Christmas Day Game - Cavs at Lakers

So this was the big hyped game that a lot of people were talking about. It didn't turn out as I expected or probably as a lot of other people expected. The Cavs pretty much blew out the Lakers in LA. The Lakers had a nice winning streak at home. However, there were a lot of factors. First, a lot of credit to the Cavs. They came out with a good attacking plan, and they did well. Mo Williams was playing great and he was killing the Lakers. Shaq actually played very well, but I think the Lakers didn't D up like they normally do. I think they gave the Cavs too many easy looks. Kobe played decent, I think he almost got a triple double actually. However, the Lakers in general played horrible, missed a lot of shots. There were a lot of calls that seemed like the Lakers got hit and fouled a lot that didn't get called. Obviously, you don't want to blame the refs, but Kobe should have had a lot more free throws in my monitoring. The game didn't turn out to be one of the game of the years as it could have been. Last year, the Lakers beat the Cavs both times, so its too bad they already lost to them at home this year.

Injuries - hard to watch

Last night in the Lakers game vs the Thunder, there was a play Kobe jumped into the air and he landed awkwardly and his knee sorted of twisted. He was clutching his knee and I'm sure it was painful. Watching the play makes me cringe and start rubbing my knee because if it buckled or went a further inches one way something would have broke or been very bad. That is how close things are to being the end of a season or career. The crowd got very quiet because Kobe didn't get up right away, but then he seemed to be fine and started wiping his brow saying "Phew, that was close!" But anyway, watching injuries or near injuries are really hard to watch for me. They look painful, so you can only imagine how it feels. When former players are discussing an injury that took place in the court, they recount how painful it is for them to watch it because they experienced a similar injury. I can relate at least to sprain/severe sprained ankle. I've done it twice and it is painful. The first time was the worst. My feet twisted the wrong way and it was the most painful thing I experienced. So whenever I seem a similar twist that an NBA player experiences, I understand. One of the worst injuries I can remember seeing is Shaun Livingston. You can probably find the video of it online where he injuries his knee very badly. In fact, I don't want to even look or find that video, it was that painful for me to watch.

Tyreke Evans is ballin!!

In an earlier post I proclaimed Brandon Jennings my early favorite to win ROY. I must amend it and say that he has some big competition with Tyreke. Soon after I vocalized my support for Brandon, it seemed he started to be more up and down. Brandon has kind of been inconsistent throughout the season, however, he is still pretty solid. However, Tyreke, especially after Kevin Martin went down for the Kings, has stepped up his game for the Kings. Tyreke is in the 20, 5, 5 club! (20 points, 5 rebs, 5 assist per game) That is very, very, impressive. Not many players are doing it this season among all the players. Another nice thing with Tyreke is he seems to be more consistent than Brandon at this point. In last night's game vs the Bulls, Tyreke helped to lead the Kings back to victory from 35 points down! Yes, 35 points down! Tyreke is ballin!

Kobe...Lebron...Christmas Day!

Great NBA game scheduled on Christmas day, Lakers vs Cavs on ABC at 5:00 pm EST. I'll be watching!!

Will you wait on the replay!!??

 I was just watching a game and was reminded of one of my biggest annoyances that happens sometimes during the broadcast of an NBA game.  A spectacular play happens (like a nice dunk) and they start replaying the dunk immediately afterward while the game is still going on! I hate this cause I'm missing the live action!! I'm not so bothered if nothing major happened while it was showing the replay, but I hate it if I miss a steal or the other team comes back and makes a quick great play. So please, hold the replay until there is a stoppage of play.

Announcers Bias

If you watch an NBA game on one of the big networks - ESPN, TNT or ABC, they have to be neutral for the most part (I believe). They can't appear to be rooting for one particular team or player. They have to give their thoughts and opinions which shouldn't be biased (for the most part). However, if your watching a feed that is from that team's place, it will of course be totally for the home team. This is fair and understandable. I get a little kick in listening to these various home town feeds because you get an understanding of how biased thoughts affect fact or common sense. In fact, its so funny to see how outlandish some of these opinions are. For example, the Lakers game I was watching was a Milwaukee feed. Therefore, the guys were of course rooting for everything Bucks. In one part of the game I thought the analyst was going to have a seizure yelling at what he stated was a CLEAR lane violation by Ron Artest. Looking at the replay it was clearly NOT the case, and the correct call was made against the Bucks. They showed the replay only once (LOL, i wonder why, maybe it was obvious he was wrong). The fact that they are rooting for the Bucks also have them more animated and yelling at everything. I heard a "Woo!" what seemed like almost every played toward the end of the game for every way they scored a point. However, it was not a "Woo!" in the sense of "yes we scored", which would make sense to me. It was a "Woo" as if it was the most amazing play ever, even if it was a basic pass/shot. Being a pro Kobe fan its funny to listen to how they bash him since they are pro-Bucks. By the way, I am not trying to bash the announcers for their bias in the game. In fact, for Bucks fans watching, I'm sure they appreciate it. Hey, I know I love watching pro-Laker feeds of games. The same thing happens. They get excited about Laker plays and talk about terrible calls against them. My main point is that support/rooting for a team takes fair judgement out. I try to be fair when I watch the games and say "Yea, that was a travel on Kobe" or "that was a foul by Pau". But admittedly, most of the time I think I deny because that is what happens in the moment. "Its impossible!"

All-Star Voting - T-Mac???

First of all, I wanted to mention a while ago how silly I thought it was that they started All-Star voting quite early in the season. It seemed like it was the second or third week of the season and they started talking about All-Star voting. Are you serious? How can you vote this early? I understand fans want to vote for who they want to see. This probably explains why Tracy McGrady has enough votes to be a starter for the All-Star game. I guess I'm more of a purist/realist because I feel it should be based solely on performance and not name factor. This is truly a name thing because Tracy has played 0 games this year (well as of now 1 game - which he played 7 mins). However, the recent vote totals was before he played his first game. I kind of get annoyed with these things because I think people who have earned and played at an All-Star level should be starting. For instance, Steve Nash is behind Tracy in votes, and he should be ahead. This has always been true throughout the years where people seem to vote more on name than what they are currently doing in the NBA season.

Here are my starting five picks:

West: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Andrew Bynum
(I was torn between Dirk and Pau Gasol, but Dirk has been killing it too and played longer

East: Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Rajan Rondo (he has been playing that well!)

The Celtics looking very good

The Celtics and Lakers are both 20-4 and tied for the best record. I have another record for you though. 12-1. Twelve and one is the Celtics current road record! That is pretty incredible. To me, that is more impressive. I give the Celtics the edge on the record because winning on the road I think is key to being a dominant team. They are maintaining their high differential and winning on the road. The Lakers are starting to play more of their road games and we'll see if they continue to pull out these miracle wins. However, more dominating performances need to be displayed. At this point though, a Lakers vs Celtics matchup in the Finals looks very probable.

Kobe Does it Again!

Last night the Lakers played the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks held their own against the Lakers and had every chance to win the game. In fact, the Lakers had no business winning that game, because the Bucks had every opportunity to lock the game up. However, missed free-throws, fouls, and just aggressive play from the Lakers gave them a loss. Kobe of course hit a game winning shot in OT to win the game, which swished in nicely. He actually had the same chance in regulation but missed. He mentioned that during the post game interview and said he had a good look and he missed. He said if he had another chance, he was going to go right back to it. Kobe is playing phenomenal considering he has a broken index finger since about 2 or 3 games ago. He had 42 against the Bulls, and 39 against the Bucks last night. By the way, Pau Gasol is playing unbelievable. He has 78 rebounds in 4 games for an average of 19.5 rebounds. He has had three 20 or more rebound performances in 3 of the games. Ron Artest has recently been more down on his shot recently and not shooting very well. He was shooting the ball a lot better from 3 earlier.  I'd like to apologize for my Laker dominating posts. I understand I don't talk much about the other teams, but as I mentioned in my first post, the Lakers are the team I really follow the most.

Chris Webber - The Analyst

Just want to give a shout out to Chris Webber. I like hearing his opinions and thoughts of the goings on of the NBA. He can be funny and he gives some good former player views. He can be seen on NBA TV and TNT.

Surprising Teams & Other News

The New York Knicks are on a 4 game winning streak?!? Where did this come from, they are playing really well. Unfortunately, Nate Robinson is logging 0 minutes during this streak and I wonder when he will be traded. The Oklahoma City Thunder are really surprising me as well as they have +.500 record. Kevin Durant is really leading that team and he has some great players around him. I'm also surprised with the Memphis Grizzlies record at this point. I think they are doing better than I thought as well. The Lakers win streak ended at 11 after they lost in Utah. It was their first road game in a long while, and of course they lose it. I figured they may lose especially the way they killed the Jazz in the 4th quarter of their last game. The Lakers are going to be tested more now since they will be playing more road games. The Boston Celtics have the current longest winning streak now. They have 10 game winning streak and playing extremely well. Rondo is playing very well and KG looks like he's coming back to form. Scary news for the rest of the teams.

Allen Iverson Tonight!

Allen Iverson has signed with the 76ers and his debut is tonight. A lot of the talk was about how emotional he was in his press conference. In the past couple years, I'm not sure if Allen has conducted himself in the best way, but it looks like it could be a good fit. He is coming back to the city he had so much success and I think the people love him. They know he plays hard and gives it his all. Allen will definitely have a chance to get his minutes and shots. I heard that the attendance for 76ers games was worse than the Timberwolves. That is sad. Especially since they have that other AI who is a high flyer amazing athlete. However, I'm definitely going to be tuned in tonight to watch the game. I'm sure its going to be exciting for the fans to have something else to cheer for. I think its going to be a fun game to watch. Its going to be interesting to see how he will perform. He has admitted he is not in game shape since he hasn't really played at all since early part of the season with Memphis. Watch the game on NBA TV if you can.

Kobe Bryant shot!

On Friday night, the Heat and Lakers were playing a game in LA. The Heat were playing well and made a nice comeback to take the lead at the end of the game. It was a good showing from them after getting blown out in Denver in their last game. Miami would have won the game if they had some better execution toward the end of game which include making free throws. Dwayne missed a free throw which gave the Lakers a chance at the end. Honestly, I was saying to myself, "This game is over, the Heat have won." I was hoping for the Lakers to pull it out. Miraculously, they were able to pull out the win on a amazing game winning shot by Kobe at the end of the game. Dwayne played as best defense as you can, but Kobe was just better. I suggest you find the video and look at the shot by Kobe. One of the best of the year.

Let Shannon Brown Dunk!!!

I was watching the Lakers game last night and the broadcasters were talking about Shannon Brown and him (or somebody) having a website called, "Let Shannon Dunk", all in one word probably with respect to the dunk contest. I got excited after hearing about this. I started to go on Youtube and other video sites looking at Shannon Brown dunks and reading articles about him. So many people have talked about what a freak of an athlete he is and his ability to jump is amazing. I was reading about him losing in a contest in previous years to Lebron, but he had missed a windmill dunk that didn't give him a chance to win. If Lebron enters as he said he would last year, then it would be a fun rematch to watch. Besides, I'm sure it would be fun to watch him do some dunks. Go ahead and find his videos and if your an NBA or dunk fan, you will understand. I read Lakers players mention his dunks in practice are very spectacular as well. I can imagine. So my plead and main point is, NBA->PLEASE INVITE SHANNON BROWN TO BE A PARTICIPANT IN THE DUNK CONTEST!!!! This guy is a beast when it comes to dunking and I would like to see what he can come up with. Even if your not a Lakers fan, you can appreciate his athletic ability and you know you would definitely love to watch. During the All-Star break, it gives you a chance to root for those players you don't normally root for if you go for a particular team.

Update: http://letshannondunk.com/

Post Thanksgiving NBA Roundup

Hi All, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I've had a little hiatus from my blog, but now I'm back. I want to talk about several things going on in the NBA, so let me get to it. I'll start out with my favorite topic - the Lakers. Ever since the Lakers got Pau Gasol back, they have not lost a game. Of course a little note should be added here because its only been 5 games and the teams are of lower tier quality. However, they have been dominating the games, which is a plus to see. It will be interesting to see how Andrew Bynum's game continues to develop and grow with Pau in there. Andrew has been having a career year thus far, but his numbers have been slightly down since Pau came back. That is to be expected with another big body around who commands the ball and attention. However, it looks to be that Andrew is still playing solid. When the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies, they took off like a rocket, and its been similar with Pau coming back from injury. It should be clear that Pau is a superstar player. There are only a handful of teams that Pau would not be the number 1 player for the team. Pau's numbers are very good and he's always a solid guy for you. Pau is one of those players that you can depend on and expect good things to happen with him in the lineup. His solid dependability reminds me of Tim Duncan.

Speaking of Gasol, when Pau was traded to the Lakers, part of that trade had the rights to Marc Gasol (his brother) traded to the Grizzlies. Marc has developed his game to be far from a throwaway player. In fact, he is averaging a double-double and is leading the league in field goal percentage. These have got to be two of the most talented siblings in NBA or basketball in general.

So thankfully my worry of the Lakers losing to the Nets and giving them their first win did not happen. The Nets are a pathetic 0-17!!! They currently are tied for the worst start and if they lose to the Mavericks at home in their next game, they will have the record for the worst start. By the way, they fired their coach Lawrence Frank before losing their 17th game to the Lakers. Seems like the only highlight for the Nets has been the play of Chris Douglas-Roberts.

The 76ers unfortunately have their point guard Lou Williams out for 8 weeks following jaw surgery. With this, there have been rumors of 76ers considering signing Iverson. I think Philly fans would welcome him back since he's one of the few remaining players of their most current winning years. However, the way Iverson has conducted himself these past couple years, would the 76ers want to deal with that? I can see it working in my head, but I'm just not sure about it yet.

For the month of November, the Phoenix Suns will technically have the best NBA record. I say technically because they have will have the most wins and least losses. However, I always focus on losses and the Lakers are tied with them with 3 losses. The Suns currently have more wins because they have played one more game in the season thus far than the Lakers. I want to give the Suns a lot of props though. I don't think many analysts, if any, had them with them the best record after one month in the preseason. Steve Nash is play amazingly, and he has the right type of players around him. Alvin Gentry has implemented the right type of play for the Suns that maximize their talent.

Shaquille Oneal has already missed 6 games for the Cavaliers this year. Also, his numbers are not that great at all, and not in the sense of just comparing it to the old Shaquille. They are decent numbers but it looks to me he has been more of a hindrance than an addition. To be fair, it may take the Cavs some time to get accustomed how to use Shaq appropriately. In the games that Shaq missed, the Cavs played pretty well, and Lebron was able to be as I like to say "full" Lebron. I don't think Lebron has had a string of games together that made it that much easier for him because of Shaq. It may be just a matter of time.

Last thing, sad loss for the Nuggets, who lost at home to the Timberwolves. This gave the Timberwolves a grand total of 2 wins for the season.

Iverson retiring?

That's the latest news regarding Iverson. Iverson still feels like he can play, which I believe he can play, but its coming off as he's just too good to be "demoted" in any way.  I think he wants to play for a team that will play him almost 48 mins and let him do what he wants. However, now that he is not a franchise player for a team, he can't get that. Unfortunately, he's not helping his image and its only hurting him more in terms of getting with another team. If he is stubborn about playing on his terms, then I guess not many teams will call. No one wants to deal with Iverson and his demands. We'll see what teams will call, if any. A lot of the teams who are struggling have young guys, but they won't bring Iverson in because they want veterans who can mentor and not give them bad habits/ideas.

What's a W?

That is what the Nets must be saying because they have not won a game so far in the season. They are 0-13. Part of me is like wondering how long they can go through the season win-less. I suppose its bad, but I want them to break whatever the record is in starting the season win-less. Its something to look forward to I guess, unless your a Nets fan. I know Devin Harris is out, so that has definitely been a factor in their losses. I believe he's been back recently, however. Watch them get their first win against the Lakers, because the Lakers will have a total letdown or something. They play the Lakers on the 29th, I hope this does not come true!! Anyway, its pretty sad they have 0 wins, and second place on this scale are the Minnesota Timberwolves. At least they have experienced a W, but only one for the entire season, and guess what, it was against the Nets!! It was also the first game of the season for both of them and it was on a buzzer beater. I'm also wondering if Kurt Rambis is that great of a coach that the Timberwolves may have thought. I don't really know much about his coaching skills, only that he was one of the assistant coaches for the Lakers under Phil. I guess we'll have to see, to be fair, he probably doesn't have one of the more talented teams to compete yet.

Celtics Struggling?

Its hard to say a team is struggling when their current record is 10-4 which is not bad. I guess I should amend the statement by stating the Celtics have been struggling recently. Before their win against the Knicks last night, the Celtics lost 3 of their last 4 games. They were so dominating at the beginning and then they had a low period, which any team can have. However, they had to beat the Knicks in OT on a buzzer winning shot. The problem is the Knicks aren't very good, with a 3-10 record, so you wouldn't expect the Celtics needing to beat them at the buzzer. Meanwhile, the Lakers had an easy win against OKC last night. They have been looking good in 2 games since Gasol came back. One team I haven't really mentioned much this year is the Dallas Mavericks. They are playing well and are tied with the least amount of losses for the season with 3. They currently are tied with the Magic for current longest winning streak at 5.

Atlanta Hawks - At the Top??

Yes, thats right. The Atlanta Hawks currently have the best record in the NBA at 10-2. I think its a little surprising but not too shocking. First off, if you watched them the last couple years, you understand they have good core talent and a good solid team. They are playing really good now and can be a scary team to face in the playoffs.

Its amazing to me how the Hawks have regained some respect as a good team. I can still remember how bad they were and didn't remember them having a good team since they faced the Bulls with Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock, and Dikembe Mutombo. Now I only wonder if the Clippers will ever face this kind of turnaround.

Pau Gasol is back

Last night, Pau Gasol played his first game of 09-10 season for the Lakers. For the most part he looked good finishing with 24 points, and 13 rebounds. The only missing element was his conditioning which will increase as the season goes on. The Lakers are unbelievably a big, long and talented team. You have Bynum, Gasol, Odom and if you wanted you could play Kobe and Artest at the guards and your shortest player would be 6ft 6. Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley were discussing this as well after the game and just talking about how scary the Lakers can be. With Gasol back, you can now truly judge how good the Lakers are going to be.

Retire #23??

Recently, a hot topic issue in the NBA is whether to retire the number 23 in the NBA. If you don't know, Michael Jordan wore the number 23 during his playing career, and therefore made 23 synonmous with his name. When you think #23, you think Michael Jordan. It has been brought about recently because Lebron James stated he thinks 23 should be retired league wide in a way to honor Jordan. Lebron currently wears #23 but said he plans to switch to #6 next year and would like to see the NBA honor MJ with retiring his number from the league. This is a very nice gesture from Lebron and I understand what he is saying. However, after listening to all the points of view, I am leaning towards not doing it league wide. I believe its good enough that the Bulls have retired his jersey. Why? Well first of all, Michael wasn't the first great player. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird brought the game up before Michael did, and Dr. J and others before them. If you retire Michael's in that way, I think you have to do that for the Magics, Birds, Russells, etc. Its true Michael probably brought the game more exposure than ever, especially globally. However, I don't think that warrants his number to be retired league wide. The MLB retired Jackie Robinson and NHL did it for Wayne Gretzky league wide. However, those situations were different. Jackie Robinson dealt with a different era overcoming the color line in baseball. Wayne Gretzky is hockey. Anyway, I wouldn't neccesarily be against it if the NBA did in fact retire 23, but I don't feel it has to be done. Even Michael Jordan was stating that he doesn't think it should be done without consideration of the players mentioned earlier. He stated he doesn't think one player is beyond the game or anyone else. I agree. Who knows, it could have been a money move. Sell more jerseys with Lebron as 23 before he switches? Also, if you start retiring all these numbers league wide, you'll eventually start running out of numbers, and then you'll have to go to 3 digit numbers. What are your opinions?

You know, if you grow up wanting to play basketball, I would think you would avoid wearing number 23 because of Michael being associated with it. I can understand you wearing it to honor Michael as I believe Lebron did growing up, but I figured it would be something you would want to avoid because of the MJ connection. Thats quite a big name associated with it.

Shout-out to Hubie Brown

I was watching part of the Wizards vs Cavs game today. Hubie Brown was one of the basketball analysts broadcasting the game. I have been watching games for years with Hubie as an analyst and I really appreciate the way he explains the game. I'm always happy when he does the game because I just like the way he discusses what is going on, player strengths, and general NBA discussion. When he was announced as head coach of the Grizzlies several years ago, I thought he would do a good job based on listening to him analyze games. He did do well and won Coach of the Year I believe in his second year with the Grizzlies. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout-out to Hubie, keep up the good work.

Who is the best?

This relates to my last post. The question always arises, "Who is the best NBA player?" My opinion is Kobe Bryant. To me, he is clearly the best player in the NBA. I think he has been the best player at least for the last 6 years. He has proven it with is scoring explosions, clutch playoff plays, defensive intensity and skill, and just pure skill and talent displayed on the basketball floor. I appreciate Kobe's desire to be the best he can be every night, his undying desire to win and ultimate competitiveness. I think one important thing about being an ultimate player is your level of aggressiveness. There are those players who are really good players, but I don't feel they reach the next level because they seem to blend more in the background at times and too scared or don't have the basketball personality to be aggressive with their game. Kobe is always ready to go, ready to try to win it for his team, and prove his superstar status. Kobe is putting up the numbers, has the ultimate skills, fundamentally sound, and commands the respect of NBA players. Current NBA players declare and state that Kobe is the best NBA player, they realize how good he is. Lebron is definitely getting up there in terms of being the best, however, Kobe's longer experience gives him the edge to me. If Lebron continues his path of greatness, he will surpass Kobe. For now,  try to watch Kobe play as much as you can because he's getting toward the end years of his career. I'm not saying he's done, cause to me he is still in his peak. However, he is getting older, and now actually a veteran of the NBA. I was thinking the other day how I disliked Kobe when he first came in. I thought he came in as an arrogant kid and was trying to be the next MJ. I remember one of Kobe's first All-Star games when it was during the last years of MJ as a Bull. MJ was the veteran at the time and Kobe was the rookie. I wanted MJ to show up Kobe and he did I believe. However, Kobe had a good showing of his own proving that he was the new up and coming generation of superstars. At this point, Kobe is that veteran that Michael was those many years ago, and the new kids are the rookie Kobe coming in. Kobe is at the top and the new players are trying to knock him off. Dwayne is my next favorite after Lebron. He has all the skills in the world too and I just love love his game. He is so good. I don't believe you can look at stats to state who the best player is. Stats are part of it, but I think you have to make a decision from watching them play over several years and judge what they do on the floor overall and what impact they make.  Just watch Kobe, Lebron, and Dwayne play and you'll understand what great amazing superstars they are. I believe when you are watching the, you are watching the best. Some may say, "Where is Carmelo?" in this conversation. Carmelo is great, but he hasn't been doing enough for me to put him up there. This year he certainly is, but he has to continue that play. I believe Dwayne and Lebron were on different levels over the past couple years than Carmelo was. That was a level I didn't see Carmelo at yet. I think Carmelo is just now starting to put his name there.

Who would you pay to watch?

Off the top of my head, there are three players I would pay good money to watch play at the NBA level.

Those players are Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Dwayne Wade. Who are yours?

Random Thoughts on the NBA

I've been out of town recently, and haven't had a chance to blog about things as much as I have wanted to or been able to. Let me start with the Lakers. The Nuggets really killed the Lakers in the second half of their recent game. The Lakers are not playing their best ball at all as evidenced by another home loss. Granted, they have had injury problems - Gasol is still not back, Bynum was out a little bit, and now Kobe has groin issue. Its obvious Kobe has something going on, cause he's been terrible last two games, especially compared to his own Kobe standard. The other Lakers, especially the bench, need to pick up their play. For the most part, I have been happy with Artest's contribution, I think he is getting better as he plays more games for the Lakers. The Lakers have lost 2 in a row as well as the Celtics. The power teams are struggling a bit, but thats also due to some injuries. Paul Pierce is banged up a bit for the Celtics. Record wise, do you know what are three teams that only have 2 losses in the season so far?  Impressively the teams are the Hawks, Heat, and Suns. I'm a little surprised of how well these teams have been playing thus far. I knew they were solid, but didn't think they would have the best records 10 games into the season. Of course, its still really early in the season. Marc Stein has the Hawks number 1 this week for his Power Rankings. If I haven't said it before, I"ll say it now, Joe Johnson is a great great player. He is a well deserved All-Star. He is a true go-to guy and can really shoot the ball. I like Joe's game and he is playing well for the Hawks. I had no idea of the player he would turn out to be for the Hawks. I thought he was just another "shooter" when I saw him play with Nash on the Suns. Now, for Allen Iverson. I wanted to post an article just on this guy previously. I believe Iverson has been kind of baby the way he has behaved thus far. Hey I know he has skills but there is a way of going about things. Allen was coming off an injury at the beginning of the season, and I thought he should have at least given the coach some leeway in bringing back to the starting lineup. First off, you need to prove yourself, and not just rely on the past to give you an automatic start. I'm sure he would have worked himself up to the starting lineup quickly, even by the middle of the month. However, I guess Allen couldn't wait that long. I hope he is able to resolve whatever family situation/problems he is going through. Its being reported that the Grizzlies will waive Iverson today, so I wonder if Allen will be playing any time again this year in the NBA. One last thought, I can't say enough about Brandon Jennings, he is playing so well.

The Blazers are blazing hot!

Portland currently has the longest winning streak in the NBA with 6 in a row. Coincidentally, they started winning with Andre Miller when Andre was inserted into the starting lineup. My opinion is Andre is making his true impact with the team. Andre has always been known as a solid point guard that distributes the ball well. I think Portland is getting back to that dangerous team that they were last year and can make a good playoff run I believe.

Brandon Jennings

Brandon Jennings is making my ROY pick look good by dropping 55 points on the Warriors in a recent game. That is very impressive for a rookie. His experience overseas has obviously helped him in the NBA.

Sick Dunks

During Thursday night's game between the Cavs and Heat, Dwayne Wade had a huge in your face dunk on Varejo. That same night, Shannon Brown of the Lakers had a very nice dunk in their game against the Suns. Shannon's head was at rim level. According to some articles I found, he has like a 44 inch vertical. I have heard/read people describe that Shannon is a super athlete and he has huge hands. Shannon definitely holds the basket like a tennis ball. I suggest you try to find and check out these videos.

Early pick for Rookie of the Year

Brandon Jennings is my early pick for ROY. He is playing spectacular for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Instant Replay

I like how the NBA uses instant replay. I think if we have the technology to do it, we should use it to make the correct calls in games. However, I'm not saying to use it every second, which the NBA doesn't do. The NBA does it at end of quarters and games to verify and make the correct calls, which I believe to be the best hybrid approach.

0.3 Seconds Left!

So I just caught the end of the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls game. It was an exciting end to the game. The big thing at the end was trying to figure out if a shot by Brad Miller counted with 0.3 seconds left. If it did, it would have gave the Bulls the win. The referees had to keep looking at the replays to figure out if it counted, and ultimately ruled it didn't. It was a great shot either way. However, I was confused on what the NBA rule is on it. A few years ago, in the playoffs, Derek Fisher hit an amazing shot with 0.4 seconds left.  He definitely got it off time and it was good. However, soon after that I believe I heard of a "new" rule that declared if there is 0.3 seconds left, a catch and shoot is not possible. In fact with 0.3 seconds left, it has to be a tip-in. Therefore, there should have been no discussion at all of Brad Miller's shot since it was not a tip-in, but a catch and shoot. I need to find what the actual rule states.

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I believe I found the rule: ":00.3 is needed on the clock to catch the ball and shoot it into the basket whether the shot is made or not." Therefore, it was enough time to catch and shoot. 0.3 is the lowest time possible to catch and shoot, any lower and I assume it has to be a tip in.

Here's the words from the actual rulebook:

The game clock must show :00.3 or more in order for a player to secure possession of the ball on a rebound or throw-in to attempt a field goal. Instant replay shall be utilized if the basket is successful on this type of play and the clock runs to 0:00.
The only type of field goal which may be scored if the game clock is at :00.2 or :00.1 is a “tip-in” or “high lob.”

Source: http://www.nba.com/media/2008-09-NBARuleBook.pdf

I Wanna Hear the Trash!

So the other night I was flipping through the channels and the new show Lopez Tonight was on. Lopez Tonight is George Lopez's new talk show on late night. He had Kobe Bryant on his show, big guest for his show. I think he mentioned they've known each other for years. Anyway, the interview wasn't really an interview in any sense of the word, there wasn't really that many questions asked. George, however, mentioned trash talking and how Kobe can talk trash with the best of them. I have heard there are a lot of NBA players that talk all kinds of trash, and I want to hear it! Its a known fact that Michael Jordan and Larry Bird would talk trash to their opponents. I would love to hear the audio of this trash talking! Are they just cursing at them, challenging them, diminishing one's game, talking of how they're better, etc. There are so many things that are going on within the game. I think it would be fun to listen in on what they're talking about, get an understanding of how a verbal fight built up, who's backing up what their saying, etc. I guess its another dimension of the game, another "drama" to watch/listen. What do you think? Do you want to hear it too?

Steve Nash

I had a previous post talking about how sick Chris Paul's numbers were. However, let me just state how much of a stud Steve Nash is as well. This guy is just plain balla. He is one of the best shooters EVER. Whenever I see him play, it seems like he never misses. His FG% and 3 FG% are always high,  and his free-throws are of course very high. The man can shoot with the best of them and is just plain sick. He is so crafty with the ball and is an amazing passer. The current system of the Suns suits Steve the best. In that system, there are not many others who can do it better than Nash. He makes his teammates better tremendously. So many players have great shooting numbers just because they play with him. I love Steve's game and he has so much talent and craftiness that I think he would do well amongst street ballers too. The guy passes amazingly, shoots phenomenally, and is a true basketball player.  I can understand how he won the MVP award years ago, he earned it. He's the reason the Suns are playing so well right now.

Lakers playing well

The Lakers are starting to look pretty good to me and you have to keep in mind that Gasol has been out and more recently Bynum. It is expected that at least one of them to return by Thursday. I was not too pleased with Artest's play very early on. However, he has picked it up tremendously, shooting a lot better, playing some nice D, and doing a good job overall. I like how well he is passing, and I think he could average his highest assist total this year. Some articles were stating that Ron stops the offense, holds the ball, takes bad shots on his previous team. I can say that I have witnessed this in previous teams he has been with (various reasons - bad team, only star, etc), but with the Lakers he has not done this. He seems to have matured and he is really a good player. If he continues to play solid and pick his play up, he will be everything the Lakers could want and more. Ariza's departure will not be missed. By the way, Kobe has been killing it in these games. I've already read a couple things talking about Kobe is possibly playing some of his best ball of his career this year. I think that's definitely not of the question and quite possible. He finally had an off-season where he rested, so his body is probably at a better point. We'll see how he continues to roll, but he is currently leading the league in scoring and is using the post more than I have seen him in years past.

The Unbeaten Fall

The final teams who remained unbeaten until tonight were the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets. They both lost tonight. The Celtics lost to the Suns and the Nuggets lost to the Heat. I said previously that the Suns were doing really great earlier and then they lost a game to Orlando. However, Orlando is a good team and it was on the road. Tonight though, the Suns beat the Celtics in Boston and that is really impressive. The Celtics have just been dominating, especially at home. The Suns look great and its amazing what a running game does for you. The Suns are almost essentially the same team as last year sans Shaq. The coaching change made a huge difference and it fits Nash's skill set the best. He is playing absolutely amazing. He is really a tremendous player. Channing Frye is shooting well for them I might add. In particular to the Celtics game, J-Rich really killed it. He had a great game. The Suns have a lot of weapons in their offensive style. The Heat are playing very well too. They only have one loss in the season. They are early on looking like one of the top teams of the East. For the Nuggets, they will be fine, they will continue to keep a good winning pace.

Stats

I love stats and looking at the numbers people are putting up. However, I think its too early for me to point out some of the stats I'm noticing cause its too early in the season. For instance, looking at 3 point shooting percentage, there are some very high percentages such as 100% and 91%. In fact, Chris Paul is at 91%. Chris's is more impressive since he's averaging 3 attempts (2.4 makes a game). However, that will definitely go down over an 82 game season, and a better time to evaluate the stats is after the first month or so I think. The numbers should settle down and come to a more normal average.

Total Domination

Domination is the name of the game for the Boston Celtics. They are really getting off to a great start. After 5 games, their differential is +21.6!! The next closest team is at +10! Rasheed Wallace is shooting lights out and Kevin Garnett has given them a lift. Their defense has been stellar and Rondo has been playing well as I mentioned in a previous post. Paul Pierce aka "The Truth" is being his usual self and they have everything clicking. The Suns are off to a great start as well.  They are also undefeated and Nash's numbers are back to a few years ago because of their fast paced game and all the shooters Nash has. I'm looking forward to the game between them and the Celtics coming up on Friday. The only other team undefeated is the Denver Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony is playing out of his mind. I have to agree what I have heard from several analysts. He seems to be playing with some sort of added inspiration or motivation. Maybe he wants to make sure he is mentioned with the Lebrons, Wades, and Kobes. He's doing great so far.

My thoughts on tonight's Lakers vs Thunder game

The Lakers won the game 101-98 in overtime. However, OKC easily could have won this game. They definitely played very well. First off, Kevin Durant is a stud. He is young, but very good. When Kevin shoots like he does, its pretty much the bottom of the net. It is such a nice shot. Kevin Durant is amongst the next generation/era of great players.  He will be among the top NBA players in a few years. Oklahoma City really has a lot of nice players on their roster. Jeff Green is another great solid player. He played very well and did some great things for them. I didn't realize he was 6ft 9.  James Harden looks like a great pickup and he is going to be a really good rookie in my mind. Also, solid point guard work from Russell Westbrook, he looks to be a good looking player for the Thunder. They seem to have a solid core of players to build on.  They also have the player Thabo Sefolosha. Wow, I didn't realize how good defensively this guy is. They were saying someone (I forget who) puts him in the class of of a Bruce Bowen defender. He played great defense on Kobe tonight. I was not happy with some of Kobe's shot selection and that combined with Sefolosha's defense made Kobe look bad (in my opinion) in a few instances. I give Sefolosha a lot of credit, he played really really great.  Kobe did not have the good game I expect from him. If you look at his numbers, they look decent, but they are not Kobe standards. I look for Kobe to bounce back and bounce back against OKC as well.  He has high standards to live up to. Ron Artest did a nice job and I think he saved the game for the Lakers. I think he had an all around good game. I haven't mentioned about the great defense he played in the last game for the Lakers against the Hawks, and he did it again this game. Its good to see Ron make some shots and play solid D, but what the hell is wrong with his free-throw shooting? Lamar had a good game, but he airballed his last free-throw, don't know what happened there. Anyway, Lakers are lucky to get a win. This was supposed to be another "easy" game of the schedule for the Lakers. The Lakers aren't playing their best yet and teams are going after them.

Bill Walton retires

Bill Walton retired from broadcasting on Monday, November 2nd. I'm sad to hear that cause he was funny to listen/hear from. He had a unique take and perspective on the game. He would make crazy metaphors and unrealistic sayings when he used to do games. I enjoyed listening to them. If you have been watching the NBA for the past decade or so, you know what I'm talking about. There's only one Bill Walton. I suggest you look for some quotes on the web to remind yourself of some of his phrases and sayings.

Jeez Kevin Martin!!

Kevin Martin had 48 points in last night's game. Very impressive. This kid is really a great player for the Kings. His scoring average has gone up every year of his career. He averaged almost 25 ppg game last year, and almost 24 ppg the previous year. That is pretty good scoring in the NBA league these days. However, I think Kevin gets lost in the shuffle because he is playing with the Kings. Even I didn't consider him much because it is the Kings and being a leading scorer on a bad team does not necessarily mean much. However, consistently doing it and coming up big for your team means your a good player. Kevin has an unorthodox shot, but hey it goes in. I'm not one to judge on the form of your shot. He shoots a nice percentage from the 3, and for his career he his 39%. Can't sleep on Kevin anymore.

The Rockets

The Rockets beat Utah in Utah Monday night. That is really impressive. No McGrady and no Yao and they are winning. The Rockets are now 3-1.  Rick Adelman is a really great coach. He seems to really squeeze all the ability of a team as much as possible, to the point of overachieving at times I believe. He was behind the great King teams and now leading an undermanned Rockets team.

Rajon Rondo

So Rajon Rondo just signed a 5 year $55 million extension. That's some pretty nice change. I remember a few years ago when the Celtics weren't sure on Rondo and were trying to trade or upgrade their point guard piece. However, Rajon has really proven to be a solid guard for them. He seems to be the right fit, well at least give them what they need. His game has definitely improved since being a rookie. He puts some really good numbers up on some nights and I think he's proven to be a solid point guard for them. They don't really need a big name point guard anymore with the team they have. Rajon is making a name for himself anyway. Congrats to Rondo for his extension. First 4 games of the season he is averaging 11.8 assists!...but we'll see how that number changes as the season progresses.

Lakers, Celtics, and others...

Well the Lakers still aren't playing to the level I expect them to play. Even Phil Jackson was saying they weren't having great practices lately and they aren't completing full games yet. On the other hand, the Celtics look great and poised to put up a great record this year. Their differential for the season so far is +19.2, total domination.  The Heat have the second best differential which is good too. The only thing to note is its still early in the season and it doesn't tell the whole story yet. Also, some of these teams haven't played very good teams yet, so the wins and numbers may be a little better. The Nuggets and Suns are playing really solid as well.

Who the heck is this guy?

So I was just doing my usual glimpsing of stats and I was looking at 3 point attempts. This is what led to me to the guy I'm about to mention. Can someone tell me who is currently the second leading scorer of the New York Knicks? Mind you, the Knicks have gone in the wrong direction since the days of battles with MJ, and Isiah Thomas made them sink further. Due to all this, I can understand if you can't even name their big names, but if you follow NBA, you would recognize most of the names. However, the second leading scorer is a player by the name of Danilo Gallinari. Apparently, he was on the Knicks last year, and since I don't really follow the Knicks, I didn't recognize him. Looking at his stats he is obviously a great shooter, but in 3 games so far he is shooting 50% from 3's. Some may that is nice, but early in the season many player's percentages are high. But he is averaging 12 attempts, meaning he is averaging 6 made 3's a game! That is pretty crazy which is why he is averaging 22.7 points a game. If he keeps this up he should be in the running for Most Improved. He is currently +16.6 in his points per game from last year. Its really early still, so we'll see how his average is at the end of the season. By the way, he is also 6ft 10.

Saturday's games

Wow, so the 76ers put up 141 points in last night's game against the Knicks and 19 of them were in overtime! Thats a lot of points in overtime. Its not an accurate depiction, but if they continued that rate, that would be almost 46 points in a normal 12 min quarter. Also, Ariza scored 33 points last night!! And he was 5-8 from 3's.  In the first few games, Ariza's numbers (shooting & points) are a lot better than what Artest did for them last year. He is also doing his solid work on the defensive end. I just wonder if Artest will live up to the potential power he can be for the Lakers. His shooting for me is still way below what I would like. Ariza was a dependable shooter for the Lakers. Wow, Brandon Roy had 42 points in the game, being the great player he usually is. Houston is 2-1, doing better than what most people thought with no Ming or McGrady. One last thought, I love what Carmelo has done the first couple of games in the season. He is looking great and he should be a guaranteed All Star this year. Keep up the great play Melo!

A few more notes...

I still can't believe how terrible the Lakers played against Dallas, but hopefully that was just one of the "bad" games for the Lakers and they start to pick up their play. Anytime you've won the championship, the other teams are going to try to give you their best game every night. On another note, it is not certain when Pau Gasol will return. That is a little worrisome to me since its not certain of his return. Hopefully he heals up soon and give the Lakers the great boost they need, just like when he joined the Lakers. Okay, I'm done talking about the Lakers for now. Boston is looking good as always, and I'm already declaring them favorites for the championship this year (barring injury). They are hungry and didn't like the way they went out last year. Even though its early, Phoenix looks good to me so far. They have their running game back and the coach change of last year was great for them. Shaq is not there for them to slow it down, and I think they play their best at this faster pace, especially Nash. Nash had 20 assists in last night's game. Not much else of note.

Ugh Lakers

So the Lakers just lost big time AT HOME to Dallas. I missed watching the game, but c'mon Lakers!! I'll have to look back at the recap or watch to understand what went wrong, but looking at the low scoring of the Lakers, they must have not shot well. I know Pau wasn't playing, but the Lakers are still good enough to win, AT HOME, at least. They have enough talent to win that game. Anyway, the Lakers "nice" schedule has already given them a loss in game 2 of the season. We'll see if they start playing better, but ugh!! Boston is continuing its dominance and the rest of the league should be worried. Haven't had a chance to look at the other scores/recaps, will talk about that later.

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo is looking very strong at the beginning of the season. Kenny Smith was already saying Melo is his MVP pick for this year. I can understand the way he's playing now. Melo has been known to be able to score very easily, but now it looks like he is putting his whole game together now. Melo is definitely up there with Lebron and D-Wade.

Tim Duncan

I just want to state that Tim Duncan is such as a solid great player. If you look at the numbers over his career, they are always consistent and good. For his career, he is averaging 21 points, almost 12 rebounds,  almost 2.5 blocks, 3 assists, and 50% shooting from the field. It was reported that Tim lost weight and is in really good shape when he came into camp this year. He is usually in good shape, but I guess better this year. The main thing is I think he is healthier this year and should be back to his normal numbers (he was little down last year). He is definitely one of the best power forward/centers in the history of the NBA.

Not so good for the Cavs...

For a team projected to be one of the best, this is not a good start. After all, they were in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. However, they lost their game to Toronto and now have started the season 0-2. Its not a huge hole or something to get crazy about at this point, but Cleveland fans are probably a little stressed and worried of this start. This is not how to start a season if your hungry to win.  I'm sure the Cavs will pick it up as the season goes on. I don't want to fail to mention that Lebron had a triple double. He is definitely doing his thing, but it wasn't enough. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Boston is doing great, totally dominating the Bobcats beating them 92-59 in tonight's game. That's just sad, but Boston is just that good. Its been a while since I've seen the score of a team be below 60 for the whole game. The leading scorer for the Bobcats had 10 points! (which wouldn't be a problem if maybe 9 other guys had 10 points as well, but that wasn't the case)

Opening night impressions

Well the Cavs didn't look so good after a good start to the game. The Celtics looked really good after they settled down and played their game. Rasheed Wallace already is proving to be a great acquisition. Getting Rasheed looked good on the surface, but watching him play proved he meshed well with the team. They are definitely at least number 2 in my book if they stay healthy. I have to give number 1 to the Lakers (partial bias) because I feel they do have the talent and hey they are the reigning world champions, so that number 1 status has to be taken away from them. Lebron James looks good, but it looks like his team just isn't going to be enough. Thats how good Lebron is though. He makes this team a contender by himself even though I don't think they have the pieces to do it. Shaq was okay, but not spectacular. However, things may come together as the season progresses. Anyway, the Lakers were letting the Clippers hang in the game too long for my tastes. The Clippers weren't playing that spectacular and it just wasn't an A game from the Lakers. Its probably to be expected because a lot of times there is a let down on ring night. Bynum looked real solid, Kobe looked good, Odom played great. Artest did some solid work, missed some shots that I hope he starts making, but overall I think he stayed solid throughout and showed good defense. Kobe's defense was really good too, he looks like he is stepping up his defense more in what I have seen so far. Don't know if its because he is able to relax more knowing that Artest is there and he can roam, or he's more healthier to play stronger defense. Maybe a combination of both. Gilbert Arenes looked really good. He looks to be getting back to being Agent Zero, which is great for him and great for the Wizards. He is fun to watch and one of the best players when he plays the way he can. Good win for the Wizards at Dallas. Disappointing for Dallas which makes me wonder how good they really are. Portland was a great young team last year, and Brandon Roy is one of my favorites. I think he's still kind of under the radar and an underrated player. That guy is great, really, really good. Going to be one of the tops of the league soon. Those are the impressions I had off the top of my head.

World Champions

Just watched the Lakers unveil their championship banner. The banner (and I believe) other team championship banners have the term "World Champions." I could remember watching the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan days and the PA announcer stating, "And now your world champion...Chicago Bulls". However, I remember watching/listening to something recently stating how arrogant we(as an NBA team) are to state we are world champions. I can understand the argument because you know what, the basketball game is a global game and how can you call yourself a world champion in a particular association/league. I believe a true world champion is the one who wins the Olympics. Therefore, the USA basketball team can be called world champions, but when NBA teams win championships, maybe they shouldn't be referred to as world champions. Just my opinion.  Still a champion.

Lebron James!!!

The Cavs vs Celtics game has already started and I must say that I love Lebron James! The man just had an amazing block and he already has 3 blocks. Lebron has really stepped up his defense since he came into the league, a first-team All Defense. He is really adding to his legacy every year.  I still put Kobe over Lebron, but Lebron is making that difference smaller and smaller.  By the way, Shaq looks good early in the game. I believe Shaq is in really good shape, as good shape as he can be at his age. Yet, I don't think thats anywhere close to the dominating Shaq of old, but he will give the Cavs a boost. How much he adds to the Cavs remains to be seen.

NBA refs

Good thing that the NBA was able to get an agreement in place with the refs in time for opening night. You need your best to officiate the best.

If your an NBA fan...

You gotta love today since its the start of the NBA season and if you have TNT, there are two great games on tonight. Cleveland vs Boston and Lakers vs Clippers. In these two games you have three of the top teams in the league playing. Cleveland and Boston - going to be great to watch them go at it. I can understand if some may not be that excited for the Lakers game, since they are playing the Clippers, but hey, its still the Lakers (Kobe, Pau, Artest, Odom..) and its ring night.

Blake Griffin

Just read about Blake Griffin being sidelined with a broken kneecap. It says he could be out for up to six weeks. This is terrible news for the Clippers, but I feel worse for Blake. In a few of the highlights I saw in the preseason he looked pretty good. He definitely looked to be a promising number 1 pick. I thought he had a good chance to be Rookie of the Year, and he still has a chance if he comes back strong. He had some nice dunks in the preseason for sure, we'll see how the knee affects him.

Chris Paul stats

I'm not one to just look at stats to evaluate a player, but I definitely think it represents the player in some concrete way. I believe you have to look at what a player does on the floor in various perspectives to judge him properly. I'll save my ratings of players for another post. But anyway, I love looking at stats to see the numbers that guys are putting up. I don't really play fantasy basketball, but I know thats all about stats. I think Chris Paul is the number one fantasy player. And its no wonder, look at last year's numbers: Field goal percentage at 50%!, shooting 36% from 3's,  5.5 rebounds, 11 assists!, 2.8 steals!,  and average 22.8 points. Those are some sick numbers! Just amazing.

Lakers start

So most of the talk during NBA camps among analysts and NBA people regarding the Lakers are their fairly nice schedule at the start of the NBA season. The "nice" being most of the games are at home. I believe out of the first 21 games, 18 are at home, and 3 are on the road. They were stating there is a good chance the Lakers could be 20-1. The one loss being at Denver seeing as how they are a good team. I can understand the theory of this and I believe its possible. Also the fact that it doesn't seem like they are playing any really top tier team in the other home games except for maybe Utah. However, I can see the Lakers screwing up this favorable schedule, just because I can, because of them just being stupid. However, I believe they are hungry and if they stay healthy, they should have a pretty good record. I'm interested to see how Artest works out. Ariza was a solid fit and you know what you can get with him. Artest is a wild card who can prove to be one of the best pickup for the Lakers or one of the worst. We'll see what happens. By the way, Kobe looked real good in some of the last preseason games. His defense looked pretty good and he looks to be in mid-season form already.

Less than 24 hours until the 1st game!

Who I'm watching

The main team I'll be following is the Lakers. I've been supporting and watching them since early 2000. Besides that I will be watching/follwing Lebron James and Dwayne Wade as they are 2 of my favorite players along with Kobe Bryant.

NBA starting

I plan to use this blog to express my thoughts about the NBA and its happenings. I've been following the NBA since around the early 90s and have loved watching it since then. I'm excited for the season to start tomorrow.