Tyson Chandler's Big Apple Impact

Jeremy Lin deserves the headlines he has garnered.  He has spearheaded the current New York run and put them back in the playoff picture, right as head coach Mike D'Antoni was on the cusp of unemployment.

But another pre-season Knick acquisition- one initially publicized more but has since been overshadowed since Linsanity took hold- is Tyson Chandler.  Chandler was supposed to come in and give the Knicks a defensive backbone, completing the Chandler-Amar'e Stoudemire- Carmelo Anthony trio.    

Chandler's ability to catch and finish is nearly unmatched.  

Amidst the many surprises N.Y. has encountered this season, Chandler has been a welcomed constant.  The straight-out-of-high school veteran center has seemed to click with the Ivy League youngster on both ends, rolling to the hoop for alley-oops on one end and having Lin's back after a blow-by on the other.  By the eye-test, they seem to communicate well.  

The Knicks are currently sixth in the NBA in defensive rating.  The last time New York finished a season in the top ten in defensive rating was back in 2001, when coach Jeff Van Gundy, ever-mean mugging Kurt Thomas, and young Marcus Camby were leading the defensive charge.  

Chandler has no doubt been a huge part of N.Y.'s defensive resurgence.  Never a prolific shot-blocker, Chandler's shot-changing help defense is his greatest asset.  It's important to note that actually blocking shots is overrated; it's better to block 1.4 shots per game and change a bunch of interior shot attempts (that's Chandler) than block three shot attempts and play bad help defense the other 92 possessions per game.  

Chandler's also rebounding the ball well with a 22.6 defensive rebound rate.  That's important since New York doesn't have any other great interior-oriented rebounders.  New York is the third-best defensive rebounding team in the league (it surprised the hell out of me, too).

Credit should also go to Jared Jeffries and defensive coach Mike Woodson, but Chandler is usually the last line of the defense.    

And Chandler remains the prototype for this era's role-playing offensive player at center.  Despite not playing with a playmaking PG until two weeks and having poor spacing as a result of team-wide shooting woes and zero ball movement, Chandler is averaging 11.7 points per game on a league-leading 73.6 percent True Shooting.  His individual offensive rating is a league-leading 136- basically, when he gets the ball, he doesn't make mistakes.  Insanity- no L. 

Something that worries me is that he's playing a lot of minutes- a lot more than last year.  He played less than 28 minutes per game last year; this year, he's up around 34.  That's a testament to his judiciousness with personal fouls, but D'Antoni would be wise to give him more breathers.  Chandler has been prone to injuries in the past. 

Chandler's two-way play and ability to play like a superstar role-player has proven constant through in-season turnover and turmoil for N.Y.  The right Baby Bull seems to be yielding great results thus far.     

Sixers and Pacers: The Win Reapers

Philadelphia and Indiana are expectation exceeders.  At least they have been this year.  Neither team has a star player, however, and in an Eastern Conference plentiful in all-nba and all-star duos, trios, and quartets- well, it's an endearing quality.

Danny Granger and Andre Iguodala lead their respective teams.

Philly has the third-best SRS rating in the entire league and the best defense in the league.  They play a team-oriented style of basketball and get major contributions from their bench, led by Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young, who showed me something last year in the playoffs when he went at LeBron James and Chris Bosh and occupied them with his offense.  Andre Iguodala and Jrue Holiday form one of the better two-way perimeter duos in the league.  Eight guys average 8.7 points per game or more- the definition of a balanced attack.  Linsanity and Celtic Pride still trail the Sixers in the Atlantic.


The only thing I can't stand about Philly is that they took announcer Doug Collins and made him coach Doug Collins.  He's a certifiably good coach, but I loved him courtside.  Dude seemed to always predict the right out-of-bounds plays for every team.  I'd bet a decent amount on Collins's squad defending out-of-bounds plays pretty well.


The Pacers have been less impressive, with a record of 18-12 and an average SRS rating.  The same principle applies though.  Like Philly, Indy uses youth and balance to succeed; seven players average nine points per game or higher, with Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert leading the way.  The Pacers earned the league's respect by giving Chicago a good series last year, but their record and playoff standing in this Eastern Conference is attention-grabbing news.


Is this play sustainable for each team, especially in the playoffs?  Well, in a condensed season, each team's core of fresh bodies certainly helps matters.  These are the kinds of teams that can take wins off superior teams in the regular season who might not have the legs or are out of shape or have a star- whom they rely on heavily- injured.  Regular season?  Sure, especially Philly.  Philly vs. New York for the Atlantic Division title should entertain the I-95/Turnpike crowd.

Playoffs?  These teams have 2011 Denver Nuggets written all over them.  A purist loves Philly's swing passes and closeouts and team play, but they don't have that star anchor to carry them, and like it or not, that fact plays.  It always does.  Because teams with a star or stars can play with chemistry and team play, too, and those teams will almost always take out the defiant, role-player studded, lovable underdogs because of matchups issues created by those stars.

    

While Mayweather Talks of Race, Jeremy Lin is the People's Champ

This has wrestling promo written all over it.


Floyd Mayweather is flapping his gums again about something he isn't qualified to talk about.  The controversial boxer saw fit to say that Jeremy Lin, the point guard wunderkind of the New York Knicks, is only getting positive press because he's Asian.  Mayweather, the same guy who fought at Wrestlemania a few years back.  Mayweather, who has teased us with a match against Manny Pacquiao for ages, Rock-Cena style.

Jeremy Lin, in wrestling terms, is over with the fans as a babyface.

Prediction:  Mayweather makes a few more unflattering comments about Lin until Pacquiao, who has been assaulted by anti-Asian Mayweather comments in the past, steps in and challenges Mayweather to a match at Wrestlemania this year.  The match is even for 12 rounds when out of nowhere, Lin clocks Mayweather with a steel chair, giving Pacquiao the victory.


Lin's reign atop New York may be about as dramatic as a well-sold wrestling promo right now, but his play warrants the hype .  As was mentioned in the above article, Lin is the first NBA player in history- counting black, white, yellow, brown, green, aqua, maroon, pink, and emerald players- to drop at least 20 points and seven assists in each of his first four starts.  His Steve Nashian ability to allow his teammates to settle into their comfort zones while he takes care of the rest has propelled New York recently.


In short, there's a reason Lin has recently wrestled headlines away from all of the other main event talents, from Kobe Bryant to Deron Williams to Ricky Rubio.  He's that damn good.


Mayweather should know that.  Love him or hate him, Mayweather is a great talent in his sport.  But real is supposed to recognize real, not randomly spatter it with racist remarks over social media with absolutely no provocation.


Either Mayweather is a real-life heel, or wrestling feuds are real.