Big Matchup Weekend

Seems like we had a flurry of big matchups this past weekend; might as well just lump them all together into one superflurrious blog. (What? Yes it is, look it up, it's in the Martian Abridged Wordionary).

Friday, January 16th

* Magic @ Lakers

* Hornets @ Cavs - I mean, this is a big matchup, isn't it? The Hornets are Conference-title worthy contenders, aren't they? Pfff. Their 3rd-best player is a disappearing violet (Peja), their center is an offensive liability, their bench is as thin as the paper it looks bad on. Am I wrong or is David West their only semblance of what might be mistaken for an inside presence? Chris Paul is truly a wizard, his play casting spells over some to make them believe his team is a top contender, his steals dizzying others into believing he is a strong all-around defender. Methinks James Posey could've chosen better. OK ok, I shouldn't be so hard on the Hornets; Paul and West are truly among the best in the league...I think this is a knee-jerk reaction to enduring their announcers. Please forgive me buzzers.

But with the slew of injuries that've hit them lately, their hold on a playoff position is about to become real, real shaky over the foreseeable future.

Saturday, January 17th

* Magic @ Nuggets - I fully expected a bit of a letdown from the Magic men this game. Coming off a hard-fought win vs. the Lake-show less than 24 hours ago, traveling to the Mile High City and its famously-thin air, a bit of sluggishness might've been understandable. No such luck for Chauncey and crew. After playing a close first half, the Magic laid some smack down in the 2nd half, showing both resolve and excellent conditioning.

* Hornets @ Pistons - You know, if you combined these two rosters, you might have a pretty good team. Rasheed, West, and Prince up front, CP3 and Butler/Stuckey at guard (with all due respect to the AI lovers, we've already seen what a nightmare two diminutive guards creates for a team's defense). Then you have scorers like AI, Hamilton, and Peja coming in off the bench, bruisers like Chandler, McDyess and Maxiell, and specialists like Posey and...and...well, Posey. OK, well, maybe not quite a title-contender, but it'd definitely be stronger than what either team is working with right now. Just flip a coin to see which city loses out and gets to start over with a bunch of draft picks. Or maybe they could share. New Orleans is used to sharing.

These two teams generate way more hope and print than their rosters would seem to dictate.

Sunday

* Heat @ Thunder - What, a matchup of 2 of the 4 non-plural teams in the league isn't noteworthy? OK OK, I kid I kid. Sunday belongs to the NFL. Speaking of which, parity or no parity, there is something intrinsically wrong with a 9-7 team in the Super Bowl. Midnight is supposed to strike sometime before the big game. This is sports dammit, and there are rules to be followed. Kinda like the rule that says self-praise will usually lead you to embarrassment and humility...

Monday

* Suns @ Celtics - Following Sunday’s win over the Toronto Raptors, Amare’ Stoudemire, who had 31 points announced, “I’m about to get my gorilla game on”. Next game: 3 points, 0-7 shooting, 1 rebound, 4 turnovers, 1 block -- in 30 minutes.

Talk about your unintentional comedy. Does the Mike & Mike Show on ESPN Radio still give out the Just Shut Up award? Every time I look at STAT's stat line I burst out laughing. You can't make this stuff up.

* Cavs @ Lakers - Like two heavyweights slugging it out in the late rounds, the 4th quarter was definitely the most intriguing aspect of this game. Big run by the Lakers to put the game out of reach -- followed by a big run by the Cavs to render the first run obsolete -- followed by another run by the Lakers to clamp the door shut. Nice end to an intriguing weekend.

As a side-thought, what's up with my boy Andrew Bynum trading boards for scores? I suppose as long as he's playing good D, boxing out (Gasol and Odom seem to be picking up the loosies that Andrew's stopped getting to), and those defensive efficiency numbers stay looking good, it's not a problem. That is unless Andrew's on your fantasy team or something. Then you're free to curse and carry on smartly.

Chauncey for MVP? Shaq for All-Star?

Some days ago, someone I know brought up the case of Chauncey Billups to be part of the MVP discussion. Now that we know Denver will be without Carmella for a long stretch, myself and others decided this was a great time to use as a measuring stick for his candidacy. After seeing Denver outlast Phoenix last night, I was all prepared to sign off on putting him into the debate -- that is until I remembered that Phoenix was without Shaq last night.

So, since Anthonia went down, the Nuggets have beaten:

the aforementioned Shaq-less Suns

Dallas, who's in the midst of a losing streak which includes a loss to the Kings and a beatdown by Memphis

Miami

It's not a bad stretch, but it doesn't really excite me either, so I'm gonna reserve judgment. If Denver holds their own over the next 2 weeks, with games against Orlando, Houston, Utah, and New Orleans, and beat the other teams they're supposed to beat, I promise to come back and declare Chauncey fit for MVP consideration.

You must always, as many Caribbeans like to say, "give jack he jacket" (give credit where it is due). So without further ado, I must give it up to Mr. Shaquille O'Neal for his play lately, for turning back the hands of time. Admittedly, I haven't watched much of the Suns this year, but one of my coworkers is a huge Suns fan, and he's proven to be a pretty knowledgable and non-shemotional fan at that. (For starters, he's one of the few people that remember that Steph Marbury actually played pretty well for Phoenix, regardless of how people wish to twist his time there).

Anyways, between looking at the raw numbers -- 7 double-doubles in last 10 games is putting in work, no matter how you frame it -- and listening to my coworker and others, I'm duly impressed. I'll sign up for saying Shaq is earning a spot on the All-Star team. I never thought I'd be saying that again without stepping into a DeLorean.

However, I'd be remisce if I didn't point out a couple things:

I said before the season that there are certain players who just need to be given occasional time off, based on the amount of time they've missed in the past few seasons. Shaq was the first, along with Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Just go ahead and work out a schedule for them to take games off occasionally, because they are going to miss games regardless. At least this way you can be pro-active and try to prevent the kinds of repetitive-stress injuries their bodies seem to keep succumbing to. Nice to see at least Phoenix "listened" to me.

Phoenix is still not a top contender for a title. I bet you didn't know that they are playing worse defense -- putting up poorer defensive efficiency numbers -- than at any point during the Mike D'Antoni era? I bet you didn't.

In case you're wondering why I have been butchering Carmella Anthonia's name, allow me to clarify: when you punch-and-run, you get a girl's name. Man Law.

Five hours until the Magic play the Lakers. Tick-tock-tick-tock. I am such a junkie.

Refs Screw Up Another Lakers/Spurs Classic

The Lakers and Spurs took part in a great, great game last night, only to have it marred by a string of poor officiating calls down the stretch. The first was the timeout awarded to Tim Duncan during a scrum while the ball was still lose and -- as I remember it -- under Timmy's back. Slightly worse was the 2nd call, a questionable foul call against Derek Fisher on Roger Mason. Perhaps the karma gods were at play there (nearly 5 years after Fisher received a non-call for the famous bump on Brent Barry in the playoffs). In any case, kudos to Mason for his spot-on imitation of the Dwyane Wade collapse-to-floor-when-defender-enters-personal-space signature move. Earning trips to the free throw line at an arena near you.

But the final (whistle-)blow was the horrific call on Trevor Ariza's drive. Inexcusable. Calling a foul on Ginobili, though the right call, would've been surprising. Pocketing their whistle on a late-game drive with contact would've at least had precedent. But a travel call on what was clearly a two-step drive? And barely even 2 steps? Bad, bad, bad official. And I don't want to hear the explanation that Ariza's two steps were awkward; if driving awkwardly fooled officials into making traveling calls, Manu Ginobili wouldn't have taken an unwhistled layup in 6 years.

In any case, this game featured a pair of normally-unsung players: the Spur's Roger Mason and Josh Powell of the Lakers. Mason looks deadly from beyond the arc, and -- phantom foul notwithstanding -- made a nice play to put in the game-tying shot. That's two late-game clutch plays this season by my woefully-poor count (game-winner vs. Phoenix). Nice start to his new team. And Josh Powell is pretty impressive with his mid-range game. Watching him I kept saying to myself: Ronny Turia-who? Powell isn't quite the rebounder that Ronny is, and doesn't quite have that boundless energy, but he seems to be in the same neighbourhood defensively and has a much better looking shot. Nice off-season pickups for both teams.

The Spurs looked stronger than I'd imagined they would have at this point in the year. Between Mason, George Hill, and Matt Bonner, they've got a few guys to help bring down that gray-beard age average the Spurs have been sporting in the past couple years. Ginobili looks healthy as well. But at the same time, we have to remember that the Lakers are still missing 3 regulars, and don't have a single backup point guard. So naturally we have to hold off on annointing one team fit to compete with another when one is missing 33% of its regular rotation.

OK, so -- almost too predictably -- the Sixers are playing better ball with Elton Brand out. 8-6 record without him, if you stretch to include the game in which he was injured. But more importantly, 5 straight wins, and not just lucky or close wins over weak foes. They handly took care of Portland, Houston, and Atlanta during this latest stretch. Running more, putting up higher numbers on offense, doing everything that every two-bit pundit on the net foresaw they would do.

But now Brand is back practicing, and could return to game action by this weekend. How is this team going to incorporate Elton's skillset and not lose their identity? I can't say I have an answer. And more importantly, something tells me the Sixers coaching staff doesn't have a clearcut answer either. Poor Phill...wait a second -- Phillies, Eagles, Soul...ok, scratch that "poor Philly talk".

It's still 2 days away, but I can't wait to see the matchup between the Lakers and the Magic. I admit, I love watching both these teams play, and catch them whenever I can. But I'll be watching my two favourite picks for center-beasts of the future (Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum) go head-to-head. I'd just like to point that I predicted, way back in their rookie years, both each of these players would become dominant centers -- I have the posts to prove it. It hasn't quite happened yet, but they are obviously on their way. Both started off this year a bit slowly but have been turning it on lately. And the Magic in particular, for a young team, is scary-good. Congrats on breaking the NBA record for 3-pointers the other night by the way. Look at those young kids go.

I just snicker when I see people proclaim "Boston is back" after two nail-biting victories over Toronto. Oh yea, there's a powerhouse team for you. And now that they cruised over the Nets in the first segment of another home-and-home, I'm sure we'll be hearing more of the same. No matter; when they get back to playing stronger teams, we'll see what becomes of them. I fully expect them to make a change or two by the trading deadline to bolster their team, because right now their bench is weaker than weak. Lest we forget, Sam Cassell is more coach than player these days, James Posey is down in the Bayou, and P.J. Brown is in the old-folks home (ok ok, that was cruel; he's retired; what do you want from me, he's still that same guy that flipped Charlie Ward over his back). On the off chance they can't do anything to improve their bench, I'll just state it from now: they're not making a return trip to the Finals.

I just checked the schedule; the Celts travel to Orlando next week Thursday. There's another game I'll be circling on my calendar and setting my cellphone on silent for.

Hornets fall back to Earth; Celts Down, Magic Up; Drunk Chuck

Re: The Hornets: so it is written, so it is done -- or however that saying goes. Flatten, run over, beat down by the Jazz, a night after we were hearing all about their new-found candidacy for the Western Conference crown. Then they followed that up days later by losing to...the Knicks. New Orleans, as they come and go with the esteemable Chris Paul, are certainly a top-10 team; but just as surely, they are not a top contender. Question: has there been a Peja Stojakovic sighting lately? He kinda reminds me of a poor man's Hedo Turkoglu, minus all the game-breaking ability, clutch shooting, ball-handling, decision-making or rebounding skills.

The Celtics: ok, I watched -- at least the 2nd half -- of the hame game against Toronto, and I think I'm ready to render an opinion on their swoon. Ok, more like a guess, but anyways: where's their offense coming from? You've got the big 3, Rondo on an occasional night, and...who? I've been hearing the Marbury rumours, and naturally all of the Starbury detractors are falling all over themselves to say how he will destroy the team, but they need some help off the bench, and fast. These cats are going to burn out with the way the bench is being outscored night in night out. When your bench is outscored by the likes of Roko Ukic, you've got issues. Even in blowouts the subs barely score like the opposition.

I'd be remisce if I didn't at least mention Charles Barkley. I guess he's still struggling with whether he's a role model for the younger players....see DWI re: Antoine Walker and then Jason Richardson. Seriously though, DWI is no laughing matter, and that's not just a sappy public service announcement. Couple years ago, I did a month of grand jury duty and lost count of the dizzying numbers of repeat, felony, DWIs we passed indictments for. I've seen people die and friends go to jail over drinking and driving. The culture of drinking in this world needs to completely change; all these harsher penalties and what not isn't going to change a damn thing. Partying and drinking is like tea and water to too many people.

Anyways, nice going Chuck. That sure is gubernatorial-level behaviour you got going on there.

The home-and-home series against the Orlando Magic was supposed to be the Hawks' opportunity to formally announce their contention for the Southeast Division's crown. Instead, it became one 96-minute-long definitive statement by the Magic that the division belongs to them and them alone.

For the second straight game, Orlando jumped all over the Hawks early, but this time there would be no comeback, no answers for the Hawks. The wide final margin of 34 points doesn't even relay how one-sided that game was. 43-18 early, 71-33 at the half, and up to 101-51 at one point. If the NBA had a mercy rule, they'd have never played the 2nd half. And what's become of Joe Johnson? Followed up that 13 point clunker vs. the Nets with games of 14, 13, 11, and 11? Shooting a solid 34% for 2009, after shooting over 45% for the first 2 months of the season. I don't think I can blame New Year's Eve hangover anymore.

Celtics Swoon; Hornet High; Stuck On Stuckey

The Celtics are certainly an enigma. While you can understand the Cavs taking a step back with Big Z on the shelf.....or the Lakers losing momentum last night having to replace Odom's minutes with long games from Kobe/Gasol/Fisher (an abnormal 42 minutes each) and a Josh Powell sighting (!!), what exactly is the Celtics' story? Their "team injury" page is completely blank. Strange, strange indeed. I hear they're coming apart late in games, with a bit of in-fighting, etc. I'm sure they'll get it together eventually, but I'm gonna have to catch (endure) a game or two of them to see what the deal is.

I see that the aftermath of the Hornets victory has the pundits all proclaiming that the Hornets proved (to others and themselves) that they can compete with the Lakers.....meanwhile I hear none of them bothering to mention that the Hornets grabbed control early in the 4th quarter vs. a Lakers 2nd unit that was missing 3 regulars (Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, and Jordan Farmer)same way no one seemed to notice that Peja was missing from their previous meeting. Great 4th quarter by the Hornets, especially David West, but ummm let's not get too carried away on that one 6-minute stretch.

I read a story couple days back about how the Pistons have been playing better ball ever since inserting Rodney Stuckey into the starting lineup. My question is: it took Coach Curry a whole month after Billups left to realize Stuckey should be next in line? Sad, sad, sad.

Hawks vs. Nets - January 2, 2009

So I was in the house for the first time in a while, and I lucked out and got a good game out of it. Some random thoughts:

• Awful first-half. This early-season home funk the Nets are in makes no sense, and I was wondering (hoping) they'd be breaking out of it. Thru 24 minutes it didn't look too good.




• I saw the final play of the half coming a mile away, before it even happened. You could just tell something bad was bound to happen. Inbound to Brook Lopez (yea, he's at the top of the list of Nets playmakers), turn, dribble, fumble ball away, Hawks grab the ball and heave a desperation shot at the buzzer -- bottom net. Lead balloons to 20 points.




• 11-year old boy sings "Who's Loving You" and blows the arena away. The other two girls in the Star Search contest (this was supposedly the semi-final) didn't stand a ghost of a chance. Damn I wish I caught his name:







• Couple days ago, the Hawks coach and Joe Johnson (one of my favourite players) himself remarked that Joe had elevated to the stratosphere of NBA stars, up in the penthouse with LeBron, Kobe, Wade, etc. Then he proceeds to put up an invisible 13 points on 5-16 shooting, getting a potential game-winner at the end of the 4th stuffed by Devin Harris in the process. Self-praise is not a recommendation my yute:



-- insert clip of dev harris rejecting joe johnson --



• Carter could not make a layup. Never seen anything like it before. 5-7 from 3pt range, 1-11 everywhere else. I'm guessing he and Joe Johnson partied at the same spot on New Year's Eve. Just a thought.




• There were about 50 potential game-ending plays, and I got video of every bumbling one of the 800. It's amazing I didn't give up trying to record after the first 7999 mangled shots. But then...




• That was one helluva play to end the game. I'm officially putting Vince Carter on the short list of players who you want with the ball for a last shot. Seriously. Do a youtube search for "Vince Carter game winner", pack a lunch, and check 'em out. For everything people fault the guy for, he has a knack for putting it in the net when the game's on the line. Give jack he jacket:

NBA -- Rating the announcers

So now that I have league pass (more cheers) and have been listening to NBA broadcasts around the league, the first thing that jumped out at me was the differing quality of the team's in-game announcers, the play-by-play and color commentators. Simply put, some of them are ready for prime-time, up to the quality TNT broadcasts (I always enjoy TNT's announcers), and some are just horrible. I started keeping a list, if only to save myself from the pain of some of the babblers and ramblers out there, but a few stick out in my mind.

The Ugly:

* Hornets: I don't know if I'll ever listen to a N'awlins home broadcast ever again. These guys take homerism to unbelievable levels. You could go an entire game without hearing one substantial remark about the opponent or their play. And the way they cover some plays, you're left to wonder which game they're watching. Ball thrown out of bounds? Must've been tipped. Foul by Chandler? Inconceivable. Chris Paul could defend Deron Williams by beating him in the head with a club and these guys would look for an offensive foul. The color commentator actually once took the time to pontificate about his belief that Kobe orchestrated the great Lakers breakup of 2004. I had to turn and check my calendar -- yup, it's still 2008. The word "Colorado" never turned up but I'm assuming I simply missed it when I went for a bathroom break. You usually have to go to a web forum to hear that level of ancient overt man-hating. As a matter of fact, that's the only place I want to go to hear it. I'd put these two on mute if they were commentating the basketball scenes in an episode of The Fresh Prince.

The Bad:

* Jazz, Nuggets, Celtics: Nearly as high on the homerism scale as the Hornets, except they actually watch the game that's transpiring in real life instead of the one being fed thru their rose-coloured glasses. You won't hear anything substantial about the opponent, but you also won't hear them blame a cross-wind for one of their players dribbling the ball off his foot during warmups. I might listen to their broadcasts again, but only after getting myself into the same mindset I'd use to watch Dumb & Dumberer, Step Brothers, or Fox News Network.

The Good:

* Grizzlies, Magic, Lakers: These broadcasters are like a breath of fresh air. The fans in those cities will actually hear something about both teams. It's really an amazing concept: to talk about the opponent. Their tendencies. Their good players. How they've been playing lately. How they're playing tonight -- good or bad. Plays they like to run. The fact that the opponent made a good play or that a player from the home team actually took four steps on the way to the rim. Beyond just hearing a fair, intelligent broadcast, you'll undoubtably learn a tidbit or two about the opponent by the end of the night. These guys realize they have 82 games to talk about the home team, that breaking a nightly monotony with facts about the opponent is actually good broadcasting.

Don't misunderstand, I expect a certain amount of hometown favouritism from the commentators. They shouldn't be working for that team if the aren't leaning their broadcast towards them. But there is a point at which favouritism becomes cheerleading. And a point at which cheerleading crosses the line into homerism.

Then there's a line wayyy far off in the distance, just past the horizon, a zip code reserved only for the Hornets broadcast. God, are they awful.