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I was watching The Basketball Jones vidcast this morning, like I do every morning, and good ol' J.E. Skeets said something that made me grumble.  While lauding the gorgeous 25 and 17 that Tim Duncan put up against the Mavericks, he suggested that Rick Carlisle should have considered Hack-A-Duncan tactics, since Tim Duncan was only 3-7 from the line for the game.  The implication, of course, is that it would have helped the Mavericks with their comeback. 

I've always had a problem with this strategy - and unlike most protests aimed at it, I'm not worried about how it looks, or how "cowardly" it is.  Let's break it down:

The players who are most common targets of that strategy are bad free throw shooters, hovering in the 50-55% range for their careers.(Tim Duncan is 68%, by the way)  That, of course, means that fouling that player will most likely earn about 1 to 1.1 points per posession for his team.  Now, one point per posession may sound great, but here's a few things to consider:

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No game tonight, but Survivor is on, at least.  Seems like the perfect day for me to post Part 2 of my Survivor: Heroes vs Villains comparison to NBA players.  Part 1, in case you missed it, can be found here.

Today, we hit the Heroes of the show and their NBA analog.  Enjoy:

Heroes

Amanda Kimmel is . . .  Dirk Nowitzki

This one was easy. Amanda Kimmel has twice leveraged a skillful social game to make it to the big dance, working her into the final as a favorite to win it all.  Then, both times, she completely blew her chances by picking the wrong opponent to face in the final tribal council,  and then compounded the error by trying to be the "nice girl" and play up the idea she felt bad about all her strategic moves.  That, of course, fell flat both times with a jury she had helped vote out.  Dirk Nowitzki, of course, has twice been the leader of strong favorites to win the title, and both times crashed and burned disastrously, gaining and then losing a two game lead over Dwyane Wade and the Heat, and then following that up with an even worse flameout against Golden State in the first round.

Candice Woodcock is . . .  Chris Hunter

Yeah, I'm a huge Survivor fan and I didn't know who Candice Woodcock was either.  Oh, and somebody named Chris Hunter apparently played for the Golden State Warriors this season too, so he gets to be her analog.

Cirie Fields is . . . Chris Paul

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There are two bits of must-see TV in my life:  The Hornets and Survivor.  I never miss a minute of either. 

This season of Survivor has been, quite possibly, one of the most exciting seasons I've seen in a long time.  The producers brought back their top ten Villains and top ten Heroes and pitted them against each other.  The casting was remarkable, and has produced a whole new level of drama as most of them were great players in the past, and all are there to win.

When I saw the new format, I also started toying with the idea of making my own list of ten NBA Heroes and Villians.  That, however, fell by the wayside.  I don't do lists.  I do comparisons and find analogs.

So, in the tradition of pasts posts comparing Team USA to Ancient Chinese Historical Figures, American Idol Contests with Hornets Players, D&D Classes with Hornets Players, etc, I present to you my list of Survivor: Heroes vs Villians contestants with the NBA players that most resemble them.

This post will focus on the ten Villians.  The Heroes will follow in a day or two.

The Villains

Benjamin "Coach" Wade is . . . Ron Artest

Both of these guys are completely ridiculous.  Coach has named himself the "Dragonslayer", Ron Artest calls himself "Tru Warier".(Yes, that's the spelling) Coach is supremely self-confident and self-aggrandizing, despite having done nothing to back it up but talk about himself.  Ron Artest deludes himself into thinking he's an offensive player without recognizing that the "offensive" part of his game is his terrible shot selection.

Both men have also provided some of the most jaw-dropping crazy moments on television:  Artest going into the crowd in Detroit, and Coach Wade claiming that he was captured by natives in the Amazon, beaten up, and barely managed to escape after they eyed his butt and clearly wanted to "eat his ass".  Too much crazy.

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NBA.com's David Aldridge answered a bunch of questions from NBA bloggers this week, and we were able to sneak in two about the Hornets...

Several articles have appeared online this season arguing that the Hornets would be better off trading Chris Paul and starting from scratch, since they can't seem to surround him with a good enough supporting cast to win a championship. What would be your thoughts on such a move?

DA: I completely disagree with it. The hardest position I feel to fill correctly on a basketball team is point guard. It's just really hard to find these quality level point guards that can help you toward a championship. And Chris Paul is one of the two or three best point guards in the league. You are never going to get equal value for him, no matter who you trade for him, unless you trade him for Deron Williams. So you're going to be a lesser team without him no matter what you get. To me, that wouldn't make any sense at all. A team like New Orleans, which is going to have limits on what you can spend, when you have a great player it's one less great player you have to go and try to get. That is something that is their job and Jeff Bower's job as GM is to surround him with with good enough players just like R.C. Buford did with Tim Duncan in San Antonio. They have Tim Duncan and they surround him over the years with very good to excellent players who are good enough to help them win championships. That's what Jeff Bower's job is in New Orleans.

What's your take on the Hornets' rookies (Darren Collison, Marcus Thornton and Jeff Bower) this season? Do you see them having successful NBA careers in their respective roles?

DA: Well, Collison's been great, he's been terrific. A lot of people wondered about him coming in and he's been great. We'll see how he does after a month, but right now he's been excellent for them and has done a really good job of getting guys into their offense and distributing the ball, and scoring when he has to. So he's doing a good job. Thornton's played I think pretty well in spots and so what they've done this offseason I think is good for that team. They finally addressed their bench situation and they added some depth and did a good job there, but I think for them to have a chance to get to the playoffs and be good in the playoffs you need guys like James Posey to play like he played in Boston. And he's played better of late and they need him to do that if they have any chance.

Read David's responses to questions from other NBA bloggers after the jump, including some words on Chicago's Tyrus Thomas, who the Hornets are reported to be interested in...

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The TrueHoop Network previews every team in the NBA. We've got the Hornets covered right here. Check below for links to other team previews.

Last Year's Record

49-33

Crystal Ball

The consensus prediction of the TrueHoop Network bloggers ... and the best hopes of Hornets247.

Crowd Says: 47-25
Hornets247 Says: 52-30

Yes We Can!

The sun is out. The seas have parted. The basketball gods are shining upon us!

Last season the Hornets had a myriad of woes: Tyson Chandler was only 75 percent of himself when he managed to play, and his primary backups would struggle in the D-League. Other than James Posey, the wing was an open sore with Peja Stojakovic's back failing in late February and Rasual Butler struggling to reach average production. The bench never felt comfortable until it had given up at least one 8-0 run.

With all that against them, the Hornets still won 49 games behind the magic of Chris Paul and the mulish David West. Those two continue to form a solid core, providing a foundation that needs only the support of a couple above average performers for the Hornets to become more than first-round playoff fodder.

Enter Emeka Okafor. He’s a near match to a healthy Chandler, is more durable, and doesn’t look like he’s having muscle spasms when making a post move. If he can increase his scoring to 15-16 points a game the team will have the third offensive option it desperately needs. Such an increase isn't out of reach, considering the CP3 bump Okafor is in for.  Okafor is a mobile big, not a guy limping around on a pegleg.  He’s going to look goooood running the pick and roll, just like Tyson.

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