One thing I neglected to mention above was that based on true shooting percentage (which counts 3 pt attempts differently than 2 pt attempts, and takes into account free throw attempts), Rondo is actually inferior to both Rose and Westbrook! That is, despite taking vastly fewer shots, and most of those inside the paint, Rondo is STILL less efficient of a scorer than his rivals. Rose is at 54.0%, Westbrook is at 53.9%, and Rondo is at 52.3%. But one thing that Rondo absolutely needs to do is provide crunch-time scoring for the Celtics, an area where they have struggled over the past few years. And thanks to his offensive limitations, he can't do that. I would strongly dispute that. Is Fisher a great PG because of the championships he won with the Lakers? How about Ron Harper and Steve Kerr with the Bulls? By your argument, they were awesome, and none of their limitations mattered because the team won anyways, right? Put Rondo on a team without the Big Three, and without the stifling team defense the Celtics play, and all of a sudden, it will become very apparent he is not in the same category as Rose, Williams, and Paul. Excellent work! You hit the nail right on the head with 2); in fact, that was the subject of an article I linked to above; <a class="postlink" href="http://www.shoot-hoops.com/the-art-of-the-interior-post-pass-gone-from-the-nba/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.shoot-hoops.com/the-art-of-t ... m-the-nba/</a>
Using your own argument, you just picked triangle offense guys. Was Rod Strickland a great PG because he averaged 19 and 8? Not really. He was good, an all-star, but he wasn't a winner.
Okay, but the same reasoning applies; judging point guards simply by how good their team is makes little sense. And no, Strickland wasn't great, (unlike Rondo) but he was far better than Kerr, Harper, and Fisher, yes!
Just wondering for those who follow the Celtics closely, has Rondo put in the time to become a better shooter? I have seen first hand what an improved jumper has done for DRose's game this year and it has made him almost unguardable. I know that he put in a ton of hours in the offseason working on his J, three point shot and even free throws. He is a legitimate MVP candidate this year. Also a little off topic, but the Bulls are kind of flying under the radar. It maybe a little bit of a longshot, but I wouldn't be completely surpised if the Bulls end up the #1 seed in the East. They are getting Noah back after the allstar break and will finally be at full strength. They also benefit by being in one of the worst divsions in all of sports. They should be able to get fat by playing the putrid Central division. I realized the Bulls will be underdogs vs Boston or Miami in a 7 game series no matter where it is played, but home court advantage would help.
Well, from what I've seen, his jumper this year doesn't look like a monkey fucking a football, so yeah, it's improved. I think it's more confidence than anything: He's probably got "Don't shoot it, give it to (insert name here) instead!" rattling around in his skull.
Lakers lose to the Cavs!? The same team they almost beat by 50 earlier this season? Karma is a bitch....
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.tmz.com/2011/01/12/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-los-angeles-lakers-karma-boa-steakhouse/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.tmz.com/2011/01/12/lebron-ja ... teakhouse/</a> I will now promptly kill myself for linking to TMZ
I knew what he was referring to. I was wondering what it had to do with the Lakers, since LA was the one that lost, not the Miami Heat.
They ran up the score, in a 55 point rout. 112-57. The worst loss in Cavs history. Starters remained in the game well into the 4th quarter. The game was decided by the 2nd. A little clearer? Yeah, I know, its the NBA, not for wimps and stuff but you've got to actively be shooting for the record to break it. Jackson is a successful douche, but still a douche. I'll be happy to see the last of him.
Sssshhhh, nothing to see here. The Bulls are not flying under any radars. Go about your business now. Nothing to see here. Actually, the reason they're flying under the radar (but not actually) is that they can barely keep above .500. So there isn't talk, because they haven't been going into other people's houses and fucking them up. But when Noah gets back and they get their full offense going that'll be fucking great. Even though its 9 games, they were 7-2 with the full roster before Noah sat. I'm very optimistic but they need to get the road game going first. I see a 3 seed at best. I can't see Boston breaking down, physically or mentally enough to fall 2 spots. Miami can break down, but I don't see anymore losing streaks. People are getting intimidated and the vitriol has toned down. Coaches don't know how to game plan for a fucking full-court alley-oop. I know that shit isn't going to happen every damn game, but when you see some shit like that, it's going to get in your head.
Bullshit. I hate the Lakers, but they did NOT run up the score. I actually watched the game, and know what happened. Starters did not remain into the game well into the 4th; that is either a lie, or plain ignorance on your part. According to the game stats, Pau was the only starter who even saw a second of floor time during the fourth quarter. In fact, it was the second unit that did as much damage as the first. Kobe Bryant played a grand total of 24.5 minutes that game (he's averaging 34 mpg). Three of the other starters were in there for only 24-27 minutes, and Gasol played the most, at 31.3 minutes. Does that sound like running up anything to you? Meanwhile, Luke Walton, who usually plays 8.7 mpg, was in there for 16.7 minutes, and third-stringers who rarely ever get off the bench, Joe Smith, Devin Ebanks, and Derrick Caracter, composed the Lakers' line-up for over half the fourth quarter. Didn't matter, though. All those line-ups were consistently out-scoring the Cavs that night. Not surprising that a guy who obviously didn't even watch or even look up the box score for the game (Tom Ato initially thought the Lakers had won by "almost 50") is arguing that someone was running up the score.
Take out his o-fer on 3's and D-Rose went 18-24 tonight against the best team in the NBA tonight. Hyperbole is rampant in sports, but I think it is safe to say that D-Rose is a guy you pay to see. Realize that he is getting the same elevation as Blake Superior his dunks...and he is 7 inches shorter than Blake (That is more a compliment to Rose's 40 inch vertical than a dig at Blake) I would watch any dunk contest between those two...and if Lebron ever hopped in; basketball boner
I loved the game, but I'm optimistically cautious about this win. It was at home, and the Spurs were at the end of a 9 game road streak. I want Rose and the team to do this on the road. If D Rose did the dunk contest, we'd need to have Stacey King commentating on it. "I WANNA GO HIGHER!"
Pssht. They could have put the Laker Girls on the court and it would still look like they were running up the score. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go masturbate furiously to Eyenga posterizing that pasty bitch Gasol.
Derrick Rose is awesome, and I'm going to start watching more Bulls games just to catch his play. The fact that he carried the Bulls to 38-16 is tremendous. Beyond his amazing talents, he also seems like a guy very passionate about winning and improving his game, as seen by how much he has improved his outside shooting and defense since he came into the league.
He's from Spain, he's too cool to tan. Don't trash talk the best PF in the league when he goes Black Swan. Derrick Rose will get MVP this year. I just watch more video on him. It's filthy, it's disgusting, it's just not fair to the rest of the league. I criticized Rose harshly his first year. I said, he didn't have the personality, he didn't have the desire is what I said. What I really wanted to say is that he didn't have the most important quality champions need in a talent loaded league: hate. Michael Jordan, fueled by hate. Kobe Bryant, fueled by hate. Now...Derrick Rose, fueled hate. It's just not the hate of other players or the hate of not winning. It is the hate of losing, the hate of not being the best. D Rose has that. He has that fire. Now, he might not be able to elegantly express that as the former two, but he has it. Kobe acknowledged that earlier this year, and then the Bulls beat the Lakers. D Rose has that utter disdain of losing, the utter disdain of not being the best. That is what makes him the best PG in the league right now, as he has been all year. Bill Simmons noted something like "He's played with Noah, and without Boozer, he's played with Boozer and without Noah. He's played with Keith Bogans on his team, and they're winning." MVP. It'll be a crime against the league if he doesn't get it. I cannot fucking wait until both Noah and Boozer are playing. It'll be wonderful, but they need to be dominant on the road. I love the fact that Bill Simmons is scared of the Bulls. He's not scared of the Heat beating his Celtics, they can't. He's not scared of the Magic beating his Celtics, he knows they can't. He's scared of D Rose and the Bulls. As he should be.
Well no. I would say that Deron Williams was the best PG for the first 35 games, which was reflected in individual statistics, records, and what I saw on the court, but then he and the Jazz wilted, while Rose and the Bulls vastly improved. Ergo, Rose took the title away from Deron. I just wrote a post above praising Rose, but I really hate this kind of homerism/exaggeration. It's the kind of thing you see in all caps of a Yahoo/ESPN article, not a message board whose tagline is "intelligent discourse". There are a lot of great players on outstanding teams this season. I think Rose would be a fine MVP selection, and he has a great chance to win, but it wouldn't be a "crime" if he doesn't get it. For instance, there's Dirk Nowitzki, who is playing better than he did during his MVP season. The Mavs also started something like 24-4 with him, the best record in the league, and then completely imploded, going 3-9 when he was injured. So Dirk over Rose would not be a "crime", and actually, neither would LeBron over Rose. Are you really gloating this hard over a paragraph by a random journalist, who by the way, consistently sucks at predicting the NBA play-offs? I mean, seriously? The Heat can very much beat the Celtics, considering the three games between them this season all came down to the last couple of possessions, and Miami has consistently improved over the season. Even the Celtics over Orlando is not a guarantee; the Magic eliminated Boston from the play-offs two years ago, and both teams have improved since last season, when Boston won a 6 game series. The Celtics would be the favorites, but Orlando would have a decent chance. The Eastern play-offs are wide open.
Sorry guys, drunk post last night. I need a breathalyzer lock on Sports Board. I can't believe I missed the Rookie/Sophomore game. I'm pretty upset. That Wall to Blake Superior dunk was sick nasty. How was it overall? I feel like the game would have been a little more competitive this year because of the personalities for the most part, everyone is a gunner. I would go back and edit it, but I also thing Dirk would be a good MVP. They were going on a tear with him, then had some really bad games without him. But I also think that is an odd measure, because almost every team in the league would collapse if you took off their superstar. But its the best player on the best team. Rose will most likely get it and it'll be deserved.