SB Nation User Blog: timbo

Kareem has leukemia :(

timbo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:20:46 -0000

Kareem has leukemia :(

Bad breaking news from the LA Times...

Basketball Stats for Beginners...

timbo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:51:48 -0000

Basketball Stats for Beginners...

The first edition of LAKER STAT ORGY! just goes over the basic terminology.

I officially endorse all of these measurements, as opposed to PER, which can be ground into a fine powder and inserted in the left aural passage.

Lakeshow Episode 07: The View from New Orleans

timbo — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:41:09 -0000

Call me mean-spirited, but I do love a good chuckle at the misfortune of others.

Well, that may be overstating it a bit... Let's put it this way: I find humor in dysfunctional situations that deserve being laughed at.

Seriously: when an owner fails to observe how much worse Detroit became and how much better Denver became when Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson traded shirts; and when that same owner further failed to observe how the tatted twerp A.I. blew off his bosses for having the gaul to suggest he come off the bench for them (still pocketing his multimillions, of course); and then when that same owner decided that Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo weren't a sufficient backcourt (what-what-what?) and agreed to pay still more millions to Mr. Gold Chain Guy............. Given all that, it just tickles my funnybone that after all of 3 games coming off the bench, Stinky has a face-to-face with the owner after a loss in LA and decides he needs to leave the team to go back home to Atlanta for an indefinite period for "personal reasons."

How stupid are you, Michael Heisley?

Did you have enough brains to cover your ass financially for this obvious catastrophe in the making???

Or does Allen Iverson's personal services contract with your company pay him for simply breathing?

Hmmmmm?

A few more words for Papa Grizzly after the jump...

And while we are on the subject of the donkeys in your barn, what were you thinking when you brought The Black Hole, Zach Randolph, to town? What is the correlation that you are observing between his monumental statistical totals and your team's win total? How has your team chemistry been doing?

Do you actually like basketball? Or do you just enjoy spending money and meddling and creating annual implosions of your franchise as an Attention-Getting Mechanism, a la Daniel Snyder of the Washington Redskins? 'Cuz you seem to be already well down that road, sir...

Channel Surfing

Saturday, Nov. 7

Toronto (3-2) at Dallas (3-2). The Dallas Mavericks, a team which scared the wee-wee out of me in 2008/09, are shaping up to be one of the major forces in the Western Conference in the 2009/10 season. Their face-off with the Toronto Raptors marked the return of 420-friendly wing Josh Howard to an already potent lineup. The Mavs had 14 fast break points in the first half — not bad considering that their PG uses a walker and has his own set of personal nicknames for each of his teammates, such as "Sonny" (Shawn Marion), "Stretch" (Dirk Nowitzki) and "Young Man" (Erick Dampier).

I remain curious how Dallas claims to have sold out 400-something-something straight games, yet fully 1/2 the big money seats next to the floor appear to be sitting empty. Does Mark Cuban buy all unsold tickets for investment purposes as future collectibles? Is it a status symbol among Dallas richie-riches to write big checks for Mav season tickets but a fashion faux pas to actually show up at a game? It's all very puzzling and I'm not sure what to make of it. I am just about to the point of calling bullshit on their so-called "consecutive sellouts" streak, however...

This game was such a mismatch that it went to Garbage Time midway through the 3rd Quarter. It was a leisurely walk in the park for Dallas, in which they had time to stop to pick a bouquet of pretty yellow wildflowers and then sit a spell on a wooden bench to do a little whittling. The Large German Man finished with 29 points and 9 boards in about 37 minutes, Jason Terry chipped in 19 points off the bench, Shawn Marion was impressive, scoring 18, and newcomer Howard had 16 points on 5 for 12 shooting. Watch out for this team. Mavs 129, Raptors 101.

Dallas is very, very deep and seems likely to emerge as one of the top 4 teams in the West this year, along with LAL, Denver, and (probably eventually) Portland. I still refuse to believe Phoenix is for real. Maybe I need to actually watch them.

Sacramento (1-4) at Utah (2-3). Wow. Sacramento starts with "S" for Suck. They were staring at a 14 point deficit in the 2nd Quarter. Losers! But lucky for them, they were playing the struggling Jazz, who should probably change their name to the Funk at this point. Bye bye lead by the end of the 2nd Quarter, tied at the half.

Then in the 3rd frame, the Kings took it to Utah, 30-13, opening up a nasty 17-point lead for Jerry's Kids by the start of the 4th. With no Kevin Martin, this made the outcome about even odds coming down the wire. I'm not joking, Sacramento starts with "S" for Suck... All-Star Deron Williams immediately hoisted his underperforming mates onto his broad shoulders, taking it to the rack and starting a run, as the Kings predictably went into fraidy-cat mode, highlighted by shot clock violation after shot clock violation and Jason Thompson bricking a bunny at the rim.

It's hard to stall with the 24 second clock, but the Kings did their best. They had no offensive flow whatsoever, but lucked in enough buckets and got sent to the line just enough to hold off the Utah charge, which had 'em to just 5 down at the 1 minute mark. But the Red Sea parted for Beno Udrih for an easy finger roll layup and that was dagger at the 21 second mark, although the Jazz's corpse took another 10 minutes to stop wiggling.

Utah are a small market team deep into Luxury Tax Hell and it's now or never for them — and they are getting embarrassed at home by the Sacramento Kings! So much for that "The Jazz are unbeatable at home" myth, eh? Now they're 2-2 in the friendly confines and get to go on a four game roadie that includes stops in Boston and Cleveland. Oh, goody...

Tyreke Evans made like a star for a team that desperately needed one, finishing the night with 32 points and 7 assists for Sactoe, cooly draining 16 of 19 Free Throw attempts in the effort. Kings 104, Jazz 99. Yaay.

Memphis (1-5) at LA Clippers (2-4). This game featured so many absolutely shocking revelations that I feel compelled to use bullet points and italics to drive them home with emphasis:

Memphis wing Rudy Gay recently turned down a $10M/yr. extension because he wants LaMarcus Aldridge money — even though he's not 6'11' — and he might actually be worth it! (Gay scored 33 points on 11/20 shooting, going 11/13 from the line, pulling down 6 rebounds as a SF).
Clipper Center Chris Kaman would seem to be the odds-on favorite to join Andrew Bynum as a 2009/10 Western Conference All-Star! (Kaman went 26 and 9 in this game and after 7 games played he is averaging 23.0 points and 9.9 rebounds. Yes, Chris Kaman!!!)
Hasheem Thabeet, rather than being a Swahili term for Darko Milicić, actually looks to be a pretty decent NBA Center prospect. He hustles, is big enough to block and alter shots, and is a Grizzly player who actually seems to care about defense!
Baron Davis is getting paid $12.1 Million this year, and he has 3 more years coming! (Sure, Davis didn't actually stink as bad as usual, scoring 15 on 5/9 shooting, but any time there are bullet points and italics being used about the Clippers, he automatically gets one, for obvious reasons...)

It was close down the wire, with Ralph Lawler holding his breath for about 3 consecutive possessions with Memphis stuck at 99 points and the Clippers trailing. But then All-Star Kaman hit a Free Throw for a 100-99 Clippers lead and they managed to hold it, enabling Good Old Ralph to chortle and puff about the veracity of the "law" he nicked from a Philadelphia 76ers trainer and modestly named after himself. Clippers 113, Grizzlies 110.

Sunday, Nov. 8

Phoenix (5-1) at Washington (2-4). Well, it's time to investigate whether the Western Conference-best win/loss record of the Phoenix Suns is an anomaly. How can a team that was out of the playoffs in 2008/09, that got nothing for future Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O'Neal, that features a Point Guard who plays some of the most porous defense in the NBA, that starts the goofy and lovable, albeit buttery soft, perimeter chucker Channing Frye at Center (!!!) — how can THAT team be 5 and 1?!?

Well, there's a little illumination to be garnered watching 'em play against the underachieving Washington Wizards. For one thing, former league MVP Steve Nash remains the best passing PG in the NBA, despite the mileage on his odometer. Dude had 13 Assists by the end of the THIRD Quarter... I'm of the belief that the Assist is the most overrated statistic in basketball, but that's still really getting it done for a PG.

Amar'e Stoudamire is all the way back from microfracture surgery. That becomes quickly clear, too. Amar'e is a force inside, quick and athletic. Jason Richardson is the other guy that powers the Suns' offensive attack. Phoenix is taking the same sort of score first, score second, worry about defense third approach that Golden State perennially runs, and J-Rich is completely in his element runnin' with the Suns. Leandro Barbosa is quality off the bench and Frye can rain open look 3s if you give them to him — but I still don't see a team that has the ponies to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix leaks out on the break on misses. Phoenix leaks out on the break on makes. They pretty much force teams to play 4-on-4 on their own end, because they run out on everything. Teams need to be ready for this eventuality and to be disciplined enough to play tough defense to slow Phoenix down. The Washington Wizards are obviously not that team as this game was never really that competitive from the 2nd Quarter on. Suns 102, Wizards 90.

Minnesota (1-5) at Portland (3-3). For the last few years, the Portland Trail Blazers have owned the Timberwolves (not unique in that regard in the NBA, admittedly), having won the last 8 games in the series. Minnesota limped into this one with a disheartening record of 1 and 5, their sole win coming at the expense of the sad sack New Jersey Nets, who remain winless in the 2009/10 season.

Blazer Head Coach Nate McMillan once again voted not to pick a starting Point Guard, inserting both Andre Miller and Steve Blake into the starting 5 (who's the 1 and who's the 2? You decide...), moving Brandon Roy to Small Forward, where he was matched up with Ryan Gomes. The corollaries of this decision are that Martell Webster moves to the second unit (known as the "White Unit" in Natespeak) and the long-suffering Jerryd "Rex" Bayless gets burn running the White Unit as its PG.

Guess what? The decision not to decide seems to have worked for Portland. I mean, really, really worked. Both units of the 12-deep Blazers ran like crazy and Minnesota melted like a sugar cube in a donut fryer.

On a night when Brandon Roy scored exactly 2 points, taking zero Free Throws, the Blazers absolutely annihilated the rebuilding Timberwolves. Andre Miller turned in a second straight excellent performance, leading the Blazers with 21 points, while the entire team was moving the ball, racking up an incredible 35 assisted field goals vs. 6 unassisted field goals on the night. Blazers 116, Wolves 93.

New Orleans (2-4) at LA Lakers (5-1). New Orleans was already fully exposed as a bad road team coming into this game, having lost by 37, 6, 24, and 34 points in its previous 4 away games this season. Odds of an upset victory seemed slight, even given the fact that the Lakers were short two of their 6 man core, with Messrs. Gasol and Bynum tending minor injuries.

You see, if the Lakers may be regarded as having a thin team only 6 reliable players, the Hornets have only half of a thin team with just 3 quality NBAers — CP3™® (as seen on TV), Power Forward David West, and Center Emeka Okafor. That's it and good luck with the rest of it. Peja Stojanković is an aging set-shot specialist and James Posey would make a swell 9th man on about 25 teams. And it goes downhill like a soapbox derby track from there...

Uncle Phil has said before that NBA games are never won or lost in the 1st Quarter, but when the Lakers went on a 10-2 run to close the first frame with a 10 point lead, there was an unmistakable scent of finality that had begun to waft through the crowd at Staples Center. Kobe was rolling, the Hornets had nothing to answer, and the facial expressions of Hornets PG Chris Paul alternated between frustration and resignation.

Frustration and resignation were also the two emotions felt by KCAL television viewers when the game was suspended so that Ervin "Jabba" Johnson could regale the audience with war stories of the landmark 1979/80 season, goaded on by the fawning duo of Myers and Lantz. Look, I'm all for tradition and honoring the stars of the past, but for chrissakes, there's something called HALFTIME which would have been swell for that purpose. I don't know the name of the producer who thinks submerging game coverage under thick strata of tedious pointlessness is a great idea, but it's about time for a peasants' revolt, methinks.

It was 55-42 at the half when Fish drained a buzzer-beating corner trey. During the break Stu complained about the lack of Laker balance in the first half, Kobe putting up 47.3% of the teams points. Not to worry, everybody else did the scoring in the second half and LA ran away with the game from the demoralized boys in blue. It was 82-58 at the end of 3, and the only question the Lakers left unanswered is: "What the Hell was Kobe doing in the game in the 4th Quarter, Phil?"

Now let's pay a visit to The Popcorn Machine's GAME FLOW SUMMARY to see what we can learn. (Go ahead and click that link, if you'd be so kind...)

Observation 1: It looks like P.J.'s new policy of running a marathon like a marathon continues — gone are the 40+ minute usage rates of starters, in favor of a more rational allocation of minutes to the subs, warts and all. And we have UPS and Luke repaying the time and trust with some actual production. Kobe was on the floor more than any other Laker (33.7 minutes), usually an understandable situation — although one would have thought the Mamba would have been snared early on this particular night, given the margin of the game and the level of the competition.

Observation 2: The margin in this game was much wider than that shown by the final score, with the hapless Hornets looking at a 27 point hole towards the end of the 3rd Quarter. It was only a pair of 4th Quarter Hornet runs — 7-0 and 11-4 — with the starters on the bench that allowed the annihilation to be turned into a mere face crushing.

Observation 3: Kobe got 26 of his 28 points in the first half, when the scoring actually mattered. After the break he went just 1-for-5 shooting, with an Assist and 3 Turn Overs. But this dog of a game was dead by the middle of the 3rd Quarter anyway....

Our friends Tas, Skeets, and J.D. at The Basketball Jones, known here as THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD (because it is) are taking a day off today, so we'll just have to get on with it...

(1)

Down 22

posted by "Loco Saint" to the At the Hive (SBN) game thread

D-D-Down by 22!

meh...

well it's safe to say

that with the Hornets you get consistency.

(2)

Los Angeles Lakers Run Away from New Orleans Hornets, Win 104-88

by Jimmy Smith, New Orleans Times Picayune

LOS ANGELES - Behind 28 points from guard Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers whipped the New Orleans Hornets, 104-88 here Sunday night in Staples Center.

Four Lakers players scored in double-figures, including two reserves, Shannon Brown (15) and Luke Walton (11).

Chris Paul led the Hornets with 15 points and nine assists. Emeka Okafor scored 10 points and had 14 rebounds.

Rookie Marcus Thornton from LSU scored eight points in seven minutes of play. * * *

(3)

The Best Thing the New Orleans Hornets Have Going for Them Right Now is the Saints

by John DeShazier, New Orleans Times Picayune

The New Orleans Hornets aren't in just any old funk.

They're in a funk that best can be related to by Bootsy Collins and George Clinton, a haze in which they seem not to know if they're coming or going, and don't know what to do once they arrive or leave.

New Orleans is 2-5 after its latest meltdown, a 104-88 loss against the Lakers on Sunday night in which the Lakers called off the dogs (Kobe Bryant scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half, and the Lakers led by 25 in the third quarter) and still jogged across the finish line ahead of the Hornets.

If you're keeping score, that's four double-digit losses.
Good thing for them that, probably, you're not.

It's to the Hornets' benefit that they picked this season, with the Saints off to a franchise-record 8-0 start and Saints fever at an all-time high, to stumble out of the gate. And, actually, to call it a stumble is to be kind. * * *

Obviously, there's plenty of time to pull out of this. The Hornets have 75 games left; there's no way a team led by Chris Paul can tailspin for a 20- or 30-game stretch, no way it should funk it up so thoroughly that Bootsy and George should be playing its theme song. * * *

(4)

The Lakers Pounded the Hornets

by Ryan Schwan, Hornets 247 (TrueHoop)

The Hornets lost again tonight in rather embarassing fashion as the Lakers took it to them early, and then never let them threaten again. Blowouts appear to be the norm this season for opponents of the Hornets. Good times. Good times. For them. Now, you can say "But it's the Lakers!" but both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were out and the Hornets still didn't look like they belonged on the court.

The first play of the game was indicative: Kobe Bryant strips Devin Brown and takes it in for a dunk. If any of you were surprised by that, you haven't watched the Hornets the last 12 months.

Observations — such as they are:

Chris Paul didn't have an other-worldly shooting night for the first time this season, and it made it even more apparent how poorly the rest of this team is playing. Paul still did alright with 15 points and 9 dimes, but he rode the pine for a lot of the fourth as the game was over by halftime. * * *

Devin Brown wasn't shy in creating contact with Kobe. Unfortunately, he didn't really make Kobe's life any harder — or deny him the shots he wanted. That's one thing you should take away from tonight. If you took a look at the tape and analyzed the plays, you will see the Hornets do a solid job of contesting shots. They are there, with a hand in the Laker's faces for a lot of the shots. The problem is that those are the shots the Lakers want. * * *

The best part of the game tonight was the 4th quarter, when the team started running. If Byron wants his team to get out and run like he's claimed over and over and over, he needs to put in players who CAN run. * * *

Okafor had a nice game, including two vicious dunks on post moves. I'd like to be happy about that, but he was being guarded by DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell. Yeah, that does kinda take the shine off of things.

So . . . that's about it about the game. I do want to say one other thing before heading off to sleep. If you went back and looked at the past posts on this blog, you'll find me defending Byron Scott a lot. I like a lot of things Byron does, and I like a lot of his philosophies. Tonight, however, the scales tipped for me. My level of frustration about his decisions this season has passed "open-mouthed in disbelief" and reached "weeping blood". I don't even know what to say at this point. * * *

(5)

Hornets.com Postgame: Lakers 104, Hornets 88

by Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com (via Big Easy Buzz Blog)

With the Hornets dropping four of their first six games and trying to adjust to a change in the starting lineup, the last thing they needed was a trip to face the defending NBA champions on their home floor. That's what the schedule dictated, though, and the outcome was another discouraging result. * * *

More from tonight's defeat, the first stop of a three-game road trek:

Devin Brown replaced Morris Peterson as the starting shooting guard, a move that led to Peterson being deactivated. * * * The Hornets had no answer for Kobe Bryant, though, as the Lakers superstar piled up 26 points in the first half.

It was a dreadful shooting performance for New Orleans, which was hovering around 33 percent from the field through three quarters. No one other than Brown had made at least half of his attempts while the game was still in doubt. * * *

The poor start to this season has been very uncharacteristic of the Hornets, who went 4-0, 4-0 and 3-0 to open the previous three campaigns. New Orleans' worst-ever start was 0-8 in 2004-05, a season when many of the franchise's record lows were established.

(6)

Byron Scott Postgame Quotes

from Hornets.com, via Big Easy Buzz Blog, courtesy LA Lakers

On what changes the Hornets are making:

"I don't know if it's creative or out of the norm, and you know I did go in and the players were talking and I came and told them to bring it in and I made another change, but I don't know if it's out of the norm or out of necessity or whatever the case may be, but I just got to start Peja (Stojakovic) tomorrow, put him in there with CP and David (West). I thought Devin (Brown) played well. I really did. I thought he defended Kobe about as well as you can and Kobe is just unbelievable.

"But on the offensive end, Devin did some good things for us. I'm going to just put these guys in and rotations will probably be a little bit different too because I thought the rookies played pretty well as well tonight. And the thing I was impressed by with those two guys was just their energy. I mean they came in there — they're probably going to make some mistakes — but they did good. They did really good. It's something to build on.

"But the third quarter, again, the third quarter is killing us. It's just two straight games where we come out and the team just kind of dominates us in that third quarter and we got to solve that problem quick."

On some positives and negatives from tonight:

"Devin I thought did some good things and made some shots for us. He was aggressive on the offensive end. But the other guys got to be aggressive as well. We've got to do a better job on keeping our spacing, which means you've got to be patient."

On what he wants to see from his team:

"Guys just have to be aggressive and have a lot of confidence in their selves so they can get the job done and I think we can. It's just a matter of guys taking the initiative at times and not relying on just CP and David (West)."

(7)

Sad News: George Shinn Has Prostate Cancer

by Alejandro de los Rios, Blog of New Orleans

Hornets Owner George Shinn announced today that he has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer but remains healthy, optimistic and committed to maintain his regular schedule that includes serving the New Orleans community and leading the organization to championship performance on and off the court.

"My wife, Denise, and I remain strong in our faith and will maintain a positive attitude as I battle this with intense fervor and drive. This is not the first obstacle that I have had to overcome in life, but it will be another one that will be conquered. Those closest to me understand my commitment to God and belief in the power of prayer, so all that I ask is for people to add me to their prayers. I'm proud of the fact that I will be joining the ranks of cancer survivors around the world who exemplify the greatest strength and resilience...." * * *

(8)

Byron Scott has Quit

posted by "Pharcyder" to HornetsReport message board

I think Bryon Scott has quit on this team. It's a lame duck year for him and the team is playing like it. No passion or hustle. The Hornets should have either let him go or signed him to an extension before the season started. You are not going to have a lot of success with a coach in the last year of his deal.

Scott is just going through the motions. Scott knows he will find a job next year because the NBA fires 5-7 head coaches a year and he has been successful for the most part.

Scott didn't just become a bad coach all of a sudden. It's just that the team isn't responding to him and my guess is that Scott isn't 100% inspired himself.

(8)

A Different Breed of Lame Duck

posted by "Harvey Hornet" to HornetsReport message board

The rooks will start to see significant playing time after this road trip. Likely Thornton moreso at first. Threatening to fire Scott won't achieve anything. He won't be back under any circumstances...I think everyone knows that at this point. If they don't fire him, he'll leave for a new opportunity. It doesn't matter if we go 2-80 or win the NBA title.

Scott's lame duck status is different this go round. He doesn't have the personnel he needs. I watched the game on League Pass....it was interesting to hear the Lakers announcers talk about Scott's "lame duck" status....which they said was unheard of in this day and age of the NBA.

The Bottom Line:

1. We're doomed. The Hornets have Chris Paul, Okafor, and West and a bunch of not-ready for primetime players...

2. How bad is it? A rumbling has started among us Hornets fans for GM Jeff Bower to sign Allen Iverson...

3. Of course we didn't beat the Lakers — we had no expectation of beating the Lakers. The only reason we played the Lakers is because David Stern made us. A better question at this point is whether our Hornets can beat the Timberwolves, the Kings, and the Grizzlies.

4. How 'bout them Saints?!?!?

Blazercentric SS&R Post

timbo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:45:37 -0000

Blazercentric SS&R Post

My latest on the Laker blog Silver Screen & Roll is Blazer-centric enough for me to mention it here, I think, including a short review of the Spurs game.

Lakeshow Episode 06: The View from Memphis

timbo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:31:15 -0000

I watched about a quarter of an NBA game with my wife on Friday night. It was nice.

Usually my wife watches Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann and reruns of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report every night while I do the hoops thang, but Friday was different. It was a night when Portland was finally kicking it into gear against the Spurs, for pretty much the first time all year, and her stuff was over so I clicked over the TV in the living room and she pulled up a chair and watched the second quarter.

She knew a few of the Blazer players through osmosis. It's hard to read a Portland newspaper and not know the principal characters, since it's a one-sport city and they do love their Blazers. My wife was curious about whether the players were all unionized, how the salary structure worked in the NBA, how many refs there were in the league and how much they got paid, and so on and so forth. She's pretty much not a sports fan at any level but I did get her into the NFL briefly during the Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" year. It was a nice little change to get even a little interest and a few rudimentary questions.

The Blazers do have a likable enough team and when they play well they're really fun to watch, so there's some hope. Halftime came and she was down the road to PBS and I was in the other room for the second half, which was fine.

I'm not sure whether it would be good or bad to have a super hardcore sports fan for a wife. I can see positives and negatives. It'd probably be cool, but maybe there would be conflict over which sports or which teams to follow and all that. There's a certain simplicity to the "you do your thing and I'll do mine" approach.

I'm sure those of you who are in relationships with other people will have a few thoughts on this and it might be interesting to hear how many of you in the SS&R orbit have a honey bunny that shares your Lakersism vs. how many have a de facto or de jure spouse that either doesn't give a rip or actively dislikes the basketball thang.

Feel free to chime in on this matter in the comments section at the bottom.

Click on through for more...

Here's what else I've been watching instead of Rachel, Keith, Jon, and Stephen...

Channel Surfing

Thursday, Nov. 5

San Antonio at Utah. I loved turning this game on, since it pitted two of the Western Conference's principal powers — and the way the NBA works these things, somebody has to lose. Utah are one of the principal divisional foes of my Blazers, so my brain was rooting for them to get themselves blown out, but I also have a fairly unhealthy hatred of Grandpa Bankshot's excruciatingly boring Spurs, the tedious tribe which has subjected us all so many times to a triple scoops of diet vanilla Mellorine™® instead of sumptuous, creamy strawberry ice cream in the post season. My heart wants gooey, smooth ice cream, cholesterol be damned.

The Jazz took a nice little lead at the end of the first quarter and pretty much managed to hold it intact all the way to the gates of the dreaded 4th Frame, scene of Tuesday's 15 point choke job to the Large German Man and his pardners from Dallas. After a collapse of that magnitude, no lead was safe. Still, a 93-80 Jazz advantage going into the 4th had to look quite a lot like a do-over from The Basketball Gods to Jerry Sloan.

Utah had been outscored 78-38 during the 4th Quarters of the 2 previous games. They initially did nothing to help their cause, shooting long clankers and committing turnovers, but no matter how hard they tried to gag, San Antonio just wasn't competent enough to let them. All-Star Deron Williams finished with 27 points and 9 assists, Boozer added 27 more. Jazz 113, Spurs 99. Heart wins, brain loses.

Friday, Nov. 6

San Antonio at Portland. There was a foul wind blowing in Portland. The Blazers were supposed to be in the Western Conference Championship hunt this year, see, and they came into this game with a record of 2 wins and 3 losses — looking inept doing it, dumping two games at home. The Spurs were on a back-to-back — the aging, overrated Spurs were on a back-to-back... Oh, let me tell you, it would have been far beyond wailing and gnashing of teeth if the Blazers couldn't pull this one out.

Nate McMillan doubled down at the deal, choosing not to make a choice between Point Guards Steve Blake and Andre Miller but rather to start them both, moving Brandon Roy to the Small Forward position. This was a very risky way to shake up a stagnant offense, since any failure would now rest completely on the shoulders of Coach Nate — who has been coming under fire among the Blazer Cult for his bizarre and indecisive substitution patterns.

Luckily for team, coach, and fans, the Blazers came out strong and held a double-digit lead for most of the night. Tony Parker turned an ankle, which sliced San Antonio's odds of a comeback in half. San Antonio did fight back to within 3 in the 4th Quarter, causing little butterflies in Blazer fans' tummies, but it was pretty clear that the tired, older, lesser Spurs sans their sparkplug PG weren't gonna be able to get it done even when they were making their big push.

Brandon Roy took over when he needed to, with honorable mention to Greg Oden for looking halfway decent in the second half. If The Dentist could play against the aging Tim Duncan in the low post every night, chances are he'd be an NBA All-Star, 'cuz if Oden is slow, Timmay is slothful. At this stage in his career, Duncan is an earthbound, bankshooting stiff, to be perfectly honest. Pay no attention to the stats or the games of yesteryear, friends, just use your eyes. Fear not the Spurs. 96-84 Blazers.

Memphis at Lakers. Coming into this game off of two narrow overtime victories over lesser opponents in a road back-to-back, the sense of parity in the NBA certainly has been growing among many Laker fans. There is no such thing as punching the clock and collecting a gimme — every game is a battle to be fought and won. This particular matchup was oozing with potential nastiness, pitting the high-powered Grizzlies (Mayo, Randolph, Gay, Baby Gasol, Iverson & Co.) against a shallow and depleted Laker squad. Pau was still out of action and Drew was nursing a boo boo on his elbow suffered late in Wednesday's game in Houston. The latter thus had to be kept away from playing against Memphis for precautionary reasons (nudge nudge, wink wink).

Of course, every Laker fan in Whoville, from Little Cindy Lou Who (Age 2) to Granny Gertie Goo Who (Age 102) knows Phil's strategy when dealt this particular hand: get the NBA's most underplayed and underpaid player on the floor, Grandmaster D.J. Mbenga, and let Kobe go cat go.

Check and check...

And then it is up to Ron Ron and LO to be effective and make their presence felt.

Check and, well, sort of a check...

Lakers bumped up a little lead on Memphis but the visitors managed to close the gap. Then midway through the 3rd Quarter, the Lakers went on a run and the boys in blue did what bad teams do — they went down the loo. (Team motto: There's no D in: "Memphis Grizzlies basketball is a complete mess featuring a bunch of selfish offensive guys getting their own shots and making a piss-poor effort to stop the other team.")

Game ball to Josh Powell for his yeoman's effort off the bench. P.J. even played Adam Morrison in an Actual Basketball Situation and lived to tell the tale, proof positive that The Basketball Gods were wearing attractive purple and gold hoodies tonight. (Of course, the team was Minus-7 during The Incompetent One's 5 minutes of burn, but who's counting?) Lakers 118, Grizzlies 98. Tacos for everybody!!!

Now let's see how closely this impressionistic summary typed up at 3:30 in the morning comes to reality, shall we? Please go clicky-clicky on the following link for The Popcorn Machine's GAME FLOW SUMMARY...

Observation 1: From midway in the 3rd Q, the Grizzlies gave up 3 quick Laker runs of 9-0, 11-4, and 10-1. Ouch.

Observation 2: After grinding his starters into a fine pulp during the recently-completed two game road trip, Phil got others into the act for significant minutes: Powell for 21, Luke for 19, and UPS for nearly 10.

Observation 3: Lakers were +12 during Allen Iverson's 20 minutes on the floor. Gee, what a coincidence.

Now, before we get on with the point of the exercise, the party line as decreed by the press and blogs of Grizzliesland, please whip out some cookies and milk and join me in indulging in the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD:

(1)

Kobe Bryant's 41 Points Lift Lakers by Grizzlies, 114-98

by Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal

LOS ANGELES -- So far, the Grizzlies have been all talk.

Chatter about being a better basketball team this season.

Allen Iverson saying he doesn't like his role.

Promises to play something that resembles defense.

Now, the guy who writes the checks is about to have his say.

Michael Heisley, the Grizzlies' Chicago-based owner, flew to town Friday in time to watch his team lose 114-98 to the Los Angeles Lakers in Staples Center.

But Heisley isn't in Los Angeles for a leisurely weekend getaway. He joined the team for the expressed purpose of addressing some of the team's problems.

Heisley will have several meetings, including a sit-down with Iverson, today with the goal of trying to get a handle on why the Griz are off to a 1-5 start.

Their loss to the Lakers provided a snapshot.

Iverson hasn't meshed, scoring just eight points in 21 minutes off the bench after still sounding somewhat defiant before the game. Memphis then put on a defenseless second half in which Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 25 of his game-high 41 points.

"At some point we're going to have to have a conversation — players only," Griz forward Rudy Gay said after scoring a team-high 22 points. "We have to figure out what kind of team we want to be." * * *

(2)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar May Help Grizzlies' Big Men

by Ronald Tillery, Memphis Commercial Appeal

LOS ANGELES -- The Grizzlies still are in "serious negotiations" with NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to help coach their centers, according to team owner Michael Heisley.

Abdul-Jabbar visited Memphis on Oct. 25 to attend a practice and meet with Griz players and management. Heisley said both sides are trying to iron out a working arrangement.

"It's a matter of how much time Kareem will give to us," Heisley said. "We're trying to come to an understanding of how Kareem will work. I want to make sure we're getting somebody who will give attention to these kids and help them. He's got a lot of commitments."

Abdul-Jabbar, 62, is under contract with the Los Angeles Lakers after having tutored Andrew Bynum over the past several seasons. Memphis, however, asked for and received permission from the Lakers to speak with Abdul-Jabbar.

"He wants to come and we want him to come," Heisley said. "It's really a question of whether he's got commitments that will keep him away from the team more than we'd like."

The Griz have three centers — two of whom are considered projects — who could benefit from Abdul-Jabbar's knowledge and experience. Marc Gasol, Hamed Haddadi, and rookie Hasheem Thabeet met Abdul-Jabbar for dinner last month. * * *

(3)

Why Iverson isn't a Clipper

by Chris Herrington, Memphis Flyer Beyond the Arc blog

Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears has an interview with Allen Iverson today and also includes this nugget about why Iverson did not sign with the Los Angeles Clippers this summer: * * *

There are a couple of bits of relevant news here: One is that the Clippers intended to use Iverson in the "super sub/instant offense" role I've written about. The other is that the Clippers organization clearly discussed this role with Iverson, found out he would not be willing to accept it, and thus did not sign him.

You know it's getting bad when your organization makes the Clippers look professional by comparison. If the Grizzlies had visions of using Iverson in this kind of role — and based on Michael Heisley's public comments published this summer in the Commercial Appeal, that seems to be the case — then why didn't they broach this subject with Iverson in direct terms? And if they didn't have an intent of bringing him off the bench, then why didn't they let Iverson, the team, and everyone else know they intend to start him when he's fully integrated into the team? * * *

(4)

Forever Young: Lakers beat Grizzlies 114 to 98

by DJTurtleface, Straight Outta Vancouver (SBN)

In a night with a few upsets, the Grizzlies didn't manage to force one of them. While they did lead at halftime, the Grizzlies were routed by the Lakers last night. To reiterate the point the Lakers were missing two enormous pieces in this game, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, but still slowly figured out how to pick apart the Grizzlies. Remember that championship pedigree thing? It looks a lot like this game. * * *

Rockness Monster—Ron Artest just killed Rudy Gay tonight. You could see the veteran savvy in his fakes and footwork that left Rudy nowhere near passing lanes or challenging shots on the few possessions he made a real effort on defense.

U-Turn— After one good night, Allen Iverson turns in a bad one. He played around 20 minutes, but only managed 8 points and 3 assists. Looks like Conley will remain the starter for the foreseeable future if neither of them can impress against a half-decent defense.

Bitter Lemon— One point I finally noticed tonight is that the Grizzlies offense runs almost completely different depending on if either Conley or Iverson is in controlling the ball. With Conley the offense normally actually runs through Gasol in the high-post, this is something many writers have asked for, but I'm not so thrilled with the reality. The other players aren't running the plays crisply enough for Gasol to deliver them the ball.

With Iverson the offense run better because it is a more tradition isolation setup, which plays better into the Grizzlies personnel, but is likely only going to exacerbate the trouble of having four isolation scorers all craving shots. In other words neither of these is the right way to play.

Sleeping With the Enemy— Now I'm picking up my own sloppy seconds after focusing on Ron Artest as my player of the game, so let me change over to the Lakers bench. Against the Grizzlies these guys looked good again. Luke Walton was dropping reverse layups for heaven's sakes.

(5)

Grizzlies at L. A. Lakers — 11.6.09 [pregame]

by Chip Crain, 3 Shades of Blue (TrueHoop)

Memphis is a team in turmoil just like so many experts predicted they would be before the season began.

The good news is that so far the problems have only been half as bad as expected. Allen Iverson launched a bomb shell on the team, the coaches and the fans with his attitude after his first game back from injury but Zach Randolph, the other player the experts expected to cause problems, has been a model citizen.

Still the team is struggling and in ways everyone expected. Their defense is porous at best and their bench is terrible even with Iverson providing a spark. Memphis' offense has been impressive and their strength on the boards encouraging but until the team finds a way to stop their opponents it will all be for naught. * * *

(6)

Mamba Exsanguinates Grizzlies in LA

by Matthew Noe, Three Shades of Blue (True Hoop)

The Grizzlies made a Friday visit to to Staples Center, doing, as many teams do, the "LA double", with the LAL one night and the Clippers the next. Based on how the season's gone thus far, it would be easy for one to foresee that neither game would be an easy 48 minutes.

Was there to be any chance that the Grizzlies could integrate the word "defense" into the team's lexicon?

Am I crazy to suggest that such a thing is even possible?

Crazy, sure. But it happened in the first half. The Grizzlies actually, bless their little baby Grizzly heads, played some decent team D. Helping well in the lane, chasing shooters. The odd bit? The Griz were K-I-L-L-E-D on the boards. Slaughtered. Owned. However, the way things have been going, I'll take holding the Lakers under 38% in the first half and give up the advantage on the boards...for the confidence boost if for no other reason. Sure, Kobe did what he does, but the Grizzlies smartly let Luuuuke Walton shoot more than he should have and didn't let Fisher or Farmar get rollin' from outside. * * *

In the third quarter, it became evident that the Grizzlies had poked a sharp stick into a hole occupied by The Black Mamba. Lebron's good, there are some other good players...but there's just no one that approaches the skill/IQ/physical ability level of Kobe Bryant. Nobody. * * *

As deadline approached, there was nothing to report from Memphis Blue Bears, David's Memphis Grizzlies Blog, The Growl, GrizzFans.com, Unobstructed View, Beale Street Beat, etc.

The Bottom Line:

1. Our Grizzlies are an amazing accumulation of stars of the future and stars of the past. We've got offense to spare, daddio!!!

2. Unfortunately, each of these stars of yesterday and tomorrow is playing their own game on the same floor simultaneously...

3. No worries, after another few weeks the Memphis Tigers begin their season and nobody's gonna pay the slightest attention to these jokers anyway.

Lakeshow Episode 05: The View from Houston

timbo — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:06:07 -0000

Wednesday, 3:07 pm.

Dammit, I think I'm stuck...

My buddy from Portland, Go-Go, found out that Southern Culture on the Skids was gonna be playing a show on a Wednesday night in little ol' Corvallis, Oregon — where I live — and he was reserving a room at a motel downtown first and calling me to get tickets second. This wasn't a "Can you go?" or a "Would you like to go?", this was a "We are going to go" deal. Nicely played, might I add...

Well, I've done my best for several years to maintain a real Ted Kaczynski vibe, with surprisingly good effectiveness. Too bad for me that Go-Go is one of a handful of people able to call my bluff. So we are, indeed, going to go.

The show starts at 10 pm, an hour earlier if you wanna catch the opening band and drink some beer, which we do. No problems so far, right? Ah, but here comes the issue...

(whispering now) Go-Go is a baseball fan.

I've been a baseball fan in the past, I'm man enough to admit: collected baseball cards as a kid, went to dozens of games in exotic locales like Oakland and Seattle, ingested thousands of hours of sports entertainment programming... Yep, I know a curveball from a slider from a straight change, I understand the strategy, I'm encyclopedically versed in the rules...

I also haven't watched a complete baseball game since opening day of the 2008 season and I hate the god damned Yankees and their fans for being the nauseating plague upon professional sports which they are. Go-Go is a Red Sox guy, so we've got that in common — but I just know that smug little git Pay-Rod (recognized and correctly identified as Satan's little brother by sports fans in the Pacific Northwest) is gonna win tonight. And I really double extra don't want to see it.

Thus my dilemma...

Click through to find out whether Krazee Kaczynski will blow off his pal or cave in to peer pressure...

I've sort of decided to dodge at least half the game and to meet up with Go-Go around 7 pm to gobble a delicious Squirrelburger™® and start pounding the Rogue Shakespeare Stout.™®

This means, of course, that I'm gonna be missing the beat-up back-to-backin' Laker elders getting run through the meatgrinder in Houston. A mitigated disappointment, to be sure.

I've also gotta go to work tomorrow, too, so it's probably not in the cards that I'll be able to watch the carnage expeditiously. (If the Lakers keep it within double digits it'll be a good night for them, methinks.)

So forgive me for mailing it in a bit today, but these things happen once in a while.

Addenda, 3:51 pm.: Go-Go just called. He's on his way shortly. I'm gonna meet him at 6:00. Crap.

Addenda, 5:27 pm.: Go-Go is in town and needs a playmate right now. Crap.

Addenda, 12:43 am.: First off, pardon my French, but I've gotta say it: FUCK THE YANKEES! And that goes for you and your little dog, too, Pay-Rod!. Fortunately, Go-Go and I got clever and averted our eyes from reality, moving upstairs to shoot some pool (poorly). We heard the chorus of boos at the end. Nobody likes the Yankees here.

As for Southern Culture on the Skids? Go informed me that this was his 6th time seeing them (they're kicking off their West Coast tour in Corvallis, amazingly) and he'll see them again on Thursday night in Portland. "They never disappoint," said he. Go-Go is pretty much a hipster, plays in a little Portland surf band called Mars Needs Women, and he knew the Southern Culture folk a little, being a gregarious sort. We hung out with bassist Mary for 10 or 15 minutes beforehand, shooting the shit. She regaled us with the tale of a 1 gig European "tour" that they did — flying to Belgium to play an outdoor festival, then turning around and coming straight home practically the next day. Weird, wacky stuff.

Then it was 45 minutes of a local zombie-themed surf band, They Won't Stay Dead, complete with super-lo-budget makeup and a saxophone player. It seemed to work.

Chapel Hill, North Carolinians Southern Culture came on and — holy crap... Ho-lee-crap! They've got the geek look down tight, that's for sure — the frontman wore white loafers. Goofier looking banjo-pluckers you've never seen... Mary had donned her big red bouffant, tastelessly accented with a thin rhinestone tiara (or whatever you call those Sasha Vujacic/Mike Miller hairkeeper things) and over-the-top costume jewelry. Her make-up job was well-studied Mid-20th Century Trailer-Trash and she casually primped with a hair brush and a little blue plastic compact every third song or so. She also wore low black Chuck Taylors.™® Hilarious.

Let this be said: all three of them can play. No, check that: they can really play. Tight. Very, very tight. Ramones-1-2-3-4-tight. The crowd of 200 or so crowded into Squirrel's Tavern were shaking their thangs nonstop...

Whattawe call it? In the late 70s there was a subgenre called "country rock" that was around for a couple years... Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet and a few inferior bands... SCOTS did indeed dish uptempo R&B-based rock'n'roll, laden with distorted guitars and a country twang, all poured over top of a big beefy bass line that made your tummy tingle. It was rock and it was country so I reckon it was kinda sorta country rock anyways... The drummer played standing up, drums and cymbals totally flat, parallel with the ground a la Keith Moon. Try putting all your weight on your left leg and pounding your right foot hard while your arms are going crazy for 90 minutes without more than about a 15 second break and tell me if you think this is not special.

Their change of pace songs were straight surf instrumentals, with clean guitars, played at the very top level. Absolutely first rate and one of the best bar shows I've ever seen — up there with The Dickies and X. GRRRRREAT show!

I got home to learn the Lakers had snuck by the Rockets in OT, contrary to my earnest expectations. Nearly a perfect night — 'cept for Pay-Rod and those damned Yankees.

Channel Surfing.

Nov. 3, 2009.

Utah at Dallas. Big happenings in the Big D, with Dirk going off for 29 points in one quarter, so I reckon it's worthy of an exhaustive and exhausting revisit.

Hmmm, 37 to 35 Utah at the half. Sounds like a Bobcats game. Looks a little like a Bobcats game, too, there are quite a few fans disguised as empty seats in the lower level of the Mavs' arena. But it's a sellout, so they claim. Maybe people are standing in line at the toidy or something...

Dirk was 3/7 in the 1st Half. He hits a couple and airballs one. By the end of the 3rd Quarter, it's the Jazz up by 67-52 — a 15-point lead, with the Jazz on a 9-0 run. Game Over according to The Timbo Rule ("a 15 point margin is the point at which a 4th Q deficit becomes insurmountable"). However, it should be noted, both of the Jazz's PFs, Millsap and Boozer, have 4 fouls — limiting their defensive effectiveness.

Dirk doesn't even touch the ball for nearly 2-and-a-half minutes of the final quarter. Then, finally, the onslaught begins... Dirk drives the lane and gets fouled by Fesenko at 9:37. A blocking foul on Williams puts Dirk to the line with Utah ALREADY in penalty at 9:06. That will help, the Large German Man does not miss those. With a timeout at the 8:32 mark, Utah is still up by 14 and the Utah announcers are feeling pretty good about life.

At 7:30, Dirk takes a wide open look from behind the arc — and misses!

At 7:01, Nowitzki reggiemillers Mehmet Okur and toddles back to the FT line to can two more freebies. So far this quarter, 6 points, all from the charity stripe.

At 6:30, Dirk cuts it to 10 with a a short li'l thing, AND ONE. He drives it again at 6:00 for his 22. He drives it again and gets fouled by Boozer at 5:30, fifth foul on him. Zip-zip, two more FTs.

Kidd steal and Dirk gets a freebie as the trailer on a break at 5:11. Corner 3 at 4:39 and the lead is down to 3. Utah announcers are pissing themselves over the 16-3 run. Boozer hits one. "The key here is not to panic," says the Utah color guy... Mavs fail to score and Boozer strokes a jumper again, pushing their lead back to 5.

A steal each direction and the Large German Man drives the lane and flips in a goofy little hook AND ONE. "Can you believe that?!?!? This guy's Houdini!!!" the Utah play-by-play guy bellows. "Amazing. A six point first half by Nowitzki. 32 now with just over 3 minutes remaining to play in this ballgame. What was a 16 point lead is 2 for Utah."

Jazz slings and Dirk rebounds. Kidd hits Dirk rolling to the rim and the game is tied. The Large German Man has really only hit one jumper throughout it all, everything else has been a shot in the paint or a swish from the foul line...

Boozer botches a pass. Dirk dekes the hapless Okur and hits a simple 6-footer in the paint, with Memo running away with his hands down. Next time down, Memo ticky-tacks the Large German Man and he's back to the line for two more net-rippers. That makes 38.

Utah chokes again. The crowd remains on its feet. Dirk goes ISO Memo and kicks out to Kidd for a wide open-look trey, Assist to Dirk. Dirk rebounds another miss and Deron Williams commits a frustration foul on Kidd.

Joyful half an hour previously, now the Utah announcers are panicked about Utah throwing the towel in on their entire season. There are still quite a few games remaining to be played, they decide. Dirk is intentionally fouled with 34.3 on the clock, and there you have it, 40 points for the Large German Man. A bunch of drives to the rack and foul shots. Not what I expected. 96-85, Jazz lose, Jazz lose.

Nov. 4, 2009.

Lakers at Houston.

Okay, like I said, I didn't get a chance to see the events in real time, so let's just drop any pretense that I noticed anything offbeat or interesting to blather on about and get straight to The Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW CHART. Please turn your hymnal to page 153, or better yet, give that little link a quick click. Thank you.

Observation 1: The next clueless analyst that I hear talking about the "incredibly deep bench" of the Lakers gets punched in the face. Remember yesterday's minutes for our middle-aged warriors — over 40 minutes for Kobe, LO, Drew, and Ron-Ron? Well here, the very next night, it's over 40 minutes each for Kobe, LO, Drew, and Ron-Ron. No rest for the weary, that's for sure. The top minutes guy for the bench players, in a road back-to-back, was Jordan with about 15-and-a-half. Wow. Don't get hurt, anyone.

Observation 2: A really close game with the Lakers playing catchup, eh? A 7-0 Laker run down the stretch saved their bacon, it would seem.

Observation 3: This was a Kobe game, plain and simple: 15-of-30 shooting en route to 41 points, together with 4 assists, 4 steals, and just 2 TOs. Sasha made it into the game for a little over 3 minutes out of the 53 total, which raises one really big question I have about him: does he wash his hair after that much burn?

And now, before we get on with The Main Event, the story of the game as it is being told by Texas Types in their various newspaperies and bloggerations, please genuflect and join me in watching the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD:

(1)

Ariza's Shot at Victory Never Comes:: Bryant's 41, free throw by Bynum spell the difference

by Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle

Four months, four quarters and all but four seconds of overtime had passed since Trevor Ariza had learned he was not invited to return to his hometown team when he turned toward the lane and the heart of the Lakers' defense.

The Rockets had taken their first meeting with the Lakers since last season's Game 7 — and since Ariza and Ron Artest traded themselves for one another — to overtime. The Lakers had taken a one-point lead. Ariza, who had insisted he only wanted a win, had the ball and his chance.

He never got there. As he tried to split Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, Fisher slapped the ball loose and time ran out on a 103-102 Rockets loss to the Lakers on Wednesday, as Ariza ran out of time to make the sort of play he came to Houston to make.

"I looked up on the clock and I saw that there was four seconds left," he said. "I tried to get a good look. The ball got stripped. It was frustrating, definitely. I wanted to win. Everybody here wanted to win and we didn't." * * *

"Whenever you have a team like that — a great team, a great team that played its butt off — on the ropes, you have to finish it, have to take advantage of the situation," [Point Guard Aaron] Brooks said. "We let them off the hook."

(2)

Lakers 103, Rockets 102: Is Morey Right? Is Playing Hard "A Skill?'

by Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle

Daryl Morey is fond of saying that playing hard is a skill, like any other.

That never seemed quite right, but he might have a point.

Perhaps it's more a 'quality' or a 'talent' than a 'skill.' But moving beyond the semantics, we can consider the Rockets five-game test to start the season, the stretch we knew would go a long way toward measuring the Rockets' no-stars style while Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady watch in suits, and draw certain conclusions.

The Rockets really do play hard, and that has been the key to their wins against the Warriors, Trail Blazers and Jazz and Wednesday's 103-102 overtime loss to the Lakers.

It's not just their faint hope for this season or a marketing effort. The Rockets have inspired those reviews from Nate McMillan, Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson, three of the league's best coaches. Two are in the Hall of Fame and all three played just as the Rockets now must. They know.

The Rockets did not have everything going on Wednesday. They did not shoot 3s the way they had been, hitting 7 of 24. Trevor Ariza struggled in every way offensively. Chase Budinger was out, reducing the rotation to basically seven players. They can be and have been better than this. But they did all the things that come from hustle, outrebounding the Lakers, scoring more in the paint and more on the break. * * *

(3)

Same Old Story: Rockets Still Lack True Finisher to Replace Yao & McGrady

by Tom Martin, The Dream Shake (SBN)

You couldn't ignore it. The Rockets countered with baskets, but you still weren't convinced. And then, when it came down to the final 13 seconds of the game, you thought about it yet again.

Who is going to take the final shot?

With the final possession determining the outcome of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers weren't about to let anyone score the easy way.

How about sending Aaron Brooks through the lane for a dwarf-tastic layup? Nope. Andrew Bynum wasn't about give Brooks any space by stepping up late to help again.

Or how about giving Trevor Ariza space to isolate his defender? Nope. Ron Artest wasn't going to give an inch of room for Ariza to beat him off the dribble.

In the end, the Rockets got caught in between both options, and it resulted in a turnover. When we finally got our answer to who was going to step up at the end, it was pretty clear: Nobody.

As extraordinary as they've been, the Rockets lack a go-to guy when it counts, and there's nothing they can do about it. * * *

(4)

Lakers-Rockets Rant

posted by Air Korea to The Dream Shake (SBN)

Did I expect to win this game?

No, but we had a very good chance to. I'd say a 45-55 chance, and hell I'd take that against the Lakers.

If we lost by 10, no big deal. Losing by 1, in overtime, due to a turnover...kind of makes me want to kick a midget.

Everybody played fantastic, with the exception of a bad shooting night by Ariza. We out rebounded them, bench outplayed them, shot a higher percentage, frustrated the Lakers (3 techs). But the turnovers late in the game are what cost us the game.

I don't think the downfall of Trevor Ariza is his ball handling, I think it's the way he tries to win over the refs. In every game I've watched, he would slash into the lane hoping for a foul which sometimes causes a turnover or a bad shot.

Still glad we took the champs to a very close game. * * *

(5)

Kobe Sinks Rockets... Silver Lining Anyone?

by Anup, Rockets Buzz (TrueHoop)

* * *
This game was too wild, as evidenced by my thoughts:

I think blaming the refs for a loss is a cop out — even after reading the excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book. But just think of this. The Lakers committed just two fouls from the start of the fourth quarter until the Rockets final possession, while the Rockets lost both Chuck and Luis to fouling out. I'm not sure what to think anymore...

Trevor Ariza went to the Lakers bench 3 times before the first quarter was over. I know he's committed to being a Rocket, but that can make Rockets fans uneasy - especially considering the way Artest was jawing at his former teammates for the rest of the game following his obligatory handshakes at the start of the game.

Good stat: Rockets had six guys in double figures again. Landry had 20 off the bench. And they outrebounded the Lakers 54-48.

Bad stat: Rockets lost the turnover battle 20-9; missed seven of 25 free throws (including 2-for-5 from Brooks); and the three-point line was far less friendly today than in the last 4 games (7-for-24).

Ariza again — I'm realizing he's not as good a ballhandler as I thought, but he is a better facilitator. As for the former, he seems to dribble out of the palm of his hand rather than his fingertips, but who am I to criticize? But as to the latter, he did have his moments where he executed the pick and roll perfectly or threaded the needle to Chuck or Carl for an easy finish. All in all, he still has a long way to go.

I don't want to hear people blaming Aaron Brooks for this one, saying he held the ball too much at the end or that he took some bad shots. The guy broke down the Laker defense several times, and if only the Rockets had a finisher taller than 6-8, then maybe the Rockets would have gotten some calls and Aaron would be the model point guard.

I wanted to throw this Artest tidbit in. Before the final Rockets possession, the ref gave the Lakers bench a sideline warning. Ron, being Ron I suppose, taps the ref on the shoulder and points all the way on the other side of the court and says that the Rockets bench should be kept at bay as well. The ref walks halfway over to the Rockets bench before he realizes "What the hell am I doing?" and turned around without a word to the Rockets. Not important whatsoever to the game, but it boggles my mind that that even happened right before the final possession. * * *

(6)

Random Ramblingz

by THE Random Guy, Fourth-and-Fifty.com

The Rockets. Happy start to the season, but so many things up in the air. For full disclosure, I should say that I fall asleep before halftime of every game and then I wake up at 1 am and try to figure out what happened. But the lack of accurate information has never stopped me from opining before, and it sure isn't now. Here is what we know and don't know so far.

Playahs:
Aaron Brooks. Playing really well, and he is just what the doctor ordered — good shot, quick as lightning, gets into the paint at will, and is a willing passer and decent team player. But not a point guard. He does a good job masquerading as one, but he doesn't have the instincts of a real PG. You can see this especially when he gets into the paint — real PGs see a progression of movements and counter-movements, like in chess. If I go here, this guy's man will pick me up, then my teammate will slide to the corner, then when I pass it to him, the guy at the top of the key will leave his man to close out on the shooter, then the shooter will swing the ball to the top of the key, where our 3rd option will have a wide open shot. In this very common scenario, the PG doesn't get the assist, he gets what is known as the "hockey assist" — the pass that leads to the pass that leads to the bucket. So the "real PG" qualities don't necessary show up in traditional statistics. Brooks is a fine player, and his numbers look fine because he is quick and skilled enough to make up for this natural deficit, but it is certainly there. So far, he has been great for us, and this is an observation, not a complaint. I do worry about him "Going Franchise" (overdribbling and trying to do too much) down the road, but he seems to be a good kid.

Kyle Lowry. Now that's my type of point guard. Brooks and Lowry are perfect compliments to each other —Lowry is tough, quick, strong, and pass-first. He's like Eric Snow 3.0, although I hate to even put Eric Snow on Lowry. Lowry could start for a lot of teams, and he should start for the Rockets when Yao comes back — that way we can bring AB off the bench for some Vinny "Microwave" Johnson action. We really do have the perfect PG situation, although you'd like one of the two to be a little taller. But he who is 5′9″ should not throw stones in a glass house. "He" is me. The glass house is...I don't even know what I meant by that. Let's move on.

Trevor Ariza. In season 4 of The Wire, Marlow and Chris are talking about the potential for a little corner kid named Michael. They were talking about how much upside he had in the drug business because he was smart and tough and self-reliant and they used a very interesting phrase. They said, "that puppy has big paws". That is a fantastic expression, and I feel it fits perfectly for Ariza. It intimates the potential for incredible growth, but also the clumsiness and growing pains the inevitably accompany a puppy. It might seem strange to bring this up when Ariza is lights out from 3 and playing tremendously overall, but at some point this season teams are going to focus their defensive principles on him, and he is going to look lost for several games. He'll grow into his paws. Future multi-year All Sta, and off to a great start.

Shane Battier. Teh Moneyballz. I still want him to do more offensively — he is just too comfortable with his role.

Luis Scola. The strangest player so far this season. I assumed we'd run whenever we could and then run the half-court offense through Scola like the Divac/Webber Sacto teams that almost broke up the Lakers' dynasty. So far, he hasn't seemed to be the center point of the halfcourt offense, but he isn't playing poorly. I feel like the Rox don't know who they are yet, and ultimately they'll settle down and use Scola as a point forward more. We can't win shooting so many jumpshots, can we? Please keep in mind that I have yet to stay awake past halftime this season.

Chuck Hayes. The following clip sums up my feelings for my road dog Chuck Hayes: * * *

Rookies. Chase Buddinger?!? Great white hope, circa early Brent Barry. The Coog in me wants to hate him. My mind is telling me no. But my body. My body's telling me yeeeessss! David Andersen is going to be a good player in this league - he already has the offensive firepower and just needs to learn how the refs call fouls. They call some bullshit on him, but every rookie goes through that. He's not very good on D, but he seems to try pretty hard, and that's good enough for me. I already forgot about Jermaine Taylor, which is a good thing.Again, let me reiterate that I've watched 38% of the season, so this 1/3 ass analysis may be way off. I feel pretty good about understanding what is going on in the 1st quarter, that's for damn sure. If you aren't excited about the Rockets (and I still think they're a .500 team), then you don't have a pulse. Those puppies have big paws. Until next week...

(7)

Oh, So Close

by Clutch, ClutchFans.com

The Rockets turned some heads when they rolled the Jazz Monday night, and an even bigger challenge came Wednesday as they took on a well-known former teammate and the defending champion Lakers...

Despite pushing it to overtime, the Rockets didn't have enough juice on their final play as Kobe Bryant (41 points) and the Lakers escaped Houston with a 103-102 win.

Despite LA's size advantage, the Rockets big men thrived as Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes combined for 50 points and 35 boards, but the Rockets perimeter guys really struggled, especially Trevor Ariza (5-21 shooting).

(8)

My Thoughts...

posted by "McLawson" to ClutchFans.com message board

It's not 100% Brooks fault for not passing out of the trap well. It takes someone to pass to, you know. Seemed like everyone just stood around or made bad cuts to the ball that were easily defended.

We couldn't shoot 3s or FTs for crap last night. Normally those shots fall. Last night, we were pushing too hard and rushing things a bit from 3. Shane looked tired since most of his corner 3s were short. Maybe working so hard on guarding Kobe took its toll there. We really could have used Budinger. The FTs...well, there's just no excuse.

Ariza pushed too hard and tried to do too much, despite what he may say in interviews. He needs to play within himself and let the game come to him.

Chuck is awesome.

Refs...sigh. Back to back offensive foul calls on Scola came back to be huge at the end. Ugh. Hand-checking, body-checking, and shoving out front threw Brooks off a lot too. He's got to learn to fight through that somehow if it's going to be allowed like that against certain teams. How that wasn't a shooting foul, I'll never know.

Landry was a beast.

Overall, if we hit a few more free throws (70.8%? Ugh) and/or another 3 (29.2% from this team? Really?) it's another ballgame. We showed some growth and also showed some areas we need to work on. Rick will get it figured out and the effort will always be there. Had you told me before the season started that we'd lose by 1 in OT to the Lakers after having off games from Ariza and Brooks, I'd have called you a dreamer.

(9)

Too Many Turnovers

posted by "Rocketsregle" to ClutchFans.com message board

Too many turnovers was their downfall as they pretty much played them even everywhere else. A very a fun game to see in person.

More observations I noticed at the game:

I was surprised Ron Artest got booed every time he held the ball or shot. They booed him louder than Kobe at introduction.

I was very glad Ariza matched Artest's 3 pointer at the end of regulation. There was some dialogue between the two during a stoppage of play and one of the refs over-reacted and warned them to shut it.

There is no love lost between McGrady and Artest. McGrady didn't even flinch or gesture back when Artest went to say hello to the coaching staff and Artest put out his hand to touch his knee.

(10)

Every Category Except One

posted by "Sweet Lou 4 2" to ClutchFans.com message board

Wow - what a game.

This game is very positive for us except for the final score. NO reason to be down.

We either clearly won every statistical category or tied with the Lakers. I mean, across the board — FG percentage, FTs assists, rebounds, etc....

Except one — Turnovers.

And a lot of those turnovers are growing pains — so they will come down...all and all, when you can beat the world champ in every other category (and tie in a few) you're doing really great.

(11)

Ariza is SUPPOSED to shoot a lot

posted by "Mighty Mog" to ClutchFans.com message board

I laugh how so many of us hate Ariza for shooting a lot. He was our leading scorer on this team and Ric doesn't look like he has an issues with Ariza shooting the ball.

IF Ariza stopped shooting, we wouldn't even be in OT.

AB trapped...

Landry on the Bench...

Scola dealing with Bynum and Odom in the paint...

Who is going to shoot the ball? Shane? Cook? Lowry on the bench?

Rick wanted Ariza to shoot, because he has been our leading scorer on this team.

The Bottom Line:

Pau Gasol cleared to resume play

timbo — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:28:48 -0000

Pau Gasol cleared to resume play

No six week layoff for him.

And there was much rejoicing.

Lakeshow Episode 04: The View from OKC

timbo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:21:36 -0000

I don't have anything against the Clippers, really I don't.

Sure, their owner seems to have figured out how to make sales of a generally inferior product into a personal profit center, but hey, this is America — the land of the Ford Pinto™®, Ragu™® spaghetti sauce, and Cream of Wheat™®. Got for it. If you can round up enough addled Sports Guys and trick them into writing you large checks to watch your team implode game after game and year after year, stuffing their cash in your wallet as you send your free agents out the door, more power to you.

Keeping the market stocked with former Clippers helps keep the price of free agents down, enabling less wealthy teams around the NBA to compete with the big boys. It's downright patriotic.

But there comes a time, my friends, when I must draw the line.

When your team beats the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the NBA's benchmarks of badness, 93-90, largely because the refs decide to swallow their whistles on a Chris Kaman foul, pulling your record all the way up to 1-4, you should not go around spouting silly scheiße like this:

"We had to get this win tonight," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We want to be a playoff team."

Well, I want to be an astronaut and to sleep with a supermodel. Neither one of us are achieving our big dreams in 2010, bucky bear. I know you're a little too close to what you think is a forest to see the shrubbery that you think are trees, and it's still early days and all, but your Clippers are not gonna be a playoff team in the Western Conference this year.

Sorry to be the one to break that to you.

More sorry stuff after the break...

Channel Surfing:

Monday, Nov. 2.

Memphis at Sacramento. The Kings may well be the worst team in the Western Conference, if not in the entire NBA, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while — and Memphis has plenty of nuts to choose from (see: Iverson, Allen; Randolph, Zachary). Believe it or not, this game was actually good stuff — played at a high level with back and forth scoring and numerous lead changes down to the wire.

With a minute to go in regulation, Kings clinging to a 1 point lead, Israeli rookie SF Omri Casspi outwrestled Fat Zach Randolph for a critical defensive board underneath, saving a sure putback bucket. The Kings then made it a 3 point margin with an open jumper by Spencer Hawes, only to leave Rudy Gay wide open on the arc for a game-tying trey at the other end with 36.9 showing on the clock. D'oh!

The Kings failed to score and then Fat Zach lucked in a really terrible fadeaway with 6.1 remaining to put the Grizz in position to win. Stop me if you heard this story before. Yet, contrary to character, the Kings somehow managed to answer with a textbook backdoor cut by Beno Udrih, playing off Hawes. So it was overtime, 110 all.

Fat Zach picked up 2 quick personals in the extra frame, fouling out with 30 points & 16 boards. Most importantly, the lack of Memphis' portly PF enabled the Kings to bring back the offensively proficient but defensively deficient Andres Nocioni, who quickly got the Kings back on top by smoothly driving to the rack. After a defensive stop, K-Mart dropped a long 3 from the clouds (he finished with a cool 48) and the Kings were officially on the way to their first win of the season, 127-116. Yaay.

When asked about his tender old guy's hamstring after the game, tatted team-first trooper Allen Iverson said, "I had no problems [with it]. I had a problem with my butt from sitting on that bench so long. That's the only thing I got a problem with."

Asked as to whether he'd be disappointed if Head Coach Lionel Hollins played him as a reserve this year, Iverson said, "I'm not a reserve basketball player. I've never been a reserve all my life and I'm not going to start looking at myself as a reserve. ... To answer the question, 'No, I'm not a bench player. I'm not a sixth man. Go look at my resume and that will show you I'm not a sixth man.'"

Yo, A.I. — meet Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo.

I'm lovin' this stuff.

Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Atlanta at Portland. Add Portland to the list of nearly 30 NBA teams with sizable contingents of their fanbase sharpening their pitchforks and gathering torches to run riot on the coach's manor... After pissing away a 12 point first quarter lead, Nate McMillan came up with the genius concept that the best way to beat the undersized Atlanta Hawks was match them weakness-for-weakness, sitting his Centers and his best available perimeter defender so that he could run two point guards (neither of whom can shoot), Brandon Roy (who seems to have forgotten how to dribble), a gunner wing out of position as a big, and a Charmin™®-soft power forward. Gosh, the Blazers started to give up dunks and layups and layups and dunks. In fact, they gave up FIFTY points in the paint for the night. FIFTY. The Itty bitty Hawks outrebounded Nate McMillan's Small Ball Blazers™® 46-36. And the Blazers lost. Golly, who would have guessed?

Bill Simmons predicted this year's Blazers' team would be 41-41, and at this point he's looking like a shameless homer. Next loss for PDX comes to the Spurs, stay tuned for that. Hawks were nothing special — it was the kind of night when Jamal-fuckin'-Crawford, of all people, looked like a superstar (27 points). But it didn't take much of significance on this evening to come out on top of the disjointed, disorganized, dysfunctional Blazers. Now I have dyspepsia. Hawks 97, Blazers 91, Bill Simmons 1, Nate McMillan -1. Next!

Lakers at Oklahoma City. I am not among the 85% or so of Lakers fans who thought this game would be a walk in the park. Nosirree, Bob, if I were a betting man in need of a thrill, I'd have been in Vegas two weeks ago laying down the old plantation on the "over" for wins for these Thunder guys this season. The Thunder are young and quick and athletic and came into the night with a 2-1 record. The Lakers were great in one game and meh twice. I'd seen a superior NBA team come into The Big City in the Middle of Nowhere™® before and leave town stripped to their skivvies and riding borrowed mules... With Kobe feeling green and Pau riding pine with his owie, this one had a really ominous feel. It ultimately came to overtime (SHOCKING, isn't it, Reggie?)... Luckily, the Lakers pulled it out.

Mutilating my own quote, "Priests, politicians, and Blazer fans absolve and condemn — devotees of The Popcorn Machine's GAME FLOW CHART attempt to understand what happened and why." So click that link, if you would, and we'll see if we can make sense of what we saw on NBA-TV or KCAL-9.

First observation: Plug your ears and pardon my French: "HOLY SHIT!!!" I knew PJ didn't really trust his Double Extra Fluffy bench, but look at the absolutely nutzoid usage rates for the starting five!!! Bynum: 48.7 minutes, Artest 46.9 minutes, Action Flulikesymptom Kobeman with 45.7, Odom at 42.9... Even Derek Fisher's tired old bones were out there for nearly 35 minutes. Bear in mind, if you will, that the Lakers are on the front end of a dreaded road back-to-back here. Wow. Good luck Phil, I hope you brought a couple cases of Five-Hour Energy™® on the trip. You'll be needing 'em for the starters' IVs at halftime tonight in Houston. (Lakers are in deep doo-doo tonight, BTW...)

Second observation: Lakers started strong and the home team whittled it down in the first half. That's par for the course in the NBA. The Lakers once again lost the 3rd Quarter — a big change this year from last and I'm not sure what to make of it. Any ideas? Then the Lakers started their vaunted 4th Quarter victory acceleration (a big 11-2 run) but the young Thunder failed to fold. Who were the Thunders out there in the 4th? The starters plus Manly Man Etan Thomas playing down low — with 7-foot softie Nenad "I'd Like to Buy a Vowel, Please" Krstic out.

Third observation: In the all-important 4th Quarter, it was Ron Artest (11 points) and Action Flulikesymptom Kobeman (8 points) doing the scoring for the Lakers. Nada from Fish, Odom, Bynum, UPS, Sasha, or Powell. That's indicative of something not good, I think, but I'm not quite sure what it is. While there was no scoring balance in the 4th Quarter, the burden was spread out in the extra frame, with only Ron Ron not putting the globe through the ring.

It was basically a coin toss of a game at the end of regulation. "Heads!" — the Lakers won, 101-98 (OT). Yaay.

Now, before we move along to the ACTUAL POINT of this meandering mess of a column, the story of the recently-completed Laker game as seen by the bloggers and beat reporters of Thunderland, please remove your hats and join with me in watching the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD:

(1)

Thunder is Making Progress, But Still Has a Ways to Go

by Barry Trammel, The Oklahoman

Always good when the Lakers come through town.

The regal purple uniforms. Phil Jackson's musings. Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom. More celebrities than a Hollywood premier.

But LA's marquee sports franchise offers something even better than all that glitz and glamour and excitement in the Ford Center.

The Lakers teach you something about yourself.

And here's what the Thunder discovered at the end of an exhilarating, exhausting Tuesday night, when they lost 101-98 in overtime to the best team in basketball.

The Thunder has come a long way. The Thunder has a long way to go. * * *

This game looked over once, twice, maybe thrice, including in the first two minutes of the game, when LA led 9-0 and seemed capable of scoring 200 points until Etan Thomas entered and started cracking Laker skulls.

"We didn't put our heads down and let the Lakers run away with the game," Jeff Green said, and there's something to be said for that. * * *

(2)

Missed it by thaaaaat much: Thunder comes up just short against LA

by Royce, DailyThunder.com (ESPN TrueHoop)

After a game like that, you tell yourself not to be sad. You tell yourself to look at the improvement. You tell yourself to look at a young, evolving team hanging with the NBA champs and taking them to the brink. You tell yourself that your team played its heart out and gave everything it had.

You tell yourself these things. But it doesn't make you feel any better. In the end, it just sucks to lose. Especially when you're that close to a big time win.

The Thunder took the Lakers to overtime, but came up just short, 101-98. And it's not like the chances weren't there. They were right there. The ball in your possession with 25 seconds left in a tie game. That's what you want. Down one with 30 seconds left and a stud scorer waiting to take the shot. You want that. But both times, it didn't work out for Oklahoma City.

The ball went to Kevin Durant both times and both times, KD came up with all air. It's not like Durant was having an off night again - he scored 28 points on 10-24 shooting. He had a good night. Without him, OKC isn't in the position it was. But what's weird, is that Durant went 0-8 from 3. He's actually 2-20 from deep on the season and has missed his last 13. I don't know what the deal is, but it's clearly a mental thing. * * *

Even if OKC had won the game and even if KD had hit the game-winner, the MVP of this game was Thabo Sefolosha. You see the box score and see Kobe went for 31 on 9-22 shooting. Maybe you'd assume Thabo just did decent work on The Mamba. But Thabo absolutely tormented Bryant tonight. He stripped him, blocked him, frustrated him, pushed him, pulled him and in general, just pissed him off. You can't say enough good stuff about the way Thabo played tonight. He had four steals, hit two gigantic 3s and just made play after play after play. * * *

(3)

Quarter by Quarter observations Thunder v Lakers 11-3-09

by Ezellion, BlueBlitz (Bloguin)

* * *
Fourth Quarter:

Going back and forth to end the third, we need to get some defensive stops. * * *

They are really playing all out but just can not seem to get the shots to fall and stops on the defensive end. The Lakers bench did a good job of preventing the Thunder from extending the lead. The Thunder are only up 3 and the starters are getting back in.

Late turnovers are going to cost us this game.

Sefolosha hits a big three from the corner, cutting the laker lead to two then gets a huge deflection to force a bad shot.

Sefolosha scores again to tie the game.

Kobe hits the fall away to put the Lakers at 90 up by two.

Green ties it up at 90, he setup at the three point line pump faked Odom into jumping past and stepped in to drill the long duece.

Kobe on Sefolosha to finish and Sefolosha stymies him and forces the shot clock violation.

25.9 left and the Thunder have the ball. Westbrook takes the inbound and dribbles out high, looks like they are going to isolate him on Fisher that's a good matchup Westbrook should be able to drive the lane and lay it in or kick it out to Green, Durant, or even Thabo if they collapse on him. Instead Westbrook passes to KD with about 8 seconds left. KD starts to bring it up, Artest is really playing tough defense, and shoots from way out and doesn't catch anything. Lakers ball with 3 left.

Score to finish the Quarter 90-90 * * *

(4)

Run for the Money

by OKCThunderFan, Oklahoma City Thunder Forum

The Thunder gave the defending world champs a run for their money. This was no easy win for the Lakers. And the whole world watched it on NBA TV last night.

For those who did watch, they witnessed a number of things besides the game itself. For one, the Thunder finally earned the respect they deserve. From the Lakers and the NBA, to the entire world who watched. Second, the Thunder proved they are the real deal. To all the nay-sayers who thought the Thunder were the laughing stock of the NBA, who's laughing now, biotch?! And thirdly, we all witnessed a turning point of the OKC Thunder last night. Keep in mind this is just the 4th game of the season....and we're competing!

I'm very proud of the Thunder for putting up such a fight...damn proud. And I'm also very proud to be a Thunder fan. Witnessing that game in person last night was quite the sight to behold. The crowd was phenomenal. They cheered on the Thunder when they kept it close and cheered even more when they tied and also led the game.

For the last five minutes of regulation and most of overtime, all 18,000+ were on their feet. The 'BEAT L.A.' chants was reminiscent of the Boston Garden back in the 80s.....I actually got goosebumps. And to think we almost pulled it off. * * *

(5)

OMG and WTF!!!

by Robert Swift, ThunderMadness.com

* * *
I think at least 25% of the people there last night were cheering for the Lakers. I just think that is a joke. You could look around the stadium and tell by who was standing, who actually comes to games. Some guy behind me told me to sit down, this was as overtime started. I told him to stand up, he said he cant, I asked him if his legs were broken b/c if they are not, they might be in a minute. There was a couple sitting beside him. The girl was sitting in the guys lap and they were making out like 9th graders. True fans!

Listening to the radio on the way home after the game, all the moron callers saying how big a moral victory this was... come one, what is this, 8 year old soccer... really, moral victory! These are professional athletes, the only victory is the scoreboard. AND morons, the Lakers did not even have some guy named Pau Gasol, you might have heard of him!

The tard doing the radio broadcast kept saying the Thunder had 21 turnovers, but the lakers had 26 (or something like that) and was acting like that was significant b/c we played better. Hmmm, so the way I see it the Lakers played worse..... and still won! Whew, moral victory! Kind of like you all talking about an MVP of a game we LOST!

Do the Thunder run an offense? Durant just stands around, doesn't work for position. No one helps the other get out of a trap. I think Kobe got some crap calls against him in this game, but he usually gets every call. Watch Kobe work the entire time to get open. He is moving non stop. Same defensive problem as last year, everyone collapses to the middle and cant get back to cover the outside shooter. * * *

(6)

No Pastry for Me

posted by "Wiff" to RealGM Thunder message board

You know Westbrook and Durant need to stop cooking up so many of these....

These two are a couple of pastry chef's.

They combined for a baker's dozen tonight. Durant had 7, and Westbrook had 6 turnovers.

Against Portland Westbrook had 9.

I know these guys have the balls in their hands a lot but they HAVE to get a grip on it if they want some success this season.

(7)

Live and Die by the Durantula

posted by Podirk to ESPN.com Thunder message board

* * *
It looked like KD and RW were trying to see who could commit more TOs...surprisingly...or not..KD won that.

Sefolosha earned every penny last night...his D was even more insane then I expected on Kobe, AND he was big late in the game with his O. I was hoping we would go to him to end the 4th...he was in the zone. (5 / 9 from 3 opposed to KDs 0 / 8)

But if you do call the play for Durant to end the game...end the game with the dang shot. KD air balled and gave them plenty of time to win the game. * * *

Etan again is 'nasty' but needs to be solid on his FTs..especially bein a big.

Biggest thing that killed us...Laker TOs...Lakers turned it over ~25 times...and everytime in the second half...KD or RW gets the ball and drives when we don't have the numbers...and commits a TO.

Overall I wanna be happy cause it was OT with the Champs..but playing close shouldn't be good enough in yr 2.

(8) *********ADDENDA **********

Game 4 Recap: Los Angeles Lakers 101, Oklahoma City Thunder 98 (OT)

by Zorgon, Welcome to Loud City (SBN)

* * *
Eventually, it came down to overtime, and it didn't disappoint. Etan Thomas and Russell Westbrook both threw in points, and Jeff Green hit a clutch jumper to put us within 1 late in the quarter. Eventually, Sefolosha and Westbrook both missed two potentially tieing 3 pointers at the end, and the Lakers came out victorious.

When you lose by 3 points in overtime, there's no obvious flaws to point out about our performance. Nevertheless, we could definitely do with a consistent 3 point shooter. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were ice cold from the arc, and while Sefolosha and Green did admirably, neither are specialists, and it would be nice to have a go-to guy for the type of thing. I'm looking at you, James Harden.

One thing to be proud of is how many turnovers we forced them to have tonight. On thing not to be proud of is how many turnovers we had ourselves tonight. They had 25, we had 21, and Kobe Bryant had a whopping 7. It's fair to say that if we took care of the ball more we could have established a solid lead, but it's amazing how close we were in the first place. * * *

The Bottom Line:

A Brief History of the Luxury Tax

timbo — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:01:29 -0000

A Brief History of the Luxury Tax

A really fascinating little piece from Sham Sports. I had no idea that the owners have a mechanism to job 10% of player salaries via an "escrow" system...

Looks like the bonus for staying under the salary cap this year will be $4.8M, which will put a bit of diesel in Paul Allen's little boat.

I'll get a two-for-onesies linkage discount by noting my latest column is up now on SS&R (where I found the Sham Sports link above, it should be noted). Significant Blazer-related content in it, as usual, and non-BEdgy language in it, as usual, so be forewarned.

URL: http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2009/11/2/1110710/lakeshow-episode-03-the-view-from

Lakeshow Episode 03: The View from Atlanta

timbo — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:05:39 -0000

I guess I'm officially an NBA guy now. I can tell because I spent a football Sunday watching three basketball games.

Sure, I made my Obligatory Football Sunday Blueberry Muffins™® like usual, watched a few minutes of the Fox clowns' pregame show, bitched that they were showing the crapulescent Seahawks game instead of, well, something, anything else... I even paid attention to about a half of Brett Favre's return to Lambeau Field.

But that was all background noise to my real sports day, which involved watching Dwight Howard go against Chris Bosh in Toronto, watching my Blazers narrowly edge OKC in a road back-to-back crap fiesta, and watching the Lakers FINALLY kick it into gear this season in dismantling the "Blazers of the East," the young and talented Atlanta Hawks.

It was a good day, marred only by my inability to make time to go out on the deck and smoke a 5-inch maduro in the very temporary Oregon November sun.

Only a few years ago, I would have watched the full slate of NFL action and given the NBA stuff a miss. Now football seems so................... slow. While I can still watch football — unlike baseball, which has become an intolerable bore on a par with a soccer snoozetacular — I am finding that these days NFL matchups have to be compelling to hold my interest. Football was my religion, man, and I am slowly but steadily losing it... I'd rather watch a compelling hoops game or three than a comparable set of football pairings.

I wonder how many of you are finding yourselves trending in a similar direction.

Anyway, having invested so much my sunny Sunday staring at LCD screens, I now pronounce myself fully entitled to pass along the following useless tidbits for you to take or leave. Which I will do.

Peel slowly and see...

Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game

Orlando at Toronto. The talking heads are obsessed with Boston, Boston, Boston and Cleveland, Cleveland, Cleveland, but lemme tell ya, Orlando will kick the Cavs' asses and might make a go of it with the Celts. Coming into Toronto — where the Cavs recently fell, I note — Porky Van Gundy's boys were short Scoring Wing Vince Carter, so-called "Power Forward" Rashard Lewis, and defensive specialist Mickael Pietrus. They looked to be, on paper, overmatched. They proved to be, in practice, far superior to the Raptors — a playoff caliber team that only a week ago made Mr. Sportsmanship and the 7-Foot Grandpas look inept and silly.

J.J. Redick came up with a career day (27 points scored in nearly 45 minutes of action), while Dwight Howard looked like a man possessed from the Free Throw line (14-for-16, en route to his 24 points) as the Magic made comparatively easy work of their Canadian compatriots, 125-116.

Portland at Oklahoma City. I suppose any road back-to-back victory is a good win, but the Blazers scored absolutely no style points in equalizing their season record at 2-and-2. It sounded like a $10 motel room above a blacksmith's shop, there were metallic clanks goin' on all night. Kevin "Please All Star Voters, Don't Pay Any Attention to My Plus-and-Minus Stats" Durant went a subshitty 3-for-21 (!!!) en route to 16 points in this latest round of Neener Neener Neener with draft class twin Greg Oden and his fully invested GM, Kevin Pritchard. Credit to Marty Blazer for shutting The Big Gunner down a little. Russell Westbrook had more turnovers (9) than the entire Thunder team combined had assists (6).

The Blazers fared a little better. Oden put the dung in dunk with 12 points and 10 boards and 3 turnovers and sorta won his duel with Durant, assuming that you can say that a slow, plodding, foul-prone, turnover machine can have "won" a head-to-head matchup with a still less effective opposite. Today's Oregonian raves about Oden's new emergence as a vocal team leader. Ummmm, yeah, right... Oden is a big wussy with a capital P and watching his performance bookended by those of Dwight Howard and Drew Bynum put his abilities or lack thereof into proper perspective.

Starting Blazer PG Steve Blake finally remembered how to put the round orange thing through the metal ring a little, finishing with a team high 18 points to go with the 11 he had in the previous three games combined (!!!), while Brandon added 16, as the Blazers failed to lose this dismal exhibition of competitive pooping, 83-74.

Atlanta at LAL. Okay, time to get serious. Let's all pay a visit to our friends at The Popcorn Machine to see the GAME FLOW CHART for the ins and outs of this super-swell First Really Good Laker Game of 2009/10. Go ahead and click that link, if you would...

The game started very even, with Joe Johnson showing superhuman effort in running 18 points, 5 rebounds, a steal, and an assist on the chart in the first 9:20 of game action. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Joe Johnson wasn't super human at all... He made his way to the bench to recharge the juice in his batteries, but somehow managed to drown the basketball scoring demons which had been possessing him with 12 ounces of Gatorade. Jackson added just 9 more points the rest of the way, while his team needed about twice that from its superstar just to stay even.

The thing that leaps off the page are the numbers 18-0. That's the run in the third quarter that the five Laker starters handed the hapless Hawks that put the puppy out of reach. It was like a Black Monday on Wall Street, with the bottom falling out of the market for upset victories by the upstarts from the East. Woodson ran a couple subs in there, but it didn't help. Teams just don't give up runs that big and live to tell the tale.

After a decent 1st Half run, the Lakers' thin-and-poxy bench piddled away 8 points of the lead in the early 4th Quarter, forcing PJ to reinsert his starting five for the finish. Adam Morrison was sobbing at the end of the bench over the failings of his fellows, as he added still another DNP-CD-Incompetence to his growing collection on the mantlepiece. It goes without saying that Kobe's Krew managed to hold of the Hawks in a game that was never really close after halftime, 118-110.

And that is that.

Now before we pay a little visit to our friendly friends in the ATL to find out how they're dealing with defeat, please join me in spending some time watching the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD (it's educational!):

(1)

Lakers Pound Mistake-Prone Hawks 118-110

By Sekou Smith, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Los Angeles - Another big game and another big let down for the Hawks.

The Hawks lost their sixth straight game against one of the league's elite teams dating back to the playoffs last season, falling 118-110 to the world champion Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night at Staples Center.

Cleveland swept the injury-plagued Hawks out of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season and they were blown out in their preseason finale last month by reigning Eastern Conference champion Orlando.

Sunday night's game against the Lakers was a chance for redemption, a chance to prove that their 2-0 start to this season wasn't just a product of their ability to channel their energy and emotion in the right direction at Philips Arena.

Whatever swagger the Hawks packed for their trip west, however, disintegrated rapidly during a turnover-induced meltdown in the third quarter that sealed the their fate on this night, one that saw NBA Finals MVP Kobe Bryant smoke them for 41 points.

Eight of their 20 turnovers came in that third quarter, when the Lakers' lead stretched from two points minutes after halftime to 22 points by the end of the quarter. The Hawks turnover tally for the night produced an early Christmas present for a stacked Lakers team that doesn't need any more gifts. * * *

(2)

Do You Believe?

posted by "Erihury" to game thread at Peachtree Hoops (SBN)

Hey look, we're kinda close

DO YOU BELIEVE!!!!!!!

Not gonna do it...

posted by "Mr. Sanchez" to game thread at Peachtree Hoops (SBN)

Not gonna do it...

Wouldn't be prudent. Not gonna do it.

(3)

Lakers 118 Hawks 110

by Bret Lagree, Hoopinion (True Hoop)

Let not the final score fool you. Sure, the Atlanta bench outplayed their Laker counterparts sufficiently in the fourth quarter that both Mike Woodson and Phil Jackson felt the need to put their starters back in the game but the Hawks didn't get within 10 points until Jamal Crawford's layup with 26.3 seconds left in the game. The Hawks needed an 8-0 run to cap a 34-20 fourth quarter to lose by eight points to a team without its second-best player.

Jeff Teague's fourth quarter (12 points, 2 assists, one made three-pointer, one spectacular dunk) was the closest thing to a positive the Hawks could take away from the game, an encounter thoroughly spare of hopeful signs despite Joe Johnson's bright start. Johnson scored 18 points in the game's first 9:21 and outplayed Kobe Bryant over that stretch.

Bryant stopped settling for jump shots, a decision not unrelated to being guarded by Jamal Crawford for long stretches, and finished the game with 41 points. Bryant could have scored more had Ron Artest been interested in truly exploiting his teammate's mismatch against Crawford. Johnson finished with 27 points and made one field goal, a layup with 1:10 left in the game to make the score 106-118, in quarters two through four. * * *

Let me preemptively dispute any potential suggestions that the Hawks lost due to a lack of effort. They played plenty hard but were clearly outclassed. The fundamental difference between the teams is that of talent. * * *

(4)

Warm Up Your DVRs Sportsfans

by Jon Newberry, HawksBasketBlog.com

As far as anyone can tell, Sunday will be the first time in history all four major North American sports leagues will be in action in games that actually mean something. The NBA, NHL and NFL all have regular season games scheduled, and the Phillies will be hosting the Yankees in game 4 of the World Series.

If you buy into the "soccer is the most popular sport in America" line, then you also have two MLS playoff games on the docket. Plus, NASCAR is right in the middle of its Chase for the Sprint Cup and will dominate ABC's airwaves from Talladega all afternoon. * * *

(5)

And don't any of you DARE BLAME WOODY!

by Northcyde, HawkSquawk message board

Because everytime these players play like ish, that's always the excuse. This team just straight up collasped and got outworked on the frontline. This doesnmt have a DAMN THING TO DO WITH COACHING.

It's a shame that people don't put the responsibility where it belongs.

When your frontline plays soft, and your guards turn the ball over time and time again, that's not coaching folks. It ain't the offense either, because they were running the same ish in the first half that they were running in the 3rd quarter. It's just that the Lakers turned the intensity WAY UP, and we didn't even come close to matching it.

LOL . . . what a 3rd quarter by the World Champs.

Having said all of that, you only have 24 hours to cry about this game. In the NBA, there's no way in hell you can dwell on a performance like this.

(6)

Atlanta Generals

posted by High5 to Hawk Squawk message board

Compare our third quarter with some Washington Generals footage and see if you can tell which team is losing on purpose. The Hawks most definitely played a terrible game. It's not doom and gloom, it's just passionate fans wanting to see this team take that next step.

(7)

The Morning After

by Sekou Smith, Atlanta Journal Constitution Hawks Blog

LOS ANGELES - It probably feels just as nasty this morning as it did last night, that taste in the Hawks' beaks after the Lakers kicked dirt all over them.

How a two-point game mushrooms into a 24-point rout in a matter of minutes would normally require CSI-level examination.

But not where the Hawks are concerned. The anatomy of their latest road debacle is similar to so many of its predecessors.

By now you know the routine. The Hawks trade punches, they make a decent game of it until things go slightly awry and the sky starts falling. The fall began with their disastrous third quarter, when the Hawks started handing the ball over to the Lakers like they were ordered to by the LA County Sherriff's office.

And they wouldn't stop giving it up. Play after play, they just kept turning it over. Josh Smith got his hands dirty, Al Horford, Jamal Crawford and Zaza Pachulia did, too.

The meltdown on the bench soon followed, with players shouting back and forth about the sloppiness.

The Lakers didn't need the help. But they were happy to take advantage of the Hawks ineptitude and immaturity. * * *

(8)

Los Angeles Lakers 118, Atlanta Hawks 110 or On Fire Joe is Overrated.

by Hawksdawg, Peachtree Hoops (SBN)

Let me be clear, the Hawks should rarely win against the Lakers in LA. It would take a full team effort and at least one sensational effort. Early on, the Hawks made it clear they had no interest in giving a full team effort, but Joe Johnson was flirting with the idea of going beyond sensational.

Joe was 7-8 in the first quarter with one foul, and Mike Woodson sat him toward the end of the first quarter. You can say that Joe was not going to be enough. You can say the Lakers are better than Joe 'freaking" Johnson, but I would like the chance to prove you right. Coaches don't take out guys that hot in 9 year old church basketball. It makes no sense. Yes, he may have cooled off. Really, he had to, dude was on pace for 90 points after the first eight minutes. But why does your own coach cool him off? * * *

Loser Dots * * *

Someone needs to send Marvin to a motivational speaker.

Welcome back to earth Al Hoford's game.

Why is Kobe Bryant so good? After the ba donk a dunk by Jeff Teague, the lead down to ten, and Bob's voice rising in excitement, Artest shot a dumb long two point shot that he missed. Hawks could rebound and cut the lead to eight. Bryant fought off two Hawks for an offensive rebound and put it back up and in.

Jamal Crawford should never guard Kobe Bryant. * * *

If Kobe Bryant had four called fouls in this game, he easily committed twelve.

Seriously, how do you take Joe Johnson out? * * *

(9)

Game Recap — Hawks @ Lakers

by Atl Hawk Luv, Hawk Str8talk

Preamble Ramble:

Let's just start with the obvious - the Lakers are better than the Hawks! So, our observations and comments are not complaints as if we were supposed to win, but are thoughts for what will prevent the Hawks from beating great teams consistently.

Overall Observations:

It seems like Mike Woodson is on the yo-yo regarding this minute distribution. Yes, we want Joe to get rest...no, we don't want Joe to get rest when he's KILLING the Lakers. So, you can rest him when we play the Kings or the Timberwolves to make up for the extra 6 minutes playing the Lakers...

So much for regaining the J in your name, Osh Smith.

The upside to this game was Jeff Teague and fuel for my Marvin as a Super Sub mantra. Marvin didn't show up and I think it's because he's not ever going to be someone who we are trying to get going with this starting 5.

Rick Sund, are you sure Al Horford is a center? Even without Pau Gasol, the length of the Lakers (and we're talking Bynum, Mbenga, Powell) gave Horford fits on the inside. * * *

Final Notes:

We also want to note that we like the new Joe Johnson mantra of calling out the team. In this postgame interview, he noted that "the Hawks are too soft". Well, we've been saying this for a while. That toughness, rebounding, perimeter defense, and leadership were the areas we needed to improve. Well, we kinda got some leadership, but the other 3 are still sore spots and last night was an example of why we want more focus on these areas in the vein of building a championship team. * * *

The Bottom Line:

1. Well, it was fun while it lasted...

2. All Joe had to do was drop abut 60 on the Lakers and our Hawks would have been right in it... But it's especially hard to do that from the bench...

3. Third quarter collapse notwithstanding, our bench players can lick your bench players.