Buy one.

“It’s become like a forum. We’re just a couple of guys talking about ball. And people join in on the conversation.” – Tas Melas, in a profile in The Globe and Mail from April 18, 2008.

Finally, I’ve recovered. #TBJ500 took a hell of a lot out of me. I was so ruined on Saturday that I didn’t edit the already-out-of-date podcast we recorded on Thursday, didn’t read the new SLAM in one sitting, and didn’t manage to stay awake for the 2nd half of the Clippers/Cavs game. FAIL, right? Yeah, massive fail.

The party? Anything but. I’ve never had a night quite like it. Definitely wasn’t in the proper state of mind to reflect on it as it was going on, but thinking about it now – wow. As I drunkenly tweeted, I got to speak to some serious all-stars at this thing. People who I have an endless amount of respect for. People whose work I’ve consumed daily for a while but only recently tried to engage with. And they were all more than cool to me. Sure, they’re not celebrities in their day-to-day lives, but at event like this… I mean, this is a party where I ended up chatting with a girl about the brilliance of the FreeDarko book. Skeets and Tas in must have felt like Daryl Morey at “Dorkapalooza” and it means a lot that they’d give me a minute or two of conversation.

And there’s that word again, conversation. That’s the point of all this. I can talk about ball forever and it’s been that way for as long as I can remember. Seems ridiculous that I’ve tweeted almost 3,000 times since the season started, but I guess that’s me. This blog is essentially an excuse to immerse myself in pro ball to an extent that 99% of the population can’t relate to and a way to connect with the 1% that can. I’m pretty much always watching or discussing basketball these days and it’s amazing – feels like I’m freaking 10 years old again. But before I get all sappy, back to the show:

It was, predictably for anyone who watches the podcast, absolutely hilarious. Dwyer has described Skeets as a “brilliant entertainer” and you know this applies to Melas equally. I was pleasantly surprised to see Matt and J.D. provide big laughs – if you were a newbie, you wouldn’t have guessed that these two worked almost exclusively behind the scenes. I don’t want to ruin any of the content before the guys put it online, so I’ll just say that Matt killed me with an impression and there was cause for me to be singing (horribly) from my seat.

The most impressive part of the show, besides of course the simple and amazing fact that these guys have reached the 500-episode milestone, is the fact that they did this on top of recording an episode each of the previous four mornings. I have no idea how they pulled it off and left me feeling like they overdelivered on the big night. Didn’t ask how much sleep they got last week but I imagine it’s a frighteningly small amount. I just hope the payoff – packing a bar full of enthusiastic fans and seeing them laugh their asses off – was worth it for them.

So before I go on and talk about Sunday’s games, I want to thank TBJ. Thanks for the unbelievable amount of time you guys have put in for years, thanks for the consistent quality of your work, and thanks for throwing pretty much the only kind of party that would make me feel okay about leaving my house on a 13-game night. ‘Twas fantastic, even if I bought entirely too many drinks… and even if I wussed out on going up on stage and doing trivia as my friends yelled at me to do so… and even if I embarrassed myself a bit in front of my biggest NBA writing hero by acting about as cool as I did when I met Hakeem Olajuwon. It was a night I won’t forget (ironic, since the last couple of hours are veryvery fuzzy) and it’s something I’ll tell people about when you have your own TV show and The BJ Army has grown exponentially.

Raptors 110, Mavericks 88

• I was there and it was easily the most impressive win of the season for the Raptors. The energy was there against this very good, if tired, Dallas team. LOVE the effort Toronto is putting in on the defensive end – they will never be the most talented defensive club, but they’re making up for it by playing smarter basketball. To put it kindly, this wasn’t happening earlier in the season. (96.7 points per 100 possessions for Dallas in this one.)

• All-OTN Team member Amir Johnson stood out and the crowd, as usual, appreciated his effort. There’s not a big man in the league who runs the floor harder. I want to avoid repeating myself about his hustle, so I’ll keep this short. There were crazier plays in this game, but none brought a bigger smile to my face than his dunk on the break or his coast-to-coast and-1. Oh, and he finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds (along with an assist, a steal, a block, and, ugh, 5 fouls) in less than 23 minutes.

• Jose Calderon had himself a fantastic game on both ends. He said post-game that he’s finally able to move like he wants to and I actually believe him this time. Even when matched up with the speedy J.J. Barea, he moved his feet quickly enough to limit penetration. That’s all I want from him on D – it’s almost impossible to be a true stopper at the 1 in this league, but it’s crucial to be able to stay in front of your man the majority of the time. Coming off the bench and splitting time with Jarrett Jack (who was also effective), he played like the Jose of old on offense as well, remaining in full command of the team and a threat to unleash his fantastic jumper at all times. The line: 15 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds (both offensive), 2 steals, 1 turnover, 6-12 FG, 1-2 3PT, 2-2 FT.

• Andrea Bargnani continued his strong play, setting the tone with a strong baseline dunk in the first quarter. I love seeing him score from various spots on the floor and I love seeing his improvement on defense. He finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 34 minutes. Those numbers are all higher than Dirk’s, except for the minutes. Dirk was impressed.

• Chris Bosh’s 23 points and 13 rebounds gave him his 29th double-double of the year. That’s more than anyone else in the league. 11 of his points came in the 2nd quarter, where Toronto took control by outscoring Dallas 34-18. Bosh has been phenomenal this season, but as Tzvi Twersky expressed in his terrific feature in the latest SLAM, he still somehow remains a bit under the radar. As a Raptors fan, I don’t even want to think about losing him.

• The Mavericks were not impressive. It was the worst I’ve seen Dirk this season, the worst I’ve seen Josh Howard EVER shooting-wise, and Erick Dampier played 21 minutes without taking a shot or grabbing an offensive rebound. Shawn Marion had some nice offensive plays when matched up against Hedo Turkoglu, but I’d say it’s always a bad thing when he takes more shots than Dirk does. My favourite Dallas moment was when Roddy Beaubois hit a floater in the beginning of the 4th quarter. All I wanted when I came to the ACC was a Raptors win and some minutes for Beaubois. Success!

Nuggets 119, Jazz 112

• Game of runs: 12-2 for Utah at the end of the 2nd, 10-0 for Denver near the beginning of the 3rd, and 13-2 for Utah before the 4th quarter began.

• As you might expect, Carmelo and Chauncey led the Nuggets as they beat the Jazz for the 3rd time this season. 37 points on 22 shots for Melo and 29 points on 13 shots for Billups. The two combined to shoot 28-31 (!) from the free throw line.

• Don’t know if I can explain how happy I was to see Ty Lawson back on the court, after he had missed 4 games with one of those damn ankle injuries. The 18th pick in the 2009 draft is one of my favourite young PG’s and he’s made GM’s look stupid all year with his strong play. Tonight, he scored 11 points on 7 field goal attempts in 26:36 of playing time. He shared the backcourt with Billups in crunch time and, well, you have to check out George Karl’s post-game quote:

“Ty’s defense is better than any rookie I’ve ever coached. He still makes mistakes, but he’s a very sound defender as is Chauncey, and their ability to find the open man, I’ve said, what, 2,451 times, is the key to our team.”

• Deron Williams played great ball despite his sprained wrist: 23 points (8-18 FG, 1-4 3PT, 6-8 FT), 13 assists, 5 rebounds (2 offensive), 1 steal in 41 minutes. I can’t really be mad about the 5 turnovers.

• I was happy to see Sundiata Gaines enter the game in the 4th quarter, but disappointed to see him only stick around for 2 minutes and almost get himself a trillion.

• The most efficient player on the floor for Utah was Kyle Korver. Check this: 19 points on 7-10 shooting, including 4-5 from downtown in 23:37 of playing time. His +14 led the team, too. Crazy last few games for him. Against Cleveland, he had a chasedown block on LeBron James and hit a critical shot from behind the backboard. Against Milwaukee, he didn’t miss. And then this one. Nice.

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

Very, very quick recap today, as I don’t really have any time to be doing this but am trying anyway. The Basketball Gods didn’t help me out much last night, as the Celtics/Wizards game was unavailable in Canada, the Pistons/Nuggets game crapped out on me with 6 seconds left in the game, and my recording of Jazz/Magic stopped with about 7 minutes to play. Weird night.

The All-OTN Team

Will Bynum

Bynumite is hurt right now. He already had issues with his right ankle, but when he rolled his left ankle right at the end of the Philly game the other night, it ensured he’d sit a game out for the first time this year. Luckily, Rodney Stuckey stepped up in his absence and Detroit was able to top Denver, 101-99. More on Stuckey in abit.

Shannon Brown

The Lakers weren’t on this week’s Thursday sched, but I really should post his insane alley-oop from Wednesday night, shouldn’t I?

Jared Dudley

He didn’t play yesterday, but he did post this picture and this video.

Fun With Stats

Congrats are in order for Chauncey Billups and Ray Allen, who passed the 13,000 and 20,000-point plateaus last night, respectively. Crazy stuff to think about when you’ve been watching these guys play since they were rookies. I remember when the Raptors acquired Billups mid-way through his rookie season. HATED losing Damon Stoudamire, but at least we were getting another young, promising PG. You know the story after that. (Update: Apparently, Paul Pierce passed 19,000 points last night too. How’d that one get by me at first? Anyway, congrats to him as well.)

Dwight Howard shot 6-7 from the free throw line last night. In his last 4 games, he is shooting 29-39 from the stripe. That’s 74%. Gilbert Arenas shot 1-6 from the line last night, including two crucial misses in crunch time (sad face), and is now shooting 71% on the season.

Orlando’s awesome bench started out the game 12/15 from the field, with much of that damage being done by the sharp-shooting Ryan Anderson. I love watching this guy play – he is absolutely perfect for Stan Van’s system. He essentially only shoots when he’s open for three or he’s right under the basket. And he’s efficient as hell. You CANNOT leave this man open or he will burn you, as Utah found out last night to the tune of 14 first-half points. It seemed like he scored all of those points in about 3 minutes, but I could be wrong there. The Magic raced out to an 18-point lead early, but couldn’t match Utah’s energy in the second half, falling 120-111 at the end of their road trip.

Rajon Rondo eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time this season last night in Boston’s 104-102 win in Washington. That surprise you like it did me? He’s been one of the best players in fantasy basketball all year, despite only averaging 11.5 points a game. His fantasy owners and Celtics fans have to extremely happy with his work last night. This is the second game in a row where he was the major difference-maker in a Boston win. In addition to the 21 points, he had 11 assists. But, of course, he’s garbage and we only think he’s good because he has quality teammates….

Almost forgot this… The Washington Wizards grabbed 0 rebounds in the 2nd quarter last night. I don’t know if that’s ever been done before in the post-shot clock era. Insane.

Update: Totally forgot to mention Melo. The man scored 40 points in 43 minutes last night, with 16 of ‘em coming in the final frame. Think maybe he should have taken the final shot rather than Billups? Can’t just be me.

Impressive

Rodney Stuckey: 25 Pts (7-14 FG, 0-1 3PT, 11-15 FT), 3 Ast, 2 Stl, 5 TO, 1 PF in 39 mins.

Shame about that assist-to-turnover ratio, but you have to live with it when you’re getting this kind of scoring. His former mentor, Chauncey Billups, had 21 points on 16 shots and only had 2 assists himself. In a game decided by 2 points (and one that ended with a missed shot from Billups), you have to give Stuckey huge credit for coming out on top in the individual matchup. This followed what might have been his most impressive performance as a Piston on Wednesday night, where he scored 27 points and added 8 assists in a victory over Philadelphia. Is Rodney turning the corner? I don’t know. He had a great stretch of games last December, too. With all the injuries the Pistons are dealing with right now, though, they really needed him last night and he came through. Hope he keeps this up.

Ben Wallace: 7 Pts (2-7 FG, 3-6 FT), 16 Reb (6 Off), 3 Ast, 1 Blk, 3 Stl, 3 PF in 35 mins.

Ignore the 2-7 and the fact that he airballed a free throw during this game. Ben Wallace is super fun to watch again. His return to Detroit (and good health?) has rejuvenated his career. Didn’t see this coming at all. I’m loving watching him battle for boards underneath the glass and get steals that he really has no business getting. Even though he still cheats too much on D, he remains a terror on that end and has forced John Kuester to start him and give him 31 minutes a game. He is 35 years old. Fantastic.

Deron Williams: 32 Pts (9-18 FG, 2-5 3PT, 12-15 FT), 8 Reb, 15 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF in 42 mins.

You can’t ask for a better line for that from your point guard. He ran the team perfectly, finding teammates for open threes and for layups under the basket. If your point guard is getting to the line like that and only committing one turnover in over 40 minutes, you’re in good shape. Adding those assists and rebounds, too? Phenomenal. Methinks he has a good shot of FINALLY making the All-Star team this year, assuming this McGrady foolishness gets turned around.

Carlos Boozer: 20 Pts (8-16 FG, 4-8 FT), 14 Reb (4 Off), 4 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF in 44 mins.

Ho-hum, another 20 and 10 game for Boozer, who is the only player not named Chris Bosh averaging those numbers this season. He did need a few extra minutes to get his stats tonight, but it’s still impressive. During the broadcast, Doug Collins pointed out what I feel are the two most striking things about Boozer this season – he’s in shape and he’s smiling. It’s great to see him able to battle under the glass against likes of Dwight Howard and it’s great to see him having fun again. I missed this Carlos Boozer last year.

Quoted

“I’m really proud of Stuck and the way that he’s been able to develop into not only a great player but one of the leaders on the team now. I watch his games all the time… it’s like a big brother watching a little brother.” – Chauncey Billups.

Tweeted

@TheRealTWill: Boy I love my new work ethic I owe it to doug overton an sitting out made me a better ball player I believe, an get to work on my left hand

@Truth_About_It: Walked in media room bathroom just b/f the game, Gheorghe Muresan was squatting over a urinal trying 2 pee, turned around & walked back out.

@canishoopus: Revamped Pistons are infinitely more watchable than I expected this offseason and better without their stars. They’re like Rockets East.

@BulletsForever: Obsessive much? Gilbert Arenas said he went to the practice court right after the game to shoot 50 free throws.

@kpelton: Watch Deron Williams play tonight, realize *he’s never been an All-Star*, and try to tell me the NBA is not blessed with talent right now.

To Watch

Ray Ray’s big dunk:

No, this isn’t where he reached 20,000. That took place when he hit a three-pointer. Fitting.

Antawn Jamison’s crazy shot:

This had me going nuts. I love Jamison’s floaters. This one made me particularly happy though, because it’s the kind of ridiculous shot I like to take. When I was 12 or so, I did this in some meaningless game and the crowd went crazy. I don’t have a lot of moments like that I my totally-not-illustrious playing career, but I’ve got that.

Rondo’s huge dunk:

This happened right after the Jamison play. Man, I was happy the game ran late and I got to see the ending on the channel that had the Jazz/Magic game. I was freaking out. If it isn’t abundantly clear, I am a pretty big Rondo fan.

To read

…speaking of, here’s a fantastic piece on Rajon Rondo by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.

And here’s one from Jeffrey Martin of the Houston Chronicle on Kyle Lowry, who is leading the league in charges taken.

Then, there’s Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman giving us a very, very encouraging update on Shaun Livingston.

And… whoa I guess it’s all point guard linkage today. I dig that. Here’s Ben Golliver of BlazersEdge breaking down Jerryd Bayless’s promising play and Holly MacKenzie of The Score appreciating the greatness of Steve Nash.

The Denver Nuggets were my guilty pleasure last year. My fling. Even in the game which cost Sam Mitchell his job as coach of the Raptors, I couldn’t be mad at them. Why? Well, there are a few reasons.

1: They call him Melo

Back in the old days, you know, 2003, there was a draft in the NBA that was kind of a big deal. I dunno if any of you remember it but it was quite good. Anyway, I was the idiot who said that if the Raptors got the first pick, we should take Carmelo. Okay, so I overrated him juuust a bit. But honestly, if it had shaken out that way, it wouldn’t have been too bad. I mean, he’s averaged 24.2 points per game so far in his career. What’s that, you’re saying it’s because he was jacking shots, taking bad looks, being selfish? Au contraire mon ami. This isn’t an Antoine Walker story. Just look at his advanced stats: from 2006-2008, he had a TS% above 55% (yes, he slipped a bit last year, to 53%, but I’m sure he’ll rebound). He is capable of getting to the foul line, too, and he is an extremely underrated clutch performer. Essentially, when he’s on the court, your offense is way better. You put the ball in his hands, he’ll score. That’s his role, that’s what he does. And he’s VERY good at it. He can shoot from the perimeter, he can take his man one-on-one, he can post up – this man is a threat from everywhere on the court. Yes, LeBron James Is obviously better, as he is a unique beast that we have never seen before. Carmelo isn’t asked to facilitate his team’s offense, though – he’s a traditional scoring 3, the likes of which we’ve seen before from guys like Jamal Mashburn (who was never as efficient a scorer as Carmelo). If you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with being fantastic in a traditional way. In addition, Melo brings a good attitude; generally he’s a hard worker, he doesn’t complain (even when on some seriously dysfunctional teams), and he wants to win. That’s an underrated aspect of any star’s makeup. Some players would like to win and hope they do, but are more concerned with being able to continue to make max money and be able to get big endorsements. Winning is seen as a nice bonus. Carmelo wants to win. I see in Carmelo that same drive, that will to win that’s helped make Kobe great.

2: Mr Big Shot?

I love Chauncey Billups. There, I said it. I drafted him in the 3rd round of my Fantasy Draft last year and was obviously thrilled with his trade to the Nuggets. From a basketball standpoint, I was excited to see him play with some REALLY good ballers on a team that could be one of the best in the West. From a selfish standpoint, I was excited because I thought his fantasy value had doubled or tripled. That didn’t really happen, but I was happy with having another excuse to watch the Nuggets as often as I could. As much as I love Chauncey, though, I’m not a big fan of the name ‘Mr. Big Shot’. He isn’t Robert Horry and that’s not what he brings to the table or what makes him great. What Billups brings is leadership. He brings court vision and a sixth sense for ball-distribution. He is a true field general, a leader amongst men. Rather than spout poetic about him, I’ll simply direct you to an outstanding Outside The Lines piece on the man. Read that, then tell me you don’t want to watch him play with Carmelo Anthony and the rest of the team. Speaking of which….

3: The rest of the team

This is one of the most dangerous rosters in the NBA. Now, for the sake of this article, I’m going to take all my Man Crushes and put them in the next paragraph, so if I left someone out here, that’s why. In related news, if you don’t want to read why I love Joey Graham you may want to skip number 4. But I’m getting ahead of myself, one section at a time. Let me give you some names: Kenyon Martin. Nene. J.R. Smith. Ty Lawson. Renaldo Balkman. In fact, let’s do some math here. Add those names with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. Multiply by the x (REALLY pushing the Lakers last year, adding to their already ever-present swagger). The result? Well, we don’t know that yet. But there aren’t a lot of If Statements for these Nuggets. Basically, the If Statement is Nene’s knee. If it holds up, the sky is the limit for these guys. They don’t have the same depth after losing Kleiza (a huge spark off the bench), but replacing Dahntay Jones with Arron Afflalo (and his much more reasonable contract) is one of the most underrated moves of the summer. Jones could defend, yes, but Afflalo isn’t bad on that end either and he is a superior offensive player. They got a steal in the draft, too, with Ty Lawson falling into their laps at #18. Other than that, this is basically the same team that came quite close to the NBA finals last year. Nothing to sneeze at. Now it’s time to put out the warning for graphic content.

4: The Man Crushes

(warning: may contain images not suitable for minors. If blatant man crushes bother you, please skip to the conclusion)

Outside of Melo and Billups? Where do I even start with this club? Well, there’s the Birdman. James and I told anyone who would listen that Bryan Colangelo needed to sign Chris Andersen when he came back from his drug suspension. Sure, Denver overpaid for him, but let’s look at this glass half-full: he took a few years off basketball mid-career, so he doesn’t have the same wear and tear on his body that most players his age do (although I guess most NBA players don’t have a few years of hard drug use under their belts). Anyway, since he has a new lease on life, my hunch is he won’t take much for granted in the future. It’s within the realm of possibility that he keeps his act up for the next few years. Anyway, fine, MAYBE he won’t be worth his contract for the last couple of years of it, but that’s beside the point. Like I mentioned in my Golden State article (link), you can like a player but not the contract. In this case, I don’t just LIKE the player – I LOVE the Birdman. This guy is an athletic freak, his work ethic is beyond reproach, and he loves doing the dirty work. He is a shot-blocking version of “Junk Yard Dog” Jerome Williams (to this day, the only Raptors jersey I wear). I just can’t say enough about this guy. If I could be any NBA player for a day (assuming LeBron and Dwight were on vacation), I’d be him. In fact, he’s so inspiring to me that I snorted an 8-ball while writing this.

Joey Graham: Most Raptors fans had a love/hate relationship with Joey. Not me. I will argue to the death that Sam Mitchell’s incessant hook did more damage to Joey’s career than any of us will ever know. It’s not easy to develop confidence when your boss threatens to fire you after every mistake. Once he was shown some faith, he played well. I challenge any Joey detractor to watch the game against the Lakers in February. The Raptors didn’t have Jose Calderon. Bosh left hurt midway through the game. Pau Gasol had a MONSTER game, and the Raptors almost won. How? Joey. He scored, rebounded, ran the floor, and did an UNREAL job defending Kobe. Sure, Kobe ended up with 36 points, but he needed 38 minutes to get it and he shot 13 of 28 in the process. He’s Kobe, he can do that against great defense. There’s a good reason the last minute of the game the entire Air Canada Centre was on its feet, chanting, “Joey, Joey, Joey”. The effort he gave guarding Kobe one-on-one was something to marvel at. And to have the energy to carry the load offensively was something Raptors fans haven’t seen often. You can claim that I’m cherry-picking Joey’s best game, which is true, but my gut opinion on Joey is that we would have seen many more of these games if the coaching staff had shown confidence in him earlier. Trust me when I tell you this: if Denver shows some faith in him, they will be VERY pleasantly surprised.

Arron Afflalo. I don’t have nearly as much to say about Afflalo. This one is simple: I watched him in college and was smitten. His vision, his shooting stroke, his motor, it’s all good. He was lost in the shuffle in Detroit, especially when they were trying to work out the Iverson/Hamilton thing, but he’s got the skills to play a much bigger role in the NBA. Nuggets fans will see what I mean this year if they didn’t get a chance to watch him at UCLA. As I said earlier, he is a more than capable replacement for Dahntay Jones – in fact, he is better. Massive coup for Denver, getting such a capable two-guard for basically nothing. Daryl Morey-esque.

Then there’s JR Smith. Just watch this.

/dick-sucking and man-whoring, back to basketball.

Is Denver the best team in the western conference? No. Until proven otherwise, the Lakers are the best. But this year I do think they took a step back (Ariza for Artest, plus a psychological thing involving Gasol and Bynum that I’ll get into another time, plus the extra year of age on Kobe and the potential mellowing after achieving his goals), meanwhile Denver has at worst stayed the same as they were last year. In fact, top to bottom I don’t see too many top-tier clubs from the West having improved, Portland notwithstanding. Am I saying they’ll win the Western Conference? Not yet, but it IS possible, and I’ll be cheering for it. My hunch is another loss to the Lakers in the Conference Finals. What I am saying, though, is that this is one of the most enjoyable teams to watch I’ve ever seen, with some of my favourite players on it as a bonus. They’re in a city that’s hard to be down on, plus they’re the underdog. Somehow, they’re underrated as hell, which is remarkable considering they finished 2nd in the West last year in both the regular and post-season. If you’re looking for a 2nd team to support after your own, consider this my pitch for the Nuggets. Portland’s got lots of talent, and I love Roy and Aldridge (both part of my fantasy team so suck on THAT, James), but they just don’t play the same brand of entertaining ball (fun fact: Portland was the slowest team in the L last season). In my G-State column I spoke about charisma – this Nuggets team has charisma. They also have a leader, confidence and more than just raw talent, they have REAL ballers. Don’t sleep on these guys. I will personally guarantee you’ll be satisfied. That’s right, the Nuggets perform or your money back! With that kind of offer, how can you NOT at least give them a chance?