Lakers shocked the Spurs behind Kobe's 34 and a strong 3-rd quarter where they played some stifling defense and forced the Spurs in to a tonne of turnovers. Spurs should have been seeing flashbacks of the good old days when they had problems stopping Kobe in those playoffs during LA's Shaq-era. But it was not just Kobe though. Lamar Odom had a near triple-double and Luke Walton is becoming a player for them too. Good win for the Big Chief triangle and a bad loss for the Spurs.
Suns are rolling right now and the Bobcats were in no position to stop them. Charlotte lost their third straight game by 20 or more points. Some players tend to have career games against the Suns because of their defense and style of play and today it was Sean May's turn. He had 26 and 10, but he Suns don't care as long as they win. Amare and Diaw had good games. Diaw is learning to play with Amare really well now. The Suns won behind some balanced scoring and that is quickly becoming the story here. The Suns are very talented, very deep and very versatile. Jalen Rose and Marcus Banks are hardly getting any minutes now. Thats how deep they are. Tomorrow's match-up against Orlando should be a good road test for the Suns.
Golden State lost another close game with Baron Davis sitting at the scorer's table and Nelly not being able put him back in! They are losing close games in interesting ways. The only good news for them is that Matt Barnes is currently enjoying an extended role with JRich injured and is producing well.
San Antonio @ LA Lakers – 99-106
Phoenix @ Charlotte – 114-84
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 11-th (Monday)
Phoenix @ Orlando – Good match-up for the Suns on the road.
Cleveland @ Hornets – Can The King get it done on the road?
Dallas @ Utah – Western elites clash here. Good test for Dallas.
Monday, December 11, 2006
NBA notes - 12/09/2006
Cleveland blew out a “Jermaine o'Neal-less” Indiana team at home. This is what they are expected to do this season, but they just don't have the same consistency on the road. Looks like they are going to be locked in a close battle all-season with Detroit and Chicago for Central division honors. They better get their road game fixed soon.
Yao Ming continued to show the league that he is the best center right now by pouring in 38 (and 11 boards) against Gil Arenas and the Wizards. Gil and Jamison had 41 and 27 to go against Yao's 38 and Mcgrady's 28, but was not enough for the Wizards on this day. Houston is getting really good and Yao-TMac is becoming an awesome duo, if not one already.
Dallas won easily at home against Denver, showing them they have ways to go before catching up to Dallas. If you play Dallas, you better do something about Josh Howard. This guy is the quiet killer on that roster. He had 30 and 11 with 2 blocks and he is beginning to have such games more and more often. All this on top of playing excellent defense on Melo who shot just 8/26. Pretty impressive player who is being utilized very well by coach Avery.
In other games, Al Jefferson had a 29 and 14 game to beat the Nets, while Eddie Curry killed the Bucks with 36 points, shooting 17 of 24. Minnesota stunned Chicago on the road and Don Nelson won his 1200-th game of his career after a LONG wait!
Denver @ Dallas – 90-105
Indiana @ Cleveland – 75-107
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 10-th (Sunday)
San Antonio @ LA Lakers– Can the Lake-show stop the Spurs? This is a real challenge for the Lakers.
Phoenix @ Charlotte – Should be an easy win for the Suns.
Yao Ming continued to show the league that he is the best center right now by pouring in 38 (and 11 boards) against Gil Arenas and the Wizards. Gil and Jamison had 41 and 27 to go against Yao's 38 and Mcgrady's 28, but was not enough for the Wizards on this day. Houston is getting really good and Yao-TMac is becoming an awesome duo, if not one already.
Dallas won easily at home against Denver, showing them they have ways to go before catching up to Dallas. If you play Dallas, you better do something about Josh Howard. This guy is the quiet killer on that roster. He had 30 and 11 with 2 blocks and he is beginning to have such games more and more often. All this on top of playing excellent defense on Melo who shot just 8/26. Pretty impressive player who is being utilized very well by coach Avery.
In other games, Al Jefferson had a 29 and 14 game to beat the Nets, while Eddie Curry killed the Bucks with 36 points, shooting 17 of 24. Minnesota stunned Chicago on the road and Don Nelson won his 1200-th game of his career after a LONG wait!
Denver @ Dallas – 90-105
Indiana @ Cleveland – 75-107
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 10-th (Sunday)
San Antonio @ LA Lakers– Can the Lake-show stop the Spurs? This is a real challenge for the Lakers.
Phoenix @ Charlotte – Should be an easy win for the Suns.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
NBA notes - 12/08/2006
The big news today was the AI drama in Phily. Finally, they have decided to trade him after he requested for a trade. Same old issues with AI and practices etc., but this time they seem to have decided enough is enough. I like AI, though I wish he was more disciplined off the court. I always wanted him to be one of those transcendent athletes at least in his own town. I am a big sucker for "one-town super stars" I think that adds to their legacy and the legacy of the league they are in. I was hoping he would retire a 76-er. Thats what he claims he was expecting too, but the management might say his actions suggest otherwise. In any case, he has played his last game for Phily and the question now is, where is he headed? It should be an interesting couple of weeks now. He is a hard player to trade for a variety of reasons - age, attitude, playing style and contract. Hind-sight is 20-20, but Phily probably should have traded him 3 years back. They really couldn't make it work with him the last 3 years and they never pulled the trigger. I don't think the front-office did a good job building around him either. I know he needs the ball a little too much, but Larry Brown showed us all how to win with him and they couldn't replicate it since he left.
Suns went into Boston and didn't suffer too much of a letdown from the epic battle yesterday. Played a close one, but scored 116 and won the game to start the road trip 2-0. MP3 was the man again. Nash had 16 and 14 on 6-8 shooting. Sebastin Telfair did make him look bad on a couple of occasions, but then again nobody said the MP3 is a defensive-stopper! Marion is on a monster-tear right now. He had another 29-12 night. Its amazing how nothing has changed for him this year with Amare in there. Looks like Boris Diaw is the only guy having some trouble adjusting to Amare. If you can run and do the things Marion does athletically, you'll get your numbers in the offense. Amare had a sub-par game due to foul trouble and Boris had a great game again (14-6-7). Amare's streak of 6 double-doubles was snapped.
Wade V Melo was one-sided. JR Smith killed the Heat with his outside shots and the Heat could never recover on a back-to-back night coming off a overtime game. Detroit won another big game against Orlando and the New Orleans lost big to Seattle without Ray Allen. Big letdown for the Hornets after beating the Lakers the other night. Lakers won again without Kobe and Luke Walton had 25 points. He might win the most improved player of the year award. Minnesota beat Utah behind KG's impressive night (31-14). He also openly lobbied for AI after the game. It's amazing how AI is so popular among his peers.
Phoenix @ Boston - 116-111
Detroit @ Orlando - 87-83
Miami @ Denver - 107-123
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 9-th (Saturday)
Denver @ Dallas - Two great western teams go at it against each other.
Indiana @ Cleveland - Cleveland has to prove it's consistency here.
Suns went into Boston and didn't suffer too much of a letdown from the epic battle yesterday. Played a close one, but scored 116 and won the game to start the road trip 2-0. MP3 was the man again. Nash had 16 and 14 on 6-8 shooting. Sebastin Telfair did make him look bad on a couple of occasions, but then again nobody said the MP3 is a defensive-stopper! Marion is on a monster-tear right now. He had another 29-12 night. Its amazing how nothing has changed for him this year with Amare in there. Looks like Boris Diaw is the only guy having some trouble adjusting to Amare. If you can run and do the things Marion does athletically, you'll get your numbers in the offense. Amare had a sub-par game due to foul trouble and Boris had a great game again (14-6-7). Amare's streak of 6 double-doubles was snapped.
Wade V Melo was one-sided. JR Smith killed the Heat with his outside shots and the Heat could never recover on a back-to-back night coming off a overtime game. Detroit won another big game against Orlando and the New Orleans lost big to Seattle without Ray Allen. Big letdown for the Hornets after beating the Lakers the other night. Lakers won again without Kobe and Luke Walton had 25 points. He might win the most improved player of the year award. Minnesota beat Utah behind KG's impressive night (31-14). He also openly lobbied for AI after the game. It's amazing how AI is so popular among his peers.
Phoenix @ Boston - 116-111
Detroit @ Orlando - 87-83
Miami @ Denver - 107-123
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 9-th (Saturday)
Denver @ Dallas - Two great western teams go at it against each other.
Indiana @ Cleveland - Cleveland has to prove it's consistency here.
Friday, December 08, 2006
NBA notes - 12/07/2006
Wow, where do I start with the great Suns game tonight. They won a double overtime thriller 161-157 against the New Jersey Nets who decided to run with the Suns and almost did it as well as the Suns. The point totals are just impressive in and of itself. This is why the Suns are the best thing to happen to the NBA since Michael Jordan. But even more impressive was the PG match-up between Kidd (38-14-14) and Nash (42-6-13). Two of the best in the game doing what they do best. Career high in points for Nash and 78-th triple-double for Kidd tying Wilt Chamberlain for third all-time. Marion had 33-9 and Diaw had 16 points and 14 assists including the go-ahead basket in the low-post on a mismatch with Kidd defending. Thats just awesome numbers and this is the best game of this young season for Diaw. Diaw's back to the basket game might be the best in the team. Vince had 31 points, but fouled out (so did Amare). Cant wait to watch this one on ESPN classic.
Detroit walked into Dallas and won a BIG game against a red-hot Western conference team. Nowitzki had a monster game, but Billups distributed the ball really well to lead Detroit to a victory. Finally the Eastern conference has something to cheer about. Miami beat Sacramento in overtime. I was watching the game and was amazed to see how Miami had nothing except Wade! They are probably going nowhere anyways, but without Shaq, this team is barely even competitive. I guess Shaq misses games just to show the World how important he is even at 34. We all think he is done, but this team is significantly better with him than without him. Wade scored 32 to lead them against the Kings, but he is going to have problems carrying this team on his shoulders day-in and day-out.
Phoenix @ New Jersey - 161-157
Detroit @ Dallas - 92-82
Miami @ Sacramento - 93-91
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 8-th (Friday)
Nothing can probably match the Suns-Nets game, but we still can hope for some good games tomorrow.
Phoenix @ Boston – Hope the Suns are not too tired after the double-overtime classic today. After the Nets game, every Suns game should be in this list. Can they keep winning (and scoring)?
Detroit @ Orlando – The veterans against the upstarts. Lets see who wins.
Miami @ Denver – Wade VS Melo. Enough said.
Detroit walked into Dallas and won a BIG game against a red-hot Western conference team. Nowitzki had a monster game, but Billups distributed the ball really well to lead Detroit to a victory. Finally the Eastern conference has something to cheer about. Miami beat Sacramento in overtime. I was watching the game and was amazed to see how Miami had nothing except Wade! They are probably going nowhere anyways, but without Shaq, this team is barely even competitive. I guess Shaq misses games just to show the World how important he is even at 34. We all think he is done, but this team is significantly better with him than without him. Wade scored 32 to lead them against the Kings, but he is going to have problems carrying this team on his shoulders day-in and day-out.
Phoenix @ New Jersey - 161-157
Detroit @ Dallas - 92-82
Miami @ Sacramento - 93-91
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 8-th (Friday)
Nothing can probably match the Suns-Nets game, but we still can hope for some good games tomorrow.
Phoenix @ Boston – Hope the Suns are not too tired after the double-overtime classic today. After the Nets game, every Suns game should be in this list. Can they keep winning (and scoring)?
Detroit @ Orlando – The veterans against the upstarts. Lets see who wins.
Miami @ Denver – Wade VS Melo. Enough said.
NBA notes - 12/06/2006
Atlanta upset Denver on the road. Melo seems to take a tonne of shots and on days he doesn't make enough of them, Denver can lose. Strong game from Camby and Joe was the usual Joe for Atlanta and they won a close one. Cleveland beat Toronto behind the King's 26 and 10 assists. I think Cleveland should not be staying this close to teams like Toronto if they want to be true contenders.
As for the game I was most intrigued by, the Hornets upset the Lakers even with Kobe playing and playing well. Chris Paul is a stud and he had 26 pts (11-22 shooting) and 11 assists. LA lost at home, but San Antonio continued its run. They look unstoppable as always. Blew Charlotte right out of the gym and Timmy had 25.
Gilbert Arenas had 38 and Antawn Jamison had 33 for the Wizards against the woeful Knicks. By the way, I knew the Marbury/Francis back-court was a bad idea, but I had no idea it would be this bad and that it would completely shut down both these players! I have not heard anything about Steve Francis since the trade and Marbury's numbers are way down as well. At least before the trade, the two were impressive individual performers in this league.
NO/OK Hornets @ LA Lakers – 105-89
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 7-th (Thursday)
All 3 games are good tomorrow.
Phoenix @ New Jersey – The great point guard match-up again. This time on the road. Should be a good game.
Detroit @ Dallas – Elite teams from either conference are matching up here. Lets see how good Detroit is.
Miami @ Sacramento – Two playoff hopefuls on either coast again. Should be a good one if Artest is healthy.
As for the game I was most intrigued by, the Hornets upset the Lakers even with Kobe playing and playing well. Chris Paul is a stud and he had 26 pts (11-22 shooting) and 11 assists. LA lost at home, but San Antonio continued its run. They look unstoppable as always. Blew Charlotte right out of the gym and Timmy had 25.
Gilbert Arenas had 38 and Antawn Jamison had 33 for the Wizards against the woeful Knicks. By the way, I knew the Marbury/Francis back-court was a bad idea, but I had no idea it would be this bad and that it would completely shut down both these players! I have not heard anything about Steve Francis since the trade and Marbury's numbers are way down as well. At least before the trade, the two were impressive individual performers in this league.
NO/OK Hornets @ LA Lakers – 105-89
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 7-th (Thursday)
All 3 games are good tomorrow.
Phoenix @ New Jersey – The great point guard match-up again. This time on the road. Should be a good game.
Detroit @ Dallas – Elite teams from either conference are matching up here. Lets see how good Detroit is.
Miami @ Sacramento – Two playoff hopefuls on either coast again. Should be a good one if Artest is healthy.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
NBA notes - 12/05/2006
Suns won easily against the Kings behind Nash's 20 assists. It's amazing to watch Nash run this offense at times. He was doing whatever he wanted to today and made one amazing pass after another. He is clearly one of the best point guards in the history of this league. He had no problem today finding Barbosa and Marion for wide-open layups. Watch out for the Suns guys. They are only going to get better as STAT gets better. As for the Kings, they are really nothing special and are pretty bad without Ron Artest who missed his 3-rd straight game with a bad back. He is also mouthing off again about not having any plays called for him. I think it's time for Geoff Petrie to re-build this bad-boy again. Bibby-Artest-Miller combo is not going to take them anywhere.
The clips beat the Heat behind a monster game by Elton Brand (33-17).Golden state lost their 4-th straight and prevented Don Nelson from winning his 1200-th game. Dallas started another winning streak against the Nets after a loss yesterday against the Wizards. Zach Randolph, another guy having a great season, leads the Blazers into Detroit, scores 31 points, grabs 13 boards and walks out with a rare victory. Joe Johnson couldn't do the same to Seattle though the Sonics were without Ray Allen and Joe scored 34.
Sacramento @ Phoenix – 102-127
Miami @ LA Clippers – 97-101
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 6-th (Wednesday)
Lots of games, but nothing intriguing.
NO/OK Hornets @ LA Lakers - Should be an easy win for LA, but is Kobe playing ?
The clips beat the Heat behind a monster game by Elton Brand (33-17).Golden state lost their 4-th straight and prevented Don Nelson from winning his 1200-th game. Dallas started another winning streak against the Nets after a loss yesterday against the Wizards. Zach Randolph, another guy having a great season, leads the Blazers into Detroit, scores 31 points, grabs 13 boards and walks out with a rare victory. Joe Johnson couldn't do the same to Seattle though the Sonics were without Ray Allen and Joe scored 34.
Sacramento @ Phoenix – 102-127
Miami @ LA Clippers – 97-101
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 6-th (Wednesday)
Lots of games, but nothing intriguing.
NO/OK Hornets @ LA Lakers - Should be an easy win for LA, but is Kobe playing ?
NBA notes - 12/04/2006
Lakers, San Antonio and Utah continued their roll. Kobe sprained his ankle, but that didn't seem to slow down the Lakers at all. Kwame is becoming a fixture in highlight reels with his monstrous dunks. Whats happening to this World? Hope Kobe is fine. I don't like to see anybody injured, and its just a lot more fun to beat the Lakers with Kobe.
I was on point about the Wizards-Mavs game. Gilbert Arenas was as usual unstoppable at home and they beat Nowitzki and the Mavs. I was of course, wrong about the Spurs-Warriors game. The Warriors were blown out of the gym by the Spurs. I guess they remembered their loss earlier in the season at Oakland and were not going to let the Warriors even stay close in this one. Good teams always remember losses and get up for such games. The Warriors are looking more and more like the Warriors of old. They might easily fall below .500 tomorrow @ Houston. Magic beat the Kings on Jameer Nelson's 3-pointer. A good win for a young team after 13 straight losses at Sacramento.
One other note. Eddie Curry is quietly having a good season for the Knicks. It might be time for Isiah to trade him away :-)
Golden State @ San Antonio - 89-129
Dallas @ Washington - 97-106
Orlando @ Sacramento - 92-89
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 5-th (Tuesday)
Sacramento @ Phoenix - Can the Kings challenge the resurgent Suns? I don't think so.
Miami @ LA Clippers - Should be a good game between 2 decent teams. Miami is nothing more than that right now.
I was on point about the Wizards-Mavs game. Gilbert Arenas was as usual unstoppable at home and they beat Nowitzki and the Mavs. I was of course, wrong about the Spurs-Warriors game. The Warriors were blown out of the gym by the Spurs. I guess they remembered their loss earlier in the season at Oakland and were not going to let the Warriors even stay close in this one. Good teams always remember losses and get up for such games. The Warriors are looking more and more like the Warriors of old. They might easily fall below .500 tomorrow @ Houston. Magic beat the Kings on Jameer Nelson's 3-pointer. A good win for a young team after 13 straight losses at Sacramento.
One other note. Eddie Curry is quietly having a good season for the Knicks. It might be time for Isiah to trade him away :-)
Golden State @ San Antonio - 89-129
Dallas @ Washington - 97-106
Orlando @ Sacramento - 92-89
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 5-th (Tuesday)
Sacramento @ Phoenix - Can the Kings challenge the resurgent Suns? I don't think so.
Miami @ LA Clippers - Should be a good game between 2 decent teams. Miami is nothing more than that right now.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
NBA notes - 12/03/2006
The Eastern conference continues to get its head beaten to pulp by the Western conference. There were two games on the schedule today that were interesting to me purely from that perspective. Minnesota @ Philadelphia which matched up 2 bad teams from their respective conferences. The other one was Orlando @ Clippers which matched up one of the Eastern elite against a decent, but mediocre Western team. The West won both easily proving once again that East sucks. At-least Atlanta didn't lose to Portland I guess :-)
Elton Brand took care of the Magic with 31 points on 12-14 shooting. Charlotte upset Detroit to end their 8 game winning streak. The Bobcats have also beaten Cleveland and San Antonio this season. They seem to be the giant killers. Atlanta beat Portland behind Joe Johnson's (33-6-6). He is a terrific talent. Lets see how far he can take the Hawks in a year or two.
Orlando @ LA Clippers – 91-116
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 4-rd (Monday)
Golden State @ San Antonio - The Spurs have been shaky at home and Golden State always seem to be in games, but lose at the end.
Dallas @ Washington - Gilbert Arenas is dominant at home and so are the Wizards. Can they handle a red-hot Dallas team?
Orlando @ Sacramento - Orlando tries to win against another decent Western conference team. Lets see if they can win this one.
Elton Brand took care of the Magic with 31 points on 12-14 shooting. Charlotte upset Detroit to end their 8 game winning streak. The Bobcats have also beaten Cleveland and San Antonio this season. They seem to be the giant killers. Atlanta beat Portland behind Joe Johnson's (33-6-6). He is a terrific talent. Lets see how far he can take the Hawks in a year or two.
Orlando @ LA Clippers – 91-116
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 4-rd (Monday)
Golden State @ San Antonio - The Spurs have been shaky at home and Golden State always seem to be in games, but lose at the end.
Dallas @ Washington - Gilbert Arenas is dominant at home and so are the Wizards. Can they handle a red-hot Dallas team?
Orlando @ Sacramento - Orlando tries to win against another decent Western conference team. Lets see if they can win this one.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
NBA notes – 12/02/2006
Many fun games on this night, but one of the more fun match-up should have been AI-V-Vinsanity with AI scoring 37 and Vince dropping 41 on 15-22 shooting. New Jersey won 112-107 to get on top of the horrible Atlantic division. Rookie Rodney Carney had 20 points for the Sixers. I always liked this guy playing for Memphis in college. Also, Eddie House made his first appearance of the season, but had a tough shooting night (1-8).
More rookie news. Rudy Gay dropped 20 for Memphis, but James Posey hit a 3 at the buzzer for a Heat win. By the way, Hakim Warrick is having a nice season for Memphis as well. Mehmet Okur hit a 3 to give the Jazz a 2 point win over the Sonics. Boozer is averaging 22-12 with 3 blocks on 57% shooting for the season. Almost MVP numbers. The Warriors lost another close one. The game against the Bucks was a high-scoring game until the Warriors stopped scoring with 8 minutes to go.
Carmelo scored 38 again. Another early-season MVP candidate in my opinion. It's amazing how much talent there is in the league right now. I agree with the clowns on ESPN who have been talking about the great talent in the NBA right now. The Clips lost to the Lakers and seem to be in a free fall. With every win, we have to face the possibility that the Lakers are for real! Sacramento lost to San Antonio to wrap up their tough Texas 2-step with 2 losses.
Cleveland got blown out by Houston (without McGrady for most of the game) to continue their up-and-down, kind of a disappointing season so far. Detroit is again on top of that division. The disparity between the 2 conferences is at ridiculous levels right now. Its been like this for 6 years with no end in sight.
Cleveland @ Houston - 63-81
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers - 97-88
Sacramneto @ San Antonito - 98-100
Milwaukee @ Golden State - 115-110
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 3-rd (Sunday)
Nothing spectacular on this NFL Sunday.
Oralndo @ LA Clippers - How does the best of the East fares against Western conference mediocrity?
More rookie news. Rudy Gay dropped 20 for Memphis, but James Posey hit a 3 at the buzzer for a Heat win. By the way, Hakim Warrick is having a nice season for Memphis as well. Mehmet Okur hit a 3 to give the Jazz a 2 point win over the Sonics. Boozer is averaging 22-12 with 3 blocks on 57% shooting for the season. Almost MVP numbers. The Warriors lost another close one. The game against the Bucks was a high-scoring game until the Warriors stopped scoring with 8 minutes to go.
Carmelo scored 38 again. Another early-season MVP candidate in my opinion. It's amazing how much talent there is in the league right now. I agree with the clowns on ESPN who have been talking about the great talent in the NBA right now. The Clips lost to the Lakers and seem to be in a free fall. With every win, we have to face the possibility that the Lakers are for real! Sacramento lost to San Antonio to wrap up their tough Texas 2-step with 2 losses.
Cleveland got blown out by Houston (without McGrady for most of the game) to continue their up-and-down, kind of a disappointing season so far. Detroit is again on top of that division. The disparity between the 2 conferences is at ridiculous levels right now. Its been like this for 6 years with no end in sight.
Cleveland @ Houston - 63-81
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers - 97-88
Sacramneto @ San Antonito - 98-100
Milwaukee @ Golden State - 115-110
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 3-rd (Sunday)
Nothing spectacular on this NFL Sunday.
Oralndo @ LA Clippers - How does the best of the East fares against Western conference mediocrity?
NBA notes – 12/01/2006
Suns won again today against the Bucks in a fun, high-scoring affair. Suns played a consistent game scoring at will in all 4 quarters. Everybody had a great game and it looks like this team is rolling into shape. Even the much maligned Diaw had 4-6-7-2(steals)-1(block). We all know his point totals were going to come down this season with Amare back. So 6 reb and 7 assist is a great game for Diaw and the Suns will take it every day. Amare had another good game and I think it's time to expand his role. He is shooting at a 62% clip for the season and might have earned more role in the offense with this consistency and energy.
In other games, Lebron (31-7-8) and Joe Johnson (31-5-4) had a good personal battle going, but the King took the game 106-95 for Cleveland. Chicago beat the Hornets behind Nocioni's 31-13 performance. These two teams seem to be streaking in opposite directions. The Hornets have lost 5 straight and the Bulls have won 3. Hornets are slipping fast in the Western conference. Carmelo Anthony had another monster night (35-8). Whats up with this guy? Sacramento tried, but couldn't stay close to Dallas.
Milwaukee @ Phoenix – 116-122
Sacramento @ Dallas – 90-109
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 2-nd (Saturday)
Cleveland @ Houston – Yao V Lebron. Two guys who might headline the next decade in this league. The Cavs might be the best choice ever for the ESPN “Contender or Pretender” segment. Can they beat a good Western Conference team?
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers – Can the Clips regain the ”Best team in LA” title they owned last year? Whats Kobe gonna do coming off of his 52 point performance?
Sacramneto @ San Antonito – Can Sacto hang with the Champions? (I know the Spurs are not the champs, but doesn't it feel like they are always the champ?)
Milwaukee @ Golden State – Should be a fun, high-scoring affair.
In other games, Lebron (31-7-8) and Joe Johnson (31-5-4) had a good personal battle going, but the King took the game 106-95 for Cleveland. Chicago beat the Hornets behind Nocioni's 31-13 performance. These two teams seem to be streaking in opposite directions. The Hornets have lost 5 straight and the Bulls have won 3. Hornets are slipping fast in the Western conference. Carmelo Anthony had another monster night (35-8). Whats up with this guy? Sacramento tried, but couldn't stay close to Dallas.
Milwaukee @ Phoenix – 116-122
Sacramento @ Dallas – 90-109
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the Dec 2-nd (Saturday)
Cleveland @ Houston – Yao V Lebron. Two guys who might headline the next decade in this league. The Cavs might be the best choice ever for the ESPN “Contender or Pretender” segment. Can they beat a good Western Conference team?
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers – Can the Clips regain the ”Best team in LA” title they owned last year? Whats Kobe gonna do coming off of his 52 point performance?
Sacramneto @ San Antonito – Can Sacto hang with the Champions? (I know the Spurs are not the champs, but doesn't it feel like they are always the champ?)
Milwaukee @ Golden State – Should be a fun, high-scoring affair.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
NBA notes - 11/30/2006
Kobe took care of Utah today. He scorched them for 30 points in the 3-rd quarter and ended up with 52 points in a rout. He hit 9 consecutive shots in the 3-rd quarter. It was great to watch (unless you are a Utah fan!). I have been joking lately that once Kobe gets on a roll, his team will go into a funk! Right now they are playing as a team and winning a lot of games with a lot of help from Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom. Once Kobe starts dominating the ball, things will be back to normal and Lakers will start dropping in the Pacific standing! But jokes apart, the Lakers might be for real with Kobe and the supporting cast I just mentioned plus the coach “big chief triangle”.I am very curious to see where they go this season. Right now they are 10-5 and Utah is 13-4.
Detroit beat Miami in a close one. Dwayne Wade had a tough night (5-23), and this version of the Heat are going to lose on most of those nights. I am kind of surprised Riles went with the same team this year. It's an old team and I thought he would have liked to add some talented young players and re-tool just a little bit. I guess the money situation was too tight.
Detroit @ Miami - 87-85
Utah @ LA Lakers - 102-132
We are done with the month of November and on to December. We start the month off in style with the Suns playing the Bucks. Should be a high scoring affair.
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 1-st (Friday)
Milwaukee @ Phoenix - Can the Suns keep the winning streak going? How much will Michael Redd score? He is "HOTT" right now.
Sacramento @ Dallas - Used to be a great match-up few years back. It could be a close game if Nowitzki is not 100%.
Detroit beat Miami in a close one. Dwayne Wade had a tough night (5-23), and this version of the Heat are going to lose on most of those nights. I am kind of surprised Riles went with the same team this year. It's an old team and I thought he would have liked to add some talented young players and re-tool just a little bit. I guess the money situation was too tight.
Detroit @ Miami - 87-85
Utah @ LA Lakers - 102-132
We are done with the month of November and on to December. We start the month off in style with the Suns playing the Bucks. Should be a high scoring affair.
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 1-st (Friday)
Milwaukee @ Phoenix - Can the Suns keep the winning streak going? How much will Michael Redd score? He is "HOTT" right now.
Sacramento @ Dallas - Used to be a great match-up few years back. It could be a close game if Nowitzki is not 100%.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
NBA notes - 11/29/2006
I write about how good Andris Biedrins is a couple of days back and suddenly everybody is jumping on the bandwagon! Steve Kerr has him at the top of his list today as the biggest surprise of this season. Good job Steve ! The Warriors lost a close one again today. They should start winning some of these to really become a playoff team. Baron Davis was back and had a great game and so did my other "young stud" Monta Ellis (Not sure how he is missing from Steve Kerr's list).
Happy to report that the Suns win again. Good game all-around though they lost a big lead again. But this was an early lead that disappeared and they pulled away later in the game to win. Amare (22-15), Nash (17-8), Raja (20) and Marion (13-12-4-4) all had good games and LB was back running circles around people as always. Amare got over Yao and surprisingly the Suns out-rebounded the Rockets 55-36. I think Amare is beginning to consistently contribute now.
Utah beat San Antonio for a big win. Boozer continued his MVP-type season with a 23-16 night. AK-47 filled up the box-score as always and the Jazz made a statement.
Houston @ Phoenix - 91-102
San Antonio @ Utah - 75-83
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 30-th (Thursday)
Detroit @ Miami - Interesting game, even though the Heat are not the same Heat anymore.
Utah @ LA Lakers - Good match-up between 2 well coached team with winning records involving Kobe Bryant. The "Big chief triangle" just got fined for criticizing the officials after the last Jazz game.
Happy to report that the Suns win again. Good game all-around though they lost a big lead again. But this was an early lead that disappeared and they pulled away later in the game to win. Amare (22-15), Nash (17-8), Raja (20) and Marion (13-12-4-4) all had good games and LB was back running circles around people as always. Amare got over Yao and surprisingly the Suns out-rebounded the Rockets 55-36. I think Amare is beginning to consistently contribute now.
Utah beat San Antonio for a big win. Boozer continued his MVP-type season with a 23-16 night. AK-47 filled up the box-score as always and the Jazz made a statement.
Houston @ Phoenix - 91-102
San Antonio @ Utah - 75-83
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 30-th (Thursday)
Detroit @ Miami - Interesting game, even though the Heat are not the same Heat anymore.
Utah @ LA Lakers - Good match-up between 2 well coached team with winning records involving Kobe Bryant. The "Big chief triangle" just got fined for criticizing the officials after the last Jazz game.
NBA notes - 11/28/2006
Quite a few upsets today. The Bucks beat the Lakers, Memphis beat Denver and Toronto beat the Hornets, all on the road. Good news for one of the other Western conference teams in the playoff hunt I guess. The Clippers lost to Sacramento and are still winless on the road. This was Brad Miller's second game back for the Kings. Apparently Mike Dunleavy is going to get a 4 year extension to coach the Clippers. Good choice, but things can go south any minute down there at Clipper-land.
As for the individual stars of the day, Micheal Redd scored 45 pts and outplayed Kobe. Adam Morrison had a good game for the Bobcats. He is averaging 16 pts, shooting around 40% from the field and 37% from 3-point land. Not bad for a rookie. The real stud though was Melo. Denver lost, but he had a 37-9-7 night. All of his numbers seem to have gone up from last season. Amazing, considering he averaged 26.5 pts last year. He is averaging 5 more pts, more rebounds, way more assists, better FG% and better FT% thi year. Thats impressive folks.
LA Clippers @ Sacramento - 80-93
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 29-th (Wednesday)
Two big ones from the West tomorrow.
Houston @ Phoenix - Yao VS Amare again after a long time. Real test for the Suns. Are they really back and are they all the way back? We will see.
San Antonio @ Utah - Perennial contender VS latest contender. Utah has lost 2 in a row and can show they are for real with a win here.
As for the individual stars of the day, Micheal Redd scored 45 pts and outplayed Kobe. Adam Morrison had a good game for the Bobcats. He is averaging 16 pts, shooting around 40% from the field and 37% from 3-point land. Not bad for a rookie. The real stud though was Melo. Denver lost, but he had a 37-9-7 night. All of his numbers seem to have gone up from last season. Amazing, considering he averaged 26.5 pts last year. He is averaging 5 more pts, more rebounds, way more assists, better FG% and better FT% thi year. Thats impressive folks.
LA Clippers @ Sacramento - 80-93
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 29-th (Wednesday)
Two big ones from the West tomorrow.
Houston @ Phoenix - Yao VS Amare again after a long time. Real test for the Suns. Are they really back and are they all the way back? We will see.
San Antonio @ Utah - Perennial contender VS latest contender. Utah has lost 2 in a row and can show they are for real with a win here.
Monday, November 27, 2006
NBA notes - 11/27/2006
Just like I had expected, the Warriors not only play the Spurs tough, they actually hand them their first road loss of the season. They probably have two of the best young players in the league not named Dwight Howard. Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis. Andris is really quick, tall, athletic and has great hands for a big man. He blocks a lots of shots already at this young age and he frequently has high-teen numbers for points and rebounds. Tonight against the Spurs and Timmy, he had 18 and 15 with 6 blocks. Thats all-star numbers folks! Monta is another great young player who is lightning quick and is a very good shooter already. Watch out for these 2 players over the next few years. They are the reason the Warriors are beating the Spurs and the Jazz of the world even without Baron Davis.
Speaking of Dwight Howard, the Magic beat the Jazz today and are 11-4. I think they are for real especially with Grant Hill playing well and providing some leadership to the young guys. Great story. AI had 40+ (45) again today and still lost to Wade (33/7/13) and the Heat. Some of Wade's moves tonight were RIDICULOUS. Even Sportscenter couldn't keep it out of their top-10.
Orlando @ Utah - 88-75
San Antonio @ Golden State - 102-111
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 28-th (Tuesday)
LA Clippers @ Sacramento - Not great games tomorrow. This one might be mildly amusing for Pacific division fans.
Speaking of Dwight Howard, the Magic beat the Jazz today and are 11-4. I think they are for real especially with Grant Hill playing well and providing some leadership to the young guys. Great story. AI had 40+ (45) again today and still lost to Wade (33/7/13) and the Heat. Some of Wade's moves tonight were RIDICULOUS. Even Sportscenter couldn't keep it out of their top-10.
Orlando @ Utah - 88-75
San Antonio @ Golden State - 102-111
Interesting games on the board for tomorrow, the 28-th (Tuesday)
LA Clippers @ Sacramento - Not great games tomorrow. This one might be mildly amusing for Pacific division fans.
NBA notes - 11/26/2006
Today, the good run for a few NBA teams continued. Suns have won 6 of 7 after losing 5 of 6 to start the season. So they seem to be right back on track. Denver won their 5-th straight today easily against the Clippers. Melo is becoming an absolute stud in this league. Looks like the Clippers are slowly moving towards their paper-clips days. They should eventually turn it around with all the talent they have. San Antonio is having a tremendous season as usual and have not lost a game on the road. They 4-3 at home. Go figure.
The most surprising team to me are the Lakers. I am waiting for them to come down to earth, but they are still dominant. They beat NJ Nets today to go to 9-4. If the Lakers stay this hot, Pacific division is going to be an absolute war day in and day out. Lets see where this thing goes.
Clippers @ Denver - 88-103
Suns @ Portland - 119-101
Interesting games for tomorrow, the 27th (Monday)
Orlando @ Utah - Two surprise teams from either conference. Orlando is 10-4 and Utah is 12-2.
San Antonio @ Golden State - Could be an interesting one if Golden State is at full strength. They can give the Spurs a good game on their back-to-back night.
The most surprising team to me are the Lakers. I am waiting for them to come down to earth, but they are still dominant. They beat NJ Nets today to go to 9-4. If the Lakers stay this hot, Pacific division is going to be an absolute war day in and day out. Lets see where this thing goes.
Clippers @ Denver - 88-103
Suns @ Portland - 119-101
Interesting games for tomorrow, the 27th (Monday)
Orlando @ Utah - Two surprise teams from either conference. Orlando is 10-4 and Utah is 12-2.
San Antonio @ Golden State - Could be an interesting one if Golden State is at full strength. They can give the Spurs a good game on their back-to-back night.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Suns notes – 11/25/2006
Suns won again against the NJ Nets on Friday. But it was an ugly ending again for the Suns. A huge lead disappearing in the 4-th quarter. This was even more shocking (or should I say choking :-)) because the Suns first team had problems scoring or stopping the Nets “garbage guys”. Lawrence Frank put all the starters on the bench and the bench players led by Marcus Williams almost took the game away. The Suns finally won by Single digits and Marcus Williams had a million points in 3 seconds or something ridiculous like that ! There was also a side-show at the end when Marion took a couple of bad shots and missed 2 free throws and had an argument with coach D'Antoni. ESPN caught it and Jim Gray was happy to talk about it as always. I think it was just “heat of the moment” stuff and things should be fine between them. Amare had a monster game and I was impressed to see him get all those bocks on the defensive end.
The Suns play Portland next and I just hope they dominate and finish strong.
The Suns play Portland next and I just hope they dominate and finish strong.
More NBA notes - 11/25/2006
Utah finally lost one. The Warriors beat them without Baron Davis, Mickael Pietrus in addition to all the other injured players they have. Utah was on a back-to-back and on the road after a big win over the Lakers. So may be a letdown was expected. But still a good win for the Warriors. Washington and Detroit played a high-scoring scorcher that Detroit took. And Lebron got over AI. Efficient night for Lebron (10 of 20) and in-efficient night for AI (10 of 28).
Utah @ Golden State - 78-91
Detroit @ Washington - 115-111
Philadelphia @ Cleveland - 95-108.
Interesting games for tomorrow, the 26th (Sunday)
Clippers @ Denver - Clippers are not under-achieving this year and Denver is on a roll lately.
Utah @ Golden State - 78-91
Detroit @ Washington - 115-111
Philadelphia @ Cleveland - 95-108.
Interesting games for tomorrow, the 26th (Sunday)
Clippers @ Denver - Clippers are not under-achieving this year and Denver is on a roll lately.
NBA notes - 11/25/2006
Yesterday's Dallas-San Antonio game was probably the headliner. Great match-up with a great ending. Nowitzki was the man again. Suns won against New Jersey, but the game was too close for comfort at the end. Suns once again had problems holding onto a big lead and Marcus Williams almost killed them at the end. Utah won again. They look unstoppable right now. Golden State couldn't really hang with Denver and are on a disturbing 3 game losing streak. Monta Ellis talking about meeting Denver in the playoffs sounds funny at this point. AI, by the way dropped 46 on Chicago. Amazing.
Dallas @ San Antonio - 95-92
Orlando @ Miami - 107-104
New Jersey @ Phoenix - 93-99
LA Lakers @ Utah - 108-114
Golden State @ Denver - 129-140
Interesting games on the 25th (Saturday) are as follows.
Utah @ Golden State - Can Utah keep on keepin on?
Detroit @ Washington - Can Washington challenge Detroit?
Philadelphia @ Cleveland - AI Vs Lebron.
Dallas @ San Antonio - 95-92
Orlando @ Miami - 107-104
New Jersey @ Phoenix - 93-99
LA Lakers @ Utah - 108-114
Golden State @ Denver - 129-140
Interesting games on the 25th (Saturday) are as follows.
Utah @ Golden State - Can Utah keep on keepin on?
Detroit @ Washington - Can Washington challenge Detroit?
Philadelphia @ Cleveland - AI Vs Lebron.
Friday, November 24, 2006
NBA notes – 11/24/2006
No games yesterday on turkey day. Interesting match-ups for the today or as follows. Of course the Suns games are always in the list. Well, mostly in the list.
Dallas - San Antonio - Heavyweight battle.
Orlando VS Miami - New kid on the block battling the reigning champs.
New Jersey @ Phoenix - Nash VS Kidd. What more do you want?
LA Lakers VS Utah - Can the Lakers hang with Utah?
Golden State VS Denver - GS is becoming fun to watch. Plus the se 2 teams are good middle-of-the-pack western conference teams.
Dallas - San Antonio - Heavyweight battle.
Orlando VS Miami - New kid on the block battling the reigning champs.
New Jersey @ Phoenix - Nash VS Kidd. What more do you want?
LA Lakers VS Utah - Can the Lakers hang with Utah?
Golden State VS Denver - GS is becoming fun to watch. Plus the se 2 teams are good middle-of-the-pack western conference teams.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Cuban is a marked man
I used to like Mark Cuban once upon a time. He always spoke too much and got too much credit for the Mavs turnaround though Nelly pretty much put the core of that roster together. I was still OK with it because, after all, Cubes scratched the check for all those players and also probably had something to do with acquiring the role players who came aboard that roster later. But he really pissed me off during the NBA finals when he appeared on the Letterman show. Not sure if he was trying to be funny or what, but bascially said some stupid things about Steve Nash. Cuban likes to project himself as a great owner and employer. You don't become a great employer by just giving your players flat-screen TVs and bigger towels. You need to treat them with respect and be genuinely thankful for their efforts even when they move on with their lives and stop working for you. Especially someone like Nash who gave it all for the Mavs and was a major part of the turnaround in Dallas. On top of that, Nash is probably the classiest employee Cuban will ever have and his work in the Dallas community is still having a huge impact. For Cuban to call him out is plain dumb. Cuban seems to be the kind of owner who might trash Nowitzki when he retires or dump raw sewage on Josh Howard if and when he gets traded to another team and moves on from the Mavs. Thats not a good owner. In fact, if such behavior continues, Cuban might end up as one of the worst owners in professional sports. It's about time Mark Cuban shuts up. Thanks for making the Suns-Mavs rivarly even bigger. Time for Amare to come back in 06/07 and crush the Mavs and it's silly, juvenile, over-rated owner.
Here's an article from Dan Bickley echoing my sentiments.
Race for title is crass vs. class
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 24, 2006 12:00 AM
Now that Shaquille O'Neal has beaten Kobe Bryant back to the podium, the best race in basketball is in our own backyard.
It's Steve Nash vs. Mark Cuban, MVP against billionaire beastie boy, first one to the trophy wins.
And if there's any justice in the world . . .
After two games of the NBA Finals, Cuban was suddenly being mentioned among the best owners in sports.
His two controversial personnel moves - taking flyers on Nash and Michael Finley in successive off-seasons - were about to be validated with a NBA championship.
Long-suffering baseball fans in Chicago began e-mailing Cuban's very public account, pleading with him to purchase the Cubs. He was so hot that David Letterman, a fellow Hoosier, wanted him on the show.
And during that June 14 appearance on The Late Show, Cuban took a senseless, needless shot at Nash, a point guard who had worked very hard for his money.
Anyway, Cuban's comments were so outrageously offensive that . . .
Tilt. With great hubris, he went and tipped the scales of karma.
"Steve's a great guy, and I love him to death," Cuban told Letterman. "But why couldn't he play like an MVP for us? All's well that ends well, Jason Terry took his place and, hey, look where we are. And (Nash) is home watching."
Why couldn't he play like an MVP for us?
That's right from the Ozzie Guillen School of Sensitivity.
After that, the Mavericks would lose the next three games and the NBA Finals. Cuban's obsession with the officiating made him look silly and certainly hurt his and his team's image, if not the overall focus.
Now, Cuban is the guy at home watching, wondering whether his best shot at redemption went up in smoke.
After all, next season, we get to watch Amaré Stoudemire dunking on Erick Dampier all over again.
Cuban and Nash are both self-made men, both prefer wearing jeans to work and both rank among the great success stories in sports.
But after that, the differences are enormous.
While Nash is understated, Cuban's personal publicity campaign - a genius bit of self-branding dressed up in a martyr-like crusade against NBA officials - well, it makes Robert Sarver look like Dan Rooney.
Cuban has his own blog, where he exposes himself and defends himself in front of the world. Nash has great stories, but you have to search for them.
Like last weekend, when I accidentally discovered how Nash developed his ball-handling skills in college by dribbling tennis balls through campus at Santa Clara.
Tennis balls. Then he would often conclude interviews with San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy by asking a few questions of his own.
"There were five to six interviews over his four years there, and every time, he'd ask me if I thought he could make it in the NBA," Purdy said. "He said he'd do anything they wanted three times."
That's true grit. And unlike with the opinionated Cuban, you rarely hear a disparaging word from Nash.
During the Western Conference finals Nash was asked about all this furious emotion in Dallas, and how brainwashed Mavericks/Cuban backers had suddenly turned on him and Finley.
"I don't know," Nash said. "Fickle is a sports fan."
It was almost profound, yet you had to strain to hear it.
When this great sprint of a race is settled, let's hope the guy holding the trophy is the guy who holds a big lead in class.
Here's an article from Dan Bickley echoing my sentiments.
Race for title is crass vs. class
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 24, 2006 12:00 AM
Now that Shaquille O'Neal has beaten Kobe Bryant back to the podium, the best race in basketball is in our own backyard.
It's Steve Nash vs. Mark Cuban, MVP against billionaire beastie boy, first one to the trophy wins.
And if there's any justice in the world . . .
After two games of the NBA Finals, Cuban was suddenly being mentioned among the best owners in sports.
His two controversial personnel moves - taking flyers on Nash and Michael Finley in successive off-seasons - were about to be validated with a NBA championship.
Long-suffering baseball fans in Chicago began e-mailing Cuban's very public account, pleading with him to purchase the Cubs. He was so hot that David Letterman, a fellow Hoosier, wanted him on the show.
And during that June 14 appearance on The Late Show, Cuban took a senseless, needless shot at Nash, a point guard who had worked very hard for his money.
Anyway, Cuban's comments were so outrageously offensive that . . .
Tilt. With great hubris, he went and tipped the scales of karma.
"Steve's a great guy, and I love him to death," Cuban told Letterman. "But why couldn't he play like an MVP for us? All's well that ends well, Jason Terry took his place and, hey, look where we are. And (Nash) is home watching."
Why couldn't he play like an MVP for us?
That's right from the Ozzie Guillen School of Sensitivity.
After that, the Mavericks would lose the next three games and the NBA Finals. Cuban's obsession with the officiating made him look silly and certainly hurt his and his team's image, if not the overall focus.
Now, Cuban is the guy at home watching, wondering whether his best shot at redemption went up in smoke.
After all, next season, we get to watch Amaré Stoudemire dunking on Erick Dampier all over again.
Cuban and Nash are both self-made men, both prefer wearing jeans to work and both rank among the great success stories in sports.
But after that, the differences are enormous.
While Nash is understated, Cuban's personal publicity campaign - a genius bit of self-branding dressed up in a martyr-like crusade against NBA officials - well, it makes Robert Sarver look like Dan Rooney.
Cuban has his own blog, where he exposes himself and defends himself in front of the world. Nash has great stories, but you have to search for them.
Like last weekend, when I accidentally discovered how Nash developed his ball-handling skills in college by dribbling tennis balls through campus at Santa Clara.
Tennis balls. Then he would often conclude interviews with San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy by asking a few questions of his own.
"There were five to six interviews over his four years there, and every time, he'd ask me if I thought he could make it in the NBA," Purdy said. "He said he'd do anything they wanted three times."
That's true grit. And unlike with the opinionated Cuban, you rarely hear a disparaging word from Nash.
During the Western Conference finals Nash was asked about all this furious emotion in Dallas, and how brainwashed Mavericks/Cuban backers had suddenly turned on him and Finley.
"I don't know," Nash said. "Fickle is a sports fan."
It was almost profound, yet you had to strain to hear it.
When this great sprint of a race is settled, let's hope the guy holding the trophy is the guy who holds a big lead in class.
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