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Anderson, Novak shoot better outside the arc than in it

James Anderson has been turning heads at the early games of the Impact Basketball workouts in Las Vegas with strong work.

After a fast start in preseason camp last season, Anderson’s stress fracture effectively ended his season. He struggled to earn his way back into the rotation after Gary Neal developed into a strong perimeter threat as the season continued.

But according to Project Spurs.com, Anderson’s numbers in Las Vegas. In his first three games with Team Royal, Anderson is averaging 21.0 points per game while shooting 76.5 percent from the field.

Those numbers are a huge improvement over last season, when Anderson was among a handful of NBA players who had better shooting percentages from beyond the 3-point stripe as they did from the field.

It’s unclear how much defense is being played at the Impact games. But 76.5 percent from the field and 21 points per game would be impressive if Anderson was throwing up Nerf balls. So it’s a good step for Anderson and his improvement heading into his second season.

Only 14 NBA players had better 3-point percentages than from the field last season. Included in the list were Anderson and Steve Novak.

Here’s a list of those players and their percentages during the 2010-11 season.

Player, team 3P% FG%

Steve Novak, Dallas-Spurs .565 .522

Brian Cardinal, Dallas .483 .430

Carlos Arroyo, Miami-Boston .449 .440

Mike Bibby, Atlanta-Miami .440 .431

Brian Cook, Clippers .430 .424

James Jones, Miami .429 .422

Daniel Gibson, Cleveland .403 .400

Derek Fisher, Lakers .396 .389

Cartier Martin, Washington .394 .390

C.J. Watson, Chicago .393 .371

James Anderson, Spurs .391 .383

Steve Blake, Lakers .378 .359

Roger Mason, New York .364 .338

Rasual Butler, Clippers-Chicago .338 .333

Confident Anderson ready for liftoff

By Jeff McDonald
jmcdonald@express-news.net

LAS VEGAS — The change came in James Anderson not long into one of his first games at the Impact Competitive Basketball series last week.

The second-year Spurs guard-forward was driving to the hoop, through a thicket of bodies, when an arm reached down and knocked the ball from his hands, making ample contact with his wrist and forearm in the process.

Hearing no whistle, Anderson did something completely out of character. He opened his mouth.

“That’s a foul!” the 22-year-old known to even his closest friends as “Quiet James” bellowed at the nearest official.

A few feet away, Joe Abunassar — the Las Vegas-based trainer whose gym hosted the so-called “Lockout League” and who has been working with Anderson since early June — couldn’t help but smile. For him, there was something heartening about watching Anderson finally behave as if he were entitled to a call.

“If you’ve ever talked to James, he’s a very quiet guy,” Abunassar said. “But I think his confidence level is sky-high right now.”

For Anderson, the No. 1 priority this summer was rebuilding confidence in the wake of an injury-plagued rookie season in which his self-belief became as fractured as the bone in his right foot.

Without access to the Spurs’ practice facility or the team’s player development staff, Anderson has leaned on Abunassar to help him in that endeavor.

“It’s frustrating,” Anderson said last week between games in Vegas. “I wanted to come show the Spurs what I had to offer. I feel like I’ve still got a lot to prove to myself and to the coaches whenever the season starts back.”

It’s safe to say no player is rooting more fervently for the NBA labor dispute to end than Anderson.

He entered last season with high hopes as the 20th overall pick and former Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State, and for a fleeting moment lived up to them.

Anderson appeared in six of the Spurs’ first seven games, missing one to attend the birth of his daughter, and made 10 of his first 20 3-point tries. He became the first Spurs rookie to make a 3-point goal in each of his first six appearances.

Then disaster struck. On Nov. 11, team doctors diagnosed lingering soreness in Anderson’s right foot as a stress fracture to the fifth metatarsal. It would be late January before Anderson played again, by which time his bench spot as Gregg Popovich’s instant-offense generator had been ceded to fellow rookie Gary Neal.

All told, Anderson appeared in just 26 games, averaging 3.6 points.

“It wasn’t a good start to my NBA career,” Anderson said.

At the Impact series, which Abunassar envisioned to be a souped-up replacement for the NBA’s lockout-stricken official summer league, Anderson appeared ready to make good on a second chance at a rookie season. All he needs is for the league’s labor impasse to end.

In three games in Vegas, Anderson averaged 19.3 points and shot a sizzling 68.4 percent (26 of 38). Testament to an offensive game blossoming beyond mere perimeter gunning, Anderson did most of his damage from 2-point range, netting all but three of his field goals from inside the arc.

“I see the most strides in him as he plays,” Abunassar said. “James is a great drill guy. He’s a pure scorer. But he needs to get used to where to be, when to go, when to cut, when to fade, when to do all those things. Playing with veterans every day really helps him.”

In a sense, Anderson feels as if his career is stuck on the launching pad, still waiting for liftoff.

The Lockout League was a nice diversion, but it’s no substitute for training camp. There is only so much Anderson can accomplish in the gym without Spurs coaches around.

“I still feel behind, team-wise,” Anderson said. “I feel like I haven’t got to be together with the team much. It will come. I can’t rush into it.”

After a season spent on the periphery in San Antonio as an injured afterthought, Anderson is eager to prove himself worthy of a more significant role this season.

“The games I played in before I got hurt, it was a sample of what I can do,” Anderson said. “I’ve got a lot more to offer.”

Indeed, Anderson’s confidence is quietly soaring. One day soon, he hopes to be able to do more than just talk about it.

ON HOLD

For second-year Spurs guard James Anderson, the lockout could hinder his progress as much as a broken right foot did in his rookie season.

First six games: Averaged 17.3 minutes and 7.0 points.

Nov. 10: Played in last game before going on injured list with stress fracture. Gary Neal took over, making the NBA All-Rookie first team.

NBDL: Anderson averaged 14.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in seven games for Austin Toros.

Jan. 29: Played three minutes in his return, finishing the season with a 3.6-point average in 26 games.

Source: Express-News research

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James Anderson at Impact Basketball

James Anderson warms up prior to an Impact Basketball game in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

James Anderson competes in an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

Players compete during an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

James Anderson competes in an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

Players compete during an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

James Anderson competes in an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

Players compete during an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

James Anderson competes in an Impact Basketball game on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011, in Las Vegas. (Isaac Brekken / Special to the Express-News)

How about another round in the NBA Draft?

I guess we can never get enough of the excitement that marks an NBA Draft night.

Especially with all of the tension that marks those late rounds.

Despite my facetiousness, the NBA apparently is considering adding another round in the draft.

Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops.com reports that ownersto the draft, adding a third round for the first time since 1988. And the players have countered with a plan that they believe would add for more competitive balance by altering how the draft is conducted.

Several proposals are being considered that would give losing teams an immediate boost in the draft.

One plan would give the teams with the worst 15 records two picks in the first round. The bottom 15 teams would pick No. 1 through No. 15 and then No. 16 through 30. The 16th best team would then begin a run in the second round that would continue from No. 31 through No. 45 and then begin picking again.

Another idea would provide the teams with the league’s eight worst records an additional first-round draft pick beginning with the 22nd selection in the first round. The league’s top eight records would not have a first-round draft pick, but instead would pick at the start of the second round (No. 31 through No. 38) and they would also get the final eight picks of the second round.

Adding a third round won’t necessarily bring a lot of talent into the league. Among the league’s rookie class in recent seasons, about 60 percent have been first-round picks, 20 percent from the second round and about 20 percent have been undrafted. So there really isn’t that much talent that falls through the cracks.

One example would be Gary Neal, who was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Spurs after a stellar performance at the summer camps in Las Vegas last summer. But stories like Neal are relatively rare. The NBA teams don’t miss out very often when it comes to drafting players.

Most likely, the players who would be picked in the third round likely would be stashed in the Developmental League or in Europe to get ready for an NBA career later.

The idea of giving bonus picks for the worst teams is interesting. And it would help them improve some.

Many of those losing teams have been consistent losers who have struggled drafting in the past. Giving them another late first-round pick won’t necessarily improve their lot by a quantam leap.

But expect other similar proposals to be bounced between the players and owners as the negotiations continue.

It’s a sign of strong discussion if such plans are being bandied about.

Maybe we might be getting close to a settlement when we start hearing about plans like this to improve NBA institutions like the draft.