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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.

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PURE JOY. Wednesday, January 13, 2010 was a phenomenal night in the NBA.

As I’m starting to write this, there are still games on. Generally, that’s not how you do a recap. I just wanted to begin while I still have this big, stupid grin on my face.

This isn’t the first time this season where the action on my television has turned me into, basically, a giddy child. Hell, this isn’t even the most hysterical I’ve been this season (check where I talk about Jennings’s 55 here). But damn, there were some great close games and I don’t know if there’s been a night where there have been so many positive things to talk about. So let’s talk about them, it’ll be fun.

Lakers 100, Mavericks 95

Andrew Bynum: Oh what fun it is to watch a real, honest-to-goodness post-up big man do his thing. Erick Dampier is (seriously) a very good defender, but Bynum ate him up right from the beginning of the game with his quick moves and his soft, soft touch. His line? 22 and 11. 8-11 from the field. You don’t know how happy it makes me to be able to talk about his GAME rather than a trade rumour. I hope he continues to play like this and the rumours cease. Are we remembering that this kid is only 22? Yeah.

Ron Artest: Since his concussion, he has had a few sub-par performances. He might be past all that now, though. 16 points on 5-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, and 5-6 FT. 11 rebounds, too. Can’t ask for more, and I haven’t even mentioned his most important contribution: defense. It’s so great to see it working out well in L.A. – I didn’t see it going down like this, but sometimes there’s nothing sweeter than being proven wrong.

Kobe Bryant: He played 11 minutes in the first half and didn’t do much of anything, with back spasms so obviously slowing him down. The one shot he attempted had about 10% of the lift his J normally has and his mortality startled me. In the second half, though, Kobe looked like a different player. Not his usual self, mind you, but there was some energy and he wanted the ball. And, with his team inbounding the ball with 42.5 seconds left, he received it and hit the biggest bucket of the game, a jumper over Josh Howard. He only scored 10 points on 11 shots in 35 minutes, but I’ll remember that shot. And the fact that he played when so many others wouldn’t have.

Dirk Nowitzki: The only reason Kobe needed to hit that shot was that Dirk had made a huge three-pointer on the previous possession, tying the game up and capping an 8-0 run. He was, typically, brilliant in the 4th Q., where he scored 15 of his 30 points. In that 4th Q., he hit a jumper to become the 34th player in NBA history to pass 20,000 career points. For this, the crowd gave him a terrific standing ovation. It’s a bit mind-bending for me every time I see a player pass a milestone like this – I remember when this guy was a rookie with silly hair and I hadn’t the foggiest idea he would ever be close to becoming an All-Star, let alone the sure-fire HoF’er he is today. Oh, and speaking of hair – he celebrated his achievement with a new look.

Spurs 109, Thunder 108 (OT)

DeJuan Blair: The man of the night, in my books. The first thing I noticed when I turned on this game was that Tim Duncan wasn’t playing. The second thing I noticed was that Blair was making life miserable for OKC. From the opening tip, this rookie was dominant inside and I loved it. He’s always a beast on the glass and he always finds a way to score after grabbing offensive rebounds, but last night he was a big threat on the pick-and-roll as well. Check out this unbelievable line: 28 points (11-17 FG, 6-8 FT), 21 Reb (10 Off), 2 Blk, 2 Stl, 2 TO, 6 PF in 31 minutes. I can’t say enough about this. 31 minutes! Yeah, this game went into overtime, but he didn’t even play big minutes for a regulation game. Yet, 28 and 21. Absolutely insane. Need I remind you that he has no ACL’s? No, you knew that already. Let’s appreciate this guy and enjoy it every time he gives a big Eff You to the teams who passed on him in the draft.

Tony Parker: So I guess this was bullshit, then? Haha, kidding. Jesse Blanchard of 48 Minutes Of Hell was on-point – Parker’s been hampered by plantar fasciitis for the past little while and his production has suffered for it. In this game, though, you would never have known. He, like Blair, came out on fire in the first quarter, where he scored 16 points on 7-9 shooting. He finished the game with 28 points and 8 assists and generally looked like the TP we’ve come to expect, getting where he wants on the floor and finishing way easier than logic would dictate.

Manu Ginobili: 0-10 from the field, 0 points. But he had 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, and one of the biggest plays of the season:

This breathtaking hero play allowed Richard Jefferson to hit what would turn out to be the game-winning jumper with 9.1 seconds remaining.

Russell Westbrook: Here’s the line: 25 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds. Awesome, right? Well, the fact he needed 24 shots to score those points makes it a bit less awesome, but that’s okay for this 21-year-old. We know that he’s made significant strides in his all-around game and is continuing to improve with every game. Sure, he missed what would have been a game-winner at the end of OT, but this game doesn’t go to OT if he doesn’t hit that huge jump shot with 3.8 seconds left in regulation. Big game, in a great game.

Rockets 120, Timberwolves 114 (3OT!)

Corey Brewer: He sent this game into overtime with a shot from halfcourt. No analysis necessary.

Wayne Ellington: The rookie who started the season off shooting so, so poorly came up BIG. 7-12 from the floor, 3-4 from downtown. This includes the shot from distance that tied the game at 105, setting up the third and final overtime period.

Shane Battier: His three-pointer in the third overtime to give the Rockets a 6-point lead was a dagger of sorts. I also saw him get a huge block in one of the overtime periods. He actually finished with 5 (!) blocks in this game, a weird accomplishment for a guy who almost never tries to block shots on the man he is guarding. Funny thing is, he has a 6-block game to his name this year too. Check the boxscore and you’ll see he also registered 2 steals and 12 rebounds (7 offensive) in 49:34.

Aaron Brooks: A career-high 43 points in… 59 minutes and 25 seconds of action. What a night. What a looong night for the Wolves, trying to guard him. 14-30 FG, 6-9 3PT, 9-12 FT. Don’t tell me it’s not that impressive per-minute, don’t complain that he “only” got 5 assists. The man scored 43 points in an NBA game. Not easy. [Also, he only had one freaking turnover. One.]

Chuck Hayes: Love, love, love this line: 10 Pts (5-6 FG), 17 Reb (4 Off), 6 Ast, 4 Stl, 2 Blk, 4 TO, 6 PF in exactly 50 minutes. There are not a lot of players in this league capable of putting up this line. I mean, only taking 6 shots in 50 minutes, and making almost all of them? The 17 boards are a career-high, as are the 6 assists. I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising, given that he played 50 minutes, but it’s so very impressive to be able to play that many minutes with the intensity and focus that he possesses. He’s the Rockets’ second-shortest starter, but he’s battling as a center every single night. He’s loving it, too, and I’m loving watching him. Brilliant basketball player.

Al Jefferson: 26 points, 26 rebounds. Fine, 26 shot attempts too. It’s still a beautiful line and he made several key baskets in the overtime periods. It’s well worth noting that his rebounding total is a new franchise record. Setting a franchise record for rebounding on a team that had Kevin Garnett for the majority of his career? That’s gotta feel good.

Pacers 122, Suns 114

Danny Granger: Here’s the guy that was rated so highly in fantasy basketball as the season began: 33 points (11-22 FG, 5-9 3PT, 6-8 FT), 8 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 TO, 4 PF in 40 mins. He led his team back from a 24 point deficit, which is very hard to do in the NBA. You know what’s harder? Doing that in two consecutive games. The Pacers had rallied behind Granger against Toronto just two days prior, when they were down by 23 points. I kind of doubt this has happened before.

Dahntay Jones: After receiving a DNP-CD against Toronto, Jones played 25 minutes in this one and scored 11 points on 6 FGA’s, with 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block as well. I hated seeing him in the doghouse and hope that he will stay away from there from here on out.

Mike Dunleavy Jr.:30 points for Lil Dun and it’s the first time he’s done that as a Pacer. The last time he scored 30 was the final game of the 2007-2008 season. Dunleavy only needed 26 minutes and 14 field goal attempts to get that impressive total, which means he had a game that can only be described as “supereffingefficient.”

Steve Nash: He can’t be happy, with his team giving up such a huge lead. No one on the Suns seemed happy about letting Milwaukee come back against them the night before, and now to do the same thing but not even pull out the win? Awful. Still, I’ve gotta show him some respect. He managed his 20/9 in just 27 minutes because he had to get seven stitches to fix his busted lip after taking a first-quarter elbow from Earl Watson. Apparently, a tooth went through his upper lip. Tough guy.

Hawks 94, Wizards 82

Jamal Crawford: 14 of his 22 points came in the 4th quarter. This is his 2nd 14-point 4th Q. in less than a week. Antawn Jamison had made it a 66-64 game early in the period, but Crawford is making a habit out of taking over at the end of games and making sure his team comes away with a W. Perhaps we need a nickname for him that reflects this, but for the love of God don’t let it be “Big Shot Jamal.”

Antawn Jamison: It came in a losing effort, but it was impressive. 25/19/3 on the night. 17 of those points came in the 2nd half, as part of a push to come back from their 12-point halftime deficit. I hate that he’s stuck in Washington right now, but I love that he’s continuing to play hard and produce like the more-than-solid player and true professional that we know he is.

Celtics 111, Nets 87:

Ugh. I don’t want to look at numbers for this one. Check these videos out, though. One is Tony Allen almost hitting his head on the backboard whilst slamming home an alley-oop; one is Bill Walker being Bill Walker.

Knicks 93, Sixers 92

David Lee: You would have understood if he had skipped this game, as his grandfather passed away on Tuesday. Instead, he played and played well: 24/9/2 in a winning effort.

Sam Dalembert: You would have understood if he has skipped the game, as several of his relatives and friends in Haiti have yet to contact him since the horrific earthquake on Tuesday. Instead, he played and played well: 12/21/1 with a block and a steal.

Heat 115, Warriors 102

Dwyane Wade: He may not be averaging the MVP-level numbers he did last season, but he got ‘em this time. 35/7/9 on 10-15 shooting, with 3 steals as well. Oh, and he shot 15-15 from the line. So as to appear human, he turned the ball over 7 times as well.

Jermaine O’Neal: Also just took 15 field goal attempts and he scored 25 points. His +26 was the highest of anyone in the game and I’d be tempted to call it a “vintage” JO performance if he had just blocked a shot. In watching the final quarter, he looked great and looked like he was having fun.

Corey Maggette: He followed up his 32 points on 14 shots vs. Cleveland with 25 points on 11 shots here. This man has some obvious holes in his game, but he can definitely score and get to the line with the best of ‘em. 11-11 from the charity stripe tonight. He’s far from my favourite player to watch and you can hate him if you want, but know that this kind of efficiency is rare.

Anthony Morrow: I love watching this man shoot and I love seeing that he scored 24 points on 14 shots. I just love that he TOOK 14 shots – in his previous 3 games combined, he had just 13 attempts. 30 minutes tonight for Morrow and it should be that way every damn game. Come on, Nellie, realize what you have here. 4-5 from downtown.

Hornets 108, Clippers 94

Chris Paul: 15 points, 15 assists, 4 steals, +27. That’s what Chris Paul does. But most importantly, his team got a W. Happy to see that, even though I’m really, really feeling for the Clippers given yesterday’s AWFUL news about Blake Griffin.

Peja Stojakovic: 20 points on 8-14 shooting, 4-6 from downtown. He led the AP recap and I can’t think of the last recap I wrote where this was the case. Peja can be absolutely deadly when he spots up behind the arc and defenders are seduced into watching Chris Paul rather than getting out there on the three-point threat.

Nuggets 115, Magic 97

Carmelo Anthony: 27/7/5, shooting 8-15 FG, 2-5 3PT, and 9-9 from the line. It’s his second game back from injury and he did the things he didn’t do in the first game: rebound and get to the line. His team was down by three at halftime, but he scored 9 of his points in the crucial 3rd Q. where the Nugs outscored the Magic by 16.

Matt Barnes: He’s been starting lately for Orlando and he had a season-high in points in this game, finishing with 28. 9 boards, 3 steals, and a block show that he was doing his normal all-around thing during the 37 minutes he played. Unfortunate that his great performance couldn’t have come in a closer game.

Blazers 120, Bucks 108

Rudy Fernandez: He’s the only one I can feel happy for in this looks-much-closer-than-it-was game. The Blazers had a 33 point lead in the second half and the Bucks needed a 37-23 4th Q. to make the final look respectable. This was Rudy’s first game since Dec. 1 and I suppose there was a little rust – he went 1-5 in his 15 minutes, missing all four of his three-pint attempts. When he entered the game, the fantastic Portland fans gave him a standing ovation. Wish I had seen it live.

Fun With Stats

The Lakers won the 3,000th game in franchise history. They’re the first team to reach that mark.

Kobe Bryant needs 60 points to reach the 25,000-point plateau. If he wasn’t so far from 100%, I might make a crazy prediction that he’ll reach it next game.

Charlie Bell came into the game against Portland with 399 career three-pointers made. He hit 2 in the game. Over 400 threes? Not bad for a guy who a lot of people thought wouldn’t make it in the NBA. Not bad at all. MSU! MSU!

Quoted

“Yeah, I’m not retarded.” – Dirk Nowitzki, when asked if he knew the standing ovation was for him scoring 20,000 points.

“Crazy shit did happen.” – Gregg Popovich, on how the Spurs won.

I don’t even know if (Tim) Duncan could have done this tonight.” – Scott Brooks, on DaJuan Blair.

“He was 0-for-10 and he made the biggest play of the game. He basically won the game for them.” – Scott Brooks, on Manu Ginobili’s save.

“That’s one of those NBA games where you don’t want to see a winner. It’s two great teams battling.” – Jeff Green, on OKC/SAS.

“It was a great game. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the basketball gods for allowing us to win.” – Gregg Popovich, on OKC/SAS.

Tweeted:

@SI_ChrisBallard: Every time Serge Ibaka scores for Thunder – like now, after putback – the OKC PA plays the Chewbacca roar. Corny, but it does crack me up

@stackmack: J. Flynn and overtimes go together like cookies and milk. 3OT here we come!

@jeskeets: We might have to retire “Whoa Boy” after tonight’s ridiculous fantasy lines …

@bruce_arthur: This whole night in the NBA has been a #leaguepassalert

@Thirty2zero: I scored 43 in my new shoes. We won. And in 20 minutes it’s my birthday. I love this game!

@dmorey: Incredible effort by the guys on a back to back. Solid D. AB/Scola offense and Chuck/Shane defense were huge. Happy Birthday @thirty2zero .

Issac Baldizon/Getty Images

Hey heyyy, it’s the first BfB of 2010. I’m a bit pissed at myself for letting so many days go by without an update here, but at least I’ve been really active on Twitter, right? Right? Hope that’s okay. Anyway, 4 games on the schedule last night. There’s stuff to talk about.

The All-OTN Team

Serge Ibaka: 6 Pts (2-7 FG, 2-2 FT), 8 Reb (3 Off), 2 Blk, 1 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF in 22 mins.

With the light Monday schedule, it’s not odd that we only had one All-OTN guy going. Ibaka had a good all-around outing, though, and he was on the floor for the final stretch of this 98-85 win over the Bulls despite his missed shots. Speaking of missed shots, one of them made me think. He missed a sort of difficult turnaround jumper and my initial reaction was, “Argh, why?!” Then, I thought about it for a second. It wasn’t the best shot, but it wasn’t far off. It’s actually pretty cool that he’s trying things and he has the freedom to make some mistakes. Some coaches would yank a 20-year-old rookie for that kind of thing, but that isn’t what happened here with Scotty Brooks at the helm. There are two reasons for this. First, Brooks knows that Ibaka’s effort in other areas will make up for a few missed shots. Second, Brooks knows that it would be detrimental to mess with this kid’s confidence. He’s not the kind of guy who’s going to be selfish and play the hero, so you trust him and give him a bit of leeway on the court. With respect to Serge’s offensive game, this will pay off sooner and in a bigger way than many people realize.

Oh, before I move on I want to share a note I made when he was matched up with Tyrus Thomas the first time he checked in: “him vs. Thomas = fun.” Pretty simple, but damn true. Love watching these athletic bundles of energy and potential go at it. Near the end of the third quarter, I made another note: “SERGE BLOCKS TYRUS’S DUNK.” Then, I checked on Twitter and saw J.E. Skeets had just said the following: “Tyrus Thomas vs. Serge Ibaka. That was fun.” Yup.

Rookie Watch

Eric Maynor: 6 Pts (2-4 FG, 2-2 3PT), 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk, 2 TO, 2 PF in 19 mins.

Okay, I’m good with him now. No, I’m not over the fact that Shaun Livingston is out of the league. I still don’t like thinking about it and I reallyfuckingwant some team to sign him soon. But I am not letting this get in the way of enjoying Eric Maynor anymore. It wasn’t his fault to begin with. He’s a fantastic back-up point guard and I love that Scotty Brooks (you can tell I’m a fan of his, right?) plays him WITH Westbrook, too. In fact, the two plays that stand out involved them hooking up – first, Maynor had a nice steal and made a beautiful outlet pass to Westbrook for a bucket. Later, he blocked Kirk Hinrich’s shot and, again, found Russ with an outlet pass. Here’s the second play:

Both of Maynor’s buckets were straightaway three-pointers. I know it’s a small sample size, but he’s shooting 62.5% from beyond the arc since joining the Thunder. His shots last night looked PURE – nothing but net.

James Harden: 13 Pts (5-11 FG, 3-5 3PT), 1 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO, 5 PF in 26 mins.

I expect great production from Harden at this point, so there’s not much to analyze here. Plus, I don’t want to say too much because he’s going to be featured in another piece I’m working on. So, for now, just take a look at his post-game interview with NBA TV.

Dante Cunningham: 7 Pts (3-5 FG, 1-2 FT), 3 Reb (2 Off), 3 Stl, 1 TO, 3 PF in 24 mins.
Jeff Pendergraph: 8 Pts (4-4 FG), 7 Reb (3 Off), 1 Blk, 1 TO, 3 PF in 30 mins.

It blows my mind that Cunningham and Pendergraph have to get real minutes now. Still, there’s no sense in complaining about what could or should have been in Portland. We may as well enjoy the young guys and, fortunately, they make that pretty easy. Both of these bigs play hard on every possession – if they mess up, it’s because they get caught doing something that rookies do. That’s fine with me, I’ll take their heart and passion on my team any day. While Pendergraph is characterized by the toughness and physicality of someone much more experienced, Cunningham is characterized by his athleticism and his activity level, as well as his mid-range J. Fun fact: all three of his steals came in one three-minute span near the end of the first half.

I’m not going to put Patty Mills’s stat line here because it’s not pretty, but I have to say I was very happy to see him check in during the 2nd quarter. I always like to see rookies make their debuts and I’m always partial to Australian players because I used to live there. Can’t wait to see him get more minutes, especially if he’s playing alongside my guy Jerryd Bayless.

Impressive

Michael Beasley: 22 Pts (10-21 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT), 8 Reb (3 Off), 3 Ast, 2 Blk, 3 TO, 4 PF in 39 mins.

Beas played one of the best halves of basketball I’ve seen from anyone this season, even without his awesome fro. Check it out, I took notes on the first and second quarters:

• Aggressive move on Josh Smith off the dribble, scores.

• Stop on Smith!

• Offensive board over Smith, then hits a jumper. Wow.

• Faces up Josh Smith and hits a J. 3-3.

• Good work on the boards, active.

• Nice move on Horford. Missed a shot, missed a tip, converted. So he’s missed 2 shots, but he actually scored on that possession. 4-6 from the floor.

• Wade finds him for 3 in the corner. 5-7: 11 points in less than 8 minutes.

• Blocks Josh Smith! Then goes to the bench.

• End of 1st Q., 30-14 for Miami.

• Back in to start 2nd. Playing the 3 though. I don’t like that.

• EASY open J against a zone. 6-8. 13 points. Still hasn’t missed aside from those two that he boarded.

• Misses a J over Zaza. 6-9. His team is up by 22 points, though.

• Faces up on the right side agaaaaain, drives and hits a hook. Crazy. 7/10. 15 points. The Heat announcers just called him “virtually unguardable.”

• Awesome drive past Smith on the left, layup. 17 points. 8-11 with a little less than 6 minutes left in the half.

• Nice cut, missed a baseline jumper but they scored on an offensive board anyway. Ha. 8-12.

• Nice shot on the inside off a Chalmers feed. Should have been an and-1, but no call. 9/13. 19 points.

• Fast break. Hacked by Crawford. Made 1st ft, missed 2nd. He looks pissed about missing that 2nd one.

• Nice contest on Josh Smith’s hook. Another stop.

• Goes to the bench… wow, nice half. The Heat are KILLING them. I hate this stupid matchup.

To be clear, he had 20 points on 13 shots, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in his first 18 minutes of action. His team had a 17-point lead at the half and he was the biggest reason why. In the second half, for whatever reason, his production didn’t sustain. Not that it really matters that he went 1-8 in the final two frames, as his team still ended up winning by 17 and his buddy D-Wade picked up the slack. I’ll remember that first half though. It’s the reason I still think Miami has themselves a stud at the 4 without looking to Bosh or Boozer. When Michael Beasley is locked in, he can score on anybody and it looks like the easiest thing in the world. The defense is coming along, too.

Quick note – can we just scrap the Atlanta/Miami games? That first-round series last season had to have been the least-entertaining 7-game series in NBA history. This one ended 92-75, but it felt over after one quarter. Blowouts are no fun. Come on, you know you want Toronto to get the 5th seed.

Russell Westbrook: 29 Pts (13-24 FG, 0-1 3PT, 3-5 FT), 7 Reb (3 Off), 6 Ast, 2 Stl, 4 TO, 2 PF in 45 mins.

Hope you caught him duelling with Derrick Rose early on, it was fun to watch. I know Rose had the edge last year, but with his relative stagnation and Russ’s D, I’d take Westbrook today. Not that it matters, and not that that means anything in the big picture. We should just be happy we get to see these guys (along with the wealth of other talented young PG’s balling right now) grow and do battle for the next decade-plus. Anyway, Russ’s 29/7/6 trumped Rose’s 19/7/3 and his team got the W. This is just another in a streak of great games from the former UCLA standout – let me direct you to a couple of tweets from ShamSports, referring to games played before last night’s contest:

Oh yeah, here’s another tweet you should pay attention to. I know it’s not exactly from an impartial source, but he’s got a point:

Oh, and Durant? 25 points on 14 shots, plus 8 boards. Impressive? Sure. That’s just what he does, though. He’s that good.

Devin Brown: 30 Pts (11-20 FG, 5-8 3PT, 3-5 FT), 4 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 2 TO, 3 PF in 37 mins.

I still don’t believe my eyes. Devin Brown, on my impressive list? Ugh. I never thought I’d see the day and I’m not totally comfortable with it. He and Bobby Brown form a tandem that would make it impossible for me to root for this Hornets team if it did not feature the best point guard on the planet, Chris Paul. The difference is that Bobby is out of the rotation and Devin is, I guess, not that bad an NBA player. If I’m being fair. I don’t really want to be, ‘cause he bugs me, but there it is. He’s a decent rotation player. Not a starter, mind you, although he really did look like one in last night’s 91-87 victory in Salt Lake City. I mean, 5-8 from downtown? REALLY? I didn’t see all of this game but it seemed he nailed a jumper every time I flipped there. I’ll have you know that one of his threes came on a bank shot that made me laugh for a good minute. Ridiculous.

Chris Paul: 12 Pts (5-15 FG, 0-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), 6 Reb (3 Off), 9 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO, 4 PF in 39 mins.

I just said he’s the best point guard on the planet. He is. The man he was facing, Deron Williams, is up there as well. And, in all fairness, Deron played a better game by the numbers. 12 points on 15 shots doesn’t compare to D-Will’s 17 on 11. Plus, D-Will had 11 assists to CP3’s 9. But, hey, as much of a stat geek as I am, I’m telling you to throw all that out the window for a minute and appreciate what Chris Paul did at the end of this game. On a crucial play, he made an UNBELIEVABLE steal on a D-Will pass, then came down the other way and let the shot clock tick down before driving to the hole and laying it in. This was the defining moment of the game and the Jazz had no chance afterward. I’m not telling you to ignore Paul’s poor shot selection prior to this, but I’d like you to focus on how he came through at the end. That was huge. Actually, just watch the damn video:

Eric Gordon: 19 Pts (6-10 FG, 4-6 3PT, 3-4 FT), 2 Reb, 2 Ast, 4 TO, 4 PF in 27 mins.

What’s interesting about Gordon’s line is that pretty much all his damage came in the third quarter. The Clippers came out of halftime tied with Portland, but Gordon’s 16-point explosion propelled them to a 4-point lead going into the final frame Down the stretch, most of the scoring damage was done by Baron Davis and Rasual Butler, but you have to credit Gordon for shifting the momentum his team’s way.

Two things ALWAYS impress me about Gordon’s game. First, his jump shot. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s easily one of my five favourite jump shots in the league right now. When the ball leaves his fingers, you expect it to go in every time. Or at least I do. The second thing is that he is aggressive and gets to the line. His 4 free throws last night fell short of his average (5.3), but that’s a solid number for a guy who attempted 10 field goals. You never expect pure shooters to be able to slash, draw contact, and finish, but this is a different type of player. He’s both a deadly shooter and an athlete. Plus, he can be a solid defender. The Clippers better not find a way screw this one up.

Andre Miller: 22 Pts (9-20 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-7 FT), 3 Reb (2 Off), 16 Ast, 3 Stl, 2 TO, 1 PF in 40 mins.

I came to a strange realization a couple of weeks ago while watching the Blazers play: I kind of play like Andre Miller. In fact, of all the people in the league, I think I play the MOST like Andre Miller. I never planned this. When I started playing ball, I wanted to be Magic Johnson (and, hell, I still do). Later on, like everyone else on the planet, I obsessed over MJ. I imitated Tim Hardaway’s killer crossover. Then AI, Kobe, Nash, and VC came along. You know how it goes. But now I’m 23 and I’ve got no hops, no speed, and the growth spurt the doctors assured me was coming when I hit my teens just never came. I don’t play nearly as often as I should and I don’t work on my handle every day like I did when I was a kid. So, when I do play, I play like an old man. Head fakes, shot fakes, tricky passes, in-between shots. I play with my back to the basket sometimes, even against taller guys. All I’ve really got is a feel for the game, especially if my long-range shot isn’t on. This makes me kind of like Andre Miller and it makes me appreciate his game more than I used to.

Last night, everything was working for him, as you can see with the numbers. He was throwing outlet passes, running the fast break perfectly, getting his teammates layups and open 3-pointers. It was exactly what the Blazers brought him in to do and I loved it. At halftime, he was 3-11 from the floor (including a made field goal off an extremely lucky bounce where he tried to take Baron Davis to the post) but he was completely in control of the game, as evidenced by his 10 assists. In the second half, his shots started to fall and he kept finding teammates as well. This was great, great work from Dre. It’s a shame it came in a 105-95 loss, though. I hate to say it, but the one thing he wasn’t able to do was get Brandon Roy going. The Blazers’ franchise guy went 3-12 from the floor, with no free throw attempts.

Juwan Howard:16 Pts (8-11 FG,), 4 Reb, 1 Stl, 2 TO, 5 PF in 36 mins.

Juwan Howard is an intelligent vet who moves the ball quickly, plays good positional defense, and hits open jump-… wait, what? No way. Juwan Howard?! You’ve got to be kidding.

Uh-huh. Check the Twitter reaction, starting with my incredibly creative and witty commentary.

@outsidethenba: JUWAN HOWARD HOLY FUCK
@talkhoops: Juwan Howard just dunked on Kaman! WOW. What’s up, 1997?
@bustabucket: My head just exploded. Was that Juwan Howard!?
@jeskeets: Juwan Howard just crushed Chris Kaman!
@NBAnoise: Chris Kaman, meet your daddy, Juwan Howard. Posters go on sale tomorrow.
@sportsguy33: I’m at clips-blazers + Juwan Howard just posterized Marcus Camby. Crowd is still reeling. That dunk was from 2 decades ago.
@ripcityproject: I just lost my voice, the power went out, my christmas tree caught fire and the fridge opened to reveal a demon dog…thanks Juwan.
@jeskeets: #DikemebeMutomboAndOrGregOdenNBAHumor RT @wastro: Juwan Howard just got his first Sportscenter highlight since World War II. #Blazers
@docfunk: Chris Kaman just got his “Helping The Elderly” scout badge. #JuwanHoward #Seriously

To watch

I’m not going to fill up this section because I’ve included some videos throughout. Really wanted to share this Brandon Jennings clip, though. Two reasons for this: it’s cool seeing this fantastic rookie talking about his pre-game routine and some of the food his mom made for him while he was in Italy. Second, it’s hilarious that he’s talking about healthy eating in a segment sponsored by freaking Taco Bell.

To Read

Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm discusses the brilliance of John Wall and makes a bold claim about him.

Tom Haberstroh from Hoopdata looks at the NBA in Polychromatic Form for the third time. (So effing cool, but then… I’m a geek.)

Jon Robinson of ESPN discusses the return of NBA Jam (!!!) and some amazing NBA Jam-related stories.

Holly MacKenzie is the best.

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!).

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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.

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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.

Nothing easy, except scoring on the Raptors. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Finished this up late again today, my apologies. I wish I could blame the mental trauma from that Raptors loss, but that wasn’t even it. I might have to change the title to Basketball For Brunch. Anyway, let’s get to it.

The All-OTN Team

Will Bynum: 10 Pts (4-9 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT), 3 Reb (1 Off), 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 TO, 3 PF in 33 mins.

On night where Rodney Stuckey (17 points on 16 shots, 4 Ast) and Ben Gordon (18 points on 16 shots, 0 assists) didn’t score very efficiently or distribute, Bynumite stepped up with a team-high 7 assists. Pity it wasn’t enough to help a not-yet-100% Gordon get a victory against his old team, where a smattering of ignorant fans were booing him.

Shannon Brown: The Lakers didn’t play last night, but here’s a video of Lamar Odom gushing about “Mr. Fantastic” for his Let Shannon Dunk campaign:

Favourite bit there: “Even the shots that he blocks or tries to block are like posters.” Yup.

Jared Dudley: 6 Pts (2-6 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-2 FT), 3 Reb (1 Off), 1 Ast, 2 PF in 21 mins.

Uninspiring numbers for Jared in another bad loss. The Suns failed to score 100 points for the second time this season and the second night in a row, falling 107-90 to Cleveland in a game that by all accounts didn’t feel even as close as that. I’d like to tell you Dudley’s hustle and defensive intensity was a positive (as it was in their loss to the Knicks – see the “Aside from Jared Dudley and Steve Nash…” sentence here), but I can’t be sure because I didn’t see the game and none of the recaps I’ve seen have mentioned his name, preferring to focus more generally on his team’s epic failure. We know he’s keeping his head up, though.

Amir Johnson: 9 Pts (4-6 FG, 1-2 FT), 7 Reb (3 Off), 1 Blk, 2 TO, 5 PF in 19 mins.

“If you are looking for bright spots in this game, Amir Johnson certainly is one of them, if not the brightest one.” – Leo Rautins, during the Raptors telecast.

I fortunately did not see too much of this horrible 146-115 blowout as it was happening (although I feel like I saw every second because of all the tweets and text messages I read), but I believe I saw the perfect microcosm of Amir Johnson’s game during a timeout of the Bucks/Wizards game. In one possession in the first half, Amir Johnson grabbed a difficult offensive rebound, kicked the ball out, eventually received it again, and hit a tough inside shot. On the ensuing defensive possession, he had a vicious block but then sent Zaza Pachulia to the foul line after the Hawks recovered the ball. That is Amir: activity all of the time, even if his team is getting slaughtered. 5 fouls in 19 mins, though. You know I love the guy, but I have to mention the fouls.

Serge Ibaka: 2 Pts (1-2 FG), 2 Reb (1 Off), 1 Stl, 1 TO, 2 PF in 6 mins.

Rats. Only 6 minutes for Serge. Sort of hard to complain, though, as I would have played Nick Collison over him on this night too. Collison was brilliant as he returned from a sore knee – 18 points on 8-9 shooting, with his one miss coming on a three pointer at the end of the shot clock with 20 seconds left in the game. Add in the defense (drawn charges, 1 steal, 1 block) and his team-high 7 rebounds (5 offensive!) and he might have been the most important player in this 117-106 Thunder victory over the Sixers. But wait, this is supposed to be about Serge Ibaka! Not to worry, I have a link to share. Here’s Tom Haberstroh of Hoopdata giving Ibaka some love for contributing more quickly than anyone expected and being a major contributor to his team’s elite defense around the basket.

Rookies

Brandon Jennings: 17 Pts (7-21 FG, 2-8 3PT, 1-2 FT), 2 Reb, 7 Ast, 1 Stl, 0 TO (!), 5 PF in 36 mins.

There’s some good and some bad here. Obviously, looking at the stats, you don’t like the shooting. I can tell you one positive from this though – Jennings made more floaters than he missed last night. That is HUGE. As per Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus, Jennings’s recent shooting slump is mostly because he is missing shots around the basket. My eyes tell me that this is because, rather than getting all the way to the hole for layups, Jennings is shooting a lot of contested floaters around the rim. In Jennings’s words, from the always-excellent Bucksketball:

I learned in pre-season that I wasn’t going to be able to go to the rack that much, so I had to change things quickly and get a floater going. It makes things easier. It’s still in the development phase.

I’m not worried at all about Brandon’s 3-point shot. He had an off-night from behind the arc last night, but that happens to everyone. If he gets more consistent with his floater, I don’t see how you stop him. You already can’t let him shoot from distance and have to be terrified of his pull-up jumper. Watch out, league.

…I can’t move on from Brandon without talking about the last few possessions of the game, though. I was on an emotional rollercoaster watching this. First, he took a ballsy pull-up jumper with 50 seconds left when his team was down by 1 and then committed a silly frustration foul when it missed. Then, with his team down 3, he hit an incredibly difficult leaning three to tie it up with 10.5 seconds left. I’d say it got me out of my seat, but I was already standing up. Unfortunately, on the next possession, he bit on an Earl Boykins pump-fake and sent him to the line for what turned out to be the game winning free throws. The game ended when Luke Ridnour (who played a great game, more on him soon) badly missed a desperation three with 1 second left in the game. I can’t have been the only one who wanted Jennings to get that last shot.

DeMar DeRozan: 21 pts (6-11 FG, 9-12 FT), 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 3 PF in 30 mins.

I really wish his career-high didn’t come on a night like this. But then again, it gives me something positive to think about. Look at that, 12 free-throw attempts! Love that. I saw DeRozan get two impressive and-ones near the end of the first half and it would seem that he kept up that aggressiveness for all of his career-high 30 minutes. Raptors colour guy Leo Rautins, who has not been one to hand out excessive praise to the rookie, said he played with “hustle and determination that wasn’t necessarily shared by his entire team.” That’s a very polite way of saying it.

Jonny Flynn: 12 Pts (5-12 FG, 1-4 3PT, 1-2 FT), 2 Reb (1 Off), 9 Ast, 2 TO in 30 mins.

Gotta love those 9 assists, even if the 12 points on 12 shots is a bit blah. Whenever I watch Minnesota play, I feel like Flynn deserves more assists than he gets – he simply does not have shooters on the team that will convert open looks. Luckily, Ryan Gomes knocked down some shots tonight, going 8-13 including 2-3 from downtown to score 20 points. One of his threes came off of nice behind-the-back feed from Flynn with 1:39 left in the game. The miss? It came with 1:14 left on a wide open corner three, set up by… you guessed it, Flynn. It’s easy to dismiss the rookie from Syracuse, trying to run the triangle with an incredibly unbalanced team, but you shouldn’t. He can play. This was the first time he had recorded 9 assists in an NBA game, but it won’t be the last.

Toney Douglas: 17 Pts (7-11 FG, 2-5 3PT, 1-2 FT), 1 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 PF in 21 mins.

Nice line for Toney Douglas. He can really, really score. Reason #958 I’m happy Allen Iverson ended up in Philly: he’s not taking minutes from Douglas. I’m not getting too optimistic about his standing in New York, though – this performance came on a night where they were losing by 22 at the end of the third quarter. Douglas only got these minutes because the game was lost and Nate Robinson is in the coach’s doghouse. Blarg. Stupid Knicks.

Tyreke Evans: 26 Pts (7-14 FG, 0-2 3PT, 12-14 FT), 5 Reb, 6 Ast, 4 TO in 32 mins.

Now this I can be optimistic about. Yeah, it was against Indiana. But isn’t it crazy that we suddenly EXPECT the Kings to beat Indiana? This team has a 9-8 record and a 4-game winning streak despite losing Kevin Martin five games in and not seeing a single minute from Francisco Garcia. Huge credit has to go out to Paul Westphal and everyone in the rotation, especially Evans. I admit that, as far as ROY is concerned, I’m with Kelly Dwyer and not Zach Harper, but Evans has been fantastic this year. He can get to the basket and score with ease and has played point guard with much greater success than most people imagined he would have. If he shoots fewer jumpers and gets to the foul line at a rate similar to last night, I might have to reconsider my stance on the aforementioned award before this season is over.

Fun With Stats

Blowout city: There was a point last night where, of the eight games being played, four of them (TOR/ATL, NYK/ORL, PHX/CLE, DAL/NJ) had a point differential of at least 20.

Let’s get the Raptors out of the way: Chris Bosh scored 2 points, going without a field goal for the first time since November 6, 2007, when the Raptors were routed by the Milwaukee Bucks. Bosh only played 16 minutes, sitting during the first time because he was in foul trouble. One of those fouls was assigned to someone else at halftime, but by then it was way too late. Oh, and the Italian Rodman? Andrea Bargnani failed to grab a single rebound in almost 22 minutes of action last night. Sad face.

No more negativity here. Let’s talk about some point guards. I love me some point guards. First, Jason Kidd: 16 Pts (5-6 FG, 2-2 3PT, 4-4 FT), 8 Reb, 10 Ast, 5 Stl, 1 Blk, 4 TO, 1 PF in 34 mins. Wow. That’s… insane. I’d be impressed with a line like that even from 2002 Jason Kidd. The downside is it added insult to injury, as he did this whilst etching his former team’s name into the record books in a most unflattering way. Next, Russell Westbrook – weird line for him. Definitely not the perfection of J-Kidd, but check this out: 7 Pts (1-11 FG, 0-3 3PT, 5-6 FT), 5 Reb (2 Off), 15 Ast, 2 Stl, 2 TO, 3 PF in 33 mins of a winning effort. Again, wow. He was supposed to be a scorer, someone who could get his but would have trouble involving his teammates and being a true point guard. Well, hey, critics: 15 assists! He already has more than half of the 10+ assist games he had last year and we’re only a month in. Let’s just ignore the terrible shooting on this night. Hell yeah, development! Thunder!

Now, onto the bigs. I’ve gotta mention Brandon Bass here – this beast has been waiting patiently to be unleashed this season, as Stan Van Gundy has understandbly opted to keep the floor spread with the sweet shooting of Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes off the bench at the 4 spot and stay big at the 5 with Marcin Gortat. With Bass out of the shuffle, he has been unable to show us what we saw from him last season: rebounding, interior scoring, solid D, and the mid-range shot. Against the Knicks, however, there was no need to stay big off the bench, so Bass got Gortat’s minutes at center. He responded by scoring 17 points in just 17 minutes, shooting 7-12 from the field and adding 3 rebounds. This is how you earn more minutes. Also, Marcus Camby had a Marcus Camby night: 9 points on 4-6 shooting, with 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and a block in 39 minutes. I miss seeing those numbers on my fantasy team. Gotta wonder, though – as Kelly Dwyer mentioned in the BDL chat yesterday, do the Clips try to trade Camby? His value has to be pretty high and Griffin is going to need every minute he can get when he comes back. Just something to think about.

One more tidbit before I move on – not only did Zydrunas Ilgauskas become the Cavs’ leader in games played last night, he moved into third place on the team’s all-time scoring list. He now trails only LeBron and Brad Daugherty. Effing great night for him.

Quoted

Argh, a bunch of depressing ones today. I apologize.

“It’s not the coach. Red Auerbach couldn’t coach us the way we are playing. It’s us. It doesn’t matter who you bring in. It starts in here. You have to have heart. You have to have the heart to overcome something like this.” – Chris Douglas-Roberts, after his team became the lone team in NBA history to lose its first 18 games.

I’ve been following CDR closely this season. I feel worse for him than any other player in the league. It’s not hard to see how rough this has been for him. He’s never been through anything similar to this in life. I really hope they win a damn game soon. Anyway, onto more depressing stuff – here are ex-Yellow Jackets and current-Raptors Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack, post-game.

“We can’t give up 75 points in the half and expect to be successful in this league. We can’t come in with the mindset that we’re just going to outscore everybody. It’s not possible.” – Jarrett Jack.

“We’re not playing D and we’re not rebounding – we’re shooting ourselves in the foot twice.” – Jarrett Jack.

“You can’t say we did anything right on defense. We should be embarrassed, everybody should be embarrassed. Us, coaches – everybody who was involved in this game should be embarrassed.” – Jarrett Jack.

“I was upset that we don’t buy in on the defensive end of the floor and every time something happens, it’s, ‘it’s okay, it’s alright.’ It’s not alright. We’re letting problems go by without attacking them or challenging them or bringing them to the forefront or getting them solved.” – Jarrett Jack.

“Everybody can’t just walk on eggshells around here and act like we’re playing good basketball. We’re not, we’re playing terrible.” – Jarrett Jack.

“We haven’t stopped anybody all year.” – Chris Bosh

“We don’t get on the ground, we don’t consistently get rebounds, we give up points in the paint… We’re just not a good team.” – Chris Bosh

Jesus. It’s not even 9:00 AM and I need a drink. This is bad. Very, very, very bad. It’s only early December, but I’ve seen previous awful Raptors teams lose games like this. Well, rarely EXACTLY like this – I mean, down by 30 at the end of the third? Anyway, it’s obviously not the loss to Atlanta that bothers me. The Raptors need a win in the worst way, but I wouldn’t have been too upset with an L if they had just shown some signs of life on defense. Jay Triano stressed from training camp onwards that defense would be his main focus – he knew he had the pieces to be a great offensive team, but this squad severely lacked athleticism and one-on-one defensive skills. To compensate, you have to play extremely focused, smart team D. The Raptors have done this only for small stretches this year and haven’t done it at all during this 5-game losing streak. Damn it. I need a happy quote to cheer me up…

“That’s the closest I’ve ever come to tears on the basketball floor.” – Zydrunas Ilgauaskas, on his big night. The fans chanted “Z” for him. Yay!

Impressive

These will all be from the Bucks/Wizards game, since it had my complete attention.

Nick Young: 21 Pts (7-12 FG, 0-1 3PT, 7-7 FT), 5 Reb, 1 Ast, 1 Stl, 5 TO, 2 PF in 34 mins.

Gotta love his aggressiveness. The man just knows how to score at the NBA level. You can criticize him for being sort of one-dimensional, I guess, but when that dimension is great, it’s okay. Same argument I’ve always made for Ben Gordon, even though Young isn’t near Gordon’s level yet. Love seeing him starting again, though – those erratic minutes and DNP-CD’s from the early part of the season were starting to piss me off.

Earl Boykins: 13 Pts (3-5 FG, 7-10 FT), 1 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 TO in 19 mins.

I’ve always loved watching Earl Boykins play. You know why. He’s the tiniest guy on the floor, by far, but he doesn’t play like it. The effort, the confidence? Always there. I’m definitely enjoying his return with the Wizards, and so is Gilbert Arenas, as it’s allowing him to play off the ball. Put a smile on my face just to see Boykins on the floor at the end of this game, let alone seeing the ball in his hands on the Wizards’ final possession. Still not pleased with the result, but whatever. Go Earl.

Hakim Warrick: 20 Pts (6-9 FG, 8-8 FT), 4 Reb (3 Off), 3 TO, 2 PF in 32 mins.

14 of those points came in the first half, including two aggressive and-ones and the missed shot that resulted in Scott Skiles’s ejection. Quick note on that if you didn’t see it – Skiles was miffed that Hak didn’t get the foul, so he approached the nearest ref and screamed at him. Upon receiving a technical foul, Skiles made a “T” with his hands and screamed, “Technical!” in the ref’s face. For this, he received another tech and was ejected. After storming to about halfcourt to let out some more steam, he went back to the locker room. Anyway, Hak – love the effort, as always. Nice to see the shots falling tonight and VERY nice to see all those free throw attempts. It’s ridiculous how many of these Bucks I look forward to watching – him, Jennings, Bogut, Ilyasova, Bell, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute (come back soon!), Meeks, Delfino, and…

Luke Ridnour: 20 Pts (9-16 FG, 2-6 3PT), 4 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl, 4 PF in 33 mins.

Whoa. Didn’t expect that. I didn’t even expect to become a Ridnour fan. This year, though, he’s proven to be a much more than capable backup point guard, even if I’d much rather have the ball in Jennings’s hands at the end of the game. You won’t see 20 point games from him all the time, but last night wasn’t that much of a statistical aberration. He has a PER of 18.3 this season. I love that Skiles has been playing him and Jennings together from the start, realizing that the advantages that the pair bring on offense far outweigh the defensive limitations of having two small, thin point guards on the floor on D. I wish Kurt Rambis would realize the same thing and play Jonny Flynn and Ramon Sessions together more often in Minny. While they did see some time sharing the floor last night in their 97-95 loss to Memphis, Sessions still played 6 fewer minutes than Damien Wilkins even though he was hot, going 7-9 from the floor.

Tweeted

@NBAKays: I’m starting to think that the Raptors are not a very good defensive basketball team. (When he tweeted this, the Hawks had 118 points with 9:41 left in the game.)

@NBAguy: @jeskeets who’s your squad?

@jeskeets: @NBAguy The [/covers mouth] Raptuyfdgyrs.

That does it. I’m going to puke.

@HowardBeckNYT: Not that anyone cares, but the Mavericks have scored 90 points on the Nets with 6:54 left in the third. They lead 90-66.

@johnschuhmann: This may be the Nets’ best offensive game this season… and they’re down by 27.

At least I’m not alone.

To watch

Al Thornton off the backboard to himself:

Trevor Ariza on Chris Kaman:

Apologies for not mentioning the Rockets/Clippers game until now. I fell asleep and missed it, bummer. Seems like it could have been a good one for three quarters, until the Rockets put the Clippers away with a 26-13 4th Q to win 102-85. Aaron Brooks managed 22 points on 9-11 shooting from the field.

Caron Butler on poor Andrew Bogut:

Derrick Rose’s alley-oop from Brad Miller:

LeBron’s sweet chasedown block in the throwback uni:

To read

Britt Robson, one of my favourites, takes a look around the league for SI.

Kendrick Perkins is getting scary good, says Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.

Bethlehem Shoals’s take on Ron Artest for the Baseline.

Eddy Rivera’s great interview with J.J. Redick for Third Quarter Collapse