If LeBron can keep shooting around the perimeter like that nobody will beat the Heat. I was cheering for the Heat to beat the Knicks (mainly because I can't stand Spike Lee) and found myself in awe of James. You will see an amazing assist he had on sports center, that wasn't what I found so incredible. His ability to dribble in and drain a 18 foot fade away that is so impressive, it looks unstoppable to me. The Knicks played well against the Heat but in the end James/Wade was to hard to stop. They got drawn into "who do we double cover?" James ended with ten assists. This is exactly the Heat team people were expecting. I think I saw Dallas was 21-5. Does this even matter? Honestly I like Dirk and respect his game but his squad NEVER does anything in the post season. I doubt this year will be any different.
It does matter. With the guys they have this year, with the way they have been playing, I don't see anyone that has a significant edge over them in the postseason. When Terry, Butler, Marion, and Chandler are your third to sixth best players, and you have the arguable MVP of the league as your superstar, you have a good chance against anyone.
Don't know if anyone noticed or cares, unless you have a fantasy team, but Yao is done for the year. Again. <a class="postlink" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Agnu2YcynaQu_NW.FcG1m0W8vLYF?slug=ap-rockets-yao" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... ockets-yao</a> It's getting to the point where it's almost not a story anymore.
I would think the Lakers and Spurs have and advantage because they are seasoned playoff teams. How could they not have an advantage over a team who folds consistently in the post season? Dallas is however much better defensively. Traditionally they would just get into shoot outs with teams and dare them to try and out score, now they are holding teams to under 100 on average. I made that statement kind of generically I have yet to watch a full Maverick game. It's just kind of the same story, talented players, crazy owner, early playoff exit.
Dchavok, you might not want to look at this. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.nba.com/2010/news/powerrankings/12/13/week7/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nba.com/2010/news/powerranki ... index.html</a> 8 losses in a row. Yikes. It's a long season though you never know.
First of all, Dallas has a bunch of new players this season that weren't there in the past season. Secondly, they did NOT "fold consistently". If not for one of the most disgusting acts by the NBA in its history, they would have been the 2006 champions. Well, you should actually watch them, then. They're playing magnificently, and in a far more competitive, difficult league than when they notched 67 regular season wins. Actually, the streak is now 10 losses in a row, most of them by double digits. Most not even competitive by the start of the fourth quarter. This supposed "Ewing Theory" team is now second to last in the Eastern Conference, a half game ahead of New Jersey. However, you know what makes dchavok's posts the funniest? The fact that he predicted JJ Hickson would be an All-Star. Nevermind that you can't become an All-Star unless you're a superstar draw or your team, you know, actually wins, but check out this guy's statline; 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.6 apg, 2.0 TPG, awful 43.8% FG. (Keep in mind the points and rebounds are career highs) I guess in the delusional minds of Ohioans (the same degenerates that beat up people wearing LeBron jerseys and vandalized his mother's house), those are All-star numbers, instead of those of a decent sixth man on a shitty team.
After I saw J.J. Hickson wear those mustard yellow shoes, I'm pretty sure he got kicked off the MVP ballot he was surely at the top of. I think things might be different with Rick coaching, and you know it is top of mind for him. Then again, it's December. And Robert Stern fucked them hard, because he hates Cuban. That's not even a debate, you watch that series and its as obvious as the sun shining. I don't think the NBA can get away with that again, because everyone will be aware of it going into it. Now I know there aren't any Laker fans here besides me but has anyone caught a game with Bynum back?
Wow, Suns/Magic freak out and crazy shit happens. <a class="postlink" href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5932861" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5932861</a>
Interesting trade, but I'm not absolutely certain it helps them. Arenas/Richardson/Turkoglu might be just as washed-up and stat-inflated as Carter/Lewis were, and Pietrus and especially Marcin Gortat were quality depth guys. Considering how prone Howard is to foul trouble, Gortat was a very valuable rotation player who provided good defense, rebounding, and shot-blocking. I think in the short term it will help, just because Arenas, Richardson, and Turkoglu will get that extra burst of motivation playing on a new team, but I don't know how it will work out in the play-offs. What position is Arenas going to play, anyways? He's too small and poor of a defender against a quality shooting guard, and is an inferior distributor to Jameer Nelson, who is having an excellent season. Also, Arenas has lost some athleticism, and that's caused his already streaky shooting to become even worse. Richardson is a hard-working professional who can spot up and shoot, even if he is not as good of a defender and rebounder as he once was. He should be a nice upgrade at the 2 and 3. Turkoglu has been nothing short of dreadful since leaving the Magic 2 seasons ago, but this could just mean he is washed up from an erosion of skills, not a lack of effort. After all, the guy is turning 32 in three months; that's an old age for a 6' 10" forward who has relied on his relative quickness to get a good shot off. Phoenix and Washington both made off great from this deal in terms of both assets and money, and hopefully, this means the Suns have reconciled themselves to dealing Nash. But as for the Magic, this might be Otis Smith's last major move before being fired. As Kelly Dwyer pointed out, both Howard and Nelson, their two best players, were drafted by the previous GM, and Stan Van Gundy is their coach only because Billy Donovan backed out of a deal with Otis Smith a few years ago.
Obviously there has been much discussion on this since the trade. I am a huge Jameer Nelson fan, I have met him and enjoyed his talents since he played for St. Joes. I guess I was surprised when the ESPN analysts said he was not having a good year or playing to his potential. The thinking is Arenas will not be starting, but he will come in as a point guard to replace Nelson. There was also talk of both of them on the floor at the same time to increase speed. I have only watched a couple quarters of the Magic, catching them on ESPN when I can. I didn't notice Jameer struggling, but again I have not seen enough of the games to comment. Arenas, if he stays out of trouble could really make Orlando a much better team. Obviously the "if" factors are all over the place but when you put a player in a situation where they have a chance to win a title they usually rise. Ron Artest is a much better player than Arenas but I think you could kind of compare the situations. Regardless, I like seeing teams improve. I'm tired of the Lakers and am looking forward to a team taking away their title, hopefully!
I have only watched four Magic games all year (two against the Jazz, two against the Heat), so I'm no expert, but I thought Nelson has looked good this year. (I have also been a minor fan since his St. Joseph days) In terms of statistics, he is averaging a career-high 7.3 apg, up from a previous high of only 5.6. He is also a pretty good shooter, hitting 46% FG throughout his career, and 38.8% on 3 pointers. He's one of the top 10-15 point guards in the NBA, not one of the elite, but then again, neither is Arenas. The more I think of this trade, the more it seems like a panic move on the part of GM Otis Smith. Even if he is terrified of Howard leaving, you can't kill the team with awful signings and trades just to appease a star in the short term. In the long term, it never works out anyways. Look, they may have improved their team a bit, but they've traded away all their assets, left the chemistry uncertain, AND took on tens of millions of dollars in new contracts to do so.
I don't see how Hedo could have degraded that badly because he's done absolutely nothing these last two years. I think it's like he's shifted to playing pick-up games these last two years. Factoring in teammates, game planning and coaching, I could see him get back to his old roots in Orlando. He was getting on some Manu Ginobli shit before they traded him away. I think there might be a Hedo revival. Has Richardson played with a big man like Howard before? I see the floor being stretched and him just devastating. All he needs is to play decent defense against 3 teams (Boston, Miami, Chicago) and they're good to go.
A very optimistic projection. Turkoglu is completely washed-up and Richardson, who was never "devastating" at any point in his career, is probably half-way there himself. (Keep in mind that he played with Nash for the past few seasons, thus maintaining his offensive stats, but his rebounding, defense, and passing have all gone down the gutter in the past few years) They all looked awful tonight against Atlanta, but I guess we will be able to tell for certain by season's end. Anyways, tremendous win for Dallas tonight against Miami. Frankly, I'm more impressed with both the Mavs and Spurs right now that I am with Boston. The main reason is simply that the Eastern Conference sucks horribly right now; Utah is only the fourth best team in the West, but they are a blistering 11-1 against the Eastern Conference, outscoring their opponents by an average of over 10 points (similar margin to the Heat and Celtics), while going 2-0 against Orlando and 1-1 against the Heat.
Richardson did lead the league in 3 pointers made a couple years back so I can see why they brought him on board. I'm very torn with this trade, on one side you can see what they are trying to do and they are undoubtedly a better offensive team. However the Magic have been a top five defensive team in the past couple seasons, are they changing identities? It seems like they are trying to become an above average defensive team with an offense that can outscore you. The three players they brought over are all offensive upgrades, I'm just not sure it will work. The move was also to show Dwight Howard that they will continue to try and surround him with talent and keep a winning franchise. KImaster might no this better than me but what other guard could they have gone after other than Arenas? (We both seem to agree on Nelson but the Magic must be concerned about him, possibly because of injuries) That really seems to be the player they want to upgrade. Obviously a Carmello Anthony makes any team better but I don't think the Magic are looking for a power forward because Howard is such a presence underneath it is not necessary. I don't think the Magic could afford a Chris Paul, it really seems like for the money Arenas was one of the best available players for the teams needs. On one side you can't help but think that the trade makes the team better but it's very easy to argue the point. Scoring 81 against Atlanta certainly isn't very impressive but we have to give them a little while to get used to each other. In other news Blake Griffin's alley oop's are remarkable. He had one last night when he was running straight at the basket the ball was thrown from a couple yards in front of half court and he caught it and dunked it. He is an incredible athlete for his size. He did a good job against Love as well. I am really enjoying the emergence of all these young stars.
When some of these trades are made, we're on the outside and see some of this stuff and think "What the fuck are they thinking?" My friend who used to work for the Bulls training staff told me that when teams see players that have fallen off but aren't injured and trade for them, a little hubris is involved. They think "Our training staff/coaching/situation is actually better than theirs, we can bring these guys back when they couldn't." He said that factors more into these decisions than fans or analysts think because they're not behind the desk. They also may or may not consider chemistry and know things about the players personality that we don't. I'll hopefully be able to catch one of these teams 3-4 games later to see if it has clicked. I can't wait for Saturday.
Arenas is ridiculously overpriced (he is making over $20 million a year for the next 3 seasons), but it's all about assets in the NBA. The Carter and Rashard Lewis contracts they dealt were bad too, and only the latter is expiring, so they don't have the assets to get anyone better than a Gilbert. As for Carmelo, he will only play and resign with two teams; the New Jersey Nets and the New York Knicks. Griffin is so sick. He hasn't even fully learned how to play basketball, let alone shoot, (!!!) and he is already one of the very best power forwards in this league. That's all very true, but in this case, I think the main consideration was a relatively simple one; "Otis Smith needs to keep both his job and Dwight Howard happy!"
I watched the Dallas-Orlando game, and now have my first impressions of the "new-look Magic". Keep in mind that the Mavs had played the previous night at the Heat, winning a gritty, emotional game. On the second night of a back-to-back on the road, they were clearly tired, and did not execute or play defense to their usual standard. However, they still beat the Magic 105-99, and would have done so by 15+ points if not for monster games by Dwight Howard (26 points, 23 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 thunderous blocks, and made all his free throws) and JJ Redick (21 points on only 13 shots). Overall, the Magic looked very weak on defense, giving up numerous open jump shots. In terms of percentages, Dallas was nothing special, but they were getting great looks all night. As for the new Magic players, Turkoglu- To Hedo's credit, his passing and defense was much quite good. He ran the pick-and-roll very well. However, his days as a significant scorer are over, and that has nothing to do with being acclimated to the Magic system. Rather, his athleticism is just completely gone. At one point, Turkoglu he went up for a dunk...and missed it, not even being able to clear the rim. On the perimeter, he struggles to get his shot off one-on-one, something that made him so valuable for the Magic two years ago. Richardson- Hard to tell with him. He' still a quality rebounder, but has abandoned his passing game, and looked mediocre on defense. However, Richardson still seems perfectly capable of scoring and hitting the three, despite his 4 for 13 performance. I'm not sure how that makes him different than Vince Carter, though. Arenas- Completely awful game, but it's not clear with him, either. His defense was pathetic, as expected, but I was surprised at how out-of-shape he looked, and what a poor job he did handling the ball. Maybe he can still score, but the Magic played much better with Gil out of the game. Things can always change, but right now, I think the Magic are still far worse than the Celtics and Heat in the East. I wouldn't even be surprised if a healthy Bulls beat them.
I also watched the game and think this may have been one of the biggest factors in the game. Well you nailed this. I think if the Magic are able to find a flow on offense he could be incredibly valuable, he is a good role player and keeps the ball moving very well. However I couldn't help thinking he looked old all night. He's cheaper than Carter isn't he? Also He has no problem in just sitting outside and waiting for Howard to kick it out when he is double and triple teamed. If he get's hot he's capable of five and six three's a night which can help blow out teams. I knew they would be looking for a strictly three point shooter, I don't think Carter fit that mold. Here is the one I wanted to argue with you so much but clearly don't have anything to base it on. The Magic knew they were getting a weaker defensive player with Arenas but felt his offense would make up for it helping the Magic change their identity. I haven't seen that yet. He looks lost, and even more scary he has ZERO chemistry with Howard. My friend and I were watching it at a sports bar and he kept saying that Arenas looked horribly out of shape, especially for a young player. Truth be told it's only two games under the new regime and I think they looked better against the Mavs than the Hawks. It's a long season and who knows what they can pull out. I know it was a couple nights ago but the Mavs, Heat game was great. I was only able to fully watch the 4th quarter but it was still great basketball. I'm sticking to my guns and saying that I still don't think the Mav's will even make the championship despite playing amazing basketball. Although I wouldn't mind seeing it, I've always loved Dirks game. I'm surprised that we haven't seen numerous articles blaming the Heat loss on James lack of scoring. Truthfully the Mavs just owned the pace of that game from what I saw, great basketball though.
Something has to happen with Nash. He has to get the hell out of PHX. I had a nightmare that he ended up on the Heat last night. Scariest fucking thing in the world. His numbers were 10pts/35 Asts/2 steals on average in the nightmare. Pretty sure that's possible in real life. That poor bastard never getting a ring would be a shame.