Fernando Medina/Getty Images

Tuesday night, Julian and I chatted about all things NBA. Or, more accurately, some things NBA. Like the Raptors, Nets, Hawks, Thunder, Warriors, Magic, Bulls, Bucks, and Bobcats. And Joe Johnson, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Omri Casspi, Kevin Martin, Vince Carter, Courtney Lee, and Vinny Del Negro. And, y’know, a bunch of other stuff. Totally forgot to talk about Darko’s weird, expletive-laden interview, though. Next time.

And next time, Eric Wagman will join us. We were kidding about him hurting himself.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

It’s been a little while, hey? Nothing from me since the podcast. Time to recap what’s gone on since then.

On Thursday and Friday, I watched a total of three NBA games. THREE! That’s… nothing. And it’s not my usual routine. But I can explain: On Thursday, Knicks/Bobcats was the only game (you see that DEEP Gallo three?) and, on Friday, I actually went out. I usually feel like a bit of my soul is dying if I’m out somewhere while basketball is on, but wasn’t the case on Friday. I’ve gotta applaud the Raptors Republic team for putting on the awesome ‘Raptors Fan Fridays’ – a bar packed with basketball fans is always a place I want to be. In Canada, where the average person inexplicably prefers an unbearable sport called “ice hockey,” it’s also rare. So yeah, thanks RR. Anyway, I saw the Raptors pull out a win in Philly and I saw the Blazers (Webster! Roy) upset the Lakers, then came home and crashed. To make up for it, I decided to have a basketball-watching marathon on Saturday and did my usual thing on Sunday after catching Raptors/Celtics in person. It’d be a shame to watch all that ball and not discuss is, so weekend stuff is going in this piece along with last night’s happenings.

Friday, Jan. 8

Hawks 93, Celtics 85

• As soon as I started watching this game, I was reminded of an episode of The Basketball Jones when Skeets & Tas were talking about watching an ESPN/ABC game after the fact but not fast-forwarding like they normally do. When Hubie Brown talks, you must listen. Instead of fast-forwarding through free throws and 20-second timeouts, I stayed with the game. Well worth it. I love Hubie for his analysis, in particular the little things he points out, but I think my favourite line of his came early in the game after Kendrick Perkins had muscled the Hawks’ frontline on the inside. He said, simply, “This guy is a bear.”

• Another Hubie line: “If he gets some catches, fine, but he never stops working.” He’s referring to Al Horford here. Love him, especially this year. The numbers don’t even tell the story and the numbers were great: he finished with 16 points (on 7-10 shooting), 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block. What stands out to me is his defense. He’s good at man defense and help defense and the Hawks can pretty much switch EVERYTHING when he’s out there. People talk about his relative lack of size as a weakness, but it’s what lets him move his feet quick enough to stay with ballhandlers on the perimeter. If I ever think a bigger guy like Perkins is going to eat him up, my mind returns to this piece on Peachtree Hoops. He’s not a proper center, but it doesn’t look like the Hawks need him to be.

• When they show a replay of Rondo’s insane alley-oop to send the Heat game into overtime from Wednesday night, I can’t help but smile. Sooo thankful that John Schuhmann tweeted a #LeaguePassAlert with 5.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter. I saw none of the action before that, but was able to catch Dwyane Wade’s ridiculous steal and dunk, then Rondo, then the ensuing Celtics overtime victory. Fun fact: That was the first alley-oop basket of Rondo’s career. The viewing audience was told he’d assisted on 73 of them, though. Seems a bit low to me.

• More Rondo: he hit two threes in the first half – one from the corner and one from straightaway. Neither basket elicited any sort of reaction from him. It seems that, even though teams don’t respect his J and he doesn’t take threes very often, he expects the shots to drop when he takes ‘em. Some people hate his confidence, but I love it.

• Josh Smith has been a joy to watch since he entered the league. He has always made absurd, athletic plays (see: him blocking a Kendrick Perkins dunk attempt in this game) and he’s always been capable of filling up the stat sheet. But, in his first few years in the league, you weren’t going to see Hubie Brown analyzing his highlights at halftime and talking about how he doesn’t force anything and moves well without the ball. I know I’ve brought this up before, but it’s just fantastic to see Smith excelling this year. Always great when a guy’s mental game catches up to his physical gifts. I really, really hope I’ll be saying this about Anthony Randolph in a couple of years.

• Jamal Crawford was on FIRE. He scored 18 points on 12 field goal attempts. Jon Barry commented that Crawford is “one of the guys you just hate to guard” and, on this night, it was even more true than it normally is. He can rise and shoot at any time and, when he’s on, it’s scary. Two plays stick out, looking back. First, a corner three over Perkins – Perk fouled him on the play and he converted the 21st 4-point play of his career (Reggie Miller’s 24 is the record). Second, a dagger three with 52.5 seconds left from wayyyyyyyy downtown to bring the score to 91-82. Gotta say I’m thrilled at the success he has had in Atlanta – he’s a good dude who has never been on a good team. Watch Sonicsgate if you have never seen an interview with him. Actually, just watch Sonicsgate regardless.

• Jon Barry said he did not consider the Hawks an elite team yet because of their inconsistency. I suppose that’s a fair point, given how they’ve had multiple fourth-quarter collapses against good teams. But, um, are they supposed to be an elite team right now? There weren’t a lot of prognosticators who had them ranked them with the elite teams before the season started. Also, it’s January. It’s okay if they’re inconsistent now. The Hawks have shown a lot of promise and they should be expected to stumble a few times. The key is that they learn from their losses and are ready come playoff time. Everything Kevin Arnovitz wrote to Lakers and Magic fans at the end of December still applies here.

Nuggets 99, Cavaliers 97

• The game kind of looked scripted at one point in the first half, as they showed an interview snippet with LeBron James where he was asked about his dancing, which seems to have divided America. He said, “Every night I go out on the court, I feel like a kid again.” This was immediately followed by an alley-oop where Joey Graham hacked him and he was able to convert anyway. Then he got a layup on a fast break off of a turnover. All the while, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were talking about LeBron’s passion for the game.

• More JVG: “Every time you double team him, you’re making a mistake.” He was talking about Shaq and how he’s such a great passer, after The Big Witness found Jawad Williams wide open under the hoop. I nodded my head in agreement, but it’s not because of his passing ability. As John Krolik has pointed out all season, Shaq has simply not been a very effective scorer for the Cavs. You usually don’t need to double him these days.

• I got upset with George Karl when I saw Anthony Carter enter the game before Ty Lawson. Then I remembered that Lawson had an injured ankle. Damn. Get back soon, Ty.

• Kenyon Martin was amazing in the first half. He did a bit of everything, including a chasedown block on Delonte West and a fantastic bounce pass to Nene down low. He also hit from the outside, crashed the offensive glass, scored on the inside, and played his normal brand of solid/aggressive D.

• Anderson Varejao has impressed the hell out of me this year. He used to bother me because he’d flop in places where he should just play textbook defense, but to my eyes this isn’t happening nearly as much now. I laughed at his contract extension in the summer, but now I think Cleveland must be happy with their investment. His pick-and-roll defense is masterful and he’s leading the league in individual +/-. Gotta love how he picked J.R. Smith’s pocket on the pick-and-roll and blocked Kenyon Martin going to the hole in this contest.

• My DVR apparently ran out of space at the end of the fourth quarter, but at least I got to see a wild third. LeBron scored 11 points in the Q. and a big Delonte West three-pointer capped off an 11-0 Cleveland run before the Birdman had a nice dunk. Denver was behind by 4 as the quarter ended.

• So, what did I miss in the fourth? Kenyon Martin shut down LeBron (!) in the final minute – the King missed a layup and stepped out of bounds on back-to-back possessions. That turnover was just one of LeBron’s 8 and Cleveland’s 19 TO’s on the night.

• More fun stats: Chauncey Billups had 23 points on just 14 shots in his first game back from a groin injury. LeBron James shot 6-18 from outside of 15 feet (thank you Hoopdata!).

Mavericks 112, Spurs 103

• NOBODY was happy with the refs during the first half of this game. Erick Dampier, DeJuan Blair, and Antonio McDyess each picked up two quick fouls. Gregg Popovich got T’d up and I think it was general ineptitude rather than one particular play that set him off.

• It was very, very cool to see Manu Ginobili and Josh Howard matched up against one another and both playing well. These two need to find a way to stay healthy. I want them both playing All-Star caliber ball as we approach the playoffs. Howard hit his first three field goals, but missed his next four. Still, he finished with 12 points on 7 FGA’s and his +21 was the best on his team. Ginobili had 12/7/5 and did things that just shouldn’t be possible in the NBA. He did this hesitation crossover move that should be seen, not written about. Unfortunately, I can’t find a bloody video. Bah.

• Up until the fourth quarter, Dirk Nowitzki was taking tough shots and missing them. He even got rejected by the rim on a dunk attempt, trying to do a reverse on the baseline. His teammates stepped up, though. As Jason Terry, Dampier, Drew Gooden, Howard, and Shawn Marion converted shots, I was reminded that everything has changed for this Mavericks team.

• Rodrigue Beaubois got some burn in this game. This made me very happy. I considered it the universe evening things out for me with rookie minutes, as Blair was limited to just 7:31 in this game due to foul trouble. I’ve been working on a piece on players who I’d love to see get more burn for what seems like ages now and Beaubois is #1 on that list now that Anthony Randolph is hurt. He hit a J from the corner and a floater, but missed his other 2 attempts in his 5:32 of game action. Yeah, 4 shot attempts in that amount of time. And a rebound and a foul. Trust me: when he’s out there, you’ll notice him. If you saw him against the Spurs, you might have also noticed that it was the first time you’ve ever seen Tony Parker being only the second-quickest French guard on the court.

• I want to say that Beaubois was the Mavs’ best guard after his fun five minute stint, but that would be a blatant lie. Jason Terry scored 21 points on 7-13 shooting, with 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals to his name. He played with the fire that you love to see and hit numerous difficult jumpers over much bigger players. I didn’t like him tripping George Hill, though.

• Plays of the game: Richard Jefferson’s chasedown block on JET and, well, everything Dirk did in the fourth quarter. Let me explain…

• …If the first three quarters reminded me of Rob Mahoney’s words about this Mavericks team not overly relying on Nowitzki anymore, the fourth reminded me of Tim McMahon’s words about how he comes through in the clutch. The man went crazy in the final frame, scoring 16 of the Mavs’ 42 (!) points. He got going early at the expense of poor Richard Jefferson and from then on nobody could stop him. After Jason Terry hit a three to put the Mavs up 95-92, he rejected an Antonio McDyess shot and then hit a three on the other end. Following this, Manu picked up an offensive foul and Dirk came back with a fading jumper. A tie game was turned into an 8-point one very, very quickly.

• San Antonio did manage to bring it a bit closer, as it was 104-100 with less than a minute left in the game. But then, with 51.7 seconds on the clock, Dirk hit a dagger three from the top of the key with Richard Jefferson’s hand in his face to bring the lead back up to 7. It was amazing. The crowd fell silent as they knew Dirk would simply not let his team lose the game.

Other Friday Games

• Raptors 108, 76ers 106: It was pretty cool to see Andrea Bargnani showing some emotion in the Raptors’ win in Philly. He made a few big plays on both ends down the stretch, including a block where I was proud of him. Also was cool to see Allen Iverson have a big offensive game (22 points on 13 field goal attempts), as my friends have been talking shit about him all year and I got to shove it in their faces every time he scored. Ivy’s defense wasn’t the greatest, though.

• Blazers 107, Lakers 98: Portland is incredibly fun to root for. I don’t like rooting against Kobe (or Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown, for that matter) but I was fully on the Blazers’ side, cheering every time Brandon Roy or Jerryd Bayless would find a way to get to the line. I know the Blazers ALWAYS seem to beat this team at home, but this is quite obviously not the same Blazers team we’re used to. I mean, Juwan Howard played over 34 freaking minutes and had to guard Andrew Bynum. Still a win. Nice.

• Bucks 96, Bulls 93: I was kinda miffed I didn’t record the Bucks/Bulls game. I pretty much automatically DVR every Bucks game, but I figured I owed San Antonio and Dallas some viewing time because they’re two of the better teams in the West and I haven’t seen enough of them. Turns out I missed Andrew Bogut having a Duncan night (27 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 blocks), Brandon Jennings blocking three of Derrick Rose’s shots, and Michael Redd having what would turn out to be his last good game for a long while. Damn it. Shout outs to a couple of Bulls before I move on: Derrick Rose (25/9/5, although he took 25 shots) and Joakim Noah (10/18, although he took 10 shots) produced pretty well. Oh, and let me say that when I read that the Bulls needed a three to tie the game on the final possession and failed to get it, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Read into that what you will.

• Wizards 104, Magic 97: Washington outscored Orlando 33-20 in the final quarter and that was the ballgame. For ORL, Vince Carter only played 10 minutes because he separated his shoulder and Dwight Howard had 23/11. For WAS, Antawn Jamison had 28/11 and Brendan Haywood had 18/15, shooting 6-6 from the field and 6-6 from the foul line. Check this tweet, heh.

• Timberwolves 116, Pacers 109. One team had to win and Minnesota did. Frontcourt players starred in this one. For Indy, Roy Hibbert had 15/6/3 with 3 blocks and Troy Murphy had 21/5/2 with 4 steals and 5-7 shooting from behind the arc. For Minnesota, Big Al had 25/12/2 and Kevin Love had 18/13/2, with a block and a steal each. This was Danny Granger’s first game since December 5 and he scored 19 points on 19 shots. His return was a surprise; coach Jim O’Brien had said a day earlier that he wasn’t going to come back on the weekend.

• Grizzlies 91, Jazz 89. This would have been a nice finish to see live. O.J. Mayo hit a jumper to put the Grizz up 2 with just 5 seconds left and Marc Gasol registered his fifth block of the night on a C.J. Miles attempt on the final possession. Nice revenge for Memphis at home, as they had lost in Utah by 23 points just two days earlier. Zach Randolph, most improved player and team leader, had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and a block.

• Hornets 103, Nets 99. The Nets shoot a league-worst 28% on threes on the season, but in this game they shot 9-17, which is 52.9%. Thank Courtney Lee (5-7 from downtown, 28 points) and Keyon Dooling (4-7 from downtown, 21 points) for that. Still, the Nets found a way to lose. David West had 32/10 and Chris Paul had 11/18/5. Those two are pretty good.

• Heat 109, Suns 105. Balanced scoring from the Suns – their starters posted totals of 16, 15, 15, 18, and 18 points. Unbalanced scoring from the Heat – Dwyane Wade (33) and Michael Beasley (21) accounted for just about half of the team’s points. The team stats are pretty even across the board except for one category – the Suns’ 17 turnovers killed them.

• Warriors 108, Kings 101. I briefly mentioned that Anthony Randolph is hurt – this is the game where it happened. At the very end of the first quarter, he went down on a Tyreke Evans drive and teammates had to help him off the court. Sprained ankle, blah. He’s out 3-6 weeks. Monta Ellis picked up the slack, though, besting Evans’s 25 points by scoring 39 in 46 minutes. The Kings were actually ahead by 10 going into the fourth quarter, but the Warriors dominated the final frame. The first 7 points of the quarter were scored by Ellis and he had a total of 13 in the Q. 10 of Sacramento’s 17 turnovers came in the fourth and GS scored 17 points off them. That was the game.

Saturday, Jan. 10

Magic 113, Hawks 81

• The last time these teams met it was (American) Thanksgiving, or “the night that the Orlando Magic started playing defense again.” Dwight Howard set the tone for another impressive defensive night by rejecting Joe Johnson on the very first play of the game in this one. He would have two more blocks in the game despite only playing 22 minutes. The great Orlando D forced the least turnover-prone team in the league to cough the ball up 16 times. It seemed they were pissed off about losing four straight games.

• Maybe this game proves Jon Barry’s point about the Hawks being inconsistent and not quite an elite team. Maybe, though, it just proves that Orlando is a terrible matchup for Atlanta and they haven’t figured out how to counter them yet. This is the Hawks’ 5th-straight loss to the Magic and this was not the only blowout. I think it’s fair to put some blame on the coaching staff here, as long as you acknowledge that there is still time to fix the problem. These two teams meet on January 30 and March 24 – you know Hawks fans will be expecting an adjustment or two.

• I loved the bench play of Ryan Anderson and Jason Williams. After not playing a single second in the previous two games, he came in and scored 5 very quick points. Finished with an efficient 16 points on 10 shots, doing his usual “threes and layups” routine and posting up when Atlanta switched players on him. J-Will was having a bad hair day, but his game was on point. He made me flash back to the days Whit Eboy was in Sactown – he was pushing the pace, hitting threes, and getting the crowd into it. The Magic outscored the Hawks 37-16 in the second quarter and their backup point guard (who finished with 14 points and 6 assists in the game) was the biggest reason why.

• Anderson and Williams weren’t the only Magic role players to get into it. Marcin Gortat had 12 rebounds, Michael Pietrus had 4 steals, Matt Barnes had 18 points (on 11 shots!) and 7 rebounds, and J.J. Redick filled in for the injured Vince Carter very nicely with 17 points in a starting role. The Magic are the deepest team in the league and it’s not close.

• Can’t lie, I stopped watching this one after halftime. It was 66-37 at that point so I don’t think you can blame me, especially seeing as Orlando’s bench managed to increase the lead by 3 points in the second half.

Thunder 108, Pacers 102

• I was excited pregame when the Thunder broadcasters were talking about All-OTN Team member Serge Ibaka. The sideline reporter (Elissa Walker Campbell, I think) said “he has been bringing it night in and night out.” Cliché, yes, but I’ll take it. Too bad he only played 5:15. In that time, he converted one field goal and grabbed one rebound. And Roy Hibbert scored on him. Blah. I was looking forward to that matchup.

• Ibaka’s minutes have been down for a while now because of the strong play of Nick Collison, who has been playing both the 4 and 5 for OKC. I can’t say enough about how good he is at setting screens. In this contest, he went 3-4 from the field and grabbed 7 rebounds, while adding 3 blocks and a steal. All this in 23 minutes. Oh, and a move he put on Solomon Jones inspired this awesome tweet.

• Another guy who took minutes from Ibaka on this night? “Byron” Mullens. This was the first time I’d seen him and I was impressed. He wasn’t spectacular or anything, but he ran the floor well and showed some skill with the ball in his hands. 4 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist won’t blow you away, but he was only on the court for a bit over 7 minutes. I don’t know how to deal with the fact that the Thunder might have another player I like.

• Speaking of players I like… JAMES HARDEN. There’s more to this man than the beard. J.G. of Daily Thunder revealed about a month ago that he was putting up numbers that made him one of the top shooting guards in the NBA. I’ve been paying close attention to him during games and I really love what I see. He has a pure three-point stroke, as he demonstrated by going 3-4 from deep in this game. He’s got good handles and the ability to run the Thunder’s offense when he’s asked to (although this happens less now that they have Eric Maynor on the roster). Plus, like everyone else on this team, he plays defense and hustles. This was made clearest when he made my favourite hustle play of the season by someone not named Amir Johnson – check out how he sprinted back to strip Danny Granger on the break.

• I still can’t believe what’s happened to T.J. Ford. Check what Jared Wade wrote about him in this piece. For the longest time, I thought Ford had star potential. He always had great handles, an ability to get his shot, and a knack for finding teammates open looks. Friends in Toronto would argue with me, calling him selfish and complaining that he took too many bad shots. I’d make excuses for his shot selection, saying that most of his bad shots came at the end of the shot clock and he would try to take over games sometimes because no one else on the team would do so. I think part of it was that I always remembered this SI feature. Here’s a quote:

“The only time I have to score is when the team needs me to,” he says. “My job is to make guys better. If you average four, I can get you to average eight or 10.”

• I suspect Indiana fans would laugh at this now. He’s not playing like the proper distributor and leader I thought he was. In fact, he’s basically the exact opposite. When he plays, he takes questionable shots and fails to rack up many assists. And he hasn’t played yet in 2010. Here are some nauseating stats: he’s shot 1-28 from downtown this season and has an assist percentage of 24.4% (down from 44.4% in his last season in Toronto). Oh, and his true shooting percentage is 50.1%. Ugh. I feel bad for him – he had tons of potential and in interviews he came across as a nice, thoughtful guy. I’m not totally ready to accept he’s a shit player – maybe a change of scene would do him some good. Can’t be easy to trade him right now, though.

• With T.J. in the doghouse, the point guard minutes went to Earl Watson and A.J. Price. Weird what’s happened to Watson in the last year and a half: he was a starter for the Thunder at the beginning of last season, but (rightly) was demoted to backup duty when Scott Brooks took over. He then signed in Indiana as a backup, but ended up starting again when the team gave up on Ford. It’s pretty obvious what Watson is about – he’s a very good passer and he can run an offense, but he’s no great shakes on D and he isn’t a good shooter. That’s a decent backup for you. Price is more intriguing – he hasn’t played a hell of a lot this season, but he took over this game for a little bit. In the fourth quarter, he hit a couple of HUGE threes including one that closed the gap to 93-92 with 5:16 left in the game. His 23 points were more than double his previous career high and his 9-15 shooting (including 3-5 from downtown) was very impressive. The problem was that he started off so strong that he tried to do too much. Near the end of the game, Price missed three field goal attempts in a row. He had a great game, but he probably shouldn’t have become the #1 option down the stretch.

• Kevin Durant is just silly-good. Guess how many field goal attempts he needed to score 40 points. Come on, guess… 18! EIGHTEEN. That’s insane. He went 12-18 from the field, 2-2 from downtown, and 14-16 from the line. Add 12 assists and you have happy fantasy owners everywhere, except for me because I’m a damn fool and forgot to set my lineups that day. He was benched. Blah. Anyway, 11 of those points came in the 4th quarter and a few of those baskets were followed by scowls. Loved that. We know KD is a joker off-court but it’s great to see him being mean on it. His step-back J over Brandon Rush on the right side put his squad up 8 with 51 seconds to play and that was the ballgame.

Kings 102, Nuggets 100

• Game of the weekend. You should already know about Tyreke Evans’s game-winner. It was glorious, and it followed a Chauncey Billups three that was glorious in its own right if you’re a Denver fan. A few plays before that, Omri Casspi hit a corner three that had me jump out of my seat. You could say I’m a big fan of his. You could also say this game had a pretty exciting finish. I couldn’t believe some people were watching Saturday Night Live instead, even with Charles Barkley hosting.

• Francisco Garcia joined the announce team for a little bit in the first half. He said he and Kevin Martin are “desperate” to get back and the Kings have “got a special thing going on right now.” I am thoroughly enjoying watching this group right now and am very curious as to how they’ll look once these two scorers get back in the mix. A couple of notable things that happened while Garcia was hanging out – first, Tyreke made a nice one-on-one move against Chauncey Billups and looked hurt afterward. No one mentions it on air, even when they show a freaking replay. I’m freaking out as ankle injuries terrify me, but ‘Reke relatively quickly signals to the bench/coaching staff that he’s okay and stays in the game. Phew. Second, he talked about Omri for a bit. It’s clear that he’s been a mentor for the rookie, even while injured. When Casspi received the ball, ready to launch a three, ‘Cisco yelled “Give me, one baby!” It dropped through and he excitedly exclaimed, “That’s what I like!” I liked it, too.

• It wasn’t just the game winner for Tyreke, it was everything. 27 points on 10-15 shooting? Nuts. I’m not going to call him a rookie anymore because I don’t think of him as one. The Nugs’ team defense was completely geared toward neutralizing him and he was unfazed. It didn’t matter who guarded him, he was getting where he wanted. Don’t think he’ll make it to the ASG this year, but he’s a star. Count on an appearance next year.

• You’ve probably seen this J.R. Smith play by now. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Still can’t.

• Spencer Hawes still frustrates me but he did go 8-10 from the floor for 17 points in 26 minutes, scoring in a variety of ways. Very nice. I’ll forgive him for only grabbing 3 defensive rebounds… this time.

• I want Kenyon Martin on my fantasy team. Check this: 20 Pts (9-17 FG), 10 Reb (5 Off), 5 Ast, 2 Blk, 2 Stl, 1 TO. Well done, sir. Pity you couldn’t stop Tyreke on that last play, though. Ha!

• Joey Graham had a very good first half for the Nugs. He was aggressive, got to the line repeatedly, took a charge on Spencer Hawes, and did this to Jason Thompson.

• Fun note: this was rookie Jon Brockman’s first start of his career. Always cool to witness a milestone for a player. He played 37:56, almost 12 minutes more than his previous career high. Unfortunately, the Brockness Monster shot too much, especially in the first half. He finished 2-9 from the field, but because he is awesome he added 12 rebounds, 7 coming on the offensive end.

Other Saturday Games

• Bobcats 89, Grizzlies 87. I missed the very beginning of the second half of the Thunder game because I was watching the crazy finish here. It looked like O.J. Mayo was might be a hero for the second straight night, as he tied the game with 8.8 seconds left, hitting a three from the top of the key with Gerald Wallace’s hand in his face. My favourite part was the way he reacted. As in, he didn’t. At all. Just walked to the bench calmly as Charlotte called a timeout. Unfortunately for O.J., Wallace would be the hero – he tipped in an errant Raymond Felton attempt at the buzzer to get his team the W.

• 76ers 104, Pistons 94. Allen Iverson wasn’t in the lineup for Philly in this one, but he was still unfortunately booed by the fans at the Palace when his name was announced. Luckily for the Sixers, Elton Brand came back and provided a scoring punch, scoring 25 points on 16 shots. The Pistons lost because that’s what they’ve been doing lately. Rip Hamilton attempted 22 field goals in almost 41 minutes and made just 6 of them. It was only a 10 point win in the end, but Detroit was down 26-10 (!) at the end of the first and 56-30 at halftime. Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey nursed their lingering injuries in the second half instead of playing. Ben Gordon scored 20, including the NBA’s 10 millionth point.

• Bulls 110, Timberwolves 96. Kirk Hinrich had, by my count, his third super-awesome game of the season: 20/4/7, 8-15 FG, 4-9 3PT. Joakim Noah had himself a game as well, scoring 20 on 9-13 shooting and adding 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Fun rookie Jonny Flynn had 14/4/8 with 2 steals but his team was outscored 51-32 in the second and third quarters.

• Jazz 111, Mavericks 93. Josh Howard and Drew Gooden were both missing in action for Dallas. Utah managed 126.1 points per 100 possessions, shot 53.2% from the floor, and only turned the ball over 4 times. This is the kind of game that will help the Jazz move up the offensive efficiency rankings to where they’ve been in previous years. You’ve gotta expect more from the Mavs on D, though. Dirk had 29 on 22 shots; Deron had 20 on 13 shots. 9 assists for Utah’s PG, too. Hope he finally gets to play in the All-Star Game.

• Rockets 105, Knicks 96. Houston was down by 11 after one quarter, but outscored the Knicks in each of the next three to get the W. Luis Scola (23 points, 10-16 FG) and Aaron Brooks (20 points, 8-15 FG) both scored often and efficiently and the always-awesome Carl Landry scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Nate Robinson had a fine game (20 points on 13 shots), but David Lee was the star for NYK: 26/12/6 with 12-17 shooting. Daryl Morey pointed out that Houston surprisingly won the transition points category 51-32.

Sunday, Jan. 10

Celtics 114, Raptors 107

• I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from applauding Rondo all afternoon and thought this would earn me some dirty looks from the ACC crowd. Couldn’t have been more wrong, I was surrounded by Celtics fans. The two loudest people in the arena were directly next to me, decked out in C’s gear and supporting their club. My guy Rajon had a 22/10/13 triple-double with 4 steals and a ridiculous buzzer-beating three to boot. I’m beyond impressed with him and seeing him zip around in person is something else. Not sure how you stop Rajon right now. If he’s not an All-Star I might go on a killing spree.

• Don’t get me wrong about the Rondo love – he’s great and I couldn’t shut up about him during and after the game, but I was definitely rooting for my Raps. I went crazy when Chris Bosh ruined Shelden Williams and Rasheed Wallace’s dominance completely pissed me off. Sheed hasn’t been fantastic this season, but he’s been amazing against the Raptors. He always is. 29/8 in this one, shooting 9-12 from the field and 5-7 (!) from downtown. If you’re wondering, Sheed was shooting less than 30% from deep entering the game. Bosh scored 31 on 17 shot attempts (13-13 FT), plus 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Just a fantastic all-around effort. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of him leaving Toronto…

• …except people wouldn’t shut up about it on Sunday! Peter Vescey rumoured a Bosh-for-Bynum swap, even though in his article he quotes Bryan Colangelo as saying he hasn’t talked to the Lakers or anyone about Bosh. Ugh. I don’t even feel like I should have to comment on this, but it doesn’t make sense. Check what Kelly Dwyer said. Bosh is better than Bynum, but he doesn’t complement Gasol as well. If L.A. keeps everything together they could, seriously, have the best defense and best offense in the league by the season’s end. Bosh makes their offense worse because he isn’t the type of back-to-the-basket post player that Bynum is and he makes the defense worse because, quite simply, he isn’t the same defender Bynum is. Especially if they’re going to ask him to defend centers. Bynum-Gasol remains a downright terrifying combo in the triangle and they are great at defending around the rim. Why break that up by exchanging a 5 for a 4? Talent generally reigns supreme, but the Lakers already have more than enough of that. They need to have complementary players. As for the Raptors, um… Bosh and Bargnani might not be a great fit long-term, so I can see Colangelo trying to get a 5 for Bosh if he does indeed move him. Of course, that brings up the question of whether Bargs poses as many matchup problems against 4s as he does against 5s and blahblahblah I’m not going to get into that now. Let’s be clear: I don’t like this idea. I don’t want Bosh gone. He’s in the midst of having the best season of anyone in this franchise’s history, statistically at least. Unless he’s given an indication he wants to move on, you try to keep him.

• Eddie House makes me nervous and angry. He just runs around the perimeter and around screens, trying to get open threes. Every team knows that’s what he does. So, I HATE when he gets an open look. He hit 3 triples in this game and each one drove me nuts. Took some satisfaction in every one of his five fouls, though.

• Hedo Turkoglu was mainly invisible out there. He got 9 assists, yeah, but he shot 2-9 from the field and didn’t score his first basket until halfway through the third quarter. I remember Kelly Dwyer (yes, again with the Dwyer references) talking about how pretty much everything Turk does shows up in the stat sheet. I’m with that. The 9 assists didn’t impress me. I want to see him help his team when the ball isn’t in his hands, but he can’t really do that. He doesn’t play good defense, doesn’t rebound well, and doesn’t hustle. The only positive contribution I can think of from him aside from what he creates with the ball in his hands is floor spacing. But, hell, guys like Eddie House can do that. This is why I was pissed when I heard he was sort of complaining about not being as much of a facilitator this year. Man, you’re coming to a team run by Jose Calderon (I know Jack is starting right now – irrelevant), who is one of the most efficient players in the league. The team needs the ball in his hands. You’re 6’10, be a real small forward. And grab a damn rebound! Argh. I probably shouldn’t be mad at Hedo, really. His skillset is the same as it always was. It’s just frustrating to watch him sometimes.

• It’s nice to see Jose Calderon back for Toronto. He played hard and effectively on both ends, if only for 22 minutes. Hollinger’s called him the worst defensive point guard in the league this season and I haven’t even been able to argue with him. Kills me because I know he CAN play D, but he wasn’t doing it. Against Boston, he was moving his feet and staying with people. Even Rondo, who is impossible to check. One trip down, he ended up on Ray Allen and played him perfectly, forcing him into an extreeemely difficult shot. I yelled out, “GREAT D, JOSE!” and then watched the shot drop. Deflating as anything. Couldn’t be mad at Calderon, though. Just like I couldn’t get mad at the Raptors for losing to a superior team.

Cavaliers 106, Blazers 94.

• LeBron James is insane. Check this pic. That’s probably the only time I’ll ever link to a picture of somebody catching an alley-oop pass and not scoring. I don’t know how James can still be considered human. I mean, did you SEE that first half? 31 points and it all seemed so easy. The game began with him driving every damn time and then he made some perimeter J’s, too. And then, in the second half, when Portland was determined to make other players beat them, he made the right passes. That’s how you end up with lines like this one: 41/10/8. I’d say you’re in pretty good shape if you can score 41 whilst only taking 19 field goals, but to almost have a trip-dub too? It’s unfair. Everything about LeBron is unfair, except his sometimes-shaky shot selection.

• Shaq’s 11/11/5 in 24 minutes? Huge. I know his close encounter with a Baldwin made headlines, but it’s also worth noting that he was +16 on the night. It helped that Juwan Howard had to guard him, but still. Give the big man credit, he has been playing significantly better lately.

• Brandon Roy: 34 points on 23 shots. LaMarcus Aldridge: 18 points on 11 shots. Offense wasn’t the problem for the Blazers here – this was an 84-possessoin game. They just couldn’t stop Cleveland. This is actually a bit of a misconception about the Cavs – you’d assume that because their offense looks (and is) simple that they’re simply relying on their D to get wins. Not the case, they’re 6th in the league in offensive efficiency. Believe me, I want Mike Brown to add to his playbook too, but it’s not as if they’re having a lot of trouble scoring.

Other Sunday games:

• Hornets 115, Wizards 110. New Orleans remains undefeated in 2010, getting their 6th win in a row. Check out the margins of victory in those games, though: 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 5. Ha. Does this mean they’re good at executing down the stretch or they’re just getting lucky? As with everything, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Anyway, Chris Paul had 26 points and 14 assists, 8 of which came in the opening period. Antawn Jamison, who we’d like to see in Cleveland, had 32 and 8 rebounds. but it wasn’t enough. Neither was Randy Foye’s 23 points and 8 rebounds or Nick Young’s 20 and 6 on 7-10 shooting. Andray Blatche didn’t attempt a shot in the losing effort and he didn’t like that one bit.

• Clippers 94, Heat 84. Again, Miami got most of their offense from Wade (24) and Beasley (20). This time, it wasn’t enough for a win. Some fun figures for the Clips: Baron Davis had 14 assists and Kaman and Camby had 14 and 17 rebounds, respectively. I’m not upset that I missed this game, with the ugly shooting. The teams combined to shoot 40.5% from the field and 28.6% from downtown. Gross.

• Spurs 97, Nets 85. The Nets returned to their normal crappy three-point shooting, finishing 3-14 on the night. San Antonio didn’t do much better, at 4-12, but they made up for it in other areas. A big one: they outrebounded NJ 48-35. Timmy D. finished with 14 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks while Manu Ginobili contributed 21/3/3 and only had 11 field goal attempts. As for the Nets, Brook Lopez had himself a great night – 28 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal. 10-17 FG, 8-8 FT as well. This efficiency wasn’t shared by Yi Jianlian, who shot 4-10 on shots closer than 10 feet but 0-7 otherwise.

• Lakers 95, Bucks 77. I recorded this game, but didn’t end up watching any of the first three quarters (besides the very end of the third) because I heard they were incredibly ugly. I mean, the Bucks only scored 8 points in the first Q. 8! It was 39-28 for the Lakers at halftime. Brandon Jennings shot 4-17 and Kobe Bryant and his completely fucked up finger shot 4-21. No thanks. Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 18 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 17 rebounds and 9 assists. With the amount of missed shots available, those rebounding numbers probably aren’t as impressive as they seem. As I said, though, I did watch SOME of the game. This was purely because of Shannon Brown. The All-OTN Team guard hit a hell of a buzzer-beater to end the third. Then came a dunk. Then came two blocks on the same play. Yeah. Finished with a career-high 19 points as well, helped by the fact his jump shot was falling.

Monday, Jan. 11

Pacers 105, Raptors 101

• Troy Murphy started this game as the only Pacer doing anything offensively. After Roy Hibbert’s layup in the first minute, the next FOUR Pacer field goals were threes by Murphy. This didn’t sit well with me. You know my deal with Eddie House? The scouting report tells you “no open threes” yet he seems to somehow get open threes. With Murphy, it’s the same except for the fact that he doesn’t run around screens. Ever. He just trails in transition or stands on the perimeter in the halfcourt. There is no excuse for not staying with him out there. I wanted to slap Bargnani around a little bit after those threes. But with the way the rest of his team was playing, it was alright… I guess.

• How was the rest of his team playing, then? HORRIBLY. They were taking quick (read: poor) shots and, when the Raptors were on offense, it seemed pretty damn easy to score. If one Pacer got beat, the rotations weren’t there. It looked like this was going to be a blowout when the Raptors were up by 23 in the second quarter. Things changed, though, when Danny Granger and Sonny Weems got in a little bit of an argument. After this, Granger went on a scoring spree and his team cut it to 13 by halftime. It was a 16-3 run and the Raptors went 1-6 from the field to end the quarter before Antoine Wright hit a lucky/exciting shot from the backcourt at the buzzer.

• I felt pretty good about the halftime lead even though it could have been bigger. So did Jose Calderon, apparently. He was asked about strategy and he said it was simple: “get a stop, run, easy basket.” Couldn’t argue, with how most of that first half went.

• The second half felt like a different game. The Raptors looked tired and the Pacers looked… decent. I’m not ready to say the Pacers made a fantastic comeback because of the sloppiness of the whole thing. It felt like an NCAA game to me and I don’t mean that in the fun/intensity good kind of way. I mean that in that there were a ton of missed three pointers, turnovers, and mental mistakes. Still, their defense improved and they held the Raptors to only 4 made field goals in the third quarter. Credit A.J. Price, Earl Watson, Mike Dunleavy, and Danny Granger for efficient scoring in the comeback.

• Andrea Bargnani had a very un-Bargnani like line of 12 points on 4-14 shooting, with 17 rebounds (4 offensive) and 3 blocks. Chris Bosh had a very Bosh-like line of 27 points on 6-14 shooting, with 10 rebounds (2 offensive), 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Hedo Turkoglu had 10 points and 6 assists, but everything I said about him in the Boston game applies here. I liked what I saw from DeMar DeRozan in 20 minutes and Rasho Nesterovic in 4 minutes and would have liked to have seen more from both of them. Oh well.

• Roy Hibbert only played 7 minutes. Dahntay Jones and T.J. Ford both received DNP-CD’s. Weird, right?

Cavaliers 117, Warriors 114

• If LeBron continues to go in the post and works on improving his game down there, the whole league is fucked. When he catches there, it changes everything. I think he’s starting to realize this – don’t think he hasn’t noticed Kobe Bryant this season. His work in the second half of this game is just a taste of what might be to come. This is either exciting or horrifying, depending on your perspective. His line? 37 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 12-23 FG, 12-14 FT.

• More fun stats: Anderson Varejao unsurprisingly had the highest +/-, with +16. Monta Ellis played 45 minutes, scored 30 points, took 25 field goals, dished out 5 assists, picked up 5 steals, turned the ball over 5 times, and had his shot blocked 5 times. Corey Maggette scored 32 points on just 14 field goals, going 17-18 from the line. Anthony Morrow only attempted (and made) one shot, a three that looked absolutely perfect.

• Cartier Martin just got called up from the D-League. Guess who he was matched up against when he checked in for the W’s. You got it, LeBron James. I can’t even imagine what was going through his mind.

• Ronny Turiaf sprained his ankle. X-rays were negative, but he didn’t return after playing just 11 minutes.

• I don’t understand how anyone could NOT root for Stephen Curry. I’m a bit biased because I love PG’s and rookies, but seriously… he looks like he’s 14 years old, but he’s schooling people with his handles and he has one of the purest shots in the league. This, plus his awesome passing ability. Did you see that steal + behind-the-back pass near the end of this game? Insane. If he had hit that three to tie it at the buzzer, I would have lost my mind.

Other Monday Games

• Hawks 102, Boston 96. Saw the very end of this one and I’m going to go back and watch the whole thing on my PVR. It always seems like a good game when these two teams meet, but lately Atlanta has just had Boston’s number. 3-0 against the Celts this year. You just know they’re hoping to face Boston and NOT Orlando in the playoffs. Atlanta needed a 25-16 4th quarter to get the win and, again, Jamal Crawford made key clutch plays to seal it. Rasheed Wallace didn’t play because of a sore foot, but Boston’s coaching staff made up for it by picking up three technical fouls. Head coach Doc Rivers was ejected. Joe Johnson and Rajon Rondo both put forth good arguments to be named an All-Star starter, even though neither of them will be. JJ: 36/3/1 on 14-25 shooting including 5-7 (!) from downtown. Rondo: 26/3/7 on 12-20 shooting.

• 76ers 96, Hornets 92. Allen Iverson continued his efficient scoring, finishing with 16 points on just 9 field goal attempts, but only racking up 1 assist. Sam Dalembert continued his strong play since the addition of Iverson – he had 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. For New Orleans, David West and Emeka Okafor combined for 33 points and 24 rebounds, but the 6-game winning streak is over. Chris Paul had 13 points and 14 assists, but he didn’t shoot well (5-13).

• Thunder 106, Knicks 88. OKC was up by 17 at the half and 23 after three. Not close, people. Kevin Durant scored 30 points on just 14 field goal attempts and Russell Westbrook scored 17 on 11. All-OTN Team member Serge Ibaka tallied 10 and 7 in 24 minutes and added a block, a steal, and 5 (ugh) fouls. For the Knicks, Chris Duhon and Danilo Gallinari combined to shoot 0-15 from the floor, including 0-9 from downtown. But hey, Jonathan Bender had a good game! 16 points on 6-10 shooting, including 2-5 from downtown. 2 blocks, as well. Happy he got those numbers, but this is a sorry effort from his team.

• Bulls 120, Pistons 87. Detroit was outscored by 25 points in the second and third quarters and failed to win a single Q. Sad times for Piston fans, as they haven’t seen their team win since December 12. The Bulls average 96.9 points per 100 possessions, good for 29th in the league. Last night? 126.3 points per 100 possessions. The Pistons made the Bulls look like they’re WAY better than the best offensive team in the league. I feel like I’m piling on if I go any further, so I’ll leave it at that. 27/6 for Deng, 22/9 for Rose, 16/11 for Noah.

• Suns 105, Bucks 101. I’ve got to watch this on my DVR, too. Really weird game, as the Suns were up by 21 after one quarter. It was 43-19 in the second quarter before the Bucks went on a 12-0 run. With Scott Skiles in hospital for an irregular heartbeat, the Bucks tried to get out of the hole they dug for themselves under Jim Boylan. Almost had it, too, and Alvin Gentry sounded like his team had LOST the game in the post-game presser because of the way they let the Bucks get close. Steve Nash had an unreal line of 30/7/11, but had 7 turnovers. Grant Hill reached the 15,000 point plateau. Hakim Warrick had 21 and 10 on 8-13 shooting for the Bucks.

• Nuggets 105, Timberwolves 94. Carmelo Anthony returned for Denver and scored 24 points on 17 shots, but only added 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Chauncey added 18/10 and a couple of timely threes, Kenyon Martin had 8/15, and the Birdman almost had a double-double off the bench with 10/9 along with 2 blocks and a steal. Corey Brewer (25), Al Jefferson (22), and Kevin Love (20) all scored big for Minnesota, but the Wolves are just not in Denver’s league right now.

• Jazz 118, Heat 89. This one was close (24-22) after one quarter, but broke open quickly. Miami could not take care of the ball and could not stop Utah’s offense, falling to .500 on the year. Deron Williams had 23 points and 10 assists, Carlos Boozer had 25 points and 11 rebounds, undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews scored 18 points on 8 shots off the bench, and Mehmet Okur (not a typo, not AK47) had 5 blocks.

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

We’re finally back with the fifth episode of The Outside The NBA Podcast and it feels good. Julian, Wagman, and I start this one off by dredging through the Gil/Critt mess. Then, we name the official player of the podcast. We briefly touch on Ron Artest before getting into the Andre Miller situation in Portland and discussing all of the teams at the bottom of the standings (except Indiana, for some reason). Since there was only one game last night, this is actually current. Hell yes. Runtime is just over 66 minutes.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Oh, it has been far too long since the last BfB. Holidays and all, you know. I can promise these will be more frequent now, though. Anyway, seven games on the schedule last night and three of them turned out to be fairly big upsets. Fun!

The All-OTN Team

Will Bynum: His team didn’t play last night, and I’m kinda worried about his playing time and his role after watching Rip Hamilton, Ben Gordon, and Tayshaun Prince return to the Pistons’ lineup on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre. HOWEVA, I have something for you: an awesome look at his high school days from a documentary, discovered by Piston Powered.

Shannon Brown: 10 Pts (4-5 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT), 2 Reb, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 1 PF in 15 mins.

No highlights for you today, unfortunately, but that’s a nice line in limited action. What pisses me off, though, is that Sasha Vujacic played 19 minutes in this game. Plus, when we reached garbage time with 6 minutes to go in this surprising 118-103 loss to Phoenix, Brown played and Vujacic didn’t. So, the minutes discrepancy is even greater if you’re talking about meaningful minutes. That’s not okay.

Jared Dudley: 19 Pts (6-10 FG, 3-4 3PT, 4-6 FT), 7 Reb (2 Off), 3 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF in 28 mins.

Dudley was the player of the game for Phoenix, as he led the bench unit that took apart the Lakers. That scoring total ties his career high and that efficiency brings a big smile to my face. The Suns’ announcers called his performance “amazing”, “off the charts”, and said “he is so fun to watch”. Agreed. He hit several big threes, grabbed key rebounds, made great passes, drew fouls around the basket, and played smart defense, much of it coming against a guy named Kobe Bryant. I loved every second of it. Here’s his post-game tweet and his first ever appearance on NBA TV’s arena link:

Serge Ibaka: 6 Pts (2-3 FG, 2-3 FT), 9 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 0 TO, 2 PF in 17 mins.

Going up against the Nets, this wasn’t Serge’s most spectacular game. The rebounds stand out, though. The talent-deficient Nets can’t afford to let teams get offensive boards if they want to win and Ibaka got 4 of ‘em. The Thunder rolled to their 3rd straight win, 105-89. This rookie’s best highlight came immediately after checking into the game, where he came flying out of nowhere to get a put-back lay-in. His lowlight was when Keyon Dooling dunked on him. Sadly, Tony Battie dunked on him too. Meh, there’s still plenty to like here and his team won the game they were supposed to win.

Rookie Watch

Brandon Jennings: 24 Pts (9-18 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-6 FT), 2 Reb, 7 Ast, 5 TO, 3 PF in 41 mins.

His play was the only thing to be happy about when it comes to last night’s game if you’re a Bucks fan. And I’m kind of a Bucks fan. I witnessed him score 7 points in about a minute in the first quarter and he scored 9 straight points in the third quarter as well. The third quarter run wasn’t enough to get his team out of the hole they had dug themselves earlier, though. What hole, you ask? Well, the Bobcats outscored Milwaukee 33-14 in the second Q. Blah. I still love the Bucks, but Jennings can’t do EVERYTHING for them if they expect to win. His teammates shot 35% from the field in this one.

Jeff Pendergraph: 11 Pts (4-5 FG, 3-4 FT), 5 Reb (2 Off), 1 Blk, 0 TO, 2 PF in 19 mins.

He wasn’t supposed to play these minutes, but you know the deal in Portland. Good for him, I say – last night’s effort shows that Pendergraph intends to make the most of his opportunity. Portland fans have to be a bit depressed about losing 103-94 to the Sixers, but they should take some solace in the fact that their unheralded rookie managed to score 11 points on 5 shots in just his fourth game back from injury. I need to see more of him to get a better feel for his game, but I can tell already that he’s got the right attitude. Much like the next two guys on this list, he provides energy and toughness. The skill stuff? Not sure yet, but I’m optimistic.

Omri Casspi: 11 Pts (4-9 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-4 FT), 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO, 3 PF in 36 mins.

You just have to love this guy. Unfazed by his 1-6 start from the floor, he contributed in other areas and hit his last three attempts with his brother watching from the stands for the second straight game. This included a thrilling dunk a couple of minutes into the third quarter and a HUGE three-pointer with 2 minutes left in the 4th. As is usually the case, his man and help defense was a positive for Sacramento in this 106-101 victory over Denver.

Jon Brockman: 6 Pts (1-3 FG, 4-4 FT), 10 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 TO, 5 PF in 17 mins.

Whoa, two Kings rookies here and neither one is Tyreke Evans! Ha. If you didn’t know, ‘Reke sat this one out with an ankle injury, making this W all the more impressive. Brockman was a big part of the winning effort, as you can see by those rebound and block numbers in limited action. I love watching this guy and think every team needs someone like him. You know the type – dirty work and defense. You can tell that other bigs don’t like facing off with this particular rookie and you can tell that he doesn’t give a shit. It’s unfortunate that his exuberance sometimes leads to more fouls than you’d like, but you kind of have to accept that for now. At least he helps make up for it with his knack for drawing fouls on the opposition when he goes up for rebounds and puts up shots on the inside. Without Brockman, I don’t think the Kings would have made it to overtime against the Lakers the other night. Doubtful that they would have pulled out this win without him, too. And I’m quite sure there’s no one else on this roster capable of blocking a Nene dunk.

Stephen Curry: 0 Pts (0-4 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-1 FT), 2 Reb, 0 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF in 11 mins.

I take no joy in pointing this out, but he was -16 in that time too. If you’re talking about the toughest night of Steph’s young career, this has got to be right up there with the time Nellie benched him against the Knicks in mid-November. Normally, I’d be pissed off that he didn’t get more time even if he was playing poorly, but it’s hard for me to do that on a night like this one, where the Warriors defeated the Celtics 103-99. I just hope Curry can enjoy the huge win with his teammates, even with the way he played.

James Harden: 3 Pts (0-10 FG, 0-4 3PT, 3-4 FT), 6 Reb (3 Off), 1Ast, 3 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO, 3 PF in 23 mins.

This was very strange to watch. I’m not sure what was wrong with the bearded rook last night, but he couldn’t get anything to fall. It didn’t matter if the shot was open or contested, whether it came on the perimeter or around the basket – nothing would go down. The shots I’ve seen him make all year were bricks. The rest of his game wasn’t affected too much, despite what the low assist total might imply. He played the same type of ball we’re used to, but just couldn’t buy a bucket. Luckily, all he’s concerned about is the win. I am sure he’ll bounce back.

Fun With Stats

Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd combined for 4 points on 1-10 shooting in 35 minutes. This should give you some insight as to why coach Scott Skiles opted not to play them in the second half.

Zach Randolph filled up the stat sheet with 23 points, 19 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and a steal in Memphis’s 116-111 overtime win over Washington. Oh, and Z-Bo went 9-9 from the line, including hitting two free throws to tie the game with 0.3 seconds left in regulation. What’s crazy is that I expect this production now. Check out the numbers he’s been putting up lately! In the same game, Gilbert Arenas filled the stat sheet with 30 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and 5 threes.

The Grizzlies only have a winning record overall against 4 NBA teams: the Wizards, Raptors, Clippers, and Bobcats. The last time the Wiz won a game in Memphis? November 3, 2004.

Vladimir Radmanovic pulled down 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. Yes, that Vladimir Radmanovic. I don’t understand it either.

The Celtics had 25 turnovers in a game they lost by 4 points. The Nuggets shot 20-35 from the free throw line in a game they lost by 5 points.

Philly shot 58% against Portland. 104 points might not look like a crazy offensive night, but this was an 87-possession game. That’s 119.5 pts per 100 possessions. The Suns lead the league in that category with an average of 111.8. This was a combination of very solid offense from the Sixers and poor interior D from the Blazers, as Philly managed to go 23-31 at the rim and 7-11 from inside of 10 feet. (Hoopdata’s box scores are awesome.)

Brandon Roy has managed at least 23 points in 13 straight games now. No player has a longer 20+ scoring streak going.

With 8 wins on the road this season, the Thunder have matched last year’s total. Also, the team is now 11-2 when KRS-TIC scores 10 points or more.

For the 19th consecutive game, the Nets were outrebounded.

The Lakers really seem to be missing Ron Artest. With Luke Walton sidelined as well, their lack of depth was exposed last night – the Suns’ bench outscored L.A. 52 to 31.

The Suns have now defeated the Lakers, Celtics, and Magic this season. These are the top three teams in the league, record-wise.

Impressive

Gerald Wallace: 21 Pts (7-13 FG, 0-1 3PT, 7-9 FT), 14 Reb (2 Off), 4 Ast, 1 Bl, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF in 43 mins.

21, 14. Ho-hum. This is what it’s come to with G. Wallace, which is crazy. He is just piling up stats and he’s as fun to watch as he’s ever been. Unless you’re rooting for the other team, that is. I appreciate the hell out of the way he hounds you on defense, outjumps and outworks you for rebounds, and gets out on the break. Last night, I just wished it had a less demoralizing effect on Milwaukee.

Kevin Durant: 40 Pts (15-22 FG, 0-2 3PT, 10-12 FT), 5 Reb (1 Off), 2 Ast, 3 Stl, 5 TO, 1 PF in 40 mins.

I feel for you, Trenton Hassell. You’re smart enough to know there’s no one on your team better fit to guard Kevin Durant. You’re smart enough to know how to best defend KD, given your size and athletic ability. You’re also smart enough to know that it probably won’t make a difference. Your best effort won’t be close to enough if Durant is playing as he should be, which he was. 40 points on 22 shots? Incredible. And none of it seemed forced. Hell, none of it seemed particularly difficult. The Nets don’t have anyone that comes close to matching up with him and their team defense is just poor. KD scored in every way imaginable. Beautiful to watch.

Nick Collison: 11 Pts (5-7 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-1 FT), 10 Reb (4 Off), 1 Blk, 3 PF in 29 mins.

Before I leave the stats behind, I should mention that he was +25 on the evening and he would have been 5-6 if not for a full-court heave at the end of the third quarter. Now, remember when I said every team needs a Jon Brockman type? Collison is that guy for the Thunder. He’s less reckless and thus less exciting than Brockman, but he’s ahead in the mental game at this point. If you’re still focused on his stats, then add two charges taken, numerous solid picks, and a few nice passes that didn’t result in assists. I’m telling you, he was big.

Yi Jianlian: 29 Pts (11-20 FG, 0-1 3PT, 7-9 FT), 7 Reb (3 Off), 2 Stl, 3 TO, 4 PF in 42 mins.

I must say I was intrigued to see Yi after Mark Ginnochio of Nets Are Scorching showed me that he looks like a different player these days. Little did I know he was going to tie his career high last night and engage in a scoring duel with Kevin Durant (18 to KD’s 22) in the first half. What I liked most was Yi’s aggressiveness – in the first half, he was persistent in getting to the basket and had some nice finishes. He hit some perimeter jumpers, sure, but I’m more interested in the fact that he converted some dunks and hook shots. I’ve been pretty critical of him in the past, but would like nothing more than to see him shut me up. The way to do that? Keep this up and keep getting stronger.

Robin Lopez: 8 Pts (4-4 FG, 0-2 FT), 5 Reb (3 Off), 1 Blk, 3 PF in 21 mins.

At the end of the first quarter, Lopez led the Suns in scoring. The announcers called his work “sensational” and said it was “the best stretch of his career”. I’m not one to argue, there. His good work continued throughout the game, as he used his size to disrupt the Laker bigs better than anyone else on the Suns’ roster could. Had a nice block on Kobe, too.

Elton Brand: 25 Pts (11-16 FG, 3-5 FT), 9 Reb (4 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 PF in 30 mins.

Hell yes! I feel a sense of pride when Elton puts up awesome numbers like these. I’ve said it before: this man has plenty left in the tank. He’s just been used improperly this season. Last night, though, the Sixers made a point of getting him the ball on the inside and Portland did not have an answer for him. Playing with Speights helps because he can be the 5 on offense and playing with Iverson helps because AI can set him up. Expect much more of this if Eddie Jordan allows it to continue. 30 minutes is still not enough if you ask me.

Allen Iverson: 19 Pts (7-11 FG, 5-7 FT), 4 Reb, 5 Ast, 2 TO, 3 PF in 31 mins.

19 points on 11 shots? Efficiency! Iverson! Again, hell yes! This isn’t just about the numbers, though. Qualitatively, there’s a lot to impressed with as well. He started off the game by hitting a few shots, but that didn’t make him try to dominate the game. Instead of forcing up contested shots or going on-on-one, he pushed the ball and shared it with his teammates. He looked quick, confident, and happy. I don’t know if a lot of people were paying attention to this game, but I loved it. Felt a bit bad rooting against the injury-ridden Blazers, but I really wanted AI and Elton to get this one. I remain convinced that this Sixer team is significantly better than its record.

Andres Nocioni: 21 Pts (6-7 FG, 3-4 3PT, 5-6 FT), 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Blk, 2 TO, 3 PF in 25 mins.

This was probably best game I’ve ever seen Noc play. He was essentially perfect on offense and he worked hard against Kenyon Martin and, briefly, Carmelo Anthony on defense. With their stud rookie sitting out, the Kings needed someone to step up and provide scoring punch – Andres’s dead-eye shooting was huge. In all honesty, I can still hardly believe what I saw. GREAT night for him.

Donte Greene: 17 Pts (6-9 FG, 1-3 3PT, 4-4 FT), 1 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 TO, 1 PF in 23 mins.

1 rebound for a 6’10 forward, but I’m impressed? Yeah. He really was good in all other areas. From the tip, Greene set the tone for the Kings – in the first two minutes, he scored 7 points, blocked a Carmelo Anthony shot, and drew an offensive foul on the Nuggets’ star small forward. His defense remained solid all night – 34/8 sounds good for Melo until you see that he needed 42 minutes and 35 shots to get there. Greene was a big part of this – he did a great job of making Anthony work and avoiding fouls. I’ll forgive him for the lack of rebounding this time. I’ll forgive him for the dumb heat-check in the first Q. I’ll even forgive him for the thoughtless gamble he made when he tried to intercept a pass he had no chance of getting to. Hm, now it sounds like I’m hating on him. Trust me, I’m not. Very solid game.

Monta Ellis: 37 Pts (15-26 FG, 1-3 3PT, 6-8 FT), 3 Reb (1 Off), 4 Ast, 1 Blk, 1 Stl, 3 TO, 3 PF in 48 mins.

For the fifth time this season, Monta played the entire game. The Warriors needed it to beat the Celtics, it would seem. Anyway, this was just a fantastic effort. He puts such pressure on your defense, even if your defense is one of the league’s best. To put up these kind of numbers against Rajon Rondo is extreeeeemely impressive. You know Monta is most dangerous with his penetration and finishing ability, but his jump shot was falling this time out – he made 9 out of his 12 attempts from 16-23 feet. (Again, Hoopdata’s boxscores are AWESOME.)

C.J. Watson: 11 Pts (4-8 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-4 FT), 0 Reb, 7 Ast, 7 Stl, 1 Blk, 3 TO, 1 PF in 37 mins.

Wow, wow, wow. 7 steals! Forget about the last one; that came on a long pass on the last possession, when the game was out of reach. Those first six, though? All of ‘em came in the second frame. Crazy, right? I was excited when I flipped to the game and he picked off a Rondo pass and went the other way for a layup. I was even more excited when he did the same thing on the next possession. Sitting Steph Curry was definitely the right decision with the way Watson was playing. You have to love the steals, but he did a great job defensively in ways that won’t show up in the stat sheet as well – he worked his ass off chasing Ray Allen around screens and managed to slow the sharpshooter down a bit. With the way his off-season went and the way everything’s gone with the Warriors this season, I couldn’t be happier to see him have a game like this.

Rajon Rondo: 30 Pts (11-18 FG, 1-3 3PT, 7-9 FT), 3 Reb (1 Off), 15 Ast, 3 Stl, 6 TO, 3 PF in 46 mins.

Yet again, Rondo was the best Celtic on the floor. I won’t pretend that I was rooting for his team this time, but I enjoyed every one of his points and assists anyway. I still haven’t quite figured out how exactly he is able to do whatever he wants on the court even with guys playing a few feet away from him when he catches the ball on the perimeter. I love that he shot 7-9 from the line and I love that he uses pump fakes more often and more effectively than almost anyone in the league.

Quoted

“There’s no such thing as being too intense.” – Stephen Jackson, when asked about his technical foul/being vocal

“Once I got my second wind I was all right. The first couple minutes I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest.” – Allen Iverson

“Having Allen back helps. He’s a finisher. He can get to the line and get the ball to guy at the right time. We’ve missed that.” – Elton Brand

“You just expect everything. With them, you don’t know what kind of crazy lineups they’re going to have out there.” – Doc Rivers, on the Warriors

Tweeted

@BothTeamsPlayed: Ummmm…..seriously, who’s the dude in this Yi costume?

@gswscribe: I will not be bringing my wallet into the locker room after the game. @quietstorm_32 might steal it

@johnschuhmann: Do we really know what AI’s got left in the tank? When’s the last time we saw him play injury-free & without rust?

@HPbasketball: Lakers, Nuggets, Celtics all lose? CHAOS REIGNS. #onenightonly

@freedarko: If Monta’s not an All-Star, I’ll puke myself to death. Can you win Most Improved twice?

@cdouglasroberts: I’m going to be cheering like Roni Turiaf tonight. All I need is the Pastor Troy beard & chin. Yes yess.

@cdouglasroberts: Tonights game put me in a horrible mood!!! I hate watching from the sideline. I already don’t have any patience. Can’t wait until practice!

@cdouglasroberts: We need to change our thinking & approach!! I hate where we are! I MUST practice tomorrow. PERIOD!

@cdouglasroberts: Had to go get some eggnog. I’m going to go to the market tomorrow to buy the REST! Fridge full. I’m on that! Family Guy is on too. Yes yess!

To Watch

Amar’e posterizing Mbenga:

A wild play that begins with a Devin Harris steal and ends with Courtney Lee slamming home an alley-oop:

Kevin Durant’s sweet baseline dunk:

Awesome NBA singing Part 1, starring three young Sacramento Kings:

Awesome NBA singing Part 2, starring Danilo Gallinari:

To Read

Kevin Durant blogging about his new teammate, Eric Maynor.

Adrian Wojnarowski tells us what’s going on with Tracy McGrady right now.

Zach Harper takes a look back at how astonishingly good Tracy McGrady used to be.

I took a break from daily recaps last week, but trust me when I tell you I didn’t take a break from watching ball or reading about it. There’s no way I can let a week of action go by without sharing my thoughts, so here’s a mammoth recap. I’ve done this before, using Twitter updates and YouTube videos to guide me. This time, I went through my Delicious bookmarks and picked out a bunch of my favourite links from the week. Took forever, but it’s fun to share the work of some of my favourite writers.

Monday, Dec. 14

“Bucks Fans Respond to Bogut’s Incentive” – Fred Birman takes a look at Squad 6 for the NYT’s Off the Dribble blog.

I’ve linked to an article on Squad 6 before, but you may have missed that and this is a great piece. If you didn’t know, Squad 6 is “a wild cluster of standing, chanting and screaming fans decked out in wigs, sombreros and even a man brandishing a wrestling-style championship belt.” Bucks center Andrew Bogut held auditions for people to be a part of it, and all members go to the games for free. The important thing: you have to stand up the whole game and make noise, or you’re not allowed back. This kicks so much ass.

“Sometimes the truth hurts…” – Matt McHale of By The Horns takes an honest look at his team.

This is a bit of a depressing read, but it shows exactly how Bulls fans had to feel after their team’s performance against the Boston Celtics. It’s hard to follow a team that doesn’t play up to its potential on defense and runs one of the ugliest offenses in the league. These Bulls are not fun to watch, leading to fan frustration that is intensified by the fact that it’s hard to trust the team’s management. One reason that fans don’t trust the management is because of the whole Ben Gordon situation. After messing with their highest-scoring, hardest-working player’s role and minutes for years, they screwed him around in contract negotiations and eventually let him walk for nothing at the end of his rookie deal. Anyway, as McHale covers here, the Bulls really miss Ben Gordon. They had hoped that John Salmons would make up for his absence, but he’s apparently forgotten how to shoot the basketball (38.5 FG%, 32.7 3PT). So has Kirk Hinrich (35.5% FG, 29.6% 3PT). Without Gordon, the Bulls can’t spread the floor properly. The result, so far, has been a team that takes and misses a lot of long, two-point jumpers. Not fun.

“Rose and Vinny on Rose’s role” – Matt of Blog-a-Bull comments on a couple of pieces about Chicago’s young PG.

In addition to fretting over the generally ugly basketball their team has been playing, Bulls fans have been worried about their potential franchise player, Derrick Rose. There’s no sense skirting around the issue: he’s been disappointing this season. At first, his unspectacular play could be blamed on the fact he was coming back from an injury, but it has persisted. The problem is that the flaws we saw last season – poor man and team defense, poor outside shooting, and an only decent ability to create for his teammates – are still there, and his breathtaking drives to the basket are less frequent. Not many Bulls fans are jumping off the bandwagon completely, but few are as excited as they were last season. If you ask me, he’s still got a chance to be one of the very best players in the league. He’s got elite quickness and scoring ability and he’s only 21 years old. I think he’ll get better the year goes on, and, even if he doesn’t, we will see improvements next season. It’s important that he works on his weaknesses in the summer, though. And part of that responsibility is on the franchise that’s paying him – the Bulls have to make sure he is working on the right things so he can develop into the player they want him to be. A coaching change might be a start, here.

“NBA ‘Watchability’ Scale: Ranking Every Team Based On Entertainment, Not Talent” – Mike Prada of Bullets Forever tells us which teams he’s watching on League Pass.

If you somehow missed this last week, you’ll notice immediately that those Bulls I’ve been talking about are right at the bottom, heh. Anyway, as a League Pass addict I loved reading this and agree with the vast majority of what is said here. The Bucks are WAY TOO LOW at #11, though – I’d have Jennings and Co. in a three-way tie with the Rockets and Thunder, right at the top of the list.

“The Day T-Mac Lost The City Of Houston” – Clutch goes over a couple of clips from a Rockets/Raptors game last year that non-Rockets fans might have never seen.

Okay, this is a bit random… but I remember this game well. Not for McGrady’s loafing, although I do remember talking about that. I remember this because I watched this one at Raptors Fan Friday and, surprisingly, it was a blowout in the Raptors’ favour. Once the game was out of hand, Von Wafer had his coming out party, starting a streak of 12-straight double-digit scoring games after a string of DNP-CD’s. I ran into the great J.E. Skeets on the street later that night and we conversed about all things NBA. I drunkenly harassed him about why he hates Mike Bibby so much, but didn’t get a concrete answer. I’m pretty sure I made some absurd claims about how awesome I was at basketball as a 9-year-old living in Australia, too. Good night.

“Who is the MVP at the Quarter Pole?” – Zach Lowe at Celtics Hub says, based on numbers, you could make the case that Rajon Rondo is Boston’s MVP.

“Rondo giving it his best shot” – Gary Washburn takes a look at Rondo and his improving jump shot.

This is just the start of the Rondo love from last week. It’s great, isn’t it? Fine, I know, I know. Most people don’t like Rajon as much as I do. Just let me have this: Rondo is improving on his weaknesses and is possibly, POSSIBLY the key to the Celtics’ hot start.

“Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle Can Probably Beat You At Table Tennis” – Zac Crain shares a video from Dynamic Table Tennis TV.

Maybe it’s just me, but I found this incredibly amusing. I love finding out that NBA people have strange hobbies. This almost beats finding out that Todd MacCulloch has become a professional pinball player. I also love that this isn’t the last weird Carlisle link I have for you this week. Just wait.

“Haslem Accepts New Role, Still Wants To Stay With Heat” – Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse takes a look at the classy, consistent power forward.

A few telling quotes from and about Udonis in this piece. It’s actually from December 13, so I’m cheating a bit. I think it flew a bit under the radar, though, and you should read it. People don’t talk much about Haslem because his game lacks the, um, flash of some of his teammates, but he is a solid, dependable pro that all 29 other teams would love to have.

“With Blazers Struggling At The Point, Bayless Wants More Minutes” – The Baseline shares a quote from a frustrated second-year player.

There’s really not much to analyze here. Jerryd Bayless wanted more playing time when this was published. Just know that I’m smiling while I type this. If you don’t know why, you absolutely must keep on reading.

“Post-game thoughts: Raptors 101, Rockets 88” – Scott Carefoot of RaptorBlog takes a look at the Raptors’ point guard situation after this Sunday afternoon win.

Carefoot starts this piece by saying there should be no debate about whether or not Jarrett Jack should start at PG for the Raptors. In his view, Jack should start and the Raptors should be looking to trade Jose Calderon. Well, um, I think there is still a debate and I have to disagree with him. I love Jarrett Jack, but he can’t do what Jose Calderon does. Even against good defense, Jose does a tremendous job of running the offense and finding guys shots where they are comfortable. Two years ago, the man should have been an All-Star with the way he was shooting from all areas of the court, distributing the ball, and playing decent defense. Last season? Different story. Jose was hurt all year and couldn’t play D. This season? Well, that’s where things get complicated. His defense has remained pretty awful, although in my opinion he is still easily a net positive because of his offensive play. But it’s led some people, like Carefoot, to reasonably argue that Jack is better for the squad. He’s playing pretty damn well right now as Jose is sitting out with a hip problem. Calderon’s current status is making me question whether or not he was ever healthy this season. The key question here is whether or not we’ll ever again see the guy who should have been an All-Star two years ago. That guy wasn’t close to being the worst defensive PG in the NBA. Jarrett Jack is not nearly as good as that guy. I hope we get him back and this debate ends.

“Wizards’ Arenas missing the mark mentally” – Mike Jones of the Washington Times examines the strange clutch mistakes Gilbert Arenas has been making.

Reading quotes from frustrated players always bums me out. It’s especially upsetting when it comes to Gil, though. The guy was/is known for his immense swagger. Agent Zero isn’t meant to be missing free throws at inopportune times. He isn’t meant to doubt himself. But he’s human, so this stuff is happening. It’s all a part of the comeback process, I guess. More on him later. For now, a few videos before we move on to Tuesday’s stuff:

Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game breaks down Josh Howard’s performance in his return to the court. This is a part of his fantastic Moving Pictures series – watch the others if you haven’t already.

Rockets players meet the Aaron Brooks bobblehead.

Happy Holidays from the Phoenix Suns

Tuesday, Dec. 15

“Carlisle On Mavs: ‘We Make Hard Work Out Of Sex’” – Um, the story is in the title.

Remember I said I had another weird Carlisle link for you? Well, yeah, this is it. If there’s a better (or funnier) way for a coach to express that his team is making things unnecessarily difficult, I haven’t heard it. Just brilliant.

“Chris Paul’s role: Superstar” – Henry Abbott examines what’s going on with Chris Paul and his Hornets, referencing some work done by Niall Doherty of Hornets247.

I feel a bit stupid linking to TrueHoop. Everyone reads TrueHoop. I’m not linking to the Simmons/Gladwell piece from this week, even though I enjoyed it. But then again, I think this Henry Abbott piece might have slipped by some people. It’s an interesting question – could Chris Paul possibly be hurting his team? Could the guy who dragged a team seriously lacking in talent to 49 wins last season be preventing his club from getting more wins now? The answer: um, maybe. Abbott’s intention is obviously not to diminish Paul’s brilliance, but rather to ask if his talents are currently being used properly. Here’s my take: Paul isn’t 100% and he is playing far too many minutes. You’ve no right to be mad at CP3, but if you’re mad at coach Jeff Bower for having him out there for so long, trying to do everything, that’s fine with me.

“The Knicks On Defense: Quarter Season Report” – Bandwagon Knick looks at the Knicks’ D using data from Synergy Sports.

I absolutely love reading pieces like this one. I’m definitely a stat geek and I think this kind of highly specific data helps us understand the game better. If you haven’t caught many Knicks games this season (and I wouldn’t blame you if that was the case), you’ll learn a lot. I’m especially appreciative that this post is focusing on DEFENSE, as that side of the game is so damn hard to quantify. I wish this info was available for every team in the league… well, actually it is, but it’s not cheap.

“So many deck chairs, so little time- 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors season through 24 games” – Jae from Golden State of Mind provides a harsh but fair critique of the Warriors’ start to the season.

I can’t say I actually enjoyed reading this, even though it’s excellent. Nellie’s Warriors have long been one of my favourite teams to watch, but this season they mostly frustrate me. I love Curry, Ellis, Randolph, and Morrow, but I don’t love the sloppy basketball they’re playing. Jae tells fans to let go of their playoff hopes if they still have them and can’t find a single bright spot in the season aside from Stephen Curry, kinda. Damn.

“GM 24 Recap – Snapped” – Philadunkia examines how the Sixers finally ended their losing with with a win over Golden State.

“Game Notes: Warriors at Sixers” – Tzvi Twersky of SLAM gives an account of his experience at the game.

Oh, this was a fun game for me. I’d been waiting for Philly to get a damn W. The best part was how A.I. played; here are a couple of quotes:

“What really impressed us is that he looked like he is finally getting his legs under him. He was quick, active and used his legs to go into his jumper instead of fading away. Getting his left knee drained twice may have helped and we’re sure having a couple days off did not hurt either.” – Philadunkia

“AI doesn’t seem upset that he’s not getting the ball too much (he’s playing off the ball, and goes plays at a time without touching it). He seems happy just to be playing meaningful minutes. Got to love that.” – Tzvi Twersky

There are a couple of things I don’t like, going back and reading these. Elton Brand only played 16 minutes off the bench in this one, even though he was effective. Oh, and Ivey’s knee problem has meant he’s only played one game since. Blah.

“The difference between admiration and awe” – The Roy Halladay trade inspired Scott Carefoot to think about Chris Bosh’s place in the hearts of Toronto fans.

The basic argument here is that, while Chris Bosh is certainly popular in Toronto, the fans don’t love him the same way they loved Roy Halladay or Vince Carter. If Bosh leaves town, they will be disappointed but not utterly devastated. Living in Toronto, this rings true to me. It’s unfortunate because you can make a very good case that Bosh is playing better basketball this year than VC ever has. The love we had for Vince here can hardly be overstated, though. We loved him like Philly loves Allen Iverson and Cleveland loves LeBron James. There was a time when he was the most exciting player in the world and we all took great pride in having him play in our city. With Bosh, it’s not quite the same and Carefoot captures that perfectly. As for Halladay? Wrong sport for me, sorry. But Wagman threw up on the street after finding out he was gone.

“Blair still a great unknown” – Jeff McDonald shares a couple of great quotes about rookie DeJuan Blair from Coach Popovich.

Rookie love, people. I dig it. The key Pop quote is here: “He’s a strange dude. Those things he does out there, I don’t know how he gets them done. I don’t know what his game is. I don’t know what to do with him.” This is hilarious to me. One of the best coaches in our game is saying even he doesn’t understand how Blair gets it done. The point is that Blair doesn’t really have any post moves, lacks height, lacks elite athleticism, but somehow manages to grab rebounds better than almost anyone in the league and score well around the basket. Pop doesn’t run any plays for Blair; he just throws the guy out there and hopes he delivers. The vast majority of the time, he does.

“Is Al Horford playing out of position or just creating a new one?” – Peachtree Hoops’s must-read on Al Horford’s improvement and where he fits with the future of the center position.

So good. The idea is that, even though Horford is a non-traditional center, he matches up favourably with almost every 5 in the league. With the way he’s producing and the wins the Hawks are piling up, it’s hard to argue this point. And all of this makes me happy. I was a bit worried about him when he didn’t make the second-year leap I expected him to. Turns out we just needed to wait a year.

“Sit down for this: NBA’s vital signs checking in just fine” – Ken Berger says that, despite attendance being down, there might be more NBA fans than you think.

Really interesting read. It sucks that so many arenas have so many empty seats, but at least people still seem to care about the league. It’s encouraging to know that TNT’s NBA ratings are up. The question becomes, then, how is the NBA going to make money off its new, young fans? Surely, a huge portion of the NBA’s 1.7 million Twitter followers are not coming to games. How many of these fans are shelling out the cash for League Pass Broadband? Can the NBA make up for the lost ticket revenue in other ways? I don’t know, I’m just asking questions here.

Wednesday, Dec. 16

“Recap: Cavs 99, Nets 89 (Or, That Was Just As Good As Any Other Regular Season Win! Technically Speaking!)” – John Krolik of Cavs: The Blog gives some insight into the Cavs/Nets game from the night before.

First, I have to say you should always Krolik’s stuff. Really, you should read all of the people I’m linking to here, but I’m mentioning Krolik in particular because I always feel like I’ve learned a lot when I read his stuff. I’ll admit that, despite LeBron’s awesomeness, the Cavs would not crack the top 10 in my watchability rankings. This means I miss more of their games than, say, Thunder games. I basically feel like I’ve watched the games after I read his detailed recaps, though. Anyway, the key thing that stands out here to me: Krolik appreciates Jamario Moon’s rebounding and believes that this skill would be key in small-ball lineups that feature LeBron James at the 4. He also implies that Mike Brown should, you know, actually play LeBron at the 4. I’m 100% with him on this. I loved the Jamario signing at the time (and the Parker one, too) mainly because it would allow James to get more minutes as a PF, where he is even more of a matchup nightmare than at the 3. I’m really hoping coach Brown experiments with this more as the season goes along. Even if he doesn’t, I still say the Cavs had a pretty damn good off-season. Moon and Anthony Parker may not have been loved much in some sectors of Raptors Nation when they were starters last season, but they’re more than capable role players in Cleveland. And as for Shaq, well… It hasn’t worked out that great so far, but methinks the move will pay dividends in the playoffs if/when they match up with Orlando. And you can’t forget that all they gave up for him was Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic.

“Phoenix Suns Remain Undefeated at Home with Win over Spurs” – Phoenix Stan happily reflects on a big Suns win at Bright Side Of The Sun.

This was one of the most memorable games of the week, if only for Goran Dragic’s performance. His 18 points were a career-high and he played great D, too. This man has made such great strides this season. It’s been said elsewhere, but I’ve gotta say that he’s impressed the hell out of me all year long. Watching him last season, I just couldn’t see him becoming a real rotation player. I love it when I have to eat my words about things like that.

“Thoughts on Pistons – Rockets: McGrady’s Debut” – Rahat Huq puts Tracy McGrady under the microscope.

Gotta show some love for the newest member of the TrueHoop Network, Red94. I hadn’t read any of Rahat’s work until the TrueHoop debut, but have devoured everything he’s written since then. Great stuff. Anyway, if you missed it, this is really all you need to know about T-Mac’s first game back. Love the little note on rookie Chase Budinger at the end, too.

“Media Row Report: Blazers 95 Kings 88” – Ben Golliver at Blazers Edge

“Blazers Mount Comeback, Edge Kings 95-88” – Tom Ziller at Sactown Royalty

“Game 23 Recap: Blazers 95, Kings 88” – Zach Harper at Cowbell Kingdom

All three of these writers are fantastic. The fact that I just happily re-read three different recaps of a game I watched should speak to that. Anyway, check these posts out and see the love for Jerryd Bayless and Tyreke Evans. Also, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the negative comments about Spencer Hawes just a little bit. I don’t hate much on here, but I have to say Hawes is one of my least favourite players to watch. He’s got nice touch on his shot, but he doesn’t play like a big man. He doesn’t have much athleticism, doesn’t grab many rebounds, and doesn’t play good defense inside. These are some of the same criticisms that have been fairly levied on Raptors big man Andrea Bargnani, but there’s a difference: Bargs has, albeit slowly, improved on his weaknesses each season. Plus, he occasionally does phenomenal things offensively that make me momentarily forget he has any weaknesses at all. Can’t say the same about Spencer.

“Post Up: Return of T-Mac” – Holly MacKenzie.

“Behind the Box Score, where the Spurs can’t guard anyone” – Kelly Dwyer.

“Lion Face/Lemon Face 12.16.09: Shaqzunas O’Nealkaus Edition” – Zach Harper.

Honestly, if you’re not reading the Post Up, Behind the Box Score, and Lion Face/Lemon Face every morning, I don’t particularly want you reading me. I look forward to these every day and could link them all over this post, but that would be a bit redundant so I’m just doing to do ‘em all here. You’ll notice some props given to Michael Beasley for his performance against Toronto in all three, and his quote featured in both Holly and Kelly’s pieces is my second-favourite from last week. It would seem that Dwyer is with me on Chase Budinger and Harper is with me on Spencer Hawes. Finally, um, I have to quote this bit of Lion Face/Lemon Face:

Seriously Toronto defense, go kill yourself. You’re putting all of these nice, fine Canadians into some jigsaw, Saw type of torture machine every time you hike up the shorts, sit down in a defensive stance and then allow a ton of points on a lot of easy shot attempts. Please check yourself and quick wrecking this Canadian pride.

“Back-to-Back Preview: Bulls and Bucks” – Dexter Fishmore of Silver Screen and Roll looks ahead to two games that (spoiler alert) the Lakers end up winning.

Including this because Fishmore totally eviscerates the Bulls in a way that not even Bulls bloggers have done thus far this season. Also, if you don’t love Andrew Bogut already (and you should because you know about Squad 6), you will after you watch the video of him high-fiving the air after a made free throw.

“Appreciating Charlie Villanueva: Perfect in the Post?” – Mike Payne of Detroit Bad Boys takes a close look at Charlie Villanueva’s success in the post.

I knew Charlie V. was scoring pretty well this year, but damn. He’s this unstoppable down low? I had no idea. This is an awesome use of specialized stats and it’s very encouraging for those who are worried about Detroit spending all their cap space on “two bench players” this past summer.

“Rondo’s Latest Trick: Consistency” – Jeff Clark of CelticsBlog argues that Rajon Rondo’s consistency this season means he should make the All-Star Team.

That’s right, another Rondo piece. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to, but I loved it. I’m telling you (and so is Jeff), this guy has been a monster. The hate is irrelevant. He’s playing out of his mind and there’s no doubt in my mind that he deserves an All-Star nod.

“Nowitzki relishes role in crunch time” – Tim McMahon of ESPN Dallas uses statistical and anecdotal evidence to prove Dirk is as clutch as they come.

I fear Dirk in the clutch. He’s come up big at the end of games numerous times this season and the play where he beat my Bucks with his shot over Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is permanently etched into my brain. We were talking about consistency with Rondo, and, man, I’m not sure “consistent” is a strong enough term to talk about Dirk’s excellence in his twelfth NBA season. He has been so reliable all year that it’s hard to even know what to say about him. I expect a dominant performance every time he steps onto the court and that’s pretty much what I get.

“Warriors’ new slogan: Buy tickets or else Randolph gets it!” – Tim Kawakami remains very critical of the Golden State organization as he discusses the fact that Anthony Randolph is on the trading block.

It’s obvious Kawakami gets some joy out of slamming the front office. But, really, with the way they’ve treated their fans, I don’t blame him. The guy writes with anger but the anger is fucking real and I love it. I don’t, however, love what the Warriors are doing. At all. Randolph is a 20-year-old second-year player and the team has been screwing around with his playing time since he got to the Bay Area, regardless of how he’s performed on the court. Actually, you know what, I DO love that he’s on the trading block. Anything to get him out of there. Anything to avoid a Tyrus Thomas scenario. This kid has SO MUCH potential, I can’t bear to see him fail to realize it.

“Someone Over The Rainbow” – Rob Mahoney delves deep into Russell Westbrook’s game.

Man, what great writing. Seriously, I hope no one stopped after Monday or Tuesday. Look at the people in this section – Krolik, Ziller, Harper, MacKenzie, Dwyer, Mahoney, and the list goes on. These are pros. I’m just trying to learn from them. Anyway, Westbrook: the guy has such obvious potential to be an elite player. He is exciting as hell right now and his defensive abilities are off the charts for a second-year point guard. However, he doesn’t play like a “pure” PG and his decision-making can drive you a bit crazy. If you’re like me, reading this will keep you optimistic and patient when it comes to the possibility of him becoming who we want him to be.

“Livingston Keeps Moving Forward Without Looking Back” – Chris Tomasson of NBA FanHouse talks to Livingston and other players about his journey back to the NBA.

I’m just going to assume you know about the injury. Just reading the first couple of paragraphs made me feel sick, but I was smiling by the end of the article. Shaun has long been one of my favourite players and I can’t describe how happy it makes me to see him playing and contributing at the NBA level. It’s just a bonus that he’s on one of my favourite teams. He had unlimited potential when he was drafted and that’s curbed a bit now, but, really, fuck it. That’s not the point. I guess it kind of sucks if he never makes an All-Star team, but the fact that he’s playing at all is incredible. What a story. Root for this man and respect the hell out of him. Thank you.

“Ron Artest returns to Chicago and talks about environment” – Mike Bresnahan writes about Ron Artest as he returns to Chicago.

Remember I said the Beasley quote was my second favourite? Here’s, by far, my favourite quote of the week:

“It’s great. I take it on dates and everything. Fine wine. A lot of romance. A lot of kissing up. Trying to get used to her and hopefully she’ll give me her number. I love the triangle.” – Ron Artest, when asked about his relationship with the Lakers’ offense.

“Bynum hopes shoe swap will keep him healthy” – Vince Ellis.

“Suns forward Jared Dudley adds 3s to defense” – Paul Coro

If there’s a news story about an All-OTN Team guy, I’ve gotta share it. Not a whole lot here, though. Apparently, Will Bynum’s damn sprained ankles may have been related to the fact he was wearing shoes unsuitable for how he plays. And Jared Dudley has improved his NBA game the same way he improved his college game, by working extremely hard. That’s how he became one of the league’s best three-point shooters. But you already knew that.

Thursday, Dec. 17

“Just because you’re moving…” – Holly MacKenzie takes an honest look at what’s been ailing the Raptors.

Man, that Wooden quote. I LOVE that quote. I think the first time I heard it was when commentator Jack Armstrong said it during a Raptors broadcast years ago. Not 100% on that, but I do know it’s been with me for years. So, yeah, I was sold after the first line. But I kept reading and kept nodding my head as I agreed with everything and I kept grimacing as the mutual dissatisfaction with this Raps team sunk in. What’s bothered me most in the Raptors’ losses is that sometimes they just don’t play like a team I’d watch if I didn’t feel like I had to. I like every single player on this roster and feel like I’ve got to know them through reading and watching interviews and hearing stories about them during their time in this city, but, as a group, it’s just not working a lot of the time. If you look at the teams I love watching (ex. Rockets, Thunder, Bucks, Suns…), they seem to play better than they are. I love the little things they do. It’s ball movement, togetherness, hustle, and defensive intensity that get me. These Raptors have rarely had these things for a full 48 minutes. Even though they were projected to be a bad defensive team and that’s been their downfall, you get the feeling they are underperforming when you consider the talent on the roster. In short stretches, or, rarely, in one entire game, you see how dangerous this team could be if they got it right. This team gives defenses fits with its outside shooting and offensive execution. At times, these guys play solid team defense, especially when the more athletic bench players are in the game. But there have been so many little, stupid mistakes that add up throughout games. These mistakes lead to a sense of frustration on the part of both the players and the fans. Here’s hoping these decrease as the season rolls on and watching and writing about Toronto’s team becomes more fun.

“Despite setbacks, Oden optimistic on his future” – David Aldridge’s fantastic piece on Greg Oden and his rehab.

I’m sure you know how great of a writer David Aldridge is and I’m pretty sure you’ve already seen the videos and read the quotes from when Oden talked to the media at practice last week. I’ve got to link to this anyway, just in case you missed it… plus, I really want to be able to share a fantastic fact that I learned reading it: Oden’s dog is named Charles Barkley McLovin. You have to love that.

“Boris Diaw’s Fade Out” – Brett Hainline of Queen City Hoops searches for an answer to the Boris Diaw conundrum.

Diaw hasn’t been fitting in with this Bobcats team since Stephen Jackson arrived. It was great when he started producing for them after he came from Phoenix, but it was somewhat of a surprise as well. His star had certainly faded in Phoenix ever since his role was minimized with the return of their other key players. It seems like the same thing is happening in Charlotte now and it’s a problem. This Charlotte team is going to make another run at the playoffs and if they’re going to finally make it they will need his help.

“Game 24 Recap: Kings 112, Wizards 109” – Zach Harper of Cowbell Kingdom

“Tyreke Evans, You Are A Maniac” – Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty

I wanted to limit the amount of times I linked to the same people, but I’ve done it again. If you missed the Wizards/Kings game on Wednesday night, I’m a bit mad at you. But you can kind of make up for it by reading these great recaps and watching the videos. It sort of broke my heart to see Gilbert lose the ball at the end, but Tyreke Evans is just so unbelievably good. How is this man a rookie? It’s ridiculous. Fellow rookie Omri Casspi gets some much-deserved love in those writeups, too.

“Arenas overshadowed by $111 million deal?” – Michael Lee of the Washington Post talks to Gilbert about the big contract hanging over his head.

If I was Gilbert, I wouldn’t want to hear about the contract all the time either. But, unfortunately, that’s what comes with signing those deals. It’s going to come up, especially when you’re not producing like other people who are making that kind of money. To me, though, the root of the issue is expectations – both what we expect from a near-max-money guy and what we expect from a guy working his way back from a serious injury. I have to emphasize that making all that money doesn’t make you perfect. Making that money doesn’t make you completely responsible for the team’s fortunes. And, in this case, making that money doesn’t make you immune to rust and doesn’t make you recover from injuries at a superhuman rate. I’m sure different Wizards fans had different expectations for Arenas going into this season, but if you’re upset with his individual play I think you have to re-evaluate yours. Obviously, his late-game anti-heroics have been a bit of a shock, but is it a catastrophe that his efficiency is down from where it was before he missed two full seasons of action? Is it unexpected that he has trouble elevating at the basket now? It shouldn’t be. We’ve seen flashes of Gilbert’s former self this season but we’ve also seen a man who is mortal like the rest of us. He’ll get back to being Agent Zero, but it’ll take time.

“Phil designs Kobe’s heroics” – Kevin Ding of The Orange County Register gives some great insights about Kobe’s game-winner against Milwaukee.

You’ve probably already read this and know about Kobe’s flashback to the 1991 finals. It just felt wrong not to mention it in a weekly recap. Gotta say, I was rooting for the Bucks hard in this game. Like always. But when that shot went in, I wasn’t upset. That’s just greatness and I can’t be mad at that. The blocking call a couple of possessions earlier, though? I can be mad at that. Utter bullshit.

“New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni says sitting Nate Robinson was nothing personal” – Frank Isola of the New York Daily News shares some quotes from Mike D’Antoni about Nate Robinson’s benching.

Bah, this confuses me. I want to believe D’Antoni, but I find it difficult. Is Nate that destructive on the floor? Does he really make the team that much worse? What’s different from last season, when he was effective? It’s hard for me to argue against the benching with the way they’ve played better without him, but I think Robinson’s skills make him worthy of playing time. Mike is saying that Nate is “a good guy” and he’d “play Satan himself” if he thought it’d help the team, and I’m left wondering how honest he’s being about the whole situation.

“Q&A With Daryl Morey” – Jason Friedman interviews the Rockets’ GM at the quarter-mark of the season.

Before I talk about the content, I have to give huge credit to Jason Friedman and Rockets.com. I read more articles on the Rockets’ official site than all of the other teams’ sites combined and that’s pretty much just because of Friedman’s stuff. Now, onto Morey: I love his genuine and thoughtful answers to all the questions here and, when asked about team-building and what he’s learned since he’s been on the job, he gives the best anti-tanking argument I’ve ever heard. It’s simple as hell, but I’ve never thought of it this way. When you’re winning games, your players become more valuable. They’re seen as “winning players” and the demand for them goes up throughout the league. Houston’s positioned themselves to be a major player in the trade market if they want to because they have a bunch of guys on short, inexpensive contracts and they’re winning. This is the other side of the coin when you’re talking about accepting losses in order to get good draft position.

“Cavaliers’ West dealing with issues ‘one day at a time’” – Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News gets some great quotes from Phil Martelli, Delonte’s college coach.

This is another “big” article from last week, so I’ll leave the content alone and assume you’ve read it. I just want to add that West is a HUGE part of this Cavaliers team. I know he’s coming off the bench right now, but he might be the team’s second-most important player. He doesn’t look like he should be, but he’s well above-average on both ends of the court and, if the Cavs are going to do more playoff damage than they did last year, they need him. I don’t know the extent or the details of the mental health issues he’s facing, but I hope for his own sake and for the sake of NBA fans that he gets everything straightened out as much as it can be. I’ve said Cleveland isn’t one of my favourite teams to watch, but that has nothing to do with Delonte.

Friday, Dec. 18

Jerryd Bayless was the star on Thursday night, so all of the internet’s all-stars were talking about him on Friday morning. Some evidence:

“Behind the Box Score, where the Blazers have a new stud” – Kelly Dwyer.

“The Post Up: J. Bayless!” – Holly MacKenzie.

“Lion Face/Lemon Face 12.17.09: JERRYD BAYLESS JUST HAPPENED EDITION” – Matt Moore.

“Jerryd Bayless and the Liberation of Combo Guards” – Tom Ziller.

“Media Row Report: Blazers 105 Suns 102” – Ben Golliver.

“If You Don’t Know, Now You Know (Part 2)” – Rey Moralde.

“Jerryd Bayless!! Woooo!!” – Mark Schiralli aka mookie.

Yes, I know I said I would only link to those daily recaps once. Whatever. I don’t have a whole lot to add here on top of all those great pieces, but I’ll say this: I was fucking overjoyed watching Bayless do his thing that night. I thought he’d be a fantastic player when he came out of college and the one thing that pissed me off about that great Portland squad last year was the fact that they didn’t give him a chance. It’s true that his per-minute numbers were shit last year, but I’m telling you there was a reason Blazer fans wanted to see him play more. His talent was obvious, but he was being used incorrectly and sparingly. It’s so great that he’s a big part of their offense these days, even though I hate that it had to come at the cost of half their roster being injured.

“Links: My Decade” – Lang Whitaker doles out some nostalgia.

Seems appropriate that right after I talk about Bayless, the new thing, I go to something that’s been in my life for years: The Links. I’ve already told you the inspiration for my All-OTN Team came from Lang. Him talking about Robert Horry’s incredible performance in the 2005 finals along with a collection of animated .gifs definitely had me going down memory lane. It wasn’t that long ago where I didn’t read any of the people I’m linking to now except for Mr. Whitaker. Every day, I checked Hoopshype and SLAMonline for my NBA news. That was it. Then came TrueHoop and Ball Don’t Lie and the bazillion blogs that I read now. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss the simpler times – the wealth of information and analysis out there today is amazing. Just fun to take a look back for a moment.

“Arenas hoping Agent Zero can save Wizards” – Marc Spears gets some amazing quotes from Gilbert Arenas and touches on some rookie big men, Anthony Randolph, and more.

I think I’ve said enough about Gilbert and Anthony Randolph. Just read Spears’s piece if you haven’t. He and Woj turn out consistently excellent stuff for Yahoo!, but you know that already.

“In praise of the Big Piranha” – Nate Arch of Canis Hoopus gives props to Kevin Love after a Wolves win.

With Al Jefferson around, I’m not sure I agree that Kevin Love will definitely become the Wolves’ MVP, but I’m ready to be convinced. I’ve been a Love fan from the start – he does a ton of good stuff on the court. Some of it shows up in the boxscore; some of it does not. As Arch rightly points out, Kevin’s ability to contribute in multiple areas makes him potentially the team’s best player. I don’t want to steal too much from the post, so just read it. I’ll say this, though: if he didn’t already have such a big role and put up such good numbers, his intangibles alone would make him a lock for my All-OTN Team

“Game 24 Recap: Dallas 100, Oklahoma City 86” – Zorgon of Welcome To Loud City recaps the entertaining Thunder/Mavericks game.

I’m going to forgive Zorgon for writing this recap a day late because of the recognition he gives to my man Serge Ibaka. The All-OTN Team’s center was named the “Thunder Down Under” in this excellent recap. Key sentence: “Many props go out to Ibaka for significantly improving his game throughout the course of the season.” Wow. He’s significantly improved his game in a month and a half. That’s big. This guy was supposed to be a project. I’ve been telling you, keep your eyes on this him…

“Changing course: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s offensive star, is turning heads with his defense” – Darnell Mayberry talks about the part of KD’s game that others are not talking about.

If you haven’t been watching the Thunder play, I can tell you it’s all true. The most impressive thing I’ve seen from Durant in the NBA is not his ridiculous scoring ability – I knew he had that. It’s the fact that he’s worked on his game and turned weaknesses into strengths. There’s nowhere that’s more apparent than on the defensive end – no one has made more defensive strides than him in the last two years.

“KG: Klutch Guy” – Bent from CelticsBlog shows that Kevin Garnett has come up big at the end of games this season.

It’s impossible to make that “Garnett disappears in the clutch” argument now. So don’t do it. Thanks.

“One Pounding Dribblers Anonymous” – Scott Souza tells us how far Kendrick Perkins has come with his game.

Heh, another Celtics piece. My Toronto friends are going to hate me if they read this. Anyway, with all my Rondo love I’ve kinda neglected the Celts’ man in the middle. Kendrick has been a great defender for a couple of years now, but what’s really worth noting about his current campaign is the improvement he’s had on the offensive end. He’s making quick moves and getting easy baskets. The rest of the league can’t be happy that he’s becoming a legitimate offensive threat.

“Then and Now: Tony Parker” – Jeff Garcia of Project Spurs tracks Tony Parker’s maturation as the Spurs’ point man.

It seems so long ago that TP was a rookie and we didn’t know how good he was going to be. Remember when we were worried that he couldn’t shoot? How about when the Spurs almost signed Jason Kidd? This is a good look at how he’s become one of the game’s best PG’s.

“Pistons’ Will Bynum made himself into NBA player” – Jo-Ann Barnas.

“Pistons find a Swede surprise in Jonas Jerebko” – Vincent Goodwill.

“Rookie Austin Daye has been good for the Pistons” – Ted Kulfan.

Obviously, my favourite piece is the one on All-OTN Team member Will Bynum. You should read all three, though – they are fantastic reads. Plus, you need to learn about ‘em. These unheralded Pistons are all playing very good basketball right now.

“Brandon Jennings, Social Media Misfit” – Bethlehem Shoals gives his take on the $7,500 fine the league doled out to the rookie.

Obviously, Shoals gets this completely right. All day Friday, people were discussing the absurdity of this fine. He sent a message to his fans from his phone after a win, at a time where he’s allowed to talk and text on it. And now he’s $7,500 poorer. This is just stupid. At least Brandon hasn’t followed through with deleting his Twitter account.

“Raptors pile it on Nets, who continue to search for answers” – Holly Mackenzie’s gamer for the Raps/Nets game on Friday night.

A late Friday link, but had to include it because it’s the exact right angle. I was at the game and intended to root for my Raptors, but took absolutely no pleasure in how they got the win. I said it felt like a Globetrotters game, with all the fast break dunks the Raps were getting. Chris Douglas-Roberts was working his ass off all night, but some of his teammates were not. Holly points out that, somehow, the Nets had as many turnovers as field goals in the first half. Ugh. What an ugly game. Try not to feel bad for CDR while reading that, I dare you.

Saturday, Dec. 19

“Video: Rockets’ Landry embeds teeth in Nowitzki’s arm” – J.E. Skeets comments on the unbelievable collision from Friday night.

I have to lead with this for Saturday. I’m sure you’ve heard about it. Nothing more to add; I still can’t believe it.

“You Know the Drill: Cavs 85- Bucks 82” – Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball recaps Bucks/Cavs.

“Recap: Cavaliers 85, Bucks 83 (With Special Bonuses!)” – Mitchell of BrewHoop recaps Bucks/Cavs.

This was an enjoyable game, even though my Bucks lost. Quickly going to say that Milwaukee fans are spoiled by these two great blogs, and I’m going to quote each of them about Brandon Jennings:

“Maybe it’s because I’m a fellow skinny PG, but when I see Brandon bust his hump getting a hand in the shooter’s face, it makes me happy. He won’t be able to outmuscle anybody, but he can make shooters miss through sheer annoyance. I chalk it up to good coaching (thanks, Kelvin Sampson!).

_

This point is less about Jennings’ use of the lost art of “hand-in-face” and more about his exceptional effort. He plays like a guy who flat-out loves the sport, and if he works in practice as hard as he does in games (which I hear he does), he’s going to be huge.” – Mitchell of BrewHoop, on Jennings’s shot defense.

“Jennings finished 5-21 and wasn’t able to create anything for the Bucks on the last play. Not that creating against Cleveland is very easy, they’re among the league’s best defensively and this is the second time in Jennings’ life he’s played them. So had he created a good look or hit a three there, it would have been beyond exceptional. That’s how things typically are in the league for rookies and it’s something we’ll likely be seeing more often than not the rest of this year despite Jennings’ talents.

_

But it’s not too difficult to envision the end of games two years from now when Jennings IS able to create something and the Bucks DO have the talent to win these kinds of games. And then Bucks fans will be talking about their superstar and how he’s the reason they’re winning. I hope.” – Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball, on Jennings at the end of games.

“Mr. $111 Million Drops A Determined 45 Points Against Former Team” – Kyle Deidie of Truth About It joyfully discusses Gilbert’s breakout game and shares other reactions to it.

YES! This game was so fun to watch for me, just to see Gilbert light it up. I know the Warriors team defense was pathetic, but still. He dropped 45. Finally. After all the depressing crap I linked to earlier with him, you know this is my favourite piece. Let me have this: Woooooo!

“How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Jonathan Bender” – Seth Rosenthal of Posting and Toasting is impressed with the newest Knick.

Man, it was awesome seeing Jonathan Bender on my TV playing basketball again. And, whoa, I didn’t expect him to have a debut this good. Did you watch that video? He does NOT look like a guy who hasn’t played pro ball in years. I know it’s just one game, but still. This is encouraging. Be happy.

“The Recap: December 19th, 2009” – Holly MacKenzie.goes over Friday’s games for The Score.

Wow, this feels like the millionth Holly Mack piece I’ve linked to. I originally wanted not to have more than one link by the same person. Oh well. You should be reading The Recap on The Score every day, whether it’s Holly or Scott Carefoot doing the work. Anyway, the reason I’m linking this? Check the quote of the game for the Memphis/Indy:

“There are too many words to describe what he’s meant to this team so far. He’s been an energy guy, a guy who’s been a leader for this team and a veteran. Going out and putting in the work he’s been doing on and off the court has been amazing.” – Mike Conley on Randolph’s presence.

Holy shit. I’m guessing you didn’t expect to be hearing that kind of thing about Zach Randolph. I certainly didn’t, but I’m excited about it. You know I’ve been loving how the Grizz have been playing.

“GM 26 Recap: POW…How you like us now?” – Jeff McMenamin recaps the Sixers’ victory over the Celtics.

A good recap as always, but I have to single out the Elton Brand bit because it’s what I’ve been trying to say since the damn season started.

At center it should be a no-brainer to have Elton Brand start, but you never know with Eddie Jordan. For some reason Brand has been the odd man out of the rotation for most of the season and since Brand is such a class-act guy there’s been really no complaints out of the big man. Well for all the complaints which he left unsaid I’m going to make sure that you know them now. Brand should start, Brand should play over 35 minutes every game, Brand is still capable of putting up 20/10 every night, Brand is a leader on and off court, and Brand will shock the NBA in the second half of the year. Give the man his due. He cares more about dominating at the game of basketball than he does about the contract which he signed a little more then a year ago. I’m tired of the media saying it’s his fault for underperforming when Jordan has played him less then 30 minutes in 12 games this season. This [Holiday/Iverson/Iguodala/Speights/Brand] is the starting five which will lead the Sixers to wins like the one against Boston last night.

“Rajon Rondo’s Assists Demand Our Attention” – Greg Payne of CelticsBlog.

“Rondo’s frustration, and why can he do whatever he wants” – Red’s Army.

I’m saying no more about Rondo. Just letting other people do the talking for me.

“Robinson wants trade from Knicks” – Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports shares a trade demand from Nate’s agent, Aaron Goodwin.

“Agent Says It Is Time for Robinson to Leave” – Howard Beck of the New York Times reports the same thing. I think his was first, but you have to be a member of NYTimes.com to read it.

I think my feelings on this should be obvious. If a trade means Nate will actually get to play basketball, I’m all for it.

“Kirk Snyder: A life unraveled” – Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune tells Kirk Snyder’s sad story.

Man… I don’t know what to say. This is just really, really fucking sad. At least we’ll always have this.

“Dennis Rodman’s fame benefits rich and poor” – Dan LeBatard with a fascinating (to say the least) look at where Dennis Rodman is at right now.

Um, wow. With this and the Snyder story… Just wow. So much crazy stuff in this article. I do, however, know that the answer to the question on the side of the page regarding Rodman and the Hall Of Fame is a definite “yes”.

“Free Amir” – Tom Liston’s ode to Amir Johnson.

I needed the Saturday section to end on a happy note. A song about an All-OTN Team member, set to The First Noel? That’ll do just fine.

Sunday, Dec. 20

“Bailed Out By a Star: Kings 96, Bucks 95” – Tom Ziller recaps Evans/Jennings. I mean… Kings/Bucks.

What a game this was. I LOVED watching the league’s two top rookies go at it. Both played very well. I can’t wait to see them do it again for the next, oh, fifteen years or so. I was rooting for the Bucks, as usual, so I didn’t appreciate Tyreke’s amazing game-winner as much as, say, Ziller. But, still – great game. And Tyreke Evans is indeed a star.

“Clippers 112 – Philadelphia 107 – Overtime – Improbable” – Steve Perrin of Clips Nation recaps Clips/Sixers.

“Clippers 112, Philadelphia 107 (OT)” – Kevin Arnovitz of ClipperBlog recaps Clips/Sixers.

The end of the fourth quarter was insane. Check Arnovitz’s piece for the video. I still can’t get over it. These are two L.A. Clippers blogs, and neither of these writers are saying Iggy’s shot was definitely no-good. That was the closest buzzer-beater I have EVER seen.

“Magic get defensive against Blazers” – Philip Rossman-Reich goes over the Magic/Blazers game.

This wasn’t the prettiest game, but the Magic got the win. What’s notable for me this bit about Vince Carter:

This was the kind of game where Orlando needed him to do other things. And Carter did that. Vince finished with seven rebounds and three assists and did a decent enough job defensively to try and make up for some of his offensive failings tonight.

So, even though he hurt my fantasy team, Vince was able to be a positive for Orlando in a winning effort. This, despite having a miserable (1-14) shooting night.

“Rockets 95, Thunder 90” – Darnell Mayberry’s notes on a Thunder loss.

“The Rockets do it again on the glass to take down the Thunder” – Royce Young of Daily Thunder gives his take.

Ahh, two of my favourite teams facing off. I was rooting for Oklahoma City, but knew this would be a tough matchup for them. The Rockets seem to just have their number. Anyway, serious love for Ibaka here. Mayberry points out that he played all but 1:40 of the final period and that his block on Chase Budinger was so big that they replayed it on the jumbotron despite the fact this was a ROAD GAME. Young, well, he said this:

Serge Ibaka ladies and gentleman. The line for the fan club starts right behind me. He had 10 points on 5-5 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots in just 23 minutes. He’s going to be getting 30 a night soon and potentially sending Nenad Krstic into extreme role player mode. You watch.

Erm… fan club… I have to line up behind someone? But I named him to my team! Argh, fine… I’m with you, Royce. Gotta love the “Chewblocka” nickname too, ha.

“Sunday Discussion – Offensive… to say the least” – J.G. of Daily Thunder ponders whether OKC’s offense needs re-tooling.

Another solid Daily Thunder post. This is a really intriguing question to me. I commented on it, actually, but there are 82 freaking comments there now so it’s lost somewhere in there. I think a big part of the issue is what you think of the previously discussed Russell Westbrook. I believe in him and think he’ll get it, so I’m more inclined to stick with Brooks’s system.

“Team Resiliency Strikes Again” – Jason Friedman of Rockets.com gives Houston’s perspective on the Rockets/Thunder game.

Hey, check it out, Friedman again! I told you there’s quality stuff on the Rockets website all the time. Read this piece if you want to know why I fell in love with this Rockets team. It’s all there.

“Read Between The Lines” – Graydon Gordian of 48 Minutes Of Hell examines the last ten seconds of Saturday’s Spurs/Pacers game.

This is a really interesting look at how 10 seconds can be a pretty good microcosm of a season. Tim Duncan has been the saving grace of the Spurs’ year; everyone else is surrounded by question marks. I should elaborate about Saturday night – it was a bit crazy. This Spurs game was decided by one point and a dunk from Timmy D. ended up being the game-winner. You already know about the Iggy and Evans shots. In addition to all of this, the Chicago/Atlanta game went into overtime and the Bulls pulled out a victory. With all that, plus wanting to watch the rookie battle, plus catching bits and pieces of the Suns/Wizards game (which turned out to be a Phoenix blowout), I was flipping channels like a motherfucker. Yay for League Pass.

“Interview: Jazz Rookie Wes Matthews Making Most of Opportunity in Utah” – Chris Littmann’s video interview with the Jazz’s undrafted rookie.

Just watch the damn thing. If you can’t appreciate that an undrafted rookie who thought he was going to play this year in Europe is now starting for Jerry Sloan’s team, you have no soul.

“Raptors use late run to put away Hornets” – Eric Koreen’s game story for Sunday’s Toronto/New Orleans matinee.

I love hearing that DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems are being called Batman and Robin these days. It’s been obvious since the start of the season that they have great chemistry off the court and, now that Weems is seeing consistent time, they’re showing it on court as well. I went to this game, mostly because I wanted to see Chris Paul, and I didn’t get exactly what I was expecting. Paul was held in check by Marcus Banks and Jarrett Jack and an ankle injury. Not that he would admit the injury was bothering him. It was nowhere near a perfect game for Toronto, but I loved watching the bench guys get after it and I am currently not as discouraged with the team as I was earlier in the week. When I got home, I took in some more games and have a few things to say. First, Zach Randolph! Remember that Conley quote? Yeah. Dude had 32 pts and 24 rebs (9 offensive) yesterday against Denver. This came in a winning effort. Several of those points and boards came at timely moments, keeping Denver from getting too close. To quickly wrap up (because, Jesus, this is long): The Celtics/Wolves and Lakers/Pistons games went pretty much as you’d expect, Brandon Roy was a beast against Miami in a Portland win, Dallas impressively took care of Cleveland without the services of Dirk Nowitzki, and the Knicks managed to beat Charlotte on the strength of a huge Danilo Gallinari block in the final seconds. Now, a couple more links and this is over…

“As Weird as Finger Panes” – Bethlehem Shoals is inspired by the fact that the New York Times said Darko Milicic’s lasting impression will be the fact that he was immortalized in the name of the FreeDarko blog.

Instantly, this is a classic FD piece. It prominently features Amir Johnson, which pleases me, but I must say I definitely do NOT associate anything resembling a sinking feeling with him now that he’s on my Raptors.

“Jumping head-first into the Bucks’ ‘Squad 6’” – Andrew Wagner of OnMilwaukee.com joins Squad 6 for a game.

And we finish how we started. Just a fun piece about what it’s like to go crazy in Bogut’s section for the night. Check the video at the bottom, too.

Gary Dineen/Getty Images

A quick recap this morning, due to time constraints. First, though, I should mention Saturday night. I skipped out on BfB yesterday because I didn’t want to talk about the horrible thing that happened in Portland. I feel like I should acknowledge the other stuff that took place that night, though: DeMar DeRozan kicked ass and made me happy, Jarrett Jack tied his shoe while holding onto the ball and made Bulls fans angry, Steve Nash and Vince Carter owned their respective 4th quarters to secure wins, Joe Johnson helped his Hawks win ugly, Kevin Love put in his second straight double-double in a win against the Jazz, and the Spurs are apparently not to be feared anymore. Okay, we good? Onto Sunday…

The All-OTN Team

Will Bynum: 16 Pts (3-12 FG, 1-1 3PT, 9-14 FT), 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF in 28 mins.

Bynum continued his poor field goal shooting but also continued to make up for it by getting to the foul line. In the interest of fairness, I’ll mention that some of those free throws came at the end of the game on intentional fouls, but it’s an impressive number nonetheless. His team took care of the struggling Wizards, 98-94.

Shannon Brown: 12 Pts (4-10 FT, 2-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), 2 Reb, 1 Ast, 3 TO, 0 PF in 19 mins.

No dunks for Shannon last night. Bummer. He came up big in the 4th, though, hitting back-to-back threes (!) when the Suns were trying to make a game of it. Another Lakers blowout, 108-88.

Jared Dudley: 9 Pts (3-7 FG, 2-3 3PT, 1-2 FT), 5 Reb (3 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 1 PF in 24 mins.

Jared knocked some down threes and worked his ass off. If you didn’t know, that’s what he does. He drew the unenviable (not a strong enough word) task of guarding Kobe Bryant for long stretches and kept the intensity up even when the point differential was enormous. Hated to see the Suns fall behind like that, but still loved watching Dudley play. Oh, another thing: HoopsHype named him the NBA’s MVT. And… one more thing. I came across this fantastic picture of him:

Serge Ibaka

J.G. of Daily Thunder wrote a great piece on Ibaka yesterday. While I’m incredibly biased and want to see him get all the minutes he can get, the distribution of playing time in Oklahoma City is becoming quite a tricky puzzle to solve.

Rookie Watch

Brandon Jennings: 24 Pts (9-22 FG, 0-2 FT, 6-6 FT), 4 Reb, 4 Ast, 3 TO, 1 PF in 40 mins.

Yeah, he only shot 41% from the field, but that represents a better shooting percentage than the vast majority of his teammates could muster yesterday. After a stunning 11-0 Milwaukee run to start the game, the Cavs’ picked up their defense when Shaquille O’Neal moved to the bench. The Bucks were scoring at will on high pick-and-rolls early, but these dried up when the Cavs ratcheted up their defensive intensity and the Bucks’ offense degenerated into “give Bogut the ball and hope for the best”. Cleveland ended up going on an unfathomable 29-0 run that spanned some of the 1st and 2nd quarters, fueled largely by the great play of Delonte West off the bench. In the second half, Jennings put a lot of pressure on Cleveland’s D and found ways to score, but it was way, way too late. I loved his play and I love his team, but damn. That was a beating. The final score, 101-86, doesn’t really tell the story.

Austin Daye: 11 Pts (5-5 FG, 1-1 3PT), 2 Reb, 2 PF in 12 mins.

In the second half, creative Pistons coach John Kuester put the 6’11 Daye at 2-guard. It worked mighty well, as, um, he didn’t miss a shot. His 7 points in the third quarter were huge and he added a couple of key baskets in the 4th. Only 12 minutes, but those were 12 BIG minutes. This kid really has the potential to be a dangerous offensive player. He might need to put some weight on, though – I think he’s the only NBA’er skinnier than Kevin Durant.

Jonas Jebreko: 10 Pts (3-8 FG, 1-3 3PT, 3-4 FT), 11 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO, 3 PF in 38 mins.

Look at that – 38 minutes! That’s more than any other Piston in this game and it allowed the rook to get his second career double-double. I continue to really dig this kid’s game. I like him for the same reasons I like Omri Casspi – he’s tough, skilled, and plays both ends of the floor. I’m really interested in how Kuester will distribute the minutes when Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince come back. The Pistons might not be loaded with elite-level guys, but they have as many rotation-worthy players as any team in the league, save for the Magic.

Omri Casspi: 14 Pts (5-8 FG, 4-4 3PT, 0-2 FT), 3 Reb (1 Off), 1 TO, 5 PF in 19 mins.

And speaking of Casspi… These are some nice numbers. I’d have more than stats for you, but I didn’t catch much of the game. Going to give it a close look later today, as I recorded it with my brand new PVR last night. Anyway, 4-4 from downtown? Great to see. He continues to confuse me with his free-throw shooting, though – by all accounts his stroke looks fine, but something’s going wrong when he lets the damn ball fly. He’s at 50% on the year, whilst shooting 51.2% from behind the arc! That’s messed up.

Tyreke Evans: 30 Pts (10-19 FG, 0-3 3PT, 10-12 FT), 4 Rebs (3 Off), 4 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO, 5 PF in 39 mins.

‘Reke continues to make his case for ROY… You have to love him doing his D-Wade impression against the real Wade (who bested the rookie with 34 points on 16 field goals with 10 assists to boot). It’s obvious that Evans is extremely gifted at getting to the basket. Looks like a special player. He couldn’t lead his team to a victory last night, though, as the Kings dropped their second in a row after winning four straight, falling 115-102 to Wade’s Heat.

Impressive

Alright, here’s where the time constraints are kicking in. No “Fun With Stats” today, and I’m going to be quick with who impressed me yesterday and stick with just the Cleveland/Milwaukee game. For the Cavs, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao were phenomenal off the bench. Delonte played a very, very efficient game, somehow managing 21 points on 9 shots in just 24 minutes. He was simply brilliant on offense, dominating Milwaukee’s usually-stellar D and getting numerous and-1s around the basket. You have to think he rejoins the starting lineup at some point soon. Just hope he has his head straight. Varejao was almost as dominant as Delonte, but it won’t show up in the stats. He did his work on the defensive end, effectively protecting the paint and stopping penetration at the same time. In his first 16 minutes on the floor, he was +31. Crazy. Before I move on, I have to mention the Bucks’ Luc Richard Mbah A Moute. I expect amazing defense from him because that’s what he does, but he surprised even me yesterday with how well he defended LeBron James. No one on this planet can stop LeBron, but LRMAM can at least make life more difficult for him. I think he’s the best in the world at guarding the MVP, and with his ability to guard 1-4, he might be the best defensive player in the league overall.

Quoted

“It’s very tough to be a superstar in this league, but right now he’s doing an unbelievable job for this team, for this franchise and he’s only going to get better.” – LeBron James, on Brandon Jennings.

“The biggest thing I was saying to the guys was we can’t lose to the Nets. No disrespect to them, but if we want to start taking steps forward and going in the right direction, we have to win games vs. teams like the Nets.” – Al Harrington, after his Knicks took down the Nets 106-97 in the afternoon. No disrespect, really? Because to me, that is very disrespectful to the Nets. Not that they haven’t earned this, but still.

“He pretty much came in and changed the complexion of the game. We needed something, so it was great for a young guy to come in and make that kind of contribution.” – Ben Gordon, who was limited in action yesterday because of his lingering ankle issue, on Austin Daye.

Tweeted

@cdouglasroberts: I’m late, but respectt to my big dog AI. Glad he’s back in the “A”. Cuz retired for 13 hours. Haaaaa. #1 hardest player I’ve EVER guarded. If I was to give out my own MVT, I’d have to give serious consideration to CDR.

@KDonhoops: Also, I just clicked over to the Y! NBA page, I didn’t know, and I’m … no other way to put this, crying. This just isn’t fair. Well, I know I wasn’t alone.

To Watch

Rockets broadcaster Matt Bullard hilariously castigating referees:

Raptors broadcaster Jack Armstrong hilariously enjoying some in-game entertainment:

LeBron James ruining a nice Brandon Jennings play:

The third instalment of the “One Rookie” series starring my boy DeMar DeRozan:

To Read

Some great quotes from AI’s first practice with Philly.

A look at what’s happened to ex-Syracuse guard and ex-SLAM High School Diary keeper Eric Devendorf.

Some clarity on the Portland/Andre Miller situation

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.

Terry Gilliam/AP Photo

I’ve heard a lot about how tough it is to make predictions this season. Well, here’s an important term for 2009-2010: mediocrity. Outside of the top and bottom 3 or 4 teams in each conference, pretty well everyone is stuck in it. So yes, it’s going to be a tough year to predict in some ways. But you can count me among those to say that this year the difference between good teams, great teams and shit teams will be more noticeable than ever. I was originally just going to just rank the teams without win totals. Why? Limit the damage, baby. Limit the damage. Unfortunately, I’ve been told I need to do wins/losses too. So, totals in brackets after the pick.

Eastern Conference

1) Cleveland: Lost in 6 last year, improved at almost every position. Shaq tends to have big first years with teams. Added leadership, depth and quality. (64-18)

2) Orlando: Is Vince an upgrade on Turk? Maybe. But a slight upgrade at 1 position puts them behind the Cavs who’ve loaded up specifically with the goal of beating the Magic in mind. (61-21)

3) Boston: Even if the big 3 dwindles to the Big 2 and Sheed, they still have Rondo. For this year at least, they’re still title challengers. Do yourself a favour though C’s fans, don’t check out the Celts salary info for next year. And don’t think about Ray Allen and potentially Rondo expiring. And don’t think about another year on KGs odometer. And for the love of god don’t think about what Sheed did last year in Detroit. (58-24)

4) Atlanta: Last year Josh Smith had a pretty crappy year by his standards. They’re basically the same club from last year, but captain obvious says: When one of your best players is significantly better from last season, that’s an improvement in overall team performance. (50-32)

5) Toronto: Last year everything that could go wrong for the Raps did, and Toronto still didn’t finish that far from the post season. A healthy Jose, a motivated Bosh and a deep bench should provide more wins. (49-33)

6) Chicago: Losing Gordon hurt, but that should be mitigated by the natural growth of their young players. I love Rose. I love Noah. Hell, I even love lamp. They’ll be good. (47-35)

7) Miami: Dwayne Wade. That is all (42-40)

8) Washington: Gilbert Arenas. That is all. (41-41)

9) Indiana: Take the best white guys the NCAA can produce, put them with a beast down low (Hibbert), throw in a real good point guard in T.J. and they’ll do decently well. Just not quite good enough this year. (39-43)

10) Detroit: I like the pieces, just the whole puzzle doesn’t look so good. Weak up front. Weak on defense. And their biggest problem: only 1 ball to share and nary a distributor to be found. (38-44)

11) Charlotte: I like the direction they were going in last year. And MJ being as hands off as possible is quite possibly the best thing that could ever happen to this franchise. Well, short of a new owner buying the team who actually bothers to learn the names of his players. (36-46)

12) Philly: Where letting your only point guard walk away happens. Pray for Brand’s health or else they could be even worse. (33-49)

13) New York: D’Antoni and Lee have to be worth a few wins, right? Bonus prediction: Instead of going to games, Knicks fans will be flooding confessionals around the greater New York area to try and cleanse the city of sin in hopes of the fabled LeBron showing up. One thing working in the Knicks favour: All scriptures talk about the Messiah showing up in times of chaos. So they have that going for them, which is nice. (32-50)

14) Milwuakee: Lost Charlie V. Lost Sessions. Probably going to lose Redd within a few months. So yeah. (28-54)

15) New Jersey: Sure they’re building something. But this year will not be pretty. (24-58)

Playoffs

First round: Cleveland vs. Washington, Orlando vs. Miami, Boston vs. Chicago, Atlanta vs. Toronto.
Well, at least there might be 2 entertaining first round series’. Cleveland and Orlando romp; Chicago actually manages to upset the C’s who will be playing shorthanded due to injury, and Toronto takes Atlanta in 6 after exposing the Hawks bench.

Second round: Cleveland vs. Toronto, Orlando vs. Chicago.
Let’s all congratulate Toronto and Chicago on their wonderful seasons.

East Final: Cleveland vs. Orlando.
This is where the additions the Cavs made really pay off, Cavs win it in 6.

Western Conference

1) Los Angeles Lakers: The best until proven otherwise. Sure, they might have downgraded from Ariza to Artest, but if any team could afford such a risky move, it’s the Lake Show. (63-19)

2) San Antonio: Love everything they did this offseason. Love Manu getting rest. Love Timmy getting rest. Love RJ. Love Blair. (62-20)

3) Denver: Uhhh didn’t you people read this? (60-22)

4) Portland: This year they have the natural progression of their young players and added a guy who will probably be the best backup PG in the league. Only worry: does Aldridge lose some motivation after that big contract? (58-24)

5) Utah: Come on. It’s Utah. As the great Swirsky’d say, book it. (53-29)

6) Phoenix: I have no rhyme, reason or rationale behind this pick beyond the fact that this is Nash’s last realistic shot at a playoff run, Amar’e is back healthy and they’re running again. Do they have enough in the tank for one more run in the playoffs? I hope so for Nash’s sake. (51-31)

7) New Orleans: Hey! Look! It’s the Chris Paul’s! On a serious note: play Mo Pete. Just do it. I won’t be asking again. (50-32)

8) Los Angeles Clippers: Another team whose offseason I’m in love with. And hey, who wouldn’t like to see the hyper talented young Clippers vs. the defending champion elder statesmen Lakers? If I didn’t set up a Denver/Phoenix first round orgasm (for me or anyone who likes offensive basketball that is), it’d be the best first round matchup possible. Or at least one of the more intriguing. (48-34)

9) Dallas: Uh-oh! I have Dallas missing the playoffs! How?! I dunno. Just something about the makeup of this Mavs team rubs me the wrong way. I think in some years they’d have a real good team, just in this year’s Western conference they aren’t built to compete with the best. Aren’t enough bad teams this year to lose to the good ones and still be able to make the playoffs. (47-35)

10) Oklahoma City: They just need one more year of seasoning before they take that next step. Like a stew. Just let‘em simmer for a bit. (42-40)

11) Houston: Can a team compete with $40 million in salary on the shelf due to injuries? Unfortunately, probably not. I’m sure they’ll be far more competitive than they should be; I just see this team losing a lot of close games to good teams. (41-41)

12) Golden State: Now it looks like they’re going to have to trade Stephen Jackson by the deadline. As if they didn’t have enough problems. Yeesh. My prediction: Fan anger. And lots of it. (38-44)

13) Minnesota: Well, at least they have Jefferson and Love. (30-52)

14) Memphis: YOU ALREADY HAD MARC GASOL! WHY DID YOU DRAFT A BUST OF A BIG MAN AND TRADE FOR ZACH RANDOLPH! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?! YOU’RE GOING TO KILL HIS CAREER!!! Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. Where were we? (27-55)

15) Sacramento: Well, at least they’ll sell a few jerseys to Jewish basketball fans, like me. I’ll be watching for Casspi, but I can’t imagine too many people will watch for any reason. Which is too bad. Lots of teams are going to play great games against these guys. My prediction: A lot of games where fans go “How the hell did the Kings give up 130 points to the fucking ________?!” (17-65)

Playoffs

First round: Lakers vs. Clippers, San Antonio vs. New Orleans, Denver vs. Phoenix, Portland vs. Utah.
Clippers fight hard, but just don’t have the talent to hang with the Lakers over 7. Lakers in 5. San Antonio embarrasses New Orleans. Denver and Phoenix have the series of the playoffs, averaging 230+ points a game combined throughout the series, with Denver taking it in 6 games. And Portland and Utah have a battle, but ultimately the Blazers are too talented. Top 4 seeds all advance.

Second round: Lakers vs. Portland, San Antonio vs. Denver.
Lakers again just over talent Portland. Lakers in 6. San Antonio vs Denver, though, is tough. Denver has weapons at all positions and I like Denver’s bench better. It’ll be close but my gut says Nuggets in 7.

West Finals: Lakers vs. Denver.
Deja vu all over again? This year, Denver comes in more prepared than they were last year. They’ll have real inbounds plays and everything! JR and Melo will both play better (pretty impressive considering what they did last year). Not to mention the Artest Factor: Eventually Ron-Ron will do something stupid at a bad time and Denver will capitalize. All of which leads to Nuggets in 7.

NBA Finals

Cleveland vs Denver.
I’ma stick with LeBron here. He’s due. Cavs in 6.