The big news within the online basketball community this summer has been Ryne Nelson’s meteoric rise from blogger to the new Online Editor of Slam Magazine. This weekend Ryne took some time to talk with me about his background as a broadcast journalism major, the story behind why he started the highly successful blog Odenized and how he was able to parlay that into his new gig with Slam.

Just a quick note to let readers know the latest Carnival of the NBA is posted over on Ball Don’t Lie. As a nice twist, JE Skeets wrote the latest Carnival using famous quotes from Will Ferrelll movies.

Last week’s Advanced Stats column furthered our examination of basic APBRmetrics and their application. Thus far we have considered new measures for team and player shooting statistics. This week we explore another important “dynamic statistic”: Offensive Rating.

The biggest sign of Gilbert Arenas’ maturity and the newfound responsibility that comes with a large contract came towards the end of the press conference. In year’s past, his name has been synonymous with quirky and controversial behavior from flipping a coin to decide his free agency fate in 2003, to checking into a playoff game in 2008, without notifying Coach Jordan ahead of time. Arenas acknowledged during Tuesday’s press conference that behavior definitely has to be amended going forward.

In this space last week, we explored some basics regarding APBRmetrics and their application when considering team shooting. Let us now consider the same three metrics used to evaluate team performances and examine how they pertain to individual shooters.

During a routine physical prior to the 2007-2008 season, doctors found a leak in Etan Thomas’ aortic valve and it required immediate surgery. At the time, it was unknown when Thomas would be able to resume physical activity again, let alone rejoin his fellow Wizards. This past weekend, a healthy Thomas returned to practice determined to resume his role as an intimidating presence in the middle.

Canada’s Senior Men opened the FIBA Olympic Qualifier with a humbling loss, succumbing 86-70 to Slovenia.

In preparation for their participation in the 2008 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the Washington Wizards conducted the first of the their two day mini camp at the Verizon Center in Washington DC. Among those participating in the camp were center Etan Thomas, this year’s first round draft pick, forward/center JaVale McGee, and Utah Jazz free agent Dee Brown, who was recently signed to an offer sheet.

Though concrete measures and objective statistical analysis has been a part of the professional game since its inception, most of us will go more on feel and intuition than hard data to win an argument or state our viewpoint. This underscores two truths about the way basketball fans rate and debate players’ abilities and skills: fans are always partial and standard statistical measures are inadequate.

Time will tell if Toronto is a legit championship contender next season, but for now Jermaine O’Neal is content knowing he has a fresh start and a chance for a rebirth of his NBA career.