WTLC Daily Loud Links for November 6, 2013

The Thunder are back in action tonight against their long time nemesis and Pai Mei masters, the Dallas Mavericks. Let's check out what is going on around the league to get ready.

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Anthony Slater writes that Reggie Jackson is entering a critical but opportunistic juncture of his young career. I expect that Jackson is going to be given some heavy 4th quarter minutes this season so that the Thunder can see what exactly they have in him.

Mark Cuban praises outgoing commissioner David Stern. I get that these two didn't always have a rosy relationship, but it isn't difficult for me to see why the two respect each other. Aside from what has been clearly heavy doses of showmanship and self-promotion, often times visionaries need to have foils in order to authenticate and correct their own body of work.

Amir Johnson and LeBron James speak out regarding the recent developments surrounding the accusations of bullying on the Miami Dolphins team. I greatly appreciate this quote from LeBron:

We don’t have to take a step back (and look at our team). We know what we’re about."

That, to me, is the trait of a strong leader who endeavors to lead above reproach.

Our buddies at Hickory High continue to push the hoops analytics into more interesting ways in how we think about things. In this post, we start out with a basic premise and then go from there. In not so many words, this kind of analysis is why the Thunder's current roster make-up drives me batty at times.

The value of the three-pointer is a staple of basketball analytics. It is often referred to as ‘advanced,’ but really it is mostly the result of pretty simple algebra, a team has to hit 50% more two point shots to get the same number of points as they would get off of three point shots.

Eddie Vedder isn't very happy with the folks in OKC. I guess there's always Chris Cornell to root for.

The NBA has asked Derrick Rose to stop wearing tapeon his neck. Aside from the medical reasoning, which if valid should make this a non-issue and allow Rose to wear whatever tape he wants, I don't like this kind of trend where the league starts to reach ever more about how players appear on the court. The issue has embarrassed the NFL and I'd hate to see it take effect in the NBA too.

I love the Pacers and all, but this is terrible singing.

Tyson Chandler goes down. The Knicks are a mess and getting messier.