The Thread of the 2009-2010 NBA Season

[whomario]

BEAUBOIS !!!

Couldn´t sleep (mind you, it´s 7 am here now ...) and turned on the Dallas-Warriors game and the little frenchie has given the Warriors a taste of their own medicine.
40 points on 15-22 shooting, 9-11 threes, adding 8 boards, 3 assist and 0 TOs. And 3 blocks for good measure.
Warriors or no Warriors, that was a sight to behold.

He has been absolutely spectacular lately, what a steal for the Mavs. Could be the x factor in the playoffs and will be interesting how Carlisle shapes his rotation. Right now it would be a crime to leave him out of games with the way he´s been playing.
Not that Barea has benn bad, but the kid has been spectacular and also is the better defender.

Just love that kid´s attitude. Every time he´s gotten minutes he produced. As far as handling spot minutes and unsteady playing time i can´t remember many rookies doing a better job.
Against the Clippers scores 10 in the 4th quarter in a come from behind victory, next game he doesn´t play at all with Barea getting the minutes again and now plays big minutes and explodes. Has done that all season. No sulking, allways ready.

12 times gotten 20+ minutes, 11 times scoring in double figures.

Only thing worrying me lately about the Mavs is they can´t get a good balance between playing Dampier and Haywood, today they didn´t even bother and played Haywood just 9 minutes and Dampier has a DNP CD.

[TroyF]

whomario, I love the kid. Love him, love him, love him.

But the Warriors are playing some of the worst defense in the history of the league right now. The Spurs scored 147 points on 96 shots and MISSED 15 FT a week ago. This is just a really, really bad team.

That said, I have no idea why the kid isn't playing more. NBA coaches simply fall in love with veterans and screw rookies over, even when it's obvious to everyone else in the world the rookie is better. Ty Lawson is going through it right now. This guy is going through the same thing. All you can do is shake your head in astonishment.

[whomario]

Let me present Manu Ginobili, a man who kills bats, invented the flying-sideways-flop, scares children for fun and now (legally) leveled that "big bad dude who picks on smaller players, preferably internationals" :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCqefcY7lpI


Plus he sank a nice little 30 foot one handed floater to beat the Buzzer :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCqefcY7lpI

nothing too spectacular for his standards, but pretty good for the untrained eye

Manu´s month of march :

15 games, 22.4/4.4/5.5/52%/42%/89% in 31 minutes a game. Plus about 3 play-of-the-day caliber plays per night.

Glad he´s found his magic once more.

I´m not so sure the Spurs won´t be able to turn some heads in the playoffs, assuming Parker gets healthy they match up pretty well all in all ...

Portland with an impressive win in Oklahoma City.

Orlando beats Denver thanks to Redick (23/7/8) and Anderson 19/5 on 7-8 shooting with 4/5 threes stepping up big.
Carter down with an injury ...

[Chief Rum]

Ping: TroyF, whomario, anyone else who cares...

Clips are having a great deal on tickets right now to try to get people in the building and me and my brother bought in. We have seats on the floor, 17 rows back from the court for this Sunday's game against the Knicks.

Anything you guys want me to call out to Gallinari, or should I just spend the evening telling Blake Griffin he sits behind the bench as good as any rookie I have ever seen?

[stevew]

Cavs magic number is 2 to clinch homecourt throughout. might be nice to be able to rest LeBron for 3-4 games.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Anything you guys want me to call out to Gallinari, or should I just spend the evening telling Blake Griffin he sits behind the bench as good as any rookie I have ever seen?

just ask him what´s he compensating for, running around like a douchebag with that "haircut" and all. That should go down just as well

What´s considered "a great deal" that gets people to come and see Clippers games btw, free entry and all-you-can-drink/eat on top ?

[whomario]

Nowitzki had a triple double btw a couple nights 34/10/10 (with just 2 TOs) against the Nuggets, the 2nd of his career Ty lawson played 20 minutes and Carter just 5, that should make one guy here very happy

Last night another big win against memphis to stay in 2nd place, Nowitzki finding his touch late in the game.

Dallas with their 10th 50-win season in a row-

Minnesota wins a game

Jefferson (19/12 with 6 blocks), Love (12/11) and Milicic (15/10 with 4 blocks) all have double-doubles, that rotation might just work next year. Definitely not the biggest need to upgrade.
Ryan Gomes 9/8/8 to round that out.

Toronto getting closer to a playoff spot.

Lakers loose by 17 in Atlanta, not exactly a good road trip (+ Kobe lost it last game, totally pissed off). Hawks shot 55% and had just 5 TOs.
Lakers are a thin team beyond their top 6.

OKC wins in Boston despite the Celtics shooting 60% from the field, Durant with 37.

Phoenix with their 9th win in a row, just 1 game behind No2 Dallas and half a game behind Utah. This time good contribution from the bench with Frye, Dragic and Dudley in double figures. I´m telling you, this Suns team is good and only getting better. And they are playing without Lopez right now (don´t laugh, he´s made a huge difference this year as a 2nd dump-down option for nash and protecting the basket).
Would love for them to avoid Denver and San Antonio ...

Shaun Livingston with 18 points and 8 Assists for the Wizards

[TroyF]

Yes, I was thrilled whomario. Then last night came. Ty plays great in the first half and Anthony Carter gets all the minutes in the second half. Carter 17 minutes, Lawson 8.

For those who don't watch the Nuggets and are getting sick of me complaining about it, let me throw a stat out there for you.

In Anthony Carter's last 101 minutes of basketball, he's scored 4 points on 2-11 shooting. Ty Lawson has played 28 minutes the last two games and has scored 12 points on 6-11 shooting, AND HE'S STILL RUSTY. I swear, Adrian Dantley should be fined by the team for screwing up the end of the season.

Did you see the game last night whomario? I'm asking this not as a Nuggets fan, but as a basketball fan. Can you believe what they called on Melo last night? His first, second and fourth fouls were all badly blown. II see this constantly and I don't get it. Andre Miller was treated like Michael Jordan last night. Melo couldn't buy a call for 3.5 quarters.

Everytime I watch Orlando, I'm more convinced they are going to win the title this year. The Cavs only chance is to get the refs to give a few cheap fouls to Dwight every first half. Because when he's in there, you aren't getting an offensive board. And Orlando can struggle shooting the ball for 10 minute stretches because their defense is so good and when they do hit some shots, they'll bury 4 threes in a row on you. Orlando/Cleveland is going to be one hell of a series.

Suns might be the best team in basketball right now.

Kenyon Martin is running again and hopes to be back before the end of the regular season. If he's back near full strength, the Nuggets are going to be a brutal out in the playoffs. If he isn't, they'll go down in round one.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by whomario

Shaun Livingston with 18 points and 8 Assists for the Wizards

If Shaun can start being consistent and get a chance at regular time with some team, this would be a wonderful comeback. Really just a terrific kid when he was out here with the Clips; always laughing and smiling and working hard and tons of potential. My heart broke when his knee gave out so horrifically.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by whomario

just ask him what´s he compensating for, running around like a douchebag with that "haircut" and all. That should go down just as well

What´s considered "a great deal" that gets people to come and see Clippers games btw, free entry and all-you-can-drink/eat on top ?

Heh...in this case, $60 for seats that are normally worth three times that.

I do hope "free entry" is included. I wouldn't want to watch from the parking lots.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

If Shaun can start being consistent and get a chance at regular time with some team, this would be a wonderful comeback. Really just a terrific kid when he was out here with the Clips; always laughing and smiling and working hard and tons of potential. My heart broke when his knee gave out so horrifically.

I hope that guy can make it back. I really, really do. With you all the way Chief.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by TroyF

One other quick note: Rubio cost himself MILLIONS with his decision to go to Europe rather than buy himself out. I've heard his family and others put huge pressure on him to stay as well as his want to go to a NY instead of Minnesota. . . but he's going to push back his unrestricted FA back. It was a really poor move if you just look at the dollar value of it.

Yeah, he cost himself a ton of money. I think it's a huge warning sign and if I was Kahn, I'd trade him as soon as I could.

[whomario]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Heh...in this case, $60 for seats that are normally worth three times that.

I do hope "free entry" is included. I wouldn't want to watch from the parking lots.

actually i was wondering if in fact the Clippers pay you (free food and drink, no entry fee) to visit their games

@ TRoyF : Couldn´t, i am at home visiting for the long weekend and can´t get the internet connection to stay stable ...
I disagree about the Cavs-Magic scenario you describe. Said it before and still feel that way : Howard won´t win that series for them, see a good chance of him struggling (or at least not dominating) with the Shaq/Ilgauskas combination. They can also play Varejao on him with Jamison likely matching up with Lewis a lot.

[Sublime 2]

Originally Posted by whomario

Ryan Gomes 9/8/8 to round that out.

Man, I miss that guy. Just really seems like such a good guy all around. I loved him Providence, and then loved him Boston. I think he'd really be a great bench/role player on a contender.

[stevew]

The magic won't beat the Cavs again. Lewis is not going to shoot 85% on clutch fade away threes in the 4th quarter again. I've finally come to terms that it was just an anomaly. We have enough big dudes to foul Howard 25 times a game. It aint happening again.

Write it down. Friday April 2. Cavs are a team of destiny!

[Big Fo]

Without that Game 2 buzzer beater it would have been a sweep, Orlando was clearly the better team. It was about as much of an anomaly as the Lakers beating the Magic in the Finals.

Can't forget the ESPN "experts" predictions going into the series last year.

[RainMaker]

I think the Cavs were a better team in the sense that they would have been tougher on the Lakers. But I think Orlando was a really bad matchup for them.

[whomario]

If Shaq is healthy i don´t see them being a bad matchup anymore ...

Boston looses to the Rockets (without Martin, Ariza and Battier) Larry Birdinger with 24 points on 9-24 shooting, 6-8 from 3 And a ridiculous shot in OT. Scola 27/11, Brooks 30 points.
And Chuck Hayes is amazing, hope he still has a role next year. Just playing outside his comfortzone/capabilities this year, but as a 15 minute guy off the bench depending on matchups ... Defended

Suns keep on winning while keeping Nashs minutes down, just 25 tonight.

Magic looses to the Spurs, foul trouble (and 2-11 ft shooting with Pop busting out a hack-a-howard to which Dwight reacted interesting ... He hasn´t improved one bit there) for Howard. Very loose whistles on both sides, Howard and Duncan couldn´t breathe without getting called for sth ...
Manu dismantled them to the tune of 43-6-5, shooting 13-25 from the field and 14-17 from the line.
The guy is so unbelievably good when he´s healthy, will go down as one of the most underrated guys ever when in 5 or 10 years people will only look at his overall stats.
22.4/4.5/5.7 in just under 32 minutes since the Allstar break.

Cleveland beats Atlanta, James 27/13/6. His assist average for the season is remarkable.
According to basketball-reference he is the only Forward to ever average 8+ games for a season (Bird, Havlicek and Grant Hill the only ones over 7)
the only 6´7+ guys to ever record 8+ assists are Magic, Chamberlain, Reggie Theus and Clyde Drexler.

GS-NY with a wild affair as expected. David Lee using the Warriors effect to put up 37/20/10 (first 30/20/10 since Kareem in 1976). Gallinari 29.
Morrow with 35 on 16-23 shooting.

Please let the Warriors win 2 more games and then Nelson has a reason to retire with that stupid record in hand...

Lakers win against the Jazz by 14 despite Bryant going 5-23...

[TroyF]

everyone thinks I'm talking about Dwight torching the Cavs on offense for some reason. I'm not. I'm talking about how Dwight will control the defensive boards. And the Magic will drill three pointers. Over and over and over again.

Lewis hitting 85% from three in the fourth? Ok. Accept that he only hit two three pointers in the fourth quarter combined in the last three Magic wins of that series.

Everyone remembers that Howard torched them for 40 points in the final game, not many realize the Magic hit 12-29 threes in that game. Dwight torched them because the Cavs had no answer to the three point shooters.

Look at game 2 last year. Dwight scored 10 points. Lebron scored 35 (with his last coming on the long three) The Cavs won the rebounding battle. Controlled Dwight. James played well. And they barely snuck out with a win.

They then sent Dwight to the line 48 times in the final three games of the series. And they still lost 2 of the 3 games.

We'll see when the games play out, but I do not see Cleveland beating this Orlando team if Dwight can get in 35 minutes each night.

[whomario]

the 3 point shooting all starts with Howard, though. IF Shaq is healthy and can put a body on Howard for 30 minutes, this will enable the Cavs to play more closely on the perimeter. The Magic are not good at generating offense from the heart of the defense with dribble penetration, they play off of the attention teams pay to Dwight, go in 10 feet and then kick it out. If you don´t have to do that as much they struggle.
So i don´t put stock into last year. This year they are 2-1 and in the loss got a combined 4-22 from Williams/Parker/West. THey got Howard into foul trouble both of the other games, outrebounded the Cavs in all 3 games.

Anthony Parker is a big addition defensively as he´s a great, great guy at closing in on shooters and gives them a legit defender against 2-guards for the first time ever. They also have a vastly improved PF-situation with Jamison,Hickson and Varejao sliding down from the 5. For god sake, they played Szerbiak 15-20 minutes at the 4 last year

[whomario]

Andrew Bogut just had his arm shattered after a dunk attempt loosing grip hanging on the rim and falling down with his arm trapped underneath his body, fuck ... That´s one to give you nightmares ... No way he´s healthy for the playoffs, that looked like everything in the ellbow area was broken/ripped with nothing holding the arm together anymore.
Oh man ....

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by whomario

Andrew Bogut just had his arm shattered after a dunk attempt loosing grip hanging on the rim and falling down with his arm trapped underneath his body, fuck ... That´s one to give you nightmares ... No way he´s healthy for the playoffs, that looked like everything in the ellbow area was broken/ripped with nothing holding the arm together anymore.
Oh man ....

Dislocated elbow. Looks much worse than it is. Actually happens a lot in rec leagues and such. Timetable is all about how bad it was and if it did any additional damage. Could be done for the year or could be back by the playoffs.

Tough break though as they had been playing real well since the Salmons trade.

[whomario]

Bucks lose Bogut for the season - JSOnline

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by whomario

the 3 point shooting all starts with Howard, though. IF Shaq is healthy and can put a body on Howard for 30 minutes, this will enable the Cavs to play more closely on the perimeter. The Magic are not good at generating offense from the heart of the defense with dribble penetration, they play off of the attention teams pay to Dwight, go in 10 feet and then kick it out. If you don´t have to do that as much they struggle.
So i don´t put stock into last year. This year they are 2-1 and in the loss got a combined 4-22 from Williams/Parker/West. THey got Howard into foul trouble both of the other games, outrebounded the Cavs in all 3 games.

Anthony Parker is a big addition defensively as he´s a great, great guy at closing in on shooters and gives them a legit defender against 2-guards for the first time ever. They also have a vastly improved PF-situation with Jamison,Hickson and Varejao sliding down from the 5. For god sake, they played Szerbiak 15-20 minutes at the 4 last year

I guess you could look at the regular season like that. Here is how I look at the regular season this year:

Game 1 - Orlando is on a back to back (and 3rd in 4 nights) without Lewis while the Cavs have rested for 5 days. Big shock, Orlando loses.

Game 2 - Orlando travels to Cleveland playing their 4th game in 5 nights. Cleveland is is at the end of a 7 game home stand and has played only the Nets and Knicks in the previous seven days. Big shock, Orlando loses.

Game 3 - Both teams come into the game with the same amount of rest. The Cavs are missing Big Z due to the trade. And it's a dead repeat of last year. Lebron goes crazy. The Cavs secondary players can't get over the Magic length on the perimeter and suck from three point land. The Magic hit 8 threes, Dwight plays 44 minutes, and down the stretch they hit all the shots they need to. Game over.

Game 4 - Yet to be played, will be meaningless.

My overall read? Nothing. Orlando was at a huge disadvantage the first two games. The Cavs were missing Z in the last one. I still think Orlando wins a seven game series between the teams.

[Eaglesfan27]

Stupid play by the Cavs to let the Celtics roll the boll to midcourt to get off a good 3 to end the half up 64-49.

[whomario]

James with one of those games where the combination of coasting early, lack of concentration/fundamentals on the FT line and terrible shot selection get the best of Lebron. I mean, 14-22 FTs isn´t terrible, but as a star player on the perimeter ? And clearly getting everything he wants, his teammates hitting from outside (Parker, Williams, Jamison combined 7-8) and still chucking up 9 threes and not hitting a single one ?

And how ridulous is it that Jamison shoots 45% from the FT line as a Cav and 38% in march ? THe guy shot right about 75% for most of his career.

@ TroyF : My bad for not taking that into acount, i basically went with "how i remember the matchups" and just glanced over the boxscores without looking at the context. Still, i think the additions of Shaq, Parker and Jamison will help them a lot against the Magic and i see them matching up very, very well this year.
I know the Magic also upgraded, but the Cavs adjusted to them well imo.

[sooner333]

Thunder clinched the playoffs! Hard to believe, but it's really awesome. Apparently a decent-sized group met the team at the airport to cheer when they got back from Dallas, which was pretty cool. The players thought so too on their tweets, and apparently Nick Collison drove back around to thank the fans for coming. The Ford Center will be ROCKING! I was at the first game last year, and now I'm trying to figure out how much I'll be willing to pay to be at the first playoff game.

[Cuckoo]

Originally Posted by sooner333

...and now I'm trying to figure out how much I'll be willing to pay to be at the first playoff game.

Exactly my thoughts.

[whomario]

Oklahoma´s turnaround is amazing, great story and a great team. Playoffs in the west could be epic this year. Still very much possible that all 8 teams will be 50 win teams.

Manu Ginobili is just pure awesomness when he is healthy, those last 15 games or so since Parker went out have been sth else. He´s not even playing huge minutes, but so, so effective and explosive. 25.5 PPG in about 31 MPG, shooting over 50% and over 45% from 3, over 5 assists.
Tonight good in the first half, very quiet in the 3rd quarter, than takes over in the 4th with 17 points on a variety of shots, layups and floaters.
Why the Lakers insisted on putting Artest on him is beyond me. Pretty funny that Artest tried to get into his head. Seriously Ron, have you seen the dude play before ? Since when does Ginobili get nervous ?

Duncan looked alive, too. George Hill twisted his ankle though and McDyess also came down funny ...

The Rockets need to be aware that they are going to have to get back to getting a different mentality defensively again over the summer. I realize they are undersized all year and under-manned recently, but still you have to give more effort.
72 points on 65% shooting at the half for the pacers. Birdinger continues his strong play though

[sterlingice]

I'm still trying to see how the pieces fit together for the Rockets next year. I just see at least 2 pieces (Brooks + ??) being traded this offseason. I just don't know how things are going to look but I trust Morey to do a good job.

SI

[Chief Rum]

It was a fun game tonight at Staples. It was pretty neat being so close to the action. We were right above the home team entrance/exit, so we got to see the Clips come in right underneath us at halftime and after the game. Baron looked up at us, but I wasn't expecting it, so I missed taking a picture. Two good shots at Kaman, but he never looked up (got a good shot of the top of his now shaved head). Best shot was of EG, kinda looking up as he passed under.

Unfortunately, I just got a new phone (an I Phone), and I can't seem to find any advanced controls for working the camera. So I couldn't really focus to get any good action shots or anything like that.

Clips played a decent game, but just didn't hit the shots they needed to at the end of the game. At least it was close, a fun game to watch, and the place was rockin' at the end.

There was an old couple sitting a couple rows behind us that became the focus of the Kiss Cam. Old guy was just flat refusing to budge for the longest time, but the Kiss Cam operator kept on him, and the wife started to bug him, too. So he finally break down and gave her a chaste kiss. Arena exploded in cheers. That's what passes for fun at a Clips game.

Some tall white guy with a jarhead haircut was getting interviewed in the tunnel during the game at one point, although it was strange, the reporter looked like a TV guy and they were clearly doing an interview (mike going back and forth, etc.), but no camera in sight. Weird. Never recognized the interviewee. My brother and I settled on maybe Detlef Schrempf (his kid's a walk on at UCLA), but we really just pulled Schrempf out of our collective ass. If I ever figure out how to put my pics on computer and then the Net, I'll post a pic and see if anyone can guess.

[bhlloy]

Tall, white, jarhead - it's gotta be Detlef. Either that or Chris Mullin.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Tall, white, jarhead - it's gotta be Detlef. Either that or Chris Mullin.

lol...it wasn't Mullin!

[whomario]

Has anyone seen the Oklahoma-Utah game last night ? Active defense (not effective obviously, but an effort was made), ridiculous offense on both sides, OT and a a questionable call on Duran´ts last shot in Utah = instant classic.

Definitely among the best regular season games i´ve seen, ever.

Durant was spectacular obviously, Williams the same for Utah. Role players stepped up as well. Great game overall. And as of now would be a first-round matchup.
Although, 6,7,8 are 1 game apart and 2,3,4,5 are just 1/2 game apart. Pretty crazy.

Ibaka keeps getting better and better imo ... His last 12 games a raw +- of +49 with the thunder as a team being +59 btw which is pretty good, better bench play overall and slightly different rotation can do that. 7.5/6.3 with nearly 2 blocks in march/april in 20 minutes a game. Multiple game changing plays theese last few weeks plus absolutely stunning displays of athleticism as usual (youtube him).
Had a monster block on Duncan to win a game recently, that wa sunreal. I just love the kid


In the east Toronto stays 1 game above Chicago but Bosh might be out with a broken bone in his face ...

[Cuckoo]

Heartbreaker for the Thunder. They put on an incredible display of shooting just to get back in it, down 14 or something with like 3 minutes to play, and then after the back and forth in OT, that no-call just hurts. The announcers made me think they called it, but then the Jazz continued celebrating. I wasn't really paying attention to the foul live, but he certainly got him on the forearm after seeing the replay. I know the refs don't want to decide a game, but that's a tough one to take.

Still, though, along with the Boston/OKC game last week, one of the best I've seen this year.

[Big Fo]

I didn't watch the game but it looked like an amazing fourth quarter and overtime from the highlights.

I can't wait for the Western Conference playoffs. The East won't be very interesting until the second round and even then I'd be surprised if the ECFs turned out to be anything but Orlando - Cleveland. But out West a number of teams all have strong squads, I could even see the Lakers going down at some point although they're obviously big favorites.

[whomario]

right now the Lakers are really struggling and their lack of bench-depth gets exposed with Bynum out. And there´s no guarantee that he´ll be back for the playoffs and than no guarantee that he´ll play good ball (see last year for reference) and then i don´t think that it´s a sure thing they beat a team like Portland, San Antonio or Oklahoma in the first round. Favourites yes, but not as heavy as people make them out to be. I need to see that "other gear" in order to believe they have it.

[LloydLungs]

George Shinn is selling the Hornets. Never thought I would see the day. I would argue that this could be the best thing to ever happen to pro basketball in New Orleans, even above drafting Chris Paul (since this sale could greatly help us KEEP him). The new owner is a lifetime local and far, far richer than Shinn. I am about as pumped as a fan of a 35-44, injury-riddled, bad contract-riddled, quitting non-playoff team can be.

[MikeVic]

lol anyone see Melo last night? He was lying on the court apparently injured, and the game kept going on. J.R. Smith even drove right past him. Call a time out dude!!

[TroyF]

Didn't see the game (was traveling), but it doesn't surprise me much. JR is about as dumb as a rock.

Huge win for Denver last night. OKC was off a b2b and 4th in 5 nights, but it was a game Denver had to get. Four games left for the Nuggets:

vs. Lakers
vs. Spurs
vs. Grizz
@ Suns (b2b)

They take 3 of 4, they win the division. (they hold the tiebreaker on Utah) 3 wins against that group is not easy though. Obviously, the Lakers game tonight is huge. You don't want to make @Suns a must win game on a back to back.

I still think they may go down in round one. Not playing Lawson and anything less than a solid Kenyon and they will lose.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Didn't see the game (was traveling), but it doesn't surprise me much. JR is about as dumb as a rock.

Huge win for Denver last night. OKC was off a b2b and 4th in 5 nights, but it was a game Denver had to get. Four games left for the Nuggets:

vs. Lakers
vs. Spurs
vs. Grizz
@ Suns (b2b)

They take 3 of 4, they win the division. (they hold the tiebreaker on Utah) 3 wins against that group is not easy though. Obviously, the Lakers game tonight is huge. You don't want to make @Suns a must win game on a back to back.

I still think they may go down in round one. Not playing Lawson and anything less than a solid Kenyon and they will lose.

It was a really odd sequence of events. Melo bumped into Durant, and it looked like his neck got hurt or something. Melo dropped to the ground, traveling was called on him... and he just laid there, not moving. The ball went back up in OKC's possession, Denver got it back, and still Melo is laying in the key. Smith drives in, he either misses or loses the ball or something... and finally the game is stopped.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

George Shinn is selling the Hornets. Never thought I would see the day. I would argue that this could be the best thing to ever happen to pro basketball in New Orleans, even above drafting Chris Paul (since this sale could greatly help us KEEP him). The new owner is a lifetime local and far, far richer than Shinn. I am about as pumped as a fan of a 35-44, injury-riddled, bad contract-riddled, quitting non-playoff team can be.

I'm sure there are a few people in Charlotte who are alternating cheering and cursing that this happened. Cheering because Shinn is the villain who pretty much screwed up the NBA in Charlotte with his personal problems and public fight for a new arena, cursing because he didn't sell the Hornets when they were still in Charlotte. Yes, the Bobcats have made the playoffs at last, but the buzz clearly isn't there yet for them like it was for the Hornets. They're moving the needle some now, but it's going to take a while, if ever, for the Bobcats to come close to what the Hornets had, though.

[TroyF]

Thanks to the Lakers resting Kobe and Carmelo Anthony torching Ron Artest all night, the Nuggets got the game they needed last night. Magic number for the division is now 2. The Nuggets now scoreboard watch tonight.

Dallas @ Portland, Utah @ NO, Phoenix @ OKC

The OKC one is probably the most interesting. The Spurs have said they'll do everything they can to avoid playing the Lakers. They are tied with OKC and Portland for the final spot. If OKC and Portland win, the Spurs will face a huge game in Denver tomorrow. They also play Dallas on the final day of the regular season in a game that could decide the 8th and 2nd spots in the west.

It's amazing to me that with 3 or 4 games left, the wests 2-8 spots are 100% up for grabs. Denver, Dallas, Utah, Phoenix going for spots 2-5 and Potland, OKC and San Antonio battling for spots 6-8.

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I'm sure there are a few people in Charlotte who are alternating cheering and cursing that this happened. Cheering because Shinn is the villain who pretty much screwed up the NBA in Charlotte with his personal problems and public fight for a new arena, cursing because he didn't sell the Hornets when they were still in Charlotte. Yes, the Bobcats have made the playoffs at last, but the buzz clearly isn't there yet for them like it was for the Hornets. They're moving the needle some now, but it's going to take a while, if ever, for the Bobcats to come close to what the Hornets had, though.

It's weird. The guy has been so stubborn holding on to the Hornets. He had all kinds of opportunities in Charlotte to sell, people were begging him to sell. Same thing in Oklahoma -- there were multiple groups that would have been only too happy to take the team off his hands and he could have cashed out in a big way. He stated numerous times he would never sell the team, this was his life, the team would be passed down through the generations, etc.

Then he gets prostate cancer this year, apparently gets some sort of priority shift after facing his own mortality (I dunno), and bam, team sold. I think it probably has more to do with his being a poor owner in a business that has some VERY rough times ahead in the next couple of years. But whatever -- New Orleans is the lucky beneficiary. All the constant "poor organization, cash-strapped, financial woes, etc etc" is pretty much going away, because Gary Chouest is loaded -- an extremely independently wealthy basketball junkie -- on paper, the best kind of owner to have. I'm psyched.

[whomario]

Bill Simmons wrote a pretty epic column on how Rasheed Wallace is basically a deeply irritating and frustrating player. Nothing new here, but very well written and was propably never covered that conclusive before : Bill Simmons: Smoke and mirrors - ESPN

[Big Fo]

Barcelona beat Real Madrid in soccer and basketball on the same day. This amuses me for some reason.

[whomario]

in Basketball they are 7-1 this season in the various competitions (league, cup, euroleague)
been a huge barca fan in soccer since i was 10 or so and got to watch a game in Nou Camp.

Last night another reminder as to how freakish Nowitzki can be :



that shooting ability at his size continues to amaze me even after all this years

Has also made 68 FTs in a row now, breaking his own franchise record

[whomario]

Lakers loose their 6th game of their last 9 in a pretty strange finish against the Blazers (down 1 Bryant misses 2 FTs and Fisher misses 1, then Webster gets fouled on what would be a wild 3 point attempt and sinks all 3)
Uh, oh ... Bryant looked terrible most of the night (although credit goes to Batum and Webster) and other than Gasol and Odom really no one else looked even decent.
Blazers had Roy leave the game in the first half with a knee injury ...

So, with 2 games to go the west standings now show 3-way ties for 3-5 as well as 6-8

-And Dallas just 1 game ahead of the 3 teams behind. I think that 1 game guarantees them homecourt advantage and the 2nd seed. But i gave up figuring out what could happen here in terms of seeding and homecourt advantage which isn´t the same to cap off the madness ...

-Denver and Utah also tied for the division title right now, Denver has the tiebreaker right now (3-1). Phoenix can´t go up higher than 4th i think due to the division-champ being guaranteed the 3 seed.

-Phoenix plays both Denver (at home) and Utah (in SLC) in their last 2 games
If they beat Utah they will be 2:2 against them and due to having won more games against Western Conference Teams, if they beat Denver they´ll be 3-1 against Denver .
Everything else makes my brain hurt ...

-San Antonio has the tiebreaker on OKC but not against Portland.

-Oklahoma and Portland play again tonight, if Oklahoma wins it´s 2-2 but OKC has a better record within the division.


Plus i wouldn´t have any idea which team would/should rather play what other team.


-In the East Chicago beats Toronto to move 1 game ahead of them. However, Toronto plays Detroit and New York while Chicago plays Boston and Charlotte and Toronto has won the season series 2-1.

-Miami and Milwaukee are tied for 5th righ now, Boston 1 game behind Atlanta (Atlanta won the season series 4-0, but Boston´s division crown would make them 3rd if tied, however if they´d meet in the POs Atlanta would then have homecourt) ...

You know what ? I quit I´ll just avoid looking at the standings until thursday morning.

[whomario]

Honestly, right now i could see basically everyone but Portland and Oklahoma advance to the finals in the West (and those 2 could very well win their first round series). But sooo many question marks.

The Lakers desperately need Bynum back and really back this time (not like last year where he couldn´t get anything going upon returning), so that one of their 3 bigs can play more with the 2nd unit which is struggling badly to create good shots.

If Robin Lopez gets healthy (getting evaluated today ...) i see the Suns as a really, really dangerous team with how their bench has improved and Nash/Stoudemire looking as lethal a combination as they did a couple years ago.
Plus now they have a explosive scorer at the 2 again with Richardson and if Lopez is healthy that gives them another dimension without taking away their running game as he´s a) not 38 years old and b) not a feature on offense you have to wait for.

How is Kenyon Martin´s health for Denver and how are they going to play without a headcoach on the sidelines ?

Can Dallas balance playing 2 big Centers and bring out 3 guard lineups regularly ? They´ve almost got too many options right now. Marion has been injured, too.

How healthy is Tony Parker for the Spurs, what has Duncan left in the tank ? Can Ginobili continue to play like that ?

Is Kirilenko healthy for Utah ? Okur also missed their last game.

Oklahoma needs to get back to playing consistent defense, they´ve tried to outscore other teams too often lately.

Portland is solid, but i just can´t wrap my head around them winning a series, let alone go further. But then again, next to Roy/Aldridge they´ve got an upgrade at PG, Batum is improved and Webster added to the bench along with an improved Bayless.


It´s going to be amazing and i´m going to miss most of it being on a trip through Norway, somehow i doubt i´ll catch much of the NBA there ...

[RainMaker]

The Bulls organization has started turning a little Isiah-ish. John Paxson (GM) attacked Vinny Del Negro after a game a few weeks ago when he played Noah over the minutes they wanted him to play.

And huge win for the Bulls tonight. The "Defensive All-NBA" Rajon Rondo got clowned so hard by Rose that they had to put him on the bench for Nate Robinson in the closing minutes. I hope that puts an end to the ridiculous Defensive Player of the Year talk surrounding him.