A review of some NBA rules…
Section III—Replay Review Process
a. All replay reviews would be conducted by the officials as a crew after gathering as
much information as possible. In cases of conflict, the crew chief would make the final decision.
b. The crew shall have a maximum of two minutes to review the video, and, following
that, make a ruling. The officials would be given a reasonable amount of additional time
beyond two minutes for review of flagrant fouls/penalty 2 and player altercations.
c. If the replay system is not working, the crew chief will use the nearest courtside TV
production available.
d. The call made by the game officials during play would be reversed only when the
replay provides the officials with “clear and conclusive” visual evidence to do so.
e. The officials will use the following to make their final decision in the order listed
below regarding scoring, timing or fouls at the end of any period.
(1) Game clock or shot clock on top of backboard.
(2) LED lights.
(3) Game clock on the facades of the balcony.
(4) Game clock on score boards hanging from the ceiling.
(5) Superimposed TV clocks.
e (ct’d). The officials will keep both teams on the court at the end of the second period if
instant replay is being used to determine if a foul was called prior to expiration or if there is
any question whether the shooter committed a 24-second violation, 8-second violation or
boundary line violation where time may be added to the game clock.
f. The officials will keep both teams on the court anytime instant replay is used at the
end of the fourth period or overtime period.
–
And
Protests are not permitted during the course of a game. In order to file a protest, the procedure, as set forth in the NBA constitution, is as follows: “In order to protest against or appeal from the result of a game, notice thereof must be given to the Commissioner within forty-eight (48) hours after the conclusion of said game, by E-mail or fax, stating therein the grounds for such protest. No protest may be filed in connection with any game played during the regular season after midnight of the day of the last game of the regular schedule. A protest in connection with a playoff game must be filed not later than midnight of the day of the game protested. A game may be protested only by a Governor, Alternate Governor or Head Coach. The right of protest shall inure not only to the immediately allegedly aggrieved con-testants, but to any other member who can show an interest in the grounds of protest and the results that might be attained if the protest were allowed. Each E-mail or fax of protest shall be immediately confirmed by letter and no protest shall be valid unless the letter of confirmation is accompanied by a check in the sum of $10,000 payable to the Association. If the member filing the protest prevails, the $10,000 is to be refunded. If the member does not prevail, the $10,000 is to be for-feited and retained in the Association treasury.
“Upon receipt of a protest, the Commissioner shall at once notify the member operating the opposing team in the game protested and require both of said mem-bers within five (5) days to file with him such evidence as he may desire bearing upon the issue. The Commissioner shall decide the question raised within five (5) days after receipt of such evidence.”
http://www.nba.com/media/2008-09-NBARuleBook.pdf
Phoenix Suns – Fool’s Gold or the Fountain of Youth?
In this young season, there have been several surprise stories. Brandon Jennings is looking like the steal of the draft. Allen Iverson has already quit on the Grizzlies quicker than anyone imagined possible. Elton Brand is completely done. The Cavs are struggling with Shaq. Jermaine O’Neal can still play. The Rockets are playing unbelievably well without Yao and Tracy. Tyreke Evans is a monster.
But perhaps the biggest surprise story so far, in my opinion, has been the emergence of the Phoenix Suns, starting off the season 7-1 in what promises to be their first full year with the SSOL philosophy back in effect, and without Shaquille O’Neal in the middle. I think the Rockets starting off well is a close second, but since the Suns have the better record, and considering the “sun was supposed to be setting,” I feel inclined to try and analyze just what is going on. With this Suns team, at first glance, you cannot help but be amazed. They knocked off the Celtics IN BOSTON. Steve Nash is dishing out dimes like there is no tomorrow. Channing Frye has emerged as a legitimate beast in the middle. Amare looks good. This team is headed to the Western Conference Finals, possibly the NBA finals, right? Right?
Unfortunately, I am going to have to come in and rain on the parade. I can’t just believe this out right. I have to *analyze* this before I become a believer.
Believe me, I want to jump on the bandwagon. It’s great to see teams bucking the “conventional wisdom,” so to speak, and overachieve. After all, it was the Suns that brought the run and gun fun back to the NBA with the D’Antoni/Nash offense. The talk coming out Phoenix suggests that there is a greater sense of “team” philosophy than ever before. Nash and Hill signed deals this offseason that suggest they are in this for the long haul. Amare is saying all the right things. Hugs and good vibes all around, right?
Let’s take a closer look at these wins.
The Suns have beaten:
–The Clippers (by two points, on opening night)
–The Warriors (a team in complete and total disarray right now)
–The Wolves (possibly the worst team in the NBA right now)
–The Heat (close game that required Steve Nash to go off for 30, 25 of them in the second half in order for them to secure the win)
–The Celtics (now this win I can give them credit for)
–The Wizards (another team in disarray, with Mike Miller out, Nick Young out, Antawn Jamison out, Javale McGee out)
–And last night against the Sixers (by four points, with the only offensive threats being Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala, Elton Brand having completely regressed)
Still, a win is a win, I suppose. OK, so how did they perform against these teams last year? Maybe we can see if anything changed. I am going to go ahead and discount the Terry Porter era and just focus on the Gentry days. Surely, since the Suns are at full strength, they should be crushing these teams much more than when they were without Amare for the post-All-Star stretch last year, right?
–They blew out the Clippers two nights in a row last year, but barely managed to hold them off on opening night.
–They still beat the Warriors twice post-All-Star break.
–They beat a Philly team that made the playoffs last year by 10, in this run they could not hold them off until the final minute of play
–They still crushed the Wolves.
–They lost to the Heat last year, unable to contain D-Wade
–They got blown out by Boston, without KG.
–They still crushed the Wizards.
OK. Maybe I am wrong? I guess having Amare back full-time in a SSOL system is a good thing. What about Nash? What is he doing differently?
He’s scoring, passing, and shooting better than he has in years. Look at the numbers. When you see something like that, you start to wonder. But that’s not all.
Jason Richardson’s scoring average hasn’t been this high since he first arrived in Charlotte. Hmm…
Grant Hill is averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. Grant Hill. The last time he averaged that many boards, he was in his third year as a Piston. Maybe we’re on to something?
Amare is still a weapon, but it appears that the eye surgery may have long lasting impact. One way to tell immediately is by his FT% numbers. Historically he’s been a great shooter, averaging about 75% from the line, but this year he has dipped to an uncharacteristically low 68%. There’s only one explanation. But with that said, he must be conscious of this, as his FGA has gone down by 3 attempts per game. In spite of this, still playing well? Hmm…could only be one other thing.
Finally, Channing Frye. After a promising rookie year with the Knicks, he hit a sophomore wall, and then was banished to Portland’s bench to essentially languish, until this year gave him the opportunity to become a unique, deadly weapon that quite frankly no one could see coming and teams are probably not prepared for – a 44% shooter from behind the arc. Compare this to last year, when Phoenix’s starting center was a 37 year old behemoth who could barely get up and down the court anymore, let alone hit free throws.
But I think this is the one key point that has completely thrown opposing defenders off. A 3 point shooting center who has no history of ever being a good three point shooter. Combine this with the Suns’ run and gun pace, and it’s no wonder why they have jumped out to the record they have jumped out. Opposing teams cannot scout for something like this.
It’s also telling that their only loss of the year so far came to an Orlando Magic team which also features a host of shooters. So essentially, the way to beat this Suns team is to beat them at their own game. You have to out run them, and out shoot them. The Celtics going down to them proves that if your center is not prepared/ready to play perimeter defense, you have no chance. The victory against the Celtics, Frye did not play too well, shooting 1/4 from behind the arc and scoring only 8 points, but the biggest impact was that he essentially pulled Kendrick Perkins out of the paint and left the rebounding situation at Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who were then outmuscled by Hill and Amare. The battle of the boards was, therefore, predictably a draw (the Celtics had 3 more boards…woo hoo?) and it also allowed the Suns to get off higher percentage shots (59 points in the paint) as a direct result of drawing the 3rd front court member out of there.
It will be interesting to see how long this continues. For now, I consider myself humbled and stumped. The Suns are for real. Only injuries, or equally athletic frontcourts with versatility, can stop them.
The San Antonio Spurs–fun to watch!
I just got finished watching one of the better games of this season. High flying, a semi-SSOL form of the offense, and a bunch of European/International guys just jacking it up at will, with a final score of 131-124.
And yes, it involved the San Antonio Spurs. Seriously.
I have seen the future of Spurs basketball, and it’s a post Duncan-ian/Parker-ian sort of future.
The Spurs have looked pretty awful so far this year. After a solid opening night victory against the New Orleans Hornets, they have been less than impressive, getting manhandled by the Bulls, Jazz, and Blazers. Sure, they’ve had a few wins, but nothing impressive. This after many experts and analysts previewed them to be a serious threat to the Lakers after a summer of retooling, picking up Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess via free agency, and drafting Mr. “Look ma, no ACLs!” DeJuan Blair.
So tonight, when the news hit that not only would Tony Parker be out due to his ankle sprain suffered in the loss to Portland, but now Tim Duncan would also be out with a swollen left ankle, you had to wonder just what was going to happen. Probably a bad loss against the big bad Raptors, at full strength with Chris Bosh putting up serious numbers early in the season, averaging a shade under 30/12.
Well, you didn’t remember that the Spurs still had Manu available. But this was an interesting experience, because for the Spurs’ big 3, this was the first time since April 19, 2006 that the team was playing with “just” Manu in there and neither of the others. So what were they going to look like? Man, oh man. I think Popovich must have planned this or something, because I have no idea where the hell this came from.
The defense pretty much went to hell in the first 3 quarters. It was a back and forth affair, with both teams just exchanging buckets back and forth, back and forth. On the Raptors’ end, Bosh went to the foul line 17 times total during the game. If this were any other night, I’d say that was inexcusable, but you couldn’t argue with the results as it kind of took him out of his element (yes, he made the shots but you didn’t see him getting into the paint all that often). A lot of 3 balling was going on from both teams, but one thing that was encouraging was how George Hill basically stepped into Tony Parkers’ shoes early, running the point, and just kept attacking the Raptors’ interior defenders. Matt Bonner also looked solid, finishing with 18 points on the night on a mixture of 3s and inside scores.
But what struck me the most about the Spurs was how quickly they were just chucking shots, letting things go, and then quickly getting back on defense only to see the Raptors do the same thing. This lasted until the 4th, when Manu Ginobli laid down the gauntlet and basically said “enough is enough.” He started swarming on defense, becoming a one man show, and in about 5 minutes ran the point unebelievably. Time after time, he’d draw defenders away from the perimeter and calmly kick it out to a waiting Bonner, Richard Jefferson (24 pts, 7 assists), or Antonio McDyess would do the same. At times I remarked to myself that he ran the point better than Parker (no joke). And Toronto, instead of switching it up with a zone perhaps, or just manning up and cutting off help defense, would stupidly fall for the same trick, over and over again. In the end, the Spurs’ shots just kept falling while the Raptors finally became exposed to some real defense in the last several minutes, and that was that.
To put things in perspective, if you get a chance to watch this game, go back and watch it. The Spurs had not scored over 130 points since April 10, 2005 when they beat the Warriors (I’m talking pre “we-believe,” pre-Nellie, Biedrins rookie year, Mike Montgomery Warriors) in double OT. And the last time the Spurs scored over 130 in regulation was February 4, 1993 against the Pacers, featuring a lineup of David Robinson, Sean Elliott and Avery Johnson.
So like I said, who knows when we’ll see something like that again. Well, now that I think about it…to be honest? If Timmy D and Tony P are out for an extended period of time? We could very well be seeing this high-scoring, Suns-lite sort of offense on Wednesday, against the Mavs…a team that is no stranger to this sort of run and gun play themselves.
And man, it’s gonna be fun. So even if you hate the Spurs, hop on board for just a little bit and check out the Manu show.
11/8/09 – Game Notes
Sixers/Pistons
I plunked down early on Sunday morning to watch this one, mainly because I am a huge Ben Gordon fan. What struck me the most was not him but the rest of the Pistons. This was a true team effort in every sense. They were down two of their key guys, in Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, and you had Will Bynum come huge for them off the bench, just short of a triple double with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. This guy is slowly making his case to be the permanent bench piece in a future 3 guard rotation that would exclude Hamilton. If I’m the Pistons I have to seriously look at trying to get some value for Rip Hamilton while they can, as it’s going to prevent young, gifted players like Bynum from getting the playing time that is helping the Pistons stay above water.
On another note, Ben Wallace seems to have turned back the clock. I’m not sure if it’s the Detroit water, or what, but he is putting up his best rebounding numbers in 3 years, grabbing 9.6 boards per game and 16 on Sunday. He made second-year rookie (a la Greg Oden) Jason Smith look positively dreadful out there, grabbing everything. The kid, for his part, kept taking 3s, which I thought was kind of weird, but I guess he is supposed to have some outside game since he hit one of them. But back to Ben – it looks like he has slimmed down considerably in terms of fat and he appears to be stronger as well. He is listed as 240 but I wonder if he changed his training regimen.
And then of course, Ben Gordon. I can’t say enough about him. Just comes up big in the clutch every time. He had a rough second quarter and was struggling midway through the third, but in the last 18 minutes of the game came up big, hitting key shot after key shot. Pistons fans are beginning to understand just how good of a player they managed to pick up this offseason, and I hope he keeps it up. At this pace, he is on track to have an all-star like year.
On the Sixers’ end, a lot to be upset about. Andre Iguodala dazzled me for the first time ever…I have been very unimpressed by his game in the past, but the way he kept knocking down jumpers made me a believer. I used to dislike his game a lot because of the poor shooting, but that seems to be all in the past. He seems much more confident with his shot and seems to now fully embrace the #1 option role that he was literally shoved into a few years back when AI departed.
Elton Brand, on the other hand, looks atrocious. I don’t know if he’s ever going to make it back to where he used to be, but the odds are not good. Philadelphia really has to be kicking themselves right now, and the Clippers and the Warriors have to be breathing big sighs of relief, because he just looks slow and unathletic. It’s fine that he’s healthy, but just the way he moves up and down the court makes it easy for guys like Big Ben to get in his grill and strip the ball away from him. He had 3 turnovers yesterday, which is ridiculous for a big man. For his sake and the Sixers’ sake, I hope he improves, because his and Dalembert’s contracts threaten to sink this franchise for the next several years.
Suns/Wizards
I did not watch this game, but I kept an eye on it. It seemed like a close one through the first half, but in the second it appeared as though Washington’s bigs (Oberto and Haywood) could not keep up with Amare and Channing Frye. I think it really helps the Suns to have a center that can hit the 3 again, and it probably confuses the hell out of opposing bigs who are just not used to playing that close up on the perimeter. They are now 6-1, quietly. I am really happy for the Suns, who were temporarily sunk last year by the acquisition of Shaq, but it seems run and gun is back in the West. Good for them.
Meanwhile, in Washington, things seem to be falling apart early on. They are 2-5, and they look bad without Jamison. They started off well enough, but since then have lost 4 straight. Most disturbing to me is the 102-86 loss to Indiana. It’s way too early to write them off, so let’s wait until Jamison and Mike Miller come back. But you have to be a little bit worried, right? Right?
Other games
This might seem like somewhat of a cop-out, but I am not going to go into detail on the rest of the games. 4 freaking blowouts. Come on. I only ended up watching a little bit of Orlando-Oklahoma City, since that should surprise you.
Well I’ll go into detail on that. No surprise to me. Orlando is missing Lewis and Carter, and now Anderson as well, and though they supposedly have the “deepest team in the league,” when their shots are not falling, they don’t have many other options. A lot was made about Dwight Howard in the post this summer, but one look at his performance last night and I can tell you that he’s still the same. He scored 20 points but only 10 shots. The Thunder were OK with him getting to the line, precisely because of the 10-17 he threw up fro there. Krstic was all over him last night on defense, and watching Dwight trying to post on him and then turn around was not fun. And Dwight only pulled down 7 boards – all I can say is this – when Thabo Sefolosha pulls down more boards than your starting center, you are going to lose the game.
Other than Dwight and a bunch of other guys trying to take jumpers, the Magic did not look good at all, and it was the fact that they had no inside game, really, that killed them. On the Thunder’s end, I drooled over former Bull Thabo hitting treys on pick and pops from Nick Collison. It killed the Magic every single time, and you have to wonder if he’d be getting those if they had more size at the 4 to break free of the screens. But nevertheless, it seemed like the Magic just had no answer for them, inside or outside. Hopefully, when the team gets back to full strength these kinds of losses cease. Oh, and check out my “dunk of the night.” Stellar D and recognition by KD.
Nuggets @ Bulls – 11/10/2009 – Game Preview
Denver Nuggets:
PG – Chauncey Billups
SG – Joey Graham
SF – Carmelo Anthony
PF – Renaldo Balkman
C – Nene Hilario
Coach – George Karl
Chicago Bulls:
PG – Derrick Rose
SG – John Salmons
SF – Luol Deng
PF – Taj Gibson
C – Joakim Noah
Coach – VDN
The Nuggets come off 2 straight road losses as they continue their Eastern Conference Road Trip. They started off with a blistering 5-0 record, but early in the matchup against Miami, big man Kenyon Martin went down with an injury, and since then the team has looked completely different, losing to the Heat and getting blown out by 25 the next night by Atlanta. Carmelo Anthony continues to make his early case for league MVP, while Chauncey Billups looks positively ageless, but the rest of the team is unable to pick up the slack. This game could be different though, as JR Smith, a long time Bulls antagonist who always seems to play with a chip on his shoulder when matched up against Chicago, returns from suspension just in time for this contest. He has torched the Bulls on numerous occasions every time the teams have matched up in the past, but the Bulls will have the benefit of him working off about 2 weeks of rust. He will also come off the bench, per head coach George Karl.
Meanwhile, the Central-Divison leading Bulls (doesn’t that just have such a nice ring to it?) come off another close victory to a team that they “should” beat in the Charlotte Bobcats, but they are 4-2, marking the first time they are 2 games over .500 since the 2006-2007 season. The offense continues to look downright ugly, but the defense is indeed a thing of beauty. The Bulls will miss Tyrus Thomas in this one but not that much, since Kenyon Martin isn’t playing and rookie Taj Gibson should have an easier time matched up against Renaldo Balkman. Last year’s Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose should benefit from some extra rest as he will need to be on full alert when the team goes against one of the game’s best guards in Chauncey Billups, and he has struggled out the gates, still recovering from a preseason ankle injury. John Salmons finally broke out of a mini-slump against the Cats, and should look to continue his dominance against a possibly rusty Smith and a relatively unexperienced Graham.
This one could be a close one, but it’s important that the Bulls not try and out-run this team, because that is their game and no one in the league can beat them at it. The Bulls need to try and force the Nuggets into a half-court game, grind it out with them, and box out and grab offensive and defensive boards. It’s funny, but this team’s identity seems to have changed in just one offseason, no longer a run and gun, high scoring group but now a grind-it-out, every game is going to be a challenge type of club…for better or worse? So far, it’s definitely showing benefits. This is the best start the team has had in years. Let’s see if it continues.
11-7-09 Game Notes
Bobcats/Bulls
First Half Notes:
* Rose still injured…grimaced one play after coming down from a jumper late in the 2nd. So lay off him, everyone
* Salmons is looking GREAT. Good to see him rebound after a generally horrible shooting year.
* VDN’s rotations continue to be horrible. Hinrich stayed in there way too long while Rose ate up the bench.
* James Johnson is clearly not yet ready for the big time. He looked horrible, confused and lost out there.
* Noah on putbacks, garbage man, singlehandedly keeping players in the game. Put up big numbers but almost all on offensive rebounds and postups.
* Taj Gibson’s so-called “solid defense” allowed Boris Diaw to have a double digit first quarter. Unfortunately due to Tyrus’ injury we’re stuck with him
* Vlad Rad hitting 3s from long range was what allowed the Bobcats to keep the lead through the end of the second going into halftime. He’s not that good, so Bulls should hopefully adjust in the second half.
3rd quarter Notes:
* Noah’s jumper, still ugly, still so good. Per Doug Thonus, he has only taken 7 jump shots all year but is 5-7 on them.
* Bulls made just too many passes in this quarter, leading to sloppy plays…passing for the sake of passing is pointless. If you’re open, take it. Saw too much hesitation from Salmons and Rose in this one.
* Tyson Chandler was out in the first half, but in the second half he came in and started getting active. Helped them keep a lead.
* With Tyson in there, the game become completely different, impossible to penetrate the paint as Charlotte plays a mean zone and it forces the Bulls to have to take jumpers. A good way to counteract for the Bulls would be to throw a big man down in the middle and bait the guy into getting 3 seconds.
* I kept an eye on Taj in this quarter. He put up a lot of dumb fouls mostly, but sometimes smart ones. Have to be careful though because the rotation is thin w/o Tyrus.
* I notice that when the shots stop falling for the Bulls, it gets real ugly. Need to penetrate and stop taking jumpers, especially early in the shot clock.
* Rose being assertive is the way to go for the Bulls, 3rd quarter stretch where he started taking jumpers and attacking, reminded us of the Rose of last year.
* But on another note, the Bulls coming out of timeouts have to be one of the worst teams ever. This is one of the things I miss about Scott Skiles.
* Overpassing again…ugh.
* In summary…Bulls didn’t seem to be able to close the 9 point gap…sloppy turnovers, sloppy play from both teams…horrible help defense by the Bulls…made me feel like Nocioni was back on the team. Let’s hope the Bulls can close the gap in the 4th.
4th quarter notes:
* Kirk Gordon! – great idea in attacking his old teammate Tyson, trying to get him in foul trouble. He was on fire early in the 4th.
* Joakim Noah’s post up game, basketball IQ – through the roof. He has an amazing game tonight.
* Second chance points – the Bulls were all over this tonight. Tyson takes the blame for this – historically a better offensive rebounder than a defensive rebounder, I remember how we used to rag on him for that over here, and there would be tons of box scores where you’d look at Tyson’s rebounds and scratch your head. He’d have something like 8 offensive rebounds and just 2 defensive boards.
* High turnover count for this game for the Bulls. Racking up poor turovers against any other team would have been a death sentence
* Brad Miller should not be help defending. But hey, he’s got great passing.
* Deng and the 3 pointers…ok this is ridiculous. The guy has a great 20 foot jumper. It seems to be totally mental with them. If he just stepped back 2 feet he would be a great three point shooter and a lot of our outside shooting issues would be solved.
* Rose looking winded near the end…concerning. But the Bulls regained the lead and now trying to hold onto it.
* The Bulls almost tried to give this game away at the end, with missed free throws, turnovers, and sloppy plays in general. Boris Diaw tried to bring it back at the end for the Bobcats, along with Tyson. But in the end the Bulls hung on and won, 93-90.
An ugly win, but we’ll take it.
Grizzlies/Clippers
First Half:
* Z-Bo looking good, trimmed down – scoring machine so far this year.
* Kaman’s post up is really good. Gasol is not able to bang with the bigger guys in the league. Has a ways to go before he reaches the level of his big bro
* Kaman seems to be the only offensive threat on the Clippers, short of Eric Gordon, as the rest of the team sometimes goes too wild.
* Baron Davis just a step slow than what he used to be. Sad that other people have to set him up these days.
* Rudy Gay’s shooting is unstoppable, while Gasol’s is not that good
* This was a sad game as many periods of just chucking away for both teams. A few fun plays, mostly from Kaman, Gay…but otherwise rather depressing
* Thabeet is just a horrible bust. Horrible hands. Looks so confused out there.
* Thornton is an underrated post up guy, but Carroll is an underrated rookie as well.
* Memphis has a really good inside/outside threat going – their 3 point shooting is ranked top 10 in the league.
* Fun watching no defense, just a lot of shooting
* DeAndre Jordan not afraid to bang down low – there was a play where he tossed Mike Conley to the ground, it was a foul but still…can throw it down too.
* Clippers look so much better with Telfair running the show. Might be time to send Baron Davis to the bench
* Gay-Gasol show – these two guys are working off each other. Seems to have a reputation for chucking as the Clips announcers ragged on that, but he’s pretty damn good. Can you blame him with the team that he’s on?
Second Half:
* Kaman continues his domination…his passing is incredibly underrated and not talked about.
* Some of the ugliest basketball I’ve seen in the 3rd quarter. Just a lot of missed easy shots.
* The rest in the 1st half did BD good though, as he came out in the 3rd on a roll, bringing the clippers back.
* Gasol’s shot just looks horrible. He needs to work with his brother or something. It is fun watching Kaman and Camby just abuse him brutally
* Clippers should have double teamed Gay at this point, which they did, but then OJ Mayo worke up and he became the other option
* Rasual Butler coming up clutch – proving he is way better than Al Thornton so far. Interesting to see this competition for minutes all year. Also an intelligent player. He pretty much led the Clippers come back and gave them the lead.
* The end of the game shows just how important vet savvy is. Grizzlies had a chance to make a stop and hit a 3 to win. Instead they fouled with 20 seconds into the shotclock, putting the Clippers on the line
* And then of course used up their last time out. So they scored and then fouled, managing a split, but when they had a chance to get the last shot of the game there was no timeout left.
* Bad coaching, bad execution on the court, and bad results.
Clippers win 113-110.
Celtics/Nets
* Nets kept in this one early just attacking the hoop and playing solid interior defense.
* But then the the Celtics started to pull away with the jump shooting late in the 4th
* Ray Allen led the charge with 8 points in the 4th quarter
* This would have been a great game for the Nets to take advantage of, but the Nets just had no chance. Give Alston and Lopez credit for doing their best
* To be totally honest, the Nets just ran out of gas at the end…they suited up only 8 guys.
* This loss is 100% on the injuries…Nets were without CDR, Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, and Yi…but unfortunately you can’t put an asterisk next to games and say “injury”
* I mean, look at the Rockets, and they are hanging in there, they’re not making any excuses…nets meanwhile are 0-7 on the year, good for worst record in the league
* Lawrence Frank might want to start getting very, very worried here.
Toronto/Dallas
* Josh Howard came back last night, and the team went back to an old run and gun style that we thought they had abandoned
* First half was kind of up and down, but in the third they started running again
* Mavs commentators touched on how the Mavs had no need to baby Josh Howard back into things and just threw him right in the fire.
* They really blew this thing open in the third with a bunch of threes. It’s funny because you think the Raptors had a perimeter game, but with Josh Howard back it just opens up the floor so nicely for the Mavs
* The paint was completely closed off for the Raps, while for the Mavs it was wide open
* Everything was clicking for the Mavs…shots just falling, and one thing I thought was interesting was that the Mavs kept fouling the Raps every time they went into the paint, and the Raps kept missing their free throws
* Never really allowed them to develop any sort of consistency by doing that.
* Dirk started hitting the 3s, and that was pretty much all she wrote. Raps could not recover
Mavs in the blowout win, 129-101
Knicks/Bucks
* In short…the Bucks jumped out to an early lead, and that was about it. This is one of those, the game was more of a blowout than the box score indicates. At one point the Bucks were up 70-37 in the 3rd quarter.
* Right now, I’m sorry Knicks fans, but your team just sucks…the 2010 strategy is your last prayer, because this team is putrid, and quite frankly it’s just embarrassing. I don’t know how Mike D’Antoni can live with himself.
* Isiah’s teams were bad, but I don’t think I’ve seen any team play *this* bad
* The Bucks played well on their home court, and Jodie Meeks, a guy who I had a few friends give me a heads up on while he was in college, got to put on a little bit of a show for the Bucks fans, dropping 19 points
* Very depressing game though if you’re a Knicks fan
102-87 Bucks win at home.
Kings/Jazz
* What’s wrong with the Jazz?
* Starting off 2-3, losing on their home court…they’re at full strength, right?
* Well sure, they had a great game against the spurs, Boozer looked to be coming into his own, playing great defense on Tim Duncan
* But no Kevin Martin…should have been an easy blowout, right?
* From the opening, everything seemed OK.
* Jazz started taking control late in the 1st, everything seemed to be going well, started pulling away w/11 point lead to end the quarter
* The Kings were turning the ball over, not taking the ball to the hoop, just taking a lot of jumpers
In the second quarter,
* Wesley Matthews just tore it up, Carlos Boozer talked about it during training camp how good he looked and warned people about him. And for the last two games, he looked amazing.
* Things seemed to be going…a little TOO well.
* The Kings started hitting 3s, Jazz started trying to get too fancy after a 15 point outburst…
* The Kings suddenly threw a zone defense out of nowhere, and the Jazz began turning it over, and the Kings started clawing back into the game by trying to outrun the Jazz
* Meanwhile Utah went away from what got them the lead…stopped attacking and looking for open holes in the defense
* There is no excuse for the Jazz to let the Kings play so well from behind the arc…covering the paint way too hard…poor perimeter defense
* The Kings tied it at one point but then the Jazz broke it open to 7
* This was a total game of streaks/runs, in reflection.
* Tyreke Evans just put the team on his back all night long and every time the Jazz would start pulling away, he and Donte Green would attack Utah and get to the line or hit big shots.
* Jerry Sloan’s philosophy has always been to let the 3 go, because it’s not a high percentage shot. This killed the Jazz tonight and I think it’s time to abandon that. Their perimeter defense is putrid.
* 3rd quarter collapse…just unforced errors
* Kings started attacking, drawing fouls, hitting outside jumpers and 3s…went on a 26-2 run, capped with some great interior defense by Nocioni and Thompson. Read that again…26-2. Unreal.
* They were all over the boards…Jazz just looked lazy and completely unable to keep up with the run and gun
* Some amazing zone defense by the Kings again…totally forced the Jazz to start taking jumpers…as Deron Williams said at one point, Jazz forget their offense and just started taking jumpers instead of continuing to attack.
* Sloan tried going small, didn’t work…just exacerbated the problem as the team just went completely cold, shooting around 35% as they had apparently given up on the inside scoring.
* That was pretty much the game right there…the Jazz lost by six, as they tried to come back with about 2 minutes left in the 4th…but you really start to see just how atrocious this team’s perimeter defense is…and if there’s one thing you have to wonder about Jerry Sloan, it’s that 1, why would he stick with this outdated philosophy of letting teams take 3s when it’s killing your group, and 2, why don’t you call a timeout when teams start to go on hot streaks. I think this might be the old man’s swan song.
Jazz lose at home, 104-99
In other games, Denver got blown out by Atlanta, 125-100…missing K-Mart has completely taken this team out of its element. Since he went down against Miami you feel like you’re watching a completely different team. I didn’t watch this game but Nuggets fans better pray he comes back soon. After that amazing start it’s not looked good for the Nuggets, even though Chauncey and Carmelo are still playing well everyone else seems to not be stepping up.
Welcome!
So a little background about me before we begin.
I’ve been an NBA fan since I was 3 years old. My earliest memories consist of watching Jordan and the Bulls on TNT after cartoons back in the ’80s, when I was a little kid, and since then I’ve pretty much devoured all things basketball. I’ve lived in Chicago for over 20 years, seen the Jordan years, and thus my loyalties lie with the Bulls. But I have to admit, sometimes it’s hard to watch them when the team seems to keep getting thrown into flux every 5 years since that point.
So this year marks a turning point. I got NBA League Pass, and I figured hell…might as well start a blog. Everyone’ s got one, right? I am committed to try and watch more teams this year as a result.
So this will feature my analysis on the games and teams, as well as possibly getting a podcast going at some point.
Hope you enjoy.
