Hey, check it out – a new feature! This is the debut of Basketball for Breakfast, my stab at a daily recap. I know, I know, there is already a wealth of excellent recaps in the NBA blogosphere. I read them all and that won’t change. This isn’t an attempt to compete with anyone; I’m simply trying to add something of my own. I’ll do my best to keep it fun and unique.

The All-OTN Team

Amir Johnson: 2 Pts (0-2 FG, 2-4 FT), 7 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 4 PF in 20 min.

Not the most impressive stat line in this 106-102 loss to the Wizards, I’ll admit. He was enjoyable to watch, though. The man always brings the energy. Those 7 rebounds? 6 of them came in the first half, including an amazing grab that he followed up with an assist to a cutting Chris Bosh. What’s most impressive about Amir’s rebounding is that he gets them in different ways – last night, I saw him tip the ball to himself, tip it to his teammates, and straight-up wrestle it away from opponents’ fingertips. He is one of the few Raptors in the franchise’s history who manages to get rebounds that he shouldn’t. The 4 fouls in 20 are unfortunate, but he’s still learning.

Jared Dudley: 7 Pts (2-5 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT), 7 Reb (3 Off), 1 TO, 2 PF in 18 min.

Again, these numbers won’t blow you away, but they rarely do with Jared. I’ll tell you this: I didn’t see much of this 126-99 blowout, but in the couple of minutes where I tuned in during the 2nd quarter I saw Jared Dudley make three impressive plays in succession: hitting a three-pointer, drawing a foul underneath the basket, and saving a possession for his team. Clyde Frazier, calling the game for the Knicks, seemed positively smitten with him. It’s always nice to get 7 rebounds from your backup small forward, too. Shame his effort wasn’t anywhere close to enough to avoid this embarrassing defeat.

Shannon Brown: 4 Pts (1-6 FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT), 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 PF in 23 min.

Argh. More crappy numbers. Doesn’t mean he had a bad game, though. On the night where his new website launched, he entered the game with 1:07 left in the 1st quarter and stayed there through most of the 2nd, absolutely shutting down sharpshooter Marcus Thornton. Brown quite obviously wasn’t on the court to score; he was there to stop Lil Buckets from doing so. And he succeeded – Lil Buckets couldn’t get anything going in the first half. Unfortunately, the Hornets didn’t Let Shannon Dunk on this night, as his best opportunity was a missed alley-oop from Kobe Bryant. His one FG was pretty nice, though:

Rookie Watch

DeMar DeRozan: 2 Pts (1-4 FG), 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 Blk, 1 PF in 16 mins.

Not a standout night for DeMar, as he missed a couple of jumpers we know he can make. It’s important to remember what his role is on this team, though. Since Jay Triano has opted to play him pretty much exclusively with the starting unit, he is not asked to take a lot shots and doesn’t get many opportunities to get in rhythm. We saw some nice plays, though – DeRozan’s 1 FG came on an alley-oop from Jose Calderon, where he didn’t have the angle to slam it down so he adjusted and layed it in. His block on Gilbert Arenas in the 3rd quarter was fantastic, too. I’ve got to add that the 1 Ast is a bit deceiving, as he made a couple of aggressive plays that led to scores where he was not credited for any stats. One in particular stands out, where he drove on the right baseline and kicked it out to Chris Bosh, who found Andrea Bargnani at the top of the key for three. That’s a hockey assist. Nice to see. Still firmly on this bandwagon.

Ty Lawson: 13 Pts (5-7 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-3 FT), 5 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 PF in 24 mins.
Very nice line for Lawson, on the night that his alma mater beat my Spartans by 7. 13 points on 7 shots, in 24 minutes? You have to love that efficiency – this is why statheads love him. And why you should love him? He can score in various ways, as he hurt the Warriors last night with his jump shot, his runner, and his ability to get to the basket. He outscored fellow rook Stephen Curry on this night, despite playing 16 fewer minutes and attempting 7 fewer field goal attempts. Another fun fact: his PER so far this season is 17.6. His teammate J.R. Smith’s? 15.1. Can’t give Denver enough credit for acquiring him in the draft.

Dante Cunningham: 6 Pts (2-6 FG, 2-3 FT), 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 4 PF in 18 mins.

Four fouls in 18 minutes? Ah, rookies. You have to be happy for Cunningham, though, as he made his first career NBA start last night due to LaMarcus Aldridge nursing his knee. While he obviously didn’t make up for Aldridge’s production, he had a positive impact on the game with his hustle. You know I love players like that. And I’m not the only one, check out what Seth Johnston of Bust A Bucket had to say:

Energy like Cunningham’s is something I am craving more and more as we sit and wait for the team’s bigger personalities to sort out their issues. I want a hyperactive role player power forward to just go nuts out there and provide me with some sort of vicarious catharsis. So thanks for giving me a little of that, Dante.

Darren Collison: 20 Pts (7-14 FG, 2-4 3PT, 4-4 FT), 5 Ast, 2 Reb, 4 TO, 2 Stl, 2 PF in 34 mins.
Collison continues to be awesome. I cannot BELIEVE Byron Scott was playing Bobby Brown over him earlier this season. I mean, I feel bad that Byron is without work, but I’m sorry, that was inexcusable. A kid this quick, with his ability to penetrate, knock down shots, and play defense? You put him out there over a chucker like Bobby, every time. Some analysis from Niall Dohery of Hornets247:

He would have had a few hockey assists if anyone kept count, and he was pesky as always on defense. He had two nice plays against Kobe, first getting by him on the perimeter late in the third quarter, keeping him on his back and then using a hesitation dribble to open up a gap for the layup. About a minute later he shadowed Bryant brilliantly to slow down the break and help stop the Lakers getting an easy bucket at the end of the period.

Additionally, he had a crazy buzzer-beater at the end of the 1st half. I’ll put the video here when/if it surfaces.

Fun With Stats

Brendan Haywood shot 1-8 from the line last night against Toronto. This, obviously, hurt his team. Fortunately, he made his minutes worthwhile by doing a very respectable job on Chris Bosh, who was held to 7-22 from the field. If the big man had just made his free throws, though, this game wouldn’t have come down to the final couple of minutes. The Wizards managed to escape with a victory after Hedo Turkoglu committed an unforced turnover with 31 seconds left in the game, but if you’re a Wizards fan you have to think it shouldn’t have got to that point.

In the Phoenix/New York game, the Suns failed to reach 100 points for the first time this season. The Knicks managed 100 points by the end of the third quarter. I should also point out the magnificent work of Danilo Gallinari: 27 pts (10-19 FG, 6-12 3PT, 1-2 FT), 10 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Blk, 0 (!) TO in 36 mins. Check out what Seth of Posting and Toasting had to say about Gallo’s fantastic all-around game:

He looked much more confident and made his way into the center of the court to participate more in the offensive flow. There were backdoor cuts, frontdoor cuts, and even a stop-and-pop banker from about 12 feet out.

So great that he’s being more than just an excellent three-point shooter, isn’t it? I am sure that Francesco Cappelletti of Ball In Europe is proud as hell right now.

Also scoring from all over the floor last night was Anthony Morrow, who scored 27 points against Denver while only hitting 2 three pointers (in all of his other 20+ games this year, he’s had at least 4 threes). It may be because of the limited bodies the Warriors have at their disposal right now, but I can’t tell you how happy I am to see that gorgeous shot launched so often these days.

Two more statistical shout-outs for before I move on – Michael Beasley and Ray Allen were huge in winning efforts. Beas was one point short of his career high, finishing with 27 points on 8-15 shooting from the floor and 11-12 (!) from the line. Pleasing his fantasy owners, he also contributed 8 rebounds, a block, and a steal. Jesus Shuttlesworth came through with his best game of the season, too, as he poured in 27 points on only 9 field goal attempts. When you go 5-6 from downtown and 10-10 from the line, that type of statistical improbability can happen. Oh, and he threw in 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a block, and a steal. Nice to have you back, Ray Ray.

Quoted

“They spread, they go, and they’re kind of all over the place.” – Carmelo Anthony, on Golden State’s offense, from Denver’s telecast. So few words here, but I don’t think he’s missing anything.

“Who are these guys?” – Clyde Frazier, on the Knicks, from New York’s telecast. I must say, Clyde, I was wondering the same thing. 71 points in the first half?

“Just pathetic defense by the Suns.” – Clyde Frazier again, providing spot-on analysis of how Larry Hughes was able to amass about 48 assists in about 4 seconds against Phoenix.

“I’m happy for our fans. They got to go home and watch (North) Carolina and Michigan State. If any of them were smart, they would have left early and watched that game.” – Larry Brown. Wait, there’s more, check out this next gem…

“I think even Doc Rivers had 12 points.” – Gerald Wallace. Ouch. I don’t think you need me to say any more about last night’s Boston/Charlotte matchup.

“I decided today I was going to be more aggressive. It’s fun. It relieves the pressure, it gets me off the ball and puts me back into my old mode where I was just scoring.” – Gilbert Arenas. I was quite impressed with Gilbert last night, even if he’s not quite back to his old self yet. Actually, that gives me an idea…

Impressive

Gilbert Arenas: 22 Pts (7-17 FG, 3-7 3PT, 5-5 FT), 3 Reb, 9 Ast, 1 TO, 1 Stl, 1 Blk in 38 mins.

It took Gil a little while to get going with his shot, but he was dishing out assists as soon as the first quarter began. Only once the fourth quarter began did Agent Zero really join the party, but when he did it was something to see. Like the Gilbert of old, he took control of the game near the end, scoring 12 points in the final frame. Not trying to ignore Antawn Jamison’s 10 fourth-quarter points, but Arenas was leading the team. As a Raptors fan it was annoying, but as a Gilbert fan it was heartening. Give him some more time and he’ll be dominating more quarters.

Andrea Bargnani: 20 Pts (8-14 FG, 2-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), 11 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 2 TO, 1 Blk, 5 PF in 35 mins.

I could definitely get used to seeing double-doubles next to Bargs’s name. Love that. The Italian Rodman grabbed 7 of those boards in the first half, with 3 of them coming on the offensive end. As always, you love his efficient scoring, but when Bargs is boxing out properly and getting after it inside, all of Raptors Nation is proud. More of this please, sir. Oh, almost forgot – his one block came against Earl Boykins. I can’t recall a single instance of Earl Boykins getting a perimeter jumper of his blocked in the NBA, but Bargs managed to do it. Kudos.

Tweeted

@stackmack: On the pizza promo front: Turkoglu’s ONLY make in the fourth quarter was a pointless three at the buzzer to win pizza for the crowd.

@Nat77: Raptor fans cheered when for a buzzer beating slice of pizza and booed while their team was only down 3 and had a chance… #teampromofail

@LakersReporter Lakers crowd is incensed with N.O. scrapping during garbage time enough to threaten free tacos. 99 pts. w/04.8 left…

BAH. Rant time. This stuff pisses me off. Get rid of all of these stupid promotions. If the crowd is chanting, I want it to be about the game. End of story. And, Raptors fans, you’re letting me down lately. I love your passion for the team, I love that there seem to be a gazillon of you on the internet, but smarten up. This isn’t directed at all of you (after all, I am a Raptors fan), just the pizza people and the two fools in the section next to me who were heckling Chris Bosh on Sunday. Not cool.

@ticktock6: I think it’s hilarious that my entire twitter feed is cracking jokes about that Devin Brown airball. Lord, it was so bad. I’m still laughing

@kpelton: Every time I watch this Hornets-Lakers game, Bobby Brown is shooting. He does not lack for confidence.

I don’t even know how I feel about the Browns anymore. It’s just ridiculous at this point. At the beginning of the season, I was screaming at Byron Scott for playing them. Now, they both kind of need to be on the court for at least some stretches, but come on. What is going through their heads with some of these shots? The Devin Brown shot Ticktock6 from Hornets Hype is talking about was honestly one of the worst shots I have EVER seen. Very comparable to Zach Randolph’s boneheaded end-of-game three-pointer last year, except it came in the 1st quarter with plenty of time on the shot clock. As for her reaction (which was the same as mine) – sometimes, you have to laugh because the only other option is to cry. I’ll definitely post the video here if it surfaces later today. Here’s hoping.

To Watch

Lamar Odom destroying Hilton Armstrong:

(This spot is reserved for when nba.com puts up John Thompson’s interview from last night about Allen Iverson. Come on, guys.)

To Read

Generally, I’m going to use this section for articles/posts published the previous day, leaning more heavily on stuff that hasn’t been linked much elsewhere (like this piece on Carl Landry, this one on Jarrett Jack, this one on Mike Wilks, and this one on the Wolves). Today, though, I’ve got to direct you to three excellent Thanksgiving-inspired pieces from a few days ago. If you’re American and you took a break from the NBA for a couple days there, I forgive you, but do yourself a favour and read these. The first two speak perfectly for me, and the last one speaks to me.

Giving Thanks To The Game, by Holly MacKenzie

Guess what I’m thankful for? by Kelly Dwyer

A Different Set Of Eyes, by Tim Donahue

Rocky Widner / Getty Images

In our first podcast, Julian, Eric, and I discuss the Iverson/Memphis debacle, Earl Smith III, Stephen Jackson’s agent vs. Nellie, the ridiculousness of the Raptors, the success of the Suns and Nuggets, the failures of the Cavs and Hornets, and Kobe’s newfound appreciation for the post-up game. Oh, and we play a little game.

We recorded this yesterday, before watching the slew of awesome games covered here and here. So, we didn’t get to talk about Brad Miller’s near-buzzer-beater or Travis Outlaw’s vicious dunk on Rudy Gay. We’ve got you covered on Matt Bonner dunk analysis, though.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

David Sherman/Getty Images

Everyone expected this to be a crappy draft class, but everyone was wrong. Plenty of rookies have impressed in the early part of the season. Here are some of my favourites, along with some advanced stats that I hope you’re already familiar with, but might be completely meaningless given the small sample size we’re dealing with here. Apologies to Terrence Williams, Austin Daye, Taj Gibson, and a few others who may be deserving – it’s early, I’ll get to you guys eventually.

Brandon Jennings

5 games: 21.0 PTS/36, 50.2 TS%, 7.5 TRB%, 27.7 AST%, 16.3 PER.

Admit it, you didn’t think it’d happen so fast. You probably thought “yeah, the kid is talented, but he’s a year or two away from being an impact guy.” Hell, you might have even thought he was a punk after he came under a bit of fire in the media this summer. Well, now you know. Jennings has been arguably the league’s best rookie so far and deserves a ton of credit for Milwaukee’s strong start. The mainstream media has done a complete 180 on him, praising Brandon for his work ethic, the way he handled himself in Rome last season, and the maturity he’s shown on the court this season. He deserves all of this, and I think he deserves a re-evaluation of the “controversial” stuff he said to Joe Budden in the summer. Here’s what he said:

-Ramon Sessions isn’t coming back to Milwaukee, as the team has to pay Charlie V.
-Luke Ridnour will become the Bucks’ backup point guard.
-Ricky Rubio doesn’t scare him.
-Scott Skiles is tough, but there must be a reason the coach liked him.
-The Knicks should have taken him, as Duhon isn’t going to get it done.

Not so crazy now, is it? Brandon’s only error was saying that the Bucks were going to spend money on Charlie Villanueva this summer. Instead, they have Hakim Warrick, Ersan Ilyasova, and Kurt Thomas playing his minutes. Can’t really argue with this, as none of them make close to what Charlie is making and, even though he is a skilled scorer, I doubt Jennings’s team would be leading the league in defensive efficiency if he was still starting at the 4. Perhaps this rookie is able to see plays develop before they happen because he can actually see the future.

DeJuan Blair

6 games: 14.5 PTS/36, 60.3 TS%, 18.0 ORB%, 30.9 DRB%, 24.3 TRB%, 15.8 TOV%, 19.3 PER.

Everyone saw this coming, except almost every GM in the NBA. Blair is a rare breed of rebounder, especially on the offensive end, who would have surely been a lottery pick if not for the ACL surgeries (yes, plural). He’s attacking the glass in San Antonio and this, along with his ability to score efficiently around the basket, will continue to make him a stat-geek darling even if his PER ends up dropping a bit. I was screaming at the TV as team after team passed on him on draft day, and when the Spurs scooped him up it seemed almost scripted. San Antonio’s been making the rest of the league look dumb consistently for a decade. Speaking of stat-geeks, it’s long been known in their circles that rebounding is a skill that can be projected fairly accurately from college to the NBA. It’s also long been known that rebounding is a big part of winning basketball games. Still, he fell to #37. Ugh.

Tyreke Evans/Omri Casspi

Evans: 7 games: 17.6 PTS/36, 49.4 TS%, 6.6 TRB%, 19.6 AST%, 11.1 TOV%, 15.7 PER.
Casspi: 7 games: 15.5 PTS/36, 60.1 TS%, 8.9 TRB%, 2.2 BLK%, 14.2 TOV%, 17.1 PER.

Evans’s stats seem a bit crap because he struggled in his first few games, but no one sensible jumped off the bandwagon. It’s been clear from the start that he would be able to create his own shot and get to the hole in the NBA. Kings fans have to be distraught that Kevin Martin is hurt, but there’s a silver lining: Tyreke will get to play pretty much exclusively at his natural position and he’ll become the #1 scoring option (where he’s already had a 32-point effort). It’s always good to see your young guys get an opportunity to show what they can do, especially on a rebuilding team. Luckily for Kings fans, who will not see their club get a ton of wins this year (I’m trying to be nice here), they have more than one exciting young rook who should see major floor time. Casspi has proven to be an efficient scorer, a capable defender, and a major nuisance for opposing teams. He hustles, he’s physical, and he seems like a keeper (despite what Stephen Jackson says). I tried to make a trade to get him on my fantasy team yesterday, but couldn’t get it done. The reason his owner gave me? You can’t let go of a guy who’s that much fun to root for. Yep.

DeMar DeRozan

7 games: 9.2 PTS/36. 50.7 TS%. 9.2 RB%. 9.1 AST%. 3.6 BLK%. 11.0 TOV%, 11.9 PER.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The stats aren’t impressive. But we knew he was a project, right? He’s 20 years old. Here’s the impressive thing, though: he doesn’t seem like a 20 year old out there. When I think of “projects”, especially the athletic types, I think of guys who drive coaches crazy. I think of ill-advised jumpers, stupid fouls, and botched rotations, interspersed with occasional “wow” plays. That’s not DeMar. This kid is starting at the two because he doesn’t force anything, rarely makes costly mistakes, isn’t afraid of contact, and picks his spots. He’s not yet close to being the shut-down defender the Raptors hope he will become, but he hasn’t embarrassed himself on that end thus far (although he was a small part of a shameful defensive performance against the Spurs last night). Raptors fans, myself included, are comfortable with him on the court right now and excited about his potential.

Jonny Flynn

8 games: 19.0 PTS/36, 58.1 TS%, 5.9 TRB%, 21.1 AST%, 21.3 TOV%, 16.9 PER.

Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at, although obviously you want the turnovers to go way down. Give the kid time, though, and that’ll take care of itself. Full disclosure: I haven’t seen enough of the Wolves yet to get a proper handle on Flynn at this level. I know from watching him in college that he’s tenacious, quick as hell, can break people down, and has elite athleticism, but I’ve only seen him in NBA action in a 40-point blowout. It’s hard for me to compare him to a guy like Brandon Jennings at this point – Flynn is playing in a modified triangle, with a rebuilding team that has no quality wings and been dealing with injuries to its two quality bigs, while Jennings has been afforded the opportunity to be a playmaker in a more traditional offense on a team that has its sights set on a playoff berth. Still, I felt Flynn was a sure thing before this draft and haven’t heard/seen anything that suggests otherwise. The fact he’s relegated Ramon Sessions to backup duty has to be a good sign.

Stephen Curry

6 games: 10.6 PTS/36, 44.5 (!) 3P%, 4.6 TRB%, 24.4 AST%, 19.9 TOV%, 10.5 PER.

Chris Paul was right. Steph can play the point. His father was one of the best pure shooters the game has ever seen and, watching Steph at Davidson, we knew he’d inherited this skill. What we didn’t know for sure, though, with the way he was forced to carry the team’s offense and deal with triple teams most nights, was that he could create for others so well. On a team full of scorers, he stands out as a guy who cares about drawing defenders and finding the open man, a guy who’s willing to distribute the ball. The Warriors are fucked right now, but everybody loves him. Even Monta Ellis has praised him, despite the fact he was spot-on when he said they couldn’t share the backcourt without getting abused on the defensive end. I’m beyond sick of Don Nelson, but I can’t stop tuning in to watch this team now that they have approximately 1000 players I love to watch.

Marcus Thornton/Darren Collison

Stats omitted because they’ve been stapled to the bench.

They’re the two best players in the NBA! Okay, perhaps that’s going a little far, but Lil Buckets and Lil Dimes can play. They don’t deserve to be buried on the bench behind Bobby and Devin Brown (despite what Devin did last night). New Orleans actually made fine picks in the draft this year and it’s frustrating as hell to watch them sit on the bench while 1s and 2s not named Chris Paul brick jumper after jumper. I thought Collison could be a huge sleeper, with his intelligence and his ability to play both ends of the floor, and was thrilled on draft night when the Hornets had found a proper backup for Paul. He can still be that guy, if Byron Scott lets it happen. Thornton, on the other hand, was a surprise to me. He put his sweet stroke on display in pre-season and deserves more opportunities now that the regular season has started. He’ll sometimes have bad shooting nights (like last night), but should we really be deprived of getting to see what he can do because the 2009-2010 versions of D. Brown, Posey, and Mo Pete want to be out there? Only if you don’t want Hornets fans to smile.

Ty Lawson

7 games: 18.3 PTS/36, 64.8 TS%, 5.9 TRB%, 21.8 AST%, 11.5 TOV%, 21.2 PER.

Another fucking point guard? Yes! And I’m not apologizing for this. We’ve got a solid group of point guards in this draft class and I’m not even mentioning Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague, or Rodrigue Beaubois in this thing. Anyway, the Nugs knew that advanced stats revealed Lawson to be an absolute stud in college. Plus, we knew just by watching him that this NCAA champion is more than capable of running an offense as well as getting his own shot. His ability to get in the lane translates perfectly to today’s NBA. He’s immediately become one of the best backup point guards in the league, picking up the pace as soon as he enters games and becoming a real problem for opposing teams that have a ton of other problems to deal with when facing Denver. He’s even been used in tandem with Chauncey Billups, which makes me incredibly happy for reasons I shouldn’t have to explain. The rich got richer, here.

Chase Budinger

5 games: 22.4 PTS/36, 62.1 TS%, 8.9 TRB%, 12.9 AST%, 10.5 TOV%, 21 PER.

I didn’t think Budinger would be much of an NBA player, but when the Rockets drafted him, I kept my mouth shut until I saw him play at this level. When I did, I realized for the 947241328th time that Daryl Morey is a lot smarter than me. The 44th pick in this year’s draft is doing what Joe Alexander was supposed to do after the Bucks selected him 8th last year. Already, he’s demonstrated his ability to hit shots, make great passes, play more-than-competent defense, and, um, not at all seem like a rookie. He fits perfectly on this Rockets team that is devoid of All-Stars but full of guys who do the little things correctly. Methinks the fact that his stock dropped so dramatically over the course of his college career was actually good for him, keeping him focused on improving his fundamentals and NBA skills rather than relying on his leaping ability. This isn’t the white Gerald Green, people. I just wish the guys who do the ratings for NBA 2K10 would figure that out soon.

James Harden

6 games: 11.9 PTS/36, 43.3 TS%, 33.5 (!) AST%, 8.6 TRB%, 5.3 TOV%, 14.7 PER.

Possessing the best rookie beard I can remember and a sweet shooting stroke, Harden has fit right in with the young Thunder squad. Anyone who knows me is aware of my affinity for his team, despite the indefensible bullshit that led to its existence. He’s coming off the bench behind defensive stopper Thabo Sefolosha and, admittedly, he hasn’t put up fantastic numbers (besides those assists) at this point. I see greatness (or at least very goodness) in him, though, and he’s an absolutely perfect fit with this team. I know I wasn’t the only one who dreamed of Ricky Rubio playing alongside Kevin Durant, but with Westbrook averaging over 8 assists a game and Harden seeming like an ideal guy to knock down shots against defenses focused on his explosive teammates, it’s hard to argue against Sam Presti on this one.