Could Vinny Del Negro, After All The Turmoil, Be Coach Of The Year?

By Dave Shepard, OTSL Special Contributor

There were many questions regarding the future of Vinny DelNegro with the Clippers franchise this season. Those reports peaked as little as three weeks ago. Since then, the Clippers are 11-2.

The Clippers have a chance to finish with one of the five best records in the NBA when the season finishes on April 26^th. Instead of this coach losing the locker room, I will argue that he should be in strong contention for Coach of the Year.

If the Clippers finish out the season at this pace, Del Negro will have been responsible for the WINNINGEST REGULAR SEASON IN CLIPPERS FRANCHISE HISTORY. The Clippers have been around for 42 years and have had a Hall of Fame coach in Jack Ramsey, but have never had a team finish over .600.

Clippers Best Coaching Records - Single Season

Coach	Win%	Season
Vinny Del Negro	.617*	2011-12
Jack Ramsay	.598	1974-75
Mike Dunleavy	.573	2005-06
Jack Ramsay	.561	1975-76

*6 Games Remaining

Mike Dunleavy won Coach of the Year in 1998-99 and reached the 1991 NBA finals in his first year as a head coach. Alvin Gentry is 125-99 in the past 3 seasons. He is doing this with a 38 year-old point guard at the helm. Bill Fitch is a multiple winner of the NBA coach of the year award. He possess 944 wins as a head coach in the association.

The three previous Clippers coaches who have coached at least full season before Del Negro have proven themselves to be quality NBA coaches to say the least. However, it is Del Negro who by far puts up the best win percentage compared to these three coaches during his Clippers tenure and this just this season alone.

Four Most Recent Clippers Coaches (with at least one full season)

Coach	W-L Record	Win%	Season
Vinny Del Negro	69-73	.486	2010-Present
Alvin Gentry	89-136	.400	2000-03
Mike Dunleavy	215-326	.397	2003-10
Bill Fitch	99-229	.302	1994-98

This is just Del Negro's fourth season as a head coach, yet he is having the best season of his career. He is on pace to win 41 games in 2011-12. If he does that he will match his career high. Keep in mind he has only had the opportunity to coach 66 games due to the NBA lockout, in all other years he coached a full 82 game schedule.

They are tied in the loss column with the Lakers in the Pacific division. They have done this without Chauncey Billups who played just 20 games before an achilles injury caused him to miss the rest of the season. He was the Clippers third leading scorer and was second on the team in assists.

Not A Mini Vinny Anymore - Del Negro's Coaching Career

Season	W-L Record	Win%
2008-09	41-41	.500
2009-10	41-41	.500
2010-11	32-50	.390
2011-12	37-23	.617

Chris Paul has had one season in which his team has finished with a higher winning percentage than .617. That was the 2007-08 season with New Orleans, the year that he came in second in the MVP voting. That was also the year his coach, Byron Scott won the NBA Coach Of The Year Award.

Keep in mind that Del Negro lost a finals MVP and a five-time All-Star in Chauncey Billups this season. He was limited to just 20 games this season due to a season-ending achilles injury. Chris Paul played in 80 games in the 2007-08 season, his career-high. In a condensed 66-game season he has missed five games already.

That Hornets team also had a guy by the name of Tyson Chandler who has not made an All-Star team. He did however lead the league that season in offensive rebounds. He also finished second in field goal percentage.

Vinny Coach Of the Year? Greatest SeasonsFeaturing Chris Paul

Team	Hornets	Clippers
Coach	Byron Scott*	Vinny Del Negro
Win%	.683	.617
Combined All-Stars minus Paul	5**	6**
Games missed by Paul	2	5
Games missed by #3 Scorer	5***	40+

* Won Coach of the Year

** Players who played at least half the season

*** Peja Stojakovic averaged 16.4 PPG

Put it all together and it makes a great case for Vinny Del Negro to be the 2011-2012 NBA Coach of the Year.

Can We Finally Say Kevin Garnett Is An All-Time Top 20 Player Based On His Prolific Season?

By David Shepard, OTSL Special Contributor

Kevin Garnett and company came up very big against the Miami Heat. Garnett certainly lived up to his “Big Ticket” nickname, going 11-14 from the field on the road to defeat Miami 115-107.

The Boston Celtics have an 18-7 record since the all-star break. They have also been an Eastern Conference best 8-2 over their past 10 games. All season the consensus from many experts has been Chicago and Miami are the only relevant teams in the East. However, in large part due to the play of Garnett the Celtics once again find themselves as an Eastern Conference contender.

Keep in mind Garnett is the only active player in the top 20 in both career points and rebounds. In his 17th season he is putting up very prolific numbers. He does not get the headlines of a Kobe, LeBron or even a D-Wade or Kevin Durant. He is however, showing no signs of slowing down.

All three players aside from Garnett were selected to list of the 50 greatest players in NBA history by an expert panel in 1996. Many NBA experts consider Hakeem and Shaq to be All-Time top 10 players. In examining recent big men in the last 20 seasons (I do consider Garnett a big man, he is listed at 6'11, and has often been reported to be 7 feet) Garnett compares favorably with these legends of the game.

The only player who averaged more points per contest in their 17th season was Shaq, but Garnett matched him in rebounds per game and is much more of a facilitator.

Recent Great Big Men In 17th Season

PPG RPG APG Season

Hakeem Olajuwon 11.9 7.4 1.2 2000-01

Patrick Ewing 6.0 4.0 0.5 2001-02

Shaquille O'Neal 17.8 8.4 1.7 2008-09

Kevin Garnett 15.8 8.2 3.0 2011-12

The three active power forwards who are going to be first ballot hall of famers are Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett. Most NBA experts consider Duncan to be an all-time great and Bill Simmons was quoted as saying Dirk Nowitzki has become a top 25 player within the past year. It is Garnett who has shown improvement over the past three seasons. Garnett happens to be in his 17th season and has more tread on his tires than 15-year NBA veteran Tim Duncan and 14-year NBA veteran Dirk Nowitzki. Meanwhile these two players over the past three seasons are going in the opposite direction of Garnett.

Past 3 Seasons

Kevin Garnett Tim Duncan Dirk Nowitzki

PPG RPG APG PPG RPG APG PPG RPG APG

2011-12 15.8 8.3 3.0 15.0 9.2 2.4 21.1 6.8 2.2

2010-11 14.9 8.9 2.4 13.4 8.9 2.7 23.0 7.0 2.6

2009-10 14.3 7.3 2.7 17.9 10.1 3.2 25.0 7.7 2.7

Despite being in his 17th season it is Garnett who has more 20-Point, 10-rebound games while shooting at least 50% from the field this season than both Nowitzki and Duncan. The only player 30 years or older to have more 20-point, 10-rebound games while shooting at least 50% from the floor this season is Paul Gasol. Garnett has been in the association for 6 more years.

20-Point, 10-Rebound, 50%FG Games This Season, 30 Years Or Older

Season

Pau Gasol 8 11th

Kevin Garnett 5 17th

Carlos Boozer 5 10th

Dirk Nowitzki 4 14th

Tim Duncan 3 15th

The only true power forward to be selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster this season was Chris Bosh. Yet despite being 8 years younger it is Garnett who has proven to be the better player than Bosh in the 2011-12 campaign.

Garnett Is Beast Of East

This Season

Garnett Bosh

PPG 15.8 17.9

RPG 8.2 7.7

APG 3.0 1.8

FG% 51.4 48.2

Season 17th 9th

The prevailing opinion coming into this season was that the Celtics would go as far as PG Rajon Rondo would take them. Of late, it has been Old Man Garnett who has led them back to the top of the Atlantic Division and put them back into the conversation of teams to watch out for once the post-season gets under way on April 28th.

WHO WOULD YOU TAKE AS YOUR FRANCHISE PLAYER? DWIGHT HOWARD OR ANDREW BYNUM?

by David Shepard, OTSL Special Contributor

There have been numerous reports that Dwight Howard went to management and told them that he wanted Stan Van Gundy to be fired. A lot of people are coming to Van Gundy's defense and questioning Howard's ability to be a franchise player. For the first time in Howard's prime, given the season that Andrew Bynum has had, the question is being asked: who would you rather have going forward as your franchise player?

Both big men have been at the CENTER of controversy this season, and for lack of a better term, have shown their immaturity. However, the play of Andrew Bynum has not wavered while Howard had just eight points and eight boards in 40 minutes of action against the New York Knicks, a game in which they lost by 16 points at home. Meanwhile Andrew Bynum is coming off of a nationally televised game on ESPN in which he went for a game-high 36 points in a win over the Clippers on the road. He also went 10 for 12 from the line, Howard went 0 for 3 against the Knicks.

In taking a look at each player's season averages Howard is a better scorer and rebounder, but not by much. Bynum is averaging just a field goal less per game than Howard. Where Bynum has distinguished himself from Howard has been from the field and from the charity stripe. Bynum from the free throw line is making 20% more of his free throws than Howard.

Who's The Best Center Of Them All

This Season

Bynum Howard

PPG 18.3 20.6

RPG 11.9 14.4

FG% 58.3 57.9

FT% 68.4 48.6

In looking at the statistics of both players at 24 years of age, they have the exact same scoring numbers. While Howard proved to be a more efficient rebounder, it was Bynum that averaged nearly one less turnover per game, showing his ability to take better care of the basketball.

Bynum has also proven himself to be a lot more reliable at the charity stripe, shooting nearly 69 percent from the line, While Howard was shooting under 60%, something he has done for the last 7 seasons.

Bynum Better Than Howard

Season at 24 Years Old

Bynum Howard

PPG 18.3 18.3

RPG 11.9 13.2

TO/G 2.5 3.3

FT% 68.4 59.2

Andrew Bynum is scoring 7 more points per game compared to last season. Howard is 26 years old, and at this point of his career should be improving every single year. He is going in the opposite direction of Bynum. He is making 11% less of his free throws and is shooting worse from the field. Meanwhile, Bynum has improved on his field goal percentage and free throw percentage from last season. He is also grabbing nearly 3 more rebounds per game this season. Howard is recording just .3 more rebounds this season compared to his 2010-11 campaign.

The Ceiling Is Limitless For Bynum

Last Season vs This Season

Bynum Howard

PPG diff +7.0 -2.3

FG pct diff +.9 -.14

FT pct diff +.24 -1.1

RPG diff +2.5 +.3

Looks like the Lakers may have made the right call not trading for Howard at the deadline. Not only for this season, but for future ones as well.