	SYR
41.	Neil Johnston*	.2666	1953-54	PHW
42.	Kevin Garnett	.2650	2007-08	BOS
43.	David Robinson*	.2642	1990-91	SAS
44.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2641	1962-63	SFW
45.	George Mikan*	.2640	1952-53	MNL
46.	Larry Foust	.2639	1955-56	FTW
47.	Magic Johnson*	.2627	1986-87	LAL
48.	Amare Stoudemire	.2619	2007-08	PHO
49.	Tracy McGrady	.2617	2002-03	ORL
50.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2615	2001-02	LAL
51.	Paul Arizin*	.2614	1951-52	PHW
52.	Jerry West*	.2611	1964-65	LAL
53.	David Robinson*	.2607	1998-99	SAS
54.	David Robinson*	.2596	1991-92	SAS
55.	Neil Johnston*	.2595	1956-57	PHW
56.	Karl Malone*	.2591	1997-98	UTA
57.	Charles Barkley*	.2579	1990-91	PHI
58.	Neil Johnston*	.2576	1955-56	PHW
59.	Chauncey Billups	.2574	2007-08	DET
60.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.2571	1977-78	LAL
61.	Tim Duncan	.2569	2001-02	SAS
62.	Kenny Sears	.2562	1958-59	NYK
63.	Jerry West*	.2555	1965-66	LAL
64.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2551	1967-68	PHI
65.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2545	1998-99	LAL
66.	Chauncey Billups	.2543	2005-06	DET
67.	Neil Johnston*	.2532	1954-55	PHW
68.	Charles Barkley*	.2531	1987-88	PHI
69.	Karl Malone*	.2521	1998-99	UTA
70.	Ed Macauley*	.2521	1951-52	BOS
71.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2518	1993-94	ORL
72.	Ed Macauley*	.2515	1953-54	BOS
73.	Magic Johnson*	.2515	1990-91	LAL
74.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2501	2002-03	LAL
75.	Charles Barkley*	.2500	1988-89	PHI
76.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.2495	1973-74	MIL
77.	Tim Duncan	.2487	2003-04	SAS
78.	George Mikan*	.2487	1953-54	MNL
79.	Karl Malone*	.2485	1999-00	UTA
80.	Dirk Nowitzki	.2485	2002-03	DAL
81.	Tim Duncan	.2483	2002-03	SAS
82.	Moses Malone*	.2480	1982-83	PHI
83.	Dirk Nowitzki	.2479	2004-05	DAL
84.	Kevin Garnett	.2477	2004-05	MIN
85.	Michael Jordan*	.2471	1986-87	CHI
86.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2467	1972-73	LAL
87.	Bob Pettit*	.2465	1958-59	STL
88.	Manu Ginobili	.2459	2006-07	SAS
89.	David Robinson*	.2457	2000-01	SAS
90.	Shaquille O'Neal	.2453	2000-01	LAL
91.	Karl Malone*	.2448	1989-90	UTA
92.	Tim Duncan	.2446	2004-05	SAS
93.	Wilt Chamberlain*	.2445	1959-60	PHW
94.	LeBron James	.2442	2010-11	MIA
95.	Larry Bird*	.2438	1985-86	BOS
96.	Larry Bird*	.2434	1986-87	BOS
97.	Larry Bird*	.2430	1987-88	BOS
98.	Amare Stoudemire	.2427	2004-05	PHO
99.	Charles Barkley*	.2423	1992-93	PHO
100.	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar*	.2416	1975-76	LAL
101.	Bob McAdoo*	.2416	1974-75	BUF I went to 101 so I could get Bob McAdoo (my childhood hero) on the list.

Kato Kaelin - O.J. Probably Did It

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/kato-kaelin-oj-simpson-guilty_n_1900655.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D208313

Not exactly groundbreaking stuff.  Similar to someone saying that they think Mitt Romney is a lying sack of shit.  OK - there is 80% of the population who already know that and 20% of the population who will never concede it.  You need to give evidence/examples, Kato.

Tim Pawlenty - Quits Romney Campaign

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/20/879191/tim-pawlenty-bank-lobbyist/

Someone, undoubtedly, offered him $1 more - that is the level of old Timmy's commitment to basically, well, anything.

Natalie Kane (Nyhus) as a Timberwolves Cheerleader

Timberwolves Dancers

I would say that this is the best squad in many years, at least since Natalie Kane left several years back.