I've been stumping for awhile about how the middle of the NBA season are "Dog Days", and that we're now entering the part of the year where the players with something to prove (either preparing for the playoffs or for their next contract) will start picking it up.  I always thought this was kind of obvious, but in our XM show last week Liss pointed out that this isn't something that anyone's ever really confirmed before.  I talked about it again in my last Hoops Lab, using the Celtics as an example of a veteran team ramping up.  Here is what I wrote:

We're done with the "Dog days" of January and February, and are now entering what I would call "money time". Players are either preparing for the playoffs, preparing for the lottery, or preparing for their future roles. For better or for worse, these things do tend to affect player motivation and/or team philosophy as we go down the stretch. I tend to expect veterans on playoff teams, young players on lottery teams, and guys in contract years/position battles to ramp up their production while vets on lottery teams, rookies on contenders and injured players on lottery teams either slow or shut down...Sure enough, over his last five games Kevin Garnett is averaging 17 points, 12 boards, more than three assists and three combined steals and blocks - all well up from his season averages (and marking his first stretch of five straight double-doubles since December of 2008). It looks to me like the veteran Celtics are ramping up.

Today, Paul Pierce confirmed the phenomenon and also gave it as a reason for why Garnett is playing well of late: "I think he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, truthfully," added Pierce. "He sees the end of the season coming, and this is about the time of the year, a month and a half to go in the season, for us to start picking it up, trying to be at where we want to be at going into the playoffs. You're starting to see a real concerted effort from Kevin. He's getting his legs under him and doing everything for us."

So, there you go.  Trade for veteran players on teams with something to prove, and trade for individuals with something to prove on poor teams.  My philosophy will definitely be right, unless it's wrong.